posted May 31, 2006 12:13 PM              

May 26, 2006

OSAKA -- An Iraqi journalist and a Japanese human rights activist said the public has a poor idea of the situation in Iraq and warned of an impending health catastrophe as more Iraqis contract cancer from exposure to depleted uranium shells used by the U.S. and Britain.

Speaking at a public gathering Thursday evening in Osaka, Isam Rasheed, a freelance journalist, and Fumikazu Nishitani, head of Osaka-based NGO Rescue the Iraqi Children, gave an update of what was going on in the Middle Eastern country.

"It is now virtually impossible for foreign journalists to move around independently in Iraq," Nishitani said.

"Most (journalists) are embedded with U.S. forces or operate from the Green Zone, a walled fortress in central Baghdad. As a result, few people in the West, or in Japan, have seen the true extent of the damage and suffering in Fallujah, while the U.S. government continues to deny responsibility for the cancer and leukemia outbreaks."

"The world has seen little of the devastation wrought by U.S. troops on the city of Fallujah," Rasheed said. "Entire neighborhoods were destroyed and the number of innocent civilians killed and maimed the bombing was quite high."

Nishitani said the situation was a "major problem for Japan" because the Japanese public does not have a clear picture of what is going on in Iraq because there are few Japanese journalists there.

During the Vietnam War, Japanese reporters went to Vietnam and showed what was really going on, according to Nishitani.

Now, there are no Japanese reporters from the mainstream media in Iraq, he said, noting they all left on orders from the Foreign Ministry.

Rasheed said many Japanese he has spoken with over the past few years know little about what is really going on and says they believe the Self-Defense Forces are providing humanitarian relief when the only news they receive about it is from the government.

"What are they doing in Iraq? The Iraqis don't know. When we heard the Japanese were coming, many Iraqis were happy because they thought this meant Japanese companies would be coming to Iraq and provide jobs and technology training," the journalist said.

"That hasn't happened, and there is a sense of bitter disappointment."

Nishitani slipped into Iraq three times, most recently earlier this month, and filed reports for the Mainichi Shimbun and other news outlets.

Rasheed, who is also a photographer, is based in Baghdad and writes for a Scottish newspaper.

The men showed two of Rasheed's films as well as photos of the November 2004 siege of Fallujah by U.S. troops.

They also showed photos of Iraqis with cancer they had interviewed. Iraqi doctors and many international experts claim much of the cancer, particularly leukemia, was caused by exposure to depleted uranium shells from U.S. and British forces that have contaminated the ground.

Rasheed told the story of one 12-year-old boy he interviewed who began playing in a field contaminated with depleted uranium at the age of 10. Shortly after he began showing signs of illness and was eventually diagnosed with leukemia.

Despite extensive evidence and a growing international consensus that the depleted uranium shells are responsible for the rise of cancer in Iraq, the United States continues to deny any connection.

Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed an amendment ordering a comprehensive study on the effects of exposure to depleted uranium. The study, however, will only be conducted on U.S. soldiers.

Journalists have discovered that since 2003, parts of Baghdad have radiation levels 1,900 times higher than normal.

During the first year of the war, starting in March 2003, the U.S. Army and Air Force used ammunition containing about 115 metric tons of depleted uranium.

"Nobody has any idea how many Iraqis may have developed leukemia or fallen ill (with other diseases), because of the depleted uranium shells," Nishitani said.

"It's a major health catastrophe in the making." Rasheed said.

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posted May 31, 2006 12:25 PM            

The coalition forces used depleted uranium rounds in the Gulf War in 1991 too.

Further, if there was any truth to this bullsh*t, coalition troops who are after all on the ground in Iraq would be suffering the same effects. Tank crews who clean the muzzles of their guns would be exposed to an even greater concentration of depleted uranium.

I know you and others in the I hate America crowd are eager to believe the government has no concern for Iraqi civilians and no concern for US military personnel.

After all TP, America is your enemy and any enemy of America is your friend. That includes the terrorists, Saddam, the mad mullah's, the insane Islamic clerics, American traitors in the press and in the Congress....... and anyone else with an ax to grind against the United States.

posted May 31, 2006 12:32 PM              

Let's see if Bush will be around to save Jwhop then.

Of course he will be in his bunker hiding out. Like a dumb red neck.

NORTH America is not my enemy. The government in NORTH America is.

You claim to know so much yet you keep saying America. It is North America.

I know you are not referring to the Americas as in Central and South.

Go back to school you dumb red neck. And I thought Bush was retarded.

posted May 31, 2006 12:53 PM              

and feeding the negative..is just going to make it grow..plain and simple. ...

posted May 31, 2006 01:04 PM            

To the rest of the world, the United States is thought of and referred to as America.

Citizens of the United States are thought by citizens and governments around the world to be Americans.

Hope that clears it up for all the "accidental Americans".

As for the rest of your bullsh*t TP, you can drop the phony show of compassion. You show and showed NONE for the millions of citizens of Iraq, Iran and Kuwait Saddam killed. You show and showed NONE for the millions Kim Jong il starved and is still starving to death in North Korea.

posted May 31, 2006 01:10 PM              

Unfortunately not by me. You are speaking for yourself not the whole continent.

I guess the school you went to didn't teach you right. (Probably a wannabe confederate school)

It is North America.

posted May 31, 2006 01:11 PM              

quote:

---

You show and showed NONE for the millions Kim Jong il starved and is still starving to death in North Korea.

---

Neither do you

posted May 31, 2006 01:52 PM              

The trees and soil have really caused alot of trouble.

*Rolls eyes.

Unfortunately. I am talking about the government. not the continent.

posted May 31, 2006 04:40 PM            

MG,

I really don't know what is wrong with you again. You started to act in a civil manner and even gained the respect on other forums. Then you started right back up with your racist terminology, cussing at people, and acting like a wildboar. What is the deal? I understand you don't like the Military, you HATE President Bush, you think jwhop and I are stupid Conservatives, but do you really have to start using race and curse words in every post?

Is it impossible for you to write an actual sentence that resembles a dialog?

Telling me that I am a white confederate wanna be makes no sense what so ever and it doesn't aid your cause. Telling me that I should know better because I am "Native American" is also non sequitor. IT is possible you come from a verbally abusive family where it was routine to call each other names like "Idiot, A**hole, b1tch, wh0re, etc..." Maybe your parents told you to shut the hell up or used race in some way to keep you in your place. You're an adult now and it doesn't serve any purpose to act like that. No one takes your point seriously when all you do is make small minded judgements based on where a person is currently living.

posted May 31, 2006 11:43 PM              

After all the effects on the troops who fought in Desert Storm were not known for a few years after the war when their subsequent children started showing up with birth defects in high numbers and those that fought in the war developed unusal illnesses and cancer.

Logic tells us that we cannot explode bombs in populated areas without it having effects like this on children and adults who are exposed to the chemicals at high levels. Denying it doesn't make it any less true.

When any human being suffers it should effect and concern us all. Especially when it is children. It matters not where in the world that suffering occurs. Not if you profess to believe that we are "all one."

posted June 01, 2006 12:04 AM              

and we all wonder why things are the
way they are..
well just so you know..I love you all
equally..you are all an individual
snowflake..knowflake to me..and we are
all part of the equation = equally. ...

As Abstrat Al..would surely say!

posted June 01, 2006 02:51 AM              

Mirandee:

quote:

---

When any human being suffers it should effect and concern us all. Especially when it is children. It matters not where in the world that suffering occurs. Not if you profess to believe that we are "all one."

---

I agree... many innocent people are paying the price... it breaks my heart...

Mystic Gemini:

quote:

---

Unfortunately. I am talking about the government. not the continent.

---

Our government is all screwed up. I agree, hopefully, it will change, but I do not see it hapenning!

Lotus:

quote:

---

well just so you know..I love you all
equally..you are all an individual
snowflake..knowflake to me..and we are
all part of the equation = equally. ...

---

I love you too! And I agree, we are all part of the equation!

posted June 01, 2006 07:02 AM              

Poor poor baby.....

Shame on man....

Lets pray for a huge shift in attitude and consciousness...

posted June 01, 2006 08:22 AM              

the reality of the situation of iraq is thats been going on for years....U.S. Sanctions in Iraq during the clinton years, we were bombing them then and now.....over 500,000 iraq children died, and thats not even including women and men....

the part that upsets me and always will upset me is that nobody seemed to give a rat's a-- when it was happening back then....

i cannot even imagine being a child in iraq right now...

*sigh*

the children.
the CHILDREN.

posted June 01, 2006 12:38 PM            

What are they involved in and with whom are they involved.

Let's see. Let's have a look at Isam Rasheed..so called journalist and prominently quoted in the article TP posted.

Isam Rasheed

World Tribunal on Iraq
Media Wrongs Against Truth and Humanity
Exposing the Politics of Disinformation
Rome
Aula Magna del Rettorato
Universitΰ degli Studi Roma Tre
10-13 February 2005

Proceedings
Confirmed Panel of Jury

Prof. Samir Amin Director, Third World Forum - Egypt/Senegal
Prof. Upendra Baxi Professor of Law, University of Warwick - India/UK
Prof Franηois Houtart Director, Center Tricontinental - Belgium
Prof Margherita Hack Astronomist - Italy (waiting for confirmation)
Prof. Wangaari Mathai Nobel Peace Prize 2004, Minister of Environment -
Kenya (waiting for confirmation)

Confirmed Participants

Dr. Corinne Kumar Director, El-Taller International, Coord. World Court
of Women, Tunisia.
Danny Schechter MediaChannel, New York, Journalist/Film-maker (WMD - Weapons of Mass Deception), USA
Dahr Jamail Independent Journalist, Alaska/Iraq
Isam Rasheed Iraq
Tahrir Swift Independent Journalist, Arab Media Watch, UK
Michele Santoro Journalist, MEP, Italy
Gabriele Zamparini Independent Film-maker (XXIst Century), Italy/UK
Fernando S. Del Solar Guerrero Azteca Project, US
Prof. David Miller Professor of Geography, Media Analyst (Ed. Tell Me
Lies), UK
Prof. Peter Phillips Director, Project Censored, USA
Anjali Kamat Independent Journalist, India/Egypt
Dr. Tony Alessandrini Human Rights Activist, WTI International, USA
Hana Albayaty Independent Film-maker, activist, Iraq/Belgium
Ayse Berktay Peace Initiative Turkey, WTI International Coordination Group,
Turkey
Patricia Alessandrini Composer, USA/France

Programme

10 February 2005

7.00 pm - 8.00 pm: Opening Ceremony and Introductory Statements

8.00 pm - 11.30 pm: Concert: Peoples' for Truth and Against War

11 February 2005

10.00 am - 10.30 am: Introduction - The Right and Duty to Truth

10.30 am - 1.30 pm: Truth-Telling in Context

• 'Media Wars' and the Histories of Media Propaganda, Disinformation and Resistance
• On Ownership, Message and Profits
• Theory and Practice of "Embeddedness"
• The Silencing Of Dissent

1.30 pm - 2.30 pm: Lunch

2.45 pm - 5.00 pm: Media Wrongs Against the Peoples of Iraq: Aggression

• Complicity in waging a war of aggression through disinformation
• Complicity in denying peaceful resolution of situation
• Complicity in distorting the Iraqi will

5.00 pm - 5.30 pm: Coffee

5.40 pm - 7.30 pm: Media Wrongs Against the Peoples of Iraq: Silence.

• Silence on the realities of war, occupation, reconstruction, liberation and political transition.
• Silence on truths of civilian suffering
• Silence on Iraqi visions and rejections

12 February 2005

10.00 am - 1.30 pm: Media Wrongs Against the Peoples of the 'Coalition': Deception and Incitement

• Complicity in willing a public to war
• Deception on the political and economic motives of war and occupation
• Silence on costs of war and occupation
• Incitement of a public mood of fear and insecurity

1.30 pm - 2.30 pm: Lunch

2.45 pm - 6.00 pm: Media Wrongs Against Humanity: Exclusion and Usurpation

• Distortion of the fundamental concerns and priorities of the global population
• Complicity in enabling the corporate-military usurpation of visions of 'security'
• Complicity in the exclusion and non-hearing of global voices for peace and justice
• Complicity in denying the truths told by non-Western and alternative Media

13 February 2005

10.00 am - 1.30 pm: Celebrations of Compassionate Truth-Telling

• Watching the Media
• Blogging Towards Truth
• Experiments of Peoples' Media

1.30 pm - 2.30 pm: Lunch

2.45 pm - 5.00 pm: Voices of Truth, Humanity and Wisdom

• inter-cultural visions of the duty to truth and truth-telling
• the poetics of non-violent futures
• experiences of reclaimed voices

5.00 pm - 9.00 pm: Break

9.00 pm - 10.00 pm: Presentation of Preliminary Findings and Summary Statement of Judgement

10.00 pm - 10.15 pm: Concluding Statements

Awaiting Confirmation

Dr. Saadi Youssef Poet, Iraq/UK
Dr. Hamudi Jasim Iraq
David Barsamian Director, Alternative Radio, USA
P. Sainath Independent Journalist, Activist, India
Amy Goodman Democracy Now, Independent Journalist, USA
Kalpana Sharma Journalist, India

FINAL DECLARATION
of the preliminary hearing to the Rome session of the
World Tribunal on Iraq
Palazzo Marini Parliamentary Building
Rome, 17 December 2004

The preliminary hearing to the Italian session of the World Tribunal on Iraq, after having gathered and evaluated testimony from Iraq and the opinions of Italian jurists, intellectuals, political leaders, experts and the general public, has determined that:

1. the war against Iraq, instigated by the United States and Great Britain in March, 2003, and the occupation which followed and which continues to this day, have no tenable justification and are therefore a clear violation of international law and of the Charter of the United Nations. Indeed, they conform to the definitions of "Crime of aggression" as put forth by the Tribunal of Nuremberg and by Resolution 3314 (14 Dec. 1974) of the United Nations;
A flat out lie

2. to contrast this aggression, the Iraqi people have created a resistance movement which has taken various forms and which can claim legitimacy on the basis of the relevant provisions in the Charter of the United Nations and in international law;
Another flat out lie. The so called resistence movement are terrorists fighting against the legitimate elected government of Iraq..as 3 free elections and a Constitution Referendum prove

3. during the war -- which, as stated, already constitutes a crime -- the
occupying forces committed a number of other illegalities. A partial list, to illustrate the extent, follows:

a) the use of massive, disproportionate and indiscriminate force which has produced, according to reliable scientific studies, at least one hundred thousand victims, most of whom killed by bombings;
Another flat out lie. There are no reliable sources quoting 100,000 civilian deaths due to bombing or even 100,000 deaths period. Terrorists are the ones targeting Iraqi citizens with bombs, mortars and automatic weapons fire.

b) numerous violations of Humanitarian Rights in War and of the Fourth Convention of Geneva specifying the obligations of occupying powers;
Another flat out lie and not a shred of proof or explanation is given. Just the flat out lying statement

c) the use of prohibited arms, such as cluster bombs and shells with
impoverished uranium, which have caused indiscriminate and devastating effects;
Another flat out lie. None of the items specified are "prohibited". Neither have any "prohibited arms been used in Iraq...except the WMD Saddam used against his own civilian population..and others[/b]

d) the devastation of the environment, the long-lasting and even permanent effects of which will be a burden to future generations in the entire region;
[/b]Another flat out lie with no proof whatsoever and with no explanation[/b]

e) the willful destruction of civil infrastructure (hospitals, schools,
police/administrative headquarters);
Another flat out lie. No schools, no hospitals, no police stations were bombed or attacked...which were not being used by Saddam's military forces or by the terrorists themselves from which they launched attacks against coalition forces

f) the plundering of natural resources;
This falls under the category of a "damned lie". None of Iraq's natural resources are being plundered nor were they in the past...except by Saddam Hussein who pocketed the cash or deposited it in his private offshore bank accounts...or used it to bribe UN, French, German and Russians in the Oil for Food Program

g) the establishment of a government not recognized by the Iraqi people and which is kept in power only through the military presence of the occupying powers, thus violating the Iraqi people's right to self-determination;
Another "damned lie", proven by 3 free elections in Iraq and a turnout approaching 70% of elgible voters.

h) the use of summary executions, kidnappings, assassinations, imprisonment without trial and torture against all those who are suspected of opposing the occupation;
Another "damned lie". The coalition forces are not kidnapping Iraqis. They are capturing and killing terrorists and those Saddam loyalists fighting against the legitament government of Iraq

i) the destruction of the enormous archaeological, historical and artistic
patrimony;
Another lie and proven when it was discovered that Saddam and Saddam loyalists had looted the museums and sold artifacts to foreigners. The US and others have been instrumental in tracing and recovering most of what was stolen

j) the premeditated murder of journalists and unwelcome witnesses;
Another "damned lie" that journalists are being deliberated targeted by coalition forces

k) the willful attack on public health services such as clinics and hospitals;
Another "damned lie". No buildings were attacked which were not being used as storage for weapons or used directly in attacks against coalition forces

4) the decision of the Italian government to send troupes to support the occupation is a clear violation of art. 11 of the Constitution (repudiation of war) and constitutes an act of complicity with the criminal conduct of the aggressors and occupying powers. In addition the specific mandate conferred on the Italian troops by the Italian government is responsible for their involvement in some of the violations perpetuated by the occupying forces, as listed above;
The UN Resolution calling on all member states to come to the rescue of Kuwait and the follow on Resolutions including 687 and others make this a "damned lie"

5) reprehensible attempts have been made to divide the Iraqi people according to their ethnicity or religious beliefs, thereby endangering the unity and sovereignty of the Iraqi State. Particularly reprehensible have been the sufferings inflicted upon Iraqi women, who have become the principal victims of the disorders and violence created by the occupation;
Another "damned lie". Every attempt has been made to form a government composed of all segments of the Iraqi population and every attempt to divide Iraq along ethnic or tribal lines has been rejected. It is the terrorists who are attempting to incite a civil war along ethnic and religious lines in Iraq.

6) distorted or invented "facts" about the situation in Iraq have been disseminated in Western societies, and constitute the rear guard of the war effort, together with an authoritarian reduction or elimination of civil liberties there;
Another "damned lie". Civil liberties are not being suppressed in Iraq nor in coalition partner nations. In fact, Iraq is a free nation and it's citizens are free to do as they please..including criticize the government. An action which would have been and was given a death sentence under Saddam

7) the reaction of the international community and its institutions to the patent violations of international norms in Iraq -- and of constitutional rights in Western societies -- has been insufficient and unsuited to redressing the wrongs committed. It is therefore the right of international public opinion, the ultimate guarantor of international law, to pronounce judgment on what has happened and in particular on the aforementioned crimes.
Another "damned lie". The UN itself sanctioned both the elections in Iraq and the results of the elections held there

On the basis of these findings, we, the participants in the preliminary hearing to the Rome session of World Tribunal on Iraq, formulate the following appeals:

We appeal to the Peace Movement to launch a mobilization demanding the immediate withdrawal of all military contingents occupying Iraqi territory, this being an essential requisite for Iraqi people to be able to express their right to self-determination freely and with due haste;

We also appeal to all competent bodies -- both jurisdictional and political, whether national, European or international -- to contribute within their respective domains to the re-establishment of the rights that have been trampled in Iraq and to the punishment of those responsible for the crimes committed. In particular we urgently call for an international investigation of the attack on Falluja where, according to witnesses, a massacre was committed through the indiscriminate practice of overkill;

Lastly, we appeal to the Secretary General of the United Nations and to all the entities endowed with the task of protecting the human rights to make this declaration theirs.
http://www.worldtribunal.org/main/?b=39

posted June 01, 2006 01:03 PM            

Amy Goodman...Democracy Now. Amy Goodman is a lying communist twit. A twit involved in spreading communist bullsh*t and disinformation in the United States...and now, it appears elsewhere as well. Amy Goodman is not in any way in favor of democracy or representative government; neither in the United States of anywhere else. Amy Goodman supports socialist dictatorship and it's no surprise to see Amy Goodman advocating for terrorists and for Saddam Hussein and against the representative government of Iraq.

DEMOCRACY NOW!
P.O. Box 693
New York, NY
10013

Radical radio and television weekday news show and tax-exempt entity
Created in 1996 at Pacifica Radio in New York City
Main anchor is co-founder and radical Amy Goodman

Democracy Now! is a morning weekday newscast that, according to its website (as of April 2006), can be heard on approximately 219 radio stations in the U.S. and Canada, and on a number of additional stations in Europe, Australia, Mexico, and South America. It also produces a television version of each newscast, which its website (as of April 2006) says can be seen and heard on approximately 182 cable TV systems, mostly on public access channels, and on subscriber satellite TV systems Direct TV and DISH network. Democracy Now! is also a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization.

Democracy Now! was created in 1996 by WBAI radio news director Amy Goodman, Pacifica anchor Larry Bensky, Juan Gonzalez, Salim Muwakkie and Julie Drizin. Its aim was to provide "perspectives rarely heard in the U.S. corporate-sponsored media," i.e., the views of radical and foreign journalists, left and labor activists, and ideological foes of capitalism. The popular hard-left show soon began airing not only in New York City but also on the other Pacifica-owned stations in Berkeley, Los Angeles, Houston and Washington, D.C.

Key figures at Democracy Now!, such as radio producer Mike Burke and television producers Ana Nogueira, Elizabeth Press and John Hamilton, all have backgrounds in Indymedia. Nogueira also has written for Z Magazine.

In 2000 Democracy Now! departed from WBAI's facilities amid internal battles over control of Pacifica Radio. It has broadcast ever since from studios in a converted firehouse renamed the Downtown Community Television Center (DCTV) in New York City's Chinatown. It continues to air on Pacifica-owned and affiliated stations. It is satellite-uplinked via the Pacifica Satellite System, but also via the taxpayer-subsidized Public Radio Satellite System (PRSS). Stations can also receive the program over the Internet as broadcast-quality MP3 computer files.

Serious questions have arisen about how Democracy Now!, begun and developed with the resources of Pacifica Radio and grants from the Carnegie Corporation, the Ford Foundation, the J.M. Kaplan Fund and others, suddenly became independent and the effective property of Amy Goodman without recompense to Pacifica. This transfer apparently included valuable assets such as trademarks, ownership of years of archived programs, affiliate station access, and more.

In a contract that remains secret, Amy Goodman is also receiving $1 million per year for a five-year period that began in 2002, according to Pacifica Treasurer Jabari Zakiya, to continue doing what has become Pacifica's flagship morning news program. This is more than double Goodman's officially stated stipend of $440,000 per year from Pacifica Radio.

Democracy Now! receives indirect funding from George Soros, and direct funding from Soros' Open Society Institute, the Glaser Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the Tides Foundation, the Public Welfare Foundation, the Schumann Center for Media and Democracy, and other left-leaning foundations.
http://www.discoverthenetwork.org/groupProfile.asp?grpid=6891

Of course, we all know about the convicted felon George Soros and his support for communist groups.

What most people don't know is that the Tides Foundation is a money laundering organization which takes money from prominent socialists and communists and funnels that money anonymously to communist and socialist groups attempting to overthrow the United States Constitution.

posted June 01, 2006 07:10 PM              

"an injustice anywhere, is an injustice everywhere"