Thursday, January 18, 2007

IRAQ: THE ‘GRATEFUL’ DEAD

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

by Sarah Meyer


I think the Iraqi people owe the American people a huge debt of gratitude, and I believe most Iraqis express that. I mean, the people understand that we’ve endured great sacrifice to help them. That’s the problem here in America. They wonder whether or not there is a gratitude level that’s significant enough in Iraq." George Bush



ABU GHRAIB


Read the story here.


FALLUJAH

Fallujah Siege November 2005: Photo Reuters
Iraq War Photography: The Fallujah Offensive,...





SAMARRA

Askariya Shrine in Samarra

Read the stories here and here. (12.02.03)


Photo: Anti-war.com


UN says 34,452 Iraqis killed in 2006
17.01.07. Stuff.co.nz.
see also UN Report on Iraqi Deaths for 2006 [pdf]

Iraqi Dead May Total 600,000, Study Says
By SABRINA TAVERNISE and DONALD G. McNEIL Jr, NY Times.
(Johns Hopkins Study October 2006)



Photo AFP / Qassem Zein

HADITHA

Photo: AP
See The Haditha Doctor and Media Dissemblers (continuously updated)


ASSASSINATIONS

Iraq: The Assassination of Academics : The Jalili Report
15.1.6. S. Meyer, Index Research


OTHER TRAGEDIES FOR WHICH TO BE ‘GRATEFUL’


Baghdad: sewage system collapses
16.1.7.Irin / uruknet

Iraq: The Women's Story
Video, Zeena Ahmed, Dispatches

Iraq refugee crisis exploding
15.01.06. C. Lockhead, uruknet/SanFrancisco Chronicle..


Photo Channel 4 / Guardian films



WHO IS BENEFITING?

Blood and Oil: How the West will Profit from Iraq's most precious commodity
07.01.07. Independent.

Video. Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers. Greenwald, 1r. 15 min.

Video. Exposed: The Carlyle Group. 54 min.

Video. Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers. Greenwald, 1r. 15 min.

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Video. No Bravery.
Music, James Blunt

There are children standing here,
Arms outstretched into the sky,
Tears drying on their face.
He has been here.
Brothers lie in shallow graves.
Fathers lost without a trace.
A nation blind to their disgrace,
Since he's been here.

And I see no bravery,
No bravery in your eyes anymore.
Only sadness.

Houses burnt beyond repair.
The smell of death is in the air.
A woman weeping in despair says,
He has been here.
Tracer lighting up the sky.
It's another families' turn to die.
A child afraid to even cry out says,
He has been here.

And I see no bravery,
No bravery in your eyes anymore.
Only sadness.

There are children standing here,
Arms outstretched into the sky,
But no one asks the question why,
He has been here.
Old men kneel and accept their fate.
Wives and daughters cut and raped.
A generation drenched in hate.
Yes, he has been here.

And I see no bravery,
No bravery in your eyes anymore.
Only sadness.

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This article first published by the BRussels Tribunal

The url to Iraq: The ‘Grateful Dead’ is: http://indexresearch.blogspot.com/2007/01/iraq-grateful-dead.html

With apologies for very short synopsis; the story is much worse and far too long.

Sarah Meyer is a researcher living in the UK. Index Research

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.


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