by Thomas Oliphant

Boston Globe

08/17/04

With inadequate notice, the absurd linkage invented by President Bush to join 'war in Iraq' with 'war on terror' has fractured, raising the question not only whether anyone in his administration can explain what is going on but also whether anyone can explain what the United States is doing in Iraq.

The siege of Najaf and its sacred Shi'ite sites is hardly a military challenge. The Army and Marine units there can obviously crush all opposition and occupy the city whenever commanders choose. Instead, the siege is a political challenge that in the short run greatly increases the risk of more US combat deaths as commanders try to discern which masters they are serving, even as it calls into question the purpose of what remains a de facto occupation that is open-ended in terms of cost and duration...

http://tinyurl.com/59o4e


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

There's little to gain and much to lose for Washington if massacre takes place in Iraqi holy city...

http://tinyurl.com/4doxf


From Information Clearing House

by Gary Leupp

CounterPunch

08/16/04

I have been thinking for months that if those commanding U.S. forces in Iraq really wanted to perform the ultimate stupidity, and ratchet up exponentially the degree of hatred they face in Iraq and throughout the Muslim world -- then they'd surely attack the Imam Ali Shrine in Najaf, or be drawn into a situation where they'd damage it. This is the most important Shiite site in the world, and is holy not only to Shiites (about 120 million people) but also to all the billion-plus Muslims on the planet...

http://www.counterpunch.org/leupp08162004.html


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=5933577


Informant: Ken DeBusk

Well, it's official: We really did invade Iraq to liberate Halliburton:

George W. Bush has never used the word "reprisal" to mean that we should be afraid of retaliation on our home soil because of our government's invasion of Iraq. Terrorists will attack us, says Bush, because they are "evil...

http://www.villagevoice.com/thebushbeat/


From Information Clearing House

Four months into their tour of duty at one of the most dangerous American bases in Iraq, young marines say the slow pace of progress is shaking their faith in their mission...

http://www.iht.com/bin/print.php?file=533600.html


From Information Clearing House

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article6730.htm


Informant: Laurel

by Ted Lang

Ether Zone

08/13/04

There are many ways to summarize the impending military failure in Iraq, and all of these time-worn truisms will serve: 'The bigger they are, the harder they fall;' or 'The best offense is a good defense;' or, 'Those who do not remember the past are condemned to relive it...

http://www.etherzone.com/2004/lang081304.shtml


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

by Tariq Ali

CounterPunch

08/12/04

The 'handover,' designed largely to convince US citizens that they could now relax and re-elect Bush, was also an invitation to the western media to downgrade coverage of Iraq, which it dutifully did. As Paul Krugman noted in the New York Times last week: 'Iraq stories moved to the inside pages of newspapers, and largely off TV screens. Many people got the impression that things had improved. Even journalists were taken in: newspaper stories asserted that the rate of US losses there fell after the hand-off. (Actual figures: 42 American soldiers died in June, and 54 in July).' Like previous confections to justify the war, this one is not working either...

http://www.counterpunch.org/tariq08122004.html


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0812-06.htm


Informant: kevcross5