UPDATE April 17 11:35 PM EDT: Accumulated News pieces and commentary from 4/16 through now

TODAY's MAJOR COMMENTARY" Was Violence of US Troops Fueled by Pentagon-Funded Computer Games? For this extremely important story, please go to: http://baltimore.indymedia.org/newswire/display/3836/index.php

Why Bush Refuses to Declare the War Officially Over

Bush has refused to declare the war officially over. Why? Because as long as the area is considered an official war zone, the US is responsible only for military personnel in Iraq, not the civilians. He can violate a whole string of Geneva convention regulations pertaining to civilians without culpability. He can set up a military government and authorize looting. He can drag his feet on humanitarian aid. It all can get swept under the "we're in an active war zone, with "chaos" and " fog-of-war " used as blanket excuses for everything. Also, as long as it is an active war zone, a shift to attacking Syria can be considered an EXTENSION of the current war, not a new war - a Madison Ave style distinction undoubtedly dreamed up by Cosmo-brained Victoria Clarke. In a "war zone," he can still round people up on little pretext, he can allow unprovable abuse of POWs in an effort to extract information or "confessions." And, finally, once a peace is declared, the fact that Bush refused to ratify the Geneva Convention protocols pertaining to treatment of civilians after a war will become a major point of contention loaded with bad PR for the White House.

Civilians Without Local Water Still Even in Um Qusar Area, while Cost of Trucked in Food Sky Rockets

Even towns closest to Kuwait border are still without water. Um Qusar - with the highest concentration of British and US troops and closest access to supplies is a shambles, so that should give you an idea of the rest of Iraq. Water is trucked in, supplied for free by the British (in this area) but then the drivers CHARGE A FEE! The pattern is - promise the civilians everything, deliver next to nothing, and what you deliver, deliver with strings attached. Here's a quote from an Iraqi man speaking to British officers at a "town meeting." (from NY Times).

"It has been 25 days and it is all promises. You promise water, you promise electricity, you promise us safety, and yet you don't do anything for us."

Food is getting through but, like water, for a price. Even the simplest item, such as potatoes, cost many times more now in Um Qusar than they did before the war - a potato, for ex. now costs thousands of dinars. One of the reasons the cost of food is up and water comes for a price is the presence of British and American troops and the thousands of support people there, from technical people and food prep staff to the legion of media folk. The same thing happens in every occupied city - there is not enough to go around to feed both the foreigners and natives, and the natives are, inevitably, the ones who suffer.

Mysterious Plight of Iraqi POWs

Iraqi POWs are becoming increasingly unhappy - riots have broken out in more than one camp, including the one in Um Quasar. But what the real reason for the unrest is cannot be determined because no one but MPs, not even the Red Cross are now being allowed into the camp. The Red Cross says they have only been allowed to visit the POWs twice, briefly since the start of the war. There are rumors that the Americans are failing to provide adequate food, are refusing to allow frantic family members to visit prisoners or even obtain any information about whether loved ones are alive or dead. The "official" story being released by the US is that the problem is unrest between Iraqi factions represented among the prisoners.

< Official Lie by US Exposed

An Najaf - the local Ayatollah Sustani - said Iraq should not be ruled by Americans...but the US issued a phony statement by Sustani calling on Iraqis to support American governance for the meantime - A total lie. Sustani was furious.

Was Systematic Looting Used To Cover Up a 'Search and Destroy" Mission, Paid for in Art Treasures?

There is now evidence that the looting was not random - it was highly systematic. Nearly all of the buildings looted were selected Saddam offices - and the museums. Not just the Baghdad museum, but EVERY MAJOR MUSEUM in IRAQ - all cleaned out within the same 48 hour period. If you couple this systematic pattern with the eyewitness reports now coming out from human rights activists on the scene, the entire looting bit was orchestrated by the Pentagon which, of course, acted on orders from the White House. There can be several reasons for this, but I have a theory that fits the case pretty well.

The loot, in the style of pre-20th century war lords of all cultures, was a payoff. They used to call it "sacking" and it was done to reward the troops who may not have been paid for months. So who was Bush trying to "pay off?" The looting started in Baghdad, where Ahmen Chalabi's force of several hundred imported thugs appears to have been concentrated. My guess is that Chalabi's people were after the museum treasure - had buyers already lined up in Europe, US and elsewhere. But I also suspect the White House believed that Saddam Hussein had stashed his highly damning files on his dealings with Reagan, Bush I and about half the people in the current administration in the museums.

Why? Because Saddam would want this information to not only be preserved, but to be viewed by the world. What better place than the museums, which were sacred cows, in terms of bombing, and would have had scores of nonpolitical western researchers flocking to them following the war. The systematic sacking of ALL the major museums strongly suggests that they were being searched for something - and not for anything "official" like WMD evidence. So, in exchanged for a systematic search and destroy mission, Chalabi and thugs got their payoff in loot - that way no money every changed hands between the White House and their henchman. The Chalabi thugs were "camoflagued" by the scores of regular Iraqis who, in many cases, as reported by observers, had been egged on by US troops

This theory also explains why Bush would have chosen Chalabi in the first place - a disastrous political choice for Iraq - but the ideal man to pull off an "inside job."

Why Syria and Not Pakistan? Why Doesn't the Press Ask?

Why isn't Bush threatening Pakistan? He is bullying Syria because it is small and because Ariel Sharon wants it. But Pakistan fulfills Bush's own requirements for a "rogue state" far better than Syria. Pakistan was PROVEN to harbor terrorists, including Bin Laden. Pakistan has nukes. Pakistan protects and hides members of various known terrorist organizations. It was in Pakistan that Daniel Perle was kidnapped and murdered. And yet Bush calls them "ally." Why? Because Pakistan could kick Bush's ass if he started bullying them - he knows they REALLY DO have weapons of mass destruction. Easy to look "tough" when you are threatening and invading a small country that you KNOW does not really have WMDs to turn on you. Bush's refusal to confront Pakistan and No. Korea is PROOF that Iraq and Syria do NOT have WMDs and would not likely use them even if they had some stashed somewhere: He only threatens and invades countries he knows are "safe". Like any coward.

So Why isn't this question being asked by anyone in the media?

Bush the Coward Hides in Texas over Easter to Avoid White House Protest

Bush really is the biggest coward to ever have cowered in the White House. Not only does he bully and beat up on weak, poverty-stricken countries, he is terrified of dissenters, even with a legion of secret service and FBI people surrounding him. So this weekend, knowing that a very large protest is planned, in which thousands will encircle the White House to protest his presidency (hey - his list of offenses has mounted up to the point where it's hard to pick a single issue out), he is taking off to his phony ranch in Crawford, TX to hide out. (for an exposé of the "ranch" see http://www.whoseflorida.com/mean_genes.htm#The Old family Ranch --click on "the old family ranch" same article is also at http://www.democrats.com/view.cfm?id=6687 )

So I wonder who will preside over the White House Easter Egg Hunt? Maybe Ari the Egg with Eyebrows will become Ari the Egg Master?

Toxic Mess Created by Bush War Will Kill More Iraqis than War Itself

With their "flush it away" mentality, far too many Americans never stopped to consider just what bombing actually does besides blow things up, movie magic style. For example - what happens to all those gas lines, industrial chemicals, burning toxic building material, etc? Did we think our bombs were so smart that they would turn a building to rubble while somehow miraculously not touching any thing but clean stone, wood and metal:? This story from Village Voice presents the extremely ugly reality of just what our "smart bombs", et al. have done:

"Raw sewage courses through canals and riverbeds. Toxic clouds from burning oil and smoldering buildings billow into the air, raining particles on the countryside. Heavy metals and a stew of chemicals from bombed industrial plants spill into the soil and pollute drinking-water supplies. Iraq doesn't look as bad as a smoky Kuwait did in the aftermath of the 1991 Gulf War, but Iraq's air, land, and water have been battered in 2003, and some experts say more Iraqi civilians will die from post-war environmental problems than have been killed during the fighting."

http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0316/pyne.php

Bush's personal 'Homeland Security Alert" system. To be mobilized when people start asking too many questions

CODE BLUE:Have pals in the media release a phony poll showing sudden "surge" in your approval ratings

CODE GREEN: Start talking up the tax cut - better yet, try to make it BIGGER!

CODE YELLOW: Make vague and unsubstantiatable accusations that some poor and easily bombed country is harboring terrorists and/or WMDs

CODE ORANGE: Claim you've captured a "KEY MASTERMIND" of terrorism

CODE RED: Bomb someone

TODAY'S PROPAGANDA MASTERPIECES

NBC: Turning "cowboy pilot" into a compliment

After US pilots bombed and strafed many of the wrong targets, killing several civilians, including journalists and coalition soldiers, the European newspapers were full of stories of ruthless American "cowboy pilots" who had no respect for life. So now, NBC has taken it upon itself to try to turn this totally around, to deflect US criticism and confuse the stupid (anyone who would actually swallow this trick). On 4/16 nightly news with Tom Brokaw, there was a 5-minute segment on "Cowboys in the sky." The whole bit was dedicated to building up the idea that the word "cowboy" means brave, valiant and daring, but not reckless. The term was used as many times as could be worked in without sounding totally lame. How could anyone with a half dozen neurons still believe after watching this that the White House and American news peddlers aren't in bed together?

AOL: Turning Iraqi Rage at US into "Proof of Liberation"

On AOL's main page (with news headlines blaring), on the evening of 4/16, this convoluted headline came up: "LIBERATED AND MAD AT US,......Free to Protest, Some Iraqis Slam US" The real story? thousands of Iraqis are demonstating against the US in the streets of Baghdad. Others have shoved and spit on soldiers on their way into buildings commandeered as temporary headquarters for temporary US-run government officies. They DO NOT WANT US THERE. But AOL (I pick on them because they have a "captive" news audience with their main page headlines of some 40 million people - bigger than all the network evening news show viewers combined. )

The protests are so vehement that the US is forbidding any media coverage of the real action. So, just as NBC turns "cowboys" into a "good thing," outraged protests become "proof" of the glorious success of the US campaign.

No More 'Drinking Stupid:' Arabs Turn from Coke to Mecca-Cola to Protest US

Reuters: "Thousands took to the streets to porotest against the fighting in Iraq and now Mecca-Cola, which as has sales of about 5 million bottles in Europe, will give thristy Senegalese a thought-provoking alternative thirst slaker to the US Brand.At a glance, the 1.5-liter Mecca-Cola bottles look just like Coca Cola. But closer study shows a green mosque, Arabic writing on one side and the sales pitch in French and Arabic: "No more drinking stupid. Drink with commitment." Sales of the new drink have taken off far more rapidly than anyone predicted. After its first week, a new plant in Morocco had already sold 300,000 bottles.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=857&ncid=757&e=10&u=/nm/20030416/od_uk_nm/oukoe_retail_cola

Attack on Dixie Chicks has been Traced to GOP Headquarters in Washington, D.C.

Nothing like having deceit and intimidation as your  main code of action! I've said for weeks that the attack on the Dixie Chicks was organized by the same core group of rightwing political minions who organize all sorts of call ins, write ins, etc to make it appear that the "public in general" is against or for something conducive to the rightwing agenda. Now the proof is coming out. A preponderance of the phone calls made to radio stations urging them to withdraw the Chicks songs or to burn their materials originated from GOP HQ in Washington.

">http://www.alternet.org/mediaculture/2003/04/000645.html

Bush and Blair Ramp Up Use of Good Cop/Bad Cop Scam to Throw Public Off the Scent of Syrian Invasion Plans

As I said in an earlier report, the favorite current political tactic in the White House and Downing Street (Blair) is the "good cop/bad cop" scam. This is the routine where one guy is prearranged to act like the heavy, while the other one acts like the good guy - while all the while both are working toward the same goal in cahoots.

Bush is heavily relying on this scam to advance his Syrian invasion scheme. The scheme is highly unpopular, but Bush has every intention of pushing it through unless something pretty overwhelming derails him. So he is now trying to set the stage to make it look as the future invasion is a case where he "had no choice left." He tried to do that with the Iraq invasion ("we've waited long enough - our patience has run out!") but no one bought it. Now he figures he'll make Donald Rumsfeld "bad cop", while he Bush, is the "good cop." So now Bush is trying to appear to be very reluctant, unwilling in fact, to move ahead with invasion plans, while Rummy and others just won't stop talking about ALL THE GOOD REASONS to attack.

Meanwhile, Tony Blair is also playing off Bush as the "good cop," pretending to be only eager to seek peace and love in the Middle East - a poor sap who knows nothing of all these war plans.

The Blair/Bush crew were very clever - as clever has rigid Nazi types can be, anyway. Instead of "leaking" their "Bush doesn't want to invade, Blair's an innocent lamb" story to the Washington Post or NY Times, they leaked it to the Guardian, which is a more liberal publication - one which a recent study showed to be the most popular source for online news of late. The Bush/Blair folks figure that people will be more likely to believe the leak if it isn't in one of the publications that either Bush or Blair are known to politically control. Of course, Bush's backing off Syria comes from an unnamed "intelligence source...who was fed the info from someone else...who probably got it from Karl Rove.

In the same Guardian story, Blair tries to claim the subject of Syria has never even come up in his talks with Bush! Can't wait to see how they spin INTO the coming assault on Syria! But I'm sure all those details are being worked out in those talks in which Syria is "never discussed."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,937105,00.html

Anyway, it will be an amusing "game" to see how many times in coming days we can spot the good cop/bad cop scam being plied - from Ari Fleischer playing off planted question-askers like Les Kinsolving to Bush playing off various cabinet members, to Blair playing off Bush and Ariel Sharon.

Speaking of Tony Blair...

     This guy is either just as much of a loony tune delusional case as Bush, or he is a colossally arrogant, in-denial egotist (other wonderful Bush qualities). Blair this week announced his ambition to become the the President of the European Union. That's right. President of the same collection of countries filled with people who, for the most part, hate his guts for being a bloodthirsty coward and Bush toady. The same people who, even as I write this (afternoon of 4/16) , are rioting outside the British Embassy in Athens, lobbing bricks and setting fire to cars connected to said embassy to show their rage at him as he signs the EU's latest charter at an EU summit across town. Yep, sounds he'd make a fine EU president - one who'd most likely end up like Mussolini.

      Blair has pulled the wool over the UK people's eyes enough times with his phony "leaked" documents designed to show that he is a noble prince of a guy who has been desperately but futiley trying to keep Bush in check. Of course the clear pattern has been that as soon as the leaked documents or phone communications have had their effect and made people in Parliament or the man and woman on the London street give him just one more chance, he then proceeds to do exactly what he planned to do all along - whatever Bush says.