Gary Secondino: War

Baghdad falls to US forces

Wed, 09 Apr 2003 16:20:24 GMT

The government of Saddam Hussein has lost control over Baghdad, with the advance of US forces into the centre of the capital. US tanks drove unhindered into public squares on the eastern bank of the Tigris for the first time, including the area surrounding the Palestine hotel, where the international media are based.

Old-Style Battles Are Giving Way to 'Checkpoint War' in Iraq

Sun, 06 Apr 2003 14:04:39 GMT

Washington Post - The new ability of U.S. military forces to move at will in Baghdad -- demonstrated especially by yesterday's startling "thunder run" of 70-ton Army tanks through the heart of the ...
US armor units tighten vise on Baghdad Boston Globe

What Will Be the Model for Peace in Postwar Iraq?

Thu, 03 Apr 2003 11:36:58 GMT

Will the consequences of the war in Iraq resemble the tragedy of Germany after World War I or the success of Germany after World War II? By Alan B. Krueger. [New York Times: Business]

UN top inspector: We never asserted Iraq had any remaining weapons of mass destruction

Wed, 19 Mar 2003 16:37:04 GMT

Speaking on the day the last United Nations weapons monitors were withdrawn from Iraq, the top inspector, Hans Blix, yesterday said he feels the inspections should not have been stopped at this stage.
Blix to brief UN as war looms BBC
UN Still Discussing Disarmament CBS News

Neither leader speaks the truth and both are manipulators. We had better see clear and incontrovertable evidence of WMD in Iraq or Dubya will lose all respect and cred. because now it's our children he's put in harms way.

Navy Abandons Turkey Option, Moves Ships to Red Sea

Tue, 18 Mar 2003 22:13:04 GMT

Signaling impatience with the Turkish government, the Pentagon is moving about 10 Navy ships out of the Mediterranean to the Red Sea, where they could launch missiles on a path to Iraq that would not go over Turkey, officials said.
US destroyers, submarines head for Gulf News24
US beefs up firepower BBC

Saddam ' calm ' awaiting the storm

Tue, 18 Mar 2003 22:11:05 GMT

Saddam Hussein appears calm and determined as he awaits the military firestorm set to rain down on his regime, according to officials and journalists who have spoken to him.
In Baghdad, fears of factional strife Boston Globe
A Tyrant 40 Years in the Making New York Times

Turkey Bans One Kurdish Party and Moves on Second

Tue, 18 Mar 2003 22:04:44 GMT

Turkey's senior prosecutor filed a petition with the Constitutional Court today to close the country's leading pro-Kurdish political party, the latest example of the government's tense relationship with the Kurdish ...
Turkish court bans Kurd's party Boston Globe

Howard would defy polls to join Iraq war

Tue, 18 Mar 2003 22:02:29 GMT

ABC Online - The Prime Minister says Australia would go to war against Iraq even if military conflict did not have broad community support.
Australia on the verge of war decision The Age

Arab League puts off Iraq visit

Fri, 14 Mar 2003 06:59:30 GMT

Gulf News - The fate of an Arab ministerial committee came under strong doubts yesterday as Bahrain's foreign minister announced its crucial visit to Baghdad was put off, saying the Iraqi authorities asked it to 'delay' the visit.
Hussein Controls Prime Time With Cool, Confidence Washington Post
Arab push to get Saddam to disarm fails in disarray International Herald Tribune

US may drop Iraq resolution

Fri, 14 Mar 2003 06:31:46 GMT

The US secretary of state suggests American attempts to force a vote on a new UN resolution backing military action could be shelved. [BBC News]

Pressure mounts on Iraq

Fri, 07 Mar 2003 21:01:51 GMT

UN arms inspectors report on progress in disarming Iraq, as moves to give Baghdad a 10-day ultimatum gather pace. [BBC News]

US boosts forces near N Korea

Wed, 05 Mar 2003 03:31:50 GMT

The US steps up its military presence in the west Pacific after North Korean jets intercepted a US spy plane. [BBC News]

U.S. Forced to Rethink Iraq War Strategy

Mon, 03 Mar 2003 14:17:52 GMT

Turkey's surprise rejection of a U.S. troop deployment is forcing American planners to rethink a strategy that called for attacks from two fronts.

Turkey's parliament rejected the U.S. request on Saturday, leaving the U.S. plan to base 62,000 U.S. soldiers on Iraq's northern border in disarray.

Basing troops in Turkey, on Iraq's northern border, is so crucial to U.S. war plans that American negotiators offered some $15 billion in aid to try to win over Turkish approval.

Iraq digs up toxic agents

Mon, 03 Mar 2003 14:01:24 GMT

Top Iraqi weapons adviser, General Amer al-Saadi, told a press conference, "My task, my only task (is) to remove all excuses for waging war."

Saadi said a first round of concrete technical talks to quantify destroyed germ weapons started at UN headquarters in Baghdad, as UN experts supervised the bulldozing of prohibited missile systems in two sites.

He said excavations had turned up significant traces of anthrax and VX nerve agent, whose destruction UN inspectors have been seeking to certify for years.

September 11 al-Qaida 'mastermind' handed over to America

Sun, 02 Mar 2003 08:18:26 GMT

Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the suspected mastermind of the September 11 attacks and a senior operative in Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network, has been handed over to US authorities.
Profile: Khalid Shaikh Mohammed FOX News

Turks Try Anal Probe On Bush

Wed, 19 Feb 2003 20:25:59 GMT

Turkey Demands $32 Billion U.S. Aid Package if It Is to Take Part in a War on Iraq. Turkish officials demand an economic aid package worth as much as $32 billion to ensure their participation in a war with Iraq. By Dexter Filkins with Eric Schmitt. [New York Times: Business]

Who Needs TIA? Big Brother is Already Watching Us

Mon, 17 Feb 2003 19:34:13 GMT

A former Santa Fe public defender who said he was handcuffed Thursday at the St. John's College library and interrogated by Secret Service agents for several hours said Saturday that he plans to sue the government for violating his rights. He said a lawsuit is the best way to make the point that he was mistreated. "I'm going to sue the Secret Service, Santa Fe Police, St. John's and everybody involved in this whole thing," he said. "The way our country is now, the only way people apologize anymore is with money. So I'm going to sue."

It's Not About Oil. Righhht

Wed, 12 Feb 2003 18:35:00 GMT

by Jacob Levich Here's the prewar zeitgeist in a nutshell: In a widely reported January 16 speech, Tony Blair proclaimed that the impending invasion of Iraq "has nothing to do with oil, or any of the other conspiracy theories put forward." One week later, Sen. Richard Lugar, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, quietly passed word to Russia and France that their countries will be frozen out of staggeringly lucrative postwar oil contracts unless they roll over and endorse the US attack. Behind the Invasion of Iraq, the startling new book-length report authored by the Research Unit for Political Economy (RUPE), synthesizes the seemingly disparate threads of the US war drive in what amounts to a blistering indictment of American foreign policy. The report (available on the Web at www.rupe-india.org) is lavishly documented and jargon-free; the effect, especially for readers with limited understanding of global commerce and finance, is of puzzle pieces clicking decisively into place. The RUPE report wholly confirms the widely-held view of the coming war as a massive oil grab, "on a scale not witnessed since the days of colonialism." Further, the current debate about arms inspections and alleged links to al-Qaeda is revealed as pure political theater, since the decision to invade Iraq was made months ago. Links to the report

Why this Special Issue: India as a Pillar of US Hegemony

Behind the Invasion of Iraq (a summary)

Western Imperialism and Iraq:
From Colony to Semi-Colony
Towards Nationalisation
The Iran-Iraq War: Serving American Interests
The Torment of Iraq
Return of Imperialist Occupation

The Real Reasons for the Invasion of Iraq—and Beyond: The Current Strategic Agenda of the United States
Home Front in Shambles
Military Solution to an Economic Crisis
Rehabilitating Colonialism

Appendices:
US Declares India a Strategic Pillar
The Pages Ripped out by the US from the Weapons Report

Court Bans Peace March in Manhattan

Tue, 11 Feb 2003 12:18:13 GMT

New York Times - Antiwar demonstrators may not march past the United Nations complex on Saturday, or anywhere else in Manhattan, a federal judge ruled yesterday. Agreeing with the city that a large, moving rally of 100,000 people or more raised serious ...
Anti-War Protesters File Appeal as Judge Backs Citys Ban on March The New York Sun
Judge Blocks Anti-War March Near UN Newsday

3 NATO Members and Russia Resist U.S. on Iraq Plans.

Tue, 11 Feb 2003 12:04:14 GMT

New York Times - PARIS, Feb. 10 France and Germany closed ranks against the United States today, blocking attempts by NATO to begin military planning for a conflict with Iraq and issuing a joint declaration with Russia calling for intensified weapons ...
Berlin faces criticism at home over Turkey blockage Deutsche Welle
Foreign Minister Petersen critical of NATO split over Iraq and Turkey

U.S. Issues an Alert to 27,000 Guard and Reserve Troops

Sat, 14 Dec 2002 21:50:17 GMT

New York Times - WASHINGTON, Dec. 13 In another sign of preparations for a possible war against Iraq, the Defense Department today ordered the Army and Navy to alert 27,000 National Guard and Reserve troops to prepare for duty, probably in the Persian ...
Uncle Sam calls on eastern Connecticut Norwich Bulletin
War may leave prisons short-handed Houston Chronicle
Newark Star Ledger - Miami Herald - and 25 related »
Google US News

Carter Accepts Nobel and Gives Message on Iraq

Wed, 11 Dec 2002 11:19:00 GMT

New York Times - OSLO, Dec. 10 [~] With an ear-to-ear smile and an air of sublime satisfaction, former President Jimmy Carter accepted the Nobel Peace Prize today, then used the vaunted platform to try to steer events away from an armed conflict in Iraq. Mr.
Peace Prize winner Carter honoured by Oslo torchlight parade Norway Post
Carter accepts Nobel prize Boston Globe
Guardian - Washington Post - Newsday - Detroit Free Press - and 504 related »
Google World News

N.Korean Ship with Scuds Stopped in Arabian Sea

Wed, 11 Dec 2002 11:10:20 GMT

Reuters - Spanish warships have intercepted a North Korean ship carrying hidden Scud missiles, but the United States said on Wednesday that the discovery was unlikely to affect its policy on the reclusive communist state.
N. Korean scud discovery rocks Tokyo Mainichi Shimbun
North Korean Scud shipment seized in Arabian Sea Middle East Online
The Globe and Mail - Chicago Sun Times - Aftenposten - CNN Asia - and 367 related »
Google World News

US warns Iraq against using mass destruction weapons

Wed, 11 Dec 2002 11:07:35 GMT

Times of India - WASHINGTON: The United States warned Iraq and other potential foes Tuesday not to use any weapons of mass destruction (WMD) against US troops in the event of war, vowing to retaliate with ...
US Warns It Would Use N-Arms Salt Lake Tribune
US will use Nuclear Weapons in response to attack from WMD Hindustan Times
The Tallahassee Democrat - News Journal - Tyler Morning Telegraph - CNN - and 36 related »
Google World News

Bush slashes civilian comp plan; making Federal workforce less competitive..

Wed, 04 Dec 2002 20:44:22 GMT

Bush transfers regional cost-of-living pay differentials to defense budget. So the FBI agent forking over $3000 a month for a Manhattan studio will get paid the same as her counterpart paying $500/month for a two bedroom in Iowa. Accomodate regional differences if you want a flexible work force. Mr. Bush, know that the federal workforce is telling the millions of people they serve that you just put your political expediency (tax cuts for the richest Americans and companies) ahead of your workforce's bread and butter needs. Just more shrubbery.