World-News

Independent Institute
by Ivan Eland

10/16/06

As the violence in Iraq mounts and the U.S. military experiences a spike in deaths and casualties, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a Shi'a, has refused to begin disarming Shi'ite militias, which have infiltrated the government security forces. Al-Maliki has also resisted allowing the U.S. military to conduct large-scale operations in Sadr City against the Mahdi Army, a radical militia that is part of the government and responsible for many sectarian killings. Despite his reluctance to take on these militias, al-Maliki predicts a substantial withdrawal of U.S. forces early next year, as the number of U.S.-trained Iraqi security forces rises. Taken together, what all this means is that the U.S. strategy of training Iraqi security forces to permit an eventual U.S. withdrawal is merely preparing another set of fighters for the rapidly escalating civil war...

https://www.independent.org/newsroom/article.asp?id=1833


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

US policy in Iraq is not working and George Bush should consider radical changes, according to a top-level panel backed by the president.

https://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,1923778,00.html


From Information Clearing House

By GWYNNE DYER

The final indignity, if you are an Iraqi who was shot for accidentally turning into the path of a U.S. military convoy (they thought you might be a terrorist), or blown apart by a car bomb or an airstrike, or tortured and murdered by kidnappers, or just for being a Sunni or a Shiite, is that U.S. President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair will deny that your death happened.

https://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15316.htm

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America's "Other" War Party

By Mike Whitney

The giddiness among Democrats about their prospects for a sweep in both Houses of Representatives has reached a level of absolute euphoria. But what exactly are the voters are hoping for?

https://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15309.htm

Common Dreams
by Steven Laffoley

10/15/06

Have Americans grown numb to numbers? Yes, we all wept on September 11, 2001, when we heard that 2,973 people died in New York and Washington and Pennsylvania terrorist attacks. But now, we just sip our coffee while reading that 2,896 American soldiers have died, to date, in Afghanistan and Iraq. Now we just reach for the toast while reading that, officially, 20,000 American soldiers have been wounded. Truly, counting the wounded and the dead is little more than a monotonous drumbeat, thrumming in monthly, weekly, and daily notations on the evening news, just before we hear about the weekend weather. Really, how often do we hear the newscaster say, 'Another solider died in Iraq today' and then weep?

https://www.commondreams.org/views06/1015-24.htm


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

Walla Walla Union-Bulletin

10/15/06

Two leading Republican senators called Sunday for a new strategy in Iraq, saying the situation in getting worse and leaving the United States with few options. Sens. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska and John Warner of Virginia are part of the growing list of Republicans who are speaking out against President Bush's current plan for Iraq as U.S. casualties rise...

https://tinyurl.com/vs2le


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

I'm overjoyed that someone in a senior position has finally had the moral fortitude to forget the spin, forget the politics and just stand up and speak the truth - Danvnuk.

https://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article1870872.ece


From Information Clearing House

"If people say that there has been an energising of the jihadist movement through the protracted war in Iraq - well that's pretty obvious."

https://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,20580228-2,00.html


From Information Clearing House

Garner drew up detailed plans and, at his first briefing with President Bush, outlined three essential "musts" that would, he asserted, ensure a smooth transition after the war.

https://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15308.htm

The NYT reporting of this as a routine vote and another small step in the right direction, is about as misleading as it can be.

https://tinyurl.com/ya3zgg


From Information Clearing House