Fallout

  Wednesday, 26 May 2004

. .< 11:06:57 PM>
U.S. Challenged on Iraqi Sovereignty, Military Power

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - China, France, Germany, and others on Wednesday criticized a U.S.-British resolution, for failing to spell out the powers of a sovereign Iraqi government and having an open-ended mandate for U.S. troops. [Reuters: World]

< 11:06:40 PM>

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Henry Kissinger told President Richard Nixon days after the 1973 coup in Chile the United States helped create the conditions for the ouster of socialist President Salvador Allende, newly declassified transcripts showed on Wednesday. [Reuters: World]

It's worth remembering that Kissinger is a big admirer of Rumsfeld.

< 7:46:36 PM>

NY Times: "Al Gore demanded today the resignations of Defense Secretary Donald H Rumsfeld and five other members of the Bush administration." [Scripting News] '"We cannot afford to further increase the risk to our country with more blunders by this team," Mr. Gore said.

President Bush has brought the United States humiliation in the eyes of the world, not the "humility" he had promised, Mr. Gore said in a fiery speech delivered today at New York University. And Mr. Bush "has built a durable reputation as the most dishonest president since Richard Nixon," the former vice president said. [snip] "In December of 2000, even though I strongly disagreed with the decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to order a halt to the counting of legally cast ballots," Mr. Gore said, "I saw it as my duty to reaffirm my own strong belief that we are a nation of laws and not only accept the decision, but do what I could to prevent efforts to delegitimize George Bush as he took the oath of office as president.

"I did not at that moment imagine that Bush would, in the presidency that ensued, demonstrate utter contempt for the rule of law and work at every turn to frustrate accountability."'

Holy crap. A most righteous rant from Gore. Read more excerpts from his speech. He is truly pissed, and rightfully so.

< 7:33:04 PM>

< 7:29:57 PM>

The Times has reviewed its coverage of the decisions that led the United States into the war in Iraq, and especially the issue of Iraq's weapons. [New York Times: International]
'The problematic articles varied in authorship and subject matter, but many shared a common feature. They depended at least in part on information from a circle of Iraqi informants, defectors and exiles bent on "regime change" in Iraq, people whose credibility has come under increasing public debate in recent weeks. (The most prominent of the anti-Saddam campaigners, Ahmad Chalabi, has been named as an occasional source in Times articles since at least 1991, and has introduced reporters to other exiles. He became a favorite of hard-liners within the Bush administration and a paid broker of information from Iraqi exiles, until his payments were cut off last week.) Complicating matters for journalists, the accounts of these exiles were often eagerly confirmed by United States officials convinced of the need to intervene in Iraq. Administration officials now acknowledge that they sometimes fell for misinformation from these exile sources. So did many news organizations — in particular, this one.'

< 7:25:13 PM>

One of the most respected US papers says it failed to be rigorous enough in reporting the run-up to the Iraq war. [BBC News | World | UK Edition] 'The editors say that while the original stories were covered prominently, the follow-up stories that called them into question were all too often buried in the back pages.

They say they were partly to blame for perhaps being too intent on getting scoops for the paper when they should have been challenging reporters.'

Bravo. Will US television networks own up as well?

< 10:48:57 AM>

This is a heart-rending account of an Iraqi woman whose father was a low-ranking Ba'athist. US troops came to bring him in for questioning, but he was out of the country, getting prostate surgery, so they kidnapped her husband, took him to Abu Ghraib, and declared him to have "intelligence value." The prison guards -- whom the Red Cross have documented as torturing others with "intelligence value" -- tell her that she can have her husband back if she produces her father. I read this and I ask myself: how can the US ever convince the Iraqi people of their goodwill sufficiently to abide under a US-declared "democratic ruler?" How will the US ever get out of Iraq and what kind of hollowed-out, failed state will it leave in its wake?

Link

(via Electrolite) [Boing Boing]

< 10:34:54 AM>

LONDON (Reuters) - Washington's global anti-terror policies are "bankrupt of vision" as human rights become sacrificed in the blind pursuit of security, a leading human rights group charged on Wednesday. [Reuters: World]

< 9:44:21 AM>

The US attorney general and FBI chief are to brief the media amid fears of a new al-Qaeda attack on the US. [BBC News | World | UK Edition]

< 9:43:40 AM>

The US-led "war on terror" has fuelled a wave of human rights abuses worldwide, Amnesty International says. [BBC News | World | UK Edition]

< 1:04:39 AM>

The occupation of Iraq has helped al-Qaeda recruit more members, according to an influential research group. [BBC News | World | UK Edition]

Duh. Who didn't see this coming?

< 1:03:24 AM>

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Britain said on Tuesday a planned interim Iraqi government will have final control over foreign troops, but Washington said its forces will be under U.S. command and do whatever necessary to protect themselves. [Reuters: World]

< 1:02:18 AM>

Andrew Cockburn on Ahmad Chalabi and the Iranian connection. [Guardian Unlimited] 'He was Washington's favourite Iraqi, a prized intelligence source and a dream post-Saddam leader. Now his former CIA masters are rubbishing him, saying he helped Iran trick the US into war. No one, says Iraq expert Andrew Cockburn, should be surprised'

< 12:52:11 AM>

WIDENING RECORD OF ABUSE An Army summary of mistreatment and death of prisoners in American custody in Iraq and Afghanistan shows a widespread pattern of abuse involving more military units than previously disclosed. The cases from Iraq date back to April 2003, as Baghdad was falling to United States-led forces, and extend to last month. [Page A1]. [New York Times: International]