ISRAEL/USA
War without End: A War for Israel?
When Malaysian Prime Minister Mathahir Mohammed declared at an international Islamic Conference in Kuala Lumpur in mid-October that” today the Jews rule the world by proxy [and] They get others to fight and die for them,"1 the reactions in the U.S. and the West were predictable.
It was “a speech that was taken right out of the Protocols of Zion,” according to one Israeli commentator 2 and Mathahir would be accused of imitating Hitler and insuring that “Muslims around the world are similarly being fed a regular diet of classic big lies about Jewish power.” 3
Big lies? Given Israel’s unchecked dominion over the Palestinians and its Arab neighbors over the past half century, supported in every way possible by the United States, one can assume that Muslims, not to mention intelligent non-Muslims, have no need for additional instruction as to the extent of Jewish power. As further proof of its existence, if such were needed, there would be no attempt to measure the Malaysian prime minister’s words against the reality of the times to determine if there was anything accurate in his assessment.
If Mathahir could be accused of anything, it would be of being sloppy historically and using too broad a brush. The Jews, as such, control nothing. A segment of American Jewry, however, has been able, with few exceptions, to shape U.S. Middle East policy since the mid-Sixties. Given America’s position as a major world power, and now its only superpower, that is not a small achievement.
Over the years, that segment, the organized American Jewish community--in short, the Israel lobby--has amassed unparalleled political power through skillfully combining the wealth of its members 4 with its extraordinary organizational skills to achieve what amounts to a corporate takeover of the U.S. Congress plus veto power over the presidency.
Thursday, April 22, 2004
IRAQ: NEGROPONTE
Intervention Magazine: Déjà Vu: Negroponte to Vietnamize Iraq?
Negroponte went to Vietnam for President Nixon and now he goes to Iraq for President Bush; from the quagmire of Vietnam to the quagmire of Iraq
John Dimitri Negroponte, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, will be posted to Iraq as ambassador and viceroy to usher in George W. Bush's brand of democracy in the Middle East. But did you know that in the mid-1960s Negroponte's first overseas assignment had been to the U.S. embassy in Saigon? From 1971 to 1973, Negroponte was the officer-in-charge for Vietnam at the National Security Council (NSC) under Henry Kissinger! More about that below.
Intervention Magazine: Déjà Vu: Negroponte to Vietnamize Iraq?
Negroponte went to Vietnam for President Nixon and now he goes to Iraq for President Bush; from the quagmire of Vietnam to the quagmire of Iraq
John Dimitri Negroponte, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, will be posted to Iraq as ambassador and viceroy to usher in George W. Bush's brand of democracy in the Middle East. But did you know that in the mid-1960s Negroponte's first overseas assignment had been to the U.S. embassy in Saigon? From 1971 to 1973, Negroponte was the officer-in-charge for Vietnam at the National Security Council (NSC) under Henry Kissinger! More about that below.
ISRAEL
RENSE: 'I'm Proud And Happy To Do What I Did' - Vanunu
With these words to the world, Israel's captive declared his freedom today, after 18 years of "cruel and barbaric" treatment in prison for telling the truth about Israel's secret nuclear arsenal
At 11 am, Vanunu walked out the door into Shikma prison's entry yard. A roar erupted from hundreds of demonstrators outside the locked main gate. Supporters at the gate were jostled by detractors behind, some shouting "Kill Vanunu!"
Moving deliberately past the press, surrounded and trailed by assorted officials and guards, Vanunu walked to the gate. Holding both hands high with the signs of victory and peace, he stepped up, onto the bars to see and acknowledge his supporters.
His brothers Asher and Meir, and Meir's young son Luca, had accompanied Vanunu out the door, and rejoined him as he returned to the forest of cameras and microphones.
Vanunu made a statement in English. I have no more secrets to tell; I want to leave Israel but they are restricting me. My treatment was cruel and barbaric; I was punished hard because I am became a Christian. I am a symbol of survival of the human spirit of freedom. I don't want to harm Israel. Open the Dimona reactor for inspection. I want to go to the United States and marry and have a life.
BBC: Vanunu - Israel's Nuclear Telltale
The Spotlight Is Back On Israel's Secret Nuclear Weapons Programme As Mordechai Vanunu Walks From Jail
Mordechai Vanunu's revelations in 1986 appeared to confirm suspicions about Israel's nuclear arsenal and showed a weapons programme bigger and more advanced than anyone had previously thought.
He had worked for nine years as a technician at the Dimona nuclear research centre in the Negev desert - but he left in late 1985 to backpack around the Far East, having become disillusioned with his work.
Before quitting he surreptitiously snapped two rolls of film at the top secret nuclear plant, including equipment for extracting radioactive material for arms production and laboratory models of thermonuclear devices.
It is not clear whether Vanunu was already set upon blowing the whistle on Israel's secret nuclear activities, but by the following year he had joined a group of anti-nuclear Christians in Sydney, Australia, coincidentally being baptised as an Anglican.
RENSE: 'I'm Proud And Happy To Do What I Did' - Vanunu
With these words to the world, Israel's captive declared his freedom today, after 18 years of "cruel and barbaric" treatment in prison for telling the truth about Israel's secret nuclear arsenal
At 11 am, Vanunu walked out the door into Shikma prison's entry yard. A roar erupted from hundreds of demonstrators outside the locked main gate. Supporters at the gate were jostled by detractors behind, some shouting "Kill Vanunu!"
Moving deliberately past the press, surrounded and trailed by assorted officials and guards, Vanunu walked to the gate. Holding both hands high with the signs of victory and peace, he stepped up, onto the bars to see and acknowledge his supporters.
His brothers Asher and Meir, and Meir's young son Luca, had accompanied Vanunu out the door, and rejoined him as he returned to the forest of cameras and microphones.
Vanunu made a statement in English. I have no more secrets to tell; I want to leave Israel but they are restricting me. My treatment was cruel and barbaric; I was punished hard because I am became a Christian. I am a symbol of survival of the human spirit of freedom. I don't want to harm Israel. Open the Dimona reactor for inspection. I want to go to the United States and marry and have a life.
BBC: Vanunu - Israel's Nuclear Telltale
The Spotlight Is Back On Israel's Secret Nuclear Weapons Programme As Mordechai Vanunu Walks From Jail
Mordechai Vanunu's revelations in 1986 appeared to confirm suspicions about Israel's nuclear arsenal and showed a weapons programme bigger and more advanced than anyone had previously thought.
He had worked for nine years as a technician at the Dimona nuclear research centre in the Negev desert - but he left in late 1985 to backpack around the Far East, having become disillusioned with his work.
Before quitting he surreptitiously snapped two rolls of film at the top secret nuclear plant, including equipment for extracting radioactive material for arms production and laboratory models of thermonuclear devices.
It is not clear whether Vanunu was already set upon blowing the whistle on Israel's secret nuclear activities, but by the following year he had joined a group of anti-nuclear Christians in Sydney, Australia, coincidentally being baptised as an Anglican.
USA
Spiegel: Bush schließt Anschläge in den USA nicht aus
US-Präsident Bush schließt einen Terroranschlag in den USA noch vor der Präsidentenwahl nicht aus. Die Geheimdienste arbeiteten zwar gut, so Bush, "aber nie perfekt. Das ist das Problem. Daher ist es wichtig, dass wir sie finden, bevor sie wieder hierher kommen.
Bush hofft wahrscheindlich insgeheim auf einen Anschlag, weil er sonst Osama noch vor den Wahlen aus dem Hut zaubern muss um zu wiedergewählt zu werden
Spiegel: Bush schließt Anschläge in den USA nicht aus
US-Präsident Bush schließt einen Terroranschlag in den USA noch vor der Präsidentenwahl nicht aus. Die Geheimdienste arbeiteten zwar gut, so Bush, "aber nie perfekt. Das ist das Problem. Daher ist es wichtig, dass wir sie finden, bevor sie wieder hierher kommen.
Bush hofft wahrscheindlich insgeheim auf einen Anschlag, weil er sonst Osama noch vor den Wahlen aus dem Hut zaubern muss um zu wiedergewählt zu werden
Wednesday, April 21, 2004
MIDDLE EAST
Robert Fisk: Sharon's "Courageous" Plan
Bush Legitimizes Terrorism
So President George Bush tears up the Israeli-Palestinian peace plan and that's okay. Israeli settlements for Jews and Jews only on the West Bank. That's okay. Taking land from Palestinians who have owned that land for generations, that's okay. UN Security Council Resolution 242 says that land cannot be acquired by war. Forget it. That's okay.
Does President George Bush actually work for al-Qa'ida? What does this mean? That George Bush cares more about his re-election than he does about the Middle East? Or that George Bush is more frightened of the Israeli lobby than he is of his own electorate. Fear not, it is the latter.
His language, his narrative, his discourse on history, has been such a lie these past three weeks that I wonder why we bother to listen to his boring press conferences. Ariel Sharon, the perpetrator of the Sabra and Shatila massacre (1,700 Palestinian civilians dead) is a "man of peace" - even though the official 1993 Israeli report on the massacre said he was "personally responsible" for it. Now, Mr Bush is praising Mr Sharon's plan to steal yet more Palestinian land as a "historic and courageous act".
What Bush has actually done is give way to the crazed world of Christian Zionism. The fundamentalist Christians who support Israel's theft of the West Bank on the grounds that the state of Israel must exist there according to God's law until the second coming, believe that Jesus will return to earth and the Israelis--for this is the Bush "Christian Sundie" belief--will then have to convert to Christianity or die in the battle of Amargeddon.
I kid thee not. This is the Christian fundamentalist belief, which even the Israeli embassy in Washington go along with--without comment, of course--in their weekly Christian Zionist prayer meetings. Every claim by Osama bin Laden, every statement that the United States represents Zionism and supports the theft of Arab lands will now have been proved true to millions of Arabs, even those who had no time for Bin Laden. What better recruiting sergeant could Bin Laden have than George Bush. Doesn't he realise what this means for young American soldiers in Iraq or are Israelis more important than American lives in Mesopotamia?
Robert Fisk: Sharon's "Courageous" Plan
Bush Legitimizes Terrorism
So President George Bush tears up the Israeli-Palestinian peace plan and that's okay. Israeli settlements for Jews and Jews only on the West Bank. That's okay. Taking land from Palestinians who have owned that land for generations, that's okay. UN Security Council Resolution 242 says that land cannot be acquired by war. Forget it. That's okay.
Does President George Bush actually work for al-Qa'ida? What does this mean? That George Bush cares more about his re-election than he does about the Middle East? Or that George Bush is more frightened of the Israeli lobby than he is of his own electorate. Fear not, it is the latter.
His language, his narrative, his discourse on history, has been such a lie these past three weeks that I wonder why we bother to listen to his boring press conferences. Ariel Sharon, the perpetrator of the Sabra and Shatila massacre (1,700 Palestinian civilians dead) is a "man of peace" - even though the official 1993 Israeli report on the massacre said he was "personally responsible" for it. Now, Mr Bush is praising Mr Sharon's plan to steal yet more Palestinian land as a "historic and courageous act".
What Bush has actually done is give way to the crazed world of Christian Zionism. The fundamentalist Christians who support Israel's theft of the West Bank on the grounds that the state of Israel must exist there according to God's law until the second coming, believe that Jesus will return to earth and the Israelis--for this is the Bush "Christian Sundie" belief--will then have to convert to Christianity or die in the battle of Amargeddon.
I kid thee not. This is the Christian fundamentalist belief, which even the Israeli embassy in Washington go along with--without comment, of course--in their weekly Christian Zionist prayer meetings. Every claim by Osama bin Laden, every statement that the United States represents Zionism and supports the theft of Arab lands will now have been proved true to millions of Arabs, even those who had no time for Bin Laden. What better recruiting sergeant could Bin Laden have than George Bush. Doesn't he realise what this means for young American soldiers in Iraq or are Israelis more important than American lives in Mesopotamia?
IRAQ
Robert Fisk: Robert Fisk-Live interview: Iraq power handover 'a fraud'
TONY JONES: What role then do you think the old Ayatollahs, particularly Sistani, are going to play as this situation starts to play itself out around Najaf?
ROBERT FISK: Well, Sistani, you see, still hopes that if there is a future administration the Shiites will basically run it.
They are the majority population.
They are 60 per cent of the population of Iraq.
He doesn't want to do anything which is going to allow the Sunnis to come back and run the country as they did under Kassim, Saddam, the Ba'ath Party and so on.
There's going to come a time and he's beginning to speak much more harshly - when he's not going to be able any longer to hold back an overall Shi'ite resistance against the United States.
He's not going to be able to do it.
If the Americans do try to enter the holy city of Najaf, they're in the suburbs at the moment but they're nowhere near the shrines, if they do try to enter, then I think Sistani will have to call for a war against them.
He'll be finished if he doesn't.
Robert Fisk: Robert Fisk-Live interview: Iraq power handover 'a fraud'
TONY JONES: What role then do you think the old Ayatollahs, particularly Sistani, are going to play as this situation starts to play itself out around Najaf?
ROBERT FISK: Well, Sistani, you see, still hopes that if there is a future administration the Shiites will basically run it.
They are the majority population.
They are 60 per cent of the population of Iraq.
He doesn't want to do anything which is going to allow the Sunnis to come back and run the country as they did under Kassim, Saddam, the Ba'ath Party and so on.
There's going to come a time and he's beginning to speak much more harshly - when he's not going to be able any longer to hold back an overall Shi'ite resistance against the United States.
He's not going to be able to do it.
If the Americans do try to enter the holy city of Najaf, they're in the suburbs at the moment but they're nowhere near the shrines, if they do try to enter, then I think Sistani will have to call for a war against them.
He'll be finished if he doesn't.
TERROR
Heise: Mit Terroristen spricht man nicht
Wir brauchen eine Wende in der Terrorbekämpfung
Mit seiner periodischen Geistererscheinung verband Usama bin Ladin, von dem man nie so genau weiß, ob er denn lebt oder tot ist, diesmal noch eine andere Überraschung. Der "Weltfeind Nr. 1" sprach ein Waffenstillstandsangebot für Europa aus. Al-Dschasira und Al-Arabija präsentierten ein wohl authentisches Tonband mit dem Angebot, mit Europa eine Waffenstillstand vereinbaren, wenn die europäischen Soldaten die islamischen Länder verlassen würden
Heise: Mit Terroristen spricht man nicht
Wir brauchen eine Wende in der Terrorbekämpfung
Mit seiner periodischen Geistererscheinung verband Usama bin Ladin, von dem man nie so genau weiß, ob er denn lebt oder tot ist, diesmal noch eine andere Überraschung. Der "Weltfeind Nr. 1" sprach ein Waffenstillstandsangebot für Europa aus. Al-Dschasira und Al-Arabija präsentierten ein wohl authentisches Tonband mit dem Angebot, mit Europa eine Waffenstillstand vereinbaren, wenn die europäischen Soldaten die islamischen Länder verlassen würden
Tuesday, April 20, 2004
USA/SAUDI ARABIA
Forbes: Saudis pledged oil price cut before US vote-report
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United States, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, promised President Bush the Saudis would cut oil prices before November to ensure the U.S. economy is strong on election day, journalist Bob Woodward said in a television interview Sunday.
In an interview with CBS's "60 Minutes" about his new book "Plan of Attack" on the Bush administration's preparations for the Iraq war, Woodward, a senior editor at the Washington Post, said Prince Bandar pledged the Saudi's would try to fine-tune oil prices to prime the U.S. economy for the election -- a move they understood would favor Bush's re-election.
Washingtondispatch: Deal made with Saudis to Influence November Election
an underplayed interview on 60 Minutes Sunday night, Bob Woodward revealed some shocking accounts within his new book, Plan of Attack. Woodward's book unveils the plans for the march to Baghdad which secretly began long before President Bush admitted it to the public.
Most interesting was the revelation by Woodward that George W. Bush made a deal with Saudi Arabia to lower fuel prices before the coming November election. The lowered prices would give the appearance of a strong economy in contrast to the current, record high prices.
In addition to the above, the interview painted a picture of the president as a stubborn man influenced greatly by Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld. His disdain for the intellectual "elite" is equaled by a carelessness for how history will judge his actions. According to Woodward, when asked how history will judge his war, the president raised his arms, shrugged his shoulders and said, "History? We don't know. We'll all be dead."
Bob Woodward: With CIA Push, Movement to War Accelerated
This is the second of five articles adapted from "Plan of Attack," a book by Bob Woodward that is a behind-the-scenes account of how and why President Bush decided to go to war against Iraq. Simon & Schuster. © 2004.
On Jan. 2, 2002, CIA Director George J. Tenet met with Vice President Cheney -- at Cheney's request -- to brief him on what the agency could do in Iraq.
In the months after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Iraq was much less of a priority than terrorism for Tenet, but not for one of the agency officials who accompanied him to the meeting, the chief of the Iraqi Operations Group, a former covert operations officer who can be identified only by his nickname, Saul.
Within the CIA's Near East Division, which handled some of the hardest, most violent countries, the Iraqi Operations Group was referred to as "The House of Broken Toys." It was largely populated with new, green officers and problem officers, or old boys waiting for retirement. After taking it over in August 2001, Saul had begun a full review of where the CIA stood with Iraq.
VIDEO: Bob Woodward: 60 Minutes Interview.
Forbes: Saudis pledged oil price cut before US vote-report
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United States, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, promised President Bush the Saudis would cut oil prices before November to ensure the U.S. economy is strong on election day, journalist Bob Woodward said in a television interview Sunday.
In an interview with CBS's "60 Minutes" about his new book "Plan of Attack" on the Bush administration's preparations for the Iraq war, Woodward, a senior editor at the Washington Post, said Prince Bandar pledged the Saudi's would try to fine-tune oil prices to prime the U.S. economy for the election -- a move they understood would favor Bush's re-election.
Washingtondispatch: Deal made with Saudis to Influence November Election
an underplayed interview on 60 Minutes Sunday night, Bob Woodward revealed some shocking accounts within his new book, Plan of Attack. Woodward's book unveils the plans for the march to Baghdad which secretly began long before President Bush admitted it to the public.
Most interesting was the revelation by Woodward that George W. Bush made a deal with Saudi Arabia to lower fuel prices before the coming November election. The lowered prices would give the appearance of a strong economy in contrast to the current, record high prices.
In addition to the above, the interview painted a picture of the president as a stubborn man influenced greatly by Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld. His disdain for the intellectual "elite" is equaled by a carelessness for how history will judge his actions. According to Woodward, when asked how history will judge his war, the president raised his arms, shrugged his shoulders and said, "History? We don't know. We'll all be dead."
Bob Woodward: With CIA Push, Movement to War Accelerated
This is the second of five articles adapted from "Plan of Attack," a book by Bob Woodward that is a behind-the-scenes account of how and why President Bush decided to go to war against Iraq. Simon & Schuster. © 2004.
On Jan. 2, 2002, CIA Director George J. Tenet met with Vice President Cheney -- at Cheney's request -- to brief him on what the agency could do in Iraq.
In the months after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Iraq was much less of a priority than terrorism for Tenet, but not for one of the agency officials who accompanied him to the meeting, the chief of the Iraqi Operations Group, a former covert operations officer who can be identified only by his nickname, Saul.
Within the CIA's Near East Division, which handled some of the hardest, most violent countries, the Iraqi Operations Group was referred to as "The House of Broken Toys." It was largely populated with new, green officers and problem officers, or old boys waiting for retirement. After taking it over in August 2001, Saul had begun a full review of where the CIA stood with Iraq.
VIDEO: Bob Woodward: 60 Minutes Interview.
911
Rense: The Fatal Flaw In The 911 Coverup
Why can no one name the hijackers or prove they flew the planes?
Know how to tell the difference between the truth and lies of 9/11? If they're talking about hijackers having done the dastardly deed, you know they're part of the sinister coverup extravaganza, wittingly or not.
In order for the people of the world to be convinced that Islamic hijackers were responsible for terrible tragedy of 9/11, we need to see some evidence. Not hearsay, innuendo, aspersion or promises of evidence, but real evidence.
Otherwise, the whole subject is rightly regarded as a ruse, a setup to conceal the identities of the real culprits, the ones who sit smugly in front of the TV cameras and plot their cynical war on terror - otherwise known as the war on the peoples of the world.
As President Bush continues to insist that his word be accepted as truth on numerous questions, time after time his statements have been revealed as blatant falsehoods. Yet he continues to repeat them, and the whorish corporate media continues to accept them.
Rense: The Fatal Flaw In The 911 Coverup
Why can no one name the hijackers or prove they flew the planes?
Know how to tell the difference between the truth and lies of 9/11? If they're talking about hijackers having done the dastardly deed, you know they're part of the sinister coverup extravaganza, wittingly or not.
In order for the people of the world to be convinced that Islamic hijackers were responsible for terrible tragedy of 9/11, we need to see some evidence. Not hearsay, innuendo, aspersion or promises of evidence, but real evidence.
Otherwise, the whole subject is rightly regarded as a ruse, a setup to conceal the identities of the real culprits, the ones who sit smugly in front of the TV cameras and plot their cynical war on terror - otherwise known as the war on the peoples of the world.
As President Bush continues to insist that his word be accepted as truth on numerous questions, time after time his statements have been revealed as blatant falsehoods. Yet he continues to repeat them, and the whorish corporate media continues to accept them.
Friday, April 16, 2004
HAITI
IPS: US And France Block UN Probe In Aristide Ouster
UNITED NATIONS - The United States and France have intimidated Caribbean countries into delaying an official request for a probe into the murky circumstances under which Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide was ousted from power in February, according to diplomatic sources here.
The two veto-wielding permanent members of the 15-nation Security Council have signaled to Caribbean nations that they do not want a U.N. probe of Aristide's ouster.
Any attempts to bring the issue or even introduce a resolution before the Security Council will either be blocked or vetoed by both countries, council sources told IPS.
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who has been caught in the middle of the dispute, says he is unable to act unless he has a formal request to do so either by the Security Council or the 15-member Caribbean Community (CARICOM), of which Haiti is a member.
Das dürfte wohl beweisen, dass Aristide nicht freiwillig gegangen ist, sondern von den USA und Frankreich geputscht wurde
IPS: US And France Block UN Probe In Aristide Ouster
UNITED NATIONS - The United States and France have intimidated Caribbean countries into delaying an official request for a probe into the murky circumstances under which Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide was ousted from power in February, according to diplomatic sources here.
The two veto-wielding permanent members of the 15-nation Security Council have signaled to Caribbean nations that they do not want a U.N. probe of Aristide's ouster.
Any attempts to bring the issue or even introduce a resolution before the Security Council will either be blocked or vetoed by both countries, council sources told IPS.
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who has been caught in the middle of the dispute, says he is unable to act unless he has a formal request to do so either by the Security Council or the 15-member Caribbean Community (CARICOM), of which Haiti is a member.
Das dürfte wohl beweisen, dass Aristide nicht freiwillig gegangen ist, sondern von den USA und Frankreich geputscht wurde
IRAQ UPRISING
Australien: US Troops Over Car Photo
AN Iraqi has died of his wounds after US troops beat him with truncheons because he refused to remove a picture of wanted Shiite Muslim leader Moqtada Sadr from his car, police said today.
The motorist was stopped late yesterday by US troops conducting search operations on a street in the centre of the central city of Kut, Lieutenant Mohamad Abdel Abbas said.
After the man refused to remove Sadr's picture from his car, the soldiers forced him out of the vehicle and started beating him with truncheons, he said.
Australien: US Troops Over Car Photo
AN Iraqi has died of his wounds after US troops beat him with truncheons because he refused to remove a picture of wanted Shiite Muslim leader Moqtada Sadr from his car, police said today.
The motorist was stopped late yesterday by US troops conducting search operations on a street in the centre of the central city of Kut, Lieutenant Mohamad Abdel Abbas said.
After the man refused to remove Sadr's picture from his car, the soldiers forced him out of the vehicle and started beating him with truncheons, he said.
OSAMA SPEECH
Memri.org: Osama Offers Peace To Europe
MEMRI has obtained and translated a copy of the most recent speech by Osama bin Laden, purportedly offering a peace ["sulh"] treaty to European countries that withdraw soldiers from Arab countries, while still maintaining the United States as a legitimate target. The following are excerpts from the speech:(1)
"This is a message to our neighbors north of the Mediterranean, with a proposal for a peace treaty, in response to the positive reactions which emerged there.
"What happened in September 11 and March 11 is your own merchandise coming back to you. We hereby advise you ... that your definition of us and of our actions as terrorism is nothing but a definition of yourselves by yourselves, since our reaction is of the same kind as your act. Our actions are a reaction to yours, which are destruction and killing of our people as is happening in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Palestine.
"It suffices to see the event that shocked the world - the killing of the wheelchair-bound old man Ahmad Yassin - Allah's mercy upon him - and we pledge to Allah to avenge [his murder] on America, Allah willing.
"By what measure of kindness are your killed considered innocents while ours are considered worthless? By what school [of thought] is your blood considered blood while our blood is water?
"Therefore, it is [only] just to respond in kind, and the one who started it is more to blame..."
We Will Continue to Fight the U.S. and U.N.
"When you look at what happened and is happening, the killing in our countries and in yours, an important fact emerges, and that is that the oppression is forced on both us and you by your politicians who send your sons, against your will, to our country to kill and to be killed.
"Therefore, both sides have an interest in thwarting those who shed the blood of the peoples for their own narrow interests, out of vassalage to the White House gang...
"This war makes millions of dollars for big corporations, either weapons manufacturers or those working in the reconstruction [of Iraq], such as Halliburton and its sister companies...
"It is crystal clear who benefits from igniting the fire of this war and this bloodshed: They are the merchants of war, the bloodsuckers who run the policy of the world from behind the scenes.
"President Bush and his ilk, the media giants, and the U.N. ... all are a fatal danger to the world, and the Zionist lobby is their most dangerous member. Allah willing, we will persist in fighting them...
'I Hereby Offer [Europe] a Peace Treaty'
"Therefore, in order to thwart opportunities for the merchants of war, and in response to the positive developments that were expressed in recent events and in the public opinion polls, which determined that most European peoples want peace, I urge ... the establishment of a permanent commission to nurture awareness among Europeans regarding the justness of our causes, particularly the cause of Palestine, and that use be made of the vast media resources to this end.
"I hereby offer them a peace treaty, the essence of which is our commitment to halt actions against any country that commits itself to refraining from attacking Muslims or intervening in their affairs, including the American conspiracy against the larger Islamic world.
"This peace treaty can be renewed at the end of the term of a government and the rise of another, with the agreement of both sides.
"The peace treaty will be in force upon the exit of the last soldier of any given [European] country from our land.
"The door of peace will remain open for three months from the broadcast of this statement. Whoever rejects the peace and wants war should know that we are the men [of war], and whoever wants a peace treaty and signs it, we hereby allow this peace treaty with him.
"Stop shedding our blood in order to protect your own blood. The solution to this easy-difficult equation is in your own hands. You should know that the longer you delay, the worse the situation will become, and when that happens, do not blame us, blame yourselves...
"As for those who lie to people and say that we hate freedom and kill for the sake of killing - reality proves that we are the speakers of truth and they lie, because the killing of the Russians took place only after their invasion of Afghanistan and Chechnya; the killing of the Europeans took place only after the invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan; the killing of the Americans in the Battle of New York took place only after their support for the Jews in Palestine and their invasion of the Arabian Peninsula; their killing in Somalia happened only after Operation Restore Hope. We restored [i.e. repelled] them without hope, by the grace of Allah."
Memri.org: Osama Offers Peace To Europe
MEMRI has obtained and translated a copy of the most recent speech by Osama bin Laden, purportedly offering a peace ["sulh"] treaty to European countries that withdraw soldiers from Arab countries, while still maintaining the United States as a legitimate target. The following are excerpts from the speech:(1)
"This is a message to our neighbors north of the Mediterranean, with a proposal for a peace treaty, in response to the positive reactions which emerged there.
"What happened in September 11 and March 11 is your own merchandise coming back to you. We hereby advise you ... that your definition of us and of our actions as terrorism is nothing but a definition of yourselves by yourselves, since our reaction is of the same kind as your act. Our actions are a reaction to yours, which are destruction and killing of our people as is happening in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Palestine.
"It suffices to see the event that shocked the world - the killing of the wheelchair-bound old man Ahmad Yassin - Allah's mercy upon him - and we pledge to Allah to avenge [his murder] on America, Allah willing.
"By what measure of kindness are your killed considered innocents while ours are considered worthless? By what school [of thought] is your blood considered blood while our blood is water?
"Therefore, it is [only] just to respond in kind, and the one who started it is more to blame..."
We Will Continue to Fight the U.S. and U.N.
"When you look at what happened and is happening, the killing in our countries and in yours, an important fact emerges, and that is that the oppression is forced on both us and you by your politicians who send your sons, against your will, to our country to kill and to be killed.
"Therefore, both sides have an interest in thwarting those who shed the blood of the peoples for their own narrow interests, out of vassalage to the White House gang...
"This war makes millions of dollars for big corporations, either weapons manufacturers or those working in the reconstruction [of Iraq], such as Halliburton and its sister companies...
"It is crystal clear who benefits from igniting the fire of this war and this bloodshed: They are the merchants of war, the bloodsuckers who run the policy of the world from behind the scenes.
"President Bush and his ilk, the media giants, and the U.N. ... all are a fatal danger to the world, and the Zionist lobby is their most dangerous member. Allah willing, we will persist in fighting them...
'I Hereby Offer [Europe] a Peace Treaty'
"Therefore, in order to thwart opportunities for the merchants of war, and in response to the positive developments that were expressed in recent events and in the public opinion polls, which determined that most European peoples want peace, I urge ... the establishment of a permanent commission to nurture awareness among Europeans regarding the justness of our causes, particularly the cause of Palestine, and that use be made of the vast media resources to this end.
"I hereby offer them a peace treaty, the essence of which is our commitment to halt actions against any country that commits itself to refraining from attacking Muslims or intervening in their affairs, including the American conspiracy against the larger Islamic world.
"This peace treaty can be renewed at the end of the term of a government and the rise of another, with the agreement of both sides.
"The peace treaty will be in force upon the exit of the last soldier of any given [European] country from our land.
"The door of peace will remain open for three months from the broadcast of this statement. Whoever rejects the peace and wants war should know that we are the men [of war], and whoever wants a peace treaty and signs it, we hereby allow this peace treaty with him.
"Stop shedding our blood in order to protect your own blood. The solution to this easy-difficult equation is in your own hands. You should know that the longer you delay, the worse the situation will become, and when that happens, do not blame us, blame yourselves...
"As for those who lie to people and say that we hate freedom and kill for the sake of killing - reality proves that we are the speakers of truth and they lie, because the killing of the Russians took place only after their invasion of Afghanistan and Chechnya; the killing of the Europeans took place only after the invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan; the killing of the Americans in the Battle of New York took place only after their support for the Jews in Palestine and their invasion of the Arabian Peninsula; their killing in Somalia happened only after Operation Restore Hope. We restored [i.e. repelled] them without hope, by the grace of Allah."
BIN LADIN: TRUCE
Independent: Bin Laden's offer of truce fails to turn Europe against US
He added: "The real problem is the occupation of Palestine "genau dass ist der Punkt und aus genau diesem Grund halten die Europäer Israel für die grösste Gefahr für den Weltfrieden
European leaders flatly rejected yesterday the "truce" offered by Osama bin Laden, al-Qa'ida's leader, in exchange for the withdrawal of their countries' troops from Iraq.
The message came as many nations were under intense pressure over their support for the occupation of Iraq. The execution of an Italian private security contractor on Wednesday by Iraqi insurgents and the kidnapping of Japanese civilians has added to an already vociferous debate in those, and other, countries about the future of their forces in Iraq.
The statement by the al-Qa'ida leader was an apparent attempt to drive a wedge between America and those European countries, including Britain, that have supported the Bush administration's invasion and occupation of Iraq. It represents the first time bin Laden has offered such a truce.
'Stop shedding our blood to preserve your blood. It is in your hands'
Edited text from the tape from Osama bin Laden broadcast by al-Jazeera
"This is a message to our neighbours north of the Mediterranean.
Peace upon those who followed the right path. The greatest rule of safety is justice, and stopping injustice and aggression. The situation in occupied Palestine is an example. What happened on 11 September [2001] and 11 March [the Madrid train bombings] is your commodity that was returned to you.
The act that horrified the world; that is, the killing of the old, handicapped [Hamas spiritual leader] Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, may God have mercy on him, is sufficient evidence. We pledge to God that we will punish America for him.
Which religion considers your killed ones innocent and our killed ones worthless? Reciprocal treatment is fair and the one who starts injustice bears greater blame.
As for your politicians and those who have followed their path, who insist on ignoring the real problem of occupying Palestine and exaggerate lies and falsification regarding our right in defence and resistance, they do not respect themselves. The Zionist lobby is one of the most dangerous and most difficult figures.
I ask honest people, ulema [senior Islamic figures], preachers and merchants, to form a permanent committee to enlighten European peoples of the justice of our causes, above all, Palestine.
The door of reconciliation is open for three months of the date of announcing this. I also offer ... our commitment to stopping operations against every country that commits itself to not attacking Muslims or interfering in their affairs. The reconciliation will start with the departure of its last soldier from our country. was haben die Europäer mit dieser Forderung für ein Problem?
For those who reject reconciliation and want war, we are ready. Peace be upon those who follow guidance.
"Die Europäischen Führer wollen nicht mit "Terroristen" verhandeln. Dabei haben sie selbst Osama Bin Laden zu einem "Politiker" gemacht in dem Sie gegen einen Privatmann Krieg führen. Einen Krieg kann man rechtlich gesehen nur Staaten erklären."
Independent: Bin Laden's offer of truce fails to turn Europe against US
He added: "The real problem is the occupation of Palestine "genau dass ist der Punkt und aus genau diesem Grund halten die Europäer Israel für die grösste Gefahr für den Weltfrieden
European leaders flatly rejected yesterday the "truce" offered by Osama bin Laden, al-Qa'ida's leader, in exchange for the withdrawal of their countries' troops from Iraq.
The message came as many nations were under intense pressure over their support for the occupation of Iraq. The execution of an Italian private security contractor on Wednesday by Iraqi insurgents and the kidnapping of Japanese civilians has added to an already vociferous debate in those, and other, countries about the future of their forces in Iraq.
The statement by the al-Qa'ida leader was an apparent attempt to drive a wedge between America and those European countries, including Britain, that have supported the Bush administration's invasion and occupation of Iraq. It represents the first time bin Laden has offered such a truce.
'Stop shedding our blood to preserve your blood. It is in your hands'
Edited text from the tape from Osama bin Laden broadcast by al-Jazeera
"This is a message to our neighbours north of the Mediterranean.
Peace upon those who followed the right path. The greatest rule of safety is justice, and stopping injustice and aggression. The situation in occupied Palestine is an example. What happened on 11 September [2001] and 11 March [the Madrid train bombings] is your commodity that was returned to you.
The act that horrified the world; that is, the killing of the old, handicapped [Hamas spiritual leader] Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, may God have mercy on him, is sufficient evidence. We pledge to God that we will punish America for him.
Which religion considers your killed ones innocent and our killed ones worthless? Reciprocal treatment is fair and the one who starts injustice bears greater blame.
As for your politicians and those who have followed their path, who insist on ignoring the real problem of occupying Palestine and exaggerate lies and falsification regarding our right in defence and resistance, they do not respect themselves. The Zionist lobby is one of the most dangerous and most difficult figures.
I ask honest people, ulema [senior Islamic figures], preachers and merchants, to form a permanent committee to enlighten European peoples of the justice of our causes, above all, Palestine.
The door of reconciliation is open for three months of the date of announcing this. I also offer ... our commitment to stopping operations against every country that commits itself to not attacking Muslims or interfering in their affairs. The reconciliation will start with the departure of its last soldier from our country. was haben die Europäer mit dieser Forderung für ein Problem?
For those who reject reconciliation and want war, we are ready. Peace be upon those who follow guidance.
"Die Europäischen Führer wollen nicht mit "Terroristen" verhandeln. Dabei haben sie selbst Osama Bin Laden zu einem "Politiker" gemacht in dem Sie gegen einen Privatmann Krieg führen. Einen Krieg kann man rechtlich gesehen nur Staaten erklären."
ISRAEL/USA: AXIS OF EVIL
Independent: How Israel persuaded leader of the free world to see West Bank entirely their way
Independent: How Israel persuaded leader of the free world to see West Bank entirely their way
Thursday, April 15, 2004
IRAQ UPRISING
Falluja by Jo Wilding
I'm sorry it's so long, but please, please read and forward widely. The truth of what's happening in Falluja has to get out.
April 11th Falluja
Trucks, oil tankers, tanks are burning on the highway east to Falluja.
A stream of boys and men goes to and from a lorry that's not burnt,
stripping it bare. We turn onto the back roads through Abu Ghraib, Nuha and Ahrar
singing in Arabic, past the vehicles full of people and a few
possessions, heading the other way, past the improvised refreshment posts along the
way where boys throw food through the windows into the bus for us and for
the people inside still inside Falluja.
The bus is following a car with the nephew of a local sheikh and a
guide who has contacts with the Mujahedin and has cleared this with them. The
reason I'm on the bus is that a journalist I knew turned up at my door at
about 11 at night telling me things were desperate in Falluja, he'd been
bringing out children with their limbs blown off, the US soldiers were going around
telling people to leave by dusk or be killed, but then when people fled
with whatever they could carry, they were being stopped at the US military
checkpoint on the edge of town and not let out, trapped, watching the
sun godown.
"CHECK IT CHECK IT CHECK IT"
Falluja by Jo Wilding
I'm sorry it's so long, but please, please read and forward widely. The truth of what's happening in Falluja has to get out.
April 11th Falluja
Trucks, oil tankers, tanks are burning on the highway east to Falluja.
A stream of boys and men goes to and from a lorry that's not burnt,
stripping it bare. We turn onto the back roads through Abu Ghraib, Nuha and Ahrar
singing in Arabic, past the vehicles full of people and a few
possessions, heading the other way, past the improvised refreshment posts along the
way where boys throw food through the windows into the bus for us and for
the people inside still inside Falluja.
The bus is following a car with the nephew of a local sheikh and a
guide who has contacts with the Mujahedin and has cleared this with them. The
reason I'm on the bus is that a journalist I knew turned up at my door at
about 11 at night telling me things were desperate in Falluja, he'd been
bringing out children with their limbs blown off, the US soldiers were going around
telling people to leave by dusk or be killed, but then when people fled
with whatever they could carry, they were being stopped at the US military
checkpoint on the edge of town and not let out, trapped, watching the
sun godown.
"CHECK IT CHECK IT CHECK IT"
IRAQ
BBC: US Emulates Israeli Tactics in Iraq
With sporadic fighting in Falluja and US forces moving into position
outside Najaf, the Arab press is pointing to similarities between US military
operations in Iraq and the tactics Israeli forces employ in the West
Bank and Gaza.
Such similarities are not coincidental.
The Israeli army has long experience of offensive operations in urban
areas and it is experience that the Pentagon has been eager to draw upon.
Israel and the US have developed a close military relationship over the
years.
BBC: US Emulates Israeli Tactics in Iraq
With sporadic fighting in Falluja and US forces moving into position
outside Najaf, the Arab press is pointing to similarities between US military
operations in Iraq and the tactics Israeli forces employ in the West
Bank and Gaza.
Such similarities are not coincidental.
The Israeli army has long experience of offensive operations in urban
areas and it is experience that the Pentagon has been eager to draw upon.
Israel and the US have developed a close military relationship over the
years.
USA
Slate: Bush's incredible definition of credibility.
"One thing is for certain, though, about me, and the world has learned
this: When I say something, I mean it. And the credibility of the United
States is incredibly important for keeping world peace and freedom."
That's the summation President Bush delivered as he wrapped up his
press conference Tuesday night. It's the message he emphasized throughout:
Our commitment. Our pledge. Our word. My conviction. Given the stakes in
Iraq and the war against terrorism, it would be petty to poke fun at Bush
for calling credibility "incredibly important." His routine misuse of the
word "incredible," while illiterate, is harmless. His misunderstanding of
the word "credible," however, isn't harmless. It's catastrophic.
Slate: Bush's incredible definition of credibility.
"One thing is for certain, though, about me, and the world has learned
this: When I say something, I mean it. And the credibility of the United
States is incredibly important for keeping world peace and freedom."
That's the summation President Bush delivered as he wrapped up his
press conference Tuesday night. It's the message he emphasized throughout:
Our commitment. Our pledge. Our word. My conviction. Given the stakes in
Iraq and the war against terrorism, it would be petty to poke fun at Bush
for calling credibility "incredibly important." His routine misuse of the
word "incredible," while illiterate, is harmless. His misunderstanding of
the word "credible," however, isn't harmless. It's catastrophic.
ISRAEL
Guardian: The end of Zionism by Avraham Burg
Israel must shed its illusions and choose between racist oppression and democracy
The Zionist revolution has always rested on two pillars: a just path and an ethical leadership. Neither of these is operative any longer. The Israeli nation today rests on a scaffolding of corruption, and on foundations of oppression and injustice. As such, the end of the Zionist enterprise is already on our doorstep. There is a real chance that ours will be the last Zionist generation. There may yet be a Jewish state here, but it will be a different sort, strange and ugly.
There is time to change course, but not much. What is needed is a new vision of a just society and the political will to implement it. Diaspora Jews for whom Israel is a central pillar of their identity must pay heed and speak out.
The opposition does not exist, and the coalition, with Ariel Sharon at its head, claims the right to remain silent. In a nation of chatterboxes, everyone has suddenly fallen dumb, because there's nothing left to say. We live in a thunderously failed reality. Yes, we have revived the Hebrew language, created a marvellous theatre and a strong national currency. Our Jewish minds are as sharp as ever. We are traded on the Nasdaq. But is this why we created a state? The Jewish people did not survive for two millennia in order to pioneer new weaponry, computer security programs or anti-missile missiles. We were supposed to be a light unto the nations. In this we have failed.
It turns out that the 2,000-year struggle for Jewish survival comes down to a state of settlements, run by an amoral clique of corrupt lawbreakers who are deaf both to their citizens and to their enemies. A state lacking justice cannot survive. More and more Israelis are coming to understand this as they ask their children where they expect to live in 25 years. Children who are honest admit, to their parents' shock, that they do not know. The countdown to the end of Israeli society has begun.
"CHECK IT CHECK IT"
Guardian: The end of Zionism by Avraham Burg
Israel must shed its illusions and choose between racist oppression and democracy
The Zionist revolution has always rested on two pillars: a just path and an ethical leadership. Neither of these is operative any longer. The Israeli nation today rests on a scaffolding of corruption, and on foundations of oppression and injustice. As such, the end of the Zionist enterprise is already on our doorstep. There is a real chance that ours will be the last Zionist generation. There may yet be a Jewish state here, but it will be a different sort, strange and ugly.
There is time to change course, but not much. What is needed is a new vision of a just society and the political will to implement it. Diaspora Jews for whom Israel is a central pillar of their identity must pay heed and speak out.
The opposition does not exist, and the coalition, with Ariel Sharon at its head, claims the right to remain silent. In a nation of chatterboxes, everyone has suddenly fallen dumb, because there's nothing left to say. We live in a thunderously failed reality. Yes, we have revived the Hebrew language, created a marvellous theatre and a strong national currency. Our Jewish minds are as sharp as ever. We are traded on the Nasdaq. But is this why we created a state? The Jewish people did not survive for two millennia in order to pioneer new weaponry, computer security programs or anti-missile missiles. We were supposed to be a light unto the nations. In this we have failed.
It turns out that the 2,000-year struggle for Jewish survival comes down to a state of settlements, run by an amoral clique of corrupt lawbreakers who are deaf both to their citizens and to their enemies. A state lacking justice cannot survive. More and more Israelis are coming to understand this as they ask their children where they expect to live in 25 years. Children who are honest admit, to their parents' shock, that they do not know. The countdown to the end of Israeli society has begun.
"CHECK IT CHECK IT"
IRAQ UPRINSING
Rense: Americans Slaughtering Women & Children In Falluja
....After we delivered the aid, three of my friends agreed to ride out on the one functioning ambulance for the clinic to retrieve the wounded.
Although the ambulance already had three bullet holes from a U.S. sniper through the front windshield on the driver's side, having westerners on board was the only hope that soldiers would allow them to retrieve more wounded Iraqis.
The previous driver was wounded when one of the sniper's shots grazed his head.
Bombs were heard sporadically exploding around the city, along with random gunfire.....
Rense: Americans Slaughtering Women & Children In Falluja
....After we delivered the aid, three of my friends agreed to ride out on the one functioning ambulance for the clinic to retrieve the wounded.
Although the ambulance already had three bullet holes from a U.S. sniper through the front windshield on the driver's side, having westerners on board was the only hope that soldiers would allow them to retrieve more wounded Iraqis.
The previous driver was wounded when one of the sniper's shots grazed his head.
Bombs were heard sporadically exploding around the city, along with random gunfire.....
IRAQ UPRISING
Pacifica: US Marines Shoot Ambulances in Fallujah
BAGHDAD, IRAQ -- Speaking from his ranch in Crawford, Texas the
President the United States, George W. Bush told reporters American soldiers have
acted against, quote: "lawlessness and gangs" in Iraq in the past week.
The American theater commander in Fallujah told Britain's Guardian
newspaper 95 percent of those killed in the assault on the city are armed militants.
But that's not the story coming from Fallujah's temporary emergency
clinics. This Baghdad doctor has spent most of the last week in Fallujah. His
name is being with-held for his own safety.
"When you see a child five years old with no head what can you say?"
asks one doctor in Fallujah, whose name is being with-held for his own
safety. "When you see a child with no brain just an open cavity what can you
say? When you see a mother just hold her infant with no head and the shells
are all over her body."
So many Fallujahans have been killed by the US Marines that residents
have resorted to digging mass graves. The City's foot-ball stadium now holds
more than 200 dead bodies:
"We buried many in the stadium for football until it became full. When
you are burying you cannot stay long because they (US Marines) will just
shoot you. So we use the shovel. Just dig a big hole and put a whole family
in the hole and leave as soon as possible so we are not shot."
Pacifica: US Marines Shoot Ambulances in Fallujah
BAGHDAD, IRAQ -- Speaking from his ranch in Crawford, Texas the
President the United States, George W. Bush told reporters American soldiers have
acted against, quote: "lawlessness and gangs" in Iraq in the past week.
The American theater commander in Fallujah told Britain's Guardian
newspaper 95 percent of those killed in the assault on the city are armed militants.
But that's not the story coming from Fallujah's temporary emergency
clinics. This Baghdad doctor has spent most of the last week in Fallujah. His
name is being with-held for his own safety.
"When you see a child five years old with no head what can you say?"
asks one doctor in Fallujah, whose name is being with-held for his own
safety. "When you see a child with no brain just an open cavity what can you
say? When you see a mother just hold her infant with no head and the shells
are all over her body."
So many Fallujahans have been killed by the US Marines that residents
have resorted to digging mass graves. The City's foot-ball stadium now holds
more than 200 dead bodies:
"We buried many in the stadium for football until it became full. When
you are burying you cannot stay long because they (US Marines) will just
shoot you. So we use the shovel. Just dig a big hole and put a whole family
in the hole and leave as soon as possible so we are not shot."
Tuesday, April 13, 2004
IRAQ: INTIFADA
LA Times: Fury Ignites Solidarity in Iraq, By Naomi Klein
BAGHDAD - April 9, 2003, was the day this city fell to U.S. forces. One
year later, it is rising up against them.
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld claims that the resistance is just
a few "thugs, gangs and terrorists." This is dangerous, wishful thinking.
The war against the occupation is now being fought out in the open, by
regular people defending their homes - an Iraqi intifada.
"They stole our playground," an 8-year-old boy in Sadr City told me
this week, pointing at six tanks parked in a soccer field next to a rusty
jungle gym. The field is a precious bit of green in an area of Baghdad that is
otherwise a swamp of raw sewage and uncollected garbage.
Sadr City has seen little of Iraq's multibillion-dollar
"reconstruction," which is partly why Muqtader Sadr and his Al Mahdi army have so much
support here. Before U.S. occupation chief L. Paul Bremer III provoked
Sadr into an armed conflict by shutting down his newspaper and arresting and
killing his deputies, the Al Mahdi army was not fighting coalition
forces; it was doing their job for them.
LA Times: Fury Ignites Solidarity in Iraq, By Naomi Klein
BAGHDAD - April 9, 2003, was the day this city fell to U.S. forces. One
year later, it is rising up against them.
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld claims that the resistance is just
a few "thugs, gangs and terrorists." This is dangerous, wishful thinking.
The war against the occupation is now being fought out in the open, by
regular people defending their homes - an Iraqi intifada.
"They stole our playground," an 8-year-old boy in Sadr City told me
this week, pointing at six tanks parked in a soccer field next to a rusty
jungle gym. The field is a precious bit of green in an area of Baghdad that is
otherwise a swamp of raw sewage and uncollected garbage.
Sadr City has seen little of Iraq's multibillion-dollar
"reconstruction," which is partly why Muqtader Sadr and his Al Mahdi army have so much
support here. Before U.S. occupation chief L. Paul Bremer III provoked
Sadr into an armed conflict by shutting down his newspaper and arresting and
killing his deputies, the Al Mahdi army was not fighting coalition
forces; it was doing their job for them.
IRAQ
Independent: The planners of the war in Iraq have just one answer to their critics: 'shut up' By Robert Fisk (complete)
Thanks to the subservience of many members of the press, the US administration has had an easy time
Just shut up. That's the new foreign policy line of our masters. When Senator Edward Kennedy dubbed Iraq "George Bush's Vietnam", US Secretary of State Colin Powell told him to be "a little more restrained and careful" in his comments. I recall that when the US commenced its bombing of Afghanistan, the White House spokesman claimed that some journalists
were "asking questions that the American people wouldn't want asked". Back inthe early 1980s, when I reported on the Iranian soldiers on a troop train to Tehran who were coughing Saddam's mustard gas out of their lungs in blood and mucus, a Foreign Office official told my then editor on The Times that my dispatch was "not helpful". In other words, stop criticising our
ally, Saddam.
So maybe the policy has been around for quite a while. When the occupation authorities deliberately concealed the attacks against US troops after the start of the Iraq occupation last year, journalists who investigated this violence were told that they weren't covering the big picture, that only small areas of Iraq were restive. And there was a lot of clucking of
tongues when a few of us decided to take a close look at US proconsul Paul Bremer's press laws last year. A whole team of "Coalition Provisional Authority" lawyers was set up to see how they could legalise the closure and censorship of Iraqi newspapers that "incited violence". And whenever we raised questions about it, the CPA spokesman - and its current
attendant lord, Dan Senor, used the same phrase last week - would announce that "we will not tolerate incitement to violence".
So when Bremer's own closure last week of Muqtada Sadr's silly little weekly - circulation about a quarter that of the Kent Messenger - incited the very violence he supposedly wanted to avoid, what did the American High Commissioner announce? "This will not be tolerated." One of the paper's major sins was to have condemned Paul Bremer for taking Iraq down
"Saddam's path", an article which Bremer condemned in painstaking detail in his signed letter - in execrable Arabic - to the editor of the miscreant paper.
Now I'm all against incitement to violence. Just like I'm against incitement to war by the use of fraudulent claims of weapons of mass destruction and secret links to al-Qa'ida. Just like I'm against the use of Saddam's army against Iraqi cities and the use of America's army against Iraqi cities. For let's remember that some of Muqtada Sadr's dangerous militiamen fought Saddam in the 1991 insurgency - the one we supported and then betrayed. Saddam, of course, knew how to deal with resistance. "We
will not tolerate...," he told his commanders. And we all know what that meant. No, the Americans are not Saddam's army. But the siege of Fallujah is likely to give that city the heroic status among future generations of Iraqi Sunnis as Basra - surrounded by Saddam's hordes in 1991 - holds among Iraqi Shias today.
But still, we must shut up. I remember how last autumn the cabal of right-wing neo-conservatives who urged the Bush administration into this war suddenly went to ground. What was this so-called neo-conservative
lobby behind Bush and Cheney, a New York Times columnist demanded to know, these so-called former Likudist supporters of Israel? When one of them, Richard Perle, turned up on a radio show with me a few weeks ago, he insisted
that things were getting better in Iraq, that we were all en route to a cracking little democracy in Mesopotamia.
The moment I suggested that this was a massive case of self-delusion, Perle replied that Fisk had "always been for the maintenance of the Baathist regime". I got the message. Anyone who condemned this bloody mess was a secret Baathist, a lover of the dictator and his torturers. Thus far have the falcons of Washington fallen.
Of course, the "shut-up" principle works both ways. Back on 16 March 2003, when the world was obsessed with the war that would break out in Iraq three days later, a tragedy occurred on another battlefield 500 miles west of
Baghdad. On that day, an Israeli soldier and his commander drove a nine-ton Caterpillar bulldozer over a young American peace activist called Rachel Corrie who was unarmed, clearly visible in a fluorescent jacket and trying to protect a Palestinian home that the Israelis intended to destroy. The Caterpillar was part of the regular US aid to Israel. Israel acquitted
its own army of responsibility for Rachel's death - which was taped on video by her appalled friends - and the Bush administration remained gutlessly silent.
Rachel's grieving mother Elizabeth has been a picture of dignity. US citizens, she wrote, "should ask themselves how it is that an unarmed US citizen can be killed with impunity by a soldier from an allied nation receiving massive US aid... When three Americans were killed, presumably by Palestinians, in an explosion on October 15th, 2003 ... the FBI came
within 24 hours to investigate the deaths. After one year, neither the FBI nor any other US-led team has done anything to investigate the death of an American killed by an Israeli."
Well, the answer is that Bush and his administration know how to shut themselves up when it pays them to do so. That's what Condoleezza Rice initially tried to do when summoned before the 11 September hearings. And, thanks to the subservience of many members of the White House and Pentagon press corps, the administration has an easy time. Why, for example, no
press conference questions about Rachel Corrie?
It seems that as long as you say "war on terror", you are safe from all criticism. For not a single American journalist has investigated the links between the Israeli army's "rules of engagement" - so blithely handed over to US forces on Sharon's orders - and the behaviour of the US military in Iraq. The destruction of houses of "suspects", the wholesale detention
of thousands of Iraqis without trial, the cordoning off of "hostile" villages with razor wire, the bombardment of civilian areas by Apache helicopter gunships and tanks on the hunt for "terrorists" are all part of the Israeli military lexicon.
In besieging cities - when they were taking casualties or the number of civilians killed was becoming too shameful to sustain - the Israeli army would call a "unilateral suspension of offensive operations". They did this 11 times after they surrounded Beirut in 1982. And yesterday, the American army declared a "unilateral suspension of offensive operations" around
Fallujah.
Not a word on this mysterious parallel by America's reporters, no questions about the even more mysterious use of identical language. And in the coming days, we shall - perhaps - find out how many of the estimated 300 dead of Fallujah were Sunni gunmen and how many were women and children. Following Israel's rules is going to lead the Americans into the same disaster
those rules have led the Israelis. But I guess we'll shut up about it.
In the end, I suspect, the Iraqis will probably have a greater say in the US presidential elections than American voters. They will decide if President Bush loses or wins. The same may apply to Mr Blair. Funny thing, that a far away people, just 26 million, can change our political history. As for us, I guess we'll be expected to shut up.
Independent: The planners of the war in Iraq have just one answer to their critics: 'shut up' By Robert Fisk (complete)
Thanks to the subservience of many members of the press, the US administration has had an easy time
Just shut up. That's the new foreign policy line of our masters. When Senator Edward Kennedy dubbed Iraq "George Bush's Vietnam", US Secretary of State Colin Powell told him to be "a little more restrained and careful" in his comments. I recall that when the US commenced its bombing of Afghanistan, the White House spokesman claimed that some journalists
were "asking questions that the American people wouldn't want asked". Back inthe early 1980s, when I reported on the Iranian soldiers on a troop train to Tehran who were coughing Saddam's mustard gas out of their lungs in blood and mucus, a Foreign Office official told my then editor on The Times that my dispatch was "not helpful". In other words, stop criticising our
ally, Saddam.
So maybe the policy has been around for quite a while. When the occupation authorities deliberately concealed the attacks against US troops after the start of the Iraq occupation last year, journalists who investigated this violence were told that they weren't covering the big picture, that only small areas of Iraq were restive. And there was a lot of clucking of
tongues when a few of us decided to take a close look at US proconsul Paul Bremer's press laws last year. A whole team of "Coalition Provisional Authority" lawyers was set up to see how they could legalise the closure and censorship of Iraqi newspapers that "incited violence". And whenever we raised questions about it, the CPA spokesman - and its current
attendant lord, Dan Senor, used the same phrase last week - would announce that "we will not tolerate incitement to violence".
So when Bremer's own closure last week of Muqtada Sadr's silly little weekly - circulation about a quarter that of the Kent Messenger - incited the very violence he supposedly wanted to avoid, what did the American High Commissioner announce? "This will not be tolerated." One of the paper's major sins was to have condemned Paul Bremer for taking Iraq down
"Saddam's path", an article which Bremer condemned in painstaking detail in his signed letter - in execrable Arabic - to the editor of the miscreant paper.
Now I'm all against incitement to violence. Just like I'm against incitement to war by the use of fraudulent claims of weapons of mass destruction and secret links to al-Qa'ida. Just like I'm against the use of Saddam's army against Iraqi cities and the use of America's army against Iraqi cities. For let's remember that some of Muqtada Sadr's dangerous militiamen fought Saddam in the 1991 insurgency - the one we supported and then betrayed. Saddam, of course, knew how to deal with resistance. "We
will not tolerate...," he told his commanders. And we all know what that meant. No, the Americans are not Saddam's army. But the siege of Fallujah is likely to give that city the heroic status among future generations of Iraqi Sunnis as Basra - surrounded by Saddam's hordes in 1991 - holds among Iraqi Shias today.
But still, we must shut up. I remember how last autumn the cabal of right-wing neo-conservatives who urged the Bush administration into this war suddenly went to ground. What was this so-called neo-conservative
lobby behind Bush and Cheney, a New York Times columnist demanded to know, these so-called former Likudist supporters of Israel? When one of them, Richard Perle, turned up on a radio show with me a few weeks ago, he insisted
that things were getting better in Iraq, that we were all en route to a cracking little democracy in Mesopotamia.
The moment I suggested that this was a massive case of self-delusion, Perle replied that Fisk had "always been for the maintenance of the Baathist regime". I got the message. Anyone who condemned this bloody mess was a secret Baathist, a lover of the dictator and his torturers. Thus far have the falcons of Washington fallen.
Of course, the "shut-up" principle works both ways. Back on 16 March 2003, when the world was obsessed with the war that would break out in Iraq three days later, a tragedy occurred on another battlefield 500 miles west of
Baghdad. On that day, an Israeli soldier and his commander drove a nine-ton Caterpillar bulldozer over a young American peace activist called Rachel Corrie who was unarmed, clearly visible in a fluorescent jacket and trying to protect a Palestinian home that the Israelis intended to destroy. The Caterpillar was part of the regular US aid to Israel. Israel acquitted
its own army of responsibility for Rachel's death - which was taped on video by her appalled friends - and the Bush administration remained gutlessly silent.
Rachel's grieving mother Elizabeth has been a picture of dignity. US citizens, she wrote, "should ask themselves how it is that an unarmed US citizen can be killed with impunity by a soldier from an allied nation receiving massive US aid... When three Americans were killed, presumably by Palestinians, in an explosion on October 15th, 2003 ... the FBI came
within 24 hours to investigate the deaths. After one year, neither the FBI nor any other US-led team has done anything to investigate the death of an American killed by an Israeli."
Well, the answer is that Bush and his administration know how to shut themselves up when it pays them to do so. That's what Condoleezza Rice initially tried to do when summoned before the 11 September hearings. And, thanks to the subservience of many members of the White House and Pentagon press corps, the administration has an easy time. Why, for example, no
press conference questions about Rachel Corrie?
It seems that as long as you say "war on terror", you are safe from all criticism. For not a single American journalist has investigated the links between the Israeli army's "rules of engagement" - so blithely handed over to US forces on Sharon's orders - and the behaviour of the US military in Iraq. The destruction of houses of "suspects", the wholesale detention
of thousands of Iraqis without trial, the cordoning off of "hostile" villages with razor wire, the bombardment of civilian areas by Apache helicopter gunships and tanks on the hunt for "terrorists" are all part of the Israeli military lexicon.
In besieging cities - when they were taking casualties or the number of civilians killed was becoming too shameful to sustain - the Israeli army would call a "unilateral suspension of offensive operations". They did this 11 times after they surrounded Beirut in 1982. And yesterday, the American army declared a "unilateral suspension of offensive operations" around
Fallujah.
Not a word on this mysterious parallel by America's reporters, no questions about the even more mysterious use of identical language. And in the coming days, we shall - perhaps - find out how many of the estimated 300 dead of Fallujah were Sunni gunmen and how many were women and children. Following Israel's rules is going to lead the Americans into the same disaster
those rules have led the Israelis. But I guess we'll shut up about it.
In the end, I suspect, the Iraqis will probably have a greater say in the US presidential elections than American voters. They will decide if President Bush loses or wins. The same may apply to Mr Blair. Funny thing, that a far away people, just 26 million, can change our political history. As for us, I guess we'll be expected to shut up.
IRAQ: UPRISING
Juan Cole: Fallujah Bloodbath threatens US-Appointed Iraqi Government with
Collapse
(Juan Cole is Professor of History at the University of Michigan)
AP reported that the US-appointed Iraqi Governing Council (IGC) issued
a demand early on Saturday that the US cease its military action against
Fallujah and stop employing "collective punishment."
Not only has what many Iraqis call "the puppet council" taken a stand
against Bush administration tactics in Iraq, but individual members are
peeling off. Shiite Marsh Arab leader Abdul Karim al-Muhammadawi
suspended his membership in the council on Friday. A Sunni member, Ghazi
al-Yawir, has threatened to resign if a negotiated settlement of the Fallujah
conflict cannot be found. Old-time Sunni nationalist leader Adnan
Pachachi thundered on al-Arabiya televsion, "It was not right to punish all the
people of Fallujah, and we consider these operations by the Americans
unacceptable and illegal."
For him to go on an Arab satellite station much hated by Donald
Rumsfeld and denounce the very people who appointed him to the IGC is a clear
act of defiance. There are rumors that many of the 25 Governing Council
members have fled abroad, fearful of assassination because of their association
with the Americans. The ones who are left appear on the verge of
resigning.
This looks to me like an incipient collapse of the US government of
Iraq.
Beyond the IGC, the bureaucracy is protesting. Many government workers
in
the ministries are on strike and refusing to show up for work,
according to
ash-Sharq al-Awsat. Without Iraqis willing to serve in the Iraqi
government, the US would be forced to rule the country militarily and
by
main force. Its legitimacy appears to be dwindling fast.
Juan Cole: Fallujah Bloodbath threatens US-Appointed Iraqi Government with
Collapse
(Juan Cole is Professor of History at the University of Michigan)
AP reported that the US-appointed Iraqi Governing Council (IGC) issued
a demand early on Saturday that the US cease its military action against
Fallujah and stop employing "collective punishment."
Not only has what many Iraqis call "the puppet council" taken a stand
against Bush administration tactics in Iraq, but individual members are
peeling off. Shiite Marsh Arab leader Abdul Karim al-Muhammadawi
suspended his membership in the council on Friday. A Sunni member, Ghazi
al-Yawir, has threatened to resign if a negotiated settlement of the Fallujah
conflict cannot be found. Old-time Sunni nationalist leader Adnan
Pachachi thundered on al-Arabiya televsion, "It was not right to punish all the
people of Fallujah, and we consider these operations by the Americans
unacceptable and illegal."
For him to go on an Arab satellite station much hated by Donald
Rumsfeld and denounce the very people who appointed him to the IGC is a clear
act of defiance. There are rumors that many of the 25 Governing Council
members have fled abroad, fearful of assassination because of their association
with the Americans. The ones who are left appear on the verge of
resigning.
This looks to me like an incipient collapse of the US government of
Iraq.
Beyond the IGC, the bureaucracy is protesting. Many government workers
in
the ministries are on strike and refusing to show up for work,
according to
ash-Sharq al-Awsat. Without Iraqis willing to serve in the Iraqi
government, the US would be forced to rule the country militarily and
by
main force. Its legitimacy appears to be dwindling fast.
Friday, April 09, 2004
ECONOMY
Financial Review: The end of globalism
Grand economic theories rarely last more than a few decades. Some, if they are particularly in tune with technological or political events, may make it to half a century. Beyond that, little short of military force can keep them in place.
The wild open-market theory that died in 1929 had a run of just over 30 years. Communism, a complete melding of religious, economic and global theories, stretched to 70 years in Russia and 45 in central Europe, thanks precisely to the intensive use of military and police force. Keynesianism, if you add its flexible, muscular form during the Depression to its more rigid postwar version, lasted 45 years. Our own Globalisation, with its technocratic and technological determinism and market idolatry, had 30 years. And now it, too, is dead.
"CHECK IT"
Financial Review: The end of globalism
Grand economic theories rarely last more than a few decades. Some, if they are particularly in tune with technological or political events, may make it to half a century. Beyond that, little short of military force can keep them in place.
The wild open-market theory that died in 1929 had a run of just over 30 years. Communism, a complete melding of religious, economic and global theories, stretched to 70 years in Russia and 45 in central Europe, thanks precisely to the intensive use of military and police force. Keynesianism, if you add its flexible, muscular form during the Depression to its more rigid postwar version, lasted 45 years. Our own Globalisation, with its technocratic and technological determinism and market idolatry, had 30 years. And now it, too, is dead.
"CHECK IT"
IRAQ: ONE AFTER
Independent: I never thought the invasion would end happily. But this is a dangerous mess
A year ago, I drove into Baghdad from Iraqi Kurdistan past smouldering Iraqi tanks. The war had just ended. The statue of Saddam toppled. Government buildings burnt but there was still a feeling among those in the city that the worst was over. It is difficult to recapture that feeling today.
Now Iraq is a country where people fear to venture on to the streets. Whether you are a foreign contractor, a Muslim attending prayers or a journalist, this is a land of ever-present danger.
Yesterday, three Japanese journalists, eight South Korean church ministers and two Arab-Israelis were unfortunate enough to discover that harsh reality. We all wonder who it will be tomorrow.
Independent: I never thought the invasion would end happily. But this is a dangerous mess
A year ago, I drove into Baghdad from Iraqi Kurdistan past smouldering Iraqi tanks. The war had just ended. The statue of Saddam toppled. Government buildings burnt but there was still a feeling among those in the city that the worst was over. It is difficult to recapture that feeling today.
Now Iraq is a country where people fear to venture on to the streets. Whether you are a foreign contractor, a Muslim attending prayers or a journalist, this is a land of ever-present danger.
Yesterday, three Japanese journalists, eight South Korean church ministers and two Arab-Israelis were unfortunate enough to discover that harsh reality. We all wonder who it will be tomorrow.
Thursday, April 08, 2004
IRAQ: UPRISING
Bloomberg: Iraq Kidnappers Take 3 Japan Journalists Hostage, Jazeera Says
April 8 (Bloomberg) -- Kidnappers will kill three Japanese journalists they are holding in Iraq in three days unless Japanese forces withdraw from the country, Qatar's Al-Jazeera satellite news reported, showing video pictures of the hostages.
The three, two men and a woman, are aged 19, 33 and 34, according to video pictures of their passports, Al-Jazeera said. One works for Weekly Asahi, ministerial press passes showed
Bloomberg: Iraq Kidnappers Take 3 Japan Journalists Hostage, Jazeera Says
April 8 (Bloomberg) -- Kidnappers will kill three Japanese journalists they are holding in Iraq in three days unless Japanese forces withdraw from the country, Qatar's Al-Jazeera satellite news reported, showing video pictures of the hostages.
The three, two men and a woman, are aged 19, 33 and 34, according to video pictures of their passports, Al-Jazeera said. One works for Weekly Asahi, ministerial press passes showed
VIDEO: CASTRO
Informationclearinghouse: OLIVER STONE'S COMANDANTE
In February 2002, acclaimed director Oliver Stone traveled to Havana to meet with Cuban leader, Fidel Castro. Over the course of three days, the two men engaged in a series of frank conversations, which culminated, months later, in the film Comandante
In an interview with the London Times, Oliver Stone noted that directing Comandante - his first documentary film - has given him a welcome break from movie-making.
?I was tired of movies because they?re so big, expensive and artificial...and also the digital aspect was so important. It was great to take up the camera and feel it out and feel the freedom.?
The project began when Fernando Sulichan, a Spanish producer, offered Stone a chance to interview Fidel Castro for Spanish TV.
The Cuban leader had agreed to the interview under the condition that he could stop filming at any moment. The production team taped over 30 hours of interviews and Castro never exercised his power to stop the cameras.
Over the three days, Stone films Castro working at his office, touring a medical school and a museum, and follows him through the streets where he mingles freely with Cuban citizens.
In an interview with the BBC, Stone talked about his thoughts on Castro.
Right click here and select "save as" to copy to your hard drive available from 04/05/04 to 04/12/04
Informationclearinghouse: OLIVER STONE'S COMANDANTE
In February 2002, acclaimed director Oliver Stone traveled to Havana to meet with Cuban leader, Fidel Castro. Over the course of three days, the two men engaged in a series of frank conversations, which culminated, months later, in the film Comandante
In an interview with the London Times, Oliver Stone noted that directing Comandante - his first documentary film - has given him a welcome break from movie-making.
?I was tired of movies because they?re so big, expensive and artificial...and also the digital aspect was so important. It was great to take up the camera and feel it out and feel the freedom.?
The project began when Fernando Sulichan, a Spanish producer, offered Stone a chance to interview Fidel Castro for Spanish TV.
The Cuban leader had agreed to the interview under the condition that he could stop filming at any moment. The production team taped over 30 hours of interviews and Castro never exercised his power to stop the cameras.
Over the three days, Stone films Castro working at his office, touring a medical school and a museum, and follows him through the streets where he mingles freely with Cuban citizens.
In an interview with the BBC, Stone talked about his thoughts on Castro.
Right click here and select "save as" to copy to your hard drive available from 04/05/04 to 04/12/04
IRAQ: UPRISING
islamonline: Arrest Warrant For Sadr 'Illegal': Iraqi Judges
(IslamOnline.net) – As the Iraqi Governing Council Wednesday, April 7, urged investigations into the American military use of "deliberate" force against civilians, the Iraqi Jurists Association said the arrest warrant against Shiite leader Muqtada Sadr is "illegal and based on a lie".
"The arrest warrant is illegal and incorrect, as the occupation forces issued it in disregard for sovereignty of Iraq's justice system," the Association said in a statement a copy of which was obtained by IslamOnline.net.
A U.S. military spokesman said two days ago the warrant had been issued "in the last several months" by an Iraqi judge investigating last April's murder of a pro-Western Shiite leader one year ago.
islamonline: Arrest Warrant For Sadr 'Illegal': Iraqi Judges
(IslamOnline.net) – As the Iraqi Governing Council Wednesday, April 7, urged investigations into the American military use of "deliberate" force against civilians, the Iraqi Jurists Association said the arrest warrant against Shiite leader Muqtada Sadr is "illegal and based on a lie".
"The arrest warrant is illegal and incorrect, as the occupation forces issued it in disregard for sovereignty of Iraq's justice system," the Association said in a statement a copy of which was obtained by IslamOnline.net.
A U.S. military spokesman said two days ago the warrant had been issued "in the last several months" by an Iraqi judge investigating last April's murder of a pro-Western Shiite leader one year ago.
IRAQ: UPRISING
BNN: Iraq's Sadr urges Kuwaitis to expel U.S. forces-TV
BAGHDAD (Reuters/BGNES)? Militant Iraqi cleric Moqtada al-Sadr urged Kuwaitis to put pressure on their government to expel U.S. and other foreign forces based in the country, the Arabic Al Jazeera television said on Wednesday.
"I call on our neighbour Kuwait to ask that American and other bases be removed so that this state may stand hand in hand with us to remove the big nightmare and great Satan from Iraq, whose people are suffering from the occupation," Sadr said in a statement, a copy of which was shown by the satellite channel.
"You cannot keep silent about these crimes and you must help your brothers by removing terrorism from your land," said the statement written in Arabic.
Nasdaq: Cleric Al-Sadr Warns Iraq Could Become A Vietnam For US
Anti-U.S. Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr warned Wednesday Iraq will become another Vietnam-like conflict for the U.S. unless it transfers power to "honest Iraqis."
The cleric - whose militia followers have battled coalition and Iraqi security forces across the country for days - accused members of the U.S.-appointed Iraqi Governing Council of being "collaborators" and said "they do not represent the Iraqi people."
"I call upon the American people to stand beside their brethren, the Iraqi people, who are suffering an injustice by your rulers and the occupying army, to help them in the transfer of power to honest Iraqis," al-Sadr said in a statement issued by his office in the southern city of Najaf. "Otherwise, Iraq will be another Vietnam for America and the occupiers."
BNN: Iraq's Sadr urges Kuwaitis to expel U.S. forces-TV
BAGHDAD (Reuters/BGNES)? Militant Iraqi cleric Moqtada al-Sadr urged Kuwaitis to put pressure on their government to expel U.S. and other foreign forces based in the country, the Arabic Al Jazeera television said on Wednesday.
"I call on our neighbour Kuwait to ask that American and other bases be removed so that this state may stand hand in hand with us to remove the big nightmare and great Satan from Iraq, whose people are suffering from the occupation," Sadr said in a statement, a copy of which was shown by the satellite channel.
"You cannot keep silent about these crimes and you must help your brothers by removing terrorism from your land," said the statement written in Arabic.
Nasdaq: Cleric Al-Sadr Warns Iraq Could Become A Vietnam For US
Anti-U.S. Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr warned Wednesday Iraq will become another Vietnam-like conflict for the U.S. unless it transfers power to "honest Iraqis."
The cleric - whose militia followers have battled coalition and Iraqi security forces across the country for days - accused members of the U.S.-appointed Iraqi Governing Council of being "collaborators" and said "they do not represent the Iraqi people."
"I call upon the American people to stand beside their brethren, the Iraqi people, who are suffering an injustice by your rulers and the occupying army, to help them in the transfer of power to honest Iraqis," al-Sadr said in a statement issued by his office in the southern city of Najaf. "Otherwise, Iraq will be another Vietnam for America and the occupiers."
IRAQ: Uprising
IndependentUS stoking unrest before festival, say Shia
American commanders in Iraq vowed yesterday to arrest Muqtada Sadr, the young Shia leader, and crush the black-clad militiamen of his Mehdi Army amid signs that US actions are alienating the Iraqi Shia community as a whole.
US soldiers do not seem able to distinguish between the Army of the Mehdi and ordinary Shia pilgrims on their way to the holy city of Kerbala to commemorate the feast of Arbain, which starts today, forty days after the anniversary of the martyrdom of Imam Hussein, one of the founders of their faith.
"The Americans are just as bad as Saddam Hussein," said Hamid al-Ugily, the leader of six men from Sadr city carrying a green flag who are spending two to three days walking to Kerbala. "We think they will attack Muqtada in Najaf. We will defend our religious leaders."
IndependentUS stoking unrest before festival, say Shia
American commanders in Iraq vowed yesterday to arrest Muqtada Sadr, the young Shia leader, and crush the black-clad militiamen of his Mehdi Army amid signs that US actions are alienating the Iraqi Shia community as a whole.
US soldiers do not seem able to distinguish between the Army of the Mehdi and ordinary Shia pilgrims on their way to the holy city of Kerbala to commemorate the feast of Arbain, which starts today, forty days after the anniversary of the martyrdom of Imam Hussein, one of the founders of their faith.
"The Americans are just as bad as Saddam Hussein," said Hamid al-Ugily, the leader of six men from Sadr city carrying a green flag who are spending two to three days walking to Kerbala. "We think they will attack Muqtada in Najaf. We will defend our religious leaders."
IRAQ: UPRISING
Aljazeera: Plea to lift siege as Falluja toll mounts
Doctors in Falluja want the siege on the town lifted for shifting patients with serious injuries even as brutal street battles rage.
Two hundred and eighty people have been killed since the start of the siege and 400 more injured, said Tahr al-Issawi, the director of Falluja's hospital on Thursday.
"We also know of dead and wounded in various places buried under rubble, but we cannot reach them because of the fighting," he said.
Clinics in the town, 65km west of Baghdad, are struggling to treat victims of the US attacks, said Aljazeera's correspondent Ahmad Mansur.
US helicopters and snipers are firing on ambulances and civilian vehicles trying to take the wounded to clinics or the hospital, the correspondent said
Aljazeera: Plea to lift siege as Falluja toll mounts
Doctors in Falluja want the siege on the town lifted for shifting patients with serious injuries even as brutal street battles rage.
Two hundred and eighty people have been killed since the start of the siege and 400 more injured, said Tahr al-Issawi, the director of Falluja's hospital on Thursday.
"We also know of dead and wounded in various places buried under rubble, but we cannot reach them because of the fighting," he said.
Clinics in the town, 65km west of Baghdad, are struggling to treat victims of the US attacks, said Aljazeera's correspondent Ahmad Mansur.
US helicopters and snipers are firing on ambulances and civilian vehicles trying to take the wounded to clinics or the hospital, the correspondent said
US ELECTIONS
Buzzflash: Why 3 Out Of 4 Experts
Predict Terrorist Attack By Nov.
On Dec. 31, 2003, New York Times columnist and former Nixon speech writer William Safire offered his standard New Year's predictions. This time, however, one item stood out. In addition to speculating on everything from which country would next "feel the force of U.S. liberation" to who would win the best picture Oscar, Safire predicted that "the 'October surprise' affecting the U.S. election" would be "a major terror attack in the United States." [Salt Lake Tribune]
While such speculation is hardly worth a trip to the duct tape store, when combined with repeated assaults to our democratic process and troublesome assertions from noteworthy sources, it warrants further investigation.
CHECK IT"
Buzzflash: Why 3 Out Of 4 Experts
Predict Terrorist Attack By Nov.
On Dec. 31, 2003, New York Times columnist and former Nixon speech writer William Safire offered his standard New Year's predictions. This time, however, one item stood out. In addition to speculating on everything from which country would next "feel the force of U.S. liberation" to who would win the best picture Oscar, Safire predicted that "the 'October surprise' affecting the U.S. election" would be "a major terror attack in the United States." [Salt Lake Tribune]
While such speculation is hardly worth a trip to the duct tape store, when combined with repeated assaults to our democratic process and troublesome assertions from noteworthy sources, it warrants further investigation.
CHECK IT"
IRAQ: UPRISING
Reuters: Iraqis Capture Coalition Soldiers - Sadr Aide
A top aide to the militant Iraqi cleric Moqtada al-Sadr said on Wednesday that his supporters had captured a number of soldiers from the U.S.-led coalition during clashes currently taking place across a large swathe of Iraq.
"Some tribes have captured some occupation forces on the streets," Qays al-Khazali told a news conference in the Shi'ite Muslim holy city of Najaf.
He gave no further details. The news conference was broadcast by Lebanon's al-Manar television station, mouthpiece of the militant Shi'ite Hizbollah group.
Reuters: Iraqis Capture Coalition Soldiers - Sadr Aide
A top aide to the militant Iraqi cleric Moqtada al-Sadr said on Wednesday that his supporters had captured a number of soldiers from the U.S.-led coalition during clashes currently taking place across a large swathe of Iraq.
"Some tribes have captured some occupation forces on the streets," Qays al-Khazali told a news conference in the Shi'ite Muslim holy city of Najaf.
He gave no further details. The news conference was broadcast by Lebanon's al-Manar television station, mouthpiece of the militant Shi'ite Hizbollah group.
1984: RFID CHIPS
Infowar: Baja Beach Club in Barcelona, Spain Launches Microchip Implantation for VIP Members
Note from Alex Jones:
I interviewed Conrad Chase for 30 minutes on my syndicated radio broadcast. He told me that the CEO of VeriChip, Mr. Bolton, had told him that there was a plan to use the VeriChip as a global implantable identity system. I asked him if whether in the future you would have to have a chip to get into the club period, and he said yes.
I said laughingly, that you're not going to be a VIP in the world if you don't have a chip, to which he responded that that was a great slogan that he would start using.
Baja Beach Club owner Conrad Chase wanted something unique to identify his VIP patrons. Other clubs had special jewelry or key chains, but he was looking for something special. After brainstorming, he came up with the idea to implant his VIP members with VeriChip's implantable microchip.
Alex has spoken many times over the years about how they would make the chip "fun," and how, by giving it an elite status, an entire generation of young teenagers would soon be arguing with their parents demanding that they let them be implanted so that they can be in the "in" crowd. The Baja Beach Club and Chase have proved that the trend has started.
When I spoke to Mr. Chase this morning he told me that his implant launch had gotten the international media's attention. He himself was implanted at the media launch of the VIP implant system along with stars from the Spanish version of the TV Show, "Big Brother," (called "Grand Hermano" in Spain).
He also told me that he had been in touch with the VeriChip Corporation and that there were several new developments with their implant system including the Belgian subsidiary of firearm company, FN Herstal, which manufactures Browning and Smith and Wesson firearms, launching a implant-firearm system which would make a firearm functional only to the individual implanted with its corresponding microchip.
"CHECK IT"
Infowar: Baja Beach Club in Barcelona, Spain Launches Microchip Implantation for VIP Members
Note from Alex Jones:
I interviewed Conrad Chase for 30 minutes on my syndicated radio broadcast. He told me that the CEO of VeriChip, Mr. Bolton, had told him that there was a plan to use the VeriChip as a global implantable identity system. I asked him if whether in the future you would have to have a chip to get into the club period, and he said yes.
I said laughingly, that you're not going to be a VIP in the world if you don't have a chip, to which he responded that that was a great slogan that he would start using.
Baja Beach Club owner Conrad Chase wanted something unique to identify his VIP patrons. Other clubs had special jewelry or key chains, but he was looking for something special. After brainstorming, he came up with the idea to implant his VIP members with VeriChip's implantable microchip.
Alex has spoken many times over the years about how they would make the chip "fun," and how, by giving it an elite status, an entire generation of young teenagers would soon be arguing with their parents demanding that they let them be implanted so that they can be in the "in" crowd. The Baja Beach Club and Chase have proved that the trend has started.
When I spoke to Mr. Chase this morning he told me that his implant launch had gotten the international media's attention. He himself was implanted at the media launch of the VIP implant system along with stars from the Spanish version of the TV Show, "Big Brother," (called "Grand Hermano" in Spain).
He also told me that he had been in touch with the VeriChip Corporation and that there were several new developments with their implant system including the Belgian subsidiary of firearm company, FN Herstal, which manufactures Browning and Smith and Wesson firearms, launching a implant-firearm system which would make a firearm functional only to the individual implanted with its corresponding microchip.
"CHECK IT"
IRAQ: UPRISING
Guardian: Bush & Blair Have Lit A Fire Which Could Consume Them
The Iraqi Uprising Will Drive Home The Forgotten Lessons Of Empire
This revolt shows every sign of turning into Iraq's own intifada, and towns like Falluja and Ramadi - centres of resistance from the first days of occupation - are now getting the treatment Israel has meted out to Palestinians in Jenin, Nablus and Rafah over the past couple of years. As resistance groups have moved from simply attacking US and other occupation troops to attempts to hold territory, US efforts to destroy them - as an American general vowed to do yesterday - have become increasingly brutal. Across Iraq, US soldiers and their European allies are now killing Iraqis in their hundreds on the streets of their own cities in an explosive revival of the Middle East's imperial legacy.
Guardian: Bush & Blair Have Lit A Fire Which Could Consume Them
The Iraqi Uprising Will Drive Home The Forgotten Lessons Of Empire
This revolt shows every sign of turning into Iraq's own intifada, and towns like Falluja and Ramadi - centres of resistance from the first days of occupation - are now getting the treatment Israel has meted out to Palestinians in Jenin, Nablus and Rafah over the past couple of years. As resistance groups have moved from simply attacking US and other occupation troops to attempts to hold territory, US efforts to destroy them - as an American general vowed to do yesterday - have become increasingly brutal. Across Iraq, US soldiers and their European allies are now killing Iraqis in their hundreds on the streets of their own cities in an explosive revival of the Middle East's imperial legacy.
1984: RFID CHIPS
infowars: RFID Company Matric's RFID chip forms a swastika
This image is from RFID wireless computing technologies company Matrics, Inc.
Matrics, Inc. 's "about" page states:
"Matrics was created with a vision to revolutionize the logistics and supply chain processes by deploying breakthrough RFID systems. Today, as Matrics is delivering customer success in pursuit of their vision, Bill and Mike continue to serve the company enthusiastically as Chief Scientist and Chief Technology Officer, respectively.
Matrics provides EPC-compliant RFID systems for retail, CPG, defense, transportation and other vertical markets. Matrics´ commitment to customer success is measured by increased asset visibility and an easy route to compliance. We deliver high performance, cost-effective RFID systems scalable to our customer´s requirements.
Headquartered in the state of Maryland in the United States, Matrics is actively working with customers and partners in Europe, Asia and Latin & South America. Matrics, along with its partnership network, provides RFID solutions to many of the Fortune 1000 companies, government, as well as international businesses. Current customers include International Paper and McCarran Airport..."
Hmmm.... interesting design for this new design for a tracker chip put out by a company called Matrics. They're not throwing it in our face, or anything....
infowars: RFID Company Matric's RFID chip forms a swastika
This image is from RFID wireless computing technologies company Matrics, Inc.
Matrics, Inc. 's "about" page states:
"Matrics was created with a vision to revolutionize the logistics and supply chain processes by deploying breakthrough RFID systems. Today, as Matrics is delivering customer success in pursuit of their vision, Bill and Mike continue to serve the company enthusiastically as Chief Scientist and Chief Technology Officer, respectively.
Matrics provides EPC-compliant RFID systems for retail, CPG, defense, transportation and other vertical markets. Matrics´ commitment to customer success is measured by increased asset visibility and an easy route to compliance. We deliver high performance, cost-effective RFID systems scalable to our customer´s requirements.
Headquartered in the state of Maryland in the United States, Matrics is actively working with customers and partners in Europe, Asia and Latin & South America. Matrics, along with its partnership network, provides RFID solutions to many of the Fortune 1000 companies, government, as well as international businesses. Current customers include International Paper and McCarran Airport..."
Hmmm.... interesting design for this new design for a tracker chip put out by a company called Matrics. They're not throwing it in our face, or anything....
IRAQ: UPRISING
SKY News: 130 US Troops Dead In New Iraq Fighting - Pentagon Source
A Pentagon source has said up to 130 US troops have been killed in fierce fighting in Iraq.
The large scale battle, described as "intense", has taken place in the town of Ar Ramadi, 20 miles west of Fallujah.
Sky News' David Chater said: "None of this is official yet - none of it is confirmed."
But he added: "It sounds very much like this is being carried out by men who are militarily trained."
Chater described the attack as "highly sophisticated".
http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30000-1130577,00.html
SKY News: 130 US Troops Dead In New Iraq Fighting - Pentagon Source
A Pentagon source has said up to 130 US troops have been killed in fierce fighting in Iraq.
The large scale battle, described as "intense", has taken place in the town of Ar Ramadi, 20 miles west of Fallujah.
Sky News' David Chater said: "None of this is official yet - none of it is confirmed."
But he added: "It sounds very much like this is being carried out by men who are militarily trained."
Chater described the attack as "highly sophisticated".
http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30000-1130577,00.html
IRAQ: UPRISING
Wie ein Mudschahid den Kampf um Ramadi beschreibt
Bei einem Angriff von Aufständischen in der irakischen Stadt Ramadi sind bis zu einem Dutzend US-Marineinfanteristen getötet worden. Eine Beschreibung der Schlacht aus Sicht der Aufständischen wurde heute in einem Internetforum veröffentlicht. SPIEGEL ONLINE dokumentiert Auszüge.
Al-Ramadi: Seid ihr noch am Leben? (...) Überbringt uns Nachrichten!
Al-Anbari: Wir haben die Amerikaner zermalmt, und die Schlachten finden auf allen Straßen statt.
Al-Ramadi: Bei Gott!
Al-Anbari: Bei Gott! Und wir haben uns ihrer Waffen und Gerätschaften bemächtigt.
Al-Ramadi: Wurden denn auch welche von ihnen getötet?
Al-Anbari: Ja. Die gesamte Truppe, die in die Straße Nr. 20 eindrang, wurde vollständig vernichtet und einer der Wagen, der in der Nähe von Mariams Haus stand, wurde abgebrannt.
Al-Ramadi: Welcher Mariam?
Al-Anbari: Du kennst doch Mahmud al-Mariam, der in der Nähe von dem Haus von Ibrahim al-Khaschiban wohnt? Das Haus dahinter.
Wie ein Mudschahid den Kampf um Ramadi beschreibt
Bei einem Angriff von Aufständischen in der irakischen Stadt Ramadi sind bis zu einem Dutzend US-Marineinfanteristen getötet worden. Eine Beschreibung der Schlacht aus Sicht der Aufständischen wurde heute in einem Internetforum veröffentlicht. SPIEGEL ONLINE dokumentiert Auszüge.
Al-Ramadi: Seid ihr noch am Leben? (...) Überbringt uns Nachrichten!
Al-Anbari: Wir haben die Amerikaner zermalmt, und die Schlachten finden auf allen Straßen statt.
Al-Ramadi: Bei Gott!
Al-Anbari: Bei Gott! Und wir haben uns ihrer Waffen und Gerätschaften bemächtigt.
Al-Ramadi: Wurden denn auch welche von ihnen getötet?
Al-Anbari: Ja. Die gesamte Truppe, die in die Straße Nr. 20 eindrang, wurde vollständig vernichtet und einer der Wagen, der in der Nähe von Mariams Haus stand, wurde abgebrannt.
Al-Ramadi: Welcher Mariam?
Al-Anbari: Du kennst doch Mahmud al-Mariam, der in der Nähe von dem Haus von Ibrahim al-Khaschiban wohnt? Das Haus dahinter.
Wednesday, April 07, 2004
IRAQ: UPRISING
Independent: 40 dead' as US rockets hit Fallujah mosque
Forty Iraqis were reportedly killed when a US helicopter struck a mosque with three missiles today in the central Iraqi city of Fallujah.
Cars ferried bodies of the dead from the scene and part of the wall surrounding the Abdul-Aziz al-Samarrai mosque was demolished, said an AP reporter, Abdul-Qader Saadi, who added that the mosque building itself was not damaged.
The strike came as worshippers gathered for afternoon prayers, witnesses said. An angry crowd gathered as the wounded were taken to makeshift hospitals.
Independent: 40 dead' as US rockets hit Fallujah mosque
Forty Iraqis were reportedly killed when a US helicopter struck a mosque with three missiles today in the central Iraqi city of Fallujah.
Cars ferried bodies of the dead from the scene and part of the wall surrounding the Abdul-Aziz al-Samarrai mosque was demolished, said an AP reporter, Abdul-Qader Saadi, who added that the mosque building itself was not damaged.
The strike came as worshippers gathered for afternoon prayers, witnesses said. An angry crowd gathered as the wounded were taken to makeshift hospitals.
Tuesday, April 06, 2004
HEISE
Ein Kommentar aus dem Forum:
Wider die Hetze gegen unsere moslemischen Nachbarn!
cui bono (6. April 2004 10:30)
Ich bin erstaunt dar?ber, mit welch erschreckender Leichtfertigkeit
von vielen auch hier im Forum der "islamische Terrorismus" als
solcher f?r bare M?nze genommen wird: als g?be es auch nur ein
einziges, rechtsstaatlichen Anforderungen gen?gendes
Gerichtsverfahren weltweit, das die urspr?ngliche Urheberschaft auch
nur eines einzigen, tats?chlich stattgefundenen "El Kaida"-Anschlags
letztinstanzlich BEWIESEN h?tte!
Ich kann nur wiederholen:
Je ungeheuerlicher ein Vorwurf, umso h?her mu? der Anspruch an die
Beweise sein!
Vor diesem Hintergrund tun mir die Millionen Moslems, die als
Minderheiten in westlichen L?ndern leben, unendlich leid f?r die
vielen direkten und indirekten Verd?chtigungen und Anschuldigungen,
denen sie von den ach-so-zivilisierten Westlern zunehmend unverbl?mt
ausgesetzt werden. Ich erinnere nur mal an die k?rzlich (Sonntag?) in
den Tagesthemen gezeigte Szene, wo bei Madrid ein moslemischer Junge
(aus dem Vorortviertel, wo j?ngst die angeblichen Nr.1 und 2 des
Anschlags von Madrid per Explosion aus dem Leben schieden) mit den
w?tenden christlichen Nachbarn zu argumentieren versuchte, sie darauf
hinwies, da? sie doch ALLE hier lebten, mit dem gleichen Zug in die
Stadt f?hren, alle gemeinsam von solchen Anschl?gen bedroht seien,
und deshalb doch besser zusammenhalten sollten... aber die lieben
Nachbarn lie?en ihm keine Chance!
Da wird von den hiesigen Massenmedien, nicht zuletzt in diversen
Talkrunden, ein Klima geschaffen, als wollte man die hier lebenden
Moslems geradezu absichtlich in die Arme ihrer vermeintlichen R?cher
oder Befreier treiben... Wenn gar die Forderung erhoben wird, sie
m?gen sich in ?ffentlichen Massen-Demonstrationen (z.B. "mit
Lichterketten", Extra3, letzten Donnerstag!) von dem Terror ihrer
"Glaubensbr?der" "distanzieren" - wo bleibt da bitte ein
einheitlicher Ma?stab?
Wo bleiben Forderungen nach solchen "Distanzierungs-Demonstrationen"
an die "Glaubensbr?der" anderer, nicht nur erwiesener, sondern sich
ihrer Untaten auch noch r?hmender "westlich-zivilisierter"
Verbrecher? Konkret: warum m?ssen sich nicht auch
amerikanisch-christliche Minderheiten in aller Welt ?ffentlich vom
v?lkerrechtswidrigen Angriffskrieg eines christlich erweckten Bush,
j?dische Minderheiten in aller Welt ?ffentlich von den
v?lkerrechtswidrigen Morden der Regierung eines im Namen aller Juden
handelnden Staates in Demonstrationen, mit Lichterketten etc. pp.
distanzieren?
Ich beobachte jedenfalls zunehmend eine ?ffentlich verbreitete
anti-moslemische Hetze, die - sollte jemand auf den Gedanken kommen,
mal "Islam" und "Moslems" durch "Judentum" und "Juden" zu ersetzen,
nach der Lehre des "Wehret den Anf?ngen" l?ngst
Solidarit?ts-Demonstrationen der hier lebenden
Mehrheitsgesellschaften mit ihren MOSLEMISCHEN Nachbarn erforderlich
machen sollten!!!
Auch fange ich langsam an zu kapieren, wie es kam, da? offensichtlich
zumindest bei simplen Gem?tern, wie es sie leider heute -TROTZ der
Lehre des Dritten Reichs!- nicht minder zu geben scheint, die Hetze
der nationalsozialistischen Massenmedien seinerzeit auf allzu
fruchtbaren Boden fiel.
Und an alle, die so gerne leben: die Gefahr, bei einem Autounfall ums
Leben zu kommen oder verletzt zu werden, ist um ein x-faches h?her,
als durch einen von-wem-auch-immer angezettelten Terroranschlag -
jedenfalls sofern man das seltsame Gl?ck hat, im Westen und nicht in
einem von einem westlichen Hegemonial-Staat besetzten Land zu leben.
Ein Kommentar aus dem Forum:
Wider die Hetze gegen unsere moslemischen Nachbarn!
cui bono (6. April 2004 10:30)
Ich bin erstaunt dar?ber, mit welch erschreckender Leichtfertigkeit
von vielen auch hier im Forum der "islamische Terrorismus" als
solcher f?r bare M?nze genommen wird: als g?be es auch nur ein
einziges, rechtsstaatlichen Anforderungen gen?gendes
Gerichtsverfahren weltweit, das die urspr?ngliche Urheberschaft auch
nur eines einzigen, tats?chlich stattgefundenen "El Kaida"-Anschlags
letztinstanzlich BEWIESEN h?tte!
Ich kann nur wiederholen:
Je ungeheuerlicher ein Vorwurf, umso h?her mu? der Anspruch an die
Beweise sein!
Vor diesem Hintergrund tun mir die Millionen Moslems, die als
Minderheiten in westlichen L?ndern leben, unendlich leid f?r die
vielen direkten und indirekten Verd?chtigungen und Anschuldigungen,
denen sie von den ach-so-zivilisierten Westlern zunehmend unverbl?mt
ausgesetzt werden. Ich erinnere nur mal an die k?rzlich (Sonntag?) in
den Tagesthemen gezeigte Szene, wo bei Madrid ein moslemischer Junge
(aus dem Vorortviertel, wo j?ngst die angeblichen Nr.1 und 2 des
Anschlags von Madrid per Explosion aus dem Leben schieden) mit den
w?tenden christlichen Nachbarn zu argumentieren versuchte, sie darauf
hinwies, da? sie doch ALLE hier lebten, mit dem gleichen Zug in die
Stadt f?hren, alle gemeinsam von solchen Anschl?gen bedroht seien,
und deshalb doch besser zusammenhalten sollten... aber die lieben
Nachbarn lie?en ihm keine Chance!
Da wird von den hiesigen Massenmedien, nicht zuletzt in diversen
Talkrunden, ein Klima geschaffen, als wollte man die hier lebenden
Moslems geradezu absichtlich in die Arme ihrer vermeintlichen R?cher
oder Befreier treiben... Wenn gar die Forderung erhoben wird, sie
m?gen sich in ?ffentlichen Massen-Demonstrationen (z.B. "mit
Lichterketten", Extra3, letzten Donnerstag!) von dem Terror ihrer
"Glaubensbr?der" "distanzieren" - wo bleibt da bitte ein
einheitlicher Ma?stab?
Wo bleiben Forderungen nach solchen "Distanzierungs-Demonstrationen"
an die "Glaubensbr?der" anderer, nicht nur erwiesener, sondern sich
ihrer Untaten auch noch r?hmender "westlich-zivilisierter"
Verbrecher? Konkret: warum m?ssen sich nicht auch
amerikanisch-christliche Minderheiten in aller Welt ?ffentlich vom
v?lkerrechtswidrigen Angriffskrieg eines christlich erweckten Bush,
j?dische Minderheiten in aller Welt ?ffentlich von den
v?lkerrechtswidrigen Morden der Regierung eines im Namen aller Juden
handelnden Staates in Demonstrationen, mit Lichterketten etc. pp.
distanzieren?
Ich beobachte jedenfalls zunehmend eine ?ffentlich verbreitete
anti-moslemische Hetze, die - sollte jemand auf den Gedanken kommen,
mal "Islam" und "Moslems" durch "Judentum" und "Juden" zu ersetzen,
nach der Lehre des "Wehret den Anf?ngen" l?ngst
Solidarit?ts-Demonstrationen der hier lebenden
Mehrheitsgesellschaften mit ihren MOSLEMISCHEN Nachbarn erforderlich
machen sollten!!!
Auch fange ich langsam an zu kapieren, wie es kam, da? offensichtlich
zumindest bei simplen Gem?tern, wie es sie leider heute -TROTZ der
Lehre des Dritten Reichs!- nicht minder zu geben scheint, die Hetze
der nationalsozialistischen Massenmedien seinerzeit auf allzu
fruchtbaren Boden fiel.
Und an alle, die so gerne leben: die Gefahr, bei einem Autounfall ums
Leben zu kommen oder verletzt zu werden, ist um ein x-faches h?her,
als durch einen von-wem-auch-immer angezettelten Terroranschlag -
jedenfalls sofern man das seltsame Gl?ck hat, im Westen und nicht in
einem von einem westlichen Hegemonial-Staat besetzten Land zu leben.
PROPAGANDA WATCH: VENEZUELA
Williambowles: US Foreign Policy: A Media Mystery
Okay, so what's the deal? Why won't the corporate media tell us what's going on? Why do I have scrabble around the Internet looking for answers? Why won't my local print, tv and radio tell me why, yet again, the US is orchestrating a coup d'etat against Venezuela?
Dumb questions I know, but over the past week, the number of stories on Venezuela available locally – of any kind – is zero. And over the past few weeks, it's not much more, a handful to be exact. And no doubt, just as with the appalling press coverage of the US-backed coup d'etat in Haiti, we won't read anything until it's all but over (barring the killing), then of course, the vampires are all over the place
CHECK IT CHECK IT CHECK IT
Williambowles: US Foreign Policy: A Media Mystery
Okay, so what's the deal? Why won't the corporate media tell us what's going on? Why do I have scrabble around the Internet looking for answers? Why won't my local print, tv and radio tell me why, yet again, the US is orchestrating a coup d'etat against Venezuela?
Dumb questions I know, but over the past week, the number of stories on Venezuela available locally – of any kind – is zero. And over the past few weeks, it's not much more, a handful to be exact. And no doubt, just as with the appalling press coverage of the US-backed coup d'etat in Haiti, we won't read anything until it's all but over (barring the killing), then of course, the vampires are all over the place
CHECK IT CHECK IT CHECK IT
911 PREWARNING
Haaretz: Odigo says workers were warned of attack
Odigo, the instant messaging service, says that two of its workers received messages two hours before the Twin Towers attack on September 11 predicting the attack would happen, and the company has been cooperating with Israeli and American law enforcement, including the FBI, in trying to find the original sender of the message predicting the attack.
Micha Macover, CEO of the company, said the two workers received the messages and immediately after the terror attack informed the company's management, which immediately contacted the Israeli security services, which brought in the FBI.
"I have no idea why the message was sent to these two workers, who don't know the sender. It may just have been someone who was joking and turned out they accidentally got it right. And I don't know if our information was useful in any of the arrests the FBI has made," said Macover. Odigo is a U.S.-based company whose headquarters are in New York, with offices in Herzliya.
As an instant messaging service, Odigo users are not limited to sending messages only to people on their "buddy" list, as is the case with ICQ, the other well-known Israeli instant messaging application.
Odigo usually zealously protects the privacy of its registered users, said Macover, but in this case the company took the initiative to provide the law enforcement services with the originating Internet Presence address of the message, so the FBI could track down the Internet Service Provider, and the actual sender of the original message
Haaretz: Odigo says workers were warned of attack
Odigo, the instant messaging service, says that two of its workers received messages two hours before the Twin Towers attack on September 11 predicting the attack would happen, and the company has been cooperating with Israeli and American law enforcement, including the FBI, in trying to find the original sender of the message predicting the attack.
Micha Macover, CEO of the company, said the two workers received the messages and immediately after the terror attack informed the company's management, which immediately contacted the Israeli security services, which brought in the FBI.
"I have no idea why the message was sent to these two workers, who don't know the sender. It may just have been someone who was joking and turned out they accidentally got it right. And I don't know if our information was useful in any of the arrests the FBI has made," said Macover. Odigo is a U.S.-based company whose headquarters are in New York, with offices in Herzliya.
As an instant messaging service, Odigo users are not limited to sending messages only to people on their "buddy" list, as is the case with ICQ, the other well-known Israeli instant messaging application.
Odigo usually zealously protects the privacy of its registered users, said Macover, but in this case the company took the initiative to provide the law enforcement services with the originating Internet Presence address of the message, so the FBI could track down the Internet Service Provider, and the actual sender of the original message
IRAQ: UPRISING
Informationclearinghouse: Shiite Clashes in with Coalition in Najaf Baghdad: Phase II of the Anti-Occupation Struggle Begins
04/04/04 "ICH" The always tense relationship between the Sadrist movement among Iraqi Shiites and the US and its Coalition partners has taken a dramatic turn for the worse. Perhaps a third of Iraqi Shiites are sympathetic to the radical, Khomeini-like ideology of Sadrism, and some analysts with long experience in Iraq put it at 50%. Earlier Muqtada Al-Sadr, the movement leader, had called on his forces to avoid violence against Coalition forces. As of Sunday, he has decided that the Coalition means permanently to exclude his group from power, and has decided to launch an uprising. This uprising involves taking over police stations in Kufa, Najaf, Baghdad and possibly elsehwere. The Sadrist militia now controls Kufa, according to the New York Times, and probably controls much of Sadr City or the slums of East Baghdad, as well, though it has been expelled from the police stations it had occupied there.
So far, about 60% of clashes with Coalition troops had occurred in the Sunni heartland of Iraq. But the violent clashes in Najaf, Baghdad, Amara and Nasiriyah may signal the beginning of a second phase, in which the US faces a two-front war, against both Sunni radicals in the center-north and Shiite militias in the South. The clashes come at a pivotal moment, since on Friday April 9, the Shiite festival of Araba'in will take place, coinciding this year with the anniversary of the fall of Saddam Hussein.
CHECK IT
Informationclearinghouse: Shiite Clashes in with Coalition in Najaf Baghdad: Phase II of the Anti-Occupation Struggle Begins
04/04/04 "ICH" The always tense relationship between the Sadrist movement among Iraqi Shiites and the US and its Coalition partners has taken a dramatic turn for the worse. Perhaps a third of Iraqi Shiites are sympathetic to the radical, Khomeini-like ideology of Sadrism, and some analysts with long experience in Iraq put it at 50%. Earlier Muqtada Al-Sadr, the movement leader, had called on his forces to avoid violence against Coalition forces. As of Sunday, he has decided that the Coalition means permanently to exclude his group from power, and has decided to launch an uprising. This uprising involves taking over police stations in Kufa, Najaf, Baghdad and possibly elsehwere. The Sadrist militia now controls Kufa, according to the New York Times, and probably controls much of Sadr City or the slums of East Baghdad, as well, though it has been expelled from the police stations it had occupied there.
So far, about 60% of clashes with Coalition troops had occurred in the Sunni heartland of Iraq. But the violent clashes in Najaf, Baghdad, Amara and Nasiriyah may signal the beginning of a second phase, in which the US faces a two-front war, against both Sunni radicals in the center-north and Shiite militias in the South. The clashes come at a pivotal moment, since on Friday April 9, the Shiite festival of Araba'in will take place, coinciding this year with the anniversary of the fall of Saddam Hussein.
CHECK IT
Monday, April 05, 2004
IRAQ: SHIA RESISTANCE
Robert Fisk: Bloodbath a bad omen for coalition forces
To the horror of the occupying powers in Iraq, the country's ever more bloody insurgency has at last spilled over into the majority Shi'ite Muslim community.
Coalition soldiers fought gunmen in the holy city of Najaf yesterday with the loss of at least 20 lives.
The shooting started after protesters gathered at the Spanish base on the outskirts of the city following the arrest of an aide to Muqtada al-Sadr, the young Shi'ite cleric whose "Army of Mehdi" has never before fired its guns.
The demonstrations had their roots in the decision of the US administrator, Paul Bremer, to close al-Sadr's small-
circulation weekly newspaper, al-Hawza, in Baghdad a week ago for "inciting violence against coalition forces".
It now seems that his decision to shut down the paper has incited violence on a far greater scale than Bremer could have imagined.
Yet he managed to say all the wrong things again yesterday. "This morning, a group of people in Najaf have crossed the line and they have moved to violence," he announced. "This will not be tolerated by the Iraqi people and by the Iraqi security forces."
The trouble is that Bremer has said all this before - but about Sunni insurgents - and his warnings almost always increase the anger of his antagonists and bring no end
to violence.
Robert Fisk: Bloodbath a bad omen for coalition forces
To the horror of the occupying powers in Iraq, the country's ever more bloody insurgency has at last spilled over into the majority Shi'ite Muslim community.
Coalition soldiers fought gunmen in the holy city of Najaf yesterday with the loss of at least 20 lives.
The shooting started after protesters gathered at the Spanish base on the outskirts of the city following the arrest of an aide to Muqtada al-Sadr, the young Shi'ite cleric whose "Army of Mehdi" has never before fired its guns.
The demonstrations had their roots in the decision of the US administrator, Paul Bremer, to close al-Sadr's small-
circulation weekly newspaper, al-Hawza, in Baghdad a week ago for "inciting violence against coalition forces".
It now seems that his decision to shut down the paper has incited violence on a far greater scale than Bremer could have imagined.
Yet he managed to say all the wrong things again yesterday. "This morning, a group of people in Najaf have crossed the line and they have moved to violence," he announced. "This will not be tolerated by the Iraqi people and by the Iraqi security forces."
The trouble is that Bremer has said all this before - but about Sunni insurgents - and his warnings almost always increase the anger of his antagonists and bring no end
to violence.
IRAQ: RESISTANCE...LET'S GET READY TO RUMBLE
Independent: Governor's office stormed in Basra
The governor's office in the Iraqi city of Basra has been taken over in protest at coalition actions against radical Shia Muslim cleric Moqtada Sadr.
About 150 men took over the building in a dawn invasion that met no resistance today. They said they were staging a peaceful sit-in in the country's second city.
The governor, Wael Abdul Latif, fled the building earlier.
Sadr is an outspoken opponent of the US-led occupation and the coalition recently arrested one of his top aides, Sheikh Yakubi, and closed down a newspaper accused of inciting anti-US violence.
Newsday: 9 troops dead in 3 incidents
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Seven U.S. soldiers were killed in clashes yesterday with militiamen loyal to Muslim cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in the Shia slums of Baghdad, military officials said. Al-Sadr's supporters also fought with coalition troops in three southern Iraqi cities, marking a dramatic escalation of violence with Iraq's Shia majority.
In all, nine U.S. troops were killed in fighting yesterday in both Shia and Sunni areas of Iraq.
Boston Globe: U.S. declares radical Shiite cleric an ''outlaw'' after clashes kill dozens; American troops seal of Fallujah
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) The top U.S. administrator in Iraq declared a radical Shiite cleric an ''outlaw'' Monday after his supporters rioted in Baghdad and four other cities in fighting that killed at least 52 Iraqis, eight U.S. troops and a Salvadoran soldier.
The fiercest battle took place Sunday in the streets of Sadr City, Baghdad's largest Shiite neighborhood, where black-garbed Shiite militiamen fired from rooftops and behind buildings at U.S. troops, killing seven Americans. At least 30 Iraqis were killed and more than 110 wounded in the fighting, doctors said.
Independent: Governor's office stormed in Basra
The governor's office in the Iraqi city of Basra has been taken over in protest at coalition actions against radical Shia Muslim cleric Moqtada Sadr.
About 150 men took over the building in a dawn invasion that met no resistance today. They said they were staging a peaceful sit-in in the country's second city.
The governor, Wael Abdul Latif, fled the building earlier.
Sadr is an outspoken opponent of the US-led occupation and the coalition recently arrested one of his top aides, Sheikh Yakubi, and closed down a newspaper accused of inciting anti-US violence.
Newsday: 9 troops dead in 3 incidents
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Seven U.S. soldiers were killed in clashes yesterday with militiamen loyal to Muslim cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in the Shia slums of Baghdad, military officials said. Al-Sadr's supporters also fought with coalition troops in three southern Iraqi cities, marking a dramatic escalation of violence with Iraq's Shia majority.
In all, nine U.S. troops were killed in fighting yesterday in both Shia and Sunni areas of Iraq.
Boston Globe: U.S. declares radical Shiite cleric an ''outlaw'' after clashes kill dozens; American troops seal of Fallujah
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) The top U.S. administrator in Iraq declared a radical Shiite cleric an ''outlaw'' Monday after his supporters rioted in Baghdad and four other cities in fighting that killed at least 52 Iraqis, eight U.S. troops and a Salvadoran soldier.
The fiercest battle took place Sunday in the streets of Sadr City, Baghdad's largest Shiite neighborhood, where black-garbed Shiite militiamen fired from rooftops and behind buildings at U.S. troops, killing seven Americans. At least 30 Iraqis were killed and more than 110 wounded in the fighting, doctors said.
Friday, April 02, 2004
IRAQ
Al-Jazeera: Iraqi Intellectuals Flee 'Death Squads'
In recent months assassinations have targeted engineers, pharmacologists, officers, and lawyers.
More than 1000 leading Iraqi professionals and intellectuals have been assassinated since last April, among them such prominent figures as Dr Muhammad al-Rawi, the president of Baghdad University.
The identity of the assailants remains a mystery and none have been caught.
But families and colleagues of victims believe that Iraqi parties with foreign affiliations have an interest in wiping out Iraq's intellectual elite.
Usama al-Ani, director of the research and development department in the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research said top Iraqi scientists have been targeted by foreign parties.
"I believe Iraqi scientists are being targeted by foreign powers, most probably Israel."
Terror campaign
Al-Jazeera: Iraqi Intellectuals Flee 'Death Squads'
In recent months assassinations have targeted engineers, pharmacologists, officers, and lawyers.
More than 1000 leading Iraqi professionals and intellectuals have been assassinated since last April, among them such prominent figures as Dr Muhammad al-Rawi, the president of Baghdad University.
The identity of the assailants remains a mystery and none have been caught.
But families and colleagues of victims believe that Iraqi parties with foreign affiliations have an interest in wiping out Iraq's intellectual elite.
Usama al-Ani, director of the research and development department in the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research said top Iraqi scientists have been targeted by foreign parties.
"I believe Iraqi scientists are being targeted by foreign powers, most probably Israel."
Terror campaign
Thursday, April 01, 2004
TERRORISM
Progress.org: 10 Things You Don't Know About Terrorism
Loretta Napoleoni is a true journalist, someone willing to uncover shocking facts that the powerful fatcats would rather keep secret. That's dangerous. Be sure to tell others to read this remarkable article.
Two and a half years into the 'war on terror', the US is running a $500 billion budget deficit, its highest ever and the country is struggling to cover war costs. Terrorism seems to be a very costly business. So how can terrorists afford it? The answer is simple: terrorism is their business.
1. Terrorism has always been a business
During the Cold War terrorism was the trade of the superpowers. They fought wars by proxy across the world by funding local armed groups with legal or covert operations (for example the Contras in Central America). In the late 1970s-early 1980s, some of these groups managed to privatize terrorism. To raise money, they used a mixture of legal and illegal activities -- the IRA had the monopoly of private transport in Belfast; the PLO got a cut out of the Hashish trade from the Bekaa Valley; Carlos the Jackal and Aby Nidal became 'guns for hire' for Arab leaders such as Gaddafi.
2. Globalization boosted terrorism
In the 1990s, as international economic and financial barriers were lowered, terror groups expanded their businesses, which become transnational. Today, money is raised cross border, as proved by the joint business empires of Yousef Nada and Idris Nasreddin, two of bin Laden's associates. According to the UN, their portfolios, which range from real estate to fisheries, sprawl across Europe and Africa, and are worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
Progress.org: 10 Things You Don't Know About Terrorism
Loretta Napoleoni is a true journalist, someone willing to uncover shocking facts that the powerful fatcats would rather keep secret. That's dangerous. Be sure to tell others to read this remarkable article.
Two and a half years into the 'war on terror', the US is running a $500 billion budget deficit, its highest ever and the country is struggling to cover war costs. Terrorism seems to be a very costly business. So how can terrorists afford it? The answer is simple: terrorism is their business.
1. Terrorism has always been a business
During the Cold War terrorism was the trade of the superpowers. They fought wars by proxy across the world by funding local armed groups with legal or covert operations (for example the Contras in Central America). In the late 1970s-early 1980s, some of these groups managed to privatize terrorism. To raise money, they used a mixture of legal and illegal activities -- the IRA had the monopoly of private transport in Belfast; the PLO got a cut out of the Hashish trade from the Bekaa Valley; Carlos the Jackal and Aby Nidal became 'guns for hire' for Arab leaders such as Gaddafi.
2. Globalization boosted terrorism
In the 1990s, as international economic and financial barriers were lowered, terror groups expanded their businesses, which become transnational. Today, money is raised cross border, as proved by the joint business empires of Yousef Nada and Idris Nasreddin, two of bin Laden's associates. According to the UN, their portfolios, which range from real estate to fisheries, sprawl across Europe and Africa, and are worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
IRAQ: RESISTANCE
MSNBC: Bush should beware the Mogadishu effect
Call it the Mogadishu effect: nightmarish, beastly images of humiliating death so far beyond the pale of the Western idea of war that they shake American politics to the core. Will the pictures from Fallujah have the same impact that the ones from Somalia had a decade ago? Bill Clinton flinched back then. Will George Bush?
Here's why I ask: I've never thought that the Clarke-Condi battle would decide the presidential election. It's Iraq that will matter. The fundamental question: whether the invasion and occupation of that country has made America safer — or less so.
MSNBC: Bush should beware the Mogadishu effect
Call it the Mogadishu effect: nightmarish, beastly images of humiliating death so far beyond the pale of the Western idea of war that they shake American politics to the core. Will the pictures from Fallujah have the same impact that the ones from Somalia had a decade ago? Bill Clinton flinched back then. Will George Bush?
Here's why I ask: I've never thought that the Clarke-Condi battle would decide the presidential election. It's Iraq that will matter. The fundamental question: whether the invasion and occupation of that country has made America safer — or less so.
ECONOMY: NEW 911?
Propagandamatrix: Footprints of New 9/11 Seen in Markets Says Top Analyst
A leading market analyst says he has spotted suspicious trading in gold and the dollar --which could herald an imminent huge terror event in the Middle-East or Europe.
Jim Sinclair says he can see the footprints of a new 9/11 in recent trading. Sinclair says that as soon as the spiritual leader of the terror group Hamas was killed by Israeli forces, he began to see a pattern of market intervention which means that some new group or strategy is in play on world markets
Many informed insiders recall the suspicious trading in airline stocks just before 9/11 --trading which was never properly investigated at the time. Sinclair remembers it well. He is a former advisor to the Hunt Oil family and a world reknowned expert on the gold markets.
The intervention is driving up both the dollar and gold. Sinclair fears it is designed to benefit from an unthinkable event in the Middle East or Europe which triggers a flight into dollars and gold. and drives the price of oil to at least $60 if not higher. The picture his analysis paints, leaves Sinclair scared to death.
He wants the CIA or the NSA to chart the unique footprint now active in the dollar, and see if matches the airline options trading just before 9/11.
Propagandamatrix: Footprints of New 9/11 Seen in Markets Says Top Analyst
A leading market analyst says he has spotted suspicious trading in gold and the dollar --which could herald an imminent huge terror event in the Middle-East or Europe.
Jim Sinclair says he can see the footprints of a new 9/11 in recent trading. Sinclair says that as soon as the spiritual leader of the terror group Hamas was killed by Israeli forces, he began to see a pattern of market intervention which means that some new group or strategy is in play on world markets
Many informed insiders recall the suspicious trading in airline stocks just before 9/11 --trading which was never properly investigated at the time. Sinclair remembers it well. He is a former advisor to the Hunt Oil family and a world reknowned expert on the gold markets.
The intervention is driving up both the dollar and gold. Sinclair fears it is designed to benefit from an unthinkable event in the Middle East or Europe which triggers a flight into dollars and gold. and drives the price of oil to at least $60 if not higher. The picture his analysis paints, leaves Sinclair scared to death.
He wants the CIA or the NSA to chart the unique footprint now active in the dollar, and see if matches the airline options trading just before 9/11.
IRAQ: RESISTANCE
Spiegel: USA schockiert über den Totentanz von Falludscha
Die bestialischen Bilder aus Falludscha verstören die amerikanische Öffentlichkeit. Eine entfesselte Menge verstümmelte die verbrannten Leichen von US-Zivilisten. Die Regierung in Washington gibt sich demonstrativ unbeeindruckt.
Spiegel: Fotostrecke: Die Attacke von Falludscha
Spiegel: USA schockiert über den Totentanz von Falludscha
Die bestialischen Bilder aus Falludscha verstören die amerikanische Öffentlichkeit. Eine entfesselte Menge verstümmelte die verbrannten Leichen von US-Zivilisten. Die Regierung in Washington gibt sich demonstrativ unbeeindruckt.
Spiegel: Fotostrecke: Die Attacke von Falludscha
IRAQ: RESISTANCE
Robert Fisk: Things Are Getting Much Worse In Iraq
It's Not Just A 'Spike' Or An 'Uptick' In Violence
What has happened to the Coalition Provisional Authority, also known as the occupying power?
Things are getting worse, much worse in Iraq. Yesterday's horrors proved that. Yet just a day earlier, Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt, America's deputy director of military operations, assured us that there was only an "uptick" in violence in Iraq.
Not a sudden wave of violence, mark you, not a down-to-earth increase, not even a "spike" in violence - another of the general's favourite expressions. No, just a teeny-weeny, ever-so small, innocent little "uptick". In fact, he said it was a "slight uptick".
....He almost smiled when General Kimmitt announced his army's intention to conduct "precision operations" against "anti-Coalition elements and enemies of the Iraqi people". But wasn't this all a bit Soviet? Didn't the Red Army conduct operations against "anti-socialist elements and enemies of the Afghan people"?
Robert Fisk: Things Are Getting Much Worse In Iraq
It's Not Just A 'Spike' Or An 'Uptick' In Violence
What has happened to the Coalition Provisional Authority, also known as the occupying power?
Things are getting worse, much worse in Iraq. Yesterday's horrors proved that. Yet just a day earlier, Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt, America's deputy director of military operations, assured us that there was only an "uptick" in violence in Iraq.
Not a sudden wave of violence, mark you, not a down-to-earth increase, not even a "spike" in violence - another of the general's favourite expressions. No, just a teeny-weeny, ever-so small, innocent little "uptick". In fact, he said it was a "slight uptick".
....He almost smiled when General Kimmitt announced his army's intention to conduct "precision operations" against "anti-Coalition elements and enemies of the Iraqi people". But wasn't this all a bit Soviet? Didn't the Red Army conduct operations against "anti-socialist elements and enemies of the Afghan people"?
Monday, March 29, 2004
IRAQ: DEMOCRACY NOW!
SMH: US now looking to install a PM in Iraq
The United States wants to transfer power in Iraq to a hand-picked prime minister, abandoning plans for an expansion of the current 25-member governing council, coalition officials in Baghdad say.
With less than 100 days before the US occupation authorities are to transfer sovereignty on June 30, fears of wrangling among Iraqi politicians has forced Washington to make its third switch of strategy in six months.
The search is now on for an Iraqi to serve as chief executive. He will almost certainly be from the Shia Muslim majority, and probably a secular technocrat. It is not clear if Iraqi agreement on this issue has been sought.
SMH: US now looking to install a PM in Iraq
The United States wants to transfer power in Iraq to a hand-picked prime minister, abandoning plans for an expansion of the current 25-member governing council, coalition officials in Baghdad say.
With less than 100 days before the US occupation authorities are to transfer sovereignty on June 30, fears of wrangling among Iraqi politicians has forced Washington to make its third switch of strategy in six months.
The search is now on for an Iraqi to serve as chief executive. He will almost certainly be from the Shia Muslim majority, and probably a secular technocrat. It is not clear if Iraqi agreement on this issue has been sought.
GLOBAL WARMING
Independent: Global warming spirals upwards
Levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere have jumped abruptly, raising fears that global warming may be accelerating out of control.
Measurements by US government scientists show that concentrations of the gas, the main cause of the climate exchange, rose by a record amount over the past 12 months. It is the third successive year in which they have increased sharply, marking an unprecedented triennial surge.
Independent: Global warming spirals upwards
Levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere have jumped abruptly, raising fears that global warming may be accelerating out of control.
Measurements by US government scientists show that concentrations of the gas, the main cause of the climate exchange, rose by a record amount over the past 12 months. It is the third successive year in which they have increased sharply, marking an unprecedented triennial surge.
IRAQ
Dissidentvoice: There Are No Words ... Radiation in Iraq Equals 250,000 Nagasaki Bombs
....The admiral in India calculated the number of radioactive atoms in the Nagasaki bomb and compared it with the number in the 4,000,000 pounds of uranium left in Iraq from the 2003 war. Now, believe me, it is a lot more complex than that; but, that is essentially what the experts in India did.
How many Nagasaki Nuclear Bombs equal the Radiation loosed in the 2003 Iraq war? Answer: About 250,000 Nuclear Bombs.
How many Nagasaki Nuclear Bombs equal the Radiation loosed in the last Five American Nuclear Wars? Answer: About 400,000 Nuclear Bombs.
Dissidentvoice: There Are No Words ... Radiation in Iraq Equals 250,000 Nagasaki Bombs
....The admiral in India calculated the number of radioactive atoms in the Nagasaki bomb and compared it with the number in the 4,000,000 pounds of uranium left in Iraq from the 2003 war. Now, believe me, it is a lot more complex than that; but, that is essentially what the experts in India did.
How many Nagasaki Nuclear Bombs equal the Radiation loosed in the 2003 Iraq war? Answer: About 250,000 Nuclear Bombs.
How many Nagasaki Nuclear Bombs equal the Radiation loosed in the last Five American Nuclear Wars? Answer: About 400,000 Nuclear Bombs.
MIDDLE EAST
onlinejournal: A malignant tumor onto the world: Israel and its self-defeating actions
Anti-occupation, anti-apartheid and anti-dehumanization is not anti-Semitism nor anti-Israel. Pro-peace, pro-human rights and pro-freedom is not pro-Palestinian. The power of freedom is pointing out when it is being denied. The search for justice and equality comes not from hiding from fear of criticism but rather from taking the road less traveled up the mountain of truth.—Manuel Valenzuela
March 26, 2004—What were Sharon and the Israeli government thinking when they decided to decapitate Hamas through the assassination of its founder, Sheik Ahmed Yassin? If the state sponsored murder of Yassin was not so recklessly self-defeating, one might be inclined to think that Sharon is on a mission to implode the state of Israel.
onlinejournal: A malignant tumor onto the world: Israel and its self-defeating actions
Anti-occupation, anti-apartheid and anti-dehumanization is not anti-Semitism nor anti-Israel. Pro-peace, pro-human rights and pro-freedom is not pro-Palestinian. The power of freedom is pointing out when it is being denied. The search for justice and equality comes not from hiding from fear of criticism but rather from taking the road less traveled up the mountain of truth.—Manuel Valenzuela
March 26, 2004—What were Sharon and the Israeli government thinking when they decided to decapitate Hamas through the assassination of its founder, Sheik Ahmed Yassin? If the state sponsored murder of Yassin was not so recklessly self-defeating, one might be inclined to think that Sharon is on a mission to implode the state of Israel.
IRAQ: FREEDOM OF SPEACH
NY TIMES: G.I.'s Padlock Baghdad Paper Accused of Lies
American soldiers shut down a popular Baghdad newspaper on Sunday and tightened chains across the doors after the occupation authorities accused it of printing lies that incited violence.
Thousands of outraged Iraqis protested the closing as an act of American hypocrisy, laying bare the hostility many feel toward the United States a year after the invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.
"No, no, America!" and "Where is democracy now?" screamed protesters who hoisted banners and shook clenched fists in a hastily organized rally against the closing of the newspaper, Al Hawza, a radical Shiite weekly.
NY TIMES: G.I.'s Padlock Baghdad Paper Accused of Lies
American soldiers shut down a popular Baghdad newspaper on Sunday and tightened chains across the doors after the occupation authorities accused it of printing lies that incited violence.
Thousands of outraged Iraqis protested the closing as an act of American hypocrisy, laying bare the hostility many feel toward the United States a year after the invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.
"No, no, America!" and "Where is democracy now?" screamed protesters who hoisted banners and shook clenched fists in a hastily organized rally against the closing of the newspaper, Al Hawza, a radical Shiite weekly.
Sunday, March 28, 2004
CHINA
Reuters: China's Army On Combat Alert
In response to the disputed presidential election in Taiwan, China's army went over to combat alert on Saturday (Reuters). If Taiwan is unable to resolve the dispute in an orderly fashion, Beijing officials have hinted at military intervention. The South China Morning Post is reporting, as of Wednesday, that Taiwan's election recount deal has collapsed. Violence has been reported between opposition protestors and Taiwan's police. This crisis offers the communists a possible rationale for exercising Beijing's declared sovereignty over Taiwan.
The disordered state of Taiwan's democracy stems from Saturday's presidential poll in which incumbent President Chen Shui-bian won by a narrow margin of 30,000 votes. The election took place the day after an apparent assassination attempt on President Chen that has been decried as a "stunt" by opposition partisans.
Intervention by China is yet unlikely, despite the combat readiness of the People's Liberation Army.
Reuters: China's Army On Combat Alert
In response to the disputed presidential election in Taiwan, China's army went over to combat alert on Saturday (Reuters). If Taiwan is unable to resolve the dispute in an orderly fashion, Beijing officials have hinted at military intervention. The South China Morning Post is reporting, as of Wednesday, that Taiwan's election recount deal has collapsed. Violence has been reported between opposition protestors and Taiwan's police. This crisis offers the communists a possible rationale for exercising Beijing's declared sovereignty over Taiwan.
The disordered state of Taiwan's democracy stems from Saturday's presidential poll in which incumbent President Chen Shui-bian won by a narrow margin of 30,000 votes. The election took place the day after an apparent assassination attempt on President Chen that has been decried as a "stunt" by opposition partisans.
Intervention by China is yet unlikely, despite the combat readiness of the People's Liberation Army.
IRAQI DEMOCRACY
Rense: Iraq - 'It's All Bad News'
Several hours later a call was intercepted from another Ayoub. "Oh shit," said the unit's intelligence officer, "it was the wrong Ayoub." The innocent father of six who had the wrong name was not immediately let go so as not to risk revealing to the other Ayoub that the Americans were searching for him. The night after his arrest a relieved Ayoub could be seen escorted by soldiers to call his family and tell them he was fine, but would not be home for a few days. "It was not the wrong guy," said the units commander defensively, shifting blame elsewhere. "We raided the house we were supposed to and arrested the man we were told to." Meanwhile Army intelligence was still confounded by the meaning of the intercepted conversations until somebody realized it was not a terrorist intent on obtaining weapons. It was a kid playing video games and talking about them with his friend on the phone.
USA! USA!
The procrustean application of spurious information gathered by intelligence officers who cannot speak Arabic and are not familiar with Iraqi, Arab or Muslim culture is creating enemies instead of eliminating them. Many languish in prisons indefinitely, lost in a system that imposes English-language procedures on Arabic speakers with Arabic names not easily transcribed. I walked past a detainment center once where a dozen prisoners could be seen marching in a circle, surrounded by barbed wire. They were shouting "USA, USA!" over and over.
"They were talkin' when we told 'em not to, so we made 'em say somethin' we liked to hear," grinned one of the soldiers guarding them. Another gestured up with his hands, letting them know they had to raise their voices. A sergeant later quipped that the ones who are not guilty "will be guilty next time", after such treatment. Some prisoners are termed "security detainees" and held for six months pending a review to determine whether they are still a "security risk". Most are innocent. Many were arrested simply because a neighbor did not like them, or because they were male.
"CHECK IT"
Rense: Iraq - 'It's All Bad News'
Several hours later a call was intercepted from another Ayoub. "Oh shit," said the unit's intelligence officer, "it was the wrong Ayoub." The innocent father of six who had the wrong name was not immediately let go so as not to risk revealing to the other Ayoub that the Americans were searching for him. The night after his arrest a relieved Ayoub could be seen escorted by soldiers to call his family and tell them he was fine, but would not be home for a few days. "It was not the wrong guy," said the units commander defensively, shifting blame elsewhere. "We raided the house we were supposed to and arrested the man we were told to." Meanwhile Army intelligence was still confounded by the meaning of the intercepted conversations until somebody realized it was not a terrorist intent on obtaining weapons. It was a kid playing video games and talking about them with his friend on the phone.
USA! USA!
The procrustean application of spurious information gathered by intelligence officers who cannot speak Arabic and are not familiar with Iraqi, Arab or Muslim culture is creating enemies instead of eliminating them. Many languish in prisons indefinitely, lost in a system that imposes English-language procedures on Arabic speakers with Arabic names not easily transcribed. I walked past a detainment center once where a dozen prisoners could be seen marching in a circle, surrounded by barbed wire. They were shouting "USA, USA!" over and over.
"They were talkin' when we told 'em not to, so we made 'em say somethin' we liked to hear," grinned one of the soldiers guarding them. Another gestured up with his hands, letting them know they had to raise their voices. A sergeant later quipped that the ones who are not guilty "will be guilty next time", after such treatment. Some prisoners are termed "security detainees" and held for six months pending a review to determine whether they are still a "security risk". Most are innocent. Many were arrested simply because a neighbor did not like them, or because they were male.
"CHECK IT"
IRAQI DEMOCRACY
Robert Fisk: US Soldiers Ordered To Search Robert Fisk's Room
Room 106 is the hotel suite occupied by The Independent . I gave Mr Scheetz my card. What on earth did he want, I asked? Another soldier turned to me. "I guess we don't want any more hotels blowing up," he said. Of course. And so say all of us. But what has Room 106 got to do with it? "Security," another American said. Which, of course, is the excuse for any raid, any military operation, any body search, any decision taken by anyone - even President Bush - if they don't choose to explain their behaviour.
The day the 1st Armoured Division, with guns at the ready, came to check on our man in Baghdad
I was standing on my balcony in the darkness, puffing on a fine Havana - I had just filed my day's report to The Independent's foreign desk - when I saw the soldiers of the 1st Armoured Division padding down the road outside.
The guys at the rear were walking backwards, two officers in the centre, all moving purposefully towards the hotel entrance. By the time I got downstairs, Mohamed, the receptionist, was incurring the wrath of Iraq's occupying army.
"Show me the hotel register, please, Sir," the officer was saying. "It's in the other building," Mohamed replied innocently. "Don't play games with me, Sir," snapped the soldier. "I want the hotel register."
I've often wondered why American soldiers do this sort of thing - insult a guy and then add "Sir" so they can claim they have been polite. "Mohamed is not playing games," I said. The register is always kept in the other part of the hotel.
Robert Fisk: US Soldiers Ordered To Search Robert Fisk's Room
Room 106 is the hotel suite occupied by The Independent . I gave Mr Scheetz my card. What on earth did he want, I asked? Another soldier turned to me. "I guess we don't want any more hotels blowing up," he said. Of course. And so say all of us. But what has Room 106 got to do with it? "Security," another American said. Which, of course, is the excuse for any raid, any military operation, any body search, any decision taken by anyone - even President Bush - if they don't choose to explain their behaviour.
The day the 1st Armoured Division, with guns at the ready, came to check on our man in Baghdad
I was standing on my balcony in the darkness, puffing on a fine Havana - I had just filed my day's report to The Independent's foreign desk - when I saw the soldiers of the 1st Armoured Division padding down the road outside.
The guys at the rear were walking backwards, two officers in the centre, all moving purposefully towards the hotel entrance. By the time I got downstairs, Mohamed, the receptionist, was incurring the wrath of Iraq's occupying army.
"Show me the hotel register, please, Sir," the officer was saying. "It's in the other building," Mohamed replied innocently. "Don't play games with me, Sir," snapped the soldier. "I want the hotel register."
I've often wondered why American soldiers do this sort of thing - insult a guy and then add "Sir" so they can claim they have been polite. "Mohamed is not playing games," I said. The register is always kept in the other part of the hotel.
Saturday, March 27, 2004
OCCUPIED TERRITORIES: PROPAGANDA WATCH
AlJazeera: Israel 'fabricated' child-bomber story
Palestinian leaders have accused Israel of fabricating a story about a 14-year-old Palestinian boy who planned to blow himself up.
The Israeli army said he was caught wearing an explosive belt at an army roadblock in the northern West Bank.
The boy, identified as Husam Abdu from Nablus, was shown on TV screens around the world, with an explosive belt strapped to his waist.
The Israeli army said the boy told interrogators that his dispatchers promised that he would have sex with 72 virgins in heaven soon after his death.
"We know for sure this is a fabricated story from A to Z. Would you believe that a 13 or 14-year old would agree to blow up himself in return for a hundred shekels which he would receive after his death?
Libertyforum: Israeli 'Suicide Bomber Stunt' Backfires
Heise: Propagandistische Fallstricke um 16-j?hrigen Selbstmordattent?ter
AlJazeera: Israel 'fabricated' child-bomber story
Palestinian leaders have accused Israel of fabricating a story about a 14-year-old Palestinian boy who planned to blow himself up.
The Israeli army said he was caught wearing an explosive belt at an army roadblock in the northern West Bank.
The boy, identified as Husam Abdu from Nablus, was shown on TV screens around the world, with an explosive belt strapped to his waist.
The Israeli army said the boy told interrogators that his dispatchers promised that he would have sex with 72 virgins in heaven soon after his death.
"We know for sure this is a fabricated story from A to Z. Would you believe that a 13 or 14-year old would agree to blow up himself in return for a hundred shekels which he would receive after his death?
Libertyforum: Israeli 'Suicide Bomber Stunt' Backfires
Heise: Propagandistische Fallstricke um 16-j?hrigen Selbstmordattent?ter
ISRAEL
UPI: Israel to kill in U.S., allied nations
Israel is embarking upon a more aggressive approach to the war on terror that will include staging targeted killings in the United States and other friendly countries, former Israeli intelligence officials told United Press International.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has forbidden the practice until now, these sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The Israeli statements were confirmed by more than a half dozen former and currently serving U.S. foreign policy and intelligence officials in interviews with United Press International.
But an official at the Israeli Embassy in Washington told UPI: "That is rubbish. It is completely untrue. Israel and the United States have such a close and co-operative intelligence relationship, especially in the field of counter-terrorism, that the assertion is ludicrous."
UPI: Israel to kill in U.S., allied nations
Israel is embarking upon a more aggressive approach to the war on terror that will include staging targeted killings in the United States and other friendly countries, former Israeli intelligence officials told United Press International.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has forbidden the practice until now, these sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The Israeli statements were confirmed by more than a half dozen former and currently serving U.S. foreign policy and intelligence officials in interviews with United Press International.
But an official at the Israeli Embassy in Washington told UPI: "That is rubbish. It is completely untrue. Israel and the United States have such a close and co-operative intelligence relationship, especially in the field of counter-terrorism, that the assertion is ludicrous."
UN
ABC: EU Sticks To Yassin Condemnation After US Veto
(Reuters) -- European Union leaders have repeated their condemnation of Israel for killing Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, hours after the United States vetoed a UN Security Council resolution denouncing the assassination.
In a statement issued at the end of a summit in Brussels, the leaders of the EU's 25 current and future states said the bloc had "consistently opposed extra-judicial killings".
Washington, alone among major powers in not condemning this week's assassination as an extrajudicial killing, rejected the resolution by Arab nations because it did not also denounce Sheikh Yassin's group Hamas for suicide bombings in Israel.
The US's "no" vote killed the resolution because it is one of the five permanent members of the council with veto power.
Britain, Germany and Romania abstained after Algeria, negotiating for Arab nations, rejected an amendment they wanted that would have condemned "atrocities" against Israelis.
The EU leaders said they had "repeatedly condemned terrorist atrocities against Israelis and recognised Israel's right to protect its citizens against terrorist attacks", but Sheikh Yassin's killing had deepened the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
ABC: EU Sticks To Yassin Condemnation After US Veto
(Reuters) -- European Union leaders have repeated their condemnation of Israel for killing Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, hours after the United States vetoed a UN Security Council resolution denouncing the assassination.
In a statement issued at the end of a summit in Brussels, the leaders of the EU's 25 current and future states said the bloc had "consistently opposed extra-judicial killings".
Washington, alone among major powers in not condemning this week's assassination as an extrajudicial killing, rejected the resolution by Arab nations because it did not also denounce Sheikh Yassin's group Hamas for suicide bombings in Israel.
The US's "no" vote killed the resolution because it is one of the five permanent members of the council with veto power.
Britain, Germany and Romania abstained after Algeria, negotiating for Arab nations, rejected an amendment they wanted that would have condemned "atrocities" against Israelis.
The EU leaders said they had "repeatedly condemned terrorist atrocities against Israelis and recognised Israel's right to protect its citizens against terrorist attacks", but Sheikh Yassin's killing had deepened the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
AFGHANISTAN
Al-JAzeera: Taliban - Our Forces Are 'Alive And Kicking'
The Taliban has denied reports that the Islamist group is in negotiations with US officials and claimed that its regrouped forces are giving foreign troops an increasingly rough ride.
In an exclusive interview with Aljazeera, Mulla Abd al-Latif Hakimi said the rumour had begun after US forces decided to release prominent Taliban member, Mulla Mutawakkil Akhondzada.
A one-time foreign minister, Mulla Mutawakkil was a familiar face on TV screens as Taliban spokesman before the US-led war to oust the Taliban in 2001.
But the Taliban spokesman said Mutawakkil's "release" amounted to nothing more than house arrest in Kandahar.
"He cannot freely speak his opinion ... it is not freedom. In any case, we will never cease our enmity with the Americans and other occupiers who have illegally invaded Afghanistan."
Casualties
Hakimi added that the Taliban was able to target US soldiers with increasing ease and gave numerous examples.
"We killed 18 American soldiers near the Maryam school in Gazney province, another three in the town of Zargary.
"In the mountains of Khoyani we set a trap in a depot and killed 43 US soldiers with one bomb."
Al-JAzeera: Taliban - Our Forces Are 'Alive And Kicking'
The Taliban has denied reports that the Islamist group is in negotiations with US officials and claimed that its regrouped forces are giving foreign troops an increasingly rough ride.
In an exclusive interview with Aljazeera, Mulla Abd al-Latif Hakimi said the rumour had begun after US forces decided to release prominent Taliban member, Mulla Mutawakkil Akhondzada.
A one-time foreign minister, Mulla Mutawakkil was a familiar face on TV screens as Taliban spokesman before the US-led war to oust the Taliban in 2001.
But the Taliban spokesman said Mutawakkil's "release" amounted to nothing more than house arrest in Kandahar.
"He cannot freely speak his opinion ... it is not freedom. In any case, we will never cease our enmity with the Americans and other occupiers who have illegally invaded Afghanistan."
Casualties
Hakimi added that the Taliban was able to target US soldiers with increasing ease and gave numerous examples.
"We killed 18 American soldiers near the Maryam school in Gazney province, another three in the town of Zargary.
"In the mountains of Khoyani we set a trap in a depot and killed 43 US soldiers with one bomb."
Wednesday, March 24, 2004
IRAQ: ONE YEAR LATER
Amnesty International: One year on the human rights situation remains dire
"A year after US-led forces launched war on Iraq, the promise of improved human rights for Iraqis remains far from realized," warns
Amnesty International in a detailed new report. "Most Iraqis still feel unsafe in a country ravaged by violence," the report states.
Moreover, "Coalition Forces appear in many cases to be using the climate of violence to justify violating the very human rights
standards they are supposed to be upholding. They have shot Iraqis dead during demonstrations. They have tortured and ill-treated
prisoners and detainees. They have arrested people arbitrarily and held them indefinitely without charge and without access to a
lawyer. They have demolished houses and other property in acts of revenge and collective punishment. And they are operating in a
legal framework that offers no mechanism in Iraq for bringing members of the Coalition Forces to justice for such acts."
Amnesty International: One year on the human rights situation remains dire
"A year after US-led forces launched war on Iraq, the promise of improved human rights for Iraqis remains far from realized," warns
Amnesty International in a detailed new report. "Most Iraqis still feel unsafe in a country ravaged by violence," the report states.
Moreover, "Coalition Forces appear in many cases to be using the climate of violence to justify violating the very human rights
standards they are supposed to be upholding. They have shot Iraqis dead during demonstrations. They have tortured and ill-treated
prisoners and detainees. They have arrested people arbitrarily and held them indefinitely without charge and without access to a
lawyer. They have demolished houses and other property in acts of revenge and collective punishment. And they are operating in a
legal framework that offers no mechanism in Iraq for bringing members of the Coalition Forces to justice for such acts."
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