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| December 27, 2006 Red Alert by Soren Wuerth Auld Lang Iraq
Every year around this time, a group of us lefties gets together to ring out the old and draft up New Year’s resolutions and predictions. My family, vacationing in the Tucson desert, didn’t get around to it this year. But while we were drifting in and out of shops in the stubbornly European 4th Avenue district of town, I couldn’t help noticing the sobering headline in the Star’s holiday edition: “15 more killed in Iraq.” And, thus, the palpable resolution: Let’s get the hell out of the Middle East! To express the immediacy of this conviction, I relate this report, a Radio Nation interview with my friend, Dahr: Dori Smith: Now, we’ve seen stories about tens of thousands of Iraqis leaving the country, violence is rampant there, death squad violence is continuing; ... Dahr what do you see as the key stories that Americans should be paying the most attention to if they are interested in working to stop the war? Dahr Jamail: Well I think if they are going to talk about ethnic cleansing they need to be talking about what is the root of these death squads in Iraq because that is now the leading cause of death in that country. When we look at, it’s very well documented that retired Col. James Steele was working under then US Ambassador to Iraq, John Negroponte, James Steele was in charge of the Iraq Security Forces. In fact, his title was “Counselor of Iraqi Security Forces,” and he reported directly to John Negroponte. These are the same two men who helped set up and facilitate the right wing death squads in Central America in the 1980s under the watchful eye of Ronald Reagan. And they did the same thing in Baghdad. So if we talk about ethnic cleansing and sectarian violence and the millions of refugees; let’s talk about the core reason that these things happen and it’s the U.S. backed, formed, armed and supported death squads that are supported by the United States to this day. ... Dori Smith: What would happen if American forces left and there was no more coalition force occupying Iraq? Would these death squads move into more of a position of political power? How would that look? Dahr Jamail: I would argue that they would not because all of my sources on the ground in Iraq are saying that the only reason that this government exists and the only reason that these death squads are able to function is because they have total backing from the U.S. and from the occupation forces. Just to give you an example so people have an idea of what this looks like on the ground. The consistent report that I keep getting is that the U.S. Military will go in, for example, to a Sunni area of Baghdad and seal off that area and then while its sealed allow these Shiite death squads to go through their perimeter into the neighborhoods to conduct killings, to conduct home raids, and to detain people, and then bring them back out of that U.S. perimeter and then the U.S. will pull away and leave. They are essentially using these death squads to do their dirty work and these death squads would not exist without the U.S. there. Because right now if we look at the situation on the ground, even this month alone, already, we are barely into December, we have over 31 U.S. deaths in that country just in the first week of this month. There are over a hundred and eighty attacks a day being carried out by a primarily Sunni resistance against U.S. forces. So if the U.S. left that country instead of a Sunni resistance going after only the occupation forces I would argue that the Sunni resistance would most likely then go after these death squads and dismantle them in very short time. Despite the wisdom of Dahr’s counsel, I predict, unfortunately, we’ll be making the same resolution next year. In the meantime, prepare to hoist more banners. Soren Wuerth is perhaps Alaska's best known community activist, and is the winner of the Alaska Press Club's 2006 'Best Columnist' award. He resides in an undisclosed location in rural Alaska and can be reached at soren@insurgent49.com. 'Red Alert' appears on insurgent49.com every Wednesday. |
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December 20, 2006 December 13, 2006 December 6, 2006 November 29, 2006 November 21, 2006 November 10, 2006 November 3, 2006 October 27, 2006 October 20, 2006 October 13, 2006 October 6, 2006 September 29, 2006 September 22, 2006 September 15, 2006 September 8, 2006 September 1, 2006 August 25, 2006 August 18, 2006 August 11, 2006 August 4, 2006 July 28, 2006 July 21, 2006 July 14, 2006 June 30, 2006 June 23, 2006 June 16, 2006 June 9, 2006 June 2, 2006 May 26, 2006 May 12, 2006 May 5, 2006 April 28, 2006 April 21, 2006 April 14, 2006 April 7, 2006 March 31, 2006 March 24, 2006 March 17, 2006 March 3, 2006 February 24, 2006 February 17, 2006 February 10, 2006 February 3, 2006 January 27, 2006 January 20, 2006 January 13, 2006 January 6, 2006 December 30, 2005 December 23, 2005 December 16, 2005 December 10, 2005 December 2, 2005 November 25, 2005 November 18, 2005 November 11, 2005 November 4, 2005 October 28, 2005 October 21, 2005 October 14, 2005 October 7, 2005 September 30, 2005 September 23, 2005 September 16, 2005 September 9, 2005 September 2, 2005 August 26, 2005 August 19, 2005 August 12, 2005 August 5, 2005 July 29, 2005 July 22, 2005 July 15, 2005 July 8, 2005 July 1, 2005 June 24, 2005 June 17, 2005 June 10, 2005 June 3, 2005 May 27, 2005 May 20, 2005 May 13, 2005 May 6, 2005 April 29, 2005 April 21, 2005 |
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