Iraq Archives

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Iraq paid for Jim McDermott/David Bonior/Mike Thompson trip?

Back in October 2002, Representatives Jim McDermott (D-WA), David Bonior (D-MI) and Mike Thompson (D-CA) - all, of course, Democrats - took a trip to Iraq:

The three anti-war Democrats made the trip in October 2002, while the Bush administration was trying to persuade Congress to authorize military action against Iraq. While traveling, they called for a diplomatic solution.

Prosecutors say that trip was arranged by Muthanna Al-Hanooti, a Michigan charity official, who was charged Wednesday with setting up the junket at the behest of Saddam's regime. Iraqi intelligence officials allegedly paid for the trip through an intermediary and rewarded Al-Hanooti with 2 million barrels of Iraqi oil.

Back in 2003, I linked to "Saddam's Cash" (link), which mentions that trip and might have some bearing on the current case.

Posted at 07:55 PM

Saddam Hussein Iraq files: no assassination plot? No AQ links? No WTC1 links?

I link, you decide:

[There was a] 1993 claim by the Kuwaiti government - accepted by the Clinton administration - that the Iraqi Intelligence Service (IIS) had plotted to assassinate President George H.W. Bush during a trip to Kuwait that spring.

...A just-released Pentagon study on the Iraqi regime's ties to terrorism only adds to the mystery. The review, conducted for the Pentagon's Joint Forces Command, combed through 600,000 pages of Iraqi intelligence documents seized after the fall of Baghdad, as well as thousands of hours of audio- and videotapes of Saddam's conversations with his ministers and top aides. The study found that the IIS kept remarkably detailed records of virtually every operation it planned, including plots to assassinate Iraqi exiles and to supply explosives and booby-trapped suitcases to Iraqi embassies. But the Pentagon researchers found no documents that referred to a plan to kill Bush...

...The failure does not, of course, prove that the Iraqis were not planning such an operation. "It would not have surprised me at all if the Iraqis expunged any record of that—it was an utter embarrassment for them," says Paul Pillar, the CIA's former top analyst on the Middle East. But others have wondered whether the original allegations were exaggerated...

[links to Ayman al-Zawahiri's Egyptian Islamic Jihad but no apparent links to al Qaeda itself...]

...Perhaps most revealing of all was a tape of Saddam's conversations with his ministers after the World Trade Center bombing in February 1993 - a plot linked to a group of Islamic radicals, one of whom, Abdul Rahman Yasin, was an Iraqi-American who fled to Baghdad after the attack. For years Bush administration officials like Cheney and Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz charged that Iraq had given "sanctuary" to Yasin, suggesting that the regime may have been complicit in the 1993 bombing. But the newly discovered tape shows that Saddam and his ministers were puzzled by the bombing and wondered whether the "Zionists" or U.S. intelligence were secretly behind it...

Posted at 07:49 PM

Al Qaqaa munitions dump is back; BushBot response?

Remember the al Qaqaa dustup shortly before the 2004 election, in which a few reports said that large amounts of munitions had been looted from Iraq munitions dumps, prompting a furious response from the usual suspects who did everything within their powers to support massive Bush administration incompetence? Now, the GAO has weighed in:

The U.S. military's faulty war plans and insufficient troops in Iraq left thousands and possibly millions of tons of conventional munitions unsecured or in the hands of insurgent groups after the 2003 invasion -- allowing widespread looting of weapons and explosives used to make roadside bombs that cause the bulk of U.S. casualties, according to a government report released yesterday.

Some weapons sites remained vulnerable as recently as October 2006, according to the Government Accountability Office report, which said the unguarded sites "will likely continue to support terrorist attacks throughout the region." For example, it said hundreds of tons of explosives at the Al Qa Qaa facility in Iraq that had been documented by the International Atomic Energy Agency were lost to theft and looting after April 9, 2003...

While I appear to have mentioned this here once ("Should conservatives support Kerry?"), I posted several entries about this at the command-post.org and in comments elsewhere. Here's a roundup and another, here's someone else downplaying it and someone else, and here's a link to a (now missing) video report.

TalkingPointsMemo was also on the case: here and posts before and after that.

Oddly enough, the usual suspects appear to be silent this time around. Maybe we should be proactive and seek out their current thoughts.

Posted at 12:23 PM

Reuters: Iraq to "close" borders

Even Reuters' international correspondents are unclear on the concept of borders and border security, offering this:

Iraq's government said on Tuesday it would close its borders with Syria and Iran and extend the hours of a night curfew in Baghdad under a U.S.- backed security plan to rein in violence in the capital.

The measures ordered by Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al- Maliki were announced on Iraqiya state television by Lieutenant General Abboud Qanbar, the Iraqi commander who is leading the U.S.-backed security offensive in Baghdad.

Qanbar said the border with Iran and Syria would be closed for 72 hours...

The article is prepended with this:

Corrects to show government says will close the borders, not that it has already shut them

I assume that this means they will be closing border crossings. What actions they take to prevent illegal crossings aren't known, but I'm sure they aren't as stringent as they could be.

If I recall correctly, shortly after the invasion it was pointed out that we didn't have enough troops to prevent illegal crossings and that this was a huge security risk. That was contemporaneous with the rise of foreign fighters entering the country and an insurgency forming. And, I believe that such concerns were brushed aside by the Bush administration as well as the usual hacks outside.

I'm also sure it wouldn't be difficult to find people arguing at the time that securing the borders would be a great make-work project for newly unemployed Iraqis, and, while that would have led to corruption and infiltration of that force by insurgent supporters, it also would have greatly reduced the numbers of people available to join the insurgency and given them something to do and some income rather than just throwing them out on the street. Needless to say, such intelligent plans didn't find favor with the Bush administration.

Posted at 11:13 AM | Comments (1)

Pallets with billions of dollar sent to Baghdad; where's the money?

From this:

The U.S. Federal Reserve sent record payouts of more than $4 billion in cash to Baghdad on giant pallets aboard military planes shortly before the United States gave control back to Iraqis, lawmakers said on Tuesday.

The money, which had been held by the United States, came from Iraqi oil exports, surplus dollars from the U.N.-run oil-for-food program and frozen assets belonging to the ousted Saddam Hussein regime.

Bills weighing a total of 363 tons were loaded onto military aircraft in the largest cash shipments ever made by the Federal Reserve, said Rep. Henry Waxman, chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

"Who in their right mind would send 363 tons of cash into a war zone? But that's exactly what our government did," the California Democrat said during a hearing reviewing possible waste, fraud and abuse of funds in Iraq.

Posted at 11:20 AM | Comments (1)

"Dr. Germ", "Mrs. Anthrax" released in Iraq

I'd say this might be a correct decision, or the Bush administration might have some super-secret stratergery planned, except in almost all cases their decisions have turned out to be completely wrong. I guess we'll just have one more rollercoaster to ride because of their deep thinking, huh?

About 24 top former officials in Saddam Hussein's regime, including a biological weapons expert known as "Dr. Germ," have been released from jail...

"The release was an American-Iraqi decision and in line with an Iraqi government ruling made in December 2004, but hasn't been enforced until after the elections in an attempt to ease the political pressure in Iraq," said the lawyer, Badee Izzat Aref.

Among them were Rihab Taha, a British-educated biological weapons expert, who was known as "Dr. Germ" for her role in making bio-weapons in the 1980s, and Huda Salih Mahdi Ammash, known as "Mrs. Anthrax," a former top Baath Party official and biotech researcher, Aref said.

"Because of security reasons, some of them want to leave the country," he said. He declined to elaborate, but noted "some have already left Iraq today."

Lt. Col. Barry Johnson, a U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad, would say only that eight individuals formerly designated as high-value detainees were released Saturday after a board process found they were no longer a security threat and no charges would be filed against them.

Neither the U.S. military or Iraqi officials would disclose any of the names, but a legal official in Baghdad said Taha and Ammash were among those released.

The official, who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the issue, said those released also included Hossam Mohammed Amin, head of the weapons inspections directorate, and Aseel Tabra, an Iraqi Olympic Committee official under Odai Saddam Hussein, the former leader's son...

Posted at 09:32 AM | Comments (0)

I like Raisin Bran too!

Actually, I combine 99 cents store bran flakes with raisins from the same place, thus saving money over both the Raisin Bran brand and the supermarket generic equivalent.

Other than that, there are only minor differences between me and Saddam Hussein:

[SH's American guards found Hussein] to be a friendly, talkative "clean freak" who loved Raisin Bran for breakfast, did his own laundry and insisted he was still president of Iraq, says a report published on Monday.

The article quotes the GIs on Saddam's eating preferences - Raisin Bran Crunch was his breakfast favorite. "No Froot Loops," he told O'Shea. He ate fish and chicken but refused beef at dinner.

For a time his favorite food was Cheetos, and when those ran out, Saddam would "get grumpy," the story says. One day the guards substituted Doritos corn chips, and Saddam forgot about Cheetos. "He'd eat a family size bag of Doritos in 10 minutes," Dawson says.

Saddam believes he will be restored to power.

Other than the mass murder, torture, chemical weapons, and megalomania, he's just like you and me.

(More here)

UPDATE: In an exclusive interview with Saddam's guards, FHM will reveal Saddam's most unrequited desire: to eat a corn chip straight off the line.

Posted at 11:09 AM | Comments (1)

Marla Ruzicka: Media bias and conspiracy theories

Earlier this week American peace activist Marla Ruzicka was killed in a suicide bomb attack in Baghdad. I first learned about this when I saw a large amount of hits on the May 2003 entry "American Woman Travels Door to Door to Count Iraqi Casualties". I thought she'd just done something stupid, and I was saddened to learn of her death. She was truly a brave young woman.

Unfortunately, everything I said in that post regarding media bias still stands. Both NBC's and ABC's Nightly News have run extremely favorable segments on her, and I'd be surprised if CBS has not done so also. None of those reports mentioned even in passing that at least her prior work might be a bit controversial, or that her former organization (Susan Medea Benjamin's Global Exchange) is rather far-left. Instead, it appears that the left-leaning networks would like to create a martyr out of her rather than giving their viewers a fuller and more accurate picture.

As for any conspiracy theories, see the article "Aid worker uncovered America's secret tally of Iraqi civilian deaths":

A week before she was killed by a suicide bomber, humanitarian worker Marla Ruzicka forced military commanders to admit they did keep records of Iraqi civilians killed by US forces...

Needless to say, that has caused the DU forums to go off the deep end.

Posted at 07:06 PM | Comments (0)

Scott Ritter says...

Mark Jensen of United for Peace of Pierce County reports:

Scott Ritter, appearing with journalist Dahr Jamail yesterday [Friday 2/18/05] in Washington State, dropped two shocking bombshells in a talk delivered to a packed house in Olympia’s Capitol Theater. The ex-Marine turned UNSCOM weapons inspector said that George W. Bush has "signed off" on plans to bomb Iran in June 2005, and claimed the U.S. manipulated the results of the recent Jan. 30 elections in Iraq.

Olympians like to call the Capitol Theater "historic," but it's doubtful whether the eighty-year-old edifice has ever been the scene of more portentous revelations... [truly portentous verbage there, Mark --LW]

...On Iran, Ritter said that President George W. Bush has received and signed off on orders for an aerial attack on Iran planned for June 2005. Its purported goal is the destruction of Iran’s alleged program to develop nuclear weapons, but Ritter said neoconservatives in the administration also expected that the attack would set in motion a chain of events leading to regime change in the oil-rich nation of 70 million -- a possibility Ritter regards with the greatest skepticism.

The former Marine also said that the Jan. 30 elections, which George W. Bush has called "a turning point in the history of Iraq, a milestone in the advance of freedom," were not so free after all. Ritter said that U.S. authorities in Iraq had manipulated the results in order to reduce the percentage of the vote received by the United Iraqi Alliance from 56% to 48%.

Asked by UFPPC's Ted Nation about this shocker, Ritter said an official involved in the manipulation was the source, and that this would soon be reported by a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist in a major metropolitan magazine -- an obvious allusion to New Yorker reporter Seymour M. Hersh...

Posted at 12:44 AM | Comments (0)

US fights back against 'rule by clerics'

Put me in the "very skeptical but then again I wouldn't be surprised" category:

...there is a strong movement in southern Iraq for the establishment of autonomous Shi'ite provinces as a precursor to introducing vilayet-e-faqih (rule by the clergy) in the whole country...

To head off this threat of a Shi'ite clergy-driven religious movement, the US has, according to Asia Times Online investigations, resolved to arm small militias backed by US troops and entrenched in the population to "nip the evil in the bud".

Asia Times Online has learned that in a highly clandestine operation, the US has procured Pakistan-manufactured weapons, including rifles, rocket-propelled grenade launchers, ammunition, rockets and other light weaponry. Consignments have been loaded in bulk onto US military cargo aircraft at Chaklala airbase in the past few weeks. The aircraft arrived from and departed for Iraq.

The US-armed and supported militias in the south will comprise former members of the Ba'ath Party, which has already split into three factions, only one of which is pro-Saddam Hussein. They would be expected to receive assistance from pro-US interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's Iraqi National Accord...

Posted at 12:40 AM | Comments (0)

"Iraqi villagers kill 5 insurgents"

Interesting news brief from Australia's ABC:

The residents of a small Iraqi village have killed five insurgents who had attacked them for voting in last weekend's national elections.

Several other insurgents were also wounded...

The insurgents' cars were then set alight.

Al-Mudhiryah's tribal sheikh says his people are sick of being threatened by Islamic extremists.

There's the possibility that this is a fake report or some other form of propaganda. If not, it's pretty good news.

Meanwhile, some on the other side are not so happy. However:

Anyone who thinks this is bad news has one thing in mind and it isn't the welfare of the Iraqi people. Only a sick mind would hope for bad news and belittle good because it doesn't go well with their political agenda.

Posted at 09:27 PM | Comments (0)

14 `enduring bases' set in Iraq

Chicago Tribune, March 23, 2004:

From the ashes of abandoned Iraqi army bases, U.S. military engineers are overseeing the building of an enhanced system of American bases designed to last for years... Now U.S. engineers are focusing on constructing 14 "enduring bases," long-term encampments for the thousands of American troops expected to serve in Iraq for at least two years. The bases also would be key outposts for Bush administration policy advisers...

Posted at 07:54 PM | Comments (0)

"Some Just Voted for Food"

BAGHDAD, Jan 31 (IPS) - Voting in Baghdad was linked with receipt of food rations, several voters said after the Sunday poll.

Many Iraqis said Monday that their names were marked on a list provided by the government agency that provides monthly food rations before they were allowed to vote...

[...three examples...]

There has been no official indication that Iraqis who did not vote would not receive their monthly food rations...

Calls to the Independent Electoral Commission for Iraq (IECI) and to the Ministry of Trade, which is responsible for the distribution of the monthly food ration, were not returned...

IPS appears to be an established news agency with a Third World emphasis. It's not known what their biases are, if any.

Needless to say, this story has received attention from sites like DemocraticUnderground.

However, there are few other news sources discussing this story.

The Washington Post devotes just fourteen words to it in the story "Iraqis defy insurgency": "Despite rumors that food rations would be taken away if residents failed to vote..."

And, from a Washington Post special correspondent:

A rumor spread [in Tikrit] that anyone who did not vote would lose his or her food rations. But that did nothing to boost turnout in ousted president Saddam Hussein's home town.

"It is a very weak participation in Tikrit," said Khalaf Muhammed, 43, the electoral commission official in charge of a polling station in the city's center -- who acknowledged spreading the false rumor to try to lure voters.

"Even though we spread a rumor in the city saying anyone who doesn't vote will be deprived of their food ration, only 10 people voted . . . mostly old men."

The rumor about food rations also was rife in the Sunni neighborhoods of Baghdad, gaining credence because voter registration rolls were taken from centralized records for the ration of rice, flour, oil and other staples...

(Note that that's from Tikrit, while the IPS report mentions voters in Baghdad.)

This story not directly related to the Iraq vote gives a clue to why this rumor (if it was indeed just a rumor) could be believed: ...All Iraqis were required to vote during Saddam Hussein's reign. Embassy officials told the students that Iraqis who refused to vote for Saddam lost their jobs or food rations...

Posted at 08:06 PM | Comments (0)

"Addicted to 9/11"

Tom Friedman:

I don't know whether to laugh or cry when I hear the president and vice president slamming John Kerry for saying that he hopes America can eventually get back to a place where "terrorists are not the focus of our lives, but they're a nuisance." The idea that President Bush and Mr. Cheney would declare such a statement to be proof that Mr. Kerry is unfit to lead actually says more about them than Mr. Kerry. Excuse me, I don't know about you, but I dream of going back to the days when terrorism was just a nuisance in our lives...

Perhaps Friedman did flip-flop, or perhaps he's just allergic to four more years of the same. He's still right.

Posted at 11:55 AM | Comments (0)

"Bremer says not enough U.S. troops in Iraq"

From the AP:

The United States did not have enough troops in Iraq after ousting Saddam Hussein and "paid a big price" for it, says the former head of the U.S. occupation there.

L. Paul Bremer said Monday that he arrived in Iraq on May 6, 2003 to find "horrid" looting and a very unstable situation.

"We paid a big price for not stopping it because it established an atmosphere of lawlessness..."

In later remarks he appears to backpeddle a bit and complain that his comments were meant to be kept private.

See also "How you fail the global test".

Posted at 12:19 AM | Comments (0)

NYT on The Tubes

The NYT has 15-screenfuls on the aluminum tubes which were supposed to prove that Iraq had a nuclear weapons program.

I didn't read the whole thing, but from "How the White House Embraced Disputed Iraqi Arms Intelligence":

In 2002, at a crucial juncture on the path to war, senior members of the Bush administration gave a series of speeches and interviews in which they asserted that Saddam Hussein was rebuilding his nuclear weapons program...

Ms. Rice's alarming description on CNN was in keeping with the administration's overall treatment of the tubes. Senior administration officials repeatedly failed to fully disclose the contrary views of America's leading nuclear scientists, The Times found. They sometimes overstated even the most dire intelligence assessments of the tubes, yet minimized or rejected the strong doubts of their own experts. They worried privately that the nuclear case was weak, but expressed sober certitude in public...

"It is most disturbing that Winpac is essentially directing foreign policy in this matter," one Energy Department official wrote in an e-mail message. "There are some very strong points to be made in respect to Iraq's arrogant noncompliance with U.N. sanctions. However, when individuals attempt to convert those 'strong statements' into the 'knock out' punch, the Administration will ultimately look foolish - i.e., the tubes and Niger!"

On this matter, the administration seems to have failed the "global test." Perhaps we could have made our case without at the same time lowering America's credibility throughout the world.

Posted at 02:45 PM | Comments (0)

Iranian Intel Officers Captured in Iraq

From this:

American and Iraqi joint patrols, along with U.S. Special Operations teams, captured two men with explosives in Baghdad on Monday who identified themselves as Iranian intelligence officers, FOX News has confirmed...

(Link via Glenn "Instapundit" Reynolds)

Posted at 06:44 PM | Comments (0)

"Iraq Official Heading Oil-For-Food Probe Killed"

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The Iraqi official heading the investigation into alleged corruption in the United Nations oil-for-food program was killed in a bomb attack earlier this week, officials familiar with the probe said on Saturday.

Posted at 03:36 PM | Comments (0)

"Iraqi Officer Tied to Al Qaeda - 9/11 Commissioner"

From Reuters:

The commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks has been told "a very prominent member" of al Qaeda served as an officer in Saddam Hussein's militia, a panel member said on Sunday.

Republican commissioner John Lehman told NBC's "Meet the Press" program that the new intelligence, if proven true, buttresses claims by the Bush administration of ties between Iraq and the militant network believed responsible for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on America.

"We are now in the process of getting this latest intelligence," Lehman said...

Posted at 03:38 PM | Comments (0)

"U.N. prober in graft scandal"

From this:

The United Nations was rocked by a new scandal yesterday when reports surfaced that the diplomat in charge of rooting out corruption in the world body is himself facing allegiations about unethical conduct...

Posted at 08:16 PM | Comments (0)

"Chechen gunmen eyed in ambush"

From this:

Mercenaries believed to be from Chechnya are suspected of carrying out the deadly ambush of civilian security contractors on a road outside Baghdad earlier this month.

The attackers killed four civilians working with Blackwater USA. Three contractors who managed to escape concluded that the assault was the work of trained gunmen...

Supposedly, two or more of those on the Berg tape said something in Russian.

I don't know why two Chechens would speak Russian to each other, but that could be a lingua franca for two people from different parts of the FSU.

Posted at 10:00 PM | Comments (0)

"UN inspectors: Saddam shipped out WMD before war and after"

UNMOVIC admits that Saddam sent "weapons of mass destruction components as well as medium-range ballistic missiles before, during and after the U.S.-led war against Iraq in 2003..."

Oops.

Expected "liberal" reaction:

1. Ignore
2. "Yes, but the components to make 20,000 liters of anthrax are not the same as 20,000 liters of anthrax, you XRM-SBAH!"
3. "Well, the way I see it, it's like this. $hrubCo and their NeoCon handlers got to UNMOVIC and threatend to release information on Kofi Annan's secret love child if they didn't invent all these shipments. Plus, those satellite photos were obviously doctored."
4. Go to #1.

Posted at 01:38 PM | Comments (2)

Japanese hostage to sue over his kidnapping

One of the Japanese citizens who was kidnapped in Iraq is filing a lawsuit.

Only problem: he's suing the Japanese government:

"Mr. Watanabe believes his kidnapping was the result of Japan's military presence," [his ambulance-chaser said]. "His captors told him that he had been taken because he was from a country that had sent troops to Iraq."

(Via this)

Posted at 10:11 AM | Comments (0)

"US closes in on deal with Iraqi cleric"

From the CSM:

...behind the scenes, direct negotiations were under way to transform Sadr's militia into a political entity and end a violent rebellion.

The coalition has declared repeatedly that it will not negotiate with "militias and criminals." Nonetheless, a deal may be forthcoming with Sadr, said an official close to the talks. The coalition has previously said it wanted the cleric killed or captured.

If the deal pans out, it could bring to an end the seven-week conflict. The hope is that by engaging Sadr politically, the coalition can neutralize him militarily. His militia might also eventually be integrated into the Iraqi national security forces...

Posted at 12:04 AM | Comments (0)

"Sources say U.S. funded arm of Iraqi Congress was used by Iran"

Did Iran use Chalabi to get us to invade Iraq? That's what the DIA says. However, 'Chalabi Denies Spying for Iran'. Like I said before, who knows who's doing what in the Land of Conspiracies?

Posted at 03:59 PM | Comments (0)

Chalabi gets street cred?

As previously discussed: "when[Iraqis were] asked which leader they trusted the most,
just 0.2% said Ahmed Chalabi; he's not trusted at all by 10.3%." Maybe his numbers will change for the better after the raid. Who knows who's doing what in the Land of Conspiracies?

Posted at 12:50 AM | Comments (0)

"Rooting for the enemy"

From the NY Post:

A MAN has his head cut off by al Qaeda in Iraq, and The New York Times aggressively markets the idea - on its front page yesterday - that his death is somehow the fault of the United States...

Whatever the circumstances of Nick Berg's detention in Iraq and his family's torment at his unspeakable murder, the Times' decision to offer this angle as its main story in the matter of his beheading is a very telling fact about that newspaper, the mainstream media and the politics of 2004.

No matter what happens in the war with Iraq, no matter what the evildoers do, the Times wants to bring it back to high-level American misconduct - misconduct so severe that it supposedly calls the entire mission in Iraq into question. To blame the United States for Berg's beheading might be acceptable for Berg's own grief-deranged kin. But it is not acceptable for The New York Times or anyone else...

Posted at 03:09 PM | Comments (0)

"Leash Gal's Sex Pix"

Courtesy of Drudge, here's the scoop from the N.Y. Post (which is not a tabloid, I swear):

Shocking shots of sexcapades involving Pfc. Lynndie England were among the hundreds of X-rated photos and videos from the Abu Ghraib prison scandal shown to lawmakers in a top-secret Capitol conference room yesterday.
"She was having sex with numerous partners. It appeared to be consensual," said a lawmaker who saw the photos.

And, videos showed the disgraced soldier - made notorious in a photo showing her holding a leash looped around an Iraqi prisoner's neck - engaged in graphic sex acts with other soldiers in front of Iraqi prisoners, Pentagon officials told NBC Nightly News.

"Almost everybody was naked all the time," another lawmaker said.

Phwoar.

Lonewacko predicts: 2 years in prison, followed by an appearance in Playboy, followed by a "reunion" tape, followed by rehab, followed by an offer to anchor CNN's nightly news.

I saw Tonya Harding's "honeymoon" tape. Lynndie's tapes probably make Tonya's effort look like an Andrew Blake production. Perhaps if the soundtrack is a loop of 'Dueling Banjoes' it might have some comedy value.

Posted at 11:42 AM | Comments (2)

"Arab Street Erupts in Rage Over Beheading Video"

The so-called 'Arab Street' erupted in rage and grief today, as devoted Muslims crowded into public squares by the hundreds of thousands, in dozens of cities, to denounce the brutal videotaped beheading of American Nicholas Berg by Muslim extremists affiliated with Al Qaeda...

Unfortunately, here's the link.

To be fair, Ibrahim Cooper of CAIR has issued the following:

"We condemn this cold-blooded murder and repudiate all those who commit such acts of mindless violence in the name of religion. We call on people of all faiths and cultures to work together for peace and reconciliation, not war and destruction."

I'm still trying to figure out what loopholes if any that contains. Note also that that's only at NewsWire, it's not on CAIR's site.

UPDATE: It's now on CAIR site.

Posted at 04:05 PM | Comments (3)

"Congress Ignored Reports of Prisoner Abuse"

From NewsMax:

Democrats howling for the resignation of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld for not informing them of reports of prisoner abuse in Baghdad are ignoring the fact that concerned parents of an accused soldier informed 16 members of Congress - top Democrats such as Senators Hillary Clinton, Edward Kennedy and John D. Rockefeller - and the governor of West Virginia of the burgeoing scandal as far back as February 26th of this year.
None of these 17 people acted to disclose the detailed information contained in the letters...

Here are the the 17 names, all Democrats except for Rep. Roscoe Bartlett, Sgt. Frederick's congressman:

Senators Jack Reed, Mark Dayton, Robert Byrd, Bill Nelson, Evan Bayh, Mark Pryor, Edward Kennedy, Benjamin Nelson, Hillary Clinton, Joseph Lieberman, Daniel Akaka, Paul Sarbanes, John D. Rockefeller, Governor Mark Warner and Rep. Roscoe Bartlett.

Senator Byrd's office would not even accept the letter e-mailed to him on the grounds it was too long.

Posted at 11:18 AM | Comments (0)

ArabNews: Jesse Jackson Calls for Troop Withdrawal [speaking in Greece]

Two weeks ago I linked to Jesse Jackson's comments on Iraq. He said the same thing more recently in Greece, and the Arab News was the only source that reported his remarks:

During the opening session of a conference on religions and cultures in Greece, Jackson said Bush must “end the occupation of Iraq and return sovereignty to the Iraqis as quickly as possible in cooperation with the United Nations and Europe.”

“The US bias toward Israel and its support for (Ariel) Sharon’s aggressive policies have obstructed peace and triggered violence and hate in the region,” he said.

(Via WND)

Posted at 11:31 PM | Comments (0)

"[UK] Abuse Pictures Looking 'Increasingly Like Hoax' - Hoon"

From this:

Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon tonight said that the Daily Mirror pictures which allegedly showed British soldiers abusing Iraqi prisoners appeared “increasingly like a hoax”.

Daily Mirror editor Piers Morgan swiftly issued a statement saying that the newspaper does not accept that the Ministry of Defence had proved that the photographs – one of which appeared to show troops urinating on a prisoner and striking him with a rifle – were faked.

Mr Hoon’s comments were an expansion on information he gave to MPs earlier today.

During a statement to the Commons, Mr Hoon said that the Special Investigation Branch had told him there were “strong indications” that the vehicle in which the pictures were taken was not in Iraq at the relevant time.

The Beeb misleadingly entitles a similar story 'Apology demanded on abuse photos'. However, the demand is coming from the British regiment involved, not the Iraqis.

Posted at 12:08 PM | Comments (1)

"Frauds Try to Exploit Iraq Abuse Scandal"

No, the title doesn't refer to CBS, CNN, the rest of the news media, John Kerry, the DNC, "liberals," or all the rest. Instead:

At a press conference by human rights groups in Baghdad on Sunday, numerous former prisoners came forward to tell of abuse including beatings by soldiers and sleep deprivation...

Fallujah native Abdul-Qader Abdul-Rahman al-Ani, his left elbow wrapped in bandages, his right forearm bound in a cast, recounted how he was beaten by soldiers who picked him up last month. The soldiers tied him and two others arrested with him to a tree and sodomized them one after the other, he told journalists.

``I ask President Bush,'' he said. ``Does he agree with this?''

Shocking, truly shocking. I'm ashamed to be an American, and I'm moving to Canada. But, wait, you say, there's more:

As Ani, 47, repeated his story, he was interrupted by Jabber al-Okaili, a member of one of the human rights groups that organized the gathering. ``He's lying,'' al-Okaili shouted. ``He's a liar!''

Al-Ani was rushed to an office, where al-Okaili and others unwound the bandage on his left arm and found the elbow unscarred and healthy. They cut off half of the cast on his forearm, even as al-Ani insisted, ``By God, it's true, everything I say is true.''

``All his papers were forged,'' al-Okaili, of the Free Iraq Institute, said after al-Ani left the building. ``Who knows why he did this. Maybe he was paid by former members of Saddam Hussein's regime.''

Maybe they're paying CNN too.

Posted at 10:24 PM | Comments (1)

FLASH: Critics call for CNN's resignation

Developing...

Posted at 12:09 PM | Comments (0)

An Abu Ghreib flashback

So much has been written recently about the Abu Ghreib prison that its past has apparently been forgotten:

• "Qusay, [Saddam's] second son, ordered Abu Ghreib prison to be "cleaned out" and had 2,000 prisoners executed in 24 hours." (link)

• "Abu Ghreib prison, 30 kilometres (19 miles) west of Baghdad, was by all accounts one of the darkest places in Saddam's benighted realm..." (link with much more)

• "The grave diggers say that the bodies in many of the graves here in a walled-off enclave of the Kirkh Islamic Cemetery, a mile down the road from the big prison, lie twisted in twos and threes. For over 20 years, they report, almost no one has been allowed to visit here, apart from a lone shovel man and the secret police who heaved the bodies from their cars toward the holes in the earth." (link)

• "[American Kenneth Beatty] was sentenced to 7 or 8 years in prison and transferred to Abu Ghreib prison in Baghdad. There he lived in a cell invested with vermin and shared a toilet with more than 200 prisoners. He suffered from a heart condition but was denied medical attention." (link)

• "During captivity [in Abu Ghreib], both [American] men were in constant fear for their lives. The captors displayed little respect to human life. At one point, an Iraqi guard attempted to execute Mr. Barloon, but was stopped by another guard." (ibid)

• "On Monday, hundreds of people gathered at the headquarters of state security in Baghdad seeking information on those who never appeared [after Abu Ghreib was opened by Saddam before the war]... But within the crowd were elderly women and other relatives demanding information about prisoners. After some forced their way into the Foreign Press Center, shots were fired into the air, dispersing the crowd. Two hours later, they returned... One man told an official that he had not seen his brother since 1980..." (link)

Posted at 11:49 PM | Comments (5)

Amnesty International Says It Has Evidence of 'Pattern of Torture'

Yeah, that's nice. Perhaps we could talk about AI's Pattern of Anti-American Bias? Sure, as previously stated, Abu Ghraib is not a good thing, and it needs to be dealt with. However, we also need to watch for those who will seek to use this incident to suit their agendas. Especially if they largely ignored Saddam's years and years of torture and murder.

Posted at 09:41 PM | Comments (4)

Abu Ghraib: Much worse than I thought

Based on the 60 Minutes report, I originally thought this was just an isolated incident involving yahoos, and that no one was physically hurt. The Hersh article says this is much worse, and the responsibiilty for at least covering it up might go much higher. Not only that, we might have been employing private torturers. This is not good; it will require people at a high level to be at least fired, and not just Reserve members. It might also require a structural change regarding how we do business and under what circumstances we employee Wackenhut-style companies.

That does not excuse members of the left who want to use this for political purposes or as part of a general plan to bash AmeriKKKa.

It also does not excuse groups - some in the U.S., some outside - who will condemn this to the skies, but who fail to condemn or who attempt to apologize away even worse acts committed against Americans.

However, the allegations about prisoner abuse by British troops may be false.

The piece 'We're fighting for the right to be outraged at those photos' includes this:

Still, the outrage felt at those photos of torture is what makes this society worth living in. It distinguishes us from our enemies. But, like everything, this outrage has a price. If it is to conclude that we should not defend ourselves against the Saddams of the world, then it is too dear. The secret is to retain the outrage and not draw that conclusion. We have to keep two thoughts parallel in our heads - these are appalling acts that must not be tolerated, but neither are they to be used as a block against our instincts of self-preservation or to render us defenceless against the worst systems and enemies of civilisation...

UPDATE: Someone else says the British photos are fakes, while the Mirror stands by its story.

Posted at 03:31 PM | Comments (2)

"Hussein's Agents Are Behind Attacks in Iraq, Pentagon Finds"

Maybe it isn't a popular insurgency after all:

A Pentagon intelligence report has concluded that many bombings against Americans and their allies in Iraq, and the more sophisticated of the guerrilla attacks in Falluja, are organized and often carried out by members of Saddam Hussein's secret service, who planned for the insurgency even before the fall of Baghdad...

Posted at 08:48 PM | Comments (0)

It's a job for the patriotic Left...

...all two of them. But, I kid.

Several "liberals" are complaining about U.S. military police allegedly mistreating Iraqi POWs. For instance, here's TalkLeft's post.

The few patriotic "liberals" could point out that a) this is an isolated incident, b) (most of) those responsible are being prosecuted, c) these actions in no way tarnish our overwhelmingly above-board actions in Iraq, and d) these actions are in no way comparable to Saddam's actions over many years. Whether they will or not is another question; we can already see how CBS is trying to spin this. For more opinion on this story, see this or this.

UPDATE: Several members of the Unhelpful Left can be found commenting here. I'd imagine DU is slightly worse.

Posted at 07:47 PM | Comments (0)

"Radical Cleric Is Unwanted by His Neighbors"

From the NYT:

...Standing in the courtyard of [Najaf's] golden-domed Shrine of Ali on Friday, staring at 2,500 worshipers seated on rugs, the imam, Sadr al-Din al-Kubanchi, hurled words as sharp as scimitars at the army that had invaded this holy city.

But the soldiers he denounced were not Americans but members of [Moktada al-Sadr's] Mahdi Army...

"It's not brave to take refuge in the house or the mosque or the markets and use women and children as human shields," Mr. Kubanchi said of the Mahdi Army. "They are people who are trying to cheat you, and they are people from the regime of Saddam Hussein, former intelligence officers. They want to drag you into battle to be destroyed. If that happens, the soldiers will attack Najaf, and our enemies will happily see our blood flow."

The standoff in Najaf has turned into a showdown between the clerics of the city and Mr. Sadr, as the religious and tribal leaders here try to nudge their unwanted neighbor out of town...

Gingerly, since Mr. Sadr now runs the city, they have handed out flyers and given speeches urging the Mahdi Army to take its fight elsewhere. They have done so while their mosques and homes are surrounded by undisciplined militiamen...

Posted at 09:59 PM | Comments (0)

"Monumental Rip-Off?"

ABC has a long, worthwhile scoop on Oil For Food:

At least three senior United Nations officials are suspected of taking multimillion-dollar bribes from the Saddam Hussein regime, U.S. and European intelligence sources tell ABCNEWS.

One year after his fall, U.S. officials say they have evidence, some in cash, that Saddam diverted to his personal bank accounts approximately $5 billion from the United Nations Oil-for-Food program...

Most prominent among those accused in the scandal is Benon Sevan, the Cyprus-born U.N. undersecretary general who ran the program for six years...

The second page of the letter [found by ABC in the Iraqi Oil Ministry --LW] contains a table titled "Quantity of Oil Allocated and Given to Mr. Benon Sevan." The table lists a total of 7.3 million barrels of oil as the "quantity executed" — an amount that, if true, would have generated an illegal profit of as much as $3.5 million...

Other Iraqi government documents have been suspected of being or have been shown to be false, so it's not an open and shut case.

See also "UN officials 'covered up Saddam theft of billions in aid for Iraqis'":

Saddam Hussein diverted huge sums from the £60 billion United Nations oil-for-food programme for the poor and sick of pre-war Iraq to foreign governments and vocal supporters of his regime worldwide, the US Congress heard yesterday.

Senior UN, French and Russian officials were alleged to have connived at the scandal...

Sully has an excerpt from a 3/02 interview with Sevan here. (search for the 4/21 4:03pm entry if that link doesn't work)

Posted at 09:36 PM | Comments (0)

Lcpl Boudreaux: The photo was doctored

From the AP story 'Marines reopen photo probe':

The Marines have reopened an investigation into a photograph circulating on the Internet that depicts a reservist with Iraqi children and a sign saying the serviceman killed one boy’s father and impregnated the boy’s sister.

The reservist under investigation, Lance Cpl. Ted J. Boudreaux, has told investigators that the photograph was doctored, Marine Reserve spokesman Capt. Jeffrey Pool said Monday.

Muslim civil rights groups had complained that the picture is demeaning to Iraqis, and demanded that the soldier be punished if the image is genuine.

To assist in the investigation, the Marines have retained the help of imaging experts from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service.

“Because this is so specialized, we’re going to have to seek outside help,” Pool said.

The Marines announced last week that the probe was complete, but said Monday that it had been reopened, with investigators focusing on the authenticity of the image.

Previous coverage starts here.

UPDATE: The Marines Corps Times informs us: "...Boudreaux maintained throughout the investigation that the photo was altered by someone else." (latter link via this)

Posted at 11:04 AM | Comments (0)

"Oil-for-Terror?"

Here's a discussion of "BCCI with a U.N. label:"

...Especially with the U.N.'s own investigation into Oil-for-Food now taking shape, and more congressional hearings in the works, it is high time to focus on the likelihood that Saddam may have fiddled Oil-for-Food contracts not only to pad his own pockets, buy pals, and acquire clandestine arms — but also to fund terrorist groups, quite possibly including al Qaeda.

There are at least two links documented already. Both involve oil buyers picked by Saddam and approved by the U.N. One was a firm with close ties to a Liechtenstein trust that has since been designated by the U.N. itself as "belonging to or affiliated with Al Qaeda." The other was a Swiss-registered subsidiary of a Saudi oil firm that had close dealings with the Taliban during Osama bin Laden's 1990's heyday in Afghanistan...

Posted at 11:31 PM | Comments (0)

"Spaniards celebrate Iraq pull-out"

The Beeb has a slanted discussion of more "spontaneous demonstrations" in Madrid:

Most Spaniards have welcomed Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero's announcement that he will bring home the 1,300 Spanish peacekeepers from Iraq as quickly as possible since they have no UN mandate to be there.

In central Madrid, hundreds poured out on to the streets to celebrate.

Twenty-one-year-old Juan said: " It made me sick every time I see footage of Spanish soldiers in Iraq. We have no business to be there."

Sandra brought her two young children to the spontaneous demo.

In other news, the body of one of the Spanish policemen killed in a recent terror raid has been desecrated.

Posted at 11:27 PM | Comments (0)

"Arab TV networks accused of fueling violence in Iraq"

"Anti-US sentiment has been heightened by Al-Jazeera and other anti-coalition media reporting" on the closure of a Shiite radical newspaper and the siege of the insurgent bastion of Fallujah, the coalition's deputy director of operations, Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt, told a news conference...

[...whining about al Jazeera deleted...]

...But Al-Jazeera, which has been in hot water many times before regarding its reporting in Iraq, insists on its professional standards...

Yeah, so? What did you expect from the Land of Conspiracy Theories?

Why is a General complaining about this at a press conference? Here's a wild thought: do something to counter their propaganda, and don't step right into attempts to have propaganda used against you.

For instance, what are we doing to discredit al Jazeera or counter their claims? I have no specific information on that as I am not in Iraq and I do not have access to Iraqi media. However, it appears that we aren't doing much if all we do is whine about it at press conferences.

Posted at 01:06 PM | Comments (0)

That was a real Marine, and the sign was real (update: or was it?)

Remember the picture of the supposed Marine with the cardboard sign? ("Lcpl Boudreaux Killed my Dad. then he Knocked up my Sister!") It turns out that it was probably a real sign held up by a real Marine reservist. See the story in the Marine Times.

Would that it were true, but here's a fake based on the original sign: "Lcpl Boudreaux saved my Dad. then he rescued my Sister!"

The only problem is the handwriting is internally inconsistent, for instance in the lower-case "d"s. Nice try, but let's do better next time.

There's a higher-res version of the original picture here.

Supposedly the Marines will finish their investigation in a week or two, and I'll provide an update when that's released.

UPDATE: I just spoke with Jeff Pool, the Marine Forces Reserve spokesman mentioned in the Marine Corps Times article. He indicated that all aspects of this event are being investigated, and that it's still open whether the photo was altered or not. The Marine Corps Times article had implied that the photo itself was not in question, only the information on the sign. So, it might turn out that the photo itself was altered. The results of the investigation are expected shortly, perhaps even today.

UPDATE 2: There's a long discussion about this here.

UPDATE 3: Boudreaux says the sign was doctored; the Marines have reopened their investigation.

Posted at 09:50 PM | Comments (4)

An overview of Bush's impeachment

This article gives a good overview of today's impeachment of President Bush:

washington, april 9, 2004. A hush fell over the city as George W. Bush today became the first president of the United States ever to be removed from office by impeachment. Meeting late into the night, the Senate unanimously voted to convict Bush following a trial on his bill of impeachment from the House.

Moments after being sworn in as the 44th president, Dick Cheney said that disgraced former national security adviser Condoleezza Rice would be turned over to the Hague for trial in the International Court of Justice as a war criminal. Cheney said Washington would "firmly resist" international demands that Bush be extradited for prosecution as well.

On August 7, 2001, Bush had ordered the United States military to stage an all-out attack on alleged terrorist camps in Afghanistan. Thousands of U.S. special forces units parachuted into this neutral country, while air strikes targeted the Afghan government and its supporting military. Pentagon units seized abandoned Soviet air bases throughout Afghanistan, while establishing support bases in nearby nations such as Uzbekistan. Simultaneously, FBI agents throughout the United States staged raids in which dozens of men accused of terrorism were taken prisoner.

Reaction was swift and furious. Florida Senator Bob Graham said Bush had "brought shame to the United States with his paranoid delusions about so-called terror networks." British Prime Minister Tony Blair accused the United States of "an inexcusable act of conquest in plain violation of international law." White House chief counterterrorism advisor Richard Clarke immediately resigned in protest of "a disgusting exercise in over-kill..."

There's more on the Bush impeachment in the weirdly similar article "In a parallel universe called 'what if.'"

Posted at 09:47 PM | Comments (0)

"Iran's Rafsanjani Praises Sadr's Shi'ite Uprising"

From Reuters:

Iran's influential former president, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, on Friday hailed the Shi'ite Muslim militia of firebrand cleric Moqtada al-Sadr as "heroic" for rising up against the U.S. occupation in Iraq.

Rafsanjani told worshippers at Friday prayers in Tehran that a distinction should be drawn between Shi'ite fighters, who have battled U.S.-led troops across southern Iraq this week, and insurrectionist supporters of Saddam Hussein's Ba'ath party he described as "terrorists..."

Posted at 12:32 PM | Comments (0)

Iraq conflict map

DebkaFile has a map showing who's currently fighting in Iraq and where. Consider the source, but it's probably accurate.

Posted at 12:16 PM | Comments (0)

Offensive propaganda

Is this sign real or fake? It seems quite convenient how CAIR and others are using it for propaganda purposes.

How do we know this is from Iraq? That appears to be a Real Madrid T-shirt. Are those being passed out or sold in Iraq? There is Arabic writing behind them, however that doesn't imply Iraq specifically. The thumbs up signs are just too much. Supposedly they do not have the negative connotation when used by or to Americans in Iraq, but they still are an insult in much of the world.

And, could the supposed Marine pictured be a Boudreaux, or could he be Spanish or an Arab?

As for the writing, it's already been pointed out that the abbreviation should be "LCPL" instead of "Lcpl." It's already been pointed out that the text is oriented too far to the right, almost as if to avoid the shadow. What about the other words. How many English speakers capitalize non-proper nouns such as "Dad," "Knocked," and "Sister?"

I suspect it will come out this is a fairly sophisticated attempt at propaganda.

UPDATE: I'm no handwriting expert, but this writing appears a bit too curvilinear for someone who's a native user of the Roman alphabet. Look at the tails of the 'd's. The segment in the lower right goes down at a 45 degree angle, much like the Greek alpha. Look at the lower legs of the 'K's. They're too horizontal, and they don't match the upper legs. The 'S' in "Sister" looks almost like an Arabic letter. The 'u' in "Boudreaux" is also missing a tail, making it look like the Greek letter. I also noticed a period after "Killed my Dad." However, "then" is not capitalized; most English speakers would consider that disconcerting.

UPDATE 2: Also, note the supposed Marines' sleeves. If he put his arms down to his sides, it looks like his sleeves would be an inch or two too long. Based on that and the information above, I strongly favor this being a real picture of a fake event.

UPDATE 3: The Marine and sign appear to be real.

UPDATE 4: I deleted the last comment. No suggestions of violence please. For more on comments here, see this post.

Posted at 12:44 PM | Comments (10)

3000 U.N. Staffers Probed (Oil-for-food)

From the NY Post:

Investigators probing the United Nations' Iraq oil-for-food program are taking a close look at allegations the scandal-plagued initiative was filled with spies, terrorists and do-nothing bureaucrats earning exorbitant salaries.
The activities of the estimated 3,000 U.N. staffers who were working on the $100 billion humanitarian aid program are emerging as a central focus of the investigations into the mushrooming scandal...

I did the math on the money Saddam pilfered from O4F here, and there's more on how much France would have got from exclusive oil contracts here.

Posted at 02:32 PM | Comments (0)

Link between Iraq and al Queda partially confirmed

Remember the recent 60 Minutes interview with Ahmed "0.2%" Chalabi? Remember how he showed Leslie Stahl a document purporting to prove a link between Iraq and al Queda?

Bill Gertz and Rowan Scarborough have a report on the document here (permalink not yet available):

We have obtained a document discovered in Iraq from the files of the Iraqi Intelligence Service (IIS). The report provides new evidence of links between Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

The 1993 document, in Arabic, bears the logo of the Iraqi intelligence agency and is labeled "top secret" on each of its 20 pages.

The report is a list of IIS agents who are described as "collaborators."

On page 14, the report states that among the collaborators is "the Saudi Osama bin Laden."

The document states that bin Laden is a "Saudi businessman and is in charge of the Saudi opposition in Afghanistan."

"And he is in good relationship with our section in Syria," the document states, under the signature "Jabar..."

A U.S. official said the document appears authentic.

Posted at 01:39 AM | Comments (0)

Report: Saddam's government stole $10.1B

From the AP:

Saddam Hussein's government smuggled oil, added surcharges and collected kickbacks to rake in $10.1 billion in violation of the United Nations' oil-for-food program, congressional investigators said Thursday.

The estimate, much larger than previous calculations, comes as the United Nations considers expanding its probe into the humanitarian program, which allowed Iraq to sell oil for food and medicine. Other oil sales were prohibited under a U.N. embargo imposed after Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990...

So much for the "Sanctions caused Iraqi kids to starve" meme:

Nearly one million children in Iraq are suffering from chronic malnutrition, according to a report by the United Nations Children's Fund.

The Unicef report said children are bearing the brunt of economic hardship in Iraq. The number of malnourished children represents an increase of 72% since international sanctions were imposed on Baghdad...

Just as a rough calculation, 10B divided by a decade divided by 1 million equals $1000 per year per starving child. That's not just eating, that's eating well.

Posted at 01:59 PM | Comments (0)

"Iraq on the Record"

Rep. Henry Waxman has a new site listing quotations about Iraq: "Iraq on the Record: The Bush Administration's Public Statements on Iraq"

It makes fun reading, as you peruse comments from Bush, Cheney, Rice, Powell, and Rumsfeld.

Unfortunately, you can't search for statements from Rep. Waxman himself, such as this one:

I agree with [Bush's] conclusion that we cannot leave Saddam to continue on his present course. No one doubts that he is trying to build a nuclear device, and when he does, his potential for blackmail to dominate the Persian Gulf and Middle East will be enormous, and our efforts to deal with him be even more difficult and perilous. The risks of inaction clearly outweigh the risks of action.

(Via DailyPundit)

Posted at 02:51 PM | Comments (0)

The French War for Oil

From the NY Post:

In documents I obtained during an investigation of the French relationship to Saddam Hussein, the French interest in maintaining Saddam Hussein in power was spelled out in excruciating detail. The price tag: close to $100 billion. That was what French oil companies stood to profit in the first seven years of their exclusive oil arrangements - had Saddam remained in power.

The French claimed their opposition to the U.S.-led war to oust Saddam Hussein was all about policy. The editor of the Paris daily Le Monde, Jean-Marie Colombani, just resuscitated those arguments in an editorial that singled out George W. Bush as "a threat to the very foundation of the historical alliance between the U.S. and Europe," and called fervently for the election of John F. Kerry. (I guess that F now stands for France.)

But Colombani, whose paper's coverage of the war in Iraq was noteworthy for its wanton disregard for the truth, had not a word to say about his country's war for oil. Indeed, the secret deals the French state-owned oil companies negotiated in the 1990s with Saddam Hussein went widely unreported in France...

Posted at 12:12 AM | Comments (0)

BBC shocked by results of their Iraq poll

An opinion poll carried out in Iraq will make good reading for US President George W Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

The poll suggests that Iraqis are happier than they were before the invasion, optimistic about the future and opposed to violence...

Seventy percent said that things were going well or quite well in their lives, while only 29% felt things were bad.

And 56% said that things were better now than they were before the war.

Almost half (49%) believed the invasion of Iraq by the US-led coalition was right, although 41% felt that the invasion "humiliated Iraq".

More than three quarters (79%) want Iraq to remain united, and only 20% want it to become an Islamic state.

Other results: when asked which leader they trusted the most, just 0.2% said Ahmed Chalabi; he's not trusted at all by 10.3%. That latter amount is the highest of about 35 others. Saddam's scores were 3.3% and 3.1% in those categories.

72.2% strongly agree that Iraq needs a democracy. While many favor a strongman leader, when asked various combinations, 41.7% favor a democracy with (small-d) democrats combination.

35.6% say they would never speak with other people about politics; 75.3% said they would never join a political party or action group. That might indicate that memories of Saddam's secret police remain.

17.3% think it's acceptable for others to attack coalition forces. 13.2% strongly support the presence of coalition forces and 26.3% somewhat support them. 31.3% strongly oppose them. But, only 15.1% think they should leave now. Only 20% say they've had a personal encounter with coalition forces.

Posted at 11:15 PM | Comments (1)

Maybe if we put our heads together we could come up with half a brain

From "Reuters Sees Touched Up Bodies of Saddam Sons":

U.S. forces in Iraq partly rebuilt the faces of two bodies shown to journalists on Friday in an effort to convince Iraqis that the battle-scarred corpses were those of Saddam Hussein's widely feared sons.

Perhaps it's not so much a problem of brain-power as some psychological failing. Like, we're afraid of success. Or, we can't think more than 5 minutes ahead. Or, the people who ordered this are so completely out of it that they never thought that whatreallyhappened.com or dozens of middle-east media outlets would consider this a tiny bit strange.

Maybe next time we can get someone with an above room temperature IQ to handle things. [crayon] It's not what we think, it's what they think that matters. It's like selling things to people. You might think what you're selling is the greatest thing in the world, but if you can't get that idea across, no sale.[/crayon]

In the meantime, grab some tinfoil and enjoy the show.

Posted at 10:19 AM | Comments (0)

"Rangel: U.S. Acted Illegally in Killing Uday and Qusay"

According to this:

The U.S. acted illegally when its soldiers attacked and killed Uday and Qusay Hussein, a leading Democratic congressman [Rep. Charlie Rangel, D-NY] complained on Tuesday, before mocking the military maneuver that succeeded in eliminating the brutal duo.

Posted at 10:11 PM | Comments (0)

"Berkeley Plans to Revive Looted Museum on Web"

Insty and others tell us that the Iraq museum looting was way overstated.

This LAT article says:

Galvanized by the ransacking of Iraq's National Museum, computer scientists, archeologists and art historians at UC Berkeley are hatching a plan to help the museum — and the war-scarred nation — resurrect at least some of what was lost.

The project, still in the planning stages, would use computers to recreate the museum's smashed or stolen vases, statues and cuneiform tablets from archived photos and historical records...

At least 38 of the national museum's major treasures are known to be missing, along with thousands of smaller, less valuable pieces. The facility is said to be so badly vandalized that it may take months or even years to figure out just what else was lost.

Their web site is at www.ecai.org/iraq

I reporteth, you decideth.

Posted at 02:03 PM | Comments (0)

Repeal the 22nd Amendment?

As pointed out in the comments to the post "Clinton Wants Change in Presidential Term Limits", there's a bill currently in the House to repeal the 22nd Amendment, thereby allowing presidents to serve more than two terms. Here are the sponsors:

Mr. HOYER - Democrat
Mr. HYDE - Republican
Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts - Democrat
Mr. SENSENBRENNER - Republican
Mr. BERMAN - Democrat
Mr. SABO - Democrat
Mr. PALLONE - Democrat
Mr. SERRANO - Democrat

Despite most of them being Dems, what little response this generated has come mainly from the left, and it's been negative. As of this date, the bill is in the Subcommittee on the Constitution.

Posted at 03:43 PM | Comments (2)

An in-person interview with Salam Pax

This report from Iraq purports to have an interview with the actual Salam Pax. [Free subscription required.] I didn't bother to subscribe, since I don't really give a fsck about Mr. Pax, I'm just passing it along.

Note that Salam Pax is supposedly working with Marla Ruzicka's CIVIC organization.

UPDATE: Actually, Tekka is not free, a subscription costs $50. I'll let a blogger who gives a fsck pay it instead.

Posted at 02:06 PM | Comments (1)

"CIA convinced truck-trailers held bioweapons labs"

According to this:

Two truck-trailers found in Iraq were "ingeniously simple" mobile biological weapons factories, with other as-yet-undiscovered trailers holding the end of the production chain, the CIA said on Wednesday.

No trace of biological weapons has been found in either of the trailers, but there is little question they were constructed to make such toxins as anthrax and botulinin in quantities that potentially could kill thousands of people, U.S. intelligence officials said in telephone conference called to discuss a new report by the CIA and Defense Intelligence Agency.

"Our experts who are in the field right now ... have said this is an ingenious, unique and Iraqi design, not the way anyone else would have manufactured biological agent," one official said. "It's probably not how you would want to design a biological weapon. It was designed to evade inspection, not to be efficient."

Posted at 12:31 PM | Comments (1)

Shouldn't we have done this before?

From Drudge comes "U.S. Asks Experts to Survey Iraqi Labs":

The United States is inviting a group of international experts to inspect two mobile labs suspected of being used by Iraq as biological weapons facilities... Outside confirmation could help legitimize one of the Bush administration's main reasons for going to war.

Well, duh. What many in the administration and many of my fellow righties fail to understand that it's not enough to just believe that those Cheezy Wacky O's you're selling are the best snack food since sliced bread, you need to make other people understand that as well.

And, you need to do that before the Crunchy Corn Thing-O's people have already tied up the market.

In other words, we should have had this team ready to go, and we should have used the presence of the team to call people's bluffs well before the 'There's no WMDs in Iraq' meme had oozed itself across the blogosphere as well as "reputable" journalism. We were going to find WMDs in Iraq, and we will find more in the future. Now, we need to turn back the tide with any confirming reports.

Posted at 05:22 PM | Comments (0)

BBC- and Sheer-bashing in one convenient post

Insty has several links concerning the Beeb's apparently fake charges involving the Jessica Lynch rescue. Robert Scheer takes a bashing along with the Beeb.

Posted at 04:42 PM | Comments (0)

Welcome to the Lonewacko movement

A while back, I sent an email to an OB (see the previous entry) in which I listed a few of the things I found wrong with our Iraq efforts. He hasn't written much about similar topics - too busy with the Blair scandal and welfare reform I guess - but it's good to see that a few other non-lefties are finally starting to pay attention to our problems. HereticalIdeas has a post here, and Hit & Run has one here.

My issues involve: failing to shut down Iraqi TV and provide a substitute, failing to stop looting of not just the museums and the libraries but the Mukhabarat files and nuclear materials, too few number of Arabic speakers, and a general Rumsfeldian disregard for hearts, minds, and other touchy-feely things that most people actually seem to care a bit about.

Welcome to the movement.

Posted at 02:26 PM | Comments (0)

What a bunch of whiners

Nightline just had a segment on the "hardships" that two families in Baghdad are having to endure.

The first was a lower-middle or working class family of seven who spent most of the day in their two-room apartment. They were afraid to go outside. One member said that under Saddam, they could leave their door open, and if they needed help, they'd just call for the cops and they'd come running.

The other was an upper-middle class family, the pater familias of which was a retired military officer. They had no cooking gas, so they were forced to cook over a small diesel campstove.

The ABC reporter didn't ask them, like, there's at least no more death squads, now are there? It probably wouldn't have done much good, as both families might be planted with Ba'ath party connections.

In any case, get a fucking grip and stop whining.

Posted at 10:57 PM | Comments (0)

"Iraqi prostitutes back on the streets after Saddam"

From "Iraqi prostitutes back on the streets after Saddam":

Media restrictions meant Iraqis heard about the executions [of prostitutes by Iraq in 1999] only by word of mouth, and estimates vary on how many people were killed -- from dozens to hundreds.

Still, most agree on the cause of the crackdown -- foreign pornographic videos of Iraqi prostitutes wrapped in the black, white and red national flag, and, according to many versions, dancing on a portrait of Saddam.

This very good Frontline episode dealt with some of these beheadings.

(I'd also like to see the video, but considering the circumstances, I'll stay away from treating this like a funny story.)

Posted at 01:15 PM | Comments (1)

Oh, so that explains it!

In "I sweet-talked my way into dreaded intelligence HQ," Telegraph UK reporter "Inigo Gilmore describes how he gained access to documents in the complex that most Iraqis under Saddam were desperate to avoid."

So, the "slumbering" guards just let him in, and then let him come right back out without searching his bags?

OK.

Posted at 03:44 PM | Comments (0)

"Going It Alone, U.S. Upsets France"

From this:

France is undertaking an active campaign to strengthen multilateral institutions as part of an effort to define the United States' potential for unilateral action as one of the world's great worries. It is, in effect, an attempt to limit American power and to convince other countries that they should work together to contain it.
The French initiative has come into focus over the last three months through statements by President Jacques Chirac, Prime Minister Lionel Jospin and Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine. One or the other has asserted that a new American unilateralism has come to life, that it is unacceptable and that France will offer the General Assembly of the United Nations a set of principles for building a new international order ''excluding unilateral temptations and leading to shared management of global risks and threats.''

Oh, by the way, the article is from February of 1999.

Posted at 03:26 PM | Comments (0)

"Saddam's Cash"

This article discusses European and Arab journalists who might have received bribes from Saddam. It includes mentions of "Baghdad" Bonior and a contribution made to U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott by a supposed Saddam supporter.

Posted at 03:23 PM | Comments (0)

"The proof that Saddam worked with bin Laden"

This article discusses a three-page memo showing that Iraq wanted to establish a relationship with bin Laden in March 1998. The memo was found at the bombed-out Mukhabarat headquarters in Baghdad.

See this post and this article for more on the AQ-Iraq connection.

It's awfully convenient how the Telegraph keeps finding these documents that one would think the U.S. would have already picked up. That doesn't mean the memo isn't accurate, it's just something to keep in mind.

Posted at 05:47 PM | Comments (0)

"Troops were told to guard treasures"

From this:

In a memo sent two weeks before the fall of Baghdad, the Pentagon office charged with rebuilding Iraq urged top commanders of U.S. ground forces to protect the Iraqi National Museum and other cultural sites from looters.

"Coalition forces must secure these facilities in order to prevent looting and the resulting irreparable loss of cultural treasures," says the March 26 memo, a copy of which was obtained by The Washington Times.

The Pentagon's Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance (ORHA), led by retired Lt. Gen. Jay Garner, sent the five-page memo to senior commanders at the Coalition Forces Land Component Command (CFLCC)...

The museum was No. 2 on a list of 16 sites that ORHA deemed crucial to protect. Financial institutions topped the list, including the Iraqi Central Bank, which is now a burned-out shell filled with twisted metal beams from the collapse of the roof and all nine floors under it.

Via Kaus, although I originally saw this at command-post in a report attributed to AFP, for which reason it was discounted.

Posted at 12:14 AM | Comments (1)

"Illicit Arms Kept Till Eve of War, an Iraqi Scientist Is Said to Assert"

From this:

A scientist who claims to have worked in Iraq's chemical weapons program for more than a decade has told an American military team that Iraq destroyed chemical weapons and biological warfare equipment only days before the war began, members of the team said.

They said the scientist led Americans to a supply of material that proved to be the building blocks of illegal weapons, which he claimed to have buried as evidence of Iraq's illicit weapons programs.

The scientist also told American weapons experts that Iraq had secretly sent unconventional weapons and technology to Syria, starting in the mid-1990's, and that more recently Iraq was cooperating with Al Qaeda, the military officials said...

Under the terms of her accreditation to report on the activities of MET Alpha, this reporter was not permitted to interview the scientist or visit his home. Nor was she permitted to write about the discovery of the scientist for three days, and the copy was then submitted for a check by military officials...

While this reporter could not interview the scientist, she was permitted to see him from a distance at the sites where he said that material from the arms program was buried.

I like Judy Miller (and not just cuz she's purdy), but I'm somewhat skeptical of this story. Let us know when you see the scientist at closer than bigfoot-spotting range.

Posted at 12:09 AM | Comments (0)

"We laugh, but in a way the hillbilly has a point"

DERBYSHIRE ALERT!
DERBYSHIRE ALERT!

Derb's latest: "Churning: Rethinking the Iraqi National Museum" attempts to explain away the looting at he museum. See, those antiquities didn't really belong to the current Iraqis. And, the Iraqis aren't really in a place to take care of them properly. No, their proper stewardship is with rich non-Iraqi collectors:

In what sense do these ancient artifacts belong to Iraq’s heritage? The nation of Iraq has only existed since 1932. Prior to that, the “land of the two rivers” was a British colony. Before that, it belonged to the Ottoman Empire. Heading backwards through time beyond that, it belonged to the White Sheep Turks, the Black Sheep Turks, the Timurids (another variety of Turk), the Mongols, the Abassids (Arabs), the Seljuks (more Turks), the Buwayhids (Persians), the Abbasids again, the Umayyads (more Arabs), the Sassanids (Persian), the Arsacids (Parthian), the Seleucids (Macedonian-Greek), the Persians again, the Babylonians, the Assyrians, the Aramaeans, the Elamites, the Kassites, the Amorites, the Akkadians, and the Sumerians.

That’s a considerable amount of churning. The ethnic and linguistic connections between, on the one hand, modern Iraqis, and on the other, the people of Babylon, Nimrod, Nineveh, and Ur, are tenuous, to say the least of it. In the case of the Sumerians, they are probably nonexistent. We know the ancient Sumerian language well — can even sing songs in it. It has no relationship whatever with any other known tongue...

So it will be with the Iraqi collection. Saddam Hussein owned this treasure trove for a while. He was hardly a fit person, though, and the pieces have now been scattered to new owners. I suppose that by the vagaries of fate, some will be lost or destroyed, but I am sure most will surface again in the slow churning of time. Time, after all, is what 5,000-year-old objects have plenty of.

Of course, there's that tiny matter of the interregnum where we should have protected the museum and the libraries, but whatever. Next week: Derb explains the Elgin Marbles.

Posted at 07:03 PM | Comments (0)

"Children haunted by Iraq war"

From this:

Stockholm - They may be thousands of kilometres away from the fighting in Iraq, but children in Sweden are haunted by a war which stokes their worst fears about the world they live in, psychologists fielding calls on a war hotline said.

"The global state of affairs affects children as individuals. If parents in Iraq don't have the ability to protect their children, to stop this violence, then it can come to anybody," Sevil Bremer, psychologist at the Save the Children crisis centre in Stockholm, told AFP...

"How many children have died? What happens to the wounded? Is there enough medicine? What if Saddam is not found? Those are the questions we expect to get now," said Bremer, who added that one child had wanted to know "whether Syria will be next".

Hopefully, Sven, they will be. (I guess Swedish children are better at geography, or the child was from Syria.)

Posted at 07:32 PM | Comments (4)

Boy must their faces be red!

Top secret documents obtained by The Telegraph in Baghdad show that Russia provided Saddam Hussein's regime with wide-ranging assistance in the months leading up to the war, including intelligence on private conversations between Tony Blair and other Western leaders.

Moscow also provided Saddam with lists of assassins available for "hits" in the West and details of arms deals to neighbouring countries. The two countries also signed agreements to share intelligence, help each other to "obtain" visas for agents to go to other countries and to exchange information on the activities of Osama bin Laden...

Another document, dated March 12, 2002, appears to confirm that Saddam had developed, or was developing nuclear weapons. The Russians warned Baghdad that if it refused to comply with the United Nations then that would give the United States "a cause to destroy any nuclear weapons..."

Related to this and the preceding message is this quote:

One Russian protester's banner showed a photograph of Bush with the words: "Butcher: Get out of other people's lands."

Posted at 07:04 PM | Comments (0)

"Say 2 gazillion Our Fathers and 4 bazillion Hail Marys"

Before clicking this link, try to guess who is Mr. X in this flashback to February 15, 2003:

ASSISI, Italy (Reuters) - While millions demonstrate around the world against war in Iraq, Mr. X has held his own protest by praying silently before the tomb of St Francis, the patron of peace.

Mr. X travelled to this Umbrian hill city of light pink stone far from the rallies.

"The people of Iraq want peace and millions of people around the world are demonstrating for peace, so let us all work for peace and resist the war," he said on Saturday in front of one of the world's most famous religious shrines.

Minutes earlier, Mr. X committed himself to peace in front of the simple grey stone tomb where the 13th century saint whose name is synonymous with peace is buried.

Signing the basilica's guest book on the altar within inches of the tomb, he wrote in English: "May God the almighty grant peace to the people of Iraq and of the whole world. Amen."

Mr. X, wearing a dark overcoat against the chill and damp of the underground tomb, knelt for a few minutes in silent prayer as the city's bishop denounced war, terrorism and weapons of mass destruction.

"We are convinced that wars have never resolved the problems of humanity," Bishop Sergio Goretti told Mr. X.

"They have always left a frightening wake of suffering. We condemn every form of terrorism, which is the new worrying plague of humanity, as well as building the devastating weapons of destruction," he told Mr. X.

So, who is Mr. X? Why, none other than "President Saddam Hussein's right-hand man... Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz, Iraq's most prominent Christian."

According to "European protesters fill cities":

The rallies offered a boost to Iraq's own cause. Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz, in the Italian city of Assisi to pray at the tomb of St. Francis, said: "This is a day all good women and men in the world will show the protest against the war of George W. Bush," he told Reuters. "Our hearts are with them."

Posted at 10:35 AM | Comments (0)

"Bush and Blair trumpet new Iraqi TV"

According to this:

LONDON: America and Britain say they have launched a new TV service into Iraq with special messages from George W. Bush and Tony Blair -- but it was not clear if any Iraqis had actually heard it.

Moving their propaganda strategy into high gear as the war entered its endgame, London and Washington on Thursday said a new Arabic TV network called Nahwa Al-Hurrieh or "Towards Freedom" would begin broadcasting into Iraq during the afternoon there.

London said the station would broadcast for one hour a day from a U.S. Air Force plane flying over the country, providing news and "coalition public service announcements".

But with Iraqi state television off the air since Tuesday and power cut in most of Baghdad, Reuters correspondents on the ground could not find anyone who had heard it.

The Bush-Blair messages were intended to reassure ordinary Iraqis of their intentions and hasten the full collapse of Iraqi president Saddam's power structure.

I've been ranting for a few weeks about our inability to use TV messages. It's good to see that we finally got a clue. But, these messages should include Iraqis, Arab speakers, or at least Arab-Americans. Like Gen. Abizaid and Fouad Ajami (search for 'ajami' here).

Posted at 01:04 PM | Comments (0)

"Marines hold nuclear site"

This article has more information on a camp belonging to the Iraqi Atomic Energy Commission. It offers an object lesson on why inspections were doomed to fail: the bad parts of the camp were underground, and the inspectors never visited those parts.

Posted at 01:54 PM | Comments (0)

"The Iraqi 'Quagmire' In Quotes"

Collection of quagmire quotes here.

Posted at 01:06 PM | Comments (0)

We will grill them on our fingers like the criminal mafia western colonizer dogs that they and their Al Capone gang lackeys are!

"I've got a wild theory about Sahaf. Think COINTELPRO." - me, 2:19PM Pacific here.

Think about it, it makes sense. He's (AFAIK) the most western of all the upper leaders of Iraq. Even the Arab world is realizing his over the top, incredible ramblings for what they are. So, maybe he's working for us. Making Baghdad look bad, discrediting Saddam's regime one mafia reference at a time.

And, according to this rampant speculation, one person on the inside didn't attend what might have been Saddam's last meeting, and might have sold him out...

Posted at 07:52 PM | Comments (0)

IT'S ALL ABOUT THE OOOIIILLLL!!!!

Insty points to this Michael Barone article which proposes an Alaskan-oil-revenues type plan for the people of Iraq. Which is great. But, all I could think about as I read it was, "how much could I skim off the top if I were the one in charge of it?" Not that I or those in charge would, just something to tuck away in the far recesses of your mind.

Posted at 01:02 PM | Comments (0)

NPR: U.S. Finds Missiles with Chemical Weapons

Just in case you haven't heard:

U.S. forces near Baghdad found a weapons cache of around 20 medium-range missiles equipped with potent chemical weapons, the U.S. news station National Public Radio reported on Monday.

NPR, which attributed the report to a top official with the 1st Marine Division, said the rockets, BM-21 missiles, were equipped with sarin and mustard gas and were "ready to fire." It quoted the source as saying new U.S. intelligence data showed the chemicals were "not just trace elements."

Posted at 12:53 PM | Comments (0)

"Iraq Camp Used to Train Foreign Terrorists, U.S. Says"

According to this:

The U.S. military said on Sunday it had captured or killed fighters from Sudan, Egypt and other countries in Iraq, and some of those captured had led it to a terrorist training camp.

Brig. Gen. Vincent Brooks told a briefing at Central Command in Qatar that the camp, found at Salman Pak southeast of Baghdad, demonstrated "a linkage between this regime and terrorism." But he said there was nothing to tie the camp to specific organizations.

Someone must be a bit confused, because Salman Pak has been known about for a long time.

Posted at 03:18 PM | Comments (0)

FLASH: SADDAM IS ALIVE AND OUTSIDE IRAQ AND THE U.S. KNOWS IT

According to the wacky theory discussed here, "Saddam is alive but no longer in Iraq and our Government knows it."

First of all, consider the source, one of which is a leftie blog I won't name and the other of which is none other than the 100% reliable DebkaFile.

Let's say SH is gone. If we know it, why won't we release that information? Did we help him get out of the country and agreed to keep it a secret? Or, did we not help, but we've decided to keep it a secret for our own goals?

If the former, would we have agreed to such a plan? And, what of the wacky Iraqi leadership still in Iraq? Certainly they would know if SH is gone: there must be some means of communication directly between SH and the upper levels of Baghdad. If they know he's gone, are they holding on expecting to be victorious? Are they fearful of letting news out about SH's disappearnce to maintain control? That's at least somewhat plausible. If they could somehow win the war or keep territory, they could keep SH "alive" indefinitely using the doubles and recycled video. But, they have to realize, even as delusional as they appear to be, that it wouldn't work out. Why haven't they followed SH's lead and fled themselves? If SH is gone, why not, for instance, try to strike a deal with S.A. to get out of the country?

If we didn't help, what reason would we have for not releasing this information? Why don't we just bomb the Syrian resort Debka mentions? Are we intending to do a special operation to kidnap him, and we don't want to tip them off and force him further underground?

While to a certain degree this wacky theory might have some plausibility, and I haven't exhausted all possibilities in the above discussion, I think it's best to just consider the sources.

Posted at 01:37 PM | Comments (0)

Bizarre scenes from inside the bunker

When you put the threat of a spectacular attack on the airport together with yesterday's report: "FoxNews noting unconfirmed reports from within Baghdad that announcements are being made inside the city that people should walk toward the airport. Don't ask me . . ." what do you come up with?

Maybe they're going to try herding civilians towards the airport. The Fedayeen could start shooting, forcing us to shoot back... Or, they could release WMD, or have suicide bombers in the crowd, or release a huge torrent of water, or try to blow up the airport using the tunnels under it, or...

Or, it could be a diversion, or just more BS.

UPDATE: The Beeb discusses the human wave and WMD ideas.

Posted at 05:31 PM | Comments (0)

H.R.M.'s Royal Department of Mimeography

Via Command Post comes 'Blair to make personal appeal to Iraqis': "Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair will make a personal pledge to help rebuild Iraq through a leaflet to be distributed in the country... Blair's spokesperson said thousands of pamphlets, which are currently being printed, will be distributed by British troops."

J$$$$ F#$(*@$ C#$(@!, what the f#(#@ are these people thinking?

Did they get a special deal at Kinko's or something?

Let me 'splain something to you. We live in the TEEVEE age. This is no longer the 1970s. Throw away the g#$($#* mimeograph machine.

Take over the g#($#)# Iraqi TV. Broadcast to the people. Use Iraqi exiles and other Arabic speakers to get the message out. Counter the constantly beamed pictures of the most feared man in Iraq. Of all the miscalculations in this war, whether real or invented, the PR effort was definitely real and defininetly the worst. Fortunately, it's not too late to get a clue.

UPDATE: In response to the first comment, I should make it clear that I'm not against leaflets, I just think that (AFAIK) all we're doing right now is leaflets and radio. I'd suggest we throw some TV into that mix as well. And internet too, if that's possible. Certainly, some people are illiterate, some don't have power, etc. etc. However, I think we should use all available media to get our message out.

I'm not familiar with TV technology, but I'd imagine that Iraqi TVs are able to get several different VHF and UHF frequencies. If we can't replace Iraqi TV, at least we can broadcast on unused frequencies. Perhaps Gen. Abizaid could make an appearance on TV as well.

Posted at 12:58 PM |