MIDDLE EAST
ONE YEAR AND 42 DAYS ... AND STILL NO WMD FOUND IN IRAQ

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Our government... teaches the whole people by its example. If the government becomes the lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for law; it invites every man to become a law unto himself; it invites anarchy: Louis D. Brandeis

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It is hard to feel individually responsible with respect to the invisible processes of a huge and distant government: John W. Gardner

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It is error alone which needs the support of government. Truth can stand by itself: Thomas Jefferson


1 YEAR & 42 DAYS ... AND STILL NO WMD FOUND IN IRAQ.

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'US soldiers started to shoot us, one by one' :

Survivors describe wedding massacre as generals refuse to apologise
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1221658,00.html

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Lies about crimes:
When Iraqis are blown apart in Baghdad by a car bomb, or Israelis in Haifa by a suicide bomber, these are instantly and correctly labelled as terrorist attacks. However when American helicopters or Israeli tanks cause death to innocent civilians on a similar scale, there is always an alternative version on offer.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1221511,00.html

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Reuters Stands by Iraq Abuse Reports, Releases Timeline on Incident
http://tinyurl.com/2nlqr


Australia Probes Alleged U.S. Jail Abuse :
Australia is investigating allegations that the United States abused two Australian terror suspects, Prime Minister John Howard said Friday.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-4116082,00.html

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Chalabi: America's 'Best Friend' A Spy?:
Senior U.S. officials told 60 Minutes Correspondent Lesley Stahl that they have evidence Chalabi has been passing highly-classified U.S. intelligence to Iran.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/05/20/iraq/main618637.shtml

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In case you missed it: 02/19/04:
Ahmad Chalabi and His Iranian Connection: The United States is struggling over the question of how U.S. intelligence was so deeply mistaken about Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. One of the points that is consistently brought up is that much of the intelligence flowed through the Iraqi National Council, an opposition group led by Ahmad Chalabi. It is now well known that Chalabi's sources were not ideal. What is less well known is the close, long-term relationship that Chalabi, a favorite of Washington's, had with Iran.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article5709.htm

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One Day, Cock Of The Walk, The Next a Feather Duster:
Pentagon protege humiliated as US and Iraqi police raid Baghdad villa.
"I am America's best friend in Iraq. If the coalition provisional authority finds it necessary to direct an armed attack against my home, you can see the state of relations between the CPA and the Iraqi people."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1221611,00.html

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Michael Berg: George Bush never looked into Nick's eyes:
Even more than the murderers who took my son's life, I condemn those who make policies to end lives
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1221644,00.html

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John Pilger Interview: "Trail of blood" :
"Nothing more vividly sums up the horrific situation in Iraq than what happened on Wednesday of this week when American helicopters attacked a wedding party in the west of Iraq killing 40 mostly women and children, a massacre. How long is the world going to stand for this? When I say the world I'm talking about civilized humanity." Audio and transcript.

A must listen
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article6226.htm

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Chris Floyd: Global Eye: We should never lose sight of one simple fact:
Deep down, these guys are nothing but cheap hoods, two-bit chiselers hustling for loot, thug-brained goons with no more grandeur about them than the meanest pack of Mafia knee-breakers. Two recent stories, both obscured by the blood and thunder of the Iraqi crack-up, illustrate this ugly truth.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2004/05/21/120.html

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A line has been crossed :
Yesterday's front page describing the crimes of the US military in Iraq and the Israeli military in Palestine denote for me, late in the day, a crossing of the Rubicon. These are not "military actions", but crimes against humanity. The occupations in both cases have no basis in law. They amount to the brutal repression of civilian populations.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/letters/story/0,3604,1221399,00.html

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Molly Ivins: How fascism starts:
It's pretty easy to get to the point where you don't want to hear any more about Abu Ghraib prison and what went on there. But there are some really good reasons why Americans should take a look at why this happened.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article6227.htm

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A call to conscience:
The diplomat who quit over Nixon's invasion of Cambodia asks Americans on the front lines of foreign service to resign from the "worst regime by far in the history of the republic."
http://victoria.indymedia.org/news/2004/05/26105.php

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Bush: Dumb Like A Bullet:
Is Dubya both a bumbling simpleton *and* a shrewd manipulator who smirked at tortures in Iraq?
http://tinyurl.com/2z9w6

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Scott Ritter: Iraq sarin shell is not part of a secret cache
http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0521/p09s01-coop.html

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ICRC calls on Israel to respect international humanitarian law:
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on Thursday urged Israel to respect the rules of international humanitarian law as its three-day military offensive in the Gaza Strip left a trail of death and destruction in the Rafah camp.
http://www.jordantimes.com/fri/homenews/homenews5.htm

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Genocide By Public Policy:
"Unable to recover from the Holocaust trauma and the insecurity it caused, the Jewish people, the ultimate victim of genocide, is currently inflicting a symbolic genocide upon the Palestinian people.What is symbolic genocide?
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article2703.shtml

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Omar Barghouti: No More Tears: An Open Letter to the American Public:
Your country is way too powerful now for anyone to have the guts to drag it to the international criminal court, where most of your leaders ought to stand trial; but if Rome is any example, I would not take solace in that transient strength. You have a clear moral, legal and political obligation to change your country's course.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article6228.htm

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Pentagon's Feith in the eye of another storm:
Although it will take weeks, if not months, to sort out precisely who was responsible for what increasingly appears to have been the systemic abuse by US soldiers of Iraqi detainees, it should be no surprise if Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Douglas Feith is found to have played an important role.
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Front_Page/FE21Aa02.html

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George W. Bush and his millionaire supporters don't know the meaning of the word shame:
If, say, the Chinese came in to rescue us--Operation American Freedom--how long would any of us, left-wing or right, put up with an occupying army teaching us Chinese-style democracy?
http://www.indyweek.com/durham/current/news.html

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Italian MPs reject Iraq pull-out:
Correspondents say there is growing public pressure for a withdrawal of the Italian contingent, the third largest force in the US-led coalition.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3733241.stm

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A world watches our shame
http://www.duckdaotsu.org/world_watches.html

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Who let bin Ladens leave U.S.?:
The Bush administration has refused to answer repeated requests from the Sept. 11 commission about who authorized flights of Saudi Arabian citizens, including members of Osama bin Laden's family, from the United States immediately after the attacks of 2001.
http://www.thehill.com/news/051804/binladen.aspx

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You Can't Mock the President or Say "Balls":
The Most Important Thing I Learned in School This Year
http://www.counterpunch.com/wilson05202004.html

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Liberty can not be preserved without general knowledge among people." (August 1765) John Adams