[Peace] How to celebrate today's holiday

[C. G. Estabrook]

Have you made your plans on how to celebrate Iraq's National Sovereignty Day (a 
gift to American government and corporations from the million or so people whom 
they killed to arrange it)?


No? Then perhaps you'll want to tune in to "AWARE On the Air" on Urbana Public 
Television (cable channel 6) at 10pm this evening, for a proper observation.


You'll see and hear

   --Ron Szoke on "Losing Hearts & Minds";

   --Wayne Johnson on "Headlines We'd Like to See"; and

   ---yr. obdt. servt. with several comments on the occasion, like that below.


Happy Sovereignty Day (and ours, too, this Saturday);

  	 When my love swears that she is made of truth
  	 I do believe her, though I know she lies...

	--CGE


	*	*	*

	Iraq's 'National Sovereignty Day' is U.S.-Style Hallmark Hype
	by Jeremy Scahill

The puppet government in Iraq has named June 30 as "National Sovereignty Day," 
and -- without mentioning the hundreds of thousands of Iraqis maimed, killed, 
tortured or made refugees by the US invasion and occupation -- thanked the 
occupiers for placing them in power. "President" Jalal Talabani termed today "a 
glorious day," saying, "While we celebrate this day, we express our thanks and 
gratitude to our friends in the coalition forces who faced risks and 
responsibilities and sustained casualties and damage while helping Iraq to get 
rid from the ugliest dictatorship and during the joint effort to impose security 
and stability."

Meanwhile the Iraqi "Prime Minister" Nouri al Maliki -- clearly living in his 
Green Zone bubble -- stated: "The national united government succeeded in 
putting down the sectarian war that was threatening the unity and the 
sovereignty of Iraq," adding, "Those who think that Iraqis are unable to defend 
their country are committing a fatal mistake."  Perhaps Maliki has been hanging 
out too much by the swimming pools and cabanas in the Green Zone and missed 
these events:

    "There was a significant spike in violence before the June 30 withdrawal. 
More than 250 people were killed in a series of bombings, including one on June 
20 that left 81 dead outside a mosque in northern Iraq and another in a Baghdad 
market on June 24 that killed 78."

As we listen to these proclamations from Iraqi "government" officials praising 
their fake holiday, let's remember this fact from veteran journalist Patrick 
Cockburn, who has covered Iraq more than almost any other Western journalist:

    "Iraq is the world's premier kleptomaniac state. According to Transparency 
International the only countries deemed more crooked than Iraq are Somalia and 
Myanmar, while Haiti and Afghanistan rank just behind. In contrast to Iraq, 
which enjoys significant oil revenues, none of these countries have much money 
to steal."

In a grotesquely symbolic move, the Iraqi government marked "National 
Sovereignty Day" by "open[ing] up some of its massive oil and gas fields to 
foreign firms," according to the Wall Street Journal:

    "In a televised ceremony, international oil companies were invited to submit 
bids for six oil and two gas fields, a process that marked their return to the 
country over 30 years after Mr. Hussein nationalized the oil sector and expelled 
the foreign firms. The fields on offer hold about 43 billion of Iraq's 115 
billion barrels of crude reserves - among the largest in the world."

Among the companies bidding were the Western oil giants ExxonMobil and BP (which 
reportedly won a contract on Tuesday). As The New York Times reported,

    "A total of 8 of the world's 10 top non-state oil companies are competing 
for licenses to help develop six oil fields and two natural gas fields."

While the U.S. has hyped up the "handover" to the Iraqis, it is largely a show. 
Underscoring that point, the top US military commander in the Iraqi capital, 
Maj. Gen. Daniel Bolger, handed over the keys to the former Iraqi Defense 
Ministry to an Iraqi military commander and spoke of how now "Iraqis take the 
lead in Baghdad." To keep up appearances, the US military, according to The New 
York Times, has begun "ordering soldiers to remain in garrison for the next few 
days to give the Iraqis a chance to demonstrate that they are in control." Note 
the phrase "for the next few days." As for the official ceremonies marking Iraqi 
"Independence Day," the Times reports:

    "The military parade in the Green Zone on Tuesday - at the official monument 
to the unknown soldier - was attended primarily by Iraqi reporters and 
dignitaries. The public could not reach it because of extensive security 
restricting access to the area [...] Many of the celebrations on Tuesday seemed 
contrived. Police cars were festooned with plastic flowers, and signs 
celebrating 'independence day' were tied to blast walls and fences around the 
city. On Monday, night a festive evening celebration in Zahra Park with singers 
and entertainers drew primarily young men, many of them off-duty police officers."

The Washington Post's Ernesto Londoño, whose report reads like Iraqi 
"government" propaganda (it begins: "This is no longer America's war."), reports:

    "Anchors on state-run television wore folded Iraqi flags over their 
shoulders, and the station kept a graphic of a small Iraqi flag waving under the 
date "6/30" on the top left corner of the screen."

Away from the show, US forces will indeed remain in Iraqi cities to "to train 
and advise Iraqi forces," while huge numbers position themselves just outside 
the cities and could redeploy or strike in moments:

    "The U.S. hasn't said how many troops will be in the cities in advisory 
roles, but the vast majority of the more than 130,000 U.S. forces remaining in 
the country will be in large bases scattered outside cities."

While a lot of the media hype today focuses on the US "withdrawal," that is 
hardly the reality. As previously reported, U.S. military commanders have said 
they are preparing for an Iraq presence for another 15-20 years, the US embassy 
is the size of Vatican City, there is no official plan for the withdrawal of 
contractors and new corporate mercenary contracts are being awarded. The Status 
of Forces Agreement (SoFA) between the US and Iraq gives the U.S. the right to 
extend the occupation indefinitely and to continue intervening militarily in 
Iraq ad infinitum. Article 27 of the SoFA allows the U.S. to undertake military 
action, "or any other measure," inside Iraq's borders "In the event of any 
external or internal threat or aggression against Iraq."

As the airwaves and internet are flooded with reports of this new Iraqi 
sovereignty and U.S. withdrawal, it is important to remember a bit of history. 
Five years ago -- almost to the day -- President Bush put on an almost identical 
show. His proconsul L. Paul Bremer "handed over sovereignty" to the Iraqi 
government just before he skulked out of Baghdad on a secret flight (right after 
he issued an order banning Iraq from prosecuting contractors). Despite the 
pronouncements and proclamations and media hype, the occupation continued and 
real sovereignty was non-existent.

It is very doubtful that-decades from now-Iraqis will tell their grandchildren 
about where they were on June 30, 2009, "National Sovereignty Day." At the end 
of the day, this is U.S.-style Hallmark hype and will remain so until every last 
occupation soldier leaves Iraqi soil.

Published on Tuesday, June 30, 2009 by Rebel Reports

© 2009 Jeremy Scahill

Jeremy Scahill is the author of the New York Times bestseller Blackwater: The 
Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army. He is currently a Puffin 
Foundation Writing Fellow at the Nation Institute.

http://rebelreports.com/post/132950769/iraqs-national-sovereignty-day-is-u-s-style