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03/30/2006:

"The war in Iraq is about to escalate"

With the American raid on the Mustafa mosque, the occupation of Iraq is rapidly reaching a point at which it is no longer tenable: as the Shi'ite giant awakens, the country is about to become a battleground in a much larger war, one that will envelop much of the Middle East.
antiwar.com


Fear Up Harsh: The Iraqi Civil War in Context
The causes underlying any civil war are always complex, confused, even contradictory -- as one would expect in an outbreak of madness. But those seeking to discover some of the key precipitating factors behind Iraq's furious plunge into chaos and disintegration might find one of them in the records of an obscure Congressional committee meeting on August 10, 2004.

At that meeting, then Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, General Peter Pace (now head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff) and General Bryan Brown, head of Special Operations Command, appeared before the House Armed Services Committee. In a long session larded with the usual rhetorical posturing, mutual backscratching with the committee's rubberstamp Republican majority - and a couple of polite queries from the timid Democratic minority - Wolfowitz announced the Pentagon's plan to give money, arms and training to a network of local militias in trouble spots around the world. These irregular forces - "not just armies," Wolfowitz emphasized - would be used to "counter terrorism and insurgencies," provide greater internal security" in regions of American interest and "deny sanctuary" to America's designated enemies, according to Pentagon transcripts of the testimony.

General Brown said the use of militas was part of the "unconventional warfare" being waged by the Bush Administration across the globe, "whereby special forces accomplishes our national objectives through, by and with surrogate forces." General Pace gave the legislators a view of the scope of such operations, mentioning "Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Libya, Georgia, Paraguay, Colombia, Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, North Korea, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Iran" and of course Iraq, which he mentioned twice. Wolfowitz told the Congressman that Bush wanted $500 million to set up this network - his own personal Janjaweed.



Sectarian threats purge 30,000 Iraqis from homes


30-40 Mutilated Bodies Found Each Day Around Baghdad


Americans' call for removal of Iraqi PM threatens rift with Shias


US admits attack target contained a mosque


US led coalition no longer responsible for Iraq: Daniel Pipes
Three years on from the invasion of Iraq, where do the neo-conservatives, who were so influential in the lead up to war, stand now?

One of them, Daniel Pipes, arrived in Australia today, and he says that even if Iraq does descend into full-scale civil war, it would not be a strategic tragedy.


Arab summit opens with pledge of support to Palestinians, Iraq


Arabs renew peace offer to Israel
Arab leaders meeting in Sudan on Tuesday promoted a land-for-peace offer to Israel, even as Israelis voted in polls that could give their next government a mandate to impose permanent borders with the Palestinians.


US cuts diplomatic ties with Hamas government


Arab Nations Urged to Enter Nuclear Club


'Saudi secretly working with Pak experts'
Saudi Arabia is working secretly on a nuclear programme, with help from Pakistani experts, the German magazine Cicero reports in its latest edition, citing western security sources.


Rice: Iran a Menace Beyond Nuclear Issue
..."We need now to broaden that thinking and that coalition, not just to what Iran is doing on the nuclear side but also what they're doing on terrorism," Rice said.


Neo-con cabal blocked 2003 nuclear talks
WASHINGTON - The George W Bush administration failed to enter into negotiations with Iran on its nuclear program in May 2003 because neo-conservatives who advocated destabilization and regime change were able to block any serious diplomatic engagement with Tehran, according to former administration officials.

With this cluster of good news, it becomes clear that we are sitting back watching a long-term strategy unfold, as unthinkable as that may be to some. If anybody doubts who blew the golden dome off that mosque...since that event, the US has turned on the Shia and embraced the Sunni/Baathists, and unleashed the full chaos so many of us have insisted was the strategy all along. Creating Hamas, propelling it into power, and then isolating Palestine, forcing response from the Arab states... If we were unable three years ago to imagine the horror that would ultimately ensue, now as we see it unfolding day by day...the unthinkable becomes real.