Coming
in September
From AK Press
Featuring Essays by:
Edward Said, Robert Fisk, Michael Neumann, Shahid Alam, Alexander
Cockburn, Uri Avnery, Bill and Kathy Christison and More
Today's
Stories
August 14, 2003
Peter Phillips
Inside
Bohemian Grove: Where US Power Elites Party
Brian Cloughley
Charlie Wilson and Pakistan: the Strange Congressman Behind the
CIA's Most Expensive War
Linville and Ruder
Tyson
Strike Draws the Line
Jim Lobe
Bush Administration Divided Over Iran
Ramzy Baroud
Sharon Freezes the Road Map
Tom Turnipseed
Blowback in Iraq
Gary Leupp
Condi's
Speech: From Birgmingham to Baghdad, Imperialism's Freedom Ride
Website of the Day
Tony Benn's Greatest Hits
Recent
Stories
August 13, 2003
Joanne Mariner
A Wall of Separation Through the
Heart
Donald Worster
The Heavy Cost of Empire
Standard Schaefer
Experimental Casinos: DARPA and the War Economy
Elaine Cassel
Murderous Errors: Executing the Innocent
Ralph Nader
Make the Recall Count
Alexander Cockburn
Ted Honderich Hit with "Anti-Semitism" Slur
Website of the Day
Defending Yourself Against DirectTV Lawsuits: 9000 and Counting
August 12, 2003
William Blum
Myth
and Denial in the War on Terrorism
Ron Jacobs
Revisionist History: the Bush Administration, Civil Rights and
Iraq
Josh Frank
Dean's Constitutional Hang-Up
Wayne Madsen
What's a Fifth Columnist? Well, Someone Like Hitchens
Ray McGovern
Relax,
It Was All a Pack of Lies
Wendy Brinker
Hubris in the White House
Website of the Day
Black
Mustache
August
11, 2003
Douglas
Valentine
Homeland Security for Whom?
Mickey
Z.
Bush's Progress
Bill
Glahn
RIAA Watch: Meet the New Bitch, Same
as the Old
Elaine
Cassel
Indicting DNA
Dr. Mohammad
Omar Farooq
Civil Liberties and Uncivil Super-Patriotism
Uri
Avnery
Who Will Save Abu Mazen?
Website
of the Day
RIAA Subpoena Clearinghouse
August
9 / 10, 2003
Alexander
Cockburn
California's Glorious Recall!
Saul
Landau
Bush and King Henry
Gary
Leupp
On Terrorism, Methodism, "Wahhabism"
and the Censored 9/11 Report
Paul de
Rooij
The Parade of the Body Bags
Michael
Egan
History and the Tragedy of American Diplomacy
Rob Eshelman
A Home of Our Own
Daoud
Kuttab
Life as an ID Card
Philip
Agee
Terror and Civil Society: Instruments of US Policy in Cuba
Jeffrey
St. Clair
Marc Racicot: Bush's Main Man
Walt Brasch
Schwarzenegger, "Hollyweird"
and the Rigtheous Right
Christopher
Brauchli
Bush, Bribery and Berlusconi
Josh Frank
Mean, Mean Howard Dean
Elaine
Cassel
Will the Death Penalty Ever Die?
Sean Carter
Total Recall
Poets'
Basement
Hamod, Engel, Albert
August
8, 2003
John
Chuckman
What the US Says Goes
Roberto
Barreto
Defend the Vieques 12!
Bruce Gagnon
Iraq War Emboldens Bush Space Plans
Elaine
Cassel
The Reign of John Ashcroft
Dave
Lindorff
Snoops Night Out
Website
of the Day
Zero Boy
August
7, 2003
M.
Shahid Alam
It the US a "Terrorist Magnet?"
Toni
Solo
Neo-liberal Nicaragua: a New Banana
Republic
Adam Lebowitz
Hiroshima Commemorated: the View from Japan
Hanan
Ashrawi
When the Bully Whines
Niranjan
Ramakrishnan
Conscience Takes a Holiday
Jason
Leopold
Wolfowitz Lets Slip: Iraq Not Behind 9/11; No Ties to Al-Qaeda
Mike Kimaid
What's the Score?
Elaine
Cassel
The Smell of VICTORY: Ashcroft's Latest Stinkbomb
Dardagan,
Slobodo and Williams
CounterPunch Exclusive:
20,000 Wounded Iraqi Civilians
August 6, 2003
Steve
Higgs
Going to Jail for the Cause: It's Not
Easy Confronting King Coal
David
Krieger
Remembering Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Robert
Fisk
The Ghosts of Uday and Qusay
Christopher
Brauchli
Bush's War on the National Forests
Elaine
Cassel
No Fly Lists
Stan
Goff
Military Equipment and Pneumonia
Hugh Sansom
An Open Letter to Nicholas Kristof on the Nuking of Japan
August
5, 2003
Uri
Avnery
The Prisoner of Ramallah: Arafat at
74
Forrest
Hylton
Terrorism and Political Trials: the
View from Bolivia
Ray
McGovern
"We Cook Estimates to Go"
David
Morse
Poindexter's Gambit
Edward
Said
Orientallism: 25 Years Later
George
W. Bush
My Darn Good Resumé
Hammond
Guthrie
It's Incremental, Watson!
Website
of the Day
National Prayer Day
August 4, 2003
Bruce
K. Gagnon
Another Peace Activist Detained by
Airport Cops: My Story
David
Lindorff
Fear-Mongering About Social Security
Mark
Zepezauer
George F. Will: Descent into Self-Parody
James
Plummer
Tracking You Through the Mail
Mickey
Z.
Marriage Insecurity from Sharon to Bush
Bruce
Jackson
News that Isn't News: How the NYT's
Pimps for the White House
August
2 / 3, 2003
Tamara
R. Piety
Nike's Full Court Press Breaks Down
Francis
Boyle
My Alma Mater, the University of Chicago, is a Moral Cesspool
David
Vest
Sons of Paleface: Pictures from Death's Other Side
Neve Gordon
Nightlife in Jerusalem
Uri
Avnery
Their Master's Voice:
Bush, Blair and Intelligence Snafus
Robert
Fisk
Paternalistic Democracy for Iraq
Jerry
Kroth
Israel, Yellowcake and the Media
Noah Leavitt
What's Driving the Liberian Bloodbath: Is the US Obligated to
Intervene?
Saul
Landau
The Film Industry: Business and Ideology
Ron Jacobs
One Big Prison Yard: the Meaning of George Jackson
Thomas
Croft
In the Deep, Deep Rough: Reflections on Augusta
Amadi Ajamu
Def Sham: Russell Simmons New Black Leader?
Poets'
Basement
Vega, Witherup, Albert and Fleming
August
1, 2003
Joanne
Mariner
Stopping Prison Rape
Alex Coolman
Who Moved My Soap: Trivializing
Prison Rape
Steve
J.B.
Prison Bitch
Stan Goff
Injury and Decorum: The Missing Wounded in Iraq
Wayne
Madsen
Europe Unplugs from the Matrix
Robert
Fisk
Wolfowitz the Censor
Elaine
Cassel
Ashcroft Loses Big in Puerto Rico
Website
of the Day
Stop Prisoner Rape
July
31, 2003
Ray
McGovern
The Prostitution of Intelligence
Brian
Cloughley
Wolfowitz's Operative Statement
Sheldon
Hull
The RIAA's Jihad:
The Devil's Music (Industry)
Elaine
Cassel
The Next Time You Crack a Lawyer Joke, Think of These Attorneys
Sheldon
Rampton
and John Stauber
True Lies: Propaganda and Bush's
Wars
Hammond
Guthrie
Speculation Blues
Website
of the Day
Army of One?
Congratulations
to CounterPuncher Gilad Atzmon! BBC Names EXILE Top Jazz CD
July
30, 2003
David
Lindorff
Poindexter the Terror Bookie
Marjorie
Cohn
Why Iraq and Afghanistan? It's About
the Oil
Elaine
Cassel
How Ashcroft Coerces Guilty Pleas
in Terror Cases
Zvi
Bar'el
The Hidden Costs of the Iraq War
Lisa Walsh
Thomas
Killing Mustafa Hussein: Death of a Child, Birth of a Legend?
Sean
Carter
Pat Robertson's Prayer Jihad: God, Sodomy and the Supremes
ND Jayaprakash
India and Ariel Sharon
Steve
Perry
Bush's Top 40 Lies
Standard
Schaefer
Correction about Bloomberg and Outscourcing
Website
of the Day
Bring Them Home Now!
Hot Stories
Dardagan,
Slobodo and Williams
CounterPunch Exclusive:
20,000 Wounded Iraqi Civilians
Steve
J.B.
Prison Bitch
Sheldon
Rampton and John Stauber
True Lies: the Use of Propaganda
in the Iraq War
Wendell
Berry
Small Destructions Add Up
CounterPunch
Wire
WMD: Who Said What When
Cindy
Corrie
A Mother's Day Talk: the Daughter
I Can't Hear From
Elaine
Cassel
Civil Liberties
Watch
Michel
Guerrin
Embedded Photographer Says: "I
Saw Marines Kill Civilians"
Uzma
Aslam Khan
The Unbearably Grim Aftermath of War:
What America Says Does Not Go
Paul de Rooij
Arrogant
Propaganda
Gore Vidal
The
Erosion of the American Dream
Francis Boyle
Impeach
Bush: A Draft Resolution
Click Here
for More Stories.
|
August
16, 2003
The
View of an Aussie Vietnam Veteran
What Has Happened
to the US Army in Iraq?
By BRIAN CLOUGHLEY
Recently there have been several reports of incidents
in Iraq involving the killing of civilians by the US Army. ("July
30--Two Iraqi civilians on foot shot dead by US soldiers in the
Mansour district of Baghdad, Iraq. No weapons or explosives were
found. August 8--US forces fire on a car carrying an Iraqi family
at a checkpoint north of Baghdad. Five Iraqis, including three
children, were killed, and two others wounded. August 11--US
soldiers kill six Iraqi civilians at three different checkpoints
in Baghdad, Iraq. No weapons or explosives were found."
And so on.)
There is no doubt that civilians are
being killed in increasing numbers, and the matter of army involvement
is apparently being investigated. Last month, before the present
series of killings, a US military spokeswoman, Major Josslyn
Aberle, stated in an email to the Associated Press (she refused
to comment by interview) that soldiers "work very hard to
avoid collateral damage and injury to civilians, but regrettably
this happens sometimes." Certainly death and injury happen;
and we'll have a look at 'collateral damage' in more detail.
In September 2002 the Pentagon produced
Joint Publication 3-06 : 'Doctrine for Joint Urban Operations'
under the guidance and signature of General John P Abizaid, at
that time Director Joint Staff and now overall commander of US
forces in Iraq. Appearance of this manual five months before
the invasion of Iraq was doubtless coincidental, but it is reasonable
to suppose that it was distributed widely during preparation
for the war, which had been taking place for most of that year.
One of its instructions is that "Although civilians, non-combatants
and civilian property may not be specifically targeted, incidental
injury and collateral damage are not unlawful if caused incident
to an attack on a lawful target, and the incidental injury and
collateral damage are not excessive in light of the anticipated
military advantage from the attack." The words 'collateral
damage' mean death, but I cannot understand why soldiers refuse
to use the word 'death'. If politicians and bureaucrats want
to try to deceive themselves and the world by disguising the
plain and horrible fact that people die violently and are maimed
in war, both by intention and in error, then let them. But soldiers
should face reality.
No matter the weasel words conjured up
by desk-bound wordsmiths to disguise shrieking, agonising bloody
death caused by bullets gouging out gobbets of flesh from bodies
that spout showers and jets of blood like a berserk fountain,
there comes a time when the killing of civilians demands proper
investigation. There is no use having an internal inquiry, because
nobody is going to believe it when impartial accounts by on-the-spot
reporters contradict the findings. Deputy defense secretary
Wolfowitz was reported in London's Times as saying contemptuously
that "people in the Middle East will believe just about
anything" in order to justify Washington's exhibiting the
bodies of Uday and Qusay Hussein. He wanted to convince Arab
viewers that the men were dead, and, in the usual 'don't do
as I do, do as I say' fashion of Bush Washington, contradicted
everything that the US had said about the grossness and indeed
illegality (by virtue of the Geneva/Hague Conventions), of displaying
mangled enemy bodies on television.
The point of noting this statement is
that Wolfowitz was closer to understanding the Iraq situation
than he knew. People in the Middle East -- and in America and
everywhere else -- do tend to believe what is shown on their
television screens (even if it's Fox News, heaven help us).
But the problem (and regret) for such as Wolfowitz is that they
cannot prevent the truth becoming known eventually. When Arab
television stations show scenes of hellish carnage involving
dead women and children in Iraq this is decried as anti-American
propaganda. But when the Pentagon demands that Iraqi dead bodies
be displayed like meat on a butcher's slab, Wolfowitz declares
it has to be done because Arabs won't believe people are dead
until they see them dead. This is crassly condescending -- and
tells us a lot about the mindset of the Pentagon as represented
by Wolfowitz and his chief, Rumsfeld, who is ever-ready to explain
how pleasant life is in Iraq now that it has been occupied.
As long ago as 11 April Rumsfeld was saying "here is a
country that's being liberated, here are people who are going
from being repressed...and they're free. And all this newspaper
could do . . . they showed a man bleeding, who they claimed we
had shot -- one thing after another. It's just unbelievable."
Unbelievable, indeed, because here is
a description of one incident last week, reported by Justin Huggler
of Britain's 'Independent' newspaper, but not mentioned in any
US mainstream media, nor, of course, by the fanatically pro-Bush,
pro-war London papers, the Times and the Daily Telegraph, both
owned by magnates who have financially-related interest in government
media policies in the US and the UK.
"It happened at 9.30 at night .
. . long before the start of curfew at 11 pm. The Americans
had set up roadblocks in the Tunisia quarter of Baghdad, where
the abd al-Kerim [family] lives. The family pulled up to the
roadblock sensibly, slowly and carefully, so as not to alarm
the Americans. But then pandemonium broke out. American soldiers
were shooting in every direction. They just turned on the abd
al-Kerims' car and sprayed it with bullets." It was reported
that "They killed the father and three of the children,
one of them only eight years old. Now only the mother, Anwar,
and a 13-year old daughter are alive to tell how the bullets
tore through the windscreen and how they screamed for the Americans
to stop."
Here is what US Army Manual FM3-06.11,
'Combined Arms Operations in Urban Terrain' has to say about
"Urban Operations Under Restrictive Conditions":
"All enemy military personnel and
vehicles transporting the enemy or their supplies may be engaged
subject to the following restrictions: a. Armed force is the
last resort. b. When possible, the enemy will be warned first
and allowed to surrender. c. Armed civilians will be engaged
only in self-defence. e. Avoid harming civilians unless necessary
to save US lives . . . . i. If civilians are in the area, do
not shoot except at known enemy locations . . . q. Treat all
civilians and their property with respect and dignity . . .
r. Treat all prisoners humanely and with respect and dignity."
Further, the Manual states "Soldiers
should learn basic commands and phrases in the language most
common to their areas. When giving these commands or phrases
[sic] they should speak loudly and clearly at a normal rate .
. . All soldiers should be given a basic language translation
card." This is civilised common sense. There is nothing
sensational or impractical in these orders governing conduct
of urban operations by the US Army. Except that every one of
these orders was flouted last week, in considerable measure.
"Armed force is the last resort".
Wrong. Armed force has been the first resort. When four men
suspected of being arms' dealers were detected by US troops they
were placed under observation. Reuters reported "When
the four men began unloading weapons and what appeared to be
elements for making bombs [from a car], US soldiers opened fire."
Lt-Colonel Steve Russell, the commanding officer of the soldiers
who killed the men said "They began to pull additional
weapons out of the trunk and they became combatants at this point."
What does this say about the order "When possible, the
enemy will be warned first and allowed to surrender"? There
is no answer to that question (just as there is no justification
for killing unarmed people in riots because troops must "Avoid
harming civilians unless necessary to save US lives").
These men were civilians. They were unloading weapons from a
car. On 14 June the occupying power declared display of weapons
in public to be illegal but did not indicate what punishment
would be meted out to those who disobeyed its law. It is not
disputed that the men did not fire at American soldiers or in
any way threaten them. They were killed. That act was murder.
What has happened
to the US Army?
Then there is "Treat all civilians
and their property with respect and dignity." This should
be considered in conjunction with the declaration by the US occupation
administrator, L Paul Bremer, that "we" ought to "remind
ourselves of a range of rights that Iraqis enjoy today because
of the coalition's military victory." Well, here is a
description of some of the rights of women and children: "Col.
David Hogg, commander of the 2nd Brigade of the 4th Infantry
Division, said tougher methods are being used to gather intelligence.
On Wednesday night, he said, his troops picked up the wife and
daughter of an Iraqi lieutenant general. They left a note: "If
you want your family released, turn yourself in." Such tactics
are justified, he said."
Since when were wives and children deemed
non-civilians? Are children to be used as bargaining counters?
This is totally against the Geneva Conventions and against all
human decency. The Nazis did this, dammit. It was one of their
preferred tactics in occupied territories. Are the wife and
children of Colonel Hogg considered combatants, just because
he wears uniform? Can this man imagine what it would be like
for his own family to be treated like this? Do the American
people know what is being done in their name? This is terrible,
and I never thought that an officer of US Army could ever lower
himself to this sort of despicable action. I served in the Australian
army in Vietnam and knew the US army well. It was rough, tough
and barbaric in these days, but I thought this type of brutish
and uncivilised behaviour was a thing of the past that went out
after exposure of the My Lai atrocities. Apparently not.
What about "Treat all prisoners
humanely and with respect and dignity"? Here is what happened
to an Iraqi policeman, Sergeant Muhsen, after two of his colleagues
were mistakenly killed by US soldiers on 9 August. "Three
soldiers surrounded me. I got down on my knees, hands in the
air, holding my badge. One of them kicked me in the back and
I fell to the ground. Another one kicked me twice in the face.
They put their boots on my head and pressed it into the ground
. . . I kept saying "police, police". I don't speak
English but it's the same word in Arabic . . ." Sergeant
Muhsen was not a combatant. One wonders if the soldiers who
killed the two policemen and beat up Sergeant Muhsen had been
issued, as required by the US Army's own manual, "a basic
language translation card" indicating that "police"
means "police". And did they give the police a chance
to surrender before killing them?
Conditions in US jails in Iraq are quite
as awful as they were under the previous horrible regime, and,
exactly as under that fascist domination, ordinary citizens have
disappeared, their place of detention unknown to their families.
The Geneva and Hague Conventions have been totally ignored by
the occupying power in a fashion that is not just despicable
but completely at odds with the declaration by Bush that "democracy
is being restored to Iraq". Democracy? Is it within the
Bush definition of democracy that, as recorded by Amnesty International,
and reported from first-hand by Associated Press, that a civilian
detainee "was bound and blindfolded, kicked, forced to stare
at a strobe light [presumably after removal of the blindfold]
and blasted with 'very loud rubbish music'." (He was released
without charge.)
In the interests of democracy (or so
one must presume) the occupying power shut down the newspaper
Al-Mustaqilla (The Independent) for undisclosed reasons. On 21
July tanks blocked off the approaches to its building, then soldiers
and Iraqi policemen broke into the premises where "They
turned everything upside down, confiscated the newspaper's safe
(with 1.5 millions ID in it), the computers and personal documents
of the chairman, Mr. Abdul-Sattar Alshalan. They arrested Mr.
Alshalan, who is currently imprisoned at an unknown location."
It is flagrant violation of the Geneva Conventions to refuse
to provide details of the whereabouts of prisoners to next of
kin. Mr Alshalan and thousands of others are being kept in confinement
by the US Army without any notification of their location or
physical condition being made available to relatives or the International
Red Cross.
This is not the US Army that I knew to
be forged after the brutality of Vietnam to be a highly efficient
military organisation, yet one with inbuilt compassion and high
regard for human rights. What the hell has gone wrong?
After the random killing of five civilians
in a botched raid in Baghdad on 27 July the regional commander,
Lt-General Sanchez, was asked if there would be any apology by
the US Army for what occurred. He stated that "Apologies
are not something we have within military processes." Here
is some news for General Sanchez: apologies are something you
damned well ought to have within your processes. And if you
don't apologize for what the army has obviously done wrong, the
entire occupation force will be considered to be callous, arrogant,
unfeeling and as regarding itself above the laws of God and man.
There is no doubt that war crimes have
been committed by US troops in Iraq. The "Doctrine for
Joint Urban Operations, JP 3-03, 16 September 2002, sums it all
up. It states, quite rationally, that war crimes are more likely
to be committed when there are:
(1) High friendly losses. [These are
increasing week by week. Soldiers have become extremely nervous
and thus prone to panic and hence unthinking action.]
(2) High turnover in the chain of command.
[All senior commanders have been replaced within the last month,
along with at least five lower down the chain in the past ten
weeks; anyone with the slightest knowledge of the Art of Command
would have told Rumsfeld that this was insane. It was especially
stupid of Rumsfeld to remove a young Marine officer from combat
service in Iraq to make him one of his ADCs.]
(3) Dehumanisation of the adversary.
[There is hardly a US soldier who regards Iraqis as other than
sub-human. They have been encouraged to regard them as such,
because they were sent there to "avenge 9-11", as is
indicated by the slogans on so many helmets.]
(4) Poorly trained or inexperienced troops.
[None of the troops committed to Iraq by Rumsfeld were trained
in urban guerrilla warfare, which is what is taking place at
the moment.]
(5) The lack of a clearly defined adversary.
[Of course there is no clearly-defined adversary. It is probable
that most Iraqis hated Saddam Hussein, but loathing of the US
increases every time a raid is conducted at 3 AM with doors being
kicked in, with men humiliated, blindfolded and handcuffed in
front of their womenfolk -- thus creating more adversaries.]
(6) High frustration level amongst the
troops. [Interviews with US soldiers -- who are now forbidden
to speak with the media -- have shown their resentment of the
Pentagon's handling of the occupation and their own personal
administration. One has only to go to American internet sites
such as http://www.bringthemhomenow.org/
to realise the enormous frustration amongst soldiers serving
in Iraq. Rumsfeld is detested and despised. Not only this, but
there were stories, denied by Pentagon spokesmen, that combat
pay was to be reduced. The fact that rumours of this sort are
being spread within the army itself is a sure sign of exceedingly
poor morale.]
What we see in Chapter III of General
Abizaid's Manual is, coincidentally and with horrific irony,
an exact prediction of what is happening in Iraq concerning war
crimes. Every single one of the criteria listed in the Doctrine
is met with amazing exactitude. The situation in Iraq is frightening,
and every time another brutal arrest is made, every time women
and children are terrorised in the small hours of the morning,
every time a male civilian is humiliated and kicked, every
time a civilian is killed in a spray of unaimed bullets, there
is deeper hatred of the invader. It cannot be predicted how
it will end. But one thing is certain: the US Army must abide
by its own rules. If it does not, it will eventually suffer a
moral and morale collapse. Another victim of collateral damage.
Brian Cloughley
writes about defense issues for CounterPunch, the Nation (Pakistan),
the Daily Times of Pakistan and other international publications.
His writings are collected on his website: www.briancloughley.com.
He can be reached at: beecluff@aol.com
Weekend
Edition Features for August 9 / 10, 2003
Alexander
Cockburn
California's Glorious Recall!
Saul
Landau
Bush and King Henry
Gary
Leupp
On Terrorism, Methodism, "Wahhabism"
and the Censored 9/11 Report
Paul de
Rooij
The Parade of the Body Bags
Michael
Egan
History and the Tragedy of American Diplomacy
Rob Eshelman
A Home of Our Own
Daoud
Kuttab
Life as an ID Card
Philip
Agee
Terror and Civil Society: Instruments of US Policy in Cuba
Jeffrey
St. Clair
Marc Racicot: Bush's Main Man
Walt Brasch
Schwarzenegger, "Hollyweird"
and the Rigtheous Right
Christopher
Brauchli
Bush, Bribery and Berlusconi
Josh Frank
Mean, Mean Howard Dean
Elaine
Cassel
Will the Death Penalty Ever Die?
Sean Carter
Total Recall
Poets'
Basement
Hamod, Engel, Albert
Keep CounterPunch
Alive:
Make
a Tax-Deductible Donation Today Online!
home / subscribe
/ about us / books
/ archives / search
/ links /
|