Link to this page: http://www.socialistparty.org.uk/issue/537/6153
From The Socialist newspaper, 11 June 2008
Fast news
Permanent occupation
AHEAD OF November's presidential election, the Bush administration is attempting to establish 50 permanent US armed bases in Iraq.
According to The Independent's Patrick Cockburn, a new treaty with the beleaguered Iraqi government of prime minister Nouri al-Maliki would allow US troops to "occupy permanent bases, arrest Iraqis and enjoy immunity from Iraqi law". For good measure, Washington also wants control of Iraqi air space. As Cockburn remarks, this treaty will "destabilise Iraq's position in the Middle East and lay the basis for unending conflict".
But Bush's plans to turn Iraq into a US colony, supported by Republican presidential candidate John McCain, could come unstuck if Iraq's Shia leaders - Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani and nationalist cleric Muqtada al-Sadr - force Maliki to hold a referendum on the treaty.
War crimes immunity
MEANWHILE, A US military jury has acquitted a marine of charges that he helped cover up the killing of 24 unarmed Iraqi civilians in Haditha in Iraq, in 2005. Four marines and four officers were initially charged with murder and with failing to investigate the deaths, but the case against five of them was dropped.
Iraqi witnesses said the US troops shot dead five unarmed men at the scene of a car bombing. The troops were then accused of going into nearby houses and killing a further 19 civilians.
There was no full US investigation into what happened until January 2006, when video footage emerged of the aftermath. And an investigation by Time magazine said that most of the dead Iraqis were shot by marines after the bombing.
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In The Socialist 11 June 2008:
Socialist Party NHS campaign
Anti-racism
Socialist Party editorial
Obama declares victory, and shifts to the right
Socialist Party campaigns
"Anti-terror" laws are no solution
Defend Tommy Sheridan
Stirring rally backs Tommy Sheridan
Unison witch-hunt hits Northern Ireland
Campaign for a New Workers Party
Come to the Campaign for a New Workers' Party Conference
New Labour's parallel universe
Socialist Party youth and students
Underfunding youth facilities: It makes no sense!
Socialist Party feature
Oil price shock - the chaos of capitalism
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Socialist Party review
Immortal Technique at the Coronet, London 4 June 2008
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Organise to fight the public-sector pay robbery
National Shop Stewards Network second conference
Fujitsu workers strike to save jobs
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