Iraqis are widely skeptical about the legitimacy of the new government led by Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, a man who was on the CIA payroll for many years. A June survey conducted by a British polling firm found that 60 percent of Iraqis think the U.S. invasion of their country was wrong, not surprising given the chaos and violence which continue to consume Iraq 15 months after the Bush administration's pre-emptive strike.

The Institute for Policy Studies, along with Foreign Policy in Focus have recently published a study on the costs of the Iraq war, both human and economic, incurred by the people of Iraq, the U.S. and the world. The study titled, "Paying The Price, The Mounting Costs of the Iraq War," provides a comprehensive analysis of civilian and military deaths, reconstruction costs and the resulting cuts to social programs in America's domestic budget. Between The Lines' Scott Harris spoke with Emira Woods, co-director of the group Foreign Policy in Focus, who assesses the U.S. transfer of power and the staggering costs of the war thus far.

Read "Paying The Price, The Mounting Costs of the Iraq War," online at www.ips-dc.org or contact Institute for Policy Studies at (202) 234-9382.

Related links:

• "A Pitiful Occasion for the People," by Robert Fisk, The Star / South Africa, June 29, 2004
• "Iraqis Have Lived This Lie Before: The British Transfer of Sovereignty in the '20s was Equally Meaningless," by Haifa Zangana, Guardian / United Kingdom, June 29, 2004
• "Born Under a Cloud of Irony: The New, Free Iraq May Officially be in the Hands of a Former Terrorist," by Robert Scheer, the Los Angeles Times, June 29, 2004"
• "Iraq Regime Change a Sham, Say Mideast Experts," by Thalif Deen, by the Inter Press Service, June 29, 2004
• "U.S. Edicts Curb Power Of Iraq's Leadership," by Rajiv Chandrasekaran and Walter Pincus, Washington Post, June 27, 2004
• "Handover Or Hangover?" by Maria Tomchic, CommonDreams.org, June 28, 2004

In another area, Amnesty International has called for the immediate appointment of a special counsel to investigate claims that detainees held in U.S prisons in Iraq, Afghanistan, Cuba and other secret facilities have been subjected to torture and inhumane treatment. The human rights group says that current probes of the abuse are compromised due to the possible complicity of high government officials in authorizing torture techniques. Documents leaked in the aftermath of Abu Ghraib prison scandal provide evidence that Bush administration officials wrote legal opinions asserting that the president was not restricted by U.S. and international law prohibiting torture.

Between The Lines' Scott Harris spoke with Samer Rabadi, deputy director of Amnesty International's Western Regional Office, who examines the recent Supreme Court decisions on the rights of detainees and explains why his group is calling for a special counsel to investigate torture allegations.

Contact Amnesty International USA at 1-800 AMNESTY or visit their website at www.amnesty.org

Related links:

• "Democracy's Chance," by Nick Cohen, The Observer U.K., June 27, 2004
• "The Court puts the White House in its Place," by Oona A. Hathaway, Newsday / Long Island, N.Y., June 29, 2004
• "Supreme Court Deals Blow to War on Terror," Reuters, June 28, 2004

This week's summary
of under-reported news

Compiled by Bob Nixon

• Some U.S. scientists are barred by the Bush administration's Health and Human Services Department from attending the 15th International AIDS Conference July 11 to 16. ("U.S. Charged with Silencing Scientists," Reuters, June 25, 2004)
• Italy's anti-terror chief and 29 police officers on trial for fabricating evidence to justify a violent raid three years ago against activists at the Genoa Social Forum. ("Italian Police on trial over G8 Summit beatings," The Guardian, June 28, 2004)
• In 2002, the "Biscuit Fire" ravaged 500,000 acres of national forest and wilderness in Oregon and northern California. The Bush administration and its timber industry allies are eager to log fire-damaged trees, but environmentalists observe that the least expensive option for taxpayers is to let the Biscuit area recover on its own. ("Western fire season tests politics, ecology," The Christian Science Monitor, June 4, 2004.)
  

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