Consequences of Iraq invasion.

[Ocean Breeze]

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9558.htm

one consequence that is evolving is world wide insurgency. ( aka terrorism)

terrorism is on the rise. A new generation of terrorists has evolved. More tech oriented, more savvy, and not limited to the losers of any society.

Reflecting on the past two years.......it seems that "we" have seen horror after horror, from beheadings, increased "insurgencies, increased death and destruction, to torture in US prisons . We have seen Laws ignored /broken and bent to suit a US political agenda.

We have seen a physicist "commit suicide" ........if one is to go with that premise. (England).......and people lose their jobs , due to saying something that did not fit the political agenda.

We have watched an area in the ME destroyed , along with the culture and artifacts of a rich history.

Most of all, we have watched a decision based on LIES to invade a nation that posed no threat , spark even more terrorism , and therefore unsettling the world at large.

The chain of events unleashed are appalling......

and the list goes on.


Now, if only bush had stopped his military grandiose ideation after Afganistan......and kept his eye on the terrorist issue for what it really is, instead of inflaming it futher, the world might not be in the mess it is today.

It is also the many fine USers that will be faced with more anger, resentment (veiled and overt) and even prejudice now ........

just as a lethal malignancy .......terrorism is spreading now. war was never the counter act to terrorism.........but the elective war in Iraq has been the icing on the cake to foster , what the US and now the world has to deal with.

simple minded trigger happy cowboys belong on a ranch.......not in the Oval office as they do not have the finesse, intelligence or capability to deal with the complexities of current world situations. Abuse of power has become the USG trademark.

very sad times now......and ahead.

 

[Jo Canadian]

 

[Just the Facts]

“The Government is too scared of Muslim voters to intervene. In many areas Muslims are tolerant, but in other areas where there are fundamentalists there is discrimination. Fundamentalists are growing in influence in our country.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-1707254,00.html

I'm sure this must have something to do with U.S. foreign policy and the war in Iraq and Afghanistan.



About 10,000 Christians were killed in Indonesia between 1998 and 2003 and about 1,000 churches were burnt down by Muslim mobs, according to campaigners. Although religious conflict has eased in recent years campaigners say that about 100 churches have been closed down in the past five years in West Java.


Radical groups such as Laskar Jihad and Jemaah Islamiyah want a separate Islamic state in the region, and have attacked Christian churches and villages

Such clashes killed more than 5,000 in the eastern Maluku islands (1999-2002) and over 3,000 in Central Sulawesi province since 2000

Christians helping in Aceh after the Boxing Day tsunami were asked to leave for “making Muslims uncomfortable”

 

[Just the Facts]

Mom is just our resident cowboy, he shoots from the hip, its just his way.

simple minded trigger happy cowboys belong on a ranch

Hear that Mr.Mom?

 

[mrmom2]

Oh I hear it JTF This mean your talking to the redneck again

 

[Ocean Breeze]

By JOHN J. LUMPKIN, Associated Press Writer
2 hours, 13 minutes ago



WASHINGTON - A survey of troops returning from the Iraq war found 30 percent had developed mental health problems three to four months after coming home, the Army's surgeon general said Thursday.

ADVERTISEMENT

The problems include anxiety, depression, nightmares, anger and an inability to concentrate, according to Lt. Gen. Kevin Kiley and other military medical officials. A smaller group, usually with more severe cases of these symptoms, is diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.

The 30 percent figure is in contrast to the 3 percent to 5 percent diagnosed with a significant mental health issue immediately after they leave the theater, according to Col. Elspeth Ritchie, a military psychiatrist on Kiley's staff. A study of troops who were still in the combat zone in 2004 found 13 percent experienced significant mental health problems.

Soldiers departing a war zone are typically given a health evaluation as they leave combat, but the Army is only now instituting a program for follow-up screenings three to six months later, said Kiley, speaking to reporters.

A pilot program for the follow-up screenings, conducted on 1,000 U.S. soldiers returning from Iraq to Italy last year, found a much greater incidence of mental health problems than expected, a fact Kiley attributed to post-combat stress problems taking time to develop once the danger has passed.

Only about 4 percent or 5 percent of troops coming home from combat actually have PTSD, but many others face problems adjusting, Kiley said.

The stress of combat, seeing dead and mutilated bodies, and feeling helpless to stop a violent situation are common triggers. In Iraq, truck drivers and convoy guards are developing mental health problems in greater numbers than other troops, Ritchie said, suggesting the long hours on the road, constantly under threat of attack, are taking their toll.

In Iraq, the military has about 200 mental health experts, grouped in what the Army calls "combat stress control teams." These teams are at many posts around the country and talk with troops after battles, try to prevent suicides and diagnose troops who should be evacuated from of the country because of mental health problems.

"They are worth their weight in gold," Kiley said of the teams.

( ps. Sorry mr.mom. about the cowboy comment. It was obviously taken out of context. NO OFFENSE......HONEST.

 

[Ocean Breeze]

Today's Wall Street Journal has a story about Stuart Bowen who was appointed special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction. He initially was considered a political appointee but he's apparently he's been doing a pretty good job identifying corruption. I can't link to the article but heres an excerpt:

Close Inspection

Some findings of Stuart Bowen, the special inspector general for Iraq
reconstruction:

-- A third of the $10 billion in contracts signed in fiscal 2003 were
awarded without competition.

-- A contractor charged the U.S. $3.3 million for phantom employees
assigned to an oil-pipeline repair contract.

-- Iraqi construction firms allegedly paid U.S. soldiers to help steal
construction equipment from the interim government.

-- At least a third of the government-owned vehicles and equipment that
Halliburton was paid to manage were believed lost.

-- The U.S. failed to keep track of nearly $9 billion it transferred to
the new Iraqi government, much of which appears to have been embezzled.

hmm. the "evil empire" seems to have earned it's reputation. There is no limit as to how low they (USG and its followers) will go.

 

[annabattler]

RE: Consequences of Iraq

I wonder if there's an honourable way for the United States to eventually pull out of Iraq.
While many of us are in agreement with the illegality of the pre-emptive Iraq attack,the fact is...it happened...and now we're left with...what next?
The infrastructure of the country has not been repaired,institutional structures have not been replaced. Surely an all out push to at least return the country to its' previous state should be considered. I'm not sure how much of the Canadian aid that was promised(in terms of dollars)has found its way there yet.
The Iraqi people have endured many things,many deaths...their society has been turned upside down.
The children raised during the constant British and American bombings,and later the "invasion"are going to suffer the psychological effects for many years to come.
What a sorry mess !!

 

[Ocean Breeze]

Re: RE: Consequences of Iraq

I wonder if there's an honourable way for the United States to eventually pull out of Iraq.
While many of us are in agreement with the illegality of the pre-emptive Iraq attack,the fact is...it happened...and now we're left with...what next?
The infrastructure of the country has not been repaired,institutional structures have not been replaced. Surely an all out push to at least return the country to its' previous state should be considered. I'm not sure how much of the Canadian aid that was promised(in terms of dollars)has found its way there yet.
The Iraqi people have endured many things,many deaths...their society has been turned upside down.
The children raised during the constant British and American bombings,and later the "invasion"are going to suffer the psychological effects for many years to come.
What a sorry mess !!

Don't think "returning Iraq to it's previous state" is even a remote /reasonable possibility.......let alone option. far too much has been destroyed by the bombs. and US military .....as well as the "insurgents" or Anti American-invasion "forces" there. How does one undo the destruction/damage and death without a time-backwards machine?? How does one resurrect the dead??

Unfortunately the militant/stubborn , unyielding USG is determined to "go it alone" as much as possible. Requesting assistance for the betterment of the Iraqi people might mean compromizing what they aimed for and they are unlikely to do that. There is no evidence that the USG is going to let go of their powerhold in Iraq ........no matter how many more die , and no matter how many more terrorist attacks there are world wide in angry opposition to the US meddlings.--and lust for power, and resources. (theft) Seems the US invasion (elective , by choice and based on LIES, ) of Iraq is a bit of a turning point in history. It has fostered radical extremists of several flavors . and new networks of terrorists are evolving as we speak. Not a happy thought. But then with all the rhetoric (aka BS) coming out of Washington these days.......not sure they really give a damn. (no matter the insincere platitudes they offer They have been blinded by their greed for more power and wealth and control. in a way Washington has issued its own "statement" with this insanity. "Do what we tell you , or face the conseqences".(military) of their wrath. (IMHO)

Don't think there is any "honorable " way the US can come out of this. But one can bet their last buck.......they will paint/spin it so it "looks" that way. Smoke and mirrors.

 

[Ocean Breeze]

http://www.topplebush.com/oped2071.shtml


America's "strength" has morphed into it's weakness.....and by America's own doing.

The war in Iraq is now joining the Boer War in 1899 and the Suez crisis in 1956 as ill-considered ventures that have done Britain more harm than good. It has demonstrably strengthened al-Qa'ida by providing it with a large pool of activists and sympathisers across the Muslim world it did not possess before the invasion of 2003. The war, which started out as a demonstration of US strength as the world's only superpower, has turned into a demonstration of weakness. Its 135,000-strong army does not control much of Iraq.

The suicide bombing campaign in Iraq is unique. Never before have so many fanatical young Muslims been willing to kill themselves, trying to destroy those whom they see as their enemies. On a single day in Baghdad this month 12 bombers blew themselves up. There have been more than 500 suicide attacks in Iraq over the last year.

It is this campaign which has now spread to Britain and Egypt. The Iraq war has radicalised a significant part of the Muslim world. Most of the bombers in Iraq are non-Iraqi, but the network of sympathisers and supporters who provide safe houses, money, explosives, detonators, vehicles and intelligence is home-grown.

The shrill denials by Tony Blair and Jack Straw that hostility to the invasion of Iraq motivated the bombers are demonstrably untrue. The findings of an investigation, to be published soon, into 300 young Saudis, caught and interrogated by Saudi intelligence on their way to Iraq to fight or blow themselves up, shows that very few had any previous contact with al-Qa'ida or any other terrorist organisation previous to 2003. It was the invasion of Iraq which prompted their decision to die.

Some 36 Saudis who did blow themselves up in Iraq did so for similar reasons, according to the same study, commissioned by the Saudi government and carried out by a US-trained Saudi researcher, Nawaf Obaid, who was given permission to speak to Saudi intelligence officers. A separate Israeli study of 154 foreign fighters in Iraq, carried out by the Global Research in International Affairs Centre in Israel, also concluded that almost all had been radicalised by Iraq alone.

Before Iraq, those who undertook suicide bombings were a small, hunted group; since the invasion they have become a potent force, their ideology and tactics adopted by militant Islamic groups around the world. Their numbers may still not be very large but they are numerous enough to create mayhem in Iraq and anywhere else they strike, be it in London or Sharm el Sheikh.

The bombers have paralysed Baghdad. I have spent half my time living in Iraq since the invasion. The country has never been so dangerous as today. Some targets have been hit again and again. The army recruiting centre at al-Muthana old municipal airport in the middle of Baghdad has been attacked no fewer than eight times, the last occasion on Wednesday when eight people were killed.

excerpt from article.

bush's lack of comprehension /denial of what he has done is another hallmark of his lack of intelligence. (money might buy power in the US, but it sure can't buy intelligence and competance.

 

[Ocean Breeze]

Bush was unprepared for post-war chaos

Barry Schweid | Washington, United States



27 July 2005 08:07

An independent panel headed by two former United States national security advisers on Wednesday said chaos in postwar Iraq was due in part to inadequate postwar planning.

Planning for reconstruction should match the serious planning that goes into making war, said the panel headed by Samuel Berger and Brent Scowcroft, national security advisers to former presidents Bill Clinton and George HW Bush, respectively.

"A dramatic military victory has been overshadowed by chaos and bloodshed in the streets of Baghdad, difficulty in establishing security or providing essential services, and a deadly insurgency," said the private report sponsored by the Council on Foreign Relations.

"The costs, human, military and economic, are high and continue to mount," the report said.

Two years after after a stunning three-week march on Baghdad, US and Iraqi military forces have been unable to secure and rebuild the country, and reconstruction has fallen victim to a lack of security, the report said.

The critical miscalculation of Iraq war-planning was the conclusion that reconstruction would not require more troops than the invasion itself, the report said.

Not only are more troops needed but they also should be trained for post-war duty, the task force said.

Inevitably, the panel said, the United States will be drawn into complex situations abroad that affect US security. It recommended that President George Bush make reconstruction a top priority.

This includes preparing the US military to take on post-war missions, giving the National Security Council the lead in planning and putting the State Department in the lead on the civilian side of nation-building.

Failure to take reconstruction planning as seriously into account as planning for the war itself "has had serious consequences for the United States" and not just in Iraq, the report said.

In Iraq, the task force said, postwar requirements did not get enough attention, and there were misjudgements, as well. This, the report said, "left the United States ill-equipped to address public security, governance and economic demands" after the war.

And this, in turn, the task force said, undermined US foreign policy and gave an early push to the insurgency in Iraq.

In Afghanistan, as well as Iraq, the report said, the post-war period has been marked by inefficient operations and billions of dollars of wasted resources. "The United States can no longer afford not to learn from it's experience," the report said.

Among the recommendations is setting up a $1-billion reconstruction trust fund within the G8 grouping of the world's leading industrialised democracies and managed by G8 countries, the World Bank and the United Nations. - Sapa

 

[gopher]

about 1,000 churches were burnt down by Muslim mobs, according to campaigners.



Are there even that many Christian churches in that country??? Sounds like a bogus figure to me. Had there been a shred of truth to that claim the reich wing Television Talebangelists in the USA would have made a meal out of it.

 

[Jo Canadian]

 

[Ocean Breeze]

http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/44052.html


suspect motivated by Iraq "war".....

 

[Ocean Breeze]

http://www.topplebush.com/oped2078_tb.shtml

article seems to sum it up quite astutely. ( for those that have been paying attention.). For those still in denial, and prefer to "justify" /rationalize this insanity.......would like to see some SOLID counter points to the items listed ( not the usual neo con spin/rhetoric that is parroted by some )

( important to keep in mind the serious lack of credibility the' "neo con warmongering war lovers have........as they lie and anything that opposes their lies is deflected or dismissed. (or compounded with more lies)

seems one of the most significant fallouts of this insanity has been the loss of any credibility the US(G) might have had. Who can believe anything they say now?? When they LIE to invade and kill, other lies are simply part of the whole scenario. and simpler to tell.

 

[Ocean Breeze]

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9681.htm

bush's dirty war. :twisted:

 

[Ocean Breeze]

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0805-05.htm

renewed armed "race"....