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Wednesday, November 16, 2005 |
Independent: "Yesterday the Prime Minister, Ibrahim Jaafari, promised an investigation after the shocking demonstration of how paramilitary units working for the government, and death squads allegedly linked to it, are waging a savage war in the shadows.
Although the US forces had ridden to the rescue on this occasion, many of these units have been created, trained and armed by the Americans. According to reports, $3bn (£1.7bn) out of an $87bn Iraq appropriation that Congress approved last year was earmarked for the creation of paramilitary units to fight the insurgency. Vincent Cannistraro, the CIA's former head of counter-terrorism, said: 'They set up little teams of [Navy] Seals and special forces with teams of Iraqis, working with people who were in senior intelligence under the Saddam regime.'
Iraqi politicians in the new regime have repeatedly accused the CIA of refusing to hand over control of the recreated Iraqi intelligence service to the Iraqi government, and the paramilitaries are run by Adnan Thabit, allegedly a former CIA 'asset'."
USAToday: "The Iraqi army and multinational forces violated international law during military operations in western Iraq last month by arresting doctors and occupying medical facilities, a U.N. report said Monday."
Guardian: "Did US troops use chemical weapons in Falluja? The answer is yes.
White phosphorus is not listed in the schedules of the Chemical Weapons Convention. It can be legally used as a flare to illuminate the battlefield, or to produce smoke to hide troop movements from the enemy. Like other unlisted substances, it may be deployed for 'Military purposes... not dependent on the use of the toxic properties of chemicals as a method of warfare'. But it becomes a chemical weapon as soon as it is used directly against people. A chemical weapon can be 'any chemical which through its chemical action on life processes can cause death, temporary incapacitation or permanent harm'.
Saddam, facing a possible death sentence, is accused of mass murder, torture, false imprisonment and the use of chemical weapons. He is certainly guilty on all counts. So, it now seems, are those who overthrew him."
Guardian: "Spanish police have traced up to 42 suspected CIA operatives believed to have taken part in secret flights carrying detained or kidnapped Islamist terror suspects to interrogation centres and jails in Afghanistan, Egypt and elsewhere."
And to add insult to injury, the American people are paying for this mess.
Jane Stillwater: "According to Congressional records, George W. Bush's out-of-control spending spree has cost YOU PERSONALLY at least $27,666 since he took over the White House in 2001 - and probably much much more."
11:27:20 AM 
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We The People: "Today, we confront a government whose greed and thirst for power has deceived us into war, deserted thousands of us in a time of need knowing the devastation about to happen, and continued to fail us as we pleaded for help.
Today, we confront a government exclusively serving the interests of corporations and enriching the wealthy while willfully destroying our financial, social and environmental infrastructure.
Today, we are misinformed daily by a corporate press that places its shareholder responsibilities well in front of its duty to each of us - the duty to tell the truth about all matters of what our government says and does."
11:08:42 AM
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