BAGHDAD, June 16 (UPI) -- An unknown number of Iraqis have decided to sue former U.S. President George W. Bush over relatives who were killed in the war, officials said.
Aswat al-Iraq reported Thursday the suits are to be based on U.S. military operations in west Iraq's Anbar Province during the years that followed Iraq's occupation in 2003.
"I have lost five of my sons in the first and second battles in 2004 … what was the guilt of my sons, who were killed by the American Army," said Najim al-Mohammady, 53. "There isn't a single house in Anbar whose family had not lost a martyr or two.
"Hundreds of relatives of martyrs, who lost their sons, have decided to raise a judicial case against the former American president, and we shall assign a number of lawyers to revenge for part of the sacrifices made by Iraqis and to account the occupier for his acts," Mohammady said.
One man said two of his sons were killed inside his home in an attack by U.S. troops.
Shawla Taha, 32, said U.S. soldiers killed her brother.
"The Iraqi political blocs and parties are after gains and raise red papers to expel those who they don't wish from the Parliament, but we shall act according to the law to restore the rights of our sons from the American Army, who killed them and to account those who were in power in the Iraqi government and supported them," Taha said.
Mohammady didn't say when or where the lawsuits would be filed.
© 2011 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2011/06/16/Iraq-citizens-plan-to-sue-George-W-Bush/UPI-45711308230207/print/#ixzz1PbxQUSrn
samedi 18 juin 2011
vendredi 17 juin 2011
Higher Strategic Policies Council should go to Turkmen - White Iraqiya
BAGHDAD: The head of White Iraqiya bloc, Qutaiba al-Jubouri, suggested today that the post of Higher Strategic Policies Council go to the Turkmen because they did not get a real post in the present government.
Jubouri made a statement today, a copy of which was received by Aswat al-Iraq, stating that "granting this post to the Turkmen is important because they are the third ethnic entity in the country.
Their popular participation and history should enable them a real representation."
"Granting them this post will substitute their deprivation of the vice-presidency post and a matter of equality and national partnership principles," he added.
© Aswat Aliraq 2011
Jubouri made a statement today, a copy of which was received by Aswat al-Iraq, stating that "granting this post to the Turkmen is important because they are the third ethnic entity in the country.
Their popular participation and history should enable them a real representation."
"Granting them this post will substitute their deprivation of the vice-presidency post and a matter of equality and national partnership principles," he added.
© Aswat Aliraq 2011
jeudi 16 juin 2011
mardi 14 juin 2011
Le Monde report on birth defects in Falluja
Le Monde report on birth defects in Falluja
In Falluja, "monster babies" raise questions over US weapons used in 2004
LEMONDE.FR
10.06.11
20h48 • Mis à jour le 10.06.11
21h02
"Did the American army use nuclear weapons in Iraq?" This is the surprising question raised by France Info on Friday June 10. In partnership with Paris-Match, Angélique Férat, radio correspondent for the area, returned to the city of Fallujah, about fifty kilometers from Baghdad. The city, a stronghold of the Sunni insurrection, was attacked and partially destroyed by American forces in April 2004 and again in November the same year. Since then the city has seen a very high number of birth defects - so much so that, according to Angélique Férat, "almost every family has its own 'monster baby'". The Iraqi authorities refuse to consider the subject and there are no official statistics.
Ms. Férat is not the first journalist to consider the fate of the city's children. In May 2008, the British television channel Sky News sounded an alarm about the rate of congenital malformations there. An official of a local human rights organisation spoke of 200 cases of congenital malformations, the majority of which happened after the bombardment of the city. In November 2009 the British daily newspaper The Guardian ran two articles a photo collection and a video report. The newspaper summarised information collected by a Fallujah hospital paediatrician who saw 37 malformed babies born in less than three weeks. The mother of three children between three and six years old said they were all unable to walk or feed themselves.
This is incomprehensible to the hospital's doctors. For lack of evidence, they refuse to draw a direct link with the combat which touched the city in 2004. According to them, multiple factors can explain these malformations: air pollution, radiation, chemical pollutants, the drugs used during pregnancy, malnutrition or stress in the mother. In March 2010, it was a BBC journalist's turn to go (video and report). After seeing a photograph of a baby with three heads he said "When you are over there, the evidence is ghastly."
In normal circumstances, the probability of such phenomena is zero
The various reports attracted the attention of scientists. Christopher Busby, director of environmental consultancy Green Audit and famous for his denunciation of weapons using depleted uranium, went to the site. With Malak Hamdan and Entesar Ariabi he carried out a population survey based on a questionnaire. The results were published in July 2010 in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (pdf). In the period 2006-2009, infant mortality in Falluja rose to 80 per 1000 births, while the rate in Egypt and Jordan stayed at 19,8 and 17 per 1000 respectively.
In December 2010, a new study carried out by another research team appeared in the same Journal. The results are eloquent: in Falluja, a newborn had eleven times more chance of being born with malformations than in the rest of the world. "It is important to understand that in normal circumstances, the probability of such phenomena is zero" explained Mozhgan Savabieasfahani, one of the authors of the report. For May 2010, 15% of the 547 newborns presented serious deformities, while 11% were born prematurely (before thirty weeks of pregnancy). For the first time, this report clearly mentions the possibility that the genetic damage observed is related to the weapons used by the United States, and in particular depleted uranium.
Less radioactive than natural uranium, depleted uranium is a heavy metal and very dense. It is used in artillery shells to improve their penetrating ability. Like all heavy metals, it presents a toxic risk if it gets into the body or if its radiations penetrate the skin. Its military use is regularly denounced but no link with the children of Falluja has ever been proved.
Enriched Uranium? "It's absurd"
In the most recent study, soon to appear in the British scientific journal The Lancet, British scientist Christopher Busby goes further. He says traces of enriched uranium were found in samples of soil, air, water, and human hair. But Jean-Dominique Merchet, a journalist specializing in military issues and author of the blog Secret defence said that, unlike depleted uranium, enriched uranium is radioactive. "It has military uses in nuclear bombs and in propelling submarines or aircraft carriers. Using it on battle fields where your own soldiers are is absurd. Merchet also points out that there was a time when Saddam Hussein made use of deformities in young children. "He took journalists to visit orphanages where the children suffered from malformations", he remembers. So Merchet calls for caution until The Lancet article is published, and pending possible proof.
Translation by LLRC. 12th June 2011
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Related
New Scientist 6th September 2008 (pay per view) and complete article free to view.
Ex-soldier died of cancer caused by Gulf War uranium .
In Falluja, "monster babies" raise questions over US weapons used in 2004
LEMONDE.FR
10.06.11
20h48 • Mis à jour le 10.06.11
21h02
"Did the American army use nuclear weapons in Iraq?" This is the surprising question raised by France Info on Friday June 10. In partnership with Paris-Match, Angélique Férat, radio correspondent for the area, returned to the city of Fallujah, about fifty kilometers from Baghdad. The city, a stronghold of the Sunni insurrection, was attacked and partially destroyed by American forces in April 2004 and again in November the same year. Since then the city has seen a very high number of birth defects - so much so that, according to Angélique Férat, "almost every family has its own 'monster baby'". The Iraqi authorities refuse to consider the subject and there are no official statistics.
Ms. Férat is not the first journalist to consider the fate of the city's children. In May 2008, the British television channel Sky News sounded an alarm about the rate of congenital malformations there. An official of a local human rights organisation spoke of 200 cases of congenital malformations, the majority of which happened after the bombardment of the city. In November 2009 the British daily newspaper The Guardian ran two articles a photo collection and a video report. The newspaper summarised information collected by a Fallujah hospital paediatrician who saw 37 malformed babies born in less than three weeks. The mother of three children between three and six years old said they were all unable to walk or feed themselves.
This is incomprehensible to the hospital's doctors. For lack of evidence, they refuse to draw a direct link with the combat which touched the city in 2004. According to them, multiple factors can explain these malformations: air pollution, radiation, chemical pollutants, the drugs used during pregnancy, malnutrition or stress in the mother. In March 2010, it was a BBC journalist's turn to go (video and report). After seeing a photograph of a baby with three heads he said "When you are over there, the evidence is ghastly."
In normal circumstances, the probability of such phenomena is zero
The various reports attracted the attention of scientists. Christopher Busby, director of environmental consultancy Green Audit and famous for his denunciation of weapons using depleted uranium, went to the site. With Malak Hamdan and Entesar Ariabi he carried out a population survey based on a questionnaire. The results were published in July 2010 in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (pdf). In the period 2006-2009, infant mortality in Falluja rose to 80 per 1000 births, while the rate in Egypt and Jordan stayed at 19,8 and 17 per 1000 respectively.
In December 2010, a new study carried out by another research team appeared in the same Journal. The results are eloquent: in Falluja, a newborn had eleven times more chance of being born with malformations than in the rest of the world. "It is important to understand that in normal circumstances, the probability of such phenomena is zero" explained Mozhgan Savabieasfahani, one of the authors of the report. For May 2010, 15% of the 547 newborns presented serious deformities, while 11% were born prematurely (before thirty weeks of pregnancy). For the first time, this report clearly mentions the possibility that the genetic damage observed is related to the weapons used by the United States, and in particular depleted uranium.
Less radioactive than natural uranium, depleted uranium is a heavy metal and very dense. It is used in artillery shells to improve their penetrating ability. Like all heavy metals, it presents a toxic risk if it gets into the body or if its radiations penetrate the skin. Its military use is regularly denounced but no link with the children of Falluja has ever been proved.
Enriched Uranium? "It's absurd"
In the most recent study, soon to appear in the British scientific journal The Lancet, British scientist Christopher Busby goes further. He says traces of enriched uranium were found in samples of soil, air, water, and human hair. But Jean-Dominique Merchet, a journalist specializing in military issues and author of the blog Secret defence said that, unlike depleted uranium, enriched uranium is radioactive. "It has military uses in nuclear bombs and in propelling submarines or aircraft carriers. Using it on battle fields where your own soldiers are is absurd. Merchet also points out that there was a time when Saddam Hussein made use of deformities in young children. "He took journalists to visit orphanages where the children suffered from malformations", he remembers. So Merchet calls for caution until The Lancet article is published, and pending possible proof.
Translation by LLRC. 12th June 2011
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Related
New Scientist 6th September 2008 (pay per view) and complete article free to view.
Ex-soldier died of cancer caused by Gulf War uranium .
lundi 13 juin 2011
Mohammed Ghani,Iraq's foremost contemporary artist
Mohammed Ghani,
Iraq's foremost contemporary
artist and world renowned sculptor
Iraq's foremost contemporary
artist and world renowned sculptor
samedi 11 juin 2011
Kerkuk Turkusu Sinan Sait ve Nermine Memedova - Evlerinin önü yonca
Kerkuk Turkusu Sinan Sait ve Nermine Memedova - Evlerinin ogu yonca
Evlerinin önü yonca
Yonca kalkmış dam boyunca
Boyu uzun beli ince
Nine yavrum ninne
Esmer yavrum ninne
Ninne ninne
Evlerinin önü lala
Saki doldur ver piyala
Sarhoş olak düşek yola
Nine yavrum ninne
Esmer yavrum ninne
Ninne ninne
Evlerinin önü bakla
Güvercinler atar takla
Al beni koynunda sakla
Nine yavrum ninne
Esmer yavrum ninne
Ninne ninne
Evlerinin önü susam
Sıyrılıp koynuna girsem
Her gün sabah boyun görsem
Nine yavrum ninne
Esmer yavrum ninne
Ninne ninne
Yonca kalkmış dam boyunca
Boyu uzun beli ince
Nine yavrum ninne
Esmer yavrum ninne
Ninne ninne
Evlerinin önü lala
Saki doldur ver piyala
Sarhoş olak düşek yola
Nine yavrum ninne
Esmer yavrum ninne
Ninne ninne
Evlerinin önü bakla
Güvercinler atar takla
Al beni koynunda sakla
Nine yavrum ninne
Esmer yavrum ninne
Ninne ninne
Evlerinin önü susam
Sıyrılıp koynuna girsem
Her gün sabah boyun görsem
Nine yavrum ninne
Esmer yavrum ninne
Ninne ninne
TRT THM Rep. No : 2287
Yöre:Kerkük
Kaynak kişi : Abdulvahit Küzecioğlu
Derleyen:Emin Aldemir
Yöre:Kerkük
Kaynak kişi : Abdulvahit Küzecioğlu
Derleyen:Emin Aldemir
vendredi 10 juin 2011
Iraq: what has the 100 day initiative really achieved?
niqash
Kholoud Ramzi
wed 08 jun 11
In response to protests, Iraq’s prime minister set a deadline of 100 days for reforms. That deadline has passed. But what, if anything, has actually been achieved? NIQASH takes a closer look.
Earlier this year thousands of Iraqis demonstrated against their government. In Iraq’s version of the Arab spring style protests which are still going on around the Middle East today, Iraqis made it clear that they were just as angry about high unemployment, government corruption and human rights abuses as their neighbours in the region. Their demands also included better rationing and no more interruptions to electricity supply.
In order to appease the demonstrators, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who holds power thanks to a delicately balanced coalition in the Iraqi parliament, set a 100 day deadline for reforms on February 27. That deadline expired on June 7 – and it seems highly likely that protestors will take to the streets again on Friday June 10, Friday being the beginning of the weekend in Muslim countries.
As the deadline approached, and then expired, there has been plenty of political wrangling going on – opposition parties have said that the country’s ills were supposed to be cured within 100 days and that al-Maliki has failed and should resign, while al-Maliki’s supporters say the 100 days was just about setting an agenda for reform and that this has begun.
Al-Maliki himself said there would be a transparent assessment of the successes and failures within each ministry after the deadline had passed. Specific and objective criteria would be used to assess performance and political bias would not come into it, a government spokesperson argued.
However the political rumour mill was already suggesting that some whole ministries might even be closed down, and in particular those ministries that were apparently only created in order to curry favour with certain voting blocs in parliament.
But what has really been achieved at street level in Iraq, if anything?
On political reforms:
Protestors in different parts of the country had demanded political reforms, and in particular the dismissal of state governors and council leaders who were performing poorly or perceived to be corrupt.
As a result of protests in their regions, the governors of the states of Basra, Babel and Wasit – respectively, Shiltagh Aboud, Salman al-Zarkani and Lateef al-Tarfa – all resigned. Apart from al-Tarfa, the resignations actually took place just before al-Maliki announced the 100 Day initiative.
After the US-led invasion of Iraq that deposed former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, local councils had more power to make decisions about their own regions. But the councils have been heavily targeted by protestors, who say they have achieved very little and have been corrupt and inefficient.
In response, al-Maliki’s government said that early elections could be held so that new state officials could be voted in. However no moves appear to have been made in this direction.
At the federal level, the general secretary of Iraq’s council of ministers, or cabinet, Ali al-Allaq, said that the 100 Day initiative had resulted in some improvements. He listed various ministries that had successfully assessed pertinent issues and prepared timetables for dealing with them. These were the ministries of justice, industry and minerals, health, finance, municipalities, public works and youth, al-Allaq said.
On power problems:
One of the major issues that angered protestors was the fact that electricity supplies were continuously interrupted in many parts of Iraq.
While the supply of electricity has improved since the US-led invasion in 2003, supply is still patchy and has not kept pace with demand. Baghdad had always had fairly regular electricity but the rest of the nation had only ever had between three and six hours of power a day. Many Iraqi homes have their own generators to make up for the shortfall.
And the Ministry of Electricity was not on the list of federal ministries that had apparently completed a programme for reform.
A senior official at the ministry was surprised to discover this. As the official told NIQASH, “the ministry submitted a complete plan featuring three main points before the 100 Day deadline elapsed. The first point talked about distributing electricity fairly throughout all the residential areas in Baghdad, the various provinces, cities and villages,” he explained.
“The second point evaluated contracts signed with Korean companies to connect electrical systems purchased from Siemens, in Germany, which should provide Iraq with 10,000 megawatts of electricity per day. And finally, the third point discussed the supply of generators, complete with fuel, to locals.”
In fact, the senior official said, his ministry had already started on the third measure, in co-operation with the Ministry of Oil, to provide extra power in some of Baghdad’s residential areas. The distributed generators were to provide around 12 hours of electricity to residents.
However residents of those areas told NIQASH that the supplied generators were only providing around six hours of electricity every day: two hours in the morning and four at night.
On corruption:
Financial and administrative corruption were also serious issues for Iraqi protestors. In terms of corruption, the Berlin-based organisation Transparency International had ranked Iraq fourth to last out of 178 countries in its 2010 index.
Ordinary Iraqis also wanted to see those officials accused of corruption brought to justice somehow.
However reports indicate that Iraq’s Commission on Integrity, which is supposed to investigate corruption at all levels of government, has not handled any significant cases within government institutions within the last three months.
Al-Maliki chose to highlight several potential instances of corruption personally. The Iraqi prime minister made a surprise visit to Directorate of Passports in Baghdad where he stressed that it was the right of every Iraqi to have a passport, before admonishing bureaucrats to conduct their business in a non-corrupt manner.
Al-Maliki also intervened personally in the case of the Trade Bank of Iraq; the bank’s general manager had fled the country for Lebanon as he was about to be arrested after an investigation into financial irregularities at the institute. Iraq has asked Lebanon to extradite the bank manager.
On human rights:
In mid-May the Iraqi cabinet ratified a draft law on freedom of expression and peaceful demonstration, the official Iraqi government spokesperson Ali al-Dabbagh said.
Additionally al-Dabbagh reported that 200 new jobs were being created at the Ministry of Human Rights.
Kholoud Ramzi
wed 08 jun 11
In response to protests, Iraq’s prime minister set a deadline of 100 days for reforms. That deadline has passed. But what, if anything, has actually been achieved? NIQASH takes a closer look.
Earlier this year thousands of Iraqis demonstrated against their government. In Iraq’s version of the Arab spring style protests which are still going on around the Middle East today, Iraqis made it clear that they were just as angry about high unemployment, government corruption and human rights abuses as their neighbours in the region. Their demands also included better rationing and no more interruptions to electricity supply.
In order to appease the demonstrators, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who holds power thanks to a delicately balanced coalition in the Iraqi parliament, set a 100 day deadline for reforms on February 27. That deadline expired on June 7 – and it seems highly likely that protestors will take to the streets again on Friday June 10, Friday being the beginning of the weekend in Muslim countries.
As the deadline approached, and then expired, there has been plenty of political wrangling going on – opposition parties have said that the country’s ills were supposed to be cured within 100 days and that al-Maliki has failed and should resign, while al-Maliki’s supporters say the 100 days was just about setting an agenda for reform and that this has begun.
Al-Maliki himself said there would be a transparent assessment of the successes and failures within each ministry after the deadline had passed. Specific and objective criteria would be used to assess performance and political bias would not come into it, a government spokesperson argued.
However the political rumour mill was already suggesting that some whole ministries might even be closed down, and in particular those ministries that were apparently only created in order to curry favour with certain voting blocs in parliament.
But what has really been achieved at street level in Iraq, if anything?
On political reforms:
Protestors in different parts of the country had demanded political reforms, and in particular the dismissal of state governors and council leaders who were performing poorly or perceived to be corrupt.
As a result of protests in their regions, the governors of the states of Basra, Babel and Wasit – respectively, Shiltagh Aboud, Salman al-Zarkani and Lateef al-Tarfa – all resigned. Apart from al-Tarfa, the resignations actually took place just before al-Maliki announced the 100 Day initiative.
After the US-led invasion of Iraq that deposed former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, local councils had more power to make decisions about their own regions. But the councils have been heavily targeted by protestors, who say they have achieved very little and have been corrupt and inefficient.
In response, al-Maliki’s government said that early elections could be held so that new state officials could be voted in. However no moves appear to have been made in this direction.
At the federal level, the general secretary of Iraq’s council of ministers, or cabinet, Ali al-Allaq, said that the 100 Day initiative had resulted in some improvements. He listed various ministries that had successfully assessed pertinent issues and prepared timetables for dealing with them. These were the ministries of justice, industry and minerals, health, finance, municipalities, public works and youth, al-Allaq said.
On power problems:
One of the major issues that angered protestors was the fact that electricity supplies were continuously interrupted in many parts of Iraq.
While the supply of electricity has improved since the US-led invasion in 2003, supply is still patchy and has not kept pace with demand. Baghdad had always had fairly regular electricity but the rest of the nation had only ever had between three and six hours of power a day. Many Iraqi homes have their own generators to make up for the shortfall.
And the Ministry of Electricity was not on the list of federal ministries that had apparently completed a programme for reform.
A senior official at the ministry was surprised to discover this. As the official told NIQASH, “the ministry submitted a complete plan featuring three main points before the 100 Day deadline elapsed. The first point talked about distributing electricity fairly throughout all the residential areas in Baghdad, the various provinces, cities and villages,” he explained.
“The second point evaluated contracts signed with Korean companies to connect electrical systems purchased from Siemens, in Germany, which should provide Iraq with 10,000 megawatts of electricity per day. And finally, the third point discussed the supply of generators, complete with fuel, to locals.”
In fact, the senior official said, his ministry had already started on the third measure, in co-operation with the Ministry of Oil, to provide extra power in some of Baghdad’s residential areas. The distributed generators were to provide around 12 hours of electricity to residents.
However residents of those areas told NIQASH that the supplied generators were only providing around six hours of electricity every day: two hours in the morning and four at night.
On corruption:
Financial and administrative corruption were also serious issues for Iraqi protestors. In terms of corruption, the Berlin-based organisation Transparency International had ranked Iraq fourth to last out of 178 countries in its 2010 index.
Ordinary Iraqis also wanted to see those officials accused of corruption brought to justice somehow.
However reports indicate that Iraq’s Commission on Integrity, which is supposed to investigate corruption at all levels of government, has not handled any significant cases within government institutions within the last three months.
Al-Maliki chose to highlight several potential instances of corruption personally. The Iraqi prime minister made a surprise visit to Directorate of Passports in Baghdad where he stressed that it was the right of every Iraqi to have a passport, before admonishing bureaucrats to conduct their business in a non-corrupt manner.
Al-Maliki also intervened personally in the case of the Trade Bank of Iraq; the bank’s general manager had fled the country for Lebanon as he was about to be arrested after an investigation into financial irregularities at the institute. Iraq has asked Lebanon to extradite the bank manager.
On human rights:
In mid-May the Iraqi cabinet ratified a draft law on freedom of expression and peaceful demonstration, the official Iraqi government spokesperson Ali al-Dabbagh said.
Additionally al-Dabbagh reported that 200 new jobs were being created at the Ministry of Human Rights.
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