Is al-Zarqawi a false flag operative?
If Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the terrorist leader credited with the beheading deaths of Nick Berg and Kim Sun-Il, did not exist it would be necessary for the United States to invent him. That may well be what the CIA has done. What? Really? Is that credible?
Would an intelligence and espionage service really murder its own people, or neutrals, or citizens of an allied country? Would it cynically kill harmless civilians with terrorist-style bombings? Would it snuff out the lives of innocents to make a political point or create a climate of fear?
Monday, July 05, 2004
Friday, July 02, 2004
REVERSE SPEECH
Berg video: clues to its origin or mere paranoid delusion?
Reversed speech recordings -- in which unconscious statements are believed to be found in recordings that are played backwards -- are being shared privately, via e-mail and CDs sent by post. Apparently there is a growing sense of outrage among 'RS' practitioners who monitor national events, and the murder of Nick Berg as an American propaganda stunt may have been the proverbial last straw.
Because the amazingly amateurish intelligence team in Baghdad decided to 'go Hollywood' they inadvertently provided target-rich material for RS analysis.
The Berg video contains five minutes of recorded speech that provides a treasure-trove of information about what actually happened. Of course, the perpetrators will never be required to pay for their crime. That is the nature of the world we now live in. There is no reason, though, that you shouldn't at least know the truth.
The initial discovery that Berg's killers are Americans was made by an RS researcher who reversed the final moments of audio looking for evidence that what was shown on screen was in fact happening. The stunning discovery that the hooded man reading the prepared statement was unconsciously broadcasting his thoughts and feelings in a continuous stream of "American" English, prompted others to download the video as well, and go to work.
Reversed speech recordings -- in which unconscious statements are believed to be found in recordings that are played backwards -- are being shared privately, via e-mail and CDs sent by post. Apparently there is a growing sense of outrage among 'RS' practitioners who monitor national events, and the murder of Nick Berg as an American propaganda stunt may have been the proverbial last straw.
Because the amazingly amateurish intelligence team in Baghdad decided to 'go Hollywood' they inadvertently provided target-rich material for RS analysis.
The Berg video contains five minutes of recorded speech that provides a treasure-trove of information about what actually happened. Of course, the perpetrators will never be required to pay for their crime. That is the nature of the world we now live in. There is no reason, though, that you shouldn't at least know the truth.
The initial discovery that Berg's killers are Americans was made by an RS researcher who reversed the final moments of audio looking for evidence that what was shown on screen was in fact happening. The stunning discovery that the hooded man reading the prepared statement was unconsciously broadcasting his thoughts and feelings in a continuous stream of "American" English, prompted others to download the video as well, and go to work.
Thursday, July 01, 2004
OUR COSMOS
Black hole as heavy as all the matter in our Milky Way galaxy
A team of astronomers have found a colossal black hole 12.7 billion light-years away which is so ancient, they're not sure how it had enough time to grow to its current size, about 10 billion times the mass of the Sun.
Sitting at the heart of a distant galaxy, the black hole -- known as a blazar -- appears to be about 12.7 billion years old, which means it formed just one billion years after the universe began and is one of the oldest supermassive black holes ever known.
The black hole, researchers said, is big enough to hold 1000 of our own Solar Systems and weighs about as much as all the stars in the Milky Way.
The supermassive black hole, dubbed Q0906+6930, is a blazar. This refers to a type of quasar, a bright galaxy with an active supermassive black hole at its core. Like quasars, blazars have particle jets, only the jets -- by chance alignment -- are pointed directly in Earth's direction. Blazars are strong gamma ray emitters.
A team of astronomers have found a colossal black hole 12.7 billion light-years away which is so ancient, they're not sure how it had enough time to grow to its current size, about 10 billion times the mass of the Sun.
Sitting at the heart of a distant galaxy, the black hole -- known as a blazar -- appears to be about 12.7 billion years old, which means it formed just one billion years after the universe began and is one of the oldest supermassive black holes ever known.
The black hole, researchers said, is big enough to hold 1000 of our own Solar Systems and weighs about as much as all the stars in the Milky Way.
The supermassive black hole, dubbed Q0906+6930, is a blazar. This refers to a type of quasar, a bright galaxy with an active supermassive black hole at its core. Like quasars, blazars have particle jets, only the jets -- by chance alignment -- are pointed directly in Earth's direction. Blazars are strong gamma ray emitters.
EARTH CHANGES
Aral catastrophe recorded in DNA
Fresh fears have been raised about the health of populations living near the shrinking Aral Sea in central Asia.
A new study has now found high levels of DNA damage that could explain the region's abnormally high cancer rates.
This comes as the latest estimates say the Aral Sea is receding so rapidly it could vanish within the next 15 years.
Once the world's fourth largest inland body of water, the sea has been drained by a poorly managed irrigation system that supplies water to cotton crops.
Rice yields dip as planet warms
There is a strong link between increasing night temperatures and decreasing rice yields
Global warming could have a severe effect on rice production, say scientists working in the Philippines.
The researchers studied 12 years of rice yields and 25 years of temperature data, to work out how they are linked.
Yields dropped by 10% for each degree of warming, an alarming trend since rice is the staple diet for most of the world's expanding population, they say.
Fresh fears have been raised about the health of populations living near the shrinking Aral Sea in central Asia.
A new study has now found high levels of DNA damage that could explain the region's abnormally high cancer rates.
This comes as the latest estimates say the Aral Sea is receding so rapidly it could vanish within the next 15 years.
Once the world's fourth largest inland body of water, the sea has been drained by a poorly managed irrigation system that supplies water to cotton crops.
Rice yields dip as planet warms
There is a strong link between increasing night temperatures and decreasing rice yields
Global warming could have a severe effect on rice production, say scientists working in the Philippines.
The researchers studied 12 years of rice yields and 25 years of temperature data, to work out how they are linked.
Yields dropped by 10% for each degree of warming, an alarming trend since rice is the staple diet for most of the world's expanding population, they say.
MILITARY INTELLIGENCE
Mark 77: New, improved and more lethal son of napalm
The Pentagon no longer officially uses the brand-name 'Napalm', but a similar sticky, inflammable substance known as 'fuel-gel mixture', contained in weapons called Mark-77 fire bombs, was dropped on Iraqi troops near the Iraq-Kuwait border at the start of the war.
'I can confirm that Mark-77 fire bombs were used in that general area,' Colonel Mike Daily of the US Marine Corps said.
Colonel Daily said that US stocks of Vietnam-era napalm had been phased out, but that the fuel-gel mixture in the Mark-77s had 'similar destructive characteristics.'
On March 22nd, correspondent Lindsay Murdoch, who was travelling with the US Marines, had reported that napalm was used in an attack on Iraqi troops at Safwan Hill, near the Kuwait border. Murdoch's account was based on statements by two US Marine Corps officers on the ground.
Lieutenant-Commander Jeff A. Davis, USN, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Defense (Public Affairs) had called Murdoch's story "patently false".
"The US took napalm out of service in the 1970s. We completed the destruction of our last batch of napalm on April 4, 2001, and no longer maintain any stocks of napalm," Commander Davis said. He was apparently referring to Vietnam-era Napalm-B, which consisted of inflammable fuel thickened with polystyrene and benzene.
The inflammable fuel in Mark-77 fire bombs is thickened with slightly different chemicals, and is believed to contain oxidizers, which make it harder to extinguish than Napalm-B.
Neither weapon technically contains napalm. The chemical mixture that became known as 'napalm' - a combination of naphthalene and palmitate - was used only in the earliest versions of the weapon. Napalm was banned by United Nations convention in 1980, but the US never signed the agreement. Use of Mark-77 fire bombs is considered legal by the US military.
The Pentagon no longer officially uses the brand-name 'Napalm', but a similar sticky, inflammable substance known as 'fuel-gel mixture', contained in weapons called Mark-77 fire bombs, was dropped on Iraqi troops near the Iraq-Kuwait border at the start of the war.
'I can confirm that Mark-77 fire bombs were used in that general area,' Colonel Mike Daily of the US Marine Corps said.
Colonel Daily said that US stocks of Vietnam-era napalm had been phased out, but that the fuel-gel mixture in the Mark-77s had 'similar destructive characteristics.'
On March 22nd, correspondent Lindsay Murdoch, who was travelling with the US Marines, had reported that napalm was used in an attack on Iraqi troops at Safwan Hill, near the Kuwait border. Murdoch's account was based on statements by two US Marine Corps officers on the ground.
Lieutenant-Commander Jeff A. Davis, USN, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Defense (Public Affairs) had called Murdoch's story "patently false".
"The US took napalm out of service in the 1970s. We completed the destruction of our last batch of napalm on April 4, 2001, and no longer maintain any stocks of napalm," Commander Davis said. He was apparently referring to Vietnam-era Napalm-B, which consisted of inflammable fuel thickened with polystyrene and benzene.
The inflammable fuel in Mark-77 fire bombs is thickened with slightly different chemicals, and is believed to contain oxidizers, which make it harder to extinguish than Napalm-B.
Neither weapon technically contains napalm. The chemical mixture that became known as 'napalm' - a combination of naphthalene and palmitate - was used only in the earliest versions of the weapon. Napalm was banned by United Nations convention in 1980, but the US never signed the agreement. Use of Mark-77 fire bombs is considered legal by the US military.
VOICE OF REASON
Attack Iran, US chief ordered British
America's military commander in Iraq ordered British troops to prepare a full-scale ground offensive against Iranian forces that had crossed the border and grabbed disputed territory, a senior officer has disclosed.
An attack would almost certainly have provoked open conflict with Iran. But the British chose instead to resolve the matter through diplomatic channels.
America's military commander in Iraq ordered British troops to prepare a full-scale ground offensive against Iranian forces that had crossed the border and grabbed disputed territory, a senior officer has disclosed.
An attack would almost certainly have provoked open conflict with Iran. But the British chose instead to resolve the matter through diplomatic channels.
Wednesday, June 30, 2004
PROPAGANDA CENTRAL
Democracy is in grave danger of poor journalism
The [Bush] Administration works closely with a network of rapid response digital Brown Shirts who work to pressure reporters and their editors for undermining support for our troops. ... Bush and Cheney are spreading purposeful confusion while punishing reporters who stand in the way. It is understandably difficult for reporters and journalistic institutions to resist this pressure, which, in the case of individual journalists, threatens their livelihoods, and in the case of the broadcasters can lead to other forms of economic retribution. But resist they must, because without a press able to report "without fear or favor" our democracy will disappear. -- Al Gore, American Constitution Society.
The [Bush] Administration works closely with a network of rapid response digital Brown Shirts who work to pressure reporters and their editors for undermining support for our troops. ... Bush and Cheney are spreading purposeful confusion while punishing reporters who stand in the way. It is understandably difficult for reporters and journalistic institutions to resist this pressure, which, in the case of individual journalists, threatens their livelihoods, and in the case of the broadcasters can lead to other forms of economic retribution. But resist they must, because without a press able to report "without fear or favor" our democracy will disappear. -- Al Gore, American Constitution Society.
NEWSPEAK
Iraq is sovereign ... except it can't make decisions on its own [I believe the expression should have been 'Let freedom RING'.]
White House national security adviser Condoleezza Rice Monday informed President Bush in a handwritten note of the transfer of authority in Baghdad, prompting Bush to scribble back: 'Let freedom reign'.
The note exchange took place during a meeting of NATO leaders in Istanbul. Ms Rice handed the note to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who passed it along to Bush.
Iraq Gov't must abide by US-made laws
The US led-coalition, facing a Wednesday deadline to hand back power, has put in place major legal revisions that would force Iraqis to get drivers' licenses, obey traffic laws, ban certain people from holding office and place American contractors above the law.
Mahmoud Othman, a Kurdish politician and member of the disbanded US-picked Governing Council, said he thinks the Americans began pushing the flurry of laws once it became clear the occupation would be cut short. Washington's earlier plans, he said, called for a longer occupation that would have allowed Iraq's constitution to be written under US watch.
But critics say the Coalition Provisional Authority's flurry of laws amounts to meddling in Iraq's basic institutions, something that international law places out of bounds for an occupying power.
Especially irksome for Iraqi leaders is the fact that the occupier's edicts remain in force after the occupation ends -- including laws that curtail the powers of the incoming government.
Prisoner 27075 learns limits of sovereignty
Iyad Akmush Kanum, 23, learnt the limits of sovereignty when US prosecutors refused to uphold an Iraqi judges' order acquitting him of attempted murder of coalition troops.
US prosecutors said that he was being returned to the controversial Abu Ghraib prison because under the Geneva Conventions they were not bound by Iraqi law.
Faisal Estrabadi, an Iraqi lawyer, said yesterday after the refusal to release Mr Kanum: "If the Iraqi courts have acquitted an individual he must be released. Anything else is a violation of sovereignty".
White House national security adviser Condoleezza Rice Monday informed President Bush in a handwritten note of the transfer of authority in Baghdad, prompting Bush to scribble back: 'Let freedom reign'.
'Mr. President, Iraq is sovereign. Letter was passed from (U.S. administrator Paul) Bremer at 10:26 a.m. Iraq time -- Condi,'
The note exchange took place during a meeting of NATO leaders in Istanbul. Ms Rice handed the note to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who passed it along to Bush.
Iraq Gov't must abide by US-made laws
The US led-coalition, facing a Wednesday deadline to hand back power, has put in place major legal revisions that would force Iraqis to get drivers' licenses, obey traffic laws, ban certain people from holding office and place American contractors above the law.
Mahmoud Othman, a Kurdish politician and member of the disbanded US-picked Governing Council, said he thinks the Americans began pushing the flurry of laws once it became clear the occupation would be cut short. Washington's earlier plans, he said, called for a longer occupation that would have allowed Iraq's constitution to be written under US watch.
But critics say the Coalition Provisional Authority's flurry of laws amounts to meddling in Iraq's basic institutions, something that international law places out of bounds for an occupying power.
Especially irksome for Iraqi leaders is the fact that the occupier's edicts remain in force after the occupation ends -- including laws that curtail the powers of the incoming government.
Prisoner 27075 learns limits of sovereignty
Iyad Akmush Kanum, 23, learnt the limits of sovereignty when US prosecutors refused to uphold an Iraqi judges' order acquitting him of attempted murder of coalition troops.
US prosecutors said that he was being returned to the controversial Abu Ghraib prison because under the Geneva Conventions they were not bound by Iraqi law.
Faisal Estrabadi, an Iraqi lawyer, said yesterday after the refusal to release Mr Kanum: "If the Iraqi courts have acquitted an individual he must be released. Anything else is a violation of sovereignty".
BIG BROTHER
FBI snoops suspects' computers using Trojan horse:
The FBI has confirmed the existence of its latest Internet-eavesdropping, controversy-raising snooping device exotically code-named 'Magic Lantern'.
Magic Lantern is software that, once installed on the suspect's computer, will record every keystroke typed. The gathered keystrokes will then be analyzed by the FBI to extract passwords. The harvested passwords will be used by the FBI to access the suspect's email messages and other encrypted documents, or to gain access to other computers contacted by the suspect via the Internet.
The FBI has confirmed the existence of its latest Internet-eavesdropping, controversy-raising snooping device exotically code-named 'Magic Lantern'.
Magic Lantern is software that, once installed on the suspect's computer, will record every keystroke typed. The gathered keystrokes will then be analyzed by the FBI to extract passwords. The harvested passwords will be used by the FBI to access the suspect's email messages and other encrypted documents, or to gain access to other computers contacted by the suspect via the Internet.
WATCH THE SKIES
'UFO' is spotted in skies over Ireland
TWO men working high up a radio mast in Co Monaghan believe they have spied a top-secret inter-planetary craft flying toward Belfast.
Miles Johnston, of the Irish UFO Research Centre, and Dublin-based rigger Terry Malone claim the delta-winged craft traversed the sky at ultrasonic speed, taking just a few seconds to reach the horizon.
"I am convinced it was a man-made advanced space craft - we had a good long look at it in a clear blue sky," Mr Johnston said.
Mr Malone confirmed the object was "absolutely enormous".
"It was huge, high, and travelling at some speed," he said. "I've seen B52s going over and you can hear them buzzing, but there was not a sound from this thing. And it was gone in an instant."
TWO men working high up a radio mast in Co Monaghan believe they have spied a top-secret inter-planetary craft flying toward Belfast.
Miles Johnston, of the Irish UFO Research Centre, and Dublin-based rigger Terry Malone claim the delta-winged craft traversed the sky at ultrasonic speed, taking just a few seconds to reach the horizon.
"I am convinced it was a man-made advanced space craft - we had a good long look at it in a clear blue sky," Mr Johnston said.
Mr Malone confirmed the object was "absolutely enormous".
"It was huge, high, and travelling at some speed," he said. "I've seen B52s going over and you can hear them buzzing, but there was not a sound from this thing. And it was gone in an instant."
PROPAGANDA CENTRAL
Carlyle Group buys into world's third-largest cinema chain
A team of buyout firms sealed a deal to snap up Loews Cineplex Entertainment for $1.46 billion.
Canadian buyout firm Onex Corp., which owns Loews with Oaktree Capital Management, said yesterday that it would sell the world's third-largest movie theater chain to a company formed by Bain Capital, the Carlyle Group and Spectrum Equity Investors.
A source familiar with the deal said Bain and Carlyle will have equal stakes of 38 per cent each, while Spectrum will have around 20 per cent, with existing management owning the rest.
Michael Connelly, a managing director of the Carlyle Group's telecommunications and media group said "We look forward to working with management and employees of the company to create new opportunities".
The assets being acquired by Bain, Carlyle and Spectrum include Loews' U.S. operations, Grupo Cinemex in Mexico and its 50 per cent interests in Megabox Cineplex of Korea and Yelmo Cineplex of Spain.
Loews, based in New York, boasts more than 2800 screens in some 280 movie houses throughout the world.
[Would this have anything to do with the Bush cartel, which has close connections with Carlyle, being unable to suppress screenings of Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11? The film looks at the alleged 'murky relationship' between Bush senior, controversial defence investment firm the Carlyle GroupLink...]
A team of buyout firms sealed a deal to snap up Loews Cineplex Entertainment for $1.46 billion.
Canadian buyout firm Onex Corp., which owns Loews with Oaktree Capital Management, said yesterday that it would sell the world's third-largest movie theater chain to a company formed by Bain Capital, the Carlyle Group and Spectrum Equity Investors.
A source familiar with the deal said Bain and Carlyle will have equal stakes of 38 per cent each, while Spectrum will have around 20 per cent, with existing management owning the rest.
Michael Connelly, a managing director of the Carlyle Group's telecommunications and media group said "We look forward to working with management and employees of the company to create new opportunities".
The assets being acquired by Bain, Carlyle and Spectrum include Loews' U.S. operations, Grupo Cinemex in Mexico and its 50 per cent interests in Megabox Cineplex of Korea and Yelmo Cineplex of Spain.
Loews, based in New York, boasts more than 2800 screens in some 280 movie houses throughout the world.
[Would this have anything to do with the Bush cartel, which has close connections with Carlyle, being unable to suppress screenings of Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11? The film looks at the alleged 'murky relationship' between Bush senior, controversial defence investment firm the Carlyle GroupLink...]
HOPE SPRINGS ETERNAL
High court slams Bush on terror suspects
The Supreme Court ruled Monday that the war on terrorism does not give the government a "blank check" to hold a U.S. citizen and foreign-born terror suspects in legal limbo, a forceful denunciation of Bush administration tactics since the Sept. 11 attacks.
Ruling in two cases, the high court refused to endorse a central claim of the White House: that the government has authority to seize and detain terrorism suspects and indefinitely deny access to courts or lawyers while interrogating them.
A state of war "is not a blank check for the president when it comes to the rights of the nation's citizens," Justice Sandra Day O'Connor wrote in the most significant case of the day, a ruling that gives American-born detainee Yaser Esam Hamdi the right to fight his detention in a federal court. Separately, the court said that nearly 600 men from 42 countries held at a Navy prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, can use American courts to contest their treatment.
Pentagon names tribunal for Hicks trial
The Pentagon has named the officers who will decide the fate of David Hicks and two other Guantanamo prisoners charged by the United States in the first US military tribunals since World War II.
Earlier this month, Hicks, a convert to Islam accused of joining Al Qaeda, was charged with three counts: conspiracy to commit war crimes, attempted murder by an unprivileged belligerent and aiding the enemy.
Human rights groups have condemned the trial process established for the commissions, saying the rules favour the prosecution, undercut the defence and do not permit independent judicial review.
The Supreme Court ruled Monday that the war on terrorism does not give the government a "blank check" to hold a U.S. citizen and foreign-born terror suspects in legal limbo, a forceful denunciation of Bush administration tactics since the Sept. 11 attacks.
Ruling in two cases, the high court refused to endorse a central claim of the White House: that the government has authority to seize and detain terrorism suspects and indefinitely deny access to courts or lawyers while interrogating them.
A state of war "is not a blank check for the president when it comes to the rights of the nation's citizens," Justice Sandra Day O'Connor wrote in the most significant case of the day, a ruling that gives American-born detainee Yaser Esam Hamdi the right to fight his detention in a federal court. Separately, the court said that nearly 600 men from 42 countries held at a Navy prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, can use American courts to contest their treatment.
Pentagon names tribunal for Hicks trial
The Pentagon has named the officers who will decide the fate of David Hicks and two other Guantanamo prisoners charged by the United States in the first US military tribunals since World War II.
Earlier this month, Hicks, a convert to Islam accused of joining Al Qaeda, was charged with three counts: conspiracy to commit war crimes, attempted murder by an unprivileged belligerent and aiding the enemy.
Human rights groups have condemned the trial process established for the commissions, saying the rules favour the prosecution, undercut the defence and do not permit independent judicial review.
FRESH MEAT
US readies for draft
Despite denials that the U.S. plans to re-institute the draft, the Pentagon has stepped up preparations for a new Selective Service System that could allow for a full-blown draft by next year.
The Selective Service System insists it "remains prepared to manage a draft if and when the President and the Congress so direct. This responsibility has been ongoing since 1980 and is nothing new".
But savvy draft-watchers, including author, radio personality and attorney retired Col. Ron Ray, USMCR, dispute the “is not getting ready” phrase, suggesting that there is, indeed, evidence indicating a new, heightened urgency within the agency, which these days is independent and no longer falls under the aegis of the Department of Defense. Ray himself had served as a Pentagon official during the Reagan administration.
[Helping the agency to reach its goals and objectives is a little known provision of the No Child Left Behind Act that requires schools to provide contact information for every student – or risk losing federal aid dollars.]
Army plans involuntary call-up of thousands
Despite denials that the U.S. plans to re-institute the draft, the Pentagon has stepped up preparations for a new Selective Service System that could allow for a full-blown draft by next year.
The Selective Service System insists it "remains prepared to manage a draft if and when the President and the Congress so direct. This responsibility has been ongoing since 1980 and is nothing new".
But savvy draft-watchers, including author, radio personality and attorney retired Col. Ron Ray, USMCR, dispute the “is not getting ready” phrase, suggesting that there is, indeed, evidence indicating a new, heightened urgency within the agency, which these days is independent and no longer falls under the aegis of the Department of Defense. Ray himself had served as a Pentagon official during the Reagan administration.
[Helping the agency to reach its goals and objectives is a little known provision of the No Child Left Behind Act that requires schools to provide contact information for every student – or risk losing federal aid dollars.]
Army plans involuntary call-up of thousands
NEW WORLD ORDER
Senior intel officer: Al Qaeda will attack US to ensure Bush win
A senior US intelligence official is about to publish a bitter condemnation of America's counter-terrorism policy, arguing that the West is losing the war against Al Qaeda and that an 'avaricious, premeditated, unprovoked' war in Iraq has played into Osama bin Laden's hands.
This senior intelligence official, who anonymously penned "Imperial Hubris: Why the West is Losing the War on Terror", also says that 'Osama bin Laden may attack the US before the November election to ensure the re-election of President George Bush.'
James Bamford, the author of two respected books on American intelligence (The Puzzle Palace and Body of Secrets, both about the National Security Agency), has written a new book called "Pretext for War".
His book -- described as a "damning portrait" of the intelligence community painting a "scathing picture" of neoconservatives in the Bush administration -- suggests that the CIA caved to pressure from administration hard-liners. Bamford quotes a CIA case officer who says a senior agency officer called a meeting and said, "You know what – if Bush wants to go to war, it's your job to give him a reason to do so".
According to Bamford, the basic blueprint for the administration's Middle East policy had been drawn up in the mid-1990s by Richard Perle, Douglas Feith, and David Wurmser, three neoconservatives who would be named to influential positions in the Bush administration.
A senior US intelligence official is about to publish a bitter condemnation of America's counter-terrorism policy, arguing that the West is losing the war against Al Qaeda and that an 'avaricious, premeditated, unprovoked' war in Iraq has played into Osama bin Laden's hands.
This senior intelligence official, who anonymously penned "Imperial Hubris: Why the West is Losing the War on Terror", also says that 'Osama bin Laden may attack the US before the November election to ensure the re-election of President George Bush.'
James Bamford, the author of two respected books on American intelligence (The Puzzle Palace and Body of Secrets, both about the National Security Agency), has written a new book called "Pretext for War".
His book -- described as a "damning portrait" of the intelligence community painting a "scathing picture" of neoconservatives in the Bush administration -- suggests that the CIA caved to pressure from administration hard-liners. Bamford quotes a CIA case officer who says a senior agency officer called a meeting and said, "You know what – if Bush wants to go to war, it's your job to give him a reason to do so".
According to Bamford, the basic blueprint for the administration's Middle East policy had been drawn up in the mid-1990s by Richard Perle, Douglas Feith, and David Wurmser, three neoconservatives who would be named to influential positions in the Bush administration.
PROPAGANDA CENTRAL
Who is Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi?
Al Zarqawi is often described as an "Osama associate", the bogeyman, allegedly responsible for numerous terrorist attacks in several countries. In other reports, often emanating from the same sources, it is stated that he has no links to Al Qaeda and operates quite independently. He is often presented as an individual who is challenging the leadership of bin Laden.
His name crops up on numerous occasions in press reports and official statements. Since early 2004, he is in the news almost on a daily basis.
Osama belongs to the powerful bin Laden family, which historically had business ties to the Bushes and prominent members of the Texas oil establishment. Bin Laden was recruited by the CIA during the Soviet-Afghan war and fought as a Mujahideen. In other words, there is a longstanding documented history of bin Laden-CIA and bin Laden-Bush family links, which are an obvious source of embarrassment to the US government.
In contrast to bin Laden, Al-Zarqawi has no family history. He comes from an impoverished Palestinian family in Jordan. His parents are dead. He emerges out of the blue.
He is described by CNN as "a lone wolf" who is said to act quite independently of the Al Qaeda network. Yet surprisingly, this lone wolf is present in several countries, in Iraq, which is now his base, but also in Western Europe. He is also suspected of preparing a terrorist attack on American soil.
He seems to be in several places at the same time. He is described as "the chief U.S. enemy", "a master of disguise and bogus identification papers". We are led to believe that this "lone wolf" manages to outwit the most astute US intelligence operatives.
US denies reports al-Zarqawi captured
There are conflicting reports that one of Washington's most wanted men has been captured in Iraq. Al-Arabiya television reported Monday that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is in custody, but the head of the U.S. military in Iraq denied the reports.
The US intelligence apparatus has created it own terrorist organizations. And at the same time, it creates its own terrorist warnings concerning the terrorist organizations which it has itself created. In turn, it has developed a cohesive multibillion dollar counterterrorism program 'to go after' these terrorist organizations. -- by Michel Chossudovsky
Al Zarqawi is often described as an "Osama associate", the bogeyman, allegedly responsible for numerous terrorist attacks in several countries. In other reports, often emanating from the same sources, it is stated that he has no links to Al Qaeda and operates quite independently. He is often presented as an individual who is challenging the leadership of bin Laden.
His name crops up on numerous occasions in press reports and official statements. Since early 2004, he is in the news almost on a daily basis.
Osama belongs to the powerful bin Laden family, which historically had business ties to the Bushes and prominent members of the Texas oil establishment. Bin Laden was recruited by the CIA during the Soviet-Afghan war and fought as a Mujahideen. In other words, there is a longstanding documented history of bin Laden-CIA and bin Laden-Bush family links, which are an obvious source of embarrassment to the US government.
In contrast to bin Laden, Al-Zarqawi has no family history. He comes from an impoverished Palestinian family in Jordan. His parents are dead. He emerges out of the blue.
He is described by CNN as "a lone wolf" who is said to act quite independently of the Al Qaeda network. Yet surprisingly, this lone wolf is present in several countries, in Iraq, which is now his base, but also in Western Europe. He is also suspected of preparing a terrorist attack on American soil.
He seems to be in several places at the same time. He is described as "the chief U.S. enemy", "a master of disguise and bogus identification papers". We are led to believe that this "lone wolf" manages to outwit the most astute US intelligence operatives.
US denies reports al-Zarqawi captured
There are conflicting reports that one of Washington's most wanted men has been captured in Iraq. Al-Arabiya television reported Monday that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is in custody, but the head of the U.S. military in Iraq denied the reports.
Tuesday, June 29, 2004
MIND CONTROL
Watching TV 'blocks sleep hormone in children'
Exposure to television can influence melatonin levels in children and possibly contribute to the premature onset of puberty, according to a study by scientists from the University of Florence.
The study found a 30 per cent increase in levels of the sleep-regulating hormone in children who had abstained from watching television for a week, the Rome daily La Repubblica reported yesterday.
Exposure to television can influence melatonin levels in children and possibly contribute to the premature onset of puberty, according to a study by scientists from the University of Florence.
The study found a 30 per cent increase in levels of the sleep-regulating hormone in children who had abstained from watching television for a week, the Rome daily La Repubblica reported yesterday.
HOPE SPRINGS ETERNAL
Court rules against Bush in case about terror suspects
The US Supreme Court has ruled that prisoners seized as potential terrorists and held for more than two years at a US military prison camp in Cuba may challenge their captivity in American courts - a defeat for President George W Bush in one of the first major high court cases arising from the September 11 attacks.
The US Supreme Court has ruled that prisoners seized as potential terrorists and held for more than two years at a US military prison camp in Cuba may challenge their captivity in American courts - a defeat for President George W Bush in one of the first major high court cases arising from the September 11 attacks.
NO PAIN, NO GAIN
What the 'torture memos' reveal
Aug. 1, 2002 saw the most infamous of the "torture papers," DOJ/OLC chief Bybee's memorandum to Gonzales entitled: "Standards of Conduct for Interrogations, under the Convention Against Torture and the U.S. Anti-Torture Act (18 U.S. 2340-2340A)." This memorandum was reportedly drafted by the DOJ for the CIA, and sent directly to the White House without consultation with either the State Department, or the Joint Chiefs and Joint Staff legal experts. It is an extremely detailed, 50-page memorandum, giving the most lenient interpretation conceivable, of the anti-torture treaty and laws. The memo states at the outset:
When the White House officially released this memo (it already having been leaked), DOJ attorneys suddenly disavowed it, telling reporters that it would be "repudiated" and "replaced." But the official who signed it, Jay Bybee, is now a Federal appellate judge, sitting on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.
The Washington Post reported on June 24, that sometime in December, two Navy interrogators heard military intelligence personnel talking about using techniques which they considered "repulsive and potentially illegal". Their concerns were brought to DOD General Counsel Haynes by Navy General Counsel Alberto Mora. Haynes apparently ignored Mora's appeals until Mora threatened to put them in writing.
Aug. 1, 2002 saw the most infamous of the "torture papers," DOJ/OLC chief Bybee's memorandum to Gonzales entitled: "Standards of Conduct for Interrogations, under the Convention Against Torture and the U.S. Anti-Torture Act (18 U.S. 2340-2340A)." This memorandum was reportedly drafted by the DOJ for the CIA, and sent directly to the White House without consultation with either the State Department, or the Joint Chiefs and Joint Staff legal experts. It is an extremely detailed, 50-page memorandum, giving the most lenient interpretation conceivable, of the anti-torture treaty and laws. The memo states at the outset:
We conclude below that Section 2340A proscribes acts inflicting, and that are specifically intended to inflict, severe pain or suffering, whether mental or physical.
Those acts must be of an extreme nature to rise to the level of torture within the meaning of Section 2340A and the Convention.
We further conclude that certain acts may be cruel, inhuman, or degrading, but still not produce pain and suffering of the requisite intensity to fall within Section 2340A's proscription against torture.
We conclude that for an act to constitute torture as defined in Section 2340, it must inflict pain that is difficult to endure.
Physical pain amounting to torture must be equivalent in intensity to the pain accompanying serious physical injury, such as organ failure, impairment of body function, or even death.
For purely mental pain or suffering to amount to torture under Section 2340, it must result in significant psychological harm of significant duration, e.g., lasting for months or even years....[...]
We conclude that, under current circumstances, necessity or self-defense may justify interrogation methods that might violate Section 2340A.
When the White House officially released this memo (it already having been leaked), DOJ attorneys suddenly disavowed it, telling reporters that it would be "repudiated" and "replaced." But the official who signed it, Jay Bybee, is now a Federal appellate judge, sitting on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.
The Washington Post reported on June 24, that sometime in December, two Navy interrogators heard military intelligence personnel talking about using techniques which they considered "repulsive and potentially illegal". Their concerns were brought to DOD General Counsel Haynes by Navy General Counsel Alberto Mora. Haynes apparently ignored Mora's appeals until Mora threatened to put them in writing.
NAKED EMPEROR
Angry White House reprimands Irish interviewer for 'dissing' Bush
THE White House has lodged a complaint with the Irish Embassy in Washington over RTE journalist Carole Coleman's interview with US President George Bush.
The White House told Ms Coleman that she interrupted the president unnecessarily and was disrespectful. She also received a call from the White House in which she was admonished for her tone.
On several occasions during the 15-minute interview, Bush asked Coleman not to interrupt him.
It has also emerged that presidential staff suggested to Ms Coleman as she went into the interview that she ask him a question on the outfit that Taoiseach Bertie Ahern wore to the G8 summit.
Pampered Bush meets a real reporter
Coleman asked tough questions about the mounting death toll in Iraq, the failure of US planning, and European opposition to the invasion and occupation.
And when the president offered the sort of empty and listless "answers" that satisfy the White House press corps -- at one point, he mumbled, "My job is to do my job" -- she tried to get him focused by asking precise follow-up questions.
See the interview, and decide if Coleman "overstepped the bounds of politeness".
[The chief executive who gleefully declares that he does not read newspapers cannot begin to grasp the notion that journalists might have an important role to play in a democracy.]
THE White House has lodged a complaint with the Irish Embassy in Washington over RTE journalist Carole Coleman's interview with US President George Bush.
The White House told Ms Coleman that she interrupted the president unnecessarily and was disrespectful. She also received a call from the White House in which she was admonished for her tone.
On several occasions during the 15-minute interview, Bush asked Coleman not to interrupt him.
It has also emerged that presidential staff suggested to Ms Coleman as she went into the interview that she ask him a question on the outfit that Taoiseach Bertie Ahern wore to the G8 summit.
Pampered Bush meets a real reporter
Coleman asked tough questions about the mounting death toll in Iraq, the failure of US planning, and European opposition to the invasion and occupation.
And when the president offered the sort of empty and listless "answers" that satisfy the White House press corps -- at one point, he mumbled, "My job is to do my job" -- she tried to get him focused by asking precise follow-up questions.
See the interview, and decide if Coleman "overstepped the bounds of politeness".
[The chief executive who gleefully declares that he does not read newspapers cannot begin to grasp the notion that journalists might have an important role to play in a democracy.]
NEW WORLD ORDER
Divide and conquer means death to democracy
'When, through the process of law, the common people lose their homes, they will become more docile and more easily governed through the strong arm of government applied by a central power of wealth under leading financiers. These truths are well known among our principal men who are now engaged in forming imperialism to govern the world. By dividing the voter through the political party system, we can get them to expend their energies in fighting for questions of no importance." -- From the American Banker's Association Digest (1924 edition).
'When, through the process of law, the common people lose their homes, they will become more docile and more easily governed through the strong arm of government applied by a central power of wealth under leading financiers. These truths are well known among our principal men who are now engaged in forming imperialism to govern the world. By dividing the voter through the political party system, we can get them to expend their energies in fighting for questions of no importance." -- From the American Banker's Association Digest (1924 edition).
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