IRAQ
unknownnews: Mystery pneumonia is being caused by America's weapons of mass destruction: A theory by Steve Hesske
Could America's mainstream media be any more perfidious and derelict in its so-called reporting of the current so-called pneumonia epidemic among U.S. service personnel in Iraq and a few nearby countries? A quick, informal survey of this week's coverage of the pneumonia story by our bastions of truth and enlightenment — CNN, Fox, CBS, ABC, MSNBC, The New York Times, The Washington Post — shows that while all covered the story, none mentioned Gulf War Syndrome which befell maybe as much as 20% of the 700,000 Americans who served in the 1991 Persian Gulf War (PGW) or depleted uranium (DU) a radioactive weapon of mass destruction (WMD), outlawed by international treaty and world courts, that was used exclusively and extensively by the United States during the PGW and that was used by the U.S. during the recent invasion of Iraq at 10 times its PGW rate.
"CHECK IT"
Tuesday, August 12, 2003
IRAQI RESISTANCE
islamonline: Iraqi Group Vows Anti-U.S. Attacks, Denies Saddam Links
BAGHDAD, August 10 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Four masked men identifying themselves as Iraqi resistance group warned Sunday, August 10, of more anti-U.S. resistance operations in Iraq, while denying any link with Saddam Hussein's ousted regime.
"This increasing resistance has no link with what remains of the former regime," said one of the four men pictured in a videotape broadcast by Qatar's Al-Jazeera satellite news channel.
"Because they have neither values nor principles, the ousted regime are not capable of taking part in anti-U.S. resistance and could not sacrifice their sons and wives; otherwise Baghdad would not have fallen with such easiness," he added.
"Iraqi resistance is legal and justified by all international laws and resolutions. How come that we should not resist as thousands of Iraqis are being detained, our land occupied and our honor violated" he said.
islamonline: Iraqi Group Vows Anti-U.S. Attacks, Denies Saddam Links
BAGHDAD, August 10 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Four masked men identifying themselves as Iraqi resistance group warned Sunday, August 10, of more anti-U.S. resistance operations in Iraq, while denying any link with Saddam Hussein's ousted regime.
"This increasing resistance has no link with what remains of the former regime," said one of the four men pictured in a videotape broadcast by Qatar's Al-Jazeera satellite news channel.
"Because they have neither values nor principles, the ousted regime are not capable of taking part in anti-U.S. resistance and could not sacrifice their sons and wives; otherwise Baghdad would not have fallen with such easiness," he added.
"Iraqi resistance is legal and justified by all international laws and resolutions. How come that we should not resist as thousands of Iraqis are being detained, our land occupied and our honor violated" he said.
IRAQI RESISTANCE
Sidney Morning Herald: Braced for an onslaught in Iraq
The United States-led administration in Iraq has received intelligence reports that hundreds of Islamic militants who fled Iraq during the war have returned and are planning terrorist attacks.
The top civilian administrator in Iraq, Paul Bremer, said fighters from Ansar al-Islam, a militant organisation that the US had sought to eliminate during the war, had escaped to Iran and then slipped back across the border. Hundreds of them were now in Iraq, preparing to attack the occupation forces or administration.
"The intelligence suggests that Ansar al-Islam is planning large-scale terrorist attacks here," he said. "So as long as we have, as I think we do, substantial numbers of Ansar terrorists around here, I think we have to be pretty alert to the fact that we may see more of this."
Sidney Morning Herald: Braced for an onslaught in Iraq
The United States-led administration in Iraq has received intelligence reports that hundreds of Islamic militants who fled Iraq during the war have returned and are planning terrorist attacks.
The top civilian administrator in Iraq, Paul Bremer, said fighters from Ansar al-Islam, a militant organisation that the US had sought to eliminate during the war, had escaped to Iran and then slipped back across the border. Hundreds of them were now in Iraq, preparing to attack the occupation forces or administration.
"The intelligence suggests that Ansar al-Islam is planning large-scale terrorist attacks here," he said. "So as long as we have, as I think we do, substantial numbers of Ansar terrorists around here, I think we have to be pretty alert to the fact that we may see more of this."
Monday, August 11, 2003
IRAQ BODYCOUNT
Islamonline: At Least 20,000 Iraqis Injured In War: Report
CAIRO, Aug 10 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – At least 20,000 Iraqi civilians were injured in the U.S.-led war with 8,000 of these injuries reported in the Baghdad area alone, according to the first report of its kind prepared by an Anglo-American-European group of anti-war peace activists.
In its report entitled "Adding Indifference to Injury," the Iraq Body Count (IBC) underlined that the need to investigate and assess the war civilian deaths and injuries is urgent "for many of the injured may still be suffering and their condition may be improved if we act promptly."
CAIRO, Aug 10 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – At least 20,000 Iraqi civilians were injured in the U.S.-led war with 8,000 of these injuries reported in the Baghdad area alone, according to the first report of its kind prepared by an Anglo-American-European group of anti-war peace activists.
In its report entitled "Adding Indifference to Injury," the Iraq Body Count (IBC) underlined that the need to investigate and assess the war civilian deaths and injuries is urgent "for many of the injured may still be suffering and their condition may be improved if we act promptly."
Islamonline: At Least 20,000 Iraqis Injured In War: Report
CAIRO, Aug 10 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – At least 20,000 Iraqi civilians were injured in the U.S.-led war with 8,000 of these injuries reported in the Baghdad area alone, according to the first report of its kind prepared by an Anglo-American-European group of anti-war peace activists.
In its report entitled "Adding Indifference to Injury," the Iraq Body Count (IBC) underlined that the need to investigate and assess the war civilian deaths and injuries is urgent "for many of the injured may still be suffering and their condition may be improved if we act promptly."
CAIRO, Aug 10 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – At least 20,000 Iraqi civilians were injured in the U.S.-led war with 8,000 of these injuries reported in the Baghdad area alone, according to the first report of its kind prepared by an Anglo-American-European group of anti-war peace activists.
In its report entitled "Adding Indifference to Injury," the Iraq Body Count (IBC) underlined that the need to investigate and assess the war civilian deaths and injuries is urgent "for many of the injured may still be suffering and their condition may be improved if we act promptly."
IRAQ SUMMARY
Independent: Iraq: 100 days of 'peace'
On 1 May, President Bush declared war over after six weeks. Mission accomplished?
The US Administrator: Paul Bremer, head of US-led civilian administration
"We believe that the attacks against the coalition forces are coming from a number of areas, some of which will be, I think, reduced if we can kill or capture Saddam. Those are attacks that are coming to us from desperados, from the Baathist party, the trained killers of the Fedayeen Saddam and the trained killers of many of the intelligence services which Saddam had.....
The Café Owner: Burhan Gharib, Baghdad
Many bad things have happened, such as the looting. There is no electricity, the security situation is unstable. If you compare them with Saddam Hussein, the Americans have done nothing for us. They came to Iraq and said, 'We came to protect you' but the only place they protected from the looters was the Ministry of Oil.....
The British Politician: Robin Cook MP
I'm astonished that the coalition have put little thought into what to do after the capture of Iraq. The military preparation was meticulous, but the preparations for how to reconstruct the country are being made up as we go along....
CHECK IT CHECK IT CHECK IT CHECK IT CHECK IT
Independent: Iraq: 100 days of 'peace'
On 1 May, President Bush declared war over after six weeks. Mission accomplished?
The US Administrator: Paul Bremer, head of US-led civilian administration
"We believe that the attacks against the coalition forces are coming from a number of areas, some of which will be, I think, reduced if we can kill or capture Saddam. Those are attacks that are coming to us from desperados, from the Baathist party, the trained killers of the Fedayeen Saddam and the trained killers of many of the intelligence services which Saddam had.....
The Café Owner: Burhan Gharib, Baghdad
Many bad things have happened, such as the looting. There is no electricity, the security situation is unstable. If you compare them with Saddam Hussein, the Americans have done nothing for us. They came to Iraq and said, 'We came to protect you' but the only place they protected from the looters was the Ministry of Oil.....
The British Politician: Robin Cook MP
I'm astonished that the coalition have put little thought into what to do after the capture of Iraq. The military preparation was meticulous, but the preparations for how to reconstruct the country are being made up as we go along....
CHECK IT CHECK IT CHECK IT CHECK IT CHECK IT
DAVID KELLY - DEATH MICROBIOLOGISTS
Rense: Dead Microbiologists Linked To Ethno-Specific BioWeapons
From Patricia Doyle, PhD
Hello, Jeff - Note the following exerpt from the article enclosed. I remember when I first read each news report about the death of separate microbiologists. Absolutely no one considered the fact that the deaths of the various microbiologists, especially the first five - Dr. Que, Wiley, Schwartz, Paschnek and Dr. Nguyen - were related. The press simply reported each death as it occurred and did not put the deaths together. In essence, no one connected the dots until you and I discussed the connection on your program.
It would appear that Dr. Kelly is related to the microbiologist deaths phonomenon. Please note the excerpt below. In the scheme of things, I wonder where Ken Alibek fits in? He is definitely one dot that I believe (allegedly) connects to, not only the microbiologist deaths, but the Anthrax attacks of 2001. I also believe that (allegedly) Don Rumsfeld is another dot.
If you remember, when we connected the dots i.e. put the deaths together, I discussed the possibility that each scientist had a "piece of the puzzle" in regard to a "target specific" bioweapon. I am wondering if SARS, somehow fits into the puzzle? Was SARS developed in China, or Israel? Does make one wonder.
Excerpt:
"The two American scientists he had worked with were Benito Que, 52, and Don Wiley, 57. Both microbiologists had been engaged in DNA sequencing that could provide "a genetic marker based on genetic profiling." The research could play an important role in developing weaponized pathogens to hit selected groups of humans"identifying them by race. Two years ago, both men were found dead, in circumstances never fully explained."
Rense: Dead Microbiologists Linked To Ethno-Specific BioWeapons
From Patricia Doyle, PhD
Hello, Jeff - Note the following exerpt from the article enclosed. I remember when I first read each news report about the death of separate microbiologists. Absolutely no one considered the fact that the deaths of the various microbiologists, especially the first five - Dr. Que, Wiley, Schwartz, Paschnek and Dr. Nguyen - were related. The press simply reported each death as it occurred and did not put the deaths together. In essence, no one connected the dots until you and I discussed the connection on your program.
It would appear that Dr. Kelly is related to the microbiologist deaths phonomenon. Please note the excerpt below. In the scheme of things, I wonder where Ken Alibek fits in? He is definitely one dot that I believe (allegedly) connects to, not only the microbiologist deaths, but the Anthrax attacks of 2001. I also believe that (allegedly) Don Rumsfeld is another dot.
If you remember, when we connected the dots i.e. put the deaths together, I discussed the possibility that each scientist had a "piece of the puzzle" in regard to a "target specific" bioweapon. I am wondering if SARS, somehow fits into the puzzle? Was SARS developed in China, or Israel? Does make one wonder.
Excerpt:
"The two American scientists he had worked with were Benito Que, 52, and Don Wiley, 57. Both microbiologists had been engaged in DNA sequencing that could provide "a genetic marker based on genetic profiling." The research could play an important role in developing weaponized pathogens to hit selected groups of humans"identifying them by race. Two years ago, both men were found dead, in circumstances never fully explained."
IRAQ
Washington Times: Bush documents progress in Iraq
One hundred days after he declared an end to major combat in Iraq,
President Bush yesterday said coalition forces have achieved great
progress toward improving security, restoring vital services and fostering
democracy in that nation. Citing the reopening of banks, a return of water and
electrical service to many parts of Iraq and a shifting mentality
toward democracy, the president said Iraq is well on its way to enjoying the
fruits of freedom.
"Believe whatever you like"
Washington Times: Bush documents progress in Iraq
One hundred days after he declared an end to major combat in Iraq,
President Bush yesterday said coalition forces have achieved great
progress toward improving security, restoring vital services and fostering
democracy in that nation. Citing the reopening of banks, a return of water and
electrical service to many parts of Iraq and a shifting mentality
toward democracy, the president said Iraq is well on its way to enjoying the
fruits of freedom.
"Believe whatever you like"
IRAQ
Sidney Morning Herald: New, improved and more lethal: son of napalm
The Pentagon no longer officially uses the brand-name 'Napalm', but a similar sticky, inflammable substance known as 'fuel-gel mixture', contained in weapons called Mark-77 fire bombs, was dropped on Iraqi troops near the Iraq-Kuwait border at the start of the war.
"I can confirm that Mark-77 fire bombs were used in that general area," Colonel Mike Daily of the US Marine Corps said.
Colonel Daily said that US stocks of Vietnam-era napalm had been phased out, but that the fuel-gel mixture in the Mark-77s had "similar destructive characteristics."
"Many folks (out of habit) refer to the Mark-77 as 'napalm' because its effect upon the target is remarkably similar," he said.
Napalm was banned by United Nations convention in 1980, but the US never signed the agreement. Use of Mark-77 fire bombs is considered legal by the US military.
Sidney Morning Herald: New, improved and more lethal: son of napalm
The Pentagon no longer officially uses the brand-name 'Napalm', but a similar sticky, inflammable substance known as 'fuel-gel mixture', contained in weapons called Mark-77 fire bombs, was dropped on Iraqi troops near the Iraq-Kuwait border at the start of the war.
"I can confirm that Mark-77 fire bombs were used in that general area," Colonel Mike Daily of the US Marine Corps said.
Colonel Daily said that US stocks of Vietnam-era napalm had been phased out, but that the fuel-gel mixture in the Mark-77s had "similar destructive characteristics."
"Many folks (out of habit) refer to the Mark-77 as 'napalm' because its effect upon the target is remarkably similar," he said.
Napalm was banned by United Nations convention in 1980, but the US never signed the agreement. Use of Mark-77 fire bombs is considered legal by the US military.
IRAQ
Guardian: Cheney firm's rival is forced to drop oil bid
One of the main bidders for the lucrative contract to rebuild the Iraqi oil industry has dropped out of the race, amid concerns that the tender process unfairly favours Halliburton, the company with close ties to the US vice-president, Dick Cheney.
The construction giant Bechtel, one of the biggest engineering companies in the world, now plans to sidestep Washington and apply directly to the Iraqi oil ministry for work.
The growing disquiet over cronyism in George Bush's administration was further stirred yesterday when it emerged that a friend of the president who helped his election campaign had been hired as the director of private development in Iraq.
Thomas Foley, 51, befriended Mr Bush when they attended Harvard. He will be in charge of 200 state-owned enterprises including mining, chemical, cement and tobacco production, and report directly to the top US administrator in Iraq, Paul Bremer.
A Halliburton subsidiary, Kellogg Brown & Root, was quietly awarded a contract without tendering in the spring to perform immediate repairs to Iraq's oil infrastructure, and extinguish oil fires. The Army Corps of Engineers said the work, which could be worth up to $7bn (£4.3bn), was part of a wider contract signed last year.
Guardian: Cheney firm's rival is forced to drop oil bid
One of the main bidders for the lucrative contract to rebuild the Iraqi oil industry has dropped out of the race, amid concerns that the tender process unfairly favours Halliburton, the company with close ties to the US vice-president, Dick Cheney.
The construction giant Bechtel, one of the biggest engineering companies in the world, now plans to sidestep Washington and apply directly to the Iraqi oil ministry for work.
The growing disquiet over cronyism in George Bush's administration was further stirred yesterday when it emerged that a friend of the president who helped his election campaign had been hired as the director of private development in Iraq.
Thomas Foley, 51, befriended Mr Bush when they attended Harvard. He will be in charge of 200 state-owned enterprises including mining, chemical, cement and tobacco production, and report directly to the top US administrator in Iraq, Paul Bremer.
A Halliburton subsidiary, Kellogg Brown & Root, was quietly awarded a contract without tendering in the spring to perform immediate repairs to Iraq's oil infrastructure, and extinguish oil fires. The Army Corps of Engineers said the work, which could be worth up to $7bn (£4.3bn), was part of a wider contract signed last year.
ANTI-WTO
Sidney Morning Herald: More than 100,000 join Bove at anti-WTO rally
More than 100,000 people have flocked to a rally to welcome the release from prison of French eco-warrior Jose Bove and to protest against the agenda for World Trade Organisation (WTO) talks next month, organisers said yesterday.
"We had already allocated lay-bys and campsites for 100,000 people, but we had to open up new ones during the night," said a spokesman for Bove's Small Farmers' Confederation.
Sidney Morning Herald: More than 100,000 join Bove at anti-WTO rally
More than 100,000 people have flocked to a rally to welcome the release from prison of French eco-warrior Jose Bove and to protest against the agenda for World Trade Organisation (WTO) talks next month, organisers said yesterday.
"We had already allocated lay-bys and campsites for 100,000 people, but we had to open up new ones during the night," said a spokesman for Bove's Small Farmers' Confederation.
IRAQ
The Nation: Member of an Islamic Terrorist Group Now Heads 'Liberated' Iraq!
Iraq has its first temporary president....Ibrahim Jafari. (He'll hold
the job for a month: It's a rotating presidency, handed off like a relay
baton between nine 'chairmen'....chosen by a USDA-approved 25-member
Governing Council.) Jafari hails from the Shiite fundamentalist party Al Dawa...
Would that be the same Dawa that carried out a series of Reagan-era
bombings in Kuwait of....the American and French embassies and the
residential housing of American Raytheon employees -- bombings that
killed five people and injured 80? The same Dawa that took inspiration from
the Iranian Islamic Revolution and the Ayatollah Khomenei? The same Dawa
that founded and set up Hezbollah... ? Why yes, it would. Only now, after
three decades of guerrilla and terrorist violence, they've surfaced to demand
a share of ruling post-Saddam Iraq...claiming they now believe in
democracy and rule of law. And we trust them on this because...well...who can
keep track of all these guys anyway?
The Nation: Member of an Islamic Terrorist Group Now Heads 'Liberated' Iraq!
Iraq has its first temporary president....Ibrahim Jafari. (He'll hold
the job for a month: It's a rotating presidency, handed off like a relay
baton between nine 'chairmen'....chosen by a USDA-approved 25-member
Governing Council.) Jafari hails from the Shiite fundamentalist party Al Dawa...
Would that be the same Dawa that carried out a series of Reagan-era
bombings in Kuwait of....the American and French embassies and the
residential housing of American Raytheon employees -- bombings that
killed five people and injured 80? The same Dawa that took inspiration from
the Iranian Islamic Revolution and the Ayatollah Khomenei? The same Dawa
that founded and set up Hezbollah... ? Why yes, it would. Only now, after
three decades of guerrilla and terrorist violence, they've surfaced to demand
a share of ruling post-Saddam Iraq...claiming they now believe in
democracy and rule of law. And we trust them on this because...well...who can
keep track of all these guys anyway?
IRAQ
Gulfwarvets.com: Bush Administration is Hiding the Truth about the 'Mystery
Pneumonia' Striking Troops in Iraq
Mark Neusche, father of US soldier Josh Neusche who died recently in
Iraq from "mystery pneumonia" says that while visiting his comatose son at
Landstuhl Hospital, he overheard the nurses say they were expecting
many sick troops to be brought in "all at one time. In fact, the father
actually witnessed approximately 55 other troops being received by the hospital
after they were transported by a military ambulance (bus)," according
to a report at the American Gulf War Veterans site... "[T]he transported
troops were exhibiting varying degrees of the illness. Some walked, some were
in wheelchairs and others were on respirators. In the commotion, a doctor
reported to the father that his son was suffering from a 'toxin.' No
mention of pneumonia was ever made to him, nor was it ever reported in
the medical record."
Gulfwarvets.com: Bush Administration is Hiding the Truth about the 'Mystery
Pneumonia' Striking Troops in Iraq
Mark Neusche, father of US soldier Josh Neusche who died recently in
Iraq from "mystery pneumonia" says that while visiting his comatose son at
Landstuhl Hospital, he overheard the nurses say they were expecting
many sick troops to be brought in "all at one time. In fact, the father
actually witnessed approximately 55 other troops being received by the hospital
after they were transported by a military ambulance (bus)," according
to a report at the American Gulf War Veterans site... "[T]he transported
troops were exhibiting varying degrees of the illness. Some walked, some were
in wheelchairs and others were on respirators. In the commotion, a doctor
reported to the father that his son was suffering from a 'toxin.' No
mention of pneumonia was ever made to him, nor was it ever reported in
the medical record."
IRAQI RESISTANCE
Pakistan Dawn: Anti-British riots break out in Basra
BASRA, Aug 9: Riots broke out on Saturday in the southern port of Basra as tensions exploded over the British control of Iraq's second largest city, leaving seven soldiers and four Iraqi civilians injured.
Residents hurled rocks and burned tires in all the city's main streets as Iraqis raged in the blistering summer heat over the tortoise-like pace of the coalition force's reconstruction efforts.
The rioting started minutes after witnesses said a grenade was hurled at a British military truck near a gasoline station, where fed-up Iraqis waited in a long line for fuel, angered by the fact they were queuing for hours in a country with the world's second largest oil reserves
Pakistan Dawn: Anti-British riots break out in Basra
BASRA, Aug 9: Riots broke out on Saturday in the southern port of Basra as tensions exploded over the British control of Iraq's second largest city, leaving seven soldiers and four Iraqi civilians injured.
Residents hurled rocks and burned tires in all the city's main streets as Iraqis raged in the blistering summer heat over the tortoise-like pace of the coalition force's reconstruction efforts.
The rioting started minutes after witnesses said a grenade was hurled at a British military truck near a gasoline station, where fed-up Iraqis waited in a long line for fuel, angered by the fact they were queuing for hours in a country with the world's second largest oil reserves
IRAQ
Independent: Family shot dead by panicking US troops
Firing blindly during a power cut, soldiers kill a father and three children in their car
The abd al-Kerim family didn't have a chance. American soldiers opened fire on their car with no warning and at close quarters. They killed the father and three of the children, one of them only eight years old. Now only the mother, Anwar, and a 13-year-old daughter are alive to tell how the bullets tore through the windscreen and how they screamed for the Americans to stop.
"We never did anything to the Americans and they just killed us," the heavily pregnant Ms abd al-Kerim said. "We were calling out to them 'Stop, stop, we are a family', but they kept on shooting
Doctors said the father and his two daughters would have survived if they had received treatment quicker. Instead, they were left to bleed to death because the Americans refused to allow anyone to take them to hospital.
Independent: Family shot dead by panicking US troops
Firing blindly during a power cut, soldiers kill a father and three children in their car
The abd al-Kerim family didn't have a chance. American soldiers opened fire on their car with no warning and at close quarters. They killed the father and three of the children, one of them only eight years old. Now only the mother, Anwar, and a 13-year-old daughter are alive to tell how the bullets tore through the windscreen and how they screamed for the Americans to stop.
"We never did anything to the Americans and they just killed us," the heavily pregnant Ms abd al-Kerim said. "We were calling out to them 'Stop, stop, we are a family', but they kept on shooting
Doctors said the father and his two daughters would have survived if they had received treatment quicker. Instead, they were left to bleed to death because the Americans refused to allow anyone to take them to hospital.
Friday, August 08, 2003
USA
Heise: Gegen milde Richter und Pornographie
Der christlich-fundamentalistische US-Justizminister Ashcroft will harte Strafen und ein keusches Amerika
Amerikas Justizminister John Ashcroft, der schon einmal inmitten seiner Mitarbeiter Kirchenlieder singt ( John Ashcroft l?sst den Adler segeln) oder nackte Statuen verhüllt ( USA führen Schleierzwang ein), geh?rt der radikalen christlichen Fraktion der Konservativen an ( Fliegendes Teleskop soll kosmischen Gral aufspüren). Mit seinem ?berwachungsplan TIPS, bei dem m?glichst alle Amerikaner ihre Nachbarn ausspitzeln sollten, ist der Justizminister gescheitert, bereitet aber klammheimlich schon einmal eine versch?rfte Version des Patriot-Gesetzes vor. Im Umgang mit den Gesetzen hatte sich Ashcroft stets als sehr flexibel erweisen, wenn es um angebliche Terrorverd?chtige ging ( Das Recht auf Willkür im Krieg). Jetzt will er aber zumindest st?rker gegen liberale Richter vorgehen, die für den Christen zu geringe Strafen verh?ngen und die Pornobranche eind?mmen
"Man werde weitere Anklagen vorbereiten, um Andere von abzuhalten, "obsz?nes Material herzustellen und verbreiten".
"Die Taliban haben sich neu formiert. Diesmal in Amerika"
Heise: Gegen milde Richter und Pornographie
Der christlich-fundamentalistische US-Justizminister Ashcroft will harte Strafen und ein keusches Amerika
Amerikas Justizminister John Ashcroft, der schon einmal inmitten seiner Mitarbeiter Kirchenlieder singt ( John Ashcroft l?sst den Adler segeln) oder nackte Statuen verhüllt ( USA führen Schleierzwang ein), geh?rt der radikalen christlichen Fraktion der Konservativen an ( Fliegendes Teleskop soll kosmischen Gral aufspüren). Mit seinem ?berwachungsplan TIPS, bei dem m?glichst alle Amerikaner ihre Nachbarn ausspitzeln sollten, ist der Justizminister gescheitert, bereitet aber klammheimlich schon einmal eine versch?rfte Version des Patriot-Gesetzes vor. Im Umgang mit den Gesetzen hatte sich Ashcroft stets als sehr flexibel erweisen, wenn es um angebliche Terrorverd?chtige ging ( Das Recht auf Willkür im Krieg). Jetzt will er aber zumindest st?rker gegen liberale Richter vorgehen, die für den Christen zu geringe Strafen verh?ngen und die Pornobranche eind?mmen
"Man werde weitere Anklagen vorbereiten, um Andere von abzuhalten, "obsz?nes Material herzustellen und verbreiten".
"Die Taliban haben sich neu formiert. Diesmal in Amerika"
OCCUPIED TERRITORIES: ISRAEL BREAKS CEASE-FIRE
Tagesanzeiger: Hamas droht mit Ende der Waffenruhe
Nach einem Einsatz der israelischen Armee gegen die Hamas in Nablus im Westjordanland, hat die radikalislamische Organisation mit der Aufkündigung ihrer Waffenruhe gedroht.
Mit dem Einsatz zur Festnahme eines Hamas-Aktivisten im Flüchtlingslager von Askar in Nablus habe die Armee gegen den Waffenstillstand verstossen, sagte Hamas-Anführer Ismail Abu Schanab am Freitag der Nachrichtenagentur AFP in Gaza.
Angesichts eines solchen Angriffs werde seine Organisation «nicht schweigen», für die Hamas sei damit eine «rote Linie» überschritten. Die Hamas hatte Ende Juni eine dreimonatige Waffenruhe mit Israel verkündet.
Reuters: Hamas Man Killed in Israeli Raid in West Bank Camp
NABLUS, West Bank (Reuters) - Israeli soldiers raided a West Bank refugee camp and killed a Hamas militant on Friday during fighting that rocked a month-old cease-fire.
Violence also erupted at the Israel-Lebanon border, where Hizbollah attacked for the first time in a year Israeli posts at Shebaa Farms, regarded by the guerrilla group as Lebanese territory and by the U.N. as Israeli-occupied Syrian land.
There were no immediate reports of casualties in the attack, and Israeli warplanes responded with heavy airstrikes on the eastern and southern edges of the nearby Lebanese border village of Kfar Shouba, witnesses said.
The violence came six days after a Hizbollah official was killed in a car bombing in Beirut which the Shi'ite Muslim organization blamed on Israel.
Tagesanzeiger: Hamas droht mit Ende der Waffenruhe
Nach einem Einsatz der israelischen Armee gegen die Hamas in Nablus im Westjordanland, hat die radikalislamische Organisation mit der Aufkündigung ihrer Waffenruhe gedroht.
Mit dem Einsatz zur Festnahme eines Hamas-Aktivisten im Flüchtlingslager von Askar in Nablus habe die Armee gegen den Waffenstillstand verstossen, sagte Hamas-Anführer Ismail Abu Schanab am Freitag der Nachrichtenagentur AFP in Gaza.
Angesichts eines solchen Angriffs werde seine Organisation «nicht schweigen», für die Hamas sei damit eine «rote Linie» überschritten. Die Hamas hatte Ende Juni eine dreimonatige Waffenruhe mit Israel verkündet.
Reuters: Hamas Man Killed in Israeli Raid in West Bank Camp
NABLUS, West Bank (Reuters) - Israeli soldiers raided a West Bank refugee camp and killed a Hamas militant on Friday during fighting that rocked a month-old cease-fire.
Violence also erupted at the Israel-Lebanon border, where Hizbollah attacked for the first time in a year Israeli posts at Shebaa Farms, regarded by the guerrilla group as Lebanese territory and by the U.N. as Israeli-occupied Syrian land.
There were no immediate reports of casualties in the attack, and Israeli warplanes responded with heavy airstrikes on the eastern and southern edges of the nearby Lebanese border village of Kfar Shouba, witnesses said.
The violence came six days after a Hizbollah official was killed in a car bombing in Beirut which the Shi'ite Muslim organization blamed on Israel.
INDONESIA
Rense: Did US Have Advance Word On Indonesian Bombing?
8/5/03
US Embassy cancelled the booking of Marriott Hotel 4.5 hours before the explosion
Translation: US Embassy cancelled the booking of Marriott Hotel 4.5 hours before the explosion There was something interesting happened just hours before the explosion shocked the JW Marriott Hotel, Mega Kuningan, South Jakarta. The US Embassy cancelled the booking of 10-20 rooms in that hotel. The cancellation was on 8.00 West Indonesian Time, Tuesday, or only 4.5 hours before the explosion. This information is from employee of Marriot Hotel who refused to be identified. He explained that the booking was made several days ago. The US Embassy's guests were planned to stay for 3 days. And the ceremony was planned on Wednesday. For information, when there was the explosion, the security of US Embassy directly came to the Marriot Hotel in Mega Kuningan. JW Marriot Hotel is known to be used frequently by US Embassy. On 4 July 2003, the Independent Day of US was celebrated on this hotel. Last year, it was also celebrated there.
Translation from http://www.whatreallyhappened.com website
Rense: Did US Have Advance Word On Indonesian Bombing?
8/5/03
US Embassy cancelled the booking of Marriott Hotel 4.5 hours before the explosion
Translation: US Embassy cancelled the booking of Marriott Hotel 4.5 hours before the explosion There was something interesting happened just hours before the explosion shocked the JW Marriott Hotel, Mega Kuningan, South Jakarta. The US Embassy cancelled the booking of 10-20 rooms in that hotel. The cancellation was on 8.00 West Indonesian Time, Tuesday, or only 4.5 hours before the explosion. This information is from employee of Marriot Hotel who refused to be identified. He explained that the booking was made several days ago. The US Embassy's guests were planned to stay for 3 days. And the ceremony was planned on Wednesday. For information, when there was the explosion, the security of US Embassy directly came to the Marriot Hotel in Mega Kuningan. JW Marriot Hotel is known to be used frequently by US Embassy. On 4 July 2003, the Independent Day of US was celebrated on this hotel. Last year, it was also celebrated there.
Translation from http://www.whatreallyhappened.com website
UK: DAVID KELLY
the Guardian: Dr. Kelly & The Mysterious Chest Electrodes
Dr Kelly - the BBC's source for a report claiming the government altered the contents of a dossier about Iraq - had probably been wearing a 24-hour electro-cardiogram recorder, also known as a Holter monitor, medical experts said.
But it was odd that the pads that are connected to the device had not been removed by doctors and were left attached to his chest, they said.
"If I was in a morgue and his body was presented to me I would have thought it had come out of a coronary care unit or an operating theatre," said Professor Konrad Jamrozik, of Imperial College Hospital London.
"It would be unusual for someone to be walking around wearing these pads," he told the press association
the Guardian: Dr. Kelly & The Mysterious Chest Electrodes
Dr Kelly - the BBC's source for a report claiming the government altered the contents of a dossier about Iraq - had probably been wearing a 24-hour electro-cardiogram recorder, also known as a Holter monitor, medical experts said.
But it was odd that the pads that are connected to the device had not been removed by doctors and were left attached to his chest, they said.
"If I was in a morgue and his body was presented to me I would have thought it had come out of a coronary care unit or an operating theatre," said Professor Konrad Jamrozik, of Imperial College Hospital London.
"It would be unusual for someone to be walking around wearing these pads," he told the press association
1984 MIND CONTROL
Boston Globe: Defense Department funding brain-machine work
Even by Washington scandal standards, the "terrorism futures" scandal was strange and dramatic.
It started when two senators discovered an obscure military program designed to gauge the chances of various geopolitical developments, including terrorist attacks, by asking people to bet money on them. Within 48 hours -- or, more precisely, two news cycles -- the program was canceled and the man behind it, John Poindexter of Iran-contra fame, had tendered his resignation.
What most people don't know is that the Department of Defense is already funding a research program with far creepier implications.
The $24 million enterprise called Brain Machine Interfaces is developing technology that promises to directly read thoughts from a living brain -- and even instill thoughts as well.
The research, some of which is being done at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is already surprisingly advanced. Monkeys in a laboratory can control the movement of a robotic arm using only their thoughts. And last year scientists in New York announced they could control the skittering motions of a rat by implanting electrodes in its brain, steering it around the lab floor as if it were a radio-controlled toy car
The terrorism futures idea, the subject of near hysterical media coverage, is rooted in well-established economic principles. The Brain Machine Interface program, which may well be next in the spotlight, could offer help to the paralyzed and is no more likely to bring about a virtual police state than technologies that already are available
"Enter the Matrix"
CHECK IT
Boston Globe: Defense Department funding brain-machine work
Even by Washington scandal standards, the "terrorism futures" scandal was strange and dramatic.
It started when two senators discovered an obscure military program designed to gauge the chances of various geopolitical developments, including terrorist attacks, by asking people to bet money on them. Within 48 hours -- or, more precisely, two news cycles -- the program was canceled and the man behind it, John Poindexter of Iran-contra fame, had tendered his resignation.
What most people don't know is that the Department of Defense is already funding a research program with far creepier implications.
The $24 million enterprise called Brain Machine Interfaces is developing technology that promises to directly read thoughts from a living brain -- and even instill thoughts as well.
The research, some of which is being done at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is already surprisingly advanced. Monkeys in a laboratory can control the movement of a robotic arm using only their thoughts. And last year scientists in New York announced they could control the skittering motions of a rat by implanting electrodes in its brain, steering it around the lab floor as if it were a radio-controlled toy car
The terrorism futures idea, the subject of near hysterical media coverage, is rooted in well-established economic principles. The Brain Machine Interface program, which may well be next in the spotlight, could offer help to the paralyzed and is no more likely to bring about a virtual police state than technologies that already are available
"Enter the Matrix"
CHECK IT
IRAQ
Oregonlive: 'We don't feel like heroes anymore'
I am a private first class in the Army's 671st Engineer Company out of Portland. I just wanted to let you know a little bit of what we are up to, maybe so that you can have another opinion of what's going on over here in Iraq.
"A lot is being said about poor morale. That seems to be the case all over the place. It's hot, we've been here for a long time, it's dangerous, we haven't had any real down time in months and we don't know when we're going home.
I think a big aspect has been the people here. When the war had just ended, we were the liberators, and all the people loved us. Convoys were like one long parade. Somewhere down the line, we became an occupation force in their eyes. We don't feel like heroes anymore"
"The task is daunting, and the conditions are frightening. We can't help but think of "Black Hawk Down" when we're in Baghdad surrounded by swarms of people. Soldiers are being attacked, injured and killed every day. The rules of engagement are crippling. We are outnumbered. We are exhausted. We are in over our heads"
Oregonlive: 'We don't feel like heroes anymore'
I am a private first class in the Army's 671st Engineer Company out of Portland. I just wanted to let you know a little bit of what we are up to, maybe so that you can have another opinion of what's going on over here in Iraq.
"A lot is being said about poor morale. That seems to be the case all over the place. It's hot, we've been here for a long time, it's dangerous, we haven't had any real down time in months and we don't know when we're going home.
I think a big aspect has been the people here. When the war had just ended, we were the liberators, and all the people loved us. Convoys were like one long parade. Somewhere down the line, we became an occupation force in their eyes. We don't feel like heroes anymore"
"The task is daunting, and the conditions are frightening. We can't help but think of "Black Hawk Down" when we're in Baghdad surrounded by swarms of people. Soldiers are being attacked, injured and killed every day. The rules of engagement are crippling. We are outnumbered. We are exhausted. We are in over our heads"
IRAQ
Chicago Tribune: U.S. holding Iraqis at notorious prison
Families are barred from Abu Ghraib and very few inmates have been allowed to see lawyers
ABU GHRAIB, Iraq -- Once one of Iraq's notorious prisons where Saddam Hussein had political prisoners tortured and hanged, Abu Ghraib has become a makeshift jail at the heart of the U.S. military's struggle to give Iraqis a new sense of justice.
About 500 Iraqis are detained here and, like detainees in U.S. prison camps across Iraq, none has been allowed family visits. Only one out of 10 has been allowed to see a lawyer.
The five compounds in the prison were ransacked after Hussein freed virtually all of Iraq's prisoners last October, so the detainees are penned in tents behind rolls of razor wire. On some days, the camp roasts under a midday sun that produces temperatures as high as 130 degrees
Chicago Tribune: U.S. holding Iraqis at notorious prison
Families are barred from Abu Ghraib and very few inmates have been allowed to see lawyers
ABU GHRAIB, Iraq -- Once one of Iraq's notorious prisons where Saddam Hussein had political prisoners tortured and hanged, Abu Ghraib has become a makeshift jail at the heart of the U.S. military's struggle to give Iraqis a new sense of justice.
About 500 Iraqis are detained here and, like detainees in U.S. prison camps across Iraq, none has been allowed family visits. Only one out of 10 has been allowed to see a lawyer.
The five compounds in the prison were ransacked after Hussein freed virtually all of Iraq's prisoners last October, so the detainees are penned in tents behind rolls of razor wire. On some days, the camp roasts under a midday sun that produces temperatures as high as 130 degrees
INDONESIA
WSWS.org: Washington and Canberra seize on Jakarta bombing to further justify “war on terror”
At least 14 people are dead and almost 150 injured after the blast from a large car bomb ripped through the ground floor of the luxury JB Marriott Hotel and surrounding buildings in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta at lunchtime on Tuesday. Those killed include two taxi drivers, hotel employees and a Dutch businessman. Not all of the bodies, some of which were severely burnt, have been identified.
At this stage it is not clear who was responsible. But this brutal murder of innocent people is a profoundly reactionary act, which will be seized upon by Jakarta to bolster its repressive apparatus and by Washington and its allies as a pretext for the “global war on terrorism”.
Within 24 hours, the Indonesian government announced plans to step up security measures throughout the country. Their anti-democratic character was indicated by top security minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who declared on Tuesday that people should be prepared to accept drastic new limits on their civil rights. “The government will impose these restrictions as we are determined to prevent the deaths of more victims,” he said. “Their lives are worth more than the price of human rights.”
"CHECK IT"
WSWS.org: Washington and Canberra seize on Jakarta bombing to further justify “war on terror”
At least 14 people are dead and almost 150 injured after the blast from a large car bomb ripped through the ground floor of the luxury JB Marriott Hotel and surrounding buildings in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta at lunchtime on Tuesday. Those killed include two taxi drivers, hotel employees and a Dutch businessman. Not all of the bodies, some of which were severely burnt, have been identified.
At this stage it is not clear who was responsible. But this brutal murder of innocent people is a profoundly reactionary act, which will be seized upon by Jakarta to bolster its repressive apparatus and by Washington and its allies as a pretext for the “global war on terrorism”.
Within 24 hours, the Indonesian government announced plans to step up security measures throughout the country. Their anti-democratic character was indicated by top security minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who declared on Tuesday that people should be prepared to accept drastic new limits on their civil rights. “The government will impose these restrictions as we are determined to prevent the deaths of more victims,” he said. “Their lives are worth more than the price of human rights.”
"CHECK IT"
IRAQ
UPI: Army weighs vaccine link in troops' death
WASHINGTON, Aug. 6 (UPI) -- The Army will consider whether the anthrax
or other vaccine could be causing a cluster of pneumonia cases among
soldiers in Iraq and southwestern Asia, an official said Wednesday. Col. Robert
DeFraites of the Army Surgeon General's office told United Press
International that the Pentagon would look into whether vaccines, among
other factors, might have triggered the pneumonia that has killed two
soldiers and sickened 100. "Among all of the possible causes or
contributing factors, we are looking at the immunizations that the
soldiers received as well," DeFraites told UPI Wednesday. "It is premature to
say that there is any relationship at all."
UPI: Army weighs vaccine link in troops' death
WASHINGTON, Aug. 6 (UPI) -- The Army will consider whether the anthrax
or other vaccine could be causing a cluster of pneumonia cases among
soldiers in Iraq and southwestern Asia, an official said Wednesday. Col. Robert
DeFraites of the Army Surgeon General's office told United Press
International that the Pentagon would look into whether vaccines, among
other factors, might have triggered the pneumonia that has killed two
soldiers and sickened 100. "Among all of the possible causes or
contributing factors, we are looking at the immunizations that the
soldiers received as well," DeFraites told UPI Wednesday. "It is premature to
say that there is any relationship at all."
USA
Clearinghouse: Wolfowitz: Iraq Was Not Involved In 9-11 Terrorist Attacks, No Ties To Al-Qaeda
08/06/03: (Information Clearing House) Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, one of the main architects for the war in Iraq, admitted for the first time that Iraq had nothing to do with the September 11 terrorist attacks, contradicting public statements made by senior White House and Pentagon officials whose attempt to link Saddam Hussein and the terrorist organization al-Qaeda was cited by the Bush administration as one of the main reasons for launching a preemptive strike in March against Iraq.
In an interview with conservative radio personality Laura Ingraham, Wolfowitz was asked when he first came to believe that Iraq was behind the 9-11 terrorist attacks.
“I’m not sure even now that I would say Iraq had something to do with it,” Wolfowitz said in the interview, aired Friday, a transcript of which can be found
Here
Clearinghouse: Wolfowitz: Iraq Was Not Involved In 9-11 Terrorist Attacks, No Ties To Al-Qaeda
08/06/03: (Information Clearing House) Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, one of the main architects for the war in Iraq, admitted for the first time that Iraq had nothing to do with the September 11 terrorist attacks, contradicting public statements made by senior White House and Pentagon officials whose attempt to link Saddam Hussein and the terrorist organization al-Qaeda was cited by the Bush administration as one of the main reasons for launching a preemptive strike in March against Iraq.
In an interview with conservative radio personality Laura Ingraham, Wolfowitz was asked when he first came to believe that Iraq was behind the 9-11 terrorist attacks.
“I’m not sure even now that I would say Iraq had something to do with it,” Wolfowitz said in the interview, aired Friday, a transcript of which can be found
Here
QUOTE OF THE DAY
"The technotronic era involves the gradual appearance of a more
controlled society. Such a society would be dominated by an elite,
unrestrained by traditional values. Soon it will be possible to assert
almost continuous surveillance over every citizen and maintain
up-to-date complete files containing even the most personal information about the
citizen. These files will be subject to instantaneous retrieve/review
by the authorities." -- Zbigniew Brzezinski, CFR member and founding
member of the TrilateralCommission, and National Security Advisor to five
presidents
"The technotronic era involves the gradual appearance of a more
controlled society. Such a society would be dominated by an elite,
unrestrained by traditional values. Soon it will be possible to assert
almost continuous surveillance over every citizen and maintain
up-to-date complete files containing even the most personal information about the
citizen. These files will be subject to instantaneous retrieve/review
by the authorities." -- Zbigniew Brzezinski, CFR member and founding
member of the TrilateralCommission, and National Security Advisor to five
presidents
Thursday, August 07, 2003
SITES OF THE DAY
Check:
Friendster
Friendster has fucking exploded. As this goes to press, everyone you’ve ever known knows that it is simultaneously the most incredible communication invention since email (which was the most incredible thing since the telephone) and the most fun social Easter egg hunt since showing up at your own funeral as a ghost.
Find your friends, find old friends, new friends, enemies, people posing as famous people, and then communicate with them. Or just stare at them. Or send their profile to all your homies so everyone can stare and send messages back and forth about the person. And it’s free.
Onlyundiesclub
OnlyUndiesClub.com is TWO GREAT things. It is the best place on the Internet for cute young emo kids to hook up and be friends AND it is the best place on the Internet for voyeuristic aging punks with teenager fetishes and old fags who like lanky boys.
Check:
Friendster
Friendster has fucking exploded. As this goes to press, everyone you’ve ever known knows that it is simultaneously the most incredible communication invention since email (which was the most incredible thing since the telephone) and the most fun social Easter egg hunt since showing up at your own funeral as a ghost.
Find your friends, find old friends, new friends, enemies, people posing as famous people, and then communicate with them. Or just stare at them. Or send their profile to all your homies so everyone can stare and send messages back and forth about the person. And it’s free.
Onlyundiesclub
OnlyUndiesClub.com is TWO GREAT things. It is the best place on the Internet for cute young emo kids to hook up and be friends AND it is the best place on the Internet for voyeuristic aging punks with teenager fetishes and old fags who like lanky boys.
IRAQ
Guardian: Arab Group Won't Recognize Iraqi Council
Arab League members will not recognize Iraq's U.S.-appointed Governing Council and instead will wait until post-Saddam Hussein Iraq is led by an elected government, league Secretary-General Amr Moussa said Tuesday.
``The Council is a start but it should pave the way for a legitimate government that can be recognized,'' Moussa said after a committee of league foreign ministers met to forge a unified stance on how to deal with Iraq after Saddam.
Guardian: Arab Group Won't Recognize Iraqi Council
Arab League members will not recognize Iraq's U.S.-appointed Governing Council and instead will wait until post-Saddam Hussein Iraq is led by an elected government, league Secretary-General Amr Moussa said Tuesday.
``The Council is a start but it should pave the way for a legitimate government that can be recognized,'' Moussa said after a committee of league foreign ministers met to forge a unified stance on how to deal with Iraq after Saddam.
IRAQI RESISTANCE
Telegraph: Iraqis flock to Mahdi's Shia army
A militia of mostly Shia men is growing in response to a call to arms made by a maverick young cleric. Harry de Quetteville in Baghdad reports on Muqtader al-Sadr's army against US occupation.
As evening falls in the poor Shia suburb of Baghdad once known as Saddam City, dozens of volunteers queue under the watchful gaze of a local imam to sign up for the army.
But this is not the new Iraqi army sponsored and approved by the American-led administration. These soldiers will receive no monthly salary of £40. Here, prospective warriors are ready to serve, and die, for nothing.
Call to arms: volunteers sign-up at the Al-Ahrar Mosque
This is "Mahdi's army", a growing militia of mostly Shia men who have responded to the fiery call to arms made by a maverick young cleric, Muqtader al-Sadr, two weeks ago in the Shia holy city of Najaf.
Since then al-Sadr has led anti-US demonstrations and encouraged worshippers to resist the US "invaders" and Iraq's "Zionist" governing council, appointed by the coalition.
Now the ranks of this religious army, named after an ancient imam who Shias believe will return to save the world, have swollen into tens of thousands, perhaps more.
"On the very first day after the call, up to 1 million people signed," claimed Sheikh Hassan al-Zurgani, a Baghdad representative of the Hawza, a Shia seminary based in Najaf.
Telegraph: Iraqis flock to Mahdi's Shia army
A militia of mostly Shia men is growing in response to a call to arms made by a maverick young cleric. Harry de Quetteville in Baghdad reports on Muqtader al-Sadr's army against US occupation.
As evening falls in the poor Shia suburb of Baghdad once known as Saddam City, dozens of volunteers queue under the watchful gaze of a local imam to sign up for the army.
But this is not the new Iraqi army sponsored and approved by the American-led administration. These soldiers will receive no monthly salary of £40. Here, prospective warriors are ready to serve, and die, for nothing.
Call to arms: volunteers sign-up at the Al-Ahrar Mosque
This is "Mahdi's army", a growing militia of mostly Shia men who have responded to the fiery call to arms made by a maverick young cleric, Muqtader al-Sadr, two weeks ago in the Shia holy city of Najaf.
Since then al-Sadr has led anti-US demonstrations and encouraged worshippers to resist the US "invaders" and Iraq's "Zionist" governing council, appointed by the coalition.
Now the ranks of this religious army, named after an ancient imam who Shias believe will return to save the world, have swollen into tens of thousands, perhaps more.
"On the very first day after the call, up to 1 million people signed," claimed Sheikh Hassan al-Zurgani, a Baghdad representative of the Hawza, a Shia seminary based in Najaf.
IRAQ
Guardian: Israel seeks pipeline for Iraqi oil
US discusses plan to pump fuel to its regional ally and solve energy headache at a stroke
Plans to build a pipeline to siphon oil from newly conquered Iraq to Israel are being discussed between Washington, Tel Aviv and potential future government figures in Baghdad.
The plan envisages the reconstruction of an old pipeline, inactive since the end of the British mandate in Palestine in 1948, when the flow from Iraq's northern oilfields to Palestine was re-directed to Syria.
Now, its resurrection would transform economic power in the region, bringing revenue to the new US-dominated Iraq, cutting out Syria and solving Israel's energy crisis at a stroke.
It would also create an end less and easily accessible source of cheap Iraqi oil for the US guaranteed by reliable allies other than Saudi Arabia - a keystone of US foreign policy for decades and especially since 11 September 2001.
US intelligence sources confirmed to The Observer that the project has been discussed. One former senior CIA official said: 'It has long been a dream of a powerful section of the people now driving this administration [of President George W. Bush] and the war in Iraq to safeguard Israel's energy supply as well as that of the United States.
James Akins, a former US ambassador to the region and one of America's leading Arabists, said: 'There would be a fee for transit rights through Jordan, just as there would be fees for Israel from those using what would be the Haifa terminal.
'After all, this is a new world order now. This is what things look like particularly if we wipe out Syria. It just goes to show that it is all about oil, for the United States and its ally.'
"I told you so"
Guardian: Israel seeks pipeline for Iraqi oil
US discusses plan to pump fuel to its regional ally and solve energy headache at a stroke
Plans to build a pipeline to siphon oil from newly conquered Iraq to Israel are being discussed between Washington, Tel Aviv and potential future government figures in Baghdad.
The plan envisages the reconstruction of an old pipeline, inactive since the end of the British mandate in Palestine in 1948, when the flow from Iraq's northern oilfields to Palestine was re-directed to Syria.
Now, its resurrection would transform economic power in the region, bringing revenue to the new US-dominated Iraq, cutting out Syria and solving Israel's energy crisis at a stroke.
It would also create an end less and easily accessible source of cheap Iraqi oil for the US guaranteed by reliable allies other than Saudi Arabia - a keystone of US foreign policy for decades and especially since 11 September 2001.
US intelligence sources confirmed to The Observer that the project has been discussed. One former senior CIA official said: 'It has long been a dream of a powerful section of the people now driving this administration [of President George W. Bush] and the war in Iraq to safeguard Israel's energy supply as well as that of the United States.
James Akins, a former US ambassador to the region and one of America's leading Arabists, said: 'There would be a fee for transit rights through Jordan, just as there would be fees for Israel from those using what would be the Haifa terminal.
'After all, this is a new world order now. This is what things look like particularly if we wipe out Syria. It just goes to show that it is all about oil, for the United States and its ally.'
"I told you so"
QUOTE OF THE DAY
6.8.1945 -- Japan: US drops atomic bomb on Hiroshima. The B-29
Superfortress Enola Gay, eliminated 140,000 civilians from immediate effects of the
bombing; tens of thousands more in subsequent decades from radiation-
induced illnesses, including descendents. Nagasaki gets the same two
days from now.
""During his recitation of the relevant facts, I had been conscious
of a feeling of depression and so I voiced to him my grave misgivings, first
on the basis of my belief that Japan was already defeated and that
dropping the bomb was completely unnecessary, and secondly because I thought
that our country should avoid shocking world opinion by the use of a weapon
whose employment was, I thought, no longer mandatory as a measure to
save American lives. It was my belief that Japan was, at that very moment,
attempting to surrender with a minimum loss of 'face'. . . ." ".the
Japanese were ready to surrender and it wasn't necessary to hit them
with that awful thing." -- General Dwight D. Eisenhower
"It always appeared to us that, atomic bomb or no atomic bomb, the
Japanese were already on the verge of collapse." -- General Henry "Hap"
Arnold, Commanding General of the US Army Air Forces during World War II
"It is my opinion that the use of this barbarous weapon at Hiroshima
andNagasaki was of no material assistance in our war against Japan. The
Japanese were already defeated and ready to surrender.. My own feeling
was that in being the first to use it, we had adopted an ethical standard
common to the barbarians of the Dark Ages. I was not taught to make war
in that fashion, and wars cannot be won by destroying women and
children.." -- Truman's Chief of Staff, Admiral William D. Leahy
6.8.1945 -- Japan: US drops atomic bomb on Hiroshima. The B-29
Superfortress Enola Gay, eliminated 140,000 civilians from immediate effects of the
bombing; tens of thousands more in subsequent decades from radiation-
induced illnesses, including descendents. Nagasaki gets the same two
days from now.
""During his recitation of the relevant facts, I had been conscious
of a feeling of depression and so I voiced to him my grave misgivings, first
on the basis of my belief that Japan was already defeated and that
dropping the bomb was completely unnecessary, and secondly because I thought
that our country should avoid shocking world opinion by the use of a weapon
whose employment was, I thought, no longer mandatory as a measure to
save American lives. It was my belief that Japan was, at that very moment,
attempting to surrender with a minimum loss of 'face'. . . ." ".the
Japanese were ready to surrender and it wasn't necessary to hit them
with that awful thing." -- General Dwight D. Eisenhower
"It always appeared to us that, atomic bomb or no atomic bomb, the
Japanese were already on the verge of collapse." -- General Henry "Hap"
Arnold, Commanding General of the US Army Air Forces during World War II
"It is my opinion that the use of this barbarous weapon at Hiroshima
andNagasaki was of no material assistance in our war against Japan. The
Japanese were already defeated and ready to surrender.. My own feeling
was that in being the first to use it, we had adopted an ethical standard
common to the barbarians of the Dark Ages. I was not taught to make war
in that fashion, and wars cannot be won by destroying women and
children.." -- Truman's Chief of Staff, Admiral William D. Leahy
IRAQ
Counterpunch: The Ghosts of Uday and Qusay by Robert Fisk
Still Haunting US Troops
The Americans have stripped the Iraqi flags from the graves of Uday and Qusay Hussein. The red, white and black banners were laid on the mounds of clay above their bodies at their funeral on Saturday, alongside the grave of Mustafa Hussein, Qusay's 14-year-old son, who also died when 200 American troops attacked the Mosul villa in which they were hiding two weeks ago. But the Americans have allowed only the child's remains to be honoured with his country's flag. Uday and Qusay have no memorial save for the footprints of US Army boots.
Even 34-year-old Felah Shemari who dug the graves was shocked, and he has no reason to love the brothers; he spent 10 years in prison on the orders of Saddam's half-brother for a murder he says he did not commit.
"When we dug the graves, we were told they were just for the brothers," he says. "But when the two ambulances arrived escorted by American Humvees, they took young Mustafa's body out of the second ambulance and we had to dig another grave in a hurry. Of course, we put our Iraqi flags over all three. This is a sign that they were martyred." But the Americans thought differently.
Counterpunch: The Ghosts of Uday and Qusay by Robert Fisk
Still Haunting US Troops
The Americans have stripped the Iraqi flags from the graves of Uday and Qusay Hussein. The red, white and black banners were laid on the mounds of clay above their bodies at their funeral on Saturday, alongside the grave of Mustafa Hussein, Qusay's 14-year-old son, who also died when 200 American troops attacked the Mosul villa in which they were hiding two weeks ago. But the Americans have allowed only the child's remains to be honoured with his country's flag. Uday and Qusay have no memorial save for the footprints of US Army boots.
Even 34-year-old Felah Shemari who dug the graves was shocked, and he has no reason to love the brothers; he spent 10 years in prison on the orders of Saddam's half-brother for a murder he says he did not commit.
"When we dug the graves, we were told they were just for the brothers," he says. "But when the two ambulances arrived escorted by American Humvees, they took young Mustafa's body out of the second ambulance and we had to dig another grave in a hurry. Of course, we put our Iraqi flags over all three. This is a sign that they were martyred." But the Americans thought differently.
BALI TERROR
Independent: 'Key player' in Bali bombings sentenced to death
An Indonesian court today convicted and sentenced to death a key player in the Bali bombings that killed 202 people.
Amrozi bin Nurhasyim was found guilty of planning and helping execute the bombings, the deadliest since the 9-11 attacks in the US.
"The accused is found guilty in a legal and convincing manner of carrying out an act of terrorism," said Judge I Made Karna.
After the verdict was read, Amrozi took off his Islamic skull cap, raised his arms and gave his lawyers the thumbs-up sign. Hundreds of people, including survivors of the bombings, cheered when the judge read the sentence.
As he was led out of the courtroom, Amrozi smiled broadly at Australian survivors, some of whom shouted back angrily. Australia lost 88 people in the attack.
Independent: 'Key player' in Bali bombings sentenced to death
An Indonesian court today convicted and sentenced to death a key player in the Bali bombings that killed 202 people.
Amrozi bin Nurhasyim was found guilty of planning and helping execute the bombings, the deadliest since the 9-11 attacks in the US.
"The accused is found guilty in a legal and convincing manner of carrying out an act of terrorism," said Judge I Made Karna.
After the verdict was read, Amrozi took off his Islamic skull cap, raised his arms and gave his lawyers the thumbs-up sign. Hundreds of people, including survivors of the bombings, cheered when the judge read the sentence.
As he was led out of the courtroom, Amrozi smiled broadly at Australian survivors, some of whom shouted back angrily. Australia lost 88 people in the attack.
IRAQI RESISTANCE
Spiegel: Autobombe toetet zwoelf Menschen
Eine gewaltige Detonation vor der jordanischen Botschaft in Bagdad hat bis zu zw?lf Menschen in den Tod gerissen. 52 Personen wurden verletzt, einige von ihnen schwer. Aufgebrachte Iraker stürmten nach der Explosion in das Gebaeude und zerstoerten Bilder des jordanischen Herrscherhauses.
Zum ersten Mal seit Freitag wurden am Mittwochabend wieder zwei US-Soldaten in Irak get?tet. Nach Angaben des Zentralkommandos in Florida kamen sie bei einer Schie?erei in Bagdad ums Leben. Damit stieg die Zahl der von Guerillakaempfern getoeteten US-Soldaten auf 55. Am Mittwoch erschossen US-Soldaten einen Iraker, der sie mit einer Granate angreifen wollte.
Independent: 'Many dead' as blast rocks Jordanian embassy in Baghdad
Two American soldiers killed in gun battle in Iraqi capital
A massive bomb exploded outside the Jordanian embassy in Baghdad today. A nearby hospital said between seven and 12 people were killed, with more than 50 wounded, but paramedics said 12 bodies had been taken from the wreckage.
Spiegel: Autobombe toetet zwoelf Menschen
Eine gewaltige Detonation vor der jordanischen Botschaft in Bagdad hat bis zu zw?lf Menschen in den Tod gerissen. 52 Personen wurden verletzt, einige von ihnen schwer. Aufgebrachte Iraker stürmten nach der Explosion in das Gebaeude und zerstoerten Bilder des jordanischen Herrscherhauses.
Zum ersten Mal seit Freitag wurden am Mittwochabend wieder zwei US-Soldaten in Irak get?tet. Nach Angaben des Zentralkommandos in Florida kamen sie bei einer Schie?erei in Bagdad ums Leben. Damit stieg die Zahl der von Guerillakaempfern getoeteten US-Soldaten auf 55. Am Mittwoch erschossen US-Soldaten einen Iraker, der sie mit einer Granate angreifen wollte.
Independent: 'Many dead' as blast rocks Jordanian embassy in Baghdad
Two American soldiers killed in gun battle in Iraqi capital
A massive bomb exploded outside the Jordanian embassy in Baghdad today. A nearby hospital said between seven and 12 people were killed, with more than 50 wounded, but paramedics said 12 bodies had been taken from the wreckage.
FINANCE
Tages Anzeiger: "Der wirtschaftliche Aufschwung kommt bestimmt. In den USA sind davon alle überzeugt, seit letzte Woche bekannt geworden war, dass das Bruttoinlandprodukt zwischen April und Juni dieses Jahres um 2,4 Prozent gestiegen ist. Irgendwann wird die amerikanische Dynamik auch die Konjunktur in Europa beflügeln."
"Neuigkeiten aus der Finanzbranche: Die Massenmedien melden bereits wieder Aufschwung. Leider wird ausser Acht gelassen dass die Steigerung des Bruttoinlandproduktes von 2.4% zu zwei dritteln auf Staatliche Rüstungsauftraege die infolge des Irakkrieges vergeben wurden zurückzuführen ist. Darüberhinaus ben?tigen die USA mindestens eine Steigung von drei Prozent um neue Jobs zu schaffen. Vorsichtiger Optimismus ist angebracht"
Tages Anzeiger: "Der wirtschaftliche Aufschwung kommt bestimmt. In den USA sind davon alle überzeugt, seit letzte Woche bekannt geworden war, dass das Bruttoinlandprodukt zwischen April und Juni dieses Jahres um 2,4 Prozent gestiegen ist. Irgendwann wird die amerikanische Dynamik auch die Konjunktur in Europa beflügeln."
"Neuigkeiten aus der Finanzbranche: Die Massenmedien melden bereits wieder Aufschwung. Leider wird ausser Acht gelassen dass die Steigerung des Bruttoinlandproduktes von 2.4% zu zwei dritteln auf Staatliche Rüstungsauftraege die infolge des Irakkrieges vergeben wurden zurückzuführen ist. Darüberhinaus ben?tigen die USA mindestens eine Steigung von drei Prozent um neue Jobs zu schaffen. Vorsichtiger Optimismus ist angebracht"
Wednesday, August 06, 2003
911
Center for research on Globalisation: FBI acknowledges 9/11 was financed out of Pakistan
31 July Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs 2003
" The FBI conducted a detailed financial investigation/analysis of the19 hijackers and their support network, following the September 11th attacks. This investigation initially identified the Al Qa'ida funding sources of the 19 hijackers in the UAE and Germany. The financial investigation also provided the first links between Ramzi Binalshibh and the 9/11 operation. A continuing investigation, in coordination with the PENTTBOMB Team, has traced the origin of the funding of 9/11 back to financial accounts in Pakistan, where high-ranking and well-known Al Qa'ida operatives played a major role in moving the money forward, eventually into the hands of the hijackers located in the U.S. (Senate Committee Statement by FBI'S John Pistole, 31 July 2003.
Center for research on Globalisation: FBI acknowledges 9/11 was financed out of Pakistan
31 July Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs 2003
" The FBI conducted a detailed financial investigation/analysis of the19 hijackers and their support network, following the September 11th attacks. This investigation initially identified the Al Qa'ida funding sources of the 19 hijackers in the UAE and Germany. The financial investigation also provided the first links between Ramzi Binalshibh and the 9/11 operation. A continuing investigation, in coordination with the PENTTBOMB Team, has traced the origin of the funding of 9/11 back to financial accounts in Pakistan, where high-ranking and well-known Al Qa'ida operatives played a major role in moving the money forward, eventually into the hands of the hijackers located in the U.S. (Senate Committee Statement by FBI'S John Pistole, 31 July 2003.
DEMOCRACY IN AFGHANISTAN
Truth out/L.A Times: Afghans on Edge of Chaos
As opium production and banditry soar, the country is at risk of anarchy, some warn, and could allow a Taliban resurgence
WARDAK, Afghanistan - Two months after a gun attack, the bullet holes in the Datsun sedan have been patched and it runs beautifully. But water engineer Asil Kahn walks with a limp and he still has two bullets in his body, one of them half an inch from his spine.
The vehicle's humanitarian logo made him a victim in the battle for Afghanistan's future, where water engineers, mine-clearers and humanitarian workers - people the country needs most - are prime targets for militants trying to destabilize President Hamid Karzai's interim government.
Already the signs are there - a boom in opium production, rampant banditry and huge swaths of territory unsafe for Western aid workers. The central government has almost no power over regional warlords who control roads and extort money from truck drivers, choking commerce and trade.
If the country slips into anarchy, it risks becoming a haven for resurgent Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters. And the point of U.S. military action here could be lost - a major setback in the war against terrorism.
Humanitarian agencies, calling for a big boost in international funds for security and reconstruction, contend that the commitment to Afghanistan is relatively low. A CARE International paper in January stated that postwar international aid spent in Bosnia-Herzegovina was $326 per capita, compared with $42 promised for Afghans up to 2006. For every peacekeeping soldier there were 48 Bosnians, compared with one for every 5,380 Afghans, the paper said. Yet Bosnia poses no appreciable terrorist threat.
Truth out/L.A Times: Afghans on Edge of Chaos
As opium production and banditry soar, the country is at risk of anarchy, some warn, and could allow a Taliban resurgence
WARDAK, Afghanistan - Two months after a gun attack, the bullet holes in the Datsun sedan have been patched and it runs beautifully. But water engineer Asil Kahn walks with a limp and he still has two bullets in his body, one of them half an inch from his spine.
The vehicle's humanitarian logo made him a victim in the battle for Afghanistan's future, where water engineers, mine-clearers and humanitarian workers - people the country needs most - are prime targets for militants trying to destabilize President Hamid Karzai's interim government.
Already the signs are there - a boom in opium production, rampant banditry and huge swaths of territory unsafe for Western aid workers. The central government has almost no power over regional warlords who control roads and extort money from truck drivers, choking commerce and trade.
If the country slips into anarchy, it risks becoming a haven for resurgent Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters. And the point of U.S. military action here could be lost - a major setback in the war against terrorism.
Humanitarian agencies, calling for a big boost in international funds for security and reconstruction, contend that the commitment to Afghanistan is relatively low. A CARE International paper in January stated that postwar international aid spent in Bosnia-Herzegovina was $326 per capita, compared with $42 promised for Afghans up to 2006. For every peacekeeping soldier there were 48 Bosnians, compared with one for every 5,380 Afghans, the paper said. Yet Bosnia poses no appreciable terrorist threat.
IRAQI RESISTANCE
Financial Times: Halliburton Employee Killed In Iraq
First US Government Contractor Killed In Iraq
An employee of Halliburton, the Houston-based oilfield service company, became the first US government contractor to be killed in Iraq on Tuesday when the truck he was riding in struck an anti-tank mine north of Tikrit.
The death highlighted the continued instability of Iraq and the dangers it poses for the civilian contractors the US military is relying on to rebuild the country and support its own operations.
Financial Times: Halliburton Employee Killed In Iraq
First US Government Contractor Killed In Iraq
An employee of Halliburton, the Houston-based oilfield service company, became the first US government contractor to be killed in Iraq on Tuesday when the truck he was riding in struck an anti-tank mine north of Tikrit.
The death highlighted the continued instability of Iraq and the dangers it poses for the civilian contractors the US military is relying on to rebuild the country and support its own operations.
911 THEY KNEW
Reuters: German Firm Probes Final
World Trade Center Deals
PIRMASENS, Germany (Reuters) - German computer experts are working round the clock to unlock the truth behind an unexplained surge in financial transactions made just before two hijacked planes crashed into New York's World Trade Center on September 11.
Were criminals responsible for the sharp rise in credit card transactions that moved through some computer systems at the WTC shortly before the planes hit the twin towers?
Richard Wagner, a data retrieval expert at the company, said illegal transfers of more than $100 million might have been made immediately before and during the disaster.
"There is a suspicion that some people had advance knowledge of the approximate time of the plane crashes in order to move out amounts exceeding $100 million," Wagner said. ""They thought that the records of their transactions could not be traced after the main frames were destroyed."
Reuters: German Firm Probes Final
World Trade Center Deals
PIRMASENS, Germany (Reuters) - German computer experts are working round the clock to unlock the truth behind an unexplained surge in financial transactions made just before two hijacked planes crashed into New York's World Trade Center on September 11.
Were criminals responsible for the sharp rise in credit card transactions that moved through some computer systems at the WTC shortly before the planes hit the twin towers?
Richard Wagner, a data retrieval expert at the company, said illegal transfers of more than $100 million might have been made immediately before and during the disaster.
"There is a suspicion that some people had advance knowledge of the approximate time of the plane crashes in order to move out amounts exceeding $100 million," Wagner said. ""They thought that the records of their transactions could not be traced after the main frames were destroyed."
OCCUPIED TERRITORIES
electronicintifada: Is it a Fence? Is it a Wall? No, it's a Separation Barrier
Israel's Separation Barrier, dubbed the "Apartheid Wall" or "Berlin Wall" by Palestinians, has increasingly attracted international media attention, largely due to the hard-to-ignore scale of the project.
The most obvious historical parallel to the barrier is the Berlin Wall, which was 96 miles long (155 kilometers). Israel's barrier, still under construction, is expected to reach at least 403 miles in length (650 kilometers). The average height of the Berlin Wall was 11.8 feet (3.6 metres), compared with the maximum* current height of Israel's Wall -- 25 feet (8 metres).
[*it is not clear whether the shorter fence sections, about 6 meters in height, are first or final stages in Israel's construction of the barrier.]
Israel's barrier is therefore planned to be four times as long and in places twice as high as the Berlin Wall.
electronicintifada: Is it a Fence? Is it a Wall? No, it's a Separation Barrier
Israel's Separation Barrier, dubbed the "Apartheid Wall" or "Berlin Wall" by Palestinians, has increasingly attracted international media attention, largely due to the hard-to-ignore scale of the project.
The most obvious historical parallel to the barrier is the Berlin Wall, which was 96 miles long (155 kilometers). Israel's barrier, still under construction, is expected to reach at least 403 miles in length (650 kilometers). The average height of the Berlin Wall was 11.8 feet (3.6 metres), compared with the maximum* current height of Israel's Wall -- 25 feet (8 metres).
[*it is not clear whether the shorter fence sections, about 6 meters in height, are first or final stages in Israel's construction of the barrier.]
Israel's barrier is therefore planned to be four times as long and in places twice as high as the Berlin Wall.
1984
Spiegel: Gefangen in der Matrix
In der Folge der Terroranschläge des 11. September 2001 ging der Datenschutz zum Teufel. Heute wird im "land of the free" hemmungslos gelauscht und überwacht. Jetzt soll eine neue gigantische Datenbank mit Informationen über Millionen von Amerikanern gefüttert werden. Ihr Name: Die Matrix.
Das erklärte Ziel der "Matrix" ist das schnelle Erkennen von Verhaltensmustern und Querverbindungen zwischen Menschen. Damit ähnelt es frappierend dem vom Senat ausgebremsten "Terrorism Information Awareness"-Programm - auch wenn es in kleinerem Maßstab, nämlich nicht weltweit, operieren soll.
Die Geschwindigkeit und Leichtigkeit, mit der die "Matrix" Informationen über alle möglichen Personen zugänglich macht, löste nicht nur Proteste von Bürgerrechtsgruppen aus, sondern sorgt selbst unter Beamten für Unbehagen. Ein ranghoher Regierungsmitarbeiter, der die Entwicklung des Systems begleitet, räumte gegenüber der "Washington Post" ein, dass die "Matrix" tief in die Privatsphäre der Bürger eindringen könnte. "Ich kann alles über jemanden herausfinden", sagte Phil Ramer, Geheimdienstler in Florida. "Es ist beängstigend, und es könnte missbraucht werden." Das größte Problem sei derzeit, dass "jeder, der davon hört, das System haben will".
Spiegel: Gefangen in der Matrix
In der Folge der Terroranschläge des 11. September 2001 ging der Datenschutz zum Teufel. Heute wird im "land of the free" hemmungslos gelauscht und überwacht. Jetzt soll eine neue gigantische Datenbank mit Informationen über Millionen von Amerikanern gefüttert werden. Ihr Name: Die Matrix.
Das erklärte Ziel der "Matrix" ist das schnelle Erkennen von Verhaltensmustern und Querverbindungen zwischen Menschen. Damit ähnelt es frappierend dem vom Senat ausgebremsten "Terrorism Information Awareness"-Programm - auch wenn es in kleinerem Maßstab, nämlich nicht weltweit, operieren soll.
Die Geschwindigkeit und Leichtigkeit, mit der die "Matrix" Informationen über alle möglichen Personen zugänglich macht, löste nicht nur Proteste von Bürgerrechtsgruppen aus, sondern sorgt selbst unter Beamten für Unbehagen. Ein ranghoher Regierungsmitarbeiter, der die Entwicklung des Systems begleitet, räumte gegenüber der "Washington Post" ein, dass die "Matrix" tief in die Privatsphäre der Bürger eindringen könnte. "Ich kann alles über jemanden herausfinden", sagte Phil Ramer, Geheimdienstler in Florida. "Es ist beängstigend, und es könnte missbraucht werden." Das größte Problem sei derzeit, dass "jeder, der davon hört, das System haben will".
OCCUPIED TERRITORIES
Spiegel: "Die Liste ist ein Witz"
15.000 Palästinenser hat Israel während der Intifada in Gefängnisse gesperrt. 1500 warten noch heute auf einen Prozess. Jetzt kommen rund 330 Gefangene frei. Doch die Palästinenser fühlen sich betrogen: Israel entlässt nur die ganz kleinen Fische
Fast 6000 Palästinenser sitzen derzeit noch in israelischer Haft. Die meisten von ihnen wurden bei groß angelegten Militärrazzien während der Intifada im vergangenen Jahr verhaftet - darunter auch 350 Minderjährige. Ingesamt über 15.000 Palästinenser hatten die Iraelis in ihrem Kampf gegen den palästinensischen Terror festgesetzt unter dem Verdacht, sich an Gewalttaten gegen Israel beteiligt zu haben. Mitunter genügte es für eine Festnahme, ein Mann unter 50 zu sein. Bisweilen wurden halbe Dörfer abgeführt - mit Augenbinde und auf dem Rücken gefesselten Händen.
Dem Palästinenser-Premier, der dringend darauf angewiesen ist, der Bevölkerung Fortschritte vorweisen zu können, erschwert Israel den Job jedenfalls gefährlich. Derzeit verhandelt er mit den Terrorgruppen über eine Verlängerung des Waffenstillstandes. Sie präsentierten ihm eine einfache Rechnung: Seit dem Beginn der Waffenruhe vor mehr als einem Monat hat Israel fast so viele Palästinenser festgenommen, wie jetzt freikommen.
Spiegel: "Die Liste ist ein Witz"
15.000 Palästinenser hat Israel während der Intifada in Gefängnisse gesperrt. 1500 warten noch heute auf einen Prozess. Jetzt kommen rund 330 Gefangene frei. Doch die Palästinenser fühlen sich betrogen: Israel entlässt nur die ganz kleinen Fische
Fast 6000 Palästinenser sitzen derzeit noch in israelischer Haft. Die meisten von ihnen wurden bei groß angelegten Militärrazzien während der Intifada im vergangenen Jahr verhaftet - darunter auch 350 Minderjährige. Ingesamt über 15.000 Palästinenser hatten die Iraelis in ihrem Kampf gegen den palästinensischen Terror festgesetzt unter dem Verdacht, sich an Gewalttaten gegen Israel beteiligt zu haben. Mitunter genügte es für eine Festnahme, ein Mann unter 50 zu sein. Bisweilen wurden halbe Dörfer abgeführt - mit Augenbinde und auf dem Rücken gefesselten Händen.
Dem Palästinenser-Premier, der dringend darauf angewiesen ist, der Bevölkerung Fortschritte vorweisen zu können, erschwert Israel den Job jedenfalls gefährlich. Derzeit verhandelt er mit den Terrorgruppen über eine Verlängerung des Waffenstillstandes. Sie präsentierten ihm eine einfache Rechnung: Seit dem Beginn der Waffenruhe vor mehr als einem Monat hat Israel fast so viele Palästinenser festgenommen, wie jetzt freikommen.
IRAQI RESISTANCE
Spiegel: "Schiesst auf mich, damit ich nach Hause komme!"
Selbstgebastelte Bomben in Getr?nkedosen, im Schleier versteckte Granaten, Angriffe aus Krankenh?usern und Schulen: Die US-Soldaten im Irak fürchten t?glich um ihr Leben. Sie fühlen sich verraten und verkauft. Ihre Wut richtet sich gen Washington.
Ein Soldat, der seinen Namen nicht bekannt geben wollte, sagte den Reportern von ABC unter Verweis auf die an die Soldaten ausgeh?ndigten Kartenstapel, die die Bilder der am meistgesuchten irakischen Führer enthalten, dass "ich meine eigene 'Liste der Meistgesuchten' habe. In meinem Kartenstapel sind Paul Bremer, Donald Rumsfeld, George Bush und Paul Wolfowitz die Asse."
Spiegel: "Schiesst auf mich, damit ich nach Hause komme!"
Selbstgebastelte Bomben in Getr?nkedosen, im Schleier versteckte Granaten, Angriffe aus Krankenh?usern und Schulen: Die US-Soldaten im Irak fürchten t?glich um ihr Leben. Sie fühlen sich verraten und verkauft. Ihre Wut richtet sich gen Washington.
Ein Soldat, der seinen Namen nicht bekannt geben wollte, sagte den Reportern von ABC unter Verweis auf die an die Soldaten ausgeh?ndigten Kartenstapel, die die Bilder der am meistgesuchten irakischen Führer enthalten, dass "ich meine eigene 'Liste der Meistgesuchten' habe. In meinem Kartenstapel sind Paul Bremer, Donald Rumsfeld, George Bush und Paul Wolfowitz die Asse."
PR WATCH
Guardian: A matter of life and death
The Uday and Qusay Hussein photograph incident, planned as a surgical media strike, has backfired because no one had the sense to think through the PR implications
Guardian: A matter of life and death
The Uday and Qusay Hussein photograph incident, planned as a surgical media strike, has backfired because no one had the sense to think through the PR implications
PR WATCH/911
New Republic: 28 Pages
Since the joint congressional committee investigating September 11 issued a censored version of its report on July 24, there's been considerable speculation about the 28 pages blanked out from the section entitled "Certain Sensitive National Security Matters." The section cites "specific sources of foreign support for some of the September 11 hijackers," which most commentators have interpreted to mean Saudi contributions to Al Qaeda-linked charities. But an official who has read the report tells The New Republic that the support described in the report goes well beyond that: It involves connections between the hijacking plot and the very top levels of the Saudi royal family.
This week, Saudi Foreign Minister Saud Al Faisal flew to Washington for a hastily convened meeting with President Bush. Faisal publicly demanded that the 28 pages be declassified, but he had to have known in advance, and welcomed the fact, that his request would be denied--ostensibly friendly nations don't normally send their foreign ministers to meetings halfway around the world to be surprised
The official who read the 28 pages tells The New Republic, "If the people in the administration trying to link Iraq to Al Qaeda had one-one-thousandth of the stuff that the 28 pages has linking a foreign government to Al Qaeda, they would have been in good shape." He adds: "If the 28 pages were to be made public, I have no question that the entire relationship with Saudi Arabia would change overnight."
New Republic: 28 Pages
Since the joint congressional committee investigating September 11 issued a censored version of its report on July 24, there's been considerable speculation about the 28 pages blanked out from the section entitled "Certain Sensitive National Security Matters." The section cites "specific sources of foreign support for some of the September 11 hijackers," which most commentators have interpreted to mean Saudi contributions to Al Qaeda-linked charities. But an official who has read the report tells The New Republic that the support described in the report goes well beyond that: It involves connections between the hijacking plot and the very top levels of the Saudi royal family.
This week, Saudi Foreign Minister Saud Al Faisal flew to Washington for a hastily convened meeting with President Bush. Faisal publicly demanded that the 28 pages be declassified, but he had to have known in advance, and welcomed the fact, that his request would be denied--ostensibly friendly nations don't normally send their foreign ministers to meetings halfway around the world to be surprised
The official who read the 28 pages tells The New Republic, "If the people in the administration trying to link Iraq to Al Qaeda had one-one-thousandth of the stuff that the 28 pages has linking a foreign government to Al Qaeda, they would have been in good shape." He adds: "If the 28 pages were to be made public, I have no question that the entire relationship with Saudi Arabia would change overnight."
PR WATCH
Statesman: White House: Better PR can reverse anti-American sentiment
WASHINGTON — With anti-American sentiment rising worldwide, Bush administration officials say they are stepping up efforts to market America throughout the world.
Polls indicate that international opinion of the United States has plummeted in the last year, and worldwide sympathy for the United States after Sept. 11, 2001, attacks has all but dissipated.
The Bush administration spent more than $70 million after the attacks to expand broadcasts of U.S.-sponsored international news services, but such expenditures have returned to previous levels and critics say they are not enough to counter the growing tide of anti-American sentiment
"Clearly the Arab world is so wrought up I can't imagine any kind of public diplomacy-making that palatable," Silverman said, adding that the United States' recent Madison Avenue branding techniques are too simplistic to be effective in other cultures.
Statesman: White House: Better PR can reverse anti-American sentiment
WASHINGTON — With anti-American sentiment rising worldwide, Bush administration officials say they are stepping up efforts to market America throughout the world.
Polls indicate that international opinion of the United States has plummeted in the last year, and worldwide sympathy for the United States after Sept. 11, 2001, attacks has all but dissipated.
The Bush administration spent more than $70 million after the attacks to expand broadcasts of U.S.-sponsored international news services, but such expenditures have returned to previous levels and critics say they are not enough to counter the growing tide of anti-American sentiment
"Clearly the Arab world is so wrought up I can't imagine any kind of public diplomacy-making that palatable," Silverman said, adding that the United States' recent Madison Avenue branding techniques are too simplistic to be effective in other cultures.
PR WATCH
Daily Telegraph: MoD tried to burn Kelly 'media plan'
Ministry of Defence officials were preparing to destroy a "media plan" about Dr David Kelly three days after his death, The Telegraph learned yesterday.
It is not clear whether the papers were burned, but MoD officials admitted last night that ministry security guards called the police after finding the "media plan" relating to the Kelly affair in a sack of classified waste being prepared for incineration.
Officially, the MoD continued to insist last night that it was an insignificant document that had no importance for the inquiry and that security guards had "over-reacted" in calling the police.
Das ist ja wie bei der UBS mit dem Meili
Daily Telegraph: MoD tried to burn Kelly 'media plan'
Ministry of Defence officials were preparing to destroy a "media plan" about Dr David Kelly three days after his death, The Telegraph learned yesterday.
It is not clear whether the papers were burned, but MoD officials admitted last night that ministry security guards called the police after finding the "media plan" relating to the Kelly affair in a sack of classified waste being prepared for incineration.
Officially, the MoD continued to insist last night that it was an insignificant document that had no importance for the inquiry and that security guards had "over-reacted" in calling the police.
Das ist ja wie bei der UBS mit dem Meili
PR WATCH
PR Week: Pentagon makes moves to contain complaints from US troops in Iraq
WASHINGTON: After several troops made some highly publicized negative comments to the media about the war effort in Iraq, the Pentagon has taken steps to keep the frustrations of both soldiers and their families out of reports.
According to a story in the July 25 edition of Stars and Stripes, the military appears to be curtailing its much-touted embedded-journalist program, which has allowed reporters almost unfettered access to military units throughout the war and occupation.
The 3rd Infantry Division, from where many complaints have arisen, has expelled many of its embedded reporters, and its troops are no longer allowed to talk to the media outside of pre-approved news features.
PR Week: Pentagon makes moves to contain complaints from US troops in Iraq
WASHINGTON: After several troops made some highly publicized negative comments to the media about the war effort in Iraq, the Pentagon has taken steps to keep the frustrations of both soldiers and their families out of reports.
According to a story in the July 25 edition of Stars and Stripes, the military appears to be curtailing its much-touted embedded-journalist program, which has allowed reporters almost unfettered access to military units throughout the war and occupation.
The 3rd Infantry Division, from where many complaints have arisen, has expelled many of its embedded reporters, and its troops are no longer allowed to talk to the media outside of pre-approved news features.
Tuesday, August 05, 2003
TERROR
Spiegel: Der Terror ist zurück
Vor dem Marriott-Hotel in Jakarta riss eine gewaltige Bombenexplosion mindestens 14 Menschen in den Tod - darunter einen Holländer. 149 Personen wurden verletzt, viele von ihnen schwer. Der Bombenanschlag weckt schreckliche Erinnerungen an den Terroranschlag auf Bali, bei dem 202 Menschen getötet wurden.
Spiegel: Der Terror ist zurück
Vor dem Marriott-Hotel in Jakarta riss eine gewaltige Bombenexplosion mindestens 14 Menschen in den Tod - darunter einen Holländer. 149 Personen wurden verletzt, viele von ihnen schwer. Der Bombenanschlag weckt schreckliche Erinnerungen an den Terroranschlag auf Bali, bei dem 202 Menschen getötet wurden.
ISRAEL
Independent: Israel Imposes 'Racist' Marriage Law
JERUSALEM -- Israel's Parliament has passed a law preventing Palestinians who marry Israelis from living in Israel. The move was denounced by human rights organisations as racist, undemocratic and discriminatory.
Under the new law, rushed through yesterday, Palestinians alone will be excluded from obtaining citizenship or residency. Anyone else who marries an Israeli will be entitled to Israeli citizenship.
"Israel, die einzige "Demokratie" des Nahen Ostens"
AFP: US Struggles Over Israeli
Marriage Law As Discriminatory
WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States on Monday struggled to express its opposition to a new Israeli law that blocks Palestinians from acquiring Israeli citizenship through marriage, describing the legislation as discriminatory in all but name.
State Department deputy spokesman Philip Reeker said the law, adopted by parliament on July 31, clearly applied "only to non-Israeli residents of the West Bank and Gaza, the vast majority of whom are Palestinian." "In this regard, the new law singles out one group for different treatment than others," he told reporters.
Despite that assessment -- which appears to match the dictionary definition of "discriminatory" -- Reeker declined to use the word, noting that an Israeli human rights group was mounting a court challenge to the legality of the law.
Independent: Israel Imposes 'Racist' Marriage Law
JERUSALEM -- Israel's Parliament has passed a law preventing Palestinians who marry Israelis from living in Israel. The move was denounced by human rights organisations as racist, undemocratic and discriminatory.
Under the new law, rushed through yesterday, Palestinians alone will be excluded from obtaining citizenship or residency. Anyone else who marries an Israeli will be entitled to Israeli citizenship.
"Israel, die einzige "Demokratie" des Nahen Ostens"
AFP: US Struggles Over Israeli
Marriage Law As Discriminatory
WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States on Monday struggled to express its opposition to a new Israeli law that blocks Palestinians from acquiring Israeli citizenship through marriage, describing the legislation as discriminatory in all but name.
State Department deputy spokesman Philip Reeker said the law, adopted by parliament on July 31, clearly applied "only to non-Israeli residents of the West Bank and Gaza, the vast majority of whom are Palestinian." "In this regard, the new law singles out one group for different treatment than others," he told reporters.
Despite that assessment -- which appears to match the dictionary definition of "discriminatory" -- Reeker declined to use the word, noting that an Israeli human rights group was mounting a court challenge to the legality of the law.
GULD WAR 1
Rense: The Gulf War Story
No One Would Publish
Operation Black Dog
It was a sunny day and our encounter was in a seamy pub somewhere in the countryside of England. I had watched my back the entire journey - just in case. The meeting followed a story I had written on Gulf War Illness, when I had cautiously been told about a top secret US mission known as "Black Cat." This, I was told, involved a "black" US B52 bomber launching from Offut AFB in Nebraksa, and flying a round-trip to the Persian Gulf.
The hulking bomber carried one bomb packed with VX nerve agent, the most potent chemical weapon in the US CW armoury. The bomb was dropped on elements of the Republican Guard in Southern Iraq, I was informed. Heavy casualties apparently resulted. The operation, directed by the Central Intelligence Agency, was a counter-strike, following an Iraqi Scud that fell on Israel. The missile had contained Sarin and drove the Israeli government almost apoplectic with rage. Fuming, the Israeli's had readied to detonate a nuclear warhead high above Baghdad. Only the swift intervention of President George Bush forestalled what would have been a cataclysmic move destined to unravel the carefully wrought Arab backed Coalition lined-up against Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
"CHECK IT"
Rense: The Gulf War Story
No One Would Publish
Operation Black Dog
It was a sunny day and our encounter was in a seamy pub somewhere in the countryside of England. I had watched my back the entire journey - just in case. The meeting followed a story I had written on Gulf War Illness, when I had cautiously been told about a top secret US mission known as "Black Cat." This, I was told, involved a "black" US B52 bomber launching from Offut AFB in Nebraksa, and flying a round-trip to the Persian Gulf.
The hulking bomber carried one bomb packed with VX nerve agent, the most potent chemical weapon in the US CW armoury. The bomb was dropped on elements of the Republican Guard in Southern Iraq, I was informed. Heavy casualties apparently resulted. The operation, directed by the Central Intelligence Agency, was a counter-strike, following an Iraqi Scud that fell on Israel. The missile had contained Sarin and drove the Israeli government almost apoplectic with rage. Fuming, the Israeli's had readied to detonate a nuclear warhead high above Baghdad. Only the swift intervention of President George Bush forestalled what would have been a cataclysmic move destined to unravel the carefully wrought Arab backed Coalition lined-up against Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
"CHECK IT"
ISLAM VS WEST
Gulfnews: U.S. officials see deep rift between Islam and West
A former U.S. White House official and two other Western scholars have concluded a deep rift exists between Islam and the West because of Western misunderstanding of the religion, and argued dialogue and joint research are needed to bridge the gap.
What compounds the problem is that policy makers in the West have been influenced in their dealing with Muslims by anti-Islam ideas presented by Western intellectuals despite widespread endeavours by some Muslim scholars to present the real face of Islam, said Abdul Aziz Said, a member of the White House Commission on the Islamic World during the Administration of former U.S. President Jimmy Carter.
Gulfnews: U.S. officials see deep rift between Islam and West
A former U.S. White House official and two other Western scholars have concluded a deep rift exists between Islam and the West because of Western misunderstanding of the religion, and argued dialogue and joint research are needed to bridge the gap.
What compounds the problem is that policy makers in the West have been influenced in their dealing with Muslims by anti-Islam ideas presented by Western intellectuals despite widespread endeavours by some Muslim scholars to present the real face of Islam, said Abdul Aziz Said, a member of the White House Commission on the Islamic World during the Administration of former U.S. President Jimmy Carter.
GM FOOD
Guardian: World hunger needs a simple solution rather than hi-tech GM food
The sound of one hand clapping should greet the behaviour of "rational" scientists, businessmen and politicians in the debate on the future of genetically modified food.
One member of the government's review panel resigned because of the its "naive" and unbalanced approach. Another formally complained that he was threatened with the loss of research funding if he was critical of GM technology. In the most staggering example of a conflict of interest in recent times, a Monsanto employee was reportedly commissioned to write the first draft of the panel's report concerning GM safety issues
Guardian: World hunger needs a simple solution rather than hi-tech GM food
The sound of one hand clapping should greet the behaviour of "rational" scientists, businessmen and politicians in the debate on the future of genetically modified food.
One member of the government's review panel resigned because of the its "naive" and unbalanced approach. Another formally complained that he was threatened with the loss of research funding if he was critical of GM technology. In the most staggering example of a conflict of interest in recent times, a Monsanto employee was reportedly commissioned to write the first draft of the panel's report concerning GM safety issues
IRAQ
Sidyney Morning Herald: Bloody retribution
The shame of the father ... tribal sheiks forced Salem Kerbul, above, to kill his son Sabah, whom they accused of collaborating with the Americans. Photo: Jason South
The thousands of Iraqis working for the US administration have been declared collaborators. When they're caught by the resistance, the punishment is unthinkable. Paul McGeough reports.
Sabah Kerbul's executioners were his father and his brother. Most were in their beds when he was killed. But all members of the 27-year-old's extended family, living in adjoining properties on this remote bend in the Tigris, 120 kilometres north of Baghdad, knew the hideous tribal drama unfolding in a corner of their orange grove when they heard five sharp shots being fired from AK47s shortly after 2am.
Sidyney Morning Herald: Bloody retribution
The shame of the father ... tribal sheiks forced Salem Kerbul, above, to kill his son Sabah, whom they accused of collaborating with the Americans. Photo: Jason South
The thousands of Iraqis working for the US administration have been declared collaborators. When they're caught by the resistance, the punishment is unthinkable. Paul McGeough reports.
Sabah Kerbul's executioners were his father and his brother. Most were in their beds when he was killed. But all members of the 27-year-old's extended family, living in adjoining properties on this remote bend in the Tigris, 120 kilometres north of Baghdad, knew the hideous tribal drama unfolding in a corner of their orange grove when they heard five sharp shots being fired from AK47s shortly after 2am.
IRAQ
Sidney Morning Herald: US baffled as troops in Iraq hit by killer virus
The United States Army has dispatched a team of medical experts to Iraq to investigate a serious outbreak of pneumonia among US troops, with two dead and more than 100 ill.
Lieutenant-General James Peake, the army's surgeon general, has sent a team of six to Iraq and two more doctors to Landstuhl Regional Medical Centre in Germany, where some of the troops were treated after being flown from Iraq, officials said on Friday.
Army Medical Command spokeswoman Lyn Kukral said: "It is pneumonia. The question is: what is the cause?"
"You've got a healthy population and a young population [of US troops], and you have two soldiers who have died, and that's a concern."
Sidney Morning Herald: US baffled as troops in Iraq hit by killer virus
The United States Army has dispatched a team of medical experts to Iraq to investigate a serious outbreak of pneumonia among US troops, with two dead and more than 100 ill.
Lieutenant-General James Peake, the army's surgeon general, has sent a team of six to Iraq and two more doctors to Landstuhl Regional Medical Centre in Germany, where some of the troops were treated after being flown from Iraq, officials said on Friday.
Army Medical Command spokeswoman Lyn Kukral said: "It is pneumonia. The question is: what is the cause?"
"You've got a healthy population and a young population [of US troops], and you have two soldiers who have died, and that's a concern."
ANTI GM-FOOD
Globeandmail: French anti-GMO militant gets early release
Villeneuve-les-Maguelone, France — French anti-globalization activist José Bové walked free from prison Saturday several months ahead of schedule, after a court replaced his term for destroying genetically modified crops with community service.
To the cheers of supporters waiting outside the prison in southern France, Mr. Bové declared himself unrepentant.
"Being in prison has not changed my convictions," he told reporters. "For me, it is clear that the fight must continue."
Globeandmail: French anti-GMO militant gets early release
Villeneuve-les-Maguelone, France — French anti-globalization activist José Bové walked free from prison Saturday several months ahead of schedule, after a court replaced his term for destroying genetically modified crops with community service.
To the cheers of supporters waiting outside the prison in southern France, Mr. Bové declared himself unrepentant.
"Being in prison has not changed my convictions," he told reporters. "For me, it is clear that the fight must continue."
IRAQ: LIES LIES LIES
Independent: Blair and Bush join forces to spin away weapons issue
The British and US governments are drawing up a controversial new strategy to convince the public that Saddam was developing weapons of mass destruction - an admission that they have so far failed to make a convincing case.
The "big impact" plan is designed to overwhelm and silence critics who have sought to put pressure on Tony Blair and George Bush. At the same time both men are working to lower the burden of proof - from finding weapons to finding evidence that there were programmes to develop them, even if they lay dormant since the 1980s.
Independent: Blair and Bush join forces to spin away weapons issue
The British and US governments are drawing up a controversial new strategy to convince the public that Saddam was developing weapons of mass destruction - an admission that they have so far failed to make a convincing case.
The "big impact" plan is designed to overwhelm and silence critics who have sought to put pressure on Tony Blair and George Bush. At the same time both men are working to lower the burden of proof - from finding weapons to finding evidence that there were programmes to develop them, even if they lay dormant since the 1980s.
IRAQI WMD
Independent: Whistleblower on Niger uranium claim accuses White House of launching 'dirty-tricks campaign'
The former American diplomat who exposed false claims that Iraq was trying to purchase uranium from Niger has accused members of the Bush administration of a dirty tricks campaign against him.
The revelation of Joseph Wilson's investigation in the African state forced President George Bush to retract claims about Iraq's attempts to buy uranium made in his State of the Union speech two months before the war began.
The Administration is alleged to have leaked the name of Mr Wilson's wife, an undercover CIA operative in the field of weapons of mass destruction, with the aim of discrediting him. It is said that Mr Wilson was selected to go on the trip to Niger last year only after his wife, Valerie Plame, suggested him.
US intelligence officials and the Democrats are furious about the move, arguing that it jeopardises Ms Plame's work and undermines her husband. They have called for an inquiry
Independent: Whistleblower on Niger uranium claim accuses White House of launching 'dirty-tricks campaign'
The former American diplomat who exposed false claims that Iraq was trying to purchase uranium from Niger has accused members of the Bush administration of a dirty tricks campaign against him.
The revelation of Joseph Wilson's investigation in the African state forced President George Bush to retract claims about Iraq's attempts to buy uranium made in his State of the Union speech two months before the war began.
The Administration is alleged to have leaked the name of Mr Wilson's wife, an undercover CIA operative in the field of weapons of mass destruction, with the aim of discrediting him. It is said that Mr Wilson was selected to go on the trip to Niger last year only after his wife, Valerie Plame, suggested him.
US intelligence officials and the Democrats are furious about the move, arguing that it jeopardises Ms Plame's work and undermines her husband. They have called for an inquiry
IRAQ
Guardian: The unreported cost of war: at least 827 American wounded
US military casualties from the occupation of Iraq have been more than twice the number most Americans have been led to believe because of an extraordinarily high number of accidents, suicides and other non-combat deaths in the ranks that have gone largely unreported in the media.
Since May 1, when President George Bush declared the end of major combat operations, 52 American soldiers have been killed by hostile fire, according to Pentagon figures quoted in almost all the war coverage. But the total number of US deaths from all causes is much higher: 112.
Guardian: The unreported cost of war: at least 827 American wounded
US military casualties from the occupation of Iraq have been more than twice the number most Americans have been led to believe because of an extraordinarily high number of accidents, suicides and other non-combat deaths in the ranks that have gone largely unreported in the media.
Since May 1, when President George Bush declared the end of major combat operations, 52 American soldiers have been killed by hostile fire, according to Pentagon figures quoted in almost all the war coverage. But the total number of US deaths from all causes is much higher: 112.
IRAQ
SF Gate: Iraq buries Hussein brothers
Funeral ignites anti-American frenzy among mourners, calls for Saddam's return
Al-Uja, Iraq -- The brothers Hussein were buried on Saturday here in their hometown 11 days after they were killed by U.S. soldiers. The funeral touched off an outpouring of nostalgia for their fugitive father and was filled with angry calls to rid Iraq of its U.S. occupiers.
SF Gate: Iraq buries Hussein brothers
Funeral ignites anti-American frenzy among mourners, calls for Saddam's return
Al-Uja, Iraq -- The brothers Hussein were buried on Saturday here in their hometown 11 days after they were killed by U.S. soldiers. The funeral touched off an outpouring of nostalgia for their fugitive father and was filled with angry calls to rid Iraq of its U.S. occupiers.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
"The people in power will not disappear voluntarily, giving flowers to
the cops just isn't going to work. This thinking is fostered by the
establishment; they like nothing better than love & nonviolence. The only way I like to see cops given flowers is in a flower pot from a high
window." -- William Burroughs
"The people in power will not disappear voluntarily, giving flowers to
the cops just isn't going to work. This thinking is fostered by the
establishment; they like nothing better than love & nonviolence. The only way I like to see cops given flowers is in a flower pot from a high
window." -- William Burroughs
Monday, August 04, 2003
IRAQ
New Zealand News: Robert Fisk: US fostering sinister sort of democracy
Paul Bremer's taste in clothes symbolises "the new Iraq" well. He wears a business suit and combat boots. As the pro-consul of Iraq, you might have thought he'd have more taste.
The result? Iraq, with the world's second-highest reserves of oil, is now importing fuel.
Then comes Baghdad airport. Sure, it's going to reopen. But it just happens that the airport, with its huge American military base and brutal US prison camp, comes under nightly grenade and mortar attack.
No major airline would dream of flying its aircraft into the facility in these circumstances.
The Iraqis are told, for example, that the first flights will be run by "Transcontinental Airlines" (a name oddly similar to the CIA's transport airline in Vietnam), which is reported to be a subsidiary of "US Airlines", and the only flight will be between Baghdad and - wait for it - the old East Berlin airport of Schonefeld.
Health services? Well, yes, the new Iraqi health service is being encouraged to rehabilitate the country's hospitals and clinics. But a mysterious American company called Abt Associates has turned up in Baghdad to give "Ministry of Health Technical Assistance" support to the US Agency for International Development and "rapid response grants to address health needs in-country".
It has decreed that all medical equipment must accord with US technical standards and modifications - which means that all new hospital equipment must come from America, not from Europe.
Inevitably, it has been one of the American commentators from the same failed lunatic right as Wolfowitz - Daniel Pipes of the Middle East Forum think tank, which promotes American interests in the region - to express this in its most chilling form.
He now argues that "democratic-minded autocrats can guide [Iraq] to full democracy better than snap elections". What Iraq needs, he says, is "a democratically minded [sic] strongman who has real authority", who would be "politically moderate" but "operationally tough" (sic again).
Of course, it's difficult to resist a cynical smile at such double standards, although their meaning is frightening enough. What does "operationally tough" mean, other than secret policemen, interrogation rooms and torturers to keep the people in order - which is exactly what Saddam set up when he took power, supported as he was at the time by the US and Britain?
What does "strongman" mean other than a total reversal of the promise of "democracy" which Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair made to the Iraqi people?
Democracies are not led by autocrats, and autocrats are not led by anyone but themselves.
CHECK IT CHECK IT
New Zealand News: Robert Fisk: US fostering sinister sort of democracy
Paul Bremer's taste in clothes symbolises "the new Iraq" well. He wears a business suit and combat boots. As the pro-consul of Iraq, you might have thought he'd have more taste.
The result? Iraq, with the world's second-highest reserves of oil, is now importing fuel.
Then comes Baghdad airport. Sure, it's going to reopen. But it just happens that the airport, with its huge American military base and brutal US prison camp, comes under nightly grenade and mortar attack.
No major airline would dream of flying its aircraft into the facility in these circumstances.
The Iraqis are told, for example, that the first flights will be run by "Transcontinental Airlines" (a name oddly similar to the CIA's transport airline in Vietnam), which is reported to be a subsidiary of "US Airlines", and the only flight will be between Baghdad and - wait for it - the old East Berlin airport of Schonefeld.
Health services? Well, yes, the new Iraqi health service is being encouraged to rehabilitate the country's hospitals and clinics. But a mysterious American company called Abt Associates has turned up in Baghdad to give "Ministry of Health Technical Assistance" support to the US Agency for International Development and "rapid response grants to address health needs in-country".
It has decreed that all medical equipment must accord with US technical standards and modifications - which means that all new hospital equipment must come from America, not from Europe.
Inevitably, it has been one of the American commentators from the same failed lunatic right as Wolfowitz - Daniel Pipes of the Middle East Forum think tank, which promotes American interests in the region - to express this in its most chilling form.
He now argues that "democratic-minded autocrats can guide [Iraq] to full democracy better than snap elections". What Iraq needs, he says, is "a democratically minded [sic] strongman who has real authority", who would be "politically moderate" but "operationally tough" (sic again).
Of course, it's difficult to resist a cynical smile at such double standards, although their meaning is frightening enough. What does "operationally tough" mean, other than secret policemen, interrogation rooms and torturers to keep the people in order - which is exactly what Saddam set up when he took power, supported as he was at the time by the US and Britain?
What does "strongman" mean other than a total reversal of the promise of "democracy" which Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair made to the Iraqi people?
Democracies are not led by autocrats, and autocrats are not led by anyone but themselves.
CHECK IT CHECK IT
STREETART
FAHRENHEIT451 update @ Ekosystem
FH451 is also covered in Print in the August Issue of Juice Magazine
FAHRENHEIT451 update @ Ekosystem
FH451 is also covered in Print in the August Issue of Juice Magazine
Thursday, July 31, 2003
IRAQI RESISTANCE
Reuters:
Ambush Kills One US Soldier, Wounds Two In Iraq
BAGHDAD (Reuters) -- One U.S. soldier was killed and two wounded in a gun attack on their tactical operations center northeast of Baghdad, the U.S. army said on Thursday.
A military spokesman said the soldiers from the 4th Infantry Division were attacked around 11:45 p.m. on Wednesday. The death brings to 51 the number of U.S. soldiers killed by attacks since Washington declared major combat over on May 1. In the last two weeks alone, 18 have been killed.
Reuters:
Ambush Kills One US Soldier, Wounds Two In Iraq
BAGHDAD (Reuters) -- One U.S. soldier was killed and two wounded in a gun attack on their tactical operations center northeast of Baghdad, the U.S. army said on Thursday.
A military spokesman said the soldiers from the 4th Infantry Division were attacked around 11:45 p.m. on Wednesday. The death brings to 51 the number of U.S. soldiers killed by attacks since Washington declared major combat over on May 1. In the last two weeks alone, 18 have been killed.
OCCUPIED TERRITORIES-GOODBYE ROADMAP
Haaretz: Despite U.S. pressure, tender issued for 22 new Gaza homes
A senior aide to Palestinian Authority Chairman
Yasser Arafat on Thursday called Israel's decision
to issue a tender for 22 housing units in a Gaza
Strip settlement "a very dangerous step."
Peace Now representatives said the increased
settlement activity is more evidence that
Israel is not fulfilling its commitments on the
road map and is causing the peace process to
fail, the report said.
Haaretz: Despite U.S. pressure, tender issued for 22 new Gaza homes
A senior aide to Palestinian Authority Chairman
Yasser Arafat on Thursday called Israel's decision
to issue a tender for 22 housing units in a Gaza
Strip settlement "a very dangerous step."
Peace Now representatives said the increased
settlement activity is more evidence that
Israel is not fulfilling its commitments on the
road map and is causing the peace process to
fail, the report said.
BUSH
Independent: Bush, the rainforest and a gas pipeline to enrich his friends
Plan would enrich Bush corporate campaign contributors
President George Bush is seeking funds for a controversial project to drive gas pipelines from pristine rainforests in the Peruvian Amazon to the coast.
The plan will enrich some of Mr Bush's closest corporate campaign contributors while risking the destruction of rainforest, threatening its indigenous peoples and endangering rare species on the coast.
Among the beneficiaries would be two Texas energy companies with close ties to the White House, Hunt Oil and Kellogg Brown & Root (KBR), a subsidiary of Vice-President Dick Cheney's old company, Haliburton, which is rebuilding Iraq's oil infrastructure.
Independent: Bush, the rainforest and a gas pipeline to enrich his friends
Plan would enrich Bush corporate campaign contributors
President George Bush is seeking funds for a controversial project to drive gas pipelines from pristine rainforests in the Peruvian Amazon to the coast.
The plan will enrich some of Mr Bush's closest corporate campaign contributors while risking the destruction of rainforest, threatening its indigenous peoples and endangering rare species on the coast.
Among the beneficiaries would be two Texas energy companies with close ties to the White House, Hunt Oil and Kellogg Brown & Root (KBR), a subsidiary of Vice-President Dick Cheney's old company, Haliburton, which is rebuilding Iraq's oil infrastructure.
IRAQ
Islam Online:
Saddam Pays Tribute To Killed Sons
BAGHDAD, July 29 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - In a new audiotape aired by Al-Arabiya TV channel Tuesday, July 29, ousted Iraqi president Saddam Hussein paid tribute to his two sons Uday and Qusay who were recently killed by U.S. forces.
"We thank Allah for honoring us with their martyrdom…Beloved Iraqis, your sons and brothers -- Uday, Qusay and Qusay's son Mustafa -- practiced an act of faith in the arena of jihad in Mosul, after a valiant battle with the enemy lasting a full six hours," said the voice said to be of the ousted Iraqi president.
Islam Online:
Saddam Pays Tribute To Killed Sons
BAGHDAD, July 29 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - In a new audiotape aired by Al-Arabiya TV channel Tuesday, July 29, ousted Iraqi president Saddam Hussein paid tribute to his two sons Uday and Qusay who were recently killed by U.S. forces.
"We thank Allah for honoring us with their martyrdom…Beloved Iraqis, your sons and brothers -- Uday, Qusay and Qusay's son Mustafa -- practiced an act of faith in the arena of jihad in Mosul, after a valiant battle with the enemy lasting a full six hours," said the voice said to be of the ousted Iraqi president.
FINANCE..DIE ERSTEN KRIEGSGEWINNER
Yahoo:
War-driven energy prices push BP profits up 42 percent
British oil giant BP reported a 42-percent rise in second-quarter profits, boosted by unexpectedly strong oil prices in the aftermath of the Iraq (news - web sites) war.
Yahoo:
War-driven energy prices push BP profits up 42 percent
British oil giant BP reported a 42-percent rise in second-quarter profits, boosted by unexpectedly strong oil prices in the aftermath of the Iraq (news - web sites) war.
OCCUPIED TERRITORIES
Taipe Times: Israel quells protest along fence
SOLID WALL: The security fence served its purpose when an international group of protesters was sent away at the barricade by an Israeli-rubber-bullet counterattack
Taipe Times: Israel quells protest along fence
SOLID WALL: The security fence served its purpose when an international group of protesters was sent away at the barricade by an Israeli-rubber-bullet counterattack
OCCUPIED TERRITORIES
Guardian: 'I can't imagine anyone who considers himself a human being can do this'
On Friday a four-year-old Palestinian boy was shot dead by a soldier - the most recent child victim of the Israeli army. Chris McGreal investigates a shocking series of deaths
Haneen, who was eight years old, had been shot twice in the head by an Israeli soldier as she walked down the street in Khan Yunis refugee camp with her mother, Lila Abu Selmi.
"Almost every day here the Israelis shoot at random, so when you hear it you get inside as quickly as possible," says Mrs Selmi. "Haneen went to the grocery store to buy some crisps. When the shooting started, I came out to find her. She was coming down the street and ran to me and hugged me, crying, 'Mother, mother'. Two bullets hit her in the head, one straight after the other. She was still in my arms and she died."
The numbers are staggering; one in five Palestinian dead is a child. The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) says at least 408 Palestinian children have been killed since the beginning of the intifada in September 2000
Guardian: 'I can't imagine anyone who considers himself a human being can do this'
On Friday a four-year-old Palestinian boy was shot dead by a soldier - the most recent child victim of the Israeli army. Chris McGreal investigates a shocking series of deaths
Haneen, who was eight years old, had been shot twice in the head by an Israeli soldier as she walked down the street in Khan Yunis refugee camp with her mother, Lila Abu Selmi.
"Almost every day here the Israelis shoot at random, so when you hear it you get inside as quickly as possible," says Mrs Selmi. "Haneen went to the grocery store to buy some crisps. When the shooting started, I came out to find her. She was coming down the street and ran to me and hugged me, crying, 'Mother, mother'. Two bullets hit her in the head, one straight after the other. She was still in my arms and she died."
The numbers are staggering; one in five Palestinian dead is a child. The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) says at least 408 Palestinian children have been killed since the beginning of the intifada in September 2000
OCCUPIED TERRITORIES
Institute for Public Accuracy:
THE WALL
MARK LANCE, a professor at Georgetown University, was in the West Bank
in June and July with a delegation of university faculty and has written
about the wall that Israel is constructing in the West Bank. He said today:
"Sharon claims that Israel is building a 'security fence' so that it
can protect itself. That is not borne out by the facts. Physically, the
wall has two distinct forms. In much of the northern section, it is a
20-foot-high concrete wall, complete with guard towers -- very much
like the Berlin Wall. Most of the rest is a complex consisting of a row of
razor wire, a trench, a military security road, an electrified fence, another
road, another trench, and another razor wire barrier.... The wall does
not separate the West Bank from Israel; rather, it curves into the West
Bank in such a way as to divide villages from their farmland. In the (not so)
long run, this will result in the further impoverishment and likely
displacement of the population of these villages, as well as the likely
appropriation of this land to Israel
Maps and images of the separation wall are available via:
Gush-Shalom
Btselem.org
Palestine Monitor
Guardian: Death zone puts family life in limbo
Israeli security fence cuts Palestinians off from their village, school and relatives "linked by Pedro"
Institute for Public Accuracy:
THE WALL
MARK LANCE, a professor at Georgetown University, was in the West Bank
in June and July with a delegation of university faculty and has written
about the wall that Israel is constructing in the West Bank. He said today:
"Sharon claims that Israel is building a 'security fence' so that it
can protect itself. That is not borne out by the facts. Physically, the
wall has two distinct forms. In much of the northern section, it is a
20-foot-high concrete wall, complete with guard towers -- very much
like the Berlin Wall. Most of the rest is a complex consisting of a row of
razor wire, a trench, a military security road, an electrified fence, another
road, another trench, and another razor wire barrier.... The wall does
not separate the West Bank from Israel; rather, it curves into the West
Bank in such a way as to divide villages from their farmland. In the (not so)
long run, this will result in the further impoverishment and likely
displacement of the population of these villages, as well as the likely
appropriation of this land to Israel
Maps and images of the separation wall are available via:
Gush-Shalom
Btselem.org
Palestine Monitor
Guardian: Death zone puts family life in limbo
Israeli security fence cuts Palestinians off from their village, school and relatives "linked by Pedro"
AFGHANISTAN
Asia Times: Why the US needs the Taliban
Since Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf made his much-acclaimed visit to Camp David and met US President George W Bush on June 24, new elements have begun to emerge in the Afghan theater. US troops in Afghanistan are now encountering more enemy attacks than ever before, and clashes between Pakistani and Afghan troops along the tribal borders have been reported regularly.
On July 16, speaking to Electronic Telegraph of the United Kingdom, US troop commander General Frank "Buster" Hagenbeck, based at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan, reported increased attacks over recent weeks on US and Afghan forces by the Taliban, al-Qaeda and other anti-US groups that have joined hands. He also revealed some other very interesting information: the Taliban and its allies have regrouped in Pakistan and are recruiting fighters from religious schools in Quetta in a campaign funded by drug trafficking. Hagenbeck also said that these enemies of US and Afghan forces have been joined by Al-Qaeda commanders who are establishing new cells and sponsoring the attempted capture of American troops. One other piece of news of import from Hagenbeck is that the Taliban have seized whole swathes of the country.
CHECK IT
Asia Times: Why the US needs the Taliban
Since Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf made his much-acclaimed visit to Camp David and met US President George W Bush on June 24, new elements have begun to emerge in the Afghan theater. US troops in Afghanistan are now encountering more enemy attacks than ever before, and clashes between Pakistani and Afghan troops along the tribal borders have been reported regularly.
On July 16, speaking to Electronic Telegraph of the United Kingdom, US troop commander General Frank "Buster" Hagenbeck, based at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan, reported increased attacks over recent weeks on US and Afghan forces by the Taliban, al-Qaeda and other anti-US groups that have joined hands. He also revealed some other very interesting information: the Taliban and its allies have regrouped in Pakistan and are recruiting fighters from religious schools in Quetta in a campaign funded by drug trafficking. Hagenbeck also said that these enemies of US and Afghan forces have been joined by Al-Qaeda commanders who are establishing new cells and sponsoring the attempted capture of American troops. One other piece of news of import from Hagenbeck is that the Taliban have seized whole swathes of the country.
CHECK IT
ISRAELI WMD
The News: Arabs aim at Israeli nukes through IAEA
BRUSSELS: In an unprecedented move, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has decided to include 'Israeli Nuclear Capabilities and Threats' as an agenda item for discussion in its next General Conference and Regular Session to be held in Vienna, soon.
Ever escalating Israeli nuclear programme will be debated thread bare in the upcoming 47th Regular Session of the UN atomic body, IAEA.
Israel is the sole nuclear power in the Middle East. Therefore it is free to threaten, overtly or by implication, any or all other Middle East countries with total destruction without possibility of their retaliation", Arab states emphasised in their much-needed request for inclusion of Israeli nuclear programme in the IAEA discussions.
The News: Arabs aim at Israeli nukes through IAEA
BRUSSELS: In an unprecedented move, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has decided to include 'Israeli Nuclear Capabilities and Threats' as an agenda item for discussion in its next General Conference and Regular Session to be held in Vienna, soon.
Ever escalating Israeli nuclear programme will be debated thread bare in the upcoming 47th Regular Session of the UN atomic body, IAEA.
Israel is the sole nuclear power in the Middle East. Therefore it is free to threaten, overtly or by implication, any or all other Middle East countries with total destruction without possibility of their retaliation", Arab states emphasised in their much-needed request for inclusion of Israeli nuclear programme in the IAEA discussions.
IRAQ: OPEN FOR BUSINESS...
Independent: Cut off for un-American activities: the mobile phone firm that connected Iraqis
America's desire to rebuild Iraq in its own image even extends to setting up a mobile phone network that only works for US phones.
A Bahraini company that established a network accessible to those without American phones has been forced to scrap its plans after a week.
Batelco had started placing more than $5m (£3m) of aerials and other equipment for GSM mobiles across Baghdad. Foreign businessmen and journalists were able to abandon expensive satellite phones for the first time. But mindful of its desire to set up a tender for the country's mobile network, the US authorities apparently started to put pressure on Batelco, threatening to confiscate its equipment.
"They applied enough pressure for us to push the button," said Rashid al-Snan, the company's regional operations manager. "I feel really sorry - sorry for the Iraqis and sorry for the foreigners who were using the network. It's a pity we had to stop. We really put in an effort and felt a cheer coming towards us from all over the world."
Independent: Cut off for un-American activities: the mobile phone firm that connected Iraqis
America's desire to rebuild Iraq in its own image even extends to setting up a mobile phone network that only works for US phones.
A Bahraini company that established a network accessible to those without American phones has been forced to scrap its plans after a week.
Batelco had started placing more than $5m (£3m) of aerials and other equipment for GSM mobiles across Baghdad. Foreign businessmen and journalists were able to abandon expensive satellite phones for the first time. But mindful of its desire to set up a tender for the country's mobile network, the US authorities apparently started to put pressure on Batelco, threatening to confiscate its equipment.
"They applied enough pressure for us to push the button," said Rashid al-Snan, the company's regional operations manager. "I feel really sorry - sorry for the Iraqis and sorry for the foreigners who were using the network. It's a pity we had to stop. We really put in an effort and felt a cheer coming towards us from all over the world."
MEDIA
Independent: America Increasing Pressure on Al-Jazeera TV by Robert Fisk in Baghdat
"The unprecedented dispute between an Anglo-American occupation authority and an Arab station once praised for its services to free speech in the Arab world comes at a time when the US administration appears to be laying the ground work to close down Al-Jazeera’s operations in Iraq .."
BAGHDAD - Only a day after US Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz claimed that the Arabic Al-Jazeera television channel was “inciting violence” and “endangering the lives of American troops” in Iraq, the station’s Baghdad bureau chief has written a scathing reply to the American administration, complaining that in the past month the station’s offices and staff in Iraq “have been subject to strafing by gunfire, death threats, confiscation of news material, and multiple detentions and arrests, all carried out by US soldiers...”
The unprecedented dispute between an Anglo-American occupation authority supposedly dedicated to “democracy” in Iraq and an Arab station once praised by Washington for its services to free speech in the Arab world comes at a time when the US administration appears to be laying the ground work to close down Al-Jazeera’s operations in Iraq — along with those of the Arabia channel — for alleged “incitement to violence”.
America’s senior occupation proconsul in Iraq, Paul Bremer, has officially stated that he would close down newspapers or television stations guilty of “incitement to violence” — without, of course, explaining exactly what this phrase means.
CHECK IT CHECK IT CHECK IT
"Ironie Ironie. Die Befreier der Welt wollen den einzigen freien Nachrichtenkanal in der neuen Kolonie Irak unter fadenscheinigen Begründung resp. Lügen verbieten. Die Besatzungsmacht mag nicht wenn jemand die Wahrheit berichtet. Democracy the american way"
Independent: America Increasing Pressure on Al-Jazeera TV by Robert Fisk in Baghdat
"The unprecedented dispute between an Anglo-American occupation authority and an Arab station once praised for its services to free speech in the Arab world comes at a time when the US administration appears to be laying the ground work to close down Al-Jazeera’s operations in Iraq .."
BAGHDAD - Only a day after US Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz claimed that the Arabic Al-Jazeera television channel was “inciting violence” and “endangering the lives of American troops” in Iraq, the station’s Baghdad bureau chief has written a scathing reply to the American administration, complaining that in the past month the station’s offices and staff in Iraq “have been subject to strafing by gunfire, death threats, confiscation of news material, and multiple detentions and arrests, all carried out by US soldiers...”
The unprecedented dispute between an Anglo-American occupation authority supposedly dedicated to “democracy” in Iraq and an Arab station once praised by Washington for its services to free speech in the Arab world comes at a time when the US administration appears to be laying the ground work to close down Al-Jazeera’s operations in Iraq — along with those of the Arabia channel — for alleged “incitement to violence”.
America’s senior occupation proconsul in Iraq, Paul Bremer, has officially stated that he would close down newspapers or television stations guilty of “incitement to violence” — without, of course, explaining exactly what this phrase means.
CHECK IT CHECK IT CHECK IT
"Ironie Ironie. Die Befreier der Welt wollen den einzigen freien Nachrichtenkanal in der neuen Kolonie Irak unter fadenscheinigen Begründung resp. Lügen verbieten. Die Besatzungsmacht mag nicht wenn jemand die Wahrheit berichtet. Democracy the american way"
IRAQI RESISTANCE
Asia Times: Anti-US resistance spreads through Iraq
SULAIMANIYA, northern Iraq - As attacks against US targets in central Iraq increase, many factors in the north and south are combining to add to the woes of the US occupiers, the US-appointed administration, and their supporters.
Intelligence sources in the northern city of Sulaimaniya say that those resisting the US presence are on a steep learning curve and that their attacks will become more organized and ruthless.
According to the local sources, a terror network in northern cities, including Kirkuk and Mosul, is set to begin operations against US troops and those Iraqis who support them. News of the northern network emerged during meetings earlier this week between local intelligence officials of Iraqi Kurdistan and US intelligence.
Asia Times: Anti-US resistance spreads through Iraq
SULAIMANIYA, northern Iraq - As attacks against US targets in central Iraq increase, many factors in the north and south are combining to add to the woes of the US occupiers, the US-appointed administration, and their supporters.
Intelligence sources in the northern city of Sulaimaniya say that those resisting the US presence are on a steep learning curve and that their attacks will become more organized and ruthless.
According to the local sources, a terror network in northern cities, including Kirkuk and Mosul, is set to begin operations against US troops and those Iraqis who support them. News of the northern network emerged during meetings earlier this week between local intelligence officials of Iraqi Kurdistan and US intelligence.
Wednesday, July 30, 2003
IRAQ
Zmag:
Guardian: Victims of trigger-happy Task Force 20
Rage triggered by US raid that claimed five lives
The first hint that something might be up came at 1.30pm on Sunday afternoon. A car full of westerners in civilian clothes with cropped military-style haircuts pulled up outside the Al Sa'ah restaurant, two blocks from Prince Rabiah Muhamed al-Habib's house in the wealthy Mansur district of Baghdad.
Japantoday:
Japanese reporters in Iraq say U.S. troops roughed them up
A Japanese reporter was manhandled and temporarily detained
by U.S. soldiers Sunday for filming without their permission in an area of Baghdad where they were conducting raids, another reporter who accompanied him said. Japan Press reporter Kazutaka Sato, 47, was put in a hold, thrown
to the ground and kicked, sustaining injuries to his face and hands,
according to Mika Yamamoto, 36, a Japan Press reporter who was with Sato at the time of the incident. She said the two had been in the Mansur district of Baghdad filming the damage caused to civilians by the U.S. military when they had their cameras confiscated.
Zmag:
Guardian: Victims of trigger-happy Task Force 20
Rage triggered by US raid that claimed five lives
The first hint that something might be up came at 1.30pm on Sunday afternoon. A car full of westerners in civilian clothes with cropped military-style haircuts pulled up outside the Al Sa'ah restaurant, two blocks from Prince Rabiah Muhamed al-Habib's house in the wealthy Mansur district of Baghdad.
Japantoday:
Japanese reporters in Iraq say U.S. troops roughed them up
A Japanese reporter was manhandled and temporarily detained
by U.S. soldiers Sunday for filming without their permission in an area of Baghdad where they were conducting raids, another reporter who accompanied him said. Japan Press reporter Kazutaka Sato, 47, was put in a hold, thrown
to the ground and kicked, sustaining injuries to his face and hands,
according to Mika Yamamoto, 36, a Japan Press reporter who was with Sato at the time of the incident. She said the two had been in the Mansur district of Baghdad filming the damage caused to civilians by the U.S. military when they had their cameras confiscated.
IRAQI RESISTANCE
Yellowtimes: News from the Front: Worsening Situation in Iraq
In the wake of the killings of Uday and Qusay
Saddam Hussein, U.S. soldiers appear to be more on edge, according to the BBC and Arab media reports. Ten U.S. military servicemen have been killed, with 14 wounded since the killing of the Hussein brothers last Tuesday. U.S. soldiers have complained that the attacks are now no longer restricted to the cover of night, often occurring suddenly and almost everywhere.
Yellowtimes: News from the Front: Worsening Situation in Iraq
In the wake of the killings of Uday and Qusay
Saddam Hussein, U.S. soldiers appear to be more on edge, according to the BBC and Arab media reports. Ten U.S. military servicemen have been killed, with 14 wounded since the killing of the Hussein brothers last Tuesday. U.S. soldiers have complained that the attacks are now no longer restricted to the cover of night, often occurring suddenly and almost everywhere.
QUOTE THE DAY
"The point of public relations slogans like "Support our troops" is
that they don't mean anything... That's the whole point of good propaganda.
You want to create a slogan that nobody's going to be against, and
everybody's going to be for. Nobody knows what it means, because it doesn't mean
anything. Its crucial value is that it diverts your attention from a
question that does mean something: Do you support our policy? That's
the one you're not allowed to talk about." -- Noam Chomsky
"The point of public relations slogans like "Support our troops" is
that they don't mean anything... That's the whole point of good propaganda.
You want to create a slogan that nobody's going to be against, and
everybody's going to be for. Nobody knows what it means, because it doesn't mean
anything. Its crucial value is that it diverts your attention from a
question that does mean something: Do you support our policy? That's
the one you're not allowed to talk about." -- Noam Chomsky
OCCUPIED TERRITORIES
Tagesanzeiger: Mauerbau: Sharon trotzt Bush
Beim Besuch im Weissen Haus hat Israels Premier erklärt, dass er am Bau der befestigten Grenze festhalten will - trotz US-Kritik an Mauer und Sicherheitszaun.
Obwohl der palästinensische Ministerpräsident Abbas bei seinem Besuch im Weissen Haus letzten Freitag Präsident Bush gedrängt hatte, Israel zu einem Baustopp des Zauns zu bewegen, übte Bush in dieser Beziehung öffentlich keinerlei Druck auf Sharon aus.
sagte Sharon, beim Bau des Zauns werde man sich bemühen, «Eingriffe in das tägliche Leben der palästinensischen Bevölkerung möglichst gering zu halten» "witz?"
Bush hatte seine Erklärung vor der Presse mit der Versicherung eröffnet, die USA hätten «sich fest der Sicherheit Israels als eines jüdischen Staats und der Sicherheit des israelischen Volkes verschrieben». Ausserdem betonte er mehrmals, die Errichtung eines palästinensischen Staats hänge von einem Ende der Terroranschläge auf israelische Ziele ab
"Die Roadmap ist wohl eher ein PR-Move von Bush um die arabische Welt ruhig zu stellen als ein ernst gemeinter Versuch Frieden zu stiften"
Tagesanzeiger: Mauerbau: Sharon trotzt Bush
Beim Besuch im Weissen Haus hat Israels Premier erklärt, dass er am Bau der befestigten Grenze festhalten will - trotz US-Kritik an Mauer und Sicherheitszaun.
Obwohl der palästinensische Ministerpräsident Abbas bei seinem Besuch im Weissen Haus letzten Freitag Präsident Bush gedrängt hatte, Israel zu einem Baustopp des Zauns zu bewegen, übte Bush in dieser Beziehung öffentlich keinerlei Druck auf Sharon aus.
sagte Sharon, beim Bau des Zauns werde man sich bemühen, «Eingriffe in das tägliche Leben der palästinensischen Bevölkerung möglichst gering zu halten» "witz?"
Bush hatte seine Erklärung vor der Presse mit der Versicherung eröffnet, die USA hätten «sich fest der Sicherheit Israels als eines jüdischen Staats und der Sicherheit des israelischen Volkes verschrieben». Ausserdem betonte er mehrmals, die Errichtung eines palästinensischen Staats hänge von einem Ende der Terroranschläge auf israelische Ziele ab
"Die Roadmap ist wohl eher ein PR-Move von Bush um die arabische Welt ruhig zu stellen als ein ernst gemeinter Versuch Frieden zu stiften"
Tuesday, July 29, 2003
IRAQ
Spiegel: Saddam beklagt Tod seiner Söhne
Der gestürzte irakische Machthaber Saddam Hussein hat sich erstmals zum Tod seiner Söhne geäußert. In einer Tonbandaufnahme trauert er um Udai, Kussei und seinen Neffen Mustafa, die in der vergangenen Woche von US-Soldaten in Mossul getötet wurden. Sie seien den "Heldentod" gestorben.
Spiegel: Saddam beklagt Tod seiner Söhne
Der gestürzte irakische Machthaber Saddam Hussein hat sich erstmals zum Tod seiner Söhne geäußert. In einer Tonbandaufnahme trauert er um Udai, Kussei und seinen Neffen Mustafa, die in der vergangenen Woche von US-Soldaten in Mossul getötet wurden. Sie seien den "Heldentod" gestorben.
IRAQ
Guardian: America Is Now A Religion by George Monibot
US leaders now see themselves as priests of a divine mission to rid the world of its demons...
The death of Uday and Qusay," the commander of the ground forces in Iraq told reporters on Wednesday, "is definitely going to be a turning point for the resistance." Well, it was a turning point, but unfortunately not of the kind he envisaged. On the day he made his announcement, Iraqi insurgents killed one US soldier and wounded six others. On the following day, they killed another three; over the weekend they assassinated five and injured seven. Yesterday they slaughtered one more and wounded three. This has been the worst week for US soldiers in Iraq since George Bush declared that the war there was over.
Few people believe that the resistance in that country is being coordinated by Saddam Hussein and his noxious family, or that it will come to an end when those people are killed. But the few appear to include the military and civilian command of the United States armed forces. For the hundredth time since the US invaded Iraq, the predictions made by those with access to intelligence have proved less reliable than the predictions made by those without. And, for the hundredth time, the inaccuracy of the official forecasts has been blamed on "intelligence failures".
Guardian: America Is Now A Religion by George Monibot
US leaders now see themselves as priests of a divine mission to rid the world of its demons...
The death of Uday and Qusay," the commander of the ground forces in Iraq told reporters on Wednesday, "is definitely going to be a turning point for the resistance." Well, it was a turning point, but unfortunately not of the kind he envisaged. On the day he made his announcement, Iraqi insurgents killed one US soldier and wounded six others. On the following day, they killed another three; over the weekend they assassinated five and injured seven. Yesterday they slaughtered one more and wounded three. This has been the worst week for US soldiers in Iraq since George Bush declared that the war there was over.
Few people believe that the resistance in that country is being coordinated by Saddam Hussein and his noxious family, or that it will come to an end when those people are killed. But the few appear to include the military and civilian command of the United States armed forces. For the hundredth time since the US invaded Iraq, the predictions made by those with access to intelligence have proved less reliable than the predictions made by those without. And, for the hundredth time, the inaccuracy of the official forecasts has been blamed on "intelligence failures".
FINANCE
Yahoo News:
Pentagon's Futures Market Plan Condemned
WASHINGTON - The Pentagon (news - web sites) is setting up a stock-market style system in which investors would bet on terror attacks, assassinations and other events in the Middle East. Defense officials hope to gain intelligence and useful predictions while investors who guessed right would win profits.
Two Democratic senators demanded Monday the project be stopped before investors begin registering this week. "The idea of a federal betting parlor on atrocities and terrorism is ridiculous and it's grotesque," Sen. Ron Wyden (news, bio, voting record), D-Ore., said.
Yahoo News:
Pentagon's Futures Market Plan Condemned
WASHINGTON - The Pentagon (news - web sites) is setting up a stock-market style system in which investors would bet on terror attacks, assassinations and other events in the Middle East. Defense officials hope to gain intelligence and useful predictions while investors who guessed right would win profits.
Two Democratic senators demanded Monday the project be stopped before investors begin registering this week. "The idea of a federal betting parlor on atrocities and terrorism is ridiculous and it's grotesque," Sen. Ron Wyden (news, bio, voting record), D-Ore., said.
IRAQI WMD
Sunday Herald: Britain's Dirty Tricks Campaign
To Push War In Iraq
Revealed: The Secret Cabal Which Spun For Blair
Britain ran a covert 'dirty tricks' operation designed specifically to produce misleading intelligence that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction to give the UK a justifiable excuse to wage war on Iraq.
Operation Rockingham, established by the Defence Intelligence Staff within the Ministry of Defence in 1991, was set up to 'cherry-pick' intelligence proving an active Iraqi WMD programme and to ignore and quash intelligence which indicated that Saddam's stockpiles had been destroyed or wound down.
'Rockingham was spinning reports and emphasising reports that showed non-compliance (by Iraq with UN inspections) and quashing those which showed compliance. It was cherry-picking intelligence.
Johnson said that to describe Saddam as an 'imminent threat' to the West was 'laughable and idiotic'. He said many CIA officers were in 'great distress' over the way intelligence had been treated. 'We've entered the world of George Orwell,' Johnson added. 'I'm disgusted. The truth has to be told. We can't allow our leaders to use bogus information to justify war.'
Sunday Herald: Britain's Dirty Tricks Campaign
To Push War In Iraq
Revealed: The Secret Cabal Which Spun For Blair
Britain ran a covert 'dirty tricks' operation designed specifically to produce misleading intelligence that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction to give the UK a justifiable excuse to wage war on Iraq.
Operation Rockingham, established by the Defence Intelligence Staff within the Ministry of Defence in 1991, was set up to 'cherry-pick' intelligence proving an active Iraqi WMD programme and to ignore and quash intelligence which indicated that Saddam's stockpiles had been destroyed or wound down.
'Rockingham was spinning reports and emphasising reports that showed non-compliance (by Iraq with UN inspections) and quashing those which showed compliance. It was cherry-picking intelligence.
Johnson said that to describe Saddam as an 'imminent threat' to the West was 'laughable and idiotic'. He said many CIA officers were in 'great distress' over the way intelligence had been treated. 'We've entered the world of George Orwell,' Johnson added. 'I'm disgusted. The truth has to be told. We can't allow our leaders to use bogus information to justify war.'
MEDIA
Reuters: Arab Stations Reject U.S. Criticism They Are Biased
Arab satellite televisions dismissed Monday U.S. accusations that their coverage from Iraq was biased and incited violence against U.S. troops, saying they just filled a vacuum left by the U.S. media.
Officials from Al Arabiya and Al Jazeera networks, which have reported anti-U.S. attacks in Iraq and aired tapes by ousted leader Saddam Hussein, were responding to remarks made on Sunday by U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowtiz.
Wolfowitz said in an interview on Fox News Sunday the two channels were guilty of "very biased reporting that has the effect of inciting violence against our troops."
"Wolfowitz wirft den Arabischen Sendern parteiische Berichterstattung vor - und das auf FOX NEWS. Wenn das mal keine Ironie ist"
Reuters: Arab Stations Reject U.S. Criticism They Are Biased
Arab satellite televisions dismissed Monday U.S. accusations that their coverage from Iraq was biased and incited violence against U.S. troops, saying they just filled a vacuum left by the U.S. media.
Officials from Al Arabiya and Al Jazeera networks, which have reported anti-U.S. attacks in Iraq and aired tapes by ousted leader Saddam Hussein, were responding to remarks made on Sunday by U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowtiz.
Wolfowitz said in an interview on Fox News Sunday the two channels were guilty of "very biased reporting that has the effect of inciting violence against our troops."
"Wolfowitz wirft den Arabischen Sendern parteiische Berichterstattung vor - und das auf FOX NEWS. Wenn das mal keine Ironie ist"
DOUBLETALK /LANGUAGE
Zmag:
Colleteral Language an interview with Noam Chomsky
Rense:
Language
by Charey Reese
"Politicians and the media are perpetually corrupting the language. I was reminded of that yet again when the New York City mayor, understandably excited, described the shooting of a city councilman as an "attack on democracy."
No it wasn't. The councilman, God rest his soul, was killed by some guy who apparently had a grudge against him. It was private murder that just happened to occur in a public place. It was not an attack against the institution or even the City Council itself, much less against democracy.
Zmag:
Colleteral Language an interview with Noam Chomsky
Rense:
Language
by Charey Reese
"Politicians and the media are perpetually corrupting the language. I was reminded of that yet again when the New York City mayor, understandably excited, described the shooting of a city councilman as an "attack on democracy."
No it wasn't. The councilman, God rest his soul, was killed by some guy who apparently had a grudge against him. It was private murder that just happened to occur in a public place. It was not an attack against the institution or even the City Council itself, much less against democracy.
Monday, July 28, 2003
IRAQI RESISTANCE
Independent/Rense: US Troops Keep Asking
Themselves 'Who's Next?' By Robert Fisk
BAGHDAD -- The convoys were humming down the highway from Amman to Baghdad all last week, trucks groaning under the weight of hundreds of tons of pre-stressed concrete, giant blocks and heaps of cement on the trailers, each one higher than the average lorry. I understood what they meant: protection from car bombs.
I had seen them so often in Beirut when the US Marines first came under fire in 1983. The 'liberators' of Beirut were becoming the occupiers. Now the same is happening in Iraq. The 'liberators' are turning into aggressive raiders, kicking down doors and screaming at disobedient Iraqis, shooting dead drivers who don't stop at their checkpoints.
When they kill the former Iraqi leadership, the sons of Saddam, they parade their cadavers before Arab television audiences, just like any other Middle East regime.
Welcome to the 'New Iraq'
The vast miles of concrete are to be placed around US bases in Iraq, protection from the car bombs which have yet to be used against them.
"CHECK IT"
Independent/Rense: US Troops Keep Asking
Themselves 'Who's Next?' By Robert Fisk
BAGHDAD -- The convoys were humming down the highway from Amman to Baghdad all last week, trucks groaning under the weight of hundreds of tons of pre-stressed concrete, giant blocks and heaps of cement on the trailers, each one higher than the average lorry. I understood what they meant: protection from car bombs.
I had seen them so often in Beirut when the US Marines first came under fire in 1983. The 'liberators' of Beirut were becoming the occupiers. Now the same is happening in Iraq. The 'liberators' are turning into aggressive raiders, kicking down doors and screaming at disobedient Iraqis, shooting dead drivers who don't stop at their checkpoints.
When they kill the former Iraqi leadership, the sons of Saddam, they parade their cadavers before Arab television audiences, just like any other Middle East regime.
Welcome to the 'New Iraq'
The vast miles of concrete are to be placed around US bases in Iraq, protection from the car bombs which have yet to be used against them.
"CHECK IT"
IRAQI RESISTANCE
Reuters: New Baghdad Attack as U.S. Troops Hunt Saddam
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A grenade attack in downtown Baghdad Monday wounded and may have killed two U.S. soldiers in broad daylight, the latest in an increasingly bold and deadly guerrilla campaign.
Fueling a nervous cycle of fear and resentment between the American occupiers and ordinary Iraqis, people in Baghdad accused jumpy U.S. troops of killing five passers-by Sunday in what looked like a botched raid in the hunt for Saddam Hussein. U.S. spokesmen refused all comment on the incident.
The U.S. commander in Iraq, Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez, warned it was becoming a "terrorist magnet" for foreigners and said attacks were getting more sophisticated.
Reuters: New Baghdad Attack as U.S. Troops Hunt Saddam
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A grenade attack in downtown Baghdad Monday wounded and may have killed two U.S. soldiers in broad daylight, the latest in an increasingly bold and deadly guerrilla campaign.
Fueling a nervous cycle of fear and resentment between the American occupiers and ordinary Iraqis, people in Baghdad accused jumpy U.S. troops of killing five passers-by Sunday in what looked like a botched raid in the hunt for Saddam Hussein. U.S. spokesmen refused all comment on the incident.
The U.S. commander in Iraq, Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez, warned it was becoming a "terrorist magnet" for foreigners and said attacks were getting more sophisticated.
OCCUPIED TERRITORIES
Reuters: Israeli Troops Shoot to Stop 'Fence' Protest
ANIN, West Bank (Reuters) - Israeli soldiers fired tear gas and rubber bullets Monday to break up a protest against Israel's construction of a security fence in the West Bank, wounding five pro-Palestinian activists, witnesses said.
An American protester was struck in the leg at close range during the clash near the West bank village of Anin and was taken to hospital, Israeli demonstrator Yonatan Pollak said.
The other four protesters were treated at the scene after being struck in the back and stomach, he said. He did not give their nationalities.
The troops opened fire after about 300 protesters gathered on both sides of the barrier and tried to tear down a gate in the fence.
Israel says it needs the fence to keep out suicide bombers.
Palestinians fear the barrier, due to cut deep into West Bank territory, is intended to unilaterally set the borders of their envisaged state.
The fence is expected to be on the agenda when Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon meets President Bush in Washington Tuesday. Bush has described the fence as a "problem."
Reuters: Israeli Troops Shoot to Stop 'Fence' Protest
ANIN, West Bank (Reuters) - Israeli soldiers fired tear gas and rubber bullets Monday to break up a protest against Israel's construction of a security fence in the West Bank, wounding five pro-Palestinian activists, witnesses said.
An American protester was struck in the leg at close range during the clash near the West bank village of Anin and was taken to hospital, Israeli demonstrator Yonatan Pollak said.
The other four protesters were treated at the scene after being struck in the back and stomach, he said. He did not give their nationalities.
The troops opened fire after about 300 protesters gathered on both sides of the barrier and tried to tear down a gate in the fence.
Israel says it needs the fence to keep out suicide bombers.
Palestinians fear the barrier, due to cut deep into West Bank territory, is intended to unilaterally set the borders of their envisaged state.
The fence is expected to be on the agenda when Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon meets President Bush in Washington Tuesday. Bush has described the fence as a "problem."
1984
Heise: Big Brother is tracking you
Mit Hilfe einer neuen Software wollen die Betreiber der Londoner U-Bahn aufgezeichneten Bilder der Überwachungskameras in Echtzeit nach auffälligen Passagieren oder Gepäckstücken durchsuchen
In den U-Bahnstollen und Treppenhäusern unter der britischen Hauptstadt sind gegenwärtig etwa 6.000 Kameras rund um die Uhr am Filmen. Insgesamt brachte es das Mutterland der Kameraüberwachung im Herbst 2002 nach Schätzungen der in London ansässigen Organisation Privacy International auf 1,5 Millionen Geräte. Andere Quellen sprechen sogar von 2,5 Millionen. In dieser Zahl sind die Kameras, die private Haushalte, Grundstücke, Fabriken oder Unternehmen überwachen, noch gar nicht enthalten. An einem durchschnittlichen Tag, so lautet eine populäre Schätzung, werde ein Fußgänger in den größeren englischen Städte mindestens dreihundert Mal gefilmt
Heise: Big Brother is tracking you
Mit Hilfe einer neuen Software wollen die Betreiber der Londoner U-Bahn aufgezeichneten Bilder der Überwachungskameras in Echtzeit nach auffälligen Passagieren oder Gepäckstücken durchsuchen
In den U-Bahnstollen und Treppenhäusern unter der britischen Hauptstadt sind gegenwärtig etwa 6.000 Kameras rund um die Uhr am Filmen. Insgesamt brachte es das Mutterland der Kameraüberwachung im Herbst 2002 nach Schätzungen der in London ansässigen Organisation Privacy International auf 1,5 Millionen Geräte. Andere Quellen sprechen sogar von 2,5 Millionen. In dieser Zahl sind die Kameras, die private Haushalte, Grundstücke, Fabriken oder Unternehmen überwachen, noch gar nicht enthalten. An einem durchschnittlichen Tag, so lautet eine populäre Schätzung, werde ein Fußgänger in den größeren englischen Städte mindestens dreihundert Mal gefilmt
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