| Today in Basra, Iraq some 800 supporters of Iraqi
Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr held a demonstration in which they
alleged that the British were responsible for the multiple
suicide bombings in Basra earlier this week. In those bombings,
68 people were killed including 20 young children whose school
bus was blown up as they traveled to school. The protesters
carried signs saying that the people and the police are united
under a religious imperative. Meanwhile, as fighting in the
Iraqi city of Fallujah has intensified in recent days, it also
appears that US forces are gearing up for a major offensive in
the Iraqi holy city of Najaf, which is a stronghold of Muqtada
al-Sadr and his Mahdi army.
The Associated Press today quotes senior military officers
saying the order to attack Najaf will be made "at the very
highest levels of the U.S. government," an indication that
President Bush may have the final word on whether soldiers there
begin an offensive.
Meanwhile, there are rumors that Bush himself made the
decision that Fallujah would have to be massively punished for
the desecration of the bodies of the US mercenaries killed
there, and that Gen. John Abizaid strongly agreed. The Marines
have now reportedly given the people of Fallujah just
"days" to negotiate a final settlement, with an
implied "or else."
As the killings continue in Iraq, a controversy is brewing at
the United Nations over allegations of corruption within the
so-called oil-for-food program. The former head of that program,
Benon Sevan, has been accused of taking payment in the form of
an oil allotment from Saddam Hussein's government. Sevan denies
the allegation. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said yesterday
that if U.N. staff are found to be guilty "we will deal
with them very severely."
These allegations come as the deadline approaches for what
the Bush administration calls the handover of sovereignty to
Iraqis on June 30th. This week, senior State Department and
Defense officials told the Senate and House Armed Services
Committees that the new Iraqi interim government scheduled to
take control on July 1 will have only 'limited sovereignty' and
no authority over United States and other military forces
already there.
- Tariq Ali , author of several books including Bush
in Babylon: The Recolonization of Iraq and Clash of
Fundamentalisms.
- Ian Williams, UN correspondent for The Nation and
author of the forthcoming book Deserter: George Bush,
Soldier of Fortune.
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