AL-QAEDA FAKE

Zaman: Al-Qaeda, a Secret Service Operation?

Countries facing the al-Qaeda threat are awaiting the intelligence Turkish security is to provide. Amid the smoke from the fortuitous fire emerged the possibility that al-Qaeda may not be, strictly speaking, an organization but an element of an intelligence agency operation. Turkish intelligence specialists agree that there is no such organization as al-Qaeda. Rather, Al-Qaeda is the name of a secret service operation. The concept “fighting terror” is the background of the “low-intensity-warfare” conducted in the mono-polar world order. The subject of this strategy of tension is named as “al-Qaeda.”

Zaman: Sakra: i dispatched men to USA and UK for Terror Operations

Sakra who assumed a mysterious personality during the police interrogation confessed that the US Central Intelligence Agency, Syrian al-Mukhabarat, and the Turkish National Security Organization wanted to employ him as an intelligence agent. Security officials noted that whatever Sakra might tell during his trial could be very important, considering his obscure relations. “If during his trial, Sakra tells half of the information we heard from him, al-Qaeda’s real face will emerge. But what he has said so far has more to do about a formation permeated by secret services rather than the terror organization of al-Qaeda.”

Journal of Turkish Weekly: A ‘Strange’ Al Qaeda Leader: “I Don’t Pray, I Drink Alcohol’

NKARA - Luai Sakra, one of the 5 most important key figures in Al Qaeda, was captured last week by Turkish Police. Israel police was almost spoiling all operation, Turkish officials say. Sakra, who has been interrogated in Istanbul Police Department Anti Terror Office for 4 days has made many interesting confessions. He noted that he knew Muhammad Ata, planner of the attacks on the WTI and Pentagon. Sakra claimed that he has organized terrorist activities for Jihad but he said that he drinks alcohol and does not pray.

IRAQ

Independent: Iraqis extend deadline for new constitution
by Robert Fisk

AS usual in Iraq, a grotesque political failure was being dressed up as a semi-victory last night by an Iraqi government that controls little more than a few square miles of Baghdad.

For inside the infamous Green Zone - the castellated, concrete-barricaded pseudo-castle in which most of Iraq’s principal politicians are now forced to live - the almost equally infamous constitution, which was supposed to have completed its drafting yesterday, appeared to be falling to pieces.

IRAQ

Independent: Secrets of the morgue - Baghdad's body count by Robert Fisk

Bodies of 1,100 civilians brought to mortuary in July Pre-invasion, July figure was typically less than 200 Last Sunday alone, the mortuary received 36 bodies Up to 20 per cent of the bodies are never identified Many of the dead have been tortured or disfigured

We are not supposed to know that the Iraqi capital's death toll last month was only 700 short of the total American fatalities in Iraq since April of 2003. Of the dead, 963 were men - many with their hands bound, their eyes taped and bullets in their heads - and 137 women. The statistics are as shameful as they are horrifying. For these are the men and women we supposedly came to "liberate" - and about whose fate we do not care.

It is clear that death squads are roaming the streets of a city which is supposed to be under the control of the US military and the American-supported, elected government of Ibrahim al-Jaafari. Never in recent history has such anarchy been let loose on the civilians of this city - yet the Western and Iraqi authorities show no interest in disclosing the details. The writing of the new constitution - or the failure to complete it - now occupies the time of Western diplomats and journalists. The dead, it seems, do not count.

LONDON ATTACKS

Telegraph: Shot Brazilian 'Did Not Jump Barrier And Run'

The Brazilian electrician shot dead by police on the London Underground last month was being restrained when he was killed by officers from Scotland Yard's firearms unit, according to documents leaked last night.

Jean Charles de Menezes, 27, was shot seven times in the head by two plainclothes policemen who had followed him on to the train at Stockwell station in the mistaken belief that he was a potential suicide bomber. Documents and photographs leaked to ITV News also confirmed that Mr de Menezes did not run from the police, as had been reported, had used his Tube pass to enter the station, rather than vault the barrier, and had taken a seat on the train before being grabbed by an officer.

He was wearing a light denim jacket and not as previously reported a padded coat which could have concealed explosives.

9/11

rense: 'Shut Him Down' Letting 9/11 Happen

A Seattle woman who was a close informant of former FBI agent and Al Qaeda hunter John O'Neill during the crucial months prior to the 9/11, said they both provided vital information in an attempt to stop the attack but were blocked by officials in the New York and Washington bureaus every step of the way.

GAZA PULLOUT

Uri Avnery: A Miracle of Rare Device

A picture engraved in memory: Ariel Sharon in the Knesset. Around him the storm is raging. The Members rush about, shouts ring out from all sides. The Member on the podium waves his arms, denounces and curses him. Sharon sitting at the government table. Alone. Immovable. Massive and passive. No muscle in his face is moving. Not even the nervous tic of his nose, that was once his trade-mark (and that many people considered a kind of lie-detector). A rock in the raging sea.
This is the man who decided alone to withdraw from Gaza and dismantle the settlements. The man who is implementing this practically alone. The man who will stand this coming week facing a hurricane that has no equal in the history of Israel.

PEAK OIL

BBC: Oil Tops $67 As US Demand Soars

The US thirst for gasoline and fears of a hurricane have pushed the oil market further into uncharted territory, with prices breaking the $67 mark on Friday.

US light crude closed $1 up at $66.80 a barrel, after hitting $67.10 earlier, while in London Brent crude closed $1.12 higher at $66.50.

Worldwide petrol and gasoline prices are at unprecedented levels.

USA VS. IRAN

Haaretz: US, Israel United Against Iran's Nuclear Ambitions - Bush

U.S. President George W. Bush said on Israeli television he could consider using force as a last resort to press Iran to give up its nuclear program.

"All options are on the table," Bush, speaking at his ranch in Crawford, Texas, said in the interview with Channel 1 TV broadcast on Friday.

In the interview, Bush said the United States and Israel "are united in our objective to make sure that Iran does not have a weapon."

Asked if that included the use of force, Bush replied: "As I say, all options are on the table. The use of force is the last option for any president and you know, we've used force in the recent past to secure our country."

BBC: Germany Attacks US On Iran Threat

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder has warned the US to back away from the possibility of military action against Iran over its nuclear programme.

His comments come a day after President Bush reiterated that force remained an option but only as a last resort.

ELECTIONS 2004

Commondreams: Election Fraud Continues in the US

New Data Shows Widespread Vote Manipulations in 2004

More importantly national exit polls showed Kerry winning in 2004. However, It was only in precincts where there were no paper trails on the voting machines that the exit polls ended up being different from the final count. According to Dr. Steve Freeman, a statistician at the University of Pennsylvania, the odds are 250 million to one that the exit polls were wrong by chance. In fact, where the exit polls disagreed with the computerized outcomes the results always favored Bush - another statistical impossibility

STREETART

Banksy: Banksy Bombs Separtion Wall

ABU GHRAIB

New York Times: Officials See Risk in the Release of Images of Iraq Prisoner Abuse

enior Pentagon officials have opposed the release of photographs and videotapes of the abuse of detainees at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, arguing that they would incite public opinion in the Muslim world and put the lives of American soldiers and officials at risk, according to documents unsealed in federal court in New York

"The Problem is not longer what they did in Abu Ghraib but the reaction of the people if they are allowed to know what was going on there"

KAMINSKI

Rense: Who's Wagging Whom?

"But what may be the even more significant aspect of the question "Who's Wagging Whom?" is the growing notion that world politics is not really determined by its recognizable political entities. People are beginning to figure out that it's not a simple matter of the capitalists vs. communists, whites vs. blacks, or North vs. South. It's not simply the U.S. vs. Germany and Japan, U.S. vs. USSR, or the free world vs. the supposed Muslim terror menace.

This growing notion senses a more authentic line of demarcation that identifies rich vs. poor as the more appropriate label between sides in this new war, which is also the old war, and the endless war."

USA VS. IRAN

Wayne Madsen: Bush/Cheney to grab Irans Oil in Nuclear Attack

August 10, 2005 -- U.S. prepared to grab Iran's southwestern majority Arab and oil-rich province after saturation bombing of Iranian nuclear, chemical, and command, control, communications & intelligence (C3I) targets. According to sources within the German Federal Intelligence Service (Bundesnachrichtendienst - BND), the Bush administration has drawn up plans to hit Iran's nuclear, other WMD, and military sites with heavy saturation bombing using bunker buster bombs and tactical nuclear weapons. The attack will be coordinated with urban and rural critical infrastructure sabotage carried out by elements of the People's Mujaheddin (MEK), Pentagon Special Operations units, and other Iranian dissident groups. The German intelligence comes from classified briefings provided by elements within the CIA that are concerned the neocons in the Bush administration will, in attacking Iran, set off a chain of events that will lead to world war.

9/11

Daily Mail: 911 On Trial

Note: So Far this is the largest Article ever printed by the UK Mainstream Media raising many of the serious questions about the 9/11 coverup

LONDON ATTACKS

Globalresearch: 7/7 Mock Terror Drill: What Relationship to the Real Time Terror Attacks?


fictional "scenario" of multiple bomb attacks on London's underground took place at exactly the same time as the bomb attack on July 7, 2005.

Peter Power, Managing Director of Visor Consultants, a private firm on contract to the London Metropolitan Police, described in a BBC interview how he had organized and conducted the anti-terror drill, on behalf of an unnamed business client.

The fictional scenario was based on simultaneous bombs going off at exactly the same time at the underground stations where the real attacks were occurring:

POWER: At half past nine this morning we were actually running an exercise for a company of over a thousand people in London based on simultaneous bombs going off precisely at the railway stations where it happened this morning, so I still have the hairs on the back of my neck standing up right now.

HOST: To get this quite straight, you were running an exercise to see how you would cope with this and it happened while you were running the exercise?

POWER: Precisely, and it was about half past nine this morning, we planned this for a company and for obvious reasons I don't want to reveal their name but they're listening and they'll know it. And we had a room full of crisis managers for the first time they'd met and so within five minutes we made a pretty rapid decision that this is the real one and so we went through the correct drills of activating crisis management procedures to jump from slow time to quick time thinking and so on.

(BBC Radio Interview, 7 July 2005)

WORLD WAR 3

Uruknet: Why Iran will lead to World War 3 by Mike Whitney

“As President Bush scans the world’s horizon there is no greater potential flashpoint than Iran, the President and his Foreign Policy team believe the Islamic regime in Tehran is actively pursuing nuclear weapons.” Chris Wallace, FOX News

The facts about Iran’s “alleged” nuclear weapons program have never been in dispute. There is no such program and no one has ever produced a shred of credible evidence to the contrary. That hasn’t stopped the Bush administration from making spurious accusations and threats; nor has it deterred America’s “imbedded” media from implying that Iran is hiding a nuclear weapons program from the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency). In fact, the media routinely features the unconfirmed claims of members of terrorist organizations, like the Mujahedin Klaq, (which is on the State Depts. list of terrorist organizations) to make it appear that Iran is secretively developing nuclear arms. These claims have proved to be entirely baseless and should be dismissed as just another part of Washington’s propaganda war.

MONSANTO

Greenpeace.org: Monsanto files patent for new invention: the pig

Geneva, Switzerland — It's official. Monsanto Corporation is out to own the world's food supply, the dangers of genetic engineering and reduced biodiversity notwithstanding, as they pig-headedly set about hog-tying farmers with their monopoly plans. We've discovered chilling new evidence of this in recent patents that seek to establish ownership rights over pigs and their offspring.

TERROR

Newsweek: CIA Commander: We Let bin Laden Slip Away

CIA field commander for the agency's Jawbreaker team at Tora Bora, Gary Berntsen, says he and other U.S. commanders did know that bin Laden was among the hundreds of fleeing Qaeda and Taliban members. Berntsen says he had definitive intelligence that bin Laden was holed up at Tora Bora—intelligence operatives had tracked him—and could have been caught. "He was there," Berntsen tells NEWSWEEK

IRAQI RESISTANCE

Reuters: Security incidents in Iraq, Aug 7

TIKRIT - Bomber killed at least five people in an attack on police headquarters : BAQUBA - Bomb kills two Iraqi policemen and a civilian. BAGHDAD - Gunmen killed three Iraqi soldiers in civilian clothes. BAGHDAD - Gunmen killed two Ministry of Oil employees. TAL AFAR - Bomb kills two Iraqi civilians. SAMARRA - The bodies of two police officials were found in Samarra

GALLOWAY

ICH: Straight-shootin' George Galloway by Mike Whitney

"I am utterly against the punishing of innocent people for the crimes of the guilty, whether it is done on the underground of London or the streets of Falluja by George Bush's air force".

George Galloway MP George Galloway is quite a guy.

His trip to the Middle East is causing a ruckus back in London, where his criticism of Bush and Blair is appearing like a spread-sheet on the front-page of the tabloids. Congrats, George; those two deserve a good lambasting. Yesterday he fired-off another barrage, landing a direct hit on Prime Minister Milquetoast and his Texas-twin. He said,

"There's far more blood on the hands of George Bush and Tony Blair than there is on the hands of the murderers who killed those people in London."

Ka-boom! Right on target.

Galloway was stellar; praising the Iraqi resistance as "martyrs" and telling them that they "are not just defending Iraq, but defending the whole world against American hegemony."

Bulls-eye.

ENGLAND

Independent: Intelligence chiefs warn Blair of home-grown ' insurgency'

Intelligence chiefs are warning Tony Blair that Britain faces a full-blown Islamist insurgency, sustained by thousands of young Muslim men with military training now resident in this country. The grim possibility that the two London attacks were not simply a sporadic terror campaign is being discussed at the highest levels in Whitehall. Fears of a third strike remain high this weekend, based on concrete evidence supplied by an intercepted text message and the interrogation of a terror suspect being held outside Britain, say US reports.

TERROR

Independent: Al-Qa'ida deputy warns of more bombings and blames Blair

Al-Qa'ida has warned that Britain can expect more terrorist attacks because of the foreign policies pursued by Tony Blair.

Ayman al-Zawahiri, Osama bin Laden's deputy, insisted that the London suicide bombings were the direct result of the Prime Minister's decision to join the US-led invasion of Iraq. The statement, in a videotape broadcast by the Arab satellite channel al-Jazeera, was the first message from al-Qa'ida since the London blasts.

The Statement:

As for the English, I say to them: Blair has brought destruction upon you, to the centre of London, and he will have more of it, Allah willing.

Oh the peoples of the Crusader coalition, we have offered you, at least, to stop your aggression against the Muslims ... The lion of Islam, the mujaheed sheikh Osama bin Laden, may Allah protect him, has offered you a truce, so you will leave the lands of Islam. Did sheikh Osama bin Laden not tell you that you could not dream of security before we live it as a reality in Palestine and before all the infidel armies leave the land of Muhammad?

But you have made rivers of blood in our countries, so we blew up volcanoes of rage in your countries. Our message to you is clear: You will not be saved unless you withdraw from our land, stop stealing our oil ... and cease your support of the corrupt (Arab) rulers.

Oh Americans, what you have seen in New York and Washington, and the casualties you witness in Afghanistan and in Iraq ... are nothing but the casualties of the initial clashes. If you continue the same policy of aggression against Muslims, you will see, Allah willing, horrors that will make you forget what you saw in Afghanistan... I mean, in Vietnam.

A fact that [George] Bush, [Condoleezza] Rice and [Donald] Rumsfeld conceal from you is that there is no way out of Iraq other than immediate withdrawal, and that any delay in making this decision means nothing but more dead ... If you don't leave today, you will definitely leave tomorrow, but with tens of thousands of dead ...

IRAQ: RESISTANCE

ICH: Video: Iraqi Resistance Kills U.S. Marines

This video is purported to have been taken on 08/01/05 by a section of the Iraqi resistance and shows an attack in which 6 U.S. marines are killed.

IRAQ: RESISTANCE

ICH: Video: Iraqi Resistance Attacks And Kills U.S. Marines

This video is purported to have been taken on 08/01/05 by a section of the Iraqi resistance and shows an attack in which 6 U.S. marines are killed.

IRAQ: RESISTANCE

Guardian: Elusive sniper saps US morale in Baghdad

They have never seen Juba. They hear him, but by then it's too late: a shot rings out and another US soldier slumps dead or wounded.

There is never a follow-up shot, never a chance for US forces to identify the origin, to make the hunter the hunted. He fires once and vanishes.

Juba is the nickname given by American forces to an insurgent sniper operating in southern Baghdad. They do not know his appearance, nationality or real name, but they know and fear his skill.

HALLIBURTON

Moscow Times: Blood and Gravy

Although Halliburton has already entered the American lexicon as a byword for rampant cronyism, the true extent of its dense and deadly web of graft is only now emerging, most recently in a remarkable public hearing that revealed some of the corporation's standard business practices in Iraq: fraud, extortion, brutality, pilferage, theft -- even serving rotten food to U.S. soldiers in the battle zone

ISRAEL

Ynetnews: 'Israeli Terror Is Worse' Says Former Israeli Minister

Former Education Minister Shulamit Aloni blasts 'megalomaniac' Prime Minister Sharon in interview with Arab-Israeli newspaper, says he should face justice. Aloni also charges Israel a racist state that commits war crimes

TEL AVIV - Israel is a racist state that commits war crimes and resorts to terrorism worse than that employed by the Palestinians, former Education Minister Shulamit Aloni charged in an unusually scathing interview with Nazareth-based Arab-Israeli newspaper Kul al-Arab.

LONDON ATTACKS

Rense: Former MI5 Agent Says Bombings Look Like Inside Job

A former British intelligence agent, jailed in 2002 for linking the British government with paying an Islamic militant group $160,000 in a failed assassination attempt on Colonel Mu'ammar al-Qadhafi of Libya, said this week the recent London bombings have all the earmarks of an inside job just like 9/11.

"It's amazing how many aspects of the two events are so similar," said David Shayler, the former MI5 agent and whistle blower, in a telephone conversation this week from his home in East Bonn on the southern coast of England.

Shayler, a thorn in the British government's side ever since he blew the whistle in 1997 about rampant corruption within both arms of British intelligence, MI5 (domestic) and MI6 (foreign), said he has just began looking into the details of the 7/7 attacks, but what's being released through the press and government reports shows a strikingly similar pattern to what he calls "the same type of misinformation thrown out after 9/11."

SADDAM

Reuters: Defense Team Says Saddam Attacked, US Denies It

Lawyers for Saddam Hussein said on Saturday their client was attacked by an unidentified man during a court appearance in Baghdad this week, but U.S. forces guarding him denied any such incident took place.

A statement issued by Saddam's international legal team, which has an office in Amman, Jordan, said the former president was attacked and exchanged blows with another person in a hearing attended by Saddam's main Iraqi lawyer Khalil Dulaimi, on Thursday.

"As the president (Saddam) stood to leave the courtroom one of those present attacked him and there was an exchange of blows between the man and the president," the statement said, adding that the head of the tribunal did nothing to stop the assault.

The statement quoted Dulaimi as saying the American guard who protected Saddam in the courtroom did not intervene and that he lodged a formal complaint against the tribunal.

USA

BBC: Bush Forces Through Appointment Of Bolton

Hard-Edged Choice Creates Friction

After five months of wrangling and recriminations, US President George W Bush has forced through the appointment of his UN ambassador while Congress is in recess.

But the move may just be the start of the controversy over John Bolton, whose hard-nosed management style and past criticisms of the UN have angered critics.

Mr Bolton's appointment comes just six weeks before UN heads of state and governments meet in New York to discuss wide-ranging and potentially divisive reforms of the world body.

There are fears that just as the US is reaching out diplomatically in other ways, its hard-edged position at the UN will be entrenched.

Domestically, it is certain to inflame the partisan ill-feeling between Republicans and Democrats, just as senators are considering Mr Bush's choice for the new Supreme Court justice.

LONDON ATTACKS

Infowars: London Bombings Mastermind is MI6 Asset

On FOX News Channel's Day Side, Terrorism Expert John Loftus revealed that Haroon Rashid Aswat, the suspect wanted by British Police for "masterminding" the July 7th London bombings and July 21st attempted bombings is in fact an asset of MI6, the British Secret Service. According to Loftus, Aswat has been under the protection of MI6 for many years.


see the videoclip

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"These gentlemen are the moral equivalents of America's founding fathers."
(Ronald Regan while introducing the Mujahideen leaders to media on the White house lawns. (1985)

LONDON ATTACKS

The Times: I name the four powers who are behind the al-Qaeda conspiracy

From a certain point of view, the journalist, the politician, the police chief and the terrorist can be seen as locked in a macabre waltz of the mind, no less distorting for being unconscious. We should not to join that dance.

"wow Times Matthew Parris is critical about the medias role in hyping the al-qaeda threat"

GAZA PULLOUT

Uri Avnery: The march of the orange shirts

Israeli democrats silent in the face of the fascist onslaught

In their fight against the "rotten" Israeli democracy, the settlers have adopted the Holocaust symbols. They are ostentatiously wearing the Yellow Star that was imposed by the Nazis on the Jews before their extermination, only substituting orange for yellow. They inscribe their forearm with their identity number, like the numbers the Nazis tattooed on the Auschwitz prisoners. They call the government the "Judenrat", after the Jewish councils appointed by the Nazis in the ghettoes, and liken the evacuation of the settlers from Gush Katif to the deportation of the Jews to the death camps. All this live on television.S

So, there is no reason any more for not calling the spade a spade: a large fascist camp is now threatening Israeli democracy.

EMPIRE

ZNET: Resort To Fear by Noam Chomsky

The resort to fear by systems of power to discipline the domestic population has left a long and terrible trail of bloodshed and suffering which we ignore at our peril. Recent history provides many shocking illustrations.

LONDON: ATTACKS

Faulkingtruth: The "Magic Bomb" Theory

This is a story about disappearing terrorists, nonexistent bags, and botched investigations, but most of all, this is a story about magic bombs.

It's Crime Scene Investigation 101. It's the basic law of physics. It's so elementary, my dear Watson, that even a dancer who was dazed from the shock of being seated directly over the spot where one of the bombs was planted in the London tube carriage two weeks ago could figure it out.

LONDON: ATTACKS

Dawn.com: 911 Rerun - Dead British Bombing Suspect Very Much Alive

An interview of a British teenager broadcast on a Pakistani television network has thrown into doubt investigators, claims that all the three London bombers of Pakistani descent visited Pakistan last year. According to the investigators, the three bombers had died in the July 7 attacks.

But 16-year-old Hasib Hussain, a namesake of one of the putative bombers and of Pakistani descent, said in the interview that a photograph of a passport purporting to show bomber Hasib Hussain, 19, was his, and not that of the bomber,.

CNN: 'He looked like a cornered fox'

LONDON, England (CNN) -- Eyewitnesses to Friday's shooting at a London Underground station described seeing a man being chased onto a train and then shot several times at close range.

CNN: Shooting victim's kin: Sorry not enough

LONDON, England (CNN) -- Police say the man they shot dead at a London Underground station was a Brazilian national "not connected" with this week's attempted bombings on the city's transit system.

BIRD FLU

Rense: Boxun News China Confirms Bird Flu In Qinghai Is NEW TYPE

Today (July 13), China officially claimed that bird flu in Qinghai is not H5N1, but a new type. "It is much more dangerous than H5N1", according to this official report released today.

In an unconfirmed news on May 25 2005, released by Boxun, it stated that the bird flu in Qinghai is a new form of virus rather than H5N1, "its symptom is slightly different from H5N1, but it can resist high temprature, faster to show symptoms and more likely to transfer".

In a series of reports (released but not unconfirmed by Boxun), it claimed to have people dead of this virus, but this claim has been denied by the government. (boxun.com)

Rense: Qinghai China Outbreak May Be Biowar 'Tweaked' Bird Flu

Jeff, I think the outbreak in China is something other than straight H5N1 bird flu. As I mentioned, it is different. Man-tweaked. Maybe their Plum Island had power outage and loss of biosecurity. If dealing with an altered bird flu - or worse, Ebola/flu - then we would see the high death toll that we are seeing. I think Dr. Niman knew all along that the Chinese bird flu samples would be different.

LONDON: ATTACK

Cambridge Evening News: Bomb Was UNDER The Train Says Eyewitness Closest To It

"The policeman said 'mind that hole, that's where the bomb was'. The metal was pushed upwards as if the bomb was underneath the train. They seem to think the bomb was left in a bag, but I don't remember anybody being where the bomb was, or any bag," he said.

FAKE TERROR

From Xymphora:

Professor Torture himself, John Yoo, is advocating that the United States set up a phony terrorist organization in order to assist in fighting the 'war on terror'. I thought the United States already had such an operation. I think it's called something like 'al Qaeda'. By the way, advocating some kind of intelligence operation in a newspaper article when the author has lots of ways to suggest it to the proper authorities through the regular channels is itself evidence that the article is intended to do something different than what it suggests.

John Yoo: “It could have its own websites, recruitment centers, training camps and fundraising operations. It could launch fake terrorist operations and claim credit for real terrorist strikes, helping to sow confusion within Al Qaeda’s ranks, causing operatives to doubt others’ identities and to question the validity of communications.”

I wonder if Yoo knows that such an organisation is aleady in place, it's called P2OG and is designed to “to bring together CIA and military covert action, information warfare, intelligence and cover and deception,” as David Isenberg writes. “P2OG would launch secret operations aimed at ’stimulating reactions’ among terrorists and states possessing weapons of mass destruction, meaning it would prod terrorist cells into action, thus exposing them to ‘quick-response’ attacks by US forces. The means by which it would do this is the far greater use of special operations forces.”

Frank Morales comments: “Bush’s war on terrorism could be the ultimate manifestation of the provocateur state; carrying out of clandestine ‘executive actions’ and ’special operations’ directed against populations, including our own, who are truly ignorant of the real ‘enemy’ in the face of the ever-present manufactured one, traumatized by strategic terror designed to engender fear and acquiescence to further ’security measures’—thereby enriching the military, police agencies, and munitions and nuclear business enterprises.”

Europe already had such groups. Remember the italian P2 Network which tried to convince the italian public that communism was a bad thing with bombing the bologna trainstation in the 80's and blaming it on the Red Brigades City Guerilla. P2 was part of the secret Gladio "Stay Behinf" Network. Most of European countries had such "stay behind" units operating without the knowledge of Parliments. In Switzerland it was called "P26" in France it was called "Glaive", Austias Unit was named "Schwert" and so on.

Daniel Ganser a Senior Researcher at the Center for Security Studies at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zürich wrote a book about it.

OSAMA BIN LADEN

AFP: Qaeda warns European nations to quit Iraq by August 15 or risk attacks

The Al-Qaeda terror network warned European nations to pull their troops out of Iraq within a month or face more attacks like the deadly London bombings, according to an Internet statement."This message is the final warning to European states. We want to give you a one-month deadline to bring your soldiers out from the land of Mesopotamia (Iraq)," said the statement signed by Al-Qaeda group the Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades and dated July 16.After August 15, "there will be no more messages, just actions that will be engraved on the heart of Europe."It will be a bloody war in the service of God," said the statement, the authenticity of which could not be verified."It's a message we are addressing to the crusaders who are still present in Iraq -- Denmark, the Netherlands, Britain, Italy and those other countries whose troops continue to criss-cross Iraqi territory.

"Osama told us before but as usual nobody will listen and the next time they attack Goverments will be again in denial of reality blaming "their hate of our values" and not our policies as the reason for their actions"

IRAQ: VOTE MANIPULATION

Democracy Now: Seymour Hersh: Bush Authorized Covert Plan to Manipulate Iraqi Elections

Pulitzer prize-winning investigative journalist Seymour Hersh reports that President Bush authorized covert plans last year to support the election campaigns of Iraqi candidates and political parties with close ties to the White House. Hersh cites unidentified former military and intelligence officials who said the administration went ahead with the plan over congressional opposition. [includes rush transcript]

IRAQ: VOTE MANIPULATION

New Yorker: Get Out The Vote by Seymour M. Hersh

Did Washington try to manipulate Iraq’s election?

"must read"

USA: PLAMEGATE

OP/ED News: Rove Lied To FBI

Looks like Karl Rove did break the law, the same federal law that got Martha Stewart sentenced to six months in prison.

It now appears that Rove, President Bush’s chief of staff, may have lied to the FBI in October 2003—a federal crime—when he was questioned by federal agents investigating who was responsible for leaking information about a covert CIA operative to the media.

LONDON: ATTACKS

Prison planet: Documents and explosives, a few simple questions

Following the "revelation" that the so called London Bombers left personal documents at the scenes of the attacks, plus a car load of explosives at Luton Station, there are a few unanswered questions that need addressing.

1. Why would suicide bombers carry personal documents?
2. How is it that paper documents can survive bomb blasts that rip apart steel and people?
3. Why were two of the men's papers found in two or three different locations?
4. If you were going to use four bombs in four locations, blowing yourself up in the process, why would you leave extra bombs in your hire car for the police to find?
5. The bombers have been described as four "nice lads", "normal kids who played basketball and kicked a ball around" , one was the son of a fish n chip shop owner, one was a primary teacher. Their immediate family of one of the bombers, the 22 year old sports science graduate, have been quoted as saying they "could not comprehend why he had become a mass murderer."

HOW DID THESE NICE YOUNG LADS GET THEIR HANDS ON MILITARY GRADE HIGH EXPLOSIVES AND IF THEIR HOUSES WERE FULL OF THEM, ENOUGH TO WARRANT THE EVACUATION OF 600 PEOPLE FROM THE AREA THEN WOULDN'T THEIR FAMILIES HAVE NOTICED?

LONDON: ATTACKS

Prison Planet: London Stagecoach Employee Says Bus Bombing Suspicious

We received an e mail from an employee of Stagecoach, the company responsible for the majority of London buses.

Our contact works a route roughly one mile from the site of the bus bombing last Thursday.

The bus driver pointed out that the number 30 bus was the only one to be re-routed after the initial bombs went off in the London Underground, every other bus carried on its normal journey, but for some reason this bus was diverted.

The driver notes the following about CCTV maintainence.

"CCTV gets maintained at least 2 or 3 times a week and can digitally store upto 2 whole weeks worth of footage. this is done by a private contractor....So when I heard that the CCTV wasn't working on a vehicle that's no more than 2 years old since last June.....I'm sorry that's rubbish, I work for the company I know different."

Also a point of interest....last saturday a contractor came to inspect the CCTV on the buses at the depot, According to my supervisor the person spent more than 20 hours over that weekend, 20 hours to see if the CCTV is working? Also that person who came was not a regular contractor, for security reasons the same few people always come to the depot to carry out work, this time it was different

USA: CORPORATISTAN

BBC: Worldcom's ex-boss gets 25 years

Former Worldcom boss Bernard Ebbers wept openly as he was sentenced to 25 years in jail for his part in the scandal that brought down the firm.


Bernie Ebbers leaves the Manhattan court after sentencing

LONDON: ATTACKS

Rense: The London Bombs, The Rogue Network And Iran
by Webster G. Tarpley

Last week's London explosions carry the characteristic features of a state-sponsored, false flag, synthetic terror provocation by networks within the British intelligence services MI-5, MI-6, the Home Office, and the Metropolitan Police Special Branch who are favorable to a wider Anglo-American aggressive war in the Middle East, featuring especially an early pre-emptive attack on Iran, with a separate option on North Korea also included.

LONDON: ATTACKS

Propaganda Matrix: London Patsies: A Replay Of The Pristine 9/11 Passport

The cover stories are flying thick and fast as British investigators try to put some kind of cap on the London attacks.

It turns out, if you believe the Brooklyn Bridge is for sale, that actual IDs of bombers were found in separate piles of rubble at the sites of the blasts.

These IDs must have been engraved deeply in three-foot-thick steel.

Remember the 9/11 hijacker passport that floated out of the crashing jetliner on 9/11 and landed intact on a New York street?

LONDON: ATTACKS

Prison Planet: New Developments In London Underground Exercise Story

Due to the bombardment of e mails that Peter Power and Visor Consultants are receiving on the issue of the London Underground exercises, Power has been forced to issue a standard e mail response to all inquiries, which forms the basis of his only response to the 'exercise' firestorm that has gripped the Internet since this website first highlighted the matter on Saturday.

Prison Planet: How the Government Staged the London Bombings in Ten Easy Steps

PR WATCH

MOVE KURDISTAN FORWARD

"The Kurdistan Regional Government has hired Republican lobby firm
Russo Marsh & Rogers to get 'free media' to promote the interests of
the Kurds in the post-Saddam Hussein Iraq," reports O'Dwyer's. One
goal of the Kurdish leaders is "the return of Kirkuk," an oil-rich
northern Iraqi city populated by Kurdish and Turkmen people.
O'Dwyer's notes that the head of RM&R, Sal Russo, is no stranger to
international politics, having "worked on the campaign of Violetta
Chamorro in Nicaragua." The Kurdish contract was announced as Move
America Forward, a group RM&R helped found and whose "chief
strategist" is Russo, is going to Iraq. Move America Forward's
"Truth Tour" is bringing conservative talk radio hosts to Iraq, to
"report the good news on Operation Iraqi Freedom you're not hearing
from the old line news media."
SOURCE: O'Dwyer's PR Daily (sub. req'd.), July 5, 2005

USA: IRAN/CONTRA

LA Times: Pentagon Hires Shredder Expert

In 1987, Robert L. Earl told a grand jury that he had destroyed and stolen national security documents while working for Lt. Col. Oliver L. North during the Iran-Contra scandal.

Now, he sits in one of the most coveted offices in the Pentagon as chief of staff to Gordon R. England, acting deputy secretary of Defense. Earl has clearance to review the kinds of classified documents he once destroyed.

USA: CORPORATISTAN

Washington Post: Business Pushes Its Own Brand Of Justice

Setting up a potential clash with religious conservatives, the national business lobby for the first time is marshaling its forces to persuade the White House to pick an industry-friendly Supreme Court nominee.

Usually, corporations duck Supreme Court fights. This time, with vital interests at stake, business advocates are raising millions of dollars, plotting major lobbying campaigns, and quietly working to influence the president as he ponders a replacement for Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.

Sandra Day O'Connor often ruled on the side of business. (Rick Bowmer - AP)

IRAQ: US CASUALITIES

Costal Post: Number Of Iraq Casualties Is Double Official Figures, Says Puerto Rican Government

Official US. government reports on soldiers under US command killed in Iraq are so fragmented that they account for less than half of the total number, according to information uncovered as part of an inquiry by the Government of Puerto Rico regarding the total number of Puerto Rican war casualties.

LONDON: ATTACK

Rense: Lest We Forget - These Were Blair's Bombs

In all the coverage of last week's bombing of London, a basic truth is struggling to be heard. It is this: no one doubts the atrocious inhumanity of those who planted the bombs, but no one should also doubt that this has been coming since the day Tony Blair joined George Bush in their bloody invasion and occupation of Iraq. They are "Blair's bombs", and he ought not be allowed to evade culpability with yet another unctuous speech about "our way of life", which his own rapacious violence in other countries has despoiled.

Indeed, the only reliable warning from British intelligence in the run-up to the invasion of Iraq was that which predicted a sharp increase in terrorism "with Britain and Britons a target". A House of Commons committee has since verified this warning. Had Blair heeded it instead of conspiring to deceive the nation that Iraq offered a threat the Londoners who died on Thursday might be alive today, along with tens of thousands of innocent Iraqis.

IRAQ

The Times: Allawi: this is the start of civil war

IRAQ’S former interim prime minister Iyad Allawi has warned that his country is facing civil war and has predicted dire consequences for Europe and America as well as the Middle East if the crisis is not resolved. “The problem is that the Americans have no vision and no clear policy on how to go about in Iraq,” said Allawi, a long-time ally of Washington.

In an interview with The Sunday Times last week as he visited Amman, the Jordanian capital, he said: “The policy should be of building national unity in Iraq. Without this we will most certainly slip into a civil war. We are practically in stage one of a civil war as we speak.”

AFGHANISTAN

Courier-Journal: Afghan alarms

News from Iraq is so disturbing that it is easy to overlook the increasingly grim reports about Afghanistan.
But that would be a mistake.
Violence is increasing rapidly in Afghanistan, and the Taliban and other radicals are getting stronger. According to a report last week in The New York Times, Afghans are increasingly fearful for their future and uncertain about America's commitment to their welfare.

LONDON: ATTACK

Guardian: This terror will continue until we take Arab grievances seriously

It must now be obvious, even to those who would like us to think otherwise, that the war on terror is failing. This is not to say that the terrorists are winning. Their prospects of constructing the medieval pan-Islamic caliphate of their fantasies are as negligible today as they were four years ago when they attacked America. It is simply to point out that their ability to bring violence and destruction to our streets is as strong as ever and shows no sign of diminishing. We may capture the perpetrators of Thursday's bombings, but others will follow to take their place. Moreover, the actions of our leaders have made this more likely, not less. It's time for a rethink.

LONDON: ATTACK

Salon: "The time of revenge has come"
by Juan Cole

Blowback from Bush and Blair's incompetently pursued war on terror has hit London. When will the U.S. figure out how to fight smart?

Credit for the horrific bombings of the London Underground and a double-decker bus on Thursday morning was immediately taken on a radical Muslim Web site by a "secret group" of Qaida al-Jihad in Europe. By Thursday afternoon, as the casualty toll rose above 40 dead and 700 wounded, British Foreign Minister Jack Straw was saying, "It has the hallmarks of an al-Qaida-related attack." Although U.S. President George W. Bush maintains that al-Qaida strikes out at the industrialized democracies because of hatred for Western values, the statement said nothing of the sort. The attack, the terrorists proclaimed, was an act of sacred revenge for British "massacres" in "Afghanistan and Iraq," and a punishment of the United Kingdom for its "Zionism" (i.e., support of Israel). If they really are responsible, who is this group and what do they want?

TERROR

New Statesman: Paymasters Of Carnage
by John Pilger

In the orgy of summit coverage something has been overlooked: the two men at the heart of it, telling us how the world should be run, are the men responsible for Fallujah and Abu Ghraib.
Over the past two weeks, the contrast between two related "global" events has been salutary. The first was the World Tribunal on Iraq, held in Istanbul; the second the G8 meeting in Scotland and the Make Poverty History campaign. Reading the papers and watching television in Britain, you would know nothing about the Istanbul meetings, which produced the most searing evidence to date of the greatest political scandal of modern times: the attack on a defenceless Iraq by America and Britain.

LONDON: ATTACK

Heise: Politiker fordern mehr Überwachung zur Verhinderung von Terror

Größerer Schutz durch biometrische Ausweise, Überwachungskameras, Sensoren zur Sprengstofferkennung, Gen-Datei oder Speicherung der Verbindungsdaten?

Der Anschlag in London hat zu den üblichen Verurteilungen und Gesten der Einheit im Kampf gegen den Terrorismus sowie zu den erwartbaren Forderungen nach erhöhten Sicherheitsmaßnahmen und neuen Gesetzen geführt. Gerechtfertigt werden schon beschlossene Antiterror-Maßnahmen, beispielsweise in Deutschland oder Großbritannien die Einführung der Ausweise mit biometrischen Merkmalen. Aber die Bomben in London lehren vermutlich gerade, dass die meisten Sicherheits- und Überwachungsmaßnahmen entschlossene und einigermaßen intelligente Terroristen, auch wenn sie mit wenig ausgeklügelten Strategien und relativ primitiven Mitteln vorgehen, nicht daran hindern können, Anschläge im öffentlichen Raum von Städten auszuführen. Um das Risiko wirklich zu minimieren, wäre schon ein Überwachungsapparat Orwellscher Dimension oder ein Repressionsregime notwendig, wie man es etwa in Nordkorea findet.

LONDON: ATTACK

MSNB: Islamic group claims London attack

"But MSNBC TV translator Jacob Keryakes, who said that a copy of the message was later posted on a secular Web site, noted that the claim of responsibility contained an error in one of the Quranic verses it cited. That suggests that the claim may be phony, he said.
"This is not something al-Qaida would do," he said. "

LONDON: ATTACK

Prison Planet: London Underground Bombing 'Exercises' Took Place at Same Time as Real Attack

A consultancy agency with government and police connections was running an exercise for an unnamed company that revolved around the London Underground being bombed at the exact same times and locations as happened in real life on the morning of July 7th.

Click here for a clip of this dialogue. Click here for a longer clip where the comments can be heard in their full context.

BBC: Tube bombs 'almost simultaneous'

Scotland Yard said the attacks took place within 50 seconds of each other. It was previously thought they had taken place over a longer time period.

BBC: PM 'to reject bomb inquiry calls'

Tony Blair is expected to reject demands for an inquiry into the London bombings in a statement to MPs.

Independent: Police hunt 'mercenary' terror gang recruited by al-Qa'ida

Police and intelligence agents areinvestigating the theory that a gang of white "mercenary terrorists" was hired by al-Qa'ida to carry out last week's devastating attacks on London.
The Independent on Sunday can reveal today that investigations into the bombings of three Tube trains and a bus, which left at least 49 people dead, are focusing on the possibility that criminal gangs were paid to mount the worst atrocities in British history.

LONDON: TERRORIST ATTACKS

Cannon Fodder:What's Behind the London Attacks?

Only one word sprang to mind when I heard about the bombings that claimed the lives of dozens of Londoners today – convenient.

Is there anything convenient in death, or in thousands of lives destroyed from catastrophe? No – and words cannot express the sorrow I feel for the men and women changed by today's events. But governments with skeletons in their closets have a great deal to gain from a national tragedy bolstered by "terrorism."

As I sit in my office today, I hear the whispers of co-workers now utterly convinced our war on terror must continue. Despite American and British involvement in the Middle East birthing wave after wave of rebel forces, the Bush doctrine is now justified in the minds of millions. Petty grievances such as the Downing Street Minutes, the President's flagging support and Karl Rove's treasonous outing of CIA agent Valerie Plame are unimportant. A shadowy conglomeration is out to kill us.

check it

BUSH SPEAK

Independent: Bush was right, but too late
by Robert Fisk

Put through Chomsky's machine, Bush's speech begins by frightening the audience to death with terrorism and finishes triumphantly by rousing them to patriotic confidence in their country's future victory.

Checkt it

LONDON: TERRORIST ATTACK

BBC: Galloway: Bombings price of Iraq

Londoners have paid the price for Iraq and Afghanistan, says George Galloway.

M&C: Extra: Rice dismisses Iraq/Afghan angle to London attacks

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Thursday that the deadly bombings in London will strengthen British resolve to defeat terrorism and dismissed suggestions that the attacks were in retaliation for Britain's role in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"Condi in Wonderland. I'm wondering in which parallel universe ms. rice is living. She seems to have lost contact with reality. Oh no this has absolutely nothing to do with Iraq and Afghanistan. The Terrorists just mentioned that reason for PR-Purposes. They bombed London because they hate democracy, freedom and civilisation, Big Macs and Fish'n'Chips"

LONDON: TERRORIST ATTACK

BBC: Statement claiming London attacks

The BBC has located an Islamist website that has published a 200-word statement issued by an organisation saying it carried out the London bombings

"In the name of God, the merciful, the compassionate, may peace be upon the cheerful one and undaunted fighter, Prophet Muhammad, God's peace be upon him.

Nation of Islam and Arab nation: Rejoice for it is time to take revenge against the British Zionist Crusader government in retaliation for the massacres Britain is committing in Iraq and Afghanistan. The heroic mujahideen have carried out a blessed raid in London. Britain is now burning with fear, terror and panic in its northern, southern, eastern, and western quarters.

We have repeatedly warned the British Government and people. We have fulfilled our promise and carried out our blessed military raid in Britain after our mujahideen exerted strenuous efforts over a long period of time to ensure the success of the raid.

We continue to warn the governments of Denmark and Italy and all the Crusader governments that they will be punished in the same way if they do not withdraw their troops from Iraq and Afghanistan. He who warns is excused.

God says: "You who believe: If ye will aid (the cause of) Allah, He will aid you, and plant your feet firmly."

LONDON: TERRORIST ATTACK

Tompaine.com: Why London, Why Now?

americans believed Al Qaeda was targeting the United States because we stood for democracy, when, in reality, they hated us because we massively supported oppressive regimes in the Middle East.

Counterpunch: It's Up to the Anti-War Movement to Restrain the Thirst for More Blind Revenge

This morning, the suffering, grief and terror that have visited so many innocents in recent years came to London. We have not paid the kind of price that people have paid in Fallujah, Najaf or Jenin, but it is a steep price nonetheless. And its root causes are the same.

LONDON: TERRORIST ATTACK

Jerusalem Post: Ex-Mossad Chief Calls For World War After London Attack

There will be supreme tests of leadership in this unique situation and people will have to trust the wisdom and good judgment of those chosen to govern them. The executives must be empowered to act resolutely and to take every measure necessary to protect the citizens of their country and to carry the combat into whatever territory the perpetrators and their temporal and spiritual leaders are inhabiting.

LONDON: TERRORIST ATTACK

IsraelINN.com: Report: Israel Was Warned Ahead of First Blast

Army Radio quoting unconfirmed reliable sources reported a short time ago that Scotland Yard had intelligence warnings of the attacks a short time before they occurred.

The Israeli Embassy in London was notified in advance, resulting in Finance Minister Binyamin Netanyahu remaining in his hotel room rather than make his way to the hotel adjacent to the site of the first explosion, a Liverpool Street train station, where he was to address and economic summit.

Yahoo News: Netanyahu Changed Plans Due to Warning

British police told the Israeli Embassy in London minutes before Thursday's explosions that they had received warnings of possible terror attacks in the city, a senior Israeli official said.

now they are backtracking from earlier reports:

IOL: Israel not warned about blasts - foreign minister

Israel was not warned about possible terror attacks in London before at least six blasts ripped through the city, Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said today.

A Foreign Ministry official had said earlier that British police warned the Israeli Embassy in London of possible terror attacks minutes before the first explosion.

“There was no early information about terrorist attacks,” Shalom told Israel Army Radio. “After the first explosion an order was given that no one move until things become clear.”

LONDON: TERRORIST ATTACK

Skynews: ATTACKS KILL 45, REPORTS

At least 45 people are reported to have been killed and 1,000 injured in a series of terror attacks on London.

Sky News crime correspondent Martin Brunt said the figures, which could rise, were from a reliable, but unofficial source.

LONDON: TERRORIST ATTACK

Bloomberg: London Terror Attacks Kill at Least Eight, Cripple Transport

Terrorists set off a series of bombs across London's subway system in the financial district and on a bus in the center of the capital, killing at least eight people and shutting down all public transportation.


Update:
Denying an earlier report, Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said that Israel was not warned by Scotland Yard in advance of the blasts.

LONDON: TERRORIST ATTACK

Independent:Terror blasts paralyse London

Many people are feared dead in seven terrorist blasts across central London, hitting trains and a bus. All public transport is halted.

t least seven explosions ripped through London today in a series of terrorist strikes leaving dozens feared dead and crippling the capital.

* Explosions are known to have happened on the London Underground at Aldgate East, Edgware Road, King's Cross, Liverpool Street, Russell Square and Moorgate. City of London police have confirmed that two people have been confirmed as dead, both casualties at Aldgate.

* A bus packed with commuters later exploded in Tavistock Place, near Russell Square. Witnesses said the roof was ripped off and claimed many could be dead.

* The Prime Minister Tony Blair said it is "reasonably clear there have been a series of terrorist attacks".

* The Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair said there had been a total of six underground blasts and one bus blast have been confirmed, but said there may have been further incidents.

LONDON: TERRORIST ATTACK

AP: Six Blasts Rock London, Killing at Least 2

LONDON (AP) -- Half a dozen explosions rocked the London subway and tore open a packed double-decker bus during the morning rush hour Thursday. The blasts killed at least two people and injured scores in what a shaken Prime Minister Tony Blair said was a series of "barbaric" terrorist attacks.

Police reported "a number of fatalities" at one London subway station. "Things are still relatively confused," Superintendent John Morgan told reporters.

Blair said it was clear the attacks were designed to coincide with the opening of the G-8 summit in Gleneagles, Scotland. The prime minister said the meeting of world leaders would continue but that he would return to London.

"Tony Blair is calling it a barbaric terrorist attack. I wonder what he thinks about the killing of over 100'000 iraqi civilians by US and UK Forces in Iraq since the start of war, i wonder what he is calling the use of Napalm and Cluster Bombs in iraqi residential Areas. I wonder what he is calling himself after deliberately lying us to war. Is the World safer now as Bush and Blair wanted to make us believe?"

G8: LETS GET READY TO RUMBLE

Indymedia:karneval in edinburgh



http://g8.blogbound.com/

IRAQ: THE SALVADOR OPTION

Observer: Revealed: grim world of new Iraqi torture camps

Secret torture chambers, the brutal interrogation of prisoners, murders by paramilitaries with links to powerful ministries... Foreign affairs editor Peter Beaumont in Baghdad uncovers a grim trail of abuse carried out by forces loyal to the new Iraqi government

Observer: UK/US aids funds Iraqi torture units

British and American aid intended for Iraq's hard-pressed police service is being diverted to paramilitary commando units accused of widespread human rights abuses, including torture and extra-judicial killings, The Observer can reveal.

Iraqi Police Service officers said that ammunition, weapons and vehicles earmarked for the IPS are being taken by shock troops at the forefront of Iraq's new dirty counter-insurgency war.

The allegations follow a wide-ranging investigation by this paper into serious human rights abuses being conducted by anti-insurgency forces in Iraq. The Observer has seen photographic evidence of post-mortem and hospital examinations of alleged terror suspects from Baghdad and the Sunni Triangle which demonstrate serious abuse of suspects including burnings, strangulation, the breaking of limbs and - in one case - the apparent use of an electric drill to perform a knee-capping.

The investigation revealed:

· A 'ghost' network of secret detention centres across the country, inaccessible to human rights organisations, where torture is taking place.

· Compelling evidence of widespread use of violent interrogation methods including hanging by the arms, burnings, beatings, the use of electric shocks and sexual abuse.

· Claims that serious abuse has taken place within the walls of the Iraqi government's own Ministry of the Interior.

· Apparent co-operation between unofficial and official detention facilities, and evidence of extra-judicial executions by the police.

It's all Latin America again

IRAQ: RESISTANCE

Uruknet.info:Iraqi Resistance Report

aqi Resistance organizations on Thursday morning issued a statement in which they denied claims by the former puppet so-called "Iraqi minister of electricity," Ayham as-Samarra'i that the Iraqi Resistance had agreed to negotiate with US occupation forces and to form a political organization.

THE NEXT PANDEMIC?

Foreign Affairs: The Next Pandemic?

International health officials are warning that a deadly avian influenza virus may soon spread rapidly, overwhelming unprepared health systems in rich and poor countries alike. If the virus mutates to become easily transmittable among humans, the death toll of the resulting global pandemic could number in the millions.

As a call to action, the July/August issue of Foreign Affairs includes a special set of articles written by Laurie Garrett of the Council on Foreign Relations, Dr. Michael Osterholm of the University of Minnesota and the Department of Homeland Security, and Drs. William Karesh and Robert Cook of the Wildlife Conservation Society. Special condensed versions of the essays by Garrett and Osterholm, along with a Web-only Q & A with Garrett, are available on the Foreign Affairs website today.

Nature magazine is providing additional information on the medical and scientific aspects of the H5N1 virus. The coverage of both magazines is being coordinated to assist efforts of the Royal Institution World Science Assembly to spur preparations by governments and international organizations

IRAQ: WMD

Rense: US Radiation In Iraq Equals 250,000 Nagasaki Bombs

An 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.

IRAQ: SALVADOR OPTION

Knight Ridder: Sunni men in Baghdad targeted by attackers in police uniforms

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Days after Iraq's new Shiite-led government was announced on April 28, the bodies of Sunni Muslim men began turning up at the capital's central morgue after the men had been detained by people wearing Iraqi police uniforms.

Iraqi and American officials said the murders aren't being investigated systematically, but in dozens of interviews with families and Iraqi officials, and a review of medical records, a Knight Ridder reporter and two special correspondents found more than 30 examples of this type of killing in less than a week.

The Interior Ministry, which oversees the Iraqi police, denies any involvement in the killings. But eyewitnesses said that many of the dead were apprehended by large groups of men driving white Toyota Land Cruisers with police markings. The men were wearing police commando uniforms and bulletproof vests, carrying expensive 9-millimeter Glock pistols and using sophisticated radios, the witnesses said.

"It's Latin America once again. Ask Rumsfeld where the Death Squads are coming from"

AFGHANISTAN

ABC: Chinook downed by New Weapon Taliban claim

The Taliban claims to have used a new weapon to shoot down a US military helicopter in a remote region of Afghanistan.

The 17 US troops, including special forces, aboard the Chinook helicopter that crashed after being hit by ground fire in an anti-militant operation are believed to have died, a US official said.

Taliban spokesman Abdul Latif Hakimi said fighters shot down the aircraft in the village of Shorak using "a new type of weapon" he did not describe.

"This is a huge success for the Taliban," he said, adding that the fighters had video of the crash and would post photographs on their web site.

Nasdaq.com: Downed US Helicopter In Afghanistan Backed By Another:TV

Sources at the U.S. Defense Department said Tuesday that the CH-47 Chinook military transport helicopter that crashed in a mountainous region in eastern Afghanistan was part of a two-helicopter formation, NBC News reported Tuesday.

Information of the helicopter crash was relayed by the crew of the second helicopter, who reported seeing the helicopter tumbling down the mountain, NBC said. There was some ground activity reported by the crew of the second helicopter around the crashed aircraft, NBC reported.

The NBC report could give credence to the Taliban's claims - yet unconfirmed - that they shot down the helicopter and executed some U.S. personnel aboard the aircraft. The helicopter was said to be carrying at least 16 U.S. military personnel.

DOWNING STREET MEMO

Sunday Times: The Real News in the Downing Street Memos
By Michael Smith

Bush and Blair began their war not in March 2003, as everyone believed, but at the end of August 2002, six weeks before Congress approved military action against Iraq.

The real news is the shady April 2002 deal to go to war, the cynical use of the U.N. to provide an excuse, and the secret, illegal air war without the backing of Congress

TERRY RICHARDSON

Terry Richardson directed the new Video for Queens of the Stoneage single "Everybody Knows You're Insane"

check

IRAQ: LIES

TBRnews: US Military Report: Bush’s Achilles’ Heel

There is excellent reason to believe that the Department of Defense is deliberately not reporting a significant number of the dead in Iraq. We have received copies of manifests from the MATS that show far more bodies shipped into Dover AFP than are reported officially. The educated rumor is that the actual death toll is in excess of 7,000. Given the officially acknowledged number of over 15,000 seriously wounded, this elevated death toll is far more realistic than the current 1,400+ now being officially published. When our research is complete, and watertight, we will publish the results along with the sources In addition to the evident falsification of the death rolls, at least 5,500 American military personnel have deserted, most in Ireland but more have escaped to Canada and other European countries, none of whom are inclined to cooperate with vengeful American authorities. (See TBR News of 18 February for full coverage on the mass desertions) This means that of the 158,000 U.S. military shipped to Iraq, 26,000 either deserted, were killed or seriously wounded. The DoD lists currently being very quietly circulated indicate almost 9,000 dead, over 16,000 seriously wounded and a large number of suicides, forced hospitalization for ongoing drug usage and sales, murder of Iraqi civilians and fellow soldiers , rapes, courts martial and so on – Brian Harring

IRAQ: LIES

Huffington Post: Ultimate Deception?

A Bush-watcher website identified as TBRNews.org is reporting under the byline of "domestic intelligence reporter" Brian Harring that the Department of Defense is using a cynical tactic to mislead the public regarding the true death toll for American military personnel in Iraq. Harring claims he has an internal pdf. file from the D.O.D. which establishes that nearly 9000 Americans have died in Operation Iraqi Freedom, but that the official number has been held to 1713 by designating as Iraq deaths only those who perish on Iraqi soil. The remainder, he says, are military personnel who have died en route to Germany or in German hospitals-- casualties of the war, but not listed in the official death toll.

If this is true it would explain the apparent statistical discrepancy between dead and wounded. A combat action which produces nearly eight times as many officially wounded-- 13000 plus-- as officially dead...well, it's not the norm. It goes without saying it would also further jolt a public majority already disturbed by the war's "progress" and eager to see the troops come home.

IRAQ: DAILY LIFE

Riverbendblog: Baghdad Burning - General Update

The Green Zone is a source of consternation and aggravation for the typical Iraqi. It makes us anxious because it symbolises the heart of the occupation and if fortifications and barricades are any indicator- the occupation is going to be here for a long time. It is a provocation because no matter how anyone tries to explain or justify it, it is like a slap in the face. It tells us that while we are citizens in our own country, our comings and goings are restricted because portions of the country no longer belong to its people. They belong to the people living in the Green Republic.

IRAN: THE CLOCK IS TICKING

Aljazeera: The US war with Iran has already begun
by Scott Ritter

"Liberation" and the spread of "democracy" have become none-too-subtle code words within the neo-conservative cabal that formulates and executes American foreign policy today for militarism and war.

By the intensity of the "liberation/democracy" rhetoric alone, Americans should be put on notice that Iran is well-fixed in the cross-hairs as the next target for the illegal policy of regime change being implemented by the Bush administration.

But Americans, and indeed much of the rest of the world, continue to be lulled into a false sense of complacency by the fact that overt conventional military operations have not yet commenced between the United States and Iran.

As such, many hold out the false hope that an extension of the current insanity in Iraq can be postponed or prevented in the case of Iran. But this is a fool's dream.

The reality is that the US war with Iran has already begun. As we speak, American over flights of Iranian soil are taking place, using pilotless drones and other, more sophisticated, capabilities.

The violation of a sovereign nation's airspace is an act of war in and of itself. But the war with Iran has gone far beyond the intelligence-gathering phase.

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