[casi-analysis] casi-news digest, Vol 1 #57 - 4 msgs

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Today's Topics:

   1. U.S. Muslims seek Pentagon probe on Iraq photo (Hassan)
   2. Blix Says Iraq Worse Off After War (Hassan)
   3. Battles Flare as Iraqi Shi'ites Vow Resistance (Hassan)
   4. A Letter from an Iraqi Mother to the Mothers of the Americans Killed in Fallujah (Mark 
Parkinson)

--__--__--

Message: 1
Date: Tue, 6 Apr 2004 04:37:31 -0700 (PDT)
From: Hassan <hasseini@DELETETHISyahoo.com>
Subject: U.S. Muslims seek Pentagon probe on Iraq photo
To: CASI analysis <casi-analysis@lists.casi.org.uk>,
  IAC discussion <iac-discussion@yahoogroups.com>

Dear List,

That is the army that came to =93liberate=94 Iraq and give
Iraqis democracy, freedom and decency.
Thank God the US did not come as an enemy to =93occupy=94
Iraq or impose its will over it!!

HZ
--------------------------------------------------

http://www.cair-net.org/asp/article.asp?id=3D1058&page=3DNR

News Releases
Friday, April 02, 2004

U.S. Muslims seek Pentagon probe on Iraq photo

Soldier's sign says he killed boy's father,
impregnated sister

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) today
called for a Pentagon investigation of a photograph
circulating on the Internet that apparently shows an
American soldier mocking an Iraqi child.

The photo sent to CAIR seems to be of an American
soldier standing next to two Iraqi children who are
giving the thumbs-up sign. One child holds a
hand-lettered sign in English that reads: "Lcpl
Boudreaux killed my Dad, th(en) he knocked up my
sister!" ("Knocked up" is American slang for making
someone pregnant out of wedlock.)

See: http://www.cair-net.org/images/lcpl11.jpg

"If the United States Army is seeking to win the
hearts and minds of the Iraqi people, this is the
wrong way to accomplish that goal," said CAIR
Executive Director Nihad Awad. "Defense Department
officials must take action to let military personnel
know that such offensive behavior harms America's
image and will not be tolerated."

Awad said CAIR has also received an anonymous letter
from a soldier who recently returned from Iraq that
claims a commanding officer engaged in inappropriate
conduct with prepubescent Iraqi girls. The letter
states that the officer, who was named by the writer,
referred to the girls as "pre-rag heads" and coerced
local Iraqi leaders to provide them in exchange for
protection by American soldiers. (The officer's
military unit was also named in the letter.)

The letter-writer indicated revulsion at the officer's
alleged actions. He or she wrote: "The thought of all
this makes me sick to my stomach. I am afraid to bring
this to anyone in the Army, because I am doubtful that
they would believe a soldier over the Battalion
Commander."

"These reports point to a disturbing pattern of
behavior that needs to be addressed by our military,"
said Awad.

CAIR, America's largest Islamic civil liberties group,
has consistently condemned all terrorist acts, whether
carried out by individuals, groups or states.


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--__--__--

Message: 2
Date: Tue, 6 Apr 2004 08:54:38 -0700 (PDT)
From: Hassan <hasseini@DELETETHISyahoo.com>
Subject: Blix Says Iraq Worse Off After War
To: CASI newsclippings <newsclippings@casi.org.uk>,
  IAC discussion <iac-discussion@yahoogroups.com>


http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=3DworldNews&storyID=3D4763844=
&section=3Dnews

Report: Blix Says Iraq Worse Off After War

Tue Apr 6, 2004 10:18 AM ET

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - The costs of the war in Iraq
have outweighed the benefits of removing Saddam
Hussein, former U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix told
a Danish newspaper.

"It's positive that Saddam and his bloody regime is
gone, but when one weighs the costs, it's clearly the
negative aspects that dominate," Blix told daily
Jyllands-Posten in an interview.

The Swedish diplomat has criticized the United States
and Britain for going to war without U.N. approval
rather than allowing his team to continue its hunt for
banned weapons.

In the interview, Blix said the war had contributed to
a destabilization of the Middle East and a move away
from democracy in the region, adding that even though
Iraqis had been spared life under a dictator, it was
at too high a cost.

"Bush declared war as a part of the U.S. war on
terror, but instead of limiting the effects of terror,
the war has laid the foundation for even more terror,"
Blix said.

Blix was scorned by the United States and Britain for
failing to conclude Iraq was hiding weapons of mass
destruction ahead of their invasion. But a year on, no
such weapons have been found.

Blix, a lawyer and former Swedish foreign minister who
at 75 now serves as chairman of Sweden's Weapons of
Mass Destruction Commission, retired from the United
Nations last June.

=A9 Reuters 2004. All Rights Reserved.



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Message: 3
Date: Tue, 6 Apr 2004 08:58:31 -0700 (PDT)
From: Hassan <hasseini@DELETETHISyahoo.com>
Subject: Battles Flare as Iraqi Shi'ites Vow Resistance
To: CASI newsclippings <newsclippings@casi.org.uk>,
  IAC discussion <iac-discussion@yahoogroups.com>


http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=3DtopNews&storyID=3D4763943

Battles Flare as Iraqi Shi'ites Vow Resistance
Tue Apr 6, 2004 10:29 AM ET

By Ghaith Abdul-Ahad
NAJAF, Iraq (Reuters) - Militiamen loyal to radical
Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr fought gun battles with
foreign troops in southern Iraq for a third day
Tuesday and their leaders demanded the U.S.-led
occupiers leave towns and cities.

The United States has said it will arrest Sadr,
accused of leading a wave of confrontations with
U.S.-led forces, who announced the deaths of seven
more soldiers Tuesday.

The battles in Shi'ite Muslim areas represent a new
front for occupying troops trying to pacify Iraq,
though President Bush has insisted violence would not
derail U.S. plans for a June 30 handover of
sovereignty to an Iraqi government.

Fighting between Sadr's followers and Italian troops
in Nassiriya killed about 15 Iraqis and a Ukrainian
soldier was killed and six wounded in clashes near the
town of Kut.

Sadr's militia, known as the Mehdi Army, has held
violent protests and launched attacks in several Iraqi
cities in the last three days to protest the detention
of one of his advisers and the closure of a militant
newspaper by U.S.-led authorities.

"This insurrection shows that the Iraqi people are not
satisfied with the occupation and they will not accept
oppression," said a statement from the cleric, which
an aide read at a news conference in the Shi'ite holy
city of Najaf.

Sadr's supporters said they would fight until
occupying troops left populated areas and prisoners
were released.

The U.S. army said three more American soldiers had
been killed in Shi'ite areas of Baghdad.

Heavy fighting was also reported in the Sunni Muslim
towns of Falluja and Ramadi, west of Baghdad, as U.S.
Marines mounted a major operation to root out
guerrillas.

Residents said gunfire and blasts echoed across
Falluja, in the "Sunni triangle" where U.S. troops
face daily attacks. The U.S. military said four
Marines had been killed Monday in the volatile
al-Anbar province, which includes Ramadi and Falluja.

"BUSH'S VIETNAM"

An opinion poll as Bush campaigns for November
re-election showed U.S. voter support for his handling
of Iraq had fallen to a new low of 40 percent -- down
19 points since mid-January.
U.S. Democratic Senator Edward Kennedy, a key backer
of Democrat John Kerry's election bid, said Iraq had
become "George Bush's Vietnam," referring to the war
that divided the United States and helped drive Lyndon
Johnson from the presidency.

But Paul Bremer, Iraq's U.S. administrator, disagreed.


"...I don't even know where to start with that
comparison," he told NBC's "Today" show. "I think it's
completely inappropriate. There is really nothing in
common with Vietnam."

A senior U.S. army official said the Pentagon was
looking at sending more troops to Iraq if the
situation deteriorated, but believed it already had
enough soldiers in place.

A total of 429 U.S. troops have been killed in action
in Iraq since the invasion launched last March to
topple Saddam Hussein, who had been accused of hiding
weapons of mass destruction.

The poll which reported the slump in approval for
Bush's handling of Iraq also found 44 percent of
Americans wanted U.S. troops withdrawn from the
country.

The former U.N. weapons inspector who had been charged
with finding Saddam's illegal weapons said Tuesday
that the costs of the war outweighed the benefits of
removing Saddam.

"It's positive that Saddam and his bloody regime is
gone, but when one weighs the costs, it's clearly the
negative aspects that dominate," Hans Blix told Danish
newspaper Jyllands-Posten.

SHI'ITE UPRISING

The U.S.-led administration said Monday an arrest
warrant had been issued several months ago for Sadr in
connection with the murder of another Shi'ite cleric
last year.

Sadr's supporters said he was in his Najaf office and
pledged to resist any attempt to detain him.

Fighting has raged between Sadr's supporters and
foreign troops since clashes in Baghdad and Najaf
Sunday killed at least 48 Iraqis, eight U.S. soldiers
and one Salvadoran soldier.
The U.S. army said three American soldiers had been
killed in the Shi'ite Kadhimiya neighborhood of
Baghdad in incidents Monday and Tuesday.

A Health Ministry spokesman said that in Baghdad 66
Iraqis had been killed and 317 wounded in the violence
that began on Sunday. The impoverished Sadr City
district has seen some of the heaviest clashes with
U.S. troops.

In Nassiriya, 375 km (235 miles) southeast of Baghdad,
clashes between Italian troops and Sadr's militiamen
erupted before dawn as 500 Italian soldiers mounted an
operation to dislodge fighters in control of key
bridges in the town.

Paola della Casa, a spokeswoman for the U.S.-led
Coalition Provisional Authority in the area, told
Italy's Ansa news agency that about 15 Iraqis had been
killed. An Italian officer in the town said 12 Italian
soldiers were hurt.

Clashes were also reported in the southern town of
Amara, where British troops are stationed.

The Marines have launched a major new mission to
pacify Falluja, imposing a curfew and sealing off
roads.

The mission -- "Operation Vigilant Resolve" -- follows
the killing and mutilation of four U.S. contractors in
the town last week. A cheering crowd set the bodies
ablaze and hacked them up.

=A9 Reuters 2004. All Rights Reserved.




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Message: 4
From: "Mark Parkinson" <mark44@DELETETHISmyrealbox.com>
To: bodmin_stop_the_war@yahoogroups.com
Date: Tue, 06 Apr 2004 19:30:56 +0100
Subject: A Letter from an Iraqi Mother to the Mothers of the Americans Killed in Fallujah
CC: newsclippings@casi.org.uk

http://www.albasrah.net/maqalat/english/0404/letter_050404.htm

Dear Sisters,

I call upon you because we are sisters in motherhood.

The American media described us with as "barbarians", "savages", and
"criminals" in the aftermath of the mob lynching scenes of the bodies
of charred Americans in Fallujah, as Iraqis beat on dead bodies then
hung them off a bridge. But the American media does not want you to
know the true picture against which those scenes took place, nor does
it want to let you know why Iraqis did this thing. The media does not
want you to know the extent to which Iraqis have come to hate the
soldiers of the occupation for them to act like this.

I address you as American women, as mothers, sisters, wives, and
daughters.

Sisters, I know how painful it is for a woman to lose someone dear. I
can feel your pain. For we, Iraqi women, have lost too much, and have
suffered what no mother on the face of the earth has. For example,
when your government imposed the unjust embargo on our country, we
had to watch our children everyday dying from lack of medicine.
Because of the weapons of mass destruction your soldiers used,
especially depleted uranium, we had to carry babies in our wombs for
nine months only to see them born severely deformed. As if all this
was not enough for your government, it topped all it off with a war
that it launched under false pretexts just to control our wealth, our
oil and resources. And it was a brutal war in which many of our
children were killed and many others were arrested, both sons and
daughters. As of today, your government continues to kill and arrest
our sons and daughters. So, after all this, do you still wonder why
Iraqis carry such hatred in their hearts towards your kids?!

You sons, dear sisters, were not exactly angels or missionaries
preaching the religion of mercy! Your sons have killed our fathers,
brothers, sisters, sons, and daughters. Your sons have stolen,
pillaged, raped, polluted the earth and the water, and burnt the
fields. In fact, dear sisters, your sons are the real barbarians, the
murderers, and criminals. Therefore, please don't blame us for hating
them..

Dear sisters, I call upon you, as someone just like you who has
experienced the pain of Iraqi brothers and sons being killed by the
invaders in the worst possible way: if you want our collective pains
not to increase and multiply, and if you want the return of your sons
and husbands back home safe and sound, PLEASE LET THEM LEAVE IRAQ,
for they are NOT welcome here. And, therefore, I tell you that nobody
can possibly promise you that the lynching scenes of yesterday in
Fallujah won't be repeated again, okay?

Why do you let your loved ones be sacrificed like this, dear sisters?
So murdering beasts like Bush, Rumsfeld, Sharon, and Halliburton
would get richer and more powerful? Is that a good reason for them to
die? We think not. We want it all to stop, for us and for you. So
please let your children leave Iraq alone.

Sincerely,

An Iraqi Mother



Mark Parkinson
Bodmin
Cornwall






End of casi-news Digest

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