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Sunday, March 13, 2005 |
A former Intel Officer says the US considered Sgrena a military target.
CounterPunch: "Based upon intelligence collection capabilities of even 3 decades ago, it is reasonable to assume that the US intercepted all phone communication between Italian agents in Iraq and Rome, monitored such traffic in real time and knew precisely where Sgrena's vehicle was at all times, without advanced notice being provided by Italian officials.
I also believe that a clear motivation for preventing Sgrena from telling her story is quite evident. Let us recall that the first target in the second attack upon the city of Fallujah was al-Fallujah General Hospital. Why? It was the reporting of enormous civilian casualties from this hospital that compelled the US to halt its attack. In other words, the control of information from Fallujah as to consequences of the US assault, particularly with regard to civilians, became a critical element in the military operation.
Now, in a report by Iraq's health ministry we are learning that the US used mustard, nerve gas and napalm - in the manner of Saddam - against the civilian population of Fallujah. Sgrena, herself, has provided photographic evidence of the use of cluster bombs and the wounding of children there. I have searched in vain to find these reports in any major corporate media. The American population, for the most part, is ignorant of what its military is doing in their name and must remain so in order for the US to wage its war against the Iraqi people."
ICH: "When the U.S. went to war in Iraq, Jimmy Massey was a staff sergeant with a marine unit that had the job of setting up checkpoints to protect American forces. In a short period of time, Massey claims, he and his men had killed 30 Iraqi civilians. He says he and the others are guilty of war crimes."
11:56:43 AM 
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The pressure on Iran is increasing. The bullying by US and Israel has started.
Times: "Israel has drawn up secret plans for a combined air and ground attack on targets in Iran if diplomacy fails to halt the Iranian nuclear programme."
IndiaDaily: "The U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt is on the move in Atlantic Ocean and is possibly headed towards the Mediterranean Sea. The convergence of three carrier groups in the corridor of the Middle East will send very strong message to the Syrians and Iranians. There are indications that soon US is moving two more aircraft carrier battle groups to the Eastern Mediterranean Sea and the Persian Gulf."
ICH: "U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney said Friday that if Iran doesn't live up to its 'international obligations to forego a nuclear program, then obviously we'll have to take stronger action'."
Yes, that is the Dick Cheney, war profiteer par excellence, who still has a link to Halliburton and its subsidiary Kellogg, Brown and Root. The more KBR spent the more profit it would make. Read the story and you will also learn why Bush wants to exempt corporations from claims like those for asbestos contamination.
VanityFair: "Halliburton subsidiary KBR got $12 billion worth of exclusive contracts for work in Iraq. But even more shocking is how KBR spent some of the money. Former U.S. Army Corps of Engineers official Bunnatine Greenhouse is blowing the whistle on the Dick Cheney-linked company's profits of war.
Just how much Halliburton has profited from these huge Iraq contracts is a matter of some debate. David Lesar, Halliburton's C.E.O., told analysts last fall that Halliburton's Iraq contracts have yielded $1.4 billion, with a profit of merely $4 million after taxes and expenses. KBR, which handled most of those, actually incurred an operating loss in 2003 of $36 million on revenues of $9.3 billion, even as the rest of Halliburton increased operating profits by about $200 million to $826 million.
But there's another way to look at KBR's work in Iraq. Without it, the company would be in truly bad shape. In fact, the Iraq work accounts for nearly all of KBR's growth at a time when it has staggered under $4.2 billion in asbestos claims - thanks in large part to Halliburton's former C.E.O. Dick Cheney.
Back in 1998, Cheney decided to merge Halliburton with Dresser Industries, a Texas-based energy company. Unfortunately, he failed to do his homework on Dresser: a mountain of lawsuits over asbestos-contamination claims were about to be filed against it. KBR, formed from the merger, bore the brunt of those. By late 2003, Dresser was forced into bankruptcy and began organizing a court-ordered settlement plan. KBR incurred huge liabilities - handily offset by those contracts in Iraq.
Now that painful ordeal is over: in December a federal judge approved Dresser's $4.2 billion asbestos settlement. That means the company can come out of bankruptcy, and analysts seem to agree on what will happen, as a result, in the next months.
Halliburton will sell KBR.
As for learning the real extent of malfeasance in Iraq, that may never happen. The Republican majority in both houses of Congress seems disinclined to hold more hearings - or to exercise the subpoena power that only the majority wields. All the Democrats can do is shake their fists."
11:38:25 AM
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