John Pilger: What happens in Venezuela is incredibly important to all of us
“Propaganda and the media are absolutely crucial at this time”, Pilger argued, comparing the media coverage of the US invasion of Iraq to the Duke of Wellington’s coverage of the 1815 battle of Waterloo -- “the general as journalist.”
Commenting on last month's US presidential election, Pilger said that only the richest 1% of the US population were the winners. Everyone else was a loser ... whether they voted Republican or Democrat.
Pilger said that in Australia, “there is only effectively one party with two factions [Liberal and Labor].” He argued that the world is heading into an era of “direct action,” of mass struggles against governmental and corporate power ... “There is, across the world, an extraordinary movement ... just because we’re not told about it, doesn’t mean that it doesn’t exist
Tuesday, November 30, 2004
IRAQ: FALLUJAH RESISTANCE
JUS: Mujahideen With Fresh Fighters Now Control 70% Of Fallujah
More than 100 Resistance fighters have managed to gain access to Fallujah, joining up with hundreds of other fighters that have flooded into the city in recent days and joined the ranks of the city’s defenders.
According to a report filed at 12:50pm Monday local time by Mafkarat al-Islam’s in Fallujah, the US presence in the city is now limited and the Mujahideen now control more than 70 percent of the city. Fighters from ar-Ramadi have joined up with the fighters inside al-Fallujah and these fighters are said to be experts in urban warfare
More than 100 Resistance fighters have managed to gain access to Fallujah, joining up with hundreds of other fighters that have flooded into the city in recent days and joined the ranks of the city’s defenders.
According to a report filed at 12:50pm Monday local time by Mafkarat al-Islam’s in Fallujah, the US presence in the city is now limited and the Mujahideen now control more than 70 percent of the city. Fighters from ar-Ramadi have joined up with the fighters inside al-Fallujah and these fighters are said to be experts in urban warfare
IRAQ: US MASS GRAVES
Priosnplanet: Further Evidence Of Mass Graves Of US Soldiers In Iraq
"website Jihad Unspun is claiming that a new video carried on its website provides further evidence of mass graves of US soldiers that have been hidden to reduce the official casualty count.
The video offers no definitive proof that the bodies shown are those of US army personnel. The bodies are in an advanced stage of decomposition although one could argue that the whiteness of the teeth suggests they are Western (an area of better sanitation)."
The website posted a lengthy PDF report which can be found here
click here for video (discretion advised)
"website Jihad Unspun is claiming that a new video carried on its website provides further evidence of mass graves of US soldiers that have been hidden to reduce the official casualty count.
The video offers no definitive proof that the bodies shown are those of US army personnel. The bodies are in an advanced stage of decomposition although one could argue that the whiteness of the teeth suggests they are Western (an area of better sanitation)."
The website posted a lengthy PDF report which can be found here
click here for video (discretion advised)
Monday, November 29, 2004
ISRAEL
New York Review of Books: Sharon and the Future of Palestine
When Ariel Sharon first announced his intention to "disengage" unilaterally from Gaza and to dismantle four isolated settlements in the northern West Bank, many observers believed he was on his way to fulfilling their expectation that, sooner or later, he would transform himself into an Israeli De Gaulle and make the tough decisions that would finally end the Israeli– Palestinian conflict. Even those who were skeptical of the possibility of such a transformation, and believed that Sharon intended the Gaza withdrawal as leverage to gain international acceptance of Israel's control over much of the West Bank, believed that a disengagement from Gaza would create a precedent that would lead to further withdrawals from the West Bank as well, for it would dispel the myth that any effort to dismantle settlements would drag the country into a civil war. For this reason, not only the Bush administration, which has found no measure taken by Sharon too outrageous to deserve American support, but also the European Union, the United Nations, and Russia (the other three members of the Quartet formed to oversee the implementation of the "road map"), as well as much of Israel's left, welcomed Sharon's initiative.
When Ariel Sharon first announced his intention to "disengage" unilaterally from Gaza and to dismantle four isolated settlements in the northern West Bank, many observers believed he was on his way to fulfilling their expectation that, sooner or later, he would transform himself into an Israeli De Gaulle and make the tough decisions that would finally end the Israeli– Palestinian conflict. Even those who were skeptical of the possibility of such a transformation, and believed that Sharon intended the Gaza withdrawal as leverage to gain international acceptance of Israel's control over much of the West Bank, believed that a disengagement from Gaza would create a precedent that would lead to further withdrawals from the West Bank as well, for it would dispel the myth that any effort to dismantle settlements would drag the country into a civil war. For this reason, not only the Bush administration, which has found no measure taken by Sharon too outrageous to deserve American support, but also the European Union, the United Nations, and Russia (the other three members of the Quartet formed to oversee the implementation of the "road map"), as well as much of Israel's left, welcomed Sharon's initiative.
IRAQ: FALLUJAH WAR CRIMES
Aljazeera: U.S. uses napalm gas in Fallujah – Witnesses
The U.S. military is secretly using banned napalm gas and other outlawed weapons against civilians in the Iraqi city of Fallujah, eyewitnesses reported.
The United Nations banned the use of the napalm gas against civilians in 1980 after pictures of a naked wounded girl in Vietnam shocked the world.
The United States, which didn't endorse the convention, is the only nation in the world still using the deadly weapon.
The U.S. military is secretly using banned napalm gas and other outlawed weapons against civilians in the Iraqi city of Fallujah, eyewitnesses reported.
The United Nations banned the use of the napalm gas against civilians in 1980 after pictures of a naked wounded girl in Vietnam shocked the world.
The United States, which didn't endorse the convention, is the only nation in the world still using the deadly weapon.
IRAQ: FALLUJAH WAR CRIMES
Aljazeera: U.S. uses napalm gas in Fallujah – Witnesses
The U.S. military is secretly using banned napalm gas and other outlawed weapons against civilians in the Iraqi city of Fallujah, eyewitnesses reported.
The U.S. military is secretly using banned napalm gas and other outlawed weapons against civilians in the Iraqi city of Fallujah, eyewitnesses reported.
UKRAINE
Toronto Times: Ukraine flirting with a civil war
The narrow victory of Ukraine's prime minister Viktor Yanukovych in last week's reportedly fraudulent presidential election is raising grave fears of civil war in this highly strategic nation.
Ukraine split along historic lines, with the European-oriented western, largely Uniate Catholic half (once part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire), supporting Yushchenko, and the Eastern Orthodox portion, notably the Donets coal basin and industrial Luhansk, with 10 million ethnic Russians, favouring Moscow. Crimea, an ethnic Russian and Tatar region, went solidly for the pro-Moscow camp.
Yushchenko supporters have massed in the streets for days and called on the army and security service to join them, invoking the threat of political chaos, even civil war.
As of this writing, the security services, heavily influenced by Russia's secret services, appear loyal to Yanukovych
The narrow victory of Ukraine's prime minister Viktor Yanukovych in last week's reportedly fraudulent presidential election is raising grave fears of civil war in this highly strategic nation.
Ukraine split along historic lines, with the European-oriented western, largely Uniate Catholic half (once part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire), supporting Yushchenko, and the Eastern Orthodox portion, notably the Donets coal basin and industrial Luhansk, with 10 million ethnic Russians, favouring Moscow. Crimea, an ethnic Russian and Tatar region, went solidly for the pro-Moscow camp.
Yushchenko supporters have massed in the streets for days and called on the army and security service to join them, invoking the threat of political chaos, even civil war.
As of this writing, the security services, heavily influenced by Russia's secret services, appear loyal to Yanukovych
UKRAINE
Times: Russia ‘will back force’ by Ukraine president
RUSSIA has offered to back the Ukrainian government if it uses force to crush pro-democracy demonstrators who have taken control of the capital and other cities, it was claimed last night, write Askold Krushelnycky and Mark Franchetti.
A senior figure in the Ukrainian presidential administration who declined to be identified said that Boris Gryzlov, President Vladimir Putin’s personal envoy to Ukraine, had promised “diplomatic cover” against any international backlash prompted by such a move.
Guardian: Ukraine's postmodern coup d'etat
Yushchenko got the US nod, and money flooded in to his supporters
For one thing the demonstrators do not reflect nationwide sentiments. Ukraine is riven by deep historical, religious and linguistic divisions. The crowds in the street include a large contingent from western Ukraine, which has never felt comfortable with rule from Kiev, let alone from people associated with eastern Ukraine, the home-base of Viktor Yanukovich, the disputed president-elect.
Their traditions are not always pleasant. Some protesters have been chanting nationalistic and secessionist songs from the anti-semitic years of the second world war.
Nor are we watching a struggle between freedom and authoritarianism as is romantically alleged. Viktor Yushchenko, who claims to have won Sunday's election, served as prime minister under the outgoing president, Leonid Kuchma, and some of his backers are also linked to the brutal industrial clans who manipulated Ukraine's post-Soviet privatisation
Yet after none of those polls did the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the main international observer body, or the US and other western governments, make the furious noise they are producing today. The decision to protest appears to depend mainly on realpolitik and whether the challengers or the incumbent are considered more "pro-western" or "pro-market".
RUSSIA has offered to back the Ukrainian government if it uses force to crush pro-democracy demonstrators who have taken control of the capital and other cities, it was claimed last night, write Askold Krushelnycky and Mark Franchetti.
A senior figure in the Ukrainian presidential administration who declined to be identified said that Boris Gryzlov, President Vladimir Putin’s personal envoy to Ukraine, had promised “diplomatic cover” against any international backlash prompted by such a move.
Guardian: Ukraine's postmodern coup d'etat
Yushchenko got the US nod, and money flooded in to his supporters
For one thing the demonstrators do not reflect nationwide sentiments. Ukraine is riven by deep historical, religious and linguistic divisions. The crowds in the street include a large contingent from western Ukraine, which has never felt comfortable with rule from Kiev, let alone from people associated with eastern Ukraine, the home-base of Viktor Yanukovich, the disputed president-elect.
Their traditions are not always pleasant. Some protesters have been chanting nationalistic and secessionist songs from the anti-semitic years of the second world war.
Nor are we watching a struggle between freedom and authoritarianism as is romantically alleged. Viktor Yushchenko, who claims to have won Sunday's election, served as prime minister under the outgoing president, Leonid Kuchma, and some of his backers are also linked to the brutal industrial clans who manipulated Ukraine's post-Soviet privatisation
Yet after none of those polls did the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the main international observer body, or the US and other western governments, make the furious noise they are producing today. The decision to protest appears to depend mainly on realpolitik and whether the challengers or the incumbent are considered more "pro-western" or "pro-market".
ISRAEL: STATE TERRORISM
Guardian: Israel shocked by image of soldiers forcing violinist to play at roadblock
Of all the revelations that have rocked the Israeli army over the past week, perhaps none disturbed the public so much as the video footage of soldiers forcing a Palestinian man to play his violin.
The incident was not as shocking as the recording of an Israeli officer pumping the body of a 13-year-old girl full of bullets and then saying he would have shot her even if she had been three years old.
Of all the revelations that have rocked the Israeli army over the past week, perhaps none disturbed the public so much as the video footage of soldiers forcing a Palestinian man to play his violin.
The incident was not as shocking as the recording of an Israeli officer pumping the body of a 13-year-old girl full of bullets and then saying he would have shot her even if she had been three years old.
Yoram Kaniuk, author of a book about a Jewish violinist forced to play for a concentration camp commander, wrote in Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper that the soldiers responsible should be put on trial "not for abusing Arabs but for disgracing the Holocaust".
"So when Israeli soldiers are abusing palestinians they should not be tried because they commited a crime or in this case because they did the same thing as the nazis did when they forced jewish musicans to play in concentration camps but because they are "disgracing the holocaust". How twisted can a mind get?"
IRAQ: FALLUJAH RESISTANCE
JUS: First US Retreat From Fallujah Reported
Mujahideen Retake The Old City
Last evening, after US forces outside Fallujah took heavy rocket fire from the Lions of Fallujah, occupation forces pulled their units that were surrounding the western sector of the city back in the direction of the US base at al-Habbaniyah.
In a dispatch posted at 9pm Mecca time, Friday night, Mafkarat al-Islam's correspondent reported that US forces outside Fallujah were subjected to heavy Mujahideen bombardments, firing Grad and Tariq rockets that resulted in their withdrawal from the area. JUS also received information from sources close to the Mujahideen that US forces were indeed pulling back at al-Habbaniyah
Mujahideen Retake The Old City
Last evening, after US forces outside Fallujah took heavy rocket fire from the Lions of Fallujah, occupation forces pulled their units that were surrounding the western sector of the city back in the direction of the US base at al-Habbaniyah.
In a dispatch posted at 9pm Mecca time, Friday night, Mafkarat al-Islam's correspondent reported that US forces outside Fallujah were subjected to heavy Mujahideen bombardments, firing Grad and Tariq rockets that resulted in their withdrawal from the area. JUS also received information from sources close to the Mujahideen that US forces were indeed pulling back at al-Habbaniyah
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