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Wednesday, November 10

Saddam now Bush

emergency actions for fallujah

Sydney Thursday November 11, 5pm. Town Hall, Sydney.
Brisbane Friday November 12, 4.30pm. King George Sq. steps,
Melbourne
Friday November 12, 5pm. Bourke St Mall, city.

This article from Sami Ramadani pretty much sums up the situation

Falluja's defiance of a new empire
It is Bush and Blair, not the Iraqi resistance, who fear free elections


Sami Ramadani
Wednesday November 10, 2004
The Guardian

George Bush and Tony Blair have apparently concluded that they can crush the Iraqi people's will to resist occupation and legitimise a puppet regime next January by occupying Falluja. Maybe they imagine they can emulate the British forces that terrorised Iraqi Kurdistan in the 1920s by obliterating recalcitrant villages.

The US generals will no doubt deliver Falluja to Bush and Blair after bombarding its neighbourhoods with artillery and rockets. But they are doomed to deliver neither the Fallujans nor the people of Iraq. Perhaps they are unaware that Fallujans defied Saddam's rule during his last years in power. Falluja - known as the city of a thousand mosques - attracted Saddam's wrath in 1998 when its imams refused to hail the tyrant in their Friday sermons. Many were imprisoned, and the city punished as a result.

But the generals certainly do know how resistance began in Falluja. On April 28 2003 US soldiers opened fire on parents and children demonstrating against the continued military occupation of their primary school - killing 18 of them in cold blood and injuring about 60 others. Until the killing of those demonstrators, not a single bullet had been fired at US soldiers in Falluja or any of the cities north of Baghdad. But, remorselessly, little-known Falluja became a world-renowned centre of defiance, where a poor and poorly armed people has courageously faced the military wing of the new empire.

The way Falluja's 300,000 people reacted to the April 28 massacre has made them a prime target for savage bombardment and conquest. Najaf was bombed into a ceasefire in August. Samarra was conquered in September. Sadr City in Baghdad was bombarded and negotiated into temporary silence in October. Now they want to crush the symbol of Falluja, to teach the rest of Iraq a bloody lesson. Another pyrrhic victory is likely to be added to an already long list.

Blair once again misled parliament this week by branding the resistance in Falluja as Zarqawi-style terrorists out to destroy the prospects for democracy. It was he and Bush who last year rejected the calls for early free and fair elections from those who rejected the occupation, including Ayatollah Sistani, Moqtada al-Sadr, the resistance and the widely supported Iraqi National Foundation Congress. Bush and Blair are terrified of the Iraqi people voting for anti-occupation leaders. They will accept nothing short of the legitimisation, through sham elections supervised by the occupation authorities, of an Allawi-style puppet regime.

More than 100,000 Iraqis are estimated to have been been killed since the US-led invasion; the country's infrastructure has all but been destroyed; people are exposed to the danger of US and British depleted-uranium shells; hospitals have been reduced to impotence in the face of mounting injuries and disease; the centre of Najaf and entire neighbourhoods of several cities have been razed. How much more should the Iraqi people be subjected to for Bush and Blair to have their "democratically" chosen puppets installed in Baghdad?

These are war crimes of Saddamist proportions, and there is evidently more to come. Bush's latest pronouncements and Blair's declaration of a "second war" have made clear that the occupation governments are ready to kill (as "collateral damage", no doubt) even more Iraqis to enforce a pro-US order. Without a shred of evidence, Bush, Blair and Ayad Allawi's quisling regime shamelessly declare that they are only pursuing the Jordanian kidnapper Zarqawi and other "foreign terrorists". The people of Falluja, their leaders, negotiators and resistance fighters have always denounced Zarqawi and argued that such gangs have been encouraged to undermine the resistance.

The occupation forces have now reverted to their initial ploy of attacking cities north of Baghdad, while reaching ceasefires with some Baghdad districts and southern cities. Presumably, they see this as an effective divide-and-rule tactic, but it is likely to prove as futile as the rest of their plans for post-invasion Iraq. It is, in reality, merely a battle postponed. Iraq's history, reaffirmed by events since the US-led occupation, shows that its people's unity is stronger than differences based on religion, sect, ethnicity or national identity. That was demonstrated on Sunday when a senior Kurdish officer with the token US-commanded Iraqi force besieging Falluja deserted within half an hour of being shown the plans to occupy the city.

The US and British governments could do worse than digest the old Chinese proverb: "They lift a stone to drop it on their own feet." For they might have occupied Iraq and succeeded in lifting some of its heavy stones, but the stones will inevitably come crashing down on their feet.

Sami Ramadani was a political refugee from Saddam Hussein's regime and is a senior lecturer at London Metropolitan University

Monday, November 8

John Howard killed, Australia fights on

John Howard was killed in Iraq two months ago. A 26-year old Staff Sgt. in the Marines he died when his helicopter crashed in Al-Anbar province on August. The youngest of three brothers from Virginia, he joined the Marines in 1996 following in the footsteps of his grandfather, James Ludington. His death ended his second "tour of duty" in Iraq after he returned to Baghdad on June 28 leaving behind his wife and two stepchildren.

Of course we know a lot about John Howard and the other 1127 U.S soldiers killed in Iraq, but very little about the Iraqis killed in this awful war. "We don't do body-counts."

Last week for All Souls day I joined a small group of people in front of Sydney's St Mary's Cathedral who out read the names of the Iraqi casualties whose names we do know. Not even close to the almost 100,000 killed since the invasion according to a study by John Hopkins University medical researchers, and published in the Lancet last week.

The numbers are probably higher, as the study did not include the victims of Fallujah, the 600 murdered in the massacre last April and those since by US snipers and 500 lb bombs. An atrocity in anyone's language and an atrocity about to be repeated as the US intensifies its air strikes and masses troops, enabled by British Black Watch covering their positions south of Baghdad. The Blackwatch may soon be replaced by Scots guardsman, Robert the Bruce will turn in his grave.

The other John Howard fresh from his election victory in Australia has successfully insulated both Australian troops and public opinion from the cost of war. As yet no Australian soldier has been killed although there have been some close calls. But the returning soldier flown back last week suffering serious injuries hardly equates with the 8,000 or more US casualties and of course again the countless Iraqis injured.

The lack of casualties however does not truly reflect the degree of Australia's involvement in this conflict.

The Prime Minister, aided by the media, has successfully painted the Australian involvement as almost separate from the conflict.

The truth is somewhat different.

The military commitment while small is politically important as other "allies" such as Hungary continue to plan withdrawal of their forces, but it is militarily significant as well.

There are over 900 Australians involved in the Iraq deployment, currently headed by Brigadier Peter Hutchinson.

The military significance to the Pentagon is also greater than recognised given problem the US military has in ensuring it is able to maintain and possibly increase troop levels. The need to shift British troops to prepare for the Fallujah assaults reflects his problem.

Australia's contribution is an important part of the Pentagon's strategy of "Vietnamisation" in Iraq, constructing a puppet Iraqi army for the White House's puppet ruler Ayad Allawi.

The Australian Army Training Team Iraq recently been renamed to match the title of Australia's first forces deployed in Vietnam, has approximately 50 personnel, training of three Iraqi battalions. The force was recently rotated with a new team deployed for a further 6 months.

The success of the training will be tested in the coming assault on Fallujah; already some of the Iraqis have deserted or defected.

The team is backed up by detachment of about 120 combat troops including Australian Light Armoured Vehicles, which was recently expanded.

This detachment also provides security and transport for the staff in Baghdad. For example, transporting the now well-known Australian officer Major George O'Kane, who worked as a legal officer in the US Joint Task Force headquarters and assisted in fending off the Red Cross allegations of torture and mistreatment in Abu Gharib.

Australians like Major O'Kane are distributed through the US command structure with over 90 personnel in the multinational force headquarters and units, and combined logistics and communications elements.

Major General Jim Molan AO, is Deputy Chief of Staff for Strategic Operations, Multinational Force - Iraq headquarters in Baghdad.

These staff, including General Molan, are involved in planning operations and targeting decisions, which translate into military actions against the resistance forces. They will have been involved in planning for the Fallujah attack.

According to Defence Minister Robert Hill:

This will see Major General Molan responsible for advising the MNF-I General Commander, General Casey, on all aspects pertaining to the planning and conduct of operations which may range from civil assistance through to conventional war fighting. The restructured headquarters will be responsible for security and anti-insurgency operations in Iraq.


Australians may also be involved in direct operations against the resistance. Brian Toohey in a recent article in the Australian Financial Review claimed the SAS was part of a special forces strike force operating in Iraq. Their actions bear a remarkable resemblance to the work of the CIA's Phoenix assassination squads during the Vietnam war.

At least one Australian soldier was leading a twenty-man squad in the previous assault on Fallujah. He described the attack in a quite sanitised account in The Australian newspaper.

An Australian naval and air surveillance force is protecting oil facilities and transports in the northern Persian Gulf, which are targeted by the resistance forces. This includes a naval component of about 240 personnel comprising of HMAS Adelaide together with a Logistic Support Element as part of the multinational force maritime element.

Other operations include, a RAAF AP-3C Orion detachment of about 160 personnel conducting maritime patrol operations, with two aircraft and associated command and support elements supporting both the rehabilitation operation in Iraq and the coalition operation against terrorism.

A small group of about six Royal Australian Air Force air traffic controllers are integrated into Coalition forces at Balad Air Base near Baghdad. One of the air bases from which US aircraft fly from on their continuing bombing missions.

A RAAF C-130 Hercules detachment of about 150 personnel providing intra-theatre air lift for Coalition forces, with two transport aircraft, ground crew and other support elements.

While John Howard is continuing to claim there will be no increased deployment despite requests from the White House. The Bulletin's Paul Daley has suggested the establishment of a new ADF battalion might mean plans for an increase is already under way.

Australia is up to its neck in this war and we should stopping pretending otherwise.

Despite the failure of the Australian media and political opposition to pay any attention, responsibility for the coming scandal of a second assault on Fallujah belongs with the Lodge as well as the White House.

Those in Australia who continue to care should do what we can to make that clear to those who continue to look away.

Thursday, November 4

welcome back george

Arundhati Roy gave a speech accepting the Sydney Peace Prize last night. Commenting on the US election she said something like "why should I care who is elected to the position of Commander in Chief of the Imperial Forces." I reckon she's right ... maybe.

Perhaps we should be glad Bush got back in the saddle. Gabriel Kolko, whose book A Century of War is a total must read, reckons Bush is just the ticket we need:

Critics of the existing foreign or domestic order will not take over Washington this November. As dangerous as it is, Bush's reelection may be a lesser evil because he is much more likely to continue the destruction of the alliance system that is so crucial to American power.

Read his whole argument here

And read Roy's whole speech including her call for occupying the offices of Australian corporates who are investing in Iraq.

keep rubbing

what does a smelly octopus, Karl Marx and Vogue have in common? check out a recent talk my good mate Adam gave about Christian Capurro's artwork and find out.