Meet the new boss, same as the old boss: Iraq running secret prison again?

Nothing in Iraq happens without the approval of Al-Maliki. Nothing. So when the Human Rights Watch group and a Los Angeles Times writeup both accuse the military of either running secret prisons and/or of torture, Maliki is also complicit in these charges. FromJurist:

Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] on Tuesday accused military officials [HRW report] overseen by Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki[BBC profile; JURISTnews archive] of running a secret jail in Iraq that is not subject to inspection by international groups and torturing suspects [JURIST news archive] in another detention center. The report claims that the Iraqi Army’s 56th Brigade controls the secret prison located in Camp Justice, and that Iraqi authorities ordered 280 detainees transferred there from Camp Honor in November 2010 days before international inspectors were to visit Camp Honor. The HRW report found that the 56th Brigade tortured suspects at Camp Honor, echoing a Los Angeles Times report [text] from last week. The Times found that the Camp Honor jail is run by the 56th Brigade rather than the Ministry of Justice, that prisoners face inhumane conditions, are held indefinitely and are often denied access to family members and lawyers. According to the HRW report, personnel in the overcrowded Camp Honor extracted confessions from suspected terrorists by beating them, suffocating them and making threats against their families. Deputy Justice Minister Buso Ibrahim denied the Times report [AFP report] last week, claiming that inmates can communicate with lawyers and family members and that they do not face torture or inhumane conditions. Ibrahim claimed the International Committee of the Red Cross [advocacy website] had visited Camp Honor, but the ICRC denied this, saying that it canceled the planned visit because the Iraqi government wanted to restrict its ability to talk to prisoners. Deputy Middle East director at HRW Joe Stark commented, “Revelations of secret jails in the heart of Baghdad completely undermine the Iraqi government’s promises to respect the rule of law. The government needs to close these places or move them under control of the justice system, improve conditions for detainees, and make sure that anyone responsible for torture is punished.”

In October, UN High Commissioner for Civil Rights Navi Pillay [official profile] called for the US and Iraq toinvestigate and prosecute [JURIST report] those responsible for alleged abuses that came to light afterWikiLeaks [website] released documents showing extensive human rights abuses in Iraq and accusing US forces of turning prisoners over to Iraqi forces despite knowing those prisoners were likely to face torture. Days earlier, HRW called for the Iraqi and US governments to launch an investigation [JURIST report] and prosecute those responsible for alleged detainee abuse. The group said the WikiLeaks reports detail the US military’s failure to prevent abuses, including beatings, burnings and lashings, of Iraqi detainees at the hands of their captors. In September, Amnesty International (AI) [advocacy website] accused the Iraqi government [JURIST report] of illegally detaining over 30,000 people and torturing many of them. Last April, HRW accused Iraqi authorities of torturing detainees [JURIST report] in another secret prison.

Nothing will ever change in Iraq it seems. There have been centuries of hate and overthrowing empires. What is pathetic however is that we, via Bush43,  have put in power another group that is no different than the one we deposed. Obama seems to be turning a blind eye to this and I can only hope that changes…soon.

The Iraq war is over? Nigga please!!!

Yes I used the 'N' word, as a brown bitch I feel I can do that and fuck anyone that says different...and Obama used a lot of words that were bullshit in a bucket tonight during his prime time speechifying on the...cough..War in Iraq. From Obama and his minions I get this horseshit tonight:

As Operation Iraqi Freedom ends, our commitment to a sovereign, stable, and self-reliant Iraq continues. Under Operation New Dawn, a transitional force of U.S. troops will remain to advise and assist Iraqi forces, protect our civilians on the ground, and pursue targeted counterterrorism efforts.

There is NO democracy in Iraq, they are NOT civil, stable or self-fucking-reliant...civil war will break out sooner than later...Maliki was not elected yet he runs the country. What other realities do you need to know to realize that Obama didn't do much of anything but continue the Bush43 Bullshit.From Obama's speech, via McClatchy:

As we do, I’m mindful that the Iraq war has been a contentious issue at home. Here, too, it’s time to turn the page. This afternoon, I spoke to former President George W. Bush. It’s well known that he and I disagreed about the war from its outset. Yet no one can doubt President Bush’s support for our troops, or his love of country and commitment to our security. As I’ve said, there were patriots who supported this war, and patriots who opposed it. And all of us are united in appreciation for our servicemen and women, and our hopes for Iraqis’ future.

Obama praised Bush43...are you friggin kidding me? Bush43 and his henchman used 935 lies to drag us into Iraq. The Big O made a huge speechifying moment over pulling out around 100,000 soldiers but still leaving 50,000 of our citizens behind. The Big O never said anything about 'winning' the war in Iraq...because anyone with two brain cells to rub together knows there was no reason to enter and decimate Iraq...other than they had a nasty-ass dictator that had dissed Bush the First.

So yes...berate me for using the 'n' word on The Big O...fuck him and fuck his warmongering agenda...bastard ain't no better than Bush the Second...and that's a fucking fact jack. Tonight he was nothing more than a jive ass....well...you know..But wtf will you do about the lies and fuckery spewed by our President and his administration tonight during a prime time address..or the former Pres and his administration of assholes that perpetuated this horseshit on us and the people of Iraq?


Those fuckers 'leading' Iraq never met any benchmarks...none. That was all bullshit too. 

Richard Engel on what now for Iraq, from Rachel's show tonight.

Is it over? Biden in Baghdad to celebrate w/Maliki and Company

Joe Biden is celebrating with the so-called government of Iraq today, commemorating the end of our ..cough..military mission there. From the CNN link:

Vice President Joe Biden arrived in Iraq on Monday to participate in a ceremony marking the end of the U.S. combat mission there, according to the White House.

While in the country, Biden will meet with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, President Jalal Talabani, Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi, Vice President Adil Abd al-Mahdi and other political leaders "to discuss the latest developments in Iraq and to urge Iraqi leaders to conclude negotiations on the formation of a new government," the White House said in a written statement.

The United States' official combat mission in Iraq is scheduled to conclude on Tuesday. Roughly 50,000 troops, however, will remain in the country until the end of 2011. Their mission will be to will train, assist and advise the Iraqis.

I don't know about anyone else, but keeping 50k worth of our blood and treasure,in the form of soldiers, and the constant bombings in the Green Zone and the rest of the country there doesn't signal an end to shit for me. The Obama administration acts like it's all said and done...far from it boys and girls. Did the government of Iraq suddenly meet all those friggin benchmarks? Yeah right..From the NYT link:

Insurgents affiliated with Al Qaeda in Iraq  claimed responsibility on Saturday for a wave of car bombings, roadside mines and hit-and-run attacks this week in at least 13 Iraqi cities and towns, a deadly and relentless campaign whose breadth surprised American military officials and dealt a blow to Iraq’s fledgling security forces.

At least 56 people were killed in the attacks, in which insurgents deployed more than a dozen car bombs. Two of the assaults wrecked police stations in Baghdad and Kut, a city southeast of the capital, though American and Iraqi officials said measures taken by the security forces had prevented the attacks from inflicting an even higher toll.

Gee, I just can't wait for his speechifying tomorrow night on this issue. How bout you?

Thousands of Iraqi's protest against US agreement

We sure as hell don't like it either. From Reuters:

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Followers of Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr marched on Friday against a pact letting U.S. forces stay in Iraq until 2011, toppling an effigy of President George W. Bush where U.S. troops once tore down a statue of Saddam Hussein.

Thousands of demonstrators chanted and waved Iraqi flags in Baghdad's Firdos square, where U.S. forces pulled down a statue of the ousted Iraqi dictator when they took the city in 2003.

Leave them to their own bullshit. Let them kill each other. Just get our troops the hell out of there NOW mutha fuckas. Al-Sadr is a power-hungry bag o' batshit, just like Maliki. They deserve each other.

Photos from Reuters.

SOFA-Status of Forces Agreement-approved by Iraq cabinet.

The SOFA was approved in an emergency session. The cough...agreement calls for U.S. forces to leave Iraqi cities by June 30 and combat troops to be gone by the end of 2011, unless the Iraqi government asks them to stay. Issues included the schedule for troop withdrawal, provisions for Iraqi legal jurisdiction over U.S. personnel and control over military operations.

An integral part of the agreement was the ability of Iraqi courts to go after American forces for crimes. From Jurist:

In particular, it gives Iraqi courts limited jurisdiction over American military personnel for crimes committed off base when the troops are not on an authorized mission. The SOFA must now go before the Iraq parliament for a final vote. AP has more. BBC News has additional coverage.

Last week, Iraqi Sunni Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi , one of two Iraqi vice presidents, called for a national referendum on any proposed SOFA. The agreement has been delayed by months of negotiation, and must still be approved by lawmakers in both countries.

Too bad they don't have real democracy which allows the citizens to decide this important matter..so really, this SOFA isn’t a real comfy place to lay your head and relax…not by a longshot.

There is, to paraphrase DCup, an icky personal post over here.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Zebari: US must provide a "very clear timeline" to withdraw its troops from Iraq

I don't know how much clearer BushCo and John McCain need to hear this from the Iraq Government. From the Yahoo article:

In an interview with Reuters, Zebari said the agreement, including the timeline, was "very close" and would probably be presented to the Iraqi parliament in early September.

Asked if Iraq would accept a document that did not include dates for a withdrawal, Zebari said: "No, no. Definitely there has to be a very clear timeline."

BushCo is still pushing for immunity for US troops with regard to Iraqi Law prosecutions, which is going over like the proverbial lead balloon. Also being pushed by BushCo: the amount of power the American military will have to detain Iraqi citizens, and their authority to conduct military operations.

Frankly, I don't care what excuses or rationale are used...I want our troops home NOW.

Artwork by the wonderfully talented Mark Bryan.

Former Bush supporter bites the hand that fed him.

He was known as "Bush's Puppet", but now former Iraq Prime Minister Dr. Ayad Allawi is marching to a different drummer: From Truth Out:

Dr. Ayad Allawi, the former interim Iraqi prime minister previously referred to even by US Congress members as a "Bush puppet," voiced his strong support for a US withdrawal timeline during a Wednesday Congressional hearing.

During his term in office, from June 2004 to April 2005, Allawi endorsed the US's controversial bombings of Fallujah and echoed Bush's speeches almost word for word in many of his own statements; The Washington Post reported that Bush administration officials coached Allawi on the content of his public comments. Prior to his involvement in the US-backed, post-invasion Iraqi government, Allawi worked with the CIA.

Bush doesn't support his puppets once he no longer needs them. When they tossed Allawi aside it showed there really isn't any honor among thieves..Again from TO:

Yet, on Wednesday, Allawi blatantly called for "a time frame for reduction of US forces," a statement that stands in stark contrast to the hazy, deadline-less "time horizon" recently advocated by President Bush. Allawi stressed that the Iraqi people's wishes should take precedence in any agreement on the future of the American presence in Iraq.

"Most importantly, [the security agreement] should be transparent and get the approval of the Iraqi Parliament and people," he testified.

Damn skippy the Iraqi people should ratify it! No more secrecy..more sunlight please!! Allawi speaks out about how the current Iraqi government and BushCo have built the Iraqi economy so that it favors American interests. Its a good read..please check it out. Of course some folks will call Allawi a disgruntled former employee of BushCo, but to me, his thoughts are spot-on, and he speaks truth to power through the entire TO article.

For a good laugh, go check out Karen Zipdrives new snark-filled post entitled: The Secret Diary of Nuri al-Maliki.That woman can make me laugh so hard I almost fell outta my chair.

Grandpa knows best...

Weathervane McCain seems to think he knows what is best for Iraq..not Maliki. Amazingly enough, some folks will buy this bullshittery.

Iraq doesn't like our offer..go figure.

The US and Iraq have been in ‘negotiations’ for awhile now over a permanent..cough..pact. A pact that will govern how and what we are allowed to do within Iraq’s borders. No matter what Bush says, Iraq is a soveriegn nation, right? Yes, we saved them from themselves and brought democracy to all the citizens of Iraq and yet, they have the audacity to bitch and piss and moan that we are pushing them around. The nerve! (snark) From Reuters:

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said on Friday talks with the United States on a long-term security pact were at a stalemate because of U.S. demands that encroached on Iraq’s sovereignty.

The United States and Iraq are negotiating a new security deal to provide a legal basis for U.S. troops to stay in Iraq after December 31, when their United Nations mandate expires, as well as a separate long-term agreement on political, economic and security ties between the two countries.

Some folks in the Iraqi government have gone so far as to say…wtf dudes? We don’t need your stinking bases and thousands of troops! The wingnut Al-Sadr hasn’t been quiet either on this issue. Flapping his gums so to speak, via a letter, to the great unwashed masses he said this, via CNN:

“the resistance will be exclusively conducted by only one group. This new group will be defined soon by me.”

Sigh…Al-Sadr didn’t stop there of course. He had to bring up the “M” word a few times as well:

“We will not stop resisting the occupation until liberation or martyrdom.”

One of the reasons the deaths in Iraq have dropped is because Al-Sadr’s army is in a ceasefire mode. Bush or Petraeus conveniently forget to mention this when they are bragging about how low the death count has been lately. Johnny McCain doesn’t either. Imagine that.

The Iraqi government is threatening to pull out of the talks and write their own ‘take it or leave it’ pact for the American occupiers. BushCo mouthpieces whine that Iraq is circumventing the whole process by taking their gripes public. Seems the Iraq government just doesn’t cotton to us as the ‘great liberators’. Could this be because we want to build roughly 50 permanent bases in their country, control their airspace and legal immunity for all American soldiers and contractors?

Nah, that can’t be whats pissing them off..cough. Oh Hell No!

Artwork by The Worried Shrimp. Crossposted at Bring It On!

Brzezinski's WaPo OpEd

He is known as a realist. To that end, his OpEd today in the Washington Post is interesting and well written. He seems to agree that we must end our occupation of Iraq, but there are of course inherent consequences to that action no matter when we get the fuck outta there. Some choice quotes I latched onto:

The contrast between the Democratic argument for ending the war and the Republican argument for continuing is sharp and dramatic. The case for terminating the war is based on its prohibitive and tangible costs, while the case for "staying the course" draws heavily on shadowy fears of the unknown and relies on worst-case scenarios. President Bush's and Sen. John McCain's forecasts of regional catastrophe are quite reminiscent of the predictions of "falling dominoes" that were used to justify continued U.S. involvement in Vietnam. Neither has provided any real evidence that ending the war would mean disaster, but their fear-mongering makes prolonging it easier. (Emphasis mine)

And then there is this:

Contrary to Republican claims that our departure will mean calamity, a sensibly conducted disengagement will actually make Iraq more stable over the long term. The impasse in Shiite-Sunni relations is in large part the sour byproduct of the destructive U.S. occupation, which breeds Iraqi dependency even as it shatters Iraqi society. In this context, so highly reminiscent of the British colonial era, the longer we stay in Iraq, the less incentive various contending groups will have to compromise and the more reason simply to sit back. A serious dialogue with the Iraqi leaders about the forthcoming U.S. disengagement would shake them out of their stupor.

He ends with this:

We started this war rashly, but we must end our involvement responsibly. And end it we must. The alternative is a fear-driven policy paralysis that perpetuates the war -- to America's historic detriment.

I still say..we will have substantial amounts of troops there five years from now. What say you m'dear reader?

And from our WTF dept...

Did he really say that? Is the man out there? Krazy Karl had the nads to espouse the following:

Karl Rove claimed that he was "opposed" to holding the pre-war Iraq vote just ahead of the 2002 elections. "The administration was opposed to voting on it in the fall of 2002," Rove said. He stated that his upcoming book will argue that the administration did not want to schedule an Iraq war vote prior
to the 2002 elections:

ROSE: But you were opposed to the vote.

ROVE: It happened. We don't determine when the Congress vote on things. The Congress does.

ROSE: You wish it hadn't happened at that time. You would have preferred it did not happen at that time.

ROVE: That's right.

Oh holy shit..my dear reader..if you don't believe that..watch him say it..again:



Even Daschle said Krazy Karl is nucking futs..and..trying to sell some books..perhaps they aren't going over so well?

Iraq, Iran..same propaganda right?

From the folks at Americans Against Escalation in Iraq we get this little number from MSNBC:



Same bullshit, just a different country folks..BushCo just recycles their propaganda..amazing.

Tags: Iran, Iran propaganda,

The "Daily Show" actually goes to Iraq.

The show does a faux Iraq piece but this one, from TruthDig is real apparently. Monday the reports, which were made while a small group from the show appeared in Iraq with a USO comedy tour, start running. From TruthDig's writeup:

Beginning Monday, "The Daily Show" will air a series of reports from Iraq—the real Iraq—taped during a USO outing by "senior military analyst" and former decorated Marine Maj. Rob Riggle. Along with a field producer and writer for the show, Riggle ditched the green screen for a five-day stint titled "Operation Silent Thunder: The Daily Show in Iraq."

Must see tv!

Tags: The Daily Show, Rob Riggle

The votes are in and counted in Turkey.

The ruling Party, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Justice and Development Party maintained control but lost 10 seats in the Parlement. Erdogan is a heavy-duty Muslim. At a rally today he said, per AP:

"We will never make concessions over the values of people, the basic principles of our republic. This is our promise. We will embrace Turkey as a whole without discriminating," he said at a rally in the capital Ankara."--Erdogan, a devout Muslim, told supporters in his victory speech that he would preserve pluralistic democracy and work for national unity.

I haven't formulated thoughts on how this affects the current situation in the Middle East. But I know it will affect it somehow, it's inevitable. Turkey is a different type of Muslim Democratic structure.

It's a whole different animal my dear reader. The TimesOnline has this pov:

The election will determine the nature of Turkish democracy, the identity of the Turkish state and whether a restless younger generation is prepared to defy the threats of a conservative military Establishment to launch the fifth coup since 1960.

The Guardian had this to say:

The election was called early to defuse a showdown with the military-backed, secular establishment, which contended that Erdogan and his allies were plotting to scrap Turkey's secular traditions despite their openness to the West.

Erdogan raised concern with his efforts as prime minister to make adultery a crime and appoint former Islamists to key positions. Critics were also troubled by his calls for the lifting of restrictions on the wearing of Islamic headscarves

.

I just know it isn't going to be simple..and it will affect the Kurds and Iraq in general. Turkey is considering whether to stage an offensive into northern Iraq against separatist Kurdish rebels who rest, train and resupply at bases there.

Sigh....

Tags: Turkey elections, Iraq, Kurds, secular government

Crossposted at Sirens Chronicles

Presenting Hometown Baghdad

A series of videos on Salon.com bring us into the lives of three young residents of Baghdad. The videos were filmed over the course of a year. This isn't something you can see on the evening news or in documentary form my dear reader, except on the website for the producer or their YouTube site.

Let me tell you what broke my heart. One of the young men, Saif, in the second video, just graduated from college as a Dentist. Yet he states he would be willing to work at a gas station anywhere else in the world than stay in Baghdad. These are short video's 2-3 minutes in length. I urge everyone to watch them. It shows how these kids are really no different than our own young people..the same wants and desires out of life. They even have created their own band, which made me smile inspite of their pain and suffering. The difference is the "symphony of bullets" and death that they live with daily. The video below is one of the series, just to pique your interest.




The following is Salon's brief description of the set of videos:

What we immediately found absorbing in "Hometown Baghdad" is not the fear, confusion or carnage we've grown to expect from documentary reports out of Iraq. It's the three men central to this series -- Adel, Ausama and Saif -- whose lives we see unfold in short, telling vignettes. We see them eat dinner and go to school, watch them go swimming and practice in their rock band. But in a war-torn, religiously divided city, even these simple actions are fraught.

On the fourth anniversary of our invasion of Iraq, when many of us have become hopelessly inured to reports of yet another bombing, the simple struggles of regular people take on a greater, more chilling power; we watch a way of life deteriorate before our eyes, and come to recognize the horrors of war in a way that the bold headlines or CNN news alerts no longer convey. We think you'll find them compelling and thought-provoking, and hope you'll write in to the Letters section to tell us what you think.

McCain sees progress in Iraq

Right..and I see my deceased dog in my dreams occasionally. Is this man friggin nuts?

This past week saw more dead Iraqi's than any time in the last year. Even this article quotes an Iraqi spokesman saying something different contrary:

An Iraqi military spokesman said, meanwhile, that militants fleeing the crackdown have made areas outside the capital "breeding grounds for violence," spreading deadly bombings and sectarian attacks to areas once relatively untouched.

So how does Johnny see progress if we are merely moving the insurgents into otherwise calm and non-violent areas?

Fuck, I am so tired of the rhetoric. This delusional fuckwit is borrowing a page from the Shrub's playbook. Keep saying it, and folks will eventually buy it.

Except they don't any longer..they been down this road lots of times in the last 4 years.

The deal is that a covey of Repubes went over to Iraq to see what's up. That idiot Lindsey Graham had this to say:

"It will be a huge mistake to set a deadline. It (the U.S. troop surge) is working. We are doing now what we should have done three years ago. ... The Iraqi people want their own destiny but they don't have the capabilities yet," he said.--Oh yeah its working..people who were living fairly civil lives are now getting to experience what the folks in Baghdad have dealt with for a couple of years now.

And thats success. Oh fuck yeah..sure..and I got a bridge I would like to sell ya boys.

Hightower,Iraq and Oil

Let the pissing contest begin!

The Senate Republican's said screw it..they let the Iraq Funding Bill go through without a filibuster. Either they are tired of supporting BushCo or they are thinking of their home districts and how they will explain that they keep propping up the President even after the majority of the people have spoken. From an MSNBC writeup:

WASHINGTON - Defying a veto threat, the Democratic-controlled Senate narrowly signaled support Tuesday for the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from Iraq by next March.

Republican attempts to scuttle the non-binding timeline failed on a vote of 50-48, largely along party lines. The roll call marked the Senate’s most forceful challenge to date of the administration’s handling of a war that has claimed the lives of more than 3,200 U.S. troops.

Three months after Democrats took power in Congress, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said the moment was at hand to “send a message to President Bush that the time has come to find a new way forward in this intractable war.”

The Prez will of course veto and piss and moan and threaten the Democrats. They need to send him the same damn bill every week until he figures it out. Thats my story and I am sticking to it.

Words to live by: I'D RATHER HAVE A PRESIDENT WHO SCREWED HIS INTERN THAN ONE WHO SCREWED HIS COUNTRY

Tags: Politics, Bush, Iraq War spending, Bureaucratic Bullshit

Global protests around the world yesterday

The following photo essay, set to Neil Young’s Impeach the President” shows quite a few of the International Protests held in support of the March on the Pentagon Saturday. I also included some pics at the end of the Pentagon march and the one in L.A. that I attended. 40 years ago hundreds of thousands marched on the Pentagon. Yesterday..hundreds of thousands marched around the world for the same reason yesterday..just a different, fucked-up war.



Tags: Politics, Protests, Marches, Antiwar Protests, Antiwar Marches, Iraq

Depleted Uranium-The gift that keeps on giving.

When it comes to supporting our troops and veterans, there are many bloggers who walk the walk as they talk their talk. Charlie, Tammara and REB 84 are three who I have the pleasure of knowing, if only on the ‘internets’ through emails and their blogs. These are individuals that spend much of their lives educating the public and our elected officials about the human cost of the wars our country wages. Tony Snow might call dead soldiers ‘just a number’ and Bush may call them ‘a comma’ , but I choose to believe that most people inherently care about the human cost of war and human suffering. I might be deluded and god knows that is entirely possible, but I just couldn’t go through life thinking people are cold, calculating, unfeeling individuals by nature. If I wanted to feel that way, I would watch the local TV News.

No, uncaring and warmongering are learned emotions and responses. Unless of course you happen to be Dick Cheney, but I digress.

Tammara and the two gents I named have raised my awareness of DU-Depleted Uranium. It’s something our military has labeled a ‘necessary evil.’

Well, Depleted Uranium is outright fucking evil if you listen to scientists who know what this nasty shit really does. The United States government sent Dr. Doug Rokke to the Middle East during and after the first Gulf War. He was sent to investigate the effects and amounts of DU left there by our military.

Upon returning home, Dr. Rokke became sick from the very substance he was sent to investigate. He was put on 40% disability due to his hazardous service. His reward, our government keeps putting him back into action checking the latest DU rounds are troops are exploding all over Iraq. At least he is supporting our troops. The problem is, he submits his reports and the federal government does nothing with them.

Doug Rokke now lectures on Depleted Uranium and its tragic effects, one of which is available here as a podcast to download. The podcast is a lecture from last year. His lecture is very blunt. Dr. Rokke doesn’t mince words. He says that war’s objective is to kill, and that DU weapons are the cream of the ever-lovin crop…he doesn’t deny that fact. What he tells us is…DU is the “gift that keeps on giving”….years and decades after the War is won or lost, casualties continue to mount up long after the tanks have left and the soldiers are back home…safe in their own beds.

By the way, the only way to remove the hazards of DU is to totally encase the ‘thing’ blown up and the surrounding topsoil. To wrap it up like a ‘huge hershey’s kiss’. Then you dig down 6 inches at least and remove the topsoil for roughly 1000 feet around. It’s a process the military isn’t willing to do. Seriously, they removed 25 blown up vehicles from the Gulf War I…shipped them back to the states…and it took them 3 years to figure out how to totally destroy the vehicles and remove all trace of DU.

What did our government do after this? They decided not to do THAT again. It is too expensive and too messy to think about, or deal with. How does our government plan to deal with the health problems of the Iraqi citizen’s that have been exposed to DU in Iraq? I mean, think about it..we used those ‘bunker busters’ in the cities.

Officially, the US Government does not recognize overexposure to Depleted Uranium as a medical illness. They won’t treat our men for it…because basically they say it doesn’t exist. Its not on the books, sorry…come back later after you have developed cancer or another of the side effects of DU overexposure.

We have left a toxic wasteland all over the world. DU has been used in one form or another since the 40’s. The level of use during the 1st Gulf War was the highest…before the current one anyway…

Dr. Michael Kilpatrick is the medical man for the military. This guy is the one who states overexposure to Depleted Uranium isn’t on the books, therefore it must not exist. It would be prudent to note that US Military does have a training film about exposure to DU. The problem is, much of the equipment issued to deal with an instance of exposure to DU is faulty. It is old. It is outdated, like so much of the equipment we sent our soldiers off to this war with. Most of the time, our soldiers are exposed to DU without their knowledge. Many have actually picked up pieces of contaminated, melted equipment and fashioned jewelry and other memorabilia out of it.

There are hundreds of miles of blown-up-shit all over Iraq. The Depleted Uranium won’t go away and neither will the costs of dealing with its victims. The military’s healthcare budget is off the charts. It’s going to get a lot worse before it gets any better. But cutting corners on this issue and burying our head in the sand is fuckwittery at its worst my dear reader. If they governments makes our troops use these weapons of mass destruction, they have the obligation to take care of them when they get sick.

Truth is hard to find if it’s not on the books, and it just wouldn’t do, to tell on yourself if you’re the U.S. military. But the following statistics from the VA tell us part of the story:

“At the completion of the Gulf War, when we came back to the United States in the fall of 1991, we had a total casualty count of 760: 294 dead, a little over 400 wounded or ill. But the casualty rate now for Gulf War veterans is approximately 30 percent. Of those stationed in the theater, including after the conflict, 221,000 have been awarded disability, according to a Veterans Affairs (VA) report issued September 10, 2002.”

It is not that complicated. It isn’t friggin rocket science. If you were/are in the military in Iraq and breathed in the desert air, you were breathing in radioactive bullshit, especially in the combat theatre. The question about your health is how often and for how long you were exposed. The great your exposure, the more likely DU will take lasting effects on a your body. The government however…does not even care enough to publish the findings of Dr. Doug Rokke and other experts. This problem is not a question for either the republicans or democrats. They both share the blame. All administrations, including both the Bush administrations have been complicit in hiding the problems and illnesses associated with Depleted Uranium by refusing to admit they exist in any appreciable numbers.

Ain’t that a shitty way to support the troops?

If your interested in learning more, please visit GulfWarVets and APFN

Tags: Politics, Depleted Uranium, Gulf War, Veterans Administration, Doug Rokke, Michael Kilpatrick

Crossposted at TheBlueRepublic, Progressive Blogwire, Question It Now and Bring it On!