Shell Shock and Awe: War, Capital and Carnage in Iraq

Christof Bϋchel: "Unplugged (Simply Botiful)"

Pireos 260

7-11pm every day til 6 July 2010

Even after a shower to remove the grime left on my body after visiting this awesome exhibition in Athens I am still reeling from the impact of the installation.

Taking the headline from a UK right-wing tabloid article 'Simply Botiful' Christoph Bϋchel 'forces the viewer to take part in physically demanding and psychologically uncomfortable scenarios'.

In a space 15m x 15m the artist arranges 10 rooms of death and destruction in such a way that you can almost taste the fear of the millions of Iraqi's who were murdered or affected by the so-called War on Terror in Iraq.

And it is certainly not for the faint hearted or easily offended. Using original items recovered from the aftermath of the Iraq war—bullet riddled clothes, photos, pornography, a full bar frequented by the military, voting booths and bomb-making equipment—Buechel gives us a glimpse, a striking insight, of what is daily life for both the invaders and the victims.

The stench is shocking. In one room, a caravan clearly used for soldiers sexual gratification, an airfreshner can sits alongside remnants of women's underwear and fag-butts. Loud, brash American rave music blares from a tiny sound-system and competes for your attention with an Arabic voice coming from a TV in another area.

The contradictions in this exhibition cause confusion. My companion, the cartoonist Carlos Latuff, said 'it causes an inconvienience in my brain...it makes my body feel sick'. It certainly left a foul taste in my mouth.

This exhibition is in no way beautiful. How can it be? 'War is NOT beautiful' Latuff reflected.

Take time to sit in every room, to absorb the atmosphere and to examine every piece of the 1,000's of items to really get a view of Iraq through the eyes of hard core, pro-war American soldiers. Talk to the bar men. Climb up every ladder. Crawl through every hole. Wear sensible clothing.

With politics as good as is display in this installation no doubt the artists price tag of Euro600k covered mainly what I imagine to be very high transportation costs. That profiteering from war comes at a price is thoroughly displayed within this exhibition.

For more details go to: http://tinyurl.com/iraqart

Liberating Women in Iraq American Military Style

A Briefing Paper

OF INTERNATIONAL EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Prepared by Kristen McNutt, Researcher,

Association of Humanitarian Lawyers

Presented to The United Nations Commission on Human Rights 2005 March Session

Geneva

Iraqi female detainees have been illegally detained, raped and sexually violated by United States military personnel. Women who stay at home in traditional roles are more likely to be imprisoned as bargaining chips by US troops seeking to pressurize male relatives, according to the New Statesmen (UK) . In December 2003, a woman prisoner, “Noor”, smuggled out a note stating that US guards at Abu Ghraib had been raping women detainees and forcing them to strip naked. Several of the women were now pregnant. The classified enquiry launched by the US military, headed by Major General Antonio Taguba, has confirmed the note by “Noor” and that sexual violence against women at Abu Ghraib took place. Among the 1,800 digital photographs taken by US guards inside Abu Ghraib there were, according to Taguba's report, images of naked male and female detainees; a male Military Police guard “having sex” with a female detainee; detainees (of unspecified gender) forcibly arranged in various sexually explicit positions for photographing; and naked female detainees. The Bush administration has refused to release photographs of Iraqi women prisoners at Abu Ghraib, including those of women forced at gunpoint to bare their breasts (although these have been shown to Congress). UK Member of Parliament Ann Clwyd (L) has confirmed a report of an Iraqi woman in her 70s who had been harnessed and ridden like a donkey at Abu Ghraib and another coalition detention centre after being arrested last July. Clwyd said: "She was held for about six weeks without charge. During that time she was insulted and told she was a donkey."

Read more HERE

Matthew Chiroux continues resisting Bush's illegal wars

Hi folks,

Just passing on the press release for my hearing with the Army this Tuesday. If you are or know any journalists or bloggers, independent or otherwise, please pass this release on and help spread the message that just because Obama's in the whitehouse doesn't mean G.I. Resistence to our illegal wars is going to stop!

Peace and Solidarity,

Matthis Chiroux

matthisresists.us

For Immediate Release

(ST. LOUIS, MO) The U.S. Army will hear the case of Sgt. Matthis Chiroux, an Individual Ready Reservist who last summer publicly refused activation and deployment orders to Iraq, on April 21 at 1 Reserve Way in Overland, St. Louis, MO, at 9 a.m.

Chiroux, a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War, refused to participate in what he described as "an illegal and immoral occupation" May 15th, 2008, in Washington D.C., after nine other veterans testified to Members of the U.S. Congress about atrocities they experienced during deployments to Iraq. Chiroux also vowed to remain public in the U.S. to defend himself from any charges brought against him by the military. (see matthisresists.us for a record of that speech and others by Chiroux)

"My resistance as a noncommissioned officer to this abhorrent occupation is just as legitimate now as it was last year," said Chiroux, adding, "Soldiers have a duty to adhere to the international laws of war described as supreme in Art. 6 Para. 2 of the U.S. Constitution, which we swear to abide by before the orders of any superior, including our former or current president."

Following Chiroux's refusal to deploy, the military did not contact him until after he and 10 other IVAW members marched on the final presidential debate Oct. 15, 2008, in Hempstead, N.Y. demanding to question then Senators Obama and McCain regarding their war policies and plans to care for returning veterans. After the veterans were brutalized and arrested by police, (one suffered a fractured skull and is currently suing the police for damages) the Army charged Chiroux with "misconduct" for refusing to deploy, announcing their intentions to discharge him from the reserves as a result.

"I go now to St. Louis to honor my promises and convictions," said Chiroux. "Obama or No-Bama, the military must cease prosecuting Soldiers of conscience, and we will demonstrate to them why."

Following the hearing, Chiroux and other IVAW members will testify about their military experiences which led them all to resist in different capacities the U.S.'s Overseas Contingency Operation (formerly the Global War on Terror).

For more information, see matthisresists.us and ivaw.org.

Exhibition exposes modern tragedy of Babylon

Apr 14 2008:Robert Booth

• British Museum leads calls to preserve Iraq's heritage after coalition troops accused of destroying historic sites

• Show more details…

Chris Rock about the War on Terror

Stolen from a certain Mr Game:

why (hopefully) the US elections will go like they will. There was a wonderful moment on Newsnight when Paxman, who increasingly represents the most obnoxious face of the British ruling class whimsically pointed out that the war was 'irrelevent' in the US election. He was vociferously contradicted by all Americans on the panel. The reason he was attempting to assert this was because of the elites visceral dislike of any concensus established by popular mobilization. In correctly warning that Obama is not about to change the nature of US capitalism it is absolutely vital that socialists do not resemble the dissolute cynicism of our rulers. You see the erosion of Bush all through Chris Rock's act amongst ordinary people even if he is hardly very radical himself. That erosion has been an excellent thing and the vote tonight is an index of it depth. And that is no bad thing. Hopefully

Pakistan - the beginning of a long expected spillover

If one had asked anti-war activists, socialists and sympathizers of the left which country were to be the next target of Bush’s ‘war on terror’ Iran would have probably been the answer a year ago. But as even journalists in the mainstream media were preparing for an attack on Iran the events of the last few weeks appear to come out of nowhere.

As Pakistan has been co-operating with the Bush regime since the beginning of the war on terror it seemed remote that it now would be facing an American invasion. And indeed, it is unprecedented that the USA is moving into an allied country.

Read the full arcticle at Comrade Mark's blog here