Sections on today's Signs Page:
Signs Editorials
Editorial: Zionism And The Iranian President
Joe Quinn
Signs of the Times
27/09/2006
As you are all well aware, the Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, wants to destroy all Jews and the Jewish state with them. Like all good anti-Semites, he loathes Jews simply because they are Jews, and breathlessly awaits the day when Iran has the capacity to implement the 'final solution', once and for all. Or so you have been led to believe by the US, Israeli and British governments.
You see, there is a slight problem with what we have been told about the intentions and beliefs of the Iranian president - it's one giant fabrication, a lie, if you will. Of course, given that the mainstream Western media is almost entirely controlled by Western governments and the government of Israel, no one can reasonably be surprised at this state of affairs.
Through the use of selective publication, liberal interpretation and outright distortion of
the words of the Iranian President, most people today are entirely unaware
that Ahmadinejad has been very clear about his position vis a vis the Jewish
people. Ahmadinejad has gone to significant lengths to make it clear that his
problem is with the "Zionist state" rather than ordinary Jewish people. It was in reference to the government of Israel and the Zionists that populate it that Ahmadinejad used the term "should be wiped from the pages of history",
orginally used by the Iranian Imam Khomeini. Indeed, at a recent press conference in New York,
the Iranian President made his stance as clear as possible stating: "we love everybody around the world: Jews, Christians, Muslims", adding the all-important qualification that "Zionists
are not Jews. Zionists are Zionists."
Indeed, according to the following report, Ahmadinejad's claims are mere words:
Iran's
proud but discreet Jews
BBC News
22/09/2006
Although Iran and Israel are bitter enemies, few know that Iran is home
to the largest number of Jews anywhere in the Middle East outside Israel.
About 25,000 Jews live in Iran and most are determined to remain no matter
what the pressures - as proud of their Iranian culture as of their Jewish roots.
It is dawn in the Yusufabad synagogue in Tehran and Iranian Jews bring
out the Torah and read the ancient text before making their way to work.
It is not a sight you would expect in a revolutionary
Islamic state, but there are synagogues dotted all over Iran where Jews discreetly
practise their religion.
"Because of our long history here we are tolerated," says Jewish community
leader Unees Hammami, who organised the prayers.
He says the father of Iran's revolution, Imam Khomeini,
recognised Jews as a religious minority that should be protected.
As a result Jews have one representative in the Iranian parliament.
"Imam Khomeini made a distinction between Jews and Zionists and he supported
us," says Jewish community leader Unees Hammam.
The evidence would
seem to suggest therefore that the Iranian President is being deliberately
and unfairly demonized by the American and Israeli governments and their
media for a very specific reason, and we need only remember the "babies
in incubators" myth spread by those same governments just prior to the
first invasion of Iraq to understand the plans that the warmongers in Washington
and Tel Aviv have for the Iranian people.
Comment on this Editorial
Editorial: John Stadtmiller Hires New Disinfo Artist
Lisa Guliani and Victor Thorn
Wing TV
27/09/2006
A chain is only as strong as its weakest link, and the same applies to a radio network. John Stadtmiller at RBN could be building a dynamite force down there in Texas which could conceivably pose a serious challenge to the mainstream media's lie machine. And, considering how GCN has been so disgraced with hosts such as mentally ill Alex Jones and another creep who harbors sexual degenerates and drug dealers on his website, RBN could really outshine its "supposed" competition.
Yet Stadtmiller keeps shooting himself in the foot by hiring blatant disinformation specialists. Last year it was Greg Szymanski - a guy who has been so discredited that he's in the same league as Tom Flocco and the Ghost Troops. Why do you think he no longer writes for the American Free Press? Because they caught onto his ruse, as did so many others. On top of that, Szymanski was boring as hell. [If anyone suffered from insomnia, all they had to do was listen to this guy for ten minutes and it was guaranteed they'd be asleep before the first commercial.] At least John had the sense to dump this cretin.
But now, Stadtmiller brought onboard a 23-year old Jewish kid named D.L. Abrahamson that is so brazenly disinfo that our jaws dropped when hearing him. [The "expert" is pictured above] During his September 26, 2006 hour-long broadcast, Abrahamson made the following statements in regard to 9-11:
~ All the cell phone calls on Flight 93 were real.
~ Flight 77 hit the Pentagon.
~ The Pentagon hole was big enough to fit a Boeing 757.
~ Al Qaeda did 9-11.
~ The hijackers were real.
~ All four planes were really hijacked.
~ Mohammad Atta was a double agent (think Daniel Hopsicker).
~ Saudis, Pakistanis & Muslims were involved, but no mention of Israel.
~ Some people on the four 9-11 planes were probably double agents.
~ There was wreckage found at the Pentagon that proves Flight 77 hit it.
~ Flight 77 DID crash "a little bit" into the ground before it hit the Pentagon, and this is why the hole isn't in the center of the building.
~ There were eyewitnesses to Flight 77 hitting the Pentagon (sure, but how many were credible ones).
~ 9-11 was an inside job to the degree that NORAD did not intercept the planes. That's the only involvement our government had as far as it being an "inside job."
~ Saudis/Pakistanis/Muslims want to kill us and destroy our country (total neo-con schtick ala Rush Limbaugh, Hannity, O'Reilly, and Michael Savage).
Abrahamson also said that anybody who states that the Flight 93 cell phone calls were fake are either:
a) sorely mistaken
b) didn't do their homework
c) or they're operatives
This 23-year old "expert" also proclaimed that the 9-11 physical evidence is nothing more than "speculative garbage," and that we should stop focusing on it. Doesn't that sound exactly like what another patent disinformation specialist said - Mike Ruppert!
On his MySpace page, this kid also promotes RBN competitors such as Alex Jones, Jeff Rense, and mega-creep Jack Blood; yet during his above-mentioned broadcast he took pot shots at the American Free Press, Barnes Review, Willis Carto, and the Scholars for 9-11 Truth (some of whom have shows on RBN). Very peculiar, don't you think?
Also, just like ultra-paranoid shyster Alex Jones, Abrahamson repeatedly told the audience that "his life is seriously in danger" and how he's being watched by intelligence agencies. The only problem is, he just suddenly popped out of nowhere (just like so many other infiltrators). Consider: he's only had a show on RBN for three weeks, and his website only went online this summer. How did he all of a sudden become public enemy # 1? [We'll tell you how - it's all unadulterated bullshit.]
Plus, this kid talked at length about how dangerous al Qaeda and the Pakistanis were to America, yet conveniently forgot to stress Israel's long history of terrorism and illegal spying. Do you think it has something to do with his last name - Abrahamson?
We realize that Stadtmiller wants to reach a younger audience, but why resort to a 23-year old Jewish disinformation artist that promotes hip hop, worships at the altar of Alex Jones (who also runs a massive Zionist protection racket), and pushes the worst in 9-11 skullduggery? If Stadtmiller's trying to put a younger face on the 9-11 movement, couldn't he at least find one that tells the truth?
C'mon, John, you have some excellent hosts on RBN; get this bozo off the air before he poisons the entire network and you're left with nothing but a sinking ship.
NOTE: To hear more, click here to listen to WING TV's September 27th broadcast.
Original
Comment on this Editorial
Editorial: U.S. gets 'Sovietized'
By ERIC MARGOLIS
Toronto Sun
September 24, 2006
In the late 1980s, I was the first western journalist allowed into the world's most dreaded prison, Moscow's sinister Lubyanka. Muscovites dared not even utter the name of KGB's headquarters, calling it instead after a nearby toy store, "Detsky Mir."
I still shudder recalling Lubyanka's underground cells, grim interrogation rooms, and execution cellars where tens of thousands were tortured and shot. I sat at the desk from which the monsters who ran Cheka (Soviet secret police) - Dzerzhinsky, Yagoda, Yezhov, Beria - ordered 30 million victims to their deaths.
Prisoners taken in the dead of night to Lubyanka were systematically beaten for days with rubber hoses and clubs. There were special cold rooms where prisoners could be frozen to near death. Sleep deprivation was a favourite and most effective Cheka technique. So was near-drowning in water fouled with urine and feces.
I recall these past horrors because of what this column has long called the gradual "Sovietization" of the United States. This shameful week, it became clear Canada is also afflicted.
We have seen America's president and vice president, sworn to uphold the Constitution, advocating some of the same interrogation techniques the KGB used at the Lubyanka. They apparently believe beating, freezing, sleep deprivation and near-drowning are necessary to prevent terrorist attacks. So did Stalin.
The White House insisted that anyone - including Americans - could be kidnapped and tried in camera using "evidence" obtained by torturing other suspects. Bush & Co. deny the U.S. uses torture but reject the basic law of habeaus corpus and U.S. laws against the evil practice. The UN says Bush's plans violate international law and the Geneva Conventions.
This week's tentative agreement between Bush and Congress may somewhat limit torture, but exempts U.S. officials from having to observe the Geneva Convention.
Canadians had a shocking view of similar creeping totalitarianism as the full horror of Maher Arar's persecution was revealed. Thanks to false information from the RCMP, the U.S. arrested a Canadian citizen and sent him to Syria. Arab states and Pakistan were being used by the Bush administration for outsourced torture. Syria denies the charges.
Suspects were kidnapped by the U.S., often on the basis of faulty information or lies, then sent to Arab states to be tortured until they confessed. The apparent objective of this "rendition" program? To find a few kernels of useful information. The Cheka and East Germany's Stasi used the same practice.
I never thought I'd see the United States - champion of human rights and rule of law - legislating torture and Soviet-style kangaroo tribunals. I never thought I'd see Congress and a majority of Americans supporting such police state measures. Washington, Jefferson, and Lincoln must be turning in their graves.
To me, Canada has always been a haven of moderation, decency, and rule of law - until the Maher Arar affair shockingly showed this country could also quickly fall into police state behaviour.
Arar's despicable treatment by Canada and the U.S. was the result of a U.S. witch hunt, plus anti-Muslim racism, stupidity, bureaucratic cowardice and incompetence.
We saw Ottawa aiding the outrageous persecution of its citizens, and the U.S. shamefully refusing to aid the Arar inquiry.
Former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft, who authorized Arar's arrest, should face justice for this and many other malfeasances. The current U.S. Attorney General, Alberto Gonzales, who denied the Bush administration was responsible for Arar's abduction and torture, should be ashamed.
Canada must demand a thorough U.S. investigation, apology, and guarantee Canadians will never again become victims of such state-run criminal activity. It's time for Prime Minister Stephen Harper to advise his new best friends in Washington that Canada is not a banana republic.
Officials directly involved in the most sordid, disgraceful case in Canada's modern history, must face justice. They are as much guilty as the torturers who beat Maher Arar mercilessly for 10 months.
[ ORIGINAL ]
Comment on this Editorial
Editorial: Afghanistan: The Other Lost War
by Stephen Lendman
28 September 2006
In his important new book Freedom Next Time, dealing with "empire, its facades and the enduring struggle of people for their freedom," John Pilger has a chapter on Afghanistan. In it he says that "Through all the humanitarian crises in living memory, no country has been abused and suffered more, and none has been helped less than Afghanistan." He goes on to describe what he sees as something more like a moonscape than a functioning nation. In the capitol, Kabul, there are "contours of rubble rather than streets, where people live in collapsed buildings, like earthquake victims waiting for rescue....(with) no light or heat." It seems like it's always been that way for these beleaguered people who've had a long history of conflict and suffering with little relief. In the 19th century, the Afghan people were victimized by the "Great Game" struggle pitting the British empire against Tsarist Russia for control of that part of the world. More recently in the 1980s, it paid dearly again when a US recruited mujahideen guerrilla army battled against a Soviet occupation. It forced the occupiers out but at the cost of a ravaged country and one forced to endure still more suffering and destruction from the brutal civil war in the 1990s that followed the Soviet withdrawal. Then came 9/11, the US attack, invasion, occupation and further devastation that's ongoing with no end in sight and now intensifying in ferocity.
In his book, Pilger explains that Afghanistan today is what the CIA once called Vietnam - "the grand illusion of the American cause." There's no assured safety even in most parts of the capitol now where for a brief time after the US invasion the people of Kabul enjoyed a degree of freedom long denied them by the Taliban. Now there's neither freedom nor safety almost anywhere in the country as the brutal regional "warlords" rule most parts of it, and the Taliban have begun a resurgence reigniting the conflict that for a time subsided. Today the nation is once again a war zone and narco-state with the "warlords" and drug kingpins controlling everything outside the capitol and the Taliban gaining strength and fighting back in the south trying to regain what they lost. In Kabul itself, the country's selected and nominal president Hamid Karzai (a former CIA asset and chief consultant to US oil giant UNOCAL) is a caricature of a man and willing US stooge who functions as little more than the mayor of the city. Outside the capitol he has no mandate or support and wouldn't last a day on his own without the round the clock protection afforded him by the US military and the private contractor DynCorp.
When they ruled most of the country in the 1990s, the Taliban at least kept order and wouldn't tolerate banditry, rape or murder, despite their ultra-puritanical ways and harsh treatment of the disobedient. They also virtually ended opium production. Now all that's changed. The US - British invasion in 2001 ended the ban on opium production, allowed the "warlords" to replant as much of it as they wanted, and the result according to a report released by the UN is that cultivation of this crop is spiraling out of control. Antonio Maria Costa, the UN anti-drug chief, said this year's opium harvest will be a record 6,100 tons (enough to make 610 tons of heroin) or 92% of the total world supply and 30% more than the amount consumed globally. Costa went much further in his comments saying southern Afghanistan "display(s) the ominous hallmarks of incipient collapse, with large-scale drug cultivation and trafficking, insurgency and terrorism, crime and corruption (because) opium cultivation is out of control." He directed his comments at President Karzai for not acting forcefully to deal with the problem saying provincial governors and police chiefs should be sacked and held to account. He also accused government administrators of corruption.
The reason why this is happening is that elicit drug trafficking is big business with an annual UN estimate gross of around $400 - 500 billion or double the sales revenue from legal prescription drugs the US pharmaceutical giants reported in 2005. Those profiting from it include more than the "kingpins" and organized crime. The elicit trade has long been an important profit center for many US and other banks including the giant international money center ones. It's also well-documented that the CIA has been involved in drug-trafficking (directly or indirectly) throughout its half century existence and especially since the 1980s and the Contra wars in Nicaragua. Today the CIA is partnered with the Afghan "warlords" and criminal syndicates in the huge business of trafficking heroin. It guarantees the crime bosses easy access to the lucrative US market and the CIA a large and reliable revenue stream to augment its annual (heretofore secret) budget disclosed by Mary Margaret Graham, Deputy Director of National Intelligence for Collection, to be $44 billion in 2005.
Why the US Attacked and Invaded Afghanistan
The now famous (or infamous) leaked Downing Street (or smoking-gun) memo on the secret July, 2002 UK Labor government meeting discussed how the Bush administration "wanted to remove Saddam, through military action (and) had no patience with the UN route. (So to justify it) the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy." It doesn't get much clearer than that, and the high UK official (Richard Dearlove, head of British intelligence MI6) had to know as he sat in on the high-level secret meetings in Washington at which the plan was discussed. So to help out in serious damage-control, the US corporate media, in its customary empire-supportive role, either called the document a fake or ignored it altogether. It was no fake, and as such, got front page coverage in the European press after the Rupert Murdoch-owned London Sunday Times broke the story in their online edition on May 1, 2005.
The US war on Afghanistan was also planned well in advance (at least a year or more) of the 9/11 attack that provided the claimed justification for it. It was part of the US strategic plan to control the vast oil and gas resources of Central Asia that former National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski under President Carter explained the importance of in his 1997 book The Grand Chessboard. In it he referred to Eurasia as the "center of world power extending from Germany and Poland in the East through Russia and China to the Pacific and including the Middle East and Indian subcontinent." By dominating this region including Afghanistan with its strategic location, the US would assure it had access to and controlled the vast energy resources there.
Early on the US was very willing to work with the Taliban believing their authoritarian rule would bring stability to the country without which any plan would be in jeopardy. Their religious extremism, harsh treatment of women and the disobedient, and overall human rights abuses were of no concern and never are anywhere else despite the pious rhetoric from Washington to the contrary. It was only in 1999 when the Taliban failed to stabilize the areas they controlled and negotiations broke down trying to convince them to bow to US interests that official policy changed and the decision was made to remove them. Initially the plan to do it was to be a joint US - Russia operation, and at the time, meetings were held between US officials and those from Russia and India to discuss what kind of government should be installed. The US needs stability in Afghanistan and control of the country for the oil and gas pipelines it wants built from the landlocked Caspian Basin to warm water ports in the south. It wants them gotten there through Pakistan and Afghanistan as the prime transhipment route to avoid having them cross Russia or Iran.
September 11, 2001 provided the US with the pretext it needed to begin the war it intended to wage using whatever reason it decided to pick to justify it. It began a scant four weeks later on October 7 as a joint US - British intensive aerial assault against a country unable to put up any kind of defense against it. It then ended a second scant 5 weeks after that on November 12 when the Taliban fled from Kabul allowing the Northern Alliance forces the US had recruited to replace them to enter the city the following day.
The intense but brief conflict came at an enormous cost to the Afghan people already devastated by the effects of almost endless war and internal turmoil for over two decades. It displaced as many as about six million or more people fleeing to neighboring countries or becoming internally displaced persons and being categorized as IDPs. About half to two-thirds of those refugees have now returned home but most are unable to find much relief from where they'd been. Refugees International interviewed returnees to Kabul in 2002, where conditions are much more stable than elsewhere, and learned that while people were happy to be back they found conditions there to be terrible - no shelter, no schools, no work, no medical care, no security, and for many little or no food.
Things are no better today, and according to UK-based Christian Aid are likely to become worse. It recently assessed conditions in 66 villages in the west and northwest of the country and learned millions of Afghans face hunger because because draught caused complete crop failures in the worst hit areas. It reported people are already going hungry and without considerable aid famine is a real possibility. Things are all the harder because the internal conflict resumed beginning with the resurgent Taliban (discussed below) that began slowly in late 2002, grew significantly by mid-2003 and has been building in intensity since.
It all began with the US-led attack on Afghanistan that from the start took a great toll in injuries and deaths, mostly affecting innocent civilians. Marc Herold of the University of New Hampshire estimated between 3,100 - 3,600 deaths resulted from the 5 week conflict or as many as over 600 more than those killed on 9/11 in the US which was the pretext used to go to war. Herold continues estimating deaths and injuries to Afghans and occupying forces since and believes as of July, 2004 about 12,000 Afghan troops and civilians have been killed in the conflict and about 32,000 seriously injured. As things have intensified since, those numbers increase daily and are now considerably higher but it's not known to what level. And what's not included in any of the estimates is the many unknown number of thousands who've died since October, 2001 from the crushing poverty causing starvation and disease.
US "Liberation" Brought No Relief
For a brief time after mid-November, 2001, the Afghan people were free from the repression forced on them under Taliban rule, but what replaced them was no improvement nor did the US "liberator" intend it to be. The US-installed so-called Northern Alliance is terminology used to identify the United Islamic Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan that prior to October 7, 2001 controlled less than one-third of the country. They never were in the past or were they to be now the "salvation" of anything but their own self-interest. The Alliance is comprised of about five dominant mujahideen factions each led by a thugish "warlord" ruling over a band of murderers, brutes and rapists whose criminal acts Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have condemned.
As a result, the brief respite from conflict the Afghan people enjoyed was short-lived under their new rulers. With them back in charge in the regions their respective "warlords" controlled, murder, rape and mayhem became common again as it was under their previous rule that gave rise to the Taliban in the first place. So while the Taliban initially faded away after mid-November, 2001, defenseless against the US-led onslaught against them, growing anger and discontent with the present rule has allowed them to regroup and begin a campaign of resurgence. That campaign is gaining strength and looking more all the time like it may turn Afghanistan into a Central Asian version of the conflict in Iraq that cooler civilian heads in Washington and at the Pentagon know is out of control, a lost cause and only will end when the occupation does under a future US administration. The Bush administration, that's usually wrong but never in doubt, makes it clear it will "stay the course" and not "cut and run."
Conditions In Afghanistan Today
Life in Afghanistan today is surreal. In parts of Kabul an opulent elite has emerged many of whom have grown rich from rampant corruption and drug trafficking, and the city actually has an upscale shopping area catering to them offering for sale specialty products like expensive Swiss watches and other luxury goods. They can be found at the Roshan Plaza shopping mall and Kabul City Center plaza that has three floors of heated shops, a cappuccino bar and the country's first escalator. The rutted streets are locked down and deserted at night, but during the day luxury jeeps and four-wheel drive limousines are seen on them. There are also upscale hotels including the five-star Serena, built and run by the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), offering luxury accommodations for visiting dignitaries, Western businessmen and others able to afford what they cost in an otherwise impoverished city still devastated by years of conflict and destruction. The arriviste class there can, mansions are being built for them, foreign branch banks are there to service their needs, and an array of other amenities are there to accommodate their extravagant tastes and wishes. In a country where drug trafficking is the leading industry and corruption is systemic, there's a ready market for those able to afford most anything, even in a place as unlikely as Afghanistan.
There's also a ready market provided by the array of well-off foreign ex-pats, a well-cared for NGO community (with their own guest houses for their staff), colonial administrators, commercial developers, mercenaries, fortune-hunters, highly-paid enforcers and assorted other hangers-on looking to suck out of this exploited country whatever they can while they're able to do it. So far at least, there's nothing stopping them except the threat of angry and desperate people ready to erupt on any pretext and the growing resistance gaining strength and support from the resurgent Taliban. There's also no shortage of alcohol in a fundamentalist Muslim country where it's not allowed, high-priced prostitutes are available on demand with plenty of ready cash around to buy their services, a reported 80 brothels operate in the city, and imported Thai masseuses are at the luxury Mustafa Hotel where the owner is called a Mr. Fix It, an Internet Cafe is located on the bottom floor offering ethernet and wireless connectivity, and the restaurant fare ranges from traditional Afghan to steaks, pizza and "the best burger in all of Kabul." The impoverished local population would surely not be amused or pleased comparing their daily plight to the luxury living afforded the elite few able to afford it. Their city is in ruins, and desperation, neglect, despair and growing anger characterize their daily lives.
This Potemkin facade of opulence doesn't represent what that daily life is like in the city and throughout the country for the vast majority of the approximate 26 million or so Afghans. For them life is harsh and dangerous, and they show their frustration and impatience in their anger ready to boil over on any pretext. As in Iraq, there's been little reconstruction providing little relief from the devastation and making what work there is hard to find and offering little pay. The result makes depressing reading:
-- Unemployment is soaring at about 45% of those wanting work.
--The half of the working population getting it earns on average about a meager $200 a year or a little over $300 for those involved in the opium trade which is the main industry in the country.
--The poverty overall is overwhelming and about one-fourth of the population depends on scarce and hard to find food aid creating a serious risk of famine.
-- The life expectancy in the country at 44.5 years is one of the lowest in the world.
--The infant mortality rate is the highest in the world at 161 per 1,000 births
-- One-fifth of children die before age five.
-- An Afghan woman dies in childbirth every 30 minutes.
--In Kabul alone an estimated 500,000 people are homeless or living in makeshift and deplorable conditions.
-- Only one-fourth of the population has access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation.
-- Only one doctor is available per 6,000 people and one nurse per 2,500 people.
--100 or more people are killed or wounded each month by unexploded ordnance.
--Children are being kidnapped and sold into slavery or murdered to harvest their organs that bring a high price.
-- Less than 6% of Afghans have access to electricity available only sporadically.
-- Women's literacy rate is about 19%, and schools are being burned in the south of the country and teachers beheaded in front of their students.
--Many women are also forced to beg in the streets or turn to prostitution to survive.
In addition, lawlessness is back, Sharia law has been reinstated, the internal conflict has resumed, and no one is safe either from the country's warring factions or from the hostile occupying force making life intolerable for the vast majority of the Afghan people.
Afghanistan, Inc. - The Lucrative Business of War-Profiteering
Those wondering why the US engages in so many conflicts (aside from the geopolitical reasons) and is always ready for another might consider the fact that wars are so good for business. Corporate America, Wall Street and large insider investors love them because they're so profitable. It shows up noticeably on the bottom line of all contractors the Bush administration choose to "rebuild" Iraq and Afghanistan. It's also been a bonanza for the many consultants, engineers and mercenaries working for them who can pocket up to $1,000 a day compared to Afghan employees lucky to earn $5 for a day's work when they can find it.
In both Iraq and Afghanistan, huge open-ended, no-bid contracts amounting to many billions of dollars were awarded to about 70 US firms including the usual array of politically connected ones whose names have now become familiar to many - Bechtel, Fluor, Parsons, Shaw Group, SAIC, CH2M Hill, DynCorp, Blackwater, The Louis Berger Group, The Rendon Group and many more including the one that nearly always tops the list, Halliburton and its subsidiary Kellogg, Brown and Root. Since 2001, this arguably best-connected of all war-profiteers was awarded $20 billion in war-related contracts the company then exploited to the fullest by doing shoddy work, running up massive cost-overruns and then submitting fraudulent billings.
Halliburton and other contractors have managed to build permanent military bases in Iraq and Afghanistan for the Pentagon and prisons to house and torture whomever US authorities choose to arrest and for whatever reason. But their work is nothing short of shoddy and sloppy when it comes to assessing the job they've done rebuilding both countries. In Iraq Halliburton did such a poor job repairing the country's oil fields the US Army estimates it's cost the country $8 billion in lost production. It also botched the simple job of installing metering systems at ports in southern Iraq to assure oil wasn't being smuggled out of the country.
No Serious US-Directed Effort To Rebuild Two War-Torn Countries
Far more important for most Iraqis and Afghans, there's been no serious effort to rebuild these war-torn countries across the board. That effort is desperately needed to restore the essential infrastructure destroyed in both conflicts like power generating stations and water and sewage facilities, but the funding for them has been poorly directed, lost in a black hole of corruption or wasted because of inefficiency, design flaws, construction errors or deliberate unwillingness to do much more than hand out big contracts to US chosen companies then able to pocket big profits while doing little for the people in return for them. It also shows in the state of the countries' basic facilities like schools, health clinics and hospitals that are in deplorable condition with little being done to improve them despite lofty promises otherwise. One example is the US pledge of $17.7 million in 2005 for education in Afghanistan that turned out, in fact, to be for a private for-profit American University of Afghanistan only available to Afghans who can afford its cost - meaning none of them but the privileged few.
It's clear the US occupier has no interest in helping the people it said it came to "liberate" unless by "liberate" it meant from their freedom to be able to exploit and abuse them in service to the interests of capital which is all the Bush administration ever has in mind. Just as Iraq has the misfortune of having a vast oil reserve beneath its sand the US wants to control, so too Afghanistan happens to be strategically located as part of a prime transhipment route over which the Caspian Basin's great oil and gas reserves can be transported by pipeline to the warm water southern ports the US wants to ship it out from to countries it will allow it to be shipped to. These are the reasons the US invaded both countries, and that's why no serious effort is being made to do any reconstruction or redevelopment to help the people. There are also reports, unconfirmed for this article, that hydrocarbon reserves have been discovered in the northeast of Afghanistan amounting to an estimated 1.5 billion barrels of oil and from 15 - 30 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. If this proves accurate, it will be one more curse for the Afghan people who already have an unbearable number of others to deal with.
There isn't likely to be relief for them in reconstruction or anything else as long as the US occupies the country and remains its de facto ruler. It's sole funding priority (besides what it ignores lost to corruption) is to its chosen contractors and the bottom line boosting profits they get from being on the corporate welfare dole. A revealing window into this and how reality diverges from rhetoric is seen in a June, 2005 report by the well-respected Johannesburg based NGO Action Aid. It documents what it calls phantom aid that's pledged by the US and other countries but never shows up. At most, maybe 40% of it does while the rest never leaves the home country. It goes to pay so-called American "experts" who overprice their services but provide ineffective "technical assistance" for it. It also obliges recipient countries to buy US products and services even when cheaper and more accessible ones are available locally. The report goes on to accuse the US to be one of the two greatest serial offender countries (France being the other one) with 70% of what it calls aid requiring receiving countries to get from US companies (and much of that is for US-made weapons) and that 86% of all the US pledges turn out to be phantom aid. So, in fact, so-called US donor aid to rebuild a war-torn country is just another scam to enrich politically-connected American corporations by developing new export markets for them. Iraq, Afghanistan and other recipient countries get nothing more than the right to have their nations, resources, and people exploited by predatory US corporations as one of the spoils of war or one-way trade agreements.
All of this has caused deep-seated mostly repressed anger that erupted in Kabul this past May in the worst street violence seen in the capitol since the fall of the Taliban in 2001. It happened after a US military truck speeding recklessly smashed into about a dozen civilian vehicles at a busy intersection killing five people in the collision. It touched off mass rioting in angry protest against an already hated occupier with crowds of men and boys shouting "death to America, death to Karzai" and blaming the government and US military for what happened. People set fires to cars, shops, restaurants and dozens of police posts. They also attacked buildings and clashed with US forces and Afghan police on the scene throwing rocks at their vehicles. US troops responded by opening fire on unarmed civilians killing at least 4 and leaving many others injured. When it finally ended, eight people were reported dead and 107 injured. This uprising in the Kabul streets showed the great anger and frustration of the people breaking out in mass rage in response to one dramatic incident that symbolized for them everything gone wrong in the country now under an unwanted occupier, the oppressive US-installed Northern Alliance "warlord" rule, and the deprivation of the people suffering greatly as a result. There's no end of this in sight, and it's almost certain the resistance will only intensify in response as it's now doing.
Growing Resistance Against Repression and War Crimes
Like the mythological phoenix rising from the ashes, the Taliban have capitalized on the turmoil and discontent and have reemerged to reclaim most parts of southern Afghanistan. This part country has long been ungovernable and is known as an area too dangerous even for aid agencies. The Taliban now openly control some districts there, have set up shadow administrations in others, and have moved into the province of Logar located just 25 miles from Kabul where they have easy access to the capitol. For the British who know their history, it should be no surprise. Sir Olaf Caroe, the last British governor of North West Frontier Province in bordering Pakistan spoke of it when he said: "Unlike other wars, Afghan wars become serious only when they are over." Surely the former Soviet occupiers also could have told George Bush in 2001 what he'd be up against. The Brits could have as well.
The Taliban are now gaining supporters among the people fed up with the misery inflicted on them by the US and multinational force invaders and the Northern Alliance rule that's even more repressive than the Taliban were during their years in power. It led to their 1990s rise and conquest of over two-thirds of the country in the first place. It happened in the wake of the vacuum created in the country following the withdrawal of the defeated Soviet forces. During the decade-long conflict while they were there, the Afghan resistance fought the West's war with its funding and arms. It was heroic and the darling of the US media. But once the war ended and the Soviet Union collapsed, Afghans were abandoned and left on their own to deal with the ravages of their war-torn country and the chaos of warlordism and civil war that erupted in its aftermath. Out of that despair and with considerable aid from Pakistan, the Taliban fighters emerged and by 1996 had defeated the competing warlords to control most of the country.
Today it looks like de jeva vu all over again as many Afghans apparently prefer Taliban rule again they see as the lesser of the only choices they now have. The result is that daily violence has erupted into a growing catastrophic resistance guerrilla war, slowly becoming more like the one in Iraq, that's intensifying and making the country unsafe and ungovernable. It's led the international policy Senlis Council think tank, that does extensive monitoring of Afghanistan, to issue a damning report called: Afghanistan Five Years Later: The Return Of The Taliban. The report blamed the occupying forces for doing nothing to address the crushing poverty, failing to achieve stability and security, and claims Afghanistan "is falling back into the hands of the Taliban (and their) frontline now cuts halfway through the country encompassing all of the southern provinces" (that have) limited or no central government control." Emmanuel Reinert, Executive Director, concluded "The Taliban community are winning control of Afghanistan (and) the international community is progressively losing control of the country." He added that Afghanistan today is a humanitarian disaster, and that there's a hunger crisis with children starving in makeshift unregistered refugee camps because of lack of donor interest.
It's fueling the Taliban guerrilla resistance that's close to critical mass, and, despite official reports to the contrary, the US-led occupying force won't likely be able to contain it. It's what always happens in one form or other eventually under any kind of foreign occupation and system of governance unwilling to address the basic needs of the people - extreme poverty and desperation demanding relief, without which people can't even survive. It's also a response to the brutality of this occupation where war crimes are just standard operating procedure and an outrageous strategy used to contain the growing resistance. One example of it, most people in the West wouldn't understand, was the public burning of supposed Taliban fighters killed by US soldiers. This is forbidden under Islamic law, and the images of it provoked outrage in Afghanistan and throughout the Muslim world that views the US occupiers as barbarians. This is just one of many instances of deliberately inflicted offenses against Islam including defiling the Koran, arbitrary and unlawful indefinite detentions as well as humiliations, torture and other atrocities committed routinely against Afghans taken prisoner for any reason. The same things happen in most parts of Iraq as well.
Amnesty International documented some of the crimes and abuses it learned from former detainees. Just like in Iraq they reported being made to kneel, stand or maintain painful positions for long periods, being hooded, deprived of sleep, stripped and humiliated. They were also held without charge and denied access to family, legal counsel or any kind of due process. In December, 2004, US officials acknowledged eight prisoners died in US military custody with little detail as to why. Earlier in October, the US Army's Criminal Investigation Division recommended that 28 US soldiers be charged with beating to death two prisoners at the Bagram air base after autopsies found "blunt force injuries." At year end only one of the soldiers was charged with any offense, and it was just for assault, maltreatment and dereliction of duty.
One other report in September showed US Special Forces beat and tortured eight Afghan soldiers for over two weeks at a base near Gardez killing one of them. The US military refused calls for independent investigations of torture and deaths of those held in custody and instead went through the motions of conducting them under the auspices of the US Department of Defense (DOD) - meaning, of course, they were whitewashed. US authorities also routinely refuse requests by human rights groups, NGOs, and the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) for access to detainees to assess their condition and treatment. Amnesty also reported on death sentences being meted out, secret trials in a special court held without the right to counsel or any form of due process, and many cases of Afghan refugees returning home and being unable to recover land or property stolen from them.
Amnesty also reported on the many civilian deaths resulting from randomly targeted US air strikes supposedly directed at "armed militants." These attacks are frequent killing many hundreds of innocent Afghans and always claimed by the US military only to have been directed against Al Queda or Taliban fighters. The evidence shows otherwise. On one dramatic occasion early in the conflict in December, 2001, US airstrikes against the village of Niazi Kala in eastern Afghanistan killed dozens of civilians resulting in the London Guardian and Independent each running front page stories with headlines: "US Accused of Killing Over 100 Villagers in Airstrike" in the Guardian and "US Accused of Killing 100 Civilians in Afghan Bombing Raid" in the Independent. Even the Rupert Murdoch-owned London Times reported "100 Villagers Killed in US Airstrike." In contrast, Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) reported the New York Times (known as the nation's newspaper of record) could barely get itself to headline "Afghan Leader Warily Backs US Bombing." Instead of accurately reporting what happened, the NYT instead merely mentioned these villagers had been killed as background information in an article about whether the nominal Afghan leader (and former CIA asset) Harmid Karzai was holding firm in "his support for the war against terrorism." As it usually does, the NYT plays the lead role in directing the rest of the US corporate media away from any disturbing truths replacing them with a sanitized version acceptable to US authorities. They call it "All The News That's Fit To Print."
There was also no account at all in the US corporate media, beyond the usual distorted version, of the killing of about 800 captured Taliban prisoners in November, 2001 at Mazar-i-Sharif by Northern Alliance soldiers shooting down from the walls of the fortress-like prison at the helpless Taliban fighters trapped below. It was never explained in the US corporate-run media it was in response to a revolt they staged because they were subjected to torture and severe maltreatment. US Special Forces and CIA personal were on the ground assisting in the slaughter by directing supportive air strikes by helicopter gunships and fighter-bombers in an act of butchery. It recalled many like it earlier in Vietnam at My Lai, the many thousands murdered by the infamous Phoenix assassination program in that war, the CIA organized and financed Salvadoran death squads in the 1980s and earlier that killed many thousands more, or the later many thousands of Fallujah residents killed along with mass destruction inflicted on this Iraqi city in November, 2004 in a savage act of vengeance and butchery following the killing of four Blackwater USA paramilitary hired-gun enforcers earlier in the year. There was also no report on 3,000 other Taliban and innocent civilian non-combatant prisoners who were separated from 8,000 others who'd surrendered or had been picked up randomly. They were then transported in what was later called a convoy of death to the town of Shibarghan in closed containers lacking any ventilation. Half of them suffocated to death en route and others were killed inside them when a US commander ordered a Northern Alliance soldier to fire into the containers supposedly to provide air but clearly to kill or wound those inside who couldn't avoid the incoming fire.
The response from people suffering the effects of these attacks and atrocities or knowing about them is what would be expected anywhere but especially in a country known for its history of determined resistance by any means to free itself from an oppressive occupier. It happened in Afghanistan during the 19th century "Great Game" period and then during the decade of Soviet occupation in the 1980s. It's now happening again and getting especially intense as described by General David Richards, the British commander of NATO forces in the country. In early August he described the fighting as some of the worst, most prolonged and ferocious he knew of in 60 years with his forces coming under repeated "hit-and-run" and other attacks by Taliban guerrilla fighters engaging in machine gun and grenade battles before dispersing and later regrouping for more attacks. He said: "This sort of thing hasn't really happened so consistently, I don't think, since the Korean War or the Second World War. It happened for periods in the Falklands, obviously, and it happened for short periods in the Gulf on both occasions. But this is persistent, low-level, dirty fighting." One has to wonder if the general thinks cluster-bombing and using other terror weapons from 30,000 feet to kill innocent civilians in villages is fighting clean.
The kind of intense fighting the general is talking about was reported in the London Observer on September 17 on what relatives of British troops serving in Afghanistan's southern Helmand province have to say. They're raising grave concerns for their loved ones safety claiming they face "intolerable" pressures and dangers, relentless fighting, inadequate supplies of rations and water, having to get by on three hours sleep a night, having no body armour, and so shattered and exhausted by the experience they can't function properly. With this to expect, why would any sensible foreign leader heed NATO's request for more troops to help a failed mission guaranteed to get numbers of them killed and wounded and frighten and anger their own people at home in the process. So far only Poland, likely under intense pressure, agreed to do it in any meaningful numbers in a high-level decision it may end up regretting.
The result of recent fighting on the British alone is that 33 of their soldiers have been reported killed in the last two months up to late-September - including 14 killed on September 2 in a warplane the Taliban claim they downed over Banjwai and Kandahar province and 22 known killed since September 1. The reported number of deaths and injuries are likely understated as a good many of the wounded later die but aren't added to the official count. It's known and documented this kind of sanitized casualty reporting is the way it's done in Iraq. No doubt it's handled the same way in Afghanistan as well.
It's happening because the Taliban resistance is gaining strength fueled by the repressive occupation and brutality of the Northern Alliance "warlords," making a growing number of Afghans determined to fight back. It's also because of the extreme level of desperation and deprivation Afghans now experience resulting from the so-called neoliberal Washington Consensus model the US has imposed on the country just like it wants to do everywhere else it can get away with it. It's a model solely beholden to the interests of capital, ignores the essential needs of the people desperate for relief and help, but in an impoverished country like Afghanistan, that's a recipe for pushing people toward Islamic fundamentalist leaders promising something better than their current state of immiseration. It makes it easy for them to get recruits to join the struggle to end it. Apparently growing numbers of them are doing just that as they have been for the past three years in Iraq to fight back relentlessly refusing to quit until the occupation ends which it likely will eventually in both countries.
The US Plan to Pacify Afghanistan and Control It As A Neocolonial State
The Bush administration has no sense of history judging by its plan to control Afghanistan by neutralizing any resistance in it to make the country one more de facto pacified US colony. It failed to heed the lessons learned in Vietnam where the US was defeated or even in Korea before it where the war there ended in a standoff. It's proceeding anyway in spite of the information from the Pentagon's latest quarterly progress report on Iraq to the Congress. In it Pentagon officials paint a grim assessment of a lost war where the same tactics now used in Afghanistan have failed. Those facts, however, don't deter US planners who won't admit they're wrong and intend to keep repeating the same mistakes no matter how many times before they haven't worked. It's part of the Bush administration's Messianic mission of madness under which the thinking must be if at first you don't succeed, try again by making things worse with another misadventure. It's also part of the misbegotten belief that superior air power, high tech weapons, and a little help mostly from a proxy force on the ground can solve all problems. High-level military strategists once again intend to try proving it in Afghanistan even though they know it hasn't worked in Iraq.
The Afghanistan plan involves the use of overwhelming US air power that can quickly send down a reign of death and destruction against any area or resistance it wishes to attack. It's to be done by concentrating its hub activities at two large, permanent US-constructed bases, Bagram and Kandahar, while it wants NATO forces to operate a large new base under construction in Herat that can accommodate about 10,000 troops. In 2005, the US Air Force spent about $83 million upgrading the two bases it will use in the country.
The plan is also to have US forces maintain about 30 smaller, forward operating bases with 14 small airfields housing highly mobile air and ground forces secured in fortified areas and only used for special search operations leaving routine patrol missions for the local satraps to handle. The plan calls for a reduction in US ground forces with NATO troops replacing them, especially in the more volatile Kandahar, Helmand and Urzugan provinces. In its "first (ever) mission outside the Euro-Atlantic area" NATO forces took command of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan in August, 2003 "to assist the Government of Afghanistan....in maintaining security....and in providing a safe and secure environment (for) free and fair elections, the spread of the rule of law, and the reconstruction of the country." This was pious rhetoric belying the reality on the ground that all occupiers are there only as enforcers to make Afghanistan safe for corporate predators wanting to exploit the country and its people for profit.
The US is also recruiting, training and wants to employ a local proxy Afghan National Army and Police to perform the same role by doing much of the routine patrolling and to engage in ground combat when necessary. This is a common US tactic to use a surrogate force of expendable locals to do as much of its fighting and dying for it to keep its own casualties to a minimum. It intends to support them with its tactical air strength mostly out of harm's way and sell the whole package apparently to the Afghan people and US public by using what the Bush administration calls "strategic communication" - aka well-crafted propaganda, disinformation and carefully sanitized versions of the truth to suppress an honest account of it from ever coming out so that the perception they're able to craft replaces the reality they wish to conceal.
When it comes to deploying overwhelming conventional military superiority including the most highly developed and destructive high-tech weapons and a vast array of almost limitless air power, no competing force can challenge the US. The Pentagon is now deploying those air assets round the clock across the country using its most sophisticated bombers and other aircraft deployed from its bases in Diego Garcia. They're on call at all times for tactical support and heavy strike missions as needed. In addition, unmanned Predator and Desert Hawk aerial drones are also airborne over the country at all times, especially in areas thought to be most hostile. The Predator is able to launch rocket attacks on targets while the tiny Desert Hawk is a spy plane used for surveillance around US bases. Put it all together and this is what an unwanted foreign occupier has to do to keep a population in check after it "liberated" it. The plain fact is it hasn't worked in Iraq and likely won't fare any better in Afghanistan.
But there's more to this story though as reported on September 5 in the online publication Capitol Hill Blue titled Has Bush gone over the edge? It explains that Republican and Bush family insiders including the President's father and former President are worried George Bush may be heading for a "full-fledged mental breakdown" judging by his bizarre behavior at times. Jeffrey Steinberg writing in Executive Intelligence Review said G.H.W. Bush fears G.W. is obsessed with his Messianic mission and is "unreachable" even by some of his closest advisors like Secretary of State Rice. Prominent psychiatrist Dr. Justin Frank, who wrote Bush on the Couch: Inside the Mind of the President, agrees and believes: "With every passing week, President Bush marches deeper and deeper into a world of his own making. Central to Bush's world is an iron will which demands that external reality be changed to conform to his personal view of how things are." He goes on to say Bush needs psychiatric analysis and help. These observations explain a lot - that George Bush indeed has a Messianic mission and intends to pursue it no matter how failed it is because he believes it's the right thing to do. And apparently he has enough close advisors around him reinforcing this view making it very likely there will be no Middle East or Central Asian policy change as long as he's President. It helps explain why the policy that's failed in Iraq is still being followed, why it's the plan for Afghanistan as well even though it isn't likely to succeed there either, and why this administration wants to go even further and is willing to compound the disaster it already created.
George Bush announced his policy intentions in a speech he made on September 5 to an association of US military officers in which he virtually declared war against the entire Muslim world. In it he used the kind of inflammatory language that should give the senior Bush far greater cause to worry whether his son has lost his senses entirely. The speech was more of the administration's rhetoric to rebrand the "global war on terror" to what it now calls the "long war with Islamic fascists" and the threat of "Islamic fascism" that must be confronted by its reasoning (and by implication) where it's centered in Tehran. It was also George Bush's apparent attempt to rescue his failing presidency by appealing to his most extremist backers, shore up his base, and scare everyone else to death enough to support his "long war" agenda on November 7 by reelecting Republicans to Congress many of whom see him as radioactive and keep their distance.
No doubt the Svengali hand of Karl Rove is behind this. It can't be dismissed because it signals another reckless step toward a widened "long war" crusade against Islam. It further angered the nearly 1.8 billion Muslims worldwide who were even more enraged by Pope Benedict's inflammatory September 12 quote of a 14th century Byzantine Christian emperor who said (during the Crusades at that time) that the Prophet Muhammad had brought the world only "evil and inhuman" things. Despite his disingenuous claim of being misunderstood, Popes don't make accidental comments, especially in an age of instant worldwide communication, so clearly this one made his with another purpose in mind. It may relate to why he disturbingly chose to withdraw from the interfaith initiatives begun by his predecessor, John Paul II. He did it at a time when such efforts are more needed than ever and tells Muslims he believes in the myth that Islam is a violent faith, war and occupation of Muslim lands is the way to counteract it, and he's part of the West's new crusade against them.
Put another way, Pope Benedict's comment was a clear papal genuflection and declaration of fealty to the exploitive and racist war on the Muslim world policies of the Bush administration. He added resonance and, in effect, gave his blessing to an out-of-control US President's belief in the same notion only made worse by George Bush's further public pronouncement that dissent is an act of terrorism, saying it solely on his own authority, and effectively abrogating the First Amendment that prohibits the criminalization of speech. This kind of assertion reinforces George Bush's earlier in the year self-anointment as a "Unitary Executive" giving himself absolute power to suspend the Constitution and declare martial law to protect the national security any time he alone decides a "national emergency" warrants it. Unless the public refuses to accept this reckless endangerment of our sacred constitutional rights and enough prominent public figures join in as well to denounce this kind of talk, there's a real danger this administration is moving toward "crossing the Rubicon" to tyranny on the false pretext of protecting us from an Islamic terrorist threat that doesn't exist.
Looking Ahead In Afghanistan
US directed repression of the Afghan people aided by its brutal Northern Alliance regional "warlord" proxies has led to the beginning of a growing insurrection against an intolerable situation that's unsustainable. It has the upper hand in Iraq and is fast becoming more of the same in Afghanistan. It's what always happens because no unwanted occupier is ever accepted by the people it subjugates, especially one whose prime mission is to terrorize the civilian population to pacify it. The mission is doomed to fail as eventually it becomes inefficient, ineffective and people back home no longer will tolerate it. By now it would seem cooler heads in Washington and at the Pentagon would have made some headway convincing the hard line neocons behind this growing misadventure and the out-of-control one in Iraq that it was time to cut losses, pull out, and go another way. Those among them with enough good sense have to realize even the most powerful military in the world has no chance to defeat a determined guerilla force gaining strength because it has most of the people in the country behind it. And there have to be at least a few high-level mandarins with a sense of history to understand they saw this script before, and it has a bad ending. It brought Rome to its knees a millennium and a half ago and did the same thing more recently to the Nazis with delusions of grandeur who thought their way would prevail for 1,000 years. They only missed by 988.
So it goes for the modern-day Romans in charge in Washington led by a President who believes his cause is just and the Almighty is directing him. They also feel with enough super-weapons they can rule the world forever as long as they don't miscalculate and blow it up instead (a very real and disturbing possibility). It didn't work for the original rulers of ancient Rome, and it's also not working now for those in charge in Israel apparently under the same illusions, who also have no sense of history except their own false version of it. It won't work for the US rulers either who want their dominion to be all of planet earth.
It's high time some clear-thinking high-level insiders went public convincingly to drive home this point the ones in charge with "delusions of grandeur" won't ever see without help and unless forced to. The plain fact is the war in Iraq is lost militarily and politically. The longer US forces stay there the greater their losses will be, the larger the number of alienated countries no longer willing to support us will become, the more likely the enormous and unsustainable cost will move the nation closer to economic bankruptcy, and the harder it will be to reverse the mind-set of the majority of countries that already see us as a moral pariah and terror state. Conditions are no less true in Afghanistan where the resistance is close to critical mass and the situation is fast becoming another lost cause because the momentum carrying it there is almost irreversible.
It's never easy changing the hearts and minds of the privileged elite riding high and mesmerized by their own self-adulation and that heaped on them by the corporate media, PR flacks, and assorted hangers-on portraying their cause as just. Charting a new course with that kind of strong tailwind is like trying to get a battleship to make a quick U-turn - darn-near impossible. It makes for the same likely conclusion just as in the past. Empires ruling the waves, and having it their own way, almost never spot the time when the tide begins to turn and they're swimming against it. Sooner or later, they're wrecked on the shoals of their own hubris, a new force is rising to replace them, and an old familiar refrain is heard again - the king is dead, long live the king.
Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. Also visit his blogspot at sjlendman.blogspot.com.
Comment on this Editorial
The Relentless Barbarism Of The Zionists
Jewish settler jailed for life for killing Palestinians
AFP
Wed Sep 27, 2006
JERUSALEM - An Israeli court has sentenced a Jewish settler to four life sentences for killing four Palestinians in the
West Bank last year as Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip, a judicial source said.
Asher Weissgan was also ordered to pay nearly one million shekels (233,026 dollars) in compensation, to be divided equally between the four families who each lost a relative when he went on a shooting rampage on August 17, 2005.
His four life sentences came with an additional 12 years in prison, the judicial source said.
Weissgan, from the settlement of Alon Shvut, was ferrying Palestinian workers to the Shilo industrial zone when he shot two people in his car after snatching a rifle from a security guard.
Continuing his rampage, he opened fire on a group of Palestinian workers, killing one and seriously injuring two others before he was wrestled to the ground and arrested. One of those injured later died of his wounds.
The attack was part of attempts by extreme-right Jewish groups and individuals to thwart Israel's withdrawal of troops and settlers from the Gaza Strip and four isolated West Bank settlements after 38 years of occupation.
At the time, then prime minister Ariel Sharon condemned Weisgann's attack as a "Jewish act of terror".
Two weeks earlier, another Jewish extremist killed four Israeli Arabs in the town of Shfaram in northern Israel before he was lynched by an angry crowd.
Weissgan was found guilty of killing the four Palestinians on September 11.
Comment: When an Israeli civilian kills Palestinians, it's called a "Jewish act of terror" by the former Israeli prime minister. But when the Israeli military pumps 17 rounds into a 13-year-old Palestinian schoolgirl or kills thousands of Lebanese civilians and blankets the country in cluster bombs, it's called "self-defense".
Comment on this Article
Flashback: Not guilty. The Israeli captain who put 17 bullets into a Palestinian schoolgirl
Chris McGreal in Jerusalem
Wednesday November 16, 2005
The Guardian
- Officer ignored warnings that teenager was terrified
- Defence says 'confirming the kill' standard practice
An Israeli army officer who fired the entire magazine of his automatic rifle into a 13-year-old Palestinian girl and then said he would have done the same even if she had been three years old was acquitted on all charges by a military court yesterday.
The soldier, who has only been identified as "Captain R", was charged with relatively minor offences for the killing of Iman al-Hams who was shot 17 times as she ventured near an Israeli army post near Rafah refugee camp in Gaza a year ago.
The manner of Iman's killing, and the revelation of a tape recording in which the captain is warned that she was just a child who was "scared to death", made the shooting one of the most controversial since the Palestinian intifada erupted five years ago even though hundreds of other children have also died.
After the verdict, Iman's father, Samir al-Hams, said the army never intended to hold the soldier accountable.
"They did not charge him with Iman's murder, only with small offences, and now they say he is innocent of those even though he shot my daughter so many times," he said. "This was the cold-blooded murder of a girl. The soldier murdered her once and the court has murdered her again. What is the message? They are telling their soldiers to kill Palestinian children."
The military court cleared the soldier of illegal use of his weapon, conduct unbecoming an officer and perverting the course of justice by asking soldiers under his command to alter their accounts of the incident.
Capt R's lawyers argued that the "confirmation of the kill" after a suspect is shot was a standard Israeli military practice to eliminate terrorist threats.
Following the verdict, Capt R burst into tears, turned to the public benches and said: "I told you I was innocent."
The army's official account said that Iman was shot for crossing into a security zone carrying her schoolbag which soldiers feared might contain a bomb. It is still not known why the girl ventured into the area but witnesses described her as at least 100 yards from the military post which was in any case well protected.
A recording of radio exchanges between Capt R and his troops obtained by Israeli television revealed that from the beginning soldiers identified Iman as a child.
In the recording, a soldier in a watchtower radioed a colleague in the army post's operations room and describes Iman as "a little girl" who was "scared to death". After soldiers first opened fire, she dropped her schoolbag which was then hit by several bullets establishing that it did not contain explosive. At that point she was no longer carrying the bag and, the tape revealed, was heading away from the army post when she was shot.
Although the military speculated that Iman might have been trying to "lure" the soldiers out of their base so they could be attacked by accomplices, Capt R made the decision to lead some of his troops into the open. Shortly afterwards he can be heard on the recording saying that he has shot the girl and, believing her dead, then "confirmed the kill".
"I and another soldier ... are going in a little nearer, forward, to confirm the kill ... Receive a situation report. We fired and killed her ... I also confirmed the kill. Over," he said.
Palestinian witnesses said they saw the captain shoot Iman twice in the head, walk away, turn back and fire a stream of bullets into her body.
On the tape, Capt R then "clarifies" to the soldiers under his command why he killed Iman: "This is commander. Anything that's mobile, that moves in the [security] zone, even if it's a three-year-old, needs to be killed."
At no point did the Israeli troops come under attack.
The prosecution case was damaged when a soldier who initially said he had seen Capt R point his weapon at the girl's body and open fire later told the court he had fabricated the story.
Capt R claimed that he had not fired the shots at the girl but near her. However, Dr Mohammed al-Hams, who inspected the child's body at Rafah hospital, counted numerous wounds. "She has at least 17 bullets in several parts of the body, all along the chest, hands, arms, legs," he told the Guardian shortly afterwards. "The bullets were large and shot from a close distance. The most serious injuries were to her head. She had three bullets in the head. One bullet was shot from the right side of the face beside the ear. It had a big impact on the whole face."
The army's initial investigation concluded that the captain had "not acted unethically". But after some of the soldiers under his command went to the Israeli press to give a different version, the military police launched a separate investigation after which he was charged.
Capt R claimed that the soldiers under his command were out to get him because they are Jewish and he is Druze.
The transcript
The following is a recording of a three-way conversation that took place between a soldier in a watchtower, an army operations room and Capt R, who shot the girl
From the watchtower "It's a little girl. She's running defensively eastward." "Are we talking about a girl under the age of 10?" "A girl about 10, she's behind the embankment, scared to death." "I think that one of the positions took her out." "I and another soldier ... are going in a little nearer, forward, to confirm the kill ... Receive a situation report. We fired and killed her ... I also confirmed the kill. Over."
From the operations room "Are we talking about a girl under the age of 10?"
Watchtower "A girl about 10, she's behind the embankment, scared to death."
A few minutes later, Iman is shot from one of the army posts
Watchtower "I think that one of the positions took her out."
Captain R "I and another soldier ... are going in a little nearer, forward, to confirm the kill ... Receive a situation report. We fired and killed her ... I also confirmed the kill. Over."
Capt R then "clarifies" why he killed Iman
"This is commander. Anything that's mobile, that moves in the zone, even if it's a three-year-old, needs to be killed. Over."
Comment: How would you react if you were the parents of this little girl? Would you think that justice had been done?
The girl was clearly no threat. She had been identified by the Israelis as a scared, little girl. The article suggests that the only danger for the Israelis was if she had been sent out to lure them into a trap, which means the way for the Israelis to remain out of danger would have been to stay put. Instead, they go out, are not fired upon, which shows that it was not a trap, and then the accused empties his weapon into her body. However, this hypothesis implies that the Palestinians are such savages that they would risk the life of a small child in such a ploy. Such are the unstated assumptions in much mainstream news reporting on the conflict.
But her killer is "innocent". In Israel, he is innocent because the lives of the Palestinians are considered to be worth nothing.
How would you react if this was your little girl, your little sister?
How would you react if this was your neighbour? How would you react if every time your children went outside, you didn't know if they would come home alive or not?
How would you react if you knew that no matter how many of your children, or your friends' children, or your village's children were cruelly murdered, there was nothing you could do about it, that there was no justice.
And what solace is justice when you have lost a child, when you know the conditions for the cold-blooded killing of other children are still in place and would remain in place even if one or two Israeli soldiers were punished? The conditions of the Palestinians will not change as long as Israel remains an occupier state, a killer state that can feed off of the Palestinians with impunity, while the Palestinians have no home, no land, and are kept imprisoned in continually shrinking reservations.
Comment on this Article
Medics: Girl killed, seven hurt in IAF Gaza strike
Haaretz
27/09/2006
Israel Air Force air strikes on a house in the southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah early Wednesday killed a 14-year-old girl and wounded seven other people, hospital officials said. There were no major injuries in the initial strike, which leveled the house. However, as children gathered to look at the rubble, a second airstrike hit the house, killing a 14-year-old girl and wounded seven other children, hospital officials said.
Comment on this Article
Israeli Army Invades Hebron, takes prisoners and occupies a home
IMEMC
27/09/2006
The Israeli army took prisoner seven residents of the city of Hebron and the nearby Ithna village. Local sources reported that troops stormed the village of Ithna near Hebron and searched and ransacked several homes before arresting seven. Also on Wednesday, the Israeli army took over a house in the West Bank city of Hebron and turned it into a military post.
Comment on this Article
IDF: Troops can shoot Lebanese stone-throwers if lives threatened
Haaretz
September 27, 2006
Israel Defense Forces soldiers have been instructed to shoot Lebanese stone-throwers along the border if they feel their lives are in danger, IDF Chief of Staff Dan Halutz said on Wednesday.
Comment: Does the idea that the lives of members of a fully armed military could be placed in danger by young boys throwing stones seem a little implausible to you? Then again, this IS the IDF, the murderers of children, we are talking about.
Comment on this Article
Gaza Strip to remain without full electrical power for a year
By Gideon Levy, Haaretz Correspondent, and the Associated Press
Last update - 11:03 27/09/2006
It could take between eight to 14 months to fix a Gaza Strip power plant destroyed in an Israel Air Force strike in late June, and to restore full electrical power to the region.
Israeli human rights organization B'Tselem has accused the Israel Defense Forces of war crimes for bombing the plant, which has left many areas of the Gaza Strip without full electricitical power the last three months.
Electricity in many areas is cut off for half of the day, severely hampering hospitals, the water supply and sewage systems, B'Tselem said in a report.
An IAF aircraft struck the power plant on June 28. The attack came at the start of a major IDF offensive in Gaza following the abduction of an IDF soldier and the killing of two others by Palestinian militants linked to Hamas.
"B'Tselem determines that the bombing of the power plant was illegal and defined as a war crimes in International Humanitarian Law, as the attack was aimed at a purely civilian object," according to the report.
"There was no apparent military basis for the action and it seems that its intention was to satisfy a desire for revenge."
Israel could have, instead of taking such drastic military action, cut off the electric supply to Gaza through the Israel Electric Corporation although this would have been illegal as well, the group said.
B'Tselem demanded that the government open an investigation into the bombing of the plant.
Comment on this Article
UN blasts Israel for plight of Palestinians
Haaretz
27/09/2006
"I hope that my portrayal of hardships experienced by such people will trouble the consciences of those accustomed to turning a blind eye and a deaf ear to the suffering of the Palestinian people," Dugard told the UN Human Rights Council...
Comment: Eh... we don't mean to spoil the party here but, the people who are not only turning a blind eye and deaf ear to the suffering of the Palestinian people but are also creating their suffering DO NOT HAVE a conscience!
Comment on this Article
Hi-tech firm boycotts Israel over 'war crimes'
Ynet
27/09/2006
U2U manager Wim Yotrasprot wrote in a statement to Avner obtained by Ynet that "I appreciate your interest in my company, but after the devastating and inhumane war crimes Israel perpetrated in Lebanon, and because of the apartheid regime it rules on Palestine, U2U does not wish to tie itself with Israeli products."
Comment on this Article
Lebanon: We need missiles against Israeli aircraft
Ynet
26/09/2006
Lebanese Defense Minister Elias Murr said that the Lebanese army was in need of antiaircraft missiles and antitank missiles in order to defend his country "against the Israeli aggressiveness."
Comment on this Article
U.S. Double standards: Israeli-Americans rewarded, Palestinian-Americans punished
IMEMC & Agencies
25 September 2006
Despite stipulations in the U.S. Constitution that there is to be no discrimination against Americans based on their country of origin, the very real double standard in U.S. policy towards Palestinian-Americans vs. Israeli-Americans has caused some groups to raise concerns about the constitutionality of the current regime's policies.
Americans of Palestinian origin have long been discriminated against by Israel, whose official policy is: "once a Palestinian, always a Palestinian", refusing to allow Americans who were born in Palestine to use their American passports. Even the children of Palestinian-Americans, born in the U.S., are required to carry a 'Palestinian ID' which prevents entry into Israel proper, and restricts movement throughout the Palestinian territories.
Israeli-Americans, on the other hand, have special privileges allotted to them by the U.S. government. Most recently, the U.S. government agreed to allow Israeli dirver's licenses to be valid in the U.S., a privilege that no other country is allowed. American citizens are allowed to donate money to the Israeli military, and to serve in the Israeli military -- illegal under the U.S. constitution, but overlooked in this case due to the 'special relationship' between the U.S. and Israel.
And Israelis living in Israel, even those living in settlements on occupied Palestinian land, deemed illegal under international law, are able to obtain U.S. citizenship quite easily, if one of their grandparents lived in the U.S. for five years or more.
The program, called Expeditious Naturalization, allows children under the age of 18 to obtain citizenship directly, without having to apply for an immigrant visa or a green card and then additionally, having to reside in the U.S. for five years before applying for naturalization. The process includes a mandatory trip to the U.S. to physically pick up a certificate of citizenship, but many Israelis say it's well worth the hassle.
"Once you're there, it's just in and out," said Yaron, who went to America over the summer with her 10-month-old daughter.
According to the law, details of which are available on the U.S. State Department website, children born in Israel can become American citizens if they prove that their U.S. citizen parent or grandparent lived in the U.S. for at least five years, at least two of which were over the age of 14. An exception for single mothers allows them to pass on citizenship to their children after having lived just one year in the U.S.
Israelis who obtain U.S. citizenship through this 'expeditious' process are than able to receive tax credits for their children from the U.S. government, even without contributing a cent to the U.S. economy. "People come to us to find out about the law for several reasons, but when they hear about the tax credit, which could be a lot of money, it provides motivation [to go through the process]," says David London, executive director of Association of Americans and Canadians in Israel (AACI). "For a family with four children, for instance, it could be up to $4,000."
All of this is allowed even while the Israeli-American citizen remains in Israel, even if they are living on illegally-occupied Palestinian land.
On the other side of the Wall are Palestinian-Americans, who, if they try to live in Palestine, are refused residency by the occupying Israeli government. Since 2000, no requests for 'family unification' (residency in Palestine for the foreign spouse of a Palestinian) have been processed by the occupying Israeli military force, leading to a backlog of 250,000 requests from families left in the lurch.
Palestinians have a saying that Israel "does everything they can to make us leave, and everything they can to keep us from coming back in." A number of discriminatory Israeli policies and practices have proved that saying true -- most recently, a policy of 'entry denial' for foreign nationals that has resulted in an average of 10-15 Americans a day being denied entry into Israel since June. Those denied are predominately Americans of Palestinian origin.
The U.S. government, for its part, has been extremely supportive of the discriminatory Israeli policies, allowing American citizens of Palestinian origin to be refused entry, beaten, abused and even killed (as was the case of Rachel Corrie, killed in 2003 by Israeli forces) without challenging the Israeli government at all.
Instead, the U.S. government has rewarded the Israeli government with an increase in aid money and loan guarantees each year, as well as expediting arms shipments of U.S.-made weaponry to be used against the occupied Palestinian population. Israel is by far the largest recipient of U.S. foreign aid, despite the fact that the average Israeli per-capita income parallels that of the U.S., making Israel one of the most prosperous states on earth. Palestine, on the other hand, occupied by the Israeli military for the last 39 years, has one of the lowest average incomes on earth.
Comment on this Article
US trying to block democracy in Palestine
Sept 25
IRNA
Chairman of the Political Committee of the Palestinian Legislative Council Abdullah Abdullah said he expected the national unity government in Palestine to be formed "within days rather than weeks."
"I am optimistic that it will soon work out. Of course, we know that there are restrictions on us. We are not in a normal situation.
We have to be flexible in a way that does not compromise our national rights," Abdullah Abdullah told IRNA in Brussels in an exclusive interview.
A former deputy foreign minister in the Palestinian Authority and ex-Palestinian ambassador to Greece, Abdullah Abdullah was in Brussels to attend a conference on the Middle East organized last week by the Socialist Group in the European Parliament.
"We cannot be subjected to punitive measures only for our decision and the way we practice democracy. We are practicing democracy because it is good for our people, not because of the demand of the US. They are trying to block our march to democracy," said Abdullah Abdullah, who belongs to the Fatah faction.
The US, he said, is not promoting democracy but aggressiveness.
Turning to Lebanon, he said the outcome of the war will bear its stamp on conflict resolution in the region.
The Lebanon war has "proved that no power can stamp out the will of the people to be free from occupation or aggression," he stressed.
He described relations between Iran and Palestine as "good." "Of course it should be better. There are ways of making it better. We have a national cause. That national cause transcends the single-party politics or single ideology. It is in our interest that relations between Palestine and all countries, especially Iran, be strong."
Commenting on Iran's peaceful nuclear program, the Palestinian legislator said: "We oppose any movement that tries to deprive any country of the use of nuclear energy for its development, for use in any non-military activity."
He also denounced the double standards on nuclear issues.
"Why is it acceptable for Israel to have an arsenal of nuclear weapons when Israel has not even signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty (and) doesn't allow inspection of its nuclear installations?" he asked.
"So why the double standards? Should it be permissible for Israel and not for anybody else especially when the other parties are open to inspections?" he further asked IRNA.
Abdullah Abdullah noted that even the Israeli press has warned of the threat to the region and the environment arising out of Israel's nuclear installations because of their advancing age.
Comment on this Article
Gal-On asks Peretz to look into use of cluster bombs in Lebanon
By Meron Rapoport, Haaretz Correspondent and DPA
MK Zahava Gal-On (Meretz-Yahad) asked Defense Minister Amir Peretz on Wednesday to look into the decision to use cluster bombs in Lebanon.
Gal-On made the request after soldiers told her they had fired the bombs during the war, and following reports in Haaretz.
Haaretz reported about two weeks ago that the commander of a Multiple Launch Rocket System unit said his unit had fired about 600 cluster rockets and that the Israel Defense Forces had fired a total of about 1,800 cluster rockets, containing approximately 1.2 million bomblets.
Advertisement
The bomblets, each of which has the strength of a hand grenade, do not all explode when they hit the ground.
Cluster bombs are not prohibited by international law but many experts say they should not be used in civilian surroundings. The United Nations estimates there are approximately one million unexploded bombs in Lebanon.
In her letter to Peretz, Gal-On asked why the bombs were used although it was known that they would turn into mine fields in southern Lebanon. She also asked why Israel is not cooperating with the UN in assisting civilians in areas where cluster bombs were fired to locate the bombs.
A 12-year old boy was killed and three other children wounded Wednesday by the explosion of an Israeli cluster bomb in southern Lebanon. The children were playing in a field when they accidentally touched a bomblet which blew up. So far, 15 civilians have been killed by Israeli cluster bombs since the war ended, and almost 90 have been wounded.
Comment on this Article
Fugitive: Interpol arrests Jacob Alexander
www.chinaview.cn 2006-09-28 16:59:00
BEIJING, Sept. 28 (Xinhuanet) -- Securities fraud fugitive Jacob "Kobi'' Alexander, former Comverse Technology Inc. chief executive officer, was arrested Wednesday in Namibia.
Alexander, 54, former Israeli intelligence officer turned high-technology entrepreneur, will be brought before a court in Windhoek within 48 hours, and the U.S. will seek his extradition, the Justice Department said.
Federal prosecutors charged Alexander on Aug. 9 with backdating stock options to boost the compensation of executives at New York-based Comverse, the world's largest maker of voicemail software.
"Alexander's alleged role in options backdating victimized Comverse shareholders and deceived prospective investors,'' Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Roslynn Mauskopf said in a statement. "The fraud affected the company's bottom line by misstating earnings.''
After Alexander was charged and fled the U.S. the FBI put his face on its Most Wanted list and Interpol initiated a global "red notice,'' asking police to arrest the former CEO. Prosecutors said today that Alexander isn't a U.S. citizen as the FBI stated in a press release after he was first charged.
Robert Nardoza, a spokesman for Mauskopf, said the former CEO, a citizen of Israel, is also a permanent resident of the U.S.
Alexander wired 57 million U.S, dollars to Israel in July from an account at Citigroup Inc.'s Smith Barney Unit, the U.S. government said, calling the transfer an effort to "launder the proceeds of the fraud.'' His assets in two Citigroup Smith Barney accounts were frozen July 31.
A 32-count indictment unsealed Wednesday by Garaufis in Brooklyn federal court charged Alexander with crimes relating to an alleged "slush fund'' and the backdating of stock options from 1998 to 2006. He is charged with conspiracy, securities fraud, making false filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, mail fraud, wire fraud and money laundering.
If found guilty of the charges, Alexander may be sentenced to up to 25 years in prison, according to Mauskopf's statement.
Alexander's attorney, Robert Morvillo, said he hasn't been in touch with his client since the government notified him of the arrest. He wouldn't say when he last had contact with Alexander.
The wizard of Israel's technology boom, Alexander was arrested by Interpol and local police on a Namibian warrant issued at the request of the U.S., said Ray Castillo, a spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Namibia.
Namibia amended its laws governing extradition effective Wednesday to allow the rendering of fugitives to the U.S., according to a letter from Mauskopf's office filed in Brooklyn federal court.
Comment on this Article
America's War Of Terror On The Middle East
Eight Civilians Murdered in U.S. air strike on Iraq house
Reuters
27/09/2006
U.S. air strikes destroyed a house during a gun battle before dawn in a restive city north of Baghdad which killed eight people, the military said.
U.S. forces had attracted fire from a building in Baquba during a raid in pursuit of suspected al Qaeda militants, the military said in a statement.
Soldiers initially killed two men and then ordered air strikes, which killed two more men and four women, it said.
Two other men and a woman were wounded, and the U.S. forces treated them before detaining the men and taking the woman to hospital. The statement described all the men killed and wounded as terrorists.
"Coalition forces strive to mitigate risks to civilians while in pursuit of terrorists. Terrorists continue to deliberately place innocent Iraqi women and children in danger by their actions and presence," it said.
Relatives said the dead were a family of seven and a neighbor.
"I was inside preparing for Ramadan morning meal. I heard explosions and shooting and I ran out," one young, weeping woman told Reuters television as neighbors held her arms.
"When I came back I saw all my family killed. My father -- four women and three men. All of them, including my brother and his pregnant wife. They took two of our family away, a man and a woman. They were wounded," she said. She did not give her name.
Baquba is in Diyala province where many locals are hostile to U.S. forces and al Qaeda militants have strong influence.
Earlier reports from Iraqi police wrongly described the air strikes as a mortar attack. The U.S. military said it knew of no mortar attack in the area and neighbors interviewed by Reuters television confirmed the building was hit by air strikes.
This month is Ramadan, when Iraqis wake before dawn for a large meal and fast during the day.
Comment on this Article
Quarter million Iraqis flee American-backed sectarian violence
reuters
27/09/2006
A quarter of a million Iraqis have fled their homes and registered as refugees in the past seven months, data released on Thursday showed, amid an upsurge in violence that has accompanied the Ramadan holy month.
The sectarian killing continued in Baghdad, where police said they had found the bodies of 40 victims -- bound, tortured and murdered -- in the last 24 hours.
The United States says violence in Iraq has surged in the last two weeks, with this week counting the most suicide bombs of any week since the war began in 2003.
U.S. forces predicted a surge in violence with Ramadan and have proven right so far, with bombings and clashes mounting since Sunni Muslims began observing the holy month on Saturday.
The registered refugee figures showed 40,000 families -- 240,000 people -- claiming assistance, up from 27,000 families in July. The figures do not include an uncounted number of Iraqis who have moved home without claiming aid.
"The reason for this increase is that the security situation in some provinces has deteriorated considerably, forcing people to leave their homes in fear for their lives," said Migration Ministry spokesman Sattar Nowruz.
BOMBS
A car bomb and a roadside bomb exploded in quick succession in the Saadoun district of central Baghdad on Thursday, killing four people and wounding 38, police said. At least five other bombs went off in the capital, killing at least three and wounding 30.
Mortar rounds landed on a district in the southwest of the capital killing four. Bombs exploded in Mosul and Numaniya.
U.S. commanders have focused their efforts on the capital Baghdad over the past two months and say they have managed to reduce the number of sectarian death squad killings in the scattered neighborhoods they have targeted.
Comment on this Article
40 tortured bodies found in Baghdad
www.chinaview.cn 2006-09-28 15:49:39
BAGHDAD, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- The Iraqi police found at least 40 bodies in different neighborhoods of Baghdad during the past 24 hours, a well-known police source said on Thursday.
"Our patrols found up to 40 bodies during the past 24 hours in different parts of Baghdad," the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.
The bodies were blindfolded, bound and showing signs of torture with bullet holes on different parts of their bodies, the source said.
The almost daily gruesome body findings, assassinations and explosions in Baghdad and other Iraqi cities were seen as a major setback for the Iraqi government's efforts to stem violence and achieve national reconciliation.
Comment on this Article
Poll: Most Iraqis want U.S. troops to leave immediately
www.chinaview.cn 2006-09-27 22:21:49
WASHINGTON, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- Most Iraqis want U.S. forces to immediately leave their country, saying that it would make Iraq more secure and decrease sectarian violence, according to new polls by the State Department and independent researchers.
In Baghdad, the State Department poll found nearly three-quarters of respondents said they would feel safer if U.S. and other foreign forces left Iraq, with 65 percent of those asked favoring an immediate pullout, according to poll results published by The Washington Post Wednesday.
Another poll by the Program on International Policy Attitudes at the University of Maryland, found that 71 percent of Iraqis questioned want the Iraqi government to ask foreign forces to depart within a year.
By large margins, though, Iraqis believed that the U.S. government would refuse the request, with 77 percent of those polled saying the United States intended to keep permanent military bases in the country.
The stark assessments, among the most negative attitudes toward U.S. forces since they invaded Iraq in 2003, contrast sharply with views expressed by the Iraqi government.
Last week, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said coalition troops should remain in the country until Iraqi security forces were "capable of ending terrorism and maintaining stability and security."
The State Department poll was based on 1,870 face-to-face interviews conducted from June 26 to July 6 while the Program on International Policy Attitudes poll was conducted over the first three days of September.
Comment on this Article
Group wins public relations deal in Iraq
By REBECCA SANTANA
Associated Press Writer
Sept. 26, 2006, 8:58PM
BAGHDAD, Iraq - A public relations company known for its role in a controversial U.S. military program that paid Iraqi newspapers for stories favorable to coalition forces has been awarded another multimillion dollar media contract with American forces in Iraq.
Washington-based Lincoln Group won a two-year contract to monitor a number of English and Arabic media outlets and produce public relations-type products such as talking points or speeches for U.S. forces in Iraq, officials said Tuesday.
"Lincoln Group is proud to be trusted to assist the multinational forces in Iraq with communicating news about their vital work," Lincoln Group spokesman Bill Dixon said in a statement. Details about the contract were confirmed by the U.S. military spokesman in Iraq, Lt. Col. Barry Johnson, and were also described in documents posted on a federal government Web site outlining contracts awarded.
The contract is worth roughly $6.2 million per year over a two-year period, according to Johnson.
The idea is to use the information to "build support" in Iraqi, Arabic, international and U.S. audiences for what the military describes as its goals in Iraq, such as destroying the insurgency and helping Iraqis build a democracy, according to contract documents.
The list of media outlets to be watched includes the New York Times, Fox Television and the satellite channel, Al-Arabia.
The Lincoln Group was mired in controversy last year when it became known that the company had been part of a U.S. military operation to pay Iraqi newspapers to run positive stories about coalition activities. According to the company's Web site, it was created in 2003 to do public relations and communications work in challenging environments such as Iraq.
The type of contract, its cost, and the fact that it was awarded to the PR and communications company have raised questions.
Rep. Robert Andrews, D-N.J., who serves on the House Armed Services Committee, said he would be asking the Department of Defense for information about how this "controversial" vendor was chosen, saying the choice of the Lincoln Group "concerns me greatly."
But, Andrews said he's more concerned about the fact that the contract was awarded at all, not just to the Lincoln Group.
"I wish that our problem in Iraq was that the military wasn't getting good PR," Andrews said. "The problem seems to be that the country is sliding into civil war."
Johnson could not comment on how the Lincoln Group was chosen, simply saying it was a "standard contracting process." He said the contract did not include any provisions to purchase favorable coverage or pay for favorable stories. The Lincoln Group would not comment on the contract beyond the statement issued.
Lucy Dalglish, the executive director of The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, based in Arlington, Va., said she was worried about whether the military would be creating its own news through its own newspapers or Web sites.
"If they're trying to influence Iraqi opinion of Americans, I almost find that to be unconscionable because that would say that they do not value a free and independent press in Iraq," Dalglish said.
According to Johnson, the contract is really nothing new from programs that are already in existence.
Multi-National Forces-Iraq already has in place a one year contract with The Rendon Group, a Washington D.C.-based company, to perform many of the same functions this current contract would fulfill, Johnson said.
"We always monitor the press. Any organization, anywhere monitors the press to see what's being said to determine what messages are out there and how it's impacting the environment," Johnson said.
The Rendon Groups contract, worth $6.4 million over one year, was scheduled to expire this September but Johnson said it has been extended until Oct. 27 while the winner of the new contract is determined.
A key question is whether any public relations campaign in Iraq will work.
Nabil Khalid, the executive news director of Al-Arabia, one of the most popular Arabic-language television stations in the Middle East, said right now, the multinational forces in Iraq are losing the public relations battle.
"If you asked me who better influences the media, the insurgents or the multinational forces, I would say that the insurgents," Khalid said, speaking by telephone from the station's Dubai headquarters.
Comment on this Article
Suicide attack on Baghdad army post as violence surges
by Paul Schemm
AFP
September 28, 2006
BAGHDAD - A man drove a minibus packed with explosives into an army post in northeast Baghdad, killing two soldiers in a trend of attacks US forces say is at an all time high.
Another 11 soldiers and a civilian in the mostly Shiite Shaab neighborhood were wounded in the blast, which sent up a massive plume of smoke visible across the city.
While suicide attacks have always been a feature of
Iraq's violence, US military spokesman Major General William Caldwell described them Wednesday as being at an all time high, with half of them targeting security forces.
The first week of Ramadan has seen a spike in attacks, with not only drive-by shootings and explosions, but also the night time killings generally attributed to Shiite death squads that leave corpses strewn across the city.
Police reported finding another 15 corpses on Thursday morning, following the discovery of several dozen the day before.
"This has been a tough week," Caldwell told reporters. "We have seen an increase of attacks as anticipated. The terrorists and other groups are punching back to discredit the government of Iraq."
For the last several months US and Iraqi forces have been conducting a security plan to stabilize the war-torn capital which is beset by rival Sunni and Shiite forces engaged in a dirty sectarian war.
US forces said violence has decreased in areas where they have conducted their house to house sweeps.
"The pattern we have tended to see is that, as we've cleared areas, the numbers of murders and executions have decreased in most sectors," a coalition intelligence official told reporters.
There are indications, however, that armed groups are returning to these neighborhoods and perpetrating new violence once US troops have moved on, sometimes acting with the complicity of elements in the Iraqi security forces.
"We would ascribe that to probably some measure of some elements in MOI (Ministry of Interior) facilitating the re-entry of folks into the secure area," said the intelligence official referring to militia death squads.
The number two US military commander in Iraq emphasized Wednesday that the government had to deal with the militias in the country, which have close ties with some of the parties in the coalition government.
"We have to fix this militia issue. We can't have armed militias competing with Iraqi security forces, but I also have to trust the prime minister to decide when it is that we do that," said Lieutenant General Peter Chiarelli.
Despite the role of US forces in attempting to stabilize the country, however, recent polls conducted in Iraq have a majority of the population calling for the swift withdrawal of coalition troops.
A poll conducted by the Program on International Policy Attitudes at the University of Maryland had 78 percent of respondents saying that they thought the US presence in Iraq is provoking more conflict than it is preventing.
Support for attacks on US troops has also increased considerably: 61 percent approve of the attacks, up from 47 percent in January, according to the poll.
A separate internal US State Department poll quoted by the Washington Post had similar results: nearly three-quarters of Baghdadis would feel safer if US and foreign forces left Iraq, with 65 percent supporting an immediate pullout.
Iraq's leadership, however, has consistently stated that coalition forces are in the country with their permission and are necessary for stability
A number of other bombs went off in Baghdad on Thursday morning, without any fatalities, however. A car bomb went off in the mixed Sunni-Shiite Bayaa district in southwest Baghdad in a used car lot, wounding two people, followed by a second blast nearby an hour later, wounding eight more.
A National Police patrol was also targeted early on Thursday with a roadside bomb on the main city highway in east Baghdad which wounded three policemen.
In west Baghdad's Yarmuk neighborhood a car bomb and then another kind of makeshift explosive hit a police patrol, wounding four policeman.
Comment on this Article
Kurds and Arabs vie for control of Mosul
UK Independent
27 September 2006
Across northern Iraq people are voting with their feet. In and around Mosul, the third-largest Iraqi city, some 70,000 Kurds have fled their homes so far this year. Many have run away after receiving an envelope with a bullet inside and a note telling them to get out in 72 hours. Others became refugees because they feared that a war between Arabs and Kurds for control of the region was not far off.
"There is no solution except the division of the province," said Khasro Goran, the powerful Kurdish deputy governor of Mosul. He believes that all the Kurds in the province want to join the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), which under the federal constitution is almost an independent state.
Violence in Mosul, a city of 1.75 million people, is not as bad as in Baghdad or Diyala province, claims Mr Goran, who is also head of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) in Mosul, during an interview with The Independent inside his heavily fortified headquarters. This is not saying a great deal, since he added that 40 to 50 people were being killed in Mosul every week.
"Two officials from the KDP working in this building were shot dead outside their homes a few days ago," said Mr Goran, an urbane, highly educated man who spent 11 years in exile in Sweden and speaks five languages. He has been the target of eight assassination attempts, in which several guards have been killed.
It was only possible for me to go to Mosul because Mr Goran sent several of his bodyguards in two cars to pick me up in the Kurdish capital, Arbil. Travelling at high speed into Mosul, they pointed to the remains of the headquarters of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, which had been destroyed by a large suicide bomb in a Volvo in mid-August. The blast killed 17 men, mostly soldiers on guard. Fearing a similar attack, the KDP had just added another concrete blast wall to its already impressive defences.
The fate of Mosul, the largest city in Iraq in which Sunni Arabs are in the majority, may determine how far Iraq survives as a single country. The proportion of Arabs to Kurds in the province and city is much disputed.
There is no doubt that the Arabs are in a majority of around 55 per cent in the province, but they angrily dispute the Kurdish claim to make up a third of the 2.7 million population. When an Arab MP in parliament in Baghdad claimed this week that the Kurds made up only 4 per cent of the population of the city, all the Kurdish MPs staged a walk-out in a fury.
At the moment nobody wholly controls Mosul, one of the oldest urban centres on the planet, sprawling along both banks of the Tigris river. The 2nd Iraqi Army Division is based in the city, and the 3rd Division is outside, each 15,000-strong, and both of them are at least 50 per cent Kurdish, and with Kurdish commanders. But the Americans, fearful of the Sunni Arab reaction, have forbidden the army to patrol too aggressively.
If the Kurds have the army, the Arabs have the police. There are 16,000 policemen in the province, and 6,000 in the city. The Kurds regard them with the greatest suspicion. As we drove to the KDP headquarters, one of the Kurdish bodyguards told me to "hide your notebook and pen if we stop at a police checkpoint, because we don't trust them". The Kurds have long accused senior police officers of being crypto-Baathists, sympathetic to the insurgents.
The US experience in Mosul has not been happy. During the first year of the occupation General David Petraeus, the US commander of the 101st Division, tried to conciliate the many officers and officials of Saddan Hussein's regime who came from Mosul. In the long term the experiment failed. When US marines stormed Fallujah in November 2004, most of the police in Mosul resigned, and insurgents captured 30 police stations and $40m (£21m) worth of arms almost without firing a shot. The US was forced to call in Kurdish peshmerga fighters to retake the city.
The US and Kurds still co-operate. The Americans are highly reliant on Kurdish intelligence to search for guerrillas. But they are also conscious that a recent confidential Pentagon poll leaked to ABC television showed that 75 per cent of Sunni Arabs in Iraq supported armed resistance. The US forces, who used to have four bases in the city, have now retreated to one large base at the airport.
A final explosion may not be far away. Under article 140 of the new Iraqi constitution, there must be a vote by the end of 2007 to decide which regions will join the KRG. Mr Goran says that such a poll could see all of Mosul province east of the Tigris and the districts of Sinjar and Talafar to the west of the river joining the KRG. "As we get closer to the implementation of article 140, the problems will get worse," he says.
Comment:6 months after the Iraq invasion, and long before anyone was talking about sectarian violence and the division of Iraq, in November 2003, the American-based political "think tank" also floated this idea. Coincidence? WE think not.
Comment on this Article
Bush seeks united front from Afghanistan, Pakistan
by Olivier Knox
AFP
September 28, 2006
WASHINGTON - President George W. Bush hosted the leaders of Pakistan and Afghanistan at a White House dinner, urging them to end their war of words and unite, with US help, against the common threat of Islamist "extremists".
With presidents Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan and Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan silent and stiff by his side in the White House Rose Garden, Bush praised them as his "personal friends" with strong stakes in the war on terrorism.
"We've got a lot of challenges facing us. All of us must protect our countries. But at the same time, we all must work to make the world a more hopeful place," Bush said during the brief public appearance.
"And so today's dinner is a chance for us to strategize together, to talk about the need to cooperate, to make sure that people have got a hopeful future," he added.
The three leaders broke bread in a stately White House dining room in an effort to ease tensions that Bush aides say undermine efforts to quell surging Taliban violence and to hunt down terrorist mastermind
Osama bin Laden.
"They understand that the forces of moderation are being challenged by extremists and radicals," said Bush, who has come under renewed pressure to find bin Laden ahead of critical November US legislative elections.
The US president, gesturing towards Musharraf, said the Al-Qaeda chief "wants to hurt my friend here," seeks to "upset the democracy in Afghanistan" and must be "brought to justice".
A brief White House statement after the dinner said Bush, Musharraf and Karzai had made a committment to support "moderation and defeating extremism through greater intelligence sharing, (and) coordinated action against terrorists".
Karzai and Musharraf have been waging a war of words over which country bears the brunt of the blame for the surge of attacks by the Taliban militia in Afghanistan, amid Afghan charges that Pakistan is coddling extremists.
In an interview with CNN television on Wednesday, Karzai charged Pakistan was "not doing enough at all" to rid Islamic schools of teachers who are "training extremists full of hatred for the rest of the world".
He also renewed his accusation that Taliban leader Mullah Omar had found refuge in Pakistan after US-led forces ousted the militia for refusing to hand over its sponsor bin Laden, the architect of the September 11, 2001 attacks.
And Musharraf on Tuesday used an interview with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation to accuse him of being "concerned more about himself than about Afghanistan."
"We should work together, but I'm afraid he is not being honest about everything," said the Pakistani leader.
The three were expected to discuss a controversial deal between Pakistan and tribal leaders in a remote area where bin Laden may be hiding, amid US and Afghan concerns that it may take pressure off Taliban and Al-Qaeda fighters.
White House spokesman Tony Snow refused to say Wednesday that Bush believed Musharraf was doing everything in his power to battle extremists, saying only that Bush was "satisfied with the efforts he's made and supports them".
The US president, who laid the groundwork for the unusual summit by meeting with Musharraf on Friday and Karzai on Tuesday, was expected to make a forceful case for improved cooperation.
"The president is always candid when he speaks to other heads of state," said Snow.
Musharraf said in a newly published interview in the The Times of London that bin Laden was alive and hiding in Afghanistan, insisting "it's not a hunch" but the result of "good intelligence".
Bush, who has been emphasizing US help for moderates throughout the Muslim world, said he was eager to discuss ways the United States "can help these two countries provide a foundation for hope".
"It's very important for the people in Pakistan and Afghanistan to understand that America respects religion, and we respect the right for people to worship the way they see fit," he said.
"We welcome Muslim leaders here in the White House," he said. "I look forward to having dinner with friends of mine who don't happen to share the same faith I do but, nevertheless, share the same outlook for a hopeful world."
Comment on this Article
Bush's Imaginary Front in the War on Terror
By Jeremy Keenan
Foreign Policy in Focus
September 28, 2006.
It started in 2002 with a few hesitant probes that were low on intelligence, high on imagination, and short a couple of helicopters reportedly lost in the desert wastelands of northern Mali.
Then, in 2003, the U.S. launch of a second front in its "war on terror" moved into top gear. In collaboration with its regional ally Algeria, the Bush administration identified a banana-shaped swath of territory across the Sahelian regions of the southern Sahara that presumably harbored Islamic militants and bin Laden sympathizers on the run from Afghanistan.
Although the United States had vague suspicions that the Sahel region of Africa might become a possible terrorist haven following its dislodgment of the Taliban from Afghanistan, the gear change was triggered by the hostage-taking of 32 tourists in the Algerian Sahara. The United States attributed their capture in March 2003 to Algeria's Islamist "terrorist" organization, the Groupe Salafiste pour la Prédication et le Combat (GSPC). The presumed mastermind of the plot was the GSPC's second-in-command, who goes by many aliases, including El Para after his stint as a parachutist in the Algerian army.
The GSPC held the hostages in two groups approximately 300 kilometers apart in the Algerian Sahara. An Algerian army assault liberated one of the groups. The captors took the other group to northern Mali and finally released the hostages following the alleged ransom payment of five million Euros. The hostage-taking confirmed U.S. suspicions. Even before the hostages were released, the Bush administration was branding the Sahara as a terror zone and El Para as a top al-Qaida operative and "bin Laden's man in the Sahel."
The U.S. spin on these events was all very dramatic. And it was all largely untrue.
The Pan-Sahel Initiative
In January 2004, following earlier visits from the U.S. Office of Counterterrorism to Chad, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger, Bush's Pan-Sahel Initiative (PSI) rolled into action with the arrival of a U.S. "anti-terror team" in Nouakchott, Mauritania's capital. U.S. Deputy Undersecretary of State Pamela Bridgewater confirmed that the team comprised 500 U.S. troops and a deployment of 400 U.S. Rangers into the Chad-Niger border region the following week. (In 2005, the PSI expanded to include Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Senegal, and Nigeria, and the organization became the Trans-Saharan Counter-Terrorism Initiative).
By the end of January, Algerian and Malian forces, reportedly with U.S. support, were said to have driven the GSPC from northern Mali. Then, in a series of engagements, a combined military operation of Niger and Algerian forces, supported by U.S. satellite surveillance, chased El Para's men across the Tamesna, Aïr, and Tenere regions of Niger into the Tibesti Mountains of Chad. There, thanks to the support of U.S. aerial reconnaissance, Chadian forces engaged the GSPC in early March in a battle lasting three days, reportedly killing 43 GSPC. El Para managed to escape the carnage but fell into the hands of a Chadian rebel movement. This group held him hostage until October 2004 when he was returned to Algeria, allegedly with the help of Libya. In June 2005, an Algerian court convicted him in absentia of "creating an armed terrorist group and spreading terror among the population." It sentenced El Para to life imprisonment.
Within a year, the United States and its allies had transformed the Sahara-Sahel region into a second front in the global "war on terror." Prior to the hostage-taking in March 2003, no act of terror, in the conventional meaning of the term, had occurred in this vast region. Yet, by the following year, U.S. military commanders were describing terrorists as "swarming" across the Sahel and the region as a "Swamp of Terror." The area was, in the words of European Command's deputy commander General Charles F. Wald, a "terrorist infestation" that "we need to drain." Stewart M. Powell, writing in Air Force Magazine, claimed that the Sahara "is now a magnet for terrorists." Typical of the media hype were articles in the Village Voice such as "Pursuing Terrorists in the Great Desert."
But the incidents used to justify the launch of this new front in the "war on terror" were either fiction, in that they simply did not happen, or fabricated by U.S. and Algerian military intelligence services. El Para was not "Bin Laden's man in the Sahara," but an agent of Algeria's counter-terrorist organization, the Direction des Renseignements et de la Sécurité.
Many Algerians believe him to have been trained as a Green Beret at Fort Bragg in the 1990s. Almost every Algerian statement issued during the course of the hostage drama has now been proven to be false. No combined military force chased El Para and his men across the Sahel. El Para was not even with his men as they stumbled around the Aïr Mountains in search of a guide and having themselves photographed by tourists. As for the much-lauded battle in Chad, there is no evidence that it happened. Leaders of the Chadian rebel movement say it never occurred, while nomads, after two years of scratching around in the area, have still not found a single cartridge case or other material evidence.
How and why did such a deception take place? The "how" is simple. First, the Algerian and U.S. military intelligence services channeled a stream of disinformation to an industry of terrorism "experts," conservative ideologues, and compliant journalists who produced a barrage of articles. Second, if a story is to be fabricated, it helps if the location is far away and remote. The Sahara is the perfect place: larger than the United States and effectively closed to public access.
The "why" has much to do with Washington's "banana theory" of terrorism, so named because of the banana-shaped route Washington believed the dislodged terrorists from Afghanistan were taking into Africa and across the Sahelian countries of Chad, Niger, Mali, and Mauritania to link up with Islamist militants in the Maghreb. Hard evidence for this theory was lacking. There was little or no Islamic extremism in the Sahel, no indigenous cases of terrorism, and no firm evidence that "terrorists" from Afghanistan, Pakistan, or the Middle East were taking this route.
Washington appears to have based its notion on some unpublished sources and Algerian press reports on the banditry and smuggling activities of the outlaw Mokhtar ben Mokhtar. It also misconstrued the Tablighi Jama'at movement, whose 200 or so members in Mali are nicknamed "the Pakistanis" because the sect's headquarters are in Pakistan. Finally, local government agents told U.S. officials what they wanted to hear.
Notwithstanding the lack of evidence, Washington saw a Saharan Front as the linchpin for the militarization of Africa, greater access to its oil resources (Africa will supply 25% of U.S. hydrocarbons by 2015), and the sustained involvement of Europe in America's counterterrorism program. More significantly, a Saharan front reinforced the intelligence cherry-picked by top Pentagon brass to justify the invasion of Iraq by demonstrating that al-Qaida's influence had spread to North Africa.
The Algerian Connection
Washington's interest in the Sahel and the flimsiness of its intelligence were extremely propitious for Algeria's own designs. As western countries became aware of the Algerian army's role in its "dirty war" of the 1990s against Islamic extremists, they became increasingly reluctant to sell it arms for fear of Islamist reprisals and criticism from human rights groups. As a result, Algeria's army became progressively under-equipped and increasingly preoccupied with acquiring modern, high-tech weapon systems, notably night vision devices, sophisticated radar systems, an integrated surveillance system, tactical communications equipment, and certain lethal weapon systems. Whereas the Clinton administration kept its distance, the Bush administration invited Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika as one of its first guests to Washington. Bouteflika told his American counterpart that Algeria wanted specific equipment to maintain peace, security, and stability.
September 11 was a golden opportunity for both regimes, especially Algeria, which sold its "expertise" in counter-terrorism to Washington on the basis of its long "war" against Islamists through the 1990s that left 200,000 people dead. This common ground in the war against terrorism was the basis of a new U.S.-Algerian relationship. However, by late 2002, Algeria was publicly admonishing the United States for its tardiness in delivering on its promises of military equipment. Washington's caution, however, was justified by the fact that Algeria was on top of its "terrorist" problem and consequently no longer in need of such sophisticated equipment.
El Para was proof that "terrorism" was far from eradicated in Algeria and that Islamic militancy now linked the Maghreb and Sahel. His activities not only eased Washington's political reticence on military support for Algeria, but also provided the missing link in its banana theory of terrorism.
Who conned whom is perhaps immaterial, although the U.S. lack of human intelligence on the ground and its cherry-picking of unverified intelligence certainly made it unusually receptive to the wooing of Algeria's military intelligence services. The situation resembled Ahmed Chalabi's manipulation of U.S. intelligence agencies in the run-up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq. However, while Algeria certainly duped U.S. intelligence services, the overall fabrication of the so-called Second Front involved the collusion of both parties. U.S. monitoring of the hostage situation, including the use of AWAC surveillance, speaks to Washington's willing participation.
The Front Collapses
The Second Front deception has done immense damage to the peoples and fabric of the Sahara-Sahel region. The launch of a Sahara front in the "war on terror" has created immense anger, frustration, rebellion, political instability, and insecurity across the entire region. The successful Mauritanian coup, the Tuareg revolts in Mali and Niger, the riots in southern Algeria, and the political crisis in Chad are direct outcomes of this policy. It has also destroyed the region's tourism industry and the livelihoods of families across the entire region, forcing hundreds of young men into the burgeoning smuggling and trafficking businesses for a living. In Washington, the same people who failed to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and al-Qaida links to Saddam Hussein are now busy classifying these innocent victims of U.S. foreign policy as putative "terrorists."
Fortunately for the people of the region, this Second Front is collapsing. U.S. regional commanders admitted to a German journalist this last spring that their EUCOM predecessors had over-hyped the terrorist situation. In the meantime, U.S. skullduggery in the region is likely to be exposed further by President Bouteflika's recent investigation into fraud and corruption by the Halliburton subsidiary, Brown & Root Condor (BRC), set up and registered as an Algerian company by Dick Cheney in 1994.
The Bush administration fabricated an entire front in the "war on terror" for its own political purposes. Its obsession with secrecy is not for reasons of national security but to conceal falsehood. That is why the Senate Intelligence Committee is stalling its investigation of Douglas Feith and his role at the Pentagon's controversial Office of Special Plans. The investigation is likely to open "an even bigger can of worms," as one former intelligence officer has warned.
The collapse of the second front is likely to have widespread implications for America's "war on terror." At a global level, it will reduce the credibility of the Bush administration still further, reinforcing the already widespread belief that much of what it has been saying about terrorism is simply not true. While of little consequence for those countries with which U.S. relations are already at an all-time low, the ramifications will be far more serious for countries such as those in the European Union on whom America still relies for a modicum of support. Increasing public skepticism toward the Bush administration's claims about terrorism and disapproval of the conduct of its "war on terror" has been forcing the governments of many of these countries to reconsider the extent and nature of their support for the American enterprise. This erosion of U.S. credibility in the world will carry over to subsequent U.S. administrations, even ones that attempt to reform American foreign policy.
This North African imbroglio also holds serious implications for America's principle regional allies in the deception. In Algeria, Mali, Niger, Chad, and pre-coup Mauritania, the launch of the Saharan front went hand in hand with an increase in repressive behavior by the security establishments of these countries against their civilian populations. Not surprisingly, the front's collapse is now leading to outbreaks of rebellious anger against these governments and a consequent increase in political instability and insecurity. In a terrible irony, the attempt to fight terrorists in a terrorism-free land might ultimately produce the very movements and activities that the U.S. government claimed it wanted to expunge in the first place.
FPIF contributor Jeremy Keenan is a teaching fellow in archaeology and anthropology at Bristol University. He is also a visiting professor at the Institute of Arab & Islamic Studies at Exeter University where he is director of the Saharan Studies program. His book "Alice of the Sahara: Moving Mirrors and the USA War on Terror in the Sahara" will be published by Pluto Press in 2007.
Comment on this Article
Dangerous World
Girl dies, gunman kills self in bloody end to Colorado school siege
by Jeff Kass
AFP
September 28, 2006
DENVER, United States - A schoolgirl hostage was fatally wounded before a gunman killed himself as armed police stormed a high school in the western state of Colorado, police said.
Park County Sheriff Fred Wegener said the unidentified gunman turned his weapon upon himself after shooting one of two girls being held hostage at Platte Canyon High School in Bailey, 35 miles (56 kilometers) south of Denver.
The man, believed to be in his 30s, opened fire as police entered a second floor classroom after the gunman -- who claimed to be carrying a bomb -- broke off contact with hostage negotiators.
"Entry was made, the suspect shot one of the hostages and then shot himself, that's what it looks like at this time," Wegener told reporters. The second hostage escaped unharmed.
The critically injured girl was airlifted to St Anthony Central Hospital in Denver but died later Wednesday.
"I can confirm the girl has died," hospital spokeswoman Bev Lilly told AFP, refusing to give any more details about the victim.
The shooting immediately evoked memories of the 1999 Columbine high school massacre in neighbouring Jefferson County, when 13 students were gunned down by two teenage pupils who then killed themselves.
Wegener, who has worked in the small community of Park County for 36 years and whose son attends the school, said police were struggling to come to terms with the latest shooting tragedy to hit Colorado.
"We're just shocked this has happened in a rural county," said Wegener, his voice trembling with emotion.
"I don't know the identity of the gunman, I don't know why he wanted to do this and hopefully the investigation will reveal who it is," he told reporters.
"I have not yet been able to talk with the family of the female student that was shot but my prayers are with them," Wegener said.
At a press conference later Wednesday, Wegener revealed he had feared the worst after being called to the school.
"I was scared to death at what we might find. No-one wants anything like this to happen at their school," he said.
The siege began when the gunman entered the school at around 12:00 pm (1800 GMT) and fired "more than one shot", claiming to be carrying a bomb in a rucksack, police said.
The gunman had initially taken six hostages but released four of them during the afternoon. Wegener said the gunman had communicated with officers by asking his hostages to shout messages.
He said it was not clear what the gunman had been demanding.
"Your guess is as good as mine," Wegener said.
A decision to storm the building was taken when the man broke off communications around 30 minutes before the expiration of a 4:00 pm (2200 GMT) deadline.
"It was decided that a tactical solution was necessary in an effort to save the two hostages that were in the room," Wegener said.
Earlier, the high school and neighbouring Fitzsimmons Middle School were evacuated while bomb squads and SWAT teams were deployed to the complex.
Television images showed dozens of students forming orderly queues before boarding school buses and being ferried away.
One student, 16-year-old Zak Barnes, described how pupils had burst into tears after being told a gunman was on the loose in the school before they were led to safety by a police officer.
"You would not expect this to happen in our school," Barnes told reporters.
Comment on this Article
Ill. girl dies after dentist treatment
By F.N. D'ALESSIO
Associated Press
Wed Sep 27, 2006
CHICAGO - A 5-year-old Chicago girl who never awoke from her sedation during a visit to the dentist died Wednesday at Children's Memorial Hospital, a hospital official said.
Kindergartner Diamond Brownridge had been in a coma and on life support since the weekend dentist visit, said Julie Pesch, a spokeswoman for Children's Memorial Hospital.
Family members have said Diamond received a triple dose of sedatives - an oral agent, an intravenous drug and nitrous oxide gas - during Saturday's exam at Little Angel Dental. The girl was having two cavities filled and caps placed on her lower front teeth.
The girl's mother, Ommettress Travis, has said she was asked to leave the room during the half-hour procedure. When she returned, her daughter was lying in the dental chair, not breathing, Travis said.
"She passed very peacefully and beautifully," a family statement released by the hospital said.
A Chicago law firm, Clifford Law Offices, also filed paperwork to begin exploring if a malpractice case would have merit, said Thomas K. Prindable, managing partner of the firm.
The girl's dentist, Hicham Riba, was certified to administer anesthesia to patients and his state license was current, said Susan Hofer, a spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation.
A written statement from Riba on Wednesday night extended condolences to the girl's family. "(My family and I) are so sad," he said. "May God bless Diamond and her family."
The telephone rang unanswered at Riba's home Wednesday night.
Comment on this Article
Almost 50% Of World Population Lacks Basic Sanitation: U.N. report
Reuters
17/09/2006
Some 2.6 billion people in the world, mainly in Africa and Asia, lack access to basic sanitation, increasing the risk of diarrhea and other diseases fatal to children, said a U.N. report released on Thursday.
UNICEF, the U.N. children's fund, in a study on water and sanitation in developing nations, concluded that U.N. goals could be met on clean water, especially in urban areas, but the same was not true for access to the crudest of toilets.
The report, Progress for Children, surveyed available clean water and sanitation facilities from 1990 to 2004 and calculated which countries could meet goals set at a U.N. Millennium summit in 2000.
These include cutting in half by 2015 the proportion of people without safe drinking water and basic sanitation.
"Despite commendable progress, an estimated 425 million children under the age of 18 still do not have access to an improved water supply and over 980 million do not have access to adequate sanitation, said Anne Veneman, UNICEF's executive director and a former U.S. secretary of agriculture.
Overall, about 1.2 billion people, or an increase from 78 percent in 1990 to 83 percent in 2004, had access to drinking water, a figure that would meet the Millennium goals.
Still, more than 1 billion people were without clean water in 2004 from sources such as wells or springs, a number which may increase as the population grows, the report said.
The lack of access to water is especially acute in sub-Saharan Africa, which represents about 11 percent of the world's population but almost a third of all people without access to safe drinking water.
But even in North Africa and the Middle East, people living in arid rural areas suffer from lack of water. In Djibouti, Iraq and Morocco, for example, more than 40 percent of the rural population have no access to proper drinking water.
Among the worst-affected nations, where less than 50 percent of the population has can find proper water sources, are Nigeria, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Niger, Equatorial Guinea and Chad, the report said.
Meanwhile, access to basic facilities such as flush toilets or cleanable latrines slabs rose to 59 percent from 49 percent in 1990 but remained short of U.N. targets.
Of the 2.6 billion people worldwide without access to proper sanitation, about 2 billion live in rural areas, some two-thirds in sub-Saharan Africa and 37 percent in South Asia.
At the same time, the largest gains were in Asia, especially in India and China. But the report said the majority of people in both countries still have no adequate sanitation.
Comment on this Article
Typhoon Xangsane lashes Philippines, at least three dead
by Mynardo Macaraig
AFP
September 28, 2006
MANILA - Typhoon Xangsane has wrought destruction across the Philippines causing widespread flooding, closing schools and financial markets, cutting power and transport links and leaving at least three people dead.
Torrential rain caused major flooding throughout central and northern parts of the country as high winds uprooted trees and damaged buildings.
Local officials said at least two people died in the central Philippines as the typhoon, the 10th of the season, slammed into the main northern island of Luzon early Thursday.
A woman was also killed when she was electrocuted by a fallen power line in Quezon province, just east of Manila, local officials added.
Radio reports said three more people died in the central province of Albay but this could not be confirmed.
Packing winds of 130 kilometers (81 miles) per hour, Xangsane was charted before dawn Thursday about 120 kilometers (74 miles) southeast of Manila, off the coast of the eastern province of Quezon.
It was moving northwest at 17 kilometers (11 miles) per hour and was expected to hit Manila by noon, the weather bureau said.
The highest level of a three-step storm alert has been raised over Metropolitan Manila and nine surrounding provinces while the second level alert has been raised over provinces to the north and south of the capital.
As the typhoon approached, financial markets and schools were closed in the capital and surrounding provinces, authorities said.
International and domestic flights from Manila's airports were all cancelled, airport general manager Alfonso Cusi said.
Inter-island shipping was also halted in areas affected by the typhoon.
Floods and fallen trees blocked many roads leaving hundreds of motorists stranded, the civil defense office added, while electricity was also knocked out in some areas of the capital due to fallen power lines.
In Manila flash floods turned streets into rivers and inundated homes in low-lying areas as storm drains overflowed.
Strong winds knocked over trees and toppled billboards and their steel scaffolding onto the streets.
"We have rubber rafts. We have prepared chainsaws and acetylene torches if some billboards get blown down," said Metropolitan Manila general manager Robert Nacianceno.
Barbaza town in the central island of Panay was flooded with about 100 people forced to scramble on to the roofs of their houses, civil defense officials said.
Rescue workers were using boats to ferry people from the flooded town to higher land after emergency helicopters had to cancel flights due to the weather.
"Around 30 families have been trapped by the overflowing river," said coast guard spokesman Lieutenant Commander Jose Coyme.
"We are trying to get to the area but the current from the overflowing river has been too strong," said Coyme.
Local relief teams and volunteers rescued some of the stranded people by tying ropes to trees and stringing them over flooded roads and streams, then wading across, hanging onto the ropes to keep from getting swept away by the current.
Widespread flooding was also reported in the central island of Leyte although residents were able to evacuate in time.
The coast guard, civil defense and local authorities have warned communities to be on alert for possible landslides and flash floods.
Comment on this Article
Tsunami alert issued after Samoa quake
Reuters
September 28, 2006
SYDNEY - A strong earthquake with a magnitude of up to 7.0 hit near the South Pacific nation of Samoa on Thursday, triggering a tsunami, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said.
"Sea level readings indicate a tsunami was generated. It may have been destructive along coasts near the earthquake epicenter," the Hawaii-based warning center said on its Web site (www.prh.noaa.gov/ptwc/).
The U.S. Geological Survey (www.usgs.gov) put the quake's magnitude at 6.7 and said it was centered in the Samoa islands group between Tonga and American Samoa. It said the quake occurred 43 km (27 miles) under the sea floor.
The epicenter was about 195 km (120 miles) southeast of Hihifo in the sparsely populated far northern reaches of Tonga and about 290 km (180 miles) southwest of Pago Pago in American Samoa.
"No tsunami threat exists for other coastal areas in the Pacific, although some other areas may experience small sea level changes," the tsunami warning center said.
The situation nearer the epicenter was less certain, it said.
"As local conditions can cause a wide variation in tsunami wave action, the all-clear determination must be made by local authorities," it added.
That decision could only be made when no major waves were observed for two hours after the estimated time of arrival of damaging waves, it said.
Strong earthquakes are common across the far-flung islands of the vast South Pacific.
A 6.8 quake hit a remote part of Papua New Guinea on September 1, while a 6.7 quake rattled Vanuatu on August 8, although neither caused any significant damage or major rises in sea level.
Papua New Guinea lies along the "Ring of Fire," a belt of volcanoes circling the Pacific Ocean that is also prone to major earthquakes.
Comment on this Article
Tropical depression forms in Atlantic
AP
Wed Sep 27, 2006
MIAMI - The ninth tropical depression of the 2006 Atlantic hurricane season formed Wednesday in the central Atlantic, but it was not expected to become a hurricane or threaten land, forecasters said.
The storm was expected to strengthen and could become a tropical storm in the next day, the National Hurricane Center said.
If the storm's winds reach 39 mph it would become Tropical Storm Isaac.
At 5 p.m. EDT, the depression's center was located about 810 miles east-southeast of Bermuda and moving toward the northwest near 14 mph, forecasters said. It had top sustained winds near 35 mph.
The Atlantic hurricane season began June 1 and ends Nov. 30. September is traditionally one of the busiest months of the season.
The storm was not likely to become a hurricane in part because it was expected to move over cooler waters, which would sap its strength, meteorologist Daniel Brown said.
Comment on this Article
Typhoon batters, floods Philippines
By OLIVER TEVES
Associated Press
Wed Sep 27, 2006
MANILA, Philippines - A powerful typhoon battered the northern and central Philippines with rains and winds Thursday, killing at least three people and cutting off roads. Authorities canceled flights and ferry service and shut down schools.
Typhoon Xangsane, packing winds of 81 mph made landfall overnight in the Bicol central region and was forecast to pass through the capital Manila, the Philippine weather bureau said.
Airport officials canceled domestic and several international flights to and from Manila. Parts of the capital were under waist-deep water. Authorities closed the financial markets in Manila on Thursday. Parts of the capital were under waist-deep water.
In Antique province on central Panay island, three people were killed, said acting governor Eduardo Fortaleza.
He said rescue workers evacuated about 100 people who were trapped on an islet in the middle of a raging river in Barbaza town early Thursday.
The Office of Civil Defense in Manila reported half of the villages in one town in Antique province were under five feet of water after the Dalanas River overflowed.
Elsewhere, more than 4,000 ferry passengers were stranded after the coast guard kept vessels in ports, including in Manila.
The coastal province of Albay, 200 miles southeast of Manila, felt the brunt of the typhoon.
A regional highway was cut because of uprooted trees, power cuts were reported in six provinces and a landslide cut off the road between Antique and Iloilo provinces, the civil defense reported.
Rescuers in other provinces were unable to respond to calls for help because of heavy rains and blocked roads, Bicol civil defense chief Arnel Capili told Radio DZRH.
Comment on this Article
Fourpeaked Volcano stirs after 10,000-year slumber
BY MICHAEL ARMSTRONG
STAFF WRITER
Alaska Volcano Observatory scientists confirmed this week what earlier photographs of steam plumes coming from near Cape Douglas suggested: Fourpeaked Volcano has become active after last erupting more than 10,000 years ago. Scientists are saying the volcano, about 100 miles southwest of Homer, is no longer extinct.
"This one caught us on our toes. We had Fourpeaked in that category of volcanoes we didn't need to worry about," said Michael West, a seismologist with the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute, one of the partner agencies with the Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys and the U.S. Geological Survey at AVO.
Last Wednesday, AVO assigned Fourpeaked a level of concern of yellow in its four-color system, defined as elevated seismic activity with the potential of an eruption. Fourpeaked previously was not assigned a level of concern.
In an update Monday, AVO warned that an eruption in the next days to week is possible. The update listed three scenarios, with the most likely first:
- A small to moderate eruption, with ash plumes higher than 33,000 feet and possible lava flows;
- No eruption, with the current unrest subsiding to background levels;
- A large eruption, with ash plumes higher than 33,000 feet and a widespread ash fall.
Since last Wednesday, scientists have flown over Fourpeaked, done chemical analyses and temperature readings of gas coming off the west flank and installed seismometers about 7 miles to the east of the mountain. West said AVO crews will be installing other instruments in the next few weeks. GPS instruments have not yet been put in, so it's not known if there has been deformation or swelling of Fourpeaked, as happened with Augustine Volcano before it erupted in mid-January.
Fourpeaked is acting like Augustine in other ways, West said. On a flight Sunday, scientists photographed a line of fumaroles, or volcanic vents, steaming through a glacier along the west flank of Fourpeaked. West said some ash was seen around some of the vents. Measurements at the vents showed temperatures of 140 degrees Fahrenheit, and the presence of sulfur dioxide, hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide, all in high amounts. Ash samples were taken, but have not yet been fully analyzed.
A "rotten egg" sulfur smell was also noticed up to 30 miles away. Sulfur dioxide was present in amounts similar to that measured on Augustine in late December and early January before it erupted on Jan. 11.
"That's the one we use the most. It's a fairly robust measurement - it's one we have experience interpreting," West said.
Scientists also noticed flooding and disturbance of glaciers near the summit.
"Whatever is going on is going on beneath a layer of snow and ice, and has managed to break through a few areas with steam," West said.
Although the Fourpeaked Volcano page on AVO's site has a webicorder - a graph of daily seismometer activity near the mountain - West noted that the station, CDD, is 7 miles away, further than webicorders on Augustine, which are within a mile of the peak. Measurements shouldn't be interpreted the same as with Augustine. Station CDD also is measuring activity on nearby volcanoes.
If Fourpeaked erupts, the most likely hazard would be from airborne ash.
"The kinds of ash hazards would not be unlike the ash hazards from Augustine," West said.
Homer and other Kachemak Bay area communities had a slight dusting of ash during the eruptions in mid-January. Scientists have been studying satellite and radar images of Fourpeaked, and are developing models to see how far and where ash could spread if it erupted. There also is a danger on the mountain from floods or debris and volcanic mud flows.
Fourpeaked lacks not only the heavy instrumentation of Augustine before it erupted, but also its history.
"Augustine has a long historic record of what we might expect. There is no typical behavior for Fourpeaked in the modern era," West said.
Scientists haven't gone to 24-7 hours yet, but they are checking seismographs four times a day, West said.
"Everyone is dialed in on this - our colleagues at USGS and DGGS," he said.
For more information and the latest updates, visit the AVO Web site at www.avo.alaska.edu, or call a recording at (907) 786-7478. Information on emergency preparedness is available at the AVO Web site or at the Kenai Peninsula Borough's Office of Emergency Management Web site at www.borough.kenai.ak.us/emergency/-prepared/volcano.htm.
The National Weather Service produces ash trajectory forecasts for Augustine and Fourpeaked volcanoes on its Web site at www.arl.noaa.gov/ready/traj_alaska.html.
A December 2005 article in the Homer News, "Get out the panty hose: What to do if Augustine blows," also offers advice for preparing for volcano dangers. A link to that article is on the main Homer News Web page at www.homernews.com.
Comment on this Article
Wildfire makes run near homes in Calif.
By JEREMIAH MARQUEZ
Associated Press
September 28, 2006
LOCKWOOD VALLEY, Calif. - Fire crews guarded homes and ranches Wednesday as a stubborn wildfire that has jumped containment lines crept within a half-mile of hundreds of dwellings.
More than 220 fire engines streamed into mountain communities threatened by the massive blaze. Crews cleared brush near houses and positioned equipment and hoses to fight the slow-moving flames.
The fire, which began on Labor Day and has burned about 233 square miles, was burning in dry brush and dense stands of pine trees in Los Padres National Forest, about 70 miles northwest of Los Angeles.
After jumping fire lines on Tuesday, the blaze slowed in the cool overnight weather. But erratic winds could cause it to flare later, said Larry Comerford of the U.S. Forest Service.
"They"ll come from one direction one time and then they'll whip the other direction," he said.
Nearly 4,000 firefighters were deployed to fight the blaze. It was 41 percent contained late Wednesday after chewing through more than 159,281 acres, or nearly 249 square miles, of wilderness.
Residents of Lockwood Valley, Pine Mountain Club, Pinon Pines, Cuddy Valley, Camp Scheidek and Lake of the Woods were urged to evacuate, but many chose to stay in the remote Ventura County communities.
The blaze has destroyed two barns, three trailers, a cabin and five vehicles, said Dee Bechert, a U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman. The blaze was ignited by someone burning debris and firefighting costs have topped $53 million.
Pat Martin, 61, fled her home in Lake of the Woods. Spending the night at a Red Cross shelter set up at a high school gymnasium, she feared her home would be damaged or destroyed.
"When you're this old, how do you just start over?" Martin asked.
In Lockwood Valley, Kelli Herring remained with her horse, three dogs, seven alpacas and a desert tortoise. Firefighters guarded her house, which they had protected from approaching flames on Tuesday.
Herring, 49, said she had no intention of leaving.
"What safer place to be than with a bunch of firefighters?" she said.
The fire had turned 25 of her 43 acres of pine- and sage-dotted ranch land into a blackened wasteland marked by smoldering logs and branches.
"It made me cry this morning," she said. "I'm shocked. It looks like a bomb went off. My pine trees look like matchsticks now."
Also taking their chances were employees of Steve Martin's Working Wildlife, the home of more than 100 exotic animals ranging from bears to lions that are used in show business.
Trainer Rick Clark said the facility didn't have enough trained people to move the animals. He felt it was safer to stay at the 62-acre site.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has declared a state of emergency for Ventura County and the Federal Emergency Management Agency authorized the use of federal funds to cover some expenses.
Comment on this Article
American Fascism
Some Lethal Injections May Have Been 'Excruciating'
Times Staff Writers
September 27, 2006
SAN JOSE -- Inmates executed by lethal injection in California may have been conscious when they were administered a drug that induces suffocation and an "excruciating'' experience comparable to drowning or strangulation, an anesthesiologist who has reviewed state execution logs testified today.
Mark Heath, a professor of anesthesiology at Columbia University Medical School, said the logs showed that some of those executed were still breathing several minutes after prison personnel administered pancuronium bromide, a paralytic agent and the second of three drugs used in lethal injections in California and three dozen other states.
"If someone is breathing like that, they may not be in a deep plane of anesthesia. They may not even be unconscious,'' Heath said on the second day of a hearing before U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel on a challenge to California's lethal injection procedures by death row inmate Michael Morales.
His attorneys contend that the state procedure violates the U.S. Constitution's prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. As Heath was testifying, attorney Ginger Anders displayed a copy of a prison log of the execution of Robert Massey, which showed that Massey continued to breathe for four minutes after the pancuronium was administered.
Heath also presented a withering portrayal of California's procedures for executing condemned prisoners, based on his review of prison records, depositions of execution team members and other material obtained by attorneys for Morales.
Among other things, Heath said members of the execution team were ignorant about the properties of the drugs they were using and failed to administer the required dose of the anesthetic sodium thiopental, which is meant to deaden the inmate to the pain of the paralytic.
In response to a question about what she knew about the anesthetic, a registered nurse on the execution team said, "I don't study. I just do the job. I don't want to know about it,'' according to a deposition read by Anders.
Heath said he was very disturbed by the response: "You can't understand and appreciate the dangers if you don't know how the drug works.''
Heath also said he was troubled by a discussion between corrections officials and the governor's representatives about changing the lethal injection protocol to address concerns Fogel voiced when Morales' execution was postponed last spring. According to notes taken by attorney Bruce Slevin, a doctor who works for the Corrections Department suggested that the state use a different, longer-lasting and more effective anesthetic.
But lawyers in the meeting spurned Dr. Robert Singler's idea, saying they believed the state should not change course because the three drug protocol had been upheld by courts. Instead, they suggested that the procedure be "tweaked,'' according to Slevin's notes.
Heath said this was "not a medically valid reason.'' Heath added: "The priority should be to make sure it is humane. If we make sure it is humane, a court is not going to stop'' the state from conducting lethal injection executions, Heath concluded.
On Tuesday, an expert on pharmacology said the drug used to anesthetize inmates wears off "extremely fast" and potentially exposes prisoners to painful deaths.
The four-day trial here is one of several court proceedings around the nation in which lethal injection is under challenge as a violation of the U.S. Constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment. Executions have been put on hold in California pending the outcome of the litigation, brought by Morales, who was sentenced to death for the 1981 murder of Terri Winchell, 17, in Lodi.
Judge Fogel has stressed that condemned inmates are not entitled under the Constitution to a painless death.
Comment on this Article
Stern, Germany: Leaving America: A Stranger in One's Own Land
by Milan Obradovic on 'Living in America' Blog
Translated By Susanne Angelow
September 18, 2006
What are the psychological effects of living in Southern California for years on end? In this latest edition of Stern Magazine's Living in America series, the author examines the pains and pleasures of going home to Germany, after years in America's desert mecca.
For the first time in two years, I will soon return to Germany for a visit.
Of course I look forward to seeing my friends and family, but I'm also curious to see how my perceptions of my homeland have changed. All the ways that I have had to adapt, and that I have written about on this Blog and have become part of my daily life will be set aside for a couple of weeks. Is it possible to become a stranger in one's own country? Once a number of years ago, I had such an experience.
At the time, upon returning to Germany after a long stint in the U.S., my strongest impression during my flight's approach to Hamburg was how green everything was, especially compared to the bleached-brown desert vegetation of Southern California. There, the most likely place you'll find such bold green color are in the gardens of Beverly Hills.
In Germany we flew over bright meadows and fields -I was even able to spot some black-and-white colored cows as we descended - and then for about five seconds I saw some homes before we came to a standstill on the runway. And this was in the midst of Germany's second largest city. Before landing in Los Angeles one must fly for at least 15 minutes over the houses and streets of the Inland Empire, the suburbs of Los Angeles, that reach endlessly to the East side of the city.
And here's the second shock one receives upon returning to Germany: all at once, everything appears so small. Cars, streets, parking lots, houses, advertising billboards, grocery stores, absolutely everything. Just last week I was reminded of the vastly different understanding of dimensions, when a group of Americans found it amusing that a large person could fit into a small car. Why were they so amused? An extremely tall guy (6 foot 1 inch) had driven by in a ridiculously small car (a VW golf). I guess nobody would have believed me had I tried to explain that in Europe, there are even smaller cars than the VW Golf.
Even in a metropolis like Hamburg, the narrow streets have an enormous advantage: they are incredibly level and well-kept, especially compared to the concrete-patchwork and crater-filled landscapes that are the streets of LA. And it will certainly be quite an adventure for me to hit the gas pedal on the Autobahn. My heart bleeds when I realize that our fine German cars which decorate the roads of America will never experience this.
I have also been forewarned that shopping in Germany requires some adjustment. First of all, all the businesses in Germany are closed when I am accustomed to going shopping (in the evenings and on Sunday). And when you pay, funny multi-colored bills are used instead of credit cards. Furthermore, you have to put your groceries into shopping bags by yourself and - totally hilarious to Americans- you have to pay extra for the bags.
Eating out is likewise very different. At a neighboring table, even in 2006 one can be quite sure that people will be smoking to their heart's content. But at least one can escape with a tip of 2 euros rather than 20 dollars. And at least a .2 liter coke (6.7 ounce) doesn't taste like chlorine, even though unfortunately, one must pay for every glass [there are no refills]. And as I want to meet a friend afterwards, I would most likely write them an SMS text message. Unfortunately in Germany, the 1000 free monthly minutes on my cell phone don't apply, even though my U.S. contract is with T-mobile ["T" stands for Telekom, which is the top German telephone service provider].
German TV and radio are likely to hold a potential culture shock for me. Recently, whenever I have seen or heard German radio or television on the Internet, I became literally irritated by the German language. It seemed so rigid and formal, somehow "fake," if you can forgive my use of an English word here. I couldn't stop myself from chuckling and even joked with my wife: "listen to the funny way these guys talk ..."
I have no explanation for this other than that in the U.S., I only use German when speaking to family and friends and using the Internet, and thus the formal - and stiff - German, is something that takes some getting used to. Several months ago when I telephoned a German company, it also seemed very amusing to me that although it's still easier for me to speak German, I use it only in private.
Last but not least, I come to a rather typically Californian "problem" - the weather. I really look forward to experiencing a season other than summer, but does it need to be in temperatures under 68 degrees [20 degrees Celsius]? I have already been warned to bring along a sweater - and not because the air conditioner is turned on high. Perhaps a grey rainy day in October will make the inevitable parting from Germany easier, a goodbye that presumably will arrive just as I get used to everything that appeared so strange when I arrived.
The next time I will report live from Germany. If you have any coming-home experiences, please leave me a message so I know what to pay special attention to.
Comment on this Article
Controversial US bill on terrorism detainees nears Senate OK
by Charlotte Raab
AFP
September 28, 2006
WASHINGTON - A controversial bill setting out the rules for the detention and prosecution of "war on terror" suspects headed for passage in the Senate, giving President George W. Bush's Republicans a boost six weeks ahead of legislative elections.
The US House of Representatives on Wednesday passed its version of the bill Wednesday in a 253-168 vote after a few hours of debate.
The Republican majority had blocked opposition Democrats from presenting any amendment to the bill that critics say violates human and constitutional rights.
The measure was drafted in response to a US Supreme Court ruling in June that Bush had overstepped his powers and breached the Geneva Conventions by setting up special war crime tribunals for "war on terror" suspects.
The hard-fought House victory was crucial for the Bush administration ahead of the November 7 legislative elections in which his Republican Party will fight to retain control of both chambers of Congress.
"Today, the House passed legislation that would allow this vital program to continue and help keep our country safe," Bush said in a statement.
"I appreciate the House's commitment to strengthening our national security. I urge the Senate to act quickly to get a bill to my desk before Congress adjourns, he said.
The bill was expected to be swiftly approved in the Senate on Thursday after an agreement early Wednesday between Republican and Democratic senators to allow only five amendments to be proposed.
Bush administration officials have pushed approval of the deal before Congress recesses this weekend.
The sweeping legislation sets guidelines to interrogate war-on-terror suspects and would send several hundred inmates held at the US naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba to trial after years of detention.
Since the detention camp opened in 2001, after the September 11 terrorist attacks, not one of the several hundred prisoners has been afforded a trial.
The draft law authorizes special military tribunals to prosecute the Guantanamo detainees, allows for secret CIA-run prisons and forbids "cruel and unusual" punishment of detainees -- without further clarification of what falls in that category.
Detainees would be deprived of all legal recourse to protest the conditions of their detention.
Critics charge that Bush merely wants legal cover to allow interrogators to continue using "alternative" methods of questioning that reportedly include a simulated drowning technique known as "waterboarding," sleep deprivation, and subjecting suspects to extreme temperatures.
House Minority leader Nancy Pelosi argued against the measure, saying "permitting indefinite detention under conditions that cannot be challenged in court is contrary to our history and values."
The California Democrat predicted the US Supreme Court would strike down the almost-certain new law.
But Republicans praised the effort.
"House Republicans have worked hard to create a system that will protect our troops on the battlefield, while also conforming to international laws and treaty obligations," said House Speaker Dennis Hastert.
The bill was a compromise reached after a debate between the White House, led by Bush's national security adviser,
Stephen Hadley, and a handful of influential Republican senators opposed to torture led by John McCain, a former Vietnam prisoner of war.
It came after the Republican senators had balked at endorsing a previous text they said was too vague on the question of torture, dealing a setback to the White House.
Thrashed out early this week, the broad measure has drawn fire from United Nations experts and a leading US civil rights organization, the American Civil Liberties Union.
"This bill is a drastic step backwards for human rights," said Caroline Frederickson, an ACLU director.
Comment: "The draft law authorizes special military tribunals to prosecute the Guantanamo detainees, allows for secret CIA-run prisons and forbids 'cruel and unusual' punishment of detainees -- without further clarification of what falls in that category."
In other words, Congress just rumber-stamped the Bush administration's illegal detention and torture policies in the war on terror. Even without any of the other provisions of the bill, allowing secret CIA-run prisons means that we may never know what goes on in such facilities - and thus the Bush administration through the CIA has carte blanche to do whatever it wants with "detainees".
Comment on this Article
Judge rejects Ashcroft's immunity claim
By REBECCA BOONE
Associated Press
Wed Sep 27, 2006
BOISE, Idaho - Former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft could be called to testify in a lawsuit that claims a student was wrongly imprisoned in a computer terrorism case, a federal judge ruled Wednesday.
U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge rejected Ashcroft's argument to toss out the lawsuit because he was entitled to absolute immunity since his position at the Department of Justice was prosecutorial.
Abdullah al-Kidd, who played football for the University of Idaho, claimed government wrongfully arrested him in the case against a fellow student, Sami Omar Al-Hussayen, in 2003.
They both worked for the Islamic Assembly of North America, a Michigan-based charitable organization that federal investigators said funneled money to activities supporting terrorism and published material advocating suicide attacks on the United States.
A jury acquitted Al-Hussayen of using his computer skills to foster terrorism and of three immigration violations after an eight-week federal trial. But Al-Hussayen - who was only months from finishing his doctorate study at the University of Idaho - was eventually deported to Saudi Arabia.
Al-Kidd was never called to testify, but he spent two weeks in jail as a material witness and was later released to the custody of his wife with strict limitations on where he could travel.
His lawsuit claimed Ashcroft was personally liable for violating his rights because after the terrorist attacks Ashcroft "created a national policy to improperly seek material witness warrants, oversaw the execution of such warrants, and failed to correct the constitutional violations of conducting such actions," according court documents. Al-Kidd said the investigation and detainment not only caused him to lose a scholarship to study in Saudi Arabia, but that it cost him employment opportunities.
The ruling also means U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez and others in the Department of Homeland Security could be called to testify in the lawsuit.
"We are literally reviewing it at this minute and no, we have not made any decisions at this time," Charles Miller, spokesman for the Justice Department's civil division, said of the ruling.
Al-Kidd's attorney, Lee Gelernt with the ACLU's national headquarters in New York, called the ruling a "vindication" for al-Kidd.
"It will hopefully deter the government from using the material witness statute in the future in the way they did after Sept. 11," Gelernt said.
Al-Kidd is asking the judge to declare that the federal government's actions were unconstitutional, to order the
FBI and other agencies to expunge any records relating to the unlawful detention of al-Kidd and others, and for unspecified damages.
Comment on this Article
George Bush's secret bunker
Tom Vanderbilt
19 September 2006 11:59
Today, as the Bush administration wages its war on terror, Mount Weather is believed to house a "shadow government'' made up of senior Washington officials on temporary assignment.
Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Mount Weather seemed like an expensive cold-war relic. Then came 9/11. News reports noted that "top leaders of Congress were taken to the safety of a secure government facility 120km west of Washington''; another reported "a traffic jam of limos carrying Washington and government license plates''. As the phrase "undisclosed location'' entered the vernacular, Mount Weather, and a handful of similar installations, flickered back to life. Just two months ago, a disaster-simulation exercise called Forward Challenge '06 sent thousands of federal workers to Mount Weather and other sites.
"Actually, you may want to just put those down a minute,'' Tim Brown is telling me, as I peer through binoculars at a cluster of buildings and antennae on a distant ridge. "The locals might get a bit nervous.'' A Ford F-150 cruises by, and the two men inside regard us casually as they pass.
We are sitting, hazards blinking, in Brown's BMW on a rural road in Virginia's Facquier County, a horsey enclave an hour west of Washington, DC. The object of our attention is Mount Weather, officially the Emergency Operations Centre of the Federal Emergency Management Authority (Fema); and, less officially, a massive underground complex originally built to house governmental officials in the event of a full-scale nuclear exchange. Today, as the Bush administration wages its war on terror, Mount Weather is believed to house a "shadow government'' made up of senior Washington officials on temporary assignment.
Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Mount Weather seemed like an expensive cold-war relic. Then came 9/11. News reports noted that "top leaders of Congress were taken to the safety of a secure government facility 120km west of Washington''; another reported "a traffic jam of limos carrying Washington and government license plates''. As the phrase "undisclosed location'' entered the vernacular, Mount Weather, and a handful of similar installations, flickered back to life. Just two months ago, a disaster-simulation exercise called Forward Challenge '06 sent thousands of federal workers to Mount Weather and other sites.
Mount Weather is not hard to find. From the White House, we take Route 66 west until it meets Highway 50. Eighty kilometres later, we turn off on Route 601, a small two-lane rural feeder that snakes up a ridge. That road seems to be going nowhere until suddenly, at the crest, we come into a clearing, bounded by two lines of tall, shiny, razor-wired fencing, marked with faded signs that say: "US Property. No Trespassing.'' Behind sits a grouping of white aluminium sheds and a few cars.
We have arrived at the edge of the known republic. What lies beyond is obscured by Appalachian scrub and the inky black of government classification. No one has ever been allowed to tour the underground complex at Mount Weather and tell of what they saw. Occupying 200ha of Blue Ridge real estate, it functions like a rump principality, with its own leaders, its own police and fire departments, and its own set of laws.
Mount Weather is more easily viewed from outer space than down the block. Earlier in the afternoon, I had been looking at grainy 1m-resolution aerial images of Mount Weather assembled by Brown, a national security researcher and aerial imagery expert. He pointed to small notches on the side of a hill (tunnel entrances), helipads, and a series of "military-style above-ground soft support housing''. The mountain straddles the two entrances, he noted. "It's something like 60m of shelter on top of you at the highest point.''
Just driving round the perimeter of Mount Weather, you can see the traces of recent work. "See how they've obscured this,'' he says, pointing to the black sheeting threaded through a length of fence. "You used to be able to see the helipad through that fence.'' He gestures towards the new entrance. "Look at the truck barriers. When you turned, there'd be no time to build up speed. They got smart.''
The changes to its exterior landscape -- not to mention the gossip among local residents -- are just one sign that something very important has been going on at Mount Weather, a level of activity not seen here since the days when Eisenhower and his advisers trooped out here during drills. For some, this is a sign of prudent planning in a world where the security calculus has been forever altered; for others, it is the symbol of an administration with a predilection towards exercising power in secret. As we pull away from Mount Weather, Brown says, "I wouldn't want to be driving a rental truck and have it break down in front of the gate.''
Mount Weather first caught the American imagination on December 1 1974, when a Dulles-bound TransWorld Airlines 727, struggling through heavy rains and 80kph winds, crashed into the top of the mountain, less than 2km from the site. The crash briefly severed the underground line linking to the Emergency Broadcast System, and teletype machines in news offices across the country began spitting out garbled transmissions.
The story might have died there. With Vietnam and Watergate in the air, however, the words "secret government facility'' did not induce a frisson of patriotic glee. The Progressive, in 1976, published an article entitled "The Mysterious Mountain", which said Mount Weather, a place little known even to Congress, was home not only to a replica mini-government, but to files on at least 100 000 Americans. In 1991, Time published the fullest exposé, describing (based on conversations with retired engineers) a sprawling underground complex bristling with mainframe computers, air circulation pumps, and a television/radio studio for post-nuclear presidential broadcasts.
What information has emerged about Mount Weather has always been rather sketchy. At some point in the 1950s, however, it seems that a drilling experiment into the mountain's rugged foundations of Precambrian basalt was turned into an exercise in underground city building, with the army corps hollowing out of the "hard and tight'' rock a complex of tunnels and rooms with roofs reinforced by iron bolts.
The base formed part of a "federal relocation arc'', an archipelago of hardened underground facilities, each linked by a dedicated communications system and equipped with amenities ranging from showers to wash off nuclear fallout to filtration systems capable of sucking air clean down to the micron level.
The sites, staffed by "molies'', were spartan steel-and-concrete expanses, subterranean seats of power: the president could repair to Mount Weather; Congress had its secret bunker under the Greenbrier Hotel in Virginia; the Federal Reserve had a bunker in Culpepper, Virginia; the Pentagon was given a rocky redoubt called Site R in the mountains of southwestern Pennsylvania; while the nation's air defences were run out of the North American Aerospace Defence Command's Cheyenne Mountain facility. "The nuclear age has dictated that these men carry out their responsibilities inside a solid granite mountain,'' wrote the defence command.
Driving around those Blue Ridge byways today, a curious mixture of secrecy and openness prevails. On Route 601, an Adopt-a-Highway sign is sponsored by employees of the Mount Weather Emergency Operations Centre. But pull off toward the entrance of that facility, and things get a bit strange. Looking for the home of a local resident, I hail an exiting Mount Weather employee. As we begin to chat, cars side by side, I suddenly hear a strange, siren-like sound and notice that a black SUV has loomed into my rear-view. The occupant, wearing sunglasses, hastily points me in the right direction.
This contradictory world of sunshine and shadow is at one with the parallel nature of the facility itself. On the one hand, it is, as Fema describes it, "a hub of emergency response activity providing Fema and other government agencies space for offices, training, conferencing, operations and storage''. Less discussed is Mount Weather's obliquely assumed status as one of the key "undisclosed locations'' of the Bush administration.
"Look, there are two Mount Weathers -- there's the Fema one and the Mount Weather one,'' says John Weisman, a writer of military and spy thrillers and a neighbour of the facility. "I wouldn't be at all surprised if [the Vice-President, Dick] Cheney had been here before, and if [the Secretary of Defence, Donald] Rumsfeld had been here before, because they were part of some hugely sensitive stuff that was going on in the 1980s.''
Weisman is referring to a series of classified programmes, described by the journalist James Mann in The Rise of the Vulcans, in which Cheney and Rumsfeld were said to be "leading figures''. According to Mann, the resurgence of tensions with the Soviet Union during the Reagan administration lent new urgency to "continuity of government'' programmes. With a secret executive order, top officials pondered such constitutional quandaries as whether it would be necessary to reconstitute Congress following a nuclear attack (the answer was no).
On September 11 2001, Mann writes, the long-dormant plan was activated, and any number of top officials -- possibly including Cheney himself -- were shuttled to Mount Weather.
Residents on the mountain did not need to read the newspapers to discern that something was going on there. Joe Davitt, who lives a few kilometres away, told me that on September 11 2001 his wife was returning home from Florida. At the bottom of the hill, he says, she was stopped by state troopers, who asked for identification. At the facility itself, he says, "The Mount Weather guards were not only armed, they had their guns in firing position.''
John Staelin, a member of the Clarke County Board of Supervisors, says that on September 11, the county's 911 line received a call from an agitated local woman. "She said, 'I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, but the whole mountain opened up and Air Force One flew in and it closed right up.' So they said, 'Yes, ma'am.'"
Whatever else, Mount Weather makes for an interesting neighbour. "We call our house ground zero,'' says Weisman. "This mountain has its interesting moments, between the helicopter flights and the people coming and going.'' Where for years "Mount Weather was nothing but a sleepy little byway'', Weisman complains that the post-9/11 security adjustments have only served to draw attention to the facility. "It now says, 'Boy, am I important!'''
The local people are, by and large, happy to talk about Mount Weather. Sometimes, however, a veil of secrecy descends. When I asked about Mount Weather at the Daily Grind coffee shop in nearby Berryville, a woman smiled nervously and told me one woman she knew saw "missiles'' being taken there. I was forwarded an e-mail from a mountain resident (with the .mil domain that suggests a military background) that contained complaints about late-night helicopter flights, recent episodes of nocturnal machine-gun fire and even a "massive explosion'' that had shaken the house. My e-mail seeking further comment received a terse response demanding that the sender not be associated with the story.
Inquiries to Fema yield little more light. "There's been a general upgrade of security at all federal installations around the country, and Mount Weather is one of them,'' says spokesperson Don Jacks. "We're not going to talk about Mount Weather, period. It's not that I can't, we just don't.''
One afternoon, I went to have lunch with Jim Wink at the Horseshoe Curve, a saloon tucked away near the hamlet of Pine Grove. It has been the unofficial canteen of Mount Weather for as long as anyone can remember. A pickup in the parking lot has a bumper sticker that says Terrorist Hunting Permit.
"I checked you out last night,'' Wink says by way of introduction. An Irish-blooded South Philadelphian with a tight smile and a steely stare, Wink does not seem like a man of whom you would like to run afoul. A retired counter-terrorism expert with stints in the CIA and the Secret Service, he seems to have been in every place in the world at the most politically sensitive time.
His office is filled with memorabilia culled from the more occluded arenas of US foreign policy; there is a plaque signed by the team tracking the Shining Path leader, Abimael Guzman, in Peru; a collection of Wink's identity cards from various intelligences agencies; and a photograph of slain drug lord Pablo Escobar. There's a Vets for North sticker on one wall, and, on another, one that says: "Even My Dog is Conservative.''
Wink came to Mount Weather in the 1980s. "I needed a training facility and they offered a great deal up here.
"Cheney and Rumsfeld, they've been here,'' he says, gesturing to the bar. "And Ollie. We all worked here together years ago. When I used to run exercises, we'd bring 1 000 people. Most of the things we did, they didn't let 'em off the post.''
There have been curious visitors to Mount Weather from the start, he says, including the Russians. "The State Department, in their infinite lack of wisdom, allowed the Russians to have an R&R centre on the river here, right below Mount Weather.''
Local people, Wink says, like to help Mount Weather maintain its low profile. "They won't talk about it. As a matter of fact,'' he says, fixing his eyes on me, "you might meet a local cop if you ask too many questions about it.''
I had encountered a similar line of thinking the night before from Ray Derby, a former Mount Weather employee. "All the employees of Mount Weather have always been told, rightly so, that no matter what someone asks you, just don't say if it's true or not true. Just ignore the question. You'll get that if you ask,'' says Derby, a chain-smoker who drinks what he calls "martoonis'' out of a tumbler.
His office is filled with various presidential commendations, as well as a photograph of what looks like an emergency conference room. "I designed that,'' he says, peering through a dense curl of smoke, "but I can't tell you where it is.''
What Rice does for Bush
About two weeks after the 2004 presidential election, on November 13, the British embassy held a surprise 50th birthday party for Condoleezza Rice, writes Sidney Blumenthal.
On her arrival, Ambassador David Manning presented her with a red Oscar de la Renta gown. When Rice changed into the dress and emerged like Cinderella, she was met by her Prince Charming, the man she once called "my husband'', United States President George Bush.
The following week, Bush appointed his national security adviser as his secretary of state. Bush's relationship with Rice is perhaps the strangest of his many strange relationships. The mysterious attachment involves complex transactions of noblesse oblige and deference, ignorance and adulation, vulnerability and sweet talk. Rice is ferociously protective. She shields Bush from worst-case scenarios, telling him to ignore criticism, and showers him with flattery that he is a world-historical colossus.
As national security adviser, before 9/11, Rice protected Bush from warnings by the counter-terrorism chief, Richard Clarke, about al-Qaeda attacks -- and demoted Clarke. Before the invasion of Iraq, she lent her imprimatur to the disinformation about Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction and peddled it to the media.
She did not demand an Iraq post-war stabilisation plan. Nor did she object to the Pentagon's seizure of Iraq's civil governance responsibilities from the State Department. Before Israel's attack on Lebanon, she did not caution against the possibility of Israeli failure against Hezbollah. She was party to the decision to lend full war materiel and intelligence support to the effort if Israel would undertake it.
In the beginning, the didactic academic lectured her pupil that he stood at a crossroads like in 1947, at the making of the Cold-War policy. After 9/11, she inculcated in Bush the notion that he was a world-builder and could imprint his design on a scale to match the Peace of Westphalia of 1648 that established the sovereignty of nation-states.
A few months after Rice became secretary of state, she transported senior staff to a West Virginia retreat where her head of policy planning, Stephen Krasner, delivered a lecture on the Peace of Westphalia followed by one on the Truman Doctrine to explain the magnitude of Rice's -- and Bush's -- ambition for "transformational diplomacy''.
This May, as the situation in Iraq drastically worsened, Rice told senior staff that she wants no more reporting from the embassies. She announced in a meeting that people write memos only for each other, and that no one else reads them. Instead of writing reports, the diplomats should "sell America'', she insisted.
Last week, kicking off the mid-term elections campaign, Bush delivered a speech that cited Bin Laden's screeds, Lenin's What Is to Be Done? and Hitler's Mein Kampf, and promised "complete victory''. Rice contributed her own comparison of the "war on terror'' to the US civil war. "I'm sure there are people who thought it was a mistake to fight the civil war to its end and to insist that the emancipation of slaves would hold," she said.
But the more delirious the rhetoric, the more hollow the policy. "There is no plan for Iraq,'' a senior national security official with the highest intelligence clearance and access to the relevant memos told me. "There is no plan.'' -- © Guardian Newspapers 2006
Comment on this Article
Detainee Measure to Have Fewer Restrictions
By R. Jeffrey Smith
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, September 26, 2006; Page A01
Republican lawmakers and the White House agreed over the weekend to alter new legislation on military commissions to allow the United States to detain and try a wider range of foreign nationals than an earlier version of the bill permitted, according to government sources.
Lawmakers and administration officials announced last week that they had reached accord on the plan for the detention and military trials of suspected terrorists, and it is scheduled for a vote this week. But in recent days the Bush administration and its House allies successfully pressed for a less restrictive description of how the government could designate civilians as "unlawful enemy combatants," the sources said yesterday. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of negotiations over the bill.
The government has maintained since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that, based on its reading of the laws of war, anyone it labels an unlawful enemy combatant can be held indefinitely at military or CIA prisons. But Congress has not yet expressed its view on who is an unlawful combatant, and the Supreme Court has not ruled directly on the matter.
As a result, human rights experts expressed concern yesterday that the language in the new provision would be a precedent-setting congressional endorsement for the indefinite detention of anyone who, as the bill states, "has engaged in hostilities or who has purposefully and materially supported hostilities against the United States" or its military allies.
The definition applies to foreigners living inside or outside the United States and does not rule out the possibility of designating a U.S. citizen as an unlawful combatant. It is broader than that in last week's version of the bill, which resulted from lengthy, closed-door negotiations between senior administration officials and dissident Republican senators. That version incorporated a definition backed by the Senate dissidents: those "engaged in hostilities against the United States."
The new provision, which would cover captives held by the CIA, is more expansive than the one incorporated by the Defense Department on Sept. 5 in new rules that govern the treatment of detainees in military custody. The military's definition of unlawful combatants covers only "those who engage in acts against the United States or its coalition partners in violation of the laws of war and customs of war during an armed conflict."
Kate Martin, director of the Center for National Security Studies, said that by including those who "supported hostilities" -- rather than those who "engage in acts" against the United States -- the government intends the legislation to sanction its seizure and indefinite detention of people far from the battlefield.
Martin noted that "the administration kidnapped an innocent German citizen" and "held him incommunicado for months . . . because the CIA or Pentagon wrongly suspected him of terrorist ties." She was referring to Khalid al-Masri, who the Bush administration eventually acknowledged was detained on insufficient grounds.
Nothing in the proposed legislation -- which mostly concerns the creation of new military panels, known as "commissions," to try terrorism suspects -- directly addresses such CIA apprehensions and "renditions."
But the bill's new definition "would give the administration a stronger basis on which to argue that Congress has recognized that the battlefield is wherever the terrorist is, and they can seize people far from the area of combat, label them as unlawful enemy combatants and detain them indefinitely," said Suzanne Spaulding, an assistant general counsel at the CIA from 1989 to 1995.
Traditionally, courts have found it reasonable for parties to armed conflicts to seize or try people they encounter on a battlefield, to keep them from returning to the hostilities, added Spaulding, who was also a general counsel for the House and Senate intelligence committees. "The Supreme Court could potentially look at this and say Congress has now defined how anyone anywhere in the world" is subject to detention and military trial, even when far from an active combat zone, she said.
White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said: "We are satisfied with the definition because it will allow us to prosecute the terrorists, and it also has important limitations that say a terrorist must have purposefully and materially supported terrorism."
Spokesmen for John W. Warner (R-Va.), John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) -- the senators leading negotiations with the Bush administration -- did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the new language, but others on Capitol Hill said the three had accepted it.
Under a separate provision, those held by the CIA or the U.S. military as an unlawful enemy combatant would be barred from challenging their detention or the conditions of their treatment in U.S. courts unless they were first tried, convicted and appealed their conviction.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) yesterday assailed the provision as an unconstitutional suspension of habeas corpus, which he said was allowable only "in time of rebellion or in time of invasion. And neither is present here."
He was joined by the committee's senior Democrat, Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (Vt.), who said that under the provision, legal U.S. immigrants could be held "until proven innocent, not until proven guilty."
Bruce Fein, a senior Justice Department official in the Reagan administration, testified against the provision at a Senate hearing. Kenneth W. Starr, a solicitor general under President George H.W. Bush, said in a letter to Specter that he concerned the legislation "may go too far in limiting habeas corpus relief."
Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.) defended the provision, saying alien enemy combatants are not "entitled to rights under the United States Constitution similar to those accorded to a defendant in a criminal lawsuit."
Congressional sources said Specter is unlikely to derail the compromise legislation over those objections.
Staff writer Michael A. Fletcher and staff researcher Julie Tate contributed to this report.
Comment on this Article
Bush: intelligence says Iraq fuels terror, so we stay the course in Iraq
by Joshua Holland
September 27, 2006.
The correct conservative reaction to things like that leaked National Intelligence Estimate that says Iraq is fueling an increase in global terror is to deny reality. But the Bush administration is going in a different direction; they're taking the bull by the horns and releasing their own sections of the classified NIE.
Part of their more official leak is, again, a recitation of what we already know:
The Bush administration yesterday released portions of a classified intelligence estimate that says .... the war in Iraq has become a "cause celebre" for jihadists, breeding resentment of U.S. involvement in the Muslim world and drawing new adherents to the movement...
Reading that, you might think the administration is catching up to the reality-based community, no doubt to the chagrin of folks like Charles Krauthammer and Bill Kristol. But, you'd be wrong:
The jihadist movement is potentially limited by its ultra-conservative interpretation of Islam and could be slowed by democratic reforms in the Muslim world.
Just like Bush's democratization rhetoric! You know, the stuff that's never directed at Saudi Arabia, Egypt or any of the oil-producers in the Gulf.
But that's not all; here's the money quote, and the argument we'll hear from the right's echo chamber from now until the election:
In addition, it asserts that if jihadists are perceived to be defeated in Iraq, "fewer fighters would be inspired to carry on the fight."
Bingo! There's your justification for an indefinite occupation of Iraq: we have to stay the course until we achieve a "victory" that will so demoralize the "global jihadist movement" that they'll take their ball and go home.
The fatal flaw in this argument is that America lumps every Islamic political movement that opposes the occupation together and calls them "jihadists." There's the rub, because "victory" would mean, of course, a political victory, and in order to actually achieve political stability in Iraq some of those we've defined as jihadists would have to be involved in the country's governance.
What the intelligence analysis is saying -- and this is almost certainly true -- is that if Iraq were to end up with a pro-U.S., largely secular unity government without any influence from Iran, Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi army, the Badr Brigade or any of the dozen other Iraqi religious groups -- Shiite and Sunni -- that have opposed the U.S. presence -- if all of those elements were effectively wiped out -- it would be so demoralizing that Iraq would lose all of its potency as a recruiting tool.
But that particular scenario is never, ever, going to happen -- not in a million years. It's a Catch-22: aside from the fact that a legitimate government has almost zero chance of emerging under U.S. military occupation, if it did it would certainly require that a large chunk of the Iraqi opposition come into the political fold.
And as long as people like Sadr, who's been called a radical militant and a criminal by the U.S. for three years, have a seat at the table when U.S. troops leave, they'll make the claim that they defeated the Great Satan and they'll be hailed as heroes across the Islamic world. Their resistance will be seen as a model for opposing superpower bullying and that'll just create a thousand new recruiting posters for extremists everywhere.
It's a matter of when, not if. Because regardless of whether the U.S. leaves with its tail between its legs in ignominious defeat or manages to cobble together enough of a government that we can "declare victory and go home" -- regardless of whether we leave in six months or ten years -- the day after we get out of Dodge Muqtada al-Sadr, or someone like him, will face a crowd that looks just like this rally for Hezbollah last week:
And he'll say something very much like what Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah told that crowd:
"No army in the world will be able to make us drop the weapons from our hands," Nasrallah said in his first public appearance since the start of the 34-day war with Israel that left Hezbollah's stronghold in southern Beirut in ruins.
He said that only the support of God had allowed Hezbollah to face down the strongest military force in the region and inflict heavy losses on the Israelis.
So Bush's fantasy "victory" -- the one that demoralizes all of political Islam -- is impossible by definition. Saying that we need to wait for it is perfectly circular reasoning; it means committing to more of the Bush Doctrine, more of the same policy mix that the intelligence community -- actually everyone who knows what they're talking about -- has concluded is throwing fuel on the fire of global terrorism.
And these are the "serious people" we're supposed to trust to defeat terror.
Joshua Holland is a staff writer at Alternet and a regular contributor to The Gadflyer.
Comment on this Article
Iva Toguri - American citizen who was falsely accused of being the notorious Japanese propagandist 'Tokyo Rose' Dies
The Times
28 Sept 06
SHE was, they said, the Lord Haw-Haw of the Pacific. Born in Los Angeles of Japanese parents, she renounced America and spent the war years taunting American servicemen on the radio, assuring them that their cause was lost and that their country's defeat was inevitable.
She became the most notorious traitor produced by America during the Second World War. In the eyes of the world she was the despicable "Tokyo Rose".
When she was finally tracked down in occupied Japan and brought home to the US to stand trial, the furore was immense. The tabloids and the airwaves were filled with hatred for a young woman who had commited the worst of crimes - that of being publicly and flagrantly anti-American in time of war.
The trial, in which the FBI and the American military, as well as the fourth estate, invested considerable time and energy, ended up with a price tag of nearly three quarters of a million dollars - a huge sum and a record for the period. When the accused was fined $10,000 and sentenced to ten years in prison, it was widely felt that too much leniency had been shown.
"Tokyo Rose", described at her trial as being the nom de guerre of the 30-year-old Iva Toguri, promptly disappeared into the US prison system and, in due course, was forgotten.
That was the legend. The truth, when it emerged, was very different. Indeed, it was so different that if a new trial were to be held today, those in the dock would mostly be journalists, agents and officials of the US Government.
For it was a combination of these three that whipped up the story of Tokyo Rose and then pinned the blame on Iva Toguri. Her story and the one concocted by them were separated by more than culture and language and the need, in the immediate postwar period, for traitors to be seen to pay for their crimes. They were separated by politics and cynicism and, most of all, by the intense desire of an unprincipled group of American reporters to secure the scoop of a lifetime.
The real story of Ikuko (Iva) Toguri did not emerge for many years. Her father, Jun Toguri, had arrived in the US from Japan in 1899. Her mother, Fumi, did not make the trip until 1913. The two were married and Iva was born (with some irony in the light of what was to transpire), on the Fourth of July, 1916.
The Toguris - one among thousands of JapaneseAmerican families in Southern California - were Methodists, and Iva was raised as a Christian. She attended schools in Calexico and San Diego, and then in Los Angeles, before enrolling as a zoology student at UCLA, from which she graduated in 1940.
She was well liked and had many friends. No one at the time saw her as anything but a loyal American. Among her favourite radio shows were The Shadow and Little Orphan Annie. She also enjoyed sport.
All the while, war was brewing between the US and Imperial Japan. One morning in the early summer of 1941 Iva's mother received news that her sister had fallen seriously ill in Tokyo. As her mother suffered from diabetes and could not easily travel, it fell to Iva, then 25, to make the long journey to Japan to be at her aunt's bedside.
Iva Toguri did not possess a passport and there was no time to get one. Instead, she secured from the State Department an identity certificate, which, she was assured, would guarantee her readmission into the country of her birth. Certainly, her intention as she set out aboard the steamship Arabia Maru on July 5, 1941, was to pay her respects, and those of her mother, to her ailing relative and then, after a suitable time, to return to Los Angeles to pursue a career in medicine.
But while she was paying her visit, on December 7, 1941, aircraft of the Imperial Japanese Navy attacked the US base at Pearl Harbor, destroying many ships and initiating three years and nine months of conflict.
Iva Toguri found that, like hundreds of other Japanese-Americans, she was stranded in what had suddenly become enemy territory. There was no means for her to make her way back to Los Angeles and she was forced to remain in Tokyo and somehow make a life for herself. She did not speak Japanese and she was a Christian in a Shinto society. More than that, she believed firmly in the American way of life and had no sympathy with either emperor worship or Japanese expansionism.
From the point of view of the Japanese authorities, individuals such as Toguri were of some slight practical importance. They knew the enemy and they knew the enemy's language. Thus it was that Iva, while refusing to renounce her US citizenship, was encouraged to study Japanese and to adapt to the culture of her ancestors. In 1942 she was recruited as a typist by the Domei News Agency, and then, a year later, by Radio Tokyo, the propaganda arm of the Japanese state broadcasting system.
Ironically, she was not taken on directly by the Japanese station bosses, but by an Australian prisoner of war, Major Charles Cousens, who had been forced by his captors to develop an English-language news and music service. Cousens, like Toguri, was no creature of the Japanese and sought to convey in his daily schedule a mixture of information and entertainment that would cause as little offence as possible to Allied soldiers while still not bringing down on his head the wrath of his superiors.
There were at the time a number of English-speaking Japanese women broadcasters who specialised in playing up Japanese military victories and pouring scorn on their enemies, especially the Americans. They were chosen for their sexy-sounding voices and their presumed ability to undermine the morale of their target audience. GIs took to calling these women by the generic name, Tokyo Rose.
But Iva Toguri was not one of these. Her broadcasts, scripted by Cousens, and put out under the name "Orphan Ann" were bland and almost factual. She used the money she earned to help to feed and clothe Allied prisoners, and she even managed to insert into her broadcasts subtle indicators that the war was not in fact going Japan's way. In April 1945 she married a Portuguese citizen of Portuguese-Japanese ancestry, Felipe d'Aquino.
At the Japanese surrender tabloid reporters combed the country in the search for "Tokyo Rose" and eventually, through bribes, secured the name of Iva Toguri. The press, backed by various radio stations, now "revealed" that Toguri was the infamous Tokyo Rose. At first, the accusations did not seem to warrant prosecution and she was released after questioning. But a growing public furore led to her re-arrest and she was brought back to the US for trial.
The FBI, under pressure from Washington, was only too glad to back the allegations, even to the extent of paying Japanese "witnesses" to perjure themselves in court. The trial was a sensation. The evidence was either scant or false. Witnesses said whatever they thought was expected of them. In the end, the only surprise was that the prisoner was not jailed for life, or even executed.
After serving six years of her ten-year sentence, Tiguri, a model prisoner, was freed. She joined her father, who had settled in Chicago, and continued to work in the family import business there until well into her eighties.
In 1976, after a second media campaign led by Bill Kurtis, of CBS, the news anchor Morley Safer produced an item about Iva Toguri on the mass-audience 60 Minutes show. This revealed not only the true nature of Toguri's enforced wartime occupation, but the extent of the perjury and tabloid feeding frenzy that had led to her arrest and conviction.
Toguri was pardoned by President Ford as his last act on leaving office in January 1977. She went to her grave without uttering a word of criticism against those who had persecuted her. The fine she paid was never returned.
Toguri's husband was never allowed to join her in the US, and they reluctantly divorced in 1980. He died in 1996.
Iva Toguri, the wartime "Tokyo Rose" of legend, was born on July 4, 1916. She died on September 26, 2006, aged 90.
Comment on this Article
A Managed 'Clash Of Civilisations'
Merkel warns against bowing to fear of Muslim violence; Uproar overshadows government-sponsored conference to promote dialogue with Germany's Muslims
By Madeline Chambers
Reuters
Wed Sep 27, 2006
BERLIN - Chancellor Angela Merkel urged Germans on Wednesday not to bow to fears of Islamic violence after a Berlin opera house canceled a Mozart work over concerns some scenes could enrage Muslims and pose a security risk.
"I think the cancellation was a mistake. I think self-censorship does not help us against people who want to practise violence in the name of Islam," she told reporters. "It makes no sense to retreat."
Merkel's comments, which echoed those of other senior German politicians, fueled a row over the cancellation of Mozart's "Idomeneo" that overshadowed a government-sponsored conference to promote dialogue with the country's 3.2 million Muslims.
Berlin's Deutsche Oper said on Monday it had pulled performances of the opera, which features a scene depicting the severed heads of the Prophet Mohammad, Buddha and Jesus, after police warned it could pose an "incalculable" security risk.
The row comes two weeks after Pope Benedict enraged Muslims by quoting from a medieval text linking the spread of Islam to violence. Last year's publication of cartoons lampooning the Prophet Mohammad in a Danish newspaper triggered violent Muslim protests.
The opera, first performed in 1781, tells the story of Cretan king Idomeneo. The controversial scene was added by the director, Hans Neuenfels, and is a departure from the score.
Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble told reporters after the conference the participants were united in their call for the opera to restart performances of "Idomeneo".
"To send a signal, we could all go to the performance together," Schaeuble, who has no authority over the opera house, told reporters after the conference.
He said it was just as important to defend freedom of expression as to ban torture. "We must not blink. We must be self-confident enough to guard our freedoms," he said.
HARMONIOUS DEBATE
The meeting, which had 15 central and local government officials and an equal number of Muslim representatives, discussed issues such as equal rights, the building of mosques, Islam lessons and imam (prayer leader) training.
Schaeuble said there had been an open but harmonious debate. Working groups set up to look at specific questions would come up with concrete suggestions in two to three years.
"This is a historic moment for us, it is a milestone and we will work hard in the next two years to achieve results," said Bekir Alboga of the Turkish Islamic Union, DITIP.
The organisers were not immediately available to comment on media reports that all participants had been invited to a snack after the meeting even though it is Ramadan, when Muslims fast from dawn to dusk.
Integration has become a priority for the government as concern grows about Islamic radicalisation across Europe and the emergence of an underclass of disillusioned young Muslims, mainly Turks, in Germany.
A recent outbreak of violence at a Berlin school where the bulk of pupils are immigrant children and last year's "honor killing" of a Turkish woman have highlighted the challenges faced by the government and Muslim communities.
Germany brought over unskilled labourers from Turkey after World War Two to help drive its economic boom. There are now about 1.8 million Turks in the country.
Comment on this Article
Mosque Torched in Faith Hate Attack in Central Russia
Created: 28.09.2006 10:20 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 11:09 MSK
MosNews
A group of assailants torched a mosque in central Russia in the early hours of Thursday, a Russian news agency reports. Unidentified assailants threw six gasoline bombs at mosque in the city of Yaroslavl, about 240 kilometers (150 miles) northeast of Moscow.
A wall of the mosque caught fire. The attackers also wrote ultra-nationalist slogans on the walls of the building.
An 18-year-old student of a vocational school was detained at the scene. Investigation into a racially motivated attack has been launched.
Earlier this week, the same mosque was already attacked by unidentified assailants who also threw gasoline bombs at the building.
The incident occurred early Sunday, a day after the country's Muslims began observing the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, the Council of Muftis said in a statement posted on its Web site.The statement said the attackers smashed the mosque's windows and then threw Molotov cocktails at the building. Several cars parked nearby were also damaged, it said.
The council's leader Ravil Gainutdin called the incident a "deplorable and cruel assault by destructive forces." "I believe the hooligans will face due punishment," the RIA-Novosti news agency quoted him as saying.
Russia has seen a marked rise in hate crimes in recent years, which rights groups say is fueled in part by the authorities' reluctance to crack down on hate crimes and tackle growing nationalism.
Comment on this Article
Fundamentalist Camp Trains God's Little Army
By Evan Derkacz
AlterNet
September 28, 2006
They have billions in media holdings, the ear of the president, and the ability to make or break a Republican candidacy. To Becky Fischer, however, former manager of a custom sign business and current children's minister, evangelicals are in danger of losing the next generation. Unimpressed by the fact that 43 percent of America's 100 million evangelicals accepted Christ before the age of 13, Fischer set out to ensure that a new generation of Americans are instilled with a "Christian worldview." "If we wait until they are teens," she remarks, "we have waited too late!"
You've probably seen the ads on the internet of an all-American girl, eyes skyward, the spitting image of a beatific Medieval icon painting. Against the backdrop of the Samuel Alito hearings, "Jesus Camp" follows 11-year-old Tory and a pack of young campers at Kids On Fire Summer Camp, which is the basic training for "God's army." Fischer is Kids On Fire's drill sergeant, and her mission is to empower kids to heal "this ... sick old world." Fischer's zeal is infectious, her belief unshakable, and her will strong. It's not difficult to see why the filmmakers were delighted to find her.
The kids, some of whom are jarringly precocious ("Because I just wanted more of life," one says), are respectful and supportive of one another, attentive to their elders and as humorously oblivious about the secular world as most AlterNet readers are about the evangelical reality. A clip over the closing credits features a young girl who approaches a pair of elderly gentlemen in folding chairs to ask if they know where they're going when they die. After they confidently assert that they're going to heaven, the girl wanders away, uttering offhand to her companion that she thought they might be Muslims.
The age of the kids (some as young as 6 years old) combined with Fischer's bellicose language (she openly refers to their mission as "war"), will undoubtedly make some, as filmmaker Heidi Ewing says below, "pretty uncomfortable." In that sense, "Jesus Camp" doubles as a perfectly entertaining horror flick for secular progressives -- or anyone outside the evangelical community, for that matter. But to leave it at that would be wildly off the mark and just as parochial as the triumphalist evangelicals depicted.
I've argued in PEEK that, just as progressives urge fearful conservatives to probe the phenomenon of terrorism, so must secular progressives probe the activist evangelical mindset. On the other hand, it's natural for a nonevangelical to be utterly turned off by some of the politically charged elements of the film, most of which are aired without counterpoint.
My response to Jesus Camp is similar to the nagging feeling that followed Errol Morris' brilliant Fog of War. That film, you'll recall, was essentially a conversation with Vietnam-era Secretary of Defense Robert Strange McNamara. The 86-year-old McNamara comes off looking like a contrite old man, consumed by self-deception, peppered with startling statements like, "We were behaving as war criminals."
My desire for a ferocious counterargument and an overarching condemnation left me feeling nervous about whether the proper gravity had been afforded the subject. Likewise, although "Jesus Camp" includes a few clips from Air America's liberal Christian host, Mike Papantonio, the rhetoric of Becky Fischer, Ted Haggard and the rest of the film's cast of characters simply sits on screen; take it or leave it.
In the final tally, access has its price, and art should not be polemical. Filmmakers Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady sought to make art and received access in exchange. That access ironically provides opponents with a great deal of insight into this political powerhouse, should they choose to approach it with courage and the desire to see the community's humanity. As they say below, "If people have a problem with what they're doing then they should take a page out of the playbook and start to get involved themselves." Amen.
In most cases, Ewing and Grady, who are close friends as well as co-directors, spoke as any couple would. Which is to say, over each other and finishing each other's sentences. When it was important to separate their responses, I did so (as in the case with their backgrounds). Otherwise, the answers can be seen as a coming from "the directors." -- Ed.
Derkacz: So what inspired you to make "Jesus Camp"? Why now?
Heidi and I were looking for a story about children and faith, and we were inspired by a child from our last film, the "Boys of Baraka," Devon, who was a Baptist preacher, a 12-year-old. He really provoked us to start thinking about where faith comes from: Why is one kid more devout than another? Where does that come from? How does that happen?
Derkacz: What were each of your relationships to religion, spirituality and evangelical Christianity before and after "Jesus Camp"?
Grady: I was raised as a Jew, so my experience with born-again Christians was limited, though it wasn't nothing.
Ewing: I was raised Catholic in a Jewish and Catholic neighborhood, but I didn't have much experience with evangelicals. There was a beginner's eye that we walked into the thing with, for which I'm actually grateful. I think if I walked in with all these negative experiences, or if I'd been a born-again Christian, it would definitely have colored my view of this community.
It was more like being an anthropologist in a way. I don't mean to denigrate anyone by saying this, but it did feel like we were sort of fresh and I'd never seen children exposed to this kind of extreme and intense worship. I was definitely surprised and astonished and confused at first as to what exactly was going on. Of course, the Pentecostal experience and charismatic experience is way more expressive and kind of wild than a lot of other evangelical denominations. So it made it even more gripping for us.
Derkacz: But you felt welcomed by the evangelical community?
Yeah! They were incredibly warm and gracious. It's a caring group of people. I think it was important for Heidi and me to spend time with them. It draws out what people have in common and the humanity of an individual or group of people.
Derkacz: The kids and adults in "Jesus Camp" appear remarkably happy and supportive of each other. Did you feel like they were generally more happy than the population at large?
Well, I wouldn't use the word "happy." They seem ... they don't have a lot of angst. They have a very firm, black-and-white worldview, and I think it simplifies things. They don't have a lot of unanswered questions. They didn't have the anxiety that a lot of Americans are saddled with.
So were you ever tempted to be saved?
Grady: Mmmm, no. Can't say that I was.
Ewing: Nah, not really.
Derkacz: In a blog post I wrote, after first watching "Jesus Camp," one of the commenters wrote that "this film shows 'child abuse,'" a sentiment echoed by others. Do you think the treatment of kids in the film was abusive in any way?
I don't know where the line should be drawn exactly. Terms like "child abuse" and "brainwashing," are loaded terms. When you use a word like "brainwashing," the game is over. It's a difficult question, and I really don't know where I stand on it to this day.
Something may appear abusive or just too intense for a child at first glance, but then you get to know the kids, and you go home with them, have meals with them. When you observe them in their home environment with their brothers and sisters, they seem well-adjusted, willingly reading the Bible.
It's hard for me to just walk away after a year and say, "Yup, this is child abuse. I know it when I see it." What they're going through is extremely intense and pretty radical compared to the mainstream American culture. It's not the norm at all. Some people who see the film will be pretty uncomfortable with the education or indoctrination of these kids. I think it's up to individuals to decide. If we're parsing terms, nobody's doing anything illegal. But I think it's questionable to some people as possibly not good for the kids.
Derkacz: So you had no political agenda?
No, in fact there was nothing political about our initial intentions at all. We were interested in the theology and the faith aspect of this particular group. But after filming several days and seeing the reaction of the community when there was movement in the news or in politics -- for example, Sandra Day O'Connor, who resigned two weeks after we started shooting. I had never seen a group rejoice in such an aggressive way -- well, not aggressive, just incredibly joyful. It was fascinating. Heidi and I realized that we could not avoid the political ramifications of the community; that in fact, they're so intertwined that these people have become de facto political activists, although they don't see themselves in that way.
Derkacz: The film doesn't take any particular political stance, but you did provide a counterpoint to the rhetoric of the evangelical community in the form of Air America's Mike Papantonio, a liberal Christian and a fierce critic of the Christian right. I'm curious about that decision.
It was important that the critic be a Christian so that it's relevant to the people in the film. As it became obvious to us that there were some pretty strong political overtones going on throughout, we thought that it was important to contextualize what was being shown. For example, in the abortion debate, the evangelical leadership and the constituents are all on the same page.
It was important to include a Christian who does not believe in the politicization of the religion. Without him there'd be a flatness to it; there'd be no one disagreeing with what was being seen on the screen. In a lot of ways, Mike voices what at least 50 percent of our audience is thinking, a necessary element to create a nuanced film.
Derkacz: I understand that you screened "Jesus Camp" with the subjects of the film and the community. What were the reactions from Becky Fischer, the kids, and their parents? How about Ted Haggard's New Life Church?
Everyone portrayed in the film supports and likes it except for Ted Haggard, who is the head of the New Life Church -- he's featured at the end of the film. He's a very important, politically active figure.
That's disappointing to most of the people in the film because they really like it, and they feel like it's stinging to them that he would reject the movie, because they think what they were doing was part of the greater evangelical movement and part of his family, though he's rejecting the film on various grounds.
But Becky really likes the film, the parents feel they were accurately portrayed. To this day, they don't consider themselves political at all. So they take issue with the concept that they're politically active, although we maintain that what they consider a moral life -- you know, doing "God's will" -- appears political to a lot of people.
So they understand why we perceive that to be true, but they still don't consider themselves very active even though they know the voting records on all their local congressman and are very knowledgable about the issues. They listen to Focus on the Family and James Dobson. But they just feel like they're doing "what God wants them to do, and if you want to call that political then that's fine with us."
That was the one thing that threw us for a loop. That they're all behind the movie and encouraging their churches and their communities to see it.
Derkacz: I hate to lump them together given what you've just told me, but do you think that this movement somehow endangers America as we know it, as a nation that adheres to the Constitution above any theocratic leadership?
Well, there's an inherent problem here, which is that there is a massive number of Americans who do believe that the founding fathers intended to found a much more Christian state. That the Constitution is based on the Ten Commandments. There are a lot of people who will tell you that, who believe that to be true. I think that when you've got, I think, 67 percent of Americans believing that the founding fathers intended to found something like a Christian state, it's really hard to counteract those numbers.
I do believe in separation of church and state; I do believe it's being blurred. Especially in the last ten years. But that's bound to happen when you've got 50 percent of a population that doesn't vote and most evangelicals who do. So you've got a minority that's starting to feel like a majority because they're involved and politically engaged, and they care, and they're up on the issues, and they're not cynical about their influence, and they believe that their vote counts and that they can make changes, and they're going to do that until further notice. So I think if people have a problem with what they're doing, then they should take a page out of the playbook and start to get involved themselves.
I really do think that unless something changes in the political landscape, unless moderates and liberals decide they want to get active and vote and become knowldedgable, I see that separation between church and state getting even blurrier. I really do. It's something to take notice of.
Evan Derkacz is AlterNet's associate editor and writer of PEEK, the blog of blogs.
Comment on this Article
Arrested for Driving While Muslim
By Spencer Ackerman
The Nation
September 28, 2006.
DEARBORN, Michigan -- Ali Houssaiky and Osama Abulhassan left their homes in this historic Muslim-American enclave as college students and came home as terrorists. On August 8 Houssaiky and Abulhassan drove to an Ohio Wal-Mart to buy hundreds of cheap cellphones, intending to sell them back to a distributor they knew to earn some extra cash for tuition. The Wal-Mart employee, fearing two young men of Arab heritage were terrorists, called police, who promptly apprehended Houssaiky and Abulhassan. Making matters worse, they were in Houssaiky's mother's car, which contained a manual outlining airline checkpoints, a necessity for her job at Royal Jordanian Airlines. To the police and the Washington County, Ohio, prosecutor, Houssaiky and Abulhassan were the sum of all fears: two young Arabs with airline manuals and hundreds of devices that could be used as bomb detonators.
Houssaiky and Abulhassan were quickly convicted in the press. "I went to our cell," Houssaiky remembers. "The inmates showed us on TV, there was a line going across the screen [saying], Is This an Act of Terrorism at Work?" Yet within a week of their arrest, it became clear to prosecutors that there was no evidence linking either student to terrorism. Returning home to Dearborn, Houssaiky and Abulhassan called a press conference to denounce the "paranoia and xenophobia that is gripping the country." To Houssaiky, the fact that he and his friend were cleared of all charges is no comfort. "The media made us into animals," he says. "This is going to stick to us the rest of our lives."
The persecution of Houssaiky and Abulhassan--two former high school football stars--underscores the sense of besiegement felt widely in this community of 35,000. Dearborn has been a magnet for Arab and Iranian immigrants for more than 100 years, and its streets and storefronts proudly display the signs of Middle Eastern-American culture: Mosques and community centers sit peacefully next to McDonald's and Burger King along Dearborn arteries like Schafer Road and Warren Avenue. Yet over the past few months, and particularly during the Lebanon war, the Justice Department and the FBI have increasingly put Dearborn under collective suspicion. Nearly thirty people in the Dearborn area have been indicted on often-flimsy charges related to terrorism in the past three years, and more than half of them have been accused in the past four months. Assistant US Attorney Kenneth Chadwell, who heads the Justice Department's efforts to investigate terrorism connections in Dearborn, told the Chicago Tribune in late July, "The question is: Are they loyal to the US or to this terrorist group Hezbollah?"
The answer Dearborn gives is that it's loyal to both, in much the same way that many American Jews are Americans first, with a sentimental attachment to Israel. There is no doubt that much of Dearborn's Muslim community, many of whom are Lebanese, Iraqi and Iranian Shiites, is sympathetic to Hezbollah, which the State Department designates as a terrorist organization. Some have gone beyond passive support. In March the US Attorney's office indicted eighteen men for funneling profits from a Dearborn-operated cigarette-smuggling ring to Hezbollah, two of whom have pleaded guilty.
But most community leaders consider support for Hezbollah a derivative of Lebanese and Shiite identity, indicating support for resistance to Israel, not for terrorism. "Certainly there were a number of individuals, especially over the thirty-three days of the Israeli invasion of Lebanon, who spoke very much in support of [Hezbollah], but they weren't speaking in favor of the kidnapping of the two Israeli soldiers as much as they were speaking in favor of the sole institution there assisting the country during the invasion," says Noel Saleh, president of the Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services. "'Hezbollah' means in the West different things than it means in the East," adds Mohammed Elahi, the Iranian-born imam of Dearborn's Islamic House of Wisdom. "Muslims on the whole, especially Shiites, but even Sunnis, support the resistance in Lebanon." Indeed, on a recent visit to Dearborn only days after the cease-fire took effect, I saw the red, white and green Lebanese flag everywhere--on shop windows, residential flagpoles and bumper stickers--but the yellow flag of Hezbollah was nowhere to be found.
It's that constitutionally protected sympathy that Dearborn considers the reason for the Justice Department's increasing scrutiny of the town. Not one resident has been charged with attempting to commit an act of terrorism against the United States, and Dawud Walid of the local Council on American-Islamic Relations insists that local leaders frequently inform the community of alternative, non-Hezbollah-linked Lebanese charities for their donations. The US Attorney's office in Detroit declined comment for this story, and the Detroit FBI office referred questions to the Washington headquarters, which also declined to comment.
Perhaps the most painful aspect of the Justice Department campaign is the fact that before the 2003 invasion of Iraq, many of Dearborn's Shiites, and especially its Iraqi expatriates, gave the Bush Administration the benefit of the doubt. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz hosted an anti-Saddam Hussein rally in Dearborn that February, where hundreds feverishly chanted, "Saddam must go!" Bush himself delivered a speech in the town shortly after the fall of Baghdad. In both cases, the message the Administration wished to send was clear: The authentic Iraqi and Arab reaction would be enthusiasm for the US invasion.
Now that the Administration looks unfavorably on a different aspect of Shiite identity, many here feel betrayed. "We feel like we've been used," says Imam Husham al-Husainy of the Karbalaa Islamic Education Center, an Iraqi-American cleric who once led prowar rallies in Dearborn. "This turn of events, the very easy accusations of people, not to mention destroying their reputations, is very alarming," adds Maha Hussain, a University of Michigan oncologist who hosted Wolfowitz at the Dearborn rally. "The Iraqi community put its trust in the Administration at the intention level and the competence level. Only God knows what their intentions were, but in terms of competence, at every step, they made the wrong choice. Iraq is destroyed."
The destruction is hardly limited to Iraq. Chadwell's prosecutorial team may well uncover financial ties between Dearborn and Hezbollah, although most that have emerged to date are trivial. What the United States may lose in the process is something far more valuable to its counterterrorism efforts: a viable Muslim-American identity. Unlike the disaffected Muslim minorities in Europe, "Muslims are part of this society, and no American Muslim has been involved in any terrorist activity," observes Elahi. With Al Qaeda and other jihadist organizations increasingly reliant on radicalized Muslim minorities in the West to carry out attacks, an American Islam is as important as it is increasingly endangered.
"Sometimes it makes you schizophrenic," Saleh admits. "We want the community to trust the law enforcement agencies and provide information to law enforcement.... But the willingness of the community to trust the fairhandedness of the police is diminishing."
Spencer Ackerman is an associate editor at The New Republic.
Comment on this Article
Al-Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: Pope's 'Ignorant Words' Help Bush Smear Muslims
By Hiam Al Mefleh
Translated By Nicolas Dagher
September 22, 2006
We aren't the only ones angry over the Pope's "ignorant and irresponsible" statements. The slander his lips uttered about our Islamic religion was also abhorred by the followers of Eastern Christianity. This is not surprising, since they have experienced peaceful coexistence with Muslims, and have been in direct contact with the details of true Islam, something unknown to followers of Western Christianity.
[Editor's Note: During a speech in Germany on faith and reason, Pope Benedict XVI quoted a 14th century Byzantine emperor, and said in part, "Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached RealVideo].
It is interesting that Western newspapers also denounced the platitudes of the Catholic Pope. Some even worked to exaggerate the Papal mistake, to the point that one might suspect that behind these writers' pens were the intentions and involvement of real Muslims. But is this for real?
When we know that some of those Western newspapers exaggerated the seriousness of the Pope's declarations, even though they are owned by Zionist Jews, including The New York Times, then we must conclude that they have something up their sleeves!
Some writers "threw fuel on the fire" by pretending to be true defenders of Islam. They appear to be defending the truth of Islam, but for the real truth ... look to the politics!
The lies of the Pope have done Bush a service that can't be underestimated!
The ignorant words of the Pope support the War Against Terrorism. His was an attempt to show the world that Muslims are "evil and violent" and worthy of prosecution, confirming Bush's assertions about "fascists" and "terrorists."
All we can hope for now is that our Muslim brothers in every corner of the world keep in mind, as the come to grips with these disasters that are now being showered on our Islamic religion from all directions, is that they abide by reason and avoid violence and angry reaction. Ours is a religion of dialogue. Given the West's ignorance of these facts and of reality - we should give them a lesson about the essence of Islam, and call for the entire world to respect our religion and establish laws to protect it and its Prophet from attacks from the hateful and the ignorant.
Now we come to the role of those with knowledge, our scholars. This is the great battle for which Allah gave them knowledge to wage. How I wish to see the most experienced Islamic scholars in the world hold a religious roundtable with the leaders of Western Christianity, and to have it broadcast live on every satellite channel and in every language.
Let us take advantage of the month of Ramadan and make of it an intensive and deliberate media opportunity to breathe in the spirit of our great religion, which through the word and not the sword has invaded the hearts and minds of people.
Rather than the platitudes and show business nonsense that usually regales us during the Holy month of fasting, let us fill our Arab satellite channels with good programs. A month of worship, the Quran and escape from the fires! [of hell].
We ask Almighty Allah to give victory to Islam and the Muslims, and that he strike back at their enemies by creating strife among them.
We ask the magnificent Allah that he gives victory to Islam and the Muslims and that he strike back at their enemies by creating strife among them ... May you all have a safe and beneficial Ramadan.
Comment on this Article
Researcher: Temple treasure is in West Bank
Ynet
09.26.06
British expert on archeology of holy land says that despite claims that treasures of Temple are in Vatican, they are actually located in Palestinian Authority, a revelation which is about to 'shock the religions of the world'
Where are the treasures of the Temple? A British archeologist is arguing that despite the claims that the treasures of the Temple are in the vaults of the Vatican, they are actually located in their original place - the Holy Land.
The London Times reported that Dr. Sean Kingsley, an expert on the archeology of the Holy Land, claims that he found a series of treasures, including silver trumpets, golden candlesticks, and other jewelry, which were a part of the a cargo shipment that was headed for Rome after the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE. According to him, his study is based on historical writings of Josephus from the first century CE and on other historical writings from that era.
After decades of searching and probing the holy scriptures, the archeologist reached the conclusion that the treasure was taken out of Rome in the fifth century CE. He discovered that it was transported to Carthage, a city-state near Tunisia which became an empire that controlled North Africa and the Mediterranean, and to Constantinople (Turkey) and Algeria. The treasures were then returned to Jerusalem and hidden under a monastery.
Kingsley explained that during the 1990s Israeli and Vatican officials confronted each other on the issue of location of these treasures. Israel even claimed that the Pope was hiding them in Rome. "The Temple treasure remains a deadly political tool in the volatile Arab-Israeli conflict centered on the Temple Mount," said Kingsley. "The treasure's final hiding place - in the modern West Bank... deep in Hamas territory - will rock world religions," he added.
The Vatican has told Dr. Kingsley that there is no evidence that the treasure is located within their territory. "I am the first person to prove that the Temple treasures no longer languish in Rome," said Kingsley.
Comment on this Article
Ahmadinejad: Iran will "not back down" on nuclear rights
www.chinaview.cn 2006-09-28 03:26:14
TEHRAN, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told a seminar here on Wednesday that Iran would "not back down" on its nuclear rights and suspend nuclear enrichment, Iran's official IRNA news agency reported.
"They want to use suspension (as a measure) for propaganda, then tell the whole world that Iran was forced by them to accept suspension," the president was quoted as saying.
"They are making a mistake and the Iranian nation will not backdown on its rights," he asserted.
"In their negotiations with us, they wanted us to halt uranium enrichment even for one day under the quillet of technical problem, then we can have more talks with them, but we responded to them that nobody can give up the nation's rights and the Iranian nation will not back down on its rights," he further elaborated.
Ahmadinejad made the comments while Iran's top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani was meeting with European Union (EU) foreign policy chief Javier Solana.
The last round of talks between the two top officials took place at the Austrian Chancellor's Palace in Vienna on Sept. 9. Both of them considered the previous talk as constructive.
The U.S. daily Washington Times reported on Tuesday that Iran was close to agreeing on a secret deal to suspend its enrichment activities for 90 days, in order for more talks with European countries.
But Mohammad Saeedi, Iran's Atomic Energy Organization deputy head, said Wednesday that Larijani would not discuss the suspension of the country's uranium enrichment work in the new round of talk with Javier Solana.
"Such news is utterly baseless and without foundation," said Saeedi, adding that "this kind of reports could create a false propaganda atmosphere which will not help solve the issue".
At an informal meeting in Brussels earlier this month, EU foreign ministers decided to maintain serious talks with Tehran in efforts to solve Iran's nuclear issue through diplomacy after Iran failed to meet a UN Security Council resolution calling for Tehran to halt uranium enrichment by Aug. 31.
However, the United States since then has unceasingly been pushing for sanctions against Iran.
"Iran needs to suspend its uranium enrichment activities, and it needs to do so in a verifiable way. If it does, we can start negotiations. If it doesn't, we move to sanctions. It is a clear and unambiguous standard," State Department spokesman Tom Casey told the Washington Times recently.
Comment on this Article
Economic Edgyness
What Bankers Really Fear in Housing Crash
27/09/2006
L. Wolfe
Larouchepub.com
After months of attempting to deny that there was any real problem in the U.S. housing market, the world's leading bankers and speculators are expressing alarm at the size of the bubble they have created-the largest in financial history. With huge numbers of unsold new homes colliding with an even larger number of existing homes that have been thrust onto the market in recent weeks by panicky homeowners, the concern in Wall Street, the City of London, and in other financial capitals is not with a crash in home equity values, which many so-called experts have now conceded is inevitable, but with the effect that this blowout will have on the financial system.
That system, as the world's leading economist, Lyndon LaRouche, has repeatedly warned, is hopelessly bankrupt; it has been kept on life support through the speculative flows, drained from the real, physical economy, into financial speculation, including on housing assets. The hyperinflated housing bubble was financed by huge flows of credit in mortgages, the which have penetrated every pore of the financial and banking system, and are on the books of those institutions. As these mortgages go up in smoke, and as the physical assets (homes, townhomes, condos, etc.) that ostensibly back them up are liquidated in foreclosure or other "fire-sales" for losses, those mortgages blow up the institutions that hold them, and the whole rickety financial system goes down the tubes.
It was this knowledge that made the U.S. housing bubble a major concern, especially in those away-from-the-public corridor discussions of the global stewards of the financial system at the recent International Monetary Fund meeting in Singapore. In the "Risks" section of the IMF World Economic Outlook report, released before the conference, the collasping U.S. housing bubble was discussed in the standard hushed tones of IMF-speak: "Growth in the United States is expected to slow from 3.4 percent in 2006 to 2.9 percent in 2007, amid a cooling housing market." At its Aug. 23 IMF Board meeting, the directors noted, "Risks to the [economic] outlook appear to be slanted to the downside, with a more abrupt cooling of the housing market being a particular concern."
While public statements on the matter were muted, the U.S. housing crash and related crises among the hedge funds reportedly cast a dark shadow over the meeting.
Where LaRouche's warnings on the bubble could be dismissed by foolish people in the past, the visible signs of the ongoing crash, including warnings by public figures from the housing and financial industry itself, have brought the problem front and center.
The Numbers Don't Lie-For a Change
In Loudoun County, Virginia, the hottest of the white-hot speculative housing "boom" markets, and the place which LaRouche identified as "ground zero" of the great housing bubble crash, there is a running joke that the county's official flower is the real estate "for sale" signs that dot almost every street and byway in this ex-burb of Washington, D.C. With more than 20,000 new homes coming on-line in the next several months, and with an existing housing stock that, at the current reduced rates of sales, could suffice for several years, Loudoun is now an example of national trends, in extremis. In the course of one year, the average length of time a property offered for sale stays on the market has risen from less than a month to more than three months. Realtors say that even that figure understates the problem since there have been many properties that could not be sold at any price, and have been withdrawn from the market.
The Loudoun market had been driven in large part by speculators who bought homes with the expectation that they could flip them in a few months for great profits. Those speculators have now basically left the market, having dumped their properties, in many cases for losses. Many homeowners themselves got caught up in this speculative frenzy, buying homes, not so much to live in, but to flip in a year or so; those homeowners now find themselves stuck in expensive houses that they can't afford and never thought that they would have to pay for. According to local realtors, it is this segment of the market that is breeding a panic, as they dump homes, and when the homes don't sell, owners push them to lower prices.
As one local realtor reported, the panic is beginning to spread to other homeowners, who now fear that they will be caught in an equity collapse. "When you see one, two, then three and four of your neighbors putting their homes up for sale, you begin to think that you had better get out as well," said the realtor, who also commented that, although he might normally welcome such business, too many sellers "means that everyone will lose money."
The "official" line, backed up by statistics provided by realtors, is that housing prices, as measured by the median price, have not yet started to decline, absolutely in Loudoun; that prices have only dropped against expectations and are still rising, albeit more modestly than at the height of the bubble. But as anyone familiar with the market realizes, in a bubble economy, such expectations are what drives-and either pumps up the bubble-or causes it to go bust.
"I don't care any more what the numbers say," said the realtor. "The life's gone out of this bubble, period. We're headed down."
This sentiment is also being driven nationally by a spate of new figures that show the broad decline of the market. For example, the index of builder confidence, as reported by the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Bank, dropped from 33 to 30, from August to September. According to this widely watched index, any reading under 50 means that builders view conditions as "poor." An economist at Countrywide Financial Corp. in California warns that the decline is "very precipitous.... Residential construction is becoming a headwind for the economy instead of a tailwind."
Nationally, the growth in home prices, once soaring by double digits, slowed to a mere 1.7% in the second quarter, while the national inventory of unsold homes soared to a record of more than 4.4 million. Meanwhile, Lombard Street Research economist Gabriel Stein expects the median U.S. home price to fall next year for the first time since the Great Depression.
The ARM Time Bomb
In Northern Virginia, well more than half of all mortgages, including refinancings, are of the risky "zero interest" adjustable-rate types and similar non-traditional mortgages, reflecting a dangerous national trend. These mortgage instruments were designed to fuel the speculative frenzy, and gave buyers short-term low payments, with a time bomb fused over the longer term, when the interest rates and payments jump. As long as there was a rapid turnover, and as long as the housing-price growth covered the borrowing, the buyers and the lenders, which included every stripe of financial institution, appeared to be all right.
Now, with the market in a tailspin, the homeowners find themselves trapped in their homes, when the time-bomb increase in financing costs explodes. This is pushing many homeowners over the edge, into default, and precipitating a sharp rise nationally in home foreclosures.
Not surprisingly, this increase in foreclosures, the worst since the Great Depression, has hit the so-called auto-wreck states of the Midwest the hardest. Foreclosures in the Metro Detroit area jumped a whopping 137%-more than double-in the first eight months of 2006, compared to last year. A mass foreclosed-home auction in the state will take place in late September, with more than 250 bank-owned single-family homes, condos, and duplexes on the auction block. The majority of the properties, about 150 in all, lie within 60 miles of Detroit.
Nationwide, 115,292 properties entered some stage of foreclosure in August, RealtyTrac reported, up 24% from July, and 53% higher than a year ago.
The ARM time bomb and related spurious methods that have financed the bubble have drawn the finger-pointing scrutiny of both Congress and the so-called financial industry. While many Senators and regulators have expressed alarm at the extent of the problem and the lax regulation of these loans, these gentlemen either knew of this before and did not speak up, or should have known, and looked the other way. No matter. Such protestations and proposals are now, in effect, well after all the horses are out of the barn, and the barn has burned to the ground!
At a Sept. 20 Senate Banking Committee hearing, there was a push to put tighter restrictions on "non-traditional mortgage lending." Such mortgages put both borrowers and lenders at increased financial risk. "It seems to me there's been a race to the bottom," noted Sen. Jim Bunning (R-Ky.), referring to lending standards. He said that if real estate values continue to fall, the market pullback could become a prelude to a crash. Whereas the risky mortgages were originally designed for those with very strong financial records, according to the GAO, 75% of those with such mortgages packaged into securities in the first half of 2005 were not required to fully document their income.
Even more worrisome is that the Federally created mortgage re-lender, Fannie Mae, which former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan turned into a cash cow to finance his housing bubble, is ready to blow up from the glut of worthless mortgages it holds. Fannie Mae could lose more than half its capital on sub-prime mortgage blowouts, warns Gilchrist Berg, founder of the $2 billion hedge-fund firm Water Street Capital. Berg said that Fannie could lose $22 billion to $29 billion of its $46 billion capital, if, as he expects, the housing bubble bursts and foreclosures increase. "We are not sure the folks running the show fully embrace the risk of declining house prices," Berg wrote in a letter to investors. Berg also said most that analysts and investors are underestimating the impact of the end of the "historic housing and mortgage bubble."
Fannie is involved in financing one-fifth of U.S. mortgages through bundling into mortage-backed securities (MBS), and it has increased its exposure to sub-prime mortgages in recent years. In 2004, it bought 44% of all sub-prime MBSs; in 2005 it bought 35%, and in the first half of 2006, it bought 25%. Berg says that sub-primes could be 15% of Fannie's portfolio.
Saving Themselves
The financial fools who created the bubble that is now collapsing are desperately trying to manage the coming financial shipwreck. No longer able to keep the collapse of the bubble "secret," they are attempting to give it an air of "inevitability," while trying to limit the panic within the general population. That is what is behind the explosion of press reportage, which attempts to tell people, that while they will lose money, and most certainly the function of their home as a cash-producing ATM machine, the worst effects can be contained.
Meanwhile, several banking sources have reported that Treasury Secretary Henry Paulsen, the former head of Goldman Sachs, may be cooking up a scheme to try to save the banks and their financial books. According to these sources, Treasury, along with the Fed, is trying to come up with a Federally funded mechanism that would take the explosive short-term and ARM debt off the books of lenders, and reissue it at longer-term debt-a scheme that sounds strikingly similar to Felix Rohatyn's Big MAC debt recycling operation that "handled" the New York City debt crisis three decades ago. (Fannie Mae might have been a possibility for this role- but, Fannie Mae is itself hopelessly bankrupt and may have to be bailed out.)
As LaRouche has warned, such taxpapyer-financed bailouts cannot save the housing market or the bankrupt financial system. The only solution to the housing crisis is the global solution proposed by LaRouche-the one that makes the speculators and financiers pay for their incompetence, taking away their power to control financial policy. And, nothing can save the hyperinflated equity values of residential real estate.
Comment on this Article
Fed sees inflation easing, Lacker unconvinced
By Ros Krasny
Reuters
Thu Sep 28, 2006
LINCOLN, Nebraska - U.S. Federal Reserve officials expressed guarded confidence on Wednesday that inflation will ease, but Jeffrey Lacker, the Fed's most outspoken hawk, was unconvinced.
"I am not comfortable that we have got a downward trend that I can be that confident in at the present. And I am worried about the danger of inflation staying, remaining, about where it's been," Lacker, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, told Reuters in an interview.
Thomas Hoenig, Kansas City Fed president, was more hopeful, saying subpar growth was likely to linger into 2007 and pull inflation down by injecting more slack in the economy.
"The inflation numbers will stabilize and then continue to come down," Hoenig told business leaders in Lincoln. He anticipated a "very modest, but very steady" downtrend in the core consumer price index toward 2 percent.
Core CPI, a measure which excludes energy and food prices, was 2.8 percent higher in August than a year earlier.
Hoenig gave a mostly upbeat reading on the economy, looking for growth to bounce back -- but still stay below trend -- in 2007 after dipping to an annualised rate in the second half of 2006 of 2.0 percent to 2.5 percent.
The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) held its benchmark federal funds rate steady this month at 5.25 percent in a 10-1 vote in which Lacker was the sole dissent.
It was the second straight meeting in which policy-makers decided to sit pat after 17 straight hikes from mid-2004 to June of this year. It was also Lacker's second-straight dissent.
Financial markets expect the Fed to hold steady for the rest of 2006, reflecting suggestions by Fed officials that they want to watch how the earlier rate moves played out.
The next policy move is uncertain and will rely on incoming data, said Hoenig, who under a rotating system does note vote in FOMC meetings this year but who will vote in 2007.
"Actions we have taken in the past, in the first half of this year ... are still working their way through the economy."
UNREPENTANT DISSENTER
Lacker said that while the U.S. economy was on solid ground, inflation was still a worry and that another rate increase would have helped.
"The question is how are we going to bring about restoring price stability," he said. "My colleagues' views differed from mine. I thought that we needed another policy move to ensure that we had a high enough probability of getting back (to lower inflation levels)."
"Growth doesn't slow inflation, central banks slow inflation. It has to do with what really drives inflation dynamics," he said.
Nor has he been mollified by the recent drop in inflation expectations implied by U.S. treasury inflation-protected securities (TIPS), which he saw driven mostly by changes in the headline CPI as energy costs fall.
Earlier, Federal Reserve Governor Randall Kroszner said in a speech in New York that recent declines in the price of energy had helped mitigate concerns about inflation in the short run.
Hoenig, meanwhile, said the decline in energy prices was likely to drag down headline inflation levels and was "favorable to the U.S. economy overall."
NO HOUSING CONTAGION SEEN
While differing on the growth/inflation linkage, Lacker and Hoenig agreed that the much-discussed cooling U.S. housing market did not threaten the overall economy.
Weakness in residential real estate and its potential to affect other parts of the economy are cited by some economists as reason for the Fed to cut rates aggressively in 2007..
Lacker said that he saw no sign the cooling housing market had spilled into other parts of the economy, while Hoenig said the long-anticipated topping out in residential real estate after a multi-year bull run has been "orderly."
Lacker declined to comment on monetary policy expectations in financial markets. But he said he was not convinced U.S. factories were hurting, as some had concluded after Wednesday's weak durable goods orders data and last week's tumble in the Philadelphia Fed's monthly factory survey.
For one thing, the Richmond Fed's own manufacturing survey, which covers a region twice the size of the Philly Fed, rose in September.
"The fundamentals for investment are pretty solid," he said. "Growth is going to be a bit below par for a quarter or two, maybe longer, but I'm looking for it to return to potential next year."
Hoenig said that the U.S. jobs market was solid and monthly payrolls could rise 100,000 to 125,000 in the months ahead. The jobless rate could tick up toward 5 percent from its current 4.7 percent, he said.
Kroszner warned that a recent spike in unit labor costs suggested wages were catching up with productivity, a trend economists sometimes interpret as an omen of future inflation.
Still, other measures of compensation gains were not as robust, painting a mixed picture of the inflation outlook, said Kroszner, who joined the Fed in March.
Comment on this Article
Growth to slow while inflation high: UCLA forecast
Reuters
September 28, 2006
SAN FRANCISCO - A "whiff" of stagflation will linger about the U.S. economy through next year as growth slows and inflation holds at a level higher than the Federal Reserve would like, according to the latest UCLA Anderson Forecast report.
The report by the forecasting group, released on Thursday, projects a sustained period of real growth for the U.S. economy of 1.5 percent to 2.0 percent with inflation above the Federal Reserve's "comfort level."
"While not a recession, it is hardly a pretty picture. The combination of sluggish growth and rising prices will have the look and feel of a low level of stagflation," according to the report.
"It's not the real thing of the 1970s," said David Shulman, the UCLA Anderson Forecast senior economist who wrote the report. "This is sort of a whiff."
A rise in unemployment will add to the look and feel of stagflation, Shulman said.
He expects the U.S. jobless rate to increase to 5.1 percent by the end of next year from 4.7 percent last month.
At the same time, the core consumer price index will rise at an average rate of 3.2 percent, limiting options for the Federal Reserve, Shulman said.
Shulman expects policy makers to cut the Federal Funds rate to 4.5 percent by mid-2007 from the current 5.25 percent.
"We suspect that we have seen the last hike in the Fed Funds rate for a long time and in fact the next move will be to cut rates in early 2007," according to his report.
Rate cuts and an improvement in trade, some easing in oil prices, a healthy pace of commercial construction activity that helps offset the housing slowdown and the homes market hitting a bottom will enable the economy to avoid recession and return to growth of 3 percent to 4 percent in 2008, he added.
However, the housing market could upset that forecast, Shulman said, noting he is keeping a close watch on how the pace of housing starts slows.
"If we're going to have a recession, its origins will be in the housing market," Shulman said. he state to 1990 levels, or by about 25 percent, by 2020.
Comment on this Article
Stocks Rise, Dow Nears Record Level
By TIM PARADIS
AP Business Writer
Sep 27, 2006
NEW YORK - Stocks rose and the Dow Jones industrial average neared its record high close Wednesday as investors shrugged off a lackluster durable goods report and appeared satisfied with an increase in new home sales. In early afternoon trading, the Dow was up 39.06, or 0.33 percent, at 11,708.45, about 15 points away from its record high close of 11,722.98.
Broader stock indicators were also up. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 2.17, or 0.16 percent, to 1,338.51, and the Nasdaq composite index advanced 5.80, or 0.26 percent, at 2,267.14.
Arthur Hogan, chief market analyst at Jefferies & Co., said he doesn't see the rise in stocks as being short-lived given that the three-week run-up has been based on a range of events, most notably the Federal Reserve's decision to again hold interest rates in place and a decline in price of oil.
"The economy has been doing well and yet the market hadn't been in step with that because we had the specter of high interest rates and rising energy prices.
"As long as we can continue to see that economic data stream remain relatively positive I think we can continue," he said.
The Commerce Department said Wednesday orders to U.S. factories for large manufactured goods fell for a second straight month in August, the first time in more than two years there have been consecutive declines. Demand for durable goods dropped 0.5 percent last month to $209.7 billion.
Some good news came from a report that new home sales rose 4.1 percent in August, their biggest increase in five months. The Commerce Department report raised hopes that a sharp decline in the housing industry could be easing.
Perhaps adding to investor enthusiasm, Federal Reserve Governor Randall S. Kroszner said Wednesday he expects productivity growth should continue.
"I think a good case can be made for the view that the strong productivity growth of the post-1995 era will persist for some time," he said in prepared remarks for a conference in New York.
Stocks gained after an Energy Department report showed stockpiles of U.S. crude and gasoline were greater than expected last week. A barrel of light crude was quoted up 64 cents at $61.65 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Bonds fell, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rising to 4.60 percent from 4.58 percent late Tuesday. The dollar was mixed against other major currencies, while gold prices rose.
Good news for several Dow components could help the average, which has flirted with its Jan. 14, 2000, closing high as investors have grown more confident in the strength of the economy. The enthusiasm grew after the Federal Reserve has signaled interest rates are in check for now and as oil prices have receded from highs seen in recent months. McDonald's Corp. rose 78 cents, or 2 percent, to 39.84 after saying it would boost its dividend 49 percent to $1 from 67 cents.
Another Dow component, Merck & Co., had another victory Tuesday in its legal battle over the painkiller Vioxx. A federal jury determined after a two-week trial that there wasn't sufficient evidence to link Vioxx to a Kentucky man's heart attack in 2003. Though it was a win for Merck, thousands of cases are still pending over the drug. Merck was up 40 cents at $42.16.
The markets often move higher near the end of a quarter as investors engage in a bit of window-dressing and bid up stocks in the hopes of burnishing their quarterly numbers.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by about 2 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 926 million shares, compared with 910.7 million traded at the same point Tuesday.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies was up 3.82, or 0.52 percent, at 733.43.
Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average closed up 2.51 percent. Britain's FTSE 100 closed up 0.96 percent, Germany's DAX index was up 0.49 percent, and France's CAC-40 was up 0.45 percent.
Comment on this Article
7-Eleven Drops Citgo As Gas Supplier
AP
Wednesday September 27, 2006
DALLAS - 7-Eleven Inc. dropped Venezuela-owned Citgo as its gasoline supplier after more than 20 years as part of a previously announced plan by the convenience store operator to launch its own brand of fuel.
7-Eleven officials said Wednesday that the decision was partly motivated by politics.
Citgo Petroleum Corp. is a Houston-based subsidiary of Venezuela's state-run oil company and 7-Eleven is worried that anti-American comments made by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez might prompt motorists to fill-up elsewhere.
Chavez has called President George W. Bush the devil and an alcoholic.
The U.S. government has warned that Chavez is a destabilizing force in Latin America.
"Regardless of politics, we sympathize with many Americans' concern over derogatory comments about our country and its leadership recently made by Venezuela's president," said 7-Eleven spokeswoman Margaret Chabris.
"Certainly Chavez's position and statements over the past year or so didn't tempt us to stay with Citgo," she added.
Instead, 7-Eleven, which sells gasoline at 2,100 of its 5,300 U.S. stores, will now purchase fuel from several distributors, including Tower Energy Group of Torrance, Calif., Sinclair Oil of Salt Lake City, and Houston-based Frontier Oil Corp.
Chabris said 7-Eleven's decision to sell its own brand was based on many factors, including Citgo's decision this summer to stop supplying stations in parts of Texas and other states to focus on retailers closer to its refineries in Corpus Christi, Lake Charles, La., and Lemont, Ill.
But 7-Eleven had been considering creating its own brand of fuel since at least early last year, and some analysts suggested 7-Eleven may now be hyping the political angle a way to curry favor with U.S. consumers.
"This has nothing to do with Chavez," said Oil Price Information Service director Tom Kloza. "They (7-Eleven) just didn't want to be tied to one supplier."
Kloza said all 7-Eleven did was seek out suppliers who could sell it the cheapest fuel and "that was not Citgo."
Citgo spokesman Fernando Garay declined to comment on whether Chavez's comments had a bearing on 7-Eleven's change in suppliers. He said the break was "a mutual agreement of the two companies."
Garay said 7-Eleven was a "significant" part of Citgo's retail presence in Texas and Florida. "It was a valued relationship," he said.
In July, Citgo decided to stop distributing gasoline to 1,800 independently owned U.S. stations because it was a lackluster segment of its business.
In order to meet service contracts at 13,100 Citgo-branded stations across the U.S., Citgo had to purchase 130,000 barrels a day from third parties - a less profitable business model than selling gasoline directly from its refineries.
Citgo was founded in 1910 as the Cities Service Co., according to the company Web site, and 7-Eleven's predecessor, The Southland Corp., bought Citgo from Occidental Petroleum in 1983.
7-Eleven sold half its interest in Citgo in 1986 and the remaining stake in 1990 to Petroleos de Venezuela SA.
Comment: Chavez calls Bush the devil, and that is seen as "anti-American"??
Comment on this Article
The Terrorism Myth
Bin Laden is alive and hiding in Afghanistan, insists Neocon Asset Musharraf
By James Bone
The Times
28 Sept 06
PRESIDENT MUSHARRAF, dismissing a French intelligence report that Osama bin Laden had died of typhoid, said yesterday that he believed the al-Qaeda leader to be hiding in the eastern Afghan province of Kunar, possibly with the help of an Afghan warlord.
"It's not a hunch," the Pakistani President told The Times. "Kunar province borders on Bajaur Agency. We know there are some pockets of al-Qaeda in Bajaur Agency. We have set a good intelligence organisation. We have moved some army elements. We did strike them twice there. We located and killed a number of them."
General Musharraf has been in a verbal duel with President Karzai over Pakistan's role in the War on Terror, with the Afghan leader accusing it of allowing cross-border operations by Taleban from tribal areas. The two leaders held a contentious meeting over dinner hosted by President Bush at the White House last night. They did not shake hands.
Interviewed at his hotel in New York, General Musharraf said he believed that bin Laden was in Afghanistan, and suggested a possible link with Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, the Afghan warlord. Brandishing a UN report highlighted with coloured markers, the President read out its finding that the insurgency in Afghanistan "is being conducted mostly by Afghans operating inside Afghanistan's borders".
The report, issued by the Secretary-General this month, identifies five "distinct leadership centres" of the insurgency, which "appear to act in loose co-ordination with each other and a number benefit from financial and operational links with drug-trafficking networks". It says that Kunar province is the base of operations of Hekmatyar's wing of the Hezb-i-Islami party.
Hekmatyar and bin Laden fought against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s. In the 1992-96 civil war that followed the Soviet pullout, Hekmatyar, an ethnic Pashtun, who was the Prime Minister, turned his forces against those of President Rabbani, an ethnic Tajik.
When the Taleban came to power in Kabul, Hekmatyar went into exile in Iran while bin Laden found safe haven with the hardline Islamic regime. But Hekmatyar returned to Afghanistan when the Taleban were toppled by the American invasion and has since issued statements urging Afghans to support al-Qaeda and wage jihad against US-led forces.
"In Kunar province it is Gulbuddin Hekmatyar who is operating," General Musharraf said, adding: "There must be some linkages." He shrugged off a leaked French intelligence report suggesting that bin Laden may have died from typhoid fever sometime between August 23 and September 4 while hiding in Pakistan. "I don't know. Unless I am sure I never say anything," he said. "If they have some source they should tell us. At least our intelligence does not know anything."
General Musharraf, whose memoir, In the Line of Fire, has been serialised in The Times this week, defended Pakistan's much-criticised intelligence effort to locate al-Qaeda operatives in its autonomous tribal areas along the Afghan border.
"I believe the biggest element of [their] success is the people are abetting and supporting in hiding the terrorists and al- Qaeda. This is what has been happening," he said. "They have been hiding because some people support them. If they are hiding in a compound with four walls and they are doing everything from within that compound, not moving out, and the people are supporting, how would anyone know?"
He repeated his claim that the US had paid bounties for Pakistan's capture of wanted al-Qaeda figures. But he said that the money went to individuals. "No money has been given at the government level to the Government of Pakistan. These people carry 'head money . . .' " he said. "This money was given through organisations to the people who were involved."
General Musharraf acknowledged that Islamic militants of Pakistani descent in Britain might seek the blessing of figures in Pakistan for terrorist attacks. But he said that he did not personally know the detailed movements of the two July 7 London suicide bombers - Shehzad Tanweer and Mohammad Sidique Khan - who visited Pakistan in the months before the attacks.
The general complained that Western countries had sometimes been slow to share intelligence because they "think we are some kind of backward people". But he said that intelligence sharing was getting better. "You thought everything is happening in Pakistan and Afghanistan. You should not bother. Now, after 7/7, people realise that no, sir, things are happening in your country," he said.
"We are together to fight extremists and terrorism but . . . if you are in the blame game, that everything is happening in Pakistan, nothing is happening here [in Britain], we will not succeed."
Comment on this Article
Gazeta, Poland: 'Cracks Appear in the Anti-Terror Alliance'
By Wojciech Jagielski
Translated By Halszka Czarnocka
September 27, 2006
As Afghanistan and Pakistan bicker, the U.S. is losing its patience. But without sustained cooperation, the Taliban won't be defeated
President George Bush will host a dinner today for his most important Asian allies in the war on terrorism. And although the presidents of Afghanistan and Pakistan continue to express their loyalty to America, the two neighbors themselves are at odds. This is threatening relations, causing headaches for politicians in Washington and raising doubts about the effectiveness and integrity of the alliance.
MUSHARRAF'S MEMOIRS
Both Presidents, Afghanistan's Hamid Karzai and Pakistan's Pervez Musharraf, demonstrate a friendly attitude toward one another while visiting the same foreign capitals. But they moment they part, the accusations and complaints start up again.
The argumentative mood spread even to President Bush, who until now had forced the two to cooperate. Over the past week, the U.S., Pakistani and Afghan presidents hurled so many grievances toward one another, that an unwitting observer would never have guessed they were allies. And unless the three can come to an agreement, the war being waged against the Taliban in Afghanistan and along the Afghan-Pakistan border cannot be won.
Karzai and Musharraf came to America last week for the opening of the U.N. General Assembly. The Pakistani's trip to New York was also to promote his memoirs, "In the Line of Fire," which hit bookstores on Monday.
Right after he arrived in the U.S., Musharraf rebuked Karzai for failing to battle the terrorists in Afghanistan assiduously enough. Karzai responded by claiming that the war against the Taliban and remnants of al-Qaeda would have been over long ago if only they were not given refuge in Pakistan.
Musharraf immediately parried, stating that the crux of the problem is Afghanistan, because Karzai rarely sets foot outside his palace in Kabul and doesn't understand his own country. "If the Taliban didn't have popular support, they couldn't fight so forcefully."
An angry Karzai reminded his neighbor that in the mid-90s, it was Pakistan that assisted in the creation of the Taliban revolutionaries, and was one of only three nations to recognize them as the government of Afghanistan. "You wanted to train a poisonous snake to bite others. But a snake cannot be taught. In the end it will bite its teacher, too," said Karzai.
A FIGHT OVER OSAMA
In his memoirs, Musharraf admits that Pakistan supported the Taliban. But it allegedly did so in order to bring an end to the fratricidal strife and lawlessness in Afghanistan and to introduce some kind of order to the country.
In Musharraf's opinion, Americans are also responsible for the emergence of the Taliban, since they supported every kind of fanatic willing to fight the USSR in Afghanistan. "And when the communists had been overcome, the cowardly Americans abandoned Afghanistan, leaving it to its own devices," writes Musharraf in his book.
And as always, the two presidents traded accusations about the hiding places of Osama bin Laden and Sheik Omar, the Taliban leader. Musharraf maintains that Osama is in eastern Afghanistan's Kunar Province, and that Omar is in Kandahar, right under the noses of the Americans. Karzai swears that mullah Omar is safely ensconced in Quetta, and Osama is hiding on the Afghan-Pakistani border - certainly on the Pakistani side.
A FRAGILE ALLIANCE
An interview that Musharraf gave to CBS has become a source of some controversy. In it he said that after September 11th, the Americans threatened to carpet-bomb Pakistan unless he agreed to join in a common war against the Taliban and the terrorists. "We'll bomb you into the Stone Age," former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage is reported to have said.
Armitage admits only to having had a conversation with the director of Pakistani intelligence, during which he reminded the Pakistani of President Bush's famous message: "You are either with us or against us."
In his memoirs Musharraf claims that the U.S. is biased against the Muslim world and that its invasion of Iraq made the world more dangerous. Regarding the invasion of Iraq, Karzai was of a remarkably similar mind; he added that, "Instead of spending $300 billion on the Iraq War, if Americans had put that money into the reconstruction of Afghanistan, our country would not produce drugs today, but the sweetest grapes in the world."
The U.S. President did little to calm the atmosphere when said on television that if he knew with certitude where bin Laden's was and that he was in Pakistan, he would immediately send his troops without even asking Pakistan. "We would have never allowed it," replied an indignant Musharraf.
"All of this just shows how fragile the anti-terrorist alliance of the USA, Pakistan and Afghanistan is," retired General Talat Massud, an expert on Pakistani politics, told Gazeta Wyborcza.
Comment on this Article
Asian Anger
Korean News: South Korea is Not Part of the United States!
September 26, 2006
By using American names for areas of South Korea with U.S. military installations, is Washington trying to turn that country into a kind of U.S. colony? According to this 'commentary' from North Korea's state-run Korean News, this 'a bid to permanently Americanize south Korea and numb its consciousness to national independence.'
Pyongyang: A spokesman for the Northern Headquarters of the Special Committee Probing the Truth of GI Crimes in a statement on Tuesday, vehemently denounced the United States for its accursed crime of giving American names to places in south Korea, even though they already have their own Korean names. Ever since its occupation of south Korea, the U.S. has staged the farce of instructing the American intelligence services to call areas with its military installations by the names of areas with similar geographical features in the U.S. The statement went on:
The U.S. has since called its military bases on the eastern and western tips of Korea in Kyongsang and Jolla Provinces, "Florida" and "Hawaii," just as Florida and Hawaii are located at the eastern and western ends of the U.S. It has also called a military base in Pusan "Camp Hialeah," after Hialeah in Florida.
It is deplorable that some areas of south Korea, which host U.S. military bases, are still called "Camp Casey" and "Camp Walker" and so on, which are the names of the devilish homicidal generals of U.S. forces, who became infamous in the last Korean war.
This is a brazen act aimed at infusing U.S. worship and U.S. phobia into the minds of south Koreans, in a bid to permanently Americanize south Korea and numb its consciousness to national independence.
Koreans will never remain onlookers to the criminal acts of the Yankees. They will never accept the usurpation of the names of their native places, which have been bequeathed to them by their ancestors, and they have defended, generation after generation. This is a matter of sovereignty, dignity and the living soul of their nation.
The U.S. imperialist aggressors should never forget that no matter how hard they work to implant American names, south Korea can never become part of the United States. To expect otherwise is nothing but a pipe dream.
Comment on this Article
Korean News: 'Don't Fear Imperialists on the Verge of Ruin'
Rodong Sinmun
September 23, 2006
Is there a lesson in the collapse of communism and the fall of Saddam Hussein? According to this 'commentary' from North Korea's communist party mouthpiece Rodong Sinmun, the lesson is this: ' Any concession of revolutionary principles means surrender and death'
Pyongyang: No nation aspiring to independence should retreat even a step, but rather courageously struggle against the imperialists. So said the Rodong Sinmun in a by-lined article. It goes on:
Any concession of revolutionary principles means surrender and death. Had some countries which had advocated socialism in the past remained true to revolutionary principles, tragic events such as the breakdown of ruling parties, the collapse of socialism and yielding to the imperialists would never have taken place.
What has taken place in Iraq clearly shows the disastrous consequences of any abandonment of revolutionary principles. The result is that the imperialists resort to ever-more vicious and cunning methods to invade and plunder other nations. Without a struggle against imperialism it is impossible to achieve, defend and consolidate national independence; establish an independent regime; adopt and implement policies in keeping with the desire and will of the people; or ensure national prosperity and the independent development of the country.
Unless they abandon their aggressive and predatory natures, confrontation with the imperialists is unavoidable. So there's no other way but to stand firm against them without concession or retreat. The more pressure the imperialists put, the more resolutely each country and nation should meet it, without being frightened or retreat. Only by doing so will it is possible to win in the standoff with the imperialists. This is an immutable truth.
Imperialism is by no means strong. One should never be frightened by the desperate efforts of imperialists on the verge of ruin. Victory is assured to nations that resolutely stand and fight them.
Comment on this Article
Shanghai graft probe widens with another official implicated
by Benjamin Morgan
AFP
September 28, 2006
SHANGHAI - The Shanghai corruption scandal that has already seen the fall of the financial hub's top politician has been widened, with confirmation that another senior government official had been implicated.
Sun Luyi, vice secretary-general of the Shanghai municipal committee, had "seriously violated party discipline" and was now assisting the probe into the misuse of the city's pension funds, spokeswoman Jiao Yang told AFP.
Sun, 52, an engineer, was appointed to his position with the committee, which is the Communist Party's main governing body for Shanghai, in 2004.
The development comes after central government officials announced on Monday that Shanghai Communist Party leader Chen Liangyu had been sacked and suspended from the national politburo for his role in the pension fund scandal.
The probe centers on the alleged misuse of up to 400 million dollars from Shanghai's 1.2-billion-dollar pension fund.
Another person who may be implicated is Shanghai police chief Wu Zhiming, believed to be the nephew of former president Jiang Zemin, a source with close contacts to the government told AFP.
"He is being questioned. Expect this case to come out (publicly)," said the source.
Wu, 54, is chief of Shanghai's public security bureau and is the bureau's Communist Party secretary, according to the city's government website.
He is also a member of the city's standing committee, an elite and powerful group of party officials that govern the city, according to the website.
However, a government spokesman denied that Wu had been detained, while a police spokesman said only he had gone abroad but recently returned.
"I'm not sure if he is back at work yet... but in a few days you will know whether he will return to his normal work," said the police spokesman.
The dismissal of Chen was the highest-level sacking of a government official in more than a decade, and a Communist Party discipline chief said in Beijing on Tuesday to expect more high-profile names to be implicated.
"This case is still under investigation... as the investigation deepens, more people are likely to be implicated," Gan Yisheng, vice head of the party's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, told reporters.
"We will investigate thoroughly and severely punish any party member who violates party discipline, no matter how high or how low his position."
The scandal has already felled two other top politicians -- Qin Yu, a city district chief, and Zhu Junyi, who was head of the labor and social affairs bureau in Shanghai and a national parliament member.
The chairman and a director of Shanghai Electric, a major power products producer, as well as a private fund manager are also under investigation.
Chen's sacking has been widely seen as a power play by President Hu Jintao to weaken the political stronghold of Jiang, his predecessor, and shore up his own position.
Before retiring in 2003, Jiang, who also once served as Shanghai's top party official, named many of his allies into positions of leadership.
Chen was one such ally. Others include Vice Premier Huang Ju, parliamentary chairman Wu Bangguo and Vice President Zeng Qinghong.
The so-called "Shanghai clique" has been seen as a challenge to Hu's rule, with the president determined to solidify his own position ahead of an important five-yearly Communist Party Congress late next year.
Comment on this Article
Thai military to loom large over civilian govt
By Darren Schuettler
Reuters
September 28, 2006
BANGKOK - Thailand's military looks set to loom large over an interim civilian government despite pledging it would step back two weeks after ousting Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra in a bloodless coup.
With the 1997 "People's Charter" abolished by the coup leaders who seized power on September 19, legal experts are putting the final touches on a draft interim constitution to be submitted for royal approval on Saturday.
Details of the draft circulated in the Thai press have raised concerns that the generals will have too much influence over the new civilian administration.
"I'm concerned that this interim constitution will give too much power to the CNS," said University of Mahidol professor Gothom Arya, referring to the military plan to become a Council for National Security working in parallel with the government.
"It seems they hold the ultimate administrative and executive power," he said. "They can dismiss the prime minister or they can sit with the cabinet and say: 'We want this to be done."'
The coup leaders insist they have no political ambitions after their self-imposed, two-week handover period.
"We are not the prime minister's boss and the prime minister is not our boss," General Winai Phattiyakul said on Monday.
Newspapers have been rife with speculation over who was the coup leaders' favorite for premier, with frontrunners including former
World Trade Organization chief Supachai Panitchpakdi and royal adviser and retired general Surayud Chulanont.
One coup leader said on Thursday the military council had agreed on a candidate, but declined to say if he was a civilian or a retired general. An announcement is expected this weekend.
"We are confident the new prime minister will be accepted by the people," Admiral Satirapan Keyanon told reporters.
"MISSION IMPOSSIBLE"
Whoever the new prime minister is, he will face a "mission impossible," Nation newspaper group editor Suthichai Yoon wrote in a commentary.
"He will be caught between a rock and a hard place -- a man without a public mandate, but with an unenviable mission to complete.
"The coup leaders aren't supposed to interfere with his decisions, but they can't afford to let him fail either," Suthichai said.
The draft charter has not been made public, but it has been seen by a small group of academics.
The draft says the CNS chief can call a joint meeting with the civilian cabinet to consider any administration issue, said Thammasat University president Surapon Nitikraipot, who reviewed the document.
The CNS head would counter-sign the royal appointment of the prime minister, his 35-member cabinet, a new legislative council and an assembly charged with drawing up a new constitution.
Surapon said the draft was the "most democratic charter" ever issued by the military after 18 coups in 74 years.
Meechai Ruchupan, the military council's chief lawyer, said the CNS would have "duties not power" and would lack the authority to order the cabinet to do anything.
Only the prime minister would have the power to declare a state of emergency or impose martial law, he said.
"The CNS may tell the government that the situation is critical and how it should handle it. But if the government doesn't want to do it, the CNS can't do anything."
Comment on this Article
China claims successful thermonuclear test
AFP
Sep 28, 2006
BEIJING - China on Thursday successfully tested an experimental thermonuclear fusion reactor based on technology designed to create cheaper and safer nuclear energy, Xinhua news agency said.
It said scientists at the Institute of Plasma Physics in Hefei, the capital of the eastern province of Anhui, conducted the test on a new fusion device called the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST).
No details of the nature or the results of the test were released in the report. But Xinhua said EAST was an upgrade of China's first-generation Tokamak device and the first of its kind in operation in the world.
Nuclear fusion has long been touted as the cheap, safe, clean and almost limitless energy source of the future.
In fusion, atomic nuclei are fused together to release energy, as opposed to fission -- the technique used for nuclear power and atomic bombs -- where nuclei are split.
But nuclear fusion is still at an experimental stage and scientists say they may be a generation or more away from producing a reliable supply of energy.
Comment on this Article
Sexism, Frenchism and Disgruntled Students
Discrimination Against the Female Brain
By Caryl Rivers
AlterNet
September 28, 2006.
Recently, a committee of specialists at the University of Miami found that it was not biology, hormones, child-rearing demands, or differences in ability that explained why women were not advancing as fast as they should in scientific and technical fields. It was discrimination, pure and simple. "It is not a lack of talent, but unintended bias that is locking women out," said Donna Shalala, president of the University of Miami and head of the committee that wrote the report. It was sponsored by the prestigious U.S. National Academies of Science and Engineering and the Institute of Medicine.
This is not a new story. People familiar with the research know that for many years, studies have shown few gender differences that would account for women's lack of progress. They also know that the notion that "girls can't do math" starts as early as third grade and gets progressively worse. Harvard's Larry Summers got into trouble because -- as he candidly admitted -- he had gotten the science wrong. A quick check with some of his own faculty members could have saved him a lot of grief.
But the idea that women are uncomfortable with facts and systems dies hard. Cambridge University psychologist Simon Baron-Cohen ("The Essential Difference") says that males are good at leadership, decision making and achievement, while females are suited for "Making friends, mothering, gossiping, and 'reading' your partner." (He has been quoted in the New York Times, in a Newsweek cover story, in a PBS documentary and in many other major media outlets.)
Baron-Cohen bases his claims on one study (done in his lab in 2000) of day-old infants purporting to show that baby boys looked longer at mobiles, while day-old baby girls looked longer at human faces.
Elizabeth Spelke, the co-director of Harvard's Mind, Brain and Behavior Interfaculty Initiative, utterly demolished this study. It has never been replicated, nor has it appeared in a peer-reviewed journal, she reported. Furthermore, the study lacked critical controls against experimenter bias and was not well-designed. Female and male infants were propped up in a parent's lap and shown, side by side, an active person or an inanimate object. Since newborns can't hold their heads up independently, their visual preferences could well have been determined by the way their parents held them. Moreover, there's a long literature flat-out contradicting Baron-Cohen's study, providing evidence that male and female infants tend to respond equally to people and objects.
The idea that women are suited mainly for relationships keeps popping up all over the media. Best-selling author Michael Gurian ("The Wonder of Girls") claims that only 20 percent of girls have "bridge brains" that enable them to do math the way males do, a claim so unscientific it takes your breath away. Gurian also claims that girls will be unhappy if they focus too much on achievement, and that instead their primary goal should be learning to form relationships. Gurian is often cited uncritically in the media and invited to speak to groups of teachers.
The Academies' report found that female performance in high school mathematics now matches that of males. But the media focus is not on female performance, but on female hormones.
"Is chemistry destiny?" New York Times columnist David Brooks recently asked. His answer was a resounding vote in favor of sheer biological determinism. He blithely jettisoned a century's worth of research to chirp that "happiness seems to consist of living in harmony with the patterns that nature and evolution laid down long, long ago."
Long long ago, of course, was when men were in charge of the world and women knew their place.
Brooks was citing a new book titled "The Female Brain" by Louann Brizendine, a neuropsychiatrist at the University of California, San Francisco. The book claims that the female brain is wired for connection. But the author unfortunately makes huge, unsubstantiated leaps. Take, for example, this statement: '"Studies indicate that girls are motivated -- on a molecular and a neurological level -- to ease and even prevent social conflict.'"
But as Robin Marantz Henig points out in her excellent New York Times review, the data for that statement is quite fuzzy. "The endnote lists nine scholarly articles, with no further explanation given. From the titles (which the reader has to look for in the bibliography), we can surmise that one study was on female mice, one on male and female rats, one (apparently) on female rhesus monkeys, and the other six on humans. But only one of those human studies explicitly mentions 'sex differences' in the title."
And long ago, "mean girls" were all the rage in media stories. What happened to the make-nice hormones in all those nasty high school kids?
The fact is that human behavior is an extremely complex mix of genes, hormones, environments, relationships, situations, drives, motivations -- a vast, churning stew. There is huge variation among individuals; often, talking about how "men" or "women" behave has little bearing on what real people do. We are all products of both nature and nurture, constantly interacting.
But bits and pieces of this extremely complicated picture are teased out and used in a very simplistic -- and very political -- way. They are employed to argue that women can't do math, shouldn't be in the army, shouldn't be engineers, aren't natural leaders, aren't natural risk takers and so on, endlessly. The more that the actual behavior of women debunks such statements, the more widespread the statements become.
As the science of behavior becomes ever more nuanced and complex, the media notions about it become ever more conservative and simplistic. We should remember that while biology is an important part of who we are, biological determinism has an unscientific -- and unsavory -- past.
Caryl Rivers is a professor of journalism at Boston University and co-author, with Dr. Rosalind Barnett of Brandeis, of Same Difference: How Gender Myths Are Hurting Our Relationships, Our Children and Our Jobs (Basic).
Comment on this Article
French public spaces among world's smokiest
AFP
Sept 27, 2006
LYON, France - Cigarette smoke in restaurants, bars and even hospitals makes France's public spaces among the unhealthiest in the world, according to new research released on Wednesday.
In 42 percent of French public spaces, the air quality ranks as "dangerous" due to high smoke concentrations, said the study conducted by the Lyon-based International Centre for Cancer Research and the Roswell Park Cancer Institute.
Only five countries - Syria, Romania, Lebanon, Belgium and Singapore - performed worse, according to the 24-nation study, which looked at bars, restaurants and nightclubs, as well as train stations, airports and hospitals.
Air containing more than 250 microgrammes of fine air particles - most of which come from cigarette smoke - per cubic metre is classed as "dangerous", under standards set by the US Environmental Protection Agency.
In France - where the government is currently considering banning smoking in all public places - tests carried out from September to November 2005 found an average concentration of 380 microgrammes per cubic metre.
Health Minister Xavier Bertrand said Wednesday that a decision would be announced by mid-October on a smoking ban, which could come into force from January 1 following a government decree.
"The question is no longer whether we need a ban, but how and when to introduce it," Bertrand told a parliamentary committee due to report next month on the feasability of a ban.
Under the government's current plans, the public smoking ban could exempt tobacconists, nightclubs and casinos and could also allow for special, non-staffed smoking rooms in bars and cafes.
The French government introduced an anti-smoking law in 1991 that obliges restaurants and other public places to have separate smoking areas. But a recent government report said the law was being "badly applied" and recommended an outright ban.
Although smoking has been successfully stamped out on most forms of public transport and in most offices under the 1991 law, smokers in bars and restaurants have puffed on unperturbed.
But Bertrand said there was a growing consensus on the need to "protect non-smokers, end the forced cohabitation of smokers and non-smokers, to protect workers and customers and also to help those who wish to stop."
If a ban goes ahead, it would follow a trail blazed by Ireland in March 2004, since then imitated by Italy, Malta, Norway, Spain and Sweden. A ban also recently came into force in Scotland, with Northern Ireland, England and Wales to follow in 2007.
Comment on this Article
65 Poisoned in Gas Attack Staged by School Student
Created: 28.09.2006 14:05 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 14:06 MSK
MosNews
A Russian pupil has poisoned 64 schoolchildren and a teacher by spraying teargas in a school lavatory, the NTV television network reports.
Investigators have established that a high school student had sprayed gas in the school toilete just after the cleaning, so the gas interacted with the exhalation of chlorine and made a strong poisoning mixture.
Nine of those poisoned are in serious condition. All other school children were evacuated.
Officials said it was impossible for the rescuers to enter the building without gas-masks.
Comment on this Article
Remember, we need your help to collect information on what is going on in your part of the world!
Send your article suggestions to: sott(at)signs-of-the-times.org