Iraq Issues

[Sneakgab]

That debt clearing news is pretty significant. Although, Russia clearing Iraqi debt does not necessarily mean that Iraq will hand contracts to Russian companies. Btw, are these contracts just payments for building facilities?

[Andrew]

Guess what this months reason for invading Iraq is?

Saddam? nope. terrorists? nope. freeing iraqi citizens? nope. Spreading democracy to Middle East? nope. Getting cheap oil (lol)? nope. Finishing 1990s Gulf War? nope. WMD? nope. To keep Saddam from gassing his citizens which is financed by the USA? nope. Extremism? nope. 9/11? nope.

Maybe it was because Saddam did not know the secret handshake? Thus Rumsfeld thought he was not cool?

nope.

The answer is:

Iran - the new motivation for US war in Iraq

[Sneakgab]

''British MoD admits human rights breaches over death of tortured Iraqi civilian

At least they admit their wrongs.''

''admitting you have a problem is the first step'' torturer anonymous' counsellor. :D

[Andrew]

Atheist soldiers not wanted in Iraq

[Acriku]

A damn shame. Will that be the new excuse for escaping the future draft? Or perhaps being "gay" hasn't ran its full course of bigotry in the Armed Forces yet..

[Dunenewt]

Tariq Aziz trial begins in Iraq

[Andrew]

Iraq and Afghanistan veteran suicides may EXCEED combat deaths

Funny, whether accurate or not, people that commit suicide after a tour there will not be counted in the death count.

So when the new death count reaches 5000 or whatever it is nearing, in reality it will probably be twice that amount and they are only counting those that died in combat. People that die of dehydration/disease and other stuff will not be counted. Good way to keep the numbers down for political purposes.

[Andrew]

Iraq Soldier Discusses His "Kills" - youtube video

Mission Accomplished! Killing Iraqi civilians is commonplace and celebrated in the military. They also drop weapons next to killed civilians to make them look like insurgents.

Winter Soldier skip to 7:40 for confession of this happening.

[Andrew]

Indicted Saudi Gets $80 Million US Contract

"Ghaith Pharaon is an FBI fugitive indicted in both the BCCI and CENTRUST case," said Richard Kolko, a spokesman for the FBI. "If anyone has information on his location, they are requested to contact the FBI or the US Embassy."

So the US feds go after him for fraud after he loses 1.8 billion in US taxpayer money, and they now give him an $80 million contract in Iraq. He also financed George Bush juniors first business venture (energy company).

In 2007 the government purchased $40 million in jet fuel from him.

The FBI is looking for him, while the military is paying him for energy...

How stupid can the US gov get?

[Andrew]

BBC uncovers lost Iraq billions

A BBC investigation estimates that around $23bn (

[Sneakgab]

Maybe they are unwilling to punish these corporations because it could lead to influencing a few more to think than leaving everything in the hands of corps and going with hardcore capitalism isn't that great an idea? Or maybe this is just another example of the influence and power these corps over the US govt?

Regardless, it seems that things in America are reaching (or have already crossed) the point of utter absurdity.

What is this gagging order nonsense about? I know that govt's often label info they don't what others to find as ''classified'' saying it's an issue of state security (when often it would just reveal some of their corruption/flounders/whatever) but how can they (legally) ''gag'' something like this which clearly is not related to national security (from what has been heard of it already anyway).

[Andrew]

2 Marines disciplined over puppy-tossing video

[nemafakei]

To be fair, it's more like "2 videoed Marines disciplined over puppy tossing", rather than being disciplined for the video. Who says the situation out there isn't improving?

[Andrew]

Al-Maliki: Iraq Defeated Terrorism

Iraq's prime minister said yesterday that the government has defeated terrorism in the country, a sign of growing confidence after recent crackdowns against Sunni extremists and Shiite militias.

Hurray!

The US can now pull out of Iraq after accomplishing its goal of eliminating terrorism in Iraq. Or was it to get rid of Saddam. No, no, it was the WMD. Wait, maybe it was because Iraq was responsible for 9/11.

Whatever the reason, the problem is solved.

;)

[Andrew]

Couldn't find Afghanistan thread, so I thought I'd post something interesting.

Video shows aftermath of explosion that killed Canadian soldiers

Reporter was nearby when IED killed four Canadian soldiers, was recording when explosion occured. A couple minutes of video. Shows body bags and stuff so viewer discretion advised.

The video is:

Exclusive footage from Zhari district: aftermath of Friday's bomb blast (Runs: 5:58)

[chatfsh]

Oh!  Did anyone see this bizarre news bit today?  I had already posted the

in another thread several months back.  But now this thing has actually been deployed on test missions in Afghanistan. 

footage is too freakishly human-looking.  Amazing what they can do in the field of robotics today.

[i realize that this is not the Afghanistan thread, but if a Forum Staff member used it to talk about Afghanistan, I figured

[Andrew]

I thought there was a dedicated Afghanistan issues thread, but couldn't find it when I looked, and if there was it must've been >2 years out of date (9/11 invasion thread?)

Remember when Osama supposedly had super underground bunkers?

Were they all blown up? I think if they had found some of those it would be pretty cool. But alas another lie to invade.

[Tatar Khan]

I thought there was a dedicated Afghanistan issues thread, but couldn't find it when I looked, and if there was it must've been >2 years out of date (9/11 invasion thread?)

Remember when Osama supposedly had super underground bunkers?

Were they all blown up? I think if they had found some of those it would be pretty cool. But alas another lie to invade.

The whole set up of the caves looks over exaggerated, the hydro electric power from mountain streams come on, that would be easy to spot, plus Taliban were not really hunting Osama sow he should he build these.

[Andrew]

President Hamid Karzai has signed a law the UN says legalises rape in marriage and prevents women from leaving the house without permission.

Good thing we freed those Afghans from the terrorists.

[chatfsh]

Meh, it's not so bad.  The bill stipulates that the wife is only required to submit once every four nights and gets a pass if she is ill. Plus, if she has her husband's permission she may leave the house occasionally.  See not bad at all.

DEATH FIRST!!

[Tatar Khan]

As far as it looks like with the view of Realpolitik this is domestic policy and it doesn't infringe on our (Western) domestic policy or even foreign policy so therefore we would not care.

[Dante]

Unless of course we care about anyone besides ourselves, or the principles of our allies...

Or on a more relevant note for me, about toppling one tinpot government to set up another. Even if one doesn't care about the rights of others, this reflects rather badly on those governments that... paved the way, shall we say.

[Andrew]

Kinda like USA supporting Bin laden against the Soviets, or supporting Saddam Hussein against Iran? Once you are done using them and they start thinking for themselves, they are enemies.

[Dante]

Very much like that in fact.

[Tatar Khan]

Unless of course we care about anyone besides ourselves, or the principles of our allies...

Or on a more relevant note for me, about toppling one tinpot government to set up another. Even if one doesn't care about the rights of others, this reflects rather badly on those governments that... paved the way, shall we say.

Realpolitik would force the western countries to care only if the domestic policy or foreign policy of the country impacts the western countries domestic policy and maybe if it impacts foreign policy

Kinda like USA supporting Bin laden against the Soviets, or supporting Saddam Hussein against Iran? Once you are done using them and they start thinking for themselves, they are enemies.

I'll use the quote from Palmerston to comment on this"

"When people ask me...for what is called a policy, the only answer is that we mean to do what may seem to be best, upon each occasion as it arises; making the Interests of Our Country one's guiding principle. We have no eternal allies and no permanent enemies. Our Interests are eternal, and those Interests it is our duty to follow"