Iraqi Puppet Government on Verge of Collapse

By Ibon Villelabeitia

BAGHDAD, May 17 (Reuters) - Iraq’s government has lost control of vast areas to powerful local factions and the country is on the verge of collapse and fragmentation, a leading British think-tank said on Thursday.

Chatham House also said there was not one civil war in Iraq, but “several civil wars” between rival communities, and accused Iraq’s main neighbours — Iran, Saudi Arabia and Turkey — of having reasons “for seeing the instability there continue”.

“It can be argued that Iraq is on the verge of being a failed state which faces the distinct possibility of collapse and fragmentation,” it said in a report.

“The Iraqi government is not able to exert authority evenly or effectively over the country. Across huge swathes of territory, it is largely irrelevant in terms of ordering social, economic and political life.”

The report also said that a U.S.-backed security crackdown in Baghdad launched in February has failed to reduce overall violence across the country, as insurgent groups have just shifted their activities outside the capital.

While cautioning that Iraq might not ultimately exist as a united entity, the 12-page report said a draft law to distribute Iraq’s oil wealth equitably among Sunni Arabs, Shi’ites and ethnic Kurds was “the key to ensuring Iraq’s survival”.

“It will be oil revenue that keeps the state together rather than any attempt to build a coherent national project in the short term,” the influential think-tank said.

The oil law, among benchmarks Washington has set Baghdad as critical steps to end sectarian violence, has yet to be approved by parliament. Ethnic Kurds, whose autonomous Kurdistan region holds large unproven reserves, oppose the draft’s wording.

Rather that one civil war pitting majority Shi’ites against Sunnis nationwide, the paper said Iraq’s “cross-cutting conflicts” were driven by power struggles between sectarian, ethnic and tribal groups with differing regional, political and ideological goals as they compete for the country’s resources.

The author of the report, Middle East expert Gareth Stansfield, said instability in Iraq was “not necessarily contrary to the interests” of Iran, Saudi Arabia and Turkey.

“(Iraq) is now a theatre in which Iran can ‘fight’ the U.S. without doing so openly,” Stansfield said, adding that Iran was the “most capable foreign power” in Iraq in terms of influencing future events, more so than the United States.

The rise to power of Iraq’s long-oppressed Shi’ite majority has caused concern in Sunni Gulf states, particularly Saudi Arabia, which deeply distrusts non-Arab, Shi’ite Iran’s influence in Iraq, Stansfield wrote.

Should a U.S. withdrawal herald the beginning of a full-scale Sunni-Shi’ite civil war in Iraq, Saudi Arabia “might not stand by”, the paper said, “with the possibility of Iran and Saudi Arabia fighting each other through proxies in Iraq”.

Little Abeer’s Final Terrifying Moments

We will never know the real number of rapes and murders in Iraq since most rapes go unreported and the murders are covered up.

Below is testimony of Abeer’s rape and murder by one of the killers. Her Parents and baby sister were also murdered by the sickos.

Tearful soldier tells court of Iraq rape-murder

By Andrea Hopkins

FORT CAMPBELL, Kentucky (Reuters) - A U.S. soldier under court-martial at a Kentucky military base broke down in tears on Wednesday as he described how he and others planned the rape of a 14-year-old Iraqi girl, murdered along with her family.

Sgt. Paul Cortez, 24, is the second U.S. soldier to plead guilty to raping the girl and killing her and her family in Mahmudiya, south of Baghdad, in March 2006. The soldiers then poured kerosene on the girl’s body and lit her on fire in an attempt to cover up the crime.

Cortez, wearing a dress green uniform and flanked by his civilian and military lawyers, described how he, Spc. James Barker and a since-discharged soldier, Pvt. Steven Green, planned the attack over liquor and a game of cards.

“While we were playing cards Barker and Green started talking about having sex with an Iraqi female. Barker and Green had already known…” Cortez said before breaking down. He bowed his head and remained silent, sniffling occasionally, for a full minute before continuing.

“Barker and Green had already known what, um, house they wanted to go to … knew only one male was in the house, and knew it would be an easy target,” Cortez said.

Once at the house, Green, the suspected ringleader, took the girl’s mother, father and little sister into a bedroom, Cortez said, while he and Barker took the teenager, Abeer Qassim al-Janabi, to the living room.

“She kept squirming and trying to keep her legs closed and saying stuff in Arabic,” Cortez said.

“During the time me and Barker were raping Abeer, I heard five or six gunshots that came from the bedroom. After Barker was done, Green came out of the bedroom and said that he had killed them all, that all of them were dead,” Cortez said.

“Green then placed himself between Abeer’s legs to rape her,” Cortez said, sniffing audibly. When Green was finished, he “stood up and shot Abeer in the head two or three times.” The entire crime took about five minutes to carry out, he added.

Cortez said the girl knew her parents and sister had been shot while she was being raped. He said she screamed and cried throughout the assault.

A recess was granted in the middle of his testimony to allow him to regain his composure. About two dozen spectators attended the hearing in a tiny courtroom on the base.

The military judge accepted Cortez’s guilty plea, and will likely impose a sentence later on Wednesday or on Thursday. Cortez could face life in prison without possibility of parole for the rape and four counts of murder.

According to the charges, three soldiers raped the girl, while another helped commit the crimes. A fifth kept watch back at their outpost. All have been charged.

Barker pleaded guilty in November and was sentenced to 90 years in a military prison. Green was discharged from the Army for a “personality disorder” and is in a Kentucky prison awaiting civilian trial.

Barker and Cortez both avoided the death penalty by pleading guilty and have agreed to testify against Green and others charged in the crime.

Cortez also pleaded guilty to rape, arson and breaking into the girl’s house and to obstruction of justice for helping get rid of the murder weapon, an AK-47, which was thrown into a canal.

The other soldiers accused in the case are Pvt. Jesse Spielman and Pvt. Bryan Howard.

Pendleton 8 Murderers Update

Marine says urinated on dead Iraqi at Haditha

10 May 2007 00:52:41 GMT

Source: Reuters

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif., May 9 (Reuters) - Angered that a beloved member of his squad had been killed in an explosion, a U.S. Marine urinated on one of the 24 dead Iraqi civilians killed by his unit in Haditha, the Marine testified on Wednesday.

Sgt. Sanick Dela Cruz, who has immunity from prosecution after murder charges against him were dismissed, also said he watched his squad leader shoot down five Iraqi civilians who were trying to surrender.

In dramatic testimony in a pretrial hearing for one of the seven Marines charged in the Nov. 2005 Haditha killings and alleged cover-up, Dela Cruz described his bitterness after a roadside bomb ripped Lance Cpl. Miguel Terrazas, known as T.J., into two bloody pieces.

“I know it was a bad thing what I’ve done, but I done it because I was angry T.J. was dead and I pissed on one Iraqi’s head,” said an unemotional Dela Cruz in a military courtroom in Camp Pendleton, north of San Diego, California.

Dela Cruz also said he watched squad leader Sgt. Frank Wuterich shoot five men whose hands were tied up near a car. Dela Cruz said he also shot the five men as they laid on the ground.

Wuterich “walked to me and told me that if anybody asked, they were running away and the Iraqi Army shot them,” Dela Cruz testified.

Three Marines have been charged with murder, and four officers have been charged with dereliction of duty and obstructing the investigation.

Prosecutors contend the killings were revenge for Terrazas’ death, while the Marines charged say it was a clearing operation, conducted under lawful orders, that had disastrous results.

Squad leader Wuterich’s lawyer later called Dela Cruz’s testimony false.

“It’s about the fourth or fifth version of events we’ve heard from Sgt. Dela Cruz. It’s false, of course,” Neal Puckett said in an e-mail. “It’s just so sad that he is being required to testify against his fellow Marine NCO in order to guarantee his freedom. He’s a victim, too.”

ASKED TO LIE

The Marine Corps initially reported the deaths as a result of the bombing and a firefight with insurgents. Reporting by Time magazine in January 2006 later prompted the Marine Corps to investigate the killings.

Dela Cruz said he was asked four times to lie about what happened in Haditha, although no one asked him about the killings for a time.

A Chicago native, Dela Cruz saw intense action in his first Iraq tour of duty in 2004. A Marine Corps News article once featured him as one of the unsung heroes of the Iraq war.

Wednesday’s hearing focused on Capt. Randy Stone, who served as the legal advisor for the Kilo Company. Stone, 34, is charged with violating an order and two counts of dereliction of duty in connection with the killings.

On Nov. 19, a convoy of Marines from the Kilo Company was traveling through the town of Haditha when a roadside bomb detonated, killing Terrazas and injuring two others. Surviving Marines stopped a car and shot its five occupants, then swept through two houses, killing the people inside.

According to testimony, the five men in the vehicle were the first of the 24 victims. Dela Cruz said that after he helped Wuterich shoot the men, he went in one direction with Iraqi soldiers while Wuterich went in another direction.

Another Marine, Sgt. Albert Espinosa, testified on Wednesday that he pressed for an investigation of the killings almost immediately after it occurred in November 2005.

He testified Wednesday that he was frustrated by the apparent indifference of his commanding officers. “We deserve an answer to what happened and wasn’t happy with the answers I was getting,” 1st Sgt. Albert Espinosa testified.

A Warning from ‘The Islamic State of Iraq’

08/05/2007

The Islamic State of Iraq / Warning from the Warfare Ministry to everyone who intend to join the so-called Iraqi Army

In The Name of Allah The Most Gracious The Most Merciful

Allah says: (O you who believe! Fight those of the disbelievers who are close to you, and let them find harshness in you; and know that Allâh is with those who are the Al-Muttaqûn “the pious” ) al-Toubah :123

All Praise and thanks are due to Allah , the Lord of all that exists. And peace be upon our prophet Muhammad, his family and companions in entirety

Everyone who thought that the Mujahedeen’s hits were faraway from the infidelity’s centers and their people is mistaken , and by Allah willing our blessed hits will reach everywhere as it reached before to the so-called (parliament) one of infidelity and tyranny centers , and as it reached also to the apostate ( Salam al-Zokum) , Baghdad conference , the press conference place for the so-called secretary-general of the infidelity and atheism organization (The United Nations Organization) and Diala blessed operation , what is coming will be more violent and more harsh.

We say to every father , mother , wife and brother who does not want to lose his relative to advise him not to approach the infidelity and its people, we swear by Allah that we will not keep any effort in hitting infidels and apostates , and what was happened in Abo-Ghraib western Baghdad province about attacking the volunteers for the so-called Iraqi Army is the best evidence for what we say. For those who registered their names to volunteer in this agent systems ranks must declare their abandonment and disavowal in Allah’s mosques because we know many of their names and the sword will reach them by Allah willing in their beds .

And we say to everyone who accepted the illusions of the non-Islamic party called “Islamic party” and the weakness front , and everyone who followed their way: those will lead you to the Hell in the hereafter and to the disgrace and shame in your life in this world. All this is only in the interest of al-Malki Safawid government and the crusader/zionist project in the region , and we invite all of those to turn to Allah in repentance from this infidelity’s ways, and from Allah we get help and success .

All Praise and thanks are due to Allah , the Lord of all that exists.

O Allah , defeat the spiteful Rawafeds (Shiites) and the Zionist Crusaders and their allies..
O Allah , make them with their equipments a booty for the Muslims..
O Allah destroy them ..
O Allah , the sky is yours, the earth is yours, the sea is yours, O Allah , drop all their forces in sky, destroy all their forces in earth and sink all their forces in sea..
O Allah, retaliate upon them, afflict them like you did to Pharaoh and his nation , O Allah afflict their country with flood , make them in need of money and food and persons ..
O Allah defeat them , destroy them O the All-Strong, the All-Mighty
These operations were part of ‘The Dignity (al-Karama) Plan’ as part of the ‘Retaliation Honor Raids’ which was declared by Ameer Al-Mu’meneen Sheikh Abu Omar al-Baghdadi (may Allah protect him), leader of the Islamic State of Iraq

Allah is the Greatest

Honor, Power and Glory belong to Allah, His Messenger and the believers, but the hypocrites know not.”

The Islamic State of Iraq / A blessed martyrdom operation at a volunteers gathering for the so-called Iraqi Army in Abo-Ghraib

In The Name of Allah The Most Gracious The Most Merciful

All Praise and thanks are due to Allah , the Lord of all that exists. And peace be upon our prophet Muhammad, his family and companions in entirety

On Saturday morning 5/4/2007, one of the Islamic State’s courageous soldiers from the martyrdom battalion named (Abo abdul Rahman ), attacked with his full of explosives (Bahbahan ) car a volunteers gathering for the so-called Iraqi Army in Abo-Ghraib region western Baghdad province. The satellite channels TV broadcasted news about this big blessed operation but distorted the real size of casualties .
We confirm to the Islamic Nation that the real result of this operation was the killing of no less than (100) apostates and injuring gravely (150) others.
We ask Allah to accept our brother among the martyrs and grant him the highest ranks in paradise. All praise and gratitude are due to Allah.

These operations were part of ‘The Dignity (al-Karama) Plan’ as part of the ‘Retaliation Honor Incursion’ which was declared by Ameer Al-Mu’meneen Sheikh Abu Omar al-Baghdadi,( may Allah protect him), leader of the Islamic State of Iraq.

Allah is The Greatest

“Honor, Power and Glory belong to Allah, His messenger and the believers, but the hypocrites know not.”

Afghan Opium is Funding CIA not Taliban

The Western propaganda machine convinces the world that the “evil Taliban” are responsible for and are the beneficiaries of the increased opium cultivation, but the facts are opposite. The CIA has for a long time used the illegal drug and weapons trade to fund programs without going through the U.S. Congress keeping their activities off the record.

How very convenient it is to blame the Taliban for the increase in opium who almost completely eradicated opium cultivation in the areas under their control. The facts point to Western forces who are responsible for encouraging the opium cultivation and trade.

I am reminded of the comments made by Taliban leader Mullah Omar in his Eid message, “The puppet regime has failed to control narcotics because most of Karzai government members are drug smugglers.”

Heroin is “Good for Your Health”: Occupation Forces support Afghan Narcotics Trade

by Prof. Michel Chossudovsky

Global Research, April 29, 2007

The occupation forces in Afghanistan are supporting the drug trade, which brings between 120 and 194 billion dollars of revenues to organized crime, intelligence agencies and Western financial institutions.

The proceeds of this lucrative multibllion dollar contraband are deposited in Western banks. Almost the totality of revenues accrue to corporate interests and criminal syndicates outside Afghanistan.

The Golden Crescent drug trade, launched by the CIA in the early 1980s, continues to be protected by US intelligence, in liason with NATO occupation forces and the British military. In recent developments, British occupation forces have promoted opium cultivation through paid radio advertisements.

“A radio message broadcast across the province assured local farmers that the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) would not interfere with poppy fields currently being harvested.

“Respected people of Helmand. The soldiers of ISAF and ANA do not destroy poppy fields,” it said. “They know that many people of Afghanistan have no choice but to grow poppy. ISAF and the ANA do not want to stop people from earning their livelihoods.” ( Quoted in The Guardian, 27 April 2007)

While the controversial opium ads have been casually dismissed as an unfortunate mistake, there are indications that the opium economy is being promoted at the political level (including the British government of Tony Blair).

[...]

Soaring Afghan Opium Production

The United Nations has announced that opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan has soared. There was a 59% increase in areas under opium cultivation in 2006. Production of opium is estimated to have increased by 49% in relation to 2005.

The Western media in chorus blame the Taliban and the warlords. Western officials are said to believe that “the trade is controlled by 25 smugglers including three government ministers.” (Guardian, op. cit).

Yet in a bitter irony, US military presence has served to restore rather than eradicate the drug trade. Opium production has increased 33 fold from 185 tons in 2001 under the Taliban to 6100 tons in 2006. Cultivated areas have increased 21 fold since the 2001 US-led invasion.

What the media reports fail to acknowledge is that the Taliban government was instrumental in 2000-2001 in implementing a successful drug eradication program, with the support and collaboration of the UN.

Implemented in 2000-2001, the Taliban’s drug eradication program led to a 94 percent decline in opium cultivation. In 2001, according to UN figures, opium production had fallen to 185 tons. Immediately following the October 2001 US led invasion, production increased dramatically, regaining its historical levels.

The Vienna based UN Office on Drugs and Crime estimates that the 2006 harvest will be of the order of 6,100 tonnes, 33 times its production levels in 2001 under the Taliban government (3200 % increase in 5 years).

[...]

Source: Global Research

 

Definition of Puppet Government: Hamid Karzai

Has there ever been a better definition of a puppet government than Hamid Karzai’s?

Hamid Karzai is imprisoned in his American fortified palace with thousands of Afghanis protesting all over the country shouting “Death to Karzai”.

It is becoming more and more apparent that Afghans are supporting the Taliban and just want foriegn forces out of their country.

It’s laughable how he addresses the Afghan people, angry over the killings of almost 60 civilians by U.S. forces, from his fortress.

Karzai said, ” he had repeatedly told U.S. and NATO commanders to coordinate their anti-Taliban raids with his government, stop searching civilian houses and take care to avoid civilian deaths.”

Who is he fooling? Since when does the puppet tell the master what to do? Karzai is a dime a dozen. If he wants to keep his American paycheck he should shut up and go along with the lie that no civilians were injured.

Karzai says Afghans lose patience over killings

KABUL, May 2 (Reuters) - President Hamid Karzai warned on Wednesday that Afghan patience was wearing thin over the killing of civilians by Western forces hunting Taliban guerrillas, saying further deaths would lead to bad consequences.

Nearly 60 civilians have been killed in raids by U.S.-led troops in the past week, Afghan officials say, sparking four days so far of anti-American, anti-Karzai protests.

“We can no longer accept civilian casualties. It is becoming a heavy burden,” Karzai told reporters at his heavily fortified palace in the capital, Kabul, when asked about the killings.

“It has become too hard for us.”

Protesters have called for the removal of Karzai for failing to stop the killings, which are an increasingly sensitive issue in the face of an upsurge in Taliban attacks.

A former government minister, Hamidullah Tarzi, said the current small protests were not yet a major problem for Karzai, but they would become more serious if killings continued.

Karzai said he had repeatedly told U.S. and NATO commanders to coordinate their anti-Taliban raids with his government, stop searching civilian houses and take care to avoid civilian deaths.

“Unfortunately, that cooperation and coordination as we tried it has not given us the result of what we want,” Karzai said, adding that the Afghan people’s tolerance was being tested.

“That is something that must be changed, must be corrected or the consequences will be bad for all of us.”

NO FAITH IN FOREIGN TROOPS

Protests over civilian deaths come in a crunch year for both the Western troops and the Taliban insurgents they are hunting, as both sides seek a decisive advantage.

Karzai also faces rising frustration over the lack of development and rampant corruption since the Taliban were ousted from power in 2001. Some senior government colleagues are seeking to curb his powers by creating a new position of prime minister.

About 2,000 protesting students blocked a main highway between Kabul and Pakistan in the eastern province of Nangarhar on Wednesday, angered by the second killing of civilians in the area by U.S.-led coalition troops in less than two months.

Up to six civilians were killed there on Sunday, Afghan officials say, although the U.S. military said only two civilians were killed after they were caught in crossfire.

The students burned and stamped on U.S. flags and chanted “Death to America”, calling on foreign troops to leave at once.

Protests have also taken place in Herat province, near the Iranian border, where U.S.-led forces had killed 51 civilians, including 18 women, in recent days, a police official said.

A spokeswoman for Herat’s governor said 1,600 families had fled their homes to escape bombing by coalition troops and were being cared for by the Red Cross.

U.S. officials were working with the government to determine what had happened in Herat, a U.S. military spokeswoman said.

DANGEROUS TREND

While the protests had not drawn large numbers, ex-minister Tarzi said coalition forces had lost the sympathy of the people.

“Now that has been eroded and that is not a good sign. That may have future repercussions,” he told Reuters.

“If the trend continues and there are further incidents, then I think that is something to worry about.”

Thousands of civilians have been killed since U.S.-led troops ousted the Taliban government for sheltering al Qaeda leaders.

The violence has not eased. More than 4,000 people, including 1,000 civilians, were killed in 2006 and scores more have died this year, mostly in suicide bombings and other Taliban attacks.

Separately, the governor of the southern province of Kandahar said civilians were among 13 killed by NATO and Afghan forces in an attack on a convoy that included some Taliban on Tuesday.

And NATO forces have launched an operation in Helmand province, the key-drug producing region of Afghanistan and the Taliban heartland. (Additional reporting by Noor Rahman in Jalalabad and Rodney Joyce in Kabul)