1 In 3 Iraqi Children Malnourished

Many people are unaware of the level of bombardment of Iraq and the consequent level of destruction of its infrastructure. A modern, developed country with national healthcare and schooling has been reduced to ruins. Perhaps this was the real intention: the destruction of Iraq as a state, as the original map of the Middle East drawn up by the World War II victors was proving too inconvenient.

Unlike in the Vietnam war, the military have been very careful not to release statistics of bombing sorties and damage caused. Seymour Hersh obtained a rare piece of statistics from the US Marine Air Wing. In 15 months of flying, they dropped over 500 000 tonnes of ordnance on Iraq. This equates to roughly 2 million 500 lb bombs - the big ones, but there will be large numbers of smaller munitions mixed in, too. This works out at from 100-200 targets per hour, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The carriers have trawlers coming in daily to replenish the bomb supply; bombers are taking off continuously. These figures are just from a fraction of the US military, and given the pullout of an already low number of US troops on the ground, they are only going to increase. Only a tiny fraction of these munitions are 'smart bombs', and even with these, 10 % go off target. The result is Vietnam levels of carpet bombing and destruction. The electricity supply, water, sewerage, manufacturing industry, food processing, warehouses, all has been destroyed.

I don't believe that this is unintentional, the conquest will have been planned in great detail with sophisticated simulations. The planners and the political leaders will have been well aware of the outcome, and this includes Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and the rest of the cabinet.

The video stream of his talk is on this page:
http://www.princeton.edu/WebMedia/lectures/

Edit: just found an active torrent of the talk:
http://www.chomskytorrents.org/TorrentDetails.php?TorrentID=1000

Almost all munitions, not just smart bombs, use DU - they have since the 1990s. The effect is already evident in the statistics of new births and incidence of cancer not only in Iraq but also among returned US service personnel. US has already denied Japanese medical researchers and German medical personnel access to Iraq. Blair wants to keep his options open re Iran. Consequences of bunker busters raining down on another 70m people in the middle-east would make Chernobyl look like a cakewalk. Europe is not immune, the wind currents redistribute the desert sands across south and middle Europe. A recent EU epidemiological study across six EU countries report an increasing incidence of cancer since 1992 which cannot be explained by better diagnostics.

It is also a wonder to many that police uniforms are so readily available to all and sundry in Iraq. Read this to perhaps reflect on the reallegacy of New Labour: http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article12969.htm

Sona, that story is horrifying. Any society has a small but significant population of sadists and psychopaths - people who are normally held in check by law & order and social constraints. When order truly breaks down, these people cause mayhem.

I am sceptical that DU from the first Gulf War could cause a detectable increase in cancers within Europe. The DU is certainly detectable though:

(edit - a better link): http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-2047373,00.html

edit - not so sure now:
http://traprockpeace.org/busby_depleted_uranium.pdf

No, I don't think its just the first Gulf War and/or the Bosnian conflict. There are many possible explanations, including Chernobyl and the increasing use of pesticides, all of which accumulate in the food chain - ask the polar bears, only if they talk to us before disappearing. The study I referred to does not explore causes but merely reports what mdical data reveals. It acknowledged the need for further research focusing on the types of cancer showing a noticeably higher incidence and backgrounds of sufferers.

I also think that its more than a problem of law and order breakdown at the institutional infrastructure level. What we are perhaps witnessing is the emergence of an institutional culture of sadism, Abu Ghraib, Baghram, Guantanamo notwithstanding. There are many similarly horrific accounts of not famous victims and so many are 'disappeared' by men in police uniforms according to eye witness accounts. Are we to believe in a thriving black market for police uniforms in Iraq?

The media has ignored, and continues to do so, the human dimension of the Iraq tragedy. The coalition forces have totally ignored the primary responsibility of any occupation towards civilian safety. That in itself is enough ground for war crimes trials which could make Milosevic and Karadzic look like saints. But its only the victors who convene such trials to humiliate defeated enemy protagonists whose trials somehow never eventuate in their lifetimes when they show signs of implicating the victors.

Is any group actively preparing for indicting Bliar for war crimes either before the UK Courts or the ICC as soon as he can be prised from No10?

It would make sense to work with the European Parliament's Temporary Committee on the Alleged Use of European Countries by the CIA for the Secret Transport and Illegal Detention of Prisoners. The report is at:
http://www.europarl.eu.int/comparl/tempcom/tdip/default_en.htm

It concludes that violations of fundamental human rights contrary to the terms of the Chicago Convention have certainly occurred on EU territory. It also reports lack of cooperation not just from CIA but also from some EU member states.

The status of the Committee, however, remains 'temporary' and as such it cannot make recommendations that would have to be considered seriously by the European Parliament.

UK parliament is unlikely to act on its findings but if the EP does UK cannot ignore it. US will certainly be in denial just as it was re Vietnam or Latin America so don't expect much from across the Atlantic. This is not to say some here would not like to see that happening but a plurality of people in this bible thumping god forsaken country is too immature and too uninformed to distinguish between patriotic dignity and nationalistic hubris.

The EP will not cover war crimes in Iraq directly but US will find it difficult to ignore EU moves on this issue. The other avenue is the UN - it has made noises re human rights violations but in the context of a lack of law and order, and conditions in Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib. I don't see Iraq approaching the UN directly. The UN option is really a road to foggy bottom.

It may be very difficult to hold Blair personally culpable as the dog's tail partner of the coalition for war crimes trials to proceed. It would nevertheless articulate his legacy ante his memoirs.

But get him out first and fast - May 07 is too late.

If my last comment sounded too disparaging of US it is because thats the way I feel. Re my reference to US resorting to denial to repreat itself, here's a piece by Dahr Jamail and what he encounters in his defiantly daring private lecture circuit: http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/051006Z.shtml

He was asked barely five days ago "Is there anything good happening there [in Iraq] at all?" - and this from those who are convinced that Iraq was no way to go! Many, though, do not like to contemplate defeat rather than be outraged by the injustice of a monumental train wreck.

Tony has broken international law, and the Pinnochet case set a precedent, even if he did miraculously recover from multi-infarct dementia or whatever he came down with following his arrest.

Undoubtedly he has broken international law, but I suspect he has broken domestic law, too. Given that he is so keen on respect for Laura Norder... maybe an ASBO restricting him to Sedgefield?