The Star: Iraq takes backward step in march to democracy by Robert Fisk
Iraq has introduced legislation allowing the Iraqi authorities to impose martial law; curfews; a ban on demonstrations; the restriction of movement; phone-tapping; the opening of mail; and the freezing of bank accounts.
These laws were announced yesterday by Iyad Allawi, Iraq's United States-approved prime minister - 17 months after the Anglo-American invasion in which President Bush promised to bring democracy to the country.
And, what's more, military leaders might be appointed to rule parts of the nation, while a temporary reinstatement of Saddam's death penalty is also now probable.
Already, therefore, Iraq has begun to look just like any other Arab country.
"CHECK IT"
Friday, July 09, 2004
IRAQ: RESISTANCE
Guardian: Iraq Insurgency Far Larger Than Thought
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - The Iraq insurgency is far larger than the 5,000 guerrillas previously thought to be at its core, U.S. military officials say, and it's being led by well-armed Iraqi Sunnis angry at being pushed from power alongside Saddam Hussein.
Although U.S. military analysts disagree over the exact size, dozens of regional cells, often led by tribal sheiks and inspired by Sunni Muslim imams, can call upon part-time fighters to boost forces to as high as 20,000 - an estimate reflected in the insurgency's continued strength after U.S. forces killed as many as 4,000 in April alone.
The official said many car bombings bore the ``tradecraft'' of Saddam's former secret police and were aimed at intimidating Iraq's new security services.
Many in the U.S. intelligence community have been making similar points, but have encountered political opposition from the Bush administration, a State Department official in Washington said, also speaking on condition of anonymity.
Civilian analysts generally agreed, saying U.S. and Iraqi officials have long overemphasized the roles of foreign fighters and Muslim extremists.
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - The Iraq insurgency is far larger than the 5,000 guerrillas previously thought to be at its core, U.S. military officials say, and it's being led by well-armed Iraqi Sunnis angry at being pushed from power alongside Saddam Hussein.
Although U.S. military analysts disagree over the exact size, dozens of regional cells, often led by tribal sheiks and inspired by Sunni Muslim imams, can call upon part-time fighters to boost forces to as high as 20,000 - an estimate reflected in the insurgency's continued strength after U.S. forces killed as many as 4,000 in April alone.
The official said many car bombings bore the ``tradecraft'' of Saddam's former secret police and were aimed at intimidating Iraq's new security services.
Many in the U.S. intelligence community have been making similar points, but have encountered political opposition from the Bush administration, a State Department official in Washington said, also speaking on condition of anonymity.
Civilian analysts generally agreed, saying U.S. and Iraqi officials have long overemphasized the roles of foreign fighters and Muslim extremists.
Thursday, July 08, 2004
USA
The Independet: With Trembling Fingers
Despite the worst foreign policy blunder in American history, George W. Bush and his millionaire supporters don't know the meaning of the word shame.
I used to take a drink on occasion with a network newsman famed for his impenetrable calm--his apparent pulse rate that of a large mammal in deep hibernation--and in an avuncular moment he advised me that I'd do all right, in the long run, if I could only avoid the kind of journalism committed to the keyboard "with trembling fingers." I recognized the wisdom of this advice and endeavored over the years to write as little as possible when my blood pressure was soaring and my face was streaked with tears. The lava flows of indignation ebb predictably with age and hardening arteries, and nearing three-score I thought I'd never have to take another tranquilizer--or a double bourbon--to keep my fingers steady on the keys.
"CHECK IT"
Despite the worst foreign policy blunder in American history, George W. Bush and his millionaire supporters don't know the meaning of the word shame.
I used to take a drink on occasion with a network newsman famed for his impenetrable calm--his apparent pulse rate that of a large mammal in deep hibernation--and in an avuncular moment he advised me that I'd do all right, in the long run, if I could only avoid the kind of journalism committed to the keyboard "with trembling fingers." I recognized the wisdom of this advice and endeavored over the years to write as little as possible when my blood pressure was soaring and my face was streaked with tears. The lava flows of indignation ebb predictably with age and hardening arteries, and nearing three-score I thought I'd never have to take another tranquilizer--or a double bourbon--to keep my fingers steady on the keys.
"CHECK IT"
QUOTE OF THE DAY
"It is always a simple matter to drag people along whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. This is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in every country."
Herman Goering at the Nuernberg Trials
Herman Goering at the Nuernberg Trials
KUWAIT
Arab News: US May Force Kuwait to Cede Territory to Iraq: Ex-Minister
KUWAIT CITY, 8 July 2004 — An influential member of Kuwait’s ruling family and former minister yesterday expressed concern the United States may coerce the emirate into making territorial concessions to Iraq as part of a new regional order.
“I am afraid that Iraq’s new order may be arranged at our expense. The Americans may impose it on us,” former Oil Minister Sheikh Saud Nasser Al-Sabah told Al-Seyassah daily in an interview.
“I am afraid that someone may come tomorrow to say that the issue of Umm Qasr (port) and Bubiyan and Warba (islands) needs to be reviewed. This time the request will not come from Iraq. It may come from the Americans,” the former official said.
KUWAIT CITY, 8 July 2004 — An influential member of Kuwait’s ruling family and former minister yesterday expressed concern the United States may coerce the emirate into making territorial concessions to Iraq as part of a new regional order.
“I am afraid that Iraq’s new order may be arranged at our expense. The Americans may impose it on us,” former Oil Minister Sheikh Saud Nasser Al-Sabah told Al-Seyassah daily in an interview.
“I am afraid that someone may come tomorrow to say that the issue of Umm Qasr (port) and Bubiyan and Warba (islands) needs to be reviewed. This time the request will not come from Iraq. It may come from the Americans,” the former official said.
NEW "FREE" IRAQ
Guardian: Iraq PM given sweeping powers
Iraq's new prime minister, Ayad Allawi, was yesterday given sweeping powers to counter insurgents, including the right to declare a state of emergency and impose nationwide curfews.
The comprehensive package of measures will also allow him to appoint military governors to take charge of cities or provinces, close the country's borders, seize the assets of suspects and monitor their phone calls and emails.
The national security law, which was passed unanimously by the cabinet, was unveiled by ministers in the heavily guarded "green zone" in central Baghdad as masked fighters battled Iraqi police and US troops less than a mile away.
Iraq's new prime minister, Ayad Allawi, was yesterday given sweeping powers to counter insurgents, including the right to declare a state of emergency and impose nationwide curfews.
The comprehensive package of measures will also allow him to appoint military governors to take charge of cities or provinces, close the country's borders, seize the assets of suspects and monitor their phone calls and emails.
The national security law, which was passed unanimously by the cabinet, was unveiled by ministers in the heavily guarded "green zone" in central Baghdad as masked fighters battled Iraqi police and US troops less than a mile away.
Wednesday, July 07, 2004
ZIONISM
Christian Science Monitor: Mixing prophecy and politics
Christian Zionists are growing in influence - even as they fight for policies their critics say work against peace in the Mideast. For these believers, it's all about fulfilling biblical prophecy.
The prophecy
For Christian Zionists, the modern state of Israel is the fulfillment of God's covenant with Abraham and the center of His action from now to the Second Coming of Christ and final battle of Armageddon, when the Antichrist will be defeated. But before this can occur, they say, biblical prophecy foretells the return of Jews from other countries; Israel's possession of all the land between the Euphrates and Nile rivers; and the rebuilding of the Jewish temple where a Muslim site, Dome of the Rock, now stands.
These beliefs lead to positions that critics say are uncompromising and ignore the fact that most Israelis want peace. "Pressuring the US government away from peace negotiations and toward an annexationist policy, that has a direct negative impact on the potential for change in the Middle East," says Gershom Gorenberg, a senior editor at The Jerusalem Report newsmagazine
"CHECK IT"
Christian Zionists are growing in influence - even as they fight for policies their critics say work against peace in the Mideast. For these believers, it's all about fulfilling biblical prophecy.
The prophecy
For Christian Zionists, the modern state of Israel is the fulfillment of God's covenant with Abraham and the center of His action from now to the Second Coming of Christ and final battle of Armageddon, when the Antichrist will be defeated. But before this can occur, they say, biblical prophecy foretells the return of Jews from other countries; Israel's possession of all the land between the Euphrates and Nile rivers; and the rebuilding of the Jewish temple where a Muslim site, Dome of the Rock, now stands.
These beliefs lead to positions that critics say are uncompromising and ignore the fact that most Israelis want peace. "Pressuring the US government away from peace negotiations and toward an annexationist policy, that has a direct negative impact on the potential for change in the Middle East," says Gershom Gorenberg, a senior editor at The Jerusalem Report newsmagazine
"CHECK IT"
IRAQ: INTIFADA
Guardian: Iraq is now another Palestine
The first Bush and his Gulf war paved the way for the age of terror
Before Iraq had unravelled, Tony Blair last November delivered one of his most impassioned defences of the war at the Lord Mayor's banquet. He was hoping to undercut critics before President Bush's visit. Iraq, he said, was "the battle of seminal importance for the early 21st century. It will define relations between the Muslim world and the west. It will influence profoundly the development of Arab states and the Middle East. It will have far-reaching implications for the future of American and western diplomacy."
The prime minister was right - but a decade late in understanding the centrality of Iraq in the current world order. It was the first Gulf war in 1991 and the accompanying sanctions and stationing of US troops in Saudi Arabia that had driven deep cleavages in relations between Islam and the west. More important, it had given rise to the age of global terror - beginning with the first World Trade Centre bombing in 1993. In the decades of Palestinian and Arab anger at the US for its close support of Israeli occupation, it had never before been targeted except in the Middle East.
"CHECK IT"
The first Bush and his Gulf war paved the way for the age of terror
Before Iraq had unravelled, Tony Blair last November delivered one of his most impassioned defences of the war at the Lord Mayor's banquet. He was hoping to undercut critics before President Bush's visit. Iraq, he said, was "the battle of seminal importance for the early 21st century. It will define relations between the Muslim world and the west. It will influence profoundly the development of Arab states and the Middle East. It will have far-reaching implications for the future of American and western diplomacy."
The prime minister was right - but a decade late in understanding the centrality of Iraq in the current world order. It was the first Gulf war in 1991 and the accompanying sanctions and stationing of US troops in Saudi Arabia that had driven deep cleavages in relations between Islam and the west. More important, it had given rise to the age of global terror - beginning with the first World Trade Centre bombing in 1993. In the decades of Palestinian and Arab anger at the US for its close support of Israeli occupation, it had never before been targeted except in the Middle East.
"CHECK IT"
Tuesday, July 06, 2004
CAPITALISM
GNN: The Corporation
box office record-setting documentary is sweeping the country, and it’s not Fahrenheit 9/11. The Corporation, the long-awaited documentary from Jennifer Abbott, Joel Bakan and Mark Achbar recently became the highest grossing documentary in Canadian history In fact, the film is in many ways more important than F-9/11. Moore looks at the symptom; The Corporation takes on the disease.
The problems are too deep. Only structural change can bring democratic accountability to what has become the planet’s most lawless and dangerous institution.
GNN spoke with a trailblazing corporate reformer not featured in the film who has some answers on how that could happen. Author of The Divine Right of Capital, Marjorie Kelly is the founder of Business Ethics magazine and a leader in the corporate reform movement. Kelly argues that blind devotion to short-term profits for stockholders over the well-being of everyone else is equivalent to corporate feudalism. She says nothing short of a peaceful democratic revolution in American business can save global capitalism from itself:
GNN: How did you start down this path?
Kelly: When I started Business Ethics I thought that socially responsible business people changing their own companies was how we could transform capitalism. But I no longer believe that. I believe that the problems are at the systems level.
box office record-setting documentary is sweeping the country, and it’s not Fahrenheit 9/11. The Corporation, the long-awaited documentary from Jennifer Abbott, Joel Bakan and Mark Achbar recently became the highest grossing documentary in Canadian history In fact, the film is in many ways more important than F-9/11. Moore looks at the symptom; The Corporation takes on the disease.
The problems are too deep. Only structural change can bring democratic accountability to what has become the planet’s most lawless and dangerous institution.
GNN spoke with a trailblazing corporate reformer not featured in the film who has some answers on how that could happen. Author of The Divine Right of Capital, Marjorie Kelly is the founder of Business Ethics magazine and a leader in the corporate reform movement. Kelly argues that blind devotion to short-term profits for stockholders over the well-being of everyone else is equivalent to corporate feudalism. She says nothing short of a peaceful democratic revolution in American business can save global capitalism from itself:
GNN: How did you start down this path?
Kelly: When I started Business Ethics I thought that socially responsible business people changing their own companies was how we could transform capitalism. But I no longer believe that. I believe that the problems are at the systems level.
USA VS. CUBA
Truthout: This Is How You Bring Down Fidel Castro?
Just when you thought that U.S. policy toward Cuba couldn't get any dumber, along comes President Bush with another grandstanding stunt that is doomed to backfire.
To punish Fidel Castro, the U.S. Treasury Department last week rolled out new rules sharply curtailing travel to Cuba by exiles living in the United States
Under the new controls, Cuban Americans will only be allowed to visit immediate relatives on the island every three years, instead of annually, and will be permitted to stay only two weeks. Exiles going to Cuba will be restricted to spending $50 daily, instead of the previous limit of $167.
In addition, the Bush administration is reducing the cash remittances sent by exiles to their Cuban relatives. The annual $1,200 allowance may now go only to immediate family members - not cousins, aunts or uncles.
The theory behind the new policy is to starve the Castro regime of precious income and thereby hasten its downfall. Seriously. That's the White House line - the same one we've heard for more than 40 years.
Just when you thought that U.S. policy toward Cuba couldn't get any dumber, along comes President Bush with another grandstanding stunt that is doomed to backfire.
To punish Fidel Castro, the U.S. Treasury Department last week rolled out new rules sharply curtailing travel to Cuba by exiles living in the United States
Under the new controls, Cuban Americans will only be allowed to visit immediate relatives on the island every three years, instead of annually, and will be permitted to stay only two weeks. Exiles going to Cuba will be restricted to spending $50 daily, instead of the previous limit of $167.
In addition, the Bush administration is reducing the cash remittances sent by exiles to their Cuban relatives. The annual $1,200 allowance may now go only to immediate family members - not cousins, aunts or uncles.
The theory behind the new policy is to starve the Castro regime of precious income and thereby hasten its downfall. Seriously. That's the White House line - the same one we've heard for more than 40 years.
PROPAGANDA WATCH: ONLINE VIDEO
Informationclearinghouse: Elite Propaganda
The Myth of the Liberal Media
Edward Herman and Noam Chomsky demolish one of the central tenets of our political culture, the idea of the "liberal media." Instead, utilizing a systematic model based on massive empirical research, they reveal the manner in which the news media are so subordinated to corporate and conservative interests that their function can only be described as that of "elite propaganda."
Video: Real Player: Run Time - 60 Minutes
"If you want to understand the way a system works, you look at its institutional structure. How it is organized, how it is controlled, how it is funded."
-Noam Chomsky
"The Mainstream media really represent elite interests, and what the propaganda model tries to do is stipulate a set of institutional variables, reflecting this elite power, that very powerfully influence the media."
-Edward Herman
The Myth of the Liberal Media
Edward Herman and Noam Chomsky demolish one of the central tenets of our political culture, the idea of the "liberal media." Instead, utilizing a systematic model based on massive empirical research, they reveal the manner in which the news media are so subordinated to corporate and conservative interests that their function can only be described as that of "elite propaganda."
Video: Real Player: Run Time - 60 Minutes
"If you want to understand the way a system works, you look at its institutional structure. How it is organized, how it is controlled, how it is funded."
-Noam Chomsky
"The Mainstream media really represent elite interests, and what the propaganda model tries to do is stipulate a set of institutional variables, reflecting this elite power, that very powerfully influence the media."
-Edward Herman
ISRAEL/USA VS. IRAN
THE NEW YORKER: Plan B by by Seymour M. Hersh
As June 30th approaches, Israel looks to the Kurds.
"CHECK IT"
Comment to the Report Above by info.clearinghouse: Slipping Toward Armageddon
Israel in Iraq
The fact that Israeli operatives are now in Iraq explodes once and for all the oft-repeated claim that America is an honest peace broker. The whole world will now understand that this was just another of Washington’s many deceptions. Bush’s uncritical support of Sharon’s iron fist shows that even the pretense of impartiality has now evaporated. And, to the shame of every American who cares about justice, candidate Kerry has seconded Bush on Israel without qualification.
Bush’s Iraq policy has imploded. In fact, there never was a coherent policy, apart from grabbing the oil. It was always just a bunch of lies packaged as patriotic slogans for popular consumption here at home. And the Israelis, who wanted the war (just about any war is OK with them) are now where they’ve wanted to be for years, that is, on the Iran border, i.e., positioning themselves for the next round when the shinola really hits the fan: the shooting match that will make everything we’ve seen up until now look like a warm-up.
Clearly, Iran figures large in the Israeli calculus. Though it was not reported here in the US media -- at least, I never saw one word about it -- Iran was one of the key issues in the last Israeli election. Sharon and his opponent Benjamin Netanyahu squared-off during the campaign, and the issue was the specter of a nuclearized Shi’ite theocracy. The debate was bitter. Netanyahu took the view that it was too late to prevent Iran from going nuclear, and that Israel must accept this and come to terms. This inflamed Sharon, who accused Netanyahu of treason. Clearly, Sharon believed, and still believes, that Israel must go to any length to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, even if this means going to war (again), which means persuading, pushing, and if necessary dragging the Americans into it.
I hasten to add that it’s far from proved that Iran is building, or intends to build, Bombs. There is no smoking gun, and no hard evidence insofar as I know. It appears that Iran’s policy is to develop nuclear power for energy production while keeping its options open for the future. Such a policy is totally understandable, given Israel’s own massive nuclear arsenal, the existence of which is beyond dispute, even if the White House doesn’t want to be reminded. Let us remember, Israel’s nukes are aimed at Tehran. Put yourself in the Iranians’ shoes. It’s unreasonable to expect them to forswear nukes forever unless WE in America are also prepared to pressure the Israeli government to sign the NPT and open ALL of Israel’s nuclear sites to inspectors. I mean the strengthened IAEA regime of unannounced inspections, whenever and wherever.
As June 30th approaches, Israel looks to the Kurds.
"CHECK IT"
Comment to the Report Above by info.clearinghouse: Slipping Toward Armageddon
Israel in Iraq
The fact that Israeli operatives are now in Iraq explodes once and for all the oft-repeated claim that America is an honest peace broker. The whole world will now understand that this was just another of Washington’s many deceptions. Bush’s uncritical support of Sharon’s iron fist shows that even the pretense of impartiality has now evaporated. And, to the shame of every American who cares about justice, candidate Kerry has seconded Bush on Israel without qualification.
Bush’s Iraq policy has imploded. In fact, there never was a coherent policy, apart from grabbing the oil. It was always just a bunch of lies packaged as patriotic slogans for popular consumption here at home. And the Israelis, who wanted the war (just about any war is OK with them) are now where they’ve wanted to be for years, that is, on the Iran border, i.e., positioning themselves for the next round when the shinola really hits the fan: the shooting match that will make everything we’ve seen up until now look like a warm-up.
Clearly, Iran figures large in the Israeli calculus. Though it was not reported here in the US media -- at least, I never saw one word about it -- Iran was one of the key issues in the last Israeli election. Sharon and his opponent Benjamin Netanyahu squared-off during the campaign, and the issue was the specter of a nuclearized Shi’ite theocracy. The debate was bitter. Netanyahu took the view that it was too late to prevent Iran from going nuclear, and that Israel must accept this and come to terms. This inflamed Sharon, who accused Netanyahu of treason. Clearly, Sharon believed, and still believes, that Israel must go to any length to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, even if this means going to war (again), which means persuading, pushing, and if necessary dragging the Americans into it.
I hasten to add that it’s far from proved that Iran is building, or intends to build, Bombs. There is no smoking gun, and no hard evidence insofar as I know. It appears that Iran’s policy is to develop nuclear power for energy production while keeping its options open for the future. Such a policy is totally understandable, given Israel’s own massive nuclear arsenal, the existence of which is beyond dispute, even if the White House doesn’t want to be reminded. Let us remember, Israel’s nukes are aimed at Tehran. Put yourself in the Iranians’ shoes. It’s unreasonable to expect them to forswear nukes forever unless WE in America are also prepared to pressure the Israeli government to sign the NPT and open ALL of Israel’s nuclear sites to inspectors. I mean the strengthened IAEA regime of unannounced inspections, whenever and wherever.
NEW IRAQ
News-Leader: Government illegitimate, militant cleric says
Baghdad, Iraq — The militant Shiite cleric whose uprising in April left hundreds dead pledged Sunday to resist "oppression and occupation" and calling the new interim Iraqi government "illegitimate."
Muqtada al-Sadr made the declaration in a statement distributed by his office in the Shiite holy city of Najaf, where his al-Mahdi militia battled American troops until a cease-fire last month.
"We pledge to the Iraqi people and the world to continue resisting oppression and occupation to our last drop of blood," al-Sadr said. "Resistance is a legitimate right and not a crime to be punished."
Baghdad, Iraq — The militant Shiite cleric whose uprising in April left hundreds dead pledged Sunday to resist "oppression and occupation" and calling the new interim Iraqi government "illegitimate."
Muqtada al-Sadr made the declaration in a statement distributed by his office in the Shiite holy city of Najaf, where his al-Mahdi militia battled American troops until a cease-fire last month.
"We pledge to the Iraqi people and the world to continue resisting oppression and occupation to our last drop of blood," al-Sadr said. "Resistance is a legitimate right and not a crime to be punished."
IRAQ: WMD
Scotsman: WMD report shatters Blair's credibility
TONY Blair’s credibility over weapons of mass destruction is set to face its sternest test after his special envoy to Iraq conceded yesterday Saddam Hussein had stockpiled none.
Sir Jeremy Greenstock’s remarkably frank admission came as speculation mounted that two of Britain’s top spymasters and the government’s most senior law officer will be criticised by an official inquiry into the handling of intelligence on Saddam’s WMD.
The 100-page draft of Lord Butler of Brockwell’s report, according to the Sunday Times, will criticise MI6 after it admitted its intelligence on WMD - at one stage Mr Blair’s basis for the conflict to remove Saddam - was wrong.
TONY Blair’s credibility over weapons of mass destruction is set to face its sternest test after his special envoy to Iraq conceded yesterday Saddam Hussein had stockpiled none.
Sir Jeremy Greenstock’s remarkably frank admission came as speculation mounted that two of Britain’s top spymasters and the government’s most senior law officer will be criticised by an official inquiry into the handling of intelligence on Saddam’s WMD.
The 100-page draft of Lord Butler of Brockwell’s report, according to the Sunday Times, will criticise MI6 after it admitted its intelligence on WMD - at one stage Mr Blair’s basis for the conflict to remove Saddam - was wrong.
AFGHANISTAN
JapanToday: Afghan Taliban claim to kill 7 coalition soldiers
The Taliban militia on Sunday claimed to have killed seven coalition soldiers in Zabul Province in southwestern Afghanistan, Afghan Islamic Press reported.
The report quoted Taliban spokesman Mufti Lateefuddin Hakeemi as saying that seven coalition soldiers were killed in a clash late Saturday in a village in the Dai Chopan area of the province. (Kyodo News)
The Taliban militia on Sunday claimed to have killed seven coalition soldiers in Zabul Province in southwestern Afghanistan, Afghan Islamic Press reported.
The report quoted Taliban spokesman Mufti Lateefuddin Hakeemi as saying that seven coalition soldiers were killed in a clash late Saturday in a village in the Dai Chopan area of the province. (Kyodo News)
MEDIA WATCH
Independent: Why the truth must be told
Broadcasters are cheating the public by denying them the chance to see hard-hitting documentaries, argues John Pilger
Britain remains one of the few countries where documentaries are still shown on mainstream television in the hours when most people are awake. But documentaries that go against the received wisdom and inform are becoming an endangered species, at the very time we need them most. That will be a tragedy; for viewers in this country are not only used to but supportive of an eclectic range of programmes, unlike in the US, where people expect television to be little more than a shopping mall with buskers. Rupert Murdoch's Fox Channel, a parody of journalism, fits this perfectly; and he wants us to have the same.
Broadcasters are cheating the public by denying them the chance to see hard-hitting documentaries, argues John Pilger
Britain remains one of the few countries where documentaries are still shown on mainstream television in the hours when most people are awake. But documentaries that go against the received wisdom and inform are becoming an endangered species, at the very time we need them most. That will be a tragedy; for viewers in this country are not only used to but supportive of an eclectic range of programmes, unlike in the US, where people expect television to be little more than a shopping mall with buskers. Rupert Murdoch's Fox Channel, a parody of journalism, fits this perfectly; and he wants us to have the same.
IRAQ WAR: ONLINE VIDEO
Informationclearinghouse: The Whole Truth About The Iraq War
Robert Greenwald - 87 minutes: Windows Media
An impressive roster of experts is assembled to provide a generally withering commentary on the quality of evidence and possible motivations of the Neo-conservatives who provided the momentum and muscle behind America's venture into preemptive war. Among them are veteran CIA analysts and operatives, military officers, diplomats, politicians, arms inspectors, and U.S. and British government officials. The fig leaf of the possibility of an honest mistake on the matter of WMDs is stripped away; what is left is the stark and disturbing anatomy of deliberate deceit.
Due to costs for Hosting and bandwidth charges, This Video will only be available through 07/07/04
Direct Download
Robert Greenwald - 87 minutes: Windows Media
An impressive roster of experts is assembled to provide a generally withering commentary on the quality of evidence and possible motivations of the Neo-conservatives who provided the momentum and muscle behind America's venture into preemptive war. Among them are veteran CIA analysts and operatives, military officers, diplomats, politicians, arms inspectors, and U.S. and British government officials. The fig leaf of the possibility of an honest mistake on the matter of WMDs is stripped away; what is left is the stark and disturbing anatomy of deliberate deceit.
Due to costs for Hosting and bandwidth charges, This Video will only be available through 07/07/04
Direct Download
TERROR
WTNH: FBI expanding interviews to ward off potential attacks
(Washington-AP, July 5, 2004 4:05 PM) _ With an eye toward potential terrorist attacks this summer and fall, the FBI is expanding efforts to find al-Qaida operatives before they strike.
An F-B-I official says the intelligence-gathering campaign will include increased emphasis on community interviews.
The agency has conducted community interviews before -- for example, sending agents into Arab-American neighborhoods to seek information after the Nine Eleven attacks.
The official says only a few interviews have taken place so far, but they'll be conducted on a larger scale in coming weeks.
The interviews are being driven by data gathered from the agency's Threat Task Force, plus experts from the intelligence community and Department of Homeland Security.
(Washington-AP, July 5, 2004 4:05 PM) _ With an eye toward potential terrorist attacks this summer and fall, the FBI is expanding efforts to find al-Qaida operatives before they strike.
An F-B-I official says the intelligence-gathering campaign will include increased emphasis on community interviews.
The agency has conducted community interviews before -- for example, sending agents into Arab-American neighborhoods to seek information after the Nine Eleven attacks.
The official says only a few interviews have taken place so far, but they'll be conducted on a larger scale in coming weeks.
The interviews are being driven by data gathered from the agency's Threat Task Force, plus experts from the intelligence community and Department of Homeland Security.
TERROR
Pakistan Daily Times: Former CIA officer rejects conventional view of terrorism
WASHINGTON: A CIA officer who served in Pakistan during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan says the theory that terrorists are poor, angry and fanatically religious is a myth.
According to Marc Sageman, now a Pennsylvania professor and author of a new book on terrorism, of the 400 members of terrorist networks from North Africa, the Middle East, Malaysia and Indonesia that he studies, 75 percent came from upper or middle-class backgrounds and most also from “caring, intact” families. Sixty percent were college educated and 75 percent could be considered professional or semi-professional. Seventy percent were married and most had children. Only half came from a religious background, and a large group raised in North Africa or France grew up in entirely secular communities, which “refutes the notion of culture, often cited as a factor encouraging terrorism.
Mr Sageman said “terrorism is on the way up”, and although in 2001, two-thirds of the its leadership was killed, but this year, the leadership had reconstituted itself and is “willing to take far more risks than the old leadership was able to. These “new terrorists ... really cannot be targeted by bombs,” he warned. “This requires a different type of war - an idea-based solution ... we really haven’t engaged it yet.”
"CHECK IT"
WASHINGTON: A CIA officer who served in Pakistan during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan says the theory that terrorists are poor, angry and fanatically religious is a myth.
According to Marc Sageman, now a Pennsylvania professor and author of a new book on terrorism, of the 400 members of terrorist networks from North Africa, the Middle East, Malaysia and Indonesia that he studies, 75 percent came from upper or middle-class backgrounds and most also from “caring, intact” families. Sixty percent were college educated and 75 percent could be considered professional or semi-professional. Seventy percent were married and most had children. Only half came from a religious background, and a large group raised in North Africa or France grew up in entirely secular communities, which “refutes the notion of culture, often cited as a factor encouraging terrorism.
Mr Sageman said “terrorism is on the way up”, and although in 2001, two-thirds of the its leadership was killed, but this year, the leadership had reconstituted itself and is “willing to take far more risks than the old leadership was able to. These “new terrorists ... really cannot be targeted by bombs,” he warned. “This requires a different type of war - an idea-based solution ... we really haven’t engaged it yet.”
"CHECK IT"
US/ISRAEL VS. IRAN
Wahington Times: Commentary: Israel to bomb Iran?
Washington, DC, Jul. 2 (UPI) -- As the Bush Administration concludes it cannot risk Iranian retaliation against a fragile Iraq under U.S. occupation, Israel is dusting off contingency plans to take out Iran's nuclear installations.
On June 24, the key question was asked by Brent Scowcroft, former National Security Adviser to President George H.W. Bush (41): "Are we serious in our efforts to prevent (Iranian) nuclear proliferation, or will we watch the world descend into a maelstrom where weapons-grade nuclear material is plentiful, and unimaginable destructive capability is available to any country or group with a grudge against society?"
Dixieinternet: The Coming Preemptive Strike on Iran
A brief collation of excellent public sources of information, followed by quiet reading, prayer, and consultation has recently led me to several political conclusions I sincerely hope are wrong. Only time will tell.
The first of these is that the United States--and/or its surrogate presence in the Middle East, a Sharon-led Likudnik government in Israel–will engage in a preemptive military strike against the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) regime in Iran and its budding nuclear facilities at Bushehr and Natanz. The only serious questions remaining are the timing of the strike, and whether or not an American-Israeli air assault on the facilities in question will be followed by a larger American military application of aerial and ground forces to enact the Neo-Conservative mantra of “regime change” in Tehran.
AP: Israel Minister Raises Concerns Over Iran
Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom told the White House on Friday that Iran was trying to develop longer-range missiles that could pose a threat to European nations.
Shalom took his concerns to Condoleezza Rice, the president's national security adviser, and then told reporters: "We cannot allow the Iranians to move forward in their efforts to develop nuclear weapons."
The Sun: Nader Warning of ‘Puppets of Israel’
WASHINGTON — Independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader yesterday courted the Islamic vote by accusing Republicans and Democrats of ignoring the interests of Muslim Americans and describing the Congress and White House as “puppets of Israel.”
“I don’t think there is any prospect of the two parties differing in any significant way on the Middle East,” Mr. Nader told Muslim activists gathered on Capitol Hill at a hearing titled “The Muslim Vote in Election 2004.”
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict could be resolved if only the American government would listen to Israel’s peace movement, Mr. Nader said. Instead Israeli leaders regularly get their way in Washington, he claimed.
“The Israeli puppeteer travels to Washington and meets with the puppet in White House. He then goes down Pennsylvania Avenue and meets with the puppets in Congress,” said Mr. Nader.The Israeli leader then “brings back millions of dollars” in aid to Israel, he said.
“It is time for the United States government to stand up and think for itself,” he said.
Comment:
The United States cannot reasonably insist upon Iranian submission to IAEA inspection and potential dismantlement of militarily-related nuclear programs without insisting upon the application of the same standard to the government of Israel, its Dimona nuclear-weapons production plant, and its Institute of Biological Sciences and Research in Tel Aviv, among other operations and sites in that country that meet neither IAEA standards nor those of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPF). The notion that Tehran has no right or legitimate claim to Weapons of Mass Destruction while the regime of international war criminal Ariel Sharon does, is morally and politically unsustainable
Washington, DC, Jul. 2 (UPI) -- As the Bush Administration concludes it cannot risk Iranian retaliation against a fragile Iraq under U.S. occupation, Israel is dusting off contingency plans to take out Iran's nuclear installations.
On June 24, the key question was asked by Brent Scowcroft, former National Security Adviser to President George H.W. Bush (41): "Are we serious in our efforts to prevent (Iranian) nuclear proliferation, or will we watch the world descend into a maelstrom where weapons-grade nuclear material is plentiful, and unimaginable destructive capability is available to any country or group with a grudge against society?"
Dixieinternet: The Coming Preemptive Strike on Iran
A brief collation of excellent public sources of information, followed by quiet reading, prayer, and consultation has recently led me to several political conclusions I sincerely hope are wrong. Only time will tell.
The first of these is that the United States--and/or its surrogate presence in the Middle East, a Sharon-led Likudnik government in Israel–will engage in a preemptive military strike against the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) regime in Iran and its budding nuclear facilities at Bushehr and Natanz. The only serious questions remaining are the timing of the strike, and whether or not an American-Israeli air assault on the facilities in question will be followed by a larger American military application of aerial and ground forces to enact the Neo-Conservative mantra of “regime change” in Tehran.
AP: Israel Minister Raises Concerns Over Iran
Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom told the White House on Friday that Iran was trying to develop longer-range missiles that could pose a threat to European nations.
Shalom took his concerns to Condoleezza Rice, the president's national security adviser, and then told reporters: "We cannot allow the Iranians to move forward in their efforts to develop nuclear weapons."
The Sun: Nader Warning of ‘Puppets of Israel’
WASHINGTON — Independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader yesterday courted the Islamic vote by accusing Republicans and Democrats of ignoring the interests of Muslim Americans and describing the Congress and White House as “puppets of Israel.”
“I don’t think there is any prospect of the two parties differing in any significant way on the Middle East,” Mr. Nader told Muslim activists gathered on Capitol Hill at a hearing titled “The Muslim Vote in Election 2004.”
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict could be resolved if only the American government would listen to Israel’s peace movement, Mr. Nader said. Instead Israeli leaders regularly get their way in Washington, he claimed.
“The Israeli puppeteer travels to Washington and meets with the puppet in White House. He then goes down Pennsylvania Avenue and meets with the puppets in Congress,” said Mr. Nader.The Israeli leader then “brings back millions of dollars” in aid to Israel, he said.
“It is time for the United States government to stand up and think for itself,” he said.
Comment:
The United States cannot reasonably insist upon Iranian submission to IAEA inspection and potential dismantlement of militarily-related nuclear programs without insisting upon the application of the same standard to the government of Israel, its Dimona nuclear-weapons production plant, and its Institute of Biological Sciences and Research in Tel Aviv, among other operations and sites in that country that meet neither IAEA standards nor those of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPF). The notion that Tehran has no right or legitimate claim to Weapons of Mass Destruction while the regime of international war criminal Ariel Sharon does, is morally and politically unsustainable
Monday, July 05, 2004
NEW IRAQ: ROBERT FISK
Independent: US military tried to censor coverage of Saddam hearing By Robert Fisk in Baghdad
A team of US military officers acted as censors over all coverage of the hearings of Saddam Hussein and his henchmen on Thursday, destroying videotape of Saddam in chains and deleting the entire recorded legal submissions of 11 senior members of his former regime.
A US network cameraman who demanded the return of his tapes, which contained audios of the hearings, said he was told by a US officer: "No. They belong to us now. And anyway, we don't trust you guys."
According to American journalists present at the 30-minute hearing of Saddam and 11 former ministers at Baghdad airport, an American admiral in civilian clothes told camera crews that the judge had demanded that there should be no sound recording of the initial hearing. He ordered crews to unplug their sound wires. Several of the six crews present pretended to obey the instruction. "We learnt later," one of them said, "that the judge didn't order us to turn off our sound. The Americans lied--it was they who wanted no sound. The judge wanted sound and pictures."
A team of US military officers acted as censors over all coverage of the hearings of Saddam Hussein and his henchmen on Thursday, destroying videotape of Saddam in chains and deleting the entire recorded legal submissions of 11 senior members of his former regime.
A US network cameraman who demanded the return of his tapes, which contained audios of the hearings, said he was told by a US officer: "No. They belong to us now. And anyway, we don't trust you guys."
According to American journalists present at the 30-minute hearing of Saddam and 11 former ministers at Baghdad airport, an American admiral in civilian clothes told camera crews that the judge had demanded that there should be no sound recording of the initial hearing. He ordered crews to unplug their sound wires. Several of the six crews present pretended to obey the instruction. "We learnt later," one of them said, "that the judge didn't order us to turn off our sound. The Americans lied--it was they who wanted no sound. The judge wanted sound and pictures."
NEW IRAQ: ROBERT FISK
The Independent: So this is what they call the new, 'free' Iraq by Robert Fisk
In his last hours as US proconsul in Baghdad, Paul Bremer decided to tighten up some of the laws that his occupation authority had placed across the land of Iraq.
He drafted a new piece of legislation forbidding Iraqi motorists to drive with only one hand on the wheel. Another document solemnly announced that it would henceforth be a crime for Iraqis to sound their car horns except in an emergency. That same day, three American soldiers were torn apart by a roadside bomb north of Baghdad, one of more than 60 attacks on US forces over the weekend. And all the while, Mr Bremer was worrying about the standards of Iraqi driving.
It would be difficult to find a more preposterous - and chilling - symbol of Mr Bremer's failures, his hopeless inability to understand the nature of the débâcle that he and his hopeless occupation authority have brought about. It's not that the old "Coalition Provisional Authority" - now transmogrified into the 3,000-strong US embassy - was out of touch. It didn't even live on Planet Earth. Mr Bremer's last starring moment came when he departed Baghdad on a US military aircraft, with two US-paid mercenaries - rifles pointed menacingly at camera crews and walking backwards - protecting him until the cabin door closed. And Mr Bremer, remember, was appointed to his job because he was an "anti-terrorist" expert.
And Mr Bremer managed to institute a set of laws that the "new" and "sovereign" government is not permitted to change.
One of the most insidious was the re-introduction of Saddam's 1984 law banning all strikes. This piece of folly was intended to muzzle the so-called Federation of Iraqi Trade Unions. Yet the trade unions are among the few secular groups in Iraq opposing religious orthodoxy and fundamentalism. A strong trade union movement could provide a vital base of political and democratic power in a new Iraq. But no, Mr Bremer preferred to protect big business.
"CHECK IT"
In his last hours as US proconsul in Baghdad, Paul Bremer decided to tighten up some of the laws that his occupation authority had placed across the land of Iraq.
He drafted a new piece of legislation forbidding Iraqi motorists to drive with only one hand on the wheel. Another document solemnly announced that it would henceforth be a crime for Iraqis to sound their car horns except in an emergency. That same day, three American soldiers were torn apart by a roadside bomb north of Baghdad, one of more than 60 attacks on US forces over the weekend. And all the while, Mr Bremer was worrying about the standards of Iraqi driving.
It would be difficult to find a more preposterous - and chilling - symbol of Mr Bremer's failures, his hopeless inability to understand the nature of the débâcle that he and his hopeless occupation authority have brought about. It's not that the old "Coalition Provisional Authority" - now transmogrified into the 3,000-strong US embassy - was out of touch. It didn't even live on Planet Earth. Mr Bremer's last starring moment came when he departed Baghdad on a US military aircraft, with two US-paid mercenaries - rifles pointed menacingly at camera crews and walking backwards - protecting him until the cabin door closed. And Mr Bremer, remember, was appointed to his job because he was an "anti-terrorist" expert.
And Mr Bremer managed to institute a set of laws that the "new" and "sovereign" government is not permitted to change.
One of the most insidious was the re-introduction of Saddam's 1984 law banning all strikes. This piece of folly was intended to muzzle the so-called Federation of Iraqi Trade Unions. Yet the trade unions are among the few secular groups in Iraq opposing religious orthodoxy and fundamentalism. A strong trade union movement could provide a vital base of political and democratic power in a new Iraq. But no, Mr Bremer preferred to protect big business.
"CHECK IT"
USA
Worldnetdaily: Congressman suggests Bush hiding Osama
'They are trying to decide what day they should bring him out'
In a speech to business leaders in India, Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash., gave credence to a rumor that the U.S. has captured Osama bin Laden and for political reasons is waiting for the right moment to reveal it, according to the Indo-Asian News Service.
Reps. Mike Thompson and Jim McDermott in CNN interview from Baghdad in 2002.
"There are already rumours circulating that Osama bin Laden is being held somewhere already and it's only that they are trying to decide what day they should bring him out," McDermott told Confederation of Indian Industry representatives at a luncheon in New Delhi on Thursday.
The remarks came as McDermott told his audience that the loss of jobs during the Bush administration and the Iraq war will cause Americans to pick a new president in the fall.
'They are trying to decide what day they should bring him out'
In a speech to business leaders in India, Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash., gave credence to a rumor that the U.S. has captured Osama bin Laden and for political reasons is waiting for the right moment to reveal it, according to the Indo-Asian News Service.
Reps. Mike Thompson and Jim McDermott in CNN interview from Baghdad in 2002.
"There are already rumours circulating that Osama bin Laden is being held somewhere already and it's only that they are trying to decide what day they should bring him out," McDermott told Confederation of Indian Industry representatives at a luncheon in New Delhi on Thursday.
The remarks came as McDermott told his audience that the loss of jobs during the Bush administration and the Iraq war will cause Americans to pick a new president in the fall.
NEW IRAQ
Washington Post: U.S. Funds for Iraq Are Largely Unspent
BAGHDAD, July 3 -- The U.S. government has spent 2 percent of an $18.4 billion aid package that Congress approved in October last year after the Bush administration called for a quick infusion of cash into Iraq to finance reconstruction, according to figures released Friday by the White House.
The U.S.-led occupation authorities were much quicker to channel Iraq's own money, expending or earmarking nearly all of $20 billion in a special development fund fed by the country's oil sales, a congressional investigator said.
BAGHDAD, July 3 -- The U.S. government has spent 2 percent of an $18.4 billion aid package that Congress approved in October last year after the Bush administration called for a quick infusion of cash into Iraq to finance reconstruction, according to figures released Friday by the White House.
The U.S.-led occupation authorities were much quicker to channel Iraq's own money, expending or earmarking nearly all of $20 billion in a special development fund fed by the country's oil sales, a congressional investigator said.
FRANCE: MAD COW
Telegraph: 300,000 Mad Cow Cases Undetected In France
PARIS -- A mad cow disease epidemic in France went completely undetected and led to almost 50,000 severely infected animals entering the food chain, according to a shocking report by French government researchers.
More than 300,000 cows contracted BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy) in the past 13 years, 300 times more than the number of officially recorded cases, say researchers at France's official Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm).
PARIS -- A mad cow disease epidemic in France went completely undetected and led to almost 50,000 severely infected animals entering the food chain, according to a shocking report by French government researchers.
More than 300,000 cows contracted BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy) in the past 13 years, 300 times more than the number of officially recorded cases, say researchers at France's official Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm).
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