‘While the publication of the
first Abu Ghraib photos in April 2004 opened the floodgates for former Iraqi
detainees to speak out about their treatment at the hands of occupation forces,
this wasn't the first I'd heard of torture in Iraq. A case I'd documented even
before then was that of 57 year-old Sadiq Zoman. 

He was held for one month by U.S.
forces before being dropped off in a coma at the general hospital in Tikrit.
The medical report that came with his comatose body, written by U.S. Army medic
Lt. Col. Michael Hodges, listed the reasons for Zoman's state as heat stroke
and heart attack. 

From the ABC

Deputy Prime Minister Mark Vaile has announced the sale of 350,000 tonnes of Australian wheat to Iraq worth up to $70 million.

Mr Vaile made the announcement as he and other Nationals
parliamentarians addressed a rally of around 400 farmers in the New
South Wales central-west.

I forgot if this already appears on the site... But I drew this just when Mr Vaile was leaving Australia for negociations with Iraq... Not hard to guess the result...

From the ABC

Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer says he supports a decision by the United States to deliver nuclear technology to India.

Australia has ruled out selling uranium to India because it has not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Prime Minister John Howard is due to visit the country next week, but Mr Downer says this development will not cause discomfort.

"We've considered very carefully over the last few months the American proposal for this agreement that President Bush has signed with the Indians, and our view of it is that it's a good step forward... 

Gus radiations:

 From the ABC

The Federal Opposition says cables warning of alleged kickbacks in AWB's wheat contracts tendered to the Cole inquiry yesterday were sent directly to the Prime Minister nearly six years ago.

Labor says the cables dispute Prime Minister John Howard's claim that the first he knew of information suggesting AWB was paying kickbacks to Iraq was long after the oil-for-food program had ended.

Mr Howard has repeatedly told Parliament that he had no knowledge of suggestions AWB might be paying kickbacks until the matter was investigated by the United Nations.

In his first detailed remarks since the
bombing of a prominent Shiite mosque triggered two days of deadly reprisals
& counter-reprisals, the president warned that "the days ahead in Iraq
are going to be difficult & exhausting." 

"Please", he nearly added
"we have a MONOPOLY on bombing your lot to smithereen! So stop it or
you'll go...". He would have stopped here, of course, realizing he did not
see very well himself anymore...

UN investigator briefed Downer on AWB

Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer has confirmed he was
briefed on allegations against AWB a month before the UN oil-for-food inquiry
handed down its report.

It has been revealed Mr Downer met the UN oil-for-food
investigator Paul Volcker in New York in September last year.