Independent [UK]

12/08/05

In three different British courtrooms yesterday, three ordinary people stood accused of three very different crimes, but all based simply on their opposition to the war in Iraq. In the first case of its kind, a woman received a criminal conviction for standing outside Downing Street and reading aloud the names of the 97 British soldiers who have died in the Iraq conflict. At the same time as Maya Evans, 25, appeared in court yesterday to become the first person to be found guilty under the legislation designed to create an exclusion zone around Parliament Square, Douglas Barker, 72, a retired businessman from Wiltshire, was told by a magistrate that he faces jail for withholding part of his income tax on his investments, also in protest over Iraq. In a third courtroom in Aldershot, a military judge heard that Flight Lieutenant Malcolm Kendall-Smith, 37, an RAF medical officer based in Scotland, faced a court martial for refusing to serve in Iraq on the basis that the war was illegal...

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/legal/article331782.ece


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

The lack of soldiers on the ground has been a hot-button issue since the start of the Iraq war in March 2003. Career military officials believe that's the reason the war hasn't been a "cakewalk," and they blame Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld for designing a flawed war plan.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/120705I.shtml

Couldn't they find more credible witnesses? They were fifteen and ten at the time... it just doesn't make sense.

http://tinyurl.com/9pf4w


From Information Clearing House

US-Iraqi troops wage military operation in Ramadi:

Approximately 100 Iraqi army soldiers and 400 US soldiers conducted their offensive, code-named Operation Rams, since Sunday,the military said in a statement.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-12/06/content_3884813.htm



IRAQ: Hundreds of families flee fighting in Ramadi:

Hundreds of families have fled Ramadi, capital of the western Anbar Province, amidst fierce fighting between US military forces and Iraqi insurgents, according to aid agencies.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IRIN/d8c0f5d0cd6df370adb2e9f0deb6b56f.htm



Insurgents dismiss Iraq polls, brace for battle:

"Expect black days. Elections won't change anything. This is a long-term struggle. We will fight for the next 20 years," said Abu Mohammed.

http://tinyurl.com/crw86


From Information Clearing House

Published on Friday, December 2, 2005
by CommonDreams.org

Join Arundhati Roy, Tariq Ali, Noam Chomsky, Cindy Sheehan, Denis Halliday, Rashid Khalidi, and Many Others in Calling for the Urgent Release of Peace Activists Held in Iraq

An Urgent Appeal Add your name at: http://www.freethecpt.org

Four members of Christian Peacemaker Teams http://www.cpt.org/ were taken this past Saturday, November 26, in Baghdad, Iraq. They are not spies, nor do they work in the service of any government. They are people who have dedicated their lives to fighting against war and have clearly and publicly opposed the invasion and occupation of Iraq. They are people of faith, but they are not missionaries. They have deep respect for the Islamic faith and for the right of Iraqis to self-determination.

C.P.T. first came to Iraq in October 2002 to oppose the US invasion, and it has remained in the country throughout the occupation in solidarity with the Iraqi people. The group has been invaluable in alerting the world to many of the horrors facing Iraqis detained in US-run prisons and detention centers. C.P.T. was among the first to document the torture occurring at the Abu Ghraib prison, long before the story broke in the mainstream press. Its members have spent countless hours interviewing Iraqis about abuse and torture suffered at the hands of US forces and have disseminated this information internationally.

Each of the four C.P.T. members being held in Iraq has dedicated his life to resisting the darkness and misery of war and occupation. Convinced that it is not enough to oppose the war from the safety of their homes, they made the difficult decision to go to Iraq, knowing that the climate of mistrust created by foreign occupation meant that they could be mistaken for spies or missionaries. They went there with a simple purpose: to bear witness to injustice and to embody a different kind of relationship between cultures and faiths. Members of C.P.T. willingly undertook the risks of living among Iraqis, in a common neighborhood outside of the infamous Green Zone. They sought no protection from weapons or armed guards, trusting in, and benefiting from, the goodwill of the Iraqi people. Acts of kindness and hospitality from Iraqis were innumerable and ensured the C.P.T. members' safety and wellbeing. We believe that spirit will prevail in the current situation.

We appeal to those holding these activists to release them unharmed so that they may continue their vital work as witnesses and peacemakers.

Signed,**

Arundhati Roy, author, The God of Small Things

Tariq Ali, author, Bush in Babylon

Denis Halliday, former U.N. Assistant Secretary General and Head of the U.N. Humanitarian Program in Iraq (1997-1998)

Cindy Sheehan, mother of Casey Sheehan

Noam Chomsky, Professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Haifa Zangana, Iraqi novelist

Kamil Mahdi, Iraqi economist and anti-occupation activist. Lecturer, University of Exeter

Mahmood Mamdani, "Herbert Lehman Professor of Government," Columbia University

Rashid Khalidi, "Edward Said Professor of Arab Studies," Middle East Institute, Columbia University

Cindy and Craig Corrie, parents of Rachel Corrie, killed by Israeli military

Hasan Abu Nimah, Permanent Representative of Jordan at the United Nations (1995-2000)

Ralph Nader, former independent presidential candidate

James Abourezk, former US Senator

Howard Zinn, historian

Naseer Aruri, Professor (Emeritus) University of Massachusetts Dartmouth

Kathy Kelly, Voices for Creative Nonviolence/Nobel Peace Prize Nominee

Naomi Klein, author/journalist

Michael Ratner, President, Center for Constitutional Rights

Rev. Daniel Berrigan, poet

Rev. Osagyefo Uhuru Sekou, National Coordinator, Clergy and Laity Concerned about Iraq

Jeremy Scahill, independent journalist

Mazin Qumsiyeh, author, Sharing the Land Of Canaan, board member US Campaign to End the Occupation

Milan Rai, author, War Plan Iraq: Ten Reasons Against War on Iraq

Sam Husseini, writer

Dahr Jamail, independent journalist

Ali Abunimah, Co-founder, Electronic Iraq

Leslie Cagan, National Coordinator, United for Peace and Justice

Eve Ensler, author

Jennifer Harbury, Director, Stop Torture Permanently Campaign

Omar Diop, Président de la Coalition Sénégalaise des Défenseurs des Droits humains

Anthony Arnove, author, Iraq: The Logic of Withdrawal

Medea Benjamin, Global Exchange

G. Simon Harak, War Resisters League

Michael Albert, ZNet

Dave McReynolds, former Chair, War Resisters International

Bishop Gabino Zavala, President, Pax Christi USA

To add your name to this statement and to see the full list of initial signers: http://www.freethecpt.org

Contact: freethecpt@gmail.com

Organizations and institutions are listed for identification purposes only.


Informant: John Calvert

USA Today

12/05/05

The Army dropped murder charges Monday against an officer accused of giving two soldiers in his platoon permission to kill Iraqi civilians. Second Lt. Erick Anderson, 26, of Twinsburg, Ohio, could have gotten life in prison if convicted. All charges were dropped after an Army investigator who presided over a two-day hearing last month recommended that Anderson not face a court-martial...

http://tinyurl.com/d33x2


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

Attacks on lawyers and flaws in the Iraqi justice system mean the trial of Saddam Hussein on charges of crimes against humanity will never satisfy international standards, a UN rights official said on Sunday. John Pace, human rights chief at the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq, also condemned what he called illegal detentions by Iraqi and US military authorities, including thousands of suspects held at Abu Ghraib prison.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/120505F.shtml

The US government is waging an air war in Iraq. "In recent months, the tempo of American bombing seems to have increased," Seymour Hersh reported in the December 5 edition of The New Yorker. Hersh added: "As yet, neither Congress nor the public has engaged in a significant discussion or debate about the air war."

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/120505Y.shtml

William Rivers Pitt is at the end of his rope. Tens of thousands of Iraqis have been killed and maimed during this occupation. 70% of the population is unemployed. Electricity is intermittent. Potable water is hard to come by. Bombs go off every day, slaying civilians, police and soldiers indiscriminately. Iraqis disappear into torture chambers. Religious factions growl at each other like dogs in a fighting pit. Even the children throw rocks.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/120505Z.shtml

Half a million children have died in Iraq since UN sanctions were imposed - most enthusiastically by Britain and the US. Three UN officials have resigned in despair. Meanwhile, bombing of Iraq continues almost daily.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article11208.htm