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Zimbabwe To U.S. And Britain: Go Hang
Posted: Wednesday, July 2, 2008
¤ Zimbabwe Watch
¤ Zimbabwe To U.S. And Britain: Go Hang
The main point here is that the U.S. is once again trying to have its own stooges put in power by elections in foreign countries. The list of U.S. active involvement in elections of nations is long: Bosnia, Serbia, Ukraine, Belarus, Iraq, Nicaragua and Venezuela are some of the more blatant incursions. In the case of Bosnia and Serbia, the U.S. unilaterally negated elections. The reason? According to Madeleine Albright, "The wrong side won."
¤ Sense of Honor, French and U.S. Style
¤ The Story Behind George Bush's Lies
Long accused of signature dishonesty, the Bush Administration now stands twice indicted, by Scott McClellan's book and by two damning reports from Jay Rockefeller's Senate Select Committee on Intelligence—the "Phase II" documents. These sources confirm beyond any doubt the Bush Administration, with propaganda and outright lies, deliberately misled the U.S. Congress into authorizing war.
That is the truth, but not the whole truth, and the backstory is no less appalling.
¤ Bush Used Phony Patriotism to Start War
The Russians call World War II "The Great Patriotic War." The current longest of our wars could well be called the same thing. It is a war that originated in the orgy of patriotism ("U.S.A.! U.S.A.! U.S.A.!") that followed the attack on the World Trade Center and Pentagon and has been sustained by the patriotism of those who support it ("Our soldiers are defending American freedom") and false promises of some latter-day prophets ("We are winning the war in Iraq.") It is likely to be revived by the Iranian attack that the McCainites see as their main chance of winning the election.
¤ The Hidden History of US Broadcasting
¤ In Manassas, the Medium Is The Issue
¤ The Coming Attack on Iran: A Perfect Storm of Madness
The question is not whether Iran will be attacked, but by whom and whether the bombing will commence within the next several months or shortly after the November election.
The U.S. for many months has made bellicose noises about thwarting Iran's nuclear ambitions with force -- complete with a virtual repeat of its pre-war propaganda campaign prior to "shock&awe" against Iraq. Israel is reported to have just carried out a military exercise practicing for an attack on Iran. Iran is letting it be known how destructive and unconventional its retaliation would be if it is bombed. What is going on?
¤ Gas Guzzlers and 'Ghostburbs'
¤ 15 Hostages Held by Colombian Rebels Are Rescued
¤ Iraq: Garbage collection, poor people's job to earn living
¤ Iraq Suffering Miles-Long Gas Lines Despite Oil Riches
¤ Living hell
¤ AFGHANISTAN: Humanitarian situation "deteriorating" – Holmes
¤ US' Violation of Human Rights in Afghanistan
Afghanistan has endured a quarter century of brutal wars during which human rights have been violated systematically by the occupying forces, the various regimes in power and the insurgent groups. The "war on terror" unleashed by the US promised a new dawn. But the Operation Enduring Freedom has brought neither the end of nightmare and miseries for the Afghans nor freedom of any consequence. The war on terror has led to widespread civilian deaths, often at the hands of unaccountable units led by the CIA and other foreign intelligence agencies. These foreign intelligence units "operate" with "impunity" in Afghanistan.
¤ It's The Constitution Stupid!: What Makes Any Idiot Eligible To Become President
¤ Oil ends at new record near $141 on supply worries
¤ Iraq fails to ink deals with global oil majors
¤ Russia's Lavrov warns against attack on Iran
Russia's foreign minister on Friday warned against the use of force on Iran, saying there is no proof it is trying to build nuclear weapons. Sergey Lavrov said Iran should be engaged in dialogue and encouraged to cooperate with the U.N. nuclear monitoring agency. Lavrov made the statement when asked to comment on an Israeli Cabinet member's statement earlier this month that Israel could attack Iran if it does not halt its nuclear program.
Preparing the Battlefield
Posted: Monday, June 30, 2008
¤ Zimbabwe Watch
¤ African leaders restrained in criticizing Mugabe
¤ Tsvangirai's tactics criticised by party insiders
There is growing dissatisfaction in the ranks of Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) over an apparent lack of a strategy by the party leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, for confronting the Mugabe regime.
Senior party officials have said Mr Tsvangirai's leadership flaws and "tactical miscalculations" are in danger of giving Robert Mugabe a lifeline and prolonging the crisis. Senior MDC officials expressed disquiet over his persistent failure to offer a clear direction.
¤ Congress Rushes to Encourage Iran Attack
On October 11, 2002, the Senate passed the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution. It did so influenced by what anyone paying attention now knows was a campaign of fear-mongering lies organized by the neocons surrounding Vice President Cheney.
¤ I'm Off To Iran Before Israel Bombs It
BY the time you read this, I will be in Iran. I've never been there before, never met an Iranian leader - I don't even like the present Iranian leadership - so remember all that, because it might become important.
I'm determined to do my bit for the anti-war effort. We need another war like Gordon Brown needs another by-election.
But the Sunday papers were again full of Israeli war games and threats as speculation mounts of a massive bombardment of yet another Muslim country.
¤ US 'escalates covert Iran missions'
¤ Preparing the Battlefield
¤ And Then There Was One
"Axis of evil" was a term coined by United States President George W. Bush in his State of the Union Address on January 29, 2002 in order to describe governments that he accused of helping terrorism and seeking weapons of mass destruction. Bush named Iraq, Iran, and North Korea in his speech.
Of course, they weren't an axis, that is they weren't an alliance, at all; in fact two of them, Iraq and Iran, had fought a bloody war with the United States supporting Iraq.
Anyhow, it looks like the "axis" is down to one.
¤ Oil Giants Get Ready to Return to Iraq
Oh, no, they told us, Iraq isn't a war about oil. That's cynical and simplistic, they said. It's about terror and al Qaeda and toppling a dictator and spreading democracy and protecting ourselves from weapons of mass destruction. But one by one, these concocted rationales went up in smoke, fire, and ashes. And now the bottom line turns out to be....the bottom line. It is about oil.
¤ The Human Right to Eat
¤ Sex Work is Different from Sex Slavery, aver Carnal Toilers
¤ Gas Up While It's a Bargain
¤ The Illusion of Saving Nations From Themselves
¤ The Good News in Iraq
On March 19, 2003, as his shock-and-awe campaign against Iraq was being launched, George W. Bush addressed the nation. "My fellow citizens," he began, "at this hour, American and coalition forces are in the early stages of military operations to disarm Iraq, to free its people and to defend the world from grave danger." We were entering Iraq, he insisted, "with respect for its citizens, for their great civilization and for the religious faiths they practice. We have no ambition in Iraq, except to remove a threat and restore control of that country to its own people."
¤ This Recession, It's Just Beginning
¤ America Is the Rogue Nation
¤ IMF Finally Knocks on Uncle Sam's Door
¤ US' Violation of Human Rights in Afghanistan
Charge Bush With Murder
Posted: Friday, June 27, 2008
¤ Zimbabwe Watch
¤ Americans Do Not Want Change
¤ Charge Bush With Murder
George W. Bush could be indicted at the state level for murder with malice aforethought, that according to internationally recognized legal expert Francis A. Boyle of the School of Law at the University of Illinois.
According to Boyle, President Bush deceived US soldiers about the reason for sending them to Iraq. Thus, he argues, the 4100 US soldiers who have died in Iraq thus far were murdered. Professor Boyle sees a variety of cases that could be brought and he believes it would take just one indictment and the whole house of cards would fall.
¤ Deal Allows U.S. To Attack Any Country From Iraq
A Sunni legislator said on Monday that the security agreement to be signed between Baghdad and Washington would allow the latter to attack any country from Iraqi territories.
"The Iraqi-U.S. agreement contains several items that impinge upon the sovereignty of Iraq, including the right of the U.S. forces in Iraq to attack any nation and raid any Iraqi house and arrest people without prior permission from the Iraqi government," Khalaf al-Alyan, a member of parliament from the Iraqi Accordance Front (IAF), told Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq – (VOI).
¤ The Coming Catastrophe?
¤ Israel Prodding U.S. To Attack Iran
¤ Native Americans demand billions from US in land profits suit
¤ Britain's War in the Cause of Fear and Ignorance
The British lawyer Gareth Pierce, celebrated for her defense of miscarriage of justice victims, wrote recently: "Over the years of the conflict, every lawless action on the part of the British state provoked a similar reaction: internment, 'shoot to kill', the use of torture, brutally obtained false confessions and fabricated evidence. This was registered by the community most affected, but the British public, in whose name the actions were taken, remained ignorant." Referring to the conflict in Northern Ireland, she was drawing a comparison with "our new suspect community," people of Muslim faith, against whom a vicious, sectarian and mostly unreported war is well under way.
¤ Elections, Capitalism, And Democracy
¤ Private Jets Targeted as Symbols of Inequality
¤ Five Stealth Pentagon Contractors Reaping Billions of Tax Dollars
¤ $2 billion in U.S. aid to Pakistan questioned
¤ US Mayors Step Into Iran Fray Calling for Diplomacy, Not War
¤ They've Got the World by the Belly
¤ How Psychologists Have Abetted the CIA
¤ Oil rises to $142 for the first time
¤ Defending the President as Tyrant
¤ Just Do It, George
In March, after U.S. President George W. Bush got an earful about problems and progress in Afghanistan, he said: "I must say, I'm a little envious. If I were slightly younger and not employed here, I think it would be a fantastic experience to be on the front lines of helping this young democracy succeed. It must be exciting for you ... in some ways romantic, in some ways, you know, confronting danger."
Well, we've got some jobs lined up for George when he leaves office in January. Heck, he'll only be 62 years old, and with all that mountain-biking I'm sure that even a dummy like him he can handle the easy jobs we've found for him. His reservations shouldn't matter, if he's honest about it (I know).
¤ Britain's War in the Cause of Fear and Ignorance
These Wars Are About Oil, Not Democracy
Posted: Monday, June 23, 2008
¤ These Wars Are About Oil, Not Democracy
The ugly truth behind the Iraq and Afghanistan wars finally has emerged.
Four major western oil companies, Exxon Mobil, Shell, BP and Total are about to sign U.S.-brokered no-bid contracts to begin exploiting Iraq’s oil fields. Saddam Hussein had kicked these firms out three decades ago when he nationalized Iraq’s oil industry. The U.S.-installed Baghdad regime is welcoming them back.
Iraq is getting back the same oil companies that used to exploit it when it was a British colony.
As former fed chairman Alan Greenspan recently admitted, the Iraq war was all about oil. The invasion was about SUV’s, not democracy.
¤ The Ugly Side of Disaster
Disasters bring out the best and worst in people.
On the one hand, millions of folks respond to the suffering of their fellow human beings with compassion, concern, and even significant financial assistance when needed. Be it a hurricane, an earthquake, tornadoes or the recent massive flooding in the Midwestern United States, the hearts, minds, and often wallets of large numbers of the nation's people are with those in need.
And on the other hand, there's Rush Limbaugh, who has decided to use the flooding in Iowa not to demonstrate compassion, but as an opportunity to make derogatory statements about poor black folks: specifically those caught by the flooding in New Orleans after Katrina in 2005.
¤ Call for Change Ignored, Levees Remain Patchy
¤ How Should the Middle East Invest Its Oil Profits?
¤ The Haditha Travesty, Take Two
¤ Every Move You Make
¤ Chavez threatens Europe oil ban
¤ Russia confirms intention to complete Iranian electro-nuclear project
¤ The Great Mirage
¤ How Cuba fought for Africa’s freedom
¤ US making false accusations: Syrian paper
¤ Mugabe calls Britain and US liars: state media
President Robert Mugabe has accused Britain, the United States and their allies of lying to the world to justify intervention in Zimbabwe, state media reported Tuesday.
"Britain and her allies are telling a lot of lies about Zimbabwe, saying a lot of people are dying. These are all lies because they want to build a situation to justify their intervention in Zimbabwe," the state-run Herald newspaper reported Mugabe as saying.
¤ Vietnam's hard economic lesson for China
¤ If the Opposite of Pro Is Con, Then the Opposite of Progress Is ...
¤ No Blood for... er... um...
¤ Network Anchor Stands Against ‘Unfair’ Campaign Spending
¤ Occupations Abroad Always Lead to the Erosion of Liberties at Home
¤ George Carlin Mourned as a Counterculture Hero
¤ The "F" Word and the White Press
¤ Prez Sez: "I'm Addicted; Bigger Syringe, Please!"
¤ Russia's Lavrov warns against attack on Iran
No apologies from arrogant USA
Posted: Wednesday, June 18, 2008
¤ On Iraq, Iran and Norman Finkelstein
¤ The Racial Politics of Symbols
¤ Of Whales and Worms
For the well-meaning people who are feeling this way, I have this question: How can the same Democratic Party, and the same specific individuals, who have co-operated in, permitted and/or legalized the Bush regime's atrocities – including torture and war crimes – now tell us that the candidate that they endorse is the solution to the horrid things that this system and these individuals have themselves facilitated and colluded in?
¤ Obama and the Fall Into Tyranny
Obama told the Lobby that in order to protect Israel he would use all the powers of the presidency to prevent Iran from having a nuclear weapon. As in the case of Saddam Hussein's "weapons of mass destruction," the conclusion whether or not Iran is making a nuclear weapon will be determined by propaganda and not by fact. Therefore, there is no difference between Bush, McCain, Obama, and the Lobby with regard to the Middle East.
¤ How Many Innocent People Are Going Out of Their Minds Today?
¤ Understanding 'Media Bias'
¤ The Weapon of Rape
¤ Journalism's Tim Russert Problem
¤ Finally, the U.S. Mega-Bases in Iraq Make the News
It's just a $5,812,353 contract — chump change for the Pentagon — and not even one of those notorious "no-bid" contracts either. Ninety-eight bids were solicited by the Army Corps of Engineers and 12 were received before the contract was awarded this May 28th to Wintara, Inc. of Fort Washington, Maryland, for "replacement facilities for Forward Operating Base Speicher, Iraq." According to a Department of Defense press release, the work on those "facilities" to be replaced at the base near Saddam Hussein's hometown, Tikrit, is expected to be completed by January 31, 2009, a mere 11 days after a new president enters the Oval Office. It is but one modest reminder that, when the next administration hits Washington, American bases in Iraq, large and small, will still be undergoing the sort of repair and upgrading that has been ongoing for years.
¤ Blackwater's Bright Future
¤ Protest Group Calls Bush Invitation An Outrage
¤ 42 Days? Try 18 Months
¤ A Line Not To Be Crossed
The killing of 11 Pakistani soldiers by U.S. air and artillery strikes last week shows just how quickly the American-led war in Afghanistan is spreading into neighbouring Pakistan.
Pakistan's military branded the air attack "unprovoked and cowardly." There was outrage across Pakistan. However, the unstable government in Islamabad, which depends on large infusions of U.S. aid, later softened its protests.
The U.S., which used a B-1 heavy bomber and F-15 strike aircraft in the attacks, called its action, "self-defence."
¤ The Revolt of the Liberated
¤ Terrorism: We wildly overestimate the risk of being a victim, says author
¤ The Irish Vote "No" on Lisbon
"One of two things will now occur. Either the Irish government will resubmit the treaty for a new vote, working harder to explain its meaning or secure a few changes, as they did in 2002 after incurring a loss in the case of an earlier EU treaty in 2001. Or the EU bureaucracy will take a lesson from the defeat, go back to the drawing boards, and present voters with a clearer voter-friendly document, and try again."
¤ The Irish People have spoken.
¤ Iraq: World Governments Misleading and Failing Iraqi Refugees
The international community is evading its responsibility towards refugees from Iraq by promoting a false picture of the security situation in Iraq when the country is neither safe nor suitable for return, Amnesty International said today.
In its new report, Rhetoric and reality: the Iraqi refugee crisis, which is based on recent research and interviews with Iraqi refugees, the organization said that the world's richest states are failing to provide the necessary assistance to Iraqi refugees, most of whom are plunged in despair and hurtling towards destitution.
¤ The Biggest Election Story Not on Your TV
¤ No Good, Shiftless, Lazy...
¤ Car bomb kills at least 51 near Baghdad market
¤ Man orders pet python to attack police officers
¤ Study: Chimps calm each other with hugs, kisses
¤ High Water Everywhere: Court Ruling Won't Stem the Terror War Flood
¤ U.S. abuse of detainees was routine at Afghanistan bases
¤ Addressing America's "Deeper Malignancies"
¤ No apologies from arrogant USA
¤ Tim Russert, Dick Cheney, and 9/11
¤ Israeli airstrikes kill six in Gaza Strip
¤ Gordon Brown delivers on Iran for George Bush
Why the Oil Price Is High
Posted: Saturday, June 14, 2008
¤ The Iran Trap
The failure by Barack Obama to chart another course in the Middle East, to defy the Israel lobby and to denounce the Bush administration's inexorable march toward a conflict with Iran is a failure to challenge the collective insanity that has gripped the political leadership in the United States and Israel.
Obama, in a miscalculation that will have grave consequences, has given his blessing to the widening circle of violence and abuse of the Palestinians by Israel and, most dangerously, to those in the Bush White House and Jerusalem now plotting a war against Iran. He illustrates how the lust for power is morally corrosive. And while he may win the White House, by the time he takes power he will be trapped in George Bush's alternative reality.
¤ Blame Rising Oil Prices on Bush
Wow, a lot of people must have bought Hummers last week. How else to explain the spike in oil prices? No, I'm not being silly: They are, and by they I mean the gaggle of media pundits and other administration apologists--abetted by some green zealots--who want to explain our energy crisis by reference to profligate consumers.
¤ Newsflash! George "I'm never wrong" Bush has REGRETS
¤ Bush's exit helps U.S. image abroad, survey shows
here is good news and bad news for President George W. Bush as he pursues his valedictory tour of Europe this week, according to a new worldwide study by the Pew Global Attitudes Project.
On the one hand, the image of the United States has improved slightly in many countries over the past year. On the other, the new optimism appears to be driven largely by the fact that Bush will soon be leaving office.
¤ Iranian leader calls Bush a 'wicked man'
¤ Why the Oil Price Is High
How to explain the oil price? Why is it so high? Are we running out? Are supplies disrupted, or is the high price a reflection of oil company greed or OPEC greed. Are Chavez and the Saudis conspiring against us?
In my opinion, the two biggest factors in oil's high price are the weakness in the US dollar's exchange value and the liquidity that the Federal Reserve is pumping out.
The dollar is weak because of large trade and budget deficits, the closing of which is beyond American political will. As abuse wears out the US dollar's reserve currency role, sellers demand more dollars as a hedge against its declining exchange value and ultimate loss of reserve currency status.
¤ Our Government's Dirty Little Secrets.
¤ Dennis Kucinich Vows to Continue Impeachment Effort Against Bush
¤ The Rising of Latin America
The Genesis of 'The War On Democracy'
They moved through the dust of a snow-capped wilderness, along roads that were ribbons of red mud, and they lived in shanties that defied gravity. "We are invisible," said one man; another used the term abandonados; an indigenous woman in Bolivia unforgettably described her poverty as a commodity for the rich.
¤ Obama And McCain: Two Sides Of The Same Coin
¤ Indian oil firms to invest $3 bn in Iran
¤ Israel to build 1,300 homes for colonists
¤ Ireland rejects Lisbon Treaty
¤ Who Will Be The Next US President? AIPAC Decides Video
¤ BBC Uncovers Lost Iraq Billions
¤ Iraq - What Happened To The $23Billion?
¤ Price Of Oil Will Double
The chief executive of the world's largest energy company has issued the most dire warning yet about the soaring the price of oil, predicting that it will hit $250 per barrel "in the foreseeable future".
The forecast from Alexey Miller, the head of the Kremlin-owned gas giant Gazprom, would herald the arrival of £2-per-litre petrol and send shockwaves through the economy. His comments were the most stark to be expressed by an industry executive and come just days after the oil price registered its largest-ever single-day spike, hitting $139.12 per barrel last week amid fears that the world's faltering supply will be unable to keep up with demand.
¤ Leaders With No Conscience
¤ Report: Israel killed 635 Palestinians in Gaza in one year
¤ Pakistan attacks 'cowardly' US raid
¤ Zimbabwe: Politics and Food Aid
There is no evidence that the government of Zimbabwe is using food "as a political tool to intimidate voters ahead of an election" or that it is deliberately denying "hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of Zimbabweans" food aid, as Human Rights Watch and The New York Times allege.
In fact, a careful reading of what both sources claim, points to a deliberate and knowing attempt to palter with the truth, reflecting and reinforcing a narrative that holds Africa, and particularly Zimbabwe, to be marked by suffering people, corrupt and monstrous governments, and endless chaos.
¤ Biti faces treason charges
¤ Zimbabwe: How soon we forget
¤ 'China will not meddle in Zimbabwe's affairs'
¤ Desperate Brown scrapes through
¤ Brown triumphs on terror – but then he is stopped in his tracks
¤ Cost of raid on polygamist camp tops $14 million
¤ Cuba scraps limits on wages
¤ Our ‘Cheap Oil Fiesta' Is Over
¤ When Will the People Fight Back?
¤ How Europe Underdevelops Africa
In even the most exploitative African sites of repression and capital accumulation, sometimes corporations take a hit, and victims sometimes unite on continental lines instead of being divided-and-conquered. Turns in the class struggle might have surprised Walter Rodney, the political economist whose 1972 classic How Europe Underdeveloped Africa provided detailed critiques of corporate looting.
In early June, the British-Dutch firm Shell Oil - one of Rodney's targets - was instructed to depart from the Ogoniland region within the Niger Delta, where in 1995 Shell officials were responsible for the execution of Ken Saro-Wiwa by Nigerian dictator Sani Abacha. After decades of abuse, women protesters, local NGOs and the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) gave Shell the shove. France's Total appears next in line, in part because of additional pressure from the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta.
¤ R. Kelly Is Acquitted in Child Pornography Case
¤ Iowa's capital swamped by Midwestern floodwaters
The West's Weapon of Self-Delusion
Posted: Monday, June 9, 2008
¤ John McCain and Latin America
¤ The High Cost of a Single War-Like Remark
One remark by a minor Israeli cabinet officer hinting at a possible US or Israeli attack on Iran has sent oil prices up by a record $11/barrel to a record $139 per barrel Friday. That should tell us what would happen if the Bush administration were crazy enough to attack Iran, or to let its vassal state of Israel do it.
Most analysts say an actual attack on Iran would send oil almost immediately to past $300 per barrel—a level that would strangle economies worldwide and send the world into an economic collapse not since the Smoot-Hawley Tariffs kicked off the Great Depression.
The repercussions of that would be staggering.
¤ The West’s Weapon of Self-Delusion
¤ Why Obama Won
Barack Obama has won the race for the Democratic nomination for president against Hillary Clinton on the issues. Sort of.
This is not what the pundits will tell you, who would rather focus upon the most superficial and trivial aspects of the two final candidates’ style, personality, associates, personal history, and campaign organization and strategy, not to mention race and gender.
This is not what many on the left will say either, in recognition of how little differences there were between the two candidates’ stated positions on most policies.
¤ Guevara Children Denounce Che Branding
¤ Your Brain on $4 a Gallon Gas
Bumper-to-bumper gridlock didn’t do it. Nowhere-to-park didn’t do it. Taxes on city driving didn’t do it. But $4 a gallon gas is finally driving people to not drive anymore say news reports.
So many car commuters conceded to buses or trains in March and April, Denver saw an eight percent rise in public transit riders, south Florida, 20 percent and Charlotte, NC an amazing 34 percent.
In Chicago you can own a car, unlike New York City, but don’t have to, like Los Angeles, and so thousands of workers in the downtown Loop have traditionally looked at the car/train choice as a toss-up.
¤ Voices from his White Working Class Family
¤ Bolivia protest targets US embassy
¤ Israeli officials: We will invade Gaza before truce deal takes effect
¤ WORDS OF CONFUSION
Language dates back thousands of years. Once humankind began to talk and write, language progressed and communication became more precise. However, current statements and writing have halted the advancement of precision and are beginning to drag the English language back to a communication form that is not readily understandable.
In the past two days, just by reading newspapers or online news, I have seen some of the most ridiculous items in print. Some are outright hilarious because of the mis-use of the English language, while others are blatant lies that no one challenges.
¤ Silence of the media
All of us; including all the Iraqis are witnessing a terrible secrecy and silence of the media of what is happening in Iraq now…I must say that some aspects have improved and I must say that the militia's grip had loosened a bit but the real situation on the ground is far from what is said, I don't want to put it in a form of a conspiracy theory, but at the beginning we lost the credibility and the honesty of the western media then we lost the credibility of the Arab media and now we are losing the Iraqi media's credibility…there might be thousands of reasons behind this and I tend to believe that targeting journalists are one of the main reasons followed by the pressure of the governments on the media.
¤ Obama Capitulates – to the Israel lobby
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's visit to the U.S. is part of a concerted effort, by the Israeli government and its American lobbyists, to convince U.S. lawmakers – and, most of all, President George W. Bush – that the time to attack Iran is now. The Israeli newspaper Yediot Achronot reports that Olmert will tell Bush "time is running out" on diplomacy and that he'd better launch an attack.
¤ Legislating Tyranny
The George W. Bush administration responded to the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center and Pentagon with an assault on U.S. civil liberty that Bush justified in the name of the “war on terror.” The government assured us that the draconian measures apply only to “terrorists.” The word terrorist, however, was not defined. The government claimed the discretionary power to decide who is a terrorist without having to present evidence or charges in a court of law.
¤ Pressure from oil prices spreads
¤ Tsvangirai was never arrested - Zim police
¤ President Mugabe defends land policy
PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe on Tuesday defended the government’s land policy in a speech at a United Nations conference on the global food crisis, saying he is undoing a legacy left by Zimbabwe's former colonial masters.
He said Zimbabwe had "democratised land ownership" over the past decade and Zimbabweans were now the "proud owners" of land previously owned by a few thousand white farmers.
Oil: Manipulation, Speculation and Profiteering
Posted: Friday, June 6, 2008
¤ U. S. Extorts Iraq to Approve Military Deal
The US is holding hostage some $50 billion of Iraq's money in the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to pressure the Iraqi government into signing an agreement seen by many Iraqis as prolonging the US occupation indefinitely.
¤ Why Obama Won
¤ Name That Terrorist
It was only slightly amusing recently when one of the television news networks did a short segment on Nelson Mandela visiting George W. Bush in the White House. The newsperson describing the meeting happened to mention that Mandela was on America’s terrorist watch list. There was no explanation of how this heroic figure from South Africa was able to fly to Washington, D.C. in order to meet with our President. Normally, being on the terrorist watch list would prevent anyone from boarding a passenger plane, to say nothing of being barred from entering the White House. That actually happened to Senator Ted Kennedy a couple of years ago—he was barred from flying from Boston back to his work in Washington, D.C.
¤ Cheney Enrages Iraqis Over Security Deal
¤ Manipulation, Speculation and Profiteering
Last week came the news that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is investigating potential manipulation of the oil trading market.
That's a good thing, though the CFTC is not exactly the most aggressive regulator around. (Says Judy Dugan of Consumer Watchdog: "On its face, the investigation smacks of the fox investigating a hen shortage in the chicken coop.")
¤ Consumer anger as oil prices soar
¤ Americans $1.7 trillion poorer
¤ Oil's biggest day yet drags down stocks
¤ Second bus blast rocks Sri Lanka
¤ Of Whiners and Poor Losers
¤ Police Brutality and Cover-Up
The savage beating of three suspects by Philadelphia police recently that captured news headlines internationally exposed big problems within the scandal plagued department involving core functions of cops.
The beating incident forced Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey to institute new procedures for retraining all police officers on permissible use of force.
Ramsey, in an unprecedented move for a Philadelphia Police Commissioner, quickly disciplined officers involved in that 5/5/08 beating, including firing four officers who Ramsey determined engaged in impermissible brutality.
¤ Chronology of a Lie
In his Antiwar.com columns investigative journalist and historian Gareth Porter has been doing a masterful job of exposing Dick Cheney’s relentless campaign to vilify Iran, build a case for an attack, bomb the country and produce regime change before the administration’s term ends. The campaign as many have noted parallels in several ways the propaganda blitz that preceded the War in Iraq. Cheney and his neocons cabal seek to skew the reports of mainstream intelligence agencies to confirm their allegations (in this case, the existence of an Iranian nuclear weapons program as an immanent threat to Israel and the U.S., Iranian Quds Force training of Iraqi "insurgents" in Iranian camps, Iranian provision of explosively formed projectiles (EFPs) to these "insurgents," Iranian contacts with al-Qaeda, etc.).
¤ An Interview with Ilan Pappé and Noam Chomsky
¤ Hillary's Wreckage
¤ Bush's Secret Deal Would Ensure Permanent U.S. Occupation of Iraq
A secret deal being negotiated in Baghdad would perpetuate the American military occupation of Iraq indefinitely, regardless of the outcome of the U.S. presidential election in November.
The terms of the impending deal, details of which have been leaked to this reporter, are likely to have an explosive political effect in Iraq.
Iraqi officials fear that the accord, under which U.S. troops would occupy permanent bases, conduct military operations, arrest Iraqis and enjoy immunity from Iraqi law, will destabilize Iraq's position in the Middle East and lay the basis for unending conflict in their country.
But the accord also threatens to provoke a political crisis in the U.S.
President Bush wants to push it through by the end of next month so he can declare a military victory and claim his 2003 invasion has been vindicated.
¤ Recession Grips the Jobs Market
¤ U.S. sidesteps questions on Israeli threat against Iran
¤ Rate of Violence Skyrocketing in Afghanistan
¤ 'Genocide by design?' Bush Administration Plans to 'Stay' in Iraq for the Oil
¤ Revealed: Secret Plan To keep Iraq Under US Control
¤ Chavez Revamps His Intelligence Services: The Corporate Media React
¤ Hillary Learned Nothing From Iraq
¤ Israel Flag On Lapel, He Hails Jerusalem
¤ Will Obama Stand Up to the War Party?
¤ Senate report says Bush misused Iraq intelligence
United States President George Bush and his top policymakers exaggerated Saddam Hussein's links to terrorism and ignored doubts among intelligence agencies about Iraq's arms programnes as they made their case for war, a Senate committee reported on Thursday.
The Senate intelligence committee said in a study that major Bush administration statements that Iraq had a partnership with al-Qaeda and provided it with weapons training were unsupported by intelligence, and sometimes contradicted it.
¤ Your Brain on $4 a Gallon Gas
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