Knight Ridder: Kurds In Iraqi Army Proclaim Loyalty To Militia
Iraq - Kurdish leaders have inserted more than 10,000 of their militia members into Iraqi army divisions in northern Iraq to lay the groundwork to swarm south, seize the oil-rich city of Kirkuk and possibly half of Mosul, Iraq's third-largest city, and secure the borders of an independent Kurdistan.
Five days of interviews with Kurdish leaders and troops in the region suggest that U.S. plans to bring unity to Iraq before withdrawing American troops by training and equipping a national army aren't gaining traction. Instead, some troops that are formally under U.S. and Iraqi national command are preparing to protect territory and ethnic and religious interests in the event of Iraq's fragmentation, which many of them think is inevitable.
Wednesday, December 28, 2005
PROPAGANDA WATCH
Washington Post: IRAQ INFORMATION OPERATIONS INCREASE
The military has paid money to try to place favorable coverage on
television stations in three Iraqi cities."
The military gave one station "about $35,000 in equipment," is "building a new facility for $300,000," and pays $1000 to $2400 a month "for a weekly program that focuses positively on U.S. efforts."
An Army National Guard commander confirmed his officers "suggest" stories for the weekly program and review it, before it is aired. The payments are not disclosed to viewers. At least two bloggers have been embedded with U.S. military units; Michael Yon with the Army in Mosul and Bill Roggio (who was credentialed by the American Enterprise Institute)
with the Marines in Anbar province.
The military has paid money to try to place favorable coverage on
television stations in three Iraqi cities."
The military gave one station "about $35,000 in equipment," is "building a new facility for $300,000," and pays $1000 to $2400 a month "for a weekly program that focuses positively on U.S. efforts."
An Army National Guard commander confirmed his officers "suggest" stories for the weekly program and review it, before it is aired. The payments are not disclosed to viewers. At least two bloggers have been embedded with U.S. military units; Michael Yon with the Army in Mosul and Bill Roggio (who was credentialed by the American Enterprise Institute)
with the Marines in Anbar province.
PR WATCH
Wallstreet Journal: A CANCER RISK CONVENIENTLY LOST IN TRANSLATION
A groundbreaking public health study by Chinese doctor Zhang
JianDong in 1987 was used by U.S. regulatory agencies "as evidence
that a form of" the chemical chromium "might cause cancer."
Tenyears later, "a 'clarification and further analysis' published under
his name in a U.S. medical journal said there was no cancer link to
chromium."
But "Dr. Zhang didn't write the clarification" - it was
"conceived, drafted, edited and submitted to medical journals by"
ChemRisk, a firm hired by PG&E, "a utility company being sued for
alleged chromium pollution" by California residents. ChemRisk was
previously paid $7 million to help "save industry hundreds of
millions of dollars in cleanup costs for chromium pollution in New
Jersey."
ChemRisk claims Dr. Zhang signed off on the
"clarification," but records show the final version was not
translated into Chinese for his review. Dr. Zhang died in 1999, but
his son said, "It's impossible that he would have overthrown" his
earlier work linking chromium and cancer.
A groundbreaking public health study by Chinese doctor Zhang
JianDong in 1987 was used by U.S. regulatory agencies "as evidence
that a form of" the chemical chromium "might cause cancer."
Tenyears later, "a 'clarification and further analysis' published under
his name in a U.S. medical journal said there was no cancer link to
chromium."
But "Dr. Zhang didn't write the clarification" - it was
"conceived, drafted, edited and submitted to medical journals by"
ChemRisk, a firm hired by PG&E, "a utility company being sued for
alleged chromium pollution" by California residents. ChemRisk was
previously paid $7 million to help "save industry hundreds of
millions of dollars in cleanup costs for chromium pollution in New
Jersey."
ChemRisk claims Dr. Zhang signed off on the
"clarification," but records show the final version was not
translated into Chinese for his review. Dr. Zhang died in 1999, but
his son said, "It's impossible that he would have overthrown" his
earlier work linking chromium and cancer.
Thursday, December 22, 2005
PROPGANDA WATCH
Businessweek: FAKE OP/EDS: THINK TANKS AND PIGGY BANKS
Two opinion columnists and fellows at conservative think tanks have
admitted to taking money from indicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff to
write favorable columns about his clients. The Cato Institute's Doug
Bandow, who had a syndicated column with Copley News Service,
"accepted money from Abramoff for writing between 12 and 24 articles
over a period of years, beginning in the mid '90s." Bandow resigned
from Cato, and his column has been suspended. The Institute for
Policy Innovation's Peter Ferrara also wrote "pay for play" columns
for Abramoff, but, unlike Bandow, he isn't remorseful. "I've done it
in the past, and I'll do it in the future," Ferrara said. Ferrara's
boss also says the arrangement isn't "wrong or unethical." None of
the columns contained any disclosure. BusinessWeek noted that the
columns "provided a seemingly independent validation of the
arguments the Abramoff team were using to try to sway Congressional
action."
Two opinion columnists and fellows at conservative think tanks have
admitted to taking money from indicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff to
write favorable columns about his clients. The Cato Institute's Doug
Bandow, who had a syndicated column with Copley News Service,
"accepted money from Abramoff for writing between 12 and 24 articles
over a period of years, beginning in the mid '90s." Bandow resigned
from Cato, and his column has been suspended. The Institute for
Policy Innovation's Peter Ferrara also wrote "pay for play" columns
for Abramoff, but, unlike Bandow, he isn't remorseful. "I've done it
in the past, and I'll do it in the future," Ferrara said. Ferrara's
boss also says the arrangement isn't "wrong or unethical." None of
the columns contained any disclosure. BusinessWeek noted that the
columns "provided a seemingly independent validation of the
arguments the Abramoff team were using to try to sway Congressional
action."
PROPAGANDA WATCH
LA Times: CUTOUTS SPEAK OUT
"U.S. military officials in Iraq were fully aware that a Pentagon
contractor regularly paid Iraqi newspapers to publish positive
stories about the war, and made it clear that none of the stories
should be traced to the United States, according to several current
and former employees of Lincoln Group," report Mark Mazzetti and
Kevin Sack. Military officials have claimed that they didn't know
what the Lincoln Group was up to, but leaked documents and company
employees say otherwise. "In clandestine parlance, Lincoln Group was
a 'cutout' - a third party - that would provide the military with
plausible deniability," said a former Lincoln Group employee. "To
attribute products to [the military] would defeat the entire
purpose. Hence, no product by Lincoln Group ever said 'Made in the
U.S.A.'" Another employee said that Lincoln's $20 million, two-month
contract in Iraq had them doing work that was largely ineffective.
"It's a total waste of money," said another former Lincoln employee.
"Every Iraqi can read right through it."
"U.S. military officials in Iraq were fully aware that a Pentagon
contractor regularly paid Iraqi newspapers to publish positive
stories about the war, and made it clear that none of the stories
should be traced to the United States, according to several current
and former employees of Lincoln Group," report Mark Mazzetti and
Kevin Sack. Military officials have claimed that they didn't know
what the Lincoln Group was up to, but leaked documents and company
employees say otherwise. "In clandestine parlance, Lincoln Group was
a 'cutout' - a third party - that would provide the military with
plausible deniability," said a former Lincoln Group employee. "To
attribute products to [the military] would defeat the entire
purpose. Hence, no product by Lincoln Group ever said 'Made in the
U.S.A.'" Another employee said that Lincoln's $20 million, two-month
contract in Iraq had them doing work that was largely ineffective.
"It's a total waste of money," said another former Lincoln employee.
"Every Iraqi can read right through it."
Monday, December 19, 2005
IRAQ: ELECTION FRAUD?
Guardian: Rise in poll complaints troubles Iraq vote monitors
Suspected polling violations on voting day last week far exceeded the number in Iraq's first election in January, local and international monitors said yesterday.
On the deadline for filing complaints, the number of alleged violations which could swing results in the 275-seat parliament was "well into double figures", an accredited international election observer, who wished to remain anonymous, said.
In January there were only five of these "red" complaints, the observer added. Red complaints are alleged breaches serious enough to potentially hand a seat to a party or election bloc unfairly. The election commission has declined to say how many such complaints it has received, but several parties handed in dossiers listing breaches allegedly seen by their monitors.
Suspected polling violations on voting day last week far exceeded the number in Iraq's first election in January, local and international monitors said yesterday.
On the deadline for filing complaints, the number of alleged violations which could swing results in the 275-seat parliament was "well into double figures", an accredited international election observer, who wished to remain anonymous, said.
In January there were only five of these "red" complaints, the observer added. Red complaints are alleged breaches serious enough to potentially hand a seat to a party or election bloc unfairly. The election commission has declined to say how many such complaints it has received, but several parties handed in dossiers listing breaches allegedly seen by their monitors.
ISRAEL
Reuters: Sharon recovering after minor stroke
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's condition improved on Monday after he was hospitalised overnight for a minor stroke that raised questions about how long he could dominate Israeli politics.
The hefty 77-year-old former general, battling for re-election after pulling Jewish settlers from the Gaza Strip and remaking Israel's political landscape, was rushed to hospital on Sunday and stayed overnight for tests.
"I am fine. I guess I should have taken a few days off," Sharon told Israeli media overnight after his stroke. "There are people who are already interested in a replacement? Well, maybe it's too soon. I'm still here, no?"
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's condition improved on Monday after he was hospitalised overnight for a minor stroke that raised questions about how long he could dominate Israeli politics.
The hefty 77-year-old former general, battling for re-election after pulling Jewish settlers from the Gaza Strip and remaking Israel's political landscape, was rushed to hospital on Sunday and stayed overnight for tests.
"I am fine. I guess I should have taken a few days off," Sharon told Israeli media overnight after his stroke. "There are people who are already interested in a replacement? Well, maybe it's too soon. I'm still here, no?"
Friday, December 16, 2005
IRAQ: ELECTIONS
Juan Cole: High Turnout Expected as Iraqis go to Polls
The guerrillas got off some mortars as voting began Thursday in Iraq, one striking the Green Zone in downtown Baghdad where the government offices are. A mortar was also fired in Mosul at a polling station but appears to have missed. A huge bomb was found and disarmed in Fallujah. On the Jan. 30 elections there were numerous attacks that left dozens wounded or dead, but they did not deter a big turnout.
From all accounts,the voter turnout is likely to be good, given that more Sunni Arabs are going to the polls this time than last. Still, a lot of polling stations could not open in Anbar Province, a severe problem for the legitimacy of the voting outcome. (Aboveboard elections of a sort that can be internationally certified require that security permit people throughout the country to vote if they want to.)
The guerrillas got off some mortars as voting began Thursday in Iraq, one striking the Green Zone in downtown Baghdad where the government offices are. A mortar was also fired in Mosul at a polling station but appears to have missed. A huge bomb was found and disarmed in Fallujah. On the Jan. 30 elections there were numerous attacks that left dozens wounded or dead, but they did not deter a big turnout.
From all accounts,the voter turnout is likely to be good, given that more Sunni Arabs are going to the polls this time than last. Still, a lot of polling stations could not open in Anbar Province, a severe problem for the legitimacy of the voting outcome. (Aboveboard elections of a sort that can be internationally certified require that security permit people throughout the country to vote if they want to.)
IRAQ WAR
Reuters: Bush defends Iraq invasion, preemptive war doctrine
WASHINGTON (AFP) - One day before Iraq's historic parliamentary elections, US President George W. Bush defended his decision to invade that country and reserved the right to preemptive war in the future.
"In an age of terrorism and weapons of mass destruction, if we wait for threats to fully materialize, we will have waited too long," he said in a speech aimed at shoring up flagging US support for the conflict.
WASHINGTON (AFP) - One day before Iraq's historic parliamentary elections, US President George W. Bush defended his decision to invade that country and reserved the right to preemptive war in the future.
"In an age of terrorism and weapons of mass destruction, if we wait for threats to fully materialize, we will have waited too long," he said in a speech aimed at shoring up flagging US support for the conflict.
VIDEO: KIDNAP AND TORTURE
UK-Channel4: Kidnap and Torture American Style
Kidnap and Torture American Style follows the stories of terror suspects. Some of them are British residents, who have been snatched from streets and airports throughout the world before being flown to the Middle-East and Africa. In countries such as Syria and Egypt, they undergo agonising ordeals before being incarcerated, without ever facing an open trial.
Testimonies from those suspects allege that Britain has a key role in these shady operations from supplying intelligence information on which interrogations are based, to ordering their arrest and detention.
ONLINE VIDEO
Kidnap and Torture American Style follows the stories of terror suspects. Some of them are British residents, who have been snatched from streets and airports throughout the world before being flown to the Middle-East and Africa. In countries such as Syria and Egypt, they undergo agonising ordeals before being incarcerated, without ever facing an open trial.
Testimonies from those suspects allege that Britain has a key role in these shady operations from supplying intelligence information on which interrogations are based, to ordering their arrest and detention.
ONLINE VIDEO
TERROR
Independent: Enemies of the state? Police fail even to question men held as a terror threat
Suspected of plotting terror, a group of men have been held for four years but never charged. Now, in their first testimonies, they reveal the authorities have not even questioned them since their arrests
Suspected of plotting terror, a group of men have been held for four years but never charged. Now, in their first testimonies, they reveal the authorities have not even questioned them since their arrests
Thursday, December 15, 2005
PR WATCH
Paulgraham.com: The Submarine
"One of the most surprising things I discovered during my brief
business career was the existence of the PR industry, lurking like a
huge, quiet submarine beneath the news," writes computer programmer
and author Paul Graham. Graham discusses how to detect PR-generated
"buzz." For example, a spate of stories - in the New York Times,
Boston Globe, and U.S. News & World Report, among others - declared
that men's business suits are making a fashion comeback. "If you
search for the obvious phrases, you turn up several efforts over the
years to place stories about the return of the suit," Graham says.
"Trend articles like this are almost always the work of PR firms.
Once you know how to read them, it's straightforward to figure out
who the client is. With trend stories, PR firms usually line up one
or more 'experts' to talk about the industry. ... When you get to
the end of the experts, look for the client. And bingo, there it is:
The Men's Wearhouse."
"One of the most surprising things I discovered during my brief
business career was the existence of the PR industry, lurking like a
huge, quiet submarine beneath the news," writes computer programmer
and author Paul Graham. Graham discusses how to detect PR-generated
"buzz." For example, a spate of stories - in the New York Times,
Boston Globe, and U.S. News & World Report, among others - declared
that men's business suits are making a fashion comeback. "If you
search for the obvious phrases, you turn up several efforts over the
years to place stories about the return of the suit," Graham says.
"Trend articles like this are almost always the work of PR firms.
Once you know how to read them, it's straightforward to figure out
who the client is. With trend stories, PR firms usually line up one
or more 'experts' to talk about the industry. ... When you get to
the end of the experts, look for the client. And bingo, there it is:
The Men's Wearhouse."
PROPAGANDA WATCH
USA Today: Pentagon rolls out stealth PR
A $300 million Pentagon psychological warfare operation includes plans for placing pro-American messages in foreign media outlets without disclosing the U.S. government as the source, one of the military officials in charge of the program says.
A $300 million Pentagon psychological warfare operation includes plans for placing pro-American messages in foreign media outlets without disclosing the U.S. government as the source, one of the military officials in charge of the program says.
Wednesday, December 14, 2005
IRAN: AHMADINEJAD
Asia Times: A dust storm over the Holocaust
An entire panorama of issues unexpectedly comes into view in the international reaction to recent remarks by Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad, implying that European powers should have salved their historical sense of guilt, if any, over their persecution of Jews by sanctioning a homeland for them on European soil itself.
What is most striking is that the hue and cry of the "international community" has been mainly restricted to the Christian world (European and Slavic), apart from Israel, of course.
In the Muslim world itself, there was a deafening silence.
An entire panorama of issues unexpectedly comes into view in the international reaction to recent remarks by Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad, implying that European powers should have salved their historical sense of guilt, if any, over their persecution of Jews by sanctioning a homeland for them on European soil itself.
What is most striking is that the hue and cry of the "international community" has been mainly restricted to the Christian world (European and Slavic), apart from Israel, of course.
In the Muslim world itself, there was a deafening silence.
CURRENCY WAR
Themarkettraders.com: The Meridian Report
A Global Perspective on Energy
We are about to see a radical new type of weapon unveiled on the global stage. This weapon will not rely on explosive technology or flying aircraft. This weapon will not kill enemy troops. This weapon will not see one army invading the territory of another. No, instead this weapon will simply rely on supply and demand, the basic concepts that underpin Economics 101. This new weapon will be a financial weapon. In fact this weapon will be so powerful it will be able to inflict serious harm on the financial stability of an entire adversarial nation. This weapon is the BOURSE. That’s right – the BOURSE. The dictionary defines BOURSE as follows:
A Global Perspective on Energy
We are about to see a radical new type of weapon unveiled on the global stage. This weapon will not rely on explosive technology or flying aircraft. This weapon will not kill enemy troops. This weapon will not see one army invading the territory of another. No, instead this weapon will simply rely on supply and demand, the basic concepts that underpin Economics 101. This new weapon will be a financial weapon. In fact this weapon will be so powerful it will be able to inflict serious harm on the financial stability of an entire adversarial nation. This weapon is the BOURSE. That’s right – the BOURSE. The dictionary defines BOURSE as follows:
TOOKIE
AP: Tookie Williams Executed By Lethal Injection
Crips co-founder Stanley Tookie Williams was executed Tuesday for four 1979 murders after appeals courts refused to reopen his case and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger rejected the notion he had found redemption on death row.
Williams, 51, died around 12:35 a.m. by lethal injection at San Quentin State Prison, as supporters and death penalty foes rallied outside the gates of the prison during the state's highest-profile execution in a generation.
Crips co-founder Stanley Tookie Williams was executed Tuesday for four 1979 murders after appeals courts refused to reopen his case and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger rejected the notion he had found redemption on death row.
Williams, 51, died around 12:35 a.m. by lethal injection at San Quentin State Prison, as supporters and death penalty foes rallied outside the gates of the prison during the state's highest-profile execution in a generation.
Tuesday, December 13, 2005
CORPORATE WATCH
Independent: Glaxo Chief - 'Our Drugs Do Not Work On Most Patients'
A senior executive with Britain's biggest drugs company has admitted that most prescription medicines do not work on most people who take them.
Allen Roses, worldwide vice-president of genetics at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), said fewer than half of the patients prescribed some of the most expensive drugs actually derived any benefit from them.
It is an open secret within the drugs industry that most of its products are ineffective in most patients but this is the first time that such a senior drugs boss has gone public. His comments come days after it emerged that the NHS drugs bill has soared by nearly 50 per cent in three years, rising by £2.3bn a year to an annual cost to the taxpayer of £7.2bn. GSK announced last week that it had 20 or more new drugs under development that could each earn the company up to $1bn (£600m) a year.
A senior executive with Britain's biggest drugs company has admitted that most prescription medicines do not work on most people who take them.
Allen Roses, worldwide vice-president of genetics at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), said fewer than half of the patients prescribed some of the most expensive drugs actually derived any benefit from them.
It is an open secret within the drugs industry that most of its products are ineffective in most patients but this is the first time that such a senior drugs boss has gone public. His comments come days after it emerged that the NHS drugs bill has soared by nearly 50 per cent in three years, rising by £2.3bn a year to an annual cost to the taxpayer of £7.2bn. GSK announced last week that it had 20 or more new drugs under development that could each earn the company up to $1bn (£600m) a year.
PENTAGON SPYING ON US
MSNBC: Is the Pentagon spying on Americans?
Secret database obtained by NBC News tracks ‘suspicious’ domestic groups
WASHINGTON - A year ago, at a Quaker Meeting House in Lake Worth, Fla., a small group of activists met to plan a protest of military recruiting at local high schools. What they didn't know was that their meeting had come to the attention of the U.S. military.
A secret 400-page Defense Department document obtained by NBC News lists the Lake Worth meeting as a “threat” and one of more than 1,500 “suspicious incidents” across the country over a recent 10-month period.
Secret database obtained by NBC News tracks ‘suspicious’ domestic groups
WASHINGTON - A year ago, at a Quaker Meeting House in Lake Worth, Fla., a small group of activists met to plan a protest of military recruiting at local high schools. What they didn't know was that their meeting had come to the attention of the U.S. military.
A secret 400-page Defense Department document obtained by NBC News lists the Lake Worth meeting as a “threat” and one of more than 1,500 “suspicious incidents” across the country over a recent 10-month period.
Sunday, December 11, 2005
BUSH
Capitolhill Blue: Bush - Constitution 'Just A GoddamnedPiece Of Paper'
I don't give a goddamn," Bush retorted. "I'm the President and the Commander-in-Chief. Do it my way."
"Mr. President," one aide in the meeting said. "There is a valid case that the provisions in this law undermine the Constitution."
"Stop throwing the Constitution in my face," Bush screamed back. "It's just a goddamned piece of paper!"
I've talked to three people present for the meeting that day and they all confirm that the President of the United States called the Constitution "a goddamned piece of paper."
I don't give a goddamn," Bush retorted. "I'm the President and the Commander-in-Chief. Do it my way."
"Mr. President," one aide in the meeting said. "There is a valid case that the provisions in this law undermine the Constitution."
"Stop throwing the Constitution in my face," Bush screamed back. "It's just a goddamned piece of paper!"
I've talked to three people present for the meeting that day and they all confirm that the President of the United States called the Constitution "a goddamned piece of paper."
Friday, December 09, 2005
EXXON AGAINST HUMANITY
Independent: How America plotted to stop Kyoto deal
A detailed and disturbing strategy document has revealed an extraordinary American plan to destroy Europe's support for the Kyoto treaty on climate change.
The ambitious, behind-the-scenes plan was passed to The Independent this week, just as 189 countries are painfully trying to agree the second stage of Kyoto at the UN climate conference in Montreal. It was pitched to companies such as Ford Europe, Lufthansa and the German utility giant RWE.
Put together by a lobbyist who is a senior official at a group partly funded by ExxonMobil, the world's biggest oil company and a fierce opponent of anti-global warming measures, the plan seeks to draw together major international companies, academics, think-tanks, commentators, journalists and lobbyists from across Europe into a powerful grouping to destroy further EU support for the treaty.
A detailed and disturbing strategy document has revealed an extraordinary American plan to destroy Europe's support for the Kyoto treaty on climate change.
The ambitious, behind-the-scenes plan was passed to The Independent this week, just as 189 countries are painfully trying to agree the second stage of Kyoto at the UN climate conference in Montreal. It was pitched to companies such as Ford Europe, Lufthansa and the German utility giant RWE.
Put together by a lobbyist who is a senior official at a group partly funded by ExxonMobil, the world's biggest oil company and a fierce opponent of anti-global warming measures, the plan seeks to draw together major international companies, academics, think-tanks, commentators, journalists and lobbyists from across Europe into a powerful grouping to destroy further EU support for the treaty.
USA: TORTURE
Mosow Times: Sacred Terror by Chris Floyd
The much-belated, poll-prompted outcry of a few U.S. elected officials against the widespread use of torture by the Bush administration -- following years of silent acquiescence in the face of incontrovertible evidence of deliberate atrocity -- is a welcome development, of course. But it has left an even more sinister aspect of Bushist policy untouched, one that likewise has been hidden in plain sight for years.
On Sept. 17, 2001, President George W. Bush signed an executive order authorizing the use of "lethal measures" against anyone in the world whom he or his minions designated an "enemy combatant." This order remains in force today. No judicial evidence, no hearing, no charges are required for these killings; no law, no border, no oversight restrains them. Bush has also given agents in the field carte blanche to designate "enemies" on their own initiative and kill them as they see fit.
The much-belated, poll-prompted outcry of a few U.S. elected officials against the widespread use of torture by the Bush administration -- following years of silent acquiescence in the face of incontrovertible evidence of deliberate atrocity -- is a welcome development, of course. But it has left an even more sinister aspect of Bushist policy untouched, one that likewise has been hidden in plain sight for years.
On Sept. 17, 2001, President George W. Bush signed an executive order authorizing the use of "lethal measures" against anyone in the world whom he or his minions designated an "enemy combatant." This order remains in force today. No judicial evidence, no hearing, no charges are required for these killings; no law, no border, no oversight restrains them. Bush has also given agents in the field carte blanche to designate "enemies" on their own initiative and kill them as they see fit.
Thursday, December 08, 2005
ETH Zürich/ISN:Iraqi oil industry in crisis
Iraqi oil exports fell to their lowest level in two years in November 2005. Bad management of the reconstruction effort, widespread corruption among government figures, and sabotage by insurgents are the reasons for the decline. Experts say that the US strategy of military intervention in oil-rich regions can only diminish, rather than increase, the supply to world markets.
Iraqi oil exports fell to their lowest level in two years in November 2005. Bad management of the reconstruction effort, widespread corruption among government figures, and sabotage by insurgents are the reasons for the decline. Experts say that the US strategy of military intervention in oil-rich regions can only diminish, rather than increase, the supply to world markets.
MEDIA WATCH
ICH: Keepers at the Gate by Manuel Venezuela
He Who Controls Television Controls the Masses
In this age of modernity and technology, where the television monitor has become the center of the average American household, from cradle to grave acting as surrogate parent, teacher, role model and as influencer of human thought, it should come as no surprise that entire populations can be controlled with such facility and efficiency, turning once thinking humans into grazing sheeple. For in today’s day and age, he who controls television controls the masses, and he who controls the masses controls the nation.
He Who Controls Television Controls the Masses
In this age of modernity and technology, where the television monitor has become the center of the average American household, from cradle to grave acting as surrogate parent, teacher, role model and as influencer of human thought, it should come as no surprise that entire populations can be controlled with such facility and efficiency, turning once thinking humans into grazing sheeple. For in today’s day and age, he who controls television controls the masses, and he who controls the masses controls the nation.
HAROLD PINTER
ICH: An Act of "Blatant state terrorism" By Harold Pinter
Video and text of his Nobel Prize acceptance speech
The 2,000 American dead are an embarrassment. They are transported to their graves in the dark. Funerals are unobtrusive, out of harm's way. The mutilated rot in their beds, some for the rest of their lives. So the dead and the mutilated both rot, in different kinds of graves
Video and text of his Nobel Prize acceptance speech
The 2,000 American dead are an embarrassment. They are transported to their graves in the dark. Funerals are unobtrusive, out of harm's way. The mutilated rot in their beds, some for the rest of their lives. So the dead and the mutilated both rot, in different kinds of graves
Wednesday, December 07, 2005
IRAN
Asia Times: Iran's strength in weakness
Once upon a time, an ex-soldier with no credentials but his belief in his own destiny joined a fanatic movement. Against all odds, he won an election, purged his opponents, and outfoxed the powers that surrounded his country. Western elites have not yet accepted that an Austrian corporal bested them, preferring to regard the events of 1933-1945 as an inexplicable aberration. What will they make of the blacksmith's son and Revolutionary Guard bully-boy Mahmud Ahmedinejad of Iran?
"a must read"
Once upon a time, an ex-soldier with no credentials but his belief in his own destiny joined a fanatic movement. Against all odds, he won an election, purged his opponents, and outfoxed the powers that surrounded his country. Western elites have not yet accepted that an Austrian corporal bested them, preferring to regard the events of 1933-1945 as an inexplicable aberration. What will they make of the blacksmith's son and Revolutionary Guard bully-boy Mahmud Ahmedinejad of Iran?
"a must read"
MEDIA WATCH
Asia Times: Media wars: Weapons of choice
With the Pentagon planting "good news" stories in the Iraqi media, and al-Qaeda launching a sophisticated CD, the adversaries share a keen desire to communicate their messages other than through the barrel of a gun.
The battle to win the hearts and minds of the Muslim world has clearly entered a new phase.
With the Pentagon planting "good news" stories in the Iraqi media, and al-Qaeda launching a sophisticated CD, the adversaries share a keen desire to communicate their messages other than through the barrel of a gun.
The battle to win the hearts and minds of the Muslim world has clearly entered a new phase.
USA: WAR CRIMES
Asia Times: War crimes made easy
How has the Bush administration gotten away with such apparently illegal acts as hiding intelligence reports from Congress, creating secret prisons, establishing death squads, kidnapping people and spiriting them across national borders, and planning unprovoked wars? Part of the answer lies in the administration's deliberate effort, initiated even before September 11, 2001, to tear down any existing legal and institutional means for preventing, exposing or punishing violations of national and international law by American officials.
How has the Bush administration gotten away with such apparently illegal acts as hiding intelligence reports from Congress, creating secret prisons, establishing death squads, kidnapping people and spiriting them across national borders, and planning unprovoked wars? Part of the answer lies in the administration's deliberate effort, initiated even before September 11, 2001, to tear down any existing legal and institutional means for preventing, exposing or punishing violations of national and international law by American officials.
IRAN
WorldTribune: US Army Report - Israel Can't Stop Iran Nukes
- Geopolitical limitations render Israel's air force militarily incapable of halting Iran's nuclear weapons program according to a new report published the by U.S. Army War College.
- The report asserts Israel lacks the military capability to locate and destroy Iranian nuclear assets. The report said the Israel Air Force cannot operate at such long distances from its bases.
- "The Israeli Air Force has formidable capabilities and enjoys unchallenged supremacy vis-à-vis the other Middle East air powers, but Israel has no aircraft carriers and it cannot use airbases in other Middle East states," the report entitled "Getting Ready for a Nuclear-Ready Iran," said. "Therefore its operational capabilities are reduced when the targets are located far from its territory."
Tuesday, December 06, 2005
VENEZUELA
AP: Venezuela: Oil Pipeline Blown Up By Foes
An explosion that damaged an oil pipeline supplying Venezuela's largest refinery was caused by government foes attempting to disrupt congressional elections, officials said.
An explosion that damaged an oil pipeline supplying Venezuela's largest refinery was caused by government foes attempting to disrupt congressional elections, officials said.
The state oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela S.A., said Monday that the blast on Saturday night had not forced any reduction in output because the refinery has enough crude on hand to continue operations while the pipeline is being fixed and the oil field has capacity to store pumped crude.
DICK CHENEY
Rense: Yes, Dick, You Are a Liar
Vice President Dick Cheney spent the second half of November ranting against Administration critics who dare accuse him of lying the United States into a disastrous war with Iraq
The Vice President is a man with something to hide. The simple truth is: Cheney did lie, repeatedly, to bludgeon the U.S. Congress into approving an unnecessary and disastrous invasion and occupation of Iraq. According to several eyewitness accounts, Cheney personally lied to scores of members of the U.S. Senate, claiming that the White House had rock-solid proof that Saddam Hussein was close to building a nuclear bomb, and that war was the only option. No such evidence existed-and Cheney knew it.
Vice President Dick Cheney spent the second half of November ranting against Administration critics who dare accuse him of lying the United States into a disastrous war with Iraq
The Vice President is a man with something to hide. The simple truth is: Cheney did lie, repeatedly, to bludgeon the U.S. Congress into approving an unnecessary and disastrous invasion and occupation of Iraq. According to several eyewitness accounts, Cheney personally lied to scores of members of the U.S. Senate, claiming that the White House had rock-solid proof that Saddam Hussein was close to building a nuclear bomb, and that war was the only option. No such evidence existed-and Cheney knew it.
MEDIA WATCH
LA Times: LINCOLN GROUP BOMBARDS IRAQ WITH FAKE NEWS
Fake news is being used in the Iraq propaganda war, reports the Los
Angeles Time.
"[T]he U.S. military is secretly paying Iraqi newspapers to publish stories written by American troops in an effort to burnish the image of the U.S. mission in Iraq. The
articles, written by U.S. military 'information operations' troops, are translated into Arabic and placed in Baghdad newspapers. ... The stories trumpet the work of U.S. and Iraqi troops, denounce insurgents and tout U.S.-led efforts to rebuild the country. ... Records and interviews indicate that the U.S. has paid Iraqi newspapers to run dozens of such articles, with headlines such as 'Iraqis Insist on Living Despite Terrorism,' since the effort began this year. The operation is designed to mask any connection with the U.S. military. The Pentagon has a contract with ... Lincoln Group which helps translate and place the stories. The Lincoln Group's
Iraqi staff, or its subcontractors, sometimes pose as freelance reporters or advertising executives when they deliver the stories to Baghdad media outlets."
Fake news is being used in the Iraq propaganda war, reports the Los
Angeles Time.
"[T]he U.S. military is secretly paying Iraqi newspapers to publish stories written by American troops in an effort to burnish the image of the U.S. mission in Iraq. The
articles, written by U.S. military 'information operations' troops, are translated into Arabic and placed in Baghdad newspapers. ... The stories trumpet the work of U.S. and Iraqi troops, denounce insurgents and tout U.S.-led efforts to rebuild the country. ... Records and interviews indicate that the U.S. has paid Iraqi newspapers to run dozens of such articles, with headlines such as 'Iraqis Insist on Living Despite Terrorism,' since the effort began this year. The operation is designed to mask any connection with the U.S. military. The Pentagon has a contract with ... Lincoln Group which helps translate and place the stories. The Lincoln Group's
Iraqi staff, or its subcontractors, sometimes pose as freelance reporters or advertising executives when they deliver the stories to Baghdad media outlets."
MASS MEDIA
Ted Rall: Public Enemy No. 1 The Media!
"The media is the enemy!" This is the title of the introductory narrative of American Free Press.net. AFP offers: "In the old Soviet Union, the government controlled the media. Not a word of substance could be published without prior approval from the Bolshevik commissars. Today, in the United States, the situation is starkly similar. But most Americans don't even know it.
"The media is the enemy!" This is the title of the introductory narrative of American Free Press.net. AFP offers: "In the old Soviet Union, the government controlled the media. Not a word of substance could be published without prior approval from the Bolshevik commissars. Today, in the United States, the situation is starkly similar. But most Americans don't even know it.
9/11
Rense: Commercial Pilot & Aeronautical Engineer Explains Why Official 911 Story About Pentagon Is Bogus
- "Let's look at it plain and simple," said Sagadevan in an extended telephone conference this week from his home near San Diego. "The government wants us to believe that a person who couldn't even solo a small Cessna took over the controls of a Boeing 757 jetliner and performed complicated maneuvers even myself or other experienced pilots could have never performed.
- "It's just not going to happen and, from my point of view, is impossible. If this was fabricated by the government so was the rest of the 9/11 story."
Monday, December 05, 2005
EUROPE: ISLAMOPHOBIA
New Statesman: The next holocaust
Islamophobia is not a uniquely British disease: across Europe, liberals openly express prejudice against Muslims. Do new pogroms beckon? Ziauddin Sardar reports from Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France.
Islamophobia is not a uniquely British disease: across Europe, liberals openly express prejudice against Muslims. Do new pogroms beckon? Ziauddin Sardar reports from Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France.
USA
Counterpunch: The Revolt of the Generals by Alexander Cockburn
The immense significance of Rep John Murtha's November 17 speech calling for immediate withdrawal from Iraq is that it signals mutiny in the US senior officer corps, seeing the institution they lead as "broken, worn out" and "living hand to mouth", to use the biting words of their spokesman, John Murtha, as he reiterated on December his denunciation of Bush's destruction of the Army.
The immense significance of Rep John Murtha's November 17 speech calling for immediate withdrawal from Iraq is that it signals mutiny in the US senior officer corps, seeing the institution they lead as "broken, worn out" and "living hand to mouth", to use the biting words of their spokesman, John Murtha, as he reiterated on December his denunciation of Bush's destruction of the Army.
POWER
ICH: On the road to Damascus
Anybody who has read William Engdahl’s excellent book ‘A Century of War – Anglo-American oil politics and the New World Order’ (reviewed here), will not be surprised to learn that the convoluted machinations of those who rule empires, whether past or present, are intrinsic to the workings of the ruling class. History reveals that a mere handful relatively speaking of individuals are able to determine the fate of millions through the economic and political power they wield. The role of the political class that represents the interests of the owners of economic power is to maintain the rule of the owners of capital by making damn sure that opposition is neutralised and/or made to look ridiculous or ultimately ‘removed’. Hence the ‘loony left’, ‘fellow travellers’, ‘dinosaurs’ et al are but a few of the pejoratives the corporate/state-run media use to marginalise the views of those who oppose such power.
Anybody who has read William Engdahl’s excellent book ‘A Century of War – Anglo-American oil politics and the New World Order’ (reviewed here), will not be surprised to learn that the convoluted machinations of those who rule empires, whether past or present, are intrinsic to the workings of the ruling class. History reveals that a mere handful relatively speaking of individuals are able to determine the fate of millions through the economic and political power they wield. The role of the political class that represents the interests of the owners of economic power is to maintain the rule of the owners of capital by making damn sure that opposition is neutralised and/or made to look ridiculous or ultimately ‘removed’. Hence the ‘loony left’, ‘fellow travellers’, ‘dinosaurs’ et al are but a few of the pejoratives the corporate/state-run media use to marginalise the views of those who oppose such power.
USA: CIA
Washington Post: Wrongful Imprisonment: Anatomy of a CIA Mistake
May 2004, the White House dispatched the U.S. ambassador in Germany to pay an unusual visit to that country's interior minister. Ambassador Daniel R. Coats carried instructions from the State Department transmitted via the CIA's Berlin station because they were too sensitive and highly classified for regular diplomatic channels, according to several people with knowledge of the conversation.
Coats informed the German minister that the CIA had wrongfully imprisoned one of its citizens, Khaled Masri, for five months, and would soon release him, the sources said. There was also a request: that the German government not disclose what it had been told even if Masri went public. The U.S. officials feared exposure of a covert action program designed to capture terrorism suspects abroad and transfer them among countries, and possible legal challenges to the CIA from Masri and others with similar allegations.
May 2004, the White House dispatched the U.S. ambassador in Germany to pay an unusual visit to that country's interior minister. Ambassador Daniel R. Coats carried instructions from the State Department transmitted via the CIA's Berlin station because they were too sensitive and highly classified for regular diplomatic channels, according to several people with knowledge of the conversation.
Coats informed the German minister that the CIA had wrongfully imprisoned one of its citizens, Khaled Masri, for five months, and would soon release him, the sources said. There was also a request: that the German government not disclose what it had been told even if Masri went public. The U.S. officials feared exposure of a covert action program designed to capture terrorism suspects abroad and transfer them among countries, and possible legal challenges to the CIA from Masri and others with similar allegations.
IRAN
Reuter: Iran buys Russian surface to air missiles: paper
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Iran has signed a deal to buy Russian tactical surface-to-air missile systems, a Russian newspaper reported on Friday.
Iran is to buy 29 TOR-M1 systems, designed to bring down aircraft and guided missiles at low altitudes, said the Vedomosti daily, citing Russian defense sources close the deal.
IRAQ: DAHR JAMAIL DISPATCH
Rense: 'Pacified' Fallujah
- Lies cost lives in Iraq.
- Remember the reasons given by the US military and puppet interim Iraqi government for Operation Phantom Fury against Fallujah? Just prior to the November, 2004 assault on that city, the primary reasons given for the massacre in Fallujah were: to provide "security and stability" for the upcoming January 30 "elections" and to rid Fallujah of Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi.
- Let us judge the success or failure of this massacre by their own yardstick.
- The "security and stability" generated for the elections on January 30, 2005 by the siege of Fallujah looked like roughly 40 dead Iraqi bodies and 200 wounded, on that day alone.
USA: SECRET PRISONS
Guardian: Rice rejects EU protests over secret terror prisons
America does not break international law, Secretary of State insists
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will inflame the transatlantic row over America's alleged torture of terror suspects in secret jails by telling Foreign Secretary Jack Straw and other European officials to 'back off'.
America does not break international law, Secretary of State insists
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will inflame the transatlantic row over America's alleged torture of terror suspects in secret jails by telling Foreign Secretary Jack Straw and other European officials to 'back off'.
Rice, who arrives in Brussels tomorrow for a meeting with Nato foreign ministers, has been under pressure to respond to claims the US has been using covert prisons in Eastern Europe to interrogate Islamic militants. Human rights groups have alleged the CIA is flying terror suspects to secret jails in planes that have used airports throughout Europe, including Britain.
BIRD FLU
Worldnet Daily: Has feared mutation of avian flu arrived?
Officials in at least two nations now suspect the avian flu bug has mutated into a virus that is being transmitted from human to human – a development world health authorities have estimated could result in the deaths of tens of millions.
Officials in at least two nations now suspect the avian flu bug has mutated into a virus that is being transmitted from human to human – a development world health authorities have estimated could result in the deaths of tens of millions.
Thai health officials have expressed concern that the country's two latest confirmed victims may be the beginning of the much feared human-to-human transmission.
USA: PLAMEGATE
Truthout: Rove Running Out of Answers, Time
The attorney representing Karl Rove in the federal investigation into the leak of covert CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson has made a desperate attempt to ensure President Bush's deputy chief of staff does not become the subject of a criminal indictment.
The attorney representing Karl Rove in the federal investigation into the leak of covert CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson has made a desperate attempt to ensure President Bush's deputy chief of staff does not become the subject of a criminal indictment.
In doing so, Rove's attorney, Robert Luskin, has turned the tables on the media, who ultimately fought a losing battle to protect Rove - their source - who revealed to some reporters Plame Wilson's identity and CIA status.
Now Luskin has fired back, revealing to Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald that Viveca Novak - a reporter working for Time magazine who wrote several stories about the Plame case - inadvertently tipped him off last year that her colleague at the magazine would be forced to testify that Rove was his source who told him about Plame Wilson's CIA status, several people close to the case said this week.
The latest twist in the two-year-old investigation has all the elements of a Hollywood thriller. New details in the case seem to emerge on a daily basis. Selective leaks to a small handful of newspapers and cable news stations are aimed at portraying some of the key Bush administration officials involved in the case in a sympathetic light, while casting Fitzgerald as a partisan prosecutor.
Wednesday, November 30, 2005
MIDDLE EAST
Asia Times: What 'staying the course' really means
The Bush administration has put into operation an utterly paradoxical and self-defeating strategy. First, its policies inflame the region, feeding the growth of political Islam and its extremist as well as terrorist offshoots. Then, as in Iraq - and as seems to be the case in Syria and Egypt - it seeks "regime change" in countries where it knows that the chief opposition and likely inheritor of power will be the Muslim Brotherhood or its ilk. This is a formula for endless war in the region.
The Bush administration has put into operation an utterly paradoxical and self-defeating strategy. First, its policies inflame the region, feeding the growth of political Islam and its extremist as well as terrorist offshoots. Then, as in Iraq - and as seems to be the case in Syria and Egypt - it seeks "regime change" in countries where it knows that the chief opposition and likely inheritor of power will be the Muslim Brotherhood or its ilk. This is a formula for endless war in the region.
Tuesday, November 29, 2005
FACISM
Toronto Post: Fascism then. Fascism now?
When people think of fascism, they imagine Rows of goose-stepping storm troopers and puffy-chested dictators. What they don't see is the economic and political process that leads to the nightmare.
When people think of fascism, they imagine Rows of goose-stepping storm troopers and puffy-chested dictators. What they don't see is the economic and political process that leads to the nightmare.
IRAQ
New Yorker: Where is the Iraq war headed next?
By Seymour M. Hersh
The covert war in Iraq has expanded in recent months to Syria. A composite American Special Forces team, known as an S.M.U., for “special-mission unit,” has been ordered, under stringent cover, to target suspected supporters of the Iraqi insurgency across the border
By Seymour M. Hersh
The covert war in Iraq has expanded in recent months to Syria. A composite American Special Forces team, known as an S.M.U., for “special-mission unit,” has been ordered, under stringent cover, to target suspected supporters of the Iraqi insurgency across the border
SYRIA: MEHLIS REPORT
Reuters: Syrian witness says Hariri's son forced him to lie
A man has appeared on Syrian state television saying Lebanese officials, including the son of Rafik al-Hariri, had forced him to testify falsely to a U.N. inquiry into the former Lebanese prime minister's assassination.Hosam Taher Hosam, a Syrian who said he had worked with Syrian and Lebanese intelligence during Syria's military presence in Lebanon, said in a programme aired on Sunday that an elaborate scheme of torture, threats and bribery had forced him to testify to chief U.N. investigator Detlev Mehlis.His appearance came after Damascus agreed to allow five Syrian officials to be questioned by Mehlis at U.N. offices in Vienna in connection with Hariri's February 14 assassination.
A man has appeared on Syrian state television saying Lebanese officials, including the son of Rafik al-Hariri, had forced him to testify falsely to a U.N. inquiry into the former Lebanese prime minister's assassination.Hosam Taher Hosam, a Syrian who said he had worked with Syrian and Lebanese intelligence during Syria's military presence in Lebanon, said in a programme aired on Sunday that an elaborate scheme of torture, threats and bribery had forced him to testify to chief U.N. investigator Detlev Mehlis.His appearance came after Damascus agreed to allow five Syrian officials to be questioned by Mehlis at U.N. offices in Vienna in connection with Hariri's February 14 assassination.
Sunday, November 27, 2005
IRAQ: DEATH SQUADS
Globalresearch: Crying Wolf: Media Disinformation and Death Squads in Occupied Iraq
by Max Fuller
The phenomenon of death squads operating in Iraq has become generally accepted over recent months. However, in its treatment of the issue, the mainstream media has zealously followed a line of attributing extrajudicial killings to unaccountable Shia militias who have risen to prominence with the electoral victory of Ibramhim Jafaari’s Shia-led government in January. The following article examines both the way in which the information has been widely presented and whether that presentation has any actual basis in fact. Concluding that the attribution to Shia militias is unsustainable, the article considers who the intellectual authors of these crimes against humanity are and what purpose they serve in the context of the ongoing occupation of the country.
"recommended reading"
by Max Fuller
The phenomenon of death squads operating in Iraq has become generally accepted over recent months. However, in its treatment of the issue, the mainstream media has zealously followed a line of attributing extrajudicial killings to unaccountable Shia militias who have risen to prominence with the electoral victory of Ibramhim Jafaari’s Shia-led government in January. The following article examines both the way in which the information has been widely presented and whether that presentation has any actual basis in fact. Concluding that the attribution to Shia militias is unsustainable, the article considers who the intellectual authors of these crimes against humanity are and what purpose they serve in the context of the ongoing occupation of the country.
"recommended reading"
Friday, November 25, 2005
USA: CHEMICAL WEAPONS
One of the rationals given by the Bush Administration to invade Iraq was that "Saddam gassed his own people" i.e the Kurds which Saddam wouldn't have called his own people himself i guess. Not to mention that a CIA report blames the whole incident on Iran (There is the possibility that the report was false because the USA was allied with Iraq in the Iran/Iraq war). Now after first denying the use of white phosphorus by US Forces, than telling it has not been used against civilians and is therfore no chemical weapon, a CIA report from 1991 comes to light which is calling white phosphorus a "chemical weapon" but remember its just a chemical weapon if the enemy is using it. Is there a Hypocrite of the Year award?
NZ Herald: Saddam's Use Of Chem Weapons Bad - US Use Just Fine...
Report Drops Fallujah Bombshell
The controversy over the American use of white phosphorus as a weapon of war in Fallujah deepened yesterday when it was revealed that a US intelligence assessment had characterised WP as a "chemical weapon".
The report was made in late February 1991 during the Iraqi crackdown on the Kurdish uprising that followed the coalition victory against Iraq.
"Iraqi forces loyal to President Saddam may have possibly used white phosphorous (WP) chemical weapons against Kurdish rebels and the populace in Erbil and Dohuk. "The WP chemical was delivered by artillery rounds and helicopter gunships."
Ranucci commented that "when Saddam used WP it was a chemical weapon but when the Americans use it, it's a conventional weapon. The injuries it inflicts, however, are just as terrible, however you describe it".
Watch the Report on Rai:
Windows Media - Real Video & Windows Media Arabic Version
NZ Herald: Saddam's Use Of Chem Weapons Bad - US Use Just Fine...
Report Drops Fallujah Bombshell
The controversy over the American use of white phosphorus as a weapon of war in Fallujah deepened yesterday when it was revealed that a US intelligence assessment had characterised WP as a "chemical weapon".
The report was made in late February 1991 during the Iraqi crackdown on the Kurdish uprising that followed the coalition victory against Iraq.
"Iraqi forces loyal to President Saddam may have possibly used white phosphorous (WP) chemical weapons against Kurdish rebels and the populace in Erbil and Dohuk. "The WP chemical was delivered by artillery rounds and helicopter gunships."
Ranucci commented that "when Saddam used WP it was a chemical weapon but when the Americans use it, it's a conventional weapon. The injuries it inflicts, however, are just as terrible, however you describe it".
Watch the Report on Rai:
Windows Media - Real Video & Windows Media Arabic Version
Wednesday, November 23, 2005
BUSH WANTED TO BOMB AL-JAZEERA
Mirror: EXCLUSIVE: BUSH PLOT TO BOMB HIS ARAB ALLY
PRESIDENT Bush planned to bomb Arab TV station al-Jazeera in friendly Qatar, a "Top Secret" No 10 memo reveals.
But he was talked out of it at a White House summit by Tony Blair, who said it would provoke a worldwide backlash.
A source said: "There's no doubt what Bush wanted, and no doubt Blair didn't want him to do it." Al-Jazeera is accused by the US of fuelling the Iraqi insurgency.
The attack would have led to a massacre of innocents on the territory of a key ally, enraged the Middle East and almost certainly have sparked bloody retaliation.
A source said last night: "The memo is explosive and hugely damaging to Bush.
PRESIDENT Bush planned to bomb Arab TV station al-Jazeera in friendly Qatar, a "Top Secret" No 10 memo reveals.
But he was talked out of it at a White House summit by Tony Blair, who said it would provoke a worldwide backlash.
A source said: "There's no doubt what Bush wanted, and no doubt Blair didn't want him to do it." Al-Jazeera is accused by the US of fuelling the Iraqi insurgency.
The attack would have led to a massacre of innocents on the territory of a key ally, enraged the Middle East and almost certainly have sparked bloody retaliation.
A source said last night: "The memo is explosive and hugely damaging to Bush.
Tuesday, November 22, 2005
IRAQ: TIMETABLE FOR WITHDRAW
AFP: Iraqi leaders demand timetable for troop withdrawal
CAIRO - Iraqi leaders reached a tentative agreement Monday to demand a timetable for the withdrawal of foreign troops from their war-torn country during talks ahead of a reconciliation conference to be held next year. Dozens of leaders representing most of Iraq's factions have been holding tough talks in Cairo since Saturday in a bid to reach a common agenda. In a draft final statement, a copy of which was obtained by AFP, they demanded "a timetable for the immediate withdrawal of foreign troops".
CAIRO - Iraqi leaders reached a tentative agreement Monday to demand a timetable for the withdrawal of foreign troops from their war-torn country during talks ahead of a reconciliation conference to be held next year. Dozens of leaders representing most of Iraq's factions have been holding tough talks in Cairo since Saturday in a bid to reach a common agenda. In a draft final statement, a copy of which was obtained by AFP, they demanded "a timetable for the immediate withdrawal of foreign troops".
USA: NEW ORLEANS
Time: New Orleans Today: It's Worse Than You Think
Neighborhoods are still dark, garbage piles up on the street, and bodies are still being found. The city's pain is a nation's shame
Neighborhoods are still dark, garbage piles up on the street, and bodies are still being found. The city's pain is a nation's shame
VENEZUELA
AIN: The Pentgon's Plans To Invade Venezuela
The United States has military contingency plans aimed against Venezuela, contrary to the UN Charter and the document guiding relations between members of the Organizations of American States (OAS).
Big News: RE: Documents regarding invasion plan in Venezuela
The United States has military contingency plans aimed against Venezuela, contrary to the UN Charter and the document guiding relations between members of the Organizations of American States (OAS).
Big News: RE: Documents regarding invasion plan in Venezuela
Monday, November 21, 2005
JOHN RENDON
Rense: The Man Who Sold The War
Meet John Rendon, Bush'sGeneral In The Propaganda War
"I am not a national-security strategist or a military tactician," he declared. "I am a politician, a person who uses communication to meet public-policy or corporate-policy objectives. In fact, I am an information warrior and a perception manager." To explain his philosophy, Rendon paraphrased a journalist he knew from his days as a staffer on the presidential campaigns of George McGovern and Jimmy Carter: "This is probably best described in the words of Hunter S. Thompson, when he wrote, 'When things turn weird, the weird turn pro.'"
"Recommended reading"
Meet John Rendon, Bush'sGeneral In The Propaganda War
"I am not a national-security strategist or a military tactician," he declared. "I am a politician, a person who uses communication to meet public-policy or corporate-policy objectives. In fact, I am an information warrior and a perception manager." To explain his philosophy, Rendon paraphrased a journalist he knew from his days as a staffer on the presidential campaigns of George McGovern and Jimmy Carter: "This is probably best described in the words of Hunter S. Thompson, when he wrote, 'When things turn weird, the weird turn pro.'"
"Recommended reading"
CNN: CHENEY
Drudge: CNN MARKS CHENEY
As this DRUDGE REPORT screen capture reveals, while one 'X' flashed over Cheney's face CNN ran a headline at the bottom of its screen: "CHENEY: I DO NOT BELIEVE IT IS WRONG TO CRITICIZE."
DRM
BoingBoing.net: iTunes creates a security hole?
A security research company has reported that Apple's iTunes software creates vulnerabilities in Windows XP and Mac OS X that allow remote parties to install and execute code on your computer -- basically, the vulnerability means that your computer can be taken over by an attacker who can then hijack your connection, your files, and your privacy.
A security research company has reported that Apple's iTunes software creates vulnerabilities in Windows XP and Mac OS X that allow remote parties to install and execute code on your computer -- basically, the vulnerability means that your computer can be taken over by an attacker who can then hijack your connection, your files, and your privacy.
USA
LA Times: This isn't the real America by Jimmy Carter
JIMMY CARTER was the 39th president of the United States
IN RECENT YEARS, I have become increasingly concerned by a host of radical government policies that now threaten many basic principles espoused by all previous administrations, Democratic and Republican. These include the rudimentary American commitment to peace, economic and social justice, civil liberties, our environment and human rights.
JIMMY CARTER was the 39th president of the United States
IN RECENT YEARS, I have become increasingly concerned by a host of radical government policies that now threaten many basic principles espoused by all previous administrations, Democratic and Republican. These include the rudimentary American commitment to peace, economic and social justice, civil liberties, our environment and human rights.
EDWARD LUTTWAK
Rense: Schwarz - Luttwak's Coup D'Etat - A Practical Handbook
My last update introduced you to Edward Luttwak, a hardliner Zionist with ideas about Israel that many Israelis find harsh and belligerent. Mr. Luttwak actually made the well-known comment about bombing in 1990 or 1991, just before George H.W. Bush attacked Iraq in a set-up of Saddam Hussein. In the same way, George W. Bush pulled a set-up in 2003
My last update introduced you to Edward Luttwak, a hardliner Zionist with ideas about Israel that many Israelis find harsh and belligerent. Mr. Luttwak actually made the well-known comment about bombing in 1990 or 1991, just before George H.W. Bush attacked Iraq in a set-up of Saddam Hussein. In the same way, George W. Bush pulled a set-up in 2003
CHEMTRAILS
Las Vegas Tribune: Chemtrails Are Over Las Vegas
Editor's Note: Las Vegas residents are increasingly noticing the appearance of chemical trails overhead. They appear EVERY weekend without fail, the only exception being the two weeks after September 11, 2001. Such "chemtrails" are substantially different in appearance to the normal condensation trails left by jet airliners. The difference is that while condensation trails are composed of water vapor that dissipates rapidly, "chemtrails" linger much longer and spread out over time to eventually cover the sky with a thin haze. This week the Las Vegas Tribune begins a two-part article to examine the undeniable and mysterious phenomena of Chemtrails Over Las Vegas.
Editor's Note: Las Vegas residents are increasingly noticing the appearance of chemical trails overhead. They appear EVERY weekend without fail, the only exception being the two weeks after September 11, 2001. Such "chemtrails" are substantially different in appearance to the normal condensation trails left by jet airliners. The difference is that while condensation trails are composed of water vapor that dissipates rapidly, "chemtrails" linger much longer and spread out over time to eventually cover the sky with a thin haze. This week the Las Vegas Tribune begins a two-part article to examine the undeniable and mysterious phenomena of Chemtrails Over Las Vegas.
Friday, November 18, 2005
IRAQ: TORTURE
Guardian: International outcry greets allegations of police abuse
· Ministers launch inquiry after detainees found
· Shia paramilitaries now control force, say Sunnis
Manfred Novak, the UN special envoy on torture, based in Geneva, yesterday called for an independent inquiry. He has received various allegations of torture and degrading treatment by both US and Iraqi forces in Iraq. "That torture is still practised in Iraq after Saddam Hussein is no secret," he said.
Reuters: Iraqi says he was held with hundreds in secret jail
An Iraqi man told on Thursday how he was tortured along with hundreds of other detainees in an Interior Ministry building similar to a secret bunker at the centre of a prisoner abuse scandal.
"There was an average of 800 prisoners at any one time in a building controlled by the Wolf Brigades (Interior Ministry special forces)," the man, who asked that he only be identified by his initials H.H., told Reuters.
"They had lists of people and lists of charges and they tortured people to get confessions."
The Times: On the spot: 'torture prison is tip of the iceberg'
"There is not the same kind of shock and controversy over the discovery of the basement prison in Jadriya as there was over abuse scandal Abu Ghraib, because everyone has known for some time that this has been going on. Everyone knows someone to whom this has happened. "There is more of a sense of relief that it has finally been brought into the open - although people are angry that it has taken so long.
FT: Torture photos fuel scandal of secret Iraqi jail
Graphic photographs of injuries allegedly suffered by detainees in Iraqi custody surfaced today as the government attempted to dismiss international criticism over a secret torture prison.
ICH: Torture Photos gathered from contacts in Iraq
Warning: The pictures are very disturbing and should only be viewed by a mature audience
· Ministers launch inquiry after detainees found
· Shia paramilitaries now control force, say Sunnis
Manfred Novak, the UN special envoy on torture, based in Geneva, yesterday called for an independent inquiry. He has received various allegations of torture and degrading treatment by both US and Iraqi forces in Iraq. "That torture is still practised in Iraq after Saddam Hussein is no secret," he said.
Reuters: Iraqi says he was held with hundreds in secret jail
An Iraqi man told on Thursday how he was tortured along with hundreds of other detainees in an Interior Ministry building similar to a secret bunker at the centre of a prisoner abuse scandal.
"There was an average of 800 prisoners at any one time in a building controlled by the Wolf Brigades (Interior Ministry special forces)," the man, who asked that he only be identified by his initials H.H., told Reuters.
"They had lists of people and lists of charges and they tortured people to get confessions."
The Times: On the spot: 'torture prison is tip of the iceberg'
"There is not the same kind of shock and controversy over the discovery of the basement prison in Jadriya as there was over abuse scandal Abu Ghraib, because everyone has known for some time that this has been going on. Everyone knows someone to whom this has happened. "There is more of a sense of relief that it has finally been brought into the open - although people are angry that it has taken so long.
FT: Torture photos fuel scandal of secret Iraqi jail
Graphic photographs of injuries allegedly suffered by detainees in Iraqi custody surfaced today as the government attempted to dismiss international criticism over a secret torture prison.
ICH: Torture Photos gathered from contacts in Iraq
Warning: The pictures are very disturbing and should only be viewed by a mature audience
IRAQ: US WAR CRIMES
Counterpunch: How the Pentagon Justifies Phosphorous Bombs on Fallujah
In Post Saddam Iraq, There are No Civilians
it is important to note how slippery the Pentagon is being about its claim not to have used this dreadful weapon against "civilians."
In a grotesque and blatant war crime, the U.S. began this assault by first encircling Fallujah, and then declaring that it would allow women, children and old people to leave, but not "men and boys of fighting age" (whatever that may be). Several hundred people in a group of families trying to flee the city over the weekend were actually detained, and then, after allowing the women and children to go, U.S. troops tested the men's hands for gunpowder traces. Finding none, they nonetheless sent them back to the doomed city to face their fate.
By trapping as many as 100,000 men and boys in the city before invading it, the U.S., acting for all the world more like a group of Bosnian Serb thugs than like the army of the Free World, has assured that it will be killing many, many civilians, but we won't be hearing much about that. As far as the Pentagon and Centcom in Iraq go, the dead in Fallujah are and will be all rebels. If they die, they must have died fighting.
In Post Saddam Iraq, There are No Civilians
it is important to note how slippery the Pentagon is being about its claim not to have used this dreadful weapon against "civilians."
In a grotesque and blatant war crime, the U.S. began this assault by first encircling Fallujah, and then declaring that it would allow women, children and old people to leave, but not "men and boys of fighting age" (whatever that may be). Several hundred people in a group of families trying to flee the city over the weekend were actually detained, and then, after allowing the women and children to go, U.S. troops tested the men's hands for gunpowder traces. Finding none, they nonetheless sent them back to the doomed city to face their fate.
By trapping as many as 100,000 men and boys in the city before invading it, the U.S., acting for all the world more like a group of Bosnian Serb thugs than like the army of the Free World, has assured that it will be killing many, many civilians, but we won't be hearing much about that. As far as the Pentagon and Centcom in Iraq go, the dead in Fallujah are and will be all rebels. If they die, they must have died fighting.
Besides the fact that denying civilians the right to flee a battlezone is in itself a war crime under the Geneva conventions, US actions before and during the assault and destruction of Fallujah mean that current assertions that white phosphorus weapons were not used against civilians are total lies. The Pentagon simply defined away all people left, or stranded, or trapped in the city as insurgents.
IRAQ
Washington Post: Among Insurgents in Iraq, Few Foreigners Are Found
Analysis of offensive in Tall Afar suggests U.S., Iraq may be inflating foreign role in insurgency.
Analysis of offensive in Tall Afar suggests U.S., Iraq may be inflating foreign role in insurgency.
Wednesday, November 16, 2005
IRAQ: WMD
Guardian: The US used chemical weapons in Iraq - and then lied about it
Did US troops use chemical weapons in Falluja? The answer is yes. The proof is not to be found in the documentary broadcast on Italian TV last week, which has generated gigabytes of hype on the internet. It's a turkey, whose evidence that white phosphorus was fired at Iraqi troops is flimsy and circumstantial. But the bloggers debating it found the smoking gun
Did US troops use chemical weapons in Falluja? The answer is yes. The proof is not to be found in the documentary broadcast on Italian TV last week, which has generated gigabytes of hype on the internet. It's a turkey, whose evidence that white phosphorus was fired at Iraqi troops is flimsy and circumstantial. But the bloggers debating it found the smoking gun
OCCUPIED TERRITORIES
Guardian: Not guilty. The Israeli captain who put 17 bullets into a Palestinian schoolgirl
An Israeli army officer who fired the entire magazine of his automatic rifle into a 13-year-old Palestinian girl and then said he would have done the same even if she had been three years old was acquitted on all charges by a military court yesterday.
The soldier, who has only been identified as "Captain R", was charged with relatively minor offences for the killing of Iman al-Hams who was shot 17 times as she ventured near an Israeli army post near Rafah refugee camp in Gaza a year ago.
The manner of Iman's killing, and the revelation of a tape recording in which the captain is warned that she was just a child who was "scared to death", made the shooting one of the most controversial since the Palestinian intifada erupted five years ago even though hundreds of other children have also died.
An Israeli army officer who fired the entire magazine of his automatic rifle into a 13-year-old Palestinian girl and then said he would have done the same even if she had been three years old was acquitted on all charges by a military court yesterday.
The soldier, who has only been identified as "Captain R", was charged with relatively minor offences for the killing of Iman al-Hams who was shot 17 times as she ventured near an Israeli army post near Rafah refugee camp in Gaza a year ago.
The manner of Iman's killing, and the revelation of a tape recording in which the captain is warned that she was just a child who was "scared to death", made the shooting one of the most controversial since the Palestinian intifada erupted five years ago even though hundreds of other children have also died.
Tuesday, November 15, 2005
TORTURE
Independent: Torture’s out. Now they call it abuse by Robert Fisk
No screaming, no cries of agony, no shrieks of pain. Yes, it sounds much better, doesn’t it?
CHECK IT
No screaming, no cries of agony, no shrieks of pain. Yes, it sounds much better, doesn’t it?
CHECK IT
Tuesday, November 08, 2005
FRANCE: REBELLION
Reuters: France backs curfews to curb riots
PARIS (Reuters) - The French government approved emergency measures on Tuesday to allow curfews to be imposed in riot-hit areas after youths torched more than 1,000 vehicles in a 12th night of unrest across the country.
The protests, blamed on racism and unemployment, receded in the Paris region after shots were fired at police the previous night but continued unabated in other parts of France in the early hours of Tuesday, the Interior Ministry said.
Turkey urged its citizens living abroad to stay calm and an influential Muslim cleric called for calm. But five cars were torched in Brussels, in addition to five set ablaze on Sunday, in what officials say might have been copycat attacks.
IRAQ
IC: Al-Qaeda threatens Iraq mayhem unless US-led assault halted
Militants loyal to Al-Qaeda in Iraq threatened to sharply intensify their campaign of violence unless government and US forces end a major offensive near the Syrian border, in an Internet statement posted Monday.
Al-Jazeera: Iraqi politicians condemn US offensive
Iraqi politicians have condemned the latestUS
Militants loyal to Al-Qaeda in Iraq threatened to sharply intensify their campaign of violence unless government and US forces end a major offensive near the Syrian border, in an Internet statement posted Monday.
The statement also promised to destroy the homes of all Iraqi soldiers and government employees in response to recent comments by Defense Minister Saadun al-Dulaimi warning that those who sheltered insurgents in their homes would be considered targets.
"The organisation has decided to give the apostate government and itsmaster 24 hours to end their campaign against the Sunni people. After that they will only see from us the worst and something that's going to make the earth tremble under their feet," warned the statement signed in the name of spokesman Abu Maisara al-Iraqi.
Reuters: IRAQ: Dozens dead, thousands displaced in west, doctors say
L-QAIM, 7 November (IRIN) - Dozens of civilians were killed and injured on Saturday when US-led forces launched an offensive on the western Iraqi town of Husaybah, according to local doctors.
The attack forced thousands to flee to camps on the outskirts of the nearest town of al-Qaim, some 12 km from the Syrian border.Al-Jazeera: Iraqi politicians condemn US offensive
Iraqi politicians have condemned the latest
The leader of the Iraqi Front for National Dialogue, Salih al-Mutlaq, on Sunday denounced the massive
Al-Mutlaq, who is also a member of the committee that drafted the new constitution, accused the Americans and their Iraqi allies of mounting "a destructive and killing operation of secure cities and villages" on the "pretext that they hide and secure terrorists".
USA: WAR CRIMES
ICH: Fallujah - The Hidden Massacre
Shocking revelation RAI News 24.
Right Click and click on "save target as" to save to your computers hard drive.
Windows Media - Real Video & Windows Media Arabic Version
Warning:
This video contains images that depict the reality and horror of war. It should only be viewed by a mature audience
Shocking revelation RAI News 24.
Right Click and click on "save target as" to save to your computers hard drive.
Windows Media - Real Video & Windows Media Arabic Version
Warning:
This video contains images that depict the reality and horror of war.
USA: WAR CRIMES
La Repubblica: U.S. Used Chemical Weapons In Iraq
Shocking revelation RAI News 24.
White phosphorous used on the civilian populace: This is how the US "took" Fallujah. New napalm formula also used.
ROME. In soldier slang they call it Willy Pete. The technical name is white phosphorus. In theory its purpose is to illumine enemy positions in the dark. In practice, it was used as a chemical weapon in the rebel stronghold of Fallujah. And it was used not only against enemy combatants and guerrillas, but again innocent civilians. The Americans are responsible for a massacre using unconventional weapons, the identical charge for which Saddam Hussein stands accused. An investigation by RAI News 24, the all-news Italian satellite television channel, has pulled the veil from one of the most carefully concealed mysteries from the front in the entire US military campaign in Iraq.
Shocking revelation RAI News 24.
White phosphorous used on the civilian populace: This is how the US "took" Fallujah. New napalm formula also used.
ROME. In soldier slang they call it Willy Pete. The technical name is white phosphorus. In theory its purpose is to illumine enemy positions in the dark. In practice, it was used as a chemical weapon in the rebel stronghold of Fallujah. And it was used not only against enemy combatants and guerrillas, but again innocent civilians. The Americans are responsible for a massacre using unconventional weapons, the identical charge for which Saddam Hussein stands accused. An investigation by RAI News 24, the all-news Italian satellite television channel, has pulled the veil from one of the most carefully concealed mysteries from the front in the entire US military campaign in Iraq.
Saturday, November 05, 2005
STREETART
Time: Takin' It To The Streets
An ingenious art form is springing up in the unlikeliest city locales; galleries are noticing
It's 4 p.m. in Los Angeles, and the artist who calls himself Branded is getting ready for a "mission." If he were another kind of artist, he would call it a gallery opening, but today his gallery consists of a few alleys off La Brea Avenue and some threadbare bits of downtown. Once there, he will look for exhibition sites, meaning temporary construction walls, shuttered buildings and utility boxes. One thing to know about street art is that it generally plants its flag in Nowheresville.
An ingenious art form is springing up in the unlikeliest city locales; galleries are noticing
It's 4 p.m. in Los Angeles, and the artist who calls himself Branded is getting ready for a "mission." If he were another kind of artist, he would call it a gallery opening, but today his gallery consists of a few alleys off La Brea Avenue and some threadbare bits of downtown. Once there, he will look for exhibition sites, meaning temporary construction walls, shuttered buildings and utility boxes. One thing to know about street art is that it generally plants its flag in Nowheresville.
Monday, October 31, 2005
IRAN
Independent: Real Life: Ten very surprising things about Iran
Most TV news reports about Iran depict religious revolutionaries who promote militancy abroad and suppress human rights at home. But this is only part of the story
4 Transsexuals are permitted to have sex-change operations in Iran by the decree of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini himself. The founder of the Islamic republic passed a fatwa allowing one transsexual woman to have the operation because sexual ambiguity made it impossible for her to carry out her religious duties properly. Iran now has dozens of people who have had a sex change
6 While official dress codes are very strict, many young Iranians delight in pushing back the boundaries of what is acceptable. Teenage girls in Tehran wear the most vestigial of see-through headscarves and tight overcoats that barely cover the bottom. This season gypsy-style scarves are in, featuring traditional Turkmen floral designs. Cosmetic surgery is all the rage, with girls proudly displaying a plaster to show their nose has recently been "fixed
Most TV news reports about Iran depict religious revolutionaries who promote militancy abroad and suppress human rights at home. But this is only part of the story
4 Transsexuals are permitted to have sex-change operations in Iran by the decree of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini himself. The founder of the Islamic republic passed a fatwa allowing one transsexual woman to have the operation because sexual ambiguity made it impossible for her to carry out her religious duties properly. Iran now has dozens of people who have had a sex change
6 While official dress codes are very strict, many young Iranians delight in pushing back the boundaries of what is acceptable. Teenage girls in Tehran wear the most vestigial of see-through headscarves and tight overcoats that barely cover the bottom. This season gypsy-style scarves are in, featuring traditional Turkmen floral designs. Cosmetic surgery is all the rage, with girls proudly displaying a plaster to show their nose has recently been "fixed
OCCUPIED TERRITORIES
imemc: Israel to build checkpoint, devide WB into 3 sections
Israeli army is carrying a plan which aims to divide the West Bank into three isolated parts, with roadblocks, settlement constructions and the separation Wall dividing them. Israel started to construct a huge checkpiont near south of Nablus near the Tappoah settlement, to separate the northern West Bank from the middle areas, Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported on Sunday. An Israeli military source told Haaretz that the army decided nine months ago, to construct this roadblock, which includes ten routes, eight leading to the south and two to the north of the West Bank.
Apartheid anyone?
Israeli army is carrying a plan which aims to divide the West Bank into three isolated parts, with roadblocks, settlement constructions and the separation Wall dividing them. Israel started to construct a huge checkpiont near south of Nablus near the Tappoah settlement, to separate the northern West Bank from the middle areas, Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported on Sunday. An Israeli military source told Haaretz that the army decided nine months ago, to construct this roadblock, which includes ten routes, eight leading to the south and two to the north of the West Bank.
Apartheid anyone?
OCCUPIED TERRITORIES
ICH: Abbas and the Lame Duck by Uri Avnery
The day before yesterday, Ariel Sharon declared for the who-knows-how-many-th time, that he had cancelled his planned meeting with Mahmoud Abbas. The reason: Abbas "is not doing anything against terrorism". A routine pretext, but it seems that this time the act itself is not mere routine. The long campaign for the elimination of Mahmoud Abbas is entering its final phase.
The day before yesterday, Ariel Sharon declared for the who-knows-how-many-th time, that he had cancelled his planned meeting with Mahmoud Abbas. The reason: Abbas "is not doing anything against terrorism". A routine pretext, but it seems that this time the act itself is not mere routine. The long campaign for the elimination of Mahmoud Abbas is entering its final phase.
USA
ICH: We Have Been Warned
By U.S. Representative Ron Paul (R-TX)
Watch Ron Paul's speech on video.
We have been warned. Prepare for a broader war in the Middle East, as plans are being laid for the next U.S.-led regime change – in Syria. A UN report on the death of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafig Hariri elicited this comment from a senior U.S. policy maker: “Out of tragedy comes an extraordinary strategic opportunity.” This statement reflects the continued neo-conservative, Machiavellian influence on our foreign policy. The “opportunity” refers to the long-held neo-conservative plan for regime change in Syria, similar to what was carried out in Iraq.
By U.S. Representative Ron Paul (R-TX)
Watch Ron Paul's speech on video.
We have been warned. Prepare for a broader war in the Middle East, as plans are being laid for the next U.S.-led regime change – in Syria. A UN report on the death of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafig Hariri elicited this comment from a senior U.S. policy maker: “Out of tragedy comes an extraordinary strategic opportunity.” This statement reflects the continued neo-conservative, Machiavellian influence on our foreign policy. The “opportunity” refers to the long-held neo-conservative plan for regime change in Syria, similar to what was carried out in Iraq.
PLAMEGATE
Independent: Special report: Bush faces his Watergate
Sleaze, leaks and an indictment add up to the worst presidential crisis since Nixon. And it will get worse. The White House has lost one key man but the whole chain of command may be engulfed by a scandal slowly revealing the lies that led to war.
Sleaze, leaks and an indictment add up to the worst presidential crisis since Nixon. And it will get worse. The White House has lost one key man but the whole chain of command may be engulfed by a scandal slowly revealing the lies that led to war.
Friday, October 28, 2005
USA: PLAMEGATE
Salon: All The Vice President's Men by Juan Cole
The ideologues in Cheney's inner circle drummed up a war. Now their zealotry is blowing up in their faces.
The ideologues in Cheney's inner circle drummed up a war. Now their zealotry is blowing up in their faces.
IRAQ
Asia Times: In for the long haul
The United States will have to maintain a substantial part of its current 150,000 forces in Iraq long after President George W Bush leaves office, concludes a study released by the London-based think tank, International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS).
The conclusion itself has been regarded as very much part of conventional wisdom inside Washington. Only the timing of the release of that study is going to provide further ammunition to the opponents of the Iraq war, especially inside the Republican Party. There has been little international support for America's invasion of Iraq. Now Bush's core support for staying put in Iraq appears to be unfastening.
The United States will have to maintain a substantial part of its current 150,000 forces in Iraq long after President George W Bush leaves office, concludes a study released by the London-based think tank, International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS).
The conclusion itself has been regarded as very much part of conventional wisdom inside Washington. Only the timing of the release of that study is going to provide further ammunition to the opponents of the Iraq war, especially inside the Republican Party. There has been little international support for America's invasion of Iraq. Now Bush's core support for staying put in Iraq appears to be unfastening.
IRAN
Asia Times: Iran on course for a showdown
PARIS - The call by Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday for Israel to be "wiped off the map" has drawn instant and bitter condemnation, with Israel urging Iran's expulsion from the United Nations, and other countries saying that Tehran should now definitely be hauled before the UN Security Council over its nuclear program.
Ahmadinejad's outburst, however, also signifies deep rifts within the country between his administration and Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and his small clique that ultimately controls the levers of power.
PARIS - The call by Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday for Israel to be "wiped off the map" has drawn instant and bitter condemnation, with Israel urging Iran's expulsion from the United Nations, and other countries saying that Tehran should now definitely be hauled before the UN Security Council over its nuclear program.
Ahmadinejad's outburst, however, also signifies deep rifts within the country between his administration and Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and his small clique that ultimately controls the levers of power.
Thursday, October 27, 2005
MEDIA WATCH: FAKE NEWS
PR Watch: One Step Forward (But Two Back) in the Fight Against Fake News
"Myself and others felt violated by the first bill," said Doug Simon, the founder, president and CEO of D S Simon Productions, a major producer of the faux television news reports known as video news releases (VNRs).
Simon was referring to the Truth in Broadcasting Act (S 967). In its original incarnation, this bill would have required a "conspicuous" disclosure to accompany any government-produced or -funded prepackaged VNR or the radio equivalent, an audio news release (ANR).
For VNRs, the Act rightly mandated "continuous" on-screen notification of the material's source, such as the words "Produced by the U.S. Government." Moreover, the Act made it illegal to remove the disclosure.
That Act was considered by the Senate Commerce Committee on October 20. What the committee passed, however, was significantly different. Even the name had changed, to the "Prepackaged News Story Announcement Act."
And now, Doug Simon likes it.
Boston Globe: AND NOW, FOR THE LOCAL FAKE NEWS
The mayor and city council of Newark, New Jersey "hired a fledging
newspaper called Newark Weekly News to publish 'positive news' about
the city - and will pay $100,000 over the next year for it." The
no-bid contract specifies that the paper will "generate stories
based on leads" from the mayor's spokesperson and city
communications staff. A senior scholar at the Poynter Institute for
Media Studies said, "If you are publishing government propaganda in
the guise of neutral, detached reporting, that's about as unethical
as you can get." Rutgers University journalism department chair John
Pavlik New York Times" target="_blank">told the New York Times that
the arrangement was "fake news." In New York, as Mayor Michael
Bloomberg "picked up the endorsement of an influential black
minister at a Harlem restaurant last month," some of the diners who
"were quoted in news stories" as "regular people" were actually
campaign volunteers. At least three people whose glowing quotes
about Bloomberg were printed didn't identify themselves "as being
affiliated with the campaign,"
"Myself and others felt violated by the first bill," said Doug Simon, the founder, president and CEO of D S Simon Productions, a major producer of the faux television news reports known as video news releases (VNRs).
Simon was referring to the Truth in Broadcasting Act (S 967). In its original incarnation, this bill would have required a "conspicuous" disclosure to accompany any government-produced or -funded prepackaged VNR or the radio equivalent, an audio news release (ANR).
For VNRs, the Act rightly mandated "continuous" on-screen notification of the material's source, such as the words "Produced by the U.S. Government." Moreover, the Act made it illegal to remove the disclosure.
That Act was considered by the Senate Commerce Committee on October 20. What the committee passed, however, was significantly different. Even the name had changed, to the "Prepackaged News Story Announcement Act."
And now, Doug Simon likes it.
Boston Globe: AND NOW, FOR THE LOCAL FAKE NEWS
The mayor and city council of Newark, New Jersey "hired a fledging
newspaper called Newark Weekly News to publish 'positive news' about
the city - and will pay $100,000 over the next year for it." The
no-bid contract specifies that the paper will "generate stories
based on leads" from the mayor's spokesperson and city
communications staff. A senior scholar at the Poynter Institute for
Media Studies said, "If you are publishing government propaganda in
the guise of neutral, detached reporting, that's about as unethical
as you can get." Rutgers University journalism department chair John
Pavlik New York Times" target="_blank">told the New York Times that
the arrangement was "fake news." In New York, as Mayor Michael
Bloomberg "picked up the endorsement of an influential black
minister at a Harlem restaurant last month," some of the diners who
"were quoted in news stories" as "regular people" were actually
campaign volunteers. At least three people whose glowing quotes
about Bloomberg were printed didn't identify themselves "as being
affiliated with the campaign,"
Tuesday, October 25, 2005
SYRIA: MEHLIS REPORT
Asia Times: The ball is now in Syria's court
DAMASCUS - The findings of the United Nations-sanctioned Mehlis commission have ripped like a thunderstorm through Syria and Lebanon. When parts of the 53-page report began to emerge at about midnight (Damascus time) on October 20-21, everybody turned on Arabic satellite TV. People were waiting to hear a clear sentence saying: "Syrian Mr X pressed the explode button on February 14, 2005, killing former Lebanese prime minister, Rafik Hariri, under orders from Damascus." Such an explicit statement was not made. A threat, rather than an accusation, was fired at Damascus in the Mehlis report, making it clear that it could not find concrete evidence against Syria. Had the investigation obtained something tangible to
"recommended reading"
DAMASCUS - The findings of the United Nations-sanctioned Mehlis commission have ripped like a thunderstorm through Syria and Lebanon. When parts of the 53-page report began to emerge at about midnight (Damascus time) on October 20-21, everybody turned on Arabic satellite TV. People were waiting to hear a clear sentence saying: "Syrian Mr X pressed the explode button on February 14, 2005, killing former Lebanese prime minister, Rafik Hariri, under orders from Damascus." Such an explicit statement was not made. A threat, rather than an accusation, was fired at Damascus in the Mehlis report, making it clear that it could not find concrete evidence against Syria. Had the investigation obtained something tangible to
"recommended reading"
INTERNET FRAUD
LA Times: 'I Will Eat Your Dollars'
To the cyber scammers in Nigeria who trawl for victims on the Internet, Americans are easy targets. But one thief had second thoughts
To the cyber scammers in Nigeria who trawl for victims on the Internet, Americans are easy targets. But one thief had second thoughts
LEBANON: HAIRIRI
Onlinejournal: Hariri Reportedly Assassinated To Make Way For Large US Air Base In Lebanon
According to high-level Lebanese intelligence sources-Christian and Muslim-former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri was reportedly assassinated in a sophisticated explosion-by-wire bombing authorized by the Bush administration and Ariel Sharon's Likud government in Israel. There are also strong indications that the Hariri assassination was carried out by the same rogue Syrian intelligence agents used in the 2002 car bombing assassination of Lebanese Christian leader Elie Hobeika, who was prepared to testify against Sharon in a Brussels human rights court
According to high-level Lebanese intelligence sources-Christian and Muslim-former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri was reportedly assassinated in a sophisticated explosion-by-wire bombing authorized by the Bush administration and Ariel Sharon's Likud government in Israel. There are also strong indications that the Hariri assassination was carried out by the same rogue Syrian intelligence agents used in the 2002 car bombing assassination of Lebanese Christian leader Elie Hobeika, who was prepared to testify against Sharon in a Brussels human rights court
Monday, October 24, 2005
MEDIA: PLAMEGATE
Independent: Hard times in New York
The paper that regards itself as America's supreme journal of record is washing its dirty laundry in public. And a large cast of characters is getting splashed with water
The paper that regards itself as America's supreme journal of record is washing its dirty laundry in public. And a large cast of characters is getting splashed with water
USA: PLAMEGATE
News Max: Dems Tap PatrickFitzgerald For Impeachment Probe
Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee are so pleased with reports that Leakgate prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald is about to indict senior White House officials that they want him to lead an impeachment investigation into whether President Bush lied to Congress about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.
"The CIA leak issue is only the tip of the iceberg," House Judiciary Democrat Jerrold Nadler complains in a message posted to his web site.
In a letter asking the Justice Department to expand the scope of Fitzgerald's investigation, Nadler says: "We now have reason to believe that high crimes may have been committed at the highest level [and] wrongdoing that may have led us to war and imperiled our national security."
Opednews: THE COMING HURRICANE FITZGERALD...
There is a storm of historic proportions headed for the United States, one that will make Hurricane Wilma (also en route) look like a small splash in the pond by comparison. It's been building and gathering strength in the increasingly hot waters of the Special Counsel's office for almost two years, and in a matter of days it may lay waste to the entire political infrastructure of Washington, D.C., from one end to the other.
Rense: The Most Important Criminal Case In American History
Patrick Fitzgerald has before him the most important criminal case in American history. Watergate, by comparison, was a random burglary in an age of innocence. The investigator's prosecutorial authority in this present case is not constrained by any regulation. If he finds a thread connecting the leak to something greater, Fitzgerald has the legal power to follow it to the web in search of the spider. It seems unlikely, then, that he would simply go after the leakers and the people who sought to cover up the leak when it was merely a secondary consequence of the much greater crime of forging evidence to foment war.
Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee are so pleased with reports that Leakgate prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald is about to indict senior White House officials that they want him to lead an impeachment investigation into whether President Bush lied to Congress about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.
"The CIA leak issue is only the tip of the iceberg," House Judiciary Democrat Jerrold Nadler complains in a message posted to his web site.
In a letter asking the Justice Department to expand the scope of Fitzgerald's investigation, Nadler says: "We now have reason to believe that high crimes may have been committed at the highest level [and] wrongdoing that may have led us to war and imperiled our national security."
Opednews: THE COMING HURRICANE FITZGERALD...
There is a storm of historic proportions headed for the United States, one that will make Hurricane Wilma (also en route) look like a small splash in the pond by comparison. It's been building and gathering strength in the increasingly hot waters of the Special Counsel's office for almost two years, and in a matter of days it may lay waste to the entire political infrastructure of Washington, D.C., from one end to the other.
Rense: The Most Important Criminal Case In American History
Patrick Fitzgerald has before him the most important criminal case in American history. Watergate, by comparison, was a random burglary in an age of innocence. The investigator's prosecutorial authority in this present case is not constrained by any regulation. If he finds a thread connecting the leak to something greater, Fitzgerald has the legal power to follow it to the web in search of the spider. It seems unlikely, then, that he would simply go after the leakers and the people who sought to cover up the leak when it was merely a secondary consequence of the much greater crime of forging evidence to foment war.
BIRD FLU
Times: Deadly bird flu virus confirmed in Britain
A SERIOUS failure in strict quarantine regulations allowed a parrot to become infected with the deadly H5N1 avian flu strain after its arrival in Britain, animal health experts said last night.
The South American parrot appears to have been kept in quarantine too close to a bird from Taiwan, against official advice to bird importers. The apparent lapse in the system is expected to bring about a review of a policy that allows some commercial animal dealers to run their own quarantine operations under veterinary supervision.
Scotsman: Parrot had deadliest bird flu strain
Confirmation that the parrot had the most lethal form of the disease came as Patricia Hewitt, the Health Secretary, said the UK faced an inevitable human flu pandemic, which could lead to people staying away from work and public gatherings. She conceded scientists had warned it was a case of when, not if, the flu strikes, but she could not give a timetable as "we simply don't know".
Reuters: Key dates in spread of bird flu from Asia
A SERIOUS failure in strict quarantine regulations allowed a parrot to become infected with the deadly H5N1 avian flu strain after its arrival in Britain, animal health experts said last night.
The South American parrot appears to have been kept in quarantine too close to a bird from Taiwan, against official advice to bird importers. The apparent lapse in the system is expected to bring about a review of a policy that allows some commercial animal dealers to run their own quarantine operations under veterinary supervision.
Scotsman: Parrot had deadliest bird flu strain
Confirmation that the parrot had the most lethal form of the disease came as Patricia Hewitt, the Health Secretary, said the UK faced an inevitable human flu pandemic, which could lead to people staying away from work and public gatherings. She conceded scientists had warned it was a case of when, not if, the flu strikes, but she could not give a timetable as "we simply don't know".
Reuters: Key dates in spread of bird flu from Asia
Friday, October 07, 2005
USA: BUSH POLLS ALL TIME LOW
CBS: Poll: Bush Ratings Hit New Low
President George W. Bush's overall job approval rating has reached the lowest ever measured in this poll, and evaluations of his handling of Iraq, the economy and even his signature issue, terrorism, are also at all-time lows. More Americans than at any time since he took office think he does not share their priorities.
PRESIDENT BUSH'S JOB APPROVAL
Approve
Overall
Now
37%
9/2005
41%
8/2005
41%
Terrorism
Now
46%
9/2005
50%
8/2005
54%
Iraq
Now
32%
9/2005
36%
8/2005
38%
Economy
Now
32%
9/2005
35%
8/2005
37%
Hurricane Katrina
Now
45%
9/2005
44%
8/2005
54%
President George W. Bush's overall job approval rating has reached the lowest ever measured in this poll, and evaluations of his handling of Iraq, the economy and even his signature issue, terrorism, are also at all-time lows. More Americans than at any time since he took office think he does not share their priorities.
PRESIDENT BUSH'S JOB APPROVAL
Approve
Overall
Now
37%9/2005
41%8/2005
41%Terrorism
Now
46%9/2005
50%8/2005
54%Iraq
Now
32%9/2005
36%8/2005
38%Economy
Now
32%9/2005
35%8/2005
37%Hurricane Katrina
Now
45%9/2005
44%8/2005
54%
USA: PLAME GATE
NY Times: Rove Ordered to Talk Again in Leak Inquiry
The special prosecutor in the C.I.A. leak case has summoned Karl Rove, the senior White House adviser, to return next week to testify to a federal grand jury in a step that could mean charges will be filed in the case, lawyers in the case said Thursday.
The special prosecutor in the C.I.A. leak case has summoned Karl Rove, the senior White House adviser, to return next week to testify to a federal grand jury in a step that could mean charges will be filed in the case, lawyers in the case said Thursday.
The prosecutor, Patrick J. Fitzgerald, has held discussions in recent days with lawyers for several administration officials suggesting that he is considering whether to charge them with a crime over the disclosure of an intelligence operative's identity in a 2003 newspaper column.
WAR ON TERROR
Rense: The Unwinnable War by Charley Reese
- The so-called war against terrorism is unwinnable. It was designed to be unwinnable so that it can be carried on for an indefinite duration and thus support the vast military-industrial-anti-terrorism complex. The end of the Cold War scared this complex half to death. It can only survive with an enemy at the gates.
- Conventional wars can be won because they are fought against governments. Either the enemy government can be destroyed or it is made to pay such a high price in casualties and assets that it will sue for peace. Either way, everybody knows the war is over. The Cold War ended when the Soviet Union collapsed and the Russians ended their occupation of Eastern Europe. We should have dismantled the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, as they did the Warsaw Pact, and moved to a peacetime situation.
- Too many people in this country, however, have a vested interest in war, and they were in desperate need of a new enemy and some dramatic event to get the people all riled up. Osama bin Laden obliged on both counts.
Thursday, October 06, 2005
PROPAGANDA WATCH
Bloomberg: Blair Says Bombs Used in Iraq May Be Linked to Iran
Oct. 6 (Bloomberg) -- U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair today said that there is evidence tying Iran to bombings in neighboring Iraq in the first public accusation that the Shiite Muslim country is supporting militants in Iraq.
``There have been new explosive devices used against British troops and elsewhere,'' Blair said. ``The particular nature of those devices leads us to either Iranian elements or Hezbollah that is funded and supported by Iran.
``We can't be certain of this at this time,'' he told a news conference in London with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, carried live by international broadcasters. ``Obviously, we will continue our investigations'' and ``discussions'' with Iran.
"What is Mr. Blair trying to sell? He fucked up his whole credibility. Fucked up Iraq. Its not the fault of the British Imperialists that they have little to zero progress in Iraq.it is not the fault of the british that Shia Death Squads roam the streets, that the sunni guerilla kill civilians everyday, that women have far less rights than they had under saddam, that people still have no electricy, that people still have no water in theyre homes, that iraq is on the brink of a civil war..lets blame IRAN..it was Iran who told Bush and Blair that they should invade Iraq in the first place"Update:
Reuters: Iran not interfering in Iraq-Iraqi prime minister
ISRAEL SPYING ON USA
AP: US official admits spying for Israel
A top US Defence Department analyst with expertise in the Middle East has pleaded guilty to giving classified information to an Israeli embassy official and members of a pro-Israel lobbying group.
Lawrence Franklin, 58, said in court on Wednesday that he was frustrated with government policy and that he had hoped the two members of American Israel Public Affairs Committee could influence policy with their connections at the National Security Council.
He also admitted giving classified information to a political official at the Israeli embassy, but said the information he received from the official was far more valuable than what he gave.
A top US Defence Department analyst with expertise in the Middle East has pleaded guilty to giving classified information to an Israeli embassy official and members of a pro-Israel lobbying group.
Lawrence Franklin, 58, said in court on Wednesday that he was frustrated with government policy and that he had hoped the two members of American Israel Public Affairs Committee could influence policy with their connections at the National Security Council.
He also admitted giving classified information to a political official at the Israeli embassy, but said the information he received from the official was far more valuable than what he gave.
PROPAGANDA WATCH
Washington Times: Iran Army Given Control Of Entire Nuclear Program
by David R. Sands
Iran's new president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has placed the military firmly in control of his nation's nuclear program, undercutting his government's claim that the program is intended for civilian use, according to a leading opposition group.
"The military under the new president is firmly in control of the nuclear program and the nuclear negotiations with the United Nations and the West," said Mohammad Mohaddessin, chairman of the NCRI's foreign affairs committee, in a telephone interview yesterday.
Irans Nuclear program is not "clandestine". Iran is under severe IAEA inspections and has the right to develop the nuclear fuel cycle for civilian purposes."
by David R. Sands
Iran's new president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has placed the military firmly in control of his nation's nuclear program, undercutting his government's claim that the program is intended for civilian use, according to a leading opposition group.
"The military under the new president is firmly in control of the nuclear program and the nuclear negotiations with the United Nations and the West," said Mohammad Mohaddessin, chairman of the NCRI's foreign affairs committee, in a telephone interview yesterday.
- The NCRI is the political arm of the People's Mujahadeen, a secular Iranian bloc that broke violently with the Islamic leaders of the revolution shortly after the ouster of the U.S.-backed Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.
- The opposition group has had a checkered and at times contradictory role. Branded a terrorist group by U.S. and European governments, it also has proven to be the single best intelligence source on Iran's clandestine nuclear programs, exposing in recent years massive research and testing sites inside Iran unknown to U.N. and Western monitors.
Irans Nuclear program is not "clandestine". Iran is under severe IAEA inspections and has the right to develop the nuclear fuel cycle for civilian purposes."
AOL: CENSORSHIP?
Prison Planet: AOL Time-Warner Censors Alex Jones Websites
Nationwide blackout a clear attempt to shut down free speech or just an error?
check what he is writing about the whole thing:
The Internet: It's broke!
This morning I see that an article has been written up on the subject: AOL Time-Warner Censors Alex Jones Websites
Simply put: I'm not buying that one bit.
Nationwide blackout a clear attempt to shut down free speech or just an error?
Has Time Warner's ISP, Road Runner, blocked access to all of Alex Jones' flagship websites across the entire United States or is this a wider Internet blackout issue?
We were first alerted to this problem early this morning when several locals in Austin reported that they were unable to access Infowars.com, PrisonPlanet.com or Prison Planet.tv.
Austin Time Warner had previously shut down access to our websites on a whim, claiming they were 'hate material' but in all cases had quickly restored them after receiving complaints.
However, this latest attack on free speech is occurring nationwide, with Time Warner subscribers from New York to California reporting that their access to the websites is being blocked. Is this deliberate or an Internet-wide issue? Only time will tell.
Update: Justin from Justin Buist's Log told me that Mr. Jones is wrong and i agree with him.check what he is writing about the whole thing:
The Internet: It's broke!
This morning I see that an article has been written up on the subject: AOL Time-Warner Censors Alex Jones Websites
Simply put: I'm not buying that one bit.
Wednesday, October 05, 2005
ISRAEL: DEMOCRACY
Haaretz: More Israeli Jews favor transfer of Palestinians, Israeli Arabs - poll finds
Some 46 percent of Israel's Jewish citizens favor transferring Palestinians out of the territories, while 31 percent favor transferring Israeli Arabs out of the country, according to the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies' annual national security public opinion poll.
Some 72 percent of Jewish Israelis are opposed to Arab parties being part of a coalition government, compared to 67 percent last year and 50 percent in 1999.
"What Haaretz describes as "transfer" is called ethnic cleansing in the rest of the world"
Some 46 percent of Israel's Jewish citizens favor transferring Palestinians out of the territories, while 31 percent favor transferring Israeli Arabs out of the country, according to the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies' annual national security public opinion poll.
Some 72 percent of Jewish Israelis are opposed to Arab parties being part of a coalition government, compared to 67 percent last year and 50 percent in 1999.
"What Haaretz describes as "transfer" is called ethnic cleansing in the rest of the world"
IRAQ
Al-Ahram: Zarqawi's war whoop
University of Baghdad Political Science Professor Jinan Ali says there is more to the Zarqawi threat than appears on the surface.
"The so-called war against Shiites began after Moqtada Al-Sadr announced his opposition to drafting the constitution," says Ali. ""Most of the Shiites targeted are Moqtada's followers intended to force them to cast a "Yes" vote in the coming referendum".
Many Iraqis are now wondering whether Zarqawi is a real figure or not.
"Zarqawi is a good pretext for striking any Iraqi city or town," Professor Ali explains.
"If Zarqawi is defending the Sunnis and his followers are operating in the Sunni areas, why were Najaf and Sadr city (mostly Shiite areas) targeted by the Americans and Iraqi forces several times before?"
University of Baghdad Political Science Professor Jinan Ali says there is more to the Zarqawi threat than appears on the surface.
"The so-called war against Shiites began after Moqtada Al-Sadr announced his opposition to drafting the constitution," says Ali. ""Most of the Shiites targeted are Moqtada's followers intended to force them to cast a "Yes" vote in the coming referendum".
Many Iraqis are now wondering whether Zarqawi is a real figure or not.
"Zarqawi is a good pretext for striking any Iraqi city or town," Professor Ali explains.
"If Zarqawi is defending the Sunnis and his followers are operating in the Sunni areas, why were Najaf and Sadr city (mostly Shiite areas) targeted by the Americans and Iraqi forces several times before?"
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