Richard Perle: Dead Man Walking
"In another embarrassing revelation, a British newspaper reported that Richard Perle had been employed in the late 1970's by Israeli arms firms selling weapons -- which does not help the Administration fend off unproved rumors that Perle might me a member of the secret Israeli intelligence force Mossad."
Jhesos!
31.3.03
NBC Fires Peter Arnett Over Iraqi TV Interview
"American television network NBC said on Monday it had severed its relations with veteran reporter Peter Arnett after he told Iraqi television that the U.S. war plan against Saddam Hussein had failed."
"American television network NBC said on Monday it had severed its relations with veteran reporter Peter Arnett after he told Iraqi television that the U.S. war plan against Saddam Hussein had failed."
Coming soon - Michael Moore's "911 Fahrenheit"
"According to Moore, the former president had a business relationship with Osama bin Laden's father, Mohammed bin Laden, a Saudi construction magnate who left $300 million to Osama bin Laden. It has been widely reported that bin Laden used the inheritance to finance global terrorism.
Moore said the bin Laden family was heavily invested in the Carlyle Group, a private global investment firm that the filmmaker said frequently buys failing defense companies and then sells them at a profit. Former President Bush has reportedly served as a senior adviser with the firm.
"The senior Bush kept his ties with the bin Laden family up until two months after Sept. 11," said Moore.
Moore told Variety the primary focus of the new project will be to examine what has happened to the United States since the Sept. 11 terrorist attack. He accused the Bush administration of using a tragic event to push its agenda.
"It (the new project) certainly does deal with the Bush and bin Laden ties," said Moore. "It asks a number of questions that I don't have the answers to yet, but which I intend to find out."
Moore said he expects the new movie to be in U.S. theaters in time for the 2004 presidential election."
"According to Moore, the former president had a business relationship with Osama bin Laden's father, Mohammed bin Laden, a Saudi construction magnate who left $300 million to Osama bin Laden. It has been widely reported that bin Laden used the inheritance to finance global terrorism.
Moore said the bin Laden family was heavily invested in the Carlyle Group, a private global investment firm that the filmmaker said frequently buys failing defense companies and then sells them at a profit. Former President Bush has reportedly served as a senior adviser with the firm.
"The senior Bush kept his ties with the bin Laden family up until two months after Sept. 11," said Moore.
Moore told Variety the primary focus of the new project will be to examine what has happened to the United States since the Sept. 11 terrorist attack. He accused the Bush administration of using a tragic event to push its agenda.
"It (the new project) certainly does deal with the Bush and bin Laden ties," said Moore. "It asks a number of questions that I don't have the answers to yet, but which I intend to find out."
Moore said he expects the new movie to be in U.S. theaters in time for the 2004 presidential election."
Three British soldiers sent home after protesting at civilian deaths
"It is understood they have been sent home for protesting that the war is killing innocent civilians."
"It is understood they have been sent home for protesting that the war is killing innocent civilians."
Wounded British soldiers condemn US 'cowboy' pilot
"He said: "There was a boy of about 12 years old. He was no more than 20 metres away when the Yank opened up.
"He had absolutely no regard for human life. I believe he was a cowboy. There were four or five that I noticed earlier and this one had broken off and was on his own when he attacked us. He'd just gone out on a jolly."
...
"It was the most irresponsible thing in the world. They didn't know what was going on. We were just getting on with our mission and they were messing around in the skies and saw us and said 'let's get ourselves a couple of wagons, that'll be one to tell the lads when we get back to the base'.
"How come somebody who is a top-notch Thunderbolt pilot can't tell what a British tank looks like. I think someone in the Pentagon or somewhere needs to sort something out there."
"He said: "There was a boy of about 12 years old. He was no more than 20 metres away when the Yank opened up.
"He had absolutely no regard for human life. I believe he was a cowboy. There were four or five that I noticed earlier and this one had broken off and was on his own when he attacked us. He'd just gone out on a jolly."
...
"It was the most irresponsible thing in the world. They didn't know what was going on. We were just getting on with our mission and they were messing around in the skies and saw us and said 'let's get ourselves a couple of wagons, that'll be one to tell the lads when we get back to the base'.
"How come somebody who is a top-notch Thunderbolt pilot can't tell what a British tank looks like. I think someone in the Pentagon or somewhere needs to sort something out there."
30.3.03
US forces' use of depleted uranium weapons is 'illegal'
"British and American coalition forces are using depleted uranium (DU) shells in the war against Iraq and deliberately flouting a United Nations resolution which classifies the munitions as illegal weapons of mass destruction."
US Wins Defeat of Depleted Uranium Study 30/11/2001
"British and American coalition forces are using depleted uranium (DU) shells in the war against Iraq and deliberately flouting a United Nations resolution which classifies the munitions as illegal weapons of mass destruction."
US Wins Defeat of Depleted Uranium Study 30/11/2001
from lse leftist;
The list might want to take a look at this...Andres Vaccari has written a report on John Howard's disturbing psychology at Sleepy Brain Magazine. The URL is taking its cue from JG Ballard's damning portrait of Reagan ("Why I Want to Fuck Ronald Reagan" from the 1960s), Vaccari's piece gives a different (psycho-sexual) angle on why Howard is leading Australia into this unprovoked war with Iraq with no mandate from the masses.
When Reagan became President, those opposing him printed up Ballard's story on official Republican paper and distributed it at anti-war rallies...
I suggest we do the same with Vaccari's (but using official Liberal party mastheads of course). Howard -- like Bush -- is out of control and hungry for power, and this highlights precisely the reasons why...
The list might want to take a look at this...Andres Vaccari has written a report on John Howard's disturbing psychology at Sleepy Brain Magazine. The URL is taking its cue from JG Ballard's damning portrait of Reagan ("Why I Want to Fuck Ronald Reagan" from the 1960s), Vaccari's piece gives a different (psycho-sexual) angle on why Howard is leading Australia into this unprovoked war with Iraq with no mandate from the masses.
When Reagan became President, those opposing him printed up Ballard's story on official Republican paper and distributed it at anti-war rallies...
I suggest we do the same with Vaccari's (but using official Liberal party mastheads of course). Howard -- like Bush -- is out of control and hungry for power, and this highlights precisely the reasons why...
Report: Rumsfeld Ignored Pentagon Advice on Iraq
"Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld repeatedly rejected advice from Pentagon planners that substantially more troops and armor would be needed to fight a war in Iraq, New Yorker Magazine reported."
War's Military, Political Goals Begin to Diverge
"Ten days into the invasion of Iraq, the political imperative of waging a short and decisive campaign is increasingly at odds with the military necessity of preparing for a protracted, more violent and costly war, according to senior military officials."
"Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld repeatedly rejected advice from Pentagon planners that substantially more troops and armor would be needed to fight a war in Iraq, New Yorker Magazine reported."
War's Military, Political Goals Begin to Diverge
"Ten days into the invasion of Iraq, the political imperative of waging a short and decisive campaign is increasingly at odds with the military necessity of preparing for a protracted, more violent and costly war, according to senior military officials."
PNAC's letter to Clinton in 1998 - this was the PNAC's first statement after being formed (signed by Kagan, Perle, Wolfowitz, Rumsfeld etc. oh yes, Francis Fukuyama too...) detailing new foreign policy measures. Clinton probably binned it instantly (like Bush Snr. did too).
These people have hijacked America.
Some more PNAC -
"Now Wolfowitz is a Ph D, a former dean and professor of international relations at Johns Hopkins University -- qualifications that are expected to yield views that must be respected ('BS'). But Wolfowitz is also a hawk, perhaps the biggest one in his supremo's parlour in the White House. He's also a neo-conservative politician and an American at that. And so the learned professor need not always be taken at face value where Uncle Sam's interests are concerned."
These people have hijacked America.
Some more PNAC -
"Now Wolfowitz is a Ph D, a former dean and professor of international relations at Johns Hopkins University -- qualifications that are expected to yield views that must be respected ('BS'). But Wolfowitz is also a hawk, perhaps the biggest one in his supremo's parlour in the White House. He's also a neo-conservative politician and an American at that. And so the learned professor need not always be taken at face value where Uncle Sam's interests are concerned."
29.3.03
Getting Started in Radical Politics from Zmag
this is pretty much exactly the sort of shit i have in mind for a group project- consider that they are doing mostly pol/econ.. who's going to frame critical cultural analysis for the internet community- sexily? ...! castro says it might just be the bacon operating around there!
re: below
this is reminiscent of "new american century" lyrics- can't find right now but trust me it goes something like this. "frenchies sceptical of U.S. go for iraq and paranoid of unipolar world- but don't seem to be able to offer viable alternative".. cock
this is pretty much exactly the sort of shit i have in mind for a group project- consider that they are doing mostly pol/econ.. who's going to frame critical cultural analysis for the internet community- sexily? ...! castro says it might just be the bacon operating around there!
re: below
this is reminiscent of "new american century" lyrics- can't find right now but trust me it goes something like this. "frenchies sceptical of U.S. go for iraq and paranoid of unipolar world- but don't seem to be able to offer viable alternative".. cock
From Phil's PNAC link below - furthering my personal theory that contemporary IR is methodologically as rigourous as alchemy - this, apparently is an argument. makes tony soprano look bookish;
"As Robert Kagan notes in “Of Paradise and Power,” his seminal examination of the growing distance between the strategic perspectives of America and Europe, the United States today is in much the same position as Marshal Will Kane, played by Gary Cooper in the movie “High Noon.” The townspeople are more than happy to live in the peace brought by his law enforcement but are nervous and resentful when the bad guys come back to town looking for him, to enact their revenge. The residents shortsightedly believe that if the marshal would just leave town, there would be no trouble. Of course, the reverse is true. Without Kane to protect them, the town would quickly fall into an anarchic state, paralyzed by ruthless gunslingers."
"As Robert Kagan notes in “Of Paradise and Power,” his seminal examination of the growing distance between the strategic perspectives of America and Europe, the United States today is in much the same position as Marshal Will Kane, played by Gary Cooper in the movie “High Noon.” The townspeople are more than happy to live in the peace brought by his law enforcement but are nervous and resentful when the bad guys come back to town looking for him, to enact their revenge. The residents shortsightedly believe that if the marshal would just leave town, there would be no trouble. Of course, the reverse is true. Without Kane to protect them, the town would quickly fall into an anarchic state, paralyzed by ruthless gunslingers."
Also known as acting (Windows Media Player)
"The British Broadcasting Corporation has apologized to the White House for its broadcast Wednesday night of a live Oval Office feed showing President George W. Bush preparing for his speech announcing the start of the Iraqi war. Administration officials are apparently steamed because Bush was seen having his hair primped and readied by a female stylist armed with a comb and hairspray. Below you'll find a screen grab from the BBC feed as well as a 10-second snippet from the unauthorized TV transmission."
"The British Broadcasting Corporation has apologized to the White House for its broadcast Wednesday night of a live Oval Office feed showing President George W. Bush preparing for his speech announcing the start of the Iraqi war. Administration officials are apparently steamed because Bush was seen having his hair primped and readied by a female stylist armed with a comb and hairspray. Below you'll find a screen grab from the BBC feed as well as a 10-second snippet from the unauthorized TV transmission."
BBC chiefs stress need to attribute war sources
"We're getting more truth out of Baghdad than the Pentagon at the moment."
"We're getting more truth out of Baghdad than the Pentagon at the moment."
The Bush doctrine for political volatility and relation damage
"Mr. Chretien's assurances that Canada-U.S relations have not been damaged by the Iraq crisis were further undermined by American officials, who disclosed that the White House authorized Mr. Cellucci's unusually blunt remarks."
"Mr. Chretien's assurances that Canada-U.S relations have not been damaged by the Iraq crisis were further undermined by American officials, who disclosed that the White House authorized Mr. Cellucci's unusually blunt remarks."
And in some ways the most disturbing trend at this time:
Rumsfeld Cautions Iran and Syria on Aid to Iraq
Rumsfeld Cautions Iran and Syria on Aid to Iraq
52 die in Baghdad market blast
What enlightenment...
Percentage of Americans who currently support this war: 72%
Percentage of Americans who believe Iraq attacked the World Trade Center: 51%
Percentage of Americans who cannot locate Iraq on a world map: 65%
What enlightenment...
Percentage of Americans who currently support this war: 72%
Percentage of Americans who believe Iraq attacked the World Trade Center: 51%
Percentage of Americans who cannot locate Iraq on a world map: 65%
Always on Top - by Edward Said (LRB Vol. 25 No. 6) on "Civilising Subjects: Metropole and Colony in the English Imagination 1830-67"
US mistakes Slovenia for partner in war
The United States has mistakenly named Slovenia as a partner in its war against Iraq.
Slovenian Prime Minister Anton Rop says the US even offered his country a share of the money budgeted for the conflict.
He says when asked for an explanation the US State Department admitted Slovenia was named in a document by mistake.
Slovenia now will not get the $7.5 million it was mistakenly offered in the US war budget
The United States has mistakenly named Slovenia as a partner in its war against Iraq.
Slovenian Prime Minister Anton Rop says the US even offered his country a share of the money budgeted for the conflict.
He says when asked for an explanation the US State Department admitted Slovenia was named in a document by mistake.
Slovenia now will not get the $7.5 million it was mistakenly offered in the US war budget
28.3.03
PNAC: Power & Duty: U.S. Action is Crucial to Maintaining World Order
It's beginning to be reminiscient of national socialist propaganda
It's beginning to be reminiscient of national socialist propaganda
"Ich unternehme den historisch gerichteten Versuch einer Rekonstruktion der Vorgeschichte des neueren Positivismus in der systematischen Absicht einer Analyse des Zusammenhanges von Erkenntnis und Interesse. Wer dem Auflösungsprozess der Erkenntnistheorie, der an ihrer Stelle Wissenschaftstheorie zurücklässt, nachgeht, steigt über verlassene Stufen der Reflexion. Diesen Weg aus einer auf den Ausgangspunkt zurückgewendeten Perspektive wieder zu beschreiten, mag helfen, die vergessene Erfahrung der Reflexion zurückzubringen. Dass wir Reflexion verleugnen, IST der Positivismus."
J.H.
Absolutist application of positivism, analytical faculties, technology (science, economics, psychiatry et al.) = loss of pure reason = symptomatic of world order, leading to imperialism (or maybe, political authority all together?). The nuclear fallacy of bourgois anti-thinking. Are we the noble savages?
J.H.
Absolutist application of positivism, analytical faculties, technology (science, economics, psychiatry et al.) = loss of pure reason = symptomatic of world order, leading to imperialism (or maybe, political authority all together?). The nuclear fallacy of bourgois anti-thinking. Are we the noble savages?
Bush's defence adviser quits in row over conflict of interest
"Richard Perle, a chief architect of the war on Iraq, resigned yesterday as chairman of the influential defence policy board following allegations that he faced a serious conflict of interest over his corporate connections. The US defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld yesterday accepted his resignation but asked him to remain on the board."
"Richard Perle, a chief architect of the war on Iraq, resigned yesterday as chairman of the influential defence policy board following allegations that he faced a serious conflict of interest over his corporate connections. The US defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld yesterday accepted his resignation but asked him to remain on the board."
How the Pentagon's promise of a quick war ran into the desert sand - Political oversights may have stalled offensive, but Rumsfeld is still urging a faster, riskier attack
Bush's Wartime Performance Under Scrutiny
"After ordering U.S. military commanders to target Saddam Hussein in the first air strikes of the war, President Bush has given them authority to attack the Iraqi leader again without his prior approval. Those loose rules of engagement for Saddam are typical of how Bush manages war, aides say: He makes the big political decisions and signs off on grand battlefield strategies, but tries not to meddle in combat tactics.
It's too early to declare how he stacks up against America's wartime presidents, but those who study such things say they already see the lessons learned from several predecessors reflected in Bush's style.
He delegates like Ronald Reagan, only dips into details that used to obsess Lyndon Johnson and turns in times of trouble to those who served his father - Dick Cheney, Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice."
"After ordering U.S. military commanders to target Saddam Hussein in the first air strikes of the war, President Bush has given them authority to attack the Iraqi leader again without his prior approval. Those loose rules of engagement for Saddam are typical of how Bush manages war, aides say: He makes the big political decisions and signs off on grand battlefield strategies, but tries not to meddle in combat tactics.
It's too early to declare how he stacks up against America's wartime presidents, but those who study such things say they already see the lessons learned from several predecessors reflected in Bush's style.
He delegates like Ronald Reagan, only dips into details that used to obsess Lyndon Johnson and turns in times of trouble to those who served his father - Dick Cheney, Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice."
27.3.03
Liberian leader accuses US - Liberian President Charles Taylor has accused the United States of indirectly supporting Liberian rebels.
US diplomat resigns over Iraq
"A senior American diplomat in Mongolia has resigned, saying Washington's policies towards Iraq and North Korea are making the world more dangerous."
"A senior American diplomat in Mongolia has resigned, saying Washington's policies towards Iraq and North Korea are making the world more dangerous."
War, Hitler and Cheney - by Lyndon H. LaRouche, Jr.
"Ironically, but not accidentally, the present war-like situation in the Department of Defense, including the public rug-chewing exhibitions by Secretary Rumsfeld, reminds today's serious historians of the way in which Adolf Hitler and his Roman Legions-modelled SS, ultimately destroyed that German military which would-be Caesar Hitler's gang feared and hated so intensely."
"Ironically, but not accidentally, the present war-like situation in the Department of Defense, including the public rug-chewing exhibitions by Secretary Rumsfeld, reminds today's serious historians of the way in which Adolf Hitler and his Roman Legions-modelled SS, ultimately destroyed that German military which would-be Caesar Hitler's gang feared and hated so intensely."
US envoy walks out of Iraqi ambassador's UN speech
"Washington's UN ambassador walked out of a Security Council debate on Iraq on Thursday after Baghdad's ambassador said the United States and Britain wanted to exterminate the Iraqi people."
"Washington's UN ambassador walked out of a Security Council debate on Iraq on Thursday after Baghdad's ambassador said the United States and Britain wanted to exterminate the Iraqi people."
Iraq body count
The worldwide update of reported civilian casualties in the war on Iraq
“We don’t do body counts” - General Tommy Franks, US Central Command
The worldwide update of reported civilian casualties in the war on Iraq
“We don’t do body counts” - General Tommy Franks, US Central Command
Guardian update
At least 14 Iraqis were killed yesterday and dozens injured in a crowded marketplace in the Shaab district of northern Baghdad - apparently the result of American bombing.
The US military has so far given four different explanations: that one of its precision missiles might have gone astray; that the attack was aimed at Iraqi anti-aircraft missiles "positioned less than 300ft from homes"; that an Iraqi anti-aircraft missile hit the market; that an accurately-aimed US missile was deflected by Iraqi ground fire.
The gruesome scenes in the marketplace figured prominently in al-Jazeera's war coverage throughout the day, though the Iraqi deaths only made the third item in CNN's early morning news and largely vanished from American television after that.
The confused explanations given by the US military also raise questions about the competence of their information machine. As a source of information it's rapidly proving untrustworthy and as a source of propaganda it's equally ineffective.
Centcom's increasingly fraught press briefings in Qatar seem designed to provide junk news for the pliant American media while reporters from the rest of the world demand real answers to real questions.
At least 14 Iraqis were killed yesterday and dozens injured in a crowded marketplace in the Shaab district of northern Baghdad - apparently the result of American bombing.
The US military has so far given four different explanations: that one of its precision missiles might have gone astray; that the attack was aimed at Iraqi anti-aircraft missiles "positioned less than 300ft from homes"; that an Iraqi anti-aircraft missile hit the market; that an accurately-aimed US missile was deflected by Iraqi ground fire.
The gruesome scenes in the marketplace figured prominently in al-Jazeera's war coverage throughout the day, though the Iraqi deaths only made the third item in CNN's early morning news and largely vanished from American television after that.
The confused explanations given by the US military also raise questions about the competence of their information machine. As a source of information it's rapidly proving untrustworthy and as a source of propaganda it's equally ineffective.
Centcom's increasingly fraught press briefings in Qatar seem designed to provide junk news for the pliant American media while reporters from the rest of the world demand real answers to real questions.
Fidel Castro: "Internet, a Weapon to Destroy Communication Monopolies"
"During a meeting with Cuban journalists in Havana, the revolutionary leader said public opinion was the "key tool" to stop the war in Iraq. Castro believes that media monopolies manipulate people's minds, but Internet could play a decisive role to offset media power. The idea, to organize the anti-war movement from the cyberspace."
"During a meeting with Cuban journalists in Havana, the revolutionary leader said public opinion was the "key tool" to stop the war in Iraq. Castro believes that media monopolies manipulate people's minds, but Internet could play a decisive role to offset media power. The idea, to organize the anti-war movement from the cyberspace."
26.3.03
Switzerland Rejects Expulsion Request
"Swiss authorities on Wednesday rejected a U.S. call to expel Iraqi diplomats and shut Iraq's embassy.
The Cabinet said it could close an embassy or order diplomats to leave only if a U.N. resolution requested such a move or if Switzerland broke off diplomatic relations with the country in question."
"Swiss authorities on Wednesday rejected a U.S. call to expel Iraqi diplomats and shut Iraq's embassy.
The Cabinet said it could close an embassy or order diplomats to leave only if a U.N. resolution requested such a move or if Switzerland broke off diplomatic relations with the country in question."
Hackers target Al Jazeera website
"The newly launched English-language page, which went live Monday and posted images of the corpses of U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq, was hardest hit in a bombardment of data packets known as a denial-of-service attack."
"The newly launched English-language page, which went live Monday and posted images of the corpses of U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq, was hardest hit in a bombardment of data packets known as a denial-of-service attack."
"We live in the time where we have fictitious election results that elect a fictitious president, We live in a time where we have a man who's sending us to war for fictitious reasons, whether it's the fiction of duct tape or the fiction of orange alerts ... Shame on you, Bush" - Michael Moore accepting an Oscar for his documentary, Bowling for Columbine.
The duct tape distraction.
The duct tape distraction.
25.3.03
Cheney daughter - human shield in Baghdad?
"The London based Arabic daily Al Quds Al Arabi reported on Tuesday, March 25 that the American vice president, Dick Cheney, would soon head to the Jordanian capital, Amman.
The newspaper claimed that the visit would be an attempt by Cheney to convince his daughter, who was in the Jordanian capital, to back down her decision to go to Baghdad within a group of volunteers who want to form human shields against the US led attacks on Iraq."
"The London based Arabic daily Al Quds Al Arabi reported on Tuesday, March 25 that the American vice president, Dick Cheney, would soon head to the Jordanian capital, Amman.
The newspaper claimed that the visit would be an attempt by Cheney to convince his daughter, who was in the Jordanian capital, to back down her decision to go to Baghdad within a group of volunteers who want to form human shields against the US led attacks on Iraq."
Leave After War, Iraqi Opposition Group Tells U.S.
"The leader of Iraq's main Shi'ite opposition group warned Washington on Tuesday that U.S. troops would face armed resistance if they stayed in Iraq once President Saddam Hussein was toppled."
"The leader of Iraq's main Shi'ite opposition group warned Washington on Tuesday that U.S. troops would face armed resistance if they stayed in Iraq once President Saddam Hussein was toppled."
India says Pakistan behind Kashmir violence
"India said on Tuesday Pakistan was responsible for acts of terror in the disputed region of Kashmir, but stopped short of accusing its neighbour of direct involvement in the killing of 24 Hindu villagers."
"India said on Tuesday Pakistan was responsible for acts of terror in the disputed region of Kashmir, but stopped short of accusing its neighbour of direct involvement in the killing of 24 Hindu villagers."
Today from pravda.ru:
Bush Plan to Assassinate Saddam Illegal
Main Objective of War - New Weapon Tests
"Main objective of the Iraqi war is still offscreen, nobody ever mentions it. My opinion is that main objective of the war is a large-scale testing of new high precision weapons held by the USA in Iraq. This is the top-priority objective for America, all the rest are minor objectives or undisguised misinformation in fact."
...
"It makes sense to mention that the Pentagon purchases from the defense establishment only weapons tested in real wars and holding quality certificates taken on battle fields."
Bush Plan to Assassinate Saddam Illegal
Main Objective of War - New Weapon Tests
"Main objective of the Iraqi war is still offscreen, nobody ever mentions it. My opinion is that main objective of the war is a large-scale testing of new high precision weapons held by the USA in Iraq. This is the top-priority objective for America, all the rest are minor objectives or undisguised misinformation in fact."
...
"It makes sense to mention that the Pentagon purchases from the defense establishment only weapons tested in real wars and holding quality certificates taken on battle fields."
Texas Base Stunned to See POWs
(!!!)
"The white block lettering on an overpass near Fort Bliss's main gate is impossible to miss. "It's a Great Day To Be a Soldier," says the official base motto.
It may have seemed an apt exhortation in peacetime. But as the nation absorbed news on Sunday of American casualties and combat in Iraq, there was special anguish and disbelief at Fort Bliss, home base of a dozen GIs killed or captured near the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah."
(!!!)
"The white block lettering on an overpass near Fort Bliss's main gate is impossible to miss. "It's a Great Day To Be a Soldier," says the official base motto.
It may have seemed an apt exhortation in peacetime. But as the nation absorbed news on Sunday of American casualties and combat in Iraq, there was special anguish and disbelief at Fort Bliss, home base of a dozen GIs killed or captured near the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah."
US and Russia in weapons clash
"The divide between Moscow and Washington on the war in Iraq grew even wider yesterday when George Bush telephoned Vladimir Putin over US claims that Russian firms were illegally selling military equipment to Baghdad. But officials in Moscow fiercely rebutted the accusations."
"The divide between Moscow and Washington on the war in Iraq grew even wider yesterday when George Bush telephoned Vladimir Putin over US claims that Russian firms were illegally selling military equipment to Baghdad. But officials in Moscow fiercely rebutted the accusations."
US accused over hypocrisy over US POW's
The Independent agrees, accusing George Bush of hypocrisy in citing the convention. But the Guardian's Marcel Berlins says the US had a get-out clause in Guantanamo Bay. The prisoners were "unlawful combatants" and therefore not subject to the convention. Moreover, it doesn't apply to the news media.
One rule for them - Five PoWs are mistreated in Iraq and the US cries foul. What about Guantanamo Bay? - by George Monbiot
"Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War"
src="http://www.quicktopic.com/20/8U9qkWXVGiaUt.js">
discuss here
The Independent agrees, accusing George Bush of hypocrisy in citing the convention. But the Guardian's Marcel Berlins says the US had a get-out clause in Guantanamo Bay. The prisoners were "unlawful combatants" and therefore not subject to the convention. Moreover, it doesn't apply to the news media.
One rule for them - Five PoWs are mistreated in Iraq and the US cries foul. What about Guantanamo Bay? - by George Monbiot
"Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War"
src="http://www.quicktopic.com/20/8U9qkWXVGiaUt.js">
discuss here
Since the papers went to press...
Baghdad chemical weapons fears
US TV networks claim intelligence sources have warned that Iraq has authorised Republican Guards to use chemical weapons against coalition troops entering Baghdad. A second British soldier has been killed in action. Tony Blair will fly to Washington to meet George Bush for 'urgent Talks'. British officers have declared Basra a military target after an Iraqi unit moved back into Iraq's second city.
Baghdad chemical weapons fears
US TV networks claim intelligence sources have warned that Iraq has authorised Republican Guards to use chemical weapons against coalition troops entering Baghdad. A second British soldier has been killed in action. Tony Blair will fly to Washington to meet George Bush for 'urgent Talks'. British officers have declared Basra a military target after an Iraqi unit moved back into Iraq's second city.
Harper's Index - March 2003
Chance that a U.S. soldier killed in the Persian Gulf War was a victim of enemy aggression : 1 in 3
Amount the U.S. Air Force will pay a Texas woman this year for mistakenly hitting her home with a dummy bomb : $12,000
'Ex-presidents club' gets fat on conflict
High-flying venture capital firm Carlyle Group cashes in when the tanks roll
High-flying venture capital firm Carlyle Group cashes in when the tanks roll
People turning to Internet for war news
"When the United States launched its war against Iraq, people once again turned to the Internet for information, but this time they had the help of Web blogs and wireless devices to get their news and spread opinions."
"When the United States launched its war against Iraq, people once again turned to the Internet for information, but this time they had the help of Web blogs and wireless devices to get their news and spread opinions."
Support for war surges
If only we had a cranial backbone...
"The 15-point swing in public opinion recorded by the ICM survey means that there is now a clear majority, 54%, who back military action, after a sharp rise from 38% just a week ago. The results represent a sudden and widespread shift in public mood in Britain."
ICM survey (.pdf)
src="http://www.quicktopic.com/20/cNr4k7VgjV9Z.js">
click here to discuss
If only we had a cranial backbone...
"The 15-point swing in public opinion recorded by the ICM survey means that there is now a clear majority, 54%, who back military action, after a sharp rise from 38% just a week ago. The results represent a sudden and widespread shift in public mood in Britain."
ICM survey (.pdf)
src="http://www.quicktopic.com/20/cNr4k7VgjV9Z.js">
click here to discuss
24.3.03
Michael Moore criticizes U.S. war in Iraq in Oscar speech
"We live in fictitious times. We live in the time where we have fictitious election results that elect a fictitious president. We live in a time where we have a man who's sending us to war for fictitious reasons, whether it's the fiction of duct tape or the fiction of orange alerts," Moore said.
"We live in fictitious times. We live in the time where we have fictitious election results that elect a fictitious president. We live in a time where we have a man who's sending us to war for fictitious reasons, whether it's the fiction of duct tape or the fiction of orange alerts," Moore said.
Swiss Police Attack Anti-War Protesting Children
"Hundreds of Swiss school children have been fired upon by riot police outside the US Mission in Geneva. The attack, witnessed by workers from the nearby World Health Organization, was unprovoked."
"Hundreds of Swiss school children have been fired upon by riot police outside the US Mission in Geneva. The attack, witnessed by workers from the nearby World Health Organization, was unprovoked."
23.3.03
Forgery, Hyperbole, and Half-Truths
by Ray McGovern ; March 21, 2003
... Summary: Retired and former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) professionals write President George Bush with an "increased sense of urgency and responsibility" regarding the looming war between the US and Iraq ...
by Ray McGovern ; March 21, 2003
... Summary: Retired and former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) professionals write President George Bush with an "increased sense of urgency and responsibility" regarding the looming war between the US and Iraq ...
ZNet Update
"In 1898, president William McKinley declared that God had commanded him to seize the Philippines in order to civilize and christianize their inhabitants. McKinley said that he had spoken with God at midnight as he roamed the corridors of the White House. Over a century later, president Bush assures us that God is on his side in the conquest of Iraq. What time was it and where was he, we wonder, when he got the divine message? We might also ask why the messages to Bush and to the Pope at Rome were so contradictory."
...
"The United States says it expects a lengthy military occupation following its victory. US generals will be in charge of setting up democracy in Iraq.
Will this be a democracy like in Haiti, the Dominican Republic or Nicaragua? They occupied Haiti for 19 years and set up a military power base that eventually became the dictatorship of Francois Duvalier. They occupied the Dominican Republic for nine years and laid the foundations for the dictatorship of Rafael Leonidas Trujillo. They occupied Nicaragua for 21 years and founded the dictatorship of the Somoza family."
...
"Did you know that in 1953 president Dwight D. Eisenhower said that "preventive war" was invented by Adolf Hitler? He said: "...frankly, I wouldn't even listen to anyone seriously that came in and talked about such a thing"."
...
"Defence Secretary Rumsfeld has announced that his country will use "non-lethal gases" against Iraq. Will these be the kind of non-lethal gases that Vladimir Putin used last year in a Moscow theatre, killing over a hundred hostages?"
"In 1898, president William McKinley declared that God had commanded him to seize the Philippines in order to civilize and christianize their inhabitants. McKinley said that he had spoken with God at midnight as he roamed the corridors of the White House. Over a century later, president Bush assures us that God is on his side in the conquest of Iraq. What time was it and where was he, we wonder, when he got the divine message? We might also ask why the messages to Bush and to the Pope at Rome were so contradictory."
...
"The United States says it expects a lengthy military occupation following its victory. US generals will be in charge of setting up democracy in Iraq.
Will this be a democracy like in Haiti, the Dominican Republic or Nicaragua? They occupied Haiti for 19 years and set up a military power base that eventually became the dictatorship of Francois Duvalier. They occupied the Dominican Republic for nine years and laid the foundations for the dictatorship of Rafael Leonidas Trujillo. They occupied Nicaragua for 21 years and founded the dictatorship of the Somoza family."
...
"Did you know that in 1953 president Dwight D. Eisenhower said that "preventive war" was invented by Adolf Hitler? He said: "...frankly, I wouldn't even listen to anyone seriously that came in and talked about such a thing"."
...
"Defence Secretary Rumsfeld has announced that his country will use "non-lethal gases" against Iraq. Will these be the kind of non-lethal gases that Vladimir Putin used last year in a Moscow theatre, killing over a hundred hostages?"
US fears a hard, bloody war
"Mounting complications, including stronger enemy resistance and a climbing casualty count, have prompted United States warnings that a longer and more bloody fight will be needed to capture Iraq."
"Mounting complications, including stronger enemy resistance and a climbing casualty count, have prompted United States warnings that a longer and more bloody fight will be needed to capture Iraq."
US Afghan Losses Said Far Higher Than Admitted - Over 1200 Dead US Soldiers Transported From Afghanistan
heres an updated account of the madrid action... sorry for the repetition
Friendly Fiesta Spain
The anti-war movement has been building up slowly here in Spain, with the PP party led by Jose Mari Aznar have thrown themselves into the crusade with an astonishing zeal. The war is deeply unpopular here and has seen unprecendented numbers of people at demonstrations first on the 15th of February, then the 15th of March and then everyday since the war begun in earnest against Iraq.
There have been Protests every day in the main squares, outside the parliament, the American Embassy, the PP party headquaters, blocking traffic, and shouting, the normal kind of stuff. The crazy thing is the police here, who are incredible. They throw spinning flares shooting sparks into crowds to disperse them, shoot rubber bullets as if they needed to get rid of them and beat anyone they can find. They chase protesters trying to hurt them in one way or another in a kind of perverted instant justice. The protesters aren´t doing anything they can be arrested for, so it seems they need to be punished on the spot for their insolence.
On Thursday I was with a small group of people walking to the American Embassy after being repulsed from the PP party headquarters by flares and rubber bullets when we were acosted by a police van. I took out my camera (naturally, being a tourist) and the leader of the gang of "antidisturbios" told me to put it away or he would break it! A guy tried to stand up for me, saying that we weren´t doing anything wrong and got punched in the stomach for his trouble.
On Friday night I followed a demonstration towards Sol, one of the biggest central squares. Despite encountering police on the way who fired at us and forced us to change our route, we made it to Sol eventually. The square was full of people, shouting playing drums and at the worst, stopping the traffic. Suddenly without warning a group of police vans sped into the square with police firing indiscriminately at the crowd. Fifteen minutes later the square was full of police vans, fire engines and ambulances for the casualties. We were chased through the streets by gangs of police with guns shooting rubber bullets at everyone. Hours later I could still hear the bangs and smell the fires as people built barricades and burnt rubbish on the streets. The traffic was still blocked, but by the police... I don´t know what they thought they had achieved but their motivations seem obviously more political than about public order. The chaos and anarchy that the press here have been attributing to groups of “radical youths” follow directly after the panic of several thousand people running in fear of police with guns firing rubber bullets. I am surprised there haven´t been any deaths in these kind of situations and with the attitude of the police here. It is becomin really fascist... A teenager was not allowed to wear a peace sticker on his school trip to the parliament. The old people I have met in the streets are emotional and say this is how it was under Franco, or that they haven´t seen anything like this since Franco´s time. What is basically clear is that millions of people want to protest the government´s policies and that the government is surpressing this protest with violence. (Look up terrorism in the dictionary to check up on this one).
Now it is Sunday... last night there was more fighting. A huge crowd converged at Moncloa, hoping to march to the president´s house. The demonstration had been declared ilegal just hours before it was due to begin and there was widespread confusion and fear. Anyway we arrived to find a big mixed crowd which made us feel alot safer. The route to the president´s house had been blocked by thirty police vans, fences, and loads of the “antidisturbios”. The demonstration turned on it´s heels and headed into the middle of town rather than confront the police. We marched a long way back into the centre of Madrid, through a small rainstorm, and past the airforce headquarters, with Franco´s name still proudly emblazoned above the Neo-classical entrance. We passed through Plaza de España and headed towards Sol (again) it seemed to be passing off nicely, with enough people and enough “respectable” people present to keep the police at bay. I arrived at Sol without trouble, where there were speeches, music, more chanting and only the sound of helicopters and shots in the distance...
Today I have been told what happened, and things were worse than Friday. According to El Pais, the trouble started when the police intervened to stop those ubiquitous “radical youths” destroying a McDonalds. When I passed the McDonalds before the trouble begun it was already covered in graffiti and red paint, with most of the windows cracked...
A friend who was in the middle of the sounds I heard in the distance told me another version of the story. She was with a group from a local squatted social centre who have built shields out of polystyrene and tape to protect themselves and the crowds behind them from rubber bullets. They have been at most of the demonstrations and have been near the front many times using their shields. The police spotted them and intervened in the main body of the demonstration to separate them from the rest. Why they did this was unclear but it does not stretch the imagination too much to see that the police had singled out the longhairs, the squatters and the activists for a quick punishment beating. They charged and began shooting and hitting them... Chaos ensued and the streets turned into a battlefield, from about 9 pm untill 2 am.
We in Sol were pretty much unaware of this. The police were told to leave Sol by an MP of the Izquierda Unida (United Left) party and by chants of “policia asesina” (police murderers) from the crowd. They left the main crowd in Sol alone but continued fighting the demonstrators in the streets nearby.
Many people have been hurt. There was some shocking footage shown on TV recently of police hitting a girl asking them for help for her injured friend. Last night´s fighting saw 60 injured, including 18 police. I cannot imagine how the police got injured, as they are so well armed and organised. With their helmets, guns, armour, rubber bullet guns and truncheons. Fighting like military teams against unarmed citizens, the taxpayers, with a brutal zeal that has left many wondering if they are on drugs... Certainly thier fantatical aggressiveness is not the worst thing on TV, but I thought only people with turbans did that kind of thing?
Friendly Fiesta Spain
The anti-war movement has been building up slowly here in Spain, with the PP party led by Jose Mari Aznar have thrown themselves into the crusade with an astonishing zeal. The war is deeply unpopular here and has seen unprecendented numbers of people at demonstrations first on the 15th of February, then the 15th of March and then everyday since the war begun in earnest against Iraq.
There have been Protests every day in the main squares, outside the parliament, the American Embassy, the PP party headquaters, blocking traffic, and shouting, the normal kind of stuff. The crazy thing is the police here, who are incredible. They throw spinning flares shooting sparks into crowds to disperse them, shoot rubber bullets as if they needed to get rid of them and beat anyone they can find. They chase protesters trying to hurt them in one way or another in a kind of perverted instant justice. The protesters aren´t doing anything they can be arrested for, so it seems they need to be punished on the spot for their insolence.
On Thursday I was with a small group of people walking to the American Embassy after being repulsed from the PP party headquarters by flares and rubber bullets when we were acosted by a police van. I took out my camera (naturally, being a tourist) and the leader of the gang of "antidisturbios" told me to put it away or he would break it! A guy tried to stand up for me, saying that we weren´t doing anything wrong and got punched in the stomach for his trouble.
On Friday night I followed a demonstration towards Sol, one of the biggest central squares. Despite encountering police on the way who fired at us and forced us to change our route, we made it to Sol eventually. The square was full of people, shouting playing drums and at the worst, stopping the traffic. Suddenly without warning a group of police vans sped into the square with police firing indiscriminately at the crowd. Fifteen minutes later the square was full of police vans, fire engines and ambulances for the casualties. We were chased through the streets by gangs of police with guns shooting rubber bullets at everyone. Hours later I could still hear the bangs and smell the fires as people built barricades and burnt rubbish on the streets. The traffic was still blocked, but by the police... I don´t know what they thought they had achieved but their motivations seem obviously more political than about public order. The chaos and anarchy that the press here have been attributing to groups of “radical youths” follow directly after the panic of several thousand people running in fear of police with guns firing rubber bullets. I am surprised there haven´t been any deaths in these kind of situations and with the attitude of the police here. It is becomin really fascist... A teenager was not allowed to wear a peace sticker on his school trip to the parliament. The old people I have met in the streets are emotional and say this is how it was under Franco, or that they haven´t seen anything like this since Franco´s time. What is basically clear is that millions of people want to protest the government´s policies and that the government is surpressing this protest with violence. (Look up terrorism in the dictionary to check up on this one).
Now it is Sunday... last night there was more fighting. A huge crowd converged at Moncloa, hoping to march to the president´s house. The demonstration had been declared ilegal just hours before it was due to begin and there was widespread confusion and fear. Anyway we arrived to find a big mixed crowd which made us feel alot safer. The route to the president´s house had been blocked by thirty police vans, fences, and loads of the “antidisturbios”. The demonstration turned on it´s heels and headed into the middle of town rather than confront the police. We marched a long way back into the centre of Madrid, through a small rainstorm, and past the airforce headquarters, with Franco´s name still proudly emblazoned above the Neo-classical entrance. We passed through Plaza de España and headed towards Sol (again) it seemed to be passing off nicely, with enough people and enough “respectable” people present to keep the police at bay. I arrived at Sol without trouble, where there were speeches, music, more chanting and only the sound of helicopters and shots in the distance...
Today I have been told what happened, and things were worse than Friday. According to El Pais, the trouble started when the police intervened to stop those ubiquitous “radical youths” destroying a McDonalds. When I passed the McDonalds before the trouble begun it was already covered in graffiti and red paint, with most of the windows cracked...
A friend who was in the middle of the sounds I heard in the distance told me another version of the story. She was with a group from a local squatted social centre who have built shields out of polystyrene and tape to protect themselves and the crowds behind them from rubber bullets. They have been at most of the demonstrations and have been near the front many times using their shields. The police spotted them and intervened in the main body of the demonstration to separate them from the rest. Why they did this was unclear but it does not stretch the imagination too much to see that the police had singled out the longhairs, the squatters and the activists for a quick punishment beating. They charged and began shooting and hitting them... Chaos ensued and the streets turned into a battlefield, from about 9 pm untill 2 am.
We in Sol were pretty much unaware of this. The police were told to leave Sol by an MP of the Izquierda Unida (United Left) party and by chants of “policia asesina” (police murderers) from the crowd. They left the main crowd in Sol alone but continued fighting the demonstrators in the streets nearby.
Many people have been hurt. There was some shocking footage shown on TV recently of police hitting a girl asking them for help for her injured friend. Last night´s fighting saw 60 injured, including 18 police. I cannot imagine how the police got injured, as they are so well armed and organised. With their helmets, guns, armour, rubber bullet guns and truncheons. Fighting like military teams against unarmed citizens, the taxpayers, with a brutal zeal that has left many wondering if they are on drugs... Certainly thier fantatical aggressiveness is not the worst thing on TV, but I thought only people with turbans did that kind of thing?
'Knowledge and Interest'
Philosophy 410 - Political Philosophy, some Washington dot.edu course syllabus
Look at what they have to read... Wonder what this course is... 'The idiots guide to a hidden fascist dictatorship in the 21st century', 'Theoretical aspects of democratic lying' or 'How to reach unjustifiable political ends'.
Start with Bakunin, the 'root of all evil' to any neo-con (seemingly without historical reference to Marx/socialism/anarchism, but then again, handy to refute Marxism and socialism as dictatorial/authoritarian, eh?) Then bring on the 'should-have-been-a-dictator' Nozick quashing, and other useful insights of the 'Justification of punishment' sort? A little one-sided, in transatlantic terms even, no?
It's just like ("...Lenin said..."):
From Harper's Index, sometime last year:
Number of books to which a national reading program has assigned points that students can accumulate for rewards : 50,000
Points assigned to Tom Clancy's Executive Orders and Fyodor Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment, respectively : 78, 40
(also amusing since Bush seems to proudly keep referring to some sort of 'reading program', when bad news brakes...)
Maybe, the fact that you can actually get a degree in economics without examination of its historical/philosophical heritage is a good illustration - anti-historical, anti-intellectual, uncritically instrumental ('don't think, just shift money!'). It's like learning how to administer drugs without knowing what effect they have ('differential diagnosis' in medicine more directly linked to generic drug name of relevant pharma producer than actual illness of patient - it seems the modern GP doesn't understand the pathology as much as he knows how much of what brand to give you - still the village shaman...). Like learning how to drive without knowing how a car works (or just generally driving SUV's around). "The automatic gear box" or "(American) pragmatism", they both thrive on the dualistic fallacy (yes, have been consuming thc...).
Is today's university graduate gone to white-collar office operator/money shifter, tomorrow's blue-collar worker (which was yesterday's miner)? Postmodern material fetishism lets you believe that the difference in shirt colour is somehow significant, whilst actually, it's the collar itself that invisibly chains the individual to his controlled imagination... significance lies in varying material costs, between a gucci suit and a carhartt overall. Suit you!
Philosophy 410 - Political Philosophy, some Washington dot.edu course syllabus
Look at what they have to read... Wonder what this course is... 'The idiots guide to a hidden fascist dictatorship in the 21st century', 'Theoretical aspects of democratic lying' or 'How to reach unjustifiable political ends'.
Start with Bakunin, the 'root of all evil' to any neo-con (seemingly without historical reference to Marx/socialism/anarchism, but then again, handy to refute Marxism and socialism as dictatorial/authoritarian, eh?) Then bring on the 'should-have-been-a-dictator' Nozick quashing, and other useful insights of the 'Justification of punishment' sort? A little one-sided, in transatlantic terms even, no?
It's just like ("...Lenin said..."):
From Harper's Index, sometime last year:
Number of books to which a national reading program has assigned points that students can accumulate for rewards : 50,000
Points assigned to Tom Clancy's Executive Orders and Fyodor Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment, respectively : 78, 40
(also amusing since Bush seems to proudly keep referring to some sort of 'reading program', when bad news brakes...)
Maybe, the fact that you can actually get a degree in economics without examination of its historical/philosophical heritage is a good illustration - anti-historical, anti-intellectual, uncritically instrumental ('don't think, just shift money!'). It's like learning how to administer drugs without knowing what effect they have ('differential diagnosis' in medicine more directly linked to generic drug name of relevant pharma producer than actual illness of patient - it seems the modern GP doesn't understand the pathology as much as he knows how much of what brand to give you - still the village shaman...). Like learning how to drive without knowing how a car works (or just generally driving SUV's around). "The automatic gear box" or "(American) pragmatism", they both thrive on the dualistic fallacy (yes, have been consuming thc...).
Is today's university graduate gone to white-collar office operator/money shifter, tomorrow's blue-collar worker (which was yesterday's miner)? Postmodern material fetishism lets you believe that the difference in shirt colour is somehow significant, whilst actually, it's the collar itself that invisibly chains the individual to his controlled imagination... significance lies in varying material costs, between a gucci suit and a carhartt overall. Suit you!
Iraq rebuilding contracts -
All companies are American, and all of them have ties to the Administration.
All companies are American, and all of them have ties to the Administration.
Halliburton Makes a Killing on War
"As the first bombs rain down on Baghdad, CorpWatch has learned that thousands of employees of Halliburton, Vice President Dick Cheney's former company, are working alongside U.S. troops in Kuwait and Turkey under a package deal worth close to a billion dollars. According to U.S. Army sources, they are building tent cities and providing logistical support for the war in Iraq in addition to other hot spots in the "war on terrorism.""
"As the first bombs rain down on Baghdad, CorpWatch has learned that thousands of employees of Halliburton, Vice President Dick Cheney's former company, are working alongside U.S. troops in Kuwait and Turkey under a package deal worth close to a billion dollars. According to U.S. Army sources, they are building tent cities and providing logistical support for the war in Iraq in addition to other hot spots in the "war on terrorism.""
22.3.03
Spain protests, there have been 50 wounded so far 5 police, which frankly surprises me as this is a very one sided fight the police here are well armed and brutal. Tonight we march, in a protest that has been declared illegal, to the president´s house. I think it will get nasty. The town is covered in graffiti and all the banks and burger joints are plastered with eggs and red paint. The media has turned on the violent factions in the protests and I think the families will stay at home and leave the students, punks and hippies to be beaten where no one can see...
from yesterday night...
There has been fighting on the streets of Madrid for the last two days.
Protests every day in the main squares, outside the parliament, The American
embassy, the PP party headquaters, blocking traffic, and shouting, the
normal kind of stuff.
The crazy thing is the police here who are incredible. They throw flares to
disperse the crowds, shoot rubber bullets as if they needed to get rid of
them and beat anyone they can find. One of my friends was kneed in the balls
by a policeman pretending not to be violent... Yesterday I was with a small
group of people walking to the American Embassy when we were acosted by a
police van. I took out my camera (naturally, being a tourist) and the leader
of the gang of "antidisturbios" told me to put it away or he would break it!
A guy tried to stand up for me, saying that we weren´t doing anything and
got punched in the stomach for his trouble.
Now I am in an internet cafe near Sol, one of the biggest central squares.
it was full of people shouting playing drums and stopping the traffic at the
worst, but now it is full of police vans, fir engines and ambulances for
their victims. We were chased through the streets by gangs of police with
guns shooting rubber bullets at everyone. Now I can still hear the bangs and
smell the fires as people build barricades and burn rubbish on the streets.
The traffic is still blocked, but by the police... I don´t know what they
think they have achieved.
what will happen... nobody knows, but I am surprised there haven´t been any
deaths with the attitude of the police here. It is really fascist... A
teenager was not allowed to wear a peace sticker on his school trip to the
parliament. The police arrive and disperse any demonstration with immediate
unannounced violence.
from yesterday night...
There has been fighting on the streets of Madrid for the last two days.
Protests every day in the main squares, outside the parliament, The American
embassy, the PP party headquaters, blocking traffic, and shouting, the
normal kind of stuff.
The crazy thing is the police here who are incredible. They throw flares to
disperse the crowds, shoot rubber bullets as if they needed to get rid of
them and beat anyone they can find. One of my friends was kneed in the balls
by a policeman pretending not to be violent... Yesterday I was with a small
group of people walking to the American Embassy when we were acosted by a
police van. I took out my camera (naturally, being a tourist) and the leader
of the gang of "antidisturbios" told me to put it away or he would break it!
A guy tried to stand up for me, saying that we weren´t doing anything and
got punched in the stomach for his trouble.
Now I am in an internet cafe near Sol, one of the biggest central squares.
it was full of people shouting playing drums and stopping the traffic at the
worst, but now it is full of police vans, fir engines and ambulances for
their victims. We were chased through the streets by gangs of police with
guns shooting rubber bullets at everyone. Now I can still hear the bangs and
smell the fires as people build barricades and burn rubbish on the streets.
The traffic is still blocked, but by the police... I don´t know what they
think they have achieved.
what will happen... nobody knows, but I am surprised there haven´t been any
deaths with the attitude of the police here. It is really fascist... A
teenager was not allowed to wear a peace sticker on his school trip to the
parliament. The police arrive and disperse any demonstration with immediate
unannounced violence.
Sergeant Rene Laprevotte told the San Francisco Chronicle: "After 16 hours of fighting communists and anarchists, a Red Bull can help us go another 16 hours. We're here as long as they are."
Fuck the police.
Benji told me the police in spain fired rubber bullets at the crowd indiscriminately... lyrics benji please!
Fuck the police.
Benji told me the police in spain fired rubber bullets at the crowd indiscriminately... lyrics benji please!
21.3.03
and in symmetrical relevance to Perle's commentary below (just be sure it's related... listen to your revolutionary intuition ladies! As Mr. Phil always says, 'No conspiracy, it's all there'...):
Russia Wants UN Troops to End Fighting in Iraq
Russia Wants UN Troops to End Fighting in Iraq
Thank God for the death of the UN - by Richard Perle, PNAC brownie member.
Arrogance by a blind man. Can you believe this?
Soon Kagan will write books about how the UN is Minerva (Rousseau?) and the US is Neptune (erm... Columbus?).
Arrogance by a blind man. Can you believe this?
Soon Kagan will write books about how the UN is Minerva (Rousseau?) and the US is Neptune (erm... Columbus?).
Propaganda, because it is not rationally based, is kind of absorbed through the skin like a nicotine patch and gives the agent the feeling he has a “gut feeling” about the topic (“that saddam is a bad ‘un”) when in fact they are just uncritically regurgitating the half-baked nonsense they have passively absorbed (consumed?).
20.3.03
Hitler on propaganda
"The function of propaganda does not lie in the scientific training of the individual, but in calling the masses' attention to certain facts, processes, necessities, etc., whose significance is thus for the first time placed within their field of vision.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
All propaganda must be popular and its intellectual level must be adjusted to the most limited intelligence among those it is addressed to. Consequently, the greater the mass it is intended to reach, the lower its purely intellectual level will have to be. But if, as in propaganda for sticking out a war, the aim is to influence a whole people, we must avoid excessive intellectual demands on our public, and too much caution cannot be extended in this direction."
"The function of propaganda does not lie in the scientific training of the individual, but in calling the masses' attention to certain facts, processes, necessities, etc., whose significance is thus for the first time placed within their field of vision.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
All propaganda must be popular and its intellectual level must be adjusted to the most limited intelligence among those it is addressed to. Consequently, the greater the mass it is intended to reach, the lower its purely intellectual level will have to be. But if, as in propaganda for sticking out a war, the aim is to influence a whole people, we must avoid excessive intellectual demands on our public, and too much caution cannot be extended in this direction."
This is the most hopeful yet realistic look I've found
On the new countering superpower: world opinion
On the new countering superpower: world opinion
19.3.03
18.3.03
Using a 33,000-pound tractor to obliterate compact discs and other items, a few hundred protesters in Bossier City, La., referring to themselves as backers of U.S. President George Bush and Barksdale Air Force Base, lashed back at Natalie Maines, lead singer of the Texas-based country act the Dixie Chicks, over a recent comment.
Maines reportedly told a London audience last week, in reference to Bush's push for military action against Iraq, "Just so you know, we're ashamed the president of the United States is from Texas."
highschool education
Maines reportedly told a London audience last week, in reference to Bush's push for military action against Iraq, "Just so you know, we're ashamed the president of the United States is from Texas."
highschool education
Meanwhile, anti-war groups were taking to the streets in Australia and the Far East. In Sydney, daredevil activists painted a three-metre high "no war" slogan across the top of part of the city's Opera House.
Protesters also made their voice heard in Australia's parliament, where one man in the public gallery screamed "murderer, scumbag" as the prime minister, John Howard, announced his decision to commit 2,000 troops to an Iraq invasion force. The protester was dragged from the chamber by security guards.
You mean Saddam didn't gas his own people?
"The major gassing incident occurred in March 1988 at a town called Halabja. "But the truth is," Pelletiere writes, "all we know for certain is that Kurds were bombarded with poison gas that day." This occurred near the end of the Iraq-Iran war.
Pelletiere writes, "…immediately after the battle [at Halabja] the United States Defense Information Agency investigated and produced a classified report, which it circulated within the intelligence community on a need-to-know basis. That study asserted that it was Iranian gas that killed the Kurds, not Iraqi gas."
Obviously, this report has been intentionally ignored by several presidents and their major mouthpieces."
Suppose it doesn't really matter who bombarded them, it all came from the same supplier.
"The major gassing incident occurred in March 1988 at a town called Halabja. "But the truth is," Pelletiere writes, "all we know for certain is that Kurds were bombarded with poison gas that day." This occurred near the end of the Iraq-Iran war.
Pelletiere writes, "…immediately after the battle [at Halabja] the United States Defense Information Agency investigated and produced a classified report, which it circulated within the intelligence community on a need-to-know basis. That study asserted that it was Iranian gas that killed the Kurds, not Iraqi gas."
Obviously, this report has been intentionally ignored by several presidents and their major mouthpieces."
Suppose it doesn't really matter who bombarded them, it all came from the same supplier.
Incidentally, Robert 'Mars' Kagan is a founder of 'The Project for The New American Century'. So no, Kagan isn't simply an eminent US political scientist. He's more importantly a founder of the PNAC.
So, Wolfowitz delivers the idea of 'pre-emption' by ditching 'containment' (an idea which even Bush Snr. rejected), the Bush clan rigs the election, Rumsfeld sells it to the Pentagon and Kagan sells it to the anglo-american 'academic' establishment. And they planned it all at Camp David in September 2001, legitimizing it all with this.
So, Wolfowitz delivers the idea of 'pre-emption' by ditching 'containment' (an idea which even Bush Snr. rejected), the Bush clan rigs the election, Rumsfeld sells it to the Pentagon and Kagan sells it to the anglo-american 'academic' establishment. And they planned it all at Camp David in September 2001, legitimizing it all with this.
17.3.03
Vetos - A list of resolutions vetoed by the USA 1972-2002
by Anonymous
most recent:
1987 Cooperation between the United Nations and the
League of Arab States.
1987 Calls for compliance in the International Court
of Justice concerning military and paramilitary
activities against Nicaragua and a call to end
the trade embargo against Nicaragua. 2 resolutions.
1987 Measures to prevent international terrorism, study
the underlying political and economic causes of
terrorism, convene a conference to define terrorism
and to differentiate it from the struggle of people
from national liberation.
1987 Resolutions concerning journalism, international
debt and trade. 3 resolutions.
1987 Opposition to the build up of weapons in space.
1987 Opposition to the development of new weapons of
mass destruction.
1987 Opposition to nuclear testing. 2 resolutions.
1987 Proposal to set up South Atlantic "Zone of Peace".
1988 Condemns Israeli practices against Palestinians in
the occupied territories. 5 resolutions (1988 and
1989).
1989 Condemns USA invasion of Panama.
1989 Condemns USA troops for ransacking the residence
of the Nicaraguan ambassador in Panama.
1989 Condemns USA support for the Contra army in
Nicaragua.
1989 Condemns illegal USA embargo of Nicaragua.
1989 Opposing the acquisition of territory by force.
1989 Calling for a resolution to the Arab-Israeli
conflict based on earlier UN resoltions.
1990 To send three UN Security Council observers to
the occupied territories.
1995 Afirms that land in East Jerusalem annexed by
Israel is occupied territory.
1997 Calls on Israel to cease building settlements in
East Jerusalem and other occupied territories.
2 resolutions.
1999 Calls on the USA to end its trade embargo on Cuba.
8 resolutions (1992 to 1999).
2001 To send unarmed monitors to the West Bank and the
Gaza Strip.
2001 To set up the International Criminal Court.
2002 To renew the peace keeping mission in Bosnia.
by Anonymous
most recent:
1987 Cooperation between the United Nations and the
League of Arab States.
1987 Calls for compliance in the International Court
of Justice concerning military and paramilitary
activities against Nicaragua and a call to end
the trade embargo against Nicaragua. 2 resolutions.
1987 Measures to prevent international terrorism, study
the underlying political and economic causes of
terrorism, convene a conference to define terrorism
and to differentiate it from the struggle of people
from national liberation.
1987 Resolutions concerning journalism, international
debt and trade. 3 resolutions.
1987 Opposition to the build up of weapons in space.
1987 Opposition to the development of new weapons of
mass destruction.
1987 Opposition to nuclear testing. 2 resolutions.
1987 Proposal to set up South Atlantic "Zone of Peace".
1988 Condemns Israeli practices against Palestinians in
the occupied territories. 5 resolutions (1988 and
1989).
1989 Condemns USA invasion of Panama.
1989 Condemns USA troops for ransacking the residence
of the Nicaraguan ambassador in Panama.
1989 Condemns USA support for the Contra army in
Nicaragua.
1989 Condemns illegal USA embargo of Nicaragua.
1989 Opposing the acquisition of territory by force.
1989 Calling for a resolution to the Arab-Israeli
conflict based on earlier UN resoltions.
1990 To send three UN Security Council observers to
the occupied territories.
1995 Afirms that land in East Jerusalem annexed by
Israel is occupied territory.
1997 Calls on Israel to cease building settlements in
East Jerusalem and other occupied territories.
2 resolutions.
1999 Calls on the USA to end its trade embargo on Cuba.
8 resolutions (1992 to 1999).
2001 To send unarmed monitors to the West Bank and the
Gaza Strip.
2001 To set up the International Criminal Court.
2002 To renew the peace keeping mission in Bosnia.
Batasuna banned permanently - Spain's Supreme Court has approved a government request to ban the Basque separatist Batasuna party permanently.
'The United Nations is just an instrument at the service of American policy'
"While many commentators say that the UN is in danger of becoming irrelevant, a former secretary general, Boutros Boutros Ghali, believes the institution still has a chance of overcoming the current crisis. Interview by Francesca de Châtel"
"While many commentators say that the UN is in danger of becoming irrelevant, a former secretary general, Boutros Boutros Ghali, believes the institution still has a chance of overcoming the current crisis. Interview by Francesca de Châtel"
"Mr Bush made it clear he had all but given up any hope of a diplomatic deal when he launched an extraordinary attack on France for pledging to veto any fresh resolution which would act as a trigger to war."
Oh yeah, it was France that started the war... almost forgot...
"I was the guy who said we should vote [at the UN] and one country showed their card - it's an old Texas expression when you're playing poker," he said. "We will just have to take an assessment after tomorrow to determine what that card meant."
No comment.
Oh yeah, it was France that started the war... almost forgot...
"I was the guy who said we should vote [at the UN] and one country showed their card - it's an old Texas expression when you're playing poker," he said. "We will just have to take an assessment after tomorrow to determine what that card meant."
No comment.
U.S. waives Pakistan sanctions
WASHINGTON -- U.S. President George W. Bush has renewed a waiver of sanctions placed on Pakistan after President Pervez Musharraf seized power in a 1999 coup.
The move clears the way for Pakistan to receive hundreds of millions of dollars in U.S. economic aid.
In a memorandum for the secretary of state, Bush said the waiver would facilitate the transition to democratic rule in Pakistan and is important to U.S. efforts "to respond to, deter, or prevent acts of international terrorism."
Bribery? Nah...
WASHINGTON -- U.S. President George W. Bush has renewed a waiver of sanctions placed on Pakistan after President Pervez Musharraf seized power in a 1999 coup.
The move clears the way for Pakistan to receive hundreds of millions of dollars in U.S. economic aid.
In a memorandum for the secretary of state, Bush said the waiver would facilitate the transition to democratic rule in Pakistan and is important to U.S. efforts "to respond to, deter, or prevent acts of international terrorism."
Bribery? Nah...
Drugs inquiry thrown into doubt over members' links with manufacturers
"The credibility of a government inquiry intended to settle the controversy surrounding widely prescribed anti-depressant drugs was thrown into question yesterday by revelations that most of the members have shareholdings or other links to the manufacturers."
"The credibility of a government inquiry intended to settle the controversy surrounding widely prescribed anti-depressant drugs was thrown into question yesterday by revelations that most of the members have shareholdings or other links to the manufacturers."
16.3.03
14.3.03
Americans Just Say 'Non' to French Products
i just had to post this whole article. reminiscent of the sun's campaign in the UK.
NEW YORK — Jokes about France are plentiful lately, but many Americans aren't laughing at the European country's resistance to using force with Iraq — and are fighting back by closing their wallets.
In fact, beaucoup d'Americans have decided to boycott French products such as wine and cheese, in an effort to hurt the country's economy.
Fromage.com, a French cheese distributor, reported that its sales to the United States have gone down 15 percent in the past two weeks. Some U.S. eateries are no longer offering French wines. And a restaurant in North Carolina has even changed the name of its fries.
Neal Rowland, who owns Cubbie's restaurant in Beaufort, N.C., said he decided to put stickers that say "Freedom" over the word "French" on all his menus after he watched France back away from support for war in Iraq.
"Since the French are backing down, French fries and French everything needs to be banned," he told Foxnews.com in a telephone interview. "Fry sales have really gone up. People who eat them now say, 'Freedom never tasted so good.'"
Rowland cooked up the freedom fry idea last week after a conversation with a customer about World War I days, when anti-German sentiment prompted Americans to rename familiar German foods. Sauerkraut and frankfurters became liberty cabbage and hot dogs.
And Rowland said patrons have been in full support of the fry renaming.
"I had a gentleman come in today, who works at the court house, and he was crying, his son is serving in Afghanistan and he said he was so glad someone is taking a stand," said Rowland. "He was proud to see the support in the community for the troops."
If the backlash is strong enough, it could impact the French economy — American trade with France tops $30 billion a year.
But some French aren't amused by, or afraid of, the boycott.
"Well, if they prefer to eat American food, it is entirely their problem," Guillaume Parmentier, the head of the French Centre on the United States, told the Canadian new service CBC.ca. "But seriously. This never works. Boycotts work when there are grave human rights violations or something like that."
U.S. lawmakers are also eager to remind the French that Americans bailed them out in both World Wars, at a cost of tens of thousands of lives. Some in Congress are even pursuing possible trade restrictions.
Rep. H. James Saxton, a New Jersey Republican, has drafted a resolution that calls for a U.S. boycott of the Paris Air Show this spring.
"If [the Chirac government] fails to find a way to cooperate, we'll urge U.S. citizens, companies and the military to forego participation," Saxton told WorldNetDaily.com.
House Speaker Dennis Hastert said he'd like to target bottled French mineral water and wine. He has instructed Republican colleagues to determine whether Congress should pass laws that would impose new health standards on bottles of Evian and other French waters.
According to the Beverage Marketing Corporation, France is the leading exporter of water to the United States and sold 65 million gallons last year.
It's not the first time Americans have boycotted French products. Back in 1985 when the French would not allow U.S. military planes to fly over their airspace on their way to bomb Libya, U.S. consumers boycotted industries, including fashion, food and wine. And a similar boycott happened in 1995 and 1996 when France refused to stop testing nuclear weapons in the South Pacific.
But Boris Marchand-Tonnel of the French-U.S. chamber of commerce in Paris played down the threat.
"Maybe in a few New York restaurants, a few clients will refuse to order French wine," he told The Guardian. "But it's peanuts against the overall picture, it's really just symbolic."
Whether the boycott impacts the French economy or not, Americans from Congress to Cubbie's are saying the French can "faux-get" our future support and money.
Rowland said one freedom fry eater told him: "On Sept. 11 if a plane had slammed into the Eiffel Tower I guarantee the French would've been on the phone to the Americans saying, 'Please, we need help.' It's time for them to step up to the plate and help us."
Fox News' Trace Gallagher and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
i just had to post this whole article. reminiscent of the sun's campaign in the UK.
NEW YORK — Jokes about France are plentiful lately, but many Americans aren't laughing at the European country's resistance to using force with Iraq — and are fighting back by closing their wallets.
In fact, beaucoup d'Americans have decided to boycott French products such as wine and cheese, in an effort to hurt the country's economy.
Fromage.com, a French cheese distributor, reported that its sales to the United States have gone down 15 percent in the past two weeks. Some U.S. eateries are no longer offering French wines. And a restaurant in North Carolina has even changed the name of its fries.
Neal Rowland, who owns Cubbie's restaurant in Beaufort, N.C., said he decided to put stickers that say "Freedom" over the word "French" on all his menus after he watched France back away from support for war in Iraq.
"Since the French are backing down, French fries and French everything needs to be banned," he told Foxnews.com in a telephone interview. "Fry sales have really gone up. People who eat them now say, 'Freedom never tasted so good.'"
Rowland cooked up the freedom fry idea last week after a conversation with a customer about World War I days, when anti-German sentiment prompted Americans to rename familiar German foods. Sauerkraut and frankfurters became liberty cabbage and hot dogs.
And Rowland said patrons have been in full support of the fry renaming.
"I had a gentleman come in today, who works at the court house, and he was crying, his son is serving in Afghanistan and he said he was so glad someone is taking a stand," said Rowland. "He was proud to see the support in the community for the troops."
If the backlash is strong enough, it could impact the French economy — American trade with France tops $30 billion a year.
But some French aren't amused by, or afraid of, the boycott.
"Well, if they prefer to eat American food, it is entirely their problem," Guillaume Parmentier, the head of the French Centre on the United States, told the Canadian new service CBC.ca. "But seriously. This never works. Boycotts work when there are grave human rights violations or something like that."
U.S. lawmakers are also eager to remind the French that Americans bailed them out in both World Wars, at a cost of tens of thousands of lives. Some in Congress are even pursuing possible trade restrictions.
Rep. H. James Saxton, a New Jersey Republican, has drafted a resolution that calls for a U.S. boycott of the Paris Air Show this spring.
"If [the Chirac government] fails to find a way to cooperate, we'll urge U.S. citizens, companies and the military to forego participation," Saxton told WorldNetDaily.com.
House Speaker Dennis Hastert said he'd like to target bottled French mineral water and wine. He has instructed Republican colleagues to determine whether Congress should pass laws that would impose new health standards on bottles of Evian and other French waters.
According to the Beverage Marketing Corporation, France is the leading exporter of water to the United States and sold 65 million gallons last year.
It's not the first time Americans have boycotted French products. Back in 1985 when the French would not allow U.S. military planes to fly over their airspace on their way to bomb Libya, U.S. consumers boycotted industries, including fashion, food and wine. And a similar boycott happened in 1995 and 1996 when France refused to stop testing nuclear weapons in the South Pacific.
But Boris Marchand-Tonnel of the French-U.S. chamber of commerce in Paris played down the threat.
"Maybe in a few New York restaurants, a few clients will refuse to order French wine," he told The Guardian. "But it's peanuts against the overall picture, it's really just symbolic."
Whether the boycott impacts the French economy or not, Americans from Congress to Cubbie's are saying the French can "faux-get" our future support and money.
Rowland said one freedom fry eater told him: "On Sept. 11 if a plane had slammed into the Eiffel Tower I guarantee the French would've been on the phone to the Americans saying, 'Please, we need help.' It's time for them to step up to the plate and help us."
Fox News' Trace Gallagher and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Good article on Turkey;
"The truth that emerges from all this irony and comedy is this: the Bush government's relentless desire to launch a war against Saddam has nothing to do with establishing democracy in the Middle East. On the contrary, American military ambitions are curtailing democracy in Turkey and leading to more army intervention in politics. After the government and the press, the task now is to intimidate members of parliament to obtain a reversal of its decision. "
"The truth that emerges from all this irony and comedy is this: the Bush government's relentless desire to launch a war against Saddam has nothing to do with establishing democracy in the Middle East. On the contrary, American military ambitions are curtailing democracy in Turkey and leading to more army intervention in politics. After the government and the press, the task now is to intimidate members of parliament to obtain a reversal of its decision. "
This impeachment thing is wicked;
"In addition, in a previous interview with WorldNetDaily, Scott Ritter, former U.N. weapons inspector, said the following:
"I would be in favor of the impeachment of President Bush for high crimes and misdemeanors. Murder is a high crime and misdemeanor, and I can't think of any better definition than murder when he talks about American service members and putting them in a war which is not only illegal but is based on a foundation of lies."
He added, "What I would find to be grounds of impeachment is the president lying to the American people. I believe the president has lied to the American people. I believe the vice president has lied to the American people. And if we go to war where American service members are killed, I think the president should be held accountable for this judicially."
The day after the WND report, details of a former arrest for allegedly soliciting an underage girl, although under seal, were leaked to the press. Ritter supporters called it a political hit, while detractors called it proof of his duplicitous and untrustworthy character. "
"In addition, in a previous interview with WorldNetDaily, Scott Ritter, former U.N. weapons inspector, said the following:
"I would be in favor of the impeachment of President Bush for high crimes and misdemeanors. Murder is a high crime and misdemeanor, and I can't think of any better definition than murder when he talks about American service members and putting them in a war which is not only illegal but is based on a foundation of lies."
He added, "What I would find to be grounds of impeachment is the president lying to the American people. I believe the president has lied to the American people. I believe the vice president has lied to the American people. And if we go to war where American service members are killed, I think the president should be held accountable for this judicially."
The day after the WND report, details of a former arrest for allegedly soliciting an underage girl, although under seal, were leaked to the press. Ritter supporters called it a political hit, while detractors called it proof of his duplicitous and untrustworthy character. "
"The third reason relates to a vital military
development that has accompanied the so-called
‘precision revolution�E It is often believed that the
production of laser- or satellite-guided missiles and
bombs has revolutionised war, making targeting a
matter of consummate precision. There is some truth in
this; during the second world war, a so-called ‘dumb
bomb�Emight land two kilometers away from its intended
target, whereas now a ‘smart bomb�Ecan get within
seventeen metres.
But in parallel with the ‘precision revolution�E new
generations of a class of weapons known as Area Impact
Munitions (AIMs) have been developed. These are
specifically conceived, designed, and used to kill and
injure as many people, and over as wide an area, as
possible. The euphemism of ‘soft targeting�Ecan
smoothly distinguish these from the ‘hard�Etargeting
of tanks, other armoured vehicles and bunkers by
precision-guided weapons; but the reality is that most
AIMs are planned specifically to kill and maim on a
very large scale. ...What is likely to happen in 2003
is the extensive and more or less continual use of a
standard tactic called ‘close air support�Eemploying
concentrated air power to clear the path for US ground
troops as they move forward. If the opposing Iraqi
forces are hiding out in urban areas, mixed in with
civilians, then the essential requirement to reduce US
casualties to a minimum will still stand; it is in
these circumstances that the loss of Iraqi lives, both
military and civilian, is likely to be high,
especially if cluster bombs, multiple rocket launchers
and other weapons are used.
(Two precedents are worth recalling here. First,
well-armed Israeli forces had great difficulty in
combating a few thousand Palestinian militia in the
siege of West Beirut in 1982, even though they heavily
outnumbered the latter. The Israelis, particularly
anxious to limit their own losses, used enormous
firepower, leading to a death toll approaching 20,000
in the few weeks of the siege, most of them
civilians."
I imagine this war in Iraq will likely end up with a
lot more than that. Indeed, some figures listed
earlier in the article said that, after Gulf I,
somewhere between 40,000 and 100,000 people were
killed (that high figure is from a leaked US Dept of
Defense document, not something likely to be inflating
- the 40,000 is what the US govt publicly claims to be
the number). Unless the regime just rolls over
immediately, it could be a lot worse with this one...
-r
This is good material for the debates to come against the hard-headed and the blinded...
development that has accompanied the so-called
‘precision revolution�E It is often believed that the
production of laser- or satellite-guided missiles and
bombs has revolutionised war, making targeting a
matter of consummate precision. There is some truth in
this; during the second world war, a so-called ‘dumb
bomb�Emight land two kilometers away from its intended
target, whereas now a ‘smart bomb�Ecan get within
seventeen metres.
But in parallel with the ‘precision revolution�E new
generations of a class of weapons known as Area Impact
Munitions (AIMs) have been developed. These are
specifically conceived, designed, and used to kill and
injure as many people, and over as wide an area, as
possible. The euphemism of ‘soft targeting�Ecan
smoothly distinguish these from the ‘hard�Etargeting
of tanks, other armoured vehicles and bunkers by
precision-guided weapons; but the reality is that most
AIMs are planned specifically to kill and maim on a
very large scale. ...What is likely to happen in 2003
is the extensive and more or less continual use of a
standard tactic called ‘close air support�Eemploying
concentrated air power to clear the path for US ground
troops as they move forward. If the opposing Iraqi
forces are hiding out in urban areas, mixed in with
civilians, then the essential requirement to reduce US
casualties to a minimum will still stand; it is in
these circumstances that the loss of Iraqi lives, both
military and civilian, is likely to be high,
especially if cluster bombs, multiple rocket launchers
and other weapons are used.
(Two precedents are worth recalling here. First,
well-armed Israeli forces had great difficulty in
combating a few thousand Palestinian militia in the
siege of West Beirut in 1982, even though they heavily
outnumbered the latter. The Israelis, particularly
anxious to limit their own losses, used enormous
firepower, leading to a death toll approaching 20,000
in the few weeks of the siege, most of them
civilians."
I imagine this war in Iraq will likely end up with a
lot more than that. Indeed, some figures listed
earlier in the article said that, after Gulf I,
somewhere between 40,000 and 100,000 people were
killed (that high figure is from a leaked US Dept of
Defense document, not something likely to be inflating
- the 40,000 is what the US govt publicly claims to be
the number). Unless the regime just rolls over
immediately, it could be a lot worse with this one...
-r
This is good material for the debates to come against the hard-headed and the blinded...
Pardon, I should have put a little of the "meat" under that link, so here is some...
Weapons of mass destruction are a smokescreen. Paeans to the idea of Iraqi liberation and democratization are cynical in their inception. At the end of the day, this is not even about oil. The drive behind this war is ideological in nature, a crusade to 'reform' the religion of Islam as it exists in both government and society within the Middle East. Once this is accomplished, the road to empire will be open, ten lanes wide and steppin' out over the line.
At the end of the day, however, ideology is only good for bull sessions in the board room and the bar. Something has to grease the skids, to make the whole thing worthwhile to those involved, and entice those outside the loop to get into the game.
Thus, the payout.
It is well known by now that Dick Cheney, before becoming Vice President, served as chairman and chief executive of the Dallas-based petroleum corporation Halliburton. During his tenure, according to oil industry executives and United Nations records, Halliburton did a brisk $73 million in business with Saddam Hussein's Iraq. While working face-to-face with Hussein, Cheney and Halliburton were also moving into position to capitalize upon Hussein's removal from power. In October of 1995, the same month Cheney was made CEO of Halliburton, that company announced a deal that would put it first in line should war break out in Iraq. Their job: To take control of burning oil wells, put out the fires, and prepare them for service.
Another corporation that stands to do well by a war in Iraq is Brown & Root, a subsidiary of Halliburton. Ostensibly, Brown & Root is in the construction business, and thus has won a share of the $900 million government contract for the rebuilding of post-war Iraqi bridges, roads and other basic infrastructure. This is but the tip of the financial iceberg, as the oil wells will also have to be repaired after parent-company Halliburton puts out the fires.
More ominously is Brown & Root's stock in trade: the building of permanent American military bases. There are twelve permanent U.S. bases in Kosovo today, all built and maintained by Brown & Root for a multi-billion dollar profit. If anyone should wonder why the administration has not offered an exit strategy to the Iraq war plans, the presence of Brown & Root should answer them succinctly. We do not plan on exiting. In all likelihood, Brown & Root is in Iraq to build permanent bases there, from which attacks upon other Middle Eastern nations can be staged and managed.
Weapons of mass destruction are a smokescreen. Paeans to the idea of Iraqi liberation and democratization are cynical in their inception. At the end of the day, this is not even about oil. The drive behind this war is ideological in nature, a crusade to 'reform' the religion of Islam as it exists in both government and society within the Middle East. Once this is accomplished, the road to empire will be open, ten lanes wide and steppin' out over the line.
At the end of the day, however, ideology is only good for bull sessions in the board room and the bar. Something has to grease the skids, to make the whole thing worthwhile to those involved, and entice those outside the loop to get into the game.
Thus, the payout.
It is well known by now that Dick Cheney, before becoming Vice President, served as chairman and chief executive of the Dallas-based petroleum corporation Halliburton. During his tenure, according to oil industry executives and United Nations records, Halliburton did a brisk $73 million in business with Saddam Hussein's Iraq. While working face-to-face with Hussein, Cheney and Halliburton were also moving into position to capitalize upon Hussein's removal from power. In October of 1995, the same month Cheney was made CEO of Halliburton, that company announced a deal that would put it first in line should war break out in Iraq. Their job: To take control of burning oil wells, put out the fires, and prepare them for service.
Another corporation that stands to do well by a war in Iraq is Brown & Root, a subsidiary of Halliburton. Ostensibly, Brown & Root is in the construction business, and thus has won a share of the $900 million government contract for the rebuilding of post-war Iraqi bridges, roads and other basic infrastructure. This is but the tip of the financial iceberg, as the oil wells will also have to be repaired after parent-company Halliburton puts out the fires.
More ominously is Brown & Root's stock in trade: the building of permanent American military bases. There are twelve permanent U.S. bases in Kosovo today, all built and maintained by Brown & Root for a multi-billion dollar profit. If anyone should wonder why the administration has not offered an exit strategy to the Iraq war plans, the presence of Brown & Root should answer them succinctly. We do not plan on exiting. In all likelihood, Brown & Root is in Iraq to build permanent bases there, from which attacks upon other Middle Eastern nations can be staged and managed.
13.3.03
"You do things again and again, and nothing happens. You have to do things, do things, do things. You have to light that match, light that match, light that match, not knowing how often it's going to sputter and go out and at what point it's going to take hold. Things take a long time. It requires patience, but not a passive patience - the patience of activism." Howard Zinn
For seven years I dwelt in the loose palace of exile
Playing strange games with the girls of the island
Now I have come again to the land of the fair
And the strong and the wise
Brothers and sisters of the pale forest
Children of night
Who among you will run with the hunt?
Now night arrives with her purple legion
Retire now to your tents and to your dreams
Tomorrow we enter the town of my birth
I want to be ready
Zoran Djindjic is the prime minister of the Republic of Serbia. Born on 1 August 1952 in Bosnia, Djindjic became politically active during his student years at the University of Belgrade. In the 1970s, he associated with Yugoslavia’s New Left philosophers, a group of reform-minded socialists focused around the journal Praxis. After spending several months in jail for attempting to create an autonomous non-communist student organization with fellow students from Croatia and Slovenia, Djindjic moved to Germany, where he earned a doctorate in philosophy under Jurgen Habermas in 1979. He remained in Germany for most of the 1980s, returning to Yugoslavia in 1989 to teach philosophy at Novi Sad University.
Interesting Frankfurt School links with Balkan touch
Playing strange games with the girls of the island
Now I have come again to the land of the fair
And the strong and the wise
Brothers and sisters of the pale forest
Children of night
Who among you will run with the hunt?
Now night arrives with her purple legion
Retire now to your tents and to your dreams
Tomorrow we enter the town of my birth
I want to be ready
Zoran Djindjic is the prime minister of the Republic of Serbia. Born on 1 August 1952 in Bosnia, Djindjic became politically active during his student years at the University of Belgrade. In the 1970s, he associated with Yugoslavia’s New Left philosophers, a group of reform-minded socialists focused around the journal Praxis. After spending several months in jail for attempting to create an autonomous non-communist student organization with fellow students from Croatia and Slovenia, Djindjic moved to Germany, where he earned a doctorate in philosophy under Jurgen Habermas in 1979. He remained in Germany for most of the 1980s, returning to Yugoslavia in 1989 to teach philosophy at Novi Sad University.
Interesting Frankfurt School links with Balkan touch
12.3.03
Arrested, Questioned, and Charged
Most of the people who had been brought to that police station with Mailer were released. But after many hours of waiting in a cell, word finally came through to Mailer that he was to remain in prison for at least a night. He resigned himself to his fate, and chose a bunk. Mailer recounts these events in the third person, but they are based on his own experiences. He found himself next to Noam Chomsky, a slim sharp-featured man with an ascetic expression, and an air of gentle but absolute moral integrity.
Most of the people who had been brought to that police station with Mailer were released. But after many hours of waiting in a cell, word finally came through to Mailer that he was to remain in prison for at least a night. He resigned himself to his fate, and chose a bunk. Mailer recounts these events in the third person, but they are based on his own experiences. He found himself next to Noam Chomsky, a slim sharp-featured man with an ascetic expression, and an air of gentle but absolute moral integrity.
U.S. DOCUMENTS SHOW EMBRACE OF SADDAM HUSSEIN IN EARLY 1980s
DESPITE CHEMICAL WEAPONS, EXTERNAL AGGRESSION, HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES
nat secy archives
1983
DESPITE CHEMICAL WEAPONS, EXTERNAL AGGRESSION, HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES
nat secy archives
1983
Iraq's Most Senior Defector: Document Leaked to Today
"OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS leaked to the government-owned British Broadcasting Corporation reveal that Iraq has already disarmed and the United Nations has known since 1995.
General Hussein Kamel is the most senior Iraqi official ever to leave Iraq as a defector. Kamel knew more than anybody else Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, and the US government wanted to use Kamel as a prosecution witness against the Iraqi regime. As such, Kamel is the most important UN informer in the history of the conflict with Iraq."
...
"The US and UK governments "appear to be sensitive about the new disclosures". Both Washington and London "furiously denied this week that Kamel said Iraq had destroyed all its weapons". The official response is extremely suspicious, because the BBC insist that "Our leaked document shows quite clearly (on page 13) that he did say this."" (c) TheInsider 12/3/03
Download transcript
"OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS leaked to the government-owned British Broadcasting Corporation reveal that Iraq has already disarmed and the United Nations has known since 1995.
General Hussein Kamel is the most senior Iraqi official ever to leave Iraq as a defector. Kamel knew more than anybody else Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, and the US government wanted to use Kamel as a prosecution witness against the Iraqi regime. As such, Kamel is the most important UN informer in the history of the conflict with Iraq."
...
"The US and UK governments "appear to be sensitive about the new disclosures". Both Washington and London "furiously denied this week that Kamel said Iraq had destroyed all its weapons". The official response is extremely suspicious, because the BBC insist that "Our leaked document shows quite clearly (on page 13) that he did say this."" (c) TheInsider 12/3/03
The US wants to use potentially lethal chemicals against Iraq - despite the fact that this would contravene international law
With war imminent, President Bush and others are already discussing plans for a post-Saddam, U.S.-occupied Iraq. What do you think?
"Whatever happens, someone should be there to film the most touching moments."
"Whatever happens, someone should be there to film the most touching moments."
10.3.03
Texans See as Much to Lose as to Gain From War
"But Jonnie Miller, 56, a hardy, crew-cut preacher and owner of L & M Backhoe, which specializes in cleaning up spills in the oil fields, worries about war and a loss of lives. "The Scripture says God placed President Bush in office to take care of us," he said, "and my job is to pray for those in power to make godly decisions."
"But Jonnie Miller, 56, a hardy, crew-cut preacher and owner of L & M Backhoe, which specializes in cleaning up spills in the oil fields, worries about war and a loss of lives. "The Scripture says God placed President Bush in office to take care of us," he said, "and my job is to pray for those in power to make godly decisions."
Read this terrible attempt by Mr. Bobbitt (former government official, now Professor of constitutional law at Texas University, Austin, of course... Jesus, it must be the weather..). This is an outstanding example of the balls these neo-cons have in operation in trying to sell an agenda to the people by resorting to a fair amount of nonsense, thereby steering away from the real issues by trying to sound 'intellectual'. Propaganda in its purest form.
"These are natural questions, but they are neither logical nor helpful. They are a prime example in our public discourse of what might be called "Parmenides' Fallacy" — named after the Greek philosopher who held that all change was illusion. This fallacy occurs when one tries to assess a future state of affairs by measuring it against the present, as opposed to comparing it to other possible futures. Let me give a famous example of Parmenides' Fallacy in operation. [what exactly is he talking about?]
The turning point in the 1980 presidential race came in a debate when Ronald Reagan criticized President Jimmy Carter's record by asking the American people, "Are you better off today than you were four years ago?"
While rhetorically devastating, this question is hardly the way to evaluate a presidency. After all, the state of the nation will never stay the same for four years, regardless of who is in office. A more relevant question to have asked would have been, "Are you better off now than you would have been if Gerald Ford had continued as president — and if he had had to cope with rising oil prices, a revolution in Iran, a Russian invasion of Afghanistan and soaring interest rates?""
"These are natural questions, but they are neither logical nor helpful. They are a prime example in our public discourse of what might be called "Parmenides' Fallacy" — named after the Greek philosopher who held that all change was illusion. This fallacy occurs when one tries to assess a future state of affairs by measuring it against the present, as opposed to comparing it to other possible futures. Let me give a famous example of Parmenides' Fallacy in operation. [what exactly is he talking about?]
The turning point in the 1980 presidential race came in a debate when Ronald Reagan criticized President Jimmy Carter's record by asking the American people, "Are you better off today than you were four years ago?"
While rhetorically devastating, this question is hardly the way to evaluate a presidency. After all, the state of the nation will never stay the same for four years, regardless of who is in office. A more relevant question to have asked would have been, "Are you better off now than you would have been if Gerald Ford had continued as president — and if he had had to cope with rising oil prices, a revolution in Iran, a Russian invasion of Afghanistan and soaring interest rates?""
Not in our name, Mr Blair. You do not have the evidence. You do not have UN approval. You do not have your country's support. You do not have your party's support. You do not have the legal right. You do not have the moral right.
ESSO(ExxonMobil) gave more money than any other oil company to the Republicans in the 2000 election cycle. As soon as George Bush became president he pulled the US out of the Kyoto Protocol on climate change. But the payback continues...
35 Years Late To Stop The War
"The road to the illegal US occupation of Iraq began years ago, with our support for Israel's illegal occupation of the Palestinian Territories."
"The road to the illegal US occupation of Iraq began years ago, with our support for Israel's illegal occupation of the Palestinian Territories."
"I am just in a state of continual amazement at the state of IR."
Can only agree. The subject itself seems symptomatic by now, or its existence almost as "telling enough" as the name of its theoretical mainstream - realism.
A critical examination via historical modalities of its demarcation might be worth a healthy dose of scepticism.
Can only agree. The subject itself seems symptomatic by now, or its existence almost as "telling enough" as the name of its theoretical mainstream - realism.
A critical examination via historical modalities of its demarcation might be worth a healthy dose of scepticism.
"Blogger + Google = Go Globe Logger"?
1. Google (http://www.google.ch/corporate/execs.html)
"Google is a privately held company with primary financial backing from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Sequoia Capital, which together led an equity round of $25 million in June 1999."
2. Sequoia (http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/business/financial_markets/venture_capital/4959749.htm)
"Sequoia Capital is known as one of Silicon Valley's most secretive but successful venture capital firms.
The firm's gruff leader, Don Valentine, seeded the founders of Cisco Systems back in 1987 when no one else would touch them. He backed Steve Jobs, of Apple. His firm also backed Yahoo.
Every so often, though, venture firms run out of money. (They invest it all, and return the profits to themselves or their outside investors.)
So Sequoia's tank is empty, and it will be the first major venture firm to start knocking on doors of big institutional investors this year. It couldn't come at a tougher time: ``This is like Lewis and Clark going out on their expedition,'' said Mark Heesen, president of the National Venture Capital Association. ``If the Indians shoot them, everyone will know it's too dangerous to go out.''"
3. KPBC
Homepage
"Information Security News: CIA Looks to Venture Capital (http://lists.insecure.org/isn/2000/Oct/0096.html)
The true mission of In-Q-Tel, which opened its doors last year and has offices in Washington, D.C. and Silicon Valley, is even more ambitious: To tap the best minds in the technology sector and spur the development of products the CIA desperately needs and doesn't have the time or expertise to develop itself.
"The CIA is not a technology company. It is an espionage company. It does not develop products," said Tucker, who completed a PhD in political science at Columbia University. If In-Q-Tel succeeds, other agencies of the U.S. government are likely to follow suit.
The Defense Department, for instance, appears particularly interested in the CIA's spin-off-a-nonprofit-corporation approach to applied research.
But In-Q-Tel is hampered by one seemingly insurmountable obstacle: its budget.
Congress appropriated $28 million from the CIA's 1999 budget to create the organization, then deposited an extra $34 million in the fledgling In-Q-Tel's bank account.
That's not a trivial amount—except in the high-priced world of venture capital. Venture capitalists spent approximately $19.6 billion on about 1,400 U.S. companies in the second quarter of 2000, $7 billion of that going to firms in the Bay Area alone. In-Q-Tel hopes to spur development of CIA "priority" technologies by becoming a minority investor in development deals and through close relationships with much larger firms, like Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield, and Byers."
1. Google (http://www.google.ch/corporate/execs.html)
"Google is a privately held company with primary financial backing from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Sequoia Capital, which together led an equity round of $25 million in June 1999."
2. Sequoia (http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/business/financial_markets/venture_capital/4959749.htm)
"Sequoia Capital is known as one of Silicon Valley's most secretive but successful venture capital firms.
The firm's gruff leader, Don Valentine, seeded the founders of Cisco Systems back in 1987 when no one else would touch them. He backed Steve Jobs, of Apple. His firm also backed Yahoo.
Every so often, though, venture firms run out of money. (They invest it all, and return the profits to themselves or their outside investors.)
So Sequoia's tank is empty, and it will be the first major venture firm to start knocking on doors of big institutional investors this year. It couldn't come at a tougher time: ``This is like Lewis and Clark going out on their expedition,'' said Mark Heesen, president of the National Venture Capital Association. ``If the Indians shoot them, everyone will know it's too dangerous to go out.''"
3. KPBC
Homepage
"Information Security News: CIA Looks to Venture Capital (http://lists.insecure.org/isn/2000/Oct/0096.html)
The true mission of In-Q-Tel, which opened its doors last year and has offices in Washington, D.C. and Silicon Valley, is even more ambitious: To tap the best minds in the technology sector and spur the development of products the CIA desperately needs and doesn't have the time or expertise to develop itself.
"The CIA is not a technology company. It is an espionage company. It does not develop products," said Tucker, who completed a PhD in political science at Columbia University. If In-Q-Tel succeeds, other agencies of the U.S. government are likely to follow suit.
The Defense Department, for instance, appears particularly interested in the CIA's spin-off-a-nonprofit-corporation approach to applied research.
But In-Q-Tel is hampered by one seemingly insurmountable obstacle: its budget.
Congress appropriated $28 million from the CIA's 1999 budget to create the organization, then deposited an extra $34 million in the fledgling In-Q-Tel's bank account.
That's not a trivial amount—except in the high-priced world of venture capital. Venture capitalists spent approximately $19.6 billion on about 1,400 U.S. companies in the second quarter of 2000, $7 billion of that going to firms in the Bay Area alone. In-Q-Tel hopes to spur development of CIA "priority" technologies by becoming a minority investor in development deals and through close relationships with much larger firms, like Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield, and Byers."
This is from the blurb in US Esquire, accompanying Barnett's absurd article;
"For the first time, someone with a position in the government explains what we're really undertaking when we go to war in Iraq. It's not just about disarmament. Rather, the United States is redrawing the map of the region, we are shrinking the Gap (to use Barnett's term), we are changing the course of history by adopting a good-offense-is-the-best-defense strategy.
This is an entirely unprecedented look inside the thinking that will guide our defense strategy over the next five to ten years. It's a fantastic and challenging story. In November, Barnett came and presented his philosophy of global conflict to our staff. It was amazing and kind of breathtaking. It made each of us feel as though we had a slightly better grip on some of the most frightening issues ever to face our country and the world. I hope it has the same effect on you, making your life a little better."
If this doesn;t make you pray for nuclear holocaust immediately....
The premises here are just unbelievable. I am just in a state of continual amazement at the state of IR. Being an IR academic seems to be the easiest job in the world - three steps, one accept the inherent moral goodness of the US administration in its benign and enlightened wisdom (after all now its created the perfectly functioning society it would be mad to not share this knowledge with others right? I mean cultural and social diversity is so C18th...) second the right of US military to intervene any and everywhere in pursuit of the spread of this particular kind of tough love (their moral integrity allowing them to slipstream tiresome, corrupt and slow international legal frameworks) and third simply write down the first half baked analogy that comes to mind and see where it takes you! Don't be afraid to think creatively - after all - it's your research! Why not give it a flavour of your own personality by including some of your own regional or racial prejudices?
So I say - armageddon now please! Let's give the cockroaches a few million years to themselves on this planet and see if they can;t evolve further and faster cooperatively than we've managed - culminating in our "cooperate or die" approach.
"For the first time, someone with a position in the government explains what we're really undertaking when we go to war in Iraq. It's not just about disarmament. Rather, the United States is redrawing the map of the region, we are shrinking the Gap (to use Barnett's term), we are changing the course of history by adopting a good-offense-is-the-best-defense strategy.
This is an entirely unprecedented look inside the thinking that will guide our defense strategy over the next five to ten years. It's a fantastic and challenging story. In November, Barnett came and presented his philosophy of global conflict to our staff. It was amazing and kind of breathtaking. It made each of us feel as though we had a slightly better grip on some of the most frightening issues ever to face our country and the world. I hope it has the same effect on you, making your life a little better."
If this doesn;t make you pray for nuclear holocaust immediately....
The premises here are just unbelievable. I am just in a state of continual amazement at the state of IR. Being an IR academic seems to be the easiest job in the world - three steps, one accept the inherent moral goodness of the US administration in its benign and enlightened wisdom (after all now its created the perfectly functioning society it would be mad to not share this knowledge with others right? I mean cultural and social diversity is so C18th...) second the right of US military to intervene any and everywhere in pursuit of the spread of this particular kind of tough love (their moral integrity allowing them to slipstream tiresome, corrupt and slow international legal frameworks) and third simply write down the first half baked analogy that comes to mind and see where it takes you! Don't be afraid to think creatively - after all - it's your research! Why not give it a flavour of your own personality by including some of your own regional or racial prejudices?
So I say - armageddon now please! Let's give the cockroaches a few million years to themselves on this planet and see if they can;t evolve further and faster cooperatively than we've managed - culminating in our "cooperate or die" approach.
Truly terrifying;
"Understanding that the line between the Core and Gap is constantly shifting, let me suggest that the direction of change is more critical than the degree. So, yes, Beijing is still ruled by a “Communist party” whose ideological formula is 30 percent Marxist-Leninist and 70 percent Sopranos, but China just signed on to the World Trade Organization, and over the long run, that is far more important in securing the country’s permanent Core status. Why? Because it forces China to harmonize its internal rule set with that of globalization—banking, tariffs, copyright protection, environmental standards. Of course, working to adjust your internal rule sets to globalization’s evolving rule set offers no guarantee of success. As Argentina and Brazil have recently found out, following the rules (in Argentina’s case, sort of following) does not mean you are panicproof, or bubbleproof, or even recessionproof. Trying to adapt to globalization does not mean bad things will never happen to you. Nor does it mean all your poor will immediately morph into stable middle class. It just means your standard of living gets better over time.
In sum, it is always possible to fall off this bandwagon called globalization. And when you do, bloodshed will follow. If you are lucky, so will American troops."
HARHARHARAHRAHRAHRAHRAHRAHAHAAHRRA!!!!!!!!!!! Admiral's on economics hey!
"Understanding that the line between the Core and Gap
In sum, it is always possible to fall off this bandwagon called globalization. And when you do, bloodshed will follow. If you are lucky, so will American troops."
HARHARHARAHRAHRAHRAHRAHRAHAHAAHRRA!!!!!!!!!!! Admiral's on economics hey!
Cleveland said Google's acquisition of Pyra would, quite simply, help Google create a more accurate search engine by adding rich new sources of data gleaned from weblogs.
9.3.03
The Empire does not exist
a critique of Toni Negri's ideas
By Pietro Di Nardo, in Naples, Italy
The ideas of Toni Negri, as expressed in his book Empire (co-written with Michael Hardt) have become quite fashionable among those tendencies that wish to deny the essence of Marxism while at the same disguising themselves in the clothing of Marxism. We are publishing a review and critique of the book by Pietro Di Nardo from Naples, Italy. He points out the contradictions in Negri's thinking and maintains that Marxism is as valid as ever.
a critique of Toni Negri's ideas
By Pietro Di Nardo, in Naples, Italy
The ideas of Toni Negri, as expressed in his book Empire (co-written with Michael Hardt) have become quite fashionable among those tendencies that wish to deny the essence of Marxism while at the same disguising themselves in the clothing of Marxism. We are publishing a review and critique of the book by Pietro Di Nardo from Naples, Italy. He points out the contradictions in Negri's thinking and maintains that Marxism is as valid as ever.
"While I agree with you, if I say anything about US geopolitical interests with Israel, I might as well clean off my desk."
-- Unnamed reporter as quoted in American Media Censorship and Israel
-- Unnamed reporter as quoted in American Media Censorship and Israel
A company tied to Vice President Dick Cheney has won a Pentagon contract for advice on rebuilding Iraq's oil fields after a possible war.
The contract was disclosed in the last paragraph of a Defense Department statement on preparations for Saddam Hussein's possible destruction of Iraq's oil fields in the event of a U.S.-led invasion. The statement calls for proposals on how to handle oil well fires and for assessing other damage to oil facilities. The contract went to Kellogg Brown & Root Services, which is owned by Halliburton Co., of which Cheney was chairman until his election in 2000.
The contract was disclosed in the last paragraph of a Defense Department statement on preparations for Saddam Hussein's possible destruction of Iraq's oil fields in the event of a U.S.-led invasion. The statement calls for proposals on how to handle oil well fires and for assessing other damage to oil facilities. The contract went to Kellogg Brown & Root Services, which is owned by Halliburton Co., of which Cheney was chairman until his election in 2000.
Who is in charge?
A tiny, unelected group, supported by powerful, unrepresentative minorities, writes Edward Said
Edward Said The Bush administration's relentless unilateral march towards war is profoundly disturbing for many reasons, but so far as American citizens are concerned the whole grotesque show is a tremendous failure in democracy. An immensely wealthy and powerful republic has been hijacked by a small cabal of individuals, all of them unelected and therefore unresponsive to public pressure, and simply turned on its head. It is no exaggeration to say that this war is the most unpopular in modern history. Before the war has begun there have been more people protesting it in this country alone than was the case at the height of the anti- Vietnam war demonstrations during the 60s and 70s. Note also that those rallies took place after the war had been going on for several years: this one has yet to begin, even though a large number of overtly aggressive and belligerent steps have already been taken by the US and its loyal puppy, the UK government of the increasingly ridiculous Tony Blair.
A tiny, unelected group, supported by powerful, unrepresentative minorities, writes Edward Said
Edward Said The Bush administration's relentless unilateral march towards war is profoundly disturbing for many reasons, but so far as American citizens are concerned the whole grotesque show is a tremendous failure in democracy. An immensely wealthy and powerful republic has been hijacked by a small cabal of individuals, all of them unelected and therefore unresponsive to public pressure, and simply turned on its head. It is no exaggeration to say that this war is the most unpopular in modern history. Before the war has begun there have been more people protesting it in this country alone than was the case at the height of the anti- Vietnam war demonstrations during the 60s and 70s. Note also that those rallies took place after the war had been going on for several years: this one has yet to begin, even though a large number of overtly aggressive and belligerent steps have already been taken by the US and its loyal puppy, the UK government of the increasingly ridiculous Tony Blair.
MSNBC's Double Standard on Free Speech
"Turd World" is OK-- "anti-war, anti-Bush" is not
MSNBC's claim to be championing free speech by hiring hate-talk radio host Michael Savage is disingenuous in the extreme.
Defending its decision to give a weekly program to a commentator who specializes in diatribes against various groups, the MSNBC cable network called hiring Savage-- whose show will premiere on Saturday, March 8-- "a legitimate attempt to expand the marketplace of ideas" (Electronic Media, 2/25/03).
This was a response to critics of Savage's record of racism, misogyny and homophobia, which includes dismissing child victims of gunfire as "ghetto slime," referring to non-white countries as "turd world nations," calling homosexuality "perversion" and asserting that Latinos "breed like rabbits." (For more Savage quotes, see FAIR action alert, 2/12/03.)
The news channel-- co-owned by Microsoft and General Electric/NBC-- declared in its formal statement: "By bringing our viewers a wide range of strong, opinionated voices, MSNBC underscores its commitment to ensuring that its perspective programming promotes no one single point of view. We encourage debate and we would neither expect, nor want, our audience to agree with everything on our channel."
"Turd World" is OK-- "anti-war, anti-Bush" is not
MSNBC's claim to be championing free speech by hiring hate-talk radio host Michael Savage is disingenuous in the extreme.
Defending its decision to give a weekly program to a commentator who specializes in diatribes against various groups, the MSNBC cable network called hiring Savage-- whose show will premiere on Saturday, March 8-- "a legitimate attempt to expand the marketplace of ideas" (Electronic Media, 2/25/03).
This was a response to critics of Savage's record of racism, misogyny and homophobia, which includes dismissing child victims of gunfire as "ghetto slime," referring to non-white countries as "turd world nations," calling homosexuality "perversion" and asserting that Latinos "breed like rabbits." (For more Savage quotes, see FAIR action alert, 2/12/03.)
The news channel-- co-owned by Microsoft and General Electric/NBC-- declared in its formal statement: "By bringing our viewers a wide range of strong, opinionated voices, MSNBC underscores its commitment to ensuring that its perspective programming promotes no one single point of view. We encourage debate and we would neither expect, nor want, our audience to agree with everything on our channel."
American Media Dodging U.N. Surveillance Story
Three days after a British newspaper revealed a memo about U.S. spying on U.N. Security Council delegations, I asked Daniel Ellsberg to assess the importance of the story. "This leak," he replied, "is more timely and potentially more important than the Pentagon Papers."
Three days after a British newspaper revealed a memo about U.S. spying on U.N. Security Council delegations, I asked Daniel Ellsberg to assess the importance of the story. "This leak," he replied, "is more timely and potentially more important than the Pentagon Papers."
7.3.03
Bush
My faith sustains me because I pray daily. I pray for guidance and wisdom and strength. If we were to commit our troops -- if we were to commit our troops -- I would pray for their safety, and I would pray for the safety of innocent Iraqi lives, as well.
One thing that's really great about our country is there are thousands of people who pray for me that I'll never see and be able to thank. But it's a humbling experience to think that people I will never have met have lifted me and my family up in prayer. And for that I'm grateful. That's -- it's been -- it's been a comforting feeling to know that is true. I pray for peace. I pray for peace.
US-Xy -> sickening!
My faith sustains me because I pray daily. I pray for guidance and wisdom and strength. If we were to commit our troops -- if we were to commit our troops -- I would pray for their safety, and I would pray for the safety of innocent Iraqi lives, as well.
One thing that's really great about our country is there are thousands of people who pray for me that I'll never see and be able to thank. But it's a humbling experience to think that people I will never have met have lifted me and my family up in prayer. And for that I'm grateful. That's -- it's been -- it's been a comforting feeling to know that is true. I pray for peace. I pray for peace.
US-Xy -> sickening!
australian adbuster (pdf) vs officer recruitment propaganda- the original campaign was ceased as a result. most entertaining..
A decent poll breakdown of the way americans are feeling, painted in broad categories... and we'll always wonder what would have happened had the guy the most people voted for won. Indeed, if Bush does things poorly enough, it just might cause people to rethink the electoral college even tho the two issues aren't necessarily related.
5.3.03
3.3.03
Excuse extra-curricular content...
Although... gotta say... there were exactly 3 Swiss people on that yacht, plus, if every nation had sailing enthusiasts with money like Mr. Bertarelli, then the sailors who actually won this might have sailed under any flag. Any connection to CH (apart from money (and tech and material, which = money, so...)) is therefore rather silly, I feel.
Swiss win America's Cup, and other improbable things
If a landlocked country can triumph in the world's greatest yachting race, writes Paul MacInnes, then surely Britain can become successful. And that's not all ...
Monday March 3, 2003
It may take a lot to get 500 Genevan yachters to stay up all night, but triumph in the America's Cup, the world cup of yachting, led to many a late bedtime in the landlocked capital (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!????????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) last night.
With no water lapping at its borders Switzerland is the most unlikely place to boast the world's best sailors (although maybe the fact that their captain had already won the title twice with New Zealand helped a little). As the team's owner, Ernesto Bertarelli, put it last night: "The fact that Switzerland wins the America's Cup is a sign of hope for a lot of people. It really says to the world that the impossible doesn't exist."
Not a bad message to come out of a rich man's boat race, but if the impossible is really to come to an end, what would it mean for the world? The potential for change is enormous; here are just a few possibilities.
1) German pop rules the world
For decades German record barons had been bashing their extravagantly coiffed heads against the wall trying to find a formula for pop success around the world. However, after a brainstorming away day in the Black Forest with David Hasselhoff, a new German sound emerges - fusing oompah music with r'n'b. Jennifer Lopez agrees to sing in German for the remainder of her career and scores an international No 1 with "Ich bin noch Jenny vom Wohnblock".
2) Brazil becomes rich
With a landmass almost the same size as the USA, an abundance of natural resources and a population of 176 million it had always been puzzling as to why so many Brazilians lived in poverty. Thanks to taking the lead in renewable energy sources, and the World Bank writing off the country's debt after losing to President Lula in a game of beach volleyball, the samba state becomes the world's most powerful, ushering in an era of Pax Braziliana (Liberty, equality, and excruciating body waxing).
3) The French become warmongers
Stereotyped through the ages as appeasers, it all changes after George Bush calls Jacques Chirac a "cheese-eating surrender monkey" to his face. According to sources close to the French president, Chirac then invites Bush to step "outside", before gesticulating towards the leaders of Spain, Australia, Guinea and the Cameroon ( and offering to "take them all on". Chirac's plans to hit the US with a tactical nuclear strike are abandoned, however, after the foreign secretary, Dominique de Villepin, persuades the president the country is "not worth it".
4) Americans make smaller sandwiches
In a move that sends shockwaves through the markets (particularly those dealing in pork bellies), Americans wake up and decide that they're not really that hungry. By lunchtime, diners from Maine to Missouri are nibbling on carrot sticks claiming to be saving themselves for dinner. In an immediate response, the American sandwich industry immediately downsizes all bagels, subs and buns to meet consumer demand. Profits are preserved thanks to a one-off charge on napkins.
5) Britain becomes successful
Perhaps the most unexpected advance of all, the British reputation for acts of mediocrity is sloughed off in spectacular fashion. Tim Henman wins Wimbledon, Robbie Williams cracks America, people laugh while watching the Vicar of Dibley and black pudding becomes edible. A national holiday is declared, while the United Nations issues a statement praising the United Kingdom, and all Australians are forced to spend the day indoors.
Although... gotta say... there were exactly 3 Swiss people on that yacht, plus, if every nation had sailing enthusiasts with money like Mr. Bertarelli, then the sailors who actually won this might have sailed under any flag. Any connection to CH (apart from money (and tech and material, which = money, so...)) is therefore rather silly, I feel.
Swiss win America's Cup, and other improbable things
If a landlocked country can triumph in the world's greatest yachting race, writes Paul MacInnes, then surely Britain can become successful. And that's not all ...
Monday March 3, 2003
It may take a lot to get 500 Genevan yachters to stay up all night, but triumph in the America's Cup, the world cup of yachting, led to many a late bedtime in the landlocked capital (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!????????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) last night.
With no water lapping at its borders Switzerland is the most unlikely place to boast the world's best sailors (although maybe the fact that their captain had already won the title twice with New Zealand helped a little). As the team's owner, Ernesto Bertarelli, put it last night: "The fact that Switzerland wins the America's Cup is a sign of hope for a lot of people. It really says to the world that the impossible doesn't exist."
Not a bad message to come out of a rich man's boat race, but if the impossible is really to come to an end, what would it mean for the world? The potential for change is enormous; here are just a few possibilities.
1) German pop rules the world
For decades German record barons had been bashing their extravagantly coiffed heads against the wall trying to find a formula for pop success around the world. However, after a brainstorming away day in the Black Forest with David Hasselhoff, a new German sound emerges - fusing oompah music with r'n'b. Jennifer Lopez agrees to sing in German for the remainder of her career and scores an international No 1 with "Ich bin noch Jenny vom Wohnblock".
2) Brazil becomes rich
With a landmass almost the same size as the USA, an abundance of natural resources and a population of 176 million it had always been puzzling as to why so many Brazilians lived in poverty. Thanks to taking the lead in renewable energy sources, and the World Bank writing off the country's debt after losing to President Lula in a game of beach volleyball, the samba state becomes the world's most powerful, ushering in an era of Pax Braziliana (Liberty, equality, and excruciating body waxing).
3) The French become warmongers
Stereotyped through the ages as appeasers, it all changes after George Bush calls Jacques Chirac a "cheese-eating surrender monkey" to his face. According to sources close to the French president, Chirac then invites Bush to step "outside", before gesticulating towards the leaders of Spain, Australia, Guinea and the Cameroon ( and offering to "take them all on". Chirac's plans to hit the US with a tactical nuclear strike are abandoned, however, after the foreign secretary, Dominique de Villepin, persuades the president the country is "not worth it".
4) Americans make smaller sandwiches
In a move that sends shockwaves through the markets (particularly those dealing in pork bellies), Americans wake up and decide that they're not really that hungry. By lunchtime, diners from Maine to Missouri are nibbling on carrot sticks claiming to be saving themselves for dinner. In an immediate response, the American sandwich industry immediately downsizes all bagels, subs and buns to meet consumer demand. Profits are preserved thanks to a one-off charge on napkins.
5) Britain becomes successful
Perhaps the most unexpected advance of all, the British reputation for acts of mediocrity is sloughed off in spectacular fashion. Tim Henman wins Wimbledon, Robbie Williams cracks America, people laugh while watching the Vicar of Dibley and black pudding becomes edible. A national holiday is declared, while the United Nations issues a statement praising the United Kingdom, and all Australians are forced to spend the day indoors.
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