The lawyer for nine Iraqi men who claim they were tortured by British soldiers has revealed further allegations of abuse.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9034.htm

Looking this war in the face proves difficult when the press itself won't even put in an appearance.

Baghdad E.R. doctors examine a child who was fatally wounded in an aerial bombing attack.

Photo: David Leeson/The Dallas Morning News

"History," Hegel said, "is a slaughterhouse." And war is how the slaughter is carried out.

If we believe that the present war in Iraq is just and necessary, why do we shrink from looking at the damage it wreaks? Why does the government that ordered the war and hails it as an instrument of good then ask us to respect those who died in the cause by not describing and depicting how they died? And why, in response, have newspapers gone along with Washington and grown timid about showing photos of the killing and maiming? What kind of honor does this bestow on those who are sent to fight in the nation's name?

The Iraq war inspires these questions.

http://villagevoice.com/news/0520,schanberg,64027,6.html


Informant: Charles Bremer

Experts say traumatic brain injury (TBI) has surfaced as the staple injury among American soldiers in the Iraq War. As the U.S. has recently reached the anniversary of its second year engaged in combat, soldiers are increasingly suffering from mild to severe TBI, usually as the result of an explosion and/or a military vehicle accident.

http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/?Page=Article&ID=3440

The U.S. military keeps a meticulous tally of its wounded -- 12,762 in Iraq as of Wednesday, along with 1,658 dead. Scenes of soldiers convalescing at well-equipped hospitals such as Washington's Walter Reed Army Medical Center are familiar symbols of the human cost of the war. But more than two years after the U.S.-led invasion, there is little available data on the far greater number of Iraqi civilians wounded in the invasion and subsequent violence related to the insurgency. And few of the victims' stories have been widely reported.

http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/?Page=Article&ID=3436

Without significant policy changes made by the Iraqi and U.S. governments, the transition of Iraq to a stable democracy faces increased risk of failure, according to a new report issued by Veterans for Common Sense, a nonpartisan veterans' organization with over 12,000 members who have served in every U.S. conflict since 1941.

http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/?Page=Article&ID=3433

Fifteen photos were distributed worldwide, along with a story, on Dec. 3. The photos appear to show servicemen in Iraq sitting on hooded and handcuffed detainees, as well as what look like bloodied prisoners, one with a gun to his head.

http://cbsnewyork.com/national/SEALsPhotos-Lawsuit-aa/resources_news_html


From Information Clearing House

A cowed and politicized military establishment, hailed as invincible just two years ago, marches steadily down a demoralizing but all-too-familiar path.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article8997.htm