ISRAEL
Counterpunch: Sharon's Fingerprints on Latest Suicide Bombing
"It is difficult to imagine that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, with his much vaunted military and strategic acumen, did not understand the consequences of his policies over the past month.
Since the last suicide bombing on November 21, escalating Israeli military assaults have killed over sixty Palestinian civilians, culminating in the December 26 wave of killing and abductions, in which Israeli occupying forces killed at least nine Palestinians, injured more than 30 and abducted several others."
Monday, January 20, 2003
VENEZUELA
greenleft.org: VENEZUELA: The other war for oil
Reading the mainstream press over the last month, one could be forgiven for believing that Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez has become so unpopular that his government is facing a revolt by the country's workers.
However, at the centre of recent events in Venezuela is the battle for control of the largest oil fields outside the Middle East. On one side is the wealthy capitalist elite, which has enriched itself with oil profits for decades; on the other is the Chavez government and its working-class supporters, who hope to use oil revenue to eradicate the poverty that afflicts 80% of the population. This is the axis around which an even broader battle is being waged — the battle over which class will rule the country.
greenleft.org: VENEZUELA: The other war for oil
Reading the mainstream press over the last month, one could be forgiven for believing that Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez has become so unpopular that his government is facing a revolt by the country's workers.
However, at the centre of recent events in Venezuela is the battle for control of the largest oil fields outside the Middle East. On one side is the wealthy capitalist elite, which has enriched itself with oil profits for decades; on the other is the Chavez government and its working-class supporters, who hope to use oil revenue to eradicate the poverty that afflicts 80% of the population. This is the axis around which an even broader battle is being waged — the battle over which class will rule the country.
USA/EUROPE
Guardian: Fortress continents by Naomi Klein
Well, it could have been true. That's what Senator Hillary Clinton had to say after finding out that five Pakistani men did not actually sneak into the US through Canada so they could blow up New York on New Year's Eve. Because they were never in the US at all, and they weren't terrorists, and the whole thing was dreamt up by a man who forges passports for a living.
At the height of the search for the professional liar's imaginary non-terrorists, Clinton had blamed Canada and its "unpatrolled, unsupervised" border. But even when the hoax came to light, Clinton didn't rescind the accusation. Because the Canadian border is so porous, she reasoned, "this hoax seemed all too believable".
It was, in other words, a useful hoax, helping US citizens to see how unsafe they really are. And that is useful, especially if you are among the growing number of free-market economists, politicians and military strategists pushing for the creation of "Fortress Nafta", a continental security perimeter stretching from Mexico's southern border to Canada's northern one
Guardian: Fortress continents by Naomi Klein
Well, it could have been true. That's what Senator Hillary Clinton had to say after finding out that five Pakistani men did not actually sneak into the US through Canada so they could blow up New York on New Year's Eve. Because they were never in the US at all, and they weren't terrorists, and the whole thing was dreamt up by a man who forges passports for a living.
At the height of the search for the professional liar's imaginary non-terrorists, Clinton had blamed Canada and its "unpatrolled, unsupervised" border. But even when the hoax came to light, Clinton didn't rescind the accusation. Because the Canadian border is so porous, she reasoned, "this hoax seemed all too believable".
It was, in other words, a useful hoax, helping US citizens to see how unsafe they really are. And that is useful, especially if you are among the growing number of free-market economists, politicians and military strategists pushing for the creation of "Fortress Nafta", a continental security perimeter stretching from Mexico's southern border to Canada's northern one
CAPITALISM
memes.org: Rebel With a Cause: The Re-Education of Joseph Stiglitz
"Over the past several years, Stiglitz, a celebrated theorist who was awarded the 2001 Nobel Prize in economics for his work on asymmetric information, has grown accustomed to being at the center of controversy. From 1997 to 2000, he served as senior vice president and chief economist at the World Bank-a title that did not stop him from publicly criticizing the bank's sister institution, the International Monetary Fund. In a series of speeches and articles that culminated in a scathing April 2000 essay in The New Republic, Stiglitz blasted the IMF for being every bit as secretive, undemocratic and indifferent to the poor as its critics claimed. Stiglitz's outspokenness, unprecedented for a high-ranking insider, infuriated top officials at the IMF and US Treasury Department, and eventually led James Wolfensohn, the World Bank's president, to inform him that he would have to mute his criticism or resign. Stiglitz chose to leave."
memes.org: Rebel With a Cause: The Re-Education of Joseph Stiglitz
"Over the past several years, Stiglitz, a celebrated theorist who was awarded the 2001 Nobel Prize in economics for his work on asymmetric information, has grown accustomed to being at the center of controversy. From 1997 to 2000, he served as senior vice president and chief economist at the World Bank-a title that did not stop him from publicly criticizing the bank's sister institution, the International Monetary Fund. In a series of speeches and articles that culminated in a scathing April 2000 essay in The New Republic, Stiglitz blasted the IMF for being every bit as secretive, undemocratic and indifferent to the poor as its critics claimed. Stiglitz's outspokenness, unprecedented for a high-ranking insider, infuriated top officials at the IMF and US Treasury Department, and eventually led James Wolfensohn, the World Bank's president, to inform him that he would have to mute his criticism or resign. Stiglitz chose to leave."
ISRAEL
United Press: Israel to kill in U.S., allied nations
Mossad Hit-Teams werden in Zukunft Terroristen auch in den USA und anderen alliierten Staaten ermorden
United Press: Israel to kill in U.S., allied nations
Mossad Hit-Teams werden in Zukunft Terroristen auch in den USA und anderen alliierten Staaten ermorden
Thursday, January 16, 2003
COPYRIGHTS
New York Times: 20-Year Extension of Existing Copyrights Is held
Die Mickey Mouse hat vor dem Obersten Gericht gewonnen und bleibt weitere 20 Jahre lang geschützt. Das Oberste Gericht hat aber in der Urteilsbegründung den US-Kongress stark kritisiert.
New York Times: 20-Year Extension of Existing Copyrights Is held
Die Mickey Mouse hat vor dem Obersten Gericht gewonnen und bleibt weitere 20 Jahre lang geschützt. Das Oberste Gericht hat aber in der Urteilsbegründung den US-Kongress stark kritisiert.
IRAK
New York Times: U.S. Resisting Calls for a 2nd U.N. Vote on a War With Iraq
The Bush administration resisted calls by other nations today that it secure the explicit blessing of the United Nations Security Council before going to war with Iraq. The White House further suggested that it could decide in favor of military action even if weapons inspectors do not turn up concrete new evidence against Saddam Hussein.
Spiegel: USA wollen schnelles Ende der Waffenkontrollen
New York Times: U.S. Resisting Calls for a 2nd U.N. Vote on a War With Iraq
The Bush administration resisted calls by other nations today that it secure the explicit blessing of the United Nations Security Council before going to war with Iraq. The White House further suggested that it could decide in favor of military action even if weapons inspectors do not turn up concrete new evidence against Saddam Hussein.
Spiegel: USA wollen schnelles Ende der Waffenkontrollen
USA
New York Times: President Faults Race Preferences as Admission Tool
Bush will die Affirmitive-Action Programme abschaffen.
President Bush offered a sweeping denunciation of direct preferences for racial minorities in university admissions today and said his administration would file a brief with the Supreme Court urging that the affirmative action admissions policies at the University of Michigan be declared unconstitutional.
Ouote of the Day: "I strongly support diversity of all kinds, including racial diversity in higher education. But the method used by the University of Michigan to achieve this important goal is fundamentally flawed." George Bush Jr.
New York Times: President Faults Race Preferences as Admission Tool
Bush will die Affirmitive-Action Programme abschaffen.
President Bush offered a sweeping denunciation of direct preferences for racial minorities in university admissions today and said his administration would file a brief with the Supreme Court urging that the affirmative action admissions policies at the University of Michigan be declared unconstitutional.
Ouote of the Day: "I strongly support diversity of all kinds, including racial diversity in higher education. But the method used by the University of Michigan to achieve this important goal is fundamentally flawed." George Bush Jr.
VENEZUELA
Vheadline: UN Secretary General Kofi Annan tells Venezuelans to respect the Constitution
"UN General Secretary Kofi Annan said that those who want change in Venezuela should respect the Constitution and work within the framework of Democracy which has been won with difficulty throughout Latin America. Annan said that he has viewed what's happening in Venezuela with growing concern."
Vheadline: UN Secretary General Kofi Annan tells Venezuelans to respect the Constitution
"UN General Secretary Kofi Annan said that those who want change in Venezuela should respect the Constitution and work within the framework of Democracy which has been won with difficulty throughout Latin America. Annan said that he has viewed what's happening in Venezuela with growing concern."
ISRAEL
Independent: Israel closes Palestinian universities
Israel today shut down two West Bank universities as two Palestinians were killed in clashes and Israeli troops sealed the homes of four Jerusalem Arabs responsible for killing 35 people, including five Americans, in bombings
"Israel demolishes the homes of militants and suicide bombers in an attempt to deter other Palestinians from carrying out attacks on Israelis. "
official US definition takes "terrorism" to be "the calculated use of violence or threat of violence to attain goals that are political, religious, or ideological in nature...through intimidation, coercion, or instilling fear.
"Das israelische Vorgehen müsste man demzufole (laut offizieller amerikanischer Definition) Terrorismus nennen."
Independent: Israel closes Palestinian universities
Israel today shut down two West Bank universities as two Palestinians were killed in clashes and Israeli troops sealed the homes of four Jerusalem Arabs responsible for killing 35 people, including five Americans, in bombings
"Israel demolishes the homes of militants and suicide bombers in an attempt to deter other Palestinians from carrying out attacks on Israelis. "
official US definition takes "terrorism" to be "the calculated use of violence or threat of violence to attain goals that are political, religious, or ideological in nature...through intimidation, coercion, or instilling fear.
"Das israelische Vorgehen müsste man demzufole (laut offizieller amerikanischer Definition) Terrorismus nennen."
VENEZUELA
Washington Post: A Split Screen In Strike-Torn Venezuela
Co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, Weisbrot
has
recently returned from eight days in Caracas. His latest article on
Venezuela appeared in Sunday's Washington Post. He said today:
"Venezuela
is in turmoil primarily because the opposition refuses to accept the
results of democratic elections. President Chavez's government has won
five
elections since 1998, including the referendum on the country's 1999
constitution. Although the opposition can organize large
demonstrations,
they have been unable to put together an electoral majority. So they
have
tried to remove the government by extra-legal means. In April they
tried a
military coup; now they are trying to make the country ungovernable, by
crippling the economy with an oil strike. (Although there are numerous
references to a general strike, outside of the 30,000 employees on
strike
in the oil industry there are not many workers actually on strike; some
are
locked out because the business owners have shut down.) The Bush
administration shares the opposition's goals of overthrowing the
elected
government and has supported them, although lately it has had some
reservations about the cutoff of Venezuelan oil and gasoline, and the
effect of that on oil prices and markets, and the economy."
"Walking around Caracas late last month during Venezuela's ongoing protests, I was surprised by what I saw. My expectations had been shaped by persistent U.S. media coverage of the nationwide strike called by the opposition, which seeks President Hugo Chavez's ouster. Yet in most of the city, where poor and working-class people live, there were few signs of the strike. Streets were crowded with holiday shoppers, metro trains and buses were running normally, and shops were open for business. Only in the eastern, wealthier neighborhoods of the capital were businesses mostly closed.
This is clearly an oil strike, not a "general strike," as it is often described"
Washington Post: A Split Screen In Strike-Torn Venezuela
Co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, Weisbrot
has
recently returned from eight days in Caracas. His latest article on
Venezuela appeared in Sunday's Washington Post. He said today:
"Venezuela
is in turmoil primarily because the opposition refuses to accept the
results of democratic elections. President Chavez's government has won
five
elections since 1998, including the referendum on the country's 1999
constitution. Although the opposition can organize large
demonstrations,
they have been unable to put together an electoral majority. So they
have
tried to remove the government by extra-legal means. In April they
tried a
military coup; now they are trying to make the country ungovernable, by
crippling the economy with an oil strike. (Although there are numerous
references to a general strike, outside of the 30,000 employees on
strike
in the oil industry there are not many workers actually on strike; some
are
locked out because the business owners have shut down.) The Bush
administration shares the opposition's goals of overthrowing the
elected
government and has supported them, although lately it has had some
reservations about the cutoff of Venezuelan oil and gasoline, and the
effect of that on oil prices and markets, and the economy."
"Walking around Caracas late last month during Venezuela's ongoing protests, I was surprised by what I saw. My expectations had been shaped by persistent U.S. media coverage of the nationwide strike called by the opposition, which seeks President Hugo Chavez's ouster. Yet in most of the city, where poor and working-class people live, there were few signs of the strike. Streets were crowded with holiday shoppers, metro trains and buses were running normally, and shops were open for business. Only in the eastern, wealthier neighborhoods of the capital were businesses mostly closed.
This is clearly an oil strike, not a "general strike," as it is often described"
IRAK
Times: The United States of America has gone mad
America has entered one of its periods of historical madness, but this is the worst I can remember: worse than McCarthyism, worse than the Bay of Pigs and in the long term potentially more disastrous than the Vietnam War.
The reaction to 9/11 is beyond anything Osama bin Laden could have hoped for in his nastiest dreams. As in McCarthy times, the freedoms that have made America the envy of the world are being systematically eroded. The combination of compliant US media and vested corporate interests is once more ensuring that a debate that should be ringing out in every town square is confined to the loftier columns of the East Coast press
"How Bush and his junta succeeded in deflecting America’s anger from bin Laden to Saddam Hussein is one of the great public relations conjuring tricks of history. But they swung it. A recent poll tells us that one in two Americans now believe Saddam was responsible for the attack on the World Trade Centre. But the American public is not merely being misled. It is being browbeaten and kept in a state of ignorance and fear. The carefully orchestrated neurosis should carry Bush and his fellow conspirators nicely into the next election. "
Times: The United States of America has gone mad
America has entered one of its periods of historical madness, but this is the worst I can remember: worse than McCarthyism, worse than the Bay of Pigs and in the long term potentially more disastrous than the Vietnam War.
The reaction to 9/11 is beyond anything Osama bin Laden could have hoped for in his nastiest dreams. As in McCarthy times, the freedoms that have made America the envy of the world are being systematically eroded. The combination of compliant US media and vested corporate interests is once more ensuring that a debate that should be ringing out in every town square is confined to the loftier columns of the East Coast press
"How Bush and his junta succeeded in deflecting America’s anger from bin Laden to Saddam Hussein is one of the great public relations conjuring tricks of history. But they swung it. A recent poll tells us that one in two Americans now believe Saddam was responsible for the attack on the World Trade Centre. But the American public is not merely being misled. It is being browbeaten and kept in a state of ignorance and fear. The carefully orchestrated neurosis should carry Bush and his fellow conspirators nicely into the next election. "
VENEZUELA
VHeadline: Foreign Press Foundation condemns attempt to destabilize Venezuela
To the Ambassador, the US embassy,
CC. President George W. Bush
The Foreign Press Foundation in The Netherlands strongly condemns the attempt by right wing forces to destabilize Venezuela and overthrow the democratically-elected government of Hugo Chavez.
VHeadline: Foreign Press Foundation condemns attempt to destabilize Venezuela
To the Ambassador, the US embassy,
CC. President George W. Bush
The Foreign Press Foundation in The Netherlands strongly condemns the attempt by right wing forces to destabilize Venezuela and overthrow the democratically-elected government of Hugo Chavez.
IRAK
Spiegel: "Zwischen den Kriegen"
In seinem Beitrag für die Nachrichtenagentur dpa kritisiert Günter Grass die heuchlerische Irak-Politik der USA und ihrer Verbündeten. Den drohenden Krieg bezeichnet er als "gewollt", es gehe "wiederum ums Öl". SPIEGEL ONLINE dokumentiert den Essay des Literaturnobelpreisträgers.
Spiegel: "Zwischen den Kriegen"
In seinem Beitrag für die Nachrichtenagentur dpa kritisiert Günter Grass die heuchlerische Irak-Politik der USA und ihrer Verbündeten. Den drohenden Krieg bezeichnet er als "gewollt", es gehe "wiederum ums Öl". SPIEGEL ONLINE dokumentiert den Essay des Literaturnobelpreisträgers.
USA
Spiegel: Bürgerrechtler warnen vor Überwachungsmonster
Führende US-Bürgerrechtler warnen in einer neuen Studie vor der Entwicklung ihres Landes zu einem monströsen "Big Brother Staat": Internetnutzer würden heimlich überwacht, Videokameras allerorten installiert, selbst Bücherein müssen Auskunft über die Lesegewohnheiten ihrer Kunden geben.
Spiegel: Bürgerrechtler warnen vor Überwachungsmonster
Führende US-Bürgerrechtler warnen in einer neuen Studie vor der Entwicklung ihres Landes zu einem monströsen "Big Brother Staat": Internetnutzer würden heimlich überwacht, Videokameras allerorten installiert, selbst Bücherein müssen Auskunft über die Lesegewohnheiten ihrer Kunden geben.
ITALIEN
Spiegel: Fahnder entdecken 50 Tonnen Material für Chemiewaffen
Eine erschreckende Entdeckung hat die Polizei im Hafen von Genua gemacht. In einigen Containern sollen sich tonnenweise Chemikalien für die Herstellung von Massenvernichtungswaffen befunden haben. Das gefährliche Material soll aus einer deutscher Fabrik stammen. Angebliches Ziel: Libyen.
"Die betreffenden Firmen in Brüssel und Tripolis freilich erklären, dass die "Ware" ordnungsgemäß deklariert worden sei. Es habe sich lediglich um Material zur Herstellung von Pestiziden gehandelt. Die Ermittler sind jedoch laut "La Repubblica" überzeugt, dass die Begleitdokumente gefälscht sind und es sich um waffenfähiges Material handelt"
Spiegel: Fahnder entdecken 50 Tonnen Material für Chemiewaffen
Eine erschreckende Entdeckung hat die Polizei im Hafen von Genua gemacht. In einigen Containern sollen sich tonnenweise Chemikalien für die Herstellung von Massenvernichtungswaffen befunden haben. Das gefährliche Material soll aus einer deutscher Fabrik stammen. Angebliches Ziel: Libyen.
"Die betreffenden Firmen in Brüssel und Tripolis freilich erklären, dass die "Ware" ordnungsgemäß deklariert worden sei. Es habe sich lediglich um Material zur Herstellung von Pestiziden gehandelt. Die Ermittler sind jedoch laut "La Repubblica" überzeugt, dass die Begleitdokumente gefälscht sind und es sich um waffenfähiges Material handelt"
Wednesday, January 15, 2003
WEF
Tagesanzeiger: WEF: Schmid erhält Auftrag zur Sicherung des Luftraums
Das Militär wird am Wef den Luftraum kontrollieren und Terroristen vom Himmel schiessen.
Tagesanzeiger: WEF: Schmid erhält Auftrag zur Sicherung des Luftraums
Das Militär wird am Wef den Luftraum kontrollieren und Terroristen vom Himmel schiessen.
WAR ON IRAK
Los Angeles Times: Thousands Rally Against War in Iraq, Push Peace
Thousands of people protesting a looming U.S.-led war against Iraq marched through downtown Los Angeles on Saturday, with many chanting, "We want peace!"
According to police, the crowd numbered between 5,000 and 7,000. Many wore their opinions, such as "No War" or "Don't Cut Medicare for Bombs and Missiles," on T-shirts, buttons and baseball caps. Organizers estimated the crowd at 15,000, said Karin Pally, who helped put on the event.
Bilder der Demonstration
Los Angeles Times: Thousands Rally Against War in Iraq, Push Peace
Thousands of people protesting a looming U.S.-led war against Iraq marched through downtown Los Angeles on Saturday, with many chanting, "We want peace!"
According to police, the crowd numbered between 5,000 and 7,000. Many wore their opinions, such as "No War" or "Don't Cut Medicare for Bombs and Missiles," on T-shirts, buttons and baseball caps. Organizers estimated the crowd at 15,000, said Karin Pally, who helped put on the event.
Bilder der Demonstration
BALI
Jakarta Post: Biggest Newspaper in Indonesia Denies Conventional Explosives Were Used in Bali
On October 12, 2002 the Indonesian island of Bali experienced a terrorist attack that rocked the world. It was unquestionably well-coordinated and executed, the largest in the country's history.
Investigators and forensics experts from both national and international teams that had quickly been assembled flocked to the crime scene, ostensibly to begin what should have been a long, drawn out exercise in forensics and investigative sleuthing to identify and capture the foot soldiers, coordinators and masterminds behind the attack that has left over 190 known dead, scores missing without a trace and hundreds more wounded It has turned out to be anything but that.
The Indonesian government immediately vowed to unite in the hunt for the bombers. The U.S. government along with the international community seized the opportunity to point the finger at the shadowy al-Qaeda group along with Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir as the culprits. In hindsight, it would appear that perhaps these individuals, given their apparent intimate knowledge of the perpetrators immediately following the bombing should have been included on the investigating team. Perhaps if they had we would know more than we do today, which is very little despite the volume of information (or disinformation) being vomited out by the spokesmen for the investigative teams on a daily basis.
A creeping sense of foreboding began soon after the forensics people and other investigators (inclusive of Insp. Gen. I Made Pastika and his army of hundreds of supposedly top-notch investigators with virtually unlimited resources at their disposal) announced after only a week and a half that they were wrapping up their on-site work and retreating to the labs to analyze their findings. Astounding work, as it must have set a world record for crime scene forensic analysis.
Given the scope of the bombing and the sheer size of the primary and secondary blast areas - where trace from a plethora of different explosive compounds were swabbed from - this was a feat that escaped even the vaunted investigators working the World Trade Center crime scene in New York, who spent nearly a year literally sifting by hand for evidence at the site. It would appear that the teams on Bali possessed far superior skills and techniques ... or was there something else responsible for their haste in wrapping up so quickly and then sending the rest of the evidence as quickly as possible to the bottom of the ocean off Bali?
At this point in their investigation National Police Chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar states for the record that "traces of a chemical powder used in the bomb" were found in the van allegedly used to transport the large device. What powder? Even a cursory examination of the crater and primary site immediately following the bombings would make this statement laughable were it not for the circumstances.
If indeed the Mitsubishi L300 van was used in the large blast, the five-foot deep by twenty-foot wide crater indicates that it would have been completely vaporized, including the engine block which they apparently found intact - along with the victims who instantly vanished. Indeed, this begs the question: Where did the investigators obtain this evidence in relation to the crater? Is it possible that if the van survived the large blast it was because it was parked at the edge of the primary blast zone, packed with small amounts of all the explosives - whose traces were found at the sites - in order to throw off independent investigators?
In addition, there is the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), allegedly signed jointly by the National Police and the international investigation team, specifically restricting the scope of the "investigation links" and prohibiting international inquiries. Could this at least partially explain why Pastika has continually stonewalled, intimidated and generally obstructed independent investigators during the course of their work?
During the first weeks of the investigation, notables such as State Intelligence Agency (BIN) Chief Hendropriyono, Susilo Yudhoyono, Assembly Speaker Amien Rais and Pastika focused or pretended to focus on foreigners - without specifying "which" foreigners - who they said were behind the attack. Somehow this twisting, turning trail dried up and disappeared into thin air without explanation, along with the former retired Air Force Officer who allegedly confessed to police his involvement in the bombing and was then released. To this day his whereabouts remain unknown and police investigators either cannot or will not release any information on this man, an officer who was allegedly trained in America in explosives and is an incredible lead that should have been followed-up on aggressively and thoroughly. Why was it not?
Are these the statements and actions of professional investigators - or the actions of individuals engaged in a cover-up? Let's look at the myriad of explosive traces found at the site and subsequently cited individually off and on by investigators and police as "the explosive" used in the bombings. First it was C-4, then RDX. These two are actually the same, the difference being nine percent mallable plastic used in C-4. So, which is more powerful? RDX - nine percent more powerful than C-4.
Day after day, investigators trotted out a different explosive and combinations of explosives purportedly responsible for the blasts. In addition to C-4 and RDX there was now TNT, Ammonium Nitrate, HMX, Semtex, PETN, Chlorate and napalm. Everything but the kitchen sink. Was this gross ineptitude? Or another ploy to throw independent investigators off the trail?
For example, had the originators of the napalm theory studied up on the material before opening their mouths they would have known that napalm leaves a sticky, smelly residue on everything, including victims. This was not in evidence at the blast site or at the Sanglah burn ward and morgue, where the burn victims were taken. Therefore, in the absence of any physical evidence, napalm must be excluded and the originators of this farce be awarded a grade of "F" in "explosives analysis."
In other words, if you are going to lie, be professional about it, at least know what you are lying about and have the mental capacity to remember what you said when you said it. This single evidentiary template could easily be applied and extended to the entire "official investigation" of the Bali bombings where deceit, obstruction and obfuscation are and have been the name of the game.
To put this in perspective, let us look at three of the explosives claimed by official investigators to have been used in the bombings, starting with the compound that has the lowest velocity of detonation in feet per second (FPS) which is Potassium Chlorate at 3,500 FPS; compared to 12,000 FPS for Ammonium Nitrate and diesel and finally 27,800 FPS for RDX. In simple terms, at any given distance from ground zero these different explosive compounds will exert pressure in pounds per square inch. Damage to people and structures are a result of this pressure in varying degrees depending on the velocity of detonation. Even if RDX were used, the amount needed to cause the level of destruction in evidence at the crime scene should have been in excess of anything available through even the military, who denied possession of the explosive. There is also the delivery of the device to be taken into account.
Each of the explosives cited by investigators (with the exception of napalm) have unique and individual characteristics that vary for usage, stability and explosive yeild. They require specific detonators for each in order to obtain maximum effect. Also now at the bottom of the ocean off Bali is the reinforcing bar (rebar) located more than fifty feet from ground zero that had been completely stripped of concrete as a result of the blast. Documented military estimates of the force required to accomplish this is roughly 1 million to 1.5 million pounds per square inch.
What kind of weapon or device could accomplish this? And for that matter leave a crater of that size? Why was it filled in? This arguably could have been one of the most important pieces of evidence available to investigators not only for the trace explosive in evidence, but from which also could have been determined (roughly) the size and composition of the device.
With the police claiming (off and on) that Amrozi, Mukhlas and Samudra (who allegedly at one point denied involvement in the Bali bombings) were the perpetrators of the blasts, then why do the official investigators not know EXACTLY the type of device used in the main bombing and its precise composition? To put it quite simply, how can we have a bomber or bombers in the absence of a bomb?
Why were Amrozi and Samudra so quick to confess and finger their "accomplices"? Were these the actions of dedicated, radical, Islamic fundamentalists? "Professionals"? Did they expect to further their cause by eviscerating their own organization? Does it make sense that they were willing to kill and maim hundreds of innocents - including many fellow Indonesians - and yet implicate their comrades to save their own skins?
Given this dismal investigative performance, exactly what role did the international investigating team play in this debacle? If indeed there is one thing that has been glaringly apparent throughout this investigation, it is that perhaps nothing close to the truth has been told as of today. It is also apparent that something is very, very wrong not only with the procedural aspects of this case, but also with the suppression and outright destruction of evidence. The international investigators bear a heavy responsibility for this, and should be held accountable
Jakarta Post Editor Robert S. Finnegan is an internationally published investigative reporter with over two decades investigative experience. He currently holds an Alaska (U.S.) Private Investigator license.
Investigation: Bali Bombing
Wars eine Mini-Atombombe?
Jakarta Post: Biggest Newspaper in Indonesia Denies Conventional Explosives Were Used in Bali
On October 12, 2002 the Indonesian island of Bali experienced a terrorist attack that rocked the world. It was unquestionably well-coordinated and executed, the largest in the country's history.
Investigators and forensics experts from both national and international teams that had quickly been assembled flocked to the crime scene, ostensibly to begin what should have been a long, drawn out exercise in forensics and investigative sleuthing to identify and capture the foot soldiers, coordinators and masterminds behind the attack that has left over 190 known dead, scores missing without a trace and hundreds more wounded It has turned out to be anything but that.
The Indonesian government immediately vowed to unite in the hunt for the bombers. The U.S. government along with the international community seized the opportunity to point the finger at the shadowy al-Qaeda group along with Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir as the culprits. In hindsight, it would appear that perhaps these individuals, given their apparent intimate knowledge of the perpetrators immediately following the bombing should have been included on the investigating team. Perhaps if they had we would know more than we do today, which is very little despite the volume of information (or disinformation) being vomited out by the spokesmen for the investigative teams on a daily basis.
A creeping sense of foreboding began soon after the forensics people and other investigators (inclusive of Insp. Gen. I Made Pastika and his army of hundreds of supposedly top-notch investigators with virtually unlimited resources at their disposal) announced after only a week and a half that they were wrapping up their on-site work and retreating to the labs to analyze their findings. Astounding work, as it must have set a world record for crime scene forensic analysis.
Given the scope of the bombing and the sheer size of the primary and secondary blast areas - where trace from a plethora of different explosive compounds were swabbed from - this was a feat that escaped even the vaunted investigators working the World Trade Center crime scene in New York, who spent nearly a year literally sifting by hand for evidence at the site. It would appear that the teams on Bali possessed far superior skills and techniques ... or was there something else responsible for their haste in wrapping up so quickly and then sending the rest of the evidence as quickly as possible to the bottom of the ocean off Bali?
At this point in their investigation National Police Chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar states for the record that "traces of a chemical powder used in the bomb" were found in the van allegedly used to transport the large device. What powder? Even a cursory examination of the crater and primary site immediately following the bombings would make this statement laughable were it not for the circumstances.
If indeed the Mitsubishi L300 van was used in the large blast, the five-foot deep by twenty-foot wide crater indicates that it would have been completely vaporized, including the engine block which they apparently found intact - along with the victims who instantly vanished. Indeed, this begs the question: Where did the investigators obtain this evidence in relation to the crater? Is it possible that if the van survived the large blast it was because it was parked at the edge of the primary blast zone, packed with small amounts of all the explosives - whose traces were found at the sites - in order to throw off independent investigators?
In addition, there is the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), allegedly signed jointly by the National Police and the international investigation team, specifically restricting the scope of the "investigation links" and prohibiting international inquiries. Could this at least partially explain why Pastika has continually stonewalled, intimidated and generally obstructed independent investigators during the course of their work?
During the first weeks of the investigation, notables such as State Intelligence Agency (BIN) Chief Hendropriyono, Susilo Yudhoyono, Assembly Speaker Amien Rais and Pastika focused or pretended to focus on foreigners - without specifying "which" foreigners - who they said were behind the attack. Somehow this twisting, turning trail dried up and disappeared into thin air without explanation, along with the former retired Air Force Officer who allegedly confessed to police his involvement in the bombing and was then released. To this day his whereabouts remain unknown and police investigators either cannot or will not release any information on this man, an officer who was allegedly trained in America in explosives and is an incredible lead that should have been followed-up on aggressively and thoroughly. Why was it not?
Are these the statements and actions of professional investigators - or the actions of individuals engaged in a cover-up? Let's look at the myriad of explosive traces found at the site and subsequently cited individually off and on by investigators and police as "the explosive" used in the bombings. First it was C-4, then RDX. These two are actually the same, the difference being nine percent mallable plastic used in C-4. So, which is more powerful? RDX - nine percent more powerful than C-4.
Day after day, investigators trotted out a different explosive and combinations of explosives purportedly responsible for the blasts. In addition to C-4 and RDX there was now TNT, Ammonium Nitrate, HMX, Semtex, PETN, Chlorate and napalm. Everything but the kitchen sink. Was this gross ineptitude? Or another ploy to throw independent investigators off the trail?
For example, had the originators of the napalm theory studied up on the material before opening their mouths they would have known that napalm leaves a sticky, smelly residue on everything, including victims. This was not in evidence at the blast site or at the Sanglah burn ward and morgue, where the burn victims were taken. Therefore, in the absence of any physical evidence, napalm must be excluded and the originators of this farce be awarded a grade of "F" in "explosives analysis."
In other words, if you are going to lie, be professional about it, at least know what you are lying about and have the mental capacity to remember what you said when you said it. This single evidentiary template could easily be applied and extended to the entire "official investigation" of the Bali bombings where deceit, obstruction and obfuscation are and have been the name of the game.
To put this in perspective, let us look at three of the explosives claimed by official investigators to have been used in the bombings, starting with the compound that has the lowest velocity of detonation in feet per second (FPS) which is Potassium Chlorate at 3,500 FPS; compared to 12,000 FPS for Ammonium Nitrate and diesel and finally 27,800 FPS for RDX. In simple terms, at any given distance from ground zero these different explosive compounds will exert pressure in pounds per square inch. Damage to people and structures are a result of this pressure in varying degrees depending on the velocity of detonation. Even if RDX were used, the amount needed to cause the level of destruction in evidence at the crime scene should have been in excess of anything available through even the military, who denied possession of the explosive. There is also the delivery of the device to be taken into account.
Each of the explosives cited by investigators (with the exception of napalm) have unique and individual characteristics that vary for usage, stability and explosive yeild. They require specific detonators for each in order to obtain maximum effect. Also now at the bottom of the ocean off Bali is the reinforcing bar (rebar) located more than fifty feet from ground zero that had been completely stripped of concrete as a result of the blast. Documented military estimates of the force required to accomplish this is roughly 1 million to 1.5 million pounds per square inch.
What kind of weapon or device could accomplish this? And for that matter leave a crater of that size? Why was it filled in? This arguably could have been one of the most important pieces of evidence available to investigators not only for the trace explosive in evidence, but from which also could have been determined (roughly) the size and composition of the device.
With the police claiming (off and on) that Amrozi, Mukhlas and Samudra (who allegedly at one point denied involvement in the Bali bombings) were the perpetrators of the blasts, then why do the official investigators not know EXACTLY the type of device used in the main bombing and its precise composition? To put it quite simply, how can we have a bomber or bombers in the absence of a bomb?
Why were Amrozi and Samudra so quick to confess and finger their "accomplices"? Were these the actions of dedicated, radical, Islamic fundamentalists? "Professionals"? Did they expect to further their cause by eviscerating their own organization? Does it make sense that they were willing to kill and maim hundreds of innocents - including many fellow Indonesians - and yet implicate their comrades to save their own skins?
Given this dismal investigative performance, exactly what role did the international investigating team play in this debacle? If indeed there is one thing that has been glaringly apparent throughout this investigation, it is that perhaps nothing close to the truth has been told as of today. It is also apparent that something is very, very wrong not only with the procedural aspects of this case, but also with the suppression and outright destruction of evidence. The international investigators bear a heavy responsibility for this, and should be held accountable
Jakarta Post Editor Robert S. Finnegan is an internationally published investigative reporter with over two decades investigative experience. He currently holds an Alaska (U.S.) Private Investigator license.
Investigation: Bali Bombing
Wars eine Mini-Atombombe?
IRAK
Guardian: Allies speed up deployment to the Gulf
Troops ready for February conflict
"The United States, Britain and Australia have started to speed up the movement of troops and weapons to the Gulf to enable them to attack Iraq by mid-February.
At the weekend, the American defence secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, authorised the deployment of another 62,000 US troops. About 150,000 US and British troops will be in the region by next month."
"Der Countdown läuft.."
Guardian: Allies speed up deployment to the Gulf
Troops ready for February conflict
"The United States, Britain and Australia have started to speed up the movement of troops and weapons to the Gulf to enable them to attack Iraq by mid-February.
At the weekend, the American defence secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, authorised the deployment of another 62,000 US troops. About 150,000 US and British troops will be in the region by next month."
"Der Countdown läuft.."
IRAK
Washington Post: Bush Lies: Iraq-Attack Decided Awhile Back
U.S. Decision On Iraq Has Puzzling Past
Opponents of War Wonder When, How Policy Was Set
Sunday, January 12, 2003; Page A01
In July 2002, at a regular administrative meeting between the US
Department
of State's director of policy planning Richard Haass and National
Security
Advisor Condoleezza Rice, he asked whether they should talk about the
pros
and cons of confronting Iraq. "Don't bother", Rice replied: "The
president
has made a decision." On September 17, 2001, six days after the attacks
on
the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, President Bush signed a
2½-page
document marked "TOP SECRET" that outlined the plan for going to war in
Afghanistan as part of a global campaign against terrorism.
Washington Post: Bush Lies: Iraq-Attack Decided Awhile Back
U.S. Decision On Iraq Has Puzzling Past
Opponents of War Wonder When, How Policy Was Set
Sunday, January 12, 2003; Page A01
In July 2002, at a regular administrative meeting between the US
Department
of State's director of policy planning Richard Haass and National
Security
Advisor Condoleezza Rice, he asked whether they should talk about the
pros
and cons of confronting Iraq. "Don't bother", Rice replied: "The
president
has made a decision." On September 17, 2001, six days after the attacks
on
the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, President Bush signed a
2½-page
document marked "TOP SECRET" that outlined the plan for going to war in
Afghanistan as part of a global campaign against terrorism.
TERROR
AP: Greenpeace protesters stage break-in at nuclear power plant
"LONDON (AP) _ Nineteen anti-nuclear protesters used ropes, ladders and wire-cutters to break into the central control building of a nuclear power station in eastern England on Monday, the environmental group Greenpeace said.
Suffolk Police said there was ``an incident'' at the Sizewell B plant but would not give details.
Greenpeace, which campaigns for an end to nuclear energy, said it staged the break-in to expose poor security at the Sizewell B plant and other nuclear facilities.
``It is a terrifying thought that if we can do this then anyone can,'' said Rob Gueterbock, one of the protesters occupying the plant's roof. ``We wouldn't do anything to interfere with the plant, but if terrorists targeted a nuclear power station it would be deadly"
AP: Greenpeace protesters stage break-in at nuclear power plant
"LONDON (AP) _ Nineteen anti-nuclear protesters used ropes, ladders and wire-cutters to break into the central control building of a nuclear power station in eastern England on Monday, the environmental group Greenpeace said.
Suffolk Police said there was ``an incident'' at the Sizewell B plant but would not give details.
Greenpeace, which campaigns for an end to nuclear energy, said it staged the break-in to expose poor security at the Sizewell B plant and other nuclear facilities.
``It is a terrifying thought that if we can do this then anyone can,'' said Rob Gueterbock, one of the protesters occupying the plant's roof. ``We wouldn't do anything to interfere with the plant, but if terrorists targeted a nuclear power station it would be deadly"
PROPAGANDA
Alternet: A Lesson In U.S. Propaganda
Last week U.N. weapons inspectors swooped in to inspect the Iraqi
manufacturing plant that U.S. planes bombed in 1991. Iraq said the
plant made infant milk formula; the U.S. said it made biological
weapons. Mark Crispin Miller examines the evidence and concludes
that Iraq's version was correct. Nevertheless, "Iraq, in trying to
publicize the targeting of its civilian infrastructure, had engaged
in clumsy propaganda (which backfired in the West), while the US
counter-propaganda was apparently disinformation (which succeeded).
As we sit and wait for another war against Iraq, we should remember
this triumphant bit of spin - and all the other winning lies of
Operation Desert Storm."
Alternet: A Lesson In U.S. Propaganda
Last week U.N. weapons inspectors swooped in to inspect the Iraqi
manufacturing plant that U.S. planes bombed in 1991. Iraq said the
plant made infant milk formula; the U.S. said it made biological
weapons. Mark Crispin Miller examines the evidence and concludes
that Iraq's version was correct. Nevertheless, "Iraq, in trying to
publicize the targeting of its civilian infrastructure, had engaged
in clumsy propaganda (which backfired in the West), while the US
counter-propaganda was apparently disinformation (which succeeded).
As we sit and wait for another war against Iraq, we should remember
this triumphant bit of spin - and all the other winning lies of
Operation Desert Storm."
PR
Holmesreport: Lessons Learned from the Top 10 Crises of 2002
Die Top 10 der PR-Desaster von 2002
"The year 2002 was a year in which individual companies suffered catastrophic crises, but it was also a year in which American business as a whole suffered a chronic crisis, as constituents—shareholders, employees, regulators, the public at large—began to question whether the entire American corporate system was hopelessly corrupt.
Ordinarily, such an epidemic of ill-considered corporate behavior would have elevated the role of the senior corporate communications executive to a permanent place in the CEO’s inner circle, and provided a bonanza of new business for public relations firms. But in 2002, those gains conspicuously failed to materialize.
“The past year was filled with what seems like an unprecedented number of very widely publicized and unusually intriguing crises,” says Craig Martin, managing director of the Washington, D.C., office of Ruder Finn. “Corporate giants Enron, Tyco, and Worldcom tumbled, and cultural icons Martha Stewart, Jack Welch and Augusta National were humbled, albeit to varying degrees. "
Holmesreport: Lessons Learned from the Top 10 Crises of 2002
Die Top 10 der PR-Desaster von 2002
"The year 2002 was a year in which individual companies suffered catastrophic crises, but it was also a year in which American business as a whole suffered a chronic crisis, as constituents—shareholders, employees, regulators, the public at large—began to question whether the entire American corporate system was hopelessly corrupt.
Ordinarily, such an epidemic of ill-considered corporate behavior would have elevated the role of the senior corporate communications executive to a permanent place in the CEO’s inner circle, and provided a bonanza of new business for public relations firms. But in 2002, those gains conspicuously failed to materialize.
“The past year was filled with what seems like an unprecedented number of very widely publicized and unusually intriguing crises,” says Craig Martin, managing director of the Washington, D.C., office of Ruder Finn. “Corporate giants Enron, Tyco, and Worldcom tumbled, and cultural icons Martha Stewart, Jack Welch and Augusta National were humbled, albeit to varying degrees. "
GUERILLA MARKETING/PR WATCH
maisonneuve.org: Are You for Real?
Theater student Natalie Alvarez takes a close look at Jonathan
Ressler's "guerrilla advertising" company, Big Fat, Inc. In order
to bypass consumer skepticism about advertising, Ressler hires
"real people" to talk up his clients' products in bars, parks and
other public places. "We plant a group of people in a bar or other
public setting and instruct them to use a brand, perform a ritual,
repeat a sound bite, and involve others in the activity," Ressler
explains. As these "secret agents of capitalism" invade our daily
routines, Alvarez ponders the blurred boundaries between illusion
and reality, theater and life. "It's The Truman Show," says an
advertising executive. "Did your wife marry you because she loves
you, or because she wants you to buy a certain brand of soap?"
maisonneuve.org: Are You for Real?
Theater student Natalie Alvarez takes a close look at Jonathan
Ressler's "guerrilla advertising" company, Big Fat, Inc. In order
to bypass consumer skepticism about advertising, Ressler hires
"real people" to talk up his clients' products in bars, parks and
other public places. "We plant a group of people in a bar or other
public setting and instruct them to use a brand, perform a ritual,
repeat a sound bite, and involve others in the activity," Ressler
explains. As these "secret agents of capitalism" invade our daily
routines, Alvarez ponders the blurred boundaries between illusion
and reality, theater and life. "It's The Truman Show," says an
advertising executive. "Did your wife marry you because she loves
you, or because she wants you to buy a certain brand of soap?"
USA
"The Detroit Project by americans for fuel efficient cars" ist eine Anti-S.U.V Organisation die in den letzten Tagen mehrere TV-Commercials im US-Fernsehen geschaltet hat. Die Werbungen sind ziemlich lustig...so Ich hab ein SUV und es braucht soviel Benzin und vom Benzin Geld werden Terroristen unterstützt. Check it out, ist wirklich lustig!
TV Ads Say S.U.V. Owners Support Terrorists
By KATHARINE Q. SEELYE, NY Times 1/8/03
WASHINGTON, Jan. 7 — Ratcheting up the debate over sport utility vehicles, new television commercials suggest that people who buy the vehicles are supporting terrorists. The commercials are so provocative that some television stations are refusing to run them.Patterned after the commercials that try to discourage drug use by suggesting that profits from illegal drugs go to terrorists, the new commercials say that money for gas needed for S.U.V.'s goes to terrorists
checkt die Werbung hier: Talking Heads 30 sec. Realmedia File
George 30 sec. Realmedia File
New York Times: TV Ads Say S.U.V. Owners Support Terrorists
Ratcheting up the debate over sport utility vehicles, new television commercials suggest that people who buy the vehicles are supporting terrorists. The commercials are so provocative that some television stations are refusing to run them.
Patterned after the commercials that try to discourage drug use by suggesting that profits from illegal drugs go to terrorists, the new commercials say that money for gas needed for S.U.V.'s goes to terrorists.
"This is George," a girl's voice says of an oblivious man at a gas station. "This is the gas that George bought for his S.U.V." The screen then shows a map of the Middle East. "These are the countries where the executives bought the oil that made the gas that George bought for his S.U.V." The picture switches to a scene of armed terrorists in a desert. "And these are the terrorists who get money from those countries every time George fills up his S.U.V."
"The Detroit Project by americans for fuel efficient cars" ist eine Anti-S.U.V Organisation die in den letzten Tagen mehrere TV-Commercials im US-Fernsehen geschaltet hat. Die Werbungen sind ziemlich lustig...so Ich hab ein SUV und es braucht soviel Benzin und vom Benzin Geld werden Terroristen unterstützt. Check it out, ist wirklich lustig!
TV Ads Say S.U.V. Owners Support Terrorists
By KATHARINE Q. SEELYE, NY Times 1/8/03
WASHINGTON, Jan. 7 — Ratcheting up the debate over sport utility vehicles, new television commercials suggest that people who buy the vehicles are supporting terrorists. The commercials are so provocative that some television stations are refusing to run them.Patterned after the commercials that try to discourage drug use by suggesting that profits from illegal drugs go to terrorists, the new commercials say that money for gas needed for S.U.V.'s goes to terrorists
checkt die Werbung hier: Talking Heads 30 sec. Realmedia File
George 30 sec. Realmedia File
New York Times: TV Ads Say S.U.V. Owners Support Terrorists
Ratcheting up the debate over sport utility vehicles, new television commercials suggest that people who buy the vehicles are supporting terrorists. The commercials are so provocative that some television stations are refusing to run them.
Patterned after the commercials that try to discourage drug use by suggesting that profits from illegal drugs go to terrorists, the new commercials say that money for gas needed for S.U.V.'s goes to terrorists.
"This is George," a girl's voice says of an oblivious man at a gas station. "This is the gas that George bought for his S.U.V." The screen then shows a map of the Middle East. "These are the countries where the executives bought the oil that made the gas that George bought for his S.U.V." The picture switches to a scene of armed terrorists in a desert. "And these are the terrorists who get money from those countries every time George fills up his S.U.V."
USA
San Francisco Gate: Supreme Court to take up Nike and free speech.S.F. activist sued, saying firm lied about working conditions
A San Francisco consumer activist's suit against Nike Inc. is headed for the Supreme Court and a ruling that could redraw the boundaries between free speech and regulated advertising.
The court agreed Friday to review an appeal by the world's largest athletic shoe manufacturer and decide whether a common form of public relations -- designed to promote a company's image by defending its record on controversial issues -- amounts to a sales pitch or an entry in the marketplace of ideas.
San Francisco Gate: Supreme Court to take up Nike and free speech.S.F. activist sued, saying firm lied about working conditions
A San Francisco consumer activist's suit against Nike Inc. is headed for the Supreme Court and a ruling that could redraw the boundaries between free speech and regulated advertising.
The court agreed Friday to review an appeal by the world's largest athletic shoe manufacturer and decide whether a common form of public relations -- designed to promote a company's image by defending its record on controversial issues -- amounts to a sales pitch or an entry in the marketplace of ideas.
Tuesday, January 14, 2003
USA
Heise: Asimovs Robotergesetze oder Jeffersons Bill of Rights?
Ende der 1990er log Nike in einer aufwändigen PR-Kampagne über die Arbeitsbedingungen, die bei der Herstellung ihrer Turnschuhe herrschen (vgl. König Fußball und die Kinderarbeit, Am Anfang war das Logo). Nicht jeder glaubte das. Und weil es in Kalifornien ein Gesetz gibt, welches das Ausmaß begrenzt, in dem Firmen ihre Kunden absichtlich täuschen dürfen, wurde die Firma vom Verbraucheraktivisten Marc Kasky verklagt.
"Man würde nun erwarten, dass ein Unternehmen auf solch eine Klage reagiert, indem es den Vorwurf der Lüge bestreitet. Doch offenbar war die Lüge hier zu frech oder man wollte bewusst einen Präzedenzfall zur Ausweitung der eigenen Rechte starten. Und so gaben Nikes Anwälte die Lüge offen zu, beriefen sich aber darauf, dass sie unter das Recht auf freie Meinungsäußerung falle. Vorigen Freitag nahm der Oberste Gerichtshof der USA den Fall zur Entscheidung an. "
Heise: Asimovs Robotergesetze oder Jeffersons Bill of Rights?
Ende der 1990er log Nike in einer aufwändigen PR-Kampagne über die Arbeitsbedingungen, die bei der Herstellung ihrer Turnschuhe herrschen (vgl. König Fußball und die Kinderarbeit, Am Anfang war das Logo). Nicht jeder glaubte das. Und weil es in Kalifornien ein Gesetz gibt, welches das Ausmaß begrenzt, in dem Firmen ihre Kunden absichtlich täuschen dürfen, wurde die Firma vom Verbraucheraktivisten Marc Kasky verklagt.
"Man würde nun erwarten, dass ein Unternehmen auf solch eine Klage reagiert, indem es den Vorwurf der Lüge bestreitet. Doch offenbar war die Lüge hier zu frech oder man wollte bewusst einen Präzedenzfall zur Ausweitung der eigenen Rechte starten. Und so gaben Nikes Anwälte die Lüge offen zu, beriefen sich aber darauf, dass sie unter das Recht auf freie Meinungsäußerung falle. Vorigen Freitag nahm der Oberste Gerichtshof der USA den Fall zur Entscheidung an. "
USA
Indymedia: Tens of Thousands Oppose Bush's Wars in LA, Twin Cities, Chicago
The march and rally on Saturday, January 11 in Los Angeles was the largest anti-war demonstration in Southern California in decades. Non-LAPD crowd estimates range from 15,000 to as high as 45,000. The mid-day march stretched ten city blocks in downtown LA.
In sharp contrast to Northern California, the Los Angeles area has never been known as one of the centers of American activism. While this has begun to change in recent years (e.g., the Justice for Janitors struggle in the late 1990s, and then the D2K mobilizations), SoCal still lags behind its northen neighbors. Thus Saturday's massive demo, the largest in the US since October 26, suggests the movement to stop the war on Iraq is growing exponentially.
Two thousands miles away, smashing organizer's expectations, over 2400 people attended the anti-war rally held in Uptown Minneapolis, while another 2000 persons protested against war in Chicago's Federal Plaza.
Indymedia: Tens of Thousands Oppose Bush's Wars in LA, Twin Cities, Chicago
The march and rally on Saturday, January 11 in Los Angeles was the largest anti-war demonstration in Southern California in decades. Non-LAPD crowd estimates range from 15,000 to as high as 45,000. The mid-day march stretched ten city blocks in downtown LA.
In sharp contrast to Northern California, the Los Angeles area has never been known as one of the centers of American activism. While this has begun to change in recent years (e.g., the Justice for Janitors struggle in the late 1990s, and then the D2K mobilizations), SoCal still lags behind its northen neighbors. Thus Saturday's massive demo, the largest in the US since October 26, suggests the movement to stop the war on Iraq is growing exponentially.
Two thousands miles away, smashing organizer's expectations, over 2400 people attended the anti-war rally held in Uptown Minneapolis, while another 2000 persons protested against war in Chicago's Federal Plaza.
IRAK
Spiegel: "Ich habe Saddams Spiele satt"
Zwei amerikanische Flottenverbände und weitere Kriegsschiffe sind in die Golf-Region unterwegs. Die US-Marine bereitet sich intensiv auf einen Einsatz am Golf vor. US-Präsident George W. Bush warnte Saddam Hussein einmal mehr.
Spiegel: "Ich habe Saddams Spiele satt"
Zwei amerikanische Flottenverbände und weitere Kriegsschiffe sind in die Golf-Region unterwegs. Die US-Marine bereitet sich intensiv auf einen Einsatz am Golf vor. US-Präsident George W. Bush warnte Saddam Hussein einmal mehr.
IRAK
Yahoo News OP/ED: IRAQ: ANOTHER FAKE LIBERATION
"The Defense Department claims 12 nations with nuclear weapons programs, 13 with biological weapons, 16 with chemical weapons, and 28 with ballistic missiles as existing and emerging threats to the United States. But only one of those countries sits atop the second largest oil reserves in the world."
Charles Peña, Senior Defense Policy Fellow of the Cato Institute, for The Chicago Tribune
NEW YORK--The American invasion of Iraq promises to be a blockbuster. They've designed the logos, focus-grouped the test audiences, and run the trailers. At this late date Bush wouldn't dare disappoint us with a boring old peace agreement. There's just one thing still missing from the script: the happy ending.
Yahoo News OP/ED: IRAQ: ANOTHER FAKE LIBERATION
"The Defense Department claims 12 nations with nuclear weapons programs, 13 with biological weapons, 16 with chemical weapons, and 28 with ballistic missiles as existing and emerging threats to the United States. But only one of those countries sits atop the second largest oil reserves in the world."
Charles Peña, Senior Defense Policy Fellow of the Cato Institute, for The Chicago Tribune
NEW YORK--The American invasion of Iraq promises to be a blockbuster. They've designed the logos, focus-grouped the test audiences, and run the trailers. At this late date Bush wouldn't dare disappoint us with a boring old peace agreement. There's just one thing still missing from the script: the happy ending.
ISRAEL
palestinemonitor.org: Three Israeli political parties call for transfer of Palestinians
In a recent announcement published in Israel, three Israeli political parties called upon Palestinians to move from Israel to Jordan or other Arab countries. This “transfer” is, according to Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi, “nothing more than a euphemism for ethnic cleansing.”
"Drei Israelische Parteien rufen öffentlich zu "Ethnischen-Säuberungen" auf. Das nennt man dann "Demokratie". Im Westen gab es in den Medien bisher keine Reaktionen darauf. Was würden die westlichen Medien wohl schreiben wenn Arabische Staaten einen Transfer von Israelis fordern würden?"
palestinemonitor.org: Three Israeli political parties call for transfer of Palestinians
In a recent announcement published in Israel, three Israeli political parties called upon Palestinians to move from Israel to Jordan or other Arab countries. This “transfer” is, according to Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi, “nothing more than a euphemism for ethnic cleansing.”
"Drei Israelische Parteien rufen öffentlich zu "Ethnischen-Säuberungen" auf. Das nennt man dann "Demokratie". Im Westen gab es in den Medien bisher keine Reaktionen darauf. Was würden die westlichen Medien wohl schreiben wenn Arabische Staaten einen Transfer von Israelis fordern würden?"
AFGHANISTAN
Globalresearch: The Getaway
Article published in THE NEW YORKER 21.02.2002
Washington Behind Indo-Pakistan Conflict: How American Special Forces organised the evacuation of Al Qaeda and Pakistan ISI Forces to Kashmir.
In interviews, however, American intelligence officials and high-ranking military officers said that Pakistanis were indeed flown to safety, in a series of nighttime airlifts that were approved by the Bush Administration. The Americans also said that what was supposed to be a limited evacuation apparently slipped out of control, and, as an unintended consequence, an unknown number of Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters managed to join in the exodus.the Administration ordered the United States Central Command to set up a special air corridor to help insure the safety of the Pakistani rescue flights from Kunduz to the northwest corner of Pakistan... [According to] an Indian assessment, thirtythree hundred prisoners surrendered... A few hundred Taliban were also turned over to other tribal leaders... That left between four and five thousand men unaccounted for. "Where are the balance?" ... None of the American intelligence officials I spoke with were able to say with certainty how many Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters were flown to safety, or may have escaped from Kunduz by other means. India, wary of antagonizing the Bush Administration, chose not to denounce the airlift at the time....Diplomatic notes protesting the airlift were sent to Britain and the United States. Neither responded... Indian intelligence was convinced that many of the airlifted fighters would soon be infiltrated into Kashmir. There was a precedent for this... Our reading is that the fighters can go only to Kashmir."
Globalresearch: The Getaway
Article published in THE NEW YORKER 21.02.2002
Washington Behind Indo-Pakistan Conflict: How American Special Forces organised the evacuation of Al Qaeda and Pakistan ISI Forces to Kashmir.
In interviews, however, American intelligence officials and high-ranking military officers said that Pakistanis were indeed flown to safety, in a series of nighttime airlifts that were approved by the Bush Administration. The Americans also said that what was supposed to be a limited evacuation apparently slipped out of control, and, as an unintended consequence, an unknown number of Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters managed to join in the exodus.the Administration ordered the United States Central Command to set up a special air corridor to help insure the safety of the Pakistani rescue flights from Kunduz to the northwest corner of Pakistan... [According to] an Indian assessment, thirtythree hundred prisoners surrendered... A few hundred Taliban were also turned over to other tribal leaders... That left between four and five thousand men unaccounted for. "Where are the balance?" ... None of the American intelligence officials I spoke with were able to say with certainty how many Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters were flown to safety, or may have escaped from Kunduz by other means. India, wary of antagonizing the Bush Administration, chose not to denounce the airlift at the time....Diplomatic notes protesting the airlift were sent to Britain and the United States. Neither responded... Indian intelligence was convinced that many of the airlifted fighters would soon be infiltrated into Kashmir. There was a precedent for this... Our reading is that the fighters can go only to Kashmir."
911
Baltimore Chronicle: How Did those WTC Buildings Collapse?
The Washington Post recently (and casually) reported (1/3/03) that the ownership of our nation’s media and entertainment industries is becoming more even more consolidated than they are today. FCC Chairman Michael Powell is determined to relax the restrictions which control how much investment in media and information immense corporations like AOL-Time-Warner can make within individual markets. It has long been the opinion of this writer that media concentration is the Number One problem facing this country. People who dispute this idea always point out that the Internet is a source of information for those who (rightly) avoid the mainstream. However, the Bush right-wing faction (as opposed to the right wing faction that deplores government interference with liberties) is planning an attack on the freedom many of us associate with the “information superhighway” as you read these words.
Baltimore Chronicle: How Did those WTC Buildings Collapse?
The Washington Post recently (and casually) reported (1/3/03) that the ownership of our nation’s media and entertainment industries is becoming more even more consolidated than they are today. FCC Chairman Michael Powell is determined to relax the restrictions which control how much investment in media and information immense corporations like AOL-Time-Warner can make within individual markets. It has long been the opinion of this writer that media concentration is the Number One problem facing this country. People who dispute this idea always point out that the Internet is a source of information for those who (rightly) avoid the mainstream. However, the Bush right-wing faction (as opposed to the right wing faction that deplores government interference with liberties) is planning an attack on the freedom many of us associate with the “information superhighway” as you read these words.
USA
John Pilger: Pilger - They said what America needed was "a new Pearl Harbor".
Two years ago a project set up by the men who now surround George W Bush said what America needed was "a new Pearl Harbor". Its published aims have, alarmingly, come true
"The threat posed by US terrorism to the security of nations and individuals was outlined in prophetic detail in a document written more than two years ago and disclosed only recently. What was needed for America to dominate much of humanity and the world's resources, it said, was "some catastrophic and catalysing event - like a new Pearl Harbor". The attacks of 11 September 2001 provided the "new Pearl Harbor", described as "the opportunity of ages". The extremists who have since exploited 11 September come from the era of Ronald Reagan, when far-right groups and "think-tanks" were established to avenge the American "defeat" in Vietnam. In the 1990s, there was an added agenda: to justify the denial of a "peace dividend" following the cold war. The Project for the New American Century was formed, along with the American Enterprise Institute, the Hudson Institute and others that have since merged the ambitions of the Reagan administration with those of the current Bush regime."
"One of George W Bush's "thinkers" is Richard Perle. I interviewed Perle when he was advising Reagan; and when he spoke about "total war", I mistakenly dismissed him as mad. He recently used the term again in describing America's "war on terror". "No stages," he said. "This is total war. We are fighting a variety of enemies. There are lots of them out there. All this talk about first we are going to do Afghanistan, then we will do Iraq... this is entirely the wrong way to go about it. If we just let our vision of the world go forth, and we embrace it entirely and we don't try to piece together clever diplomacy, but just wage a total war... our children will sing great songs about us years from now.""
"On the morning of 12 September 2001, without any evidence of who the hijackers were, Rumsfeld demanded that the US attack Iraq. According to Woodward, Rumsfeld told a cabinet meeting that Iraq should be "a principal target of the first round in the war against terrorism". Iraq was temporarily spared only because Colin Powell, the secretary of state, persuaded Bush that "public opinion has to be prepared before a move against Iraq is possible". Afghanistan was chosen as the softer option. If Jonathan Steele's estimate in the Guardian is correct, some 20,000 people in Afghanistan paid the price of this debate with their lives."
John Pilger: Pilger - They said what America needed was "a new Pearl Harbor".
Two years ago a project set up by the men who now surround George W Bush said what America needed was "a new Pearl Harbor". Its published aims have, alarmingly, come true
"The threat posed by US terrorism to the security of nations and individuals was outlined in prophetic detail in a document written more than two years ago and disclosed only recently. What was needed for America to dominate much of humanity and the world's resources, it said, was "some catastrophic and catalysing event - like a new Pearl Harbor". The attacks of 11 September 2001 provided the "new Pearl Harbor", described as "the opportunity of ages". The extremists who have since exploited 11 September come from the era of Ronald Reagan, when far-right groups and "think-tanks" were established to avenge the American "defeat" in Vietnam. In the 1990s, there was an added agenda: to justify the denial of a "peace dividend" following the cold war. The Project for the New American Century was formed, along with the American Enterprise Institute, the Hudson Institute and others that have since merged the ambitions of the Reagan administration with those of the current Bush regime."
"One of George W Bush's "thinkers" is Richard Perle. I interviewed Perle when he was advising Reagan; and when he spoke about "total war", I mistakenly dismissed him as mad. He recently used the term again in describing America's "war on terror". "No stages," he said. "This is total war. We are fighting a variety of enemies. There are lots of them out there. All this talk about first we are going to do Afghanistan, then we will do Iraq... this is entirely the wrong way to go about it. If we just let our vision of the world go forth, and we embrace it entirely and we don't try to piece together clever diplomacy, but just wage a total war... our children will sing great songs about us years from now.""
"On the morning of 12 September 2001, without any evidence of who the hijackers were, Rumsfeld demanded that the US attack Iraq. According to Woodward, Rumsfeld told a cabinet meeting that Iraq should be "a principal target of the first round in the war against terrorism". Iraq was temporarily spared only because Colin Powell, the secretary of state, persuaded Bush that "public opinion has to be prepared before a move against Iraq is possible". Afghanistan was chosen as the softer option. If Jonathan Steele's estimate in the Guardian is correct, some 20,000 people in Afghanistan paid the price of this debate with their lives."
USA
Counterpunch: Monsters Inc.
The Pentagon Plan to Create Mutant "Super-Soldiers"
"Pentagon dark lord Donald Rumsfeld is shoveling billions of tax dollars into the research furnaces of federal laboratories and private universities across the land in the wide-ranging effort to spawn "super soldiers," fired by drugs and electromagnetic "brain zaps" to fight without ceasing for days on end. The work is being directed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)--yes, the same outfit now laboring under convicted terrorist-conspirator John Poindexter to build the "Total Information Awareness" network that will allow the government to monitor the electronic records and communications of every citizen"
"And the term "creation" is not just fanciful rhetoric: some of the research now underway involves actually altering the genetic code of soldiers, modifying bits of DNA to fashion a new type of human specimen, one that functions like a machine, killing tirelessly for days and nights on end. These mutations will "revolutionize the contemporary order of battle" and guarantee "operational dominance across the whole range of potential U.S. military employments," the DARPA wizards enthuse."
Counterpunch: Monsters Inc.
The Pentagon Plan to Create Mutant "Super-Soldiers"
"Pentagon dark lord Donald Rumsfeld is shoveling billions of tax dollars into the research furnaces of federal laboratories and private universities across the land in the wide-ranging effort to spawn "super soldiers," fired by drugs and electromagnetic "brain zaps" to fight without ceasing for days on end. The work is being directed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)--yes, the same outfit now laboring under convicted terrorist-conspirator John Poindexter to build the "Total Information Awareness" network that will allow the government to monitor the electronic records and communications of every citizen"
"And the term "creation" is not just fanciful rhetoric: some of the research now underway involves actually altering the genetic code of soldiers, modifying bits of DNA to fashion a new type of human specimen, one that functions like a machine, killing tirelessly for days and nights on end. These mutations will "revolutionize the contemporary order of battle" and guarantee "operational dominance across the whole range of potential U.S. military employments," the DARPA wizards enthuse."
USA FREEDOM OF SPEACH
NY Times: Old Words on War Stirring a New Dispute at Berkeley
"In an unusual showdown over freedom of expression, university officials have refused to allow a fund-raising appeal for the Emma Goldman Papers Project to be mailed because it quoted Goldman on the subjects of suppression of free speech and her opposition to war. The university deemed the topics too political as the country prepares for possible military action against Iraq"
In one of the quotations, from 1915, Goldman called on people "not yet overcome by war madness to raise their voice of protest, to call the attention of the people to the crime and outrage which are about to be perpetrated on them." In the other, from 1902, she warned that free-speech advocates "shall soon be obliged to meet in cellars, or in darkened rooms with closed doors, and speak in whispers lest our next-door neighbors should hear that free-born citizens dare not speak in the open."
NY Times: Old Words on War Stirring a New Dispute at Berkeley
"In an unusual showdown over freedom of expression, university officials have refused to allow a fund-raising appeal for the Emma Goldman Papers Project to be mailed because it quoted Goldman on the subjects of suppression of free speech and her opposition to war. The university deemed the topics too political as the country prepares for possible military action against Iraq"
In one of the quotations, from 1915, Goldman called on people "not yet overcome by war madness to raise their voice of protest, to call the attention of the people to the crime and outrage which are about to be perpetrated on them." In the other, from 1902, she warned that free-speech advocates "shall soon be obliged to meet in cellars, or in darkened rooms with closed doors, and speak in whispers lest our next-door neighbors should hear that free-born citizens dare not speak in the open."
USA
Spiegel: Bush verliert an Boden
US-Präsident George W. Bush verliert in der Bevölkerung deutlich an Rückhalt: Einer aktuellen Umfrage zufolge sank die Zustimmung zu seiner Politik erstmals seit den Terroranschlägen vom 11. September unter 60 Prozent.
Spiegel: Bush verliert an Boden
US-Präsident George W. Bush verliert in der Bevölkerung deutlich an Rückhalt: Einer aktuellen Umfrage zufolge sank die Zustimmung zu seiner Politik erstmals seit den Terroranschlägen vom 11. September unter 60 Prozent.
IRAK
Spiegel: Briten drohen mit Angriff - auch ohne Uno-Mandat
Nach zwischenzeitlicher Mäßigung rührt die britische Regierung wieder die Kriegstrommeln: Außenminister Jack Straw betonte, dass sein Land als Hauptverbündeter der USA auch ohne ausdrückliches Uno-Mandat den Irak angreifen könnte.
Tagesanzeiger: Grossbritannien behält sich nach den Worten des Aussenministers Jack Straw vor, gegen Irak auch ohne eine weitere Uno-Resolution vorzugehen. Dies sagte Straw am Dienstag im Radiosender BBC
Spiegel: Briten drohen mit Angriff - auch ohne Uno-Mandat
Nach zwischenzeitlicher Mäßigung rührt die britische Regierung wieder die Kriegstrommeln: Außenminister Jack Straw betonte, dass sein Land als Hauptverbündeter der USA auch ohne ausdrückliches Uno-Mandat den Irak angreifen könnte.
Tagesanzeiger: Grossbritannien behält sich nach den Worten des Aussenministers Jack Straw vor, gegen Irak auch ohne eine weitere Uno-Resolution vorzugehen. Dies sagte Straw am Dienstag im Radiosender BBC
USA
Weltwoche: «Es gibt Leute im Weissen Haus, die den atomaren Erstschlag wollen»
Interview
Während des Vietnamkriegs veröffentlichte Daniel Ellsberg die geheimen Pentagon Papers und verursachte einen der grössten Regierungsskandale der USA. Heute äussert sich der Nuklearexperte düster über die Vorgänge im Irak.
"Im Unterschied zu Johnson lügt Bush uns nicht vor, er wolle keinen Krieg. Aber die Gründe, die er dafür angibt, sind alle erlogen. Das ist nicht ungewöhnlich, sondern typisch. Die meisten Leute denken, die Regierung lüge manchmal. Das ist nicht so. Regierungsbeamte lügen jedes Mal, wenn sie den Mund aufmachen. Wenn man eine gewisse Zeit in dem Apparat gearbeitet hat, vergisst man, dass das den Leuten draussen nicht bewusst ist. Als ich in meinem Buch darüber schrieb, dachte ich keinen Moment daran, dass das die Leute schockieren könnte, so normal schien es mir. Wenn ich geahnt hätte, dass nur Insider wissen, dass immer gelogen wird, hätte ich allein darüber ein ganzes Buch schreiben können."
Weltwoche: «Es gibt Leute im Weissen Haus, die den atomaren Erstschlag wollen»
Interview
Während des Vietnamkriegs veröffentlichte Daniel Ellsberg die geheimen Pentagon Papers und verursachte einen der grössten Regierungsskandale der USA. Heute äussert sich der Nuklearexperte düster über die Vorgänge im Irak.
"Im Unterschied zu Johnson lügt Bush uns nicht vor, er wolle keinen Krieg. Aber die Gründe, die er dafür angibt, sind alle erlogen. Das ist nicht ungewöhnlich, sondern typisch. Die meisten Leute denken, die Regierung lüge manchmal. Das ist nicht so. Regierungsbeamte lügen jedes Mal, wenn sie den Mund aufmachen. Wenn man eine gewisse Zeit in dem Apparat gearbeitet hat, vergisst man, dass das den Leuten draussen nicht bewusst ist. Als ich in meinem Buch darüber schrieb, dachte ich keinen Moment daran, dass das die Leute schockieren könnte, so normal schien es mir. Wenn ich geahnt hätte, dass nur Insider wissen, dass immer gelogen wird, hätte ich allein darüber ein ganzes Buch schreiben können."
ISRAEL
Weltwoche: «Palästinenser sind Tiere»
Mit Bulldozern, Tränengas und Betonmischern ist Israel daran, aus dem Westjordanland das grösste Freiluftgefängnis der Welt zu machen. Zwei Millionen Palästinenser werden eingemauert. Eine Visite.
Weltwoche: «Palästinenser sind Tiere»
Mit Bulldozern, Tränengas und Betonmischern ist Israel daran, aus dem Westjordanland das grösste Freiluftgefängnis der Welt zu machen. Zwei Millionen Palästinenser werden eingemauert. Eine Visite.
Monday, January 13, 2003
USA
Guardian: Bushwhacked
"With war looming it is no good the American public looking to its newspapers for an independent voice. For, says Matthew Engel, the press have now become the president's men"
It is more than 30 years ago now, though it seems like yesterday. A Republican president, much derided by liberals, was in the White House and his opponents were being lashed by the rightwing attack dogs, led then by the vice-president, Spiro Agnew.
The elite East Coast press, exemplified by the New York Times and the Washington Post, were the special targets of his scorn: "pointy-headed liberals," he called them, and "the nattering nabobs of negativism".
Guardian: Bushwhacked
"With war looming it is no good the American public looking to its newspapers for an independent voice. For, says Matthew Engel, the press have now become the president's men"
It is more than 30 years ago now, though it seems like yesterday. A Republican president, much derided by liberals, was in the White House and his opponents were being lashed by the rightwing attack dogs, led then by the vice-president, Spiro Agnew.
The elite East Coast press, exemplified by the New York Times and the Washington Post, were the special targets of his scorn: "pointy-headed liberals," he called them, and "the nattering nabobs of negativism".
NORTHKOREA
Guardian: US softens line in North Korea dispute
The US today appeared to soften its stance in a tense standoff with the reclusive North Korean government, offering to restore much-needed energy aid if North Korea abandoned its nuclear programme.
At a meeting with South Korea's president-elect, Roh Moo-hyun, the assistant US secretary of state, James Kelly, today seemed to reverse the US position that it would not reward North Korea for dismantling its nuclear programmes.
Es scheint als sei Diplomatie möglich solange es nicht um Öl geht....
Guardian: US softens line in North Korea dispute
The US today appeared to soften its stance in a tense standoff with the reclusive North Korean government, offering to restore much-needed energy aid if North Korea abandoned its nuclear programme.
At a meeting with South Korea's president-elect, Roh Moo-hyun, the assistant US secretary of state, James Kelly, today seemed to reverse the US position that it would not reward North Korea for dismantling its nuclear programmes.
Es scheint als sei Diplomatie möglich solange es nicht um Öl geht....
ENGLAND
Guardian: Blair ready to act without new UN resolution
The prime minister, Tony Blair, said today that he believed "passionately" that Saddam Hussein must be stripped of his weapons of mass destruction, with or without a new UN resolution.
Guardian: Blair ready to act without new UN resolution
The prime minister, Tony Blair, said today that he believed "passionately" that Saddam Hussein must be stripped of his weapons of mass destruction, with or without a new UN resolution.
IRAK
Spiegel: Uno-Inspektionen dauern ein ganzes Jahr
Schlechte Nachrichten für die Falken im Pentagon, die einen schnellen Angriff auf den Irak befürworten. Ein abschließendes Urteil der Uno-Experten über die irakischen Waffensysteme wird offenbar erst Ende des Jahres vorliegen. Mit einem Angriffsbefehl vor Abschluss der Uno-Inspektionen würde US-Präsident Bush die gesamte Weltgemeinschaft verprellen.
Spiegel: Uno-Inspektionen dauern ein ganzes Jahr
Schlechte Nachrichten für die Falken im Pentagon, die einen schnellen Angriff auf den Irak befürworten. Ein abschließendes Urteil der Uno-Experten über die irakischen Waffensysteme wird offenbar erst Ende des Jahres vorliegen. Mit einem Angriffsbefehl vor Abschluss der Uno-Inspektionen würde US-Präsident Bush die gesamte Weltgemeinschaft verprellen.
PR WATCH
prwatch.org: War Is Sell
"From a marketing point of view, you don't introduce new products in August," White House Chief of Staff Andrew H. Card Jr. told the New York Times in September. Card was explaining what the Times characterized as a "meticulously planned strategy to persuade the public, the Congress, and the allies of the need to confront the threat from Saddam Hussein."
"We're getting the band together," said White House Communications Director Dan Bartlett in September. The "band," explained Newsweek's Martha Brant, refers to "the people who brought you the war in Afghanistan--or at least the accompanying public-relations campaign. ... Now they're back for a reunion tour on Iraq."
A group of young White House up-and-comers, the "band" was meeting daily on a morning conference call to plan media strategy with the aim of controlling "the message within the administration so no one--not even Vice President Dick Cheney--freelances on Iraq," Brant wrote.
prwatch.org: War Is Sell
"From a marketing point of view, you don't introduce new products in August," White House Chief of Staff Andrew H. Card Jr. told the New York Times in September. Card was explaining what the Times characterized as a "meticulously planned strategy to persuade the public, the Congress, and the allies of the need to confront the threat from Saddam Hussein."
"We're getting the band together," said White House Communications Director Dan Bartlett in September. The "band," explained Newsweek's Martha Brant, refers to "the people who brought you the war in Afghanistan--or at least the accompanying public-relations campaign. ... Now they're back for a reunion tour on Iraq."
A group of young White House up-and-comers, the "band" was meeting daily on a morning conference call to plan media strategy with the aim of controlling "the message within the administration so no one--not even Vice President Dick Cheney--freelances on Iraq," Brant wrote.
Friday, January 10, 2003
ART
Check pictoplasma.com for collection of over 4750 contemporary character designs from 535 artists, designers and companies world wide ...
Check pictoplasma.com for collection of over 4750 contemporary character designs from 535 artists, designers and companies world wide ...
GRAFFITI
There's a new site out there feat. mostly Trains and Moas stuff. There's also an interview with Basels Sice. Check out REBELART.CH
There's a new site out there feat. mostly Trains and Moas stuff. There's also an interview with Basels Sice. Check out REBELART.CH
PR WATCH
Christian Science Monitor: INVENTING A TERRORIST STORY
Prompted in part by reports that a leaders of the Hezbollah has
urged Palestinians to step up their suicide bombings, the Canadian
government has banned the Lebanese group. Only problem is, the
alleged statement from Hezbollah was probably invented by
Washington Times reporter Paul Martin, who has a history of
fabricating news about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Christian Science Monitor: INVENTING A TERRORIST STORY
Prompted in part by reports that a leaders of the Hezbollah has
urged Palestinians to step up their suicide bombings, the Canadian
government has banned the Lebanese group. Only problem is, the
alleged statement from Hezbollah was probably invented by
Washington Times reporter Paul Martin, who has a history of
fabricating news about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
IRAK
Independent: SHH...DON'T MENTION WHERE SADDAM GOT WEAPONS
"The United States edited out more than 8,000 crucial pages of
Iraq's 11,800-page dossier on weapons, before passing on a
sanitized version to the 10 non-permanent members of the United
Nations security council," reports the UK's Sunday Herald.
Apparently the report includes embarrassing evidence of U.S. and
European culpability in aiding the Iraqi weapons programs, dating
back to before the Gulf War, but covering the period of Saddam
Hussein's rise and his worst crimes. The list of companies that
allegedly supplied Iraq with nuclear, chemical, biological, and
missile technology includes Honeywell, UNISYS, Sperry Corp.,
Rockwell, Hewlett Packard, Dupont, Eastman Kodak and Bechtel.
SOURCE: The Independent (UK), December 18, 2002
Independent: SHH...DON'T MENTION WHERE SADDAM GOT WEAPONS
"The United States edited out more than 8,000 crucial pages of
Iraq's 11,800-page dossier on weapons, before passing on a
sanitized version to the 10 non-permanent members of the United
Nations security council," reports the UK's Sunday Herald.
Apparently the report includes embarrassing evidence of U.S. and
European culpability in aiding the Iraqi weapons programs, dating
back to before the Gulf War, but covering the period of Saddam
Hussein's rise and his worst crimes. The list of companies that
allegedly supplied Iraq with nuclear, chemical, biological, and
missile technology includes Honeywell, UNISYS, Sperry Corp.,
Rockwell, Hewlett Packard, Dupont, Eastman Kodak and Bechtel.
SOURCE: The Independent (UK), December 18, 2002
1984
New York Times: Many Tools of Big Brother Are Up and Running
In Orwell's 1984, people loved Big Brother. Today, we've already
embraced Big Brother technology. "In the Pentagon research effort
to detect terrorism by electronically monitoring the civilian
population, the most remarkable detail may be this: Most of the
pieces of the system are already in place. Because of the inroads
the Internet and other digital network technologies have made into
everyday life over the last decade, it is increasingly possible to
amass Big Brother-like surveillance powers through Little Brother
means. The basic components include everyday digital technologies
like e-mail, online shopping and travel booking, A.T.M. systems,
cellphone networks, electronic toll-collection systems and
credit-card payment terminals. In essence, the Pentagon's main job
would be to spin strands of software technology that would weave
these sources of data into a vast electronic dragnet. ... The
civilian population, in other words, has willingly embraced the
technical prerequisites for a national surveillance system that
Pentagon planners are calling Total Information Awareness."
New York Times: Many Tools of Big Brother Are Up and Running
In Orwell's 1984, people loved Big Brother. Today, we've already
embraced Big Brother technology. "In the Pentagon research effort
to detect terrorism by electronically monitoring the civilian
population, the most remarkable detail may be this: Most of the
pieces of the system are already in place. Because of the inroads
the Internet and other digital network technologies have made into
everyday life over the last decade, it is increasingly possible to
amass Big Brother-like surveillance powers through Little Brother
means. The basic components include everyday digital technologies
like e-mail, online shopping and travel booking, A.T.M. systems,
cellphone networks, electronic toll-collection systems and
credit-card payment terminals. In essence, the Pentagon's main job
would be to spin strands of software technology that would weave
these sources of data into a vast electronic dragnet. ... The
civilian population, in other words, has willingly embraced the
technical prerequisites for a national surveillance system that
Pentagon planners are calling Total Information Awareness."
PR WATCH
Reuters: TELLING STORIES TO SELL WAR
"Earlier this month, the State Dept.'s International Information Programs put out a pamphlet featuring essays written by 15 well-known authors, including Pulitzer Prize winner Richard Ford.
The "Writers on America" publication won't be seen at bookstores in this country, since federal law forbids the dissemination of government-sponsored information domestically. The law was enacted in the late 1940s to shield Americans from U.S. propaganda."
"At a press briefing Dec. 18, State Dept. public diplomacy chief
Charlotte Beers announced that her division has asked author Ken
Pollack to interrupt a book tour and travel overseas to talk about
his book 'The Threatening Storm: The Case for Invading Iraq.' Turns
out the State Dept. also has been courting foreign journalists over
the past year. 'We set up many more responsive facilities than
we've had in the past for the foreign press at the president's
ranch in Texas, at the White House and in our own State foreign
press centers, which are Washington, New York and Los Angeles,'
Beers said. A former Madison Ave. executive, Beers extolled the
importance of 'storytelling' in convincing overseas audiences that
the U.S. is only trying to do good. 'And that's something that we
really have to get better at. This is an emotionally laden universe
now. It's not just the facts that are operating in the world now,'
Beers said. Hence, the State Dept. has just published the book
'Iraq: From Fear to Freedom.' Beers made sure to point out a
passage by President Bush: 'I hope the good people of Iraq will
remember our history. America has never sought to dominate, never
sought to conquer. We have, in fact, sought to liberate and free.
Our desire is to help Iraqi citizens find the blessings of liberty
within their own culture and their own traditions.' In the middle
of Beers' briefing at the National Press Club in downtown
Washington, several protesters stood up and began shouting, 'You're
selling war and we're not buying.' "
Reuters: TELLING STORIES TO SELL WAR
"Earlier this month, the State Dept.'s International Information Programs put out a pamphlet featuring essays written by 15 well-known authors, including Pulitzer Prize winner Richard Ford.
The "Writers on America" publication won't be seen at bookstores in this country, since federal law forbids the dissemination of government-sponsored information domestically. The law was enacted in the late 1940s to shield Americans from U.S. propaganda."
"At a press briefing Dec. 18, State Dept. public diplomacy chief
Charlotte Beers announced that her division has asked author Ken
Pollack to interrupt a book tour and travel overseas to talk about
his book 'The Threatening Storm: The Case for Invading Iraq.' Turns
out the State Dept. also has been courting foreign journalists over
the past year. 'We set up many more responsive facilities than
we've had in the past for the foreign press at the president's
ranch in Texas, at the White House and in our own State foreign
press centers, which are Washington, New York and Los Angeles,'
Beers said. A former Madison Ave. executive, Beers extolled the
importance of 'storytelling' in convincing overseas audiences that
the U.S. is only trying to do good. 'And that's something that we
really have to get better at. This is an emotionally laden universe
now. It's not just the facts that are operating in the world now,'
Beers said. Hence, the State Dept. has just published the book
'Iraq: From Fear to Freedom.' Beers made sure to point out a
passage by President Bush: 'I hope the good people of Iraq will
remember our history. America has never sought to dominate, never
sought to conquer. We have, in fact, sought to liberate and free.
Our desire is to help Iraqi citizens find the blessings of liberty
within their own culture and their own traditions.' In the middle
of Beers' briefing at the National Press Club in downtown
Washington, several protesters stood up and began shouting, 'You're
selling war and we're not buying.' "
NORD KOREA
Tagesanzeiger: Weltweite Kritik an Nordkorea
Die Ankündigung Nordkoreas, aus dem Atomwaffensperrvertrag auszusteigen, stösst auf Unverständnis. Das kommunistische Land wird von allen Seiten aufgefordert, die Aufkündigung zu überdenken.
Tagesanzeiger: Weltweite Kritik an Nordkorea
Die Ankündigung Nordkoreas, aus dem Atomwaffensperrvertrag auszusteigen, stösst auf Unverständnis. Das kommunistische Land wird von allen Seiten aufgefordert, die Aufkündigung zu überdenken.
IRAK
Tagesanzeiger: Blix hat viele offene Fragen, aber keine Beweise
Trotz intensiver Suche von über 100 Inspektoren hat die Uno bisher keine Beweise dafür, dass Irak über Massenvernichtungswaffen verfügt. Das bestätigten die Chefs der Inspektionen, Hans Blix und Mohammed el Baradei, vor dem Sicherheitsrat
Tagesanzeiger: Blix hat viele offene Fragen, aber keine Beweise
Trotz intensiver Suche von über 100 Inspektoren hat die Uno bisher keine Beweise dafür, dass Irak über Massenvernichtungswaffen verfügt. Das bestätigten die Chefs der Inspektionen, Hans Blix und Mohammed el Baradei, vor dem Sicherheitsrat
USA
Observer: Bush accused of civil rights clampdown
"President George Bush is presiding over the most secretive administration in 'living memory', according to American civil rights groups and congressmen.
Critics accuse him of orchestrating an unprecedented clampdown on freedom of information and the press. This has resulted in a dramatic increase in documents and proceedings being classified secret and an overall shutdown of the free flow of information over the government's political and legal conduct. They are also concerned over what they see as alarming restrictions on the Freedom of Information Act.
Democrat Senator Patrick Leahy, first elected in 1974, said: 'Since I have been here, I have never known an administration that it has been more difficult to get information from.' "
Observer: Bush accused of civil rights clampdown
"President George Bush is presiding over the most secretive administration in 'living memory', according to American civil rights groups and congressmen.
Critics accuse him of orchestrating an unprecedented clampdown on freedom of information and the press. This has resulted in a dramatic increase in documents and proceedings being classified secret and an overall shutdown of the free flow of information over the government's political and legal conduct. They are also concerned over what they see as alarming restrictions on the Freedom of Information Act.
Democrat Senator Patrick Leahy, first elected in 1974, said: 'Since I have been here, I have never known an administration that it has been more difficult to get information from.' "
CONSPIRACY
Alternet.org: Top Ten Conspiracy Theories of 2002
For about thirty minutes after his chief of staff told him that America was under attack, George W. Bush continued to sit in an elementary school classroom listening to a second-grader tell a story about a pet goat. He did a marvelous job of looking completely unsurprised. Meanwhile, four hijacked jumbo jets were able to fly off-course across several states without encountering any opposition from the most powerful and responsive air force in the world.
"...3. The Magic Passport Theory.
We can now add Mohamed Atta's reality-defying passport to the Arlen Specter Gallery of Improbable Projectiles. This incriminating item was thrown intact from a cataclysmic fireball and miraculously plucked from 1.6 million tons of debris in a matter of hours. The corporate media rarely mention the unlikelihood of this"
Alternet.org: Top Ten Conspiracy Theories of 2002
For about thirty minutes after his chief of staff told him that America was under attack, George W. Bush continued to sit in an elementary school classroom listening to a second-grader tell a story about a pet goat. He did a marvelous job of looking completely unsurprised. Meanwhile, four hijacked jumbo jets were able to fly off-course across several states without encountering any opposition from the most powerful and responsive air force in the world.
"...3. The Magic Passport Theory.
We can now add Mohamed Atta's reality-defying passport to the Arlen Specter Gallery of Improbable Projectiles. This incriminating item was thrown intact from a cataclysmic fireball and miraculously plucked from 1.6 million tons of debris in a matter of hours. The corporate media rarely mention the unlikelihood of this"
ISRAEL
Financial Review: Israel wants more than total US foreign aid budget
A delegation from Israel, the largest recipient of US foreign aid, has sought $US12 billion ($21 billion) in assistance at a meeting with State Department and White House officials, Israeli officials said.
The request, covering the next three to five years, exceeds the total $US11.6 billion budgeted last year by the US for all countries.
"Die Aufrechterhaltung des Status Quo hat seinen Preis. 12 Milliarden Dollar für die Untrerdrückung eines Volkes. Why do they hate us? Probably thats why"
Financial Review: Israel wants more than total US foreign aid budget
A delegation from Israel, the largest recipient of US foreign aid, has sought $US12 billion ($21 billion) in assistance at a meeting with State Department and White House officials, Israeli officials said.
The request, covering the next three to five years, exceeds the total $US11.6 billion budgeted last year by the US for all countries.
"Die Aufrechterhaltung des Status Quo hat seinen Preis. 12 Milliarden Dollar für die Untrerdrückung eines Volkes. Why do they hate us? Probably thats why"
VENZUELA
Counterpunch: Venezuela: Chomsky's Tropical Nightmare
"To suffer in your own flesh and blood what Noam Chomsky writes about the ideological power of Media is very different from reading it. We have enjoyed reading his articles about the media that helped us understand its enormous influence in contemporary societies. However, living in Venezuela during the last three years has allowed us to suffer directly that power."
Counterpunch: Venezuela: Chomsky's Tropical Nightmare
"To suffer in your own flesh and blood what Noam Chomsky writes about the ideological power of Media is very different from reading it. We have enjoyed reading his articles about the media that helped us understand its enormous influence in contemporary societies. However, living in Venezuela during the last three years has allowed us to suffer directly that power."
Thursday, January 09, 2003
AFGHANISTAN
Asia Times: Afghanistan: Back to bad opium habits
As another winter arrives in Afghanistan, opium seeds are already in the soil for next year's crop, and there is little evidence that the tide of heroin's deadly cycle will be stopped any time soon.
"Nach dem Fall der Taliban die den Heroinhandel nahezu unterbunden haben ist Afghanistan erneut Hauptproduzent und Quelle von 75% des weltweit konsumierten Heroins"
Asia Times: Afghanistan: Back to bad opium habits
As another winter arrives in Afghanistan, opium seeds are already in the soil for next year's crop, and there is little evidence that the tide of heroin's deadly cycle will be stopped any time soon.
"Nach dem Fall der Taliban die den Heroinhandel nahezu unterbunden haben ist Afghanistan erneut Hauptproduzent und Quelle von 75% des weltweit konsumierten Heroins"
INTERVIEW
ZMAG: Interview With Chomsky
"First of all I think we ought to be very cautious about using the phrase 'War on Terror'. There can't be a War on Terror. It's a logical impossibility. The US is one of the leading terrorist states in the world. The guys who are in charge right now were all condemned for terrorism by the World Court. They would have been condemned by the U.N. Security Council except they vetoed the resolution, with Britain abstaining of course. These guys can't be conducting a war on terror. It's just out of the question. They declared a war on terror 20 years ago and we know what they did. They destroyed Central America. They killed a million and a half people in southern Africa. We can go on through the list. So there's no 'War on Terror'. "
Chomsky erwähnt im Innterview die Studie global trends 2015 des "National Intelligence Council". Die Studie wurde auf der cia-homepage publiziert.
ZMAG: Interview With Chomsky
"First of all I think we ought to be very cautious about using the phrase 'War on Terror'. There can't be a War on Terror. It's a logical impossibility. The US is one of the leading terrorist states in the world. The guys who are in charge right now were all condemned for terrorism by the World Court. They would have been condemned by the U.N. Security Council except they vetoed the resolution, with Britain abstaining of course. These guys can't be conducting a war on terror. It's just out of the question. They declared a war on terror 20 years ago and we know what they did. They destroyed Central America. They killed a million and a half people in southern Africa. We can go on through the list. So there's no 'War on Terror'. "
Chomsky erwähnt im Innterview die Studie global trends 2015 des "National Intelligence Council". Die Studie wurde auf der cia-homepage publiziert.
WAR ON TERROR
Independent: Robert Fisk: The double standards, dubious morality and duplicity of this fight against terror
Meanwhile, we are ploughing on to war in Iraq, which has oil, but avoiding war in Korea, which does not have oil
"I think I'm getting the picture. North Korea breaks all its nuclear agreements with the United States, throws out UN inspectors and sets off to make a bomb a year, and President Bush says it's "a diplomatic issue". Iraq hands over a 12,000-page account of its weapons production and allows UN inspectors to roam all over the country, and – after they've found not a jam-jar of dangerous chemicals in 230 raids – President Bush announces that Iraq is a threat to America, has not disarmed and may have to be invaded. So that's it, then."
Independent: Robert Fisk: The double standards, dubious morality and duplicity of this fight against terror
Meanwhile, we are ploughing on to war in Iraq, which has oil, but avoiding war in Korea, which does not have oil
"I think I'm getting the picture. North Korea breaks all its nuclear agreements with the United States, throws out UN inspectors and sets off to make a bomb a year, and President Bush says it's "a diplomatic issue". Iraq hands over a 12,000-page account of its weapons production and allows UN inspectors to roam all over the country, and – after they've found not a jam-jar of dangerous chemicals in 230 raids – President Bush announces that Iraq is a threat to America, has not disarmed and may have to be invaded. So that's it, then."
WAR ON IRAK
Independent: Blix says UN has found no 'smoking guns' in Iraq
UN weapons inspectors have not found any smoking guns in Iraq during their search for weapons of mass destruction, the chief inspector said today.
Independent: Blix says UN has found no 'smoking guns' in Iraq
UN weapons inspectors have not found any smoking guns in Iraq during their search for weapons of mass destruction, the chief inspector said today.
PLANE CRASH
Spiegel: Fünf Menschen überleben Flugzeugabsturz Türkei
Spiegel: 21 Menschen sterben bei Absturz auf Hangar USA
Spiegel: Fünf Menschen überleben Flugzeugabsturz Türkei
Spiegel: 21 Menschen sterben bei Absturz auf Hangar USA
KASCHMIR
Spiegel: Indien testet atomwaffenfähige Rakete
Der Dauerkonflikt zwischen Indien und Pakistan geht in die nächste Runde: Indien testete eine Rakete, die mit nuklearen Sprengköpfen bestückt werden kann. Prompt drohten sich die Regierungen der verfeindeten Staaten gegenseitig mit dem Einsatz von Nuklearwaffen.
Spiegel: Indien testet atomwaffenfähige Rakete
Der Dauerkonflikt zwischen Indien und Pakistan geht in die nächste Runde: Indien testete eine Rakete, die mit nuklearen Sprengköpfen bestückt werden kann. Prompt drohten sich die Regierungen der verfeindeten Staaten gegenseitig mit dem Einsatz von Nuklearwaffen.
WAR ON IRAK
Spiegel: Türkei setzt USA unter Druck
Die türkische Regierung rückt offenbar von ihrer früheren Zusage gegenüber den USA ab, einen Krieg im Irak zu unterstützen. Beunruhigt durch Meinungsumfragen in der Bevölkerung dämpft Ankara die Aussichten, im Fall des Falles eine nördliche Front gegen Präsident Saddam Hussein zu eröffnen.
"Mehr als sechs Monate nachdem die USA die Türkei um Erlaubnis gebeten haben, Militärbasen auf ihre mögliche Nutzung in einem Irak-Krieg zu überprüfen, gibt es laut "Washington Post" noch keine Antwort. Ein 150-Mann-Team des amerikanischen Militärs wartet weiterhin in Deutschland darauf, in die Türkei hineingelassen zu werden. Zudem hat die Regierung bislang noch nicht über eine US-Bitte entschieden, 80.000 Soldaten übergangsweise in der Türkei zu stationieren. "
Spiegel: Türkei setzt USA unter Druck
Die türkische Regierung rückt offenbar von ihrer früheren Zusage gegenüber den USA ab, einen Krieg im Irak zu unterstützen. Beunruhigt durch Meinungsumfragen in der Bevölkerung dämpft Ankara die Aussichten, im Fall des Falles eine nördliche Front gegen Präsident Saddam Hussein zu eröffnen.
"Mehr als sechs Monate nachdem die USA die Türkei um Erlaubnis gebeten haben, Militärbasen auf ihre mögliche Nutzung in einem Irak-Krieg zu überprüfen, gibt es laut "Washington Post" noch keine Antwort. Ein 150-Mann-Team des amerikanischen Militärs wartet weiterhin in Deutschland darauf, in die Türkei hineingelassen zu werden. Zudem hat die Regierung bislang noch nicht über eine US-Bitte entschieden, 80.000 Soldaten übergangsweise in der Türkei zu stationieren. "
WAR ON IRAK
Spiegel: Die Front bröckelt
Unwillige Deutsche, zaudernde Saudis, eine neue türkische Regierung, die Stationierungsanfragen der USA unbeantwortet lässt. Und nun auch noch Großbritannien, das einen möglichen Angriff auf den Irak um mehrere Monate verschieben will. Die möglich Kombattanten verweigern den Vereinigten Staaten zunehmend den Dienst.
"Der "Daily Telegraph" berichtet, britische Minister und führende Regierungsbeamte sähen derzeit keine Rechtsgrundlage, den Irak anzugreifen. Ein Massenaufmarsch durch britische und amerikanische Truppen am Golf sei kein hinreichender Kriegsgrund. "
Tages Anzeiger: London sucht Zeitgewinn in der Irak-Krise
Grossbritannien hat die USA nach einem britischen Zeitungsbericht um Aufschub eines Angriffs auf Irak um mehrere Monate gebeten. Damit solle den Uno-Inspektoren mehr Zeit für eine Überprüfung des irakischen Waffenprogramms gegeben werden.
Spiegel: Die Front bröckelt
Unwillige Deutsche, zaudernde Saudis, eine neue türkische Regierung, die Stationierungsanfragen der USA unbeantwortet lässt. Und nun auch noch Großbritannien, das einen möglichen Angriff auf den Irak um mehrere Monate verschieben will. Die möglich Kombattanten verweigern den Vereinigten Staaten zunehmend den Dienst.
"Der "Daily Telegraph" berichtet, britische Minister und führende Regierungsbeamte sähen derzeit keine Rechtsgrundlage, den Irak anzugreifen. Ein Massenaufmarsch durch britische und amerikanische Truppen am Golf sei kein hinreichender Kriegsgrund. "
Tages Anzeiger: London sucht Zeitgewinn in der Irak-Krise
Grossbritannien hat die USA nach einem britischen Zeitungsbericht um Aufschub eines Angriffs auf Irak um mehrere Monate gebeten. Damit solle den Uno-Inspektoren mehr Zeit für eine Überprüfung des irakischen Waffenprogramms gegeben werden.
Sunday, December 15, 2002
AFGHANISTAN
Spiegel: Tod im Container
Der irische Journalist Jamie Doran will beweisen, dass US- Soldaten in Afghanistan bei einem Massaker an gefangenen Taliban zugesehen haben.
Spiegel: Tod im Container
Der irische Journalist Jamie Doran will beweisen, dass US- Soldaten in Afghanistan bei einem Massaker an gefangenen Taliban zugesehen haben.
IRAK
Spiegel: Ende der Schonzeit
Mit derbem Muskelspiel setzt Washington die Uno unter Druck. Womöglich schon im Januar wollen die Amerikaner den Sicherheitsrat zum Krieg gegen den Irak drängen - was immer die Waffeninspektoren aus Bagdad berichten. Weltweit wächst Unmut über das Vorgehen der Supermacht.
"Unter Missachtung fundamentaler Gepflogenheiten der Diplomatie und gegen wichtige Regeln des Völkerrechts setzte Washington gleich dreimal seinen politischen Willen durch:
Erst ließen sich die USA vorletzten Sonntag entgegen einem einstimmigen Beschluss des Sicherheitsrates dessen einziges Exemplar des irakischen Rüstungsberichts aushändigen - unter "massivem Druck", wie der amtierende Ratspräsident aus Kolumbien betonte.
Dann befahlen US-Kommandeure der spanischen Fregatte "Navarra", das nordkoreanische Frachtschiff "So San" zu entern und nach verdächtiger Ladung zu durchsuchen - in internationalen Gewässern ein Akt der Piraterie.
Und schließlich veröffentlichte das Weiße Haus seine "Nationale Strategie zur Bekämpfung von Massenvernichtungswaffen", die feindlichen Regierungen, aber auch Terrorgruppen mit Präventivkrieg droht und mit dem - ebenfalls geächteten - Einsatz von Atomwaffen. "
Spiegel: Ende der Schonzeit
Mit derbem Muskelspiel setzt Washington die Uno unter Druck. Womöglich schon im Januar wollen die Amerikaner den Sicherheitsrat zum Krieg gegen den Irak drängen - was immer die Waffeninspektoren aus Bagdad berichten. Weltweit wächst Unmut über das Vorgehen der Supermacht.
"Unter Missachtung fundamentaler Gepflogenheiten der Diplomatie und gegen wichtige Regeln des Völkerrechts setzte Washington gleich dreimal seinen politischen Willen durch:
Erst ließen sich die USA vorletzten Sonntag entgegen einem einstimmigen Beschluss des Sicherheitsrates dessen einziges Exemplar des irakischen Rüstungsberichts aushändigen - unter "massivem Druck", wie der amtierende Ratspräsident aus Kolumbien betonte.
Dann befahlen US-Kommandeure der spanischen Fregatte "Navarra", das nordkoreanische Frachtschiff "So San" zu entern und nach verdächtiger Ladung zu durchsuchen - in internationalen Gewässern ein Akt der Piraterie.
Und schließlich veröffentlichte das Weiße Haus seine "Nationale Strategie zur Bekämpfung von Massenvernichtungswaffen", die feindlichen Regierungen, aber auch Terrorgruppen mit Präventivkrieg droht und mit dem - ebenfalls geächteten - Einsatz von Atomwaffen. "
Saturday, December 14, 2002
VENEZUELA
Narconews: Bush’s Desperate Venezuela Statement
Read Between the Lines: The Coup is Falling Apart
"When the White House says:
“The United States is convinced that the only peaceful and politically viable path to moving out of the crisis is through the holding of early elections.”
The White House really means:
“Six elections in the past four years in Venezuela, all of them won by President Hugo Chávez and his supporters, all of them deemed fair and free by national and international observers (including by delegates of the U.S. Republican and Democratic parties who were present to observe them), are not enough. We need a Seventh Election in four years because we don’t like the results of the first six. We, in the Bush administration, are deeply offended that Venezuelan law awards the presidency to the candidate who won the most votes. That’s not how we did it in the U.S. We will only be happy when a minority of citizens can impose a president. If we allow Venezuela’s majority decisions to stand, they might start exporting democracy to the United States. In any case, we insist that Catherine Harris be allowed to count the votes, and Jeb Bush should print the ballots, next time in Venezuela.”
Narconews: Bush’s Desperate Venezuela Statement
Read Between the Lines: The Coup is Falling Apart
"When the White House says:
“The United States is convinced that the only peaceful and politically viable path to moving out of the crisis is through the holding of early elections.”
The White House really means:
“Six elections in the past four years in Venezuela, all of them won by President Hugo Chávez and his supporters, all of them deemed fair and free by national and international observers (including by delegates of the U.S. Republican and Democratic parties who were present to observe them), are not enough. We need a Seventh Election in four years because we don’t like the results of the first six. We, in the Bush administration, are deeply offended that Venezuelan law awards the presidency to the candidate who won the most votes. That’s not how we did it in the U.S. We will only be happy when a minority of citizens can impose a president. If we allow Venezuela’s majority decisions to stand, they might start exporting democracy to the United States. In any case, we insist that Catherine Harris be allowed to count the votes, and Jeb Bush should print the ballots, next time in Venezuela.”
VENEZUELA
Forbes: Canada Breaks with Bush Over Venezuela
"Well, that may be the American policy, but it's not our policy at this point," he said.
"I'd like to propose to make sure we get the Venezuelans themselves continuing the negotiations so they can come up with a solution that's appropriate for them."
Forbes: Canada Breaks with Bush Over Venezuela
"Well, that may be the American policy, but it's not our policy at this point," he said.
"I'd like to propose to make sure we get the Venezuelans themselves continuing the negotiations so they can come up with a solution that's appropriate for them."
Friday, December 13, 2002
VENEZUELA
zmag: Gaviria Should Leave Venezuela
"As in Eastern Europe 13 years ago, the final defeat of dictatorial power in Venezuela came last night at the doors of its “control rooms” – the TV stations.
On Monday night, the Venezuelan majority - unwilling to allow an upper-class economic coup d’etat that poses dishonestly as a “strike” to unseat its democratically elected government - took to the streets on a scale only seen once before in the nation’s modern history; as they had last April, when they turned back a military coup d’etat.
By early Tuesday morning the masses had every Commercial TV station in the nation surrounded. Their weapons were nonviolent and theatrical: pots, pans, fireworks and thousands of defiant but smiling faces. "
zmag: Gaviria Should Leave Venezuela
"As in Eastern Europe 13 years ago, the final defeat of dictatorial power in Venezuela came last night at the doors of its “control rooms” – the TV stations.
On Monday night, the Venezuelan majority - unwilling to allow an upper-class economic coup d’etat that poses dishonestly as a “strike” to unseat its democratically elected government - took to the streets on a scale only seen once before in the nation’s modern history; as they had last April, when they turned back a military coup d’etat.
By early Tuesday morning the masses had every Commercial TV station in the nation surrounded. Their weapons were nonviolent and theatrical: pots, pans, fireworks and thousands of defiant but smiling faces. "
VENEZUELA
zmag/Guardian: Racist Rage Of The Caracas Elite
Venezuela's Embattled President Faces A Pinochet-style Opposition
"For the past year or more, Venezuela's upper and middle classes, opposed to Chavez's government, have protested in the wealthy new neighbourhoods of Caracas, while the poor (the vast majority of the city's population) have come from their shantytowns and demonstrated to defend "their" president."
zmag/Guardian: Racist Rage Of The Caracas Elite
Venezuela's Embattled President Faces A Pinochet-style Opposition
"For the past year or more, Venezuela's upper and middle classes, opposed to Chavez's government, have protested in the wealthy new neighbourhoods of Caracas, while the poor (the vast majority of the city's population) have come from their shantytowns and demonstrated to defend "their" president."
IRAK
Independent: Did Saddam's army test poison gas on missing 5,000? by Robert Fisk
Why didn't Tony Blair and George Bush mention Saddam Hussein's most terrible war crime? Why, in all their "dossiers", did they not refer to the 5,000 young men and women who were held at detention centres when their families – of Iranian origin – were hurled over the border to Iran just before President Saddam invaded Iran in 1980?
Independent: Did Saddam's army test poison gas on missing 5,000? by Robert Fisk
Why didn't Tony Blair and George Bush mention Saddam Hussein's most terrible war crime? Why, in all their "dossiers", did they not refer to the 5,000 young men and women who were held at detention centres when their families – of Iranian origin – were hurled over the border to Iran just before President Saddam invaded Iran in 1980?
ISRAEL
Independent: Web of deceit lies behind death of a traitor to many masters by Robert Fisk
To the rest of the world, the bomb that wounded two Israeli soldiers on the Lebanese-Israeli border was just another example of Hizbollah "terrorism", a provocation that showed Hizbollah had – in Israel's words – "crossed a red line". Israel warned of retaliation. But the truth was quite different, and infinitely more sensational
Independent: Robert Fisk wins award for press freedom
12 December 2002
Robert Fisk, The Independent's Middle East correspondent, was one of six journalists to win the Association of Journalists of Rome Silver Microphone award last night in Rome.
The prize – awarded to foreign correspondents for the first time in the association's 125 years – is for "European journalists who defend freedom of the press". Among other reporters honoured was Robert Ménard, president of Reporters sans Frontières, the humanitarian organisation dedicated to the protection of foreign correspondents.
Independent: Web of deceit lies behind death of a traitor to many masters by Robert Fisk
To the rest of the world, the bomb that wounded two Israeli soldiers on the Lebanese-Israeli border was just another example of Hizbollah "terrorism", a provocation that showed Hizbollah had – in Israel's words – "crossed a red line". Israel warned of retaliation. But the truth was quite different, and infinitely more sensational
Independent: Robert Fisk wins award for press freedom
12 December 2002
Robert Fisk, The Independent's Middle East correspondent, was one of six journalists to win the Association of Journalists of Rome Silver Microphone award last night in Rome.
The prize – awarded to foreign correspondents for the first time in the association's 125 years – is for "European journalists who defend freedom of the press". Among other reporters honoured was Robert Ménard, president of Reporters sans Frontières, the humanitarian organisation dedicated to the protection of foreign correspondents.
VENEZUELA
The Observer: Venezuela and Argentina: A Tale of Two Coups by Greg Palast
"Carmona then decreed the dissolution of his nation's congress and supreme court while the business peopled clapped and chanted, 'Democracia! Democracia!' I later learned the Cardinal of Caracas had led Carmona into the Presidential Palace, a final Genet-esque touch to this delusional drama. This fantasy would evaporate ‘by the crowing of the cock,’ as Chávez told me in his poetic way."
Analyse zum Putch vom April und dem Einsturz der Argentinischen Wirtschaft
The Observer: Venezuela and Argentina: A Tale of Two Coups by Greg Palast
"Carmona then decreed the dissolution of his nation's congress and supreme court while the business peopled clapped and chanted, 'Democracia! Democracia!' I later learned the Cardinal of Caracas had led Carmona into the Presidential Palace, a final Genet-esque touch to this delusional drama. This fantasy would evaporate ‘by the crowing of the cock,’ as Chávez told me in his poetic way."
Analyse zum Putch vom April und dem Einsturz der Argentinischen Wirtschaft
VENEZUELA UPDATE: CIA PUTCH INNERHALB 72 STUNDEN?
Vheadline.com: USA intelligence agencies revealed in plot to oust Venezuela's President
Thursday, December 12, 2002 -- Uruguayan EP-FA congressman Jose Bayardi says he has information that far-reaching plans have been put into operation by the CIA and other North American intelligence agencies to overthrow Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez Frias within the next 72 hours.
ZNET: Chavez hangs on – News analysis from Znet
Open Letter to Bush on Venezuela from U.S. Congress members - and You
mehrere Amerikanische Kongressabgeordnete fordern Bush auf sich von einem allfälligen Coup in Venezuela zu distanzieren und der Opposition keine Hilfe zu erteilen.
Narconews: The People Rise Up Against Venezuela's Commercial Media
An amazing sight: Thousands of people have surrounded the headquarters of five commercial television stations (RCTV, Globovision, TVS, Meridiano TV, Venevision) and are treating them to one hell of a cazerolazo (pot-banging). They are shouting "medios golpistas!" (putschist media) and "terroristas!". The channels have stopped (probably only briefly) broadcasting anti governmental propaganda and are at last giving some pro governmental demonstrations some coverage.
Der grosse Teil der in Deutschen oder Schweizern resp. Westlichen Zeitungen/Magazinen erschienen Berichte sind voller Propaganda...da steht zum Beispiel Heute im Tagesanzeiger: "...doch unter den Ärmsten kann er nach wie vor auf eine stattliche Gefolgschaft zählen." Der ganze Artikel war tendenziell gegen Chavez geschrieben und am Schluss wird impliziert Chavez hätte nur noch eine Minderheit der Bevölkerung hinter sich. Der Tagesanzeiger Journalist hat vergessen, dass in Venezuela 80% der Leute unter der Armutsgrenze leben. Alle Alternativenquellen oder Augenzeugenberichte weisen darauf hin das der Grossteil der Bevölkerung hinter Chavez steht. Die Ausnahme ist die Opposition. Wobei die Opposition aus Reichen oder dem "Mittelstand" (den es an und für sich so nicht gibt) besteht. Das eigentliche Problem ist das genau diese Eliten angst haben Ihren Reichtum zu verlieren weil Hugo Chavez den Reichtum auch den "Armen-Leuten" zukommen lassen will. Das heisst die Opposition sind die Leute, die früher die Öl-Firmen Venezuelas beherrscht und die Einnahmen in die eigenen Taschen gesteckt haben. Nun kam Chavez und hat die Öl-Firmen verstaatlicht um mit den Gewinnen Sozialprogramme für die Armen durchzuführen, dass gefällt der Opposition (und den USA deren grösster Öllieferant Venezuela ist) natürlich nicht da sie sich weiter breichern wollen. Leider haben die Armen Leute keine Lobby hier und genau darum sind unsere Zeitungen voller Oppositions Propaganda. Don't believe the hype!(t.a)
Vheadline.com: USA intelligence agencies revealed in plot to oust Venezuela's President
Thursday, December 12, 2002 -- Uruguayan EP-FA congressman Jose Bayardi says he has information that far-reaching plans have been put into operation by the CIA and other North American intelligence agencies to overthrow Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez Frias within the next 72 hours.
ZNET: Chavez hangs on – News analysis from Znet
Open Letter to Bush on Venezuela from U.S. Congress members - and You
mehrere Amerikanische Kongressabgeordnete fordern Bush auf sich von einem allfälligen Coup in Venezuela zu distanzieren und der Opposition keine Hilfe zu erteilen.
Narconews: The People Rise Up Against Venezuela's Commercial Media
An amazing sight: Thousands of people have surrounded the headquarters of five commercial television stations (RCTV, Globovision, TVS, Meridiano TV, Venevision) and are treating them to one hell of a cazerolazo (pot-banging). They are shouting "medios golpistas!" (putschist media) and "terroristas!". The channels have stopped (probably only briefly) broadcasting anti governmental propaganda and are at last giving some pro governmental demonstrations some coverage.
Der grosse Teil der in Deutschen oder Schweizern resp. Westlichen Zeitungen/Magazinen erschienen Berichte sind voller Propaganda...da steht zum Beispiel Heute im Tagesanzeiger: "...doch unter den Ärmsten kann er nach wie vor auf eine stattliche Gefolgschaft zählen." Der ganze Artikel war tendenziell gegen Chavez geschrieben und am Schluss wird impliziert Chavez hätte nur noch eine Minderheit der Bevölkerung hinter sich. Der Tagesanzeiger Journalist hat vergessen, dass in Venezuela 80% der Leute unter der Armutsgrenze leben. Alle Alternativenquellen oder Augenzeugenberichte weisen darauf hin das der Grossteil der Bevölkerung hinter Chavez steht. Die Ausnahme ist die Opposition. Wobei die Opposition aus Reichen oder dem "Mittelstand" (den es an und für sich so nicht gibt) besteht. Das eigentliche Problem ist das genau diese Eliten angst haben Ihren Reichtum zu verlieren weil Hugo Chavez den Reichtum auch den "Armen-Leuten" zukommen lassen will. Das heisst die Opposition sind die Leute, die früher die Öl-Firmen Venezuelas beherrscht und die Einnahmen in die eigenen Taschen gesteckt haben. Nun kam Chavez und hat die Öl-Firmen verstaatlicht um mit den Gewinnen Sozialprogramme für die Armen durchzuführen, dass gefällt der Opposition (und den USA deren grösster Öllieferant Venezuela ist) natürlich nicht da sie sich weiter breichern wollen. Leider haben die Armen Leute keine Lobby hier und genau darum sind unsere Zeitungen voller Oppositions Propaganda. Don't believe the hype!(t.a)
WEF
Tagesanzeiger: WEF: Verhärtete Fronten
Die Organisatoren der Anti-WEF-Demonstration verurteilen die angekündigten Personenkontrollen aufs Schärfste. Die Bündner Behörden wollen an ihrem Konzept festhalten. Eine Einigung scheint unwahrscheinlich.
Während des Wef's wird es "Grenzposten" vor Davos geben und alle "Demonstranten" dürfen die Personalien angeben. Da hat Herr Von Daeniken vom BAP sicher grosse freude....ein grosses Dossier mit "Linksradikalen Inlandterroristen"...mir kommt da automatisch die Fichenaffäre in den Sinn...zum Glück müssen wir in der Schweiz keine Angst haben...wir sind ja eine Demokratie
Tagesanzeiger: WEF: Verhärtete Fronten
Die Organisatoren der Anti-WEF-Demonstration verurteilen die angekündigten Personenkontrollen aufs Schärfste. Die Bündner Behörden wollen an ihrem Konzept festhalten. Eine Einigung scheint unwahrscheinlich.
Während des Wef's wird es "Grenzposten" vor Davos geben und alle "Demonstranten" dürfen die Personalien angeben. Da hat Herr Von Daeniken vom BAP sicher grosse freude....ein grosses Dossier mit "Linksradikalen Inlandterroristen"...mir kommt da automatisch die Fichenaffäre in den Sinn...zum Glück müssen wir in der Schweiz keine Angst haben...wir sind ja eine Demokratie
USA
Tagesanzeiger: Pockenimpfung gegen Biowaffen-Terror
US-Präsident George W. Bush hat eine freiwillige Pockenschutzimpfung für die US-Bevölkerung angekündigt. Damit soll einem möglichen Angriff mit biologischen Waffen vorgebeugt werden, sagte Bush dem US-Sender ABC.
Tagesanzeiger: Pockenimpfung gegen Biowaffen-Terror
US-Präsident George W. Bush hat eine freiwillige Pockenschutzimpfung für die US-Bevölkerung angekündigt. Damit soll einem möglichen Angriff mit biologischen Waffen vorgebeugt werden, sagte Bush dem US-Sender ABC.
Thursday, December 12, 2002
Deutschland
Spiegel: Spitzel im Hörsaal
"Das Stellenangebot klingt harmlos: Gesucht werden Studenten, nicht älter als 25 Jahre, die "an Forschungsprojekten im gesellschaftspolitischen Bereich" mitarbeiten und "im Rahmen der empirischen Sozialforschung" Daten erheben sollen. Es winken zehn Euro Stundenlohn bei freier Zeiteinteilung.
Eigentlich ein prima Nebenjob - dumm nur, wenn sich herausstellt, dass Arbeitgeber der Verfassungsschutz ist und dass der eigentlich Informanten sucht für Berichte über globalisierungskritische Kommilitonen. "
Spiegel: Spitzel im Hörsaal
"Das Stellenangebot klingt harmlos: Gesucht werden Studenten, nicht älter als 25 Jahre, die "an Forschungsprojekten im gesellschaftspolitischen Bereich" mitarbeiten und "im Rahmen der empirischen Sozialforschung" Daten erheben sollen. Es winken zehn Euro Stundenlohn bei freier Zeiteinteilung.
Eigentlich ein prima Nebenjob - dumm nur, wenn sich herausstellt, dass Arbeitgeber der Verfassungsschutz ist und dass der eigentlich Informanten sucht für Berichte über globalisierungskritische Kommilitonen. "
Wednesday, December 11, 2002
PR
PR Watch: The Fake Parade
Outside the World Summit on Sustainable Development held in August
in Johannesburg, there were poor street vendors and farmers holding
signs and wearing t-shirts reading: "Save the Planet from
Sustainable Development", "Say No To Eco-Imperialism", "Greens:
Stop Hurting the Poor" and "Biotechnology for Africa." The problem,
according to environmental reporter and activist Jonathan Matthews
is that the anti-environmentalist demonstration was organized by
the corporations that environmentalist wanted to be held
accountable. "The counterattack takes place via a contrarian lens,
one that projects the attackers' vices onto their target. Thus the
problem becomes not Monsanto using questionable tactics to push its
products onto a wary South, but malevolent agents of the rich world
obstructing Monsanto's acceptance in a welcoming Third World,"
Matthews writes.
PR Watch: The Fake Parade
Outside the World Summit on Sustainable Development held in August
in Johannesburg, there were poor street vendors and farmers holding
signs and wearing t-shirts reading: "Save the Planet from
Sustainable Development", "Say No To Eco-Imperialism", "Greens:
Stop Hurting the Poor" and "Biotechnology for Africa." The problem,
according to environmental reporter and activist Jonathan Matthews
is that the anti-environmentalist demonstration was organized by
the corporations that environmentalist wanted to be held
accountable. "The counterattack takes place via a contrarian lens,
one that projects the attackers' vices onto their target. Thus the
problem becomes not Monsanto using questionable tactics to push its
products onto a wary South, but malevolent agents of the rich world
obstructing Monsanto's acceptance in a welcoming Third World,"
Matthews writes.
MEDIAWATCH
WashingtonPost: 'Live From Baghdad': The Cameras of War
Washington Post und HBO wiederholen die längst als Propaganda entlarvte Geschichte Irakische Soldaten hätten wärend des ersten Golfkriegs Babies aus ihren Brutkästen gerissen und getötet. Es handelte sich dazumals um eine Multimillonen PR-Aktion von Hill & Knowlton PR. Dabei hatte ein weinendes Mädchen als Augenzeugin vor dem US-Kongress ausgesagt. Später fand man heraus, dass es sich dabei um die Tochter des Kuweitischen Botschafters handelte.
Hier gibt es die ganze Story PR WATCH
WashingtonPost: 'Live From Baghdad': The Cameras of War
Washington Post und HBO wiederholen die längst als Propaganda entlarvte Geschichte Irakische Soldaten hätten wärend des ersten Golfkriegs Babies aus ihren Brutkästen gerissen und getötet. Es handelte sich dazumals um eine Multimillonen PR-Aktion von Hill & Knowlton PR. Dabei hatte ein weinendes Mädchen als Augenzeugin vor dem US-Kongress ausgesagt. Später fand man heraus, dass es sich dabei um die Tochter des Kuweitischen Botschafters handelte.
Hier gibt es die ganze Story PR WATCH
PR
New York Times: How Green Is BP?
Grosser Artrikel über die $200 Millionen Propaganda Bemühungen von BP die uns glauben machen wollen BP sei jetzt sowas wie "Bigcorporate-Greenpeace"
New York Times: How Green Is BP?
Grosser Artrikel über die $200 Millionen Propaganda Bemühungen von BP die uns glauben machen wollen BP sei jetzt sowas wie "Bigcorporate-Greenpeace"
Tuesday, December 10, 2002
USA
The Village Voice: We'll All Be Under Surveillance
Computers Will Say What We Are
How often, or on what system, the Thought Police plugged in any individual wire was guesswork. It was even conceivable that they watched everybody all the time. But at any rate, they could plug in your wire whenever they wanted to. —George Orwell, 1984
"Without any official public notice, and without any congressional hearings, the Bush administration—with an initial appropriation of $200 million—is constructing the Total Information Awareness System. It will extensively mine government and commercial data banks, enabling the FBI, the CIA, and other intelligence agencies to collect information that will allow the government—as noted on ABC-TV's November 14 Nightline—"to essentially reconstruct the movements of citizens." This will be done without warrants from courts, thereby making individual privacy as obsolete as the sauropods of the Mesozoic era. (Intelligence from and to foreign sources will also be involved.)"
The Village Voice: We'll All Be Under Surveillance
Computers Will Say What We Are
How often, or on what system, the Thought Police plugged in any individual wire was guesswork. It was even conceivable that they watched everybody all the time. But at any rate, they could plug in your wire whenever they wanted to. —George Orwell, 1984
"Without any official public notice, and without any congressional hearings, the Bush administration—with an initial appropriation of $200 million—is constructing the Total Information Awareness System. It will extensively mine government and commercial data banks, enabling the FBI, the CIA, and other intelligence agencies to collect information that will allow the government—as noted on ABC-TV's November 14 Nightline—"to essentially reconstruct the movements of citizens." This will be done without warrants from courts, thereby making individual privacy as obsolete as the sauropods of the Mesozoic era. (Intelligence from and to foreign sources will also be involved.)"
GAZA
GAZA VIOLENCE: PRACTICE FOR FULL SCALE INVASION?
Jane's Foreign Report, a publication of the respected British defense and
intelligence industry analyst Jane's Information Group, says Israel is
planning to use the cover of the expected US attack on Iraq to neutralize
Palestinian militant groups in the Gaza Strip. Jane's quotes Israeli
military sources as saying Israel will take advantage of the moment to go
into the Gaza Strip and "clear it on a house-to-house fighting basis" of
the Islamic Jihad, Hamas, and the Palestinian security services (JFR, Nov.
21)
GAZA VIOLENCE: PRACTICE FOR FULL SCALE INVASION?
Jane's Foreign Report, a publication of the respected British defense and
intelligence industry analyst Jane's Information Group, says Israel is
planning to use the cover of the expected US attack on Iraq to neutralize
Palestinian militant groups in the Gaza Strip. Jane's quotes Israeli
military sources as saying Israel will take advantage of the moment to go
into the Gaza Strip and "clear it on a house-to-house fighting basis" of
the Islamic Jihad, Hamas, and the Palestinian security services (JFR, Nov.
21)
USA
Insight: Iraqi Oil Strategy Divides State, White House
"The question of what should happen to Iraq's oil fields if Saddam Hussein is removed from power has become yet another source of fierce division between hawks and Republican "moderates" within the Bush administration. A sharp and very inside-the-Beltway struggle is taking place behind the scenes over planning for a post-Saddam Iraq with the future of Iraqi oil taking center-stage.
A proposal drafted by Elliott Abrams, a special assistant to President George W. Bush on the National Security Council (NSC), arguing for the United States to assert de facto control of Iraqi oil fields has stunned State Department officials. It doesn't help that Abrams (right) was convicted of withholding information from Congress during the Iran-Contra scandal, only to receive a presidential pardon from the current president's father."
Insight: Iraqi Oil Strategy Divides State, White House
"The question of what should happen to Iraq's oil fields if Saddam Hussein is removed from power has become yet another source of fierce division between hawks and Republican "moderates" within the Bush administration. A sharp and very inside-the-Beltway struggle is taking place behind the scenes over planning for a post-Saddam Iraq with the future of Iraqi oil taking center-stage.
A proposal drafted by Elliott Abrams, a special assistant to President George W. Bush on the National Security Council (NSC), arguing for the United States to assert de facto control of Iraqi oil fields has stunned State Department officials. It doesn't help that Abrams (right) was convicted of withholding information from Congress during the Iran-Contra scandal, only to receive a presidential pardon from the current president's father."
USA
The Nation: Quiet in Hollywood
Der Film "Quiet American" mit Michael Caine in der Hauptrolle wird in Los Angeles und New York für zwei Wochen zu sehen sein und sonst nicht aufgeführt werden.
Der Grund ist laut Mirimax co-chairman Harvey Weinstein: "you can't release this film now; it's unpatriotic. America has to be cohesive and
band together. We were worried that nobody had the stomach for a movie about bad Americans anymore."
Die Frage ob es die Leute nach wie vor ertragen, unpatriotische Filme mit bösen Amerikanern zu sehen, soll man die Zuschauer beantworten lassen.
The Nation: Quiet in Hollywood
Der Film "Quiet American" mit Michael Caine in der Hauptrolle wird in Los Angeles und New York für zwei Wochen zu sehen sein und sonst nicht aufgeführt werden.
Der Grund ist laut Mirimax co-chairman Harvey Weinstein: "you can't release this film now; it's unpatriotic. America has to be cohesive and
band together. We were worried that nobody had the stomach for a movie about bad Americans anymore."
Die Frage ob es die Leute nach wie vor ertragen, unpatriotische Filme mit bösen Amerikanern zu sehen, soll man die Zuschauer beantworten lassen.
VENEZUELA
Mag sich noch jemand an den Putsch-Versuch dieses Jahr erinnern? Sieht ganz so aus als gäbe es bald einen Teil 2. Die Massen Medien wiederholen Ihre Angriffe gegen Chavez und schreiben Propaganda. Regime Change nicht nur im Irak? Erinnerungen an Nicaragua, Kolumbien, Argentinen oder El Salvador? Ein Schelm wer denkt die USA hätte da Ihre Hände im Spiel.
Tages Anzeiger: Venezuela: Regierung offenbar verhandlungsbereit
Heise: Wie provoziert man einen Putch?
Die Ereignisse in Venezuela weisen verblüffende Ähnlichkeit mit dem von den USA unterstützten Putschversuch im April auf
ZMAG: Bush Administration Pushes "Regime Change" in Venezuela
It's 10 p.m. -- do you know what your government is up to? It seems that Iraq is not the only "regime change" that the Bush Administration is working on. The US government has apparently decided that President Chavez of Venezuela must go, one way or another.
ZMAG: Why are the coup plotters so impatient?
ZMAG: Chavez Hangs On
Four employer-led "general strikes" and a coup attempt later, The two parties seem further apart than they did when negotiations started
Narconews: Gunmen in Venezuela Tried to Provoke a Crisis After "Strike" Failed
What's Really Happening in Venezuela
"I will not give in to blackmail nor pressures of any kind. I swear to you
that I will be with the people my entire life. You brought me here and you
are the only ones who can get rid of me. Nobody else is going to take me
out of here."
- Venezuela President Hugo Chavez
Saturday, December 7, 2002
==================
Dear Colleagues,
To read the commercial news reports from Venezuela, one might almost think
there is a popular "strike" that has brought an "authoritarian" regime to
its knees, threatened U.S. oil supplies and that the Chavez government is
not allowing the people to vote on its continuance.
None of those above statements are true in the slightest, but the
simulating behavior of most English-language correspondents from Caracas
is, as ever, over the top and knowingly false.
To help clear up the haze of lies and distortion with some facts, Narco
News publishes the analysis by three correspondents on the scene in
Venezuela, including two professors from the Narco News School of
Authentic Journalism: Thierry Deronne, the Belgian journalist who works
with Tele-Tambores Community TV in Venezuela; Max Arvelaiz, the
French-Venezuelan communications consultant to the Chavez government, and,
Paul Emile-Dupret, observer and official of the European Parliament, all
eye-witnesses to events in recent days.
You can read their factual accounts at:
http://www.narconews.com/
Other late-breaking news items:
- The Venezuelan Navy today regained control of the hijacked oil tanker
from its mutinous captain. The last effective maneuver of the upper-class
"opposition" was thus foiled and the "strike" (management imposed lockout
of workers from their jobs) that began last week has now fracased on every
front.
- Friday night's contemptible shooting of civilians in an opposition
demonstration by gunmen, resulting in the capture of Portuguese national
Joao Gouveia, has taken a shocking turn:
"Congressman of the MVR party (Fifth Republic Movement) and journalist
Juan Barreto reported today that Joao Gouveia, the Portuguese citizen
accused of having assassinated various members of the opposition
concentrated in Plaza Francia of Altamira (the wealthy section of Caracas)
entered the country (Friday) at 5:40 p.m. coming from Lisbon. Barreto said
that Gouveia confessed that he had been contracted by pro-coup General
Medina Gomez to cause a massacre in Altamira, for which he was paid 35
million bolivares.
"Congressman Barreto said that as a journalist he has contacts in various
agencies and information that the accused was acting as if he were
paranoid, faking that he was mentally ill, but after examined by different
psychiatrists who determined he was lucid, finally confessed this morning.
"Barreto reported that in a few hours the video of Gouveia's confession
will be made public."
Source: http://www.aporrea.org/
- If this is true, and such a video confession exists, as the congressman
and journalist reports, the "opposition" leaders who have, without a shred
of evidence, blamed Chavez and his supporters for Friday's shootings (3
dead, 28 wounded), will have to face facts that one of their own top
leaders is capable of ordering his own supporters shot in order to create
destability and mayhem in order to justify another coup attempt by rogue
uniformed forces. General Medina Gomez, like clockwork - we remind -
moments after Friday night's shootings called on military officials to
overthrow the elected government by force. The Armed Forces -
significantly cleaned-up after last April's two-day military coup - have
remained solidly on the side of the constitution this round (as evidenced
by today's smooth retaking of the hijacked oil tanker).
- This video would also raise very clear questions about who was behind
the sniper attacks last April that created the first pretext to try and
take power by upper-class coup. As previously reported by Narco News and
others, the snipers captured last April 11th were freed on April 12th by
Dictator-for-a-Day Pedro Carmona (a fact still not reported by the
simulating commercial correspondents).
It is difficult for many to believe that there are interests so cynical as
to order their own supporters shot to gain sympathy for their "cause," but
to close observers of the Venezuelan reality this possibility is not
surprising at all. Stay tuned as we hunt down the facts.
- Finally, after months of turning the other cheek, Venezuelan President
Chavez today announced that middle and upper level managers of the state
oil company who participated in this week's sabotaje and hijacking
maneuvers will be fired: a decision that is reasonable by any standards,
and, in fact, overdue.
- Meanwhile, today, two million Venezuelans took to the streets today to
defy the "strike of the spoiled brats" and defend their electoral choices.
The mood is still tense but all the momentum and factual information
continues to cumulate on the side of constitutional rule and against
destabilizing coup attempts.
- One of the losers of this week's skirmishes is U.S. State Department
fixer Otto Reich. (We note that Secretary of State Colin Powell was,
surprisingly, not accompanied by Reich in his trip last week to Colombia,
an indication that Reich's extremist brinkmanship in South America is
increasingly viewed as counter-productive even among moderates, like
Powell, in the Bush administration.)
The events of the next few days could accomplish the "two-fer" of putting
to rest delusional coup fantasies by anti-democracy forces in Venezuela
and also be the final nail in the coffin of Reich's reign over U.S. Latin
America policy.
It was the Venezuelan electorate in 1998 (and five times since) that
started the ball rolling for a united Latin America against outside
impositions. The Venezuelans withstood and turned back April's coup
attempt, and appear to have the current one well in hand. In early
January, Brazil will inaugurate president Lula de la Silva and Ecuador's
Lucio Gutierrez is walking through the same door in his country.
There will no doubt be cynical commercial media correspondents who
continue to "cry wolf" with their hysterical predictions of the overthrow
of Venezuela's democratically elected government. But their wolf-crying
has diminishing effect after having been so wrong so many times.
What they don't admit, at least not in their simulated reports, is that
the coups fail precisely because democracy in Venezuela is so
extraordinarily healthy, compared to that of any other country in the
hemisphere. It is vibrant. It is strong. It respects human rights and
voter control. And it has been exemplary in its tolerance displayed toward
a bratty and disruptive upper-class "opposition."
As Venezuela has lived some very trying moments in recent hours, the truth
that shines through is that democracy and constitutional rule endures even
the harshest most cynical provocations.
The hour has come for the commercial media - in Venezuela and among U.S.
and English language correspondents who have been feeding a false picture
of events there - to grow up and cease the dishonest reports that get
proved wrong again and again and again, and again today.
>From somewhere in a country called New York City,
Al Giordano
Publisher
The Narco News Bulletin
http://www.narconews.com/
narconews@hotmail.com
Mag sich noch jemand an den Putsch-Versuch dieses Jahr erinnern? Sieht ganz so aus als gäbe es bald einen Teil 2. Die Massen Medien wiederholen Ihre Angriffe gegen Chavez und schreiben Propaganda. Regime Change nicht nur im Irak? Erinnerungen an Nicaragua, Kolumbien, Argentinen oder El Salvador? Ein Schelm wer denkt die USA hätte da Ihre Hände im Spiel.
Tages Anzeiger: Venezuela: Regierung offenbar verhandlungsbereit
Heise: Wie provoziert man einen Putch?
Die Ereignisse in Venezuela weisen verblüffende Ähnlichkeit mit dem von den USA unterstützten Putschversuch im April auf
ZMAG: Bush Administration Pushes "Regime Change" in Venezuela
It's 10 p.m. -- do you know what your government is up to? It seems that Iraq is not the only "regime change" that the Bush Administration is working on. The US government has apparently decided that President Chavez of Venezuela must go, one way or another.
ZMAG: Why are the coup plotters so impatient?
ZMAG: Chavez Hangs On
Four employer-led "general strikes" and a coup attempt later, The two parties seem further apart than they did when negotiations started
Narconews: Gunmen in Venezuela Tried to Provoke a Crisis After "Strike" Failed
What's Really Happening in Venezuela
"I will not give in to blackmail nor pressures of any kind. I swear to you
that I will be with the people my entire life. You brought me here and you
are the only ones who can get rid of me. Nobody else is going to take me
out of here."
- Venezuela President Hugo Chavez
Saturday, December 7, 2002
==================
Dear Colleagues,
To read the commercial news reports from Venezuela, one might almost think
there is a popular "strike" that has brought an "authoritarian" regime to
its knees, threatened U.S. oil supplies and that the Chavez government is
not allowing the people to vote on its continuance.
None of those above statements are true in the slightest, but the
simulating behavior of most English-language correspondents from Caracas
is, as ever, over the top and knowingly false.
To help clear up the haze of lies and distortion with some facts, Narco
News publishes the analysis by three correspondents on the scene in
Venezuela, including two professors from the Narco News School of
Authentic Journalism: Thierry Deronne, the Belgian journalist who works
with Tele-Tambores Community TV in Venezuela; Max Arvelaiz, the
French-Venezuelan communications consultant to the Chavez government, and,
Paul Emile-Dupret, observer and official of the European Parliament, all
eye-witnesses to events in recent days.
You can read their factual accounts at:
http://www.narconews.com/
Other late-breaking news items:
- The Venezuelan Navy today regained control of the hijacked oil tanker
from its mutinous captain. The last effective maneuver of the upper-class
"opposition" was thus foiled and the "strike" (management imposed lockout
of workers from their jobs) that began last week has now fracased on every
front.
- Friday night's contemptible shooting of civilians in an opposition
demonstration by gunmen, resulting in the capture of Portuguese national
Joao Gouveia, has taken a shocking turn:
"Congressman of the MVR party (Fifth Republic Movement) and journalist
Juan Barreto reported today that Joao Gouveia, the Portuguese citizen
accused of having assassinated various members of the opposition
concentrated in Plaza Francia of Altamira (the wealthy section of Caracas)
entered the country (Friday) at 5:40 p.m. coming from Lisbon. Barreto said
that Gouveia confessed that he had been contracted by pro-coup General
Medina Gomez to cause a massacre in Altamira, for which he was paid 35
million bolivares.
"Congressman Barreto said that as a journalist he has contacts in various
agencies and information that the accused was acting as if he were
paranoid, faking that he was mentally ill, but after examined by different
psychiatrists who determined he was lucid, finally confessed this morning.
"Barreto reported that in a few hours the video of Gouveia's confession
will be made public."
Source: http://www.aporrea.org/
- If this is true, and such a video confession exists, as the congressman
and journalist reports, the "opposition" leaders who have, without a shred
of evidence, blamed Chavez and his supporters for Friday's shootings (3
dead, 28 wounded), will have to face facts that one of their own top
leaders is capable of ordering his own supporters shot in order to create
destability and mayhem in order to justify another coup attempt by rogue
uniformed forces. General Medina Gomez, like clockwork - we remind -
moments after Friday night's shootings called on military officials to
overthrow the elected government by force. The Armed Forces -
significantly cleaned-up after last April's two-day military coup - have
remained solidly on the side of the constitution this round (as evidenced
by today's smooth retaking of the hijacked oil tanker).
- This video would also raise very clear questions about who was behind
the sniper attacks last April that created the first pretext to try and
take power by upper-class coup. As previously reported by Narco News and
others, the snipers captured last April 11th were freed on April 12th by
Dictator-for-a-Day Pedro Carmona (a fact still not reported by the
simulating commercial correspondents).
It is difficult for many to believe that there are interests so cynical as
to order their own supporters shot to gain sympathy for their "cause," but
to close observers of the Venezuelan reality this possibility is not
surprising at all. Stay tuned as we hunt down the facts.
- Finally, after months of turning the other cheek, Venezuelan President
Chavez today announced that middle and upper level managers of the state
oil company who participated in this week's sabotaje and hijacking
maneuvers will be fired: a decision that is reasonable by any standards,
and, in fact, overdue.
- Meanwhile, today, two million Venezuelans took to the streets today to
defy the "strike of the spoiled brats" and defend their electoral choices.
The mood is still tense but all the momentum and factual information
continues to cumulate on the side of constitutional rule and against
destabilizing coup attempts.
- One of the losers of this week's skirmishes is U.S. State Department
fixer Otto Reich. (We note that Secretary of State Colin Powell was,
surprisingly, not accompanied by Reich in his trip last week to Colombia,
an indication that Reich's extremist brinkmanship in South America is
increasingly viewed as counter-productive even among moderates, like
Powell, in the Bush administration.)
The events of the next few days could accomplish the "two-fer" of putting
to rest delusional coup fantasies by anti-democracy forces in Venezuela
and also be the final nail in the coffin of Reich's reign over U.S. Latin
America policy.
It was the Venezuelan electorate in 1998 (and five times since) that
started the ball rolling for a united Latin America against outside
impositions. The Venezuelans withstood and turned back April's coup
attempt, and appear to have the current one well in hand. In early
January, Brazil will inaugurate president Lula de la Silva and Ecuador's
Lucio Gutierrez is walking through the same door in his country.
There will no doubt be cynical commercial media correspondents who
continue to "cry wolf" with their hysterical predictions of the overthrow
of Venezuela's democratically elected government. But their wolf-crying
has diminishing effect after having been so wrong so many times.
What they don't admit, at least not in their simulated reports, is that
the coups fail precisely because democracy in Venezuela is so
extraordinarily healthy, compared to that of any other country in the
hemisphere. It is vibrant. It is strong. It respects human rights and
voter control. And it has been exemplary in its tolerance displayed toward
a bratty and disruptive upper-class "opposition."
As Venezuela has lived some very trying moments in recent hours, the truth
that shines through is that democracy and constitutional rule endures even
the harshest most cynical provocations.
The hour has come for the commercial media - in Venezuela and among U.S.
and English language correspondents who have been feeding a false picture
of events there - to grow up and cease the dishonest reports that get
proved wrong again and again and again, and again today.
>From somewhere in a country called New York City,
Al Giordano
Publisher
The Narco News Bulletin
http://www.narconews.com/
narconews@hotmail.com
IRAK
Tages-Anzeiger: Dollar-Segen für Iraks Opposition
Dass die USA irakische Oppositionsgruppen unterstützen will wurde schon 1998 beschlossen. Wegen Unstimmigkeiten über die Modalitäten lag das Projekt aber inzwischen auf Eis. Jetzt hat US-Präsident Bush die 92 Millionen Dollar freigegeben.
Die Irakische Opposition wird nun von den USA finanziert bzw. gesteuert und verlieren noch mehr Glaubwürdigkeit. So wurde zum Beispiel der Irakische Nationalkongress vom Amerikanischen Aussenministerium
gegründet und dient diesem als PR-Vehikel.
Tages-Anzeiger: Dollar-Segen für Iraks Opposition
Dass die USA irakische Oppositionsgruppen unterstützen will wurde schon 1998 beschlossen. Wegen Unstimmigkeiten über die Modalitäten lag das Projekt aber inzwischen auf Eis. Jetzt hat US-Präsident Bush die 92 Millionen Dollar freigegeben.
Die Irakische Opposition wird nun von den USA finanziert bzw. gesteuert und verlieren noch mehr Glaubwürdigkeit. So wurde zum Beispiel der Irakische Nationalkongress vom Amerikanischen Aussenministerium
gegründet und dient diesem als PR-Vehikel.
USA
2600: PHOTOGRAPHER ARRESTED FOR TAKING PICTURES OF VICE PRESIDENT'S HOTEL
An amateur photographer named Mike Maginnis was arrested on Tuesday in his home city of Denver - for simply taking pictures of buildings in an area where Vice President Cheney was residing. Maginnis told his story on Wednesday's edition of Off The Hook.
2600: PHOTOGRAPHER ARRESTED FOR TAKING PICTURES OF VICE PRESIDENT'S HOTEL
An amateur photographer named Mike Maginnis was arrested on Tuesday in his home city of Denver - for simply taking pictures of buildings in an area where Vice President Cheney was residing. Maginnis told his story on Wednesday's edition of Off The Hook.
USA
Truthout: Homeland Security Act: The Rise of the American Police State (Part 3)
Dritter und letzter Teil des Reports
Truthout: Homeland Security Act: The Rise of the American Police State (Part 3)
Dritter und letzter Teil des Reports
TERROR
From the Wilderness: Urgent Alert - Stories Breaking That Saddam Has Rare Weaponized Smallpox From Russia
"Thus far the Homeland Security, mass vaccination, biowarfare and Iraqi war issues have been running on parallel tracks. This story joins them together. While I personally believe it unlikely that Saddam actually has or will use these viruses I also think it extremely likely that the more Draconian measures on the drawing board for repression here at home have now been placed in the starting blocks. By all reckoning - after the unexpected delays in the Iraqi invasion plan that were caused by successful politicking at the UN - FTW now expects that the invasion will begin on the next new moon cycle around January 2nd."
MSNBC: Smallpox shots cause worry
As physical specimens, the Baylor University students were fit and healthy, the “crème de la crème,” in the words of researcher Kathy Edwards. Yet when she inoculated them with smallpox vaccine, arms swelled, temperatures spiked and panic spread
From the Wilderness: Urgent Alert - Stories Breaking That Saddam Has Rare Weaponized Smallpox From Russia
"Thus far the Homeland Security, mass vaccination, biowarfare and Iraqi war issues have been running on parallel tracks. This story joins them together. While I personally believe it unlikely that Saddam actually has or will use these viruses I also think it extremely likely that the more Draconian measures on the drawing board for repression here at home have now been placed in the starting blocks. By all reckoning - after the unexpected delays in the Iraqi invasion plan that were caused by successful politicking at the UN - FTW now expects that the invasion will begin on the next new moon cycle around January 2nd."
MSNBC: Smallpox shots cause worry
As physical specimens, the Baylor University students were fit and healthy, the “crème de la crème,” in the words of researcher Kathy Edwards. Yet when she inoculated them with smallpox vaccine, arms swelled, temperatures spiked and panic spread
USA
Stanford daily: Fisk criticizes U.S. media in interview
Interview mir The Independent Ausland-Koresspondent Robert Fisk
Stanford daily: Fisk criticizes U.S. media in interview
Interview mir The Independent Ausland-Koresspondent Robert Fisk
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