President Bush claimed today that “Brahimi made the decisions” regarding the makeup of the new Iraqi governing body, which he described as a step toward “freedom and democracy.” A fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies and author of the book “Calling the Shots: How Washington Dominates Today's UN,” Bennis said today: “White House pressure on Lakhdar Brahimi has been relentless. But the UN envoy's collapse under U.S. pressure, giving in to the U.S.-selected and U.S.-controlled Governing Council's choice in selecting the prime minister and other top officials of the interim government, shocked even those observers accustomed to U.S. domination of the global body. If Brahimi was ultimately unable to impose the UN's will on the U.S. and the recalcitrant Governing Council to appoint non-political technocrats to run the country and prepare for elections in 2005, he could have acknowledged that failure and withdrawn. The result would almost certainly have been a U.S. 'transfer of power' to the Governing Council itself, which would have been widely and appropriately recognized as undemocratic, illegal, and illegitimate. Instead, there are now Governing Council members and their minions in all the top positions of the interim government, but with the illusion of international credibility providing a United Nations 'bluewashing' of the process....”
PHYLLIS BENNIS, pbennis@compuserve.com, http://www.ips-dc.org
JAMES PAUL, james.paul@globalpolicy.org, http://www.globalpolicy.org
Executive director of the Global Policy Forum, which monitors the United Nations, Paul said today: “As Washington tries to strong-arm Iraq's 'transition,' the U.S. is running into unexpected opposition on the UN Security Council for its proposed new resolution. China, Germany, France, Chile and others have been circulating serious revisions. Nearly all Council members are insisting that the 'multilateral force' mandate expire on a specified date, that Iraq gain control over military forces in the country and that Iraq's claim to its oil be spelled out. After the U.S. humiliation of UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, the scandal of the U.S.-controlled Development Fund for Iraq and the increasing security danger to any new UN role, Washington is finding that Council members are asking embarrassing questions...”
RAHUL MAHAJAN, rahul@empirenotes.org, http://www.empirenotes.org
Recently back from Iraq (including Fallujah), Mahajan is the author of the book “Full Spectrum Dominance: U.S. Power in Iraq and Beyond”. He said today: “The current draft resolution before the UN Security Council authorizes a possibly indefinite presence of the occupying force. Although the authorization can be reviewed (either after 12 months or by the Transitional Government of Iraq, which is not the same as the Interim Government that will be created on June 30), any review is in the hands of the Security Council, where the U.S. has veto power. All the U.S. has to do to maintain legal authority to keep its forces there is to veto any proposed resolution calling on it to withdraw.... The appointment of CIA-linked Allawi as prime minister, along with the virtual renaming of the IGC as the 'new interim government,' confirms that 'transfer of sovereignty' is a sham. Allawi is a British citizen and the head of the Iraqi National Accord, responsible for providing the sensational pre-invasion claim that Saddam Hussein was able to deploy weapons of mass destruction within 45 minutes of the order.” [More information about the “interim government” is at: http://www.underthesamesun.org .]
For more information, contact the Institute for Public Accuracy
915 National Press Building, Washington, D.C. 20045
(202) 347-0020 * http://www.accuracy.org * ipa@accuracy.org
Please also see:
Long-time CIA “asset” installed as interim Iraqi prime minister
http://www.axisoflogic.com/artman/publish/article_8395.shtml
Iraq's new prime minister says troops will stay
http://www.kbcitv.com/x5154.xml?ParentPageID=x5155&ContentID=x51828&Layout=KBCI.xsl&AdGroupID=x5154&URL=http://localhost/apwirefeed/d82u8m580.xml&NewsSection=InternationalHeadlines
3rd of detainees who died were assaulted
By Tom Squitieri and Dave Moniz, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — More than a third of the prisoners who died in U.S. custody in Iraq and Afghanistan were shot, strangled or beaten by U.S. personnel before they died, according to death certificates and a high-ranking U.S. military official.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2004-05-31-prison-abuse_x.htm
On their way to Abu Ghraib http://electroniciraq.net/news/1537.shtml
Beware the Bluewash, by George Monbiot
http://www.unobserver.com/index.php?pagina=layout5.php&id=991&blz=1
Iraq War Whitewash - 20/20 Vision Launches On-Line Petition Calling for Truly Independent Investigation Before November Elections
http://www.unobserver.com/index.php?pagina=layout4.php&id=1414&blz=1
PHYLLIS BENNIS, pbennis@compuserve.com, http://www.ips-dc.org
JAMES PAUL, james.paul@globalpolicy.org, http://www.globalpolicy.org
Executive director of the Global Policy Forum, which monitors the United Nations, Paul said today: “As Washington tries to strong-arm Iraq's 'transition,' the U.S. is running into unexpected opposition on the UN Security Council for its proposed new resolution. China, Germany, France, Chile and others have been circulating serious revisions. Nearly all Council members are insisting that the 'multilateral force' mandate expire on a specified date, that Iraq gain control over military forces in the country and that Iraq's claim to its oil be spelled out. After the U.S. humiliation of UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, the scandal of the U.S.-controlled Development Fund for Iraq and the increasing security danger to any new UN role, Washington is finding that Council members are asking embarrassing questions...”
RAHUL MAHAJAN, rahul@empirenotes.org, http://www.empirenotes.org
Recently back from Iraq (including Fallujah), Mahajan is the author of the book “Full Spectrum Dominance: U.S. Power in Iraq and Beyond”. He said today: “The current draft resolution before the UN Security Council authorizes a possibly indefinite presence of the occupying force. Although the authorization can be reviewed (either after 12 months or by the Transitional Government of Iraq, which is not the same as the Interim Government that will be created on June 30), any review is in the hands of the Security Council, where the U.S. has veto power. All the U.S. has to do to maintain legal authority to keep its forces there is to veto any proposed resolution calling on it to withdraw.... The appointment of CIA-linked Allawi as prime minister, along with the virtual renaming of the IGC as the 'new interim government,' confirms that 'transfer of sovereignty' is a sham. Allawi is a British citizen and the head of the Iraqi National Accord, responsible for providing the sensational pre-invasion claim that Saddam Hussein was able to deploy weapons of mass destruction within 45 minutes of the order.” [More information about the “interim government” is at: http://www.underthesamesun.org .]
For more information, contact the Institute for Public Accuracy
915 National Press Building, Washington, D.C. 20045
(202) 347-0020 * http://www.accuracy.org * ipa@accuracy.org
Please also see:
Long-time CIA “asset” installed as interim Iraqi prime minister
http://www.axisoflogic.com/artman/publish/article_8395.shtml
Iraq's new prime minister says troops will stay
http://www.kbcitv.com/x5154.xml?ParentPageID=x5155&ContentID=x51828&Layout=KBCI.xsl&AdGroupID=x5154&URL=http://localhost/apwirefeed/d82u8m580.xml&NewsSection=InternationalHeadlines
3rd of detainees who died were assaulted
By Tom Squitieri and Dave Moniz, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — More than a third of the prisoners who died in U.S. custody in Iraq and Afghanistan were shot, strangled or beaten by U.S. personnel before they died, according to death certificates and a high-ranking U.S. military official.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2004-05-31-prison-abuse_x.htm
On their way to Abu Ghraib http://electroniciraq.net/news/1537.shtml
Beware the Bluewash, by George Monbiot
http://www.unobserver.com/index.php?pagina=layout5.php&id=991&blz=1
Iraq War Whitewash - 20/20 Vision Launches On-Line Petition Calling for Truly Independent Investigation Before November Elections
http://www.unobserver.com/index.php?pagina=layout4.php&id=1414&blz=1