(UPDATE: Today’s Times includes a story about the WikiLeaks Iraq cable, under the somewhat strange headline “Cable Implicates Americans in Deaths of Iraqi Civilians.” Still very little in the rest of the press— nothing on television, according to a search of the Nexis database).
One of the main media tropes regarding WikiLeaks‘ release of State Department cables last year was that there was either nothing new to be learned, or that private conversations they revealed were remarkably consistent with what U.S. officials were saying publicly. That was totally misleading, but for many pundits the story seemed to end there.
Now comes the release of thousands more documents. If you’ve been reading the New York Times, you know these cables exist. But you don’t know much more than that. On August 29, the Times focused on a dispute over whether some names in the cable weren’t properly redacted to protect these individuals—”a shift of tactics that has alarmed American officials.” WikiLeaks disagrees.
In today’s edition of the Times (9/1/11), reporter Scott Shane gives a few examples of what’s actually in the cables: criticism of former Philippines President Corazon Aquino, something about the Australian air safety system, human trafficking in Botswana. The rest of the article discusses the controversies over redactions, and whether or not someone has gained access to the entire trove of cables.
Shane adds: “News organizations in dozens of countries are panning for nuggets in the latest and largest dump of diplomatic cables by WikiLeaks.”
One “nugget” the Times seems to have trouble finding: A cable that details how U.S. forces executed 11 civilians in a night raid in Iraq in 2006. The victims appear to have been handcuffed. U.S. forces apparently destroyed the evidence—the house—in an airstrike.
McClatchy has a piece by Matthew Schofield (8/31/11) summarizing the matter ( “WikiLeaks: Iraqi Children in U.S. Raid Shot in Head, UN Says”). He reports:
A U.S. diplomatic cable made public by WikiLeaks provides evidence that U.S. troops executed at least 10 Iraqi civilians, including a woman in her 70s and a five-month-old infant, then called in an airstrike to destroy the evidence, during a controversial 2006 incident in the central Iraqi town of Ishaqi.
The unclassified cable, which was posted on WikiLeaks‘ website last week, contained questions from a United Nations investigator about the incident, which had angered local Iraqi officials, who demanded some kind of action from their government. U.S. officials denied at the time that anything inappropriate had occurred.
But Philip Alston, the UN’s special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, said in a communication to American officials dated 12 days after the March 15, 2006, incident that autopsies performed in the Iraqi city of Tikrit showed that all the dead had been handcuffed and shot in the head. Among the dead were four women and five children. The children were all 5 years old or younger.
Schofield adds:
At the time, American military officials in Iraq said the accounts of townspeople who witnessed the events were highly unlikely to be true, and they later said the incident didn’t warrant further investigation. Military officials also refused to reveal which units might have been involved in the incident.
The Daily Mirror (9/1/11) also has a piece today on this incident (“WikiLeaks Reveals Atrocities by U.S. forces”). John Glaser at Antiwar.com wrote a piece on August 29 detailing the contents of the cable—the first account that I can find, so he deserves credit for that.
But at this point, major U.S. papers like the New York Times are still searching for this nugget.
McClatchy offers free subscriptions to their daily news email which i recommend…the story fair cites above was in today’s edition
Wow
This story has been out there for 5 days now. http://news.antiwar.com/2011/08/29/cables-reveal-2006-summary-execution-of-civilian-family-in-iraq/
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/08/31/122789/wikileaks-iraqi-children-in-us.html#disqus_thread
That the main story is still wikileaks dumping unredacted cables which it was forced to do because of an ignorant Guardian reporter (they don’t even get that story) right– I don’t know how much more proof anybody needs that mainstream media is nothing but a lapdog for the political and business elite. This kind of story should be everywhere, but if you don’t check alternative sites for news on the computer, good luck in finding it.
What’s sad is that even if the mainstream media did pick up the story, it would hardly matter here. The US public have become inured to atrocity. Nothing our government does in our name shocks us any more, it seems. In fact very few of us have any sense of participation in our government, or responsibility for our leaders’ behavior.
2006, was it? That’s waaaay far back from today. You know I can’t look backwards. Don’t try to stick me to that Constitution tar-baby, Br’er Citizen. I only did that double-repeat-oath-of-office thing because I needed the extra photo opportunity for MY Posterity scrapbook, not yours.
And anyhow, I promised only “to the best of my ability,” and it turns out, I have less ability than Br’er Briarpatch Bush and Br’er Darth Cheney put together. Furthermore, that Constitution line, what is it, Article II, section 3? That “see that the laws be faithfully executed” thing? Well, that’s what I’ve been doing, executing all the laws. Sometimes I do it with a bullet to the head, sometimes just prolonged, enhanced interrogation-torture.
But all you have to do to see the truth of what I’m saying is go to the Constitution Cemetery, and look at the graves of all the laws I’ve faithfully executed so far. War Crimes Act, wiretap laws (FISA), and even a whole batch of stuff in the Constitution (see, here’s the RIP of Habeas Corpus; the First Amendment, especially the “peaceably to assemble” bit–you can petition me, but I don’t have to listen, do I! Nyah, nyah, na nyah, nyah!! And if you make any noise in your assemblies, my newly militarized police forces, National Guard, CIA, FBI–all those Heimats Versicherung Abteilung folks (you probably think it’s “Homeland” security, but really, it’s something I picked up from WWII history, reading for my degree at Yale or wherever that was. Everybody’s brain turns to mush when I bring up mom, the flag, the “homeland” (for all us immigrants, dontcha know), ‘n’ apple pie.
And lookie here, at the nice monument I had carved for the Fourth Amendment’s headstone. And this, for the Fifth. And here’s the monument to the Sixth. I let the Seventh live, because who sues for $20 anymore, right? Although I am keeping my eye on it, ‘cuz it has that bit about trial by jury and findings of fact.
I had to kill off the Ninth Amendment, too because folks might be getting ideas that they’re somehow superior to the government they “ordained and established,” and have some unlisted “retained rights”? Yeah, as if!!
And ditto the Tenth, because that might have states acting uppity, and the people, too. Reserved powers indeed!! The gummint has all the power. That’s what happens when you create a Frankenstein monster or play with the sorcerer’s spell book. It comes right back and kills you, bare-handed, or with enhanced water torture.
So you’d better be careful what you say, especially on the 10th anniversary of our great and glorious break-through in mind control, media control (our special “Mighty Wurlitzer”) and control of all your money, joblessness, Military Control, Congress-Control, Judicial control–all of it. We got it, baby. We got it all.
Hunh? What, what? Oh, I must have dozed off. Had a nightmare. Or at least, I sure hope it was just a bad dream.
Since the end of WWII, the United States has killed more innocent people than Atilla the Hun, Genghis Kahn, Hitler or Stalin in wars designed to force crony capitalism on unwilling victims. The atrocities in Iraq and Afghanistan should come as no surprise.
And no newspaper in America, including the New York Times, wants to cover the main story, of at least one million Iraqis dead from Bush’s, Cheney’s and Rumsfeld’s (et al.) completely unnecessary war. Not to mention even more maimed and injured, and all the refugees from that stupid war.
If there were a push to condemn the depleted uranium that the US has spread about the world, including in the USofA, hey, we couldn’t have wars! Because all of our weapons spew DU and since we sell our weapons around the globe, everyone elses weapons must also be confiscated!
And, yes, we are the biggest terrorists and our soldiers commit suicide because they can no longer live with themselves and the dastardly deeds they have done. Has any public official felt remorse? Lee Loe, Grandmother for Peace
“Nothing stops the US forces”. This is the answer given all including representatives from the UN demanding an end to the constant US bullying of small helpless nations.
I have seen horrible examples of it in the Balkans. With a privatised army attention is avoided.
Thank God for wikileaks.
Thank you FAIR, for this report!
Once again, the NYT’s looking the other way in the face of these war crimes gives us another example of the Great Myth of the [so-called] ‘Liberal Media’ [perpetrated by Confederate conservatives]…
its the new york $limes folks. a few yrs. ago i was doing a craft show. kid next store is setting up his tent. he asks if i want to buy a subscription. i said you start printing the real news and i’ll buy.
fair enough he says and walks away . explains it all.
The American people have become so disconnected from the world that we actually believe the propaganda that is being fed to us by the Main Stream Media. There are some among us that believe that the Fox Channel is actually fair and balanced and that most of the people that appear on that news network are among the patriots of America.
We have sunk below the depths of what was engineered to make the American people think that anything done in our name is good and that the other side is bad. How can we show ourselves on the world’s stage? What has been done to a people that have been outraged at atrocities done all over the world? Is there nothing left for the American people to object to?
The exposure of American policy and the American thinking on who and what our allies are has become disconnected from the wishes of the American people. The elitist corporate oligarchy now runs the show and we are but the watchers in a long, long line of the entertained. We have swallowed hook, sinker and line the pablum fed to us by a corporate controlled media that has purchased the American people with Dancing with the Stars, Survivor ……. , America’s Got Talent, and so many other shows that have been designed to distract our attention away from the truth, the truth that Washington D.C., and the bureaucrats in Washington have become disconnected from the wishes of the American people.
No one, individually would sanction and accept the atrocities that have been perpetrated in our name. Yet as a whole, entertained by “reality shows,” distracted by thoughts of whatever happens to the latest celebrity or anything that would draw our attention away from the hegemonic intentions of our government, we have become inured to the facts of governmental malfeasance. We no longer care what is being done in our name, bereft of voice in the halls of power we have abrogated the whole of our responsibility to those who lives are dedicated to power.
What is our responsibility to those in power? What is the right of the American people to have responsive government? Well according to the Constitution of our land, those documents that lay out the rights of people and the responsibilities of government towards its citizens; we have the power to shape policy, through seeking redress for wrongs done in our name we can raise our voice. But will we? No longer do I hope that the American people will wake up and smell the manure. We have been told time and again that, we are lowly and have no access to information that it pertinent to every situation. But does this lack of all pertinent information give us the right to completely abrogate our responsibility to watch over government? Absolutely NOT!
So what can be done and what should be done to install government responsive to the wishes and desires of the average citizen? Firstly stop the madness of electing people who represent the corporate oligarchy. Secondly, give peace a chance! Defund except for very a small military, the whole of the Department of War. This will go a long way towards reducing and even eliminating the contrived deficit we now face.
The American Congressional-Military-Industrial Complex, which complex is completely funded in our name with our tax dollars is no longer necessary. A strong National Guard, one whose mission is not war but peace building in nature is a necessity. We can and should demand a return to smaller and more agile military defense strategies rather than the bloated and irresponsible, atrocity causing military we have today. Thirdly, fund research into alternative energy sources, alternative means of energy production, this way we become again a world leader in the fight for freedom and liberty, instead of the war mongering, energy hungry state we are today.
DemocracyNow! ran a piece about this on Friday’s (9/2) show.
I have been accused of straying off topic myself ,but good lord….This is just an attack america bandstand isn’t it?
Anyway wanna take this moment to say “i told you so”.I said originally that Wikileaks would eventually just dump unredacted loads of these stolen ,purloined documents on the world and any facade, of being careful about security leaks would be thrown aside.I was viciously attacked on these blogs for saying so.This is simply a punch America in the gut play.Nothing more.Anything in there will be believed by the hate/blame America crowd.Truth is is that nefarious groups like the wikileaks org have more currency with the left than the Us government.So be it -that is who you are.
update: salon has an interview with the mclachchy reporter, matthew schofield, who covered this story back in 2006
http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2011/09/03/iraq_alleged_massacre
Woodward and b.Your post does not offer much more,but the allegations are a bit more detailed.I hope at some point something does come of all these stolen documents that will be of a help to this country.Im sure we all hope that,including wickileaks leaders.
What a terrible atrocity and cover-up, just like the notorious Me Lai during the Vietnam War.
FAIR shoulds directly communicate to:
– Leon Panetta, the new Secretary of Defense, asking him to investigate this matter.
– Bill Keller, executive editor of the NY Times, asking him if he is covering or will cover this story. (It’s possible the Times is working on this since the news just broke last week.)
FAIR should then report back to us readers what if any replies are received.
michael e, don’t you have a space bar on your keyboard, or a shift key, or punctuation marks?
Jamie H Says:Um yes i do.Do I use them?Um no I don’t.My Harvard days are over love and I could care less.I type in a blur.No proofreading ,or spellchecking.It’s a mess, and Im loving it.They(Wall St. J) say that libs are constantly commenting on peoples punctuation while ignoring content.It is like an identifying facial tic.
I swear i could write “Obama iza homosexual” and i would get twenty to one comments on my use of IZA as a word.Really take a chill pill.I will prescribe you one.One chill pill per hour till you …….CHILL.
â┚¬Ã…“General enthusiasm over the prospects of imperialism, furious defence of it and painting it in the brightest coloursâ┚¬”Âsuch are the signs of the times.â┚¬Ã‚ These words were written 95 years ago, but in today’s political environment are more apt than ever. A better description of the reaction of liberal journalists, left-wing intellectuals and former radicals to the war in Libya could not be found.”
“The quote is from Lenin’s â┚¬Ã…“Imperialism,â┚¬Ã‚ in which the future leader of the October Revolution analyzed the causes of the First World War. Lenin did not limit himself to the study of the economic background, but also dealt with the social and political changes that preceded the greatest ever massacre in the history of mankind…”
“…The hysteria and enthusiasm with which today’s European and American media and politicians respond to the rape of Libya evokes the period before the First World War. Many journalists and intellectuals who had maintained a cool head over the Afghanistan and Iraq wars have lost any critical discernment. Those who were previously moved by the drums of war have now lost all inhibitions…”
http://wsws.org/articles/2011/sep2011/pers-s03.shtml
Karl lets not quote anything from Lenin except how to build a machine to destroy your own people, and shit on the world while your doing it.He was a vicious madman bent on world domination.Im sure your own words on the subject would be more worthy of discussion than anything that gum on the shoe of Russia ever said.
If the U.S. has committed atrocities they have to be held accountable. It isn’t good enough to say the American people have become immune to this sort of thing. The same could be said of the Nazis crimes in Germany during WW2.
There are still people out there looking for the criminals who were involved in the Holocaust. This is no different. There needs to be an international investigation.
Israel lives every day under so called international investigation.If actual war crimes evidence were produced- i would have no problem with an international component being involved in the investigation.Punishing soldiers outside our own militaries jurisdiction is of course an entirely different matter.And of course transferring Punishment powers to be enforced upon our political leaders(even if guilty) to any international body is not going to happen.We are not a conquered people.The American people, as well as her military may have something to say about Obama being removed from the white house in cuffs by a French contingent.
What worries me Sandra is that is such a tribunal were held, and all charges found to be erroneous with the subsequent release and apologies to those involved -what would come of it?I will tell you.Those on these blogs would scream cover up.Our enemies would do the same.And who would be the international body judging America?Iran?
We live in a time where everything eventually comes out.If Obama or Bush ordered those under them to stand up a few noncombatants and have them shot….it will come out.We had a president impeached over a BJ job ,because he lied under oath!Cover ups today are the most fleeting of military secrets.If soldiers acted in ways that brought shame on the uniform as in( mai lai)i would expect , and hope for harsh military punishment.But try to tread a light path when listening to those who hate America first.They are not strong witnesses for the prosecution.
“The American people, as well as her military may have something to say about Obama being removed from the White House in cuffs by a French contingent.” Her military? A French ‘contingent’? To the extent that this statement is remotely comprehensible, it appears to be highly delusional. Get help, Michael.
Maynard I am not delusional.It was a sarcastic aside.You missed it.Being a conservative has trained me is sarcasm very well so do your best to keep up.Although ……… come to think of it the people who scream that Bush and Cheney should be tried on war crimes may of jumped up screaming “yes-
yes off wit dar heads”
You can’t trust anybody these days.
Got that, Maynard?
No, michael e, you’re not delusional, just a half-wit.
Come to think of it, michael e, you remind me a lot of a character on the TV series from a few years back, called Boston Legal. The character was the fellow who killed his mom by whacking her over the head with a skillet, and then whacked others until the Betty White character finally whacked him. In between whacking people, he tried to show how logical and correct he was about everything, even though it clear that he was batshit crazy. And, you’re one of those paranoids with a concealed carry permit. Better not find you sneaking around my place …