OpEdNews - Diary: US TROOPS RAID HOSPITAL AGAIN by Dahr Jamail & Ali Al-Fadhily

"We panicked at the way they entered, kicking open doors and blasting locked ones," a nurse told IPS. "A doctor tried to tell them he had keys for the locked doors, but they pointed their guns to his face. ...............snip................. Doctors and medical staff were arrested and insulted, and some were called terrorists, witnesses said. The hospital was then closed, and could no longer offer even minimal treatment."

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DIANE'S NEWS CLIPS begins here :)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~> US TROOPS RAID HOSPITAL AGAIN by Dahr Jamail and Ali Al-Fadhily Iraqi doctors and medical staff are outraged over yet another U.S. military raid at Fallujah General Hospital. The raid followed a roadside bombing Dec. 7 where four Iraqi policemen were killed and two civilians injured. The injured were taken to Fallujah General Hospital. Shortly after this attack, a U.S. Marine who was on a patrol in the city was wounded by a gunshot. "U.S. soldiers replied to the source of fire then headed straight to the general hospital across the (Euphrates) river hoping that they had shot and injured the sniper," an eyewitness told Inter Press Service (IPS). .....................snip....................... Eyewitnesses at Fallujah General Hospital said U.S. soldiers raided the hospital "as if it were a military target." "We panicked at the way they entered, kicking open doors and blasting locked ones," a nurse told IPS. "A doctor tried to tell them he had keys for the locked doors, but they pointed their guns to his face. Then they told us to go out of the building and they kept us under guard in the garden until the early hours of next morning." The nurse said the soldiers "would not even allow us to get some blankets to keep us warm; the temperature was below five degrees centigrade." Doctors and medical staff were arrested and insulted, and some were called terrorists, witnesses said. The hospital was then closed, and could no longer offer even minimal treatment. .........................snip....................... Article 12 of the first Geneva Convention states: "(Combatants) who are sick and wounded... shall be treated humanely and cared for by the Party to the conflict in whose power they may be..." The article goes on to state that "any attempts on their lives, or violence to their persons, shall be strictly prohibited..." .........................snip..................... Under the fourth Geneva Convention, Article 18 reads: "Civilian hospitals organised to care to the wounded and sick, infirm and maternity cases, may in no circumstances be the object of attack, but shall at all times be respected and protected by the Parties to the conflict." [snip] Full Article: http://www.dissidentvoice.org/Dec06/Jamail-Al-Fadhily15.htm _________________________________ Submitted by: .ron corvuswire@verizon.net BARACK OBAMA AND THE WINDS OF WAR ... Senator in the Fog ... By Glen Ford Barack Obama is a windblown politician. The junior Illinois senator avoids anchoring himself to any principle, lest his political sails fail to catch the slightest breeze blowing from the left or the right. His political direction is always tentative, although his ultimate destination is never in doubt: he will be a formidable national presence--maybe even president. But Barack Obama--who has never claimed to be a Black leader--is in fact not a leader at all. Nowhere is this more evident than in the most critical issue facing Americans and the world at this dangerous juncture in history: the war in Iraq. One year after his bland and idea-less speech on Iraq to the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations (see "Obama Mouths Mush on War," December 1, 2005), Obama returned to mush more of the same to the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. The U.S. should "begin to move towards a phased redeployment of American troops from Iraqi soil," he told the business-oriented crowd. Since the objective reality on the ground in Iraq and in U.S. public opinion had changed dramatically in the intervening year--resulting in Democratic capture of the House and Senate--Obama's failure to substantively revise his previous, timid prescriptions actually amounts to a turn to the right. .....................snip....................... Obama's focus on gamesmanship rather than principled leadership, which became strikingly evident well before he won election to the U.S. Senate, in 2004, has rendered him virtually useless in the struggle to end the occupation and war in Iraq, or to prevent further U.S. aggressions in the future. Both his Chicago speeches testify to that sad fact. ......snip......... Full article: http://www.counterpunch.org/ford11292006.html ----- .ron: DENNIS KUCINICH FOR PRESIDENT ... http://www.youtube.com/kucinich1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbY3PBo5-5Y&mode=related&search= Dennis Kucinich is solid as a rock. Dennis has consistently and vehemently opposed the neocon's war on Iraq even BEFORE Bush invaded Iraq. Dennis always voted against the war and funding for the war on Iraq. Dennis implores everyone to contact their Congressional representative and tell them to VOTE NO on the President's $161 billion war bill to be voted on this April, with the new Democratic Congress. WE THE PEOPLE CAN STOP THIS WAR THE SAME WAY WE STOPPED THE VIETNAM WAR - BY CUTTING OFF THE FUNDING TO THE WAR! Dennis says there's already $70 billion earmarked to bring the troops home now! If you support Dennis Kucinich, you're supporting the immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq; and: * Fully-paid universal healthcare for all Americans; * Fully-paid college tuition for all Americans who graduate from high school; * End the "free trade" imbalance/trade deficit/NAFTA and exporting of American jobs; Please support Dennis Kucinich for President - enough of these well-heeled, corporate Democratic candidates who refuse to bring the troops home now, refuse to support fully-paid healthcare and college tuition and refuse to cancel NAFTA. Please recognize the fact that Hillary Clinton, Barak Hussein Obama, and the other leading candidates REFUSE TO BRING THE TROOPS HOME NOW! REFUSE TO SUPPORT FULLY-PAID HEALTHCARE AND COLLEGE TUITION FOR ALL! .r o n http://www.corvuswire.com/kucinichvideos.htm _________________________________ IF LINK DOESN'T WORK, THEN PASTE ARTICLE LINK(S) INTO YOUR BROWSER -- OR GO DIRECTLY TO >> http://www.truthout.org White House Won't Allow Former Official to Publish Iran Column http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/121606G.shtml Middle East analyst Flynt Leverett, who served under President Bush on the National Security Council and is now a fellow at the New America Foundation, revealed today that the White House has been blocking the publication of an op-ed he wrote for the New York Times. The column is critical of the administration's refusal to engage Iran. ----- White House OKs Massive Pentagon Budget Increase http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/121606A.shtml The White House has approved a $468.9 billion budget for the Pentagon in fiscal year 2008, a six percent increase over last year's request, according to a Defense Department document obtained by Reuters. It is also asking the Pentagon to cover some Army and Marine Corps war costs in Iraq and Afghanistan as part of the regular budget, rather than through emergency budget requests. The 2008 budget request is $4.7 billion more than the level the Pentagon forecast in its 2007 budget documents. ----- FOCUS | About Face: Soldiers Call for Iraq Withdrawal http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/121606Z.shtml An organized, robust movement of active-duty US military personnel has publicly surfaced to oppose a war in which they are serving. Those involved plan to petition Congress to withdraw American troops from Iraq. Not since 1969, when some 1,300 active-duty military personnel signed an open letter in the New York Times opposing the war in Vietnam, has there been such a dramatic barometer of rising military dissent. ----- FOCUS | Up to 50,000 Troops May Soon Be Sent to Iraq http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/121606Y.shtml ----- Kucinich Says He Can "Save Presidency for Democratic Party" http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/121606B.shtml Speaking to a reporter about the Iraq war and his run for the White House in 2008, Democratic senator Dennis Kucinich said, "People aren't looking for the Democrats to be better managers of the war, they want the Democrats to end the war and to bring our troops home." ----- New Documents Reveal Scope of CIA Secret Prison Program http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/121606D.shtml A few days after the September 11, 2001, attacks, the CIA station chief in Rome paid a visit to the head of Italy's military intelligence agency, Adm. Gianfranco Battelli, to float a proposal: Would the Italian secret services help the CIA kidnap terrorism suspects and fly them out of the country? This initial secret contact and others that followed, disclosed in newly released documents, show ...[snip] ----- UK Officials Fail to Silence Iraq Whistleblower http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/121606F.shtml Carne Ross wrestled with his conscience for three more months after he secretly submitted evidence to the Butler Committee about the use of pre-war intelligence on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. Mr. Ross was back in the spotlight last month, following his revelation to the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee that he had testified to Butler, and that he was prepared to share the information. _________________________________ http://jablankfort@earthlink.net Pravda: PUTIN REPORTED 'FURIOUS' OVER US PAYMENT FOR LEBANON WAR, CIA Egypt terror ring Reports from the Kremlin today are portraying President Putin as being 'furious' with the American War Leader Bush over his breaking of a promise to the Russian President to not provide US funding to the Israelis for their Lebanese War. Less than 3 weeks after making this promise the United States used a little known provision in their security agreements with Israel to fully pay for the war, and as we can read as reported by Israel's Ynet News Service in their article titled "US to double emergency equipment stored in Israel", and which says: .....................snip................... Within the next two years the Americans will fill the military emergency stockpiles in Israel with double the equipment they now hold. In addition, the US will allow Israel to use the remainder of the US's monetary guarantees given to them that have not been used yet, and add up to USD 4.5 billion, by 2011. The emergency stockpiles are meant to store American military equipment in the Middle East in case of an emergency. However, in case of an emergency, Israel is allowed to use the stockpiles. The bill was approved by the Senate and House and it renewed authority to transfer equipment to be stored in Israel. A great portion of the American equipment stored in Israel last year was used for combat in the summer war in Lebanon." In an even greater affront to Russia, and its supposed Middle Eastern ally Egypt, these reports also accuse the United States of operating a CIA/French Intelligence backed terror ring on Egyptian territory for the recruitment of foreign fighters to be deployed in the Iraqi and Afghanistan wars, but which Egyptian authorities had infiltrated and arrested the American and French Ringleaders, and as we can read as reported by the Forbes News Service in their article titled "Egypt Releases Details on American Man", and which says: "Security officials in Egypt released new details Monday about an American man in their custody on suspicion of links to a terror network which allegedly recruits Muslims to fight the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq. In Washington, the administration said Monday it expected an American detained in Egypt as a suspected terrorist to be freed. [snip] Full article: http://english.pravda.ru/world/americas/85920-Putin_Lebanon-0 ----- US Considers New Aid to Lebanese Armed Forces Unless and until Fouad Siniora publicly rejects any form of US assistance to the Lebanese military, those protesting in the streets led by Hizbollah, are correct in calling him a collaborator with the US, which de facto, makes him a collaborator with Israel as are those who support his government. The argument that Siniora has been legally elected neglects to take in the fact that the election took place before Israel's war on Lebanon during which Siniora, other than rejecting a visit from Rice at that time, did nothing to protect either the people or the sovereignty of Lebanon, as proved by his support of the presence of UN troops as an occupying force in Southern Lebanon - JB >> http://snipurl.com/152v1 ----- Ynet news: How US Paid for Israel's War on Lebanon http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3338927,00.html (While shocking, this comes as no surprise. Nor should it come as a surprise that this critical vote was not reported in the Zionist controlled US media. JB ) ----- JTA: Jewish leaders threaten to indict Ahmadinejad for inciting genocide click here ( It is, of course, those same Jewish leaders who should be indicted for supporting genocide. But these leaders of America Jewish organizations are shameless and have yet to be held to account. Notice that NY black congressman Charles Rangel, a long time Zionist lickspittle, was one of the speakers - JB ) ----- Globes: Congress extends Israel loan guarantees http://www.globes.co.il/serveen/globes/DocView.asp?did=1000161768&fid=1725 (This happened a week ago today and was not reported in a single US publication. JB) ----- US Plans to Assist Lebanese Army >> VIDEO: http://snipurl.com/152wl (This is like holding down a rape victim and then seeking ways to thwart those who fought back against the rapist. JB ) ----- JTA: Pelosi Doubles Jewish Membership on Powerful Committees http://www.jta.org/page_view_breaking_story.asp?intid=6066&ref=daily_briefing ----- DV: Gabriel Ash: Hollowcaust Hullabaloo http://www.dissidentvoice.org/Dec06/Ash14.htm + http://www.dissidentvoice.org ----- Leading world writers, film-makers etc.call doe cultural boycott of Israel http://www.pacbi.org/announcements_more.php?id=415_0_5_0_M _________________________________ Excerpted from: http://onlinejournal.com The Iraq Study Group: Evading responsibility, presuming legitimacy and getting caught like a monkey By Nicolas J S Davies | Online Journal Contributing Writer The Iraq Study Group has published the most candid review of the crisis in Iraq so far by an official American policy group. The principal weakness of its assessment is that it evades two central issues: the full extent of American responsibility for the crisis; and the illegality of the U.S. invasion and the resulting illegitimacy of the role that the United States is now playing in the affairs of Iraq. http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_1527.shtml ----- Murdoch megalomania ... By Jerry Mazza | Online Journal Associate Editor James Murdoch, the son of media mogul Rupert Murdoch, has settled into being not only a mogul, i.e., BSkyB Chief Executive, but is guilty of the same megalomania he accused (with a sweep of his "unseen hand") the BBC of exhibiting. http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_1526.shtml ----- Litvinenko poisoning yet another neocon perverse display parallel intelligence structures ... By Wayne Madsen | Online Journal Contributing Writer (WMR) -- The more confusing the Litvinenko poisoning affair becomes, the more it appears to be yet another example of the dangerous neocon global network of spies, weapons smugglers, far right-wing politicians, Russian-Israeli mafia businessmen, and Islamic mujaheddin false flag provocateurs. http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_1525.shtml _________________________________ McCain Sees War As Long-Term Strategy To Win The Election "McCain wants this stupid, pointless, sucker's war to drag on, maybe even get worse," writes The Buffalo Beast's Al Uthman. "He needs something to rescue us from. He can't win without it. And hey, what's a few thousand more corpses if it means he gets to be president?" >> http://www.opednews.com/maxwrite/link.php?id=27618 ----- Russian Criminal Leverages His Life Of Crime Into TV Stardom "Bondar" brought his "own lowlife hustles. . . to the screen with all the verisimilitude of real goons playing real goon," reports The Washington Post. His series "for all its professional deficiencies, had a raw, brutal appeal, a kind of real-life 'Sopranos' on YouTube." >> http://www.opednews.com/maxwrite/link.php?id=27617 ----- Southern Methodist University Alumni, Professors Up In Arms Over Proposed Bush Library >> http://www.opednews.com/maxwrite/link.php?id=27612 ----- Major New Player Debuts On The Political Web In its own words: "IraqSlogger is the world's premier Iraq-focused Web site. [It] reports on traditional topics as well as. . . black market prices in Baghdad, the buzz on Iraq's streets, the latest graffiti in Iraq. . ." Its founder is Eason Jordan, the former CNN news chief forced to resign when he commented that US troops in Iraq are targeting journalists. >> http://www.opednews.com/maxwrite/link.php?id=27610 ----- County Posts Personal Taxpayer Info Online According to WRAL-News, Johnston County officials recently posted personal information for thousands of residents, including Social Security numbers, on the county Website. According to North Carolina officials, this breach was an accident but News for Public Officials has learned that COUNTIES ACROSS THE COUNTRY ARE KNOWINGLY POSTING YOUR MOST PRIVATE INFORMATION ON THEIR WEBSITES. http://www.opednews.com/maxwrite/link.php?id=27661 _________________________________ http://xmjmac@optonline.net U.S. military publishes manual to fight insurgents Whose bright idea was it in the military to publish a manual on how to fight insurgents? They are providing a link to download the manual - found here: http://snipurl.com/151ry I downloaded the manual; Forrest Gump was right, "Stupid is as stupid does." Gee, I wonder if anyone from, say, al Qaeda, will download this? Duh... Mary U.S. military publishes manual to fight insurgents http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061215/us_nm/usa_military_manual_dc _________________________________ Spectacular Auroras ... Space Weather News ... http://spaceweather.com What do Arizona and Alaska have in common? Northern Lights appeared over both states on Dec. 14th when a coronal mass ejection (CME) hit Earth, sparking a severe geomagnetic storm. The spectacular display is documented in a new photo gallery at http://spaceweather.com . Another coronal mass ejection (CME) on Dec. 16th. This CME is not heading directly for Earth, and so it will deliver only a glancing blow. Nevertheless, NOAA forecasters estimate a 50% chance of severe geomagnetic storms. Sky watchers should remain alert for more auroras. _________________________________ http://crooksandliars.com | http://www.lovearth.net | http://www.livescience.com _________________________________ BRAIN TEASERS Video games and computer games can be a lot of fun. They sure do get your adrenaline flowing! But sometimes, I prefer a good brain teaser to a video game. Word games are among my favorite puzzles. That's why I like AskOxford. It features crosswords, hangman and other fun word games. You could spend all day on this site! Now, some of the games are more difficult than they seem. But once you're at them for a while, you'll notice your skills improving. But that's what word games are all about, right? TO VISIT TODAY'S COOL SITE, GO HERE: http://www.askoxford.com Be sure to listen to me Monday through Friday. Use my map to find me near you http://www.komando.com/listen/index.aspx _________________________________ eHEALTHY NEWS Controlling Your Dream World - Wouldn?t it be wonderful to earn how to induce, prevent, and remember your dreams? http://www.mercola.com/2006/jun/1/controlling_your_dream_world.htm ----- How Exercise Protects You From Cancer - Not only can exercise make you feel great and keep your weight normal, it can also help prevent the 'number one' cause of death in the US, cancer. http://www.mercola.com/2006/jun/1/how_exercise_protects_you_from_cancer.htm _________________________________ VIDEO: Silver Bells & Golden Spurs 7:11 ... http://bellsandspurs.com/_video/ _________________________________ There are truths on this side of the Pyranees, which are falsehoods on the other. ~ Blaise Pascal