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By Craig Timberg and Daniel Halperin
$10.98
By Manning Marable
$16.50
$20
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By Amy Goodman — It’s the deadliest conflict since World War II. More than 5 million people have died in the past decade, yet it goes virtually unnoticed and unreported in the United States.
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AP photo / Capt. Allie Weiskopf Chase, U.S. Army, HO
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Here’s an interesting idea for dampening insurgent violence in Iraq: Pay the would-be troublemakers to temporarily join America’s side and watch the surge success reports roll in. That’s the tactic the U.S. military has employed with some 70,000 former insurgents, according to this NPR report.
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AP photo / Karel Prinsloo
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A tentative peace may have come to Kenya after the political opposition canceled its rallies and after there were reports that the head of the African Union would attempt to broker a truce. Rioting and other violence since elections last week have killed hundreds.
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By Carol Brightman — Three new memoirs by veterans of the New Left provide nuance and complexity to a tumultuous decade whose political and cultural legacy is still contested. Bonus points to those who can answer the question: Do you still need a Weatherman to know which way the wind blows?
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news.bbc.co.uk
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The Supreme Court will rule on the Second Amendment for the first time since 1939, when it examines whether a handgun ban in Washington, D.C., is constitutional. A decision is expected next summer, so expect to see a lot of tap dancing from the candidates, particularly those who’ve changed their minds about gun violence or suddenly discovered a love of hunting.
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AP photo / Nabil al-Jurani
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Perhaps Basra can be seen as a test case for the rest of Iraq with regard to withdrawal and its effects: According to Maj. Gen. Graham Binns, the commander of British forces in Basra, there has been a “remarkable and dramatic drop in attacks” since the majority of his troops withdrew from the city.
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If one were to ask President Bush to make sense of his strategy in Iraq, he would likely suggest that by providing stability, the Iraqi government could work toward reconciliation and an end to sectarian bloodletting, but according to several key Iraqi leaders, that just isn’t going to happen. Better, they argue, to focus on the basics of governing and providing services that Iraqis continue to suffer without.
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By Amy Goodman — The barbarous military regime depends on revenue from the nation’s gas reserves and partners such as Chevron to buy bullets for the guns it points at monks, a detail conveniently ignored by the Bush administration.
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AP photo
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For decades Burma’s ruling military junta has governed through terror, determined to meet dissent with intimidation, detention and murder. It is because of the military’s particular cruelty that the story of the Buddhist monks of Burma is so compelling.
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By Marie Cocco — There is no set piece more emblematic of the tragic farce that is the American involvement in Iraq than the grotesque episode of Blackwater USA and the killing of civilians in Baghdad—at least nine and as many as 28—on Sunday.
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Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and other officials have condemned the actions of security contractors who were guarding a State Department convoy that came under fire in downtown Baghdad on Sunday. The unnamed contractors are accused of firing indiscriminately and escalating the violence, which killed nine civilians. Update: The security firm in question was Blackwater USA.
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Well, it’s not as bad as last week’s leaked version, but the Government Accountability Office’s Iraq progress report is still pretty grim. According to the GAO’s findings, the current Iraqi government has failed to meet 11 out of 18 benchmarks set last May by U.S. officials.
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Director Brian DePalma says “Pictures are what will stop the war,” and he’s out to prove it. His new film “Redacted,” which focuses on the brutal rape and murder of an Iraqi girl and the killing of her family, uses graphic images from the war that he says media outlets have been too timid to show.
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A wave of shootings following the assassination of an Oakland, Calif., journalist has left seven dead since Friday. Seventy-nine people have been killed in Oakland so far this year. That’s five fewer than at the same time last year, but still far too high.
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news.bbc.co.uk
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Sony Computer Entertainment is in hot water with the Church of England because of a popular video game that simulates a shootout in the Manchester Cathedral. Among other concerns, the church is appalled that Sony would “encourage people to have gun battles” in a city known for gun crime.
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Talking Points TV puts the president’s “there is an acceptable level of violence in certain societies” spiel in perspective. Can daily car bombings and sectarian cleansing possibly be considered acceptable?
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Despite fighting them “over there,” terrorism has grown more frequent and bloody. According to the State Department’s latest assessment of terrorist activity, Iraq contained nearly half of all attacks in 2006. The number of attacks worldwide went up 28.5 percent from the previous year, claiming 40.2 percent more lives.
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Despite a week of horrific violence in Iraq, President Bush reaffirmed on Friday his belief that the surge was working, while Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki insisted two days later that his country was not in a state of civil war. In the latest round of attacks Sunday, 70 people were killed, including 23 members of a religious minority.
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By E.J. Dionne, Jr. — With enough money behind it, any ridiculous argument will find supporters, especially in Congress. It shouldn’t take mass murder for politicians to realize the obvious: Guns kill people.
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By Marie Cocco — Gun control may be politically passé, but even basic precautions might have saved lives in Virginia. Winning elections at the expense of human life simply isn’t worth it.
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In this episode of the outstanding Web documentary series “Hometown Baghdad,” Adel interviews his young brother and cousin, both of whom had just witnessed a gruesome killing. He is convinced the two young Iraqis already show signs of the psychological trauma that comes from growing up in a war zone.
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A new report from the Red Cross says living conditions in Iraq, from healthcare to general safety, continue to worsen. One woman interviewed by the ICRC said it would be helpful if someone removed the bodies piling up in front of her house so her children wouldn’t have to look at them on the way to school.
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In this episode of “Hometown Baghdad,” Adel, Ausama and Saif comment on the violence that has become so commonplace a daylong gun battle feels more like an inconvenience than cause for alarm.
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thinkprogress.org
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It has now been four years since the United States invaded Iraq and, according to the latest CNN poll, only 30 percent of Americans are “proud” of the war—half the number recorded in 2003. Still—with thousands of Americans and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis killed; hundreds of billions of dollars spent, stolen and wasted; millions of refugees created; terrorist recruitment thriving and a civil war that threatens to engulf the region—we just have to ask: What could anyone possibly be proud of?
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One of the weapons used with devastating effect against U.S. forces in Iraq is the so-called explosively formed penetrator, which the administration has accused Iran of producing. Astonishingly, the Discovery Channel recently aired a puff piece that delightedly showed off such a bomb, complete with a demonstration of how effective the compact device was against armored military targets.
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James Harris
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By James Harris — In 2006 alone, 148 people were murdered in the streets of Oakland, most of them African-American. Today the epidemic of violence continues unabated and largely ignored. Truthdig contributor James Harris reports on the forgotten crisis that threatens to tear his city apart.
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A series of attacks targeting Shiite pilgrims killed more than 100 people in Iraq on Tuesday. Some victims said they blamed the Sunnis, but also the lack of security provided by Iraqi police and U.S. forces. Though reports vary, Reuters has reported the death toll at 149.
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The week’s deadly trend of sectarian aggression accelerated Friday and Saturday. Yet another car bomb claimed 12 lives Saturday in Ramadi. Meanwhile, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki pledged to avenge the deaths of 14 police officers found slain in Baquba on Friday.
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A series of explosions around the world has killed more than 120 people. A train bombing in northern India left at least 64 people dead, while three car bombs in Baghdad—the bloodiest violence since a security crackdown began—killed more than 60 and injured at least 131. A bomb also exploded at a McDonald’s in St. Petersburg, Russia, in an act of “hooliganism,” according to police. There was no indication that each nation’s violence was related to the explosions in the other countries.
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news.bbc.co.uk
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Despite an influx of thousands of U.S. troops, Baghdad continues to experience devastating violence. Four explosions Monday killed at least 76 people.
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nytimes.com
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Violence has erupted in Gaza after a three-day cease-fire between rivals Hamas and Fatah came to an explosive end. At least 10 people have been killed and 120 wounded since the latest round of fighting began on Thursday.
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U.S. and Iraqi soldiers killed 250 militants Sunday in a day of fighting in Najaf. According to an Iraqi official, the battle with the previously unknown militia involved tanks, jets and helicopters, one of which was shot down.
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news.bbc.co.uk
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The turmoil in Gaza continues unabated as the two main Palestinian factions clash. At least 22 deaths have occurred since Thursday. Despite pleas for restraint from throughout the Arab world, the fighting between Fatah and Hamas looks as though it could escalate, spreading to the West Bank.
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news.bbc.co.uk
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Although 3,200 additional troops have been deployed in Baghdad in an effort to assert control, violence continues to worsen. A double car bombing on Monday killed 88 people and injured 160. This does not bode well for a full-blown surge.
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komotv.com
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The first wave in Bush’s surge—3,200 troops—arrived in Baghdad as the United States experienced the most violent day for its forces in two years. Twenty-five American soldiers were killed on Saturday.
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A double bombing outside a Baghdad university has killed at least 70 people and injured 170, according to police. Twenty-five more died elsewhere in Baghdad from bombings and shootings on one of the most violent days in Iraq since the war began.
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nytimes.com
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The Islamists have fled, the transitional government and its Ethiopian allies have reclaimed Mogadishu as Somalia’s capital and the prime minister has banned guns and called for peacekeepers. Will the stability last, or will guerrilla warfare and clan violence tear the country apart for another 15 years?
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rotten.com
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The head of Fatah in Lebanon told a local newspaper that Hezbollah had prevented several of the group’s planned attacks along the Israeli border—in some cases going so far as to turn the militants over to Lebanese authorities.
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news.bbc.co.uk
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A year after 24 Iraqi civilians were killed in the town of Haditha, eight U.S. Marines have been charged in the crime—four with second-degree murder and four others with covering up the slaughter.
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iraqirocker.blogspot.com
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In this powerful collection of blogs from recent days, Iraqis react to the violence sweeping their nation. Here’s Meemo, a 19-year-old from Baghdad who’s getting out: “I leave Baghdad in two days…. I’m not going to see death anymore; I’m not going to hear car explosions again; I will come back to life again.”
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msnbc.com
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According to the Pentagon’s latest report, violence in Iraq has reached record levels in all measured categories, with a 32 percent increase in attacks on U.S. troops. The 50-page document also notes a 60 percent increase in civilian casualties since the formation of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s government.
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news.bbc.co.uk
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Hamas and Fatah have announced a deal meant to end the fighting between the two Palestinian factions, yet the violence persisted throughout Sunday. Hamas described the agreement as a cease-fire. Meanwhile, President Mahmoud Abbas continued to push for new elections in an attempt to oust Hamas from the government.
Posted on Dec 17, 2006
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intelmessages.org
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Despite all the attention focused on the Iraq Study Group’s report, one of its more damaging allegations has largely escaped media scrutiny: The Pentagon and intelligence agencies are drastically underreporting acts of violence in Iraq. The panel said that one day the U.S. reported 93 acts of violence when in fact there were more than 1,100. (h/t: Randi Rhodes)
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mobygames.com
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Arianna Huffington takes Hillary Clinton to task for continuing her vote-hungry triangulating campaign against video game indecency. In case you missed it, last year Hillary got all bent out of shape over a hidden sex scene in a game called “Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.” She didn’t seem to mind the initial release of the game, which allowed players (17 and older) to commit mass murder in graphic detail.
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Too Soon to Tell: The Case for Hope, Continued
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