At the present time, battles are raging across Iraq, particularly in Najaf and Sadr City, an eastern Baghdadi neighborhood. Allegedly the cleric al-Sadr's Mahdi army is responsible for the widespread uprisings and the occupying forces' response has been severe -- massive attacks by U.S. planes, helicopter gunships, and hand-to-hand combat have led to the deaths and injuries of hundreds of Iraqis and a number of occupying troops. And while sources have identified periods of quiescence, the latest word is that al-Sadr promises to fight to the death against the US.
 
In reflecting upon these events, OW seeks initially to draw your attention to a significant and prescient article by Robert Fisk from The Independent of August 1, a few days prior to the recent uprisings. In "Can't Blair see this Country is about to Explode?  Can't Bush?" Fisk paints an unrelenting picture of an Iraq about to implode: "The American-appointed "government" controls only parts of Baghdad - and even there its ministers and civil servants are car-bombed and assassinated. Baquba, Samara, Kut, Mahmoudiya, Hilla, Fallujah, Ramadi, all are outside government authority. Iyad Allawi, the 'Prime Minister,' is little more than mayor of Baghdad."

And implode, it has. The following articles provide some insight into the battles that are now raging in Iraq (for details on the battle of Najaf, see the daily summaries of Juan Cole):

August 31 --

Iraq Militants Say Killed 12 Nepali Hostages-Site

Sadr orders backers to stop fighting

No space for the dead in Sadr City

August 30 --

G.I.'s in Talks With Rebels of Sadr Stronghold in Baghdad

Sadr Calls for Followers to Lay Down Arms

Overnight air strikes, clashes in Fallujah 

August 29 --

Iraqi Premier Meets Militants, Pushes Amnesty

Shia clerics deny opposing resistance

Allawi lets US forces stay in Najaf until Iraqis take control

Damage at Shi’ite cemetery stirs up complex feelings in Najaf

In Western Iraq, Fundamentalists Hold U.S. at Bay

Clashes Break Out in Baghdad

Saboteurs Blow Up Oil Pipeline in Iraq

August 28 --

Insurgents Quit Mosque in Najaf After Peace Deal

An Accord for Now, But Risks Ahead

August 27 --

Aid agencies and health ministry struggle to help Najaf injured and displaced

Analysts See Najaf Deal 'Way-out', Not 'Peace'

Top Cleric Brokers Deal To End Battle In Najaf

Iraqi Holy City Left Broken by Urban Warfare

Iraqis Celebrate Najaf Peace Deal at Holy Shrine

74 die, 376 wounded in Kufa

On Wednesday, April 28, 60 Minutes II (U.S.) broadcast photos of U.S. soldiers torturing Iraqi prisoners. The gruesome photos depicting physical and sexual abuse offer another picture of a human rights travesty that Amnesty International, the Occupation Watch Center, independent journalists, and recent delegations to Iraq have highlighted continually for more than a year. "Torture Timeline" offers an archive of these reports, including Maj. Gen. Taguba's investigation at Abu Ghraib.

With the coalition functioning as both "judges and torturers" to whom can the Iraqis turn?

The following recent articles document the human rights abuses and torture of Iraqi prisoners and civilians throughout the occupation along with a Call to Action from Amnesty International for complete investigations by the UK and U.S. authorities:

August 30 --

American Lawyer Finds New Evidence of Recent Torture in Iraq

Documents Helped Sow Abuse, Army Report Finds

August 28 --

Rumsfeld Denies Abuses Occurred at Interrogations

August 27 --

How Torture Came Down From the Top

"Missing: one-third of the Pentagon's equipment and $1.9 billion of Iraqi money. Guess who has it?"  Pratap Chatterjee offers this succinct report about the latest discoveries of Halliburton's heist in Iraq:

The much-hyped "transfer of power" to a new Iraqi government has occurred.  But, as usual, mainstream media outlets in the U.S. (if they are mentioning Iraq at all) are missing the bigger picture. What kind of power will and does this new government have over the country's military, its laws, and its economy? Are we talking about real sovereignty or simply a new face for the occupation, which the United States will continue to run from what is going to be the largest U.S. embassy in the world? Is the hand-over a positive step toward democracy in Iraq or merely a campaign move by the Bush administration which is hoping to win re-election in November?

While OW will select and place articles from the mainstream media under the topic of "Sovereignty," the following materials are more closely aligned to what OW perceives as the reality of the June 30 hand-over:

The Iraqi National Conference: Legitimation Failure – August 24, 2004

Shia Strength – August 20, 2004

New Iraqi legislature voted by default – August 18, 2004

The Baghdad National Conference Hubbub – August 18, 2004

David Sirota and Christy Harvey's well-researched article "They Knew" argues convincingly that the Bush Administration knew it was misleading America in arguing for war against Iraq and "did not care."  Examining each of the administration's reasons for going to war, Sirota and Harvey argue that "in the context of what we now know the White House knew at the time, Bush was deliberately dishonest."  Sirota and Harvey have done all of us a service by synthesizing various sources of information to produce this provocative article.