Assessments are starting to be made of the environmental damage to Iraq as a result of the invasion and occupation. As predicted, this is likely to be of greater consequence (= more deaths and suffering) than the bombing itself. If and when there are corresponding environmental Action alerts, BlackRhinoceros will publish them.

There should also be extreme concern about the proposed Domestic Security Enhancement Act 2003 (the Second Patriot Act), which – if passed in its recently leaked form – would virtually establish a dictatorship in the US. For example, under proposed section 501 any activist (by the government's secret definition) who 'may' (by the government's secret definition) have violated any provision of the First Patriot Act (under section 802) can effectively be "thrown in a van" and held incommunicado indefinitely. The InfoWars site carries news and Actions to oppose this effective destruction of key parts of the US Constitution and Bill of Rights. The Bill of Rights Defense Committee site is another excellent resource for this and has a page tracking the now over 100 cities (and the State of Hawaii) which have passed resolutions against the earlier Act: they will not cooperate against the Act's unconstitutionality.

It is hardly surprising that an aggressor which cares so little about people and humanity should have encouraged the destruction of Mesopotamian cultural treasures — as a form of 'ethnic cleansing' despite its clear responsibility in law to protect such priceless material, and despite repeated warnings to the Pentagon of what needed protecting, why and how. This Archaeological Institute of America page sets out the issues and something of what is required now to expose and restore. This article from the Süd Deutsche Zeitung gives further first hand evidence of systematic US plundering of all 15 Iraqi universities, sites in Babylon and other archaeological treasures. In typical racist fashion: "Go in, Ali Baba, its all yours!" was the American encouragement from early April. A moderated listserv has now been established to distribute substantive information on the international efforts to recover stolen objects worldwide. This site has an urgent Action to ask members of the US congress to support The Iraq Cultural Heritage Protection Act (H.R. 2009).

An organization called American Council for Cultural Policy (ACCP), which met Pentagon officials behind closed doors months before the attack on Iraq is known to favor more 'relaxed' laws on the export of art objects. According to an article in the LA Times, one of its members was allegedly advised that material from Iraq would 'become available' if this person was interested. It has now further been suggested that the theft was part of a wider plan, conceived before the invasion, to deprive Iraqis of yet more of what is theirs — again to the benefit of the private 'sector' in the US. This may be consistent with further credible evidence that occupying US troops did indeed encourage 'looters'. This new page on a site by Near East specialist Francis Deblauwe also presents very clear and detailed evidence of what actually went on and what is to be done about it. Possibly the best source around so far with this info. And this recent assessment from The Nation is also a great overview, which refuses to concentrate on the crime without identifying the criminals. There is more evidence from the Observer in the UK of vandalism by American soldiers and air crew of one of the greatest wonders of civilization, and probably the world's most ancient structure, the Sumerian city of Ur in southern Iraq.

A recent New York Times report suggests that Rumsfeld is now planning an equally unprincipled, illegal and unnecessary attack on North Korea. Chalmers Johnson has an excellent, if lengthy, analysis of how and why the US is mishandling and provoking what will be exaggerated in the country's propaganda as a nuclear threat in SE Asia, which would involve South Korea as well as Japan. As resources to oppose this avoidable bullying – and of course resources for peace in the face of any threat to Iran – come on line (in late May Rumsfeld had the appalling and contemptible effrontery to threaten Iran again in his attempt to dictate which religions countries in the new American empire should and should not have), we will report them here. In mid June unrest in Iran appears to be being provoked by US agents. Please send us yours!

A group of Iraqis with a Belgian lawyer has now begun a war crimes lawsuit against Franks to be presented in court in Belgium on May 13; predictably, this is already drawing threats from the US government. A group of 14 lawyers in Germany seem likely also to cite Bush and members of the UK government for their crimes under international law in illegally attacking Iraq. A British army member is also about to be investigated for inappropriate treatment of 'prisoners of war'. It also appears that members of the UK government were advised of the illegality of what they were doing early in their involvement with the attack on Iraq. A group of Greek lawyers now plans to indict Blair for his war crimes.

The US government is also intensifying its campaign of subversion and aggression against Cuba; the A.N.S.W.E.R. coalition has a protest Action on this. Please sign today. National Network on Cuba has a good site with resources on the struggle there.

As a result of 'interruption' to water supplies by the invasion, there is the likelihood of a cholera epidemic in southern Iraq, the World Health Organization reported on May 7, although it had previously predicted this a month ago. The UN's Food and Agriculture Organization now fears that there may be a famine in Iraq and that the country's agricultural system is close to collapse.

Just when you thought you'd heard it all, it has been reported that Bush has been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize for Iraq!

Predictably, Amnesty International has now begun to interview the first Iraqis explaining that they have been tortured by US troops; US conduct is the same in Uzbekistan. While in the US itself a majority of the Supreme Court must now be counted as supporting torture. A New York Times article gives other details of this atrocity by the US and UK. Current estimates of Iraqi civilians killed recently by the United States Army range from 5,000 to 10,000.