It's Still the Occupation,Stupid!

Ironic or just karma? You decide!
Bush effigy burned in anti-US protest in Baghdad
Thousands of Shiite Muslims gather in central Baghdad to protest proposed US-Iraqi pact
HAMZA HENDAWI
AP News
Nov 21, 2008 08:08 EST
Followers of a Shiite cleric on Friday stomped on and burned an effigy of President George W. Bush in the same central Baghdad square where Iraqis beat a toppled statue of Saddam Hussein with their sandals five years earlier.
Chanting and waving flags, thousands of Muqtada al-Sadr's followers filled Firdous Square to protest a proposed U.S.-Iraqi security pact that would allow American troops to stay for three more years. The Bush effigy was placed on the same pedestal where U.S. Marines toppled the ousted dictator's statue in one of the iconic images of the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.
After a mass prayer, demonstrators pelted the effigy with plastic water bottles and sandals. One man hit it in the face with his sandal. The effigy fell head first into the crowd and protesters jumped on it before setting it ablaze.
Before it fell, the effigy held a sign that said: "The security agreement ... shame and humiliation." [my bold]
Iraq's parliament is expected to vote next week on the plan to keep U.S. forces in Iraq for another three years. But the noisy opposition by the Sadrists indicates that even if it is approved, the deal could remain divisive in a country struggling for reconciliation.
Opponents view the security deal as a surrender to U.S. interests despite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a Shiite, saying the pact would eventually lead to full sovereignty.
Al-Sadr, who is believed to be in Iran, was not at the protest, though he wrote a sermon read by his representative, Sheik Abdul Hadi al-Mohammadawi, calling the U.S. "the enemy of Islam."
"The government must know that it is the people who help it in the good and the bad times. If it throws the occupier out all the Iraqi people will stand by it," the sermon read, using common rhetoric for the United States.
Al-Sadr reiterated in the sermon that his followers in both the armed and the peaceful factions of his movement will continue to work for the removal of U.S. forces.
Security was tight for the demonstration, with the area closed to traffic and heavily guarded by Iraqi soldiers in Humvees. Army snipers took positions on top of buildings [just like protests here is the FREE USA!] overlooking the square. The Sadrists also provided their own security, searching worshippers as they approached the square.
The protesters included two Sunni clerics. [my bold] Many arrived at the square on foot or by bus and carried prayer rugs, pieces of cardboard or newspapers for the mass prayer.
They waved Iraqi flags and green Shiite banners, chanting, "No, no to the American agreement!" and, "No, no to the agreement of humiliation!"
The Cabinet has approved the agreement, meaning it stands a good chance of passage in the 275-seat parliament where the government's parties dominate. But for al-Maliki's Dawa party and the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, its senior government partner, the margin of support is almost as important as the victory itself. A narrow vote for approval will cast doubt on the legitimacy of the new terms governing the U.S. troop presence.
Al-Sadr's followers and other legislators opposed to the pact also try to could use the narrow vote to turn their anti-American message into a defining issue in provincial elections on Jan. 31 and general elections late in 2009.
If the agreement passes the legislature, it will go to the president and his two deputies for ratification. Each one has veto power.
Source: AP News
http://wiredispatch.com/news/?id=461925

Be Part of World Tibet Day

Dear friend:
Once again World Tibet Day is approaching. As you are aware, July 6, the birthday of His Holiness the Dalai Lama is observed as World Tibet Day by Tibetans and their supporters worldwide.
Founded in 1998 by Richard Rosenkranz, a Pulitzer Prize nominee in history, World Tibet Day was created with three main goals: first to create an annual worldwide event to help restore essential freedoms for those living in Chinese-occupied Tibet; second to increase awareness of the genocidal threats to the Tibetan people; and third, to celebrate the unique beauty and value of Tibetan culture and thought. World Tibet Day has grown into one of the most important events on the Tibetan calendar. The event is held on July 6 . birthday of His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama.
2008 is particularly important to all of us. Like never before, the Tibetans have started their revolt against the brutal Chinese regime, whose repressive actions resulted in the deaths of more than 200 Tibetans this year, and even more significantly, which have resulted in the deaths of over one 1.2 million Tibetans since the Chinese invasion began in 1950. The Chinese government continues to suppress those who dare to express their opinions. We believe that World Tibet Day is an opportunity for those who live in free countries to show their solidarity with the six million Tibetans living under military rule.
We are asking you and/or your organisation to join us in observing July 6 (Sunday) as World Tibet Day in your locality/country. Please send us a small note at: info@worldtibetday.org on what you plan to do on this day.
Please go to our website (www.worldtibetday.org) for helpful ideas on staging the event, and for a Message on WTD from HH the Dalai Lama.
Thank you.
Team World Tibet Day
http://www.worldtibetday.org/message.html
Click on the message to enlarge a message from His Holiness, the Dalai Lama:

http://www.worldtibetday.org/message.html

Iraq Town Hall Meeting Will Be Web Cast!

Every participant in this event has valuable information to share. I urge you to log in or if you're in Neu Yawk, get to Town Hall in NYC!

True Crimes
The Untold Story Behind the Devastation of Iraq
June 3, 2008

LIVE WEBCAST!

7:00 PM

On June 3, 2008, join bestselling author JEREMY SCAHILL, Pulitzer Prize-winning writer
CHRIS HEDGES, journalist LAILA AL-ARIAN, and the New Yorker's SEYMOUR HERSH, as they go behind the headlines to tell the untold story of the occupation of Iraq, the daily plight of Iraqi civilians, and the ongoing role of private mercenaries in America's "War on Terror."
The event is a dual book launch for COLLATERAL DAMAGE: AMERICA'S WAR AGAINST IRAQI CIVILIANS by Chris Hedges and Laila Al-Arian, and the updated paperback edition of BLACKWATER: THE RISE OF THE WORLD'S MOST POWERFUL MERCENARY ARMY by Jeremy Scahill.
The conversation will be followed by audience questions and a book signing.
Tickets are available for the event at the Town Hall Box Office, 123 W. 43rd St., New York City (www.the-townhall-nyc.org / 212-997-6661) or at Ticketmaster (212-307-4100/ www.ticketmaster.com)
Cosponsored by The Nation, Public Concern Foundation, Democracy Now!, The Indypendent, CERSC, Democrats.com, Peace Action New York, Alternet, Tricycle, The Armenian National Committee, Center for Constitutional Rights, and Veterans for Common Sense.
http://ccrjustice.org/live-webcast-true-crimes

What Are They Fighting For?

The ever wonderful Chris Floyd points out the decrepitude of "rules of engagement" during war.
Shoot, Kill, Lie, Repeat: America's New Moral Universe
Written by Chris Floyd Friday, 09 May 2008
Tell me that this doesn't sound like something out of a history of Nazi tactics in World War II:

The rules [of engagement]t explicitly allowed the killing of unarmed Iraqis under certain circumstances...Specifically, the snipers were allowed to shoot unarmed people running away from explosions or firefights....Of course, it's not unusual for innocent people to run from explosions.
Didier, who has since been promoted to captain, said that "if that individual makes contact with you and then breaks contact of their own accord and disarms themselves while they are breaking contact, they are still an engageable target because they are not wounded, nor did they surrender." He explained, "They are only breaking contact so that they can engage coalition forces at a later time." In court, Sgt. Anthony Murphy, one of the snipers who was responsible for a questionable kill, testified that he interpreted this order about breaking contact so they can engage at a later time as: "Engage fleeing local nationals without weapons."

In other words, if an innocent, unarmed Iraqi runs away to seek safety from a suicide bombing, a missile attack or a gunfight — which any human being would instinctively do — then he is fair game to be killed by an American sniper.
The excerpt above comes from a story in Salon.com, "Killing by the Numbers," about an "elite" U.S. sniper squad that murdered a captured, unarmed civilian in cold blood. A more detailed excerpt follows below, but I'd like to deal briefly with one ancillary aspect first.
The story expands to talk more generally about the sniper program in Iraq, and is careful — overly careful — to emphasize that the snipers responsible for so many "questionable kills" are operating in very stressful conditions: sleep-deprived, sweltering in deadly heat, surrounded by potential "hostiles," at constant risk of attack. All true, of course, but it prompts this simple question: What the hell are they doing there in the first place? Why are they squatting and sweltering in "hides" in a foreign land, looking to kill people who never attacked the United States?
Yes, it is entirely understandable that a soldier subjected to nerve-wracking, physically tormenting conditions might fail to act with reason, patience, judgement and prudence. But is this supposed to be some kind of excuse for crimes committed within the context of a larger crime: a war of aggression, the military invasion and occupation of a foreign country without any provocation? Surely many of the Nazi atrocities were committed by men under unbearable mental and physical strain as well. So what? Were they absolved of their crimes? And more importantly — were their leaders absolved for instigating the larger crime that engendered these atrocities?
For as the story also shows, the "questionable kills" by American snipers derive largely from the murderous "rules of engagement" they are given by their superiors — and by the anxiety of their officers to produce big "kill numbers" to appease the bloodlust — and PR needs — of the thugs in the White House and their "counterinsurgency genius," David Petraeus. [...]
A detailed recount of another two other incidences follow, but I'd rather return to the theme that people suffer in war, all people, soldiers and citizens alike.
[...] It goes without saying that the officers who put these men in this situation — not to mention the civilian "leaders" in Washington who instigated the mass murder in Iraq — suffered not the slightest adverse consequence of this crime, for which they bear the primary responsibility.
[...] When even the scapegoats escape justice, what possible hope can there be that the perpetrators and abettors of the Nazi-like war crime in Iraq will ever pay the price — or even suffer the slightest trouble — for their monstrous outrage?
http://atlanticfreepress.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3898&Itemid=81
Bravo, Chris, and write on, please!

March 19--Into the Streets

No excuses! We the people have the power to stop this war machine, but only if we put our feet in the street in great numbers and with determination to keep the pressure up until we get what we want: justice AND peace! The fifth anniversary (5 years!!!) of the USA's invasion of Iraq will be an awesome demonstration of people power--if you make it so. Like Thom Hartman says at the end of his radio shows: Democracy begins with you. Tag, you're it!

The Peoples' Peace Plan, March 15, 2008

Demonstration and Nonviolent Civil Disobedience

March 2008 -- Washington, DC
Iraq Occupation 5th Anniversary

http://www.year5.org/
Join us on Saturday, March 15th for a massive demonstration in Washington, D.C., at which we will exercise our rights to assemble and speak on behalf of the majority of Americans, the majority of Iraqis, the majority of U.S. troops, and the majority of people around the world who all say: U.S. Out of Iraq! This gathering will support the Iraq Veterans Against The War Winter Soldier Testimonial.
Organizations participating are listed below (Initial list)

In Solidarity for Peace and Justice,
> Gold Star Families for Peace > Camp Casey Peace Institute > ANSWER Coalition > CODEPINK Women For Peace > AfterDowningStreet.org > Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation > Common Ground Collective New Orleans > Hip Hop Caucus > World Can’t Wait – Drive Out The Bush Regime! > ImpeachBush.org > Cindy Sheehan and Cindy for Congress > National Council of Arab Americans > Grassroots America > Democracy Rising > Voters for Peace

SIGN ON & SUPPORT THIS CALL: http://www.year5.org/

The Embassy of Babel

Diplomats are now being drafted into this embassy. They are resisting being sent to a war zone. What's to stop our GI's? But what kills are the balls on the Kansas City architectural firm that got the juicy contract. A billions + half a year to run? Piece of cakewalk in the dizzying heat.

The new United States Embassy rises above Baghdad—one of the only projects in Iraq being completed within budget and on time. Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images.
The new American Embassy in Baghdad will be the largest, least welcoming, and most lavish embassy in the world: a $600 million massively fortified compound with 619 blast-resistant apartments and a food court fit for a shopping mall. Unfortunately, like other similarly constructed U.S. Embassies, it may already be obsolete.
The Mega-Bunker of Baghdad
William Langewiesche, Vanity Fear
November 1, 2007
That was the process that has led, now, to this—the construction of an extravagant new fortress into which a thousand American officials and their many camp followers are fleeing. The compound, which will be completed by late fall, is the largest and most expensive embassy in the world, a walled expanse the size of Vatican City, containing 21 reinforced buildings on a 104-acre site along the Tigris River, enclosed within an extension of the Green Zone which stretches toward the airport road. The new embassy cost $600 million to build, and is expected to cost another $1.2 billion a year to run—a high price even by the profligate standards of the war in Iraq. The design is the work of an architectural firm in Kansas City named Berger Devine Yaeger, which angered the State Department last May by posting its plans and drawings on the Internet, and then responding to criticism with the suggestion that Google Earth offers better views. Google Earth offers precise distance measurements and geographic coordinates too.
http://www.uruknet.de/?s1=1&p=37778&s2=02

Who Counts, Redux.

or, why not?
None Dare Call It Genocide
By Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.
Well, it's about time that we think about the numbers, even though the US military has decided that body counts are not worth their time. Opinion Research Business, a highly reputable polling firm in the UK, has just completed a detailed and rigorous survey of Iraqis. In the past, the company's results have been touted by the Bush administration whenever the data looks favorable to the US cause. But their latest report received virtually no attention in the US.
http://www.informationliberation.com/?id=23775

See my blog from Sept. 16, Who Counts? for more on this.

Declare Peace! Defund the War

Congress has the power and responsibility to end the war!

Defund the War - End the U.S. Occupation of Iraq!

Bring All the Troops Home Now!
Support A Comprehensive Peace Plan for Iraq!

Call Congress Today!

National Call-In Days to STOP FUNDING THE WAR!
EXTENDED THROUGH September 15^th

Find the phone numbers for the Washington, D.C. offices of your members of Congress at: http://www.vote-smart.org

Let us know about your calls and

the response you receive by e-mailing

The Declaration of Peace at: info@declarationofpeace.org