University students in Basra fight sectarian violence

"If each person, in his own way, does something that can lessen the violence, a better country will surely emerge in the end,"
Adel Abdel-Rasoul
(a member in the growing Iraqi university peace movement)

University students in Basra fight sectarian violence

Half of the students involved in the project spend at least five hours a day in internet chat rooms discussing sectarian problems and urging their compatriots to help avert an escalation of the violence into civil war…

"Many people have changed their minds while chatting online,” said Rasha Adnan, a philosophy student and chat-room moderator. “Some of them have even opened their own web pages to inform others on the dangers of sectarian violence.”

The other half of the group, meanwhile, is responsible for visiting schools, universities and other institutes of learning to talk to students, distribute leaflets and mount posters encouraging peace and coexistence. "After our talks, students would often ask to join us," Haydar said. “It’s uplifting to see our simple work bringing results.”

As a result of the Basra initiative, a similar student movement has begun in the capital, albeit at a slower pace due to insecurity and prevailing curfews. Despite these obstacles, however, members hope to eventually expand the scope of their work throughout the country.

:)

End military attacks in Iraq

For three years now we have been given proof after proof that military attacks does not make Iraq a peaceful place, in fact the proof that we have seen is that military attacks is just making things worse. So why continue on this path that is clearly giving us all the signs that it is a failure? This is the worst sort of military and political management skills I have ever seen in my life. I think just an ordinary sports trainer would have done a better job.

But then again, it is difficult for me to believe that the U.S and its allies are this stupid so who knows maybe this is exactly the goal they have in Iraq. Fulfil the Israeli plan of a divided Iraq, it would make a lot of Kurdish politicians fulfil their goals too and I mean Iran must be happy about it too. What they could not achieve in the Iran Iraqi war is now finally happening with the help of pro Iran Iraqi politicians that the U.S brought with them. A divided weak Iraq is the common interests of many extreme people in Israel and Iran. And as U.S politicians often so clearly point out, US foreign policy is pro-Israel; I have even read US people say the war in Iraq is US kids fighting a war FOR Israel.

Who knows??? But one thing is sure and that is military attacks are only making ordinary Iraqis life worse. So speak out and DEMAND AN END TO MILITARY ATTACKS IN IRAQ.

End the US occupaiton of Iraq

• I demand a withdrawal timetable of all US occupation from Iraq both the military and civil people.

• I demand that occupation people and their contractors from today are punishable under Iraqi law for crimes committed in Iraq and against Iraqis. The immunity law is no longer active.

• I demand the Iraq government and Iraqi politicians put a stop to the crimes of their militias, we know you have the power to do so, so do it.

• I demand that the Iraqi resistance to the occupation declares on all possible ways that it will stop its attacks against occupation troops because they are now on their way out of Iraq.

• I demand from all the ordinary criminal Iraqis to wake up and start put your enormous energy to build a peaceful Iraq instead.

• I demand honesty and unity from all of us Iraqis.

• I tell all sorts of people in Iraq who are involved in terrorist activities with the above demands fulfilled it will get more difficult for you to operate in Iraq and it will get easier for Iraqis to see who you are and catch you to be prosecuted under Iraqi law.

It is about oil

Without the use of coal, oil & gas to provide electricity,

and

the use of petro-chemicals to build computer components

you wouldn't be visiting this website today!

• Petroleum Products in Our Daily Lives

• The End Of Civilization

Rest in Peace

I have been aware of this now a couple of days and I still find it too difficult to write about. So for now I’ll leave you with 2 links to articles with photos.

Killing Women and Children: The “My Lai Phase” Of The Iraq War
By Mike Whitney

... "we have entered the “My Lai phase” of the Iraq war, where the pretensions about democracy and liberation are stripped-away and replaced with the gratuitous butchery of women and children. The carnage in Ishaqi illustrates the growing recklessness and desperation of Washington’s failed crusade."

The only solution to all of the Iraqi catastrophe is for ordinary Iraqis inside Iraq to go out in millions demonstrating for unity, demanding an immediate end and withdrawal of all sorts of occupation and disarming the political militias. Also demanding the resistance to disarm and the government and all Iraqis to unite and make the best of the mess we are in and this time without any foreign meddling.

Let us ourselves finally get control of our country, have new elections under U.N supervision, stop all the deals that have been done in favour of occupation countries while they were occupying us. Then Iraqis who wish to take the political path will know that it is their actions towards a better Iraq that will make their political career expand! Not that they have powerful support in a neighbouring country, or support of a powerful nation and its military or militias on the streets killing their opponents.

Its going to be a hard and difficult path because of the condition Iraq is in today.

Iraqis are hungry for calmness, happiness and peace; we need Iraqis who promote these desires sincerely to become very loud!

The U.S and its allies and other western countries have to grow up and realize its way to secure its way of life by controlling other people’s recourses is not acceptable any longer. You have supported dictators, unelected governments, got rid of elected governments, occupied and colonised to make people living in the west have a better life, well it’s ENOUGH NOW! Instead of controlling let’s work together with the people!

Greedy and corrupted Iraqis you have to stop too and realize it’s your behaviour that is making the lives of million of Iraqis a hell each day. Ordinary good peaceful and tired Iraqis we must unite and use our common sense to build a better Iraq.

We must have more determination to control our own country then the foreign savages and corrupted Iraqis that we are letting dictate and shape our future right now.

I live in Sweden now, getting out on the streets demonstrating for a free Iraq does not change the path of foreign savages and corrupted Iraqis inside Iraq. Being active in forums outside Iraq were I write my ideas, thoughts and update on few news is not what will make these foreign savages and corrupted Iraqis change their paths either. It is YOU ordinary GOOD IRAQIS that we have millions of inside Iraq it is YOU that can stop the current death trap and dictate the rules for a new future!

Go out in millions and demonstrate to end the occupation, new elections, no political armed militias, peaceful actions, deals done in favour of occupation countries no longer are accepted and more, more and more.

It is YOU U.S people who are against your governments actions in Iraq; we have millions of you too. It is YOU who can change YOUR foreign policy and get the troops home and end all U.S political involvement in forming political Iraq. Go out in millions day and night until you stop the war crimes and crimes against humanity done in your name against Iraqis.

And just with one clear message from YOU IRAQIS INSIDE IRAQ we can be millions on the streets all over the world demonstrating in support for your demands of a free Iraq a united Iraq!

These actions are a chance to take the power back to where it belongs; with ordinary good Iraqis!

The U.S and its allies launched a war against Iraq to control oil access. As they once supported Saddam because he was good for their prosperity and sacrificed us Iraqis on the way, they are taking the same path this time too. They will back who ever agrees to put the U.S and its ally’s prosperity first.

Iraqis have had no chance in disapproving or approving all the U.S occupation permanent bases all over Iraq. That means all these bases are illegal.

Polls since 2003 have shown that a clear majority of us Iraqis want an end to the military occupation of our country. That means all these permanent bases directly violate the will of Iraqis.

Since 2003 the U.S and its allies have put advisers of their own in every sector of our government to represent them, their goals and interests. These foreign advisers who we have no idea who they are do NOT represent us Iraqis. All these government advisers from occupation countries are illegal.

The U.S and its allies are in Iraq to protect their own prosperity with controlling the Iraqi oil and Iraqi politics.

Let’s see to it that we look after our prosperity with much more determination:

Ending this illegal US and British occupation

and

build a free, democratic and united Iraq!

MORE U.S. WAR CRIMES IN IRAQ

Iraqis say 11 people killed in U.S. raid

Mar 15

"Police Capt. Laith Mohammed, in nearby Samarra, said American warplanes and armor flattened the house and killed the 11 people inside.

An AP reporter in the area said the roof collapsed. Eleven bodies, wrapped in blankets, were taken to the Tikrit General Hospital, relatives said.

Associated Press photographs showed the bodies of two men, five children and four other covered figures at the hospital accompanied by grieving relatives. The victims were covered in dust and bits of rubble."

Lawyers lash out at government for dissolving bar council
By Khayoun Saleh
Azzaman, March 10, 2006

Saadi said the bar association is one of the few venues in Iraq that is seriously aiding in the establishment “of a state of law and constitutional institutions that defend civil and political rights and guarantee the rule of law.”

He said the association should not be “politicized” and should remain a symbol of Iraq’s unity despite the presence of divergent political factions and groups.

The government has not said why it decided to disband the council, but analysts say the authorities are apparently unhappy by the vociferous complaints by members on massive human rights violations which the lawyers compare with those committed under former leader Saddam Hussein.

UN holds workshop on building national human rights commission in Iraq
11 March 2006

Iraqi Government officials, members of the country's Council of Representatives, civil society organizations and United Nations workers came together in Larnaca, Cyprus, from 8 to 10 March to discuss the body's establishment.

The workshop aimed to lay the groundwork for the building of an independent national human rights commission for Iraq, as provided for in the Constitution approved by referendum last October, according to UNAMI.

Nine doctors killed in Mosul; 60 others flee
Hayfaa Radhi
Azzaman, March 7, 2006

In spite of the mounting violence directed against Iraqi professionals, the government has slapped new travel restrictions on those willing to leave.

Iraqi doctors now have to raise nearly three million dinars as part of a bail that will ensure they do not stay away when traveling abroad.

The measure is reminiscent of the constraints former leader Saddam Hussein used to impose on the movement of professionals in Iraq.

Iraq: three years on
Sunday March 12, 2006
The Observer

Before first light on 20 March 2003 missiles rained down on Baghdad as the American-led invasion began. Saddam's regime was toppled but, three years on, the war still rages. About 35,000 Iraqis, 2,500 allied troops and 109 journalists are dead. The lives of millions have changed forever. Here are some of their stories:

The poet
The journalist's widow
The politician
The Iraqi mother
The civil servant
The British soldier
The American mother
The US veteran

SAS man quits in protest at 'illegal' Iraq war
Richard Norton-Taylor
Monday March 13, 2006
The Guardian

An SAS soldier has resigned from the army, describing the military intervention in Iraq as a "war of aggression" and "morally wrong". The soldier said he witnessed "dozens of illegal acts" by US forces there.

The SAS has been operating under cover in Iraq since the invasion, working with US special forces seeking out insurgents and foreign Arab fighters linked to or proclaiming sympathy with al-Qaida.

Ben Griffin, 28, who left after three months in Baghdad, is believed to be the first SAS soldier to refuse to go into combat and to leave the army on moral grounds. His decision comes at a time of growing disenchantment among British soldiers about their presence in Iraq.

He said he had witnessed dozens of illegal acts by US fighters who viewed Iraqis as "sub-human". Mr Griffin said: "I saw a lot of things in Baghdad that were illegal or just wrong. The Americans were doing things like chucking farmers into Abu Ghraib, or handing them over to the Iraqi authorities, knowing full well they were going to be tortured."

Brussels’s Tribunal

Within one month, Iraqis will enter their fourth year as a people under occupation, ruled by a puppet regime that sanctions death squads and torture. The time has long passed for this to end.

All rest in Peace

"Do not do what you hate," Excerpts from Tom Fox's Iraq Blog
Editors, Electronic Iraq
11 March 2006

Tom Fox, age 54, lived in Clearbrook, Virginia and was a dedicated father of two children. For the past two years, Mr. Fox worked with CPT in partnership with Iraqi human rights organizations to promote peace. Mr. Fox was a practicing Quaker for 22 years. While in Iraq, he sought a more complete understanding of Islamic cultural richness and was committed to telling the truth to U.S. citizens about the horrors of war and its effects on ordinary Iraqi civilians and families as a result of U.S. policies and practices. Mr. Fox was an accomplished musician who played the bass clarinet and the recorder and he loved to cook. He also worked as a professional grocer. Mr. Fox devoted much of his time to working with children. He served as an adult leader of youth programs and worked at a Quaker camp for youth. He facilitated young people's participation in opposing war and violence. Mr. Fox was a quiet and peaceful man, respectful of everyone, who believed that "there is that of God in every person" which is why work for peace was so important to him.

On March 10th, 2005, after more than three months as a hostage in Iraq, his body was found by police in a Baghdad neighborhood.

I always like going back reading articles from the past. Its like a reminder what did I and others think then would be happening now. It’s a good way to review our understanding of a situation, to see if we have moved towards a better result or worse or if we just happen to be standing in the same spot.

Today I just did a search on the net about withdrawal talk in 2003 and 2004 there is lost of intresting things to reread and reflect on. Here is one article published in October 2003.

The Time of Withdrawal
by Tom Engelhardt

"What we can see is what a long-term horror an American occupation and reconstruction of Iraq is likely to turn out to be. We can see the rising death toll; we can read about the civilians slain; we can note the mini-gulag set up there. We can mull over the greed and corruption in what passes for "reconstruction." All this we know. The rest is possibility. This we should not want to continue in our names. This "course" we should not want to "stay." Alternatives should not be considered "cutting and running."

For me at least, the imperial occupation of the lands of this earth – whatever the empire – is unacceptable. Any armed occupation will always be part of the problem not the solution on this planet. In our present world, such acts can only lead to hell. We need to pressure this administration hard to step outside the box it has created for us, our troops, and the Iraqi people who truly did deserve a liberation and not the occupation and looting that they are living through. They are not the spoils of war.

Let us offer Iraq genuine help, reconstruction aid, and support of all sorts afterwards, possibly indirectly through groups whose interests can't be mistaken for ours. But our troops are an occupying army. They can't keep the peace. They are the war.

Any armed occupation will always be part of the problem not the solution on this planet. In our present world, such acts can only lead to hell."

"Any armed occupation will always be part of the problem not the solution on this planet. In our present world, such acts can only lead to hell."

Mr.Engelhardt is absolutely right. Today we have hell in Iraq. And Iraqis understood this from day one. That is why in surveys after survey since 2003 we have found that the majority of us want occupation troops to leave Iraq. Majority of Iraqis from day one had a very clear understanding that an occupation is not a solution, it is a problem maker.

This is a joke told by an Iraqi cameraman:

"Three people died and were sent to Hell. One was American, one was European, and one was Iraqi. They all asked if they could make a phone call to their families. The American talked for ten minutes, and the demons charged him $20,000. The European talked for five minutes, and they charged him $5,000. The Iraqi talked for about two hours, and they charged him fifty cents. 'Hey!' said the American. 'How come this guy only had to pay fifty cents, when he talked for hours?'

'Well,' said the nearest demon. 'It's practically a local call.'"

I call for US military pullout from Iraq and I call for its collaborator’s military pullout too.

The message is clear and simple, no need for more explanations.

Tales of Murder and Torture

The latest chapter in reporter Olivia Rousset's Abu Ghraib revelations. Three weeks ago on Dateline, Olivia revealed new evidence of horrific abuse at Abu Ghraib.

On a recent trip to the US, Olivia managed to track down two former Abu Ghraib guards - one who served time for committing abuses against Iraqi detainees and another who witnessed those shocking events. It's no small irony that both of these former US military policemen now see themselves as being among the victims of Abu Ghraib. Here's Olivia's story. And, as you would expect with this sort of report, be warned - some of what you're about to see is not exactly pretty and could even offend.

Broadcast - -Dateline - SBS Australia 03/08/06

This is what two U.S soldiers who served in Iraq and at Abu Ghraib had to say:

JAVAL DAVIS: If I could say something to the decision makers, I'd say, "You stabbed me in the back, you stabbed a whole bunch of soldiers in the back, you know, left a whole lot of soldiers out there to dry, you know." That's what I say to my leadership, "Shame on you."

KEN DAVIS: It was said, right in the New Testament, the truth doesn't have to justify itself because the truth will be known, So it's kind of one of those things where OK, if you want to lie, go ahead because the truth will be known and people are going to see it and if that's what you want your legacy based on, fine.
And there are soldiers that know the truth. We battle with what we battle internally, the war isn't over for us because inside is a fight every single day that we live.

The only solution left today to stop these powers of darkness in Iraq is if millions of Iraqis inside Iraq went out in joint demonstrations. Showing national unity which I know is there and have a new start from an entirely Iraq perspective where ordinary Iraqis are in charge and full control.

The hell with what’s good for U.S national security, the hell with west obsession with easy access to oil, the hell with Iraqis who kill other Iraqis, the hell with the occupation in all its forms, the hell with people who want to have their war on terror and war on extreme Muslims in Iraq and thru Iraq, the hell with Israel’s national security, the hell with greater Israel plans, the hell with fanatics who thinks Jesus is on his way back thru Iraq, the hell with dreams of fanatics from Iran, the hell with corrupted Iraqis in government, the hell with non Iraqis who want to get richer while ordinary Iraqis die in the streets, they have all had their chance in Iraq and it is clear all they can give ordinary Iraqis are death, destruction, corruption, recipes to hate each other, recipes to divide the society, massacres, killings, theft, lies, hypocrisy, double standards, wars and more conflict. All these different groups of darkness have one thing in common; their enemy is united Iraqis.

Joint huge demonstrations of million of Iraqis showing unity and taking back control are needed before it really is too late.

* * * * * *


Iraqis fight talk of civil war
By Brian Conley and Isam Rashid

BAGHDAD - Repeated cries in the mainstream media of an unfolding civil war fall on the deaf ears of many Iraqis who see the violence as a direct result of the US-led occupation.

In the days after the bombing of the Shi'ite shrine at Samarra on February 22, the Association of Muslim Scholars and representatives of Shi'ite groups led by Muqtada al-Sadr and Sheikh al-Khalisi met at the Abu Hanifa Mosque in Adhamiya to negotiate a response.

They constructed a 10-point plan for responding to the violence and building a future for Iraq.

read more here

How can we make the outcome benefiting the Iraqi people?

I know very well how the situation is in Iraq, and I still feel that the only way to change path now is if ordinary Iraqis inside Iraq went out in millions in the streets demonstrating showing their unity, saying their demands for a functioning government that put their needs first and finally getting the time table for occupation troop’s withdrawal.

As I said I know the situation in Iraq, and still I feel this is the sort of action that is needed to save Iraq.

I mean it is very clear there are strong forces with lots of power who really want a full out civil war between Iraqis. So what shall we do? Just sit and chat or just sit and hold our breaths and let them have it their way?

Did the use of Uranium weapons in Gulf War 2
result in contamination of Europe?
Evidence from the measurements of the
Atomic Weapons Establishment, Aldermaston, Berkshire, UK.
CHRIS BUSBY & SAOIRSE MORGAN

We report the weather conditions at the time and show that over the period there was a consistent flow of air from Iraq northwards and that the UK was in the centre of a anticyclone which drew air in from the south and from the south east. On the basis of the mean increase in uranium in air of about 500nBq/m3 we use respiration data on standard man to calculate that each person in the area inhaled some 23 million uranium particles of diameter 0.25 microns. We suggest that health data, particularly birth data be examined for possible effects from this exposure. As far as we know, this is the first evidence that uranium aerosols from battle use have been shown to travel so far. Keywords: uranium, depleted uranium, particles, Gulf War 2, geophysical, dispersion, Aldermaston

According to Pipes, a “civil war” in Iraq would be a good thing since it would invite “Syrian and Iranian participation, hastening the possibility of an American confrontation with those two states,” an objective at the very core of the Straussian plan to unleash society and culture destroying chaos and violence in the Middle East and thus breaking the region up into more easily controllable Bantustans. More sectarian violence would also put an end to the “dream of Iraq serving as a model for other Middle Eastern countries, thus delaying the push toward elections. This will have the effect of keeping Islamists from being legitimated by the popular vote, as Hamas was just a month ago.”

Here we have one who thinks what is happening in Iraq is strategically good:

Civil War in Iraq?

by Daniel Pipes (Director of Middle East Forum)

New York Sun

February 28, 2006

http://www.danielpipes.org/article/3423

The eruption of civil war in Iraq would have many implications for the West. It would likely:

· Invite Syrian and Iranian participation, hastening the possibility of an American confrontation with those two states, with which tensions are already high.

· Terminate the dream of Iraq serving as a model for other Middle Eastern countries, thus delaying the push toward elections. This will have the effect of keeping Islamists from being legitimated by the popular vote, as Hamas was just a month ago.

· Reduce coalition casualties in Iraq. As noted by the Philadelphia Inquirer, "Rather than killing American soldiers, the insurgents and foreign fighters are more focused on creating civil strife that could destabilize Iraq's political process and possibly lead to outright ethnic and religious war."

· Reduce Western casualties outside Iraq. A professor at the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School, Vali Nasr, notes: "Just when it looked as if Muslims across the region were putting aside their differences to unite in protest against the Danish cartoons, the attack showed that Islamic sectarianism remains the greatest challenge to peace." Put differently, when Sunni terrorists target Shiites and vice-versa, non-Muslims are less likely to be hurt.

Civil war in Iraq, in short, would be a humanitarian tragedy but not a strategic one.

---------------

The Middle East Forum, a think tank, works to define and promote American interests in the Middle East through research, publications, and educational outreach. The Forum's policy recommendations include fighting radical Islam (rather than terrorism), convincing the Palestinians that Israel is permanent, reducing funds going to the Middle East for energy purchases, slowing down the democratization process, and more robustly asserting U.S. interests vis-à-vis Saudi Arabia. In addition, the Forum works to improve Middle East studies in North America.

MEF sees the region, with its profusion of dictatorships, radical ideologies, existential conflicts, border disagreements, political violence, and weapons of mass destruction as a major source of problems for the United States. Accordingly, it urges active measures to protect Americans and their allies.

Toward this end, the Forum seeks to help shape the intellectual climate in which U.S. foreign policy is made by addressing key issues in a timely and accessible way for a sophisticated public.

-------------

Mr Bolton reiterated his hardline stance. In a speech to the annual convention of the American-Israel public affairs committee, the leading pro-Israel US lobbyists, he said: "The longer we wait to confront the threat Iran poses, the harder and more intractable it will become to solve ... we must be prepared to rely on comprehensive solutions and use all the tools at our disposal to stop the threat that the Iranian regime poses."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/iran/story/0,,1724473,00.html

-------------------

With the all the facts from history of the U.S and even the U.K this makes them among the suspected of the recent bombing in Iraq. As he Pipe said, it will grow closer the confrontation with Iran and it will slow down the path of democracy.

Occupation comes in many forms, military presence and administrative occupation where orders and demands are given behind closed doors and in open meetings.

The US occupation is the main problem in Iraq; most other problems of violence are side effects from it.

For me addressing the future of Iraq is by ending any sort of foreign control and occupation, be it military, economically and administratively.

Yesterday I read this in an Iraqi newspaper “Iraqi politicians seem to be in one valley and the Iraqi people in another.” Its true and the valley our politicians are in is protected by the U.S led foreign occupation. Ending any sort of occupation in 1-3 months and stopping all international meddling hidden deals and demands our politicians will be faced with the reality:

That there are no more occupation troops to protect them, no more personal money to be made by approving international business and political deals; they are on their own and so are we. We need this.

I believe that something like this will force our leaders for their own survival to work together. I believe a joint political work like that will widen the chances of us to be filled with pride, confidence and hope! I see all that as energy for strength on all levels so we can work together for an improved Iraq!

I am not saying that we’ll suddenly have love and understanding on all levels in the Iraqi society not at all, what I am saying is that chances will be bigger for positive outcomes if we take this path. We must be given the same right as western democracies had in their path to a better life!

I personally don't believe for one second that the U.S administration is sincere in its "democracy project". I just have to look at how they act today in other countries and it is clear what the U.S still wants are "friendly governments" whether they are democratic or not is not an issue for them at least not from how they act today and have acted before. But the issue for me is what do I want, what can we Iraqis do to have what we want.

So it is in our full right and our duty to see to it that we get rid of all sort of occupation of our country as one important step to achieve a truly free Iraq.

Let us remember what Bush said about Syria in Lebanon "I don't mean just the troops out of Lebanon; I mean all of them out of Lebanon, including the intelligence services." And "This is not negotiable; it is time to get out. I don't think you can have free (parliamentary) elections with the Syrian troops there."

So let’s apply the same rules in Iraq too that is the best option indeed!

By Jonathan Steele

03/03/06 "The Guardian"

Better for the US to seize the opportunity to put troop withdrawal on the table. Instead of haggling over government portfolios - which only postpones the inevitable - Iraq needs a reconciliation conference that all parties, including radical nationalists such as Sadr as well as Sunni insurgents, would be urged to attend. Its central item would be stark. What form of national salvation government could Iraqis agree to, knowing that by midsummer all occupation forces would have left? Faced with the reality of no more US and UK troops, the secondary questions follow. What would be the role of militias/insurgents? Should they disband, with some gunmen incorporated into a national army, or should they be "re-badged" as local forces to confront the minority of al-Qaida activists in Iraq? Can a UN force manned mainly by Muslim nations play a security role?

Only by ending the occupation can the ideological base be cut from under the foreign jihadis and their terror bombings. Only when Iraq's leaders accept they are on their own will they have a strong enough incentive to work together to save their faltering country.