Text Fwd: The Return of Pan-Arabism Amidst Upheaval: An end to Balkanization?

Global Reserach
The Return of Pan-Arabism Amidst Upheaval: An end to Balkanization?
:The Changing Winds in Iraq and the Growing Threat to Lebanon
By Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya
March 14, 2011

Protests and revolts have swept across the whole of Arabdom, from the Atlantic coastline of Morocco to the shores of the petro-sheikhdoms of the Persian Gulf. In this regard, U.S. and E.U. double-standards are being applied to these events. There is a selective focus and condemnation by the White House and the European Union at play in regards to which Arab protests and protest leaders they support.

Regardless of the direction of these revolts and protests and the reaction of outside players, a new dynamic is taking shape. Democracy has not yet emerged, what is beginning to emerge is a new wave of pan-Arabism. This re-invigorated pan-Arabism will prove a challenge to the ongoing efforts to further fragment and weaken the Arab World.

The Categories of Protest and Revolt in The Arab World

In regards to the mass protests and popular revolts, today the states of the Arab World can be categorized into five groupings or categories. These categories are the following:

Group 1 - Arab countries that are in a state of civil war;
Group 2 - Arab countries that have populations that have revolted;
Group 3 - Arab countries where the people are currently protesting and are on the verge of revolt;
Group 4 - Arab countries where the groundwork for revolts are taking shape;
Group 5 - Arab countries where there are no revolts.
Each category will be discussed and summarized. It must be cautioned that these groupings are not static either and likely to evolve.

The Typologies of Benefit
Taking into account U.S., E.U., and Israeli foreign policy these protests and revolts can also categorized within two different typologies. The latter can be used to explain the reactions of the U.S., the E.U., and Tel Aviv and their respective mainstream media coverage of these events.

The typologies are:
(A) Arab countries where the protests and possible outcomes would be beneficial to the interests of Washington, Israel, and the European Union;
(B) Arab countries where the protests and revolts go against the interests of Washington, Israel, and the European Union.

It should, however, also be cautioned that the outcomes of these protests and revolts are unpredictable. The behaviour of Washington and Brussels suggest that they want to cash in on projected outcomes to reinforce their geo-political influence. Both the U.S. and the E.U. seek to"manage democratization" in the Arab World to thier benefit.

The “agency of the Arab people,” namely the grassroots, which the U.S. and its allies underestimate, has a significant role to play in these events. It is this process of an unfolding mass movement that makes these revolts unpredictable. Coupled with pan-Arabism, a potent force is arising.

The Arab people ultimately constitute a major challenge to Washington and its cohorts.
Unlike in Eastern Europe during the colour revolutions, the Arab regimes are supported by Washington. The Arab people are aware of U.S. and E.U. double-standards. Arabs know full well that the U.S. and its E.U. allies are not the vanguards of democracy and liberty.

In regards to Israel, Tel Aviv sees instability and chaos in the Arab World as serving its interests. Israel is not cutting itself off from the events in Arabdom. The Israeli strategy, in seamless alignment with both the U.S. and the older British strategies in the Middle East-North Africa (MENA) region, has always been to weaken and divide the Arab states. Israel has supported balkanization in the MENA region wherever it can. The Yinon Plan is very much alive today in what can henceforth be called the “Yinon Approach.” The strategy is named after Oded Yinon, a Israeli foreign policy analyst who outlined the “Zionist strategy” for breaking up and balkanizing the Arab World. [1]

The plan operates on two essential premises. To survive, Israel must (1) become an imperial regional power, and (2) must effect the division of the whole area into small states by the dissolution of all existing Arab states. Small here will depend on the ethnic or sectarian composition of each state. Consequently, the Zionist hope is that sectarian-based states become Israeli satellites and, ironically, its source of moral legitimation.

Read More

Text Fwd: General James Thurman to head USFK

Hankyoreh News Briefing
General James Thurman to head USFK
March 3, 2011

The United States has appointed the head of the US Army Forces Command, General James Thurman, as the new head of the US Forces in South Korea.

US Defense Secretary Robert Gates appointed Thurman on Tuesday, replacing General Walter Sharp who is set to retire after assuming his post in 2008. Thurman has responsibility for more than 700-thousand soldiers in the continental United States and has experience in combat, including a stint as a division commander in Iraq.

South Korea’s military will soon deploy light attack helicopters on islands near the Yellow Sea border with North Korea as part of its efforts to bolster defense capability there, following North Korea’s deadly artillery attack, an official said Wednesday.

The planned deployment of 500MD helicopters is aimed at countering a possible hovercraft infiltration by North Korea’s special forces into one of the border islands, the official at the South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said.

U.S. aircraft maker Boeing Co. will deliver the first of four airborne early warning aircraft to South Korea’s Air Force in July, a company official said Wednesday, a move that would beef up the South’s surveillance capabilities over North Korea.

Boeing won a US$1.6 billion order in 2006 to sell four Airborne Early Warning & Control (AEW&C) planes to South Korea. The three remaining aircraft are expected to be delivered to South Korea by the end of 2012　 (Yonhap News Agency)
____________________________
See also
Kyunghyang
US Says, "Regime Change in North Korea Is Not Our Goal"; Bosworth Hints at Food Assistance to North Korea
March 3, 2011

Video Fwd: FED UP IN IRAQ

Organizing Notes
FED UP IN IRAQ
Feb. 26, 2011

Text Fwd: Bahraini MP: Arab Turmoil U.S. Greater/Broader/New Mideast Plot / Russia's Putin Warns West Against Whipping Up Mideast "Democracy"

Stop NATO
Bahraini MP: Arab Turmoil U.S. Greater/Broader/New Mideast Plot
Russian Information Agency Novosti
February 24, 2011

Bahrain lawmaker accuses U.S. of being behind Arab revolutions

-"These riots and revolutions we are observing today in Arab countries are the
implementation of the global U.S. project entitled 'New Middle East.' This
program started with Iraq [2003], followed by Lebanon [2005]."

Manama: The popular unrest in Arab countries that led to the fall of regimes in
Tunisia and Egypt is part of a U.S.-designed strategic project dubbed "New
Middle East," a Bahraini deputy said Thursday.

The term "New Middle East" was introduced in 2006 by then U.S. Secretary of
State Condoleezza Rice. Analysts say the project defines Washington's policy on
a vast territory including the Arab countries and Central Asian states.

"These riots and revolutions we are observing today in Arab countries are the
implementation of the global U.S. project entitled 'New Middle East.' This
program started with Iraq, followed by Lebanon," Bahraini deputy and journalist
Samira Rajab told RIA Novosti.

"A new stage of its implementation that will take at least a decade started from
2011," she said, adding that the U.S. strategy in the region is aimed at
weakening the ruling regimes and introducing opposition groups into their
governments.

A wave of unrest, which has already toppled authoritarian regimes in Tunisia and
Egypt, is sweeping through the Muslim world, stoking mass popular uprisings in
Libya, Bahrain and Yemen.

_____________________________
Stop NATO
Russian Information Agency Novosti
Russia's Putin Warns West Against Whipping Up Mideast "Democracy"
February 24, 2011

Putin warns against whipping up democratic processes

-Asked by European media whether he felt any concern about events in the Middle
East and their possible "echo" in the North Caucasus, Putin replied in the
affirmative, but added that the impact of those shocks would be felt not only in
the North Caucasus, but in all countries, including those in Europe.

BRUSSELS: Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has warned Moscow's partners in
the West against attempts at whipping up democratic processes in other countries
in connection with the ongoing events in North Africa. He was speaking at a
joint news conference with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso,
devoted to the results of the full-scale meeting of the Russian government and
the EU Commission.

Asked by European media whether he felt any concern about events in the Middle
East and their possible "echo" in the North Caucasus, Putin replied in the
affirmative, but added that the impact of those shocks would be felt not only in
the North Caucasus, but in all countries, including those in Europe.

"We are concerned, firstly, about the number of casualties in the events in
North Africa. We are concerned about that despite the soothing claims a rise to
power or growth in the influence of radical groups in northern Africa are
unlikely."

"And if that really happens, it cannot but affect other parts of the world,
including, of course, the North Caucasus," he said.

"As you may know,??continued Putin, ? Today we express concern about what is
happening in Libya. Please, to take note of the fact that the North African cell
of al-Qaeda, too, is concerned about what is happening in Libya. Is that just a
coincidence???

Having made this historical allusion, Putin recalled that the former leader of
the Iranian revolution, Ayatollah Khomeini, before his return to Tehran and the
overthrow of the Shah's regime had lived in Paris, and the Western policy of
"inoculation of democracy??in the Palestinian territories caused bloody
conflicts and brought to power Hamas, very unpleasant for many in the West.

"The people are to be allowed to decide their own fate and their own future,?? he said. ? We must give them an opportunity to build their own destiny in a
natural way without any interference from outside."

"Society must move toward democratic institutions, toward self-regulation,
towards its own system, with reliance on the internal processes of development,"
underlined the prime minister.
_____________________________
Stop NATO e-mail list home page with archives and search engine:
Stop NATO website and articles:
_____________________________

Video Fwd: John Pilger's documentary "The War You Don't See"

* Video informed from Frank Cordaro with the below words on Feb. 16, 2011

'Link to John Pilger's documentary "The War You Don't See" in its
entirety (1 hr and 36 min.)
http://www.sprword.com/videos/waryoudontsee/

As we approach the 9th Anniversary of phase three of the 20 year USA
lead war in Iraq on March 19th -- I highly recommend you taking the
time to view this video in its entirety.... you will not spend a more
informative and truth revealing 1hr & 36 min.!!!


Frank Cordaro
Phil Berrigan CW House
713 Indiana Avenue, Des Moines, IA 50314
(515) 490-2490 http://www.desmoinescatholicworker.org

Video Fwd: REMEMBER THE HISTORY

Bruce Gagnon's Organizing Notes
Saturday, January 29, 2011
REMEMBER THE HISTORY

Text Fwd: Top US commander stresses cultural ties with S. Korea

* Image source: same as the link'

'Lt. Gen. John D. Johnson, Chief of 8th U.S. Army'




Korea Times

Top US commander stresses cultural ties with S. Korea
By Jung Sung-ki




12-19-2010

A top American commander in Seoul said he is confident in the U.S.-ROK ability to thwart any further North Korean provocation.

“We continue to train the ROK military and the ROK military conducts its own training in order to maintain its skills and in order to do the job to defend their own country,” Lt. Gen. John D. Johnson, commanding general of the 8th U.S. Army, said. “I’m absolutely confident that we’re prepared for whatever might come.”

South Korean marines plan to hold a maritime live-fire exercise near Yeonpyeong Island Monday or Tuesday in a show of strength against North Korean provocations. Representatives from the United Nations Command will take part as observers. North Korea has threatened to retaliate against the planned drill.

Johnson pledged efforts to boost cultural ties between the United States and South Korea in order to further strengthen the alliance of the two nations.

He was attending the annual Korea-American Friendship Holiday Concert at the Seoul Performing Arts Center.

The concert included performances by the 8th Army Band and the Prima Donna Ensemble, which features 90 of South Korea’s most talented female vocalists. More than 2,000 people, including top U.S. and South Korean generals, attended the concert.

“It’s a great opportunity during holidays to get all friends together and enjoy music,” Johnson told The Korea Times. “Music is an international language every time. Even if American companies here don’t speak perfect ‘hangeul,’ and if the Koreans come here today don’t speak that much English, they can enjoy the music and enjoy the holidays.”

When he previously served as deputy commanding general for Operations, Multi-National Corps-Iraq, band performances were used as a tool for building closer ties with Iraqi troops and civilians, he recalled.

Johnson assumed command of the 8th Army on Nov. 9 after serving as deputy commanding general of I Corps at Fort Lewis in Washington. He also serves as chief of staff for U.S. Forces Korea.

Between 2006 and 2007, Johnson served as assistant division commander for maneuvers for the 2nd Infantry Division stationed north of Seoul.

“There are a lot of ways to strengthen our alliance,” the three-star general said. “It’s already the strongest in the world. It’s envied by other countries as they see the way we operate together and the way we bond together.”

“The most recent events here illustrate even more so how important it is and for us to be united together in this alliance,” the commander said, apparently referring to a series of North Korean attacks on South Koreans.

North Korea is blamed for having torpedoed a South Korean warship near the disputed sea border in the West Sea in March. On Nov. 23, the North fired nearly 200 artillery shells onto Yeonpyeong Island near the Northern Limit Line (NLL), killing two marines and two civilians.

Text Fwd: Tony Blair's secret Korean oil backer revealed to be 'convicted fraudster' 토니 블레어의 한국인 석유업 지지자, '유죄 사깃꾼'으로 드러남

* Image & caption source: same as the link
Tony Blair with Kyu-Sun Choi who has reportedly served a two-year prison sentence for corruption

* Thanks to M. S. on Nov. 13, 2010

Daily Mail
Tony Blair's secret Korean oil backer revealed to be 'convicted fraudster'
By Jason Groves
Last updated at 11:23 PM on 21st March 2010 2010년 3월 21일 기사


Tony Blair faced fresh embarrassment over his secret dealings with a South Korean oil firm last night after reports the company's chief executive served two years in prison for corruption.

Kyu-Sun Choi, chairman and chief executive of UI Energy Corporation, was said to have been convicted of making illegal payments to influence the awarding of contracts to run a national lottery.

Following his release, Mr Choi, 49, is alleged to have been involved in a separate case of financial impropriety surrounding claims he tried to buy his company a place in an oil exploration consortium in Iraq.

The report appeared in the online service of Korean newspaper JoonAng Daily.

It will be an embarrassment for Mr Blair, who is believed to have been personally recruited by Mr Choi to carry out a secret advisory role for the oil firm, which now has extensive interests in Iraq.

READ MORE

Text Fwd: NATO Trains Iraqi Armed Forces In Universal Military Language 나토, 이라크 무장 병력에게 영어 군사 용어 교육

* Image source: same as the link

Ar Rustamiyah – (From left) Brig. Mark Pountain, NTM-I Training, Education and Doctrine Advisory Division chief; Maj. Andrew Radzinski; Wing Cdr Paul Scott, NTM-I Fwd Ar Rustamiyah commander; and MG Claudio Angelelli, NTM-I deputy commander, meet with the first English Language teachers to arrive here Oct. 27.
(Photo by NTM-I).

Stop NATO

North Atlantic Treaty Organization
Allied Command Operations
November 10, 201

NTM-I unveils English Language Training Program

AR RUSTAMIYAH: The NATO Training Mission – Iraq began its English Language
Training Program Nov. 1 at the Iraqi Military Academy in Ar Rustamiyah (IMAR).

The course, taught by more than 100 U.S. Department of Defense and contracted
instructors, will prepare Iraqi Security Forces for specialized training in
fields requiring proficiency in English, such as aviation.

Maj. Gen. Claudio Angelelli, NTM-I deputy commander, stressed the importance of
the program to the first seven instructors Oct. 27.

"With your help, Iraq will become more established in the international
community,” said General Angelelli

"We are happy to see that everything here is prepared for the fruitful work, and
we are looking forward to begin our mission,” said Mr. Troy Brousso, English
language teacher.

Initially, U.S. contractors will teach the course while Iraqi instructors
complete instructor training. After, the Iraqi instructors will co-teach with
the contractors until a future date when the Iraqis will assume complete
responsibility for the English language program.
===========================
Stop NATO
Blog site

Photos Fwd:[Benjamin Hiller] G20 Seoul: 10.000 rally against G20 Summit. Only minor scuffles. [사진: 벤자민 힐러] 2010년 11월11일 서울 G20 시위: 1만여명 집회. 작은 난투만.

__________________________________________________________
* Summary of the contents and details of program, anti G20 protest, Nov. 11, 2010
* Yonhap News article after the rally, Nov. 11, 2010
__________________________________________________________
* Related blogs

[In Update] People’s Response Action against G-20
[엎데이트중] G20대응민중행동

Photos Fwd: Some voices of the G20 protest, Seoul, Korea, Nov. 11, 2010
[사진] 2010년 11월 11일 G20 시위의 어떤 목소리들

Photos Fwd:[Jeffrey Bright] G20 Protests Seoul, Nov. 11, 2010
[사진: 제프리 브라이트] 서울, 2010년 11월11일, G20 시위
__________________________________________________________

* All the courtesy of image & caption source: Benjamin Hiller in the Demotix

* A marshal law in 2010?
Abolish the G20 security law!
Protect the freedom of the rally!
Headquarter of the Anti-G20 solidarity university students' movement

'Today around 10.000 Demonstrators protested against the G20 Summit held in Seoul.

After international activists and union leaders held speeches at the Seoul Station in the core of the city the demonstrators breached through a police line to start their march. After around one hour the march stopped an an further police barrier.

Their it came again to some minor scuffles and a small fire. The police was with several thousand men in the area present, as well as with heavy gear.'

SEE MORE PHOTOS on the same subject by Benjamin Hiller in the Demotix

Text Fwd: Felicity Arbuthnot: Iraq - Destroying a Country. War Crimes and Atrocities 이라크 파괴하기: 전쟁 범죄들 및 잔혹 행위들

* Image source: same as the link

___________________________________________________
* Part I of the article can be seen here:
Global Research
Iraq: Toppling a Country: from Statue to Legality by Felicity Arbuthnot, Oct. 21, 2010
___________________________________________________

Global Research
Iraq : Destroying a Country: War Crimes and Atrocities
Part II
by Felicity Arbuthnot
November 8, 2010

"The abused are only Iraqis", a US General to General Antonio Taguba.

Perhaps the most surprising aspect of the latest, vast cache of documents from Wikileaks, is that anyone was surprised at the revelations. For Iraqis, Afghans and the region, and Iraq and Afghanistan watchers across the globe, countless millions of words have been written and eye witness reports sent since day one of the highly questionable legality of the Afghan invasion the absolute illegality of that of Iraq.

Soldiers have put "trophy" photographs of the dead, mutilated, tortured on the internet. In August the BBC's documentary: "The Wounded Platoon", aired interviews with soldiers who admitted shooting Iraqi civilians and "keeping scores." (1) Abu Ghraib's particular testimony to freedom, democracy and liberation's bounties, will likely remain the mental monument to the U.S., military in Iraq, which will ring down the generations.

Former Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Tareq Aziz and his colleagues await an Inquistitional, mediaeval end on a hangman's noose, under America's watch (with the U.K., since still in coalition.) Charges include crimes against humanity. Yet the perpetrators of nearly seven years of near indescribable crimes against humanity in Iraq - and near a decade in Afghanistan, return home to heroes' welcomes.

Reaction in Iraq to the woeful litany of crimes documented in some 400,000 U.S., files is encapsulated by Baghdad Political Science Professor Saadi Kareem, who commented: " Iraqis know all about the findings in these documents. The brutality of American and Iraqi forces was hidden from Americans and Europeans, but not for Iraqis ... Iraqis are totally aware of what happened to them."

President of the London-based Arab Law Association, Sabah al-Mukhtar, told Al Jazeera that: "Frankly there is no surprise .." The Middle East knew from day one.

The Independent's Robert Fisk ("The Shaming of America", 24th October 2010) commented: "As usual, the Arabs knew. They knew all about the mass torture, the promiscuous shooting of civilians, the outrageous use of air power against family homes, the vicious American and British mercenaries, the cemeteries of the innocent dead. All of Iraq knew. Because they were the victims."

READ MORE

Text Fwd: [Dirk Adriaensens] Dismantling the Iraqi State, Destroying an Entire Country 국가 전체를 파괴하며 이라크를 붕괴하기: 이라크인들의 집단적 기억을 지우며 이라크 문화를 파괴시키기

Global Research
“Ending States that Sponsor Terrorism”: Dismantling the Iraqi State, Destroying an Entire Country
: Destroying Iraqi culture, erasing collective memory
by Dirk Adriaensens
November 5, 2010

he United Nation's Human Rights Council in Geneva reviews the human rights record of the United States on the 5th of November 2010, on the occasion of the Ninth Session of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), 1 to 12 November 2010. The following is a presentation given by Dirk Adriaensens in Geneva on 3 November.

Just days after the devastating attacks of 9/11 Deputy Defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz declared that a major focus of US foreign policy would be: “ending states that sponsor terrorism”.

Iraq was labelled a “terrorist state” and targeted for ending.

President Bush went on to declare Iraq the major front of the global war on terror. US forces invaded illegally with the express aim to dismantling the Iraqi state. After WWII focus of social sciences was on state-building and development model. Little has been written on state-destruction and de-development. We can now, after 7 years of war and occupation, state for certain that state-ending was a deliberate policy objective.

The consequences in human and cultural terms of the destruction of the Iraqi state have been enormous: notably the death of over 1,3 million civilians; the degradation in social infrastructure, including electricity, potable water and sewage systems; over eight million Iraqis are in need of humanitarian assistance; abject poverty: the UN Human rights report for the 1st quarter of 2007 found that 54% of Iraqis were living on less than $1 a day; the displacement of minimum 2.5 million refugees and 2.764.000 internally displaced people as to end 2009. One in six Iraqis is displaced. Ethnic & religious minorities are on the verge of extinction. UN-HABITAT, an agency of the United Nations, published a 218-page report entitled State of the World’s Cities, 2010-2011. Prior to the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, the percentage of the urban population living in slums in Iraq hovered just below 20 percent. Today, that percentage has risen to 53 percent: 11 million of the 19 million total urban dwellers.

Destroying Iraqi education

The UNESCO report “Education Under Attack 2010 – Iraq”, dated 10 February 2010, concludes that “Although overall security in Iraq had improved, the situation faced by schools, students, teachers and academics remained dangerous”. The director of the United Nations University International Leadership Institute published a report on 27 April 2005 detailing that since the start of the war of 2003 some 84% of Iraq's higher education institutions have been burnt, looted or destroyed. Ongoing violence has destroyed school buildings and around a quarter of all Iraq’s primary schools need major rehabilitation. Since March 2003, more than 700 primary schools have been bombed, 200 have been burnt and over 3,000 looted. Populations of teachers in Baghdad have fallen by 80%. Between March 2003 and October 2008, 31,598 violent attacks against educational institutions were reported in Iraq, according to the Ministry of Education (MoE). Since 2007 bombings at Al Mustansiriya University in Baghdad have killed or maimed more than 335 students and staff members, according to a 19 Oct 2009 NYT article, and a 12-foot-high blast wall has been built around the campus. MNF-I, the Iraqi Army and Iraqi police units occupied more than 70 school buildings for military purposes in the Diyala governorate alone, in clear violation of The Hague Conventions. The UNESCO report is very clear: “Attacks on education targets continued throughout 2007 and 2008 at a lower rate – but one that would cause serious concern in any other country.” Why didn’t it cause serious concern when it comes to Iraq? And the attacks are on the rise again, an increase of 50%, as these statistics show:

READ MORE

Text Fwd:[Tom Burghardt] The WikiLeaks Release - U.S. Complicity and Cover-Up of Iraq Torture Exposed 위키 리크스 폭로: 미국의 공모와 이라크인들 고문

Global Research, Oct. 27, 2010
The WikiLeaks Release: U.S. Complicity and Cover-Up of Iraq Torture Exposed
: The Frago 242 War Logs
by Tom Burghardt

On October 22nd, the whistleblowing web site WikiLeaks released nearly 400,000 classified Iraq war documents, the largest leak of secret information in U.S. history.

Explosive revelations contained in the Iraq War Logs provided further evidence of the Pentagon's role in the systematic torture of Iraqi citizens by the U.S.-installed post-Saddam regime.

Indeed, multiple files document how U.S. officials failed to investigate thousands of cases of abuse, torture, rape and murder. Even innocent victims who were targets of kidnapping gangs, tortured for ransom by Iraqi police and soldiers operating out of the Interior Ministry, were "investigated" in a perfunctory manner that was little more than a cover-up.

Never mind that the Pentagon was fully cognizant of the nightmare playing out in Iraqi jails and prisons. Never mind the beatings with rifle butts and steel cables, the electrocutions, the flesh sliced with razors, the limbs hacked-off with chainsaws, the acid and chemical burns on battered corpses found along the roads, the eyes gouged out or the bones lacerated by the killers' tool of choice: the power drill.

Never mind that the death squads stood-up by American forces when the imperial adventure went wildly off the rails, were modeled on counterinsurgency methods pioneered in Vietnam (Operation Phoenix) and in South- and Central American during the 1970s and 1980s (Operation Condor) and that a "Salvador Option" was in play.

Never mind that the former commander of the U.S. Military Advisory Group in El Salvador, Col. James Steele, was the U.S. Embassy's point-man for setting up the Wolf Brigade or the Iraqi Interior Ministry's Special Police Commandos, notorious death squads that spread havoc and fear across Iraq's cities, towns and villages.

The killings and atrocities carried out by American and British clients were not simply random acts of mayhem initiated by sectarian gangs. On the contrary, though sectarianism and inter-ethnic hatred played a role in the slaughter, from a strategic and tactical point of view these were carefully calibrated acts designed to instill terror in a population utterly devastated by the U.S. invasion. As researcher Max Fuller reported five years ago:

In Iraq the war comes in two phases. The first phase is complete: the destruction of the existing state, which did not comply with the interests of British and American capital. The second phase consists of building a new state tied to those interests and smashing every dissenting sector of society. Openly, this involves applying the same sort of economic shock therapy that has done so much damage in swathes of the Third World and Eastern Europe. Covertly, it means intimidating, kidnapping and murdering opposition voices. ("For Iraq, 'The Salvador Option' Becomes Reality," Global Research, June 2, 2005)

Pentagon spokesperson Geoff Morrell denounced the leaks Friday evening, claiming the document dump was a "gift to terrorist organizations" that "put at risk the lives of our troops."

READ MORE

Video Fwd: New Wikileaks Iraq War Logs Say Civilians Have Paid Heaviest Price 새로룬 위키 릭크스 폭로는 이라크 전쟁에서 시민들의 희생이 가장 컸다 함

Reality Zone
Friday, October 22, 2010
New Wikileaks Iraq War Logs Say Civilians Have Paid Heaviest Price

[국문] Text Fwd: [아쉬티] 이라크와 아프간[Ashti] Iraq and Afganistan

* Peace Making 평화 만들기 434 호
이라크와 아프간
: 미군이 이라크 사람의 삶을 어떻게 파괴 시켰는가?
아쉬티 (기사입력: 2010/10/13)

Iraq and Afghanistan
: How the US military destroyed the lives of the Iraqi People?
Ashti

2004 년 어느 날 어느 이라크 사람이 길거리에서 고양이 한 마리를 죽였다. 전쟁이 이어지고 있는 이라크에서는 사람이 먹을 식량도 부족하기 때문에 음식을 훔쳐 먹는 고양이는 대체적으로 가난한 주민들로부터 미움을 받는다. 때마침 이 곳을 지나가던 미군이 이 모습을 보았고, 그 사람을 동물학대 죄로 체포하였다. 감옥에 한동안 수감되어 있던 이 사람은 감옥을 방문한 유럽의 적십자사 요원을 보고서 자신의 억울함을 호소하였다. 돌아온 적십자사 요원의 말은 “동물학대도 죄 입니다.” 인권은 무시되고 있지만 동물의 권리가 보장받는 이라크는 이상한 나라가 되어버렸다.

2003년 어느날의 일이다. 당시 (이름은 생각나지 않는) IGC(이라크 과도 통치위원회)라는 이라크 임시정부의 의장이 안전지역인 ‘그린 존’에 들어가기 위해서 절차를 밟던 중 자살폭탄 공격을 받아서 사망한 일이 발생했었다. 과도통치위원회는 비록 미국의 괴뢰 정부로 명목적인 정부이긴 했지만 이라크 최고 통치 기구역할을 하고 있었고, 그래서 순번제이긴 하지만 통치위원회의 의장은 형식적인 최고 통치자였다. 그가 자기 나라에서 정부 청사가 자리잡고 있는 그린존 지역을 들어가는데 미군의 검문을 받는데 30분이 넘는 시간이 걸렸고 그렇게 대기하던 중에 죽음을 당한 것이었다.

한국에서 국회 반전 의원모임에서 이라크 사람을 초대하고 싶다고 하여, 정부쪽 사람도 한사람쯤 포함되는 것이 좋을 것 같아 그린존에 들어가는 데는 단 5분도 채 걸리지 않았다.
나라의 주인보다 외국인 객이 훨씬 더 움직이기 편한 이상한 나라 이라크...

하지만 이곳에서도 삶은 이어지고 있다.

미군의 폭격이 한창이던 2003년 3월 말의 어느 날 이라크 평화팀과 평소 알고 지내던 14세 이라크 소녀의 생일이 되었다. 우리는 이 소녀의 생일 파티를 열어주기로 했고, 파티를 위해 이라크 평화팀의 운전기사였던 모하멧이 2시간 넘게 바그다드 시내를 온통 뒤져서 문을 연 아이스크림 가게 하나를 찾아내어 얼마간의 아이스크림을 사왔었다. 소박한 음식과 아이스크림 별식, 그리고 풍선으로 장식한 생일파티가 얼마간 진행되고 있을 때 미군의 폭격이 다시 시작되었다. 놀란 팀원 중 일부는 땅바닥에 엎드리고, 일부는 도망가고, 허리를 구부려 뭔가를 하던 나는 놀라서 허리를 펴며 하늘을 쳐다보고 있었다. 잠깐의 폭격이 끝나고 미군의 폭격기가 모두 물러간 후에 바로 옆에 아주 태연하게 앉아있던 이 소녀의 어머니 왈 “어서들 모이세요. 파티를 계속하자구요...”

사담 정부가 무너지고 조지 부시가 종전을 선언한 이후, 바그다드는 혼란의 도가니라는 말 이외에 다른 표현을 찾기 힘들었다. 거리는 매일 도처에서 폭발소리가 울려퍼지고, 어김없이 들려오는 누군가 죽었다는 소식...

처음에는 폭발음에 놀랐었지만, 어느 정도 시간이 지나면서 폭발소리에 무감각해졌고, 나중에는 폭발음이 들리면 농담을 하게까지 되었다.

친구와 함께 “오늘 폭발 소리는 이정도 크기고 방향은 3시 방향이니 이쯤이면 oo호텔이 있겠군. 그 호텔에 이정도 폭발이 났으면 최소한 oo명은 죽었겠는데....”, “아니야 이 방향이면 xx 건물이야. 내기해도 좋아.”, “그래? 그럼 우리 내기하자.”

그 외에 이라크 사람과 미군을 대상으로 한 농담이 많이 퍼져 있었다.

스톡홀름 평화연구소에서 이라크와 아프가니스탄을 세상에서 가장 위험한 나라 첫 번째와 두 번째로 분류하였다.

하지만 시간이 지나면서 일부 상황이 덜 위험한 지방 도시에서는 전쟁 이전의 모습을 천천히 회복해 나가고 있다. 티그리스 강가에 자리 잡은 까페에서 밤늦게까지 차와 커피를 마시며 물담배를 피우는 사람들이 조심스럽게 하나 둘 늘어나고 있다.

아프가니스탄 정세의 이해

탈레반은 아프간의 여러 군벌 세력 중 유일하게 이념에 의해 뭉친 집단이다. 비록 우리 관점에서는 이해하기 힘들지만, 그들이 집권할 때는 나름대로의 보수적 이슬람주의 해석에 의한 종교법을 가지고 나라를 통치했었다.

탈레반의 이런 보수적인 입장은 보수적인 부족장의 지지를 받았었고, 부족주의 전통이 강한 아프간에서 부족장의 지지는 부족 전체의 지지를 의미한다. 그래서 민중의 입장에서 탈레반은 다른 군벌에 비해서는 차악이었다.

나름대로의 종교적 원칙을 가지고 있던 탈레반은 집권 당시 아프간에서 마약을 거의 근절 시켰었다. 하지만 지금 탈레반은 마약재배 농가를 보호하여 활동비를 조달하고 있으며, 아프간의 마약은 국제적인 골칫거리가 되고 있다.

또한 탈레반은 집권 당시에는 지뢰와 같은 무고한 민간인에게 피해를 주는 무기를 사용하지 않았었다. 이 역시 이슬람 종교원칙에 의거한 것이었다.

하지만 지금 탈레반은 미군에 저항하기 위하여 사제 지뢰와 즉석 폭탄을 만들어서 사용하고 있고, 자살폭탄 테러 등의 민간인에게 직접적인 피해를 주는 방법을 사용하고 있다. 그나마 약간의 원칙을 갖고있던 탈레반은 아프간 사람에게는 다른 군벌에 비해서 차악이었고 더 나은 선택을 갖지 못했던 아프간 민중은 탈레반을 지지했었다. 하지만 미국은 차악을 몰아낸 후 최악을 권좌에 앉혔다. 그리고 현 아프간 집권층의 부패 양상은 혀가 내둘러질 정도로 기발하다. 그리고 이들은 미국의 민간 군사기업과 유착되어 있다.

물론 탈레반이 권장할만한 집권세력은 아니었지만, 탈레반 집권 말기 그들은 바깥 세상에 도움을 요청했었고 대화하기를 원했다. 그들의 대화 방법이 세련된 것은 아니었지만, 서방 세계가 이를 이해하지 못했다고 생가되지는 않는다.

하지만 미국을 위시한 서방은 탈레반과의 대화가 아닌 축출을 선택했었다. 탈레반은 아직도 상당수의 부족과 네트웍을 가지고 있고, 많은 아프간 사람은 미군이 철수한다면 탈레반이 다시 집권하는 것은 기정사실이라고 받아들이고 있다.

그래서 소수를 뺀 대다수가 탈레반에 협력까지는 아니더라도 그들과 적대하기를 꺼린다. 오바마 정권들어 바뀐 미국의 아프간 전략은 탈레반을 있는 그대로 받아들이고 그들과 대화를 하고자 하는게 아니라, 탈레반 요원을 회유하여 탈레반을 와해시키는데 초점을 맞추고 있다. 소위 그들이 말하는 탈레반을 더 이상 적대하지 않는다는 새로운 전략이다. 그들이 전향하면 과거를 묻지 않겠다는 것이다.

한국 평화운동의 과제

세계에서 가장 위험한 두 분쟁국가에 군대를 보냄으로써 한국은 국제사회에서 본격적으로 소 제국주의자로서 가해자의 위치에 자리매김을 했다. 한국 정부가 개입하고 있는 국제적 분쟁지역에 한국의 평화운동이 같이 개입할 필요가 있다. 한국군에 의한 폭력을 감시하고, 한국군의 철군을 이끌어내며 종국적으로는 무분별한 국제적 군사개입을 막기위한 노력이 필요하다.

현재 한국이 공식적으로 평화유지군을 파견한 나라는 20개 국이 넘지만 대부분 UN의 지시를 받는 평화유지군에 한 두명의 군인을 파견한 것으로 커다란 의미를 두기는 힘들다. 한국군에 의한 의미있는 개입(한국군이 직접 작전권을 갖는 국제개입)은 이라크와 아프가니스탄 그리고 레바논 정도이다.

또한 이스라엘과 터키와는 아주 깊숙한 군사협력을 하고있고, 이 두나라는 팔레스타인과 쿠르드족에 대한 탄압을 자행하는 나라로서 한국도 정부도 일정정도 책임을 공유해야 한다. 이들 5개 지역에서 한국의 평화운동이 활동을 해야 할 필요가 있다.

Text Fwd: Iraq: The Age of Darkness 이라크: 암흑의 시대

* Image source: same as the below link
Iraq: The Age of Darkness
By Dirk Adriaensens
Global Research, September 19, 2010
The BRussells Tribunal

Part I : “Success”, a devastating balance sheet

In the immediate aftermath of the 2003 invasion, the triumphalist verdict of the mainstream media was that the war had been won; Iraq was assured of a benevolent, democratic future. The Times's writer William Rees-Mogg hymned the victory: "April 9 2003 was Liberty Day for Iraq. (...) It was achieved by "the engine of global liberation", the United States. "After 24 years of oppression, three wars and three weeks of relentless bombing, Baghdad has emerged from an age of darkness. Yesterday was an historic day of liberation."[1]

"The problem with this war for, I think, many Americans is that the premise on which we justified going to war proved not to be valid, that is Saddam having weapons of mass destruction," Defense Secretary Robert Gates told reporters while visiting Iraq.

"So when you start from that standpoint, then figuring out in retrospect how you deal with the war — even if the outcome is a good one from the standpoint of the United States — it will always be clouded by how it began." [2]

So here Robert Gates acknowledges that this war was illegal according to international law, because there was no “casus belli”. But in the same sentence he says that the outcome has been good for the United States. What does he mean exactly? How can all the killing and destruction be a good outcome for the USA? And what about responsibilities? If you know that Iraq is still paying reparations for the invasion in Kuwait in 1990, how about the payment of reparations by the USA for the destruction it inflicted upon Iraq?

"We fought together, we laughed together, and sometimes cried together. We stood side by side and shed blood together," Gen. Ray Odierno told Iraqi military leaders and hundreds of American soldiers and officers during the ceremony that officially closed combat operations."It was for the shared ideals of freedom, liberty, and justice."[3] Yes, they laughed together, like in the infamous, by Wikileaks released video of the “Collateral Murder” helicopter gunship attack on Baghdad civilians in July 2007, that killed more than a dozen Iraqis, two of them journalists of Reuters. And blood they surely have shed together! A lot of blood of over a million mothers, fathers, children and elderly Iraqi people. All that for “shared ideals of freedom, liberty and justice”, Mr. Odierno? Well, most Iraqis don’t share that view. For them, the country has slided into the age of darkness.

The facts

Here the facts:

MORE READING

Text Fwd: To stabilize N.Korea

* Image source: same as the below link

Hankyoreh
To stabilize N.Korea
Posted on : Sep.10,2010 14:19 KST

Commander of the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) Gen. Walter Sharp said Thursday that South Korea and the U.S. conducted drills aimed at “stabilizing” North Korea in the event of N. Korean regime collapse.

In a press conference at the U.S. garrison in Yongsan, Seoul, Sharp said that South Korean and U.S. forces practiced a stabilization drill in reply to whether a stabilization drill was part of an annual drill “Ulchi Freedom Guardian” (UFG) last month.

“We are really trying to make sure that we are able to not only defend, not only able to kill and attack, but also able to provide humanitarian assistance and security and stability for the people [in North Korea] because all of those tasks will have to be done via soldiers in future conflict,” Sharp said.

The computer-simulated operation was designed to ensure stability in North Korea in case of war, and is based on lessons the U.S. has learned from its wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, he said. “One of the lessons is that you can be fighting and attacking one area, and in another area the main mission is to stabilize and protect the population.”

Sharp’s remarks could possibly mean that South Korea and the U.S. converted Operation Plan in Concept Format 5029 (CONPLAN 5029) into Operations Plan (OPLAN 5029) in case of the collapse of the North Korean regime and practiced drills with that in mind. Unless CONPLAN 5029 includes the specific process of military forces distribution, it could not become a complete OPLAN 5029.

No USFK commander so far has openly mentioned such drills, which experts speculate were included as part of a new contingency operation plan the two allies are working out.

In late October 2008 the United States reportedly proposed developing a detailed Operations Plan, OPLAN, in the event of the collapse of the North Korean regime.

(Photo Pool)
____________________________________________________
See also Korea Times
S. Korea, US develop N. Korea stabilization operations
09-09-2010
____________________________________________________
Stop NATO
Pentagon: Nuclear Supercarrier To Join Drills In Yellow Sea
Sept. 10, 2010

[Video Fwd] IT'S THE CIVILIANS WHO ARE BEING KILLED

* Bruce Gagnon blog
Tuesday, September 07, 2010
IT'S THE CIVILIANS WHO ARE BEING KILLED



'Dr. Dahlia Wasfi was born in New York in 1971 to a Jewish-American mother, and a Muslim-Iraqi father. Wasfi spent her early childhood in Iraq, which was then under Saddam Hussein. In 1977, she returned with her family to the United States. She graduated from Swarthmore College in 1993 with a B.A. in biology, and from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in 1997.

posted by Bruce Gagnon | 11:08 AM | 1 comments'

Text Fwd: US 'likely to stay in Iraq beyond 2011'

* Image source: same as the link

* Text informed from the Breaking News and Commentary from Citizens for Legitimate Government on Sept. 6, 2010

Press TV
US 'likely to stay in Iraq beyond 2011' :Despite US announcement of complete withdrawal from Iraq in 2011, Washington will reportedly keep thousands of soldiers in the war-torn nation.

American military experts said the remaining forces are expected to stay in Iraq beyond 2011 as a 'peacekeeping force' for a decade, AFP reported.

Last week, US President Barack Obama declared an end to Washington's combat mission in the war-ravaged country.

However, about 50,000 US troops remain in Iraq supposedly on training and advisory roles until a complete pull out.

Meanwhile, US officials are planning to employ thousands of private contractors to conduct operations formerly performed by US troops.

The report came after Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki last week expressed confidence that "Iraqi security forces are capable of taking full responsibility."

The United States invaded Iraq in 2003 under the pretext of destroying alleged weapons of mass destruction. However, no such weapons were ever found.

Nearly a trillion dollars have been spent and more than 4,400 US soldiers and countless number of Iraqi civilians have been killed since the invasion began.

AGB/MB/HRF

Related Stories:

* US admits Iraq war outcome 'clouded'
* Obama ends US mission in Iraq
* 'Iraqi forces capable of taking over'
* Biden in Iraq as US ends combat mission
* CBO: US war in Iraq costs $709bn

__________________________________________________

* Related article
The New York Times
Op-Ed Contributor
In Korea, a Model for Iraq
By PAUL D. WOLFOWITZ
Published: August 30, 2010

EXCERPTS

'The aftermath of another American war is instructive. Fifty-seven years ago, an armistice ended the fighting in Korea — another unpopular conflict, far bloodier than the Iraq war, although shorter. Civilian casualties were horrendous, and the United States and its allies suffered more than half a million military casualties. The South Korean Army took the heaviest losses, but the United States also paid a high price: 33,739 killed or missing in battle and 103,284 wounded. '

[* Note: Some even estimates about 4 million Koreans were killed during the Korean War]

'Some similar considerations apply to Iraq today. First, Iraq occupies a key position in the Persian Gulf, a strategically important region of the world — a position that is all the more important because of the dangerous ambitions of Iran’s rulers.'

'It is well worth celebrating the end of combat operations after seven years, and the homecoming of so many troops. But fully abandoning Iraq would damage the interests of the United States in the region and beyond. Maintaining a long-term commitment, albeit at greatly reduced cost and risk, is the best way to secure the gains that have been achieved with so much sacrifice.'

Paul D. Wolfowitz, a visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, was the deputy secretary of defense from 2001 to 2005.

Text Fwd: South Korean government impeded Russian team's Cheonan investigation: Donald Gregg

* Donald P. Gregg, the national security adviser to Vice President George H. W. Bush from 1982 to 1988 and ambassador to Korea from 1989 to 1993, is chairman emeritus of the Korea Society (NYT)
__________________________________________________________

Hankyoreh
South Korean government impeded Russian team's Cheonan investigation:
:Donald Gregg Former U.S. ambassador to South Korea urges full disclosure of long-delayed report on navy warship's sinking
Posted on : Sep.4,2010
By Kwon Tae-ho, Washington correspondent

WASHINGTON — Current Korea Society chairman and former United States Ambassador to South Korea Donald Gregg, who raised doubts about the South Korean government's Cheonan investigation findings in a piece for the International Herald Tribune, claims that the South Korean government impeded an investigation by a Russian team of experts. In a telephone interview with the Hankyoreh on Friday, Gregg said that the South Korean government “must remove all doubts by announcing in detail the findings of the Joint Investigation Group” (JIG). In his International Herald Tribune contribution Wednesday, Gregg wrote that the Russian team "concluded that [the Cheonan's] sinking was more likely due to a mine than to a torpedo."


The following is the text of the interview. Gregg’s responses are taken directly from the interview transcript.


Q: What was the basis for the Russian team reaching that conclusion?

A: Their conclusion was tentative. Because they were not given access to all of the material they wanted to see, and they were not allowed to conduct [simulation] tests.

Q: So doesn't that mean that the Russian team's conclusion was uncertain? How did they reach the determination that it was a mine rather than a torpedo in spite of this?

A: [According to the JIG’s announcement t]he Cheonan sank when it was broken in half all at once by a bubble jet originating from the launching of a torpedo. But, Russia, which is well aware of the situation in North Korea, determined that North Korea didn't access the very high technical weapon to bubble jet, bubble-likely destroy the ship and sink it.

Q: Did the Russian team receive any help from the South Korean government during its investigation?

A: The Russians were frustrated that they couldn't get access to all of the material that they wanted to see, and were not allowed to conduct tests, so they were unable to carry out the investigation. This is also the reason no Chinese investigation team went to South Korea.

Q: Officials with the South Korean government have said off the record that China has not conducted an investigation into the Cheonan because "it doesn't want to know the truth."

A: What I heard from two senior Chinese officials during the past week was that they had been told by Russia that they wouldn't be able to access any information if they went to South Korea, so that there was no need to send an investigation team to Seoul. China took their advice.

Q: Do you also think that the Cheonan's sinking resulted from an accident rather than a North Korean attack?

A: I don't know. But if you look at the situation at the time, North Korea had proposed the third summit, it was preparing U.S.-North Korea talks, and they invited Lee Hee-ho, Kim Dae-jung's widow, to visit Pyongyang. It makes no sense that they would undo all of that by sinking the Cheonan.

Q: Don't you trust the JIG's report?

A: I am not sure. The South Koreans refused to address technical questions raised by the Russian report, and the South Korean [JIG] report has not been made public. They [the Russians] were not allowed to see some material that might have allowed them to criticize the JIG report more strongly. What I fear is that the final defense of the JIG report will be "It's classified information and we cannot tell you about it." So the truth may elude us, as it did after the infamous Tonkin Bay incident of 1964, that was used to drag us into the abyss of the Vietnam War.

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]
__________________________________________________________
You may see also:

New York Times
Op-Ed : Testing North Korean Waters
By DONALD P. GREGG
Published: August 31, 2010

EXCERPTS:
South Korea has not officially referred to the Russian conclusions. When I asked a well-placed Russian friend why the report has not been made public, he replied, “Because it would do much political damage to President Lee Myung-bak and would embarrass President Obama.”

(* Thanks very much, Mr. Lee Haeng-Woo to inform me the article)
__________________________________________________________
Korea Report
September 1, 2010
"Testing North Korean Waters"

EXCERPTS:

'Unusually, two op-ed articles on Korea appeared in The New York Times on the same day on Aug. 31: neocon Paul Wofowitz's article "In Korea, a Model for Iraq," comparing US troops' role and legacy to that of South Korea appeared in the US edition, and Donald Gregg's piece "Testing North Korean Waters," explaining Cheonan incident and the need for engagement policy was featured in the global edition only.'
__________________________________________________________
Bruce Gagnon blog, Aug. 30, 2010

Video: SHIP SINKING MYSTERY STILL NOT SOLVED IN KOREA
__________________________________________________________
[Stop NATO] U.S., South Korea Heighten Tensions In Northeast Asia
Voice of Russia
September 4, 2010
Garibov Konstantin

EXCERPT:

Tension is growing in North-East Asia now that Seoul and Washington are about to
get down to practicing the detection and destruction of North Korea’s sea
targets. The manoeuvres, the second in the last three months, are due in the
Yellow Sea on the 5th through the 9th of September [* postponed due to storm] Pyongyang has described the exercise as a grave military provocation. Beijing says the manoeuvres are a
violent challenge to the situation in the region.

[...]
__________________________________________________________