Just heard Dahl Jamail

[Proud_Lefty]

I just have to share my very exciting day today. I went to an all day conference "People as Media" in San Diego. We had real interesting speakers in the morning including Scooter from Air America. We broke out into workshops in the afternoon and had a ball brainstorming on slogans and learning how to do signages and petitions, specifically for Arnold's Special Election this November.

At the end of the day, Dahl Jamail was our final guest speaker. He read to us his testimony before the International Tribunal. He then showed a film coming out soon covering the devastation before, during and after the US attack on Fallajah. People openly wept throughout the film and when the lights went back on, all eyes were red and swollen. It was so heartwrenching to see what the media has fought so hard to cover up, what atrocities have been done in our name. He said that a friend of his is soon to be distributing this film through the same distributor as Outfoxed.

After a hard dose of reality, I'm feeling numb and exhausted, but ready to start a new week with a renewed mission to speak out and let the truth be heard.

[magellan]

1. Good report, more people need to see/read Dahr Jamail's work

For anyone not familiar with Dahr Jamail, his blog Dahr Jamail's Iraq is recommended reading. He reports independently from Iraq and is one of only a handful of reporters who actually gets out and about to learn what's really going on there.

Thanks, Proud Lefty. :)

[peekaloo]

3. I'll second that suggestion and kick.

He and Robert Fisk are two ground reporters who have spoken the truth about this invasion.

[MelissaB]

2. kickety kick

[Proud_Lefty]

4. His story is amazing

Dahl gave several examples of things that happened in Iraq where the US blew away a bunch of civilians on a knee jerk reaction and then creates their official story that they were under attack by a former Saddam loyalist group or such. Our media goes in, interviews the Iraqi people and then reports the opposite of what they hear, but happens to collaborate 100% with the official story. You can only imagine how the pissed the Iraqi people were by the continued deceit. Of course, we all suspected it, but he confirmed that our media over there is reporting complete BS and covering up beyond belief.

He did say, though, that he has been speaking to groups like ours more and more lately, and he's been getting encouraged by the amount of people in this country that are finally openly their eyes, and are moved to make a difference. The shift has begun. I approached him at the end of the conference and asked him more about this shift. He said he's been a real cynical SOB for a while now since experiencing this deception by our country, so he would never say that lightly unless he really felt it. But people are pissed and want this madness to stop.

[Zhade]

5. He rocks. Thanks for the info.

Kick!

[babylonsister]

6. Thanks, P_L! Do you have a name for this film so I

can look for it?

[Proud_Lefty]

10. Sorry, I've been trying to remember the title

It's something like "Caught in the Crossfire" to the best of my memory. I'll repost once I talk to some of the other people I went with and wrote the title down. He made it sound like it's coming out real soon, like in the next few weeks. When you see it, you can't help but feel extreme anger towards our lying government and an urgency to get the troops the hell out of there. He also confirmed that most these insurgents are people protecting their homes or seeking revenge for their family members killed.

[Proud_Lefty]

11. Video is called "Caught in the Crossfire"

Just had it confirmed.

[ConsAreLiars]

7. His testimony to the World Tribunal in Istanbul can be found at

http://www.worldtribunal.org/main/?b=21#
Click the link "Testimony on War Crimes and the Recent Situation in Iraq" in the section for the Second Day.

[Catrina]

8. Dahr Jamail

and a few others deserve so much credit for covering this war honestly. You are fortunate to have had a chance to hear him speak. Thanks for the update on what he is doing. I worry about his safety ~

Here is an excellent interview he did with a small Connecticut radio show host, Dori Smith, in May. It's interesting to note that he doubts the existence of Al Zarqawi ~ as do many people, yet without question, the MSM continues to spout WH propaganda about the ever-illusive and what must be the closest thing to the terminator we have ever seen in real life. He grows new legs, dies, returns to life, loses legs, regrows them, and manages to get excellent hospital treatment whenever he's wounded, yet no one in Iraq has ever seen him.


Smith: I'd like to know from your perspective whether or not there is also a similarity in your mind to these reports of Zarqawi's movements? They are saying two different things at once here Dahr. One is that Zarqawi and his fighters have moved out of the cities and towards the Western Province. The other is that attacks are continuing in the cities and that those fighters attacking in the cities are not being described. So talk about these two contrasting portraits we're getting of the violence in Iraq:

Jamail: Well one thing I should make really clear is that there has been a very consistent pattern of this Zarqawi person from the beginning. If we remember back to the November siege of Fallujah, the military stated that one of their goals of that siege was to get Zarqawi so they said he was in the city and then shortly after the siege began he somehow managed to slip through this extremely tight military cordon around the city and escape. And then a similar thing occurred with Ramadi. They said then they were going to mount some smaller operations but similar operations in Ramadi. They said that it was because Zarqawi was there and then he mysteriously slipped away and then popped up in Mosul just before again huge military operations were launched in Mosul. And now he has once again popped up in Western Iraq in more desert areas just as this, another convenient excuse to launch yet another large military siege in that area as well. So it has been a very consistent pattern and that is in direct contradiction of the fact that the US Military has never given any hard evidence of his existence. This is a person who was even reported killed by a mainstream outlet in the US last spring in Northern Iraq. So we don't even really know for sure if this individual exists. Another example is that people in Fallujah have yet to meet one person in or outside of Fallujah who have said that they have seen this person or anyone affiliated with him operating in Iraq.

http://cafeutne.org/partners/bin/motet?show+-ukLnxE+-h+NeverGiveUp.Features+2+1

He basically says that the whole Zarqawi story is most likely a myth, and that the US media simply regurgitates what they are told, and does no independent investigating at all.

[welshTerrier2]

9. read this one ...

if you want to understand what US policy is in Iraq, read this: http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2005/01/308127.shtml