The head of Iraq's largest Christian community denounced American evangelical missionaries in his country on Thursday for what he said were attempts to convert poor Muslims by flashing money and smart cars.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L19124772.htm


From Information Clearing House

In the belly of the beast

Mr Galloway, please accept from this American three cheers for a job well done.

Scott Ritter

In the recent parliamentary elections, the British people, given the choice between standing for the rule of law or embracing partisan politics, chose the latter, voting with their pocketbooks, even though it meant re-electing a man who led Britain into an illegal war of aggression, based on lies and misrepresentation of fact.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article8907.htm


http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=Galloway

During the May 19, 2005 hearing on the serious problems facing returning war veterans, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) reported more than 85,000 Iraq War and Afghanistan War veterans have already sought medical care from VA.

Out of the 360,000 discharged veterans from Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), nearly one in four had already visited VA for physical injuries or mental health counseling by February 2005. This number far exceeds the 12,000 wounded reported by the Department of Defense (DoD).

http://www.defenselink.mil/news/casualty.pdf

The count of veterans reporting medical problems was buried on page 10 of the prepared statement submitted today by VA’s John Brown, Director, Seamless Transition Office, before the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs. However, Brown didn’t share the statistic during his oral testimony. For a copy of the testimony, please go to:

http://veterans.house.gov/hearings/schedule109/may05/5-19-05/jbrown.html

Citizens, elected officials, and reporters should be asking the tough questions: Now that VA confirms more than 85,000 OIF and OEF veterans have sought VA healthcare, VA should tell the people and Congress how much this costs taxpayers each year. Reporters should also ask how many recent war veterans have filed VA disability claims and how much that will cost taxpayers each year. Reporters should also ask how much VA paid out in life insurance payments to surviving spouses, children, and parents for the more than 1,800 service members who have died in either OEF or OIF.

The bottom line is that the consequences of the current wars appear far larger than DoD reports. More veterans have medical problems, and many of those problems will adversely impact those veterans for the rest of their lives. However, the U.S. Senate voted against providing VA with any additional funding to care for recent war veterans.

http://www.marinetimes.com/story.php?f=1-292925-782283.php

Please ask your Congressional representatives to take action today to ensure veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan get the medical care they have earned.

Click here to take action today.
http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/index.cfm?MemberID=0&Page=Campaign&CampaignID=9

Iraq War Update: Have we become our own worst enemy?

Knight-Ridder newspapers reported this week on the recently concluded offensive in Qaim on the Syrian border. On one note, there was a positive development. When the local villages and towns were overtaken by foreign jihadists and insurgents, the Sunni tribesmen in the area fought to evict them. Though not sympathetic with the U.S. occupation or the new Iraqi government, the leaders in this region of Iraq were sick of their homes being used for ongoing violence. Consequently, they approached the Iraqi defense ministry and the U.S. military for help.

The result: Operation Matador, an U.S. marine offensive which netted over one hundred killed insurgents and nine U.S. killed-in-action. The operation also resulted in the destruction of much of the town of Qaim, and an unknown number of civilian casualties.

In short, the leadership of U.S. forces in Iraq, faced with the opportunity to provide security for local villagers who desperately needed help, instead have created yet another pool of rage and despair in Iraq, and yet another recruiting opportunity for the growing Iraqi insurgency.

As long as counter-insurgency operations take priority over protecting civilians, the war in Iraq will continue to get worse.

http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/index.cfm?Page=Article&ID=3262

Press Release

‘An insult to those who gave their lives for their country’

Prime Minister, Tony Blair, has rejected the demand for a full public inquiry into the Iraq war. Sixteen families of British servicemen killed in Iraq haveS called on the Prime Minister to open a full investigation into the background and legality to the war. The families consider that there are serious questions for the government to answer. They believe that their husbands and sons were sent to war on the basis of lies and deception.

Moreover in the rejection of their legitimate request for an inquiry the Prime Minister has added insult to injury.

The Prime Minister’s lawyers have written the following to the families:

‘the decision to take military action in Iraq was in no sense the immediate and direct operative cause of the deaths of the claimants’ relatives. Those servicemen regrettably lost their lives due to a variety of circumstances – a road traffic accident in Kuwait and a US helicopter crash to a gun attack and improvised explosive device attack. The legality of the decision to take military action in Iraq has no bearing on the circumstances which led to their deaths’.

These weasel words drew the following comments from the families today:

Ann Lawrence, whose son Marc was killed when two helicopters collided at sea, said ‘I’m sure that Tom Keys and Marc Lawrence wouldn’t have been in a million miles of Iraq had Mr Blair not sent them there. They had a Queen’s commission and were duty bound to take orders.’

Peter Brierley whose son Shaun was killed in a road traffic accident said:

‘My son often went out on Sunday afternoon drives and Kuwait was one of the destinations he used to go to which is as ridiculous as suggesting the decision to go to war and the accident were not connected. All the wriggling that Tony Blair is doing to try and get out of this has probably been the cause of his slipped disc. We will pursue the case for a public inquiry through all avenues.’

Rose Gentle whose son Gordon was killed by a roadside bomb in Basra said:’ the question of the legality of the war is very important to me and my family. We all need to know whether the army was sent to Iraq on a proper basis. This letter is an insult to those who gave their lives for their country.’

The families are now determined to pursue their demand for a full public inquiry and have launched a national petition and are calling on MPs and others to join with them in a campaign to reverse this dishonourable decision.


Andrew Burgin 07939 242229 / Chris Nineham 07930 536 519

Does the current Administration really support our troops? -- The proposed funding level for veterans medical care is "a cruel pretense and an outrage," according to the Disabled American Veterans (DAV).

http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/?Page=Article&ID=3285

Because more soldiers in Iraq are surviving severe brain injury, doctors are witnessing a potentially long-lasting set of medical and mental problems unique to participants in modern-day war.

http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/?Page=Article&ID=3283

Ironically, the country used to produce more than enough to meet its needs before the US-led invasion in March 2003, Dathar al-Khashab, manager of the flagship Dura refinery on the southern outskirts of Baghdad, said.

http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=13556


From Information Clearing House

Indifference toward accountability in spending Iraqi money was common among American officials last year as they rushed to sign contracts in the waning days of U.S. control of Iraq, according to interviews and documents obtained by the Los Angeles Times.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article8901.htm