A Mesopotamian Summer ``The United States ... occupation of Iraq is considered as being akin to the monarchial rule of Iraq from the 1920s to the 1960s and the rule of Saddam Hussein from the 1960s to the early 2000s.``

By whom?

Here`s what a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll shows. In response to the question: ``Are you and your family much better off, somewhat better off, somewhat worse off or much worse off than before the US invasion?``, a majority (51%) said they were somewhat better off or much better off than under the rule of Saddam Hussein.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2004-04-28-gallup-iraq-findings.htm

Cordially,
O_M

P.S. ``Statistically it is impossible that nothing that the United States has done is ever right.`` Dr. Henry A. Kissinger

Did Libya Stab Pakistan in the Back? ``... Reagan, in 1984, bombed Qaddafi’s military barracks in Tripoli on spurious and trumped up suspicion of sponsoring terrorism in Europe against American interests.``


May 14 18:14

BERLIN (AP)--Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi acknowledged to a top German diplomat that the North African country had a role in the 1980s bombings of an airliner over Lockerbie, Scotland, and a Berlin discotheque, a German newspaper said Monday, citing a German government memo.

According to the Frankfurter Allgemeine daily, the memo recounts a report to U.S. and German leaders including U.S. President George W. Bush in Washington by Michael Steiner, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder`s foreign policy adviser, on a meeting with Gadhafi.

Steiner ``reported about his talks with Gadhafi in Libya. The latter accepted that Libya was involved in terrorists acts (La Belle, Lockerbie)`` the paper said, citing the memo, which it said was passed to lawyers representing survivors and relatives of those killed in the attack on the La Belle disco in 1986.
http://www.usasurvival.org/lockerbie.html

Did Libya Stab Pakistan in the Back? ``We will break America`s nose.``
Moammer Qaddhafi, 1986

``I will do whatever the Americans want because I saw what happened in Iraq, and I was afraid,``
Moammer Qaddhafi, 2003
http://washingtontimes.com/national/20031223-121116-7239r.htm

Should Bush be Scared of Iraq’s Sistani? ``(Bush) was catapulted into the White House, courtesy of his dad’s hand-picked judges of the U.S.Supreme Court?``

Of nine Supreme Court Justices, only two were nominated by George H. W. Bush:
1. Justice David H. Souter
2. Justice Clarence Thomas

Let`s look at the Nov 2000 Supreme Court ruling about whether to continue the case or end the litigation at once. Of the Justices who dissented from the majority that ruled in favour of Bush, two were appointed by Republicans.

Clearly, this is not a case of Republican appointed Justices reflexively deciding for the son of the person who appointed them.

---

``Bush’s most frightening nightmare is Sistani giving a call to his followers to rise in revolt against the dictatorial American occupation ...``

Sistani`s most frightening nightmare is the Americans making short work out of Sistani`s followers. They couldn`t fight Saddam`s half-hearted forces of draftees. How can they take on the US military? Anyways, the scenario is too far-fetched to contemplate; but not too unrealistic for the America bashers to speculate and dream about.


BOTTOMLINE:
The rantings of America bashers have little grounding in facts, logic, rationality or common sense. Their reflexive America bashing is based on a visceral hatred of the United States, not on fair minded analyses.

Furthermore, their perverted mindsets indicates a lack of understanding of the US. And that is a good thing for the Americans. It is easier to fight an adversary who is clueless about whom he is up against.

Cordially
O_M

One Down Two to Go #247 by ferozk on December 21, 2003

``The war on Iraq was about the WMD and not Saddam Hussein.``

What`s the difference?


BOTTOMLINE:
You must have heard the saying, guns don`t kill people, people kill people. In this context, WMD didn`t kill people, Saddam Hussein killed people.

Saddam Hussein is a weapon of mass destruction. The solution to this problem was to take him out -- as Bush did. Were you a part of the solution? If not, then you were a part ...

One Down Two to Go IRAQ AL QAEDA:

CASE A:

``According to sensitive reporting, a Malaysia-based Iraqi national (Shakir) facilitated the arrival of one of the Sept 11 hijackers for an operational meeting in Kuala Lumpur (Jan 2000). Sensitive reporting indicates Shakir`s travel and contacts link him to a worldwide network of terrorists, including al Qaeda. Shakir worked at the Kuala Lumpur airport--a job he claimed to have obtained through an Iraqi embassy employee.``

memo from Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Douglas J. Feith to Senator Pat Roberts, Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, October 27, 2003

``Other intelligence reports indicate that Shakir whisked not one but two September 11 hijackers--Khalid al Midhar and Nawaq al Hamzi--through the passport and customs process upon their arrival in Kuala Lumpur on January 5, 2000. Shakir then traveled with the hijackers to the Kuala Lumpur Hotel where they met with Ramzi bin al Shibh, one of the masterminds of the September 11 plot. The meeting lasted three days. Shakir returned to work on January 9 and January 10, and never again.

``Shakir got his airport job through a contact at the Iraqi Embassy. (Iraq routinely used its embassies as staging grounds for its intelligence operations; in some cases, more than half of the alleged ``diplomats`` were intelligence operatives.) The Iraqi embassy, not his employer, controlled Shakir`s schedule...

``Shakir was detained in Jordan for three months, where the CIA interrogated him. His interrogators concluded that Shakir had received extensive training in counter-interrogation techniques. Not long after he was detained, according to an official familiar with the intelligence, the Iraqi regime began to ``pressure`` Jordanian intelligence to release him. At the same time, Amnesty International complained that Shakir was being held without charge. The Jordanians released him on January 28, 2002, at which point he is believed to have fled back to Iraq.``

Stephen F. Hayes, The Weekly Standard


CASE B:

``CIA can confirm two Atta visits to Prague--in Dec. 1994 and in June 2000; data surrounding the other two--on 26 Oct 1999 and 9 April 2001--is complicated and sometimes contradictory and CIA and FBI cannot confirm Atta met with the IIS. Czech Interior Minister Stanislav Gross continues to stand by his information.``

memo from Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Douglas J. Feith to Senator Pat Roberts, Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, October 27, 2003

``It`s not just Gross who stands by the information. Five high-ranking members of the Czech government have publicly confirmed meetings between Atta and al Ani. The meeting that has gotten the most press attention--April 9, 2001--is also the most widely disputed. Even some of the most hawkish Bush administration officials are privately skeptical that Atta met al Ani on that occasion. They believe that reports of the alleged meeting, said to have taken place in public, outside the headquarters of the U.S.-financed Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, suggest a level of sloppiness that doesn`t fit the pattern of previous high-level Iraq-al Qaeda contacts.``

Stephen F. Hayes, The Weekly Standard

One Down Two to Go #145 by rsaxena on December 17
can some rocket scientist explain the connection betwee iraq and 9-11?

---

``The Czech counterintelligence service reported that the Sept. 11 hijacker [Mohamed] Atta met with the former Iraqi intelligence chief in Prague, [Ahmed Khalil Ibrahim Samir] al Ani, on several occasions. During one of these meetings, al Ani ordered the IIS [Iraqi Intelligence Service] finance officer to issue Atta funds from IIS financial holdings in the Prague office.``

memo from Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Douglas J. Feith to Senator Pat Roberts, Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, October 27, 2003

One Down Two to Go #8 by Romair on December 15, 2003

1. ``The capture of Saddam isn`t really going to change anything.``

2. ``It is good to see Saddam being caught.``

If the capture of Saddam won`t change anything then why is it good to see him being caught?

Unsettling Precedents for Pakistan #6 by Naqshbandi on September 11, 2003

``complete and deliberate destruction of Iraq`s civilian infrastructure, use of cluster bombs in civilian areas, daisy cutters, depleted uranium bombs and the directly related deaths of at least 10, 000 Iraqi civilians``

Do you have any evidence that Daisy Cutters were used in Iraq?

Enduring Operation Freedom #23 by sigalph235 on December 2, 2003

Let`s see things in perspective regarding the Arar case. An Arab civilian (Arar) was tortured by an Arab government (Syria). And, once again, America is being held responsible !!!

The `intelligentsia` won`t take the real culprit to task

---

the Syrian government. They are copiously shedding crocodile`s urine at the torture of one Arab, but were mysteriously silent when thousands of Arab civilians were massacred by Hafez Al Assad`s regime at Hama, Syria in 1982.

BOTTOMLINE:

Torturing an Arab is wrong if it can somehow be blamed on the United States. Otherwise it`s OK.

This brings to mind another episode: the massacre of Palestinians at Sabra and Shatila. The fact of the matter is this was a case of Christian Arab brutality on Muslim Arabs. So guess who was blamed

---

Ariel Sharon! That prompted Prime Minister Menachem Begin to remark: ``Arabs kill Arabs and they blame the Jew.``

Destruction of World’s Eastern Heritage in Iraq #11 by tahmed32 on November 27, 2003 12:19pm PT

``you are quite inaccurate when you say that saddam was protective of archaeology.``

Perhaps you missed out the satire in my posting. Never have I meant to laud Saddam

---

the worst serial mass murderer in Middle Eastern history. I had merely quoted the author. My objective is to reveal the idiocy (``1 bull > 10 humans``) in the rantings of the America bashing club.

Cordially,
OM

Destruction of World’s Eastern Heritage in Iraq #5 by sigalph235

``...leaves one with the feeling that it is another one of those `Blame America First` commentaries. ``

In 1994 Serbs shelled and burnt the Sarajevo Museum. But culture lovers across the world were deafeningly silent. And now they have raised a hue and cry about the non-looting of Baghdad Museum. So what`s the difference between the two museums?

Simple; the occupying power in Iraq was the US. What if the looting had been carried out with (say) the Chicoms or Soviets in control? Museum `lovers` would have gone silent.

When the Chinese communists overran Tibet, their troops used ancient religious writings as firewood. Where is the outcry about that?

BOTTOMLINE:

1. Museums are important if their looting can somehow be pinned on the US.

2. 1 bull > 10 humans. -- ``For all his faults, Saddam Hussein was protective of archaeology ... 10 men from near Mosul who had cut the head off an Assyrian winged bull at Khorsabad, were executed. ``

The new face of US Warfare #4 Romair

++ In case of the Iraq war, only the majority of one country’s citizens, Israel, supported the war. ++

1. ``... nearly two-thirds of Baghdad residents believe that the removal of the Iraqi dictator has been worth the hardships they have been forced to endure, a new Gallup poll shows.``
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/24/international/middleeast/24BAGH.html?ex=1067662800&en=c9c6990133e17342&ei=5070
(Support for the US led war on the Saddam regime is higher in the rest of the country.)

2. ``The Gallup International survey ... found 68 per cent of Australians backed some sort of military action against Iraq.``
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/02/04/1044318597799.html

So here you have two countries (other than the US) where a majority supported military action. Would the America bashers bother to check their facts before going on their baseless anti-American rants.

++ ... Americans are overly self-righteous when it comes to their govts.’ actions in other countries. ++

If anyone made this statement about Arabs or blacks he/she would have been accused of racism, bigotry.

Cordially
OM

Should Pakistan send troops to Iraq? #26 by Romair

``10,000 soldiers aren`t going to make much of a difference, where 140k soldiers have not made a difference.``

1. 140k soldiers have deposed the worst mass murderer in Middle Eastern history.

2. Iraq today is the only Arab country with a free press. The only Arab country where you can openly criticise the government and stay alive.

3. The Governing Council has sufficient power to reject the US standard CDMA cellular telephony for the European GSM variety.

140k soldiers have not made a difference?

Cordially
OM

P.S. ``Live two days under that man (Saddam) and then oppose the war.`` Iraqi Shiite

Why Bush Will Fail in Iraq # 12 TAhmed

``Whether or not this will result in Iraq becoming the first Arab democracy (hallelujah!), remains to be seen. And whether this Arab democracy will lead to Saudi Arabia becoming plain old Republic of Arabia (with the Saud`s being kicked out) remains to be seen. If Bush fails to accomplish that, then no doubt the question will make this a major failure in his presidency.``

Here`s an analogy: You see a poor, starving man. You give him money so that he can feed himself. He burns his money on a movie, and is still starving. So who failed? You or the guy you tried to help? Thing is, he blew it.

Same case in Iraq/Arabia. If Arabs fail to develop into republics with consensual government and rule of law, THEY fail. They are responsible, not George Bush. They blew their chance.

Foreign Minister Abba Eban said: ``Arabs never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity.`` Will it be different this time?

Cordially,

OM

P.S. couple of quotes from Khomeinei

1. ``All of our distresses are caused by America.``
2. ``Our entire misery is by the hand of America.``

http://www.islamicdigest.net/id5/article.php?sid=1388

The Death of Edward Said -- A tribute
Said the truthful?

How truthful was this Ivy League intellectual? Decide for yourself:

1. ``I would say that from about last November (2002) on, dissent disappeared from a mainstream media swollen with a surfeit of ex-generals and ex- intelligence agents sprinkled with recent terrorism and security experts drawn from the Washington right-wing think tanks.``
http://www.dissidentvoice.org/Articles4/Said_US.htm

2. ``No one could argue today that Afghanistan, even after the rout of the Taliban, is a much better and more secure place for its citizens.``
http://www.opinionjournal.com/extra/?id=110002900
FACT: Number of Afghan refugees that have returned after ouster of Taliban = 1.8 million

3. ``US Middle East policy built as it is on two mighty pillars, the security of Israel and plentiful supplies of inexpensive oil.``
http://www.counterpunch.org/said1019.html
FACT: Cost of producing/shipping oil = $3 per barrel; price of oil = $31 Nymex Crude 10/10/03

4. ``None of his (Saddam`s) neighbours perceives him as a threat.``
http://www.counterpunch.org/said1019.html

5. ``You cannot speak about Palestinian suffering or Arab frustration because Israel`s presence in the US prevents it.``
http://www.counterpunch.org/said1019.html


Cordially,
Rizwan