Long before Wikileaks sources provided the confirming documents, independent journalist Dahr Jamail was reporting on the horror of the U.S. war on Iraq, telling the truth about the terror and carnage to anyone who would listen. On September 28, 2006 at 12:30 pm, Dahr Jamail spoke in a crowded room at the Memorial Union on the University of Maine Orono campus. It is this four-year-old podcast I am re-posting here. You should be able to recognize from Dahr’s talk exactly the picture of U.S.-occupation-generated human tragedy and death squad killing now detailed from within by the newly-released material.

An editorial today in the Guardian of London reads,

Many attempts were made to justify the invasion of Iraq, but one of the most frequently and cynically used was that, irrespective of the absence of weapons of mass destruction, putting an end to the barbarities of Saddam Hussein’s regime was a moral imperative. Well, now there is chapter and verse, from ringside seats, on the systematic use of torture by the Iraqi government that the US installed in Saddam’s place. The worst practices of Saddam’s regime did not apparently die with him, and whereas numerous logs show members of the coalition making genuine attempts to stop torture in Iraqi custody, it is clear their efforts were both patchy and half-hearted. In the worst incidents, one can only reasonably conclude that one set of torturers and thugs has been replaced by another.

From the original post:

Dahr Jamail is a rare human being. When he saw that there was a colossal tradgedy unfolding in Iraq, the extent of which barely being reported, he decided to go to work and take on the job of reporting from Iraq himself. Local artist Robert Shetterly has included Dahr Jamail in his stunning exhibit on Americans Who Tell the Truth.

It was a pleasure to meet Dahr Jamail. Please keep his website, http://dahrjamailiraq.com/, on your list of regular reads. It has essential information you will be hard-pressed to find anywhere else. Please download and listen to this extraordinary podcast.

UNDOING THE IMPERIAL PRESIDENCY

David Swanson is author of Daybreak: Undoing the Imperial Presidency and Forming a More Perfect Union, among the current top-ten Amazon best-sellers. He is founder of After Downing Street, a non-partisan coalition seeking to hold members of the Bush Administration accountable for crimes and abuses of power.

This audio podcast features one of two appearances by David Swanson in the Bangor-Orono area on Thursday November 5, 2009. It is the talk given at the Memorial Union on the University of Maine campus as part of the Thursday series sponsored by Marxist and Socialist Studies and the Maine Peace Action Committee.

David Swanson is introduced by U Maine Professor of History, Alex Grab.

Update Saturday 11/7: Audio and video of David Swanson’s 7pm program at the Peace and Justice Center of Eastern Maine in Bangor has posted at those links.