Independent: Civil war spreads across Iraq as bomb at Shia mosque kills 59
by Patrick Cockburn in Iraq
A civil war between Sunni and Shia Muslims is spreading rapidly through central Iraq, with each community seeking revenge for the latest massacre. Yesterday a suicide bomber driving a van packed with explosives blew himself up outside the golden-domed mosque in Kufa, killing at least 59 and injuring more than 130 Shia.
In the past 10 days, while the world has been absorbed by the war in Lebanon, sectarian massacres have started to take place on an almost daily basis, leading observers to fear a level of killing approaching that of Rwanda immediately before the genocide of 1994. On a single spot on the west bank of the Tigris river in north Baghdad, between 10 and 12 bodies have been drifting ashore every day.
Thursday, July 20, 2006
LEBANON
Independent via ICH: The child lies like a rag doll - a symbol of the latest Lebanon war
by Robert Fisk
How soon must we use the words "war crime"? How many children must be scattered in the rubble of Israeli air attacks before we reject the obscene phrase "collateral damage" and start talking about prosecution for crimes against humanity?
The child whose dead body lies like a rag doll beside the cars which were supposedly taking her and her family to safety is a symbol of the latest Lebanon war; she was hurled from the vehicle in which she and her family were traveling in southern Lebanon as they fled their village - on Israel's own instructions. Because her parents were apparently killed in the same Israeli air attack, her name is still unknown. Not an unknown warrior, but an unknown child.
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
LEBANON
Guardian: United States to Israel: you have one more week to blast Hizbullah
Bush 'gave green light' for limited attack, say Israeli and UK sources
The US is giving Israel a window of a week to inflict maximum damage on Hizbullah before weighing in behind international calls for a ceasefire in Lebanon, according to British, European and Israeli sources.
The Bush administration, backed by Britain, has blocked efforts for an immediate halt to the fighting initiated at the UN security council, the G8 summit in St Petersburg and the European foreign ministers' meeting in Brussels.
Bush 'gave green light' for limited attack, say Israeli and UK sources
The US is giving Israel a window of a week to inflict maximum damage on Hizbullah before weighing in behind international calls for a ceasefire in Lebanon, according to British, European and Israeli sources.
The Bush administration, backed by Britain, has blocked efforts for an immediate halt to the fighting initiated at the UN security council, the G8 summit in St Petersburg and the European foreign ministers' meeting in Brussels.
FROM ISRAEL WITH LOVE
Israeli girls write messages on a shell at a heavy artillery position near Kiryat Shmona, in northern Israel, next to the Lebanese border, Monday, July 17, 2006. Copyright AP
copyright AP
copyright AFP
copyright AFP
Flickr Beirut Photostream here
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
LEBANON
Reuters: Israeli strikes on Lebanon kill 42Israeli air strikes killed 42 people across Lebanon on Monday, including 10 civilians hit on a southern bridge, on the sixth day of a bombardment that has wreaked the heaviest destruction in Lebanon for over 20 years.
Rescuers also pulled nine bodies from the wreckage of a building in the southern city of Tyre that was bombed on Sunday, raising the death toll since Israel's offensive to 204, all but 14 of them civilian.
LEBANON
ICH: 'Blow up my city and I'll blow up yours'
by Robert Fisk
So what else was new yesterday? Well, the Israeli army trotted over the border again - for about 30 metres - and then retreated behind their vulnerable south Lebanon frontier wire. Israeli jets killed another 17 Lebanese and wounded 53 more, taking the total death toll here to 196 against Israel's rising total of 24. The obscene exchange rate of death thus now stands at more than eight Lebanese for every Israeli.
by Robert Fisk
So what else was new yesterday? Well, the Israeli army trotted over the border again - for about 30 metres - and then retreated behind their vulnerable south Lebanon frontier wire. Israeli jets killed another 17 Lebanese and wounded 53 more, taking the total death toll here to 196 against Israel's rising total of 24. The obscene exchange rate of death thus now stands at more than eight Lebanese for every Israeli.
LEBANON
Asia Times: Israel's path to total war
One of the most malignant aspects of the new chapter in the Arab-Israeli conflict is the myth of Israel as the assaulted party, lavishly propagated by the White House and the infinite pro-Israel pundits in the US media, including the editors of the New York Times, who have labeled Israel's blatant aggression against the nation of Lebanon as "legally and morally justified".
Never mind that the rest of the world, including the European Union, does not share this perception of who is mainly at fault for the deadly cycle of violence that has gripped the Middle East again. The irony is that one can detect greater voices of dissent and opposition to Israel's massive, disproportionate response to the token kidnapping of a few of its soldiers than is the case in the "pluralistic" US media, nowadays sheepishly toeing the official line.
One of the most malignant aspects of the new chapter in the Arab-Israeli conflict is the myth of Israel as the assaulted party, lavishly propagated by the White House and the infinite pro-Israel pundits in the US media, including the editors of the New York Times, who have labeled Israel's blatant aggression against the nation of Lebanon as "legally and morally justified".
Never mind that the rest of the world, including the European Union, does not share this perception of who is mainly at fault for the deadly cycle of violence that has gripped the Middle East again. The irony is that one can detect greater voices of dissent and opposition to Israel's massive, disproportionate response to the token kidnapping of a few of its soldiers than is the case in the "pluralistic" US media, nowadays sheepishly toeing the official line.
Saturday, July 15, 2006
LEBANON
Independent: From my home, I saw what the 'war on terror' meant by Robert Fisk
...But it was the undercurrent of terror-speak that was particularly frightening yesterday.
Lebanon was an "axis of terror", Israel was "fighting terror on all fronts". During the morning, I had to cut across an interview with an Australian radio station when an Israeli reporter stated - totally untruthfully - that there were Iranian Revolutionary Guards in Lebanon and that not all Syria's troops had left.
And the reason why the Israelis had attacked Beirut's infinitely secure and carefully monitored airport, used by diplomats and European leaders, a facility as safe as any in Europe? Because, so said the Israelis, it was "a central hub for the transfer of weapons and supplies to the Hizbollah terrorist organisation." If the Israelis really want to know where that hub is, they should be looking at Damascus airport. But they do know that, don't they?
And so it is terror, terror, terror again and Lebanon is once more to be depicted as the mythic terror centre of the Middle East along, I suppose with Gaza. And the West Bank. And Syria. And, of course, Iraq. And Iran. And Afghanistan. And who knows where next?
...But it was the undercurrent of terror-speak that was particularly frightening yesterday.
Lebanon was an "axis of terror", Israel was "fighting terror on all fronts". During the morning, I had to cut across an interview with an Australian radio station when an Israeli reporter stated - totally untruthfully - that there were Iranian Revolutionary Guards in Lebanon and that not all Syria's troops had left.
And the reason why the Israelis had attacked Beirut's infinitely secure and carefully monitored airport, used by diplomats and European leaders, a facility as safe as any in Europe? Because, so said the Israelis, it was "a central hub for the transfer of weapons and supplies to the Hizbollah terrorist organisation." If the Israelis really want to know where that hub is, they should be looking at Damascus airport. But they do know that, don't they?
And so it is terror, terror, terror again and Lebanon is once more to be depicted as the mythic terror centre of the Middle East along, I suppose with Gaza. And the West Bank. And Syria. And, of course, Iraq. And Iran. And Afghanistan. And who knows where next?
LEBANON
Stratfor via ICH: Israeli Air Force will likely make a pre-emptive strike against Syria
Analysis
The Israel Defense Forces is preparing for a major, sustained assault into southern Lebanon to eliminate the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. The assault will extend at least to the Litani River -- the first natural barrier, roughly 20 miles into Lebanon -- and possibly all the way to areas south of Beirut. The advance might have been intended for July 16, when the reservists of the Israeli Northern Command who were just activated will have had 72 hours to spin up. However, since rockets fired from Lebanon hit Israel's port city of Haifa on July 13, Israel's 7th Armored, Golani and Barak Brigades -- some of the elite and most decorated units of the regular Israeli army -- might push ahead as far as the Litani and let the reservists catch up later.
Analysis
The Israel Defense Forces is preparing for a major, sustained assault into southern Lebanon to eliminate the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. The assault will extend at least to the Litani River -- the first natural barrier, roughly 20 miles into Lebanon -- and possibly all the way to areas south of Beirut. The advance might have been intended for July 16, when the reservists of the Israeli Northern Command who were just activated will have had 72 hours to spin up. However, since rockets fired from Lebanon hit Israel's port city of Haifa on July 13, Israel's 7th Armored, Golani and Barak Brigades -- some of the elite and most decorated units of the regular Israeli army -- might push ahead as far as the Litani and let the reservists catch up later.
Friday, July 14, 2006
LEBANON
NY Times: Israel Vows to Rout Hezbollah
JERUSALEM, Saturday, July 15 — The face-off between Israel and the Lebanese group Hezbollah escalated sharply on Friday as Israeli jets hit its Beirut headquarters and southern strongholds and Israeli news reports said a Hezbollah drone aircraft packed with explosives struck an Israeli naval vessel, causing severe damage.
JERUSALEM, Saturday, July 15 — The face-off between Israel and the Lebanese group Hezbollah escalated sharply on Friday as Israeli jets hit its Beirut headquarters and southern strongholds and Israeli news reports said a Hezbollah drone aircraft packed with explosives struck an Israeli naval vessel, causing severe damage.
TOP 25 CENSORED STORIES OF 2006
Project Censored: Top 25 Censored Stories of 2006
#1 Bush Administration Moves to Eliminate Open Government
#2 Media Coverage Fails on Iraq: Fallujah and the Civilian Death
#3 Another Year of Distorted Election Coverage
#4 Surveillance Society Quietly Moves In
#5 U.S. Uses Tsunami to Military Advantage in Southeast Asia
GAZA
ICH: What Are They Fighting For
By Prof. Tanya Reinhart
Whatever may be the fate of the captive soldier Gilad Shalit, the Israeli army’s war in Gaza is not about him. As senior security analyst Alex Fishman widely reported, the army was preparing for an attack months earlier and was constantly pushing for it, with the goal of destroying the Hamas infrastructure and its government.
The army initiated an escalation on 8 June when it assassinated Abu Samhadana, a senior appointee of the Hamas government, and intensified its shelling of civilians in the Gaza Strip. Governmental authorization for action on a larger scale was already given by 12 June, but it was postponed in the wake of the global reverberation caused by the killing of civilians in the air force bombing the next day.
The abduction of the soldier released the safety-catch, and the operation began on 28 June with the destruction of infrastructure in Gaza and the mass detention of the Hamas leadership in the West Bank, which was also planned weeks in advance. (1)
By Prof. Tanya Reinhart
Whatever may be the fate of the captive soldier Gilad Shalit, the Israeli army’s war in Gaza is not about him. As senior security analyst Alex Fishman widely reported, the army was preparing for an attack months earlier and was constantly pushing for it, with the goal of destroying the Hamas infrastructure and its government.
The army initiated an escalation on 8 June when it assassinated Abu Samhadana, a senior appointee of the Hamas government, and intensified its shelling of civilians in the Gaza Strip. Governmental authorization for action on a larger scale was already given by 12 June, but it was postponed in the wake of the global reverberation caused by the killing of civilians in the air force bombing the next day.
The abduction of the soldier released the safety-catch, and the operation began on 28 June with the destruction of infrastructure in Gaza and the mass detention of the Hamas leadership in the West Bank, which was also planned weeks in advance. (1)
LEBANON
Independent via ICH: Beirut waits as Syrian masters send Hezbollah allies into battle
By Robert Fisk
It's about Syria. That was the frightening message delivered by Damascus yesterday when it allowed its Hizbollah allies to cross the UN Blue Line in southern Lebanon, kill three Israeli soldiers, capture two others and demand the release of Lebanese prisoners in Israeli jails.
Within hours, a country that had begun to believe in peace - without a single Syrian soldier left on its soil - found itself once more at war.
Israel held the powerless Lebanese government responsible - as if the sectarian and divided cabinet in Beirut can control Hizbollah. That is Syria's message. Fouad Siniora, Lebanon's affable Prime Minister, may have thought he was running the country but it is President Bashar Assad in Damascus who can still bring life or death to a land that lost 150,000 lives in 15 years of civil conflict.
By Robert Fisk
It's about Syria. That was the frightening message delivered by Damascus yesterday when it allowed its Hizbollah allies to cross the UN Blue Line in southern Lebanon, kill three Israeli soldiers, capture two others and demand the release of Lebanese prisoners in Israeli jails.
Within hours, a country that had begun to believe in peace - without a single Syrian soldier left on its soil - found itself once more at war.
Israel held the powerless Lebanese government responsible - as if the sectarian and divided cabinet in Beirut can control Hizbollah. That is Syria's message. Fouad Siniora, Lebanon's affable Prime Minister, may have thought he was running the country but it is President Bashar Assad in Damascus who can still bring life or death to a land that lost 150,000 lives in 15 years of civil conflict.
Thursday, July 13, 2006
RUSSIA
BBC: Putin rebuffs 'colonialist' West
If you look at newspapers of 100 years ago, you see how, at the time, colonialist states justified their policies in Africa or in Asia. They talked of their civilising role, of the white man's mission," he said.
"If you change the word 'civilising' to 'democratisation', you find the same logic, you can read the same things in the press today."
"funny i used almost the same words as putin in a discussion i had with a friend yesterday"
If you look at newspapers of 100 years ago, you see how, at the time, colonialist states justified their policies in Africa or in Asia. They talked of their civilising role, of the white man's mission," he said.
"If you change the word 'civilising' to 'democratisation', you find the same logic, you can read the same things in the press today."
"funny i used almost the same words as putin in a discussion i had with a friend yesterday"
LEBANON
Guardian: Borderline Beneficiaries
Israel's UN resolution-breaching incursion strengthens the hands of the Lebanese government's enemies.
The first thing to be made clear about this is that it need not have happened. Israel ended its occupation of southern Lebanon six years ago, but two outstanding issues, Lebanese prisoners held by Israel and continued Israeli occupation of the Shebaa Farms, provided a rationale for Hizbullah to retain its militia and to claim that it was continuing to wage a "liberation" struggle.
Israel's UN resolution-breaching incursion strengthens the hands of the Lebanese government's enemies.
The first thing to be made clear about this is that it need not have happened. Israel ended its occupation of southern Lebanon six years ago, but two outstanding issues, Lebanese prisoners held by Israel and continued Israeli occupation of the Shebaa Farms, provided a rationale for Hizbullah to retain its militia and to claim that it was continuing to wage a "liberation" struggle.
GAZA
UPI: Israeli use of poisonous material alleged
GAZA, July 10 (UPI) -- The Palestinian health ministry accused Israel of using a new type of banned explosives containing poisonous material.
A ministry report released Monday said testimonies from surgeons in Palestinian hospitals indicated that "all 249 casualties inflicted by the Israeli war machine during the operation on Gaza which started on June 27 resulted from shrapnel of new and developed shells and explosives which cause amputation of limbs and burning of all the injured parts."
The ministry called on the international community and human rights organization "to send medical committees to examine the wounded and verify the existence of poisonous material in their bodies caused by Israeli weapons."
GAZA, July 10 (UPI) -- The Palestinian health ministry accused Israel of using a new type of banned explosives containing poisonous material.
A ministry report released Monday said testimonies from surgeons in Palestinian hospitals indicated that "all 249 casualties inflicted by the Israeli war machine during the operation on Gaza which started on June 27 resulted from shrapnel of new and developed shells and explosives which cause amputation of limbs and burning of all the injured parts."
The ministry called on the international community and human rights organization "to send medical committees to examine the wounded and verify the existence of poisonous material in their bodies caused by Israeli weapons."
IRAQ
Baghdat Burning: Atrocities...
The pity I once had for foreign troops in Iraq is gone. It's been eradicated by the atrocities in Abu Ghraib, the deaths in Haditha and the latest news of rapes and killings. I look at them in their armored vehicles and to be honest- I can't bring myself to care whether they are 19 or 39. I can't bring myself to care if they make it back home alive. I can't bring myself to care anymore about the wife or parents or children they left behind. I can't bring myself to care because it's difficult to see beyond the horrors. I look at them and wonder just how many innocents they killed and how many more they'll kill before they go home. How many more young Iraqi girls will they rape?
The pity I once had for foreign troops in Iraq is gone. It's been eradicated by the atrocities in Abu Ghraib, the deaths in Haditha and the latest news of rapes and killings. I look at them in their armored vehicles and to be honest- I can't bring myself to care whether they are 19 or 39. I can't bring myself to care if they make it back home alive. I can't bring myself to care anymore about the wife or parents or children they left behind. I can't bring myself to care because it's difficult to see beyond the horrors. I look at them and wonder just how many innocents they killed and how many more they'll kill before they go home. How many more young Iraqi girls will they rape?
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
OCCUPIED TERRITORIES
Washington Post: Aggression Under False Pretenses
By Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh
GAZA, Palestine -- As Americans commemorated their annual celebration of independence from colonial occupation, rejoicing in their democratic institutions, we Palestinians were yet again besieged by our occupiers, who destroy our roads and buildings, our power stations and water plants, and who attack our very means of civil administration. Our homes and government offices are shelled, our parliamentarians taken prisoner and threatened with prosecution.
The current Gaza invasion is only the latest effort to destroy the results of fair and free elections held early this year. It is the explosive follow-up to a five-month campaign of economic and diplomatic warfare directed by the United States and Israel. The stated intention of that strategy was to force the average Palestinian to "reconsider" her vote when faced with deepening hardship; its failure was predictable, and the new overt military aggression and collective punishment are its logical fulfillment. The "kidnapped" Israeli Cpl. Gilad Shalit is only a pretext for a job scheduled months ago.
By Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh
GAZA, Palestine -- As Americans commemorated their annual celebration of independence from colonial occupation, rejoicing in their democratic institutions, we Palestinians were yet again besieged by our occupiers, who destroy our roads and buildings, our power stations and water plants, and who attack our very means of civil administration. Our homes and government offices are shelled, our parliamentarians taken prisoner and threatened with prosecution.
The current Gaza invasion is only the latest effort to destroy the results of fair and free elections held early this year. It is the explosive follow-up to a five-month campaign of economic and diplomatic warfare directed by the United States and Israel. The stated intention of that strategy was to force the average Palestinian to "reconsider" her vote when faced with deepening hardship; its failure was predictable, and the new overt military aggression and collective punishment are its logical fulfillment. The "kidnapped" Israeli Cpl. Gilad Shalit is only a pretext for a job scheduled months ago.
GAZA: ISRAELI MASSACRE
Haaretz: 7 killed in IAF strike on Gaza City house; IDF moves into central Gaza
The Israel Air Force struck at the home of a Hamas activist in Gaza City before dawn Wednesday, killing seven people and wounding top Hamas commander Mohammed Deif, Palestinians said.
The seven dead were all members of the same family - two parents, including senior Gaza Hamas figure Dr. Nabil al-Salmiah, and their five children - Palestinian hospital officials said. Rescuers said four other people were still missing and at least 24 people were wounded.
ISRAEL CROSSES BORDER TO LEBANON
Haaretz: ANALYSIS: Israel prepares for a wide military escalation
On the 18th day since the abduction of Corporal Gilad Shalit, the picture has become all the more complex. From limited fighting on a single front (the Gaza Strip), the Israel Defense Forces is now approaching what might evolve into a nearly outright war on two fronts.
This is the most complex crisis Israel has faced since Operation Defensive Shield in 2002, when Israel successfully curbed Hezbollah's bid to spark a confrontation on the northern border in response to the IDF's occupation of West Bank cities.
Senior officers say that the Lebanese government is responsible for the soldiers' abduction. According to the officers, if the kidnapped soldiers are not returned alive and well, the Lebanese civilian infrastructures will be taken back in time 20 and maybe 50 years.
ISRAEL CROSSES BORDER TO LEBANON
Haaretz: Hezbollah kidnaps 2 IDF soldiers during clashes on Israel-Lebanon border
Hezbollah kidnapped two Israel Defense Forces soldiers on the northern border in the midst of massive shelling attacks on Israel's north Wednesday morning. The IDF confirmed two of its soldiers were missing on the Lebanese border.
Hezbollah fighters attacked two IDF armored Hummer jeeps patrolling along the border with gunfire and explosives. The Hezbollah fighters nabbed two of the soldiers and wounded others in the Hummers.
Immediately following the Hezbollah attack, the organization's Al-Manar television station began broadcasting clips calling on Israel to release Lebanese prisoners held in Israel. The Hezbollah demands emphasized the release of Lebanese militant Samir Al-Kuntar. Al-Manar also broadcast video clips of previous Palestinian and Lebanese attacks on IDF troops.
Hezbollah kidnapped two Israel Defense Forces soldiers on the northern border in the midst of massive shelling attacks on Israel's north Wednesday morning. The IDF confirmed two of its soldiers were missing on the Lebanese border.
Hezbollah fighters attacked two IDF armored Hummer jeeps patrolling along the border with gunfire and explosives. The Hezbollah fighters nabbed two of the soldiers and wounded others in the Hummers.
Immediately following the Hezbollah attack, the organization's Al-Manar television station began broadcasting clips calling on Israel to release Lebanese prisoners held in Israel. The Hezbollah demands emphasized the release of Lebanese militant Samir Al-Kuntar. Al-Manar also broadcast video clips of previous Palestinian and Lebanese attacks on IDF troops.
Monday, July 10, 2006
MEDIA
Harpers: “I Was a Mouthpiece for the American Military”
An embedded TV producer's frank assessment
In an interesting interview published this week in Foreign Policy, Newsweek's Rod Nordland spoke about the difficulties of reporting from Iraq. He said that the Bush Administration has been largely successful in managing the news “to the extent that most Americans are not aware of just how dire it is and how little progress has been made” and revealed that some embedded reporters “have been blacklisted because the military wasn’t happy with [their] work.”
An embedded TV producer's frank assessment
In an interesting interview published this week in Foreign Policy, Newsweek's Rod Nordland spoke about the difficulties of reporting from Iraq. He said that the Bush Administration has been largely successful in managing the news “to the extent that most Americans are not aware of just how dire it is and how little progress has been made” and revealed that some embedded reporters “have been blacklisted because the military wasn’t happy with [their] work.”
IRAQ
Guardian via ICH: All Iraq is Abu Ghraib
Our streets are prison corridors and our homes cells as the occupiers go about their strategic humiliation and intimidation
-- A'beer Qassim al-Janaby, a 15-year-old Iraqi girl, was with her family in Mahmudiyah, 20 miles south of Baghdad, when US troops raided the house. A group of soldiers have been charged with her rape and the murder of her father, mother, and nine-year-old sister. They are also accused of setting A'beer's body on fire.
The al-Janaby family lived near a US checkpoint, and the killings happened at 2pm on March 11. As usual, a US spokesman ascribed the killings to "Sunni Arab insurgents active in the area", contrary to local eyewitnesses.
Our streets are prison corridors and our homes cells as the occupiers go about their strategic humiliation and intimidation
-- A'beer Qassim al-Janaby, a 15-year-old Iraqi girl, was with her family in Mahmudiyah, 20 miles south of Baghdad, when US troops raided the house. A group of soldiers have been charged with her rape and the murder of her father, mother, and nine-year-old sister. They are also accused of setting A'beer's body on fire.
The al-Janaby family lived near a US checkpoint, and the killings happened at 2pm on March 11. As usual, a US spokesman ascribed the killings to "Sunni Arab insurgents active in the area", contrary to local eyewitnesses.
OCCUPIED TERRITORIES
Haaretz: Who started?
by Gideon Levy
We left Gaza and they are firing Qassams" - there is no more precise a formulation of the prevailing view about the current round of the conflict. "They started," will be the routine response to anyone who tries to argue, for example, that a few hours before the first Qassam fell on the school in Ashkelon, causing no damage, Israel sowed destruction at the Islamic University in Gaza.
Israel is causing electricity blackouts, laying sieges, bombing and shelling, assassinating and imprisoning, killing and wounding civilians, including children and babies, in horrifying numbers, but "they started."
They are also "breaking the rules" laid down by Israel: We are allowed to bomb anything we want and they are not allowed to launch Qassams. When they fire a Qassam at Ashkelon, that's an "escalation of the conflict," and when we bomb a university and a school, it's perfectly alright. Why? Because they started. That's why the majority thinks that all the justice is on our side. Like in a schoolyard fight, the argument about who started is Israel's winning moral argument to justify every injustice.
by Gideon Levy
We left Gaza and they are firing Qassams" - there is no more precise a formulation of the prevailing view about the current round of the conflict. "They started," will be the routine response to anyone who tries to argue, for example, that a few hours before the first Qassam fell on the school in Ashkelon, causing no damage, Israel sowed destruction at the Islamic University in Gaza.
Israel is causing electricity blackouts, laying sieges, bombing and shelling, assassinating and imprisoning, killing and wounding civilians, including children and babies, in horrifying numbers, but "they started."
They are also "breaking the rules" laid down by Israel: We are allowed to bomb anything we want and they are not allowed to launch Qassams. When they fire a Qassam at Ashkelon, that's an "escalation of the conflict," and when we bomb a university and a school, it's perfectly alright. Why? Because they started. That's why the majority thinks that all the justice is on our side. Like in a schoolyard fight, the argument about who started is Israel's winning moral argument to justify every injustice.
TECH
MSNBC: Spyware developers net huge profits, outrage
With annual revenues of $2 billion, pop-up ads are a high-stakes game
Consumers have strong opinions about Direct Revenue's software. "If I ever meet anyone from your company, I will kill you," a person who identified himself as James Chang said in an e-mail to Direct Revenue last summer. "I will f------ kill you and your families." Such sentiments aren't unusual. "You people are EVIL personified," Kevin Horton wrote around the same time. "I would like the four hours of my life back I have wasted trying to get your stupid uninvited software off my now crippled system."
With annual revenues of $2 billion, pop-up ads are a high-stakes game
Consumers have strong opinions about Direct Revenue's software. "If I ever meet anyone from your company, I will kill you," a person who identified himself as James Chang said in an e-mail to Direct Revenue last summer. "I will f------ kill you and your families." Such sentiments aren't unusual. "You people are EVIL personified," Kevin Horton wrote around the same time. "I would like the four hours of my life back I have wasted trying to get your stupid uninvited software off my now crippled system."
TECH
SFGate: Parents turn to tech toys to track teens
Paige White was surprised when her parents figured out soon after she started driving last year that she'd gone 9 miles to a party, not 4 miles to the friend's house she'd told them she was visiting. It seemed to her almost as if her car was bugged.
It was.
Paige White was surprised when her parents figured out soon after she started driving last year that she'd gone 9 miles to a party, not 4 miles to the friend's house she'd told them she was visiting. It seemed to her almost as if her car was bugged.
It was.
Friday, July 07, 2006
OCCUPIED TERRITORIES
Guardian: Europe's response to the siege of Gaza is shameful by Jonathan Steel
The Palestinians have no partner for peace. They will only have one if Israel agrees to recognise Palestine's right to function
Thank goodness for the Swiss. Alone in Europe, their government has dared to condemn what the Israelis are doing to Gaza. It is collective punishment, they say. It violates the principle of proportionality. Israel has not taken the precautions required by international law to protect civilians.
Inevitably, the bloggers are pouring out the usual irrelevancies about the role of Swiss banks during the Nazi period. But as the depository of the Geneva conventions, one of the key legal advances to emerge from the ravages of the 20th century, Switzerland has a duty to speak out.
Its statement stands in contrast to the European Union's shamefully muted voice. The Palestinians kill two soldiers and take one prisoner and, in response, power stations are blown up, sewage and water systems grind to a halt, bridges are destroyed, sonic booms terrify children day and night, and all this is inflicted on a hungry people who are under siege in what is effectively a huge open prison. The EU's response? Vague expressions of "concern" and calls for "restraint".
MEXICO: VOTE FRAUD?
Guardian: Grand theft Mexico
by Greg Palace
The election race south of the US border is officially too close to call. Now, where have we heard that before?
s in Florida in 2000, and as in Ohio in 2004, the exit polls show the voters voted for the progressive candidate. The race is "officially" too close to call. But they will call it - after they steal it.
Reuters reports that, as of 8pm eastern time, as voting concluded in Mexico, exit polls showed Andrés Manuel López Obrador of the "leftwing" party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) leading in exit polls over Felipe Calderón of the ruling conservative National Action party (PAN).
We've said again and again: exit polls tell us how voters say they voted, but the voters can't tell pollsters whether their vote will be counted. In Mexico, counting the vote is an art, not a science - and Calderón's ruling crew is very artful indeed. The PAN-controlled official electoral commission, not surprisingly, has announced that the presidential tally is too close to call.
Calderón's election is openly supported by the Bush administration.
On the ground in Mexico city, our news team reports accusations from inside the Obrador campaign that operatives of the PAN had access to voter files that are supposed to be the sole property of the nation's electoral commission. We are not surprised.
by Greg Palace
The election race south of the US border is officially too close to call. Now, where have we heard that before?
s in Florida in 2000, and as in Ohio in 2004, the exit polls show the voters voted for the progressive candidate. The race is "officially" too close to call. But they will call it - after they steal it.
Reuters reports that, as of 8pm eastern time, as voting concluded in Mexico, exit polls showed Andrés Manuel López Obrador of the "leftwing" party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) leading in exit polls over Felipe Calderón of the ruling conservative National Action party (PAN).
We've said again and again: exit polls tell us how voters say they voted, but the voters can't tell pollsters whether their vote will be counted. In Mexico, counting the vote is an art, not a science - and Calderón's ruling crew is very artful indeed. The PAN-controlled official electoral commission, not surprisingly, has announced that the presidential tally is too close to call.
Calderón's election is openly supported by the Bush administration.
On the ground in Mexico city, our news team reports accusations from inside the Obrador campaign that operatives of the PAN had access to voter files that are supposed to be the sole property of the nation's electoral commission. We are not surprised.
Tuesday, July 04, 2006
GAZA
Haaretz: A black flag
by Gideon Levy
A black flag hangs over the "rolling" operation in Gaza. The more the operation "rolls," the darker the flag becomes. The "summer rains" we are showering on Gaza are not only pointless, but are first and foremost blatantly illegitimate. It is not legitimate to cut off 750,000 people from electricity. It is not legitimate to call on 20,000 people to run from their homes and turn their towns into ghost towns. It is not legitimate to penetrate Syria's airspace. It is not legitimate to kidnap half a government and a quarter of a parliament.
A state that takes such steps is no longer distinguishable from a terror organization.
by Gideon Levy
A black flag hangs over the "rolling" operation in Gaza. The more the operation "rolls," the darker the flag becomes. The "summer rains" we are showering on Gaza are not only pointless, but are first and foremost blatantly illegitimate. It is not legitimate to cut off 750,000 people from electricity. It is not legitimate to call on 20,000 people to run from their homes and turn their towns into ghost towns. It is not legitimate to penetrate Syria's airspace. It is not legitimate to kidnap half a government and a quarter of a parliament.
A state that takes such steps is no longer distinguishable from a terror organization.
OCCUPIED TERRITORIES
Peace Palestine: Morning Came
A letter from Palestine.
Morning came and we found that 90 of the nation's best men were captured by Israel from their homes in the night. Our mayor, who was released from four years in prison just a month ago
Israel has over 10,000 Palestinian hostages, hundreds of them children, and slaughters Palestinians of any age on a daily basis. When Palestinians take 2 Israeli hostages and kill two soldiers, Israeli bombs Gaza. Bombs out the power stations, the water reticulation; no electricity, no water, bridges blasted severing cities from each other. Gaza Strip, the most densely populated area on earth on account of Israel using it as a specially designed human garbage can where refugees are disposed off and hermetically sealed off from the rest of the world.. Brilliant, but unsuccessful. If you treat humans as garbage and they know that they are humans and not garbage, they will not quietly disappear. You will never sleep safe at night. You will never have the right to sleep safe at night. May you never sleep safe at night.
A letter from Palestine.
Morning came and we found that 90 of the nation's best men were captured by Israel from their homes in the night. Our mayor, who was released from four years in prison just a month ago
Israel has over 10,000 Palestinian hostages, hundreds of them children, and slaughters Palestinians of any age on a daily basis. When Palestinians take 2 Israeli hostages and kill two soldiers, Israeli bombs Gaza. Bombs out the power stations, the water reticulation; no electricity, no water, bridges blasted severing cities from each other. Gaza Strip, the most densely populated area on earth on account of Israel using it as a specially designed human garbage can where refugees are disposed off and hermetically sealed off from the rest of the world.. Brilliant, but unsuccessful. If you treat humans as garbage and they know that they are humans and not garbage, they will not quietly disappear. You will never sleep safe at night. You will never have the right to sleep safe at night. May you never sleep safe at night.
IRAN
New Yorker: Last Stand
by Seymour Hersh
The military’s problem with the President’s Iran policy.
On May 31st, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice announced what appeared to be a major change in U.S. foreign policy. The Bush Administration, she said, would be willing to join Russia, China, and its European allies in direct talks with Iran about its nuclear program. There was a condition, however: the negotiations would not begin until, as the President put it in a June 19th speech at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, “the Iranian regime fully and verifiably suspends its uranium enrichment and reprocessing activities.” Iran, which has insisted on its right to enrich uranium, was being asked to concede the main point of the negotiations before they started. The question was whether the Administration expected the Iranians to agree, or was laying the diplomatic groundwork for future military action.
"a must read"
by Seymour Hersh
The military’s problem with the President’s Iran policy.
On May 31st, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice announced what appeared to be a major change in U.S. foreign policy. The Bush Administration, she said, would be willing to join Russia, China, and its European allies in direct talks with Iran about its nuclear program. There was a condition, however: the negotiations would not begin until, as the President put it in a June 19th speech at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, “the Iranian regime fully and verifiably suspends its uranium enrichment and reprocessing activities.” Iran, which has insisted on its right to enrich uranium, was being asked to concede the main point of the negotiations before they started. The question was whether the Administration expected the Iranians to agree, or was laying the diplomatic groundwork for future military action.
"a must read"
IRAQ, Al-ZARQAWI, BIN LADEN
AP: Al-Zarqawi had phone numbers of senior Iraqi officials stored in his cell phone
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi had the phone numbers of senior Iraqi officials stored in his cell phone, according to an Iraqi legislator.
Waiel Abdul-Latif, a member of former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi's party, said Monday that authorities found the numbers after al-Zarqawi, leader of al Qaeda in Iraq, was killed in a U.S. air strike on June 7.
Abdul-Latif did not give names of the officials. But he said they included ministry employees and members of parliament.
Meanwhile, al-Zarqawi's wife told an Italian newspaper that al Qaeda leaders sold him out to the United States in exchange for a promise to let up in the search for Osama bin Laden.
The woman, identified by La Repubblica as al-Zarqawi's first wife, said al Qaeda's top leadership reached a deal with U.S. intelligence because al Zarqawi had become too powerful.
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi had the phone numbers of senior Iraqi officials stored in his cell phone, according to an Iraqi legislator.
Waiel Abdul-Latif, a member of former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi's party, said Monday that authorities found the numbers after al-Zarqawi, leader of al Qaeda in Iraq, was killed in a U.S. air strike on June 7.
Abdul-Latif did not give names of the officials. But he said they included ministry employees and members of parliament.
Meanwhile, al-Zarqawi's wife told an Italian newspaper that al Qaeda leaders sold him out to the United States in exchange for a promise to let up in the search for Osama bin Laden.
The woman, identified by La Repubblica as al-Zarqawi's first wife, said al Qaeda's top leadership reached a deal with U.S. intelligence because al Zarqawi had become too powerful.
IRAQ
Truthout: Orwell in Iraq: Snow Jobs, Zarqawi and Bogus Peace Plans
by Dahr Jamail
With the plan to secure Baghdad, "Operation Forward Together," now three weeks old, and the so-called terror leader in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, killed, the security situation has only continued to deteriorate.
"Killing Zarqawi has not improved the situation in Iraq one bit," said Loretta Napoleoni, Fullbright Scholar at Johns Hopkins University, author of the books Terror Inc. and Insurgent Iraq. While speaking to an audience in Seville, Spain, where we both gave lectures about the situation in Iraq this past weekend, the expert about Zarqawi and terror groups now operating in Iraq added, "In fact, it might well have made things worse. There is evidence to back the claim that al-Qaeda gave information to the Multi-National Forces about Zarqawi to have him killed, since they had been having problems with him for quite some time. Thus, killing him may well have strengthened the link between al-Qaeda and Sunni resistance groups in Iraq."
by Dahr Jamail
With the plan to secure Baghdad, "Operation Forward Together," now three weeks old, and the so-called terror leader in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, killed, the security situation has only continued to deteriorate.
"Killing Zarqawi has not improved the situation in Iraq one bit," said Loretta Napoleoni, Fullbright Scholar at Johns Hopkins University, author of the books Terror Inc. and Insurgent Iraq. While speaking to an audience in Seville, Spain, where we both gave lectures about the situation in Iraq this past weekend, the expert about Zarqawi and terror groups now operating in Iraq added, "In fact, it might well have made things worse. There is evidence to back the claim that al-Qaeda gave information to the Multi-National Forces about Zarqawi to have him killed, since they had been having problems with him for quite some time. Thus, killing him may well have strengthened the link between al-Qaeda and Sunni resistance groups in Iraq."
Monday, July 03, 2006
ISRAEL
Rense: Agatha In The Rain
by Uri Avnery
THE AIM of the present operation is, ostensibly, to free the soldier Gilad Shalit, who was captured by the Palestinian underground (consisting of several organizations), in an attack that even an Israeli military expert called "a daring commando action".
If our army had kept its high military standard, it would immediately have replaced all the commanders responsible for the debacle. 50 years ago this would have been done . But we have a different army now. Nobody was removed. The failed commanders just called the attack "a terrorist act", the fighters "terrorists" and the captured soldier "kidnapped".
The "kidnapped" soldier served as a pretext for an operation which must have been prepared a long time ago. The Israeli and international public has been told that the aim is to set him free, but in practice it has put his life in greater jeopardy. If the soldiers come near to where he is hidden, he could be killed in the cross-fire - as happened some years ago to the soldier Nakhshon Waksman, who was captured by Hamas. He was killed in the exchange of fire between the soldiers and the Palestinians. Waksman would probably be alive today, if there had been an exchange of prisoners instead.
The connection between the "kidnapped soldier" and the operation exists only in the realm of propaganda. The same goes for the second pretext: that the aim is to put an end to the launching of Qassam rockets at the town of Sderot.
by Uri Avnery
THE AIM of the present operation is, ostensibly, to free the soldier Gilad Shalit, who was captured by the Palestinian underground (consisting of several organizations), in an attack that even an Israeli military expert called "a daring commando action".
If our army had kept its high military standard, it would immediately have replaced all the commanders responsible for the debacle. 50 years ago this would have been done . But we have a different army now. Nobody was removed. The failed commanders just called the attack "a terrorist act", the fighters "terrorists" and the captured soldier "kidnapped".
The "kidnapped" soldier served as a pretext for an operation which must have been prepared a long time ago. The Israeli and international public has been told that the aim is to set him free, but in practice it has put his life in greater jeopardy. If the soldiers come near to where he is hidden, he could be killed in the cross-fire - as happened some years ago to the soldier Nakhshon Waksman, who was captured by Hamas. He was killed in the exchange of fire between the soldiers and the Palestinians. Waksman would probably be alive today, if there had been an exchange of prisoners instead.
The connection between the "kidnapped soldier" and the operation exists only in the realm of propaganda. The same goes for the second pretext: that the aim is to put an end to the launching of Qassam rockets at the town of Sderot.
Saturday, July 01, 2006
ISRAEL
Haaretz: The government is losing its reason
by Haaretz Editorial
Bombing bridges that can be circumvented both by car and on foot; seizing an airport that has been in ruins for years; destroying a power station, plunging large parts of the Gaza Strip into darkness; distributing flyers suggesting that people be concerned about their fate; a menacing flight over Bashar Assad's palace; and arresting elected Hamas officials: The government wishes to convince us that all these actions are intended only to release the soldier Gilad Shalit.
But the greater the government's creativity in inventing tactics, the more it seems to reflect a loss of direction rather than an overall conception based on reason and common sense. On the face of it, Israel wishes to exert increasing pressure both on Hamas' political leadership and on the Palestinian public, in order to induce it to pressure its leadership to release the soldier. At the same time, the government claims that Syria - or at least Khaled Meshal, who is living in Syria - holds the key. If so, what is the point of pressuring the local Palestinian leadership, which did not know of the planned attack and which, when it found out, demanded that the kidnappers take good care of their victim and return him?
by Haaretz Editorial
Bombing bridges that can be circumvented both by car and on foot; seizing an airport that has been in ruins for years; destroying a power station, plunging large parts of the Gaza Strip into darkness; distributing flyers suggesting that people be concerned about their fate; a menacing flight over Bashar Assad's palace; and arresting elected Hamas officials: The government wishes to convince us that all these actions are intended only to release the soldier Gilad Shalit.
But the greater the government's creativity in inventing tactics, the more it seems to reflect a loss of direction rather than an overall conception based on reason and common sense. On the face of it, Israel wishes to exert increasing pressure both on Hamas' political leadership and on the Palestinian public, in order to induce it to pressure its leadership to release the soldier. At the same time, the government claims that Syria - or at least Khaled Meshal, who is living in Syria - holds the key. If so, what is the point of pressuring the local Palestinian leadership, which did not know of the planned attack and which, when it found out, demanded that the kidnappers take good care of their victim and return him?
Friday, June 23, 2006
MIDDLE EAST
Asia Times: The changing face of resistance
KARACHI - A charcteristic of a successful resistance movement is its ability to switch tactics as circumstances change, and the insurgencies in both Iraq and Afghanistan are proving to be capable in this respect.
In Iraq, the US killing of the leader of al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, has provided the opportunity for al-Qaeda for the first time to take over the central command of the resistance, with the overall goal of fomenting a popular Arab uprising against the US presence.
Meanwhile in Afghanistan, the Taliban, after a highly organized and fruitful - though costly in terms of casualties - mass offensive in the south of the country, is reorganizing somewhat to wage a more
traditional guerrilla campaign involving carefully selected attacks.
KARACHI - A charcteristic of a successful resistance movement is its ability to switch tactics as circumstances change, and the insurgencies in both Iraq and Afghanistan are proving to be capable in this respect.
In Iraq, the US killing of the leader of al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, has provided the opportunity for al-Qaeda for the first time to take over the central command of the resistance, with the overall goal of fomenting a popular Arab uprising against the US presence.
Meanwhile in Afghanistan, the Taliban, after a highly organized and fruitful - though costly in terms of casualties - mass offensive in the south of the country, is reorganizing somewhat to wage a more
traditional guerrilla campaign involving carefully selected attacks.
CLIMATE CHANGE
AP: Study: Earth 'likely' hottest in 2,000 years
Panel: 'Warmth is unprecedented for at least the last 400 years'
The National Academy of Sciences, reaching that conclusion in a broad review of scientific work requested by Congress, reported Thursday that the "recent warmth is unprecedented for at least the last 400 years and potentially the last several millennia."
See the Full Report at:
The National Academies
Panel: 'Warmth is unprecedented for at least the last 400 years'
The National Academy of Sciences, reaching that conclusion in a broad review of scientific work requested by Congress, reported Thursday that the "recent warmth is unprecedented for at least the last 400 years and potentially the last several millennia."
See the Full Report at:
The National Academies
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
WEBCOMIC
Files are not for Sharing
A very nice little Webcomic about filesharing by Matthew Baldwin & Goopymart
A very nice little Webcomic about filesharing by Matthew Baldwin & Goopymart
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
USA: GUANTANAMO
Guardian: 'Killing themselves was unnecessary. But it certainly is a good PR move'
· Bush officials' hard line provokes condemnation
· US ally admits prison is hampering war on terror
The Bush administration stared down a new wave of international condemnation of Guantánamo yesterday, dismissing the suicides by three inmates of the prison camp as a "good PR move" on their part and an "act of asymmetrical warfare".
The deaths of two Saudis and a Yemeni, who used knotted bedsheets to hang themselves in their solitary cells, brought renewed calls from European governments and human rights organisations to bring the 460 inmates to trial, or close down the camp. But Bush administration officials rejected suggestions that the three had killed themselves in despair over their indefinite confinement.
· Bush officials' hard line provokes condemnation
· US ally admits prison is hampering war on terror
The Bush administration stared down a new wave of international condemnation of Guantánamo yesterday, dismissing the suicides by three inmates of the prison camp as a "good PR move" on their part and an "act of asymmetrical warfare".
The deaths of two Saudis and a Yemeni, who used knotted bedsheets to hang themselves in their solitary cells, brought renewed calls from European governments and human rights organisations to bring the 460 inmates to trial, or close down the camp. But Bush administration officials rejected suggestions that the three had killed themselves in despair over their indefinite confinement.
Friday, June 09, 2006
IRAQ
Reuters: U.S. shows video of Zarqawi killing
Jun. 8 - A new video shows U.S. warplanes carrying out an air strike on Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the al Qaeda leader in Iraq.
The strike was flown by two F-16 aircraft with two 500-pound (227 kg) bombs hitting the Zarqawi ''safe house''.
The U.S. forces also displayed a picture of the corpse of the bearded Zarqawi with his eyes shut at a Baghdad news conference.
SOUNDBITE: U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld commenting at NATO headquarters in Brussels, saying (English):
''I think arguably over the last several years, no single person on this planet has had the blood of more innocent men, women and children on his hands than Zarqawi.''
"Mr. Rumsfeld forgot to mention himself, regarding massive killings of civilians and children he has no competition"
Jun. 8 - A new video shows U.S. warplanes carrying out an air strike on Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the al Qaeda leader in Iraq.
The strike was flown by two F-16 aircraft with two 500-pound (227 kg) bombs hitting the Zarqawi ''safe house''.
The U.S. forces also displayed a picture of the corpse of the bearded Zarqawi with his eyes shut at a Baghdad news conference.
SOUNDBITE: U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld commenting at NATO headquarters in Brussels, saying (English):
''I think arguably over the last several years, no single person on this planet has had the blood of more innocent men, women and children on his hands than Zarqawi.''
"Mr. Rumsfeld forgot to mention himself, regarding massive killings of civilians and children he has no competition"
Thursday, June 08, 2006
COPYRIGHT
CNET: Major League Baseball takes swing at Sling Media
LOS ANGELES--Major League Baseball wants Sling Media to stop slinging around the league's content.
Sling enables TV viewers to access their set-top or TiVo boxes from anywhere in the world via any device that connects to the Web. MLB says that's fine, but if viewers want to watch on multiple devices, they have to pay multiple times.
The situation is part of a larger fight brewing between broadcasters and the companies that relay video streams to portable devices. Proof of the growing conflict came Tuesday during a panel discussion at the Digital Media Summit here, when George Kliavkoff, executive vice president of business for MLB Advanced Media, debated the issue with Rich Buchanan, Sling Media's vice president of marketing
LOS ANGELES--Major League Baseball wants Sling Media to stop slinging around the league's content.
Sling enables TV viewers to access their set-top or TiVo boxes from anywhere in the world via any device that connects to the Web. MLB says that's fine, but if viewers want to watch on multiple devices, they have to pay multiple times.
The situation is part of a larger fight brewing between broadcasters and the companies that relay video streams to portable devices. Proof of the growing conflict came Tuesday during a panel discussion at the Digital Media Summit here, when George Kliavkoff, executive vice president of business for MLB Advanced Media, debated the issue with Rich Buchanan, Sling Media's vice president of marketing
COPYRIGHT/DRM
P2Pnet: RIAA's Rosen on student lawsuits
p2p news / p2pnet: Hilary Rosen, the woman who once ran the Big Four Organized Music cartel's RIAA, says she believes the RIAA lawsuits against students have, "outlived most of their usefulness". It's also time for another look at DRM, she says.
p2p news / p2pnet: Hilary Rosen, the woman who once ran the Big Four Organized Music cartel's RIAA, says she believes the RIAA lawsuits against students have, "outlived most of their usefulness". It's also time for another look at DRM, she says.
Saturday, June 03, 2006
IRAQ: US WARCRIMES
BBC: New 'Iraq Massacre' Tape Emerges
The BBC has obtained disturbing pictures of the aftermath of an alleged massacre of 11 Iraqis by American troops.
Iraqi police have accused US soldiers of killing the people in Ishaqi, north of Baghdad. John Simpson reports from Baghdad.
BBC NEWS
The BBC has obtained disturbing pictures of the aftermath of an alleged massacre of 11 Iraqis by American troops.
Iraqi police have accused US soldiers of killing the people in Ishaqi, north of Baghdad. John Simpson reports from Baghdad.
BBC NEWS
IRAQ: US WAR CRIMES
ICH: The shocking truth about the American occupation of Iraq
by Robert Fisk
Could Haditha be just the tip of the mass grave? The corpses we have glimpsed, the grainy footage of the cadavers and the dead children; could these be just a few of many? Does the handiwork of America's army of the slums go further?
by Robert Fisk
Could Haditha be just the tip of the mass grave? The corpses we have glimpsed, the grainy footage of the cadavers and the dead children; could these be just a few of many? Does the handiwork of America's army of the slums go further?
P2P: THE PIRATES ARE BACK
Slyck: The Pirate Bay Back Online
News of The Pirate Bay's resurrection comes as little surprise. The Pirate Bay spokesperson "brokep" promised Slyck.com the site would resolve under a different country's flag if an immediate resolution could not be reached in Sweden.
“We are not sure when it will return, but we are moving it to another country if necessary,” brokep told Slyck.com.
The Pirate Bay
Friday, June 02, 2006
P2P: PIRATES ARE FIGHTING BACK
“SITE DOWN - WILL BE UP AND FULLY FUNCTIONAL WITHIN A DAY OR TWO”
Some people are not that happy about the take down of swedish bittorrent indexing site
The Pirate Bay
ThePiratebay says that the Site will be up again in a few days.
Now the Pirates are fighting back:
Zone-H: "Zone-h noticed in last few hours that defacements have been carried out against Sony BMG and Warner Music, two big and extremely important Record Companies.
Specifically, the affected websites are:
sonymusic.it/index.php
Mirror:
http://www.zone-h.org/index2.php?option=...d=44&id=4115064
sonymusicstudios.co.uk
Mirror:
http://www.zone-h.org/index2.php?option=...d=44&id=4114849
warnermusic.com.tw
Mirror:
http://www.zone-h.org/index2.php?option=...d=44&id=4115425
While writing this article, both sonymusic.it and sony musicstudios.co.uk turn out to be still defaced, whereas warnermusic.com.tw is impossible to reach.
About those defacements that involved in such a short period of time both Warner and Sony, we wonder if this happened just by chance or if this is the expression of a far more complex plot. It could be interesting drawing out some focus points: let’s start from the concept that lately Major Record Companies are more and more under fire, every day we hear about anti-piracy countermeasures by the ri@@ (the Recording Industry Association of America). Some of these actions are quite questionable, as the decision to limit information exchanges by closing P2P networks, or by forbidding the use of P2P software. Than we can’t forget their conveying Trojan horses on P2P networks by pretending they were mp3 and videos, in order to punish those who downloaded materials under copyright. Last but not least, the rising of CD and DVD prices and the massive adoption of invasive DRM systems.
http://www.zone-h.org/content/view/4473/31/
Also earlier in the day CONFIRMATION has been given that http://www.antipiratbyran.com/ (swedish anti-piracy organisation) (which has been restored) was hacked and the following message was posted
"You have 48 hours to restore TPB or Napster and iTunes get hacked.... "
The Website of the Swedish Police has also been under attack http://www.polisen.se and is still down at the time of writing
i've also read that internet traffic was down 20% since the Pirate Bay raid
according to a forum post on slyck by memeber assasin:
the police here in sweden has messed up this time:
- they refused to allow the three arrested (one is the judicial councelor of TPB) a lawyer. This because they say they aren´t suspected of a crime that can result in jail. (Yes, it works like that here)
- BUT, if they aren´t suspected of a serious crime (jail), the police don´t have the right to get a warrant and raid the place. (Once again, swedish law)
BTW - they forced the lawyer to give them a DNA-sample.... in sweden that is a BIG violation of personal rights if they don´t have a really good reason. Remember, they where NOT suspected of anything that could result in jail.........
p2p.net has an interview with somebody from piratebay
Big up to the guys at Piratebay...may the force be with them
Fuck those greedy RIAA and MPAA bastards!
Some people are not that happy about the take down of swedish bittorrent indexing site
The Pirate Bay
ThePiratebay says that the Site will be up again in a few days.
Now the Pirates are fighting back:
Zone-H: "Zone-h noticed in last few hours that defacements have been carried out against Sony BMG and Warner Music, two big and extremely important Record Companies.
Specifically, the affected websites are:
sonymusic.it/index.php
Mirror:
http://www.zone-h.org/index2.php?option=...d=44&id=4115064
sonymusicstudios.co.uk
Mirror:
http://www.zone-h.org/index2.php?option=...d=44&id=4114849
warnermusic.com.tw
Mirror:
http://www.zone-h.org/index2.php?option=...d=44&id=4115425
While writing this article, both sonymusic.it and sony musicstudios.co.uk turn out to be still defaced, whereas warnermusic.com.tw is impossible to reach.
About those defacements that involved in such a short period of time both Warner and Sony, we wonder if this happened just by chance or if this is the expression of a far more complex plot. It could be interesting drawing out some focus points: let’s start from the concept that lately Major Record Companies are more and more under fire, every day we hear about anti-piracy countermeasures by the ri@@ (the Recording Industry Association of America). Some of these actions are quite questionable, as the decision to limit information exchanges by closing P2P networks, or by forbidding the use of P2P software. Than we can’t forget their conveying Trojan horses on P2P networks by pretending they were mp3 and videos, in order to punish those who downloaded materials under copyright. Last but not least, the rising of CD and DVD prices and the massive adoption of invasive DRM systems.
http://www.zone-h.org/content/view/4473/31/
Also earlier in the day CONFIRMATION has been given that http://www.antipiratbyran.com/ (swedish anti-piracy organisation) (which has been restored) was hacked and the following message was posted
"You have 48 hours to restore TPB or Napster and iTunes get hacked.... "
The Website of the Swedish Police has also been under attack http://www.polisen.se and is still down at the time of writing
i've also read that internet traffic was down 20% since the Pirate Bay raid
according to a forum post on slyck by memeber assasin:
the police here in sweden has messed up this time:
- they refused to allow the three arrested (one is the judicial councelor of TPB) a lawyer. This because they say they aren´t suspected of a crime that can result in jail. (Yes, it works like that here)
- BUT, if they aren´t suspected of a serious crime (jail), the police don´t have the right to get a warrant and raid the place. (Once again, swedish law)
BTW - they forced the lawyer to give them a DNA-sample.... in sweden that is a BIG violation of personal rights if they don´t have a really good reason. Remember, they where NOT suspected of anything that could result in jail.........
p2p.net has an interview with somebody from piratebay
Big up to the guys at Piratebay...may the force be with them
Fuck those greedy RIAA and MPAA bastards!
USA: STOLEN ELECTION
Rolling Stone: Was the 2004 Election Stolen?
by Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Republicans prevented more than 350,000 voters in Ohio from casting ballots or having their votes counted -- enough to have put John Kerry in the White House
" The first indication that something was gravely amiss on November 2nd, 2004, was the inexplicable discrepancies between exit polls and actual vote counts. Polls in thirty states weren't just off the mark -- they deviated to an extent that cannot be accounted for by their margin of error. In all but four states, the discrepancy favored President Bush.(16)"
"a must read"
by Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Republicans prevented more than 350,000 voters in Ohio from casting ballots or having their votes counted -- enough to have put John Kerry in the White House
" The first indication that something was gravely amiss on November 2nd, 2004, was the inexplicable discrepancies between exit polls and actual vote counts. Polls in thirty states weren't just off the mark -- they deviated to an extent that cannot be accounted for by their margin of error. In all but four states, the discrepancy favored President Bush.(16)"
"a must read"
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
AFGHANISTAN: ROAD TO WAR
Asia Times: The battle spreads in Afghanistan
KARACHI - The bulk of the fighting in Afghanistan in the past week, which has claimed more than 300 lives among the Taliban, US-led forces, the Afghan National Army (ANA) and civilians, has taken place in the southern Pashtun heartland of the country.
However, the Taliban's spring offensive is fast turning into a massive resistance against the foreign presence all over Afghanistan, and already some influential characters are jockeying for a post-spring role.
And the indications are that the resistance could transcend a simple Taliban-led insurgency to evolve into a powerful Islamic movement.
KARACHI - The bulk of the fighting in Afghanistan in the past week, which has claimed more than 300 lives among the Taliban, US-led forces, the Afghan National Army (ANA) and civilians, has taken place in the southern Pashtun heartland of the country.
However, the Taliban's spring offensive is fast turning into a massive resistance against the foreign presence all over Afghanistan, and already some influential characters are jockeying for a post-spring role.
And the indications are that the resistance could transcend a simple Taliban-led insurgency to evolve into a powerful Islamic movement.
IRAN
Asia Times: Iran offered 'to make peace with Israel'
WASHINGTON - Iran offered in 2003 to accept peace with Israel and cut off material assistance to Palestinian armed groups and to pressure them to halt terrorist attacks within Israel's 1967 borders, according to a secret Iranian proposal to the United States.
The two-page proposal for a broad Iran-US agreement covering all the issues separating the two countries, a copy of which was obtained by Inter Press Service (IPS), was conveyed to the US in late April or early May 2003.
WASHINGTON - Iran offered in 2003 to accept peace with Israel and cut off material assistance to Palestinian armed groups and to pressure them to halt terrorist attacks within Israel's 1967 borders, according to a secret Iranian proposal to the United States.
The two-page proposal for a broad Iran-US agreement covering all the issues separating the two countries, a copy of which was obtained by Inter Press Service (IPS), was conveyed to the US in late April or early May 2003.
USA: ANALYSIS
Asia Times: The delusions of global hegemony pt 1
Tom Engelhard interviews Andrew Bacevich
TD: You've used the word "crusade" and spoken of this administration as "intoxicated with the mission of salvation". I was wondering what kind of "ism" you think we've been living with in these years.
Bacevich: That's a great question, and it's not enough to say that it's democratic capitalism. Certainly, our "ism" incorporates a religious dimension - in the sense of believing that God created this nation for a purpose that has to do with universal values.
Drifting down the path to perdition pt. 2
Tom Engelhard interviews Andrew Bacevich
TD: You've used the word "crusade" and spoken of this administration as "intoxicated with the mission of salvation". I was wondering what kind of "ism" you think we've been living with in these years.
Bacevich: That's a great question, and it's not enough to say that it's democratic capitalism. Certainly, our "ism" incorporates a religious dimension - in the sense of believing that God created this nation for a purpose that has to do with universal values.
Drifting down the path to perdition pt. 2
Monday, May 29, 2006
AFGHANISTAN: RIOTS IN KABUL
Forbes: Afghans Riot After U.S. Truck Accident
A deadly traffic accident involving U.S. troops sparked a riot in the Afghan capital on Monday, with U.S. and Afghan security forces firing on protesters, police and witnesses said. At least five people were killed and 60 injured.
Hundreds of protesters marched on the palace of U.S.-backed President Hamid Karzai in the city center after the incident, shouting "Death to Karzai! Death to America!"
Washington Post: Anti-American Riots Erupt in Kabul After Traffic Accident
KABUL, May 29 -- This city erupted in anti-American riots Monday after rumors spread that U.S. troops had fired on and killed several civilians after a rush-hour traffic accident on the outskirts of the city.
Police and U.S. forces tried to secure the area of the accident but were surrounded by mobs of young men, including students on their way to school. The crowds ran through the streets, burned tires and set up roadblocks, and gunfire echoed across the city for hours. The mobs stopped and burned Afghan police and security vehicles.
A deadly traffic accident involving U.S. troops sparked a riot in the Afghan capital on Monday, with U.S. and Afghan security forces firing on protesters, police and witnesses said. At least five people were killed and 60 injured.
Hundreds of protesters marched on the palace of U.S.-backed President Hamid Karzai in the city center after the incident, shouting "Death to Karzai! Death to America!"
Washington Post: Anti-American Riots Erupt in Kabul After Traffic Accident
KABUL, May 29 -- This city erupted in anti-American riots Monday after rumors spread that U.S. troops had fired on and killed several civilians after a rush-hour traffic accident on the outskirts of the city.
Police and U.S. forces tried to secure the area of the accident but were surrounded by mobs of young men, including students on their way to school. The crowds ran through the streets, burned tires and set up roadblocks, and gunfire echoed across the city for hours. The mobs stopped and burned Afghan police and security vehicles.
OCCUPIED TERRITORIES
Counterpunch: Countdown to Apartheid
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's address to both houses of Congress was perhaps the most skilled use of Newspeak since George Orwell invented the term in his novel /1984/. (He had help: author and Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel reportedly drafted large sections of the speech.) Just as Orwell's totalitarian propagandists proclaimed WAR IS PEACE and Israeli government signs placed at the Wall (sorry, fence) at the entrance to Bethlehem greet Palestinians with the blessing PEACE BE UNTO YOU, so Olmert declared in Washington: UNILATERAL REALIGNMENT IS PEACE.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's address to both houses of Congress was perhaps the most skilled use of Newspeak since George Orwell invented the term in his novel /1984/. (He had help: author and Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel reportedly drafted large sections of the speech.) Just as Orwell's totalitarian propagandists proclaimed WAR IS PEACE and Israeli government signs placed at the Wall (sorry, fence) at the entrance to Bethlehem greet Palestinians with the blessing PEACE BE UNTO YOU, so Olmert declared in Washington: UNILATERAL REALIGNMENT IS PEACE.
IRAQ
Mercury News: Iranian-backed militia groups take control of much of southern Iraq
ASRA, Iraq - Southern Iraq, long touted as a peaceful region that's likely to be among the first areas returned to Iraqi control, is now dominated by Shiite Muslim warlords and militiamen who are laying the groundwork for an Islamic fundamentalist government, say senior British and Iraqi officials in the area.
The militias appear to be supported by Iranian intelligence or military units that are shipping weapons to the militias in Iraq and providing training for them in Iran.
ASRA, Iraq - Southern Iraq, long touted as a peaceful region that's likely to be among the first areas returned to Iraqi control, is now dominated by Shiite Muslim warlords and militiamen who are laying the groundwork for an Islamic fundamentalist government, say senior British and Iraqi officials in the area.
The militias appear to be supported by Iranian intelligence or military units that are shipping weapons to the militias in Iraq and providing training for them in Iran.
IRAQ: US WAR CRIMES
Times: Revealed: how US marines massacred 24
PHOTOGRAPHS taken by American military intelligence have provided crucial evidence that up to 24 Iraqis were massacred by marines in Haditha, an insurgent stronghold on the banks of the Euphrates.
One portrays an Iraqi mother and young child, kneeling on the floor, as if in prayer. They have been shot dead at close range.
The pictures show other victims, shot execution-style in the head and chest in their homes. An American government official said they revealed that the marines involved had “suffered a total breakdown in morality and leadership”.
PHOTOGRAPHS taken by American military intelligence have provided crucial evidence that up to 24 Iraqis were massacred by marines in Haditha, an insurgent stronghold on the banks of the Euphrates.
One portrays an Iraqi mother and young child, kneeling on the floor, as if in prayer. They have been shot dead at close range.
The pictures show other victims, shot execution-style in the head and chest in their homes. An American government official said they revealed that the marines involved had “suffered a total breakdown in morality and leadership”.
Wednesday, May 24, 2006
VENEZUELA: VIDEO
THE REVOLUTION WILL NOT BE TELEVISED
by Kim Bartley and Donnacha O'Briain
Chavez, elected president of Venezuela in 1988, is a colorful folk hero, beloved by his nation's working class and a tough-as-nails, quixotic opponent to the power structure that would see him deposed. Two independent filmmakers were inside the presidential palace on April 11, 2002, when he was forcibly removed from office. They were also present 48 hours later when, remarkably, he returned to power amid cheering aides.
"Videos from Youtube, Google Video, Myspace and others can be downloaded
with the Video downloader Extension for Firefox."
by Kim Bartley and Donnacha O'Briain
Their film records what was probably history's shortest-lived coup d'état. It's a unique document about political muscle and an extraordinary portrait of the man The Wall Street Journal credits with making Venezuela "Washington's biggest Latin American headache after the old standby, Cuba."
Chavez, elected president of Venezuela in 1988, is a colorful folk hero, beloved by his nation's working class and a tough-as-nails, quixotic opponent to the power structure that would see him deposed. Two independent filmmakers were inside the presidential palace on April 11, 2002, when he was forcibly removed from office. They were also present 48 hours later when, remarkably, he returned to power amid cheering aides.
"Videos from Youtube, Google Video, Myspace and others can be downloaded
with the Video downloader Extension for Firefox."
IRAQ: US WAR CRIMES
The Age: Iraq doctor brings evidence of US napalm at Fallujah
EVIDENCE to support controversial claims that napalm has been used by US forces in Iraq has been brought to Australia by an Iraqi doctor.
Dr Salam Ismael, of the Baghdad-based group Doctors for Iraq, said the evidence pointed to the use of napalm on civilians during the second siege of Fallujah in November 2004.
EVIDENCE to support controversial claims that napalm has been used by US forces in Iraq has been brought to Australia by an Iraqi doctor.
Dr Salam Ismael, of the Baghdad-based group Doctors for Iraq, said the evidence pointed to the use of napalm on civilians during the second siege of Fallujah in November 2004.
IRAQ: RAMADI
AP: Insurgents keep U.S. at bay in Ramadi
Whole neighborhoods are lawless, too dangerous for police. Some roads are so bomb-laden that U.S. troops won't use them. Guerrillas attack U.S. troops nearly every time they venture out - and hit their bases with gunfire, rockets or mortars when they don't.
Though not powerful enough to overrun U.S. positions, insurgents here in the heart of the Sunni Muslim triangle have fought undermanned U.S. and Iraqi forces to a virtual stalemate.
Whole neighborhoods are lawless, too dangerous for police. Some roads are so bomb-laden that U.S. troops won't use them. Guerrillas attack U.S. troops nearly every time they venture out - and hit their bases with gunfire, rockets or mortars when they don't.
Though not powerful enough to overrun U.S. positions, insurgents here in the heart of the Sunni Muslim triangle have fought undermanned U.S. and Iraqi forces to a virtual stalemate.
IRAQ
Truthout: Easily Dispensable: Iraq's Children
by Dahr Jamail
Cherishing children is the mark of a civilized society.
- Joan Ganz Cooney
If, as I would like to believe, the above quote suggests all children and not merely those born in Western democracies, I am no longer certain that we live in a civilized society.
by Dahr Jamail
Cherishing children is the mark of a civilized society.
- Joan Ganz Cooney
If, as I would like to believe, the above quote suggests all children and not merely those born in Western democracies, I am no longer certain that we live in a civilized society.
ECONOMY
Forbes: OECD warns rebalancing of US deficit may drive dollar down sharply
LONDON (AFX) - The OECD has warned that the eventual rebalancing of the US current account gap 'looks increasingly unavoidable' and will send shock waves across the globe, starting with a slump in the dollar's exchange rate.
The OECD said in its world economic outlook that the depreciation faced by the dollar could be 'of the order of one-third to one-half.'
LONDON (AFX) - The OECD has warned that the eventual rebalancing of the US current account gap 'looks increasingly unavoidable' and will send shock waves across the globe, starting with a slump in the dollar's exchange rate.
The OECD said in its world economic outlook that the depreciation faced by the dollar could be 'of the order of one-third to one-half.'
Monday, May 22, 2006
IRAN
Herald Sun: Iran denies non-Muslim badge plan
AUSTRALIA, the US and Canada lost little time in blasting Iran for a report, quickly denied, that Tehran may force non-Muslims to wear coloured badges in public.
While acknowledging they had no details beyond a report in a Canadian newspaper, the three countries went on the offensive in separate statements, with Washington and Ottawa evoking the atrocities of Nazi Germany.
AUSTRALIA, the US and Canada lost little time in blasting Iran for a report, quickly denied, that Tehran may force non-Muslims to wear coloured badges in public.
While acknowledging they had no details beyond a report in a Canadian newspaper, the three countries went on the offensive in separate statements, with Washington and Ottawa evoking the atrocities of Nazi Germany.
"If you did have such an occurrence, whether it was in Iran or elsewhere, it would certainly be despicable," US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said in Washington. "I think it has clear echoes of Germany under Hitler."
*HOAX*
Friday, May 19, 2006
CONGO
Independent: Congo's tragedy: the war the world forgot
In a country the size of Western Europe, a war rages that has lasted eight years and cost four million lives. Rival militias inflict appalling suffering on the civilian population, and what passes for political leadership is powerless to stop it. This is Congo, and the reason for the conflict - control of minerals essential to the electronic gadgetry on which the developed world depends - is what makes our blindness to the horror doubly shaming.
"a must read"
In a country the size of Western Europe, a war rages that has lasted eight years and cost four million lives. Rival militias inflict appalling suffering on the civilian population, and what passes for political leadership is powerless to stop it. This is Congo, and the reason for the conflict - control of minerals essential to the electronic gadgetry on which the developed world depends - is what makes our blindness to the horror doubly shaming.
"a must read"
USA - OIL
Tom Paine: Oil Diplomacy
by Robert Dreyfuss
Nothing the Bush administration ever does is about oil. It didn’t invade Iraq because that country might have more oil than Saudi Arabia. It isn’t threatening Iran because Iran has a tenth of the world’s oil and one-sixth of its natural gas. And the United States isn’t cozying up to autocrats in Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan because the Caspian Sea is a mini-Persian Gulf in the middle of Central Asia, either
by Robert Dreyfuss
Nothing the Bush administration ever does is about oil. It didn’t invade Iraq because that country might have more oil than Saudi Arabia. It isn’t threatening Iran because Iran has a tenth of the world’s oil and one-sixth of its natural gas. And the United States isn’t cozying up to autocrats in Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan because the Caspian Sea is a mini-Persian Gulf in the middle of Central Asia, either
OCCUPIED TERRITORIES
ICH: The High Cost of Democratic Elections in Palestine
"In my village, starvation and for real," says the woman in halting English. The overseas connection makes her voice sound faint and almost ethereal. In front of me is a glass of cold lemonade. Across the table is a tin of homemade pastries.
The woman I am talking with lives in the village of Davreh, five kilometers outside Ramallah. "But it takes an hour to travel from here to Ramallah, because of the checkpoints," she explains.
This woman, (let's call her Dina, which is not her real name) should not be facing starvation. Until recently her family owned considerable land. Fertile land. Dina's mother raised and educated eleven children by farming this land.
"Our land is equal to our soul." Dina says. "It has been in our family for over one hundred and fifty years. My mother refused to sell even one meter of our land. She told us, take care of our land. Don't sell it, even if you have to beg for money. And they took it for free."
"They" is Israel.
"In my village, starvation and for real," says the woman in halting English. The overseas connection makes her voice sound faint and almost ethereal. In front of me is a glass of cold lemonade. Across the table is a tin of homemade pastries.
The woman I am talking with lives in the village of Davreh, five kilometers outside Ramallah. "But it takes an hour to travel from here to Ramallah, because of the checkpoints," she explains.
This woman, (let's call her Dina, which is not her real name) should not be facing starvation. Until recently her family owned considerable land. Fertile land. Dina's mother raised and educated eleven children by farming this land.
"Our land is equal to our soul." Dina says. "It has been in our family for over one hundred and fifty years. My mother refused to sell even one meter of our land. She told us, take care of our land. Don't sell it, even if you have to beg for money. And they took it for free."
"They" is Israel.
ISRAEL
Independent: 'Racist' marriage law upheld by Israel
Israel's High Court has narrowly upheld a law denying Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza married to Israeli citizens the right to live in the country with their spouses.
The judges voted by six to five not to cancel a four-year-old amendment to the Citizenship Law which outlaws "family unification" in Israel between Palestinians and Arab citizens of Israel.
Israel's High Court has narrowly upheld a law denying Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza married to Israeli citizens the right to live in the country with their spouses.
The judges voted by six to five not to cancel a four-year-old amendment to the Citizenship Law which outlaws "family unification" in Israel between Palestinians and Arab citizens of Israel.
Friday, May 12, 2006
ONLINE VIDEO
ICH:The Corporation
"This is an extraordinary film about the creation of the American corporation, its legal organizational model, its global economic dominance and its psychopathic tendencies, and its incredible ambition to influence every aspect of culture in its unrelenting pursuit of profit.
After viewing this film, it becomes all too evident that these large corporations have too much power, whose mandate is not the common good of the people, and who will go to any lengths, legally and otherwise, in the pursuit of profit and the bottom line. Reviewer: C. Middleton (Australia)"
Download Windows Media File - Download Real Video File
This video is available to purchase here
"This is an extraordinary film about the creation of the American corporation, its legal organizational model, its global economic dominance and its psychopathic tendencies, and its incredible ambition to influence every aspect of culture in its unrelenting pursuit of profit.
After viewing this film, it becomes all too evident that these large corporations have too much power, whose mandate is not the common good of the people, and who will go to any lengths, legally and otherwise, in the pursuit of profit and the bottom line. Reviewer: C. Middleton (Australia)"
Download Windows Media File - Download Real Video File
This video is available to purchase here
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
FASCISM IN ISRAEL
Haaretz: Condemning and discriminating
Avigdor Lieberman didn't exist, then Ehud Olmert, Amir Peretz and an entire battalion of politicians would have had to make him up. Lieberman's big mouth gives them pearls of wisdom. He emits a bunch of nonsense regarding Arab Knesset members, flavors his comments with a bit of Holocaust, everyone seriously condemns him and continues to screw the Arabs.
Ynet: Arab MK: Israel world's most racist state
Israeli Arab Knesset members slam results of Israel Democracy Institute's survey showing 62 percent of Israelis want to encourage Arab emigration; MK el-Sana: Israel became world's most racist country
Avigdor Lieberman didn't exist, then Ehud Olmert, Amir Peretz and an entire battalion of politicians would have had to make him up. Lieberman's big mouth gives them pearls of wisdom. He emits a bunch of nonsense regarding Arab Knesset members, flavors his comments with a bit of Holocaust, everyone seriously condemns him and continues to screw the Arabs.
Ynet: Arab MK: Israel world's most racist state
Israeli Arab Knesset members slam results of Israel Democracy Institute's survey showing 62 percent of Israelis want to encourage Arab emigration; MK el-Sana: Israel became world's most racist country
PROPAGANDA WATCH
Daily Times: Israel will hit Iran in the next few months: Israeli official
WASHINGTON: Israel will strike Iran’s nuclear facilities in the next “month or two or three,” an Israeli official has been quoted here as saying.
WPHerald: Israeli official: Iran to have nukes by 2010
EL AVIV, Israel -- The head of Israeli military intelligence predicted Tuesday that Iran will produce nuclear bombs within four years.
Maj. Gen. Amos Yadlin, testifying before the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, said that Iran is "still at the stage of grams" when they need to produce 25 kilograms -- 55 pounds -- of enriched uranium for a nuclear weapon, Ha'aretz reported. But he said that Iran has secret projects underway at its nuclear facility at Natanz.
WASHINGTON: Israel will strike Iran’s nuclear facilities in the next “month or two or three,” an Israeli official has been quoted here as saying.
WPHerald: Israeli official: Iran to have nukes by 2010
EL AVIV, Israel -- The head of Israeli military intelligence predicted Tuesday that Iran will produce nuclear bombs within four years.
Maj. Gen. Amos Yadlin, testifying before the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, said that Iran is "still at the stage of grams" when they need to produce 25 kilograms -- 55 pounds -- of enriched uranium for a nuclear weapon, Ha'aretz reported. But he said that Iran has secret projects underway at its nuclear facility at Natanz.
A LETTER TO MR. BUSH
ICH: Full Text : The President of Iran's Letter To President Bush
Translated by "Le Monde"
Mr George Bush,
President of the United States of America.....
"I don't think he actually sounds like the new "hitler""
Translated by "Le Monde"
Mr George Bush,
President of the United States of America.....
"I don't think he actually sounds like the new "hitler""
Tuesday, May 09, 2006
Friday, May 05, 2006
IRAQ: SALVADOR OPTION
ICH: The Salvador Option has been invoked in Iraq
by John Pilger
The American public is being prepared. If the attack on Iran does come, there will be no warning, no declaration of war, no truth.
Now that al-Zarqawi has been replaced by "sectarian violence" and "civil war", the big news is the attacks by Sunnis on Shia mosques and bazaars. The real news, which is not reported in the CNN "mainstream", is that the Salvador Option has been invoked in Iraq. This is the campaign of terror by death squads armed and trained by the US, which attack Sunnis and Shias alike. The goal is the incitement of a real civil war and the break-up of Iraq, the original war aim of Bush's administration.
by John Pilger
The American public is being prepared. If the attack on Iran does come, there will be no warning, no declaration of war, no truth.
Now that al-Zarqawi has been replaced by "sectarian violence" and "civil war", the big news is the attacks by Sunnis on Shia mosques and bazaars. The real news, which is not reported in the CNN "mainstream", is that the Salvador Option has been invoked in Iraq. This is the campaign of terror by death squads armed and trained by the US, which attack Sunnis and Shias alike. The goal is the incitement of a real civil war and the break-up of Iraq, the original war aim of Bush's administration.
Wednesday, May 03, 2006
IRAN
ICH: Bush’s hand in the Terror War
by Mike Whitney
"....There is no civil war in Iraq; it’s all been fabricated to split the country apart. The violence we see is emanating in waves from its ultimate point of origin…1600 Pennsylvania Ave; the epicenter of global terrorism. Fisk’s article just punctuates that point."
by Mike Whitney
"....There is no civil war in Iraq; it’s all been fabricated to split the country apart. The violence we see is emanating in waves from its ultimate point of origin…1600 Pennsylvania Ave; the epicenter of global terrorism. Fisk’s article just punctuates that point."
IRAQ
Independent: Robert Fisk: Seen through a Syrian lens, 'unknown Americans' are provoking civil war in Iraq
The Americans, my interlocutor suspected, are trying to provoke an Iraqi civil war so that Sunni Muslim insurgents spend their energies killing their Shia co-religionists rather than soldiers of the Western occupation forces. "I swear to you that we have very good information," my source says, finger stabbing the air in front of him
The Americans, my interlocutor suspected, are trying to provoke an Iraqi civil war so that Sunni Muslim insurgents spend their energies killing their Shia co-religionists rather than soldiers of the Western occupation forces. "I swear to you that we have very good information," my source says, finger stabbing the air in front of him
IRAN
Dar Al-Hayat: Power Makes Men Mad
by Scott Ritter
The current 'crisis' regarding Iran's nuclear ambitions is nothing more than a facilitator for war.
by Scott Ritter
The current 'crisis' regarding Iran's nuclear ambitions is nothing more than a facilitator for war.
IRAN
New York Times: U.S. and Europe Draft U.N. Resolution on Iran
The United States, Britain and France have drafted a binding Security Council resolution requiring Iran to stop key nuclear activities, but Russia and China are already resisting, officials involved in the negotiations said today.
The Americans and the Europeans want to move swiftly against Iran, and to that end, the resolution will be introduced in New York on Wednesday or Thursday, according to R. Nicolas Burns, the under secretary of state who has led American diplomatic efforts concerning Iran.
The United States, Britain and France have drafted a binding Security Council resolution requiring Iran to stop key nuclear activities, but Russia and China are already resisting, officials involved in the negotiations said today.
The Americans and the Europeans want to move swiftly against Iran, and to that end, the resolution will be introduced in New York on Wednesday or Thursday, according to R. Nicolas Burns, the under secretary of state who has led American diplomatic efforts concerning Iran.
Thursday, April 20, 2006
PR WATCH
wsj.com: HOLY PRODUCT PLACEMENT, BATMAN!
"Product placement has become commonplace in movies and TV shows.
Now it's coming to comic books -- in part because the industry's two
giants, DC and Marvel, are promoting some of their titles as places
to reach one of Madison Avenue's most elusive audiences: guys in
their 20s," reports Brian Steinberg. DC Comics' new miniseries,
called "Rush City," will have "visible promotional support from
General Motors Corp.'s Pontiac." The series' hero will drive a
Pontiac Solstice. Marvel Entertainment "has begun putting the
'swoosh' logo from Nike Inc. in the scenes of some of its titles,
such as 'New X-Men.' So far, the emblem has appeared on a car door
and on a character's T-shirt." Marvel also signed a deal with
DaimlerChrysler, in which the new Dodge Caliber may be featured in
their comic books' cityscapes, "on billboards, T-shirts or signs
over the next four to eight months."
found via: PR WATCH
"Product placement has become commonplace in movies and TV shows.
Now it's coming to comic books -- in part because the industry's two
giants, DC and Marvel, are promoting some of their titles as places
to reach one of Madison Avenue's most elusive audiences: guys in
their 20s," reports Brian Steinberg. DC Comics' new miniseries,
called "Rush City," will have "visible promotional support from
General Motors Corp.'s Pontiac." The series' hero will drive a
Pontiac Solstice. Marvel Entertainment "has begun putting the
'swoosh' logo from Nike Inc. in the scenes of some of its titles,
such as 'New X-Men.' So far, the emblem has appeared on a car door
and on a character's T-shirt." Marvel also signed a deal with
DaimlerChrysler, in which the new Dodge Caliber may be featured in
their comic books' cityscapes, "on billboards, T-shirts or signs
over the next four to eight months."
found via: PR WATCH
Wednesday, April 19, 2006
MEDIA WATCH
Editor and Publisher: THE MEDIA WAR AND JOURNALIST THOUGHT CRIMES
"When Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld appeared on Rush
Limbaugh's talk radio show" recently, he made several remarks "on
the subject of press coverage in Iraq" that have mostly escaped
notice, writes Editor and Publisher. Rumsfeld said that "the
terrorists, Zarqawi and bin Laden and Zawahiri, those people have
media committees. They are actively out there trying to manipulate
the press in the United States. ... They're much better at
(laughing) managing those kinds of things than we are." He also
said, "There have been far fewer journalists who have stepped up to
become embedded" with military units in Iraq. One reporter told
Rumsfeld that the perception was that embedded journalists "were
really part of the problem." Rumsfeld commented, "I think that's an
inexcusable thought."
found via: PR Watch
"When Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld appeared on Rush
Limbaugh's talk radio show" recently, he made several remarks "on
the subject of press coverage in Iraq" that have mostly escaped
notice, writes Editor and Publisher. Rumsfeld said that "the
terrorists, Zarqawi and bin Laden and Zawahiri, those people have
media committees. They are actively out there trying to manipulate
the press in the United States. ... They're much better at
(laughing) managing those kinds of things than we are." He also
said, "There have been far fewer journalists who have stepped up to
become embedded" with military units in Iraq. One reporter told
Rumsfeld that the perception was that embedded journalists "were
really part of the problem." Rumsfeld commented, "I think that's an
inexcusable thought."
found via: PR Watch
ISRAEL
ICH: Least we forget
In the last two and a half weeks (since the previous suicide bombing) Israeli forces have killed at least 26 Palestinians -- at least 5 of them children -- and injured 161 Palestinian men, women and children. A college student lost her right eye today after being shot by an Israeli sniper last week.
There have been 369 raids by Israeli forces, mostly into the West Bank. Gaza has undergone sustained shelling by Israeli forces and continued closures, resulting in increasing lack of food and medical supplies. According to UN reports, between March 30 and April 12th, Israeli forces launched 2300 artillery and tank shells and 34 missiles into Gaza.
Since the current Palestinian uprising against Israeli military occupation and confiscation of Palestinian land began in fall 2000, approximately 3,863 Palestinians and 1,084 Israelis and have been killed. Among these have been approximately 720 Palestinian children and 124 Israeli children.
In the last two and a half weeks (since the previous suicide bombing) Israeli forces have killed at least 26 Palestinians -- at least 5 of them children -- and injured 161 Palestinian men, women and children. A college student lost her right eye today after being shot by an Israeli sniper last week.
There have been 369 raids by Israeli forces, mostly into the West Bank. Gaza has undergone sustained shelling by Israeli forces and continued closures, resulting in increasing lack of food and medical supplies. According to UN reports, between March 30 and April 12th, Israeli forces launched 2300 artillery and tank shells and 34 missiles into Gaza.
Since the current Palestinian uprising against Israeli military occupation and confiscation of Palestinian land began in fall 2000, approximately 3,863 Palestinians and 1,084 Israelis and have been killed. Among these have been approximately 720 Palestinian children and 124 Israeli children.
IRAN: PROPAGANDA WATCH
Foreign Correpondent: Countdown Over Iran
by Eric Margolis
NEW YORK – It’s both fascinating and dismaying watching the manufactured `crisis’ over Iran reach new intensity each week.
Iran poses no real military threat to anyone, but listening to the Bush Administration or the US media one would think that that Tehran was about to unleash a nuclear holocaust on the world.
What we are seeing is a rerun of the administration’s massive propaganda offensive that led to the invasion of Iraq. There is also no doubt that the Bush Administration has been planning a major air war against Iraq.
The highly respected American investigative journalist Seymour Hersh even claims the Bush Administration is considering the use of tactical nuclear weapons against Iran’s underground nuclear facilities.
by Eric Margolis
NEW YORK – It’s both fascinating and dismaying watching the manufactured `crisis’ over Iran reach new intensity each week.
Iran poses no real military threat to anyone, but listening to the Bush Administration or the US media one would think that that Tehran was about to unleash a nuclear holocaust on the world.
What we are seeing is a rerun of the administration’s massive propaganda offensive that led to the invasion of Iraq. There is also no doubt that the Bush Administration has been planning a major air war against Iraq.
The highly respected American investigative journalist Seymour Hersh even claims the Bush Administration is considering the use of tactical nuclear weapons against Iran’s underground nuclear facilities.
IRAQ: CIVIL WAR
Truth Out: The Ongoing War on Truth in Iraq
by Dahr Jamail
On Monday, April 17, my sources in Baghdad reported fierce fighting in the al-Adhamiya neighborhood of the capital city, as well as fighting in the al-Dora neighborhood. One source, who lives in the predominantly Sunni area of Adhamiya, had been telling me the situation was disintegrating for days leading up to this. There had been clashes every day for four days leading up to yesterday's huge clash there, with sporadic fighting between Sunni resistance fighters and members of the two largest Shia militias. The armed wing of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq, the Badr Organization, and Muqtada al-Sadr's Mehdi Army have been launching ongoing attacks against fighters in the neighborhood. There is a shorter version of this description.
Civil war.
Reuters: Baghdad street battle smacks of open civil war
by Dahr Jamail
On Monday, April 17, my sources in Baghdad reported fierce fighting in the al-Adhamiya neighborhood of the capital city, as well as fighting in the al-Dora neighborhood. One source, who lives in the predominantly Sunni area of Adhamiya, had been telling me the situation was disintegrating for days leading up to this. There had been clashes every day for four days leading up to yesterday's huge clash there, with sporadic fighting between Sunni resistance fighters and members of the two largest Shia militias. The armed wing of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq, the Badr Organization, and Muqtada al-Sadr's Mehdi Army have been launching ongoing attacks against fighters in the neighborhood. There is a shorter version of this description.
Civil war.
Reuters: Baghdad street battle smacks of open civil war
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Snipers held rooftop positions as masked Sunni Arab insurgents said they were gearing up for another open street battle with pro-government Shi'ite militiamen in Baghdad's Adhamiya district on Tuesday.
The Arab Sunni stronghold is still feeling ripples from overnight clashes on Monday that appeared to be the closest yet to all-out sectarian fighting.
A U.S. military spokesman said 50 insurgents attacked Iraqi forces in the middle of the night in a seven-hour battle that killed five rebels and wounded an Iraqi soldier. "which seems not to be true if Dahr Jamails sources got it right"
Tuesday, April 18, 2006
PROPAGANDA
ICH: Zarqawi; the Pentagon’s ongoing war of deception
by Mike Whitney
In more than 3 years of war, there has never been a positive citing of alleged terror mastermind Abu Musab al Zarqawi. This has led many to believe that he is merely a creation of Pentagon propagandists working with their agents in the western press. Colonel Derek Harvey strengthened those suspicions last week when he admitted in a Washington Post article that the military intentionally “enlarged Zarqawi’s caricature” to create the impression that the ongoing struggle against occupation was really a fight against terrorism. But, that is not the case. As Harvey notes, “The long term threat is not Zarqawi or religious extremists, but former regime types and their friends”.
by Mike Whitney
In more than 3 years of war, there has never been a positive citing of alleged terror mastermind Abu Musab al Zarqawi. This has led many to believe that he is merely a creation of Pentagon propagandists working with their agents in the western press. Colonel Derek Harvey strengthened those suspicions last week when he admitted in a Washington Post article that the military intentionally “enlarged Zarqawi’s caricature” to create the impression that the ongoing struggle against occupation was really a fight against terrorism. But, that is not the case. As Harvey notes, “The long term threat is not Zarqawi or religious extremists, but former regime types and their friends”.
IRAN
ICH: The US, Iran and the End of the International Order
As the IAEA has repeatedly acknowledged, Iran is not in violation of any of her legal obligations as a signatory to the
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). In fact, Iran has allowed far more intrusive international inspections of her nuclear facilities than required by the NPT. Iran remains the only country to have done so
As the IAEA has repeatedly acknowledged, Iran is not in violation of any of her legal obligations as a signatory to the
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). In fact, Iran has allowed far more intrusive international inspections of her nuclear facilities than required by the NPT. Iran remains the only country to have done so
Monday, April 17, 2006
IRAN
New York Times: Bombs That Would Backfire
By RICHARD CLARKE and STEVEN SIMON
WHITE HOUSE spokesmen have played down press reports that the Pentagon has accelerated planning to bomb Iran. We would like to believe that the administration is not intent on starting another war, because a conflict with Iran could be even more damaging to our interests than the current struggle in Iraq has been. A brief look at history shows why.
These contingencies seem familiar to us because we faced a similar situation as National Security Council staff members in the mid-1990's. American frustrations with Iran were growing, and in early 1996 the House speaker, Newt Gingrich, publicly called for the overthrow of the Iranian government. He and the C.I.A. put together an $18 million package to undertake it.
The Iranian legislature responded with a $20 million initiative for its intelligence organizations to counter American influence in the region.
...Iran has forces at its command that are far superior to anything Al Qaeda was ever able to field. The Lebanese terrorist organization Hezbollah has a global reach, and has served in the past as an instrument of Iran
By RICHARD CLARKE and STEVEN SIMON
WHITE HOUSE spokesmen have played down press reports that the Pentagon has accelerated planning to bomb Iran. We would like to believe that the administration is not intent on starting another war, because a conflict with Iran could be even more damaging to our interests than the current struggle in Iraq has been. A brief look at history shows why.
These contingencies seem familiar to us because we faced a similar situation as National Security Council staff members in the mid-1990's. American frustrations with Iran were growing, and in early 1996 the House speaker, Newt Gingrich, publicly called for the overthrow of the Iranian government. He and the C.I.A. put together an $18 million package to undertake it.
The Iranian legislature responded with a $20 million initiative for its intelligence organizations to counter American influence in the region.
...Iran has forces at its command that are far superior to anything Al Qaeda was ever able to field. The Lebanese terrorist organization Hezbollah has a global reach, and has served in the past as an instrument of Iran
Thursday, April 13, 2006
IRAQ
SeattlePI: Situation in Iraq could not be worse
by Patrick Cockburn
have been covering the war in Iraq ever since it began three years ago and I have never seen the situation so grim. More than a week ago, I was in the northern city of Mosul, protected by 3,000 Kurdish soldiers, but even so it was considered too dangerous to send out patrols in daytime. It is safer at night because of a curfew.
I was in Lebanon at the start of the civil war in 1975. Baghdad today resembles Beirut then. People are being murdered solely because of their religious identity
by Patrick Cockburn
have been covering the war in Iraq ever since it began three years ago and I have never seen the situation so grim. More than a week ago, I was in the northern city of Mosul, protected by 3,000 Kurdish soldiers, but even so it was considered too dangerous to send out patrols in daytime. It is safer at night because of a curfew.
I was in Lebanon at the start of the civil war in 1975. Baghdad today resembles Beirut then. People are being murdered solely because of their religious identity
Monday, April 10, 2006
IRAN: COUNTDOWN TO WAR
Telegraph: Bush 'is planning nuclear strikes on Iran's secret sites'
The Bush administration is planning to use nuclear weapons against Iran, to prevent it acquiring its own atomic warheads, claims an investigative writer with high-level Pentagon and intelligence contacts.
Washington Post: U.S. Is Studying Military Strike Options on Iran
The Bush administration is studying options for military strikes against Iran as part of a broader strategy of coercive diplomacy to pressure Tehran to abandon its alleged nuclear development program, according to U.S. officials and independent analysts.
No attack appears likely in the short term, and many specialists inside and outside the U.S. government harbor serious doubts about whether an armed response would be effective. But administration officials are preparing for it as a possible option and using the threat "to convince them this is more and more serious," as a senior official put it.
The Bush administration is planning to use nuclear weapons against Iran, to prevent it acquiring its own atomic warheads, claims an investigative writer with high-level Pentagon and intelligence contacts.
Washington Post: U.S. Is Studying Military Strike Options on Iran
The Bush administration is studying options for military strikes against Iran as part of a broader strategy of coercive diplomacy to pressure Tehran to abandon its alleged nuclear development program, according to U.S. officials and independent analysts.
No attack appears likely in the short term, and many specialists inside and outside the U.S. government harbor serious doubts about whether an armed response would be effective. But administration officials are preparing for it as a possible option and using the threat "to convince them this is more and more serious," as a senior official put it.
Saturday, April 08, 2006
IRAN: COUNTDOWN TO WAR
The New Yorker: THE IRAN PLANS
by Seymour M. Hersh
"He said that the President believes that he must do “what no Democrat or Republican, if elected in the future, would have the courage to do,” and “that saving Iran is going to be his legacy.”
One former defense official, who still deals with sensitive issues for the Bush Administration, told me that the military planning was premised on a belief that “a sustained bombing campaign in Iran will humiliate the religious leadership and lead the public to rise up and overthrow the government.” "you can bet ..they iranians will greet them with flowers like the iraqis did"
“This is much more than a nuclear issue,” one high-ranking diplomat told me in Vienna. “That’s just a rallying point, and there is still time to fix it. But the Administration believes it cannot be fixed unless they control the hearts and minds of Iran. The real issue is who is going to control the Middle East and its oil in the next ten years.”
The lack of reliable intelligence leaves military planners, given the goal of totally destroying the sites, little choice but to consider the use of tactical nuclear weapons.
"a must read"
by Seymour M. Hersh
"He said that the President believes that he must do “what no Democrat or Republican, if elected in the future, would have the courage to do,” and “that saving Iran is going to be his legacy.”
One former defense official, who still deals with sensitive issues for the Bush Administration, told me that the military planning was premised on a belief that “a sustained bombing campaign in Iran will humiliate the religious leadership and lead the public to rise up and overthrow the government.” "you can bet ..they iranians will greet them with flowers like the iraqis did"
“This is much more than a nuclear issue,” one high-ranking diplomat told me in Vienna. “That’s just a rallying point, and there is still time to fix it. But the Administration believes it cannot be fixed unless they control the hearts and minds of Iran. The real issue is who is going to control the Middle East and its oil in the next ten years.”
The lack of reliable intelligence leaves military planners, given the goal of totally destroying the sites, little choice but to consider the use of tactical nuclear weapons.
"a must read"
Friday, April 07, 2006
1984
LinuxElectrons.com: AT&T Sends ALL Internet
Traffic To NSA Says EFF
"The evidence that we are filing supports our claim that AT&T is diverting Internet traffic into the hands of the NSA wholesale, in violation of federal wiretapping laws and the Fourth Amendment," said EFF Staff Attorney Kevin Bankston. "More than just threatening individuals' privacy, AT&T's apparent choice to give the government secret, direct access to millions of ordinary Americans' Internet communications is a threat to the Constitution itself. We are asking the Court to put a stop to it now."
Traffic To NSA Says EFF
"The evidence that we are filing supports our claim that AT&T is diverting Internet traffic into the hands of the NSA wholesale, in violation of federal wiretapping laws and the Fourth Amendment," said EFF Staff Attorney Kevin Bankston. "More than just threatening individuals' privacy, AT&T's apparent choice to give the government secret, direct access to millions of ordinary Americans' Internet communications is a threat to the Constitution itself. We are asking the Court to put a stop to it now."
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
IRAN: COUNTDOWN TO WAR
Antiwar.com:War Against Iran, April 2006 by Jorge Hirsch
Biological Threat and Executive Order 13292
History repeats itself, but always with new twists. We are back to the good old days when a Declaration of War preceded the start of a war. Such declaration occurred on March 16th, 2006. Reversing the old order, we are now in the "Sitzkrieg", to be followed shortly by an aerial "Blitzkrieg" in the coming days.
Biological Threat and Executive Order 13292
History repeats itself, but always with new twists. We are back to the good old days when a Declaration of War preceded the start of a war. Such declaration occurred on March 16th, 2006. Reversing the old order, we are now in the "Sitzkrieg", to be followed shortly by an aerial "Blitzkrieg" in the coming days.
USA: WAR ON THE INTERNET
Sunay Herald: America's war on the web
While the US remains committed to hunting down al-Qaeda operatives, it is now taking the battle to new fronts. Deep within the Pentagon, technologies are being deployed to wage the war on terror on the internet, in newspapers and even through mobile phones. I
n 2006, we are just about to enter such a world. This is the age of information warfare, and details of how this new military doctrine will affect everyone on the planet are contained in a report, entitled The Information Operations Roadmap, [PDF] commissioned and approved by US secretary of defence Donald Rumsfeld and seen by the Sunday Herald.
Next, the Pentagon focuses on electronic warfare, saying it must be elevated to the heart of US military war planning. It will “provide maximum control of the electromagnetic spectrum, denying, degrading, disrupting or destroying the full spectrum of communications equipment … it is increasingly important that our forces dominate the electromagnetic spectrum with attack capabilities”. Put simply, this means US forces having the power to knock out any or all forms of telecommunications on the planet.
While the US remains committed to hunting down al-Qaeda operatives, it is now taking the battle to new fronts. Deep within the Pentagon, technologies are being deployed to wage the war on terror on the internet, in newspapers and even through mobile phones. I
n 2006, we are just about to enter such a world. This is the age of information warfare, and details of how this new military doctrine will affect everyone on the planet are contained in a report, entitled The Information Operations Roadmap, [PDF] commissioned and approved by US secretary of defence Donald Rumsfeld and seen by the Sunday Herald.
Next, the Pentagon focuses on electronic warfare, saying it must be elevated to the heart of US military war planning. It will “provide maximum control of the electromagnetic spectrum, denying, degrading, disrupting or destroying the full spectrum of communications equipment … it is increasingly important that our forces dominate the electromagnetic spectrum with attack capabilities”. Put simply, this means US forces having the power to knock out any or all forms of telecommunications on the planet.
IRAN: COUNTDOWN TO WAR
Telegraph: Government in secret talks about strike against Iran
The Government is to hold secret talks with defence chiefs tomorrow to discuss possible military strikes against Iran.
A high-level meeting will take place in the Ministry of Defence at which senior defence chiefs and government officials will consider the consequences of an attack on Iran.
It is believed that an American-led attack, designed to destroy Iran's ability to develop a nuclear bomb, is "inevitable" if Teheran's leaders fail to comply with United Nations demands to freeze their uranium enrichment programme.
The Government is to hold secret talks with defence chiefs tomorrow to discuss possible military strikes against Iran.
A high-level meeting will take place in the Ministry of Defence at which senior defence chiefs and government officials will consider the consequences of an attack on Iran.
It is believed that an American-led attack, designed to destroy Iran's ability to develop a nuclear bomb, is "inevitable" if Teheran's leaders fail to comply with United Nations demands to freeze their uranium enrichment programme.
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