EVENT SCHEDULE FOR INQUEST IRAQ PUBLIC HEARING

Saturday October 28th Northwestern School of Law Thorne Auditorium 375 E. Chicago Ave

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE INQUEST IRAQ WITNESSES

The Inquest Iraq Campaign will raise public awareness and understanding regarding the human, economic, and political costs of the Iraq war. Through the provision of information the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) intends to empower people to hold government authority accountable for its actions and speak truth to power.

Join AFSC and a group of concerned citizens for the Inquest Iraq Public Hearing to witness the personal testimony of panelists who possess first-hand knowledge of U.S. foreign policy, military strategy, pre-war intelligence, and the impact of the invasion and occupation on both soldiers and Iraqi people.

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Spy Agencies Say Iraq War Worsens Terrorism
Mark Mazzetti, The New York Times (09/24/06)

Summary:

A New York Times article reports that the US invasion and occupation of Iraq has increased the overall threat from terrorism and fuelled a new wave of Islamic fundamentalism. These are general conclusions asserted by the classified National Intelligence Estimate – a consensus report from all US intelligence agencies entitled “Trends in Global Terrorism: Implications for the United States”.

The National Intelligence Committee had previously released a report in 2005 stating that Iraq is the primary training ground for the next generation of terrorists. This estimate finished in April 2006 officially attributes a direct role to the Iraq War in fuelling radicalism and cites the war as a reason for the dissemination of jihad ideology across the globe. Recent public White House documents have been less specific in presenting the impact of the Iraq War. This article quotes several government and expert sources anonymously who concur with the leaked findings.

Quotation:

“New jihadist networks and cells, sometimes united by little more than their anti-Western agendas, are increasingly likely to emerge,” said Gen. Michael V. Hayden during a speech in San Antonio in April, the month that the new estimate was completed. “If this trend continues, threats to the U.S. at home and abroad will become more diverse and that could lead to increasing attacks worldwide,” said the general, who … is now director of the Central Intelligence Agency.”

Click here to read the whole article (requires free registration).

Retired Officers to Criticize Rumsfeld
David Espo, Associated Press, (09/25/06)

Summary:

A number of senior retired military officers are expected to strongly criticize Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfield in testimony before a Senate Democratic Policy Committee. They will call for the replacement of Rumsfield whose incompetent leadership directs a conflict that to date has claimed the lives of 2700 American troops and cost US taxpayers over $300 billion.

The hearing is intended to focus attention on the planning and conduct of the war – an investigation that Republicans have failed to initiate. The officers appearing, who have all served in Iraq, are unsparingly critical about the Pentagon’s role, but also chastise Congress for failing to ask the important questions.

Quotation:

"I believe that Secretary Rumsfeld and others in the administration did not tell the American people the truth for fear of losing support for the war in Iraq," retired Maj. Gen. John R. S. Batiste said in remarks prepared for a hearing by the Senate Democratic Policy Committee.

A second witness, retired Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton, is expected to assess Rumsfeld as "incompetent strategically, operationally and tactically ....". Eaton also commented on post war planning as "amateurish at best, incompetent a better descriptor."

Click here to read the whole article:
click here.

IRAQ: Analysts say violence will continue to increase
Reuters (09/21/06)

Summary:

The Reuters article reports that violence and the use of torture in Iraq has substantially increased since the US-led occupation began in 2003. Local analysts state that the insurgency is a direct response to this occupation. These comments follow a UN report full of concerns about the “alarming” number of daily human rights violations, specifically against the right to life and personal integrity.

The article illustrates the point with comment on the civilian casualties of the conflict, highlighting the number of violent deaths in July and August - the total was over 6000 for these two months. Attention is also drawn to the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq report on honour killings. The UNAMI states that the fight against general insurgency ignores the plight of women in Iraq who are subjected to familial violence.

There is also comment that the human rights situation is in fact worse now than under Saddam Hussein’s regime – directly undermining the purpose of the US-led invasion.

Quotation:

"If we go deep into the cause that prompted such violence we will find in the end that the presence, especially, of US-troops in the country has generated revolt and loss of patience by fighters and only when they [the occupation forces] leave the country can we start to speak about improvement in security issues," Barak Ibrahim, a political analyst and professor at Mustansiryiah University.

"Only when we see the Americans get out of Iraq will we put our weapons in the rubbish heap," said Abu Khalifa, a spokesperson for the militia Muhammad Army.

To read the whole article click here.

9/8/06: Senate Committee to Release Portions of Reposts on Pre-War Intelligence

The Senate Intelligence Committee has finally decided to release a portion of its findings on pre-Iraq war intelligence. However, the approximately 400-page document will cover only 2 of the five points proposed for investigation due to an increase in the intensity of the partisan bickering that surrounds the issue as November elections draw nearer. The omitted sections of the document -referred to by Jonathan Weisman of The Washington Post as “The heart of the report”- pertain to the alleged exaggeration of facts perpetrated by the Bush Administration and compare statements made by White House officials to the actual intelligence reports being reviewed by administration advisors at the time. Despite the missing portions of the report, Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) was quoted as having made the following statement regarding the content of the forthcoming documents.

“After reading the reports, I believe you will find that the Bush administration's case for war was fundamentally misleading… The administration pursued a deceptive strategy of using intelligence reporting that the intelligence community had already warned was uncorroborated, unreliable, and in some critical circumstances, fabricated."
- Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) in The Washington Post Online 9/7/06

Follow this link to the full story:

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9/7/06: GQ Magazine Interviews the Soldier Who Exposed Abu Ghraib Abuse

This month GQ magazine will feature an interview with the soldier who was solely responsible for exposing the abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. In this interview St. Joe Darby, into whose hands the incriminating photos serendipitously fell, candidly discusses life at the prison facility and in Iraq, the difficulty he had in making the decision to come forward, and the less than warm reception that he and his family experienced in his home community up his return to the United States. Most importantly however, St. Darby sheds light on the structural and systematic issues imbedded within the culture of this military facility that allowed such conduct to occur.

"The abuse started earlier than anybody realizes. Nobody has ever said that publicly, but there were things going on before our unit even got there. The day we arrived, back in October of 2003, we were getting a tour of the compound and we saw like fifteen prisoners sitting in their cells in women’s underwear. This was day one; nobody from our unit had ever set foot in the prison. This stuff was going on before we arrived. After we took over, it basically just escalated."
-St. Darby in GQ Magazine, 9/06

To read the whole article click here.

9/7/06: Pentagon Lawyers Challenge Bush Administration’s Attempts to Limit Suspect Access to Evidence

An article in today’s issue of the New York Times describes the way in which “the Pentagon’s top uniformed lawyers” have challenged the Bush Administration’s attempts to deny suspects on trial for acts of terrorism access to evidence crucial to their own prosecution. The military lawyers contend that withholding evidence from defendants in terror trials would constitute a violation of “treaty obligations” and that access to those materials is a “fundamental right in other court systems and [permitting it] would meet requirements under the Geneva Conventions.” Supporters of the proposed access limitations have asserted that sensitive or classified information should not be released to defendants due to the threat that it may pose to national security, but Minority Leader, Harry Ried, countered that, “the military commission system should be properly vetted through the Armed Services Committee.”