The horrific cost of the war to the Iraqi people...and the continuing fear and misery of daily life make a mockery of claims that the US surge of 2007 "worked" and that Iraq has come good after all.
It's not only the hundreds of thousands of dead and 4 million refugees. After seven years of US (and British) occupation, tens of thousands are still tortured and imprisoned without trial, health and education has dramatically deteriorated, the position of women has gone horrifically backwards, trade unions are effectively banned, Baghdad is divided by 1,500 checkpoints and blast walls, electricity supplies have all but broken down and people pay with their lives for speaking out.
Milne says:
What is abundantly clear is that the US, whose embassy in Baghdad is now the size of Vatican City, has no intention of letting go of Iraq any time soon. One reason for that can be found in the dozen 20-year contracts to run Iraq's biggest oil fields that were handed out last year to foreign companies, including three of the Anglo-American oil majors that exploited Iraqi oil under British control before 1958.
The dubious legality of these deals has held back some US companies, but as Greg Muttitt, author of a forthcoming book on the subject, argues, the prize for the US is bigger than the contracts themselves, which put 60% of Iraq's reserves under long-term foreign corporate control. If output can be boosted as sharply as planned, the global oil price could be slashed and the grip of recalcitrant Opec states broken.
SUPPORT ACTIONS FOR SOLDIERS TAKING PLACE THIS WEEK; NO REDEPLOYMENT FOR WOUNDED WARRIORS OF THE 3RD ARMORED CAV, FT. HOOD:
This week both veterans and active-duty soldiers (engaging in political activity on their own time and out of uniform, yes it is legal, soldiers still have rights) are calling for support in their attempt to keep wounded warriors from the 3rd Armored Cav from redeploying to Iraq again this month. From Under the Hood Facebook page, the Ft. Hood coffee house at the center of the growing GI resistance:
Despite President Obama's fallacious claims that the war in Iraq is winding down, the 3rd ACR is gearing up for yet another deployment! Furthermore, many Soldiers facing deployment are known to be unfit for combat due to injuries sustained in prior tours. The Peace Movement must not let this stand!
One of the units notorious for sending PTSD casualties on deployment after deployment is the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment at Fort Hood, Texas. As Obama seeks applause for "ending" the war in Iraq, there are busloads of GIs suffering from PTSD, TBI and MST waiting to ship off to another tour in Iraq this month.
For this deployment, however, Fort Hood soldiers have begun standing up. Soldiers inside the unit are reporting a bleak situation regarding the mental health of many of its troops, and have begun organizing with other veterans and supporters to inspire those troops to exercise their right to refuse to let their lives be thrown away.
Iraq Veteran Mike Prysner writes:
On July 30, approximately 30 active-duty soldiers, veterans, military families and supporters held a rally outside the gates of Fort Hood with a large banner directed at Colonel Allen, commander of 3rd ACR, which read "Col. Allen ... Do Not Deploy Wounded Soldiers!" Demonstrators also carried placards that read: "Tell the brass: Kiss my ass!" and "They lie, we die!"
The demonstration was at a main entry point for the base, so thousands of active-duty GIs and their families passed by the demonstration. Many also joined after seeing the demonstration. Fort Hood Military Police sent vehicles and troops to intimidate the demonstrators, fearing a growing movement
Please leave a message for Col. Allen, "No deployment for the 3rd Armored Cav."
Base switchboard: 254- 286-6823
Unit email:
hood.3acr.rco@conus.army.mil
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