zaterdag 8 april 2006
Barbara Ehrenreich
You may recognize in the French government's reasoning the same arguments Americans hear whenever we raise a timid plea for a higher minimum wage or a halt to the steady erosion of pensions and health benefits: "What?" scream the economists who flack for the employing class. "If you do anything, anything at all, to offend or discomfit the employers, they will respond by churlishly failing to employ you! Unemployment will rise, and you - lacking, of course, the health care and other benefits provided by the French welfare state - will quickly spiral down into starvation."' Lees verder: http://progressive.org/mag_ehrenreich0506 Of: http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/040706LA.shtml
De Leugens van Bush
Mensenrechten
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0407-07.htm
vrijdag 7 april 2006
De Bush Bende
Thursday 06 April 2006
The President The White House Washington, DC 20500
Dear Mr. President:
Two recent revelations raise grave new questions about whether you, the Vice President, and your top advisors have engaged in a systematic abuse of the national security classification process for political purposes. News accounts suggest that the White House both (1) leaked classified intelligence information to further its faulty case for war and (2) improperly concealed information regarding your personal knowledge of serious doubts about this intelligence. These actions appear to violate your own executive order on handling classified information and - according to a new memorandum by the Congressional Research Service - represent an unprecedented expansion of the Vice President's role in this process. I request a full accounting of White House actions and full declassification and disclosure of all documents bearing on these critical questions.
Selective Declassification of NIE and Other Iraq Intelligence
According to an article published today in the National Journal, the Vice President's former chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, claims that you - through Vice President Cheney - authorized him to leak to the press classified information from an October 2002 National Intelligence Estimate in order to blunt criticism from former Ambassador Joe Wilson about your improper use of intelligence in the run-up to war.[1] In testimony before the grand jury investigating the White House's leak of Valerie Plame Wilson's status as a covert CIA operative, Mr. Libby reportedly testified that "the Vice President had advised [Libby] that the President had authorized [Libby] to disclose relevant portions of the NIE."[2] Mr. Libby also reportedly testified that Vice President Cheney himself "authorized him to leak classified information to a number of journalists during the run-up to war with Iraq."[3] Both claims raise serious questions.
First, Mr. Libby's explanation that you authorized the leaks seems to contradict other facts. Mr. Libby claimed that he consulted David Addington, then counsel to the Vice President and now his chief of staff, who advised that your leak authorization "amounted to a declassification of the document."[4] Yet according to the National Journal, "only three people - the President, the Vice President and [Libby] - knew that the key judgments of the NIE had been declassified." It is unclear why your leak authorization would have been concealed in this way if it was truly a declassification. In addition, on July 18, 2003, some time after Mr. Libby leaked this classified information to reporters, your Administration formally declassified portions of the NIE for public release, suggesting that the information had not been declassified until that time.' Lees verder: http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/040706Z.shtml
Amerikaanse Oorlogsmisdaden
The latest reported war crime, a US military raid on the al-Mustafa Shia mosque in Baghdad on March 26th, which killed at least 16 people, is only one instance of the phenomena that Lifton has spoken of.' Lees verder: http://www.dahrjamailiraq.com/hard_news/archives/newscommentary/000380.php
Irak 59
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,1747665,00.html
Westers Terrorisme 7
De Oorlogsstaat 38
Ray McGovern
http://informationclearinghouse.info/article12628.htm
De Oorlogsstaat 37
http://informationclearinghouse.info/article12634.htm
Irak 58
Lewis "Scooter" Libby, the former chief of staff to Vice-President Dick Cheney, is in court charged with obstructing a federal leak investigation. He testified that he had been given permission to share the contents of a National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) about Saddam Hussein's weapons capabilities. He also said he was authorised to talk about Joseph Wilson, a former ambassador who had been publicly critical of Mr Bush's conduct over Iraq.
Mr Libby's claims are contained within court papers that were made public yesterday.
However, there is nothing in the papers which suggests Mr Libby claims either Mr Bush or Mr Cheney authorised him to reveal the identity of Mr Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame, an undercover CIA operative. Mr Libby was charged last October with five counts in relation to the leaking of Ms Plame's identity - something which constitutes a federal offence.' Lees verder:
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article356252.ece
donderdag 6 april 2006
Howard Zinn 5
De Amerikaanse historicus Howard Zinn schrijft: 'Now that most Americans no longer believe in the war, now that they no longer trust Bush and his Administration, now that the evidence of deception has become overwhelming (so overwhelming that even the major media, always late, have begun to register indignation), we might ask: How come so many people were so easily fooled? The question is important because it might help us understand why Americans—members of the media as well as the ordinary citizen—rushed to declare their support as the President was sending troops halfway around the world to Iraq.A small example of the innocence (or obsequiousness, to be more exact) of the press is the way it reacted to Colin Powell’s presentation in February 2003 to the Security Council, a month before the invasion, a speech which may have set a record for the number of falsehoods told in one talk. In it, Powell confidently rattled off his “evidence”: satellite photographs, audio records, reports from informants, with precise statistics on how many gallons of this and that existed for chemical warfare. The New York Times was breathless with admiration. The Washington Post editorial was titled “Irrefutable” and declared that after Powell’s talk “it is hard to imagine how anyone could doubt that Iraq possesses weapons of mass destruction.” It seems to me there are two reasons, which go deep into our national culture, and which help explain the vulnerability of the press and of the citizenry to outrageous lies whose consequences bring death to tens of thousands of people. If we can understand those reasons, we can guard ourselves better against being deceived. One is in the dimension of time, that is, an absence of historical perspective. The other is in the dimension of space, that is, an inability to think outside the boundaries of nationalism. We are penned in by the arrogant idea that this country is the center of the universe, exceptionally virtuous, admirable, superior. If we don’t know history, then we are ready meat for carnivorous politicians and the intellectuals and journalists who supply the carving knives. I am not speaking of the history we learned in school, a history subservient to our political leaders, from the much-admired Founding Fathers to the Presidents of recent years. I mean a history which is honest about the past. If we don’t know that history, then any President can stand up to the battery of microphones, declare that we must go to war, and we will have no basis for challenging him. He will say that the nation is in danger, that democracy and liberty are at stake, and that we must therefore send ships and planes to destroy our new enemy, and we will have no reason to disbelieve him.' Lees verder: http://progressive.org/mag_zinn0406
De Architecten van de Oorlog
Het progressieve Amerikaanse Think Progress bericht: 'The Architects of War: Where are They Now? President Bush has not fired any of the architects of the Iraq war. In fact, a review of the key planners of the conflict reveals that they have been rewarded - not blamed - for their incompetence.
Paul Wolfowitz
Role in Going to War: Wolfowitz said the U.S. would be greeted as liberators, that Iraqi oil money for pay for the reconstruction, and that Gen. Eric Shinseki's estimate that several hundred thousand troops would be needed was "wildly off the mark." [Washington Post, 12/8/05] Where He Is Now: Bush promoted Wolfowitz to head the World Bank in March 2005. [Washington Post, 3/17/05]
Key Quote: "We are dealing with a country that can really finance its own reconstruction and relatively soon." [Wolfowitz, 3/27/03]
Douglas Feith
Role in Going to War: As Undersecretary of Defense for Policy, Feith spearheaded two secretive groups at the Pentagon - the Counter Terrorism Evaluation Group and the Office of Special Plans - that were instrumental in drawing up documents that explained the supposed ties between Saddam and al Qaeda. The groups were "created in order to find evidence of what Wolfowitz and his boss, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, believed to be true." Colin Powell referred to Feith's operation as the Gestapo. In Bob Woodward's Plan of Attack, former CentCom Commander Gen. Tommy Franks called Feith the "f***ing stupidest guy on the face of the earth." [LAT, 1/27/05; NYT, 4/28/04; New Yorker, 5/12/03; Plan of Attack, p.281]
Where He Is Now: Feith voluntarily resigned from the Defense Department shortly after Bush's reelection. He is co-chairman of a project at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government to write an academic book on how to fight terrorism. Feith's secretive groups at the Pentagon are under investigation by the Pentagon and the Senate Intelligence Committee for intelligence failures. [Washington Post, 1/27/05, 11/18/05; Washington Times, 3/3/06]' Lees verder: http://thinkprogress.org/the-architects-where-are-they-now Of: http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/040606P.shtml
Israel
Justices Edna Arbel, Miriam Naor and Elyakim Rubinstein ruled that Turner acted in accordance with his authority, which gives him the right to ban a public exhibit in a municipal building. However, the court ruling also stated that the municipality should allow activities of this sort in public locations.Attorney Gabi Lasky submitted a petition to the court on behalf of Machsom Watch, after the Be'er Sheva District Court rejected an appeal by the group.Lasky noted that just two weeks ago, the Teacher's Center held an exhibit on human rights abuses in China.' Lees verder: http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/700776.html Hier kunt u de betreffende foto's van de Israelische mensenrechtenorganisatie Women for Human Rights bekijken:
http://www.machsomwatch.org/eng/homePageEng.asp?link=homePage&lang=eng Ook de vertoning van Paradise Now van de Nederlans/Palestijnse filmer Hany Abu Assad werd verboden. De Haaretz bericht: 'Acre municipality vetoes screening of acclaimed suicide bomber movie . The Acre municipality and the national network of "Matnas" community centers canceled at the last minute Wednesday a screening of the controversial film "Paradise Now" about Palestinian suicide bombers."Paradise Now" won a Golden Globe for best foreign film and was nominated for an Oscar in the same category.The El-Yatir organization, dedicated to the cultural development of the city and responsible for the scheduled screening, maintains extremist Jewish groups pressured the municipality to cancel it. City officials say that the decision to cancel the screening stemmed from considerations of sensitivity towards the city's residents. They fear that screening the film, which depicts the inner struggle of two suicide bombers, could disrupt the delicate co-existence between Jews and Arabs in the city.' Lees verder: http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/702925.html
Victor IV
Werk van wijlen de Amerikaanse/Amsterdamse beeldend kunstenaar Victor IV die zich ook wel Bulgar Time noemde. Willem Sandberg, van 1945 tot 1962 directeur van het Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, die grote interesse had voor iemand die nooit eerder geschilderd had, schreef hem: 'maar mijns inziens is u geen zondagsschilder, tenminste niet in de gebruikelijke zin van het woord. Natuurlijk is het belangrijkste bij een schilder dat hij wat te zeggen heeft en dat hij weet hoe. Dat is uiteraard zeldzaam onder de onnoemelijk velen die menen met of zonder kwast verf op een of ander materiaal te moeten aanbrengen en zich dan kunstenaar noemen.'
Nederland en Afghanistan 51
It also expresses concern about the treatment of any detainees handed over to the Afghans by British forces, and the prospect of a lack of air cover to protect troops on the ground. From next month more than 3,000 British soldiers will be based in Helmand province for a potentially dangerous mission maintaining security, training the Afghan army, and countering narcotics. ' Lees verder: http://www.guardian.co.uk/afghanistan/story/0,,1747946,00.html
De Israelische Terreur 11
De Pro Israel Lobby 5
Inter Press Service bericht: 'Evangelicals Rally Their Flocks Behind Israel. OAKLAND - To prevent the George W. Bush administration from pressuring the Israelis into turning over even more land, Hagee, the pastor of San Antonio's Cornerstone Church and the head of a multi-million-dollar evangelical enterprise, recently brought together 400 Christian evangelical leaders -- representing as many as 30 million Christians -- for an invitation-only "Summit on Israel". The result was the launch of a new pro-Israel lobbying group called Christians United for Israel (CUFI). By 2002, a number of veteran Christian conservative evangelical leaders and Republican Party power brokers had joined forces with conservative Jewish leaders to launch several pro-Israel organisations. But the history of Jewish-evangelical involvement goes back several decades. According to Rabbi James Rudin, writing in his recently published book, "The Baptising of America: The Religious Right's Plans for the Rest of U.S.," "the first [modern] evangelical-Jewish meeting" took place in New York in 1975. A bevy of issues including "the meaning of Messiah in both traditions, Jesus the Jew, biblical theology and the meaning of modern Israel and Jerusalem for Christian conservatives and Jews" were discussed. Rudin points out that "the evangelical commitment to Israel creates some... ambivalence" in the Jewish community, since that "commitment" is built on the biblical belief that "without an Israel, an ingathering of Jewish exiles, [the] major event in Christian eschatology [the Second coming of Jesus to Jerusalem] cannot take place." "That is why some evangelicals are dismayed at any Israeli withdrawal or disengagement from any area of the biblical 'Holy Land.' That is also why the strong Christian conservative support of Israel is not linked to Middle East realpolitik or America's growing thirst for Arab oil," Rudin says.' Lees verder: http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0405-09.htm
Goedkope Arbeiders
Inter Press Service bericht: 'Embracing Cheap Workers, Ignoring Their Welfare. UNITED NATIONS - The top 10 countries hosting the largest number of international migrants have neither signed nor ratified a 1990 U.N. convention aimed at protecting the rights of migrant workers worldwide. "It is obvious," says a senior U.N. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, "that these countries don't want to be held accountable for the welfare of their migrants." The 10 countries -- the United States, Russia, Germany, Ukraine, France, Saudi Arabia, Canada, India, United Kingdom and Spain -- accounted for over 102 million migrants in 2005, according to a new U.N. report released Tuesday. The United States was host to 38.4 million migrants last year, followed by Russia (12.1 million), Germany (10.1 million), Ukraine (6.8 million) and France (6.5 million). The number of international migrants worldwide rose from about 175 million in 2000 to 191 million in 2005. And six out of 10 -- about 115 million -- live in rich countries where they are deprived of basic rights, while seven out of every 100 migrants are refugees.' Lees verder:
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=32772 Of: http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0405-01.htm
woensdag 5 april 2006
Het Exporteren van Banen 2
NRC bericht: 'Philips sluit fabriek in WeertPhilips sluit zijn lampenfabriek in Weert, omdat deze ondanks pogingen om haar goedkoper te maken niet rendabel genoeg is. Voor de 250 medewerkers betekent dat verlies van hun baan. Dat heeft het elektronicaconcern vandaag bekendgemaakt. Philips verhuist een deel van de productie van gloeilampen en speciale verlichting naar lagelonenlanden als China en Polen. Ook gaat een deel naar Maarheeze, elf kilometer verderop in Noord-Brabant. Philips produceert verder gloeilampen in Nederland in Oss, Middelburg en Deurne. FNV Bondgenoten verwacht ook bij die fabrieken harde klappen binnen niet al te lange tijd. Er werken 3.500 tot 4.000 werknemers die volgens de bond moeten vrezen voor verplaatsing van de productie naar lagelonenlanden.' Zie: http://www.nrc.nl/economie/article272584.ece Wanneer NRC schrijft dat de lampenfabriek in Weert 'niet rendabel genoeg is' draait de krant keurig om de hete brij heen. Want natuurlijk kunnen Nederlandse werknemers nooit rendabel zijn als een derde wereldbewoner maar een fractie krijgt van het inkomen dat zij krijgen. Iemand uit een welvarend land kan nooit concurrerend zijn op de arbeidsmarkt zolang er miljarden armen leven die zonder vakbonden en zonder strenge milieuwetten soms onder de meest erbarmelijke omstandigheden willen produceren.
Oorlogsmisdaden
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/040406B.shtml
Nederland en Afghanistan 50
De Volkskrant bericht: 'Nederlandse militairen doodden mogelijk Afghaan. Van onze verslaggever DEN HAAG - Nederlandse militairen in Afghanistan hebben mogelijk een dodelijk slachtoffer gemaakt tijdens de belegering van hun basis, begin dit jaar. Defensie heeft de begrafeniskosten betaald en de familie van het slachtoffer ‘afgekocht’, vooruitlopend op de uitkomst van een onderzoek door de Koninklijke Marechaussee. Staatssecretaris Van der Knaap van Defensie heeft de Tweede Kamer dinsdagavond ingelicht over een schietincident dat plaatsvond in februari, toen honderden Afghanen bij de Nederlandse basis in het stadje Pol-e Khomri protesteerden tegen de Deense spotprenten die de islam in een kwaad daglicht stelden. De belaagde militairen vuurden rook-, licht- en geluidgranaten af. Daarbij zou een betoger om het leven zijn gekomen.' Zie: http://www.volkskrant.nl/buitenland/article272239.ece Dit bericht roept meer vragen op dan het antwoorden geeft. Onze verslaggever in Den Haag moet ogenblikkelijk uitzoeken wat hier aan de hand is. Hoe kan een Afghaan om het leven komen door een rookgranaat, danwel een lichtgranaat, dan wel een geluidsgranaat, of alle drie tegelijk. Ik heb al die granaten van nabij in werking gezien en kan u verzekeren dat ze van alles doen, maar niet doden. Ondertussen is toch belastinggeld gebruikt om een familie af te kopen. Aan de slag verslaggever. Overigens moet dit gebeurd zijn door diezelfde grappige militairen waarover ik al eerder heb geschreven en die zo'n geinig videofilmpje hebben gemaakt waarin ze in boerka's rondhuppelen. Kennelijk zijn deze bewapende lolbroeken erg geschrokken van een Afghaanse demonstratie. Zie: http://stanvanhoucke.blogspot.com/2005/11/nederland-en-afghanistan-3.html
De Media
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http://www.globalvoicesonline.org/2006/04/04/asking-the-blogosphere-is-media-coverage-of-iraq-biased-in-what-direction/
Martelen 33
De Oceaan
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/040406EA.shtml
De Oorlogsstaat 36
Evidence of a decisive shift is not hard to find, beginning with the latest edition of the "The National Security Strategy of the United States of America", released earlier this month.
A kinder, gentler version of its fire-breathing 2002 predecessor that laid out the doctrinal justification for the March 2003 invasion, the new version puts a greater emphasis on diplomacy and development, tending alliances, and other realist themes, even as it continued the administration's defense of pre-emptive military action with Iran squarely in mind.
Rice's constant travel -- as well as that of her two underlings, Deputy Secretary Robert Zoellick and Undersecretary for Policy Nicholas Burns -- not only demonstrates the priority the administration has placed on cultivating allies and even states more skeptical of U.S. benevolence. It also suggests that the State Department -- the bastion of foreign policy realism -- is considerably more confident of its own power within the administration.' Lees verder:
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0404-04.htm
Land of the Free. Home of the Brave! 2
"I thought I was being extremely mealy-mouthed, but I was accused of advocating conspiracy theories," says Gilroy, who is now the Anthony Giddens professor of Social Theory at the London School of Economics. Scot Silverstein, who was once on the faculty at Yale, saw a piece in the student paper about Gilroy's contribution. He wrote to the Wall Street Journal comparing Gilroy to Hitler and claiming his words illustrated the "moral psychosis and perhaps psychological sadism that appears to have infected leftist academia". The Journal published the letter. Gilroy found himself posted on Discoverthenetworks.org, a website dedicated to exposing radical professors. The principle accusation was that he "believes the US fabricated the threat posed by Saddam Hussein".' Lees verder: http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,1746227,00.html
dinsdag 4 april 2006
Noam Chomsky 6
Tom Engelhardt schrijft: 'Noam Chomsky on War Crimes in Iraq. In the Vietnam era, the subject of war crimes was the last to arrive and the first to depart. When, in 1971 in Detroit, Vietnam Veterans Against the War convened its Winter Soldier Investigation into U.S. war crimes in Southeast Asia, it was roundly ignored by the media. Over 100 veterans gave firsthand testimony to war crimes they either committed or witnessed. Beyond the unbearable nature of their testimony, the hearings were startling for the fact that here were men who yearned to take some responsibility for what they had done. But while it was, by then, possible for Americans to accept the GI as a victim in Vietnam, it proved impossible for most Americans to accept him as a human being taking responsibility for a crime against humanity. There was no place for this in the American imagination, it seemed, no less for the thought that the planning and prosecution of the war were potential crimes committed by our leaders. Evidently there still is none, which is why it's important to follow Noam Chomsky back into the Iraq of recent years to consider the American occupation of that country in the context of war crimes. The piece that follows is an excerpt from Chomsky's new book, Failed States: The Abuse of Power and the Assault on Democracy, which is officially published on this very day. It is Chomsky at his best, a superb tour (de force) of a world in which the Bush administration has regularly asserted its right to launch "preventive" military interventions against "failed" and "rogue" states, while increasingly taking on the characteristics of those failed and rogue states itself. It will be an indispensable volume for any library. (You can check out a Chomsky discussion of it at Democracy Now!). Lees verder: http://www.tomdispatch.com/index.mhtml?emx=x&pid=73753
Guantanamo 2
Klimaatverandering 31
But he and other scientists say it's too late to stop people from feeling the heat. Nearly two dozen computer models agree that by 2100, the average global temperature will be 3 to 6 degrees Fahrenheit higher than now, according to Gerald Meehl, a senior scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research.' Lees verder:
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0403-01.htm
Iran 22
De Engelstalige editie van de Pravda bericht: 'This week in the world of economics began with the opening of the international oil exchange in Iran. The intrigue of the situation is accentuated by the fact that trading will take place in the European currency. This in itself is setting a precedent: in modern history oil has been quoted exclusively in dollars. Alarmists and antiglobalists from all countries have rushed to describe this as yet another sentence against the hegemony of the dollar and the USA. It can not be ruled out that this idea is what is motivating the Iranian authorities. At the height of tension in relations between the USA and Iran the latter’s move looks like a blow to the economic power of its enemy. This cannot be deemed a weak blow – Iran has a share of at least 4% of worldwide oil production. Moreover, it has been declared that the format of the exchange will meet international norms: the question now is: which other of the Persian Gulf states will support Iran? “The situation there will depend on the extent to which other countries and regions will want to convert from the dollar to the euro,” the analyst of IK ‘FINAM” Olga Belenkaya told Pravda.Ru.' Lees verder:
http://english.pravda.ru/world/asia/21-03-2006/77628-oil-0
Cyber War
De Sunday Herald bericht: 'While the US remains committed to hunting down al-Qaeda operatives, it is now taking the battle to new fronts. Deep within the Pentagon, technologies are being deployed to wage the war on terror on the internet, in newspapers and even through mobile phones. -- -- IMAGINE a world where wars are fought over the internet; where TV broadcasts and newspaper reports are designed by the military to confuse the population; and where a foreign armed power can shut down your computer, phone, radio or TV at will.In 2006, we are just about to enter such a world. This is the age of information warfare, and details of how this new military doctrine will affect everyone on the planet are contained in a report, entitled The Information Operations Roadmap, [PDF] commissioned and approved by US secretary of defence Donald Rumsfeld and seen by the Sunday Herald.The Pentagon has already signed off $383 million to force through the document’s recommendations by 2009. Military and intelligence sources in the US talk of “a revolution in the concept of warfare”. The report orders three new developments in America’s approach to warfare:lFirstly, the Pentagon says it will wage war against the internet in order to dominate the realm of communications, prevent digital attacks on the US and its allies, and to have the upper hand when launching cyber-attacks against enemies.lSecondly, psychological military operations, known as psyops, will be at the heart of future military action. Psyops involve using any media – from newspapers, books and posters to the internet, music, Blackberrys and personal digital assistants (PDAs) – to put out black propaganda to assist government and military strategy. Psyops involve the dissemination of lies and fake stories and releasing information to wrong-foot the enemy.lThirdly, the US wants to take control of the Earth’s electromagnetic spectrum, allowing US war planners to dominate mobile phones, PDAs, the web, radio, TV and other forms of modern communication. That could see entire countries denied access to telecommunications at the flick of a switch by America.Freedom of speech advocates are horrified at this new doctrine, but military planners and members of the intelligence community embrace the idea as a necessary development in modern combat.Human rights lawyer John Scott, who chairs the Scottish Centre for Human Rights, said: “This is an unwelcome but natural development of what we have seen. I find what is said in this document to be frightening, and it needs serious parliamentary scrutiny.”' Lees verder: http://www.sundayherald.com/54975 Of:
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article12609.htm
maandag 3 april 2006
Guantanamo
Maar op een dag sprak een collega hem aan. „Die zei echt misselijk te worden van het nieuws over Guantánamo Bay. Dat dit in Amerika kon gebeuren. Hij wilde de partners van ons advocatenkantoor overhalen hem deels vrij te maken voor de verdediging van gedetineerden. Hij vroeg me te helpen.” Sindsdien is er veel gebeurd. Bingham & McCutchen vertegenwoordigt intussen twaalf gevangenen. Op het hoofdkantoor in Boston werken zes man aan hun zaak. McGaraghan telt hardop: „Een paar advocaten op het kantoor in Washington helpen, één in Hartford en nog één in San Francisco.” Alles pro bono, wat betekent ’voor het algemeen goed’, gratis dus. McGaraghan besteedt een kwart van zijn tijd aan "Gitmo".' Lees verder:
http://www.trouw.nl/deverdieping/overigeartikelen/
article269183.ece/Guant%E1namo+%2F+Onschuldig+opgesloten De twee reacties die het artikel kreeg van Trouw-lezers stemmen niet hoopvol. Er zijn kennelijk nog steeds Nederlanders die moeite met het recht hebben.
Iran 21
De Washington Post bericht: 'Attacking Iran May Trigger Terrorism. U.S. Experts Wary of Military Action Over Nuclear Program. As tensions increase between the United States and Iran, U.S. intelligence and terrorism experts say they believe Iran would respond to U.S. military strikes on its nuclear sites by deploying its intelligence operatives and Hezbollah teams to carry out terrorist attacks worldwide. Iran would mount attacks against U.S. targets inside Iraq, where Iranian intelligence agents are already plentiful, predicted these experts. There is also a growing consensus that Iran's agents would target civilians in the United States, Europe and elsewhere, they said. U.S. officials would not discuss what evidence they have indicating Iran would undertake terrorist action, but the matter "is consuming a lot of time" throughout the U.S. intelligence apparatus, one senior official said. "It's a huge issue," another said. Citing prohibitions against discussing classified information, U.S. intelligence officials declined to say whether they have detected preparatory measures, such as increased surveillance, counter-surveillance or message traffic, on the part of Iran's foreign-based intelligence operatives. But terrorism experts considered Iranian-backed or controlled groups -- namely the country's Ministry of Intelligence and Security operatives, its Revolutionary Guards and the Lebanon-based Hezbollah -- to be better organized, trained and equipped than the al-Qaeda network that carried out the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.' Lees verder:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/01/AR2006040100981.html?referrer=email&referrer=email
Henk Kamp als Pion
CARACAS - President Hugo Chávez van Venezuela vindt de Nederlandse minister Henk Kamp van Defensie een 'pion van Washington'. Kamp suggereerde onlangs dat Chávez de Nederlandse Antillen en Aruba wil veroveren. In zijn tv-programma Aló Presidente veegde Chávez Kamp de mantel uit. Volgens Chávez passen de 'leugens' van Kamp in de 'wereldwijde campagne' van de VS tegen hem. Chávez zei dat Venezuela en de Antillen juist 'goede buren' zijn en blijven.Volgens Hugo Chávez doet Kamp aan de Amerikaanse campagne tegen Venezuela mee omdat de minister 'een man van de extreem-rechtervleugel is'. Chávez zei onlangs te vermoeden dat Amerika de Nederlandse Antillen en Aruba wil gebruiken voor een aanval op Venezuela.Kamp noemde Chávez ''een onverdraagzame populist die met grote ogen kijkt naar de snippertjes voor de kust van Venezuela, die onderdeel zijn van Nederland''. ' Lees verder:
http://www.parool.nl/nieuws/2006/APR/03/p1.html Kamp een pion van Amerika? Dat is helemaal geen nieuws. Ieder mens met een beetje politiek inzicht weet dat. Maar toch raakt Het Parool er helemaal opgewonden van, want op pagina 2 van de krant lezen we als kop: 'Chavez dol op tirades.' U begrijpt het wel: Chavez, Zuid-Amerikaan, negerbloed, geen vriend van de Verenigde Staten nadat Washington via een militaire staatsgreep had geprobeerd de democratisch gekozen Chavez weg te werken. En dus moet deze onbesuisde vlerk worden afgeschilderd als een halve gare brulboei. Maar een feit blijft dat Kamp een pion is van de VS. Hoe hard of zacht Chavez dit ook roept. En nu zou de redactie buitenland van het Parool aan de slag moeten, huiswerk doen, kijken of Kamp ook meewerkt via de Antillen, net zoals hij braaf in Irak heeft meegedaan en nog steeds in Afghanistan meedoet. Aan de slag! Ik ben benieuwd.
Het Neoliberale Geloof 4
I tell this story to make the one single point about the border and immigration we know to be true: The Fence will not work. No fence will work. The Great darn Wall of China will not work. Do not build a fence. It will not work. They will come anyway. Over, under or through.
Some of you think a fence will work because Israel has one. Israel is a very small country. Anyone who says a fence can fix this problem is a demagogue and an ass. Numero Two-o, should you actually want to stop Mexicans and OTMs (other than Mexicans) from coming to the United States, here is how to do it: Find an illegal worker at a large corporation. This is not difficult - brooms and mops are big tip-offs. Then put the CEO of that corporation in prison for two or more years for violating the law against hiring illegal workers. Got it? You can also imprison the corporate official who actually hired the illegal and, just to make sure, put some Betty Sue Billups - housewife, preferably one with blonde hair in a flip - in the joint for a two-year stretch for hiring a Mexican gardener. Thus Americans are reminded that the law says it is illegal to hire illegal workers and that anyone who hires one is responsible for verifying whether or not his or her papers are in order. If you get fooled and one slips by you, too bad, you go to jail anyway. When there are no jobs for illegal workers, they do not come. Got it?' Lees verder:
http://www.alternet.org/columnists/story/34256/ Of: http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/040106H.shtml
Het Amerikaans Imperium
Iran 20
De Britse Telegraph bericht: 'Government in Secret Talks About Strike Against Iran. The Government is to hold secret talks with defence chiefs tomorrow to discuss possible military strikes against Iran. A high-level meeting will take place in the Ministry of Defence at which senior defence chiefs and government officials will consider the consequences of an attack on Iran. It is believed that an American-led attack, designed to destroy Iran's ability to develop a nuclear bomb, is "inevitable" if Teheran's leaders fail to comply with United Nations demands to freeze their uranium enrichment programme. Tomorrow's meeting will be attended by Gen Sir Michael Walker, the chief of the defence staff, Lt Gen Andrew Ridgway, the chief of defence intelligence and Maj Gen Bill Rollo, the assistant chief of the general staff, together with officials from the Foreign Office and Downing Street. The International Atomic Energy Authority, the nuclear watchdog, believes that much of Iran's programme is now devoted to uranium enrichment and plutonium separation, technologies that could provide material for nuclear bombs to be developed in the next three years. The United States government is hopeful that the military operation will be a multinational mission, but defence chiefs believe that the Bush administration is prepared to launch the attack on its own or with the assistance of Israel, if there is little international support. British military chiefs believe an attack would be limited to a series of air strikes against nuclear plants - a land assault is not being considered at the moment. But confirmation that Britain has started contingency planning will undermine the claim last month by Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, that a military attack against Iran was "inconceivable".' Lees verder: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/04/02/wiran02.xml&sSheet=/portal/2006/04/02/ixportaltop.html Of:
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/040206A.shtml
zondag 2 april 2006
De Oorlogsstaat 34
De New York Times stelt in een redactioneel commentaar: 'The Endgame in Iraq. Iraq is becoming a country that America should be ashamed to support, let alone occupy. The nation as a whole is sliding closer to open civil war. In its capital, thugs kidnap and torture innocent civilians with impunity, then murder them for their religious beliefs. The rights of women are evaporating. The head of the government is the ally of a radical anti-American cleric who leads a powerful private militia that is behind much of the sectarian terror. The Bush administration will not acknowledge the desperate situation. But it is, at least, pushing in the right direction, trying to mobilize all possible leverage in a frantic effort to persuade the leading Shiite parties to embrace more inclusive policies and support a broad-based national government. One vital goal is to persuade the Shiites to abort their disastrous nomination of Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari. Mr. Jaafari is unable to form a broadly inclusive government and has made no serious effort to rein in police death squads. Even some Shiite leaders are now calling on him to step aside. If his nomination stands and is confirmed by Parliament, civil war will become much harder to head off. And from the American perspective, the Iraqi government will have become something that no parent should be asked to risk a soldier son or daughter to protect. Unfortunately, after three years of policy blunders in Iraq, Washington may no longer have the political or military capital to prevail. That may be hard for Americans to understand, since it was the United States invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein and helped the Shiite majority to power. Some 140,000 American troops remain in Iraq, more than 2,000 American servicemen and service women have died there so far and hundreds of billions of American dollars have been spent.' Lees verder:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/02/opinion/02sun1.html?ex=1301634000&en=7d98d16956682228&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss Of:
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/040206Z.shtml
Amerikaanse Deserteurs
De BBC bericht: 'US Deserter 'Shocked by Abuses.' A US soldier who fled to Canada to avoid serving in Iraq says he was shocked by alleged atrocities committed by the American military. Josh Key was speaking before Canada's refugee board hearing his asylum plea. Among the incidents, he described soldiers kicking the severed head of an Iraqi like a football in Ramadi. Mr. Key served as an explosives expert in Iraq for eight months, and deserted to Canada with his family in 2004. He faces a court martial back in the US. The soldier, 27, also told Canada's refugee board he saw a US army squad leader shooting the foot off an unarmed Iraqi man. The army's attitude in Iraq was "just shoot and ask questions later", Mr. Key said. Appeal. Mr. Key says he refuses to fight in a war he regards as immoral and illegal. About 20 US soldiers have applied for asylum in Canada. Two have already had their applications rejected. The Immigration and Refugee Board said it was not convinced the men would face persecution if they were sent back to the US. They have said they will appeal against the decision. Speaking to the BBC, Mr. Key said he was in Iraq when he realized the war was unjustified. "The only people that were getting hurt was the innocent; that was innocent Iraqi people, as well as innocent soldiers."' Lees verder: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4859948.stm Of:
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/040106C.shtml
Het Exporteren van Banen
And 55 percent said they worried that foreign conflicts would drive up oil prices or cut off supplies. Only 42 percent said so last August but since then, U.S. consumers have been buffeted by a hurricane-induced slump in domestic oil production, tension in foreign oil fields, and record oil industry profits. Yankelovich, chairman of nonpartisan pollsters Public Agenda, said those figures constitute a ''tipping point.'' ''The oil-dependency issue now meets all the criteria for having reached the tipping point: an overwhelming majority expresses concern about the issue, the intensity of the public's unease has reached significant levels, and the public believes the government is capable of addressing the issue far more effectively than it has until now,'' Yankelovich wrote in an analysis of the survey.' Les verder:
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0331-02.htm
Klimaatverandering 31
De Times bericht: 'Antarctic Air is Warming Faster Than Rest of World. New finding could have implications for sea level rises.
AIR temperatures above the entire frozen continent of Antarctica have risen three times faster than the rest of the world during the past 30 years. While it is well established that temperatures are increasing rapidly in the Antarctic Peninsula, the land tongue that protrudes towards South America, the trend has been harder to confirm over the continent as a whole. Now analysis of weather balloon data by scientists at the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) has shown that not only are the lower reaches of the Antarctic atmosphere warming, but that they are doing so at the fastest rate observed anywhere on Earth.
Temperatures in the troposphere — the lowest 8km (5 miles) of the atmosphere — have increased by between 0.5C and 0.7 C (0.9F and 1.3F) per decade over the past 30 years. This signature of climate change is three times stronger than the average observed around the world, suggesting that global warming is having an uneven impact and that it could be greater for Antarctica. It is already known that temperatures in the Arctic are rising steeply, but with the exception of the Antarctic peninsula, the data for the southern ice-cap are more mixed. Although the Antarctic peninsula has warmed by more than 2.5C during the past 50 years, most surface measurements suggest that there have been no pronounced temperature changes elsewhere on the continent, while some have indicated a small cooling effect. The new research, led by John Turner, of the BAS, shows that the air above the surface of Antarctica is definitely warming, in ways that are not predicted by climate models and that cannot yet be explained. The results are published today in the journal Science.
“The rapid surface warming of the Antarctic Peninsula and the enhanced global warming signal over the whole continent shows the complexity of climate change,” Dr Turner said.
“Greenhouses gases could be having a bigger impact in Antarctica than across the rest of the world and we don’t understand why.' Lees verder:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2111772,00.html Of: http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0331-05.htm
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