Context of 'Early October 2003: US Accused of Bulldozing Farmers’ Crops as Collective Punishment'

The US Defense Department begins censoring war reporting from the Persian Gulf. [PBS Frontline, 1/9/1996]

The US Energy Department, Defense Department, and the CIA begin conducting classified biodefense programs. [Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 1/2003]

The Defense Department announces that 27 detainees from Guantanamo have been repatriated to their countries of origin. Ten new detainees arrive at Guantanamo, bringing the total number, according to the Defense Department, “to approximately 660.” [US Department of Defense, 7/18/2003]

Iraqi farmers in central Iraq accuse the US occupation of bulldozing their crops as a form of collective punishment. The farmers say that the US soldiers blared messages through loudspeakers proclaiming that they were being punished for not informing the US forces of the insurgency. Several dozen Iraqi families are said to have lost their livelihoods from the incident. [Independent, 10/12/2003]