Monday, March 20, 2006

Short entry due to computer problems

Mike alread has his entry up for tonight at Mikey Likes It! I'm having to start over because I lost the whole thing while trying to post and "Recover post" does not provide me with anything I had written.



"Anti-War Protests Worldwide as Occupation Enters Fourth Year" (Democracy Now!):
As Iraq entered its fourth year under US occupation Sunday, anti-war protests were held around the world. Tens of thousands of people took the streets in cities across the US, Canada, Asia, Europe and Australia. In Iraq, protesters demonstrated in Basra and Baghdad to protest the ongoing U.S. occupation.


Kat phoned me at work and left a message (I was doing a session and when I tried to call back, she was already out for the day). She said that KPFA's The Morning Show had a good report in the news break at the start of the show about the protests. (Link takes you to the archived broadcast of Monday's show.)

If you took part in some way in marking the third anniversary of the illegal invasion, good for you. If you didn't, please considering making some sort of statement next time. You can't turn back the clocks, but you can help make the topic of Iraq be front and center in your own world.

"US Accused of Killing Iraqi Civilians Near Balad" (Democracy Now!):
Meanwhile, Iraqi police have accused US troops of murdering 11 civilians in a raid just last week. According to an Iraqi police report obtained by the Knight Ridder news agency, the villagers were killed after US troops herded them into one room of a house near the city of Balad. The dead included two young children, a 6-month-old infant and an elderly woman. The report says the troops burned three vehicles, killed the villagers' animals and blew up the house. A local police commander said all the victims were found handcuffed with gunshot wounds to the head.

Here's the article they're talking about.

"Iraqi Police Report Details Civilians' Deaths at Hands of U.S. Troops " (Matthew Schofield, Knight Ridder):
Accusations that U.S. troops have killed civilians are commonplace in Iraq, though most are judged later to be unfounded or exaggerated. Navy investigators announced last week that they were looking into whether Marines intentionally killed 15 Iraqi civilians - four of them women and five of them children - during fighting last November.
But the report of the killings in the Abu Sifa area of Ishaqi, eight miles north of the city of Balad, is unusual because it originated with Iraqi police and because Iraqi police were willing to attach their names to it.
The report, which also contained brief descriptions of other events in the area, was compiled by the Joint Coordination Center in Tikrit, a regional security center set up with United States military assistance. An Iraqi police colonel signed the report, which was based on communications from local police.
Brig. Gen. Issa al-Juboori, who heads the center, said that his office assembled the report on Thursday and that it accurately reflects the direction of the current police investigation into the incident.
He also said he knows the officer heading the investigation. "He's a dedicated policeman, and a good cop," he said when reached by phone in Tikrit from Baghdad. "I trust him."


That's going to be it because my computer is acting very weird and keeps freezing up. I'm worried that if I try to write too much more, I'll lose an entry again.

Be sure to check out Ruth's lates "Ruth's Public Radio Report" and C.I.'s "NYT: Can't own up to mistakes, be it the paper or Michael Gordon."

I'm sorry that this is all I'm really doing tonight. I'll add links to the latest new features at The Third Estate Sunday Review:

"A Note to Our Readers"
"Editorial: 3rd Anniversary and what have you done?"
"TV Review: Don't call her Elaine"
"Why We March"
"Christian Parenti on KPFA's Sunday Salon this am and Air America's RadioNation with Laura" "Flanders this evening"
"One voice applauded, one not heard?"
"The ones who go missing, missing from the coverage"
"Camilo Mejia spoke with Laura Flanders about the 241 mile march"
"Miles Cameron can't figure out what news is"
"It should come in a brown wrapper"
"Who uses free speech?"