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Stories from March 2003
"Human and mechanical errors send 10 percent or more [missiles] astray, Pentagon and civilian experts say — a disastrous percentage for civilians living near the intended targets." [more]
" 'When cities like Cleveland and Lorain pass antiwar resolutions, you know they think about that at the White House. This isn't people demonstrating in Paris. This is local elected officials, who know what the mood is in their towns, and they are taking an antiwar stand.' " [more]
President Bush linked war on Iraq to his global anti-terrorism campaign in a speech to the US Coast Guard, and argued that Saddam Hussein or his terrorist allies may try to strike America in retaliation for the US-led fighting. Several hundred protesters questioned this threat and accused the Bush Administration of waging a needless and destructive war. [more]
"Attacks against US troops in southern Afghanistan, the former stronghold of the deposed Taliban regime, have spiked in recent weeks, culminating Saturday with the ambush of a US Special Forces unit that left two US soldiers dead and a third injured." [more]
"The recent capture of Al Qaeda leader Khalid Shaikh Mohammed is the latest indication that the taboo on torture has been broken." [more]
"What does America's war plan offer [Iraqis]? An uncertain chance at freedom, and then only if they survive a war in which they will be the targets. But what has the peace movement had to offer? Millions of people chanting 'no blood for oil'? It's a start, but the new politics of empire, sprung from terror, demand a more robust response." [more]
"Ten days into the invasion of Iraq, the political imperative of waging a short and decisive campaign is increasingly at odds with the military necessity of preparing for a protracted, more violent and costly war, according to senior military officials. Top Army officers in Iraq say they now believe that they effectively need to restart the war." [more]
"A shuddering sense of outrage at President Bush and the United States fell over the Arab world today as television networks and newspapers reported a U.S. air assault that Iraqi officials said killed 58 people at a vegetable market in Baghdad." [more]
"US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld forced his military chiefs to accept his idea that a relatively small, lightly armed force should go to war with Iraq, it is being alleged." [more]
"Eleven days on, America's war to 'liberate' Iraq means only inexplicable grief to these poor Shia Muslims from the suburb of Shu'la in north-east Baghdad." [more]
"Tens of thousands of people from across New England and beyond converged on a damp, windswept Boston Common for a massive antiwar rally yesterday, then marched through the city, saying they hoped to show the world that not all Americans support President Bush and the war in Iraq." [more]
"While American military planners have concentrated since the 1991 Persian Gulf War on making more and better use of high technology, their Iraqi counterparts appear to have been taking lessons from every battle the United States, Britain and Israel have failed to win." [more]
"An unprecedented explosion of state-sponsored violence broke out amid charges of massive vote-rigging before voting begins today in two crucial parliamentary byelections." [more]
"We had a great day,' Sergeant Schrumpf said. 'We killed a lot of people.'" [more]
"Complicating the humanitarian crisis has been a behind the scenes international struggle against the Bush administration's militarization of humanitarian aid." [more]
"The Army's senior ground commander in Iraq, Lt. Gen. William S. Wallace, said today that overextended supply lines and a combative adversary using unconventional tactics have stalled the U.S. drive toward Baghdad and increased the likelihood of a longer war than many strategists had anticipated." [more]
What seems to be clear is that the United States government is playing the same game as in Iraq - pushing for "regime change" in Haiti. Their strategy includes a massive disinformation campaign in U.S. media, an embargo on desperately needed foreign aid to Haiti, and direct support for violent elements, including former military officers and Duvalierists, who openly seek the overthrow of President Aristide. [more]
"US and British military officials said that they had no information and one military chief even hinted that they believed Saddam's regime might have been responsible. Then a US military spokesman at Central Command in Qatar said that coalition aircraft were targeting missiles and launchers in a residential area of Baghdad at around the time of the explosion. Later, a Pentagon spokesman said, that while no bombs or missiles were fired at the district, he could not rule out a stray missile." [more]
"After six days, American and British warplanes and warships have launched several thousand bombs and cruise missiles against Iraqi air defenses, communication centers, headquarters, Republican Guard troops and other military targets. But at least until today, Mr. Hussein was still appearing on the official television, his government was still passing orders to its field commanders, and there were no immediate signs of the mass surrenders or defections many American officials had hoped for." [more]
"The apparent lack of rebellion in Basra is a disappointment for the coalition, which had hoped to take the predominantly Shia Muslim city without a fight and — with the help of humanitarian aid — make it an example of the benefits of occupation." [more]
"The Army Corps of Engineers didn't solicit bids for the Iraqi oil contract announced Monday. Rather, it said it awarded the work to Kellogg Brown & Root, the Halliburton subsidiary, based on the firm's previous government contract for planning a response to Iraqi well fires and managing oil fields." [more]
"The Bush administration had conveyed the impression that the Iraqi government was shaky, that much of the army was not likely to fight and that the Iraqi people would welcome the invasion force with cheers and flowers. While some of those things may still occur, so far the people greeting American troops have been much cooler than many had hoped." [more]
"Rumors about the death of the fanatics in Afghanistan were premature. Local bosses and drug traffickers are entering the vacuum created by the Karzai regime. The U.S., eager to bring the message of the West to Iraq, seems to be turning a blind eye." [more]
"With the new engagement in Iraq, the Pentagon and television news coverage are blurring the lines between movies and real life as never before, turning viewers into 24-hour couch voyeurs." [more]
"Another commentator, Rahimullah Yusufzai, a leading Pakistani journalist and expert on Afghan affairs, said many members of the clan had left the tribal area to seek work in the Gulf states and the Middle East making them relatively well off." [more]
"Activists have been quick to dismiss charges that protests are unpatriotic when troops are at risk. But at the same time, they've been waging a nuanced internal debate, struggling with how to transition from peace to wartime." [more]
"The reality of the situation on the ground in southern Iraq is so insecure that relief workers say it will take at least several days and probably weeks before aid can really start being delivered into the country." [more]
"Fearing friendly fire incidents with U.S. forces and clashes with Iraqi Kurds, the United States opposes Turkish intervention." [more]
"Last year, in an unusual court hearing behind closed doors at the Justice Department, Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft won the legal authority to merge the FBI's crime-fighting and spying units to track suspected terrorists." [more]
"Anti-war protesters took to the streets again Monday, with more than 100 arrests in the city's financial district and noisy student demonstrators crowding the hallways of an administration building at San Francisco State University." [more]
"'Smart dust' devices are tiny wireless microelectromechanical sensors that can detect everything from light to vibrations. Thanks to recent breakthroughs in silicon and fabrication techniques, these 'motes' could eventually be the size of a grain of sand." [more]
"For all its ragged edges, the movement against war in Iraq mushroomed into a global force unprecedented in speed and scale. Never in the history of the world had so many marched in common cause." [more]
"Some combat troops privately admitted feeling sidelined in a country where only weak pockets of enemy forces remain after 17 months of US and allied operations to root out Al Qaeda." [more]
"It is among the most horrific weapons in any army's collection: the thermobaric bomb, a fearsome explosive that sets fire to the air above its target, then sucks the oxygen out of anyone unfortunate enough to have lived through the initial blast. In the next few months, the U.S. Army will start putting this sweeping power in the hands of individual soldiers." [more]
"A day after antiwar 'anarchy' shut down city streets, San Francisco cops keep a tight rein on smaller but still angry crowds." [more]
"The U.S., once a guarantor of peace, is now perceived in the rest of the world as an aggressor. Its victim is a small Muslim nation unable to defend its own air space, much less to project power beyond its borders. If Iraqis attempt to resist invasion, they will be slaughtered." [more]
"While Americans watch Baghdad burn from a distance, most of the Arab channels have corespondents inside the city, and they emphasize reporting of civilian casualties. There's also lots of news about worldwide protests." [more]
"Thousands of anti-war demonstrators, stretching across several blocks of midtown Manhattan, marched down Broadway today to voice their opposition to the ongoing war against Iraq." [more]
"Four people were shot dead and dozens more were injured Friday as police clashed with demonstrators trying to storm the U.S. Embassy in Yemen, witnesses told CNN, on a second day of worldwide protests against the war in Iraq." [more]
"Galvanized by the American attack on Iraq, thousands of anti-war activists around the country set off their own barrage of street protests, chaining themselves together, blocking workers and traffic, walking out of classes, and parading in mock chemical suits." [more]
"Anti-war protesters swiftly answered the onset of war with a national campaign of civil disobedience, including a seemingly spontaneous march by an estimated 10,000 people that shut down Lake Shore Drive Thursday night, leading to arrests by the busload." [more]
"The United States launched a blistering series of bombing attacks on Baghdad and other Iraqi cities after dusk today, destroying entire rows of buildings in the capital and leaving parts of the city ablaze." [more]
"Anti-war protesters blocked morning traffic in Washington, San Francisco and Philadelphia and chanted 'no blood for oil' outside the White House on Thursday in reaction to U.S. military strikes against Iraq." [more]
"About 500 servicemembers filed for conscientious objector status during the Persian Gulf War, according to the General Accounting Office, the investigative arm of Congress. Peace groups say as many as three times that number refused to fight, and many served prison sentences up to 18 months." [more]
"Perhaps the least surprising thing about the second Gulf war is that it began with a volley of Tomahawk missiles. Since they were first used in the 1991 conflict, they have become the ultimate symbol of US military power. A hi-tech weapon that promised blood-free combat has changed the way America thinks about war." [more]
"Police in San Francisco arrested 116 anti-war activists as a fresh round of rowdy protests erupted on the US West Coast at the start of the US 'shock and awe' air war in Iraq." [more]
"Braving the cold and nasty rain, hundreds of protesters converged on the building before 9 a.m. Supporters cheered as protesters were hauled away by the uniformed federal officers. Workers in the building had not been able to enter." [more]
"Overriding global protests and the concerns of longtime allies, President Bush ordered the first pre-emptive war in modern American history, sending U.S. forces into Iraq and warning the American people Wednesday night that his drive to topple Saddam Hussein could be long and difficult." [more]
"At the very moment men and women in the armed forces are being sent into military action, the Republicans back home are cutting their current and future benefits." [more]
"As they prepare to head across the border, U.S. military commanders fear that Iraq will become consumed by "rolling civil strife" erupting all around advancing troops, confronting them with the dilemma of how and whether to intervene. Senior U.S. officers, basing their predictions on intelligence and past experience, said they fear thousands of Iraqis could die." [more]
"Rumsfeld and Air Force Gen. Richard B. Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the assault was not timed to coincide with the war with Iraq or meant to counter critics who say the Iraqi campaign will divert military attention from the war on terrorism." [more]
"As the U.S. attack on Baghdad gets underway, the military strategy dubbed 'Shock and Awe' by Pentagon war planners is emerging as a lightning rod for criticism in the international online media." [more]
" 'This is a sad day for the United Nations,' Annan said. 'I know that millions of people around the world share this sense of disappointment and are deeply alarmed.' " [more]
"As the deadline for the war on Iraq drew closer Wednesday, some 300 people demonstrated in Manhattan against a U.S. invasion and called on others to leave work and school to increase the voice of protest." [more]
"Some of the biggest rallies this month have endorsed President Bush's strategy against Saddam Hussein, and the common thread linking most of them is Clear Channel Worldwide Inc., the nation's largest owner of radio stations." [more]
"Again and again, Westerners have moved into the Mideast with confidence that they can impose freedom and modernity through military force. Along the way they have miscalculated support for their invasions, both internationally and in the lands they occupy. They have anointed cooperative minorities to help rule resentful majorities. They have been mired in occupations that last long after local support has vanished. They have met with bloody uprisings and put them down with brute force." [more]
"Even minimal casualties and devastation will not justify overturning international norms that have prevailed for sixty years." [more]
"According to recent unpublicized U.S. Army War College studies being read with increasing interest by some Pentagon planners, 'The possibility of the United States winning the war and losing the peace in Iraq is real and serious.' " [more]
"Appeals for continued diplomatic engagement with Baghdad were summarily dismissed by the United States ambassador to the United Nations." [more]
"An invasion was now certain, White House aides said, even if Saddam and his sons fled at the last minute. In that case, the American forces would still enter Iraq to assure order, find and destroy banned weapons, help rebuild, and lay the foundations for a new government." [more]
"Today the world may have reached a defining geopolitical moment similar to the late 1940s, when the East-West alignment that characterized the cold war emerged from the chaos of World War II." [more]
"The first signs were an air raid siren followed by antiaircraft fire and loud explosions over the city that appeared to be bombs. The antiaircraft fire appeared to be ineffective, striking at low altitude over the city." [more]
"France and Germany have spoken out against war with Iraq at a meeting of the UN Security Council, just hours before the American deadline for Saddam Hussein to leave Iraq expires." [more]
"Given how continually Bush plays the fear card, we might acknowledge that Americans have some reasons for fear. And then make clear that reckless zealotry and a willingness to make entire populations expendable does nothing to bring real security." [more]
"In a speech last night, President Bush turned America's first new security strategy in 50 years into the rationale for war." [more]
"The country now stands at a decisive turning point, not just in regard to the Iraq crisis, but in how it means to define its role in the post-cold-war world. President Bush's father and then Bill Clinton worked hard to infuse that role with America's traditions of idealism, internationalism and multilateralism. Under George W. Bush, however, Washington has charted a very different course. Allies have been devalued and military force overvalued." [more]
"FBI officials, who confirmed the operation yesterday after Arab community leaders disclosed it, said the 'voluntary interviews' were meant both to cull more information for the war and antiterrorism efforts and to reassure people that the FBI would protect them against hate crimes." [more]
"One of the fundamental findings of cognitive science is that people think in terms of frames and metaphors — conceptual structures like those we have been describing. When the facts don't fit the frames, the frames are kept and the facts ignored." [more]
"Why is it now so urgent that we should take military action to disarm a military capacity that has been there for 20 years, and which we helped to create? Why is it necessary to resort to war this week, while Saddam's ambition to complete his weapons programme is blocked by the presence of UN inspectors?" [more]
"Rather than allowing Iraqis to create a federal state—which is to say, a democratic one—Foggy Bottom, which lost the argument over whether to topple an authoritarian central government in Baghdad, has settled for the next best thing: an authoritarian central government under U.S. control." [more]
"In Rafah, Gaza Strip today Rachel Corrie, a 23-year old American woman from Olympia, Washington, who was a volunteer with the International Solidarity Movement, was killed by the Israeli Army." [more]
"Robin Cook has won an unprecedented standing ovation in the [British] House of Commons after telling MPs why he resigned from the government over the looming war with Iraq." [more]
"An airline passenger who had two 'No War with Iraq' signs in his suitcase says the federal security agent who opened his luggage inserted a note criticizing his 'anti-American attitude.' " [more]
"On the brink of war, both supporters and critics of United States policy on Iraq agree on the origins, at least, of the haunted relations that have brought us to this pass: America's dealings with Saddam Hussein, justifiable or not, began some two decades ago with its shadowy, expedient support of his regime in the Iraq-Iran war of the 1980's." [more]
"Demonstrators are planning to shut down San Francisco's Financial District, to gather by the thousands in New York's Times Square, to stage sit-ins in Washington, D.C. [and] to try to breach security at Vandenberg Air Force Base ... They're going not just to protest, but to interfere." [more]
"Bush never pinned blame for the attacks directly on the Iraqi president. Still, the overall effect was to reinforce an impression that persists among much of the American public: that the Iraqi dictator did play a direct role in the attacks." [more]
"Leaks this week indicated Congress can expect a special spending request of $60 billion to $95 billion to pay for the first six months to a year of war and its aftermath." [more]
"We should outlaw the term collateral damage. Above all else, the damage done by the weapons of war is to the flesh, muscle, bone and psyches of real people, some of them children. If we're willing to inflict such terrible damage, we should acknowledge it and not hide behind euphemisms." [more]
"The U.S.-backed resolution on Iraq may be withdrawn because of France's threat to veto it, the Spanish foreign minister said Wednesday." [more]
"Washington acknowledged for the first time yesterday that Tony Blair’s political troubles could force the US to go into battle alone against Iraq." [more]
"If the U.S. issues the expected warning, [Annan] can and should announce that the U.S. has no authority to evict the inspectors, who are United Nations employees. Furthermore, Annan can say that he will not withdraw the inspectors from Iraq unless he is ordered to do so by the U.N. Security Council or the inspectors report that they are not being allowed to do their job." [more]
"A federal appeals court in Washington D.C. has ruled that suspected Taleban and al-Qaida members held at the U.S. naval base in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba have no right to U.S. legal protections." [more]
"A coalition of Kurdish nongovernmental organizations made their first attempt Saturday to convince the villagers bordering Saddam Hussein's Iraq to respect human rights and avert a blood bath of revenge." [more]
"Hundreds of Web sites — many cross-linked to sympathetic groups in a grassroots effort to drum up support — are urging Americans and people worldwide to take action." [more]
"For the first time since the Panama invasion in 1989, the US may be fighting a largely urban war. Thus the tactics and technology it uses will be crucial in determining the level of casualties and perhaps the length of the war itself." [more]
With Pakistan's abstention, the United States must now win the votes of all five undecided nations — Angola, Cameroon, Chile, Guinea, and Mexico — in the UN Security Council in order for the resolution authorizing war on Iraq to pass without a veto. [more]
"A U.S. diplomat resigned from government service on Monday in protest of President Bush's preparations to attack Iraq, the second to do so in less than a month." [more]
"Facing almost certain defeat, the United States and Britain delayed a vote to give Saddam Hussein an ultimatum to disarm and signaled they might compromise to try to win support from [UN] Security Council members who oppose a rush to war." [more]
"The first permanent global war crimes court was inaugurated Tuesday with the swearing in of its first 18 judges. But Washington — which opposes the tribunal — stayed away from the ceremony. " [more]
" 'It's a fact that the children of Iraq are extremely vulnerable,' said UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy. 'Their health, their nutrition, their access to safe water — all of which are weak already — will be further jeopardized in a war.' " [more]
"Officials said Washington was waiting to hear from international inspectors before deciding on a response to disclosures Iran's nuclear program was more advanced than previously thought." [more]
"U.S. forces in the Persian Gulf may be armed with radioactive bombs and missiles hundreds of times more potent than similar weapons used during the Gulf War and the U.N. military campaign in Bosnia." [more]
Pentagon officials have provided options for war on Iraq bypassing Turkey, and speculation is growing that strikes could be launched as early as the middle of next week. [more]
"Why does our president condone the swaggering and contemptuous approach to our friends and allies this administration is fostering, including among its most senior officials? Has 'oderint dum metuant' really become our motto?' So reads the resignation letter of John Brady Kiesling, a career diplomat who recently left the Foreign Service in protest against Bush administration policy." [more]
"Last week a member of the Canadian Parliament for the ruling party, Carolyn Parrish, was caught on television declaring: 'Damn Americans. I hate those bastards.'" [more]
"It costs the Department of Defense roughly $11,000 to lure in each recruit, a price tag that has doubled in the last decade, in part because 64 percent of young Americans say they definitely would not volunteer for military service under any conditions." [more]
"This war was never about your safety, or the safety of this nation, or protecting freedom. It is about strategic power bases, oil reserves and control. It is about regional supremacy first, petroleum and military supply industries second, humanitarian and domestic-security concerns, well, about 147th." [more]
"More than a thousand high school and college students walked out of their classrooms and gathered in Union Square Park in Manhattan at noon yesterday to protest the possible war in Iraq. The protests were part of a nationwide effort that organizers said included as many as 400 campuses." [more]
"The real aim is to get rid of Saddam. A stated intention to put Iraqi leaders on trial for war crimes makes that goal crystal clear. No foreseeable Iraqi disarmament will satisfy the Bush administration." [more]
"The Justice Department has stepped up use of a secretive process that enables the attorney general to personally authorize electronic surveillance and physical searches of suspected terrorists, spies and other national-security threats without immediate court oversight." [more]
"Thousands of children have walked out of their schools across Britain to stage anti-war demonstrations, [and] more than 200 children — some as young as 13 — are protesting outside the Houses of Parliament." [more]
"The Bush administration has concluded that it probably cannot prevent North Korea from developing nuclear weapons and is now focusing on managing the geopolitical fallout, informed Capitol Hill sources said Tuesday." [more]
"Senior aides to President George W. Bush say he faces a humiliating defeat before the United Nations Security Council next week." [more]
"[Front-line] reporters have to go through a mini-boot camp, under the guidance of drill sergeants and training officers. In theory, the pseudo-basic training will get them in physical shape to slog through desert sands. In fact, it will acclimatize them to the military mindset and make them think that they’re part of the team. Instead of objective reporters, they’ll be participants." [more]
"A [Philadelphia] city official is urging his colleagues to join dozens of other municipalities that have adopted resolutions in defiance of an anti-terrorism law that permits unprecedented levels of domestic surveillance." [more]
"Russia made it clear to the US and Britain yesterday that it is prepared to use its security council veto against a second UN resolution authorising war against Iraq." [more]
"Students in colleges and high schools across the United States gathered in rallies Wednesday to oppose a war against Iraq. At more than 360 schools across the country students walked out of class in protest." [more]
"Thousands of Australian high school students will take to the streets in an anti-war protest today, in what could be one of the largest student demonstrations since the Vietnam War." [more]
"The nation's top military officer said today that the Pentagon's war plan for Iraq entailed shocking the Iraqi leadership into submission quickly with an attack 'much, much, much different' from the 43-day Persian Gulf war in 1991." [more]
"Organizers said the actions were typical of what was taking place or planned across the country and that mass rallies and campus 'teach-ins' reminiscent of the Vietnam war protest era were called elsewhere. The student actions followed on protests worldwide in recent weeks that have drawn millions in opposition to the U.S.-led campaign to disarm Iraqi President Saddam Hussein." [more]
"Anti-war activists, determined to continue the momentum from last month's massive global rallies, were preparing for another day of marches and demonstrations expected to draw students around the city and country." [more]
"More than 1,000 readings of Aristophanes' comedy — or adaptations of it — were scheduled to take place Monday in all 50 states and 58 other countries [to protest the war]." [more]
"Alleged U.S. spying at the U.N. — huge news in the rest of the world, ignored here — provides fodder to festering anti-Americanism." [more]
"The anti-war movement is escalating into a new phase, where those opposing a U.S. attack on Iraq are being asked to cross the line they haven't yet crossed." [more]
"From the Brooklyn Academy of Music to a coffeehouse in northern New Mexico to the National Theatre of Iceland, actors are planning a day of international theater protest against a possible war with Iraq." [more]
"For Iraqi exiles, the televised destruction of Baghdad elicits grief and anger, not shock and awe." [more]
"The arrest represented a major victory in the American-led global search for pivotal leaders of Al Qaeda — the men who planned the suicide hijacking attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, as well as other terrorist acts." [more]
"The United States is conducting a secret 'dirty tricks' campaign against UN Security Council delegations in New York as part of its battle to win votes in favour of war against Iraq." |
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