ISRAEL
BBC: Israel accused over Gaza killings
A United Nations official says eight of the 10 Palestinians killed during an Israeli raid on a refugee camp in the Gaza Strip on Friday morning were unarmed civilians.
"Die UNO sagt von den 10 am Freitag getöteten Palästinesern seien 8 unbewaffnete Zivilisten gewesen. Israel hatte die Ermordung der Zivilisten einen Erfolg gennant. Mindestens 5 der 10 seien Hamas-Kämpfer gewesen. Es scheint als sei die Erschiessung von Zivilisten mittlerweile offizielle IDF-Taktik"
Friday, December 06, 2002
ISRAEL
New York Times: Al Qaeda in Lebanon and Gaza, Sharon Says
With much of Israel on maximum alert for terror attacks, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said today that several members of Al Qaeda had entered the Gaza Strip and Lebanon, and joined forces with Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed group that the United States has labeled a terrorist organization.
"Sharon betet jeden Abend dafür das Al-Qaida irgend einen grossen Anschlag in Israel verübt damit er die Araber endlich vertreiben und Eretz Israel errichten kann"
New York Times: Al Qaeda in Lebanon and Gaza, Sharon Says
With much of Israel on maximum alert for terror attacks, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said today that several members of Al Qaeda had entered the Gaza Strip and Lebanon, and joined forces with Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed group that the United States has labeled a terrorist organization.
"Sharon betet jeden Abend dafür das Al-Qaida irgend einen grossen Anschlag in Israel verübt damit er die Araber endlich vertreiben und Eretz Israel errichten kann"
VENEZUELA
ZMAG: Bush Administration Pushes "Regime Change" in Venezuela by Marc Weisbrot
It's 10 p.m. -- do you know what your government is up to? It seems that Iraq is not the only "regime change" that the Bush Administration is working on. The US government has apparently decided that President Chavez of Venezuela must go, one way or another.
ZMAG: Bush Administration Pushes "Regime Change" in Venezuela by Marc Weisbrot
It's 10 p.m. -- do you know what your government is up to? It seems that Iraq is not the only "regime change" that the Bush Administration is working on. The US government has apparently decided that President Chavez of Venezuela must go, one way or another.
IRAK
ZMAG: Lies, Damned Lies, And Terror Warnings by John Pilger
"Lying as government strategy is known as black propaganda. The British invented its modern form. Josef Goebbels, the Nazis' propaganda chief, was full of admiration for the British model. Since September 11, 2001, every attempt by black propagandists in Whitehall and Washington to justify an unprovoked attack on Iraq by linking the regime in Baghdad with al-Qaeda terrorism has failed"
ZMAG: Lies, Damned Lies, And Terror Warnings by John Pilger
"Lying as government strategy is known as black propaganda. The British invented its modern form. Josef Goebbels, the Nazis' propaganda chief, was full of admiration for the British model. Since September 11, 2001, every attempt by black propagandists in Whitehall and Washington to justify an unprovoked attack on Iraq by linking the regime in Baghdad with al-Qaeda terrorism has failed"
IRAK
ZMAG: Media Spin Can Seperate War From Death by Norman Solomon
A dozen years after the Gulf War, public perceptions of it are now very helpful to the White House. That's part of a timeworn pattern. Illusions about previous wars make the next one seem acceptable. As George Orwell observed: "Who controls the past controls the future; who controls the present controls the past."
ZMAG: Media Spin Can Seperate War From Death by Norman Solomon
A dozen years after the Gulf War, public perceptions of it are now very helpful to the White House. That's part of a timeworn pattern. Illusions about previous wars make the next one seem acceptable. As George Orwell observed: "Who controls the past controls the future; who controls the present controls the past."
SPANIEN
Heise: Großdemonstration und Generalstreik
Ölkatastrophe entwickelt sich zur Regierungskrise in Spanien
Drei Wochen nach dem der Öltanker Prestige vor der Küste Galiciens in Seenot geraten ist, beginnt die spanische Regierung zu handeln. Die Umweltkatastrophe bedroht nun auch Portugal und Frankreich und wird zur Existenzkrise der Regierung. Nach der Großdemonstration steht ein Generalstreik an.
Heise: Großdemonstration und Generalstreik
Ölkatastrophe entwickelt sich zur Regierungskrise in Spanien
Drei Wochen nach dem der Öltanker Prestige vor der Küste Galiciens in Seenot geraten ist, beginnt die spanische Regierung zu handeln. Die Umweltkatastrophe bedroht nun auch Portugal und Frankreich und wird zur Existenzkrise der Regierung. Nach der Großdemonstration steht ein Generalstreik an.
VENEZUELA
Heise: Streik in Venezuela
Interview mit Rodrigo Chaves, nationaler Koordinator der Bolivarianischen Zirkel
Der vierte Generalstreik in Folge der venezolanischen Opposition in weniger als zwölf Monaten, um Präsident Hugo Chavez zum Rücktritt zu zwingen, ist weitgehend gescheitert. Laut Angaben der Regierung aber auch zahlreicher unabhängiger Beobachter, wurde der gemeinsame Streikaufruf des Unternehmerverbandes Fedecameras und des rechten Gewerkschaftsverbandes "Confederación de Trabajadores de Venezuela" (CTV) an der ersten drei Tagen - 2., 3. und 4. Dezember - nur zu etwa 15% befolgt und selbst dabei handelte es sich in vielen Fällen tatsächlich um Aussperrungen.
Heise: Streik in Venezuela
Interview mit Rodrigo Chaves, nationaler Koordinator der Bolivarianischen Zirkel
Der vierte Generalstreik in Folge der venezolanischen Opposition in weniger als zwölf Monaten, um Präsident Hugo Chavez zum Rücktritt zu zwingen, ist weitgehend gescheitert. Laut Angaben der Regierung aber auch zahlreicher unabhängiger Beobachter, wurde der gemeinsame Streikaufruf des Unternehmerverbandes Fedecameras und des rechten Gewerkschaftsverbandes "Confederación de Trabajadores de Venezuela" (CTV) an der ersten drei Tagen - 2., 3. und 4. Dezember - nur zu etwa 15% befolgt und selbst dabei handelte es sich in vielen Fällen tatsächlich um Aussperrungen.
USA
Heise: nicht ermutigend
Nadelstiche und Kriegsrhetorik
US-Präsident Bush bezeichnete das Verhalten Iraks im Hinblick auf die Erfüllung der UN-Resolution als "nicht ermutigend". Das ist doppeldeutig und verstärkt den Eindruck, dass man in Washington womöglich sehnsüchtig auf einen offensichtlichen Bruch wartet. Möglicherweise wird wenn man, wenn vom Hussein-Regime die verlangte Übersicht über das Waffenprogramm spätestens am 8. Dezember vorgelegt werden muss, mit Enthüllungen der Geheimdienste aufwarten. Inzwischen läuft die amerikanische Kriegsrhetorikmaschine ungeduldig weiter.
a long time ago in a galaxy far far away..............Dick Cheney:""Wie der Präsident gesagt hat, ist dies ein Kampf zur Rettung der zivilisierten Welt. Das ist ein Kampf gegen das Böse, gegen einen Feind, der seinen Gefallen an der Ermordung von unschuldigen und arglosen Menschen findet." ....und dann zog Dick sein Lichtschwert, packte princess condeleeza an der Hand und enthauptete Darth Sadaam und den Imperator Osama, die Galaxie ward vom Bösen befreit und es herrschte Frieden unter den Völkern bis in alle Ewigkeit
Heise: nicht ermutigend
Nadelstiche und Kriegsrhetorik
US-Präsident Bush bezeichnete das Verhalten Iraks im Hinblick auf die Erfüllung der UN-Resolution als "nicht ermutigend". Das ist doppeldeutig und verstärkt den Eindruck, dass man in Washington womöglich sehnsüchtig auf einen offensichtlichen Bruch wartet. Möglicherweise wird wenn man, wenn vom Hussein-Regime die verlangte Übersicht über das Waffenprogramm spätestens am 8. Dezember vorgelegt werden muss, mit Enthüllungen der Geheimdienste aufwarten. Inzwischen läuft die amerikanische Kriegsrhetorikmaschine ungeduldig weiter.
a long time ago in a galaxy far far away..............Dick Cheney:""Wie der Präsident gesagt hat, ist dies ein Kampf zur Rettung der zivilisierten Welt. Das ist ein Kampf gegen das Böse, gegen einen Feind, der seinen Gefallen an der Ermordung von unschuldigen und arglosen Menschen findet." ....und dann zog Dick sein Lichtschwert, packte princess condeleeza an der Hand und enthauptete Darth Sadaam und den Imperator Osama, die Galaxie ward vom Bösen befreit und es herrschte Frieden unter den Völkern bis in alle Ewigkeit
ISRAEL
Tagesanzeiger: Neun Tote nach israelischem Angriff
Bei einer israelischen Militäraktion in einem Flüchtlingslager im Gazastreifen sind in der Nacht zum Freitag mindestens neun Palästinenser getötet worden. Die Armee war mit 40 Panzern in das Flüchtlingslager al Buredsh eingerückt.
Spiegel: Zehn Palästinenser bei israelischem Angriff getötet
Tagesanzeiger: Neun Tote nach israelischem Angriff
Bei einer israelischen Militäraktion in einem Flüchtlingslager im Gazastreifen sind in der Nacht zum Freitag mindestens neun Palästinenser getötet worden. Die Armee war mit 40 Panzern in das Flüchtlingslager al Buredsh eingerückt.
Spiegel: Zehn Palästinenser bei israelischem Angriff getötet
Thursday, December 05, 2002
IRAK
Los Angeles Times: Bush: Saddam Not Interested in Complying
Iraq: The president disputes U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan's statement that weapons inspections are going well.
WASHINGTON -- President Bush today dismissed reports that Iraqi weapons inspections are going well, saying Saddam Hussein's actions away from the U.N. team's work prove that Saddam "is not somebody who looks like he's interested in complying."
Los Angeles Times: Bush: Saddam Not Interested in Complying
Iraq: The president disputes U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan's statement that weapons inspections are going well.
WASHINGTON -- President Bush today dismissed reports that Iraqi weapons inspections are going well, saying Saddam Hussein's actions away from the U.N. team's work prove that Saddam "is not somebody who looks like he's interested in complying."
IRAK
Baltimore Sun: Bush administration sabotages inspections
"WEST CORNWALL, Conn. - Now that United Nations weapons inspectors have arrived in Iraq, most Americans want the inspection process to work. But the hawks in the Bush administration are petrified that it will, and doing their best to undermine it. "
Baltimore Sun: Bush administration sabotages inspections
"WEST CORNWALL, Conn. - Now that United Nations weapons inspectors have arrived in Iraq, most Americans want the inspection process to work. But the hawks in the Bush administration are petrified that it will, and doing their best to undermine it. "
IRAK
Independent: Robert Fisk: We are being set up for a war against Saddam
The inspections are going unhindered. And what does Bush tell us? 'The signs are not encouraging'
"What does this mean? Simply that America plans to go to war whatever the UN inspectors find. The New York Times – which is now little more than a mouthpiece for scores of anonymous US "officials" – has persuaded itself that Iraq's Arab neighbours "seem prepared to support an American military campaign". Despite all the warnings from Arab leaders, repeated over and over again, month after month, urging America not to go to war, this is the kind of nonsense being peddled in the United States."
Independent: Robert Fisk: We are being set up for a war against Saddam
The inspections are going unhindered. And what does Bush tell us? 'The signs are not encouraging'
"What does this mean? Simply that America plans to go to war whatever the UN inspectors find. The New York Times – which is now little more than a mouthpiece for scores of anonymous US "officials" – has persuaded itself that Iraq's Arab neighbours "seem prepared to support an American military campaign". Despite all the warnings from Arab leaders, repeated over and over again, month after month, urging America not to go to war, this is the kind of nonsense being peddled in the United States."
USA
AP: Bush Gives CIA Authority to Kill Americans
Secret finding signed by Bush gives CIA authority, officials say
AP: Bush Gives CIA Authority to Kill Americans
Secret finding signed by Bush gives CIA authority, officials say
MIDDLE EAST
Commondreams: A New Age of Empire in the Middle East, Courtesy of the US and UK
British Member of Parliament George Galloway says that a plan for the division of the Middle East is circulating in the corridors of power on both sides of the Atlantic. In a recent interview, Galloway asserted that ministers and eminent figures in the British government are deliberating the partition of the Middle East, harking back to the colonial map-making in the first quarter of the 20th century that established the modern nation-states of the region. An Anglo-American war against Iraq, he tells me, could be the opening salvo in the break up of the region. Galloway, who met with Saddam Hussein in Baghdad this August, states that the war aims of the US and Britain go well beyond replacing the Iraqi leader. “They include a recasting of the entire Middle East, the better to ensure the hegemony of the big powers over the natural resources of the Middle East and the safety and security of the vanguard of imperialist interests in the area – the state of Israel. And part of that is actually redrawing boundaries.”
Es geht nicht nur um den Irak, der ganze Nahe Osten wird neugeordnet und aufgeteilt.
Commondreams: A New Age of Empire in the Middle East, Courtesy of the US and UK
British Member of Parliament George Galloway says that a plan for the division of the Middle East is circulating in the corridors of power on both sides of the Atlantic. In a recent interview, Galloway asserted that ministers and eminent figures in the British government are deliberating the partition of the Middle East, harking back to the colonial map-making in the first quarter of the 20th century that established the modern nation-states of the region. An Anglo-American war against Iraq, he tells me, could be the opening salvo in the break up of the region. Galloway, who met with Saddam Hussein in Baghdad this August, states that the war aims of the US and Britain go well beyond replacing the Iraqi leader. “They include a recasting of the entire Middle East, the better to ensure the hegemony of the big powers over the natural resources of the Middle East and the safety and security of the vanguard of imperialist interests in the area – the state of Israel. And part of that is actually redrawing boundaries.”
Es geht nicht nur um den Irak, der ganze Nahe Osten wird neugeordnet und aufgeteilt.
USA-IRAK-NORDKOREA
The American Conservative: North Korean Bombshell
An erratic regime with nuclear-armed missiles poses
a more serious threat than hemmed-in Saddam.
Das Hardcore Republikaner-Magazin von Hardcore-Republikaner Pat Buchanan kritisiert G.W.B weil dieser den "wehrlosen, ungefährlichen" Irak bekriegen während er mit dem viel böseren Atomwaffen-Nordkorea-Regime verhandelt.
The American Conservative: North Korean Bombshell
An erratic regime with nuclear-armed missiles poses
a more serious threat than hemmed-in Saddam.
Das Hardcore Republikaner-Magazin von Hardcore-Republikaner Pat Buchanan kritisiert G.W.B weil dieser den "wehrlosen, ungefährlichen" Irak bekriegen während er mit dem viel böseren Atomwaffen-Nordkorea-Regime verhandelt.
IRAK
Daily Telegraph: Britain accused of providing Saddam torture instruments
The Government's attempt to present Iraq as a uniquely evil regime turned into a public relations flop yesterday when the Iraqi dissident chosen to present it denounced the threat of war with Saddam Hussein and said Baghdad officials used British-made equipment as instruments of torture.
"This selective attention to human rights is nothing but a cold and calculated manipulation of the work of human rights activists," said Irene Khan, Amnesty's secretary general.
Dumm gelaufen für Tony
Daily Telegraph: Britain accused of providing Saddam torture instruments
The Government's attempt to present Iraq as a uniquely evil regime turned into a public relations flop yesterday when the Iraqi dissident chosen to present it denounced the threat of war with Saddam Hussein and said Baghdad officials used British-made equipment as instruments of torture.
"This selective attention to human rights is nothing but a cold and calculated manipulation of the work of human rights activists," said Irene Khan, Amnesty's secretary general.
Dumm gelaufen für Tony
IRAK
Tagesanzeiger: Irak erhebt Vorwürfe gegen Uno-Inspektoren
Die Kontrolleure spionierten für die USA und Israel und bereiteten damit einen Irakangriff vor, sagte Ramadan am Mittwoch. Die Inspektion eines Präsidentenpalastes von Machthaber Saddam Hussein durch die Uno-Experten hatte zuvor zu scharfen Protesten in Bagdad geführt.
Checkt die Seite von Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting Fair.org wo die grossen Medien Mythen über den Irak, wie z.B die angebliche Ausweisung der Inspektoren 1998 geklärt und richtig gestellt werden.
Tagesanzeiger: Irak erhebt Vorwürfe gegen Uno-Inspektoren
Die Kontrolleure spionierten für die USA und Israel und bereiteten damit einen Irakangriff vor, sagte Ramadan am Mittwoch. Die Inspektion eines Präsidentenpalastes von Machthaber Saddam Hussein durch die Uno-Experten hatte zuvor zu scharfen Protesten in Bagdad geführt.
Checkt die Seite von Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting Fair.org wo die grossen Medien Mythen über den Irak, wie z.B die angebliche Ausweisung der Inspektoren 1998 geklärt und richtig gestellt werden.
ISRAEL
Tagesanzeiger: Israelische Raketen gegen Palästinenserführer
Israel hat am Mittwoch erstmals seit vier Monaten wieder einen ranghohen Palästinenser im Gazastreifen durch einen Raketenangriff gezielt getötet. Zwei weitere Palästinenser wurden bei Hebron erschossen.
Um den mutmasslichen Militanten Mustafa Sabbah zu töten, feuerten israelische Kampfhelikopter auf ein Regierungsgebäude im Zentrum der Stadt Gaza. Aus israelischen Militärkreisen wurde bestätigt, dass der 34-jährige Sabbah gezielt «liquidiert» worden sei.
Er sei für Bombenanschläge auf israelische Panzer im Gazastreifen verantwortlich gewesen. Dabei seien im Frühjahr dieses Jahres insgesamt sieben Soldaten ums Leben gekommen. Die benutzten Bomben seien mit jeweils bis zu 100 Kilogramm Sprengstoff gefüllt gewesen.
Tagesanzeiger: Israelische Raketen gegen Palästinenserführer
Israel hat am Mittwoch erstmals seit vier Monaten wieder einen ranghohen Palästinenser im Gazastreifen durch einen Raketenangriff gezielt getötet. Zwei weitere Palästinenser wurden bei Hebron erschossen.
Um den mutmasslichen Militanten Mustafa Sabbah zu töten, feuerten israelische Kampfhelikopter auf ein Regierungsgebäude im Zentrum der Stadt Gaza. Aus israelischen Militärkreisen wurde bestätigt, dass der 34-jährige Sabbah gezielt «liquidiert» worden sei.
Er sei für Bombenanschläge auf israelische Panzer im Gazastreifen verantwortlich gewesen. Dabei seien im Frühjahr dieses Jahres insgesamt sieben Soldaten ums Leben gekommen. Die benutzten Bomben seien mit jeweils bis zu 100 Kilogramm Sprengstoff gefüllt gewesen.
SCHWEIZ
Tagesanzeiger: Aufrüsten für Telefonüberwachung
In Bern wird eine neue Überwachungszentrale eingerichtet. Die Ermittler wollen Telefone besser belauschen und endlich E-Mails mitlesen können.
Unter dem Titel «Projekt Metamorphose» rüstet der Dienst für besondere Aufgaben (DBA) in Bundesrat Leuenbergers Departement derzeit auf. 30 Millionen Franken, verteilt auf fünf Jahre, werden investiert, um richterlich angeordnete Telefon-, SMS- und E-Mail-Überwachung besser durchführen zu können. Geplant wird die neue Anlage bereits seit zwei Jahren. Im April 2003 soll es so weit sein: «Nicht nur die Kriminellen, auch die Strafverfolger profitieren dann von der technischen Entwicklung», erklärt Adrien de Werra, Leiter des DBA, stolz. Mit der Zentrale will der Abhördienst in eine neue Ära aufbrechen - sowohl was die Abhörkapazitäten als auch was das technisch Machbare betrifft.
"Dem BAP ist es schon länger möglich jeglichen email bzw. Daten-Verkehr der über Satelliten läuft zu überwachen und auszuwerten. Das Projekt heisst SATOS/COMSAT und funktioniert wie ECHOLON."
Tagesanzeiger: Aufrüsten für Telefonüberwachung
In Bern wird eine neue Überwachungszentrale eingerichtet. Die Ermittler wollen Telefone besser belauschen und endlich E-Mails mitlesen können.
Unter dem Titel «Projekt Metamorphose» rüstet der Dienst für besondere Aufgaben (DBA) in Bundesrat Leuenbergers Departement derzeit auf. 30 Millionen Franken, verteilt auf fünf Jahre, werden investiert, um richterlich angeordnete Telefon-, SMS- und E-Mail-Überwachung besser durchführen zu können. Geplant wird die neue Anlage bereits seit zwei Jahren. Im April 2003 soll es so weit sein: «Nicht nur die Kriminellen, auch die Strafverfolger profitieren dann von der technischen Entwicklung», erklärt Adrien de Werra, Leiter des DBA, stolz. Mit der Zentrale will der Abhördienst in eine neue Ära aufbrechen - sowohl was die Abhörkapazitäten als auch was das technisch Machbare betrifft.
"Dem BAP ist es schon länger möglich jeglichen email bzw. Daten-Verkehr der über Satelliten läuft zu überwachen und auszuwerten. Das Projekt heisst SATOS/COMSAT und funktioniert wie ECHOLON."
Wednesday, December 04, 2002
USA
Washington Post: Antiwar Effort Gains Momentum
Growing Peace Movement's Ranks Include Some Unlikely Allies
After large rallies in Washington and San Francisco on
Oct. 26, the next big day to test the antiwar movement's might is Dec. 10,
International Human Rights Day. Hundreds of groups plan events, rallies and
civil disobedience to capture the nation's attention, including
demonstrations in Lafayette Park across from the White House and at a
military recruitment center in downtown Washington. Otherwise, antiwar
groups, which tend to rely on the Internet to receive and spread
information, operate largely without the attention of the media or Capitol
Hill. Yet many of those speaking out against an attack on Iraq represent
large numbers of Americans, including John J. Sweeney, president of the
AFL-CIO (with 13 million members); the National Council of Churches (which
represents 36 Protestant and Orthodox denominations, with 50 million
members); and the National Conference of Catholic Bishops (the leadership
arm of 65 million Roman Catholics)."
Washington Post: Antiwar Effort Gains Momentum
Growing Peace Movement's Ranks Include Some Unlikely Allies
After large rallies in Washington and San Francisco on
Oct. 26, the next big day to test the antiwar movement's might is Dec. 10,
International Human Rights Day. Hundreds of groups plan events, rallies and
civil disobedience to capture the nation's attention, including
demonstrations in Lafayette Park across from the White House and at a
military recruitment center in downtown Washington. Otherwise, antiwar
groups, which tend to rely on the Internet to receive and spread
information, operate largely without the attention of the media or Capitol
Hill. Yet many of those speaking out against an attack on Iraq represent
large numbers of Americans, including John J. Sweeney, president of the
AFL-CIO (with 13 million members); the National Council of Churches (which
represents 36 Protestant and Orthodox denominations, with 50 million
members); and the National Conference of Catholic Bishops (the leadership
arm of 65 million Roman Catholics)."
USA
Truthout.org: Homeland Security Act: The Rise of the American Police State Part 1
Truthout.org: Homeland Security Act: The Rise of the American Police State Part 2
(*Editors Note | This is the first part of a three-part series on the Homeland Security Act (HSA). The first part reviews the origins of the Act in the Hart-Rudman Commission and the Council on Foreign Relations. Tomorrow, Part 2 will discuss Cheney's plan for global dominance and how that relates to homeland security. Wednesday, Part 3 will detail some of the HSA provisions themselves and briefly discuss what worries civil libertarians.)
Truthout.org: Homeland Security Act: The Rise of the American Police State Part 1
Truthout.org: Homeland Security Act: The Rise of the American Police State Part 2
(*Editors Note | This is the first part of a three-part series on the Homeland Security Act (HSA). The first part reviews the origins of the Act in the Hart-Rudman Commission and the Council on Foreign Relations. Tomorrow, Part 2 will discuss Cheney's plan for global dominance and how that relates to homeland security. Wednesday, Part 3 will detail some of the HSA provisions themselves and briefly discuss what worries civil libertarians.)
IRAK
Pravda: US Warplanes in Missile Attack on Iraqi Oil Refinery
Residents in Basra, southern Iraq, claim that US warplanes launched two missiles at an oil refinery on Sunday, killing at least eight people and injuring “around 20”. The offices of the oil-for-food programme were destroyed.
Passers-by were showered with splinters of glass as US warplanes inexplicably launched two missiles at a civilian target in Basra, a state-owned oil refinery. The eye-witness reports have not been confirmed by the Pentagon, which denies any knowledge of the incident.
Being true, this attack is a monstrous act of piracy, a criminal and murderous intrusion into the internal affairs of a sovereign nation, a violation of international law and of the rights of Iraq as a State, a heinous provocation at a time when diplomacy is the order of the day in the rest of the international community.
Timothy BANCROFT-HINCHEY
PRAVDA.Ru
Pravda: US Warplanes in Missile Attack on Iraqi Oil Refinery
Residents in Basra, southern Iraq, claim that US warplanes launched two missiles at an oil refinery on Sunday, killing at least eight people and injuring “around 20”. The offices of the oil-for-food programme were destroyed.
Passers-by were showered with splinters of glass as US warplanes inexplicably launched two missiles at a civilian target in Basra, a state-owned oil refinery. The eye-witness reports have not been confirmed by the Pentagon, which denies any knowledge of the incident.
Being true, this attack is a monstrous act of piracy, a criminal and murderous intrusion into the internal affairs of a sovereign nation, a violation of international law and of the rights of Iraq as a State, a heinous provocation at a time when diplomacy is the order of the day in the rest of the international community.
Timothy BANCROFT-HINCHEY
PRAVDA.Ru
IRAK
NY Times/ZMAG: A Modest Proposal by Noam Chomsky
AP: Chomsky's Proposal Causes Head Scratching
must read. Chomsky fängt an Satire zu schreiben und wirft neue Pläne für einen regime-change im Irak ins Feld
NY Times/ZMAG: A Modest Proposal by Noam Chomsky
AP: Chomsky's Proposal Causes Head Scratching
must read. Chomsky fängt an Satire zu schreiben und wirft neue Pläne für einen regime-change im Irak ins Feld
USA
Indymedia: Bush: Shoot Citizens, Ask Questions, Then Get A Lawyer (Maybe)
In what may be a landmark Supreme Court case to overturn the Miranda decision, the court is scheduled to hear arguments from Solicitor General Theodore Olsen on December 4, 2002.
Bush's political appointee intends to claim our government has the right to coerce information from a witness, as long as the evidence obtained isn't used at trial against the witness.
The landmark 1966 Miranda v. Arizona decision ruled that suspects could not be interrogated without first being advised of their rights to remain silent and to obtain an attorney. The wording of Miranda is familiar to all Americans who watch TV, and is assumed as a basic right. The Justice Department wants to change all that.
In other words, Olsen plans to argue the police can detain or arrest anyone for any reason and then beat you up or even shoot you to get information, even if there are no emergent circumstances.
In other countries, this is called torture. In our country, we have the 5th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution designed to prevent such horrendous abuses by the police.
"Sie haben das Recht zu Schweigen, alles was sie sagen kann gegen sie verwendet werden.......nicht mehr lange"
Indymedia: Bush: Shoot Citizens, Ask Questions, Then Get A Lawyer (Maybe)
In what may be a landmark Supreme Court case to overturn the Miranda decision, the court is scheduled to hear arguments from Solicitor General Theodore Olsen on December 4, 2002.
Bush's political appointee intends to claim our government has the right to coerce information from a witness, as long as the evidence obtained isn't used at trial against the witness.
The landmark 1966 Miranda v. Arizona decision ruled that suspects could not be interrogated without first being advised of their rights to remain silent and to obtain an attorney. The wording of Miranda is familiar to all Americans who watch TV, and is assumed as a basic right. The Justice Department wants to change all that.
In other words, Olsen plans to argue the police can detain or arrest anyone for any reason and then beat you up or even shoot you to get information, even if there are no emergent circumstances.
In other countries, this is called torture. In our country, we have the 5th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution designed to prevent such horrendous abuses by the police.
"Sie haben das Recht zu Schweigen, alles was sie sagen kann gegen sie verwendet werden.......nicht mehr lange"
ITALIEN
Tagesanzeiger: Dutzende Globalisierungsgegner verhaftet
In Italien findet zum zweiten Mal innerhalb von zwei Wochen eine Verhaftungswelle gegen Globalisierungsgegner statt. Die Staatsanwaltschaft von Genua erliess am Mittwoch Haftbefehle gegen 23 italienische Globalisierungsgegner.
mehr infos auf: Indymedia
Tagesanzeiger: Dutzende Globalisierungsgegner verhaftet
In Italien findet zum zweiten Mal innerhalb von zwei Wochen eine Verhaftungswelle gegen Globalisierungsgegner statt. Die Staatsanwaltschaft von Genua erliess am Mittwoch Haftbefehle gegen 23 italienische Globalisierungsgegner.
mehr infos auf: Indymedia
ISRAEL
Boycott Israeli Goodsbigcampaign.org
Aims:
Stand Up for Palestinian Human Rights!
Oppose Israeli Oppression!
Boycott Israeli Products!
For too long the world has ignored the relentless military oppression of the Palestinian people. Between the 29th of September 2000 and 14th May 2002, over 1,545* Palestinians have been killed and more than 19,206* injured by the Israeli army and settlers. The Government of Israel has intensified collective punishment on the Palestinian civilian population, laying siege to their land, preventing free movement and devastating the Palestinian economy. "Normal" life is impossible as people are unable to work, move around freely, attend school, get to hospitals, or to obtain water.
We call for mass consumer action, along the lines of the boycott of South African produce during the anti-apartheid campaign. By joining this boycott individuals and organisations can take concrete steps to stand up against the gross human rights violations by the Israeli State.
We, the undersigned, call for an immediate, unconditional lifting of the siege of the occupied territories, an end to the occupation, and the implementation of UN resolutions and international humanitarian law in relation to the Palestinian people.
We therefore support:
A boycott of Israeli products
A boycott of Israeli leisure tourism
An end to UK firms' investment in Israel
Suspension of British government trade agreements with Israel
Boycott Israeli Goodsbigcampaign.org
Aims:
Stand Up for Palestinian Human Rights!
Oppose Israeli Oppression!
Boycott Israeli Products!
For too long the world has ignored the relentless military oppression of the Palestinian people. Between the 29th of September 2000 and 14th May 2002, over 1,545* Palestinians have been killed and more than 19,206* injured by the Israeli army and settlers. The Government of Israel has intensified collective punishment on the Palestinian civilian population, laying siege to their land, preventing free movement and devastating the Palestinian economy. "Normal" life is impossible as people are unable to work, move around freely, attend school, get to hospitals, or to obtain water.
We call for mass consumer action, along the lines of the boycott of South African produce during the anti-apartheid campaign. By joining this boycott individuals and organisations can take concrete steps to stand up against the gross human rights violations by the Israeli State.
We, the undersigned, call for an immediate, unconditional lifting of the siege of the occupied territories, an end to the occupation, and the implementation of UN resolutions and international humanitarian law in relation to the Palestinian people.
We therefore support:
A boycott of Israeli products
A boycott of Israeli leisure tourism
An end to UK firms' investment in Israel
Suspension of British government trade agreements with Israel
ISRAEL
Independent: UN demands end to Israeli 'killing and beating' of staff
"United Nations workers issued a petition yesterday demanding the Israeli army stop the "harassment, beating and killing" of UN staff.
The petition comes less than two weeks after Iain Hook, a British UN worker, was shot dead by an Israeli soldier inside a UN compound as he tried to evacuate his staff.
"For two years, United Nations staff have been subject to escalating harassment and violence by Israel's military, so that the protection supposed to be afforded by the blue letters of the UN is being steadily eroded," said the petition, which was signed by 64 UN staff working in Israel and the occupied territories."
Independent: UN demands end to Israeli 'killing and beating' of staff
"United Nations workers issued a petition yesterday demanding the Israeli army stop the "harassment, beating and killing" of UN staff.
The petition comes less than two weeks after Iain Hook, a British UN worker, was shot dead by an Israeli soldier inside a UN compound as he tried to evacuate his staff.
"For two years, United Nations staff have been subject to escalating harassment and violence by Israel's military, so that the protection supposed to be afforded by the blue letters of the UN is being steadily eroded," said the petition, which was signed by 64 UN staff working in Israel and the occupied territories."
ISRAEL
Tagesanzeiger: Israel plant 14 neue Siedlungen
Israel will bis zur Parlamentswahl Ende Januar 14 neue Viertel in jüdischen Siedlungen im Westjordanland bauen, berichtete die israelische Zeitung «Maariv». Am Dienstag haben Israelische Soldaten eine 95 Jahre alte Palästinenserin erschossen.
Sie ignorieren UN-Resolutionen...sie besitzen mehr Massenvernichtungswaffen als Europa...sie halten sich nicht an Menscherechte oder die Genferkonventionen...nein nicht der Irak, die "Demokratie" Israel ist gemeint.
Tagesanzeiger: Israel plant 14 neue Siedlungen
Israel will bis zur Parlamentswahl Ende Januar 14 neue Viertel in jüdischen Siedlungen im Westjordanland bauen, berichtete die israelische Zeitung «Maariv». Am Dienstag haben Israelische Soldaten eine 95 Jahre alte Palästinenserin erschossen.
Sie ignorieren UN-Resolutionen...sie besitzen mehr Massenvernichtungswaffen als Europa...sie halten sich nicht an Menscherechte oder die Genferkonventionen...nein nicht der Irak, die "Demokratie" Israel ist gemeint.
SCHWEIZ
Tagesanzeiger: Micheline Calmy-Rey gewählt
Die neue Bundesrätin heisst Micheline Calmy-Rey. Im fünften Wahlgang erreichte die Genfer Staatsrätin 131 Stimmen bei einem absoluten Mehr von 100 Stimmen.
Die Schweiz hat eine neue Bundesrätin
Tagesanzeiger: Micheline Calmy-Rey gewählt
Die neue Bundesrätin heisst Micheline Calmy-Rey. Im fünften Wahlgang erreichte die Genfer Staatsrätin 131 Stimmen bei einem absoluten Mehr von 100 Stimmen.
Die Schweiz hat eine neue Bundesrätin
Monday, December 02, 2002
USA
They Spy: How Law Enforcement Is Keeping Tabs on The New Peace Movement
A.C. Thompson (Voices For Change)
21 Nov 02
Perhaps the story of Malaysia Airlines Flight 91 is a harbinger of things
to come for the nascent peace movement.
The Sept. 8 flight was poised to take off from Newark, N.J., for Dubai,
United Arab Emirates, and a final destination of Kabul, Afghanistan, when
agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation strode aboard. The G-men
escorted seven passengers off the plane and into a room where they were
interrogated for six hours. Flight 91 took off without the group.
Their offense? Signing up for a two-week "Reality Tour" of bomb-pocked
Afghanistan, a junket organized by San Francisco-based human rights group
Global Exchange.
"They wanted to know about Global Exchange," says one of the detainees,
Glenda Marsh, a Sacramento peace activist and state-employed biologist.
"They asked me if I'd heard the people I was traveling with make anti-
American statements."
Now Marsh is preparing to file a Freedom of Information Act request to see
if the FBI is compiling a dossier on her.
Hints of a new wave of COINTELPRO-style government surveillance first
surfaced in fall 1999 as protesters gearing up for the World Trade
Organization's meeting in Seattle complained about infiltration by
undercover cops and federal agents. After Sept. 11, 2001, the feds embarked
on an unprecedented and brazen campaign of domestic spying. Leading the
charge, Attorney General John Ashcroft signaled his intent to spy on law-
abiding religious congregations and political groups and pushed through the
USA PATRIOT Act, which vastly expanded the government's phone-tapping and
e-mail-monitoring powers and broke down barriers between the Central
Intelligence Agency and the FBI. Now there's mounting evidence that
government agents - returning to the ways of J. Edgar Hoover - are
monitoring political dissidents.
According to Steve Filandrinos, the Global Exchange staffer who organized
the tour, the FBI agents wanted to know why the group, which included five
Afghan Americans, was headed overseas and who was sending them there. The
tours, Filandrinos explains, "are a way to give Americans a chance to
connect with Afghans involved in the reconstruction process, to make sure
Americans know what's going on there, and to bear witness to the [U.S.-led]
bombing."
While the waylaid tourists eventually made it to Kabul, their fun with the
federal government wasn't over. Flying into Los Angeles International
Airport Sept. 20, one member of the group was grabbed by U.S. Customs
Service agents outside the airport, and another was called at home by the
FBI for more questioning eight days later.
The Global Exchange incident echoes the widely reported hassles of Jan
Adams and Rebecca Gordon, founders of War Times, a San Francisco
publication critical of President George W. Bush's passion for dropping
ordnance on foreign countries. On Aug. 7, Adams and Gordon were attempting
to fly from San Francisco to Boston when they were detained by police and
informed that their names were on a list of people under scrutiny by the
FBI. "We can only assume that the government is laboring under the
misapprehension that we're terrorists," Adams says.
Neither woman has ever been charged with any serious crime, though both
have been arrested for civil disobedience.
After calls to police headquarters and two searches by airport security,
Adams and Gordon were escorted onto the plane.
There are several ways all of this government scrutiny could play out. If
the new peace movement develops the muscle to paralyze major cities - à
la
antiglobalizers - it may find the feds doing more than discreetly keeping
tabs and occasionally pulling suspected troublemakers off airplanes.
There's the real possibility that FBI agents will covertly slip into the
movement with the aim of crippling it from within (a favored tactic in the
1960s against the Black Panthers and the New Left) or enticing more-
militant activists to participate in felonious behavior (as the bureau did
more recently with Earth First! and the militia and white separatist
movements).
"Surveillance and intelligence gathering are back," asserts Dennis
Cunningham, an attorney who has sued the FBI repeatedly, most recently on
behalf of Earth First!ers Judi Bari and Darryl Cherney. "What's to stop
them from engaging in disruptive activity designed to neutralize a
movement?"
Another possibility is that prosecutors could start collecting information
on movement leaders with an eye toward using the federal Racketeer
Influenced and Corrupt Organizations statute. Designed to take down mafiosi
and loaded with stiff penalties, RICO targets key members of groups that
engage in a pattern of criminal activity, and the case could be made that
protesters who repeatedly disrupt business as usual fit that bill. In fact,
that case has already been made: the RICO statute was employed by the
National Organization for Women in a 1998 civil suit against abortion
clinic blockaders in Chicago. The save-the-fetuses side lost and was
ordered to pay $255,000 in damages.
Ashcroft's baby, the PATRIOT Act, includes some language similar to that of
RICO, and could be put to use as well.
Cunningham speculates that "we'll see them use the PATRIOT Act first. They
want to put it to the test, see what they can do with it."
They Spy: How Law Enforcement Is Keeping Tabs on The New Peace Movement
A.C. Thompson (Voices For Change)
21 Nov 02
Perhaps the story of Malaysia Airlines Flight 91 is a harbinger of things
to come for the nascent peace movement.
The Sept. 8 flight was poised to take off from Newark, N.J., for Dubai,
United Arab Emirates, and a final destination of Kabul, Afghanistan, when
agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation strode aboard. The G-men
escorted seven passengers off the plane and into a room where they were
interrogated for six hours. Flight 91 took off without the group.
Their offense? Signing up for a two-week "Reality Tour" of bomb-pocked
Afghanistan, a junket organized by San Francisco-based human rights group
Global Exchange.
"They wanted to know about Global Exchange," says one of the detainees,
Glenda Marsh, a Sacramento peace activist and state-employed biologist.
"They asked me if I'd heard the people I was traveling with make anti-
American statements."
Now Marsh is preparing to file a Freedom of Information Act request to see
if the FBI is compiling a dossier on her.
Hints of a new wave of COINTELPRO-style government surveillance first
surfaced in fall 1999 as protesters gearing up for the World Trade
Organization's meeting in Seattle complained about infiltration by
undercover cops and federal agents. After Sept. 11, 2001, the feds embarked
on an unprecedented and brazen campaign of domestic spying. Leading the
charge, Attorney General John Ashcroft signaled his intent to spy on law-
abiding religious congregations and political groups and pushed through the
USA PATRIOT Act, which vastly expanded the government's phone-tapping and
e-mail-monitoring powers and broke down barriers between the Central
Intelligence Agency and the FBI. Now there's mounting evidence that
government agents - returning to the ways of J. Edgar Hoover - are
monitoring political dissidents.
According to Steve Filandrinos, the Global Exchange staffer who organized
the tour, the FBI agents wanted to know why the group, which included five
Afghan Americans, was headed overseas and who was sending them there. The
tours, Filandrinos explains, "are a way to give Americans a chance to
connect with Afghans involved in the reconstruction process, to make sure
Americans know what's going on there, and to bear witness to the [U.S.-led]
bombing."
While the waylaid tourists eventually made it to Kabul, their fun with the
federal government wasn't over. Flying into Los Angeles International
Airport Sept. 20, one member of the group was grabbed by U.S. Customs
Service agents outside the airport, and another was called at home by the
FBI for more questioning eight days later.
The Global Exchange incident echoes the widely reported hassles of Jan
Adams and Rebecca Gordon, founders of War Times, a San Francisco
publication critical of President George W. Bush's passion for dropping
ordnance on foreign countries. On Aug. 7, Adams and Gordon were attempting
to fly from San Francisco to Boston when they were detained by police and
informed that their names were on a list of people under scrutiny by the
FBI. "We can only assume that the government is laboring under the
misapprehension that we're terrorists," Adams says.
Neither woman has ever been charged with any serious crime, though both
have been arrested for civil disobedience.
After calls to police headquarters and two searches by airport security,
Adams and Gordon were escorted onto the plane.
There are several ways all of this government scrutiny could play out. If
the new peace movement develops the muscle to paralyze major cities - à
la
antiglobalizers - it may find the feds doing more than discreetly keeping
tabs and occasionally pulling suspected troublemakers off airplanes.
There's the real possibility that FBI agents will covertly slip into the
movement with the aim of crippling it from within (a favored tactic in the
1960s against the Black Panthers and the New Left) or enticing more-
militant activists to participate in felonious behavior (as the bureau did
more recently with Earth First! and the militia and white separatist
movements).
"Surveillance and intelligence gathering are back," asserts Dennis
Cunningham, an attorney who has sued the FBI repeatedly, most recently on
behalf of Earth First!ers Judi Bari and Darryl Cherney. "What's to stop
them from engaging in disruptive activity designed to neutralize a
movement?"
Another possibility is that prosecutors could start collecting information
on movement leaders with an eye toward using the federal Racketeer
Influenced and Corrupt Organizations statute. Designed to take down mafiosi
and loaded with stiff penalties, RICO targets key members of groups that
engage in a pattern of criminal activity, and the case could be made that
protesters who repeatedly disrupt business as usual fit that bill. In fact,
that case has already been made: the RICO statute was employed by the
National Organization for Women in a 1998 civil suit against abortion
clinic blockaders in Chicago. The save-the-fetuses side lost and was
ordered to pay $255,000 in damages.
Ashcroft's baby, the PATRIOT Act, includes some language similar to that of
RICO, and could be put to use as well.
Cunningham speculates that "we'll see them use the PATRIOT Act first. They
want to put it to the test, see what they can do with it."
TERROR
Independent: Robert Fisk: Ariel Sharon has walked into a trap. And we are following him
"Time was when Bali would have been the story of the year, the most violent act in 12 months, to be recalled with horror in December as the most terrible of crimes. But Bali was just the story of the month. And soon, perhaps, the Karachi bombings and the Bali bombings and the Mombasa bombings will be just stories of the week. See how easily we have acclimatised to death on a vast scale? What is to be this week's nightmare? How many innocents will be killed by the time you open next week's Independent on Sunday?
But last week's killings in Kenya and the attempt to bring down an Israeli airliner were far more important than most people realise. For by bringing Israel into the loop – by allowing Israel to become a partner in President Bush's asinine "war on terror" – al-Qa'ida has ensured that the Arab Muslim world will henceforth give its real if quiescent sympathy to Osama bin Laden. Outraged as many Arabs were at the international crimes against humanity of 11 September 2001, few will object to an attack against Israelis, however cruel, while Israel's suppression of the Palestinians continues. If al-Qa'ida is now against Israel, Arabs will give their support"
Independent: Robert Fisk: Ariel Sharon has walked into a trap. And we are following him
"Time was when Bali would have been the story of the year, the most violent act in 12 months, to be recalled with horror in December as the most terrible of crimes. But Bali was just the story of the month. And soon, perhaps, the Karachi bombings and the Bali bombings and the Mombasa bombings will be just stories of the week. See how easily we have acclimatised to death on a vast scale? What is to be this week's nightmare? How many innocents will be killed by the time you open next week's Independent on Sunday?
But last week's killings in Kenya and the attempt to bring down an Israeli airliner were far more important than most people realise. For by bringing Israel into the loop – by allowing Israel to become a partner in President Bush's asinine "war on terror" – al-Qa'ida has ensured that the Arab Muslim world will henceforth give its real if quiescent sympathy to Osama bin Laden. Outraged as many Arabs were at the international crimes against humanity of 11 September 2001, few will object to an attack against Israelis, however cruel, while Israel's suppression of the Palestinians continues. If al-Qa'ida is now against Israel, Arabs will give their support"
IRAK
BBC News: Iraq attack 'means third world war'
"A US attack on Iraq would mean "more Mombasas, more Balis," a former assistant secretary general of the United Nations says
The US will win the battle fairly quickly, but it will lose the war. This will be world war three, but it won't be like the first two - it'll be a global terror war," he said. .
BBC News: Iraq attack 'means third world war'
"A US attack on Iraq would mean "more Mombasas, more Balis," a former assistant secretary general of the United Nations says
The US will win the battle fairly quickly, but it will lose the war. This will be world war three, but it won't be like the first two - it'll be a global terror war," he said. .
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