De Pro Israel Lobby 3

Vice President Dick Cheney addresses the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) 2006 Annual Policy Conference in Washington, Tuesday, March 7, 2006. During his remarks the vice president commented on the unwavering allied relationship between the US and Israel in the global war on terror and discussed the development of democracy and need for security throughout the Middle East.

Joseph Massad is associate professor of modern Arab politics and intellectual history at Columbia University. His recent book The Persistence of the Palestinian Question was published by Routledge. This article was first published in Al-Ahram Weekly's 23-29 March 2006 issue 'In the last 25 years, many Palestinians and other Arabs, in the United States and in the Arab world, have been so awed by the power of the US pro-Israel lobby that any study, book, or journalistic article that exposes the inner workings, the substantial influence, and the financial and political power of this lobby have been greeted with ecstatic sighs of relief that Americans finally can see the "truth" and the "error" of their ways.The underlying argument has been simple and has been told time and again by Washington's regime allies in the Arab world, pro-US liberal and Arab intellectuals, conservative and liberal US intellectuals and former politicians, and even leftist Arab and American activists who support Palestinian rights, namely, that absent the pro-Israel lobby, America would at worst no longer contribute to the oppression of Arabs and Palestinians and at best it would be the Arabs' and the Palestinians' best ally and friend.What makes this argument persuasive and effective to Arabs? Indeed, why are its claims constantly brandished by Washington's Arab friends to Arab and American audiences as a persuasive argument? I contend that the attraction of this argument is that it exonerates the United States' government from all the responsibility and guilt that it deserves for its policies in the Arab world and gives false hope to many Arabs and Palestinians who wish America would be on their side instead of on the side of their enemies. Let me start with the premise of the argument, namely its effect of shifting the blame for US policies from the United States onto Israel and its US lobby. According to this logic, it is not the United States that should be held directly responsible for all its imperial policies in the Arab world and the Middle East at large since World War II, rather it is Israel and its lobby who have pushed it to launch policies that are detrimental to its own national interest and are only beneficial to Israel.' Lees verder:
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article4586.shtml

Irak 55

De Amerikaanse auteur Stephen Pizzo schrijft in AlterNet: 'All the "Good News" From Iraq. I bet you guys didn't really listen to President Bush this week. Too bad, because for once he told the truth. I listened, heard the truth and checked it out. And, as he promised, it was a real eye-opener. It happened at one of Bush's fake "town hall meetings" this week. An Army wife asked Bush why the mainstream media only focuses on "the bad news" from Iraq and never reports "the good news." Bush furrowed his brow and nodded in agreement. Earlier in the week the administration launched a Vietnam-era-style "blame the media" campaign to explain plummeting public support for both the war and Bush himself. The woman's question offered Bush an opportunity for another anti-media riff on that theme. He sympathized with her distress and suggested (pay attention - here comes the truth part) that she should turn to alternative sources for news, "like the internet." (He used to call it the "internets" until his handlers informed him that, like God, the internet is not plural.) Whoa! When I heard Bush say that, it struck me. Of course! The internet! Why have I been relying on the New York Times and Washington Post and CBS, NBC, CNN to tell me what's really going on in Iraq. Hell, they don't even speak the language. And, of course, we learned four years ago we can't believe anything the U.S. government says about the war. So I took the president's advice. I logged right on to the internet and spent the rest of that day reading firsthand reports posted by for-real Iraqis. Who would know better what life in is like today in Iraq? Is there a civil war brewing or not? They live there. They should know. Are things getting better or worse? If I wanted to know if things were getting better or worse in my hometown, would I check with CNN or the White House? No. I'd ask my neighbors and the small business owners on Main Street, Sebastopol, Calif., U.S. of A. So I checked with Iraqis to see how much "good news" I could find. I read dozens of March postings by folks living in U.S.-'liberated' Iraq. Bush was right. It was time well spent. CNN, MSNBC, FOX, eat your hearts out. These postings are a revelation. And, hey, big dude - thanks for the tip, George. Now I suggest you take your own advice and do the same. Here's a sampler and some links to get you started on your search for all the "good news" from Iraq that the scheming evil U.S. media is hiding from you.
From "A Star from Mosul":
March 9: It was about 6 p.m. last night when dad's mobile rang, dad was in the mosque, my aunt was calling him and so mom picked up the mobile instead. Mom's emotions on the phone only led to one conclusion: Someone is dead. … Mom put the mobile aside and said: "Uncle S is dead." … Yesterday he was shot by Americans on his way back home, and he died. Like many others, he died, left us clueless about the reason and saddened with this sudden loss. He was shot many times, only three reached him: One in his arm, one in his neck and one in his chest. But they said they're sorry. They always are.' Lees verder: http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/33998/ Of:
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/032606H.shtml

Martelen 32

Democracy Now bericht: 'Bush Signs Statements to Bypass Torture Ban, Oversight Rules in Patriot Act. When President Bush signed a law banning torture he quietly signed a statement saying he could bypass it. Earlier this month, Bush signed the USA Patriot Act but signed a statement that said he did not consider oversight rules binding. We speak with the Boston Globe reporter who broke the story. The USA Patriot Act was re-authorized this month after a lengthy bi-partisan effort to include new provisions safeguarding Congressional oversight. The new provisions mandated President Bush to brief Congress about how the FBI was using expanded authorities to search and monitor suspects. But shortly after he signed the bill into effect, Bush quietly issued what is known as a signing statement in which he lays out his interpretation of the law. In this document Bush declared he did not consider himself bound by the oversight provisions. Bush wrote he could withhold the information if he decided that disclosing it would harm foreign relations, national security or his duties as President.
This was not the first such statement to come from the White House. When Congress passed a bill outlawing torture of detainees last year, President Bush quietly released a signing statement in which he affirmed his right to bypass the law if he felt it jeopardized national security. Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont said the President"s latest effort represents "nothing short of a radical effort to manipulate the constitutional separation of powers and evade accountability and responsibility for following the law."' Zie: http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/03/27/1450205

Israelisch Expansionisme 10

De Volkskrant-correspondent in Israel bericht vandaag: 'Israël wil van de Palestijnen af... Aan het voorstel van Olmert om alle kolonisten op de Westelijke Jordaanoever samen te brengen in drie grote clusters van nederzettingen en Israël te verschansen achter de muur zitten scherpe kanten. Maar toch, zo heeft de campagne geleerd, bestaat er te veel steun voor om tot hevig debat te leiden. De socialistische Arbeidspartij, de seculiere Meretz en de conservatieve Yisrael Beitenu voelen ook voor zo’n gedeeltelijke terugtrekking – met ieder zijn eigen op- en aanmerkingen. Het plan weerspiegelt het veelgehoorde verlangen de Palestijnen linksom of rechtsom uit het leven te bannen.' Lees verder: http://www.volkskrant.nl/buitenland/article261305.ece Dat is dus de nieuwe formulering: Israel wil van de Palestijnen af, linksom of rechtsom moeten ze uit het joodse leven verbannen worden. Het is een wonderlijke voorstelling van zaken, want als er 1 groep is die van de andere groep afwil, is het wel de Palestijnen die al meer dan een halve eeuw de Israelische terreur over zich heen krijgen, van etnische zuiveringen in 1948 en 1967 tot het dagelijkse geweld van een bezetting en de permanente uitbreiding van joodse nederzettingen op Palestijns land. De Volkskrant-correspondent had kunnen schrijven dat de joods-Israelis na al die jaren van geweld zijn gaan beseffen dat ze niet meer land kunnen stelen zonder in conflict te komen met hun geldschieters, de Amerikanen en de Europeanen. Bovendien heeft de terreur van de bezetting de terreur van Hamas opgeroepen en daar lijdt de Israelische bevolking onder. De joods-Israelis realiseren zich nu dat ze de Palestijnen niet langer meer met geweld kunnen onderdrukken. Daarnaast is gelukt wat rechtse extremisten als Sharon en Olmert altijd al wilden, te weten het vernietigen van de Palestijnse Autoriteit. Niet voor niets heeft Israel Hamas politiek en financieel gesteund. David Shipler, de voormalige correspondent van de New York Times schreef dat 'the Israeli military governer of the Gaza Strip, Brigadier General Yitzhak Segev, once told me how he had financed the Islamic movement as a counterweight to the PLO and the Communists. "The Israeli Government gave me a budget and the military government gives to the mosques," he said. In 1980, when fundamentalist protestors set fire to the office of the Red Crescent Society in Gaza, headed by Dr. Haider Abdel-Shafi, a Communist and PLO supporter, the Israeli Army did nothing.' Meer over de hulp die Hamas van Israel kreeg kunt u lezen in 'Devils Game' van de voortreffelijke Amerikaanse onderzoeksjournalist Robert Dreyfuss. De waarheid is dus veel gecompliceerder dan de simpele voorstelling van zaken van de Volkskrant correspondent. Maar misschien kan die waarheid net als de waarheid over Israels grenzen pas over 58 jaar worden gegeven. Het blijft aanmodderen met de commerciele massamedia.

Irak 54

Dat de Verenigde Staten lak heeft aan het internationaal recht is bekend, dat wordt keer op keer gedocumenteerd bewezen. De New York Times bericht: 'Bush Was Set on Path to War, Memo by British Adviser Says. London - In the weeks before the United States-led invasion of Iraq, as the United States and Britain pressed for a second United Nations resolution condemning Iraq, President Bush's public ultimatum to Saddam Hussein was blunt: Disarm or face war. But behind closed doors, the president was certain that war was inevitable. During a private two-hour meeting in the Oval Office on Jan. 31, 2003, he made clear to Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain that he was determined to invade Iraq without the second resolution, or even if international arms inspectors failed to find unconventional weapons, said a confidential memo about the meeting written by Mr. Blair's top foreign policy adviser and reviewed by The New York Times. "Our diplomatic strategy had to be arranged around the military planning," David Manning, Mr. Blair's chief foreign policy adviser at the time, wrote in the memo that summarized the discussion between Mr. Bush, Mr. Blair and six of their top aides. "The start date for the military campaign was now penciled in for 10 March," Mr. Manning wrote, paraphrasing the president. "This was when the bombing would begin." The timetable came at an important diplomatic moment. Five days after the Bush-Blair meeting, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell was scheduled to appear before the United Nations to present the American evidence that Iraq posed a threat to world security by hiding unconventional weapons. Although the United States and Britain aggressively sought a second United Nations resolution against Iraq - which they failed to obtain - the president said repeatedly that he did not believe he needed it for an invasion. Stamped "extremely sensitive," the five-page memorandum, which was circulated among a handful of Mr. Blair's most senior aides, had not been made public. Several highlights were first published in January in the book "Lawless World," which was written by a British lawyer and international law professor, Philippe Sands.' In early February, Channel 4 in London first broadcast several excerpts from the memo.' Lees verder: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/27/international/europe/27memo.html?hp&ex=1143522000&en=1a8220fd45b2aca0&ei=5094&partner=homepage Of: http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/032706Z.shtml

Amerikaans Terrorisme 10

Via Information Clearing House kunt u kijken naar 'Michael Winterbottom: The Road To Guantánamo. Channel 4's new drama from multi award-winning film director Michael Winterbottom. This docudrama attempts to show the sadism and stupidity of the US and British soldiers. The guards behave with the same cruelty you expect to see from SS officers in lurid second world war movies. It takes a moment or two to realize that these events reflect the reality of those held in Americas notorious gulag. The Road to Guantanamo - Channel 4 - UKChannel 4's new drama from multi award-winning film director Michael Winterbottom – The Road to Guantanamo – created huge international impact and won the prestigious Silver Bear for Direction for Winterbottom and Mat Whitecross in competition at The 56th Berlin International Film Festival. The Road To Guantánamo opens with archive footage of George W Bush, flanked by a stern-faced Tony Blair, declaring his certain knowledge that all the detainees held in Guantánamo are "bad people". Everything that follows is designed to turn these words inside out, as three young British Muslims tell the story of how they came to be in US custody at Guantánamo for over two years, and discuss the Kafkaesque horrors that awaited them there, until finally they were released without charge or apology.' Zie:
http://informationclearinghouse.info/article12439.htm

Irak 53

De Independent bericht: 'US soldiers kill 22 in attack on Baghdad mosque. US forces killed 22 people and wounded eight at a mosque in east Baghdad in an incident likely to lead to increased tensions with the Shia community. Police said the US troops had retaliated after coming under fire. Videotape showed a heap of male bodies with gunshot wounds on the floor of the Imam's living quarters in what was said to be the Al Mustafa mosque. There were 5.56mm shell casings on the floor, which is the type of ammunition used by US soldiers. A weeping man in white Arab robes is shown stepping among the bodies. Police Lt Hassan said some of the casualties were at the office Dawa, the party of the Prime Minister, Ibrahim al-Jaafari. Haidar al-Obaidi, a senior Dawa official, said: "The lives of Iraqis are not cheap. If the American blood is valuable to them, the Iraqi blood is valuable to us." The US military would neither confirm not deny the incident but the US army in Iraq has been strongly criticised over the past week for killing Iraqi civilians and falsely claiming that they were insurgents or caught in cross fire.' Lees verder:
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article353870.ece