OCCUPIED COLORADO SPRINGS- While antiwar traditionalists remain stymied about Syria, let's recognize that the US-EU intervention has already begun. Stop the escalating covert destruction of Syria. Bring our Special Forces boys home now.
Tag: Middle East
In the struggle for Middle East land, Palestinian violence will always win
Israel can build all the new settlements it wants, take heart, it only takes one horrific Tate-Labianca-like crime scene to curb the Zionist homecoming charade. Israel can terrorize Gaza to smithereens, the Palestinians have nowhere to flee. American Jews on the other hand, are not going to leave comfortable digs, to relocate to Jerusalem where their 11-month-old might be slashed to death in her crib. Such dastardly strategy comes at a price of course, against a military willing to defy international law and exact collective punishment for the deed of one zealot, but Israel knows that even its US billions in weapons cannot compete with one Palestinian knife that finds its mark. Odd, isn't it? On the battlefield, Goliath can slay an entire West Bank of Davids, but when the contest is holding ground, you can take it, but if you can't convince your people to settle it, the land will revert to its rightful inhabitants. I'll leave you to decide if the murder of an Israeli settler family is off-limits. They're moved unto properties appropriated from Palestinians, illegal settlement of occupied land, they're ferried by armored SUVs in military convoys, their rooftops, front gates, walls and streets are guarded by soldiers, their neighborhoods buffered by "sterile zones" purged of all inhabitants, the persistence of their habitation is used to advertise for more settlers and demoralize the non-Jewish native population in waiting of cleansing. Are settlers "innocent civilians," irrespective old or young age? Who is to blame for putting settler children into homes whose previous inhabitants have been put out on the street, who can only assail their walls with stones? Remember too, it's the Israeli settlers, more than the IDF soldiers, who routinely raid Palestinian homes, orchards and farms, killing their neighbors with impunity. Where does any settler get to pretend they should be considered an innocent civilian? Arab Palestine is confronted with a slow death by attrition. Israel has never disguised its plan to ethnically purge the entire of what it calls Judea and Sumaria. What does it matter then, if resistance violence begets occupier retaliation, if this brazen home-invasion-family-murder provokes an avenging of deaths ten fold? The Russian Partisans paid fifty to one. The Gaza massacre was 300 to one. The Gilad Shalit prisoner ratio is tens of thousands to one, still well shy of US military disproportional force. Peace activists want to curb armed resistance in favor of nonviolence, calculating that peace will come when Palestinian martyrdom awakens the Israeli conscience, or whichever comes first, Palestinian blood runs dry. This suits Israel of course, its Apartheid State needs the Palestinians gone, for Jews cannot forever pretend they have a Democray while subjugating an inferior untouchable class. So long as one Palestinian remains who fights back, Israel will never conquer Palestine. Israel can plan all the settlement construction sites it wants, the more beautiful the better, in the end the people of Palestine can claim them in partial compensation.
Robert Fisk and the language of power, danger words: Competing Narratives
Celebrated reporter -and verb- Robert Fisk had harsh words, "danger words" he called them, for host Al-Jazeera where he gave an address about the language of power which has infected newsman and reader alike. Beware your unambiguous acceptance of empty terms into which state propagandists let you infer nuance: power players, activism, non-state actors, key players, geostrategic players, narratives, external players, meaningful solutions, --meaning what? I'll not divulge why these stung Al-J, but I'd like to detail the full list, and commit not to condone their false usage at NMT, without ridicule, "quotes" or disclaimer. Fisk listed several expressions which he attributes to government craftsmen. Unfortunately journalists have been parroting these terms without questioning their dubious meaning. Fisk began with a favorite, the endless, disingenuous, "peace process." What is that - victor-defined purgatory? Why would "peace" be a "process" Fisk asks. How appropriate that some of the West's strongest critics are linguists. Fisk lauded the current seagoing rescue of Gaza, the convoy determined to break the Israeli blockade. He compared it to the Berlin Airlift, when governments saw fit to help besieged peoples, even former enemies. This time however, the people have to act where their governments do not. I read recently that the Gaza Freedom Flotilla might be preparing accommodations for Noam Chomsky to join the passage. Won't that be an escalation? I imagine if Robert Fisk would climb aboard too, it would spell doom for any chance the relief supplies would reach the Gazans. A ship convoy with Chomsky and Fisk on board would present an opportunity that an Israeli torpedo could not resist. Here is his list. If you can't peruse the lecture, at least ponder these words with as much skepticism as you can. The parenthesis denote my shorthand. peace process (detente under duress, while enduring repression) "Peace of the Brave" (accept your subjugation, coined for Algeria, then France lost) "Hearts and Minds" (Vietnam era psych-ops, then US lost) spike (to avoid saying: increase) surge (reinforcements, you send them in you're losing) key players (only puppets and their masters need apply) back on track (the objective has been on rails?) peace envoy (in mob-speak: the cleaner) road map (winner's bill of lading for the spoils) experts (vetted opinions) indirect talks (concurrent soliloquies, duets performed solo in proximity to common fiddler calling tune) competing narratives (parallel universes in one? naturally the perpetrator is going to tell a different tale, disputing that of victim's; ungoing result is no justice and no injustice) examples: occupied vs. disputed; wall vs. security barrier; colonization vs settlements, outposts or Jewish neighborhoods. foreign fighters (them, but always us) Af-Pak (ignores third party India and thus dispute to Kashmir) appeasers (sissies who don't have bully's back) Weapons of Mass Destruction (not Iraq, now not Iran) think tanks (ministry of propaganda privatized) challenges (avoids they are problems) intervention (asserted authority by military force) change agents (by undisclosed means?) Until asked otherwise, I'll append Fisk's talk here: Robert Fisk, The Independent newspaper's
On whose border will Israel attack Iran
With all of Israel's gesticulation about Iran, you might think the axis of evil bordered on Israel. Especially given reports that Israel plans to launch ground assaults on Iran after December. Oddly it does not. At minimum, Israeli forces would have to cross Jordan or Syria, then Iraq or Turkey, to reach Iran. French newspaper Le Canard Enchainé reports that the IDF has ordered combat rations and is assembling elite commando units. On whose sovereign land will Israel mobilize?
Wikipedia and those romantic Zionists
In researching the evolution of Zionist terrorism, from clandestine militias like Bar-Giora, to Hashomer, Haganah, Etzel, and the pro-Nazi Stern Gang, I came upon this opening paragraph in Wikipedia. Describing Bar-Giora, it began: "On September 28, 1907, a group of activists from Poalei Zion gathered in Yitzhak Ben-Zvi's tiny Jaffa apartment. There was no furniture, the men sat on the floor in a circle and used a crate for a desk." Some helpful Wiki elf was obviously feeling sentimental. Here's the full paragraph, one third of the only more nostalgic full article: On September 28, 1907, a group of activists from Poalei Zion gathered in Yitzhak Ben-Zvi's tiny Jaffa apartment. There was no furniture, the men sat on the floor in a circle and used a crate for a desk. Inspired by Israel Shochat's ideas, they agreed that the only way to fulfill the dream of becoming a Jewish nation was to rise up and assert themselves through cultivating and defending their land themselves. The state of things in the early years of the 20th Century in Palestine, was such that Jewish farmers employed Arabs to work their farms and protect them, and in turn were subject to landlords, such as Edmond de Rothschild's agents. There was much discontent and disillusionment. Thus I was sparked to delve into the oft-derided accusation that Wikipedia is biased toward Israel. Compare the paragraph above, to the introductions of Wiki articles about militant Muslim or Arab groups. Start with Wiki's official terrorist list and judge for yourself. CAMERA Electronic Intifada documented an interesting story last year, when they interrupted the Zionist site CAMERA from organizing commando edit raids on Wikipedia to ensure Israel was always shown in a favorable light. In its report, EI leaked the email thread which, by the way, serves as a great instruction manual for aspiring Wiki editors. We'll reprint the conversation below. The episode is documented in several articles. Beginning with EI exclusive: a pro-Israel group's plan to rewrite history on Wikipedia, The Electronic Intifada, 21 April 2008. (Reprinted in Global Research 4/24.) Alex Beam, of The Boston Globe, broke the story in print on May 6, 2008, in War of the virtual Wiki-worlds. Next came Israel Shamir, Wiki, the Chaos Controlled, who asserted that CAMERA's interrupted zeal masked Wikipedia's already Zionist admins. Shamir's continuing battle with Wikipedia can be followed in wiki/Talk). IRGUN, ET AL About the clandestine pre-Israel paramilitary organizations, which eventually became the Israel Defense Force? Their history is very interesting. The Zionist policy of using "retaliation" to justify strikes, started right from the beginning. When the Jewish settlers, many of whom were immigrating into Palestine illegally, felt that British authorities were not giving them preferred treatment in disputes with local Arabs, they organized private armies to quell Arab unrest over their expanding landholdings. During WWI, these fighters, formed as Hashomer, worked behind the lines with an intelligence branch named Nili, to help the British drive out the Turks. When the Paris Treaty of 1919 did not yield a Zionist state as promised,
Israel needs a time out
ISN'T IT TIME to divest ourselves of Israel, boycott their businesses, and cancel their US military subsidy? At some point we enablers have to leave the racist supremacists to make friends with their would-be neighbors in the Middle East, or they should pack up their carpet bags and come home. How many more Palestinians and Lebanese have to die before we can confirm that the Zionist theology of these white colonial overseers is rabid? Israel-Palestine can be a democracy like anywhere else. There's no reason an unpopular, non-Muslim theocracy need be imposed on the Middle East, especially by force and by theft of the land. The Zionist occupiers are Europeans and Americans. Let them stay as expats if they choose, but we could certainly expect them to respect the ways of their hosts. No?
Israeli fury seals a Single State Solution
Israel's relentless and unrepentant program to exterminate the Palestinians of Gaza, will yield but a single outcome. And it would certainly please the Palestinians, if they live to see it. First, if Palestine is deprived of viability as an independent state, Israel is left with only a single state solution. Second, with Israel convinced that its security from rocket fire depends on every last Arab neighbor being interned or interred, there is no other choice but cloistered Apartheid. Will the international community long tolerate a feudal theocracy constantly inflaming the resentment of its indigenous laborers? I was being facetious to suggest that Palestinians will not live to see Israel vanquished. Much as Israel might try, the Palestinians won't be killed off like North America's original natives. Neither Gaza nor the West Bank will succumb to genocide, alcoholism or uranium poisoning, nor vanish like an eclipsed civilization. They can be driven off, and dispersed among the neighbors, but the Palestinian diaspora will hang interminable with a much fresher claim to the lands of their fathers than ever had the Zionists. But on the ground, the captive Palestinians will never reconstitute even a client state, so long as Israel pens them in like Soweto. Lands allotted to Palestinians will be work camps, and prison camps, with every un-free man's right to rebel against the yoke of occupation. Israel will dodge rockets until the last slave is shackled. And I guess the world will sit by and let them do that. However blatant they want to be about it. Knowing that after Lebanon and Gaza, Israel has disciplinary actions aimed at Syria and Iran, what are the prospects for cohabitation in the Middle East? Does Israel expect that its "right to exist" grants it a swath of no-man's zone, extended beyond the borders of all its neighbors? Israel's wrathful attack on Gaza, as retaliation for Hamas' motley rockets, the disproportionality of the air strikes, and the IDF's disregard for innocent civilian casualties, betrays Israel's racist ambivalence about the fate of non-Jews. Without a humanitarian regard for others, how can Israel expect to be asked to the adult's table? So Israel has sealed its own fate. Obliterate the Palestinians or drive them off, ostracize the neighbors until you are all alone. Israel will be a solitary state, inhabited by the white elite, separated by a state religion forbidden to their darker working castes. The untouchables will live behind apartheid walls until delivered by an Arab Mandela. Then international pressure, hopefully too a domestic conscience, will bring Democracy, and then, as current opponents of a single-state-solution fear, a popular vote will eradicate the oppression of religious rule. Say goodbye to Israel, the Jewish State. It will "be wiped off the map" of the Middle East, and left for Jews and Palestinians to inhabit with equality. So long as particular Palestinians do not survive who have claims to properties appropriated by the Zionists, or so long as some compensation is offered to buy off the Palestinian's right
A look at Life under Jewish Apartheid
In his book Israeli Palestinians: the Unwanted Who Stayed, Jonathan Cook paints a picture which reminds me in some ways of the Deep South in the late Fifties and early Sixties which I vaguely experienced as a young kid. But it differs in major factors, too. Maybe a better comparison would be that the Israeli Palestinians are in the same situation as the Cherokee Nation when the White Settlers started invading their lands. The Cherokee then became citizens of the US, but were considered not of the US. They were separate and unequal in the eyes of the majority, and now we know what the Final Solution was for them. If the world allows this ethnic cleansing in the Middle East by the Jews to continue, the Israeli Palestinians may ultimately share much the same fate as the Cherokees eventually did. Pushed off their land and out of their possessions, as in fact has already occurred for millions of Palestinians. The Arab countries' dictatorships propped up by US power certainly have not helped affairs much at all. They are too busy looting their own countrymen and too allied with the US government for the rest of the Arab people to be able to help the Palestinians much out. And the other Native American tribes in the past were unable (and possibly at times unwilling?) to help the Cherokee out either. Visit the Jonathan Cook website He has a bird's eye view of what Israel is actually like, and it is not a pretty picture he paints.
The AIPAC friendship society at work
AIPAC is an organization of friendship, and its work is legendary. A recent film allows us to see just how this melding of minds works in actual practice. See the film over at the BBC and ask yourself, is Zionism really racism? Don't these nice Jewish people have the right to protect themselves from stone throwing kids, 'suicide bombers', and the like? Don't they have a right to the land? AIPAC is certainly a nice group of people, right? Certainly Barack Obama thinks so. See the text of Obama's AIPAC Speech Isn't AIPAC working on behalf of a beleaguered and peaceful people? They just need a little more US assistance per Obama to bludgeon the Muslims into the ground? Vote Obama if that is what you want. Vote for Obama if you want more war in the Middle East. Bush has lost his credibility, but the Man for 'Change' will bring the American people back on board for more of the same. He's Black, you know? Remember Colin Powell?
Not in My Name
Hello, I participated in the most incredibly diverse rally in front of the United Nations at Dag Hammarskjold Plaza. Here are my remarks: Cynthia McKinney Remarks Al Nakba Rally, "Not in My Name" United Nations, New York May 16, 2008 On my birthday last year, I declared my independence from a national leadership that, through its votes in support of the war machine, is now complicit in war crimes, torture, crimes against humanity, and crimes against the peace. I declared my independence from every bomb dropped, every veteran maimed, and every child killed. I noted that the Democratic leadership in Congress had failed to restore this country to Constitutional rule by repealing the Patriot Acts, the Secret Evidence Act, and the Military Commissions Act. That it had aided and abetted illegal spying against the American people. And that it took impeachment off the table. In addition, the Democratic Congressional leadership failed to promote the economic integrity of this country by not repealing the Bush tax cuts. They failed to institute a livable wage, Medicare-for-all health care, and gave even more money to the Pentagon as it misuses our hard-earned dollars. We can add to that list, too, an abject failure to stand up for human rights and dignity. If the Democratic and Republican leadership won't respect the right of return for Hurricanes Katrina and Rita survivors, how can we expect them to champion the right of return for Palestinians? If this country's leadership tolerates the wanton murder of unarmed black and Latino men by law enforcement officials—extra-judicial killings—how can we expect them to stop or even speak out against targeted assassinations in the Middle East? If the Democratic and Republican leadership accept ethnic cleansing in this country by way of gentrification and predatory lending, why should we expect them to put an end to it in Palestine? If the leadership of this country impedes self-determination for native peoples in this country, why should we expect them to support indigenous rights for anyone abroad? And sadly, the sensationalist corporate media would rather trick us into thinking that reporting on a pastor, a former Vice Presidential nominee, and a former cable TV magnate constitutes this country's much-needed discussion of its own apartheid past and present, so why should we expect an honest discussion of apartheid and Zionism? I hope by now it is clear. Our values will never be reflected in public policy as long as our political parties and our country remain hijacked. Hijacked by false patriots who usurp the applause of the people and all the while betray our values. I've decided that neither the Democrats nor the Republicans will operate any longer as business as usual—not in my name. That Democrats and Republicans will use my tax dollars and betray my values, not one day longer—not in my name. That neither the Democrats nor the Republicans have earned my most precious political asset—my vote. And that now is the time to do some things I've never done before in order to have some things I've never had before. And so here today, I declare my independence from weapons transfers: including Apache Helicopters; F'16s; sidewinder, hellfire, and Stinger missiles. I declare my independence from occupation, demolished homes, political prisoners, and babies dying at checkpoints. I declare my independence from UN vetoes, expropriated land, stolen resources, and the
Liberal scholars make palatable same lie
Do you remember this ignoble sequence of events in the lead-up to the US invasion of Iraq? America demanded Iraq cease their nuclear research projects, they did. We insisted they fess up about all their weapons programs, so they released a tower of documents, 75% of which we redacted before passing it on to the UN. We subjected Iraq to weapons inspectors, and called for Saddam to produce and dismantle his long range missiles. When the embargo-depleted, oft-bombarded nation complied, the way was clear for our troops to move in. If a cowboy did that in a western, which color hat would he be wearing? Throw down your gun so I can shoot you. Middle East scholar Steven Zunes recounted this episode in his presentation at CC on Thursday. Iraq's early subjugation would certainly be influencing Iran's current nuclear strategy. North Korea presented the alternate scenario. Their nuclear program moved forward undeterred, they tested long distance rockets, and they didn't get invaded. Iran is governed by a repressive regime, but even Iran's dissidents advocate rushing their nation's nuclear efforts forward. Stephen Zunes spoke about the ongoing war and The Mess Bush Leaves Behind, reminding the students of his originally dire predictions before the war started. He made the same point in his CC appearance the year before. In 2003 Zune had predicted failure in Iraq. Much as he would like to have been proven wrong, he says, we have failure. Still unchanged was the narrative that the US adventure in Iraq has been an unmitigated fiasco. The outcome is tragic, the irreversible destruction and loss of life, lamentable. But otherwise Zunes' liberal theme is pernicious falsehood. Bush's history-making sure does look like a mess, but Neocon pocketbooks can only be described as messy in being flush with cash. When will analysts reframe the fiasco for what it still is, a continual mugging of the American taxpayer. Oil profits are up, the weapons industry has windfalls to rival cyclones, and private militia forces are outgrowing the democratic mechanisms to hold multinationals in check. Having a preeminent scholar characterize the GWOT developments as mistakes is to mislead Americans with criminal negligence.
The PLO has now been turned into a tool of Israel and the US
The PLO is now running operations for Israel and the Bush gang against Palestinians, as they sweep gangs of armed thugs into Palestinian towns like Jenin. What a sad demise to the PLO, who under Arafat turned towards corruption and capitulation in a massive way. Under Abbas, this process is now complete, and little remains of the PLO other than goon squads under foreign control. See Abbas sends forces to north WBank in security push When Jimmy Carter met with Hamas representatives, he as carrot carrier of the US, was well aware of this relative new reality, one which the American public hasn't quite caught up to understanding. Hamas, with all its defects and blemishes, at least is not corrupted in the manner that the PLO became when it began to get bought off by the US. Hamas has taken over the leadership of the Palestinian community, while the leadership of the PLO went totally astray, looking principally for personal gain for the 'leaders'. The US and Israel want a PLO group that is willing to collaborate with the oppression of the Palestinians, in much the same way that many Jews once tried to collaborate with the Nazis, to curry favor for their own personal selves and families. Iraq and Afghanistan also have clumps of traitors, who collaborate witht the foreign occupiers, too. The PLO is now dead and should be buried. It was defeated by Israeli and American firepower.
Who can bash Iran the hardest?
The Pennsylvania Primary was illustrative about the poor character (Yes, the Republicans always said it was about character) of the 2 Democratic Party contenders. (Hey what happened to the other ever so determined DP wannabes? Where did they go?) At any rate, what the nation was left with was watching Hillary out-bashing Iran over Obama. Obama bashed Iran, too, though. Don't ever think that he didn't. So what is the lesson here for the dopey liberal Democratic Party voters? Did they learn anything at all here? Nah.... They never learn a damn thing. Even mice in a maze have more wits about them than Democratic Party voters do. It's an insult even to the donkey to be connected with these people. The lesson for the world is, that all the Democrats respond to the pressures of the American corporate ruling class, and not to the dumb voters. And the lesson was that both corporate parties still want more war in the Middle East.
MARCH 27-30 Sixth Cairo Conference
This year for the first time the Hands Off Venezuela campaign will be taking part in the Cairo Conference (International Campaign against US and Zionist Occupation, 6th Cairo Conference, 4th Cairo Forum, Press Syndicate, March 27-30, 2008). HOV will be holding a seminar on The Bolivarian revolution in Venezuela and the struggle for socialism. On March 25, YOUNG LEFT in Sweden passed a motion in support for the HANDS OFF VENEZUELA campaign. Hands off Venezuela A revolution against the horrors of neo-liberalism is spreading through Latin-America. The centre for this development is Venezuela. What is happening there is totally different compared to the politics of cuts in the welfare state that politicians, economist and "experts" have said for decades is necessary. In this poor country a redistribution of wealth and power is taking place. Good housing is provided for ordinary people, poor people are getting access to free healthcare and land is handed out to farmers cooperatives. A discussion about how to construct a socialist society is taking place. The people have begun to build new structures that they control, that can replace the old state. The power of capital is threatened through nationalisation and workers control. A privileged layer - the owners of the big companies and the highly paid civil servants in the state - are violently against the changes. In 2002, with the support of the USA, there was an attempted military coup which was followed by a lockout. This is a part of a campaign against the revolution that includes slander in the media, violence and economic sabotage. The development in Venezuela is connected to the future of the international labour movement. The revolution in Venezuela spreads hope - it shows that another world is possible. It is necessary for the defence of the revolution to get solidarity from the international labour movement. With this appeal we want: * To show our solidarity with the revolution in Venezuela * Say no to USA and other international forces attacking the people of Venezuela * Give our support to the Venezuelan trade union federation UNT * Support the call for a solidarity conference to discuss how to develop the solidarity movement with Venezuela
Tel Aviv University Poll shows that 81% of Jewish population backs Jewish terrorism against Arabs fighting for freedom
Yes, the Jewish population of Israel is highly supportive of using terrorism against Arab leaders. In fact, 81% is the exact number found by a poll taken by the prestigious Tel Aviv University, and these 81% actually supported increasing the use of terrorism by Jewish military forces, not doing away with it or even just maintaining it at current levels! Why does the Israeli Jewish community (as well as the US one) think that it is quite alright to do as they do? Simply because the US government is not only supporting Jewish terrorism itself, but is implementing and increasing their own use of terrorism and IDF style tortures throughout the Muslim World, too. The two groups feed off each other's advocacy and use of criminality. Poll: 81 percent of Israelis back increasing IDF targeted killings at Haaretz.com Oh, and while there at Haaretz.com, be sure to click on the trailer of the Let's Go To War and Pulverize Iran Before they Drive Jews Into The Sea film featured so promiently there. It's pure 'entertainment', but will be taken as being news and important information by jingoistic meatheads around the US and Israel!
Washington’s new nasty little attack dog- the French poodle Sarkozy
Tony Blair, Washington DC's British poodle has now been replaced with a French poodle, it seems. That little rabid asshole is the new leader of French imperialism, Sarkozy. Sounds like a STD, doesn't it? Below is the funniest headline (in a sick sort of way) I have seen in a long time... What a scum bag is this DC puppet, Sarkozy! Sarkozy: I've reached the end of the road with Assad French president says he's outraged by Damascus' intervention in Lebanese political process, expects 'actions, not talk' from President Assad report by Roee Nahmias Doesn't it take the cake for a French leader to talk about intervention in the Lebanese political process? France was the colonizer that enslaved this region and has caused so much heartache ever since from its constant and eternal meddling in the affairs of other nations and its exploitation of them. And here is this twit doing it again and making his war mongering threats? The world should pull France off the Security Council of the United Nations and reprimand this country for its belligerence and interference in the affairs of other nations. Our country is not the only one with sickies in power. To think that this thug Sarkozy is actually in charge of WOMD? Good Grief!
US is not sniping indiscriminantly 1-2-3
The good news is that US sniper teams may not be shooting at everyone they come across anymore, as has been alleged though seldom reported. After all, the rules of war apply to snipers just as they would ordinary soldiers or paintballers: don't shoot at someone who's not a combatant, who's unarmed, or who's otherwise surrendering. But under pressure to up their kills, US snipers are defying the Hague Conventions with such innovations as 1) bait/entrapment, 2) getting go-ahead to assassinate, and 3) using fingerprint identification to confirm eligibility for execution. 1. Bait and switch The Asymmetric Warfare Group issues to US snipers "drop items," insurgent-type items which may be planted on Iraqis they've shot, but much more productively, to use as bait to lure passing Iraqis, tempting empty-handed civilians to become item-wielding insurgents whom you don't have to get permission to shoot. The Washington Post reports: "Baiting is putting an object out there that we know they will use, with the intention of destroying the enemy," Capt. Matthew P. Didier, the leader of an elite sniper scout platoon attached to the 1st Battalion of the 501st Infantry Regiment, said in a sworn statement. "Basically, we would put an item out there and watch it. If someone found the item, picked it up and attempted to leave with the item, we would engage the individual as I saw this as a sign they would use the item against U.S. Forces." 2. Under suspicion is as good as being condemned US snipers are executing targets if they can be confirmed as being suspects. With the cross hairs of your sniper scope aimed at your chosen Iraqi or Afghan, you can await authorization to pull the trigger based on learning the person's identity, whether by informer or a shouted inquiry. Then according to the US rules of engagement you can terminate him. Here's an example from the International Herald Tribune. "From his position about 100 yards away, Master Sergeant Troy Anderson had a clear shot of the Afghan man standing outside a residential compound in a small village near the Pakistan border last October. And when Captain Dave Staffel, the Special Forces officer in charge, gave the order to shoot, Anderson fired a single bullet into the man's head, killing him instantly. ...the shooting, near the village of Hasan Kheyl last October, was a textbook example of a classified mission completed in accordance with the American rules of engagement. The men said such rules allowed them to kill Buntangyar, whom the American military had designated a terrorist cell leader, once they positively identified him." 3. Coming soon: fingerprint and biometric matching In early 2008 US snipers will be given a more efficient system for making split decisions about whether their target may be summarily liquidated. Now with the subject in your sights, you can await instructions from an intelligence database about whether your target has a fingerprint, retina scan, or biometric profile in the records as a suspected insurgent. In which case, be he standing idle, detained or captive, you
Iraqi Oil for Beginners
Iraqi Oil for Beginners is artist-in-exile Jon Sack's account of a century of Iraq history dominated by the fight over its oil. The 31-page comic can be ordered through the publisher Voices in the Wilderness UK or from Housmans. Sack means his graphic novel to enlighten western readers about the real US and UK motives behind the occupation of Iraq, hopefully before Iraqi legislators are finally coerced into privatizing the oil industry and putting it all in US hands.
After Tony Blair?
The whole English speaking world breathed a sigh of relief when Tony Blair finally was replaced by Gordon Brown. Gone was a toady for the US neocon Bush regime and in was....? Well, a British Hillary Clinton perhaps? At least it was thought, that Brown would move to get British troops out of Iraq and the corporate media has tried to give the impression that this was the actual case. But is it so really? What seems to be happening is that British troops are merely being redeployed as support platoons for the Pentagon. See AFP report Troops enter Taliban-held town as British PM visits 10/12/2007 They are being pulled out of Southern Iraq step by step, but then are being sent into Afghanistan! There seems to be a division of labor developing, where the US does Iraq, and the British do Afghanistan. Hey! And who gets Pakistan then? Musharaf still gets last use from Bush maybe? And Jewish Israel certainly is doing their part by continuing to eagerly subjugate the Palestinians for the US and their ownselves. It's an ethnic cleansing on a mass scale led by D.C. and the Pentagon. What we have are new lines being drawn in the US made regional war for regime changes in the Middle East-Iran-Pakistan-Afghanistan chain of Muslim countries. Gordon Brown is not retreating from Tony Blair's melding of the British as junior partners for the US neocon imperialist game plan. Instead, he is continuing that relationship in full. In short, after Tony Blair we get more of the same, not any real change. And that will be what we get with a Democratic Party President, too. More imperialistic colonialism so that the US-Brit governments continue to control their supply of oil. Lots of corporations are depending on them to do just that.
Ofra Haza- Jerusalem
Jerusalem, Jerusalem Jerusalem, Jerusalem He was born the King Solomon He was a wise and had a thousand wives He was a righteous and feeling judge He was the king and the father of the people Jerusalem, Jerusalem Jerusalem, Jerusalem Two young women came with a child Claiming I'm the mother of this child He said: Bring me a sword, Divide the baby in two Oh, in two! Jerusalem, Jerusalem Jerusalem, Jerusalem The real mother cried: Don't! The other one said: Divide! Everybody knew who was really true Jerusalem, Jerusalem Jerusalem, Jerusalem How can the people divide a little child ? How can the people divide such a little heart ? Jerusalem, Jerusalem Jerusalem, Jerusalem Ofra Haza, one of the world's greatest musicians ever... Unfortunately, she had a tragic relationship that ended in her death. Wikipedia has more info about this great Middle Eastern singer.
Where are Salam Pax and Raed Jarrar?
The BBC has an update on Iraqi bloggers. Riverbend is back, she's now a refugee in Syria. Nabil is in Jordan. "Zappy" is in the UK. 24stepstoliberty now writes from California. Livesstrong and Najma are in Mosul. Last-of-Iraqis writes from Baghdad and shares the dashed-syntax with neurotic-iraqi-wife from the Green Zone. September last year, Raed Jarrar, namesake of Where is Raed? was not permitted to board a JetBlue plane at JFK because he wore a t-shirt which read "We will not be silenced." Salam al-Janabi, aka Salam Pax the Baghdad Blogger last posted to Fat Whiner on July 2006, and made a CNN video in April.
Storming Palestine for the West 1917
On October 31, the occasion of its 90th anniversary, Aussie descendants of the original Anzac forces reenacted the 1917 storming of Beersheba, a key battle in the WWI struggle against the Turks in Palestine. Of all the historic campaigns in recent or near-recent memory, why Beersheba? And why not Beersheba 1948? The newly created state of Israel overrode Beersheba in 1948, extending the borders apportioned to it by the UN. Beersheba appeared to be a strategic step toward the eventual absorption of Jerusalem and so Israel took it. As historic reenactments go, why would the storming of Beersheba by the British be of particular interest to Israel? Why not any of the Turkish victories, or those of Egypt?
The Naval Academy at Annapolis
It turns out that the Air Force Academy here in Colorado Springs was not chosen to bring 'PEACE' to the Middle East, nor was the Army Academy at West Point. The site for The Cheney Empire to force more of a mess on the Middle East is to be the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. Welcome, Palestinians! It's a festive occasion this week! What a fitting resort for Dick and his invites! Let's call it the Sail and Quail Special, shall we? Enough to give one a heart attack even. But really? Is it not somewhat comical that the same US mad bombers planning to destroy Iran next week are today now talking compromise and peace to the non-representatives of the Palestinian people? I bet they even manage to pull out a reference to Gandhi for the media somehow? OK, let's wait and see what type of show they have put together for us commoner American dip shits? A political Cirque du Soleil perhaps? Maybe some Bristol brew might help wash this stuff down some while watching any goofy gazoos on TV news this week? And pretzels...
Flag colors of the Middle East
What colors do you suppose the US and Israel have in mind for a destabilized Darfur/Sudan?
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.