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The War in Iraq

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The War in Iraq

 

The war in Iraq started in 2003. This lens traces the war's history, and discusses the real reasons behind the invasion and occupation of Iraq, and, importantly, asks how the Iraq War can be ended soon.

3 REAL Reasons For Iraq Invasion: Oil, Oil and More Oil 

3 Reasons For Iraq Invasion: Oil Oil and More Oil

Rep. Charles Rangel: "Cheney, Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz and all of them had decided to knock off Saddam Hussein for the oil long before 9/11. And if there is one thing that Cheney, Bush and Saudi Arabia has in common is three things: oil, oil and more oil"

Runtime: 3:38
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"Iraq War is largely about OIL"

"I am saddened that it is politcally inconvenient to acknowledge what everyone knows: the Iraq war is largely about oil."

- Alan Greenspan (head of U.S. Reserve Bank for 18 years to 2006) in his book The Age of Turbulence

The War in Iraq (article) 

The Iraq War, also known as Operation Iraqi Freedom (U.S.), Operation Telic (UK), or the occupation of Iraq, is an ongoing conflict which began on March 20, 2003 with the United States-led invasion of Iraq by a multinational coalition composed of U.S. and UK troops supported by smaller contingents from Australia, Denmark, Poland, and other nations.

The main rationale for the invasion offered by U.S. President George W. Bush and coalition supporters was the allegation that Iraq possessed and was actively developing weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in violation of a 1991 agreement. U.S. officials argued that Iraq posed an imminent, urgent, and immediate threat to the United States, its people, allies, and interests. The supporting intelligence was widely criticized, and weapons inspectors found no evidence of WMD. After the invasion, the Iraq Survey Group concluded that Iraq had ended its WMD programs in 1991 and had none at the time of the invasion, but that they intended to resume production if and when the Iraq sanctions were lifted. Although some earlier degraded remnants of misplaced or abandoned WMD were found, they were not the weapons for which the coalition invaded. Some U.S. officials claimed Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda had been cooperating, but no evidence of any collaborative relationship has been found. Other reasons for the invasion stated by officials included concerns over Iraq's financial support for the families of Palestinian suicide bombers, Iraqi government human rights abuses, spreading democracy, and Iraq's oil reserves, although the latter has been denied by other officials.

The invasion led to the quick defeat of the Iraqi military, the flight of President Saddam Hussein, his capture in December, 2003 and his execution in December, 2006. The U.S.-led coalition occupied Iraq and attempted to establish a new democratic government. But shortly after the initial invasion, violence against coalition forces and among various sectarian groups led to asymmetric warfare with the Iraqi insurgency, civil war between many Sunni and Shia Iraqis, and al-Qaeda operations in Iraq. Estimates of the number of people killed range from over 150,000 to more than 1 million. The financial cost of the war has been more than £4.5 billion ($9 billion) to the UK, and over $845 billion to the U.S., with the total cost to the U.S. economy estimated at $3 to 5 trillion. Member nations of the Coalition began to withdraw their forces as public opinion favoring troop withdrawals increased and as Iraqi forces began to take responsibility for security.

Source: Wapedia

The Iraq War (Phil Donahue vs. Bill O'Reilly) 

Bill O'Reilly gets his ass kicked by Phil Donahue!!

Phil Donahue is the MAN. I have a whole new respect for Donahue. Bill yelled at the top of his lungs to get his point through but in the end made himself sound like an idiot. Bill, go f*ck yourself. Check out Phil's look at Bill when the interview was over. He's such a badass. lol PS: Yes I do believe that Donahue was a bit extreme when he was saying "...to fight and die." That is disrespectful. I don't praise Phil Donahue nor any other political personality in the media. Just because Bill O'Reilly was yelling at Donahue doesn't make him right. Like Phil said "loud doesn't mean right" He always does that on his show to make him feel like he's winning the argument. I put that title on the video because Bill O' Reilly finally put someone on the show that can throw punches back at O'Reilly. I don't think anyone would believe that either of these guys won the argument. The Iraq War is what I like to call War Corportism. The big corporations and oil companies are making big bucks off this war. Like what Donahue said about Haliburton was right. Dick Cheney is getting richer and richer off the war and the rest of the elitists. After the Pentagon Papers, documents exposing what the Vietnam war was really about, were released, what makes you think that this war is any different? Lying to get us into war just like Vietnam.

Runtime: 8:13
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War on Iraq: What Team Bush Doesn't Want You to Know 

War on Iraq: What Team Bush Doesn't Want You to Know

Amazon Price: (as of 07/19/2008)

This book, written BEFORE the Iraq war, exposes the lie that "everyone" thought Iraq had WMD's. In fact, the most credible and knowledgable person who had first-hand experience in dealing with Iraq's WMD programs, UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter, didn't believe they had any.

Ritter had an exemplary career in the Marine Corps during the first Gulf War, and later became a UNESCO inspector. He was in charge of finding and destroying Iraq's chemical weapons capabilities and stockpiles after the war ended. He debunks Bush administration deliberate misinformation to legitimize the 2003 invasion, namely that Iraq had nuclear, biological and chemical weapons capability and could give it to al-Queda. There were no new nukes or ballistic missiles because we would have detected the testing of them. There were no biological or chemical weapons because the factories were destroyed in the first war, and the capability could not have been rebuilt because UNESCO was monitoring the country. Any hidden chemical/biological stockpiles were destroyed by the 5-7 year shelf life of the weapons. What else is Bush lying about?

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Gore Vidal on the Iraq War 

See 5:22 in this video

"Every child of 9 outside the United States knows that Saddam Hussein had nothing to do with al-Qaida and nothing to do with Osama bin Laden. As a matter of fact the two men despised each other."

Runtime: 6:58
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What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception 

What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception

Amazon Price: $16.77 (as of 07/19/2008)

Scott McClellan was given information to relay to the press about the Valerie Plame incident. Two years later he came across information that convinced him he'd been lied to, maybe not directly by Bush, but certainly by Rove and Cheney. That was his apparent tipping point. After being convinced that he'd been set up to lie to the press without his knowledge, McClellan rethought the whole tenure of his association with the Bush Administration in Washington and began to have epiphanies and form new opinions. He doesn't tell us much we didn't already know or suspect, but boy does he tell it. This time around it's coming from a trusted insider who followed Bush to Washington from Texas.

Cindy Sheehan Calls for Immediate Iraq Withdrawal 

CINDY SHEEHAN PLAYS HARDBALL JULY 17, 2007

JULY 17, 2007 HARDBALL

Runtime: 8:49
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The Occupation: War and Resistance in Iraq 

The Occupation: War and Resistance in Iraq

Amazon Price: $14.97 (as of 07/19/2008)

In March 2003, Patrick Cockburn traveled secretly to Iraq just before the invasion, and has covered the war from Baghdad ever since. In The Occupation, Cockburn describes the fighting on the ground as Saddam's armies collapsed, the looting of Baghdad, the failure of the US occupation, the springs of the resistance and how it turned into a full scale uprising. Explaining how the three main Iraqi communities, the Kurds, the Shia and the Sunni, responded to the growing conflict, he gives us a nuanced portrait of daily life in Baghdad, of how Iraqis themselves reacted to the invasion and the long war and occupation that followed.

Bush Lies About the Iraq War - Keith Olbermann 

Countdown: Special Comment "Bush Shut The Hell Up" Pt.01

Keith lets loose on GW Bush and his incompetence. A Must See!!!!

Runtime: 10:00
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Iraq War "Based on a Pack of Lies" 

George Galloway, British Member of Parliament, addresses U.S. Senate

U.S. Senate owned by George Galloway

Congressional hearing over Iraqi oil for food program where British Parliament member George Galloway tells committee how they lied decieved ignored and failed to do their jobs before and after the war with regards to Iraq. We need a whole bunch more like him!!!

Runtime: 3:55
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The Lies from Bush and his Advisors about the Iraq War 

A Long List That Keeps Getting Longer!

CAKEWALK!

"I believe demolishing Hussein's military power and liberating Iraq would be a cakewalk."
- Kenneth Adelman, member of the Pentagon's Defense Policy Board, 2/13/02

HOW MANY TROOPS WILL BE NEEDED?

"The idea that it would take several hundred thousand U.S. forces, I think, is far from the mark."
- Donald H. Rumsfeld, U.S. Secretary of Defense, 2/27/03

"I am reasonably certain that they will greet us as liberators, and that will help us keep [troop] requirements down. ... We can say with reasonable confidence that the notion of hundreds of thousands of American troops is way off the mark...wildly off the mark."
- Paul Wolfowitz, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense, testifying before the House Budget Committee, 2/27/03

WHAT ABOUT CASUALTIES?

"Oh, no, we're not going to have any casualties."
- President George W. Bush, response attributed to him by the Reverend Pat Robertson, when Robertson warned the president to prepare the nation for "heavy casualties" in the event of an Iraq war, 3/2003

"Why should we hear about body bags and deaths? Oh, I mean, it's not relevant. So why should I waste my beautiful mind on something like that?"
- Barbara Bush, former First Lady (and the current president's mother), on Good Morning America, 3/18/03

HOW MUCH WILL IT COST?

"Iraq is a very wealthy country. Enormous oil reserves. They can finance, largely finance the reconstruction of their own country. And I have no doubt that they will."
- Richard Perle, Chairman of the Pentagon's Defense Policy Board, 7/11/02

"I am reasonably certain that they will greet us as liberators, and that will help us keep [troop] requirements down. ... We can say with reasonable confidence that the notion of hundreds of thousands of American troops is way off the mark...wildly off the mark."
- Paul Wolfowitz, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense, testifying before the House Budget Committee, 2/27/03

HOW LONG WILL IT LAST?

"Now, it isn't going to be over in 24 hours, but it isn't going to be months either."
- Richard Perle, Chairman of the Pentagon's Defense Policy Board, 7/11/02

"The idea that it's going to be a long, long, long battle of some kind I think is belied by the fact of what happened in 1990. Five days or five weeks or five months, but it certainly isn't going to last any longer than that."
- Donald H. Rumsfeld, U.S. Secretary of Defense, 11/15/02

"I think it will go relatively quickly...weeks rather than months."
- Vice President Dick Cheney, 3/16/03

Source: Mission Accomplished! Or How We Won the War in Iraq: The Experts Speak (by Christopher Cerf and Victor S. Navasky)

Cheney, 1994: Invading Iraq Would Be 'Quagmire' 

(For Once, Cheney Got It 100% Correct!)

Dick Cheney 1994 Iraq Invasion Quagmire

Interview w/ Dick Cheney in 1994 discussing why not to invade Iraq

Runtime: 1:05
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The Cost of the War in Iraq 

The Effects of the Iraq War on the Lives of Ordinary Iraqis 

Despite the claims, no stability in Iraq - just a slide into violence

How to Stay Alive in Iraq

July 2006 How are ordinary Iraqis coping with the constant risk of insurgent attack? Baghdad Blogger, Salam Pax, gets out on the streets and investigates. "When you leave your house you expect to die in an explosion or get shot", states one man. To stay as safe as possible, people avoid certain jobs, clothing or neighbourhoods. The problem is that every day, the list of things to avoid becomes longer. "Bakeries are bombed for selling bread to the Iraqi police ... barbers because they shave beards." Now sportsmen are being targeted for wearing shorts and anyone wearing jeans, anything red or hair gel is also at risk. As one man laments: "There is nothing cheaper than Iraqi blood. Deaths have become normal."

Runtime: 13:23
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Democrat Nancy Pelosi PRETENDING the Democrats Can't Stop the Iraq War 

In 2007 the Democrats got voted in to stop the war. They have the numbers to stop the funding for the war (which would have quickly ended the war). So why don't they?

Runtime: 9:46
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So Wrong for So Long: How the Press, the Pundits--and the President--Failed on Iraq 

So Wrong for So Long: How the Press, the Pundits--and the President--Failed on Iraq

Amazon Price: $10.17 (as of 07/19/2008)

"Greg Mitchell has given us a razor-sharp critique of how the media and the government connived in one of the great blunders of American foreign policy. Every aspiring journalist, every veteran, every pundit -- and every citizen who cares about the difference between illusion and reality, propaganda and the truth, and looked to the press to help keep them separate -- should read this book. Twice."

-- Bill Moyers

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Websites on the Iraq War 

WHAT REALLY HAPPENED
Daily commentaries on developments in the War in Iraq.
Uruknet - Information from Occupied Iraq
Provides headline links to news reports from inside Iraq.
BBC News: Conflict with Iraq
News and views on the Iraq war, updated daily.
It's the Iraq War that's Killing the Economy, Stupid
As billions are going down the drain in Iraq, this wild misadventure is destroying the once strong U.S. dollar.
Silent Victims of the Iraq War
Five years after the U.S. invaded Iraq, more than 800,000 children have been forced to flee their homes to escape the violence. According to a report released Tuesday, most are unable to go to school and 60% do not have access to clean drinking water. More than half of the displaced children suffer from malnutrition. The mortality rate of children under 5 years old is three times higher in Iraq than in Syria or Jordan.

Latest News on the Iraq War 

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What WE Can Do To Stop The Iraq War SOON

==> Support the Constitution

==> Support those politicians who genuinely seek to end this war soon (suggestions: Ron Paul; Barack Obama)

==> Support those activists and groups who genuinely seek to end this war soon

==> Support websites who seek to tell the truth about Iraq (unlike most of the mainstream media)

Have something to say about this lens or about the war in Iraq? 

Your constructive comments are welcome!

JanaMurray

Very good content,here is a video that relates to the topic Michael Scheuer interviewed on Aljazeera.

Posted May 11, 2008

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