Monthly Archives: December 2003

Ashcroft Appoints Special Prosecutor in Plame Identity-Disclosure Scandal Attorney-General John Ashcroft recused himself Wednesday in the investigation of the Valerie Plame case, saying he will appoint a special prosecutor. High Bush administration officials broke US law in July of 2003 … Continue reading →

Basra: Massive Drug, Petroleum smuggling; Christians, Musicians Harassed Because the southern Iraqi city of Basra (1.3 million) is under British military occupation rather than American, it is little covered in the US press (does anybody else think this is odd?) … Continue reading →

More Iranians in Karbala than Iraqis? One finds these little gems in things like theCoalition Provisional Authority Briefing on Dec. 30, already on the Web. (Participating was Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, Deputy Director for Operations and Daniel Senor, Senior Coalition … Continue reading →

Firefight with Ansar al-Islam in Mosul kills 3 US troops in Mosul fought with the Ansar al-Islam terrorist group in Mosul on Sunday, killing 3 and capturing several other members, according to US military spokesmen. Ansar al-Islam had operated in … Continue reading →

Corruption Concerns Delay Pentagon Reconstruction Projects in Iraq The Boston Globe reports that the Pentagon has canceled the process of giving out bids to reconstruct Iraq until February 1, out of concern for pervasive corruption. It is being alleged that … Continue reading →

Barzani: Kurdish Rights must be in Iraq Basic Law; Kubba: Washington rejects Loose Federalism The two most prominent Kurdish leaders are making a full court press for an Iraqi Kurdistan to be enshrined in law before the American civil administration … Continue reading →

al-Rubaie: No Sunni-Shiite Conflict; need for National Reconciliation In Nasiriyah, Interim Governing Council member Muwaffaq al-Rubaie affirmed that there are no disputes between Shiites and Sunnis. He said that these two branches of Islam had suffered intellectual and political persecution … Continue reading →

2 US troops killed, 8 Wounded; Interpreter Killed, 8 Iraqi troops wounded Michelle Faul of AP reports that guerrillas detonated a roadside bomb at the Karada shopping district in Baghdad, killing one US soldier; wounding 5 other US troops; killing … Continue reading →

MI6 Manipulated British Media Former National Security advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski called on Sunday (CNN) for an investigation into how the US was manipulated into the Iraq war. Speaking of the forged Niger documents alleging Iraq uranium purchases, he said that … Continue reading →

(More) Hurdles for Iraqi Democracy The Neocon idea that a post-war, US-dominated Iraq would become a beacon of democracy faces more and more hurdles. The increasingly strident and increasingly controversial Kurdish demand for a consolidated Kurdish super-province with relative autonomy … Continue reading →