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Non-embedded information sources on the Iraq War - a "dummy’s guide" to what is available on the Internet - commentary by Tony Kevin, 9 December 2004
Over the next seven weeks or so, the Iraq War is likely to get even bloodier, as the 30 January 2005 election date approaches, President Bush has warned the US forces to prepare for more troop casualties, and so should we. I hope all Australians in Iraq, for whatever reason, are wary. And I hope Donna Mulhearn in particular is watching her back and staying close to her trusted Iraqi friends. We should also prepare for more wholesale death and destruction to be visited on the Iraqi people as their moment of "free choice" approaches, and as "the last of the Al Qaeda and Saddamite terrorists" are "hunted down" through the streets and houses of Iraqi cities and towns like Mosul. We need alternative news-check sources on these coming events. We cannot trust as sole source of news what the Fox/CNN/ NBC etc US news machines will churn out. Several people in recent weeks have asked me, in more or less friendly spirit, what have been the sources for my series of articles ( see my website) since 9 November setting out the evidence for why I and many others believe the US military action in Iraq, in particular its destruction of Fallujah last month, is a war crime under the Geneva Conventions. I’ve decided to list below the main sources of non- US- embedded reporting and commentary that I have read or scanned, in forming my judgements about Iraq. Of course I also read the official US version as promulgated through NBC, CNN, Fox etc - I do not rely wholly on the "antiwar" reports. But it is, I suggest, important to read both kinds of reporting and commentary on the Iraq War, if you want to be in any way informed on this continuing global tragedy. My list below does not claim to be complete in any sense - I apologise if I have left out important websites or articles. If people would like to send me suggested additions, I will put up a supplementary list in a few weeks’ time. But I hope this will get the ball rolling. Tony Kevin , Canberra 9 December 2004
1. Iraq Watch is a ZNet subsite providing alternative news and analysis of past, present and ongoing events, conflicts and crises in Iraq. It lists a lot of major articles that appeared originally on other sites so is a convenient place to start. http://www.zmag.org/CrisesCurEvts/Iraq/IraqCrisis.cfm
2. Iraq War coverage and commentary in The Guardian newspaper, UK: e.g., most recently
"You asked for my evidence, Mr Ambassador. Here it is" , by Naomi Klein , 4 December 2004 http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,1366278,00.html 3. A US dissident website www.motherjones.com : See 11 November 11, 2004, "Four Times Falluja Equals?" by Mark LeVine , with an introduction by Tom Engelhardt, "The Tipping Point" ( the LeVine piece first appeared on another US dissident site, www.tomdispatch.com ) http://www.motherjones.com/news/dailymojo/2004/11/11_515.html 4. Also on www.motherjones.com , 18 November 2004 , "The Carthaginian Solution", by Tom Engelhardt . A rich collage of media references to the destruction of Fallujah. http://www.motherjones.com/news/dailymojo/2004/11/11_520.html 5 . On www.aljazeera.com , December 2 2004, "New wave of violence looming in Fallujah". A recent update by Aljazeera, which is a site whose English language section is worth keeping an eye on. http://www.aljazeera.com/cgi-bin/news_service/middle_east_full_story.asp?service_id=5916 6. Search the keyword "Fallujah" on BBC, Guardian, New York Review of Books websites www.bbc.com , www.guardian.com , www.nybooks.com 7. Two excellent recent NYRB articles on the war in Iraq and how it is being reported: "On War", book review article by Chris Hedges, in New York Review of Books, Vol 51 No 20, 16 December 2004, pages 8-14. http://www.nybooks.com/articles/17630 "Iraq, the Press and the Election", by Michael Massing, in New York Review of Books, Vol 51 No 20, 16 December 2004, pages 26-32. http://www.nybooks.com/articles/17633 8. On www.antiwar.com , 18 November 2004, "The Battle for Minds ( Forget the Hearts)" by Tom Engelhardt and Jonathan Schell - this Schell essay is particularly important in my view . http://www.antiwar.com/engelhardt/?articleid=4001 9. Google-search the names of some of the non-US-embedded correspondents in Fallujah who witnessed and reported the battle for Fallujah as it was being experienced by the people of Fallujah : e.g., Fadhil Badrani for BBC Radio, 9 November, "Watching tragedy engulf my city", http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3996111.stm See also Badrani's reports for BBC, Taking cover in Falluja, Prayers and tears in Falluja, Inside besieged Falluja. ALSO
"Ten days in Fallujah battlefield", from Xinhua News correspondent Abdul Rahman in Fallujah, 22 November 2004 http://english.eastday.com/eastday/englishedition/features AND Dahr Jamail's Iraq despatches on his independent blogsite from Iraq (I cannot vouch for the accuracy of every event in each of these three correspondents' reporting, but I believe that in its totality this reporting must involve a high degree of truth) 10. Google-search various reports on the Fallujah protests lodged by UN Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour, e.g., . "UN seeks Falluja war crimes probe", 20 November 2004, on: http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/BA685C00-BCEA-4F70-90D5-2E6AE456D8B0.htm
Good reading!
Tony Kevin, Canberra 9 December 2004
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