| 2005 Mar 26 | 6,000 in Iraqi prison (all
imprisoned after due process I'm sure) try to escape through
600 ft long tunnel. 131 "suspected" insurgents arrested in dawn raids.
2 US
soldiers killed today. |
|
| 2005 Mar 23 | 85 insurgents killed by "Iraqi police commandos" while "US military provided ground and air support" ( and full legal support for the 85 instant death penalty sentences...) | |
| 2005 Mar 12 | FF now 1 seat down, 78 to go... after North Kildare & Meath by-elections. Hurray for north Kildare !!! | |
| 2005 Feb 25 | Private security (i.e. mercenaries?) to replace German
troops at US bases there - www.armytimes.com/..
. - Military Law section of same newspaper omits the obvious one "country with biggest guns / bombs wins" ( & as the aggressors defence just say you don't recogniseany international courts or the UN ) http://www.armytimes.com/... |
|
| 2004 Nov 19 |
Bertie Ahern talks of 10 yrs as
leader of Fianna Fail. Domestic issues only. Caller complains to the
interviewer Eamon Dunphy on Newstalk 106's breakfast show that no
questions about the war on Iraq or Shannon's part in it was asked. Eamon
explains that to get the interview in the first place, an agenda that
stuck to the 10 yr issue had to be agreed ! As in the "Faulty
Towers" German tourist episode just "Don't
mention the war !!!" Ignore it and it might just go away.. |
|
| 2004 Nov 15 |
"WE FOOT €6M BILL FOR US
WARPLANES" -Evening Herald front page. 100,000 troops through Shannon this year so far. Dept. of transport documents show taxpayers will pay €5,851,000 between Jan '03 & Dec '04 to the Irish Aviation Authority since the government decided to exempt foreign military aircraft from the fees commercial aircraft pay. Will the PDs now reverse their pro-war stance since it's bad for the economy ? |
|
| Nov 2 |
Bush wins US presidential
election. War monger gets mandate of US electorate to continue "regime
change", cluster bombing, firing depleted uranium shells,
installing puppet regimes etc. 59 million US republican
voters have decided that the ~6 billion citizens of the rest of the
world may be invaded at the sole discretion of the US, for imaginary WMD
etc. World democracy in action ? |
|
| 2004 May |
Nick Berg, a genuine civilian
contractor is beheaded by Iraqis. Artice on english.aljazeera.net/... Web page containing link to the video: en.wikipedia.org/... |
|
| 2004 Apr 21 |
Vanunu Mordechai's prison letters. What happens when you whistle blow about WMD in Israel. www.guardian.co.uk/... 18 yrs in prison, 11.5 in solitary confinement. Did George W Bush ever try to get Mordechai out , they both being on a crusade to rid the world of WMD ?...no. Like the ruling pigs in "Animal Farm" who said "Some pigs are more equal than others", some countries are more "qualified to use WMD" than others. | |
| 2004 April 20 |
Christian Fundamentalist aims in the US / Israel / Middle East, by George Monbiot www.guardian.co.uk/... | |
| 2004 April 19 |
Major Thomas McDowell, former Controller of the Irish Times allegedly called one of his editors a "white nigger" and may have had connections with MI5. Many suggest continuing bias at that paper media.guardian.co.uk/... | |
| 2004 April 10 |
• 450 Iraqis dead and 1,000
wounded in 5 day assault by marines on Falluja. Bremer announces
"unilateral suspension of operations" by first marines expeditionar
force to allow relief into the town of 300,000 & to bury their dead
in a football stadium, but the killing continues. Former paratrooper Michael Bloss working as a "private security guard" killed. Irish Times pg 1. • In 1920 Mohammad al-Sadr, Moqtada al-Sadr's great grandfather led Shia against the UK occupying forces. After 4 months they were defeated, 500 UK soldiers & 6,000 Iraqis killed. Pg 11. • Privatised armies are doing professional soldiers work. North Carolina firm "Blackwater security consulting" has 450 "contractors" in Iraq to provide security for Paul Bremer & his convoys. The firm has it's own helicopters which it used to bring in ammo and remove an injured marine from Najaf on Sunday before the official army arrived. Rumsfelf says outsourcing of military roles is to grow !!!!! Irish Times pg 11. In the spirit of globalization, I wonder if Iraqis can also hire Blackwater people to defend Iraq against the US invaders Blackwater mercenaries ?? Now that's what I call intra-company competition !! Capitalism at its finest... How long till the PDs fire the Irish army and just hire some mercenaries instead? • Japan is supposed to be a "pacifist country" whose constitution prohibits the use of international force. Prime minister sends 500 members of its SDF (Self Defence Force !!!) to Iraq anyway. -pg11. • About "renegade" FG TD John Deasy, "He didn't say that we should be nice to George W. but we know he's that way inclined." John did not vote against Irish participation in the war (as in "name and shame" link on www.voteoutffpd.com), but he didn't vote for it either. He was one of the 10 FG TDs of the total of 31 FG TDs in the Dail who just didn't vote at all !! I'm sure he and the others have a good excuse though about why they weren't present when the country was deciding whether or not to become part of the battlezone. • "The increasing use of guns is posing a very real threat to the future of the unarmed Garda force" Pg 14. - Minister for Justice McDowell, suggestinng that the police here go US style and escalate the spiral of violence. Next thing he'll be trying to bring in the death penalty !! US style. |
|
| 2004 Apr 9 |
Friday Irish times shows bunch
of US soldiers in front of a tank praying over a dying comrade. •Up to 300 Iraqis killed since US laid siege to the town of Falluja on Monday, according to Dr Rafi Hayat of Fallugas main hospital & 400 injured. •Mujaheddin brigade threaten to kill 3 Japanese hostages ( an 18 yr old peace activist, an aid worker & a camer man) unless Japan withdraws it's 500 troop from Iraq in 3 days. - Pg 1 "Dirasat" website calls on mujaheddin to fight US everywhere. More pictures of injured US soldiers. • RIR (Royal Irish Regiment) soldier Christopher McDonald who died in an ambush in Iraq had funeral yesterday. Colonel Sergeant McDonald (39) from Bangor, Co. Down was on leave, working as a security guard for giant US corporation General Electric when his vehicle was attached on March 28 in Mosul. He had planned to leave the British Army in June. - Pg 10 |
|
| 2004 Apr 8 |
Irish Times : "Under fire as
the deaths and Turmoil increase" - "These people who were killed by
the people of Falluga were Jewish spies" "But we don't approve of the
way they were killed. Force is the only thing the Americans
understand". "If they don't give power to the Iraqi people, all Iraq
will be like Falluja" Sheikh Khalaf. Pg 14: "Sisyphean task of cleaning Iraqs unexploded cluster bombs " - banned for use against civilians but >t; 1,000 Iraqi civilians killed by nearly 13,000 cluster bombs dropped by US & British in 2003. Each BU97 bomb contains 202 bomblets. Each M42 contains 450 bomblets. BU97 has a white parachute and bright yellow container - can be mistaken for food packages. 35% of victimes < 5 yrs old. 3 sons killed when they threw stones at one. 1 Iraqi was helping US sodier clear cluster bombs. The cluster bomb the US soldier was carrying exploded & he lost a leg. An Iraqi lost his right arm & another his left eye. Pg 14: US use helicopter mounted Hellfire missiles & Boeing H230 chain guns & 120 mm rounds from battle tanks. Small arms used are M-16 rifles & M-9 pistols by marines & infantry. Pg 15: From Mon Apr 6 to Wed Apr 7 200 Iraqis & 35 US killed in Falluja. Heaviest fighting since fall of Saddam. 2 500 lb bombs dropped near a mosque killed 25. 443 US soldiers killed so far in total. F-16 used to bomb Falluja. Lt Colonel Brennan Byrne claims 40 not 25 killed by it. Ron Suskinds site ? has evidence of plans to invade Iraq before Sept 11. Pg 18: Anniversary of journalists killed by 120 mm hight explosive tank shell fired at Palestine Hotel on April 8 2003. 21 journalists killed during the year. |
|
| 2004 April 7 |
• "Amnesty lists top
death penalty users " Irish Time pg 10 : 1. China, 2. Iran, 3. US, 4. Vietnam are the top users of the death penalty in 2003 accounting for 84% of known executions in 2003. More than half are in China but the true Chinese figure could be 10 times higher. 6 countries banned the death penalty in 2003 increasing the figure of countries where the death penalty is banned to 117 out of 195. (Reuters). If the US led invastion of Iraq is included, it's death penalty figures would probably top the list. • Pg 11. "Death stalks Shia Muslims the Americans came to save from Saddam" - Lara Marlowe in Sadr city "immense slum in north Baghdad". 57 Iraqis killed on April 5 & 6 and 236 wounded by US forces. "In Shouhada Hospital, Ra'ad Daayer, an amublance driver waits for a second operation to repair damage to his internal organs. Mr Daayer says that he was bringing a wounded pregnanat woman named Sabiha Lofta to Shouhada when the machine-gunner on top of a US tank opened fire on him, 100 metres from the hospital, at about 9:30 pm on Sunday. The ambulance siren was on and its red light was flashing. Mrs Lofta and her unborn infant died. "No one ever fired on ambulances in Iraq befoe, he says in disbelief. "Things will get worse and worse," the hospital administrator predicts, standing beside Mr Daayers's bed. "Iraqi people are not monsters. But their is a foreign object in their body, and they want to eject it." |
|
| 2004 April 6 |
Ukranian soldier killed in Iraq in Kut as part of "operation vigilant resolve". | |
| 2004 April 2 |
Sharon threatens Arafat.
home.eircom.net/... US sells $1.78 Billion radar system to Taiwan. China not happy. www.reuters.com/... |
|
| 2004 April 1 |
Ex-Private Jessica Lynch feels
used. Iraqi ambulance returning her to the US side was shot at by US
soldiers.
www.irishexaminer.com/... "Rebel" FG TD John Deasy, Ex US Republican politician, pro-war head, smokes in Dail bar and gets loads of publicity www.rte.ie/... NATO fails to arrest Karodic www.rte.ie/... Sinn Fein v. Bush. home.eircom.net/... Governator beer title clash home.eircom.net/... US accuses Cuba accused of bio logical weapons. Off we go again. home.eircom.net/... Australian trip to WW1 commemeration site in Turkey doubted by threat of terrorists. home.eircom.net/... Shooting in Mental hospital by Israelis. Stats for Gaza strip home.eircom.net/... Fertilizer controls proposed in Australia. home.eircom.net/... |
|
| 2004 March 31 |
5 dead www.rte.ie/... Serbian "Darko" gets 17 yrs. www.rte.ie/... 500,000 Euro bill to contest election results www.rte.ie/... |
|
| 2004 March |
Judge Mangan says cold of Clare
courthouse not good for public. Same judge has barred several antiwar
protesters trying to alert the public about the danger to the public of
Shannon warport from the whole of Co. Clare.
www.unison.ie/irish_independent/... Landmine tests by US, but these landmines probably "know" if the person who stands on them is holding "WMD" or is a communist, doesn't approve of the Iraq invasion etc. Didn't Lady Diana get a great photoshoot wearing a flak jacket campaigning against landmines ? www.unison.ie/irish_independent/... "Cadillac 1" not to get immunity, when Bush comes to Ireland. home.eircom.net/... U2 etc in Pakistan, Bush out to "kill" !!! Bin laden. www.nytimes.com/2004/03/23/... Bush supports death penalty, gun makers immunity etc.. www.nytimes.com/top/news/washington/campaign2004/candidates/georgewbush/index.html Bush jokes about the search for WMD. V. funny, not. www.ananova.com/... Mary Harney of PD party keen to privatise everything according to PD ard fheis. home.eircom.net/... Joe Higgins Socialist Party ard fheis home.eircom.net/... Bertie / Bush Approval down. home.eircom.net/... US complains about Human rights in Iran. Here we go again. www.rte.ie/news/... Shannon worried about Openskies policy, but not about use as warport /www.rte.ie/... 100 people including "Intelligence chief" ??? killed. www.rte.ie/... 1.5 million loan to Isreal www.rte.ie/... Elections in Afghanistan postponed to September. Taste of whats to come in Iraq ? www.rte.ie/... Rubber bullet hits journalist. www.femail.co.uk/... 5 charged for Madrid bombings. www.unison.ie/irish_independent/... Socialists gain 12 regions to control 20 of 22 in France. www.unison.ie/... US "Scramjet" will be able to drop things anywhere in the world in a couple of hours. Hurray, we're all safe. www.unison.ie/.... Water carrier confused for something else. www.unison.ie/.... Lawyer for Saddam. www.unison.ie/.... Marches pointless ? argument.independent.co.uk/... Boycott. irishantiwar.org/.... Media banned www.commondreams.org/... "Friendly fire from warthogs" home.eircom.net/... NATO expands to claim 7 new members home.eircom.net/... Blair gets the sole of the shoe treatment from Gaddafi. www.mirror.co.uk/... |
|
| 2004 Mar 26 |
Wheelchair bound "spiritual
leader of Hamas" is valid assasination target in war on Terror. home.eircom.net/... and www.nytimes.com/2004/03/23/... ( pic of chair , exploding cell phone bomb?!) US vetoes resolution condemning Isreali assasination of 67 yr old paraplegic in wheelchair with Gunship helicopter. UK abstains. www.guardian.co.uk/... |
|
| 2004 Mar 15 |
Spanish Government tries to
blame ETA, not Al Qaeda for attacks within hours of they're occuring
before elections. Their plan doesn't work and they get voted out !
and replaced by a socialist party!
www.reuters.com/... Even the UN SC gets it wrong, again and blames the March 11 bomb attack on ETA, in an attempt to make it all look like nothing more than a domestic Spainish problem www.unison.ie/irish_independent/... 61 yr old Spanish / Basque man who put a "ETA NO" poster up in his bakery business, proclaiming that ETA didn't blow up the trains on Thursday, is shot 4 times until dead by Spanish police. www.indymedia.ie/.. . and www.indymedia.ie/... . Telling the truth can cost you !... "How dare they manipulate the dead" says a Spaniard of the Popular Party. www.commondreams.org/... |
|
| 2004 Mar 11 | US releases 5 British men after
kidnapping them for 2.5 years in Guantanemo Bay without trial, in a
Cuban US AFB without charge. UK authorities free the "terrorists" as
claimed by the US, after 2 days. news.bbc.co.uk... One of their stories: news.bbc.co.uk/... Turkish Army list of suspects includes magicians: www.reuters.com/... |
|
| 2004 Mar 1 |
Many US expats prefer "Anybody but Bush" home.eircom.net/... | |
| 2004 Feb 27 |
100 layoffs announced at Shannon
airport. So much for FF/PD claims that military participation
guarantees jobs.
www.unison.ie/... Bertie, FF leader, who voted to allow Ireland become a soldier transportation hub last year "assumes" Gerry Adams was in the IRA. www.unison.ie/... US air force secretary admits blowing up Russian gas pipeline in 1982 as part of "Economic warfare". Dodgy SW responsible. www.unison.ie/.. Blix mobile phone bugged by "Coalition of the willing" members. Butlers mobile phones bugged by UN SC. British International development secretary believes Kofi Annans ( UN secretary General) phone calls bugged by UK. www.unison.ie/... |
|
| 2004 Jan 21 |
newsbox.msn.co.uk Bush still emphasizing threat from "outlaw regimes.." etc in election campaign | |
| 2004 Jan 18 |
Paul Bremer says "fully fledged direct elections would be impractical ". Has to talk to Ayatollah Sistani, senior Shia Cleric via intermediaries. 1918 British report on tribal system used by US to analyse current situation. news.independent.co.uk/... | |
| 2004 Jan 15 |
www.enfieldindependent.co.uk/...
Busloads of Protestors going to US / RAF AFB in Fairford
kidnapped by police. Case in High court. |
|
| 2004 Jan 7 |
US Dept of Homeland security
starts fingerprint database of all visitors to US
www.irishexaminer.com/... and plans to retain them for 75 years
www.eircom.net/... * 34 US soldiers injured in mortar attack, Some Iraqi prisoners freed, 9000 still captive. |
|
| ^^
2004 ^^ |
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^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ 2004 ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^
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|
| 2003 Dec 27 |
Iran says it will accept aid from any country in the world except Israel. | |
| 2003 Dec 26 |
25,000 estimated to have died in earthquake in Bam, Iran. Later estimates of 40 - 50,000. | |
| 2003 Dec 10 |
US says to "protect the security
interests of the United States"
France, Germany, Russia, Ireland and any other
countries who did not "put lives at risk" in Iraq are barred
from competing for the $18.6 billion in contracts for reconstruction www.latimes.com/... (free registration) * 6 children & 2 adults killed by US in Paktia, Afghanistan www.rte.ie/... |
|
| 2003 Dec 27 |
* UN launches inquiry into
yesterdays atrocity. * US starts Israeli style knocking down houses of suspected attackers, surrounding villages in razor wire, issuing English only ID cards, and controlling access to village using checkpoints. Could someone please explain to the US Army that houses are inanimate object and knocking them is just vandalism that further depraves their reputation. People can just move to another house, but then I guess the army could demolish the whole village. Choice quote from Capt. Todd Brown, a company commander with the Fourth Infantry Division: "You have to understand the Arab mind, The only thing they understand is force — force, pride and saving face" Could someone explain to Todd that he counts using the Arabic number system , so they must know a bit about mathematics at least also. www.nytimes.com/... |
|
| 2003 Dec 6 |
* US kills 9 children and 1
suspected terrorist in bombing raid in Afghanistan.Is this a
continuation of the new "pre-emptive" strike policy. Does
GW Bush "know" as he "knew" of WMD in Iraq, that these children would
join Al Qaeda when they grew up ? www.rte.ie/... * Reported on www.unison.ie/irish_independent/... on Dec 6 (free registration) that 115,157 soldiers on 1,464 flights used the airport this year |
|
| 2003 Dec 4 |
Colin Powell asks NATO for help
www.eircom.net/... "The United States welcomes a greater NATO role in Iraq's stabilisation" - For "stabilisation" read Dec 7 below. More South Korean and Japanese (biggest dispatch since WW II) troops on the way even though polls show voters opposed. "B aghdad aiming for crude output of 2.8 million barrels per day by the end of the first quarter of next year, up from the current 2.1 million barrels per day" - The oil is liberated ! |
|
| 2003 Nov 29 |
7 Spanish spies killed in Baghdad. Reuters report - 85 percent of Spaniards thought the Iraq war "was not worth it" - but gSpanishovernment has 1300 in Iraq - Democracy in action !!! | |
| 2003 Nov 28 |
The UN General Assembly votes
144-4 with 12 abstentions last month to adopt a resolution
demanding that Israel halt construction of a barrier in
Palestine. The 4 countries that think it is OK to build a land grabbing fence through a neighbouring country are : the United States, Israel, the Marshall Islands and Micronesia. From eircom.net. |
|
| 2003 Nov 27 |
Bush's first visit to Iraq. 2Hr surprise visit to soldiers in Baghdad airport for Thanksgiving. Bush congratulates soldiers for "defending the US". How invading a country which had no WMD defends the US is not discussed.. | |
| 2003 Nov 26 |
Dr Fintan Lane, PRO of the IAWM
and Chairperson of the Cork Anti-War Campaign was jailed today for 60
days after he refused to pay a €750 fine imposed by Tulla
District Court in April for trespassing at Shannon Airport during an
entirely peaceful anti-war protest in October 2002. Before his jailing Fintan Lane said in Cork “Innocent people are being killed in Iraq and Afghanistan by the war machine that is being facilitated at Shannon airport. What is happening is an outrage, and it is no exaggeration to say that Fianna Fail and the PDs have blood on their hands.” Fintans homepage |
|
| 2003 Nov 24 |
Bush signs $401 billion defence bill for soldier pay increases , research on new types of nuclear weapon !!! etc. www.reuters.com/... | |
| 2003 Oct 29 |
Bioterrorism research funded by US Gov't - www.newscientist.com/... | |
| 2003 Oct 17 |
101 US dead since "end" of the war on May 1. No figures given on RTE for no. of Iraqi dead. | |
| 2003 Oct 16 |
US militrary responds the next day to "threat" from first Chinese man in space and how they "won" the Cold war with the help of space. http://home.eircom.net/... | |
| Oct 15 |
US vetoes UN resolution against the Israeli built wall. | |
| ? |
US vetoes UN resolution against Israeli threats to "remove" Palestinian president. | |
| 2003 Sep 17 |
Hans Blix, former UN weapons
inspector says the Iraqi government probably did destroy most of its
WMDs in 91. www.voteoutffpd.com registered... |
|
| 2003 Aug 29 |
"Bush administration is merely
an extension of the fossil fuel industry," said Steve Sawyer,
climate policy director at Green peace after Bush declares
CO2 no longer a pollutant and pulls out of Kyoto agreement. "United States, with about four percent of the world population, is the leading polluter and emits about 23 percent of the world's CO2." ( since it burns 23 percent of the worlds oil) From www.planetark.com |
|
| 2003 Aug 19 | UN representative Segia Vieira de Mello and 21 others killed by Cement lorry bomb at UN HQ in Baghdad. | |
| 2003 Jul 22 |
Uday and Qusay Hussein killed by
missile in shootout in Mosul. Their reconstructed corpses are paraded
in the media by US military to discourage Iraqis from taking
an anti invasion stance. Donald Rumsfeld approves the parading
even though a few weeks earlier had criticized Al Jazeera for showing
live US prisoners. US had placed a $15 million dollar bounty on their
heads. $25 million offered for Saddam. 9:30 pm - US asks them to surrender. 10 mins later US soldiers enter house and are fired upon => retreat. 10:45 RPGs, rockets & heavy caliber machine guns brought in. 11:45 Delta helicopters arrive. Qusay, his 14 yr old son Mustafa & a 3rd man killed by TOW missile. Uday injured and shoots himself later. |
|
| 2003 Jun 21 |
Shannon protestors blockading the road to the warport. In court later one defendant, a resident of Shannon town was fined €200 and ordered to absent himself from his home and Shannon Town whenever the Gardai inform him that a protest is happening at Shannon Airport.Is it constitutional? Does the judiciary make up the rules as it goes along? | |
| 2003 June 5 |
Bush Jnr "We rcently found 2 mobile biological weapons facilities which are capable of producing biological agents." A day later a British investigation fround they were for the production of Helium for artillery balloons, as the Iraqis insisted. Weapons of mass ballooning. M.M. p51 | |
| 2003 May 22 |
UN lifts 13 year sanctions,
despite no WMDs having being found or destroyed during the war. www.iacenter.org/... May 22 UN SC resolution to legalize occupation. ... "Possession is nine tenths of the law"... |
|
| 2003 May 1 |
The war is "over" according to George Bush. | |
| 2003 April 11 |
US issues deck of cards for 55 most wanted members of Iraqi government, Israel does the same with Palestine a few months later. | |
| 2003 April 9 |
Saddam Hussein statue toppled in
Paradise square, Baghdad with APC. http://www.rte.ie/.... Fianna Fail commissioner resigns due to military use of Shannon. |
|
| 2003 April 7 |
Presidential compound in near
Palestine hotel in Baghdad attacked by US Bradley fighting
vehicles. 7am. Tariq Ayoub, Jordanian cameraman with Al-Jazeera dies on air by US rocket fired at Palestine hotel.US tank thought the TV camera being used on the hotel roof was an anti tank gun. Jose Couso, Reuters cameraman also killed by US fire. 3 other in Reuters team injured. US army claim shots came from the hotel. David Chater of Sky news reported that no shots came from the hotel. 16 journalists killed in 4 weeks, by US (7), Iraq (3) & in accidents (6). No investigations or apologies from US. David Bloom NBCTV correspondent dies from DVT after traveling for 2 days in US military vehicle. J.S p345. |
|
| April 6 |
• 18 including Kamaran ??? 25
yr old translator killed by maverick missile from F14 from USS Harry
Truman, Part of John Simpsons BBC report team on Sunday morning. No
apology, no court martial, after 9 months still no trial. Simpson has
left eardrum blown in out and shrapnel in hip permanently. Simpson saw
a man walking around holding his intestines& another burning
alive. Kamaran had 1 foot blown off , was brought to Arbil hospital
in a pickup truck by Iraqi Kurds but was dead on arrival. JS p336. Simpson suspects that the pilots of the F14 could like many other military aircrews have been high on Dexedrine or other speed like drugs to stay alert on long patrols. During the 2001 war on the Taliban in Afghanistan, some bomber & fighter pilots were given modafinil which can keep you awake for 40 hrs. DARPA currently researching drugs to keep soldiers awake for ~ 1 week. J.S p351 • Largest Ship ever - The USS Harry Truman is one of the 9 largest aircraft carriers in the world. Displaces 98,550 tonnes, 332m long, 4.49 acres flight deck, driven by 4 nuclear powered, 260,000 hp steam turbines, max speed 34.5 mph. USS Ronald Reagan also belongs to that fleet. GWR p156. • Largest Navy - The US has 318 principle vessels including submarines, 380,000 Navy personnel & 183,000 civilians supporting them. There are 74 armed submarines, all nuclear powered, including 50 SeaWolf and Los Angeles class attack ships & 18 Ohio class ballistic missile carriers. Navy has 4,000 EA-6B Prowler aircraft, F-14 Tomcat & F/A-18 Hornet fighters / missile launchers. There are 6 types of helicopters including Boeing/Bell V-22 Osprey tilt rotor aircraft. GWR p156. • Largest Airforce - The US airforce consists of 5,900 aircraft & 408,700 personnel. GWR p152. |
|
| 2003 April 2 |
Kaveh Golestan, BBC cameraman killed by land mine in Kifri, North Iraq. | |
| 2003 March 30 |
Donald Rumsfeld on ABCs "This week" says "We know where the (mobile biological weapons factories) are. They're in the area around Tikrit & Baghdad". M.M. | |
| 2003 March 26 |
US bombs Iraqi TV centre. J.S.
p316. On MSNBCs "Savage Nation" with Michael Savage he declares "We are the good ones, and they the Arabs are the evil ones. They must be snuffed out from the planet, not in a court of law" |
|
| 2003 March 24 |
"Peaceful Tomorrows" US group representing Sept 11 victims appeals to Bertie to stop military use of Shannon - www.clarefm.ie /... Call Irish support "Slavish". | |
| 2003 March 23 |
Jessica Ryan, 19 yr old US Private in 507th maintenance company, consisting mainly of cooks & mechanics, ambushed and 6 captured. 11 US soldiers killed. Special forces soldiers rescue all 6 from Nasiriyah camp amid huge CNN etc. publicity about how Private Ryan fought to the end and was abused by her captors. July 30 investigation reveals Captain Troy King leading the 18 vehicle, 33 soldier convoy lost contact with the 600 other vehicles, took a wrong turn and drove straight towards Nasiriyah. Then did a U turn but some radio batteries went dead, some vehicles ran out of fuel, 50 mm gun jammed when ambushed. 8 vehicles & 16 soldiers escaped. Ryan was injured when RPG hit her vehicle, which then crashed into another vehicle. 4 others in the same vehicle killed. Ryan couldn't remember anything. | |
| 2003 March 22 |
Terry Lloyd, ITN, French cameraman Fred Nerac & Lebanese translator Hussein Othman shot in their TV & coalition marked vehicle by US. | |
| 2003 Mar 19 |
33,400 troops passed through Shannon www.clarefm.ie/... | |
| 2003 March |
US Navy fires 42 cruise missiles
at al Dawra. F-117A stealth aircraft drop 2000 lb bombs. 1000 bombs dropped on Baghdad in first 3 nights. More than the total from GW1. 36 civilians killed in Shaab market by missile. US initially claim it was an Iraqi missile. 60 civilians killed in Shawala. Cluster bombs, as used in Nis in Serbia, dropped in Nasiriyah, Najaf & Kerbala. |
|
| 2003 Mar 17 |
US fires 1st missiles of war 2 days before agreed start date of March 19.. UK not told about it until afterwards. | |
| 2003 Mar 16 |
Dick Cheney: " We believe he has in fact reconstituted nuclear weapons". | |
| 2003 Mar 9 |
Clare Short, Labour MP in UK
says she will resign if Iraq invasion or reconstructions goes ahead
without UN approval. Robin Cook, another Labour MP in UK criticizes Blairs upcoming decision on March 17 to go to war and resigns. So do junior ministers Lord Hunt and George Denham. Blair says he will resign if the motion to invade Iraq is not carried. House of commons votes almost 2 to 1 to carry it. |
|
| 2003 Mar 1 | March and protest at Shannon
airport. Pics etc at www.clarefm.ie/... • Colin Powell on CBS: "It was a very difficlut period for us as we went through that second resolution vote and we didn't believe that France was playing a helpful role". PBS asked if France will suffer for not supporting US. Powell answered "Yes". Pg 65 M.M. Rumsfeld: "You're thinking of Europe as Germany and France. I don't. I think that's old Europe". New / "Nouveau" Europe is the group of coalition members: Albania, Estonia, Hunbary, Latvia, Slovakia & UK. Bush to Tom Brokaw of NBC regarding Chirac "I doubt he'll be coming to the ranch any time soon". Republican representative Jim Saxton from NJ proposed legislation to prevent French companies getting US financing for reconstructing Iraq. Republican representative Ginny Brown-Warte, from Florida introduced bill to bring US WWII soldies remains back from France. She says "The remains of our brave heroes should be buried in patriotic soil" not in a country that has "turned it's back on us". French Fries renamed Freedom Fries in some US restaurants. In Las Vegas, armoured fighting vehicle with 76mm cannon & machine guns used to drive over French yogurt, French bread, French wine, Perrier, photos of Chirac, photocopies of French flag. US holiday bookings to France down 70%. Saddam had exported 40% of his oil to US. 8% to France. pg 67-69 M.M • Coalition formed of: 1.- Afghanistan. Do they have an army? supposedly still ran by warlords. 2.- Australia. Poll says 70% against. US propose Free Trade Association and Aus are on board. New Zealand refuse to join war => trade talks stopped. 3. -Azerbaijan 4. - Bulgaria 5. - Columbia 6. - Czech Republic 7. - Denmark 8. - El Salvador 9. - Eritrea 10. - Estonia 11. - Ethopia 12. - Georgia 13. - Hungary 14. - Italy (69% against) 15. - Japan (70% against) 16. - South Korea. 17. - Latvia 18. - Lithuania 19. - Macedonia 20. - the Netherlands 21. - Nicaragua 22. - Philippinnes 23. - Poland 24. - Palau ( group of north Pacific Islands with population of 20,000. no soldiers, No army either in : 25. - Iceland, 26. - Costa Rica, 27. - Marshall Islands, 28. - Solomon Islands, 29. - and Micronesia. 30. - Turkey. M.M p71 Polls show 50% of US thought WMD were found in Iraq by US. 25% thought Saddam had used chemical weapons on coalition soldiers. pg 77 M.M. • Rumsfeld to "Meet the Press" : "And right before it, I said as the president said, and right after it, I said as the president said. I was simply repeating what the president had said". • Media watchdog group FAIR surveyed US TV for 3 weeks from Mar 20. You were 25 times more likely to see pro-war than an antiwar aource . • Dan Rather, CBS news anchor "Look, I'm an American. I never tried to kid anyone that I'm some internationalist or something. And when my country is at war, I want my country to win, whateer the definition of "win" may be. Now I can't and do't argue that thatis is coverage without a prejudice. About that I am prejudiced" The only antiwar soundbite on Rathers programme over 3 weeks was Moores "Fictitious times" speech. M.M p78 |
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| 2003 Feb 15 |
Anti war marches worldwide: London: 2,000,000 Barcelona: 1,250,000 Rome: 1,000,000 Madrid: 750,000 New York: 500,000 Paris; 200,000 San Francisco: 250,000 Sydney: 250,000 Montreal: 1,500,000 Dublin: 100,000 |
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| 2003 Feb 5 |
Colin Powell to UN SC: "But what I want to bring to your attention today is the potentially much more sinister nexus between Iraq and the al Qaeda network, a nexus that combines classic terrorist organizations and modern methods of murder". Osama actually hated Saddam since his Kuwaiti invasion had brought US soldiers to Saudi Arabia & the holy land. Osama wanted Iraq to be an Islamic fundamentalist state, not a secular, but Saddam killed 1,000s of Iranian Shi-ites. | |
| Jan 28 |
• US State of the Union address.
Bush tells 62 million "...Saddam Hussein recently sought significant
quantities of uranium from Africa". "Imagine these 19 hijackers with
other weapons and other plans - this time armed by Saddam Hussein. It
would take one vial, one cannister, one crate slipped into this
country to bring a day of horror like none we have ever known. We will
do everything in our power to make sure that that day never comes". "Evidence from intelligence sources, secret communications and statements by people now in custody, reveal that Saddam Hussein aids and protects terrorists, including members of al Qaeda" • CIA director George Tenet later becomes scapegoat for the African Uranium claim "these 16 words [regarding the African Uranium] should not have been included in the text written for the president". But Tenet is further disproved when October 2002 memos showed Tenet told Bush not to make the claim.M.M. • Before Jan 28 Knight Ridder poll shows half of those questioned already thought 1 or more of the Sept 11 hijackers were Iraqi citizens. |
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| 2003 Jan 27 |
IAEA head Mohammed El Baradei tells UN SC that there is no evidence of prohibited activities at former Iraqi nuclear sites. M.M. | |
| 2003 Jan 21 |
• French diplomat Dominique de
Villepin when asked about Frances willingness to use it's UN veto :
"Believe me, we will go all the way to the end as a matter of
principle" • "Old Europe" coined by Rumsfeld for France, Germany & Belgium. • France, Germany, Russia & China block second resolution proposing use of force against Iraq. Vague wording of 1441 used by US / UK to invade Iraq. |