From Community Leaflet:
Dahr Jamail spend a total of eight months in occupied Iraq as one of a few independent U.S. journalists in the country. His journal logs and photos have put a few a face on the people the U.S. has starved, imprisoned, tortured, besieged and bombed. His articles have been published by Inter Press Service, The Asia Times, The Nation, The Sunday Herald, Islam Online, The Guardian and The Independent and his reports are heard on Democracy Now, Flashpoints, the BBC, and numerous other media outlets around the globe.
Website for Dahr Jamail: http://www.dahrjamailiraq.com/
Democracy Now!: http://www.democracynow.org/
More information: 916/ 803-3909; mbrassell@riseup.net
Jeremy Scahill, a correspondent and producer for Democracy Now, covered the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia; investigated Chevron’s involvement in the killing of villages in the oil-rich Niger Delta; reported from Iraq during the year leading up to the invasion. He exposed the present of Blackwater mercenaries deployed in New Orleans. He has won many awards, including the George Polk Award for Foreign Reporting; he is currently a Puffin Writing Fellow, The Nation Institute.
Stories by Jeremy Scahill:
http://www.alternet.org/authors/5434/
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On Tuesday, March 13, 2006, two independent journalists, Dahr Jamail & Jeremy Scahill were in Sacramento, California sharing their information, knowledge and enlightening stories.
I first saw them in my Mass Media Journalism Class that morning at Sacramento City College and then at noon at the Cultural Awareness Center also at City College. {Pixs at blogspot}
The below is what I learned from my these two brave journalists, from my mental notes and from my scribbles:
A true journalist must be ready, willing and able to go out into the field and get the story as a non-embedded journalist in order to get the uncensored truth, NOT an embedded journalist ‘in bed’ with the occupation forces There are embedded, hotel and taxi journalists in Iraq who do not have the courage or compassion to go out in the war zone to get the true story about what is going on in Iraq. The Establishment News from CNN, FOX and others reports like Pentagon News Spokepersons and regurgitate what the Pentagon wants them to say like a conveyor belt of officialdom with institutionalized censorship.
In the light of critical thinking, a true journalist must report the truth with honesty, courage and integrity as a storyteller in a vital trade, not a co-opted professional with official degrees without real experience ‘on the ground’. A true democracy requires an educated people.
The U.S. government has NO EXIT strategy out of Iraq; the Iraq War Costs are over $247 billion going by Congressional appropriations and rising fast; over a half billion is being spent on a new U.S. Embassy in Iraq in the Green Zone and over 80 Journalists have been killed (13 by the U.S.). Around a HALF MILLION CHILDREN in Iraq died during the U.S.-backed economic sanctions. Former President Clinton, despite his ‘liberal’ soft image, is also a culprit in all this evil and should also be condemned as a war criminal. The lives of over 2,300 American soldiers have been lost, with thousands more wounded and disabled for life. No one knows exactly how many Iraqi people have been killed though conservative estimates are around 25,000 and growing.
Brother Scahill also spoke about the mass human tragedies in Rwanda, Yugoslavia and other places, but the main focus was on the Iraq War. Later than evening they spoke at First Methodist Church, 21st and J Streets in Midtown Sacra at 7 PM.
The Bush Regime and the entire U.S. Government must be seen as a war mongering menace to all of humanity all over the world. It is the most powerful military-industrial-media complex in human history as President Eisenhower, one of the early architects of Amerikan Fascism, warned us. We must look behind Amerikan officials and see that the real puppet masters are those in power and control of the Amerkan Corporate Empire. It must be stopped or we are all doomed to extinction as a species!
All true patriotic Americans must wake up and find out what great evils the U.S. Government is committing in our name or we become silent accomplices to great crimes against humanity. No one can be neutral when the ultimate fate of humanity is at stake.
We must come together and oppose the Amerikan Occupation in Iraq, firmly support the valid Iraqi Resistance and be busy building up the People’s Liberation Movement inside the United States to help fight for true democracy and social liberty for us here now who still suffer in real oppressive conditions in the misery of poverty.
We should not let issues thousands of miles away blind us to domestic concerns of poor people, of the homeless, of prisoners, or the forgotten without voices. Remember what Hurricane Katrina revealed to the world about continued mass poverty in America!
Be they U.S. soldiers or Iraqis insurgents, we should condemn and not condone violent attacks against innocent civilians anywhere by anyone. Arbitrary non-selective guerrilla attacks that maim, injure and kill innocent civilians by roving rebel bands is NOT revolutionary, no matter the ideology of any cause!
Nevertheless, the true terrorists in Iraq are the Amerikan soldiers who just follow military orders without ethics, morals or principles being crazed with a Neo-Nazi Amerikan mentality. We should understand that desperate situations bring out desperate actions, but let us not copy the tactics of our historical enemies.
Power to the People!
Peter S. Lopez ~aka Peta
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Related Links:
Baghdad Embassy Bonanza -- Kuwait Company’s Secret Contract & Low-Wage Labor: by David Phinney, Special to CorpWatch: February 12th, 2006
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/021206D.shtml &
http://corpwatch.org/article.php?id=13258
Brookings Institution Iraq Index:
http://www.brookings.edu/fp/saban/iraq/index.pdf
Iraq Body Count:
http://www.iraqbodycount.net
Multi-National Force-
Iraq: http://www.mnf-iraq.com
Pentagon (click Casualty Reports on right):
http://www.defenselink.mil
The War in Iraq Costs: A running total of the U.S. taxpayer cost of the Iraq War number based on Congressional appropriations:
http://nationalpriorities.org/index.php?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=182
Today In Iraq
http://dailywarnews.blogspot.com/
No One Knows How Many Iraqis Have Died:
http://humane-rights-agenda.blogspot.com/2006/03/no-one-knows-how-many-iraqis-have-died.html
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http://humane-rights-agenda.blogspot.com/2006/03/independent-journalists-dahr-jamail.html
c/s
1 comment:
The plan I am sending you has been approved by many prominent thinkers and
activists in the field. Which includes: Benjamin Ferencz, Chief Prosecutor
at the Nuremburg Trials, Tom Hayden, Matthew Rothschild, Danny Schecter,
Tony Benn- Former Member of the British parliment ,Reggie Rivers,
Robert Jenkins, Andrew Bard Schmookler and others.
I formulated this plan in September 2004, based on a comprehensive
study of the issues. For my plan to be successful it must be implemented
with all seven points beginning to happen within a very short period of
time.
I have run up against a wall of doubt about my plan due to it's
rational nature ,and due to it's adherence to placing the blame on the
invaders, and then trying to formulate a process of extrication which would
put all entities in this conflict face to face, to begin to finally solve
the dilemmas that exist.
If you read my plan you will see that it is guided by a reasonable
and practical compromise that could end this war and alleviate the
internecine civil violence that is confronting Iraq at this juncture in it's
history.
I am making a plea for my plan to be put into action on a wide-scale.
I need you to circulate it and use all the persuasion you have to bring it
to the attention of those in power.
Just reading my plan and sending off an e-mail to me that you received
it will not be enough.
This war must end-we who oppose it can do this by using my plan.
We must fight the power and end the killing.
If you would like to view some comments and criticism about my plan
I direct you to my blog: sevenpointman
Thank you my dear friend,
Howard Roberts
A Seven-point plan for an Exit Strategy in Iraq
1) A timetable for the complete withdrawal of American and British forces
must be announced.
I envision the following procedure, but suitable fine-tuning can be
applied by all the people involved.
A) A ceasefire should be offered by the Occupying side to
representatives of both the Sunni insurgency and the Shiite community. These
representatives would be guaranteed safe passage, to any meetings. The
individual insurgency groups would designate who would attend.
At this meeting a written document declaring a one-month ceasefire,
witnessed by a United Nations authority, will be fashioned and eventually
signed. This document will be released in full, to all Iraqi newspapers, the
foreign press, and the Internet.
B) US and British command will make public its withdrawal, within
sixth-months of 80 % of their troops.
C) Every month, a team of United Nations observers will verify the
effectiveness of the ceasefire.
All incidences on both sides will be reported.
D) Combined representative armed forces of both the Occupying
nations and the insurgency organizations that agreed to the cease fire will
protect the Iraqi people from actions by terrorist cells.
E) Combined representative armed forces from both the Occupying
nations and the insurgency organizations will begin creating a new military
and police force. Those who served, without extenuating circumstances, in
the previous Iraqi military or police, will be given the first option to
serve.
F) After the second month of the ceasefire, and thereafter, in
increments of 10-20% ,a total of 80% will be withdrawn, to enclaves in Qatar
and Bahrain. The governments of these countries will work out a temporary
land-lease housing arrangement for these troops. During the time the troops
will be in these countries they will not stand down, and can be re-activated
in the theater, if both the chain of the command still in Iraq, the newly
formed Iraqi military, the leaders of the insurgency, and two international
ombudsman (one from the Arab League, one from the United Nations), as a
majority, deem it necessary.
G) One-half of those troops in enclaves will leave three-months after they
arrive, for the United States or other locations, not including Iraq.
H) The other half of the troops in enclaves will leave after
six-months.
I) The remaining 20 % of the Occupying troops will, during this six
month interval, be used as peace-keepers, and will work with all the
designated organizations, to aid in reconstruction and nation-building.
J) After four months they will be moved to enclaves in the above
mentioned countries.
They will remain, still active, for two month, until their return to
the States, Britain and the other involved nations.
2) At the beginning of this period the United States will file a letter with
the Secretary General of the Security Council of the United Nations, making
null and void all written and proscribed orders by the CPA, under R. Paul
Bremer. This will be announced and duly noted.
3) At the beginning of this period all contracts signed by foreign countries
will be considered in abeyance until a system of fair bidding, by both
Iraqi and foreign countries, will be implemented ,by an interim Productivity
and Investment Board, chosen from pertinent sectors of the Iraqi economy.
Local representatives of the 18 provinces of Iraq will put this board
together, in local elections.
4) At the beginning of this period, the United Nations will declare that
Iraq is a sovereign state again, and will be forming a Union of 18
autonomous regions. Each region will, with the help of international
experts, and local bureaucrats, do a census as a first step toward the
creation of a municipal government for all 18 provinces. After the census, a
voting roll will be completed. Any group that gets a list of 15% of the
names on this census will be able to nominate a slate of representatives.
When all the parties have chosen their slates, a period of one-month will be
allowed for campaigning.
Then in a popular election the group with the most votes will represent that
province.
When the voters choose a slate, they will also be asked to choose five
individual members of any of the slates.
The individuals who have the five highest vote counts will represent a
National government.
This whole process, in every province, will be watched by international
observers as well as the local bureaucrats.
During this process of local elections, a central governing board, made up
of United Nations, election governing experts, insurgency organizations, US
and British peacekeepers, and Arab league representatives, will assume the
temporary duties of administering Baghdad, and the central duties of
governing.
When the ninety representatives are elected they will assume the legislative
duties of Iraq for two years.
Within three months the parties that have at least 15% of the
representatives will nominate candidates for President and Prime Minister.
A national wide election for these offices will be held within three months
from their nomination.
The President and the Vice President and the Prime Minister will choose
their cabinet, after the election.
5) All debts accrued by Iraq will be rescheduled to begin payment, on the
principal after one year, and on the interest after two years. If Iraq is
able to handle another loan during this period she should be given a grace
period of two years, from the taking of the loan, to comply with any
structural adjustments.
6) The United States and the United Kingdom shall pay Iraq reparations for
its invasion in the total of 120 billion dollars over a period of twenty
years for damages to its infrastructure. This money can be defrayed as
investment, if the return does not exceed 6.5 %.
7) During the beginning period Saddam Hussein and any other prisoners who
are deemed by a Council of Iraqi Judges, elected by the National
representative body, as having committed crimes will be put up for trial.
The trial of Saddam Hussein will be before seven judges, chosen from this
Council of Judges.
One judge, one jury, again chosen by this Council, will try all other
prisoners.
All defendants will have the right to present any evidence they want, and to
choose freely their own lawyers.
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