Brits Leave Basra | Former Soldier Tried for Rape/Murder of Iraqi Girl | Obama Flunks Afghanistan

War on Iraq Newsletter May 1st, 2009 More from War on Iraq »

The British Withdrawal Is Only Our Latest Shameful Exit Following an Unjust Invasion Of Iraq By Robert Fisk, Independent UK 179,000 dead Iraqis? Or closer to a million? The British never cared about the Iraqis. That's why we don't know the figure. That's why we left Basra. Read more »   "Today Iraq is a success story," Prime Minister Gordon Brown declared yesterday, on the occasion of the British military withdrawal from Basra. "We owe much of that to the efforts of British troops." "Our mission has not always been an easy one, many have said that we would fail. Britain can be proud of our legacy that we leave there." In fact, argues Robert Fisk today, long before this latest episode, the British legacy in Iraq is one of violence and callous abandonment. "History is a hard taskmaster," he writes. And yet the British did not learn the lessons of its first occupation of Iraq, in the early 1900s. There followed a familiar story. The British occupation force was opposed by an Iraqi resistance -- "terrorists," of course -- and the British destroyed a town called Fallujah and demanded the surrender of a Shiite cleric and British intelligence in Baghdad claimed that "terrorists" were crossing the border from Syria, and Lloyd George -- the Blair-Brown of his age -- then stood up in the House of Commons and said that there would be "anarchy" in Iraq if British troops left. Oh dear. Read Fisk's sobering piece here. And be sure to visit AlterNet's War on Iraq section for more coverage of the British withdrawal, and more. Thanks for reading, Liliana Segura, Editor, War on Iraq Special Coverage     In Baghdad, Many Iraqis Consider Going Out at Night a Simple Act of Defiance By Basim al-Shara, Institute for War and Peace Reporting As security has improved and curfews have eased, Baghdad's once-famous nightlife is slowly re-emerging. Read more »   Double Jeopardy: The Harsh Reality for Iraqi Immigrants Trying to Live in America By Nina Berman, AlterNet Recently arrived refugees wonder how they're supposed to become self-sufficient in the worst economy since the Great Depression. Read more »   Former Soldier Accused of Brutal Rape and Murder of 14-Year Old Iraqi Girl Starts Trial By Liliana Segura, AlterNet 23-year-old Steven Green is accused of bragging 'that was awesome' after the premeditated killing of Abeer Qasim Hamza al-Janabi and her family. Read more »   Gunmen Attack Chinese Oil Installations In Southern Iraq Azzaman Though representing a modest fraction of Iraq's oil riches, the Ahdab field was marketed as proof that security conditions have improved. Read more »   Obama's Iraq: The Picture of Dorian Gray By Jeremy Scahill, Rebel Reports News that U.S. combat troops won't exactly withdraw from Iraqi cities on June 30th shows the ugly reality behind Obama's facade. Read more »   One of Iraq's Few Successes Since the U.S. Invasion Was Saving Its Ancient Marshes: Now They're In Peril Again By Patrick Cockburn, Independent UK A unique civilization that has existed in Iraq for thousands of years, the marsh Arabs survived Saddam but now are losing a battle against nature. Read more »   PEEK and Video: The hottest buzz and videos on the web     British Iraq "Withdrawal" a Microcosm of Obama's Bad Iraq Policy By Jeremy Scahill, Rebel Reports Britain ends 'combat operations' in Iraq, but, taking a cue from the U.S., London is escalating its neoliberal economic efforts and military training. Read more »   The Failure of Obama's First 100 Days in Afghanistan By ZP Heller, Brave New Films Why Obama has earned a 'D' on the war so far. Read more »   22 Arrested at Blackwater's Illinois Compound By Jeremy Scahill, Rebel Reports More people have been arrested for protesting on Blackwater property than mercenaries who have killed innocent Iraqis. Read more »

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