http://www.inthesetimes.com/archives/tags/iraq/ In These Times features award-winning investigative reporting about corporate malfeasance and government wrongdoing, insightful analysis of national and international affairs, and sharp cultural criticism about events and ideas that matter. en-us Expression Engine jessica@inthesetimes.com seamus@inthesetimes.com Tue, 01 Nov 2005 07:59:00 -0600 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/2372/democrats_its_the_war/ Ending the war in Iraq is right for a lot of reasons. The war was unjustified, unnecessary and unprovoked. It is counterproductive, strengthening al-Qaeda and weakening the moral authority of the United States. It is deadly: Many Americans, and many, many more Iraqis, have been killed or injured as a result of the fighting. And it is costly: Well over $250 billion in taxpayer funds have already been spent, with no end in sight. It is also increasingly unpopular. For all these reasons, plus the increased spotlight that Hurricanes Katrina and Rita put on how much the war is draining resources desperately needed at home, Democrats should clearly call for the withdrawal of troops from Iraq. If Democrats do not… iraq elections politics David Sirota Fri, 21 Jul 2006 05:00:00 -0500 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/2730/rechecking_the_balance_of_powers/ The U.S. Supreme Court's June 29 ruling in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld--that the Bush administration's military tribunals violated federal law and the Geneva Conventions--resoundingly rejected the theories of radical executive power that the administration has used to justify a whole array of controversial governmental programs. But for now, it seems that the Bush administration remains intent on defending its actions while doing the minimum to comply with the ruling. In early July, the administration announced that it would amend a previous executive order that denied detainees the protection of the Geneva Conventions. Bush has also sought a congressional rubberstamp for a review of the National Security Agency (NSA) eavesdropping program. Such halfway measures are efforts to sidestep the failure of the… prison iraq David Sirota Fri, 01 Jun 2007 05:00:00 -0500 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/3208/with_an_empire_to_build_who_needs_an_iraqi_parliament/ Over the last few weeks, Iraq coverage in the U.S. media has focused on funding. On May 1, Bush vetoed the Iraq spending supplemental because it would necessitate an "artificial withdrawal." Then last week, Democrats, while simultaneously declaring victory, caved in to Bush's aggression and provided more war-funding than he requested. Congress' lone requirement was mandating benchmarks for the Iraqi government, however, the funds will be available regardless of Iraqi governmental performance. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi continued the anti-war rhetoric, saying "I think the president's policy is going to unravel now," but the words seem empty. Away from the media's gaze toward partisan politics, however, a much more significant story was developing in Baghdad that essentially went unreported. On May… iraq foreign policy David Sirota Tue, 12 Jun 2007 05:00:00 -0500 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/3220/thicker_than_oil/ At the end of May, the third bloodiest month of his 50-month Iraq War, President George W. Bush, red-white-and-blue wreath in hand, staged a Memorial Day photo op at Arlington National Cemetery with its freshly dug graves. "Now this hallowed ground receives a new generation of heroes," intoned Bush. "Our enemies long for our retreat. They question our moral purpose. ... Yet even after five years of war, our finest citizens continue to answer our enemies with courage and confidence." At the same time, across the country "our finest citizens"--members of Iraq Veterans Against the War--gathered with courage, confidence and moral purpose, to give truth to the lies of this one-time oil executive who conned the nation into war. Forty… activism iraq war and peace David Sirota Fri, 15 Jun 2007 05:00:00 -0500 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/3222/in_the_crosshairs/ When Iraqi artist Wafaa Bilal decided to sequester himself in a Chicago art gallery for 42 days with a paintball gun that people could aim and fire at him over the Internet, he thought he might get a few shots per day. He never guessed that by day 20, more than 40,000 shots would be fired and that hackers would program the gun to fire automatically. His exhibit, "Domestic Tension," shows the constant stress and fear under which his family and others in Iraq live. And it highlights the detached, remote way both the American public and soldiers experience modern warfare. "To the Western media it's a virtual war going on in Iraq--we're far removed in the comfort zone," he… art culture Iraq technology David Sirota Mon, 09 Jul 2007 05:00:00 -0500 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/3261/iraqi_unions_fight_the_new_oil_law/ Iraq's proposed oil law, which would open up control of the country's oilfields to multinational corporations, is one of the Bush administration's top political priorities. On July 3, Bush called Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to encourage him and other leaders to move "aggressively forward" on it, and as In These Times went to press, its latest draft appeared headed to the Iraqi Parliament for debate. Even if it passes, however, enacting it won't be easy, as it faces strong opposition from Iraqi oil workers. "It doesn't serve the interests of the Iraqi people," says Faleh Abood Umara, general secretary of the Basra-based Southern Oil Company Union and the Iraqi Federation of Oil Workers' Unions. Umara recently toured the United… iraq labor David Sirota Fri, 13 Jul 2007 05:00:00 -0500 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/3270/the_new_childrens_crusade/ In April 2005, Lance Corp. Vincent J. Emanuele was honorably discharged from the Marine Corps and returned to his home in Chesterton, an old steel town in northern Indiana, 40 miles east of Chicago. Emanuele, 23, is now enrolled at Purdue University North Central and studying political science. He plans to go on and get his doctorate, if not in political science then in one of the liberal arts. But today his main goal in life is stopping the war in Iraq. The vehicle of his activism is Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW), the antiwar group founded in 2004 and modeled after Vietnam Veterans Against the War. In These Times spoke with Emanuele after Memorial Day weekend, during which… activism iraq war and peace David Sirota Tue, 17 Jul 2007 05:00:00 -0500 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/3259/death_from_above/ On June 22, the Operation Iraqi Freedom website issued a press release that hyped a devastating blow against 17 al-Qaeda terrorists, who were gunned down by coalition attack helicopters at Khalis, Iraq, a small town outside of Baqouba. But when the BBC visited the town days later, the villagers told a different story. The men attacked by coalition forces were not al-Qaeda members, but local village guards, who only minutes earlier had been helping Iraqi police raid a suspect's house. (It turned out to be a false alarm.) Eleven of the men were killed when U.S. helicopters suddenly appeared, raining missiles and heavy machine gunfire upon them. "It was like a battlefront, but with the fire going only in one… iraq military David Sirota Tue, 24 Jul 2007 05:00:00 -0500 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/3255/iraq_mismanagement_or_mass_murder/ Take a step back and scan the media horizon for what it is, and something surprising arises from the vast, swampy trashland of corporate baloney and thought-control--the protest documentary. As in, hundreds of them, in theaters, on DVD and on TV. On-the-shoulder non-fiction films about the Bush administration and the Iraq war have proliferated like dandelions on a landfill. (You could count the feature docs about the Vietnam War made during the conflict itself on two hands.) We are witness to the most concentrated explosion of anti-war, anti-elite cultural action ever created. But so what? The tsunami of movies has made little difference in the end. What the Bush Administration has conscientiously proven in its two terms is that if… iraq movies David Sirota Tue, 14 Aug 2007 05:00:00 -0500 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/3303/palestinians_in_iraq_face_a_second_exile/ Within the narrow strip of no man's land separating Iraq and Syria, nearly 400 Palestinian refugees have been forced into an impossible existence at the al-Tanf refugee camp. Aid organizations periodically deliver water, pre-cooked meals and meager supplies of medicine to the marooned inhabitants. Tents are their only protection from the sandstorms and the intense desert sun. The situation of these Palestinians, who fled violence against them in Iraq, where they had lived for decades, is another consequence of the U.S. occupation and the bitter civil war gripping much of central Iraq. Worse, they are now refugees twice over. They can neither return to Iraq nor their own homes, for they have no nation to return to. "What is happening… iraq middle east David Sirota Mon, 10 Sep 2007 05:00:00 -0500 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/3331/why_iraq_is_getting_worse/ A cloud of steam rises above the crowd in the 120-degree heat. As their leader approaches the podium, the thousands who have assembled meet him with pledges of their fealty. "We are all Badr Brigade!" they shout, a reference to the paramilitary organization of the Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council (SIIC), which held this rally on July 19, in honor of Ayatollah Bakr al-Hakim, the party's founding leader, who was assassinated here four years ago. His nephew, Amar al-Hakim, now holds the position. I was one of the millions who attended al-Hakim's funeral four years ago, some of whom walked the 100 miles from Baghdad to Najaf to show their sorrow. It was largely a peaceful affair. But now, as Iraq… iraq iraq war David Sirota Thu, 13 Sep 2007 15:25:01 -0500 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/3345/crockers_kooky_economics/ The long-anticipated joint congressional testimony of Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker is now history, and the event's few fireworks have by now been widely documented. Of them, perhaps the most noted was the men's relative dispositions--one cavalier, the other more so. The conventional wisdom had been to expect kinder depictions of broad progress from the general than from the ambassador. What we saw instead was precisely the opposite. Both men were optimistic--more so than Democrats, moderate Republicans and many other critics thought reasonable. But it was Crocker, not Petraeus, who painted over his mission's most pressing concerns. Perhaps Crocker's single biggest claim during his two days on Capitol Hill was this: "The IMF estimates that economic… administration economy iraq David Sirota Thu, 11 Oct 2007 05:00:00 -0500 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/3362/make_a_sheikh/ Sitting in his room on the 10th floor of the Marriott Hotel during a one-on-one interview in July, "Sheikh" Sattar Abu Risha fielded my questions about his fight against al Qaeda with a flourish that matched the oversized stones in his ring and cufflinks. "I am the leader of all the Arab Iraqi tribes," he proclaimed, finishing with a look that suggested he was considering whether he had overstated the case. But instead of pulling back, he continued: "In five days time, I will return to Iraq and I will be in my house in Ramadi," referring to the capital of Iraq's western Anbar province, where the war has killed more U.S. soldiers than in any other part of the… administration iraq military David Sirota Mon, 12 Nov 2007 05:00:00 -0600 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/3407/funding_iraqs_citizen_soldiers/ The U.S.-led coalition forces in Iraq have gone populist, empowering a "movement" of local sheikhs, former insurgents and ordinary Iraqis--encouraging them to take up arms and patrol their communities for themselves. "Concerned Citizens Groups," which military representatives describe as similar to "neighborhood watch groups," have become a centerpiece of U.S. strategy. The model takes its inspiration from the summer's "Anbar Awakening," in which Sunni sheikhs, fed up with insurgent brutality, enlisted U.S. support to drive them out of their villages. The movement has now taken on a life of its own. "They are coming to us," U.S. Army Col. Wayne Grigsby told In These Times in a phone interview from Forward Operating Base Hammer, in Diyala, just east of Baghdad.… iraq military David Sirota Wed, 02 Jan 2008 05:00:00 -0600 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/3458/empires_architecture/ Panic shot through the State Department and White House earlier this summer when the American architecture firm Berger Devine Yaeger posted computer-generated images and layout of the forthcoming U.S. embassy in Baghdad on its website. Ostensibly concerned with security, government officials urgently acted to remove graphics to avoid aiding potential insurgents in their plots to disrupt the embassy's progress. The real fear, however, may have been that the disclosure would draw public and congressional attention to everything that's gone wrong with the embassy. Indeed, it's difficult to imagine how insurgents could be any more disruptive to the embassy's existence than those who are building it. Allegations of mismanaged funds, shoddy workmanship, kickback schemes, exploitative labor practices, ill-gotten contracts, blocked investigations,… architecture foreign policy iraq David Sirota Fri, 04 Jan 2008 05:00:00 -0600 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/3460/resister_in_exile/ When I met Haifa Zangana in Naperville, ILL., 30 miles southwest of Chicago, the former political prisoner under Saddam Hussen's Baath regime was working on a column but was having computer problems. The interview appeared to be a needed distraction. Zangana, who writes regularly for the Guardian, al-Quds, Red Pepper and al-Ahram Weekly, is also a novelist and feminist. She was in Chicago promoting her new book, City of Widows: An Iraqi Woman's Account of War and Resistance (Seven Stories Press, 2007), and visiting her brother-in-law in the suburbs before heading off to more speaking engagements, including one with CODEPINK in Washington, D.C. on Nov. 25. It was difficult to imagine that the petite, 57-year-old with smiling eyes once smuggled… iraq womens rights David Sirota Wed, 09 Jan 2008 05:00:00 -0600 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/3463/robocop_in_iraq/ Improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, have killed 1,678 U.S. military personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan since July 2003, according to Georgia-based Iraq Coalition Casualty Count. The death toll could have been much higher without the help of 5,000 IED-detecting robots that, according to CBS News, have found 10,000 roadside bombs in Afghanistan and Iraq. But the next step in the evolution of wartime robots looks to go from saving lives to taking them. The U.S. Army soon plans to deploy armed robots with firepower into the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Designed by Foster-Miller, these robots, known as SWORDS (Special Weapons Observation Reconnaissance Detections Systems), are operated and fired by remote control. They can be outfitted with M240 or M249… iraq military technology David Sirota