This is very important, in case people missed it, I publish it on the front page without asking Mr. Kraft permission.
If he don’t feel comfortable with it, I will delete it.
In answer to several comments:
Yes, these kids are at risk of a speedy trial and quick execution — not from the U.S., but from the Iraqi government, which is starting to take over control of the prisons and prisoners. The Iraqi government has already executed several insurgents in a quick and questionably legal manner. Don’t expect it to get a lot of play in the news, however. See http://multigraphic.dk/lounge/wordpress/?p=1480
As for the timeline, I am confident about it because:
1> I do know and trust the person who passed me the information.
2> They have no motive for making this up.
3> They have inadequate facilities to make this up.. given that they’ve got truely limited ability to get on the net, much less somehow edit the timestamps on photos.
4> They aren’t technically adept enough to edit this sort of information… infact, they didn’t even know that digital photos contained such time/sequence information.
5> The photos itself show the rough flow of time… clothes removed/cut away for medical treatment do not suddenly redress and repair themselves afterwards. Patients who have been shot and are treated don’t remove their bandages or “take back their blood” in order to support your suspicion that the weapons were there first — therefore meaning that the Iraqis in question were medically treated first — and then the weapons were confiscated.
As for claims that Hersh is a sensationalist war profiteer, I would only suggest that if Hersh is a war profiteer, then clearly he would want the U.S. to invade Iran… so why did he write an article warning about what he saw as early preparations for such a conflict? I don’t see him encouraging new wars, do you? Where is the evidence that, between Vietnam and today, he’s stoked the coals to encourage new conflicts, in order to make more money?
No… a war profiteer is a company like Halliburton, that makes billions on such conflicts, and overcharges the taxpayers — you, me, and everyone else — whenever they can. It’s a company that transports gas that is cheaper than bottled water over in Kuwait, and charges rates that are as high as anything you’d pay in the U.S. a few hundred miles away in Iraq. That’s a war profiteer.
If Hersh was a sensationalist, he would have also gone forward with the photographs no matter what. Instead, he told me first thing that the story wouldn’t go public without my approval. I’ve talked and dealt with Mr. Hersh, and he’s a very ethical man. You haven’t, but you insist on slandering him for a cheap political point. *shrug*
As for me being anti-Bush and anti-war, you’re right and wrong. I do support some wars, but I didn’t support this one, just as I do support some presidents, but not this one. The reasons why I don’t support him should be obvious. I’m a big fan of freedom and democracy, whereas he promises both while taking freedoms and rights away from people.
Can you list me off the freedoms he has expanded for the people of the U.S. since he’s came to power, other than the freedom of the wealthy to make even more money? Can you tell me about his initiatives to improve the functioning of democracy in our own country? Did he address the potential issues of voter fraud, or make it easier for people to register to vote, or champion meaningful election reforms? Or is his talk about freedom and democracy simply window dressing?
I didn’t support the war in Iraq because the evidence for WMDs and some kind of pressing intent on the part of Iraq to use them was extremely nominal. Iraq did nothing to us in recent history that justified a full-scale invasion, and, if you had paid attention to what people like Scott Ritter and others from UNSCOM had said, you would’ve known that they had already accounted for approximately 95% of Iraq’s WMDs before the war, and *KNEW* that Iraq had dumped and buried an unspecified extra amount of WMDs without UNSCOM supervision.
I said from the start that there was a significant risk of this being a long, openended, and costly occupation. A ground option was not the best option for dealing with Iraq, nor were endless, costly sanctions. What we had done in the past which did work to weaken Saddam was the whole Kurdish autonomous region and no-fly zone strategy, which was giving the Kurds some degree of control over their fate during the reign of Saddam. We could’ve done something like that in the south of Iraq, no doubt, which would’ve greatly weakened his reign, while empowering an ever-increasing number of Iraqis to decide their own fate and take back control of their country.
The Iraqi people certainly didn’t need Hussein, but they don’t need Bush either. Our government has done its best to rig the current Iraqi government, a large majority of which are outsiders who were backed by the CIA before the war… it’s amazing then, perhaps, that even most of these outsiders say that they want the U.S. to leave.
Dragging out the occupation of Iraq is an indefensible act, because the will of the majority of the Iraqi people does not support it. If we really believe in democracy, then one way we can support that belief is to work with the Iraqi government to bring in NATO and UN forces as they (not we) see fit to help them establish security, and for US forces to leave as soon as possible.
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Dear All, Concerning beheading:
1– It is not a moslem speaciality. We have learnt it from the French. Remember? they used to behead their convicts.
2– We are beheading in our own country. Who told you to invade our country? This is the law of the land and if you do not like it just take off. Remember, we, Iraqis, have not invaded your country.
3– which is worse to behead one man, two , three„ even 10 , or dropping all those hi-tech horrible bombs of yours on a whole nation?
Do you want me to show you children without heads, arms, half bodies? Is this CLEAN, and civilized? Do you Americans have no sense of justice for others?
Remeber 100,000 Iraqis are dead because of your clean bombings, millions are DU-d, from which they will never recover.
Is this justice for you? remember we have nothing to do with 911. Give me one name of an Iraqi who has killed an american before your war on us. Just give me one name, one incident.
For heaven sake, I have been always told that americans are religious people who cherish lives of human being. So what kind of religion which sends troops and killing machines miles away to kill, maime, steal innocent people who have done nothing to deserve this?
You mean like Saddam did to Kuwait…? Or Iran…? or Gassing the Kurds…? Or Saddam paying Palestinian suicide bombers families to go and blow up innocent Jews…? What about his failed attempt to assianate an American president, George Bush, Sr.…? What about the Iraqi people suffering under UN sactions, while Saddam continued to build palaces for himself…?
Yep, we americans are evil and stupid for trying to put a stop to it. We should Saddam back in power, you don’t deserve the freedom to rule yourself. Go back to living in your sand flea ridden desert and let the rest of the humanrace move forward and evolve. The Middle East will always hold the rest of the world back. I’m personally tired of wwatching the rest of the civilized world have to babysit the Middle East.
Through history all crimes, wars and killings committed by believers and solved by atheists
Everybody here who feel compassion for the collaborators with the enemy, i.e US invaders and allies, must remember that in every occupied country throughout history, collaborators with the enemy should be killed. This happened in all resistance movements. I remember even in the American history as seen in your own great films, collaborators, traitors and the like are always killed, so why should Iraqi freedom fighter be different?
Dear All pro-occupation, the problem with you is that you are expressing the attitude of the Occupier. You see good every thing and everyone who is helping and facilitating for your troops to have a firm feet in our land.
You think it is patriotic to support your troops even if they are ordered to genocide other people without any justification. You think it is patriotic to ask , while staying at your comfy homes, those young american soldiers to go deeper and stay in the muddy quagmire of iraq and be killed and maimed for life, for what? for that oil? Is oil so important to you that you sacrifice so many of your young men and women. Could not you just buy it from us with dollars instead of your young people blood? are dollars dearer to you than your own flesh and blood?
Just ask yourself. Why are you in my country? who really invited you to go and destroy everything there?
Who invited you? you have seen that no roses was waiting for you, so really who invited you? men like chalabi and his gangs? Why did you believe him while you do not believe what you saw for yourself in Iraq. Do you think that the resistance could have been lasted all these months and got stronger without our people support?
Do you have any idea how many US soldiers have died since 2003? Do you still believe the funny number of 1700? that is 2 soldiers every day? Your commaders say there is as much as 70 resistance attack on US troops every day. Let say if half of these operations have causuality, that is 30 dead every day. What you do not beleive?
Rumsfeld asked the congress sometime a go for $80 b to replace : 14000 vehicles destroyed in iraq . How were they destroyed? 70% of operations are IED. Have you seen the explosion of an IED? Let us suppose that in the 14000 destroyed vehicle only the driver was dead, this will give us 14000 dead GIs which is far from that funny number of 1700.
Everyone now is saying that Iraq is worse that Vietnam. Why? in ten years of veitnam war 58000 US soldiers died. Now after only 2 years, they are saying that it is worse than Vietnam? Do not you see? Why should republicans in the congress now say that you have lost the war? Do not you see ?
In two years you have more than 17 000 dead.
In iraq, the resistance do have body count of your dead troops. It is all over internet but you choose to believe you liers in the government. I do not really know why, maybe you are not the kind of people who like to see reality or even know about it.
So How many more of your young people you are ready to sacrifice for that oil?
As I have stated before, I want our troops home..I do not believe you deserve freedom, you should be ruled by a dictator like Saddam Hussein.
I do not have an occupiers attitude, mine is an attitude of an American who believes that Iraqis like you who aren’t worth it.
Not even close on that one.
you have absolutely no glue of what your talking about…Americans are fully aware of our dead count, unlike middle eastern’s, we don’t fall for false propaganda. Our troops stay in close contact their families, if someone hasn’t been heard from a family member in Iraq, the family member here at home and the media jumps all over it. So I suggest you research your facts a little better.
Oh, I forgot one thing…My stance on the whole oil thing is this:
I personally look forward to the day when the world doesn’t need middle eastern oil. So we in the civilized world can watch the middle east starve itself out of existence…
From Ladybird:
Really, name one…
Iraqi Lady. Yes you are right the Americans are deliberately understating their losses as indeed they did in Vietnam.
“Brosch” is Michael Brosch who is one of the American involved in this atrocity, also as we know Lt Grider and their Commander is Col. Dana Pittard.
The International Criminal Court has already been advised of this massacre. At the moment of course the Americans do not accept their jurisdiction, just like the Germans in 1939 refused to accept International Law or the regulations of the League of Nations.
These files will be kept in suspense until the Americans wish to return to the status of a respected nation at which time these war criminals will have to be surrendered.
Unfortunately at the moment their arrogance doesn’t allow them to contemplate the possibility of having to comply with International Law just as the Germans in 1939 could not see the Nuremberg trials on the horizon.
Justice will triumph eventually and these criminals will be brought to justice.
Dear Jeff,
If chinese do not like your way of life, and if they think that you are not free, in some way or other according to their sense of freedom, do you think they have the right to invade you, topple your government, change your laws, draw a new constitution for you, drive 70% of you out of your jobs and install chinese in your place, destroy your temples, hospitals, schools and raid your homes at any time day and night, humilate you, rape and torture you because you do not like them?
If you agree with your occupation of our land then you must be a pro-chinese occupation of your land, as you seem in favour of occupying other people’s homes. If you refuse,or is indignant about it, some chinese, similar to you, will tell you that you do not deserve the sacrifice of their troops.
Dear Jeff,
You do not have an argument. When we talk about USA you drag saddam in. Where is Saddam now? In prison. Where is USA? all over Iraq. So we are discussing your country and not Saddam.
Saddam did not brag that he was democratic and freedom lover , you americans are telling the world that you are free democratic people. So does democracy mean installing a puppet government, and insisting on phoney elections just to make believe that you are achieving something in iraq? what about installing electricity for a change? That will be really an achievement.
Jeff,
You seem to have a good sense of humour. Now what about this joke?
The funny thing about your government and army, is that they got rid of a secular regime and install instead Ayahtullas, the same kind of Iranian Ayatullas. Also, Bush and his Missus Laura wanted Iraqi women to be free, the funny thing is that we were free since 60 years ago,even long before Saddam. Iraqi women did not wear hijabs, they drove cars, went dancing in clubs, joined the army, had post graduagte studies, had the same wages.We were able to travel around the world alone. With the freedom which you brought: Now every woman must wear hijab, stay at home and do not go even to have her hair cut. If they venture out in the street, they will be either killed , raped or kidnapped. Many lost their descent way of living and resort to selling themaselves . Is this the freedom which you think we do not deserve? you are right.
Did you vote…?
According to a “real” Iraqi blog, from an Iraqi actually living in Iraq…He gives a different view of the situation. I suggest you read it.
Here’s the Link…Click Here
I’ve been reading “his” blog for about 2 years now, and he paints quite a different picture than from what this Anti-American site paints. That’s all this site is, A cheerleading forum to bash americans. I take this blog about as seriously as a bugs bunny cartoon. It’s hilirous to watch some of you foam at the mouth when you’re trading your conspiracy theory stories…
I suspect it’s probably paid for by the State Dept. , so far it is away from reality.
Iraq the Model? Yes your Model Jeff. You make me laugh.
Did I vote? No dear, I am not pro-democracy American style where you brought Israelis and Iranians , gave them fake Iraqi identities to be able to vote. Election under Occupation? Bush said it will not be valid. So it is not valid. When did he said that remark? when he talked about Syrian occupation of Lebanon . He was right, did not he? right for the first time in his entire life.
Jeff
You said that families of soldiers in USA are in constant contact with their boys and girls there and they and the press would know of every death. That is so ? then why the coffins come to Denver at night and photos were not , until recently, allowed?
An american friend said to me recently that (America is the land of illusion) how true! You do not see what is in front of you or that which surrounds you. you just believe what you want to believe so that you will not break up to pieces when shocked by reality. WAKE UPPPPPPPPPPPP. BREAK UP FOR A CHANGE.
Well, we have saying here in the states about people who do not vote so they can make their voice heard…
It’s goes…
“Then shut the fuck up!, you have absolutely no right to bitch or complain”
Then your American friend needs to leave America and go live in somewhere else. It’s always funny to hear an American bitch, while at the same time they reap the benefits of being here. We are also the only country on the planet where people risk their lives everyday to get here and live. This is fact. No one can dispute that fact.
Look, I have two very good friends serving in Iraq right now, They know the numbers of troops that have been killed. Therefore I myself am fully aware.
As for the dead of night question, it’s very simple. It’s called respect for the dead. The main reason this happening at night is because people like you and Michael (and others) would seize the moment to disrupt or try and push your agenda while dead soilders are being loaded off a plane. I myself would love the opputunity to crack a few skulls with a baseball of the idiots that would do this. I look forward to that very day.
My reality is quite simple, you threaten it, you will meet Allah.
no, you make me laugh :-)
That blog is written by an Iraqi…That’s his model…not mine.
here
Resistance martyrdom bomber kills seven US troops in Thursday morning attack.
In a dispatch posted at 10:55am Mecca time, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that an Iraqi Resistance martyrdom fighter drove an explosives-packed pickup truck into a US column west of al-Qa’im, near the Iraqi-Syrian border.
The correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam in al-Qa’im reported Captain Jawad as-Sa‘di of the Iraqi puppet army as saying that the Resistance martyrdom car bombing near the village of ar-Rummanah destroyed one armored Humvee and disabled another, killing seven American troops and an Egyptian collaborator translator.
The correspondent reported that local witnesses said that the Resistance martyrdom fighter drove a pickup loaded with agricultural products into the American column, destroying one armored vehicle and disabling a second and killing more than seven American troops and wounding others. The official source, however confirmed only the death of seven Americans along with that of the Egyptian translator.
Ar-Ramadi.
Iraqui lady, what time of day did the coffins come back to America when the US army was fighting the German and Japanese fascists?
You say the USA is “all over Iraq”. I suggest a quick reality check of the ratio between the number of Americans in Iraq and the Iraqui population is in order.
Did you hold a position unde the old regime by any chance? now I wonder what that was, what the pay, what the conditions…?
Don’t worry, Iraqi Lady. Your individual freedoms will be restored. The Iraqi Army with its allies is attending to first things first:
“Iraq govt says storms city, closes Syria border” Foreign terrorists killed or routed!
http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2005–09-10T191607Z_01_SCH022074_RTRUKOC_0_UK-IRAQ.xml
Ce n’est qu’un debut!
Michael the Puppet in Post #12 writes “Jeff you are overlooking the simple fact that during the last 30 years the Americans have killed more Iraqis than Saddam did.”
Michael of course thinks the Kurds don’t count.
Or the …or those who died in Saddam’s was with Iran…or…(one could go on)…
The numbers of the dead are merely the servant of Michael’s prejudice and can be made to shrink or expand at will. What would a free Iraqi call him: Born of a dog!
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Hello there,
was amazed to see there is an American version of Mark Kraft.
I am the Dutch version.….….….….
God bless