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"Jaafari is, however, unacceptable to the United States because of his close ties to Iran and his socialist tendencies (he recently expressed admiration for Noam Chomsky and wondered if Noam would come visit Baghdad)."
This is from Informed Comment, Juan Cole's site. Jaafari is supposed to be the prime minister, because the Shiites won the election, but guess what? Big Brother doesn't like him.
You have to scroll down to his article headlined this way: The Kurdistan Alliance and the Sunni fundamentalist Iraqi Accord Front.
Cole is talking about the fact that the Iraqi government is having a hard time finding members for its "unity" cabinet. Gee, I wonder why?????
SIRATYST (Stuff I Read and Thought You Should Too) -- “To ravage, to slaughter, to usurp under false titles, they call empire; and where they make a desert, they call it peace.” (Calgacus, as quoted by Tacitus, Agricola 30-31)"
Thursday, March 02, 2006
Murray Joins Feingold & Others Voting Against Patriot Act Renewal
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The Renewal of the Patriot Act was passed anyway.
"The erosion of freedom rarely comes as an all-out frontal assault," warned Byrd, the dean of the Senate. "Rather, it is a gradual, noxious creeping cloaked in secrecy and glossed over by reassurances of greater security."
Senator Byrd, quoted above, while being rather inconsistent in his liberality, has at times hit the nail on the head in his senatorial oratory.
"The erosion of freedom rarely comes as an all-out frontal assault," warned Byrd, the dean of the Senate. "Rather, it is a gradual, noxious creeping cloaked in secrecy and glossed over by reassurances of greater security."
Senator Byrd, quoted above, while being rather inconsistent in his liberality, has at times hit the nail on the head in his senatorial oratory.
Robert Fisk: Who Says There Is A Civil War in Iraq?
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Is it really the case that all of these Iraqis that fought together for eight years against the Iranians, Shiites and Sunnies together in the long massive murderous Somme-like war between the Iranians and Iraqis - suddenly all want to kill each other? Why because that's something wrong with Iraqis? I don't think so. They are intelligent, educated people. Something is going seriously wrong in Baghdad.
Very interesting (as usual with Fisk) article on the complex situation:
"I go into the Interior Ministry in Baghdad and I see lots and lots of armed men wearing black leather. Who is paying these guys? Well, we are, of course. The money isn't falling out of the sky. It's coming from the occupation powers and Iraqi's Government, which we effectively run because, as we know, they can't even create a constitution without the American and British ambassadors being present. We need to look at this story in a different light. That narrative that we're getting - that there are death squads and that the Iraqis are all going to kill each other, the idea that the whole society is going to commit mass suicide - is not possible, it's not logical. There is something else going on in Iraq. Don't ask me to... "
Found on Cursor.org
Very interesting (as usual with Fisk) article on the complex situation:
"I go into the Interior Ministry in Baghdad and I see lots and lots of armed men wearing black leather. Who is paying these guys? Well, we are, of course. The money isn't falling out of the sky. It's coming from the occupation powers and Iraqi's Government, which we effectively run because, as we know, they can't even create a constitution without the American and British ambassadors being present. We need to look at this story in a different light. That narrative that we're getting - that there are death squads and that the Iraqis are all going to kill each other, the idea that the whole society is going to commit mass suicide - is not possible, it's not logical. There is something else going on in Iraq. Don't ask me to... "
Found on Cursor.org
Opportunist Dems Use Bush's Crony Arab Ties Against Port Deal
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"A Jerusalem Post report disclosed Tuesday that Dubai WorldPorts enforces the Arab boycott against Israel -- a factseized upon by such leading Democrats as Kerry and HowardDean, Democratic National Committee chairman. Deanmentioned the report in remarks he gave Tuesday morningbefore the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, the Jewishcommunity's main public policy arm."
Look up opportunist in the dictionary and you'll see the Zionist Dems (Kerry, Dean, et al.). As if Bush (who called Ariel Sharon "a man of peace") is not Zionist enough for them.
Gawd we need a third party.
Saw this article on Ali Abuinumah.
Look up opportunist in the dictionary and you'll see the Zionist Dems (Kerry, Dean, et al.). As if Bush (who called Ariel Sharon "a man of peace") is not Zionist enough for them.
Gawd we need a third party.
Saw this article on Ali Abuinumah.
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
MDs & Ambulance Drivers Killed by IDF Attacks in Palestine
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Some 25 Doctors and medics have been killed, with scores injured, and 85 ambulances totally destroyed in more than 1,300 attacks on ambulances since September 2000. This week Dr. Anaan Al-Atira was wounded in the head in Balata Camp as she tended a dying child, and a young volunteer was seriously injured.
Part of the conditions that Rachel Corrie was trying to call attention to in Rafah, Palestine: "A piece of shrapnel was embedded in his [ambulance driver's] hand and a very large piece had sliced into his leg, severing the artery. When Feras al-Bakri tried to take him to hospital, in a life or death situation, the Israeli soldiers told him, 'good, let him die, you can go only after he is dead' and held the ambulance for more than 60 minutes at the camp exit, according to Feras."
From a Palestine Chronicle article cited by a reader on The Angry Arab blog.
Part of the conditions that Rachel Corrie was trying to call attention to in Rafah, Palestine: "A piece of shrapnel was embedded in his [ambulance driver's] hand and a very large piece had sliced into his leg, severing the artery. When Feras al-Bakri tried to take him to hospital, in a life or death situation, the Israeli soldiers told him, 'good, let him die, you can go only after he is dead' and held the ambulance for more than 60 minutes at the camp exit, according to Feras."
From a Palestine Chronicle article cited by a reader on The Angry Arab blog.
New York Theater Cancels Play About Rachel Corrie
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"It makes you wonder. If a young, middle-class,scrupulously fair-minded, and dead, American woman, whosesuperb writing about her job as a mental health worker,ex-boyfriends, troublesome parents, struggle to find outwho she wanted to be, and how she found that by travellingto Gaza and discovering the shocking conditions underwhich the Palestinians live - if a voice like this cannotbe heard on a New York stage, what hope is there foranyone else? The non-American, the non-white, thenon-dead, the oppressed?"
The Guardian newspaper publishes a column by one of the co-authors of a play about Rachel Corrie. It ran in London to rave reviews, but was cancelled by the theater group who was producing it in New York. The author asks if the people of the US will stand for this blatant censorship.
People often say the Israeli press is much more open about the Palestinian occupation than our newspapers here. This is just another example of the power of the Israeli lobby in the US and the cowardice of the media who depend on corporate donors in the face of the slightest pressure. Eli Stephens on Left I on the News blog also has a story about this. One of his readers suggested that he contact Tim Robbins to see if he would be interested in staging the play. Let's hope that happens.
The Guardian newspaper publishes a column by one of the co-authors of a play about Rachel Corrie. It ran in London to rave reviews, but was cancelled by the theater group who was producing it in New York. The author asks if the people of the US will stand for this blatant censorship.
People often say the Israeli press is much more open about the Palestinian occupation than our newspapers here. This is just another example of the power of the Israeli lobby in the US and the cowardice of the media who depend on corporate donors in the face of the slightest pressure. Eli Stephens on Left I on the News blog also has a story about this. One of his readers suggested that he contact Tim Robbins to see if he would be interested in staging the play. Let's hope that happens.
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Volatile Days...Riverbend, Baghdad Burning
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It does not feel like civil war because Sunnis and Shia have been showing solidarity these last few days in a big way. I don’t mean the clerics or the religious zealots or the politicians- but the average person. Our neighborhood is mixed and Sunnis and Shia alike have been outraged with the attacks on mosques and shrines. The telephones have been down, but we’ve agreed upon a very primitive communication arrangement. Should any house in the area come under siege, someone would fire in the air three times. If firing in the air isn’t an option, then someone inside the house would have to try to communicate trouble from the rooftop.
Got to wonder. What would I be feeling if this were going on around me? If I was helpless to keep your family safe? I'm sure the stress is shortening the lives of any in Iraq who survive this hell.
Got to wonder. What would I be feeling if this were going on around me? If I was helpless to keep your family safe? I'm sure the stress is shortening the lives of any in Iraq who survive this hell.
Monday, February 27, 2006
US Refusal to Back Real Middle East Democracy (from Antiwar.com)
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The third myth is an absurdity of more recent vintage: A government is only legitimate, and can only be dealt with, if it renounces violence and recognizes the right of all states to exist. In practice, this means that Palestine's new Hamas government must unilaterally disarm in the face of a demonstrably brutal enemy – backed by the unqualified support of the world's only superpower – and willingly turn its back on a duty (jihad) that it believes derives from God's word.
Michael Scheuer who gained fame as the famed "Anonymous" whose main job at the CIA was tracking Osama (before anyone else had heard of him) sounds a bit naive if he thinks that the US was actually intruding into the Middle East to spread democracy. However, he does make that case that if it was, US treatment of Hamas after they won the election in Palestine was a definite blunder.
Michael Scheuer who gained fame as the famed "Anonymous" whose main job at the CIA was tracking Osama (before anyone else had heard of him) sounds a bit naive if he thinks that the US was actually intruding into the Middle East to spread democracy. However, he does make that case that if it was, US treatment of Hamas after they won the election in Palestine was a definite blunder.
The Fantasy of State Protection (from Antiwar.com)
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"Even the most cursory examination of history shows that no correlation can be made between a country's security and its military spending. Since there is no relationship between military budgets and external threats, there can be no causality between the two. Thus, governments do not have militaries in order to protect their citizens from external enemies. Militaries must exist for some other reason."
I've got to say this I agree with this guy, Stefan Molyneux, about his thesis. Capitalist states do not exist to take care of their people. What started him thinking about this idea is his ex-military friend's admission that the Canadian military was being trained to turn back a revolution if the economy went bad there. We in America would not be too shocked if that happened here after all the revelations we've had about domestic spying, etc.
Now, as for socialist states, Mr. Molyneux called the social programs enacted in Britain after WWII "massive socialism." I don't think that was true. All of the resources of Britain were not being shared among the people there.
It is refreshing to see an open discussion of the fact that the state has guns and they will use them--ON US!
I've got to say this I agree with this guy, Stefan Molyneux, about his thesis. Capitalist states do not exist to take care of their people. What started him thinking about this idea is his ex-military friend's admission that the Canadian military was being trained to turn back a revolution if the economy went bad there. We in America would not be too shocked if that happened here after all the revelations we've had about domestic spying, etc.
Now, as for socialist states, Mr. Molyneux called the social programs enacted in Britain after WWII "massive socialism." I don't think that was true. All of the resources of Britain were not being shared among the people there.
It is refreshing to see an open discussion of the fact that the state has guns and they will use them--ON US!
Sunday, February 26, 2006
Iraq's Death Squads: On the Brink of Civil war
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"Mr Pace, a Maltese-Australian who has now retired from his UN post to his home in Sydney, says the constant violence and utter lack of security in Iraq are creating a vicious circle in which ordinary citizens are turning to extremist sectarian groups for protection. Fear of anybody in official uniform inevitably strengthens the militias and the insurgents. In Sunni areas people will look to their own defences, and not to the regular army and police."
Patrick Cockburn and Andrew Buncombe in the Independent cite information from outgoing UN human rights chief on the violence in Iraq that is making life, let alone democracy, extremely difficult. A thousand bodies each month turn up in the Baghdad morgue with evidence of torture, like drill bit holes, and/or execution by bullet. The majority of victims are Sunni. Found on Angry Arab.
Patrick Cockburn and Andrew Buncombe in the Independent cite information from outgoing UN human rights chief on the violence in Iraq that is making life, let alone democracy, extremely difficult. A thousand bodies each month turn up in the Baghdad morgue with evidence of torture, like drill bit holes, and/or execution by bullet. The majority of victims are Sunni. Found on Angry Arab.
Useless Democrats--More on Opposition to the Port Deal
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Dave Lindorff on Counterpunch points out the bipartisan double-dealing that has "turn[ed] the US dollar into a joke currency" and created a society "[i]n which one in ten families has to seek food assistance every year?"
"The port of Long Beach, California was long ago turned over to a state company owned by the Communist government of China--a country it might be recalled, whose military leaders not long ago threatened to attack the U.S. with nuclear weapons if America were to interfere with China's efforts to capture the island nation of Taiwan. Nobody's fussing about that. "
"The port of Long Beach, California was long ago turned over to a state company owned by the Communist government of China--a country it might be recalled, whose military leaders not long ago threatened to attack the U.S. with nuclear weapons if America were to interfere with China's efforts to capture the island nation of Taiwan. Nobody's fussing about that. "
Hamas Victory Putting Lie to US "Democracy" Claims
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Ramzy Baroud of Palestine Chronicle points out the intriguing ramifications of the Hamas victory in the Palestinian elections. This article was linked in a discussion on The Angry Arab blog about how the Nation Magazine has maintained a pretty much Zionist perspective on the Israeli/Palestine situation, e.g., using Israeli or Jewish pundits to comment on the Palestinian elections, etc.
But the Bush administration debacle, in my opinion, transcends the geographic boundaries of the Israel-Palestinian conflict to the much more, far-reaching political and strategic setting in the entire Middle East, to its quandary with 'political Islam' and the disgruntled, 'rascal multitudes' - to borrow a Chomsky term -- of the Arab and Muslim world; so fractious and so eager to take charge of its own destiny - perhaps through the ballot box.
But the Bush administration debacle, in my opinion, transcends the geographic boundaries of the Israel-Palestinian conflict to the much more, far-reaching political and strategic setting in the entire Middle East, to its quandary with 'political Islam' and the disgruntled, 'rascal multitudes' - to borrow a Chomsky term -- of the Arab and Muslim world; so fractious and so eager to take charge of its own destiny - perhaps through the ballot box.
Saturday, February 25, 2006
Horrifying Video of Cal. Cops Shooting Soldier
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REALLY BAD PLACE TO BE:
BRING THEM ALL HOME NOW
EXCEPT THAT THEN THIS IS WHAT MIGHT HAPPEN TO THEM:
(video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8907384305326268846&q=cop+shooting).
Keep in mind that neither Elio Carrion (the victim) nor the driver of the car he was in was
armed. This video clip and the picture above were in the article linked below, written by Iraq Vet Jeff Englehart, an antiwar activist, for Socialist Worker and picked up by Uruknet.
They will walk down the streets of their hometown, only to engage in more combat against an unruly police force, one example being Iraq veteran Elio Carrion who was horrifically shot by a trigger-happy pig while on leave in his hometown in California
REALLY BAD PLACE TO BE:
BRING THEM ALL HOME NOW
EXCEPT THAT THEN THIS IS WHAT MIGHT HAPPEN TO THEM:
(video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8907384305326268846&q=cop+shooting).
Keep in mind that neither Elio Carrion (the victim) nor the driver of the car he was in was
armed. This video clip and the picture above were in the article linked below, written by Iraq Vet Jeff Englehart, an antiwar activist, for Socialist Worker and picked up by Uruknet.
They will walk down the streets of their hometown, only to engage in more combat against an unruly police force, one example being Iraq veteran Elio Carrion who was horrifically shot by a trigger-happy pig while on leave in his hometown in California
Racist Response to Profit Prompted Port Deal
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"Also critics of the deal, fail to support their opposition with facts. Their opposition is glaringly politically motivated, with an eye toward November elections." Al Jazeera article
Locally, as the linked article explains, Jim McDermott jumped on the zenophobic, flagwaving election-year bandwagon, addressing longshore workers who rallied to show their disapproval of foreign port ownership.
A Canadian commenter on the article has interesting information on Bush connections to Dubai Ports World, which points out the corporate global reasons why Bush won't back down on this and what the Dems should be talking about instead of "port security." In America, any security comes second to corporate profits.
dp world [Dubai Ports World], by the way, is only a year old, the result of a bush-fostered merger that made it the world's sixth largest port operator. sound farfetched? not at all. david sanborn, whom bush named of u.s. maritime administration less than a month ago, runs dp world's european and latin american operations. and in january of last year, dp world acquired an international terminal business known as csx, a company chaired by john snow, who resigned just in time to become bush's secretary of the treasury and a federal panel that helped seal the merger. ha s. tu .pid americans
I haven't confirmed his/her assertions, but there are many interesting commenters from around the world who view this dust-up as American racism. And at least one Republican (who could be politically motivated against the Dems knee-jerk flag waiving) agrees:
Sen. Pete Domenici R-N.M., said much of the criticism against the deal has an anti-Arab bias.
"We are at war against terrorists, not any religion or ethnicity. Some politicians seem to have forgotten that. ... Such alarm, verging almost on hysteria, harms our efforts to have the broadest coalition possible against worldwide terrorism," The Associated Press quoted Domenici as saying.
Locally, as the linked article explains, Jim McDermott jumped on the zenophobic, flagwaving election-year bandwagon, addressing longshore workers who rallied to show their disapproval of foreign port ownership.
A Canadian commenter on the article has interesting information on Bush connections to Dubai Ports World, which points out the corporate global reasons why Bush won't back down on this and what the Dems should be talking about instead of "port security." In America, any security comes second to corporate profits.
dp world [Dubai Ports World], by the way, is only a year old, the result of a bush-fostered merger that made it the world's sixth largest port operator. sound farfetched? not at all. david sanborn, whom bush named of u.s. maritime administration less than a month ago, runs dp world's european and latin american operations. and in january of last year, dp world acquired an international terminal business known as csx, a company chaired by john snow, who resigned just in time to become bush's secretary of the treasury and a federal panel that helped seal the merger. ha s. tu .pid americans
I haven't confirmed his/her assertions, but there are many interesting commenters from around the world who view this dust-up as American racism. And at least one Republican (who could be politically motivated against the Dems knee-jerk flag waiving) agrees:
Sen. Pete Domenici R-N.M., said much of the criticism against the deal has an anti-Arab bias.
"We are at war against terrorists, not any religion or ethnicity. Some politicians seem to have forgotten that. ... Such alarm, verging almost on hysteria, harms our efforts to have the broadest coalition possible against worldwide terrorism," The Associated Press quoted Domenici as saying.
Friday, February 24, 2006
Sunnis Hitting Back (violence following shrine explosion)
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"Personally, I think jihadis hit the Askariya shrine. I think they did everything they could to make it look like it was a Shi’a inside job so the Shi’as would rampage (as they did) and give any Sunnis who might have been considering cooperating with the new government second thoughts. Furthermore, this will slam shut any division between Ba’athists, Iraqi Islamists and jihadis that the Americans had been working on for so long. Under the threat of a Shi’a onslaught, the Sunni insurgency will put aside its differences."
Christopher Albritton, ex-AP reporter in Baghdad, theorizes on whodunnit.
Christopher Albritton, ex-AP reporter in Baghdad, theorizes on whodunnit.
Gates Locked: At Least 51 Dead in Bangladesh Factory Fire
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"Witnesses said the fire broke out after a loud noise on Thursday evening. They said the main gate of the factory was locked by the factory's caretaker, trapping many workers, most of them women, inside."
Horrifying article shows that this is a pretty common occurrence in Bangladesh. "Bangladesh is home to some 4,000 textile factories which have been plagued by accidents due to poor safety standards."
We are all throw-away people to the titans of industry.
Horrifying article shows that this is a pretty common occurrence in Bangladesh. "Bangladesh is home to some 4,000 textile factories which have been plagued by accidents due to poor safety standards."
We are all throw-away people to the titans of industry.
Juan Cole's (Informed Comment) UN Fetish
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"Your description of Iraq's best scenario is particularly shocking in this respect : 'That's with the UN presiding over a good decade of bloodshed before it stabilizes.' My best scenario is that the US get a firm condemnation for the Iraq invasion by the Hague. That along with the UK she is condemned to pay due compensations to the Iraqis and to forward big reconstruction money."
Juan Cole, a college professor and liberal expert on the Middle East, continues to push the idea that the UN should take over from the US in Iraq. According to the reader quoted above, he has done so again in this interview in Detroit's Metro Times paper: http://www.metrotimes.com/editorial/story.asp?id=8917
Each time he proffers this solution to the Iraq occupation, he is contradicted by the bulk of his commenters, but he keeps it up. As the reader points out, he is pretty cavalier with the lives of Iraqis, considering they did nothing to deserve the wrath of the West, as it has descended on them.
Juan Cole, a college professor and liberal expert on the Middle East, continues to push the idea that the UN should take over from the US in Iraq. According to the reader quoted above, he has done so again in this interview in Detroit's Metro Times paper: http://www.metrotimes.com/editorial/story.asp?id=8917
Each time he proffers this solution to the Iraq occupation, he is contradicted by the bulk of his commenters, but he keeps it up. As the reader points out, he is pretty cavalier with the lives of Iraqis, considering they did nothing to deserve the wrath of the West, as it has descended on them.
Riverbend in Baghdad: Civil War Unthinkable to Many
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"[s]o much talk of civil war and yet, with the people I know- Sunnis and Shia alike- I can hardly believe it is a possibility. Educated, sophisticated Iraqis are horrified with the idea of turning against each other, and even not-so-educated Iraqis seem very aware that this is a small part of a bigger, more ominous plan…
Riverbend is a woman who has been blogging from Baghdad almost since the beginning of the invasion at Baghdad Burning. She often relates what it is like for ordinary Iraqis to live through this hell.
Riverbend is a woman who has been blogging from Baghdad almost since the beginning of the invasion at Baghdad Burning. She often relates what it is like for ordinary Iraqis to live through this hell.
Thursday, February 23, 2006
Christian Fundies Swelling US Israeli Lobby
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From The Angry Arab blog comes this news: U.S. Christians create umbrella organization to lobby for Israel
"Some 400 Christian community leaders met in San Antonio, Texas, two weeks ago to establish the group, which Christians United officials said represents about 30 million Americans."
"Some 400 Christian community leaders met in San Antonio, Texas, two weeks ago to establish the group, which Christians United officials said represents about 30 million Americans."
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