US builds Baghdad wall to keep Sunnis and Shias apart !!

When you put military in control, they tend to use the military solutions, isn't that obvious?. For a soldier, digging a hole or building a wall, will protect you from the enemy, that's what they are taught. What a shame!!!



US soldiers are building a three-mile wall to separate one of Baghdad's Sunni enclaves from surrounding Shia neighbourhoods, it emerged today.
The move is part of a contentious security plan that has fuelled fears of the Iraqi capital's Balkanisation.

When the barrier is finished, the minority Sunni community of Adamiya, on the eastern side of the River Tigris, will be completely gated. Traffic control points manned by Iraqi soldiers will provide the only access, the US military said.

"Shias are coming in and hitting Sunnis, and Sunnis are retaliating across the street," Captain Scott McLearn, of the US 407th brigade support battalion, told the Associated Press.

The project, which began on April 10, is being worked on almost nightly, with cranes swinging enormous concrete barriers into place.[...]
source

Iraq, April 9th 2003 : Mission Accomplished ???

What mission and what accomplishment, hein??


What you see...










Is not always what you get....

Wag the dog ??

And this is the real accomplishment!

One day of war in Iraq =Food for 8,000,000 children for one year

I got this comment on my last post on GlobalVoices (could be censored in TN). More info from the comment author here


This week, we celebrate the fourth anniversary of the war in Iraq. I still remember the start very well.

Time for a calculation.

1. The newspaper today states one minute of war in Iraq costs US$380,000. A calculation made by Joseph Stiglitz, a US Nobelprize winning economist. That is almost double the cost of the war in Vietnam.

2. According to WFP, the UN’s food aid organisation, it costs US$0.19 to feed a child for a day. Nineteen cents. 20,000 children die of hunger every day. The time it took you to read this post, already 15 died.

3. Taking those two figures together, one minute of war in Iraq would feed 2,000,000 children for a day.

One day of war in Iraq would feed 8,000,000 children for a year.

4. There are 800 million hungry in the world. Three-four months of war in Iraq would feed all hungry in the world.
Three-four months of war, we have done before. Many times. But we have never fed all the hungry in the world.

I do not understand. Somewhere the calculation does not make sense. Otherwise all intelligent people in the world would have cried foul. Wouldn’t we? …Wouldn’t we?

Meilleurs voeux pour le Mouled. Kol 3am wetouma 7ayyin b5ir.

Iraq, Oh Iraq!!!

Salih Abu Mehdi, 43, a security guard and father of six children, said he felt Iraq was lost four years into the war.
"We never expected this would happen. We were hoping to live like a European country, not to be living like this," he said.[..]

Our country is not implementing the law; it is carrying out vengeance," Khadija told Reuters[..]

Bush, whose approval ratings are near the low point of his presidency, appealed for more time for his plan to send in nearly 30,000 more troops, mostly to stabilize Baghdad.
"It can be tempting to look at the challenges in Iraq and conclude our best option is to pack up and go home. That may be satisfying in the short run, but I believe the .consequences for American security would be devastating," he said.[…]
Source

When one person, be it the president, uses the wrath of the US Army and US tax payer money based on proven lies or let’s say misleading, he ought to be judged for all the deaths resulting from his decision, Iraqi’s deaths and American ones. The USA government, one day will officially ask for pardon and forgiveness from the Iraqi people and the parents of the dead US soldiers. History will tell us if the post-Saddam era is better for the American national security that the pre-Saddam era.

Halliburton moving its HQ to Dubai!

Halliburton the energy service company that was led by US VP Dick Cheney from 1995 to 2000 is planning to move its Headquarters and its CEO to Dubai. I want to remind you that KBR, a Halliburton subsidiary is one of the main contractors of the US Army in Iraq and was handed billon dollars contracts directly without a bid process!!

Halliburton is shifting its business towards the Middle East, West Africa and Libya. It is even planning to list its stock on the ME stock exchange. Last year's net profit for this company was $2,300,000,000!!!

At least we know that the war on "Terrorism" is profiting to some US companies, unfortunately they're trying to avoid paying tax to the same government who put them in this position by creating an unjustified war. Ironic, isn't it? Or perhaps they are anticipating some scrutiny from the Democrat led congress!

Source

Can we learn from the current events??

Make Love, not War!!

MANILA, Philippines - More than 6,000 couples kissed simultaneously at midnight Saturday in the Philippines with organizers of the event claiming to have set a new world record.Organizers of the annual pre-Valentine's Day celebration said they broke the record held by Hungary, where 5,875 couples kissed simultaneously in Budapest in 2005.[...]Source

And don't forget to cash on it
Three Manchester Boots pharmacies will sell the prescription-only medication made by U.S. drugs group Pfizer in a pilot program from February 14.

Men aged between 30 and 65 suffering from erectile dysfunction will be able to buy four Viagra pills for 50 pounds ($97) without having to get a prescription from a doctor first.[...]Source

Still some are recidivists and don't learn from previous lessons.
BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. military officials on Sunday accused the highest levels of the Iranian leadership of arming Shiite militants in
Iraq with sophisticated armor-piercing roadside bombs that have killed more than 170 troops from the American-led coalition[..] Source
If you're not convinced, here is the image that will make the case :-) This does remind me of the embarassing presentation that Colin Powell did at the UN, just before invading Iraq.
On the other hands, Washigton and Moscow are still cleaning their houses from the remains of the cold war.More here.

And others who never make love, Be it Valentine's day or Chinese new year of the pig!
JERUSALEM -
Israel's Cabinet voted to push ahead with construction work on a ramp leading to a disputed holy site in Jerusalem, despite objections from the Muslim world and violent Palestinian protests.
Tensions in the city have been high since last week, when Israel began work outside the compound known to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as the Temple Mount. The new walkway is meant to replace an ancient earthen ramp that partially collapsed in a snowstorm three years ago.

Arab leaders have accused Israel of trying to harm Muslim holy sites. Israel denies the repair work and accompanying excavations will come anywhere near the compound.[...]Source


Oh, I forgot this dinosaur protected by "Socialist saints" and this Saffa7 in Egypt.

I will not finish without mentionning these articles who should have been on the first page on every newspaper, but hey, it is offer and demand and I am a biased african :-(

Nearly 60,000 evacuated in Mozambique floods in past week

Zimbabwe public sector crumbles as patience runs out

Somali rally for peace ends in violence