Antony Loewenstein

For those that haven’t yet heard the good news?  We’re winning in Iraq!

… we can win in Iraq, we are winning in Iraq, and George Bush’s surge strategy is responsible for it.  Not even the AP can ignore it* anymore:

According to the AP:

The US military has captured the leaders of a car-bombing ring blamed for killing hundreds of Iraqis.

The news came as the departing US ambassador said Americans are in ongoing talks with insurgent representatives to try to persuade them to turn against al-Qaeda.

Jules Crittenden chimes in to remind us that the AP, who secretly wants the terrorists to win, is underplaying the victory:

The AP in this article grudgingly leaves out the kind of helpful interpretative graphs that usually are added to explain how Sunni bombings threaten Shiites, who no longer feel safe because the Mahdi Army bolted, and all of this threatens the fragile surge, blah blah blah.

If you think that means we’re winning, wait until you hear this! We killed Zarqawi! And Uday and Qusay were killed too! And Saddam was captured, tried and executed! And these were all turning points that showed we were winning! Just like capturing those car bombers is a turning point.

As luck would have it, you can always count on Michael Ware to spoil the party.

George Soros may have become an outspoken critic of Israel and its aggressive lobby, but it appears he won’t be funding a counter-lobby to AIPAC:

Billionaire George Soros has no plans to put his money where his mouth is, a spokesman said Tuesday — two days after the philanthropist and political advocate assailed the pro-Israel lobby as a threat to Israeli and U.S. interests.

“On the other hand,” Vachon added, “Who can predict the future?” 

These last comments suggest that perhaps Soros can still be convinced to invest in an organisation that challenges the militant Zionism that runs rampant across the US political spectrum.

Back in Australia, the Jewish community continues to amuse with its parochialism. A Jewish Greens MP won a seat in last week’s NSW election and a Zionist leader responds: “They are committed to allowing more Israelis to die, simply because they’re denying Israel the right of self-defence.” Yes, the Greens love terrorists, didn’t you know? The same Zionist brain also wants to tell the world that Israel is a peace-loving nation (shame about the expanding occupation and killing of Palestinian civilians.)

Perhaps the most pathetic recent missive has been this article by the deputy editor of Sydney’s Sun-Herald newspaper under the headline: “Why I refused to publish Loewenstein’s articles.” The only problem is I do write regularly for his paper. He did censor one article of mine on Israel last year for the most spurious of reasons, but as long as readers of the Jewish press thinks that he is standing up for Israel’s inherent worth.

It’s a shame that his knowledge of the conflict is so poor, therefore, such as this line: “And any positive behaviour from Israel, such as the Gaza withdrawal, is an inconvenient truth.” Imprisoning over one million Palestinians is “positive behaviour” in his Jewish mind.

The Zionist imagination is seriously lacking in understanding. After all, Israel is a poor little nation in the heart of an ugly, Arab Middle East, remember?

War apologists have uniformly condemned and worked overtime to try and debunk the findings of the Lancet Medical Jouranal’s study on both occasions that it published reports on excess deaths resulting from the Iraq war. Experts in statics and gathering such data have however been just as quick to defend the methods and results of that study. Indeed, the critics all but ignored the fact that the survey had been peer-reviewed.

Well, it appears that these included high ranking officials within the British military:

The British government was advised against publicly criticising a report estimating that 655,000 Iraqis had died due to the war, the BBC has learnt.

Iraqi Health Ministry figures put the toll at less than 10% of the total in the survey, published in the Lancet.

But the Ministry of Defence’s chief scientific adviser said the survey’s methods were “close to best practice” and the study design was “robust”.

Another expert agreed the method was “tried and tested”.

It’s easy to understand why the war party has been so determined to discredit the survey. With all the pre and post invasion rationales falling apart like pack of cards, the only altruistic reason for continuing the occupation is to prevent bloodshed, and this survey threatens to ridicule any pretense that the cure has been better than the illness.

As the hapless Bush administration again attempts to broker “peace” in the Middle East – perhaps Condi Rice would like to pressure Israel to stop expanding the occupation, though that’s about as likely as Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert expressing independence from Washington – Gideon Levy reminds the world of a few facts of life:

It is hard to understand how once again Israel manages to coerce the international community to dance to its tune. After it dragged the world into a futile boycott of Yasser Arafat, it now drags them into a boycott of Haniyeh, and thus only serves the desired aim of the government, which holds the key to ending the conflict: to reject any negotiations.

Europe and the United States must understand that the Palestinian unity government has created a partner. They must also understand that it is impossible to make peace with half the leadership and that it is precisely the presence of Hamas in the government that will ensure that every solution reached can be implemented.

Boycotting the elected prime minister only because this is what the rejectionist front in Israel and Washington want is an act of folly. A visit to the Palestinian Authority while boycotting the prime minister is pointless.

Democracy is an exalted value for the United States. Yet, when the PA became the only place in the Arab world in which free elections were held, the rest of the world turned its back on it. What does the world wish to signal to the Palestinians? That elections are a just mechanism, but only if the results are predetermined? This is a blatantly anti-democratic message for the budding Palestinian democracy. It is also a negative message with respect to nonviolence: Hamas, which adopted a cease-fire, is not receiving any political return.

Of course, if you’re a tired old Zionist who longs for the days of unreported Israeli brutality against the Palestinians, you’ll keep telling yourself that “alternative” Jewish voices – such as Independent Australian Jewish Voices – are threatening the Jewish state. It’s our dear friend, Isi Leibler:

Throughout the Diaspora there are alienated Jews on the fringe whose primary involvement in Jewish life is centered on undermining the Jewish state.

Now they are seeking to establish themselves as a respectable alternative Jewish voice. This is the price we are paying for having long buried our heads in the sand, failing to isolate from the mainstream Jews who dedicate themselves to delegitimizing and demonizing Israel.

The potential damage they are capable of inflicting upon us cannot be underestimated. Jews defaming their own people is hardly a new phenomenon. Their presence is evident throughout history from the age of antiquity on. In the Middle Ages, the most virulent promoters of anti-Semitism were Jewish converts. During the Emancipation period, Jews committed to universalism, socialism and other “isms” were inciting hatred against their kinsmen, as exemplified in the anti-Semitic outbursts of Karl Marx and the late 19th-century Russian Jewish social revolutionaries, who justified pogroms as a necessary lubricant to create a revolutionary climate.

Jewish self-haters were silent during the Holocaust era because the Nazis targeted all Jews. After the war, Jewish communists and their “progressive” fellow travelers reemerged as the most fervent apologists of Stalinist crimes. During the campaign to liberate Soviet Jewry, they denied Soviet anti-Semitism and defended – even applauded – state-sponsored anti-Semitic show-trials and executions of their kinsmen.

Like their contemporary successors, their effectiveness as spokesmen for our enemies was linked to the fact that they paraded their Jewish origins. However in contrast to today’s Jews who demonize Zion, they were considered pariahs by mainstream Jews and clearly perceived by non-Jews as outcasts from their own people.

Today those delegitimizing the Jewish state are frequently indulged in respectable Jewish circles. Some Jewish leaders have even suggested that a “pluralistic” community should not discriminate against anti-Israel “dissidents.”

Always remember, dear reader: no matter what Israel does to the Palestinians, no matter how much the settlements are expanding, and no matter how many Lebanese civilians were killed in last year’s war, “dissident” Jews are the real problem for Israeli PR. After all, playing the victim is so effective, isn’t it?

Over the weekend, The U.N. Security Council voted to impose new sanctions against Iran for its refusal to stop enriching uranium.

The U.N. Security Council unanimously voted Saturday to impose new sanctions against Iran for its refusal to stop enriching uranium — a move intended to show Tehran that defiance will leave it increasingly isolated.

While the UNSC resolution called for sanctions, the US ambassador to the UN made a very disturbing statement that Tehran had 60 days to comply or Washington would unilaterally impose further measures.

So in spite of the fact that the UN Security council has agreed to Washington’s wishes, the Bush Administration has decided to go it alone anyway.

Beyond the inevitable consequences of what these further measures might be, what this decision has also done is effectively trash the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Iran has followed the conditions of the NPT to the letter, and agreed to additional measures since 2003, yet the US has demonstrated that being a signatory to the NPT is futile unless you are in Washington’s good books.

Under the terms of the treaty, signatories are legally entitled to develop nuclear power plants and to produce the fuel to operate these reactors. Iran signed that treaty. So did the United States, but one of the benefits of being a superpower is being able to change the rules.

Compare this to the incredible hypocrisy John Bolton displayed when the issue of India’s nuclear power and weapons program was raised last year at the UN. Bolton defended India’s program, stating that it was legal because India were not signatories to the NPT at the time.

The Bush Administration’s short sightedness is truly astounding.

George W. Bush is so concerned that weapons of mass destruction will fall into the wrong hands that he’s going to roll back the entire global nonproliferation regime — 50 years in the making — so we can sleep safe at night.

Does the word Orwellian come to mind?

Scientists have created the world’s first human-sheep chimera – which has the body of a sheep and half-human organs.

The sheep have 15 per cent human cells and 85 per cent animal cells – and their evolution brings the prospect of animal organs being transplanted into humans one step closer.

Now if only they can pump out ten million of these.

The eloquence of actor Sean Penn at a recent anti-war rally in the US:

But now, we are encouraged to self-censor any words that might be perceived as inflammatory – if our belief is that this war should stop today. We cower as you point fingers telling us to “support our troops.” Well, you and the smarmy pundits in your pocket, those who bathe in the moisture of your soiled and bloodstained underwear, can take that noise and shove it. We will be snowed no more. Let’s make this crystal clear. We do support our troops in our stand, while you exploit them and their families. The verdict is in. You lied, connived, and exploited your own countrymen and most of all, our troops.

You want to rattle sabers toward Iran now? Let me tell you something about Iran, because I’ve been there and you haven’t. Iran is a great country. A great country. Does it have its haters? You bet. Just like the United States has its haters. Does it have a corrupt regime? You bet. Just like the United States has a corrupt regime. Does it want a nuclear weapon? Maybe. Do we have one? You bet. But the people of Iran are great people. And if we give that corrupt leadership, (by attacking Iran militarily) the opportunity to unify that great country in hatred against us, we’ll have been giving up one of our most promising future allies in decades. If you really know anything about Iran, you know exactly what I’m referring to. Of course your administration belittles diplomatic potential there, as those options rely on a credibility and geopolitical influence that you have aggressively squandered worldwide. 

The US presence in Iraq is unique for a number of reasons, one of them being the number of female troops serving there.

This has resulted in the proportional escalation in sexual harassment that has taken place.  Last year, Col. Janis Karpinski testified to the horrific conditions female recruits are subjected to.  Female soldiers are instructed to be accompanied by someone when they visit latrines.  Naturally this is extremely inconvenient when nature calls in the middle of the night. 

Last week, Col. Janis Karpinski told a panel of judges at the Commission of Inquiry for Crimes against Humanity Committed by the Bush Administration in New York that several women had died of dehydration because they refused to drink liquids late in the day. They were afraid of being assaulted or even raped by male soldiers if they had to use the women’s latrine after dark.

“Because the women were in fear of getting up in the darkness [to go to the latrine], they were not drinking liquids after 3 or 4 in the afternoon,” Karpinski testified, according to a report on Truthout.org. “In the 100 degree heat, they were dying of dehydration in their sleep.”

One of the most infamous stories is that of Suzanne Swift, a women who enlisted in the military.  Having been sexually harassed and abused, she chose not to report for duty after leave, having had her complaints ignored by the authorities.

She was arrested and confined to base for going AWOL in 2006, after charges of sexual harassment and assault went unaddressed by the military. She says she was sexually harassed and abused by her commanders in Iraq and in the US. 

Clearly, the treatment of women in the US military demands to be addressed.  Most disturbing of all is that, if this is the way the military treat their own, it boggles the mind as to how they can possibly hope to win the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people.

Truth vs Fox News.

Slavoj Zizek, New York Times, March 24:

Since the release of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed’s dramatic confessions, moral outrage at the extent of his crimes has been mixed with doubts. Can his claims be trusted? What if he confessed to more than he really did, either because of a vain desire to be remembered as the big terrorist mastermind, or because he was ready to confess anything in order to stop the water boarding and other “enhanced interrogation techniques”?

While the scope of Mr. Mohammed’s crimes is clear and horrifying, it is worth noting that the United States seems incapable of treating him even as it would the hardest criminal — in the civilized Western world, even the most depraved child murderer gets judged and punished. But any legal trial and punishment of Mr. Mohammed is now impossible — no court that operates within the frames of Western legal systems can deal with illegal detentions, confessions obtained by torture and the like. (And this conforms, perversely, to Mr. Mohammed’s desire to be treated as an enemy rather than a criminal.) 

An excellent post by the Lenin’s Tomb Blog.

Of course, it goes without saying that our brave boys aren’t provocateurs. We don’t do that sort of thing. Iran does that sort of thing, but not us. On the other hand, our American overlords are busy with their Office of Iranian Affairs, and the Iran-Syria Operations Group. These groups, understand, are merely democracy-promotion cells, populated by a Capraesque array of madcap sweethearts.

Aside from being wary of these eminently useful Mad March Surprises, we ought to be aware of exactly how much effort is being put into propaganda for an attack on Iran. The editors of the MediaLens have an excellent and useful interview with UK Watch talking about precisely this topic. As they rightly note, the baseless claims being made about Iran are if anything far more extreme than most of what was said about Saddam Hussein. Not only that they have a nuclear weapons programme, but that they are a natural enemy, would risk substantial destruction to themselves for the chance to wipe out Israel, are actively participating in the Iraqi insurgency (on wafer-thin evidence), and so on. It’s a ferocious, ceaseless, concerted effort, and it suggests that preparations for a military attack quite soon are underway. It was suggested in the newspapers not long ago that the US could attack by Spring if it wanted to. This is Spring, and they want to.

More than four years since the US invasion of Iraq, local bloggers there have been writing about the experience. After five months of self-imposed exile in her home, Baghdad’s Chikitita re-connects with her city:

I am not an organized kind of person, but since I have not been out in the street in over five months I thought that I’d better make some inquiries to see how life has changed outside the house walls. To my surprise, it turned out that buses no longer pass by my once safe neighbourhood. It has even earned “The Frontline” label based on the fact that it has been teeming with cannibals lately who seemed to have been craving for bus drivers and commuters.

I could have taken a cab, but I just missed buses, commuters, smelly fags, the congestion, everything. I was so looking forward to this long-awaited reunion. It was as emotional as I expected, they have changed 180 degrees sadly to the worse. The atmosphere inside was so eerie; passengers are no longer exchanging chitchats as they used to do, not even smiles – except for the woman who passed my fare to the driver. People are no longer discussing politics, particularly the elderly men, whose views and suggestions have always amazed me; I could sense the apprehension and mutual mistrust, no one wants to venture be outspoken about anything or anyone that bugs them. I thought national mourning has been declared; none of the half a dozen vehicles I rode had a radio playing.

Another Iraqi blogger simply doesn’t believe the American people want the war to end.