LinuxElectrons.com: AT&T Sends ALL Internet
Traffic To NSA Says EFF
"The evidence that we are filing supports our claim that AT&T is diverting Internet traffic into the hands of the NSA wholesale, in violation of federal wiretapping laws and the Fourth Amendment," said EFF Staff Attorney Kevin Bankston. "More than just threatening individuals' privacy, AT&T's apparent choice to give the government secret, direct access to millions of ordinary Americans' Internet communications is a threat to the Constitution itself. We are asking the Court to put a stop to it now."
Friday, April 07, 2006
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
IRAN: COUNTDOWN TO WAR
Antiwar.com:War Against Iran, April 2006 by Jorge Hirsch
Biological Threat and Executive Order 13292
History repeats itself, but always with new twists. We are back to the good old days when a Declaration of War preceded the start of a war. Such declaration occurred on March 16th, 2006. Reversing the old order, we are now in the "Sitzkrieg", to be followed shortly by an aerial "Blitzkrieg" in the coming days.
Biological Threat and Executive Order 13292
History repeats itself, but always with new twists. We are back to the good old days when a Declaration of War preceded the start of a war. Such declaration occurred on March 16th, 2006. Reversing the old order, we are now in the "Sitzkrieg", to be followed shortly by an aerial "Blitzkrieg" in the coming days.
USA: WAR ON THE INTERNET
Sunay Herald: America's war on the web
While the US remains committed to hunting down al-Qaeda operatives, it is now taking the battle to new fronts. Deep within the Pentagon, technologies are being deployed to wage the war on terror on the internet, in newspapers and even through mobile phones. I
n 2006, we are just about to enter such a world. This is the age of information warfare, and details of how this new military doctrine will affect everyone on the planet are contained in a report, entitled The Information Operations Roadmap, [PDF] commissioned and approved by US secretary of defence Donald Rumsfeld and seen by the Sunday Herald.
Next, the Pentagon focuses on electronic warfare, saying it must be elevated to the heart of US military war planning. It will “provide maximum control of the electromagnetic spectrum, denying, degrading, disrupting or destroying the full spectrum of communications equipment … it is increasingly important that our forces dominate the electromagnetic spectrum with attack capabilities”. Put simply, this means US forces having the power to knock out any or all forms of telecommunications on the planet.
While the US remains committed to hunting down al-Qaeda operatives, it is now taking the battle to new fronts. Deep within the Pentagon, technologies are being deployed to wage the war on terror on the internet, in newspapers and even through mobile phones. I
n 2006, we are just about to enter such a world. This is the age of information warfare, and details of how this new military doctrine will affect everyone on the planet are contained in a report, entitled The Information Operations Roadmap, [PDF] commissioned and approved by US secretary of defence Donald Rumsfeld and seen by the Sunday Herald.
Next, the Pentagon focuses on electronic warfare, saying it must be elevated to the heart of US military war planning. It will “provide maximum control of the electromagnetic spectrum, denying, degrading, disrupting or destroying the full spectrum of communications equipment … it is increasingly important that our forces dominate the electromagnetic spectrum with attack capabilities”. Put simply, this means US forces having the power to knock out any or all forms of telecommunications on the planet.
IRAN: COUNTDOWN TO WAR
Telegraph: Government in secret talks about strike against Iran
The Government is to hold secret talks with defence chiefs tomorrow to discuss possible military strikes against Iran.
A high-level meeting will take place in the Ministry of Defence at which senior defence chiefs and government officials will consider the consequences of an attack on Iran.
It is believed that an American-led attack, designed to destroy Iran's ability to develop a nuclear bomb, is "inevitable" if Teheran's leaders fail to comply with United Nations demands to freeze their uranium enrichment programme.
The Government is to hold secret talks with defence chiefs tomorrow to discuss possible military strikes against Iran.
A high-level meeting will take place in the Ministry of Defence at which senior defence chiefs and government officials will consider the consequences of an attack on Iran.
It is believed that an American-led attack, designed to destroy Iran's ability to develop a nuclear bomb, is "inevitable" if Teheran's leaders fail to comply with United Nations demands to freeze their uranium enrichment programme.
Friday, March 31, 2006
IRAQ WAR
ICH: Leaked memo details US, UK war talks
"Online Video"
TONY JONES: New evidence has emerged which appears to show that the United States and the British governments were set to invade Iraq, regardless of whether a second UN resolution was carried and even if international arms inspections failed.
New evidence has emerged which appears to show that the United States and the British governments were set to invade Iraq, regardless of whether a second UN resolution was carried and even if international arms inspections failed. In a leaked memo of a meeting between George Bush and Tony Blair, the US President also suggests an unmanned aircraft painted in UN colours might be flown over Iraq in the hope it would be shot down and provide a trigger for war
"Online Video"
TONY JONES: New evidence has emerged which appears to show that the United States and the British governments were set to invade Iraq, regardless of whether a second UN resolution was carried and even if international arms inspections failed.
New evidence has emerged which appears to show that the United States and the British governments were set to invade Iraq, regardless of whether a second UN resolution was carried and even if international arms inspections failed. In a leaked memo of a meeting between George Bush and Tony Blair, the US President also suggests an unmanned aircraft painted in UN colours might be flown over Iraq in the hope it would be shot down and provide a trigger for war
Thursday, March 30, 2006
IRAQ: US DEATH SQUADS
Chris Floyd: Fear Up Harsh: The Iraqi Civil War in Context
The causes underlying any civil war are always complex, confused, even contradictory -- as one would expect in an outbreak of madness. But those seeking to discover some of the key precipitating factors behind Iraq's furious plunge into chaos and disintegration might find one of them in the records of an obscure Congressional committee meeting on August 10, 2004.
(...) In a long session larded with the usual rhetorical posturing, mutual backscratching with the committee's rubberstamp Republican majority - and a couple of polite queries from the timid Democratic minority - Wolfowitz announced the Pentagon's plan to give money, arms and training to a network of local militias in trouble spots around the world. These irregular forces - "not just armies," Wolfowitz emphasized - would be used to "counter terrorism and insurgencies," provide greater internal security" in regions of American interest and "deny sanctuary" to America's designated enemies, according to Pentagon transcripts of the testimony.
The causes underlying any civil war are always complex, confused, even contradictory -- as one would expect in an outbreak of madness. But those seeking to discover some of the key precipitating factors behind Iraq's furious plunge into chaos and disintegration might find one of them in the records of an obscure Congressional committee meeting on August 10, 2004.
(...) In a long session larded with the usual rhetorical posturing, mutual backscratching with the committee's rubberstamp Republican majority - and a couple of polite queries from the timid Democratic minority - Wolfowitz announced the Pentagon's plan to give money, arms and training to a network of local militias in trouble spots around the world. These irregular forces - "not just armies," Wolfowitz emphasized - would be used to "counter terrorism and insurgencies," provide greater internal security" in regions of American interest and "deny sanctuary" to America's designated enemies, according to Pentagon transcripts of the testimony.
IRAQ: SOUVEREIGN
Independent: Bush's call for removal of Iraqi PM threatens rift with Shias
by Patrick Cockburn
President George W Bush has made it clear that he does not want Ibrahim al-Jaafari to remain prime minister of Iraq in a move likely to increase hostility between the US and the Shia community.
Mr Bush has written to the Shi'ite leader Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, the head of the Shi'ite Alliance asking him to nominate somebody else for the post. " The Americans are very firm about this," said a senior official. " They don't want Jaafari at any price."
Friction between the Americans and the Shia, who make up 60 per cent of Iraq's 27 million population, escalated sharply after at least 16 Shi'ites were killed in the al-Mustafa mosque by Iraqi and American Special Forces on Sunday night. Many Shia believe that the US was shocked by, and is not ready to accept, the success of the Shia Alliance in the election on 15 December.
by Patrick Cockburn
President George W Bush has made it clear that he does not want Ibrahim al-Jaafari to remain prime minister of Iraq in a move likely to increase hostility between the US and the Shia community.
Mr Bush has written to the Shi'ite leader Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, the head of the Shi'ite Alliance asking him to nominate somebody else for the post. " The Americans are very firm about this," said a senior official. " They don't want Jaafari at any price."
Friction between the Americans and the Shia, who make up 60 per cent of Iraq's 27 million population, escalated sharply after at least 16 Shi'ites were killed in the al-Mustafa mosque by Iraqi and American Special Forces on Sunday night. Many Shia believe that the US was shocked by, and is not ready to accept, the success of the Shia Alliance in the election on 15 December.
ONLINE VIDEO
ICH: We are Sorry
Former US soldiers on the personal cost of war in Iraq.
Former US soldiers on the personal cost of war in Iraq.
We have a powerful film this evening. We follow a group of former US soldiers who have returned from Iraq deeply affected by the experience.
This is a must watch - Newsnight - BBC - Broadcast O3/29/06
You may need to update / download Free Real Player to view this video
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
ISRAEL
Haaretz: One Racist Nation
by Gideon Levy
Contrary to appearances, the elections this week are important, because they will expose the true face of Israeli society and its hidden ambitions. More than 100 elected candidates will be sent to the Knesset on the basis of one ticket - the racism ticket.
If we used to think that every two Israelis have three opinions, now it will be evident that nearly every Israeli has one opinion - racism.
Elections 2006 will make this much clearer than ever before
by Gideon Levy
Contrary to appearances, the elections this week are important, because they will expose the true face of Israeli society and its hidden ambitions. More than 100 elected candidates will be sent to the Knesset on the basis of one ticket - the racism ticket.
If we used to think that every two Israelis have three opinions, now it will be evident that nearly every Israeli has one opinion - racism.
Elections 2006 will make this much clearer than ever before
ISRAEL: ELECTIONS
Independent: Olmert and Kadima win victory in Israeli poll
Israeli voters delivered Ariel Sharon's successor, Ehud Olmert, a decisive mandate to go ahead with his declared plan to withdraw up to 80,000 settlers from the West Bank and draw up new borders with the Palestinians.
While the vote for Mr Olmert's own party, Kadima, was significantly lower than its strategists had hoped, at 28 seats, it emerged as easily the biggest single party with the capacity to build a coalition which can carry through his plans.
Israeli voters delivered Ariel Sharon's successor, Ehud Olmert, a decisive mandate to go ahead with his declared plan to withdraw up to 80,000 settlers from the West Bank and draw up new borders with the Palestinians.
While the vote for Mr Olmert's own party, Kadima, was significantly lower than its strategists had hoped, at 28 seats, it emerged as easily the biggest single party with the capacity to build a coalition which can carry through his plans.
FRANCE: PROTESTS
donga.com: Protests Bring France to Standstill
A general strike took more than half of metros and trains in Paris out of service yesterday, causing huge rush hour traffic jams. Only two-thirds of France’s TGV high-speed trains were operational as well.
With many universities and high schools in France already affected by the unrest, teachers also joined Tuesday’s demonstration, along with opposition groups including France’s Socialist and Communist parties.
Students announced that following Tuesday’s strikes and demonstrations by unions and student organizations, they would block main streets and train stations on March 30.
Independent: 'Three million' march against French law
In the biggest anti-government protests for at least a decade, more than 200,000 people marched through the streets of Paris to protest against controversial new employment contracts for the young.
Union leaders claimed that yesterday's demonstrations throughout France attracted more than three million people, which would make them the largest protests for almost half a century.
Scattered violence erupted on the edges of the Paris march. There were also running battles at the end in the Place de la République between police and multi-racial gangs of teenagers from deprived suburbs. But police and union security teams - and heavy downpours of rain - prevented the kind of widespread robberies, beatings and pitched battles seen at the end of a march last Thursday.
GLOBAL WARMING
Time: Earth Is At ... The Tipping Point
Polar Ice Caps Are Melting Faster Than Ever... More And More Land Is Being Devastated By Drought... Rising Waters Are Drowning Low-Lying Communities... By Any Measure, Earth Is At ... The Tipping Point
- No one can say exactly what it looks like when a planet takes ill, but it probably looks a lot like Earth. Never mind what you've heard about global warming as a slow-motion emergency that would take decades to play out. Suddenly and unexpectedly, the crisis is upon us.
Polar Ice Caps Are Melting Faster Than Ever... More And More Land Is Being Devastated By Drought... Rising Waters Are Drowning Low-Lying Communities... By Any Measure, Earth Is At ... The Tipping Point
- No one can say exactly what it looks like when a planet takes ill, but it probably looks a lot like Earth. Never mind what you've heard about global warming as a slow-motion emergency that would take decades to play out. Suddenly and unexpectedly, the crisis is upon us.
Monday, March 27, 2006
IRAQ: US MASSACRES
Reuters: US forces kill 18 Iraqis in Baghdad, medics say
At least 18 Iraqis were killed on Sunday after U.S. troops clashed with a Shi'ite militia, medics and police said.
At least 18 Iraqis were killed on Sunday after U.S. troops clashed with a Shi'ite militia, medics and police said.
Police said the clashes erupted after the Mehdi Army militia loyal to cleric Moqtada al-Sadr tried to stop U.S. troops from entering a mosque.
A medic said 18 bodies were found around the mosque.
A senior aide to Sadr accused U.S. troops of killing more than 20 unarmed worshippers during evening prayers at a Sadr mosque in east Baghdad.
Sadr aide Hazim al-Araji told Reuters the dead were not militiamen and had been unarmed: "The American forces went into Mustafa mosque at prayers and killed more than 20 worshippers ... They tied them up and shot them."
Times: Iraqis killed by US troops ‘on rampage’
THE villagers of Abu Sifa near the Iraqi town of Balad had become used to the sound of explosions at night as American forces searched the area for suspected insurgents. But one night two weeks ago Issa Harat Khalaf heard a different sound that chilled him to the bone.
ONLINE VIDEO
ICH: Iraq's Missing Billions
Dispatches/GuardianFilms
Dr Ali Fadhil, a 29 year old Iraqi doctor, investigates what has happened to billions of dollars worth of Iraqi money which was put into the care of the US led coalition to be spent for the benefit of Iraqi people on the reconstruction of their country. He uncovers a shocking story of fraud, incompetence and corruption, unscrupulous foreign contractors who made millions from dodgy contracts, and literally billions of dollars which cannot be properly accounted for
Click to Download
Dispatches/GuardianFilms
Dr Ali Fadhil, a 29 year old Iraqi doctor, investigates what has happened to billions of dollars worth of Iraqi money which was put into the care of the US led coalition to be spent for the benefit of Iraqi people on the reconstruction of their country. He uncovers a shocking story of fraud, incompetence and corruption, unscrupulous foreign contractors who made millions from dodgy contracts, and literally billions of dollars which cannot be properly accounted for
Click to Download
Friday, March 24, 2006
IRAQ: ASSAULT ON SAMARRA
Knight Ridder: Peace elusive in Iraqi city of Samarra
SAMARRA, Iraq - The gunfight by the Tigris River was over. It was time to retrieve the bodies.
Staff Sgt. Cortez Powell looked at the shredded jaw of a dead man whom he'd shot in the face when insurgents ambushed an American patrol in a blind of reeds. Powell's M4 assault rifle had jammed, so he'd grabbed the pump-action shotgun that he kept slung over his shoulders and pulled the trigger.
Five other soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division scrambled down, pulled two of the insurgents' bodies from the reeds and dragged them through the mud.
"Strap those motherf-----s to the hood like a deer," said Staff Sgt. James Robinson, 25, of Hughes, Ark.
The soldiers heaved the two bodies onto the hood of a Humvee and tied them down with a cord. The dead insurgents' legs and arms flapped in the air as the Humvee rumbled along.
Iraqi families stood in front of the surrounding houses. They watched the corpses ride by and glared at the American soldiers.
SAMARRA, Iraq - The gunfight by the Tigris River was over. It was time to retrieve the bodies.
Staff Sgt. Cortez Powell looked at the shredded jaw of a dead man whom he'd shot in the face when insurgents ambushed an American patrol in a blind of reeds. Powell's M4 assault rifle had jammed, so he'd grabbed the pump-action shotgun that he kept slung over his shoulders and pulled the trigger.
Five other soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division scrambled down, pulled two of the insurgents' bodies from the reeds and dragged them through the mud.
"Strap those motherf-----s to the hood like a deer," said Staff Sgt. James Robinson, 25, of Hughes, Ark.
The soldiers heaved the two bodies onto the hood of a Humvee and tied them down with a cord. The dead insurgents' legs and arms flapped in the air as the Humvee rumbled along.
Iraqi families stood in front of the surrounding houses. They watched the corpses ride by and glared at the American soldiers.
ONLINE VIDEO
ICH: The Road to Guantanamo
How three young men from the UK, ended up in the world's most notorious prison.
Every American Should Be Required To Watch This Video
This movie shows the sadism and stupidity of the US and British soldiers. The guards behave with the same cruelty you expect to see from SS officers in lurid second world war movies. It takes a moment or two to realize that these events reflect the reality of those held in Americas notorious gulag.
found via www.inforamtionclearinghouse.info
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
PROPAGANDA WATCH
New York Times: No Breach Seen in Work in Iraq on Propaganda
The New York Times reports that the U.S. military's review of a PR firm's covert propaganda program in Iraq, led by Rear Adm. Scott Van Buskirk, has been completed but not made public. According to military officials, "The findings are narrow in focus, and conclude
that the Lincoln Group committed no legal violations because its actions in paying to place American [information operations troops]-written articles without attribution were not expressly prohibited by its contract or military rules." The report "did not deal deeply" with such issues as how the small, young, well-connected firm received large government contracts, or whether its work was effective. It also did not address how, "in a modern information world connected by satellite television and the Internet, misleading information and lies could easily migrate into American news outlets." The Lincoln Group's Iraq work, on "a contract estimated at several million dollars," remains "fully in effect." The firm continues to bid for U.S. government contracts.
found via PR-Watch
The New York Times reports that the U.S. military's review of a PR firm's covert propaganda program in Iraq, led by Rear Adm. Scott Van Buskirk, has been completed but not made public. According to military officials, "The findings are narrow in focus, and conclude
that the Lincoln Group committed no legal violations because its actions in paying to place American [information operations troops]-written articles without attribution were not expressly prohibited by its contract or military rules." The report "did not deal deeply" with such issues as how the small, young, well-connected firm received large government contracts, or whether its work was effective. It also did not address how, "in a modern information world connected by satellite television and the Internet, misleading information and lies could easily migrate into American news outlets." The Lincoln Group's Iraq work, on "a contract estimated at several million dollars," remains "fully in effect." The firm continues to bid for U.S. government contracts.
found via PR-Watch
IRAQ
Independent: The march of folly, that has led to a bloodbath
The Iraq War: Three Years On
by Robert Fisk
Even today the occupation powers tell awesome lies. Democracy is taking hold when the "Iraqi" government controls only a few acres of Baghdad greensward. The insurgency is being crushed when 40,000 armed Iraqis are ripping into the greatest army on Earth; freedom is taking hold when thousands of Iraqis are dying each month. "Operation Swarmer" is now supposedly targeting those who want a civil war in Iraq. Some of the men who are trying to provoke civil war however, work for the Iraqi Interior Ministry, and are paid, ultimately, by us.
The Iraq War: Three Years On
by Robert Fisk
Even today the occupation powers tell awesome lies. Democracy is taking hold when the "Iraqi" government controls only a few acres of Baghdad greensward. The insurgency is being crushed when 40,000 armed Iraqis are ripping into the greatest army on Earth; freedom is taking hold when thousands of Iraqis are dying each month. "Operation Swarmer" is now supposedly targeting those who want a civil war in Iraq. Some of the men who are trying to provoke civil war however, work for the Iraqi Interior Ministry, and are paid, ultimately, by us.
IRAQ
Zaman: 'Northern Iraq Ruled by Force and Fear'
The weekly news magazine, Time, wrote two parties ruling the autonomous Kurdistan region in northern Iraq restrict freedoms and the democratic process.
The magazine focusing on the region reported corruption and repression prevail in the region ruled by the Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK). The two parties' despotic tendencies repress their opponents, it was underlined, and that the KDP and PUK rule the region by "force and fear."
The weekly news magazine, Time, wrote two parties ruling the autonomous Kurdistan region in northern Iraq restrict freedoms and the democratic process.
The magazine focusing on the region reported corruption and repression prevail in the region ruled by the Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK). The two parties' despotic tendencies repress their opponents, it was underlined, and that the KDP and PUK rule the region by "force and fear."
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