World-News

http://socialistworker.org/2008/05/12/paying-to-be-occupied


Informant: Ashley Smith

From ufpj-news

Seattle Post-Intelligencer
by Helen Thomas

05/09/08

Too often in this war, the news media seem to have tried to shield the public from the suffering this war has brought to Americans and Iraqis. It’s not the job of the media to protect the nation from the reality of war. Rather, it is up to the media to tell the people the truth. They can handle it...

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/362350_thomas09.html


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Helen+Thomas

Thomas Powers writes in The New York Review of Books: "There is a working assumption among the American people that a new president enters the White House free of responsibility for the errors of the past, free to set a new course in any program or policy, and therefore free - at the very least in constitutional theory, and perhaps even really and truly free - to call off a war begun by a predecessor. No one would expect something so dramatic on the first day of a new administration but it remains a fact that the president is the commander in chief of the armed forces, and the power that allowed one president to invade Iraq would allow another to bring the troops home."

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/051108Z.shtml

The US Company Defense Security Services (DSS) has been snapping up retired Bulgarian soldiers and policemen to work as guards in Iraq the company said.

http://www.bulgaria-news.eu/articles/86122.php



From Information Clearing House

Military Families Speak Out (MFSO)
http://www.commondreams.org/news2008/0507-19.htm



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=MFSO
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Pelosi

CODEPINK
http://www.commondreams.org/news2008/0508-12.htm



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=refugee
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=CodePink

Jim Lobe, of Inter Press Service: "Growing impatience in Congress over the enormous costs being racked up by the Iraq war, as well as the Pentagon's belief that it needs more troops in Afghanistan to fight insurgents there, is putting the vaunted success of the George W. Bush administration's 'surge' strategy to the test. Although the House of Representatives appears poised to approve an additional 163 billion dollars Thursday for military operations in both Iraq and Afghanistan through the end of the year, most observers believe that Congress will impose unprecedented conditions on Iraq-related spending."

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/050808P.shtml



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=troop+surge
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Jim+Lobe

Mike Soraghan, of The Hill: "A small group of fiscally conservative Blue Dog Democrats is threatening to block the emergency war spending bill over a program for veterans' benefits not offset with tax hikes or spending cuts. Because of that problem, and the efforts by House Republicans to stall floor action with procedural motions, the vote on the carefully crafted supplemental measure could be delayed until Friday or next week."

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/050808K.shtml



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=veterans
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Iraq+spending+bill
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Mike+Soraghan

BBC Reporter Clive Myrie writes: "The authorities in Baghdad say they are preparing for an exodus of thousands of people from eastern parts of the city. The government has warned of an imminent push to clear the areas of members of the Mehdi Army, loyal to the anti-American cleric, Moqtada Sadr."

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/050708D.shtml

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Iraqi government prepares for 'big push' into Shiite enclave

"Iraqi and US military preparations are underway to move into Sadr City," Asma al-Musawi, a member of al-Sadr Bloc, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

http://tinyurl.com/3wr46x



Baghdad's Coming Refugee Crisis

U.S.-back Iraqi forces are gearing up for a new push deeper into Sadr City that could worsen fighting and displace hundreds, a government spokesman in Baghdad said. "There will be a big offensive soon," said Iraqi government spokesman Tahseen al-Sheikhly.

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1738431,00.html



Thousands Of Iraqi Troops Flood Into Sadr City

Thousands of Iraqi troops moved unchallenged into Baghdad's Sadr City Tuesday to seize the Shiite militia stronghold, in the largest attempt yet by the government to impose control, an Iraqi military spokesman said.

http://tinyurl.com/4dclcq



Sadrists: Iraqi Military Breaking Ceasefire

We are demanding normal rights of citizenship in Al-Sadr City, and this is what many Iraqis want in other governorates as well.

http://tinyurl.com/4x9eo5


From Information Clearing House

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Relief Urged for Sadr City; Reports of a Pending Assault
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/05/08/8796/



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Sadr+City
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Mehdi
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Mahdi
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Moqtada
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Muqtada
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Shiite+militia
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Iraq+refugees

Truthout's Matt Renner reports: "A late-night court filing by the White House on Monday revealed that official administration emails about the run up to the invasion of Iraq and the initial occupation may never be recovered."

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/050708A.shtml

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White House tells court of missing emails from beginning of Iraq war

The White House has admitted in court that it has lost three months of email backups from the initial days of the Iraq war, raising questions about the possible deletion of politically sensitive records.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/may/07/usa.usforeignpolicy


From Information Clearing House

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Lost e-mails obscure Plame-gate

Consortium News
by Jason Leopold

05/09/08

The White House now admits it can’t recover lost e-mails from emergency backup tapes for key dates in 2003, meaning some early Iraq War history may be lost. Two gaps also could obscure what senior Bush advisers were saying about early stages of the ‘Plame-gate’ scandal...

http://www.consortiumnews.com/2008/050908a.html


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=missing+emails
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Plame
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Matt+Renner
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Jason+Leopold