Irish MV Saoirse becomes 2nd victim of sabotage, cannot sail with Gaza Flotilla

Posted on June 30, 2011 by Eric Verlo

So how do nonviolent, unarmed humanitarian activists protect themselves from weapons-wielding attackers? Not very well.

But they don’t have to. Afterward, they don’t even point a finger. And it’s working.

Via too many flat screens to stop, the world audience sees that Israel will stop at nothing to starve off its remaining Palestinians, neither violence, lawsuits, attempted murder, or slander, is too much to keep humanitarians from hindering Israel’s designs on Judea and Samaria.

Now I admit I favor just a little finger pointing, particularly when it’s too early to say, concrete evidence-wise, because that brings out something even less attractive. Accuse Israel immediately and guess what, they’ll indignantly try to put the blame on others. That’s ugly.

And they accuse you of antisemitism, even if you love Jews, but don’t favor the Zionist, mass-murdering variety.

Getting aid to the beleaguered Gazans may prove more difficult than a beeline Mediterranean cruise, but this mountain of a greater Palestinian cause is coming to Mohammed.

Delegitimizing Apartheid Israel is becoming as easy as taking candy from a baby-candy-taker. While the internet hasbarapocalypse foams at the mouth applauding what may or may not have been IDF divers who rigged the MV Saoirse to sink in mid voyage, or what may or may not have been Mossad undercover agents who relieved flotilla participants of their cellphones, the eagerness of Stand-With-Israel fans to stand with such tactics is compounding with self-antisemitism.

It’s becoming more and more clear, with obstacles like the corporate media stacked against critics of Israel, that a nonviolent strategy is tantamount to success against a lawless foe. Remember our TSA considers nail-clippers to be a weapon. your average ocean-going cabin cruiser arms itself with at least a speargun or two if there becomes a need to fend off would-be petty pirates. God forbid the Gaza Flotilla be caught with tools like that.

So how do flotilla activists keep a 24-hour watch against underwater demolition teams? How do elderly activists protect themselves from paid-hoodlums holding them up? The next flotilla will need an entourage of protectors I suppose, if this what happens to this flotilla doesn’t break the blockade of Gaza for good.

The least of teargas effects are tears

Posted on June 28, 2011 by Eric Verlo

Teargas has become a misnomer of course.What’s being used so liberally to suppress demonstrations, to be graphically specific, is vomit-inducing PUKE-GAS. It’s a nausea agent, a respiratory inhibitor, and except when used by the paramilitary police-state, “teargas” is prohibited chemical warfare.

Press intimidation, frivolous lawfare, and sabotage, it’s hasbarapocalypse

Posted on June 28, 2011 by Eric Verlo

Flotilla2 boat to Gaza You’re looking at an underwater photo of the starboard propeller of the passenger ship “Juliano” berthed in Piraeus, Greece, waiting to sail with the “Stay Human” Freedom Flotilla II departing soon to break the siege of Gaza. Reports of sabotage babelfished, even as some flotilla participants quickly issued a retraction. As diver video documented, someone assailed the propeller shaft casing, luckily repairable, but Greek authorities could seize on the incident to delay the activists with an investigation, or insist on further inspections, using anticipation of sabotage to delay or forbid the voyage.

Whodunnit? Sooner than point the finger at whoever took the intelligence contract, better to focus on the flotilla’s irrepressible forward momentum. Notice how the Hasbara themes want to presage the relief effort’s dwindling relevance? Sabotage would grant Israel too easy success. You can’t kill activism but in the shadows.

Fortunately the flotilla vessels are arrayed at various Mediterranean ports, and the identities are being kept secret, much as the internet chorus would like to track them by satellite. So far the flotilla organizer strategies have been impeccable.

Media reports of nonviolence classes counter Israeli anticipation of violence.

The American boat’s decision to bring only a cargo of letters appears to have been a savvy maneuver around the US DOJ’s predictable enforcement of its anti-terrorism statutes. Yes, Hamas was democratically elected, but on the books it’s a terrorist entity and supporting it materially will result in charges. It seems inconceivable, but surprise seems to be a recurring judicial theme. The US delegation comprises the antiwar movements most luminary, I have to credit them now for not being too reckless. Where would the rest of us be, if they are behind bars?

Next I expect we will see the wit behind naming their boat after President Obama’s bestseller Audacity of Hope. What’s that going to do for his Google-metrics? Obama won’t be able to mention it again, without drawing reference to the Gaza relief mission he didn’t support.

The flotilla2 organizers don’t hope to provoke Israel, nor shame the IDF to “Stay Human,” they want to sail the the people of Gaza.

Meanwhile, Israel asserts its right to besiege Gaza, to starve, harass and demoralize the Palestinians in hope that eventually they’ll just want to leave. And that’s why the flotilla must not pass.

French boat Dignite Al Karama first of Gaza Freedom Flotilla 2 to leave port as Greeks try to dash US Audacity of Hope

Posted on June 25, 2011 by Eric Verlo

French humanitarian activists aboard LE DIGNITÉ-EL KARAMEH left Corisca today, bound for Greece, where they will join compatriots in sloop LOUISE MICHEL and the Freedom Flotilla II codenamed “Stay Human” which includes two cargo ships carrying aid to besieged Gaza. The departures of the US AUDACITY OF HOPE and the Canadian TAHRIR are threatened by private complaints of unknown origin, flagging the vessels as unseaworthy, causing Nation reporter Joseph Dana to declare Israeli assault on the Flotilla is well underway.

Aboard the DIGNITY headed for Gaza: Olivier Besancenot, Julien Rivoire, Omeyyaa Sedic, Nicole Kiil-Nielsen, Annick Coupe, Nabil Ennasr, and AFP reporter Quentin Girard.

The second French vessel, the LOUISE MICHEL, named for the famed leader of the Paris Commune.

Tweeting from the already sailing DIGNITY is Thomas Sommer.

Irish activists pose before embarking on “Staying Human” Flotilla 2.

Team Ireland’s MV SAOIRSE whose departure point is being kept secret to circumvent pressure being brought to bear on local port officials, as is happening with the US and Canadian vessels.

USBoatToGaza participants rehearse nonviolent training in anticipation of IDF commando intervention.

Both the Canadian and US organizers are insisting on a media moratorium on images of the TAHRIR and AUDACITY OF HOPE respectively, in hopes of limiting opportunities for sabotage efforts. There is of course the conflicting motive of circulating images as early as possible to have visuals with which to better promote and nurture media interest in the international aid effort.

The Canadian boat TAHRIR will be covered by Toronto journalist Jesse Rosenfeld and Haaretz reporter Amira Haas.

Freedom Flotilla II faces Shayetet13 in showdown at the naval siege of Gaza

Posted on June 22, 2011 by Eric Verlo

It promises to be quite a showdown. Israel has repeated that it will let no ship through to Gaza, the IDF has promised “surprises” for the would-be blockade-runners, while this relief convoy is upping the ante with luminaries political and literary. The US boat is carrying novelist Alice Walker and a who’s who of peace activists, no less than Medea Benjamin, Kathy Kelly, Ray McGovern, and Ann Wright. There will be journalists from CBS, CNN and NPR, so you’d think Israel wouldn’t dare jam their signal and superimpose its own news package like it did with the Mavi Marmara, but maybe it won’t have to.

We’ve seen water hose on Freedom Riders before, only this time the blastees will be activist-squires. You might wonder what kind of sympathy they’ll garner, that is if an audience will see it at all. Will there be an independent media vessel cruising alongside the flotilla, with footage and equipment outside the jurisdiction of an Isreali commando raid? In the past the IDF was able to confiscate every scrap of evidence which could be used against them, at least until their doctored video could shape the official narrative.

Then too, with the absence of the Muslim Brotherhood, and Palestine-champions like Ken O’Keefe, the IDF’s interdiction may meet no resistance at all. Remember the MV Rachel Corrie, surrendering themselves with nary a ripple of media coverage?

Another less provocative strategy adopted by the US boat was not to carry any aid cargo, simply letters of support from American donors. I’m not sure why, except that the IDF cannot accuse them of smuggling anything past the blockade. But what does that make the Audacity of Hope exactly? The Freedom Flotilla is what, if it’s not a relief convoy?

There’s time before the flotilla leaves from Greece, please please please put something aboard to take to Gaza. Break the siege with SOMETHING. You can’t very well assert that Israel wouldn’t otherwise grant entry to all these American activists, many of the Jewish, through the formal border crossings, with or without stacks of correspondence.

I’ll spare further critique for now and wish Team Nonviolence the best success. NotMyTribe has complied a Twitter list of who to follow on the Freedom Flotilla II. Here is an incomplete listing of the passengers on three ships, Ireland’s MV Saoirse, Canada’s Tahrir, and USA’s The Audacity of Hope.

Ireland – MV Saoirse
National Coordinator Fintan Lane, Skipper Shane Dillon, John Hearne, Pat Fitzgerald, Paul Murphy, Hugh Lewis, Rik Walton, Mags O’Brien, Gerard Barron, Jim Roche, Zoe Lawlor, John Mallon, Charlie McMenamin, Philip McCullough, Hussein Hamed, Aine Joyce, Former Fianna Fáil TD Chris Andrews, Senator Mark Daly, Sinn Féin TD Aengus Ó’ Snodaigh, Sinn Féin councilor Gerry MacLochlainn, artist Felim Egan, rugby international Trevor Hogan. Representing the Irish Ship to Gaza campaign, the Free Gaza Movement, Irish Anti-War Movement, and Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign.

Canada – Tahrir
Rifat Audeh, Stéphan Corriveau, Karen DeVito, Bachar Elsolh, David Heap, Miles Howe, Soha Kneen, Irene MacInnes, David Milne, Marie-Eve Rancourt, Jase Tanner, Kevin Neish, Dylan Penner (Independent Jewish Voices Canada), Vivienne Porzsolt (Jews Against Occupation in Australia), Harmeet Singh Sooden, Muhammed Hamou (the London Muslim Mosque), Robert Lovelace (Former Chief of the Ardoch Algonquin First Nation and professor of Indigenous Studies at Queen’s University), Lyn Adamson (Canadian Voice of Women for Peace Co-Chair), Manon Massé (Quebec Solidaire representative), Sue Breeze, Kate Wilson, filmmaker John Greyson, Mary Hughes-Thompson, co-founder of the Free Gaza Movement), Sofia Smith, Amira Haas

US Boat – The Audacity of Hope
Medea Benjamin, Hedy Epstein, Ray McGovern, Kathy Kelly, Ken Mayers, Richard Levy, Henry Norr, Gail Miller, Ridgely Fuller, Robert Naiman, Linda Durham, Brad Taylor, Nic Abramson, Alice Walker, ?Libor Kožnar?, Hagit Borer, Kit Kittredge, G. Kaleo Larson

French
Two boats: Louise Michel & Le Dignité-El Karameh
Julien Bayou (co-founder, Black Thursday), Olivier Besancenot (NPA), Alain Bosc (Cimade), Annick Coupé (porte-parole et déléguée générale de l’Union Syndicale Solidaires), Ismahane Chouder (Participation et Spiritualité Musulmane), Jean-François Courbe (département international de la CGT), Nabil Ennasri (président du Collectif des Musulmans de France), Raymond Fabrègues (Coalition contre Agrexco et Confédération paysanne), Patrice Finel (Parti de Gauche), Georges Gumpel (membre du bureau national de l’UJFP et représentant de l’EJJP), Nicole Kill Nielsen (députée européenne EE-LV), Claude Léostic (vice présidente de l’AFPS), Jean-Paul Lecoq (député du PCF), Catherine Lecoq (Mouvement de la Paix et le Collectif 13 Un bateau pour Gaza), Jo le Guen (navigateur), Yamin Makri (Collectif 69 de soutien au peuple palestinien), Oussama Mouftah (Collectif 59 Palestine), Marie Jo Parbot (auteur de BD), Eugène Riguidel (navigateur), Thomas Sommer (CCIPPP), Henri Stoll (Collectif Palestine 68), Omeyya Seddik

Norway
Torstein Dahle, Stine Renate Haheim, Aksel Hagen, Mina Boldermo Eriksen, Bjørn O. Bjørnsen, Tove Henny Lehre, Bard Vegar Solhjell

Denmark
Gitte Seeberg
John Ekebjaerg-Jakobsen
Adam Qvist

(NOTE: This post will be updated an appended as more information becomes available.)

A face to launch a thousand protests. Leak your trophy footage you cowards

Posted on June 18, 2011 by Eric Verlo

Young Iraqi watching as US soldiers raid her home
This is a still from John Pilger’s THE WAR YOU DON’T SEE, recently blocked from its US debut in Santa Fe. Why? Because such images will stop war. In particular this shows a terrified Iraqi girl held at gunpoint as her home is searched. I wonder how many such scenes have been captured by embed cameras or GI cellphones. Western eyes are being inoculated to violence and gore, our victims dehumanized, foreign civilians reduced to collateral, but it appears our media managers worry Americans cannot yet resist the ordinary tears of children. Imagine such scenes of heartbreak gone viral across the web. Never mind atrocity or war crime, show us emotional responses with which we can identify. The mass of digital records could doubtless overwhelm Wikileaks. These are not top secret, yet nearly any have been leaked. My appeal to the cowardly US soldier, or the damnable media embed, leak the footage which haunts you already, your PTSD may be the contagion to end public support for our state sponsored terrorism.

Sure enough, Amina Arraf al Gay Girl of Damascus hoax is a fat man in Georgia

Posted on June 12, 2011 by Eric Verlo

Following a variety of digital trails, internet sleuths have triangulated the source of “missing” Syrian blogger Amina Abdallah Araf al Omari to Thomas MacMaster and Britta Froelicher (possible alias Paula Brooks), of 5646 Crestwood Dr, SW, Stone Mountain, GA 30087, currently infiltrating a Palestinian Rights group in Edinburgh, Scotland. Circumstantial evidence points to the two who’ve not only hoaxed thousands of Facebook worriers, NPR and the MSM, but poisoned the impact of future authentic appeals and jeopardized real Syrians. This wasn’t as nefarious as the NEDA hoax which aimed to slam Iran, but it was no doubt partisan. Are these accusations confirmed? So long as MacMaster & Froelicher refuse to answer inquiries, wouldn’t it be prudent to blow their cover as unscrupulous provocateurs, regardless their allegiance? Who but an imposter would think the fight against tyranny lacks for real heroes or victims?

22:00GMT UPDATE: MacMaster apologizes and claims to be “sole author” of GGD posts, but it smacks of damage control to me. “Paula Brooks” still looks like sock puppetry aiming to protect Britta Froelicher‘s cover as an activist with the American Friends Service Committee.

AIPAC speechmeister Barack Obama may not be such a good liar after all

Posted on May 22, 2011 by Eric Verlo

In his speech to AIPAC this year, President Obama described the foes of Zionism as determined to “wipe Israel off the map,” the last word quickly retracted and replaced with “Earth.” A quick glance at the prepared text shows this wasn’t a slip of the tongue, it was an official concession that Obama is familiar with the un-spun translation of Ahmadinejad’s words. But Obama’s reflexive on-the-fly edit reveals how literal the Zionists are about their myth-building, and how little leeway Obama has to break with the US Israel agenda. The war drumming against a nuclear-powered Iran invokes the specter of an annihilation of the Jews based on s supposed threat to “wipe Israel off the face of the Earth.” I think today’s vocab malfunction suggests that Obama knows the rest of the authentic translation reads: “to wipe the Zionist regime off the map.” With the advent of the Arab Spring, the term has become the Illegal Zionist Entity formerly know as Israel. Throw in the Apartheid qualifier and Ahmadinejad’s threat is an objective to which a greater and greater number agree.

Navy Seals Death Squids

Posted on May 10, 2011 by Eric Verlo

It does seem unfair to conclude, after the US special forces operation to hunt and kill Osama bin Laden, that all Navy SEAL teams are death squads, but is it a logical fallacy? No one is now pretending there was any other objective but to kill the al-Qaeda leader and everyone who stood in our path, preferably unarmed. Now the latest revelation is that a duplicate assault team was kept at the ready. That’s how many executioners ready? The question becomes, are all Navy Seals trained to kill in cold blood? The answer could lay with the instructors at Fort Benning, the notorious “School of the Americas” where it used to be understood the death squads of South American dictators learned their trade, although now torture is taught at military camps and private contractor schools literally coast to coast, so isn’t that the problem? Torture being among other unsavory practices we say we do not do, while simultaneously forbidding revelations to come from Wikileaks.

When the Germans set their minds to liquidate civilians as their Operation Barbarossa drove toward Russia, they dedicated “special forces” called the “Einsatzgruppen” to do the deed. One because the task detracted from the forward advance, and two, because executing unarmed civilians proved a demoralizing task for the ordinary soldier. On the other hand, gathering noncombatants and shooting them in the back of the head didn’t require combat skills either, so the Einsatzgruppen were recruited from the police force of German cities like Hamburg, where the principle skill was exerting authority and pulling the trigger where others might flinch.

The Einsatzgruppen present vexing evidence for Holocaust deniers. Skeptics can point to inconsistencies about the function of gas chambers in the concentration camps, to suggest that the Nazis might have managed to work their prison laborers to death, but never intended to exterminate them. That argument fails when considering the role of the Einsatzgruppen, to hunt down Jewish civilians, take them to where no one is looking and shoot them. Prisoners of war, yes, and Slavs too, but by primary directive, the Jews.

When partisan acts of sabotage necessitated disciplinary retribution, the Germans had other squads to raze entire villages, these soldiers were chosen from the military brig or from convicts offered a military probation from civilian prison.

In either case the German Wehrmacht chose to match the criminal mindset to the crime. Though overwhelming in its savagery, WWII predated the “Free Fire Zone” where civilians are pretended to be adversaries and/or dismissed as collateral damage.

That’s not to say that today’s soldiers are all bad, many of them I’m sure are earnest peacekeepers determined to win hearts to Pax Americana. I’m sure your average Navy SEAL has rescued his share of kittens from trees.

So which is it, do the Navy SEALs train every member not to shy from shooting defenseless people at point-blank range, or are there designated specialists? Are those chosen based on excellence of performance, as the PR has it, or from among the sailors with disciplinary troubles? Because it’s looking like the bin Laden raid was not out of the ordinary, and no one’s defending it as such.

Bin Laden’s assassination offered a curious ray of hope for me when President Obama’s mission accomplished message was “justice has been served.” Might I dream that bankers and the world’s biggest criminals could feel a draft of discomfort at the idea that no one is untouchable, and the Commander in Chief’s idea of serving justice means a hail of bullets to whomever’s home he chooses.

Don’t worry, there are unspecial forces enough to go around. When Wikileaks released the video of unarmed Iraqis being gunned down by relentless, trigger-giddy helicopter crews, most soldiers acknowledged that such events were commonplace. In the US military, you don’t even have to be a specially rated soldier to rank as Einsatzgruppen.

In my 20-year experience with local policemen, owning two retail stores, soliciting their help with shoplifters, vandals, and whatever disturbances, I can honestly report that all were professional, competent, and very pleasant. That’s 100% of them, very nice people. I can also say that in my experiences protesting, those police-persons who arrested me were unwavering bastards. Also 100%. Not in any particular case the same officers, but statistically, if you compare the two absolute groups, they’re the same people.

Jesus Springs welcomes fugitive Bush

Posted on April 14, 2011 by Eric Verlo

After seeing Colorado College gush over a whitewashed CIA murderer, I’m not in any mood to watch local Christian groupies applaud George War-criminal Bush. The plan for Saturday at the Broadmoor is to pummel the arrogant creep with shoes, ceremoniously of course, and probably in effigy. We’ll have a Bush impersonator, a little monkey in a suit strutting about with impunity. And it appeals to me more that we not land any hits, so we’ll have Junior ducking this shoe and that, taunting us with his sick hehehe. And won’t that reflect reality? Justice frustrated by a snickering good ol’ boy. Except, is there outrage left for Bush? I know I hardly feel it anymore. It’s Obama dissembling about torture and dropping the bombs now.

Here’s the list of embarrassing local businesses and idiotri welcoming George Bush to Colorado Springs, they’re even giving him an award, apparently he’s an inspiration to charter school students:

Colorado Springs Christian Schools
Steve Schuck
Dick Saunders, Saunders Construction
El Pomar Foundation
Pete & Jackie Kuyper
Sonya Camarco, LPL Financial
Dewhirst & Dolven, Attorneys
Bob & Kelly McGrath
Dr. Ron & Renee Rains
Interim Healthcare
Clear Ink Foundation
Colorado Custom Decks
Dr. Mike & Kathy Hall
Mateos Salon & Day Spa
Dar Howard
Envision Investment Group
Dave & Lynda Bjorklund
First Western Trust Bank
Scott & Beth Bugosh
Richard King Brown
Freedom Financial Services
The Milestone Group
Clear View Properties
The Sonchar Family
Joseph & Melissa Hornsey
Ken & Rae Driscoll
Rick & Margaret Brown
David & Gloria Neuder
Todd Pickle
Lee & Mickey Bolin
Seelye Group Ltd.
Liberty Toyota
Matrix Design Group
DWG & Associates
Blazer Electric Supply
ACSI
Joe Woodford
Thor Iverson Consulting
Rothgerber Johnson Lyons LLP
Kathryn Emrick
American Iron & Metal
Stephanie Brock Design
Integrity First Financial
Phil & Mary Kiemel
Weavers Online
Rocky Mountain Custom Trim

Colo. College guest Donald Gregg: the man who hired the man who killed Che

Posted on April 13, 2011 by Eric Verlo

He administered OPERATION PHOENIX during the Vietnam War, the CIA counterinsurgency operation which sought to pacify Vietnam with the targeted assassination of thousands of potential insurgents. For Vice President George H. W. Bush’s office, he coordinated the funding of the illegal US covert war against Central America, aka, the IRAN-CONTRA scandal. Yes, he supervised both Felix Rodriguez and Luis Posada, each of CIA-state-sponsored-terrorism fame. But Colorado College introduced Donald P. Gregg only as former national security adviser and ambassador to Korea. And CC gave Gregg an honorary degree — with not a peep from the know-nothings they laud as their exemplary students.

I attended because I was insulted by the lecture’s title: “What do Ho Chi Minh, Saddam Hussein, and Kim Jung Il have in common?” the speaker further slandered the father of modern Vietnam by indulging to associate another villain to the list, that of Muammar al-Gaddafi. But gracefully Gregg acquitted himself by explaining that Ho Chi Minh had been misjudged, and thus perhaps there is call to engage even our most despicable adversaries in dialog, lest we repeat our mistaken policies, as Gregg believes we are doing in Afghanistan.

Not much objectionable with that. Actually, you can read Gregg’s address, it’s virtually word for word the introduction he wrote for a 2009 study of the CIA’s unheralded successes in Vietnam. To his credit, Gregg does not echo the ongoing theme that Vietnam was winnable.

Relating his more recent expertise about Korea, Gregg offers that Kim Jong Il is more than your common loon. Rather, Il is of unusually high intelligence, underrated by the US, driven despotic by his isolation.

Or driven mad by our offense, I’d add. I’m surprised Kim Jong Il tolerates that we name our ambassador in Seoul as the Ambassador to Korea, rather than to South Korea. How dare US-occupied Korea assert to represent the national identity of Korea? As in Vietnam, it’s the north doing the heavy lifting toward inevitable unification.

Gregg nearly had me convinced he was reformed until he added a forth bogeyman for comparison, Iran.

Iran mustn’t get nukes, etc, etc, Ahmadinejad unpredictable, can’t be trusted, etc.

Ho Chi Minh had been demonized Gregg said, based on a wrong-headed anti-Communist domino-theory mindset, yet Gregg is perfectly willing to be stuck to Capitalism’s current mindset against Islam.

Gregg made such winning arguments for tolerance, respect, diplomacy, and the integrity of the best intelligence officers, but isn’t that precisely the neo-liberal spiel? The CC audience lapped it up.

Here was the closest most of us will ever get to someone connected to the murder of Che Fucking Guevara, icon of the world struggle against Western oppression. That’s explaining the obvious, but I’d add, Che’s heroic stature is no more diminished even if only known as a t-shirt image to this crowd.

School-of-the-Americas-trained Rodriguez knew the stature of the hero he was cutting down, to this day he brags about wearing Che’s watch as a keepsake. Rodriguez returned from this assignment with a piece of notebook paper wrapped around the tobacco left in Guevara’s pipe.

Donald Gregg didn’t kill Guevara, but we might have asked him how many youthful Viet Cong he killed or had tortured, etc, how many aspiring Nicaraguan freedom fighters, or Burmese victims, or boys and girls of yet to be named regions, of the CIA’s yet unrevealed adventures in extrajudicial preemptive death-dealings.

All of this may be blood under the bridge, except that the undercurrent of this elder statesman’s lecture tour is beating the drum for confrontation with Iran.

The US-UN no-fly no-flee free-fire zone

Posted on March 21, 2011 by Eric Verlo

Forbidding flight is not a pun, but a cruel misnomer –a war crime too by the way– international law forbids shooting a fleeing adversary. Or does aerial flight apply to ground forces and naval vessels? So far enforcement of the Libyan No-Fly Zone extends to flight by tanks, ships, and Command & Control Centers, which may yet be taken to include the C&CC lobes of a dictatorial brain resisting regime change, even if that’s not the UN objective. The first night air-strike on Col. Al-Qaddafi’s home reminded me more of the opening act of Schock N’ Awe Baghdad, than what most expect of a UN peacekeepers’ NFZ. Iraq post Kuwait 1991? Bosnia less Herzegovina 1995? Please! New War Czar Obama trumpeted this declaration of a bombing war on Libya with the same speech Bush used to announce the 2003 Christian Jihad against Saddam Hussein (ongoing). The upside of getting to see a No-Fly Zone for what it is, a military bombing spree in the guise of a UN mission, is for all those humanitarian intervention “activists” who cried for a NFZ in Sudan and Somalia. But those assholes knew what it was obviously because they still never call for one to protect Gaza.

Yahoo empire blinks on Libya!

Posted on March 18, 2011 by Eric Verlo

Saddling up, out of the shadows of covert participation in the Libyan rebellion against bogeyman Gaddafi might be the US misstep which the Arab movement has been looking for. It’s not enough that Barack Obama’s active suppression of public uprisings in Bahrain and Yemen unmasked his administration as anti-Democratic, now he’s deploying the brute force already visited on Iraq. Bombs against Gaddafi will soon enough yield innocent civilian deaths and America’s War on Islam not only expands in North Africa, it pits itself against the entire pan-Arab revolution. The Qatar-based Al Jazeera Network may have its own motives for beating the drums of war against the loose cannon madman Gaddafi, while sparing the House of Saud similar vilification, but AJ has succeeded in goading the Western powers to put their weapons where their oil is, effectively throwing fuel on a fire that was stalling against the firewall of the dictator’s repressive might. Forget Ben Ali, Mubarak and Gaddafi, the adversary to unite Arabia will be the USA. And while conventional wisdom for Western governance is to announce unpopular policy during the black hole Friday news cycle, our arrogance shows itself tone-deaf to Islam. We might have figured it out watching what happened in Egypt’s Tahrir Square. The secular week-end in the West can erupt as Days of Rage after the reflection of Friday Prayers.

If you have to ask for whom the fat lady sings, it is not for Tahrir Square.

Posted on February 14, 2011 by Eric Verlo

–And to really mix my malaprops, she sings for them that bought her. If there was one variable which got away from the underdogs of Egypt’s Jan25 Revolution, it was who would referee the endgame. While Hosni Mubarak’s stunning defiance Thursday night looked like a Hail Mary pass hoping to provoke the protesters to mayhem, as a defensive strategy he was moving the goalposts. Anticipating a capitulation, the Tahrir Square demonstrators made clear it was the entire regime which needed ousting, no Suleiman, no Emergency Law, an inviolate list of demands. Mubarak’s insulting buffoonery focused the great beast’s wrath like a rodeo clown. When the announcement came he was stepping down, who could not help but raise a cheer, drowning out the earlier precautions. Mubarak played Egypt like a fiddle, as he burned it, while the fat lady of state media called the game over.

It’s not over until the fat lady sings
So opera advises American football, in reality a game governed strictly by elapsed time. The expression describes the mutual sense that every competition has a natural denouement. Actually another false notion, as this feeling is not often shared by the side fallen behind at the final score.

I’ve convoluted ask not for whom the bell tolls– and if you have to ask how much it costs–, Hemingway and Bugatti I believe, to stress the obvious, that Wagnerian sopranos are kept in furs by the wealthiest of patrons. As epic as might be your struggle, unless you transcend the stage to torch the theater, the status quo raises and lowers the curtain. Without seizing the state media, if even that had been possible, and without staging a narrative to compete with Mubarak’s Greekest of tragic high dives, the Tahrir Square revolutionaries became mere players to please the king.

How could we have missed the grand theatricality of Mubarak’s televised last stands, lighting and makeup dialed to Bela Lugosi? Anyone who knows to dramatize a campfire tale by holding a flashlight under his chin also knows they don’t do that for their profile pic.

In all three of his televised responses to the Jan25 reformers, Mubarak could be paraphrased to have said “over my dead body.” It was a road map his adversaries probably should have heeded. Where is Mubarak now? He’s not gone, he hasn’t even left Egypt. We are informed Mubarak has stepped down by the same henchmen who told protesters “all your demands will be met,” then meeting none.

We learn now that Egypt’s Supreme Council of the Military is trying to clear Tahrir Square. It’s outlawing those who would cause chaos and disorder, and forbidding labor unions to assemble or strike. It’s refusing to end Egypt’s emergency law, or to release the unknown thousand detained during the protests. What of Suleiman and the regime’s other cronies? We have only Mubarak’s doppelganger in an army cap. Field Marshall “Happy” Tantawi, takes to the microphone with no other agenda it appears than to restore Egypt its accustomed sonorous normalcy. If Tibetan throat-singing has an antecedent we can wager now it was Pharaoh throat-talking.

Dance with the one who brought you
A mantra worth cursing out, when Americans wonder why their elected representatives answer only to their biggest campaign donors. So why would Egypt’s Jan25 upstarts have banked on winning the cooperation of the army? I almost said “their” army, but it’s bought and paid for by Mubarak, actually by the same interests who buy US politicians. Deciding not to challenge the army spared lives, but it’s left the military regime in place. Regime unchanged.

There’s a problem when you harness the protection of the military without knowing the intentions of its leaders. You can win a nonviolent revolution against the schoolyard bully if you’ve got the deterrence of “My Bodyguard,” but when the army does that on a national scale it’s called a “bloodless coup.” I’d be curious to know if nonviolence cultists rank bloodless coups among behaviors they condone.

Egypt’s April 6 Youth Movement, chief instigators of the Jan25 uprising, attribute much of their organizing skill to training with OTPOR, the famously successful Serbian youth rebellion which ousted a Balkan despot. OTPOR is now a “pro-Democracy” consultant group that tours the world to awaken nascent freedom-seeking insurgents aspiring to popular uprisings. OTPOR refutes insinuations rising from the disclosure that it has accepted CIA funding, but curiously OTPOR is more often by happenstance advising malcontents in Venezuela, Bolivia, Equador, Iran, the usual outspoken rivals to US hegemony. What are they doing in Egypt? Had Hosni Mubarak gone rogue and we didn’t know it?

When pan-Arabists think of events in Tunisia and Egypt igniting popular uprisings across North Africa and the Middle East, there’s a line to draw between the common dictators and those more hostile to the West, whose rule is autocratic by necessity of having to defend against CIA and Mossad activities designed to foment instability.

Whether against anti-US foes or pro, it might be safe to say that OTPOR talks a good game, without having yet had a victory. They too deposed a dictator, but not his regime. The problem with OTPOR’s advice has to do with the end game.

I sat in on an OTPOR seminar once. They make a yearly visit to Colorado College to lecture for the nonviolence program. At the conclusion of one lecture I witnessed a tremendously telling aside, which emerged during the Q&A, and definitely wasn’t in the nonviolence syllabus. I wonder if the A6YM got the memo.

This presenter, a veteran of the student uprising that deposed Slobodan Milosevic in 2000, contended that after this victory for Democracy, etc, etc, after the attention span of the media had moved on, the same Milosevic cronies who’d been driven to the shadows, assassinated the opposition leaders and crept right back to power. His lesson, a mere thesis, which I paraphrase to reflect his muted emphasis: we should maybe have taken it one step further and made sure to kill the fuckers.

A6YM is still gambling they can separate the lower ranks of the army from the brass. If Robert Fisk’s report that Egyptian tank commanders refused January 30 orders to make a Tiananmen Square out of Tahrir, there may still be hope in such a strategy. But it certainly won’t work if no one will announce that it has worked. If a tyrant falls in the forest and no one hears, his rule doesn’t fall. The funeral cortege of Genghis Khan killed everyone in its path to keep word of his death from spreading across the empire until his successor could consolidate power. If you’re not going to push him off the cliff literally, perhaps Slavoj Zizek is right to say you’ve got to create a Tom and Jerry moment where despots like Mubarak see that there is no longer any foundation beneath him, where visualizing his own demise brings it upon himself. But can that be done without having director’s cut over the narrative?

What kind of farce are we perpetuating to pretend that Hosni Mubarak must be granted a dignified exit? What dignity commanded firing on unarmed protesters? Are we to pretend men who torture to retain their power can be cajoled to release it?

Instead, the Egyptian rebels find themselves with no ground beneath their feet, their “victorious revolution” now a meme being used to rally dissenters against America’s chief adversary Iran.

Poetry of Barack Obama invokes MLK but pays true homage to Rod McKuen

Posted on February 13, 2011 by Eric Verlo

Jesus what a bore! Remember when SNL lampooned Sarah Palin’s first prime time TV interview by reenacting it verbatim? They could do that with Obama’ humorless addresses, I think it would make great theater, but the joke’s already abysmally old. Maybe we need a drinking game where everyone paying close attention could drink the moment President Obama mouthed a phrase that wasn’t a cliche or platitude. Alright, not a drinking game.

At least George Bush punctuated his utterances with inanities, funny ones. We appreciate Sarah Palin for the same preposterous gaffs. Obama’s meaningless drone is similarly inane really, divorced from meaning but colorless.

I had to revisit Obama’s Mubarak-steps-down speech to see if there was anything there. His usual podium bedside manner now hits me like chloroform. I’m not sure if Obama’s tennis ball red-state blue-state head swings aren’t calculated to hypnotize, or if the vacuity of his bombast is the prescribed anesthetic.

At first I was going to reprint the speech with the cliches highlighted. I opted to simply reformat it like a poem, putting the carriage return after each cliched platitude. I’ve parenthesized phrases which in Star Trek or ER scripts are called tech-speak, expository details whose particularities are actually irrelevant.

I’ve neither added, nor subtracted from this official transcript. I can hardly believe it myself.

There are very few moments in our lives where we have the privilege to witness history taking place.

The people of Egypt have spoken.

Their voices have been heard.

And Egypt will never be the same.

(By stepping down, President Mubarak)

responded to the Egyptian people’s hunger for change.

but this is not the end of Egypt’s transition. It’s a beginning.

I’m sure there will be difficult days ahead and

many questions remain unanswered.

But I am confident that the people of Egypt can find the answers,

and do so peacefully, constructively, and in the spirit of unity

(that has defined these last few weeks, for Egyptians have made it clear that)

nothing less than genuine democracy will carry the day.

Well, that’s just the opening paragraph. Obama follows it with more expository blah blah blah. He begins by crediting the nonviolence to Egypt’s military, instead of the incredible restraint of the student protesters.

The military has served patriotically and responsibly as a caretaker to the state and will now have to ensure a transition that is credible in the eyes of the Egyptian people.

You’ll note Obama is advising the military on appearances — very likely his definition of “meaningful.” He continues by listing the demands of the Tahrir Square demonstrators, without crediting them, as if this list was his own.

That means protecting the rights of Egypt’s citizens, lifting the emergency law, revising the constitution and other laws to make this change irreversible, and laying out a clear path to elections that are fair and free.

And then it’s a return to platitudes, encapsulating the admonition that Egyptian forums must give access to secular, “pro-democracy,” pro-Zionist pro-globalist concerns.

Above all this transition must bring all of Egypt’s voices to the table for the spirit of peaceful protest and perseverance that the Egyptian people have shown can serve as a powerful wind at the back of this change.

While he has you almost gagging Obama counterattacks with something to blow your drink through your nose. Obama promises to be the kind of friend to the newly free Egyptians that only the day before was supporting their oppressor Mubarak, and promising there’s more help where that came from.

The United States will continue to be a friend and partner to Egypt. We stand ready to provide whatever assistance is necessary and asked for to pursue a credible transition to a democracy.

And back to cliches:

I’m also confident that the same ingenuity and entrepreneurial spirit that the young people of Egypt have shown in recent days can be harnessed to create new opportunity, jobs and businesses that allow the extraordinary potential of this generation to take flight.

Isn’t this the same war-on-the Future speech he’s peddling to his domestic audience?

I know that a democratic Egypt can advance its role of responsible leadership not only in the region but around the world.

Oh you can read the rest for yourself. I’m bored.

Egypt has played a pivotal role in human history for over 6,000 years. But over the last few weeks the wheel of history turned at a blinding pace as the Egyptian people demanded their universal rights.

Alright, one more interruption. Below Obama describes watching events of the Egyptian Revolution, AS IF it was a shared American experience. The irony of course is that he watched it on Al Jazeera, while the rest of America could and did not. They would be at pains to draw the same sympathetic conclusions as he. Obama comes off quite the perceptive, humanitarian bastard.

We saw mothers and fathers carrying their children on their shoulders to show them what true freedom might look like. We saw young Egyptians say, for the first time in my life I really count. My voice is heard. Even though I’m only one person, this is the way real democracy works. We saw protestors chant… ‘We are peaceful, again and again.’

We saw a military that would not fire bullets at the people they were sworn to protect. And we saw doctors and nurses rushing into the streets to care for the wound. Volunteers checking protestors to ensure that they were unarmed. We saw people of faith praying together and chanting Muslims, Christians, we are one. And though we know the strains of faith divide too many in this world and no single event will close that chasm immediately, these scenes show us that we need not be defined by our differences. We can be defined by the common humanity that we share.?And, above all, we saw a new generation emerge, a generation that uses their own creativity and talent and technology to call for a government that represented their hopes and not their fears. A government that is responsive to their boundless aspirations. One Egyptian put it simply — most people have discovered in the last few days that they are worth something, and this cannot be taken away from them anymore. Ever.

This is the power of human dignity, and it can never be denied. Egyptians have inspired us, and they’ve done so by putting the eye to the idea that justice is best gained through violence. For in Egypt it was the moral force of nonviolence, not terrorism, not mindless killing, but nonviolence, moral force that bent the arc of history toward justice once more. And while the sights and sounds that we heard were entirely Egyptian, we can’t help but hear the echoes of history, echoes from Germans tearing down a wall, Indonesian students taking to the streets, Gandhi leading his people down the path justice. As Martin Luther King said in celebrating the birth of a new nation in Ghana while trying to perfect his own, there’s something in the soul that cries out for freedom.

Those were the cries that came from Tahrir square and the entire world has taken note. Today belongs to the people of Egypt, and the American people are moved by these scenes in Cairo and across Egypt because of who we are as a people and the kind of world that we want our children to grow up in. The word ‘Tahrir’ means liberation. It’s a word that speaks to that something in our souls that cries out for freedom. And forever more it will remind us of the Egyptian people, of what they did, of the things that they stood for, and how they changed their country and in doing so changed the world. Thank you.

Remember the Maine? Egyptians will.

Posted on February 9, 2011 by Eric Verlo

Remember the Maine? In 1898 a popular uprising was threatening Spanish rule in Cuba. The US Navy cruised to the rescue. The rescue of whom, we never got the chance to find out. An explosion aboard the USS Maine gave America the pretext to blame a Spanish torpedo. An America inflamed by a jingoist press declared war on Spain and promptly seized her colonies “to protect US interests,” by coincidence just as the indigenous populations were overcoming their colonizer and were about to win their freedom. Today a US attack fleet speeds toward Egypt. Washington asserts its mission is to evacuate US nationals if need be.

I’d like to imagine the amphibious assault ship USS Kearsarge will position itself off Egypt’s coast to facilitate the Egyptian government’s stable transition to Democracy.

Perhaps the fleet intends to augment the security which Hosni Mubarak is deliberately destabilizing in Egypt. Perhaps they will offer medical care for Egyptian protesters denied access to Cairo hospitals if their wounds incriminate the government. Perhaps sophisticated Navy electronics will provide an alternate internet backbone if Mubarak tries cut his people off the web. Perhaps the US Navy can help jam the state television station still broadcasting lies to the broader population. I’m hoping our navy can erect a gallows prominently on the bow, to threaten Mubarak, speaking in the only language the despicable dictator might understand, an urgency he doesn’t feel from the peaceful protesters of Tahrir Square.

Possible?

Is it more likely to be a false flag like the Maine? Remember the USS Liberty? That was a US intelligence ship attacked in 1967 by unmarked Israeli planes, hoping that Egypt would catch the blame? There was more to that story and anyway it didn’t work out.

Remember whatever boat it was attacked/not-attacked in the Gulf of Tonkin Incident? That worked.

“Showing the Flag” doesn’t have to be false flag. Remember the USS Cole? Worked in Yemen. Traditional foreign policy teaches that gunboat diplomacy asserts military dominance. Actually it runs a calculated risk. It draws out indignation and a show of defiance. Because a military wants to flush out resistance sooner than being taken by surprise.

Remember the enterprising Marines in Iraq who drove around with a megaphone insulting the Prophet Mohammad? They repeated Jesus Killed Mohammad until every last proud Muslim to renounce their blasphemy was baptized in an obliteration of firepower.

Remember the Maine? Americans remember the Maine like it remembers the Alamo or 9-11. We have no idea. We have no sense of deja vu about the US spreading its forces in defense of empire. I’m really hoping this is not the equivalent of the Soviets sending their tanks into Hungary in 1956.

But Americans have nothing on the educated Egyptians. Whatever America’s gunships have in mind, the Arab world has seen it. Jan25 organizers continue to defy media expectations about the movement losing steam. Attendance keep rising, yesterday pro-Mubarak citizens were proclaiming their changed allegiance. Today the labor unions are recognizing the imperative of launching a general strike, and protesters are venturing outside of the central demonstrations, threatening government buildings and facilities.

With every successive day of victories for the Democracy-seeking demonstrators of Tahrir Square, I have every confidence that the Egyptians will outwit this latest US envoy convoy.

Egypt passes point of no return, for Mubarak and besieged pro-democracy

Posted on February 3, 2011 by Eric Verlo

Point of no return in Egypt. Mubarak is overseeing crimes from which he will not be able to walk away. Pro-Democracy demonstrators cannot leave Al Tahrir Square. Not because it is barricaded and besieged by plain-clothed “Pro-Mubarak protesters” but because activists who go home face immediate arrest by the secret police. Even as thugs harass the protesters, unhindered by the Egyptian army, Human Rights Watch expresses most concern for the protest organizers who are vulnerable to infiltrators facilitating their abduction or assassination by sniper. Here’s an illuminating first hand account from an activist who writes as Sandmonkey:

UPDATE 3/3 AM: Colleagues report Sandmonkey apprehended ferrying medical supplies to Al Tahrir Square. First an inspiration, now his statement is prophetic. UPDATE 3/3 tweets: “I am ok. I got out. I was ambushed & beaten by the police, my phone confiscated, my car ripped apart & supplies taken” and “Please don’t respond to my phone or BBM. This isn’t me. My phone was confiscated by a thug of an officer who insults those who call.”

EGYPT, RIGHT NOW!
Thursday, 3 Feb 2011

I don’t know how to start writing this. I have been battling fatigue for not sleeping properly for the past 10 days, moving from one’s friend house to another friend’s house, almost never spending a night in my home, facing a very well funded and well organized ruthless regime that views me as nothing but an annoying bug that its time to squash will come. The situation here is bleak to say the least.

It didn’t start out that way. On Tuesday Jan 25 it all started peacefully, and against all odds, we succeeded to gather hundreds of thousands and get them into Tahrir Square, despite being attacked by Anti-Riot Police who are using sticks, tear gas and rubber bullets against us. We managed to break all of their barricades and situated ourselves in Tahrir. The government responded by shutting down all cell communication in Tahrir square, a move which purpose was understood later when after midnight they went in with all of their might and attacked the protesters and evacuated the Square. The next day we were back at it again, and the day after. Then came Friday and we braved their communication blackout, their thugs, their tear gas and their bullets and we retook the square. We have been fighting to keep it ever since.

That night the government announced a military curfew, which kept getting shorter by the day, until it became from 8 am to 3 pm. People couldn’t go to work, gas was running out quickly and so were essential goods and money, since the banks were not allowed to operate and people were not able to collect their salary. The internet continued to be blocked, which affected all businesses in Egypt and will cause an economic meltdown the moment they allow the banks to operate again. We were being collectively punished for daring to say that we deserve democracy and rights, and to keep it up, they withdrew the police, and then sent them out dressed as civilians to terrorize our neighborhoods. I was shot at twice that day, one of which with a semi-automatic by a dude in a car that we the people took joy in pummeling. The government announced that all prisons were breached, and that the prisoners somehow managed to get weapons and do nothing but randomly attack people. One day we had organized thugs in uniforms firing at us and the next day they disappeared and were replaced by organized thugs without uniforms firing at us. Somehow the people never made the connection.

Despite it all, we braved it. We believed we are doing what’s right and were encouraged by all those around us who couldn’t believe what was happening to their country. What he did galvanized the people, and on Tuesday, despite shutting down all major roads leading into Cairo, we managed to get over 2 million protesters in Cairo alone and 3 million all over Egypt to come out and demand Mubarak’s departure. Those are people who stood up to the regime’s ruthlessness and anger and declared that they were free, and were refusing to live in the Mubarak dictatorship for one more day. That night, he showed up on TV, and gave a very emotional speech about how he intends to step down at the end of his term and how he wants to die in Egypt, the country he loved and served. To me, and to everyone else at the protests this wasn’t nearly enough, for we wanted him gone now. Others started asking that we give him a chance, and that change takes time and other such poppycock. Hell, some people and family members cried when they saw his speech. People felt sorry for him for failing to be our dictator for the rest of his life and inheriting us to his Son. It was an amalgam of Stockholm syndrome coupled with slave mentality in a malevolent combination that we never saw before. And the Regime capitalized on it today.

Today, they brought back the internet, and started having people calling on TV and writing on facebook on how they support Mubarak and his call for stability and peacefull change in 8 months. They hung on to the words of the newly appointed government would never harm the protesters, whom they believe to be good patriotic youth who have a few bad apples amongst them. We started getting calls asking people to stop protesting because “we got what we wanted” and “we need the country to start working again”. People were complaining that they miss their lives. That they miss going out at night, and ordering Home Delivery. That they need us to stop so they can resume whatever existence they had before all of this. All was forgiven, the past week never happened and it’s time for Unity under Mubarak’s rule right now.

To all of those people I say: NEVER! I am sorry that your lives and businesses are disrupted, but this wasn’t caused by the Protesters. The Protesters aren’t the ones who shut down the internet that has paralyzed your businesses and banks: The government did. The Protesters weren’t the ones who initiated the military curfew that limited your movement and allowed goods to disappear off market shelves and gas to disappear: The government did. The Protesters weren’t the ones who ordered the police to withdraw and claimed the prisons were breached and unleashed thugs that terrorized your neighborhoods: The government did. The same government that you wish to give a second chance to, as if 30 years of dictatorship and utter failure in every sector of government wasn’t enough for you. The Slaves were ready to forgive their master, and blame his cruelty on those who dared to defy him in order to ensure a better Egypt for all of its citizens and their children. After all, he gave us his word, and it’s not like he ever broke his promises for reform before or anything.

Then Mubarak made his move and showed them what useful idiots they all were.

You watched on TV as “Pro-Mubarak Protesters” – thugs who were paid money by NDP members by admission of High NDP officials- started attacking the peaceful unarmed protesters in Tahrir square. They attacked them with sticks, threw stones at them, brought in men riding horses and camels- in what must be the most surreal scene ever shown on TV- and carrying whips to beat up the protesters. And then the Bullets started getting fired and Molotov cocktails started getting thrown at the Anti-Mubarak Protesters as the Army standing idly by, allowing it all to happen and not doing anything about it. Dozens were killed, hundreds injured, and there was no help sent by ambulances. The Police never showed up to stop those attacking because the ones who were captured by the Anti-mubarak people had police ID’s on them. They were the police and they were there to shoot and kill people and even tried to set the Egyptian Museum on Fire. The Aim was clear: Use the clashes as pretext to ban such demonstrations under pretexts of concern for public safety and order, and to prevent disunity amongst the people of Egypt. But their plans ultimately failed, by those resilient brave souls who wouldn’t give up the ground they freed of Egypt, no matter how many live bullets or firebombs were hurled at them. They know, like we all do, that this regime no longer cares to put on a moderate mask. That they have shown their true nature. That Mubarak will never step down, and that he would rather burn Egypt to the ground than even contemplate that possibility.

In the meantime, State-owned and affiliated TV channels were showing coverage of Peaceful Mubarak Protests all over Egypt and showing recorded footage of Tahrir Square protest from the night before and claiming it’s the situation there at the moment. Hundreds of calls by public figures and actors started calling the channels saying that they are with Mubarak, and that he is our Father and we should support him on the road to democracy. A veiled girl with a blurred face went on Mehwer TV claiming to have received funding by Americans to go to the US and took courses on how to bring down the Egyptian government through protests which were taught by Jews. She claimed that AlJazeera is lying, and that the only people in Tahrir square now were Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas. State TV started issuing statements on how the people arrested Israelis all over Cairo engaged in creating mayhem and causing chaos. For those of you who are counting this is an American-Israeli-Qatari-Muslim Brotherhood-Iranian-Hamas conspiracy. Imagine that. And MANY PEOPLE BOUGHT IT. I recall telling a friend of mine that the only good thing about what happened today was that it made clear to us who were the idiots amongst our friends. Now we know.

Now, just in case this isn’t clear: This protest is not one made or sustained by the Muslim Brotherhood, it’s one that had people from all social classes and religious background in Egypt. The Muslim Brotherhood only showed up on Tuesday, and even then they were not the majority of people there by a long shot. We tolerated them there since we won’t say no to fellow Egyptians who wanted to stand with us, but neither the Muslims Brotherhood not any of the Opposition leaders have the ability to turn out one tenth of the numbers of Protesters that were in Tahrir on Tuesday. This is a revolution without leaders. Three Million individuals choosing hope instead of fear and braving death on hourly basis to keep their dream of freedom alive. Imagine that.

The End is near. I have no illusions about this regime or its leader, and how he will pluck us and hunt us down one by one till we are over and done with and 8 months from now will pay people to stage fake protests urging him not to leave power, and he will stay “because he has to acquiesce to the voice of the people”. This is a losing battle and they have all the weapons, but we will continue fighting until we can’t. I am heading to Tahrir right now with supplies for the hundreds injured, knowing that today the attacks will intensify, because they can’t allow us to stay there come Friday, which is supposed to be the game changer. We are bringing everybody out, and we will refuse to be anything else than peaceful. If you are in Egypt, I am calling on all of you to head down to Tahrir today and Friday. It is imperative to show them that the battle for the soul of Egypt isn’t over and done with. I am calling you to bring your friends, to bring medical supplies, to go and see what Mubarak’s gurantees look like in real life. Egypt needs you. Be Heroes.

US president can’t even make a speech

Posted on January 15, 2011 by Eric Verlo

I MEAN, so effective was President Obama’s delivery that huge swaths of the American public who had come to hold him in clear disdain were safely put back under his spell. So self assured and competent was he that the only explanation his audience can now conjure for Obama’s dismal failures thus far, now called his partial-successes, is resignation about the political adversaries being obviously too great. They argue the presidency has only limited power, the ruling oligarchs hold all the cards, Obama has achieved wonders all things considered. Apparently the President of the United States has such diminished authority he can’t even explain all that in plain English to his national audience. You think he could defy the corporate media to pull the plug on a wardrobe malfunction. Obama would have a popular uprising of Tunisian magnitude if he lent his oratory skills to putting the public wrath in gear. Instead, more unbearable demispeak — I had to unplug from the news cycle. The Tucson tragedy became Obama’s Oklahoma City Moment, another Waco for American aspirations for change.

Wikileaks Jacob Appelbaum confounds US customs w Bill of Rights thumbdrive

Posted on January 13, 2011 by Eric Verlo

US-based Wikileaks colleague Jacob Appelbaum has a humorous account of his reentry yesterday to the US. Flying into Newark last July his laptop was searched and his cell phones confiscated. This time Appelbaum tweeted ahead that the ACLU would be his welcoming party, among other measures, recounted through Twitter:

Tweets by ioerror

I am not practically able to transport electronic devices. I will be radio silent before, during, and for some time after my flight.

I think that it is unlikely that there will be any serious trouble. With secret courts and sealed orders… the only way to know is to go.

I’m heading to the airport from Reykjavik and expect to be in the US around 16:40 PST Monday afternoon. Perhaps everything will go smoothly.

I am out of the airport and back in Seattle. Nothing more for now, sleep time.

It’s very frustrating that I have to put so much consideration into talking about the kind of harassment that I am subjected to in airports.

I was detained, searched, and CBP did attempt to question me about the nature of my vacation upon landing in Seattle.

The CBP specifically wanted laptops and cell phones and were visibly unhappy when they discovered nothing of the sort.

I did however have a few USB thumb drives with a copy of the Bill of Rights encoded into the block device. They were unable to copy it.

The forensic specialist (who was friendly) explained that EnCase and FTK, with a write-blocker inline were unable to see the Bill of Rights.

I requested access my lawyer and was again denied. They stated I was I wasn’t under arrest and so I was not able to contact my lawyer.

The CBP (U.S. Customs and Border Protection) agent was waiting for me at the exit gate. Remember when it was our family and loved ones?

When I handed over my customs declaration form, the female agent was initially friendly. After pulling my record, she had a sour face.

She attempted to trick me by putting words into my mouth. She marked my card with a large box with the number 1 inside, sent me on my way.

While waiting for my baggage, I noticed the CBP agent watching me and of course after my bag arrived, I was “randomly” selected for search.

Only US customs has a random number generator worse than a mid-2007 Debian random number generator. Random? Hardly.

During the search, I made it quite clear that I had no laptop and no cell phone. Only USB drives with the Bill of Rights.

The CBP agent stated that I had posted on Twitter before my flight and that slip ended the debate about their random selection process.

The CBP agents in Seattle were nicer than ones in Newark. None of them implied I would be raped in prison for the rest of my life this time.

The CBP agent asked if the ACLU was really waiting. I confirmed the ACLU was waiting and they again denied me contact with legal help.

All in all, the detainment was around thirty minutes long. They all seemed quite distressed that I had no computer and no phone.

They were quite surprised to learn that Iceland had computers and that I didn’t have to bring my own.

There were of course the same lies and threats that I received last time. They even complemented me on work done regarding China and Iran.

I think there’s a major disconnect required to do that job and to also complement me on what they consider to be work against police states.

While it’s true that Communist China has never treated me as badly as CBP, I know this isn’t true for everyone who travels to China.

All in all, if you’re going to be detained, search, and harassed at the border in an extra-legal manner, I guess it’s Seattle over Newark.

It tok a great deal of thought before I posted about my experience because it honestly appears to make things worse for me in the future.

Even if it makes things worse for me, I refuse to be silent about state sponsored systematic detainment, searching, and harassment.

In case it is not abundantly clear: I have not ben arrested, nor charged with any crime, nor indicted in any way. Land of the free? Hardly.

I’m only counting from the time that we opened my luggage until it was closed. The airport was basically empty when I left.

It’s funny that the forensics guy uses EnCase. As it, like CBP, apparently couldn’t find a copy of the Bill of Rights I dd’ed into the disk.

The forensics guy apparently enjoyed the photo with my homeboy Knuth and he was really quite kind. The forensics guy in Newark? Not so much.

The CBP agent asked me for data – was I bringing data into the country? Where was all my data from the trip? Names, numbers, receipts, etc.

The mental environment that this creates for traveling is intense. Nothing is assured, nothing is secure, and nothing provides escape.

I resisted the temptation to give them a disk filled with /dev/random because I knew that reading them the Bill of Rights was enough hassle.

I’m flying to Toronto, Canada for work on Sunday and back through Seattle again a few days later. Should be a joy to meet these guys again.

All of this impacts my ability to work and takes a serious emotional toll on me. It’s absolutely unacceptable.

What happens if I take a device they can’t image? They take it. What about the stuff they give back? Back doored? Who knows?

Does it void a warranty if your government inserts a backdoor into your computer or phone? It certainly voids the trust I have in all of it.

I dread US Customs more than I dreaded walking across the border from Turkey to Iraq in 2005. That’s something worth noting.

I will probably never feel safe about traveling internationally with a computer or phones again.

None the less, safe or not, I won’t stop working on Tor. Nor will I cease traveling. I will adapt and I will win. A hard road worth taking.

A solid argument for free software: To check the integrity of your hardware and your software against tampering. No binary (firmware) blobs.

I’d like to think that when I visit my family in Canada this weekend and attend a work conference that Canada won’t hassle me. Am I dreaming?

Will the Canadian government simply act as an arm of the US policy of detaining, searching, and harassing me? Oh Canada! I hope not.

It’s interesting to note that some media initially reported that I had no trouble because I said nothing at all. Irony abounds.

My border experience reminds me of the old monochrome quote: “Land of the Free? Land of the Free Refill!”

Why do we allow US Customs to lie and to threaten people? It’s a crime to lie to them and they do it as their day job. Why the inequality?

Wikileaks Cablegate on 2008 Olympics: US rats on Dutch radio avoiding IOC & Chinese censors via complex intertubes

Posted on January 10, 2011 by Eric Verlo

Aftenposten’s monopoly on unleaked-by-Wikileaks-leaks went comparatively stale this weekend for American readers at least, but there was this nugget in a Beijing Olympics “Situation Report.” The last item of an August 21, 2008 diplomatic cable told how a Dutch pirate radio operation was able to circumvent Chinese censors and an International Olympic Committee exclusivity contract. By reporting “Radio 538 is using a complex system of ISDN telephone lines,” the US embassy was less ratting out the Dutch than revealing its own misunderestimation of Chinese internets and/or intertubes.

22. (U) Dutch Radio Station Evades Censors:

The Dutch commercial broadcaster Radio 538 on 08/19/2008 continued to defy both the Chinese censors and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) by broadcasting live from Beijing during the Olympic Games, according to a Dutch radio report.

Officially, the only Dutch broadcaster registered to broadcast from Beijing during the Olympics is public broadcaster NOS. Unlike officially registered broadcasters, Radio 538 is not required to send its feed through the Olympics Broadcast Center, where Chinese authorities could theoretically censor its output.

Instead, Radio 538 is using a complex system of integrated service digital networks (ISDN) telephone lines to transmit its broadcasts out of Beijing and to foil authorities´ attempts to block its transmissions.

Radio 538´s connection with its Beijing studio has been down for only 20 minutes on one day since the beginning of the Olympics, according to the Dutch radio report.

For the regularly appended list of USG cables released exclusively in Norway, check this Aftenposten link. For a daily summary written for an English audience, check Views and News from Norway.

Gaza’s Youth Manifesto For Change!

Posted on January 4, 2011 by NMT

From anonymous young voices in Gaza, reprinted from Facebook group:Gaza Youth Breaks Out (GYBO), file under Jailhouse Literature.

Fuck Hamas. Fuck Israel. Fuck Fatah. Fuck UN. Fuck UNWRA. Fuck USA! We, the youth in Gaza, are so fed up with Israel, Hamas, the occupation, the violations of human rights and the indifference of the international community…

(Via THE GUARDIAN UK, which chose an incendiary if wildly inappropriate photo to represent the Gaza cyber rebels.)

GAZA’S YOUTH MANIFESTO FOR CHANGE

Fuck Hamas. Fuck Israel. Fuck Fatah. Fuck UN. Fuck UNWRA. Fuck USA! We, the youth in Gaza, are so fed up with Israel, Hamas, the occupation, the violations of human rights and the indifference of the international community! We want to scream and break this wall of silence, injustice and indifference like the Israeli F16’s breaking the wall of sound; scream with all the power in our souls in order to release this immense frustration that consumes us because of this fucking situation we live in; we are like lice between two nails living a nightmare inside a nightmare, no room for hope, no space for freedom. We are sick of being caught in this political struggle; sick of coal dark nights with airplanes circling above our homes; sick of innocent farmers getting shot in the buffer zone because they are taking care of their lands; sick of bearded guys walking around with their guns abusing their power, beating up or incarcerating young people demonstrating for what they believe in; sick of the wall of shame that separates us from the rest of our country and keeps us imprisoned in a stamp-sized piece of land; sick of being portrayed as terrorists, homemade fanatics with explosives in our pockets and evil in our eyes; sick of the indifference we meet from the international community, the so-called experts in expressing concerns and drafting resolutions but cowards in enforcing anything they agree on; we are sick and tired of living a shitty life, being kept in jail by Israel, beaten up by Hamas and completely ignored by the rest of the world.

There is a revolution growing inside of us, an immense dissatisfaction and frustration that will destroy us unless we find a way of canalizing this energy into something that can challenge the status quo and give us some kind of hope. The final drop that made our hearts tremble with frustration and hopelessness happened 30th November, when Hamas’ officers came to Sharek Youth Forum, a leading youth organization (www.sharek.ps) with their guns, lies and aggressiveness, throwing everybody outside, incarcerating some and prohibiting Sharek from working. A few days later, demonstrators in front of Sharek were beaten and some incarcerated. We are really living a nightmare inside a nightmare. It is difficult to find words for the pressure we are under. We barely survived the Operation Cast Lead, where Israel very effectively bombed the shit out of us, destroying thousands of homes and even more lives and dreams. They did not get rid of Hamas, as they intended, but they sure scared us forever and distributed post traumatic stress syndrome to everybody, as there was nowhere to run.

We are youth with heavy hearts. We carry in ourselves a heaviness so immense that it makes it difficult to us to enjoy the sunset. How to enjoy it when dark clouds paint the horizon and bleak memories run past our eyes every time we close them? We smile in order to hide the pain. We laugh in order to forget the war. We hope in order not to commit suicide here and now. During the war we got the unmistakable feeling that Israel wanted to erase us from the face of the earth. During the last years Hamas has been doing all they can to control our thoughts, behaviour and aspirations. We are a generation of young people used to face missiles, carrying what seems to be a impossible mission of living a normal and healthy life, and only barely tolerated by a massive organization that has spread in our society as a malicious cancer disease, causing mayhem and effectively killing all living cells, thoughts and dreams on its way as well as paralyzing people with its terror regime. Not to mention the prison we live in, a prison sustained by a so-called democratic country.

History is repeating itself in its most cruel way and nobody seems to care. We are scared. Here in Gaza we are scared of being incarcerated, interrogated, hit, tortured, bombed, killed. We are afraid of living, because every single step we take has to be considered and well-thought, there are limitations everywhere, we cannot move as we want, say what we want, do what we want, sometimes we even cant think what we want because the occupation has occupied our brains and hearts so terrible that it hurts and it makes us want to shed endless tears of frustration and rage!

We do not want to hate, we do not want to feel all of this feelings, we do not want to be victims anymore. ENOUGH! Enough pain, enough tears, enough suffering, enough control, limitations, unjust justifications, terror, torture, excuses, bombings, sleepless nights, dead civilians, black memories, bleak future, heart aching present, disturbed politics, fanatic politicians, religious bullshit, enough incarceration! WE SAY STOP! This is not the future we want!

We want three things. We want to be free. We want to be able to live a normal life. We want peace. Is that too much to ask? We are a peace movement consistent of young people in Gaza and supporters elsewhere that will not rest until the truth about Gaza is known by everybody in this whole world and in such a degree that no more silent consent or loud indifference will be accepted.

This is the Gazan youth’s manifesto for change!

We will start by destroying the occupation that surrounds ourselves, we will break free from this mental incarceration and regain our dignity and self respect. We will carry our heads high even though we will face resistance. We will work day and night in order to change these miserable conditions we are living under. We will build dreams where we meet walls.

We only hope that you – yes, you reading this statement right now! – can support us. In order to find out how, please write on our wall or contact us directly: freegazayouth@hotmail.com

We want to be free, we want to live, we want peace.

FREE GAZA YOUTH!

AFTENPOSTEN exclusive Wikileaks cache reveals US collaborators

Posted on December 27, 2010 by Eric Verlo

Norway’s AFTENPOSTEN newspaper claims to have received the entire cache of Cablegate diplomatic cables. So far they’ve restricted themselves to releasing correspondence relating to US-Norwegian relations, revealing particular Norwegians doing America’s bidding, from those with “strong pro-US instincts, to another considered by “some very senior U.S. officials” to be “weasily.”

From the cable about weasily Norwegian Ministry of Defense State Secretary Espen Barth Eide who’s played a key role in keeping Norwegian troops in Afghanistan and tried to manipulate his Government to support US machinations in Haiti, these misgivings:

Senior Norwegian officials, with strong pro-U.S. instincts, have also told the Embassy in private that Barth Eide is not to be relied upon to promote U.S. priorities. One key test of Barth Eide´s inclinations will be the MOD recommendation on which fighter plane to purchase, the Joint Strike Fighter or the Saab Gripen.

News as well to Norwegians is a cable about Oslo’s regional governor collaborating with US plans to move/expand its embassy which had been meeting with severe resistance from the public.

Although the AFTENPOSTEN is published in Norwegian, the cables are being reprinted in their original, Here’s a listing of what’s out so far:

Dokumentene fra USAs ambassader

OSLO REGIONAL GOVERNOR OFFERS SUPPORT FOR NEW AMERICAN EMBASSY PROJECT (15.12 2010)

NORWAY: A POTENTIAL HAVEN FOR WAR CRIMINALS?
(15.12 2010)

ESPEN BARTH EIDE, POWER IN NORWAY´S MOD AND RISING STAR IN THE LABOR PARTY (16.12 2010)

RISING NORWEGIAN ANTI-SEMITISM AFFECTING ITS ROLE IN THE MIDDLE EAST? (15.12 2010)

13.2.2009: CONSTRAINTS ON NORWAY´S MIDDLE EAST ROLE? (15.12 2010)

NORWEGIAN LAWYERS SUE ISRAEL FOR WAR CRIMES ABUSES (15.12 2010)

NORWAY WILL NOT PUBLICLY SUPPORT UN 1267 KREKAR DESIGNATION (15.12 2010)

GOJ TO APPROACH DUTCH TO ASK THAT MULLAH KREKAR NOT BE EXPELLED TO NORWAY (15.12 2010)

MULLAH KREKAR CASE: STATE OF PLAY IN JORDAN (15.12 2010)

OSLO NEC – THE HIGH COSTS OF FREEZING THE PROJECT (15.12 2010)

21.5.2003: Tigers issue hard-edged letter demandinginterim structure in north/east (19.12 2010)

11.2.2009: Norwegian FM Stoere: The world at his feet (15.12 2010)

16.6.2003: Tensions notch up over sinking of Tamil Tigership and latest slaying of a Tiger opponent (19.12 2010)

15.7.2003: Tigers still refusing request from monitors tovacate forward base (19.12 2010)

11.8.2003: LTTE base issue; Tigers get ready for Paris meeting (19.12 2010)

4.11.2003: Provoking political crisis, President fires three key ministers and suspends Parliament (19.12 2010)

23.10.2003: President demands removal of chief monitor, but it is not clear how far she wants to push matter (19.12 2010)

5.11.2003: President Affirms Commitment to Negotiated Settlement and Cease-fire (19.12 2010)

12.11.2003: Sri Lanka update: No resolution in “cordial” President-PM meeting; Norwegians here to meet all sides (19.12 2010)

17.11.2004: Possible ways forward in political standoff between Sri Lankan President and Prime Minister (19.12 2010)

6.3.2004: Ignoring orders of LTTE leadership, rebel commander remains ensconced in east (19.12 2010)

9.6.2004: Recent meetings show the way forward for Sri Lanka peace process is troubled (19.12 2010)

15.4.2004: In meeting, Norwegian Ambassador reviews recent discussion with President on peace process (19.12 2010)

17.6.2004: Talks about Talks in Stasis while Norwegians Ponder Next Moves (19.12 2010)

23.6.2004: Norwegian peregrinations for peace (19.12 2010)

20.4.2004: Norwegian envoy Solheim finds GSL and LTTE committed to peace process (19.12 2010)

6.12.2004: “Low key” Norwegian visit to Wanni (19.12 2010)

29.11.2004: Norwegians concerned by JVP-orcheastrated campaign against them (19.12 2010)

18.8.2005: Norwegian facilitators send letter to LTTE leader Prabhakaran via London; GSL asks EU to list LTTE as terrorist organization (19.12 2010)

23.1.2006: U/S Burns reviews Sri Lankan peace process with Norwegian facilitator Erik Solheim (19.12 2010)

Here’s an excerpt about the US ambassador’s concern about “growing anti-Semitic” criticism of Israel’s attack on Gaza:

4/27/2009 12:55
C O N F I D E N T I A L OSLO 000315 SIPDIS E.O. 12958:
DECL: 04/27/2019
TAGS: PREL, PINR, PHUM, IS, NO
SUBJECT: NORWEGIAN LAWYERS SUE ISRAEL FOR WAR CRIMES ABUSES

…

More recently, the Israeli Ambassador formally protested Norwegian Foreign Minister Stoere’s decision to stay in the room at the UN Racism Conference in Geneva during the Iranian President´s speech. The Ambassador also confidently told us that the embassy will likely sue the Norwegian National Broadcasting Company for what they perceive to be very biased news magazine reporting on Hezbollah and the Gaza war.

WHITNEY

Revisiting the Weather Underground’s 1970 pantheon of empire-fighters

Posted on December 18, 2010 by Eric Verlo

Former Weatherman Bill Ayers, now a respected professor of education, was recently nominated for emeritus status but ran into trouble when a right wing blogger complained that a 1970 underground publication coauthored by Ayers, Prairie Fire, had been dedicated to Sirhan Sirhan, the assassin of Robert F. Kennedy. (Let’s not leave aside the possibility that lone Sirhan was the fall guy in a conference room full of CIA operatives, the immediately the suppressed narrative, which would make Sirhan a victim among the 209 other anti-imperialist heroes to which the Weather Underground wanted to dedicate their efforts.) While hindsight might reveal the WUO to have erred with some of its honorees, it seems likely the majority might be worthy of a following up.

Preceding the longer list is a preliminary dedication to the three WUO comrades who died in the NYC townhouse accident: Teddy Gold, Diana Oughton and Terry Robbins.

The full page list framed this dedication:

To Harriet Tubman and John Brown
To all who continue to fight
To all political prisoners in the US

Here’s the total list, for your own wiki googling, alphabetized and annotated. The dedication page of PRAIRIE FIRE changed between the varied mimeographed copies produced by WUO satellite publishers around the US between the years 1970 through 1974. Bracketed names represent people not included on all reprints.

Frank Khali Abney
Sundiata Acoli
Ahmend
Akil
Eugene Allen
W. T. Allen
Gary Alston
Michael Alston – BPP, BLA
James Amaker
Hekima Anna – RNA11
Karl Armstrong -New Years Eve Gang
Atuma
Robert Austin
Richie B.
Baba
Kwasi Balagoon
Joe Bandy
[Jimmy Barett]
Leon Bates
Herman Bell – BPP, SF8
Odell Bennett
Bro. Bernard
Jesse Bishop
Debbie Black
Victor Gerardo Bono – MOSCA
Anthony Bottoms – Jalil Abdul Muntaqim – BLM, NY3
Billy X Boulware
Clarence Jabari Shinda Bount
Joseph Bowen
Raymond Brooks
H. Rap Brown
Henry Sha sha Brown – BLA
Isaiah Brown
Richard Brown – BPP, SF8
[Sarah Brown]
Marilyn Buck
Fred Burton
Carter Camp – AIM
Larry Cannon
Michael Clark – De Mau Mau
Dennis Cole
Oscar Collazo – PRNP
Marshal Conway
Paul Coppella
Andres Figueroa Cordero – PRNP
Carol Crooks
Tony Cruz
E. Dabney
Dalou
James Daniels
Alicia Davis
Tyrone Davis
Alexander de Hoyo
[Albert Deutschmann]
Fleeta Drumgo – SQ6
Timothy Earl Dudley
Ahmed Evans
Jesse Evans
Keith X Farries
James Fedd
Stephen X Ferguson
Juan Fernandez
Micky Finn
Fish
Joe-Joe Fleischman
Irving Flores – PRNP
Allen Fooke Jr.
Robert Foulks
Eugene Gaither
Thomas Gaither
Denny Gathing
Nathaniel Gides
Frank Goree
Ernest Grahm?
Jim Grant
Nancy Harras
Jodi Jean Harris
Richard Harris – BPP, Panther21
Stanley Harris
James Hastings
Herman Hawkins
Robert Hayes
Alf Hill
David Hilliard – BPP
Fred Hilton – Kamau Sadiki – BLA
[Bruce Hobson] – Venceremos
[Jean Hobson] – Venceremos
Mark Holder -BLA
[Doc Holiday]
Louis X Holloway
Hutch
Thomas Ingram
Andrew Jackson – BLA
[Chester Jackson]
Jaja
Patricia James
Ollie Jamonds
Alfredo Jasper
Anthony X Jenkins
Randolph X Jenkins
David Johnson – SQ6
Edward Joseph X. – Jamal – BPP, Panther21
Gari Kaiser
Ron Karenga -creator of Kwanzaa
Muhonnet Kassimir
Ja Ja Omar Kenyatta
Melvin Kearney – BLA
Samuel Killey
Kimanthi
Kin-Du
Stephanie Klein
Komie Kombuibe
Lolita Lebron – PRNP
Russell Little – SLA
Jesse Lopez
Hugh Lumpkin
Albert Lyon
Gail Madden
Ruchell Cinque Magee – SQ6
Louise Martinez
Randy McCleary
George Meritt
Gloria Miller
Armado Miramon
Rafael Miranda – PRNP
Rose Mohrstine
Gilbert Montague
Richard Dhoruba Moore
Obgarofowe James Morse
Benjamin Murdock
[Morton Newman] – Venceremos
Roy Nixt
Karrim Nyabadfudi
Imari Obadele – RNA11
Odessabakely
Alberto Ortiz
Jacqueline Paige
Charles Parker
Darrell Peatry – De Mau Mau
Betty Person
Hugo Pinnell – SQ6
William Poole
William Prather
Eller Geronimo Pratt
Euther X Presha
Arthur Prince
Offaga Quaddus – RNA11
Oji
Outlaw
T. S. Reddy
Joseph Remiro – SLA
Harrison Robison
Rock
Norma Rockamore
Eddy Sanchez
Rodolfe Sanchez
Marvin Saunders
Ruben Scott – BPP
[Robert Seabrock] – Venceremos
Assata Shakur
Shango
Harold Simmons
John Simone
Samual Singeton
Sirhan Sirhan
Marvin X Smith
Nathaniel Smith
Martin Sostre -bookseller
Johnny Larry Spain – SQ6
Gloria Strickland
Kenneth X Swanson
Luis Talamantes – SQ6
Willie Tate – SQ6
Ben Taylor
Donald Taylor – De Mau Mau
James Taylor
Bro. Thomas
John Thomas – BLA
Steve Tillman
Alexander X Tisdale
Francisco Torres – NY5
Gabriel Torres – NY5
Toukie
Tommy Trentino
Herman Wallace – Angola3
Robert Wamack
Thomas Wansley
Mamie Lee Ward
Albert Washington – Nuh – BPP, NY3
Fred Waters
Jesse Watson
Marshall Weathers
Bob Wells
Warren Wells – BLM
Fred Shanda West
Clifford Whaley
Clifton Wiggins
John Wilkerson
Deborah Williams
Ricky Williams
Tine Williams
Robert Wilson – De Mau Mau
Mira Witherspoon
Deothea Woodburn
Albert Woodfox – Angola3
Nathaniel Wright III
Candice Yacqui
Robert Youngblood

John Pilger – The War You Don’t See

Posted on December 18, 2010 by Eric Verlo

We call it the Iraq War, as we did the Vietnam War, but America’s wars aren’t so-named in the host countries. It’s the Iraq Invasion, not War, and Afghanistan Invasion really, now Occupation, Decimation and Holocaust. Journalist filmmaker John Pilger subscribes to the theory that if a public is let to see the horrors of war, it will refuse to participate. His new documentary THE WAR YOU DON’T SEE traces US and UK efforts since WWI to propagandize war. Amid interviews with news bureau chiefs who he holds culpable for hyping war, Pilger shows censored footage which could have turned public opinion. I have to wonder if a simple sequence of an Iraqi home subjected to a US raid, in particular the focus on a young daughter’s anxiety, would not have broken just enough American hearts.

Wikileaks reveals inventory of US possessions critical to corporations

Posted on December 7, 2010 by Eric Verlo

To complain that a wikileaked list of off-US-soil “critical infrastructure and key resources” provides a checklist of targets for aspiring terrorists is to pretend that opponents of the US empire are as simple minded as American television viewers. The importance of most of the so-called Critical Foreign Dependencies is self-evident, more curious is how the US deems these proprietary interests, to what extent it will protect them, and for whom. Sole manufacturers of vaccines might be vital to public health, but what of communications cables, international ports, supplies of industrial metals and suppliers of components to US weapons systems? Those are critical only to bottom lines. The 2008 report in the State Department cable leaked yesterday reveals infrastructure critical to multinational corporations, whether US or not.

While American airwaves are full of denunciations of Wikileaks and Julian Assange for endangering the US, the Western press is ignoring incendiary cables making their rounds in the Middle East, in which the Lebanese Defence Minister Elias El-Murr asks his American liaison to assure Israel that a next invasion, restricted to rooting out Hezbollah, would not be opposed by Lebanese forces.

Amazon, Paypal and EveryDNS have thrown in with those that would censor Wikileaks, likely also Google and Twitter. Try to find the El-Murr story through Google News or Twitter.

Here’s the text of the 2009 cable:

2008 Critical Foreign Dependencies Initiative (CFDI)
critical infrastructure and key resources (CI/KR)

AFRICA

Congo
(Kinshasa): Cobalt (Mine and Plant)

Gabon:
Manganese – Battery grade, natural; battery grade, synthetic; chemical grade; ferro; metallurgical grade

Guinea:
Bauxite (Mine)

South Africa:
BAE Land System OMC, Benoni, South Africa
Brown David Gear Industries LTD, Benoni, South Africa
Bushveld Complex (chromite mine) Ferrochromium Manganese – Battery grade, natural; battery grade, synthetic; chemical grade; ferro; metallurgical grade
Palladium Mine and
Plant Platinum Mines Rhodium

EAST ASIA AND THE PACIFIC

Australia:
Southern Cross undersea cable landing, Brookvale, Australia
Southern Cross undersea cable landing, Sydney, Australia
Manganese – Battery grade, natural; battery grade, synthetic; chemical grade; ferro; metallurgical grade
Nickel Mines Maybe Faulding Mulgrave Victoria, Australia:
Manufacturing facility for Midazolam injection. Mayne Pharma (fill/finish), Melbourne, Australia: Sole suppliers of Crotalid Polyvalent Antivenin (CroFab).

China:
C2C Cable Network undersea cable landing, Chom Hom Kok, Hong Kong
C2C Cable Network undersea cable landing Shanghai, China
China-US undersea cable landing, Chongming, China
China-US undersea cable landing Shantou, China
EAC undersea cable landing Tseung Kwan O, Hong Kong
FLAG/REACH North Asia Loop undersea cable landing Tong Fuk, Hong Kong
Hydroelectric Dam Turbines and Generators Fluorspar (Mine)
Germanium Mine
Graphite Mine
Rare Earth Minerals/Elements Tin Mine and Plant Tungsten – Mine and Plant Polypropylene Filter Material for N-95 Masks
Shanghai Port
Guangzhou Port
Hong Kong Port
Ningbo Port
Tianjin Port

Fiji:
Southern Cross undersea cable landing, Suva, Fiji

Indonesia:
Tin Mine and Plant Straits of Malacca

Japan:
C2C Cable Network undersea cable landing, Chikura, Japan
C2C Cable Network undersea cable landing, Shima, Japan
China-US undersea cable, Okinawa, Japan
EAC undersea cable landing Ajigaura, Japan
EAC undersea cable landing Shima, Japan
FLAG/REACH North Asia Loop undersea cable landing Wada, Japan
FLAG/REACH North Asia Loop undersea cable landing Wada, Japan
Japan-US undersea cable landing, Maruyama, Japan
Japan-US undersea cable landing Kitaibaraki, Japan
KJCN undersea cable landing Fukuoka, Japan
KJCN undersea cable landing Kita-Kyushu, Japan
Pacific Crossing-1 (PC-1) undersea cable landing Ajigaura, Japan
Pacific Crossing-1 (PC-1) undersea cable landing Shima, Japan
Tyco Transpacific undersea cable landing, Toyohashi, Japan
Tyco Transpacific undersea cable landing Emi, Japan
Hitachi, Hydroelectric Dam Turbines and Generators
Port of Chiba
Port of Kobe
Port of Nagoya
Port of Yokohama
Iodine Mine
Metal Fabrication Machines Titanium Metal (Processed) Biken, Kanonji City, Japan
Hitachi Electrical Power Generators and Components Large AC Generators above 40 MVA

Malaysia:
Straits of Malacca

New Zealand:
Southern Cross undersea cable landing, Whenuapai, New Zealand
Southern Cross undersea cable landing, Takapuna, New Zealand

Philippines:
C2C Cable Network undersea cable landing, Batangas, Philippines
EAC undersea cable landing Cavite, Philippines

Republic of Korea:
C2C Cable Network undersea cable landing, Pusan, Republic of Korea.
EAC undersea cable landing Shindu-Ri, Republic of Korea
FLAG/REACH North Asia Loop undersea cable landing Pusan, Republic of Korea
KJCN undersea cable landing Pusan, Republic of Korea
Hitachi Large Electric Power Transformers 230 – 500 kV
Busan Port

Singapore:
C2C Cable Network undersea cable landing, Changi, Singapore
EAC undersea cable landing Changi North, Singapore
Port of Singapore
Straits of Malacca

Taiwan:
C2C Cable Network undersea cable landing, Fangshan, Taiwan
C2C Cable Network undersea cable landing, Tanshui, Taiwan
China-US undersea cable landing Fangshan, Taiwan
EAC undersea cable landing Pa Li, Taiwan
FLAG/REACH North Asia Loop undersea cable landing Toucheng, Taiwan
Kaohsiung Port

EUROPE AND EURASIA

Europe

(Unspecified):
Metal Fabrication Machines: Small number of Turkish companies (Durma, Baykal, Ermaksan)

Austria:
Baxter AG, Vienna, Austria: Immune Globulin Intravenous (IGIV)
Octapharma Pharmazeutika, Vienna, Austria: Immune Globulin Intravenous (IGIV)

Azerbaijan:
Sangachal Terminal
Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan Pipeline

Belarus:
Druzhba Oil Pipeline

Belgium:
Germanium Mine
Baxter SA, Lessines, Belgium: Immune Globulin Intravenous (IGIV)
Glaxo Smith Kline, Rixensart, Belgium: Acellular Pertussis Vaccine Component
GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals SA, Wavre, Belgium: Acellular Pertussis Vaccine Component
Port of Antwerp

Denmark:
TAT-14 undersea cable landing, Blaabjerg, Denmark
Bavarian Nordic (BN), Hejreskovvej, Kvistgard, Denmark: Smallpox Vaccine
Novo Nordisk Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Bagsvaerd, Denmark: Numerous formulations of insulin
Novo Nordisk Insulin Manufacturer: Global insulin supplies
Statens Serum Institut, Copenhagen, Denmark: DTaP (including D and T components) pediatric version

France:
APOLLO undersea cable, Lannion, France
FA-1 undersea cable, Plerin, France
TAT-14 undersea cable landing St. Valery, France
Sanofi-Aventis Insulin Manufacturer: Global insulin supplies Foot and Mouth Disease Vaccine finishing
Alstrom, Hydroelectric Dam Turbines and Generators
Alstrom Electrical Power Generators and Components
EMD Pharms Semoy, France: Cyanokit Injection
GlaxoSmithKline, Inc. Evreux, France: Influenza neurominidase inhibitor
RELENZA (Zanamivir) Diagast, Cedex, France: Olympus (impacts blood typing ability)
Genzyme Polyclonals SAS (bulk), Lyon, France: Thymoglobulin
Sanofi Pasteur SA, Lyon, France: Rabies virus vaccine

Georgia:
Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan Pipeline

Germany:
TAT-14 undersea cable landing, Nodren, Germany.
Atlantic Crossing-1 (AC-1) undersea cable landing Sylt, Germany
BASF Ludwigshafen: World’s largest integrated chemical complex
Siemens Erlangen: Essentially irreplaceable production of key chemicals
Siemens, GE, Hydroelectric Dam Turbines and Generators
Draeger Safety AG & Co., Luebeck, Germany: Critical to gas detection capability
Junghans Fienwerktechnik Schramberg, Germany: Critical to the production of mortars
TDW-Gasellschaft Wirksysteme, Schroebenhausen, Germany: Critical to the production of the Patriot Advanced Capability Lethality Enhancement Assembly
Siemens, Large Electric Power Transformers 230 – 500 kV
Siemens, GE Electrical Power Generators and Components
Druzhba Oil Pipeline Sanofi Aventis Frankfurt am Main, Germany: Lantus Injection (insulin)
Heyl Chemish-pharmazeutische Fabrik GmbH: Radiogardase (Prussian blue)
Hameln Pharmaceuticals, Hameln, Germany: Pentetate Calcium Trisodium (Ca DTPA) and Pentetate Zinc Trisodium (Zn DTPA) for contamination with plutonium, americium, and curium IDT
Biologika GmbH, Dessau Rossiau, Germany: BN Small Pox Vaccine.
Biotest AG, Dreiech, Germany: Supplier for TANGO (impacts automated blood typing ability) CSL
Behring GmbH, Marburg, Germany: Antihemophilic factor/von Willebrand factor
Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics GmbH, Marburg, Germany: Rabies virus vaccine
Vetter Pharma Fertigung GmbH & Co KG, Ravensburg, Germany (filling): Rho(D) IGIV
Port of Hamburg

Ireland:
Hibernia Atlantic undersea cable landing, Dublin Ireland
Genzyme Ireland Ltd. (filling), Waterford, Ireland: Thymoglobulin

Italy:
Glaxo Smith Kline SpA (fill/finish), Parma, Italy: Digibind (used to treat snake bites)
Trans-Med gas pipeline

Netherlands:
Atlantic Crossing-1 (AC-1) undersea cable landing Beverwijk, Netherlands
TAT-14 undersea cable landing, Katwijk, Netherlands
Rotterdam Port

Norway:
Cobalt Nickel Mine

Poland:
Druzhba Oil Pipeline

Russia:
Novorossiysk Export Terminal
Primorsk Export Terminal.
Nadym Gas Pipeline Junction: The most critical gas facility in the world
Uranium Nickel Mine: Used in certain types of stainless steel and superalloys
Palladium Mine and Plant Rhodium

Spain:
Strait of Gibraltar
Instituto Grifols, SA, Barcelona, Spain: Immune Globulin Intravenous (IGIV)
Maghreb-Europe (GME) gas pipeline, Algeria

Sweden:
Recip AB Sweden: Thyrosafe (potassium iodine)

Switzerland:
Hoffman-LaRoche, Inc. Basel, Switzerland: Tamiflu (oseltamivir)
Berna Biotech, Berne, Switzerland: Typhoid vaccine CSL
Behring AG, Berne, Switzerland: Immune Globulin Intravenous (IGIV)

Turkey:
Metal Fabrication Machines: Small number of Turkish companies (Durma, Baykal, Ermaksan)
Bosporus Strait
Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan Pipeline

Ukraine:
Manganese – Battery grade, natural; battery grade, synthetic; chemical grade; ferro; metallurgical grade

United Kingdom:
Goonhilly Teleport, Goonhilly Downs, United Kingdom
Madley Teleport, Stone Street, Madley, United Kingdom
Martelsham Teleport, Ipswich, United Kingdom
APOLLO undersea cable landing Bude, Cornwall Station, United Kingdom
Atlantic Crossing-1 (AC-1) undersea cable landing Whitesands Bay
FA-1 undersea cable landing Skewjack, Cornwall Station
Hibernia Atlantic undersea cable landing, Southport, United Kingdom
TAT-14 undersea cable landing Bude, Cornwall Station, United Kingdom
Tyco Transatlantic undersea cable landing, Highbridge, United Kingdom
Tyco Transatlantic undersea cable landing, Pottington, United Kingdom.
Yellow/Atlantic Crossing-2 (AC-2) undersea cable landing Bude, United Kingdom
Foot and Mouth Disease Vaccine finishing
BAE Systems (Operations) Ltd., Presont, Lancashire, United Kingdom: Critical to the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter
BAE Systems Operations Ltd., Southway, Plymouth Devon, United Kingdom: Critical to extended range guided munitions
BAE Systems RO Defense, Chorley, United Kingdom: Critical to the Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW) AGM-154C (Unitary Variant)
MacTaggart Scott, Loanhead, Edinburgh, Lothian, Scotland, United Kingdom: Critical to the Ship Submersible Nuclear (SSN)

NEAR/MIDDLE EAST
Djibouti:
Bab al-Mendeb: Shipping lane is a critical supply chain node

Egypt:
‘Ayn Sukhnah-SuMEd Receiving Import Terminal
‘Sidi Kurayr-SuMed Offloading Export Terminal
Suez Canal

Iran:
Strait of Hormuz
Khark (Kharg) Island
Sea Island Export Terminal
Khark Island T-Jetty

Iraq:
Al-Basrah Oil Terminal

Israel:
Rafael Ordnance Systems Division, Haifa, Israel: Critical to Sensor Fused Weapons (SFW), Wind Corrected Munitions Dispensers (WCMD), Tail Kits, and batteries

Kuwait:
Mina’ al Ahmadi Export Terminal

Morocco:
Strait of Gibraltar
Maghreb-Europe (GME) gas pipeline, Morocco

Oman:
Strait of Hormuz

Qatar:
Ras Laffan Industrial Center: By 2012 Qatar will be the largest source of imported LNG to U.S.

Saudi Arabia:
Abqaiq Processing Center: Largest crude oil processing and stabilization plant in the world
Al Ju’aymah Export Terminal: Part of the Ras Tanura complex
As Saffaniyah Processing Center
Qatif Pipeline Junction
Ras at Tanaqib Processing Center
Ras Tanura Export Terminal
Shaybah Central Gas-oil Separation Plant

Tunisia:
Trans-Med Gas Pipeline

United Arab Emirates (UAE):
Das Island Export Terminal
Jabal Zannah Export Terminal
Strait of Hormuz

Yemen:
Bab al-Mendeb: Shipping lane is a critical supply chain node

SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA

Kazakhstan:
Ferrochromium Khromtau Complex, Kempersai, (Chromite Mine)

India:
Orissa (chromite mines) and Karnataka (chromite mines)
Generamedix Gujurat, India: Chemotherapy agents, including florouracil and methotrexate

WESTERN HEMISPHERE

Argentina:
Foot and Mouth Disease Vaccine finishing

Bermuda:
GlobeNet (formerly Bermuda US-1 (BUS-1) undersea cable landing Devonshire, Bermuda

Brazil:
Americas-II undersea cable landing Fortaleza, Brazil
GlobeNet undersea cable landing Fortaleza, Brazil
GlobeNet undersea cable landing Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Iron Ore from Rio Tinto Mine Manganese – Battery grade, natural; battery grade, synthetic; chemical grade; ferro; metallurgical grade Niobium (Columbium), Araxa,
Minas Gerais State (mine)
Ouvidor and Catalao I,
Goias State: Niobium

Chile:
Iodine Mine

Canada:
Hibernia Atlantic undersea cable landing Halifax , Nova Scotia, Canada
James Bay Power Project, Quebec: monumental hydroelectric power development
Mica Dam, British Columbia: Failure would impact the Columbia River Basin.
Hydro Quebec, Quebec: Critical irreplaceable source of power to portions of Northeast U. S.
Robert Moses/Robert H. Saunders Power, Ontario: Part of the St. Lawrence Power Project, between Barnhart Island, New York, and Cornwall, Ontario
Seven Mile Dam, British Columbia: Concrete gravity dam between two other hydropower dams along the Pend d’Oreille River
Pickering Nuclear Power Plant, Ontario, Canada
Chalk River Nuclear Facility, Ontario: Largest supplier of medical radioisotopes in the world
Hydrofluoric Acid Production Facility, Allied Signal, Amherstburg, Ontario
Enbridge Pipeline Alliance Pipeline: Natural gas transmission from Canada
Maritime and Northeast Pipeline: Natural gas transmission from Canada
Transcanada Gas: Natural gas transmission from Canada
Alexandria Bay POE, Ontario: Northern border crossing
Ambassador Bridge POE, Ontario: Northern border crossing
Blaine POE, British Columbia: Northern border crossing
Blaine Washington Rail Crossing, British Columbia
Blue Water Bridge POE, Ontario: Northern border crossing
Champlain POE, Quebec: Northern border crossing
CPR Tunnel Rail Crossing, Ontario (Michigan Central Rail Crossing)
International Bridge Rail Crossing, Ontario
International Railway Bridge Rail Crossing
Lewiston-Queenstown POE, Ontario: Northern border crossing
Peace Bridge POE, Ontario: Northern border crossing
Pembina POE, Manitoba: Northern border crossing
North Portal Rail Crossing, Saskatchewan
St. Claire Tunnel Rail Crossing, Ontario
Waneta Dam, British Columbia: Earthfill/concrete hydropower dam
Darlington Nuclear Power Plant, Ontario, Canada.
E-ONE Moli Energy, Maple Ridge, Canada: Critical to production of various military application electronics
General Dynamics Land Systems – Canada, London Ontario, Canada: Critical to the production of the Stryker/USMC LAV Vehicle Integration
Raytheon Systems Canada Ltd.
ELCAN Optical Technologies Division, Midland, Ontario, Canada: Critical to the production of the AGM-130 Missile
Thales Optronique Canada, Inc., Montreal, Quebec: Critical optical systems for ground combat vehicles
Germanium Mine Graphite Mine
Iron Ore Mine
Nickel Mine
Niobec Mine, Quebec, Canada: Niobium Cangene, Winnipeg, Manitoba:
Plasma Sanofi Pasteur Ltd., Toronto, Canada: Polio virus vaccine
GlaxoSmithKile Biologicals, North America, Quebec, Canada: Pre-pandemic influenza vaccines

French Guiana:
Americas-II undersea cable landing Cayenne, French Guiana

Martinique:
Americas-II undersea cable landing Le Lamentin, Martinique

Mexico:
FLAG/REACH North Asia Loop undersea cable landing Tijuana, Mexico
Pan-American Crossing (PAC) undersea cable landing Mazatlan, Mexico
Amistad International Dam: On the Rio Grande near Del Rio, Texas and Ciudad Acuna, Coahuila, Mexico
Anzalduas Dam: Diversion dam south of Mission, Texas, operated jointly by the U.S. and Mexico for flood control Falcon International Dam: Upstream of Roma, Texas and Miguel Aleman, Tamaulipas, Mexico
Retamal Dam: Diversion dam south of Weslaco, Texas, operated jointly by the U.S. and Mexico for flood control
GE Hydroelectric Dam Turbines and Generators: Main source for a large portion of larger components
Bridge of the Americas: Southern border crossing
Brownsville POE: Southern border crossing
Calexico East POE: Southern border crossing
Columbia Solidarity Bridge: Southern border crossing
Kansas City Southern de Mexico (KCSM) Rail Line, (Mexico)
Nogales POE: Southern border crossing
Laredo Rail Crossing
Eagle Pass Rail Crossing
Otay Mesa Crossing: Southern border crossing
Pharr International Bridge: Southern border crossing
World Trade Bridge: Southern border crossing
Ysleta Zaragosa Bridge: Southern border crossing
Hydrofluoric Acid Production Facility
Graphite Mine
GE Electrical Power Generators and Components
General Electric, Large Electric Power Transformers 230 – 500 kV

Netherlands Antilles:
Americas-II undersea cable landing Willemstad, Netherlands Antilles.

Panama:
FLAG/REACH North Asia Loop undersea cable landing Fort Amador, Panama
Panama Canal

Peru:
Tin Mine and Plant

Trinidad and Tobago:
Americas-II undersea cable landing
Port of Spain
Atlantic LNG: Provides 70% of U.S. natural gas import needs

Venezuela:
Americas-II undersea cable landing Camuri, Venezuela
GlobeNet undersea cable landing, Punta Gorda, Venezuela
GlobeNet undersea cable landing Catia La Mar, Venezuela
GlobeNet undersea cable landing Manonga, Venezuela

	LL on Owl City writes lyrics most fo…
	lizzie on The ‘success maker…
	gary cummings on Common Dreams? Or is it censor…
	kennetha on The Stiles Unit of Beaumont
	Cristian on Shlomo Sand and shattering a n…
	Vic Currier on Why should you attend the Denv…
	Vic Currier on Sovereign constitutional oath…
	Robyn KenyaStar Prui… on White Native Americans
	Debra Gill on The Stiles Unit of Beaumont
	Xaldyn on The ‘success maker…

Not My Tribe

The Myth of Middle Ground

Tag Archives: IRA