Remember Rome's soldier citizens? American forces now augment their numbers by recruiting foreign legionnaires with the promise of US citizenship. President Obama reportedly spent the Fourth of July in the company of soldiers for hire, hired to commit American war crimes with the advantage that if killed, they wouldn't be tallied as American casualties. On the plus side, this batch also evaded being caught red handed committing war crimes, but ultimately the public does not know what it takes to earn that final prize, behaving like Americans or outwitting Americans.
Tag: Mercenaries
Banana Republic Redux
Like the infamous Case Law which decided over a century ago that Guatemala, Costa Rica and El Salvador to be, while still "sovereign" nations, the property of American Banana Companies And Cocaine, which was legal at the time, and Coffee, and other "strategic resources". Only this time, the people in the Banana Republic, in this case Colombia, are contesting the Imperial Corporations and their so-called "right" to use private armies to murder private citizens in what is essentially a Puppet Dictatorship. This could possibly lead somewhere, since the U.S. has shot off all the ammunition the people for generations to come are going to be buying because it was all bought on Credit.There's a line of creditors waiting outside our Collective Door including Russia, China, Brazil, the European Union and various member states of each entity with everything short of an eviction notice. "Paw, the Sheriff's at the door and he's got a handful of Papers" I don't for a moment believe that any replacement Empire will be better than what is already established, "mejor el diablo que ya tiene, que el Santo desconocido" which is a Spanish saying "Better the devil you know than the Saint you don't" which sounds more than a little satanic. On the other hand, there don't seem to be many Saints in that growing line of Sheriff'-at-the-door. Now would be as good a time as any to add the U.S. Military to the list of defendants because, really, they've been backing the Banana Companies the same way. The U.S. Military was used as a private army in a rigged "revolution" in Panama to ensure U.S. Corporations got to build the Panama Canal. "panama" which at the time was part of Colombia. When Puppet Dictator and Iran/Contra accomplice Manuel Noriega started making waves about the U.S. Corporate Dictators, his Masters, reneging on the Canal Zone treaty which would have given their Corporate Subsidiary Panama control over the Canal, The U.S. Corporate Military created a provocation, CLAIMING that a U.S. Serviceman was murdered in the Canal Zone, and, as always, "Sent in the Marines". to "protect freedom". Lying sacks of shit they are. Their sole reason was to rein in a Rogue Puppet who had tried to break his strings. Just like their Puppet Saddam Hussein and the former mercenaries the Taliban, once the Soviet Union was declared dead. Everything else is just a made-up excuse.
Death of a Chaplain.
First, it should be noted that Doctors, Psychiatrists and Chaplains are, like everybody else in the services, Combatants under the Geneva Conventions. Their orders are to keep the soldiers physically and mentally and "morally" able to follow their orders, which are to Kill Other Human Beings. That's the whole purpose of a Military Organization. Although sometimes, if the Other Human Beings grovel enough to them (like Karzhai and al Maliki do) they'll be allowed to live, just as slaves. So when a "Mountain Post" Chaplain, Baptist Minister, got blown away in VietRaqiStan early last month, and the local news kept up the steady patter about how he volunteered for "duty" after the 9/11 Bush-ordered Mass Murder, to spread the word of Jesus. Only, Jesus never told anybody to Kill anybody. So Chaplains have to make shit up in order to justify what they're ordered to do, keep the Soldiers and Airmen and Marines and Sailors from feelings of guilt and remorse over Killing Other Human Beings. Preachers, religious leaders, and other propagandists for the Enemy-du-Jour are frequently targeted under legal codes naming them as accomplices. Under the Bush Doctrine, which Obama never repealed, anybody who "gives aid and comfort" even by failing to enthusiastically support Killing Other Human Beings could be determined by a Homeland Security or Military or even Mercenary Contractor Assassination Squad to be an Enemy Combatant. Without, of course, trial, charges, any kind of Rule of Law stuff. These are the same kinds of War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity for which first Nazis convicted at Nurnberg and many Iraqi officials were executed. But because the U.S. Chaplains are Americans and for the most part Christian (there are also Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, Native American Church, Wiccan etc Chaplains, so it's almost an equal opportunity to sell the souls of your congregation deal), well, you do the math. But, really, what exactly differentiates a Christian Chaplain from any other propagandist? In Christian, Judaic and Muslim laws one of God's Top Ten List is "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain". I don't know the details on Sikh or Hindu or Buddhist or whoever else, completely out of range of my experience. I'm pretty sure they've got laws against blasphemy and killing as well. Fact is, the Chaplain in question wasn't, under the definitions he was hired and commanded to propagate and reinforce, "murdered". But that's a technicality. He might have embraced it, in fact there's no way to be a Military (or Paramilitary, like the Police) Chaplain and say anything at all contrary to what you're ordered to say. Not ordered by God to say it, but by the Empire. That brings up another issue. The Chaplains are also commanded (and could conceivably get the death penalty under a charge of Mutiny) to tell their Congregants that GOD, Himself, tells them they must obey every order of the Emperor. The good Chaplain might have accepted these precepts, and sold them wholesale to his flock, (Pastor
I guess they couldn’t pass the physical…
Gratuitous plug for Endless War by the Country Music Awards just a couple of minutes ago. Something about "Wounded Warrior" being always in their hearts. Yeah, right. It's one thing for burnt out AlterKokkers like Ted Nugent and Merle Haggard getting up on stage and telling people that if they were only 50 years younger they'd go in the Army in a heartbeat and offering to have their bodyguards beat up anybody who questions their stupid shit. When 20-somethings, under-40 somethings who haven't pickled their feeble brains and could easily get in even if they have to take a waiver on the physical, moral or psychological parts, that's just STUPID and they should realize that no amount of chanting "9-11! 9-11!" or similar WEAK-ASS bullshit will make people think they really did wish they could go. John Wayne- "gee, I wish I could have gone over there and kicked Hitler's Ass or Tojo's Ass but couldn't pass the physical But the most highly decorated American of WW2, Audie Murphy, was too short not only for the draft but also for enlisting. Very famous case and all the John Wayne supporters who want to back up the lies of their big "brave hero" can look it up on their way to kissing my ass. ChickenHawks of a feather do flock together. A partial list: Mike Huckabee Mitt Romney, Lame-ass excuse for sending other people to murder for him "Exempt from the draft due to Mormon missionary service which conveniently ended as soon as age knocked away the 1-A draft rating". But not exempt from actually enlisting. There ARE Mormons who actually did enlist including chaplains. Wouldn't have chaplains without a need for chaplains, like, other Mormons forming a congregation, right? Every one of Mitt Romney's worthless sons. Their excuse: "we have more important stuff to do like making sure our Chickenshit ChickenHawk dad gets elected president" When the CS. CH. Daddy lost early in the primaries, of course his Big, Healthy, Brave Sons went straight to the Recruiters office... yeah, right, and enlisted right alongside John Wayne and Ronald Reagan. Ted Nugent, what a wiener err "winner", did a magazine interview later where he boasted that he had, prior to the physical examination, shit his pants then didn't change or bathe for a month in order to convince the doctors that he was crazy. For some reason, it worked. Now he threatens to beat up or machine gun anybody who dares to mention that he supports war, supports baby killing, just as long as he doesn't have to take the risks. George Bush, "Scooter" Libby, Karl Rove, Paul Wolfowicz, Richard Cheney, Liz Cheney, Jenna-and-Barbara Bush, Jeb Bush, Rush "I had a pimple in my ass" Limbaugh, Bill "I had a back problem" (a yellowish rash on his spine)O'Reilly, Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck, Todd Palin, and now, the Cast and Crew of the CMA awards. ChickenHawks on Parade. Look, if you're going to take a stand against joining the military, Take a God-Damned REAL Stand. Peter Coyote took a stand where he
Dial-a-BabyKiller service offered by Craigslist
Actually, it was a post offering Body Armor published against C.L. rules (weapons are supposedly prohibited, and according to the Pig Establishment, body armor is an offensive weapon if used by a non-Police criminal, as opposed to the Criminals who make up the Pig Establishment) said he had been a Contractor (Probably a jail guard at one of the Torture errr... "Detention" Centers) aka Mercenary Baby Killer in Iraq. Let's make this abundantly clear, the ones who provide the Support for the Baby-Killing machine are every bit as guilty as the Terroristic Thugs who kick down peoples doors and murder them in their own homes for refusing, at least allegedly, to bow down and worship the U.S. Occupation with much bootlicking and ass-kissing. And every bit as guilty of Torture as the Perverted Uniformed Sex-offenders who run the Torture errr... "Enhanced Interrogation and detention centers". Every Contractor is just as guilty as the Blackwater Goons and the Wackenhut Goons who get their sexual giggles from directing violence against people. The Blackwater and Wackenhut goons get SEXUALLY turned on by Killing Babies and, in my opinion, so does every Cop in the world. And this one, before his posting got flagged, left his Phone Number. This apparently happens a lot. The Arrogant Pig Sons-of-Whores leave a trail whereby Resistance Fighters can trace their Cowardly Bitch Asses. I was going to publish the Puke-ass PIGS phone number but he got flagged too quickly, by the time I thought of publishing, it was gone. Who knows, though, the Retarded Pig might have put it back up. The Right Wing Extremist "Keyboard warriors" will flag down any comment even in the Rants and Raves comment section which criticizes their Patron Racist Saints like Limbaugh or Beck or Palin, but leave up posts screaming that "Niggers, Fags, Mexicans, Ay-rabs, Liberals" etc.. should be rounded up and at least imprisoned. Nazi shit like that stays up, criticism of their Bitch-Masters gets flagged. But here's a little thought, goad some of the stupider ones to actually reply to your comments with a threatening e-mail filled with violent fantasies on their part, misspelled words, curses, Death Threats against you and your entire family... IDENTIFYING INFORMATION TO BUILD A DATABASE OF SOME OF THE WEAKER LINKS IN THEIR FASCIST RACIST ORGANIZATIONS like the Minutemen and TeaBags and other extremist terrorists Stupid bastards love the thought of being anonymous, because they can make themselves into Superhero-status Terrorists on the Level of Osama-been-deceased-for-8-years, rather than pathetic 30 year old chickenhawks who live (hide) in their moms' basements.
Two “american civilians” killed at firing range in Afghanistan
And two Afghans. The "american civilians" is a code routine which means "Blackwater or Equivalent Mercenary Thugs who might or might not actually even be americans". So much for those "civilians" carrying guns and wearing uniforms and training other murderers how to do it. Now, how about the 120 REAL civilians, Afghans, mostly CHILDREN, murdered at Granai by United States Uniformed Military who were then given a free pass on any prosecution for their crimes? Or the ONE U.S. Soldier who is currently in a Military Prison in Iraq for exposing not just the MURDERS, of which the Afghan people were fully aware, but the LIES told by the U.S. Military to justify those MURDERS? I realize this will probably draw the "really intelligent" comments such as "you're criticizing the actions of warriors even though you're not a warrior" which is MilitarySpeak for "Hey, the only people who are entitled to question the actions of Paid Killers are Other Paid Killers". It's exactly like saying "The only people who should be allowed to be on a jury in a murder trial are Mafia Hit-men". By the way, it's not "criticizing" it's pointing out the CRIMES committed in OUR NAMES using OUR MONEY while robbing the victims of THEIR crime for the benefit of a FEW RICH BITCHES who don't bother paying so much as the taxes on their blood money. What, if we refrained from mentioning any of this, it would all magically go away, and we'd all be able to wallow in a "feel good happy happy flag-waving patriotism" and salute the Empire as it falls, dragging our nation down with it? Ska-roo that noise, bubbas. I know that for every one that writes it out there's a hundred who are thinking it. Stupid bastards, the lot of them. Your wars and other crimes tear down America and just in a bizarre Co Inky Dink the rest of the world as well. It's not "patriotism" blind or otherwise to stand and cheer for the destruction of America and the rest of the world. Nor would it be "patriotism" to say nothing, to keep silent about such actions.
In other news, Penta-goner caught syphoning funds to his Blackwater Comrades.
Using Blackwater and other Private Contra Mercenary Babykillers to run a spy operation. I bet we're not going to get many details of it but I also bet it involves Torture Centers. The Merc perverts enjoy inflicting pain on bound and helpless prisoners as much as they enjoy killing kids.. And when the prisoners ARE kids they get double the pleasure. Oh, what Noble and Great persons are these Contractors! Let us all join in the praise heaped upon the self-titled "New Templars"!
Christian on Christian Crime Spree, ongoing…
The nationalities of those identified as the hijackers on 9/11... 15 Saudis, 2 UAE, one Lebanese and one Egyptian, all of them U.S. allies in the wars against Iraq and Afghanistan. U.S. and Allied Casualties on D-Day, D-Day, 2499 Verified American dead, 10,000 ALLIED soldiers. Fox (Ministry of Propaganda) puts total at 4000 and as high as 9000. Killed by the "Christian" cultures of Italy and Germany. That doesnt count the French Civilians killed by actions of both sides, nor the Christian Italians and Germans killed by the Christian British, French, Canadian, U.S., Polish, Dutch, Norwegian, Danish, Belgian, just to name the major players. None of the 9/11 hijackers were either Iraqi or Afghan. Saying that a coalition of Saudis attacking the U.S. justifies attacking two countries that Are Not Saudi Arabia would be like saying D-Day justifies an attack on Mexico. Or England. Yet the Right Wing BabyKillers still play the 9/11 card and expect us to eat it up and ask for seconds. Save room for dessert, because it's really sweet. The vast majority of wars in which Christianity as a State Religion was a factor, were wars against Other Christian Nations or Christian subjects of the Same Nation. That includes the infamous Crusades. Our Favorite Mercenaries, admired by Blackwater/Xe as being the epitome of Christian Warriors, Les Chevaliers Templars, Indicted by their Fellow Christians from the Catholic Church for murdering and kidnapping Other Crusaders and that notation was only made because they ran afoul of the French king and his Pet Pope. Richard Couer d'Leon, the "Black Knight" from Ivanhoe and Robin Hood legend, King by right of conquest of England (though he spoke no English) kidnapped twice and killed once by his Fellow Crusaders. And that's just the high-profile case. Seems the Christian Nobility were neither. Christian.. Noble... not a chance. After LOSING their very fat collective Arse to the Turks and Arabs they turned their focus more inward, and just started slaughtering (mostly) Christian subjects in their own kingdoms and those of the neighboring kings. By the logic implied by the 9/11 chanting Murderers, or at least inferred by me, the Christian Blood shed by Christian Warriors over the past 20 centuries means only one thing... That Christianity should enter into a Jihad to wipe ourselves out as an embarrassment to the name of God. Actually, we already do.
Do we have a soft spot for mercenaries
It's damning photograph. I sought it out after hearing the story of the two Norwegian mercenaries condemned to death in the Congo for the murder of their Congolese driver. Was their black companion killed in an attempt to rob the white adventurers, as they tell it? US news outlets asked Tjostolv Moland's mothers about the picture of her son, which showed him smiling as he wiped blood from the driver's seat of their pickup. The mother dismissed it as bad timing, she though her son was probably caught off guard, laughing at a joke unrelated to his morbid task. Boy can Americans relate. Other US newspapers speculated about a fabled Norwegian propensity to laugh at adversity. They also described Norwegian diplomats scrambling to save the two boys from the gallows. It's true that Norway doesn't have a death sentence, and therefore does not condone it elsewhere. Otherwise US and BBC portrayal of Norwegian concern for the two mercenaries seemed at odds with Norway's usual determined pacifism, so I was eager to hear from my relatives there. The scoop? Contrary to US and UK sentiments and their projection of Norwegian concerns, there is no domestic sympathy for the two wayward boys. None. The Norwegian public has become well aware that Moland and partner Joshua French have been traveling the Congo as mercenaries, and have been involved in other killings as well. The fact that Congolese courts are trying to extort a large fine from the Norwegian government, based on the accusation of the two travelers being agents of Norway, is due to documents which the two forged to pretend they had active duty contact with the Norwegian military. In Norway, military service is compulsory. Every Norwegian male has a record of military service. It helps that Norway rarely involves itself with acts of aggression, sanctioned by a fraternity of nations or not. And when soldiers of fortune like Moland and French set about rampaging in Africa, it behooves Norwegian authorities to ensure that their military is not implicated by association. How fitting that US and UK listeners should presume a reflexive maternal instinct to protect the two white boys, set upon by angry African opportunists. The boys might be mercenaries, but America and Britain have lots of those overseas. Hired guns, paid assassins, professional killers, why quibble with words? The laws of war grant little grace for mercenaries, but that's not what English-speaking supporters of imperial expansion want to believe. Mercenaries in the Neocon vernacular are called private contractors. They're just ordinary soldiers who've escaped the poor pay of military service, to the entrepreneurial ranks of war-making free enterprise.
Risks?
.....Risks Incorporated, US firm, ............ has been doing US government torture training for instructing police in Leon, Mexico. This US company is now embroiled in a scandal in Mexico because one of its how to torture training clips was exposed to public scrutiny. Next time you want to get tough on undocumented Mexican workers in the US, think a little bit about this US company and what it is doing in Mexico. It is a US firm training Mexican police on behalf of the American government on how to torture Mexican citizens. This government doesn't practice torture, its employees do! That would be both the US and Mexican governments which use torture on people...
What are our US backed troops in Somalia up to?
I know, I know, Tony, we don't have troops in Somalia so what the Hell are you thinking? Well, GI Joe, we may not have you there at this very minute, but the US government you serve does have paid mercenaries there doing the fighting. Hey, I'm not talking about Blackwater, though that company of mercenaries is already in Sudan doing .... what? 'Peacekeeping'? How noble. But I am writing about those other US mercenaries that are doing the fighting of a US war in Somalia, the Ethiopian troops. What are these US government backed troops up to? Army slit throats in mosque, says Amnesty Now let's see? The US government says it is not fighting a Neo-Crusade in Muslim lands, but has an Ethiopian army, made up of Ethiopian Christians, supported by America, the Christian Empire, cutting Muslims throats inside mosques! Certainly, America's war against Somalia must be winning the hearts and minds of Muslims world wide, don't you think? Dubya and Dick, Donald, and Condi, all so respectful of religious freedom and so careful to not make the Iraq War and all their other wars out to be religiously motivated by Christian zealotry and what not. They love 'good Muslims' and all. So what are our US backed troops in Somalia up to? They're out their cutting the throats of Muslims in their churches (mosques), that's what?
Iraq contractor deaths counted in digits
Revealed: two more US contractors were killed in Iraq. Their bodies discovered after they had been captured last year. The FBI has asked the families not to comment publicly. Plus, this latest report came with more gruesome detail than Americans are accustomed. Something about severed fingers. Family members blabbing would certainly mar the news blackout under which our contractor mercenaries are concealed. Americans are told nothing about private warrior activities or casualties. Only by researching the number of US life insurance claims filed, listing Iraq as the place of death, was the Boston Globe able to tally 1,123 deaths in the Iraq private sector. Though the condition of the two bodies are not being revealed, one of the bodies had been alive recently enough to provide a finger which his captors sent to expedite negotiations. Enclosed with it were fingers from three other captive contractors, whose bodies have not yet turned up. Perhaps the fingers were the proof our investigators asked for, that the captors held who they say they held, and that their captives were still alive. Separating combatants from their fingers has a long precedent in war, in particular the index and middle finger, aka trigger fingers. This ensured that if your captive was released, he would no longer be able to wield a rifle against you. Except for today's report, severed fingers in Iraq hadn't made the news. We don't know, for example, which finger, or if this had been the first for Crescent Security Group Guard Paul Johnson-Reuben. Only FBI agents would know if hostage fingers arrive on a monthly basis, as a reminder or status check on the lives being negotiated. Do ten digits mark a captive's expiration date? Isn't it interesting that the FBI is handling the case? Why not the CIA, nor INTERPOL, who handle international crimes, instead of our domestic investigators? To me this suggests something about the international jurisdiction of sovereign Iraq.
Why rent-a-cop if you can rent-a-killer?
The city clerk has been working on a proposal to the Colorado Springs City Council to authorize private security firms to carry semi-automatic weapons. The New Life Church shootings raise the issue, apparently, that security personnel should be better armed, although there were no private security firms present. The mayhem was averted by volunteer church members assigned to security, who made do with a handgun. Has there been a call for an escalation of firepower in property protection skirmishes? Are marauding bands of drug dealers challenging malls and warehouses with overpowering force? Are rent-a-cop and house alarm responders finding themselves out-gunned by burglars and mischievous teens? Private security firm owners claim the current limit of .38 or .45 caliber handguns is too restrictive for their new hires who are often coming from the military war zones and are used to patrolling with automatic weapons. Oh, and to what else are they accustomed? Shoot to kill orders? Shoot anything that moves "kill-zones?" After an I.E.D. ambush, shoot all living beings in the vicinity? Shoot women and children if suspicious? Shoot cars that do not heed shouted commands? Shoot through walls, into doors, around blind corners? What percentage of vets are coming back with PTSD? Aren't they unsuited to most jobs except to be lonely night patrolmen? In the wake of Hurricane Katrina we saw assault-rifle bearing Blackwater blackshirts unleashed on the traumatized population. The only thing keeping Blackwater and Aegis type goons out of our city would be weapons restrictions such as we have, as are common to all civilized population centers. Many British Bobbies still are not permitted to carry guns at all. That's the kind of change we need. Stand down, don't gear up.
Jamie Leigh Jones is still locked in a box
When they teach in math class about the square roots of numbers, you invariably encounter the paradox of negative numbers. Since neither two positive factors nor two negatives can produce a negative, you're told the square root of a negative is "irreducible" and you must leave the equation be. It turns out that this explanation was really a matter of convenience, because later in the year students revisit the square root of -1 and learn it can be called an imaginary number. Now you were expected to solve the equation, and zoom, math took off from there. I remember feeling betrayed that math had become an abstraction, so comfortable was I to be stuck at the simpler impasse. I use this analogy to contemplate some oversimplifications about law which are being used to temper moral indignation at the machinations of our government. We're told, for example, that we've subverted the rule of law in Iraq, that enemy combatants are not covered by the Geneva Conventions, that Guantanamo Cuba falls neither under Cuban law nor our dominion. We're told the International Criminal courts do not have jurisdiction over Americans and we're told our contractor-mercenaries are exempt from anyone's prosecution. Those legal impediments to justice are not only imaginary, to say it in legalese, they're balderdash. My math teacher had a educational reason to maintain that the square root of -1 was unsolvable. Whatever motive does anyone have to keep the American public in the dark about the suspension of human rights? NBC has just trumpeted the tragic case of Jamie Leigh Jones, but presumes simultaneously to reinforce the aforementioned balderdash. Two years ago Jones was gang raped by KBR coworkers in Iraq and kept in a shipping container until she was able to convince one of her keepers to lend her a cell phone. Her father then called a congressman who called the State Department who sent agents over to KBR's compound in the Green Zone to set her free. Since that time, the feds have dropped the case, the rape-kit evidence has gone missing, KBR claims it has been ordered to conduct no investigation, and Jones is left with no recourse but to file a civil suit. Now she is being told that an arbitration clause in her contract prevents her from doing even that. The truths being asserted, as indignant as they might make us feel, are that contractors in Iraq are outside the reach of any law. Specifically Iraqi law, as dictated by Viceroy Bremer's famous contractor indemnity clause, but by inference, US law, because Iraq is a "sovereign nation," and International Law, because otherwise our whole country could be held accountable for what it's perpetrated there. I've even read it asserted that two years marks the expiration of Jone's right to redress from her attackers. Wherever have you heard of so short a statute of limitation for rape? Another assumption attempts to bolster the impregnability of arbitration clauses which have become de rigueur in corporate employment contracts. Such clauses may forbid civil
“How awesome and powerful God is.”
Allah Akbar - God is Great. After the recent attempted rampage at New Life Church, officials no longer have to explain their church's unusual need to assign a dozen guards, half of them armed, and several policemen every Sunday to look over their members. They are quick to add "these are not mercenaries that we hire." Onward Christian soldier. Matthew Murray, disgruntled aspiring missionary and product of devout Christian home-schooling, returned to the Youth With a Mission training center with which he'd been affiliated in Denver and went postal. After killing two and wounding another two, he headed to their satellite office in Colorado Springs. Meanwhile, alerted that a killer was not yet apprehended, and apprised that they might be potential targets, the New Life Church management raised the alert and took extra security measures. One of which was to reassign Jeanne Assam, usually the personal bodyguard to their church leader, to a position with a higher vantage point over the congregation. An ex-policewoman, Ms. Assam is currently employed working security for Messenger International, a husband and wife writing team traveling the Fundamentalist Christian self-help circuit. Sure enough the black-clad avenger showed up and started shooting. Ms. Assam rose from her concealed position and fired repeatedly at the shooter as she closed in, leading reports to describe Murray as having been "gunned down." (In a bizarre turn, some news accounts are quoting police investigators as suggesting that the gunman may have died of self-inflicted wounds.) At a press conference Ms. Assam said she was thankful she'd saved the congregation and "honored" that God had selected her to do it. Asked what went through her mind as the young man fell to the ground, Ms. Assam's words reminded me of a soldier rationalizing his omnipotence: "how awesome and powerful God is." When Muslim insurgents successfully detonate an I.E.D. in Iraq they cheer "Allah Akbar."
United Nations pedophile ‘peacekeepers’
Everywhere in the US liberals want the United Nations to get involved and send in the 'UN peacekeepers', even though the UN Security Council is totally controlled by the American government. And let's face it, at times the UN troops act in some ways like the US troops do in Afghanistan and Iraq. And in some ways even worse! Like many of the 'peacekeepers' having sex with minors in areas under their control. This has happened over and over in Liberia, Congo, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Haiti, East Timor, Bosnia, Kosovo,and yes, Sudan, too. See UN Child Sex Slave Scandals Continue and the latest S Lanka troops 'abused Haitians' . Why are liberals so enchanted about having UN troops being sent into a country? The UN is a total mess and totally under the control of the US. Isn't it time to stop calling or desiring for the UN to do the US's mop up operations?
Silencers
Did Blackwater sneak silencers into Iraq? That's a good question, because silencers are used mainly by snipers. Is this the true face of bringing 'democracy' to Iraq? Is sniping using silencers done by a private Pentagon- contracted corporation of death squad personnel what Iraq is all about for the US government at this point? Yes, it is certainly so. What else can one expect from a government that loves 'water-boarding' its captives so? That and rendering. Dictionary meaning of 'to render' is 'to try out oil from fat, blubber, etc., by melting.' 'Rendering', a favorite phrase for US government death squad work. Yes, the US government, Pentagon, and Blackwater would be using silencers, too. America's face to the world.
Musharraf vetoes US negotiated deal with a bang
Oh my! Dubya so wants these 2 kids to get along but that all got blown away with a Big Bang yesterday. Generalissimo Musharraf just doesn't want to share power with a prettier face it seems. Benazir Bhutto's husband, Zardari, blurted out the truth about Washington's man in Karachi instead of playing along with The Blame It on Evil Terrorists game Musharraf wants to play. Send in Condi immediately, Jorge! And better shut up Zardari fast before he reveals more of the plot to the world. Poor Pervez...
Unlawful Combatant Private Contractors
Here's a rare photo of some private security contractors in Iraq. In the wild west they were called guns for hire. Incorporated they became Pinkertons and so continued a long tradition of reviled professional soldiers, Hessians, Swiss Guards, Gurkhas, usually associated with totalitarian regimes, not democracies. Our government and media won't use the term mercenaries, but they do perseverate on not having any official means to restrain their dogs of war. APPARENTLY Iraq law doesn't touch them, ALAS, neither does American military law. We benefit from their ruthless methods but bear no responsibility DEAR GOD when someone catches them/us at it. Bush and Co are eating their cake and having it in everybody's faces as well. No accountability for our private contractor mercenaries? What is our own definition of UNLAWFUL ENEMY COMBATANTS? Not that it's any excuse to lock irregular soldiers away without due process, or to deny anyone their human rights, but certainly asymmetric warriors fit the bill for illegal combatants. Can you believe that our diplomats and upper echelon will not go anywhere without these mercenary escorts? They're confined to the Green Zone until Blackwater is cleared of its latest shooting spree. What about US soldiers as escorts? Our generals and statesmen do not trust our own troops for their safety. These private hired killers are the US Praetorian Guard, and our leaders claim they fall under no one's authority? What this administration and the press and every talking head war monger pay careful attention to ignore is that international law has jurisdiction over all their crimes. When you hear some military expert pensively mulling over with great dismay the untread gray area of indemnified private contractor actions. It's silly subterfuge. International war conventions, Geneva Article 47 for example, have without ambiguity codified and condemned mercenaries and war criminals alike.
Unleash the dogs of war FOR HIRE
Blackwater, Aegis and the body of Khan
When Genghis Khan died, his body had to be returned from the battlefront to his birthplace in Outer Mongolia. Two factors determined how the Mongols decided to accomplish this. First, his successors hoped to keep word of the great Khan's death from spreading panic across his empire, lest recently conquered vassals fall to the temptation of insurrection. Second, the Mongols were concerned not to be observed choosing their leader's final resting place, to circumvent thieves trying to retrieve the treasures to be buried with him. Here's the plan they developed: don't let anyone see you. But Genghis Khan's escort could not disguise a cortege befitting the ruler of the then known world. Whoever came out of the woods or over the hill or out of the garden or along the trail to see the fantastic procession, was killed on the spot. It's thought that envoys were sent out to warn villagers away from their path. The Mongols also took care to pass through back roads where they would attract the least attention. They had no interest in a scorched earth policy on lands which belonged to them, whose prosperity paid their tribute and enhanced their Khan's wealth. IRAQ American modern-day mercenaries in Iraq, sent out on missions in barely-armored white SUVs, face a similar imperative to quash witnesses who could report what they saw to forces better prepared to lay in ambush. To this end, the mercenaries post a warning on their vehicles that anyone coming too close will be shot. Trophy videos have found their way to the internet showing the shooting sprees this task sometimes has entailed. Men from AEGIS or BLACKWATER shoot approaching cars, even if their Iraqi drivers have not gotten close enough to read the printed warning. It speaks to the volatility of Iraq, that our occupation forces, through the mercenaries they employ, find it better to annihilate bystanders sooner than administrate the lands and reap the rewards of protective stewardship.
Call out Alliant Techsystems & CACI too
Other military industries complicit in war crimes in Iraq have offices in Colorado Springs at Academy and Fountain Blvds. ATK Alliant Techsystems is the leading supplier of Depleted Uranium, which is poisoning the Iraqi populace as well as our soldiers. Ft Carson vets who father children with birth defects will know whom they can hold responsible. Likewise, CACI International provides "security solutions" to our boys overseas. Celebrated, ie leaked, examples were the torture methods employed at Abu Ghraib. To be fair, abuses at Abu Ghraib were also administered by Colorado Springs neighbor TITAN CORP, now L-3 Communications Titan Group. Isn't it amazing that so many culprits of Iraq atrocities are represented in Colorado Springs, at ACADEMY AND FOUNTAIN?! Our visit on Tuesday will be straight into the midst of these callous profiteers.
US is militarizing Canadian society too
Just like the US has drawn Great Britain into its orbit of militarizing world society so to is it doing with our neighbor to the North, Canada. (Hey, I always liked that 'neighbor to the North' phrase!) Here is an interview with prominent Canadian antiwar activist, Steven Staples that sheds some light on the situation UP THERE. It's a good interview, though I think he takes a much more positive view of how the Peace Movement there is actually doing than it in fact might deserve.
Darfur is not 2 sides fighting each other
The false version, put out by the 'Save Darfur' pro- do something folk, is that Darfur is a matter of 2 sides, a good side of Black victims and a bad side of Arab murderers. This couldn't be farther from the truth though, yet this 'Black and Arab' view is very useful for prompting US interventionism into the region. In truth, the conflict in the Darfur region of Sudan is just one regional conflict amongst many throughout Sudan and neighboring countries. It isn't even the deadliest of these wars. Both the conflicts in the Horn of Africa and those throughout Congo and the countries to the East of Congo hav been far more deadlier in loss of life. Even in Darfur itself, the conflict is far more complex than Western ears usually hear about. Darfur is much more than the land of the Fur people, since there are several other ethnic groups living in Darfur than the just the Fur themselves. The Fur themselves live in not just Sudan, but also in Chad and the Central African Republic. Those who want intervention from the US and Europeans, paint a picture of Arab horsemen from outside the region, raiding and raping into Dafur to genocidally wipe Blacks of the Fur off the face of the map to take over the region for themselves. Here is another picture of the conflict that is quite different. Darfur Conflict Takes Unexpected Turn In Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, and the Balkans, we have begun to see the dangers of plopping ourselves down inside multi-ethnic conflicts that our society poorly understands. It certainly is good for the munitions industry that supplies 'our troops' when we do get involved in these conflicts. They make a killing. Our own US population foots the bill for the killing fields 'our troops' involve themselves in creating.... the killing fields that benefit nobody outside those who have jobs or stock portfolios in the military-industrial complex. Incredibly, many liberal Democrats have positioned themselves in favor of some sort of interventionism into Sudan, while the Bush Administration has actually, in this case, tried some to avoid it, though they favor interventionism throughout other parts of Africa (like in Somalia). We should be quite aware, though, that all calls for humanitarian intervention easily and quickly morph into calls for 'humanitarian intervention' delivered by military forces. In fact, Blackwater is already in Sudan, supposedly carrying out relief operations in the southern portion of that country. We need to get them out of there.
US helicopter gunships threaten Pakistan mosque in siege
The embattled US military puppet regime of Musharraf is using US made helicopter gunships to threaten continued attack on an Islamabad mosque where young students are holed up inside. What an image for the entire Muslim world to see. This dictator Musharraf is setting himself for an exit in the same style as the Shah of Iran. This US backed attack on this major Pakistani mosque comes along with the mass US murders of Afghanistan civilians, the Pentagon's use of collective punishment across Iraq, attacks on Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon, the pardoning of the criminal, Scooter Libby, and in the days to come, the crumbling of Pakistan's dictatorship. What next for the Bush Administration? Probably a joint US-Israeli bombing of Iran in the days ahead. And which countries are truly into Jihad? It appears that it is the Christian and Jewish ones. Payback for the Iranian hostage crisis, too, and for Iran's government having successfully defended their country against the US backed Saddam Hussein. This is an unholy alliance that wants to run the affairs of the entire Muslim world, and most especially that portion of it stretching from Iraq to Iran to Pakistan. And what was the supposed main crime of this mosque not reported in the AFP article? It was leading a campaign against the abuse and torture of Musharraf's political prisoners. It was for their campaign against Musharraf's prostitution of Pakistan to the Bush Administration. For that, the mosque had to be taken out. But the net result, is that the US and its puppet are destabilizing the entire country of Pakistan, and YES, the entire region, too. The Muslim countries will eventually unite against the Bush led thugs when pushed too far. They don't like US government terrorism. And neither should the American population.