MUST READ REPORT FROM DAHR JAMAIL

[Jcrowley]

"It is worse than ever. The problem is that our U.S. government and the Iraqi ‘Government' tell the world that things are improving here when they are not. All of the rebuilding bull crap is nothing but a scam that is worse than the oil-for-food program . We have ONE hour of electricity a day now. I have power to turn on some lights and my computer by way of a little generator that I hooked up to my office today. A gallon of gas costs over $4 now, when the salary of an engineer is less than $200 a MONTH."

<snip>

"I hope I can show you how the dogs have started eating the dead bodies which lie in the streets of Baghdad now. I filmed one of the dead bodies while there was a dog eating on it. The U.S. troops and Iraqi police leave the dead bodies in the streets for one or two days… I think they intend to do this because they want everyone, including the children, to see this. Three days ago my young son saw some of the Shia militia as they killed an innocent Iraqi in front of his eyes just near his school.

"Oh Dahr, I don't know what to say about my wounded country. Every Iraqi wants to bomb himself because of this shit life. Now Iraq is nothing like it was when you were here last, as bad as it was then. It has become very difficult to find someone who smiles. Everyone is sad and crying. This is true and this is our life now.

<snip>

"By nature I am not always morose like this, but sometimes a man is pushed beyond his will."
The fact is, for most Iraqis, there is little hope left, though polls show that over 70% of them still want all occupation forces out of their country. I've long since abandoned asking myself the question: How much worse can it get in Iraq? My Iraqi friends and colleagues tell me that one of the more popular sayings in Baghdad nowadays is, "Today is better than tomorrow."

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/16271

[mike_c]

1. K&R-- dahr is one of the best journalists reporting from Iraq....

Never embedded.

[MADem]

2. Incredible.........A gallon of gas costs over $4 now

Hmmm...it went from a few cents a gallon in Shah's Iran to about five bucks right before the fall. And that was without the disruption of the supply lines! The reason? The gas pumps ran on electricity, there was no means to manually pump the gas, and generators were in short supply.

The gas lines over there made the ones here in the states during the odd-even days look like nuthin'!!!

This bit is so damned sad:

Her son's email reads in part:

"I was gonna call you but the phone is broken. I hate this place more than anywhere else i've been. I guess is a compilation of all the time I've done overseas fighting. Bullshit fights, its really bringing me down. I can't wait till all this is over…I'll be the biggest anti-war person this country will have… at least against this war in Iraq....Let's go fight a different one somewhere else cause this one is lost. I swear i wish you could spend a week over here…you would know it's lost. You can't stop ‘holy warriors,' especially in their territory. Tonight we are about to go drop off generators to the enemy (Iraqi civilians) hoping they will give us info about the enemy (bullshit storys). The shit your tax dollars go to would make you puke. You really would puke. I almost do when i think about it..... thomas jefferson would have a heart attack if he saw all the shit goin on today. Oh well. I really hope it changes soon when Bush is out…but i doubt it. I thinks its all Gods plan…he runs the show no matter what. Fate and all that…its good to trust him.

"…I'll keep the machine gun lubed in hopes of killin em all at the first opportunity for you. I love you ma and i know that no matter what you support me. I hope you don't find this email burdensome. Just hit delete if that's the case."

His mother added:

"You can see how the war is destroying my son's morale, and whittling away at his spirit. Now it's just a killing game."

[babylonsister]

3. Jon Stewart riffed on Rumsfeld tonight, about this. Rummy said

all the US sees is the destruction of Iraq, but there are vast open spaces where that's not happening. The only problem is that Rummy sees this from an airplane high in the sky. And dogs are never mentioned.
I weep...

[wiggs]

4. Resentment will last for generations. nt

[petgoat]

25. 50,000 orphans swear revenge on the US, whatever it takes.

Job security for the Military-Industrial-Security-Complex.

[StrictlyRockers]

5. Happy to kick and rec DAHR JAMAIL. Been listening to him for years. eom

[peekaloo]

6. a voice of truth.

:-(

[Jeffersons Ghost]

7. K&R

[EFerrari]

8. kick

[OneBlueSky]

9. the American people must be made aware of just how bad it is in Iraq . . .

and how BushCo's policies are directly responsible for it . . .

difficult to do when the corporate media won't report it, of course, but we have to find ways to get the message -- and the images -- out there . . .

[solara]

21. I agree totally

The MSM should be flooded constantly with the truth. k&r

[DemReadingDU]

10. morning kick

[malaise]

11. Never have I seen such evil n/t

[cyberpj]

12. I think Bush is waiting until after Christmas because he's going to bomb big next.

We know he's not going to follow the ISG. We've heard he's leaning toward McCain's suggestion of more troops "for a while". We know he doesn't care about anything but "victory". And we know that he doesn't care what anyone says now because he thinks history will prove him right.

I think he's going to bomb the shit out of the place believing that will scare them enough into submission (like Japan), and then whoever's left will accept us as saviors when we pour more billions into rebuilding their nation. It's more than clear that he couldn't care less about the body count and the evidence of depleted uranium is already all over the place so I'm thinking he's thinking what the hell.

And a good Christian president could never do such a thing during Christmas!

I say the man is completely mad and we'd better be prepared for nukes as his last "move forward".

And don't think for a second that he'll bother asking for permission, either.

God help us all if I'm right.

[M155Y_A1CH]

13. Kick n/t

:kick:

[emald]

14. Today is better than tomorrow....

what a sad statement. All due to a lying little fuck of a man who wants to show his daddy that he too can play the big boys game. bushit should be in prison.

[Miss Chybil]

24. That saying gets me, too. nt

[nam78_two]

15. K&R.....we effed that country but good.nt

[petgoat]

26. Maybe that's the real point. Terrorism.

"Hey world, look out. We'll invade anybody we want, on the
flimsiest pretexts. We'll make your life hell, and we'll
poison your country with depleted uranium. So don't fuck
with us in any way!"

[Jcrowley]

16. Kicking

[bloom]

17. kick

[Gregorian]

18. It's the new world disorder.

Hey, I'm beginning to get back in touch with the rage I had for H.W. Bush.


But Dahr, have you tried looking at Iraq from the air? Rummy says it's peaceful from up there. I suppose you don't have a plane. Get a ladder. Maybe your perspective will change just a little. Maybe Iraq isn't really totally completely ruined by our voluntary aggression whereby we enriched our ammunition and contracting companies. Get some perspective man!

[rman]

19. and kick

[redacted]

20. Thank you again Jcrowley for posting

and for monitoring the economic situation in other posts as well.

:yourock:

[Jack Rabbit]

22. Is the Frat Boy still proud of himself?

Of course he is. As long as he stays in his own private reality, he can be proud of himself.

Bush doesn't need to be sent to The Hague. He needs to be sent to Bellevue.

[Jcrowley]

23. Kicking

[file83]

27. kick

[Jcrowley]

28. Kicking

Citizens Respond to Militarism

The mission of No More Victims, a non-profit, non-sectarian, humanitarian organization, is to restore health and well-being to victims of war and to advocate and educate for peace. The organization was founded in September 2002.

We work to find medical sponsorships for war-injured Iraqi children and to forge ties between the children, their families and communities in the United States. We believe one of the most effective means of combating militarism is to focus on direct relief to its victims. If you want to learn more about how your community can become involved, send an email to No More Victims.
Medical infrastructure and services continue to deteriorate in Iraq. We urge citizens to demand that the those responsible for the occupation comply with U.S. Domestic Law and obligations under International Humanitarian Law, with special emphasis on Article 55 of the Fourth Geneva Convention.



http://www.nomorevictims.org/posterdownloads.php

[Jcrowley]

29. Iraq: Abduction of Women on the Rise

Iraq: Abduction of Women on the Rise

by Dahr Jamail and Ali al-Fadhily

Global Research, December 12, 2006
Abduction of Women on the Rise - 2006-12-11

BAGHDAD, Dec. 11 (IPS) - Women face increased risk of abduction by militias and criminal gangs as lawlessness takes over the country.

Nobody is safe. Taysseer Al-Mashadani, the Sunni woman minister from the al-Tawafuq political party was abducted by members of the Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Mehdi army militia July 1 this year. After being held for nearly three months, she was only released after much pressure was applied from both the U.S. and Iraqi governments.

Thousands of other women have not been so lucky. Many have been executed, assaulted, or released only after their families paid considerable ransom money. Few women like to talk about what they have to go through. "I was taken by Americans for three days recently," Um Ahmed told IPS in Baghdad. "They told me they would rape me if I didn't tell them where my husband was, but I really didn't know."

She said that she was turned over to the Iraqi National Guard "who were even worse than the Americans."

http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=JAM20061212&articleId=4130

[TexasLawyer]

30. b-b-but Laura says things are going well

School walls are getting painted! Large portions of Iraq are NOT in ruins!

Just more bad-mouthing by the media I guess.

[Jcrowley]

31. She's wrong

of course