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News Not Found In the Mainstream Press
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compiled by WAMM’s Newsletter Committee
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ONE BILLION PLUNDERED FROM IRAQ’S DEFENSE MINISTRY
One billion dollars has been plundered from Iraq’s defense ministry in one of the largest thefts in history. The money, intended to train and equip an Iraqi army capable of bringing security to a country shattered by the US-led invasion and prolonged rebellion, was instead siphoned abroad in cash and has disappeared. “It is possibly one of the largest thefts in history,” Ali Allawi, Iraq’s Finance Minister, told The Independent. The sum missing over an eight-month period in 2004 and 2005 is the equivalent of the $1.8bn that Saddam allegedly received in kick-backs under the UN’s oil-for-food program between 1997 and 2003. The UN was pilloried for not stopping this corruption. The US military is likely to be criticized over the latest scandal because it was far better placed than the UN to monitor corruption.
(Patrick Cockburn in Baghdad, September, 2005)
OFFICER CRITICIZES DETAINEE ABUSE INQUIRY
An Army captain who reported new allegations of detainee abuse in Iraq said that Army investigators seemed more concerned about tracking down young soldiers who reported misconduct than in following up the accusations and investigating whether higher-ranking officers knew of the abuses. The officer, Capt. Ian Fishback, said investigators from the Criminal Investigation Command and the 18th Airborne Corps inspector general had pressed him to divulge the names of two sergeants from his former battalion who also gave accounts of abuse, which were made public in a report by the group Human Rights Watch. Captain Fishback said the investigators who have questioned him in the past 10 days seemed to be less interested in individuals he identified in his chain of command who allegedly committed the abuses. Captain Fishback said he had no regrets about coming forward, adding, “It’s the right thing to do.”
(New York Times, 9/28/05)
LIGHT SENTENCE FOR PRISONER ABUSE
An Army interrogator was sentenced to five months in prison for assaulting a detainee in Afghanistan who later died. Sgt. Joshua Claus was the sixth soldier to be convicted of or to plead guilty to abusing detainees following the deaths of two prisoners at the Bagram Airfield detention center. In all, charges were filed against 14. The military intelligence soldier said the abuses were the result of frustrations during interrogations. He admitted forcing water down the throat of a detainee known as Dilawar and twisting a hood over the man’s head. Dilawar died at the detention center in 2002. No one has been charged with causing his death.
(Fort Bliss, Texas, 9/28/05, Associated Press)
FORMER MILITARY CHIEF SKIPS LONDON TO AVOID ARREST
A former Israeli military chief, General Moshe Yaalon has cancelled a trip to London for fear of arrest on war crimes charges relating to attacks on Palestinian civilians and property. Gen.Yaalon was involved in the 2002 decision to drop a bomb on a Gaza City residential neighborhood which killed 14 civilians, most of them children. He faces arrest under the Geneva Conventions Act of 1957 that permits the prosecution in Britain of alleged war criminals whatever their nationality and even if their actions were committed abroad.
(Guardian Weekly, Sept.23-29, 2005)
ACADEMICS MEET IN SYRIA, URGE DIALOGUE
Recently 37 U.S. professors from 28 universities, members of Conscience International, and academicians from several Iraqi universities, met with President Bashar al-Assad of Syria. The U.S. founder and president of the organization, James Jennings, described the meeting as direct, fruitful, and positive and urged the people of the U.S. to be fair with Syria. John Emiden, member of
“Veterans for Peace,” also described the meeting as positive and constructive, explaining that, “We seek to resolve problems through dialogue away from crises or wars, and we think this is the responsibility of our government.”
(www.arabicnews.com)
SHALLOW BURIAL FOR DEPLETED URANIUM (DU) WASTE UNSAFE.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission ruled that the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board, ASLB, had been wrong in concluding that the present low-level waste regulations allowed DU to be classified as low-level waste without an explicit environmental impact analysis. Putting DU in a proper chemical form, uranium dioxide, treating and encapsulating it and disposing of it in deep geologic repository would cost $2.5 billion or more.
(www.ieer.org)
UN AUDIT SAYS U.S.SHOULD REPAY MILLIONS TO IRAQ
An auditing board sponsored by the United Nations recommended yesterday that the United States repay as much as $208 million to the Iraqi government for contracting work in 2003 and 2004 assigned to Kellogg, Brown & Root, the Halliburton subsidiary. The work was paid for with Iraqi oil proceeds, but the board said it was either carried out at inflated prices or done poorly. This is the first time that an international auditing group has suggested that the United States repay some of that money to Iraq. The group, known as the International Advisory and Monitoring Board of the Development Fund for Iraq, compiled reports from an array of Pentagon, U.S. government and private auditors to carry out its analysis.
(New York Times, 11/5/05)
IRAQ OCCUPATION MAY DESTROY ALL-VOLUNTEER ARMY
Unless the Bush administration significantly cuts American troop levels in Iraq next year, the U.S. military’s roughly 140,000-strong presence there will become a detriment to America’s national security, according to a report released this week. In the latest instance of foreign policy experts calling for the Bush administration to set a timetable for U.S. troop reductions in Iraq, the Center for American Progress, a think tank headed by President Bill Clinton’s former chief of staff John Podesta, said the future of America’s military hangs in the balance. “It has become clear that if we still have 140,000 ground troops in Iraq a year from now, we will destroy the all-volunteer army,” said the a report written by the center’s Lawrence Korb and Brian Katulis.
(Washington, 11/11/05, UPI) |
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Word UP!
iNovember 3, 2004
I am forced to hold hands with George,
Our engagement extended four more years
the marriage arranged.
His slimy palms cannot be read;
His eyes like mirrored
sunglasses, hiding secrets.
His smirk mocks the truth.
My trousseau holds the shards of war,
the tears of starving children,
my rage.
I will not be wed to this future
–Jane Levine
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© 2005/2006 Women Against Military Madness. All rights reserved.
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Complete December 2005/January 2006 Index - click here
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