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Cardiff Stop the War Coalition

 

In solidarity with the people of Iraq struggling under foreign occupation.

 

News from Iraq this week: April 22nd to 28th 

 

Turkey threatens to invade northern Iraq in battle against Kurdish separatists

British paratroopers dressed in US uniforms fighting in Baghdad

More than 600 US personnel implicated in abuse of Iraqi Detainees, only 40 punished. Only 3 of these are Officers.

 

War in the end is always about betrayal, betrayal of the young by the old, of soldiers by politicians, and of idealists by cynics.

Chris Hedges

 

April 22nd                The bullet-ridden bodies of 9 Iraqis were found in several locations in and around Baghdad on Saturday. Many of the victims were blindfolded with their hands and legs bound in rope. Some appeared to have been tortured, and one had been decapitated.

April 23rd                The fortress-like compound rising beside the Tigris River will be the world`s largest embassy, the size of Vatican City, with the population of a small town, its own defence force, self-contained power and water. The 5,500 Americans and Iraqis working at the embassy, almost half listed as security, are far more numerous than at any other U.S. mission worldwide. Iraqis see the presence of a massive U.S. Embassy located in the Green Zone, with the Iraqi government, as an indication of who actually exercises power in their country.

April 24th                Joint U.S.-Iraqi inspections of Iraqi detention centers, most of them run by the Interior Ministry have found abuse of prisoners at all the sites visited during February. General Pace and Defence Secretary Rumsfeld cannot agree whether US troops have a duty to stop the abuse, or merely to `report it`.

April 25th                U.S. ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad warned Americans to prepare for a long engagement in Iraq and the region. `We must perhaps reluctantly accept that we have to help this region become a normal region, the way we helped Europe and Asia in another era,` he told the Los Angeles Times. `Now it`s this area from Pakistan to Morocco that we should focus on. `

April 26th                More than 90 women become widows each day due to continuing violence countrywide, according to government officials and non-governmental organisations devoted to women`s issues.

April 27th                The cost of the war in Iraq is estimated to reach $320 billion by the end of May. This year, wars will consume nearly as much US money as the departments of Education, Justice and Homeland Security combined.

April 28th                One year ago when Iraq formed its first freely elected government, Americans and Iraqis hoped it would lead to a drop in violence. But Iraqis have continued to die in the thousands, and this year the trend is up.

 

 

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Iran News

Western pressure against an Iranian Nuclear Program has inspired widespread anger and defiance, aiding its hardline leaders.

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Civilians reported killed by military intervention in Iraq since invasion*:

Minimum: 34512

Maximum: 38661

Source: Iraq Body Count

Total number of US soldiers killed in Iraq since invasion = 2397

Total number of US soldiers wounded in Iraq since invasion= 17762

Total number of UK soldiers killed in Iraq since invasion = 104

Total number of soldiers from other nations killed since invasion = 110

Source: Iraq Coalition Casualty Count

 

*This estimate is only of English language media reported deaths. A peer reviewed epidemiological survey (Roberts et al., The Lancet, Vol 364 Issue 9448 pp 1857 1864) estimated that in the 18 months following the invasion 100, 000 excess deaths or more have occurred.  Violence accounted for most of the excess deaths and air strikes from coalition forces accounted for most violent deaths. Criticisms of IBC methodology can be found at medialens

For background to the current war in Iraq: see `Understanding the Us-Iraq Crisis` by Phyllis Benis and `Why Another War? A Backgrounder on the Iraq Crisis` by Sarah Graham-Brown and Chris Toensing.

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