Crime of the Century: Iraq

[Rick Reuben]

Obviously the best option here to arm both sides of the civil war in Iraq with nuclear weapons.

Dumbass. Neither side in Iraq has nuclear weapons ( unless you consider the US a 'side' in that civil war), so it is not the best option to give them both nukes. Leave it up to Gramsci to misunderstand yet another crystal clear argument. Actually, he probably didn't misunderstand it. Gramsci probably fully understands the concept of M.A.D., but his hate and revenge-filled brain prevents him from imagining Muslims with the same weaponry as the Jews and the Christians, because Gramsci is one atheist with an extra-large portion of hate for one particular religion, and that religion is Islam.

Hey, Gramsci- maybe we should pass out equal quantities of nerve gas to the Sunnis and Shiites over there and let them escalate their conflict within their borders. The accompanying soaring casualties should satisfy you immensely.

[Rick Reuben]

Another new report on Iraq casualties places the number at over one million. There still is no good way of counting the diseases that accelerated because of the destroyed infrastructure ( like clean water and sanitation ) or the future birth defects from depleted uranium or the people who probably just jumped off a bridge because they couldn't take it any more.

One Million Dead in Iraq

Our Own Holocaust Denial

Institutionally unwilling to consider America’s responsibility for the bloodbath, the traditional media have refused to acknowledge the massive number of Iraqis killed since the invasion.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad’s flirtation with those who deny the reality of the Nazi genocide has rightly been met with disgust. But another holocaust denial is taking place with little notice: the holocaust in Iraq. The average American believes that 10,000 Iraqi civilians have been killed since the US invasion in March 2003. The most commonly cited figure in the media is 70,000. But the actual number of people who have been killed is most likely more than one million.

This is five times more than the estimates of killings in Darfur and even more than the genocide in Rwanda 13 years ago.

The estimate of more than one million violent deaths in Iraq was confirmed again two months ago in a poll by the British polling firm Opinion Research Business, which estimated 1,220,580 violent deaths since the US invasion. This is consistent with the study conducted by doctors and scientists from the Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health more than a year ago. Their study was published in the Lancet, Britain’s leading medical journal. It estimated 601,000 people killed due to violence as of July 2006; but if updated on the basis of deaths since the study, this estimate would also be more than a million. These estimates do not include those who have died because of public health problems created by the war, including breakdowns in sewerage systems and electricity, shortages of medicines, etc.

Phil Galanter cheerleads for a pre-emptive attack on Iran by this same gang of murderous thugs, and says that my opposition to this attack can only be motivated by anti-semitism:

The Iranian government, on the other hand, is in the active business of providing weaponry to those who make a virtue of suicide attacks. They can't be trusted with nuclear weapons because of their current and recent past actions and statements.

There is nothing racist about this assessment Mr. I-blame-it-all-on-zionists-AND-JEWS. If you're looking for racists, start with the mirror.

Phil, people who make up lies and deny history to validate their murderous revenge-fueled mania are racists. You know that, right?

[Gramsci]

Oh, how about we rename this Crime of the Century... So Far.

I'm sure there is plenty of evil shit to come.

[Cranius]

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[Earwicker]

Today:

[url=http://books.guardian.co.uk/story/0,,2282556,00.html]
George Monbiot fails in attempted citizen's arrest on John Bolton[/url]

I suppose respect should be extended to Mr Monbiot for trying this.

I'm a little grudging in offering it however. I think he rather set himself up for failure by informing the security that he was going to do it beforehand.

I can't help but visualise Monbiot deliberately attaching himself to a rather indifferent security person yelling 'let me at 'im! let me at 'im!'

[Cranius]

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[Earwicker]

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[Rick Reuben]

What went on in the now-deleted posts above?

At a Midtown hotel ballroom on Thursday, Vice President Dick Cheney declared that the United States was “succeeding brilliantly” in Iraq and assailed Democrats on taxes, gas prices, and national security.

If Cheney is defining "succeeding brilliantly" as:

1. Money hand over fist for Haliburton

2.Seeing illness and death due to depleted uranium poisoning affecting both Iraqis and our troops as a good thing

3. The further alienation of the Iraqi people against the US and the Al-Maliki government due to massive aerial bombardment of densely packed urban areas.

4. A complete devastation of Iraq's infrastructure, with completely shoddy - or non-existent - reconstruction.

5. Millions of internally displaced refugees who may never be able to come home again.

Then yes, this war is "succeeding brilliantly".

Army soldiers committed suicide in 2007 at the highest rate on record, and the toll is climbing ever higher this year as long war deployments stretch on.

I don't care about Iraq, the invasion and the subsequent aftermath.

There, I said it.

[holmes]

fucking ragheads

't'da kids!'

'bye nancy!'

[Rick Reuben]

I don't care about Iraq, the invasion and the subsequent aftermath.

There, I said it.

More than ten times the amount of radiation released during atmospheric testing [of nuclear bombs] has been released from DU weaponry since 1991," said Leuren Moret, a U.S. nuclear scientist. "The genetic future of the Iraqi people, for the most part, is destroyed. The environment now is completely radioactive.

Since George H.W. Bush’s first Gulf War, birth defects and childhood cancer rates have increased seven fold in Iraq. And our troops have paid a heavy price as well. More than 35 percent (251,000) of U.S. Gulf War veterans are dead or on permanent medical disability, compared with only 400 who were killed during the conflict.

I don't care about Iraq, the invasion and the subsequent aftermath.

There, I said it.

[Dr. Geek]

So, so very wrong.

[sparky]

A depressing bump.

Nearly 90 gay men have been killed in Iraq since the beginning of January, many more are missing, local gay rights campaigners say.

The report, called They want us exterminated: Murder, Torture, Sexual Orientation and Gender in Iraq, says horrifically mutilated bodies of gay men have been left on rubbish tips.

Sometimes their bodies are daubed with offensive terms such as "pervert", or "puppy" which is a hate word for gay men in Iraq.

"We've heard stories confirmed by doctors of men having their anuses glued and then being force-fed laxatives which leads to a very painful death," says Rasha Mumneh, one of the authors of the Human Rights Watch report. Nearly 90 gay men have been killed in Iraq since the beginning of January, many more are missing, local gay rights campaigners say.

The report, called They want us exterminated: Murder, Torture, Sexual Orientation and Gender in Iraq, says horrifically mutilated bodies of gay men have been left on rubbish tips.

Sometimes their bodies are daubed with offensive terms such as "pervert", or "puppy" which is a hate word for gay men in Iraq.

"We've heard stories confirmed by doctors of men having their anuses glued and then being force-fed laxatives which leads to a very painful death," says Rasha Mumneh, one of the authors of the Human Rights Watch report.

One of the common mantras of the pro-war brigade was that (and undoubtedly continues to be in some quarters) that the war freed the Iraqis from oppression. Murder as community initiative. The liberation has brought forth a delightful version of modernity.

[emmanuelle cunt]

Don't know if this was posted before.

[BClark]

Don't know if this was posted before.

i'm really glad that wikileaks exists. the whitewashing of this video by the military has been pathetic.

[Andrew.]

Huge rise in birth defects in Falluja
Iraqi former battle zone sees abnormal clusters of infant tumours and deformities

Doctors in Iraq's war-ravaged enclave of Falluja are dealing with up to 15 times as many chronic deformities in infants, compared to a year ago, and a spike in early life cancers that may be linked to toxic materials left over from the fighting.

The extraordinary rise in birth defects has crystallised over recent months as specialists working in Falluja's over-stretched health system have started compiling detailed clinical records of all babies born.

Neurologists and obstetricians in the city interviewed by the Guardian say the rise in birth defects – which include a baby born with two heads, babies with multiple tumours, and others with nervous system problems - are unprecedented and at present unexplainable.

A group of Iraqi and British officials, including the former Iraqi minister for women's affairs, Dr Nawal Majeed a-Sammarai, and the British doctors David Halpin and Chris Burns-Cox, have petitioned the UN general assembly to ask that an independent committee fully investigate the defects and help clean up toxic materials left over decades of war – including the six years since Saddam Hussein was ousted.

"We are seeing a very significant increase in central nervous system anomalies," said Falluja general hospital's director and senior specialist, Dr Ayman Qais. "Before 2003 [the start of the war] I was seeing sporadic numbers of deformities in babies. Now the frequency of deformities has increased dramatically."

The rise in frequency is stark – from two admissions a fortnight a year ago to two a day now. "Most are in the head and spinal cord, but there are also many deficiencies in lower limbs," he said. "There is also a very marked increase in the number of cases of less than two years [old] with brain tumours. This is now a focus area of multiple tumours."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/no ... _multiline

[Andrew.]

New piece up at Vice: "Kids of 'the Iraqi Hiroshima'"



What do you suppose the chances are of dear Galanter returning to this thread?

[Cranius]

Article from the Financial Times here (behind the paywall but available if you Google the title):

No US peace dividend after Afghanistan

Nearly half of returning Iraq and Afghanistan war vets disabled; costs of care to exceed $1 trillion, say Stiglitz and Bilmes

...nearly half of all vets disabled.

[geiginni]

Feel the cognitive dissonance of the pro-war, pro-vet right as these vets become dependent upon their "entitlements" and "state-welfare" to survive.

[Andrew.]

According to an Iraqi ministry, there are 4.5 million orphans in Iraq, 70% emerging after the 2003 evasion, 600 000 living in the streets. Sounds like democracy and

FREEDOM

http://worldnewstrust.com/iraq-at-the-b ... mzy-baroud

Chris Kyle was picking off their bad parents one by one to protect American lives at home.

[Anthony Flack]

Feel the cognitive dissonance of the pro-war, pro-vet right as these vets become dependent upon their "entitlements" and "state-welfare" to survive.

No cognitive dissonance. Screw the vets. They were never pro-vet, really, they were just pro-fuck-you.

Who's up for taking some fuck-you to Iraq? HELL YEAH
Ok now I need some help myself. FUCK YOU TOO!

FUCK YOU EVERYBODY! FREEDOM! FUCK YOU!