Bush Gov, US Media Continue to Minimize and Manipulate Iraqi Deaths
George Monbiot writes "We were told that the Iraqis don’t count. Before the invasion began, the head of US Central Command, Gen. Thomas Franks, boasted that “We don’t do body counts.” His claim was repeated by Donald Rumsfeld in November 2003 (“We don’t do body counts on other people”) and the Pentagon last January (“The only thing we keep track of is casualties for US troops and civilians”)." If this is true, then how, asks Monbiot, can the media regularly report figures obtained from the Pentagon that claim specific numbers - usually quite high - of "insurgents" were killed in the latest assault? the Pentagon claims to have killed 50 or 70 or 100 insurgents? Easy: "The claim that [the Pentagon] kept no track of Iraqi deaths was false. "
READ THE REST AT
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=7§ion=0&article=72895&d=9&m=11&y=2005
Civilian Contractor Death Rate in Iraq 428 and Climbing
Seth Borenstein of Knight Kidder reports: "As the nation focused last week on the 2,000th U.S. soldier who died in Iraq, Gloria Dagit of Jefferson, Iowa, got a box filled with the belongings of her son, Keven, who was killed when his convoy of trucks was ambushed in northern Iraq. Keven Dagit's death Sept. 20 - along with two other truckers - didn't register on the tally of Iraq deaths broadcast daily. That's because they were civilians working for U.S. defense contractors. As of Monday, 428 civilian contractors had been killed in Iraq and another 3,963 were injured."
http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/news/nation/13055180.htm
Gap Between Haves and Have-Nots Widening in Iraq
It is becoming increadingly obvious that Iraq is being modeled after Bush America. Not only do they conduct rigged elections, have a state-controlled media, criminals in top posts (Chalabi, for example), and hand-picked Bush-backing officals, but the gap between the poor and rich is growing rapidly, as this commentary by Amal Kashf al-Ghitta reveals in "Taipei Times":
Al-Ghitta writes: "Everyone who looks at Iraq sees a nation divided between Shia, Sunni and Kurd communities. But an equally fundamental division -- one that has contributed as much to the ongoing insurrection as sectarian strife and opposition to the American-led military occupation -- is the widening gap between Iraq's rich and poor..."
READ THE REST AT:
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2005/11/09/2003279441
UN Study Shows Halliburton Owes Iraq at Least $200 Million in Fraudulent Charges
VOA News reports: "An auditing board established by the United Nations says the United States should repay Iraq more than $200 million for work done by a U.S. contractor.The International Advisory and Monitoring board examined the cost of several contracts awarded to Kellogg, Brown and Root (KBR), which is owned by the southwestern U.S. state of Texas-based corporation Halliburton.The contracts for fuel deliveries and repairing Iraq's infrastructure were largely funded by Iraqi oil revenues.The board based its findings on several audits conducted by private and U.S. government auditors, including the military."
http://www.voanews.com/english/2005-11-06-voa7.cfm
- The Case Against This Monstrous War —LewRockwell.com, Wed Nov 9 13:10
Main Page - Wednesday, 11/09/05
Message Board by American Patriot Friends Network [APFN]