The Fog of War Crimes
Must Read - A quote...."The Laws of Armed Conflict and the Geneva Conventions were designed as the basis for military conduct in times of war. Three central principles govern armed conflict: military necessity, distinction (soldiers must engage only valid military targets) and proportionality (the loss of civilian lives and property damage must not outweigh the military advantage sought). Among other things, the Geneva Conventions identify grave breaches of international law as the “willful killing; torture or inhuman treatment; willful causing of great suffering; and extensive destruction and appropriation of property not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully or wantonly.” An examination of the military’s actions in the aftermath of Haditha reveals a clear unwillingness to apply these principles."

CIA Agent Sees Dead People
Must Read - A quote...."C.J. Chivers and David Rohde explained that 'American tactics and training became integral parts of the [al Qaeda] schools,' that instruction was standardized so 'courses taught in different languages and hundreds of miles apart . . . were identical,' They all have the same basic skills. . . and received funds from Gulf donors to cover costs" (never mentioning that the Gulf donors were matching US funds). "

9-11 Cover-Up, Treason and The Bomb
A quote...."In a new article just published Saturday in the Times of London based upon information provided by US government whistleblower Sibel Edmonds, a 37-year-old former Turkish language translator for the FBI, we have not only solid evidence of prior knowledge of 9-11 by high up US government officials, but evidence of treasonous activity by many of those same officials involving efforts to provide US nuclear secrets to America’s enemies, even including Al Qaeda.

Mr 911 - The Giuliani Anthem - (YouTube - 2 min 39 sec -  Added:  January 04, 2008)
Must View - Hilarious - A quote...."http://www.headastate.com for more political cartoons and vote for the next political ad!"

Anthrax-The biggest smoking gun of all?
A quote...."The Terrorist attack you are supposed to forget...
 
What do you think about that terrorist attack that occurred in the U.S. involving WMD? Whenever I ask somebody that they don't know what I'm talking about. Which is what they are supposed to do. It served its purpose. I am talking about the Anthrax letters, which killed several people, and was a textbook example of state sponsored terrorism. Anthrax is a WMD isn't it? Isn't that why we've killed hundreds of thousands of people in Iraq? Because Saddam Hussein didn't have a stockpile of anthrax but since it was claimed he did by our government that was good enough, to go kill, invade, and stay there?

See also....False Flag Ops - Anthrax
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Iranians threatened U.S. ships in Hormuz: Pentagon
War Warning - A quote...."WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Iranian boats aggressively approached three U.S. Naval ships in the Strait of Hormuz, a main shipping route for Gulf oil, at the weekend and threatened that the ships would "explode," U.S. officials said on Monday."

"Hostile" Iranian Ships Hyped By War-Hungry Neo-Cons On Eve Of Bush Trip
Related article - A quote...."Desperate for a Gulf of Tonkin style incident to reinvigorate momentum for an attack on Iran after the National Intelligence Estimate derailed the push for war, the Pentagon is crying foul over the alleged hostile intent of Iranian Revolutionary Guard boats after an incident in the Strait of Hormuz this weekend."
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Iraq: Killer Of U.S. Soldiers Becomes A Hero
A quote...."BAGHDAD, Jan 7 (IPS) - The recent killing of two U.S. soldiers by their Iraqi colleague has raised disturbing questions about U.S. military relations with the Iraqis they work with."

Pakistanis see US as greatest threat
A quote...."Only five 5% of respondents said the Pakistani government should permit US or other foreign troops to enter Pakistan to pursue or capture al-Qaeda fighters, compared to a whopping 80% who said such actions should not be permitted, according to the poll, which was based on in-depth interviews of more than 900 Pakistanis in 19 cities in mid-September."

Pakistan says won't let foreign troops on its soil
A quote...."ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan will not allow any country to conduct military operations on its territory, officials said on Monday, rejecting a report that said the United States was considering authorizing its forces to act in Pakistan."

Bush, Georgia & Authoritarianism
A quote...."As America focuses on the start of the U.S. presidential election process, another election half a world away offers important insights into the nature of democracy and the shortcomings of George W. Bush’s democracy promotion in other countries."

U.S. army raids nursery in Sadr city- ministry
A quote...."The ministry urged U.S. troops to cease their random raids on the ministry's buildings," the statement noted, adding, "The raid on the nursery did not yield any tangible evidence indicating its involvement in terrorist attacks or its use by armed groups as a weapons cache."

From Hype to Fear
A quote...."The unemployment report on Friday was brutally bad. Unemployment rose in December, while job creation was minimal — and it’s highly likely, for technical reasons, that the job number will be revised down, showing an actual decline in employment."
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Economists say 2008 will be a year to forget - Analysts at AEA now see recession as a given
War Warning - A quote...."NEW ORLEANS (MarketWatch) -- Gathered in this city struggling to regain its footing after Hurricane Katrina, a group of leading economists said the U.S. is getting hit by another damaging storm: the global credit crunch."

US recession is already here, warns Merrill
War Warning - A quote...."The US has entered its first full-blown economic recession in 16 years, according to investment bank Merrill Lynch. - Merrill, itself one of Wall Street's biggest casualties of the sub-prime crisis, is the first major bank to declare that a recession in the world's biggest economy is now underway."

Street Sees Recession, Or Something Worse?
War Warning - A quote...."I note this because a far more ominous potential problem is beginning to bubble to the surface.  That is the issue of who is on the hook for having underwritten Credit Default Swaps (CDS) for many multiples of the underlying debt, and how these entities will make good on these CDS.  For those new to CDS, they are basically put options on debt.  If a corporate bond (or other debt obligation) covered by a CDS defaults, those who underwrote (read: Sold) the CDS must pay off those who bought the CDS."

Why are the three financial articles shown above War Warnings?  See....Standard Disclaimer


Eight U.S. State Department Veterans Challenge the Official Account of 9/11
A quote...."January 5, 2008 – Eight U.S. State Department veterans have severely criticized the official account of 9/11 and called for a new investigation.  “There is no question in my mind, that there is enough evidence to justify a very comprehensive and hard hitting investigation of the kind we have not seen, with subpoenas, general questioning of people, releasing a lot of documents,” said Daniel Ellsberg, PhD, in a 2006 interview with Jack Blood. [1]"
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9/11 - From The History File...Pentagon revokes clearance of 'Able Danger' officer
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A soldier's take on the Iraq war & the debates - (YouTube -  9 min 29 sec - Added:  January 03, 2008)
Video - A quote...."Some have questioned my authenticity, but I am not a fake. I have recently returned from a 14 month deployment in Iraq and am now on reservist status. The purpose of this video is to express my frustration about the discrepancies between my experience in Iraq and the perception that the average citizen holds. More than ever, citizens must understand the situation in Iraq. Peace."
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Worst Movie of the Year - Brzezinski and Charlie Wilson's War
A quote...."Imagine, they made a funny movie about how the US helped turn Afghanistan into a killing field. It's the film "Charlie Wilson's War, a ligthearted look of how a skirt-chasing Congressman and a no-nonsense CIA thug helped bring mountains of weapons and money to the fanatic, women-despising "freedom fighters" who gave us 9/11. It's certainly material for a "laugh riot".

Imperialist Propaganda - Second Thoughts on Charlie Wilson's War
Related article - A quote...."I have some personal knowledge of Congressmen like Charlie Wilson (D-2nd District, Texas, 1973-1996) because, for close to twenty years, my representative in the 50th Congressional District of California was Republican Randy "Duke" Cunningham, now serving an eight-and-a-half year prison sentence for soliciting and receiving bribes from defense contractors. Wilson and Cunningham held exactly the same plummy committee assignments in the House of Representatives -- the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee plus the Intelligence Oversight Committee -- from which they could dole out large sums of public money with little or no input from their colleagues or constituents."

See also....
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For sale: West’s deadly nuclear secrets
A quote...."A WHISTLEBLOWER has made a series of extraordinary claims about how corrupt government officials allowed Pakistan and other states to steal nuclear weapons secrets. - Sibel Edmonds, a 37-year-old former Turkish language translator for the FBI, listened into hundreds of sensitive intercepted conversations while based at the agency’s Washington field office."

Nukes, Spooks, - and the Specter of 9/11
Related article - A quote...."The next president may have to deal with a nuclear attack," averred ABC's Charles Gibson at Saturday night's Democratic presidential debate. "The day after a nuclear weapon goes off in an American city, what would we wish we had done to prevent it and what will we actually do on the day after?"

Sibel Speaks...
A quote...."Sibel Edmonds, the FBI whistle-blower who has been gagged for years by the Bush administration over intercepts she translated while at the bureau, was willing to go to prison to get her story told. She spent years trying to get her day in court, but the State Secrets gag against her prohibited her from telling her story even to a FISA judge. After years of trying to fight her way to through the maze of the US court system, Sibel Edmonds finally decided to tell her story no matter the consequences and offered to do so to any interested US media outlets."

See also....US - Nukes for Everyone
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U.S. Considers New Covert Push Within Pakistan
A quote...."WASHINGTON — President Bush’s senior national security advisers are debating whether to expand the authority of the Central Intelligence Agency and the military to conduct far more aggressive covert operations in the tribal areas of Pakistan."

US Military Escalation Gets Underway In Pakistan
A quote...."The US government is considering direct military intervention in the tribal areas of Pakistan, risking an escalated conflict with Pashtun nationalism in the name of crushing al Qaeda. An essay in last week’s Washington Post, a front page story in today’s New York Times and reports from the Real News Network all confirm that a decision to intervene is near. The Times confirms that as many as 50 American personnel, whether special forces or CIA, already operate clandestinely inside the Pakistani border."

US Military Not Welcome in Pakistan: Army
A quote...."ISLAMABAD - The Pakistani military reacted angrily Sunday to reports that US President George W. Bush is considering covert military operations in the country’s volatile tribal areas bordering Afghanistan. - “It is not up to the US administration, it is Pakistan’s government who is responsible for this country,” chief military spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad told AFP."

For more on this see....It Will Happen Every Single Time
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Cutbacks to Iraqi food rations threaten malnutrition and starvation
A quote...."Under conditions of widespread malnutrition, run-away inflation and mass unemployment, the Iraqi Trade Ministry is preparing to slash the provision of subsidised food and basic hygiene necessities under the Public Distribution System (PDS)."

There Will Be Blood...But No Justice for Iraq Atrocity
Some quotes...."The headline in Friday's Washington Post says it all: "No Murder Charges Filed in Haditha Case."  -- "Two dozen civilians slaughtered, as confirmed by the Pentagon itself -- and yet there was no murder. Indeed, Brian Rooney, the lawyer for one of the officer charged with failing to investigate the killings, now says "it's clear now that no massacre occurred, yet this legal fiction is moving forward." Twenty-four actual, physical dead bodies in the ground -- yet the incident was a "legal fiction" -- "no massacre occurred."

Iraqi soldier shot dead two U.S. servicemen
A quote...."BAGHDAD (Reuters) - An Iraqi soldier opened fire on U.S. troops during a joint patrol on December 26, killing two and wounding three others along with a civilian interpreter, Iraqi and U.S. officials said on Saturday."

Report: U.S. soldiers killed by Iraqi beat pregnant woman
A quote...."BEIJING, Jan. 6 (Xinhuanet) -- The Iraqi soldier who shot dead two U.S. soldiers opened fire because their unit refused to stop beating a pregnant woman, a hardline Sunni group said in its website Saturday night."

Editors note: - This report has not been confirmed.  - mpg


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Defying U.S. Plan, Prison Expands in Afghanistan
A quote...."WASHINGTON — As the Bush administration struggles for a way to close the military prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, a similar effort to scale down a larger and more secretive American detention center in Afghanistan has been troubled by political, legal and security problems, officials say."

Secret White House meeting plans US military escalation in Pakistan
A quote...."Top members of the Bush administration together with US military commanders and intelligence chiefs met in secret at the White House Friday to draw up plans for stepped-up military intervention in Pakistan, the New York Times reported Sunday."

McCain: ‘I Dont Think Americans Are Concerned’ If We Stay In Iraq For ‘10,000 Years’
A quote...."Last week, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) said it “would be fine with” him if the U.S. military stayed in Iraq for “a hundred years” or even a “million years.”

What, me worry that Bush is coming?
Must Read - A quote...."Recent experience suggests that we should be very worried that President George W. Bush is coming to the Middle East next week to promote peace. The last time he made such a journey, in June 2003, what ensued was an accelerated cycle of violence and ideological conflict that sees most of the Middle East today wracked by warfare, routine terrorism, and intense political confrontation, threats, and stress."

The Surge and American Military Triumphalism
A quote...."Right-wing pundit Michael Barone has published a column on the surge in Iraq that may be the clearest expression so far of the American triumphalism over the U.S. military and Iraq that emerged in 2007. The current popularity of that idea reflects the degree to which the apologists for war, having been discredited earlier on Iraq, are now on the offensive."

Iran tests new generation of Saeqe fighters
A quote...." TEHRAN -- Iranian Air Force Commander Brigadier General Ahmad Miqani said here on Saturday that the third generation of Saeqe (lightning) fighters has been tested and the fourth and fifth generations have been designed by Iranian experts."

Pakistan, Iran to finalise gas pipeline project by 25th’
A quote...."ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Iran are set to finalise an agreement on a multi-billion gas pipeline project by January 25 this year, Iranian Ambassador to Pakistan Mashallah Shakeri said on Sunday."

At the heart of Pakistan, life keeps a normal beat
A quote...."The village of Old Jatoi is divided by a bitter rivalry in this election season. It pits young against old, splits families, sets tribes against one another. Though the postponed polls are six weeks away, there is one burning question: do you patronise Ghulam Razzaq's teashop or that of Hadyattullah?"

Iran says many OPEC states can’t raise oil output
A quote...."TEHRAN • Many OPEC states are now producing as much oil as they can, limiting the ability of the cartel to raise output even if such a decision was made to help cool crude prices, an Iranian oil official was quoted yesterday as saying."

For more on this see....Ghawar is Dead - Long Live PNAC - 03-07-07 - mpg
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Poll: Fatah losing support among West Bank, Gaza Palestinians
A quote...."Despite [because of] international [i.e. US and Israeli] political and financial support, the popularity of the Fatah faction headed by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has declined [gee...what a surprise] over the past month, partially because of mistrust in the group's leaders, [you don't say!] according to a poll published Friday.  --   [comments] by website author.

Palestinian Red Crescent: 520 Israeli assaults on medics and ambulances in 2007
A quote...."Nablus – Ma'an – Palestinian medical staff were subject to 520 assaults by Israeli forces and settlers during 2007, the Palestinian Red Crescent said on Saturday."

A Scramble at the CIA to Lawyer Up
A quote...."Attorney general Michael Mukasey's decision to launch a full-scale FBI probe into the destruction of CIA interrogation tapes has sent several alarmed agency employees scrambling to find lawyers. To lead the probe, the A.G. named John Durham, a hard-nosed veteran prosecutor who is assembling a team of deputies and FBI agents. Some CIA veterans fear the move is tantamount to unleashing an independent counsel on Langley. "A lot of people are worried," says one former CIA official, who asked not to be identified talking about sensitive matters."

McGovern: Time to impeach Bush
A quote...."WASHINGTON (CNN) – George McGovern, the Democratic Party's 1972 nominee for president, is calling on Congress to impeach President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney."

Rasmussen Reports Surprise!! John Edwards Up 9% (to 23%) Nationally Since 12/29
A quote...."According to the latest Rasmussen Reports numbers, the anticipated Obama national bounce seems, instead, to be pointing John Edwards's way. The latest Rasmussen Daily Democratic Presidential tracking polls show that as of 1/6/2008, John Edwards has increased his percentage of likely US voters by +9 percentage points from 14% to 23%. This compares to Hillary Clinton's loss of -7 percentage points in the same period from 43% to 36% and Barack Obama's +1 point increase during the same period from 24% to 25%."

Paul Supporters Fight Back-- Dump Fox News Stock Intent on Sending it Tumbling
A quote...."Striking back at Fox News for leaving him out of a debate in New Hampshire, Ron Paul supporters have dumped their holdings in Fox News. The graph shows their success."

For everybody who loves freedom in this country, turn off your TV's, stop reading your newspapers, stop listening to your radios and go to the web. - mpg
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ABC Cuts 3 From Presidential Debate
A quote...."NEW YORK (AP) - Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich filed a complaint with the FCC on Friday after ABC News excluded him, fellow Democrat Mike Gravel and Republican Duncan Hunter from its prime-time debates on Saturday."

Ohio's Secretary of State Issues Directive to Allow All Voters to Vote on Paper in 2008!
A quote...."Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner issued a short, unambiguous and to-the-point directive [PDF] last night, to all 56 counties in Ohio still employing unverifiable Direct Recording Electronic (DRE, usually touch-screen) voting machines, that they must make a paper ballot available at the polling place to any voter who wishes to vote on one."

Hip Hip Hooray!! - mpg
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Sun-Times newsroom staff faces 35 layoffs
A quote...."The proposed cuts, which would be one of the worst newsroom purges there in recent memory, are part of a plan the newspaper's parent, Sun-Times Media Group Inc., announced in December to reduce operating costs by $50 million this year as the company's financial picture worsens."

Chile suffers highest inflation in twelve years, 7.8%
A quote...."Consumer prices in Chile rose 0.5% in December and the annual rate reached 7.8% the highest level since June 1996 according to the latest report from the government-run National Statistics Institute, INE."

Prepare for one of the top hottest year on record say experts
A quote...."World temperatures will cool slightly this year but 2008 will remain among the top 10 hottest years on record (since 1850), predicted British weather experts and the University of East Anglia."

Best of Bush 2007 - [10 good things Bush has done in 2007]
A quote...."#1 -  No New Wars: Iraq and Afghanistan haven't quite reached the "pace of success" (Bush's phrase) that the president would like to see. But give him some credit: he didn't start any new wars in 2007."


A Grassy Knoll in Pakistan
Must Read - A quote...."All things have come full circle in the mountains of Pakistan.  The “great game” has been played-out.  The cycle of death which we unleashed upon the world there, bringing the  war on terrorism home to us, now draws us inexorably into the vacuum of its violent ending.  The convulsions now wracking that country threaten to become a revolutionary explosion capable of bringing down the foundations of the world."

See also....US Support of Terror
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Who Killed Benazir Bhutto? Why Not Ask Charlie Wilson… or George Bush?
A quote...."The mystery regarding the death of former Pakistani Prime Minister Bhutto has only deepened since the videotape surfaced showing her being shot from the crowd and an explosion that did not destroy the car in which she was riding. Unfortunately, the General Musharaff had already embarrassingly announced that she did not die from a bullet, but from hitting her head while ducking back into the car."

See also....Sow the Wind, Reap the Whirlwind
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No Murder Charges Filed in Haditha Case
A quote...."01/04/08 "Washington Post" -- -- After a two-year investigation into the killings of up to 24 civilians in Haditha, Iraq, the Marine Corps has decided that none of the Marines involved in the incident will be charged with murder. Instead, two enlisted Marines and two Marine officers will face trial in coming months for the killings and for failing to investigate them."

Iraqis resort to selling children
A qutoe...."Taking advantage of the desperate situation of many families living under poverty conditions in Iraq, foreigners offer a good amount of money in exchange of children as young as one month old and up to five years of age," Khalif said.  --  He said there are fears children are being trafficked for the sex trade and the organ transplant black market."

"Capitalism" at its finest.  After two wars and ten years of sanctions against the Iraqi people, the American elites have reduced them to this abominable state of affairs.  What a proud day for our wealthy elites. - mpg

See also....The Method - 05-07-07 - mpg
See also....The Wealthiest One Percent - The Spirit of Liberal Capitalism - 12-15-05 - mpg
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Sunnis divided in Anbar province
A quote...."As violence has faded, an argument has been raging over who really speaks for Iraq's Sunni Arab minority: the province's largely secular and fiercely independent tribal leaders, who resisted the U.S. invasion, or the main Sunni political party, an Islamist group led by former exiles who cooperated with the Americans from the start.  --  In just over a year, Anbar's sheiks have helped accomplish what U.S. military might, and endless rounds of political negotiations, could not: driving out the extremists who had flourished in Iraq's western desert since the invasion in 2003. Pockets of resistance remain in Anbar, but the U.S. command says many of the Sunni insurgents, now allied with the group calling itself Al Qaeda in Iraq, are seeking new sanctuaries north of Baghdad.  --  Now, the sheiks say, it's payback time. They want more schools, better healthcare, clean water and reliable electricity for their war-ravaged province. They want jobs for their followers. And above all, they want a stake in government for their Iraqi Awakening Conference movement."

Despair, poverty rise in Palestinian area
A quote...."The head of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency has made an emotional appeal for $238 million in emergency assistance for Palestinians in 2008 to ease the chronic unemployment, malnutrition and poverty that is gripping the occupied territories."

Giuliani Advisor Calls For Palestinian Collapse
A quote...."Daniel Pipes, a neocon analyst and Giuliani campaign advisor, recently wrote a piece for JewishWorldReview stating that a Palestinian economic collapse would be good for Israel and the west."

Naomi Klein on the Shock Doctrine - 12.28.07
Must View - TruthOut - AV

Varieties of Imperial Decline: Rearguard Success, Strategic Defeat
A quote...."The US government and its European allies may have had some successes as they mount their various rearguard actions attempting to defeat, stymie or co-opt moves towards unity and integration in Latin America. However, Latin America may yet clinch autonomy from the grip of decrepit but still vicious US and European imperialism."

After The National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on Iran: Let The Great Debate Begin!
Must Read - A quote...."Since the publication of the report's findings, that the Islamic Republic of Iran has not had a military nuclear program at least since 2003, a plethora of reports and leaks have appeared, relevant to the process leading to its publication. Among the most clamorous was the account that, faced with the commitment by Vice President Dick Cheney and others, to block release of the report, members of the intelligence community expressed their willingness to go to the press to leak it, even if that meant they could end up in prison as a result ("Behind the Annapolis Meet and the Iran NIE Shock," EIR, 12.12.07)."

Why Won't You Cover This Story? - [9/11]
A quote...."If you are a media owner, producer or editor, why won't you cover this story? If you are anyone else, why won't you email this list to everyone you know?"

Stonewalled by the C.I.A.
A quote...."The [9/11] commission’s mandate was sweeping and it explicitly included the intelligence agencies. But the recent revelations that the C.I.A. destroyed videotaped interrogations of Qaeda operatives leads us to conclude that the agency failed to respond to our lawful requests for information about the 9/11 plot. Those who knew about those videotapes — and did not tell us about them — obstructed our investigation."

The phantom terrorists of the War on Terror
A quote...."The stories we know about the most famous terrorists and the best known terrorist plots do not match up with the facts. DeepJournal created a seven part series detailing this issue, starting off with the case of the Liquid Bombers."

All Wet: The Liquid Bomber Farce Unfolded
An analysis of the article shown above - A quote...."Dutch writer Daan de Wit has a very important piece of reportage up now at our sister site, Atlantic Free Press: Phantoms of the Terror War. Part I -- The Liquid Bombers. Winter Patriot has already provided an excellent excerpt of de Wit's piece (which was well translated by Ben Kearney). WP has been all over the "liquid bomber" farce for a long time, so we'll go with his excerpt of de Wit below. See the original for the copious links that de Wit provides:"

Blackout of Kucinich, Hiring of Falsifier Kristol, NY Times Loses Credibility Protecting the Insane
A quote...."Anyone who watched Bill Moyer's "Buying the War", PBS, April 26, 2007, could recognize the prime killers in our midst. Under an acceptably polite theme of journalistic failure, conglomerate media was shown, in taped documented detail, to have colluding with corporate governance in a conspiracy to commit mass murder. The methods of deception used were reviewed in depth. The evidence put the NY Times in the dock as the number one criminal, but euphemistically and politely described the criminal insanity as a “lack of investigative reporting and failure to check sources” (like the mouth of Bill Bristol.)"

An Actual Declassified FBI Document: International Terrorism Matters Investigation
Some quotes...."This link is an actual declassified FBI "International Terrorism Matters" investigation of the Thomas Merton Center in Pittsburgh for organizing an Iraq War peace rally." -- "It's important for people to "get it" that it's not terrorists who are being targeted in post-911 legislation."

Extinguishing Liberty’s Light and Independent Views - Thinking for yourself is now a crime
A quote...."  Harman’s bill is called the “Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act.” [     http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h110-1955 ] When HR 1955 becomes law, it will create a commission tasked with identifying extremist people, groups, and ideas.  The commission will hold hearings around the country, taking testimony and compiling a list of dangerous people and beliefs.  The bill will, in short, create massive terrorism in the United States.  But the perpetrators of terrorism will not be Muslim terrorists; they will be government agents and fellow citizens.  --  We are beginning to see who will be the inmates of the detention centers being built in the US by Halliburton under government contract." - links by website author.

If this idiocy becomes law, it will also become Act Number Thirty Six in "Thirty Five Acts to Restore Americans' Rights 11-10-06 - mpg"
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Rep. Harman did not object to CIA torture, agency warned interrogations illegal
A quote...."Lacking from this top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee was any complaint that CIA torture itself reflected badly on the CIA. by releasing this letter, Harman confirms that she acquiesced, at a minimum, to US torture. Any complaints about it now by her are not credible unless accompanied by an acknowledgment of past error."

That's right....Jane "the bimbo from RAND corp" Harman, the woman responsible for that odious piece of crap called HR 1955, also has no objection to torturing people....as long as you keep the tape. - mpg
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Clinton's Embarrassing Flop in Iowa Exposes Dem Leaders' Folly
A quote...." Because of the disastrous course of the last seven years under the Bush/Cheney administration, these independents are willing, as they showed in 2006, to give it a shot and vote for Democrats IF (and that word has to be capitalized and put in italics for emphasis) the Democrats will stand for something more than just Republicanism with frills. Exit polls in November 2006 showed that these voters (and a majority of Democratic voters) were looking for Democrats to stand up forcefully for the Constitution, and to put an end to the Iraq War.  --  They were double-crossed. The Democratic Congressional leadership, under the Clintonesque direction of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, have done none of those things, choosing instead to simply pretend to be an opposition, while actually doing nothing on either front."

Edwards Makes His Case to N.H. Voters
A quote...."MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) - Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards implored New Hampshire voters Friday to repudiate the Iowa caucus results and vote for a candidate ``who will fight for the middle class'' against corporate interests that he accuses of moving jobs overseas and making health care expensive."

Ron Paul's 10% In Iowa Shocks Establishment Media
A quote...."Ron Paul's double digit support in Iowa has shocked establishment media figures who have long derided the Congressman as an insignificant candidate with just 2 or 3 per cent of the vote. Even Fox News' own talking heads now agree that Paul should not be excluded from the upcoming presidential forum as campaign momentum builds"
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California prepares massive cuts in response to budget crisis and economic woes
A quote...."The growing economic crisis in the US and the collapse of the housing market is beginning to have major ramifications on state budgets throughout the country. Nowhere is the impact more acute than in California, where the state government, under the leadership of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, is preparing for massive spending cuts over the next year."

Uruguay’s IPC in 2007 reached 8.5%, highest since 2003
A quote...."Uruguay’s consumer prices index increased 0.3% in December totaling 8.5% in 2007, two full points above the Central Bank’s target and the highest since the 10.2% of 2003, according to the country’s Statistics Institute monthly report"

Americans Sold Out to Foreign Firms at Record Rate
A quote...."Foreign investors exploited the declining U.S. dollar during the past three months to snap up American companies, taking the biggest share of U.S. deals in at least a decade. - Buyers from Dubai to the Netherlands accounted for 46 percent of the $230.5 billion of U.S. mergers and acquisitions announced in the fourth quarter, the largest portion since 1998 when Bloomberg started compiling the data."

One of the more reliable indicators of a stock market top is when Wall Streeters sucker foreigners into a buying frenzy.  Foreigners are just plain stupid, they think because the dollar has reached new lows they're able to get some good deals, when all they would have had to do is just wait another six months (or possibly a year and a half) to get  a much better bunch of deals.

These are the same idiots who bought all those toxic CDO's and CMO's from Wall Street, they're really not very bright.  – mpg
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U.S. stocks pressured by jump in unemployment - Weakest monthly jobs growth in more than four years sparks talk of recession  --  War Warning - A quote...."NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks on Friday sank for a third time this week, with the Nasdaq Composite Index hit with its steepest drop since Feb. 27, 2007, after a jump in unemployment spelled a likely recession for investors."

Why is this a war warning?  See....Standard Disclaimer
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Mapquest, Google scramble to add Lakota to maps
A quote...."Oh, would it were so. But it's gonna take more than a press release to make the defining of a new country's borders a reality. - Lakota Oyate, a Native American activist group that just a couple of weeks ago declared the sovereignty of Lakota Sioux land in the north-central U.S., has issued a map outlining the newly free and independent nation of Lakota. It's shown below, click on image for a larger version..."


AFRICOM: The Recolonization of Africa by Uncle Sam
Must Read - A quote...."The spirit of John F. Kennedy's Peace Corps, a civilian program without any ties to the U.S. military or intelligence community designed to help steer newly-emergent nations, mostly in Africa, to self-sufficiency and development, is officially dead. - George W. Bush's Africa Command (AFRICOM) not only places oil and global military strategy as the number one and two goals of America's Africa policy but places the State Department's assistance program for Africa firmly under Pentagon control."

Kenya's opposition defiant
A quote...."NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya's opposition vowed to defy police for a second day running on Friday and try to hold a mass rally in the capital while the top U.S. diplomat for Africa was flying in amid chaos that has killed more than 300."

Ahhh!  It's starting already.....soon the US will be bombing cities throughout Africa.  The US has already started in Somalia and the Sudan. - mpg
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A slap in the face for Parliament
A quote...."WASHINGTON - The end of 2007 produced a telltale indication of what the New Year seems likely to bring to Iraq. "We the Iraqi members of Parliament signing below demand a timetable for withdrawal of the occupation forces [MNF] from our beloved Iraq," 144 members of the 275-member Parliament, a clear majority, wrote in a declaration April 2007. - Despite this, the George W Bush administration and the Iraqi government led by US-installed Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki pushed a resolution through the UN Security Council to extend by another year the legal cover for foreign troops to operate in Iraq."

France Breaks Iran Ties and Isolates Embassy
War Warning - A quote...."France severed relations with Iran today, and each country prohibited the other's diplomats from leaving."

What ‘Good Time Charlie’ Brought
A quote...."The movie does not mention that the mujahedeen went to war against the Soviet-backed government then in power in Kabul after the government committed the unpardonable crime of allowing female students to attend rural schools. The film casually notes that Gen. Zia, the U.S. ally in this effort to bring “freedom” to Afghanistan, was, like so many of the movie’s heroes, a hard case full of contradictions, as exemplified by his having murdered Pakistan’s previous ruler, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto."

Put Option On America, Part 3
Must Read - A quote....""We, the Jewish people, control America, and the Americans know it."

—Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to Israeli foreign minister Shimon Peres, October 3, 2001.
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Sibel Edmonds Case: Benazir and The 'Islamic' Bomb
A quote....""(Benazir Bhutto) said two things that sealed her fate. She said that if elected PM, she would allow US forces to hunt for bin Laden on Pakistani soil, and that she would allow the Vienna-based IAEA to interrogate the rogue nuclear scientist, AQ Khan about his nuclear smugglings to North Korea, Iran, Libya, etc. After those statements, she had no chance of surviving."  --  There's one small problem: the CIA, the FBI, and Britain's MI6 probably know more about the so-called 'AQ Khan network' than AQ Khan himself.  --  For some reason, the criminals involved in the nuclear black market are still (mostly) walking free - in Pakistan, the US and elsewhere - while those who threatened to expose them - Richard Barlow, Sibel Edmonds, Valerie Plame, and the latest addition, Atif Amin - have been harassed, threatened and gagged."

[Iranian] Leader: US ties detrimental to Iran
A quote...."Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei says restoring diplomatic ties with the US would be detrimental to Iran. - Severing diplomatic ties with the US was one of Iran's principle policies but Tehran had never said that it would pursue this policy forever, the Leader told a gathering of people in the central Iranian city of Yazd on Thursday."

For more on this see....It Will Happen Every Single Time
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Pseudo-Reporting
A quote...."Weird, isn’t it, how swiftly the narrative is laid down for us,” Robert Fisk observed in the U.K’s Independent. Yeah, I’d say so. I’d add: insulting, infuriating, dangerous - this media readiness to act as the propaganda arm of the party in power, to simplify evil as the sole domain of the enemy du jour, to “unite” the country in self-righteousness and hatred of that enemy."

Press Freedom Round-up 2007 - 86 journalists killed in 2007 - up 244% over five years
A quote...."

See also....US - Killing the Messenger
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Mukasey Seeks to Protect White House and DOJ With Durham "CIA Torture Tape" Appointment
A quote...."In naming John Durham yesterday to lead an Executive Branch investigation of the destruction of torture tapes -- tapes destroyed at a time when the 9/11 Commission was seeking full disclosure and Congress and the courts were debating the limits of torture's legality -- Attorney General Mukasey has guaranteed both that the investigation will be narrow in focus (as in you can bet it will stay within the CIA and at lower levels to boot), and far from independent of the compromised Department of Justice senior staff, including AG Mukasey. The scapegoating of lower level CIA officers seems a likelihood."

All Power to the People
Must Read - A quote...."In true populist fashion an election revolution must begin in this country. We must not “waste” our votes on candidates because of the “lesser of two evils” illogic. Voting for the LOTE is like saying to oneself: Should I vote for Satan or Beelzebub? Voting for a third party or Independent candidate that reflects your values not only allows you to hold your head high, but sends a message to the corrupt duopoly of Democrats and Republicans that We the People are deadly serious when we say that we want a nation that cares about its own citizens and has a system of checks and balances that truly reins in any facet of our government that grabs for power not guaranteed in the separation of powers of our Constitution."

It's your last chance America.....you can vote for the New Roman Empire along with slavery, perpetual war and perpetual debt - or - you can vote to undo the past seven years of corruption, murder and mayhem.

It's your choice. – mpg
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Edwards Reconsidered
A quote...."There have been good reasons not to support John Edwards for president. For years, his foreign-policy outlook has been a hodgepodge of insights and dangerous conventional wisdom; his health-care prescriptions have not taken the leap to single payer; and all told, from a progressive standpoint, his positions have been inferior to those of Dennis Kucinich. - But Edwards was the most improved presidential candidate of 2007. He sharpened his attacks on corporate power and honed his calls for economic justice. He laid down a clear position against nuclear power. He explicitly challenged the power of the insurance industry and the pharmaceutical giants."

Edwards ekes out second-place finish
A quote...."Edwards told his supporters: "The one thing clear from the results in Iowa tonight is the status quo lost and change won."

Edwards Vows Vigorous Campaign Vs Obama
A quote...."John Edwards tried to put the best face on a disappointing loss in the Iowa Democratic caucus, but vowed a vigorous campaign against winner Barack Obama in New Hampshire. - "The status quo lost and change won," Edwards told a crowded ballroom of supporters. He said he would go to New Hampshire, which votes Tuesday, "to determine who's best suited to bring about the change this country so desperately needs."

ABC Now Considering Banning Ron Paul from Debates
A quote...."The last article I did produced some stir, as it dealt with the decision by Faux News to ban Ron Paul from the upcoming presidential debate in New Hampshire. Most of the responses were supportive as this is a travesty. That any news agency, let alone a fake one, would purposefully try and influence the outcome of a presidential election has to be unacceptable for all Americans."

Trouble for the GOP Pravda Network: Since Ron Paul Beat Giuliani in Iowa, Should FOX News Drop Rudy and Add Paul to its Pre-New Hampshire Primary Debate  --  A quote...."Shepard Smith, talking with Greta Van Susteren and Susan Estrich went there during the late-night coverage of the Iowa caucuses. - Smith was talking about Rep. Ron Paul's 10% support from caucus-goers. "More than double" what Rudy Giuliani got, Smith said. Then he asked the question: "Should Fox News reconsider" and allow Paul in the GOP forum set for Sunday night? - As it stands: Mike Huckabee, Fred Thompson, Sen. John McCain, Mitt Romney and Giuliani are the only ones invited."

Kucinich files lawsuit after party denies him place on ballot
A quote...."AUSTIN—Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich, along with supporter Willie Nelson, have filed a lawsuit to get Kucinich on the ballot in Texas after they say the Texas Democratic Party rejected his application."

Toyota overtakes Ford for number-two spot in US
A quote...."While Ford was sideswiped by a sharp drop in demand for its profitable but gasoline-guzzling trucks and sports utility vehicle, Toyota's fuel-sipping sedans -- including the popular gas-electric hybrids -- helped it reach its 12th consecutive year of record-breaking sales."

It's hilarious isn't it?  Year, after year, after year, those "nutty", "wacko", "tree hugging" environmentalists tried to "force" the US's big three automakers to adopt higher gasoline mileage standards.   And year, after year, after year, the executives took money from these companies (and therefore from the shareholders) to pay lobbyists to bribe the "conservatives" in our government to shoot the regulations down.

And year, after year, after year, the "Big Three" have steadily become "The Incredibly Shrinking Three"

Sheer geniuses aren’t they? - mpg
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World Food Prices Reach All Time High
A quote...."Food prices worldwide hit record highs in 2006, and all the signs are that they will go on rising this year, and for the foreseeable future. The era of cheap food, the experts say, is over and we are going to have to get used to it. This is easier said than done for millions around the world, as evidenced by protests in Mexico over the cost of corn tortillas, and in Italy last September about the price of (wheat) pasta. Staff writer Peter Ford looks at why."

Borrowers: Victims or Accomplices?
A quote...."Over the past decade those offering fast, easy and expensive credit have proliferated faster than Indian Casinos. Everyday they crowd our mail and email inboxes with pre-approved lines of credit in the thousands of dollars. - As a result Americans now owe these plastic peddling John Gottis an average of $8000 per household. Meanwhile the American savings rate has dropped to minus 1%. Which means a shocking percentage of Americans no longer even live paycheck to paycheck. They have to borrow before that next paycheck."