« May 2006 | Main | July 2006 »
June 25, 2006
The Number of Legs, Again
Is there some rule that our ogre-terrorists must be one-legged?
If you hoped his June 7 death might be the end of the line for Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi, you really don't want to see the newest recruitment videos for the Taliban. ... The star is Mullah Dadullah Akhund, a one-legged guerrilla commander in southern Afghanistan who now seems bent on matching or exceeding Zarqawi's ugly reputation.
I know I seem to be light-hearted in these leg posts (oops, that one slipped by) but the deeper point is that no sooner was Zarqawi dead than the U.S. commanders were announcing his replacement -- and what a big-bad terrorist this new guy was. It almost seems like we need to personalize an ogre-terrorist as much as Al-Qaeda needs to have a flashy media person that's just as bad. So they choose to center and publicize a person who is actually one-legged, as Zarqawi had been rumored to be, and who, according to the rest of the article, beheads six people in the video. In other words, Dadullah is precisely following the Zarqawi script while making sure to outdo it just enough.
Posted by zeynep at 09:23 PM | Comments (4)
June 22, 2006
Can't Find a Gowad, Kill an Awad
A lawyer for a sailor charged along with seven Marines with premeditated murder in the shooting death of an Iraqi man called the allegations "shocking" and said his client was innocent."Believe me, there are two sides to this story," said Jeremiah Sullivan III, who represents Navy Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class Melson J. Bacos.
Bacos and seven Marines were charged Wednesday in the death of Hashim Ibrahim Awad, who was pulled from his home and shot while U.S. troops hunted for insurgents. They could face the death penalty if convicted.
All eight also were charged with kidnapping. Other charges include conspiracy, larceny and providing false official statements.
...
In another case, the U.S. military in Iraq announced that murder charges were filed against a fourth Army soldier in the shooting deaths May 9 of three civilians who had been detained by U.S. troops.
This is an important step, possibly undertaken because of the publicity surrounding the Haditha massacre. I found the prosecution's description of what happened illuminating:
According to the charging document, the troops were staking out an intersection to see whether anyone appeared to place explosives in holes along the road.When no one came, Magincalda, Thomas, Pennington and Bacos went into a nearby home, stole a shovel and an AK-47, and went looking for an insurgent named Saleh Gowad. When they couldn't find Gowad, they went into a house belonging to Awad and kidnapped him, prosecutors assert.
Magincalda, Thomas, Pennington and Bacos forced Awad to the ground and bound his feet, then took him to their hideout and placed him in a hole, according to the document.
Hutchins, Thomas and Shumate fired M-16 rifles at Awad while Jackson and Jodka fired M-249 automatic weapons, killing him, the document said.
Bacos then fired the AK-47 into the air to expend some shell casings, and Magincalda collected the casings and put them by the body, the paper said. Pennington cleaned prints off the AK-47 and put it in Awad's hands, it said.
Hutchins, the top-ranking Marine, told his men to make false statements and on April 28 submitted "a false written report regarding the factors and circumstances related to Awad's death," according to the document.
So, you see what happened. They had a stake-out that did not turn out anything. They had a name --who knows how obtained-- so they went after that. Mr. Gowad wasn't anywhere to be found, so they went after Mr. Awad. Gowad, Awad, whatever -- hey, we can always say it's the fog of war. After all, one hadji seems just like another after enough bullets. On goes the occupation...
Posted by zeynep at 07:40 AM | Comments (2)
June 20, 2006
Japan Declares Victory
Japan declares victory and pulls out:
"Today we have decided to withdraw Ground Self-Defense Forces from the Samawah region in Iraq," Koizumi said in a nationally televised news conference. "The humanitarian dispatch ... has achieved its mission." ... The operation constituted Japan's largest and most dangerous overseas military mission since the end of World War II. While concerns for the troops' safety were high, the region they were based in was relatively peaceful. As security deteriorated, they were largely confined to their base.
So, how is this"humanitarian misson accomplished while troops are confined to the base? Oh, wait! That means they weren't shooting at anyone. I guess that counts as humanitarian success by an occupying force in Iraq.
Posted by zeynep at 07:08 AM | Comments (0)
June 11, 2006
Asymmetric Warfare
Suicide by three men in Guantanamo, who have never seen a day in court, is warfare against us. Everything is warfare against us. We do nothing. We are victims of everything.
"This was clearly a planned event, not a spontaneous event," said Rear Adm. Harry Harris, commander of Joint Task Force-Guantanamo.He described the men, whose names were not released, as committed jihadists captured on the battlefield. "I believe this was not an act of desperation, rather an act of asymmetric warfare waged against us," Harris said.
"Asymmetrical warfare" is defined as "a conflict in which a much weaker opponent uses unorthodox or surprise tactics to attack the weak points of the much stronger opponent."
Harris added that there is a "mythical belief" that the Guantanamo detention center would be shut down if three detainees die.
...
Harris said Saturday that every prisoner at Guantanamo is considered "dangerous."
"They are smart. They are creative. They are committed. They have no regard for human life, neither ours nor their own," Harris said. "I believe this was not an act of desperation, but rather an act of asymmetrical warfare waged against us."
What's next, the Marines who killed shivering, cowering children at point-blank range in Haditha are going to claim that the children were engaged in warfare against us? I mean, can you imagine that they might say something like the "shootings were an unfortunate result of a sweep for enemies in a firefight"?
Posted by zeynep at 09:33 AM | Comments (2)
June 08, 2006
So, How Many Legs?
So, how many legs did Zarqawi have?
Zarqawi is often described as a one-legged Palestinian whose uncanny ability to avoid capture has led some people to doubt that he really exists. But according to Jordanian and European intelligence officials, he does exist and he has two legs.
I can't help wonder if al-Zarqawi would have been able to become such a large figure if Powell hadn't falsely pointed to him as the link between Saddam Hussein and Al-Qaeda in his infamous U.N. speech. At the time, it seems pretty clear, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was linked neither to Saddam Hussein nor to Al-Qaeda.
Posted by zeynep at 08:53 PM | Comments (1)
June 04, 2006
So, Where Were You During the Great Holocaust?
Slowed but unchecked, the epidemic's relentless march has established footholds in the world's most populous countries. Advances in medicine and prevention that have made the disease manageable in the developed world haven't reach the rest.In the worst case, sub-Saharan Africa, it has been devastating. And the next 25 years of AIDS promise to be deadlier than the first.
AIDS could kill 31 million people in India and 18 million in China by 2025, according to projections by U.N. population researchers. By then in Africa, where AIDS likely began and where the virus has wrought the most devastation, researchers said the toll could reach 100 million.
This, for a disease we could have gotten under control if we were willing to tell big pharma that it needed to make a little less profit, and spend on people a portion of the money we spend annually on perfumes, or on toys for our cats and dogs.
Posted by zeynep at 12:08 PM | Comments (2)
June 02, 2006
Training! Of Course!
Sure, "ethics training" is the answer
I just have one question. When was the last time a killer said, "oh, I wasn't supposed to kill shivering, crouched children crying in the corner? Sorry, didn't know."
All this "training" brouhaha is an obvious cover-up, a flight from the reality of the brutal nature of our military machine. However, "make sure to blame the higher-ups too" mantra coming from many the anti-war commentators is also a refusal to face the facts. I'm all for blaming the higher-ups. However, these men pulled the trigger in cold-blood. They shot and ... killed ... crying ... children.
This isn't just about higher-ups. This is about the reality of what it means to be a killer/soldier in an imperial war.
Posted by zeynep at 10:22 PM | Comments (2)