SURPRISE

'Yes' vote prevails in Kazakhstan nuclear plant vote: TV

Almaty (Kazakhstan) (AFP) – Kazakhs looked Sunday to have voted in favour of building the first nuclear power plant in the Central Asian country, the world's largest producer of uranium but lacking electricity, in a referendum.

Issued on: 06/10/2024 - 

The nuclear power plant is planned for the shores of Lake Balkhash © Ruslan PRYANIKOV / AFP/File

According to two polls broadcast on state television after the polls closed, the "yes" vote had secured a win with around 70 percent of the votes.

The Electoral Commission, which put turnout at 63.87 percent, is expected to unveil final results on Monday.

China, France, Russia and South Korea are in the running to build the new power station, which is to be located on the shores of Lake Balkhash.

President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, who was elected in 2019, says the plant would be "the biggest project in the history of independent Kazakhstan".

Tokayev indicated Sunday that he preferred an "international consortium made up of global companies equipped with cutting-edge technologies".

The "Yes" camp has dominated throughout the vote campaign in a country that still has authoritarian reflexes, despite an easing of pressure on civil society under Tokayev's rule.

The result had therefore been expected to go in favour of the project despite lingering resentment over massive radiation exposure as a result of Soviet-era nuclear tests.
Dissenting voices muted

To bolster turnout, the authorities cleared Kazakhs to vote even if they were not registered on the electoral lists. Buses were free in large cities on polling day to facilitate access to polling stations.

"The referendum itself is further proof of the enormous changes that have occurred in Kazakhstan over the past five years, a new clear manifestation of the concept of a listening state," Tokayev said before the vote.

A 'yes' vote was expected despite lingering resentment over massive radiation exposure as a result of Soviet-era nuclear tests © Ruslan PRYANIKOV / AFP/File

Opponents of the construction, who fear an ecological catastrophe in the event of an accident at the plant, had difficulty making themselves heard. Dozens were arrested in the weeks preceding the referendum, according to local private media.

Rich in oil, rare metals and also producer of almost half of the world's uranium, Kazakhstan hopes to use nuclear power to offset a chronic energy deficit, particularly in the country's south where half of the roughly twenty million population lives.

The issue of nuclear power is sensitive given that between 1949 and 1989, the Soviet Union carried out around 450 nuclear tests there, exposing 1.5 million people to radiation.

The power station is due to be built near the semi-abandoned village of Ulken in the Kazakh steppes on the shores of Lake Balkhash, Central Asia's second-largest lake.

Kazakhstan faces up to the legacy of Soviet weapons testing in a vote on nuclear power

 October 6, 2024


MOSCOW (AP) — Polls are open in Kazakhstan Sunday for a landmark referendum on building the country’s first nuclear power plant, confronting the country’s painful legacy as a testing ground for Soviet nuclear weapons.

The proposal is backed by the government and President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, who hopes to boost the country’s energy security.

The plant, which is slated to be built close to Lake Balkhash in southeastern Kazakhstan, would take pressure off the coal-powered power stations on which the country heavily relies.

Although the use of renewable energy is growing, supporters believe Kazakhstan’s position as one of the world’s largest uranium producers makes nuclear energy a logical choice.

However, the use of nuclear materials remains a controversial and often sensitive topic in Kazakhstan, which was used as a testing ground for the Soviet Union’s nuclear program.

The weapon tests made large swaths of land in the northeastern Semei region uninhabitable, devastating the local environment and affecting the health of nearby residents. In total, 456 tests were carried out between 1949 and 1989 at the Semipalatinsk test site. It was officially closed in August 1991.

Critics have also drawn attention to the project’s high costs: The Kazakh government estimates that the nuclear power plant could cost up to $12 billion.

Questions on Russian involvement

There are also concerns that Russia’s state atomic agency, Rosatom, could be invited to take part in the plant’s construction at a time when an increasing number of Kazakhs wish to distance themselves from Moscow’s influence. Rosatom had previously been named by the government as one of four companies whose reactors could be used for the plant, as well as companies from China, South Korea and France.

Tokayev, who has maintained a delicate balancing act between Moscow and the West following sanctions against Russia, has tried to allay such fears by suggesting that the plant could be built by a multinational team.

“The government must analyze and negotiate,” he told reporters after casting his vote Sunday. “But my personal vision is that an international consortium of companies with the most advanced technology possible should work together in Kazakhstan.”

While the referendum is binding, it isn’t clear that the vote will be free and fair.

Some Kazakhs have sought to protest but have been impeded by authorities. Several anti-nuclear protesters were arrested across Kazakhstan Sunday, while other activists said that permission to hold anti-nuclear rallies on the day of the vote had been denied by officials in six Kazakh cities.

Radio Azattyq, the local service of U.S.-funded broadcaster Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, shared footage that appeared to show a voting station official in the Turkestan region dropping large numbers of papers into a ballot box.

The result of the referendum is due to be announced on Monday.

SEE

Kazakhstan observes 'day of silence' ahead of nuclear power plant vote

Amazon activist warns of 'critical situation' ahead of UN forum

Bogotá (AFP) – Ecuadoran activist Alex Lucitante has never shied away from the fight against land-grabbing miners and armed groups in his restive part of the Amazon jungle bordering Colombia.

Issued on: 07/10/2024

  

Never more under threat: Alex Lucitante, a leader of the Cofan people in Ecuadorian Amazon © Pedro PARDO / AFP/File

Later this month, he will take his battle to world leaders at the United Nations, as one of several Indigenous representatives to the COP16 biodiversity conference in the Colombian city of Cali.

"It’s an opportunity (for Indigenous people) to be stronger in the world," he told AFP by telephone ahead of the meeting, which organizers say will attract more than 100 government ministers and 12 heads of state.

"We are in a very critical situation."

Lucitante, the 31-year-old son of a shaman, is of the Cofan Avie ethnic group.

He has spearheaded his community's fight against illegal gold miners, notably setting up an Indigenous guard, patrols and a drone surveillance system.

At the same time, he has fought in court.

In 2018, the Cofan Avie won an historic legal victory over mining companies in Ecuador, where courts annulled 52 gold mining concessions that had been awarded without any consultation with the community.

In 2022, Lucitante and fellow activist Alexandra Narvaez were awarded the Goldman Prize, the equivalent of a Nobel for environmentalists, for their activism.

But all their efforts have not stopped gold prospectors churning up the river beds for gold.

Lucitante blames governments for not doing enough.

"Often, the aid designated for care of the environment, of biodiversity, stays in the cities and never reaches our communities," he told AFP.

And states, he charged, "are the first to promote the destruction of biodiversity... putting out oil tenders and mining concessions while, at the same time, persecuting Indigenous leaders."
Harmony with nature

COP16's organizers have said Indigenous peoples will have an active part in the talks, set to run from October 20 to November 1.

"Indigenous peoples and local communities in Colombia and around the world have lived in harmony with nature for millennia," says a statement on the conference website.

"Their traditional knowledge holds important lessons that the world must heed as we collectively seek viable ways to reconcile socioeconomic progress with the health of the natural foundation that sustains all life on Earth."

Lucitante is skeptical.

"The governments participating in these spaces... they end up saying they are doing a very good job with Indigenous peoples, guaranteeing human rights, guaranteeing the rights of nature."

He added, "In our communities, we don't see that."

The 15 previous UN biodiversity conferences, Lucitante said, have brought "no significant changes."
Governments doing 'nothing'

The Cofan Avie comprise about a dozen extended families spread over 55,000 hectares (135,000 acres) of rivers and lush forest straddling Ecuador and Colombia.

The area, which is controlled by the myriad armed groups that also call the jungle home, bears the scars of rampant mineral exploration.

"If you look at a map of our territories, you can see all around the destruction that has been taking place during these last years," Lucitante told AFP.

Not even the strongest warrior can defend against such encroachment, he added.

"We can see mining destroying the edge of our territories... and governments are doing absolutely nothing.

"Already the area where I live has been deforested... You can't find a single river that contains clean water anymore, you can't find a river that contains a healthy fish to feed yourself."

Lucitante said he had received threats for shining a light on illegal activities.

The COP organizers have said Indigenous representatives will have input in national action plans on protecting biodiversity.

Environment Minister Susana Muhamad of host country Colombia has told AFP a priority will be creating a body allowing Indigenous communities to directly access funds for conservation efforts.

The conference's theme: "Peace with Nature."

© 2024 AFP

As Great Salt Lake dries, Utah Republicans pardon Trump climate skepticism

Salt Lake City (United States) (AFP) – From his ranch on the shores of the Great Salt Lake, Joel Ferry has a front row view of climate change: a native of Utah, the Republican farmer has seen the water's surface area shrink by two-thirds in the past 40 years.

Issued on: 07/10/2024 - 

The bed of the Great Salt Lake contains arsenic and toxic heavy metals, which can contaminate the atmosphere during dust storms if exposed to the open air by falling levels © Frederic J. BROWN / AFP\

And as director of the western US state's natural resources department, he knows that the drying up of the lake is an "environmental nuclear bomb," threatening the existence of Salt Lake City and the homes of two million people living on its shores.

Still, he will vote without hesitation for Donald Trump this November, despite the Republican presidential candidate's outspoken skepticism on climate change.

Ferry praises the former president's "good economic results," and as a Mormon says he is grateful because Trump has "been very strong on family value issues," including packing the US Supreme Court with conservative judges who overturned abortion rights.

David Parrott, deputy director of the Great Salt Lake Institute at Utah's Westminster University, said if the lake disappears 'it would be like Mad Max' © Frederic J. BROWN / AFP

For Ferry, these factors outweigh the fact that Trump regularly mocks claims of a climate emergency.

Just this summer, Trump claimed sea levels would rise "one-eighth of an inch over the next 400 years" and create "more oceanfront property."

"I think he's just teasing a little bit, I don't think he truly believes that," said Ferry.

This is a common response in Utah, where Mormons -- who represent half the state's population -- remain largely loyal to the Republican Party, despite reservations about Trump's personality.

No Democrat has won a presidential election in Utah since 1964.

- 'Mad Max' -

The region received a stark reminder of its ecological fragility in 2022.

The Great Salt Lake plummeted to its lowest recorded levels in 2022, but has recovered slightly © Frederic J. BROWN / AFP

That year, the Great Salt Lake plummeted to its lowest recorded levels, due to a combination of overconsumption of water by farming and mining sectors, and a historic drought spanning two decades.

The water became so salty that brine shrimp, a major source of income for the local economy, began to die. Migratory birds vanished because the flies they feed on were gone.

"It really triggered a lot of scientists, but a lot of just general worry that the lake was going to completely dry up," said David Parrott, deputy director of the Great Salt Lake Institute at Utah's Westminster University.

If the lake disappears, "it would be like 'Mad Max,' where water is completely gone and we just have to abandon the city," said the biologist, referring to the dystopian Hollywood movie franchise.

"It would be unthinkable."

This is because the lake bed, which contains arsenic and toxic heavy metals, would become more exposed to the open air, and contaminate the atmosphere during dust storms.

Joel Ferry, director of Utah's natural resources department, says he will vote without hesitation for Donald Trump despite the Republican presidential candidate's outspoken skepticism on climate change © Frederic J. BROWN / AFP

Ferry said the looming threat sparked a "rallying cry" among local Republicans.

Financial incentives for farmers to reduce water consumption; exploring technology that optimizes irrigation, and seeds clouds to increase rainfall; splitting the lake into two to limit its salinity: "over a billion dollars" has been invested in the past three years, he said.

Even the Mormon Church has set an example, substantially cutting its water use.

Utah is "a great example where you have a very red and conservative state making decisions that are very environmentally driven," said Ferry.

Nationally, "the environment should be a key priority of the Republicans as well."
'Local problem'

Trump's environmental policies, which include rolling back President Joe Biden's climate legacy, are a world away from this ambition.

Water levels at the Great Salt Lake remain below the minimum necessary for its preservation © Frederic J. BROWN / AFP

If he wins in November, it would likely end any hope of limiting global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius (35 degrees Fahrenheit), according to climate science and policy website Carbon Brief.

Trump has pledged to once again withdraw the US from the landmark Paris climate agreement, which limits greenhouse gas emissions.

He has also repeatedly promised to "drill, baby, drill" for oil.

"A Donald Trump presidency would be disastrous for the environment in general and generally for Great Salt Lake," said Parrott.

He applauded local Republicans for doing "a Herculean job," but warned that every fractional increase in global temparatures will require more and more unpopular measures to be adopted, from increasing the price of water to banning lawn sprinklers.

Migratory birds vanished because the flies they feed on were gone © Frederic J. BROWN / AFP

In Salt Lake City, most conservative voters who spoke to AFP expressed concern about the health of the lake.

But many, like 75-year-old Bill Clements, said politicians in Washington should stop "telling us what to do" about this "local issue."

He is encouraged by the two abnormally rainy winters just passed, which have allowed the lake to rise a little -- though still below the minimum levels necessary for its preservation

"I also believe a lot of these things are natural... it goes down, up and down," said the retiree.

"I haven't joined the religion of climate change yet."

© 2024 AFP

Conservative Climate Summit debates toning down hoax claims and litmus tests

Alixel Cabrera, Utah News Dispatch
October 6, 2024 9:34AM ET

Rep. John Curtis, R-UT, speaks at the Conservative Climate Summit at Utah Valley University on Oct. 4, 2024. (Alixel Cabrera/Utah News Dispatch)

The demonization of both the word climate on one of the political spectrum and fossil fuels on the other were front and center of the Conservative Climate Summit.

After showing pictures of sunsets on the southeastern portion of the state with double rainbows and different orange hues, Utah Republican Rep. John Curtis, who hosted the event on Friday, reflected on the branding Republicans often get in the climate conversation — caring little about the Earth.

“Today we gather under the flag of conservatives to have a framed discussion about what role in time we have being good stewards over this Earth. And it’s that simple, no judgment, no debate about science, no shaming for driving a truck, no insisting that we destroy industry or our energy base,” Curtis said. “But rather a thoughtful discussion about making the most of what God has given us.”

Curtis’ work around climate change has drawn national attention. He founded the Conservative Climate Caucus in the House, which has 85 members and a potential future after his departure from Congress this year. And, he said, he hosts meetings at his home in which he invites “50 or 60 of the most far right-leaning people (he) could find in the state” to talk about climate.

“I personally believe the climate is changing, and that man has an influence on it. But I don’t use that as a litmus test. How did I get 85 people to join the Conservative Climate Caucus? It wasn’t with a litmus test,” he said. “If you take people where they are, you will find they feel comfortable talking about this.”

People don’t have to give up their conservative credentials to be good at this conversation, Curtis said. And while those on the left should stop demonizing coal in order to open space for debate, far right-leaning people also need to give in a little, he said, because if they’re not at the climate table, they have zero influence on policy.

“‘It’s a hoax’ is not a thoughtful conversation,” Curtis said.

Also, in Curtis’ view, while clean energy is important, so is its affordability and reliability. Resources that check all of those boxes are what the market is demanding, and what he believes will dominate in a future that’s in need of more energy with new industries such as artificial intelligence and data centers.

His colleagues from the U.S. House, Republican Reps. Celeste Maloy and Blake Moore, joined him in a panel where they shared similar views to Curtis’.

“If conservatives just stay out of the conversation, it’s not going to be balanced,” Maloy said, commending initiatives to breach the gap between the two major parties. “And what it’s going to take for all of us to survive on this planet is innovation.”

Moore recognized some points of common ground between Democrats and Republicans. He, for example, voted against the establishment of the Inflation Reduction Act, but he sees positive aspects of it, like the tax incentive for nuclear facilities.

“We should be somewhat focused on reducing deficits, which we need to be doing. But there will be energy decisions to be made (to make a 50-year energy plan),” Moore said.

What’s at stake in the transformation of the energy market, Curtis said, is the country’s position as a world leader in energy.

“This innovation is going to happen. We have to decide if we want it to come from the United States or if we’re OK with it coming from China or other places in the world,” Curtis said.
Project 2025 criticism

One of the speakers on Friday was Victoria Coates, a former deputy national security adviser to former President Donald Trump and vice president of a national security institute at the Heritage Foundation, which created Project 2025, a policy agenda for a new conservative president.

“I proudly participated in the mandate for leadership on Project 2025, on the energy panel, so writing that chapter, which I strongly recommend to you,” Coates said on Friday about the plan to reconfigure the Department of Energy, making significant office cuts. “It is merely common-sense policies that I think would make a stronger America. And no, we are not attempting to subvert the Republic.”

Democratic candidate Caroline Gleich, who is challenging Curtis in the U.S. Senate race, said in a statement that the summit featuring oil and gas industry officials and Coates “is nothing more than a distraction orchestrated by the fossil fuel industry to delay, distract and hide their destructive impact on our health and climate.”

“Utah doesn’t need more empty talk; we need leadership that delivers. While in Congress, Rep. Curtis voted against environmental protections time and time again,” Gleich wrote, “earning a worse environmental voting record than even Senator Mike Lee.”

Curtis defended the invitation, arguing that oil executives and conservative think tanks have “moved on” while politicians were behind, feeling like they had to defend fossil fuels.

“When Heritage came to my office four years ago, sat on my couch,” Curtis said, “I asked them if climate was changing and man was influencing it. And they said, ‘yes.’”

Utah News Dispatch is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Utah News Dispatch maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor McKenzie Romero for questions: info@utahnewsdispatch.com. Follow Utah News Dispatch on Facebook and X.

DESANTISLAND

Concerns raised about toxic exposure in the aftermath of Helene floodwaters

CLAIMS THERE IS NO CLIMATE CHANGE

Ed Carver, Common Dreams
October 6, 2024 10:25AM ET

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis speaks about Hurricane Helene as Adjutant General of Florida Major General John Haas looks on during a press briefing at the Emergency Operations Center in Tallahassee, Florida, U.S., September 26, 2024. REUTERS/Phil Sears

Local officials, academic researchers, and volunteer responders have raised concerns about chemical and biological contamination brought by the floodwaters of Hurricane Helene in the southeastern U.S. last week, which potentially threaten the safety not only of drinking water but also the quality of soil—leading experts to call for tighter regulations on stored pollutants.


Helene struck Florida as a Category 4 hurricane on September 26 and swept through a number of states in the days that followed. Most of the damage came from extreme rainfall that triggered flooding. The storm killed at least 232 people.

The biological and chemical threats posed by floodwaters are typically manifold, often containing, for example, e. coli from overflowing sewage systems.


While it's not yet clear what bacteria or chemicals Helene's floodwaters may have contained, the storm passed through hundreds of industrial sites with toxic pollutants, including paper mills, fertilizer factories, oil and gas storage facilities, and even a retired nuclear plant, according to three researchers at Rice University, writing in The Conversation this week.

The researchers called for tighter regulations on the storage and release of chemical pollutants.

"Hazardous releases remain largely invisible due to limited disclosure requirements and scant public information," they wrote. "Even emergency responders often don’t know exactly which hazardous chemicals they are facing in emergency situations."
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"We believe this limited public information on rising chemical threats from our changing climate should be front-page news every hurricane season," they added. "Communities should be aware of the risks of hosting vulnerable industrial infrastructure, particularly as rising global temperatures increase the risk of extreme downpours and powerful hurricanes."

The devastation of infrastructure and the lack of drinking water in cities such Asheville, North Carolina, has rightly received national media attention following the storm. In North Carolina alone, more than 700,000 households lost power, and 170,000 still didn't have it as of Thursday.

Yet the National Weather Service warns that while floodwaters can create clear-cut devastation, "what you can't see can be just as dangerous." Helene also brought with it public health concerns that are less obvious, including to other, non-public sources of drinking water.


Helene's floodwaters overran many wells, rendering them unsafe to drink, at least until treatment and testing can be done. North Carolina's Department of Health and Human Services advised residents not to use contaminated well water earlier this week.

One problem following Helene is that most studies of flooding's impact on drinking water have been done in coastal areas, and it's not clear how they apply to the mountainous areas of North Carolina that took the worst hit from the storm.

"We don't have a lot of knowledge about mountain flooding, from a hydrology standpoint," Kelsey Pieper, a professor in environmental engineering at Northeastern University, toldInside Climate News.


"Water velocities tend to be higher in mountain floodings because it's getting funneled into the valley, where the water is accumulating. In a coastal area, you’re going to see more water spreading out," she said. "The flooding mechanisms are different, and we know very little."

Wells tested in eastern North Carolina after Hurricane Florence in 2018 showed some detections of e. coli or total fecal coliform, which were partly attributed to industrialized hog farms in the area, Inside Climate News reported.

Crops are often rendered unsafe after flooding due to biological or chemical contamination, according to Food Safety Alliance.


Natural bodies of water are also often unsafe to swim in following floods. Virginia Department of Health and other agencies warned people to avoid them after Helene.

The period after a tropical storm brings increased risk of both biological contaminants, such as bacteria and viruses, and chemical contaminants, such as heavy metals and pesticides, according to the Duke University Superfund Research Center.

Following Helene, a grassroots volunteer cleanup effort has sprung up in western North Carolina, but it brings risks for the volunteers because of the potential contamination.


"We were supposed to get a big shipment of gloves, coveralls, masks, respirators, but we aren't," Rachel Bennett, a coordinating volunteer in the town of Marshall, which sits along the banks of the French Broad River, told the Citizen Times, an Asheville newspaper. "So, we're hoping to get more. Those are the big things because we're in cleanup right now. We need thick things."


"Right now, it's boots, and it's hard to get people to put on gloves, because when you're in this, you're like, 'I'm already exposed,'" she added.


A Marshall resident conducted a soil test this week but the results haven't come back yet, the newspaper reported.

"All of these rivers should be treated as hazmat sites," Buncombe County spokesperson Stacey Wood said at a briefing Friday, according to a local journalist. Buncombe County encompasses Asheville and Marshall is just outside it.

The Rice University researchers called for better preparation for future storms in the form of stronger regulation. They've developed a map showing the U.S. areas that are most vulnerable to chemical pollution brought on by floodwaters. One hotspot is the area of Texas and Louisiana full of petrochemical industry sites.


The climate crisis, driven by the burning of fossil fuels, is increasing the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, and likely contributed to Helene's development, experts have said.

In addition to their immediate damage, storms like Helene can have surprising long-term impacts. A study published in Nature this week found that tropical storms—even those far less deadly than Helene—typically lead to many thousands of excess deaths in the 15 years that follow their arrival.

ONE, TWO PUNCH

Florida braces for Milton, FEMA head slams 'dangerous' Helene misinformation

Washington (AFP) – Another potentially devastating storm barreled toward the Florida coast on Sunday, as the head of the US disaster relief agency lashed out at a "dangerous" misinformation war being waged over the aftermath of Hurricane Helene.

Issued on: 06/10/2024 

Hurricane Milton churns over the Gulf of Mexico on October 6, 2024 in an image courtesy of NOAA and RAMMB © - / NOAA/AFP

The new storm, Milton, intensified into a Category 1 hurricane Sunday while churning in the Gulf of Mexico, with nothing but warm ocean between it and the Florida coast -- an area still reeling from Helene's catastrophic winds and storm surge.

"Right now, we are still cleaning up from Helene," Tampa Mayor Jane Castor told CNN, adding that imagining rain from a new storm was "difficult enough, not to mention the storm surge and wind damage."

Milton's exact path was still not clear Sunday, but officials across Florida were already warning residents to be prepared, with the storm expected to intensify into a major hurricane on Monday before approaching the state's west coast Wednesday.

Officials are issuing mandatory evacuation orders for parts of Pasco County and Anna Maria Island near Tampa starting Monday, while a handful of other counties have told some residents or those in certain types of buildings, like long-term healthcare facilities, to evacuate.

Local residents fill sandbags as rain starts to fall in Kissimmee, Florida on October 6, 2024 ahead of Hurricane Milton © Gregg Newton / AFP

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has declared 51 of the state's 67 counties under a state of emergency, predicting Milton could have "major, major impacts," with storm surges of up to 20 feet (six meters).

President Joe Biden was briefed on Milton and said in a statement that his administration was readying "life-saving resources."

Deanne Criswell, head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), said on ABC that federal authorities were ready for Milton.

A resident boards up his windows in Palm Harbor, Florida on October 6, 2024 ahead of Hurricane Milton's expected mid-week landfall © Bryan R. SMITH / AFP

Milton is forecast to move just north of the Yucatan Peninsula and across the southern Gulf of Mexico Monday and Tuesday, the US National Hurricane Center said.
Disinformation blitz

A week and a half ago, Hurricane Helene roared into the Florida coastline as a Category 4 storm and carved a path of destruction inland, dumping torrential rainfall and causing flash flooding in remote towns in states such as North Carolina.

The storm, which struck Florida on September 26, has killed more than 225 people across a handful of states -- making it the deadliest natural disaster to hit the United States since 2005's Hurricane Katrina -- with the toll still rising.

Relief workers are racing to find survivors and get power and drinking water to remote mountainous communities.

But that effort has been hit by a wave of false claims and conspiracy theories.

Cheryl Phillips and her cadaver dog Kite search for bodies in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene in Burnsville, North Carolina, on October 5, 2024 © Allison Joyce / AFP

Among the litany of disinformation is the falsehood pushed by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump that relief funds have been misappropriated by his rival for the White House, Democrat Kamala Harris, and redirected toward migrants.

"It's frankly ridiculous and just plain false ... it's really a shame that we're putting politics ahead of helping people," Criswell told ABC.

It is a "truly dangerous narrative," she said.

The Trump campaign nevertheless doubled down, repeating the assertion in a statement Sunday.

FEMA and outside fact-checkers note that a program under the agency's aegis to provide shelter and aid to migrants is funded directly by Congress, entirely separate from disaster-related funding.

FEMA chief Deanne Criswell, shown here greeting US President Joe Biden in South Carolina on October 2, 2024, has slammed 'dangerous' misinformation impacting the disaster response © Mandel NGAN / AFP/File

ABC reported that law enforcement officials are monitoring threats toward FEMA officials and other recovery agencies prompted by the disinformation.

In addition to Trump's false claim, the Washington Post reported Sunday on other lies swirling around Helene that it said were "adding to the chaos and confusion."

They include a false claim that a dam was about to burst, which the Post said prompted hundreds of people to unnecessarily evacuate, and a "troubling" lie that officials planned to bulldoze bodies under the rubble in one North Carolina town.

One user suggested "a militia go against fema" in a post on X, formerly Twitter, which has received more than half a million views.

Asked about that post, Criswell said it "has a tremendous impact on the comfort level of our own employees to be able to go out there."

Relief aid sits at a distribution center in Burnsville, North Carolina on October 5, 2024, after the passage of Hurricane Helene © Allison Joyce / AFP

FEMA has begun debunking the rumors online, as have North Carolina authorities.

Much of the focus was on X.

Before the platform was purchased by Elon Musk, when it was still known as Twitter, it was a go-to place for disaster coordination and information sharing.

But the billionaire has allowed right-wing disinformation and conspiracy theories to flood the platform.

© 2024 AFP

Bernie Sanders calls Trump a ‘pathological liar’ in fiery Michigan stump speech

Andrew Roth, Michigan Advance
October 6, 2024 

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., campaigns for Vice President Kamala Harris in Saginaw, Mich., on Oct. 5, 2024. (Photo by Andrew Roth/Michigan Advance)

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said while campaigning for Vice President Kamala Harris in Saginaw on Saturday that there is a “war” being waged on working families in the United States.

“There are terrible wars going on right now. Heartbreaking wars in Gaza and Ukraine. But there 

is another war that we don’t talk about. And that is a war that has gone on for the last half century against the working families of our country,” Sanders said. “It’s been a brutal war, and we know who the winners have been. The winners have been the billionaire class, never had it so good, and the losers have been the working families of this country.”

The Saginaw event was the second of four appearances by Sanders throughout Michigan over the weekend.

United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain joined Sanders at an earlier stop in Warren but did not attend the Saginaw visit. Sanders and Fain also are scheduled to hold events in Grand Rapids and East Lansing and on Sunday.

Sanders praised the UAW for its contract negotiations in 2023, thanking them for helping to elevate the idea of a 32-hour work week in the national conversation.

Sanders said the idea will become more important as worker productivity increases as a result of automation.

“You’re not going to have that tomorrow,” Sanders said. “The point is we need to have a discussion about who benefits from the technology. We can be looking at a golden age where machinery replaces a lot of human toil, a lot of dangerous work, a lot of repetitious work. That is a good thing if ordinary people benefit from that transition.”

Sanders said that he and Harris are on the same page in their support of legislation that would prohibit employers from replacing striking workers, ban the use of lockouts and remove prohibitions on secondary activity.

“Kamala also knows that if we’re going to create a strong middle class in this country, we need to grow the trade union movement,” Sanders said.


Sanders noted that the United States has a lower life expectancy than many other wealthy nations, which he said is in part a result of the stress of living paycheck to paycheck.

“I grew up in a family that lived paycheck to paycheck, and one of the impacts of living paycheck to paycheck, not knowing how you’re going to get through the week, how you’re going to pay your bills, is the kind of incredible stress that working class people today are experiencing now,” Sanders said.

“Stress kills. Stress destroys our bodies and our minds, and that’s what millions of working class people are going through right now,” he added.


Sanders praised Harris’ plans to increase affordable housing stock, provide families with tax credits and limit the cost of childcare.

Another issue introducing stress for many working-class families, Sanders said, is that of reproductive health care.]

“Women have struggled against second class citizenship since the very inception of the United States,” Sanders said. “Women and their male allies fought and fought and said, ‘You know what? We ain’t going to be second class citizens. We have a right to full rights.’”


While Sanders said he will continue fighting for Medicare for All – the signature issue from his own 2016 and 2020 presidential campaigns – he said that “there’s an immediate thing that we can and should be thinking about” in the meantime.

“Millions of seniors in this country cannot afford to go to a dentist, can’t afford glasses, can’t afford hearing aids,” Sanders said. “We need to expand Medicare to cover dental, vision and hearing.”

Sanders acknowledged that Social Security likely needs changes in its funding, but said that while Republicans want to cut costs by raising the retirement age, he and President Joe Biden have proposed increasing revenue by lifting the cap on how much an individual pays into Social Security once their income exceeds a certain threshold.


“What we say to our Republican friends in the House is that we’re not going to cut Social Security, we’re going to expand Social Security,” Sanders said.

Sanders did not take questions from the audience during the event, which was billed as a town hall, instead encouraging audience members on occasion to shout out answers to his questions.

Former President Donald Trump held a rally on the campus of Saginaw Valley State University on Thursday, two days before Sanders visited.


“My understanding is that Trump was here a couple days ago, and I’m sure he gave you a speech which will probably be even longer than mine,” Sanders said. “But I suspect he forgot to tell you a few things. No. 1, I doubt very much that he told you that he is a pathological liar.”

A sign in the audience read “Trump couldn’t fill our gym,” a reference to the amount of space at the back of the Ryder Center that was left empty for Trump’s rally.

Sanders said the question of whether Trump should be president again is one of the few areas where he and former Vice President Mike Pence, who served under Trump during his first term, can find common ground.


“For the first time in American history, as I understand it, a person who was a candidate’s vice president for four years, Mike Pence, is not supporting Donald Trump. When you are a vice president, you get to know the guy you work with every day,” Sanders said. “Mike Pence is a conservative guy, his views are nothing like mine. I disagree with him on every issue, but he worked with Trump every single day, and he said Trump is not fit to be president.”

Pence has said that he and Trump will likely never “see eye to eye” on the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection attempt at the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters seeking to overturn the election, many of whom chanted “hang Mike Pence.” The former vice president, as president of the Senate, ultimately certified the election results confirming Biden’s victory over Trump.

“I’ve run many times, I’ve lost. Many public officials lose elections, and you man up and you say, ‘You know what? Congratulations. I lost.’ You don’t go around whining, you don’t go around undermining American democracy. You play by the rules,” Sanders said. “There are great athletes out there who break their hearts, trying to win a game and they lose. Sometimes you lose. That’s what life’s about – politics, football, whatever it may be. And you don’t find these great athletes who lose the game, ‘Oh, we only lost it because of the referees, they cheated.’ They accept defeat and they try to do better the next time.”

'Trump will be worse': Sanders has a message for 'uncommitted' voters concerned about Gaza

Anna Liz Nichols, Michigan Advance
October 6, 2024 

Sen. Bernie Sanders at a rally in Ann Arbor, March 8, 2020 | Andrew Roth

In November’s presidential election, where the results will likely come down to a few thousand votes in battleground states like Michigan, Bernie Sanders told the Michigan Advance on Saturday that the 2023 United Auto Workers (UAW) strike has played a key role in mobilizing voters.

Sanders, who stood in Detroit alongside union leaders on day one of the UAW’s historic six-week strike against the “Big Three” Detroit automakers — Ford, General Motors and Stellantis — said in a phone interview that the union’s success sent a clear message to politicians that the that the status quo for the working class is “not acceptable.”

“What the UAW did is, I think not only win a very good contract for its own members, but it inspired millions and millions of working class people all over this country,” Sanders said, noting polling during the strike reflected majority support from Americans for striking workers across automotive plants around the country.

And as wages have stagnated, while salaries for CEOs rise, the issue of “corporate greed” speaks to voters in the middle class, Sanders said. Vice President Kamala Harris understands that and is responding to it, he said, while former President Donald Trump touts anti-union policies and viewpoints.

“It’s not just the UAW; not just the automobile industry. It’s happening in virtually every sector of our country. The very rich are becoming much richer; working families are struggling. We’ve got to stand up and fight back. That’s what the UAW did, and I think they galvanized a number of other unions to do the same,” Sanders said. “Young people want to get into unions. Unions are now historically popular, so I think UAW played a very, very important role.”

The Advance asked Sanders about one of the biggest unions in the country with 1.3 million members, the Teamsters, abstaining from endorsing either Trump or Harris and the International Association of Fire Fighters following suit.

But those are only two unions, Sanders said, adding that dozens of other unions have strongly put their support behind Harris who walked with striking UAW workers in 2019 while Trump visited a non-union plant in Macomb County during the 2023 strike.

“I think the choice is pretty clear in terms of who is supporting unions,” Sanders said.

Sanders and Harris are former political rivals who both sought the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020. But while Sanders said they don’t agree on everything, they agree on enough for him to travel to swing states to garner support for her campaign.


“What I learned from her is that she is very, very smart, and she is very focused, and she’s very tough. She’s a very impressive individual and I think she would make a great president,” Sanders said. “I hope that she may have learned that there are many, many millions of people in this country, the richest country on Earth, who are struggling financially, and that it’s important to respond to the needs of those people and hear their pain, and that it is immoral that we are living in an economy in which so few have so much wealth.”

On the drive between speaking engagements in Warren and Saginaw on Saturday, Sanders told the Michigan Advance he has hope for young people flexing their voting power in November. To that end, he’ll be talking with Michigan State University students on Sunday.

Students at universities across the country, including in Michigan, have been the epicenter for public protest against the war in Gaza, with pro-Palestinian encampments cropping up in campuses and criminal charges levied against protesters at the University of Michigan.

And it’s been a potent issue in Michigan, with 100,000 voters voting “Uncommitted” in the Democratic presidential primary this winter instead of for President Joe Biden, before Harris became the party’s nominee.

In 2020, Michigan’s 16 electoral votes weren’t won by much more than that, as Biden triumphed in the state by about 154,000 votes.

Many members of Michigan’s large Arab-American community have railed against Biden’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war that’s raged for almost a year and continue to demand that Harris take a more aggressive stance, like committing to stop aid to Israel.


Although Israel had a right to defend itself from the Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas terrorist attack, Sanders said, the U.S. should not be offering military assistance to Israel when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has gone to “war against the entire Palestinian people.”

“While I have strongly supported the domestic agenda of the Biden administration, the President and I have a very strong disagreement on that,” Sanders said. “Even on that issue, Trump will be worse. I think you have Republicans who are not even prepared to support humanitarian aid [to] the children who are starving, who are injured. … And I would hope that even though there is disappointment in the Biden administration on Gaza and I understand that, I’m sympathetic to that, I think the choice still remains clear, that we’ve got to support Kamala and defeat Donald Trump.”

What’s encouraging to see is that the younger generation, in particular, is demanding progressive and just policies that benefit the average person, Sanders said. Although young people have, in recent history, risen up against racism, sexism and homophobia, he said, the current young generation is “probably the most progressive younger generation in the history of this country.”


“They have been in the forefront in fighting to transform our energy system and save the planet from climate change. So it is a great generation of young people, but … you cannot implement what you believe if you’re not involved in the political process and if you are not voting,” Sanders said.

In 2022, Michigan voters ages 18 to 29 turned out at a rate of about 37% in the November election, higher than any other state in the country. Fellow battleground state Wisconsin led the charge with even younger voters, with nearly half of eligible voters under the age of 25 voting in November 2022. In both cases, the elections were marked by large victories by Democratic candidates in statewide elections.

Even still, youth voter turnout is not a sure thing, as about 60% of people aged 18 to 29 in Michigan who registered to vote didn’t cast a ballot in 2022.


The Harris campaign is showing up in states, partnering with local and statewide leaders, to make their message clear to different corners of the country, Sanders said.

Young people need to understand that what they believe needs to be heard on Election Day, as the threat of climate change could dismantle the future and the government gets in the way of women’s health care. Sanders said he wants young people to understand Trump believes climate change is a hoax and that the government should have a say in reproductive health care while Harris is fighting for young people’s future.

But young voters have to throw the first punch in November.


“I would hope that as young people look at the important issues — women’s rights, civil rights, the climate, income and wealth inequality, higher education and the cost of health care — on all of those issues, Kamala Harris is far, far superior to Donald Trump, and I hope young people come out and vote and make the difference in this election,” Sanders said.


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Michigan Advance is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Michigan Advance maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Susan J. Demas for questions: info@michiganadvance.com. Follow Michigan Advance on Facebook and X.

'Shameful!' Johnson slammed for saying Congress won’t cut recess to pass disaster relief

Maya Boddie, Alternet
October 6, 2024 

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) speaks to the media following the passage of a stopgap bill to keep the federal government funded for another three months and avert a month-end partial shutdown, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., September 25, 2024. REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw

Although Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) plans to visit the western part of North Carolina this week in the "deadly and devastating" aftermath of Hurricane Helene, Politico reports the GOP lawmaker has confirmed that Congress doesn't plan to provide any disaster aid before November.

Johnson's trip to the Tar Heel State comes amid Congress' nearly five-week-long recess, which several Democratic and Republican lawmakers are calling to cut short due to the need to "pass additional disaster relief funding," according to Axios.

However, Politico's Olivia Beavers reported via X early Sunday morning that "Speaker Mike Johnson will NOT be calling the House back early to vote on a disaster aid supplemental in the wake of the Hurricane."
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Beavers added: "He tells me the cost of damages has to be 'tabulated' before a supplemental is considered and he argued they are a ways away from that."

One X user pointed out that in his "Letter to Congress on Disaster Needs" published Friday, President Joe Biden wrote:

Most urgently, the Small Business Administration's (SBA) disaster loan program will run out of funding in a matter of weeks and well before the Congress is planning to reconvene. I warned the Congress of this potential shortfall even before Hurricane Helene landed on America's shores. I requested more funding for SBA multiple times over the past several months, and most recently, my Administration underscored that request as you prepared a continuing resolution to fund the Government. Now the need is even more urgent.

Axios notes that even right-wing lawmakers like Sen. Rick Scott (FL) and US Rep. Ralph Norman (SC) say they "would support coming back to DC to pass supplemental relief for the hurricane relief assistance."

North Carolina Democratic congressional candidate Chuck Hubbard responded to Beavers' report, saying: "This is unacceptable and shameful! Republicans in Congress are failing Helene victims. Congress must act now to pass urgently needed disaster aid."

Healthcare workers who volunteered in Gaza demand immediate action from UK government

Labour Hub Editors

OCTOBER 6.2024

Thirty UK-based doctors, nurses, and medical professionals have written a powerful open letter to Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Foreign Secretary David Lammy. In the letter, they call for an immediate and total ban on arms sales to Israel and a range of urgent medical and humanitarian interventions.

The medics worked with various non-governmental organisations and the World Health Organization in hospitals throughout Gaza. In addition to their medical and surgical expertise, many hold current roles within the NHS, as well as having worked in humanitarian crises and conflict zones across the world.

They write: “We have seen the deliberate targeting of civilians on a mass scale, and a total lack of resources, due to the destruction of Gaza’s healthcare system and deliberate restriction of aid. The deleterious effects of Israeli occupation on the Palestinian healthcare system are something many of us have seen before – but never to this extent.”

With international journalists being targeted and denied access to Gaza, the health workers are uniquely positioned to comment on what they have witnessed – “the massive human toll from Israel’s attack on Gaza, on Palestinian men, women and children, as well as the long term and systematic destruction of the healthcare system, which will impact the sick as well as the wounded for years to come.”

The authors write: “We demand that the UK government acts immediately to bring an end to the continued Israeli military escalation of catastrophe in Gaza. The United Kingdom must ensure that its policies are ones that result in a ceasefire by withholding military support to Israel and ending arms trade with Israel. We believe our government is obligated to do this, both under British law and International Humanitarian Law (IHL), and that it is the morally as well as legally right thing to do.”

From their own experiences, they record that “Virtually every child under the age of five whom we encountered, both inside and outside of the hospital, had both a cough and watery diarrhoea. Jaundice and hepatitis A infection were widespread in the hospitals in which we worked, while the surgical complication rate was near 100%. Surgical incisions were almost certain to become infected, due to the hospitals’ impossible operating conditions – including a lack of supplies, water, and medications including antibiotics – overcrowding, and due to patients’ malnutrition. We were forced to use household supplies including vinegar for antiseptic purposes, or went without. Due to the lack of painkillers, antibiotics, and hospital beds, patients exhibited a high rate of pressure necrosis.

“Pregnant women gave birth in unsanitary and overcrowded conditions, as there is simply nowhere left which is not unsanitary and overcrowded. These women face serious risk of complications, ill health, and death. Those of us who worked with pregnant women regularly saw still-births and maternal deaths that would be easily preventable in any functioning healthcare system. The rate of infection in C-section incisions was astonishing, and these were often delivered to women going without anaesthesia or painkillers. Their infants were born underweight, while mothers are likely to be unable to breastfeed due to malnutrition. Potable water is unavailable across Gaza. Very few babies born under these conditions are likely to survive, and those who do will have their health permanently impaired.

“We urge you to realise that epidemics are raging in Gaza. In addition to that, Israel has not stopped bombarding civilians in their tents or displacing the malnourished and sick population of Gaza, approximately half of whom are children, to areas with no running water or even toilets available. This is a horrifying reality. It is virtually guaranteed to result in widespread death from viral and bacterial diarrheal diseases and pneumonias, particularly in children under the age of five. According to the World Health Organization, since 19th July 2024, poliovirus has now been discovered in wastewater samples in Gaza.”

On the plight of Gaza’s children, they say: “All of us treated children who seemed to have been deliberately targeted by military violence. Bullet wounds to children’s heads and torsos and amputations of limbs and eyes of children were commonplace.”

They add that “many of the injuries we treated may have resulted from the use of weapons systems and components supplied from Britain. This includes the victims of the daily airstrikes conducted using F-16 and F-35 aircraft part-produced in the UK. Being some of the few UK citizens and residents able to travel to Gaza since October, we write to you in certainty that if you had seen, heard, and experienced the things we have, there would be no question of placing an arms embargo on Israel.”

They point out that “many of our Palestinian healthcare colleagues were kidnapped by Israeli forces. During their detention, which lasted for weeks or months, almost all reported experience of physical and psychological abuse, mistreatment including torture and sexual abuse.”

They conclude: “Any solution to this problem requires the withholding of military, economic, and diplomatic support from Israel, and participating in a full arms embargo of Israel, until a permanent ceasefire is established, and until good faith negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians lead to a permanent resolution of the conflict.

“All land crossings between Gaza and Israel as well as the Rafah Crossing must be opened to unfettered aid delivery by recognised international humanitarian organisations, with a redeveloped ‘security screening’ regime conducted by an international co-ordination regime independent of Israeli military forces…

“Full and unrestricted access to the Gaza Strip must be created for medical and surgical professionals, including those of Palestinian descent who are currently barred by Israel from entering or working in Gaza…

“The delivery of community care including immunisation programmes must be ensured, to help prevent communicable diseases including measles, polio, COVID-19, and skin disease. The United Kingdom must support the construction of field hospitals to service Gaza’s population in place of now destroyed health facilities, and must look to funding and supporting the reconstruction of Gaza’s hospitals in the future…

“Respect and support for international and domestic accountability mechanisms from the UK government must be ensured. This includes supporting the International Criminal Court Prosecutor’s investigation in the Palestine Situation, South Africa’s case before the International Court of Justice, domestic universal jurisdiction prosecutions, and any other means of judicial, political and diplomatic accountability.”

In the US, 99 health workers – nearly every American healthcare worker who has served in Gaza since October 7th – have also written to their government setting out their own testimony and making similar calls for action. A similar move has also been made in Canada.

The letter has been supported by the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians, an independent organization of lawyers, politicians, and academics who support the rights of Palestinians and aim to protect their rights through the law.

Image: Wounded Palestinians wait for treatment at the overcrowded emergency ward of Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City following an Israeli airstrike on October 11, 2023,. Source: Correspondence with Wiki Palestine (Q117834684) Author: WAFA (Q2915969) in contract with a local company (APAimages), licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

 October 2, 2024

Labour Hub Editors

Revisiting a war based on lies and deceit

Mike Phipps reviews Deadly Betrayal: The Truth About Why the United States Invaded Iraq, by Dennis Fritz, published by OR Books.

It’s over twenty years since the US invaded Iraq. There have been plenty of books picking over the ‘errors’ of what the US did, although not so many lately. Dennis Fritz’s offering may seems a bit belated, but it reminds us of the deceit on which the entire policy was based. It also holds lessons for future US incursions in the region.

A dissident in the Pentagon

Fritz worked directly for and advised some of the most senior figures in the Department of Defense, including General Richard Myers, who served as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the height of the Iraq War. After military retirement, he worked inside Donald Rumsfeld’s Pentagon working for Douglas Feith, the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy and key architect of the case for war. 

In the course of his work, Fritz unearthed documentation about the invasion of Iraq in 2003 which he believed to be as damning as the Pentagon Papers had been for the Vietnam War, which had shown the extent to which then President Johnson had misled the American public. The material Fritz found showed that all the justifications for the Iraq War were “pure fabrications.”

Fritz is clear on why the US invaded Iraq, a country which did not have Weapons of Mass Destruction and posed no military threat to the US. The first reason was to reassert American credibility in the region, which had become more feasible at a moment when public opinion could be corralled into support following 9/11. “The second reason why we invaded Iraq was to start a proxy war on behalf of Israel by eliminating its enemies, Hamas and Hezbollah.”

“The third reason we invaded Iraq was to bring democracy to the Middle East through force,” writes Fritz. This sounds more questionable, but if we reframe the author’s idea as one of bringing a free market economy with a limited electoral input into selecting the Iraqi governing elite, it makes more sense. Democracy in its fullest sense was never on the agenda.

Fritz goes further: “If we hadn’t gotten bogged down in Iraq, the plan was to invade Syria next, then Iran.” In fact, Israelis working with the Bush Administration wanted these countries targeted first.

In Fritz’s assessment: “Saddam was willing to give us everything we wanted to prevent war: open elections monitored by the UN; disarmament inspections led by US personnel; support in the global war on terror; first priority in mining rights and oil; and, finally, help in finding solutions to end the Palestinian/Israeli conflict. And yet, the neocons completely rejected Saddam’s offer—nothing was going to stop the war.”

Fritz believes that the strategy of President Bush’s Defense Secretary could be summarised as follows: “Create a diversion by declaring war on terrorism, starting with Afghanistan. Then, enlarge the problem by pursuing the so-called sponsors of terrorism: Iraq (WMD), Syria (chemical weapons), and Iran (nuclear weapons program).”

“If the American people knew the real reasons we went to war, they probably wouldn’t have supported the invasion,” suggests Fritz. Hence the Administration’s Information Strategy, which “aggressively sold the war by flooding the media with disinformation,” with the help of pliant journalists and retired generals.

So far, so opinionated. The problem for Fritz’s account is that, at the Pentagon’s insistence, large chunks of the documentation he unearthed to support his analysis, have been redacted: huge blocks of blacked out text punctuate the book. This must have been all the more galling, as Doug Feith, whom Fritz had worked for and whom one senior general called “the fucking stupidest person on the planet”, had earlier written a book justifying Bush’s Iraq policy which escaped such censorship. It’s Feith whom Fritz holds most responsible for the war: “Most of the deceit was devised by him.”

Once in Iraq, the Administration appeared to have swallowed its own propaganda that its troops would be welcome with open arms: it was blindsided by the mounting opposition to it. “There was a reconstruction plan, but we couldn’t implement it due to the insurgency,” writes Fritz. “ Besides, keeping the peace was of lesser concern to the neocons, compared to protecting the oil fields and refineries.”

Fritz calls for a major shift in US foreign policy. Terrorist attacks should be seen as criminal acts, not as military operations that can be used to justify launching invasions. “Terrorism is ideological; we cannot defeat it solely through military efforts.” Moreover, he concludes, “we can’t keep provoking other countries and not expect them to retaliate sooner or later.”

The view from Iraq

There is a lot of perception in Fritz’s analysis. Take his first reason for invading Iraq – to reassert American credibility in the region. The end of the Cold War allowed the US to operate with much less restraint in several international theatres. The September 11th 2001 terrorist attacks generated popular support for doing so. I have argued elsewhere that ‘regime change’ in Iraq was “an opportunity to impose the power realities of the New World Order on a host of countries not yet willing to subordinate themselves to the requirements of the US.”

Fritz’s third reason – bringing democracy to the Middle East through force – needs reframing. The imposition of a free market economy may have had an ideological motive but it also suited material interests. As  I have written elsewhere, “More than forty government-owned enterprises were earmarked for privatisation within months of the invasion and there were lucrative profits to be made from reconstructing Iraq’s infrastructure in a bidding process that was restricted to US firms. On top of this, Iraq’s vast international debt was used by international creditors as a lever to control its economic policies in a further affront to Iraq’s sovereignty.”

Iraq’s oil reserves in particular were largely privatized in processes that have given foreign companies decades-long control of these resources. The law to do this was prepared in secret behind the backs of Iraqi parliamentarians and forced through following US threats to withhold financial support from the country that its military had so recently trashed.

Another notion to interrogate in Fritz’s analysis is that the reconstruction plan for Iraq was thrown off course by the insurgency. The problem with this oft-repeated line is that it ignores the sheer scale of the occupation’s brutality that made such resistance inevitable. An estimated 37,000 Iraqi civilians were killed in the first eight months of the occupation alone. These numbers increased sharply with the widespread deployment of US air strikes over civilian areas.

Such contempt for human life was not a ‘mistake’ – especially if one accepts that a key rationale for the invasion of Iraq, as Fritz suggests, was to reassert US credibility in the region. On that basis, the occupation had to be murderous in order to have the necessary effect – just as the Israeli onslaught on Gaza today needs to be barbarous in order to deter regional players from coming to the aid of the Palestinians.

US forces committed grave war crimes in Iraq, from the torture of prisoners in Abu Ghraib and elsewhere to the bombardment of Fallujah, where up to 6,000 civilians were killed and three quarters of the city’s housing was destroyed and where white phosphorous and depleted uranium munitions were used, resulting in a rise in birth defects and cancers.

The US also saddled Iraq with a toxic political legacy. Using the traditional tactic of ‘divide and rule’, it imposed a previously unknown religious sectarianism on the country, dividing its central state between parties based on ethnic and religious lines, which used their privileged position to sell public sector jobs to their supporters.

It also imported wholesale corruption. Transparency International consistently ranks Iraq as one of the most corrupt countries in the world. But, as I have argued elsewhere, “the template for the financial plundering of Iraq was made not by Iraqis, but by the US-led occupation itself. Halliburton alone, whose former CEO, Dick Cheney, was Vice President from 2001 to 2009, made $39.5 billion on Iraq contracts. Some of the profits made by business came from flagrant overcharging, such as the contractor which billed the US government $900 for a switch that was valued at $7.05, a 12,000% mark-up.”

It’s worth pondering too why the insurgency was so militarily potent. The so-called ‘Islamic State’ in particular benefited enormously from the sheer volume of war materiel that the western coalition had brought into Iraq. When the Iraqi army fled Mosul without firing a shot, it left behind a majority of all the armoured vehicles the US had delivered to Iraq – which made the subsequent war against the terrorists all the more protracted.

The US response was a new wave of aerial bombardment in 2016, including the alleged targeting of civilians. A further estimated 10,000 civilians were killed in this new phase of ‘liberation’.

As with its other wars, the US has moved on from Iraq. We are left with a version of history embodied in entertainments like The Hurt Locker, which focus on the psychological impact fighting in Iraq had on US soldiers.

Iraqis are less fortunate. There are no Hollywood investors to underwrite the telling of their stories. The social, cultural and psychological damage done to an entire nation endures. It is unlikely to be overcome without a deep-rooted truth and reconciliation process, focusing on physical and psychiatric healing, health and wellbeing, neighbourhood re-generation, schooling, a cultural renaissance and much more. None of these much-needed steps look likely in the near future.

Mike Phipps’ book Don’t Stop Thinking About Tomorrow: The Labour Party after Jeremy Corbyn (OR Books, 2022) can be ordered here.