By Dave Lindorff

Reuters may be “satisfied” with the Pentagon’s investigation
concluding that US troops were “justified” in their slaying of the news
organization’s working journalist Waleed Khaled back in 2005, but the
rest of us shouldn’t be.

Khaled and his driver were killed by US troops when they came on a
firefight involving US troops and Iraqi police who were allegedly under
attack. The Pentagon report into the incident concluded that the two
men came onto the scene, and American forces, seeing Khaled’s videocam
and tripod, thought it was a rocket launcher. They reportedly fired
warning shots. When Khaled’s driver did the logical thing, backing
slowly from the scene, US troops “assumed it was an insurgent tactic”
and fired to “disable” the vehicle, killing the two men.

John Bolton gave a truly remarkable interview to the BBC.

Q: Is there not an American responsibility, having invaded a country, dismantled all the apparatus of government, to ensure the citizens of that country are not murdered?

A. I think it's the responsibility which we've tried to fulfill to turn it back over to the Iraqis... We made a mistake in hindsight not turning it over to them earlier.

But we don't have a responsibility to make the government of Iraq succeed, that's their responsibility.

Q. Do you have a responsibility to keep the peace or not?

I think that's their responsibility too. I think we're all agreed the sooner the Iraqis can decide whether they're gonna to do that or not, the the better off everyone is.

If that's not clear enough, Bolton also said:

The only good thing (for the US and Iraqi puppet gov't) is that a video of this botched hanging hasn't been released into the wilds of the internet, yet, like what occured with the "death squad" lynchin' of Saddam...

Sunnis blast hanging of 2 Saddam aides
BAGHDAD, Iraq - (AP) The Iraqi government's attempt Monday to close a chapter on Saddam Hussein's repressive regime — by hanging two of his henchmen — only appeared to anger many of Saddam's fellow Sunni Muslims after the former leader's half brother was decapitated on the gallows. A thickset Barzan Ibrahim plunged through the trap door and was beheaded by the jerk of the thick beige rope at the end of his fall, in the same the execution chamber where Saddam was hanged a little over two weeks earlier.

A government video of the hanging, played at a briefing for reporters, showed Ibrahim's body passing the camera in a blur. The body came to rest on its chest while the severed head lay a few yards away, still wearing the black hood pulled on moments before by one of Ibrahim's five masked executioners.... (more)

(Graphic Cell-Phone Video w/sound - YouTube)

New Videos Show Graphic Saddam Images
Dec 30, 8:25 PM (ET) By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - The scene was at once macabre and riveting. One of the most notorious dictators of the late 20th century, his hands bound behind him, was led up the stairs of the gallows by masked men in leather coats. A few seconds later, a trapdoor snapped open and - with a crash - Saddam was dead.

He may have been the first chief of state executed in the age of the Internet and the camera phone. Probably because of that, his death was graphically documented on video, and available worldwide, within hours... (more)

THE DELUGE: CHENEY AND RUMSFELD KNEW ALL ALONG IRAQ WOULD DESCEND INTO CIVIL WAR. They wanted it, they planned it, they guaranteed it.

Just as they planned a war FOR terror, they planned a civil war FOR Iraq: In September 2002 it was revealed that Cheney backed a plan to merge Iraq with Jordan. Civil war was a necessary precursor to the execution of this plan.

For all true believers still loyal to the White House when it whimpers that NOBODY could have predicted planes would be used as WMDs, NOBODY could have predicted the levees would fail, or NOBODY could have foreseen that Iraq would descend into hellish civil war, your world is about to end.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The U.S. military in Iraq said on Sunday media reports that America and Britain planned to pull all troops out of Iraq by spring 2007 were "completely false," reiterating that there was no timetable for withdrawal.

Two British newspapers reported on Sunday that the pull-out plan followed an acceptance by the two governments that the presence of foreign troops in Iraq was now an obstacle to securing peace.

Juan Cole writes:

The American public is not in a mood to be swayed by mere speeches or yet more "milestones" like the election in Iraq. All the recent brouhaha has not improved Bush's poll numbers.

As always, it is best to click on the link to poll results, which give a comparison between early December and more recently. A solid majority of 61 percent disapprove of his handling of the war in Iraq, and his rating on this matter has actually fallen two percentage points since early December. Likewise, more Americans (52%) think going to war in Iraq now was a mistake than thought so two weeks ago (48%).

Half of Americans think neither side is winning, and 9 percent think that the guerrillas are winning. Together, that makes 59% who think that the US is not winning. That is the key point. Bush had to convince them that the US is winning, or has the early prospect of winning. He failed. They don't buy it.

The great publicity blitz and attempt to re-cast the Iraq problem as a resolvable one has fallen flat on its face.

(AP) The training of Iraqi security forces has suffered a big "setback" in the last six months, with the army and other forces being increasingly used to settle scores and make other political gains, Iraqi Vice President Ghazi al-Yawer said Monday.

Al-Yawer disputed contentions by U.S. officials, including President Bush, that the training of security forces was gathering speed, resulting in more professional troops.

Bush has said the United States will not pull out of Iraq until Iraq's own forces can maintain security. In a speech last week, he said Iraqi forces are becoming increasingly capable of securing the country.

The Insitute for International Mediation and Conflict Resolution knew 48 hours before anyone else that Chalabi was meeting with Cheney. Here's what else they know:

"Iraq’s Deputy Prime Minister Ahmed Chalabi has been playing hard ball with Bush administration officials during his eight day trip to Washington D.C.

"According to senior associates of the Iraqi official, who have accompanied him to meetings with Bush administration officials, Mr. Chalabi has been threatening his friends in the Bush administration that if they do not support his candidacy to become the next prime minister of Iraq that there will be no way to contain Iran. He has told them in no uncertain terms that he is the only one who can make the Iranians behave."

(AAP) The British government has not decided to withdraw troops from Iraq, although contingency planning is under way, Prime Minister Tony Blair's office said.

A leaked government memorandum shows Britain is considering scaling back its troop presence from 8,500 to 3,000 by the middle of next year, saving an estimated STG500 million ($A1.18 billion) annually.

The memo, marked "Secret - UK Eyes Only", and signed by Britain's Defence Secretary John Reid, also says there is a "strong US military desire for significant force reductions".