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	US Military cites ‘Negligence’ in aftermath of Iraq Killings by Paul von Zielbauer New York Times USA   April 2007   A military investigation has found that senior Marine Corps commanders in Iraq showed a routine disregard for the lives of Iraqi civilians that contributed to a “willful” failure to investigate the killing of 24 unarmed Iraqis by marines in 2005, lawyers involved in the case said.   The report, completed last summer but never made public, also found that a Marine Corps general and colonel in Iraq learned of the killings within hours that day, Nov. 19, 2005, in the town of Haditha, but failed to begin a thorough inquiry into how they occurred.   The 130-page report, by Maj. Gen. Eldon A. Bargewell of the Army, did not conclude that the senior officers covered up evidence or committed a crime. But it said the Marine Corps command in Iraq was far too willing to tolerate civilian casualties and dismiss Iraqi claims of abuse by marines as insurgent propaganda, according to lawyers who have read it.   “All levels of command tended to view civilian casualties, even in significant numbers, as routine and as the natural and intended result of insurgent tactics,” General Bargewell wrote in his report, according to two people who have read it. “Statements made by the chain of command during interviews for this investigation, taken as a whole, suggest that Iraqi civilian lives are not as important as U.S. lives, their deaths are just the cost of doing business, and that the Marines need to get the job done no matter what it takes.”   The killings in Haditha, in Anbar Province, began with a roadside bombing that killed one American marine and wounded two. Several marines then began methodically killing civilians in the area, eventually going door to door in the village and killing women and children, some in their beds, according to a Naval criminal investigation.   General Bargewell’s report, completed at the request of Lt. Gen. Peter W. Chiarelli, the day-to-day commander of American forces in Iraq at the time, did not focus on the killings themselves, but rather on commanders’ handling of the aftermath.   The Washington Post published details of the report’s findings on Saturday. Spokesmen for the Marine Corps declined to comment, citing hearings for the three enlisted marines charged with murder in the case and for four officers charged with dereliction of duty for failing to ensure a proper investigation.   General Bargewell’s report was said to have found what it called “inattention and negligence, in certain cases willful negligence,” among Marine officers who reported the civilian deaths immediately up their chain of command in ways that the report said were “untimely, inaccurate and incomplete.”   It is critical of the Marine division commander, Maj. Gen. Richard A. Huck, and the regimental commander, Col. Stephen W. Davis, for fostering a perception that civilian Iraqi lives were not as important as American lives and for failing to investigate the civilian deaths in Haditha, lawyers who read the report said.
	Poverty Scavengers by Danny Glover & Nicole Lee TransAfrica Forum USA   May 31, 2007   In June of 2006, world leaders stood with British Prime Minister Tony Blair and pledged their support for debt relief for impoverished African nations. The intent of their principled gesture was to help a select number of countries pull themselves out of the quagmire of debt which prevents them from building infrastructure, schools and hospitals. But, it was also a pragmatic gesture. Poverty breeds insecurity, and as President Bush noted in his State of the Union address, poverty alleviation must be a cornerstone of our foreign policy to create a secure world.   For the most part, the world applauded the efforts of the G-8 leaders, and the slow process to full debt relief began. But in the shadows stands a financial creature that threatens the resolve of the G-8 on African debt relief and threatens U.S. foreign policy related to development assistance for Africa and this administration’s so-called war on terror.   A vulture is a creature that lurks around waiting for another animal to be near death before it swoops in. The vulture is a cagey bird that hovers over the weak waiting for an opportunity to finish it off. Vulture funds are a group of financial institutions that buy African and Latin American debt from the lending country for a reduced amount and then press the struggling nations into courts as they demand payment of the full loan and interest several times the original value of the debt. This practice is crippling countries that welcomed international debt relief but are now facing the possibility of debt relief from the G-8 being meaningless. They will now have to pay the new owners of their loan.   In the African country of Zambia, over 70 percent of people live in poverty. The average wage is just over a dollar a day, one in five people are infected with HIV/AIDS and life expectancy is merely 37.7 years.   Yet, in the midst of qualifying for debt cancellation by G-8 nations, the Donegal Corporation, owned by American businessman Michael Sheehan, bought Zambian debt from Romania. In April, British courts awarded Donegal 15 million dollars, almost five times the value Donegal paid for the debt.   The morally bankrupt actions of vulture funds render the commitments to debt relief made by the U.S. and other wealthy nations meaningless. U.S. taxpayer money, pledged to provided relief and assistance through debt relief, will fall into the hands of these greedy corporations. At the upcoming G-8 Summit President Bush should call for a commitment by world leaders to address debt relief and vulture funds. The U.S. Treasury should follow the lead of U.K. Chancellor Gordon Brown and limit the awards vulture funds can claim for these debts. Congress must examine this practice and its impact on our overall foreign policy interests.   The international community must employ effective means to protect countries like Zambia who have fallen prey to these vulture funds, including implementing fair and transparent international mechanisms to resolve these matters.   Vulture funds are aptly named. They present a threat to the end of world hunger. They undermine U.S. foreign policy and increase the possibility of a rise in terrorist organizations in sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America. People of good will and good intentions must join with international civil society and call for the end of this treacherous practice.   * Danny Glover is chairman of the board of and Nicole Lee is executive director of TransAfrica Forum.
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