Current Events: Iraqi Invasion & Occupation
2006-05-26: Ex -US soldier: 'If he didn't answer the way we liked, we would shoot his youngest kid in the head' This 20 minute interview will change how you view the U.S. occupation of Iraq forever. An Iraq war veteran tells of atrocities he and other fellow-soldiers committed reguarly while in Iraq.
2006-02-12: Report: Iraq war costs could top $2 trillion The Christian Science Monitor reports on a study by Columbia University economist Joseph E. Stiglitz, who won the Nobel Prize in economics in 2001, and Harvard lecturer Linda Bilmes. The new study takes into account the long-term costs of healthcare for wounded soldiers.
2005-11-27: The Man Who Sold the Iraq War: John Rendon, Bush's General in the Propaganda War: Investigative journalist James Bamford examines how the Bush administration and the Iraqi National Congress used the PR firm Rendon Group to feed journalists fabricated stories in an effort to sell the Iraq war. From Vietnam to Iraq: Sen. George McGovern Discusses the Lies of War from the Gulf of Tonkin to Iraq's WMDs: New information has been revealed about the U.S government's deceptions during the Vietnam War.
2005-11-03: Syria accuses US of launching lethal raids over its borders This charge follows Washington leaks that the US has expanded operations in Iraq to include military raids into Syria and is contemplating launching special forces operations on Syrian soil to eliminate insurgent networks.
2005-10-26: Col. Janis Karpinski, the Former Head of Abu Ghraib, Admits She Broke the Geneva Conventions But Says the Blame "Goes All the Way to The Top" Col. Janis Karpinski, former Brigadier General, tells of the atmosphere and conditions of Abu Ghraib, sobering interview.
2005-10-26: Supporting Hillary Cindy Sheehan has penned an article against supporting Senator Hillary Clinton or other democrats who have supported the war and occupation.
2005-10-24: Iraqis oppose the occupation A poll commissioned by the British military in Iraqi shows that public opinion has changed against US-British occupation since a previous 2004 poll. Results: 82% are "strongly opposed" to the presence of coalition troops, 45% believe attacks against British and American troops are justified. Dozens of Iraqis die in US air strikes US warplanes and helicopters have bombed two villages near the city of Ramadi where witnesses say at least 39 civilians have been killed, while the US army says the air strike has killed an estimated 70 fighters.
2005-10-10: Bush Announces Renewed War on "Islamo-Facism," Rejects Demands for U.S. Troop Withdrawal From Iraq Addressing the National Endowment for Democracy in Washington last week, President G.W. Bush's policy speech is analyzed by Robert Dreyfuss, an investigative reporter and a contributing editor at The Nation.
2005-10-10: Iraq war costs more per month than Vietnam - report Americans are paying an average of $5.6 billion dollars to continue the Iraq occupation, more per month than the average monthly cost of military operations in Vietnam in the 1960s and 1970s (when adjusted for inflation).
2005-10-04: Another 50 Billion Dollars for the Iraqi War The Senate votes Wednesday, 15 Oct 2005, for an additional $50 billion for the Iraqi War. This money is being included as part of a $441 billion defense spending bill. United for Peace and Justice (UFPJ) urges you to call your Senators and demand that they stop funding the war; the Capitol Switchboard is 202-224-3121.
2005-09-27: Disappearing Antiwar Protests Hundreds of thousands of Americans around the country protested the Iraq War on the weekend of September 24-25, but most Americans relying on mainstream American press didn't know there were any protests. According to the Nexis news database, the only mention on the network newscasts that Saturday came on the NBC Nightly News, where the massive march received all of 87 words. For more information about the protests, see http://www.unitedforpeace.org/ who sponsored the events.
2005-09-04: Meet with Cindy to find out what Cindy Sheehan really believes.
2005-08-30: Called to Witness, Called to Serve, is an article in the UUA about Reverend Danita Noland a Gold Star UU mother who joined Cindy Sheehan at Camp Casey; Rev. Noland's oldest son, Casey, was killed in Iraq in 2004. For more about Cindy Sheehan and her vigil to speak with President G.W. Bush concerning the death of her son in Iraq. See Intervention Magazine, Slain Soldier's Mother Lashes Out At Bush.
2005-08-25: Radioactive Wounds of War: Tests on returning troops suggest serious health consequences of depleted uranium use in Iraq- thanks Deborah Helle.
2005-07-22: The High Death Rates Exposed Has the Pentagon been undercounting the American Dead? According to this author, deaths that occur from injuries sustained in Iraq are not counted in the Iraq death totals if the soldier was in the air or at a hospital elsewhere.
2005-06-16: Iraq war started early: More damning than Downing Street: Besides the Downing Street letter, which revealed that "intelligence and facts were being fixed." Recently, it has came to light that the U.S. and British military forces launched a series of pre-war attacks against Iraq before the October 2002 U.S. Congress authorized the use of force. Charlie Clements, presently head of the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee witnessed buildings exploding in Baghdad six months before the war started. Later, Clements heard a U.S. General boast "that he began taking out assets that could help in resisting an invasion at least six months before war was declared." Thank you, Deborah Helle.
2005-05-30: Memorial Day, 2005 letter by Reverend Sinkford discusses the Iraqi War. For war deaths and casualties, see http://www.iraqbodycount.net/ http://www.antiwar.com/casualties/. The U.S. military posts estimates for Iraqi's killed, but refuses to do body counts of their deaths, Uncounted Dead. An estimate in the British medical journal, Lancet, reports the real number of Iraqi's killed is closer to 100,000, see Mortality before and after the 2003 invasion of Iraq: cluster sample survey and 11/01/04, Study: Iraq Invasion Has Killed 100,000 Civilians. As of May, 2005, the financial burden to American taxpayers for the Iraqi war are now $270 billion dollars, see The rising economic cost of the Iraq war. The nation remains divided over the war, with 57 percent believing the war was unnecessary. Yet, almost half of the electorate believe that Suddam Hussein was involved in the September 11, 2001 attacks, without any evidence of weapons of mass destruction, or linkage to September 11. Representatives from both Democratic and Republican parties continue to support the on going occupation of both Iraq and Afghanistan, as evidenced by the April, 2005, 99-0 vote, approving an additional $80.5 billion dollars to fund the Iraqi war. While at the same time, senators refused to take up a proposal from Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND) to investigate the numerous allegations of fraud and profiteering by military contractors, for more information see Congress rejects proposal to investigate Iraq's war profiteers . Many people are asking what will be the total cost? Will the Iraqi people be able to guide their own future without the influence of outside forces? Further, the high financial cost has squeezed local cities and states, dramatically increasing the budget deficit, see http://www.nationalpriorities.org/. How does the cost of wars relate to other priorities: education, research, jobs, a stable economy, the environment?
2005-05-17: Open Letter to the President & Congress, Clergy and Laity Concerned About Iraq (CALC-I) is circulating the following open letter, signed by more than 70 prominent leaders from different denominations and religions opposing America's Iraq policy, http://www.fvcommunity.org/beloved/node/488 2005-04-27: Giuliana Sgrena Blasts U.S. Cover Up, Calls for U.S. and Italy to Leave Iraq Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena blasts a Pentagon report that clears the U.S. soldiers who opened fire on her car, wounding her and killing one of Italy's highest ranking intelligence officials.
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