THE MONTHLY SEARCH FOR TRUTH IN NEWSFebruary 2006 THIS MONTH’S TOPICS: SOTT
Editorials and Features
Glimpses Of Truth Bush And His Cronies U.S. Foreign Policy Including Iraq And Iran U.S. Domestic Policies And Creeping Totalitarianism Spying On Americans Rising Chaos/Anarchy/Psychopathy Police State & Propaganda The Economy Media Matters New World Order Israel, Palestine and Zionism Religious Matters False Flag Operations Torture In The 4th Reich Mind Control 911/Conspiracy Fighting Back Science and Technology Health And Medical Environment/Climate Change World News Quirks
What Can You Do? We get many emails from readers asking what they can do. They see the dire situation facing the United States and feel helpless. Many say that before finding our site, they wondered if they were crazy or if they were the only one that saw what was happening to their country. If you have benefited from our work, then there is likely to be someone else out there who could, too. But how do we reach them? The Real Enemy and What YOU Can Do Last week I wrote an editorial to kick off our Semi-annual Fundraiser. In that editorial I quoted a popular political action group's fund-raising report that informs us that, from 6,613 contributors, they were able to raise $389,900 in a single DAY. That averages out to $58.00 per person. Not a big expenditure for everyone, but the total is what is amazing. That total is a result of the large base of supporters they have which they have as a result of early advertising and very public and prominent activities where they make a big splash but actually accomplish zilch. They added that "This generosity gives us a great deal of hope." I, on the other hand, did not express much hope at all that pursuing change via political action within the existing system would accomplish a thing. The Daily Battle Against Subjectivity If the world is the expression of those who inhabit it, the mirror of ourselves and our ways of interacting with each other, then surely the only way for the world to evolve is for its inhabitants to evolve. In a perfect world A good society is a means to a good life for those who compose it; not something having a kind of excellence on its own account. — Bertrand Russell . In a perfect world, there would be no soldiers, no police, no crime, no hatred, no oil spills. A ritually stabilized world population, structured so each person connected with an actualized family unit, would have behaviorally internalized integrity and civility and this was reflected in friendly social behavior and totally amiable international relations. Big Oil and Bigger Profits - Fleecing the Sheeple Today, Oil company Royal Dutch Shell reported a record annual profit for a UK-listed company of $22.94bn. This comes on top of similarly outrageous profits previously posted by other major oil exploration companies. Exxon Mobil for example made a staggering $36.1 billion in 2005. Where do these vast sums of money come from? Check your bank balance, that might give you a clue. Listen Up, America: It's Now or Never Lately, I find myself in a bit of a funk. It all started with Patrick Fitzgerald riding in on his white horse and dishing out indictments left and right - at least, that's what everyone thought he would do. But that's not what happened. Abortion, Psychopaths and Mother Love The other day a most interesting post was made to our modest little guestbook/forum as follows: First of all, congratulations on your site – your work is admirable. Lately I have found on it one more piece of a puzzle I have been trying to put together for years. The basic question goes like this: why does it seem necessary for the powers of the week to put down women to such an extent? An urgent sub-question is: why is George W. Bush so hellbent on taking away not only women's rights generally, especially reproductive rights?Now, we already know some of the rather self-evident answers: a state oriented towards war and domination NEEDS babies, most of all babies born from poor and uneducated families, in order to have a) people willing to enlist in the army and b) cheap wage workers – it will be very important to have a lot of them when comes the time to remove unions and worker's rights. And you cannot get a high birth rate in a society where women are free to choose not to have babies. But then, that explanation is not enough.Preparing the World For Another 9/11 What are we to make of the "furore" surrounding the publishing of anti-Islam cartoons by Dutch and French daily papers? The intent seems clear enough - to portray Islam, and therefore all Muslims as fanatic terrorists, and to provoke Muslim groups to confirm for the world that this portrayal is accurate - which is exactly what has happened. Flag and effigy burning has already ensued in Pakistan, Indonesia, and the Palestine territories. In Iran, hundreds of thousands of worshippers staged a protest demonstration against the insulting cartoons, shouting "Death to America," "Death to Israel" and "this insult will not remain unanswered." Burning Down Danish Embassies: More Straussian Psychological Warfare? Amidst the corporate media feeding frenzy over the publication of caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten in September and subsequently reprinted in European media and New Zealand in the past week, one important element has apparently slipped under the wire—the complicity of Danish imams who “circulated the images to brethren in Muslim countries,” according to Charles Moore, writing for the UK Telegraph. “When they did so, they included in their package three other, much more offensive cartoons which had not appeared in Jyllands-Posten but were lumped together so that many thought they had.” Reaping The Genetic Whirlwinds For hundreds of years, the New World was the dumping ground for the misfits and criminals of Europe. The indigenous peoples of the Americas were their first victims. Will those who once cast off their rejects now stand up and face the consequences? Hillary Clinton and the Neolib Gender Game According to CBS, Americans don’t care what gender their neolib rulers are. “As has been the case for a number of years, nearly all Americans say they would vote for a woman for president from their own political party if she were qualified,” reports the corporate propaganda division of Westinghouse (a former death merchant industry). Not unexpectedly, CBS sports an image of the Grand Madame of Globalism—Hillary Clinton—on the page with the poll results, thus revealing who they imagine the next president should be, that is if the easily and repeatedly hoodwinked masses decide 2008 is high tide for a female ruler. No doubt millions of Americans will feel a tad better—at least in the short term—about taking their marching orders down the thorny road toward slavery from a woman. Flemming Rose and the Straussian Art of Provocation As suspected, and claimed on this blog over the weekend, the inflammatory anti-Muslim cartoons published in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten were a deliberate provocation designed to outrage and incite Muslims and thus engender support in Europe and America for the manufactured “clash of civilizations” engineered by the Straussian neocons. As Christopher Bollyn writes for the American Free Press, the neocon operative behind the cartoon scheme is Flemming Rose, cultural editor of Jyllands-Posten, who has “has clear ties to the Zionist Neo-Cons.” Rose “traveled to Philadelphia in October 2004 to visit Daniel Pipes, the Neo-Con ideologue who says the only path to Middle East peace will come through a total Israeli military victory. Rose then penned a positive article about Pipes, who compares ‘militant Islam’ with fascism and communism,” Bollyn reveals. Iraqi voices are drowned out in a blizzard of occupiers' spin The deception that launched the invasion of Iraq now increasingly shapes media coverage of the occupation Three years after invading Iraq, George Bush and Tony Blair are still dipping into the trough of deception and disinformation that launched the war: hailing non-existent progress, declaring sanctimonious satisfaction with sectarian elections and holding out the mirage of early withdrawal. In reality, the occupation and divide-and-rule tactics have spawned death squads, torture, kidnappings, chemical attacks, polluted water, depleted uranium, bombardment of civilians, probably more than 100,000 people dead and a relentless deterioration in Iraqis' daily lives. Jeff Rense: Crypto-Jew or Holocaust Denier? It’s a crazy, polarized world. On the one hand, we have former GCN radio show host Daryl Bradford Smith declaring fellow radio talk show host and website proprietor Jeff Rense a Zionist stooge, and on the other hand we have a reactionary Horowitzite and Israeli settler Steve Plaut, calling him a “Holocaust Denier, a Neo-Nazi, and a UFO nut.” Wake Up And Smell The Cordite al-Badawi. Do you recognise that name? Didn't think so. He's one of the people that the US government alleges carried out a suicide bomb attack on the USS Cole as it sat at a Yemeni harbor in 2000. What Can You Do? We get many emails from readers asking what they can do. They see the dire situation facing the United States and feel helpless. Many say that before finding our site, they wondered if they were crazy or if they were the only one that saw what was happening to their country. If you have benefited from our work, then there is likely to be someone else out there who could, too. But how do we reach them? Boo! When the going gets tough, the president talks terror, terror, terror. Does this man have any credibility? Only with those who think that Osama and Saddam are one and the same and, of course, the people who still believe that Iraq attacked us on September 11, 2001. Yes, that's the answer. Oh, and the scared. Actually, I don't buy this foiled plot Bush announced today--that al Qaeda planned to fly a plane into the Library Tower. And one of the many reasons is because he had to read it to us. If there were any truth to his success at preventing a disaster, he would have been capable of telling it. Bush Recycles Terror Plot Disinfo in the Nick of Time Naturally, this whole sketchy and uncorroborated affair is simply a transparent effort to deflect attention away from congressional intelligence committee hearings supposedly empanelled to uncover details about Straussian neocon criminal behavior vis-à-vis snooping on millions of Americans. It is also intended to offer up an excuse for continued snooping and the deliberate trashing for the Bill of Rights as the Straussian neocons behind the Bush administration make steady progress in reducing America to a nightmarish Panopticon. Commentary on the Cointelpro War Magus, a friend of Signs of the Times and former 60s activist in the United States, looks back finds some answers to questions that have been haunting him for three decades. Secularist Stupidity & Religious Wars "What hypocrisy. When it comes to what Germans are most sensitive about, Hitler and the Holocaust, they are ruthless censors. British historian David Irving has spent three months in a Viennese prison awaiting trial on Feb. 20 for speeches he made 15 years ago in Austria. Skeptics and deniers of the Holocaust are prosecuted, fined and imprisoned in Europe with the enthusiastic endorsement of the European press." They Thought They Were Free - The Germans, 1933-45 "To live in this process is absolutely not to be able to notice it — please try to believe me — unless one has a much greater degree of political awareness, acuity, than most of us had ever had occasion to develop. Each step was so small, so inconsequential, so well explained or, on occasion, ‘regretted,’ that, unless one were detached from the whole process from the beginning, unless one understood what the whole thing was in principle, what all these ‘little measures’ that no ‘patriotic German’ could resent must some day lead to, one no more saw it developing from day to day than a farmer in his field sees the corn growing. One day it is over his head. The President Who Cried Wolf In the past, the lies that have come out of the White House have at least been potentially almost kind of a little bit true. Now we’ve reached a new low. Today our President told the country that his illegal wiretapping allowed the US government to foil a terrorist plot four years ago to hijack an airplane using shoe-bombs and fly it into the US Bank Tower in Los Angeles. Bullshit. The Real Enemy and What YOU Can Do Last week I wrote an editorial to kick off our Semi-annual Fundraiser. In that editorial I quoted a popular political action group's fund-raising report that informs us that, from 6,613 contributors, they were able to raise $389,900 in a single DAY. That averages out to $58.00 per person. Not a big expenditure for everyone, but the total is what is amazing. That total is a result of the large base of supporters they have which they have as a result of early advertising and very public and prominent activities where they make a big splash but actually accomplish zilch. They added that "This generosity gives us a great deal of hope." I, on the other hand, did not express much hope at all that pursuing change via political action within the existing system would accomplish a thing. More Evidence Nuking Iran is on Schedule As former CIA intelligence analyst Philip Giraldi told the American Conservative last July, the United States plans to nuke the be-jesus out of Iran. “The Pentagon, acting under instructions from Vice President Dick Cheney’s office, has tasked the United States Strategic Command (STRATCOM) with drawing up a contingency plan to be employed in response to another 9/11-type terrorist attack on the United States. The plan includes a large-scale air assault on Iran employing both conventional and tactical nuclear weapons.” Censorship in Modern 'Democratic' America More than likely, you missed the display of public opinion on Bush's illegal wiretapping at Georgetown University, Washington, a few weeks ago. The reason you missed it is the same reason we missed it: the mainstream media more or less ignored it. Don't bother trying to find the story with a google news search either, it simply isn't there. Such is the state of censorship in modern-day America. NSA Snoop Fiasco: Democrats Sell the Constitution Down the River If we are to believe the corporate media, Bush’s “secret eavesdropping program” is useless and “out-dated” because a shrewd “al-Qaeda” has “undoubtedly has changed its means of communication to avoid Washington’s monitoring,” according to the Associated Press. Blair's Anti-Terrorism Law - Throttling The Truth The race between Tony Blair and George Bush (and their NeoCon backers) to become the first modern Western "Democracy" to transform itself into a de facto dictatorship is heating up. Daniel Pipes and the Danish Cartoon "Conspiracy" “There’s a conspiracy theory developing about myself and Flemming Rose, the Jyllands-Posten cultural editor who published the famous twelve cartoons of the Muslim prophet,” Straussian neocon and Islamophobe ne plus ultra Daniel Pipes informs us on his blog. Land of the Puppet People From Valenzuela's Veritas American Heroin It oftentimes boggles the mind to try and understand the ease with which the Establishment can manipulate the American citizenry into another warmongering escapade, this time an ominous foray into the Persian lands of Iran, a nation rich in history, culture, location and most importantly to the Evil Empire, oil and gas. Gaza as the Warsaw Ghetto From Kurt Nimmo's blog Ehud Olmert, acting like Governor-General Hans Frank, has decided to turn the Gaza Strip into the Warsaw Ghetto. Frank was of course Governor-General of occupied Poland and Olmert is the acting PM of Israel, also known as occupied Palestine (ministerial powers were transferred to Olmert after the war criminal Ariel Sharon suffered a severe hemorrhagic stroke). The British Government: Long-Time Sponsor of Islamic Terror You want the news behind the news? You want to know just how far from reality the official truth is? Consider the following story from today's UK Guardian: The Protocols of the Pathocrats In this week's podcast we discuss what we have identified as the very first problem that must be solved in order for positive changes to be undertaken in America and elsewhere in the world: the Media. Knowledge is power. Those who control information can control the masses; it's that simple. As we researched the subject of the media, we came across The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion. As everyone knows, this is a vicious anti-Semitic hoax. We agree. We do not for a minute think that this represents Judaism or ordinary Jewish people. What was shocking for us was our realization that the Protocols is being implemented almost line by line by many of the members of the Bush Administration and the various government 'think-tanks' that formulate their policy. In other words, the Protocols is not a hoax because it is nonsense, but rather it is only a hoax because it was attributed to Jews. Here, we present the text of Protocol 12 from which several excerpts were read on the podcast and which we jokingly referred to as "The Gospel According to Karl Rove." Read it and understand that this is, indeed, the number one issue that America must deal with before they can do a single other thing. 7862 Iraqi Prisoners Murdered In U.S. Custody Two days ago, online magazine Salon.com announced that they had obtained files and other electronic documents from an internal Army investigation into the Abu Ghraib prisoner-abuse scandal. Slow Murder of the Fourth Amendment Another Day In The Empire Earlier today, I called Jack Blood’s radio show on GCN and complained loudly and mightily about how the PATRIOT Act was rubber stamped by the Senate yesterday, paving the way for all manner of continued and increasing malfeasance against the people and the now jackboot trampled and seriously bruised (if not comatose) Bill of Rights. How long do you have? Will you wait to be killed, or ID the real perpetrators? How do you talk to your neighbor when he's right in the middle of killing someone? What if all your neighbors are doing it, what do you do then? Do you also start killing? Redneckville OpEdNews I am no longer willing to be cheerful and friendly with these failures of democracy, these losers who have sold out our precious freedoms so they can, even if it's at a subconscious level, feel more manly, more tough, by buying into Bush's war, his pseudo tough, stupid, cowboy talk about evildooers, swamps and caves. These men ARE the swamp and cave dwellers, and they are actively helping to send the US into a third world era. Crisis of the Republic Many people in the United States see that their country is in the midst of the greatest crisis it has ever faced. However, as long as they remain blind to the fact that their government was complicit in the attacks of 9/11, they will remain impotent to confront their adversary, underestimating its deviousness and malicious character. Trans-Generational Terrorism There can be little doubt that the very same Western powers that created the modern-day Middle East are now in the process of destroying it. Yet it is a constant source of amazement to us how a Middle East plan that began with then British Secretary for War Winston Churchill employing chemical weapons to 'placate' the indigenous Arab tribal population of then Mesopotamia, can have continued on so seamlessly for almost 100 years of the history of the political elite, until today, when Churchill's heir finds himself slavishly devoted to the same destructive impulse. What mechanism exists that can ensure the success of such a nefarious generation-spanning agenda? Correcting the Record on My Stint Writing for Counterpunch Occasionally I will take note of the lunatic wanderings of the Israeli settler Steven Plaut, a so-called economics professor in Israel (no doubt teaching his Jabotinsky-inspired brood how to steal land from Palestinians), if only to correct his lies and counter his slanderous remarks about your humble blogger. For instance, since the demise of David Horowitz’s Moonbat Central blog (probably retired because the reactionaries posting there often engaged in slander and outrageous if not transparent lies instead of making actual logical arguments, thus opening Horowitz and his CIA-connected meal ticket Richard Mellon Scaife to lawsuits), Plaut has since wandered about, “guest” posting on the blog of another dispossessed Horowitzite, Rocco DiPippo. In one such recent post, Plaut claims I was “fired” from Counterpunch. Saddam Tapes Tainted by Cherney Foundation All of a sudden Saddam, or one of his groomed doubles, is talking on tape. Bush was right all along about Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction, or at least partially right, and there is a new shine of legitimacy on the invasion of Iraq and the murder of thousands of Iraqis who probably should have known better than to live in a country with such a perfidious dictator, a guy who messed around with weapons of mass destruction behind the back of the United Nations and the Greatest Darn Country on Earth. Baghdad bomb kills 22 - But Who Is to Blame? In what has tragically become a commonplace event, today yet another car bomb exploded in Baghdad. The UK Guardian reports: Jack Straw Protests Too Much Yesterday, during his whistlestop tour of Iraq, British Foreign Minister Jack Straw made a couple of very interesting admissions, although undoubtedly he would not see them as such. The Chomsky/Blankfort Polemic The anti-war movement has failed" Tel-Aviv and Washington are linked in the Middle East. That's a fact. But the importance of this link in Washington's colonial politics is being debated in the anti-imperialist movment. For the US Jewish, anti-Zionist journalist Jeffrey Blankfort, Israeli influence is central to US policy and the anti-war movement has failed because of their inability to understand the importance of this lobby. Having developed a radical approach to this question, going so far as to deny the energy factor in the war in Iraq, Mr. Blankfort nonetheless opens interesting paths on Zionist influence in the United States. We reproduce an interview he gave to journalist Silvia Cattori. Check Your Conscience at the Door: We're Building an EmpireBlaring its typical jarringly cacophonous morning radio jabber, the suddenly welcome sound of my alarm rescued me from the maelstrom of a nightmarish Neocon world spawned within my unconscious mind. As consciousness flooded my being, I had an epiphany. My breed of human being is a pariah in the American Empire. Bush Neocons: Going After Fifth Columnists David Horowitz, on the paycheck of the reactionary Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation and CIA collaborator Richard Scaife's foundation, ranted and raved back at the outset of the Iraqi invasion in early 2003, issuing shrill warnings about a "Fifth Column … preparing to move into action to attempt to defeat America in its war against Saddam." According to Horowitz, the incipient "peace movement is not about peace" but is instead "a fifth column communist movement" determined "to destroy America and give victory to our totalitarian enemies." More On The Shrine Bombing At least 120 people have now been killed as a direct result of the bombing of the Shia shrine in Iraq. Fifty bullet-riddled bodies were found in Baghdad overnight and 47 factory workers were killed at a roadblock on the outskirts of the capital. Israeli Defense Minister Declares Palestine "Axis of Evil" Call it déjà vu but Israeli television reports are branding Mahmoud Abbas as irrelevant in a move identical to their position toward the late Palestinian president Yasser Arafat. And though Hamas has largely honored the truce established last year, not only has Israel broken that truce over 24,000 times resulting in nearly 200 Palestinians deaths, Shin Bet has rejected an extended truce with Hamas. Testimonies of two eyewitnesses near the bombed Dome As with so many other events of global significance in recent years, the official story about the bombing of the Shia shrine in Iraq two days ago has very quickly started to stink and reveal many inconsistencies... Pentagon-Controlled Iraqi National Guard Implicated in Samarra Mosque Bombing As the "non-partisan" Council on Foreign Relations assures us, Iraqi National Guard troops are trained and fully "vetted" by the Pentagon. "National guard troops receive three weeks of formal training and then on-the-job training by working with U.S. forces," a CFR backgrounder explains. "The National Guard has replaced the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps as the largest security force in Iraq," reports the World Tribune. "The 45,000-member force has been trained and equipped by the United States, with help from Britain and Jordan." In short, the Iraqi National Guard is a subsidiary of the Pentagon, organized and trained to do the bidding of the Anglo-American occupation forces and their installed minions. Thus it should come as no surprise the Iraqi National Guard may play an important role in the recent bombing of the Golden Dome mosque in Samarra, according to locals. There used to be very little sectarianism in Iraq A reader writes to the UK Herald: Iraq is a land replete with many wonders, not least of which is/was the al-Askari shrine in Samarra. Twenty years ago I was on my way to al-Hatra, a fifth-century Greek settlement (near Mosul), when I first saw the Golden Mosque in Samarra. We also climbed the famous tower with its perilously open-spiral staircase. This venerated shrine has now been detroyed, its flanking minarets still forlornly standing, thus only underlining the loss of the famous dome itself. Hezbollah and Condi's Double Standard "Lebanon has refused to extradite to the United States four suspected Shia Hezbollah members believed to have carried out attacks against Americans in Beirut during the 1980s, judicial sources said on Saturday," reports the Khaleej Times. "Local media said that during her visit to Beirut earlier this week US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had made the demand to Prime Minister Foaud Seniora." It is interesting Condi would make such a demand, but then Straussian neocons know no bounds, ethically or legally, especially when it comes to pushing around small countries. The Caricatures in Middle East Politics The centerpiece of the current explosive confrontation between Islamic and Arab protestors, political leaders and governments and the US and Western European regimes and publishers is rooted in Israeli efforts to polarize the world in its favor and to promote isolation, economic sanctions and/or a military attack on Iran. There are several key questions, which almost all commentators and analysts have failed to address. These include: Why did the "cartoons" get published in Denmark? Starving Palestinians to Death Another Day In The Empire It should now be obvious Israel fully intends to starve as many Palestinians to death as possible. When Americans No Longer Own America www.thomhartmann.com The Dubai Ports World deal is waking Americans up to a painful reality: So-called "conservatives" and "flat world" globalists have bankrupted our nation for their own bag of silver, and in the process are selling off America.
The corporate plunder of Iraq The neo-liberal transformation of Iraq is portrayed as a humanitarian venture. Western corporations and occupying governments now talk of the liberation of Iraq from the “tyranny of Saddam’s planned economy”. On the day that major hostilities were declared over, Tony Blair told the Iraqi people, “Saddam Hussein and his regime plundered your nation’s wealth. While many of you live in poverty, they have the lives of luxury. The money from Iraqi oil will be yours – to be used to build prosperity for you and your families.” This has turned out to be another shameless lie. Saddam’s regime was undoubtedly corrupt, in the sense that he established a system of patronage and rewards for the elite that remained closest to him. But the scale and intensity of the corruption and fraud perpetrated by the occupation is unprecedented in modern history. Congressman Hinchey says Bush didn’t want to capture Bin Laden When the US didn’t capture Osama Bin Laden in Afghanistan, it wasn’t by mistake, Congressman Maurice Hinchey of Hurley theorized. Instead, Hinchey said the Administration had a motive for not capturing him. “Why did we do that? The only logical answer that comes to mind is they didn’t want to capture Bin Laden because if they captured Bin Laden and wiped out the Taliban, which they could have done at that moment, there would have been no justification for going to war in Iraq, and they wanted to use that as a justification for attacking Iraq,” he said. Hinchey is a critic of the war in Iraq and the Bush administration, who he says lied about the reasons for going into Iraq. White House Can't Sweep Aside Abramoff The scandal surrounding disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff has shaken up Capitol Hill. But it still poses significant problems for the Bush White House. A court hearing scheduled later this month may bring fresh attention to the case of former White House aide David Safavian, who is charged with lying in connection with a golf trip Mr. Abramoff arranged. Justice Department officials haven't closed their review of actions by former Interior Department official J. Steven Griles, who disputes claims that he favored Abramoff clients, such as Native American tribes involved in casinos. Calls for the White House to release photos of Mr. Abramoff with the president -- and details of his contacts with presidential aides including Karl Rove -- haven't abated. Ex-FEMA chief: I may tell all about Katrina Former disaster agency chief Michael Brown is indicating he is ready to reveal his correspondence with President Bush and other officials during Hurricane Katrina unless the White House forbids it and offers legal support. Brown's stance, in a letter obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press, follows senators' complaints that the White House is refusing to answer questions or release documents about advice given to Bush concerning the August 29 storm. Brown quit as director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency days after Katrina struck. He left the federal payroll November 2. Paul Bremer - New Canaan's Pontius Pilate His work was precisely laid out in Washington and he performed it with quiet ferocity. His first task was to turn over Iraq’s traditional publicly owned enterprises to foreign investors. He started with electricity. (In California, this was analogous to deregulation.) Next to go was the public water supply, and soon the telephone system. New Canaan can identify with this sort of privatization. Then came the banks, followed shortly by the insurance companies, all quickly gobbled up by outside money. Now even farmers are not allowed to plant their own seeds, but must buy genetically modified models from Monsanto, Cargill, or the like. Iraqi voices are drowned out in a blizzard of occupiers' spin Three years after invading Iraq, George Bush and Tony Blair are still dipping into the trough of deception and disinformation that launched the war: hailing non-existent progress, declaring sanctimonious satisfaction with sectarian elections and holding out the mirage of early withdrawal. In reality, the occupation and divide-and-rule tactics have spawned death squads, torture, kidnappings, chemical attacks, polluted water, depleted uranium, bombardment of civilians, probably more than 100,000 people dead and a relentless deterioration in Iraqis' daily lives. What Is Plan B? Eradicate poverty, reforest the earth, restore fisheries, eliminate overgrazing, protect biological diversity, stabilize climate -- Lester Brown says it's all possible. Following Orders Is No Excuse If Powell had refused three years ago to deliver the Speech of Lies, we would not now be watching an identical duplicity being rolled out against Iran. The ultimate cost of the deception being practiced on the American people will dwarf the terrible price that has already been paid. Why didn’t Powell do the right thing? His own reputation would have been forever secure as a man of integrity. Why did he sacrifice his integrity to the crooked scheme of his commander in chief? The Neocons' Grand Plan: Oil, Israel, Military Bases There is hardly anyone now who believes that George W. Bush invaded the country of Iraq, in March 2003, to prevent the development of weapons of mass destruction, or to combat Islamist terrorism. Even that 'democracy' thing was an add-on after the fact and only served as a cover when the official reasons for war fell apart. In any case, international law does not permit a country to attack another one in order to change its political regime. Only fascist and totalitarian countries do that, i.e. Hitler's Germany and Brezhnev 's Soviet Union. America's masterplan is to force GM food on the world There is little the WTO, the EC or the US can do in face of this coalition of the unwilling. If the US again tries to impose its GM products on Europe - as it did in the 90s, sparking the whole debacle - the attempt will backfire. Europe's biotech industry may now try to force the EC to use the WTO judgment to get the six countries with import bans to repeal anti-GM laws, but it will meet an even broader, more determined movement. Hidden history of US germ testing In the 1950s, the Seventh-day Adventist Church struck an extraordinary deal with the US Army. It would provide test subjects for experiments on biological weapons at the Fort Detrick research centre near Washington DC. The volunteers were conscientious objectors who agreed to be infected with debilitating pathogens. In return, they were exempted from frontline warfare. Conservatives Endorse the Fuhrer Principle - Our leader über alles Last week's annual Conservative Political Action Conference signaled the transformation of American conservatism into brownshirtism. A former Justice Department official named Viet Dinh got a standing ovation when he told the CPAC audience that the rule of law mustn't get in the way of President Bush protecting Americans from Osama bin Laden. Former Republican congressman Bob Barr, who led the House impeachment of President Bill Clinton, reminded the CPAC audience that our first loyalty is to the U.S. Constitution, not to a leader. The question, Barr said, is not one of disloyalty to Bush, but whether America "will remain a nation subject to, and governed by, the rule of law or the whim of men." The CPAC audience answered that they preferred to be governed by Bush. According to Dana Milbank, a member of the CPAC audience named Richard Sorcinelli loudly booed Barr, declaring: "I can't believe I'm in a conservative hall listening to him say Bush is off course trying to defend the United States." A woman in the audience told Barr that the Constitution placed Bush above the law and above non-elected federal judges. These statements gallop beyond the merely partisan. They express the sentiments of brownshirtism. Our leader über alles. 14 Defining Characteristics of Fascism - Flash BushFlash
Flash to share
with family and friends.Bush May Be Crossing the Rubicon From Republic To Dictatorship Through the justifications it has put forth for warrentless wiretapping, the Bush administration is almost literally crossing the Rubicon, beginning the process of transforming the United States from a republic into to a presidential dictatorship. The warrantless wiretapping is dangerous, illegal and unconstitutional by itself. These are criminal acts by the President, and in and of themselves warrant impeachment and removal from office (whether or not impeachment is politically practical under a Republican Congress.) But the Administration's feeble rationales justifying this program are even more dangerous. Bush and his surrogates claim that the President has the constitutional right, as part of his inherent powers as Commander-In-Chief during a time of war (an endless war in this case) to do anything he chooses to do if he believes it protects national security. In short, Bush claims the power of a dictator. Traitorous bitches and bastards Yes, freedom died this week and just about every one of the bitches and bastards who "serve" in Congress should take a long, hard look at the blood on their hands. They stand guilty of high crimes and treason against the United States of America. They are traitors and should be treated as such. Silence the War Drums Congressman Ron Paul
Before the US
House of Representatives, February 16, 2006 02/20/06 -- Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to this very dangerous legislation. My colleagues would do well to understand that this legislation is leading us toward war against Iran. U.S. Army stretched to breaking The Marines may be the most celebrated of the American armed forces, but it's the Army that does most of the heavy lifting, as it is doing in Afghanistan and Iraq. In the process, the Army is being battered and shattered in the same way that it was in Vietnam. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld says that isn't the case; everything's fine. But a recent authoritative study says he is wrong. Commissioned by the Pentagon, the study was done by Andrew Krepinevich of the independent Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments. He's a West Point graduate who served in a variety of Army roles, including a stint on the strategic plans and policy division, before retiring. He holds a doctorate from Harvard University. Neoconservatism has evolved into something I can no longer support The US needs to reframe its foreign policy not as a military campaign but as a political contest for hearts and minds. As we approach the third anniversary of the onset of the Iraq war, it seems unlikely that history will judge the intervention or the ideas animating it kindly. More than any other group, it was the neoconservatives inside and outside the Bush administration who pushed for democratising Iraq and the Middle East. They are widely credited (or blamed) for being the decisive voices promoting regime change in Iraq, and yet it is their idealistic agenda that, in the coming months and years, will be the most directly threatened. Slicing Away Liberty: 1933 Germany, 2006 America I must confess that I'm utterly baffled by the lack of sustained, organized outrage and opposition from Democratic officials and ordinary citizens at the Bush Administration's never-ending scandals, corruptions, war-initiations, and the amassing of more and more police-state power into their hands. And so, facing little effective opposition, the Bush juggernaut continues on its rampage. How to explain this? Certainly, one could point to a deficient mass-media, to the soporific drug of TV, to having to work so hard that for many there's no time for activism, to education aimed at taking tests and not how to think, to the residual fear-fallout from 9/11, to a penchant for fantasy over reality, to the timid and unimaginative Democratic leadership, to scandal-fatigue, etc. But I would suggest that even more disturbing answers can be found by examining recent history. It's Munich In America. There Will Be No Normandy. This is it, folks. This is the scenario our Founders lost sleep over. This is the day they prepared us for. Outside the Philadelphia convention Benjamin Franklin was asked what sort of government he and his colleagues were crafting. His reply? "A republic. If you can keep it." And that is just the question at issue today. Can we keep it? Sure, it can sound melodramatic to use the f-word (no, not the one Churlish Cheney hurled at Patrick Leahy), and I have mostly avoided doing so for just that reason. Especially where the politically less informed are concerned, arguing that America is slipping into fascism can be the first and last point they'll hear you make. They Thought They Were Free - The Germans, 1933-45 By Milton Mayer Excerpt from pages 166-73 of "They Thought They Were Free" First published in 1955 "To live in this process is absolutely not to be able to notice it — please try to believe me — unless one has a much greater degree of political awareness, acuity, than most of us had ever had occasion to develop. Each step was so small, so inconsequential, so well explained or, on occasion, ‘regretted,’ that, unless one were detached from the whole process from the beginning, unless one understood what the whole thing was in principle, what all these ‘little measures’ that no ‘patriotic German’ could resent must some day lead to, one no more saw it developing from day to day than a farmer in his field sees the corn growing. One day it is over his head. Victims of War Are Not To Be Seen Or Heard Or Mentioned "The greatest dignity and respect you can give [victims of war] is to show the horror they suffered, the absolute gruesome horror." -War Photographer David Lesson Joseph Bonham was an American soldier. He lost both of his arms and legs and all of his face to an artillery shell. He could not see or hear or speak. Other than that he was healthy and lucid. That was Joe's nightmare. He could be kept alive a long time. Joe remained an anonymous torso until his head tapping was recognized as Morse code. When his message was finally understood, it was assumed he'd gone insane. Joe asked to be put on exhibit so that children and parents and teachers and politicians and preachers and patriots of every stripe could have a close-up look at war's leavings. It was the only way he could give his nightmare meaning. Joseph Bonham's request was denied. It was not in the best interest of the country to foist him on an unsuspecting public. He died an "unknown soldier." After 40 Years, the First National Security Whistleblower Still Seeks Justice Kennedy's "Plan for a Coup in Cuba" and the Secret Service agent who knew too much After an outstanding career in law enforcement, Abraham Bolden was appointed by John F. Kennedy to be the first African American presidential Secret Service agent, where he served with distinction. But you haven't heard about Abraham Bolden during Black History month, because after helping to prevent JFK's assassination in the weeks before Dallas, Bolden was arrested on the very day he went to Washington to tell the Warren Commission about those attempts. Caught in a maze of National Security concerns that only became clear after four million pages of JFK files were released in the 1990s, Bolden was sentenced to six years in prison, becoming America's first National Security Whistleblower. Bush's Mysterious 'New Programs' Is the Pentagon building U.S.-based prison camps for Muslim immigrants? Evidence points to the possibility. Not that George W. Bush needs much encouragement, but Sen. Lindsey Graham suggested to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales a new target for the administration's domestic operations -- Fifth Columnists, supposedly disloyal Americans who sympathize and collaborate with the enemy. "The administration has not only the right, but the duty, in my opinion, to pursue Fifth Column movements," Graham, R-S.C., told Gonzales during Senate Judiciary Committee hearings on Feb. 6. "I stand by this president's ability, inherent to being commander in chief, to find out about Fifth Column movements, and I don't think you need a warrant to do that," Graham added, volunteering to work with the administration to draft guidelines for how best to neutralize this alleged threat. "Senator," a smiling Gonzales responded, "the president already said we'd be happy to listen to your ideas." Taste of the Future "Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself." The acidulous wisdom of Mark Twain speaks to us across the ages, and never more than this week during the great congressional mobilization to save America's ports from the dreaded hand of Dubai. The furor over Dubai is misplaced on so many levels, but let's start with the supposed terrorist threat. Military and CIA officials will tell you privately that the United Arab Emirates is among the most effective intelligence partners the United States has today in the Arab world. Its operatives are risking their lives to help gather information about al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups. They don't advertise it, and when an operation goes bad -- such as the U-2 spy plane that crashed last June returning from Afghanistan to al-Dhafra air base -- they keep their mouths shut. Defeat is victory. Death is life Everyone in the Middle East rewrites history, but never before have we had a US administration so wilfully, dishonestly and ruthlessly reinterpreting tragedy as success, defeat as victory, death as life - helped, I have to add, by the compliant American press. I'm reminded not so much of Vietnam as of the British and French commanders of the First World War who repeatedly lied about military victory over the Kaiser as they pushed hundreds of thousands of their men through the butchers' shops of the Somme, Verdun and Gallipoli. The only difference now is that we are pushing hundreds of thousands of Arabs though the butchers' shops - and don't even care. War in Error Sending a general to do a sheriff's job. Small events sometimes reveal large truths. Last month's U.S. missile strike in the remote Bajaur district of Pakistan was such an event. Aimed at taking out Ayman al-Zawahiri, Osama bin Laden's chief deputy, the strike missed its intended target and killed as many as 18 residents of the small village of Damadola. But the episode did not end there: outraged Pakistanis rose up in protest; days of highly publicized anti-American demonstrations followed. In effect, the United States had handed Muslims around the world another grievance to hold against Americans. Wounded in Iraq: Survivors They left under a wave of support - red, white and blue bunting and flags and cheers - and headed to a war half a world away in Iraq. It was their duty, their calling, their patriotic responsibility. They returned missing . . . one his arm, the other his ability to walk. Their lives shaken and futures uncertain, two soldiers from Utah are now at Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington, D.C. They have few regrets. 'We're soldiers; that's our job,' Utahn says. Cpl. Braxton McCoy's uniform had pockets on both sleeves. On the right, he carried a folded flag. On the left, he packed his checkbook. That's meaningful, he's sure, because the bullet from the AK-47 ripped through the checks, not through the Stars and Stripes. Sitting in his electric wheelchair, the bones in his legs cracked and shattered from a suicide bomber, McCoy isn't outwardly emotional as he recounts the tale of when ball bearings ripped through his hand, his legs and his face. He'll walk again, he vows. But the 20-year-old member of the Utah National Guard's 222nd who wears his cowboy hat like it's required, won't be riding bulls anymore or shoeing any horses for a while. "I've always wanted to serve," McCoy says, as he struggles to attach footrests to his wheelchair with his one unbandaged hand. "Being in the Army wasn't enough; as a soldier you don't feel like you've done your duty unless you've gone to war. "It's sad we had to go over, but we're soldiers; that's our job." McCoy's future paid a price when he did his job. Now his new daily routine isn't feeding horses or cattle or moving the sprinklers on the alfalfa as a ranch hand near Scipio. He's waking to the sounds of a hospital in Washington, D.C., and struggling to get out of bed and into his wheelchair for physical therapy. From Superpower to Tinhorn Dictatorship America
is headed for a soft dictatorship by the end of Bush's second term.
Whether any American has civil rights will be decided by the
discretionary power of federal officials. The public in general will
tolerate the soft dictatorship as its discretionary powers will mainly
be felt by those few who challenge it.
Signs Comment:
Some might argue that it already is a tinhorn dictatorship. Given the
control of the vote, do we really think there is any chance of a
Democratic win in November? Didn't the exit polls in November 2004 give
Kerry the vote?
But even...what if the Democrats got control of Congress? What
difference would that really make, other than to reassure wishful
thinkers that "something was done"?
Graduates versus Oligarchs What we're seeing isn't the rise of a fairly broad class of knowledge workers. Instead, we're seeing the rise of a narrow oligarchy: income and wealth are becoming increasingly concentrated in the hands of a small, privileged elite. Speak for Yourself While we were camping out in hot and humid Crawford, Texas last August, trying to meet with George Bush and trying to end the war, a right-wing organization called Move America Forward (to oblivion?) started a bus tour called: Cindy, You Don't Speak for Me. Move America Forward does some nice things, like sending coffee to our troops. It is unfortunate for the families of the almost 2300 killed troops that the organization doesn't send non-defective body armor, GPS devices, or IED jammers to save the lives of the troops that have been put in harm's way for the politicians' lies and cowardice and corporate greed. I think these things would be a little more useful than coffee.
Bush: U.S. Must Get Free of Mideast Oil WASHINGTON - A politically weakened President Bush declared Tuesday night that America must break its long dependence on Mideast oil and rebuked critics of his stay-the-course strategy for the unpopular war in Iraq. "America is addicted to oil, which is often imported from unstable parts of the world," Bush said as he sought to drive the election-year agenda in his annual State of the Union address. Signs Comment: This speech leaves us ... well, speechless. We seem to remember, not too long ago, the Neocon Congress was offering tax cuts to those who purchased big, gas guzzling SUVs. Now, all of a sudden, everybody who has one of these polluting plants is "addicted to oil." No doubt. Bush: 'L'etat, c'est moi' WASHINGTON -- We are now learning what President Bush considers to be the limits of his power -- nothing. In public appearances this week, Bush defended his program of domestic spying without court approval, citing the inherent war powers of the presidency under the U.S. Constitution. [...] It all smacks of France's Louis XIV's famous dictum: "L'etat, c'est moi"-- "I am the state." Bush says only US can secure world peace President George Bush insisted last night that, despite its difficulties in Iraq, America would not retreat from the world, arguing that US leadership " is the only way to secure the peace". Isolationism and protectionism, he warned in his annual State of the Union address, led ultimately only " to danger and decline." Signs Comment: Sorry Dubya, you're a day late and a dollar short. You've made the US so unpleasant that all the brains with any sense have left by now... President aims to rally America after dismal year After the worst year of his presidency and with a desperate need to regain the political initiative, George Bush will seek tonight to rally Republicans and persuade all Americans that progress is being made on the most crucial issues confronting the nation. [...] He will argue that progress is being made in Iraq as well as in the so-called war on terror. He is also likely to draw attention to the challenge presented by the stand-off with Iran while stressing his administration has no quarrel with the Iranian people. Angry, skeptical Americans unimpressed with State of the Union speech "The man is a crook," she said. "He belongs in jail, not the White House." Seems to be the general concensus. State of the Union: When Bush Talks Straight Speaking before Congress on September 20, 2001, President Bush directly addressed the people of Afghanistan: "I also want to speak tonight directly to Muslims throughout the world. We respect your faith. It's practiced freely by many millions of Americans, and by millions more in countries that America counts as friends. Its teachings are good and peaceful, and those who commit evil in the name of Allah blaspheme the name of Allah. The terrorists are traitors to their own faith, trying, in effect, to hijack Islam itself. The enemy of America is not our many Muslim friends; it is not our many Arab friends. Our enemy is a radical network of terrorists, and every government that supports them. "Our war on terror begins with al Qaeda, but it does not end there. It will not end until every terrorist group of global reach has been found, stopped and defeated." [...]State of the Union: Why Those Terrorists Got Away - Bush skips uncomfortable details on wiretap program In his State of the Union address Tuesday night, President Bush defended his NSA domestic spy program, citing the failure to catch two of the 9-11 hijackers who had been placing international calls to al Qaeda leadership in the days before the attacks. But as James Ridgeway wrote in December, the problem wasn't that no U.S. intelligence agents knews of the hijackers, but rather that no one did anything with the information the U.S. had. Empty Rhetoric from a Vacuous Presidency It is not that the emperor has no clothes; just that he has no credibility left. It often gets so disheartening to cut through the plethora of misdirection and subterfuge in the speeches of George W. Bush. This State of the Union contained more of the same from Bush that we have heard over the past years. Unfortunately, most of his rhetoric does not match his record. You must understand as citizens that it is time to hold this president to his record, not his word. The Rule of Law – President Bush tonight looked America in the eye, and lied. There is no other way to state his ridiculous position on the NSA spying scandal. State of the Union: Agitated ``Fellow citizens, we have been called to leadership in a period of consequence. We have entered a great ideological conflict we did nothing to invite,'' Bush said. ``We see great changes in science and commerce that will influence all our lives. And sometimes it can seem that history is turning a wide arc, toward an unknown shore.'' The problem for Bush is that few of these troubles are new. He's had four years to ease people's pain. Signs Comment: The problem with these kinds of analyses is that they don't take into account the pathology of a man like Bush. If he wasn't born a psychopath, he was certainly made one by his psychopathic mother, "Sergeant Barbara." Arianna on S.O.T.U. Let's take some of these gems as they come... 17 mentions of "freedom" from the guy obsessed with assaulting it here at home. Did you notice the president had on a purple tie tonight? Very subtle. He could have come up with a purple finger or maybe covered head-to-toe in purple paint. We also heard him mention "weapons of mass murder". WMM. That's apparently the new WMD. The president also brought back that old chestnut, the line item veto. This from a man who has yet to veto a single bill. In over five years in office. I guess the line item veto was this year's voyage to Mars. One of the most heart-warming moments came when Joe Lieberman kissed W. even longer than he did at last year's speech. A salute to "Brokeback Mountain," I guess. Open Letter to the Neocons: We Can See You Squirming The neocons and their 'mouthpiece,' George W, Bush are in quite a bind over what to do about Iran. In this open letter from a former Pakistan Air Force Officer, America's options in confronting Iran are examined, and with some relish, the author outlines why the neocons are 'squirming' over what to do next. Dear Neocons, It is showtime over Iran. You are in a bind of your own making and, boy, am I glad to see it! Allow me to explain. Doctoring the past - Wiki style We are all Alastair Campbells now. Spin doctors' antennae whirred around this week when the volunteers who run Wikipedia discovered that staff of US senators and congressmen had been busy burnishing their bosses' entries in the internet encyclopedia. Millions of people turn to the reference site to look up facts - and change them. The non-profit making project to build an internet encyclopedia is the 19th most-visited site in the world. Three per cent of all webpages visited are Wikipedia pages. Its guiding, and democratic, principle: anyone can anonymously edit it. Increasingly, it seems, politicians and their staff are among the most dedicated editors. Cheney Spearheaded Effort to Discredit Wilson Vice President Dick Cheney and then-Deputy National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley led a campaign beginning in March 2003 to discredit former Ambassador Joseph Wilson for publicly criticizing the Bush administration's intelligence on Iraq, according to current and former administration officials. The officials work or had worked in the State Department, the CIA and the National Security Council in a senior capacity and had direct knowledge of the Vice President's campaign to discredit Wilson. Libby claims Cheney approved classified media leaks Indicted former top White House aide I. Lewis 'Scooter' Libby will argue that Vice President Dick Cheney authorized him to leak classified information in 2003 to bolster the case for the US-led war against Iraq, US news media reports. Libby, who has been charged in a federal investigation into the outing of a CIA agent, will in part base his defense on the claim that Cheney had encouraged him to share classified information with reporters, NBC television news said, citing sources familiar with the case. Spurious George On His Own Bush's latest lie, however, is different. "I don't know Abramoff" marks a new phase for our disingenuous president. It's almost as if he is lying about sex, given the "who cares" factor, massive evidence to the contrary, and the sheer stupidity of the denial. This Bush lie cannot be explained away by the incompetence of the CIA, or fabrications of his war-hungry neoconservative advisors, or even the verbal screwups his defenders find so charming. ...in Year Six of Our President, George may be emerging from his shell, coming into his own as a liar. Three More Lawmakers Linked to Abramoff Two of the elected officials referred to in Friday's filings have been identified in published reports as Reps. Steven LaTourette, R-Ohio, and Don Young, R-Alaska. According to Roll Call, a Capitol Hill newspaper, the two representatives wrote to the GSA in September 2002, urging the agency to give preferential treatment to groups such as Indian tribes when evaluating development proposals for the Old Post Office. Cheney Complains "National Security Leaks Are Endangering America. Unless, Of Course, He's Doing The Leaking"... Vice President Dick Cheney bitterly complains that national security leaks are endangering America. Unless, of course, he's doing the leaking, tapping Scooter Libby to reveal national security information to punish a political critic. President Bush says he will not talk about specific security threats to America. Unless, of course, he needs to talk about a specific threat to Los Angeles to confuse the public and gain some cheap political advantage. [...] Whistleblowers Are Not Protected, Mr. Goss Sir, as you must very well know after your years in Congress as a representative and as a member of the intelligence committee, there are no meaningful legal protections for whistleblowers. What is troubling is that while you are well aware of the fact that there are no meaningful or enforceable laws that provide protection to national security whistleblowers, you nevertheless state that such workers are covered by existing laws. That is simply false. The Shoe (Bomb) on the Other Foot Poor Porter Goss. First, the longtime Florida congressman leaves his safe seat to become director of the CIA, only to find that he’s been neutered by a new bureaucratic setup where he reports to John Negroponte, the director of national intelligence. Then he writes an op-ed piece decrying intelligence leaks in The New York Times on Friday, the exact same day as a story appears identifying today’s biggest leaker of antiterrorism secrets in Washington—President George W. Bush. Senators: Cheney Should Be Probed in Leak Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald should investigate Vice President Dick Cheney and others in the CIA leak probe if they authorized an aide to give secret information to reporters, Democratic and Republican senators said Sunday. U.S. newspaper publishes photo showing Bush and indicted lobbyist The New York Times on Sunday published a photo showing U.S. President George W. Bush and the now indicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff at a gathering in May 2001. In the picture, the authenticity of which the newspaper said had been confirmed by the White House, Bush was shaking hands with Raul Garza, chief of the Kickapoo Indian tribe in Texas, and a small, partly obscured image of Abramoff was looking on from the background. The White House has declined to release pictures of Bush and Abramoff, a leading Republican fund-raiser who helped raise more than 100,000 U.S. dollars for the president's re-election campaign. White House says Bush-Abramoff photo is authentic Previously Denied Meeting The White House on Sunday acknowledged the authenticity of the first photograph made public that shows President Bush and embattled lobbyist Jack Abramoff, while stressing it does not mean the two had a personal relationship. Originally, the White House said it had no record of Abramoff's attendance at the meeting. Cheney Shoots Fellow Hunter in Texas Accident Companion in Intensive Care With Upper-Body Wounds Vice President Cheney accidentally sprayed a companion with birdshot while hunting quail on a private Texas ranch, injuring the man in the face, neck and chest, the vice president's office confirmed yesterday after a Texas newspaper reported the incident. QUESTIONS ABOUT THE VEEP WHO COULDN'T SHOOT STRAIGHT: WHAT REALLY HAPPENED IN DICK CHENEY'S HUNTING "ACCIDENT"? The entire Cheney hunting accident story stinks. The delay in announcing it is suspicious, obviously. I'll bet Cheney had a few beers in him, but I'm not sure that is illegal in Texas (drinking and hunting is illegal in most states, but I couldn't find out if that includes Texas). But a few other points that may be worth noting... Trying to Sort Out the Discrepancies in Cheney Shooting Story The scoop on the shooting accident involving Vice President Cheney belongs to the political reporter at the Corpus Christi Caller-Times who "had built up a strong source relationship" with the owner of the ranch where the shooting occured, according to Editor & Publisher. The reporter, Jaime Powell, then confirmed the report with Cheney's office in Washington. E&P notes: "The Cheney spokesman Powell spoke with, Lea Anne McBride, would not comment on whether the White House would have ever released the information had the Caller-Times not contacted them." Hey There, You With the Sun In Your Eyes Washington is abuzz with the speculation that the GOP will use this little caged birdie shoot-a-thon-gone-wrong as an excuse to get rid of Dick Cheney. It sounds entirely plausible, especially since George Allen was on Fox News Sunday morning calling for investigation into the declassification of the NIE. The GOP obviously knew the shooting had happened and after putting so much energy into spreading the meme that Cheney had the absolute right to have Scooter do what he did they wouldn't allow Allen off the reservation like that without some sort of larger purpose. Maybe it was only a trial balloon, but still. Cheney steps up war on lawyers U.S. Vice-President accidentally shoots hunting buddy Mr. Cheney's past escapades have raised the ire of both animal activists and political watchdog groups. In December, 2003, he visited a game farm in Pennsylvania. When gamekeepers released 500 pen-reared pheasants, he shot 70 and ordered them plucked and vacuum-packed. The Humane Society of the United States exposed Mr. Cheney's "canned hunt." Another trip a few week later raised allegations of conflict of interest. In early 2004, it was revealed Mr. Cheney had gone on a duck hunt in southern Louisiana with Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, an old friend. The trip took place in January, 2004, three weeks after the high court agreed to hear a controversial case involving the Vice-President. "Vice-President Cheney continues to demonstrate terrible misjudgment with his hunting behaviour," Wayne Pacelle, president of the Humane Society of the United States, said in an interview last night. Mr. Pacelle said Mr. Cheney's hunts represent the worst aspects of the sport -- the "good-ol'-boy network," the use of an "unethical" hunting facility, as well as harming a companion. "Now he's shot a hunting partner. We really don't understand what his obsession with shooting animals is. Certainly he has plenty of other things to keep him busy." Cheney might have had better aim if he'd served in Vietnam The White House didn't even report the shooting for 24 hours (and forbid Texas officials from talking about it) and then Scott McClellan told reporters, "These kind of...accidents happen from time to time." McClellan might as well have been talking about the administration's casual attitude about the death toll in Iraq. Yes, 16,600 Americans and upward of 200,000 Iraqis have been wounded, but hey, "accidents happen from time to time." We're still winning the war, right? More Questions Raised About Delay in Reporting Cheney Misfire The more than 18-hour delay in news emerging that the vice president of the United States had shot a man, sending him to an intensive care unit with his wounds, grew even more curious Monday with word from the White House that President Bush had been informed of the incident Saturday but not immediately about Dick Cheney's role. Accidents will happen I've lived in this town for thirty years, and to no one I'm a stranger And I put new bullets in my gun, chamber upon chamber - Nick Cave. I hate the sense that TranceFormation of America makes. I've referenced the book several times here, notably with respect to Dick Cheney's endowment, Bill Bennett's sado-masochism and the ubiquity of Oz programming, and each time I've apologized for doing so. Cathy O'Brien's account of her decades of torture and mind control is a fittingly dissociative jumble of contaminated memory, fantasy and truth, and if the rationality of these times were any less attenuated I'd be inclined to not bother trying to separate the parts: Man Cheney Shot Suffers "Heart Attack" Despite the heart problem of the man wounded by Vice President Dick Cheney, doctors say removing the shotgun pellet from his chest probably won't be necessary — and digging it out could do more harm than good. It's not unusual to live with shrapnel or other foreign objects in the body, even the heart, and specialists said it's likely the pellet will scar over rapidly without causing further problems for Texas lawyer Harry Whittington. Hospital officials in Corpus Christi announced Tuesday that Whittington had suffered a "minor heart attack" and was returned to the intensive care unit. White House Livid About Handling Of Cheney Incident -CBS A source described as close to the Bush administration said people inside the White House are "livid" about the way Vice President Dick Cheney's office has handled the hunting accident he was involved in over the weekend, CBS News reported Tuesday. According to CBS News, the source said the issue was no longer Cheney's view of press management but rather about Iraq, Hurricane Katrina and a range of other issues that play into the public's view of the administration's arrogance. Cheney and shooting victim were hunting illegally, officials say Vice President Dick Cheney was hunting illegally - without the required $7 stamp on his license for quail - when he accidentally shot one of his hunting partners, Texas Parks and Wildlife officials said Monday. And so was Harry Whittington, 78, who was recovering Monday from a shotgun blast to the face, neck and chest. In its report, the state agency that oversees hunting and fishing said it found that neither Cheney nor Whittington had purchased the game bird stamp required to hunt quail in Texas, although both had valid hunting licenses. Both will get warning citations, and there will be no fine or other penalty. Fellow Hunter Shot by Cheney Suffers Setback - CHENEY FACES GRAND JURY INVESTIGATION IF MAN DIES... The 78-year-old lawyer shot by Vice President Dick Cheney in a hunting accident over the weekend suffered a minor heart attack early Tuesday caused by birdshot lodged in his heart, hospital officials in Texas said. The lawyer, Harry M. Whittington, was moved back into the intensive care unit at Christus Spohn Hospital in Corpus Christi, Tex., to be monitored for up to a week in case the birdshot shifted or additional pellets in his body moved into other organs, the officials said at a televised news conference. Dr. David Blanchard, the emergency room chief, estimated that Mr. Whittington had more than 5 but "probably less than 150 to 200" pellets lodged in his body. Secret Service stalls and delays for Cheney Cover-up in progress and Shotgun ballistics don’t match-up! It seems clear that this is a cover-up in progress. The hospital where Whittington was taken after the shooting is a heavily guarded facility where he is being operated upon and monitored by doctors and surgeons close to the President and Vice President. These highly skilled medical professionals would have known instantly by a simple X-Ray if he had suffered from a shot to the heart. These doctors, loyal to the the Bush-Cheney cabal are clearly colluding to conceal information about Whittington's actual condition for their masters. Cheney's Chappaquiddick II: The Real Story Emerges The real story is already emerging, if you're willing to do a little digging. Cheney and Whittington went hunting with two women (not their wives), there was some drinking, and Whittington wound up shot. Armstrong didn't see the incident but claimed she had, Cheney refused to be questioned by the Sheriff until the next morning, and a born-again evangelical physician has been downplaying Whittington's injuries since they occurrred. Neither the press nor law enforcement seems inclined to investigate. Cheney's hunting host lobbied White House - Ranch owner who divulged accident earned $160,000 for work in 2004 Katharine Armstrong, who's family owns the ranch where Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally shot a hunting partner, is a registered lobbyist who has been paid to lobby the White House, according to records. Cheney's Got A Gun Jon has some advice, "Don't let your kids go hunting with the Vice President. I don't care what kind of lucrative contracts they're trying to land or-energy regulations they're trying to get lifted. He'll shoot them in the face." Rob Corddry added, "Jon, tonight the Vice President is standing by his decision to shoot Harry Whittington. Now according to the best intelligence available, there were quail hidden in the brush. Everyone believed at the time-there-were-quail in the brush. And while the quail turned out to be the 78 year old man. Even knowing that today, Mr. Cheney insists-he still would have shot Mr. Whittington in the face. What Cheney's blast revealed: A new White House lobbying scandal 'I'm going to have lunch with Secretary of State Rice, talk a little business; Mrs. Bush, talk a little business; we've got a friend from South Texas here, named Katharine Armstrong; take a little nap. I'm reading an Elmore Leonard book right now, knock off a little Elmore Leonard this afternoon; go fishing with my man, Barney; a light dinner and head to the ballgame. I get to bed about 9:30 p.m., wake up about 5 a.m. So it's a perfect day.'' -- President George W. Bush, as quoted in the Aug. 22, 2005, New York Times. Cheney Says He Has Power to Declassify Info But in an
interview on Fox News Channel, Cheney said there is an executive order
that gives the vice president, along with the president, the authority
to declassify information. "I
have certainly
advocated declassification. I have participated
in declassification decisions," Cheney said. Asked for details, he
said, "I don't want to get into that. There's an executive order that
specifies who has classification authority, and obviously it focuses
first and foremost on the president, but also includes the vice
president." Cheney added a
ringing
endorsement of Libby. "Scooter
is entitled to
the presumption of innocence," said Cheney.
Signs Comment:
What about all the alleged "enemy combatents" that have been rendered
for torture, or locked up in Guantanamo? Aren't they entitled to the
"presumption of innocence"? We need to focus on the issue here: even
if, as Cheney claims, he has the "power to declassify" information, his
choice of information to declassify did enormous damage to the
intelligence gathering community of the USA. For that, he and Libby
both ought to be charged with treason.
Cheney says he may be witness in CIA leak case Court papers
released last week show that Libby was authorized to disclose
classified information to news reporters by "his superiors," in an
effort to counteract diplomat Joe Wilson's charge that the Bush
administration twisted intelligence on Iraq's nuclear weapons to
justify the 2003 invasion.
Signs Comment:
Now, get this, Cheney says he has the power to "declassify
information." It just happens that the information he chose to
"declassify" was designed to destroy the reputation of an individual
who had exposed the lies of Cheney and pals. It also destroyed the
career of his wife, not to mention putting many other career
intelligence personnel at risk. If that isn't treason, I don't know
what is.
Critics slam Cheney's interview choice "Now that he feels forced to talk, he wants to restrict the discussion to a friendly news outlet, guaranteeing no hard questions from the press corps," Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., said in a statement. On CNN, commentator Jack Cafferty called the interview "a little bit like Bonnie interviewing Clyde. ... I mean, running over there to the Fox network -- talk about seeking a safe haven." Text of Dick Cheney's Interview on Fox Transcript of Vice President Dick Cheney's interview Wednesday with Brit Hume of Fox News Channel, as released by the White House. Cheney addresses his shooting Saturday of a hunting companion, 78-year-old Harry Whittington of Austin, Texas, at a ranch owned by Katharine Armstrong about 60 miles south of Corpus Christi, Texas: Specter calls for probe of his office to clear doubt on $48 million directed to groups that employed an aide's husband. Sen. Arlen Specter said yesterday that he would ask the Senate ethics committee to investigate whether any rules were violated when he directed almost $50 million to companies and institutions that employed the husband of one of his top aides as a lobbyist. Specter (R., Pa.) told reporters that he did not believe that he or anyone in his office had done anything wrong. He acknowledged that he had not sorted out all the actions of his aide in the approval of the spending. His office later issued a statement saying the senator was asking for the ethics investigation "to satisfy all conceivable concern." Smoking banned in DC, but not in Congress WHEN the citywide smoking ban takes effect here next month,
at least
one workplace in town will be spared: Congress, the beneficiary of a
kind of diplomatic immunity for federal lawmakers.
That is excellent news for John A. Boehner of Ohio, the new
Republican majority leader, who regularly smokes cigarettes between
votes in the House. And for Barney Frank, the Massachusetts Democrat,
who sits and smokes cigars while reading the newspaper in the speaker's
lobby. And for Sherwood Boehlert, the New York Republican, who is
struggling to quit but can be seen inhaling in weaker moments during
the workday.
Because while the rest of the country has turned against smoking
with great zeal, Congress has stubbornly — some would say proudly —
refused to bend.
Signs Comment:
In what is perhaps yet another indication that certain senior political
leaders know more than they are letting on regarding the fate awaiting
the rest of the world, Congress has exempted itself from the citywide
DC smoking ban recently enacted. Thanks to Signs Forum
Member, John, for this one! The Shootist - What is Dick Cheney Covering Up? Talking to the media doesn't come naturally to a vice president who hasn't held a press conference for the last three and a half years, but what about the White House PR machine? Why did they wait so long to let the news out? Attorney Alan Dershowitz speculates that Cheney may have stalled to cover up drunkenness. "One possibility is that it takes approximately that period of time for alcohol to dissipate in the body and no longer be subject to accurate testing," Dershowitz writes. "It is fairly common for people involved in alcohol-related accidents to delay reporting them until the alcohol has left the body." Cheney has a history of public intoxication, having been twice convicted of DUI. Shoot First, Avoid Questions Later The White House's secretive response to Cheney's misfire cannot be understood apart from the society of Texas royalty. In the original account authorized by Vice President Dick Cheney of his shooting of Harry Whittington, given by Katharine Armstrong, heiress and hunting companion, to the Corpus Christi Caller-Times and later elaborated on to other news outlets, the 11 members of the hunting party set off on the morning of Feb. 11 in two trucks for the wilds of the 50,000-acre Armstrong Ranch in search of quails. After lunch, whose menu was described as antelope, jicama salad, bread and Dr Pepper, the hunters divided into two groups. Cheney went off with Armstrong; Pamela Pitzer Willeford, the U.S. ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein; and Whittington. Why It's Still Cheney's Chappaquiddick After trying to get me to say that Cheney and Pamela Willeford had an affair (which I wouldn't - I stick with what I know), Tucker Carlson confronted me on "The Situation" tonight* about the fact that Willeford's husband was apparently on the ranch at the time of the incident. It seems that he and others think that my comparison of the Whittington shooting and Chappaquiddick must be all about sex. That, and the fact that my opening paragraph reciting the facts (as we knew them yesterday morning) included the fact that Cheney and Whittington were with two women to whom they're not married. Cheney's wayward aim: A guide to Quailgate When the Vice-President of America shot a hunting companion in the face and chest, it was at first just seen as an unfortunate accident. However, because of poor news management and some questionable recounting of events, the story has become a political scandal, a chance to bash the Republicans, and a wealthy source of humour for many comedians. Here's why... In the Woods With Dick Cheney and a Gun - The master of mass destruction for a hunting buddy And then Dick Cheney shot someone. It was Saturday, February 11. He didn't do it on purpose. He thought he was shooting at quail. But there wasn't any quail, there was just a 78-year-old lawyer in a bright orange vest. Dick Cheney shot him in the face. Hit Refresh? Why Bush may be thinking about replacing Cheney. The Dick Cheney shooting incident will, in a way, go away. And, in a way, not--ever. Some things stick. Gerry Ford had physically stumbled only once or twice in public when he became, officially, The Stumbler. Mr. Ford's stumbles seemed to underscore a certain lack of sure-footedness in his early policies and other decisions. The same with Jimmy Carter and the Killer Rabbit. At the time Mr. Carter told the story of a wild rabbit attacking his boat he had already come to be seen by half the country as weak and unlucky. Even bunnies took him on. Same with Dick Cheney. He's been painted as the dark force of the administration, and now there's a mental picture to go with the reputation. Pull! Sorry, Harry! Pull! Scooter Libby’s Home Page Should we ever appear on Celebrity Jeopardy, we have our charity all picked out: The Scooter Libby Legal Defense Trust, sure to be topping everyone's year-end lists of Least Important Causes. Here, you can learn all about America's favorite former senior administration official - it's everything you need to know about Scooter, besides the unimportant matter of why he actually needs a legal defense trust. And check out the Advisory Committee - a veritable who's who of Washington's indicted, formerly-indicted, and soon-to-be-indicted set. The only person missing is that guy who's automatically your friend when you sign up on Myspace! While you're there, see what others are saying about our friend with the poor penmanship: "Of course! 'The British Government has learned…'! Scooter, you're a genius!" GOP Achievers Want to Compile $5 Million for Libby Defense A Who's Who of Republican heavy hitters and Bush administration supporters are lending their names to help raise $5 million for the defense of Vice President Cheney's former top aide in his criminal trial. Led by Florida real estate magnate and former ambassador Mel Sembler, the group seeking to help I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby avoid jail time includes 26 notable names, many of whom could also be described as "Friends of George and Dick." MORE ON THE TREACHERY OF NOAM CHOMSKY This article deals with an article by one of Noam Chomsky's cronies, Norman Finkelstein, but in every other way it is the continuation of the treachery of Noam Chomsky himself. Norman Finkelstein, like his mentor, is a zionist in disguise. This feature of Norman Finkelstein is more conspicuous, of course, because unlike his mentor's cover-up protection by dishonest pretences as "guru of the Left", he has never been considered such a guru. US leader crashed by trying to 'pedal, wave and speak at same time' HE MAY be the most powerful man in the world, but proof has emerged that President George Bush cannot ride a bike, wave and speak at the same time. Scotland on Sunday has obtained remarkable details of one of the most memorably bizarre episodes of the Bush presidency: the day he crashed into a Scottish police constable while cycling in the grounds of Gleneagles Hotel. Police reveal how Bush can't wave and pedal at same time The
police report describes him as a "falling object" who lost control of
his bicycle after trying to pedal and wave at the same time.
So ends the mystery of
how President George Bush collided with a
police officer while cycling at Gleneagles on the first day of the G8
summit last year.
Signs Comment: Not a surprise, he can't think and
talk at the same time either.
Pit Boss: Blair's Dark Kingdom Poll: Bush Ratings At All-Time Low The latest CBS News poll finds President Bush's approval rating has fallen to an all-time low of 34 percent, while pessimism about the Iraq war has risen to a new high. Americans are also overwhelmingly opposed to the Bush-backed deal giving a Dubai-owned company operational control over six major U.S. ports. Seven in 10 Americans, including 58 percent of Republicans, say they're opposed to the agreement. CBS News senior White House correspondent Jim Axelrod reports that now it turns out the Coast Guard had concerns about the ports deal, a disclosure that is no doubt troubling to a president who assured Americans there was no security risk from the deal. The troubling results for the Bush administration come amid reminders about the devastating impact of Hurricane Katrina and negative assessments of how the government and the president have handled it for six months. Blair Approval Rating Falls to 28% in Britain Few adults in Britain are content with Tony Blair, according to a poll by Ipsos-MORI published in The Sun. 28 per cent of respondents are satisfied with their prime minister's performance, down nine points since November. In May 2005, British voters renewed the House of Commons. The governing Labour party secured 356 seats, followed by the Conservatives with 197 and the Liberal Democrats with 62. Blair has served as prime minister since 1997. In October 2004, Blair announced that he would retire at the end of his third term. Current chancellor of the exchequer Gordon Brown has been mentioned as a possible replacement for Blair. Yesterday, Dennis Healey-a former chancellor of the exchequer considered as one of the Labour party's elder statesmen-suggested that Blair should step down soon, saying, "I think Tony's showing he is losing his grip, and the sooner Gordon takes over the better." 31 per cent of respondents are satisfied with the current government, down two points in three months. The next election must be held on or before Jun. 3, 2010. Sitting prime ministers can dissolve Parliament and call an early ballot at their discretion. Bush is hemorrhaging support of the big boys - The Con, the (former) neo-con, the Con-man and the 'end of neoconservatism.' In the past week, the Bush administration and the neocons have been hemorrhaging bigtime supporters so badly you'd be forgiven for assuming there's another Cheney hunting party in the works. First, in an upcoming book, Project for a New American Century signatory Francis "the End of History" Fukuyama declares that neoconservatism "should be discarded on to history\'s pile of discredited ideologies." Wow. The Alex Massie article also notes that "Mr Fukuyama now thinks the war in Iraq is the wrong sort of war, in the wrong place, at the wrong time." Strike one. Britain's New Statesman magazine has put together a powerful package of stories detailing how the government of George W. Bush's beloved disciple, Tony Blair, is "persecuting innocent people, tearing up our freedoms and undermining the judiciary." The basis of the stories is a new, blistering report from Amnesty International on the degraded state of civil liberties in the UK today. When the ingrates met the hypocrites - Inept American self-interest and Conservative toadying in Washington make an unedifying mixture TONY BLAIR only recently learnt something that his critics say should have been obvious to him for years: gratitude is not a virtue that George W. Bush has in abundance. The Prime Minister decided to fight shoulder-to-shoulder with America in Iraq because he believes it was in Britain's interests to do so: Saddam Hussein was a threat to Britain's security and to world order, and nurturing the special relationship with America is essential to the preservation of Britain 's influence in world affairs. He also believes that Western democracies bear a special burden. Long before Bush signed on to the aggressive foreign policy developed by America's neoconservatives, Blair had pushed for just such a forward thrusting approach to the spread of democracy. From Cash to Yachts, Convicted Congressman Set Bribery Rates Prosecutors
call it a corruption case with no parallel in the long history of the
U.S. Congress. And it keeps getting worse. Convicted Rep. Randall
"Duke" Cunningham actually priced the illegal services he provided.
Prices came in the form
of a "bribe menu" that detailed how much it
would cost contractors to essentially order multimillion-dollar
government contracts, according to documents submitted by federal
prosecutors for Cunningham's sentencing hearing this Friday.
"The length, breadth
and depth of Cunningham's crimes," the
sentencing memorandum states, "are unprecedented for a sitting member
of Congress."
Signs Comment: We don't think Cunningham's crimes are
"unprecedented," he's just one that got caught...
The World That Dick Built This is the guy who pulled the trigger of the gun that fired the round that hit his friend that ruined the hunt and shed some light on the world that Dick built... It's Usually About Money Conflicts are often about money. One factor that might account for the Bush administration's hostility toward Iran is Iran's plan to open a bourse – an oil exchange – in March in which Iranian oil will be sold for euros, not dollars.
Calls grow to 'impeach' Blair as 99th soldier dies in Iraq (100 now) The soldier's death intensified pressure at Westminster for an inquiry by a committee of seven Privy Councillors into the Prime Minister's handling of the Iraq war and the use of intelligence reports to boost public support for the invasion. Leaders of a cross-party group calling for Mr Blair to be impeached will meet tonight at Westminster to discuss their tactics. Margaret Hassan killed after '$US10m ransom' refused THE kidnappers of Margaret Hassan, the British aid worker murdered in Iraq in 2004, demanded a ransom of $US10million to spare her life, according to a leaked Italian police report. The main suspect named in the report, Sheik Abdel Salam al-Qubaisi, is a senior official in the ulema, a Sunni hardline clerical group known in English as the Association of Muslim Scholars. US soldiers shoot at Canadian ambassador's car in Baghdad The US military shot at the Canadian ambassador's car in Baghdad but no-one was hurt in the "unfortunate incident," a US State department official said. "There was an incident involving the (US) military and the Canadian ambassador's car today," a State Department official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity. "They shot on it." Soldiers sue over out-of-pocket costs Members of the Massachusetts National Guard file what is thought to be a first-of-its-kind lawsuit. Japan to leave Iraq in May Japan will withdraw its ground troops from southern Iraq by the end of May along with pullouts by the British and Australian forces from the area, Japanese media outlets have reported citing sources in the Japanese Government. Iraq 'death squad caught in act' Iraq has launched an investigation into claims by the US military that an Iraqi interior ministry "death squad" has been targeting Sunni Arab Iraqis. The probe comes after a US general revealed the arrest of 22 policemen allegedly on a mission to kill a Sunni. "We have found one of the death squads. They are part of the police force," US Maj Gen Joseph Peterson said. Sunnis have long accused Iraqi forces of operating death squads - but the claims have never been substantiated. Iraqi deputy interior minister Maj Gen Hussein Kamal said his ministry had set up an inquiry. Iraq calls on US to hand over Iraqi detainees Iraq’s human rights minister called on US-led forces on Thursday to hand over all Iraqi inmates at US-run prisons to the Iraqi government, following more footage of prisoners being abused. “We are very worried about the Iraqi detainees in Abu Ghraib. The multinational forces and the British forces should hand them over to the (Iraqi) government,” Zuhair al-Chalabi told Reuters. “This is a very dangerous issue that the Iraqi government should review,” he said. “The Iraqi government should move immediately to have the prisons and the prisoners delivered to the ministry of justice.” In an interview, Chalabi condemned the previously unpublished images as “major human rights violations” and compared them to abuses committed under dictatorships. The footage was broadcast on Wednesday by an Australian television station. “These are major (human rights) violations that turned to crimes. When you torture and hit in this brutal way it doesn’t make any difference from the dictators’ systems.” US forces are holding about 14,000 detainees in Iraq. The Basra video should lay to rest a scurrilous lie Although I and numerous members of my family suffered personally, physically and otherwise at the hands of the Saddam Hussein regime, and dreamed for many years of the day he would be gone, I always opposed the invasion and occupation of our country. Subsequent events have made me even more convinced of the fallacy and immorality of the military campaign that Britain and the US have pursued in Iraq. The biggest indictment of the war and occupation is surely that more and more Iraqis are speaking publicly of how life was far better when Saddam was in power - an achievement most Iraqis never imagined possible. The Forgotten Terrorist Attack Those inside the bomb shelter died horrific deaths. First, a 2,000-pound bomb crashed through the shelter creating a massive tunnel in which the second 2,000-pound bomb then came. Both blew up leaving a huge hole and killing more than 400 people. Only seven humans survived the attack. Those who died actually saw the first bomb and had a few seconds of life left before the second burrowed its way into the shelter. Such an attack transcends the barbarity of a bombing in which the people die immediately. Sunni Insurgents Seen as Increasingly Unified "Today, the prospect of an outright victory and a swift withdrawal of foreign forces has crystallised, bolstered by the U.S.' perceived loss of legitimacy and apparent vacillation, its periodic announcement of troops redeployments, the precipitous decline in domestic support for the war and heightened calls by prominent politicians for a rapid withdrawal," the report states. The Iraq war's defining weapon The threat posed by Iraq's reported possession of weapons of mass destruction was the excuse US President George W Bush gave for his invasion of Iraq in 2003, but it is the simplest of technologies - the roadside bomb - that has emerged as the biggest nightmare for US occupation forces in Iraq. The improvised explosive device (IED), which is the insurgents' weapon of choice in Iraq, has accounted for more than half of all US injuries and deaths in combat since March 2003 - by far the single greatest cause of death for US service members. Radical cleric's influence grows in Iraq BAGHDAD Late Saturday night, on the eve of a crucial vote to choose Iraq's next prime minister, a senior Iraqi politician's cellphone rang. A supporter of the Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr was on the line with a threat. "He said that there's going to be a civil war among the Shia" if Sadr's preferred candidate was not confirmed, the politician said. Less than 12 hours later, and after many similar calls to top Shiite leaders, Sadr got his wish. The widely favored candidate lost by one vote, and Ibrahim al-Jaafari, the interim prime minister, was anointed as Iraq's next leader. "Everyone was stunned; it was a coup d'état," said the politician, a senior member of the main Shiite political coalition, the United Iraqi Alliance. U.S. Risks Reporter's Life to Strike Tough Pose The George W. Bush administration went well beyond refusing to negotiate with terrorists in its handling of the threat by freelance journalist Jill Carroll's abductors to kill her if all female detainees were not released from U.S.-run prisons in Iraq. According to Iraqi officials, U.S. officials delayed the scheduled release of six female prisoners whom they knew had already been found innocent because of the kidnappers' demand for their release. Then they refused to speed up the review of the files of the five remaining female prisoners, in violation of a policy of giving priority to females in the review of detainee files for release. Al Qaeda establish 'Islamic state' in Pak province After taking "virtual control" of the entire North Waziristan province of Pakistan, Taliban and Al Qaeda have recently "declared" the establishment of an 'Islamic State' in the area and gained a major base for their operations against the US-led forces in Afghanistan, media reports said. "The Taliban recently declared the establishment of an 'Islamic State' in North Waziristan, and they now, through the brutal elimination of criminal elements who previously held sway, in effect rule in the rugged territory," a latest report in 'Asia Times' magazine said. Can You Say "Permanent Bases"? - The American Press Can't We're in a new period in the war in Iraq -- one that brings to mind the Nixonian era of "Vietnamization": A President presiding over an increasingly unpopular war that won't end; an election bearing down; the need to placate a restive American public; and an army under so much strain that it seems to be running off the rails. So it's not surprising that the media is now reporting on administration plans for, or "speculation" about, or "signs of," or "hints" of "major draw-downs" or withdrawals of American troops. The figure regularly cited these days is less than 100,000 troops in Iraq by the end of 2006. With about 136,000 American troops there now, that figure would represent just over one-quarter of all in-country U.S. forces, which means, of course, that the term "major" certainly rests in the eye of the beholder. Iraq Attacks Increase The US military has warned that rebel attacks across Iraq have increased 30 percent over the past few weeks, the statement coming as attacks across the country Thursday wounded 30 people and killed at least eleven. Japan plans Iraq troop withdrawal Japan will start withdrawing its troops from Iraq in late March, around the same time Britain will begin its pullout, the Yomiuri Shimbun said Friday. Bush Administration's War Spending Nears Half-Trillion Dollars - President Asks Taxpayers for Another $65 Billion for Iraq and Afghanistan In a single year, it is difficult to measure overall progress in the war on terror. But ABC News has learned today that President Bush will ask Congress for an additional $65.3 billion for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. It brings the total funds requested this year to more than $110 billion for those operations. This is the fourth time in three years that the Bush administration has asked for additional funds for Iraq and Afghanistan, and the $65 billion request is $2 billion higher than expected. Veteran reporter says 3,000-4,000 Iraqis killed every month MADRID - Between 3,000 and 4,000 Iraqis are killed every month, rendering "ridiculous" US President George W. Bush's estimate of about 30,000 civilian casualties since the start of the war, veteran British journalist Robert Fisk said Wednesday. Surface-to-Air Missile Downed U.S. Chopper in Iraq [...] Pentagon officials tell ABC News they believe Iraqi
insurgents used
a Russian-made SA-7 surface-to-air missile to shoot down a U.S.
military helicopter on Monday. The AH-64 Apache crashed north of
Baghdad, killing the two crew
members. It was the third American chopper to go down in 10
days. It's a troubling new development because there are hundreds —
and by some estimates thousands — of SA-7 missiles that are
unaccounted for in Iraq.
Signs Comment:
Well, all we
can say is this is a fine fix Dubya has gotten us all into. The
whole damn planet is a powder keg just waiting for a spark.
Near simultaneous bombings on central Baghdad street kill at least 23 BAGHDAD (AP) - A suicide attacker detonated an explosive vest in a crowded downtown coffee shop Thursday and another bomb exploded seconds later under a nearby car, killing at least 23 people and wounding 26, police and hospital officials said. Iraq detainees to be freed early Iraq's ministry of justice has told the BBC that six of the eight women being held by coalition forces in Iraq are to be released early. The six will be freed because there is insufficient evidence to charge them, a justice ministry spokesman said. Italy to withdraw troops from Iraq by end of year Italy will withdraw its remaining military force from Iraq by the end of 2006, Defence Minister Antonio Martino announced, in the first such declaration by a major US ally in Iraq. Rome prosecutors to charge U.S. soldier with murdering Italian agent in Iraq ROME -- Italian prosecutors investigating the killing of an Italian secret service agent at a checkpoint in Iraq plan to charge a U.S. soldier with murder and attempted murder, Italian media reported Tuesday. Iraq and the Democratic Empire This talk was delivered to the Auburn University Libertarians on February 16, 2006. As all students today know, Iraq is the country that the US invaded with the attempt to convert the state and the people from enemy to friend. On the face of it, this sounds rather implausible, of course. Good fences make good neighbors. Friendship and peace are not usually the result of insults, sanctions, invasions, bombings, killings, puppet governments, censorship, economic controls, and occupations. If this generation learns anything from this period, that would be a good start. George Bush’s War Without End Now that the cakewalk that was to be our invasion of Iraq is nearing its third anniversary and the roses that were to be thrown at us have turned into improvised explosive devices, it has become official — we are engaged in a long war. Make that “The Long War.” Iraq Bombings Kill 24 People The U.S. ambassador to Iraq warned Iraqi politicians Monday they risk a loss of American support if they do not establish a genuine national unity government, saying the United States will not invest its resources in institutions run by sectarians. Meanwhile, at least 24 people, including an American soldier, were killed by bombings in Baghdad and elsewhere. Two Macedonian contractors were freed by kidnappers four days after they were abducted in Basra, a British official said without giving further details. British troops executed unarmed Iraqi AN UNARMED Iraqi shot dead in one of the most controversial incidents of the Iraq war is suspected to have been the victim of an execution by British soldiers angry at the death of their sergeant. Basra cuts co-operation with British over beating video The municipal government of a southern Iraqi city has suspended co-operation with British forces because of a video that appears to show British soldiers abusing Iraqi civilians. The council in Basra announced its decision on Sunday, a week after a newspaper released the video and published photographs that seem to show British soldiers beating youths with batons in southern Iraq in 2004. Another council in the area has made a similar move, which means British troops can expect little official co-operation in most of the parts of southern Iraq that they are supposed to monitor. Bombing of Baghdad 'linked to UK radiation rise' THE "shock and awe" bombing campaign in Iraq caused radiation levels in Britain to rocket, according to a controversial report by a Liverpool University academic. Chris Busby claims "uranium aerosols" from the Middle East were blown across Europe, contaminating populations thousands of miles away. Navy Counsel Issued Warning On Torture The Navy's general counsel warned Pentagon officials two years before the Abu Ghraib prison scandal that circumventing international agreements on torture and detainees' treatment would invite abuse, according to a published report. Legal theories granting the president the right to authorize abuse despite the Geneva Conventions were unlawful, dangerous and erroneous, then-General Counsel Alberto J. Mora advised officials in a secret memo. The 22-page document was obtained by the New Yorker for an article in its Feb. 27 issue. What if Cheney had Apologized for Iraq? Satire alert for the humorless. What would it have looked like if Vice President Richard Bruce Cheney had apologized for Iraq the way he apologized for shooting a hunting buddy? [Imaginary] Transcript of Vice President Dick Cheney's interview Wednesday with Brit Hume of Fox News Channel, as released by the White House. Cheney addresses his illegal invasion of Iraq on false pretences, resulting in tens of thousands of dead. Question: Mr. Vice President, how are the Iraqis? Answer: Well, the good news is they are doing very well today. I talked to their leaders yesterday after they discovered how many we had killed and tortured . . . But we've stopped the very worst torture, so the reporting today is very good. Former U.S. Official in Iraq to Plead Guilty to Corruption A former American occupation official in Iraq is expected to plead guilty to bribery, conspiracy, money laundering and other charges in federal court on Thursday for his actions in a scheme to use sexual favors, jewelry and millions of dollars in cash to steer reconstruction work to a corrupt contractor, according to papers filed with the court. White House eyes billions for Iraq maintenance The Bush administration is considering
asking Congress later this year for at least $2 billion in new
reconstruction money, primarily for maintaining completed Iraqi
facilities.
Signs Comment:
Now, let us get
this straight: they want the American people to pay to destroy the
place, and then they want the American people to pay to build it
again???
The Future of American Children: Iraq's Babies will soon be America's Babies The photographs posted on this website were provided by Dr. Siegwart Horst-Gunther, author of "URANIUM PROJECTILES - SEVERELY MAIMED SOLDIERS, DEFORMED BABIES, DYING CHILDREN" (ISBN: 3-89484-805-7). The book is a documentary record of the depleted uranium ammunition effects on Iraqi babies that were taken between 1993 and 1995. It also includes images of the children born to soldiers that have returned from Iraq after being exposed to Depleted Uranium. The book has (not surprisingly) been censored in the USA. Dr. Gunther also has in his possesion additional photographs from his unpublished collection which feature mainly the birth deformities being experienced by USA Iraqi war veterans' children. Now, look at these images and KNOW that this is coming to America thanks to George W. Bush and the neocons. These babies will soon be America's babies. Will one of them be yours? Rebels kill dozens as Bush seeks emergency funds for Iraq Iraqi forces maintained a tight grip on security as Shiites continued to observe the 10-day holy festival of Ashura, a day after rebels left a trail of blood killing at least 30 people. US President George W. Bush, meanwhile, sought 70 billion dollars in emergency funds for further military operations in Iraq. Washington's Iraq Blindness The Iraq that exists in President Bush’s imagination and the real Iraq, the one in which 160,000 U.S. troops occupy a nation sliding into civil war, have never seemed further apart. [...] Iraqi minister blows whistle on bribes THERE is honour among thieves, but what about between people stealing from the UN oil-for-food program? Can they trust each other? The answer, it seems, is no. The Australian has learned that Australia's wheat exporter, AWB, was dobbed in to UN investigators by the Iraqi minister who ordered the company to pay bribes. US drone makes emergency landing in Baghdad An unmanned U.S. drone made an emergency landing on Tuesday night in the Shiite's Sadr neighborhood in eastern Baghdad, the U.S. military said on Wednesday. IRAQ: Children's mental health affected by insecurity, say specialists The Association of Psychologists of Iraq (API) has
released a report stating that the US-led invasion and occupation of
the country have greatly affected the psychological development of many
Iraqi children.
"Children in Iraq are seriously suffering psychologically with all
the insecurity, especially with the fear of kidnapping and explosions,"
said API spokesman Maruan Abdullah. "In some cases, they're found to be
suffering extreme stress."
More than 1,000 children were interviewed countrywide over the past
four months for the study, the findings of which were released on 5
February.
Signs Comment:
Remember Madeleine Albright's remark about how the death of over
500,000 Iraqi's, mostly children, was "worth it"? Well, if you can't
kill 'em, then drive them nuts. Turn them into the crazy people your
media has already convinced the public they are. Then when they start
going off, like the crazies in the US, you can say, "look, I told you,
they are animals".
Report Says Number of Attacks by Insurgents in Iraq Increases Sweeping statistics on insurgent violence in Iraq that were declassified for a Senate hearing on Wednesday appear to portray a rebellion whose ability to mount attacks has steadily grown in the nearly three years since the invasion. Iraq Coalition Shrinking The Ukrainians are long gone. So are the Norwegians. The
Italians and
South Koreans are getting ready to leave, and the Britons and Japanese
could begin packing their bags later this year.
Slowly but steadily, America's allies in Iraq are drawing down or
pulling out as Iraqi forces take more responsibility for securing the
country. By year's end, officials say, the coalition - now 25 nations
supporting a dwindling U.S. contingent of 138,000 - may shrink
noticeably.
Signs Comment:
There is a strange disconnect between this report and the recently
declassified report (published by the NY Times) that says "Sweeping
statistics on insurgent violence in Iraq that were declassified for a
Senate hearing on Wednesday appear to portray a rebellion whose ability
to mount attacks has steadily grown in the nearly three years since the
invasion." Now, how can it be both that the "Coalition" is
withdrawing as the
"Iraqi" forces get better, AND that the insurgency is getting worse?
Something doesn't compute here. Notice the last paragraph which very
well may reveal the truth:
"Reid, the British defense secretary, denied "we've got sneaky plans to
cut and run," though he acknowledged meeting with Japan's defense
minister last month and that Britain's military has "planned for all
contingencies."
Iraq rebuilding costs 'much higher' than $56B Iraq will need more money to rebuild than the $56 billion forecast by the World Bank and the United Nations in 2003, two government watchdogs said. "That number in fact will be much higher," Stuart Bowen, the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction, told a congressional panel Wednesday. He didn't cite a new estimate. Iraq's basic services are worse now than before war began Virtually every measure of the performance of Iraq's oil, electricity, water and sewerage sectors has fallen below pre-invasion values, even though $16 billion of U.S. taxpayer money has already been disbursed in the Iraq reconstruction program, several government witnesses have told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Gasoline Crisis in Iraq Contract
mismanagement and possible corruption in the Iraqi government are
fueling a crisis over international gasoline delivery into Iraq. Citing
a mountain of unpaid bills, the governments of Turkey and Saudi Arabia
have shut off gasoline exports to Iraq. With its options dwindling and
beleaguered Iraqis demanding fuel, Baghdad has begun to negotiate with
former arch-rival, Iran. Meanwhile, hundreds of irate Iraqi security
guards, who work for the gasoline delivery companies, are threatening
to protest along the Kuwait border to demand payment.
Government officials in Baghdad and Washington claim that the cause
of the gasoline shortage is "insurgent" or "terrorist" activity but the
trucking companies say that the problem is often corruption and common
criminal activity.
Bush waged Iraq war by "cherry-picking" intelligence: former CIA official A former CIA official who coordinated US intelligence on the Middle East has accused the Bush administration of "cherry-picking" intelligence on Iraq to justify a decision it had already reached to go to war, The Washington Post reports. The newspaper said Paul Pillar, who was the national intelligence officer for the Near East and South Asia from 2000 to 2005, also accused the administration of ignoring warnings that the country could easily fall into violence and chaos after an invasion to overthrow Saddam Hussein. "Official intelligence on Iraqi weapons programs was flawed, but even with its flaws, it was not what led to the war," Pillar wrote in the upcoming issue of the journal Foreign Affairs. Instead, he asserted, the administration "went to war without requesting -- and evidently without being influenced by -- any strategic-level intelligence assessments on any aspect of Iraq." Bush ignored CIA advice on Iraq, says former spy The CIA official in charge of intelligence on the Middle East until last year has accused the Bush administration of ignoring assessments that sanctions and weapons inspections were the best way to deal with Saddam Hussein, and that an invasion would have a "messy aftermath". In an article in the next edition of the bimonthly journal, Foreign Affairs, Paul Pillar, has become the highest-ranking CIA official from the prewar period to accuse the White House of manipulating the intelligence on Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction. The allegations contradict the findings of two official inquiries into the intelligence debacle, which have largely blamed the CIA and absolved the administration. They also emerged on the day it was reported that Lewis Libby, a former aide to Vice-President Dick Cheney, had told a grand jury that he had been "ordered" by "his superiors" to leak classified WMD information to the press to bolster the case for going to war. British troops videoed 'beating Iraqi Teens' Details emerged last night of a shocking video which appears to show a group of British soldiers brutally beating and kicking defenceless Iraqi teenagers in an army compound. The footage is said to show eight soldiers pulling four teenagers off the street following a riot and dragging them into their army base, before beating them with batons, as well as punching and kicking them. An urgent Military Police investigation was under way last night into the events shown in the video. The Ministry of Defence issued the following statement: 'We are aware of these very serious allegations and can confirm that they are the subject of an urgent Royal Military Police investigation. We condemn all acts of abuse and treat any allegation of wrongdoing extremely seriously.' Army fears reprisals as Blair orders abuse video inquiry Military commanders yesterday stepped up security for British troops in Iraq and Afghanistan in the wake of a video apparently showing soldiers brutally attacking defenceless Iraqi teenagers. The video was shown on TV channels in the Arab world just as ministers and Muslim leaders are trying to dampen the row over the publication of cartoons depicting the prophet Muhammad, and when thousands of British troops are preparing to be deployed to the hostile environment of southern Afghanistan. Still
Cherry-Picking the Facts on Iraq
Recent revelations about the Bush administration's selective use of prewar intelligence may have finally awakened the U.S. media, but the public is too distracted to notice. Iraqis Remain Starved of Electricity Abbas Mutlaq and Thaer
al-Mufti live at opposite ends of Iraq,
but both have given up on the government to supply electricity, turning
instead to private generators to keep the lights on.
And both say the power supply situation has worsened since the 2003
overthrow of Saddam Hussein despite the billions of dollars set aside
by the Bush administration for reconstruction.
Signs
Comment:
Iraqis often ask why a superpower that can send thousands of soldiers, tanks and Humvees to fight a war half a world away cannot guarantee that the lights work.Here's an idea: US leaders simply don't care. While ordinary Iraqis have struggled for years now without electricity, clean water, and a problematic sewage system, companies like Halliburton have raked in extraordinary profits. And don't forget about the profitable private security contractor companies that are tightly linked to the Bush family! No, the Bush administration never planned on making life better for Iraqis. The gang in Washington figured they'd make a buck or two million while feeding the public all sorts of lies about what was really happening in Iraq. A Permanent Basis for Withdrawal? Can You Say "Permanent Bases"? We're in a new period in the war in Iraq -- one that brings to mind the Nixonian era of "Vietnamization": A President presiding over an increasingly unpopular war that won't end; an election bearing down; the need to placate a restive American public; and an army under so much strain that it seems to be running off the rails. So it's not surprising that the media is now reporting on administration plans for, or "speculation" about, or "signs of," or "hints" of "major draw-downs" or withdrawals of American troops. The figure regularly cited these days is less than 100,000 troops in Iraq by the end of 2006. With about 136,000 American troops there now, that figure would represent just over one-quarter of all in-country U.S. forces, which means, of course, that the term "major" certainly rests in the eye of the beholder. Army of Iraq war veterans 'suffering brain damage' THE hardest part of Jason Poole’s day is his early morning confrontation with the face staring back at him from his bathroom mirror. In the past 18 months, plastic surgeons have rebuilt it five times. “I used to be handsome, you know,” says the 23-year-old US Marine, who was on foot patrol in western Iraq in June 2004 when he suffered terrible injuries in a roadside bomb blast. He adds: “But hey, c’est la vie.” Jafari wins by one vote to become Iraqi PM The narrow election of Ibrahim Jafari, a Shiite doctor, as Iraqi prime minister is worrying some Iraqis and U.S. officials because of his ties to Iran. Baghdad Embassy Bonanza - Kuwait Company’s Secret Contract & Low-Wage Labor A controversial Kuwait-based construction firm accused of exploiting employees and coercing low-paid laborers to work in war-town Iraq is now building the new $592-million U.S. embassy in Baghdad. Once completed, the compound will likely be the biggest, most fortified diplomatic compound in the world. Some 900 workers live and work for First Kuwaiti General Trading & Contracting (FKTC) on the construction site of the massive project. Undoubtedly, they have been largely pulled from ranks of low-paid laborers flooding into Iraq from Asia's poorest countries to work under U.S. military and reconstruction projects. White House to withdraw funding for rebuilding Iraq The US government is not planning to continue funding reconstruction projects in Iraq, in what appears to be a major climbdown from the White House's one-time pledge to build the best infrastructure in the region. According to officials cited in yesterday's Washington Post, the Bush administration will not be adding construction funds to the $18.4bn (£10.7bn) it has allocated since the 2003 invasion. In future it will be up to other foreign donors and the Iraqi government to do what it can to complete even basic tasks such as supplying reliable electricity and water to the country's 26 million people. The Basra video should lay to rest a scurrilous lie Since April 2003, the people of Basra have consistently been bemused by reports that they and their city enjoy a state of calm and stability under the command of the British forces, in contrast to the north of Iraq and the so-called Sunni triangle. As someone born and bred in Basra, I hope that the recent images of British troops beating young Basra boys to within an inch of their lives will allow such claims to be laid to rest and show a fraction of the reality that has made life throughout Iraq a living hell. Iraq “exit strategy?” Fairness dictates admitting that one of the harshest criticisms leveled against the Bush/Cheney administration may be unwarranted and even unadvisable. I’m speaking of the charge that this Iraq war was waged without sufficient planning for what was going to take place after the “major hostilities” had ended. Without a viable “exit strategy”. How many times have you heard that? They didn’t have an exit strategy. Their worst error. Who Will Possess Iraq’s Oilfields? In Crude Designs, a report published by the UK-based non-governmental organisation Platform and the US’s Global Policy Institute, oil analyst Greg Muttitt says if current plans are approved, Iraqi’s will "lose control of more than 85 percent of their oil resources to foreign multinationals." Telegraph concedes to Galloway The Daily Telegraph has backed down in its libel battle with George Galloway and could face a huge legal bill. The newspaper has decided not to appeal to the House of Lords to overturn a £150,000 libel award to the Respect MP. Mr Galloway successfully sued the paper for suggesting he had received money from Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq. Little Testimony Ties Saddam to Crackdown Nearly Four Months Into His Trial, Little Links Saddam to Bloody 1982 Crackdown British sergeant 'killed in bomb ambush by rogue Iraqi police' A BRITISH army
sergeant killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq four months ago may have
been the victim of a rogue Iraqi police attack, an investigation into
his death has discovered. New
evidence on the
killing of Sergeant Chris Hickey, of the 1st
Battalion Coldstream Guards, last October emerged yesterday, as it was
revealed that two British soldiers were facing possible murder charges
for allegedly shooting an Iraqi in the head.
Signs Comment:
For more on the rise of death squads in Iraq and who is behind them,
see our article Trans-Generational Tyranny.
U.S. Warns Iraq It Won't Support Sectarian Goals The
American ambassador to Iraq issued an unusually strong warning on
Monday about the need for Iraq's political factions to come together,
hinting for the first time that the United States would not be willing
to support crucial public institutions plagued by sectarian agendas.
Signs Comment:
So let's get this straight. US policy since the beginning of its
occupation of Iraq has been to set Sunni against Shi'ite, and Sunni and
Shi'ite against Kurd. This policy, drawn up in Israel, has led to the
balkanisation of the country. And this end of conflict between
different groups of Iraqis was the
conscious purpose of said policy. Now, the US ambassador has the gall
to tell these same Iraqis that
they are "sectarian". His words certainly aren't directed at the Iraqi
audience. They are directed at the readers of the New York Times,
those people in the US who need to be reassured that their country is
in Iraq to fight sectarianism, regardless of the facts. But when the
NYT is capable of offering with a straight face the
words of members of the Bush regime telling us that the resistance is
in its last throes, and that is why it is more and more violent in
Iraq, we shouldn't expect anything different.
Iraqi Province Cuts Off U.S. Forces The governing council of Karbala province said Monday it was suspending contact with U.S. forces over the behavior of soldiers during a visit to the governor's office two days ago. The decision followed similar moves by leaders of Maysan and Basra provinces, which have frozen ties with British forces in southern Iraq. Would Someone Please Interfere in Our Elections? President Bush's Middle East policy is without rhyme or reason. According to Bush and his neoconservatives, the only way to make America safe from terrorists is to force democracy upon the Middle East. Only ideologues completely ignorant of the Middle East could come to that conclusion. Over 120 shot dead in Iraq sectarian bloodshed Gunmen have killed at least 127 people in Iraq in sectarian violence that flared after the bombing of a revered Shiite shrine and reprisal attacks on Sunni mosques. Amid warnings that sectarian violence could spiral further out of control, Iraqi political leaders went into an emergency meeting with President Jalal Talabani. The bloodshed is likely to complicate the task of Shiite and Sunni political leaders who have pledged to set up a government of national unity in the wake of the December elections which illustrated a deep sectarian split in Iraq. Iraq fury sparks wave of killings Police in Baghdad have recovered the bullet-ridden bodies of 50 people as tensions run high following the bombing of a Shia shrine in Samarra. A curfew has been called in the Iraqi capital and dozens of Sunni mosques have been attacked across the county. Three Iraqi journalists working for al-Arabiya TV have been killed near Samarra where they had gone to report on the attack on the shrine. Iraq's leaders are warning publicly about the dangers of a civil war. Shock over Iraqi reporter's death The killing of Atwar Bahjat, who rose to fame reporting from Iraq for both main Arabic satellite news networks, has shocked Arab journalistic circles. Gunmen kidnapped and killed her and two members of her crew near Samarra where they had gone to cover reaction to Wednesday's shrine bombing. Bomb attack on Iraq army patrol kills 11 A bomb targeting an Iraqi army patrol killed 11 people and wounded 21 in the city of Baquba, northeast of Baghdad, on Thursday, an army source said. Civilians and troops were among the casualties in the blast in the city center. It was not clear what type of bomb was used. US military denies Iraq on brink of civil war The US military rejected the idea of a brewing civil war in Iraq, saying the number of confirmed major attacks on mosques across the country were only seven. Iran: U.S., Israel Destroyed Iraqi Shrine Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad blamed the United States and Israel on Thursday for the destruction of a Shiite shrine's golden dome in Iraq, saying it was the work of "defeated Zionists and occupiers." Bulgaria returns troops to Iraq Bulgaria's parliament has approved a government decision to send troops back to Iraq for non-combat duties. The unit, made up of 120 soldiers and 34 support staff, will guard the Ashraf refugee camp north of Baghdad from the middle of next month. Tensions... Things are not good in Baghdad. There was an explosion this morning in a mosque in Samarra, a largely Sunni town. While the mosque is sacred to both Sunnis and Shia, it is considered one of the most important Shia visiting places in Iraq. Samarra is considered a sacred city by many Muslims and historians because it was made the capital of the Abassid Empire, after Baghdad, by the Abassid Caliph Al-Mu'tasim. Iraq Implements Curfew to Stem Violence Gunmen killed dozens of civilians Thursday and dumped their bodies in a ditch, as the government ordered a tough daytime curfew of Baghdad and three provinces to stem the sectarian violence that has left at least 114 dead since the bombing of a Shiite shrine. Shrine attack deals blow to anti-US unity Spring is only a month away, and preparations for Nauroz (the Persian new year) are well under way. In Iran this year, however, Nauroz was due to come with a deadly dimension: the start of a new phase of a broad-based anti-US resistance movement stretching from Afghanistan to Jerusalem. Wednesday's attack on a revered shrine in Iraq could change all this. O'Reilly: U.S. should leave Iraq "as fast as humanly possible" because "there are so many nuts in the country" Summary: Bill O'Reilly suggested that the United States "hand over everything to the Iraqis as fast as humanly possible" because "[t]here are so many nuts in the country -- so many crazies -- that we can't control them." O'Reilly has previously called those advocating immediate withdrawal from Iraq "pinheads" and compared them to Hitler appeasers. Analysis: Whose Bombs Were They? There's no telling who was behind the bombing of the al-Askariya Mosque. There were no security cameras at the site and it's doubtful that the police will be able to perform a thorough forensic investigation. That's too bad; the bomb-residue would probably provide clear evidence of who engineered the attack. So far, there's little more to go on than the early reports of four men (three who were dressed in black, one in a police uniform) who overtook security guards at the mosque and placed the bombs in broad daylight. Pushcart bomb kills 16 Iraqis northeast of Baghdad A pushcart bomb blew up near an Iraqi army foot patrol in a popular market in Baquba, some 65 km northeast of Baghdad, on Thursday, killing 16 people, an Interior Ministry source told Xinhua. "A pushcart packed with explosives detonated near an Iraqi army foot patrol while it was passing through a busy popular market in Baquba, killing 16 people, including eight soldiers," the source said on condition of anonymity. The blast wounded 20 others, he added. Insurgents frequently mount attacks on U.S. troops and Iraqi forces in an attempt to cripple the U.S.-backed political process in the violence-torn country. Japan to Discuss Troop Deployments in Iraq Japanese defense and foreign affairs officials were to meet with their U.S., British and Australian counterparts in London on Friday to discuss troop deployments in Iraq, a Japanese Defense Agency official said. Mainichi newspaper reported on Friday that the group would discuss the logistics, but the agency spokeswoman refused to reveal further details of the talks, saying only that no announcement was expected to emerge. Whose side are we on? The AP has reported that the number of Iraqi army units that are able to stand alone, without our soldier's help, has dropped from one to zero. But, the report states, the number of Iraqi battalions capable of leading the battle, with U.S. troops in a support role, has grown by nearly 50%, from 36 to 53, and the number engaged in combat has increased 11%, from 88 to 98. On the Brink in Iraq With Iraq perched at the very precipice of an ethnic and sectarian holocaust, the utter failure of the Bush administration's policy is revealed with starkest clarity. Iraq may or may not fall into the abyss in the next few days and weeks, but what is no longer in doubt is who is to blame: If Iraq is engulfed in civil war then Americans, Iraqis and the international community must hold President Bush and Vice President Cheney responsible for the destruction of Iraq. Iraq's death squads: On the brink of civil war Most of the corpses in Baghdad's mortuary show signs of torture and execution. And the Interior Ministry is being blamed. By Hundreds of Iraqis are being tortured to death or summarily executed every month in Baghdad alone by death squads working from the Ministry of the Interior, the United Nations' outgoing human rights chief in Iraq has revealed. Wounded in Iraq: Survivors They left under a wave of support - red, white and blue bunting and flags and cheers - and headed to a war half a world away in Iraq. It was their duty, their calling, their patriotic responsibility. They returned missing . . . one his arm, the other his ability to walk. Their lives shaken and futures uncertain, two soldiers from Utah are now at Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington, D.C. They have few regrets. 'We're soldiers; that's our job,' Utahn says Cpl. Braxton McCoy's uniform had pockets on both sleeves. On the right, he carried a folded flag. On the left, he packed his checkbook. That's meaningful, he's sure, because the bullet from the AK-47 ripped through the checks, not through the Stars and Stripes. Sitting in his electric wheelchair, the bones in his legs cracked and shattered from a suicide bomber, McCoy isn't outwardly emotional as he recounts the tale of when ball bearings ripped through his hand, his legs and his face. He'll walk again, he vows. But the 20-year-old member of the Utah National Guard's 222nd who wears his cowboy hat like it's required, won't be riding bulls anymore or shoeing any horses for a while. "I've always wanted to serve," McCoy says, as he struggles to attach footrests to his wheelchair with his one unbandaged hand. "Being in the Army wasn't enough; as a soldier you don't feel like you've done your duty unless you've gone to war. "It's sad we had to go over, but we're soldiers; that's our job." McCoy's future paid a price when he did his job. Now his new daily routine isn't feeding horses or cattle or moving the sprinklers on the alfalfa as a ranch hand near Scipio. He's waking to the sounds of a hospital in Washington, D.C., and struggling to get out of bed and into his wheelchair for physical therapy. Many Americans Urge for Immediate Iraq Withdrawal Many adults in the United States believe the coalition effort should end soon, according to a poll by the Sacred Heart University Polling Institute. 47.8 per cent of respondents think the U.S. should pull out of Iraq now, while 44.1 per cent disagree. Iraq makes terror 'more likely' A global poll for the BBC suggests people believe the Iraq war has increased the likelihood of terrorist attacks. Iraqi Official Says U.S. Reporter Is Alive The Iraqi Interior Minister believes that kidnapped American journalist Jill Carroll remains alive, his office said on Monday, one day after the deadline set by her captors for killing her.... German Intelligence Gave U.S. Saddam's Defense Plan, Report Says In providing the document, German officials offered more significant help to the U.S. than their government has publicly admitted. WASHINGTON - Two German intelligence agents in Baghdad obtained a copy of Saddam Hussein's plan to defend the Iraqi capital, which a German official passed on to American commanders a month before the invasion, according to a classified study by the United States military. And Now Come the Death Squads Hundreds of Iraqis are being tortured to death or summarily executed every month in Baghdad alone by death squads working from the Ministry of the Interior, the United Nations' outgoing human rights chief in Iraq has revealed. John Pace, who left Baghdad two weeks ago, told us on Sunday that up to three-quarters of the corpses stacked in the city's mortuary show evidence of gunshot wounds to the head or injuries caused by drill-bits or burning cigarettes. Much of the killing, he said, was carried out by Shia Muslim groups under the control of the Ministry of the Interior. Prosecutors: Saddam OK'd Shiite Executions Prosecutors at Saddam Hussein's trial presented a document Tuesday they said was signed by the former leader approving the executions of more than 140 Shiites in southern Iraq after an assassination attempt in the 1980s.... 'Execution order' presented at Saddam trial Iraqi prosecutors submitted to the court trying Saddam Hussein what they said was an execution order signed by the former Iraqi dictator, as his lawyers once again stormed out of the tribunal. Why the U.S. Probably Won't Attack Iran Jimmy Carter presented Iran with 52 hostages. George Bush has done a lot better, sending 130,000 Americans across the ocean as guarantees of his administration's good behavior toward the Islamic Republic. Last week, Tehran reminded us of its ability to make life unpleasant for US forces in Iraq by hosting Moqtada al Sadr for a high profile visit, in the course of which he obligingly pledged that his militia, the Mahdi army, would retaliate for any American attack on Iran. His spokesman quoted him as telling his hosts "If any Islamic state, especially the Islamic Republic of Iran, is attacked, the Mahdi Army would fight inside and outside Iraq." Iran's Ahmadinejad says Bush should face 'people's tribunal' Iran's hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad labelled George W. Bush a warmonger who should be dragged before a "people's tribunal", the day after the US president called for a "free and democratic Iran". Iran warns of diplomacy end IRAN warned today that the referral of a long-running dispute over its nuclear program to the UN Security Council will bring "an end to diplomacy," saying the move had no legal justification. Is Iran Building Nukes? An Analysis President Bush declared on June 25 that
"we will not tolerate" a nuclear armed Iran. His words are empty.
The physical evidence for a nuclear weapons program in Iran simply
does not exist.
Signs Comment: More "WMDs"... more LIES, more American Boys dying. Will it be YOUR son? Your husband? Father? Someone you know? If that is possible, you need to act now to stop this madness. Nuclear Iran is not a threat Paris: Why is all this pressure being mounted against Iran when both Washington and Jerusalem unofficially concede that there is nothing to be done to prevent Iran’s government from continuing along its present course of nuclear development? Big companies pulling out of Iran WASHINGTON - Some major finance and energy companies are cutting commercial ties with Iran as US authorities step up enforcement of existing sanctions and international diplomatic pressure builds over Tehran's nuclear ambitions, a US newspaper reported on Tuesday. U.S. Instigated Iran's Nuclear Program 30 Years Ago White House staff members, who are trying to prevent Iran from developing its own nuclear energy capacity and who refuse to take military action against Iran "off the table," have conveniently forgotten that the United States was the midwife to the Iranian nuclear program 30 years ago. Russia Warns U.S. Against Striking Iran With tension mounting over Iran's nuclear programs, Gen. Yuri Baluyevsky, the chief of Russia's general staff, warned the United States against attacking Iran. "This may stir the whole world, and it is crucial to prevent anything like that," Baluyevsky was quoted as saying. France steps up rhetoric on Iran France has for
the first time explicitly accused Iran of using its nuclear programme
as a cover for clandestine military nuclear activity. Foreign Minister
Philippe Douste-Blazy told French TV no civilian programme could
explain Iran's activity. Iran
says it resumed
small-scale uranium enrichment work last week,
after the UN nuclear watchdog reported it to the Security Council. But Tehran insists the
programme is solely for peaceful purposes.
Signs Comment:
It's really interesting to note that most of Europe was behind Iran
until Iran's president suggested that Europe should take back all the
Jews to expiate their guilt for the Holocaust. After he said that,
nearly all of Europe joined with the U.S. in the War Chant.
Bush plans huge propaganda campaign in Iran The Bush administration made an emergency request to Congress yesterday for a seven-fold increase in funding to mount the biggest ever propaganda campaign against the Tehran government, in a further sign of the worsening crisis between Iran and the west. Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, said the $75m (£43m) in extra funds, on top of $10m already allocated for later this year, would be used to broadcast US radio and television programmes into Iran, help pay for Iranians to study in America and support pro-democracy groups inside the country. Iran's Nuclear Development Approved By US In 1970s Every aspect of Iran's current nuclear development was approved and encouraged by Washington in the 1970s. President Gerald Ford offered Iran a full nuclear cycle in 1976. Moreover, the only Iranian reactor currently about to become operative -- the reactor in Bushire (also known as Bushehr) -- was started before the Iranian revolution with U.S. approval, and cannot produce weapons-grade plutonium. The Bushire reactor, a "light-water" reactor, produces Pu240, Pu241, and Pu242. Although these isotopes could theoretically be weaponized, the process is extremely long and complicated, and untried. To date, no nuclear weapon has ever been produced with plutonium produced with the kind of reactor at Bushire. Moreover, the plant must be completely shut down in order for the fuel rods to be extracted -- making the process immediately open to inspection and detection. Other possible reactors in Iran are far in the future. . . Iran has the U.S.’s number I have
been asked “why people are so reluctant to consider” the validity of
“Holocaust” revisionism. I shall try to answer that, showing the
relationship to Iranian President Ahmadinejad. The principal obstacle
to the propagation of revisionism is,
simply, fear. At present, the entrenched legend is protected by a
system of legal and extra-legal prohibitions (“taboos”). Nobody could
dispute the truth of that statement in Europe, where laws in most
countries specifically proscribe the expression of revisionist ideas as
criminal offenses. For me, the most painful instance of that
intellectual terror is the incarceration of my chemist friend Germar
Rudolf, presently being held in solitary confinement in a maximum
security prison near Stuttgart.
Signs Comment:
Yes, the hypocrisy of the Western countries is astonishing. Questioning
the figures of the number of Jewish victims of the holocaust can put
you in jail. It certainly appears as if certain people use the
holocaust to
raise Jewish victimhood to a unique status among those who have
suffered genocide. However, to get bogged down in debates over figures
is pointless. Whether it was 6 million or less than that, the numbers
and the facts of the camps are horrifying. Unfortunately, they are
typical of the way we have been set one against another throughout
history, chained to ideologies and religions that demand obedience to
bloodthirsty political leaders or bloodthirsty deities. The real crime
of the holocaust is that it is used as the
justification to wipe out the Palestinians. In other words, there was
no true moral lesson learned from this horrific experience. For all the
claims of Israel as a Jewish state, that is, s state that is supposedly
based upon a religious teaching, we see no true lesson of conscience.
How can a people who have been subject to such injustice turn around
and inflict that same injustice on another?
China Rushes to Complete $100B Deal With Iran China is hastening to complete a deal worth as much as $100
billion
that would allow a Chinese state-owned energy firm to take a leading
role in developing a vast oil field in Iran, complicating the Bush
administration's efforts to isolate the Middle Eastern nation and roll
back its nuclear development plans, according to published reports.
Signs Comment:
Whoops! There goes the Neocon plan to take over the world. The
reactions in Washington ought to entertaining!
War Whore Rice: Iran is global terror 'banker' The Iranian government is a "central banker" for global terrorism and working with Syria to destablise the Middle East, the US Secretary of State has said. Speaking in testimony to the US Senate on Thursday, Condoleeza Rice signaled the US intention to step up the diplomatic offensive against Iran, saying the threat it posed went beyond its controversial nuclear programme. "It's not just Iran's nuclear programme but also their support for terrorism around the world. They are, in effect, the central banker for terrorism," she told the Senate Budget Committee. Iran Seeks Allies In Latin America For Nuclear Program Iran is reaching out to Latin American countries from Venezuela to Uruguay, seeking to line up diplomatic allies as it faces increasing scrutiny of its nuclear program. Touring the region, Iranian lawmakers have turned to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Cuban President Fidel Castro as key partners against what they call an imperialist U.S. government. Why Iran Can Afford to Be Insane Although Iran can’t stop the flow of oil, it can reduce the volume of oil flowing onto the global market if it chooses. And any such restriction in oil flow would yield dire results for the economies of America, Europe and Asia—directly affecting transportation, manufacturing, industry, agriculture and the military, with indirect ramifications for every other economic sector. Even a couple of million fewer barrels of oil per day on the market would likely create economic chaos, which would precipitate political crisis. Iran calls on UK troops to pull out of Basra Prime Minister Tony Blair swiftly rebuffed Tehran, saying British soldiers were in Iraq under a United Nations mandate and warned Iran not to try to divert attention from international concern over its nuclear programme. Putin: Iran Hasn't Ruled Out Uranium Enrichment In Russia MOSCOW -- Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday that Iran hasn't excluded the possibility of conducting its uranium enrichment in Russia - a proposal that could be a way out of escalating tensions over Iran's nuclear program. Israel Sends Diplomatic Team to Persuade Moscow to Give Up Iran Israel dispatched a diplomatic team to
Russia on Tuesday in an effort to persuade Moscow that Iran should
be referred to the United Nations Security Council, reports quoted
by CNSNews website said.
Signs Comment: "Acting Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Tuesday that Israel could not allow “anyone with these kinds of malicious designs against us, to have control of weapons of destruction that can threaten our existence." Never mind that Israel, with malicious designs against the Palestinians, Iraqis, and Iranians DOES have control of WMDs which DO threaten the existence of millions, if not billions, of people. Iran Has an 'Inalienable Right' to Nuclear Energy - Is Iran's plan for an oil exchange trading in Euros the real issue? Or is it Israel? Iran has an "inalienable right" to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes such as the production of electric energy, and the enrichment of uranium for its nuclear reactors. Could it be that Iran's plan for an oil exchange trading in Euros is the real issue? Or is it Israel? Iran shows the limits of US power It is, of course, utterly hypocritical
for George Bush and Tony Blair, both commanding vast nuclear
arsenals, to denounce Iran for deciding to restart its uranium
enrichment programme. I heard one US neo-con, Frank Gaffney,
ranting and raving on the radio the other day about how uniquely
evil the Islamic regime in Iran is. Certainly Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the
Iranian president, is a
reactionary bigot who denies the reality of the Nazi Holocaust. But
then the Austrian government, which has just taken over the
presidency of the European Union, includes fascists with very
similar views on this subject. [...]
Signs Comment:
For further
reading on all things apocalyptic and how Christianity, Islam and
Judaism are being used to engineer the "end of the world", see
Laura Knight-Jadczyk's article: The Most Dangerous Cult in the World
Iran crisis talks expose west's split with China Differences between the west and Russia and China were exposed yesterday during a meeting in London to discuss strategy for tackling the crisis over Iran's suspected nuclear weapons programme. Iran faces 'destruction' - Israel warns HERZLIYA, Israel -- Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz warned the Iranian people Saturday that they faced "destruction" unless they managed to restrain their new President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. ‘US will help Israel in case of war with Iran’ [...] Cheney was asked if Washington would come to the military assistance of Israel if Iran or any of the terrorist groups it allegedly sponsors attacked Israel. “I don’t think there’s any question but what we would support Israel under those circumstances. I think any administration would,” said Cheney. Flashback: CHENEY BENT ON INSANE PLAN TO NUKE
IRAN
By Greg Szymanski
A high-ranking military officer
has come
forward saying “a real danger exists” of a large-scale
terrorist attack in the United States in the near future, adding
Vice President Dick Cheney has become consumed with the thought of
U.S. nuclear retaliation in the Middle East if an attack on
American soil occurs.
Signs Comment: What they don't mention is the fact that if such a "terrorist attack" happens "on demand," as in "just in time to launch a war on Iran before the Oil Bourse in March, it will very likely be "manufactured" by the very people who want a reason to attack Iran. Now, who might that be??? Iran says Israeli threats are a 'childish game' Iran on Sunday said Israel would be making a "fatal mistake" should it resort to military action against Tehran's nuclear program and dismissed veiled threats from the Jewish state as a "childish game." What Kind of War Doesn't Allow for a Truce? Victory in the War on Terror We're told that a new Osama Bin Laden
audiotape has emerged, and America's Most Wanted said he would like
to strike a deal with the US: Let's stop fighting. You leave us
alone, we'll leave you alone. The Bush Administration rejected the
offer out of hand. "We don't
negotiate with terrorists," Vice President Cheney said. Instead, we
have to "destroy them."
Signs Comment: Of course Bush is going to refuse. After all the work the CIA and NSA and whoever else did to produce a fake tape of a dead man talking, do you think he's going to get hooked by logic??? Annexing Khuzestan; battle-plans for Iran In less than 24 hours the Bush administration has won impressive victories on both domestic and foreign policy fronts. At home, the far-right Federalist Society alum, Sam Alito, has overcome the feeble resistance from Democratic senators; ensuring his confirmation to the Supreme Court. Equally astonishing, the administration has coerced both Russia and China into bringing Iran before the United Nations Security Council although (as Mohamed ElBaradei says) “There’s no evidence of a nuclear weapons program.” The surprising capitulation of Russia and China has forced Iran to abandon its efforts for further negotiations; cutting off dialogue that might diffuse the volatile situation. War Pimping by UPI: Iran building secret nuke tunnel: claim Iran is building a secret tunnel in Tehran for nuclear weapons research and development, an Iranian dissident has claimed. [...], Alireza Jafarzadeh, president of Strategic Policy Consulting, Inc. told a meeting at the National Press Club in Washington Tuesday. Jafarzadeh has made similar allegations before. It has not been possible to independently verify all of them. War Pimps: British lawmakers rally behind Iran dissidents London, – An array of British
parliamentarians and distinguished jurists called on the British
government to cease its “policy of appeasement” towards
the government of hard-line Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
and remove the proscription of Iran’s main opposition group
as a terrorist organisation. Several dozen speakers addressed a
conference organised by the
British Parliamentary Committee for Iran Freedom, entitled
“Responding to Iran’s Nuclear and Terrorist
Threat”, asking the government of Tony Blair to support
“democratic regime change in Iran”.
Signs Comment:
Haven't we seen
this before? The "Iraqis against Saddam" supporting "regime change"
because, as we later learned, they were being paid off by the
Neocons? How stupid do they think we are?
Iran Incapable of Building Nuclear Bomb — Russian Expert Iran is not capable of building its own nuclear weapons, the former head of a nuclear power plant and current regional leader in southern Russia said Wednesday. “In reality, the U.S. is provoking Iran, accusing it of aiming, along with the implementation of its peaceful nuclear programs, to create its own nuclear weapons,” Governor of the Saratov Region Pavel Ipatov was quoted by RIA Novosti as saying. Iran vows 'crushing response' if its nuclear facilities are attacked [...] ''Any attack against Iran's peaceful nuclear facilities will meet a swift and crushing response from the armed forces,'' the agency quoted Najjar as saying. Iran's president lashes out at Bush Iran's president
lashed out Wednesday at the United States and vowed to resist the
pressure of "bully countries" as European nations circulated a
draft resolution urging that Tehran be brought before the U.N.
Security Council for its nuclear activities.
Signs Comment:
All of this is
SO familiar. Weren't there "shouting matches" and "food fights"
between Bush and Hussein leading up to the quagmire in Iraq? Looks
the same to us. Do you suppose that it is all a set-up to keep the
peasants distracted? A high drama to cover up the impending
collapse of the global economy? An excuse to kill millions, or
billions, of people before global warming set's in? A drama
designed to justify locking the peasants down?
Russian Minister sez: Russia, China Have Same Views On Iran [...] Speaking to Russian reporters in London after meeting with his Chinese counterpart, Lavrov said Moscow and Beijing shared the same approach in handling Tehran's ongoing nuclear activities. Russia-China visit to Iran no form of pressure The Wednesday visit of high-ranking Russia and Chinese diplomats to Tehran cannot be viewed as a form of pressure on Iran over its controversial nuclear programs, a spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry said. Uranium enrichment in Russia to cover Iran nuclear needs A senior Russian diplomat said Thursday that uranium enrichment in Russia for Iran's nuclear power plants would cover the Islamic Republic's atomic energy needs, as the UN's nuclear watchdog convened in Vienna for an emergency session to discuss the brewing crisis. Iran poised to retaliate as nuclear standoff worsens Iran was poised to retaliate against the expected reporting of its nuclear programme to the UN Security Council, with the hardline regime vowing to quickly limit international inspections and kick-start sensitive fuel work. Iran and the jaws of a trap Judging from the rather frantic
behind-the-scenes efforts of Russia and China in Iran, they seem to
appreciate that the Iranian leadership is in for a big and probably
deadly surprise. The Bush administration has not only handled its
Iran dossier much more skillfully than Iraq, but also managed to
set up Iran for a war it can neither win nor fight to a draw.
Signs Comment: This piece strikes us as blatant disinformation. It seems to us far more likely that France, Germany and Britain are hoping the U.S. will go to its own destruction... But then, maybe that's the point of this particular agenda? U.S. Intel Chief Doubts Iran Has Nukes National Intelligence Director John Negroponte told Congress on Thursday that Iran probably does not yet have nuclear weapons, nor has it obtained the material central to producing them. Iran has no bomb but it will hit back, US told IRAN'S
clerical regime is supremely confident, has a firm grip on power and is
ready to retaliate against attacks by the US or Israel with missiles or
by activating terrorist allies, the latest American intelligence
assessment says.
The National Intelligence Director, John Negroponte, delivered an
implied rebuke to those in Washington hoping the West can engineer
regime change in Tehran. In Tuesday's State of the Union address,
President George Bush issued a veiled call for the Iranian people to
rise up against the mullahs.
Signs Comment:
Quite a few people have been issuing not-so-veiled calls for the
American people to rise up against the Neocons. That might be a better
option.Former weapons inspector warns of US-Iran war Former United Nations weapons inspector and ex-marine intelligence officer Scott Ritter told a crowd of about 500 gathered at the West Hartford Town Hall that, "...the Bush administration is fixing intelligence around policy on Iran," and that it could lead to a new US war in the Middle East. Russian MP: US-Israeli anti-Iranian moves, premeditated assassination of Iranian nation Russian Duma representative Alexi Mitrafanov Friday called the harmonized plot hatched by some EU members, United States, and Israel against Iran's nuclear program "premeditated assassination" of the Iranian nation." China's UN Envoy: Won't Support Sanctions Against Iran China would never support sanctions against Iran as a "matter of principle," the Chinese ambassador to the U.N. said Friday, adding that his nation still prefers a low-key approach in confronting Tehran's nuclear ambitions. FBI Probes AIPAC Leak of Iran Docs to NYT The FBI is probing an effort by two former employees of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) to disclose classified information to the New York Times. This appears to have been part of an effort to cultivate Times reporters in order to selectively leak classified Iran WMD documents. Iran is world's top sponsor of terrorism: Rumsfeld [...] "The Iranian regime is today the world's leading state
sponsor of
terrorism," Rumsfeld told an annual security conference in Munich where
talk of Iran's nuclear program was at the top of the agenda.
"The world does not want, and must work together to prevent, a nuclear
Iran," he said.
Signs Comment: Rumsfeld is a liar. He said the same things about Iraq in full knowledge that they were not true. Believe him at your peril. Iran ends co-operation with UN nuclear agency, open to Russian proposal Iran did an about-face Sunday on its previous rejection of a Moscow proposal to shift its uranium enrichment to Russian territory and said it remains open to negotiations even as it ended voluntary cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog agency. Iran Ends Voluntary Cooperation With IAEA Iran said Sunday it has ended all voluntary cooperation with the U.N. nuclear watchdog but would still hold talks with Moscow on a proposal to enrich Iranian uranium in Russia, reversing an earlier decision to abandon those talks. Iran bans oil tankers'' Gulf passage if oil exports sanctioned -- MP Iran will ban passage of oil tankers in the Gulf if its oil experts are sanctioned, said a senior official Saturday. "If a ban is imposed on our oil exports, we will not allow oil tankers to sail in the Gulf waters," Mehr news agency quoted Sulaiman Jaafar Zadeh, member of the national committee for security and foreign policy in the Shura council, as saying. Will Iran's 'petroeuro' threat lead to war? Beginning in 2003, Iran began demanding oil payment in euros, not dollars, although the oil itself was still priced in U.S. currency. Now, Iran is seriously considering establishing an Iranian Oil Bourse, with the goal of competing with the New York Mercantile Exchange, NYMEX, and London's International Petroleum Exchange, IPE. War Pimp: Frist says military action a posssibility against Iran Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said Saturday night that the United States must be prepared to take military action against Iran if nonviolent means don't deter the country from building nuclear weapons. Iran nuclear file a non-NPT issue, says Veteran UK politician The Iran issue has nothing to do with the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and it is about US President George W Bush and towing away British Premier Tony Blair, said Tony Benn a former minister in the labour administration. "But I do not know why other countries have gone along with the US," said the active leftist in Britain's ruling party. Israel predicts Iran will pay 'heavy price' for nuclear defiance Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert voiced confidence on Sunday that Iran would pay "a very heavy price" by resuming full-scale uranium enrichment after being reported to the UN Security Council over its nuclear program. War Pimp McCain urges Iran sanctions, outside UN if needed Senator John McCain, a top member of President George W. Bush's Republican Party, urged the world on Saturday to impose economic and other sanctions on Iran, bypassing the United Nations if needed. The hidden stakes in the Iran crisis At the end of this operation, Washington should have complete control over the world’s main hydrocarbon production and reserves. It will control the world economy without the need to share power. It will then be The Empire of The Beast, the New World Order. War Pimp Perle: Iraq errors show West must act fast on Iran Richard Perle, a key architect of the U.S.-led war against Iraq, said on Saturday the West should not make the mistake of waiting too long to use military force if Iran comes close to getting an atomic weapon. The Trail of Illegal Weapons Sold To Iran And Iraq Starts In Washington And London The devil's playground in the Arab sand over the last 25 years has provided crooked politicians on both sides of the Atlantic a handsome profit. While hundreds of thousands of innocents have died a bloody death, the "masters of evil" in the illegal arms trade continue to sell their "dirty toys" under the cover of darkness and through a system of secret companies hidden from public scrutiny. Iran and the jaws of a trap Judging from the rather frantic behind-the-scenes efforts of Russia and China in Iran, they seem to appreciate that the Iranian leadership is in for a big and probably deadly surprise. The Bush administration has not only handled its Iran dossier much more skillfully than Iraq, but also managed to set up Iran for a war it can neither win nor fight to a draw. Iran to pay "heavy price" for nuclear weapon ambition: Israel Israeli
acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Sunday that Iran would pay "a
very heavy price" if the Islamic Republic defiantly resumes full-scale
uranium enrichment to build nuclear weapons.
"At the end of the day, it shows that Iran will pay a very heavy
price if it continues with its plans to try and enrich its fuel in
order to be able to use it as an option to make non-conventional
weapons," said Olmert at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting. He also said that Israel had played an
important role in what he described as an intensive and stormy
diplomatic effort leading to Iran's referral to the UN Security Council.
Signs Comment:
As we have stated many times, the promise of 'mutually ensured
destruction' from nuclear war between nuclear warhead-equipped nations
has successfully prevented any nuclear conflagrations from occurring up
until now. So why would we think that this same preventative mechanism
would not apply to any future confrontation between a nuclear-equipped
Iran Vs Israel. Israel's real problem with Iran is that if Iran were to
join the
big boys's club, Israel would be dethroned as the singular dominant
force in the Middle East, a position that has permitted people like
Sharon and Netanyahu to disregard the rights of Israel's Arab neighbors
and essentially threaten them into submission and acceptance of
Israel's expansionist policies. Of course, publicly, Israel cannot go
to war on such an rationale, hence the lies and propaganda that are
currently issuing from Israel and the US.
Strong Leads and Dead Ends in Nuclear Case Against Iran Iranian engineers have completed sophisticated drawings of a deep subterranean shaft, according to officials who have examined classified documents in the hands of U.S. intelligence for more than 20 months. Complete with remote-controlled sensors to measure pressure and heat, the plans for the 400-meter tunnel appear designed for an underground atomic test that might one day announce Tehran's arrival as a nuclear power, the officials said. Iran: the next war Has Tony Blair, our minuscule Caesar, finally crossed his Rubicon? Having subverted the laws of the civilised world and brought carnage to a defenceless people and bloodshed to his own, having lied and lied and used the death of a hundredth British soldier in Iraq to indulge his profane self-pity, is he about to collude in one more crime before he goes? U.S. shield blunts Israeli military option on Iran Israel has long pursued a policy of preemptive attack as its preferred form of defence. But when it comes to tackling arch-foe Iran, that option may have been put on hold under a protective "umbrella" on offer from the United States. After years of speculation on whether Israel could launch unilateral strikes on the Iranian nuclear programme, some experts now see a major shift in the Jewish state's strategy. At the core of the change was a vow by U.S. President George W. Bush, in a Reuters interview last week, to "rise to Israel's defence" in the face of increasingly tough talk from Tehran. Iran poised to retaliate against UN referral Iran said Wednesday it was poised to retaliate against the reporting of its disputed nuclear programme to the Security Council by kick-starting sensitive fuel work and blocking UN inspections. In a barrage of threats that raise the stakes in the long-running dispute, firebrand President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also vowed his country would "continue on the road to victory" and labelled US President George W. Bush a warmonger who should be put on trial. Iran dismisses US threat over nukes Iran dismissed
as "tough words" the United States' refusal to rule out using military
force against the Islamic republic over its controversial nuclear
programme.
"We are not afraid of attacks by the United States or by other
countries on Iran's nuclear installations because we have nothing to
hide, we have no installations to produce nuclear weapons," Iranian
Vice President Esfandyar Rahim Mashaee said here after meeting with his
Indonesian counterpart.
US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said this week Washington
would not rule out using military force against Iran to prevent it from
obtaining nuclear weapons.
Russia confirms missile defence contract with Iran Amid the escalating crisis around Iran's nuclear programme, Russia said on Thursday that it will still arm Tehran with missiles that can secure nuclear facilities from attacks. Parallels Between Iran and Pre-War Iraq Iran is not Iraq, and the year 2006 is not the same as year 2003 for George Bush; but one cannot stop wondering about the uncanny similarities between Iraq at the verge of war, and the present state of affairs in Iran. China says welcomes Iran-Russia nuclear talks China said on Thursday it welcomed talks between Iran and Russia next week on plans to defuse the crisis over Tehran's atomic programme, but refused to say whether it would join the meeting. "We hope that this Russian invitation to Iran to hold talks on the 16th about participating in an international uranium enrichment centre will help break, or encourage a break, in the current stalemate over the Iranian nuclear issue," Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan told a regular news conference. The deputy head of Iran's National Security Council would lead Tehran's delegation to the talks in Moscow next week, Russia's Itar-Tass news agency reported earlier. War Pimp Gore: Iran 'danger for world' Former US vice president and defeated presidential hopeful Al Gore lashed out at Iran's clerical regime, denouncing it as a threat "for the future of the world." "Iran is ruled by corrupt politicians and clerics," the Democrat said in an address to the Jeddah Economic Forum in Saudi Arabia. US prepares military blitz against Iran's nuclear sites Strategists at the Pentagon are drawing up plans for devastating bombing raids backed by submarine-launched ballistic missile attacks against Iran's nuclear sites as a "last resort" to block Teheran's efforts to develop an atomic bomb. '10,000 would die' in A-plant attack on Iran A major American attack on Iran's nuclear sites would kill up to 10,000 people and lead to war in the Middle East, a report says today. Hundreds of scientists and technicians would be targets in the opening salvos as the attacks focused on eliminating further nuclear development, the Oxford Research Group says in Iran: Consequences of a War. The research coincides with reports that strategists at the Pentagon are drawing up plans for "a last resort" strike if diplomacy fails. Plans for an assault have taken on "greater urgency" in recent months, The Sunday Telegraph said. Iran is prepared to retaliate, experts warn Iran is prepared to launch attacks using long-range missiles, secret commando units, and terrorist allies planted around the globe in retaliation for any strike on the country's nuclear facilities, according to new US intelligence assessments and military specialists. IRAN: CONSEQUENCES OF A WAR This briefing paper provides a comprehensive analysis of the likely nature of US or Israeli military action that would be intended to disable Iran’s nuclear capabilities. It outlines both the immediate consequences in terms of loss of human life, facilities and infrastructure, and also the likely Iranian responses, which would be extensive. An attack on Iranian nuclear infrastructure would signal the start of a protracted military confrontation that would probably grow to involve Iraq, Israel and Lebanon, as well as the USA and Iran. The report concludes that a military response to the current crisis in relations with Iran is a particularly dangerous option and should not be considered further. Alternative approaches must be sought, however difficult these may be. Iran resumes enrichment work Tehran, Feb 13 Iran has started putting uranium feedstock gas into centrifuges, the first step in manufacturing what can be either nuclear reactor fuel or material for an atom bomb, diplomats told a news agency on Monday. Earlier Iran announced it would resume uranium enrichment even before the UN atomic watchdog meets next month. Sanction the IAEA Board, not Iran You probably heard that – as a result of extreme pressure brought by the Bush-Cheney administration – a "special" meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency Board of Governors was convened last week to discuss what to do about the "gravest" threat to develop to "our" national security since the end of the Cold War. The "threat"? The announced resumption of certain IAEA Safeguarded programs, voluntarily and temporarily suspended by Iran more than two years ago. Outed CIA officer Plame was working on Iran, intelligence sources say The
unmasking of covert CIA officer Valerie Plame Wilson by White House
officials in 2003 caused significant damage to U.S. national security
and its ability to counter nuclear proliferation abroad, RAW STORY has
learned. According to
current
and former intelligence officials, Plame
Wilson, who worked on the clandestine side of the CIA in the
Directorate of Operations as a non-official cover (NOC) officer, was
part of an operation tracking distribution and acquisition of weapons
of mass destruction technology to and from Iran. Speaking under strict
confidentiality, intelligence officials
revealed heretofore unreported elements of Plame's work. Their accounts
suggest that Plame's outing was more serious than has previously been
reported and carries grave implications for U.S. national security and
its ability to monitor Iran's burgeoning nuclear program.
US Sides With Iran on UN vote against gays The Bush administration's support for Iran's proposal to bar two gay rights groups from a voice at the United Nations sparked a demand from U.S. legislators on Tuesday that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice repudiate the action. War Pimp Hurd: Iran may need force Former Foreign Secretary Lord Hurd has said Britain cannot "realistically" rule out using military force against Iran over its nuclear programme. But any such action would involve "huge dangers" and governments must show "patient strength", he told peers. The hidden stakes in the Iran crisis The confrontation between the big powers over Iran continues with antagonisms hidden from view. Since December 2002, the USA has accused Iran of seeking nuclear arms in violation of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Americans think Iran may use nukes A
USA Today-CNN-Gallup Poll says Americans not only think Iran will
develop nuclear weapons but also use them against the United States.
The poll done over the last weekend also says Americans fear the
Bush administration will be "too quick" to order military action
against Iran, USA Today reported Tuesday.
Signs Comment:
The poll shows that the manipûlation of he US public is
proceeding
apace, that their better instincts are being drowned out by disinfo and
propaganda. Look at the figures reported about opinion on the famous
cartoon manipulation. 6 out of 10 recognise the newpapers acted
irresponsibly, but then they turn around and blame Muslim intolerance
for the furor, which was the whole point of the operation: to portray
the Muslims as fanatical crazies. How many Muslim rmies are occupying
Western countries?
Who Will Blow the Whistle Before We Attack Iran? The question looms large against the backdrop of the hearing on whistle blowing scheduled for the afternoon of Feb. 14 by Christopher Shays, chair of the House Subcommittee on National Security, Emerging Threats and International Relations. Among those testifying are Russell Tice, one of the sources who exposed illegal eavesdropping by the National Security Agency, and Army Sgt. Sam Provance, who told his superiors of the torture he witnessed at Abu Graib, got no satisfaction, and felt it his duty to go public. It will not be your usual hearing. War Pimp! Iran crosses 'red line' in nuclear stand-off Iran has started to inject uranium feedstock gas into centrifuges at its Natanz nuclear facility, crossing an internationally agreed "red line" on the path to producing the material for atomic weapons. A senior diplomat from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed that researchers at the republic's pilot enrichment plant in central Iran had taken the crucial step, signalling a major escalation in the long-running face-off between Tehran and the West. Iran says enrichment-related nuclear activity resumed Iran Tuesday said it had resumed enrichment-related activity at a nuclear plant even as the foreign minister admitted that Tehran intended to produce nuclear fuel. "We have started the preliminary phase and related activities of uranium enrichment in Natanz right after the order by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad earlier this month," Javad Vaeidi, international deputy of the Iranian National Security Council, told reporters. Denying press reports that Iran had begun full-scale uranium enrichment, he clarified that only enrichment-related activities had begun at the Natanz plant in central Iran. Iran sets new date for atomic talks with Russia Iran announced on Tuesday it was deferring until next week talks with Russia on its nuclear plans, but gave no sign it was ready to stop enriching uranium on its own soil -- the key element in Moscow's plan. However, a senior Iranian official said no actual uranium enrichment had yet taken place at the Natanz facility where Iran had halted work during negotiations with the European Union. "No work has been done on the centrifuges and no gas has been injected yet," said the official, asking not to be named. Bush wants extra $75 mln to spur Iran democracy U.S. President George W. Bush wants $75
million to try to spur
democracy in its adversary Iran, expanding a program that skeptics say
can have little effect in the Islamic republic. "The United States will
actively confront the aggressive policies
of the Iranian regime. At the same time, we will work to support the
aspirations of the Iranian people for freedom and democracy in their
country," Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told a congressional
budget hearing.
Signs Comment:
See comments in article text.
War Pimping: Rice asks for $75M to foster democracy in Iran Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice asked Congress on Wednesday for $75 million this year to build democracy in Iran, saying the U.S. must support Iranians who are seeking freedoms under what she called a radical regime. The money, to be included in an emergency 2006 budget request the White House is expected to send to Congress as early as this week, will be used for radio and satellite television broadcasting and for programs to help Iranians study abroad. Signs Comment: In other words, it has nothing to do with supporting democracy and everything to do with paying for propaganda. Can we say Goebbels? Rice Says Iran Is Openly Defying The World U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said today that Iran is openly defying the international community by resuming the enrichment of uranium for nuclear fuel and warned that the United States could impose fresh, unilateral sanctions. Signs Comment: No, Iran is just defying the U.S. and Israel and the U.S. and Israel are blackmailing the leaders of many European countries to back them up. Iran has secret military nuclear program: France French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said on Thursday Iran was pursuing a clandestine military nuclear program. "No civilian nuclear program can explain the Iranian nuclear program. So it is a clandestine Iranian military nuclear program," Douste-Blazy told France 2 television. Iran rejects French nuclear charges Iran has insisted that it was not seeking a nuclear weapon, rejecting accusations by France that its atomic drive was "clandestine" and "military" in nature. The allegations from French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy were the first time a top European official has made such explicit claims against Tehran and highlighted increasing EU exasperation over Tehran's nuclear programme. "Contrary to all the propaganda against us, we are not seeking a nuclear bomb, since we are a signatory to (the nuclear) Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)," chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani said Thursday. War Pimp Mofaz: Iran combining radical platform with nuclear weapons - danger for Israel Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz, speaking in Tel Aviv, addressed the threat posed by Hamas. He emphasized however the "main threat to Israel, the Iranian threat." "The combination of a radical platform, calling for the destruction of Israel, and Holocaust denial, together with long-range missiles and nuclear weapons, represents a serious threat to Israel." (Avi Cohen) War Pimp IDF Intelligence Chief: Iran Implementing Concrete Plan to Destroy Israel Head of Army Intelligence Brig.-Gen. Amos Yadlin told the Knesset Defense Committee Tuesday that he shares the assessment that Iran presents an existential threat to Israel. In what was his first appearance before the committee, Yadlin stressed that Israel must regard with complete seriousness the declarations of Iran's president regarding his intention to destroy Israel. According to the IDF's assessments, the matter is beyond mere statements, but consists of a decisive and serious plan being carried out by Iran. Russian Political Expert Predicts US Missile Attack on Iran in Early Summer U.S. will launch a missile attack against Iran this summer, says Russian political expert Mikhail Delyagin. “Lately the demand of U.S. military actions against Iran has become really obvious,” Delyagin was quoted by RIA Novosti as saying at a press conference in Moscow Tuesday. Delyagin said the current situation was in many ways similar to the situation in 1999 that preceded NATO attack on Yugoslavia, and that of 2003 before the Coalition forces invasion in Iraq. “I think that today’s statements, the propaganda and the actions allow us to say quite clearly that the missile attack on Iran is a question of time,” he said. “Judging by the pre-elections motivation, the attack must take place late spring or late summer,” Delyagin added the attacks will only target nuclear objects. “It will be a pinpoint, surgical operation. Iran has a limited capacity to response,” he said. Russia voices strong opposition to sanctions against Iran Russian Foreign Minister voiced here Wednesday his country's strong opposition to any possible sanctions against Iran. Sergei Lavrov who is in Austrian Capital for talks with the European Troika -France, Britain and Germany- said in a press conference that sanctions have never resolved any row. "On the contrary sanctions have always been an impetus for intensifying disagreements," He added. US threatens Iran with new sanctions Threatening new sanctions, the United States accused Iran on Wednesday of defying the world by resuming uranium enrichment for nuclear fuel without resolving suspicions it secretly wants to build atomic bombs. Russia urged Iran to change course to allow a compromise. It said Iran had to regain international trust before Moscow would back Tehran's declared right to enrich uranium on its own soil. Iran can progress despite enemies, president says Iranian President Ahmadinejad, 49, had just given a long, fiery speech to a large crowd in Tehran to commemorate the 27th anniversary of Iran's Islamic revolution. He smiled at the beginning of the interview when the reporter greeted him in the Persian language, but otherwise made little eye contact. He seemed tired and spoke quietly. The interview was conducted in a receiving room in an ornate building that once belonged to the family of the deposed shah, whose overthrow in 1979 helped provoke the rupture between Iran and the United States that persists to this day. The son of a blacksmith, Ahmadinejad ran a populist campaign and scored an upset victory in a runoff election last July against Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, one of Iran's richest men. Iran to pursue atomic research despite Russian plan Iran vowed on Monday to pursue its nuclear research even if talks in Moscow produce agreement on a Russian compromise aimed at keeping bomb-grade enriched uranium out of the Islamic Republic's hands. Iran to accept Russian proposal Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said here on Sunday that Iran would accept a Russian compromise proposal aimed to defuse the current Iranian nuclear tension after it was amended into a comprehensive offer. "Russia's nuclear proposal will serve Iran's interests if it turns into a comprehensive offer by holding talks and including complimentary terms and conditions," Mottaki was quoted by the official IRNA news agency as saying. Iran's nuclear power When I've written in the recent past about Iran, I haven't had the slightest hesitation to say that Iran has the right to develop nuclear power or nuclear weapons. But I admit I didn't fully understand why they were so keen on nuclear power. This article is extremely enlightening on that point. Here's a sentence which describes what I probably thought of as their main motive: "Iranians view the development of nuclear energy as a hallmark of modernization and national pride." But the truth is, there are more concrete reasons as well: Georgia denies bases option for U.S. operation against Iran Georgia's top military officer denied a media report Monday that the United States was considering using military bases in Georgia for a possible attack on Iran. "This is utterly absurd," said Levan Nikoleishvili, the chief of the General Staff. Iran calls for end to Mohammed cartoon protests Iran's foreign
minister called yesterday for an end to the violent protests over
cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed that have left dozens dead in several
Muslim countries.
"We should try to cool down the situation," Manouchehr Mottaki said in Brussels. "We do not support any violence." Signs Comment:
These comments by the Iranian foreign Minister stand in stark contrast
to the scurrilous allegations
by Rice that Iran was in fact inciting violence over the cartoons. More
evidence that Rice is a bare-faced liar and manipulator? You bet.
U.S. Envoy in Iraq Accuses Iran Of Assisting Militias, Insurgents The U.S. ambassador to Iraq accused Iran
on Monday of
providing weapons, training and support to Iraqi militia and insurgent
groups responsible for the country's continuing violence and
instability.
Signs Comment: Of course, it's all Iran's fault!
Iran-Russian nuclear talks close Iranian and Russian officials have ended two days of talks on a Russian plan to enrich uranium on its territory for use in Iran's reactors. It is not clear what the talks may have achieved as the Iranian delegation prepared to leave Moscow on Tuesday. A senior Iranian official described the talks as "positive and constructive" and said they would continue. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said it was too early to declare the talks a failure. US Asks Georgia to Use Bases and Airfields for Attacks on Iran — Paper American officials are probing whether Georgia, situated just northwest of Iran, will allow Washington to use its military bases and airfields in the event of a military conflict with Teheran, The Jerusalem Post reported Monday citing an unnamed Georgian official. Russia's Putin is optimistic after talks with Iran President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday Russia was counting on being able to reach a positive result over the Iranian nuclear issue. "The negotiations are not easy but we are counting on reaching a positive result," Putin said in the Azerbaijan capital Baku. "We are not losing optimism." March madness Gholamali Haddadadel, "speaker" of Iran's Parliament – in Cuba last week –dismissed the possibility of a U.S. pre-emptive attack against Iran, finding it "impossible" to 'believe" that the U.S. would want "to repeat the experience of Iraq." "We hope the United States is not so stupid," he said. Presumably, Haddadadel meant to say, "We hope that President Bush, his vice president, his secretary of state and his ambassador to the United Nations are not so stupid." Now, some or all of the above may be stupid. But their stupidity is not what Haddadadel and the rest of the world need to concern themselves with. It's their sanity. Iran was not referred to the Security Council for Noncompliance How powerful is the corporate information-system we call the
mainstream media?
Is it powerful enough, for example, to mislead the public into
believing that Iran has been "referred" to the United Nations Security
Council for violations to the NPT, thus paving the way for another war
on the back of false information? The IAEA DID
NOT report on Iran's
"noncompliance" to the Security Council, because there is no evidence
that Iran has done anything wrong. In fact, as nuclear physicist Gordon Prather points out in his recent article,
"March Madness", "THE BOARD DIDN'T REPORT ANYTHING."
China supports talks between Russia, Iran on nuke issue China supports the negotiations on the Iran nuclear issue between Russia and Iran and hopes for a positive outcome, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said here on Tuesday. Iran Has No WMD - Russia's Intelligence Chief Iran has no
weapons of mass destruction or material for constructing them, a deputy
head of Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service Vladimir Zavershinsky
said in an interview with Krasnaya Zvezda daily. "We have no data that
Iran has any nuclear warheads or sufficient amount of plutonium for
constructing them," he said
Signs Comment:
What!? You mean the Bushites and Israel are LYING! Please! Say it ain't
so!
Iran nuclear crisis can be resolved, says China China, strengthening relations with Iran through trade and energy deals, said there was still room to defuse the international standoff over Tehran's nuclear ambitions through negotiation. Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing appealed to the international community to be calm, restrained and patient and to show flexibility for a resumption of negotiations between Europe and Iran, Xinhua news agency said in an overnight report. "The days before the March 6 meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) are crucial," Li was quoted as saying after meeting visiting German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier. Iran leader faces Holocaust case An Israeli lawyer, Ervin Shahar, says he has asked Germany to charge Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad with denying the Holocaust. Mr Ahmadinejad was widely criticised when he said last year that the Holocaust was a "myth" and that Israel should be "wiped off the map". Germany passed a law in 1993 forbidding Holocaust denial. It is punishable by up to five years in prison. US Plotting Coup in Iran? The
intelligence wing of the US marines has launched a probe into Iran's
ethnic minorities at a time of heightened tensions along the border
with Iraq and friction between capitals. Iranian activists
involved in a classified research project for the marines told the FT the
Pentagon was examining the depth and nature of grievances against the
Islamic government, and appeared to be studying whether Iran would be
prone to a violent fragmentation along the same kind of fault lines
that are splitting Iraq.
Signs Comment: Note the comment at the beginning of
the above article that:
"Iranian activists involved
in a classified research project for
the marines told the FT the Pentagon was examining the depth and nature
of grievances against the Islamic government, and appeared to be studying whether Iran would be prone to a violent
fragmentation along the same kind of fault lines that are splitting
Iraq."
Which seems to be suggesting that the violent fragmentation of Iraq is not the result of long-standing or 'natural' ethnic rivalries among Iraqi religious factions, but rather part of a deliberately orchestrated campaign by Pentagon "thinktanks". Then again, we already knew that. How Neo-Cons Sabotaged Iran's Help on al Qaeda The United States and Iran were on a course to work closely together on the war against al Qaeda and its Taliban sponsors in Afghanistan in late 2001 and early 2002 -- until Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld stepped in to scuttle that cooperation, according to officials who were involved at the time. Russia and the 'war of civilizations' Russia has demonstrated a renewed activism in the Middle East and larger Muslim world. Aside from ambitious economic projects and weapons sales to India, Iran, Syria and Palestine, the Kremlin has proposed two wide-ranging and much-debated initiatives. The first seeks to address growing suspicions of Iran's intent to obtain a nuclear bomb and to encourage Tehran to send its spent nuclear fuel to Russia. The second initiative is to open political dialogue with leaders of Hamas, who won the recent Palestinian elections but continue to refuse to renounce violence against Israel or recognize its right to exist as an independent state. Although Russia has had regular relations with Muslim nations and even sought to join the Organization of Islamic Conferences, the Kremlin's initiatives are bold new developments. Iran nuclear chief says 'basic agreement' reached on Russian enrichment plan Iran's nuclear chief said an agreement was reached with Moscow on Sunday to set up a joint uranium enrichment facility on Russian soil, a deal that could assuage global concerns that Tehran wants to build atomic bombs. The plan proposed by Russia is backed by the United States and European Union. The agreement was announced after a meeting between Russian nuclear chief Sergei Kiriyenko and Gholamreza Aghazadeh, head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran and the country's vice president. Iran And "The International Community " Here we go again! Now it's Iran. Bush, again mumbling something about Iran's being a threat to the world, the same crap as about Iraq. But this time, the west European countries (the "traditional" allies) are at it, too. Two bombs hit Iranian oil cities, 6 wounded TEHRAN -
Two bombs exploded in the southern Iranian cities of Dezful and Abadan
on Monday wounding at least six people, officials said.
The bombs were planted in the governor's office in both cities,
which lie in the province of Khuzestan, the heartland of Iran's oil
industry, that has seen tensions between Iranian authorities and the
Arab minority over the last year.
Signs Comment:
"Foreign elements aim to exploit the situation by fanning ethnic differences and separatist tendencies."Gee, to whom might the Iranians be referring?? Iran sticks to tough line for crunch nuclear talks in Moscow Iran insisted on its right to nuclear technology, sticking to a tough line ahead of 11th-hour talks in Moscow aimed at heading off fears that the Islamic republic is seeking atomic weapons. 'The vilification of Iran' . . . Preschoolers are taught not to exclude others (whom they don't like) from their play group. Uncle Sam could learn a lesson here. In the vilification of Iran that is now going on (recall the vilification of Iraq before we started bombing), I see no reference to the fact that the nuclear weapons non-proliferation treaty consists of mutual promises: Non-nuclear nations agree to forego developing nuclear weapons in exchange for the nuclear powers' agreement to disarm their nukes. The U.S. has a long way to go before all of our nukes are destroyed. As a charter member of the nuclear weapons club, the U.S. can't say to Iran, "You can't play," particularly when Pakistan, India, North Korea and Israel all have nukes. War Pimp U.S. senator: Iranian nuclear threat is biggest since Cold War "The Iranian threat to the world is the biggest since the Cold War," Senator John Mccain told ABC television on Sunday. Mccain said the United States is preoccupied with the UAE ports deal while ignoring the most worrying issue of Iran's nuclear ambitions. Tehran fails to dispel IAEA 'concern' Iran has failed to dispel suspicions that it is secretly trying to develop nuclear weapons grade material, and its atomic programme remains "a matter of concern", according to a long-awaited report. War Pimping: IAEA: Iran appears determined to expand uranium enrichment program The U.N. atomic watchdog agency said Monday that Iran appears determined to expand its uranium enrichment program – a key international concern because of fears it could use the activity to make nuclear weapons. Propaganda Alert! Iran enrichment underway The UN says Iran has begun using nuclear enrichment machines and is failing to co-operate with inspectors. 23 killed in Afghan fighting, coalition planes called in US-led coalition planes bombed an area of southern Afghanistan where a fierce battle had erupted between Taliban-linked militants and police, leaving about 23 dead. Taleban say attacks will increase, US “helpless” Afghanistan’s Taleban guerrillas are gaining strength and will step up attacks against government and foreign troops when spring comes next month, a Taleban commander said on Tuesday. The Taleban claimed responsibility for a blast on Monday that the US military said killed four troops. The Taleban said nine Americans were killed and US forces were helpless in the face of such attacks. Padilla Defense Challenges Evidence as Possible Fraud The jihadist training form that accused terrorist operative Jose Padilla allegedly filled out before heading to an Afghanistan camp may be a fake and requires fingerprint analysis, his defense attorneys say. In an appeal of a pretrial detention order denying bond, the defense tries to debunk several pieces of prosecution evidence against Padilla and lay out some of its case for the so-called "dirty bomber." Australia to send 200 more troops to Afghanistan Australia will send an additional 200 troops to Afghanistan to work with Dutch-led reconstruction teams to help rebuild the war-torn nation, Prime Minister John Howard said. Renewed Afghan Drug Trade |
