NEWS OF WAR WITH IRAQ

Bush Tells U.S. Commissions to Report on Failures After the Election
President W. named seven people who will sit on an "independent" commission to look into intelligence failures on Iraqi weapons and told it to report in 13 months - four months after November's presidential elections.

Rumsfeld Orders Sexual Abuse Inquiry on Troops Stationed in Iraq
[ - Isn't amazing how this "Gulf War" mirrors the last? Maybe this time they will resolve something.]

International Community Accused of Accepting Bribes from Saddam
Iraqi newspaper lists 270 individuals, firms and organizations from 46 countries accused of taking Saddam's bribes.

Bush Building 'Warren Commission' to Investigate His Case for War with Iraq
President Bush, under mounting political pressure, will sign an executive order to establish an investigation of US intelligence failures in Iraq, modeled on the inquiry into the assasination of John F. Kennedy.
[ - Really! I know, it sounds like a joke, but its not!]

Kurds Bear the Brunt on a Day of Carnage
At least 56 people were killed and more than 200 wounded in co-ordinated suicide bombings at the offices of two Kurdish polititcal parties on the worst day of violence in Iraq for five months.

Switzerland Investigates Companies That Profited from Saddam Hussein's Oil
Eleven Swiss companies are suspected of having made bribes to obtain contracts.

Saddamgate: The Mother of All Deceptions
When it emerged that the Kurds had captured the Iraqi dictator, the US celebrations evaporated. David Pratt asks whether a secret political trade-off has been engineered.
[- This link will take you to the home page of MiddleEast.org, just click on the article title.]

Halliburton to Lose Iraq Oil Project
Just weeks after Pentagon auditors said Halliburton may have overcharged taxpayers to import oil to Iraq, the Defense Department is removing the Army Corps of Engineers from its role in supervising the program.
The Defense Energy Support Center, which buys fuel for the military throughout the world, will supervise the shipments and choose new contractors to replace Halliburton, Vice President Dick Cheney's former company.

Pentagon Freezes Iraq Funds Amid Corruption Probes
The Pentagon has frozen new funds approved for Iraqi reconstruction amid growing allegations of corruption and cronyism associated with the rebuilding process.

Army's Suicide Rate has Outside Experts Alarmed
Most died serving in Iraq after major combat phase.

Rumsfeld Backed Saddam Even After Chemical Attacks
New documents reveal that Donald Rumsfeld went to Iraq, in March of 1984, to show America's support for Saddam Hussein's regime despite it's use of chemical weapons.
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James Baker: Fixer for the War Profiteers?
When President Bush tapped longtime family adviser James A. Baker III to try to persuade U.S. allies to forgive Iraq's crushing $127 billion foreign debt, he summoned one of the country's most well-connected former officials for a difficult task.

Lawyer: World Leaders Should Take Stand in Saddam Trial
Controversial French lawyer Jacques Verges says he is willing to defend Saddam Hussein in court and, if he can, bring world leaders to the witness stand, in what could be a huge embarrassment for the United States, France and other countries.

Still No WMD, No Ties to 9/11, No Truth
No major reason for the war has been proven. The deadly WMDs became weapons of mysterious disappearance.

Remember 'Weapons of Mass Destruction'? For Bush They Are a Nonissue

Halliburton Served Troops Dirty Food in Dirty Kitchens
The Pentagon repeatedly warned contractor Halliburton-KBR that the food it served to US troops in Iraq was "dirty," as were the kitchens it was served in.

Billions Missing From Iraq Reconstuction Fund
A new scandal erupted as a report claimed billions of dollars earmarked for rebuilding the country have vanished after being handed to the United States-controlled governing body in Baghdad.

$4 Billion Iraq Cash Has Vanished, Claims Charity
A Christian charity claims that failure of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) to set up an independent auditing board to oversee spending has left a question mark over what has happened to up to $4 billion in oil and aid revenues that should have been spent on rebuilding the country.

White House Bans Media Coverage of Killed US Soldiers
In March, on the eve of the Iraq war, a directive arrived from the Pentagon at U.S. military bases. "There will be no arrival ceremonies for, or media coverage of, deceased military personnel returning to or departing from Ramstein [Germany] airbase or Dover [Del.] base. to include interim stops," the Defense Department said, referring to the major ports for the returning remains.

Many Troops Dissatisfied, Iraq Poll Finds
A broad survey of U.S. troops in Iraq by a Pentagon-funded newspaper found that half of those questioned described their unit's morale as low and their training as insufficient, and said they do not plan to reenlist.

Henry Waxman: Iraq Policy Grounded in Secrecy, Deceit, and Politics
The intolerable reality is that they blatantly twisted intelligence information to fit preconceived policies. They lied to promote public relations - from the Jessica Lynch ordeal to the President's campaign landing on the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln - and about what the war would cost our country.

Halliburton Price Gouging American Taxpayers
Congressmen Waxman and Dingell reveal the prices that Halliburton has charged to import gasoline into Iraq. Oil industry experts say Halliburton's prices are "outrageously high," "a huge ripoff," and "highway robbery."

Iraq War Swells Al Qaeda's Ranks, Report Says
War in Iraq has swollen the ranks of al Qaeda and galvanized the Islamic militant group's will, the International Institute for Strategic Studies said in its annual report.

U.S. Probing Arms Shipped to Iraq
Federal agents have turned up evidence that U.S. companies may have illegally sold sensitive equipment that wound up helping Iraq's military.

Rumsfeld's $9 Billion Slush Fund
For all the debate over President Bush's $87 billion supplemental request for military operations and economic reconstruction in Afghanistan and Iraq, no one seems to have noticed that the sum includes a slush fund of at least $9.3 billion, which Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld can spend pretty much as he pleases.

Key Bush Aide Told to Sort Out Iraq's Future
The major reoganization of the United States efforts, called the Iraq Stabilization Group, will be headed by Condoleezza Rice, Mr Bush's national security adviser.

Mystery Blood Clots Felling U.S. Troops
Unexplained blood clots are among the reasons a number of U.S. soldiers in Operation Iraqi Freedom have died from sudden illnesses, and investigation by United Press International has found.
A disturbing parallel has also surfaced: soldiers becoming ill or dying from similar ailments in the United States. In some cases, the soldiers, their families and civilian doctors blame vaccines given to them by the military, particularly the anthrax or smallpox shots.

Police Flee as Saddam Loyalists Fuel City Revolt
Iraqis shouting pro-Saddam Hussein slogans have staged an uprising in the important oil refining city of Baiji, burning down the mayor's office, fighting with American troops and forcing local police to flee.

Cook: Blair Knew Iraq Had No WMD
Tony Blair privately admitted on the eve of war in Iraq that Saddam Hussein did not have any useable weapons of mass destruction, Robin Cook, the former Foreign Secretary, has claimed.

Dying for Dishonesty
The embedded corporate cronyism of this White House, from Halliburton to Haley Barbour and Joe Allbaugh ought to give new meaning to shock and awe, but it only serves as a lullaby for the pampered press corps in their beauty sleep. In the meantime the mission in Iraq is not the old search and destroy, but a new destruct and construct award operation.

The American Saddam
It was easy enough for the United States to break Iraq, now the problem is to fix it, and fix it in such a way that it does not become just a US version of Saddam Hussein's regime.

No WMD - But Hunt Still Goes On
The man leading the search for Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction confirmed that none had been found so far - but vowed that the hunt would go on.
[ - How long will it go on? Another 10 years, 20 years?]

Officials Say Bush Seeks $600 Million to Hunt Iraq Arms
The Bush administration is seeking more than $600 million from Congress to continue the hunt for conclusive evidence that Saddam Hussein's government had an illegal weapons program.
[- Couldn't he save us that money by producing the evidence which he claimed to have prior to the invasion? Oh, that's right, he lied!]

The Secrets Clark Kept
What the general never told us about the Bush plan for serial war.
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Bush Insiders to Reap Billions from Iraq War
A group of businessmen linked by their close ties to President Bush, his family and his administration have set up a consulting firm to advise companies that want to do business in Iraq, including those seeking pieces of taxpayer-financed reconstruction projects.

Specialists in Suits Train New Iraqi Army
The United States is turning to a group of grey-suited specialists under contract from the Vinnell Corporation, a subsidiary of the American defense giant, Northrop Grumman.

U.S. 'Had No New Evidence of WMD' in Iraq
The US launced its war with Iraq despite having no fresh intelligence that the regime of Saddam Hussein was developing mass destruction weapons or forging ties with terrorists, the leaders of the House of Representatives intelligence committee have concluded.

Mob of Ex-Iraqi Soldiers Attacks American Troops
A stone-throwing mob of former Iraqi soldiers charged at US troops and Iraqi police near a former military airport in central Baghdad where American forces have a large base.

Another 15,000 U.S. Troops Told to Prepare for Iraq

The Failure to Find Iraqi Weapons

No WMDs Found in Iraq Reveals Leaked US Report
The team of 1,400 weapons inspectors which have been scouring Iraq for the past four months is set to admit that it has failed to find any weapons of mass destruction.

PM's Aide Doctored Dossier
Tony Blair's top aide told Britain's senior intelligence officer to doctor the Iraq dossier at the eleventh hour to heighten the threat from Saddam Hussein.

Halliburton Crony Gets Top Iraq Energy Post
Robert E. McKee III, a former ConocoPhillips executive, has been appointed the new senior adviser to the Iraqi Oil Ministry. He's also the chairman of Enventure Global Technology, an oil venture owned by Shell and Halliburton.

U.S. Planned to Attack Seven Muslim States
Presidential hopeful General Wesley Clark says the White House devised a five-year plan after the 9/11 strikes to attack seven majority-Muslim countries. Clark claims a senior military officer told him in November of 2001 that the Bush administration was planning to attack Iraq first before taking action against Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Iran, Somolia and Sudan.

Hispanic Soldiers Die in Greater Numbers in Iraq
According to the Pew Hispanic Center, while Latinos make up 9.5 percent of the actively enlisted forces, they are over-represented in the categories that get the most dangerous assignments -- infantry, gun crews and seamenship -- and make up over 17.5 percent of the front lines.

Report: Troops Stretched Thin, Lied to & Mistreated

Iraq's Simmering South

Human Shiedl Faces Jail

Americans Draw a Veil of Secrecy as Casualties Grow A culture of secrecy has descended upon the occupation authorities in Iraq. They will give no tally of the Iraqi civilian lives lost each day. They will not comment on the killing by an American soldier of one of their own Iraqi interpreters - he was shot dead in front of the Italian diplomat who was the official adviser to the new Iraq Ministry of Culture - and they cannot explain how General Sultan Hashim Ahmed, the former Iraq minister of defense and a potential war criminal, should now be described by one of the most senior US officers in Iraq as "a man of honor and integrity."

Americans in Denial About Iraq How Americans have fooled themselves about the war in Iraq, and why they've had to.

Was There an Iraq-Al Qaeda Connection? Robert Sheer of the Los Angeles Times writes that almost all these "allegations," such as the connection between bin Laden lietenant Abu Musab Zarqawi and Iraq, are typical in of the way the Bush administration has dealt with Iraq and Al Qaeda from the beginning; "Say what you want people to believe for the front page and on TV, then whisper a halfhearted correction or apology that slips under the radar."

Bush: NO Connection Between Iraq, Sept. 11 "There's no question that Saddam Hussein had al-Qaida ties," the president said. But he also said, "We've had no evidence that Saddam Hussein was involved with September the 11th."

Cheney Still Touts Fictional Iraq-Sept. 11 Connection Vice President Dick Cheney, anxious to defedn the White House foreign policy amid ongoing violence in Iraq, stunned intelligence analysts and even members of his own administration by failing to dismiss a widely discredited claim: that Saddam Hussein might have played a role in the Sept. 11 attacks. More...

Hiding the Truth: Iraq Weapons Report Buried The US and Britian have decided to delay indefinitely the publication of a full report on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.

CNN Reporter: 'CNN Intimidated by Bush Administration' Regarding War Coverage CNN's top war correspondent, Christiane Amanpour, says that the press muzzled itself during the Iraq war. And, she says CNN "was intimidated" by the Bush administration and Fox Nes, which "put a climate of fear and self-censorship."

Rumsfeld Says Rebuilding Iraq Not Our Problem "I don't believe it's our job to reconstruct that country after 30 years of centralized, Stalinist-like economic controls in that country," Rumsfeld told a National Press Club audience. "The Iraqi people are going to have to reconstruct that country over a period of time."

Cheney: U.S. May Need More Than $87 Billion for Iraq Occupation Vice President Dick Cheney hinted that the Bush administration would seek more money next year than the additional $87 billion already requested to pay mainly for postwar costs in Iraq.

6,000 US Troops Wounded in Iraq: The Hidden Battlefield Toll New figures reveal the true number of GIs wounded in Iraq.

Democrats Question Additional Funds for Halliburton The Bush administration has requested additional funds for oil field construction without consultation from the Army Corp of Engineers, the department that is overseeing the reconstruction efforts.

'U.S. Attracted al-Qaeda to Iraq' The United States struggled before the war to convince the world there was a link between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda network, but five months of U.S.-led occupation of Iraq may have created precisely such an unholy alliance.

Nonsmoking Smoking Guns Iraq's Mobile Labs Are Used and Sold in the U.S.

Inspectors: 'There Are No WMDs In Iraq' Britain and US will back down over WMDs.

Pneumonia Mystery in Persian Gulf Since early March, about 100 soldiers deployed to the Persian Gulf region and Central Asia have contracted pneumonia. In medical slang, 19 "crashed" within hours of getting sick, not responding ot antibiotics. [ - Of course, this is in no way related to the vaccines they were given... is it?]

Spy Agencies Foresaw Iraq Resistance U.S. intelligence agencies warned Bush adminstration policymakers before the war in Iraq that there would be significant armed opposition to a U.S.-led occupation, according to administration and congressional sources familiar with the reports.

Who's Counting the Dead in Iraq? The Pentagon and Defense Department take the position that the number of Iraqi dead does not matter. [ - And then they wonder why the Iraqis are attacking our troops as the invaders they are, instead of welcoming them as "liberators."

Schoolkids Go Begging as Military Gets Billions "You mean we can spend $4 billion a month to keep the military in Iraq, but we can't afford crayons for first-graders?" - John S. Carter

Iraqis Threaten to Go It Alone Amid faltering US security and rebuilding efforts, homegrown militias and politicians emerge.

Bush: $70 Billion More Needed for Iraq The White House has informed congressional leaders that it is preparing a new budget request for between $60 billion and $70 billion to help cover the mounting cost of the reconstruction and military occupation of Iraq.

Iraqi Women Have Lost the Post-War Rapes, Sequestrations, and a Return to the Veil Develop.

More US Troops Killed in Postwar Iraq Than in War When President Bush declared an end to major combat on May first, the death toll of Americans stood at 138. Since then over 140 more soldiers have died.

U.S. and the Iraqis Discuss Creating Big Militia Force American and Iraqi officials said that they were discussing the possibility of forming a large Iraqi paramilitary force to help improve security in the country. Iraqis involved in the talks said the force could consist of thousands of Iraqis already screened by the various political parties for prior affiliations with Saddam Hussein's government. Iraqi officials said such a milita coult ultimately take control of Iraqi cities from American soldiers
Some Iraqi leaders said a force of several thousand men, most of them with military experience, could be ready in little more than a month.
American officials acknowledged that discussion were under way, but declined to talk about them in detail. They suggested that for the talks to succeed, they would have to address American worries about unregulated, untrained bands of armed men operating under separate commands around the country.
Security details "should be unified, and they should be recognized as Iraqi security forces, and not belonging to individual groups or parties," said Charles Heatley, a spokesman for the Coalition Provisionall Authority in Iraq.
[ - Let me get this straight, now... The milita must be regulated and trained, and unified as a national force? Right. But they can't have any prior affiliations with Saddam Hussein's government? Right. So were do you find such a force, in a country which has been so thoroughly dominated by Saddam Hussein's government? You train them? And how long does that take? How much does that cost? Who pays the bill? And Who benefits? Right... Oh, nothing... just asking.]

So where do they get trained... Hungary!

Porn, Drugs, Weapons Hit Baghdad Streets Iraq is finally safe for "Democracy!"

Depleted Uranium: What 'Support The Troops' Really Means Deplete Uranium is a component of toxic nuclear waste, usually stored at secure sites. Handlers need radiation protection gear.
Over a decade ago, war-makers decided to incorporate this lethal waste into much of the Pentagon's weaponry. Tons of DU weapons have been discharged in Iraq in both Gulf Wars, and now continue to irradiate troops both on the battlefield itself, and in the tanks and ships that carry these munitions.
DU munitions are classified by a United Nations resolution as illegal weapons of mass destruction! Their use breaches all international laws, treaties and conventions forbidding poisoned weapons calculated to cause unnecessary suffering.
[- Wait, I thought we went there to stop the use of WMD, not to use WMD! What's up with that, Dubya?]

Huge Suicide Blast Demolishes U.N. Headquarters in Baghdad A suicide bomber drove a "gleaming new" cement mixer full of explosives into the side of the United Nations compound and blew it up, killing 17 and wounding at least 100. Among the dead was Sergio Vieira de Mello, the United Nations secretary general's special representative in Iraq; Rick Hooper, the United Nations' chief expert on Arab affairs; Nadia Younes, Mr. Vieira de Mello's chief of staff; Ranillo Buenaventura, of the relief coordination office; Marilyn Manuel and Jean-Selim Kanaan, employees in Mr. Vieira de Mello's office; Chris Klein-Beckman, and official of Unicef; and Fiona Watson, who worked on the oil-for-food program. A World Bank official in Washington said five of its employees were missing. Also missing was Arthur C. Helton, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relation in New York, who was scheduled to meet with Mr. Vieira de Mello at the time of the bombing. L. Paul Bremer III, the chief American civilian administrator in Iraq, said there were indications that Mr. Vieira de Mello had been the target of the attack.
[What idications? When? Where did the terrorist find a "gleaming new" cement mixer and the explosives to fill it? By the way, isn't KBR, the Halliburton subsidiary contracted to rebuild Iraq's infrastructure, a construction company? Maybe they are missing a cement mixer?]

Mass Graves to Reveal Iraq War Toll Nobody knows exactly how many Iraqis died in the war this year, but an Anglo-American research group, the Iraq Body Count, has estimated the number of civilian fatalities at between 6,000 and 7,800. The number of military casualties is between 10,000 and 45,000.

Gulf War Veterans Sue Corporations Blaming corporation for fueling former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's chemical weapons program, veterans of the first Gulf War filed a lawsuit seeking compensation for illnesses affecting more than 100,000 soldiers.

U.S. Apologizes for Baghdad Mosque Incident The United States military apologized for an incident that deeply angered Iraqi religious leaders when soldiers in a helicopter forced down a flag near a mosque in an overwhelmingly Shiite district of Baghdad. A large protest followed, leading to the death of one Iraqi and the wounding of four others by American troops.

Troops in Iraq Face Pay Cut The Pentagon wants to cut the pay of its 148,000 U.S. troops in Iraq, and 9,000 troops in Afghanistan. The troops will lose a pay increase approved last April of $75 a month in "imminent danger pay" and $150 a month in "family separation allowances." The Defense Department says its budget can't sustain the higher payments amid a host of other priorities. [- And I bet the increase in pay was used as a recruiting inducement, suckers! - Don't get me wrong, I'm not bashing the troops. I think they deserve that pay increase, and then some.]

Democracy in Iraq Impossible, US Was Told US intelligence officials cautioned the National Security Council before the Iraq war that the American plan to build democracy on the ashes of Saddam Hussein's regime - as a model for the rest of the region - was so audacious that, in the words of one CIA report in March, it could ultimately prove "impossible."

U.S. May Fine Some Who Shielded Iraq Sites Upon returning home "human shields" received letters from the Treasury Department seeking information about their activities in Iraq and noting that spending money there was a crime that could lead to 12 years in prison and civil penalties of up to $275,000.

U.S. Moved to Undermine Iraqi Military Before War The U.S. military, the C.I.A. and Iraqi exiles began a covert effort in Iraq at least three months before the war.

British Clash with Iraqis in Basra Fuel Riots British troops in riot gear came under attack in the southern Iraqi city of Basra as fuel and power shortages sparked angry protests in sweltering heat.

Author of Reconstruction Book Arrested for Antique Smuggling The author of a book on rebuilding Iraq has been arrested at John F. Kennedy International airport in New York for allegedly smuggling stolen 4,000-year-old Mesopotamian artifacts out of Baghdad.

Bechtel Accuses Halliburton of Iraqi Oil Monopoly The Bechtel Group, one of the world's biggests engineering and construction companies, has dropped out of the running for a contract to rebuild the Iraqi oil industry, as other competitors have begun to conclude that the bidding process favors the one company already working in Iraq, Halliburton.

High Ranking Pentagon Official Turns Whistle Blower Former senior Pentagon Middle East specialist, Air Force Lt. Col. Karen Kwaitkowski, who worked in the office of Under Secretary of Defence for Policy Douglas Feith until her retirement in April, says, "If one is seeking the answers to why peculiar bits of 'intelligence' found sanctity in a presidential speech, or why the post-Saddam occupation has been distinguished by confusion and false steps, one need look no further than the process inside the Office of the Secretary of Defence."

Immunity for Iraqi Oil Dealings Raises Alarm An executive order signed by President Bush more than two months ago is raising concerns that U.S. oil companies may have been handed blanket immunity from lawsuits and criminal prosecution in connection with the sale of Iraqi oil.

Officials Confirm Dropping Firebombs on Iraqi Troops Pentagon spokesmen had disputed reports that napalm was being used, but did confirm that "Mark 77 firebombs" were dropped. They acknowledged those are incendiary devices with a function "remarkalby similar" to napalm weapons.

U.S. Wants Saddam, But Dead Not Alive If put on a public trial, Saddam would have a field day revealing the embarrassing alliance between his brutal regime and Washington.

The Unreported Cost of War: At Least 827 American Wounded US military casualties from the occupation of Iraq have been more than twice the number most Americans have been led to believe because of an extraordinarily high number of accidents, suicides and other non-combat deaths in the ranks that have gone largely unreported in the media.

US Army Buys Peace with Compensation Payments In a bid to stem the wave of revenge attacks, American forces have taken the unusual step of paying "blood money" to the families of those killed or injured. US compensation culture has joined forces with ancient Arab tribal custom, in the hope that putting a price on past wrongs can finally buy peace.

Ship Smuggling Iraqi Oil Seized by Royal Navy The Royal Navy has intercepted a ship smuggling 1,100 tons of oil out of Iraq in its largest seizure since the end of the war.

White House Abandons Original Rationale for War As the search for illegal weapons in Iraq continues without success, the Bush administration has moved to emphasize a different rationale for the war against Saddam Hussein: using Iraq as the "linchpin" to transform the Middle East and thereby reduce the terrorist threat to the United States. [- But most analysts agree that the war with Iraq is more likely to increase terrorism against American interests in the Middle East by increasing the appeal of al-Qaeda and other terrorist networks.]

White House Continues Sanctions Against Iraq One of the more recent justifications for the Iraq war coming from the Bush administration and its defenders is that the war allowed the US to lift the ruinous sanctions against Iraq, but the war itself was so destabilizing that the sanctions must be resumed. [- So much for helping the people of Iraq.]

U.S. Wants Iraqis to Judge Hussein The United States has plans to create a special tribunal of Iraqi judges to try Saddam Hussein for crimes against humanity if he is captured.

Top 40 Bush Administration Lies on Iraq War and Terror "Bring 'em On!"

Troops Turn Botched Saddam Raid into a Massacre American soldiers in the Mansur district of Baghdad opened fire on scores of Iraqi civilians in a crowded street killing up to 11, including two children, their mother and crippled father. At least on civilian car caught fire, cremating its occupants.

American Military Police Deny Abusing PoWs The US military has charged four American soldiers with abusing prisoners of war in Iraq. The four military police from a Pennsylvanian-based US army reserve unit are accused of punching, kicking and breaking bones of prisoners at Camp Bucca, the largest US-run PoW camp in Iraq.

Controlling the Information Coming Out of Iraq - Military Wife Rebuked to E-Mail

Japan Authorizes Troops for Iraq The deployment or as many as 1,000, would be the first for Japanese troops in a combat zone since WWII.

Body Double Needs to See Proof That Uday is Dead Latif Yahia can see the ghost of Uday Hussein simply by glancing in the mirror.

James Baker III May Head Iraq Reconstruction Carlyle Group member to take charge of the physical and economic reconstruction of Iraq.

White House Attacks Iraq Whistleblower Joe Wilson says the White House deliberately leaked his wife's identity as a covert CIA operative, damaging her future career and compromising past missions after he criticized the administration on "Meet the Press" and in the New York Times.

Kuchinich: Cheney Must Explain Role in Iraq Uranium Scandal In a letter to the vice president, the Ohio congressman and two members of the House Government Reform subcommittee on national security, emerging threates and international relations asked Cheney to explain his multiple visits to CIA headquarters.

The Toxic Aftermath of War: Depleted Uranium in Iraq The American use of depleted uranium munitions in both Persian Gulf wars has unleashed a toxic disaster that will eclipse the Agent Orange tragedy of the Vietnam War, according to former Maj. Douglas Rokke, who was director of the Army's depleted uranium project.

Cheney Task Force Eyed Iraq Oil Vice President Dick Cheney's energy task force appeared to have some interest in early 2001 in Iraq's oil industry, including which foreign companies were pursuing business there, according to documents released by a Judicial Watch.

Rape (and Silence About It) Haunts Baghdad Since the end of the war and the onset of unrest in Iraq's capital, women have grown increasingly afraid of abduction and rape.

Conflict on Iraq-Syria Border Feeds Rage Against the U.S. Tensions are running so high, Syrian soldiers say, that four villagers have been shot by U.S. soldiers in the past month.

Rumsfeld Says Iraq May Need a Larger Force The Defense Secretary said the United States might need to send additional troops to Iraq to quell an increasingly well-organized guerrilla resistance, and warned that more American soldiers would die in attacks this summer.

20 Lies About the War Falsehoods ranging from exaggeration to plain untruth were used to make the case for war. More lies are being used in the aftermath.

Pentagon Had NO Plans for Reconstructing Post-War Iraq Pentagon planners failed to develop detailed plans for postwar Iraq because they were convinced Iraqis would welcome US troops and that a hand-picked exile leader would replace Saddam Hussein and impose order. [- "Impose order," isn't that what a dictator does? Hmmmm...]

Guide to Official Changes in British Dossier From the September dossier to the July 10th backtrack: a truth-spotter's guide to how official language has changed.

Halliburton Preparing to Steal Oil From Iraqi People The Bush administration is considering a provocative idea to pledge some of Iraq's future oil and gas revenue to secure long-term reconstruction loans before a new Iraqi government is in place to sign off on the proposal.

General Franks: 'US May Be In Iraq Four Years' The wartime commander told the House Armed Services Committee: "I anticipate we'll be involved in Iraq in the future. Whether that means two years or four years, I don't know."

Iraq Weapons 'Unlikely to be Found' BBC political editor Andrew Marr said "very senior sources" in Whitehall had virtually ruled out the possibility of finding the weapons.

Rumsfeld Doubles Estimate for Cost of Troops in Iraq The estimated cost for operation nearly doubled to $3.9 billion a month, and troop levels will not be reduced for the foreseeable future.

White House Admits Lying About Iraq The Bush administration acknowledged for the first time that President Bush should not have alleged in his State of the Union address in January that Iraq had sought to buy uranium in Africa to reconsitute its nuclear weapons program. More ... Even More ... and Still More ...

Bush Pushes for Next Generation of Nukes Nukes? Aren't those "illegal weapons of mass destruction?"

The Insiders Are Coming Out Without anyone in Congress slinging subpoenas and with the press cowed by the threat of removal from the White House beat, there is no way to take an Imperial Presidency to task for its actions when deliberate gibberish is the rule of the news day.
There is no way, unless the White House insiders come out and start talking. Suddenly, that is exactly what is happening.

U.S. Curtails Iraq's Newfound Media Freedoms The print press is booming in Iraq as newspapers rose from five government-run papers during Saddam Hussein's regime to around 150 now. But U.S.-led forces are dampening the mood of the free press by censoring it.

Ten Appalling Lies We Were Told About Iraq The most outrageous and significant of the dozens of outright lies uttered by Bush and his top officials over the past year in what amounts to a systematic campaign to scare the bejeezus out of everybody.

Cheney and the CIA: Not Business As Usual Vice President Dick Cheney made an unprecedented amount of visits to the CIA before the war in Iraq.

Senate Democrats Begin Inquiry Into Iraq Intelligence

'British Soldier Filmed Punching Iraqi Civilian' The BBC claims it has footage of a British soldier punching an Iraqi civilian while handing out water.

Blix: Iraq WMDs Were Little More Than 'Debris' As he nears the end of his three-year hund for Iraq's biological and chemical weapons, Hans Blix, the United Nations' chief weapons inspector, says he suspects that Baghdad possessed little more than "debris" from a former, secret weapons program when the United States invaded the country in March.

Halliburton, Pricipal Beneficiary of Iraq's Reconstruction

Campbell and BBC in Open Warfare The bitter conflict between Downing Street and the BBC intensified when the corporation accused Alastair Campbell, the Prime Minister's press chief, of trying to intimidate reporters in the run-up to the Iraq war and conductionf a personal vendetta against the journalist at the center of the row.

Next Stop Africa! Bush Calls for Changes in Africa to End Wars and Promote Trade. President Bush "demanded" Liberia's leader step down, called for a change in Zimbabwe and for the dispatching of an envoy to Sudan. [- What if Liberia demanded that Bush step down?]

The Nuclear Finds in Iraq The discovery of some nuclear components and blueprints falls short of validating the Bush administration's pre-invasion claims that Iraq had reconstituted its weapons program.

House Republicans Reject Deeper Probe on Iraqi Arms The House rejected two attempts by Democratic lawmakers for additional inquiries into the handling of intelligence on Iraq's weapons program.

State Department, CIA in Dispute Over Iraq Mobile Labs The State Department's intelligence division is disputing the Central Intelligence Agency's conclusion that mysterious trailers found in Iraq were for making biological weapons.

U.N. Panel Finds No Evidence to Link Iraq, Al-Qaeda "Nothing has come to our notice that would indicate links between Iraq and al-Qaida," said Michael Chandler, the committee's chief investigator.

Bush Misled US Into Iraq War - An Official Finding? "When discussing Iraq's WMD, administration officials rarely included the caveats and qualifiers attached to the intelligence committee's judgements... For many Americans, the administration's certainty gave the impression that there was even stronger intelligence about Iraq's possession of and intention to use WMD." - Rep. Jane Harman, House Intelligence Committee

Iraqi Villagers Blame British Soldiers' "Brutal" Searches for Massacre According to the British, the reason for the raids was to hunt for .50 calibre machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades. According to the residents, the only guns in the village are the Kalishnikovs and pistols. It seems to have been the manner of the searches (kicking in doors at 5 AM, shooting dogs, and not having translators) which provoked fury. Villagers claim women were searched intimately, that money went missing and that the soldiers behaved rudely.

Pentagon Caught In Lie About POW Will the "News" Revise It's Jessica Lynch Stories?

Veil of Secrecy Aroung Village Hit in U.S. Raid An Iraqi village on the border of Syria has been bombed, killing a young woman and her child, and earth-moving equipment moved in. The US military refuses to say what is going on.

"The Road to Coverup is the Road to Ruin" - Senator Byrd So, again we ask, where are the WMDs?

Senators Predict 5-Year Presence in Iraq "I think we're going to be here in a big way with forces and economic input for a minimum of three to five years," Sen. Joseph Biden.

Denial and Deception There NEVER WAS evidence to link Saddam Hussein to Al Qaeda, yet administration officials repeatedly suggested the evidence of a link.

British Government "Embarrassed" by Iraq Intelligence Dossier The document, produced in January, contained 12-year-old material which had been lifted from a student's thesis.

Halliburton Iraq Oil Work May Last Longer Halliburton's contract to restart Iraq's oil production has doubled in cost over the past month, and the no-bid work may last longer than expected, the Army says.
The expanded roll awarded to Vice President Dick Cheney's former company cost taxpayers $184.7 million as of last week, up from $76.7 million a month ago, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers confirmed this week.

The Dog Ate My WMDs After finding out that the dreaded "mobile labs" were weather balloon platforms sold to Iraq by the British, George W. Bush and his people suddenly have a few things to answer for.

Bush Administration Forged Evidence of WMD

CIA Rejects Blame for Missing Iraq WMDs Powell insists the intelligence around which the United States built its arguements for war in Iraq "isn't a figment of somebody's imagination"

Plan for Congress to Examine Iraq Data Is Dismissed by G.O.P. Congressional Republicans dismissed Democrats demands for a full, formal inquiry into United States prewar intelligence on Iraqi weapons programs, and rejected the idea that the Bush administration had "hyped or cooked" its information to make a case for war.

Under-Fire President Bush Waters Down Claims on Iraqi Weapons

British Government Admits 'Flaws' in Iraq Dossier

Norwegian Weapons Inspector: US Lied About Iraq's Weapons

Spies Threaten Blair With 'Smoking Gun' Over Iraq Senior intelligence officers kept secret records of meetings after pressure from No 10.

Failure to find arms undercuts Bush doctrine First-strike policy tested in Iraq will be harder to sell now, experts say; "We played that card"; Furor shines spotlight on interpretation of weapons intelligence

U.S. Said to Twist Its Data on Iraq The Bush administration distorted intelligence and presented conjecture as evidence to justify a US invasion of Iraq, said a retired intelligence official who served during the months before the war.

British Sold Non-Weapon 'Mobile Labs' to Iraq Tony Blair faces a fresh crisis over Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction, as evidence emerges that two vehicles that he has repeatedly claimed to be Iraqi mobile biological warfare production units are nothing of the sort.

WMD Just a Convenient Excuse for War, Admits Wolfowitz The Bush administration focused on alleged weapons of mass destruction as the primary justification for toppling Saddam Hussein by force because it was politically convenient, a top-level official at the Pentagon has acknowledged. "For bureaucratic reasons we settled on one issue, weapons of mass destruction, because it was the one reason everyone could agree on," Mr Wolfowitz told Vanity Fair.

Angry Blair Says UK Did Not Invent WMD Evidence Widespread international cynicism about British and American justification for war was stoked by a BBC report that an intelligence dossier had been altered on the request of Blair's office to make it "sexier" by adding that Saddam's weapons could be readied for use within 45 minutes. More...

Iran Disputes U.S. on Actions in IraqThe United States has recently maintained a steady drumbeat of charges against Iran in recent weeks, accusing it of trying to foster an Islamic revolution next door in Iraq and developing nuclear weapons. The Iranina foreign minister was vehement in his criticism of the American focus on Iran. "They are looking for escape routes to justify their failure so far," Mr Kharrazi said at a news conference. "The Americans have not been successful in creating law and order in Iraq."

Rumsfeld: Iraq WMDs May Not Exist Donald Rumsfeld, the Defense Secretary and one of the leading hawks on Iraq, has admitted that the weapons may not exist. "We don't know what happened," he told the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. "It is also possible that [Saddam's government] decided they would destroy them prior to a conflict.

Hussein Bunker, Bombed at Outset of War, Never Existed

American Woman Travels Door to Door to Count Iraqi Casualties The Pentagon keeps precise count of U.S. casualties in the war in Iraq. But the question of how many Iraqis lost their lives remains as mysterious as the whereabouts of Saddam Hussein or the location of all those weapons of mass destruction.

U.S. Military Chief Vows More Troops to Quell Iraqi Looting The comments reflect a view among American and British leaders that the postwar lawlessness in Iraq is far more pervasive and intractable than they had originally expected.

Powell and Putin Say Iraq Rift Is Mended, and Then Disagree President Vladimir V. Putin and Secretary of State Colin L. Powell met in the Kremlin and failed to resolve most of their differences involving the future of Iraq.

New Policy in Iraq to Authorize G.I.'s to Shoot Looters The far more muscular approach to bringing order to postwar Iraq was outlined by the new American administrator, L. Paul Bremer.

Iraq's Mobile Laboratories At this point it is difficult to know for sure whether mobile units found in Iraq were part of a program to produce unconventional weapons. One former weapons inspector suggests that the trailers may be chemical processing units intended to refurbish Iraq's antiaircraft missiles. Indeed, one was parked at a missile research site.

US Chemical Weapons Task Force Is Set to Leave Iraq The United States is scaling back a military task force hunting for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq amid rising frustration over failure to find chemical, biological or nuclear arms.

In Baghdad's Anarchy, the Insane Went Free Iraq's only hospital providing long-term care for serious mental disorders was all but destroyed in the war.

U.S. Proposes Broader Control Of Iraqi Oil, Funds The Bush administration offered the Security Council a resolution calling for the elimination of more than a decade of international sanctions on Iraq and granting the United States broad control over the country's oil industry and revenue until a permanent representative Iraqi government is in place. - [And how many years will that take?]

U.S.: "Saddam Had No Weapons of Mass Destruction" The Bush administration has admitted that Saddam Hussein probably had no weapons of mass destruction. Senior officials in the Bush administration have admitted that they would be 'amazed' if weapons of mass destruction (WMD) were found in Iraq.

US Calls for 4 Military Bases in Iraq The Pentagon wants long-term access to four military airfields in Iraq. While the bases would be used to guarantee Iraq's security, they would almost certainly be seen as a threat by neighboring countries such as Syria and Iran.

Corporate Colonialism Like one of the 19th-century European colonial empires, the Bush government is calling on Bechtel, Halliburton, and other major corporations to take over the job of running the Iraqi colony.

Fears of Cholera, Typhoid in Baghdad

Crony Capitalism Goes to War The Bush administration gets rich off of the war in Iraq, once again!

US Companies Quietly Caught Trading with the Enemy When individual Americans are accused of helping terrorists, they're thrown in jail and their names are dragged through the mud. But when major U.S. corporations are caught trading with the enemy, they get just a slap on the wrist from the government.

Evangelical Crusaders Prepare to Fight Islam with Aid and a Bible Evangelical charities with an overt hostility to Islam are preparing to distribute food, water, medicine and building materials in Iraq, all in the name of Jesus. [-Let the Holy War Begin!]

Playing with Death - Iraqi Children and Cluster Bombs In just a week a mine-clearing charity has removed 30 truckloads of explosives - 11,000 mines plus 200,000 bombs and missiles.

Profiting from War The Bush administration gave Bechtel Group the first big Iraqi reconstruction contract, a prized $680 million deal over 18 months that puts Bechtel in the driver's seat for the long-term reconstruction of the country, which could cost $100 billion or more.

YES!, U.S. Helped Iraq Get Chemical, Biological Weapons From 1982 to 1990 the United States supplied Iraq with not only conventional arms and cash but also chemical and biological materials, including the precursors for anthrax and botulism.

Ex-U.S. Official Says CIA Aided Baathists, and put Saddam on the Payroll! Even Iraq's alleged nuclear weapons program, which U.S. officials said was on the verge of producing a nuclear bomb last year, got under way with help from a 1950s Eisenhower administration program to share the peaceful benefits of nuclear energy called "Atoms for Peace."

Iraq War Planned for Years Back in 2000, before Bush gained the presidency, his Republican mentors in the Project for the New American Century outlined a master plan to use America's colossal military power to enforce U.S. "interests" around the planet. Part of the plan included removing Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

US Admits Mosul Killings A US commander has admitted that American troops did shoot and kill a number of Iraqis during a protest in the northern city of Mosul.

U.S. Has No Plans to Count Civilian Casualties The Pentagon said that it has no plans to determine how many Iraqi civilians may have been killed or injured or suffered property damage as a result of U.S. military operation in Iraq.

In Baghdad, the Stuff of Movies: Did Four G.I.'s Steal a Bundle? The American soldiers are under investigation in the theft of perhaps $900,000 or more from cash apparently left by Iraqi officials.

U.S. Shamed by Looting of Antiquities On 10 April, a day after Saddam Hussein's regime collapsed and Baghdad was in the hands of US military forces, the National Museum of Iraq was ransacked by looters who forced their way in, brandishing iron bars. The curators wer overwhelmed in the chaos and two days later, almost all of the museum's 170,000 artefacts were either stolen of damaged. In the middle of the carnage, ancient vases were smashed and statues beheaded. Priceless items, including a 2,000-year-old, solid gold harp, disappeared into the night. Barely half a mile away from the desperate scene of plunder, US tanks and ground troops had turned a blind eye on the carnage, choosing instead to set up a protective cordon around Iraq's oil ministry.

Saddam "Met His People as Statue Toppled' Another key figure in the deposed Iraqi regime was captured, as an Arab television network release previously unseen footage claiming Saddam Hussein went walkabout in Baghdad on the day that his statue was toppled in the centre of the capital.

U.S. Bombs Iranian Guerrilla Forces Based in Iraq The biggest beneficiary of the strikes will be the Iranian government, which has lost scores of soldiers in recent years to cross-border attacks.

New Online Genre Supplies Lessons on the War in Iraq A new hybrid online genre - part daily journalism, part education - has taken shape during the war.

Documents Link Russia to Saddam The most serious allegations concern certificates, bearing the Russian twin-headed eagle, showing that five Iraqis had graduated in spy training from a Moscow organization called the Special Training Centre. ...there is no private company by that name - increasing speculation that Iraqi agents attended an official Russian spy school.

Hussein's Last Appearance Takes On a Life of Its Own At the Adhamiya Mosque in Baghdad, people have made a legend of the half hour when they say Saddam Hussein appeared in public.

Now Free to Protest, Iraqis Complain About Americans Protests against the U.S. Forces are rising by the day as Iraqis exercise their new right to complain.

Abbas Capture "Proves Saddam Aided Terrorists" The capture of Paul Abbas, the veteran Palestinian guerrilla leader, was held up as proof that Saddam Hussein sponsored terrorism.

Sacking the Past Until now, one of the most important collections of Iraqi antiquities could still be found in Baghdad. But that was before the looters came.

Syria Points Finger at Israel Syria challenged Washington to prove it owns chemical weapons and said the greatest threat to stability in the Middle East is posed by Israel's nuclear arsenal.

Leaving a Mess in Mesopotamia Long-term damage from a short-term war - the bombing of Iraq has left a toxic soup.

Bush Demands "Cooperation" From Syrians President Bush accused Syria of harboring Iraqi military and government officials, but stopped short of threatening to use military force. More...

The Iraq Money Tree It is vital that bidding to reconstruct Iraq be competitive, transparent and open to all. That has not happened so far.

Ultimate Insiders This unilateral war and the ouster of Saddam Hussein have given the hawks and their commercial allies carte blanche in Iraq.

World Bank and I.M.F. Say They'll Send Experts to Iraq The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund announced that they would send teams to Iraq to assess needs for reconstruction as soon as it was safe.

Mesopotamia. Babylon. The Tigris and Euphrates According to a New York Times/CBS News survey, 42 percent of the American public believes that Saddam Hussein is directly responsible for the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. And an ABC News poll says that 55 percent of Americans believe that Saddam Hussein directly supports al-Qaida. What percentage of America's armed forces believe these fabrications is anybody's guess.

Scandal-Hit US Firm Wins Key Contracts A US military contractor accused of human rights violations has won a multi-billion-dollar contract to police post-Saddam Iraq. The awarding of such a sensitive contract to DynCorp has caused consternation in some circles over the company's policing record. A British employment tribunal recently forced DynCorp to pay compensation to a UN police officer it unfairly fired in Bosnia for whistleblowing on DynCorp colleagues involved in an illegal sex ring.

America Targeted 14,000 Sites. So Where Are the Weapons of Mass Destruction? Many influential people - disarmament experts, present and former United Nations arms inspectors, our own Robin Cook - have begun to wonder aloud if the weapons exist at all. [- Just wait, Bush will claim that they were all smuggled into Syria, and when we don't find any there we will move on to the next target.]

Syria Could Be Next, Warns Washington The United States has pledged to tackle the Syrian-backed Hizbollah group in the next phase of its 'war on terror' in a move which could threaten military action against President Bashar Assad's regime in Damascus.

Congress Passes $79 Billion Bill to Pay for War Congress sent President Bush even more money than he requested but refused to grant the administration wide latitude to spend it. [- What do they care? Its not their money, its yours!]

India Mulls "Pre-Emptive" Pakistan Strike, Cites U.S. Iraq War Precedent Defense Minister George Fernandes reiterated Indian warnings that Pakistan was a prime case for pre-emptive strikes.

Vanishing Liberties -- Where's the Press? The media, with few exceptions, are failing to report consistently, and in depth, precisely how Bush and Ashcroft are undermining our fundemental individual liberties.

Crime Against Humanity "To initiate a war of aggression," said the judges in the Nuremberg trial of the Nazi leadership, "is not only an international crime; it is the supreme international crime differing only from other war crimes in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole."

Pillagers Strip Iraqi Museum of Its Treasures Once American troops entered Baghdad in sufficient force to topple Saddam Hussein's government, it took only 48 hours for the museum to be destroyed, with at least 50,000 artifacts carried away by looters. [- Where do you think those priceless 7,000-year-old artifacts will end up?]

Bush Warns Syria Over Saddam Donald Rumsfeld, the US Defence Secretary, previously claimed that senior members of the Iraqi leadership had crossed into the country. - How long before our troops cross over into Syria?

U.S. Government Accused of War Crimes Against Journalists The Paris-based journalists' organization 'Reporters without Borders' (RSF, after its French name), called on the International Humanitarian Fact-Finding Commission to investigate whether by attacking journalists in Iraq the U.S.-British coalition forces were not violating international humanitarian law.

Congressman Questions Iraq Work Given to Halliburton Subsidiary Without Competition The deal could be worth as much as $7 billion over two years, but only $50.3 million has been spent. The $7 billion value was based on a worst-case scenario that hasn't occurred.

Heavy Fighting for Desert Base at Syria Border The tenacity with which Iraqi forces in Al Qaim defended a compound against U.S. troops made officials think it hid illicit weapons. - But, of course, it DID NOT! Where are the chemical, biological and "of mass destruction" weapons, Mr. President? You said you had proof, will you now say we have to go to Syria to find it?

Hunting Hussein, U.S. Attacks Mosque Troops hunting Saddam Hussein attacked a mosque in Baghdad but seem to have missed a chance to kill or capture Iraqi leaders.

Syria Now Top US Target for 'Regime Change' One of the main subjects on the agenda of the Belfast summit was Syria, the Pentagon's next likely target for "regime change" amid suspicions it allowed Saddam Hussein to transfer weapons of mass destruction within its borders.

Senators Delay $80 Billion War Bill Over Special Interest Items Talks to approve the $80 billion war bill were postponed after leading senators refused to attend, angry that they House will not accept many of their special interest items.

Senate Rolls a Pork Barrel Into War Bill In their haste to pass the war bill, many senators never realized that they were also voting to send $10 million to a research station at the South Pole.

Dark Day for Journalists in Iraq US troops shell journalists in Baghdad.

No Sign of Iraqi Leader A young woman's severed head and torso and a small boy's body were pulled from a smoking crater carved into the earth by four U.S. bombs, so powerful they yanked orange trees from their roots. But there was no sign of the man those bombs were aimed at: Saddam Hussein.

Search for Fallen Dictator Continues Amid the burning embers of his regime, conjecture continued to surround the whereabouts of the Iraqi dictator and his most loyal henchmen. - He's most likely in Rio, drinking Pina Coladas on the beach with Osama bin Laden. We will never find those two!

Talks Begin on Iraq's Future A crucial meeting of 43 Iraqi politicians that will shape the future of the country and its interim government.

Bush Pledges Vital Role for UN During a 24-hour summit in Belfast, the US president declared Saddam Hussein's stranglehold on power terminally weakened, and said the UN would "play a role" in rebuilding the country.

News of the Dirty War Stories the Censors Could Not Sink - Before the war started, the Pentagon told its embedded reporters not to dig for dirt or conduct their own investigations - just sit back and let the "truth" set them free.

Bush Cronies Set to Make a Killing Andrew Natsios, head of the US Agency for International Development, set out to counter accusations that $600 million worth of contracts for reconstruction in Iraq that he is to award to US companies, some with strong Republican ties, were examples of cronyism.

Hunt for Smoking Gun Still Goes On Unearthing and disarming Saddam Hussein of hidden stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons is a central plank in the moral case for war.

"Smoking Gun" WMD Site in Iraq Turns Out to Contain Pesticide The belated correction was an embarassment for the US forces in the region, who had been quick to say that they thought they had finally found the proof they have been actively looking for, that Iraq was hiding weapons of mass destruction.

Americans May Have Found Mustard Gas American soldiers near Karbala found canisters that, according to tests, contain nerve agents and mustard gas. Additional tests must be conducted before possibility of false reading can be excluded; officials note many industrial chemicals can cause false alarms.

Public Seems to Tolerate War's Death Toll Most Americans interviewed said the casualties had not eroded their support for the war in Iraq, as long as success was in sight.

The Men Who Will Rule Iraq After the Conflict In 1992, the Jordanian courts convicted Mr. Chalabi in absentia of embezzlement amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars. He was sentenced to 22 years in prison with hard labor. However, he has always maintained his innocence, claiming the affair was a plot organized by Baghdad to frame him. More...

US Tank Raid Kills Thousands of Iraqis One commander descibed it as a "poke in the eye" for Saddam Hussein, and the true devestation caused by the dramatic tank raid on Baghdad was laid bare, with the US claiming more than 2,000 Iraqis had been killed.

U.S. Finds No Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq - Does anyone care anymore?

7-Year-Old Kurd: "I Like War" Many Kurdish boys become peshmerga - "those who face death" - by the time they turn 14, although children as young as 10 are serving within the ranks of the Kurdish political-military organizations that control northern Iraq. These young fighters account for up to 10 percent of the roughly 300,000 child soldiers fighting in armies and rebel movements across the globe, human rights groups say.

Rule by U.S. and Britain May Pass 6 Months, Wolfowitz Deputy Defense Secretary Paul D. Wolfowitz said that ceding power to an Iraqi-led civilian authority would take some time.

Covert Units Conduct an Invisible Campaign More than 9,000 Special Operations forces are conducting some of the riskiest missions of the war in Iraq.

Turf War Rages in Washington Over Who Will Rule Iraq The battle concerns not only the American officials who will supervise the new ministries, but the role of exiled Iraqi leaders and the extent of United Nations involvement. Above all, it is a struggle between Colin Powell's State Department and the Pentagon of Donald Rumsfedl, the Defense Secretary, and his deputy Paul Wolfowitz, supported by Dick Cheney, the Vice-President.

US Marines Kill Seven Iraqis After Truck Fails to Stop (Again) Seven civilians, including three children, were killed by US Marines after they opened fire on a truck that refused to stop at a checkpoint south of Baghdad, an American television network reported.

In Iraqi Hospitals, Child War Casualties Mount Doctor Ahmed Abdel Amir said children were bound to make up a large number of casualties because they are such a big proportion of Iraq's 26 million population.

The War's Dirty Secret: It's About Changing United States, Not Iraq The effort to turn Iraq into a democracy is making the U.S. less of one. Our opposition party has disappeared, corporate interests dictate public policy, and the feds may be rummaging through your e-mail.

Sadam Was Not Always Washington's 'Demon' Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, for example, met Saddam in Baghdad in December of 1983 during the Iran-Iraq war when he served as Middle East envoy for President Ronald Reagan. Recently declassified U.S. documents show the State Department knew at that time that Iraq was making "almost daily" use of chemical weapons against Iranian forces and that the CIA suspected Saddam would try to build a nuclear bomb.

Is This Iraq's Holocaust? Hundreds of bodies have been discovered in a makeshift morgue by British soldiers in what may prove to be the first evidence of scores of execution and torture centres across Iraq.

U.S. Use of Tear Gas Could Violate Treaty, Critics Say President Bush has authorized American military forces to use tear gas in Iraq, a development that could be seen as a breach of the Chemical Weapons Convention.

Professors Protest as Students Debate Professors shaped by Vietnam protests and a more conservative student body traumatized by the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, do not always see eye-to-eye on the war.

Arab Media Portray War as Killing Field Many Arabs believe that the war in Iraq is part of a brutal assault by America and its allies on the world's Arab community.

The Military Language Used to Mask Deadly Serious Intent Each war brings with it its own glossary of terms, aimed to be succinct or to soften its meaning to the general public.

U.N. Fears U.S. Bomblets Resemble Food Packets A UNICEF statement said food packets known as "humanitarian daily rations" that were being handed out by the U.S. and British forces in Iraq were covered in a bright yellow plastic wrap. The color of the wrapping was identical to that of an air-dropped bomblet that UNICEF identified as BLU 97. A similar problem had arisen in the war in Afghanistan, where the U.S. military eventually changed the wrapping on food packets to blue, the U.N. agency said.

U.S. War Priorities Shift Away from Disarming Iraq President Bush now more frequently describes Iraq's leaders as evil, brutal and tryannical and his supporters as thugs. "Freeing the Iraqi people" has replaced disarming Iraq as the main focus of his speeches.

UK Troops Sent Home for Questioning War Two British soldiers who questioned the legality of the U.S.-led war in Iraq have been sent home from the Gulf and may now face disciplinary action, their lawyer said.

In Umm Qasr, Fears of a Second Bush Betrayal are Fuelled by Bitter Memories After the 1991 Gulf War, with Saddam Hussein's forces beaten, George Bush Snr, father of the current President, urged the largely Shia population of south-eastern Iraq to rise up and seek their freedom. When they did, America and Britian failed to support them and the Iraq regime ruthlessly suppressed the rebels. In this region the bitter memory of that betrayal still burns.

Senators See War Bill as Way to Push Pet Projects As the Senate began debating the bill to pay for the conflict in Iraq, lawmakers were unable to resist trying to attach pet projects.

Exuberant, Shiite Crowd Calls Vainly for Water When American troops from the 101st Airborne Division marched into Najaf, they were greeted by urgent requests for water.

U.S. Army Helicopter Shot Down; 7 Killed

Warning of 100 bin Ladens Egypt's president, Hosni Mubarak, a key moderate Arab leader and long-time ally of the West, warned of the "horrible consequences" of a drawn-out war and said it could create "100 new bin Ladens."

Failing to Heed Warning, 7 Iraqi Women and Children Die The Army said U.S. soldiers killed seven women and children riding in a van when it did not stop after they fired warning shots.

Iraq War Quiz How well do you know the war and its warmongers?

US Forces' Use of Depleted Uranium Weapons it 'Illegal' British and American coalition forces are using depleted uranium (DU) shells in the war against Iraq and deliberately flouting a United Nations resolution which classifies the munitions as illegal weapons of mass destruction.

Special Search Operations Yield No Banned Weapons "All searches have turned up negative," said a Joint Staff officer who is following field reports. "The munitions that have been found have all been conventional."

Fears Marines Will Shoot First, Question Later After Saturday's suicide bombing there are fears that soldiers are more likely to shoot first and ask questions later. In An Nasiriyah, the fear created by the attack had more tragic consequences. Bodies of men, women and children, including two babies, lay in a ditch next to the wreckage of burnt-out vehicles on a bridge held by coalition forces. The victims, believed to be trying to escape heavy artillery fire, made the mistake of moving at night across a bridge crucial to the coalition's supply lines and were killed by US Marines.

Baghdad Assault 'Delayed for Up to 40 Days' The United States led advance on Baghdad appeared to have been placed firmly on hold after frontline units reported orders to settle into their positions for the next 35 to 40 days.

Fleeing Civilians Caught in the Middle What exactly is happening in Basra is unclear, but the reports from those fleeing the city are troubling.

Iraqi General Says 4,000 Volunteered for Suicide Attacks A military spokesman said 4,000 volunteers from 23 Arab countries stand ready to carry out suicide attacks against U.S. forces.

Four US Soldiers Killed by Suicide Bomb Iraq's vice president Taha Yassin Ramadan said: "It will be routine military policy. We will use any means to kill our enemy in our land and we will follow the enemy into its land."

Iran and Syria Hit Back Over Rumsfeld Threat The spectre of war spreading beyond Iraq's borders loomed large last night after Iran - part of President Bush's "axis of evil" - joined Syria in angrily rejecting US accusations of interference.

Grief and Confusion as Troops Come to Terms with 'Friendly Fire' An American A10 "tankbuster" mistakenly fired at Household Cavalry Scimitars killing two British soldiers.

Military Families Unite in Protest Military Families Speak Out, a national organization of people who have family members in the military but who are against the war.

Another US Diplomat Resigns Over Iraq War Read the resignation letter: "I believe the Administration's policies are making the world a more dangerous, not a safer, place."

As a Quick Victory Grows Less Likely, Doubts Are Quietly Voiced After 10 days of watching smart bombs, sandstorms and stiff resistance from the Iraqi regime, a capital that usually embraces a president at war is beginning to show fissures.

Iraq War No Walk in the Park [- Well, what idiot thought it would be?]

Annan Faces His 'Most Difficult' Moment A war has erupted without sanction form the United Nations, and its secretary general has to keep the Nobel Prize-winning institution from reverting to its cold-war self. [- Wait a minute, the UN sanctions wars? I thought it was an institution of peace? How can something intended to promote peace sanction war?]

U.S. Finds Buried Bodies of 4 G.I.'s Military officials said they believed that the four were executed by Iraqi paramilitary forces after they were seized in an ambush last Sunday.

Fighting Oil Fires, and Creditors The war in Iraq might determine the fate of a Houston company that earned as much as $100 million putting out oil-well fires in Kuwait in 1991.

U.S. Is Preparing to Try Iraqis for Crimes Against Humanity Senior administration officials said that they were collecting evidence of war crimes in Iraq, including the apparent execution of Americans held prisoner. [- And what about American war crimes? No such thing? Or is that for the UN to decide?]

Powell Sees Major Role for U.N. in Postwar Iraq Secretary of State Colin L. Powell said that opposition around the world toward the war in Iraq would pose a significant challenge for the U.S. in the future. [- Such as maybe sanctions, or possibly a UN pacification of the US aggression?]

Rumsfeld Cautions Iran and Syria on Aid to Iraq Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld accused Syria and Iran of interfering with the American war effort in Iraq. [- Hey, it's not like we interfered when Iran was at war with Iraq. What? We did?! So what? Iran and Syria are next in line for "democratization."]

Analyst: 'Mass Destruction Weapons Need to be Found' An architect of the U.S. "shock and awe" bombing campaign against Iraq said that American and UK credibility in administering peace in post-war Iraq would be undermined if no chemical weapons were found. [- Gee, you think so?]

White House: Bush Upset with Media Coverage of War Officials fault reporters' expectations. President Bush has "some level of frustration with the press corps" for accounts questioning the U.S. and coalition war plan in Iraq, and he finds it "silly" that such skepticism and questions were being raised just days into a conflict he says is going quite well, according to a senior administration official.

Outspoken Army General Upsets White House "The enemy we're fighting against is different from the one we'd war-gamed against," Wallace, commander of V Corps, told The New York Times and The Washington Post. "We knew they were here, but we did not know how they would fight."

Air Raids Pound Baghdad, 50+ Civilians Dead

US Officers Become Jittery Over War A number of senior military officers in the United States are now convinced the war against Saddam Hussein is likely to last months, despite the rapid advance by coalition forces.

Blair: US Will Be In Charge After War Tony Blair seemed to accept that a military government led by the United States will follow the war in Iraq, as he softened his call for the United Nations to approve a new administration.

Analysts Say Threat Warning Toned Down Guerilla Tactics Were Predicted. Intelligence analysts at the CIA and Pentagon warned the Bush administration that U.S. troops would face significant resistance from Iraqi irregular forces employing guerilla tactics, but those views have not been adequately reflected in the administration's public predictions about how difficult a war might go, according to current and former intelligence officials.

Practice to Deceive Chaos in the Middle East is not the Bush hawks' nightmare scenario - it's their plan.

Halliburton Subsidiary Wins Iraq Bid Without Bidding Kellog Brown & Root's stock-in-trade: The building of permanent military bases.

Differing TV Images Feed Arab, US Views The Arab world sees pictures of bloodied bodies of young children. They watch scenes crowded with corpses, including gruesome images of dead American soldiers. Americans see none of that.

U.N. Official: Fake Iraq Nuke Papers Were Crude A few hours and a simple internet search was all it took for U.N. inspectors to realize documents backing U.S. and British claims that Iraq had revived its nuclear program were crude fakes.

U.S. Names 8 Marines Missing Since Sunday The Pentagon has announced the names of eight marines missing after an ambush on Sunday near Nasiriya that took the lives of nine other marines.

A Gulf Commander Sees a Longer Road The removal of the Iraqi government is likely to take longer than originally thought, Lt. Gen. William Wallace said. [- Again, no shit?!]

The Shocking Truth About 'Shock and Awe' War propaganda and reading between the lies.

'British' Prisoners Appear on Iraqi Television Iraq was accused of displaying the 'lowest standards of decency and humanity' after more coalition service personnel were shown on the Arab satellite television station, al-Jazeera.

Pentagon Denies Targeting Market Intially, a spokesman for Central Command in Qatar said coalition aircraft had been targeting Iraqi missiles and launchers in a residential area of Baghdad at about the time of the explosions. But later, as Baghdad was again rocked by explosions, an official for the United States, speaking during a Pentagon press conference, insisted allied jets and cruise missiles had not fired on any targets in the area.

Two Desert Rats Die in Friendly Fire Incident The four-man crew of a Challanger II tank were locked in a battle with Iraqi forces near Basra when they were mistakenly targeted by another Challanger. A single tank round killed two of the four-man crew. The other two were seriously injured.

Good News, No News and the Infamous Fog of War "When there are positive developments, press officers prowl the corridors of the press centre dispensing upbeat reports from pre-prepared scripts, declaring Iraqi towns have been liberated and that humanitarian aid is about to be delivered. Yet if the American and British troops have suffered any sort of battlefield reverse, the spin doctors retreat into their offices at press centre and await instructions from London and Washington. ...behind the scenes it is clear that script writers in London and Washington are crafting the coalition's 'message' as part of a concerted 'stategic information operations' campaign."

Using the News as a Weapon The Pentagon may have been dragged kicking and screaming into its current embrace of the news media.[???] But it is making the most of it.

U.S. Plans to Run Iraq Itself The U.S. is preparing to establish immediate sole control of postwar Iraq, intially without recourse to the U.N.

Opinions Begin to Shift as Public Weighs War Cost American say the war will last longer and cost more than they expected, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll.

Top General Concedes Aerial Bombardment Did Not Fully Meet Goal The Pentagon's strategy to shock the Iraqi regime quickly with a dramatic early air bombardment has not worked exactly as planned.

Protecting Prisoners of War As Washington demands that the Geneva Convention be respected, it should set an example with its own handling of battelfield captives.

Congratulations on Your Liberation! A message to oppressed people everywhere, from the US government.

Bush Requesting Nearly $75 Billion for War Costs President Bush will ask Congress for $47.7 billion to pay for the war in Iraq, but the money covers anticipated expenses for only the next six months.

G.I.'s Regroup After Setback - 2 Prisoners on Iraq TV The U.S. Army clashed with the outer ring of Saddam Hussein's final defense, which drove back more than 30 Apache helicopters.

Bracing for Bush's War at Home Among the more extreme powers Patriot Act II would grant the executive branch: The ability to strip citizenship from an American who supports a group the feds label as terrorist.

British Manufacturer's Weapons Linked to Hidden Cache of Missiles A number of cargo crates amid the lethal arms depot bore the stamp and address of one of Britian's most respected arms firms, Wallop Defence Systems, which supplies guided missiles technology to the British and United States armies.

US Soldier Arrested After Attack on Comrades An American soldier has been arrested after a grenade attack at a US camp in northern Kuwait which killed on serviceman and wounded 12 others.

Media and Military Kinship Turns War into Glorified Sports Show "The images encourage us to believe we are being given a full picture and frank account of the war, but we are not. Television is painting a big picture, which they and the military hope will satisfy us - Baghdad ablaze, tanks rolling, missiles scorching. It's an idea of war, entertainment with the thrill of reality. What the war does prove is the military has advanced in terms of PR by trying to meet television's demands."

Your Media At Work How can the public know the truth from media outlets that blanket the airwaves with a cadre of retired generals, comrades of the current generals leading the war, and pals of the very administration and companies who profit from this war?

POWs Pawns in the Propaganda Battle The footage of the captured US soldiers, repeated hourly on Al Jazeera, showed four men and a woman under intense questioning from journalists claiming to represent Iraqi television at An Nasiriyah.

Images of War The Al Jazeera Images of US POW's

Concern Grows Over Turkish Troops in Iraq Turkish troops move into northern Iraq.

C.I.A. Aides Feel Pressure in Preparing Iraqi Reports Analysts at the CIA said they had felt pressured to make their intelligence reports on Iraq conform to Bush administration policies.

Which Companies Will Put Iraq Back Together? Government contract officers plan to give American companies the first contracts to rebuild Iraq, a task that experts say could eventually cost $25 billion to $100 billion.

Bush Warns That War in Iraq May Last Longer Than Anticipated NO SHIT!?

U.S. Says Hussein Was in Video, but Can't Decide When Tape Was Made The CIA has concluded that Saddam Hussein himself was indeed on the videotape shown on Iraqi television after the opening attack.

U.S. Battles Calls for Emergency UN Session on Iraq The group of nonaligned nations at the United Nations met earlier this week to consider convening a special session of the 191-nation assembly to denounce the United States. [- How long until they send UN troops to pacify the United States?]

Now, I Am the Terrorist "We are all terrorists now, stupid underinformed terrorists who dance to the tune of a corporate media giant that will profit wildly from this attack. NBC, MSNBC and CNBC are owned by General Electric, one of the largest defense contractors on earth. They will be paid handsomely in military contracts because of this, as they have always been. Yet GE gives us the news we need to understand what is happening."

Iran Oil Depot Hit by Rocket, Iran Warns U.S., UK An oil refinery depot in southwestern Iran close to the Iraqi border was hit by a rocket, and the Islamic Republic warned Washington and London to respect its airspace.

Israeli Technology to See Action in Iraq After decades of U.S. military aid and defense cooperation, the U.S. military is permeated by technology developed in Israel.

Bush Asks Seizure of $1.7 Billion Held in U.S. President Bush has ordered the Treasury Department to seize about $1.7 billion in Iraqi government money in American bank accounts.

Rumsfeld Says Iraq Is Collapsing. Lists 8 Objectives of War The first of eight specific aims is to "end the regime of Saddam Hussein."

Immigrants Questioned by F.B.I. F.B.I. agents fanned out in cities across the country, seeking to interview thousands of Iraqi immigrants, particularly those with military or technical backgrounds.

Marines Race to Attack as Iraqi Oil Wells Burn More than 200 marines, along with a handful of British ordnance specialists, launched an assault against the South Rumaila oil field.

The Proving Ground for America's New 'Warform' The air assault on Baghdad and other Iraqi cities proved a fearsome demonstration that 'shock and awe' - the overwhelming use of force and firepower to knock an enemy into rapid submission - was no psychological bluff. Psychological operations, or psyops, however, remain a potent part of the Pentagon's battle plans in the hours and days ahead.

How to Watch the War Four criteria by which the American public can evaluate the progress of the invasion of Iraq.

Surprise Strike at Outset Leaves Urgent Mystery: Who Was Hit? U.S. officials said that they were not sure which, if any, top Iraqi officials were killed in the first airstrike on Baghdad.

Heads in the Sand The biggest secret kept by the White House seems to be the estimated cost to the nation's taxpayers of invading and rebuilding Iraq.

Sixth Blair Aide Resigns Over Iraq A sixth ministerial aide confirmed he had quit the government over the Iraq crisis, saying he did not think there was sufficient international backing for the war.

Some Dare Call It Treason War with Iraq opens door for accusations that continuing protests are anti-American and un-patriotic.

Twelve British and American soldiers were killed when their helicopter came down nine miles south of the Iraqi border.

Military Mind Games The shock spin that kicked off the mother of all propaganda wars.

The War After the War Despite the sanguine way George W. Bush and his chamberlains talk about a post-war Iraq, senior military officers are worried. According to recent unpublicized U.S. Army War College studies being read with increasing interest by some Pentagon planners, "The possiblity of the United States winning the war and losing the peace in Iraq is real and serious."

U.S. Could Come Under Scrutiny of U.N. Rights Commission Could our actions in Iraq be the reason for a future invasion and occupation of the U.S. by U.N. troops?

Gunman Kills 3, Then Himself, at American Oil Rig in Yemen The assault, which left an American, a Candadian and a Yemeni dead, ended when the assailant shot himself. - This is just the beginning of the blowback from our invasion of Iraq, there will be more to come and perhaps that is the plan. When Iraq has been conquered we will move on to Yemen and other arab nations in a never ending crusade against "terrorism."

The Secret Philosophy of War in Iraq The USA has no intention of leaving. After the Iraqi occupation, permanent military bases will be established there. They will be the outposts of the "democratization" of the Middle East, starting with Syria and Iran and then sweeping the entire Arab and Islamic world.

Blair Cabinet Member Robin Cook Quits Over Iraq Crisis "I can't accept collective responsibility for the decision to commit Britian now to military action in Iraq without international agreement or domestic support." More...

UN Resolution 1441 Does Not Authorize Force The arguement that all the security council members, including France and Russia, intended to authorise the use of force when they voted for resolution 1441 is hardly compelling, and arguements that resolution 1441 implicitly authorises the use of force run into the same difficulty.

Stocks Rise as Iraq War Seems Inevitable Stocks soared on news that the White House had dropped its "diplomatic efforts" over Iraq, lifting a cloud of uncertainty.

Iraq Links Germs for Weapons to U.S. and France Iraq has identified a Virginia-based biological supply house and a French scientific institute as the sources of all the foreign samples for its biological weapons.

Loving a Soldier, Hating a War A Chicago mother feels it is her duty to oppose military action in Iraq. Somewher in Kuwait, her son understands but is set to fight.

Anger on Iraq Seen as New Qaeda Recruiting Tool On three continents, Al Qaeda and other groups are said to be tapping into rising anger about the U.S. campaign for war in Iraq.

Ex-CIA Officers Questioning Iraq Data A small group composed mostly of retired CIA officers is appealing to colleagues still inside to go public with any evidence the Bush administration is slanting intelligence to support its case for war with Iraq. Members of the group contend the Bush administration has released information on Iraq that meats only its ends -- while ignoring or withholding contrary reports. They also say the adminstration's public evidence about the immediacy of Iraq's threat to the United States and its alleged ties to al-Qaeda is unconvincing, and accuse policy-makers of pushing out some information that does not meet an intelligence professional's standards of proof.

Senator Seeks FBI Probe of Iraq Documents The top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee asked the FBI to investigate forged documents the Bush administration used as evidence against Saddam Hussein and his military ambitions in Iraq.

Classified State Department Report: Bush's Democracy Domino Theory 'Not Credible' A State Department report disputes Bush's claim that ousting Hussein will spur reforms in the Mideast, intelligence officials say.

U.S. Biggest Buyer of Iraqi Oil as Market Forces Trump Politics Shipments to the U.S. more than tripled from September to January, according to the Commerce Department. Iraq supplied 17.1 million barrels in January, 6.4 percent of total U.S. oil imports and up from 5.15 million four months earlier.

Monsters of the Moment From Saddam to Osama, America Creates Its Own Nightmares. In the 1980s, Saddam Hussein was a U.S. ally, largely because he was at war with Iran, a U.S. enemy. Washington chose to see Hussein then as a potential force for good in the Middle East. Ronald Reagan thus took Iraq off the terrorism list. That made it possible for Reagan and his successor, George H.W. Bush, to authorize American corporations to sell Hussein materials for his early chemical and biological weapons, such as the anthrax virus. Bush's son, George W. Bush, now says these weapons are among the prime reasons our armed forces must besiege and occupy Iraq.

U.S. Admits Civilian Casualty Risk Thousands of Iraqi civilians will be killed if the United States wages war against Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, U.S. officials acknowledged for the first time yesterday.

When Hussien Was Our Ally "At the time of Rumsfeld's visit, Hussein had invaded Iran, was seeking nuclear weapons and had used lethal mustard gas. He had harbored terrorists and had a well-established record of torturing and murdering domestic opponents. The U.S. response? It dropped Iraq from the list of nations sponsoring terror, renewed diplomatic ties, and provided intelligence and aid to Iraq to prevent its defeat by Iran."

Revealed: 17 British Firms Armed Saddam With His Weapons "The five permanent members of the [UN] security council -- Britian, France, Russia, America and China -- are named as allowing companies to sell weapons technology to Iraq."

Destroying the Village to Save Weapons Manufacturers "In the name of 'fighting terror,' countries with secret weapons programs are poised to pulverize Iraq because of its secret weapons programs. And Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) are being used against civilians in order to prevent WMD from being used against civilians."

Bush Evidence of Iraq 'Appetite' for Nuclear Weapons in Doubt "After weeks of investigation, U.N. weapons inspectors in Iraq are increasingly confident that the aluminum tubes were never meant for enriching uranium, according to officials familiar with the inspection process. The International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N.-chartered nuclear watchdog, reported in a Jan. 8 preliminary assessment that the tubes were 'not directly suitable' for uranium enrichment..."

Expert Rules Out Link Between Iraq and al Qaeda "One of Europe's leading terrorism experts has ruled out any link between Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda - directly contradicting the latest claims from Tony Blair and George Bush."

U.S. Promises to Hold Iraqi Oil 'In Trust' "Secretary of State Colin Powell promised that a U.S. military occupation would hold Iraq's oilfields 'in trust' for the Iraqi people." - How kind of us. Really, we are just doing this for the Iraqi people.

Post-Saddam Iraq Will be a 'Gold Mine' "...lucrative contracts for the rebuilding of war - and sanctions- torn Iraq." "Twenty billion dollars will bring the electrical system back up to the pre-Gulf War level."

Controversial "Lightning" Weapon Could Cripple Iraqi War Machine "America has developed a new weapon capable of crippling Saddam Hussein's war maching by unleashing powerful man-made lightning strikes." - Shades of Tesla! More...

Saddam Offered Safe Haven "Saddam Hussein and other Iraqi leaders would be granted exemption from prosecution for war crimes if they fled Iraq, under a proposal favored by Donald Rumsfeld, the defense secretary of the United States. Mr. Rumsfeld said he would recommend the provision of a safe escape for the Iraqi leadership, which was a 'fair trade to avoid war', and refused to deny the possiblity that Saddam would be offered immunity from prosecution over war crimes." - OK, Saddam, just give us the oil fields and we will let go free. Now wait, didn't they say that this guy was as bad as Hitler? If he is so bad, why offer him immunity from prosecution for his crimes? Unless, maybe this "war" is about something else? What's a three letter word for vested interest that start with an "O?"

Iraq Reveals 4 Additional Warheads Also Empty! "But in Washington, White House spokesman Scott Stanzel said the Iraqi declaration of the four warheads 'should not be mistaken for genuine cooperation in an effort to disarm.' 'Four down, 29,984 to go,' he added." - Where does he get with that figure? Is that how many we sold to Iraq?

Despite Lack of Evidence U.S. Accelerates It's Efforts to Build a Case Against Iraq "The Bush administration, concerned that a 'smoking gun' may never be found in Iraq, is urgently assembling an arguement that Baghdad's withholding of weapons information, and it's refusal to make scientists freely available, should persuade American allies to back the use of force against Saddam Hussein" - They just won't give up without a fight, will they?

UN Weapons Inspection Chief Calls Empty Warheads "NOT A BIG DEAL"

U.S. Plans Interim Military Rule in Postwar Iraq "But the officials said that even under the best or circumstances, U.S. forces likely would remain at full strength in Iraq for months after a war ended, with a continued role for thousands of U.S. troops there for years to come." "A primary mission for U.S. forces... would be to protect the country's oil fields"

"Arab Leaders" Masterminding Coup in Iraq, Claims Time Magazine "Time suggests that the Saudis, who have refused to condone any US military action against Iraq, have decided to act after realising that the Bush administration is serious about toppling Saddam."

UN Finds "Chemical Warheads" - Empty "...in excellent condition and were similar to ones imported by Iraq [Maybe from the USA?!] during the late 1980's." So, how much did it cost to buy the smoking gun?

U.S. Decision On Iraq Has Puzzling Past

Bodies? What Bodies? "What you saw was a bunch of buried trenches with people's arms and legs sticking out of them. For all I know, we could have killed thousands." - Army Col. Anthony Moreno, 1991

Video Clip: "Shaking Hands with the Enemy" Iraqi President Saddam Hussein greets Donald Rumsfeld.