The Great Torture Scandal- June 19, 2008 McClatchy and other reporters are abruptly pulling the curtain away from the Bush team's illegal practices in arresting people arbitrarily, declining to offer proof that they were guilty of anything, detaining them indefinitely without trial or charges, and deliberately torturing them to the extent of leaving long-term scars and disabilities. The torture practices originated not with lower-level officers but with Donald Rumsfeld and others in Bush's inner circle, who then later blamed...http://www.juancole.com/2008/06/great-torture-scandal.html Troops Move in To Amara; Awakening Mounts Party;- June 19, 2008 Iraqi government troops began fanning through Amara and other towns of Maysan Province in the Shiite South on Thursday morning. Shiite militiamen, having been given three days to put away their heavier weapons, appear to have largely melted away for the time being. There were no reported clashes, and the army did not declare a curfew. The governor of Maysan, Adil Mahudar of the Sadr Movement, said that there had been extensive coordination with tribal sheikhs and with civil society...http://www.juancole.com/2008/06/troops-move-in-to-amara-awakening.html John McCain's Oil Scam- June 19, 2008 McCain is arguing for offshore drilling to lower US petroleum prices in the "short term."It is all a big lie, and a dangerous one at that. Our marine environment and our fisheries are already at risk. And the devastation in Wisconsin, Iowa and Mississipi from extreme weather events like flooding is where the US, and the world is going if McCain wins this argument. And McCain has the gall to say he is worried about global warming!The world uses on the order of 86 million barrels a day of...http://www.juancole.com/2008/06/john-mccains-oil-scam.html Massive Bomb Burns Market, Kills, Wounds 126; US Soldier Killed Near Hilla; Debaathification Law Never Implemented- June 18, 2008 Guerrillas detonated a massive bomb in a Shiite market in north Baghdad on Tuesday, killing 51 and injuring 75. The bomb levelled a two-story building and set ablaze 20 shops. (Courtesy Farsnews).McClatchy says that US military sources suspect a rogue Shiite group of being responsible for the bombing, speculating that the blast may have gone off prematurely and that it had been intended for use against US troops. The evidence given-- a secret Shiite claim of responsibility and the type of...http://www.juancole.com/2008/06/massive-bomb-burns-market-kills-wounds.html Sadr won't Oppose US Crackdown on Militia; Al-Musawi Denies Mahdi Army Disbanded; Demands National Referendum on SOFA- June 17, 2008 Two bombings near a university in Baghdad killed 2 and wounded 23 persons on Monday. 3 GIs were announced killed on Monday in separate incidents. Some 15 Iraqis were estimated killed in political violence, with 43 wounded.The Sadr Movement says it will not oppose the planned military operation in Amara as long as the Iraqi government does not take advantage of it to make arbitrary arrests of its members.Gulf News reports that on Thursday the al-Maliki government will attack Shiite militias.http://www.juancole.com/2008/06/sadr-wont-oppose-us-crackdown-on.html Karzai Theatens Pursuit into Pakistan- June 16, 2008 Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Sunday threatened to send Afghan troops on hot pursuit of Taliban readicals right into Pakistani territory. That threat doesn't strike me as a good development for the US in Afghanistan.http://www.juancole.com/2008/06/karzai-theatens-in-courage.html Sadr Movement Will Back Independents;- June 16, 2008 Salah al-Ubaidi, a spokesman for the Sadr Movement, says that it will not boycott the fall provincial elections, exactly. The Movement will not run candidates under its own name, but will rather have some Sadrists run on other party lists, and will through support behind independents. This strategy is similar to that of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, which cannot field candidates because it is a religious organization, but which has its candidates run under other party banners. The...http://www.juancole.com/2008/06/sadr-movement-will-back-independents.html McClatchy Guantanamo Guards Abused Known Innocents- June 16, 2008 John McCain's attack on the Supreme Court for upholding the right of Habeas Corpus even for Guantanamo detainees was self-serving and hypocritical. But it was also ethically wrong, because the Guantanamo system is ethically wrong.Tom Lasseter of McClatchy reports that the news service has done extensive interviewing with 66 prisoners released from Guantanamo and found that most were either innocent or were lower level Taliban foot soldiers with no ties to international terrorism. McClatchy...http://www.juancole.com/2008/06/mcclatchy-guantanamo-guards-abused.html 2 Killed, 45 Injured in Bombings Saturday; Sadr To Appoint Special Ops Commanders; Sadrists Withdraw from Provincial Elections- June 15, 2008 A female suicide bomber injured 34 soccer fans and police in the town of Qara Tappah in Diyala Province, 75 miles northeast of Baghdad. The fans had poured into the street after watching Iraq beat China in a sports cafe. Likely this was an attack by a radical Sunni Arab cell on a largely Kurdish and Shiite Turkmen town.AP adds, "In Baghdad, a bomb hidden on a bus exploded in a Shiite neighborhood, killing two people and wounding eight, police said. Three other civilians were injured Saturday.http://www.juancole.com/2008/06/2-killed-45-injured-in-bombings.html Massive Guerrilla attack in Afghanistan; 4 Marines Killed- June 14, 2008 Breaking News: Guerrillas in western Afghanistan deployed a roadside bomb to kill 4 US Marines on Saturday.Pushtun guerrillas mounting an insurgency against the Karzai government and against NATO troops in the Pushtun areas of Afghanistan staged a daring prison break on Friday. They set off bombs at a prison in Qandahar, killing 15 prison guards and allowing 1100 inmates to escape, including 400 captured guerrillas. Although the US refers to the guerrillas as 'Taliban' it is not clear that...http://www.juancole.com/2008/06/massive-guerrilla-attack-in-afghanistan.html |