13.4.03
** Fisk: 'A civilisation torn to pieces' - "And so the gun-fighting that broke out yesterday between property owners and looters was, in effect, a conflict between Sunni and Shia Muslims. By failing to end this violence by stoking ethnic hatred through their inactivity the Americans are now provoking a civil war in Baghdad."
** 'Our Heritage Is Finished' - "At the National Museum of Antiquities, where priceless artifacts had been wrapped in foam and secured in windowless storage rooms to protect them against U.S. bombs, an army of looters perpetrated what war did not: They smashed hundreds of irreplaceable treasures, including Sumerian clay pots, Assyrian marble carvings, Babylonian statues and a massive stone tablet with intricate cuneiform writing."
Virtual Iraq Museum, Baghdad
** The photographs tell the story - Is This Media manipulation on a grand scale? - "April 6th: Iraqi National Congress founder, Ahmed Chalabi is flown into the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah by the Pentagon. Chalabi, along with 700 fighters of his "Free Iraqi Forces" are airlifted aboard four massive C17 military transport planes. Chalabi and the INC are Washington favorites to head the new Iraqi government. A photograph is taken of Chalabi and members of his Free Iraqi Forces militia as they arrive in Nasiriyah.
April 9th: One of the "most memorable images of the war" is created when U.S. troops pull down the statue of Saddam Hussein in Fardus Square. Oddly enough... a photograph is taken of a man who bears an uncanny resemblance to one of Chalabi's militia members... he is near Fardus Square to greet the Marines. How many members of the pro-American Free Iraqi Forces were in and around Fardus Square as the statue of Saddam came tumbling down?"
Syriaspeak
** Syria could be next, warns Washington - "The United States has pledged to tackle the Syrian-backed Hizbollah group in the next phase of its 'war on terror' in a move which could threaten military action against President Bashar Assad's regime in Damascus."
** But 'Syria denies helping Iraqis on run' - "Syria has reacted with defiance after being urged by the United States not to provide a refuge to associates of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein."
Syria linkage: Syria Times - Al Thawra - Syrian Ministry of Information - Syrian Arab News Agency
** Interesting regional analysis: 'Ripples of fear and friendship spread across Middle East' - "Whether they are anti-American or have good relations with the US, Arab nations must now face up to a region transformed. A leading Middle East expert presents an authoritative survey of how they will respond."
** Are tyrants shocked, awed or stocking up on nukes? - "The US wants to intimidate 'axis of evil' countries, but the plan could backfire." Freedland commentary on project 'rule the world and fuck everything up'.
Sick White Men
** PNAC - "The People versus the Powerful is the oldest story in human history. At no point in history have the Powerful wielded so much control. At no point in history has the active and informed involvement of the People, all of them, been more absolutely required."
[...]
"According to PNAC, America must:
* Reposition permanently based forces to Southern Europe, Southeast Asia and the Middle East;
* Modernize U.S. forces, including enhancing our fighter aircraft, submarine and surface fleet capabilities;
* Develop and deploy a global missile defense system, and develop a strategic dominance of space;
* Control the "International Commons" of cyberspace;
* Increase defense spending to a minimum of 3.8 percent of gross domestic product, up from the 3 percent currently spent."
** PNAC II - "Not since "Mein Kampf" has a geopolitical punch been so blatantly telegraphed, years ahead of the blow."
[...]
"Iran is next -- indeed, Cheney, Rumsfeld and the PNAC team say that Iran is "perhaps a far greater threat" to U.S. oil hegemony. Other nations will follow, including Russia and China. In one way or another -- by military means or economic dominance, by conquest, alliance or silent acquiescence -- they must all be brought to heel, forcibly prevented from "challenging our leadership or even aspiring to a larger regional or global role."
These texts spring from the Dominators' quasi-religious cult of "American exceptionalism," the belief in the unique and utter goodness of the American soul -- embodied chiefly by the nation's moneyed elite, of course -- and the irredeemable, metaphysical evil of all those who would oppose or criticize the elite's righteous (and conveniently self-serving) policies."
** Timely whitewash in NYT by CNN Baghdad correspondent.
"I came to know several Iraqi officials well enough that they confided in me that Saddam Hussein was a maniac who had to be removed. One Foreign Ministry officer told me of a colleague who, finding out his brother had been executed by the regime, was forced, as a test of loyalty, to write a letter of congratulations on the act to Saddam Hussein. An aide to Uday once told me why he had no front teeth: henchmen had ripped them out with pliers and told him never to wear dentures, so he would always remember the price to be paid for upsetting his boss. Again, we could not broadcast anything these men said to us.
Last December, when I told Information Minister Muhammad Said al-Sahhaf that we intended to send reporters to Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq, he warned me they would "suffer the severest possible consequences." CNN went ahead, and in March, Kurdish officials presented us with evidence that they had thwarted an armed attack on our quarters in Erbil. This included videotaped confessions of two men identifying themselves as Iraqi intelligence agents who said their bosses in Baghdad told them the hotel actually housed C.I.A. and Israeli agents. The Kurds offered to let us interview the suspects on camera, but we refused, for fear of endangering our staff in Baghdad."
This doesn't wash boss. This could have been THE legitimizing story. Why was it not reported?
** And finally, born today (no interesting deaths today):
12.4.03
* Blix: War against Iraq was a foregone conclusion months before the first shot was fired.
"In a scathing attack on Britain and the US, Mr Blix accused them of planning the war "well in advance" and of "fabricating" evidence against Iraq to justify their campaign.
Letting rip after months of frustration, he told the Spanish daily El Pais: "There is evidence that this war was planned well in advance. Sometimes this raises doubts about their attitude to the [weapons] inspections."
* For the third time within a month, an activist is attacked by Israeli troops - "Student peace worker suffers suspected brain damage in attack while protecting Palestinian family in Gaza Strip [...] He was wearing a fluorescent orange vest, and witnesses say that there had been no exchange of fire between the Israeli army and Palestinian gunmen that day."
* FAIR.org - Is Killing Part of Pentagon Press Policy? - The Pentagon has held up its practice of "embedding" journalists with military units as proof of a new media-friendly policy. On April 8, however, U.S. military forces launched what appeared to be deliberate attacks on independent journalists covering the war, killing three and injuring four others.
* Syria Part I: The Spectator hosts a commentary on Syria and Iran. Sickening justification and rhetoric for the next regime change.
"No one I know wants to wage war on Iran and Syria, but there is now a clear recognition that we must defend ourselves against them. They are an integral part of the terror network that produced 11 September. Left undisturbed they will kill us in Iraq and Afghanistan, and will mount new attacks on our homelands. We cannot give them time to organise these attacks, all the while developing the weapons we all properly dread."
* Syria Part II: Perle takes the WMD approach over Syria: more preemption?
" Richard Perle, one of the chief U.S. ideologists behind the war to oust Saddam Hussein, warned Friday that the United States would be compelled to act if it discovered that Iraqi weapons of mass destruction have been concealed in Syria.
Perle said that if the Bush administration were to learn that Syria had taken possession of such Iraqi weapons, "I'm quite sure that we would have to respond to that."
What's next? An inspection team to Syria?
This weeks 'Satan's Cock'
* Perle's recent statement in response to an NYT article about his involvement with Global Crossings.
"I deeply resent the accusation that I am using a public position (the DPB) for private gain. Whatever help I was to Global had to do with 30 years of experience in these matters, and nothing to do with the DPB."
* And today's don of the dead: Abbie Hoffman (November 30, 1936 – April 12, 1989)
"Revolution is not something fixed in ideology, nor is it something fashioned to a particular decade. It is a perpetual process embedded in the human spirit."
"In a scathing attack on Britain and the US, Mr Blix accused them of planning the war "well in advance" and of "fabricating" evidence against Iraq to justify their campaign.
Letting rip after months of frustration, he told the Spanish daily El Pais: "There is evidence that this war was planned well in advance. Sometimes this raises doubts about their attitude to the [weapons] inspections."
* For the third time within a month, an activist is attacked by Israeli troops - "Student peace worker suffers suspected brain damage in attack while protecting Palestinian family in Gaza Strip [...] He was wearing a fluorescent orange vest, and witnesses say that there had been no exchange of fire between the Israeli army and Palestinian gunmen that day."
* FAIR.org - Is Killing Part of Pentagon Press Policy? - The Pentagon has held up its practice of "embedding" journalists with military units as proof of a new media-friendly policy. On April 8, however, U.S. military forces launched what appeared to be deliberate attacks on independent journalists covering the war, killing three and injuring four others.
* Syria Part I: The Spectator hosts a commentary on Syria and Iran. Sickening justification and rhetoric for the next regime change.
"No one I know wants to wage war on Iran and Syria, but there is now a clear recognition that we must defend ourselves against them. They are an integral part of the terror network that produced 11 September. Left undisturbed they will kill us in Iraq and Afghanistan, and will mount new attacks on our homelands. We cannot give them time to organise these attacks, all the while developing the weapons we all properly dread."
* Syria Part II: Perle takes the WMD approach over Syria: more preemption?
" Richard Perle, one of the chief U.S. ideologists behind the war to oust Saddam Hussein, warned Friday that the United States would be compelled to act if it discovered that Iraqi weapons of mass destruction have been concealed in Syria.
Perle said that if the Bush administration were to learn that Syria had taken possession of such Iraqi weapons, "I'm quite sure that we would have to respond to that."
What's next? An inspection team to Syria?
* Perle's recent statement in response to an NYT article about his involvement with Global Crossings.
"I deeply resent the accusation that I am using a public position (the DPB) for private gain. Whatever help I was to Global had to do with 30 years of experience in these matters, and nothing to do with the DPB."
* And today's don of the dead: Abbie Hoffman (November 30, 1936 – April 12, 1989)
11.4.03
WILLIAM HAZLITT
Born April 10, 1778, Died 18 September, 1830
He lived to see his deepest wishes gratified
as he has expressed them in his Essay,
'on the Fear of Death'.
Viz.:
'To see the downfall of the Bourbons.
And some prospect of good to mankind':
(Charles X
was driven from France 29th July, 1830).
'To leave some sterling work to the world':
(He lived to complete his 'Life of Napoleon').
His desire
That some friendly hand should consign
Him to the grave was accomplished to a
Limited but profound extent; on
These conditions he was ready to depart,
And to have inscribed on his tomb,
'Grateful and Contented'.
He was
The first (unanswered) Metaphysician of the age.
A despiser of the merely Rich And Great:
A lover of the People, poor or oppressed:
A hater of the Pride and Power of the Few,
As opposed to the happiness of the Many;
A man of true moral courage,
Who sacrificed Profit and present Fame
To Principle,
And a yearning for the good of Human Nature.
Who was a burning wound to an Aristocracy,
That could not answer him before men,
And who may confront him before their maker.
He lived and died
The unconquered champion
Of
Truth, Liberty, and Humanity,
'Dubitantes opera legite'.
* Editors blast Rumsfeld over 'reckless' US strike
"Representatives of editors in 115 countries have written to Donald Rumsfeld to condemn the "inexcusable" and "reckless" American attack on a hotel in Baghdad, which left two journalists dead and several injured."
* US-UK forces 'breaching Geneva convention'
* Fears for the future - Guardian comment
"The assassination of a revered Shia Muslim cleric is symptomatic and does not bode well for Iraq's future"
* Fair.org: CNN's Reliably Narrow Sources
"On several critical questions of media fairness and inclusion, then, Reliable Sources serves less as a vehicle for examining the media order than as an example of how media fail to provide a forum for an open, wide-ranging debate."
* Fair.org: Disrespect, Distortion and Double Binds - Media treatment of progressive black leaders
"It is appropriate for reporters and pundits to challenge, criticize and disagree with public figures of all races; indeed, it is a central part of their jobs. At the same time, media commentators should avoid name-calling, stereotypes and other distractions from substantive discussion about ideas or proposals; represent people’s ideas and statements fairly; and portray their actions and beliefs accurately. Sadly, when it comes to African-American leaders who challenge the status quo, such as the Rev. Jesse Jackson, the Rev. Al Sharpton and professor and author Cornel West, these standards are frequently violated--including, in some cases, by African-American commentators."
"Representatives of editors in 115 countries have written to Donald Rumsfeld to condemn the "inexcusable" and "reckless" American attack on a hotel in Baghdad, which left two journalists dead and several injured."
* US-UK forces 'breaching Geneva convention'
* Fears for the future - Guardian comment
"The assassination of a revered Shia Muslim cleric is symptomatic and does not bode well for Iraq's future"
* Fair.org: CNN's Reliably Narrow Sources
"On several critical questions of media fairness and inclusion, then, Reliable Sources serves less as a vehicle for examining the media order than as an example of how media fail to provide a forum for an open, wide-ranging debate."
* Fair.org: Disrespect, Distortion and Double Binds - Media treatment of progressive black leaders
"It is appropriate for reporters and pundits to challenge, criticize and disagree with public figures of all races; indeed, it is a central part of their jobs. At the same time, media commentators should avoid name-calling, stereotypes and other distractions from substantive discussion about ideas or proposals; represent people’s ideas and statements fairly; and portray their actions and beliefs accurately. Sadly, when it comes to African-American leaders who challenge the status quo, such as the Rev. Jesse Jackson, the Rev. Al Sharpton and professor and author Cornel West, these standards are frequently violated--including, in some cases, by African-American commentators."
from "Class Consciousness" - by George Lukacs (1920)
"The proletariat only perfects itself by annihilating and transcending itself, by creating the classless society through the successful conclusion of its own class struggle. The struggle for this society, in which the dictatorship of the proletariat is merely a phase, is not just a battle waged against an external enemy, the bourgeoisie. It is equally the struggle of the proletariat against itself. against the devastating and degrading effects of the capitalist system upon its class consciousness. The proletariat will only have won the real victory when it has overcome these effects within itself. The separation of the areas that should be united, the diverse stages of consciousness which the proletariat has reached in the various spheres of activity are a precise index of what has been achieved and what remains to be done. The proletariat must not shy away from self-criticism, for victory can only be gained by the truth and self-criticism must, therefore, be its natural element."
"The proletariat only perfects itself by annihilating and transcending itself, by creating the classless society through the successful conclusion of its own class struggle. The struggle for this society, in which the dictatorship of the proletariat is merely a phase, is not just a battle waged against an external enemy, the bourgeoisie. It is equally the struggle of the proletariat against itself. against the devastating and degrading effects of the capitalist system upon its class consciousness. The proletariat will only have won the real victory when it has overcome these effects within itself. The separation of the areas that should be united, the diverse stages of consciousness which the proletariat has reached in the various spheres of activity are a precise index of what has been achieved and what remains to be done. The proletariat must not shy away from self-criticism, for victory can only be gained by the truth and self-criticism must, therefore, be its natural element."
"It is a tragedy in every classical sense but one: this Lilya has no fatal flaw, commits no fatal sin. Moodysson wants us to see the difference between "rich people who think everything can be bought and poor people who are forced to sell everything they have... a culture where you can buy anything, these people, their labour or their intestines - kidneys from India or Turkey..." And we see precisely that. We also see how the export of unwilling flesh from East to West, from poverty to pimping, operates. From Soho to Stockholm, Munich to Madrid, these are the frightened and exploited, slaves to a malign, mass trade."
* Fair.org - A Lethal Way to "Dispatch" the News
"For a long time now, the U.S. government has been hostile toward the Al-Jazeera television network. Widely watched in the Arab world, Al-Jazeera's coverage of the war on Iraq has been in sharp contrast to the coverage on American television. As Time magazine observed: "On U.S. TV it means press conferences with soldiers who have hand and foot injuries and interviews with POWs' families, but little blood. On Arab and Muslim TV it means dead bodies and mourning.""
"For a long time now, the U.S. government has been hostile toward the Al-Jazeera television network. Widely watched in the Arab world, Al-Jazeera's coverage of the war on Iraq has been in sharp contrast to the coverage on American television. As Time magazine observed: "On U.S. TV it means press conferences with soldiers who have hand and foot injuries and interviews with POWs' families, but little blood. On Arab and Muslim TV it means dead bodies and mourning.""
10.4.03
from Z-mag.. sexy.. please show me the article mike.. very entertained by moral question.. "just this one" ;-)
Orwell Awards: The “pre-emptive strikes” on logic and the English language by politicians, CEOs, and the media has turned into one of our Empire’s major industries. In recognition of the cutting edge advances being made today in American Newspeak, we are offering these awards to deserving individuals.
Orwell Awards: The “pre-emptive strikes” on logic and the English language by politicians, CEOs, and the media has turned into one of our Empire’s major industries. In recognition of the cutting edge advances being made today in American Newspeak, we are offering these awards to deserving individuals.
Whether the mask is labeled Fascism, Democracy, or Dictatorship of the Proletariat, our great adversary remains the Apparatus-the bureaucracy, the police, the military. Not the one facing us across the frontier or the battle lines, which is not so much our enemy as our brothers' enemy, but the one that calls itself our protector and makes us its slaves. No matter what the circumstances, the worst betrayal will always be to subordinate ourselves to this Apparatus, and to trample underfoot, in its service, all human values in ourselves and in others.
French worker-philosopher Simone Weil
French worker-philosopher Simone Weil
The Iraq war begins: Shia Muslim cleric assassinated
"A revered Shia Muslim cleric was assassinated today in the holy city of Najaf after returning from exile in London to act as a peacebroker.
Abdul Majid al-Khoei, 41, was stabbed to death at the shrine of Imam Ali, one of Shia Islam's holiest sites."
* Independent
* Swissinfo
* BBC
"A revered Shia Muslim cleric was assassinated today in the holy city of Najaf after returning from exile in London to act as a peacebroker.
Abdul Majid al-Khoei, 41, was stabbed to death at the shrine of Imam Ali, one of Shia Islam's holiest sites."
* Independent
* Swissinfo
* BBC
* Straw: Saddam is a war criminal - Plus, also steps up Syria rhetoric - ridiculous. If the US invades Syria...
"As the foreign secretary welcomed a "new and much better chapter" in the history of Iraq, he also cast a warning in the direction of Syria.
He said the UK would "look to the government of Syria to discontinue any actions already taken from assisting this regime.""
* ZMag Editorial - Iraq: War and Democracy - by Stephen Shalom, ZMag April 2003 Volume 16 Number 4
" There are many good reasons to be skeptical that a U.S. military assault will result in any sort of meaningful democracy. First, one only has to look at who the supposed agent of this democratic flowering is to be: George W. Bush, who rules the United States illegitimately, having stolen the 2000 election, and who presides over the most serious assault on the basic democratic rights of the people of the United States in over half a century. Second, one should look at the long record of U.S. foreign policy."
"As the foreign secretary welcomed a "new and much better chapter" in the history of Iraq, he also cast a warning in the direction of Syria.
He said the UK would "look to the government of Syria to discontinue any actions already taken from assisting this regime.""
* ZMag Editorial - Iraq: War and Democracy - by Stephen Shalom, ZMag April 2003 Volume 16 Number 4
" There are many good reasons to be skeptical that a U.S. military assault will result in any sort of meaningful democracy. First, one only has to look at who the supposed agent of this democratic flowering is to be: George W. Bush, who rules the United States illegitimately, having stolen the 2000 election, and who presides over the most serious assault on the basic democratic rights of the people of the United States in over half a century. Second, one should look at the long record of U.S. foreign policy."
The Founding Convention of the IWW
The following excerpt was taken from "The Socialist Challenge", Chapter 13 of A People's History of the United States, by Howard Zinn.
thanks Jesse
The following excerpt was taken from "The Socialist Challenge", Chapter 13 of A People's History of the United States, by Howard Zinn.
thanks Jesse
I have seen you, Judge Sloane, and others of your kind, send them to prison because they dared to infringe upon the sacred rights of property. You have become blind and deaf to the rights of man to pursue life and happiness, and you have crushed those rights so that the sacred right of property shall be preserved. Then you tell me to respect your laws. I do not. I did violate your laws. . .and still come before you and say, "To hell with the courts, I know what justice is."
-- Jack White
-- Jack White
"Saddam Hussein may be one of the most reviled dictators in the world today, but he was not always a man without friends."
War is all about rape and rape is all about power. Being is seen as possessing and owning is the only form of having that is deemed to be acceptable;
"Apparent lobbying by American art dealers to dismantle Iraq's strict export laws has heightened fears about the looting of the country's antiquities as order breaks down in the last stages of the war. "
Threat to world heritage in Iraq
"Apparent lobbying by American art dealers to dismantle Iraq's strict export laws has heightened fears about the looting of the country's antiquities as order breaks down in the last stages of the war. "
Threat to world heritage in Iraq
"So now we know: up to 4.7 million people have died in the Democratic Republic of Congo's four-and-a-half-year civil war. The figure was announced this week by the International Rescue Committee, an American aid agency. Its lower estimate was 3.1 million; calculated via a more hopeful assumption about the vast areas of eastern Congo too murderous for its researchers to visit. "
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)