Blog For Free!
Archives
Home
2006 March
2006 February
2005 June
2005 May
2005 April
2005 March
2005 February
2005 January
2004 December
2004 November
2004 October
2004 September
2004 July
2004 June
2004 May
2004 April
2004 March
2004 February
2004 January
My Links
Home
Sea-Eat
HaitiChildren.com
Adopt A Minefield
Info for Americans living abroad
Jewish Voice For Peace
Gush-Shalom
All Is One
The Hunger Site
Global Exchange
Peace Star Project
Iraq Occupation Watch
Peace Mid-East Dialogue Group
B'TSELEM
Parents Circle - Families Forum
Women's World
P10K
tBlog
My Profile
Send tMail
My tFriends
My Images
Sponsored
Blog
|
| US Muslims Favor John Kerry and Ralph Nader |
| 07.01.04 (8:39 am) [edit] |
American Muslim voters favour Democrat candidate John Kerry followed by the Green Party's, Lebanese-born Ralph Nader, according to a survey published Tuesday by the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). According to CAIR's survey of 1161 individuals taken in June, 54 percent of eligible Muslim voters said they would vote for Kerry, while 26 percent favoured Nader and only 6 percent Bush. However, a sizable 14 percent of Muslim voters said they are still undecided, while 55 percent of the respondents said they voted for President Bush in the 2000 election.
Thirty-four percent of the percent of respondents said the Democratic Party best represents American Muslim interests, closely followed by the Green Party at 24 percent, while 22 percent said no party reflected their views. Moreover, 11 percent of respondents said they are better off since the advent of George Bush.
On other issues, 45 percent said they experienced some form of anti-Muslim discrimination or bias in the past year and 87 percent felt less secure since the invasion of Iraq. However, 81 percent said they feel free to practice their faith in America.
The two largest ethnic groups listed in the survey were South Asian (37 percent) and those from an Arabic-speaking background (28 percent). Muslims from 43 states responded to the survey, with the most responses coming from California, Texas, Virginia, New York, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Maryland and New Jersey.
According to CAIR estimates, the American Muslim population counts 7 million individuals. APS
|
|
|
| |
| Soldiers sacked for kitten torture |
| 07.01.04 (8:31 am) [edit] |
My first blog of the day will seem trivial to many. At the moment I have 3 cats but have had as many as 6 at once. A human being capable of treating a helpless kitten or any animal for that matter in this way has severe mental problems and is a danger to the community at large. You don't believe me? Think about it!
Six Australian soldiers found guilty of torturing and killing a litter of kittens will be kicked out of the defence force, the army says.
An army statement said the behaviour of the six servicemen, based in Townsville on Australia's east coast, was not consistent with the values of the army and well below expected standards.
"They have brought shame and discredit to the Australian army," said the statement.
A magistrate court earlier this year heard that the soldiers tortured the litter of three-week-old stray kittens during a drinking session on Easter Saturday at the residential section of their barracks, local media reported.
The court heard that one kitten was dragged on a rope behind a motorcycle and then crushed, while three others were set on fire.
The incident sparked calls for the soldiers' to be sacked.
The army said each soldier's case had been looked at individually and legal advice sought before making the decision to discharge them. They can appeal against the decision. CNN
|
|
|
| |
| "We got a terroristic phone call the other day" she said |
| 06.30.04 (8:19 pm) [edit] |
The following story should make you feel a bit ill at ease rather than comforted. There are too many racist prowling around in the US for this kind of thing not to turn nasty.
Be careful taking pics of bridges or wearing a jacket when someone else thinks it's a bit to warm for one. Watch that suspicious behavior!
The Department of Homeland Security this year gave $19.3 million to the American Trucking Associations, which is based in Alexandria, Va., to recruit a volunteer "army" called Highway Watch. So far, 10,000 truckers have signed on to become amateur sleuths. Over the next year, the goal is to add tollbooth workers, rest-stop employees and construction crews, creating a corps of 400,000 people drawn from every state.
After the session in Little Rock, two newly initiated Highway Watch members sat down for the catered barbecue lunch. The truckers, who haul hazardous material across 48 states, explained how easy it is to spot "Islamics" on the road: just look for their turbans. Quite a few of them are truck drivers, says William Westfall of Van Buren, Ark. "I'll be honest. They know they're not welcome at truck stops. There's still a lot of animosity toward Islamics." Eddie Dean of Fort Smith, Ark., also has little doubt about his ability to identify Muslims: "You can tell where they're from. You can hear their accents. They're not real clean people."
That kind of prejudice is hard to undo, but it's a shame Beatty's slide show did not mention that in the U.S., it's almost always Sikhs who wear turbans, not Muslims. Last year a Sikh truck driver who was wearing a turban was shot twice while standing near his tractor trailer in Phoenix, Ariz. He survived the attack, which police are investigating as a hate crime. Time
|
|
|
| |
| French bashing is in again |
| 06.30.04 (2:42 pm) [edit] |
Those of us in Europe can laugh at Bush and hooray Chirac for putting him in his place but it's really no laughing matter. No doubt, Chirac is saying to Bush what many of us would like to say ourselves. But, the tension is growing between the US and France. The gap is widening. The heat on the internet, mostly from US citizens and some journalists is disturbing. I am compiling a list of US based, anti-French sites and will share them soon. The comments are not to be believed.
Too many are casting blame in the wrong place. The French president refuses to yield to Bush arrogance. Perhaps he appears pompous and maybe he's going a bit overboard but contrast this with the actions of George Bush since he's been in office and it's easy to see where the fault of this rift lies.
Sadly many confused US citizens won't be happy until French soldiers join them in the illegal occupation of Iraq (yes, it's still being occupied). As an ally France is supposed to support the US even in an illegal war that's over although they're sending more troops. Go figure (shaking my head in amazement). Bush is losing his ass and all the fixtures as we use to say back home.
Actually the fury had only died down to a low simmer since France's refusal to back the Iraq war but it's again starting to boil. That's too bad. It's too bad so many Americans continue to look at the Bush administration through rose-colored glasses.
Hopefully, there will be a regime change come November and the world will become a bit more sane.
If this doesn't happen I'm afraid for all our futures.
|
|
|
| |
| Workers protest as France prepares power sell-off |
| 06.30.04 (7:04 am) [edit] |
Several thousand power industry workers marched in Paris on Tuesday as the government called a vote in parliament on draft legislation that prepares the giant utility Electricite de France for partial privatisation.
Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin went on radio to say he would not withdraw the bill that authorises the sale of shares in EDF and sister company Gaz de France. He also vowed to stick to a controversial reform to streamline the state health system.
``I hear them, but I won't surrender,'' Raffarin told Europe 1 radio, adding that he would demand punishment for workers who interrupted public services. ``One cannot confront parliament with violence.''
Trade unions oppose the legislation on the grounds that it spells the death of a public service which they say should remain under state control. They also argue that privatisation could lead to higher bills for households.
Angry EDF workers have cut the power supply momentarily in recent weeks to places such as the Eiffel Tower and President Jacques Chirac's Elysee Palace, forcing officials at both premises to resort to generators to keep the lights going.
``We will fight until this bill is withdrawn,'' Marie-Claire Cailletaud, a representative of the CGT union, said during the march, attended by 5,000 to 6,000, according to organisers.
The Communist-linked CGT, the biggest union in the power utilities, said in a statement it would battle on regardless of how the vote goes in parliament.
Utility workers shut down power overnight in various parts of the Bordeaux region of southwestern France in more wildcat protests after disrupting commuter traffic in and around Paris on Monday with selective electricity cuts.
Protesting workers have also staged so-called ``Robin Hood operations'' to reconnect power to homes who have not paid bills.
Power cuts disrupted rail traffic into two Paris commuter stations on Monday, causing more than 200 trains carrying some 150,000 passengers into Gare Saint Lazare to be cancelled or delayed, French rail operator SNCF said. UTUSAN
|
|
|
| |
| ADL calls for removal of Hitler from Bush-Cheney web site |
| 06.29.04 (5:54 pm) [edit] |
The following is a press release from the Anti-Defamation League protesting the Bush campaign's continued insistance of running an ad on its web site likening its Democratic opponents with Adolf Hitler.
Despite the urgent calls of many to repudiate the ad and pull it from its web site (If you go into www.georgewbush.com, click on the tab that says "Latest Videos" and then you'll see the link to the ad in question), the Bush campaign is now in its fifth day of running this despicable ad.
No matter how many disclaimers the Bush campaign adds to its spot, likening its opponents with Hitler is not only despicable and sickening, but it raises grave questions (as if nothing else ever did) about whether George W. Bush and his hordes should be trusted with another term in the White House.
New York, NY, June 28, 2004 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today expressed disappointment that Nazi images are still prominently featured in a video on the official re-election campaign Web site of President George W. Bush.
Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director, issued the following statement:
We are disappointed that the Bush-Cheney campaign has not removed Nazi images, including Adolf Hitler, from the President's re-election Web site. The campaign's rehashing of what had appeared on the MoveOn.org site, which was removed after outcry from ADL and others, is inappropriate and offensive.
Using images of Hitler and terminology from the Nazi regime in campaign attacks is offensive and demeaning to the memory of the six million and others who died in the Holocaust. However well intentioned, the Bush-Cheney campaign's attempt to add a disclaimer to the video -- suggesting that they were only using it to show how their adversaries have used Hitler's image– does not go far enough. We urge the Bush-Cheney campaign to immediately remove the Hitler imagery from the video.
Earlier this year, after a proliferation of references to Hitler and the Nazis began appearing in the wind-up to the Presidential election season, we called on the Democratic and Republican parties to refrain from adopting Nazi imagery as a political attack tool. We had hoped then that both parties had heard our concerns. For us, this is neither a Democratic nor a Republican issue, but rather a matter of respecting the feelings of those who could be offended by such images, including Jewish Holocaust survivors and their families.
ADL has been consistent in condemning the use of Nazi images in political campaigns and in the public arena. In a letter to former Vice President Al Gore, the League expressed concern about his exploitation of Nazi imagery in his June 24 speech at Georgetown University Law Center. In a letter to Judge Guido Calabresi of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit, ADL said it was troubled by his comparison, in his June 19 speech to the American Constitution Society, of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Bush v. Gore to the circumstances by which Hitler and Mussolini ascended to power. ADL
|
|
|
| |
| Iraq Combat - What It's Really Like Over There |
| 06.29.04 (4:45 pm) [edit] |
Read it then do what you can to get them home.
Rense.com
|
|
|
| |
| UN asks Israel to go nuclear-free |
| 06.29.04 (3:56 pm) [edit] |
The head of the UN's nuclear watchdog, Mohamed ElBaradei, says Israel should start discussions on ridding the Middle East of nuclear weapons.
He said such dialogue would help reduce frustration in the region about "what is seen to be a widespread imbalance".
He said everyone knew that Israel had a nuclear capability - even if Israel has always refused to admit it.
Mr ElBaradei said he would like Israel, along with other Middle East countries, to open up nuclear facilities to inspections by the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency.
But he would not be insisting Israel admits to having nuclear weapons, when he visits the country in early July.
"I think everybody takes it as a given that Israel has a nuclear capability, if not nuclear weapons," he said.
"So whether they would like to come in the open, whether they maintain... ambiguity, it's for them to decide."
Israel has a policy of "strategic ambiguity" - neither admitting nor denying it has nuclear weapons - but analysts believe it has more than 100 nuclear weapons.
Its Arab neighbours have frequently accused the international community of double standards for requiring them to be free of nuclear weapons while doing little, in their eyes, about Israel.
Mr ElBaradei said it was "not sustainable in any region or even globally to have some [people] rely on nuclear weapons and others being told they should not have nuclear weapons". BBC
|
|
|
| |
| Angry Chirac puts Bush in his place where he belongs |
| 06.29.04 (2:04 pm) [edit] |
To say Chirac as well as the rest of us have had enough of Mr. Bush is putting it mildly. I thoroughly enjoyed Bush being denied the deference he thinks he deserves.
I do think Chirac has other reasons for his obstinance about Turkey rather than humanitarian ones and would like to see Turkey as part of the EU if that's what they want. Of course, only after they clean up their humanrights record.
Yesterday's news showed clearly there is much to be done in this area...
Jacques Chirac bluntly told George Bush to mind his own business yesterday when the US president urged European leaders to give Turkey a firm date for starting EU membership talks later this year.
Ignoring the determined effort to celebrate improved transatlantic relations after the Iraq crisis, the French president publicly rebuked Mr Bush at Nato's Istanbul summit for calling for special treatment for the Turks.
Mr Bush, he complained, "not only went too far but went on to territory which is not his own".
He added: "It's as if I was advising the US on how they should manage their relations with Mexico."
As he was speaking, Tony Blair and Mr Bush were asked about their current relationship with France and Germany, the key Nato critics of their Iraq war policy.
Mr Blair said: "There's no point ... in saying all the previous disagreements have disappeared; they have not."
The US, supported by Britain, has been pushing hard on behalf of Turkey, its Nato ally, and highlighting the value of Europe embracing the world's most successful Muslim democracy at a time when many predict a clash of civilisations between Islam and the west.
France has been the most openly resistant.
After denying Turkey even candidate status for EU membership for many years until it was finally conceded in 1999, EU leaders are due to decide at their next summit in December when it can begin formal negotiations, which will take at least 10 years.
First Turkey has to meet the union's strict criteria on human rights, the judiciary and democracy,
Polls repeatedly show France to be the country most opposed to the enlargement of the EU, and specifically to Turkish membership. Guardian
|
|
|
| |
| Scans uncover secrets of the womb |
| 06.29.04 (1:31 pm) [edit] |
I just love this kind of stuff. WOW! You can see more pics on the BBC site.
Baby walking in the womb
8 weeks, 40mm from crown to rump
A new type of ultrasound scan has produced vivid pictures of a 12 week-old foetus "walking" in the womb.
The new images also show foetuses apparently yawning and rubbing its eyes.
Professor Campbell has perfected a technique which not only produces detailed 3D images, but records foetal movement in real time.
He says his work has been able to show for the first time that the unborn baby engages in complex behaviour from an early stage of its development.
Professor Campbell told the BBC: "This is a new science for understanding and mapping out the behaviour of the baby.
"Maybe in the future it will help us understand and diagnose genetic disease, maybe even conditions like cerebral palsy which puzzles the medical profession as to why it occurs."
The images have shown:
From 12 weeks, unborn babies can stretch, kick and leap around the womb - well before the mother can feel movement
From 18 weeks, they can open their eyes although most doctors thought eyelids were fused until 26 weeks
From 26 weeks, they appear to exhibit a whole range of typical baby behaviour and moods, including scratching, smiling, crying, hiccoughing, and sucking.
Until recently it was thought that smiling did not start until six weeks after birth.
An hour long session using the new technology, which is not yet available on the NHS, costs £275. BBC
|
|
|
| |
| Talk to Kerry - Take the survey |
| 06.29.04 (1:08 pm) [edit] |
In the 2004 Presidential campaign, there is strong enthusiasm and consensus around the notion of "Anybody but Bush". But there is not the same kind of conviction and enthusiasm for the only candidate with a realistic chance of beating him - John Kerry. To win, we believe Kerry must address the issues that are currently distancing him from many voters.
WeCount.org, ProgressiveVote, and Media-Screen Market Research are conducting this survey to determine where you stand on key campaign issues, whether John Kerry represents your views, and if not, how he could refine his positions on the issues to gain your support.
Finally, receiving endorsements from former rivals might not be enough to beat Bush. Kerry needs these leaders and their supporters to know that the issues they feel most strongly about will be represented in his administration. Does Kerry need to reach out and build formal partnerships with other political leaders and constituents in order to win the 2004 election? We look to you for your opinions.
The findings will be presented to John Kerry's campaign and will be used to build the foundation for Coalition for America, which you'll learn about after completing the survey.
Help shape the direction of the Presidential race and the new administration by taking 10-15 minutes to answer the following questions.
Take the Survey
|
|
|
| |
| Iraqi Militants Kill U.S. Soldier |
| 06.29.04 (1:01 pm) [edit] |
Associated Press
June 29, 2004
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Militants shot an American hostage in the back of the head saying they killed the soldier because of U.S. policy in Iraq, Al-Jazeera television said Tuesday, hours after Washington transferred sovereignty in Iraq to an interim government.
The Arab-language station reported that the slain soldier was Spc. Keith M. Maupin, but the U.S. military said it could not immediately confirm whether a man shown being shot in a murky videotape was indeed Maupin, who was taken hostage after an April 9 attack outside Baghdad.
The report did not say when Maupin, 20, of Batavia, Ohio, was killed.
Monday's surprise transfer of sovereignty came two days earlier in an apparent attempt to foil the timing of expected attacks by anti-American insurgents intent at undermining the transfer.
There were no major attacks throughout the day. But after nightfall Monday, four heavy explosions rang out in central Baghdad, near the U.S.-held Green Zone - a near daily occurrence in the capital. The military said there were no injuries in the blasts, which were caused by mortar fire.
On Tuesday, a roadside bomb exploded as a senior Kurdish police official was heading to work, killing one of this guards and wounding him, police said.
Maj. Ahmed al-Hamawandi, the head of police in the Kurdish district of Azadi in Kirkuk, suffered minor injuries in the attack that occurred at around 8:50 a.m., said police Col. Sarhat Qader.
Sectarian tension has been on the rise in Kirkuk, a city that sits atop vast oil reserves, and Kurdish officials and police have been the frequent target of attacks by gunmen.
The U.S. civilian authority, which rode in on a swift military victory that swept away Saddam's generation-long regime, withdrew quietly on Monday. Its leader, L. Paul Bremer, left Iraq aboard a military plane two hours after the transfer and was swiftly succeeded by U.S. Ambassador John Negroponte.
Hours later, NATO leaders agreed to help train Iraq's armed forces - a decision that fell short of U.S. hopes that the security alliance would take a larger role in Iraq.
Iraq's tentative step toward democratic rule will operate under major restrictions - some imposed at the behest of the country's influential Shiite Muslim clergy, which wanted to limit the powers of an unelected administration.
The interim government will hold power for seven months until, by U.N. Security Council resolution, elections are held "in no case later than" Jan. 31. The Americans retain responsibility for security.
Bush raised no objection to Iyad Allawi's possibly imposing martial law in Iraq or taking hard-line measures to deal with militants such as Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the most wanted man in the country.
"He may take tough security measures to deal with Zarqawi, but he may have to," Bush said. "Zarqawi is the guy who beheads people on TV. He's the person that orders suiciders to kill women and children."
Al-Jazeera aired a video showing a blindfolded man identified as Maupin sitting on the ground. Al-Jazeera said that in the next scene, gunmen shoot the man in the back of the head, in front of a hole dug in the ground. The station did not broadcast the killing.
Maj. Willie Harris, spokesman for the Army's 88th Regional Readiness Command, said the man in the footage could not be clearly identified but that the videotape is being analyzed by the Department of Defense.
"There is no confirmation at this time, that the tape contains footage of Matt Maupin or any other Army soldier," he said, adding that the Maupin family was briefed "as to the existence of a videotape."
Al-Jazeera said a statement was issued with the video in the name of a group calling itself "The Sharp Sword against the Enemies of God and His Prophet."
In the statement, the militants said they killed the soldier because the United States did not change its policies in Iraq and to avenge "martyrs" in Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Algeria.
Maupin was among nine Americans, seven of them contractors, who disappeared after an ambush on a convoy west of Baghdad on April 9.
The bodies of four civilian employees of Kellogg Brown & Root - a subsidiary of Vice President Dick Cheney's former company Halliburton - were later found in a shallow grave near the site of the attack. The body of Sgt. Elmer Krause, of Greensboro, N.C. was later found.
One civilian driver, Thomas Hamill of Macon, Miss., was kidnapped but escaped from his captors nearly a month later. The others are missing.
In a separate hostage-taking, the father of a U.S. Marine who was reported kidnapped by militants on Monday issued a plea for his release. The captors of Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun have threatened to behead him.
Four other hostages - three Turks and a Pakistani - all face threats of beheading in the next two days in a new flurry of abductions and death threats in Iraq.
Maupin appeared days after the attack in a video showing him sitting on the ground in front of armed militants. There had been no word on his fate since.
Maupin - who was assigned to the Army Reserve's 724th Transportation Company, based at Bartonville, Ill. - was promoted in absentia on May 1 from private first class to the rank of specialist, said Maj. Mark Magalski, a spokesman for the 633rd QM Ballation, based in Cincinnati.
His abduction came amid a wave of kidnappings in which dozens of foreigners were snatched. Most were later freed, though an Italian and a Lebanese man were killed.
More recently, the abductions have taken a more grisly turn with the kidnapping and subsequent beheadings of American Nicholas Berg last month and South Korean Kim Sun-Il last week.
Hassoun, an American Marine of Lebanese descent, was shown blindfolded, with a sword brandished over his head in a videotape aired on Al-Jazeera on Sunday. The militants threatened to behead him unless all Iraqis "in occupation jails" are freed. They did not set a timeframe.
"I appeal to the kidnappers and to their conscience and faith to release my son," his father, Ali Hassoun, said in an interview with The Associated Press at his house in the northern Lebanese port city of Tripoli.
"He is not a fighter. I hope that they will respond favorably to my appeal. May God reward them," he said.
His kidnappers identified themselves as part of "Islamic Response," the security wing of the "National Islamic Resistance - 1920 Revolution Brigades." The name refers to the uprising against the British after World War I. Iraq.net
|
|
|
| |
| Stop the Genocide in Sudan! |
| 06.29.04 (10:34 am) [edit] |
Dear Mr. President,
I join with Rep. Nancy Pelosi and members of the Congressional Black Caucus in calling upon your administration to take immediate action on the genocide occurring in Sudan.
As a result of the civil war in the Darfur region of the western Sudan, as many as 30,000 civilians may have been murdered and more than 1 million people have been driven off their land into unprotected camps in Sudan and neighboring Chad. The humanitarian crisis caused by the fighting could produce an additional 350,000 deaths in the next nine months.
I urge the administration to take immediate steps to prevent even more innocents from being slaughtered by:
1) Declaring that the atrocities unfolding in Darfur, Sudan are genocide;
2) Leading an international effort to prevent further civilian deaths in Darfur;
3) Urging the United Nations Security Council to immediately pass a resolution authorizing a peacekeeping force to facilitate emergency humanitarian assistance; and,
4) Imposing targeted sanctions, including visa bans and the freezing of assets of those in the Sudanese government, affiliated businesses, and individuals directly responsible for the atrocities in Darfur, Sudan.
Our response to the daily misery in Darfur must not be half-measures and delay. Now is the time to stop further slaughter, or our country will look back on the lives lost in Darfur with the regret and shame that we feel for events in other parts of Africa.
Please make Sudan a top priority and stop the genocide!
Sign the Petition
|
|
|
| |
| Arab Analysts Say Iraq Sovereignty Positive, But Not Enough |
| 06.28.04 (7:58 pm) [edit] |
James Martone
Cairo
Arab and regional analysts say the transfer of sovereignty to the Iraqi interim government is a good first step toward having Iraqis take full control of their country. But many experts in the Middle East also say it is not enough to convince most Arabs that the United States is sincere about leaving Iraq permanently.
The former head of the 22-nation Arab League, Esmat Abdel Meguid, welcomed the transfer of power in Iraq. But he said many people in the Middle East will be concerned that Monday's ceremony was only an effort by the United States to improve its imagine. "I would hope that this will be opening a new page, and the United States acting honestly and positively and not try to play a game in that. You see, this is very important for the United States to restore what they have been losing in the, not only in the Middle East or in the area, but in the whole world. Because there are oppositions to the United States' action in Iraq, not only in the Middle East, but in many parts of the world. So if this is genuine, positive and leading to restore to Iraq its rightful place in the area, because Iraq is a very important country in the area, then this move will succeed," he said.
Mr. Abdel Meguid said a good way for Washington to prove it really means to restore power to Iraq, should be for U.S. troops to pull out, in his words, as soon as possible. The view that the transfer of power must be followed by a withdrawal of U.S. troops was echoed by several regional analysts on Monday.
The head of Cairo University's Political Science Department, Hassan Nafaa, said any measure that gives Iraqis decision-making power is positive. Still, he said he doubted the transfer of administrative powers in Iraq will impress many Arabs, who think the United States wants control of Iraq's oil. "I don't think that people in the Arab world will perceive it as something that will change the life of the Iraqi people. Most of the Arab intellectuals think that the real decision-maker in Iraq is still the United States. And because the [Iraqi] government has no military machine, a security machine in general, so the most important file will be handled through the Americans and the forces of the occupation in general. So, as long as this government lacks the security apparatus, it will not be in a position to take real decisions in Iraq," he said.
At the University of Qatar in Doha, political science professor Mohamed Al-Musfir has a different concern. He said the coalition is exaggerating the threat of civil war in Iraq to provide an excuse for keeping foreign troops in the country. "Now, they are giving them again a false information, that, once the power, or the Americans, totally withdraw from Iraq, there will be a chaos, or a civil war. This is not true at all, because the Iraqis, first of all, they know each other, they are not going to face each other by force, and I believe that this civil war it is a cause [for the U.S. forces] just to be there permanently," he said.
Professor Sami Baroudi at the American University in Beirut said many Arabs are perhaps wrongly calling for a U.S. military withdrawal at this time. "I think, basically, that, all long, as the United States is there on the ground, people will still argue that the country is still under occupation, you know, despite all these cosmetics. Now, of course, there are many problems that may not make it possible for the United States to withdraw its troops, so it is more like, you know, [a dilemma]," he said. "If the United States withdraws right now, that would be total anarchy, so it will be very bad, I think, for the people of Iraq. But at the same time, one doesn't see a way out. I think all of these things should have been figured before the occupation, not after."
The Middle East project director of the Amman-based research organization, the International Crisis Group, expresses a similar view. The researcher, Joost Hiltermann, said the continuing U.S. and coalition troop presence in Iraq makes it difficult for many Arabs to see any positive developments. "Even when the United States is talking about reform and democratization and human rights, people don't believe it, because all they see is the military boot that arrives on Arab soil. And, so, the only thing that may, in the end, or in the long term, change their minds is the withdrawal of the American forces from the Middle East, and that is not going to be happening anytime soon, I think," he said.
On balance, Middle East analysts reached after the hand-over of sovereignty in Iraq welcomed the move. But they also say Arabs across the region will want to see a full withdrawal of coalition forces from Iraq as soon as possible, even though most agree there are good reasons that will be difficult to achieve. VOA
|
|
|
| |
| U.S. high court deals blow to Bush |
| 06.28.04 (7:42 pm) [edit] |
By James Vicini
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that an American captured overseas in President George W. Bush's war on terrorism and held in a U.S. military jail must be given a chance to contest the government's decision to detain him.
The high court on Monday divided by a 5-4 vote to rule that Bush has the power to detain American citizen Yaser Hamdi, who was captured in Afghanistan as a suspected Taliban fighter and has been held in a U.S. military jail in the United States.
But in the more important part of the ruling, the justices by an 8-1 vote ruled he should get a fair opportunity to rebut the government's case for detaining him.
The decision was one of three by the high court on Monday in cases that pitted civil liberties concerns against national security arguments and marked a blow to Bush's assertion of sweeping presidential powers after the September 11, 2001, attacks.
In the Hamdi case, the court said the U.S. Congress correctly authorized the detention of combatants in the narrow circumstances alleged in the case, but ruled that he could challenge his detention -- a position at odds with what the Bush administration argued.
At least two court members -- Justices David Souter and Ruth Bader Ginsburg -- would have released Hamdi immediately.
They joined the main opinion by four other justices who said Hamdi should have a meaningful opportunity to offer evidence that he is not an enemy combatant.
The four, in an opinion written by Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, said constitutional due process rights demand that a citizen held in the United States as an enemy combatant must be given "a meaningful opportunity" to contest the basis for the detention before a neutral party.
Hamdi was born in the United States on September 26, 1980, to Saudi parents, and was raised in Saudi Arabia. He was captured in Afghanistan in November 2001 while fighting with the Taliban, according to U.S. officials.
He initially was taken to the U.S. military base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, but was moved to the United States when U.S. officials discovered he was born in Louisiana.
The justices set aside a U.S. appeals court ruling that Hamdi was entitled to no further opportunity to challenge his enemy-combatant label. Reuters
|
|
|
| |
| Fear of terrorism a winning platform? |
| 06.28.04 (4:24 pm) [edit] |
Time has an interesting article on Why al-Qaeda Thrives.
The writer points out nothing many of us don't already know.
Muslim anger at the U.S. has reached an all-time high and continues to grow, driven by outrage at U.S. actions in Iraq and Afghanistan, and by Israel's actions against the Palestinians. The precipitous decline in support or sympathy for the U.S. in the Muslim world after 9/11 has meant fertile ground for al-Qaeda recruiters.
The International Institute for Strategic Studies released its annual survey that found, among other things, that far from dealing a blow to al-Qaeda and making the U.S. and its allies safer, the Iraq invasion has in fact substantially strengthened bin Laden's network and increased the danger of attacks in the West.
And yet, and this is what interested me..
Americans' fear of terror remains a rich seam of political support for the president — indeed, recent polls indicate that while more Americans believe his presumptive challenger, Senator John Kerry, would do a better job handling Iraq, Bush has a significant lead when the question is who would do a better job of fighting terrorism. Not surprisingly, then, the president's handlers have sought to make terrorism the prism through which the Bush presidency must be viewed — even when the conversation turns to Iraq.
President Bush framed his Monday keynote address on Iraq around the idea that the country is now "the central front in the war on terror." He implied that the invasion of Iraq was a choice forced on the U.S. by the Sept. 11 attacks and that the enemy facing the U.S. there shares al-Qaeda's goal of establishing "Taliban-type" rule.
In all, he used the words "terror" or "terrorist/terrorism" 19 times.
This is a good place to plug What is the definition of a terrorist?
|
|
|
| |
| Iraq: U.S. Marine and Halliburton employee kidnapped |
| 06.28.04 (2:09 pm) [edit] |
The kidnappers claimed to have infiltrated a Marine outpost, lured Wassef Ali Hassoun, U.S. Marine outside and abducted him. Al-Jazeera said the militants demanded the release of all Iraqis "in occupation jails" or the hostage would be killed.
They identified themselves as part of "Islamic response"
the security wing of the "National Islamic Resistance — 1920 Revolution Brigades." The name refers to the uprising against the British after World War I.
Along with Hassoun a driver for and American contractor who called himself Amjad has also been kidnapped. The driver was shown on a tape broadcast by a different Arab television station, Al-Arabiya. The hostage displayed an identification card issued by the U.S. firm Kellogg, Brown & Root, a subsidiary of Vice President Dick Cheney's former company Halliburton.
Four masked men holding assault rifles across their chests said they would behead the driver within three days unless Americans freed prisoners held at Abu Ghraib and three cities of central Iraq — Balad, Dujail and Samarra.
|
|
|
| |
| CIA insider slams Bush antiterror policies |
| 06.28.04 (11:25 am) [edit] |
A book written by a top CIA counterterrorism official alleges that the Bush administration has bungled the war on terror, and because of poor decisions the United States faces a choice in Iraq and Afghanistan "between war and endless war."
Written by a high-level counterterrorism expert and published under the name "Anonymous," the book "Imperial Hubris: Why the West is Losing the War on Terror" is unique in that it was written by an official still working for the CIA.
Although he was relatively muted on the topic of George Tenet, the outgoing director of the CIA, the author was unsparing in his criticism of the Bush administration's decision to wait a month after the September 11, 2001, attacks before going to war in Afghanistan.
"We were facing a government, the Taliban, which was basically a rural insurgency trying to govern cities, and al Qaeda, which is a 20-year-old insurgency. If you were going to hit them, sir, you had to hit them on the 11th or the 12th or the 13th."
"By the time the 7th of October rolled along, most of those forces had been dispersed into the countryside, into Pakistan, into Iran, overseas to other countries. There was no 'there' left when we went there," he said.
In his book, the author labeled the invasion of Iraq a "Christmas gift" to Osama bin Laden and said the country has become a "Mujahadeen magnet" attracting Muslims from around the world to fight the occupying U.S. forces. CNN
|
|
|
| |
| Syria the price of web surfing can be prison |
| 06.28.04 (10:46 am) [edit] |
When he downloaded some material on Syria and emailed it to his friends, Abdel Rahman al-Shaghouri did not think he would end up in prison.
Al-Shaghouri, 32, already in prison since February 2003 for his 'offence', was sentenced this week to two-and-a-half years imprisonment by the security court.
He was held guilty of "disseminating false and exaggerated news that saps the morale of the nation." He cannot appeal against the sentence.
The articles he downloaded from the site 'This is Syria' were found by the authorities to contain "ideas and views opposed to the system of government in Syria."
The Human Rights Association of Syria has called for the immediate release of Shaghouri, and condemned his imprisonment as "a dangerous precedent against Internet users, and another step backwards."
The association called on interior minister Ali Hammoud "not to ratify the verdict of the court and release Shaghouri and all political detainees in Syria."
Amnesty International has described the trial as "grossly unfair" and highlighted the cases of other men held on similar charges.
Anwar al-Buni, lawyer and member of the Human Rights Association in Syria told IPS that the sentence was "a political decision that quells the right of expression in Syria...and aims at keeping the Syrian society backward."
Hardliners who support such actions have been strengthened by recent developments such as the faltering U.S.-led occupation of Iraq, near-unconditional U.S. support for Israel's plans in the occupied West Bank and Gaza, and the growing global protest over the Bush administration's international adventurism.
The new Syria Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Act passed by the U.S.. Congress which has led to sanctions against Syria has also strengthened hardliners and brought many moderates to their fold.
All printed material must "abide by Syrian law." The executive, judiciary and legislative branches are "above criticism" and any insult is punishable by up to three months in prison and a fine between 200 to 1,000 dollars.
Journalists who produce "false and undocumented material" could face prison terms of up to three years, and fines of up to 40,000 dollars. Journalists cannot be "subsidised" by any "public elements" including unions, syndicates, and societies.
IPSNews
|
|
|
| |
| Europe finally agrees on a new President |
| 06.28.04 (8:39 am) [edit] |
Mr Durao Barroso, who has a low international profile, will arrive in Brussels with the reputation of an economic liberal who supported the US-led war in Iraq.
The key to the appointment of the 48-year-old old multilingual lawyer was the decision of France and Spain - whose new government is also critical of the US policy in Iraq - to withdraw their reservations.
But Mr Durao Barroso fits the criteria set for the post by France and Germany since he comes from a country that is involved in all the main areas of European integration, including the eurozone and the Schengen free travel area. He is also from the centre-right which was expected to produce the next European Commission president in line with the results of the European elections.
The appointment underlines the limits of the Franco-German axis in an enlarged EU of 25, because the Portuguese Premier's track record will go down better in London than in Paris.
Although Mr Durao Barroso believes in European integration he is also in favour of strong ties with Washington.
Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, a former Danish Prime Minister who heads the grouping of EU Socialist parties, said: "We have to have a wider choice beyond right-wing candidates only."
Independent
|
|
|
| |
| Interesting insight from Iraq |
| 06.28.04 (7:57 am) [edit] |
Interesting insight from Christopher at Back to Iraq.
Concerning martial law - Iraqis couldn't care less. They just want some peace and quiet.
"It was supposed to be democracy, but instead it was chaos. They should have done some non-democratic things," said Kais Yahya.
Christopher writes..I've come to the conclusion that after a year of horror and insecurity, the average Iraqi doesn't want freedom. They want a set of laws that they can live with, do business under and raise their kids. If it takes a benign dictator to do that, then they're more than happy to have one.
And they want the death penalty brought back.
The resistance has broad support; the terrorists almost none.
"I disagree with the civilian attacks, but against the Americans, it's legal and acceptable. Any occupation force will never leave the country without fighting. They [the Americans] did not come to save the Iraqi people, they came for their own interests said," Dalal Yaseen.
This stirs up a lot of thoughts but I'll have to get back to it later. There's more so scoot on over there and read it for yourself. There's always something interesting.
|
|
|
| |
| Iraq war 'will cost each US family $3,415 |
| 06.27.04 (7:53 pm) [edit] |
Julian Borger in Washington
Friday June 25, 2004
The United States has spent more than $126bn on the war in Iraq, which will ultimately cost every American family an estimated $3,415, according to a new report by two thinktanks.
The report, published yesterday by the leftwing Institute for Policy Studies and Foreign Policy in Focus also counts the human costs.
As of June 16, before yesterday's nationwide attacks, up to 11,317 Iraqi civilians and 6,370 Iraqi soldiers or insurgents had been killed, according to the report, which is titled Paying the Price: The Mounting Costs of the Iraq War.
The death toll among coalition troops was 952 by the same date, of which 853 were American. Some 694, were killed after George Bush declared the end of major combat operations on May 1 last year. Between 50 and 90 civilian contractors and missionaries and 30 journalists have also been killed, the report says.
In a separate USA Today/ CNN/Gallup Poll released last night, for the first time a majority of Americans said the US-led invasion of Iraq was a mistake. In all, 54% of those polled said the move was a mistake, compared to 41% three weeks ago.
"We are paying this enormously high price for failure," Phyllis Bennis, the report's lead author, said yesterday. "It's not as if we are becoming more safe. It's not as if we are bringing peace to Iraq or democracy to the Middle East."
There was no immediate response to the report from the White House yesterday, but the administration has insisted it will stay in Iraq until it has brought peace and stability in the country.
It was reported yesterday that the US central command had put 25,000 more troops on standby in anticipation of an upsurge in attacks after the formal transfer of sovereignty to a caretaker administration next Wednesday.
Paul Wolfowitz, deputy defence secretary, said he could not confirm the figures in volved, but the US military "definitely has plans to deal with whatever may confront us". He denied US forces were facing an insurgency in Iraq. "An insurgency implies something that rose up afterwards ... It is a continuation of the war by people who never quit," he told NBC television.
"We know the enemy, which is a mixture of al-Qaida-type terrorists like [Abu Musab al] Zarqawi and the killers of Saddam's regime, who have basically made an alliance with each other, are going to target this next six-month period to create as much chaos ... as they can." However, he added: "The longer-term goal is to get Iraqis in the frontlines."
On top of the $126.1bn war spending approved by US Congress to date, another $25bn is likely to be spent by the end of this year.
The report predicted the war will ultimately cost each US household $3,415; its annual costs would be enough to provide healthcare for more than half of the 43 million US citizens who lack medical insur ance. Danielle Pletka, an analyst at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, rejected such budget comparisons as intellectually dishonest. "That's not the way budgets work," she said. "I don't think healthcare has been robbed to pay for Iraq."
Paying the Price quotes a University of Texas economist, James Galbraith, as predicting that although the expenditure would initially boost the economy, long-term problems were likely, including an expanded trade deficit and high inflation, with the spike in oil prices adding to the downward drag on the US economy.
However, Mr Wolfowitz predicted Iraqi oil would begin to flow at faster rates and help offset the cost of the reconstruction of Iraq. "There's been $20bn of Iraqi money that's almost never mentioned. Ten billion of it was leftover [UN] oil-for-food money. Ten billion is brand-new oil revenues. There's another $8bn that's projected, if the killers don't destroy the pipelines, by the end of this year," he said. Guardian
|
|
|
| |
| Beyond Words - Poem by Suheir Hammad |
| 06.27.04 (5:50 pm) [edit] |
Via Je Blog
Suheir Hammad performing Beyond Words at the 21st National ADC Convention, 12 June 2004. (EI)
Palestinian-American poet and political activist Suheir Hammad has published a book of poems, Born Palestinian, Born Black, and a memoir, Drops Of This Story, and is prominently featured in Listen Up! An Anthology Of Spoken Work Poetry. Recipient of the Audre Lourde Writing Award from Hunter College, the Morris Center for Healing Poetry Award, and a New York Mills Artist Residency in Minnesota, Suheir is a frequent reader at New York reading venues, including numerous radio appearances, and has performed with The All That Band and Rhythms of Aqua. Naomi Shihab Nye has called Hammad's work "a brave flag over the dispossessed." Suheir has recently been touring with the Tony Award-winning Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry Jam.
B E Y O N D W O R D S
1.
Where has my language gone?
The poet searches for words to wrap around these times
Make them sense Make them pretty Make them useful
Words from the past haunt our conversations
Empire and Crusade
Plans and Centuries
All these words cleared understanding before
Fall heavy now
And weightless into this abyss of bad news
I have seen the photographs
Again words Prison Torture
Desperate for words I can write
That are not profane That are objective Read as rational
So people will not stop reading this self-conscious poem
So my parents will not be embarrassed
So Americans will demand the return of their own
Desperate for words I can write
So I can keep from becoming something hard and unforgiving
Language has failed me
I am told to believe nothing I read
Then everything I read
I am given my own face to be wary of
I am told to fear colors as alerts
I am told over and over
Iraq is not Palestine
Kabul is not New York
The photos
Women Raped
Posed as girls gone wild
This is entertainment This is staged This is recorded
Men Chained
Do words such as humiliation and torture
Truly fit the immensity of these acts?
What happens to those who survive?
What happens to those responsible?
Haiti is not Chechnya
Chiapas is not East L.A.
Iraq is not Palestine
Over and over I am told
I am given a vantage point and a lens and instructed
Do not move Do not look up Do not look down
I am falling
2.
No connections here
No illuminated parallels
Two different histories and two different peoples
Make no links
Do not confuse the issues
Only confuse the people
For 56 years Israel has legitimized
This type of behavior
Sanctioned violence in the name of a god
Who does not have enough love for us all
A god who chooses sides
A god who has favorites and chosen ones
A god who cuts deals and shuffles souls
The type of god who does not answer prayers
Who understands only one language
A god who does not worry his beautiful mind with
Such ugliness
I am told this is America's god
The photos from Rafah Palestine
It is 1948 and 2004 in the same frame
Their eyes say to the camera
What will you do with this pain?
Where will you take it?
Can you take it from me?
This space between the lens and the subjects
Is concentrated with pleas for witness
With promises of cycles unbroken
With children's bicycles under the rubble of once were homes
Another level of exile is being constructed
And I am falling
Aaagghh, ya Phalesteen
What is it about us they hate so much?
This face? These eyes? This obstinate refusal to die?
How much trauma can one nation endure with the world staring?
Some mouths open in shock
Others silent and sneering
While women scream at a frequency the living cannot hear
Again? Again ya Phalesteen?
3.
How fucked up is it that I have to choose between ending
One occupation or another?
Partition my time and portion my information
I have to make Nice Play Fair and Polite
When I want to tear open my chest to void it of this emptiness
This ache has eaten into my head and wears down my dreams
My friends worry I am not eating enough
Am taking too much on Too much in
I find nowhere to rest this responsibility
If I say nothing I am complicit
If I say something I am isolated as extreme
As a theorist in conspiracy
As if war is ever a coincidence
As if genocide simply happens
This is about oil and land and water
This is about illusion and the taking on of airs
The poor once again the munitions in rich men's cannons
This is about light and dark
There is no black and white in humanity
I am told
Venezuela is not Cuba
Rwanda is not Kurdistan
I am not the woman kneeling
In front of soldiers and their cameras and their weapons
I am not the child shot in the head by the Israeli Defense Forces
I am not the starving AIDS inflicted mother
Praying I live longer than my children
So they will not be orphaned and sick and have to bury me
I am not the child who watched
Her family chopped to death in Lebanon in Sudan in Nicaragua
I am not the father who leaves his children so as not to hear their empty Bellies call out Baba, where is the bread?
I am the woman whose taxes outfitted this tragedy
The American the Authority does not speak for
The Arab the Arab leaders do not speak for
The woman whose shouts of Not in My Name
Were spit back at me as a slogan of the misguided at best
I am the girl from Brooklyn told to mind her business
I am the poet in search of new words
And a new world Not Mars
4.
We use antiquated terms that cannot stretch enough to touch this truth
We have not learned from the past enough to not repeat it
I am told it has always been this way
War and Pillage
Rape is older than prostitution
And prostitution is the oldest politic
The way the world has always been
The pimps and those they pimp
The human race has always left
Those who fall behind
If I am to survive then
I learn from the present
From the future promised
We learn to live with madness
One cannot be healthy in a sick world
Only navigate illnesses Only medicate wounds
Pray you are not contagious
Try to hurt no one
My elders say dissent has always been watched
Radical ideas have always been recorded
But even those who have lived on the margins admit
Under breath It has never been this bad
Not everyone is suffering True
Most thirst
A few swim in pools that fake connection to seas
Most starve
I throw away meals I have no appetite for
You can shop from your couch and eat food fast
And never think about anything other than your credit card debt
And the next hour's purchases
Shop and stop asking questions
I have envied this stupor
Even knowing it is the least honorable suicide
Even knowing its apathy is another kind of murder
5.
Sometimes all you can do is inhale and exhale
Life a shallow version of its potential
Sometimes all you can do is search for life where you are
In the city A flash of yellow on the basketball court
The divine geometry in the pattern of a girl's hijab
For a week I have been cleaning and knifing enough
Parsley for tabbouleh to feed hundreds
I pray over the green
That what I make will feed those in need of a meal
There is still love in us
The proof is that we are watching it die
There is still hope in us
Hope is there in my sisters' eyes
There is still enough resistance in us
To create a world where there is no
Your people or my people
But our people
Our people who kill Our people who are killed
I somehow know love will save us
The proof is in the stories not broadcast
The poems not published
The truth between the lies
The stories whispered in the dusk of this day
I know somehow love will save us
Though I can't find the passion or desire in my body to make it
There is still a source for peace deeply embedded in this chaos
I know love will save us
Though words fail to point out how
Amazingly I still pray
To a god I envision to be larger than any nation Any religion
And I still hunt for language to gather into a poem
That I pray will feed those like me
In need of proof they are not alone
ei
|
|
|
| |
| Protesters Demand Return of Troops From Iraq |
| 06.27.04 (2:33 pm) [edit] |
In light of my article asking, where were the protesters in the streets of America I am posting this. I hope to see more and more. It will make a difference.
By Tyrone Richardson
Richard and Rita Clement said yesterday that they want their 21-year-old son back from Iraq before his scheduled return date next March, preferably right now.
The Clements said they look forward to the weekly late-night phone calls from their son, Brian, a specialist in the US Army. The oldest of their three children, Brian Clement, joined the Army to buy himself some time and earn some money, not really knowing what he wanted to do with his life.
"We have constant concerns, parental concerns," said Richard Clement, wearing a "got fear" pin on his shirt. "A mortar fell just 30 feet from him . . . he's dealing with stuff a 21-year-old should not be dealing with."
Richard, 51, and Rita, 45, of Gardiner, Maine, were among about 300 people who rallied and marched in Copley Square yesterday in opposition of the US occupation in Iraq and in support of a troop pullout.
The 1 p.m. rally in Boston was one of more than 30 rallies organized across the country this weekend, all held in connection with United For Peace, a national antiwar organization.
In Copley Square, couples with strollers mingled with politicians and protesters from local antiwar and anti-Bush organizations. Organizers of the rally placed 851 corsages around the brick basin inside the square, a flower for each US soldier killed in Iraq, according to event organizers.
Another 5,271 troops have been injured, according to a casualty report released by the Department of Defense on Friday. In May, 15,000 US troops scheduled to end their mission in Iraq were ordered to stay to help ensure security and stability for the transfer of governing power from the US-led coalition to the Iraqi interim government.
The organizers of yesterday's event said they hope the mass of voices that came together would send a message to President Bush to swiftly end the US occupation in Iraq and return the soldiers to their families.
Some of the protesters at the event wore "peace" rainbow flags on their shoulders, while others held up signs in opposition of the war. A couple wore black tuxedos with "Billionaires for Bush" painted on their back. Another protester wore a full-body "bomb" costume with Bush's face on the front, and "Drop Bush, Not Bombs" written below it.
"People are fed up with the lies," said Louise Dunlap, 65, of Cambridge, a spectator in the rally. "This is one more event to pinpoint the bad things."
A platform for guest speakers was constructed near the entrance to Trinity Church. Community leaders, musicians, poets, and parents of soldiers serving in Iraq spoke.
One mother of a soldier serving in Iraq said she is afraid to answer the doorbell because it might be someone from the military bearing tragic news.
Local support groups at the rally were encouraging people to sign petitions to bring the troops home, oppose the Patriot Act, and give donations to their causes.
"The movement is about the process, not the events," said Jennifer Horan, a spokeswoman for yesterday's Boston rally. Horan said the event was to show the intensity of the antiwar and antioccupation surge in America.
Not everyone in Copley Square agreed yesterday with the event's themes, however.
While there was no organized counterprotest, some passersby shook there heads and others yelled obscenities at protesters as they swiftly walked past.
Police stood guard and helped stop traffic as the protesters marched down Boylston Street to Boston Common. Some marchers held paper tombstones with the names, ages, and locations of Americans and Iraqis killed in Iraq.
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the Back Bay, members of a local chapter of Amnesty International erected a vigil in front of the Old South Church to support UN International Day in Support of Victims of Torture.
Members erected posters and candles in front of the church and encouraged people to sign a petition for a private investigation into reported abuse at the detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. Boston Globe
|
|
|
| |
| Protests and Bombs Greet Bush in Turkey |
| 06.27.04 (1:34 pm) [edit] |
There were violent protests and bomb blast in Ankara when George Bush arrived Saturday night. Several members of the security forces were injured in clashes with anti-Bush protestors. The riot police were just one part of a massive security operation surrounding the summit. Bush is an unwanted visitor to most European countries. His visits cost massive amounts of money that could be better spent in other areas.
Bush had said he would receive a warmer welcome in Turkey than he had received from protestors in Ireland although he is widely unpopular there. Distrust of U.S. policy in Iraq reaches from the streets to the halls of government.
Bush holds Turkey out as a model for the Middle East and pledges to fight for Turkey's membership in the EU.
"I appreciate so very much the example your country has set on how to be a Muslim country and at the same time a country which embraces democracy and rule of law and freedom," Bush said.
Turkey has made much progress but there are still problems.
With only six months remaining before the European Union is due to decide whether to proceed to the next stage of Turkey’s candidacy, Turkish authorities made two historic advances last week with the first television broadcasts in minority languages, including Kurdish, and the release pending retrial of four Kurdish parliamentarians imprisoned since 1994 for their non-violent opinions. The past two years have brought substantial progress, including abolition of the death penalty, a marked reduction in the extent and severity of torture, and better protection for freedom of expression.
The four remaining areas of concern are freedom of expression, torture and ill-treatment, freedom of assembly and policing of demonstrations, and internal displacement. These are serious problems and must be dealt with before Turkeys entry into the EU in spite of George Bush.
|
|
|
| |
| ICRC photo exhibition in Monte Carlo |
| 06.27.04 (1:06 pm) [edit] |
Mariatu lives in a camp with other amputees from the war and bravely copes.
Women Facing War, an ICRC photo exhibition that first opened in Amman at the end of 2002 under the auspices of Queen Rania of Jordan and has since travelled to Beirut, Geneva and Paris, will be shown in Monaco, in Grimaldi Forum during the 44th Monte Carlo Television Festival.
The exhibition will run from 26 June to 9 July, presenting pictures of women caught up in war: women victims of sexual violence, women who have been forcibly displaced, women who have been arrested, either because they were suspected of having collaborated with the enemy or because they took part in the fighting, women anxiously awaiting news of missing relatives and women who are now at the head of their households because their menfolk are off fighting, have been killed or are being held in detention. Most of the pictures were taken by Nick Danziger (winner of the World Press Photo 2004 best portrait award), who spent nine months travelling through several countries at war.
In showing these striking pictures, the ICRC wishes to draw attention to the obligation that the 191 States party to the Geneva Conventions have at all times to respect and ensure respect for international humanitarian law, which affords protection to women affected by armed violence.
Crown Prince Albert of Monaco, president of the Red Cross of Monaco and of the Monte Carlo Television Festival, will visit the exhibition on 28 June.
During the festival, the ICRC will also award, for the second year in a row, its press prize for the documentary or news programme that has best promoted the principles of international humanitarian law.
As guardian of the Geneva Conventions, the ICRC believes that the media, and television in particular, must play their part in systematically drawing attention to the obligation States have to protect all victims of armed conflict. ICRC
|
|
|
| |
| The effect of Farenheit 9/11 on Lissa Grinstead |
| 06.27.04 (10:46 am) [edit] |
Last night I went to see Farenheit 9/11, the documentary by Michael Moore. I've never actually gone to watch a documentary before, so this was a very new experience for me, in that regard. However, given all the bru-ha-ha that has been in the news about the movie irritating the conservative base, I was expecting there to be a couple of people there to protest the showing. Afterall, I do live in the Buckle of the Bible Belt, and the Birthplace of the Civil Rights Movement. But no one came to protest it. And it was sold out.
Read more at The Watering Hole
|
|
|
| |
| Apathy Breeds Contempt |
| 06.26.04 (8:44 pm) [edit] |
Everyday I'm seeing scores of sites listing the treachery of George Bush not only against the American people but against people around the world. George Bush's visits outside the US draw crowds of protesters. Budgets are overextended in order to pay for security to guard this man so many hold responsible for acts of hate around the world. Yet, Americans are not in the street. Yes, they are protesting on the internet and this will have its effect but will it be enough?
I'm afraid today I am not encouraged.
Forgetting for a moment all that has gone before, let's consider the now famous and soon to be forgotten 9/11 commission. A nice mixture of Democrat and Republican all coming to the same conclusion. THERE WAS NO CONNECTION BETWEEN IRAQ & AL-QAEDA! We all know, because we heard it with our own ears, Bush and his administration make this connection many times, in fact they continue to do so. George Bush used, what is now known to be a fabrication, a connection between Saddam, Osama and the terrorism of 9/11 in order to send men and women to war on what we can now call a defenseless country. He bombed them to hell and back. Do you remember the great shock and awe campaign? I do. I cried. I couldn't believe what I was watching live over television every night seemingly without end. How could this have happened in todays world?
Now we are told to forget all that, move on, we're there now, a tyrannical leader has been removed, the Iraqi people are free, forget, forget, forget. It seems that many are willing to forget and even deny the truth.
No ones marching in America tonight. If they were I'm sure I would have heard. The Irish are marching. They know who this man is and what he has done. Why aren't Americans in the street protesting and calling for the impeachment of George Bush? How can a people become so indignant over one president's lie about a private affair yet remain apathetic over a lie that has caused the death of thousands?
|
|
|
| |
| Because Dubya Said So! |
| 06.26.04 (3:30 pm) [edit] |
by Mark Morford
It's somewhere around 1977 and I'm about 10 years old and I'm up past 10 pm watching juicy riveting prime-time "Magnum, P.I." (or whatever), and of course right at that moment I want nothing more from the universe than to stay up another hour and watch even more TV so as to feel, you know, older, and wiser, and somehow cooler.
And right about then my mother walks in and says hey kiddo, time for bed, and I plead and whine and protest and say no no no please please please why why why, and she says, slightly exasperated and motherly, well, because I said so.
She had her reasons, of course. After all, you gotta set some ground rules, gotta establish the boundaries and make the wee ones understand that the world ain't always full of clear explanations and justifiable details, and sometimes you, as the dumb oppressed plebe, you just gotta shut the hell up and do whatever the elders say because, well, they said so.
You loathed that line then, and you'll hate it even more now.
Yes, the line has returned with a nasty vengeance. Let us watch as this all-encompassing mantra of childhood, this absolutely invidious comeback line you simply are not allowed to question, let us watch how it mutates, in a twist of raging egomania, into the Bush administration's most bestest catchphrase du jour.
Let's watch, for example, as the bipartisan 9/11 commission -- the one that Bush finally, reluctantly, whiningly, after nearly three years, agreed to allow to exist at all -- let's watch as they emerge after months of investigation with a report that declares, once again and for the 500th time, that there was no collaboration whatsoever between Saddam and al Qaeda in the 9/11 attack. Duh.
Of course, when the 9/11 commission's report came out, BushCo was quick to reply: Um, well, we never actually claimed, you know, verbatim or whatever, that 9/11 was orchestrated by Saddam and al Qaeda, you know, together.
Except, of course, yes you did, Dubya. Repeatedly. Ad nauseam. In this very memo to Congress, outlining your reasons for leading America into this brutish hellpit. And also on just about every newscast and interview and mumbled speech, hint and gesture and Dick Cheney's pallid snicker, all resulting a huge majority of misguided and fear-pummeled Americans who honestly believed not only that Saddam had a role in 9/11 but also that he pretty much piloted those doomed planes himself, and that's why we needed to blast the living crap out of his piss-poor nation and earn ourselves huge gobs of global scorn while generating more anti-U.S. hatred among terrorists than Osama could have ever dreamed. Go, team!
Oh but here's Dubya, in an AA-grade bout of denial, summing up the entire point quite nicely: "The reason I keep insisting that there was a relationship between Iraq and Saddam and al Qaeda is because there was a relationship between Iraq and al Qaeda."
See? That's all you need to know. There was a connection because I say there was a connection. We stomped into war for justifiable reasons because I say there were justifiable reasons. Nearly 1,000 U.S. soldiers have died for my oily and ultraviolent petrochemical corporate cronies because I say they should die. End of story and off to bed now, you little punkass American suckers.
And lo, "Because I said so" spreads like an ugly rash through BushCo's increasingly teetering, imploding administration, as they desperately cling to any tattered shreds of whatever the hell it was that they claimed was the original reason that they shoved this nation into an economic tailspin and launched us into a brutal, violent, unwinnable war that, by most every measure, we've already lost.
Why continue this hideous, bloody invasion that is failing on every front? Because we said so. Why continue gouging the economy like pigs in a trough? Because we said so. How can raping the Clean Air Act and increasing logging in national parks and rolling back 30 years of environmental progress and dissing the Kyoto treaty and molesting the planet in the name of massaging the testicles of your corporate cronies in Big Oil and Big Industry possibly be healthy for the planet? Because we said so.
How can hacking away at women's rights and endorsing homophobia in any way progress the evolution of the battered human soul? Because we said so. How can banning stem-cell research possibly be anything but a nasty and ridiculous and harmful decision that only strokes the bloody Bible of your wildly ignorant right-wing Christian voting bloc? You guessed it -- because we said so.
America is still on track and headed in the right direction despite all violent, ugly, soulless proofs to the contrary? Because we said so. Why do I, Geedubya, lie my Texas a-- off and say I never really met that Ahmed Chalabi guy and barely know who the hell he is, even though I had personal meetings with him and loved him like a drunk frat brother and championed him as the great swarthy hope for Iraq for like, a solid year? Because I said so.
And now please shut the hell up and quit shoving all those innocent dead Iraqi women and babies and all those disgusting pictures of U.S.-approved rapes and sodomizations and murders and tortures from Abu Ghraib in my face, OK? After all, those pictures don't even really exist. Why? Simple: Because I said they don't.
It is the new Bush doctrine. Screw proof. Screw validation. Screw the U.N. and screw Europe and screw your damn 9/11 commission and screw every hunk of lingering logic and humanitarian reasoning on the planet and screw, finally, the notion that we need to justify our actions to anyone, least of all the dumba-- American public, you who've swallowed every lie so far like Jenna swallows her 10th Coors Light.
Because I said so. It is the final comeback line. It is the only line that still holds, given how we have been awash in so many outright lies and fabrications and bogus Orange Alerts and flagrant misprisions it would make Richard Nixon cheer. It is the last twitch of Dick Cheney's political sneer, the darkening blackness in Rummy's eyes, the last spasm of Condi Rice's comatose credibility, the only pathetic shield BushCo has left.
(BushCo Fun Comparison: 1) Budget allotted the 9/11 commission to investigate one of the most horrific atrocities in American history: $15 million. 2) Budget allotted Ken Starr and his flying monkeys during the GOP's appallingly nasty effort to crucify Bill Clinton because he had mediocre oral sex in the Oval Office: $70 million. Just, you know, FYI.)
But the amazing thing about BushCo's line is how quickly it can turn from a cheap escape route into a sort of desperate prayer, a final gasp of hope that their regime's insidious policies will somehow see them through into a second term, despite the enormous wake of destruction and bile. We'll win because we said so! We'll be admired by those who now scorn us because we said so! We'll cling to our power like desperate monkeys on meth because we have no other choice!
At which point America will stomp into the room and check the clock and realize, oh my God, little Dubya has been up way, way past his bedtime, and has clearly become far too whiny and bitchy and destructive and needs to be put to bed, pronto. Why? Simple: Because we, the Bush-sickened voters, will finally say so.
SF Gate
|
|
|
| |
| Mrs. Berlusconi: I have never voted for my husband |
| 06.26.04 (11:39 am) [edit] |
We jump from Jack Ryan to Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. This story is not as juicy as the Ryans but very interesting indeed. Bravo Mrs. Berlusconi!
Silvio Berlusconi, Italy's media-savvy prime minister, may have won over millions of voters, but not his own wife.
According to a biography on sale this week in Italy, Veronica Lario did not agree with her husband's decision to back the invasion of Iraq and acknowledges he has a conflict of interest inherent in his dual role as prime minister and media baron - two criticisms that are often raised by the country's opposition left-wing parties.
Worst still, Mrs Berlusconi has never voted for her husband's Forza Italia party.
"I have voted for the Radicals and the Socialists," Mrs Berlusconi is quoted as saying in Tendenza Veronica, a biography by Il Corriere della Sera journalist Maria Latella, who adds: 'We never voted for Forza Italia'
"Veronica and I have this in common: We never voted for Forza Italia".
Mr Berlusconi's wife - a former theatre actress whose real name is Miriam Bertolini - has given few interviews to the press and is hardly ever seen in the company of the Italian premier.
She made a rare public appearance last month, when she and her husband greeted United States President George Bush during a visit to Rome. The 200-page book also provides readers with unflattering glimpses into the couple's marital life.
"He's always got his ear pressed to the phone, even at Christmas dinners," Mrs Berlusconi complains.
She says the two spend very little time together, but flatly dismisses gossip concerning her alleged love affair with Massimo Cacciari - a rumour that was fuelled by Berlusconi himself during a recent visit to Rome by the prime minister of Denmark.
"Cacciari is an intellectual I admire, but I have never met him," she says of the leftwing philosopher and former mayor of Venice. IOL
|
|
|
| |
| The Public Stoning of Jack Ryan Or Republican Hypocrisy? |
| 06.26.04 (11:22 am) [edit] |
I laughed all throughout the reading of this article. What a bunch of hypocrites. It's ok for the Republicans to dig up or manufacture whatever dirt they can on any Democratic candidate but when it's done to them/him it's dirty politics.
If you can find something in John Kerrys background that will hurt him in the polls go for it but don't touch these Republican hypocrites. They're sacrosanct. Hell, they go to church and pray when they're not prowling the sex clubs. It's the will of God when we uncover hidden secrets about Kerry. It's scandalous and outrageous when it's done to them. Public stoning indeed!
Illinois Senate candidate Jack Ryan dropped out of the race Friday amid a furor over lurid sex club allegations that horrified fellow Republicans and caused his once-promising candidacy to implode in four short days.
"It's clear to me that a vigorous debate on the issues most likely could not take place if I remain in the race," Ryan, 44, said in a statement. "What would take place, rather, is a brutal, scorched-earth campaign — the kind of campaign that has turned off so many voters, the kind of politics I refuse to play."
The campaign began to come apart Monday following the release of embarrassing records from Ryan's divorce. In those records, his ex-wife, "Boston Public" actress Jeri Ryan, said Ryan took her to kinky sex clubs in Paris, New York and New Orleans and tried to get her to perform sex acts with him while others watched.
Ryan disputed the allegations, saying he and his wife went to one "avant-garde" club in Paris and left because they felt uncomfortable.
Here's what Ryan's ex-wife, Jeri, claimed in a divorce filing four years ago:
On three trips, one to New Orleans, one to New York, and one to Paris, Respondent [Jack Ryan] insisted that I go to sex clubs with him. They were long weekends, supposed "romantic" getaways. ... The clubs in New York and Paris were explicit sex clubs. Respondent had done research. Respondent took me to two clubs in New York during the day. One club I refused to go in. It had mattresses in cubicles. The other club he insisted I go to. ... It was a bizarre club with cages, whips and other apparatus hanging from the ceiling. Respondent wanted me to have sex with him there, with another couple watching. I refused. Respondent asked me to perform a sexual activity upon him, and he specifically asked other people to watch. I was very upset. We left the club, and Respondent apologized, said that I was right and that he would never insist I go to a club again. He promised it was out of his system. Then during a trip to Paris, he took me to a sex club in Paris, without telling me where we were going. I told him I thought it was out of his system. I told him he had promised me we would never go. People were having sex everywhere. I cried, I was physically ill. Respondent became very upset with me, and said it was not a "turn on" for me to cry.
In quitting the race, Ryan lashed out at the media and said it was "truly outrageous" that the Chicago Tribune got a judge to unseal the records.
"The media has gotten out of control," he said.
Top Illinois Republicans immediately began the work of selecting a new candidate. Their choice will become an instant underdog against Democratic state Sen. Barack Obama in the campaign for the seat of retiring GOP Sen. Peter Fitzgerald. Obama held a wide lead even before the scandal broke.
"I feel for him actually," Obama said on WLS-AM. "What he's gone through over the last three days I think is something you wouldn't wish on anybody. Unfortunately, I think our politics has gotten so personalized and cutthroat that it's very difficult for people to want to get in the business."
Ryan had faced mounting pressure to quit from party leaders, who met several times in Washington this week to discuss whether the campaign could survive.
"He really was a dead man walking," Gary MacDougal, former Illinois Republican Party chairman.
Ryan conducted an overnight poll to gauge his support. After reviewing the results, Ryan's advisers told the candidate that the only way to survive would be wage an extremely negative and expensive response.
"Jack Ryan made the right decision. I know it must have been a difficult one," said House Speaker Dennis Hastert of Illinois, who made his feelings known by canceling a fund-raising event scheduled for Thursday with Ryan.
Ryan was a political neophyte when he got into the race — a millionaire investment banker who had left business four years ago to teach at an all-boys parochial school in Chicago. He spent $3 million of his own fortune to win the primary.
With his good looks and Harvard background, Ryan was seen by many as the party's best hope for revitalizing the Illinois GOP. The party lost control of the governor's office and nearly every statewide office two years ago in the wake of a corruption scandal involving then-Gov. George Ryan, who has since been indicted. He is not related to Jack Ryan.
During the primary, Ryan waved off rumors of damaging sex allegations in his sealed divorce records, assuring state officials there was nothing in the file to worry about.
But the Tribune and Chicago TV station WLS sued for the records' release, and a California judge ordered them unsealed. The couple fought to keep the records sealed, saying the release could harm their 9-year-old son.
"The fact that the Chicago Tribune sues for access to sealed custody documents and then takes unto itself the right to publish details of a custody dispute — over the objections of two parents who agree that the re-airing of their arguments will hurt their ability to co-parent their child and hurt their child — is truly outrageous," he said.
Although most party leaders abandoned Ryan, Fitzgerald said Friday that he had encouraged him to stay in the race. "I think the public stoning of Jack Ryan is one of the most grotesque things I've seen in politics," the senator said.
He said the party's bigwigs pushed Ryan out: "It was like piranhas. They smelled blood in the water and they just devoured him."
Six years ago, Republicans demanded that Bill Clinton be investigated and impeached for having sex with an intern and covering it up. Yahoo News
|
|
|
| |
| Fahrenheit 9-11 and the Burning of Bush |
| 06.26.04 (10:00 am) [edit] |
by Michael Rectenwald, CLG Founder and Honorary Chair
There's no question about it, Michael Moore's new film is an all-out assault on the Bush Regime--from its theft of the White House, to its utter implication and embroilment with the perpetrators of 9-11, its real loyalty to the oil-rich Saudi Royal Family, the Bush-bin Laden nexus in the Carlyle Group, and the complete falsity behind the march to War on Iraq. Most importantly, however, Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11 chronicles the fates of the victims to this series of atrocities: the victims of 9/11 and their families who demanded but were not (and still are not) able to get answers and thus closure to this event, the US citizens who lost rights and a say in our government, including its elections, the innocent Iraqis dying and being tortured in an unjust war and Occupation, the US soldiers dying and being lied to about the reasons, and the families who lost sons and daughters in Iraq, and without a real shred of justification.
However, the rightwing has been hastily and furiously renouncing the film as full of "lies," from his recount of the Florida "recount," to Bush's 9/11 failures and secrets, to the Patriot Act, and the false evidence for war.
Let's take these one by one.
Part one: The Florida "election"
First, Moore's prelude is the 2000 "election" capped by the installation of Bush in the White House by the Supreme Court. Moore rightly notes that tens of thousands of African Americans were purged from the voting rolls even prior to the "recount" scandal, and goes on to claim that Al Gore won Florida. Rightwing pundits are eager to refute the latter point, by pointing to the media consortium results that they claim shows that Bush actually won Florida. However, this is simply not the case. The results of the NORC media recount were clear: given a recount of the counties that Gore wanted recounted, Bush would have won, using Gore's preferred standards. Using the Bush team's standards, however, Gore would have prevailed. But these mixed results are by no means the end of the story. It is long past time to set this record straight. The main story in the media consortium's recount review was buried in the Miami Herald's story under a false headline, and recuperated by Tom Fiedler, also of the Herald, in "Votes Aren't Sacred":
"if the recount had been started from scratch in each of Florida's 67 counties, The Herald concluded 'Gore would be in the White House today.'''
So, aside from all the legal wrangling of either party, Gore won Florida, and this is even after the mistaken and illegal purging of tens of thousands of legal voters from the rolls as "felons," the completely confusing butterfly ballot by which tens of thousands of votes simply fluttered out of Gore's rightful column. And this is also to say nothing of the many other illegalities undertaken by GOP operatives, such as the camping out inside of precinct headquarters and tampering with absentee ballot applications, and infringing on vote counters in Miami-Dade in the notorious "bourgeois riot." And as Republicans were saying that discerning the "intent of the voters" was a Carnac the magician routine, vote-counters in GOP counties not only discerned the intents of the voters, but as the Orlando Sentinel reporter noted, they Recreated Absentee Ballots based on their discernment of that intent.
A day after the Herald announced that Bush would have won Florida, the headline by Merzer read, "Recounts could have given Gore the edge -- Broward, Palm Beach checked." But for most readers, glancing only at headlines, the die was cast and the election "accepted."
Therefore, Moore's first point in the movie is valid, and didn't even cover numerous other scandalous facts, such as the fact that three Supreme Court judges had clear conflicts of interest in the case of Bush v. Gore, and that the decision by the Supreme Court has been decried by almost a thousand legal scholars of constitutional law.
Lastly, we at the CLG have been writing and preaching this fact for almost four years now. See our pages dedicated to the "election" and its theft.
Part Two: Bush Regime Failure and 9/11
Moore's movie makes clear what Richard Clarke, Paul O'Neill and other former insiders have been telling us about the Bush' regime's failure to stop Osama bin Laden and Al Qaida prior to and on 9/11. Ashcroft simply told the F.B.I. not to talk to him about Al Qaida again. Bush was fishing and talking about his dogs burrowing for bugs on his Crawford ranch, just a few weeks before the disaster. On August 6th he was handed a briefing that clearly stated that Osama bin Laden wanted to hijack planes and attack the U.S. domestically. The Carlyle group met on September 11th, and George H. Bush, 40th president of the U.S. met with the other major Carlyle stock holders (it was privately held at the time), which included a member of the bin Laden family. (Incidentally, the Carlyle Group just purchased the Loew's theater chain,in one of which theaters I viewed this film. One wonders whether Carlyle wants to shut this and other such films down in the near future?)That is, on September 11th, 2001, George Bush Jr. sat listless and stupefied reading the pet goat story along with children in Florida, while Daddy Bush was meeting with a bin Laden family member, and Osama bin Laden's minions were driving planes into national US landmarks, killing nearly 3,000 people and devastating America. Given Moore's connection of the Bush-bin Laden tribes and the elabroation of the Bush Saudi Royal Families, the inescapable thought comes to mind: Bush didn't want stop bin Laden prior to 9/11, and didn't want to catch him afterwards. That is, Moore doesn't directly say that Bush was complicit in 9/11, but his neglect can hardly be seen as anything short of criminal, especially in light of the aftermath.
Part Three: Fear and Trembling and the Patriot Act
In "Bowling for Columbine," Moore illuminated brilliantly the culture of fear that feeds a system based on renunciation of citizenship in favor of an obeisant mass afraid of the boogey man. In Farenheit 9/11, this culture is altogether transformed and codified in the Patriot Act, which Moore shows was printed in the middle of the night, and passed the next day, before any in Congress had even read it. In the Patriot Act citizens lost rights to privacy and search and seizure protections all in the name of fear, while "Homeland Security" was hardly the object, given the poor protection of borders, such as the coast (and state) of Oregon. And the real objective of the act was not our protection in any case, but rather, leads us to part four.
Part Four: The Iraqi War and the Occupation
Needless to say, there are no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, other than the ones we used and continue to use there. There was no connection between Iraq and 9/11. These statements are now truisms. But anti-Bush and peace activists were saying this long ago, well before the 'discovery' of nothing. I said so myself, in numerous correspondences to rightwing war supporters, and in a speech at an anti-war rally, after the bombing had begun, but well before the "pundits" and other mouthpieces of falsity were convinced. But what Moore makes even more absurd is the attack on Iraq, when Saudi Arabia had much more to do with 9/11 than any other nation, and Iraq had nothing at all to do with it. Moore shows this clearly followed by some rare footage of the "shock and awe" bombing campaign, raids on innocent families, the trucks full of Iraqi casualties (women, children and civilian men) of the invasion and the Occupation, the casualties and mutilation of US troops, footage of prisoner torture and humiliation, and more.
Part Five: The Human Face of Tragedy
For this aspect of the film, I simply must point you to the theatre.
Go and see this film. Regardless of your party affiliation, or lack thereof, go see this film. Farenheit 9/11 may not be a 'documentary' in the (false) objectivist sense of journalism, a notion of objectivity utterly discounted even in science by the way. But it is a GREAT FILM. In fact, this film is undoubtedly the most important film of the year, and probably of the last 50 years. Never has a film so severely criticized a "sitting President." Never has a film so clearly demonstrated the class structure of US society and the fact that it is the poor who pay the price of protecting a system that gives them the very least, while the ruling elite enjoy the vast majority of the benefits for which they demand the poor sacrifice everything. Never has a film cut so deeply to the core of the US psyche in its contemporary moment. This is the film of the year, and the experience of a lifetime.
But do not rejoice in the exposure of corruption and domination that is represented here. Rather, with Michael Moore, stand up and fight back. The time is now, before it is too late.
June 25, 2004 CLG
|
|
|
| |
| America's Abbreviated Experiment With Empire-Building |
| 06.25.04 (6:49 pm) [edit] |
The Ottoman Empire of Turkey lasted nearly 600 years, from the 14th century to 1922. The Byzantine Empire lasted 1,100 years, from 330 to 1453 A.D. The Brits ruled the world for well over a century, as did the Moguls of India and too many Chinese emperors to count.
We can now say that the much-touted "American Empire" of the radicals in the Bush administration has seen its brief spring and summer and is approaching the snows of late December.
Two years, and the Great American Empire that the likes of Dick Cheney and the neocons dreamed of is gone, over, disappeared in the sandstorms of Iraq! Whoosh! And what a happy early death it is for such a flagrantly anti-American idea.
Only two years ago -- only one year ago -- only eight months ago -- the idea of a new American Empire, which would start with victories in Afghanistan and Iraq, was touted by ideologues and "intellectuals" such as Irving and Bill Kristol, Bernard Lewis, Paul Wolfowitz and all the other usual suspects. America was going to rule the world, they said over and over, as they sat safely in their comfy offices sending boys and girls from West Virginia and South Carolina out to fight and die for their illusions.
And what a glorious age it was going to be, as a grateful world spontaneously accepted all our good -- and not so good -- ideas and intentions.
And today? Well, today the nation's capital is filled instead with the oddest bunch of half-baked "mea culpas" and excuses for the Iraqi invasion that one could imagine. The respected magazine The New Republic, which, in the hubris that seems to have overtaken this city in the last two years, had broken with its liberal past and supported the war, just came out with a blazing cover: "Were We Wrong?" (More than 12 writers, most of them former true believers, tell in painstakingly self-indulgent prose that, yes, they were.)
The neocons -- that group of 30 to 35 radical empire-builders, inspired at different levels by a strange philosophical amalgam of the sheer uses of American power, by the expansion of Sharon's Israel into all of the Palestinian territories, and also by innocent ideas of the easy spread of American democracy -- are now found in various stages of embarrassing metaphorical undress.
Former uncritical war supporters such as Max Boot, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, are turning against the administration for not making their dreams come true. Boot wrote recently in the Financial Times that the evidence of failure in Iraq was "evidence not of duplicity but of incompetence. Again." Another self-aggrandizing theory going around among them, particularly at the American Enterprise Institute, once a solid, moderate Republican think-tank and now the neocons' favored hothouse, is that the chaos in Iraq shows that, for Arab Muslim countries to become democratic, they have to go through an "Islamic period" like Iran's. (I rest my case on the absurdity of this discussion.)
Meanwhile, on the ground, where real Americans have to fight the war that these remote intellectuals devised for their own purposes and agendas, the uniformed military has pretty much won. The neocons' fair-haired boy, the sleek and slippery Ahmad Chalabi, is out, and an equally slippery, but at least effective, prime minister, Iyad Allawi, who has pulled off the incredible trick of being both an Iraqi Baathist and a CIA "asset," is in.
The U.S. military learned quickly and put into practice what the British could have told them from their experience at empire: Make deals with the tribal leaders, buy off local militias, and ease yourself out in as many functioning pieces and as swiftly as humanly possible.
In fact, on every level in Iraq, you see a return to past forms, which is what always happens in the dynamics of nations. Iyad Allawi is talking about using emergency rule against the multiple insurgencies, just as Saddam Hussein always did. Tribal leaders are taking over, and radical insurgency leaders like the Shiite Muqtada al-Sadr are making their deals in the shadows. Viva, Old Iraq!
Meanwhile, here in Washington in this strange and discomfiting era of American life, the just-released 9/11 Commission report contradicts virtually every single point that the administration made in going to war. Iraq did not in any important sense aid al-Qaida, the report says; and even leading Saudi officials, contrary to all attempts by the neocons to destroy Saudi influence in the U.S. by painting them with the guilt of 9/11, did not give money to al-Qaida.
Ah, but the story is far from over. Both President Bush and Vice President Cheney continue to deny, vehemently and without qualification, that any of the reasons they gave for going to war were false (there WAS real collaboration between Iraq and al-Qaida before the war, both incredibly said last week). Only Secretary of State Donald Rumsfeld may be having more doubts; he said recently, and honestly, that the U.S. may be winning on the ground but losing the broader struggle against Islamic extremism that is terrorism's source.
Meanwhile, the true-blue neocons remain cemented in their positions. Despite the disgrace of their judgments, not one has left the administration. To give only one indicator of their thinking, at a recent dinner party here, Donald Rumsfeld's head of management at the Pentagon stormed out when someone even questioned his statement that the next aim of the administration was to "overthrow the Saudi royal family."
So, there you have it, ladies and gentlemen. It may have been an historically quick empire, but the dream, that seven-year itch of the fanatics that attempts to turn America into something it is not and was never meant to be, is still here in this city. It is quiescent for the moment, like mold in the closet.
Me? I'm relieved, but only tentatively. This great country was meant to be an example to mankind, a mixture of confidence before history and of humility before God; it was never meant to be a Sparta or a Roman legion or a dictator telling other cultures how to live at the point of a sword.
One dares to think: Maybe we can return to ourselves. But then one remembers to peer into the closet.
Georgie Anne Geyer uExpress
|
|
|
| |
| Obscenity most lavish |
| 06.25.04 (4:21 pm) [edit] |
As I look at so many parts of the world where people are walking the streets for lack of shelter and eating out of garbage cans when they can find one to eat out of this kind of news turns my stomach.
I've never been wealthy but it must make you blind, deaf and dumb else how do these people sleep at night.
Paris Hosts $60-Million Mother of All Weddings
An Indian steel tycoon reportedly paid $60 million for his daughter's wedding — a six-day bash for 1,500 guests in France's most sumptuous settings.
Lakshmi Mittal rented the Tuileries garden in Paris one night and a gallery at Versailles another night to celebrate the marriage of his 23-year-old daughter, Vanisha, to 25-year-old Amit Bhatia, said Paris Match magazine.
Mittal also had a makeshift castle built at a park in Saint-Cloud, Paris Match said. LA Times
|
|
|
| |
| Bush is losing his veneer |
| 06.25.04 (3:03 pm) [edit] |
Interesting little AP piece here on an interview Bush did with Irish television. A couple of things caught my eye.
On several occasions during the 15-minute interview, Bush asked RTE correspondent Carol Coleman not to interrupt him.
When Coleman said most Irish people thought the world was more dangerous today than before the Iraq invasion, Bush disagreed and responded, "What was it like Sept. 11th, 2001?"
He's still connecting Iraq and 9/11. It's amazing he gets away with this. It must get very aggravating for journalist having to constantly remind people of the lies.
No wonder she kept interrupting him...but Mr. President the commission has said they've found nothing proving a tie between Iraq and al-Qaeda...if you would just stop interrupting me yada yada yada.
"First of all, most of Europe supported the decision in Iraq. Really what you're talking about is France, isn't it? And they didn't agree with my decision. They did vote for the U.N. Security Council resolution. ... We just had a difference of opinion about whether, when you say something, you mean it."
He sounds like a spoilt little boy. I take it he didn't enjoy the French wine while he was here. Fence mending between Bush and Chirac? I don't think that's possible.
|
|
|
| |
| Raed on things in Iraq |
| 06.25.04 (12:42 pm) [edit] |
The handover of the authorities is a small pathetic play that shouldn’t distract us from the real thing happening on the ground. When the neo-cons attacked Iraq last year they introduced themselves as liberators, and that’s why most of the Iraqis and some of the American people believed them, and believed in them, but now comes the time that both of us, Iraqis and Americans, should work hard to give Iraq its freedom back, to stop building permanent military bases in Iraq, and to change this colonial strategy in keeping Iraq under the American political and economical control.
The American army is building six permanent bases in
Iraq, three surrounding Baghdad, one in the south, on in the east and on in the north. The three surrounding Baghdad are Al-Habbanyya, which is an old Iraq military base and airport near the artificial lake of Habbania, the second is Ar-Rasheed base in the south-east of Baghdad, and the third is At-Taji base in the north of Baghdad, which is the larges base in Iraq, it looks like a small city. The other three bases are Ali base near Nasryya, Al-Walid base northern to Falluja, and another base in Al-Mosul. These six bases are the cancer in the body of the new Iraq. Continue reading Raed of Raed in the Middle.
|
|
|
| |
| Sudan aid may be too late |
| 06.25.04 (11:18 am) [edit] |
The United Nations on Thursday mobilised donor countries against a mounting humanitarian crisis in Sudan's Darfur, but a senior US official warned that hundreds of thousands may already be doomed to die.
Donor countries, gathered for an appeal by the UN for an immediate $US236 million in aid, also told Khartoum to rein in murderous militia gangs blamed for campaigns of rape and pillage across the vast western region of Africa's largest country.
"Our appeal is to the government to get its act together and to get those people (the militias) under control quickly," said James Morris, head of the UN's World Food Programme.
Hundreds of thousands of people have fled their homes and abandoned farms, mostly to avoid the government-backed Janjaweed gangs, which UN officials have accused of ethnic cleansing.
The refugees' plight is certain to become more desperate with this month's onset of the rainy season, which makes roads impassable and speeds the spread of infectious disease.
The head of US government agency USAID warned that 300,000 people in an area of nearly seven million might already be condemned to die from hunger and disease, regardless of the success of the UN call for help.
The feared toll was based on studies of malnutrition and mortality rates in Sudan, Andrew Natsios, USAID administrator, told a news conference.
"If we get relief in, we could lose a third of a million, if we do not, it could be million," he said. "But that is not a prediction, and we hope it is not true," he added. tvnz
|
|
|
| |
| Sudan: The children |
| 06.25.04 (11:01 am) [edit] |
A Sudanese refugee child sits among cooking pots in camp set up around a former school in El Genina, an arid area in Sudan's western Darfur province in this file photo taken on June 14, 2004 in a zone described as the world's worst humanitarian crisis. Reuters AlertNet
A Sudanese refugee mother breastfeeds her malnourished child at a refugee camp set up near a school in El Genina, an arid area in Sudan's northern Darfur province in this file photo taken on June 14, 2004.
Reuters AlertNet
|
|
|
| |
| Iacocca Throws Support to Kerry |
| 06.25.04 (7:17 am) [edit] |
This a surprise to me. He backed Bush in 2000, now Lee Iacocca backs Kerry! Can you believe this perennial big business kingpin abandoning Bush for Kerry after supporting BOTH Bush and Ronald Reagan during his lifetime? Could this be the beginning of the total breaking down of Bush support in the business community that could eventually lead to the end of the Bush presidency on Jan. 20, 2005 if not before?
"All of my best friends are Republicans, and they ask me, 'Are you crazy or something? Why are you doing this?'" Iacocca recounted with a chuckle. "Well, simple. I tell them the world is changing. Our country's changing, and we need a leader who understands that change that's taking place. And most importantly, we need a leader who will level with us about how we can adapt to that change and make things change for the better.
"The bottom line is simple: We need a new CEO and president," he added. "I've got to tell you, I say this not as a partisan, but as an unabashed patriot."
LA Times
|
|
|
| |
| Medecins Sans Frontieres: Sudan militias terrorize Darfur displaced |
| 06.24.04 (5:48 pm) [edit] |
Sudanese militias are now terrorizing a camp holding tens of thousands who fled their attacks reports Medecins Sans Frontieres.
"After surviving massacres carried out by pro-government militias on their villages, displaced civilians in Darfur, Sudan continue to endure violent attacks and rapes around the areas where they have gathered," it said in a statement released in Geneva.
"The same militias who carried out the initial attacks now control the camp's periphery, virtually imprisoning people who live in constant fear," it said, referring to the Mornay camp in western Darfur, where some 80,000 people have taken refuge.
"Men risk being killed if they leave, and women have been beaten and raped looking for food and other essential items outside the camp," it said.
Khartoum, meanwhile, has been accused of hampering essential humanitarian access to the region.
Darfur's "displaced have been entirely dependent on external aid for several months, but the assistance necessary for them to survive has not materialized," warned MSF.
"Already, 200 people die in Mornay every month, and there is nothing to indicate that assistance will arrive in time or in sufficient quantities to avoid a massive human catastrophe.
"Today, one in five children in the camp are severely malnourished while irregular and insufficient food distributions do not come close to meeting the basic needs of people weakened by violence, displacement and deprivation," said the statement.
At least 10,000 people have been killed in Darfur -- many believe the toll is grossly underestimated -- and one million been internally displaced.
"Those who have fled to Mornay represent less than 10% of people displaced by a war waged against civilians in Darfur," said MSF.
"The events directly affect an estimated one million people and indirectly affect several hundreds of thousands more, especially in terms of food security, while more than 190,000 people have sought refuge in neighboring Chad," it said. tehrantimes.com
|
|
|
| |
| U.S. Dollar vs. the Euro: Another reason for the invasion of Iraq? |
| 06.24.04 (11:25 am) [edit] |
In November 2000, Iraq became the first OPEC nation to begin selling its oil for Euros. Since then, the value of the Euro has increased 17%, and the dollar has begun to decline.
Could another reason for the invasion and installation of a U.S. dominated government in Iraq, as William Clark has theorized, be to force the country back to the dollar and to dissuade further OPEC momentum toward the Euro, especially from Iran - the second largest OPEC producer, who was actively discussing a switch to Euros for its oil exports?
|
|
|
| |
| Stand Up for a Patients' Bill of Rights |
| 06.24.04 (10:37 am) [edit] |
Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that patients do not have the right to hold their HMOs accountable in a court of law. This is a dire situation, which demands our immediate attention- Americans need a comprehensive Patient's Bill of Rights.
I am asking you to stand with me and thousands of other Democrats in support of meaningful legislation that will guarantee 190 million Americans health care decisions by doctors — not by HMO bureaucrats.
We deserve the right to make our own health care decisions! And we MUST maintain the right to challenge HMOs that fail to provide adequate health care.
President George W. Bush promised during the 2000 Presidential campaign that if he became President,
"people will be able to take their HMO insurance company to court." He disingenuously touted the law that passed in Texas while he was governor as proof of his resolve — without saying that he had actually vetoed one version of the law and then let it become law without signing it.
And in the case decided on Monday, his Administration actually argued AGAINST the Texas law before the Supreme Court. Call on President Bush to make a Patient's Bill of Rights a top priority by signing our petition: DCCC
|
|
|
| |
| The Internet unlocks the key to power |
| 06.24.04 (10:18 am) [edit] |
The ability to use the Web gives people unprecedented access to information that was once beyond reach.
BY Douglas Davis
The great Internet secret is that truly big secrets are dead.
Imagine the power and cunning secreted within those who decided to commit sex on Iraqi prisoners - to say nothing of a formidable Department of Defense blinding our eyes to the coffins of our own war dead. And yet, almost immediately we could see the images ourselves on the Web. They're uploaded on sites like "the memory hole" and "robert-fisk.com," and by "embedded" reporters (official and unofficial), by families with members suffering abroad, and by cranky writers who can't find a friendly editor.
This same revolution is hidden within the attempt to distort or conceal the past of any politician running for office. John Kerry's war records are now publicly visible, down to the signature on his enlistment form. Or the precise figures of civilian casualties in Iraq, rarely mentioned in the press.
Nevertheless we remain stubbornly blind - all of us, not only the habit-chained media - to the radical nature of the Net. We still haven't figured out how personal, detailed and accessible it has become to everyone, not just high-brow nerds.
We're facing not just a two-way information flow, not just an "information highway" and an instant fund-raiser, but a hydra-headed digital angel - or monster. This spring we began to hear that the Internet is at last competing with TV and the press. But the Web isn't simply one more "medium," one more extension of CBS or USA Today. Our Net is an activist tool, as different from flashy TV news and political ads as vintage wine is from Coca-Cola.
Simple messages - Kerry is a bogus hero, torture at Abu Ghraib is the invention of just five deluded soldiers - won't work. Why? Five minutes on Google or Yahoo offers us hundreds of angles and original documents on any single story. The other night, for example, I looked up the press' favorite scapegoat for Abu Ghraib, Pfc. Lynndie England, a petite young woman who dragged nude prisoners around on the end of a leash - and found some 4,000 fact-opinion entries, including her own testimony that she had been ordered to wield that leash and drag one poor victim around for "five to six hours."
The Web turns slick headlines into unbelievable complexity, that is, reality. We now know everything about Kerry's stop-go-fight-stop attitude toward Vietnam: how he saved lives, took shrapnel in his leg, turned against the war later, with millions of others, when he saw the true clumsiness of our strategy.
The ability to sniff out the "mass mind" potential in any story is no longer the beginning and end of journalism. If the media treat the readers/viewers like children, they'll lose credibility fast. That's why they have to wake up to the meaning of the ubiquitous search engine. Surely it will impact on the raw, writhing election campaign facing us and stimulate a large, impassioned turnout. And the researcher-citizen who knows how to find it all is the key in the lock. We don't need a Michael Moore, whose film tells about the ties between the Bushes and the Saudi royal family, or even a Douglas Brinkley, whose packed biography of Kerry tells us little-known stories about the candidate's facile, multi-lingual father.
Little Brother, in brief, is swamping Big Media Brother. He could be the signal rebuff to our traditional view of political campaigns - that most American voters remain disinterested until the last month, jarred only by the TV debates, acting out of emotion and prejudice rather than sophisticated political calculus. For years this nonsense has been quietly contradicted by serious studies of "exit polls." Even pre-Internet, the Americans who actually tured out to vote were and are informed, impassioned and rather contemptuous of electronic news.
When we heard the Defense Department had "forbidden" images of dead soldiers, we flocked to see them on the Web. When we heard that hostage Kim Sun-il had been killed in Iraq, we opened Al-Jazeera's home page.
We may use the Web each day for countless practical reasons, but at night it's ready - we're ready - to sample chats, distant lands and languages - even specialized lodes of information such as the legal memos given to our White House more than a year ago, justifying "stress" torture. The point is that the Web reader-viewer-investigato rs can choose to be committed, to go after their own passions, not just accept passively what others offer. If this means voting in 2004 is going to be more difficult to predict, more rambunctious, more committed by a group of decentralized, self-driven men and women, let it be.
If this further means our minds are changing, in the most unexpected manner, let that be, too. If we knew what's coming, as Stephen Hawking, our quantum Einstein, lately said, we'd miss the thrill of the surprises constantly forced upon us by a risk-rich God.
Copyright © 2004, Newsday, Inc. Newsday
|
|
|
| |
| New survey to assess support for Dean for VP |
| 06.24.04 (9:26 am) [edit] |
The Draft Dean for VP Committee has written and
created a survey for Dean supporters and Democrats
around the country.
You can find the survey online at:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=71262530315" title="http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=71262530315" target="_blank"http://www.surveymonkey.com/s...
The purpose of the survey is to ascertain what the
thoughts are among Democrats and independents across
the nation about who John Kerry should select for Vice
President. The sample is not random, but there is a
control against multiple responses coming from a
single computer location. Any efforts that will be
made to analyze the data collected are done so with
these facts in mind.
If you have not signed the petition, you are invited
to complete the survey. Otherwise, we encourage you
to forward this message to your friends, family, local
Democratic clubs, and current or former Dean
supporters of any party affiliation urging them to
complete the survey.
All answers you provide are anonymous. There is no way
to trace your responses to an individual person. If
you have questions regarding the survey or methodology
please email Thomas Bryer at bryer@usc.edu.
Thank you for your participation.
|
|
|
| |
| Beheadings a medieval act by a 21st century medium |
| 06.23.04 (10:36 am) [edit] |
"Their chief motive is a reaction of horror and shock," said Asma Afsaruddin, an associate professor of Arabic and Islamic studies at the University of Notre Dame.
While she acknowledged that the militants might say they are acting in accord with their religion, Afsaruddin said such claims should not simply be accepted.
"Just because a certain group claims it is behaving in accordance with Islamic conduct, that does not mean we should believe that," she said. "There is absolutely no religious imperative for this. Clearly, what is behind it is vindictiveness and a desire to get as much attention as they can."
Al Qaeda has embraced such tactics because it sees itself in a global struggle against the West, and the beheadings are a way of warning its foes that it must be taken into account, said Richard Dekmejian, professor of political science at USC.
Since ancient times, decapitation has been widely used for executions, not only in the Arab world, but elsewhere — for instance, in Japan and in some European countries up to the 20th century.
Saudi Arabia, despite much criticism from Amnesty International and other human rights groups, still beheads scores of people in public each year for crimes including murder, rape, armed robbery and drug trafficking.
Izady said there was a clear distinction between the swift execution of people judged guilty of crimes, and the slow beheading of hostages by terrorists — a method, he said, which had been used in the past only in the most heinous criminal cases. He expects the tactic to be copied by others.
"It will be an epidemic, unfortunately, until it loses its special effect," he said.
Dipak Gupta, a research associate at the Fred J. Hansen Institute for World Peace at San Diego State University, pointed to the strong symbolism of the sword in Mideast mythology and history: the sword of the prophet, the sword of the prince, Saddam Hussein's crossed-sword monument in Baghdad.
For the terrorists, the use of the sword "would symbolize justice done to a deserving miscreant," he said. "To shoot a victim or to hang him will not have the same symbolic effect."
"It's a political, psychological ploy to show the enemy is merciless, vengeful and will stop at nothing," Richard Murphy, a former U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia, told The Associated Press. Militants know "what will cause maximum shock in the Western public and particularly the American public."
"Beheadings are done to try to show that no Westerners are safe," said Rachel Bronson, the Director of Middle East Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. "It has a chilling effect on Westerners in Saudi Arabia."
Decapitation rarely occurred in past militant attacks in the Middle East, where terror tactics have included hijackings, suicide bombings or gun attacks. Hostages were often taken and killed in Lebanon's civil war, but victims were rarely if ever beheaded.
Al-Qaida militants may be using the technique to misleadingly give the killings an Islamic veneer, Murphy said.
"It's not (Islamic)," he said. "To have a Quranic capital punishment, you have to have a legal procedure with strict standards."
Sources:
LA Times
Iraq Net
|
|
|
| |
| Anxiety in France over neo-Nazi attacks |
| 06.23.04 (9:11 am) [edit] |
By John Lichfield in Paris
Anxiety is growing in France about a series of neo-Nazi attacks on Jewish, and now Muslim, sites especially in the Strasbourg and Colmar areas of Alsace.
There have been five serious incidents in or near the Alsatian cities in the past seven weeks, culminating in the desecration of a Muslim cemetery in Meinau last week.
More than 300 people of all races and religions gathered on Wednesday for a religious service and protest in the Muslim section of the Meinau cemetery, in the suburbs of Strasbourg, where 50 graves were daubed with black swastikas. A similar attack on a Jewish cemetery at Herrlisheim, near Colmar, in April also drew a protest by Alsatians of all races - the first time that there has been a clear anti-racist stand by ordinary people in the German-speaking province. Independent
|
|
|
| |
| A neoconservative mugged by reality |
| 06.23.04 (9:04 am) [edit] |
U.S. aid to rebuild Iraqi universities falls far short
By Rajiv Chandrasekaran
The Washington Post
BAGHDAD — John Agresto arrived nine months ago with two suitcases, a feather pillow and a suffusion of optimism. He didn't know much about Iraq but was certain the U.S. occupation and his mission to oversee the country's university system would be a success.
"Like everyone else in America, I saw the images of people cheering as Saddam Hussein's statue was pulled down. I saw people hitting pictures of him with their shoes," said Agresto, former president of 525-student St. John's College in Santa Fe, N.M. "Once you see that, you can't help but say, 'OK. This is going to work.' "
But the Iraq he encountered was different from what he had expected. Visits to the universities he was trying to rebuild and the faculty he wanted to invigorate were more and more dangerous and infrequent.
His Iraqi staff was threatened by insurgents. His evenings were disrupted by mortar attacks on the occupation authority's Baghdad headquarters.
His plans to repair hundreds of campus buildings were scuttled by the Bush administration's move to shift reconstruction efforts and by the failure to raise aid from other sources.
His hope that Iraqis would put aside differences and personal interests for a common cause was, as he put it, "way too idealistic."
"I'm a neoconservative who's been mugged by reality," Agresto said as he puffed on a pipe next to a resort-size swimming pool behind the marbled palace that houses the occupation authority.
"We can't deny there were mistakes, things that didn't work out the way we wanted," he added. "We have to be honest with ourselves."
Agresto's candor is unusual among the staff of the Coalition Provisional Authority, the U.S. bureaucracy responsible for the civil administration of Iraq until June 30. He is one of the few U.S. officials in Baghdad to speak on the record at length about the shortcomings of the occupation.
Iraq's institutions of higher learning were once the most modern in the Middle East. But they were smothered under Saddam Hussein, then further devastated by looting after Saddam's government was toppled last year.
In his initial travels around Iraq, Agresto, 58, observed students sitting on the floor in burned-out classrooms. He visited technical colleges with no tools. He saw academic journals from the 1960s kept under lock at an agricultural college because the school did not possess more-recent books.
"It's difficult to describe how bad things were," he recalled.
Agresto found the universities needed $1.2 billion to become viable centers of learning and reap goodwill for the U.S. rebuilding effort. But of the $18.6 billion U.S. reconstruction package approved by Congress last year, higher education received $8 million, a tiny fraction of his proposal. When Agresto asked the U.S. Agency for International Development for 130,000 desks, he got 8,000.
"I really thought this would have been valuable money, well spent and sorely needed," he said. "We're not buying books for the libraries. We're not buying saws and nails for the technical institutes. We're not replacing the computers that were stolen. I can't be anything but sad about it."
Agresto, a lifelong Republican and political conservative, still believes in the U.S. invasion. He is proud of the changes the Coalition Provisional Authority instilled in Iraq's universities, including the promotion of academic freedom and a purge of senior officials of Saddam's Baath party. He says he believes the provisional authority accomplished "a lot of good under very difficult conditions."
While acknowledging U.S. mistakes, Agresto aimed some of his most pointed criticism at Iraqis. In his view, the United States toppled a dictator and prepared the ground for democracy, but Iraqis have not stepped up to build on that start.
"They don't know how to be a community," he said. "They put their individual interests first. They only look out for themselves."
Some American academics who are familiar with Iraq's university system blame the Bush administration, and Agresto, for failing to secure more independent funding.
They said that in choosing Agresto, the White House shunned scholars with greater acceptance in academic circles, many of whom had opposed the invasion, in favor of a conservative loyalist who had spent much of his career criticizing the U.S. academic establishment.
"Had it been someone different than Agresto, the possibility of that would have been so much better," said Keith Watenpaugh, an assistant professor of Middle East history at Le Moyne College in Syracuse, N.Y., who traveled to Baghdad last year to assess Iraq's university system.
"The politics of the occupation were so divisive, and the American academy felt so disempowered by the way things were happening, that when such political creatures like Agresto came asking for things, it was too difficult to put aside those politics," he said.
"If the administration had really been committed to rebuilding Iraq's education structures, they wouldn't have sent Agresto." Seattle Times
|
|
|
| |
| Another life for power, profit, democracy etc. etc. etc. |
| 06.23.04 (8:31 am) [edit] |
The news of Kim Sun-il's death puts a pall over the morning for me. I won't soon forget this man screams. I'm sure that would be the reaction of most of us in contrast to the Italian who died with brave words on his lips.
In an online poll Tuesday 70.5% of 28,281 respondents demanded Seoul cancel the troop deployment to Iraq, with only 24.2% supporting it.
Throughout the day Monday, South Korean officials and ordinary citizens declared their antiwar sentiments when they issued public pleas for Kim's life. So many e-mails were sent by South Koreans to Al Jazeera's online bulletin board that the site was temporarily closed.
"Release him, please. Take Bush instead!" wrote one person to the bulletin board, signing the message, "Crying in Korea."
While sending troops to wage a battle for US democracy South Korea's government ignores democracy in it's own country.
I hope the South Korean government is paid off well by George Bush for their unqualified support.
President Bush condemned the beheading as "barbaric" and said he remained confident that South Korea would go ahead with plans to send the troops to Iraq. South Korea will be the third-largest troop contributor after the United States and Britain.
"The free world cannot be intimidated by the brutal actions of these barbaric people," the president said.
One of the masked men read a statement addressed to the Korean people: "This is what your hands have committed. Your army has not come here for the sake of Iraqis, but for cursed America." South Korea is a U.S. ally in Iraq.
Yes, they do seem to hate us. I wonder why? I think they're saying they won't be intimidated by us.
For those whose argument is 'the terrorist are to blame.'
Try to remember the US is occupying Iraq. We are the invaders.
While we call them terrorist and barbarians they call themselves the resistance.
"This makes the war in Iraq reality for many people," said Noh Ju Yeon, a 23-year-old student who was one of about 1,000 people marching in Seoul. She said the kidnapping was a predictable result of Iraqi anger over the occupation of their country.
"We can't really call them [the kidnappers] terrorists. From their point of view, they were attacked by a superpower without justification. As someone from a small country, I understand their feelings," Noh said.
At the White House, President George W. Bush said the killing of foreign hostages in Iraq would not deter the US-led coalition there.
"In order to impose their vision, they want us to leave. But we will not be intimidated," Mr Bush said.
I'm sure Kim Sun-il's family will feel much better after reading idealistic prose about democratic values. They would feel even better if you would have offered to exchange yourself or your child in place of theirs for the cause of 'your' values.
Kim's elderly parents, tears streaming down their cheeks, begged the South Korean government to cancel the troops' deployment to spare their son, the only boy in a family of seven girls.
"My life is over without him," cried Kim Jong Kyu, the hostage's father, to television reporters in his hometown of Pusan.
Aljazeera
LA Times
|
|
|
| |
| Kerry ahead in Ohio, Clark as VP looking more likely |
| 06.23.04 (6:11 am) [edit] |
A new American Research Group (ARG) poll shows Democratic presidential hopeful Senator John Kerry surging ahead in the key bellwether state of Ohio.
bellwether? I had to look this one up.."sheep that leads the herd often wearing a bell. So, it means leader. Why not just say so?
Ohio, which went Bush in the last election and is deemed to be one of the central battlegrounds in the upcoming election, is now breaking hard for the Democratic challenger.
According the ARG’s Dick Bennett, "John Kerry leads George W. Bush in Ohio 49% to 42%, with 2% for Ralph Nader. Without Nader on the ballot, it's Kerry 50% and Bush 43%. "
This is the reason many want Nader off the ticket. I'd prefer he get behind the candidate with a chance of beating Bush but we do live in a democracy, don't we?
"Kerry is running stronger among Democrats than Bush is running among Republicans and Kerry leads Bush 48% to 43% among self-described independents," says Bennett.
I'm one of those independents. It's important Kerry pick a strong VP. I think Clark would be a good choice. I don't like Biden at all. Kerry, are you paying attention?
Source: ModerateIndependent
|
|
|
| |
| Good morning from France! |
| 06.23.04 (5:42 am) [edit] |
Bonjour from a Louisiana woman living in France. I'm on my first cup of coffee and not quite ready to feed on the feeds. I did get a nice email entitled, "Kerry Surges Ahead In Swing State, Clark As VP Begins To Look More And More Likely." I haven't read it yet but the title itself is enough to make me smile. I like the general. I may do a blog on this later.
Should Nader be allowed in the September debates? Why not? Share your views on this subject here.
Tblog's comment applet annoys me. I have Halo Scan and am considering switching but I will lose all previous comments so I will think on it awhile longer. Anyone in Tblog use Halo Scan or another application? I've thought about a no comment blog but I really like feedback at least most of the time. I can do without the little f..k you alien pics.
Ok..another cup of coffee and on with the day. I must water my garden at some point. I know little about growing vegetables but they don't seem to mind. I even put a few potatoe pieces in the ground and they're coming up. How do you know when you have potatoes?
See you soon...
|
|
|
| |
| Father's Day with The Preznit |
| 06.22.04 (8:31 pm) [edit] |
Father's Day Dinner with the G. Dubya Bush Family
Starring: Dubya, Laura, Barbara and Jenna as the twins
This is not to be missed. As one comment said, "I wet my pants!" BlondeSense
|
|
|
| |
| Sudan: Dare We Call It Genocide? |
| 06.22.04 (3:06 pm) [edit] |
By Nicholas D. Kristof
Along The Chad-Sudan Border — The Bush administration says it is exploring whether to describe the mass murder and rape in the Darfur region of Sudan as "genocide." I suggest that President Bush invite to the White House a real expert, Magboula Muhammad Khattar, a 24-year-old widow huddled under a tree here.
The world has acquiesced shamefully in the Darfur genocide, perhaps because 320,000 deaths this year (a best-case projection from the U.S. Agency for International Development) seems like one more boring statistic. So listen to Ms. Khattar's story, multiply it by hundreds of thousands, and let's see if we still want to look the other way.
Just a few months ago, Ms. Khattar had a great life. Her sweet personality and lovely appearance earned a hefty bride price of 40 cattle when she was married four years ago to Ali Daoud, a prosperous farmer. The family owned 300 cattle and 50 camels, making them among the wealthiest in their village, Ab-Layha in western Sudan. Ms. Khattar promptly bore two children, the youngest born late last year.
About the same time, though, the Sudanese government resolved to crush a rebellion in Darfur, a region the size of France in western Sudan. Sudan armed and paid a militia of Arab raiders, the Janjaweed, and authorized them to slaughter and drive out members of the Zaghawa, Masalit and Fur tribes.
On March 12, Ms. Khattar was performing her predawn Muslim prayers about 4 a.m. when a Sudanese government Antonov aircraft started dropping bombs on Ab-Layha, which is made up of Zaghawa tribespeople. Moments later, more than 1,000 Janjaweed attackers rode into the village on horses and camels, backed by Sudanese government troops in trucks.
"The Janjaweed shouted: `We will not allow blacks here. We will not let Zaghawa here. This land is only for Arabs,' " Ms. Khattar recalled.
Ms. Khattar grabbed her children, and, as shots and flames raged around her, raced for a nearby forest. But her father and mother tried to protect their animals — they were yelling, "Don't take our livestock." They were both shot dead.
The attack was part of a deliberate strategy to ensure that the village would be forever uninhabitable, that the Zaghawa could never live there again. The Janjaweed poisoned wells by stuffing them with the corpses of people and donkeys. They also blew up a dam that supplied water to the farms, destroyed seven hand pumps in the village and burned all the homes and even the village school, the clinic and the mosque.
In separate interviews, I talked to more than a dozen other survivors from Ab-Layha, and they all confirm Ms. Khattar's story. By most accounts, about 100 people were massacred that day in Ab-Layha, and a particular effort was made to exterminate all men and boys, even the very young. Women and girls were sometimes allowed to flee, but the prettiest were kidnapped.
Most of those raped don't want to talk about it. But Zahra Abdel Karim, a 30-year-old woman, told me how in the same attack on Ab-Layha, the Janjaweed shot to death her husband, Adam, and 7-year-old son, Rahshid, as well as three of her brothers. Then they grabbed her 4-year-old son, Rasheed, from her arms and cut his throat.
The Janjaweed took her and her two sisters away on horses and gang-raped them, she said. The troops shot one sister, Kuttuma, and cut the throat of the other, Fatima, and they discussed how to mutilate her. (Sexual humiliation has been part of the Sudanese strategy to drive out the African tribespeople. The Janjaweed routinely add to the stigma by branding or scarring the women they rape.)
"One Janjaweed said: `You belong to me. You are a slave to the Arabs, and this is the sign of a slave,' " she recalled. He slashed her leg with a sword before letting her hobble away, stark naked. Other villagers confirmed that they had found her naked and bleeding, and she showed me the scar on her leg.
By comparison, Ms. Khattar was one of the lucky ones. She lost her parents, her home and all her belongings, but her husband and children were alive, and she had not been raped. Unfortunately, her luck would soon run out.
I'll tell you more of her story on Saturday, because if she and her people aren't victims of genocide, then the word has no meaning. NY Times
|
|
|
| |
| British naval vessels seized by Iran; Iran will prosecute |
| 06.22.04 (11:53 am) [edit] |
George Bush invades Iraq and doesn't think there will be consequences anywhere else. He undoubtedly forgot he called Iran part of the "axis of evil." Does this man know anything about geopolitics?
Iran has seized three British naval boats which it said has entered its waters near the Iraqi border, and arrested eight British crew members.
Quoting unnamed Iranian military sources, Iran's Arabic language news channel al Alam said the eight men were to be prosecuted on charges of "illegally entering Iran's waters."
Iranian and British relations are strained since London joined other European nations last week in condemning Iran for being less than fully cooperative with inspectors from the IAEA.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards say the Britons were arrested after the Navy vessels entered Iranian waters, the Shatt al-Arab waterway, without permission.
Alex Vatanka, editor of Jane's Sentinel Security Assessments says, "The Iranians feel the scrutiny that they are facing right now on the nuclear front is kind of unjustified. They like to point to areas where Iran has cooperated and they are kind of increasingly feeling, sensing that whatever Iran does is not good enough for the Europeans and never going to be good enough for the Americans because what the Americans want is, essentially, the removal of the Islamic regime in Tehran.
So there is a sense in Iran that it is never going to be enough.
The Iranians are increasingly feeling that smaller neighbours that wouldn't, under normal circumstances, have challenged Iran, the sort of regional power, now look at America and Britain and so on and say, "well, we can get away with it because if the Iranians do anything to us, we know Washington would stand behind us" and I think there is some truth in that."
Iran's Arabic language news channel says the patrol boats contained weapons, cameras for spying and detailed maps of areas of Iraq and Iran.
Britain's Defense Ministry says the boats carried only the sailors' personal weapons.
A British Defense Ministry spokesman said Britons were in the area helping train Iraqi police and that this group had been delivering a boat to Basra.
News sources:
SMH
AM
Newsday
Reuters
|
|
|
| |
| No Closed Presidential Debates |
| 06.22.04 (11:06 am) [edit] |
I have been asked to post this and in the name of true democracy, I am happy to do so.
The Presidential Debates are run by the CPD (Commission on Presidential Debates). They're a private organization run by the former chairmen of the Republican and Democratic parties.
The CPD's candidate selection criteria state that only candidates that are getting an average of at least 15% support in 5 national polls by the end of September will be allowed in the debates. This makes it very difficult for any 3rd parties to get their views heard in the debates.
------------------------- ------------------------- ----------
Hi. Will you post this and pass this along (and of course, go to the site yourself to send a letter.
Join me in a nationwide campaign to open the upcoming presidential debates to include independent candidate Ralph Nader.
A new organization is being launched -- LetNaderDebate.Org -- whose mission is to bring thousands of fellow Americans into an effort to demand that Nader's voice be included in the televised debates, the first of which is scheduled for September.
We have begun by circulating our OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT GEORGE BUSH, calling on him to open the debates and demand Nader's inclusion. In order for the debates to be an appropriately engaged forum, Nader's voice must be included. He offers a significantly different perspective on the pressing issues of the day -- including the war in Iraq -- and his participation will surely invigorate the dialogue.
Four things to do:
1) First, go to the new website at www.LetNaderDebate.org and send the open letter to President George Bush calling on him to bring Ralph into the debates.
2) Second, make a contribution on line if you can or mail it in.
3) Third, send an e-mail letter with the www.LetNaderDebate.org link to all of your friends, family members and colleagues asking them to join this campaign. You don't have to be a Nader voter to support an open and democratic debate! It is very important to follow up the e-mail message with a personal conversation.
4) Fourth, become an ongoing leader in this campaign. Keep reaching out to new people to support this campaign online, in person and through the media. Develop new ways of building this campaign and share this on line with other activists.
So let's go and get Nader into the debates. Let me know how it goes.
Best,
Gwen Mandell
gwenmand@aol.com
Let Nader Debate
|
|
|
| |
| No French troops in Iraq! |
| 06.22.04 (10:30 am) [edit] |
Joe Biden, Democratic Senator of Delaware has said,
"Now it is time for NATO, particularly the French and the Germans, to step up to the ball [get involved]," added Mr. Biden. "They bled [complained] for years about how the [U.N.] embargo was doing such great damage to the Iraqi people. If they now refuse [Iraqi interim Prime Minister Iyad] Allawi's plea for additional help, then they are being irresponsible."
“If we don’t hand over the capacity for this sovereign government to be secure within its own borders and to be at peace with itself, then we’re going to inherit a circumstance in Iraq that is equally as dangerous to us” as having ousted President Saddam Hussein in power."
“It’s time for NATO, and particularly the French and the Germans, to act more responsibly now, notwithstanding their frustration with President Bush.”
Senators Lindsey Graham and Bill Frist are also making the news in their criticism of France and Germany.
“The one thing you learn when you go to Iraq [is] that this is a world problem if we fail. It could be a world success if we succeed. But the international community has a chance to be helpful at a time when Iraq needs it the most,” said Graham, R-S.C., who appeared with Biden on ABC’s “This Week.”
To date French President Jacques Chirac and German Chancellor Gerhard Schoeder say their positions remain unchanged. There will be no French or German troops going to Iraq.
Chirac does not rule out NATO training for Iraqi troops but has said any request for NATO help must come from Iraqi authorities after the Iraqis are handed political power.
I suggest these senators would better serve their country by demanding a withdrawal of US troops from Iraq rather than now looking for "old Europe's" aid in continued US occupation.
No French troops in Iraq!
|
|
|
| |
| "Oh what a tangled web we weave!" |
| 06.22.04 (9:34 am) [edit] |
The 9/11 Commission said their was no "collaborative relationship" between Al Qaeda and Iraq.
We say, the Bush administration has been proven wrong.
The White House counters saying, they never said that Iraq was involved in the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.
Now Bush says, "There was a relationship between Iraq and Al Qaeda."
Vice President Cheney says, "The evidence is overwhelming" that there was a relationship. Asked if he knew things the panel didn't he said, "probably."
Did the Bush administration not share all it knew with the panel? Mr. Cheney's "probably" suggest they didn't or they're lying.
But, a White House spokesman says, the administration "cooperated fully with the commission," and "the president wants the commission to have the information it needs to do the job." "Oh what a tangled web we weave!"
If you're confused, don't be. Use your common sense. The Bush administration is bouncing around this issue. They never explicitly say anything and that in itself shows deception.
No doubt, if they had real evidence we would know it beyond a shadow of a doubt. This administration has never been shy about leaking sensitive information when it supported their cause. If there were a connection between said parties why would they keep it secret, especially now?
We have been led to believe from the beginning that there was a connection between Iraq, Al Qaeda and 9/11. This has been ingrained so deeply there are still people on the streets of the US that will give this alleged connection as a righteous reason for George Bush to invade Iraq. And let us not forget the WMD that would no doubt be unleased upon us soon if Saddam was not stopped.
No WMD..no 9/11 Al Qaeda connection. Get it!
|
|
|
| |
| Iraq military deaths as of Monday |
| 06.22.04 (8:43 am) [edit] |
A frame grab taken from video footage shows the bodies of U.S. soldiers in the town of Ramadi, west of Baghdad June 21, 2004. Four U.S. soldiers were found dead, apparently killed in an attack by Iraqi insurgents, witnesses said on Monday. Photo by Reuters Tv/Reuters
As of Monday, June 21, 837 U.S. service members have died since the beginning of military operations in Iraq last year, according to the Defense Department. Of those, 617 died as a result of hostile action and 220 died of non-hostile causes.
The British military has reported 58 deaths; Italy, 18; Spain, eight; Bulgaria and Poland, six each; Ukraine, four; Slovakia three; Thailand, two; Denmark, El Salvador (news - web sites), Estonia, Hungary, Latvia and the Netherlands have reported one each.
Since May 1,
2003, when President Bush declared that major combat operations in Iraq had ended, 699 U.S. soldiers have died — 508 as a result of hostile action and 191 of non-hostile causes, according to the military as of Monday.
|
|
|
| |
| Iraq Police Dismiss U.S. Claims in Falluja |
| 06.21.04 (9:16 pm) [edit] |
BAGHDAD -- Top Iraqi security officials in the city of Falluja have dismissed U.S. claims that a house destroyed by a deadly American air strike was used by al-Qaeda fighters. Brigadier Nuri Abudi, a member of the Falluja Brigade entrusted by the U.S. occupation with imposing security in the city, said evidence showed the destroyed building was the home of an extended Iraqi family.
"We inspected the damage, we looked through the bodies of the women and children and elderly. This was a family," he said on Sunday. "There is no sign of foreigners having lived in the house. Zarqawi and his men have no presence in Falluja," he said, referring to Abu Mussab Zarqawi.
U.S. warplanes launched a fierce strike in the city, some 50km west of the capital, early on Saturday, leaving 22 people dead. Residents said women and children were killed in the attack.
U.S. Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt claimed that there was "significant intelligence" that members of Zarqawi's network were in the house, but there was no evidence Zarqawi himself was there. Fragile Truce Zarqawi, who Washington claims is a top al-Qaeda leader in Iraq, is accused of masterminding a number of attacks against the occupation. Falluja police chief Colonel Sadr al-Janabi criticized the occupation's attack, saying it was a "destabilizing" move. "This was an attack on a family in a house and it killed all of them. There are no signs that people like Zarqawi were in the house or in Falluja," he said. "This attack was conducted without any coordination with us." Falluja, which has strongly resisted the occupation, has been relatively quiet since the Falluja Brigade took over from U.S. occupation forces and a ceasefire was brokered between the two sides.
In April, hundreds of Iraqis - mainly civilians - were killed in fierce U.S. bombardments after four American security contractors were killed outside the city. Fierce fighting erupted between the occupation and resistance for weeks before a truce, brokered by the Association of Muslim Scholars (AMS), ended the battles. Iraq Net
|
|
|
| |
| 9/11 commission a tool for partisan politics |
| 06.21.04 (8:26 pm) [edit] |
The 9/11 commission staff members are evenly divided between the Republican and Democratic parties 'and' it's chaired by a Republican appointed by Bush. Yet Republicans are furious about the commission's findings last week and Rep. Eric Cantor of Virginia, a member of the House Republican leadership said, "With the latest commission finding coming out that there were allegedly no ties between Hussein and al-Qaida, I think they are totally off their mission and I think that's indicative of the political partisanship."
Republicans don't even trust their own people and yet they expect us to.
If the commission's findings that there was no collaborative relationship between Saddam Hussein and
al-Qaida don't cause you to start thinking for yourself rather than leaning on the thought processes of George Bush you are in serious denial.
|
|
|
| |
| Palestine's Next Generation: What Prospects? |
| 06.21.04 (7:38 pm) [edit] |
Israel's policy of erecting barriers and destroying Palestinian lives and homes in the name of security represents a travesty of international humanitarian norms. Yet it fails to attract the publicity and action necessary to protect the lives of Palestinian civilians and to nurture any fragile hopes for the future.
The international community has become inured to atrocities in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, including the death of over 100 Palestinians in May 2004 and at least 32 minors, most during “Operation Rainbow” in Rafah. All that the US could tell Israel was that "some of their actions don't create the best atmosphere."
The continuing imprisonment of some 5,000 Palestinians, including 373 children, and the widespread incidence of torture and mistreatment have been verified by numerous independent human rights groups, including Physicians for Human Rights, the Red Cross, and Defence for Children International.
Israel's "security wall" continues to be erected and has already destroyed livelihoods and has limited job prospects in a country where unemployment affects 70% of the population and where at least 60% of the population live below the UN poverty line of $2 a day.
Even among very young Palestinians there is a pervasive sense of despair and hopelessness.
When 16-year-old children strap themselves into suicide belts - as in the case of Sabih Abu Al-Saoud, who killed himself in an attack on a group of Israeli soldiers in March 2003 - the issue of child exploitation by Palestinian political groups and the wrongful targeting of Israeli civilians is justifiably mentioned.
But what of the impulses that push individual children and young adults towards these actions? Despite high-profile cases of forced recruitment, the majority of this small but growing band of youngsters cite individual motives: revenge, justice, or even the desire to be a hero.
In today’s Palestinian society the only celebrities are those who challenge the Israeli presence in words or, with increasing frequency, desperate acts of resistance.
This kamikaze approach to resistance, far from inspiring world respect for the Palestinian cause – or, perhaps more properly, sympathy at their desperation - has only exacerbated the US-led division of the world into the West and the Other. It has supported the impression that Israel is the blameless victim of a multitude of domestic “Osamas,” no matter that the causes, personalities and context are different.
This is a lose-lose scenario for the Palestinians, whichever way you look at it. The situation promises only to get worse, as the US and coalition experience in Iraq toughens the West's stance to all matters Arab and cows European powers into silence over Israel's apartheid agenda.
|
|
|
| |
| Medecins Sans Frontieres report to the UN on Sudan crisis |
| 06.21.04 (1:55 pm) [edit] |
"I was in Darfur in the months of March and April and was shocked to see during my first four hours on the road that all the villages were burned to the ground and empty. I did not see a single civilian" - Ton Koene
We are witnessing excessive levels of death and malnutrition among a displaced population that is entirely dependent on aid. Relief efforts remain utterly inadequate and all indicators point to a looming famine.
MSF and the epidemiological research center Epicentre recently conducted a survey in the town of Mornay, West Darfur State, where nearly 80,000 people have sought refuge. The survey found that one in 20 people were killed in scorched earth attacks on 111 villages from September 2003 until February 2004.
Medecins Sans Frontieres
|
|
|
| |
| Kim Sun-il does not want to die |
| 06.21.04 (1:28 pm) [edit] |
I just finished watching Kim Sun-il scream for his life. "I don't want to die. I don't want to die!" Do those with the power to stop this madness care? No! He's more collateral damage just like all those before him and all those that will come after. He's just part of the Iraqi food chain.
Hail to the great military powers building democracy in the Middle East. Fools! Get ready for years of death. No one has yet been able to occupy this land though many have tried.
George Bush says these people are just barbarians. It's of course, more barbaric to slice a man's head off than blow holes in him from a distance leaving him mangled and bleeding to death. Guns are so much cleaner, at least for the one holding the weapon.
I doubt any of the pro-war crowd are even thinking about this young man. If they were it would mean they had to face reality.
Reality is, unlike the militants who are fighting for a cause and willing to die for it, Kim Sun-il didn't go to Iraq prepared to die. I imagine some that go to Iraq are prepared for death but I imagine most are hoping luck, God or their weapons will give them an edge.
Reality is putting yourself or your child in the place of this man standing before a Jihad banner screaming, "I don't want to die" and daring to say the continuing illegal occupation of Iraq for wealth and power is worth it.
This young man is going to die at some point this evening. If you happen to be one of those that can only rant about the barbarians rather than try to stop this madness remember the next one may be your friend or loved one.
Save a life today. Get the hell out of Iraq!
|
|
|
| |
| Worldwide Petition to stop animal testing by cosmetic companies |
| 06.20.04 (10:37 pm) [edit] |
A dog sits waits restrained in a laboratory. In the next few minutes, this dog will be force fed or exposed to a poisonous chemical. No anaesthetic is used, as scientists believe this will interfere with the accuracy of test results.
This is not a test for curing cancer.
This dog is being tested for a brand new hair dye. Another dog (or rabbit) will be tested in the same way for mascara, another for shampoo.
This test is called LETHAL DOSE 50 ( or LD 50). It is so named because 50% of animals are killed, and the other 50% put down.
L'Oreal, Maybelline, Max Factor, Oil of Olay,Pantene, Cover Girl. The list of those who continue to conduct animal tests is far, far too long.
It is vital that we as consumers, voice our outrage at these companies' lack of concern for our wishes.
There is a perception that animal tests are necessary to confirm human safety. This is absolutely false.
New test methods, involving human cell cultures and computer models (to name but two) are already in use by many companies and have been scientifically proven to be far more reliable.
Many major companies no longer test on animals. These include Estee Lauder, Clinique, Clarins and Chanel.
Test results in different breeds of the same species often produce totally different test results.
So why do certain companies still test on animals? Because they are not liable for the deaths , and are able to test toxic chemicals without legal repercussions.
But this can be stopped, with public support. AVON cosmetics recently stopped their animal testing, due to public campaigns like this one.
This is a non-violent worldwide petition from consumers to companies. It will be sent with scientific data and letters from experts in the field on non-animal testing,and with test method information from companies who do not test on animals.
Please lend your support, and let these companies know that you choose not to buy their products, until it has been legally proven (with the signing of an official statement) that they have complied with the people's wishes. Please email Kelly at: cosmeticpetition@hotmail.com
with any questions, or suggestions for publicity in your country.
Thankyou so much for caring. Sign the Petition
|
|
|
| |
| 'The New-Cons Have Had Their Day; Now It's Time for a Clean Sweep' |
| 06.20.04 (9:52 pm) [edit] |
General Joseph P. Hoar (USMC-ret.), a four-star general, was Commander in Chief, U.S. Central Command (1991-94), commanding the U.S. forces in the Persian Gulf after the 1991 war. He also served in the Vietnam War, as a battalion and brigade advisor with the Vietnamese Marines. He was interviewed by Jeffrey Steinberg on May 6, 2004.
EIR: How significant a linkage do you see, between the Israel/Palestine situation, and the challenges on the ground in Iraq, and throughout the whole region?
Hoar: There's enormous significance. And there are many people in government and elsewhere in the United States that have attempted to decouple the inter-connectedness of these two issues. They are connected, because 1.2 billion Muslims—worldwide, but largely spread out between the Philippines and all the way across South Asia and North Africa to Morocco—believe that the United States has unjustly taken the part of Israel, in the Palestine/Israel confrontation. Many of our activities in the region, including the invasion of Iraq, are connected to our support for Israel.
And, our public diplomacy in this regard, has been horrendous, in that we have taken the back seat to Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya, two of the most prominent cable television stations, which have cameramen and newspeople on the ground all the time, and are looking for opportunities to make this case. Now, whether the case is a good one or not, from our point of view as American citizens, it's important to point out that there is linkage in the eyes of Muslims worldwide; and if we don't deal with that problem, it makes the problem in the region—and more specifically in Iraq—more difficult.
And so, when the President stands with Mr. Sharon, and makes statements that are patently not in congruence with the work of the Quartet and the Road Map that had been put together by the Quartet—namely, the United States, the EU, Russia, and Kofi Annan, UN Secretary General—that that is immediately read as another example of how the United States unjustly supports Israel. And in fact, the timing of it could not have been worse, given the internal unrest that exists right now in Iraq, and then, on top of that, the events of this maltreatment of Iraqi prisoners.
So, it's a major part of this. It's a major issue in terms of public diplomacy. It's a major issue, because throughout the Arab world and the Muslim world, the larger Muslim world of 1.2 billion people, we are perceived as an occupying power, and treating the Palestinian issue unfairly, while at the same time, our circumstances in Iraq are not improving. Entire Interview at EIR
|
|
|
| |
| DeLay undermines small 'd' democracy |
| 06.20.04 (9:12 pm) [edit] |
By U.S. Rep. Chris Bell
U.S. Majority Leader Tom DeLay is the most corrupt politician in America.
That will not come as news to those of you who have been paying attention in recent years. But it takes on added relevance this week in the wake of formal charges I have filed against him alleging criminal conspiracy, including bribery, extortion, fraud, money laundering and abuse of power.
Predictably, to try and deflect attention from those charges, DeLay and his associates have opened fire with personal attacks and threats of political retribution against me and many of my colleagues.
But the charges filed against him this week are deadly serious -- DeLay's ongoing assault on the most basic tenets of our small `d' democratic system is no laughing matter. Truly, this isn't about partisan politics. This isn't about retribution. This is about ethics in government. This is about protecting the integrity of our democracy. And I am confident that any reasonable person, Republican or Democrat, who examines the full complaint, will come to the same conclusion.
Specifically, our 187-page complaint details how DeLay's Texas-based political action committee, Texans for a Republican Majority (TRMPAC) laundered illegal corporate funds and funneled them to legislative races in Texas during the 2002 elections. Using corporate funds to pay for political campaigns is a third-degree felony in Texas, punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Currently, criminal charges are being pursued by the Travis County district attorney.
The vast majority of corporate dollars DeLay funneled into Texas campaigns came from out-of-state companies with no interest in the Lone Star State, companies such as Westar Energy, a Kansas-based utility.
There is strong, well-documented evidence to suggest DeLay illegally solicited and accepted political contributions from executives at Westar in exchange for official action.
Westar executives wrote a number of checks to DeLay and his associates. These contributions were made in return for an amendment to the energy bill, then pending before a House Committee, which would have saved Westar Energy -- and only Westar Energy -- billions in taxes. In plain English, he sold legislation and illegally doled out "corporate welfare" at taxpayer expense.
Finally, our charges document how DeLay used his taxpayer-funded office to strong-arm federal agencies that should have been investigating terrorists into tracking down his political opponents.
Last summer, during the contentious redistricting debate, DeLay used his position as an officer of the federal government to improperly divert the homeland security-related efforts of two government agencies. DeLay exhorted the Federal Aviation Administration and the U.S. Justice Department to hunt down his political enemies in the Texas Legislature. The order was illegal and a clear abuse of federal government resources and of DeLay's power.
All of these charges are substantially documented, supported by original source information, IRS tax returns, Texas Ethics Commission filing documents, sworn court testimony, relevant news reports based on factual information, e-mail correspondence and congressional committee reports. The information is compelling.
DeLay himself points out that all these charges have been heavily covered in the media, an undisputable fact. Well, they have garnered so much attention because there is a mountain of evidence to suggest the truth of these charges. But it is important to understand that, while the media has been talking about these very allegations for over two years, they have never been investigated by the House Ethics Committee or any other federal agency. Never.
No one is above the law in our society, no matter how powerful -- not even Tom DeLay.
Members of Congress have a unique responsibility to the people we serve. We cannot stand idly by and allow one of our colleagues to arrogantly violate federal law or House rules in an effort to leverage his personal political ambitions at the expense of the very democracy for which we have all sworn to protect.
DeLay will continue to attack me in an attempt to divert your attention from the real issue at hand: his actions. I am not the first to attract his wrath for having the temerity to suggest his accountability. But I hope my fellow lawmakers will approach the charges filed this week in a nonpartisan way, with the seriousness of purpose the democratic process demands.
Throughout my public service career, I have worked for more openness and honesty in government. As chairman of the Ethics Committee, while a Houston city councilman and as a member of the Government Reform Committee during my tenure in Congress, I have learned that fighting for more ethical government is never easy. But it is always the right thing to do.
Houston Chronicle
|
|
|
| |
| To the Bushies, Iraq has been a rousing success |
| 06.20.04 (5:33 pm) [edit] |
Surely it is now time for all the Bush-bashers and war critics -- on both left and right -- to swallow their pride, put aside their partisanship, and admit the stone-cold truth:
The invasion and occupation of Iraq has been a rousing success.
For despite many setbacks and dark days, it cannot be denied that George W. Bush has accomplished exactly what he set out to do in launching his aggression: the installation -- through "a heavy dose of fear and violence," as one U.S. commander eloquently put it -- of a client state in Iraq, led by a strongman who will facilitate the Bush Regime's long-term (and long-declared) strategic goal of establishing a permanent military "footprint" in the key oil state, while also guaranteeing the short-term goal of opening the country to exploitation by Bush cronies and favored foreign interests. All of this has now been done -- and even sealed with the approval of the UN Security Council.
True, in its quest to install a "Saddam Lite" -- more pliant and presentable than the old Bush-Reagan partner -- the Regime had to change horses in midstream, swapping its early favorite, Ahmad Chalabi, the convicted fraudster, suspected Iranian spy and Pentagon-paid purveyor of warmongering lies, for a late-breaking dark horse: Chalabi's cousin and rival, Iyad Allawi, former Baathist enforcer, proudly confessed CIA tool -- and the leader of a terrorist campaign that killed dozens of Iraqi civilians, The Independent reports.
Under the direction of CIA paymasters, Allawi and his Iraqi National Accord carried out a terror bombing campaign in Baghdad during 1994-95. Their targets included a mosque, a movie house and a newspaper -- the latter strike killing a child passing by. Ex-CIA operatives from those glory days said a bus full of schoolchildren was also blown apart -- although they admitted they weren't sure which of their paid terrorist groups were responsible for that one, The New York Times reports. But conservative estimates put at least 100 terrorist murder notches in Allawi's stylish Gucci belt.
Obviously, this man of blood-and-iron action was much to be preferred to his windbag cousin, who could offer little more than lies and larceny. So Chalabi got the customary shiv in the back -- the fate of all retainers who prove superfluous to the Bush Family's ambitions -- while Allawi was named prime minister of the newly "sovereign" government. One of his first acts was to "invite" the American occupiers to stay on. Meanwhile, just before the "transfer," U.S. Viceroy Paul Bremer installed Bushist "commissioners" throughout the ministries of the "sovereign" state. These moles were given budgetary and prosecutorial powers, ensuring that administrative control -- and the flow of loot -- would remain firmly in Washington's hands.
The whole adventure has been a win-win scenario for the Bushists from the start, no matter how it ends up. This is what opponents of the war -- and even most of its supporters -- have failed to grasp, because they don't understand what the Bush Family is about. Put simply, the Bushes represent the confluence of three long-established power factions in the American elite: oil, arms and investments. These groups equate their own interests, their own wealth and privilege, with the interests of the nation -- indeed, the world -- as a whole. And they pursue these interests with every weapon at their command -- including war, torture, deceit and corruption. Democracy means nothing to them -- not even in their own country, as demonstrated in 2000. Laws are to keep the common herd in line; they don't apply to the elite, as Bush's own lawyers asserted openly in their memos establishing his "inherent power" to "set aside the law" and order any crime in the name of his self-proclaimed "war on terror."
The Iraq war has been immensely profitable for these factions and their tributaries; billions of dollars in public money have already poured into their coffers. The aftermath of the war promises equal if not greater riches. Even if the new Iraqi government maintains state control of its oil industry, there are still billions to be made in servicing, refining, distribution and oilfield security, as in Saudi Arabia. Likewise, the new Iraqi military will require billions more in weapons and equipment -- bought from the U.S. arms industry. And as with Saudi Arabia, oil money from the new Iraq will pump untold billions into American banks and investment houses.
Even in the worst-case scenario, if the Americans had to pull out tomorrow, abandoning everything -- their bases, their "commissioners," their contracts, their collaborators -- the Bushist factions still come out ahead. Not only has their already incalculable wealth been vastly augmented (with any potential losses indemnified by U.S. taxpayers), but their deeply entrenched sway over American society has also increased by several magnitudes. No matter who controls the government, the militarization of America is so far gone now it's impossible to imagine any major rollback in the gargantuan U.S. war machine -- 725 bases in 132 countries, annual military budgets nearing $500 billion, $1 trillion in new weapons systems moving through the pipeline. Indeed, John Kerry promises even bigger war budgets and more troops if elected. He poses no threat to the factions' power.
Has Bush's war brought democracy to Iraq? Has it dealt a blow to terrorism? Has it made America -- or the Middle East, or the world -- any safer? No. But it was never intended to do those things. All this blood and chaos -- this mass murder -- has had but one aim: enhancing the power of a handful of elites. This mission has been accomplished. And there is not the slightest chance that any of the perpetrators will ever face justice.
That, my friends, is victory. Iraq Net
|
|
|
| |
| In politics and religion, a line is blurred |
| 06.20.04 (5:23 pm) [edit] |
|
As the writer points out, this campaign year is thick with talk of religion and its influence on voting. Rich Barlow asked Diana Eck, who teaches comparative religion and Indian studies at Harvard some interesting questions. She had cautioned Bush and Kerry back in March to be careful about using religious pitches in their rhetoric. She is more worried than ever before that we are headed for an era of divisiveness and intolerance. Boston Globe
|
|
|
| |
| UN to hold anti-Semitism seminar |
| 06.19.04 (6:47 pm) [edit] |
The United Nations is holding its first-ever seminar devoted entirely to confronting anti-Semitism, and Jewish leaders hope it will spur the world body to taking a key role in combating the scourge.
Secretary-General Kofi Annan will open the day-long session on Monday, with his fellow Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel, a Holocaust survivor, giving the keynote address. Three panels will then focus on anti-Semitism today, promoting tolerance through education, and confronting anti-Semitism. AP
|
|
|
| |
| The EU finally has a constitution! |
| 06.19.04 (6:42 pm) [edit] |
Well, EU leaders have finally agreed on a constituion.
They've preserved national vetoes in certan sensitive areas, including taxation, and foreign and defense policy.
There will be no reference to Europe's Christian traditions something that is welcomed by prospective EU member Turkey.
But, it's not over yet. In order to take effect, the constitution must now be approved by all 25 member states.
The final text requires most EU measures to be approved by a double majority of member states - in other words at least 15 countries representing 65% of the EU's population.
We are living in historic and exciting times.
|
|
|
| |
| EU citizens check out Vote Match |
| 06.19.04 (6:09 pm) [edit] |
It's interesting to be an American in Europe. But, I have to admit getting a handle on the EU is very difficult. Hoping one day to have my French citizenship and be able to vote I am trying to learn all I can about the different political parties. There are so many to choose from unlike in the US. Well, there are many parties in the US but these days only 2 seem to have any relevancy but that's another blog.
I found this great site that helps match you with the party whose ideas you are most in agreement with.
Check out VoteMatch.
This is of course for EU citizens but others might find it interesting as well.
Today I'm a Liberal Democrat. Of course, as my knowledge grows of the issues this may change.
|
|
|
| |
| What is the humanitarian crisis in Darfur? |
| 06.19.04 (10:37 am) [edit] |
Attacks by government troops and Arab militia have forced about 1.2 million people, mostly black villagers, from their homes in western Sudan. Many have gone to live with families in other parts of Darfur, and about 130,000 have fled across the border into Chad. Some 30,000 have died in violent raids over the past year and reports continue of massacres, rape, torture and looting despite a nominal ceasefire.
Warning of mass starvation and epidemics, the United Nations has described the situation as one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. Relief workers are rushing to get desperately needed food, water and medicine to hundreds of thousands but much of the aid is not getting through.
What’s holding up the aid?
U.N. officials accuse Khartoum of restricting access for aid agencies and journalists, despite promises to the contrary. There’s also the remoteness of the area. Darfur’s population of seven million is scattered over a harsh desert area of about 200,000 square km (125,000 square miles). That’s almost as big as the island of Great Britain.
So why are the attacks happening?
The simplistic answer is that Sudanese troops are trying to put down a rebel movement, bombing towns and villages suspected of supporting insurgents. Rights groups also accuse the government of committing ethnic cleansing and backing the raiding militia. Khartoum denies this, saying the militia are merely outlaws.
So this has nothing to do with Sudan’s war between north and south, which seems to be coming to an end?
It's confusing, but most analysts say there is a connection. Belgian-based think tank International Crisis Group (ICG) argues that the government in Khartoum is using delays in the north-south peace process to pursue its agenda in Darfur, knowing the international community would be reluctant to complain too loudly for fear of jeopardising the north-south talks. It also says the refusal of the government and the southern-based Sudanese People's Liberation Army (SPLA) to include anyone else in their negotiations fueled the uprising by Darfur rebel groups, who felt left out of the carve-up of power and resources.
But the conflict has local roots too?
Local divisions are also feeding the war. Ethnic differences have been exaggerated by local leaders and there is a battle over resources.
What are the ethnic groups in the area?
The displaced people are mostly black African farmers. The militia -- known as Janjaweed -- come from Arab pastoralist communities, who herd camels in northern Darfur and live on cattle herding in southern Darfur. Nomadic groups from further north have been pushed south over time as the desert has grown and droughts made water scarce. Both groups are dark-skinned and Muslim, and have intermarried for centuries. Ethnic identities used to be much more blurred, but leaders have exaggerated the differences since the late 1980s, when the militia campaigns began.
So is it a struggle between pastoralists and farmers over land?
Partly. Land used to belong to tribes, so Darfur was the place of the Fur people, an African group. There are at least 36 main tribes in the region. Some of the Arab peoples felt they were left out of the system that gave more "dars" -- or districts -- to non-Arab communities. Traditional conflicts were not usually very violent. Respected local councils used to settle disputes, but these were abolished by the Khartoum government after it came to power in a coup in 1989, leaving no peaceful mechanisms for solving conflicts.
The government of Lieutenant-General Omar Hassan al-Bashir is a hardline Islamist government that upholds sharia -- Islamic law. Human Rights groups accuse Khartoum of torture and severe repression of religious freedoms and political opposition.
Why would the government support the militia?
The war between the government and rebels in the south is often depicted as a conflict between the Arab, Muslim north and the black animist or Christian south, but it has also been significantly fuelled by divisions over control of oilfields and political power. The ICG says the removal of so many people from their homes in Darfur appears to be part of a government policy of ethnic cleansing in order to cripple any support for the rebel movements, who are hostile to Khartoum.
Who are the rebels?
The two armed movements in Darfur are the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA). Their platforms are hazy, but they call for inclusion in their fair share of power, and an end to marginalisation from centralised Khartoum decision-making. This echoes the grievances of about 30 armed groups in the south and elsewhere, who all argue that too much power -- and in many cases, oil revenues -- goes to Khartoum.
Many commentators say the conflict in Darfur is being exploited in the struggle for power over Sudan's Islamist movement. Hassan al-Turabi, an Islamist who was influential in the government but split with them in late 1999, has since voiced his support for the rebels, increasing Khartoum's anger against him and the rebels. Darfur's rebel groups also appear to have made links with the SPLA in the south.
The SLA's support base comes largely, but not entirely, from the Fur, Massaleit and Zaghawa tribes. The JEM is mostly Zaghawa-based. To make things even more complicated, the Zaghawa are camel herders, not agriculturalists. And to make things even more complicated, the Zaghawa have strong ties to Chad.
So how is Chad involved?
Even this isn't straightforward. Chad's president, Idriss Déby, is a Zaghawa, and three successive presidents have launched their bids for power with ethnic militias partially based in Darfur. And there is some evidence that Chad might have helped to channel arms to Darfur. Despite all this, Chad's government has also backed Khartoum.
Why are observers so alarmed about the conflict in Darfur, apart from the obvious humanitarian crisis?
There is a real fear that the conflict could destabilise the whole country. Analysts say that when marginalised regions of Sudan see that the south appears to be have gained its autonomy through battle, they will try the same route, especially if they're left out of peace talks. Some observers say Darfur could lead to a split in the government, since some Khartoum politicians have ethnic links to the rebels. ICG says the stability of Chad's government could also be threatened. Any splintering of central government could undermine north-south peace agreements, which are still not set in stone.
AlertNet
|
|
|
| |
| Iraq as the 51st state - Interview with Juan Cole |
| 06.19.04 (7:12 am) [edit] |
"He was a patron of terrorism ... He had long-established ties with al-Qaeda." - Vice President Dick Cheney on Saddam Hussein, June 14
"I have not seen smoking-gun, concrete evidence about the connection." - Secretary of State Colin Powell, June 10
"We have no credible evidence that Iraq and al-Qaeda cooperated on attacks against the United States." - 9-11 Commission, June 16
ANN ARBOR, Michigan - Juan Cole, professor of history at the University of Michigan, has positioned himself as a virtually indispensable voice in the Iraq debate. His Internet weblog, Informed Comment, offers a stark contrast to the cacophony of uninformed armchair punditry on Iraq, not to mention talk-show hosts babbling about "wacky Iraqis". Professor Cole lived in Lucknow, India, and also in Beirut. He's a fluent Arab speaker. The blog is uploaded daily, by himself (no staffers), and also offers extensive quotes from the Arab press. He gets as many as 200,000 fresh hits a week. Cole received this Asia Times Online correspondent in his fourth-floor office at the university's International Institute in Ann Arbor.
ATol: Let's start with the credibility of the Iraqi caretaker government vis-a-vis the Sunnis, Shi'ites and Kurds, more than vis-a-vis the US and the UN. Virtually everyone in the Sunni triangle and also in the Shi'ite south used to refer to the Iraqi Governing Council (IGC) as "the imported government". Will the same happen again to this American face of an Iraqi government?
Juan Cole: Everybody knows it's an appointed government. It doesn't spring from the rule of the Iraqi people. Grand Ayatollah [Ali al-]Sistani has issued a fatwa recently in which he openly said that. His view in this matter will be widely shared. It's unfortunate that the Iraqi prime minister should have been a known CIA [Central Intelligence Agency] asset. I don't think that it changes anything. The IGC, as you said, was seen as a puppet council by many people. There's much more continuity between the IGC and this government than most people seem to realize. It's pretty much the same cast of characters - either with regard to people who actually sat at the council and persons who represent factions who had a seat in that council.
ATol: What are the implications of what you're saying for the Iraqi street?
JC: That nothing really has changed. These people are not getting anything like full sovereignty. I think it is a publicity stunt - without substance. The real question for a lot of Iraqis is not so much if it's credible or not, but if it can accomplish anything for them. Since the Americans dissolved the Iraqi army, since it's not entirely clear how do you get an Iraqi army back, one can be pessimistic ...
Army down, racism up
ATol: On the dissolution of the army: Do you think this was a blunder by proconsul Paul Bremer or was it carried out on purpose?
JC: On purpose in the sense of trying to make the Iraqis dependent on the Americans? Well, what Jay Garner said to the BBC [British Broadcasting Corp], I saw it with my own eyes, is that he believed one of the reasons the army was dissolved was that the Bremer team has as one of their primary goals in Iraq the imposition of Polish-style shock therapy. They wanted to transform Iraq into a capitalist state, as quickly as possible. This was part of the general plan to make Iraq a kind of model for the region.
ATol: This was the original neo-con plan?
JC: Yes, but the primacy of the economic policy is something that I don't think is generally recognized. One of the reasons for getting rid of the Ba'ath army, according to Garner, was that they were afraid that the survival of any large Ba'ath institution like that might be an obstacle to the extreme liberalization of the economy. You can just imagine a situation in which the Americans wanted to denationalize Iraqi companies. If you had kept the Ba'ath army, they would come to the coalition and say, "No, you can't sell off these companies, my cousin helps to run them"... They [the Americans] thought that the army would remain a power center able to intervene in policy debates, on the side of state control of the economy. So they dissolved it not based on security purposes, but to remove a potential obstacle to Polish-style shock therapy. They brought Polish economic advisers - that's the reason for the Polish military involvement in Iraq. They tried to replicate the Polish experience. I don't believe that the neo-cons at the Defense Department wanted to use the US military to supplant the Iraqi army. In fact, [Deputy Defense Secretary Paul] Wolfowitz had told Congress that it's likely the US would be back to having only one division in Iraq by October 2003. They thought they could dissolve the army and just use the police to maintain order, and then they could do whatever they wanted to do with the economy: sell it off, bring in the big companies, open Iraq to Western investment. They hoped that the Iraqi bourgeoisie would emerge, there would be productivity gains, the country would be rich, and everybody else - the Iranians, the Syrians - would want to follow them.
ATol: Was that a mix of arrogance and incompetence, plus lack of knowledge of society and culture in Iraqi and the Middle East?
JC: Certainly the plan was born out of enormous ignorance of the Middle East. Remember, people with training in economics and political science very frequently stay away from knowing details. They have a set of principles, they think they are physicists, so the people planning this out, most of them knew no Arabic or anything really about the history and culture and society of the Arab world. Except for Wolfowitz, who had some knowledge of Indonesia when he was there as an ambassador ...
ATol: But Islam in Indonesia and Southeast Asia has very little to do with Islam in the Middle East.
JC: I would say it's very substantially different. And Indonesia is not a sufficient background for planning out how to run Iraq ... And moreover Wolfowitz was the only one amongst them who had this kind of knowledge. So it's clear to me that first of all they were very ignorant, also extremely arrogant because they were playing with people's destinies. Some of the neo-cons of course are very close to the Likud Party in Israel, and I think that many of them have imbibed this kind of Israeli racism towards Arabs, that Arabs only respect force, that you can get them to inform on each other because of all the internal clan feuds ... People like Douglas Feith and Richard Perle have thought along these lines for a long time. Frankly, Israeli racism towards the Arabs is not a good guide to dealing with a society like Iraq, or with any society. Unlike the Palestinians, Iraq is a society that has not been dominated by a foreign power since 1932.
ATol: And the Iraqis expelled the British.
JC: The British were expelled and very decisively, in 1958. And there were many rebellions before that. This generation of young Iraqis grew up in Ba'ath schools, learning about nationalism, learning about anti-colonialism. What their identity really is about is asserting themselves vis-a-vis the West. The idea that they would be supine before a Western occupation was always crazy, and any of us who knew anything about the region predicted there would be a lot of trouble. Iraq was a modern, industrial society, with relatively high rates of literacy, run down in the 1990s very substantially but still not a society easy for foreigners to come and dominate.
Roads to hell
ATol: Assuming that the neo-con dream - the road to Jerusalem goes through Baghdad - is now in tatters, would it be the case that now the road through Baghdad leads back to Crawford, Texas?
JC: There's some question of whether that could cost [President George W] Bush the election. A year ago, it didn't seem likely to me that Iraq would be able to affect an election. But the steady drumbeat of violence, the mounting toll of dead and wounded, the miscalculations regarding the siege of Fallujah, provoking the uprising of Muqtada al-Sadr's militia, and then the Abu Ghraib scandal, the cumulative factor of all these events, according to opinion polls, really have taken a toll on Bush's standing. If he were to be re-elected it would be historic: no one has been re-elected with these kinds of poll numbers. I think Iraq has become an albatross for the Bush administration. This so-called turnover of sovereignty - they're hoping that the US press stops covering Iraq like it is doing now, very intensively, as though it is the 51st state, which essentially is being run by the American government. Everyone will have noticed that when Hamid Karzai was elected by the Loya Jirga, the very next day Afghanistan fell off the front page and went to page 17.
ATol: And now it has fallen off the papers entirely.
JC: Now you can have several American servicemen killed and they are not even reported. I discern an unwritten rule among American journalists, that the American public is not interested in places which have their own government. The real significance of the so-called handover of sovereignty is that the Bush administration and its political advisers are hoping that the American press will take this moment as a cue to turn to reporting about Laci Peterson and other nonsense stories, local murder mysteries.
ATol: Do you think this might work? With Fox News maybe, but what about the Washington Post and the New York Times?
JC: Actually, it might. It might push Iraq off the front page. I don't agree with you that it would work most of all with Fox News. Because of its militarism and its attempt to get viewers from the American right, Fox pays more attention to Iraq than most of the other networks do.
ATol: In terms of sensational images.
JC: Sensational images, but it's just inevitable that if the US military very largely votes Republican, and you want those people watching Fox programming, they're interested in what's going on in Iraq. I think capitalism in a way swings Fox towards doing more Iraq reporting than some of the other networks. If there's a firefight in Baqubah, it seems that Fox is more likely to report it than the other networks.
ATol: But they report only the Pentagon side of the story.
JC: I agree that Fox is very slanted, but the way mass media work can often be ironic. Although Fox thinks it is reporting news of interest to its right-wing viewers, reporting this firefight in Baqubah and the way the US is putting down those insurgents, anybody who actually watches this will come out with a double message: one is the Fox message, and the other message is "Jesus, a lot of trouble in Iraq".
ATol: We have learned from the resistance, from some former Saddam Hussein generals, that the resistance will actually increase after June 30, that the postwar had been planned for years, and that everyone associated in some form or another with the Americans and the new caretaker government will be a target. So there will be even more bloodshed. How will this bloodshed rebound on the US? And what about the media: will they report it?
JC: This is the problem: it's difficult for the insurgency to target the Americans. They can get some RPGs [rocket-propelled grenades] against an American base, they do this every day, it usually results in some casualties, relatively light. They've mainly turned to soft targets, Iraqis, so they blow up a market in Baghdad, or police stations. They are attempting to just foment a feeling in the country that the Americans are not actually in control. That will continue and may as well increase. I read a lot about these incidents in the Arabic press - they never get reported in the Western press.
ATol: But the important point is that these incidents are reported on alJazeera and al-Arabiya and watched every night by millions in the Arab world.
JC: AlJazeera is excellent on Iraq news, and it reports all of these incidents where there are casualties. But as far as the American public is concerned, I think that it may well be that casualties among US servicemen in Iraq, that's going to be on page 17. But if you did have an increase in the number of incidents, it's possible that it would get more coverage. It's up to the journalists now. Are they going to take this bait, are they going to be manipulated in this way as they have been manipulated all along?
ATol: Maybe it's the case that everybody has been manipulated: the American press, and now also the United Nations, forced to approve a new Iraq resolution. For millions of Iraqis, the UN is synonymous with sanctions.
JC: This is different from the rest of the Arab world, where they associate the UN with peacekeeping and a more even-handed policy towards the Arab-Israeli conflict. But the UN itself is not unaware of this, and they don't want to get heavily involved in Iraq. The problem for the world community is that the US has presented them with a fait accompli. It's not in anybody's interest in Europe, for instance, for Iraq to descend into chaos. Europe is heavily dependent on Persian Gulf petroleum, it could be deindustrialized if things get too bad. So when the Americans come and say, "If you pass a resolution of this sort, we'll set the process back to order," who's going to argue with them?
The Muqtada factor
ATol - Let's examine the move against Muqtada al-Sadr. Was it another blunder by the CPA (Coalition Provisional Authority)?
JC: These things are not transparent. It's amazing to me, we supposedly live in a democracy in the United States. And yet, once the election has occurred, the public gives up a lot of right to know. And so the CPA has been run in a very untransparent way, we never know why they do anything, they never say, and they are constantly putting out those kinds of propagandistic statements, they're always trying to find demons to blame everything on, Saddam, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, and then Muqtada al-Sadr. My own impression is that the Americans provoked this uprising by Muqtada, that he had not done anything in particular that might suggest he was a military threat. He had given strict orders to his militia not to fire on Americans. When the Americans came after Muqtada, he launched this uprising. I think the Shi'ite clerics made a decision to stay out of it, retreat from their positions and have the Mahdi Army have Najaf and Karbala. The Mahdi Army was not strong in those two places. I still think that it's plausible that it was Muqtada's reaction to the assassination of Sheikh [Ahmed] Yassin that caused the CPA to go after him. We must remember that the CPA is dominated by neo-conservatives, that twentysomething people like [neo-con pundit] Michael Ledeen's daughter [Simone Ledeen] have been running the Iraqi economy. Decision-making would be coming from people who are very close to the Likud Party and who were extremely alarmed when Muqtada al-Sadr said he was like the right arm of Hamas and would avenge the death of Sheikh Yassin.
ATol: Have you read any similar analysis in any of the Arab papers at the time?
JC: No. I haven't. But it's possible. I know Hezbollah called for revenge for the murder, and also did call for Iraqi solidarity about this. But this analysis, I have never seen it in the Arabic press.
ATol: You were arguably one of the few, if not the only one, in the West who wrote that the Shi'ites would never forgive America for the bombing of Karbala, and you also cared to explain why.
JC: Most Americans and Westerners don't understand what Karbala means. During the Iranian revolution there was a slogan that "every day is Ashura". Karbala is what an anthropologist called a paradigm in people's lives. The idea of American GIs firing tank missiles anywhere near the shrine of Imam Hussein in major battle with Shi'ites is unbearable, even considering that the Mahdi Army and Muqtada al-Sadr are not liked around Karbala, they are considered lower-class thugs. I compare them to gangster rappers. So I'm not saying they were popular. I'm saying that the Shi'ites look at them as their own problem. And if there is a choice between them and the Americans, symbolically at least, regardless of what they actually do, they could never make that choice for the Americans. People are very upset all over the Shi'ite world that there was this desecration of the shrine cities. The amount of rage among the Shi'ites towards the Americans now is greater than I've seen since the Iranian revolution. It's a cost of these kinds of frankly stupid policies the Bush administration has been pursuing in Iraq. I don't believe the general American public is even aware of this. They keep asking things like "Why do they hate us?" ...
ATol: What about the role of Iran in this new Iraqi configuration?
JC: They have been behind Ayatollah Sistani. But the Iranians are badly split - between the hardliners and the reformists. For the reformists, Sistani is a godsend. He rejects the theory of clerical rule, the velayat-e-faqih. And in Iran it is illegal to reject it. Ayatollah [Hossein Ali] Montazeri was put under house arrest for rejecting it. From that point of view, Sistani is much more like the reformists. He's not a Khomeinist. There have been reports of some of the reformists actually declaring themselves as followers of Sistani - because you can choose, in Shi'ite Islam, which ayatollah to follow. So I think this is a problem for [Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali] Khamenei and the hardliners if Iraq becomes an alternative center of religious authority and undermines their position. From this point of view, they're nervous about Sistani. On the other hand, he is part of the club, he's got excellent credentials, training, he speaks their language. What he wants for Iraq is something they can live with; he wants a parliamentary government, which would be Shi'ite-dominated, in which the Shi'ite clergy could intervene to shape legislation by their fatwas, by appealing to the consciousness of the Shi'ite legislators. I'd compare this vision of Sistani's for Iraq with 1950s Ireland and the position of the Catholic Church there. There was a secular, elected parliament. If the parliament took up any issue like divorce, the bishops would state their position and put enormous pressure on the representatives to vote their way.
ATol: So it would be nothing like a Khomeinist system.
JC: Nothing like that. On the other hand, from the point of view of the hardline Iranians, it would not be a terrible system either. It would be a Shi'ite-dominated state, it would be friendly to Tehran inevitably, the Shi'ite clergy would have a great deal of influence. And you probably could not get Khomeinism in Iraq because of the 40% of the population which is Sunni. So actually Sistani's vision is the best Iran can hope for. It would be much better than, say, a return of the Ba'ath. Moreover, Sistani wants to eliminate the presence of American troops, and this also pleases the Iranians. These are status quo people: they don't like a lot of trouble. Although the Americans keep depicting Iran as a source of trouble in the world, they haven't gone around beating their neighbors. They've been a much less turbulent revolutionary country than one might have expected, or that Saddam was. What I'm saying about them being status quo is that Muqtada makes them nervous. He's clearly a revolutionary of some sort. He's clearly got in mind to cause a lot of trouble.
The al-Qaeda factor
ATol: Wildly disparate estimates of the presence of al-Qaeda in Iraq range from 600 to 7,000. Do you discern any pattern, any strategy of al-Qaeda in Iraq? And do you buy the myth of al-Qaeda as this major SPECTRE-like, all-enveloping evil organization?
JC: First of all you have to begin with the definition of what al-Qaeda is. There's a technical definition of al-Qaeda: fighters who gave their loyalty to Osama bin Laden. Those are very few: a few hundred, maybe a few thousand. Then you could say people oriented towards bin Laden's way of thinking who have been Arab-Afghans, who had fought in Afghanistan: this is a much larger group, like 5,000. I've seen an estimate of 15,000, when you include groups such as the one responsible for the attacks in Casablanca. Relatively few of those had any links with Osama bin Laden - they were local, radical salafi groups. If we're talking about radical, violent salafis, they might reach 15,000. But then again there are 1,2 billion people in the Muslim world. These are small local networks, you cannot talk of an organization. Bin Laden has a general policy of not putting resources into situations that are already in turmoil. He's never done anything in the West Bank. He'd be much more interested in getting something going on in Indonesia or Malaysia. My information is that bin Laden is not interested in Iraq. I don't think there are even 600 al-Qaeda fighters in Iraq. There are foreign fighters but they are not technically al-Qaeda: rather Muslim Brotherhood types. The vast majority of the resistance is composed by Iraqis: not only ex-Ba'athists, but Sunni nationalists, salafis ... I suspect there are 25,000 or so insurgents in Iraq, doing something at least occasionally. Even if there were 400 or 500 foreign fighters, they would be a drop in the bucket.
ATol: How could the neo-cons engineer a victory next November, by using this period of illusion of the next four months in Iraq? Supposing it goes terribly wrong, as it might, how could they still get Bush re-elected?
JC: I know they are upset and depressed by Ahmad Chalabi being sidelined. And there is pressure from the Republican Party: it wasn't a wise thing to drag the president into another war that would then spill over into the election year. However you look at this thing it is a political disaster: even if Bush survives it. Some of the neo-cons at the Pentagon are now thinking of putting the Sunnis and the Kurds together and playing them off against the Shi'ites - as if the Kurds would cooperate with ex-Ba'ath Sunnis ... There is going to be a Shi'ite-dominated Iraq. The neo-cons assumed that the Sh'ites in Iraq might not be so sympathetic towards the Palestinians. Looking at your question, what they may try to do is this: they have managed to get Iyad Allawi as prime minister - although he wasn't the United States' first choice. These last few weeks Bremer has reversed the de-Ba'athification policy, there are a number of ex-Ba'athists in this new government. And they may attempt in some way to bring back the Ba'ath army, as a security instrument for the government to establish control.
ATol: But most of these generals are part of the resistance. They would never work for the Americans.
JC: If you gave them their jobs back to work for Allawi they might not be part of the resistance anymore. Allawi for the past 15 years has been organizing ex-Ba'ath generals. If anybody could handle them, it could be him. I'm not, by the way, saying this would be a bad thing. I think the extreme de-Ba'athification program, pursued apparently at the insistence of the Chalabi clique, was itself a mistake. It wasn't what the US military had planned on doing.
ATol: In sum, another total blunder by the CPA - a Pentagon decision implemented by Bremer.
JC: Yes, I think it was a decision by the Pentagon. I think it was done for many reasons. Initially the Pentagon planned on turning Iraq over to the Chalabi clique. For Allawi to reverse it somewhat, and to succeed in getting back some semblance of a military, three divisions, 60,000 men, this could be a good thing, it could contribute to order. The danger, of course, is that the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq [SCIRI], the Da'wa party, the Shi'ite forces which have spent the last 35 years fighting the Ba'ath, they're not going to like this. It could even cause more trouble.
ATol: So is there a risk of civil war in Iraq?
JC: No, not civil war. I lived in Beirut during the early years of the civil war there, and you had these militias which set pitched battles and so forth - I don't think that can happen in Iraq because the Americans are still powerful enough through their air force to stop it. What the Americans wouldn't be very good at stopping would be if you had mass urban turmoil. If you had Sunni-Shi'ite riots between Adhamiya and Kazamiya for instance, in Baghdad. You can't send attack helicopters to stop that. Or Kirkuk, which seems to me to be a tinderbox. If there is urban turmoil in the country, this is something I think the United States cannot deal with. That seems to me to be the real nightmare scenario.
Iraq as Bush's nightmare
ATol: There's a more realistic scenario of the resistance increasing in the next few months.
JC: It will, but the Americans are hard targets. I don't expect the insurgency to be able to hit the Americans and make a difference. Whether Iraq has a big impact on the election will depend very much on what's going on in Iraq in September and October, because people have short memories in elections. I think the Bush administration will be very careful not to provoke another Fallujah this fall. You could have a low-level guerrilla [war] going on, not terribly well reported in America, Iraq could well fall off the front page, it might not be a big issue in the election, so Bush may get away with it. But if he's re-elected, it's still going to be there. You simply cannot have a big, important oil producer at the head of the Persian Gulf in a state of turmoil. In a way, if Bush is re-elected, it would be poetic justice that he continues to spend a lot of energy [on] putting Iraq back together. If [Democratic presidential candidate John] Kerry were elected, he would have the same problem. Kerry being elected is not a solution.
ATol: Do you detect any Iraq policy at all from the Kerry side?
JC: Well, he says he wants to internationalize, and the real question is whether it's not too late. If Kerry is elected in November and he goes back to France and Germany and says, "OK, it's a new ball game, won't you come in with me?" are the French and German governments really going to be eager to send their troops? By then also, as the Sistani fatwa makes clear, all traces of the occupation should have been erased. There may be a building demand from the Iraqi side that foreigners just get out of their country. So Kerry's internationalization will not even be welcomed in Iraq by that point. The question is: has Bush ruined the situation beyond repair so that Kerry's policy is difficult to implement?
ATol: What would you say?
JC: I think it is very difficult for Kerry to have his policy implemented.
ATol: Finally: Will Osama be captured next October?
JC: If the Bush administration knew how to capture Osama, he would have been captured. If they could do it now, they would do it. It would become a campaign slogan. They don't have good intelligence, and even the Pakistanis don't have good intelligence. So I don't think there will be an October surprise. ATOL
|
|
|
| |
| Bush and the Christian Zionists |
| 06.19.04 (6:57 am) [edit] |
When Israel responded to the Netanya suicide bombing in March 2002 by reinvading the West Bank and besieging Jenin, the ensuing international outcry led US President George W. Bush to order Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to withdraw his forces from Palestinian areas. Bush sent a strong message to Sharon at an April 2 news conference: “Withdraw! Withdraw your troops immediately!”
At that point longtime Christian Zionist spokesman and pro-Israel advocate Jerry Falwell and other Christian Zionist leaders, working closely with pro-Israel groups, used their media and internet outlets to mobilize their constituencies to deliver tens of thousands of telephone calls, e-mails and letters to the president, telling him to refrain from pressuring Sharon and to allow Israel to finish its job. In the aftermath of that campaign, Bush did not utter another word of opposition to Israeli military actions. Falwell told the CBS news program 60 Minutes that after the incident, Israel could count on Bush to “do the right thing for Israel every time.” The lesson was that even when the Bush administration criticized Israel, the Israelis, conscious of the extensive support they enjoy in the US Congress, would not take it seriously. As Falwell said: “The Bible Belt is Israel’s safety net in the US.”
Christian Zionist organizations and the pro-Israel lobby are among the significant special interest groups whose interests have converged since Bush’s election to shape the administration’s policy toward the Middle East. In some respects, most of these groups and political tendencies were lined up and waiting to merge their ambitions even before the election. The tragic events of Sept. 11, 2001, provided the spark for this.
Among these interest groups, of which we can broadly identify six, is, first of all, the right wing of the Republican Party. During his election campaign, Bush, with the help of former members of the Reagan administration, discarded the Middle East strategy of the first Bush administration, which advocated a more nuanced, multilateral and collaborative approach to the UN and to international law in resolving conflicts. By 2000, a shift had taken place in the Republican Party. It began embracing the doctrines of neoconservative ideologues who advocated US unilateralism and favored military solutions over diplomacy. This more aggressive approach was put into action after Sept. 11, and to no one’s surprise, Israel’s war against the Palestinians and its other enemies was soon linked to the US “war on terrorism.”
A second interest group was comprised of neoconservatives, among them Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, who submitted a strategy paper during the first Bush administration in 1991 advocating unilateralist and pre-emptive doctrines. Baker and advisers to the president, who viewed the document as too extreme, buried it. Eventually a larger group of Reagan hawks found various means to express their displeasure with the Republican mainstream and leadership.
That displeasure grew during the Clinton era, particularly with regard to the administration’s Middle East policy. In 1996, the Project for a New American Century was born, based on neoconservative doctrine, and the same year several neocon leading lights issued a strategy paper for Benjamin Netanyahu, the Likud candidate for prime minister in Israel’s elections, titled A Clean Break. The paper recommended that Israel abandon the Oslo Accords and adopt a strategy of military aggression toward the Palestinians and Arab countries. The strategy helped win Netanyahu victory and became the modus operandi not only of his government but also that of Sharon. Bush’s election and Sept. 11 gave the neocons the opportunity to shift US foreign policy toward more military, imperial and unilateralist approaches.
Two other interest groups are multinational construction firms and the petroleum industry on the one hand, and the arms industry on the other: Access to high quality and inexpensive oil reserves has long been a primary strategic US goal in the Middle East. Multinational companies have also recently become important political players in Iraq’s reconstruction efforts, including Halliburton, an oil company whose former CEO was Vice-President Dick Cheney, and Bechtel. The US arms industry has also benefited from US Middle East policy, particularly after Sept. 11, thanks to the heightened security atmosphere, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and the post-war situations in both countries. Israel, meanwhile, has long been a favorite of US arms producers.
A fifth group is made up of the pro-Israel lobby and think tanks. The lobby works closely with a variety of special interest groups, including the Christian right, to exercise considerable influence over the direction of US Middle East policy. By bringing relentless pressure and a steady flow of policy recommendations to elected officials on a daily basis, pro-Israel organizations outpace counterinitiatives, whether from Middle Eastern interest groups, academia, or mainstream churches. It is crucial to understand that the range of pro-Israel groups does not merely include Jews, so that the appellation the “Jewish lobby” is simply inaccurate.
Proof of this is the existence of a sixth interest group whose interests were also served during the Bush administration: fundamentalist Christian Zionists. During the past two or three decades, the conservative Evangelical movement has been the fastest growing sector within the American Christian churches. Estimates of the number of evangelicals range from 100-130 million, out of which 20-25 percent could be classified as fundamentalist some 20-26 million Americans. Of the fundamentalists, most, but not all, are inclined to support the Christian Zionist position. A recent poll by the Pew Research Center noted that 58 percent of evangelicals believe in the Battle of Armageddon, an indicator that they would be predisposed to Christian Zionism.
Today, Christian Zionists form the largest base of support for pro-Israeli interests in the US. Working since the late 1970s, the pro-Israel lobby has mobilized both economic and political support for Israel among fundamentalists. For example, a relatively new organization, Stand for Israel, has emerged in the past two years to work closely with AIPAC, the leading pro-Israel lobby, to support and hold rallies on behalf of Sharon’s policies. Last April 2, Stand for Israel held a convention and lobbying day immediately after the annual AIPAC convention, inviting many of the same speakers and adopting several of the same policies.
Former US Presidential candidate Gary Bauer, a co-founder of Stand for Israel, addressed the convention and urged attendees to oppose the Palestinian-Israeli “road map” and an exchange of land for peace.
Bauer declared: “Whoever sits in the confines of Washington, and suggests to the people of Israel that they have to give up more land in exchange for peace, that’s an obscenity.”
Others present at the dinner reflected the intimate relationship the Bush administration has with the Christian right and the pro-Israel lobby. This included US Attorney General John Ashcroft, Israel’s Ambassador to the US Daniel Ayalon, Southern Baptist Convention leader Richard Land, and House of Representatives Minority Leader Tom DeLay. DeLay and Congressman Tom Lantos, perennial advocates of Israel’s interests in the House, received the first annual Friend of Israel Award for their success in leading Congress to pass House Resolution 392, restating the strong solidarity of the US with Israel in their joint stance against international terrorism.
Pro-Israel groups and fundamentalist Christian groups have brought significant political and economic pressures to bear on Congress and the Bush presidency. Their support for Sharon’s militant Likud ideology are unquestioned and usually supported by selected Biblical footnotes. Policies such as increased Israeli settlements, the pre-emptive assassination of Palestinian leaders, Israeli sovereignty over all of historic Palestine (especially Jerusalem), and, if it occurs, the expulsion of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat (and indeed the mass expulsion of large sectors of the Palestinian population), would find ready support within the Christian right.
|
|
|
| |
| Who writes this crap? |
| 06.18.04 (5:26 pm) [edit] |
Someone sent me a link to an article they had read concerning the D-Day commemoration, knowing I lived in France and because I had spoken well of the event. I was unable to travel to Normandy but did watch by television. I was moved by so much that I saw and heard.
A group of young people played out several scenes in dance and song. They were the men, women and children of France. They acted to a backdrop of moving war pictures. It was awesome even on television. I remember wishing I had taped it.
Patricia Kass sang an old love song popular in that time. She reminded me so much of Marlene Dietrich.
The veterans had nothing but good words for the way they were treated by the French. Many talked of staying longer because they knew they would not be back again.
The comaraderie was evident and poignant.
Because of George Bush's presence I was worried there would be some disturbance. But, the French put aside there anti-Bush feelings out of respect for the men and women whom they will never forget.
And then I read this: D-Day, Chirac Style
I couldn't believe what I was reading until I looked at the name of the author.
Irwin Stelzer
Job: consultant to Rupert Murdoch
Age: 70
Industry: broadcasting, publishing
2001 ranking: new entry
The original international man of mystery, Irwin Stelzer is one of Rupert Murdoch's inner cabinet, variously described as the dirty digger's economic guru, confidential agent, global troubleshooter and a lobbyist extraordinaire.
"Three brains" Stelzer is also a close confidante of the prime minister, Tony Blair. Not surprisingly, it is said that no deal is ever brokered between No 10 and News International without Mr Stelzer being involved.After Labour was first swept to power in 1997 he made a point of visiting Downing Street every 10 days.
What's not in doubt is his status as a self-made millionaire - four years ago one former News Corp employee reported company lore that he would send a quarterly invoice to Mr Murdoch for $375,000. Mr Stelzer, born in New York City and a former Sunday school teacher, he founded the economic consultancy, Nera, in 1961 and sold it 20 years later for for more than $20m.
A passionate free market enthusiast and rampant capitalist, he mourned the collapse of Enron as a martyred pioneer of free markets.
Mr Murdoch trusts him so much that when he split from his then wife in 1998, he let Mr Stelzer go flat-hunting for him in Washington DC. But he has made his enemies - Sam Chisholm banned him from Sky TV, although ultimately it was the Kiwi boss of the satellite empire that left News Corp's payroll.
He is not entirely undercover; he speaks at conventions across the globe and writes regular columns for Mr Murdoch's Sunday Times and New York Post. Despite this, the world is still waiting for the real Mr Stelzer to stand up.
Now you know 'who writes this crap' and why. If you still don't know, well, maybe it's better you don't.
|
|
|
| |
| Bush's address to the nation prior to invading Iraq |
| 06.18.04 (3:19 pm) [edit] |
Below is a copy of President George W. Bush's address to the nation on Monday, March 17, announcing his readiness to order a U.S. invasion of Iraq.
Read it in light of the facts we know today.
There are no weapons of mass destruction.
There is no link with al Queda or terrorist organizations.
"My fellow citizens, events in Iraq have now reached the final days of decision. For more than a decade, the United States and other nations have pursued patient and honorable efforts to disarm the Iraqi regime without war.
That regime pledged to reveal and destroy all its weapons of mass destruction as a condition for ending the Persian Gulf War in 1991.
Since then, the world has engaged in 12 years of diplomacy. We have passed more than a dozen resolutions in the United Nations Security Council. We have sent hundreds of weapons inspectors to oversee the disarmament of Iraq. Our good faith has not been returned. The Iraqi regime has used diplomacy as a ploy to gain time and advantage. It has uniformly defied Security Council resolutions demanding full disarmament.
Over the years, UN weapon inspectors have been threatened by Iraqi officials, electronically bugged, and systematically deceived.
Peaceful efforts to disarm the Iraqi regime have failed again and again--because we are not dealing with peaceful men.
Intelligence gathered by this and other governments leaves no doubt that the Iraq regime continues to possess and conceal some of the most lethal weapons ever devised.
This regime has already used weapons of mass destruction against Iraq's neighbors and against Iraq's people.
The regime has a history of reckless aggression in the Middle East.
It has a deep hatred of America and our friends.
And it has aided, trained, and harbored terrorists, including operatives of al Qaeda. The danger is clear: using chemical, biological or, one day, nuclear weapons, obtained with the help of Iraq, the terrorists could fulfill their stated ambitions and kill thousands or hundreds of thousands of innocent people in our country, or any other. The United States and other nations did nothing to deserve or invite this threat. But we will do everything to defeat it. Instead of drifting along toward tragedy, we will set a course toward safety. Before the day of horror can come, before it is too late to act, this danger will be removed.
The United States of America has the sovereign authority to use force in assuring its own national security. That duty falls to me, as Commander-in-Chief, by the oath I have sworn, by the oath I will keep.
Recognizing the threat to our country, the United States Congress voted overwhelmingly last year to support the use of force against Iraq.
America tried to work with the United Nations to address this threat because we wanted to resolve the issue peacefully. We believe in the mission of the United Nations.
One reason the UN was founded after the Second World War was to confront aggressive dictators, actively and early, before they can attack the innocent and destroy the peace.
In the case of Iraq, the Security Council did act, in the early 1990s. Under Resolutions 678 and 687--both still in effect--the United States and our allies are authorized to use force in ridding Iraq of weapons of mass destruction. This is not a question of authority, it is a question of will.
Last September, I went to the UN General Assembly and urged the nations of the world to unite and bring an end to this danger. On November 8th, the Security Council unanimously passed Resolution 1441, finding Iraq in material breach of its obligations, and vowing serious consequences if Iraq did not fully and immediately disarm.
Today, no nation can possibly claim that Iraq has disarmed.
And it will not disarm so long as Saddam Hussein holds power.
For the last four-and-a-half months, the United States and our allies have worked within the Security Council to enforce that Council's long-standing demands. Yet, some permanent members of the Security Council have publicly announced they will veto any resolution that compels the disarmament of Iraq. These governments share our assessment of the danger, but not our resolve to meet it.
Many nations, however, do have the resolve and fortitude to act against this threat to peace, and a broad coalition is now gathering to enforce the just demands of the world.
The United Nations Security Council has not lived up to its responsibilities, so we will rise to ours.
In recent days, some governments in the Middle East have been doing their part. They have delivered public and private messages urging the dictator to leave Iraq, so that disarmament can proceed peacefully. He has thus far refused. All the decades of deceit and cruelty have now reached an end. Saddam Hussein and his sons must leave Iraq within 48 hours. Their refusal to do so will result in military conflict, commenced at a time of our choosing. For their own safety, all foreign nationals--including journalists and inspectors--should leave Iraq immediately.
Many Iraqis can hear me tonight in a translated radio broadcast, and I have a message for them. If we must begin a military campaign, it will be directed against the lawless men who rule your country and not against you.
As our coalition takes away their power, we will deliver the food and medicine you need.
We will tear down the apparatus of terror and we will help you to build a new Iraq that is prosperous and free. In a free Iraq, there will be no more wars of aggression against your neighbors, no more poison factories, no more executions of dissidents, no more torture chambers and rape rooms.
The tyrant will soon be gone. The day of your liberation is near.
It is too late for Saddam Hussein to remain in power. It is not too late for the Iraqi military to act with honor and protect your country by permitting the peaceful entry of coalition forces to eliminate weapons of mass destruction.
Our forces will give Iraqi military units clear instructions on actions they can take to avoid being attacked and destroyed. I urge every member of the Iraqi military and intelligence services, if war comes, do not fight for a dying regime that is not worth your own life. And all Iraqi military and civilian personnel should listen carefully to this warning. In any conflict, your fate will depend on your action. Do not destroy oil wells, a source of wealth that belongs to the Iraqi people. Do not obey any command to use weapons of mass destruction against anyone, including the Iraqi people. War crimes will be prosecuted. War criminals will be punished. And it will be no defense to say, "I was just following orders".
Should Saddam Hussein choose confrontation, the American people can know that every measure has been taken to avoid war, and every measure will be taken to win it.
Americans understand the costs of conflict because we have paid them in the past. War has no certainty, except the certainty of sacrifice. Yet, the only way to reduce the harm and duration of war is to apply the full force and might of our military, and we are prepared to do so. If Saddam Hussein attempts to cling to power, he will remain a deadly foe until the end. In desperation, he and terrorists groups might try to conduct terrorist operations against the American people and our friends. These attacks are not inevitable. They are, however, possible.
And this very fact underscores the reason we cannot live under the threat of blackmail. The terrorist threat to America and the world will be diminished the moment that Saddam Hussein is disarmed.
Our government is on heightened watch against these dangers. Just as we are preparing to ensure victory in Iraq, we are taking further actions to protect our homeland. In recent days, American authorities have expelled from the country certain individuals with ties to Iraqi intelligence services. Among other measures, I have directed additional security of our airports, and increased Coast Guard patrols of major seaports. The Department of Homeland Security is working closely with the nation's governors to increase armed security at critical facilities across America. Should enemies strike our country, they would be attempting to shift our attention with panic and weaken our morale with fear. In this, they would fail. No act of theirs can alter the course or shake the resolve of this country. We are a peaceful people--yet we're not a fragile people, and we will not be intimidated by thugs and killers. If our enemies dare to strike us, they and all who have aided them, will face fearful consequences.
We are now acting because the risks of inaction would be far greater. In one year, or five years, the power of Iraq to inflict harm on all free nations would be multiplied many times over. With these capabilities, Saddam Hussein and his terrorist allies could choose the moment of deadly conflict when they are strongest. We choose to meet that threat now, where it arises, before it can appear suddenly in our skies and cities.
The cause of peace requires all free nations to recognize new and undeniable realities. In the 20th century, some chose to appease murderous dictators, whose threats were allowed to grow into genocide and global war. In this century, when evil men plot chemical, biological and nuclear terror, a policy of appeasement could bring destruction of a kind never before seen on this earth.
Terrorists and terror states do not reveal these threats with fair notice, in formal declarations--and responding to such enemies only after they have struck first is not self-defense, it is suicide. The security of the world requires disarming Saddam Hussein now.
As we enforce the just demands of the world, we will also honor the deepest commitments of our country.
Unlike Saddam Hussein, we believe the Iraqi people are deserving and capable of human liberty. And when the dictator has departed, they can set an example to all the Middle East of a vital and peaceful and self-governing nation.
The United States, with other countries, will work to advance liberty and peace in that region.
Our goal will not be achieved overnight, but it can come over time. The power and appeal of human liberty is felt in every life and every land. And the greatest power of freedom is to overcome hatred and violence, and turn the creative gifts of men and women to the pursuits of peace.
That is the future we choose. Free nations have a duty to defend our people by uniting against the violent. And tonight, as we have done before, America and our allies accept that responsibility. Good night, and may God continue to bless America.
|
|
|
| |
| E-Voting: Should We Pull the Lever? |
| 06.18.04 (12:50 pm) [edit] |
I can't believe anyone is taking electronic voting seriously at least not without a paper trail. We're talking machines here..computer software. Oh my god! Had any problems with your pc lately? Why do they keep upgrading software, outside of adding features but to fix the bugs...
What if Florida was just the beginning? Remember the chaos of the last US presidential election? The vote count that left no one fully satisfied? Well, evidence is mounting that future elections might also be in peril, at least according to critics of electronic voting systems. Such criticism has already come from the highest levels of academia. This summer, computer security experts at Johns Hopkins University and Rice University published a biting analysis of the design of the widely used Diebold AccuVote-TS voting system, based on source code that Diebold accidentally leaked to the Internet in January.
Electronic voting can be as simple as a punch-card ballot that is tallied by machine, or as complex as today's most cutting-edge systems that let voters make a direct digital record of their choices simply by touching a screen.
Either way, critics say, today's electronic systems are inherently flawed. It's not just that the code is bad, although that is one possibility. Rather, they say, the entire system of creation, certification, and implementation is simply fraught with potential security gaps.
"You can have a software programming error, which you never could have had before the days of electronic voting, but you can also have deliberate tampering in a thousand other ways," says Bev Harris, author of Black Box Voting: Ballot Tampering in the 21st Century. IEEE
|
|
|
| |
| Euro 2004 to play for war-ravaged children |
| 06.18.04 (12:23 pm) [edit] |
Taking up a humanitarian cause for the first time, Euro 2004, the top European football event, has become a platfore for the cause of war-affected children.
In a joint effort with the ICRC the UEFA will feature the campaign logo "Let us Play" on the center circle flag for the first quarter-final match on June 24.
The joint UEFA/ICRC campaign has four simple messages. Children who are separated from their families must be protected and everything possible done to reunite them. They need care to help their physical and psychological recovery. Children are entitled to have their basic needs met through the provision of shelter, food, water, clothing, medical care and education.
They must not be recruited into armed forces or groups, nor allowed to take a direct part in hostilities. Four leading international referees are acting as ambassadors during the campaign. A referee's role is to ensure that players respect the rules of the game. The ICRC works to ensure that those fighting a war respect the law of armed conflict. ICRC
Read: Playground offers the healing balm
|
|
|
| |
| Iraqi Military Buys First Pair of Recon Aircraft |
| 06.18.04 (10:16 am) [edit] |
The Iraqi Air Force purchased its first new aircraft this week, but the planes will be used for surveillance, not war-making, according to a U.S. official. They're kidding right?
U.S. military spokesman Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt announced Tuesday in Baghdad the purchased by Iraq of two of a planned force of 16 observation and surveillance aircraft from Jordan.
The planes are intended to help the country protect its electrical and oil assets from sabotage and help control its borders. An oil pipeline was apparently sabotaged Tuesday near Basra.
The planes will be delivered in mid-July.
Much of Iraq's old air force was found buried in the sand after the war, an apparent attempt to camouflage the planes and keep them from being bombed by U.S. aircraft. DOD
|
|
|
| |
| AOL fined in France for "abusive and illegal" contracts |
| 06.18.04 (10:03 am) [edit] |
This is not the first time AOL has been brought to heel by the French courts.
In 2001 AOL France's policy of using 'timer' software to disconnect customers who stayed online for more than 30 minutes was judged to be illegal. AOL said it had to use timers in order to prevent its service from being overloaded. The court said they had to respect the terms of their flat rate offer. AOL was fined around 15,000 euros..a pittance. But, it was a victory for the consumer.
The French Consumers Union has now sued AOL France for abusive and illegal clauses in customer's contracts. The court found that 21 clauses were abusive and 11 illegal.
In one such clause AOL declined responsiblity for interruptions or errors in service. In another they charged dial-up clients a full 60 seconds for every minute started.
The contracts said AOL could break their agreement without warning, while customers had no way of ending the relationship without paying a penalty.
The court ordered AOL to pay a fine of 30,000 euros (36,000 dollars), publish the verdict in three mass circulation newspapers in Paris and on AOL's homepage in France, and inform all clients by email within a month.
Hopefully, this will serve as a warning for other ISPs. J'adore France.
Channel News Asia
|
|
|
| |
| Dutroux guilty of child rape and murder |
| 06.18.04 (9:18 am) [edit] |
I was relieved to see Dutroux's ex-wife was convicted also. Her story of being too afraid while Dutroux was in jail to help two little ones who eventually starved to death was unbelieveable, literally.
Even his own defence lawyer admitted that Dutroux was "the most detested man in Belgium". Yesterday Dutroux was found guilty of a series of kidnappings and of murdering An Marchal, 17, and Eefje Lambrecks, 19, as well as an alleged accomplice, Bernard Weinstein. All three were drugged, then buried alive. Weinstein was tortured first. The bodies were found buried on Dutroux's property.
His ex-wife, Michelle Martin, was held responsible for the deaths of two eight-year-old girls who starved to death in a cellar of their home while Dutroux served a prison sentence for car theft.
The two eight-year-olds, who disappeared while playing near their home, were held in an underground cell. Martin said that when Dutroux served a short jail term for car theft she was too afraid to go downstairs to feed the two girls.
The last victims, Sabine Dardenne, then 12, and Laetitia Delhez, then 14, were rescued from the basement prison two days after Dutroux's arrest in August 1996.
Dutroux, who faces life in prison, was out on parole at the time of the crimes, a revelation that stirred national outrage.
Dutroux's brief escape from jail in 1998 led to the resignation of the Belgian justice and interior ministers as well as the chief of the state police force. Independent
|
|
|
| |
| Troops sacked for killing paraplegic |
| 06.18.04 (8:13 am) [edit] |
Two Israeli officers have been sacked after a wheelchair-bound Palestinian paraplegic was shot dead by troops in a refugee camp near the central West Bank city of Ramallah, the army said today.
Being sacked for murder is real justice. This is why we need an international court.
In a statement, the military said the unit involved in the incident had violated "operational norms" and the army "regretted" the man's death.
Yes, I'm sure they regret it and they're very upset with these soldiers for bringing attention to their murderous policies against Palestinians.
Arafat Ibrahim Yacub, 31, suffered fatal wounds to the head when troops opened fire at a group of stone-throwing protesters in the Qalandiya refugee camp, medics said on June 6.
Mr Yacub, who was married with two children, had been handicapped when he was shot in the back during an earlier intifada, or Palestinian uprising, in 1987.
Married with two children.. A husband and a father has been murdered. A human being just like you and me. Why?
How long are we going to turn our backs on these people?
The death toll to date has risen to 3108 Palestinians and 920 Israelis. The counter at the top of the page is not updated regularly enough. news.com.au
|
|
|
| |
| Why should US soldiers/citizens be exempt from prosecution for war crimes? |
| 06.18.04 (7:43 am) [edit] |
The International Criminal Court can prosecute cases of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity committed after it was established on July 1, 2002, but will step in only when countries are unwilling or unable to dispense justice themselves. It is the culmination of a campaign for a permanent war crimes tribunal that began with the Nuremberg trials after World War II.
It's a court of last resort. So, what's the problem?
Last year, Washington asked the Council to approve a complete, indefinite exemption from the Court's jurisdiction for U.S. nationals, and even threatened to veto the renewal of UN peacekeeping operations in Bosnia and elsewhere if it did not get its way. But other Council members, particularly those associated with the European Union (EU), refused to go along.
France, Germany, Spain and Brazil have said they will abstain on a new extension. They should vote no. It would be interesting to see what George Bush would do in retaliation. Stop playing with this man!
This is just more of George Bush's unilateralist foreign policy. It's no wonder resentment and anger is flourishing around the world toward the U.S.
In light of the Iraqi prisoner abuse U.S. exemption would is unjustified. It's unjustifed anyway but some without good reasoning abilities need an example. Abu Ghraib only amplifies the need for an international court. Of course, those convicted might get more than a little slap on the hand for torture and murder.
Too many in the U.S. have a sanctimonious opinion of their country and themselves. They somehow sit on a pedestal above us all. France should ask for an exemption also just so we could see the reaction from the other side of the ocean.
Icing on the cake...Besides seeking another year's exemption from arrest or prosecution of US citizens, Washington has signed bilateral agreements with 89 countries that bar any prosecution of American officials by the court and is seeking more such treaties. Protecting your ass aren't you, George?
Kofi Annan's opinion:
"As you know, for the past two years, I have spoken quite strongly against the exemption, and I think it would be unfortunate for one to press for such an exemption, given the prisoner abuse in Iraq," Annan told reporters on Thursday as he arrived at UN's New York headquarters.
"I think in this circumstance it would be unwise to press for an exemption and it would be even more unwise on the part of the Security Council to grant it," he stressed.
"It would discredit the council and the United Nations that stands for rule of law and the primacy of rule of law," Annan added. "I don't think it should be encouraged by the council."
It's time for America to stand up and be counted in the ranks of human rights abusers around the world. The world wonders why they should be held accountable for their evil deeds and US citizens aren't. I wonder also.
AP
|
|
|
| |
| America, Israel and the Middle East |
| 06.17.04 (1:09 pm) [edit] |
An excellent interview with Avi Shlaim, professor of international relations at the University of Oxford can be found on The Nation. I will tease you with a few excerpts below in hope that you will take the time to read it.
Question: I wonder if we can look briefly at ongoing events in and affecting the Middle East, particularly in Iraq, Israel and America. First of all, how would you advise President Bush to extract himself from the current calamity in Iraq?
My advice to President Bush would be to be honest. Either he plans to hand over power to the Iraqis on June 30 or he doesn't. The Americans are playing games and are pretending that there will be a handover, but the Iraqi provisional government have chosen a president, and Paul Bremer tried to veto their choice. The Iraqis need to know where they stand: Either they are going to be given sovereignty and appoint their own leaders, or they are going to be dictated to by the Americans. It would be unwise for the Americans to treat Iraqis as pawns in the game, because the interim government would cease to have legitimacy in the eyes of the Iraqi people if all the orders came from Washington.
Question: Iran and Syria are also on the Bush Administration neocons' list for intervention. Do you think the ongoing debacle in Iraq has effectively ruled out military action against these two nations?
The neocons had an ambitious agenda for the Middle East, and they were going to bring about regime change in Iraq as the first step in implementing a broader agenda. They wanted to turn Iraq into a model for the rest of the Arab world and the Middle East in general. The next targets were Syria and Iran, and after the initial successes during the war in Iraq, there were moves toward the regime in Damascus. American officials said that Syria was helping the remnants of the Saddam regime by smuggling weapons into Iraq and helping Iraqis to escape and find refuge in Syria. No evidence was produced to implicate Syria, so the rhetoric has died down. America is embroiled in a quagmire in Iraq, and it is in no position to invade or attack Syria, even if it wanted to. Iran is a bit more complicated. Iran is of course, one of the original members of the "axis of evil," alongside Iraq and North Korea; and Iran also poses a long-term threat to Israel--particularly if it acquires nuclear weapons.
So the neoconservatives, who care deeply about Israel's security, wanted to eliminate the Iranian threat to Israel. There was again talk of attacking Iran, and there was some loose talk about wiping out Iran's nuclear program and nuclear installations; but now this talk is not heard anymore, because America is embroiled in Iraq without an easy way out. What has emerged recently is that Iran manipulated the neocons into attacking Iraq in order to get rid of this very awkward neighbor, Saddam Hussein. There were some revelations a few weeks ago where Ahmad Chalabi's intelligence chief was in fact an Iranian agent to pass on misinformation and disinformation to the neocons that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. So Iran manipulated America through Chalabi and his aides; and now it is the Iranians who have had the last laugh because America toppled Saddam and inadvertently prepared the ground for a Shia rise to power. America destroyed a secular Sunni regime, which is going to be replaced by a Shia regime that is going to be much more friendly and acceptable to Iran. If true, this is one of the greatest intelligence coups of modern times.
|
|
|
| |
| George Tenet Meets With Egypt's President |
| 06.17.04 (12:41 pm) [edit] |
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak met with CIA Director George Tenet on Wednesday to discuss Egypt's role in assisting the Palestinians after Israel withdraws from the Gaza Strip.
Presidential officials gave no further details. Egyptian television said U.S. Ambassador David Welch and Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman also attended the meeting.
Suleiman is the key player in the talks with Israeli and Palestinian officials on what Egypt can do to help the Palestinians after Israel withdraws from Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has pledged that Israeli settlers and soldiers will be out of Gaza by the end of 2005, part of a plan that also includes evacuating four small West Bank settlements.
If Israel pulls out, Egypt intends to increase the number of troops on its side of the border with Gaza and send security advisers to Gaza to help train Palestinian forces. Egypt will also help build new police stations and jails in Gaza.
Egypt reluctantly became involved in securing Gaza. It has been careful to say it is not helping Israel but defending its own borders against instability.
Mubarak told reporters that Egypt's role, with the support of the United States, might be expanded to include the West Bank, according to the Middle East News Agency.
"We offered training to the Palestinians to preserve peace and stop the continued acts of violence. ... We have agreed on that with the support of the United States and it will not be in Gaza only, but might be extended to include the West Bank," MENA quoted him as saying.
Later Wednesday, Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia arrived in Cairo for Thursday talks with Mubarak.
Mohammed Sobeih, the Palestinian representative to the Arab League, said the talks would focus on preparing for the coming round of dialogue between Palestinian factions, scheduled for early next month.
The Egyptians have tried to secure the agreement of Palestinian militant factions in Gaza, notably Hamas and Islamic Jihad, to stop attacks against Israel so the withdrawal can proceed smoothly. AP
|
|
|
| |
| Iraq: What the Geneva Conventions say about future of detainees |
| 06.17.04 (12:22 pm) [edit] |
Geneva (ICRC) –There has recently been a degree of publicly expressed confusion regarding the future of persons currently deprived of their freedom in Iraq.
The Geneva Conventions require the States to ensure that all persons who have violated international humanitarian law are held accountable for their actions. This rule also applies to anyone currently held in Iraq as a prisoner of war and therefore protected by the Third Geneva Convention, or as a civilian internee or detainee and thus protected by the Fourth Geneva Convention. Any serious violation of international humanitarian law must be properly investigated. Those allegedly responsible must be prosecuted before an impartial and independent court affording all judicial guarantees stipulated by international humanitarian law.
Therefore – and contrary to certain media reports – the ICRC has never called for all Iraqi prisoners of war to be released.
The Geneva Conventions state that in the framework of an international armed conflict, prisoners of war and civilian internees must be released as soon as possible after the end of hostilities unless criminal charges are pending against them or unless they are serving a prison sentence. The Conventions do not rule out the possibility that a prisoner of war or civilian released following the end of hostilities may be immediately rearrested and subsequently prosecuted for crimes that he or she may have committed.
Under international humanitarian law, the rules applicable to a situation are determined by the facts on the ground.
The ICRC will endeavour to continue visiting persons in Iraq who have been, or are in future, deprived of their freedom in connection with the armed conflict. The objective of these visits is strictly humanitarian. The ICRC works to ensure that the conditions of detention and the treatment of persons deprived of their freedom meet the standards laid down by the Geneva Conventions and customary international law. ICRC
|
|
|
| |
| Conference on Internet Hate, Racism Opens |
| 06.17.04 (11:51 am) [edit] |
International experts met Wednesday in Paris to tackle the tricky task of fighting anti-Semitic, racist and xenophobic propaganda on the Internet — seen as a chief factor in a rise in hate crime.
"Our responsibility is to underline that by its own characteristics — notably, immediacy and anonymity — the Internet has seduced the networks of intolerance," French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier said in opening remarks at the two-day conference.
France, which is leading the effort, has faced a surge in anti-Semitic violence in the last two years. Some fault the growth of Internet use among hate groups.
But differing views about the limits of free speech and the ease of public access to the anonymous Web hindered officials hoping to find common ground in Wednesday's talks.
A sticking point was whether the United States, which has defended nearly unfettered free speech, would line up with European countries that have banned racist or anti-Semitic speech in public.
The dilemma is all the more acute because the Internet is global, easy to use and tough to regulate — as shown by widespread sharing of music online, an illegal practice that has confounded record companies. Terror groups have also used the Internet to plot attacks.
There are no easy solutions, delegates said. Many urged more youth education, better cooperation between governments and Internet service providers, or new studies on links between Web racism and hate crimes.
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, a 55-country body that promotes security and human rights, organized the conference with the backing of the French government. Six countries in the Middle East and North Africa also sent envoys. The meeting is one of three OSCE conferences on anti-Semitism and racism this year.
U.S. Assistant Attorney General Dan Bryant acknowledged the American approach differs from that of other countries.
"We believe that government efforts to regulate bias-motivated speech on the Internet are fundamentally mistaken," Bryant said. "At the same time, however, the United States has not stood and will not stand idly by, when individuals cross the line from protected speech to criminal conduct."
He said the United States believes the best way to reduce hate speech is to confront it, by promoting tolerance, understanding and other ideas that enlighten.
Robert Badinter, a former French justice minister, said that of 4,000 "racist sites" counted worldwide in 2002, some 2,500 were based in the United States.
The French foreign minister cited a recent report in Britain that showed the number of "violent and extremist sites" had ballooned by 300 percent in the last four years in 15 OSCE countries surveyed. AP
|
|
|
| |
| Israeli policies against Palestinians fan anti-Semitism |
| 06.17.04 (11:27 am) [edit] |
Agence France Presse
ANKARA, June 15-- Israel's crackdown in the occupied Palestinian territories is reinforcing anti-Semitism in the world, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned on Tuesday, appealing to the Jewish state to scale down its operations.
"We have no problems with the Israeli people, but unfortunately the actions of the Israeli administration is strengthening anti-Semitism in the world," Erdogan told a parliamentary group meeting of his Justice and Development Party (AKP).
The Turkish leader also implicitly called on the Jewish state to abandon its excessive measures against the Palestinians.
"If a country wants to earn respect, it must accept other
people's right to live," Erdogan said.
Turkish-Israeli ties deteriorated last month when Erdogan
described Israel's security operations in the Gaza Strip as "state terror" and Israel reponded by saying the statement was "extremely regrettable".
Last week, Turkey temporarily recalled its ambassador to Tel Aviv and its consul general in Jerusalem for "consultations".
Despite the unprecedented spat between the two countries, the Turkish foreign ministry asserted earlier this month that its ties with Israel would remain unchanged.
Turkey, a Muslim but strictly secular non-Arab nation, has been Israel's main regional ally since 1996 when the two nations signed a military cooperation accord, much to the ire of Arab countries and of Iran.
|
|
|
| |
| Assassin freed on health grounds |
| 06.17.04 (9:51 am) [edit] |
Joelle Aubron, a former member of French urban guerrilla group Action Directe has been released from prison after undergoing an operation for a brain tumor.
I have big problems with this. She was released in line with a French law passed in 2002 which states that prisoners can have their sentences suspended if it is proved that they have only a few months to live.
The same law was used to free Nazi collaborator Maurice Papon at the age of 93 in 2002, less than 3 years into a ten year sentence.
Supposedly, Aubron couldn't receive proper medical care in jail.
At her release she told reporters she wanted four of her colleagues to be set free as well.
"I am tired and so I am only going to say three things.
"The first is that I am of course happy to have the opportunity to receive some treatment. The second is that the application of the law of March 2002 nevertheless doesn't go as far as expected for many male and female prisoners.
"The third is my conviction that the fight for the freedom of my comrades goes on."
Aubron was a member of a now supposedly defunct group called Action Directe an anti-capitalist Marxist-Leninist group that was blamed for a string of terror attacks in France between 1979 and 1987.
Action Directe, which was formed in 1979, was an extreme-left militant group that attacked symbols of the French state in a similar way to the notorious Baader Meinhof gang in Germany, with which it had links.
Before it was finally crushed in 1989 after the arrest of its top leaders, including Aubron, it was thought to have been behind as many as 80 attacks, many of them murders.
In the early days Action Directe limited itself to bomb attacks on the buildings of large French companies, like Dassault and Elf-Aquitaine.
Aubron along with other Action Directe leaders were convicted to life in prison over the 1986 killing of Renault boss Georges Besse and top defense ministry official General Rene Audran.
Judging from her words on leaving prison this woman is still dangerous. Her mind continues to work and she shows no remorse for her crimes. I hope the authorities will be keeping a close watch on her. BBC
|
|
|
| |
| Iraq: No Al Qaeda Link - What are you going to do about it? |
| 06.16.04 (7:31 pm) [edit] |
|
Saddam was not innocent of being a cruel dictator but he was innocent of the charges George Bush used to invade and occupy Iraq.
If you are American you have been deceived by your president. What are you going to do about it?
The official inquiry into the September 11 attacks on New York and the Pentagon has said there was no link between Iraq and al Qaeda.
Authorities had used contacts between the two as a reason for going to war with Saddam Hussein. As recently as Monday, Vice President Dick Cheney said Saddam had "long-established ties" with al Qaeda.
The report added: "Two senior bin Laden associates have adamantly denied that any ties exist between al Qaeda and Iraq. We have no credible evidence that Iraq and al Qaeda cooperated on attacks against the United States."
In its report, the commission reiterated an oft-repeated warning by the Bush administration, saying al Qaeda remains poised to attack the United States in a devastating chemical, biological or "dirty bomb" attack.
|
|
|
| |
| God is everywhere at GOP convention |
| 06.16.04 (6:36 pm) [edit] |
|
This is one of the most frightening articles I've read today, perhaps in several days. This brings up visions of red-faced, screaming, bible thumpers condeming people to hellfire because they don't walk, act or look like they do. If I had lived through the Inquisition I'm sure I would be having nightmares.
Americans better get their act together before they find these people in control.
Those that are Christian should recognize the problem here. There is God and then there is religion.
You have two bad apples to choose from this November. But one of them is poison.
By Ken Herman
American-Statesman Staff
SAN ANTONIO -- At the Texas Republican Convention, God and the GOP are even tighter than the mere one-letter difference might indicate.
There's no official count, but the convention references to God are running about neck and neck with the mentions of home-state hero George W. Bush.
And on the evening of the first day, the Rev. Charles Murphy of Heritage Baptist Church in Missouri City was moved to comment on it.
"I thought when I was over there today I was at church," Murphy said gleefully before offering the invocation at a Texas Christian Coalition dinner on Thursday. "I heard more about God there than I hear at some of the conventions we go to that say they are Christian."
For many delegates at the three-day convention, religion and politics commingle with comfort, purpose and zeal. Delegates on Friday approved a platform that refers to "the myth of the separation of church and state."
"Faith is important to the vast majority of Texans," said Tina Benkiser, a Houston lawyer re-elected Friday as state GOP chairwoman. "And when you have real faith, that is who you are, and obviously what you want is your principles and your ideals to be put in public policy.
"And I think Texans clearly agree because they have put us in stewardship of statewide government at every branch of government," she said.
Much of the religious-oriented language is carried over from previous GOP platforms, as is the Christian enthusiasm of many delegates. But Texas Democrats, currently shut out of all statewide offices, believe the increasing religious overtones should concern voters looking for mainstream leadership.
"It reads like the longest political suicide note in Texas history," Texas Democratic Chairman Charles Soechting said of the GOP platform. "It will scare the living daylights out of most Christians.
It's an anti-Christian platform because it seeks to punish people, and it embodies the very worst of the right-wing Christian movement."
Democrats, he said, would benefit greatly if GOP candidates swore allegiance to the platform, something few do.
"It would scare away a bunch of the middle," Soechting said.
Bruce Buchanan, a University of Texas government professor, agreed.
"Even though this is a conservative state with a strong religious right component, there are moderate Republicans and centrist Democrats who would be repelled by that," he said of the GOP platform.
It's a platform that offers tangible evidence of how religion -- a specific brand of religion -- guides Texas' party in power.
A plank in a section titled "Promoting Individual Freedom and Personal Safety" proclaims the United States a "Christian nation."
"The party affirms freedom of religion and rejects efforts of courts and secular activists who seek to remove and deny such a rich heritage from our public lives," says a passage added this year.
The rewritten "Celebrating Traditional Marriage" section now calls for legislation making it a felony for anyone to issue a marriage license to a same-sex couple or for a "civil official" to perform a wedding ceremony for such couples.
Also new this year is a section declaring that the Ten
Commandments "are the basis of our basic freedoms and the cornerstone of our Western legal tradition."
"We therefore oppose any governmental action to restrict, prohibit or remove public display of the Decalogue or other religious symbols."
The platform continues to approach gambling as a moral issue, damning it as "devastating" to families.
In an update targeted at GOP Gov. Rick Perry's call for slot machines at pari-mutuel tracks and Indian property to raise money for schools, the new platform says, "We strongly oppose gambling, in any form, as a means to fund education."
The Christian impact on the party has been obvious at the convention of a party that has gone way beyond the standard "God Bless Texas" speech closing line made popular by Democrat Bob Bullock and adopted by many politicians.
Two years ago, at a GOP convention prayer rally, state District Judge Faith Johnson called on all judges to accept Jesus Christ. On Thursday, former GOP Chairwoman Susan Weddington of San Antonio, accepting an award, talked about how Jesus Christ informed her when it was time to move on to a new endeavor. Railroad Commissioner Michael Williams indicated God will guide him toward what elected office he should next seek.
Benkiser, who beat out Waco lawyer Gina Parker for party leader, told delegates about her work at Houston's Second Baptist Church, a 32,000-member congregation that has become a social and political force in the Houston area.
Perry's reference to God drew a standing ovation during his anti-abortion-rights comments.
"This great human journey from the moment of conception until our last moments on Earth confirms the presence of a divine creator and the sacred nature of human life," Perry said, igniting thunderous applause.
At a 7 a.m. Friday prayer rally, thousands of delegates turned the convention floor into a house of prayer.
As delegates prayed and sang, oversized religious images, including Jesus on the cross, were displayed on the hall's giant video screens.
Christian clergymen took turns leading the prayers, some with political overtones.
"Heavenly father, you fashioned the family to be one man and one woman committed to each other for life," Pastor Charles Burchett of Kirbyville's First Baptist Church said in a reference to same-sex marriage.
"Jehovah Jesus, we are living in a time when the foundations of the family and the foundations of the church are being attacked and destroyed," he said. Statesman.com
|
|
|
| |
| Canadian ambassador Allan Rock blasts UN on Sudan crisis |
| 06.16.04 (5:03 pm) [edit] |
The Security Council has failed miserably in its responsibility to protect the people of the Sudanese region of Darfur, who are being displaced and slaughtered in a civil war, Canada's envoy to the United Nations said yesterday.
In an open debate at the council, ambassador Allan Rock accused the 15-member body of ignoring long-standing pleas to intervene and push both sides to end attacks on civilians.
Mr. Rock said the council failed for months to heed warnings from aid groups and from its own human-rights commission about the looming humanitarian disaster in Darfur, finally responding just three weeks ago.
"Such inexcusable delays put at risk the lives of those that this council is charged with protecting," he said. "The Security Council's moral authority is underpinned by its willingness to respond effectively and promptly to threats to international peace and security, and it must demonstrate greater resolve in addressing even sensitive and politically challenging situations."
Mr. Rock spoke as the council held a full-day open debate on how the world body should respond to the plight of civilians caught in war zones where their governments either cannot protect them or actively target them.
Canada has long argued that the council has a responsibility to protect such civilians, transcending national sovereignty -- a position many Third World countries reject for fear of big-power intrusion into their domestic affairs.
Mr. Rock called the situation in Darfur "a particularly egregious example" of the UN's failure to act despite a national government's refusal to protect its citizens. He urged the council to adopt resolutions urging the parties involved in the conflict -- he did not mention the Sudanese government specifically -- to do everything in their power to end the "crimes against humanity" being committed there and bring those responsible to justice.
The ambassador stopped short of labelling the attacks on local black farmers by government-backed Muslim militias as "ethnic cleansing" or "genocide."
But activists are urging the council to declare the Darfur situation a genocide in the making, since such a finding would require intervention under international law. On the weekend, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said Washington is investigating whether that is the case.
In Khartoum on Sunday, UN special representative Asma Janahjir said she was "disturbed and alarmed by the gravity of human-rights abuses perpetrated" in Sudan. But her greatest concerns were saved for Darfur, where two rebel groups have been fighting the Sudanese government since early last year.
UN agencies and relief organizations estimate that at least one million people have fled their homes and become internally displaced since fighting broke out, while another 150,000 refugees have escaped across the border into Chad.
"I am deeply concerned," Ms. Janahjir said. "The crisis is not over and the right to life of [millions of] people is seriously threatened."
A report issued in May by the UN's acting high commissioner for human rights found that Janjaweed militias -- loose bands of Arab fighters recruited and armed by Khartoum -- have carried out murders, rapes and other atrocities against the region's black population. Ms. Janahjir's briefing echoed many elements of that report. GlobeandMail
|
|
|
| |
| Southern Baptists split with other Baptists, cheer Bush |
| 06.16.04 (1:23 pm) [edit] |
Southern Baptist Convention leaders have denounced the Baptist World Alliance and other groups for accepting liberal theology.
At a meeting more than 8,000 Southern Baptist cheered Bush - speaking through a live video link - as he stressed his support for a constitutional ammendment banning gay marriage.
The SBC has 16.3 million members. These are Bush voters.
The Alliance is a federation of 46 million members. Hopefully, these aren't.
You can't disregard the importance religion is playing in this election.
Rev. Bobby Welch 61, who was elected President of the SBC travels the country giving speeches on guess what? "God and Country" Billings Gazette
|
|
|
| |
| Vatican downsizes the Inquisition |
| 06.16.04 (12:56 pm) [edit] |
The Vatican says fewer witches were burned at the stake and fewer heretics tortured into conversion during the Inquisition.
What is meant by fewer...1 million or 1 thousand fewer and what does this have to do with religious leaders employing torture and execution to enforce orthodoxy.
IHT
|
|
|
| |
| Iran Recruiting "Army of Martyrs" |
| 06.16.04 (9:07 am) [edit] |
Iran has registered at least 10,000 young volunteers for "martyrdom operations," against US forces in Iraq and Israel, according to the recruitment group, the Committee for the Commemoration of Martyrs of the Global Islamic Campaign.
Salman Rushdie the author of "The Satanic Verses," and the recipient of a death warrant in absentia by Iran's former leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khumeini, has also been targeted by the nascent brigade of terrorists calling itself the "Army of Martyrs of the Global Islamic Campaign."
The London based Arabic daily, al-Sharq al-Awsat reported last week that the "Army of Martyrs," is operated by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards [IRG also known as the Pasdaran], and IRG's sub-agencies tasked with intelligence gathering and the planning of terrorist attacks.
The recruitment of what the "Army of Martyrs," leaders say are thousands of future "martyrs," i.e. suicide attackers, racked up 10,000 registered volunteers in its first week, Mohammad Ali Samadi, a spokesman for the Committee for the Commemoration of Martyrs of the Global Islamic Campaign was quoted by Reuters.
The calls to join the "Army of Martyrs," began at Mosques after Friday prayer two weeks ago, after which registration forms [See Box at the bottom of this article] were distributed by the tens of thousands at local Islamic Universities to prospective male and female suicide attackers.
A senior Israeli intelligence source told the Jerusalem Post Monday that complementing Iran's imminent nuclear capability are its efforts to infiltrate terrorists, weapons, or information into the West Bank and Gaza. "There is no way to over-emphasize this danger. Iran is involved intimately in almost every Hizbullah action." The IRG also pay-rolls Tanzim and Islamic Jihad cells all over the West Bank and Gaza, said the Israeli official.
The Martyrs of the Global Islamic Campaign spokesman Samadi explained that "our targets are mainly the occupying American and British forces in the holy Iraqi cities [Najaf, Karbala, Kufa, among others], all the Zionists in Palestine, and Salman Rushdie," Reuters reported.
He accused Israel for using "the Zionists," and their children as "human shields for themselves in the occupied territories."
While the Iranian Regime could recruit "tens of thousands of martyrs, the regime knows very well that it cannot use all of them for suicide attacks," said Safa Ha'eri, editor in chief of the Iranian Press Service, a dissident news agency. Ha'eri said that "rather than a show of strength this is a demonstration of trouble. When Mullah's think they are in trouble they pull the martyrs card. Make no mistake, this is all for public consumption, for the television."
In addition, there is a yawning gap between brainwashing several thousand Iranian radicals and the enlistment of a nation of 70 million to commit Jihad, added Ha'eri.
In the registration form that has flooded Islamic universities in Tehran, volunteers are first asked in Farsi to check a box signaling their "preparedness for carrying out Martyrdom attacks." The registration form then asks them to check one of three preferred targets: U.S. occupation forces in Iraq; "the occupiers of Jerusalem,"; and Salman Rushdie.
Towards the end of the form, volunteers are asked whether they would like to "become an active member of the Army of Martyrs of the Global Islamic Campaign."
"'Our missiles are now ready to strike at their civilization," said a senior Iranian Revolutionary Guard official to al-Sharq al-Awsat "and as soon as the instructions arrive from Leader ['Ali Khamenei], we will launch our missiles at their cities and installations."
In order to loose the "suicide missiles," the "Army of Martyrs," has to receive authorization from Iranian Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khameini.
"Our motto during the war (in Iraq)," said the Iranian Revolutionary Guard official "was: Karbala, we are coming, Jerusalem, we are coming. And because of Khatami's policies and dialogue between the civilizations, we have been compelled to freeze our plan to liberate the Islamic cities. And now we are [again] about to carry out the program."
The closer Israel is to unilateral separation from the Palestinians, said the intelligence official, the more the incentive Iran and its proxy Hizbullah will have to stir the pot. With many of the other schemes uncovered, Hizbullah and Iran are trying to smuggle in unaffiliated foreign terrorists – making it difficult for the Shin Bet to track them down – for terrorist attacks inside Israel.
Ocnus
Middle East Newsline
|
|
|
| |
| French unions fight back |
| 06.16.04 (8:39 am) [edit] |
Unions at France's government-owned electric utility reacted with fury Tuesday as the Parliament began debating legislation that could - in a year or two - lead to a sale of stock in the utility, Electricité de France.
The actions included demonstrations, the reduction of power supplies in the country and shutting off power to the homes of powerful politicians, including that of Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin.
Thousands of workers for the two utilities marched in Paris, with no violence.
In other parts of the country there were reductions of up to 15% in the supply of electricity and the removal of power from homes of such people as Alain Juppé, a former prime minister, and head of France's leading business federation.
In the southern town of Gardanne, about 50 workers occupied a power plant, shutting down production.
Last week, workers at the utility cut power in four Paris train stations, causing the national rail operator to cancel or delay more than 250 trains during rush hour. IHT
|
|
|
| |
| Poll of Iraqis Reveals Anger Toward U.S. |
| 06.16.04 (8:08 am) [edit] |
President Bush is fond of telling Americans they have liberated Iraq and that the country's future generations will be thankful. The current generation, however, overwhelmingly views U.S. forces as occupiers and wishes they would just leave, according to a poll commissioned by the administration.
The poll, requested by the Coalition Provisional Authority last month but not released to the American public, found more than half of Iraqis surveyed believed both that they'd be safer without U.S. forces and that all Americans behave like the military prison guards pictured in the Abu Ghraib abuse photos.
Donald Hamilton, a career foreign service officer who is working for Ambassador Paul Bremer's interim government and helps oversee the CPA's polling of Iraqis, noted the poll found 63 percent of Iraqis believed conditions will improve when an Iraqi interim government takes over June 30, and 62 percent believed it was "very likely" the Iraqi police and Army will maintain security without U.S. forces.
The poll was conducted by Iraqis in face-to-face interviews in six cities with people representative of the country's various factions. Its results conflict with the generally upbeat assessments the administration continues to give Americans. Just last week, Bush predicted future generations of Iraqis "will come to America and say, thank goodness America stood the line and was strong and did not falter in the face of the violence of a few."
Nearly half of Iraqis said they felt unsafe in their neighborhoods. And 55 percent of Iraqis reported they'd feel safer if U.S. troops immediately left, nearly double the 28 percent who felt that way in January. Forty-one percent said Americans should leave immediately, and 45 percent said they preferred for U.S. forces to leave as soon as a permanent Iraqi government is installed.
The coalition's Iraq polling of 1,093 adults selected randomly in six cities — Baghdad, Basra, Mosul, Diwaniyah, Hillah and Baquba — was taken May 14-23 and had a margin of potential sampling error of plus or minus 4 percentage points. Crucial details on the methodology of the coalition's polling were not provided, including how samples were drawn. AP
|
|
|
| |
| CIA restricts US Senate WMD report |
| 06.16.04 (7:42 am) [edit] |
The CIA has decided that about a third of a US Senate report criticising pre-war intelligence on Iraq contains secret information that should not be released to the public, intelligence sources said.
The report examines the intelligence on Iraq before the US-led invasion last year, including estimates that Baghdad had stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons.
President George W Bush justified his decision to go to war by citing a threat from Iraqi weapons of mass destruction.
No large stockpiles of chemical or biological weapons have been found.
"I think they (CIA) went way overboard, clearly what they are doing is taking the heart of the report out of it," Senator Richard Durbin, an Illinois Democrat, said.
The report was expected to be highly critical of US intelligence gathering and analysis on Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, but less critical of the intelligence on terrorism, government sources say. ABC
|
|
|
| |
| Ten million children trapped in domestic labor |
| 06.15.04 (8:12 pm) [edit] |
At least 10 million children are trapped in domestic labor jobs where they work long hours for little pay and often face abuse, the International Labor Organization (ILO) said on June 10, 2004. The U.N. agency called in a report for an end to the most exploitative forms of child domestic labor such as slavery and trafficking of youths, some as young as 10 years old. World Revolution
|
|
|
| |
| Bush has no one to blame but himself |
| 06.15.04 (2:41 pm) [edit] |
Commentary
By Ehsan Ahrari
Is it possible to envisage American primacy - at least in the present context - as a boundless phenomenon that is also invulnerable? Or is it possible for other great and not-so-great powers to gang up on an all-powerful United States at a moment of vulnerability? The latter appears to be the case when the creation of a United Nations-endorsed interim government in Iraq was expected to stabilize that troubled country.
Instead, two officials of the interim government have been assassinated, and violent suicide attacks are killing more Iraqis. As if these events of last week were not bad enough to create doubts about the stable future of Iraq, a group of 26 former American diplomats and military officials in Washington are set to issue a joint statement that President George W Bush has "damaged America's national security and should be defeated in November".
The basic premise of Bush to global affairs was questionable, at best, even before the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the US. This was the same candidate Bush, who during the heat of the presidential campaign of 2000 was advocating humility in America's approach to world affairs. But once in office, it seemed that candidate Bush disappeared permanently, along with all his ostensible thoughtfulness about humility in international diplomacy. Instead, a unilateral approach to world affairs was to become a "normal" pattern for his administration, whose other significant purpose was to establish America's primacy to a level that no nation should ever be able to surpass.
One has to try very hard to fathom why the notion of unilateralism was adopted so resolutely and persistently by the Bush administration. Perhaps the neo-conservatives, who filled most of the administration's top jobs, thought that such a modus operandi was warranted to attain America's primacy, especially after the end of the Cold War. That thinking further hardened after the terrorist attacks on the US. But why no attention was paid to the world's reaction to America's militant arrogance that such phrases as "if you are not with us, you are with the terrorists" created worldwide, or the reception given to such thinking, may not be answered satisfactorily, at least for now.
Even after reading one of the finest studies on the evolution of neo-conservative thinking in James Mann's The Rise of the Vulcans: The History of Bush's War Cabinet - the latter concept may pass as another euphemism for neo-conservative - one is left with the nagging question of why the neo-cons so consistently failed to realize that in international affairs, almost invariably, there is a reaction for every action of global significance. In other words, why it did not occur to the Republican power-holders and power brokers of today's Washington that if the US were to adopt a policy of unilateralism in all heady issues and signal the world to go jump in the lake if it did not like Washington's decisions, the world, sooner than later, would adopt a similar policy toward the US.
The possession of military power does not simultaneously make the US a sheriff and a judge on all matters of global magnitude, able to import and impose its will on the international community. Weak nations may not amount to much individually; however, they can and will get together and become a very potent "negative power" in the sense that they can frustrate America's actions - or at times nullify them - by refusing to cooperate, especially using the UN, the sole and consistent symbol of world class legitimacy. This very trait was sorely lacking in all US actions that were taken in Iraq without the endorsement of the world body.
However, it seems that the decision in Washington to invade Iraq was made in a vacuum, and in an environment where the neo-cons were scornful and contemptuous of the necessity of acquiring legitimacy for the US actions from the world body. They envisioned America's military power as being able to conquer even the hearts and minds of the global community, as if the latter had no mind or analytical capability of its own to judge between right and wrong. In the strange thinking of the neo-cons, the dilemmas and mental reservations about such blatant US action as the decision to invade Iraq without UN sanction were not even considered worth pondering or second thought. But when the international community showed its contempt for such an action through the strength of its non-involvement, and through stern denunciation of America, that very action - ie, the US invasion of Iraq - became snarled in a quagmire of its own making.
Eventually a decision was forced on the Bush administration by the indubitable moral force of Shi'ite leader Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani to return to the UN to acquire legitimacy. But the time wasted in the absence of that legitimacy, and the resentment created as a result of it, both inside and outside Iraq, might have permanently condemned the US to failure. At least that is the message that is coming out of the condemnation of those 26 former senior diplomats and military officials. As one of those signatories has noted, "A lot of people felt the work they had done over their lifetime in trying to build a situation in which the United States was respected and could lead the rest of the world was now undermined by this administration - by the arrogance, by the refusal to listen to others, the scorn for multilateral organizations." Another former diplomat added, "Ever since Franklin Roosevelt, the US has built up alliances in order to amplify its own power. But now we have alienated many of our closest allies, we have alienated their populations. We've all been increasingly appalled at how the relationships that we worked so hard to build up have simply been shattered by the current administration in the method it has gone about things."
It is tempting to assign undue import to this type of criticism of Bush. It is fair to state, however, that its timing is least propitious for a president who is frantically seeking some semblance of grandeur and comparison with late Ronald Reagan, and who is desperately attempting to create similarities in the minds of the American public between a global "war on terrorism" and the great war against Nazism and Fascism, at a time when bad news from Iraq is hitting the public airways almost on an hourly basis.
Only future historians will fairly judge whether there was any basis of comparison between Reagan and Bush, or whether it is fair to compare the global "war on terrorism" with the world's struggle against Nazism and Fascism. What is certain is that if Bush were to be ousted in November - as the 26 signatories of that impending joint statement desire - a large part of that blame should be rested with Bush himself, and his wrong-headed neo-conservative cohorts.
Ehsan Ahrari, PhD, is an Alexandria, Virginia, US-based independent strategic analyst. Asia Times
|
|
|
| |
| 10M People in Dire Need of Shelter |
| 06.15.04 (2:25 pm) [edit] |
At least 10 million people caught up in 20 conflicts around the world are in dire need of basic food, shelter and medical care because humanitarian workers can't reach them, the U.N. humanitarian chief said Monday.
A massive effort is needed because two million people are in desperate need and the government is still blocking visas for humanitarian workers and holding up desperately needed food and equipment that must be delivered before the upcoming rainy season, he said.
"We've been working for many, many weeks in a race against the clock, and we see that the government which should do its utmost to help us is still not helping — some ministers are helping us, but some of their subordinates are sabotaging us," he said.
"People are dying because we were denied access for so long and ... many, many more may die from epidemics" if clean water and sanitation equipment isn't delivered before the rains start, Egeland said.
While Sudan is the most serious emergency, he said, millions of other civilians are also not getting help.
"In the Central African Republic, restrictions on access and lack of resources continue to deny life-saving assistance to some 2.2 million people," Egeland said.
Humanitarian workers are also blocked from helpng 3.5 million Palestinians, 3 million people in eastern Congo, 1.6 million in northern Uganda, 1.5 million in Ivory Coast, 1.2 million in the northern Caucuses, 1 million in Afghanistan and 500,000 in Liberia. AP
|
|
|
| |
| Saddam and prisoners to be handed over to Iraqis? |
| 06.15.04 (2:10 pm) [edit] |
Prime Minister lyad Allawi said in an interview with Al-Jazeera "All the detainees, without exception, will be transferred to the Iraqi authorities and the transporting operation will be done within the two coming weeks. Saddam as well will be handed to the Iraqi government, and you can consider this as an official confirmation."
U.S. forces have said they will continue to hold up to 5,000 prisoners even after the June 30 restoration of sovereignty. NZ Herald
|
|
|
| |
| US bulldozer firm in Mid-East row |
| 06.15.04 (12:20 pm) [edit] |
US manufacturer Caterpillar warned it may be complicit in human rights violations in the West Bank and Gaza.
Caterpillar supplies armoured bulldozers to the Israeli army that are used to demolish Palestinian homes.
Caterpillar says it's concerned but it cannot police the use of its equipment.
Bottom line - The company reported profits of over $1 billion last year. BBC
|
|
|
| |
| France, Israel to sign $200m weapons deal |
| 06.14.04 (3:33 pm) [edit] |
France and Israel are expected to announce the signing of the biggest weapons deal between the two countries since the French embargo on weapons sales to Israel prior to the Six-Day War.
Israeli security sources emphasize that in contrast to relations with the French Foreign Ministry, relations between the defense establishments of the two countries have been on the upswing since the mid-1990s. Haaretz
News about WMD deals just warm my heart.
|
|
|
| |
| Billionaires For Bush |
| 06.14.04 (1:14 pm) [edit] |
I don't know how I've missed this. What a great idea!
Billionaires thank ordinary New Yorkers for taking on a greater tax burden to put millions more in our pockets. Photo by Fred Askew
Billionaires for Bush is a strategic media and street theater campaign whose combustible mix of humor, savvy messaging, grassroots participation, and cutting edge internet organizing tools will flush out the truth about the Bush administration's disastrous economic policies and help turn the fatcats out of power in November.
We are...
$ the CEOs who make 280 times the pay of an average worker.
$ the 1% who own more than 40% of the wealth in America.
$ the 10% who hold 88% of the value of all stocks and mutual funds owned by households.
$ the 10% who give 90% of the campaign contributions.
$ the elite fundraisers who bundle together $100,000, $200,000, and more in contributions to George Bush's campaign coffers. We are... Billionaires for Bush!
|
|
|
| |
| Americans in 'Old Europe' |
| 06.14.04 (12:52 pm) [edit] |
"Americans couldn't be viewed worse in Germany," says Margaret Rankin, a press officer from Washington who has lived in Essen for the last three-and-a-half years.
"Everyone I meet can't resist saying: 'Aren't you ashamed of your country?' Some Germans don't even think I'm worth talking to. They think if an idiot is leading the country, we must all be idiots."
Initially, Rankin acted as an 'ambassador' to her country, listening patiently to German criticisms and responding sensitively to "cheap digs". "I didn't defend the war. I defended my country as not exclusively a land of idiots," she says. But, after the Abu Ghraib images, her approach changed.
"I've stopped defending us as vehemently," she admits.
"There are so many things to defend, it's become boring. It's a depressing and unhappy subject."
"Everyone back home is very concerned that we are being abused," says Ellyn Eaves-Hileman, who moved to Brussels from Rhode Island two years ago.
"But the only incident I've had was when I was collecting a friend from the train station and my friend heard a man say: 'Fucking Americans.'"
Hileman has travelled with her family throughout Europe and to Morocco since the invasion of Iraq. "People have been kind and just keen to discuss the war with us," she says.
"On the flip side, what I find very sad in the US now, is that if you disagree with the administration, you're labelled anti-American."
Hileman, whose husband is a naval officer who has served for almost 28 years, watched the release of the torture photos with horror. "They made me sick," she says. "My husband and I both asked why the officers are not being called to account for this."
Verbal attacks on other countries and the renaming of "French fries" "freedom fries" to snub the French angered many Americans abroad.
"It's isolationist," says Hileman. "The administration has put every single American outside America in an untenable situation. Bush carries on as if we're all in America. We're not: we're all over the world. Off-the-cuff remarks can hurt American businesses financially and they put individuals in danger. When we are posted abroad, military families are warned that we are ambassadors for America. The same needs to hold true for the government: don't you embarrass me while I'm in someone else's country. For me, it's like going to someone's house and making disparaging remarks about their children."
It's that outrage which is galvanising many Americans who didn't vote in the last presidential elections to prepare to do so this year. Republicans Abroad and Democrats Abroad and non-political expat clubs are all running voter registration campaigns.
The message: though you may be happily settled in Europe, it pays to have a say in who calls the shots at home. Expatica
|
|
|
| |
| Chirac's Party is Rejected as Voters Turn Back to Socialists |
| 06.14.04 (10:53 am) [edit] |
John Lichfield
President Jacques Chirac's party suffered a humiliating rout in the European elections, scoring only 16.8 per cent of the vote in the lowest-ever turnout in a nationwide election in France.
The President's UMP party, created two years ago to "unite" the French centre-right, was comprehensively defeated by a reborn Socialist Party, which took 30 per cent of the vote. The defeat was, in percentage terms, even more shattering than the disastrous regional election in March when the centre-right lost all but two regions to the left.
Allowing for the low turn-out of 43 per cent, only about 8 per cent - or one in 12 - of potential French voters cast a ballot for the party of a president, and a government, elected in landslides two years ago.
Politically, the consequences were difficult to predict. There were immediate calls for the resignation of the centre-right Prime Minister, Jean-Pierre Raffarin but President Chirac - having persisted with the same leader after the regional elections - seemed unlikely to change course now.
Nonetheless, the repudiation of the UMP by so many voters will make it harder than ever for M. Raffarin to pursue his programme of economic and state reforms in the remaining three years of this presidential and parliamentary term.
The betting in Paris last night was that M. Raffarin would be sacked by the President after the summer break. The poisoned chalice of the premiership would then pass either to the Interior Minister, and former foreign minister, Dominique de Villepin or M. Chirac's increasingly powerful rival for leadership of the centre-right, Nicolas Sarkozy.
The former Socialist prime minister Laurent Fabius called the vote a "considerable setback" for M. Raffarin, saying it posed "a real credibility problem" for the government.
Independent
|
|
|
| |
| Bush Administration May Harden Sudan Policy; Genocide Charges Eyed |
| 06.14.04 (10:40 am) [edit] |
The Bush administration is considering tightening its policy toward the Sudanese government due to escalating violence in the Darfur region, where thousands have been killed and over a million forced from their homes by Arab militias, the New York Times reported on its Web site.
People in the region claim these militias have been getting support by the Sudanese Army, according to the newspaper.
The Bush administration is trying to discern if the Darfur violence can be defined as genocide rather than their current terminology of ethnic cleansing, according to Bush officials, who added they are also considering sanctions on Sudanese officials linked to the forced migrations.
Secretary of State Colin Powell told the New York Times in a telephone Friday the link between the militias and the Sudanese government was strong and that many people are still at risk of dying in Darfur and the neighboring nation of Chad.
"Without having a full intelligence report in front of me...we believe that the government of Sudan did provide support to these militias," Powell said.
While Powell didn't call the situation in Darfur genocide, he said Bush administration lawyers had begun a review to see if the conditions for genocide have been met, the Times reported. If they do so, the U.S. may be pressured to become more actively involved. DowJones
|
|
|
| |
| Apathy the Winner in EU Elections |
| 06.14.04 (10:36 am) [edit] |
About 155 million people of some 350m eligible voters in the 25 member states cast their ballots, making it one of the biggest democratic exercises in the world.
The BBC's Tim Franks, in Brussels, describes the four days of polling as a tale of low turnout and of national governments being hammered across Europe.
The BBC's Richard Slee, "These elections may be remembered for the backlash against sitting governments." BBC
Angered by high unemployment and painful reforms, European voters on Sunday used the historic occasion of the first election to span the former Iron Curtain to punish governments across the expanded European Union.
The biggest winner in the election was apathy. The turnout rate was projected to slump to a record low of 44.2 percent, well below the 49.4 percent recorded in the last European election five years ago, when the union had 15 members. IHT
Such a display of apathy in the new member states will alarm MEPs who know that they already face an uphill struggle to convince the European public of their relevance.
The figures are certain to spark a new bout of soul-searching over the EU's "democratic deficit" and the lack of interest in a European parliament despite the fact that it has grown steadily in power. Independent
The election result means that the European Parliament will be more polarized than ever, with a growing number of anti-EU parties, including far-right anti-immigrant members pitted against the traditional pro-European parties on sensitive issues like approval of a draft EU constitution.
"This is a wake-up call," said outgoing European Parliament President Pat Cox, who warned EU leaders they had to do more to tell their electorates that the EU is important and relevant.
"Europe has been too absent in too many campaigns," Cox told reporters. "States need to engage, particularly in central and eastern Europe, in voter education of EU institutions." AP
|
|
|
| |
| Bush foreign policy comes under renewed attack, from within |
| 06.14.04 (8:53 am) [edit] |
American policy in Iraq will come under renewed attack from within this week when 26 former diplomats and military officers issue a statement critical of the White House.
The statement echoes an attack last month by 53 former US diplomats who accused the Bush administration of sacrificing America's credibility in the Arab world - and the safety of its diplomats and soldiers - because of its support for the Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon.
The latest statement, which comes as the American presidential election prepares to go into full swing, will call for Mr Bush's defeat in November, according to sources who have seen it.
"Ever since Franklin Roosevelt the US has built up alliances in order to amplify its own power," one signatory, John Matlock, the ambassador to the Soviet Union under Ronald Reagan and the first George Bush, told the Los Angeles Times.
"But now we have alienated many of our closest allies, we have alienated their populations," he said. "We've all been increasingly appalled at how the relationships that we worked so hard to build up have simply been shattered by the current administration in the method it has gone about things."
William Harrop former US ambassador to Israel and 4 African countries said: "A lot of people felt the work they had done over their lifetime in trying to build a situation in which the United States was respected and could lead the rest of the world was now undermined by this administration, by the arrogance, by the refusal to listen to others, the scorn for multilateral organisations."
A senior republican strategist told the Los Angeles Times: "For 60 years we believed in, quote, unquote, 'stability' at the price of liberty, and what we got is neither liberty nor stability. So now we are taking a fundamentally different approach toward the Middle East. That is a huge doctrinal shift, and the people who have given their lives, careers to building the previous foreign policy consensus, see this as a direct intellectual assault on what they have devoted their lives to. And it is." Guardian
|
|
|
| |
| Paris mayor faces painful dilemma on gay marriage |
| 06.14.04 (8:42 am) [edit] |
Two men in Paris have now applied to be married in the 19th arrondissement of the capital. The mayor of the arrondissement, Roger Madec - a Socialist, like M. Delanoe - yesterday declared himself ready to conduct the ceremony, so long as the mayor of the city approved.
M. Delanoe is the only man in a senior position in French politics to have publicly declared his homosexuality. He said earlier this week that he approved of gay marriages and would like to see French law changed to make them possible. He also revealed that he had had a one-and-a-half-hour conversation on the telephone with the former Socialist prime minister Lionel Jospin to try - unsuccessfully - to change the elder statesman's visceral public opposition to same-sex weddings.
However, M. Delanoe also announced that he was determined to respect the law and implied strongly that he - unlike M. Mamère - would not allow a gay wedding in Paris until the law was changed. Independent
|
|
|
| |
| How Much Is Hussein's Departure Worth? |
| 06.13.04 (8:47 am) [edit] |
Would you be willing to die to remove Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq?
If the answer is no, then anything you have to say about the world being a better place now - about collateral damage - about the glory of soldiers sacrificing their lives for their country - is meaningless. You're not willing to pay the price. You're like so many people who believe various government programs are wonderful - provided someone else pays for them.
Everyone who has died so far in Iraq had a life that meant as much to him as your life means to you. But now that life is gone, done, finished, nevermore.
By supporting the war in Iraq, you have supported the idea that it's okay to kill people - _other_ people. But until you're willing to volunteer to be one of those killed, your words don't carry any weight. LibertyNews
|
|
|
| |
| Speaker pushes bill that would allow religious leaders more freedom to participate in politics |
| 06.13.04 (8:42 am) [edit] |
By Alan Cooperman
House Republican leaders have tacked on to a major jobs bill a provision that would give religious leaders more freedom to engage in partisan politics without endangering the tax-exempt status of their churches.
Conservative Christian groups have been pushing for such legislation for years, while civil liberties organizations and religious minorities have opposed it. But unlike past proposals, which were stand-alone bills, the current provision is attached to a huge tax bill that House leaders have placed on a fast track for consideration. WP
|
|
|
| |
| Sunday and Sudan is Still in Crisis |
| 06.13.04 (8:10 am) [edit] |
A letter from ABA sent to President Bush before the G8 summit concerning the crisis in Sudan.
...I write to appeal for immediate additional action by the United States Government to address the legal and humanitarian challenges arising from the crisis in the Darfur region of western Sudan...ABA
"This situation is dire," Secretary of State Colin Powell said last week. "There are hundreds of thousands of people who are in need, and we need to move faster. We need to get more relief supplies in there. We need to get more relief personnel in there. And right now."
Thousands have been slain, tens of thousands raped and brutalized, 1.2 million displaced from their homes, and at least 120,000 have fled to neighbouring Chad as refugees.
The European Union has offered 12 million euro to support an African Union observer mission to the region of Darfur.
EU Observer Another drop in the bucket.
Will we wait until we see the bloated bodies before we cry genocide? There is condemnation coming from the administration but little else outside of urging Khartoum to take action. Well meaning demands are having little effect.
We are looking at another Rwanda. We, all of us from every country will be accountable for our inaction to stop it. I don't have the answers but there must be answers and action for the sake of those living and dying in this horror.
|
|
|
| |
| A Completely Different Look at the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict |
| 06.12.04 (9:33 am) [edit] |
Gush Shalom has published Truth Against Truth: A Completely Different Look at the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. This is so well done and very easy to read.
If you're not quite sure about where you stand on this issue take the time to read this online historical narrative. Truth Against Truth It's in pdf so you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader.
These 101 points demolish the myths, conventional lies and historical falsehoods, on which most of the arguments of both Israeli and Palestinian propaganda rest. The truths of both sides are intertwined into one historical narrative that does justice to both. Without this common basis, peace is impossible. Uri Avnery
|
|
|
| |
| Help me in my research |
| 06.12.04 (8:51 am) [edit] |
I am in the process of doing research on corporations that use and abuse children for profit.
Musical Hair prompted this with a comment he made to a blog I posted yesterday.
"I wonder besides Coca Cola what other companies are using sugar produced by kids?"
The amount of material to read is daunting and will take time. If you have information to contribute and specifically names of corporations such as Coca Cola I would appreciate your sending it to me either through a comment here or private message. Thanks very much.
I apologize for posting this in the politics section but it seems to be the place that gets the most attention.
|
|
|
| |
| Sudan: Where is the Outrage? |
| 06.12.04 (8:24 am) [edit] |
The question has been asked. Can RSS stop a genocide? It doesn't seem like it judging from the amount of attention the humanitarian crisis is getting on tblog.
It got attention at the G8 summit, at least there is concern. Time will tell concerning follow-up action.
It's important that we speak out about G Bush. I do. But, there are other issues that are just as important. For those living in Africa today and other parts of the world life and death are at stake this very moment.
We need to write about these issues in our blogs. We need to write our elected representatives wherever we live. This is a crisis. We can make a difference.
.....For the past 15 months, the crisis in Darfur has escalated as government-backed janjaweed militias and government of Sudan forces have executed a scorched-earth campaign throughout the region.
Thousands have been slain, tens of thousands raped and brutalized, 1.2 million displaced from their homes, and at least 120,000 have fled to neighbouring Chad as refugees.
Across Darfur, settlements by the hundreds lie in smoking ruin. Internally displaced Darfurians now live in fear in squalid, government-controlled camps patrolled by the janjaweed. Abuse and attacks continue: militia members rape women regularly; men who try to leave to gather food for their families are sometimes gunned down.
Relief supplies, including food, water and medicine, are often being obstructed by government design. Yet Khartoum's cruelty in Darfur has largely slipped below the West's radar screen in part because the Sudanese government has refused visas to many humanitarian workers and journalists........HRW
HRW Sudan
|
|
|
| |
| Consequences of our choices |
| 06.11.04 (4:48 pm) [edit] |
Back in kindergarten we all learned that there is no freedom without responsibility. Freedom implies that we are able to discriminate between choices. When we have made our free and informed choice we then become responsible for the outcomes of our choice.
As we know, both President Bush and U.S. Senator Kerry plan to keep us in Iraq for the next five to ten years. They both plan to continue bombing Afghanistan and to support the Zionist government in Israel which is practicing ethnic cleansing on the Palestinians. Some Democrats are desperately trying to maintain that there is a significant difference between Kerry and Bush. Somehow they think that because Kerry is a Democrat he will be better than Bush and therefore they are free to vote for him.
We cannot avoid the consequences of our choices. We must fully accept the responsibility for the decisions we make. No bastardization of American Pragmatism can absolve us from the results of our actions. Those of us who decide to punch a hole in the election ballot next to the names of George Bush or John Kerry will be punching a hole through the lives of untold thousands of people in Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine. We cannot mitigate our choice by saying that it would be better for America that these people die at the hands of a Democrat rather than at the hands of a Republican. This election is not about what would be better for America. This election is all about whether we as individuals will approve the continuation of the bloodbath initiated by George Bush and the neoconservatives and sanctioned by John Kerry and the neoliberals.
If there is a choice in this election to vote for someone who would end the holocaust in Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine and we fail to make that choice, we must clearly understand that each vote cast is a personal decision to allow thousands of people to live or to permit them to die at the hands of our military.
No rhetoric about Bush destroying our Constitution is relevant in this election. No argument that Kerry, who voted to approve the appointment of Ashcroft and the passage of the Patriot act, would restore it is relevant in the November election. Healthcare, the economy, the environment, education in America -- the two major parties have made all of these issues irrelevant in the November election. A choice for either of the two major candidates is a personal choice we make to continue the killing in Afghanistan, Iraq and Palestine. It is just that simple. Just as there is no escape from the responsibility of our decision, there is no justification to continue murder on a global scale.
Gina (via email)
|
|
|
| |
| War in Iraq has sparked a global crisis |
| 06.11.04 (4:10 pm) [edit] |
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Thursday that the war in Iraq has sparked a global crisis that must be resolved through international co-operation.
“What kind of world would it be, and who would want to live in it, if every country was allowed to use force, without collective agreement, simply because it thought there might be a threat?” he said at Harvard University's commencement.
Mr. Annan's comments came two days after the UN Security Council voted to adopt a resolution backing Iraqi sovereignty and giving the new leaders clout over a U.S.-led force. The resolution was co-sponsored by the United States and Britain.
“Once again, in recent weeks, the United States found that it needed the unique legitimacy of the United Nations to bring into being a credible interim government in Iraq,” Mr. Annan said.
He said the United Nations and the United States are facing a crisis over whether force is a legitimate means to prevent attacks. That issue came to a head last year when the Bush administration said fears of international terrorism required the ouster of Saddam Hussein. Critics, including Mr. Annan, say the United States should have sought more international approval before attacking.
Mr. Annan also cited a “crisis of solidarity” between the United Nations and the United States, which he argued was diverting international attention and resources away from long-standing challenges such as AIDS, education and infant mortality.
Finally, Mr. Annan said, the world is facing a “crisis of prejudice and intolerance.”
“We must not allow ourselves, out of fear or anger, to treat people whose faith or culture differs from ours as enemies,” he said. GlobeandMail
|
|
|
| |
| U.N. Child Labor Study is Grim |
| 06.11.04 (10:07 am) [edit] |
GENEVA — An estimated 10 million children worldwide are forced to work in slave-like conditions as domestic servants in private homes, the U.N.'s labor agency said Thursday.
The International Labor Organization said in a new report that in parts of West Africa, Central America and Asia, thousands of girls as young as 8 work 15 or more hours a day, seven days a week, for little or no pay.
The child workers — who are employed in homes where having servants is a sign of social status — are sometimes sexually abused. More troubling was that employing children as domestic servants is accepted or tolerated in many places, said June Kane, author of the United Nations study. "Sadly, many countries don't see domestic child labor as a problem," she said.
LA Times
Coke Benefiting From Child Labor in Sugar Cane Fields
by Jim Lobe
WASHINGTON - Coca-Cola and other large businesses are indirectly benefiting from the use of child labor in sugarcane fields in El Salvador, according to a new report released here Thursday by Human Rights Watch (HRW) which is calling on the company to take more responsibility to ensure that such abuses are halted.
From 5,000 to 30,000 Salvadoran children, some as young as eight years old, are working in El Salvador's sugarcane plantations where injuries, particularly severe cuts, are common, according to the report, 'Turning a Blind Eye: Hazardous Labor in El Salvador's Sugarcane Cultivation.'
Under Salvadoran law, 18 is the minimum age for dangerous work and 14 for most other kinds. But the relevant provisions generally go unenforced in part because the children are hired as "helpers," rather than employees that would entitle them to certain protections.
Not only is the law circumvented in this way, but children who are injured in the fields often must pay for their own medical treatment despite another provision in the labor code that makes employers responsible for medical expenses for injuries incurred on the job.
"Child labor is rampant on El Salvador's sugarcane plantations," said Michael Bochenek of HRW's Children's Rights division. "Companies that buy or use Salvadoran sugar should realize that fact and take responsibility for doing something about it." Common Dreams
|
|
|
| |
| 'Force-fed' democracy won't work |
| 06.11.04 (10:00 am) [edit] |
FRENCH President Jacques Chirac criticised US President George W. Bush yesterday, saying his drive to spread democracy throughout the Middle East was ill-conceived.
He also rejected Mr Bush's call to expand NATO's role in Iraq.
Mr Chirac's criticism came at the G-8 summit of leading industrial democracies, which President Bush is hosting at a resort in Georgia.
The dissent set back White House hopes that the summit would display an international unity behind Mr Bush's policies in the Middle East and Iraq.
Mr Chirac said democracy couldn't be achieved in the Middle East until there was substantial progress towards solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair has stressed the same point privately, a senior administration official conceded, as do US Arab allies throughout the Middle East.
Even once an Israeli-Palestinian peace was reached, Mr Chirac said, outsiders could not simply implant democracy in the region.
"Democracy is not a method, it's a culture," he said. "Reform is not imposed from the outside. It is accomplished [from] the inside."
He also challenged Mr Bush's desire to increase NATO's role in Iraq.
Mr Bush had said during a photo session that he thought "NATO ought to be involved" in Iraq, adding that "we will work with our NATO friends to at least continue the role that now exists, and hopefully expand it".
Mr Chirac quickly dismissed the idea.
"I do not believe it is NATO's purpose to intervene in Iraq," he said, adding that any NATO role could be justified only "if the sovereign Iraqi government were to ask for it".
Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin also appeared cool to the idea.
"There's already NATO involvement. Fundamentally now, with the new Iraqi government in place ... it's up to the government to make that request."
Despite such disagreements, the leaders from the so-called G-8 nations - the US, France, Great Britain, Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan and Russia - endorsed a wide-ranging plan focusing on political and economic reforms in the Middle East and North Africa.
The summit statement on the plan reflected Mr Chirac's concerns, which mirror those of many Arab nations.
"Our support for the reform in the region will go hand-in-hand with our support for a just, comprehensive and lasting settlement to the Arab-Israeli conflict" based on United Nations resolutions, the statement said.
In a gesture of support for Mr Bush's position, it added: "At the same time, regional conflicts must not be an obstacle to reforms. Indeed, reforms may make a significant contribution toward resolving them." news.com.au
|
|
|
| |
| SS massacre of entire village |
| 06.11.04 (9:19 am) [edit] |
ORADOUR-SUR-GLANE, France
France on Thursday commemorated one of the most horrific massacres of World War II in a ceremony recalling the slaughter of 642 men, women and children in the village of Oradour-sur-Glane exactly 60 years ago.
Oradour was destroyed four days after D-Day, which marked the start of the liberation of France and Europe
from Nazi occupation.
Most of the population of the village, including 207 children, were shot or burned alive in the church by German forces, members of the SS Das Reich division.
After the war, it was decided that the village would never be rebuilt and would stand as a memorial to France's suffering under Nazi occupation. The charred buildings of the village stand as they did after the massacre, testimony to the horror.
As you enter the town, the gate simply says, "Souviens-Toi", or "Remember."
|
|
|
| |
| George Soros Putting His Money Where His Mouth Is |
| 06.11.04 (8:31 am) [edit] |
George Soros' dream is President Bush losing in November -and so far, the billionaire philanthropist has donated nearly $13 million to independent groups that also want to turn that vision into reality. "I'm merely putting my money where my mouth is," Soros told The Associated Press.
After surviving the Nazi occupation of his native Hungary and giving away billions of his self-made fortune to charitable causes, Soros is entering national politics in a big way for the first time.
He says he is too disturbed by Bush's policies to do nothing.
"This is not a normal election. These are not normal times," Soros said.
The Bush administration, he said, has flouted past rules of international relations by declaring war in Iraq after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. He urged Americans to defeat the "Bush doctrine" by ousting the president on Nov. 2.
"If we re-elect President Bush, we are endorsing that doctrine and we have to accept the consequences," Soros said.
To that end, Soros has given millions to three liberal-leaning organizations that also want to a Bush defeat: $10 million to America Coming Together, which aims to mobilize voters; $2.5 million to the MoveOn.org voters' fund, which places anti-Bush advertising; and $300,000 to the Campaign for America's Future.
He also has pledged $3 million to the Center for American Progress, a think tank led by John Podesta, chief of staff to President Clinton.
This election year, Soros has spent about $4 million, more than any other individual, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonprofit Washington-based group that tracks political donations.
In recent speeches, Soros has referred to the Bush administration's anti-terrorism polices as a doctrine that has changed Americans from "victims to perpetrators." He says the fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq has claimed more lives than the Sept. 11 attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people in New York, Washington and a Pennsylvania field.
Democrats praise him as an inspiration to disaffected voters.
"He is helping to finance the fullest grass-roots campaign the Democrats have ever had in a presidential election," said Democratic strategist Mandy Grunwald.
To Republicans, he is a huge target. A Republican National Committee memo to congressional Republicans called Soros an "out of touch, left-wing radical pushing an extremist agenda on America."
Added GOP strategist Jay Severin: "He may be Bogeyman No. 1, above Teddy Kennedy and Hillary Clinton."
Soros, 73, who lives in suburban New York City, came to the United States in 1956 nearly a decade after he fled communist Hungary for England, where he graduated from the London School of Economics.
He became a U.S. citizen in 1961 and began to amass his fortune through Soros Fund Management, the private, international investment firm he founded in 1973, and managed. Soros was 54th on this year's Forbes list of the world's richest people, with an estimated $7 billion fortune.
Soros has been an active philanthropist since 1979, when he began to help black students attend the University of Cape Town under the then-apartheid government of South Africa.
Through the Open Society Institute, which he founded in 1993, Soros has given away billions -$450 million a year through his charitable foundation with branches in more than 50 countries, promoting policies and initiatives that foster open government. Among other causes, he has used his fortune to found Central European University in Budapest, pay for early childhood development programs in dozens of countries and promote democratic campaigns in several eastern European nations. He also supports better public schools in New York and legalizing marijuana for medical purposes.
Republicans hope Soros will galvanize more people against his views than for him.
"His views are not mainstream views," said RNC spokeswoman Christine Iverson, citing Soros' views on the Iraq war.
Soros acknowledged in a telephone interview that "Republicans were successful at using me as a bogeyman" earlier in the campaign.
But now, he said, particularly with the revelation of the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. soldiers, "the general public, including Bush's own constituency, is beginning to see through the lies. I don't think he has the credibility."
Soros, who backed Howard Dean before the former Vermont governor left the Democratic presidential race, has not formally endorsed John Kerry, the presumptive nominee. He said Republicans were unfairly trying to link his views to Kerry's. National Democratic Party officials and a Kerry spokesman didn't return telephone messages for comment.
Soros said Republicans have distorted his views on several issues, including by implying that his support for medical marijuana initiatives means he wants to legalize all drugs.
"I don't think that I'm a madman," Soros said. "I don't think that I'm an extremist." DowJones
|
|
|
| |
| Ray Charles has left us |
| 06.11.04 (7:54 am) [edit] |
Ray Charles Robinson, born Sept. 23, 1930 died yesterday at 11:35 am of liver failure. He was 73. He was a great musician and human being. I have listened and sung along with him since I was a young girl. I'm a middleaged woman now and this news hurts my heart. He was an old friend although he didn't know it. I'm already missing him. So, I will pull out the cd's and bring him back to life at least for a little while.
"Every experience I've had, good and bad, has taught me something. I was born a poor boy in the South, I'm black, I'm blind, I once fooled around with drugs, but all of it was like going to school. And I've tried to be a good student. I don't regret a damn thing."
Ray Charles 1930 - 2004
|
|
|
| |
| Bush making a mockery of international human rights laws |
| 06.10.04 (2:39 pm) [edit] |
"We now know that at the highest levels of the Pentagon, there was a shocking interest in using torture and a misguided attempt to evade the criminal consequences of doing so," said Kenneth Roth, president of Human Rights Watch.
He noted that intent to engage in torture is a war crime.
Mr. Roth said that the memo proposed ignoring the ban on torture in all circumstances, including wartime, whether in domestic or international law.
"If this legal advice were accepted, dictators worldwide would be handed a ready-made excuse to ignore one of the most basic prohibitions of international human rights law."
"In order to respect the President's inherent constitutional authority to manage a military campaign, [the U.S. law banning torture] must be construed as inapplicable to interrogations undertaken pursuant to his Commander-in-Chief authority," the memo said.
"In light of the President's complete authority over the conduct of war, without a clear statement otherwise, criminal statutes are not read as infringing on the President's ultimate authority in these areas."
"This is not just a step backwards but a whole series of steps backward," said Michael Byers, an expert on human-rights law and newly appointed Canada Research Chair in Global Politics and International Law at the University of British Columbia.
"It's very bad news for the administration because it undermines any leverage they have on human-rights issues anywhere,"
Mr. Roth said the Nuremberg trials after the Second World War made it clear that it was not a defence for Nazi leaders to say they were simply following orders, if those orders were clearly illegal.
He called the memo's justification for ignoring the torture ban "a complete perversion of Nuremberg because, of course, Hitler probably authorized the kind of torture and mistreatment that was on trial at Nuremberg and he was commander-in-chief at the time." GlobeAndMail
|
|
|
| |
| Paris metro feared target of suicide bombers |
| 06.10.04 (1:42 pm) [edit] |
Intercepted telephone conversations of Hamed Sayed Osman Rabei arrested in Milan Monday lead some experts to believe an attack similar to the one in Madrid on March 11 was planned for the Paris metro in the next 3 days.
The French interior ministry is playing down the claim but I'm sure they're taking it seriously. The bombing of a commuter train at the Saint Michel station in Paris, July 1995 killed 8 people and injured 100. Nine other attacks injured more than 100 others and terrorised the French capital that summer. Guardian
|
|
|
| |
| Arms spending up 11% |
| 06.10.04 (1:24 pm) [edit] |
The Swedish peace research institute says countries around the world spent 11 percent more on weapons in 2003 than in 2002. In its annual report, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute said the United States spent just under half of the 2003 global total for arms expenditures of almost one trillion dollars. The institute counted 19 wars in 2003, one of the lowest figures since the end of the Cold War, and 14 new peacekeeping missions -- an all-time high.
The report also points out that the US is still one of the largest arms exporters in the world and Taiwan the largest client of the US arms sales. SIPRI
|
|
|
| |
| China finds more wild pandas |
| 06.10.04 (1:04 pm) [edit] |
Just 15 years ago, environmentalists were predicting the giant panda's imminent extinction. They were at the top of China's list for rare animals under special protection in 1962. The bamboo forests in western China were disappearing and only 1,000 pandas were thought to exist in the wild.
Today the Chinese government has released the results of a more comprehensive survey finding there are around 1,600 giant pandas in the wild, 40% more than previously thought.
China now has 40 panda reserves compared to 13 only 20 years ago and at least 95% of pandas in the wild are protected.
The giant creatures are still in danger due to deforestation and poaching by fur trappers but this is good news that hopefully will get better in the future. BBC
|
|
|
| |
| Political Futures Still Predict Bush Win |
| 06.10.04 (12:03 pm) [edit] |
Despite months of plummeting approval ratings and recent polls that show Sen. John Kerry ahead, political futures traders are still predicting President Bush will win re-election. Futures sold through the Iowa Electronic Markets allow politics buffs to bet on election outcomes, and the markets have proven surprisingly accurate in recent years.
In the Iowa Electronic Markets, Bush current trades at 0.55 to Kerry's 0.45 on the dollar. At Tradesports.com , the futures have a similar spread. Taegan Goddard's Political Wire
|
|
|
| |
| G8 harmony dissolves as US and France spar |
| 06.10.04 (11:26 am) [edit] |
American-French unity didn't last long at the G8 summit. I'm personally happy about that. I hope Chirac continues to nip at Bush's heels. Here in Europe we realize Bush is no statesman and hasn't the slightest idea what he's doing we just don't understand how he became President.
To Bush's call for a greater NATO presence in Iraq, Chirac said, "I do not think it is NATO's job to intervene in Iraq. Moreover, I do not have the feeling that it would be either timely or necessarily well understood. I see myself with strong reservations on this initiative." This of course, was said with expansive arm and hand gestures so typically Chirac.
President Chirac also criticized Bush's economic policies saying he and other leaders were worried about the possible consequences of the large US budget and trade deficit for the future and notable on interest rate developements.
On the Iraqi debt issue I like what Mr. Putin had to say to Bush.."our flexibility will depend on yours and the capacity of our businesses to work in Iraq." IOL
|
|
|
| |
| More Death in Sudan |
| 06.10.04 (11:06 am) [edit] |
LRA rebels have killed over 40 people in southern Sudan. Paul Yugusak, head of the Anglican Church in the area, has said the attack has left hundreds homeless and fleeing to areas controlled by the SPLA.
The Ugandan rebels based in southern Sudan have been fighting an 18-year-old war to topple the government dominated by southerners, and claiming to fight for the Acholi tribe. They have killed tens of thousands of civilians, abducted over 20,000 children as their porters, fighters and sex slaves and displaced more than 1.6 million people, most of whom are from Acholi tribe.
China View
|
|
|
| |
| Libyan Plot to Kill Saudi Ruler While Renouncing Terrorism? |
| 06.10.04 (10:17 am) [edit] |
While the Libyan leader, Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, was renouncing terrorism and negotiating the lifting of sanctions last year, his intelligence chiefs ordered a covert operation to assassinate the ruler of Saudi Arabia and destabilize the oil-rich kingdom, according to statements by two participants in the conspiracy. NY Times
I repeat myself. If anyone thinks Qaddafi has abandoned terrorism their as ignorant as G Bush. The man is a mass murderer and G Bush has raised him up to the lofty position of prince of peace.
Bush told the royal family he's going to find out what happened. I suggest they don't hold their breath. He hasn't found Osama yet or the WMD and a host of lost intelligence.
|
|
|
| |
| War and the Children |
| 06.10.04 (9:40 am) [edit] |
The forgotten victims of war on terrorism
By Adele Horin
Millions of children are suffering in 40 wars or serious conflicts but the world's attention is focused only on Iraq and Afghanistan.
Burkhard Gnarig, the head of the International Save the Children Alliance, said yesterday that more than 6 million children were imperilled by conflicts in just five countries - Afghanistan, Angola, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sierra Leone. As well, children were caught up in the "forgotten wars" of Sudan and Somalia. "We speak only about Iraq and Afghanistan; hardly anyone is interested in any of the other conflicts," Mr Gnarig said. SMH
An estimated 20 million children have been forced to flee their homes because of conflict and human rights violations and are living as refugees in neighbouring countries or are internally displaced within their own national borders.
More than 2 million children have died as a direct result of armed conflict over the last decade.
More than three times that number, at least 6 million children, have been permanently disabled or seriously injured.
More than 1 million have been orphaned or separated from their families.
Between 8,000 and 10,000 children are killed or maimed by landmines every year.
An estimated 300,000 child soldiers - boys and girls under the age of 18 - are involved in more than 30 conflicts worldwide. Child soldiers are used as combatants, messengers, porters, cooks and to provide sexual services. Some are forcibly recruited or abducted, others are driven to join by poverty, abuse and discrimination, or to seek revenge for violence enacted against themselves and their families. unicef
|
|
|
| |
| France to fund mine-clearing in Angola |
| 06.10.04 (9:18 am) [edit] |
LUANDA, June 8 (AFP) - France plans to provide EUR 3 million (USD 3.6 million) to fund mine-clearing and other humanitarian projects in Angola starting later this year, an embassy statement said Tuesday.
The projects will also touch on agriculture, education and health to improve the lives of Angolans living in the central region of Huambo, one of the most fertile regions in Angola which was wracked by a brutal 27-year war that ended in 2002.
"France will put in place in the coming months projects on de-mining, agriculture, health and education costing a total of EUR 3 million," a statement by the French embassy in Luanda said.
French, Angolan and international experts will be involved in the projects that will continue into 2005, with the additional aim to "secure communication links and
access to agricultural zones."
Angola ranks along with Cambodia and Afghanistan as among the most heavily mined countries in the world.
© AFP
|
|
|
| |
| Ya Gotta Love Him |
| 06.09.04 (4:01 pm) [edit] |
Santiago Portal shows off his anti-Bush and anti-Kerry sign in the little Havana neighborhood of Miami.
He still believes in the American dream. Isn't he lovely?
|
|
|
| |
| Genocide by Public Policy |
| 06.09.04 (3:43 pm) [edit] |
"As the world powers watch the Palestinians being destroyed as a people, they have the arrogance and audacity to demand that a caged people develop and align their society’s institutions for inclusion in a globalized world. While the world’s sole superpower watches, funds and provides political cover for the maze of Israeli military checkpoints and cement walls being erected to encircle Palestinian cities, they have the nerve to preach to Palestinians about necessary governmental and economic reforms and WTO accession. As if economic liberalization is a solution for the humanitarian and political disaster facing the Palestinian people, the world’s organizations, including the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan himself, are acknowledging Israeli war crimes while casually sending more teams of foreign consultants to document the gravity of the situation and suggest boilerplate reforms.
Why does the community of nations refuse the screaming calls for an international peace-keeping presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, especially and immediately in the Gaza Strip, to prevent further escalation and destruction. The least the world could do is to stand between our two peoples, for both of our people’s sake, and theirs.
If, to use Professor Grinberg’s words again, “Silence under the present circumstances means acquiescence,” then what does one call the United States’ blatant arming, financial support and political cover for Israel’s—or its own in Iraq for that matter—current policy of destruction and self-destruction?
Indeed, “genocide” seems too accommodating for such arrogance of power." Alternative Press Review
|
|
|
| |
| U.S. Will Revise Data on Terror |
| 06.09.04 (2:49 pm) [edit] |
The State Department is scrambling to revise its annual report on global terrorism to acknowledge that it understated the number of deadly attacks in 2003, amid charges that the document is inaccurate and was politically manipulated by the Bush administration.
On Tuesday, Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Los Angeles) applauded the State Department for deciding to reissue the report, a step he requested in a letter to Secretary of State Colin L. Powell three weeks ago. But Waxman said the Bush administration so far had refused to address his allegation that it manipulated the terrorism data to claim victory in the U.S.-declared war on terrorism. LA Times
|
|
|
| |
| Christopher Albritton's latest blog from Iraq |
| 06.09.04 (2:21 pm) [edit] |
Read Christopher's latest blog at Back To Iraq
"I write this not as a plea for pity or understanding. I don’t understand this country myself, so that may be impossible. And I know I have written things that will anger people: I am ashamed of many of the emotions I feel these days. But I care about the truth as best as I can see and tell it. I once believed that telling the truth — or a small part of it — could help the world. It could help people understand things better and thus make the world better. But this war defies comprehension. It’s so stupid and there seems to be no point to anything that happens here. People die on a daily basis in random, terrifying attacks. And for what? Freedom? Stability? Peace? There is none of that here and it’s likely there won’t be after the Americans leave. Iraq has spiraled into a dark place, much worse than where it was a year ago during the war. There is no freedom from the fear that is stoked by mutual hatred, cynicism and an apprehension about the future. So what if one side has superior firepower? Every bullet fired helps kill souls on both sides of this war, whether it hits flesh or lands harmlessly.
We — Iraqis and the Americans here — are caged by fear, and we are all conquered people now."
|
|
|
| |
| Father of Nick Berg Blasts Bush-Cheney Administration |
| 06.09.04 (11:34 am) [edit] |
Michael Berg accused the Bush-Cheney administration Saturday of being responsible for his son Nick Berg's death.
Michael Berg has said, ""I have to hold the Bush administration accountable for denying my son his Constitutional rights for 13 days of his illegal detention [by the US while in Iraq]. If they were going to take illegal action, instead of violating the heart of the Constitution of the United States of America--why didn't they just illegally deport him from Iraq to let us prove who he was at home?
Their callous behavior, in effect, 'tied him to the track' until it was no longer possible for him to escape that speeding 'hate train.' I don't expect the men who ran the 'hate train' to take responsibility for their actions. And I don't expect the Bush Administration will change its policies to do its part to make the 'hate train' into a 'peace train'."
Nick Berg was beheaded some time after April 10, ostensibly by hooded Arab "militants" who videotaped his murder.
The US government immediately tried to shift responsibility to the Iraqis for Nick Berg's almost two-week-long detention, but this was proven to be false. After the release of e-mails addressed to the Berg family in Pennsylvania, sent from Beth A. Payne, the US Consular Officer in Iraq, it was clear that Nick Berg had been held by US forces, and not the Iraqis.
Baltimore Chronicle
|
|
|
| |
| View the trailer of Fahrenheit 9/11 |
| 06.09.04 (8:24 am) [edit] |
At this point i.e. the elections being so close and Bush gaining momentum in state polls, he's now leading in 5 of the 16 battleground states, Michael Moore's new film may be the only weapon left in the arsenal to unseat G.Bush if it makes it to the boxoffice. Fahrenheit 9/11
|
|
|
| |
| Dancing With Cats |
| 06.09.04 (8:00 am) [edit] |
As I have 3 cats this link naturally caught my eye. The photos are lovely. They even have cat dancing music.
If you're a cat lover you'll enjoy this site even if you aren't into feline dancing. MONPA
|
|
|
| |
| More Americans following the news? |
| 06.09.04 (7:35 am) [edit] |
What this article means to portray is lost on me.
Wow! 31% of Americans pay attention to hard news. 26% of Republicans still trust CNN in contrast to 45% of Democrats. The only news outlet to see a gain in its credibility rating is Fox News at least among Republicans. Among Democrats, Fox's rating fell.
53% of respondents said they didn't trust the news.
44% are depressed by the news..which probably means they don't watch.
42% said they lacked the background to follow the news..huh?
36% said they were too busy to keep up with it..concerning oneself with events at home and abroad is not a priority. Washington Times
|
|
|
| |
| No Real Choice |
| 06.09.04 (7:16 am) [edit] |
What about those Americans who don't share President Bush's goals? What about those who don't think we should have a policy of pre-emptive war? What about those who think we should just pull out of Iraq now? What about those who think free trade is a fraud? What about those who think America's borders should be sealed? What about those who believe we should be fair-minded in dealing with the Israeli-Palestinian issue instead of giving Israel a blank check? What about those who believe that outsourcing American jobs should be brought to an abrupt halt? LewRockwell.com
|
|
|
| |
| Democratic congress members behind Web-based cartoon |
| 06.09.04 (7:03 am) [edit] |
'Republican Survivor' spoofs party
Bush, Cheney, DeLay, Ashcroft, Harris and Coulter are the cartoon contestants. They live in harsh conditions...yea right. One is voted off each week by viewers. To play you have to give them an email address. More spam? dtriptv
|
|
|
| |
| Norway Dumping Popcorn Instead of Oil |
| 06.09.04 (6:41 am) [edit] |
The plan is to dump 5 cubic meters of popcorn, enough to create a roughly 100 X 200 meter slick just off Norway's west coast in an effort to simulate a real oil spill. About 300 people in more than 30 boats will then respond as they would if an actual spill occurs. Norway is the world's third largest oil exporter. ENN
|
|
|
| |
| Suspects in Madrid train bombings arrested |
| 06.08.04 (7:31 pm) [edit] |
Authorities in Milan arrested two men accused of involvement in the deadly Madrid train bombings in March. Raids today have also been carried out in Belgium, France and Spain. Reuters
|
|
|
| |
| EU to probe Czech nuclear plant after leak |
| 06.08.04 (7:22 pm) [edit] |
The European Union dispatched a team of experts Tuesday to a Czech nuclear power plant after a weekend leak of radioactive water, a spokesman said.
Officials at the Temelin plant said the leak of three cubic metrescubic feet) of radioactive water from a pipe was contained onsite and there was no danger.
But the incident angered authorities in neighbouring Austria, which has been campaigning to shut down the plant ever since it opened four years ago. EU Business
|
|
|
| |
| Crisis Appeal For Rafah |
| 06.08.04 (6:23 pm) [edit] |
Launching the appeal, Peter Hansen, UNRWA’s Commissioner-General, said: “In the hardest-hit
place in the Gaza Strip there are few places to turn for assistance. Rafah was always a poor place. It is now a devastated place. Hundreds of destitute families are relying on UNRWA and the international community to come forward and help them cope with a very grave humanitarian crisis.”
The overwhelming majority of those affected in Rafah have been refugees registered with UNRWA. The Agency, which chairs the Operational Coordination Group of UN agencies, NGOs and Palestinian ministries, has formulated its appeal in coordination with the other main relief actors in the Gaza Strip. Make a donation
|
|
|
| |
| Sudan Government ethnically cleansing black Africans from the Darfur region |
| 06.08.04 (3:23 pm) [edit] |
Genocide is happening now in Darfur. Already an estimated 30,000 people have been killed by the Sudanese government and death squads known as the Janjawede. Amnesty International is reporting widespread abuses against civilians, including killings, rape and the burning and looting of entire villages.
Julie Flint, and independent journalist who recently returned from Darfur and Chad says, "all the stories are the same among all victims. They all say that after the planes bombed, in came ground forces, hundreds of Arab militia on camels and horses shooting, killing and raping."
Flint said that Darfur has become a land of the "living dead," from which thousands have fled and those few who were left were on the edge of starvation. Of the regions 14 villages that had spread out over a 60-kilometer area in Darfur, none were inhabited. Eleven had been burned out and three were abandoned. "The land has been emptied by massacres," she said.
Flint suggested that one of the reasons for the high incidence of boys and men being targeted as Fowler had reported was that they were the only ones left in the villages when the bombings and raids occur.
"The jingaweit are no longer Arab nomads roaming the bush," she noted. "They have barracks... When they set out, the African people in those towns know they are going somewhere and send out runners. So very often villages are forewarned that government forces or some combination are coming and the women and children are sent away," leaving only the men and boys.
So quite often, at the time of attack, she said, only the men and boys are found in the villages, and thus killed disproportionately. The attackers, she said are "quite indiscriminate. They don't care who they kill." allAfrica.com
What are we going to do?
|
|
|
| |
| Guantanamo Detainees' Human Rights: Resolution Adopted by FBE |
| 06.08.04 (11:52 am) [edit] |
The European Bars Federation (FBE) expresses its deep concern about the denial of fundamental human rights to the prisoners in Guantanamo.
The European Bars Federation therefore urges the US administration not to deny the prisoners the protection of the most fundamental humanitarian principles of international public law.
Accordingly, the European Bars Federation demands:
- that the detainees in Guantanamo should either be charged with a criminal offence or released,
- that all accusations against the detainees should be decided by an independent court with the possibility of a recourse to an ordinary court,
- that all detainees should have access to legal assistance and shall have the right to be represented by independent lawyers of their own choosing.
The European Bars Federation is an organisation grouping all Bars from any member State of the Council of Europe.
In addition to safeguarding the legal profession's fundamental values, its aim is to promote the Supremacy of the law, the independence of justice, the right to a fair trial and human rights generally.
The FBE consists of 145 Bars of 19 European countries.
It represents more than 400'000 European lawyers. The resolution above was adopted unanimously.
na europe
|
|
|
| |
| Dead With No Vote |
| 06.08.04 (11:40 am) [edit] |
Sgt. Melvin Y. Mora, 27 was killed in a mortar attack in Iraq Sunday.
Sgt. Mora was from Arecibo, Puerto Rico. He had recently lived in Columbia, Mo. and was part of the Army Reserve's 245th Maintenance Company, based in St. Louis.
Although the U.S. Carribbean territory's 4 million residents are American citizens and serve in the military they cannot vote for a U.S. president and have no vote in the U.S. Congress. The Mercury News
|
|
|
| |
| Dead or Wounded in Iraq Tuesday |
| 06.08.04 (11:00 am) [edit] |
Three car bombings in northern Iraq Tuesday. At least 16 dead and over 126 wounded.
Mayor of Mosul, Salem al-Hadj Isa, was said to be the target of one of the bombs. The streets were full. Ten civilians dead, around 100 injured.
Another bombing took place outside a U.S. military base but there has been no word on casualties.
Another bombing outside a U.S. base in Baquba, 40 miles north of Baghdad. The explosion occurred yards from the base's main gate. At least 6 people dead including 1 American soldier. Reuters said the explosion wounded 11 Iraqis while the AP quoted the U.S. military and police saying 16 Iraqis and 10 American soldiers were injured.
Five occupation soldiers were killed while clearing mines in Iraq: 2 Poles, 2 Slovaks and 1 Latvian.
|
|
|
| |
| Another journalist dead in the Middle East |
| 06.08.04 (10:27 am) [edit] |
Journalist Stuart Hughes writes about the shooting of his two colleagues, Simon Cumbers (killed) and Frank Gardner in critical condition, in Riyadh.
"It's too early to speculate on how the incident came about but my gut feeling is that it wasn't just a random, opportunistic shooting." Beyond Northern Iraq
|
|
|
| |
| Statistics: Europe's poorest and richest |
| 06.08.04 (9:55 am) [edit] |
According to the European Statistics Office Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey are the 3 poorest countries in Europe.
Turkey has a GDP per capita four times lower than the EU's average level. Bulgaria and Romania's GDP is 3 times lower.
Topping the list of richest people in Europe are Luxembourg and Ireland both EU countries.
Ireland is said to be one of the EU's best success stories providing access to a huge market and billions of dollars in development funding and support for agriculture. Many of the newer EU member countries are looking to Ireland's success as an example for themselves.
It cannot be left out that American investment has also played a large part in Ireland's success.
Luxembourg's per capita GDP is one of the highest of any country in the world largely the result of it's tax system that is especially generous to the banking sector.
Luxembourg has one of the lowest rates of unemployment in Europe (3.8%).
The EU is certainly not doing everything right but it's a union in the making and hopefully the lessons learned from history will one day see the EU vision of peace and prosperity come to pass.
|
|
|
| |
| Black Panther on the loose in Marseille |
| 06.08.04 (8:04 am) [edit] |
A black panther first believed to have escaped from a circus has been prowling a popular hiker's site in Marseille for six days. It's now thought he might belong to a local resident although no one is claiming him...naturally.
The panther has eluded the 60 or so men trying to track it down. Although people who have seen it say the panther doesn't appear aggressive no ones calling, "here kitty, kitty."
I hope it's captured without harm and the idiot that was keeping it illegally is also captured.
|
|
|
| |
| Pollution Chokes the Tigris, a Main Source of Baghdad's Drinking Water |
| 06.07.04 (2:00 pm) [edit] |
PHOTO: The remains of a cow decompose on the banks of the Tigris near Baghdad, a major and often direct source of water for the city's residents. (Dahr Jamail/NewStandard)
Baghdad , Jun 6 - With reconstruction of a highly inadequate water treatment and distribution system at a near standstill throughout much of Central Iraq, some residents of Baghdad are left with little choice but to drink highly polluted water from the Tigris River. Aside from a newly formed Iraqi non-governmental organization that is focusing on the cleanup of one section of the river, not much is being done to improve Baghdad residents’ access to potable water, and US contractors appear unable or unwilling to help.
While many areas of Baghdad have access to drinking water from a few of the functional treatment plants, millions of residents remain without a clean, reliable source. All too many of these unfortunates turn to the rotten banks of the Tigris, which snakes prominently through the heart of Baghdad collecting toxins as it flows.
Abdul Salam Abdulali works on the river, running a dredging machine. A river man for most of his life, he has long been employed by a company that dredges the muddy Tigris, but which was recently incorporated into the Ministry of Water Resources.
"I am married to the water," he said standing atop his dredging machine as it floated atop the river. "But it is too polluted now. I wish I could eat the fish, but when I cut them open I can smell the oil."
Read more: The New Standard
|
|
|
| |
| "Why are they doing this to us?" |
| 06.07.04 (1:48 pm) [edit] |
|
Those of you who support G.Bush's invasion and occupation of Iraq perhaps can answer her question.
by Dahr Jamail
He is a well spoken, handsome lawyer, just a year older than I am. He worked as a diplomat who coordinated NGOs and foreign governments in order to bring aid to his country during the sanctions.
He was detained and accused of being a spy for Saddam Hussein, even though he is not even a Baathist.
He was hung from his ankles for hours in Abu Ghraib, until he passed out.
I ask him what else happened to him in there. He pulls up the legs of his trousers to show me two electrical burns on the inside of his knees, and points to two more on his elbows.
We all know the usual parts of this story: his head was bagged and hands and ankles tied too tightly, roughly thrown in an armored vehicle and driven to Baghdad Airport prison. Then to Abu Ghraib for 2 months, then to a prison in Basra, then back to Abu Ghraib for seven months.
At the Airport prison (which Iraqis refer to as Guantanamo Airport) he was interrogated five times, then ten more times at Abu Ghraib. At each place he was beaten until he passed out, forced to beat other detainees, deprived of food and water (he lost 25 kilos while in detention), offered no medical care, received threats on his life, was threatened that his wife would brought in and raped in front of him, had rats and cockroaches as cellmates. He was kept in a cell 2 meters by 1.5 meters.
Or maybe you haven’t heard all of this already...
Maybe you didn’t hear that the lead CIA man who tortured him referred to himself as “Satan.” Or that while he was praying and reading his Koran female soldiers came in and flashed their breasts at him, then sexually humiliated and abused him.
What else is news? That there were 16 showers for 650 detainees. That there was no medical treatment, except for 30 out of 650 detainees -- who were given aspirin for infections and viruses. That when he was finally allowed to use the toilet after being forced to wait for hours, soldiers would open the door on him.
Of course there is more. There is much, much more. But I’ll save that for later, because it isn’t easy to type when ones hands are shaking.
Since he has been out he has not slept much, and has nightmares when he does manage to catch fleeting moments of shuteye.
His home was destroyed while he was in detention.
Then there is his aunt. I interviewed her tonight as well. A kind, 55 year-old woman who used to work as an English teacher. She was detained for four months, in as many prisons: Samarra, Tikrit, one in Baghdad and of course, Abu Ghraib. She was never allowed to sleep through a night, she was interrogated, not given enough food or water, no access to a lawyer or her family. She was abused verbally and psychologically.
But that isn’t the worst part. Her 70 year-old husband was detained and beaten to death. But that took 7 months.
She’s crying as she speaks of him... as are Abu Talat (my translator) and I.
“I miss my husband,” she says, standing up and addressing the room. “I miss him so much.”
She shakes her hands as if to fling water off of them... then holds her chest and cries some more.
“Why are they doing this to us?” She doesn’t understand what is happening. Two of her sons were also detained, her family completely shattered. “We didn’t do anything wrong,” she sobs.
After a short time we walk out towards the car to leave... it is already too late to be out -- well past 10 p.m. She asks us to please stay for dinner, in the midst of thanking me for my time, for listening, for writing about it all.
I am speechless.
“No, thank you, we must get home now,” says Abu Talat. We are all crying.
No words in the car as we drive toward the full moon. Finally, Abu Talat asks me, “Can you say any words? Do you have any words?”
“No,” I mumble. “No...”
Iraq Dispatches
|
|
|
| |
| Plug pulled on Rome Radio Stations Covering Bush Protests |
| 06.07.04 (1:08 pm) [edit] |
By Timothy Karr
NEW YORK, June 4, 2004 -- Italy's largest electric company pulled the plug on two left-wing radio stations the morning of U.S President George W. Bush's visit to Pope John Paul II at the Vatican.
The outage -- described as "strange maintenance work" by Enel, Italy's 60 percent state-owned utility -- forced Radio Città Aperta and Radio Onda Rossa off the air as they were preparing to broadcast extensive coverage of street protests against the president's visit.
"The stations lost electricity for four hours, all the morning, during several 'actions' of the civil disobedience movement," Francesco Diasio told MediaChannel by email. Diasio, managing director of Amisnet, a community radio agency supporting several Italian radio stations, was working with Radio Città Aperta (Open City Radio) and Radio Onda Rossa (Red Wave Radio), in concert with several other radio networks in Italy, to broadcast up-to-the-minute reports on the Rome protests.
According to Diasio, Enel cut the power at 8:30 am to the Monte Cavo transmitter where the antennas of the two stations are housed. A private television station, Tele Ambiente, was also affected. Electricity was restored to Monte Cavo by 12:25 pm.
A spokesman for Enel declined to comment on the Monte Cavo outage. Last September, the country suffered a nationwide blackout after power lines crossed in Switzerland triggering a massive Italy-wide failure. The cut to power at Monte Cavo, however, was attributed to a company decision to repair a single plant at the height of the protests. "It's a really strange coincidence," Diasio said, adding that Italian Green Party MP Paolo Cento has promised a parliamentary inquiry into the outage.
"It is something outrageous because while [Italy's] communication law recognizes the important role of local broadcasting, this role is taken away in a special day with great need of information and communication" Cynthia D'Ulizia the director of Radio Città Aperta said.
Alessadro Marenga, a music program director working the midnight shift at Radio Città Aperta, told MediaChannel that these types of outages are rare. "When outages do happen, a representative from the company comes by our offices to give advance warning," Marenga said. Enel gave the station no advanced warning on Friday.
Represenatives at Radio Città Aperta tried throughout the morning to contact Enel to ask for repairs, Marenga said, but their calls didn't go through.
Throngs of protesters took to the streets of Rome on Friday to demonstrate against the US and Italian governments' support of the war in Iraq; the largest crowd marched from the Piazza della Repubblica to Piazza Venezia, according to wire reports. The protest drew 250,000 people, organizers say. Police put the crowd at around 25,000.
Diasio's group Amisnet was working with Radio Citta' Aperta as part of the Global Project (http://www.globalproject.info...) which combines local radio links through a global satellite radio channel featuring a live feed from the streets and recorded interviews by journalists working for affiliated stations in Rome, Milan, Veneto and Cosenza. Media Channel
|
|
|
| |
| Iraq seeks 'IQ' domain to make its mark on Net |
| 06.07.04 (1:00 pm) [edit] |
By Donna Leinwand
Iraq is making its first claim for an internationally recognized presence on the Internet.
Iraq's media commission and the U.S.-led administration in Iraq want to set up Web addresses using the domain code ".IQ" as the final tag. That would mean addresses for Web pages would be distinctively identified on the Internet with Iraq's own country code.
The Iraqi chairman of the National Communications & Media Commission, Siyamend Othman, said the .IQ domain name would allow Iraqis to stake a "virtual flag" in the worldwide Internet community. It is "an important tangible and symbolic milestone for this nation, as well as the freedom and hopes of the Iraqi people," he wrote in a letter dated May 20 to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).
Although Internet cafes are popping up throughout Baghdad, few people own computers, and even fewer have regular access to the Internet. A recent survey cited by the U.S.-led administration in Iraq found that about 6% of Iraqis say they have access to the Internet but fewer than 2% use it regularly. About 12% of the population reports having a computer.
Iraqi officials say the rebuilding of Iraq has been hampered by poor national communications.
Before the war, an Internet community had begun to emerge under the regime's State Company for Internet Services, founded in 2001.
The State Company is now the main national Internet service provider.
The U.S.-run administration in Iraq says it has begun to create electronic connections between various government bureaus and to make the Internet more accessible to the private sector.
In an April 16 e-mail to the Internet authority, the U.S. administrator in Iraq, Paul Bremer, said if the request is granted it "will signal to potential investors that Iraq is rebuilding for a high-technology future." He said Iraq's Internet domain will be managed locally.
ICANN, based in Marina del Rey, Calif., is an internationally organized, non-profit corporation that is responsible for allocating the unique codes that make up Internet addresses and managing other basic maintenance of the Internet.
More than 240 countries, both small and large, have domain names. Some of those countries are Bahrain in the Persian Gulf, Russia and the United Kingdom.
The application process could take several months for Iraq because the country and the government remain unstable. Iraq officials say they modeled their application on one submitted by Afghanistan. The ICANN general counsel handling the Iraq application did not return a message. A spokesman said the organization does not comment on applications. USA Today
|
|
|
| |
| D-Day in History and in Memory |
| 06.06.04 (11:26 am) [edit] |
By Samuel Hynes
Sixty years ago today American troops waded ashore onto the Normandy beaches, and the end of the Second World War began. Old men who were there remember that day. Of course they do: that was the day when their lives touched history; the day they proved to themselves that they were soldiers; the day death came near and then moved on; the day they survived.
On this anniversary, crowds are gathering — old men and others — at the new World War II Memorial on the Mall in Washington. What, I wonder, do they expect to learn or feel there? Not anything about D-Day, certainly; what has that huge flourish of arches and pillars and eagles and fountains have to do with what happened on Omaha Beach that day?
War memorials don't embody memory; they don't tell us war stories. What they do, and are designed to do, is make the cost of war bearable, by abstracting it. The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier says that death in war is quietly anonymous, that it doesn't matter who you were, once you're dead. The Marine Corps Memorial at Arlington says two things: the oversized sculpture of the flag-raising at Mount Suribachi shouts Courage! and Victory!; but the words around the plinth, which are the names of battles in which marines fought, say simply that wars go on, and brave men fight them. I'm moved by the words, but not by the bronze figures.
The best and truest of our war memorials, because it says the least, is Maya Lin's Vietnam wall, which simply repeats, over and over: Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Fifty-eight thousand times.
If you are in search of something less exclamatory than memorials, you must go to the battlefields: to Gettysburg — not for the monuments there but for the hills and valleys and stone walls where the two armies fought, and our nation's history turned; or to the valley of the Somme; or to Waterloo. And for experience that touches the actual D-Day, to Omaha Beach. There the sea and the earth are the same, and still retain vestiges of the battle that was fought there — rusting barriers, wire, a few ruined vehicles that are their own memorial.
I went there through a snowstorm on a January day years ago. The beach was wide and empty; not one footprint marked the pure snow. I stood at the water's edge looking up at the cliff looming over me, and I could imagine, almost, climbing it under fire from the pillboxes that stood along the crest. I walked up a narrow road cut into the cliff, and saw above me on left and right, high up, machine gun ports, and I thought of the field of fire those gunners had, and what it would be like to walk on, waiting to be shot, and I felt a soldier's fear, a little.
Those feelings weren't memory, exactly, but they were as close as you can get, now — a physical sympathy with those men, so young and so companioned by death, 60 years ago. My D-Day.
What, I wonder, are those old men down there on the Mall thinking about today? Not about the big abstractions of war, I'd guess — why they fought, what patriotism means, how they preserved democracy and liberated Europe. In my experience men don't go to war for abstract reasons, or think about abstractions once they're there. In a democratic war, which our World War II was, they go because everybody goes, and because it seems right to go, and they fight because their buddies are fighting.
No, the old men aren't talking abstractions, they're telling each other war stories: not about heroic deeds, but about the small particular memories that have stayed with them — the moments of fear, the thing they did in the heat of the moment because they had to, the dying.
The other day I phoned my friend Blake, an old Navy man who was in the Battle of Leyte Gulf, and had his carrier sunk under him. I asked him if he remembered seeing any act of heroism while he was in the water. "I remember watching a guy I knew drown," he said. "Is that heroism?" Most memories of actual war are like that, I think: ordinary fighting, ordinary dying.
The old men on the Mall today were lucky in their war. They went believing that it was a just and necessary war, and when they'd won they came home still believing. Being the winners in a just war gave those veterans a quality that was and is still perceptible in them, though it's hard to define: a confidence, a sense of personal worth, a certainty about their actions in that crucial time when they were young. One worthy thing done at that age when manhood begins can make the rest of a man's life richer, give it a sustaining value.
American wars since the Second World War have been different: lost, or not won or even finished, or trivial, and morally ambiguous at best, though brave men fought in them. The Second World War was our last just and victorious war, the last war a man could come home from with any expectation of glory.
The old men must be thinking about that as they gather together, must be glad that their time of testing came when it did, in a war where the Americans were the good guys beyond question, and the bad guys were absolutely evil. Perhaps that new memorial down on the Mall is our national monument to that last time of national goodness, before we lost our way.
I try to imagine a day 60 years from now, when the veterans of our present conflict — old men themselves by then — gather at their brand-new war memorial, somewhere down on the Mall, to commemorate their own D-Day (that would be March 20, 2063). What will that new generation of old soldiers have in their minds that day? Not the certainty and confidence that today's old men have. Nor the sense of having served in a democratic war that every young man fought in and all the folks at home supported. They'll remember their buddies, and the good times and the bad ones, and wish, perhaps, that their sad war had been worthy of them.
Samuel Hynes, the author of "Flights of Passage" and "The Soldiers' Tale," was a Marine pilot in the Pacific in World War II. NY Times
|
|
|
| |
| Halliburton the master builder? |
| 06.05.04 (7:33 am) [edit] |
|
Anecdote: "When Dick Cheney was Secretary of Defense, during the first Bush Administration, he oversaw a redesign of the way that corporate America services the military. Halliburton was paid $3.9 million to draw up a plan for the way a private company could provide military support to U.S. troops all over the world. Then in the last months of that Administration, Halliburton was awarded the Army's contract to provide those very same services... The amount of business that was awarded to Halliburton under the no-bid contract ballooned to as much as seven billion dollars' worth."
What about the administration's claims that there were no other companies capable of doing the job?
"Cheney's original reason for bringing private military contractors in to handle these jobs for the Pentagon - rather than having the government do them itself - was that the rigors of a competitive marketplace were supposed to drive down cost. But if there is virtually no competition then the situation is more monopolistic than competitive, and cost efficiencies are lost. So it's not much of a defense of the current system to say that no other companies can do what Halliburton can."
Sources: Amy Davidson, New Yorker
BRETT COOMER/GETTY IMAGES
DEMONSTRATING: Protestors outside Halliburton headquarters
Halliburton knows the business of war. But can it pull off the Iraqi job when it's under fire in Iraq and at home?
By Jyoti Thottam
Abdul Halim crossed his arms and listened skeptically to a few more American promises. The construction executive was sitting in a harshly lit room in the Baghdad Convention Center last Wednesday with a few dozen other unhappy Iraqi business-people. The 41 men and two women, representing telecom, engineering and construction firms from all over the city, had come to find out why the fruits of Iraq's reconstruction have so far eluded them. Two months ago, Halim says, he approached Kellogg Brown & Root (KBR), a unit of the Houston company Halliburton, hoping that his construction and engineering firm, Gulf Bank, could be part of the massive effort to rehabilitate Iraq's oil industry. He couldn't even get his call returned. "We are angry," he says. "They always say the priority is Iraqi companies, but as a matter of fact, in the land of the truth, that is not the case."
"I'm sympathetic to the challenges you all face," Stephen Orr, an adviser to the Iraqi Business Center, told the assembled group last week. The Coalition Provisional Authority and the Iraqi Ministry of Trade organize the weekly meeting for Iraqi companies hoping to find work as subcontractors to firms such as Halliburton, the biggest contractor in Iraq. "Our goal is to help you make contact with the prime contractors," Orr said. Halim, like the others, sat stone-faced and unconvinced. Orr tried to be encouraging but gave few answers for what a growing number of disaffected Iraqis say is a system designed to shut them out of their own country's economic recovery.
The reconstruction of Iraq, that grand effort of goodwill intended to win over the hearts and minds of Iraq's citizens, is America's other war, and it is not going quite according to plan. You could say that Halliburton, which holds an exclusive deal to support U.S. soldiers and by far the largest share of contracts for rebuilding Iraq's crippled infrastructure, is command central in the battle to rebuild the country. But the firm has become a lightning rod for criticism of the U.S. presence in Iraq. Thanks in part to Vice President Dick Cheney's five-year tenure as the company's CEO, Halliburton's contract with the U.S. government has been unable to escape the whiff of cronyism — even though Cheney says he has no connection to the company today other than the $178,437 he received last year, one of five annual deferred-compensation payments (see box). The firm is a constant target of violence and the subject of persistent rumors of corruption. As the June 30 handover to an Iraqi government approaches, Iraq's citizens are beginning to question why American companies like Halliburton are still running the show. Halliburton's role in Iraq is much more than just chief cook and bottle washer for the troops. In fact, the success of the whole U.S. enterprise in Iraq depends in many ways on how well Halliburton does its job.
It's a big one. Work in Iraq is parceled out among a handful of companies, but Halliburton has by far the largest share--$17 billion from the U.S. and British governments, several times as much as its closest competitor, Bechtel. Halliburton and the other large contractors work on a cost-plus basis — the cost of its work (negotiated in advance) plus a defined profit of up to 3%. The entire 2004 budget for the Coalition Provisional Authority is $13 billion and pays for about 2,300 much smaller reconstruction projects, separate from Halliburton's, none of which are subject to competitive bidding rules. Halliburton's initial no-bid contract to restore Iraq's oil supply came under intense criticism last year from Democratic lawmakers, but it did have to submit a bid for the second phase of the work, which it won in January.
Page 1 of 5 Time
|
|
|
| |
| Bush's Erratic Behavior Worries White House Aides |
| 06.05.04 (6:54 am) [edit] |
This reads like satire and is hard to believe even for me who has little respect for G.Bush. But, CounterPunch has a story on it Has Bush Gone Over the Edge? so I'll take the chance. I know the water's getting hot for G.Bush and I'm sure leaving his safe desk in order to do a photo op in Europe for D-Day is very stressing. Unlike the U.S. he can't ban the crowds that are already gathering in protest of this 'war president.'
Bush's Erratic Behavior Worries White House Aides
By Doug Thompson
President George W. Bush’s increasingly erratic behavior and wide mood swings has the halls of the West Wing buzzing lately as aides privately express growing concern over their leader’s state of mind.
In meetings with top aides and administration officials, the President goes from quoting the Bible in one breath to obscene tantrums against the media, Democrats and others that he classifies as “enemies of the state.”
Worried White House aides paint a portrait of a man on the edge, increasingly wary of those who disagree with him and paranoid of a public that no longer trusts his policies in Iraq or at home.
“It reminds me of the Nixon days,” says a longtime GOP political consultant with contacts in the White House. “Everybody is an enemy; everybody is out to get him. That’s the mood over there.”
In interviews with a number of White House staffers who were willing to talk off the record, a picture of an administration under siege has emerged, led by a man who declares his decisions to be “God’s will” and then tells aides to “fuck over” anyone they consider to be an opponent of the administration.
“We’re at war, there’s no doubt about it. What I don’t know anymore is just who the enemy might be,” says one troubled White House aide. “We seem to spend more time trying to destroy John Kerry than al Qaeda and our enemies list just keeps growing and growing.”
Aides say the President gets “hung up on minor details,” micromanaging to the extreme while ignoring the bigger picture. He will spend hours personally reviewing and approving every attack ad against his Democratic opponent and then kiss off a meeting on economic issues.
“This is what is killing us on Iraq,” one aide says. “We lost focus. The President got hung up on the weapons of mass destruction and an unproven link to al Qaeda. We could have found other justifiable reasons for the war but the President insisted the focus stay on those two, tenuous items.”
Aides who raise questions quickly find themselves shut out of access to the President or other top advisors. Among top officials, Bush’s inner circle is shrinking. Secretary of State Colin Powell has fallen out of favor because of his growing doubts about the administration’s war against Iraq.
The President's abrupt dismissal of CIA Directory George Tenet Wednesday night is, aides say, an example of how he works.
"Tenet wanted to quit last year but the President got his back up and wouldn't hear of it," says an aide. "That would have been the opportune time to make a change, not in the middle of an election campaign but when the director challenged the President during the meeting Wednesday, the President cut him off by saying 'that's it George. I cannot abide disloyalty. I want your resignation and I want it now."
Tenet was allowed to resign "voluntarily" and Bush informed his shocked staff of the decision Thursday morning. One aide says the President actually described the decision as "God's will."
God may also be the reason Attorney General John Ashcroft, the administration’s lightning rod because of his questionable actions that critics argue threatens freedoms granted by the Constitution, remains part of the power elite. West Wing staffers call Bush and Ashcroft “the Blues Brothers” because “they’re on a mission from God.”
“The Attorney General is tight with the President because of religion,” says one aide. “They both believe any action is justifiable in the name of God.”
But the President who says he rules at the behest of God can also tongue-lash those he perceives as disloyal, calling them “fucking assholes” in front of other staff, berating one cabinet official in front of others and labeling anyone who disagrees with him “unpatriotic” or “anti-American.”
“The mood here is that we’re under siege, there’s no doubt about it,” says one troubled aide who admits he is looking for work elsewhere. “In this administration, you don’t have to wear a turban or speak Farsi to be an enemy of the United States. All you have to do is disagree with the President.”
The White House did not respond to requests for comment on the record. Capitol Hill Blue
|
|
|
| |
| Bush likens illegal invasion of Iraq to WWII |
| 06.04.04 (11:27 am) [edit] |
G.Bush speaking to 981 cadets graduating from the U.S. Air Force Acadamy in Colorado Springs invoked World War II and the Cold War. He said the U.S. was leading the world in a struggle similar to the cataclysms of the 20th century, and he told the graduates they were joining a fight as momentous as those waged against Adolf Hitler and Josef Stalin. LA Times
I said a few days ago that G.Bush would squeeze all he could out of the D-Day celebrations. If he makes this kind of speech in Europe I imagine all hell will break loose and he can expect backlash such as we saw in the runup to the Iraq invasion.
It's obvious G.Bush knows little if anything about World war II or any war except that one he is leading from behind a desk. I imagine he's given excerpts from speeches to memorize. I imagine Laura Bush reads a few chosen passages to him across the breakfast table.
G.Bush has put a pall over the coming D-Day event for many of us. He is a shameful president. He does not represent peace. He represents death, destruction and greed. He represents everything many of us felt could never happen again. He has brought war once again to the planet and for what?
G.Bush evaded the Vietnam war when he was called to duty. This is a proven fact no matter how many try to sweep it under the carpet. One can only judge from this fact that he would have done the same during World War II. He brings dishonor to those that fought for the true cause of freedom.
For G.Bush to pretend he cares about the soldiers, human rights or democracy is counteracted by his actions yesterday and today. How dare he speak of his horrific shock and awe war game in the same breath as the battles fought here in France and elsewhere.
As former Prime Minister Laurent Fabius said, "Bush is the exact opposite of the values which we admire in America."
The sacrifices the U.S., U.K. and Canada made for France has been remembered daily this past week. We have watched footage never before seen by most of us, compiled by journalist and others from archives around the world. Most historians agree the death toll was about 50 million including wartime atrocities. The black and white, grainy footage is horrifying in its realism. You know the charred and mutilated bodies are not computer imagery. This is the only comparison G.Bush can make between his invasion of Iraq and World War II...the death and destruction.
There is hardly a village, town or city in France that has not memorialized and remembered the sacrifices of that time.
How tragic that nothing has been learned from this miserable and tragic period. History is being repeated. No doubt, because a man who knows nothing of history or honor sits in the highest office in America.
|
|
|
| |
| Tenet Taking a Fall? |
| 06.04.04 (8:19 am) [edit] |
G.Bush words for Tenet.."I like him and I trust him, which is more important."
Tenet is the only high level security official from the Clinton administration to be held over by G.Bush.
Are you fooled by his resignation coming at this time? Was he asked to leave? Do G.Bush and others need a fall guy?
Republican Senator from Mississippi and king of racial slurs extraordinaire, Trent Lott said, "I've been surprised that he kept him on as long as he did." I 'really' value this man's opinion.
More on this later. I've got a busy morning.
|
|
|
| |
| Blogglets |
| 06.03.04 (11:18 am) [edit] |
So G.Bush has consulted a criminal attorney about representing him possibly, if needed in the grand jury investigation concerning who leaked the name of a certain CIA operative.
White House press secretary, Scott McClellan gave me a giggle with this line.
"The president has made it very clear he wants everyone to cooperate fully with the investigation and that would include himself." Oh my God it's Fox News!
Russ Kick's Memory Hole banned to military personal in Iraq? The military using commercial software that blocks allegedly undesirable sites? This was first posted last week but I missed it due to certain person hogging my monitor. ;)
If you don't know this site have a look. What's undesirable or warrents it being banned?
The Banality of Evil is a must read by Lawrence of Cyberia. Imagine these young 17 year old Palestinians are yours.
|
|
|
| |
| 9/11 Sceptics Hold Inquiry |
| 06.03.04 (8:03 am) [edit] |
Paul Weinberg
TORONTO, Jun 1 (IPS) - Washington's official version: that suicidal Islamic terrorists steered hijacked airliners into the World Trade Centre and Pentagon on Sep. 11, 2001 to the complete surprise of the U.S. military, whose members could not even have imagined the event, has come under considerable scrutiny from a variety of sources.
Former White House anti-terrorism advisor Richard Clarke has attacked the current administration of President George W Bush for jeopardising the safety of Americans by ignoring the dangers posed by the al-Qaeda terrorist group -- widely considered the perpetrator of the 9/11 attacks.
Bush "ignored terrorism for months, when maybe we could have done something to stop 9/11. Maybe. We'll never know," Clarke told a U.S. television audience in March.
From the time they entered office, the president and his officials were obsessed with overthrowing the regime of Iraq's Saddam Hussein, and ignored dangers of a terrorist attack at home, Clarke told a Washington commission of inquiry into the intelligence failures surrounding 9/11.
But small groups of self-styled "9/11 sceptics" have taken their misgivings down a more controversial road.
Questions such as why U.S. military planes did not scramble fast enough to counter the hijackers in the air before they hit New York's World Trade Centre and the Pentagon in Washington have not been fully explained by U.S. officials, said speakers who met in Toronto, May 25-30, at an international "citizen conceived, citizen-run and citizen-funded" inquiry.
One speaker, John McMurtry, said reluctance, even among people who would be considered part of the progressive left-wing in the United States, to consider the possibility of their government's complicity in 9/11 represents a "ruling group-mind" that "locks out all thought and evidence that doesn't fit the baseline presupposition."
"No mass media in the U.S. or Canada, or any democratic opposition politician, including (U.S.) presidential candidate John Kerry, are raising the most basic of all issues. What is self-evident is unthinkable," added McMurtry, a philosophy professor at the University of Guelph, west of Toronto.
On the other hand, according to 911inquiry.org, which organised the Toronto event, in a commissioned poll 63 per cent of Canadians agreed with the statement, "Individuals within the U.S. government including the White House had prior knowledge of the plans for the events of Sep. 11, and failed to take appropriate action to stop them."
The conference featured videos and presentations of what organisers described as the "obscuring" and "obstructing" of the truth behind the attacks. Among the speakers was Ellen Mariani, whose husband was a passenger in the hijacked plane that hit the World Trade Centre. She is currently suing the Bush administration for failing to prevent or warn of the disaster to come on Sep. 11.
But an investigative journalist with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), which months ago aired a show on 9/11 and the connection between the Bush administration and the leaders of Saudi Arabia -- birthplace of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden -- says he finds nothing in the research by 9/11 sceptics to prove the U.S. government either engineered the attacks or at least was warned that they would occur.
"Often, there are a lot of unanswered questions or circumstantial evidence, or apparent circumstantial evidence, that pops up that suggests there is more going on than the official story. When that occurs it snowballs into conspiracy," says Bruce Livesey, an associate producer for the television programme, 'The Fifth Estate'.
The Canadian journalist is not surprised by citizens' own "healthy scepticism of the U.S. government."
But some of the 9/11 conspiracy theories coming out of the Middle East and Europe alleging falsely, for instance, that all Jews were forewarned and left the World Trade Centre before the planes hit, "have an anti-Semitic aspect," said Livesey in an interview.
The U.S. government did have "extraordinary information" on the identity and activity of the 9/11 hijackers before their attacks, but officials did not appear interested "in really pursuing the war on terrorism legitimately because it led back to (their) allies, (Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Pakistan)," he added.
Much of the scepticism surrounding 9/11 stems from the U.S. government's own secrecy about the security failures or the actual mechanics of the collisions of the planes against buildings, says Chris Trendall, a spokesperson for Science for Peace, one of the sponsors of the Toronto inquiry.
All of the rubble from the two 9/11 sites, for instance, was shipped to other countries, rather than stored for a future investigation. "There is usually an investigation after a big engineering failure (but that didn't happen)," he added in an interview.
Trendall also criticised organisers of the conference for primarily featuring commentators or "second-order experts," while leaving out any scientists or structural engineers who might have more solid information.
Former president of Science for Peace and high-profile Canadian economist Mel Watkins had urged fellow peace activists not to attend the 9/11 inquiry, noting that very few of the leading leftist thinkers, including Noam Chomsky, Arundhati Roy, Edward Said, Naomi Klein, Robert Fisk, John Pilger, Tariq Ali and Eduardo Galeano, take seriously any assertion that the U.S. government was complicit in the attacks.
Watkins called the Toronto inquiry "a rigged event", where only "conspiracy" theorists were given a chance to present their conclusions. "There was no procedure for independent cross-examination."
Furthermore, Watkins told IPS, conspiracy theories perpetuate simple explanations of good and evil in the world, which "play(s) into the hands of George Bush."
IPS
|
|
|
| |
| France on war footing for D-Day |
| 06.03.04 (7:57 am) [edit] |
From correspondents in Paris
WITH terrorism an ever-present threat, France is on a war footing to ensure security for 16 heads of state and as many as one million people attending ceremonies for the 60th anniversary of the D-Day landings in World War II this weekend.
More than 15,000 police and soldiers will fan out to keep order while surface-to-air missiles are poised to shoot down stray or enemy aircraft. Authorities will also stock antidotes in case of a chemical attack.
The rollout of such military firepower and troops is among the largest since more than 150,000 Allied forces stormed Normandy beaches code-named Sword, Juno, Gold, Omaha and Utah on June 6, 1944 in a momentous military bid to liberate Europe from Adolf Hitler's grip.
French officials are keen to show they are in charge, but ensuring security for such a gathering of world leaders, Normandy residents, war veterans and visitors is a major headache at a time of terror threat.
"We have to think about it, not take it lightly and do everything to lower the risk to zero," said Patrick Jardin, mayor of the Normandy town of Arromanches, where a ceremony for heads of state is planned.
"The advantage of such a ceremony is that there will be a deployment of forces so large that we'll feel secure. But that can give ideas (to terrorists) - and we're aware of that," Jardin said.
Cars will be stopped at checkpoints along a 100-kilometre stretch of Normandy coast, and drivers without special passes will be turned away, said Defence Ministry spokesman Jean-Francois Bureau.
Military helicopters, Mirage fighters and Crotale surface-to-air batteries are authorised to escort, and if necessary, shoot down, any unidentified aircraft that enter the area.
At least 16 heads of state are expected, including US President George W Bush, French President Jacques Chirac and Queen Elizabeth II of Britain. Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and Russian President Vladimir Putin will represent their countries on D-Day for the first time.
Organisation gets even trickier because many of the foreign dignitaries will bring their own security teams.
In Paris, police will block off a large swath of the city - including the presidential palace, the Champs-Elysees, the US Embassy and Les Invalides - where protests will be forbidden. A protest against the Iraq war is scheduled for Sunday outside the zone as Bush arrives.
Paris police have also asked managers at museums, cinemas and stores to be on high alert and check handbags of incoming patrons.
In Normandy, the military has set up a temporary air base near Caen. Regional health officials say they have stockpiled antidotes in case of chemical attack. Airliners will be banned over the area.
Hundreds of police were being mobilised just to brace for a possible terror attack, and hundreds more were to join convoys that contain the heads of state.
The ministry has no intelligence information leading officials to believe a terror attack was likely, the Defence Ministry said.
On Tuesday, police patrols with sniffer dogs and hand-held metal detectors fanned out on the ceremony sites near Arromanches and Omaha Beach. Troops armed with automatic weapons patrolled railway stations.
Hospitals asked all their staff on hand, and paramedics were instructed to be ready for anything from scraped knees to bomb attacks. Nuclear, biological and chemical weapons experts are to be ready.
"State of siege for D-Day", read a headline in French weekly Journal du Dimanche on Monday.
Authorities today raised France's terror alert status from "orange" to "red" - the second-highest on a four-point scale. Police will step up identification and baggage checks on trains, especially those headed to Normandy, and water will be checked and stocked.
Special vehicle stickers have been distributed to Normandy residents, and authorities are encouraging them stay home to watch the ceremonies on TV instead of trying to rubberneck at dignitaries.
The country has mobilised 9000 soldiers, equipped with AWACs surveillance aircraft, unmanned drones and naval minesweepers, the Defence Ministry said.
About 6000 gendarmes - members of a unique French police force that falls under the Defence Ministry - are to check vehicles, smooth traffic and manage crowds if any protests get out of hand.
About 20,000 people, including 8000 veterans, are to attend many of the 16 official ceremonies in Normandy from Saturday to Monday, the Defence Ministry said.
Some 3500 journalists are accredited to cover the event, and as many as 1 million people are expected for a series of other commemorations around the region, the Interior Ministry said. News.com.au
|
|
|
| |
| Groups mobilize to stop David Duke |
| 06.03.04 (7:50 am) [edit] |
By Edmund W. Lewis, Editor
A coalition of organizations joined forces last week in protest of former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard David Duke's national convocation of the International European American Unity and Leadership Conference in New Orleans May 28-30. The coalition held a Unity Rally Saturday from 10am to 1pm at the Treme Community Center that featured a host of speakers and entertainers.
A kaleidoscope of New Orleans residents gathered for the Unity Rally which was billed as a family event, an opportunity for the local media and outsiders to witness people from all backgrounds working together and getting along in the Crescent City.
Participating organizations included the NAACP, The African American Leadership Project, the Urban League of Greater New Orleans, C3, Muhammad Mosque #46, ERACE and the LeeAnne Knot Violence Against Women Prevention Project (a consortium of Tulane/SUNO/UNO.
Danatus King, NAACP Membership Committee Chairman and administrative liaison, told The Louisiana Weekly Thursday that it was imperative for New Orleanians to respond to Duke's impending conference once news of the gathering was aired.
"There has to be a counterbalance," he said emphatically Thursday. King noted that Duke's gathering in New Orleans has made national headlines and said it is important that those who do not share his views make it clear to white supremacists that this city will not serve as a haven for hate groups. "It's important that we let the rest of the nation and the world know that we will not tolerate these attitudes," he added.
The significance of Duke's national conference being held in the Crescent City in 2004 was not lost on King.
"It is no coincidence that Duke chose the City of New Orleans, and chose this time that we are celebrating the 50th anniversary of Brown V. Board of Education, to hold this convocation," King said last week. "I encourage you to visit his website (www.DavidDuke.com) to see the scope of what he has planned. If we don't stand up now, we have no one but ourselves to blame for the consequences."
The New Orleans conference represented Duke's first major public appearance since being released from prison. According to Duke's website, the purpose for the European American Unity and Leadership Conference was to set "an effective agenda for the restoration of our rights (European Americans), freedoms and heritage.
"This historic meeting may well be the most important gathering of the 21st century," Duke added.
While Duke was secretive about the location of his national conference, he did tell supporters that conferees would gather at some undisclosed New Orleans site of historical significance to whites over the weekend.
There was some speculation that Duke and other white supremacists visiting the conference would hold a ceremony at Lee Circle, the uptown New Orleans landmark named for Confederate hero Robert E. Lee.
Danatus King told The Louisiana Weekly that it's important for Louisianians to remember that it isn't just backwoods racists who have supported Duke financially and otherwise over the years. "We should all remember that our former governor [Mike Foster] paid David Duke a lot of money for a list of his financial and ideological supporters when he was running for statewide election," he said.
Rumors swirled last week of a black boycott of all hotels that provide lodging and meeting space for the European American Unity and Leadership Conference.
While King pointed out that the NAACP is not involved in this particular aspect of the mobilization against Duke and other white supremacists expected to visit the city, he noted that some individuals in the community have committed to making note of the local hotels that accommodate David Duke and his supporters and to encourage New Orleanians and visitors to the city to boycott those establishments. Louisiana Weekly
|
|
|
| |
| U.S. Cannot Impose Democracy |
| 06.03.04 (7:42 am) [edit] |
By Evelyn Leopold
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Iran's Nobel laureate said on Wednesday Islam and democracy were compatible but that the United States could not impose a pluralistic society on Iraq or elsewhere in the Middle East.
Shirin Ebadi, who last year became the first Muslim woman to receive a Nobel Peace Prize for her human rights efforts, said that too many Islamic nations hid behind religion to justify human rights violations.
"But I say we can be a Muslim and at the same time enjoy human rights and democracy," Ebadi told a news conference through an interpreter. "In order to justify the violation of human rights, Islamic governments invoke Islam."
The 57-year-old jurist, who is touring the United States and Canada, said democracy was a historical process that could not be imposed from the outside and that the new Iraqi government would have to earn its legitimacy.
"It's the performance that we have to watch out for," Ebadi said. "Democracy is not a present to offer a nation. Democracy cannot be imposed when people are dropping bombs on them."
"Therefore if the United States or any other country decides to contribute to the process of democracy, the way to do so is not through a military attack," she added.
Ebadi said she had hoped that former president Saddam Hussein would be "overthrown by the people of Iraq themselves and not military power from the outside" and without approval of the United Nations.
Ebadi, who has been reviled by conservative religious leaders in her own country, said she had many supporters among reformists and young people. She also was recently honored at a reception by Iran's U.N. ambassador, Javad Zarif.
She said that rightwing newspapers went so far as to call her "Sharon Ebadi," an obvious reference to Israel's prime minister, Ariel Sharon, whom Iran considers an enemy.
She said no country in the world had a perfect human rights record, including the United States, which had not signed key international treaties, such as the rights of the child.
Asked about the U.S. abuse of Iraqi prisoners, she said, "America is a civilized society so I ask myself -- how can it tolerate these actions and justify them?"
IHT
|
|
|
| |
| On-the-ground-reality TV |
| 06.03.04 (7:29 am) [edit] |
Shocking footage of US military conduct in Iraq is available through major news services, yet the American public seldom sees what reporters see
By Jason Vest
ON NOVEMBER 22, 2003, the 16th paragraph of an Associated Press story filed from Baghdad reported that troops from the US Army’s Fourth Infantry Division had arrested former Iraqi lieutenant general "Taha Hassan" "for alleged involvement in mortar attacks on police stations" in his hometown of Baquoba. One day later, Agence France-Presse noted the arrest of "Taha Hassan Abbas," as he was correctly identified, in a report that included additional dramatic details. A Fourth Infantry Division spokesman quoted by AFP provided the official account of the arrest: Abbas had "resisted when an assault force approached his house," and "engaged [in] fire," which was returned by US troops who "captured" Abbas and two others.
Far more important than the AP’s errant reporting — itself a reflection of the story’s low priority — is that these two dispatches moved over the wires but went unpublished by any newspaper. Instead, in what has become par for the course, readers were treated to brief depictions of beleaguered US troops engaging in the challenge of bringing law and order to a country beset by Ba’athist insurrectionists. But as disturbing details and images continue to flow from investigations into the horror show that was Abu Ghraib, an increasingly outraged American public is trying to fathom why US forces seem so obviously out of control in their sweeping arrests and torturous interrogations of Iraqis. Just as important, they’re also wondering whether the American media have failed — by design or default — to convey the ground-level truth of the US occupation of Iraq, minimizing the causes of Iraqi alienation and resentment.
In a yet-to-be-released documentary, a top international investigative reporter offers a tentative explanation for both forms of derailment. On March 14 — almost six weeks before 60 Minutes II aired its Abu Ghraib story — the Australian NineNetwork’s Sunday newsmagazine program aired a scaled-down version of Iraq — On the Brink, reported by Ross Coulthart, a journalist whose award-winning investigations have spanned rough-and-tumble assignments in East Timor and Afghanistan to seminal intelligence and public-corruption investigations in the US and Australia. Indirectly, Coulthart raises serious questions about American media self-censorship — something journalists have been wrestling with since the first Gulf War. The film also raises the possibility that, then as now, such self-censorship may have helped the military cover up Iraqi wartime deaths. (A 15-minute trailer for Iraq — On the Brink can be seen at www.journeyman.tv/?lid=14772. Latest RealPlayer required. American audiences may get to see snippets of the documentary in Michael Moore’s award-winning Fahrenheit 9/11, depending on how it’s released.)
Continue reading at BostonPhoenix.com
|
|
|
| |
| Disengaged from reality |
| 06.02.04 (3:43 pm) [edit] |
By Amira Hass
The government hospital in Rafah last week received a donation from a Palestinian NGO - four mortuary refrigerators with room for 24 bodies, in addition to the old refrigerator, which catered for only six bodies. There won't be any need for the macabre photographs of the dead casualties, held a week or more in commercial refrigerators ordinarily used to hold food.
The new equipment is the quintessence of the Palestinian expectations for the coming year or two, at least: Sharon will try to advance his disengagement plan; the IDF will continue to strike in Gaza; Rafah will continue to be the focus of those attacks; many Palestinians will be killed and many will be rendered
homeless. While in Israel there will be debate about formulas for disengagement, Palestinians will try to strike at the army, mine roads, develop the Qassam, and get weapons from whatever source they can.
In Israel the debate will be over the pain of evacuating
settlements, Egypt will make its proposals, and the IDF will demolish more Palestinian homes and what remains of their fields, orchards and groves. But quietly. Just like overnight on Saturday, when another 23 homes of refugees were demolished in J block of the Rafah refugee camp. Who heard about it? Who protested?
These scenes of destruction, which have been part of life in Rafah and Khan Yunis since 2001, usually don't appear on our TV screens, in our consciousness or our consciences. Already, the number of Palestinians who have lost their homes in Gaza due to house demolitions - some 17,000, according to UNRWA - is more than double the number of Israeli settlers in the Strip. That's why the dragged-out talk in Israel about disengagement sounds, in Rafah in particular and in the Strip in general, like an Israeli trick to escape the daily and very contemporary reality of destruction.
The disengagement Sharon is talking about, they say in Gaza, is the disengagement of Gaza from the West Bank. In other words, disconnecting the Palestinians in Gaza from their brethren. In other words, driving another stake into the two-state solution, if by Palestinian state the intention was for a viable state and not a collection of disconnected enclaves. Therefore, the Israeli debates about disengagement are interpreted in the Gaza Strip as another, successful attempt by Israel to evade responsibility for the occupied territory.
And Sharon is improving on the way his predecessors did the same thing. Disconnecting Gaza's residents from the West Bankers began a long time ago - in 1991, when Israel began the policy of closures and reduced Palestinian freedom of movement to a minimum.
The disconnection has worsened since 1994. In effect, it became one of the Oslo agreement's frameworks, as Oslo was implemented in the territories, even though the agreement recognizes that the West Bank and Gaza are one territorial unit. There are three main aspects to this disconnection:
Due to the agreements, Israel continued to rule the Palestinian population, meaning it determined the number of Palestinians who could settle in the Palestinian Authority territories, and the production of Palestinian identity cards required Israeli approval. Changing addresses inside the territories was declared a
PA "right." But Israel, by virtue of it recording all the details in the ID cards, often prevented changes of address from Gaza to the West Bank, including cases of people who had long since moved to the West Bank as children, went to school there, and made families. Such Gazans have been living for years as "illegals" in the West Bank, living under constant threat of expulsion to Gaza.
Israeli control over Palestinian movement gradually resulted in a decline in the number of Palestinians attending school at institutions of higher education in the West Bank. Permits to be in the West Bank were not extended, students became illegals, or remained stuck in Gaza and lost entire semesters. Educational
institutions stopped registering Gazans. Families refused to send their children to the West Bank for fear they would not be able to see them until they finished their degrees. A similar decline was recorded in the number of Palestinians traveling to the West Bank for the reasons that freedom of movement is a basic liberty, which should not be stripped: health, family, friends, culture, leisure. For any reason at all.
According to the "interim" agreements, the Gaza water
infrastructure is "independent," meaning the Palestinian
population is supposed to supply its needs from the water pumps inside the boundaries of the Gaza Strip. The limited permission Israel gave the PA to develop its water system in the West Bank did not take into account the needs of Gaza. That's like telling Eilat and Arava residents that they must make do only with the water in their narrow geographic area. Because of overpumping, it is impossible to drink water from a faucet. In ever-increasing numbers, Palestinian households are adding filters to their home water supply systems or buying bottled water.
Presumably there are people in Israel who reckon and hope that under pressure of the distress and the facts on the ground, the Palestinians will accept the disconnection and its severe ramifications for their society and economics. Maybe their hopes will come true, for a limited period of time. But it is not the way to peace and security. Haaretz
Read also: A Gift of Dust and Bones Guardian
|
|
|
| |
| Draft dilemma |
| 06.02.04 (3:24 pm) [edit] |
They are going to reintroduce the draft in the US. But it's such a vote loser, no one wants to mention it
John Sutherland
Last Wednesday, the American public was officially instructed to panic. Attorney general John Ashcroft and FBI director Robert Mueller - brows furrowed, faces grim - took over primetime TV to deliver a spine-chilling message to their fellow citizens: "Al-qaida attack imminent."
When, where, and what form the outrage will take, is unknown. But something very, very awful is going to happen very, very soon.
Cynics will be sceptical. Was this another attempt by the administration, like those "orange alerts" last year, to divert attention from Iraq, the soaring price of gasoline, and Abu Ghraib?
On the same day that Ashcroft was terrifying his countrymen, I was emailed by an American student friend. He too is terrified. "The US legislature," he wrote, "is trying to bring back the draft asap. Check it out at www.congress.org. For some reason no major news networks or printed media in this country are carrying this story. If these bills go through, the only thing between me and military service is my asthma."
He's right. There is pending legislation in the American House of Representatives and Senate in the form of twin bills - S89 and HR163. These measures (currently approved and sitting in the committee for armed services) project legislation for spring 2005, with the draft to become operational as early as June 15.
There already exists a Selective Service System (SSS). All young Americans are obliged to "register for the draft". It has been a mere formality since conscription was abolished three decades ago, after Vietnam, together with the loathed (and much burned) draft card. SSS will be reactivated imminently. A $28m implementation fund has been added to the SSS budget. The Pentagon is discreetly recruiting for 10,350 draft board officers and 11,070 appeals board members nationwide.
Draft-dodging will be harder than in the 1960s. In December 2001, Canada and the US signed a "smart border declaration", which, among other things, will prevent conscientious objectors (and cowards) from finding sanctuary across the northern border. There will be no deferment on higher-education grounds. Mexico does not appeal.
All this has been pushed ahead with an amazing lack of publicity. One can guess why. American newspapers are in a state of meltdown, distracted by war-reporting scandals at USA Today and the New York Times. There is an awareness in the press at large that the "embedding" system was just that - getting into bed with the military and reporting their pillow talk as "news from the frontline". The fourth estate has failed the American public and continues not to do its job.
The American public just wants the war to go away. One thing that would get their attention (but not their votes) would be their children being sent off to die in foreign lands. Best not disturb the electorate until after November, seems to be the thinking. There are, after all, more important things than wars: getting your man into the White House, for example. Kerry has clearly calculated that, as president, he too may have to bring in the draft. So his lips are also sealed.
And, of course, the strategic case for the draft is overwhelming. If, as Rumsfeld promises, Iraq turns out to be "a long, hard slog", who will do the slogging? If others follow the Spaniards, and Tony Blair goes, the US may find itself a coalition of one. What then if something blows up in North Korea?
On how many fronts can America fight its global war on terror with a "professional" army of half a million? Half a million and shrinking fast. Reservists are not re-enlisting. They signed up for the occasional weekend playing soldiers and some useful income, not death or glory.
Panic Stations (which is where Ashcroft has placed America this summer) serves two purposes. It distracts the electorate and, like any state of emergency, it sanctions tough measures - like the draft. The advice to my student? Work on the asthma. Guardian
|
|
|
| |
| Iraqi Fury Makes Way for New President, Government |
| 06.02.04 (3:00 pm) [edit] |
Just yesterday I read Bremer threatened to veto Iraqis choice of president if they didn't choose al-Pachachi. No way were they to put it to a vote. No way were they to choose Ghazi Yawar, a critic of the US ways and means in Iraq. Independent
Today I read al-Pachachi has turned to job down. Looks like the Iraqis are learning there's more than one way to skin a snake.
By Michael Georgy and Luke Baker
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi leaders forced Washington and the United Nations to back down on Tuesday on their choice of president to lead Iraq out of American occupation.
Yawar, 46, a U.S.-trained civil engineer with links to Saudi Arabia, has accused the U.S. military of provoking Iraqis.
He demanded that the United Nations give Iraq "full sovereignty" when the U.S.-led occupation authority is wound up on June 30. But 150,000 foreign soldiers, mostly Americans, are set to stay on for the foreseeable future to provide security.
He has also complained that the U.S.-drafted U.N. resolution that sets out the handover plan gives Iraqis too little control of oil revenues, and he wants more control over foreign troops than Washington is offering.
After decades of dictatorship and 14 violent months of U.S. occupation, Iraqis were wary but prepared to reserve judgment:
"The new government is the same design as the old; the Americans chose them both," said Mehdi Dawood al-Izba, who runs a taxi company in Baghdad. "But Yawar is a good Iraqi and that is better than the occupation at least." Reuters
|
|
|
| |
| Bush warned against comparing D-Day to Iraq |
| 06.02.04 (2:15 pm) [edit] |
I fully expect G. Bush to make the most of this photo op in light of how badly things are going for him. But, we should not forget, this is the man who refused to serve when his country was at war. He has no problems sending others into the line of fire while he makes surprise visits under cover of darkness.
Kim Willsher in Paris
Wednesday June 2, 2004
French officials fear George Bush will inflame anti-American sentiment in France this weekend by linking the D-Day landings with the invasion of Iraq.
Advisers close to Jacques Chirac have let it be known that any refer | |
