Pollution caused by the bombing of oil pipelines and the type of munitions used in two wars have led to health problems in Barsa, southern Iraq. Photograph: Dan Chung
More than 40 sites across Iraq are contaminated with high levels or radiation and dioxins, with three decades of war and neglect having left environmental ruin in large parts of the country, an official Iraqi study has found.
Areas in and near Iraq’s largest towns and cities, including Najaf, Basra and Falluja, account for around 25% of the contaminated sites, which appear to coincide with communities that have seen increased rates of cancer and birth defects over the past five years. The joint study by the environment, health and science ministries found that scrap metal yards in and around Baghdad and Basra contain high levels of ionising radiation, which is thought to be a legacy of depleted uranium used in munitions during the first Gulf war and since the 2003 invasion.
The environment minister, Narmin Othman, said high levels of dioxins on agricultural lands in southern Iraq, in particular, were increasingly thought to be a key factor in a general decline in the health of people living in the poorest parts of the country.
Toxic zones in Iraq”If we look at Basra, there are some heavily polluted areas there and there are many factors contributing to it,” she told the Guardian. “First, it has been a battlefield for two wars, the Gulf war and the Iran-Iraq war, where many kinds of bombs were used. Also, oil pipelines were bombed and most of the contamination settled in and around Basra.
“The soil has ended up in people’s lungs and has been on food that people have eaten. Dioxins have been very high in those areas. All of this has caused systemic problems on a very large scale for both ecology and overall health.”
Government study groups have recently focused on the war-ravaged city of Falluja, west of Baghdad, where the unstable security situation had kept scientists away ever since fierce fighting between militants and US forces in 2004.
“We have only found one area so far in Falluja,” Othman said. “But there are other areas that we will try to explore soon with international help.”
The Guardian reported in November claims by local doctors of a massive rise in birth defects in the city, particularly neural tube defects, which afflict the spinal cords and brains of newborns. “We are aware of the reports, but we must be cautious in reaching conclusions about causes,” Othman said. “The general health of the city is not good. There is no sewerage system there and there is a lot of stagnant household waste, creating sickness that is directly affecting genetics. We do know, however, that a lot of depleted uranium was used there.
“We have been regulating and monitoring this and we have been urgently trying to assemble a database. We have had co-operation from the United Nations environment programme and have given our reports in Geneva. We have studied 500 sites for chemicals and depleted uranium. Until now we have found 42 places that have been declared as [high risk] both from uranium and toxins.”
Ten of those areas have been classified by Iraq’s nuclear decommissioning body as having high levels of radiation. They include the sites of three former nuclear reactors at the Tuwaitha facility – once the pride of Saddam Hussein’s regime on the south-eastern outskirts of Baghdad – as well as former research centres around the capital that were either bombed or dismantled between the two Gulf wars.
The head of the decommissioning body, Adnan Jarjies, said that when inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency arrived to “visit these sites, I tell them that even if we have all the best science in the world to help us, none of them could be considered to be clean before 2020.”
Bushra Ali Ahmed, director of the Radiation Protection Centre in Baghdad, said only 80% of Iraq had so far been surveyed. “We have focused so far on the sites that have been contaminated by the wars,” he said. “We have further plans to swab sites that have been destroyed by war.
“A big problem for us is when say a tank has been destroyed and then moved, we are finding a clear radiation trail. It takes a while to decontaminate these sites.”
Scrap sites remain a prime concern. Wastelands of rusting cars and war damage dot Baghdad and other cities between the capital and Basra, offering unchecked access to both children and scavengers.
Othman said Iraq’s environmental degradation is being intensified by an acute drought and water shortage across the country that has seen a 70% decrease in the volume of water flowing through the Euphrates and Tigris rivers.
“We can no longer in good conscience call ourselves the land between the rivers,” she said. “A lot of the water we are getting has first been used by Turkey and Syria for power generation. When it reaches us it is poor quality. That water which is used for agriculture is often contaminated. We are in the midst of an unmatched environmental disaster.”
Well folks, the great news to report to you all is that the “Viva Palestina” Humanitarian Aid Convoy safely reached Gaza and delivered all their aid. On January 6th, 517 humanitarians from 20 countries, in close to 200 vehicles, crossed through the Rafah Border into Gaza. The scenes greeting us as we made our way to Gaza city were unbelievable. Over 100,000 lined the roads and streets as we took 3 hours to drive 20 kilometres. They had waited patiently on us for us for weeks, and their outpouring of excitement and gratitude was the most humbling experience in my life. They are the real heroes, not us.
Having left London on December 6th the convoy made its way through Europe, and then crossed the sea into Greece. From there, they arrived to a hero’s reception in Turkey, and to add to the convoy, another 200 people in 70 vehicles loaded with aid joined the already swelling numbers on the road. Turkish charity, I.H.H. provided the vehicles and volunteers. This particular charity is one of the leading Turkish charities, and at various times, upwards on 12 Turkish M.P.’s were on the convoy. Their involvement brought with them some serious political clout that was to prove invaluable when we faced some serious difficulties later in the journey.
From Turkey, the convoy rolled into Syria, where as expected, the reception was huge. From Syria, the convoy crossed the border into Jordan on December 22nd. It was at this point that I flew to Amman in Jordan and met up with everyone. It was fantastic to meet up with loads of my old friends from the last convoy, and to listen to the many wide and varied stories from the trip thus far. Everyone was in top form, and the end of the road was in sight, at least on a map anyway, as we were all to find out later…….
The following day in Amman, thousands showed up for a rally in honour of the convoy. There were a few hours of speeches, as each speech had to be translated into 3 languages each time someone spoke! As you can imagine, it got boring after a while… Upon our return to our hotel, 3 local women had appeared waving an Irish flag. They had been following my “Ireland To Gaza” facebook group, and having found out what hotel we were in, came to show some support for the Irish on the trip. Their mother was from Dublin, and all 3 had lived in Ireland until 15 years ago. They were just so excited to catch up with us and show support, and needless to say, we were inspired by their efforts. Plus, there was great banter as the hotel lobby was full of other convoy members looking on at our fan club!
December 24th, we travelled from Amman to the port city of Aqaba in southern Jordan. It was an amazing drive, as 70% of the trip was driving through the desert. In soaring temperatures, driving for hours with nothing but a desert landscape to look at was mind-blowing. From the previous convoy, driving through the desert was my favourite part of the journey, and to be driving through the desert again was special indeed.
We rolled into Aqaba around 6 pm, and all the vehicles were parked up in a compound. From here, a 2 hour sail and a 4 hour drive would see us at the Rafah Border. Busses took us into town where we all met up to hear the latest news. George Galloway and others came back from a meeting with Egyptian Government, and announced their new conditions of travel to Gaza. Everyone was shocked, and totally dismayed by Egypt’s new rules.
1. We were to hand over all our vehicles and aid to the United Nations Relief Agency.
2. Drive back up to Syria, put all our vehicles on a boat and sail it to El Arish Port. We were to take a ferry or fly.
3. We were to ask Israel for permission to cross from Egypt into Gaza.
Now, on the 1st point, there was no way that we could hand our aid over to the UN. Everything would have to pass through the Israeli border, and there was no chance that they would allow everything to cross. Plus, the UN are continually shouting about the lack of aid Israel is letting in, as they are not getting anything close to what they need to distribute in Gaza.
Secondly, by driving up to Syria, the boat crossing would be 18 hours, and cost a fortune.
Thirdly, and this was the crucial point, that we ask permission from Israel to cross into Gaza from Egypt. This was their 1st public declaration that they were been controlled by Israel and the US. At this point, the whole of the Arab media arrived in Aqaba and started covering the convoy to over 100 million viewers. There was outrage at Egypt for not only coming out with such a statement, but with their refusal to let us cross from Aqaba into Egypt.
At this point, the Turkish Prime Minister got involved in diplomatic negotiations, and the Queen of Jordan called to offer her total support to everyone. She appealed to Egypt’s deaf ears, and to no avail.
The next couple of days were spent in negotiations, and on December 27th, to commemorate the 1st wave of attacks on Gaza, a special vigil was held. Everyone observed a 3 minute silence, and the names of 16 medics killed in Gaza were read out. It was a very sombre moment, as Caoimhe Butterly read out their names. Caoimhe worked in Gaza during the 22 day attack, and most of these medics were friends and work colleagues. Following this we marched to the Egyptian embassy and held a peaceful protest at their gates.
Plus, 30 of us joined is a hunger strike along with many others in Cairo who were part of a Gaza Freedom March that was banned from entering Gaza. Over 1,300 people from all over the world had arrived in Cairo only to be told they would not be allowed in. Among the hunger strikers in Cairo, was Hedy Epstein, a 85 year old Holocaust survivor.
Together we fasted for 40 hours until word came through that a deal had been struck. Egypt was going to allow the whole convoy a safe passage into Gaza if we travelled from Syria.
We would not have to hand it over to the UN, and we would not to ask Israel for permission to cross. (Like we were going to…)
To everyone assembled, this came across as a good compromise, and everyone was in favour of getting back on the road and getting to Gaza.
So, on Tuesday 29th, everyone packed up and hit the road again. A long days driving saw us cross the border into Syria, and on to Damascus where we stayed the night. We stayed here the following night as well, as plans were been made to secure a cargo boat to transport our vehicles. The Turkish government came to the rescue and paid £250,000 for a cargo boat large enough for the job. Plus, the commander of the Turkish Navy stated that they would protect their vessel from any “hostile attack”. Now that is diplomacy eh?
On the 31st, the convoy made the final leg of its journey to the port city of Latikia in northern Syria. Here, all the vehicles were parked in a compound at the sea in a large Palestinian Refugee Camp. Almost 7,000 live here, with no chance of ever returning to their homeland in Palestine. This was a chilling reminder to everyone about the reality of the displacement of Palestinians from their homeland. People were showing us deeds for their houses, which they have been expelled from and will never see again. It felt sad in a way that we were going to get permission to go to Palestine, but for these natives, they had no chance of ever seeing their homeland again.
So, on Sunday January 3rd, we loaded close to 250 vehicles onto a Turkish Cargo ship and it set sail for the Egyptian port of El Arish. The following day, the Syrian Government chartered a plane to fly over 500 people to el Arish. It was going to take 4 flights to complete the job.
The 1st flight got away on time, and when they reached El Arish, the Egyptians had moved the goalposts again. They were insisting that the 155 people who had just arrived go straight to the port and drive all the vehicles up to Rafah and then leave. They were stamped with entry and exit visas at the same time, which is illegal. Needless to say, a stand off ensued and 9 hours later, the Egyptians relented and agreed to everyone been present to go to Rafah.
The 2nd flight left, and mid-air developed an engine fault. It landed safely in Damascus, where everyone was very relieved to have landed without incident. Another plane was chartered from Greece, and it flew to Damascus to collect and fly those stranded to El Arish, and then it returned to Latikia, where the remaining 197 passengers boarded to fly to El Arish.
Having arrived at El Arish airport, a full scale commotion was going on as the airport officials “lost” 5 passports. As our noise got louder, 1 by 1 the passports mysteriously re appeared…… After 8 hours in the airport, we were bussed to the compound at the port where all our vehicles and all the convoy members were gathered.
Little did we all know what was in store for us later on that night. During discussions with the head of the I.H.H. charity, a Turkish M.P. representing the Government, and George Galloway, Egyptian officials reneged on their previous deal, and where now denying entry to 59 vehicles. Then, they stood up and walked out to make a phone call. 15 minutes later they looked out the window and the compound was surrounded by 2,000 riot police and soldiers. This was developing into a very tense situation.
Hundreds of convoy members went to the main gates and staged a peaceful protest. We all linked arms at the front, and at various times, sat down for long spells. The Muslim men gathered in deep prayer, and the atmosphere was very calm.
However, things changed for the worse after a few hours whenever we were attacked by stone throwers from behind police lines. They fired tear gas on us, water cannoned us, threw sand in our faces, and then baton charged us. It was a very scary moment, and I was lucky enough to escape any blows. As everyone was getting pushed back into the compound, stones and bricks followed after them from the police lines. A full scale riot raged for the next 10 minutes as stones and bricks rained from both sides of the wall.
When calm had been restored, 60 members were injured, and 15 had to go to hospital to receive stitches. It was a long night as tensions took as while to calm down. 7 people were held by the authorities over night in a police truck. The mood among everyone was total shock as to what had just happened.
People were very frightened, and with just cause. The sight of people injured was not a pretty one, believe me.
After a few hours sleep, we awoke to see about 40 police men now guarding us, and a new line of discussions opened. The Turkish Prime Minister was dealing directly on our behalf, and he had negotiated a new deal. The 40 new cars that had been bought by US volunteers in July and had been refused then, were now the only vehicles not allowed to cross. It was decided that these vehicles would be shipped back to refugee camps in Syria and Lebanon rather than send them to the Israeli border. Plus, the 7 people detained from the previous evening were returned without any charge.
Then, at 4pm, vehicles started to get ready to pull out of the port. As darkness fell, the 1st group of twenty vehicles started the 40km drive to the Rafah Border. I was in the 2nd group, and at 7pm on Wednesday 6th January I crossed over the border into Gaza for the 2nd time in a year. Instead of a 5 hour crossing, we did a 13 day roundabout to reach this point. It was an emotional crossing, and all the hardships faced along the way just faded into a distant past. We had done it. We had crossed every hurdle put in our way, and together we stood tall for our principles, and broke the siege on Gaza.
It was a different feeling from the last crossing, but equally important. Inside the gates I got to meet several friends from the last trip, and to see the emotion and joy in their faces was another humbling experience. Our crossing meant so much to them, and living in a prison, they don’t get to see many moments like these. We were a symbol of hope, love, solidarity, kindness, humanity, and peace.
Following a reception at the border, we set off for Gaza city. Thousands and thousands of people, young and old, lined every step of our way. They were leaning over each other just to get touching a vehicle. Taking pictures with their mobile phones, shouting messages of thanks, and generally giving us a hero’s welcome. It was one long humbling experience. What the residents in Gaza have to live with on a daily basis makes them all the real heroes in our books.
After a good nights sleep, I awoke to hear loud booms out at sea. Looking out from my window, I could see Israeli gunships patrolling the waters a few miles out. This is a constant reminder that their presence is close, and to stop fishermen from going out far enough to fish. Not a pretty sight to see on a daily basis.
At mid day, everyone met up at the compound, and we officially handed over all our vehicles and aid to various charities and NGO’s working in Gaza. Anyone with specific deliveries, got to hand over their aid personally. There were emotional scenes as people packed up their belongings and said good bye to their vehicles that had become their home for the past month. It had been a long hard journey, and this final act, sealed a job well done. Everyone could hold their heads high and say that they delivered their aid to Gaza in one piece.
I went off in the afternoon to the Al Jazeera studio and appeared on one of their main shows. I was on a panel along with an Egyptian spokesman, and a Turkish journalist. We were all filmed from various locations, and needless to say, the Egyptian hadn’t good legs to stand on!!
That evening, I went to the Gaza Sporting Club. This is the club I presented jerseys to before, and this evening I was back with more! This also marked the occasion where I formally established a Gaza GAA club within their structures. I presented them with a set of jerseys that had been donated by Peter Canavan’s school, The Holy Trinity in Cookstown.
It was a very proud moment, and one for the history books.
They presented me with a plaque, and 3 club jerseys. It was a fairly emotional meeting for sure. Very soon, children in Gaza will be playing Gaelic football, and will be kicking points like Peter!!
During our meeting, a loud explosion was heard in the distant.
The curtains in our room blew in and then out with the blast. At this point, our evening was cut short and we returned to the safety of our hotel. It was a very tense feeling, and word came through that it was a F16 attack and that 1 man had been killed. In another attack near the border, 2 more were killed in F16 attacks. This was a cold reminder to all about the daily fear everyone lives with in Gaza. These attacks are designed to keep on letting everyone in Gaza know that they can be hit at anytime, for no reason at all. Just living in Gaza makes you a target.
The following morning, we were all advised to head straight to the border. Everyone packed up, and after many tearful farewells, 517 people made their way to the Rafah Border.
We were made to wait for 8 hours, and then when we had passed through immigration, we were all loaded onto buses and taken directly to Cairo Airport. Here, each and every one of us was “Deported” from Egypt. This was our final thanks for having brought humanitarian aid to the suffering people in Gaza. For all of us, it is a badge of honour. Where else in the world would you be deported for having completed an act of charity? The mind boggles……..
Egypt can hold their heads in shame for what they did to us. Making us endure a 13 day detour, attacking us, and then deporting us, was some reception from a supposed friend of the west. Then, they announce that they will never allow another convoy of aid to pass through their land for Gaza. They have a big heart, and their generosity knows no bounds.
At Cairo airport, our passports were held and only returned when stepping onto a flight. The British Embassy in Cairo did nothing for their citizens, and the US did even less. The Irish Embassy did more than every other Embassy put together. From the moment we landed in El Arish, they were making up to 5 calls a day to us to make sure we were all ok. They also made several calls for our safety to the Egyptian Government.
Michael Martin also called to offer his support. Once again, Ireland stood up for its citizens and for the Palestinians. We were truly grateful for this support and constant contact.
I had a flight to Istanbul at 1 45pm, and when that plane left the ground on take off, I let out a big sigh of relief. Boy was one happy man to have seen the back of Egypt. That’s twice Egypt have attacked us and made our journey difficult, and following my deporting, I never want to see that country again.
Now that I’m back, I will continue to champion the cause of the Palestinians living under siege in Gaza. What is happening to them is one of the biggest crimes against humanity going on in the world today, and it must stop soon. I truly believe that with the wide coverage the convoy received in the Arab world, very soon the screws will tighten further on Egypt and Israel/US to lift the siege illegally imposed on Gaza. The situation has to change soon, and very soon. I know that by playing my small part, it can help make changes in time.
I am eternally hopeful that common sense will prevail very soon.
So please pass this story on to anyone you feel would read it. This is a brief account of what we went through, and what the Palestinians live with on a daily basis. The more people aware of the situation there, the sooner it changes.
This Friday night in The Bank Hotel in Dungannon, a sort of homecoming is planned for me. Particia Campbell, Mickey Coleman, Tommy Mc Kearney, Bernadette Mc Aliskey, and Peter Canavan have organised it. They had a meeting of solidarity for the convoy on Jan 2nd, and it was inspiring to receive their support. So if you can make it, come along at 9pm. I will talk about the trip, and the panellists will have a discussion. Mickey Coleman will be singing his new anti war song, “Mothers Lullaby”. Evening to be finished off with music and a few drinks for sure……
For all the support shown to myself, and to the convoy as a whole, thank you all so much. In moments of despair, your message of support would lift the spirits. Each and every one of you all played a role in making sure the aid reached Gaza.
Together, we all made it happen, and the people in Gaza love and respect everyone for having shown the courage to speak up for them. They will never forget this convoy, that’s for sure……
Thank God for Helen Thomas, the only person to show any courage at the White House press briefing after President Barack Obama gave a flaccid account of the intelligence screw-up that almost downed an airliner on Christmas Day.
After Obama briefly addressed L’Affaire Abdulmutallab and wrote “must do better” on the report cards of the national security schoolboys responsible for the near catastrophe, the President turned the stage over to counter-terrorism guru John Brennan and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.
It took 89-year old veteran correspondent Helen Thomas to break through the vapid remarks about rechanneling “intelligence streams,” fixing “no-fly” lists, deploying “behavior detection officers,” and buying more body-imaging scanners.
Thomas recognized the John & Janet filibuster for what it was, as her catatonic press colleagues took their customary dictation and asked their predictable questions. Instead, Thomas posed an adult query that spotlighted the futility of government plans to counter terrorism with more high-tech gizmos and more intrusions on the liberties and privacy of the traveling public.
Thomas: “And what is the motivation? We never hear what you find out on why.”
Brennan: “Al Qaeda is an organization that is dedicated to murder and wanton slaughter of innocents… They attract individuals like Mr. Abdulmutallab and use them for these types of attacks. He was motivated by a sense of religious sort of drive. Unfortunately, al Qaeda has perverted Islam, and has corrupted the concept of Islam, so that he’s (sic) able to attract these individuals. But al Qaeda has the agenda of destruction and death.”
Thomas: “And you’re saying it’s because of religion?”
Brennan: “I’m saying it’s because of an al Qaeda organization that used the banner of religion in a very perverse and corrupt way.”
Thomas: “Why?”
Brennan: “I think this is a — long issue, but al Qaeda is just determined to carry out attacks here against the homeland.”
Thomas: “But you haven’t explained why.”
Neither did President Obama, nor anyone else in the U.S. political/media hierarchy. All the American public gets is the boilerplate about how al-Qaeda evildoers are perverting a religion and exploiting impressionable young men.
There is almost no discussion about why so many people in the Muslim world object to U.S. policies so strongly that they are inclined to resist violently and even resort to suicide attacks.
Obama’s Non-Answer
I had been hoping Obama would say something intelligent about what drove Abdulmutallab to do what he did, but the President uttered a few vacuous comments before sending in the clowns. This is what he said before he walked away from the podium:
“It is clear that al Qaeda increasingly seeks to recruit individuals without known terrorist affiliations … to do their bidding. … And that’s why we must communicate clearly to Muslims around the world that al Qaeda offers nothing except a bankrupt vision of misery and death … while the United States stands with those who seek justice and progress. … That’s the vision that is far more powerful than the hatred of these violent extremists.”
But why it is so hard for Muslims to “get” that message? Why can’t they end their preoccupation with dodging U.S. missiles in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen and Gaza long enough to reflect on how we are only trying to save them from terrorists while simultaneously demonstrating our commitment to “justice and progress”?
Does a smart fellow like Obama expect us to believe that all we need to do is “communicate clearly to Muslims” that it is al Qaeda, not the U.S. and its allies, that brings “misery and death”? Does any informed person not know that the unprovoked U.S.-led invasion of Iraq killed hundreds of thousands of Iraqis and displaced 4.5 million from their homes? How is that for “misery and death”?
Rather than a failure to communicate, U.S. officials are trying to rewrite recent history, which seems to be much easier to accomplish with the Washington press corps and large segments of the American population than with the Muslim world.
But why isn’t there a frank discussion by America’s leaders and media about the real motivation of Muslim anger toward the United States? Why was Helen Thomas the only journalist to raise the touchy but central question of motive?
Peeking Behind the Screen
We witnessed a similar phenomenon when the 9/11 Commission Report tiptoed into a cautious discussion of possible motives behind the 9/11 attacks. To their credit, the drafters of that report apparently went as far as their masters would allow, in gingerly introducing a major elephant into the room:
“America’s policy choices have consequences. Right or wrong, it is simply a fact that American policy regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and American actions in Iraq are dominant staples of popular commentary across the Arab and Muslim world.” (p. 376)
When asked later about the flabby way that last sentence ended, former Congressman Lee Hamilton, Vice-Chair of the 9/11 Commission, explained that there had been a Donnybrook over whether that paragraph could be included at all.
The drafters also squeezed in the reason given by Khalid Sheikh Mohammed as to why he “masterminded” the attacks on 9/11:
“By his own account, KSM’s animus toward the United States stemmed … from his violent disagreement with U.S. foreign policy favoring Israel.”
Would you believe that former Vice President Dick Cheney has also pointed to U.S. support for Israel as one of the “true sources of resentment”? This unique piece of honesty crept into his speech to the American Enterprise Institute on May 21, 2009.
Sure, he also trotted out the bromide that the terrorists hate “all the things that make us a force for good in the world.” But the Israel factor slipped into the speech, perhaps an inadvertent acknowledgement of the Israeli albatross adorning the neck of U.S. policy in the Middle East.
Very few pundits and academicians are willing to allude to this reality, presumably out of fear for their future career prospects.
Former senior CIA officer Paul Pillar, now a professor at Georgetown University, is one of the few willing to refer, in his typically understated way, to “all the other things … including policies and practices that affect the likelihood that people … will be radicalized, and will try to act out the anger against us.” One has to fill in the blanks regarding what those “other things” are.
But no worries. Secretary Napolitano has a fix for this unmentionable conundrum. It’s called “counter-radicalization,” which she describes thusly:
“How do we identify someone before they become radicalized to the point where they’re ready to blow themselves up with others on a plane? And how do we communicate better American values and so forth … around the globe?”
Better communication. That’s the ticket.
Hypocrisy and Double Talk
But Napolitano doesn’t acknowledge the underlying problem, which is that many Muslims have watched Washington’s behavior closely for many years and view U.S. declarations about peace, justice, democracy and human rights as infuriating examples of hypocrisy and double talk.
So, Washington’s sanitized discussion about motives for terrorism seems more intended for the U.S. domestic audience than the Muslim world.
After all, people in the Middle East already know how Palestinians have been mistreated for decades; how Washington has propped up Arab dictatorships; how Muslims have been locked away at Guantanamo without charges; how the U.S. military has killed civilians in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere; how U.S. mercenaries have escaped punishment for slaughtering innocents.
The purpose of U.S. “public diplomacy” appears more designed to shield Americans from this unpleasant reality, offering instead feel-good palliatives about the beneficence of U.S. actions. Most American journalists and politicians go along with the charade out of fear that otherwise they would be accused of lacking patriotism or sympathizing with “the enemy.”
Commentators who are neither naïve nor afraid are simply shut out of the Fawning Corporate Media (FCM). Salon.com’s Glen Greenwald, for example, has complained loudly about “how our blind, endless enabling of Israeli actions fuels terrorism directed at the U.S.,” and how it is taboo to point this out.
Greenwald recently called attention to a little-noticed Associated Press report on the possible motives of the 23-year-old Nigerian Abdulmutallab. The report quoted his Yemeni friends to the effect that the he was “not overtly extremist.” But they noted that he was open about his sympathies toward the Palestinians and his anger over Israel’s actions in Gaza. (emphasis added)
Former CIA specialist on al Qaeda, Michael Scheuer, has been still more outspoken on what he sees as Israel’s tying down the American Gulliver in the Middle East. Speaking Monday on C-SPAN, he complained bitterly that any debate on the issue of American support for Israel and its effects is normally squelched.
Scheuer added that the Israel Lobby had just succeeded in getting him removed from his job at the Jamestown Foundation think tank for saying that Obama was “doing what I call the Tel Aviv Two Step.”
More to the point, Scheuer asserted:
“For anyone to say that our support for Israel doesn’t hurt us in the Muslim world … is to just defy reality.”
Beyond loss of work, those who speak out can expect ugly accusations. The Israeli media network Arutz Sheva, which is considered the voice of the settler movement, weighed in strongly, citing Scheuer’s C-SPAN remarks and branding them “blatantly anti-Semitic.”
Media Squelching
As for media squelching, I continue to be amazed at how otherwise informed folks express total surprise when I refer them to Khalid Sheikh Mohammed’s statement about his motivation for attacking the United States, as cited on page 147 of the 9/11 Commission Report:
“By his own account, KSM’s animus toward the United States stemmed not from his experience there as a student, but rather from his violent disagreement with U.S. foreign policy favoring Israel.”
And one can understand how even those following such things closely can get confused. Five years after the 9/11 Commission Report, on Aug. 30, 2009, readers of the neoconservative Washington Post were given a diametrically different view, based on what the Post called “an intelligence summary:”
“KSM’s limited and negative experience in the United States — which included a brief jail stay because of unpaid bills — almost certainly helped propel him on his path to becoming a terrorist … He stated that his contact with Americans, while minimal, confirmed his view that the United States was a debauched and racist country.”
Apparently, the Post found this revisionist version politically more convenient, in that it obscured Mohammed’s other explanation implicating “U.S. foreign policy favoring Israel.” It’s much more comforting to view KSM as a disgruntled visitor who nursed his personal grievances into justification for mass murder.
An unusually candid view of the dangers accruing from the U.S. identification with Israel’s policies appeared five years ago in an unclassified study published by the Pentagon-appointed U.S. Defense Science Board on Sept. 23, 2004. Contradicting President George W. Bush, the board stated:
“Muslims do not ‘hate our freedom,’ but rather, they hate our policies. The overwhelming majority voice their objections to what they see as one-sided support in favor of Israel and against Palestinian rights, and the longstanding, even increasing support for what Muslims collectively see as tyrannies, most notably Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Pakistan, and the Gulf States.
“Thus, when American public diplomacy talks about bringing democracy to Islamic societies, this is seen as no more than self-serving hypocrisy.”
Abdulmutallab’s Attack
Getting back to Abdulmutallab and his motive in trying to blow up the airliner, how was this individual without prior terrorist affiliations suddenly transformed into an international terrorist ready to die while killing innocents?
If, as John Brennan seems to suggest, al Qaeda terrorists are hard-wired for terrorism at birth for the “wanton slaughter of innocents,” how are they able to jump-start a privileged 23-year old Nigerian, inculcate in him with the acquired characteristics of a terrorist, and persuade him to do the bidding of al Qaeda/Persian Gulf?
As indicated above, the young Nigerian seems to have had particular trouble with Israel’s wanton slaughter of more than a thousand civilians in Gaza a year ago, a brutal campaign that was defended in Washington as justifiable self-defense.
Moreover, it appears that Abdulmuttallab is not the only anti-American “terrorist” so motivated. When the Saudi and Yemeni branches of al Qaeda announced that they were uniting into “al Qaeda of the Arabian Peninsula,” their combined rhetoric railed against the Israeli attack on Gaza.
And on Dec. 30, Humam Khalil Abu Mulal al-Balawi, a 32-year-old Jordanian physician from a family of Palestinian origin, killed seven American CIA operatives and one Jordanian intelligence officer near Khost, Afghanistan, when he detonated a suicide bomb.
Though most U.S. media stories treated al-Balawi as a fanatical double-agent driven by irrational hatreds, other motivations could be gleaned by carefully reading articles about his personal history.
Al-Balawi’s mother told Agence France-Presse that her son had never been an “extremist.” Al-Balawi’s widow, Defne Bayrak, made a similar statement to Newsweek. In a New York Times article, al-Balawi’s brother was quoted as describing him as a “very good brother” and a “brilliant doctor.”
So what led al-Balawi to take his own life in order to kill U.S. and Jordanian intelligence operatives?
Al-Balawi’s widow said her husband “started to change” after the American-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. His brother said al-Balawi “changed” during last year’s three-week-long Israeli offensive in Gaza, which killed about 1,300 Palestinians.
When al-Balawi volunteered with a medical organization to treat injured Palestinians in Gaza, he was arrested by Jordanian authorities, his brother said.
It was after that arrest that the Jordanian intelligence service apparently coerced or “recruited” al-Balawi to become a spy who would penetrate al Qaeda’s hierarchy and provide actionable intelligence to the CIA.
“If you catch a cat and put it in a corner, she will jump on you,” the brother said in explaining why al-Balawi would turn to a suicide attack.
“My husband was anti-American; so am I,” his widow said, adding that her two little girls would grow up fatherless but that she had no regrets.
Answering Helen
Are we starting to get the picture of what the United States is up against in the Muslim world?
Does Helen Thomas deserve an adult answer to her question about motive? Has President Obama been able to assimilate all this?
Or is the U.S. political/media establishment incapable of confronting this reality and/or taking meaningful action to alleviate the underlying causes of the violence?
Is the reported reaction of a CIA official to al-Balawi’s attack the appropriate one: “Last week’s attack will be avenged. Some very bad people will eventually have a very bad day.”
Revenge has not always turned out very well in the past.
Does anyone remember the brutal killing of four Blackwater contractors on March 31, 2004, when they took a wrong turn and ended up in the Iraqi city of Fallujah — and how U.S. forces virtually leveled that large city in retribution after George W. Bush won his second term the following November?
If you read only the Fawning Corporate Media, you would blissfully think that the killing of the four Blackwater operatives was the work of fanatical animals who got – along with their neighbors – what they deserved. You wouldn’t know that the killings represented the second turn in that specific cycle of violence.
On March 22, 2004, Israeli forces assassinated the then-spiritual leader of Hamas in Gaza, Sheikh Yassin — a withering old man, blind and confined to a wheelchair.
That murder, plus sloppy navigation by the Blackwater men, set the stage for the next set of brutalities. The Blackwater operatives were killed by a group that described itself as the “Sheikh Yassin Revenge Brigade.”
Pamphlets and posters were all over the scene of the attack; one of the trucks that pulled around body parts of the mercenaries had a poster of Yassin in its window, as did store fronts all over Fallujah.
We can wish Janet Napolitano luck with her “counter-radicalization” project and President Obama with his effort to “communicate clearly to Muslims,” but there will be no diminution in the endless cycles of violence unless legitimate grievances are addressed on all sides.
It might also help if the American people were finally let in on the root causes for what otherwise get dismissed as irrational actions by Muslims.
Ray McGovern now works with Tell the Word, the publishing arm of the ecumenical Church of the Saviour in inner-city Washington. During a 27-year career at CIA, he served under nine CIA directors and in all four of CIA’s main directorates, including operations. He is co-founder of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS).
This is from 2008, but I think it warrants more attention.
January 10, 2008
Last year, the German Greens Party commissioned a report on the potential of biogas in Europe. The Öko-Instituts and the Institut für Energetik in Leipzig carried out a study on the potential of biomethane in Europe. The study came to the startling conclusion that, if current production trends continue, all of Europe’s natural gas imports from Russia could be covered by locally produced biogas/biomethane within 20 years. Earlier, Ulrich Schmack, an energy advisor to the German government and manager of the world’s largest biogas firm, came to the same conclusion, even though his projection created some controversy.
The biogas/biomethane sector is booming in Germany, and has become the
continent’s fastest renewable energy sector. For example, market leader
Schmack Biogas recently received a $192 million investment to expand
its activities, which is one of last year’s largest renewable energy
deals. The growing interest in the gaseous biofuel can be explained by
the fact that: (1) biomethane production can be decentralized
(producing the fuel closer to its end use); (2) it is highly efficient
(yielding more than twice as much energy per area of energy crops than
ethanol from similar crops); (3) it can be obtained relatively easily
from a large variety of biomass resources (e.g., organic waste, manure,
dedicated energy crops); and (4) advances in biogas technology,
microbiology and crop engineering have made (and continue to make)
production even more efficient.
The EU currently imports some 40 percent of all its natural gas from
Russia. In 2030, this dependency will have increased to 60 percent (all
else equal). This outlook worries many, as it opens obvious questions
about energy security. Last year, gas disputes between Russia and
Belarus and the Ukraine, affected energy supplies to the EU. The
Leipzig report on biogas, entitled “Möglichkeiten einer europäischen
Biogaseinspeisungsstrategie” (“The opportunities of a European strategy
to feed biogas into the natural gas grid”) puts this geopolitical
question into an entirely different perspective.
The main findings of the study are:
• Europe’s potential for the sustainable production of biomethane is
17.7 trillion cubic feet per year. This is roughly the total amount of
natural gas currently consumed by the entire European Union.
• All EU’s natural gas needs for the medium-term future (2020) can
be met by biogas/biomethane. All imports from Russia could be
replaced, while the excess can back out petroleum and coal.
• The production of 17.7 Tcf of biomethane, fed into the grid, will
result in a reduction of 15 percent of Europe’s CO2 emissions. The
Kyoto protocol demands a reduction of 10%.
• An efficient biomethane-feed-in strategy could be built around the
concept of “biogas corridors.” Such corridors would consist of biomass
plantations established alongside the pipelines, so that the green gas
can be fed into Europe’s main natural gas grid without the need for new
pipelines and infrastructures.
• A Europe-wide biomethane-feed-in strategy will result in the
creation of 2.7 million new jobs within the EU. Employment will be
generated mainly in agriculture and in the manufacture, construction
and management of biogas plants and biogas purification plants.
A major roadblock standing in the way of moving to a biomethane economy
for Germany is the fact that biomethane is too good for the country’s
natural gas pipeline system, i.e., its heating value exceeds the
Germany’s upper quality limit on gas (the only country in Europe to
have this restriction). The German Green Party and the country’s
environmentalists and farmers, therefore, are lobbying for a new law
that would allow producers to feed their superior, renewable and green
gas into the national pipelines. The German government has now taken
the first steps towards crafting a ‘biogas feed-in law’ that would
allow pipeline operators to open their network for biomethane.
Pollution caused by the bombing of oil pipelines and the type of munitions used in two wars have led to health problems in Barsa, southern Iraq. Photograph: Dan Chung
Toxic zones in Iraq”If we look at Basra, there are some heavily polluted areas there and there are many factors contributing to it,” she told the Guardian. “First, it has been a battlefield for two wars, the Gulf war and the Iran-Iraq war, where many kinds of bombs were used. Also, oil pipelines were bombed and most of the contamination settled in and around Basra.
