IRAQI DEMOCRACY
Robert Fisk: US Soldiers Ordered To Search Robert Fisk's Room
Room 106 is the hotel suite occupied by The Independent . I gave Mr Scheetz my card. What on earth did he want, I asked? Another soldier turned to me. "I guess we don't want any more hotels blowing up," he said. Of course. And so say all of us. But what has Room 106 got to do with it? "Security," another American said. Which, of course, is the excuse for any raid, any military operation, any body search, any decision taken by anyone - even President Bush - if they don't choose to explain their behaviour.
The day the 1st Armoured Division, with guns at the ready, came to check on our man in Baghdad
I was standing on my balcony in the darkness, puffing on a fine Havana - I had just filed my day's report to The Independent's foreign desk - when I saw the soldiers of the 1st Armoured Division padding down the road outside.
The guys at the rear were walking backwards, two officers in the centre, all moving purposefully towards the hotel entrance. By the time I got downstairs, Mohamed, the receptionist, was incurring the wrath of Iraq's occupying army.
"Show me the hotel register, please, Sir," the officer was saying. "It's in the other building," Mohamed replied innocently. "Don't play games with me, Sir," snapped the soldier. "I want the hotel register."
I've often wondered why American soldiers do this sort of thing - insult a guy and then add "Sir" so they can claim they have been polite. "Mohamed is not playing games," I said. The register is always kept in the other part of the hotel.
Sunday, March 28, 2004
Saturday, March 27, 2004
OCCUPIED TERRITORIES: PROPAGANDA WATCH
AlJazeera: Israel 'fabricated' child-bomber story
Palestinian leaders have accused Israel of fabricating a story about a 14-year-old Palestinian boy who planned to blow himself up.
The Israeli army said he was caught wearing an explosive belt at an army roadblock in the northern West Bank.
The boy, identified as Husam Abdu from Nablus, was shown on TV screens around the world, with an explosive belt strapped to his waist.
The Israeli army said the boy told interrogators that his dispatchers promised that he would have sex with 72 virgins in heaven soon after his death.
"We know for sure this is a fabricated story from A to Z. Would you believe that a 13 or 14-year old would agree to blow up himself in return for a hundred shekels which he would receive after his death?
Libertyforum: Israeli 'Suicide Bomber Stunt' Backfires
Heise: Propagandistische Fallstricke um 16-j?hrigen Selbstmordattent?ter
AlJazeera: Israel 'fabricated' child-bomber story
Palestinian leaders have accused Israel of fabricating a story about a 14-year-old Palestinian boy who planned to blow himself up.
The Israeli army said he was caught wearing an explosive belt at an army roadblock in the northern West Bank.
The boy, identified as Husam Abdu from Nablus, was shown on TV screens around the world, with an explosive belt strapped to his waist.
The Israeli army said the boy told interrogators that his dispatchers promised that he would have sex with 72 virgins in heaven soon after his death.
"We know for sure this is a fabricated story from A to Z. Would you believe that a 13 or 14-year old would agree to blow up himself in return for a hundred shekels which he would receive after his death?
Libertyforum: Israeli 'Suicide Bomber Stunt' Backfires
Heise: Propagandistische Fallstricke um 16-j?hrigen Selbstmordattent?ter
ISRAEL
UPI: Israel to kill in U.S., allied nations
Israel is embarking upon a more aggressive approach to the war on terror that will include staging targeted killings in the United States and other friendly countries, former Israeli intelligence officials told United Press International.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has forbidden the practice until now, these sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The Israeli statements were confirmed by more than a half dozen former and currently serving U.S. foreign policy and intelligence officials in interviews with United Press International.
But an official at the Israeli Embassy in Washington told UPI: "That is rubbish. It is completely untrue. Israel and the United States have such a close and co-operative intelligence relationship, especially in the field of counter-terrorism, that the assertion is ludicrous."
UPI: Israel to kill in U.S., allied nations
Israel is embarking upon a more aggressive approach to the war on terror that will include staging targeted killings in the United States and other friendly countries, former Israeli intelligence officials told United Press International.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has forbidden the practice until now, these sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The Israeli statements were confirmed by more than a half dozen former and currently serving U.S. foreign policy and intelligence officials in interviews with United Press International.
But an official at the Israeli Embassy in Washington told UPI: "That is rubbish. It is completely untrue. Israel and the United States have such a close and co-operative intelligence relationship, especially in the field of counter-terrorism, that the assertion is ludicrous."
UN
ABC: EU Sticks To Yassin Condemnation After US Veto
(Reuters) -- European Union leaders have repeated their condemnation of Israel for killing Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, hours after the United States vetoed a UN Security Council resolution denouncing the assassination.
In a statement issued at the end of a summit in Brussels, the leaders of the EU's 25 current and future states said the bloc had "consistently opposed extra-judicial killings".
Washington, alone among major powers in not condemning this week's assassination as an extrajudicial killing, rejected the resolution by Arab nations because it did not also denounce Sheikh Yassin's group Hamas for suicide bombings in Israel.
The US's "no" vote killed the resolution because it is one of the five permanent members of the council with veto power.
Britain, Germany and Romania abstained after Algeria, negotiating for Arab nations, rejected an amendment they wanted that would have condemned "atrocities" against Israelis.
The EU leaders said they had "repeatedly condemned terrorist atrocities against Israelis and recognised Israel's right to protect its citizens against terrorist attacks", but Sheikh Yassin's killing had deepened the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
ABC: EU Sticks To Yassin Condemnation After US Veto
(Reuters) -- European Union leaders have repeated their condemnation of Israel for killing Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, hours after the United States vetoed a UN Security Council resolution denouncing the assassination.
In a statement issued at the end of a summit in Brussels, the leaders of the EU's 25 current and future states said the bloc had "consistently opposed extra-judicial killings".
Washington, alone among major powers in not condemning this week's assassination as an extrajudicial killing, rejected the resolution by Arab nations because it did not also denounce Sheikh Yassin's group Hamas for suicide bombings in Israel.
The US's "no" vote killed the resolution because it is one of the five permanent members of the council with veto power.
Britain, Germany and Romania abstained after Algeria, negotiating for Arab nations, rejected an amendment they wanted that would have condemned "atrocities" against Israelis.
The EU leaders said they had "repeatedly condemned terrorist atrocities against Israelis and recognised Israel's right to protect its citizens against terrorist attacks", but Sheikh Yassin's killing had deepened the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
AFGHANISTAN
Al-JAzeera: Taliban - Our Forces Are 'Alive And Kicking'
The Taliban has denied reports that the Islamist group is in negotiations with US officials and claimed that its regrouped forces are giving foreign troops an increasingly rough ride.
In an exclusive interview with Aljazeera, Mulla Abd al-Latif Hakimi said the rumour had begun after US forces decided to release prominent Taliban member, Mulla Mutawakkil Akhondzada.
A one-time foreign minister, Mulla Mutawakkil was a familiar face on TV screens as Taliban spokesman before the US-led war to oust the Taliban in 2001.
But the Taliban spokesman said Mutawakkil's "release" amounted to nothing more than house arrest in Kandahar.
"He cannot freely speak his opinion ... it is not freedom. In any case, we will never cease our enmity with the Americans and other occupiers who have illegally invaded Afghanistan."
Casualties
Hakimi added that the Taliban was able to target US soldiers with increasing ease and gave numerous examples.
"We killed 18 American soldiers near the Maryam school in Gazney province, another three in the town of Zargary.
"In the mountains of Khoyani we set a trap in a depot and killed 43 US soldiers with one bomb."
Al-JAzeera: Taliban - Our Forces Are 'Alive And Kicking'
The Taliban has denied reports that the Islamist group is in negotiations with US officials and claimed that its regrouped forces are giving foreign troops an increasingly rough ride.
In an exclusive interview with Aljazeera, Mulla Abd al-Latif Hakimi said the rumour had begun after US forces decided to release prominent Taliban member, Mulla Mutawakkil Akhondzada.
A one-time foreign minister, Mulla Mutawakkil was a familiar face on TV screens as Taliban spokesman before the US-led war to oust the Taliban in 2001.
But the Taliban spokesman said Mutawakkil's "release" amounted to nothing more than house arrest in Kandahar.
"He cannot freely speak his opinion ... it is not freedom. In any case, we will never cease our enmity with the Americans and other occupiers who have illegally invaded Afghanistan."
Casualties
Hakimi added that the Taliban was able to target US soldiers with increasing ease and gave numerous examples.
"We killed 18 American soldiers near the Maryam school in Gazney province, another three in the town of Zargary.
"In the mountains of Khoyani we set a trap in a depot and killed 43 US soldiers with one bomb."
Wednesday, March 24, 2004
IRAQ: ONE YEAR LATER
Amnesty International: One year on the human rights situation remains dire
"A year after US-led forces launched war on Iraq, the promise of improved human rights for Iraqis remains far from realized," warns
Amnesty International in a detailed new report. "Most Iraqis still feel unsafe in a country ravaged by violence," the report states.
Moreover, "Coalition Forces appear in many cases to be using the climate of violence to justify violating the very human rights
standards they are supposed to be upholding. They have shot Iraqis dead during demonstrations. They have tortured and ill-treated
prisoners and detainees. They have arrested people arbitrarily and held them indefinitely without charge and without access to a
lawyer. They have demolished houses and other property in acts of revenge and collective punishment. And they are operating in a
legal framework that offers no mechanism in Iraq for bringing members of the Coalition Forces to justice for such acts."
Amnesty International: One year on the human rights situation remains dire
"A year after US-led forces launched war on Iraq, the promise of improved human rights for Iraqis remains far from realized," warns
Amnesty International in a detailed new report. "Most Iraqis still feel unsafe in a country ravaged by violence," the report states.
Moreover, "Coalition Forces appear in many cases to be using the climate of violence to justify violating the very human rights
standards they are supposed to be upholding. They have shot Iraqis dead during demonstrations. They have tortured and ill-treated
prisoners and detainees. They have arrested people arbitrarily and held them indefinitely without charge and without access to a
lawyer. They have demolished houses and other property in acts of revenge and collective punishment. And they are operating in a
legal framework that offers no mechanism in Iraq for bringing members of the Coalition Forces to justice for such acts."
Tuesday, March 23, 2004
ISRAEL
Federal Observer: Mossad Exposed In Phony 'Palestinian Al Qaeda' Caper
The United States government has been provided with concrete evidence that the Israeli Mossad and other Israeli intelligence services have been involved in a 13-month effort to "recruit" an Israeli-run, phony "al Qaeda cell" among Palestinians, so that Israel could achieve a frontline position in the U.S. war against terrorism and get a green light for a worldwide "revenge without borders" policy. The question: Does the United States have the moral fiber to investigate?
Evidence of the Israeli dirty tricks burst onto the public scene on December 6, when Col. Rashid Abu Shbak, head of the Palestinian Preventive Security Services in the Gaza Strip, held a press conference revealing the details of the alleged plot, as his agency had put the pieces together.
The revelations undermine the "big lie" that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has used to justify new brutal attacks on Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip and other occupied areas. Sharon claimed on December 4 that Israeli intelligence had "hard evidence" of al Qaeda operations in the Gaza Strip. Now, the top Palestinian leadership has shown the United States and other nations how Israeli intelligence entities were creating that al Qaeda link!
"CHECK IT CHECK IT"
Federal Observer: Mossad Exposed In Phony 'Palestinian Al Qaeda' Caper
The United States government has been provided with concrete evidence that the Israeli Mossad and other Israeli intelligence services have been involved in a 13-month effort to "recruit" an Israeli-run, phony "al Qaeda cell" among Palestinians, so that Israel could achieve a frontline position in the U.S. war against terrorism and get a green light for a worldwide "revenge without borders" policy. The question: Does the United States have the moral fiber to investigate?
Evidence of the Israeli dirty tricks burst onto the public scene on December 6, when Col. Rashid Abu Shbak, head of the Palestinian Preventive Security Services in the Gaza Strip, held a press conference revealing the details of the alleged plot, as his agency had put the pieces together.
The revelations undermine the "big lie" that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has used to justify new brutal attacks on Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip and other occupied areas. Sharon claimed on December 4 that Israeli intelligence had "hard evidence" of al Qaeda operations in the Gaza Strip. Now, the top Palestinian leadership has shown the United States and other nations how Israeli intelligence entities were creating that al Qaeda link!
"CHECK IT CHECK IT"
PEAK OIL
BBC: Oil boom sparks fuel price surge
UK petrol prices could soon rise to levels not seen since the autumn of 2000, when widespread protests caused fuel shortages
Fuel prices have been pushed higher by rising crude prices, which last week hit their highest level in 13 years.
And there could be worse to come, Ray Holloway, head of the Petrol Retailers Association, said.
"We'll see [prices] going up again as soon as this week," Mr Holloway said.
The cartel of oil producing countries, Opec, does not accept blame for the high crude oil prices - even though it decided to cut output at a meeting in Algiers last month.
"I am convinced there are two reasons for such a high price: the reduced quantity of petrol in America, and speculators who are convinced there is going to be a lack of crude," said Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi in an interview with the Italian newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore.
BBC: Oil boom sparks fuel price surge
UK petrol prices could soon rise to levels not seen since the autumn of 2000, when widespread protests caused fuel shortages
Fuel prices have been pushed higher by rising crude prices, which last week hit their highest level in 13 years.
And there could be worse to come, Ray Holloway, head of the Petrol Retailers Association, said.
"We'll see [prices] going up again as soon as this week," Mr Holloway said.
The cartel of oil producing countries, Opec, does not accept blame for the high crude oil prices - even though it decided to cut output at a meeting in Algiers last month.
"I am convinced there are two reasons for such a high price: the reduced quantity of petrol in America, and speculators who are convinced there is going to be a lack of crude," said Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi in an interview with the Italian newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore.
PEAK OIL
BBC: Shell difficulties 'could spread'
Concern is growing among investors that Shell's double downgrade of its oil reserves could herald similar moves from some of its competitors.
The Anglo-Dutch giant has had to cut proven reserves by almost 4.1 billion barrels since the start of 2004.
But its partners in the Norwegian oil field on which its most recent cut focused are still quoting much higher reserves
The cost of a barrel of oil on US markets is at 13-year highs and closing in on $40.
BBC: Shell difficulties 'could spread'
Concern is growing among investors that Shell's double downgrade of its oil reserves could herald similar moves from some of its competitors.
The Anglo-Dutch giant has had to cut proven reserves by almost 4.1 billion barrels since the start of 2004.
But its partners in the Norwegian oil field on which its most recent cut focused are still quoting much higher reserves
The cost of a barrel of oil on US markets is at 13-year highs and closing in on $40.
USA/ISRAEL
Informationclearinghouse: Liberating America From Israel
NOTE: Mr. Paul Findley, who served as a Republican congressman from Illinois for 22 years, is the author of 'They Dare to Speak Out' and a member of the American Educational Trust's Foreign Relations Committee.
by Paul Findley
09/15/2002: Nine-eleven would not have occurred if the U.S. government had refused to help Israel humiliate and destroy Palestinian society. Few express this conclusion publicly, but many believe it is the truth. I believe the catastrophe could have been prevented if any U.S. president during the past 35 years had had the courage and wisdom to suspend all U.S. aid until Israel withdrew from the Arab land seized in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.
The U.S. lobby for Israel is powerful and intimidating, but any determined president-even President Bush this very day-could prevail and win overwhelming public support for the suspension of aid by laying these facts before the American people:
Israel's present government, like its predecessors, is determined to annex the West Bank-biblical Judea and Samaria - so Israel will become Greater Israel. Ultra-Orthodox Jews, who maintain a powerful role in Israeli politics, believe the Jewish Messiah will not come until Greater Israel is a reality. Although a minority in Israel, they are committed, aggressive, and influential. Because of deep religious conviction, they are determined to prevent Palestinians from gaining statehood on any part of the West Bank.
Informationclearinghouse: Liberating America From Israel
NOTE: Mr. Paul Findley, who served as a Republican congressman from Illinois for 22 years, is the author of 'They Dare to Speak Out' and a member of the American Educational Trust's Foreign Relations Committee.
by Paul Findley
09/15/2002: Nine-eleven would not have occurred if the U.S. government had refused to help Israel humiliate and destroy Palestinian society. Few express this conclusion publicly, but many believe it is the truth. I believe the catastrophe could have been prevented if any U.S. president during the past 35 years had had the courage and wisdom to suspend all U.S. aid until Israel withdrew from the Arab land seized in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.
The U.S. lobby for Israel is powerful and intimidating, but any determined president-even President Bush this very day-could prevail and win overwhelming public support for the suspension of aid by laying these facts before the American people:
Israel's present government, like its predecessors, is determined to annex the West Bank-biblical Judea and Samaria - so Israel will become Greater Israel. Ultra-Orthodox Jews, who maintain a powerful role in Israeli politics, believe the Jewish Messiah will not come until Greater Israel is a reality. Although a minority in Israel, they are committed, aggressive, and influential. Because of deep religious conviction, they are determined to prevent Palestinians from gaining statehood on any part of the West Bank.
USA
Informationclearinghouse: 30 Years Of U.S. UN Vetoes.
How the U.S. has Voted // Vetoed- See any bias - See any pattern ?
1972-2002 Vetoes from the USA
---
Year -----Resolution Vetoed by the USA
1972 Condemns Israel for killing hundreds of people in Syria and Lebanon in air raids.
1973 Afirms the rights of the Palestinians and calls on Israel to withdraw from the occupied territories.
1976 Condemns Israel for attacking Lebanese civilians.
1976 Condemns Israel for building settlements in the occupied territories.
1976 Calls for self determination for the Palestinians.
1976 Afirms the rights of the Palestinians.
1978 Urges the permanent members (USA, USSR, UK, France, China) to insure United Nations decisions on the maintenance of international peace and security.
1978 Criticises the living conditions of the Palestinians.
1978 Condemns the Israeli human rights record in occupied territories.
1978 Calls for developed countries to increase the quantity and quality of development assistance to underdeveloped countries.
1979 Calls for an end to all military and nuclear collaboration with the apartheid South Africa.
1979 Strengthens the arms embargo against South Africa.
1979 Offers assistance to all the oppressed people of South Africa and their liberation movement.
1979 Concerns negotiations on disarmament and cessation of the nuclear arms race.
........
"CHECK IT"
Informationclearinghouse: 30 Years Of U.S. UN Vetoes.
How the U.S. has Voted // Vetoed- See any bias - See any pattern ?
1972-2002 Vetoes from the USA
---
Year -----Resolution Vetoed by the USA
1972 Condemns Israel for killing hundreds of people in Syria and Lebanon in air raids.
1973 Afirms the rights of the Palestinians and calls on Israel to withdraw from the occupied territories.
1976 Condemns Israel for attacking Lebanese civilians.
1976 Condemns Israel for building settlements in the occupied territories.
1976 Calls for self determination for the Palestinians.
1976 Afirms the rights of the Palestinians.
1978 Urges the permanent members (USA, USSR, UK, France, China) to insure United Nations decisions on the maintenance of international peace and security.
1978 Criticises the living conditions of the Palestinians.
1978 Condemns the Israeli human rights record in occupied territories.
1978 Calls for developed countries to increase the quantity and quality of development assistance to underdeveloped countries.
1979 Calls for an end to all military and nuclear collaboration with the apartheid South Africa.
1979 Strengthens the arms embargo against South Africa.
1979 Offers assistance to all the oppressed people of South Africa and their liberation movement.
1979 Concerns negotiations on disarmament and cessation of the nuclear arms race.
........
"CHECK IT"
Gilad: Murdered At Daybreak
Hamas spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin was murdered at daybreak on Monday.
Gilad Atzmon
03/22/04: "ICH" -- Israel Air Force helicopters fired missiles at the car carrying the wheelchair-bound head of the Islamic group as he left a mosque near his house in Gaza City. It also appears Ariel Sharon was in direct command of the assassination operation, not entirely surprising considering his bloody history.
For those who fail to realise, today's barbaric Israeli act is an open call for a world war. It is the final wake up call for every Muslim around the world. It is violent proof that Israel isn't only against the Palestinians but rather against Islam. Israel killed a prime spiritual leader on his way out of the mosque. I have no doubt that this Israeli act won't be forgiven.
I also have no doubt that many Israelis will pay with their life for Sharon's act. Moreover I am sure that sooner rather than later many innocent non-Israelis around the world will die just for being near by an Israeli embassy, Israeli consulate, a synagogue or even an American bank... This is the reality Sharon favours the most.
This is exactly what Israel wants: to turn the entire world into a victim of terror. This might help us to realise the main difference between the Israeli left and right. While both believe in the right of the Jews to live in Zion on the expense of the Palestinian people, the Israeli right wing rely on maintaining a bloody struggle, oppressing the Palestinian people (in particular) and humiliating Arabs (in general). While the Israeli left would attempt to come up with some unrealistic righteous suggestions to appease the Palestinian people and the world community (Oslo accord for instance), the right wing Israelis will suggest that the only method to guarantee Israeli security is to maintain the conflict with the Palestinian people and to let it escalate into an international battle.....
Gilad Atzmon is an Israeli, currently living in London
"CHECK IT CHECK IT"
OCCUPIED TERRITORIES: ISRAELI TERROR
Uri Avnery: "It is worse than a crime, it is stupid!"
This is worse than a crime, it is an act of stupidity!" commented Gush Shalom activist Uri Avnery on the assassination of Sheikh Ahmad Yassin.
"This is the beginning of a new chapter of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It moves the conflict from the level of a solvable national conflict to the level of religious conflict, which by its very nature is insoluble.
"The fate of the state of Israel is now in the hands of a group of persons whose outlook is primitive and whose perceptions are retarded. They are incapable of understanding the mental, emotional and political dimensions of the conflict. This is a group of bankrupt political and military leaders who have failed in all their actions. They try to cover up their failures by a catastrophic escalation.
"This act will not only endanger the personal security of every Israeli, both in the country and around the world, but also the existential security of the state of Israel. It has grievously hurt the chances of putting an end to the Israeli-Palestinian, Israeli-Arab and Israeli-Muslim conflicts."
Avnery mentioned that in the early 1980s the occupation authorities encouraged the founders of Hamas, hoping that they would create a counterweight to Yasser Arafat and the Palestine Liberation Organization. Even after the start of the first intifada, the army and the security services gave preferential treatment to Hamas. Sheikh Yassin was arrested only a year after the outbreak.
"There seems to be no limit to the stupidity of our political and military leaders. They endanger the future of the state of Israel."
Uri Avnery: "It is worse than a crime, it is stupid!"
This is worse than a crime, it is an act of stupidity!" commented Gush Shalom activist Uri Avnery on the assassination of Sheikh Ahmad Yassin.
"This is the beginning of a new chapter of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It moves the conflict from the level of a solvable national conflict to the level of religious conflict, which by its very nature is insoluble.
"The fate of the state of Israel is now in the hands of a group of persons whose outlook is primitive and whose perceptions are retarded. They are incapable of understanding the mental, emotional and political dimensions of the conflict. This is a group of bankrupt political and military leaders who have failed in all their actions. They try to cover up their failures by a catastrophic escalation.
"This act will not only endanger the personal security of every Israeli, both in the country and around the world, but also the existential security of the state of Israel. It has grievously hurt the chances of putting an end to the Israeli-Palestinian, Israeli-Arab and Israeli-Muslim conflicts."
Avnery mentioned that in the early 1980s the occupation authorities encouraged the founders of Hamas, hoping that they would create a counterweight to Yasser Arafat and the Palestine Liberation Organization. Even after the start of the first intifada, the army and the security services gave preferential treatment to Hamas. Sheikh Yassin was arrested only a year after the outbreak.
"There seems to be no limit to the stupidity of our political and military leaders. They endanger the future of the state of Israel."
OCCUPIED TERRITORIES: ISRAELI TERROR
Gush Shalom Condemns Assassination:
The assassination of Sheikh Ahmad Yassin, with its concomitant careless killing of passers-by, is a mad provocative act by a government which lost all restraint
European Jews for a Just Peace: Statement on the assassination of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin:
We wish to express our feelings of outrage and horror at the targeted killing of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin by the Israeli army
Gush Shalom Condemns Assassination:
The assassination of Sheikh Ahmad Yassin, with its concomitant careless killing of passers-by, is a mad provocative act by a government which lost all restraint
European Jews for a Just Peace: Statement on the assassination of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin:
We wish to express our feelings of outrage and horror at the targeted killing of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin by the Israeli army
OCCUPIED TERRITORIES: ISRAELI TERROR
Guardian: Killing Sheikh Yassin was a mistake
The assassination of Hamas' spiritual leader removes a crucial restraining force within the organisation and will have dangerous repercussions, argues Barak Barfi
In the strange world of Palestinian politics, Yassin was known as a moderate. Though he advocated violence and praised suicide bombers, he did not put faith in a military solution to the conflict. He often spoke of hundred-year truces between Israelis and Palestinians, or of a temporary cessation of hostilities that would grant de facto recognition of Israel.
These views pitted him against the hawkish side of the Hamas leadership in Gaza. Leaders such as Dr Abd al-Aziz Rantisi are dead set against any concessions or recognition of Israel and believe that if victory will not be achieved in their generation, it will come in future ones.
Yassin's death, on the heels of the assassination of Ismail Abu Shanab last August, leaves the Hamas leadership in the hands of these hardliners, who preach violence as the only way to solve the conflict. Abu Shanab was the most pragmatic of the Hamas executive and openly accepted an Israeli state. With both of them gone, no one will preach moderation in Hamas' inner circle.
Guardian: Killing Sheikh Yassin was a mistake
The assassination of Hamas' spiritual leader removes a crucial restraining force within the organisation and will have dangerous repercussions, argues Barak Barfi
In the strange world of Palestinian politics, Yassin was known as a moderate. Though he advocated violence and praised suicide bombers, he did not put faith in a military solution to the conflict. He often spoke of hundred-year truces between Israelis and Palestinians, or of a temporary cessation of hostilities that would grant de facto recognition of Israel.
These views pitted him against the hawkish side of the Hamas leadership in Gaza. Leaders such as Dr Abd al-Aziz Rantisi are dead set against any concessions or recognition of Israel and believe that if victory will not be achieved in their generation, it will come in future ones.
Yassin's death, on the heels of the assassination of Ismail Abu Shanab last August, leaves the Hamas leadership in the hands of these hardliners, who preach violence as the only way to solve the conflict. Abu Shanab was the most pragmatic of the Hamas executive and openly accepted an Israeli state. With both of them gone, no one will preach moderation in Hamas' inner circle.
OCCUPIED TERRITORIES: ISRAELI TERROR
Guardian: Israel 'targeting entire Hamas leadership'
Israel will attempt to kill the entire leadership of Palestinian militant group Hamas, stepping up targeted attacks, Israeli security sources said today.
The report comes after Israel attracted widespread international condemnation for its assassination of the Hamas founder and spiritual leader, Ahmed Yassin, yesterday.
Security sources told the Associated Press that the policy of assassinating Hamas leaders had last night been reaffirmed at a five-hour meeting between the Israeli defence minister, Shaul Mofaz, and security officials at the defence ministry in Tel Aviv. The meeting followed the helicopter missile attack in which Yassin was killed in Gaza.
Guardian: Israel 'targeting entire Hamas leadership'
Israel will attempt to kill the entire leadership of Palestinian militant group Hamas, stepping up targeted attacks, Israeli security sources said today.
The report comes after Israel attracted widespread international condemnation for its assassination of the Hamas founder and spiritual leader, Ahmed Yassin, yesterday.
Security sources told the Associated Press that the policy of assassinating Hamas leaders had last night been reaffirmed at a five-hour meeting between the Israeli defence minister, Shaul Mofaz, and security officials at the defence ministry in Tel Aviv. The meeting followed the helicopter missile attack in which Yassin was killed in Gaza.
OCCUPIED TERRITORIES: ISRAELI TERROR
Independent: A blow that may only strengthen Hamas
On one level, the strategy behind yesterday's assassination of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin is relatively easy to understand. The broad consensus is that it will escalate violence. The peace process is already completely blocked and Israel has shown that it is in no mood to negotiate as it proceeds with plans unilaterally to withdraw from the Gaza Strip.
If the attack showed anything, it is that the US-inspired "road-map" has no meaning. It has already been eclipsed by Israeli annexation of chunks of occupied territory with its controversial fence. Meanwhile, President George Bush has found more pressing affairs to attend to as the US election campaign grinds on.
Bitterly controversial though the assassination may be in the eyes of world opinion, the steps which made it likely were taken at an emergency cabinet meeting chaired by Israel's Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, after the suicide bombing which killed 10 Israeli civilians at the port of Ashdod. Responsibility for this was claimed jointly by Hamas and the Al Aqsa Brigades, linked to Yasser Arafat's Fatah, eight days ago.
Independent: A blow that may only strengthen Hamas
On one level, the strategy behind yesterday's assassination of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin is relatively easy to understand. The broad consensus is that it will escalate violence. The peace process is already completely blocked and Israel has shown that it is in no mood to negotiate as it proceeds with plans unilaterally to withdraw from the Gaza Strip.
If the attack showed anything, it is that the US-inspired "road-map" has no meaning. It has already been eclipsed by Israeli annexation of chunks of occupied territory with its controversial fence. Meanwhile, President George Bush has found more pressing affairs to attend to as the US election campaign grinds on.
Bitterly controversial though the assassination may be in the eyes of world opinion, the steps which made it likely were taken at an emergency cabinet meeting chaired by Israel's Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, after the suicide bombing which killed 10 Israeli civilians at the port of Ashdod. Responsibility for this was claimed jointly by Hamas and the Al Aqsa Brigades, linked to Yasser Arafat's Fatah, eight days ago.
OCCUPIED TERRIRTORIES: ISRAELI TERROR
Independent: The cry of vengeance
Israel faced a chorus of international criticism yesterday after assassinating Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, the founder of Hamas, in a helicopter missile attack which provoked immediate and bloodcurdling vows of vengeance from leaders of Palestinian militant factions.
Sheikh Yassin, regarded as the "spiritual leader" of the organisation which has led the wave of suicide bombings against Israel during the past three and half years of the intifada, was killed instantly by the first of three missiles as he returned home from morning prayers in Gaza City. The White House said the Bush administration was "deeply troubled" by the attack which left at least seven people dead and 18 wounded. Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, was prominent among the many international statesmen who condemned the attack as unjustifiable and unlikely to be effective.
Ariel Sharon, Israel's Prime Minister, called Sheikh Yassin the "mastermind of Palestinian terror" and a "mass-murderer who is among Israel's greatest enemies". Mr Sharon said Israel would not relent in its war on terror, indicating there would be more targeted attacks.
Independent: The cry of vengeance
Israel faced a chorus of international criticism yesterday after assassinating Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, the founder of Hamas, in a helicopter missile attack which provoked immediate and bloodcurdling vows of vengeance from leaders of Palestinian militant factions.
Sheikh Yassin, regarded as the "spiritual leader" of the organisation which has led the wave of suicide bombings against Israel during the past three and half years of the intifada, was killed instantly by the first of three missiles as he returned home from morning prayers in Gaza City. The White House said the Bush administration was "deeply troubled" by the attack which left at least seven people dead and 18 wounded. Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, was prominent among the many international statesmen who condemned the attack as unjustifiable and unlikely to be effective.
Ariel Sharon, Israel's Prime Minister, called Sheikh Yassin the "mastermind of Palestinian terror" and a "mass-murderer who is among Israel's greatest enemies". Mr Sharon said Israel would not relent in its war on terror, indicating there would be more targeted attacks.
OCCUPIED TERRIRTORIES: ISRAELI TERROR
Spiegel: ARABISCHE PRESSESCHAU
Die arabische Presse ist entsetzt über die "Hinrichtung Scheich Jassins" auf Befehl Scharons. Der Hamas-Gründer sei der wichtigste Ansprechpartner im Gaza-Streifen gewesen - auch für Israel, schreibt die in London erscheinende Zeitung "al Hayat".
Spiegel: ARABISCHE PRESSESCHAU
Die arabische Presse ist entsetzt über die "Hinrichtung Scheich Jassins" auf Befehl Scharons. Der Hamas-Gründer sei der wichtigste Ansprechpartner im Gaza-Streifen gewesen - auch für Israel, schreibt die in London erscheinende Zeitung "al Hayat".
Monday, March 22, 2004
VOICES ON IRAQ
Guardian: Hans von Sponeck, Former UN humanitarian coordinator for Iraq
The new element that exists is the almost daily emotional trauma caused
by the illegal war. Every fibre of society is bound to be affected by the
chaos and turmoil in Iraq, to a lesser extent in rural areas, to a
greater extent in Baghdad, Basra and other big cities. No one is spared.
There are islands of improvement, parts of Basra where water supply is
better and parts of Baghdad where the electricity works better. There
is some improvement in hospitals, but everything is affected by security
considerations. Access to services assumes security. If that is not
guaranteed, people don't have that access. In a mother and child
hospital in Basra, for example, there is less access to medicines than under the
sanctions.
Guardian: Hans von Sponeck, Former UN humanitarian coordinator for Iraq
The new element that exists is the almost daily emotional trauma caused
by the illegal war. Every fibre of society is bound to be affected by the
chaos and turmoil in Iraq, to a lesser extent in rural areas, to a
greater extent in Baghdad, Basra and other big cities. No one is spared.
There are islands of improvement, parts of Basra where water supply is
better and parts of Baghdad where the electricity works better. There
is some improvement in hospitals, but everything is affected by security
considerations. Access to services assumes security. If that is not
guaranteed, people don't have that access. In a mother and child
hospital in Basra, for example, there is less access to medicines than under the
sanctions.
VOICES ON IRAQ
Guardian: Noam Chomsky
There's a lot of focus on the American death toll but personally I think that's partly propaganda exaggeration. Polls have demonstrated time and time again that Americans are willing to accept a high death toll - although they don't like it, they're willing to accept it - if they think it's a just cause.
There's never been anything like the so-called Vietnam Syndrome: it's mostly a fabrication. And in this case too if they thought it was a just cause, the 500 or so deaths would be mourned, but not considered a dominant reason for not continuing. No, the problem is the justice of the cause.
Guardian: Noam Chomsky
There's a lot of focus on the American death toll but personally I think that's partly propaganda exaggeration. Polls have demonstrated time and time again that Americans are willing to accept a high death toll - although they don't like it, they're willing to accept it - if they think it's a just cause.
There's never been anything like the so-called Vietnam Syndrome: it's mostly a fabrication. And in this case too if they thought it was a just cause, the 500 or so deaths would be mourned, but not considered a dominant reason for not continuing. No, the problem is the justice of the cause.
OCCUPIED TERRITORIES
Scotsman: UK Condemns 'Unlawful Killing' of Hamas Leader
Britain strongly condemned the “unlawful” killing by Israeli forces of the spiritual leader of Hamas today and called for restraint from all sides in the Middle East conflict.
Arriving in Brussels for EU talks on new measures to counter international terrorism in the wake of the Madrid train bombs, Foreign Secretary Jack Straw described the targeted assassination of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin as “unacceptable and unjustified”.
Mr Straw said he did not believe that Israel would benefit from the killing of an old man in a wheelchair.
Scotsman: UK Condemns 'Unlawful Killing' of Hamas Leader
Britain strongly condemned the “unlawful” killing by Israeli forces of the spiritual leader of Hamas today and called for restraint from all sides in the Middle East conflict.
Arriving in Brussels for EU talks on new measures to counter international terrorism in the wake of the Madrid train bombs, Foreign Secretary Jack Straw described the targeted assassination of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin as “unacceptable and unjustified”.
Mr Straw said he did not believe that Israel would benefit from the killing of an old man in a wheelchair.
OCCUPIED TERRITORIES: ISRAELI TERROR
The AGE: Evil incarnate to some, a hero to others
Although he was an enemy, the Israelis once had their uses for Ahmed Yassin. Ed O'Loughlin reports.
Nobody in the Holy Land will be unmoved by yesterday's assassination of Hamas founder and spiritual leader Sheik Ahmed Yassin.
To Israelis, the 68-year-old quadriplegic was the incarnation of implacable terrorist evil. To many Palestinian Muslims he was a holy figurehead of resistance to oppression
When the first intifada, or uprising, against the Israeli occupation began in 1987, he formally founded Hamas (the Islamic Resistance Movement), initially with covert support from the Israeli security forces, which hoped to use Islam as a counterweight to Yasser Arafat's secular PLO
The AGE: Evil incarnate to some, a hero to others
Although he was an enemy, the Israelis once had their uses for Ahmed Yassin. Ed O'Loughlin reports.
Nobody in the Holy Land will be unmoved by yesterday's assassination of Hamas founder and spiritual leader Sheik Ahmed Yassin.
To Israelis, the 68-year-old quadriplegic was the incarnation of implacable terrorist evil. To many Palestinian Muslims he was a holy figurehead of resistance to oppression
When the first intifada, or uprising, against the Israeli occupation began in 1987, he formally founded Hamas (the Islamic Resistance Movement), initially with covert support from the Israeli security forces, which hoped to use Islam as a counterweight to Yasser Arafat's secular PLO
OCCUPIED TERRITORIES
Reuters: White House Denies Involvement in Hamas Death
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States strongly denied any involvement in the assassination on Monday of Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin and appealed for calm in the region following his death.
White House national security advisor Condoleezza Rice said in a round of interviews on U.S. television stations that the United States did not have advance warning of the assassination.
Wer das auch immer glauben mag...
Reuters: White House Denies Involvement in Hamas Death
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States strongly denied any involvement in the assassination on Monday of Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin and appealed for calm in the region following his death.
White House national security advisor Condoleezza Rice said in a round of interviews on U.S. television stations that the United States did not have advance warning of the assassination.
Wer das auch immer glauben mag...
SHEIK YASSIN
Independent: Key facts: Yassin's lifelong battle against Israel
Key facts about Hamas founder and spiritual leader Sheik Ahmed Yassin, who was killed today in an Israeli helicopter missile strike as he left a mosque after morning prayers.
Independent: Key facts: Yassin's lifelong battle against Israel
Key facts about Hamas founder and spiritual leader Sheik Ahmed Yassin, who was killed today in an Israeli helicopter missile strike as he left a mosque after morning prayers.
OCCUPIED TERRITORIES: ISRAELI TERROR
Independent: Sharon took huge gamble in killing Yassin
The Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon took an enormous gamble in ordering the assassination of Hamas founder Sheik Ahmed Yassin.
Sharon hopes to score a decisive victory against the violent group ahead of an Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, but risks unleashing a wave of Palestinian revenge attacks that could easily spin out of control.
Yassin was an attractive and relatively easy target for Israel.
The quadriplegic had a high profile as the spiritual leader of the group, even if he was not seen as being involved in the day-to-day planning of attacks on Israel.
Sharon lässt jetzt alte quadraplegiker im Rollstuhl ermorden, viel tiefer kann er nicht mehr sinken. Es wirft ein schiefes Licht auf Israel, dass immer wieder beteuert es sei die einzige Demokratie des Nahen Ostens. Die modernste Armee der Welt ermordet einen Rollstuhlfahrer mit der Billigung der USA. Sharon hätte die Israelis, die durch Vergeltungsaktionen umkommen werden auch gleich selbst töten können. Der Friedensprozess war schon länger Tod. Jetzt wurde er beerdigt. DIe Hamas wird nicht geschwächt. Israel hat Yassin zu Martyrer gemach und eine Legende geschaffen. In den besetzten Gebieten ist jeden Tag Madrid
Independent: Sharon took huge gamble in killing Yassin
The Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon took an enormous gamble in ordering the assassination of Hamas founder Sheik Ahmed Yassin.
Sharon hopes to score a decisive victory against the violent group ahead of an Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, but risks unleashing a wave of Palestinian revenge attacks that could easily spin out of control.
Yassin was an attractive and relatively easy target for Israel.
The quadriplegic had a high profile as the spiritual leader of the group, even if he was not seen as being involved in the day-to-day planning of attacks on Israel.
Sharon lässt jetzt alte quadraplegiker im Rollstuhl ermorden, viel tiefer kann er nicht mehr sinken. Es wirft ein schiefes Licht auf Israel, dass immer wieder beteuert es sei die einzige Demokratie des Nahen Ostens. Die modernste Armee der Welt ermordet einen Rollstuhlfahrer mit der Billigung der USA. Sharon hätte die Israelis, die durch Vergeltungsaktionen umkommen werden auch gleich selbst töten können. Der Friedensprozess war schon länger Tod. Jetzt wurde er beerdigt. DIe Hamas wird nicht geschwächt. Israel hat Yassin zu Martyrer gemach und eine Legende geschaffen. In den besetzten Gebieten ist jeden Tag Madrid
OCCUPIED TERRITORIES: ISRAELI TERROR
Independent: Israel crossed 'all red lines' says Arafat
The Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat denounced Israel's killing of Hamas leader Sheik Ahmed Yassin, declaring a three-day mourning period and saying the Israelis had crossed "all red lines."
"President Arafat and the Palestinian leadership, with national and Islamic factions, condemn the crime of assassinating the hero Sheik Ahmed Yassin and the other brothers killed after praying in the mosque," the Palestinian Authority said in a statement.
Independent: Israel crossed 'all red lines' says Arafat
The Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat denounced Israel's killing of Hamas leader Sheik Ahmed Yassin, declaring a three-day mourning period and saying the Israelis had crossed "all red lines."
"President Arafat and the Palestinian leadership, with national and Islamic factions, condemn the crime of assassinating the hero Sheik Ahmed Yassin and the other brothers killed after praying in the mosque," the Palestinian Authority said in a statement.
OCCUPIED TERRITORIES: ISRAELI TERROR
Haaretz: Analysis / Hamas may be only side to profit from Yassin's death
The assassination of Hamas founder and spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin may well turn out to be a blow, not to Hamas, but to the Palestinian Authority. In the power struggle waged for the past several years in Gaza between the PA and Hamas, it was Yassin's organization that enjoyed an ever-increasing advantage in the sphere of public opinion
Haaretz: Analysis / Hamas may be only side to profit from Yassin's death
The assassination of Hamas founder and spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin may well turn out to be a blow, not to Hamas, but to the Palestinian Authority. In the power struggle waged for the past several years in Gaza between the PA and Hamas, it was Yassin's organization that enjoyed an ever-increasing advantage in the sphere of public opinion
OCCUPIED TERRITORIES: ISRAELI TERROR
Haaretz: Hamas: Sharon has opened the gates of hell
Hamas leaders vowed Monday to "cut off" the head of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, after their spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin was killed in a missile strike by Israeli helicopter gunships in Gaza City.
"Sharon has opened the gates of hell and nothing will stop us from cutting off his head," leaders of the radical Islamic group vowed.
"Words cannot describe the emotion of anger and hate inside our hearts," said Hamas official Ismail Haniyeh, a close associate of Yassin in Gaza. He said that "the enemy should expect a response that will turn the ground under his feet to hell ... All of Palestine will turn into a volcano that will burn up the enemies."
Haaretz: Hamas: Sharon has opened the gates of hell
Hamas leaders vowed Monday to "cut off" the head of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, after their spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin was killed in a missile strike by Israeli helicopter gunships in Gaza City.
"Sharon has opened the gates of hell and nothing will stop us from cutting off his head," leaders of the radical Islamic group vowed.
"Words cannot describe the emotion of anger and hate inside our hearts," said Hamas official Ismail Haniyeh, a close associate of Yassin in Gaza. He said that "the enemy should expect a response that will turn the ground under his feet to hell ... All of Palestine will turn into a volcano that will burn up the enemies."
OCCUPIED TERRITORIES: ISRAELI TERROR
Haaretz: Tens of thousands march in funeral procession for Yassin
Hamas spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin was killed at daybreak Monday when Israel Air Force helicopters fired missiles at a car carrying the wheelchair-bound head of the radical Islamic group as he left a mosque near his house in Gaza City.
Witnesses said Israeli helicopters fired three missiles at Yassin and his bodyguards around 5 A.M. local time as they left the mosque. Yassin was killed instantly and up to seven bodyguards, reportedly including Yassin's son, were also said to have been killed. Hamas officials confirmed that Yassin had been killed.
Within hours, tens of thousands of mourners jammed the streets of Gaza City for the funeral procession of Yassin and the seven others killed in the air strike. Twenty-one Palestinian police officers formed an honor guard as the coffin holding Yassin's mangled body was carried out of Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.
Palestinian hospital sources said 15 people were wounded in the strike.
Haaretz: Tens of thousands march in funeral procession for Yassin
Hamas spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin was killed at daybreak Monday when Israel Air Force helicopters fired missiles at a car carrying the wheelchair-bound head of the radical Islamic group as he left a mosque near his house in Gaza City.
Witnesses said Israeli helicopters fired three missiles at Yassin and his bodyguards around 5 A.M. local time as they left the mosque. Yassin was killed instantly and up to seven bodyguards, reportedly including Yassin's son, were also said to have been killed. Hamas officials confirmed that Yassin had been killed.
Within hours, tens of thousands of mourners jammed the streets of Gaza City for the funeral procession of Yassin and the seven others killed in the air strike. Twenty-one Palestinian police officers formed an honor guard as the coffin holding Yassin's mangled body was carried out of Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.
Palestinian hospital sources said 15 people were wounded in the strike.
OCCUPIED TERRITORIES: ISRAELI TERROR
Spiegel: SPIEGEL-Interview mit Scheich Jassin vom Dezember 2003: "Für jeden toten Führer kommen zehn neue"
SPIEGEL: Israel hat Hunderte Ihrer Anführer und Kämpfer getötet. Wie sehr hat das die Hamas geschwächt?
Jassin: Es hat uns eher gestärkt. Für jeden toten Führer kommen zehn neue
Spiegel: SPIEGEL-Interview mit Scheich Jassin vom Dezember 2003: "Für jeden toten Führer kommen zehn neue"
SPIEGEL: Israel hat Hunderte Ihrer Anführer und Kämpfer getötet. Wie sehr hat das die Hamas geschwächt?
Jassin: Es hat uns eher gestärkt. Für jeden toten Führer kommen zehn neue
OCCUPIED TERRITORIES: ISRAELI TERROR
Spiegel: Israel ermordet Scheich Jassin
Mit der Exekution des schwer behinderten Hamas-Gründers Scheich Jassin hat Israel nicht nur den Hass der Palästinenser neu angefacht - Regierungen in aller Welt haben das von Israels Premierminister Scharon persönlich angeordnete Attentat scharf verurteilt. In Gaza begleiteten Zehntausende wütende Menschen Jassins Sarg.
Video News: Der Krieg ist eröffnet
Spiegel: Tränen für den getöteten Scheich
Zehntausende Menschen gingen am Vormittag in Gaza auf die Straßen, um Hamas-Gründer Scheich Ahmed Jassin die letzte Ehre zu erwiesen. Auch in anderen arabischen Ländern gibt es Trauerprozessionen für Jassin.
Spiegel: Israel ermordet Scheich Jassin
Mit der Exekution des schwer behinderten Hamas-Gründers Scheich Jassin hat Israel nicht nur den Hass der Palästinenser neu angefacht - Regierungen in aller Welt haben das von Israels Premierminister Scharon persönlich angeordnete Attentat scharf verurteilt. In Gaza begleiteten Zehntausende wütende Menschen Jassins Sarg.
Video News: Der Krieg ist eröffnet
Spiegel: Tränen für den getöteten Scheich
Zehntausende Menschen gingen am Vormittag in Gaza auf die Straßen, um Hamas-Gründer Scheich Ahmed Jassin die letzte Ehre zu erwiesen. Auch in anderen arabischen Ländern gibt es Trauerprozessionen für Jassin.
Sunday, March 21, 2004
TERROR
John Pilger: The Unmentionable Source Of Terrorism
In his latest column for the New Statesman, John Pilger writes that the atrocity in Madrid pales against the terrorism whose name is seldom spoken and principal source is rarely identified. Moreover, this source wags the dog in Bush's Washington...
The current threat of attacks in countries whose governments have close alliances with Washington is the latest stage in a long struggle against the empires of the west, their rapacious crusades and domination. The motivation of those who plant bombs in railway carriages derives directly from this truth. What is different today is that the weak have learned how to attack the strong, and the western crusaders' most recent colonial terrorism (as many as 55,000 Iraqis killed) exposes "us" to retaliation.
The source of much of this danger is Israel. A creation, then guardian of the west's empire in the Middle East, the Zionist state remains the cause of more regional grievance and sheer terror than all the Muslim states combined. Read the melancholy Palestinian Monitor on the internet; it chronicles the equivalent of Madrid's horror week after week, month after month, in occupied Palestine. No front pages in the west acknowledge this enduring bloodbath, let alone mourn its victims. Moreover, the Israeli army, a terrorist organisation by any reasonable measure, is protected and rewarded in the west.
"CHECK IT"
John Pilger: The Unmentionable Source Of Terrorism
In his latest column for the New Statesman, John Pilger writes that the atrocity in Madrid pales against the terrorism whose name is seldom spoken and principal source is rarely identified. Moreover, this source wags the dog in Bush's Washington...
The current threat of attacks in countries whose governments have close alliances with Washington is the latest stage in a long struggle against the empires of the west, their rapacious crusades and domination. The motivation of those who plant bombs in railway carriages derives directly from this truth. What is different today is that the weak have learned how to attack the strong, and the western crusaders' most recent colonial terrorism (as many as 55,000 Iraqis killed) exposes "us" to retaliation.
The source of much of this danger is Israel. A creation, then guardian of the west's empire in the Middle East, the Zionist state remains the cause of more regional grievance and sheer terror than all the Muslim states combined. Read the melancholy Palestinian Monitor on the internet; it chronicles the equivalent of Madrid's horror week after week, month after month, in occupied Palestine. No front pages in the west acknowledge this enduring bloodbath, let alone mourn its victims. Moreover, the Israeli army, a terrorist organisation by any reasonable measure, is protected and rewarded in the west.
"CHECK IT"
Friday, March 19, 2004
PEAK OIL
UPI: Shell cuts reserve estimates again
LONDON, March 18 (UPI) -- Europe's Royal Dutch/Shell Group has trimmed its reserves estimates once again, the energy company announced Thursday.
Shell cut estimates by 250 million barrels for reserves it had booked in 2002 in the Ormen Lange field in Norway. It also cut 220 million more barrels from reserves it had booked in 2003, on top of the 3.9 billion barrel cut in announced in January.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said it would investigate the company after the initial reserves cut in January.
Shell also said it would not publish its annual report, originally scheduled for release on Friday, until later this year, probably in late May.
UPI: Shell cuts reserve estimates again
LONDON, March 18 (UPI) -- Europe's Royal Dutch/Shell Group has trimmed its reserves estimates once again, the energy company announced Thursday.
Shell cut estimates by 250 million barrels for reserves it had booked in 2002 in the Ormen Lange field in Norway. It also cut 220 million more barrels from reserves it had booked in 2003, on top of the 3.9 billion barrel cut in announced in January.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said it would investigate the company after the initial reserves cut in January.
Shell also said it would not publish its annual report, originally scheduled for release on Friday, until later this year, probably in late May.
Thursday, March 18, 2004
BALKAN
Heise: "Kristallnacht" im Kosovo
"Wir haben es geschafft, dass Mord, Vertreibung und Gewalt beendet worden sind." (Verteidigungsminister Rudolf Scharping vor dem Bundestag ?ber die Lage im Kosovo, 20.3.2000)
"Ich freue mich, dass die Dinge so gut stehen." (Der fr?here US-Pr?sident William Clinton bei seinem Besuch in Pristina am 19. September 2003)
"Der Fortschritt ?berall in der Provinz ist offensichtlich." (EU-Au?en- und Sicherheitspolitik-Koordinator Javier Solana Ende Februar 2004)
Seit Mittwoch, 17. M?rz 2004, klingen diese Worte auch f?r jene wie Hohn, die vorher den sch?nen Worten der westlichen Politiker Glauben schenkten. Mindestens 30 Tote und ?ber 600 Verletzte (Stand Donnerstag, 22.00 Uhr) - das ist die vorl?ufige Bilanz der aktuellen albanischen Terroroffensive. Es ist der h?chste Blutzoll in der Provinz, seitdem UN und NATO dort im Juni 1999 das Kommando ?bernommen haben, um - angeblich - die Menschenrechte zu verteidigen ( Der vergessene Krieg).
Am Anfang eines Pogroms steht immer eine Pogroml?ge. So war es im Mittelalter, wenn der christliche Mob an den Juden Vergeltung ?ben wollte, weil die angeblich Hostien gesch?ndet oder Knaben ermordet hatten, und genauso geschah es jetzt auch den Serben. Am Mittwoch Mittag hatten sich etwa 3.000 Albaner in der Stadt Mitrovica zusammengerottet, um Rache f?r den Tod von zwei Buben zu nehmen. Beide seien, so albanische Sender am Dienstag Abend, von Serben in den eiskalten Fluss Ibar gehetzt worden und dann ertrunken. So konnte man es auch am Donnerstag noch in der ARD-Tagesschau.
Dabei war das b?se Ger?cht schon in der Nacht auf Donnerstag bestritten worden, und zwar von Derek Chappel, dem Sprecher der UN-Verwaltung im Kosovo, gegen?ber der Belgrader Nachrichtenagentur Beta. Chappel bezog sich auf die Zeugenaussage eines dritten Albanerjungen, der ebenfalls in den Fluss gesprungen war, aber im Unterschied zu den beiden Ertrunkenen das gegen?berliegende Ufer erreicht hatte. Das Trio habe, so der ?berlebende, auf eigene Faust gehandelt, Serben seien nicht beteiligt gewesen.
"Der Westen hat beim "Nation-Building" mal wieder versagt"
Heise: "Kristallnacht" im Kosovo
"Wir haben es geschafft, dass Mord, Vertreibung und Gewalt beendet worden sind." (Verteidigungsminister Rudolf Scharping vor dem Bundestag ?ber die Lage im Kosovo, 20.3.2000)
"Ich freue mich, dass die Dinge so gut stehen." (Der fr?here US-Pr?sident William Clinton bei seinem Besuch in Pristina am 19. September 2003)
"Der Fortschritt ?berall in der Provinz ist offensichtlich." (EU-Au?en- und Sicherheitspolitik-Koordinator Javier Solana Ende Februar 2004)
Seit Mittwoch, 17. M?rz 2004, klingen diese Worte auch f?r jene wie Hohn, die vorher den sch?nen Worten der westlichen Politiker Glauben schenkten. Mindestens 30 Tote und ?ber 600 Verletzte (Stand Donnerstag, 22.00 Uhr) - das ist die vorl?ufige Bilanz der aktuellen albanischen Terroroffensive. Es ist der h?chste Blutzoll in der Provinz, seitdem UN und NATO dort im Juni 1999 das Kommando ?bernommen haben, um - angeblich - die Menschenrechte zu verteidigen ( Der vergessene Krieg).
Am Anfang eines Pogroms steht immer eine Pogroml?ge. So war es im Mittelalter, wenn der christliche Mob an den Juden Vergeltung ?ben wollte, weil die angeblich Hostien gesch?ndet oder Knaben ermordet hatten, und genauso geschah es jetzt auch den Serben. Am Mittwoch Mittag hatten sich etwa 3.000 Albaner in der Stadt Mitrovica zusammengerottet, um Rache f?r den Tod von zwei Buben zu nehmen. Beide seien, so albanische Sender am Dienstag Abend, von Serben in den eiskalten Fluss Ibar gehetzt worden und dann ertrunken. So konnte man es auch am Donnerstag noch in der ARD-Tagesschau.
Dabei war das b?se Ger?cht schon in der Nacht auf Donnerstag bestritten worden, und zwar von Derek Chappel, dem Sprecher der UN-Verwaltung im Kosovo, gegen?ber der Belgrader Nachrichtenagentur Beta. Chappel bezog sich auf die Zeugenaussage eines dritten Albanerjungen, der ebenfalls in den Fluss gesprungen war, aber im Unterschied zu den beiden Ertrunkenen das gegen?berliegende Ufer erreicht hatte. Das Trio habe, so der ?berlebende, auf eigene Faust gehandelt, Serben seien nicht beteiligt gewesen.
"Der Westen hat beim "Nation-Building" mal wieder versagt"
Tuesday, March 16, 2004
SPAIN
MOBILE PHONES AND POTS AND PANS (source unidentified)
Paul Laverty, 15.03.2004 19:51
Eyewitnes report from Madrid on the crucial Saturday before the Spanish
Elections
A five minute walk from where I live in the centre of Madrid is Atocha
station where two of the bombs exploded on Thursday. Last night one
hundred meters from my front door three Moroccans were arrested for
“involvement” in the crime; and from my kitchen window I can see the
queue of those waiting to vote in today’s general election.(14th
March.) I have just interviewed a fifty two year old resident called Shaaban,
who once worked in journalism, insisting the attack was still carried out
by ETA. This demonstrates how effective outgoing President Aznar and his
Popular Party government’s manipulation of the news has been. The
question on everyone’s lip is “Will the truth get out in time?” It
did for one Grandmother I spoke to who refused to give her name. “I
voted for the PP last time but I can’t vote for these thugs again who lead us
into a war nobody wanted. They lied about the weapons in Iraq, and
they’re lying again today. How dare they manipulate the dead? Many of
my friends think the same.”
Yesterday there was growing fury as more dirty tricks by the Minister
of Interior and Foreign Minister were exposed – all exacerbated by deep
frustration than none of this was being covered by the main TV
Stations, especially TV 1, Antena 3 and Tele-Madrid which are all pro Government.
Even after a van was discovered with detonators and tape with Koranic verses Aznar phoned
the editor of the biggest paper El Pais to say he still thought it was
ETA´s doing while the PP´s new Presidential candidate Mr Rajoy said he had
“the moral conviction” ETA were responsible. But tens of thousands of
mobiles were on the go flashing messages between friends. Have you seen
Bloomberg? Check article in New York Times. Check out Radio Ser – 95%
of police investigating Al Quaida and on it went all day contradicting the
Government line till I received a message – “Meet outside PP party
headquarters to demand the truth…..followed by a “cacerolada”
(literally, protest by banging of pots and pans) at 10pm wherever you
live………pass it on.”
By the time I arrived at the PP headquarters at 7 pm there were
hundreds streaming from the metro and the road was already closed off. I met a
woman Marisol who had been among the first to arrive. The police moved in and
demanded identification papers but backed off as hundreds more arrived.
Now there were around five thousand, and rising, chanting “We want the
truth before we vote”, “Our Dead – Your War” and then a continuous chant
of “Liars…..Liars…..Liars” followed by “Don´t play with the
Dead”. More mobiles flashing – there were demonstrations outside the PP
offices in all the big cities and spirits rose.
By the time I got home the neighbourhood of Lavapies was a cacophony of
unbelievable noise and my two month old son was beginning to look
overwhelmed. Balconies were full of protesting families. The square was
a throng of clinking kitchen implements. Africans, Moroccans, Latin
Americans, Spaniards, children and parents were banging their pots and
pans. Some had soup spoons and one old man, arthritic fingers gripping
an enormous ladle, pounded a plastic bin with all his might “ I want the
truth!……Liars!” he spat, “God damn those liars!” Beside him a six
foot African clanged a road sign with his umbrella as his friends held
up a sign, “Senegal for Peace”. It was overpowering; grassroot fury at the
manipulation suddenly given expression. Next, news filtered through
more mobiles, and it was as many suspected – Al Quaida sympathisers had been
arrested.
Another spontaneous meeting was organised in Sol, the most famous
square in Spain right at the heart of the city. At midnight thousands more
arrived. More chants “Esto es el regalo del amigo Americano”. “This is a
present from our American friend”. On TV a Government spokesperson
condemned the spontaneous meetings and warned against participation.
There was speculation whither the riot police would take a heavy hand as they
did during the anti war demonstrations when peaceful marchers were battened
and fired upon with rubber bullets which forced us to rush into bars and
hotels for safety, or whither they would do anything to avoid more bad
publicity. It was the later; still more arrived in the square as more and more
inventive slogans proliferated. At 2 am the crowd decided as one to
head or Atocha station by the scene of the massacre. Suddenly the mood
changed.
Hushing sounds swept though an enormous crowd from the Atocha
roundabout to adjoining streets. Everyone sat down, held up their hands, and there
was a stunning silence apart from the police helicopter above. Some cried,
some cuddled, some prayed, and some were lost in private thoughts. After a
perfectly observed two minute silence there was a spontaneous applause
before they hung their banners and placed candles for the dead at the
station wall. Some made reference to the innocent lives taken in Madrid
and the ten thousand civilians killed in Baghdad. Some called for the end
to terror – of every kind. Some referred to the “three wise monkeys” of
Blair, Bush and Aznar and their infamous encounter in the Azores prior
to the war, and some mentioned names of loved ones. “Sergio, I love you.”
I laid mine – No more lies.
MOBILE PHONES AND POTS AND PANS (source unidentified)
Paul Laverty, 15.03.2004 19:51
Eyewitnes report from Madrid on the crucial Saturday before the Spanish
Elections
A five minute walk from where I live in the centre of Madrid is Atocha
station where two of the bombs exploded on Thursday. Last night one
hundred meters from my front door three Moroccans were arrested for
“involvement” in the crime; and from my kitchen window I can see the
queue of those waiting to vote in today’s general election.(14th
March.) I have just interviewed a fifty two year old resident called Shaaban,
who once worked in journalism, insisting the attack was still carried out
by ETA. This demonstrates how effective outgoing President Aznar and his
Popular Party government’s manipulation of the news has been. The
question on everyone’s lip is “Will the truth get out in time?” It
did for one Grandmother I spoke to who refused to give her name. “I
voted for the PP last time but I can’t vote for these thugs again who lead us
into a war nobody wanted. They lied about the weapons in Iraq, and
they’re lying again today. How dare they manipulate the dead? Many of
my friends think the same.”
Yesterday there was growing fury as more dirty tricks by the Minister
of Interior and Foreign Minister were exposed – all exacerbated by deep
frustration than none of this was being covered by the main TV
Stations, especially TV 1, Antena 3 and Tele-Madrid which are all pro Government.
Even after a van was discovered with detonators and tape with Koranic verses Aznar phoned
the editor of the biggest paper El Pais to say he still thought it was
ETA´s doing while the PP´s new Presidential candidate Mr Rajoy said he had
“the moral conviction” ETA were responsible. But tens of thousands of
mobiles were on the go flashing messages between friends. Have you seen
Bloomberg? Check article in New York Times. Check out Radio Ser – 95%
of police investigating Al Quaida and on it went all day contradicting the
Government line till I received a message – “Meet outside PP party
headquarters to demand the truth…..followed by a “cacerolada”
(literally, protest by banging of pots and pans) at 10pm wherever you
live………pass it on.”
By the time I arrived at the PP headquarters at 7 pm there were
hundreds streaming from the metro and the road was already closed off. I met a
woman Marisol who had been among the first to arrive. The police moved in and
demanded identification papers but backed off as hundreds more arrived.
Now there were around five thousand, and rising, chanting “We want the
truth before we vote”, “Our Dead – Your War” and then a continuous chant
of “Liars…..Liars…..Liars” followed by “Don´t play with the
Dead”. More mobiles flashing – there were demonstrations outside the PP
offices in all the big cities and spirits rose.
By the time I got home the neighbourhood of Lavapies was a cacophony of
unbelievable noise and my two month old son was beginning to look
overwhelmed. Balconies were full of protesting families. The square was
a throng of clinking kitchen implements. Africans, Moroccans, Latin
Americans, Spaniards, children and parents were banging their pots and
pans. Some had soup spoons and one old man, arthritic fingers gripping
an enormous ladle, pounded a plastic bin with all his might “ I want the
truth!……Liars!” he spat, “God damn those liars!” Beside him a six
foot African clanged a road sign with his umbrella as his friends held
up a sign, “Senegal for Peace”. It was overpowering; grassroot fury at the
manipulation suddenly given expression. Next, news filtered through
more mobiles, and it was as many suspected – Al Quaida sympathisers had been
arrested.
Another spontaneous meeting was organised in Sol, the most famous
square in Spain right at the heart of the city. At midnight thousands more
arrived. More chants “Esto es el regalo del amigo Americano”. “This is a
present from our American friend”. On TV a Government spokesperson
condemned the spontaneous meetings and warned against participation.
There was speculation whither the riot police would take a heavy hand as they
did during the anti war demonstrations when peaceful marchers were battened
and fired upon with rubber bullets which forced us to rush into bars and
hotels for safety, or whither they would do anything to avoid more bad
publicity. It was the later; still more arrived in the square as more and more
inventive slogans proliferated. At 2 am the crowd decided as one to
head or Atocha station by the scene of the massacre. Suddenly the mood
changed.
Hushing sounds swept though an enormous crowd from the Atocha
roundabout to adjoining streets. Everyone sat down, held up their hands, and there
was a stunning silence apart from the police helicopter above. Some cried,
some cuddled, some prayed, and some were lost in private thoughts. After a
perfectly observed two minute silence there was a spontaneous applause
before they hung their banners and placed candles for the dead at the
station wall. Some made reference to the innocent lives taken in Madrid
and the ten thousand civilians killed in Baghdad. Some called for the end
to terror – of every kind. Some referred to the “three wise monkeys” of
Blair, Bush and Aznar and their infamous encounter in the Azores prior
to the war, and some mentioned names of loved ones. “Sergio, I love you.”
I laid mine – No more lies.
PROPAGANDA WATCH
SF Chronicle: The truth leaks out
ONE YEAR LATER, the lies that led to the war in Iraq are coming unraveled. Last week, even CIA Director George Tenet admitted that he had privately disputed public statements made by top government officials who had twisted intelligence reports.
It's about time. One year ago, I watched as our nation's highest officials exploited the catastrophe of Sept. 11, 2001, by manipulating fears of terrorism and exaggerating the existence of weapons of mass destruction.
SF Chronicle: The truth leaks out
ONE YEAR LATER, the lies that led to the war in Iraq are coming unraveled. Last week, even CIA Director George Tenet admitted that he had privately disputed public statements made by top government officials who had twisted intelligence reports.
It's about time. One year ago, I watched as our nation's highest officials exploited the catastrophe of Sept. 11, 2001, by manipulating fears of terrorism and exaggerating the existence of weapons of mass destruction.
IRAQ WMD: PROPAGANDA WATCH
Daily Times: US tried to plant WMDs, failed: whistleblower
According to a stunning report posted by a retired Navy Lt Commander and 28-year veteran of the Defense Department (DoD), the Bush administration’s assurance about finding weapons of mass destruction in Iraq was based on a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) plan to “plant” WMDs inside the country. Nelda Rogers, the Pentagon whistleblower, claims the plan failed when the secret mission was mistakenly taken out by “friendly fire”, the Environmentalists Against War report.
Nelda Rogers is a 28-year veteran debriefer for the DoD. She has become so concerned for her safety that she decided to tell the story about this latest CIA-military fiasco in Iraq. According to Al Martin Raw.com, “Ms Rogers is number two in the chain of command within this DoD special intelligence office. This is a ten-person debriefing unit within the central debriefing office for the Department of Defense.”
Daily Times: US tried to plant WMDs, failed: whistleblower
According to a stunning report posted by a retired Navy Lt Commander and 28-year veteran of the Defense Department (DoD), the Bush administration’s assurance about finding weapons of mass destruction in Iraq was based on a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) plan to “plant” WMDs inside the country. Nelda Rogers, the Pentagon whistleblower, claims the plan failed when the secret mission was mistakenly taken out by “friendly fire”, the Environmentalists Against War report.
Nelda Rogers is a 28-year veteran debriefer for the DoD. She has become so concerned for her safety that she decided to tell the story about this latest CIA-military fiasco in Iraq. According to Al Martin Raw.com, “Ms Rogers is number two in the chain of command within this DoD special intelligence office. This is a ten-person debriefing unit within the central debriefing office for the Department of Defense.”
SPAIN
Common Dreams: Liars Lose -- The Lessons of Regime Change in Spain
"Political shock in Spain!" blared ABC News on Sunday night, as
regime change came to Madrid. Along with Tony Blair, Spain's conservative
Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar had been the staunchest of Bush allies. One
down, two to go.
The deciding issue in Spain's election was government deceit over war
in Iraq and terrorism at home, especially the bomb blasts that rocked
Madrid three days before the balloting. In a country (like ours) where major
TV channels routinely echo government propaganda, grassroots activists
defeated Aznar's Popular Party by reaching swing voters and young
voters through mobile phones, the Internet and creative, nonviolent protests.
Common Dreams: Liars Lose -- The Lessons of Regime Change in Spain
"Political shock in Spain!" blared ABC News on Sunday night, as
regime change came to Madrid. Along with Tony Blair, Spain's conservative
Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar had been the staunchest of Bush allies. One
down, two to go.
The deciding issue in Spain's election was government deceit over war
in Iraq and terrorism at home, especially the bomb blasts that rocked
Madrid three days before the balloting. In a country (like ours) where major
TV channels routinely echo government propaganda, grassroots activists
defeated Aznar's Popular Party by reaching swing voters and young
voters through mobile phones, the Internet and creative, nonviolent protests.
SPAIN
infowar: Prior Knowledge?
Spanish Interior Ministry was making security preparations for a terrorist attack, days before the blasts
By Mario Andrade
Spanish Newspaper Source: La Rioja
3-11-04
The Spanish Ministry of Interior was on maximum alert, just days prior to the terrorist attack in Madrid. The ministry deployed over 200 agents, heavily-armed and equipped with riot gear. Officials stated that the reason for the security alert was to protect the nation's capitol against a possible terror attack from the Basque ETA terrorist group.
infowar: Prior Knowledge?
Spanish Interior Ministry was making security preparations for a terrorist attack, days before the blasts
By Mario Andrade
Spanish Newspaper Source: La Rioja
3-11-04
The Spanish Ministry of Interior was on maximum alert, just days prior to the terrorist attack in Madrid. The ministry deployed over 200 agents, heavily-armed and equipped with riot gear. Officials stated that the reason for the security alert was to protect the nation's capitol against a possible terror attack from the Basque ETA terrorist group.
SPAIN
Guardian: Power balance blown apart
Spain's voters have sent a series of dramatic messages that will resonate far beyond Spain, affecting relations within Europe, with the US and in terms of the "war on terror".
They reminded the world that regime change is best achieved through the ballot box; and that violence must not be allowed to win. Sunday's high poll turnout, after the mass demonstrations last Friday, reflected participatory democracy at its best - courageous, robust and unintimidated.
They also served a warning that politicians who flout public opinion, as the outgoing prime minister José María Aznar did over Iraq, may pay a heavy price.
The bombs were a brutal reminder of that unpopular war. Many in Spain and more widely, in Europe, saw them as the Islamist terrorists' long predicted payback - and a direct result of Mr Aznar's stance.
Voters also objected strongly to perceived attempts by the People's party to manipulate or "spin" opinion over whether Eta or terrorists linked to al-Qaida were responsible for the bombings.
Guardian: Power balance blown apart
Spain's voters have sent a series of dramatic messages that will resonate far beyond Spain, affecting relations within Europe, with the US and in terms of the "war on terror".
They reminded the world that regime change is best achieved through the ballot box; and that violence must not be allowed to win. Sunday's high poll turnout, after the mass demonstrations last Friday, reflected participatory democracy at its best - courageous, robust and unintimidated.
They also served a warning that politicians who flout public opinion, as the outgoing prime minister José María Aznar did over Iraq, may pay a heavy price.
The bombs were a brutal reminder of that unpopular war. Many in Spain and more widely, in Europe, saw them as the Islamist terrorists' long predicted payback - and a direct result of Mr Aznar's stance.
Voters also objected strongly to perceived attempts by the People's party to manipulate or "spin" opinion over whether Eta or terrorists linked to al-Qaida were responsible for the bombings.
HAITI
Guardian: Aristide back in the Caribbean
The deposed Haitian president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, flew back to the Caribbean yesterday, bringing hope to his supporters and objections from US and Haitian officials, who believe his presence in the region will increase the tension in the country.
Scores of police and soldiers were sent to meet him when he landed in Jamaica yesterday after two weeks of exile in the Central African Republic. Mr Aristide insists he was "abducted" by the US and forced to leave Haiti. The US denies the accusation.
Before boarding the plane in Bangui, the capital of CAR, Mr Aristide made it clear that he had not given up hope of returning to lead his country.
Guardian: Aristide back in the Caribbean
The deposed Haitian president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, flew back to the Caribbean yesterday, bringing hope to his supporters and objections from US and Haitian officials, who believe his presence in the region will increase the tension in the country.
Scores of police and soldiers were sent to meet him when he landed in Jamaica yesterday after two weeks of exile in the Central African Republic. Mr Aristide insists he was "abducted" by the US and forced to leave Haiti. The US denies the accusation.
Before boarding the plane in Bangui, the capital of CAR, Mr Aristide made it clear that he had not given up hope of returning to lead his country.
SPAIN
Guardian: Spanish leader accuses Bush and Blair
Threat to pull troops out of Iraq as row over election result escalates
Spain's new prime minister, the Socialist José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, yesterday followed his dramatic election triumph with a pledge to bring troops home from Iraq and accusations that Tony Blair and George Bush lied about the war.
"Mr Blair and Mr Bush must do some reflection _ you can't organise a war with lies," he said in his first radio interview after ousting the ruling conservative People's party in a Sunday election dominated by the terror attacks on trains that killed 200 Madrid commuters last week.
"The Spanish troops will come back," he added.
His stinging comments caused political shockwaves across Europe and in the US. Sunday would go down in history as "the day when Islamist fundamentalism was seen as dictating the outcome of a European election", said Wilfried Martens, the head of the European People's party, an umbrella group for European conservative parties.
Jonathan Eyal, the director of studies at the London-based Royal United Services Institute, said if al-Qaida were responsible for last week's bombs, Spain had become the first country "to have a prime minister owing his position to Bin Laden".
"Der Vorwurf der Konservativen, kann so nicht ganz gelten. Die Leute scharen sich im Normalfall nach solchen Anschlägen um die aktuelle Regierung. Herr Aznar hat, als er in den Irakkrieg gezogen ist die Meinung von 98% der Bevölkerung ignoriert. Am Sonntag erhielt seine Partei dafür die Quittung."
Guardian: Spanish leader accuses Bush and Blair
Threat to pull troops out of Iraq as row over election result escalates
Spain's new prime minister, the Socialist José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, yesterday followed his dramatic election triumph with a pledge to bring troops home from Iraq and accusations that Tony Blair and George Bush lied about the war.
"Mr Blair and Mr Bush must do some reflection _ you can't organise a war with lies," he said in his first radio interview after ousting the ruling conservative People's party in a Sunday election dominated by the terror attacks on trains that killed 200 Madrid commuters last week.
"The Spanish troops will come back," he added.
His stinging comments caused political shockwaves across Europe and in the US. Sunday would go down in history as "the day when Islamist fundamentalism was seen as dictating the outcome of a European election", said Wilfried Martens, the head of the European People's party, an umbrella group for European conservative parties.
Jonathan Eyal, the director of studies at the London-based Royal United Services Institute, said if al-Qaida were responsible for last week's bombs, Spain had become the first country "to have a prime minister owing his position to Bin Laden".
"Der Vorwurf der Konservativen, kann so nicht ganz gelten. Die Leute scharen sich im Normalfall nach solchen Anschlägen um die aktuelle Regierung. Herr Aznar hat, als er in den Irakkrieg gezogen ist die Meinung von 98% der Bevölkerung ignoriert. Am Sonntag erhielt seine Partei dafür die Quittung."
PROPAGANDA WATCH
NY TIMES: U.S. Videos, for TV News, Come Under Scrutiny
Federal investigators are scrutinizing television segments in which the Bush administration paid people to pose as journalists praising the benefits of the new Medicare law, which would be offered to help elderly Americans with the costs of their prescription medicines.
The videos are intended for use in local television news programs. Several include pictures of President Bush receiving a standing ovation from a crowd cheering as he signed the Medicare law on Dec. 8
NY TIMES: U.S. Videos, for TV News, Come Under Scrutiny
Federal investigators are scrutinizing television segments in which the Bush administration paid people to pose as journalists praising the benefits of the new Medicare law, which would be offered to help elderly Americans with the costs of their prescription medicines.
The videos are intended for use in local television news programs. Several include pictures of President Bush receiving a standing ovation from a crowd cheering as he signed the Medicare law on Dec. 8
Saturday, March 13, 2004
VENEZUELA
Vheadline: THE SECRET TEAM
What is happening in Venezuela now is directly out of the book "The Secret Team".
In particular, appendix three is happening in Ecuador and Columbia.
This book is free on the internet and available for downloading in different formats.
100,000 copies were removed from the book stores across the USA.
Vheadline: THE SECRET TEAM
What is happening in Venezuela now is directly out of the book "The Secret Team".
In particular, appendix three is happening in Ecuador and Columbia.
This book is free on the internet and available for downloading in different formats.
100,000 copies were removed from the book stores across the USA.
GRAFITTI
20min: Flusss?ure in Z?rcher Graffitis nicht nachgewiesen
Bei den Mitte Februar aufgetauchten Graffitis auf Z?rcher Trams ist der Nachweis von Flusss?ure analytisch bisher nicht gegl?ckt.
20min: Z?rich bildet ein Anti-Graffiti-Team
Die Stadt Z?rich will Sprayern das Handwerk legen: Ein neues siebenk?pfiges Anti-Graffiti-Team soll f?r ein sauberes Stadtbild sorgen.
Ein Stelleninserat im ?Tages-Anzeiger? von gestern verriet das Ansinnen der Stadt: ?F?r den Aufbau eines stadtweiten Einsatzteams zur Entfernung von Graffiti suchen wir eine Leiterin oder einen Leiter Graffiti-Ordnung?, schreibt Entsorgung und Recycling Z?rich (ERZ). Bislang geh?rte die Graffiti-Reinigung zum Aufgabenbereich der Strassenreiniger
20min: Flusss?ure in Z?rcher Graffitis nicht nachgewiesen
Bei den Mitte Februar aufgetauchten Graffitis auf Z?rcher Trams ist der Nachweis von Flusss?ure analytisch bisher nicht gegl?ckt.
20min: Z?rich bildet ein Anti-Graffiti-Team
Die Stadt Z?rich will Sprayern das Handwerk legen: Ein neues siebenk?pfiges Anti-Graffiti-Team soll f?r ein sauberes Stadtbild sorgen.
Ein Stelleninserat im ?Tages-Anzeiger? von gestern verriet das Ansinnen der Stadt: ?F?r den Aufbau eines stadtweiten Einsatzteams zur Entfernung von Graffiti suchen wir eine Leiterin oder einen Leiter Graffiti-Ordnung?, schreibt Entsorgung und Recycling Z?rich (ERZ). Bislang geh?rte die Graffiti-Reinigung zum Aufgabenbereich der Strassenreiniger
Friday, March 12, 2004
SPAIN
Guardian: Sick, afraid, defiant - they marched in their millions
No one was sure whether it was over. Bob Dylan's Knocking on Heaven's Door and U2's Bloody Sunday hummed from radios, in between tearful speeches from DJs.
On screens in empty bars, newscasters were carefully listing the distinguishing features of corpses which hadn't been claimed - woman in her 30s, height: 5ft. Children left uncollected at kindergarten were presumed to have gone to relatives to sit by the phone.
In the streets, Spanish flags with black ribbons clung to every available facade, lamppost, cashpoint, streetsweeping machine in Madrid.
But there was a reticence before the grieving and demonstrations began. A fear that there could possibly be more to come: another blast, another explosion. Because, as one tax inspector said as he entered a terrifyingly empty tapas bar, "we're in some kind of suspended nightmare. We still don't know what the hell is going on here. Why? Someone, please, tell me why."
Then, slowly, thousands began to congregate in squares, unfurling banners begging "We don't want to die" and "Death to ETA", "Peace not terrorism". As the thousands multiplied into a million, and then two, Madrid knew it was witnessing the biggest mass-protest in Spanish history
An architect with a Spanish flag brushed off Eta's denial of the attack. "Of course it was Eta," she spat. She would vote for prime minister José María Aznar on Sunday.
A civil servant from Madrid would spoil his vote. "Al-Qaida did this but it doesn't suit our pro-war government to tell us until the elections are over."
Guardian: Sick, afraid, defiant - they marched in their millions
No one was sure whether it was over. Bob Dylan's Knocking on Heaven's Door and U2's Bloody Sunday hummed from radios, in between tearful speeches from DJs.
On screens in empty bars, newscasters were carefully listing the distinguishing features of corpses which hadn't been claimed - woman in her 30s, height: 5ft. Children left uncollected at kindergarten were presumed to have gone to relatives to sit by the phone.
In the streets, Spanish flags with black ribbons clung to every available facade, lamppost, cashpoint, streetsweeping machine in Madrid.
But there was a reticence before the grieving and demonstrations began. A fear that there could possibly be more to come: another blast, another explosion. Because, as one tax inspector said as he entered a terrifyingly empty tapas bar, "we're in some kind of suspended nightmare. We still don't know what the hell is going on here. Why? Someone, please, tell me why."
Then, slowly, thousands began to congregate in squares, unfurling banners begging "We don't want to die" and "Death to ETA", "Peace not terrorism". As the thousands multiplied into a million, and then two, Madrid knew it was witnessing the biggest mass-protest in Spanish history
An architect with a Spanish flag brushed off Eta's denial of the attack. "Of course it was Eta," she spat. She would vote for prime minister José María Aznar on Sunday.
A civil servant from Madrid would spoil his vote. "Al-Qaida did this but it doesn't suit our pro-war government to tell us until the elections are over."
USA VS. VENEZUELA
Independent: US revealed to be secretly funding opponents of Chavez
Washington has been channelling hundreds of thousands of dollars to fund the political opponents of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez - including those who briefly overthrew the democratically elected leader in a coup two years ago.
Documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act reveal that, in 2002, America paid more than a million dollars to those political groups in what it claims is an ongoing effort to build democracy and "strengthen political parties". Mr Chavez has seized on the information, telling Washington to "get its hands off Venezuela".
The revelation about America's funding of Mr Chavez's opponents comes as the president is facing a possible recall referendum and has been rocked by a series of violent street demonstrations in which at least eight people have died. His opponents, who include politicians, some labour leaders, media executives and former managers at the state oil company, are trying to collect sufficient signatures to force a national vote. The documents reveal that one of the group's organising the collection of signatures - Sumate - received $53,400 (£30,000) from the US last September.
"Die Amerikanische Regierung stand hinter dem Putch gegen den demkratisch gewählten Präsidenten Venezuelas Hugo Chavez. Ein weiteres Beispiel was die USA von Demokratie in Wirklichkeit hält."
CHECK IT
Independent: US revealed to be secretly funding opponents of Chavez
Washington has been channelling hundreds of thousands of dollars to fund the political opponents of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez - including those who briefly overthrew the democratically elected leader in a coup two years ago.
Documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act reveal that, in 2002, America paid more than a million dollars to those political groups in what it claims is an ongoing effort to build democracy and "strengthen political parties". Mr Chavez has seized on the information, telling Washington to "get its hands off Venezuela".
The revelation about America's funding of Mr Chavez's opponents comes as the president is facing a possible recall referendum and has been rocked by a series of violent street demonstrations in which at least eight people have died. His opponents, who include politicians, some labour leaders, media executives and former managers at the state oil company, are trying to collect sufficient signatures to force a national vote. The documents reveal that one of the group's organising the collection of signatures - Sumate - received $53,400 (£30,000) from the US last September.
"Die Amerikanische Regierung stand hinter dem Putch gegen den demkratisch gewählten Präsidenten Venezuelas Hugo Chavez. Ein weiteres Beispiel was die USA von Demokratie in Wirklichkeit hält."
CHECK IT
IRAQ
Socialist Worker: Is Iraq headed for a civil war?
THE COORDINATED bombings and mortar attacks in the Iraqi cities of Karbala and Baghdad March 2 have cast a spotlight on the crisis of the U.S. occupation of Iraq. At least 100 and as many as 300 people were killed in the attacks, which targeted Iraq’s Shiite Muslims--who are the majority of the population, but were oppressed under Saddam Hussein’s regime.
The attacks came as tens of thousands of Shiites gathered to mark Ashura, the highest holy day of the Shiite religious calendar--and as the Iraqi Governing Council handpicked by the U.S. was getting ready to sign an interim constitution. The Bush administration lost no time in pointing the finger at "foreign terrorists"--in this case, Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian who supposedly fought with Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan.
Socialist Worker: Is Iraq headed for a civil war?
THE COORDINATED bombings and mortar attacks in the Iraqi cities of Karbala and Baghdad March 2 have cast a spotlight on the crisis of the U.S. occupation of Iraq. At least 100 and as many as 300 people were killed in the attacks, which targeted Iraq’s Shiite Muslims--who are the majority of the population, but were oppressed under Saddam Hussein’s regime.
The attacks came as tens of thousands of Shiites gathered to mark Ashura, the highest holy day of the Shiite religious calendar--and as the Iraqi Governing Council handpicked by the U.S. was getting ready to sign an interim constitution. The Bush administration lost no time in pointing the finger at "foreign terrorists"--in this case, Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian who supposedly fought with Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan.
MIDDLE EAST: ROBERT FISK
Infoshop: 'It's the same old Iraq, just a tiny bit worse than it was last month'
Each time I return to Iraq, it's the same, like finding a razor blade in a bar of chocolate. The moment you start to believe that "New Iraq" might work - just - you get the proof that it's the same old Iraq, just a little tiny bit worse than it was last month.
Commondreams: The Life and Unexplained Death of a Palestinian Militant
Mohamed Aboul Abbas, the 'Achille Lauro' planner, said he never intended passengers to be held hostage or anyone to be killed, and apologized for it. The US and Israel allowed him back to Gaza. So why was he in a US prison in Iraq?
When 55-year-old Mohamed Aboul Abbas died mysteriously in a US prison camp in Iraq on Tuesday, nobody bothered to call his family.
His American captors had given no indication to the International Red Cross that he had been unwell and his wife Reem first heard that he was dead when she watched an Arab television news show.
Yet in his last letter to his family, written just seven weeks ago and shown to The Independent in Baghdad yesterday, the Palestinian militant wrote that, "I am in good form and in good health", adding that he hoped to be freed soon. So what happened to Mohamed Aboul Abbas?
Infoshop: 'It's the same old Iraq, just a tiny bit worse than it was last month'
Each time I return to Iraq, it's the same, like finding a razor blade in a bar of chocolate. The moment you start to believe that "New Iraq" might work - just - you get the proof that it's the same old Iraq, just a little tiny bit worse than it was last month.
Commondreams: The Life and Unexplained Death of a Palestinian Militant
Mohamed Aboul Abbas, the 'Achille Lauro' planner, said he never intended passengers to be held hostage or anyone to be killed, and apologized for it. The US and Israel allowed him back to Gaza. So why was he in a US prison in Iraq?
When 55-year-old Mohamed Aboul Abbas died mysteriously in a US prison camp in Iraq on Tuesday, nobody bothered to call his family.
His American captors had given no indication to the International Red Cross that he had been unwell and his wife Reem first heard that he was dead when she watched an Arab television news show.
Yet in his last letter to his family, written just seven weeks ago and shown to The Independent in Baghdad yesterday, the Palestinian militant wrote that, "I am in good form and in good health", adding that he hoped to be freed soon. So what happened to Mohamed Aboul Abbas?
TERROR IN MADRID UPDATE
Reuters: Spain Mourns 192 Dead, Probes Al Qaeda Bomb Claim
MADRID (Reuters) - Spaniards mourned the death of 192 people in the country's worst guerrilla attack on Friday as officials looked into a purported al Qaeda claim that it was responsible for the bombings on packed commuter trains.
The Spanish government said it believed armed Basque separatist group ETA was most likely to blame for the simultaneous bombings of four trains at Madrid stations on Thursday three days before a general election.
However, Interior Minister Angel Acebes said police were not ruling out any lines of investigation after finding a van containing seven detonators and a tape in Arabic at a town near Madrid where the bombs may have been placed on the trains.
Apart from those killed, some 1,421 people were injured in Europe's bloodiest guerrilla attack for more than 15 years.
Reuters: Spain Mourns 192 Dead, Probes Al Qaeda Bomb Claim
MADRID (Reuters) - Spaniards mourned the death of 192 people in the country's worst guerrilla attack on Friday as officials looked into a purported al Qaeda claim that it was responsible for the bombings on packed commuter trains.
The Spanish government said it believed armed Basque separatist group ETA was most likely to blame for the simultaneous bombings of four trains at Madrid stations on Thursday three days before a general election.
However, Interior Minister Angel Acebes said police were not ruling out any lines of investigation after finding a van containing seven detonators and a tape in Arabic at a town near Madrid where the bombs may have been placed on the trains.
Apart from those killed, some 1,421 people were injured in Europe's bloodiest guerrilla attack for more than 15 years.
Thursday, March 11, 2004
TERROR IN MADRID
Spiegel: Z?ge von Bomben zerfetzt - ?ber 170 Tote
Mehr als 170 Todesopfer, ?ber 890 Verletzte - doch die Bombenserie in Madrid h?tte noch weit mehr Menschen t?ten k?nnen. Denn einige Sprengs?tze sind nicht explodiert. Der Chef der verbotenen Eta-nahen Baskenpartei Batasuna behauptet zwar, die Anschl?ge tr?gen die Handschrift islamistischer Terroristen. Spaniens Regierung beschuldigt jedoch die Eta
Spiegel: INTERVIEW MIT "EL PAIS"-KORRESPONDENT
"Das ist nicht die bisherige Handschrift der Eta"
Waren baskische Terroristen die T?ter in Madrid? Im Interview mit SPIEGEL ONLINE erkl?rt Jose Comas, Korrespondent der spanischen Tageszeitung "El Pais", warum es begr?ndete Zweifel an dieser These gibt.
Netzzeitung: Politischer Arm der ETA verurteilt ?Massaker?
Die Basken-Partei Batasuna hat die Anschl?ge von Madrid verurteilt. Parteichef Otegi wies jede Verantwortung der ETA zur?ck.
Der Vorsitzende der verbotenen Basken-Partei Batasuna, Arnaldo Otegi, hat sich ?berraschend deutlich von den Anschl?gen in Madrid distanziert. Er verurteile die Bombenattentate, sagte er. Die Anschl?ge seien ?blinde Aktionen gegen die Zivilbev?lkerung und gegen Arbeiter, die zu ihrer Arbeit unterwegs waren?.
Batasuna ist der politische Arm der ETA, die seit 1968 mit Waffengewalt f?r einen unabh?ngigen Baskenstaat k?mpft. Die Partei hat bislang niemals Terrorakte der ETA verurteilt.
Spiegel: Z?ge von Bomben zerfetzt - ?ber 170 Tote
Mehr als 170 Todesopfer, ?ber 890 Verletzte - doch die Bombenserie in Madrid h?tte noch weit mehr Menschen t?ten k?nnen. Denn einige Sprengs?tze sind nicht explodiert. Der Chef der verbotenen Eta-nahen Baskenpartei Batasuna behauptet zwar, die Anschl?ge tr?gen die Handschrift islamistischer Terroristen. Spaniens Regierung beschuldigt jedoch die Eta
Spiegel: INTERVIEW MIT "EL PAIS"-KORRESPONDENT
"Das ist nicht die bisherige Handschrift der Eta"
Waren baskische Terroristen die T?ter in Madrid? Im Interview mit SPIEGEL ONLINE erkl?rt Jose Comas, Korrespondent der spanischen Tageszeitung "El Pais", warum es begr?ndete Zweifel an dieser These gibt.
Netzzeitung: Politischer Arm der ETA verurteilt ?Massaker?
Die Basken-Partei Batasuna hat die Anschl?ge von Madrid verurteilt. Parteichef Otegi wies jede Verantwortung der ETA zur?ck.
Der Vorsitzende der verbotenen Basken-Partei Batasuna, Arnaldo Otegi, hat sich ?berraschend deutlich von den Anschl?gen in Madrid distanziert. Er verurteile die Bombenattentate, sagte er. Die Anschl?ge seien ?blinde Aktionen gegen die Zivilbev?lkerung und gegen Arbeiter, die zu ihrer Arbeit unterwegs waren?.
Batasuna ist der politische Arm der ETA, die seit 1968 mit Waffengewalt f?r einen unabh?ngigen Baskenstaat k?mpft. Die Partei hat bislang niemals Terrorakte der ETA verurteilt.
TERROR IN MADRID
Spiegel: Bombenserie reißt Dutzende Menschen in den Tod
Es ist der schlimmste Terroranschlag, den die spanische Hauptstadt je erlebt hat: Nahezu zeitgleich explodierten an mindestens drei Stellen in Madrid mehrere Bomben. Vorortzüge wurden regelrecht zerfetzt. Nach Angaben des Innenministeriums wurden bis zu 60 Menschen getötet. Die Bevölkerung ist aufgerufen, Blut zu spenden
Reuters: At Least 62 Dead in Madrid Train Blasts
MADRID, Spain (Reuters) - At least 62 people were killed in explosions on packed rush-hour trains in Madrid Thursday in pre-election attacks that could be the worst ever by Basque separatist group ETA, officials said.
There was no claim of responsibility for the blasts just ahead of a Spanish national election Sunday. But police said the explosions appeared to be the work of Basque separatist guerrillas ETA, listed by the United States and the European Union as a terrorist organization.
State radio, quoting judicial sources, said there were at least 85 dead in the near simultaneous attacks at three Madrid area stations.
Independent: Dozens killed in Madrid rail explosions
More than 60 people were killed and dozens more injured as a series of powerful explosions rocked trains and railway stations in Madrid during the morning rush hour today.
Two bombs exploded on a commuter train arriving at the bustling Atocha station in the centre of the Spanish capital.
Blasts rocked two other stops on a commuter line leading to Atocha, the news agency Efe reported. Spanish National Radio quoted witnesses as saying they saw people lying on the ground and train cars destroyed.
At least 15 were killed aboard a train on the line leading to Atocha, Efe said, quoting fire department officials.
There was no claim of responsibility but police have been on high alert for Basque separatist violence ahead of general elections on Sunday.
Last month police intercepted a Madrid-bound van packed with more than 500 kilos (1,100lbs) of explosives, and blamed the Basque separatist group ETA
Spiegel: Bombenserie reißt Dutzende Menschen in den Tod
Es ist der schlimmste Terroranschlag, den die spanische Hauptstadt je erlebt hat: Nahezu zeitgleich explodierten an mindestens drei Stellen in Madrid mehrere Bomben. Vorortzüge wurden regelrecht zerfetzt. Nach Angaben des Innenministeriums wurden bis zu 60 Menschen getötet. Die Bevölkerung ist aufgerufen, Blut zu spenden
Reuters: At Least 62 Dead in Madrid Train Blasts
MADRID, Spain (Reuters) - At least 62 people were killed in explosions on packed rush-hour trains in Madrid Thursday in pre-election attacks that could be the worst ever by Basque separatist group ETA, officials said.
There was no claim of responsibility for the blasts just ahead of a Spanish national election Sunday. But police said the explosions appeared to be the work of Basque separatist guerrillas ETA, listed by the United States and the European Union as a terrorist organization.
State radio, quoting judicial sources, said there were at least 85 dead in the near simultaneous attacks at three Madrid area stations.
Independent: Dozens killed in Madrid rail explosions
More than 60 people were killed and dozens more injured as a series of powerful explosions rocked trains and railway stations in Madrid during the morning rush hour today.
Two bombs exploded on a commuter train arriving at the bustling Atocha station in the centre of the Spanish capital.
Blasts rocked two other stops on a commuter line leading to Atocha, the news agency Efe reported. Spanish National Radio quoted witnesses as saying they saw people lying on the ground and train cars destroyed.
At least 15 were killed aboard a train on the line leading to Atocha, Efe said, quoting fire department officials.
There was no claim of responsibility but police have been on high alert for Basque separatist violence ahead of general elections on Sunday.
Last month police intercepted a Madrid-bound van packed with more than 500 kilos (1,100lbs) of explosives, and blamed the Basque separatist group ETA
Wednesday, March 10, 2004
UK: KELLY MURDER
Westrernmornignews: 'WE'LL USE THE COURTS TO RE-OPEN KELLY CASE'
A group of doctors, including Westcountry surgeon David Halpin, are considering applying for a judicial review if the inquest into the death of government weapons expert Dr David Kelly is not re-opened next week.
Semi-retired orthopaedic and trauma surgeon David Halpin, from Haytor in Devon, does not believe the man at the centre of the Iraq weapons row killed himself. He called for the inquest to be re-opened, saying it was medically implausible Dr Kelly died from a cut artery and painkiller overdose.
Westrernmornignews: 'WE'LL USE THE COURTS TO RE-OPEN KELLY CASE'
A group of doctors, including Westcountry surgeon David Halpin, are considering applying for a judicial review if the inquest into the death of government weapons expert Dr David Kelly is not re-opened next week.
Semi-retired orthopaedic and trauma surgeon David Halpin, from Haytor in Devon, does not believe the man at the centre of the Iraq weapons row killed himself. He called for the inquest to be re-opened, saying it was medically implausible Dr Kelly died from a cut artery and painkiller overdose.
RUSSIA
Prisonplanet: Russian Government to Install Cameras in Every Moscow Apartment Building
Moscow is planning to install surveillance (or should we say spy?) cameras at the entrance (padyest) of every apartment building in Moscow during the next 3-4 years.
This news follows a recent idea to take the fingerprints of all visitors to Moscow and gives us a good idea of the governments desire to have control over the people.
Many years ago every flat in Moscow was fitted with a gadget called a "radio". This "radio" was connected by wires to a station that provided news and music. But as we all know (and most people began to realize), such an apparatus can just as easily be made to receive as well as send and most have been removed. This free gift from the government was usually installed in the kitchen area, which is a popular place in most Moscow flats for discussions of importance.
As in the past, many Russians will begin to fear the authorities, believing that their every move is being monitored. Perhaps this time they really will have a reason to be concerned?
Prisonplanet: Russian Government to Install Cameras in Every Moscow Apartment Building
Moscow is planning to install surveillance (or should we say spy?) cameras at the entrance (padyest) of every apartment building in Moscow during the next 3-4 years.
This news follows a recent idea to take the fingerprints of all visitors to Moscow and gives us a good idea of the governments desire to have control over the people.
Many years ago every flat in Moscow was fitted with a gadget called a "radio". This "radio" was connected by wires to a station that provided news and music. But as we all know (and most people began to realize), such an apparatus can just as easily be made to receive as well as send and most have been removed. This free gift from the government was usually installed in the kitchen area, which is a popular place in most Moscow flats for discussions of importance.
As in the past, many Russians will begin to fear the authorities, believing that their every move is being monitored. Perhaps this time they really will have a reason to be concerned?
US IMPERIALISM
dreamsend.blogspot.com: How To Overthrow A Government
Having studied the techniques of the CIA and related organizations, I am pleased to announce the following simple steps in overthrowing a democratically elected government.
1. Find some opposition...ANY opposition in the country. Your best bet is some rich members of a former oligarchy or former military. Begin giving them funds, and, start training some of them in case you need to move in the direction of military action. I understand there is a nice training facility in the Florida Everglades that is available as all the Haitian death-squadders who trained there are now busy destroying Haiti.
2. Come up with some reasons that the current government must go. The reasons could be true or not, that is irrelevant. A popular one to use would be economic issues, which goes well with number 4, below.
3. Buy and/or infiltrate significant media outlets. Use these outlets to whip up a broader backlash against the leaders.
4. Meanwhile, use overt and covert means to destabilize the economy. In Haiti, Bush simply held back 500 million dollars in aid already earmarked for that country. There are other ways to destabilize currency, including working with rich elites within the country who will be happy to help. A last resort would be an actual embargo of the country, though that's a tad obvious. Still, most Americans won't notice. We had economic sanctions on Iraq for over 12 years and yet when the second Gulf Massacre ended, news media were still talking about how Saddam had ruined the economy.......
dreamsend.blogspot.com: How To Overthrow A Government
Having studied the techniques of the CIA and related organizations, I am pleased to announce the following simple steps in overthrowing a democratically elected government.
1. Find some opposition...ANY opposition in the country. Your best bet is some rich members of a former oligarchy or former military. Begin giving them funds, and, start training some of them in case you need to move in the direction of military action. I understand there is a nice training facility in the Florida Everglades that is available as all the Haitian death-squadders who trained there are now busy destroying Haiti.
2. Come up with some reasons that the current government must go. The reasons could be true or not, that is irrelevant. A popular one to use would be economic issues, which goes well with number 4, below.
3. Buy and/or infiltrate significant media outlets. Use these outlets to whip up a broader backlash against the leaders.
4. Meanwhile, use overt and covert means to destabilize the economy. In Haiti, Bush simply held back 500 million dollars in aid already earmarked for that country. There are other ways to destabilize currency, including working with rich elites within the country who will be happy to help. A last resort would be an actual embargo of the country, though that's a tad obvious. Still, most Americans won't notice. We had economic sanctions on Iraq for over 12 years and yet when the second Gulf Massacre ended, news media were still talking about how Saddam had ruined the economy.......
USA VS. LATIN AMERICA
VenezuelaAnalysis.com: US Warns Brazilian Govt Over Relations With Venezuela & Cuba
CARACAS, Venezuela -- Last Sunday, United States Ambassador to Brazil Donna Hrinak, gave a strong caution to the Brazilian government with relation to the South American giant's relationship with Venezuela and Cuba.
Hrinak was referring to the process of referenda currently underway in Venezuela to recall several lawmakers and President Chavez. After counting and validating 3.4 million signatures collected by opponents of Chavez, electoral authorities are requesting about a million of those listed in petitions with irregularities to confirm or deny their willingness to sign and their identity, in order to decide if the recall on Chavez should take place. Political opposition to Chavez and the commercial media, accuse the President of manipulating the process of recall.
Hrinak warned President Lula to "carefully calibrate his opposition" to certain political issues such as the current situations in Venezuela and Cuba, which are part of the main focus of the Bush administration in Latin America.
Marco Aurelio Garcia, President Lula's International relations advisor, was outraged by the U.S. Ambassador's comments. "I don't think those kinds of comments are appropriate for an Ambassador to say. Brazil and the U.S. never had better relations, but it is obvious that we have different perceptions on several issues," Garcia told Argentine newspaper La Nacion
VenezuelaAnalysis.com: US Warns Brazilian Govt Over Relations With Venezuela & Cuba
CARACAS, Venezuela -- Last Sunday, United States Ambassador to Brazil Donna Hrinak, gave a strong caution to the Brazilian government with relation to the South American giant's relationship with Venezuela and Cuba.
Hrinak was referring to the process of referenda currently underway in Venezuela to recall several lawmakers and President Chavez. After counting and validating 3.4 million signatures collected by opponents of Chavez, electoral authorities are requesting about a million of those listed in petitions with irregularities to confirm or deny their willingness to sign and their identity, in order to decide if the recall on Chavez should take place. Political opposition to Chavez and the commercial media, accuse the President of manipulating the process of recall.
Hrinak warned President Lula to "carefully calibrate his opposition" to certain political issues such as the current situations in Venezuela and Cuba, which are part of the main focus of the Bush administration in Latin America.
Marco Aurelio Garcia, President Lula's International relations advisor, was outraged by the U.S. Ambassador's comments. "I don't think those kinds of comments are appropriate for an Ambassador to say. Brazil and the U.S. never had better relations, but it is obvious that we have different perceptions on several issues," Garcia told Argentine newspaper La Nacion
Monday, March 08, 2004
US ELECTIONS
John Pilger: John Pilger: 2004: Choose Your Favorite Pro-War Candidate
BUSH OR KERRY? LOOK CLOSELY AND THE DANGER IS THE SAME
A myth equal to the fable of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction is
gaining strength on both sides of the Atlantic. It is that John Kerry offers a
world-view different from that of George W Bush. Watch this big lie
grow as Kerry is crowned the Democratic candidate and the "anyone but Bush"
movement becomes a liberal cause celebre.
While the rise to power of the Bush gang, the neoconservatives,
belatedly preoccupied the American media, the message of their equivalents in the
Democratic Party has been of little interest. Yet the similarities are
compelling. Shortly before Bush's "election" in 2000, the Project for
the New American Century, the neoconservative pressure group, published an
ideological blueprint for "maintaining global US pre-eminence,
precluding the rise of a great power rival, and shaping the international security
order in line with American principles and interests". Every one of its
recommendations for aggression and conquest was adopted by the
administration.
One year later, the Progressive Policy Institute, an arm of the
Democratic Leadership Council, published a 19-page manifesto for the "New
Democrats", who include all the principal Democratic Party candidates, and
especially John Kerry. This called for "the bold exercise of American power" at
the heart of "a new Democratic strategy, grounded in the party's tradition
of muscular internationalism". Such a strategy would "keep Americans safer
than the Republicans' go-it-alone policy, which has alienated our
natural allies and overstretched our resources. We aim to rebuild the moral
foundation of US global leadership ..."
What is the difference from the vainglorious claptrap of Bush? Apart
from euphemisms, there is none. All the Democratic presidential candidates
supported the invasion of Iraq, bar one: Howard Dean. Kerry not only
voted for the invasion, but expressed his disappointment that it had not gone
according to plan. He told Rolling Stone magazine: "Did I expect George
Bush to fuck it up as badly as he did? I don't think anybody did."
Neither Kerry nor any of the other candidates has called for an end to the
bloody and illegal occupation; on the contrary, all of them have demanded more
troops for Iraq. Kerry has called for another "40,000 active service
troops". He has supported Bush's continuing bloody assault on
Afghanistan,and the administration's plans to "return Latin America to American
leadership" by subverting democracy in Venezuela.
CHECK IT CHECK IT CHECK IT CHECK IT CHECK IT
John Pilger: John Pilger: 2004: Choose Your Favorite Pro-War Candidate
BUSH OR KERRY? LOOK CLOSELY AND THE DANGER IS THE SAME
A myth equal to the fable of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction is
gaining strength on both sides of the Atlantic. It is that John Kerry offers a
world-view different from that of George W Bush. Watch this big lie
grow as Kerry is crowned the Democratic candidate and the "anyone but Bush"
movement becomes a liberal cause celebre.
While the rise to power of the Bush gang, the neoconservatives,
belatedly preoccupied the American media, the message of their equivalents in the
Democratic Party has been of little interest. Yet the similarities are
compelling. Shortly before Bush's "election" in 2000, the Project for
the New American Century, the neoconservative pressure group, published an
ideological blueprint for "maintaining global US pre-eminence,
precluding the rise of a great power rival, and shaping the international security
order in line with American principles and interests". Every one of its
recommendations for aggression and conquest was adopted by the
administration.
One year later, the Progressive Policy Institute, an arm of the
Democratic Leadership Council, published a 19-page manifesto for the "New
Democrats", who include all the principal Democratic Party candidates, and
especially John Kerry. This called for "the bold exercise of American power" at
the heart of "a new Democratic strategy, grounded in the party's tradition
of muscular internationalism". Such a strategy would "keep Americans safer
than the Republicans' go-it-alone policy, which has alienated our
natural allies and overstretched our resources. We aim to rebuild the moral
foundation of US global leadership ..."
What is the difference from the vainglorious claptrap of Bush? Apart
from euphemisms, there is none. All the Democratic presidential candidates
supported the invasion of Iraq, bar one: Howard Dean. Kerry not only
voted for the invasion, but expressed his disappointment that it had not gone
according to plan. He told Rolling Stone magazine: "Did I expect George
Bush to fuck it up as badly as he did? I don't think anybody did."
Neither Kerry nor any of the other candidates has called for an end to the
bloody and illegal occupation; on the contrary, all of them have demanded more
troops for Iraq. Kerry has called for another "40,000 active service
troops". He has supported Bush's continuing bloody assault on
Afghanistan,and the administration's plans to "return Latin America to American
leadership" by subverting democracy in Venezuela.
CHECK IT CHECK IT CHECK IT CHECK IT CHECK IT
HAITI
Independent: US faces mounting international fury over Aristide's 'forced' exit
South Africa added its voice last night to a growing international chorus questioning the circumstances surrounding Jean-Bertrand Aristide's departure from Haiti and demanded an investigation into allegations that the US forcibly removed a democratically elected president from office.
In a thinly veiled attack on the Bush administration, South Africa's Foreign Affairs Minister, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, said that if Mr Aristide had been prised from power against his will, it would have "serious consequences and ramifications for the respect of the rule of law and democracy the world over".
The issue, fuelled by direct accusations by Mr Aristide that he was, in effect, kidnapped and hustled into exile in the Central African Republic under conditions that he likened to imprisonment, has once again thrust a spotlight on the Bush administration's conduct of foreign policy and risks becoming a liability for President Bush as he begins his re-election campaign.
Independent: US faces mounting international fury over Aristide's 'forced' exit
South Africa added its voice last night to a growing international chorus questioning the circumstances surrounding Jean-Bertrand Aristide's departure from Haiti and demanded an investigation into allegations that the US forcibly removed a democratically elected president from office.
In a thinly veiled attack on the Bush administration, South Africa's Foreign Affairs Minister, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, said that if Mr Aristide had been prised from power against his will, it would have "serious consequences and ramifications for the respect of the rule of law and democracy the world over".
The issue, fuelled by direct accusations by Mr Aristide that he was, in effect, kidnapped and hustled into exile in the Central African Republic under conditions that he likened to imprisonment, has once again thrust a spotlight on the Bush administration's conduct of foreign policy and risks becoming a liability for President Bush as he begins his re-election campaign.
CLIMATE CHANGE
Observer: Now the Pentagon tells Bush: climate change will destroy us
Secret report warns of rioting and nuclear war
· Britain will be 'Siberian' in less than 20 years
· Threat to the world is greater than terrorism
Climate change over the next 20 years could result in a global catastrophe costing millions of lives in wars and natural disasters..
A secret report, suppressed by US defence chiefs and obtained by The Observer, warns that major European cities will be sunk beneath rising seas as Britain is plunged into a 'Siberian' climate by 2020. Nuclear conflict, mega-droughts, famine and widespread rioting will erupt across the world.
Observer: Now the Pentagon tells Bush: climate change will destroy us
Secret report warns of rioting and nuclear war
· Britain will be 'Siberian' in less than 20 years
· Threat to the world is greater than terrorism
Climate change over the next 20 years could result in a global catastrophe costing millions of lives in wars and natural disasters..
A secret report, suppressed by US defence chiefs and obtained by The Observer, warns that major European cities will be sunk beneath rising seas as Britain is plunged into a 'Siberian' climate by 2020. Nuclear conflict, mega-droughts, famine and widespread rioting will erupt across the world.
MEDIA: PROPAGANDA WATCH
Spectator: Not a shred of evidence by Brendan O'Neill
Did Saddam Hussein really use industrial shredders to kill his
enemies? Brendan O'Neill is not persuaded that he did Forget the
no-show of Saddam Hussein's WMD. Even George Bush no longer believes
that they are there. Ask instead what happened to Saddam's 'people
shredder', into which his son Qusay reportedly fed opponents of the
Baathist regime. Ann Clwyd, Labour MP for Cynon Valley and chair of
Indict, a group that has been campaigning since 1996 for the
creation of an international criminal tribunal to try the Baathists,
wrote of the shredder in the Times on 18 March -- the day of the
Iraq debate in the House of Commons and three days before the start
of the war. Clwyd described an Iraqi's claims that male prisoners
were dropped into a machine 'designed for shredding plastic', before
their minced remains were 'placed in plastic bags' so they could
later be used as 'fish food'. Sometimes the victims were dropped in
feet first, reported Clwyd, so they could briefly behold their own
mutilation before death.
Spectator: Not a shred of evidence by Brendan O'Neill
Did Saddam Hussein really use industrial shredders to kill his
enemies? Brendan O'Neill is not persuaded that he did Forget the
no-show of Saddam Hussein's WMD. Even George Bush no longer believes
that they are there. Ask instead what happened to Saddam's 'people
shredder', into which his son Qusay reportedly fed opponents of the
Baathist regime. Ann Clwyd, Labour MP for Cynon Valley and chair of
Indict, a group that has been campaigning since 1996 for the
creation of an international criminal tribunal to try the Baathists,
wrote of the shredder in the Times on 18 March -- the day of the
Iraq debate in the House of Commons and three days before the start
of the war. Clwyd described an Iraqi's claims that male prisoners
were dropped into a machine 'designed for shredding plastic', before
their minced remains were 'placed in plastic bags' so they could
later be used as 'fish food'. Sometimes the victims were dropped in
feet first, reported Clwyd, so they could briefly behold their own
mutilation before death.
OCCUPIED TERRITORIES
Electronic Intifada: Israeli forces kill 14 Palestinians and leave 80 wounded in refugee camps in Gaza
An Israeli military attack in a Palestinian residential area in the central Gaza Strip conducted today, Sunday 7 March 2004, left dead 14 Palestinians, including four children, and more than 80 others, including 26 children, wounded.
According to preliminary investigations conducted by PCHR, at around 03:00 this morning, Israeli forces, including heavy military vehicles and aircraft, moved from the Netzarim settlement, southwards along Salah al Din Street to a point between Al-Nusseirat and Al-Bureij refugee camps. Troops then moved from Salah Al Din Street west into Al-Nusseirat camp.
Four children were killed by Israeli gunfire and more than 80 civilians were injured, 26 of them children. Ten of the injured remain in a serious condition.
The children killed were identified as Mahmoud Abdullah Younis, 11; Mohammed Amer Abu Zuraiq, 12; Mohammed Ali Bedawi, 15; and Haitham Mohammed Al Issawi, 16.
Israelischer Verteidigungsminister:
"This operation [vom 7. Maerz] left 15 Palestinians dead,
including nine armed men from Hamas and two others from
Fatah/Tanzim, as well as four teenagers who were not so innocent
since they had responded to the call from the mosques to support
the terrorists, [...]"
Electronic Intifada: Israeli forces kill 14 Palestinians and leave 80 wounded in refugee camps in Gaza
An Israeli military attack in a Palestinian residential area in the central Gaza Strip conducted today, Sunday 7 March 2004, left dead 14 Palestinians, including four children, and more than 80 others, including 26 children, wounded.
According to preliminary investigations conducted by PCHR, at around 03:00 this morning, Israeli forces, including heavy military vehicles and aircraft, moved from the Netzarim settlement, southwards along Salah al Din Street to a point between Al-Nusseirat and Al-Bureij refugee camps. Troops then moved from Salah Al Din Street west into Al-Nusseirat camp.
Four children were killed by Israeli gunfire and more than 80 civilians were injured, 26 of them children. Ten of the injured remain in a serious condition.
The children killed were identified as Mahmoud Abdullah Younis, 11; Mohammed Amer Abu Zuraiq, 12; Mohammed Ali Bedawi, 15; and Haitham Mohammed Al Issawi, 16.
Israelischer Verteidigungsminister:
"This operation [vom 7. Maerz] left 15 Palestinians dead,
including nine armed men from Hamas and two others from
Fatah/Tanzim, as well as four teenagers who were not so innocent
since they had responded to the call from the mosques to support
the terrorists, [...]"
Friday, February 20, 2004
PEAK OIL/PEAK GAS
Reuters: El Paso Trims Proven Reserves 41 Pct
HOUSTON (Reuters) - Energy company El Paso Corp. said on Tuesday it had cut its proven natural gas reserves estimate by 41 percent and would take a $1 billion pretax charge in the fourth quarter.
In reducing its proven reserves estimates, the Houston-based company joined oil major Royal Dutch/Shell Group, which shocked investors last month by cutting its reserves estimates by 20 percent
Proven reserves are quantities of oil or gas that a company expects to be commercially recoverable from known fields from a given date.
The company, which is the largest U.S. natural gas pipeline operator, also warned investors it expected more write-down charges in 2004 as natural gas prices weakened.
Reuters: El Paso Trims Proven Reserves 41 Pct
HOUSTON (Reuters) - Energy company El Paso Corp. said on Tuesday it had cut its proven natural gas reserves estimate by 41 percent and would take a $1 billion pretax charge in the fourth quarter.
In reducing its proven reserves estimates, the Houston-based company joined oil major Royal Dutch/Shell Group, which shocked investors last month by cutting its reserves estimates by 20 percent
Proven reserves are quantities of oil or gas that a company expects to be commercially recoverable from known fields from a given date.
The company, which is the largest U.S. natural gas pipeline operator, also warned investors it expected more write-down charges in 2004 as natural gas prices weakened.
Thursday, February 19, 2004
USA: ELECTIONS
Alternet: The Assassination Of Howard Dean
"In the end, Dean threatened a troika of powerful institutions. He was a threat to the political parties (because he attacked Democrats' centrist drift), to media (because he criticized their cowardly reporting) and to big business (because he would roll back chummy tax-benefits for corporations). All three institutions responded with venom and destroyed Dean's candidacy."
Two months ago, Howard Dean was the man to beat for the Democratic nomination. Then his campaign fell over a cliff, limping in as a distant second, third and even fourth, in the primaries. On Wednesday Dean officially ended his bid for the White House, telling supporters, "I am no longer actively purusing the presidency."
Alternet: The Assassination Of Howard Dean
"In the end, Dean threatened a troika of powerful institutions. He was a threat to the political parties (because he attacked Democrats' centrist drift), to media (because he criticized their cowardly reporting) and to big business (because he would roll back chummy tax-benefits for corporations). All three institutions responded with venom and destroyed Dean's candidacy."
Two months ago, Howard Dean was the man to beat for the Democratic nomination. Then his campaign fell over a cliff, limping in as a distant second, third and even fourth, in the primaries. On Wednesday Dean officially ended his bid for the White House, telling supporters, "I am no longer actively purusing the presidency."
Wednesday, February 18, 2004
VENEZUELA
SF Gate: Venezuela's Chavez says U.S. was behind 2002 coup and seeks to overthrow him again
President Hugo Chavez angrily accused the United States on Tuesday of backing a coup in 2002 and of helping Venezuela's opposition stage another attempt to overthrow him.
Chavez also accused the Bush administration of spreading lies about his government to justify its demise, saying it used similar tactics in Iraq, and of falsely charging Venezuela with supporting Colombian rebels.
He said the United States was providing hundreds of thousands of dollars to Venezuelan groups that organized a petition for a recall referendum on his rule -- and to groups that are plotting his ouster.
"The government of Washington is using the money of its people to support -- not only opposition activities -- but acts of conspiracy," Chavez said in a speech to small business owners.
"The government of the United States is attacking the Venezuelan people again, just like they attacked the people of Iraq," he added.
He said he had evidence that Washington was involved in an April 2002 coup that ousted him for two days. He said the Bush administration "had a responsibility in the massacre" that helped trigger the coup, and that U.S. military personnel were involved alongside rebel Venezuelan military.
SF Gate: Venezuela's Chavez says U.S. was behind 2002 coup and seeks to overthrow him again
President Hugo Chavez angrily accused the United States on Tuesday of backing a coup in 2002 and of helping Venezuela's opposition stage another attempt to overthrow him.
Chavez also accused the Bush administration of spreading lies about his government to justify its demise, saying it used similar tactics in Iraq, and of falsely charging Venezuela with supporting Colombian rebels.
He said the United States was providing hundreds of thousands of dollars to Venezuelan groups that organized a petition for a recall referendum on his rule -- and to groups that are plotting his ouster.
"The government of Washington is using the money of its people to support -- not only opposition activities -- but acts of conspiracy," Chavez said in a speech to small business owners.
"The government of the United States is attacking the Venezuelan people again, just like they attacked the people of Iraq," he added.
He said he had evidence that Washington was involved in an April 2002 coup that ousted him for two days. He said the Bush administration "had a responsibility in the massacre" that helped trigger the coup, and that U.S. military personnel were involved alongside rebel Venezuelan military.
OCCUPIED TERRITORIES
Haaretz: Area In Hebron 'Being Cleansed Of Palestinians'
"The activity of the settlers and the army in the H-2 area of Hebron is creating an irreversible situation. In a sense, cleansing is being carried out. In other words, if the situation continues for another few years, the result will be that no Palestinians will remain there. It is a miracle they have managed to remain there until now."
This view of the situation in the Israeli-controlled area of Hebron comes from Jan Kristensen, the former head of the Temporary International Presence in Hebron (TIPH), who completed his one-year term of office last week. Kristensen, 58, is a former lieutenant colonel in the Norwegian army and has also held various positions in UNIFIL (the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon).
H-2, the 4.3 square kilometers of Hebron assigned to Israeli control by the Hebron Agreement, contains all of the city's Jewish settlers. When the intifada began, it had 35,000 Palestinian residents. Kristensen had no exact figures for how many Palestinians have since left but he said, "more and more people are leaving the area and it is effectively being emptied. The settlers' activities, which are aimed at causing the Palestinians to leave, and the army's activities, which impose severe restrictions, create an irreversible reality. Anyone whose economic situation permits him to do so, leaves.
Haaretz: Area In Hebron 'Being Cleansed Of Palestinians'
"The activity of the settlers and the army in the H-2 area of Hebron is creating an irreversible situation. In a sense, cleansing is being carried out. In other words, if the situation continues for another few years, the result will be that no Palestinians will remain there. It is a miracle they have managed to remain there until now."
This view of the situation in the Israeli-controlled area of Hebron comes from Jan Kristensen, the former head of the Temporary International Presence in Hebron (TIPH), who completed his one-year term of office last week. Kristensen, 58, is a former lieutenant colonel in the Norwegian army and has also held various positions in UNIFIL (the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon).
H-2, the 4.3 square kilometers of Hebron assigned to Israeli control by the Hebron Agreement, contains all of the city's Jewish settlers. When the intifada began, it had 35,000 Palestinian residents. Kristensen had no exact figures for how many Palestinians have since left but he said, "more and more people are leaving the area and it is effectively being emptied. The settlers' activities, which are aimed at causing the Palestinians to leave, and the army's activities, which impose severe restrictions, create an irreversible reality. Anyone whose economic situation permits him to do so, leaves.
USA: PROPAGANDA WATCH
Independent: Lies, Damned Lies & Photography
How The Camera Can Distort The Truth
Everyone knows the saying that the camera never lies. What is less well-known is that the man who coined the phrase, almost a century ago, added a rider. "While photographs may not lie," the great American documentary photographer Lewis Hine said, "liars may photograph".
They have been at work ever since, as was seen this week with the fake snap of John Kerry which caused a stir in the United States. It purported to show him associating in the 1970s with the film star Jane Fonda, who is still widely reviled in the US for her visit to the enemy capital, Hanoi, during the Vietnam war. Many still see it as the act of a traitor.
This was not the kind of publicity the Democrats' leading presidential candidate needed. It was, we now know, doctored. But it fooled many US citizens and some British newspapers.
They should, it is easy to say with hindsight, have known better. For the black art of photographic manipulation has been with us for a long time
Independent: Lies, Damned Lies & Photography
How The Camera Can Distort The Truth
Everyone knows the saying that the camera never lies. What is less well-known is that the man who coined the phrase, almost a century ago, added a rider. "While photographs may not lie," the great American documentary photographer Lewis Hine said, "liars may photograph".
They have been at work ever since, as was seen this week with the fake snap of John Kerry which caused a stir in the United States. It purported to show him associating in the 1970s with the film star Jane Fonda, who is still widely reviled in the US for her visit to the enemy capital, Hanoi, during the Vietnam war. Many still see it as the act of a traitor.
This was not the kind of publicity the Democrats' leading presidential candidate needed. It was, we now know, doctored. But it fooled many US citizens and some British newspapers.
They should, it is easy to say with hindsight, have known better. For the black art of photographic manipulation has been with us for a long time
IRAQ WMD
The Herald: Australian troops told Saddam could not use WMDs
AUSTRALIAN troops preparing for the invasion of Iraq were told that Saddam Hussein did not have the means of launching weapons of mass destruction against its neighbours, it emerged yesterday.
The assurance – which further undermines the justification for the Iraq war – was given in an official briefing days before by Roger Hill, Australia's most experienced weapons inspector.
The Herald: Australian troops told Saddam could not use WMDs
AUSTRALIAN troops preparing for the invasion of Iraq were told that Saddam Hussein did not have the means of launching weapons of mass destruction against its neighbours, it emerged yesterday.
The assurance – which further undermines the justification for the Iraq war – was given in an official briefing days before by Roger Hill, Australia's most experienced weapons inspector.
BUSINESS
Corporatepredators.org: Top 100 Corporate Criminals of the Decade
Every year, the major business magazines put out their annual surveys of big business in America.
You have the Fortune 500, the Forbes 400, the Forbes Platinum 100, the International 800 -- among others.
These lists rank big corporations by sales, assets, profits and market share. The point of these surveys is simple -- to identify and glorify the biggest and most profitable corporations.
The point of the list contained in this report, The Top 100 Corporate Criminals of the Decade -- is to focus public attention on a wave of corporate criminality that has swamped prosecutors offices around the country.
1) F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd.
Type of Crime: Antitrust
Criminal Fine: $500 million
12 Corporate Crime Reporter 21(1), May 24, 1999
2) Daiwa Bank Ltd.
Type of Crime: Financial
Criminal Fine: $340 million
10 Corporate Crime Reporter 9(3), March 4, 1996
3) BASF Aktiengesellschaft
Type of Crime: Antitrust
Criminal Fine: $225 million
12 Corporate Crime Reporter 21(1), May 24, 1999
4) SGL Carbon Aktiengesellschaft (SGL AG)
Type of Crime: Antitrust
Criminal Fine: $135 million
12 Corporate Crime Reporter 19(4), May 10, 1999
5) Exxon Corporation and Exxon Shipping
Type of Crime: Environmental
Criminal Fine: $125 million
5 Corporate Crime Reporter 11(3), March 18, 1991
Corporatepredators.org: Top 100 Corporate Criminals of the Decade
Every year, the major business magazines put out their annual surveys of big business in America.
You have the Fortune 500, the Forbes 400, the Forbes Platinum 100, the International 800 -- among others.
These lists rank big corporations by sales, assets, profits and market share. The point of these surveys is simple -- to identify and glorify the biggest and most profitable corporations.
The point of the list contained in this report, The Top 100 Corporate Criminals of the Decade -- is to focus public attention on a wave of corporate criminality that has swamped prosecutors offices around the country.
1) F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd.
Type of Crime: Antitrust
Criminal Fine: $500 million
12 Corporate Crime Reporter 21(1), May 24, 1999
2) Daiwa Bank Ltd.
Type of Crime: Financial
Criminal Fine: $340 million
10 Corporate Crime Reporter 9(3), March 4, 1996
3) BASF Aktiengesellschaft
Type of Crime: Antitrust
Criminal Fine: $225 million
12 Corporate Crime Reporter 21(1), May 24, 1999
4) SGL Carbon Aktiengesellschaft (SGL AG)
Type of Crime: Antitrust
Criminal Fine: $135 million
12 Corporate Crime Reporter 19(4), May 10, 1999
5) Exxon Corporation and Exxon Shipping
Type of Crime: Environmental
Criminal Fine: $125 million
5 Corporate Crime Reporter 11(3), March 18, 1991
Tuesday, February 17, 2004
USA
Rense: Detective Story by John Kaminski
How The 911 Investigation Should Really Be Conducted
If we had a real Attorney General in the United States, instead of a glossolalia-gagged demagogue who takes payoffs from industrialists to advance his religious pathologies, we would have solved the tragic riddle of 9/11 by now.
If we had a real Attorney General who championed the rights of all Americans instead of merely protecting the rich patricians he so obnoxiously serves, we would undoubtedly have hundreds of people - including the top leaders of our country - already indicted and awaiting trials for their roles in the treasonous tragedy of 9/11.
But we don't have such an Attorney General. And we don't have real law enforcement in this country, despite all this cynical blather about Homeland Security. And no one has been apprehended and charged in the most serious crime in American history.
The investigation has been bungled from the start. And the continuing coverup begins with President George W. Bush, who from day one has covered up the true facts of that dark day, and continues to do so to this very moment.
The official story of 9/11 posits that 19 Arab terrorists hijacked four planes and crashed three of them into well-known American landmarks, costing more than three thousand Americans their lives. Yet no conclusive evidence has ever connected these alleged Arab terrorists to the actual crime. Only a campaign of media hysteria centered around vague and unproved aspersions from Washington has swayed the American people like some drunken lynch mob into accepting government's story, which amounts to a massive hate crime against Muslims.
Rense: Detective Story by John Kaminski
How The 911 Investigation Should Really Be Conducted
If we had a real Attorney General in the United States, instead of a glossolalia-gagged demagogue who takes payoffs from industrialists to advance his religious pathologies, we would have solved the tragic riddle of 9/11 by now.
If we had a real Attorney General who championed the rights of all Americans instead of merely protecting the rich patricians he so obnoxiously serves, we would undoubtedly have hundreds of people - including the top leaders of our country - already indicted and awaiting trials for their roles in the treasonous tragedy of 9/11.
But we don't have such an Attorney General. And we don't have real law enforcement in this country, despite all this cynical blather about Homeland Security. And no one has been apprehended and charged in the most serious crime in American history.
The investigation has been bungled from the start. And the continuing coverup begins with President George W. Bush, who from day one has covered up the true facts of that dark day, and continues to do so to this very moment.
The official story of 9/11 posits that 19 Arab terrorists hijacked four planes and crashed three of them into well-known American landmarks, costing more than three thousand Americans their lives. Yet no conclusive evidence has ever connected these alleged Arab terrorists to the actual crime. Only a campaign of media hysteria centered around vague and unproved aspersions from Washington has swayed the American people like some drunken lynch mob into accepting government's story, which amounts to a massive hate crime against Muslims.
KOSOVO: NATION BUILDING
Heise: Der vergessene Krieg
Der humanitäre Krieg und das bislang gescheiterte Nation-Building: Erinnert sich noch jemand an den Kosovo?
Mit unseren modernen Kommunikationssystemen Radio, Fernsehen und Internet neigen wir dazu, viele wichtige Dinge zu vergessen, selbst wenn es um so Wichtiges wie Krieg und Frieden geht. Bei den Meisten verschwindet gerade Afghanistan aus dem Blick oder dies wäre geschehen, wenn nicht gerade bei den letzten Angriffen ein kanadischer, ein britischer und sieben amerikanische Soldaten getötet worden wären, was Anlass zur Ankündigung einer Frühjahrsoffensive gegen die "Taliban-Rebellion" war. Die Taliban? Wurden sie nicht schon lange besiegt, während ein neues Afghanistan aus der Asche aufersteht?
Der "befreite" Kosovo wurde zur Brutstätte des organisierten Verbrechens und der ethnischen Gewalt
Doch der Kosovo ist alles andere als der glückliche und gedeihende Ort, der er sein soll. Auch der Frieden ist nicht in die Region gebracht worden. Verbrechen, Terror. Ethnische Säuberung und Schmuggel sind allgegenwärtig: dieses Mal unter der Schirmherrschaft der UN und nicht von Belgrad.
Vier Jahre, nachdem der Kosovo durch die Bombardierung der Nato "befreit" wurde ( Exakte Zahlen wird man nie erfahren), hat er sich in eine Brutstätte des organisierten Verbrechens, der ethnischen Gewalt und sogar von al-Qaida-Sympathisanten verwandelt. Diese südliche Provinz von Serbien, die sich nominell noch unter UN-Kontrolle befindet, wird heute von einem Triumvirat von albanischen Paramilitärs, Mafiabanden und Terroristen beherrscht. Sie kontrollieren eine ganze Reihe von Schmuggelgeschäften und führen aus, was Beobachter als brutale ethnische Säuberung von Minderheiten, vor allem von Serben, Roma und Juden, bezeichnen. Das alles geschieht, obgleich eine 18.000 Mann starke Friedenstruppe unter der Leitung der Nato und eine internationale Polizeieinheit mit mehr als 4.000 Mitgliedern im Land ist.
Anmerkung: Aus "The Grand Chessboard - Das große Schachbrett"
Zitate (in deutscher Übersetzung) aus dem Buch des
US-"Sicherheitsstrategen" Zbigniew Brzezinski von 1997 (Deutsche
Ausgabe 1999: "Die einzige Weltmacht - Amerikas Strategie der
Vorherrschaft") "Viel wichtiger aber ist der eurasische Balkan, weil er sich zu einem
ökonomischen Filetstück entwickeln könnte, konzentrieren sich in
dieser Region doch ungeheure Erdgas- und Erdölvorkommen, von
wichtigen Mineralien einschließlich Gold ganz zu schweigen. (S.182)
Amerikas primäres Interesse muß folglich sein, mit dafür zu sorgen,
daß keine einzelne Macht die Kontrolle über dieses Gebiet erlangt und
daß die Weltgemeinschaft ungehinderten finanziellen und
wirtschaftlichen Zugang zu ihr hat. Geopolitischer Pluralismus wird nur dann zu einer dauerhaften
Realität werden, wenn ein Netz von Pipeline- und Transportwegen die
Region direkt mit den großen Wirtschaftsknotenpunkten der Welt
durchzieht... (S.215/216)"
Heise: Der vergessene Krieg
Der humanitäre Krieg und das bislang gescheiterte Nation-Building: Erinnert sich noch jemand an den Kosovo?
Mit unseren modernen Kommunikationssystemen Radio, Fernsehen und Internet neigen wir dazu, viele wichtige Dinge zu vergessen, selbst wenn es um so Wichtiges wie Krieg und Frieden geht. Bei den Meisten verschwindet gerade Afghanistan aus dem Blick oder dies wäre geschehen, wenn nicht gerade bei den letzten Angriffen ein kanadischer, ein britischer und sieben amerikanische Soldaten getötet worden wären, was Anlass zur Ankündigung einer Frühjahrsoffensive gegen die "Taliban-Rebellion" war. Die Taliban? Wurden sie nicht schon lange besiegt, während ein neues Afghanistan aus der Asche aufersteht?
Der "befreite" Kosovo wurde zur Brutstätte des organisierten Verbrechens und der ethnischen Gewalt
Doch der Kosovo ist alles andere als der glückliche und gedeihende Ort, der er sein soll. Auch der Frieden ist nicht in die Region gebracht worden. Verbrechen, Terror. Ethnische Säuberung und Schmuggel sind allgegenwärtig: dieses Mal unter der Schirmherrschaft der UN und nicht von Belgrad.
Vier Jahre, nachdem der Kosovo durch die Bombardierung der Nato "befreit" wurde ( Exakte Zahlen wird man nie erfahren), hat er sich in eine Brutstätte des organisierten Verbrechens, der ethnischen Gewalt und sogar von al-Qaida-Sympathisanten verwandelt. Diese südliche Provinz von Serbien, die sich nominell noch unter UN-Kontrolle befindet, wird heute von einem Triumvirat von albanischen Paramilitärs, Mafiabanden und Terroristen beherrscht. Sie kontrollieren eine ganze Reihe von Schmuggelgeschäften und führen aus, was Beobachter als brutale ethnische Säuberung von Minderheiten, vor allem von Serben, Roma und Juden, bezeichnen. Das alles geschieht, obgleich eine 18.000 Mann starke Friedenstruppe unter der Leitung der Nato und eine internationale Polizeieinheit mit mehr als 4.000 Mitgliedern im Land ist.
Anmerkung: Aus "The Grand Chessboard - Das große Schachbrett"
Zitate (in deutscher Übersetzung) aus dem Buch des
US-"Sicherheitsstrategen" Zbigniew Brzezinski von 1997 (Deutsche
Ausgabe 1999: "Die einzige Weltmacht - Amerikas Strategie der
Vorherrschaft") "Viel wichtiger aber ist der eurasische Balkan, weil er sich zu einem
ökonomischen Filetstück entwickeln könnte, konzentrieren sich in
dieser Region doch ungeheure Erdgas- und Erdölvorkommen, von
wichtigen Mineralien einschließlich Gold ganz zu schweigen. (S.182)
Amerikas primäres Interesse muß folglich sein, mit dafür zu sorgen,
daß keine einzelne Macht die Kontrolle über dieses Gebiet erlangt und
daß die Weltgemeinschaft ungehinderten finanziellen und
wirtschaftlichen Zugang zu ihr hat. Geopolitischer Pluralismus wird nur dann zu einer dauerhaften
Realität werden, wenn ein Netz von Pipeline- und Transportwegen die
Region direkt mit den großen Wirtschaftsknotenpunkten der Welt
durchzieht... (S.215/216)"
MEDIA WATCH
Heise: Die adoptierten Medienhuren
Watchblogger verfolgen gnadenlos jede Spur ihres Opfers
Sie nennen sich "Watchers" (Beobachter) und sie verfolgen jede nachsp?rbare Aktivit?t ihrer Opfer. Ihre Operationen laufen unter geheimnisvollen Namen wie Enduring Friedman oder What a Pickler!. Sie wollen Gutes tun. Aber sie adoptieren kein Patenkind aus der Dritten Welt, sondern einen US-amerikanischen Journalisten, manchmal sogar zwei.
Online Journalism Review: 'Watchblogs' Put the Political Press Under the Microscope
Bloggers mount an "adopt a journalist" campaign to track election coverage. Along with CJR's nonpartisan Campaign Desk, the effort puts some of the nation's top political reporters under intense public scrutiny.
You write the story. Your editor checks it. Your copy editor checks it. The story runs. Then your "watcher" reads it and writes a scathing critique on her Weblog. Welcome to the new workflow for prominent political reporters, as citizen bloggers and the Columbia Journalism Review's Campaign Desk Weblog have created another layer of oversight for the Fourth Estate.
The so-called "watchblogs" are generally anonymous bloggers who have taken it upon themselves to read each report from a particular presidential campaign reporter and then critique it for factual errors or bias. If they gain traction, watchblogs represent another step in the evolution of reader feedback and media criticism, and they have the potential to improve the work of journalists.
Friedman Watch Blog NY Times
Nedah Pickler Watch Blog AP
Heise: Die adoptierten Medienhuren
Watchblogger verfolgen gnadenlos jede Spur ihres Opfers
Sie nennen sich "Watchers" (Beobachter) und sie verfolgen jede nachsp?rbare Aktivit?t ihrer Opfer. Ihre Operationen laufen unter geheimnisvollen Namen wie Enduring Friedman oder What a Pickler!. Sie wollen Gutes tun. Aber sie adoptieren kein Patenkind aus der Dritten Welt, sondern einen US-amerikanischen Journalisten, manchmal sogar zwei.
Online Journalism Review: 'Watchblogs' Put the Political Press Under the Microscope
Bloggers mount an "adopt a journalist" campaign to track election coverage. Along with CJR's nonpartisan Campaign Desk, the effort puts some of the nation's top political reporters under intense public scrutiny.
You write the story. Your editor checks it. Your copy editor checks it. The story runs. Then your "watcher" reads it and writes a scathing critique on her Weblog. Welcome to the new workflow for prominent political reporters, as citizen bloggers and the Columbia Journalism Review's Campaign Desk Weblog have created another layer of oversight for the Fourth Estate.
The so-called "watchblogs" are generally anonymous bloggers who have taken it upon themselves to read each report from a particular presidential campaign reporter and then critique it for factual errors or bias. If they gain traction, watchblogs represent another step in the evolution of reader feedback and media criticism, and they have the potential to improve the work of journalists.
Friedman Watch Blog NY Times
Nedah Pickler Watch Blog AP
IRAQ
Spiegel: INTERVIEW MIT KURDENFÜHRER TALABANI
"Es wird eine Föderation im Irak geben"
Durchbruch im Irak: Der Anführer der Patriotischen Union Kurdistans, Dschalal Talabani, rechnet mit freien Wahlen im Irak binnen acht Monaten. Sein bisheriger Gegner, Schiitenführer Sistani, habe ihm volle Unterstützung für eine Autonomie der Kurden zugesichert, sagt Talabani im SPIEGEL-ONLINE-Interview.
Spiegel: INTERVIEW MIT KURDENFÜHRER TALABANI
"Es wird eine Föderation im Irak geben"
Durchbruch im Irak: Der Anführer der Patriotischen Union Kurdistans, Dschalal Talabani, rechnet mit freien Wahlen im Irak binnen acht Monaten. Sein bisheriger Gegner, Schiitenführer Sistani, habe ihm volle Unterstützung für eine Autonomie der Kurden zugesichert, sagt Talabani im SPIEGEL-ONLINE-Interview.
Monday, February 16, 2004
MIDDLE EAST
Hipakistan: The fantasy of democracy - By Robert Fisk
For democracy, read fantasy. Iraq is getting so nasty for our great leaders these days that anything - and anyone - is going to be thrown to the dogs to save them.
The BBC, the CIA, British intelligence - any journalist that dares to point out the lies that led us to war - get pelted with more lies. The moment we suggest that Iraq never was fertile soil for western democracy, we get accused of being racists. Do we think the Arabs are incapable of producing democracy, we are asked? Do we think they are subhuman?
This kind of tosh comes from the same family of abuse as that which labels all and every criticism of Israel anti-Semitic.
If we even remind the world that the cabal of neo-conservative, pro-Israeli proselytisers, Messers Perle, Wolfowitz, Feith, Kristol, et al, helped to propel President Bush and US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld into this war with grotesquely inaccurate prophecies of a new Middle East of democratic, pro-Israeli Arab states, we are told that we are racist even to mention their names.
So let's just remember what the neo-cons were advocating back in the golden autumn of 2002 when Tony was squaring up with George to destroy the Hitler of Baghdad.
"CHECK IT"
Hipakistan: The fantasy of democracy - By Robert Fisk
For democracy, read fantasy. Iraq is getting so nasty for our great leaders these days that anything - and anyone - is going to be thrown to the dogs to save them.
The BBC, the CIA, British intelligence - any journalist that dares to point out the lies that led us to war - get pelted with more lies. The moment we suggest that Iraq never was fertile soil for western democracy, we get accused of being racists. Do we think the Arabs are incapable of producing democracy, we are asked? Do we think they are subhuman?
This kind of tosh comes from the same family of abuse as that which labels all and every criticism of Israel anti-Semitic.
If we even remind the world that the cabal of neo-conservative, pro-Israeli proselytisers, Messers Perle, Wolfowitz, Feith, Kristol, et al, helped to propel President Bush and US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld into this war with grotesquely inaccurate prophecies of a new Middle East of democratic, pro-Israeli Arab states, we are told that we are racist even to mention their names.
So let's just remember what the neo-cons were advocating back in the golden autumn of 2002 when Tony was squaring up with George to destroy the Hitler of Baghdad.
"CHECK IT"
UK: KELLY MURDER
Cloak and Dagger: CLOAK EXCLUSIVE!
Major London paper sitting on firestorm, while insisting key Intel official allow use of his name. He confirms P.M. Tony Blair ordered assassination of MI-6 top scientist, Dr. David Kelly, about to finger Blair on phony data instigating Bush/Blair attack seizing Iraq oil.
Lord Hutton Inquiry, finding of Kelly "suicide" a fraud, Intel official also says.
Story release, Editor says, would oust Bush/Blair.
Cloak and Dagger: CLOAK EXCLUSIVE!
Major London paper sitting on firestorm, while insisting key Intel official allow use of his name. He confirms P.M. Tony Blair ordered assassination of MI-6 top scientist, Dr. David Kelly, about to finger Blair on phony data instigating Bush/Blair attack seizing Iraq oil.
Lord Hutton Inquiry, finding of Kelly "suicide" a fraud, Intel official also says.
Story release, Editor says, would oust Bush/Blair.
USA: ELECTIONS
Independent: Voting Chaos Looms For American Election
SEATTLE -- The electronic voting system designed for the forthcoming American election is fundamentally flawed and could undermine the trustworthines of the entire US democratic process, a scientist has told the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Paper ballots can be scrutinised to ensure they have not been misread or tampered with but electronic votes recorded only as computer code cannot be checked to see the true intention of the voter, said David Dill, professor of computer science at Stanford University in California.
One in four voters in the US presidential election in November will use touch-sensitive machines rather than putting a cross on a ballot paper.
"The system is in crisis. A quarter of the American public are voting on machines where there's very little protection of their votes. I don't think there's any reason to trust these machines," he said.
Independent: Voting Chaos Looms For American Election
SEATTLE -- The electronic voting system designed for the forthcoming American election is fundamentally flawed and could undermine the trustworthines of the entire US democratic process, a scientist has told the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Paper ballots can be scrutinised to ensure they have not been misread or tampered with but electronic votes recorded only as computer code cannot be checked to see the true intention of the voter, said David Dill, professor of computer science at Stanford University in California.
One in four voters in the US presidential election in November will use touch-sensitive machines rather than putting a cross on a ballot paper.
"The system is in crisis. A quarter of the American public are voting on machines where there's very little protection of their votes. I don't think there's any reason to trust these machines," he said.
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