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WAR WATCHCIA SAYS OCCUPATION COULD COLLAPSE"A new, top-secret CIA report from Iraq warns that growing numbers of Iraqis are concluding that the U.S.-led coalition can be defeated and are supporting the resistance," revealed The Philadelphia Inquirer. The CIA report, dated Nov. 10, warns that the occupation could "collapse unless corrective actions are taken immediately." The average number of daily attacks on U.S. soldiers has risen to 37. Paul Bremer, the top U.S. official in Iraq, was abruptly summoned to the White House on Nov. 12. The new White House plan to transfer power to the U.S.-appointed Iraqi Governing Council by June flew in the face of what the CIA described as the "consensus view of intelligence experts" that the Council is incapable of governing. Elections and a new constitution have been shunted off until at least the end of 2006. BUSH DONORS AWARDED RICH IRAQ CONTRACTS70 U.S. firms that have been awarded $8 billion in no-bid contracts to rebuild Iraq and Afghanistan contributed more that $500,000 to Bush's 2000 campaign. A study released on Oct. 30 by the Center for Public Integrity (CPI) identified the top contractors as Halliburton, Bechtel, International American Products, Perini, Contrak International and Fluor. Halliburton, which was headed by Vice President Cheney until the 2000 election, was awarded more than $2.3 billion through its subsidiary company Kellogg, Brown and Root for restoration of Iraq's oil industry and military support. The report says that most of the companies have employees or board members who have served in the executive branch, for members of Congress or at the highest levels of the military. CRACKDOWN HURTS MIGRANTS, NOT TERRORISTS"A crackdown along the U.S.-Mexico border designed to prevent terrorists from entering the United States hasn't stopped even one known militant from slipping into America since Sept. 11, 2001," according to a Nov. 3 story by the Associated Press. AP says the crackdown by the U.S. Border Patrol has cost U.S. taxpayers "millions, perhaps billions of dollars" and forced migrants to cross at extremely remote desert areas where they face bandits, snakes, dehydration and heat exposure. As a result, at least 742 Mexicans and many others of different nationalities have died. More than 3,000 migrant deaths have been recorded since 1994. TOP ISRAELIS CONDEMN SHARON'S BRUTALITYOn Oct. 29, Lt. Gen. Moshe Yaalon, chief of staff of the Israeli armed forces, publicly condemned the Israeli crackdowns, curfews and roadblocks that have crippled the lives of innocent Palestinians. Then, on Nov. 14, four former heads of Israel's general security service jointly denounced Prime Minister Sharon's tough military policies toward the Palestinians, saying Israel urgently needed a political solution to the Middle East conflict. In addition, hundreds of Israeli fighter pilots and reservists are publicly refusing to participate in "illegal and immoral attacks, of the type carried out by Israel in the territories." Some have been sent to jail. ARMY CHARGED WITH RACIST DOUBLE STANDARDU.S. Army Spc. Shoshana Johnson and her family are charging the Army with practicing a racist double standard. Johnson, an African American woman, was held prisoner of war for 22 days along with Pfc. Jessica Lynch during the initial U.S. invasion of Iraq. The mother of a 3-year-old daughter, Johnson was shot in both legs and is still traumatized by her war experience. The Army granted Lynch, who is white and has received lucrative book and movie deals, an 80 percent disability benefit, but is only offering a 30 percent benefit to Johnson. This translates into a difference of $600 to $700 each month for the rest of their lives. U.S. REFUSED IRAQ'S LAST MINUTE PEACE EFFORTA Lebanese American businessman with ties to the Pentagon tried to negotiate a last-minute deal with Washington to avoid an invasion of Iraq, according to the Associated Press. Imad Hage said that Baghdad offered to allow 2,000 U.S. inspectors to search Iraq for biological, chemical and nuclear weapons; to give U.S. companies favorable status vis-à-vis oil exploration and contracts; to turnover a highly wanted terrorist; to support the U.S. Middle East peace initiative; and to hold free elections in Iraq. The White House refused to pursue this remarkable Iraqi peace overture. $900 MILLION FOR FUTILE WEAPONS SEARCHA blue ribbon Bush administration inspection team has failed to find chemical, biological or nuclear weapons in Iraq, according to David Kay, the leader of the team. The team has spent $300 million searching for banned arms in Iraq over the past four months. The president's new request for $87 billion to prosecute the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan includes $600 million for a continued search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
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