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Iraq Issues

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Andrew

Andrew

Posted
Posted

Acriku-

You have good points about it not being a chemical weapon, although the fact that the USA did not sign an international treaty barring it from using it against civilians is very questionable. By questionable I mean just  because they didn't sign a treaty means they should indiscriminately go attacking areas with civilians and enemy combatants.

From IMDB

TV Documentary Forces Pentagon To Retract Statement

Faced with footage from an Italian documentary showing white phosphorus shells being dropped on Fallujah during last year's offensive and interviews with two American soldiers who had witnessed the results of the chemical's use, the Defense Department on Tuesday retracted an earlier statement saying that it had only been used for illumination. "It was used as an incendiary weapon against enemy combatants," spokesman Lt. Col. Barry Venable told the BBC, "though not against civilians." However, the Italian documentary, produced by the state-owned RAI, showed the burned bodies of civilians, including women and children. In the interview, Venable denied that white phosphorus missiles can be considered a chemical weapon. He called it a "conventional munition" and noted that the U.S. was not a signatory to an international treaty barring its use against civilians. He said that the Pentagon's earlier statement that it was used only for illumination was based on "poor information." The Italian documentary received little press coverage in the U.S., where no nightly network newscast even mentioned it.

I like how they blame not revealing it on "poor information". If the government does not know that they are using WP against enemy combatants and civilians living in the same area, that is just sad how they blame everything on poor information (WMD in iraq etc). What do they know? Nothing?

It's sad to see the media completely ignore this.

Hmm, using a google search, it seems to be catching on, the # of news articles has increased a lot today about it. about 70 articles relating to US use of it in the past 9 hours. Maybe it will pick up mainstream tomorrow.

In case no american media on tv is reporting it go to

http://www.cbc.ca/story/world/national/2005/11/16/phosphorus-fallujah051116.html

and watch video at top right.

I did a search of CNN.com, and no mention of phosporus... although abc had a mention if I use the search function.

Fox news has a little up or down thing less than a paragraph on the subject, no real article.

While looking at nbc news, I found

Massive bid-rigging scam alleged in Iraq:

U.S. says businessman bribed coalition officials to land rebuilding contracts Not that it is a surprise.

Acriku

Acriku

Posted
Posted

Well, like what was said before, if the substance was used as an illuminatory substance then it isn't a chemical weapon. But if they used the incendiary effect for its primary use, then the US is in a very deep hole. Lt Col Venable, a spokesman of the Pentagon, said WP was used to flush out the enemy of their holes using the incendiary effect and the smoke effect. I think this is using it as a chemical weapon.

Andrew

Andrew

Posted
Posted

Prisoners at an Iraqi detention centre opened up to journalists have told the BBC of widespread abuse.

Blair talked Bush out of launching an air strike against Al-Jazeera's headquarters in Qatar -- a U.S. ally -- during an April 16, 2004 meeting at the White House.

The Arabic-language network has been a frequent target of U.S. criticism, and its facilities in Afghanistan and Iraq have been hit by U.S. bombs.

If true, the Mirror report "would cast serious doubts" on U.S. statements that those strikes were accidental, the network said.

EDIT:

How U.S. Fell Under the Spell of 'Curveball'

Long article about the informant who was lying, but the Bush administration decided to believe him anyway just so they could go to war with Iraq.

Andrew

Andrew

Posted
Posted

U.S. Military Covertly Pays to Run Stories in Iraqi Press

As part of an information offensive in Iraq, the U.S. military is secretly paying Iraqi newspapers to publish stories written by American troops in an effort to burnish the image of the U.S. mission in Iraq.

The articles, written by U.S. military "information operations" troops, are translated into Arabic and placed in Baghdad newspapers with the help of a defense contractor, according to U.S. military officials and documents obtained by the Los Angeles Times.

Awesome. Bush was correct when he said that propaganda needs to be repeated over and over to get it to sink in.

But not like they havn't been putting out propaganda like when they staged the downfall of Saddam's statue.

See, in my line of work you got to keep repeating things over and over and over again for the truth to sink in, to kind of catapult the propaganda.

- Bush

Reality Check on Iraq

- Approximately 100 Attacks Per Day; All-Time High.

- One of the Deadliest Attacks In Iraq Occurred Less Ten Days Ago.

- Unemployment Rates At 40 Percent.

- Iraq Oil Production Is Below Pre-War Levels.

- Water, Electricity, Health Networks Are Below Prewar Levels.

- As of November 28, 2005, at least 2,107 U.S. Troops Had Died In Iraq and Over 15,500 Were Wounded.

- Almost 94 Percent of All U.S. Fatalities Have Occurred Since

Andrew

Andrew

Posted
Posted

Family Upset Over Soldier's Body Arriving As Freight

Dead heroes are supposed to come home with their coffins draped with the American flag -- greeted by a color guard.

But in reality, many are arriving as freight on commercial airliners -- stuffed in the belly of a plane with suitcases and other cargo.

EDIT:

Evidence found that CIA abducted and transferred people between countries

1. Deny accusations

2. Continue denying

3. ? ? ? ? ?

4. Profit!

EDIT

CIA Prisons Moved To North Africa?

Now to revise what I said above.

1. Deny accusations

2. Continue denying

3. Move prisons to North Africa!

4. Profit!

ordos45

ordos45

Posted
Posted

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/12/15/iraq.elections/index.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4530226.stm

Iraqi Elections were today, in fact they're still going on because of an extension for all the people in line.  Despite some attacks, including a large explosion minutes after the polls opened. 

Turnout, by estimated population percentage, looks higher than my nation normally experiences; and we don't have to brave roving gunmen, mortars, and searches by US troops and Iraqi Police to cast our ballots.

Dude_Doc

Dude_Doc

Posted
Posted

The worst thing about surveillance is that when the high-ups install it, they won't take it down again. I believe it is only a question of time before Patriot Act becomes a part of the general American law - that there won't be any timelimit on it.

Killing terrorists only breed more, and they can keep on killing them until there is not one human left on this planet...

Dude_Doc

Dude_Doc

Posted
Posted

That's always good to hear - officially. Anyways, how are things in Iraq? What I'm hearing, the "terrorists" is loosing. Anyone knows anything?

Dante

Dante

Posted
Posted

I think it would be really funny if the US let Saddam go because it's Christmas.

Army: You'll be going on trial.

Saddam: But it's Christmas! *Puppy dog eyes*

Army: Awww, alright. But you behave now. Here's the keys.

Yeah, that cracks me up, I'm weird...

  • 1 month later...
  • 2 weeks later...
Andrew

Andrew

Posted
Posted

Anyone remember when Bush a couple days ago in his State of the Union address "vows to cut Middle-east oil imports by 75%"?

One day after President Bush vowed to reduce America's dependence on Middle East oil by cutting imports from there 75 percent by 2025, his energy secretary and national economic advisor said Wednesday that the president didn't mean it literally.

So why would Bush say that he is cutting it by 75% when in fact he is not.

Spin spin spinnnn spiin everything.

Bush defends Exxon Mobil profits

wtf? Sure there is a supply and demand thing, but can they not do anything about it? It's rigged, and they come up with any excuse to raise the prices.

That's like the insurance companies that increased all their rates and "magically" got record profits.

  • 2 months later...
Andrew

Andrew

Posted
Posted

Bush "specifically authorized" Libby to leak info

Bush authorized him to leak information from a classified intelligence report to a New York Times reporter.

!!!!!!!!!!!

So this means that Bush can be impeached along with Cheney?

(oh wait he can only be impeached if he gets a blow job, because we all know that a blow job shows what a terrible and corrupt leader you are.)

I think it will be interesting to see how Fox news spins it to somehow blame democrats.

It's on CNN now.

Everyone RIOT.

EDIT: someone is spinning it on CNN right now. lol.

EDIT:

This is front page main story on cbc.ca as He hates leaks, but Bush authorized one: documents, ctv.ca as Court papers allege Bush leaked Iraqi intelligence

and on cnn.com the main story is about Giuliani testifying at trial about 9/11.... wtf is wrong with USA?

Andrew

Andrew

Posted
Posted

Watching ctv newsnet right now, and they are showing how the Bush government continously lied about the Iraq Biological WMD portable labs back in 2003. 2 days after a team found out that the "labs" had nothing to do with WMD, Bush still went on about how they found WMD labs in Iraq.

CNN article

I don't see how anyone can believe a single thing that government says.

  • 1 month later...
Andrew

Andrew

Posted
Posted

Witnesses to Iraqi civilian deaths say Marines killed in retaliation

Witnesses to the slaying of 24 Iraqi civilians by U.S. Marines in the western town of Al-Hadithah say the Americans shot men, women and children at close range in retaliation for the death of a Marine lance corporal in a roadside bombing.

Wow, I was wrong about Bush. He really is playing hardball against terrorists. ::)

Yet another item to add to the long list of failures in Iraq.

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