100 Iraqis Killed Each Day

admin /24 July, 2006

  http://www.counterpunch.org/

Meanwhile, back in Iraq, Horrifying New Casualty Figures; Break-Up of Iraq Now Inevitable, Say Top Iraqis

More Than 100 Iraqis Being Killed Each Day, Says UN; 3,149 Killed in June Alone

By PATRICK COCKBURN

BAGHDAD: The number of Iraqi civilians being murdered or killed in the current fighting has been revealed for the first time by the United Nations. It is far higher than previous estimates. More people are dying here – probably more than 100 a day, now maybe 150 – in the escalating sectarian civil war between Shia and Sunni Muslims and the continuing war with US troops than in the bombardment of Lebanon.

Some 3,149 people were killed in June alone, or more than 100 a day, and the figure is likely to rise higher this month because of tit-for-tat massacres by Sunni and Shia Muslims. Some 120 Shias were killed in two attacks earlier in the week and gunmen yesterday kidnapped 20 employees of a government agency in Baghdad looking after Sunni mosques and shrines.

The death toll has risen every month this year and totalled 5,818 in May and June. This far exceeds the number given by the Iraqi Coalition Casualty Count, a web site that compiles casualty figures based on published accounts, which said that 840 civilians died in June. Overall 14,000 civilians were killed in the first half of the year says the UN.

America Held Hostage

admin /24 July, 2006

http://www.antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=9371

It’s day 10 – and Israel is still threatening the lives of 25,000 Americans in Lebanon
by Justin Raimondo

The Israelis are dropping leaflets, as well as bombs, over Beirut. Aside from warnings to stay away from Hezbollah facilities, this little missive stands out:

"We all know from the experience of the past few days the massive strength of Israel and its readiness to use this power against the terrorist elements.

"The saying goes: those who sleep in graveyards have nightmares."

With all of Lebanon becoming one big killing field, the Israelis should be the last ones talking about graveyards and who sleeps in them. As of Wednesday, "at least 300 people, mostly Lebanese civilians, and including 29 Israelis, had died in the fighting." One thousand Lebanese wounded, and half a million refugees.

What’s interesting about this screed, however, is the preening, bullying tone. Note the "massive power" trope and the taunting reminder that the assault has only gone on for a "few days" – the clear implication being that it could go on much longer. Wednesday the story was that the Bush administration would give the Israelis a week to degrade Hezbollah’s military capability, and then they’d send Condi in to patch things up.

Hezbollah, Hamas and Israel: Everything You Need To Know

admin /24 July, 2006

http://www.counterpunch.org/

A perilous excursion into the distant past, starting seven whole weeks ago
By ALEXANDER COCKBURN

As the  tv networks give  unlimited airtime to Israel’s apologists, the message rolls out that no nation, least of all Israel, can permit bombardment or armed incursion  across its borders without retaliation.

The guiding rule in this tsunami of drivel is that the viewers should be denied the slightest access to any historical context, or indeed to anything that happened prior to June 28, which was when the capture of an Israeli soldier and the killing of two others by Hamas hit the headlines, followed soon thereafter by an attack by a unit of Hezbollah’s fighters.

Memory is supposed to stop in its tracks at June 28, 2006.

Lebanon: From the front line

admin /24 July, 2006

http://sds2000.org/lebanon.htm

Montoya:
We are witnessing the final stages of the Neo-conservative’s "clean break" plan for a wider middle eastern war. Planning for the present operations in Lebanon began in 2003, however the larger tactical and strategic design dates back to the 1996 "blueprint for America", a think-tank whitepaper with the portentous title: "A Clean Break: A New Strategy for Securing the Realm". The "Clean Break" document was written for Israel’s then-current Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, and was prepared by Israel’s Institute for Advanced Strategic and Political Studies "The Study Group on a New Israeli Strategy Toward 2000". The main substantive ideas in this paper emerged from a discussion in which prominent Israeli and US Neo-conservatives participated, namely: Richard Perle, James Colbert, Charles Fairbanks Jr, Douglas Feith, Robert Loewenberg, David Wurmser, and Meyrav Wurmser. The "Clean Break" document itself was authored by Richard Perle, Douglas Feith, David and Meyrav Wurmser, James Colbert, and Robert Lowenberg – primary Neo-conservative figures in the Bush administration.

Israel celebrates terrorism

admin /24 July, 2006

British anger at terror celebration

By Ned Parker and Stephen Farrell

AS ISRAEL wages war against Hezbollah “terrorists” in Lebanon, Britain has protested about the celebration by right-wing Israelis of a Jewish “act of terrorism” against British rule 60 years ago this week.

The rightwingers, including Binyamin Netanyahu, the former Prime Minister, are commemorating the bombing of the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, the headquarters of British rule, that killed 92 people and helped to drive the British from Palestine.

They have erected a plaque outside the restored building, and are holding a two-day seminar with speeches and a tour of the hotel by one of the Jewish resistance fighters involved in the attack.

Simon McDonald, the British Ambassador in Tel Aviv, and John Jenkins, the Consul-General in Jerusalem, have written to the municipality, stating: “We do not think that it is right for an act of terrorism, which led to the loss of many lives, to be commemorated.”

Vic and NSW grape growers face disaster

admin /23 July, 2006

Peter Gordon from rural water and land brokers Gordon Agencies in Irymple, near Mildura in Victoria’s northwest, has been inundated with grape growers wanting to sell their water allocations to repay debt, reported The Australian (22/7/2006, p.7).

Growers give in to water sales: Without access to water, those who sold their entire allocations were effectively ruling themselves out of ever farming again Gordon said. "A lot of people are selling off their water and just keeping their house on the block, then getting a job, but they’ll never get back into growing," he said.

Vineyards abandoned: Michael de Palma, chair of the Murray Valley Winegrowers Association, said many growers in the Riverina area in southern NSW had effectively abandoned their vineyards, leaving the paddocks untended while they took paid employment elsewhere.

Limited interest in sale of land: Grape grower Keith Sharman, 45, from Red Cliffs near Mildura, said he had been trying to sell half of his 40ha holding since January but had not received a single inquiry, despite the next two years’ grape production being contracted to a winemaker. At $10,000 an acre ($24,700 a hectare), it is less than half the price it could have fetched three years ago.

Produce sold at below cost: "If I don’t sell this 50 acres in the next few months, then next year the grapevines will get pushed out and it will be planted with almonds," Sharman said. He was able to sell all his vintage this year, but at only $300 a tonne – below the $350-a-tonne cost of production and down from the $1200 a tonne he was getting five years ago.

The Australian, 22/7/2006, p. 7

Source: Erisk Net