Charade<http://tarafits.blogspot.com/2010/09/end-of-combat-mission-in-iraq-another.html>
**
*After Sovereignty Transfer and Mission Accomplished!*
* **Operation Iraqi Freedom – A Great Criminal Misadventure *
* *
*"History is but glorification of murderers, criminals and robbers." - *Karl
Popper
*"On February 15, 2003, a month before the US invasion of Iraq, probably the
largest protest in human history, between six and ten million protesters
took to the streets of some 800 cities in nearly sixty countries across the
globe" *William Blum*. *
*The war in Iraq is a historic strategic and moral calamity undertaken under
false assumptions – undermining America's global legitimacy – collateral
civilian casualties, – abuses, – tarnishing America's moral credentials.
Driven by Manichean impulses and imperial hubris, it is intensifying
regional instability."* Zbigniew Brzezinski, National Security Adviser to US
President Jimmy Carter.
*" The limits of American military power have been laid bare in the killing
fields of Iraq; Iran has been transformed into the pre-eminent regional
power; --- a resurgent Taliban is leading an increasingly effective
guerrilla war in Afghanistan; and far from crushing terror networks, the US
and its allies have spread them to Pakistan--- Pakistan is being ripped
apart by the fallout from the Afghan occupation. If the US escalates, the
impact will be devastating-- The country now shows every sign of slipping
out of the control of its dysfunctional civilian government - and even the
military that has held it together for 60 years, " Seumas Milne in The
Guardian *
*"The west is leaving Iraq in a pool of blood, dust and dollars. It remains
wedded to Iraq's twin sister in folly, Afghanistan,"* Simon Jenkins in the
Guardian
*"When there is a general change of conditions, it is as if the entire
creation had been changed and the whole world been altered." - Ibn Khaldun *
*New American Century Project Ends in a Catastrophe *
President Barack Obama in his 18 minute address to the US people on 31
August, 2010 on the so called 'End of Combat Mission' in Iraq , said ,"This
milestone should serve as a reminder to all Americans that our future is
ours to shape if we move forward with confidence and commitment. It should
also serve as a message to the world that the United States of America
intends to sustain and strengthen our leadership in this young century"
He also admitted "From this desk, seven and a half years ago, President Bush
announced the beginning of military operations in Iraq. Much has changed
since that night. A war to disarm a state became a fight against an
insurgency. Terrorism and sectarian warfare threatened to tear Iraq apart.
Thousands of Americans gave their lives; tens of thousands have been
wounded. Our relations abroad were strained. Our unity at home was tested."
Looking positively, some observers feel that his speech and the promised
withdrawal , indicated Obama's intention to start withdrawing troops next
year from the unwinnable and an increasingly costly war in Afghanistan too.
It is also a message to his supporters that he is not going to be prodded by
the generals and at some point he will be in a position to say the Afghan
war is over too. Defense Secretary Robert Gates ,General David *Petraeus *and
others continue to make noises that the withdrawal date for Afghanistan in
not dead line .But Obama has clipped the general's wings by demoting him to
the present post thus putting a damper on his presidential ambitions. It is
also a message to the American people as a whole, who are tired and fed up
of the two long wars and more being planned against Iran and Yemen.
Apart from 50,000 US troops still in their bases inside Iraq , there are
perhaps 50,000 mercenaries, and as some have suggested another 100,000
"advisors" , with the Baghdad Embassy , being the largest anywhere . Last
month, the Congressional Research Service reported that the Department of
Defense workforce has 19 percent more contractors (207,600) than uniformed
personnel ... in Iraq and Afghanistan, making these wars ... the most
outsourced and privatized in US history. Worse, the oversight of contractors
will rest with other contractors. Their lawless conduct has been well
documented.
*Equipment and Bases***
By the end of August 2010, U.S. Forces were to reduce the total number of
equipment in Iraq from 3.4 million pieces in January 2009 to a total of 1.2
million pieces .The drawdown is the largest operation, since the build-up
for World War II. Most of the troops and equipment are being transported out
of Iraq through Kuwait, although Jordan and Turkey are also permitting
transit.
As part of the drawdown in Iraq, U.S. forces are also closing or
transferring military bases in Iraq. In June 2009, U.S. Forces occupied 357
bases and were expected to reduce that number to 94 bases by the end of
August.
Writing recently in Al Hayat , close to US ally the Saudis , Mostafa Zein in
a piece titled 'Mission Accomplished ' referring to Obama's decision points
out that if one were to look at the map of fleets deployed in the oceans,
and at land bases in the Gulf and in Turkey, one could say, without taking
much risk, that such a withdrawal will be a mere redeployment, after the
mission has been accomplished .It is rather to break up Iraq into reconciled
microstates. Thus Washington has achieved in turning the Iraqi people into
quarrelling sectarian communities that struggle for power- their political
frames of reference are not Iraqi, but like Lebanese sectarian communities—
* "This is the way the world ends. Not with a bang but a whimper," T.S.
Eliot in "Hollow Men." *
And so too did end the US Operation Iraqi Freedom !, undertaken with false
accusations and contrary to the view of the UNSC and the will of the
international community begun by George W. Bush and Dick Cheney along with
poodle British PM Tony Blair in March, 2003 with promises by CIA and MIV
asset Ahmet Chalabi that US troops would be garlanded and greeted as
liberators by exultant Iraqis.
US Senate was told that Iraq's Scuds ( really duds , which the author saw
flying from Iraq towards Israel in 1991 with the Patriot Missiles mostly
failing to destroy them .Still despite tens of billions spent on the missile
defense , its efficacy is doubtful ) could attack the US forces with
biological or chemical weapons. All the accusations about WMDs and Iraq's
nuclear bomb project , links with Al Qaeda were false, abinitio .Twice Blair
was told in media conferences in Moscow that these claims were unreliable .
Chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix said in March 2003 that progress had
been made in inspections, and no evidence of WMDs had been found.
In October 2002 even former President Bill Clinton warned against
pre-emptive military action against Iraq, however well-justified. It may
come back with unwelcome consequences in the future. On January 20, 2003,
French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin declared "we believe that
military intervention would be the worst solution." Germany, Russia, China
and others too were opposed to the illegal invasion.
Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz told Congress that the US troop
strength would be down to about a division, some 25,000 men, by fall of
2003. Even in September of 2010, after the mayhem , slaughter and nearly
trillion dollars later, there will be twice that number plus mercenaries and
advisers. The Congress was assured that the job would cots over hundred
billion dollars and Iraqi oil would pay for it .This was the real reason for
the occupation as admitted by Wolfowitz soon after the invasion and former
Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan recently . In February 2003, the
U.S. Army's top general, Eric Shinseki told the Senate Armed Services
Committee that it would take "several hundred thousand soldiers" to secure
Iraq .He was laughed off by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz
and soon after sent packing .
*The Resistance in Iraq. *
*Despite energetic efforts, under western occupation, production of oil –
Iraq's major product – is still below its pre-invasion level. The resistance
and non-cooperation of Iraqis have seen to that** *
It was quite clear that keeping in view Iraqis resistance to the British
occupation of Iraq begun under Sir Percy Cox after WWI, Iraqis will rise and
resist occupation and not submit like Germans and the Japanese after WWII as
most Western commentators said after the invasion .This erroneous view was
challenged by* *January 2004 piece;* **Occupation case studies: Algeria and
Turkey** *www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/FA07Ak01.html
Commented a very popular syndicated US columnist Tom Engelhardt (of
TomDespatch)**
"Of course, what analogies you choose are going to depend on where you
happen to stand. If you are a former Indian ambassador to Turkey, as is K.
Gajendra Singh, then quite different analogies may come to mind (Occupation
case studies: Algeria and
Turkey<http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/FA07Ak01.html>):
"After Vietnam and Afghanistan, the Middle East is the new American West.
The US administration, scared of Islamic fundamentalism and religious
fanatics, has yet to evolve a coherent policy to counter it. But it is
turning occupied Iraq into an oligarchy of crony capitalism, after an
ill-advised and illegal war on Iraq, set off and egged on by Christian
fundamentalists at the core of the administration
"In an era of nation states based on patriotism and shared history, people
just hate occupying powers. While Vietnam's example and its people's fight
for freedom and making it a quagmire for US forces has been talked about,
Iraq's comparison with post World War II Germany and Japan shows little
historic understanding. The ground situation and the evolution of the war
for independence in Muslim, Arab, and till now secular Iraq , is closer to
the wars of independence in Algeria and Turkey. "
* 'Surge' and Reconciliation *
The "national reconciliation" that was achieved by General Petraeus' vaunted
"surge" tactics in 2007 and 2008 has in fact not taken place, and both
ethnic and sectarian tensions that brought the country to the brink of
all-out civil war remain to be resolved. In the week before the end of the
combat mission al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia pulled off more than a dozen
coordinated attacks across the country, killing more than 50 people.
"Extensive research on inter-communal civil wars - wars like Iraq's - finds
a dangerous propensity toward recidivism," warned Kenneth Pollack, an expert
and former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) analyst who supported the 2003
invasion .He said last week. "[T]he fear, anger, greed and desire for
revenge that helped propel Iraq into civil war in the first place remain
just beneath the surface."{Soon after entering Baghdad special US forces
gave addresses of Saddam Hussein's senior Baath Party office holders to
Shias looking for revenge.US and British special forces carried out attacks
in Iraq to create hatred for revenge between Sunnis and Shias.)
*They're** leaving as heroes !!*
The US units left Iraq, fleeing in the night, over the border to Kuwait
somewhat like the British in September 2007.The British troops had entered
Iraq flying the St George's flag on their vehicles (the Crusaders' flag) had
slithered out of Basra city, under cover of darkness, to the fortified
airport and flight home .
"They're leaving as heroes. I want them to walk home with pride in their
hearts," declared Col. John Norris, the head of a US Army brigade in Iraq.
*Commented historian William Blum in ICH.info*
"It's enough to bring tears to the eyes of an American, enough to make him
choke up.
"Enough to make him forget .
"But no American should be allowed to forget that the nation of Iraq, the
society of Iraq, have been destroyed, ruined, a failed state. The Americans,
beginning 1991, bombed for 12 years, with one excuse or another; then
invaded, then occupied, overthrew the government, killed wantonly, tortured
... the people of that unhappy land have lost everything — their homes,
their schools, their electricity, their clean water, their environment,
their neighborhoods, their mosques, their archaeology, their jobs, their
careers, their professionals, their state-run enterprises, their physical
health, their mental health, their health care, their welfare state, their
women's rights, their religious tolerance, their safety, their security,
their children, their parents, their past, their present, their future,
their lives ... More than half the population either dead, wounded,
traumatized, in prison, internally displaced, or in foreign exile ... The
air, soil, water, blood and genes drenched with depleted uranium ... the
most awful birth defects ... unexploded cluster bombs lie in wait for
children to pick them up ... an army of young Islamic men went to Iraq to
fight the American invaders; they left the country more militant, hardened
by war, to spread across the Middle East, Europe and Central Asia ... a
river of blood runs alongside the Euphrates and Tigris ... through a country
that may never be put back together again.
"It is a common refrain among war-weary Iraqis that things were better
before the U.S.-led invasion in 2003," reported the *Washington Post* on May
5, 2007.[ It is now 2010 and much worse]
"No matter ... drum roll, please ... Stand tall American GI hero! And don't
even *think* of ever apologizing. Iraq is forced by the United States to
continue paying reparations for its own invasion of Kuwait in 1990. How much
will the American heroes pay the people of Iraq?"
This so called withdrawal of US combat troops end August is no different
than earlier charades like
* "Mission Accomplished" and an end to combat operations in Iraq in May,
2003!*
President Bush landed aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln on 1 May 2003 in the
co-pilot's seat of a Navy S-3B Viking wearing a green flight suit and
holding a white helmet. Above him, the tower was adorned with a big sign
that read, "Mission Accomplished."
He said later "Your courage -- your willingness to face danger for your
country and for each other -- made this day possible," according to excerpts
of the Bush speech released in advance. "The transition from dictatorship to
democracy will take time but it is worth every effort. Our coalition will
stay until our work is done."
Five years later in Washington on 1May , 2008 Dem Senator Jim Web said;
"This is the fifth anniversary of the day that President Bush arrived on an
aircraft carrier in a flight suit and declared 'mission accomplished.' And
in an ironic way, I think it can be said, when you look at the historic way
that we use our military, that the Iraq war was over five years ago, in
classical terms. And what began was a very contentious occupation that
placed our military in what classically we would call a holding position,
totally dependent on the ability of the political process to reach the type
of solution that would allow this occupation to end"
*Or the transfer of sovereignty to Iraq in June ,2004 *
*Dropping the sovereignty baton* 4 June,2004, By K Gajendra Singh
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/FF02Ak06.html
Caught in a quagmire of its own making, the administration of US President
George W Bush is now looking for ways and means to quit Iraq, and wants
someone reliable to whom Iraq's "sovereignty" can be handed on June 30,
because polls indicate that 64 percent of Americans believe that Bush has no
clear plans for Iraq. The sovereignty timetable remains driven by the US
electoral calendar and growing Iraqi impatience with a deeply unpopular
occupation. Thus the June 30 date was fixed last November, so that the US
electorate could be told that the mission in Iraq - whatever it was - had
been accomplished.
*Cost of Invasion in lives and money *
* *
According to the reputed informationclearinghouse.info website
Number Of Iraqis Slaughtered In US War And Occupation Of Iraq "1,366,350 "
Number of U.S. Military Personnel Sacrificed (Officially acknowledged) In
U.S. War And Occupation Of Iraq4 735( over sixty thousand US troops injured
and maimed for life)
Cost of War in Iraq & Afghanistan $1,074,283,401,976 (for Iraq over 700
billion)
*Conditions in Iraq –a veritable hell*
The country has been looted and devastated as described above. Normal civic
services have collapsed. There are only a few hours of electric power .None
of the municipal facilities like water supply, sewage system work So
diseases are rampant, with an epidemic of mental illness, after seven years
of innocent people being killed as part of daily life. There is between 40
to 50 percent unemployment, with sprawling slums. Before the invasion, the
percentage of the urban population in slums was below 20 percent. Today, it
has risen to 53 percent: 11 million of the 19 million total urban dwellers.
In most countries the number of slum dwellers has come down.
The United States has "betrayed its duty to bring peace and security" to
Iraq, according to Chaldean Auxiliary Bishop Shlemon Warduni of Baghdad, in
an interview recently with the Italian daily *La Stampa*. The Americans
leave behind "an Iraq worse off than the one they found seven years ago,"
said Warduni, The ethnic, religious and sectional divisions were encouraged
by the occupiers as the imperialists have done in history.
The United States has "betrayed its duty to bring peace and security" to
Iraq, said Warduni, in an interview on Friday with the Italian daily *La
Stampa*. The Americans leave behind "an Iraq worse off than the one they
found seven years ago," said Warduni. In fact majority of Christians , some
of the earliest in Christian history have fled the country. I used to see
lots of them running small businesses in Bucharest (Romania)
A joker called Thomas Friedman wrote in his New York Times column in
November , 2003 that US had undertaken a noble mission to promote democracy
in Iraq. In fact George Bush had even recommended Iraq's democracy as a
model for Russia to President Vladimir Putin, who was not amused by this
absurd suggestion.
Then there is a dysfunctional parliament in Iraq elected nearly six months
ago according to a Constitution imposed by the Occupiers .It has yet to form
a government since Washington wants Iyad Allawi , a former CIA asset to be
the prime minister. Incidentally, many members of the cabinet have non-Iraqi
passports and mostly reside outside Iraq or at best in the besieged fortress
called the Green Zone in Baghdad.
*The shock and awe of the invasion was eclipsed by insurgents using IEDs. *
In an article titled 'The reckoning. Iraq's uncertain future 'pro-US English
weekly The Economist admitted that "Iraq is still under siege. The
insurgency is weakened but not defeated. Violence is down by 90% from 2007,
but al-Qaeda-affiliated groups have staged a comeback in recent months.
Officials and policemen are assassinated almost daily. The number of dead is
increasing again, to nearly 500 in July. On August 25th a series of bombs
throughout the country killed over 50 people and injured hundreds more.
"Al-Qaeda can probably keep this up for a while," says an American general.
"Instability afflicts the whole country. In the south new extremist groups
are springing up and old ones like Mr Sadr's militia, the Mahdi Army, are
reforming. In the scarred northern city of Mosul much of the battle damage
is recent. Along the dividing line between Arabs and Kurds, tension is as
high as ever. Iraq's territorial integrity is not certain. Borders are
routinely violated by aggressive neighbours.
" (Iraqi) forces are much better than they were a few years ago; buckling
under pressure is no longer a certainty. Yet even their own generals say
they are not really ready. The Iraqi army chief of staff ( he is from
Kurdistan , a US protectorate since 1991 .The caretaker PM Al Maliki shot
down any such suggestion ) wants American help until 2020. Privately,
American officers agree their job is not done. Iraqi intelligence work is
poor, extremist infiltrators are common, the air force is in its infancy,
some commanders follow nakedly political agendas and initiative in the lower
ranks is lacking, as is equipment. Prisoners are widely abused.
"It is clear that Iraqis will for many years be plagued by corruption,
insurgents, meddling neighbours, and their own stubborn politicians.
"As a sign of America's changing role in the country, the State Department
will now assume some of the responsibilities that were previously undertaken
by the Pentagon. Chief among them is the training of Iraqi policemen, a key
to keeping the peace. Consular offices will be opened across the country to
replace military bases. Since the State Department does not have its own
forces, it is hiring private gunmen. They will fly armed helicopters and
drive armoured personnel carriers on the orders of the secretary of state
long after the last American soldier has gone home. "
*The Iraq Study Group and the 'Surge' *
Did the Congress do a due diligence study before authorizing the Iraq war in
October 2002 ! In the post Fall of the Berlin Wall triumphalism ,US leaders
and media were behaved like Mongol war lords and hordes .
But faced with a full fledged civil war with Iraq slipping towards breakup
and opposition to the war in US , the Congress established on March 15, 2006
, a bipartisan Commission, the Iraq Study Group (ISG), to salvage something
from the bloody Iraqi quagmire. Some parts of the Report alluding to a
change of course were leaked before the November elections to soften the
edge off Bush's unwavering mantra of 'staying the course' , with the
President's approval ratings on the war tumbling to low 30s in US polls and
a majority demanding withdrawal of US troops . The swing against President's
Republican party was decisive, giving the Democrats majority both in the
House and the Senate,
ISG made its 142 page Report with 79 non-binding recommendations public on 6
December, 2006. The opening sentences - "the situation in Iraq is grave and
deteriorating ... there is no path that can guarantee success" – sum up the
historic and tragic dilemma.
The Report turned out to be a red herring. President Bush sent even more
troops, with more of the same. Up came the 'Surge ' and despatch of 30,000
more troops .The monster of military-industry complex in league with energy
corporate interests must be fed ,at the cost of the taxpayer .No wonder US
economy is declining rapidly .
*Flouting of International Law, Geneva and human Rights Conventions*
Bush tore up more international treaties and disregarded more UN conventions
than the rest of the world in past 20 years. The list is familiar, including
but not limited to the withdrawal from the Kyoto Protocol on global warming,
failure to ratify the Rio Pact on biodiversity, withdrawal from the
Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and the pursuit of National Missile Defense (
with its hegemony declining fast agreement was signed between Obama and
Russian President Medvedev but not on Missile Defense). US has violated the
spirit and obligations of the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. It opposes the ban on
land mines and sought to immobilize the UN convention against torture to
keep foreign observers out of its prison camp in Guantanamo Bay and hide its
treatment of al-Qaeda prisoners and other Gulags like Abu Ghraib and Bagram.
It has sabotaged the small-arms treaty and is opposed to new provisions of
the biological-warfare convention. It experiments with biological weapons of
its own and has refused chemical-weapons inspectors full access to its
laboratories. It is opposed to the International Criminal Court and coerced
other countries to sign separate agreements not to charge US citizens. It
has permitted CIA hit squads to recommence covert operations of the kind
that included, in the past, the assassination of foreign heads of state. Its
invasion of Iraq without a mandate from the UN Security Council was a
defiance of international law.
The Bush administration undermined the fragile structure of international
law and conventions built up during the past three centuries, to which the
United States made important contributions. Former President Billy Carter, a
respected elder statesman said that "formerly admired almost universally as
the pre-eminent champion of human rights, our country has become the
foremost target of respected international organizations concerned about
these basic principles of democratic life".
*.**"Would have worked through the whole lot, Iraq, Syria, Iran, dealing
with all their surrogates.... thought the world had to be made anew ... by
force and with urgency**."* Tony Blair in his recently released memoir .The
war mongers do not change
But, he adds, "on the basis of what we do know now, I still believe that
leaving Saddam in power was a bigger risk to our security than removing
him."
"I can't regret the decision to go to war," he says, although he admits that
"never did I guess the nightmare that unfolded" once Saddam was gone*.
Abu Ghraib and other Crimes *
Seymour Hersh , the well known US investigative journalist who has
methodically chipped away at United State administration's blatant lies and
spins , unveiled the torture and abuse of Iraqis at US 'Gulag' at Abu Ghraib
in Iraq ( others are at Guantamano, Bagram and also outsourced to friendly
countries ) published in January 2007 issue of New Yorker , an interview
with Major General Antonio Taguba who led the first military investigation
in 2004 into human rights abuses at Abu Ghraib prison. Gen Taguba bluntly
questioned the integrity of former Secretary of Defence, Rumsfeld,
suggesting he misled the US Congress by downplaying his own prior knowledge
of what had happened. Gen Taguba also claimed in the interview that
President Bush also "had to be aware" of the atrocities despite saying at
the time of the scandal that he had been out of the loop until he saw images
in the US media.
As usual the White House had denied it and –"the President said over three
years ago that he first saw the pictures of the abuse on the television,"
added Scott Stanzel, a spokesman.
There was little reaction in US main line media ie corporate controlled ' be
the first ' purveyors of spins and lies. Or among honourable members of the
US Congress who had sanctioned the illegal invasion of Iraq opening up the
gates of hell on hapless Iraqis. It was as if the well documented US crimes
were done by someone else .
But the culprits should have been be impeached and tried for misleading the
world and the American people . Cheney's man Friday Libby's conviction was
set aside by Bush and illegal opinions by Attorney General Alberto Gonzales
were not investigated . Verily USA has created a lawless jungle abroad and
at home too.
The New Yorker interview confirmed the details of the abuse partially known
or not known and gave it official authority . It also confirmed that the
torture was sanctioned from the top.
Another General Janis Karpinski testified that she saw a memorandum on
"Interrogation techniques" pinned to the wall by military intelligence at
Abu Ghraib, signed by Defence Secretary Rumsfeld himself. Karpinski was at
the top of the line of command of the guards - the military police - but not
the interrogators. More of the details of the war crimes at Abu Ghraib, and
of extraordinary rendition and Guantanamo, have continued to emerge .
**
*Sexual aggression is not really about sex or gender, but about power: the
powerful humiliating the powerless** .*
The General's 53-page 2004 report had found Iraqi detainees in a cellblock
of the notorious Abu Ghraib prison outside Baghdad subjected to "sadistic,
blatant, and wanton criminal abuses" at the hands of their U.S. jailers. The
abuses included sodomizing of prisoners, pouring cold water and chemicals on
naked bodies, threatening detainees with rape and dog attacks, hitting them
with chairs and broomsticks and locking them in isolation without food,
water or a toilet for three days. The report also found a virtual collapse
of the command structure in Abu Ghraib with Army reservists being urged by
military intelligence and CIA employees to "set physical and mental
conditions for favorable interrogation of witnesses."
Chairman of the Joint Cheifs of Staff Gen Richard Myers first denied the
contents to the media and gave conflicting answers . When pressed, he
claimed that he had not even read the report.
Gen Taguba noted that Rumsfeld not only denied advance knowledge, but even
denied afterwards having seen his report or knowing what had happened.
Rumsfeld testified before Congress that he had no idea of the extent of the
abuse.
"He's trying to acquit himself and a lot of people who are lying to protect
themselves," New Yorker quoted Taguba as saying, referring to Rumsfeld's
May 7, 2004 testimony in the Congress.
Taguba affirmed , "There was no doubt in my mind that this stuff"—the
explicit images—"was gravitating upward. It was standard operating procedure
to assume that this had to go higher. The President had to be aware of
this." He said that Rumsfeld, his senior aides, misrepresented in the
Congress what he ( Rumsfeld) knew about Abu Ghraib and had failed the
nation.
The photographs that became public at the time of enquiry and created
worldwide reprehension, revulsion and condemnation - showed US jailers
humiliating inmates who were naked, hooded, on leashes or piled into a human
pyramid.
Gen Taguba said that other material not yet public or mentioned in trials
included a video showing "a male American soldier in uniform sodomising a
female detainee". The first wave of images also included images of sexual
humiliation between a father and his son.
Gen Taguba also added he was ordered to limit his inquiry as he became
convinced they had a green light from higher up. "Somebody was giving them
guidance but I was legally prevented from further investigation into higher
authority. I was limited to a box." He declares , "even today ... those
civilian and military leaders responsible should be held accountable."
Gen Taguba was victimized for doing his duty and was subsequently forced to
retire early. His conclusion was that he was being punished for honest
investigation. "They always shoot the messenger." Gen Taguba was ostracised
for doing what he was asked to do which he did as an honest and upright
officer and as a decent human being .
*Fallujah *
The list of US crimes will be incomplete without its destruction of the town
of Fallujah and lasting destruction and damage on it , reminding one of Nazi
war crimes .A film Fallujah ,The Hidden Massacre brings out the war crimes
during US attacks on Fallujah, in particular use of chemical weapons
including white phosphorous ( both illegal ) and depleted Uranium munitions.
Following the November 2004 attacks over 6000 civilians were killed , "more
than half of Fallujah's 39,000 homes were damaged, and about 10,000 of those
were destroyed." According to Mike Marqusee of *Iraq Occupation Focus* along
with the homes destroyed were 60 schools and 65 mosques and shrines.
Reconstruction only progressed slowly and mainly consisted of clearing
rubble from heavily-damaged areas and reestablishing basic utility services.
In July 2010, BBC reported a study by Dr. Chris Busby, detailing increases
in infant mortality, such as a 12 fold increase in childhood cancer reported
in Fallujah since the attack. In 2004, Iraq had the world's highest rate of
leukaemia, in which significant increased were also reported. The report
also noted that the sex ratio also declined from normal to 86 boys to 100
girls, together with a spread of diseases indicative of genetic damage
similar to but far greater than HIROSHIMA
Leaders of USA, UK and other invading nations should be tried along the
lines of Nuremberg trial , since the crimes against humanity , war crimes
and flouting human rights and other conventions are similar . Private
Tribunals in Brussels, Spain ,Kuala Lumpur are trying Bush, Blair and
others.
*Author's memories of a prosperous and happy Iraq in 1977*
I recall the booming economic development, educational and technical
expansion and a general sense of optimism and well being in Baghdad and
other cities during my first ever visit to Iraq in July 1977 with the
Indo-Iraq Economic Commission. Heading the Committee on educational,
technical and cultural cooperation I was taken up by the Iraqis enthusiasm
and hurry to catch up on industrial and educational empowerment.
A secular state, there appeared no tensions between Shias, a majority and
ruling Sunni minority , who formed the bulk of the ruling Baath party .The
dominance of Sunnis was a legacy of the Sunni Ottoman empire of which Iraq
was a part till WWI. In the Iraq-Iran war to come in 1980s, Iraq's
nationalist Shia Arab soldiers fought against Shia Iran forces. The all
powerful Vice President Saddam Hussein had yet to take over the presidency
officially, an event which was accompanied by usual purges in a
authoritarian regime change.
There was an air of prosperity in Iraq following 4 fold increase in oil
prices in 1973 .People in Baghdad were well fed , well dressed and were
quite modern in outlook. For example, we went to a few clubs in Baghdad
similar to Delhi's Gymkhana Club .The number of young ladies wearing hot
pants , then coming into fashion in many countries , was higher than
Delhi's. But in the countryside , during our travels to Najaf . Kerbala and
Babylon, conservative village women wore black chadors , but were mostly
unveiled .Both men and women in general worked together in all walks of life
ie hospitals, universities , ministries and other places .
Yes ,there were still restrictions on Iraqis meeting freely with foreigners
and I was unable to meet with Brigadier Tikriti, my 1976 course mate at New
Delhi's National Defense College, although Counselor Mani Shankar Aiyar had
assured me otherwise earlier. Yes ,Mani was unhappy that apples had still
not reached the Baghdad market and while taking me home for dinner , he
suddenly braked his car , viola ,he shouted 'apples' , picked some and began
munching immediately.
I went again to Baghdad ( also to Iran and Kuwait) late 1977 to discuss
manpower requirements of Iraq and look at the Indian companies executing
projects in Iraq and the region .
Then in 1989 ,I was posted to neighbouring Amman ( Jordan) but before I
could go over to Baghdad again , misled by US ambassador April Glaspie and
State Department statement that the raging dispute between Iraq and Kuwait ,
with Iraqi forces ranged along its border with Kuwait was a bilateral affair
,a few days later on 2 August 1990 ,Saddam sent his troops to Kuwait , a
subdivision of the Basra province during Ottoman empire , over which Iraq
had maintained its claims until 1961 . I was caught up in receiving ,
housing, feeding and repatriating nearly 140,000 Indians who came over to
Amman , mostly from Kuwait but some thousands from Iraq too. The government
of India and the External Affairs Ministry was as disorganized as
preparations for Commonwealth Games in New Delhi now .Watch this space .
I could not visit Baghdad again, but the picture drawn by those who have,
breaks my heart.
I have written nearly 50 in depth online articles on the US led invasion and
occupation since August , 2002 , when US and UK leaders and the corporate
media were disseminating false stories and cheerleading attack on Iraq
.These have been translated into a dozen major languages of the world , with
many copied by up to 100 websites . These can be easily accessed at ;
http://tarafits-archives-us-war-on-iraq.blogspot.com/
*K Gajendra Singh, Indian ambassador (retired), served as ambassador to
Turkey and Azerbaijan from August 1992 to April 1996. Prior to that, he
served terms as ambassador to Jordan, Romania and Senegal. He is currently
chairman of the Foundation for Indo-Turkic Studies. Copy right with the
author *http://tarafits.blogspot.com/
--
Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear
of punishment and hope of reward after death." --
Albert Einstein !!!
http://www.scribd.com/doc/22151765/History-of-Pakistan-Army-from-1757-to-1971
http://www.scribd.com/doc/21686885/TALIBAN-WAR-IN-AFGHANISTAN
http://www.scribd.com/doc/22455178/Letters-to-Command-and-Staff-College-Quetta-Citadel-Journal
http://www.scribd.com/doc/23150027/Pakistan-Army-through-eyes-of-Pakistani-Generals
http://www.scribd.com/doc/23701412/War-of-Independence-of-1857
http://www.scribd.com/doc/22457862/Pakistan-Army-Journal-The-Citadel
http://www.scribd.com/doc/21952758/1971-India-Pakistan-War
http://www.scribd.com/doc/25171703/BOOK-REVIEWS-BY-AGHA-H-AMIN
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