The presence of British and US troops in Iraq is fuelling the Sunni-led insurgency which has killed hundreds of people, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said in comments published on Tuesday.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/080205Z.shtml

A US soldier holidaying in Ireland speaks candidly about the war in Iraq and says bases his country are building there are permanent...

http://snipurl.com/gn9d


From Information Clearing House

By Matthew D. LaPlante

He had witnessed a soldier shoot a 14-year-old boy in the back during a raid - as the boy was running away. That matter, he claimed, was never thoroughly investigated.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9629.htm

How did Tony Blair, George Bush and Malcolm Fraser of Australia not understand the primeval wickedness they had let loose in Iraq? The answer was simple.

http://www.blackcommentator.com/125/125_blonds.html


From Information Clearing House

The issue of permanent bases cuts to the heart of not only how long we intend to stay in Iraq, but why we got there in the first place.

http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/23755/


From Information Clearing House

Al-Qaeda expert:

"Like Afghanistan produced the last generation of terrorists, Iraq will produce the next generation," he said.

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=17213
http://snipurl.com/gmlg


From Information Clearing House

WorldNetDaily
by Pat Buchanan

08/01/05

Is America preparing to pull out of Iraq without victory? Are we ready to leave that war-ravaged land without any assurance a free, democratic, pro-Western Iraq will survive? Is President Bush willing to settle for less than we all thought? So it would seem. For it is difficult to draw any other conclusion from the just-completed Rumsfeld mission...

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=45545


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

Toronto Sun
by Eric Margolis

07/31/05

Is there light at the end of the Iraq tunnel? This week, U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. George Casey, told reporters 'fairly substantial' U.S. troop withdrawals could begin next spring. The Bush administration has read America's political tea leaves: It sees mounting domestic opposition to what is increasingly seen as a failed war. Republicans worry the debacle in Iraq and rising U.S. casualties may hurt them severely in the 2008 elections. ... The Pentagon's strategic plan for Iraq calls for four major air bases from which U.S. mobile, rapid-reaction units and air power will permanently control Iraq and the entire oil-rich Mideast. Imperial Britain once followed the same strategy in Iraq. ... Under present circumstances, U.S. efforts to get Iraqis to fight and die to defend the U.S.-run Baghdad regime will be even less successful than was 'Vietnamization' in the 1970s. In fact, Iraqi regime forces appear to be falling apart faster than they can be mobilized. Iraqization shows no sign of working. This means U.S. forces will have to remain indefinitely in Iraq to prop up the isolated, embattled pro-American regime -- just what's happening in that other failed war in Afghanistan...

http://torontosun.canoe.ca/News/Columnists/Margolis_Eric/2005/07/31/1154103.html


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp