Friday, April 30th
U.S. Forces Turn to Saddam General to End Standoff
FALLUJA, Iraq (Reuters) - U.S. forces turned to a former general in Saddam Hussein's Republican Guard to help end a standoff with guerrillas in Falluja on Friday, but there was no end to violence and another two Marines were killed. story.news.yahoo.comU.S. Abuse of Iraqi Prisoners Inflame ArabsDUBAI (Reuters) - Photos of U.S. soldiers abusing Iraqi prisoners inflamed Arab sentiment, sparking rage, hatred and a grim comparison that U.S. liberators were no better than ousted Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. "Most Arabs said Washington's credibility as the world's leader of democracy and human rights was exposed." "These soldiers are being touted as the saviours of the Iraqi people and America claims to be the moral leader of the world, but they have been caught with their pants down, they have been exposed, the whole world sees them as they really are," said Mahmoud Walid, a 28-year-old Egyptian writer. The CBS News program "60 Minutes II" on Wednesday broadcast photos taken at the Abu Ghraib prison late last year showing U.S. troops abusing some Iraqis held at what was once a notorious center of torture and executions under Saddam. story.news.yahoo.comPhotos showed Iraqi prisoners naked except for hoods covering their heads, stacked in a human pyramid, one with a slur written in English on his skin. That and other scenes of humiliation have led to criminal charges against six American soldiers. Arab television stations were leading their newscasts on Friday with the photos. apnews.myway.com
USA on 04.30.04 @ 03:28 PM CST [ link]
Thursday, April 29th
America is its own worst enemy in Iraq
When a discredited young firebrand cleric outsmarts American administrators and soldiers, you know the occupiers are at sea in the sands of Iraq. No sooner had Moqtada al-Sadr and the Americans got into a standoff two weeks ago than he headed with his militia from Baghdad to the holy city of Najaf. He has been holed up there since, daring the American troops to enter the sacred precincts. But they have not, despite initial declarations that they would. This is a welcome sign, the first in months that the visitors may be learning from their many mistakes. The spectre of Americans invading Najaf has evoked comparisons to past incidents involving violations of the sanctity of sacred places: www.thestar.com
USA on 04.29.04 @ 11:58 PM CST [ link]
Bush, You Lying Sack Of ...
Independent Media TV - Reuters reported yesterday, that Bush said, "I look forward to giving the commissioners a chance to question both of us, and it will be a good opportunity for these people to help write a report that hopefully will help future presidents deal with terrorist threats to the country,". www.independent-media.tv
USA on 04.29.04 @ 11:53 PM CST [ link]
Wednesday, April 28th
The African foundations of New York
The remains of 20,000 African men, women and children have lain beneath the busy streets of New York for 300 years, waiting to tell their stories on the extent of slavery in the city. news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3659397.stm
Africa on 04.28.04 @ 02:42 PM CST [ link]
US opens fire on Europe's GM bans
The US has demanded that the European Union drop its ban on genetically modified crops and pay at least $US1.8 billion ($A2.45 billion) in compensation for its loss of exports over the past six years. The demand is made in papers filed to the World Trade Organisation. The WTO is now facing the biggest case in its history, one that could spark a damaging trade war between the US and Europe and split the international community. www.theage.com.au
USA on 04.28.04 @ 01:19 AM CST [ link]
Tuesday, April 27th
Heavy US air, ground forces pound Falluja
Fierce fighting has erupted in the restive Iraqi city of Falluja as US occupation forces strike the town with warplanes, helicopter gunships, mortar bombs and tanks. Live footage beamed on Aljazeera TV showed the night sky incessantly lit up as strike after strike hit mainly the Golan district of the city on Tuesday. english.aljazeera.netDozens die as US planes strafe NajafU.S. Warplanes Hit Insurgents in Fallujah Intense blasts rock FallujahUS occupiers kills six Shi'as in holy city
USA on 04.27.04 @ 05:57 PM CST [ link]
Former U.N. inspector talks 'real' Iraq policy
Former chief weapons inspector to Iraq Scott Ritter said Wednesday that President Bush created an extremely turbulent situation in Iraq. "President Bush poses the greatest threat to America that we have seen in modern history," Ritter told an audience in the University Union's Potomac Lounge. www.thetowerlight.com
USA on 04.27.04 @ 01:34 PM CST [ link]
Helping Bush bushwhack justice
George Bush's government is trying to persuade the US supreme court to strike down the most progressive and pro-human rights law on the American statute books - a law which allows multinational corporations to be held accountable in the US courts for human rights abuses abroad. It is not particularly surprising that a Republican government with links to big business should be behind such a move. But what has largely escaped notice is that Tony Blair's Labour government is busy cheering it on from the wings. www.guardian.co.uk
USA on 04.27.04 @ 01:30 PM CST [ link]
Mbeki sworn in as South Africa celebrates
Mbeki, whose African National Congress was re-elected in a landslide victory two weeks ago, took the oath on Tuesday at Pretoria's Union Buildings and vowed to bring all South Africans a share in the nation's wealth. "Endemic and widespread poverty continues to disfigure the face of our country. It will always be impossible for us to say that we have fully restored the dignity of all our people as long as this situation persists," he said. Cheers erupted as anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela arrived at the swearing-in ceremony - an echo of the momentous day 10 years ago when he became South Africa's first black president. english.aljazeera.net
Africa on 04.27.04 @ 12:22 PM CST [ link]
Monday, April 26th
Freudian slip: Rice mistakes Bush for husband
Rice's power dinner remark goes down like a puddingWashington: There is a buzz over a comment the US National Security Adviser, Condoleezza Rice, made at an apparently off-the-record Washington power dinner with the publisher of the The New York Times, Arthur Ochs Sulzberger jnr, and other Times people at the home of the newspaper's Washington bureau chief, Philip Taubman. According to an account in New York magazine, Dr Rice said at one point: "As I was telling my husb . . .". then stopped and said: "As I was telling President Bush . . ." Eyebrows jumped; jaws dropped. There was a slight pause in the chatter. While the first phrase was correctly reported, there is a possibility the second one did not immediately follow. In which case, it is not at all clear whom or what Dr Rice, who is single, may have been talking about. Meanwhile, Mr Taubman is said to be put out by the publicity and told everyone to clam up. The Washington Post Source: www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/04/25/1082831438477.html
USA on 04.26.04 @ 04:26 PM CST [ link]
Kerry jumps on Sharon bandwagon
Kerry jumps on Sharon bandwagon in favoring Gaza disengagement plan By Nathan Guttman WASHINGTON - Some two weeks before President Bush warmly received Prime Minister Ariel Sharon at the White House, and declared a shift in U.S. policy toward fundamental issues in the Israel-Palestinian dispute, the Democratic presidential front-runner John Kerry held consultations of his own about the Middle East. The discussions, held in Senator Kerry's home in Massachusetts, involved three former advisers to President Bill Clinton - Dennis Ross, the veteran peace negotiator; Martin Indyk, former U.S. ambassador to Israel; and Sandy Berger, former U.S. national security adviser. Some of those present at this meeting report that Kerry asked to hear his guests' positions concerning the Israel-Palestinian dispute, particularly in light of present realities on the ground and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's disengagement plan. Kerry's preparations notwithstanding, Bush is the leader who set the agenda regarding U.S. support for Israel when he stood alongside Sharon at the White House, and fervently endorsed the disengagement plan. The Washington Post declared immediately after the meeting that Bush had made some headway in the race to win American Jewish support; so Kerry didn't waste a minute, and jumped on the bandwagon, announcing his support for Sharon's plan. www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/419583.html
Admin on 04.26.04 @ 09:32 AM CST [ link]
Saturday, April 24th
Coup d'État Plot, Exposed, Shakes Bolivia
Chile and U.S. Military Officials Balked on March 25th, but Continue Pushing Three Alternate Coup PlansLA PAZ, BOLIVIA, APRIL 17 2004: It wasn’t a secret, but for a while, nobody was paying attention: there are groups plotting to destabilize the government of President Carlos Mesa, that are considering a coup d’etat in order to finalize the sale of Bolivian gas to Chile despite the outpouring of popular will against such a deal expressed in last October’s insurrection. Of course, U.S. government officials have a lot to do with it (beginning with the Viceroy David N. Greenlee, his friends in the CIA, and even officials from the gringo agency USAID). It took a counterintelligence memo, put together by confidential Bolivian and Chilean sources, specifically accusing those foreign companies and politicians – to bring this matter to light. Then Congressman Evo Morales denounced the coup attempt, and the questions began… www.narconews.com/Issue33/article957.html
USA on 04.24.04 @ 11:25 PM CST [ link]
Charade in the Sands. Bush Stashes WMD in Iraq
"I thought it was very interesting that Charlie Duelfer, -- he's the head of the Iraqi Survey Group -- reported some interesting findings from his recent tour there. And one of the things was, he was amazed at how deceptive the Iraqis had been toward UNMOVIC and UNSCOM; deceptive in hiding things. We knew they were hiding things -- a country that hides something is a country that is afraid of getting caught. And that was part of our calculation. Charlie confirmed that. He also confirmed that Saddam had a -- the ability to produce biological and chemical weapons. In other words, he was a danger." President George Bush, April 13 Press Conference "Even knowing what I know today about the stockpiles of weapons, I still would have called upon the world to deal with Saddam Hussein. See, I happen to believe that we'll find out the truth on the weapons. That's why we've sent up the independent commission. I look forward to hearing the truth, exactly where they are. They could still be there. They could be hidden." bellaciao.org/en/article.php3?id_article=786
USA on 04.24.04 @ 08:55 PM CST [ link]
Algeria 1830: Legacy of an Occupation
Nearly 175 years ago, between June 12 and 15, 1830, a French army of around 37,000 men invaded what was at the time known as the Regency of Algiers, the ancient North African "land of the Berbers" which lies across the Mediterranean sea from southern France. Today it is Algeria, an Arab nation-state of some 32 million inhabitants. www.lewrockwell.com/wall/wall24.html
Admin on 04.24.04 @ 07:15 PM CST [ link]
White South Africans fail to win asylum in US
Rory Carroll in Johannesburg
The Guardian A white South African couple have failed to win asylum in the US after judges rejected their plea of persecution on the grounds that post-apartheid South Africa had left them jobless and fearful of crime. Michael and Edith Gormley argued that if deported from the US they risked being mugged and marooned without work because of South Africa's crime wave and its affirmative action policy to boost black employment. A federal appeals court in San Francisco dismissed the asylum application on Thursday, saying the couple had failed to prove they faced persecution. "Substantial evidence supports the conclusion that the Gormleys suffered, at most, what may be perceived as reverse discrimination which resulted in some adverse economic consequences," said Judge Kim McLane Wardlaw, the Associated Press reported. www.guardian.co.uk/southafrica/story/0%2c13262%2c1202275%2c00.html
USA on 04.24.04 @ 12:48 PM CST [ link]
Friday, April 23rd
John Kerry Tries to Out-Bush Bush
Just a few months ago, the candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination were battling for votes in the primaries--and using fiery anti-Bush rhetoric to try to win support. That was then. Now, John Kerry, the lamest of the bunch, has a lock on the nomination--and he’s shed the "fighting for working people" message that he tried on for size in Iowa and New Hampshire for a more comfortable fit. Acting like a carbon copy of George Bush. "I am not a redistribution Democrat," Kerry assured high rollers at a $25,000-a-plate breakfast fundraiser at the posh "21" Club in Manhattan last week. "Fear not. I am not somebody who wants to go back and make the mistakes of the Democratic Party of 20, 25 years ago." www.dissidentvoice.org/April2004/Schulte0422.htm
USA on 04.23.04 @ 07:32 PM CST [ link]
Reflections on the Brain-Rotting Properties of Privilege
To truly understand a nation, a culture, or its people, it helps to know what they take for granted. After all, sometimes the things that go unspoken are more powerful than the spoken word, if for no other reason than the tendency of unspoken assumptions to reinforce core ways of thinking, feeling and acting, without ever having to be verbalized (and thus subjected to challenge) at all. What's more, when people take certain things for granted, anything that goes against the grain of what they perceive as "normal" will tend to stand out like a sore thumb, and invite a hostility that seems reasonable, at least to those dispensing it, precisely because their unspoken assumptions have gone uninterrogated for so long. www.zmag.org/sustainers/content/2004-04/20wise.cfm
USA on 04.23.04 @ 03:12 PM CST [ link]
Thursday, April 22nd
Rwanda: Roots of genocide
APRIL 1994 was a particularly busy month on the African continent. South Africa was busy with its first multi-racial elections which formally ended apartheid. In the Great Lakes region of east-central Africa one of the great tragedies of human history was getting under way in Rwanda. Over the next three months anywhere between 500,000 and 800,000 people were massacred in one of the world's worst cases of genocide. www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20040422/cleisure/cleisure3.html
Caribbean on 04.22.04 @ 08:45 PM CST [ link]
How to read the 'farin press'
WHEN LORD Laro did Foreign Press in 1975, he was speaking about how his country is portrayed by foreign journalists and their penchant for highlighting the negative. I fully understood his sentiment a couple decades later, in our latest go-round of the gas riots. Sure, it was bad, but when I looked Jamaica in the 'farin press' I saw JDF armoured vehicles patrolling a flame-filled street representing the entire country. Which it certainly did not. Unfortunately both local dailies, The Observer and The Gleaner, give us daily doses of the 'farin press' every day, taken directly from the wire services (AP, AFP, Reuters) and slapped on the page. Said 'farin press' presents a view of the world that is representative of the biases of the reporters themselves, as well as their editors, as well as the entire society. www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20040422/cleisure/cleisure4.html
Caribbean on 04.22.04 @ 08:29 PM CST [ link]
Wednesday, April 21st
If Radical Shi'ites Did Not Exist...
...the West would have had to invent them. Well, of course they did. The modern anti-American wave of Shi'ite fundamentalists first appeared on the scene in Iran as a result of the CIA coup that put the Shah in power there. www.rootsie.com/weblog/archives/00000012.htm
USA on 04.21.04 @ 11:41 AM CST [ link]
Tuesday, April 20th
Coalition of the 'Willing' turning into Duet of the Stubborn
US tries to repair Iraq coalition cracks US officials said they were bracing for a possible Thai withdrawal after Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai said it would withdraw its 400 troops if the situation becomes too dangerous. Full ArticleDominican Republic May Pull Out of Iraq SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic - The Dominican Republic will pull its troops out of Iraq early, in the next few weeks, following the lead of Spain and Honduras, Gen. Jose Miguel Soto Jimenez said Tuesday. Full ArticlePoland planning pull-out of troops from IraqPoland is planning to withdraw its troops from Iraq in the coming months, dealing another blow to the US-led coalition forces there. The revelation yesterday by a senior government adviser that Poland's 2,500 soldiers would leave Iraq comes just a day after the new Spanish Prime Minister, Mr José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, announced the pull-out of Spanish troops "as soon as possible". President Bush reacted to the Spanish decision by accusing Mr Zapatero yesterday of giving "false comfort to terrorists \ enemies of freedom in Iraq". Full ArticleHonduras to Pull Troops Soon from IraqTEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (Reuters) - In a blow to President Bush and his coalition partners in Iraq, Honduras on Monday followed Spain in announcing it will pull its troops out of the country. "I have told the coalition countries that the troops are going to return from Iraq," President Ricardo Maduro said in a speech on national television and radio. "I have ordered... the carrying out of the decision taken in the shortest possible time and under safe conditions for our troops." Full Article
USA on 04.20.04 @ 09:21 PM CST [ more..]
Monday, April 19th
World condemns Israel's action
Israel's assassination of yet another Palestinian spokesman has caused consternation and condemnation from around the world. In a public statement released on Sunday, European Union foreign affairs chief Javier Solana said he was at a complete loss as to the benefit of the assassination and was unable to see any positive outcome. "Actions of this type are not only unlawful, they cannot be conducive to lowering tension." UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said that "extrajudicial killings are violations of international law" and called on Tel Aviv to immediately end the illegal practice. english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/D87AF827-941C-44A8-9C11-DDA53E72756F.htm
USA on 04.19.04 @ 01:20 AM CST [ link]
Sunday, April 18th
Eleven more U.S. troops die in Iraq
Spain to withdraw troops 'in the shortest time possible'BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- U.S. troop deaths in Iraq reached 700, with 504 killed in combat, on Sunday as the military added 11 American casualties to the war's death toll. Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, meanwhile, said Sunday that he will withdraw Spanish troops from Iraq "in the shortest time possible." www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/04/18/iraq.main/index.htmlNew Spanish Prime Minister Orders Troops Withdrawn From Iraq As Soon As Possible
USA on 04.18.04 @ 05:57 PM CST [ link]
Saturday, April 17th
US troops have carried out a massacre in Falluja
by Ronan Bennett What does it take to get a New Labour politician to speak out on Iraq? I'm not talking about the likes of Blair, Hoon and Straw - key players so deeply implicated in the cruel tragedy of conquest and occupation that they have no option but to stay the course, even as it spirals into slaughter and chaos. But there are ministers and backbenchers with a history of commitment to human rights. What does it take to shock them out of their baffling silence? www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1193948,00.html
USA on 04.17.04 @ 05:52 PM CST [ link]
Iraq Is A War Of National Liberation
April 16, 2004 by the New Statesman/UKInvaders have Ripped Up the Fabric of a Nation that Survived Saddam Hussein. This is a War of Liberation and We Are the Enemy by John Pilger Four years ago, I traveled the length of Iraq, from the hills where St Matthew is buried in the Kurdish north to the heartland of Mesopotamia, and Baghdad, and the Shia south. I have seldom felt as safe in any country. Once, in the Edwardian colonnade of Baghdad's book market, a young man shouted something at me about the hardship his family had been forced to endure under the embargo imposed by America and Britain. What happened next was typical of Iraqis; a passer-by calmed the man, putting his arm around his shoulder, while another was quickly at my side. "Forgive him," he said reassuringly. "We do not connect the people of the west with the actions of their governments. You are welcome."
USA on 04.17.04 @ 12:01 PM CST [ more..]
Friday, April 16th
GM soya 'miracle' turns sour in Argentina
Paul Brown, environment correspondent
The GuardianSeven years after GM soya was introduced to Argentina as an economic miracle for poor farmers, researchers claim it is causing an environmental crisis, damaging soil bacteria and allowing herbicide-resistant weeds to grow out of control. Soya has become the cash crop for half of Argentina's arable land, more than 11m hectares (27m acres), most situated on fragile pampas lands on the vast plains. After Argentina's economic collapse, soya became a vital cash export providing cattle feed for Europe and elsewhere. Now researchers fear that the heavy reliance on one crop may bring economic ruin. The GM soya, grown and sold by Monsanto, is the company's great success story. Programmed to be resistant to Roundup, Monsanto's patented glyphosate herbicide, soya's production increased by 75% over five years to 2002 and yields increased by 173%, raising £3bn profits for farmers hard-hit financially. However, a report in New Scientist magazine says that because of problems with the crops, farmers are now using twice as much herbicide as in conventional systems. www.guardian.co.uk/gmdebate/Story/0%2c2763%2c1192869%2c00.html
Admin on 04.16.04 @ 06:30 PM CST [ link]
Dark Matter?
By Chris Floyd
Friday, Apr. 9, 2004 This summer, the human race will pass a sinister milestone. It will come quietly, creeping like a thief in the night -- a starless night, the sky blanked by a minatory shadow. For while the world's attention will be turned this July toward the bloody carnage erupting in Iraq after the illusory turnover of "sovereignty" by the still-entrenched occupation force, and riveted by the flood of sewage pouring from the White House as the presidential campaign reaches critical mass, the United States will break a long-held taboo and launch the first weapon into the global commons of outer space.
USA on 04.16.04 @ 01:05 AM CST [ more..]
Thursday, April 15th
CNN to Al Jazeera: Why Report Civilian Deaths?
www.fair.orgAs the casualties mount in the besieged Iraqi city of Fallujah, Qatar-based Al Jazeera has been one of the only news networks broadcasting from the inside, relaying images of destruction and civilian victims-- including women and children. But when CNN anchor Daryn Kagan interviewed the network's editor-in-chief, Ahmed Al-Sheik, on Monday (4/12/04)-- a rare opportunity to get independent information about events in Fallujah-- she used the occasion to badger Al-Sheik about whether the civilian deaths were really "the story" in Fallujah.
USA on 04.15.04 @ 08:55 PM CST [ more..]
Wednesday, April 14th
U.S., France Block UN Probe of Aristide Ouster
by Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS - The United States and France have intimidated Caribbean countries into delaying an official request for a probe into the murky circumstances under which Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide was ousted from power in February, according to diplomatic sources here. The two veto-wielding permanent members of the 15-nation Security Council have signaled to Caribbean nations that they do not want a U.N. probe of Aristide's ouster. Any attempts to bring the issue or even introduce a resolution before the Security Council will either be blocked or vetoed by both countries, council sources told IPS. www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0413-08.htm
USA on 04.14.04 @ 05:10 PM CST [ link]
Chomsky and Parenti: Buying into the Neoliberal Shell Game
by Kurt Nimmo, www.kurtnimmo.comRemarkably, I still receive email from people who tell me it will be "irresponsible" to vote for Nader over Kerry, or to not vote at all because there is absolutely no choice, the race is rigged, it's a neoliberal shell game. This "irresponsibility" charge is not only irritating, it displays a truly amazing degree of stupidity and, dare I say it, brainwashing. The ABB ("Anybody But Bush") folks have jettisoned their principles simply to get rid of Bush, a tragic mistake since Kerry will continue Bush's policies, especially his foreign policy.
USA on 04.14.04 @ 02:01 PM CST [ more..]
Tuesday, April 13th
New Reports on U.S. Planting WMDs in Iraq
April 13, 2004 Mehr News Agency (Tehran, Iran) BASRA -– Fifty days after the first reports that the U.S. forces were unloading weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in southern Iraq, new reports about the movement of these weapons have been disclosed. Sources in Iraq speculate that occupation forces are using the recent unrest in Iraq to divert attention from their surreptitious shipments of WMD into the country. An Iraqi source close to the Basra Governor’s Office told the MNA that new information shows that a large part of the WMD, which was secretly brought to southern and western Iraq over the past month, are in containers falsely labeled as containers of the Maeresk shipping company and some consignments bearing the labels of organizations such as the Red Cross or the USAID in order to disguise them as relief shipments. The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, added that Iraqi officials including forces loyal to the Iraqi Governing Council stationed in southern Iraq have been forbidden from inspecting or supervising the transportation of these consignments. He went on to say that the occupation forces have ordered Iraqi officials to forward any questions on the issue to the coalition forces. Even the officials of the international relief organizations have informed the Iraqi officials that they would only accept responsibility for relief shipments which have been registered and managed by their organizations. Full ArticleHuman Rights Watch: Probe Needed Into US Action in Falluja
Admin on 04.13.04 @ 10:19 PM CST [ link]
US pledge to arrest or kill Shia cleric
The US military last night vowed to "kill or capture" a radical Shia cleric who led an uprising against the occupation authorities, despite warnings that it would unleash yet more violent unrest. "The mission of US forces is to kill or capture Moqtada al-Sadr," said Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez, America's most senior general in Iraq. His threat comes despite concerted efforts by leading Iraqi politicians to negotiate a deal between the authorities and Mr Sadr, 30, whose forces in the past week have led rebellions in Baghdad and towns across southern Iraq. www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1190776,00.htmlAmericans Slaughtering Civilians in FallujahFlashback:Israel Says It Will Kill Hamas' Leaders March 23, 2004 JERUSALEM – Israel will strike at more leaders of Hamas, the Israeli defense minister said Tuesday, a day after the founder of the Islamic militant group, Sheik Ahmed Yassin, was assassinated in a missile attack. www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2004/3/23/92356.shtml
USA on 04.13.04 @ 10:46 AM CST [ link]
Monday, April 12th
Rice Whine
by Tracy Thompson KhanIf the Olympics were to introduce the sport of verbal tap dancing, Condoleezza Rice would surely take the gold medal. Behind her thickly-polished composure lie the vague, rhetorical, lengthy, evasive, redundant answers of the guilty: in this case, of an administration that is guilty of not performing a very important duty - the duty of protecting the security of its country. Dr Rice stated last week that there was no silver bullet that could have prevented the 9/11 attacks. But to kill a vampire with a silver bullet, you have to be able to identify the vampire, which, in this case, no one has done so far. The choices offered - that the vampire is Osama bin Laden, or Saddam Hussein, or Al-Qaeda, or Afghanistan, or Iraq, or Islam - are neither satisfying nor correct. www.jang.com.pk/thenews/apr2004-daily/12-04-2004/oped/o2.htmBush's newest 9/11 excuse: President says he thought FBI, CIA were on the caseWASHINGTON - President Bush defended himself yesterday against allegations that he did not act urgently enough after being briefed about terrorists operating in the United States a month before the Sept. 11 attacks, saying he believed that the FBI and the CIA were pursuing the situation. www.smirkingchimp.com/print.php?sid=15739
USA on 04.12.04 @ 10:43 PM CST [ link]
Sunday, April 11th
They Knew!!
by RootsieSo let's see. They knew he bombed the WTC in 1993 and regarded that job as unfinished. They knew he plaaned attacks years in advance. They knew about Tanzania, Kenya, and the Cole. The FBI was telling him there were suspicious guys in Arizona and Minnesota taking flight lessons. They knew he had people in the United States. They knew he wanted to retaliate on Washington for the 1998 bombings of Afghanistan, and they knew people were casing buildings in New York. Thanks to the Minnesota FBI agent/whistle-blower we know that local FBI was told by Washington to leave them alone. How can they say now that they needed TIME to formulate a strategy? Come on, this was their strategy: at the very least to allow the attacks to happen so they could pursue their agenda in Afghanistan and Iraq. And maybe more. What is the personal relationship between Bush and Bin Laden? Transcript: Bin Laden determined to strike in USA Fiery Ex-Congresswoman Hopes to Make a Comeback
Rootsie on 04.11.04 @ 01:38 PM CST [ link]
Blood and sand - one year later
By Raffique Shah, www.trinicenter.com/RaffiqueONE year in today's global village that we call the world, what with communications being almost instant, seems almost like a nanosecond. In fact the latter term is itself a by-product of modern communications technology that illustrates the speed at which we can access information. Today, those who own and control the finest in modern technology-from "smart bombs" to "video conferencing"-have also grown to fear the very wizardry they have helped create.
Caribbean on 04.11.04 @ 03:16 AM CST [ more..]
Here We Go Again
By Rootsie, www.rootsie.comHere we are again. A quagmire. It could be 1964, but it's so much worse. The United States versus a billion Arabs. Like 1964, an election year. Neither party with the political will, neither candidate with the simple integrity to say "We made a mistake. It's time to get out of there." The pretext for this war was to 'free the Iraqi people.' No need to say what a crock that is, but even on that basis the United States has failed. What lies ahead for Iraq is a ghastly civil war and, at the end, a fundamentalist Shi'ite state. Moderates in the Islamic world have had the rug pulled out from under them, and are really in an impossible situation. They are already pulling out of the 'interim government.' How could it possibly be in the Shi'ites' interest to share power three ways with the Kurds and Sunnis when they comprise 80% of Iraq's population? How can moderate Shi'ites stand with any moral or political authority when they are perceived as shills for the Americans?
USA on 04.11.04 @ 02:22 AM CST [ more..]
Saturday, April 10th
Iraq's Tet Offensive?
Closer to the Brink of Cosmic Disaster?By Ron JacobsOn February 27, 1968, CBS anchorman Walter Cronkite spoke the words I've used in the title of this piece during a commentary on the US war in Vietnam. This commentary came at the end of a month of fierce fighting between US troops and Vietnamese troops opposed to their presence in that country. This month opened with countrywide attacks that included an assault on the US Embassy in Saigon and a siege of US troops in the north of Vietnam's southern half. Although military historians continue to debate whether the US or the North Vietnamese and NLF won this series of battles, politically inclined historians are almost unanimous in their consensus that the Vietnamese opposition won the political fight.
USA on 04.10.04 @ 10:01 AM CST [ more..]
Friday, April 9th
Unrest in Mosul
by Firas al-Atraqchi, www.yellowtimes.orgCAIRO (NFTF.org) -- Arab media is reporting that several U.S. interests have come under attack in the northern Sunni Arab city of Mosul. Apparently, a 7pm curfew has been slapped on the city. While the number of dead has reached 460 and 1000 wounded in Fallujah, Sunni clerics around the Muslim world are calling on Sunnis and Shia to unite and resist the occupation. Islam experts point to the overwhelming support the Shia in Iraq have been receiving from the normally indifferent Sunni hierarchy in the Middle East. On Friday, Iranian cleric Ali Hashemi Rafsanjani voiced his support for the Shia uprising and the Iraqi people in their struggle.
USA on 04.09.04 @ 07:32 PM CST [ link]
Practice to Deceive
Chaos in the Middle East is not the Bush hawks' nightmare scenario
--it's their plan. By Joshua Micah Marshall Imagine it's six months from now. The Iraq war is over. After an initial burst of joy and gratitude at being liberated from Saddam's rule, the people of Iraq are watching, and waiting, and beginning to chafe under American occupation. Across the border, in Syria, Saudi Arabia, and Iran, our conquering presence has brought street protests and escalating violence. The United Nations and NATO are in disarray, so America is pretty much on its own. www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2003/0304.marshall.html
USA on 04.09.04 @ 02:25 PM CST [ link]
Thursday, April 8th
Bush Knew, But Failed to Act
Rice (and the Record) Proves ItBy Wayne MadsenCondoleezza Rice's testimony before the 911 Commission on April 8 provided yet more proof that the Bush administration and some within the intelligence community were aware before 911 of specific domestic terrorist threats by Al Qaeda cells operating within the United States. Many of those who watched Bush's impassive reaction on television the morning of 911 to being told by his Chief of Staff Andy Card during a visit to the Emma Booker Elementary School in Sarasota, Florida that two planes had struck the World Trade Center towers were genuinely puzzled by the president's unusual facial response. The 911 Commission hearings may have stumbled on to the reason for the ho hum reaction -- that the attacks came as no real surprise to Bush. In fact, in answer to a question by Richard Ben Veniste, the former Watergate committee counsel, Rice confirmed that the August 6, 2001, President's Daily Brief (PDB), which the White House had steadfastly refused to release to either the Commission of the public, was titled "Bin Laden Determined to Attack Inside the United States.'' She added that the PDB included information on the FBI field offices pursuing "70 full-field investigations" of Al Qaeda cells in the United States. "I don't remember the Al Qaeda cells as being something that we were told we needed to do something about," Rice testified to the Commission.
USA on 04.08.04 @ 07:45 PM CST [ more..]
Shiites Say No: Another "Nightmare Scenario"
By Gary Leupp, www.counterpunch.org
April 5, 2004Grotesque images from Fallujah---of charred, butchered flesh framed with jubilant children's faces---remind the world that the Sunni Triangle is a dangerous place for Americans. Elsewhere, events in the hitherto quiescent Shiite south bode badly, too, for the occupation. The chief Shiite cleric, Ayatollah Ali Sistani, opposes the interim constitution, approved by the Interim Governing Council under Paul Bremer's guidance. He may issue a fatwa against it, and against participation in the still-shapeless regime that might "assume power" after the "restoration of sovereignty" by June 30. Sistani refuses to meet with occupation officials, whose authority he rejects. Meanwhile firebrand junior cleric Moqtada Sadr lashes out at the occupation, and frankly embraces Hamas and Hizbollah. He knows the occupiers consider these Palestinian and Lebanese groups "terrorist" and will likely tar him with the same brush. He's throwing down a gauntlet. He sees his newspaper closed down for 60 days by the Coalition Provisional Authority---on their (rejected) authority which, to but it mildly, has dubious legal basis. Then foreigners take Sadr's top aide, Mustafa al-Yaacubi, into detention.
USA on 04.08.04 @ 03:17 PM CST [ more..]
A Call for an Exit Door from Iraq
by Senator Robert Byrd
Senate Floor Remarks I have watched with heavy heart and mounting dread as the ever-precarious battle to bring security to post-war Iraq has taken a desperate turn for the worse in recent days and hours. Along with so many Americans, I have been shaken by the hellish carnage in Fallujah and the violent uprisings in Baghdad and elsewhere. The pictures have been the stuff of nightmares, with bodies charred beyond recognition and dragged through the streets of cheering citizens. And in the face of such daunting images and ominous developments, I have wondered anew at the President's stubborn refusal to admit mistakes or express any misgivings over America's unwarranted intervention in Iraq. During the past weekend, the death toll among America's military personnel in Iraq topped 600 -- including as many as 20 American soldiers killed in one three-day period of fierce fighting. Many of the dead, most perhaps, were mere youngsters, just starting out on the great adventure of life. But before they could realize their dreams, they were called into battle by their Commander in Chief, a battle that we now know was predicated on faulty intelligence and wildly exaggerated claims of looming danger.
Admin on 04.08.04 @ 10:46 AM CST [ more..]
Fighting is fierce in Iraq
Fighting is fierce in Iraq as clashes spread Alliance troops in Iraq were locked in the fiercest fighting Wednesday since the fall of Saddam Hussein a year ago, waging a two-front war against Sunni Muslim insurgents west of Baghdad and a fast-spreading Shiite uprising in the south and center of the country. Shiite militants control some Iraq citiesUp to three southern Iraq cities are under at least partial control by the followers of a radical Shiite cleric this morning. But the top U.S. general in Iraq is vowing their hold will soon be broken by an operation called Resolute Sword. 40 die as US bombs mosque in IraqUS Marines in the third day of a battle to pacify Fallujah fired rockets that hit a mosque compound filled with worshippers on Wednesday, and witnesses said as many as 40 people were killed. Violence spread to key cities in Iraq.
Admin on 04.08.04 @ 09:39 AM CST [ more..]
Wednesday, April 7th
Kerry Indicates He Would Continue Bush's Pro-Sharon Policy
Lately, Senator John Kerry has been reassuring voters that he will be as pro-Israel as President Bush. He has expressed his support for Sharon's policy of unilateral disengagement, building of the so-called security barrier and the political isolation of Yasser Arafat. The candidate's present position toward Middle East peace contradicts his past support of the Oslo peace process and provides a surprising contrast to his views when he was a young anti-war leader in the early '70s. electronicintifada.net/v2/article2568.shtml
Admin on 04.07.04 @ 07:37 PM CST [ link]
Thoughts on the ANC and Leftists for Kerry
Communists for CapitalismBy Stephen Gowans, www3.sympatico.ca/sr.gowansTen years ago this month, Agnes Sehole, a black South African cast a ballot for the first time. Like millions of others, she voted for the African National Congress, the ANC. "I had my hopes to live a better life [1]," she recalls. Swept into power, the ANC, backed by the South African Communist Party and a coalition of trade unions, set out to fulfil Sehole's hopes. But in the end, the only hopes they fulfilled were those of South Africa's corporations, global investors, and the white minority. The dreams of the black majority for a better life were dashed. "I curse the day that I voted on the 27th of April, 1994," Sehole says. "From the frying pan right into the fire. If I died now, I would spin in my coffin forever because I have left my children in this terrible place [2]."
Admin on 04.07.04 @ 11:02 AM CST [ more..]
Robert Mugabe and the Human Rights Imperialists
By Stephen Gowans, www3.sympatico.ca/sr.gowans
September 22, 2003Amir Attaran and Craig Jones say Canada's Attorney-General Martin Cauchon should indict Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe for crimes against humanity. Attaran is a lawyer and associate fellow at the Royal Institute of International Affairs in London. Jones is a lawyer in private practice in Vancouver. The two lawyers are emblematic of a large group of NGO's, human rights organizations and progressives in Canada, the US and the UK, who want something done about foreign leaders accused of committing crimes against humanity. But the high dudgeon of these groups seems to fall heavily on leaders of small and weak countries that resist integration into the US dominated capitalist system, and to fall less heavily on human rights abusers who preside over privately owned economies. And their attention almost never falls on deserving figures closer to home.
Admin on 04.07.04 @ 11:00 AM CST [ more..]
Prober: I knew in days U.S. 'wrong' on WMD
By James Gordon Meek, Daily News Washington Bureau WASHINGTON - The CIA's former weapons hunter in Iraq realized within days of arriving in Baghdad last summer that dictator Saddam Hussein was no longer stockpiling a banned arsenal, according to a new report. David Kay, with whom the Bush administration placed its hopes of finding Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction, sent a startling E-mail to CIA Director George Tenet in early July 2003.
Admin on 04.07.04 @ 09:56 AM CST [ more..]
Iraq: The "People's War" is Just Beginning
The death and mutilation of 4 American 'private contractors' in Falluja and the subsequent rising of the Shiites suggests the insurgency has taken another step toward people's war. Iraqis indicate the violence in Faluja was in retaliation for the First Marine Expeditionary Force's attacks last week on the Fallujans to "put them in their place." While the Marines did not intervene yesterday to halt the carnage, fearing an ambush, the American high command has indicated "we will pacify that city." The Shiite uprising was caused by the U.S. occupation authority’s closing of a Shiite newspaper for printing allegedly false stories and the arrest of a militant cleric's chief aide. Only a little over a year ago, neo-conservative pundits were assuring the American people that the overthrow of Saddam Hussein and the occupation of Iraq would be a piece of cake. (General Eric Shenseki was sacked from the Army for suggesting otherwise.) www.independent.org/tii/news/040406Marina.html
Admin on 04.07.04 @ 08:33 AM CST [ link]
A World Without African (Black) People
Unfortunately, there is an overt tendency by Trinbagonians of African descent (and maybe others) to denigrate, devalue and demean any and everything African. In fact, over the past five hundred years, Euro-centric scholarship, albeit Eurocentrism, has sought to convince the world that nothing came out of Mother Africa but defenceless, powerless slaves and that the inhabitants of this continent were uncivilized, barbaric, primitive cannibals---non-human beings. Full Article: www.rastaspeaks.com/articles/2004/0704.html
Trini on 04.07.04 @ 08:10 AM CST [ link]
Tuesday, April 6th
Israel's Latin American trail of terror
By Jeremy Bigwood, June 05 2003"I learned an infinite amount of things in Israel, and to that country I owe part of my essence, my human and military achievements" said Colombian paramilitary leader and indicted drug trafficker Carlos Castao in his ghostwritten autobiography, Mi Confesin. Castao, who leads the Colombian paramilitaries, known by their Spanish acronym AUC, the largest right-wing paramilitary force to ever exist in the western hemisphere reveals that he was trained in the arts of war in Israel as a young man of 18 in the 1980s. He glowingly adds: "I copied the concept of paramilitary forces from the Israelis," in his chapter-long account of his Israel experiences. Full Article: english.aljazeera.net
Admin on 04.06.04 @ 08:41 PM CST [ link]
Rita named Ghana's 'Person of the Year'
By Germaine Smith, www.jamaica-gleaner.comRITA MARLEY has been honoured by the Ghanaian government with the official title of 'Tourism Personality of the Year 2003'. The accolade, considered as one of the highest awards within the tourism industry, was given to her last month in recognition of her years of sustained work in the African country. The majority of the work she has done has centred on improving the social infrastructure of Ghana, in particular, Konkonuru, the village where she has been living. Full Article: www.jamaica-gleaner.com
Caribbean on 04.06.04 @ 02:36 PM CST [ link]
Condoleezza's Crimes
www.blackcommentator.comAlthough the 9/11 Commission will not lay a glove on her, Condoleezza Rice is finished as a Black political asset of the White Man's (War) Party. Colin Powell, a much smarter and cagier opportunist, will likely escape this administration still clutching his devalued aura, having hoarded some small measure of political capital for himself. This is not true for Condoleezza Rice. Her complete and abject identification with her master leaves Rice with nothing of her own to claim. "Don't write her political epitaph yet," says commentator Earl Ofari Hutchinson. If Hutchinson means that Rice will always have a job with the Bush family (she served the father, too) or with Chevron-Texaco Oil (where she worked between Bushes), then we agree. Rice's selfless renderings to the white and wealthy have earned her a lifetime of…more of the same. Should she crack under the weight of her own and her masters' lies – as sometimes seems imminent – there is a commodious attic in one of the Bush domiciles where "Condi" can be safely stored.
USA on 04.06.04 @ 10:54 AM CST [ more..]
On the brink of anarchy in Iraq
The Bush administration was last night facing a nightmare scenario in Iraq, fighting on two fronts against Sunni and Shia militants less than three months before it is due to hand over power to an Iraqi government. Facing a critical moment in the effort to pacify the country, President George Bush vowed he would not budge from his June 30 deadline for the transition to self-rule, while US forces in Iraq opted for a high-risk strategy of attempting to crush both insurgent groups simultaneously. Full Article: www.guardian.co.uk
USA on 04.06.04 @ 10:40 AM CST [ link]
Powell to set Caricom's Agenda?
Powell pledges to help Latortue on Caricom recognitionSays probe of Aristide's ouster would serve no purposePORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - US Secretary of State Colin Powell pledged yesterday to help Haiti's interim government gain recognition by the Caribbean Community and insisted that no useful purpose would be served by Caricom's call for an international investigation into circumstances under which President Jean-Bertrand Aristide left Haiti on February 29. Full Article: www.jamaicaobserver.com
Caribbean on 04.06.04 @ 09:38 AM CST [ link]
Monday, April 5th
A Young Radical's Anti-U.S. Wrath Is Unleashed
by Jeffrey Gettleman BAGHDAD, Iraq — For months, as American occupation authorities have focused on a moderate Shiite leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, a radical young Shiite cleric named Moktada al-Sadr has been spewing invective and threatening a widespread insurrection. On Sunday, he unleashed it. At his word, thousands of disciples, wearing green headbands and carrying automatic rifles, stormed into the streets of several cities and set off the most widespread mayhem of the occupation. Witnesses and occupation officials said the disciples occupied police stations, fired rocket-propelled grenades at American troops and overran government security in Kufa, the town in south central Iraq where Mr. Sadr lives. "The occupation is over!" many yelled. "We are now controlled by Sadr!" www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0405-03.htm The U.S. is Sabotaging Stability in Iraqby Naomi Klein BAGHDAD -- I heard the sound of freedom yesterday in Baghdad's Firdos Square, the famous plaza where the statue of Saddam Hussein was toppled one year ago. It sounds like machine-gun fire. On Sunday, Iraqi soldiers, trained and controlled by coalition forces, opened fire on demonstrators here, forcing the emergency evacuation of the nearby Sheraton and Palestine hotels. As demonstrators returned to their homes in the poor neighborhood of Sadr City, the U.S. army followed with tanks and helicopters. As night fell, there were unconfirmed reports of dozens of casualties. In Najaf, the day was equally bloody: 19 demonstrators dead, more than 150 injured. http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0405-07.htm
USA on 04.05.04 @ 08:24 PM CST [ link]
U.S. Exploring Corruption Case for Aristide
www.nytimes.comPORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Secretary of State Colin L. Powell said today that American judicial authorities are looking into prosecuting the former Haitian president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, on corruption charges. Full Article
USA on 04.05.04 @ 06:13 PM CST [ link]
US forces attack Baghdad district
United States forces attacked armed Shiite Muslim groups in Baghdad and sealed off the town of Fallujah on Monday after dozens of people died in mounting opposition to their year-old military occupation of Iraq. Apache helicopters sprayed fire on units of the Mehdi Army, the private militia of Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr. City under siege after violence Troops clash with Shias
USA on 04.05.04 @ 05:05 PM CST [ link]
Sinking in their own spin
According to a new book by Paul Rutherford, Weapons of Mass Persuasion, there are 20,000 more public relations experts in the United States doctoring the news than there are journalists trying to write it. Information straight out of the spin dryer is bad news for democracy. When citizens get their take on reality from fiendishly choreographed news conferences, press releases, slick videos, and other one-sided tools of mass-marketing, truth is usually the first casualty. The measure of success is not whether the spin conveys good information, but whether it makes a sale, a convert, a self-interested point. www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/Columnists
USA on 04.05.04 @ 04:58 PM CST [ link]
France 'sought secret UN deal' in bid to avert row
The French government offered a surprise compromise to the US president, George Bush, in the run-up to the war in Iraq, according to a detailed investigation published in Vanity Fair this week. The report undermines the public perception of France standing resolutely against the US and Britain in the United Nations security council as the two countries tried to win a second resolution in support of war. www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1185847,00.html
USA on 04.05.04 @ 04:57 PM CST [ link]
Sunday, April 4th
Senator: More U.S. Troops May Be Needed in Iraq
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States may need to bolster its troop presence in Iraq and extend the deadline for transfer to Iraqi rule, amid an insurgency that could lead to civil war, a leading Republican lawmaker said on Sunday. story.news.yahoo.com/news
USA on 04.04.04 @ 03:02 PM CST [ link]
Blair told US was targeting Saddam 'just days after 9/11'
George Bush asked for Tony Blair's backing to remove Saddam Hussein from power just nine days after the 11 September attacks, over a private dinner at the White House, a US magazine reported last night. Sir Christopher Meyer, the former British ambassador to Washington, was at the dinner table as Mr Blair replied that he would rather concentrate on ousting the Taliban and restoring peace in Afghanistan. In a 25,000-word article in this month's American edition of Vanity Fair, Sir Christopher recounts Mr Bush as responding: "I agree with you Tony. We must deal with this first. But when we have dealt with Afghanistan, we must come back to Iraq." Mr Blair, Sir Christopher writes, "said nothing to demur" at the prospect. news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/story.jsp?story=508178
USA on 04.04.04 @ 11:11 AM CST [ link]
Powell Blames C.I.A. for Error on Iraq Mobile Labs
WASHINGTON - Secretary of State Colin L. Powell said Friday that he had had assurances from the intelligence community that one of the principal charges he made in a speech to the United Nations last year - that Iraq had mobile weapons laboratories - had been multisourced and was solid at the time. www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0403-02.htm
USA on 04.04.04 @ 01:18 AM CST [ link]
Saturday, April 3rd
U.S. looking at Aristide's possible role in drug trade
Deposed Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide is now the subject of a U.S. drug investigation, law enforcement sources say, and his record is also under scrutiny in Haiti. www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/8344707.htm
USA on 04.03.04 @ 10:26 PM CST [ link]
America's privatised armies are here to stay
On Wednesday four employees of a Blackwater unit - all of them former US military Special Operations personnel - were killed in the Iraqi city of Falluja, their bodies mutilated and dragged through the streets by chanting crowds. The scene shocked Americans. But it also shed light on the rapidly growing and loosely regulated industry of private paramilitary firms that are replacing government troops in conflicts from South America to Africa to the Middle East. www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/04/02/1080544691675.html
USA on 04.03.04 @ 04:05 PM CST [ link]
Friday, April 2nd
RWANDA: Census finds 937,000 died in genocide
IRIN KIGALI, 2 Apr 2004 (IRIN) - A census carried out by Rwanda's Ministry of Youth, Culture and Sports found that 937,000 Tutsi and politically moderate Hutus died during the 1994 genocide, an official announced on Thursday. "These are the people who died during the 100 days [April-June 1994] of mayhem and who we were able to find out their names, age and their places of birth," Robert Bayigamba, the minister for youth, culture and sports, said at a news conference in the capital, Kigali.
USA on 04.02.04 @ 09:27 PM CST [ more..]
U.S. Expands Fingerprinting of Foreign Visitors
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Thousands of visitors from 27 U.S. allies, including Britain, Japan and Australia, will be fingerprinted and photographed on arrival in the United States to tighten border security, U.S. officials said on Friday. story.news.yahoo.com/news
USA on 04.02.04 @ 09:22 PM CST [ link]
US Warns of Potential Attack on Transport in Summer
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Bombs hidden in luggage could be used in a plot to attack buses and railways in major American cities this summer, U.S. security authorities said on Friday. story.news.yahoo.com/news
USA on 04.02.04 @ 09:20 PM CST [ link]
Wherever Bush Goes, Osama is Bound to Follow
By Kurt Nimmo, www.kurtnimmo.comIt's almost laughable the way our corporate media reads the shadowy presence of al-Qaeda into nearly every terrorist incident around the world. I said almost. Fact is, the often absurd claims made by Fox News, CNN, and other alphabet corporate news organizations effectively demonstrate how eagerly a supposedly free press has bought into the preposterous idea of an international Islamic terrorist network symbolized by Osama bin Laden and his intrepid cave dwellers with satellite phones.
USA on 04.02.04 @ 06:10 PM CST [ more..]
Papers prove US knew of genocide in Rwanda
by Rory Carroll
April 1, 2004, www.smh.com.auUS president Bill Clinton's administration knew Rwanda was being engulfed by genocide in April 1994 but buried the information to justify its inaction, classified documents made available for the first time reveal. Senior officials privately used the word genocide within 16 days of the start of the killings, but chose not to do so publicly because the president had already decided not to intervene. Intelligence reports obtained using the US Freedom of Information Act show the cabinet and almost certainly the president knew of a planned "final solution to eliminate all Tutsis" before the slaughter reached its peak. It took Hutu death squads three months from April 6 to murder about 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus and at each stage accurate, detailed reports were reaching Washington policymakers. The documents undermine claims by Mr Clinton and his officials that they did not fully appreciate the scale and speed of the killings. www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/03/31/1080544556703.html
USA on 04.02.04 @ 09:48 AM CST [ link]
Thursday, April 1st
'Blood Diamonds' Still Sold by U.S. Retailers
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Major U.S. and international retailers that sell diamond jewelry are failing to follow through on promises to prevent the trade in so-called 'conflict diamonds' that have fueled civil war and violence in several African nations, according to a new report released at this week's annual meeting of the World Diamond Council (WDC) in Dubai. The report by British-based Global Witness found that of 30 retailers in four major U.S. cities, salespeople in only four that were visited by the group's undercover investigators were well informed about their company's policy and system of warranties to ensure that they did not sell conflict diamonds.
USA on 04.01.04 @ 07:42 PM CST [ link]
U.S. Turns to Mercenaries
WASHINGTON - The four "civilians" killed, burned, and dragged through the streets of Fallujah, Iraq, on Wednesday morning weren't really civilians. Or were they? They were employees of Blackwater Security Consulting, a rural North Carolina subsidiary of Blackwater USA, one of several dozen firms taking over the duties of the regular American military in Iraq, protecting buildings and grounds as well as officials. www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0401-14.htm
USA on 04.01.04 @ 06:56 PM CST [ link]
Haiti's Army Turns Back the Clock
By Charles Arthur, www.haitisupport.gn.apc.orgIt didn't take long for the new order in Haiti to reveal itself. The day after President Aristide 'left' for exile, 34 union members at the Ouanaminthe garment assembly factory run by the Dominican Grupo M company, were fired. The next morning, when the 600-strong workforce decided to strike, a group of armed men launched a violent attack. Some unionists were handcuffed, many others were beaten up, and the workers were forced back inside the factory. The aggressors were members of the so-called rebel force, fresh from their victory over the government of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. They said they had been called to the factory by management, to deal with workers "causing trouble".
Haiti on 04.01.04 @ 04:37 PM CST [ more..]
Richard Clarke: CFR Insider, Darling du Jour for Liberals
by Kurt Nimmo
March 27, 2004; www.kurtnimmo.com Clarke "served" the last three presidents as a senior White House Advisor, as Special Assistant to the President for Global Affairs, National Coordinator for Security and Counter-Terrorism, and Special Advisor to the President for Cyber Security. In other words, there is not a lick of difference between Bush Junior, Clinton, and Bush the Elder. Clarke is a consummate insider. He is part of the problem, not part of the solution. Clarke worked for the Pentagon, the spook agencies, and the State Department. He was Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence under the Reagan.
USA on 04.01.04 @ 11:45 AM CST [ more..]
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