Children 'starving' in new Iraq :: Malnutrition doubled after U.S. invasion

  Posted by Siriel Admin 2005 Apr 1 - 3:23pm 

   [Themes:  | Great Britain (UK) | Iraq | USA | •Crime of War | ::World Relations:: | •Collective Rights | •Sanctions-blockade ]

Included as a ‘comment’: UN Report on Iraqi living conditions released in Baghdad (May 2005).

Children ‘starving’ in new Iraq, BBC (March 30, 2005).
Increasing numbers of children in Iraq do not have enough food to eat and more than a quarter are chronically undernourished, a UN report says.

UN Rights Expert Charges US Using Food Access as Military Tactic, Agence France Presse (March 31, 2005).
A UN human rights expert sharply condemned the invasion of Iraq and the global anti-terror drive, accusing the US-led coalition of using food deprivation as a military tactic and of sapping efforts to fight hunger in the world.

Iraqi children malnutrition doubled after U.S. invasion (Aljazeera.com, March 30, 2005)
Speaking to the UN human rights body on Wednesday, Jean Ziegler, a hunger specialist, noted that malnutrition amongst Iraq’s young almost doubled since the U.S. led invasion toppled Saddam Hussein.

[ If links fails, click on ‘Read more’... ]

 Sgrena’s Ordeal Highlights World’s Racist View of Iraq

  Posted by Siriel Admin 2005 Mar 12 - 10:33pm 

   [Themes:  | Iraq | Italy | USA | •Crime of War | •Imperialism & Neocon. | •Untruthful Propaganda ]

Crimes in Iraq: Sgrena’s Ordeal Highlights World’s Racist View of Iraq [click to read this article]
By Alexander Gainem, Freelance Journalist, March 10, 2005.

Selected excerpts :
Whether you side with Sgrena or want her dead, there is something inescapable about the entire affair. Iraqis have been facing this danger on a daily basis and almost every day there are dead Iraqis brought into morgues after being cut down by US gunfire. 
But no coverage for the Iraqi dead. No public outcry in the world. No debate in the blogs. No mention in FOX or otherwise. No, they don’t have pretty Latin names and dirty-blonde hair. They don’t have their own columns and candlelight vigils held for them on the streets of Europe.

Siriel-Admin :
This article is included to remind us all that, indeed, countless Iraqis have been murdered and are still being gunned down when their cars “stop too late”...
Cet article est inclus pour nous rappeler que d’innombrables Irakien-nes ont été assassinés et se font encore descendre quand leurs voitures «arrêtent trop tard»...

 Machines à tuer: Devient-il plus facile pour un soldat de tuer dans une société où le meurtre est banalisé?

  Posted by Paix-Quebec 2005 Mar 11 - 3:40pm 

   [Themes:  | Iraq | USA | •Imperialism & Neocon. | •Protection Duty ]

Machines à tuer
Devient-il plus facile pour un soldat de tuer dans une société où le meurtre est banalisé?
par Guy Taillefer, Le Devoir 18 février 2005

Un soldat accepte-t-il jamais vraiment de tuer? Les justifications morales et démocratiques évoquées par le président George W. Bush pour mener sa guerre en Irak mettent-elles le couvercle sur les réticences d’un être humain à en tuer un autre? Ou devient-il plus facile de tuer dans une société où le meurtre est banalisé et «virtualisé» par la télé et le DVD?

Cet article aborde aussi le fait que Le Pentagone mène des projets bien concrets pour que des robots, «capables de traquer et de tuer l’ennemi, formeront une partie importante de la force militaire américaine» et «d’ici avril, une première version armée du robot chercheur de bombes sera utilisée à Bagdad, capable de tirer des milliers de balles à la minute».
[ Si le lien vers l’original échoue, suivez le lien ci-dessous ]

 Irak: L’occupation états-unienne et le mouvement anti-guerre après les élections

  Posted by Siriel Admin 2005 Mar 10 - 12:45pm 

   [Themes:  | Iraq | Iran | Syria | •Causes & solutions | •Democracy | •Imperialism & Neocon. | •Soc: Associations ]

OÙ VA L’IRAK ?
L’occupation états-unienne et le mouvement anti-guerre après les élections
par: Gilbert ACHCAR, 3 mars 2005 (l’original était en anglais sur ZNet)

Une bonne analyse de la situation politique actuelle, avec les nuances qui s’imposent…

www.alternatives.ca/article1718.html

 «Bagdad, l'an zéro: Le pillage de l’Irak en quête d’une utopie néo-conservatrice», Naomi Klein

  Posted by Paix-Quebec 2005 Feb 9 - 3:32pm 

   [Themes:  | Iraq | USA | ::Justice & Human Rights:: | ::World Relations:: ]

BAGDAD, L’AN ZÉRO : Le pillage de l’Irak en quête d’une utopie néo-conservatrice

Par Naomi Klein
[ Traduit par plusieurs membres des réseaux anti-guerre du Québec.]

J’ai passé tout un mois à Bagdad avant de trouver ce que je cherchais. J’étais venue en Irak un an après le début de la guerre, au moment où le boom de la construction aurait du être à son paroxysme. Je n’avais vu aucune pièce de machinerie lourde sauf des tanks et des Humvees. Quand soudain, je l’ai vue: une grue de construction. Elle était grosse et jaune et impressionnante, et en la voyant, au tournant d’un coin de rue dans un quartier commercial, j’ai cru que j’allais finalement être témoin d’une partie de la reconstruction dont j’avais tant entendue parler. Mais en m’approchant, j’ai constaté que la grue, en fait, ne reconstruisait rien – pas un seul des édifices gouvernementaux gisant en décombre partout dans la ville, ni l’une des nombreuses lignes électriques en amas tordus, à un moment où la chaleur de l’été devenait accablante. Non, la grue érigeait un panneau réclame géant sur le toit d’un édifice de trois étages: SUNBULAH: MIEL 100 % NATUREL, fabriqué en Arabie Saoudite.
Pour télécharger le document Word (.doc) »
Pour télécharger le document Acrobat Reader (.pdf) »

original: Naomi Klein, Baghdad Year Zero: Pillaging Iraq in pursuit of a neocon utopia, Harper’s Magazine (Sept. 2004).

www.harpers.org/BaghdadYearZero.html

 Iraq-Irak: thousands still illegally detained and abused - des milliers encore détenus illégalement et abusés

  Posted by Siriel Admin 2005 Jan 25 - 9:30am 

   [Themes:  | Iraq | USA | ::Justice & Human Rights:: ]

Siriel-Média 2009 :

— We have no reason to believe this situation has changed and so it remains urgent.
— Nous n’avons aucune raison de croire que cette situation a changée et elle demeure donc urgente.
See: www.hrw.org/en/middle-eastn-africa/iraq

---

 Torture in Iraq Still Routine, Report Says: Detainees beaten, hung by wrists, shocked by security forces, rights group finds, by Doug Struck (The Washington Post, 25 Jan, 2005, page A10).

Iraq: Torture Continues at Hands of New Government: Police Systematically Abusing Detainees
Iraqi security forces are committing systematic torture and other abuses against people in detention, Human Rights Watch said in a new report released today. – Human Rights Watch, Jan. 25, 2005. Also in Arab & Deutsch

The New Iraq? Torture and ill-treatment of detainees in Iraqi custody
This 94-page report documents how unlawful arrest, long-term incommunicado detention, torture and other ill-treatment of detainees (including children) by Iraqi authorities have become routine and commonplace. Human Rights Watch conducted interviews in Iraq with 90 detainees, 72 of whom alleged having been tortured or ill-treated, particularly under interrogation. – Human Rights Watch, Jan. 25, 2005.

Siriel-Media comment – Based on reports from Human Rights Watch, the International Committee of the Red Cross and countless other independant reports, we can determine that an estimated 10 000 people are still detained in Iraq following massive arbitrary arrests. We consider this urgent mostly because the near totality (well over 95% according to most observers) are detained for weeks or months without being charged of any crime and often without a reason based on law. Moreover, almost everyone interviewed, as confirmed by the Red Cross, say they have been submitted to humiliation and abuses during the first few days or weeks. That means that a rotation of about 10 000 innocent people are humiliated and abused right now in Iraq and that this has been going on for over two years.
[ June 2006: media now report 15 000 people detained ]

Commentaire du Siriel-Média – En nous basant sur les rapports de Human Rights Watch et du Comité international de la Croix-Rouge et d’innombrables autres rapports indépendants, nous pouvons affirmer qu’environ 10 000 personnes sont encore détenues en Irak après des arrestations arbitraires massives. Nous considérons que ceci est urgent surtout parce que la quasi-totalité (plus de 95% selon la plupart des observateurs-trices) sont détenues pendant des semaines ou des mois sans être accusées d’un crime et souvent sans motif raisonnable (sans raison valable en vertu du droit). De plus, comme l’atteste la Croix-Rouge, presque toutes les personnes interviewées affirment avoir été humiliées et abusées lors des premiers jours ou semaines. Ce qui signifie qu’une rotation d’environ 10 000 personnes innocentes sont humiliées et abusées et que cela dure depuis au moins deux années.
[ Juin 2006: les médias rapportent maintenant 15 000 personnes détenues ]

A related article : Prisoner abuse: What about the other secret U.S. prisons?
Un article relié : Des prisons secrètes des États-Unis
– Reed Brody, Human Rights Watch, 4 mai 2004.

General source for updates: www.hrw.org/en/middle-eastn-africa/iraq

 Élections en Irak : situation folle et risquée

  Posted by Siriel Admin 2005 Jan 10 - 3:30pm 

   [Themes:  | Iraq | USA | •Democracy | •Imperialism & Neocon. | •Untruthful Propaganda | •Soc: Associations | Original Siriel-Media ]

11 jan. 2005 (v3)

Élections en Irak : situation folle et risquée.
L’obligation de tenir les élections le 30 janvier prochain en Irak suscitent la colère de certains groupes irakiens et la méfiance de plusieurs altermondialistes et anti-guerres.
par Michaël Lessard (Siriel-Média admin.), journaliste indépendant (MA Relations internationales)

 On the Forthcoming Election in Iraq

  Posted by Siriel Admin 2005 Jan 8 - 3:14am 

   [Themes:  | Iraq | USA | •Crime of War | •Democracy | •Imperialism & Neocon. | •Untruthful Propaganda ]

by Gilbert Achcar ; ZNet | Iraq (January 03, 2005)

Finally ! A credible analysis and intectually honest.
The first part describes the unhealthy political games played by Sunni, Shia, Washington, Iran, etc.
The second part expresses interesting and intelligent conclusions.

Excerpts :
Washington faced the “democracy paradox” (Huntington), created by the fact that the overwhelming majority of Arab Iraqis were—and are even more now—hostile to US control of their land, and hence any truly representative democratically elected government would seek to get rid of the occupation.

Those most active in trying to derail the elections are not really concerned by the fact that they will be held under continuing occupation. (...) This argument is a thin disguise for the fear of holding elections on the part of forces who know that they are condemned to be in a minority or to be completely marginalized in free elections.

What will Washington do after the January 30 elections? (...)

:: click here to read this article on ZNet >>

 US marine openly reveals crimes of war during invasion and occupation

  Posted by Siriel Admin 2004 Dec 17 - 1:55pm 

   [Themes:  | Iraq | USA | •Crime of War | •Crime vs Peace (invasion) ]

Marine Staff Segt. Jimmy Massey (Ret.), former Marine staff sergeant who was honorably discharged in December after serving 12 years, most recently in Iraq. He is speaking to us from his home in Waynesville, North Carolina in the Smokey Mountains.

Interview by Democracy Now, May 24th, 2004 [Choice between Audio, Video or Text]
Ex-U.S. Marine: I Killed Civilians in Iraq

Siriel-Media summary :
Jimmy Massey was the leader of a platoon during the invasion of Baghdad and the first months of the occupation. He describes the continuous murder of civilians by opening fire on any car that approached them when people were trying to flee Baghdad. By acting preventively, he admits to have also mistakenly opened fire on a peaceful group of protestors.

He was expulsed when, in Iraq, he declared that US military actions—including the depleted uranium they were leaving in Iraq— were becoming genocidal. He took a stand against killing civilians and so was honorably discharged.

Excerpt from Jimmy Massey’s conclusion :
[Our actions in Iraq] violated every rule of engagement that I have ever been taught, violated every rule of the Geneva Conventions that I have been taught. ... Alot of people ask me “Why are you speaking out?” ... The reason I am doing this is to heal myself and to possibly heal other marines… I would like to say to the marines… it’s up to you to look within your heart and do the right thing… don’t be scared to come out, the American public, they need to know. ... The President of the United States, he’s the one that authorized it…

It seems to us (M. Lessard, Siriel-Media) that soldiers who refuse to kill civilians should be promoted and it is those who still obey orders of wanton destruction and death that should be discharged.

 LAW Joins Torture Case against Rumsfeld in Germany

  Posted by Siriel Admin 2004 Dec 15 - 5:00am 

   [Themes:  | Germany | Canada & Quebec | Iraq | USA | ::Justice & Human Rights:: ]

LAW Joins Torture Case against Rumsfeld in Germany (December 15 2004)

Lawyers Against War has joined a criminal complaint filed in late November by the Center for Constitutional Rights in Germany against high-ranking U.S. officials.

The indictment charges Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and eleven others with war crimes and crimes against humanity contrary to Germany’s Criminal Code of Crimes against International Law (CCAIL) and the United Nations Convention Against Torture, for the torture of prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.

The CCAIL creates universal jurisdiction to prosecute suspected war criminals irrespective of their nationality or where they are located.  The consent of the German Federal Prosecutor is required to open an investigation.