50 Articles on US led Illegal War on Iraq & Occupation; 2002-11

50 Articles on US led Illegal War on Iraq & Occupation; 2002-11

 

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                                                                                                23 December ,  2011.

 

50 Articles on US led Illegal War on Iraq & its Occupation; 2002-11

                           
"The war in Iraq is a historic strategic and moral calamity undertaken under false assumptions – undermining America's global legitimacy – collateral civilian casualties, – abuses, – tarnishing America's moral credentials . Driven by Manichean impulses and imperial hubris, it is intensifying regional instability." Zbigniew Brzezinski, National Security Adviser to US President Jimmy Carter.

 

"History is but glorification of murderers, criminals and robbers." - Karl Popper

"When there is a general change of conditions, it is as if the entire creation had been changed and the whole world been altered." - Ibn Khaldun

 

"History is ruled by an inexorable determinism in which the free choice of major historical figures plays a minimal role" -Leo Tolstoy

 

The Moving Finger Writes; and, having writ, Moves on: nor all your Piety nor Wit, Shall lure it back to Cancel half a Line, Nor all your Tears wash out a Word of it. –Omar Khayam
 

Number of Iraqis killed as result of US led illegal war and occupation 1,455,590

An estimated 4.7 million Iraqis have been displaced as a result of the war into  Syria, Jordan and internally .Over one million widows and many million orphans created .The country is divided ,destroyed and decimated almost beyond recognition.

Number of US military personnel killed 4,801

Number of US military personnel seriously injured, maimed and mentally affected  sixty to eighty thousand

Cost of war and occupation US$ One Trillion approx so far.

Economists Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes calculations put it a more than $3 trillions.

 

Neo-con leader Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz had championed a $60 billion figure, adding that much of the cost might well be covered by Iraqi oil revenues; the country was, after all, floating on a "sea of oil." ("To assume we're going to pay for it all is just wrong," he told a congressional hearing.)

 

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I have written regularly on Iraq war & propaganda since August, 2002 analyzing the situation and assessing future developments , which have generally stood the test of time .It is a result of 8 to 10 hours, 24/7 surfing and watching CNN &BBC ( till lies were repeated )and European channels after 9/11 .

 

I had a ringside view of 1991 Gulf war from Amman (1989-92 ) and moved to Ankara (1992-98, earlier spell 1969-73), with accreditation to Baku ,with earlier postings at Cairo and Algiers in 1960s and France 1970s. Apart from Turkey and Jordan , I headed Indian missions in Romania and Senegal .

 

Out of over 400 in depth online articles on international affairs , over 100 pieces are on the Iraq war  and the region . Fifty odd key articles from 2002 to 2011 with URLs and brief synopsis have been listed below. ( these can be easily googled)

My articles have been copied by up to many scores of websites/blogs/newspapers all around the world including of US universities of New York, Columbia, Colorado, California ,Utah etc ,think tanks and websites from rightist 'Free Republic " to leftist Salon.com, "Zmag" etc and in other western  countries, Turkish ,Kurdish , Arab ,Armenian, Greek and Serbian websites ,also in Israel , Asia , Africa and all over the Islamic world from Kyrgyzstan to Nigeria and Indonesia to Morocco. Atimes has a Chinese edition too.

The articles have been translated into Chinese, Arabic, Turkish, French, German, Italian , Spanish , Danish , Russian , Bahasa Indonesia, Vietnamese etc .

The articles  have been used /hosted by, Christian Science Monitor and other websites in USA , London Economist , Channel IV, Pravada, Russian Times , many newspapers in Turkey , Lebanon , Gulf , Central Asia , Japan ,Pakistan ,Israel etc .

I have delivered lectures on Iraq war and its occupation at many universities, defence institutes and cultural and other centres in India since 2004.

 

I was frequently interviewed in Bucharest (1998-07) by BBC Hindi Radio program , on Turkey, Iraq, Russia , Caucasus , Central Asia etc .Also by Slovenian National TV and Realitatea of Bucharest, Star and Sahara in India.

 

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki  in cooperation with Iran outmanoeuvered Bush and the Pentagon and got the United States to sign the U.S.-Iraq withdrawal agreement, forcing US combat troops to leave by end December,2011, but Washington still has thousands of mercenaries and others in its Vatican city size large embassy in Baghdad .What about its many bases and Kurdish north Iraq , almost its protectorate  since 1990 .US is already stoking the flames of Shia Sunni divide and conflict with help from Riyadh ,Amman and Ankara in the region .

 

List of 50 articles including 7 on decline and fall of US hegemony with URLs and synopsis is given below;

 

 

Before the March 2003 war on Iraq :

1. The Bush family's phony wars                  27 August, 2002 .  
www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/DH27Ak01.html
An entire region from Jordan to Iran is on the brink of catastrophe as it awaits one man's decision on how he will pursue his family' vendetta .India's former Ambassador to Jordan looks inside the Pandora's box which George Bush holds in his hands - Editor Atimes

For the Bush family, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is the tempting Apple in the Middle Eastern Garden of Eden. The results of succumbing to the temptation to take a bite could be as disastrous as they were for Adam and Eve.

 (Written when George W Bush along with old chieftains and neo-cons handed over by his father along with Tony Blair were beginning to beat the war drums )

 2. The decline of the American Century   11 September, 2002 www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/DI11Ak06.html 

BUCHAREST - It is the afternoon sun that dazzles onlookers though it is past its prime. That sums up the height of US power before last September 11. If the US nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki without fear of retaliation was the acme of the American Century, then the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, symbols of economic and military might, could be termed the beginning of the end of the American Century.

3. Iraq and the war of words    
By K Gajendra Singh                                                          29 January , 2003

www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/EA29Ak02.html

The US administration led by President George W Bush, with loyal support from British Prime Minister Tony Blair, has waged a personalized war on Saddam Hussein for months. Armadas of battleships and massive war-making machines are now moving towards Iraq , and military exercises are covered daily in the international press.

 

As many people agree, though, the war does have a lot to do with oil. As an oil expert recently observed, "The Americans have nothing against the people of Iraq , but our way of life is dependent on 20 million barrels a day, and half of it has to be imported. We are like a patient on oil dialysis. It's a matter of life and death. The smart people [in Washington ] all know this, but it is not generally advertised on the kind of shows that most people watch: MTV and soap operas."

4. MIDDLE EAST- Iraqi Mosaic in Pandora's Box   17 February, 2003
www.saag.org/papers7/paper607.html
  Iraq is a delicate mosaic, which must be handled carefully, but a US led war would shatter and scatter it to bits.   Whenever post Saddam Hussein Iraq is discussed in USA and elsewhere, not enough serious thought is given to ethnic, religious and other differences of its constituents and their tortuous history, which go to make Iraq a delicate mosaic.

After the war

5.West vs East, at daggers drawn    3 April, 2003
By K Gajendra Singh  www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/ED03Ak01.html.

Veni, vidi, vici ("I came, I saw, I conquered") spoke Julius Caesar in 78 BC at a town called Zile, 300 kilometers northeast of Ankara , after victory in a battle lasting barely four hours over Pharnaces II, son of Mithradates VI of Pontus . Mithradates the Great (meaning "gift of the Aryan god Mithra"), a common name among Anatolian rulers, had contested Imperial Rome's hegemony in Asia Minor .

 

Of course, the self-styled successors of Imperial Rome, the hawks in the US administration, had hoped to emulate Caesar after a few days of Operation Iraqi Freedom in the cities of Basra , Baghdad and Kirkuk . But the reality has been quite disillusioning - even to the point of bringing some "Shock and Awe" home to the United States.

 

6. Iraq's history already written                     15 July, 2003 www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/EG15Ak01.html
Written soon after the US appointed Iraqi governing council under Viceroy Paul Bremmer , with historic parallel to British regime established by Sir Percy Cox after the First World War , which  ended in the assassination of King Feisel and his detested PM Nuri-el Said ending the Hashemite line in Iraq.

7. BAGHDAD BATTERED UN: Need to have a hard look                       By K.Gajendra Singh                                                    4 September , 2003

http://www.southasiaanalysis.org/%5Cpapers8%5Cpaper779.html

 

"The UN's own 9/11 [September 11] crisis. " Former US ambassador to the UN, Richard Holbrooke on devastating  19 August bombing of UN compound in Baghdad. "Who sows war reaps terrorism"-A Paris anti-war protest banner in February, 2003. 
Indian Troops to Iraq: Discussions with Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon reaching India in a few days time and Indian prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee discussions with Turkish leaders in Ankara in mid-September. No Indian troops were sent to Iraq.

 8.Turkey: 'Sow war and reap terror'
By K Gajendra Singh                                                                  22 November, 2003
Turkey: 'Sow war and reap terror' (Clinton's role in the rise of al-Qaeda)
Sow war and reap terror - A banner in a February peace march in Paris
Many disquieting messages have been sent with the two car bombings in Istanbul on Thursday, just five days after attacks on two synagogues and coinciding with Queen Elizabeth's hosting of United States President George W Bush in London

9. Occupation case studies; Algeria and Turkey   7 January, 2004  www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/FA07Ak01.html
The situation in Iraq on the ground would be similar to Algeria after WWII and Turkey after WWI when they were colonized and occupied . Fierce resistance .Unlike Germany or Japan after WWII as most western analysts were gleefully predicting .A historical analyses and comparison .

10. COMING OUT OF CHAKRAVHYU ( military trap)- US's Iraq Exit Policy!     www.saag.org/papers9/paper894.html                                              15 January , 2004

Illegal and most ill prepared project .It is becoming quite obvious every day .Hamid al-Kifai, a spokesman for the United States-appointed Iraqi Governing Council, in rejecting on January 12 a call made by Shi'ite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani that general elections be held ahead of a power transfer to Iraqis, has opened the way for even more uncertainty and unrest following the decision to create a Kurdish federal area in the country.

11. IRAQ WARS: WESTERN MEDIA- PROPAGANDA ARMS OF GOVERNMENTS AND CORPORATE INTERESTS       12 March, 2004              By K Gajendra Singh                                 www.saag.org/papers10/paper948.html
"Demand a broader view." BBC – "-of 840 experts interviewed on American news programmes during the invasion of Iraq, only four opposed the war "BBC-DG Dyke. How ever, BBC itself gave in its over all coverage a mere 2% time to opposition's anti-war voices, -- according to Media Tenor; a Bonn-based non-partisan media research organization.

     
12. Iraq: A perplexing predicament  By K Gajendra Singh        10 June, 2004 www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/FF10Ak01.html                      

Finally, after ignoring the United Nations and diminishing it before the illegal invasion of Iraq in March last year, the United States, faced with the prospect of the unraveling of its ill-planned project in Iraq and the Greater Middle East, has turned to the world body to give its occupation some sense of legality. In the end, the UN Security Council's members obviously acknowledged that the strategic implications of a substantial US failure in Iraq were too serious even to contemplate
 
13. Dropping the sovereignty baton  By K Gajendra Singh     2 June, 2004
www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/FF02Ak06.html

"It was by force that the sons of Osman seized the sovereignty and Sultanate of the Turkish nation; they have maintained this usurpation for six centuries. Now, the Turkish nation has rebelled and has put a stop to these usurpers and has effectively taken sovereignty and Sultanate in its own hands." Kemal Ataturk .

The post-June 30 government being assembled for Iraq is likely to be as unpopular within the country as the now defunct US-appointed Iraqi Governing Council.  ED 

 
14. Turkey, Israel aim to forgive and forget  By K Gajendra Singh  27 July, 2004
www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/FG28Ak02.html - 67k - 27 Jul 2004 - Cached - Similar pages

 -- In his May 25 meeting with Israeli Infrastructure Minister Yousef Paritzky, Turkish PM Erdogan asked the Israeli minister: "What is the difference between terrorists who kill Israeli civilians and Israel, which also kills civilians?"—Ankara is upset with Israeli games in north Iraq ...  
The likely consequences of the Great Game in Kurdish Iraq including Israeli machinations .

 

15. Turkey snaps over US bombing of its brethren    18 September, 2004
By K Gajendra Singh     http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/FI18Ak02.html
 
The United States claims that attacks on the northern Iraqi city of Tal Afar - home to Turkey's ethnic cousins, the Turkmens - were to root out terrorists. Others say that the US has unwittingly been drawn into a devious Kurdish plot. Either way, Ankara has warned the US in no uncertain terms to lay off: this is a pot not to be stirred

16 NEW BUSH ERA BEGINS: DECKS BEING CLEARED FOR HOLY WARS                   By K. Gajendra Singh                                     27-11-04
http://www.saag.org/papers12/paper1174.html                         

In ancient days, before the start of a battle, warriors galloped up to enemy front lines and challenged them. That seemed to be the purpose of the last Osama bin Laden video released just before 2 November presidential polls in USA . Just in case; Laden wanted to make sure that President George W. Bush was re-elected. But then, even Sen. John Kerry had promised more of the same, but along with allies, mostly Christian nations

17. WOULD 30 JANUARY ELECTIONS MAKE OR BREAK IRAQ?                    by K. Gajendra Singh http://www.saag.org/papers12/paper1185.html             10-12-04

A debate is raging inside Iraq, Washington and Moscow and in neighbouring capitals and elsewhere whether the polls scheduled for next January to elect a Constituent Assembly for Iraq should be held or postponed, with various parties taking different positions. While USA, the Iraqi government appointed by it and Iraq's Shiite leadership are insistent on sticking to the date, Iraq's Sunnis, many Sunni governments in the region, Europe Union and Russia are opposed to it and have suggested postponement. Even if the elections were held as scheduled, would it solve Iraq's problems and keep it a united country?

18. The Kirkuk tinderbox    By K Gajendra Singh     22 January, 2005
 www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/GA22Ak01.html

There is much media focus on the inauguration of US President George W Bush for his second term, as well as the Iraqi elections scheduled for January 30. But the ethnically divided city of Kirkuk in north Iraq remains a dangerous tinderbox. Even the losing US presidential candidate, Senator John Kerry, who voted against the nomination of Condoleezza Rice as the next secretary of state in the Senate's Foreign Affairs Committee, felt compelled to warn of possible turmoil in Kirkuk, which has been a bone of contention between Kurds, Arabs and Turkmens - Turkey's ethnic cousins, with Ankara taking up their cause regularly.
 
19. IRAQI KURDS FLEX MUSCLES -RICE WAS NO TURKISH DELIGHT By K Gajendra Singh   15 Feb 2005 file:///C:/Users/gajendra/Documents/SaagFiles/SgKurdsFlexMscl15F.htm

 http://www.saag.org/%5Cpapers13%5Cpaper1254.html
On February 13, soon after the announcement of provisional results of 30 January elections for Iraq's new Parliament, Turkey said that the results failed to ensure a fair representation for all ethnic groups and called for measures to compensate for flaws and irregularities in the electoral process. The Kurdish alliance of Kurdish Democratic party (KDP) and the rival Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) won over 25% of the vote , giving it a kingmaker's role . It has already suggested 72 year old  Jalal Talbani ,PUK leader , for the President's post .The alliance is likely to join with the Shiite United Iraqi Alliance (UIA) , which is supported by the religious establishment and won over 47% of the votes. Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's slate got 14% votes, while the slate of President Ghazi Yawar, a Sunni managed only 2%.

20. New Iraq Government: Allenby's Damascus or Rumsfeld's Baghdad -   April 4, 2005

http://www.turkishweekly.net/op-ed/723/new-iraq-government-allenby-s-damascus-or-rumsfeld-s-baghdad-part-1-.html                                                                             
"Just you wait until we have democracy in Iraq, and I'll throw you in jail!", said one lifelong opponent of Saddam Hussein to another at the Iraqi opposition conference in London organised to promote his 'heirs' by the Anglo-Saxons in December , 2002 ," and to bring about stability, rule of law and democracy in Iraq." That the conference did take place was an achievement in itself. Many a times the proceedings degenerated into scenes from the film "Lawrence of Arabia " with the Arab tribes squabbling and fighting after reaching Damascus following the with drawl of the Ottoman forces in the First World War in the wake of the military onslaught led by the British General Allenby , with guerilla support from Arab tribes of Sharif Hussein of Hijaj .

21. Neo-Cons Grip Slipping as Iraqi Resistance Morphs Into Liberation War or Worse By K Gajendra Singh; June 30 ,2005 

http://www.saag.org/%5Cpapers15%5Cpaper1435.html  , 

Bush offers old wine in old bottles; To uplift his sinking popularity and avoid becoming a lame duck President, six months after his second inauguration, on the first anniversary of the sham transfer of sovereignty to Iraqis, President George W. Bush offered nothing new to the Americans or  the Iraqis - more of the same. Addressing the nation from Fort Bragg military base in North Carolina, Bush called for staying the course ( and going overboard the Niagara falls of Iraq as some critics said long ago ). An emotive defence institution was chosen again to tap patriotic fervour and rally the military, which is becoming uneasy at the falling home support for the war in Iraq. Ironically, Bush himself avoided military duty in Vietnam.

 
22. Neo-Cons Middle East Project Brings It to Boil:  Now, the Constitution Fiasco.   August 30 , 2005

http://www.opednews.com/populum/link.php?id=3580
"The nation-state offers most of its members a stronger sense of security, belonging or affiliation and even personal identity, than does any alternative large group" - Karl Deutch.
It has been said that democracy is not only a form of state and administration but a philosophy of life and an outlook. And for a nation's constitution to manifest the authority of the state and its laws, it must be based on a general agreement among all its citizens.  

                       
23. Saddam Trial: Another Western Kangaroo Court                       K Gajendra Singh    October 20, 2005   

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article10691.htm  
 "It's all about justifying the US invasion"- A top Swiss legal expert                                                 The charade trial of illegally toppled Iraqi President Saddam Hussein by yet another Western organized Kangroo court finally opened under a veil of secrecy on 19 October and was adjourned to 28 November. Saddam Hussein was defiant and claimed that he was the legitimate President of Iraq as he had done when he was first charged in July, 2004. (TRIAL OF SADDAM HUSSEIN & THE RULE OF LAW www.saag.org/papers11/paper1046.html ) He and six co-defendants are accused of killing 143 people after an unsuccessful assassination attempt on him in 1982. Western media was miffed at the show of defiance by the combative and aggressive former Iraqi leader.

 
24. Flawed Referendum Would Morph Iraq Into Regional Black Hole By K Gajendra Singh                                  October 27 2005  

http://tarafits.blogspot.com/2011/12/flawed-referendum-would-morph-iraq-into.html                                                
"Democracy is not alone a form of state and of administration. It is a philosophy of life and an outlook on the world. The authority of the state and its law is derived from general agreement among citizens upon the main postulates of philosophy of life". President Masaryk.  
US franchised 'Landmark" towards democracy brings Iraq to precipice's brink  
Ten days after allegations of wide spread fraud , Iraq's Election Commission on 24 October declared that the referendum had ratified the Constitution as in the third province of Nineveh, out of 18 provinces , only 55 % voted against it .If it were 2 /3^rd  the Constitution would have collapsed.

25. US Franchised Torture Refuses To Go Away- Gajendra Singh www.informationclearinghouse.info/article11601.htm                           20 January,2006.
01/18/06 "ICH" -- -- The ramifications of US franchised torture and street revolutions in Serbia, Georgia ,Ukraine , Kyrgyzstan et al are not going to go away . The recent fence-mending visit to Washington by the newly sworn in right wing German Chancellor Angela Merkel was overshadowed by human right violations and torture at US base in Guantanamo and rendition of terrorism suspects to prisons in Europe and elsewhere by CIA.

26. Before the March 2003 US-Led Invasion of Iraq 31 March,2006 
By K Gajendra Singh  file:///C:/Users/gajendra/Documents/SaagFiles/SgIrWarPre03Aj31M.htm

"This young century will be liberty's century and Iraq and Afghanistan were poised to become examples for the rest of the Middle East of peaceful, democratic societies, Gorge  Bush told the UN General Assembly ,"Propaganda is to a democracy what the bludgeon is to a totalitarian state" — Noam Chomsky

On the 3^rd anniversary of the US led illegal invasion of Iraq , a number of comments have appeared in Western media, saying I told you so . Many have been consistent in their views .But many changed the course midway , some remarking that the operation to colonise Iraq should have been better planned and executed , sitting in their plush corporate financed think tanks and media offices .They remain out of touch with the reality on the ground .

27 The Great Western Demonology Circus: Now the Halabja Show 

By K Gajendra Singh                                                     April 10, 2006

http://bgtruth.blogspot.com/2006/04/great-western-demnology-circus-now.html

Western leaders and in house corporate and subservient media, continue to line up one show after another. Soon after the death of Serbian nationalist hero Slobodan Milosevic's death in western custody, which ended his trial ( the Hague tribunal did not even allow him to be treated in Moscow ), another third world leader has been put on trial ,Charles Taylor of Liberia . Just a little side show.

28. The Generals Revolt-A Symptom Of U.S. Malaise 23-04-06
by K. Gajendra Singh www.Informationclearinghouse.com MWCNews.com, Al Jazeerah.info

"War is too serious a matter to be left to Generals" or to civilians who have never seen a battlefield.

  
The retired generals' revolt only highlights the malaise in the US polity which has crept in , specially in recent decades. The disconnect between an arrogant, ill informed Administration and the military executors of its policies in Iraq has opened a Pandora's box which hopefully might become the tipping point for much needed changes in US polity.

29. U.S. Dunkirk In Iraq; The Tipping Point 06/20/06

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13697.htm

 

 In an excellent recent piece 'Nightmare Scenario' in the respected US magazine 'The Nation ', Nicholas von Hoffman ,speculates that the badly outnumbered American expeditionary force in Iraq , now in danger of being trapped in spite of all its firepower, could possibly face some kind of a military defeat. Already the number of US soldiers dead has crossed 2500 and counting ; two per day , with tens of thousands maimed and injured.

 30.The Mother Of All Battles: For Oil        12 July,2006

http://www.aljazeerah.info/Opinion%20editorials/2006%20Opinion%20Editorials/July/12%20o/The%20Mother%20Of%20All%20Battles%20For%20Oil%20By%20K%20Gajendra%20Singh.htm

Noam Chomsky's comments on the" Israel lobby 'in US article by two respected US university professors John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt hit the nail on the head ,where in he points out that US and Israel interests coincide in the West's policy to control hydrocarbon energy resources ie petroleum and gas, ever since the emergence of its importance in warfare and economy. Chomsky points out how western energy corporations have flourished with "profits beyond the dreams of avarice" with "the Middle East (ME) their leading cash cow."

31. The US Empire –Beginning of the End Game  24 Nov,2006  
http://www.rense.com/general74/usempr.htm

 

A 15th century Ottoman Sultan Murat II arranged for Mehmet II , not the favourite son , to be trained in the art of governing at the capital city Edirne ,under an able Grand Vizier. Mehmet II had been a wild and disobedient brat, so Murat II advised his teacher use of the rod , which was done to good effect. A Sunni, Sultan Mehmet II fell under the unwholesome influence of a Shia cleric, fought with the Grand Vizier and the military Janissaries rebelled. Before Mehmet II could create further mess, Murat II returned from Manisa, where he had retired for spiritual pursuits and took back the reins of the empire.
32. The Moving Finger and the Baker-Hamilton Iraq Study Group                                                     December 19, 2006

http://www.chowk.com/Views/Education/The-Moving-Finger-and-the-Baker-Hamilton-Iraq-Study-Group

The Moving Finger Writes; and, having writ, Moves on: nor all your Piety nor Wit, Shall lure it back to Cancel half a Line, Nor all your Tears wash out a Word of it. –Omar Khayam
 

It took the US Congress 3 years, after the Washington led illegal invasion of Iraq against world opinion, to establish on March 15, 2006 , a bipartisan Commission, the Iraq Study Group (ISG), to salvage something from the bloody Iraqi quagmire. There is now a full fledged civil war with Iraq slipping towards breakup, under US led occupation.

33 The US-Saudi-Wahabi Nexus ! 1 January,2007
 
http://www.boloji.com/index.cfm?md=Content&sd=Articles&ArticleID=451

 

"History is ruled by an inexorable determinism in which the free choice of major historical figures plays a minimal role", Leo Tolstoy  By K Gajendra Singh
 
When the powerful US Vice-President Dick Cheney made a rare long haul to Riyadh in November , reportedly it was to create against Iran , Syria and Hezbollah in Lebanon , a new US led Sunni alliance in the region, composed of   the six Gulf Co-operation Council states, pro-US Arab governments in Cairo and Amman and willing NATO allies with covert support from Israel.
 
34. SADDAM HUSSEIN; VICTIM OF OLD WEST JUSTICE & VENDETTA http://www.uruknet.info/?p=m29623&hd=&size=1&l=e January 7, 2006
After illegal invasion, barbaric occupation, now Kangaroo court execution
 
The world seeks America's leadership, looks for leadership for a country whose values are freedom and justice and equality." Texas Governor George W. Bush in 2000.
President Saddam Hussein of Iraq, overthrown after the US led illegal invasion of Iraq in March, 2003 , against UN Charter and world opinion , became an other victim of 'Old West Justice' exercised by European colonizers and Americans ( against Red Indians and Blacks ) during the last few centuries . He was hanged on 30 December morning in Baghdad under US occupation by Washington controlled government of exiles, quislings, embezzlers and war lords.
 

35. Texan Poker Bluff and Persian Chess Moves

By K Gajendra Singh                                                 21 January, 2007
 http://www.chowk.com/Views/Education/Texan-Poker-Bluff-and-Persian-Chess-Moves

"The arrogance of military power has led to a grave crisis - and to a decline of the United States' role and influence." Mikhail Gorbachev.
"The president is living in a dream world,'' US Sen. Barbara Boxer.
On Iran , US Administration has reached the pre-Iraq invasion rhetoric level of 2003 , when against the UN Charter and world opinion ,President George Bush decided to invade Iraq after having assembled a naval armada and air and land forces in the region ,cheerlead by a subservient US media . Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice are accusing Tehran of developing nuclear weapons and exporting terrorism, just as Saddam Hussein was allegedly doing. Iran is also not abiding by U N resolutions on its nuclear weapons program, which, like Iraq then, it denies it has. UN Nuclear Agency in Vienna has found no proof of a weapons program .Neither there was one in Iraq in 2003. Almost all accusations made by US President , his deputy and others , exaggerated by US corporate owned media proved to be false.

36. Russia Broad-bands Relations with Middle East
by K. Gajendra Singh                                                  18 February, 2007

http://www.boloji.com/index.cfm?md=Content&sd=Articles&ArticleID=404

Energy is at the centre of Russia's strategic partnership with the European Union. Oil is the cause of its struggle with the US over the routes of pipelines from the Caspian and Central Asia –Le Monde.
Moscow's relations with the Middle East during the Cold War were mostly focused on socialist and nationalist regimes, ranged against Kingdoms and conservative Western allies, but USSR's collapse and its disintegration saw its influence shrink. Now a coherent Russian Federation around an Orthodox Slav core, minus the old ideological, ethnic and religious mixed baggage, under an astute President Vladimir Putin has assiduously re-built, almost from a scratch ,its influence in the region, and taking advantage of the follies of the Bush administration, is broad banding relationships from Rabat to Riyadh.

37. Beware; USA & Allies Stoking Shia-Sunni Divide
 by K. Gajendra Singh                                                                                   23 March, 2007

http://www.uruknet.info/?p=31577
"We could expect an epic battle between Shi'ite extremists backed by Iran, and Sunni extremists aided by al-Qaeda and supporters of the old regime. A contagion of violence could spill out across the country [Iraq] - and in time the entire region could be drawn into the conflict." President George Bush in his State of Union address.

" Mr Bush looks increasingly like a general who has run out of ideas, troops and hope ." Commented 'The Guardian' 

 

US led western talk of a Shia-Sunni war looks troublingly real, although the option is now on slow backburner. The policy of divide and rule is as old as the Roman empire – a constant guide to the Christian West and implemented ruthlessly during its colonial onslaught on the rest of the world. Evolution of Western nationalism based on a narrow definition of shared religion, ethnicity, language, culture or history after centuries of religious and ethnic wars was then employed to divide multi religious and pluralistic empires and kingdoms in the East and South during its crusade of colonial wars and expansion, masked as 'civilizing mission ' or 'white man's burden' 'or 'saving the soul' by converting natives to Christianity.

38. Iran-UK Stand-off: A Clash of Civilizations
Iran Pardons Blair's Dozen and Jane Bond    8 April, 2007

http://www.boloji.com/index.cfm?md=Content&sd=Articles&ArticleID=380

"U.K. has suspended boarding operations in the northern Persian Gulf while the Royal Navy reviewed its procedures "  First Sea Lord Admiral Jonathon Bond (no relation of James Bond).

Iranian Chess Masters Choreograph the Crisis End;
It was a virtuoso almost flawless choreography which ended the two week long Iran-UK crisis (with USA lurking at the back and Europe not far behind) following the James Bond like British intelligence intrusion into Iranian waters. Even the Times online admitted "The captives, including Leading Seaman Faye Turney, 26, were released yesterday in a stunning piece of political theatre by President Ahmadinejad, who brought a bizarre but welcome end to a 13-day drama that held the possibility of violent escalation." 

39.Gen Taguba Unveils Abu Ghraib, US Gulag -  http://www.uruknet.info/?p=m34046&hd=&size=1&l=e     27 June, 2007

 

 Recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world : Preamble, Universal Declaration of Human Rights

"From the moment a soldier enlists, we inculcate loyalty, duty, honor, integrity, and selfless service. And yet when we get to the senior-officer level we forget those values."US Gen Antonio Taguba.
A senior US General in Iraq to Gen Taguba --" the abused detainees were 'only Iraqis.'"

 

40 . IRAQ 'S DOOMED 'SURGE' ONLY WIDENS GATES OF HELL     http://www.uruknet.info/?p=m34176&hd=&size=1&l=e                   3 July ,2007

 

"Be nice to America, otherwise we will bring you democracy." A bumper sticker in New York
The welfare of the people in particular has always been the alibi of tyrants, and it provides the further advantage of giving the servants of tyranny a good conscience. Albert Camus
Television images showed a man running down a smoke-filled street in Baghdad holding a lifeless baby above his head. Smoke was rising off the baby.

 

 
41.The Decline And Coming Fall Of US Hegemony
by K.Gajendra Singh                                                                31 March ,2008
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19656.htm

 

 "History is ruled by an inexorable determinism in which the free choice of major historical figures plays a minimal role", Leo Tolstoy 

 31/03/06 "ICH" -- - When I went back to Ankara in late 1992 to head the Indian Embassy, many of my friends from the Turkish Foreign Office from my 1969-73 tenure as First Secretary, were going out as ambassadors to newly independent states in Central Asia and the Baltic, following the breakup of the Soviet Union. Looking at the creation of so many new missions, a cheeky young Turkish diplomat in the Foreign Ministry said rather mischievously than hopefully, that only if United States of America broke up into 50 independent states, could he ever hope to head like them a Turkish Embassy, in north America. --

But the wish of the young diplomat is not going to be fulfilled any time soon, if ever. But still—

 

42. WESTERN MILITARY-CAPITALIST CIVILISATION IN DISARRAY        

http://www.boloji.com/index.cfm?md=Content&sd=Articles&ArticleID=236   25 Sept 2008                 

http://www.uruknet.de/?p=m47513 , http://www.boloji.com/analysis2/0386.htm 

 
"Credit easing does not and cannot substitute for earnings, wages or tax revenues." Max Wolff
"The [US] financial system is out of control and has led the economy into a wildly turbulent sea of heavily leveraged speculation.-- the road ahead is dark and unknown." Steve Fraser author of" Wall Street: America 's Dream Palace ."

"Before the US economy can truly begin to expand again, the savings rate must rise to pre-bubble levels of 8pc--$2 trillion of household debt must be eliminated", Economist David Rosenberg

 

43. Corporate Culture and Greed Sink the American Republic

 http://www.boloji.com/analysis2/0442.htm            17 May ,2009                                                                           

Democracy is the government of the people, by the people and for the people.    �We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can�t have both.� Said US Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis 80 years ago

"Over-grown military establishments are under any form of government inauspicious to liberty, and are to be regarded as particularly hostile to republican liberty." --George Washington (1732-1799), First US President

.
"[The] conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. . . . In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist." --Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890-1969), 34th US President, Farewell Address, Jan. 17, 1961

44. Another Sovereignty Transfer Charade in Baghdad
http://www.boloji.com/index.cfm?md=Content&sd=Articles&ArticleID=162

Iraq; the Goose that lays (Black) Golden Eggs!                              4 July,2009
130,000 GIs Stay Put on Iraqi Soil 

                                                     
 "This war [in Iraq] is the most important liberal, revolutionary U.S. democracy-building project since the Marshall Plan. ... it is one of the noblest things this country has ever attempted abroad." — Thomas Friedman in New York Times 30 November, 2003 . 

"Despite the agreement with Iraq, the United States would continue to have fighting forces in Iraq and Afghanistan beyond 2012. --The reality is that we're going to have 10 Army and Marine units deployed for a decade in Iraq and Afghanistan." Gen. George Casey, US Army chief of staff on May 26, 2009 .

First transfer of 'Sovereignty' to Iraq on 28 June, 2004
People and media have such short memories. The first charade of transfer of sovereignty to Iraq was conducted in a secret, short and pre-poned ceremony from 30 June to 28 June, in Baghdad .

45. Confirmation of Pressure on Dollar and US Decline
by K. Gajendra Singh    http://www.boloji.com/analysis2/0493.html   8 October, 2009

London's 'The Independent' of 6 October has focused attention on the coming fall of US hegemony beginning with the pressure on US dollar , following the not so secret meetings between Arab states , China, Russia, Japan and France to stop use of the US currency for oil trading

46 Bush and Blair accused of War Crimes ; Kuala Lumpur Tribunal

By K Gajendra Singh 7 November . 2009 

http://tarafits.blogspot.com/2009/11/bush-and-blair-accused-of-war-crimes.html

For any endevour against war crimes and injustice a first step has to be taken .In this case a number of steps based on morality , ethics and international law have already been taken 

 
In the minds of the majority of world's population ,War crimes have been committed by Anglo-American leadership and others and their armed forces with the connivance of the UN as in the case of the attacks on Yugoslavia and the dismanling of the state, Afghanistan and in the case of 2003 invasion of Iraq against UNSC opinion and its Charter .

 

47.Complaint against George Bush & others in the International Criminal Court & warning to Obama

For Crimes against Humanity     23 January ,2010

 

Prof Boyle requests International Arrest Warrants for Rendition & Torture

 

Recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world : Preamble, Universal Declaration of Human Rights

 

Illinois University professor Francis A. Boyle has filed a Complaint with the Prosecutor for the International Criminal Court (I.C.C.) in The Hague against U.S. citizens George W. Bush, Richard Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, George Tenet, Condoleezza Rice, and Alberto Gonzales (the "Accused") for their criminal policy and practice of "extraordinary rendition" ie enforced disappearance and consequent torture perpetrated upon about 100 human beings. This criminal policy and practice by the Accused constitute Crimes against Humanity in violation of the Rome Statute establishing the I.C.C. While United States is not a party to the Rome Statute the Accused ordered and were responsible for the commission of I.C.C. statutory crimes within the respective territories of many I.C.C. member states, including several in Europe. Consequently, the I.C.C. has jurisdiction to prosecute the Accused for their I.C.C. statutory crimes under Rome Statute article 12(2)(a) that affords the I.C.C. jurisdiction to prosecute for I.C.C. statutory crimes committed in I.C.C. member states. 

48.Chilcot Iraq Inquiry; Another British Whitewash of 2003 Illegal Invasion; Tony Blair continues to lie still       2 Feb 2010

http://tarafits.blogspot.com/2010/02/chilcot-iraq-inquiry-another-british.html

 The British are past master in holding enquires to whitewash their quasi-legal or illegal activities and crimes. So the outcome of the public Iraq enquiry by Sir John Chilcot and his colleagues in regard to the decision to invade Iraq and the role of then prime minister Tony Blair was broadcast live by BBC and others .But the outcome would be another whitewash

 

Wrote George Monbiot in 'The Guardian' of 26 January ; " The only question that counts is the one that the Chilicot inquiry won't address: was the war with Iraq illegal? If the answer is yes, everything changes. The war is no longer a political matter, but a criminal one, and those who commissioned it should be committed for trial for what the Nuremberg tribunal called "the supreme international crime": the crime of aggression.

 

49. The Looming Mother of all Economic and Social Crisis

http://www.mwcnews.net/focus/analysis/2405-k-gajendra-singh.html,  11 May 2010

"Keynes's collective work amounted to a powerful argument that capitalism was by its very nature unstable and prone to collapse. Far from trending toward some magical state of equilibrium, capitalism would inevitably do the opposite. It would lurch over a cliff," --- Hyman Minsky.

On Thursday, May 6, 2010 , ninety minutes before the end of the trading day, the U.S. stock market almost melted down. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped nearly 1,000 points. The market recovered before the end and closed down 348 points, or 3.2%, like a giant 747 narrowly averting a crash landing, but the questions of the day are: What happened? And what does it mean?

50 "End of Combat Mission" in Iraq; another Charade

After Sovereignty Transfer and Mission Accomplished! Sept 5,2010

  Operation Iraqi Freedom – A Great Criminal Misadventure

 http://tarafits.blogspot.com/2010/09/end-of-combat-mission-in-iraq-another.html

"History is but glorification of murderers, criminals and robbers." -Karl Popper

" The limits of American military power have been laid bare in the killing fields of Iraq; Iran has been transformed into the pre-eminent regional power; --- a resurgent Taliban is leading an increasingly effective guerrilla war in Afghanistan; and far from crushing terror networks, the US and its allies have spread them to Pakistan--- Pakistan is being ripped apart by the fallout from the Afghan occupation. If the US escalates, the impact will be devastating-- The country now shows every sign of slipping out of the control of its dysfunctional civilian government - and even the military that has held it together for 60 years, " Seumas Milne in The Guardian

New American Century Project Ends in a Catastrophe  

President Barack Obama in his 18 minute address to the US people on 31 August, 2010 on the so called 'End of Combat Mission' in Iraq , said ,"This milestone should serve as a reminder to all Americans that our future is ours to shape if we move forward with confidence and commitment. It should also serve as a message to the world that the United States of America intends to sustain and strengthen our leadership in this young century"  

51.7th Anniversary of the War Crimes at Fallujah
by K. Gajendra Singh  22 November,2011 http://www.boloji.com/index.cfm?md=Content&sd=Articles&ArticleID=11643
K L War Crimes Tribunal unanimously convicts Bush and Blair for 'crimes against peace'.   According to media reports the Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Tribunal unanimously found former United States president George W. Bush and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair guilty of "crimes against peace".  The tribunal found that the two had planned, prepared and invaded the state of Iraq on March 19, 2003, in violation of the United Nations Charter and international law.   Post Script Post Sept 2008 Crippled Economy & US Strategic Decline Smoke and Storm Signals K.Gajendra Singh, 4 July.2011 http://www.boloji.com/index.cfm?md=Content&sd=Articles&ArticleID=11174   "Starting next month, we will be able to remove 10,000 of our troops from Afghanistan by the end of this year, and we will bring home a total of 33,000 troops by next summer, --and all -- by 2014, " President Barack Obama in June2011   US debt now amounts to around $ 14 trillion , almost equal to its GDP .Even in this GDP , the financial industry contributes 40%.The economy is now 20-25 % of world GDP unlike 50% after WWII and is being artificially sustained by a stimulus of  $ 2.8 trillion .There are no green shoots of revival , unemployment continues to rise . US economy is in recession .The 1930s recession was overcome by WWII which allowed its protected ( from war) industry to run full steam and indebt European and other countries .   "Imperialism has been the most powerful force in world history over the last four or five centuries, carving up whole continents while oppressing indigenous peoples and obliterating entire civilizations, "Michael Parenti--" the subject of imperialism has been sanitized, so that empires become "commonwealths," and colonies become "territories" or "dominions". Imperialist military interventions become matters of "national defense," "national security," and maintaining "stability" (Or civilizing missions, saving the souls and more recently ," Operation enduring freedom "in Afghanistan, 'Operation Iraqi Freedom' and 'Humanitarian intervention' in Libya)     How Empires Collapse--suddenly ---But I was in for a shock when I called on the Russian ambassador (in Baku in end 1993 ), whose Residence consisted of a couple of rooms in an Intourist hotel . Russians were the masters of Azerbaijan till it broke away a few years earlier , because of policies of glasnost and perestroika by a somewhat naïve Mikhail Gorbachev.   Ambassador (Retd) K.Gajendra Singh ,December 23 , 2011.Mayur Vihar, Delhi

 

 

Flawed Referendum Would Morph Iraq Into Regional Black Hole

                                                

Flawed Referendum Would Morph Iraq Into Regional Black Hole     By K Gajendra Singh                                                          October 27 2005                                                   

"Democracy is not alone a form of state and of administration. It is a philosophy of life and an outlook on the world. The authority of the state and its law is derived from general agreement among citizens upon the main postulates of philosophy of life". President Masaryk.  

US franchised 'Landmark" towards democracy brings Iraq to precipice's brink  

Ten days after allegations of wide spread fraud , Iraq's Election Commission on 24 October declared that the referendum had ratified the Constitution as in the third province of Nineveh, out of 18 provinces , only 55 % voted against it .If it were 2 /3^rd  the Constitution would have collapsed .In the two other Sunni majority provinces more than2 /3^rd  voted against it . In the capitals of the occupying powers US and UK unlike other earlier" landmarks", there were little celebrations as Iraq moved relentlessly towards an open civil war and morphing into a black hole of political violence for the whole region.

In spite of US claims as a major step in Iraq's democratic reforms, with election for a full-term parliament now slated for December 15 , many even in the West rightly fear that a large turnout by Sunni Arabs to try to defeat it and fail would only enrage many and fuel their support for the country's raging Sunni-led resistance.

"Results of the referendum have indicated the degree of political polarization in Iraq,'' admitted the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq but it also praised Iraqis for turning out to vote. ``This poses an ongoing challenge for all Iraqis and underscores the importance of an inclusive national dialogue.''

In the crucial Nineveh province ( capital city Mosul ) out of 718 ,758  voters ,55 .08% voted against the constitution while 44 . 92% voted for it, out of total votes polled 9, 852, 291 in all 18 provinces of Iraq. That is , if another 0 . 08 % of the total Iraq voters had gone against the Constitution in Nineveh, it would have failed . Apart from these 3 Sunni dominated provinces, in the volatile Kirkuk ie Tamin province , 37 . 09%  out of 542 , 688 and in Diyala 48.73%  out of 476 , 980 and in Baghdad 22 . 30% out of 2 ,120, 615 also voted against it. In Kirkuk which the Kurds would make the capital of its region and later of an independent state, demographic changes were carried out by the Kurds , against which even Turkey has frequently protested .

It is noteworthy that in Baghdad over 450 , 000  voted against the Constitution. Many of these could be the followers of Moqtda as-Sadr , the Shia Cleric who remains staunchly opposed to the US enforced political process and wants the Occupying forces to quit .

It is not only Sunnis who view with extreme suspicion the results but also the Shias of the Sadr Movement. Sunni leader Salih Mutlak complained that the tallying in Nineveh was done by Peshmerga militiamen, who, he said had tampered with the ballots. He insisted that the vote in Nineveh was in fact 2 /3^rd against, and that the constitution had really failed. Mutlak said that the Sunni Arabs would now boycott the December 15 parliamentary elections.

"A constitution should be a bargain and a compromise among the major factions in a nation. If a single bloc like the Sunni Arabs of Iraq rejects the constitution, then it isn't really a constitution."

Such razor thin approval for the foundation of the country's political structure, with such marked polarization, is anything but a general agreement among citizens on how to rule themselves . It is a sure recipe for continued violence, which became even more virulent following the vote, for which the US led occupation powers had sowed the seeds from the very beginning.

Dead US soldiers cross 2000 mark– larger than in Vietnam for similar period

The other land mark which is affecting USA internally is the number of dead US soldiers which crossed 2000, with tens of thousands seriously injured or maimed for life. Resentment and Anti war protests are growing rapidly.

President Bush's opinion poll approval ratings have sunk to around 37 percent, partly reflecting the ill-handled federal government response to Hurricane Katrina's devastation of the Gulf coast. But majority of Americans are telling pollsters the country "is on the wrong track" and saying the Iraq war was a mistake.

The number of dead Iraqis killed would probably be now closer  to 150 , 000 , which occupiers refuse to count .A Lancelet report nearly a year ago had estimated the number at 100 ,000. Since then the violence has become more virulent and widespread .It had all begun with the "Operation Iraqi Freedom", which was a cover for "Operation Iraqi Occupation" against the will of the majority of the UN members , which its Secretary General Kofi Annan described as illegal. The various causes bellis offered like WMDs , Iraqi links with Al Qaeda and its nuclear arms program have been proved to be false by US's  own investigating teams .

Col. Larry Wilkerson, the chief of staff to former Secretary of State Colin Powell in a widely reported speech to the New American Foundation in Washington denounced "the cabal around Vice President Dick Cheney's office" saying that the national security decision-making process was effectively "broken." In an interview with The New Yorker magazine Brent Scowcroft, who served as National Security Adviser under Bush's father, assailed neo-conservatives who persuaded the President to go to war in Iraq.

There is a growing likelihood that the federal special prosecutor could indict top administration officials, including Bush's most powerful political adviser, Karl Rove, and Cheney's chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, this week for having played a key role in trying to discredit and punish whistle-blower Ambassador Joseph Wilson, who had publicly questioned the rationale for going to war on Iraq's concocted purchase of Uranium from Niger.

According to a poll commissioned by the Ministry of Defence and conducted in August by an Iraqi university research team, 65 %  of Iraqis believe attacks on U.S. and British troops are justified, 82 %  of those polled said they were "strongly opposed" to the presence of the foreign troops. Less than 1 percent believed that the forces were responsible for any improvement in security,

It is a blatant 21 ^st century attempt by Anglo-Saxons to colonise Iraq for its oil resources and control the petro-region. US claims and achievement to promote democracy , as in Afghanistan are farcical. Instead, in the wake of stunning attacks on 911 on USA and 77 London bombings , both these "pillars of democracy" are regressing into police states with curbs on freedoms.

Detailed results

Voters in Sunni-dominated al-Anbar, in the west, rejected the Constitution by almost 97 percent, as did about 82 percent of voters in the majority-Sunni central province of Salahdin. Nineveh had been a focus of fraud allegations since preliminary results showed a large majority of voters had approved the constitution, despite a large Sunni Arab population there.

About 99 percent of voters backed the constitution in the northern Kurdish province of Arbil. In the southern Shiite Muslim province of Basra, 96 percent of voters approved it.

Some 9.8 million Iraqis or 63 % of registered voters cast ballots. About 60 % had turned out for 30 January vote, which was boycotted by most Sunni Arabs. The referendum on the Constitution was 78.59% in favor and 21 .41% against, The Charter provided that if two-thirds of the voters in any three provinces rejected it, the constitution would be defeated.

While Farid Ayar, of  the Electoral Commission claimed that the audit turned up no significant fraud, Saleh al-Mutlaq, a Sunni Arab member of the drafting committee called the referendum "a farce" and accused government forces of stealing ballot boxes to reduce the percentage of "no" votes in several mostly Sunni-Arab provinces. "The people were shocked to find out that their vote is worthless because of the major fraud that takes place in Iraq," he said on Al-Arabiya TV.

Adnan al-Dulaimi, a spokesman for the General Conference for the People of Iraq, a largely Sunni coalition of politicians and tribal leaders, said the audit took so long that it left many Sunnis suspicious of possible fraud and manipulation. But he said his group "will work to educate Iraqis and get them to participate in the December election."

The international community remembers well that in 2000 George W. Bush was elected on black and Hispanic votes against him not counted in Florida, where his brother was the Governor .Then the final result was decided by a partisan Supreme court , bringing under cloud fair name of USA's judicial system .Even former President Jimmy Carter , who monitors elections all around the world , felt embarrassed by the 2000 irregularities .

During the ten day audit , Western propaganda media machine was suddenly silent on the much hyped referendum. So it turned its attention to the misery of earthquake victims in Pakistan and Kashmir , but forgot the post Katrina misery and problems among Blacks and Latinos .Then it did a trial by media of illegally toppled Saddam Hussein , but he gave a most robust performance in the US organized Kangaroo Court in , where else , the most well guarded place on earth , the Green Zone in Baghdad , where under cover of secrecy sovereignty was also transferred to US quislings .

A rolling constitution ends in a bikini

The US Pro-Consul is Afghan born , naturalized Zalmay Khalilzad, former US Ambassador to Kabul and current ambassador in Baghdad ,who organized the writing of the Constitution. During the negotiations , Reuters described Khalilzad  as a "ubiquitous presence". " Just in case, Khalilzad and his team of American Embassy officials even volunteered their own constitution text to the Iraqis. At a minimum, according to the Washington Post, they "helped type up the draft and translate changes from English to Arabic. Khalilzad constantly tampered with the redaction."

"Many people in Iraq have not even seen a copy of the draft constitution. And it went through so many published drafts no one really knows what still stands. The "official", UN-printed final draft - 5 million copies of which started to be distributed less than two weeks before the vote - is already history. Not to mention that a mid-September UN internal confidential report suggests the constitution is a recipe for the breakup of Iraq."

The agenda for the political process in Iraq has to fit with US objectives and problems, sometimes internal . Now to show at least the appearance of a swift consensus between Shias, Sunnis, and Kurds, much that was contentious in the Constitution was stripped away. Thus many of the provisions giving specific details of the state's key institutions or laying down the procedures for implementing the principles the constitution proclaims ,were either never formulated or, if formulated, are absent from the final version. "The Iraqi constitution is probably unique among such documents in that it became shorter and shorter in the process of being written." Becoming almost a  bikini . The constitution gives the Kurds and the Shia much of what they wanted and the Sunnis very little of what they deserved.

"The constitution Iraqis voted on this month resembles a colour-by-numbers book, with the shapes broadly outlined but the all-important colours left to be filled in later. Representatives will have to agree, for instance, on the nature and even the powers of the federal supreme court, the judicial council and the commission for human rights. They will have to decide what exactly is meant by Islam being "a basic source" for legislation, and they will have to rule on whether the Arab provinces of Iraq will have the option of combining into regions, an option which is already entrenched in the constitution for the Kurds. They will have to accommodate the right to amend the constitution, inserted to reassure the Sunnis and encourage them to vote in December. But it is hardly likely to do either if it is seen as a dead letter. All this under the pressure of the continuing insurgency and in the context of an increased emphasis on ethnic and sectarian differences that the constitutional process, as driven by the Americans , has done much to deepen."

History Prof Mark LeVine at the University of California who viewed it from the perspective of the Middle East's recent history, said that it" will likely neither end the insurgency nor bring the country closer to significant democratic development."

"The original draft of the Constitution did set important benchmarks for democracy and personal freedom for Iraqis. It even concludes with a statement on environmental protection that Americans should envy. But these advances are overshadowed by what the Constitution left out. Specifically, there are no references to three issues that of primary concern to most Arabs, and especially Sunni Iraqis: A prohibition on the long-term presence of foreign--read American--troops in the country, a firm statement emphasizing Iraqi control of production and distribution of the country's oil resources, and a commitment to rebuilding the social infrastructure that was devastated by the invasion and subsequent wholesale privatization of the country's economy under US auspices.

"For most every Arab Iraqi the withdrawal of all American and other foreign troops is the sine qua non for ending the insurgency. That the constitutional negotiators couldn't include any prohibition of foreign troops, or deal straightforwardly with the other two core issues, demonstrates the continuing and largely deleterious power of the US in the country's internal affairs.

"In this framework, three out of the four amendments passed last week to assuage Sunni voters will not achieve their aim. The first amendment, adding the phrase "The Constitution is the guarantee of the unity of the country," might have important symbolic value, but is meaningless if the violence and insurgency continue. The second, mandating Arabic as an official language in Kurdistan, will also make little difference for Arabs living in Kurdistan if, as is case with Arabic in Israel, official recognition is not translated into acceptance by the Kurdish majority of Arabic as a language of public discourse.

"The third amendment, slowing down the de-Baathification program and ending the purge of former party members who weren't directly involved in the former regime's crimes, is the one positive step of the four, as it will go a long way to ameliorating the concerns of Sunni politicians, and even ordinary workers, who were part of the Baath party during the previous regime.

"But the final and most important amendment, setting up a Parliamentary committee to suggest a one-time set of changes or amendments to the Constitution after the elections in December, will likely not bring any of the changes to the Constitution , Sunnis are demanding. Even if every eligible Sunni voter had voted on Saturday and in the parliamentary elections scheduled for December, they will remain too small a minority to change the Constitution in a manner that would shift significant resources, revenues or political power away from Kurds and Shiites and to their communities.

"Because of this, the statement by President Talibani that the Constitution has addressed all Sunni concerns is simply not true. More accurate is the statement made by Shiite legislator Saad Jawad that the last minute amendments were "an added bonus" to convince Sunnis to vote for the Constitution without making any substantive changes to the balance of power enshrined therein.

"Given this situation it is unlikely that most Sunni leaders will change their view of the insurgency as the only true bargaining chip they have to force Kurds and Shiites to sacrifice some of their power, or to achieve a full withdrawal of Coalition forces from Iraq."

 

Now USA would arm twist the international community to accept the new Constitution, which is made by the Americans, for the Americans and of the Americans.

Commented Andrew Arato, .

"There is great confusion in the English language, and I must assume in the Arabic press as well concerning the text added to already patched up document just three days before the referendum. In a version released by the UN Office for Constitutional Support, and the NY Times Bureau, both in Baghdad, there are only relatively minor changes, that regarding the fundamental issue of "federalism" establish only "a committee from its members… representative of the main components of Iraqi society…to make recommendations in a periods not to exceed four months for necessary amendments that can be made to the Constitution". Otherwise this addition leaves the existing complicated amendment rule in place, which in spite of numerous mis-readings in the press banned all amendments for two parliamentary cycles only for fundamental rights, and for state principles that do not involve "federalism".

"As to rights of regions, while these could not be amended at all without a regions consent, this provision applies only to regions already formed, presently Kurdistan. In this version it would seem that the Iraqi Islamic Party sold its support for a pot of porridge, i.e. a mere committee, since the regulations concerning regions all remain in place, and require, as before the so-called compromise, a 2 / 3 parliamentary vote to change them, which a nationalist side led by the Sunnis or anyone else is not going to have against Kurdish and Shi'ite opposition under any conceivable electoral and coalition building scenarios."

Another authenticated version that was read in the Parliament 'also involves the formation of the relevant committee, but suspends the operation of all sections of the normal amendment rule (previous art.122 , now art.125 ) for the relevant period of four months after the election of the National Assembly. That body under this rule would approve a full package of amendments, as a whole, by absolute majority (i.e. of all members).

" For whatever amendments would emerge from the four month process they have reinstated the ratification rule of the Transitional Administrative Law (TAL ) used in the present referendum: simple majority in the country plus the three province veto. Still only a pot of porridge, then ? Very possibly, because  the veto that may have been given up on the level of parliament is still retained by both the Shi'ites and the Kurds on the level of provinces. "

Another 6 months would have given a chance for a historic compromise among the three major groups as now defined, or among more and different ones if there is a political re-orientation and re-alignment but it did not fit with Bush agenda .If a process of constitution modification failed , likely ,then  Iraqis would be back with a new constitution that is strongly biased in favor of a regionalist break-up of the country with the possibility for example of mega regions, and the resolution of disputed constitutional questions concerning social status and formation of regions by simple majorities.

Thus, the Shias and Kurds did not act in good faith when making the concession to the Sunnis, in fact they were engaging in nothing but an effort to get a few more Sunni votes in the referendum, and to split the Sunni parties. There appears little real chance still for some kind of historic compromise. For the moment, the parties of the government got their very poor constitution passed despite all the gaps and illegalities.

Conclusions

The right to life of civilians in Iraq has fallen victim to a combination of terrorism, violent crime and military excesses, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said last month

More than 80 percent of the 1,100 bodies brought in to Baghdad's Forensic Institute during the month of July bore evidence of violent death, "far in excess of the averages in previous months," Annan told the Security Council in a progress report on the world body's operations in Iraq. "These figures are indicative of a steadily deteriorating trend and provide an important indicator of the absence of protection of the right to life which prevails at this time in Iraq," his report said.

In addition to insurgent attacks, there was continuing concern about military operations by the U.S.-led multinational force in Iraq that have resulted in "civilian deaths, injury and displacement caused by excessive or apparent indiscriminate use of force," he said. The Iraqi security forces, which often lack training on how to treat persons and property, also use force to excess and conduct mass arrests "often without attention to due process."

First- and second-hand reports from Baghdad, Basra, Mosul, Kirkuk and Kurdish areas in northern Iraq "consistently point to the systematic use of torture during interrogations at police stations and within other premises, in many instances belonging to the Ministry of Interior," the report said.

Annan said the United Nations remained concerned about the large number of detainees being held without due process. Citing Ministry of Human Rights figures, he said Iraq's Justice Ministry was holding 7 , 300 prisoners, the Interior Ministry 2 , 300 and the Defense Ministry 120 . U.S. forces held around 9, 600 detainees. The U.S. military now runs three prisons in Iraq including the notorious Abu Ghraib.

Robert Fisk, Middle East correspondent for 'The Independent' said that" most of Iraq is in a state of anarchy, with insurgents controlling parts of Baghdad just half a mile from the so-called Green Zone .He painted a picture of deepening chaos and misery in Iraq more than two years after Saddam Hussein was illegally toppled. Fisk doubted the sincerity of Western leaders' commitment to bringing democracy to Iraq and said a lasting settlement in the country was impossible while foreign troops remained. "In the Middle East, they would like some of our democracy, --But I think they would also like freedom from us." 

In a recent debate in London he said: "The Americans must leave Iraq and they will leave Iraq, but they can't leave Iraq and that is the equation that turns sand to blood. At some point, they will have to talk to the insurgents. "But I don't know how, because those people who might be negotiators,­ the United Nations, the Red Cross ­ their headquarters have been blown up. The reality now in Iraq is the project is unfinished. Most of Iraq, except Kurdistan, is in a state of anarchy." 

He said that the Western leaders claims to introduce democracy, was "unreal" to most of Iraq's  citizens. In Baghdad, children and women were kept at home to prevent them from being kidnapped for money or sold into slavery. They faced a desperate struggle to find the money to keep generators running to provide themselves with electricity. "They aren't sitting in their front rooms discussing the referendum on the constitution." 

Eighty years after the carving out of the state from the ruins of the Ottoman empire, Iraq and the region is on the brink of precipice again.

In this Constitution, Iraqi Kurds may not get the independent state that 98 % of them want, but they get vast legislative powers, control of their own militia and authority over discoveries of oil - which only strengthen the semi -independence they have enjoyed since US led protection at the end of the 1991 Gulf war , making it an American protectorate , which Kurds hope would lead to reaching their centuries old dream. But for Turkish grey wolf is watching up north . But more disturbing development for the Sunni Arabs in the region is that not only have the Shias established political ascendancy in a large Arab country for the first time in centuries but they are doing so, like the Kurds, in a constitutionally prescribed autonomy which, which will cover central and southern Iraq, with more than half the country's population and bulk of its natural assets.

The Constitution is seen by the Arab world as a stimulus to rising inter-communal tensions and violence and Iraq's break up . Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal, told Americans that it is "part of a dynamic pushing the Iraqi people away from each other. If you allow for this - for a civil war to happen between Shias and Sunnis - Iraq is finished forever. It will be dismembered." What is alarming for the West is that, unlike the Kurds, whose independence Turkey staunchly opposes as it would give ideas to its own Kurds , Iraqi Shias, enjoy the strong support of a Iran , which recently elected a child of Khomeini revolution the new President ." Iran is clearly accumulating all the Shia-based geopolitical assets it can, from Iraq to south Lebanon, in preparation for the grand showdown that threatens it from the US."

Would the "Lebanonisation" of Iraq, lead to further divisions in the region , aided by ill planned and ill thought US policies. With US led crusade supported by poodle UK and France with its old colonial interests in Lebanon, which Paris had detached from Syria , US policies on a vulnerable Syria would unleash terrible convulsions .While Iraq was ruled by 20 % Iraqi Arab Sunnis since centuries , in Syria a small minority, the Shia Alawites, (12 % -rest are mostly Sunnis ) has ruled the country for more than 40 years. What the US led action in UN would do is not clear but if Iraq breaks up then Sunni majority restoration will become unstoppable in Syria. Then what about Jordan , where majority population is of Sunni Palestinian origin and Saudi Arabia , where its Shia populated regions hold vast oil wealth under its sands .

More than the ossified tribal or colonial imposed and created states and Sheikhdoms , now the region itself is  also threatened by the growth of non-state activities, the cross-border traffic in extreme Islamist ideology - along with the jihadists and suicide bombers who act on it - or ethnic and sectarian solidarities of the kind that threaten to tear Iraq apart. And then the region itself !

Harold Pinter on Iraq

Harold Pinter, winner of this years Nobel Prize for Literature said in Independent ,"We have brought torture, cluster bombs, depleted uranium, innumerable acts of random murder, misery and degradation to the Iraqi people and call it " bringing freedom and democracy to the Middle East". But, as we all know, we have not been welcomed with the predicted flowers. What we have unleashed is a ferocious and unremitting resistance, mayhem and chaos.

"You may say at this point: what about the Iraqi elections? Well, President Bush himself answered this question when he said: "We cannot accept that there can be free democratic elections in a country under foreign military occupation". I had to read that statement twice before I realised that he was talking about Lebanon and Syria."

(K Gajendra Singh, served as Indian Ambassador to Turkey and Azerbaijan in 1992-96. Prior to that, he served as ambassador to Jordan (during the 1990- 91Gulf war), Romania and Senegal . He is currently chairman of the Foundation for Indo-Turkic Studies, in Bucharest . The views expressed here are his own.- Email-Gajendrak@hotmail.com)