FOX's Blind Eye
Reported by Marie Therese - November 19, 2004 -
Big Story with John Gibson started off with a report by Greg Kelly from the Pentagon reporting that in parts of Fallujah there "are periods of peace and calm." Over a period of four days, "50 precision air strikes were called in to targets" and today (11/18/04) he noted "there were only three such air strikes" and lots of weapons have been found.
VIDEO CLIP of Gen Sadler, speaking in Iraq: " Each and every time we can force these individuals to go to new locations, expand their circle of friends, if you want to call it that, to include some that they don't know and they don't trust, they'll bring in rookies [and] more junior people that will in fact make mistakes."
Kelly used this statement to conclude: "Gen. Sadler certainly sees the insurgency as being dealt a severe blow throughout Iraq." He continued: "Solacia payments are on their way to Fallujah. Those are condolence payments. Anyone who suffered loss or damage to home or property of any kind will be eligible for a payment up to $2500. In certain cases it could go higher..." He then posted the latest casualty figures for Fallujah: 51 US service people, 43 Iraqi forces. As for Iraqi civilians he said: "None that the military could confirm and there have been surprisingly few [civilian casualties]. According to military officials, civilian injuries are somewhere in the 20-25 range."
COMMENT
The eyewitness accounts that follow show that the Pentagon is lying and FOX is complicit in the lie. FOX and the rest of the media are fully aware of these internet reports that directly contradict Pentagon-speak, if only because they are reading our blog and WE have been reporting on these alternative sites. As such they have turned a blind eye to the Iraqi side of the Iraqi war.
What are they afraid of? If people like Dahr are fabricating stories, certainly that will be proven. Certainly the American military has the proof on tape, in written reports and through interviews with the commanders on the ground. I find the most alarming survivor account to be the one that refers to weapons that burn the skin, which could indicate that we are using chemical weapons in Fallujah.
You can access Dahr's Iraq diaries and reports at Dahr Jamail's Iraq Dispatches.
FIRST EXCERPT (from "Slash and Burn" - apologies to those readers who have already seen this on my other posting. I'm using it here to illustrate that there are accounts that contradict the Pentagon.)
Another man, Abdul Razaq Ismail arrived from Fallujah last week.
While distributing supplies to other refugees he says, "There are dead bodies on the ground and nobody can bury them. The Americans are dropping some of the bodies into the Euphrates River near Fallujah. They are pulling the bodies with tanks and leaving them at the soccer stadium."
Nearby is another man in tears as he listens, nodding his head. He can't stop crying, but after a little while says he wants to talk to us.
"They bombed my neighborhood and we used car jacks to raise the blocks of concrete to get dead children out from under them."
"Another refugee, Abu Sabah, an older man wearing a torn shirt and dusty pants tells of how he escaped with his family while soldiers shot bullets over their heads, but killed his cousin.
"They used these weird bombs that put up smoke like a mushroom cloud," he said, having just arrived yesterday, "Then small pieces fell from the air with long tails of smoke behind them. These exploded on the ground with large fires that burnt for half an hour. They used these near the train tracks. You could hear these dropped from a large airplane and the bombs were the size of a tank. When anyone touched those fires, their body burned for hours." (End excerpt.)
SECOND EXCERPT (from "Dogs Eating Bodies in Streets of Fallujah")
The horrendous humanitarian disaster of Fallujah drags on as the US military continues to refuse the entry of an Iraqi Red Crescent (IRC) convoy of relief supplies. The Red Crescent has appealed to the UN to intervene, but no such luck, nor does the military relent.
IP's, who are under U.S. control, have looted Fallujah General Hospital.
The military stopped the Red Crescent at the gates of the city and are not allowing them in. They allowed some bodies to be buried, but others are being eaten by dogs and cats in the streets, as reported by refugees just out of the city, as well as residents still trapped there.
The military said it saw no need for the IRC to deliver aid to people inside Fallujah because it did not think any civilians were still inside the city.
Contradicting this claim, along with virtually every aid work, refugee, and resident of Fallujah was US Marine Col. Mike Shupp who said, "There is no need to bring [Red Crescent] supplies in because we have supplies of our own for the people."
IRC spokeswoman Firdu al-Ubadi added, "We know of at least 157 families inside Fallujah who need our help."
The media repression by the military around Fallujah continues to run thick, as a journalist for the al-Arabia network who attempted to get inside Fallujah was detained by the military. Meanwhile, al-Jazeera continues to run announcements over their satellite station, apologizing to its viewers for not having better coverage in Iraq due to their office being closed indefinitely several months ago by the US-backed interim government.
Nevertheless they continue to get the word out. They report today that Asma Khamis al-Muhannadi, a doctor who witnessed the US and Iraqi National Guard raid the general hospital said, "We were tied up and beaten despite being unarmed and having only our medical instruments."
She said the hospital was targeted by bombs and rockets during the initial siege of Fallujah, and troops dragged patients from their beds and pushed them against the wall.
Al-Muhannadi went on to say that all of them were put under intense inspection and, "Two female doctors were forced to totally undress."
She continued on, "I was with a woman in labor," she said, "The umbilical cord had not yet been cut. At that time, a US soldier shouted at one of the (Iraqi) national guards to arrest me and tie my hands while I was helping the mother to deliver. I will never forget this incident in my life." (End excerpt.)
There is another site you can go to that has very graphic pictures of the battle of Fallujah. Not easy to look at. Click here Fallujah Pictures
