{"article":{"id":40962,"heading":"Rumsfeld Masks Civilian Deaths in Basra With Unlikely Explanations","author":"Antiwar Activist","created":"2003-03-26 21:33:22","modified":"2003-03-27 17:03:14","last_modified":"Fri, 28 Mar 2003 00:03:14","article":"

Looking at the television coverage we can see (without comment!) images of Basra in which multiple explosions every second are occurring throughout the city. This kind of carpet bombing will obviously generate huge numbers of civilian deaths and injuries.

So, what is coming out of the mouths of Rumsfeld and other Administration and media propagandists? That there has supposedly been an \"uprising\" against Saddam Hussein in Basra, and that forces loyal to Hussein are firing mortars into crowds of defenseless civilians in order to put this uprising down.

Not only that, but these dastardly loyalist forces are supposedly even posing as members of the Red Cross and other relief workers. Yes, they have actually claimed this.

I see this as Rumsfeld preparing excuses for the coming news of civilian deaths and injuries inflicted by his own carpet-bombing of Basra. He will claim that any civilians murdered in this bombing were killed by supporters of Saddam Hussein, and that any relief workers exposing (as the Red Cross is now doing - see http:\/\/www.cicr.org\/Web\/Eng\/siteeng0.nsf\/htmlall\/special_iraq<\/a> ) the immense pain and sacrifice of the civilian population, are really Saddam's wolves in Red Cross clothing (and therefore deserved to be killed if they were also hit by the U.S.\/British onslaught).

How credible is it that MORTARS would be used to fire upon unarmed civilians in the middle of a battle against invading forces? How credible is it that people would be out in the streets demonstrating about ANYTHING as bombs are falling all around them? These are just more lies by the mass murderers of the Bush Administration.

The water plant in Basra is now non-functional because of these bombings, and the river is filling up with raw human waste. In a short time, a massive public health crisis will develop, in which a hundred thousand people will be immediately at risk.

This is the completely predictable (and predicted) catastrophe that we have been trying to stop, and must continue to work to stop and reverse.

<\/p>\n","contact":"","link":"","address":"","phone":"","parent_id":0,"mime_type":"text\/plain","summary":"The Bush Administration is looking for ways to blame civilian deaths in Basra caused by its bombing campaign there on anyone but themselves.","numcomment":14,"fileurl":"\/uploads\/","filesize":null,"article_url":"\/news\/2003\/03\/40962.php"},"attachments":[],"comments":[{"id":40984,"heading":"Truth","article":"You would believe the truth if the Lord All Mighty came down and laid it it out before you. You have a closed mind that will not except any information in less it comes to you from any source that is Anti-America.","author":"Boxcutter","parent_id":40962,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-03-26 22:18:52","modified":"2003-03-26 22:18:52","fileurl":""},{"id":41010,"heading":"Excellent Spin Job","article":"So which government agency do you work for? I'm just \r\ncurious where you get your inside information on what \r\nthe Secretary of Defense is planning.\r\n\r\nSo it's not, at all, possible that there is a contingency \r\nanywhere in Iraq that wants to rise up against Saddam \r\nHussein? It's not possible that Iraq has a population, \r\nsimilar to yourself, that doesn't like the current \r\ngovernment? Hmm, I suppose not.\r\n\r\nOne thing that I will agree with you about is the \r\nhumanitarian crisis in Basra. A report filed by a \r\nnumber of members of Voices in the Wilderness, of all \r\nthings, says that:\r\n\r\n "Garbage is piled high in the streets. Children play in \r\nopen gutters filled with raw sewage. Unemployment is \r\nhigh. Power failures are frequent in the 100-plus \r\ntemperatures. With no fans operating, people often \r\nsleep on the roof at night to stay cool."\r\n\r\nUnfortunately, for your argument, this report was filed \r\nback in September of 2000. Those were the \r\nconditions that the people of Basra have been \r\nsuffering through under the control of Saddam \r\nHussein for, at least, the past three years, and I'm \r\nguessing more.\r\n\r\nAnd before you begin to slap me with an "It's because \r\nof the economic sanctions" argument, be prepared to \r\nanswer this question:\r\n\r\nWhy, while the people of Basra are suffering through \r\nthese conditions, as far back as 2000, has Saddam, \r\nhis family, and his loyal Republican Guard been living \r\nin the palaces of Baghdad, enjoying the amenities of \r\nair-conditioning, running water, and never a lack of \r\nfood?","author":"Perspective","parent_id":40962,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-03-26 23:10:17","modified":"2003-03-26 23:10:17","fileurl":""},{"id":41017,"heading":"Simple","article":"Oh, now you've done it.\r\n\r\nExploding the 'logic' used by the Leftists here at la.indymedia is not appreciated. And is very bad form. Sure, they have not the slightest notion of what the difference is between carpet bombing and carpet tacks, but that is no reason to call them on it.\r\n\r\nGeez. Next thing you know, you're going to tell us that Bush=Hitler isn't really true.","author":"Simple Simon","parent_id":40962,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-03-26 23:19:02","modified":"2003-03-26 23:19:02","fileurl":""},{"id":41021,"heading":"OR","article":"Or next you'll tell us that the Anti-war group are really Pacafist.","author":"TopDog","parent_id":40962,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-03-26 23:24:29","modified":"2003-03-26 23:24:29","fileurl":""},{"id":41046,"heading":"More idiocy from the usual idiots","article":"First of all, the truth does not equal anti-american. It\r\nmeans presenting a different perspective from the official\r\nline being diseminated by the big networks and their \r\npropaganda campaign. That is the essence of free speech\r\nand America's legacy of checks and balances, something that\r\nthis government and the colluding mass media have lost.\r\n\r\nSecond, I would be skeptical since independent journalist\r\nreports suggest that coalition forces are facing tough\r\nresistance in Basra, despite the claims that the troops\r\nhave taken it. The Basra resistance was anti-Saddam and\r\nnow they're anti-coalition since they realize who is the\r\ngreater of two evils. Saddam sucks, but bush and the \r\nviolation of Iraqi sovereignty, and the bombing of civilian\r\npopulations is just plain vile.\r\n\r\nAnd what better way to undermine Iraqi resistance than to bring in the humanitarian aid.\r\n\r\n","author":"apache","parent_id":40962,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-03-27 00:01:46","modified":"2003-03-27 00:01:46","fileurl":""},{"id":41055,"heading":"Simple","article":"You seem to be very well connected to the resistance movement in Basra. If you know the dispositions and movements of these people, perhaps you should offer your services to the military authorities.\r\n\r\nI'm amazed that your network of agents and satellites is so superior to the military's and the major networks. My congratulations.","author":"Simple Simon","parent_id":40962,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-03-27 00:10:04","modified":"2003-03-27 00:10:04","fileurl":""},{"id":41106,"heading":"Simple","article":"I believe anything my masters at Fox News tell me. I couldn't get anymore brainwashed, as I've so clearly demonstrated on this website.","author":"Simple Simon","parent_id":40962,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-03-27 01:18:40","modified":"2003-03-27 01:18:40","fileurl":""},{"id":41110,"heading":"To Apache","article":"Apache,\r\n\r\nCan I ask you an honest question? Where in the hell \r\ndo you all get this notion of a vast media conspiracy?\r\n\r\nI'm not going into much detail about myself, for fear of \r\nthe supposedly pacifist psychopaths who frequent this \r\nsite, but I am a member of the news media and I do \r\nwork for a very large company, and NO it's not Clear \r\nChannel.\r\n\r\nWhether you choose to believe me or not, I have \r\nNEVER received ANY guidelines or restrictions about \r\nwriting my stories from ANY kind of angle. I have never \r\nreceived any memos from corporate, forcing me to \r\nrun, or not run, ANY kind of story, EVER. I have never \r\nbeen contacted, influenced, or coerced in any form by\r\n the U.S., or any other, government.\r\n\r\nYou don't even believe this argument that you make.\r\n It's just a quick, knee-jerk way of trying to convince \r\nothers, and perhaps yourself, that the deck is not \r\nstacked as much against you as the evidence shows \r\nthat it is.\r\n\r\nIf, by some chance, you really DO believe this \r\nconspiracy theory, take the truth from a member of the \r\nmedia....no, a journalist....a REAL one. Not one who \r\ndoes nothing but hang around protests just hoping for \r\nan opportunity to catch a snapshot of some redneck \r\ncop getting out of line, so they can run back to their \r\nhome computer and hack out some story about "the \r\nman" and how he's "holding everyone down."","author":"Journalist","parent_id":40962,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-03-27 01:37:31","modified":"2003-03-27 01:37:31","fileurl":""},{"id":41111,"heading":"Fox News Reports the Truth","article":"Look, they don't lie. They show you the pictures, have government sources and have expert opinions. I know that most peace protesters get their news from al jazeera. Fox NEws refused to play the tape of the American POWS that had been tortured and executed. This is something I can respect. You can watch your anti american media and get half the facts. Maybe thats why peace protesters are highly uneducated about the war. They don't get the facts like they have it on Fox News. They have people actually tarvelling with the 3rd infantry. Tell me something asshole. Do cameras lie too? ","author":"Fan of Fox News","parent_id":40962,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-03-27 01:42:09","modified":"2003-03-27 01:42:09","fileurl":""},{"id":41136,"heading":"MY education","article":"I wouldn't know a real education if one bit me on my fat redneck ass. However, when it comes to war, I'm VERY edumucated. ","author":"Fan of Fox News","parent_id":40962,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-03-27 02:40:33","modified":"2003-03-27 02:40:33","fileurl":""},{"id":41372,"heading":"Very Mature","article":"Boy, that's a mature, well thought comment if I've ever\r\nheard one.\r\n\r\nYou must be proud of that one.","author":"Watcher","parent_id":40962,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-03-27 14:04:52","modified":"2003-03-27 14:04:52","fileurl":""},{"id":41390,"heading":"Evidence Is Clear","article":"So, are you going to tell us now that Sports Illustrated \r\nis part of this vast government-influenced media\r\n conspiracy???\r\n\r\nhttp:\/\/sportsillustrated.cnn.com\/si_online\/news\/2003\/03\/24\/son_of_saddam\/","author":"What Next","parent_id":40962,"mime_type":"text\/html","created":"2003-03-27 15:32:17","modified":"2003-03-27 15:32:17","fileurl":""},{"id":41468,"heading":"Why?","article":"Why can't I think of anything intelligent to say? Should I ask my mommy for advice?","author":"Watcher","parent_id":40962,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-03-27 17:03:14","modified":"2003-03-27 17:03:14","fileurl":""}]}