Friday April 24, 2009, 4:47 pm
The US occupation of Iraq, which has become the full responsibility of President Barack Obama, is once again a bloodbath. Not that it had ceased to be violent, brutal and chaotic, for not one day has passed since the US invasion of Iraq was launched that hasn't found several Iraqis being senselessly slaughtered. But rather than talking about three Iraqis being killed today, or two dozen, we are again talking about several dozen, and over 100 wounded, as we are seeing recently. Each of these Iraqis have been killed as a direct result of the US occupation of Iraq - their blood splattered on the hands of President Obama, who, during a visit to Baghdad's airport on April 7, praised the US military for their "extraordinary achievement" in Iraq.

On April 23, over 73 Iraqis were killed in two separate suicide attacks. One bomber detonated his explosives in central Baghdad as a group of policemen were distributing relief supplies to Iraqis who had been driven from their homes during the US-fomented sectarian bloodshed of 2006 to mid-2007. Police said that at least 50 people were wounded; at least five children and one woman were among the dead.

A second major suicide bombing occurred that day as well, near Muqdadiya, about 50 miles north of Baghdad. The bomber targeted Iranian pilgrims who were in a restaurant, killing at least 45 and wounding over 60. The Shiite pilgrims were visiting Shia religious sites in Iraq.

The bombings reek of al-Qaeda in Iraq - whose operations were brought to a standstill thanks to both the Iraqi resistance and the al-Sahwa (US-created Sunni militia comprised mostly of former resistance fighters, who were largely abandoned by the US military and are now being attacked by the Iraqi government). The Sahwa have been abandoning their security posts in protest at having not been paid by the Iraqi government for their work, as well as in protest of the ongoing targeting of their leaders by the government. Prime Minister Maliki perceives the Sahwa as a political threat to the existence of his government, so has taken it upon himself to undermine their existence at every turn, as he has from the beginning.

The recent spasms of horrendous violence in Iraq are a direct result of the US abandonment of the Sahwa, and the US reluctance to stop Maliki from his ongoing policies to disenfranchise the group. The Sahwa were able to find al-Qaeda when the US military could not. Now that they are ceasing their security operations across an increasing portion of Iraq, naturally, the ability of al-Qaeda to conduct their operations increases.

Meanwhile, we have the pathetic propaganda from the impotent Maliki government in Baghdad. On the same day of the aforementioned bloodletting, just after the second bombing, Iraqi state television announced that Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, the purported leader of the Islamic State of Iraq, an al-Qaeda-linked group, was captured in eastern Baghdad. Security experts have previously speculated that al-Baghdadi was a character invented by some extremist groups rather than a real person and the US military does not believe there was ever a single al-Qaeda leader with that name.

There will be more attacks like this. They have less to do with the approaching June deadline of US troops to withdraw from cities in Iraq, (aside from Mosul, and any others the US military feels it should not withdraw from), and more to do with the Sahwa being hung out to dry by both the US military and the Iraqi government.

My cynicism is due to the fact that the Maliki government is not ceasing its attacks on the Sahwa, nor is there any indication the US government will force them to do so.

Neither the US military nor the Iraqi military has proven itself capable of finding al-Qaeda, nor of ceasing the attacks. In fact, Agence France-Presse reported on April 22 that the US military is, in fact, continuing to lead 'Iraqi-led' operations. The report reads:

"The [US and Iraqi] troops assembled by torchlight at Camp Falcon for a mission to the farming village of Owessat, which American and Iraq forces believe is being used as a staging ground for bombings in and around the capital. As with nearly every operation in Iraq these days, the Americans insisted that the Iraqis were in charge, leading the fight against Al-Qaeda and other armed groups with US forces cast in a supporting role. But the scene at Camp Falcon told a different story: six years after the invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein, the Americans not only vastly outnumbered the Iraqis, but they were giving orders and providing vital logistical support. Under a security pact signed in November, Iraqi forces are to assume full responsibility for security as US forces withdraw from cities and towns by June 30 and from the country as a whole by the end of 2011. Iraqi and US leaders and commanders have repeatedly said that Iraq's 560,000 police and 260,000 soldiers will be able to maintain security as the Americans pull back and have vowed to adhere to the timeline of the security plan. But on the Owessat operation this month, 600 US troops backed by helicopters were joined by a group of 40 Iraqi soldiers who, over the course of the 21-hour raid, repeatedly took their cues from the Americans."

Many Americans who voted for Barack Obama last November continue to believe he will do the right thing in Iraq. The reality is that, unless forced to do so from below, there will be none of the promised "change" in US foreign policy. Those on the receiving end of US policy in the Middle East, Iraq in particular, know this better than most Americans.

In April 2004, when I was in Fallujah during the first major US military assault on that city, I spoke with Maki al-Nazzal, who was managing a small, makeshift emergency clinic. We spoke while dozens of women and children, most shot by US military snipers, were carried into the clinic.

"For all my life, I believed in American democracy," he told me with an exhausted voice. "For 47 years, I had accepted the illusion of Europe and the United States being good for the world, the carriers of democracy and freedom. Now, I see that it took me 47 years to wake up to the horrible truth. They are not here to bring anything like democracy or freedom."

Maki, who is now a refugee in Amman, Jordan, continued, "Now I see it has all been lies. The Americans don't give a damn about democracy or human rights. They are worse than even Saddam."

I asked him if he minded if I quoted him with his name. "What are they going to do to me that they haven't already done here," he replied.
»

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dahr Jamail, an independent journalist, is the author of "Beyond the Green Zone: Dispatches From an Unembedded Journalist in Occupied Iraq," (Haymarket Books, 2007). Jamail reported from occupied Iraq for eight months as well as from Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Turkey over the last four years.

Friday April 24, 2009, 4:51 pm
Are you aware there were NO suicide bombings before USA invasion?????...

Friday April 24, 2009, 4:52 pm
OMG! Anita....Just lost for words....I am,so shocked....Noed,and also very sad.....

Friday April 24, 2009, 5:39 pm
Are we part of the solution or part of the problem?

Friday April 24, 2009, 5:58 pm
"The Americans....are worse even than Saddam",
the man says. I'm not even there, and I've been
saying the same thing for six years....and now
we have Obama doing the exact oppoaite of what
he'd promised to do in Iraq, namely, getting us
the hell out of there! Now, he says he's keeping
50,000 troops in Iraq, even after the 'total withdrawal"
in 16 months. The occupation will never end.
Thanks, AniTa.
noted.

Friday April 24, 2009, 7:48 pm
Very painful for me to see. These people suffer In my name. Sadly noted.

Friday April 24, 2009, 8:14 pm
thank You Marieemma for the info. much appreciated!

Friday April 24, 2009, 8:15 pm
I am sorry I need to thank Moni!! as well! thank You so much Moni for sending me this message!

Friday April 24, 2009, 11:07 pm
Noted with thanks dearest Anita:)
Love, Black Dalia:)

Friday April 24, 2009, 11:53 pm
Locan, my friend,
this is NOT being done in OUR names!,
because we've both said, repeatedly,
"NOT IN MY NAME!"

Saturday April 25, 2009, 12:19 am
Anita, I presume that it would be difficult to move out that easily.. there are other issue to be considered. Its like opening a can of worms and realising that the outside is also festered...

This is a long shot of a problem to solve and it wont be an easy solution.

Saturday April 25, 2009, 2:03 am
I agree with Yvonne, I am at the moment listening to the programme 'Inside Iraq' on Aljazeera and they are discussing 'reconciliation' - it does not sound good. The can of worms or Pandora's box is filled with sectarian politics and hate. The politicians are already talking about the possiìbility of civil war over Kirkuk and its status and this is just one of the many problems ....... endless and depressing. All thanks to GWB & co.

Saturday April 25, 2009, 2:32 am
If you think the current situation is bad wait and see what happens when U.S. forces are withdrawn from Iraq.
There will be a total bloodbath.

Saturday April 25, 2009, 3:01 am
Sadly, I must agree with Stan B.

There are other factors involved here, namely the hatred crackling between Sunis, Shi'ites, Kurds and an assortment of other factions. There has just been another suicide bombing at a Shi'ite mosque, wher mostly Iranians were worshipping. Two suicide bombers entered the gates of the mosque (it has two gates and they each took one entrance) and blew themselves up, killing over 60 worshippers and wounding countless others. None of those suicide bombings has anything to do with the US/coalition forces, but everything to do with the pure hatred the seperate factions have for each other. And it will not stop with the withdrawal of US forces. Of that I am certain.

Saturday April 25, 2009, 3:07 am
Thanks, AniTa. What a horrific mess Iraq has been reduced to. It's a heartbreak. How Bush & co sleep at night I don't know.

Saturday April 25, 2009, 6:15 am
Suicide bombings have EVERYTHING to do with US factions!! There were NO suicide bombings until USA invaded. This article is about what is happening in Iraq BECAUSE of USA.

Saturday April 25, 2009, 12:24 pm
stan b
I am at a loss to think how things could be worse for Iraq than with US 'support'. This has long ago ceased to have anything to do with the puppet Hussein who misread his role or the government, military and police destroyed totally during US Occupation. To say other than that Iraq was destroyed as a deliberate program is to continue to prefer the utterings of 'Talking Heads' to the opinions of Iraqis themselves that they want the US gone : or examining the actual plan put into operation
http://www.uruknet.info/?p=42948

Saturday April 25, 2009, 1:26 pm
Tim is right. Sending our troops to occupy Iraq was NOT IN OUR NAME, at least not in the name of most people who visit Care2, because it's a safe bet that most of us signed countless petitions against the invasion and an even greater number of petitions to end the occupation. Instead it was in the name of omnipotent, overpaid, overentitled powers on high who used 9/11 as an excuse to hijack our concept of patriotism and sent many misguided, well-meaning young people to be needlessly killed or maimed. I think most if not all of us care about the well-being of our troops, mourn their losses, and want the ones who survive this nightmare to come safely home to their families. What is sad however, most the people who have supported the war profess to be Christians, but they don't seem to care at all about the hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqis who have lost their lives. If they are true Christians it would seem like they should also be humanitarians who consider every life to be precious.

Saturday April 25, 2009, 2:04 pm
THE OTHER HORRIBLE TRUTH IS THAT WAR IS BEING WAGED AGAINST THE POOR, THE BLACK AND BROWN CITIZENS OF AMERICA EVERY DAY, AND THEIR SUFFERING IS AWFUL!

I only have time to post a little of what happens to Care2 News Network. But my sharebook and AIMI are available on RSS feeds, I believe.

Also my NowPublic articles - highly censored - are on RSS feed.

Find out what is happening around you. Everyone is so concerned with torture in the overseas camps, while justice issues in America are simply atrocious. PRISONERS ARE BEING TORTURED RIGHT HERE IN THE USA EVERY DAY!

Children are being Tasered to death.

Seniors, too.

Mentally ill citizens die regulary by Taser and gunshot.

Prisoners within Pennsylvania's correctional facilities are swaring to being electrocuted, beaten, verbally abused, and mental patients in prison are allegedly being advised by prison guards to just kill themselves!

WAKE UP. The USDOJ won't even investigate my sick brother's secret arrest and wrongful death, and he was an American citizen. His family just paid their taxes to their country! Communist China is criticized for human rights abuses, yet I am chased by four cars and a USDOT truck for asking about my sick brother's wrongful death and the police won't even investigate my stalking!

Website: http://wrongfuldeathoflarryneal.com

Articles: http://nowPublic.com/duo

Sharebook: http://www.care2.com/c2c/share/sharebook/html?pid=513396753

Assistance to the Incarcerated Mentally Ill:

http://Care2.com/c2c/group/AIMI

Get informed. I am so happy that prison torture is being stopped in overseas determent camps.

Thank you for highlighting what happened in Iraq.

But we need to also HELP STOP TORTURE AND GROSS CIVIL RIGHTS ABUSES RIGHT HERE IN THE U.S.A. Help folks at home who need you, please. Charity begins at home.

Mary Neal
Assistance to the Incarcerated Mentally Ill

Saturday April 25, 2009, 2:15 pm
Number Of Iraqis Slaughtered Since The U.S. Invaded Iraq "1,320,110"
www.justforeignpolicy.org/iraq/iraqdeaths.html

=

Number of U.S. Military Personnel Sacrificed (Officially acknowledged) In America'sWar On Iraq 4,274
icasualties.org/oif/

=

The War in Iraq Costs
$662,357,709,947
See the cost in your community
nationalpriorities.org/index.php?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=182

=
Thanks to Information Clearing House

Saturday April 25, 2009, 3:34 pm
Thanks for the lively debate. This is truely a quagmire. There is no easy solutions for this situation. It is easy to blame someone for the current mess, but blaming will not solve the problem. We are duty bound to do whatever we can at our level to make sure the persons in our sphere of influence in treat with dignity and fairness. Let's us pray for the wisdom of those who has to make the decisions about the way forward in Iraq. May God grant us the power to visualize what the true solution to this difficult situation is and the power of faith to pray it into reality. We look to Jesus the author and finisher of our faith. Keep the hope alive in your spirit.

Saturday April 25, 2009, 4:35 pm
Unfortunately, America got duped by the PNAC boys and the Iraqis are paying a heavy price for it.

Saturday April 25, 2009, 4:46 pm
iraq has improved greatly since the surge especially civilian casulties.we have no choice now but to stop al-queda and iranian backed militants.why the war started is a different arguement.we are there and must not lose control to the extremist elements there.some iraqis are against the occupation as we read but there are many who are for being free of saddams sadistic rule which he even used chemical weapons against his own people and commited genocide.we are building schools ,infrastructure roads etc. and more importantly giving them a voice to elect their own officials and be free.we the U.S are not the enemy here.things will continue to improve as they heve been since last year.if we leave to abruptly chaos will take over with al queda and other extremist groups(which iran would love).obama is doing the right thing here and cannot afford to be to hasty in leaving.

Saturday April 25, 2009, 4:59 pm
"Number Of Iraqis Slaughtered Since The U.S. Invaded Iraq "1,320,110"
www.justforeignpolicy.org/iraq/iraqdeaths.html"
Thanks Brigette.

http://www.uruknet.info/?p=42948
Thankyou Stan.

Thankyou all who took the time to read this and comment. It is truly sad that we as US citizensa are responsible for so many deaths. I wonder what would happen if a foreign intruder decide to come into the USA and do to us what we have done to them. It isn't possible to imagine is it?.

Saturday April 25, 2009, 5:01 pm
Whoops sorry John..I meant to thank YOU!!! (not Stan B)!!!

Saturday April 25, 2009, 5:11 pm
most all were slaughter by extremist groups not american troops.they do this to convince people like you that we are the bad guys and its all our fault when in reality they are the ones detonating these (IEDS)bombs and killing innocent civilians not us/alliance troops.dont fall for this propaganda..the extremist groups are solely responsable for the deaths of many iraqi/americans.iraq is improving in many ways and there is much to be positive about what is happening there,its not perfect, but improving, and i think obama is doing the right thing there by going after these extremist groups in iraq,afghanastan, pakistan and other places in this world war which it has become.

Saturday April 25, 2009, 8:41 pm
"Number Of Iraqis Slaughtered Since The U.S. Invaded Iraq "1,320,110"

"The US occupation of Iraq, which has become the full responsibility of President Barack Obama, is once again a bloodbath. Not that it had ceased to be violent, brutal and chaotic, for not one day has passed since the US invasion of Iraq was launched that hasn't found several Iraqis being senselessly slaughtered."

Saturday April 25, 2009, 8:47 pm
Suicide bombing
“Many people worry that once a large number of suicide terrorists have acted that it is impossible to wind it down.”



Liveried Waiter David Hughes rings the Lutine Bell — the first time it has been rung since January 2005, for the Tsunami disaster- at Lloyd's of London, Thursday July 14, 2005.
The bell is tolled to mark a two minute silence held across Britain in memory of the victims of last week's bomb attacks on the capital which claimed 52 lives.
Photo: AP/Yui Mok-pa
“I have the first complete set of data on every al-Qaeda suicide terrorist from 1995 to early 2004, and they are not from some of the largest Islamic fundamentalist countries in the world. Two thirds are from the countries where the United States has stationed heavy combat troops since 1990.
Another point in this regard is Iraq itself. Before our invasion, Iraq never had a suicide-terrorist attack in its history. Never.
Since our invasion, suicide terrorism has been escalating rapidly with 20 attacks in 2003, 48 in 2004, and many more in the first five months of 2005.
Every year that the United States has stationed 150,000 combat troops in Iraq, suicide terrorism has doubled. [This year the figure tripled or quadrupled]
Many people worry that once a large number of suicide terrorists have acted that it is impossible to wind it down. The history of the last 20 years, however, shows the opposite.
Once the occupying forces withdraw from the homeland territory of the terrorists, they often stop — and often on a dime.
I think it depends not exclusively, but heavily, on how long our combat forces remain in the Persian Gulf.
The central motive for anti-American terrorism, suicide terrorism, and catastrophic terrorism is response to foreign occupation, the presence of our troops.
The longer our forces stay on the ground in the Arabian Peninsula, the greater the risk of the next 9/11, whether that is a suicide attack, a nuclear attack, or a biological attack.”

http://www.thewe.cc/weplanet/news/armed_force/suicide_bombing_blair_alliance_with_bush.htm

Saturday April 25, 2009, 8:53 pm
All Things Considered, May 2, 2007 · An Iraqi military spokesman has announced that heavy vehicles will be banned from crossing most of Baghdad's bridges. The ban appears to be designed to keep the bridges safe from suicide bombers; hundreds of suicide bombers have detonated their explosives in the four years of the Iraq war.

Suicide bombings have been used in various conflicts around the world since 1980. But never has the world seen such an enormous number of such attacks as in Iraq — at least 350, and likely more, since the U.S. invasion in 2003.

On April 12, a man smuggled a suicide vest inside the building housing Iraq's parliament in the Green Zone, the most fortified and protected area in all of Iraq. There are numerous checkpoints involving frisking, bomb-sniffing dogs and electronic sensors.

But somehow the bomber managed to get inside, and he detonated his bomb, killing himself and one member of parliament.

As such attacks go, the death toll was minor. Symbolically, though, the message was clear: suicide attackers can hit anywhere.

Now, as thousands of additional U.S. troops are being deployed to Baghdad's neighborhoods as part of the "surge" strategy, there has been an epidemic of suicide attacks. The bombers use cars, trucks. They can be on foot. They get very close to their targets, and their attacks are highly lethal — far more deadly than ordinary roadside bombs.

On April 18, a string of bombings, most of them suicide attacks, cut a swath of death and mayhem across Baghdad. Nearly 200 people were killed that day, 140 of them in one huge blast at the predominantly Shiite market in Sadriya, a neighborhood of north central Baghdad.

It's fair to say that the suicide bomber is the insurgency's most devastating weapon, yet there is precious little understanding of who orchestrates the attacks and what motivates the attackers.

Many attacks have taken place in markets and bus stations, killing thousands of civilians. Most of the civilians killed have been Shiites. Most if not all of the suicide attacks have been carried out by Sunni insurgents.

Last year, NPR conducted a short interview with a would-be suicide bomber, a teenage Iraqi girl.

"My name is Noor Abid Ghezal," she said in Arabic. "I am 18 years old. I am accused of terrorism; the attempted assassination of Hussein al-Sadr, the member of the parliament from Kadhimiya."

Speaking from a jail cell, Noor told a story laced with romance and deception, at once naive and bitter, reflecting just how ruthless and manipulative those who plan these attacks can be.

"I was a student," she said. "I only had my mother at home but she died. After that I fell in love with my stepmother's friend. I loved him and he loved me. I didn't know that he was such a bastard until later on."

Since the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, there have been at least 351 confirmed suicide bombings in Iraq. That number was supplied by Robert Pape, a political scientist at the University of Chicago. Pape is the director of the Chicago Project on Suicide Terrorism, which maintains perhaps the world's most extensive database on suicide attacks.

Pape's data indicate that the pace of suicide bombing in Iraq is increasing at an alarming rate.

"Before our invasion in March 2003, Iraq never experienced a suicide attack in its history," Pape said. "Since our invasion, suicide terrorism has been essentially doubling in Iraq every year that we've had more or less 150,000 American combat soldiers stationed there."

Pape has looked closely at who conducts suicide bombing across the Middle East and elsewhere in the world, examining educational level and socio-economic background, among other factors. In many cases, the bombers relayed their rationale in their own words, after videotapes surfaced or their last words were posted on the Internet.

Pape concluded that suicide bombing is used primarily against forces that the attackers see as foreign occupiers or collaborators.

Many in Iraq deny that Iraqis carry out suicide attacks, pointing instead to fighters associated with al-Qaida, who come from outside Iraq.

But the record shows otherwise. The first suicide bombing against U.S. troops occurred during the invasion, on March 29, 2003, in Najaf. It was carried out by a member of the Iraqi force known as the Fedayeen Saddam. Before the war was over, U.S. Marines found a stockpile of suicide vests hidden in a school in Baghdad.

Of the 351 confirmed suicide attacks in Iraq by the end of 2006, the Chicago project has been able to identify 55 of the attackers. Thirteen were Iraqis; 16 were Saudis. Three-quarters of the attackers were Iraqi or from the Sunni-dominated states bordering Iraq.

Pape has not found one confirmed instance of a Shiite suicide bomber in the Iraq conflict.

Of the targets, more than 50 percent were military. Civilian targets accounted for more than 30 percent last year.

In the case of Noor, her boyfriend wanted her to kill a Shiite member of parliament.

"He turned out to work with a terrorist group," Noor said. "He introduced me to another group of men. They were terrorists, but I didn't realize this. They entrapped me, and here I am in prison."

In the interview with her last year, Noor did not explain why she did not go through with the bombing, or how one of her handlers was seized when she was arrested. Sometimes those who accompany the bomber actually detonate the bomb remotely, but that was not how it worked in Noor's case.

"So I was sentenced to seven years in prison," she said. "One and a half are done."

In fact, Iraq's prisons, those maintained by the Iraqi government and the detainee camps that the United States has run since 2003, may be the source of future suicide bombers.

The worst abuses — like those that occurred in Abu Ghraib — may have largely been curtailed.

But many Sunnis believe that prisoners are still abused and that makes the prisoners easy recruits for the insurgency.

"The prisons are only incubating these people," said Selim Abdullah, spokesman for the Sunni bloc in the Iraqi parliament. Speaking in Arabic, he said, "An innocent person who enters prison for three years without knowing why he is there will be an easy tool for them. When he gets released, he becomes one of those who follow the criminal path."

Hundreds of bombers have already sacrificed their lives in suicide attacks in Iraq. Yet it seems that the supply of future suicide bombers gets larger and larger all of the time.


Related NPR Stories

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9966084

Saturday April 25, 2009, 8:56 pm
"Before our invasion in March 2003, Iraq never experienced a suicide attack in its history," Pape said. "Since our invasion, suicide terrorism has been essentially doubling in Iraq every year that we've had more or less 150,000 American combat soldiers stationed there."

Ralph, maybe i am not very bright but can you explain to me why there were no suicide bombings before the USA invasion?

Sunday April 26, 2009, 1:18 am
Hi AniTa, thank you for the article and everything.

You said" I wonder what would happen if a foreign intruder decide to come into the USA and do to us what we have done to them. It isn't possible to imagine is it?."

It's already happened. A few centuries ago, a continent (Turtle Island) was invaded and occupied, was called the New World, then saw the worst genocide in the history of mankind. The land now called USA was soaked in blood; cultures, traditions, languages disappeared together with millions of men, women, children, elders. Entire families, tribes, entire nations lost, and the survivors were parked on reservations.

We need to ask the Indigenous People how many of them feel today, because their point of view has a lot in common with the Iraqi People since the "shock and awe" we all remember. At the time I remember most of the Indigenous activists were again the invasion of Iraq. They understand the concept of sovereignty.
They also support the Palestinians.

France was one of the countries that took a strong stand against the war on Iraq and was blasted for it. Remember the French Fries that were renamed Freedom fries? :) Like many others I was attacked on internet forums just because I was French and against the war, demanding Peace. But I couldn't forget what my grandparents and parents told me about their lives under the Nazi occupation. I was thinking the Iraqi people must feel the same they did.

Bush and his clique had their way and I couldn't keep thinking, after all many American today are the descendents of those who invaded and exterminated entire nations. It became a pattern to do it abroad also.

But thank goodness many Americans also raised their voices and tried to stop the madness. I have many American friends who were absolutely terrific! Right from the start they said "Not in my Name!". I was so honored to know them. Today's Americans are not responsible for the atrocities committed in the Past, and they have a choice to support Human Rights and Sovereign Rights, instead of reproducing the pattern of occupation, oppression and invasion.

I am not proud at all of many things France did in the past, to other countries. I can't change them but I can fight for a better present and future.

Regardless of our heritage, we need to remember we are all human beings and anything happening to others could also happen to us. We need to understand the other side as well. (By other side I mean the People, not fascist governments).

Sunday April 26, 2009, 1:40 am
Oh, the WTO runs everything. Take away their $. Take away their credibility (A.K.Federal Reserves etc...) What is there? Chaos...Whatever, we can gripe and gripe, but until....

Sunday April 26, 2009, 8:42 am
Yes Anita I did realize that before "We" invaded Iraq suicide bombing did not go on there. Some of us knew that this illegal action/war was an evil move and would open Pandora's Box! I am so sorry for what "We" have done to Iraq and the Iraqi people! There are no excuses one can make for this turmoil "We" allowed our government/corporations to create. It cut deep into my soul that "We" allowed the Iraqi children, via America's illegal war, to be looked at as acceptable collateral damage. Children should never be looked at as acceptable collateral damage. This insensitive mentality can only back fire!

Barbara/founder/dtdn
www.DareToDreamNetwork.net
www.TheBridgeToNowhere.org

Sunday April 26, 2009, 10:43 am
There is a thing called divine justice and Bush and friends that supports this will have to give accounts to God one day.

Sunday April 26, 2009, 10:44 am

***********************
Profound Words of The Dalai Lama

My message is the practice of compassion,
love and kindness. Compassion can be put
into practice if one recognizes the fact that
every human being is a member of
humanity and the human family
regardless of differences in religion,
culture, color and creed.
Deep down
there is no difference.

Each of us in our own way can try
to spread compassion into people’s hearts.
Western civilizations these days place great
importance on filling the human “brain” with knowledge,
but no one seems to care about filling the human “heart”
with compassion. This is what the real role of religion is.

Nowadays the world is becoming increasingly
materialistic, and mankind is reaching toward the very zenith
of external progress, driven by an insatiable desire for power
and vast possessions. Yet by this vain striving for perfection
in a world where everything is relative, they wander even
further away from inward peace and happiness of the mind.

This we can all bear witness to, living as we do plagued
by unremitting anxiety ...

It becomes more and more imperative that the life of the
spirit be avowed as the only firm basis upon which
to establish happiness and peace.

This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples;
no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain,
our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness.

Thankyou so much Barbara..

Sunday April 26, 2009, 12:19 pm
While it's good to know we've got
a flag-wrapped representative from
Faux News in the thread, I seriously
doubt that Doug gratis is a resident of
Baghdad, so I'd take his comments with
at least a few grains of salt.

Sunday April 26, 2009, 3:37 pm
AniTa daily there is succide bombing in Iraq but that one who you publish it happen in Deyala 85 Iranian killed they are in resturant and after bwo days a big succide bombing happen in baghdad Al Kadomeya 100 injered 40 killed among them 25 Iranian and also sonni and seghee Iraqi killed too there are some children the explosion happen near area named Bab Alemam in Alkadomeya .. the news said that mailitia want the troops stay more in Iraq did that and those militia from current Iraqi goverment because no one from out the area can enter bwith out check only authorized ...
my sugests
return troops home soon and let Iraqi solve their problems ... we have men can clean our country from hidden occupation .. the real pccupation is American came by Bush thats publish one and the hidden one is Iranian came after Bush destroy and brought mess and dead in Iraq .. Our men not in Iraq they ascape from militias pro nabour countries but they return to Iraq when trops return home to creat new Iraq empty clean from both kinds of occupation.

Sunday April 26, 2009, 7:01 pm
Uhoud is from Iraq and is more fortunate probably than most Iraquis. SHE says quite plainly "my suggestion
return troops home soon and let Iraqi solve their problems ... we have men who can clean up our country from hidden occupation .. the real occupation is American and came by Bush"

Suicide bombing
“Many people worry that once a large number of suicide terrorists have acted that it is impossible to wind it down.”



Liveried Waiter David Hughes rings the Lutine Bell — the first time it has been rung since January 2005, for the Tsunami disaster- at Lloyd's of London, Thursday July 14, 2005.
The bell is tolled to mark a two minute silence held across Britain in memory of the victims of last week's bomb attacks on the capital which claimed 52 lives.
Photo: AP/Yui Mok-pa
“I have the first complete set of data on every al-Qaeda suicide terrorist from 1995 to early 2004, and they are not from some of the largest Islamic fundamentalist countries in the world. Two thirds are from the countries where the United States has stationed heavy combat troops since 1990.
Another point in this regard is Iraq itself. Before our invasion, Iraq never had a suicide-terrorist attack in its history. Never.
Since our invasion, suicide terrorism has been escalating rapidly with 20 attacks in 2003, 48 in 2004, and many more in the first five months of 2005.
Every year that the United States has stationed 150,000 combat troops in Iraq, suicide terrorism has doubled. [This year the figure tripled or quadrupled]
Many people worry that once a large number of suicide terrorists have acted that it is impossible to wind it down. The history of the last 20 years, however, shows the opposite.
Once the occupying forces withdraw from the homeland territory of the terrorists, they often stop — and often on a dime.
I think it depends not exclusively, but heavily, on how long our combat forces remain in the Persian Gulf.
The central motive for anti-American terrorism, suicide terrorism, and catastrophic terrorism is response to foreign occupation, the presence of our troops.
The longer our forces stay on the ground in the Arabian Peninsula, the greater the risk of the next 9/11, whether that is a suicide attack, a nuclear attack, or a biological attack.”

Tikrit
Iraq Baghdad
Iraq

(left) Policemen inspect the wreckage of a bus containing the remains of soldiers near Tikrit August 1, 2006.
(right) An Iraq soldier stands by the site of a suicide car bomb attack in Baghdad August 1, 2006.
Photos: Sabah al-Bazee/Reuters, Namir Noor-Eldeen/Reuters

Monday April 27, 2009, 4:11 am
we are not there because we like the weather or because its fun. iraq would become a training ground for islamic extremists as did afghanastan.we are taking the fight to these terrorists/islamic extremist where they train and recruit people who want to kill americans.lets just say we left afghanastan and iraq today it would no be long before these extremist would get a foot hold again and be empowered to attack the U.S.nobody wants to be in these countries but by letting these terrorist run free in afghanastan shows you what they are capable of(9/11).if you think that by pulling out of iraq and afghanastan before they can secure there own borders and defend themselves you are mistaken.. because we would be attacked in a short period of time and would have to re-enter these countries again to stop the training camps and recruiting of islamic extremists. ...a good offense is better than a good defense and we have no choice

Monday April 27, 2009, 11:45 am
"lets just say we left Afghanistan and Iraq (use your spell check) today it would no be long before these extremist would get a foot hold again and be empowered to attack the U.S" As long as Norad isn't told to stand down "people" aren't empowered to perform 9/11 scenarios. Plus someone needs to arrange the demolitions before hand (since steel doesn't burn). But that can be handled easily enough considering that building 7 was never hit from the outside (too dumb). I've never talked to any Islamic extremists so I can't say what they want. Mainly I've seen them pick on women and children and try to act pious and cool around the guys. I do think we, as a nation, should do what we can for the people living under tyranny. I doubt that it helps to bomb them and piss off the crazy hornets in there country. Besides, we have a problem, with our own tyrants, here at home. Thanks girls, for the report. Keep on em.

Monday April 27, 2009, 1:44 pm
Doug fox (gratis?), no-friend,
no-profile, frog-face.
Joshco?....is that you?)
Wow, you are so American in your
attitude to the whole thing.....
"these people are a problem,
let's kill them!".
Typical American mindset.
A simple bloodless way of solving this
mess would be if, ummmm, maybe the Western
powers stop pissing off the "Islamic extremists"?
In your mind, Doug-fox-gratis-Joshco, America simply
cannot ever do any wrong whatsoever, but guess what,
Sparky? The "Islamists" have very damned-good reason
for hating the U.S., the West, NATO, Israel, etc. They
want to wipe us all off the map, and I don't blame them!
As to the IED's in Iraq:
These people are defending themselves, their homes, their
families, their country, from an invading and occupying
foreign military, and IED's are one of the weapons they
use. If the situations were reversed, Doug, you'd do the
same, especially with your oh-so-very American instinct
to kill whatever troubles you.

Monday April 27, 2009, 3:57 pm
if they are defending themselves why are the majority of ied and suicide deaths civilian..there own people! because al-queda and iranian backed militants are doing it..so if this is defending there country they need a better strategy..the iraqis had enough of this and are working closely with us forces and winning the war there...thats how they are defending themselves from extremists working with us not against

Monday April 27, 2009, 7:48 pm
Thanks Joshco, I would only add that American foreign policy has been far more effective than anything insofar as recruiting terrorists and after killing so many Iraqis, why wouldn't they do anything (even "work," privatize what was nationalized) to get us out?

Tuesday April 28, 2009, 12:10 am
You cannot currently send a star to Locan because you have done so within the last week.

Conveniently, during her recent visit to Baghdad, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, while perched in the surreal Green Zone which is floating atop a sea of Iraqi blood, had the gall to claim "that Iraq is going in the right direction" and that the recent violence does "not reflect any diversion from the security progress that has been made" in Iraq. The primary reason for her unannounced visit was to reassure Prime Minister Maliki that if the violence continues to worsen, the Obama administration would back off its so-called withdrawal plan. Let us not forget the context of this visit - in addition to the hellish week Iraq has just experienced, overall violence there has been on the rise for the last two months.

Along with leaving up to 50,000 US troops in Iraq indefinitely, the plan to remove many of the other troops by August 2010 is slipping into the background as the justifications for remaining in Iraq are now being placed in the foreground. Iraq is Obama's occupation now, and circumstances there are ripping away the mask of any promised "change."
»
GET the US OUT of there!!!

Tuesday April 28, 2009, 12:27 am
You cannot currently send a star to Locan because you have done so within the last week.
You cannot currently send a star to AniTa because you have done so within the last week.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Okay, Joshco-Doug, here's a part of your problem:
You're assuming the Iraqis are united as a single
people, and even you could not be dumb enough to
believe that. Sunni's, Shi'ite's, Kurds, Christians,
etc., are all in Iraq, and they don't like one another.
They maintained the peace while Saddam was in power (imagine
that!), but once the U.S. introduced anarchy into their
society, they felt free to unleash 1,000 years of religious
hatred on each other. This is another effect of your government,
your military, your Red-White-and-Blue men and women storming
into Iraq under totally false pretenses. Iraqis today say their
lives were FAR better under Saddam. Now, most say the Americans
are worse than Saddam. Does this make you proud, Joshco-Doug-no
friends? Does this make your heart swell with pride at being an
American, a dear old nephew of your Uncle Sam?!
Use the heart God gave you, man, and try to see, and FEEL the way
these people feel. If a foreign military invaded the states, invaded
your town, you'd do exactly as the Iraqis are doing right now, and
you know you would, don't bother trying to deny it.
Joshco-Doug, please tell us, what is it that makes
an American life worth more than an Iraqi life, or
a Muslim life? How does human life become worth more,
based on where a person was born, or the faith they
have? Did you ask to be born in America? No, not any
more than these people asked to be born in Iraq. We're
all human, Joshco-Doug, every one of us, created by the
same kind and loving God, Who expects us all to love one
another.
Peace.

Tuesday April 28, 2009, 4:15 am
you are wrong in many ways..you can bring different groups together for one common cause(a free iraq)..saddams rule was much worse in many way the biggeset being no freedoms allowed..you seem to have heard from iraqis that the U.S is so bad but what i hear on the media/internet outlets is thank you for building another school,thank you for giving me electricity and running water etc. are all iraqis happy with the U.S? no..but the vast majority are when they know there children will have a brighter future than ever before...so if you think genocide by chemical weapons (what saddam did) is better than new schools,roads,freedoms then i guess we will have to agree to disagree. and the different factions ARE working together to stop al-queda and iranian backed extremists,just look at the deaths of us/iraqis and they get lower every month and now there is alot of hope for there country but the way you talk you seem to want iraq to fail to prove your point? sad

Tuesday April 28, 2009, 10:55 am
You ain't convincing anyone "Doug" .......the facts speak for themselves.

Tuesday April 28, 2009, 6:56 pm
Doug what happen are you dream !!! I am Iraqi and love Obama he is wellcome Obama is not Bush Bush kill us destroy our country brought hidden occupation they are Iran and Iranian goverment Bush quit our Army militia of Iran killed our men .. Obama will return troops home we have men they can return Iraq to Iraqies ok we will lose blood but not much as we lost from 2003 till now each freedom need blood but that the coast of the crime that Bush do it to Iraqi in future after we solve our problem we will make strong clean deplomatical relation between our countries give the benafit to both of Iraqi and American pepole.. America must be glad proud by Obama and Bush and Deck Tsheni must punish they kill troops and Iraqi for fake information Iraq clean from destroied weapons ..

Wednesday April 29, 2009, 1:44 am
Uhoud. I am having a very hard time figuring out what you are trying to convey. Must be a translation glitch. I would really like to know what you as an Iraqi have to say. Could you try another translation facility please?

Wednesday April 29, 2009, 11:50 am
She is saying ( and it is very easy to understand but if you need perfect grammar in order to understand:

Doug what wrong with you are you kidding? I am an Iraqi and love Obama..he is welcome. He isn't the same as Bush! Bush killed us he destroyed our country and caused the Iranians to come in and kill our men. Obama willreturn your trrops home. We have our own men to fight for us. Ok so there will be bloodshed but nothing like the blood that has been shed since 2003 (1.4 million iraqis*) That has been the cost to us of the Bush administration criminal activity.. If Americans will leave us alone and let us sort out our own problems then eventually, hopefully we will be able to re-establish good diplomatic relations between ourselves and other countries including the USA. America can be proud of Obama. Bush and Cheney must be punished along with the other war criminals for destroying a sovereign nation under the guise of having WMD's.

PS Uhoud don't waste anymore time on these people they are among those who are reponsible for the deaths in your country. Ignore them their opinions really do not matter .

Wednesday April 29, 2009, 1:28 pm
"Past Member aka Joshco (0)
Tuesday April 28, 2009, 4:15 am
you are wrong in many ways..you can bring different groups together for one common cause(a free iraq)"

The coalition of the coerced?

RALMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wednesday April 29, 2009, 1:30 pm
My friends and I used to have a saying back in the seventies;

Are you stoned, or just stupid?

Wednesday April 29, 2009, 9:24 pm
Frankly Anita, I would never have guessed that what Uhoud wrote is the same (more or less) as your interpretation of the content.

However, to be clear about this, I did NOT ask ANYONE to translate for me. I asked Uhoud. She is the Iraqi and I was interested in what SHE had to say. I was not critizing anything or anyone. It is not my place to do so. My post was POLITE and I resent being referred to as "these people........" it was totally un-called for.

Thursday April 30, 2009, 10:16 am
I have no doubt in my mind Uhoud is in accord (agrees) with my translation.It IS what she was conveying (saying)!!

Thursday April 30, 2009, 3:51 pm
Then kindly let her speak for herself. It is HER that I asked.

Thursday April 30, 2009, 4:59 pm
I also VERY much appreciate hearing from Uhoud, especially when the topic is Iraq. I could be naive but I don't believe Marena meant any disrespect. I also believe Anita is just trying to be helpful. Thank you ladies, for your passion as this is an important topic for me also.

Thursday April 30, 2009, 6:37 pm
Uhoud apparently is satisfied with my 'translation'. What would you like to change Marena? I don't know why truth is such a problem for you!!!!

Thursday April 30, 2009, 9:50 pm
I don't want to change anything and I have never had any problem with the truth - I would just like to hear it (and understand) from the horses' mouth, so-to-speak.

And you are right Locan, not disrespect meant, nor in any way intimated or expressed in my comment.

Thursday April 30, 2009, 11:32 pm
Locan. he's a stoned-stupid person.

And since I've mentioned you anyway,
Doug-fox-gratis-Joshco-PastMember-no friends.....
Can you see how outnumbered you are here?
Can you see how you're not convincing anyone?
I don't know why you're here, but the rest of
us who are Care2 members are too sharp to be sold
by your bullsh*t.
"Thank you for the schools, the electricity, the
roads"....?? What the hell?
More likely, "Thanks for the invasion, the occupation,
the murdering of our families and friends....and, for what?"
"Thanks for the billion dollar embassy you built for yourselves
while streams of raw sewage run past the front doors of our
homes", is more likely what the Iraqi people are saying.
Iraqis are asking "why?" while they mourn their American-killed
dead.
There is no way on the face of God's green earth that anyone
can put a good face on what's happened in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Doug-etc., the worst, vilest, most disgusting, most pusilanimous
(go get a dictionary, smart-stuff)) American walking around today
is the kind who wraps himself in the flag and says, "My country,
right or wrong".
So, I'll tell you what, Doug-Joshco, you go right on and hang on
to that attitude. That mindset is what contributed to Germany of
thr 1930's.

Thursday April 30, 2009, 11:43 pm
Don't be deceived Locan,or Barbara, marena is always trying to discredit truth about Iraq. Take a look at her comments on other posts.

Friday May 1, 2009, 7:03 am
I'd ask the moderator for a bit of latitude on the contention being expressed here.
I have sad experience of vital public forums for debate being hijacked by 'trolls' who derail conversation with specious contention : so much so that it became recognized local sport to expose them as the purveyors of the lies of the corporate media that they were. Nor are the 101st Fighting Keyboarders an anomaly here : Tim Redfern's comments in particular are no more than judicious.
I keep links to so called 9/11 sites on my information board and have joined a discussion group here which tries to keep the nasty of the main site : but there is only so much that should be tolerated when hijacked by organized propaganda.
I'm running into a lot of selloff of public infrastructure stories of late. Enviro blogging is one reason I'm here : survival the name of the game. Here's an example why
http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/en/Business/Water/2ColumnSubPage/STEL02_163834.html
If the government can recognize the problem, you can bet I will as well. JanforGore at Current does wonderful consciousness raising.

Friday May 1, 2009, 8:46 am
Just because I ask pertinent questions, does not mean I am discrediting anything. I think you are way off the mark to make such a statement. Just because I am cautious and not prone to join ranks with those who rave and rant without ascertaining the true facts of whatever it is that is under discussion. I am neither american nor from any nation that has forces stationed in Iraq and have no axe to grind with anyone. But I do prefer facts - not assumptions and half-truth....... I asked a polite question addressed to Uhoud the Iraqi lady - not to any of you. But than, that is the way it always goes here - if one does not totally agree with the rest of the mob, one gets mercilessly attacked.

Friday May 1, 2009, 9:28 am
I have no more time for you Ms. Chen...you are a disgrace to whatever country you are from. I have been more than patient with you. Enough is enough. This forum is to inform people of facts and you just want to discredit ..as you do in all posts about Iraq. As for 'mercilessly attacked. People on this post have been more than kind to you butif you feel that way go back to your hole. I haven't mercilessy attacked you yet!!

Friday May 1, 2009, 10:52 am
I don't understand why the fuss... AniTa kindly "translated" Uhoud's words after someone complained they couldn't understand her English. If Uhoud doesn't have a problem with it, then why make an issue of it?
Shooting the translator is no better than shooting the messenger. Interpreters can be very useful, they can improve communications between people.

(I didn't have trouble understanding what Uhoud wrote, but AniTa thank you anyway :) It is very important to hear the voice of Iraqi people in a thread that concerns their country and their very lives).

Friday May 1, 2009, 11:03 am
Marena Chen I want troops return home quickly who made that explosions plan to let troops stay as much as they can in Iraq Bush brought to Iraq mess and hidden occupation thats it Iran we want your troops return home then our problems can solve by ourselves Iraqi can solve their problems the coast is blood ok we agree we gave to much bloods for nothing but now the price is Iraq we dream with clean Iraq .. that what we want Iraq free for Iraqi not for any body else .. Obama great man he will do his promise he will return troops home .. and then Iraqi will return Iraq to Iraqies .. they will clean it rebuild it .. Do you understand now or I repeat ..

Friday May 1, 2009, 11:08 am
There are new Qayda in Iraq tranied financed by Iraq troops named those Qayda Iranian Qayda Shegee Qayda the kidnap kill bunbing ... they are assist by Badr and highest Islamic council of Abdul Azez Al hakeem and by Etlaat the Iranian security ..