[centraal] Irak na de oorlog deel 28

quote:

Since the fall of Saddam Hussein, the Kurds have made known their determination to retain a degree of autonomy in the territory they have dominated for more than a decade. Now, after their strong performance in the elections last month, Kurdish leaders are for the first time spelling out specific demands.

From control of oil reserves to the retention of the Kurdish militia, the pesh merga, to full authority over taxation, the requested powers add up to an autonomy that is hard to distinguish from independence.

"The fact remains that we are two different nationalities in Iraq - we are Kurds and Arabs," Mr. Barzani said as he sat in a reception hall at his headquarters in Salahuddin. "If the Kurdish people agree to stay in the framework of Iraq in one form or another as a federation, then other people should be grateful to them."

Kurdish autonomy is expected to be one of the most divisive issues during the drafting of the new constitution, alongside the debate over the role of Islam in the new Iraq. The Kurds' demands are already alarming Iraq's Arabs, particularly the majority Shiites, and raising tensions with neighboring countries, where governments are trying to suppress Kurdish separatist movements within their own borders.

In interviews, top Kurdish leaders like Mr. Barzani, head of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, set out a list of demands that are more far-reaching than the Kurds have articulated in the past:

¶They want the ownership of any natural resources, including oilfields, and the power to determine how the revenues are split with the central government.

¶They want authority over the formidable militia called the pesh merga, estimated at up to 100,000 members, in defiance of the American goal of dismantling ethnic and sectarian armies. The pesh merga would be under nominal national oversight, but actual control would remain with regional commanders. No other armed forces would be allowed to enter Kurdistan without permission from Kurdish officials.

¶They want power to appoint officials to work in and operate ministries in Kurdistan, which would parallel those in Baghdad. These would include the ministries that oversee security and the economy.

¶They want authority over fiscal policy, including oversight of taxes and the power to decide how much tax revenue goes to Baghdad. The national government would make monetary policy but would not be able to raise revenue from Kurdistan without the agreement of Kurdish officials.

Moreover, the region's borders would be changed, in the Kurds' vision. The "green line" that defines the boundary between the Kurdistan and the rest of Iraq would be officially pushed south, to take in the oil-rich city of Kirkuk, the city of Khanaqin and the area of Sinjar. Kurdish leaders argue that this would just reestablish historic borders where Mr. Hussein had drastically altered the demographics by displacing Kurds with Arab settlers.

"It must be clear in the constitution what is for the Kurds and what is for the Iraqi government," said Fouad Hussein, an influential independent Kurdish politician.

quote:

Op vrijdag 4 februari 2005 10:32 schreef Bassie_NL het volgende:


Maf dat nog steeds talloze mensen de VN als de ultieme legitimatie zien.. Vooral waar het op Irak aan komt. Luister eens naar de berichten over het olie-voor-voedsel-programma, bedoeld om noodlijdende Irakezen te helpen. Dankzij de VN is het misschien wel het grootste oplichtingsschandaal uit de geschiedenis geworden, BLABLABLABLABLA

quote:

CAPTURED OFFICER CONFESSES SYRIAN INVOLVEMENT IN IRAQ

Iraqi state television aired a video Wednesday showing what the U.S.-funded channel said was the confession of a captured Syrian officer who said he trained Iraqi insurgents to behead people and build car bombs to attack American and Iraqi troops.

The video also showed an Iraqi who said the insurgents practiced beheading animals to train for decapitating hostages.

Syrian officials could not immediately be reached for comment on the claims.

The video comes at a time when the Bush administration has stepped up pressure on Syria to stop meddling in Iraqi affairs by allowing insurgents to cross into the country to fight coalition troops and by harboring former Iraqi regime members. Syria has denied the charges.

President Bush also repeated Wednesday that Syria must remove its 15,000 troops from neighboring Lebanon but did not threaten any action against Damascus — for now.

In the video, the man, identified as Lt. Anas Ahmed al-Essa of the Syrian intelligence service, said his group had been recruited to "cause chaos in Iraq ... to bar America from reaching Syria."

"We received all the instructions from Syrian intelligence," al-Essa, 30, said on a video broadcast by state-run Iraqiya TV, which can be seen nationwide.

The tape was apparently made in the northern city of Mosul but no date was provided. It was not possible to authenticate the claims.

An unidentified Iraqi officer introduced the video, saying all insurgent groups in Iraq were covers for Syrian intelligence. He named a number of well-known groups, including one which has killed and beheaded foreigners.

Iraqiya TV is believed to be widely watched by Iraqis — mainly those who cannot afford satellite dishes offering the Gulf-based Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya stations. But the station, which went on the air in May 2003 with help from the Pentagon, is viewed by many Iraqis as an American propaganda tool having a pro-American slant.

Top officials in Iraq's interim government have called on Syria to hand over former Iraqi Baathists who fled there after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, which Syria vehemently opposed.

In the video, the bearded al-Essa, dressed in a gray jacket and shirt, claimed to be leader of the al-Fateh Army, which has not been heard of before.

He was one of 11 men claiming in front of the camera that they were recruited by Syrian intelligence officers. The other 10 were identified as Iraqis.

Al-Essa said his need for money was the motive for accepting an offer by a Syrian intelligence colonel he identified as Fady Abdullah to carry out attacks inside Iraq.

"I was trained on explosives, killing, spying, kidnapping ... and after one year I went to Iraq with Fady Abdullah," al-Essa said.

He claimed he infiltrated into Iraq in 2001, about two years before the U.S. invasion, because Syrian intelligence was convinced that American military action loomed.

Another man, Shawan al-Sabaawi, was identified as a former lieutenant colonel in Saddam Hussein's army. He claimed to have received training from Syrian intelligence on how to behead hostages.

He said the group started by making car bombs targeting American troops and Iraqi National Guardsmen before beginning a campaign of kidnapping and beheading Iraqis.

Al-Essa said the group used animals for training in beheadings. He said it required "at least 10 beheadings" for a member to be promoted to a group leader.

"I had to send a report to Syria about how the operations are going," he said.

Weapons, explosives and equipment were all provided by Syrian intelligence, al-Essa claimed. He added the group members received $1,500 a month.

International pressure on Syria has grown since the Feb. 14 assassination of former Lebanese Premier Rafik Hariri, who died along with 16 others in a massive explosion in Beirut.

The Lebanese opposition blames the killing on the Damascus government and its Syrian backers. Both governments have denied involvement. Syria has 15,000 soldiers in Lebanon and is under growing international pressure to withdraw.

quote:

Zeker 125 doden bij aanslag Irak

van onze redactie buitenland
HILLA - Een zelfmoordaanslag in Hilla, ten zuiden van de Iraakse hoofdstad Bagdad, heeft gisteren aan zeker 125 mensen het leven gekost, 148 raakten gewond. Opnieuw waren politiemensen het doelwit.

Het was de zwaarste aanslag in Irak sinds de val van het regime van Saddam Hussein in april 2003. Gisteren halverwege de avond had nog niemand de verantwoordelijkheid voor de aanslag opgeëist.

Een man reed in een met explosieven volgepakte auto in op een rij mensen die stond te wachten bij een gezondheidscentrum. Daar moesten ze een oogtest moeten ondergaan om in aanmerking te kunnen komen voor een baan bij de politie in Hilla. Ook aan de overkant van de straat vielen veel slachtoffers onder winkelende voorbijgangers.

Volgens een ooggetuige kwam een grijze Mitubsishi met twee man erin uit een steeg. De auto stopte. De twee mannen namen afscheid van elkaar waarna één van hen uitstapte. Even later explodeerde de auto. De politie liet later weten verscheidene mensen gearresteerd te hebben na de aanslag.

Opponenten van de huidige interim-regering voeren vrijwel dagelijks aanslagen uit op mensen die zij ervan beschuldigen 'te heulen met de vijand', waaronder zowel de regering als de Verenigde Staten worden verstaan. Vooral politie en leger zijn doelwit van de merendeels soennitische militanten. Ook sjiieten moeten het vaak ontgelden. Hilla wordt voornamelijk bevolkt door sjiieten.

Artsen deden onmiddellijk een dringend beroep op burgers om bloed te doneren. Uit naburige plaatsen als Kerbala, Diwaniya en Najaf schoten dertig artsen te hulp. De Iraakse Rode Halve Maan stuurde vanuit Bagdad extra personeel en medicijnen naar Hilla. De directeur van het ziekenhuis van Hilla zei nog nooit een dergelijk bloedbad te hebben gezien in de stad.

Interim-premier Ayad Allawi schreef gisteren in de Amerikaanse krant Wall Street Journal dat Irakezen zo snel mogelijk meer veiligheidstaken zouden moeten overnemen, maar dat voorlopig de hulp van buiten hard nodig blijft. Amerikanen en Irakezen doen verwoede pogingen de opstand in Irak te breken, maar kunnen niet voorkomen dat rebellen aanslagen plegen.

Wel boeken ze successen bij het opsporen van kopstukken uit het bewind van de voormalige dictator Saddam Hussein. Zo kregen zij afgelopen zondag - met hulp van Syrië - Saddams halfbroer Sabawi Ibrahim in handen. Volgens een verklaring van het kantoor van Allawi heeft Sabawi Ibrahim ,,Irakezen gedood en gemarteld''. Verder zou hij een rol hebben gespeeld bij het ,,plannen, leiden en uitvoeren van veel terroristische activiteiten in Irak''.

quote:

Al 132 doden bij bomaanslag Hilla (01/03 14:06)

(Belga) De zware bomaanslag van maandag in het Iraakse Hilla heeft al aan 132 mensen het leven gekost. Dat heeft het Iraakse ministerie van Volksgezondheid dinsdag bekendgemaakt.

Tot nu toe was er officieel sprake van 110 dodelijke slachtoffers, terwijl de media het hadden over 125 doden. Bij de aanslag met een bomauto vielen ook 120 gewonden, waarvan enkele nog in levensgevaar verkeren. Volgens de politie werden dinsdag twaalf personen die met de aanslag te maken zouden hebben, opgepakt. Toch gaat het volgens de politie nog steeds om een zelfmoordaanslag. "Het was één auto met daarin een grote lading springstof", verduidelijkt de politie. (dwm) (Belga/AG)

quote:

With U.S. deaths in Iraq topping 1,500, the commanding General of allied troops in Baghdad said Thursday he expects casualties will soon decline because of bomb-detecting technology and emboldened Iraqi informants.

"My expectation, not just a hope, is that over the coming months we'll see the number of casualties go down," Maj. Gen. William G. Webster said in a teleconference from Baghdad. "Now, I'm knocking on wood at the same time, because the enemy gets a vote in this."

quote:

Amerikanen beschieten vrijgelaten Italiaanse

ROME/BAGDAD - De in Irak gegijzelde Italiaanse journaliste Giuliana Sgrena is vrijdag kort na haar onverwachte vrijlating beschoten door Amerikaanse militairen. Het voertuig dat de net bevrijde vrouw naar de luchthaven bij Bagdad zou brengen, kwam onder Amerikaans vuur te liggen bij een wegafzetting.

Volgens de Italiaanse premier Berlusconi en haar communistische krant Il Manifesto raakte ze daardoor gewond aan haar schouder. De vrouw, die niet in levensgevaar is, werd naar een ziekenhuis vervoerd. Een lid van de Italiaanse geheime dienst, die betrokken was bij haar vrijlating, is volgens het Italiaanse persbureau Ansa gedood.

Het Amerikaanse leger heeft de beschieting van de journaliste bevestigd. Berlusconi heeft de Amerikaanse ambassadeur in Rome op het matje geroepen, aldus de Italiaanse televisie. Hij zei dat iemand de verantwoordelijkheid moet nemen voor het incident. De 57-jarige journaliste zat precies een maand vast. Ze werd in Bagdad door onbekenden ontvoerd en ook in de Iraakse hoofdstad weer in vrijheid gesteld.

quote:

A missile fired by insurgents from the ground probably destroyed an RAF Hercules C-130 cargo plane in Iraq with the loss of 10 British special operations servicemen, an interim report by Ministry of Defence accident investigators has revealed.

The findings, outlined to MPs by Geoff Hoon, the Defence Secretary, raised fears within the MoD that the insurgents could possess a new missile capable of hitting aircraft flying above 15,000 feet.

The board of inquiry ruled out the possibility that the Hercules, which was supplying a special-operations base north of Baghdad, was blown up by an on-board bomb or an explosion caused by an accident with bombs or ammunition on board.

quote:

U.S. Army soldiers in Iraq filmed themselves kicking a gravely wounded prisoner in the face and making the arm of a corpse appear to wave, then titled the effort "Ramadi Madness" after the city where it was made.

The video, made public on Monday, was shot by Florida National Guard soldiers. They edited and compiled it into a DVD in January 2004, with various sections bearing titles such as "Those Crafty Little Bastards" and "Another Day, Another Mission, Another Scumbag."

The soldiers' unit served in the restive Sunni Muslim city Ramadi, about 70 miles west of Baghdad, before returning home a year ago.

quote:

The Pentagon did not release the video, saying it believed it had been destroyed. But a Florida newspaper, The Palm Beach Post, obtained it and posted some of it on its website on Monday.

quote:

 

After the War Comes Cancer

Information collected for a German project investigating the use of uranium-charged ammunition in Iraq shows that when Iraqi women fear for their children's health, it is with good reason.

After two wars where oil wells were torched, chemical factories bombed and radioactive ammunition fired, the first thing Iraqi women ask when giving birth is not if it is a boy or a girl, but if it is normal or deformed. The number of cancer cases and children born with deformities has skyrocketed after the two Gulf Wars.

Doctors have also recorded an extreme rise in cancer cases among adults. "In 2004 we diagnosed 25 percent more cancer cases than the year before and the mortality rate increased eight-fold between 1988 and 1991," said Dr. Jawad al-Ali of the Sadr Hospital in Basra.
 

quote:

Op dinsdag 15 maart 2005 05:09 schreef NorthernStar het volgende:

[..]

DU moet op de lijst van nucleaire wapens.

quote:

Op dinsdag 15 maart 2005 05:49 schreef FreakU het volgende:

[..]

??

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Op dinsdag 15 maart 2005 06:58 schreef NorthernStar het volgende:

[..]

Depleted Uranium oftewel verarmd uranium.

Dat is die rotzooi (nucleair afval ) die ze in oa. Irak gebruikt hebben in bommen, raketten en kogels.

In de 1e golfoorlog ongeveer 375 ton en in de eerste twee maanden van de oorlog in 2003 (volgens officiele schattingen van het Pentagon) tussen de 1.100 en 2.200 ton!

quote:

Op dinsdag 15 maart 2005 07:29 schreef CeeJee het volgende:

[..]

Sinds de 1ste Golfoorlog in 1991 is er in Duitsland door de kolenverbranding ook 3000 ton uranium (niet verarmd, dus nog radioactiever) vrijgekomen. Daar lijkt niemand zich zorgen om te maken.

quote:

Gedoodverfde Iraakse premier wil sharia invoeren
ANP

HAMBURG - De gedoodverfde premier van Irak, Ibrahim al-Jaafari, wil in zijn land de sharia, het islamitische rechtssysteem, invoeren, maar wel 'als een van meerdere bronnen van rechtspraak'. Hij zei dat in een interview met het Duitse weekblad Der Spiegel, dat maandag verschijnt.


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Al-Jaafari zegt met harde hand te willen optreden tegen de terreur. 'Als het democratisch experiment en de opbouw van een nieuw Irak moeten slagen, moeten deze dagelijkse bloedbaden ophouden.' Hij vindt dat er 'geen mildheid voor moordenaars' mag zijn.

Om het door etnische verschillen verdeelde land te bevrijden, wil al-Jafaari de Koerden in het noorden van het land vergaande autonomie toestaan. In het kader van de nationale verzoening wil hij ook de 'soennitische broeders' bij de ontwikkelingen betrekken en hen bewegen mee te werken aan de nieuwe grondwet.


Irak moet in principe een islamitische staat worden, zei al-Jaafari.

quote:

After Al Ghad, a Jordanian newspaper, reported that Banna had been responsible for the bombing on Feb. 28 in Hilla, killing more than 130 people, Iraqis erupted in anger. Beleaguered by dozens of suicide bombings that have killed thousands of civilians, Iraqis often blame foreigners for the attacks.

In the case of Banna, the most inflammatory allegation in the Jordanian newspaper article was that his family had staged a celebration last week, inviting their countrymen to congratulate them for their son's heroic act. The article appeared after the Banna family took out a newspaper obituary last week, proclaiming their son a martyr.

On Monday, hundreds of Iraqis swarmed around the Jordanian Embassy in Baghdad, denouncing Jordan's leader, King Abdullah II, and defacing a Jordanian flag. Iraq's majority Shiites have been particularly suspicious of their Sunni-dominated neighbors, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, which, they say, are upset by the prospect of a Shiite-led government next door.

Although U.S. and Iraqi officials say foreign militants make up only a small percentage of the insurgents in Iraq, foreigners also appear to be among the most violent and committed members of the cause. The most wanted man in Iraq - Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who is believed to be responsible for the deaths of hundreds of civilians - is, like Banna, a Jordanian. Amid the anger and denunciations, the truth behind Banna's death - if in fact he is dead - remains elusive.

Banna's father, Mansur al-Banna, while conceding that his son had probably been killed with insurgents in Iraq, declared in an interview that his son had nothing to do with the Hilla bombing and that his family had never told Al Ghad that he had.

quote:

Op dinsdag 1 februari 2005 21:49 schreef Dluvan het volgende:
Iraakse politie houdt Nederlandse journalist vast

AS SAMAWAH - De Iraakse politie heeft dinsdagmiddag de Nederlandse journalist Hans-Jaap Melissen van de Wereldomroep in As Samawah in het zuiden van Irak opgepakt. Na een kort verhoor heeft zij hem anderhalf uur later teruggebracht naar de Nederlandse basis Camp Smitty.

De politie had de Nederlandse militaire leiding eerder meegedeeld dat zij de journalist "wegens verdacht gedrag" had opgepakt. De verslaggever was op eigen gelegenheid naar As Samawah gegaan.

Westerling

Melissen is een ervaren verslaggever in Irak. In As Samawah bezocht hij kennissen. "De politie hield mij aan omdat zij het opmerkelijk vond dat een westerling zonder wapen en zonder begeleiding van militairen in het centrum van de stad rondliep", aldus de Wereldomroep-verslaggever, toen hij terug was op het Nederlands kamp.

Zwaailicht

De Iraakse politie verhoorde Melissen en zijn tolk korte tijd. "Ze waarschuwden mij voor criminele bendes. Na het verhoor en na contact met de Nederlandse militairen op Camp Smitty, werd Melissen "met zwaailicht aan" door de Irakezen teruggebracht naar de Nederlandse basis. "Ik vind niet dat het onveilig is in de stad. Ik zou het morgen weer kunnen doen", aldus Melissen.

quote:

Press: Attack Planned in Europe


Iraq's most wanted man, the fugitive Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, has been planning a chemical weapons attack in Europe, a German magazine said on Wednesday, citing intelligence sources. "We in Europe have been afraid that a big bang is coming sometime and that Zarqawi is planning it," an official at Germany's BND federal intelligence service told the April edition of the political monthly Cicero. According to the magazine, the Jordanian extremist and his supporters, who are linked to the al Qaeda network, have been trying to get hold of arms components in Russia's volatile north Caucasus region and in Georgia. Another BND source said that it was unclear whether Zarqawi's attempts had been successful. "We only know that he is working on it," the source said. Cicero said intelligence sources presume he has at least 150 supporters. Some of them are thought to have operated in the southern states of Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg and the capital Berlin where they have tried to set up terrorist cells for a "holy war," it said. Zarqawi and his group, al Qaeda Organization in the Land of Two Rivers, has claimed responsibility for scores of deadly attacks in Iraq since the 2003 fall of Saddam Hussein.

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Op dinsdag 5 april 2005 06:37 schreef HarigeKerel het volgende:

[..]

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/briefs/0,1574,1535754,00.html


Jeej

quote:

Op zaterdag 26 maart 2005 17:46 schreef Partyman het volgende:

[..]

Kijk als dat soort figuren worden gegijzeld en hij op tv komt smekend voor zijn leven dan heb ik daar geen medelijden mee.... lijkt wel of hij denkt dat hij rambo is ofzo

quote:

Iraq general kidnapped in Baghdad
An Iraqi general who commands a special armoured unit has been kidnapped by gunmen in Baghdad, police say.

Brig Gen Mohammad Jalal Saleh was pulled from his car along with his bodyguards in the west of the capital.

The kidnapping came after two powerful car bombs exploded in Baghdad, killing at least one civilian.

Gen Saleh commands a 1,600-strong interior ministry unit formed to deal with insurgents and criminal gangs, the French news agency AFP reports.

It was one of the first armoured units to be reassembled after the war and the dissolution of the army.

Targets
Different areas of Baghdad were rocked by two car bombs shortly after 0900 (0500 GMT).

The first in the southern Doura district targeted a US military convoy, leaving a military vehicle in flames. At least one injured civilian was taken to Yarmouk hospital.

The second blast in the western Amariyah district killed a civilian and wounded two others. Reports say it was aimed at an Iraqi army convoy carrying a high-ranking officer who escaped unhurt.

The US military meanwhile confirmed that 12 Iraqis and four US prison guards were wounded in a riot at Camp Bucca near the southern town of Umm Qasr on Friday. It initially denied knowledge of the incident.

The military also said two US soldiers and an Iraqi soldier were killed on Monday in an intense gun battle in Diyala province north-east of Baghdad.

A US marine was killed by an explosion in the western Anbar province on the same day, the military said.

Kidnap scourge
No group has yet said it abducted Gen Saleh, who commands the interior ministry's Eighth Mechanised Armoured Division.

He was seized from the upmarket Mansour district at about 1130, an interior ministry official said.

The kidnapping of foreign aid workers and journalists gets the most international attention, but Iraqis are very frequent targets, usually abducted for ransom.

Even the city's anti-kidnap unit is unsure how many take place, says the BBC's Matthew Price in Baghdad.

An officer who spoke to our correspondent refused to be identified because a colleague of his was killed after appearing in the media.

Both insurgents and criminals engage in kidnapping in Iraq.

quote:

Op dinsdag 5 april 2005 11:15 schreef Monus het volgende:

[..]

quote:

 
Iraqis march through Baghdad to voice their anger



Tens of thousands of protesters have marched through Baghdad denouncing the US occupation of Iraq, two years after the fall of Saddam Hussein.
Demonstrators loyal to Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr rallied in the square where the ousted Iraqi leader's statue was toppled in 2003.


Protesters chanted anti-Western slogans such as "No, no to the occupiers", and "No America! No Saddam! Yes to Islam!"

The square was packed with demonstrators waving Iraqi flags and holding aloft effigies of US President George W Bush, UK Prime Minister Tony Blair and Saddam Hussein.



"I came from Sadr City to demand a timetable for the withdrawal of the occupation," one protester, named Abbas, was quoted by Reuters news agency as saying.

"The Americans wanted time and we gave them time, now we want to rule ourselves," he said.
 

quote:

Iraqi Shia leader Ibrahim Jaafari has been named prime minister of the country's new interim government. He was appointed shortly after Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani was sworn in as Iraq's new interim president. Outgoing Prime Minister Iyad Allawi has resigned, but will continue his work until Mr Jaafari names his government. The transitional government's main task will be to oversee the drafting of a permanent Iraqi constitution and to pave the way for elections in December. Mr Jaafari, 58, is seen as one of Iraq's most popular political figures.

quote:

Op dinsdag 5 april 2005 06:37 schreef HarigeKerel het volgende:

[..]

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/briefs/0,1574,1535754,00.html


Jeej

quote:

Op maandag 11 april 2005 00:52 schreef DrWolffenstein het volgende:


Zolang je niet in de buurt van Den Haag woont zal het wel meevallen.

quote:

 
Let them eat bombs


Terry Jones

A report to the UN human rights commission in Geneva has concluded that Iraqi children were actually better off under Saddam Hussein than they are now.

This, of course, comes as a bitter blow for all those of us who, like George Bush and Tony Blair, honestly believe that children thrive best when we drop bombs on them from a great height, destroy their cities and blow up hospitals, schools and power stations.

It now appears that, far from improving the quality of life for Iraqi youngsters, the US-led military assault on Iraq has inexplicably doubled the number of children under five suffering from malnutrition. Under Saddam, about 4% of children under five were going hungry, whereas by the end of last year almost 8% were suffering.

These results are even more disheartening for those of us in the Department of Making Things Better for Children in the Middle East By Military Force, since the previous attempts by Britain and America to improve the lot of Iraqi children also proved disappointing. For example, the policy of applying the most draconian sanctions in living memory totally failed to improve conditions. After they were imposed in 1990, the number of children under five who died increased by a factor of six. By 1995 something like half a million Iraqi children were dead as a result of our efforts to help them.

A year later, Madeleine Albright, then the US ambassador to the United Nations, tried to put a brave face on it. When a TV interviewer remarked that more children had died in Iraq through sanctions than were killed in Hiroshima, Mrs Albright famously replied: "We think the price is worth it."

But clearly George Bush didn't. So he hit on the idea of bombing them instead. And not just bombing, but capturing and torturing their fathers, humiliating their mothers, shooting at them from road blocks - but none of it seems to do any good. Iraqi children simply refuse to be better nourished, healthier and less inclined to die. It is truly baffling.

And this is why we at the department are appealing to you - the general public - for ideas. If you can think of any other military techniques that we have so far failed to apply to the children of Iraq, please let us know as a matter of urgency. We assure you that, under our present leadership, there is no limit to the amount of money we are prepared to invest in a military solution to the problems of Iraqi children.

In the UK there may now be 3.6 million children living below the poverty line, and 12.9 million in the US, with no prospect of either government finding any cash to change that. But surely this is a price worth paying, if it means that George Bush and Tony Blair can make any amount of money available for bombs, shells and bullets to improve the lives of Iraqi kids. You know it makes sense.



·Terry Jones is a film director, actor and Python. He is the author of Terry Jones's War on the War on Terror

The Guardian

 

quote:

 
U.N.: Iraq Kids Suffer From Malnutrition

Almost twice as many Iraqi children are suffering from malnutrition since the U.S.-led invasion toppled Saddam Hussein, a U.N. monitor said Monday.

Four percent of Iraqis under age 5 went hungry in the months after Saddam's ouster in April 2003, and the rate nearly doubled to 7.7 percent last year, said Jean Ziegler, the U.N. Human Rights Commission's special expert on the right to food.

The situation is "a result of the war led by coalition forces," he said.

Overall, more than a quarter of Iraqi children don't get enough to eat, Ziegler told the 53-nation commission, the top U.N. human rights watchdog.

ABC News
 

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IRAQ: Doctors warn of increasing deformities in newborn babies.

BAGHDAD, 27 April (IRIN) - Doctors in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, have reported a significant increase in deformities among newborn babies.

Health officials and scientists said this could be due to radiation passed through mothers following years of conflict in the country.

The most affected regions are in the south of the country, particularly Basra and Najaf, according to experts. Weaponry used during the Gulf war in 1991 contained depleted uranium, which could be a primary source for the increase, scientists in Baghdad said.

"In my experiments we have found some cases where the mother or father were suffering from pollution from weapons used in the south and we believe that it is affecting newborn babies in the country," Dr Ibraheem al-Jabouri, a scientist at Baghdad University, told IRIN.

The type of deformities found in newborn babies are characterised by multiple fingers, unusually large heads, unilateral lips or no arms or legs.

reuters
 

quote:

The US-led coalition forces in Iraq face violent attacks and suicide bombings, but nature has its hazards as well - like this dramatic desert sandstorm.

The storm hit on Tuesday, at the former Iraqi airbase at al-Asad, about 180 km (110 miles) west of Baghdad, now home to a US marine corps unit.

The sandstorm approaching at around 60 mph (95 km/h) engulfed people, buildings and equipment.

The sky turned orange as the storm approached, until total darkness blanketed the ground.

Experts say such storms are extremely rare in Iraq, and can spring up almost without warning. Pictures taken by Gunnery Sergeant Shannon Aldredge, US marine corps photographer.

quote:

Irakezen bekennen moord op Margaret Hassan

BAGDAD - Vijf Irakezen hebben de ontvoering en de moord op de Brits-Iraakse hulpverleenster Margaret Hassan bekend. Dat heeft een bron binnen het Iraakse ministerie van Binnenlandse Zaken zondag laten weten aan het Franse persbureau AFP.
Bij een gezamenlijke operatie van de politie en Iraakse commando’s, ondersteund door Amerikaanse militairen, werden zondagochtend elf Irakezen opgepakt ten zuiden van de Iraakse hoofdstad Bagdad. Vijf bekenden dat ze Hassan ontvoerd en gedood hebben, aldus de bron. De zes andere zouden ,,een band hebben met de zaak''.

De 59-jarige Hassan werd op 19 oktober vorig jaar ontvoerd in Bagdad. Ze stond aan het hoofd van de niet-gouvernementele organisatie Care International in Irak. Op 16 november 2004 werd aangekondigd dat ze vermoord was. Haar lichaam werd nooit teruggevonden.

Eerder zondag had dezelfde bron aan AFP gemeld dat persoonlijke bezittingen van Margaret Hassan waren teruggevonden. ,,Veiligheidstroepen hebben zes gewapende mannen opgepakt, lichte wapens in beslag genomen en een zak, documenten, en kleding van Margaret Hassan gevonden'', luidde het.

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Australiër ontvoerd in Irak
Uitgegeven op 02 mei 2005 om 07:07 uur

(Novum/AP) - Iraakse extremisten hebben zondag een 63-jarige Australiër ontvoerd. Dat blijkt uit een videoband die naar verscheidene media is gestuurd.

Het gaat om de 63-jarige Douglas Wood, die betrokken was bij wederopbouwprojecten die werden uitgevoerd in opdracht van het Amerikaanse leger. Wood is getouwd met een Amerikaanse en woonde voor zijn vertrek naar Irak in Californië. De vrouw van Wood heeft de videoband bekeken en heeft bevestigd dat het om haar man gaat. De kidnapping is opgeëist door de Sjoera Raad van de Moedjahedien van Irak, een extremistisch-islamitische organisatie die vorig jaar verantwoordelijk was voor de ontvoering van de Turk Aytullah Gezmen.

Op de zondag verspreide video-opname roept Wood de Australische premier John Howard en de Amerikaanse president George Bush op de buitenlandse troepen terug te trekken uit Irak. ,,Mijn ontvoerders zijn zeer patriottistisch en geloven in een sterk en verenigd Irak, zonder buitenlandse troepen. De Irakezen zijn in hun staat hun eigen lot te bepalen. Alstublieft helpt u mij, ik wil niet dood", aldus een om zijn leven smekende Wood.

De Australische premier zei zondagavond dat hij niet in zal gaan op de eisen van de ontvoerders. ,,Iedereen kent de positie van de Australische regering met betrekking tot de eisen van gijzelnemers. We kunnen ons buitenlands beleid niet laten dicteren door terroristen", zei de premier tegenover de Australische televisie.

Sinds de val van het regime van Saddam Hussein in april 2003 zijn meer dan tweehonderd buitenlanders ontvoerd in Irak. In een aantal gevallen eisten de ontvoerders het vertrek van de buitenlandse troepen en bedrijven uit het land, in andere gevallen werd een losgeld gevraagd. Meer dan dertig gijzelaars zijn gedood, vaak op zeer brute wijze.

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Op maandag 2 mei 2005 13:37 schreef Monidique het volgende:
Ik ben trouwens van mening dat de media zulke filmpjes niet meer moeten uitzenden, omdat ze dan zowat medeverantwoordelijk zijn voor wat er gaat gebeuren met een gijzelaar.