CONTENTS / BLOG (18)
Just World Campaign
• [Policies of 'pro-family' politicians expanding under-class – Stratton]
The Sunday Times Magazine (Perth, W. Australia),
sattlerd@ sundaytimes. newsltd. com.au ;
Part of the article
"The next big thing; WA in 2006," (pp 8-11), by Peter Caruso, on pages 10-11, January 1, 2006
PERTH: For an insight into popular culture trends that are likely to influence our lives, Curtin University's Professor Jon Stratton says 2006 will be the year of communication and mobility, with more affordable prices for mobile phones that combine MP3, camera and internet.
[...]
Professor Stratton says we will start to see alternative-fuel vehicles on the road (such as Toyota's Prius hybrid
car) and more two-door cars. [...]
From a broader social perspective Professor Stratton is concerned by changes to social welfare and workplace laws that are making life more difficult for a population increasingly made up of part-time and casual workers, single people, single parents and couples without children or one child.
"The family structure is changing dramatically. Politicians want a return to the traditional family, but the policy changes they make are creating an under-class," he says.
This
series begins at: http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/cont.htm
"What worries me is the extension in the size of this underclass. The US has a large underclass and these changes are taking us that way."
Professor Station also expects a mass of baby boomers will enter retirement this year with less money than they thought they would have. "As a consequence many will not be able to have the retirement they expected. Many of them are about to get a big shock." [with pic of Prof. Stratton]
[Jan 1, 2006]
• Churchill plan to put Hitler in electric chair
The West Australian,
p 13, Monday, January 2, 2006
LONDON: British wartime Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill planned to execute Adolf Hitler in the electric chair if the Nazi leader fell into Allied hands.
Cabinet documents released for the first time yesterday chart Cabinet discussions from 1942-45 over how to deal with senior Nazis if they were caught.
Churchill opposed Allied plans for war crimes trials and wanted summarily to execute leading nazi figures, including Hitler whom he regarded as "the mainspring of evil" and a "gangster".
They show Churchill to be a ruthless commander prepared to override moral and legal considerations to defeat Germany and willing, against the advice of Cabinet ministers, to "wipe out" defenceless German villages in retaliation for nazi atrocities in Czechoslovakia.
He also was willing to "bump off" Himmler and shoot German prisoners of war if Germany shot British PoWs.
The disclosures are in shorthand in notebooks kept by Britain's wartime Deputy Cabinet Secretary Sir Norman Brook.
The electric chair was never used in Britain before the final abolition of the death penalty in 1965.
The papers reveal that the plight of Jewish communities in Europe and the Middle East was discussed often.
On December 14, 1942, Churchill asked Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden whether reports about "the wholesale massacre of Jews" by "electrical methods" were true. Eden said: "Jews were being withdrawn from Norway and sent to Poland, for some such purposes evidently". However, he could not confirm the method of killing.
Churchill seemed to have been more concerned with the fate of "Poles, not Jews" as the war drew to a close. On March 28, 1945, he said: "Actually we have a very small Jewish population compared with other countries. I'm only concerned with Poles -- and Poles who have really fought."
Other papers show that Churchill favoured letting Indian independence campaigner Mahatma Gandhi die if he went on a hunger strike while interned while India was under threat of invasion by the Japanese. Gandhi was held in the Aga Khan's palace in August 1942 after speaking out against India's involvement in the fight against nazi Germany and demanding civil disobedience.
After much discussion, ministers decided in January 1943 that although they could not publicly give in to a hunger strike, they would be willing to release Gandhi on compassionate grounds if he seemed likely to die. Churchill said: "I would keep him there (in prison) and let him do as he likes." #
[Jan 2, 06]
• De Gaulle faced arrest
The West Australian,
p 13, Monday, January 2, 2006
LONDON: Sir Winston Churchill was prepared to have World War II Free French leader Charles de Gaulle arrested if he tried to leave Britain.
Cabinet documents reveal the animosity between the pair, both revered in then: homelands as heroes. Describing the French leader as having "insensate ambition", Churchill also said De Gaulle was a barrier to "trustworthy" relations between the two countries.
In March 1943 when his request to visit Free French troops was turned down, the general, who had fled to Britain in 1940 after the German invasion, complained that he was being treated as a prisoner of war.
Churchill's response was that the Frenchman must be told "bluntly" to do as he was told. "And arrest him if he tries to leave, e.g. by French destroyer. Security measures should be laid on to prevent that," Churchill said, according to notes taken by Deputy Cabinet Secretary Sir Norman Brook.
Churchill feared that De Gaulle's visit would jeopardise discussions between the United States and rival French leader Gen. Henri Giraud. #
[Jan 2, 06]
• [Israel preparing to use nuclear weapons against Iran -- Mordechai Vanunu.]
![Iran [Persia] flag; Mooney's MiniFlags](images/flags/flagiran16.gif)
Voyenny Parad, No. 4, 2005 (original Russian),
"Interview with Mordechai Vanunu: Israel preparing to use nuclear weapons against Iran,"
by courtesy of GlobalResearch.ca , Global Research Feature Article, January 2, 2006
Each and every nuclear bomb is a Holocaust in itself. It can kill, devastate cities, destroy entire peoples.
The first rumors of Israel working on its own nuclear bomb arose back in the mid-1950s, when the Jewish state's scientific institutions started serious nuclear physics research.
But only in 1986 did the rest of the world find out the real scale of Israel's work on nuclear weapons, thanks to Israeli nuclear scientist Mordechai Vanunu.
With the assistance of Irish journalists Sean O'Carroll and Maria Escribano, we have managed to interview Israel's most prominent dissident. Mordechai Vanunu told us about the threat of a nuclear catastrophe hanging over the Middle East.
Question: You say that Israel already has nuclear weapons. Iran is on its way to acquiring them. And these two countries regularly exchange threats about bombing each other. How likely is a nuclear conflict in the Middle East?
Mordechai Vanunu: All I can say is this: the Israeli government is preparing to use nuclear weapons in its next war with the Islamic world.
Here where I live, people often talk of the Holocaust. But each and every nuclear bomb is a Holocaust in itself. It can kill, devastate cities, destroy entire peoples.
The Israeli Defense Ministry has long had a nuclear arsenal. Israeli intelligence tried to keep the existence of this arsenal secret from the outside world, but fortunately did not succeed.
Nevertheless, they are still trying to silence me - even now, after seventeen-and-a-half years in prison.
Question: Do you know how many nuclear bombs Israel has?
Mordechai Vanunu: When I worked at Dimona, nuclear materials were already being produced there - plutonium, lithium, tritium, and others. Enough to make ten nuclear bombs per year. In other words, starting from 1985, Israel has over 200 nuclear warheads by now.
Question: Why did you decide to speak out in 1986?
Mordechai Vanunu: I simply could not help it. Incidentally, now the Western countries, including the US, that condemn Iran for its intention to destroy Israel should condemn themselves first of all. It were they that gave nuclear technologies to the Israelis and helped them to build the center in Dimona where the atomic bomb was created, although the Israeli government did not recognize this fact.
[...]
Question: Israel and Iran are on the threshold of nuclear confrontation now. Is nuclear apocalypse inevitable in Middle East?
Mordechai Vanunu: No doubt, the main reason for this confrontation is the Palestinian problem. For many decades Palestinians have been living in occupation like in prison. They will never stop fighting and sacrificing their lives for the sake of liberation.
Question: But this is not a justification for terrorism and statements similar to those made by the President of Iran when he promised to "wipe Israel off the map"?
Mordechai Vanunu: Killing Palestinians, including civilians - demolishing their houses and pushing people into ghettoes - isn't that terrorism?
Translated by Pavel Pushkin, Defense and Security (Russia)
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Centre for Research on Globalization.
The Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG) at www.globalresearch.ca grants permission to cross-post original Global Research articles in their entirety, or any portions thereof, on community internet sites, as long as the text & title are not modified. The source must be acknowledged and an active URL hyperlink address to the original CRG article must be indicated. The author's copyright note must be displayed. For publication of Global Research articles in print or other forms including commercial internet sites, contact: crgeditor@yahoo.com
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© Copyright , Voyenny Parad, No. 4, 2005 (original Russian), 2006
[COMMENT: Voyenny Parad seems to be a periodical of a military supply company, seemingly linked to the Security apparatus of the Russian government. Russia's president Putin is a former secret policeman. Elements of the Russian ruling classes have links to Zionist Israel, whereas other elements still dream of seizing more oil-rich areas, and seizing all-weather seaports.
Conclusion: Exercise caution when pondering the above newsitem.
COMMENT ENDS.]
[Jan 2, 06]
• [Indian Catholics including pastor and two nuns attacked by Hindu extremists in pre-Christmas season]
Religion Today Summaries,
"Indian Catholics Attacked on Way to Christmas Mass,"
www.crosswalk mail.com/ omuuxov_ fagvvax. html ,
Compass Direct, January 2, 2006
INDIA: Hindu extremists launched two attacks on Catholics in the northern state of Rajasthan during the week before Christmas.
On Saturday (December 24), nine members of the Hindu extremist group Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) attacked four Catholics, including a priest, as they traveled by jeep to a Christmas mass that night in a village in Banswara district.
Pulling them from the jeep, the extremists stripped them down to their underwear and beat them until they were unconscious.
The victims lay on the road for four hours before they were discovered.
In separate incidents, two nuns were attacked as they waited at a bus stop and a statue of the Virgin Mary was stolen.
[Jan 2, 06]
• [Federal Government folly over 'Kopassus', and other comments.]
On Line Opinion (Australia's free Internet journal of social and political debate),
www.online opinion.com.au ,
January 3, 2006
Now for some new media thinking, please. http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=4001 ,
Media - Natasha Cica - posted 3/1/2006
How ABA tried to hang Kerry Packer.
Media - David Flint - posted 3/1/2006
Let's talk about happiness ... and sex.
Humour & Satire - James McConvill - posted 3/1/2006
Federal Government folly over 'Kopassus'. http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=3964 ,
International - Gary Brown - posted 3/1/2006
Anecdotal evidence points to relief for MS sufferers.
Health - Cris Kerr - posted 3/1/2006
Helping others to help ourselves.
International - Tim O'Connor - posted 30/12/2005
'No win, no fee' advertising ban is ridiculous.
Law & Liberties - Bruce Simmonds - posted 30/12/2005
Yes - we will feel better if we are taxed more. It's true!.
Society - Owen McShane - posted 30/12/2005
Creation, cultural wars and campus crusade.
Religion & Spirituality - Alan Matheson - posted 30/12/2005
Enhancing shareholder value with social responsibility.
Economics - Shann Turnbull - posted 30/12/2005
An ethical and sustainable Australia makes sound business sense.
Environment - Simon Divecha - posted 29/12/2005
Clean transport fuels for Australia.
http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=3920 ,
Feature - Mike Clarke - posted 29/12/2005
Beef-up bargaining to retain fairnes for workers.
Domestic Politics - Alex Collins and Christian Seibert - posted 29/12/2005
Cross media laws - new media not quite there yet.
Media - Bill Birtles - posted 29/12/2005
Home education can help prevent bullying.
Education - Susan Wight - posted 29/12/2005
Cronulla: finger pointing not the answer. http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=3999 ,
Society - Jason Falinski - posted 28/12/2005
Legalising abortion in Victoria.
Domestic Politics - Sukrit Sabhlok - posted 28/12/2005
The forgotten literary canon.
The Arts - Cireena Simcox - posted 28/12/2005
The art of censorship.
Domestic Politics - Christopher van Opstal - posted 28/12/2005
Book review: 'Travellers Tales' - Australians abroad confront the 'other'.
http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=3973,
The Arts - Vivienne Wynter - posted 28/12/2005
Brisbane Institute:
"Closing the space between us - the crisis in Aboriginal health and education", presented by Jeff McMullen, an award winning journalist, author and human rights activist. He has been campaigning for the last 20 years about the Indigenous health and education crisis in Australia. In 2002, he became a Director of 'Ian Thorpe's Fountain of Youth', a trust supporting research into childhood illnesses and now involved in bringing better medical care to remote aboriginal communities.
Evening seminar: February 28, 2006 at 6pm sharp. Doors open at 5.30pm. Long Room, Customs House, 399 Queen Street, CBD. Cost: $22 General admission, $11 concession, free for BI sponsors/members. GST. RSVP: February 27, 2006. Tel 07 3220 2198 or rsvp@brisinst.org.au
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[Jan 3, 06]
• [Are USA and Israel planning Nuclear War against Iran?]
GlobalResearch.ca (Canada), Global Research Feature Article,
"Nuclear War against Iran,"
by Michel Chossudovsky, January 3, 2006
The launching of an outright war using nuclear warheads against Iran is now in the final planning stages.
Coalition partners, which include the US, Israel and Turkey are in "an advanced stage of readiness".
Various military exercises have been conducted, starting in early 2005. In turn, the Iranian Armed Forces have also conducted large scale military maneuvers in the Persian Gulf in December in anticipation of a US sponsored attack.
Since early 2005, there has been intense shuttle diplomacy between Washington, Tel Aviv, Ankara and NATO headquarters in Brussels.
In recent developments, CIA Director Porter Goss on a mission to Ankara, requested Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan "to provide political and logistic support for air strikes against Iranian nuclear and military targets." Goss reportedly asked " for special cooperation from Turkish intelligence to help prepare and monitor the operation." (DDP, 30 December 2005).
In turn, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has given the green light to the Israeli Armed Forces to launch the attacks by the end of March:
All top Israeli officials have pronounced the end of March, 2006, as the deadline for launching a military assault on Iran.... The end of March date also coincides with the IAEA report to the UN on Iran's nuclear energy program. Israeli policymakers believe that their threats may influence the report, or at least force the kind of ambiguities, which can be exploited by its overseas supporters to promote Security Council sanctions or justify Israeli military action.
(James Petras, Israel's War Deadline: Iran in the Crosshairs, www.global research.ca/ index.php? context=view Article&code= PET20051225 &articleId= 1635 ; Global Research, December 2005)
The US sponsored military plan has been endorsed by NATO, although it is unclear, at this stage, as to the nature of NATO's involvement in the planned aerial attacks.
"Shock and Awe"
The various components of the military operation are firmly under US Command, coordinated by the Pentagon and US Strategic Command Headquarters (USSTRATCOM) at the Offutt Air Force base in Nebraska.
The actions announced by Israel would be carried out in close coordination with the Pentagon. The command structure of the operation is centralized and ultimately Washington will decide when to launch the military operation.
US military sources have confirmed that an aerial attack on Iran would involve a large scale deployment comparable to the US "shock and awe" bombing raids on Iraq in March 2003:
American air strikes on Iran would vastly exceed the scope of the 1981 Israeli attack on the Osiraq nuclear center in Iraq, and would more resemble the opening days of the 2003 air campaign against Iraq. Using the full force of operational B-2 stealth bombers, staging from Diego Garcia or flying direct from the United States, possibly supplemented by F-117 stealth fighters staging from al Udeid in Qatar or some other location in theater, the two-dozen suspect nuclear sites would be targeted.
Military planners could tailor their target list to reflect the preferences of the Administration by having limited air strikes that would target only the most crucial facilities ... or the United States could opt for a far more comprehensive set of strikes against a comprehensive range of WMD related targets, as well as conventional and unconventional forces that might be used to counterattack against US forces in Iraq
(See Globalsecurity.org at http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/iran-strikes.htm )
In November, US Strategic Command conducted a major exercise of a "global strike plan" entitled "Global Lightening". The latter involved a simulated attack using both conventional and nuclear weapons against a "fictitious enemy".
Following the "Global Lightening" exercise, US Strategic Command declared an advanced state of readiness (See our analysis below)
While Asian press reports stated that the "fictitious enemy" in the Global Lightening exercise was North Korea, the timing of the exercises, suggests that they were conducted in anticipation of a planned attack on Iran.
Consensus for Nuclear War
No dissenting political voices have emerged from within the European Union.
There are ongoing consultations between Washington, Paris and Berlin. Contrary to the invasion of Iraq, which was opposed at the diplomatic level by France and Germany, Washington has been building "a consensus" both within the Atlantic Alliance and the UN Security Council. This consensus pertains to the conduct of a nuclear war, which could potentially affect a large part of the Middle East Central Asian region.
Moreover, a number of frontline Arab states are now tacit partners in the US/ Israeli military project. A year ago in November 2004, Israel's top military brass met at NATO headqaurters in Brtussels with their counterparts from six members of the Mediterranean basin nations, including Egypt, Jordan, Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria and Mauritania. A NATO-Israel protocol was signed. Following these meetings, joint military exercises were held off the coast of Syria involving the US, Israel and Turkey. and in February 2005, Israel participated in military exercises and "anti-terror maneuvers" together with several Arab countries.
The media in chorus has unequivocally pointed to Iran as a "threat to World Peace".
The antiwar movement has swallowed the media lies. The fact that the US and Israel are planning a Middle East nuclear holocaust is not part of the antiwar/ anti-globalization agenda.
The "surgical strikes" are presented to world public opinion as a means to preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons.
We are told that this is not a war but a military peace-keeping operation, in the form of aerial attacks directed against Iran's nuclear facilities.
Mini-nukes: "Safe for Civilians"
The press reports, while revealing certain features of the military agenda, largely serve to distort the broader nature of the military operation, which contemplates the preemptive use of tactical nuclear weapons.
The war agenda is based on the Bush administration's doctrine of "preemptive" nuclear war under the 2002 Nuclear Posture Review.
Media disinformation has been used extensively to conceal the devastating consequences of military action involving nuclear warheads against Iran. The fact that these surgical strikes would be carried out using both conventional and nuclear weapons is not an object of debate.
According to a 2003 Senate decision, the new generation of tactical nuclear weapons or "low yield" "mini-nukes", with an explosive capacity of up to 6 times a Hiroshima bomb, are now considered "safe for civilians" because the explosion is underground.
Through a propaganda campaign which has enlisted the support of "authoritative" nuclear scientists, the mini-nukes are being presented as an instrument of peace rather than war. The low-yield nukes have now been cleared for "battlefield use", they are slated to be used in the next stage of America's "war on Terrorism" alongside conventional weapons:
Administration officials argue that low-yield nuclear weapons are needed as a credible deterrent against rogue states.[Iran, North Korea] Their logic is that existing nuclear weapons are too destructive to be used except in a full-scale nuclear war. Potential enemies realize this, thus they do not consider the threat of nuclear retaliation to be credible. However, low-yield nuclear weapons are less destructive, thus might conceivably be used. That would make them more effective as a deterrent.
(Opponents Surprised By Elimination of Nuke Research Funds, Defense News November 29, 2004)
In an utterly twisted logic, nuclear weapons are presented as a means to building peace and preventing "collateral damage". The Pentagon has intimated, in this regard, that the 'mini-nukes' (with a yield of less than 5000 tons) are harmless to civilians because the explosions 'take place under ground'. Each of these 'mini-nukes', nonetheless, constitutes -- in terms of explosion and potential radioactive fallout -- a significant fraction of the atom bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945. Estimates of yield for Nagasaki and Hiroshima indicate that they were respectively of 21000 and 15000 tons
( http://www.warbirdforum.com/hiroshim.htm )
In other words, the low yielding mini-nukes have an explosive capacity of one third of a Hiroshima bomb.
The earth-penetrating capability of the [nuclear] B61-11 is fairly limited, however. Tests show it penetrates only 20 feet or so into dry earth when dropped from an altitude of 40,000 feet. Even so, by burying itself into the ground before detonation, a much higher proportion of the explosion energy is transferred to ground shock compared to a surface bursts. Any attempt to use it in an urban environment, however, would result in massive civilian casualties. Even at the low end of its 0.3-300 kiloton yield range, the nuclear blast will simply blow out a huge crater of radioactive material, creating a lethal gamma-radiation field over a large area.
http://www.fas.org/faspir/2001/v54n1/weapons.htm
Gbu 28 Guided Bomb Unit-28 (GBU-28)
The new definition of a nuclear warhead has blurred the distinction between conventional and nuclear weapons:
'It's a package (of nuclear and conventional weapons). The implication of this obviously is that nuclear weapons are being brought down from a special category of being a last resort, or sort of the ultimate weapon, to being just another tool in the toolbox,' said Kristensen. (Japan Economic News Wire, op cit)
We are a dangerous crossroads: military planners believe their own propaganda.
The military manuals state that this new generation of nuclear weapons are "safe" for use in the battlefield. They are no longer a weapon of last resort. There are no impediments or political obstacles to their use. In this context, Senator Edward Kennedy has accused the Bush Administration for having developed "a generation of more useable nuclear weapons."
The international community has endorsed nuclear war in the name of World Peace.
"Making the World safer" is the justification for launching a military operation which could potentially result in a nuclear holocaust.
But nuclear holocausts are not front page news! In the words of Mordechai Vanunu,
The Israeli government is preparing to use nuclear weapons in its next war with the Islamic world. Here where I live, people often talk of the Holocaust. But each and every nuclear bomb is a Holocaust in itself. It can kill, devastate cities, destroy entire peoples. (See interview with Mordechai Vanunu, December 2005).
Space and Earth Attack Command Unit
A preemptive nuclear attack using tactical nuclear weapons would be coordinated out of US Strategic Command Headquarters at the Offutt Air Force base in Nebraska, in liaison with US and coalition command units in the Persian Gulf, the Diego Garcia military base, Israel and Turkey.
Under its new mandate, USSTRATCOM has a responsibility for "overseeing a global strike plan" consisting of both conventional and nuclear weapons. In military jargon, it is slated to play the role of "a global integrator charged with the missions of Space Operations; Information Operations; Integrated Missile Defense; Global Command & Control; Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance; Global Strike; and Strategic Deterrence.... "
In January 2005, at the outset of the military build-up directed against Iran, USSTRATCOM was identified as "the lead Combatant Command for integration and synchronization of DoD-wide efforts in combating weapons of mass destruction."
To implement this mandate, a brand new command unit entitled Joint Functional Component Command Space and Global Strike, or JFCCSGS was created.
JFCCSGS has the mandate to oversee the launching of a nuclear attack in accordance with the 2002 Nuclear Posture Review, approved by the US Congress in 2002. The NPR underscores the pre-emptive use of nuclear warheads not only against "rogue states" but also against China and Russia.
Since November, JFCCSGS is said to be in "an advance state of readiness" following the conduct of relevant military exercises. The announcement was made in early December by U.S. Strategic Command to the effect that the command unit had achieved "an operational capability for rapidly striking targets around the globe using nuclear or conventional weapons." The exercises conducted in November used "a fictional country believed to represent North Korea" (see David Ruppe, 2 December 2005):
"The new unit [JFCCSGS] has 'met requirements necessary to declare an initial operational capability' as of Nov. 18. A week before this announcement, the unit finished a command-post exercise, dubbed Global Lightening, which was linked with another exercise, called Vigilant Shield, conducted by the North American Aerospace Defend Command, or NORAD, in charge of missile defense for North America.
'After assuming several new missions in 2002, U.S. Strategic Command was reorganized to create better cooperation and cross-functional awareness,' said Navy Capt. James Graybeal, a chief spokesperson for STRATCOM. 'By May of this year, the JFCCSGS has published a concept of operations and began to develop its day-to-day operational requirements and integrated planning process.'
'The command's performance during Global Lightning demonstrated its preparedness to execute its mission of proving integrated space and global strike capabilities to deter and dissuade aggressors and when directed, defeat adversaries through decisive joint global effects in support of STRATCOM,' he added without elaborating about 'new missions' of the new command unit that has around 250 personnel.
Nuclear specialists and governmental sources pointed out that one of its main missions would be to implement the 2001 nuclear strategy that includes an option of preemptive nuclear attacks on 'rogue states' with WMDs. (Japanese Economic Newswire, 30 December 2005)
CONCEPT PLAN (CONPLAN) 8022
JFCCSGS is in an advanced state of readiness to trigger nuclear attacks directed against Iran or North Korea.
The operational implementation of the Global Strike is called CONCEPT PLAN (CONPLAN) 8022. The latter is described as "an actual plan that the Navy and the Air Force translate into strike package for their submarines and bombers,' (Ibid).
CONPLAN 8022 is 'the overall umbrella plan for sort of the pre-planned strategic scenarios involving nuclear weapons.'
'It's specifically focused on these new types of threats -- Iran, North Korea -- proliferators and potentially terrorists too,' he said. 'There's nothing that says that they can't use CONPLAN 8022 in limited scenarios against Russian and Chinese targets.'(According to Hans Kristensen, of the Nuclear Information Project, quoted in Japanese economic News Wire, op cit)
The mission of JFCCSGS is to implement CONPLAN 8022, in other words to trigger a nuclear war with Iran.
The Commander in Chief, namely George W. Bush would instruct the Secretary of Defense, who would then instruct the Joint Chiefs of staff to activate CONPLAN 8022.
CONPLAN is distinct from other military operations. it does not contemplate the deployment of ground troops.
CONPLAN 8022 is different from other war plans in that it posits a small-scale operation and no "boots on the ground." The typical war plan encompasses an amalgam of forces -- air, ground, sea -- and takes into account the logistics and political dimensions needed to sustain those forces in protracted operations.... The global strike plan is offensive, triggered by the perception of an imminent threat and carried out by presidential order.) (William Arkin, Washington Post, May 2005)
The Role of Israel
Since late 2004, Israel has been stockpiling US made conventional and nuclear weapons systems in anticipation of an attack on Iran. This stockpiling which is financed by US military aid was largely completed in June 2005. Israel has taken delivery from the US of several thousand "smart air launched weapons" including some 500 'bunker-buster bombs, which can also be used to deliver tactical nuclear bombs.
The B61-11 is the "nuclear version" of the "conventional" BLU 113, can be delivered in much same way as the conventional bunker buster bomb. (See Michel Chossudovsky, http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/CHO112C.html , see also http://www.thebulletin.org/article_nn.php?art_ofn=jf03norris ) .
Moreover, reported in late 2003, Israeli Dolphin-class submarines equipped with US Harpoon missiles armed with nuclear warheads are now aimed at Iran. (See Gordon Thomas, http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/THO311A.html )
Late April 2005. Sale of deadly military hardware to Israel. GBU-28 Buster Bunker Bombs:
Coinciding with Putin's visit to Israel, the US Defence Security Cooperation Agency (Department of Defense) announced the sale of an additional 100 bunker-buster bombs produced by Lockheed Martin to Israel. This decision was viewed by the US media as "a warning to Iran about its nuclear ambitions."
The sale pertains to
the larger and more sophisticated "Guided Bomb Unit-28 (GBU-28) BLU-113 Penetrator" (including the WGU-36A/B guidance control unit and support equipment). The GBU-28 is described as "a special weapon for penetrating hardened command centers located deep underground. The fact of the matter is that the GBU-28 is among the World's most deadly "conventional" weapons used in the 2003 invasion of Iraq, capable of causing thousands of civilian deaths through massive explosions.
The Israeli Air Force are slated to use the GBU-28s on their F-15 aircraft.
(See text of DSCA news release at http://www.dsca.osd.mil/PressReleases/36-b/2005/Israel_05-10_corrected.pdf
Extension of the War
Tehran has confirmed that it will retaliate if attacked, in the form of ballistic missile strikes directed against Israel (CNN, 8 Feb 2005). These attacks, could also target US military facilities in Iraq and Persian Gulf, which would immediately lead us into a scenario of military escalation and all out war.
At present there are three distinct war theaters: Afghanistan, Iraq and Palestine. The air strikes against Iran could contribute to unleashing a war in the broader Middle East Central Asian region.
Moreover, the planned attack on Iran should also be understood in relation to the timely withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon, which has opened up a new space, for the deployment of Israeli forces. The participation of Turkey in the US-Israeli military operation is also a factor, following last year's agreement reached between Ankara and Tel Aviv.
More recently, Tehran has beefed up its air defenses through the acquisition of Russian 29 Tor M-1 anti-missile systems. In October, with Moscow's collaboration, "a Russian rocket lifted an Iranian spy satellite, the Sinah-1, into orbit." (see Chris Floyd)
The Sinah-1 is just the first of several Iranian satellites set for Russian launches in the coming months.
Thus the Iranians will soon have a satellite network in place to give them early warning of an Israeli attack, although it will still be a pale echo of the far more powerful Israeli and American space spies that can track the slightest movement of a Tehran mullah's beard. What's more, late last month Russia signed a $1 billion contract to sell Iran an advanced defense system that can destroy guided missiles and laser-guided bombs, the Sunday Times reports. This too will be ready in the next few months. (op.cit.)
Ground War
While a ground war is not envisaged under CONPLAN, the aerial bombings could lead through the process of escalation into a ground war.
Iranian troops could cross the Iran-Iraq border and confront coalition forces inside Iraq. Israeli troops and/or Special Forces could enter into Lebanon and Syria.
In recent developments, Israel plans to conduct military exercises as well as deploy Special Forces in the mountainous areas of Turkey bordering Iran and Syria with the collaboration of the Ankara government:
Ankara and Tel Aviv have come to an agreement on allowing the Israeli army to carry out military exercises in the mountainous areas [in Turkey] that border Iran.
[According to] ... a UAE newspaper ..., according to the agreement reached by the Joint Chief of Staff of the Israeli army, Dan Halutz, and Turkish officials, Israel is to carry out various military manoeuvres in the areas that border Iran and Syria. [Punctuation as published here and throughout.] [Dan Halutz] had gone to Turkey a few days earlier.
Citing certain sources without naming them, the UAE daily goes on to stress: The Israeli side made the request to carry out the manoeuvres because of the difficulty of passage in the mountain terrains close to Iran's borders in winter.
The two Hakari [phonetic; not traced] and Bulo [phonetic; not traced] units are to take part in the manoeuvres that have not been scheduled yet. The units are the most important of Israel's special military units and are charged with fighting terrorism and carrying out guerrilla warfare.
Earlier Turkey had agreed to Israeli pilots being trained in the area bordering Iran. The news [of the agreement] is released at a time when Turkish officials are trying to evade the accusation of cooperating with America in espionage operations against its neighbouring countries Syria and Iran. Since last week the Arab press has been publishing various reports about Ankara's readiness or, at least, agreement in principle to carry out negotiations about its soil and air space being used for action against Iran.
(E'temad website, Tehran, in Persian 28 Dec 05, BBC Monitoring Services Translation)
Concluding remarks
The implications are overwhelming.
The so-called international community has accepted the eventuality of a nuclear holocaust.
Those who decide have swallowed their own war propaganda.
A political consensus has developed in Western Europe and North America regarding the aerial attacks using tactical nuclear weapons, without considering their devastating implications.
This profit driven military adventure ultimately threatens the future of humanity.
What is needed in the months ahead is a major thrust, nationally and internationally which breaks the conspiracy of silence, which acknowledges the dangers, which brings this war project to the forefront of political debate and media attentiion, at all levels, which confronts and requires political and military leaders to take a firm stance against the US sponsored nuclear war.
Ultimately what is required are extensive international sanctions directed against the United States of America and Israel.
Michel Chossudovsky is the author of the international best seller "The Globalization of Poverty " published in eleven languages. He is Professor of Economics at the University of Ottawa and Director of the Center for Research on Globalization, at www.globalresearch.ca . He is also a contributor to the Encyclopaedia Britannica. His most recent book is entitled: America's "War on Terrorism", Global Research, 2005.,
Related article: Planned US-Israeli Attack on Iran, http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=%20CH20050501&articleId=66 , by Michel Chossudovsky.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Centre for Research on Globalization.
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© Copyright Michel Chossudovsky, GlobalResearch.ca, 2006
[COMMENT: Since this was written, Israeli PM Sharon suffered strokes, and up to January 9 was still in intensive care. Remember, the United States has been bankrolling the Israeli State since its inception. The mentality of some opinion leaders in the USA can be gauged by the statement of a television evangelist that Mr Sharon's strokes were from God, because he had withdrawn Israeli soldiers from the Gaza strip. God had given Israel ALL the land, according to the televangelist. Anyone working with a questioning brain, a good Bible Concordance and a good atlas will find that "God" is reported as having granted quite different boundaries at various times. On the other hand, some Israeli archeologists have deduced that the accounts of the kingdoms of David and Solomon were fanciful exaggerations, and that possibly the ancient Israelites and Judahites just held a few hilltop forts and nearby lands, while the various other peoples held the main cities and exercised sway over the general area. The Israelites probably had to pay rent/tribute to the original owners for much of the time.
COMMENT ENDS.]
[Jan 3, 06]
• Iraq did not try to kill us.
E-mailed to: The West Australian,
sent by John C. Massam, Greenwood, Wed. January 4, 2006
AUSTRALIA: Elizabeth Stevens (Letters 4/1) defended the invasion of Iraq, and implied that Iraq had tried to "kill us."
The 9/11 attacks on New York and the Pentagon were carried out mainly by Saudi Arabians, we were told. The US said the suicide attacks had been organised by Al-Qaeda, whose leader is a Saudi millionaire, Osama bin Ladin.
He had been living in Afghanistan for some time before 9/11, so the Allies joined forces with Afghan warlords there to attack his Taliban allies.
Suddenly, President Bush, PM Blair, and PM Howard switched the attack to nearby oil-rich Iraq, which had no part in 9/11.
The "limited view" of your 4/1 correspondent is exposed for all to see!
Ref: The West Australian, Wednesday, January 4, 2006, p 27, "Limited view", letter from Elizabeth Stevens, Willeton, attacking the anti-war letter of Mary Jenkins, Spearwood.
[COMMENT: Also remember that in the hours after the attacks on the World Trade Centre in New York, the Pentagon in Washington, and an unknown destination, US President George Bush (Junior) organised special flights of more than 30 members of the Bin Ladin family OUT of the United States. This put them beyond reasonable reach of US official bodies, who might have wanted to have them on the witness stand in the various inquiries into the 9/11 murderous atrocity. Of course, there is also the question of WHY so many relatives of a known terrorist leader had been allowed into the US, and WHAT were they doing there?
COMMENT ENDS.]
[Jan 4, 06]
• [The Quiet Death Of Freedom, By John Pilger, etc., etc.]
Information Clearing House (USA),
"The Quiet Death Of Freedom," by John Pilger , January 6, 2006
The Quiet Death Of Freedom
By John Pilger
Bush has carried out the recommendations of a Messianic conspiracy theory called the "Project for a New American Century". Written by his ideological sponsors shortly before he came to power, it foresaw his administration as a military dictatorship behind a democratic façade: "the cavalry on a new American frontier" guided by a blend of paranoia and megalomania.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article11462.htm
A Cult of Presidential Power
The Unrestrained President
By Tom Engelhardt
While much has been made of feverish Christian fundamentalist support for the President, the real religious fervor in this administration has been almost singularly focused on the quite un-Christian attribute of total earthly power.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article11459.htm
The Army of Good Americans
By Manuel Valenzuela
One day, in the not too distant future, in the middle of the night, a knock will come at their door, it being not a dream nor a fantasy, its noise an ominous reminder of the police state now upon America, coming to serve power on those who thought they had nothing to fear by sacrificing liberty and freedom for so-called security.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article11460.htm
When Sharon Meets His Maker
By Gilad Atzmon
A peaceful man is on his way to meet his Creator. The Lord may ask him, just as he enters the gate of heaven, "Hey Grandpa Arik, why are your hands so red?"
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article11464.htm
Seven U.S. Soldiers Among 132 Killed In Iraq:
A suicide bomb attack in the city of Ramadi killed more than 70 and wounded 65, said Mahmoud al-Dulaimi, a doctor at Ramadi's main hospital.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/ANW523066.htm
Iraqi Girl Blog: Baghdad Burning:
Here we are in the first days of 2006. What does the '6' symbolize? How about- 6 hours of no electricity for every one hour of electricity? Or. 6 hours of waiting in line for gasoline that is three times as expensive as it was in 2005? Or an average of six explosions per day near our area alone?
http://tinyurl.com/74tj8
IMF Occupies Iraq, Riots Follow:
Bad enough that the U.S. military is occupying Iraq. Now the IMF is occupying the country.
http://progressive.org/mag_wx010306
George Bush Might Call Me a Defeatist:
I'm telling you we are not even close to winning Bush's war in Iraq. We have been in Iraq almost three years, and American troops are still in a lock down. No American trooper can take a stroll down the streets of Baghdad or any other Iraqi city.
http://www.lewrockwell.com/glaser/glaser48.html
Out of Iraq Events Planned in Over 130 Cities:
Local organizations have planned over 130 Out of Iraq events around the country on or about January 7th. Most of the events are town hall forums, and several will feature members of Congress, including Bobby Scott, Diane Watson, Jim McDermott, Adam Smith, Bob Filner, Martin Sabo, Jim Moran, Marty Meehan, and John Murtha
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/6393
CIA had plenty of evidence Iraq had no illegal weapons, book reveals:
THE CIA had evidence from 30 Iraqi weapons scientists that Saddam Hussein had abandoned its weapons of mass destruction programs long before the US invaded, an explosive new book on America's spying operations says.
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2006/01/04/1136050496872.html
UK: Anger as Britain admits it was wrong to blame Iran for deaths in Iraq :
MPs and soldiers' families have demanded an explanation from the Government after a U-turn over claims that Iran was complicit in the killing of British soldiers in southern Iraq.
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article336567.ece
Rice Says Patience With Iran Waning:
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice signaled Thursday that time is running out for Iran to avoid being hauled before the U.N. Security Council over its disputed nuclear program, and she denied that the threat is mere "saber rattling."
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/n/a/2006/01/05/national/w080902S64.DTL
Michel Chossudovsky: Nuclear War against Iran:
The launching of an outright war using nuclear warheads against Iran is now in the final planning stages. Coalition partners, which include the US, Israel and Turkey are in "an advanced stage of readiness".
http://tinyurl.com/7lepw
Bomber kills 10 in Afghanistan:
A suicide attacker detonated explosives strapped to his body during a visit by the U.S. ambassador Thursday, killing 10 Afghans and wounding 50, Afghan officials said.
http://tinyurl.com/bhste
Afghanistan: The NATO Quagmire :
The New York Times, in a recent article said that "Britain and the Netherlands will join Canada in assuming control in the south, along with a much smaller contingent of American support troops." This is incorrect.
http://indexresearch.blogspot.com/2006/01/afghanistan-nato-quagmire.html
Supreme Court Says U.S. Can Move Padilla :
The Supreme Court agreed Wednesday to let the military transfer accused "enemy combatant" Jose Padilla to Miami to face criminal charges in at least a temporary victory for the Bush administration.
http://www.forbes.com/entrepreneurs/feeds/ap/2006/01/04/ap2427868.html
Pentagon loses legal round on Guantanamo names:
A federal judge rejected the U.S. Defense Department's argument for not disclosing the names of detainees at the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, but stopped short of ordering that the names be released.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article11463.htm
Surveillance Court Is Seeking Answers:
Some judges who spoke on the condition of anonymity yesterday said they want to know whether warrants they signed were tainted by the NSA program. Depending on the answers, the judges said they could demand some proof that wiretap applications were not improperly obtained.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article11461.htm
Rep. Harman says reports to Congress violated law :
The briefings on the program under which Americans and other people in the United States are selected for eavesdropping without court warrants were limited to the so-called Gang of Eight.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/01/05/MNG1LGHHF81.DTL
Did Bush wiretap CNN's Christiane Amanpour? :
New York Times reporter James Risen first broke the story two weeks ago that the National Security Agency began spying on domestic communications soon after 9/11. In a new book out Tuesday, "State of War," he says it was a lot bigger than that.
http://americablog.blogspot.com/2006/01/did-bush-wiretap-cnns-christiane.html
Israeli election to go ahead on March 28 despite Sharon's illness :
Israeli elections will be held as scheduled on March 28 despite Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's massive stroke, the attorney general said Thursday.
http://www.cbc.ca/cp/world/060105/w010568.html
Political Hemorrhaging :
While those in the West and Israel naively labeled Sharon a new "man of peace" and fresh corruption charges surfaced, his political career was strong as ever. Major polls showed the premier was a shoe-in, but now the question becomes which direction Israel will be headed politically.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article11465.htm
Sharon: Bribery: Publish Everything:
A document presented to the court indicated that police have prima facie evidence that brothers Martin and James Schlaff were involved in the transfer of $3 million to the prime minister's family, and that there is evidence showing that the money was paid as a bribe.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/666439.html
The truth you don't hear:
The on-the-ground reality of Israel's moral bankruptcy in its genocidal policies towards the Palestinians remains as clear as ever
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2005/771/op2.htm
What Hillary Clinton "Doesn't Know" About Palestine:
In mid-November, Hillary Clinton visited Israel and, following a meeting with Ariel Sharon, in remarks that presaged the praise being heaped on the now-comatose Sharon, began her campaign for president by praising the Israeli as a "courageous" man who had taken "an incredibly difficult" step by withdrawing from Gaza.
http://www.counterpunch.com/christison01052006.html
Fund-Raising: Take It to the (West) Bank:
Money meant for the inner city went to fight the intifada. What donors to Jack Abramoff's charity didn't know.
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/7615249/site/newsweek/
Abramoff says he could implicate 60 lawmakers:
It is commonplace for lawmakers to solicit campaign donations from lobbyists, who routinely offer them in hopes of gaining advantage. Yet Mr. Abramoff also went far beyond routine practice by furnishing lawmakers with lavish trips, free meals and entertainment as well.
http://rawstory.com/news/2005/Abramoff_says_he_could_implicate_60_0104.html
Abramoff Lobbying Scandal: Big Timber Falls Hard:
Republican Dennis Hastert, speaker of the House, yesterday shed himself of tainted campaign contributions totaling $70,000. He gave the money to an unspecified charity.
http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0601,ridgeway,71514,6.html
Bush to Give Up $6,000 In Abramoff Contributions:
Abramoff raised more than $100,000 for the Bush-Cheney reelection campaign, making him an honorary Bush "Pioneer." But the campaign is giving up only $6,000, which came directly from Abramoff, his wife and one of the Indian tribes the lobbyist represented.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article11468.htm
In case you missed it:
The Pimping of the Presidency :
Jack Abramoff and Grover Norquist Billing Clients for Face Time with G.W. Bush
http://www.texasobserver.org/showArticle_new.asp?ArticleID=13
Branded : "I'm sorry, sir," she said.
"There seems to be a problem. You've been placed on the No Fly Watch List."
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article11467.htm
4-Year-Old Boy on Government 'No-Fly' List :
"I don't want to be on the list. I want to fly and see my grandma," the 4-year-old boy said, according to his mother.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060105/ap_on_re_us/terror_list_preschooler
Greek paper prints photo of 'MI6 agent':
A photograph purporting to be Britain's top MI6 agent in Greece was published today on the front page of an Athens newspaper, as controversy continues over the alleged role of British agents in the arrest and supposed abuse of a group of Pakistanis living in Athens.
http://tinyurl.com/a9kaz
DNA of 37% of black men held by police :
The DNA profiles of nearly four in 10 black men in the UK are on the police's national database - compared with fewer than one in 10 white men, according to figures compiled by The Guardian.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/frontpage/story/0,16518,1678168,00.html
Peru recalls ambassdor to Venezuela :
The Peruvian government announced on Wednesday that it will recall its ambassador to Venezuela, in response to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's public support to Peruvian leftist presidential candidate Ollanta Humala.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-01/05/content_4013914.htm
Former "Economic Hit Man"
John Perkins on "The First Truly Global Empire" and its Impact on Latin America
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/01/03/1435206
Australia: The Defence Materiel Organisation employees under cloud over payments to defence contractor:
The Defence Watchdog has uncovered serious issues linked to an $8 million contract for army jackets.
http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2006/s1542099.htm
Reid says Chertoff should resign :
U.S. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid called for the resignation of Homeland Security Department Secretary Michael Chertoff on Wednesday, one day after the government dropped Las Vegas from a list of cities considered potential high-risk targets eligible for special anti-terrorism grants.
http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2006/Jan-05-Thu-2006/news/5212776.html
Number Of Iraqi civilians Slaughtered In America's War 100,000 +
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article7170.htm
Number of U.S. Military Personnel Slaughtered (Officially acknowledged) In Bush's War 2187
http://icasualties.org/oif/
The War in Iraq Costs
$231,575,160,866
See the cost in your community
http://nationalpriorities.org/index.php?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=182
"Liberty can not be preserved without general knowledge among people." (August 1765) John Adams
[Jan 6, 06]
• Bush using a little-noticed strategy to alter the balance of power
Knight Ridder Newspapers,
www.realcities. com/mld/ krwashington/ 13568438.htm ,
By Ron Hutcheson and James Kuhnhenn, Jan. 06, 2006
WASHINGTON - President Bush agreed with great fanfare last month to accept a ban on torture, but he later quietly reserved the right to ignore it,
even as he signed it into law.
Acting from the seclusion of his Texas ranch at the start of New Year's
weekend, Bush said he would interpret the new law in keeping with his
expansive view of presidential power. He did it by issuing a bill-signing
statement - a little-noticed device that has become a favorite tool of
presidential power in the Bush White House.
In fact, Bush has used signing statements to reject, revise or put his
spin on more than 500 legislative provisions. Experts say he has been far
more aggressive than any previous president in using the statements to
claim sweeping executive power - and not just on national security issues.
"It's nothing short of breath-taking," said Phillip Cooper, a professor
of public administration at Portland State University. "In every case, the
White House has interpreted presidential authority as broadly as possible,
interpreted legislative authority as narrowly as possible, and pre-empted
the judiciary."
Signing statements don't have the force of law, but they can influence
judicial interpretations of a statute. They also send a powerful signal
to executive branch agencies on how the White House wants them to
implement new federal laws.
In some cases, Bush bluntly informs Congress that he has no intention of
carrying out provisions that he considers an unconstitutional encroachment
on his authority.
"They don't like some of the things Congress has done so they assert the
power to ignore it," said Martin Lederman, a visiting professor at the
Georgetown University Law Center. "The categorical nature of their
opposition is unprecedented and alarming."
The White House says its authority stems from the Constitution, but
dissenters say that view ignores the Constitution's careful balance of
powers between branches of government.
"We know the textbook story of how government works. Essentially what this has done is attempt to upset that," said Christopher Kelley, a
presidential scholar at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, who generally
shares Bush's expansive view of executive authority. "These are directives
to executive branch agencies saying that whenever something requires
interpretation, you should interpret it the way the president wants you
to."
Other presidents have used similar tactics. For example, Jimmy Carter
rebuffed congressional efforts to block his amnesty program for Vietnam-era draft dodgers. But experts say Bush has taken claims of presidential power to a whole new level.
In the case of the torture ban, Bush said he would interpret the law "in a
manner consistent with the constitutional authority of the president,"
with the goal of "protecting the American people from further terrorist
attacks."
Because Bush has already claimed broad powers in the war on terror -
including the right to bypass existing laws restricting domestic
surveillance - legal experts and some members of Congress interpreted the
statement to mean that he would ignore the torture ban if he felt it would
harm national security.
Opponents of the ban say torture should not be ruled out in a case where
abusive interrogation might prevent an imminent terrorist attack.
White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said Bush was defending a principle, not signaling his intention to ignore the torture prohibition.
"The president has said that we follow the law. Of course we will follow
this law as well," she said.
Some members of Congress aren't so sure.
"He issues a signing statement that says he retains all of the inherent
power that will permit him to go out and torture just the way they've gone
ahead and tortured before," said Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass. "That
process is an arrogance of power."
Congress has clashed with Bush over signing statements before. In 2002,
lawmakers from both parties vigorously objected when Bush offered a narrow
interpretation of whistleblower protections in legislation on corporate
fraud. After a series of angry letters from Congress to the White House,
the administration backed down.
But monitoring the implementation of new laws is a complicated task,
especially when Bush is ambiguous about his intentions. Cooper said Bush's
assertion of his constitutional authority in dealing with the torture ban
is typical of his approach.
"It doesn't explicitly say what he's going to do or not do, but it gives
him the authority to do whatever he wants to do," Cooper said. "The
administration has clearly concluded that the Republican-dominated
Congress is not prepared to force a confrontation on a lot of these
issues."
The roots of Bush's approach go back to the Ford administration, when Dick
Cheney, then serving as White House chief of staff, chafed at legislative
limits placed on the executive branch in the aftermath of the Watergate
scandal and other abuses of power by President Nixon. Now the vice
president and his top aide, David Addington, are taking the lead in trying
to tip the balance of power away from Congress and back to the president.
They may soon have an ally on the Supreme Court. As a Justice Department
lawyer in the Reagan administration, Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito
wrote a 1986 memo outlining plans for expanded use of presidential signing
statements.
Although Alito told his bosses that the aggressive use of assertive
signing statements "would increase the power of the executive to shape the
law," he acknowledged doubts about their legal significance.
Reagan adopted the strategy and used signing statements to challenge 71
legislative provisions, according to Kelley's tally. President George H.W.
Bush challenged 146 laws; President Clinton challenged 105. The current
president has lodged more than 500 challenges so far.
Bush and his legal advisers offer a variety of arguments to support their
claims to power. In their view, the Constitution's directive that "the
president shall be commander in chief" gives Bush virtually unlimited
authority on issues related to national security.
They also rely heavily on the "unitary executive" theory to resist
congressional directives to federal agencies. The theory rests on the
Constitution's clause that says that "executive power shall be vested in a
president."
Bush has cited the theory, which has not been fully tested in court, more
than 100 times in his signing statements.
Skeptics say the president and his advisers overlook the Constitution's
checks and balances, noting that the Framers had a deep distrust of
excessive executive power, having rebelled against a king. The
Constitution gives Congress the power to declare war, and shared power
over executive spending, for example.
Lawmakers from both parties have questioned Bush's assertion of his
wartime authority.
"If you take this to its logical conclusion, because during war the
commander in chief has an obligation to protect us, any statute on the
books could be summarily waived," said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.
"The Constitution says that if the president doesn't like it (a bill), he
can veto it. And we have an opportunity to override the veto," Kennedy
noted.
Some members of Congress from both parties also question the legal
authority of presidential signing statements.
"He can say whatever he likes, I don't know if that has a whole lot of
impact on the statute. Statutes are traditionally a matter of
congressional intent," said Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., the chairman of the
Senate Judiciary Committee.
In 2003, lawmakers tried to get a handle on Bush's use of signing
statements by passing a Justice Department spending bill that required the
department to inform Congress whenever the administration decided to
ignore a legislative provision on constitutional grounds.
Bush signed the bill, but issued a statement asserting his right to ignore
the notification requirement.
[By courtesy of Michael P.]
[COMMENT: The sentence about signing a bill to return him to legality, and then signing a statement to ignore the bill, says it all!
Is he slowly going the way that the Reich Chancellor went in the 1930s? The Congressmen, like the Reichstag members, have sold the people out, supposedly under a threat.
Check the news. Besides the Al-Jazeera journalist gaoled by Spain, there is an Al-Jazeera cameraman held without trial at Guantanamo Bay. In addition, two separate whistleblowers who revealed illegal activities by their governments are to be tried for revealing "official secrets" or some such.
COMMENT ENDS.]
[Jan. 06, 06]
• [Aljazeera cameraman illegally held; Robert Fisk on Sharon; etc., etc.]
Information Clearing House (USA),
http://snipurl.com/ayzc ,
January 7, 2006
Primal smirk;
The War God has his eyes on Iran - can we stop him?
By ROBERT C. KOEHLER
Tribune Media Services
I ache with fresh hope and foreboding at this time of year. The time is ripe for an overarching vision of a world without war - a tough, smart vision that can claim headlines and hold its own with the spin machines of government. Without it, we're doomed to . . . war with Iran?
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article11472.htm
Pluses And Minuses
By Charley Reese
Now that President Bush has launched a new propaganda campaign to convince Americans that we are winning the war in Iraq, it's a good idea to go back to the basics and look at the pluses and minuses of this war.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article11470.htm
The Army of Good Americans
By Manuel Valenzuela
One day, in the not too distant future, in the middle of the night, a knock will come at their door, it being not a dream nor a fantasy, its noise an ominous reminder of the police state now upon America, coming to serve power on those who thought they had nothing to fear by sacrificing liberty and freedom for so-called security.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article11460.htm
The Opposite of Good is Apathy
By Cindy Sheehan
If I hear one more rendition of "We Shall Overcome" and then watch the vigilers or marchers go home and turn on their TV's and crack open a brewsky content in the fact that they have done something for peace that day, I am going to scream! We can't overcome unless we take the proverbial bull by the horns and overcome!
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article11476.htm
Ariel Sharon
By Robert Fisk
Israel's Prime Minister was a ruthless military commander responsible for one of the most shocking war crimes of the 20th century, argues Robert Fisk. President George Bush acclaims Ariel Sharon as 'a man of peace', yet the blood that was shed at Sabra and Chatila remains a stain on the conscience of the Zionist nation. As Sharon lies stricken in his hospital bed, his political career over, how will history judge him?
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article11479.htm
AND http://www.globalecho.org/view_article.php?aid=6289 (This URL by courtesy of Michael P)
11 U.S. Troops Killed in One Day in Iraq : -
The U.S. military said Friday that six more American troops died in the recent surge of violence in Iraq, bringing to 11 the number of U.S. troops slain on the same day.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5527990,00.html
2 Dead as hundreds protest unemployment in Iraq :
The demonstration turned violent as protesters armed with sticks, stones and guns were confronted by police.
http://www.wbay.com/Global/story.asp?S=4327866
Car bomb explosions kill one Iraqi and wound up to 18:
One Iraqi civilian was killed Friday and three others were wounded when a booby-trapped car went off as an Iraqi military parade passed nearby in the Zaafaranyia area , to the south of Baghdad.
http://www.kuna.net.kw/Home/Story.aspx?Language=en&DSNO=803068
Iraqis bury bomb dead, some Shi'ites seek revenge:
Hadi al-Ameri, head of the Badr Brigades, the loosely organized Shi'ite militia allied to one of the country's most powerful political parties, urged calm but questioned how long political leaders could keep their angry supporters in check.
http://tinyurl.com/c3o66
Sniper shot that took out an insurgent killer from three quarters of a mile:
The insurgent was one of between 55 and 65 he estimates that he has shot dead in less than five months
http://tinyurl.com/cdc5p
New Study: The Cost of The War: $1-2 trillion:
Nobel Laureate Joseph E. Stiglitz and Harvard budget expert Linda Bilmes plan to present this week a paper estimating the cost of the Iraq War at between $1-2 trillion. This is far higher than earlier estimates of $100-200 billion.
http://www.tpmcafe.com/story/2006/1/5/11510/30624
How Did the U.S. Government Annihilate $1 Trillion of American Wealth?:
Ask Paul Wolfowitz, Richard Perle, and William Kristol. Ask Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice and Dick Cheney and George Bush. Ask the American Congress. They not only know how to extinguish vast amounts of American wealth, they have done it by attacking Iraq.
http://www.lewrockwell.com/rozeff/rozeff57.html
Wife urges release of elderly UK hostage in Iraq:
The wife of a 74-year-old British hostage in Iraq called on his abductors to free him in a televised appeal on Friday, saying he was "a man of peace."
http://tinyurl.com/9hurx
In case you missed it:
The Case Against This Monstrous War:
It may sound like an exaggeration to say that just about every major claim made about Iraq and Saddam by the U.S. government since the 1990 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait has been misleading or simply false, and that the mainstream media has bought into these distortions with nary a peep of opposition
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article10933.htm
Noam Chomsky : Beyond the ballot:
THE US President Bush called last month's Iraqi elections a "major milestone in the march to democracy." They are indeed a milestone - just not the kind that Washington would welcome.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article11477.htm
Sheila Samples: You can't go home again:
Those of us who know that Bush is raving mad, destructively impulsive and totally incompetent suspect he was lining up former heavyweights to take the blame when the melt-down comes. The good news is this is Alexander Haig's last chance to be "in charge."
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article11475.htm
Iran intelligence is not trustworthy :
After recent intelligence failures over WMD, editors should be doubly wary of "leaked intelligence", its timing and the motives of those who provided the information.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article11469.htm
Iran a no-show for nuke talks?:
A defiant Iran rebuffed the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency on Thursday, failing to show up for a meeting to discuss Tehran's plans to move closer to uranium enrichment within days.
http://www.insidebayarea.com/argus/news/ci_3376850
Iran Refuses To Provide Details On Nuclear Plans :
A diplomat accredited to the agency said the IAEA appeared resigned to not getting the details it had asked for before the Iranians start their work Jan. 9. He cited ElBaradei as saying he didn't expect the high-ranking Iranian delegation to ask for a new appointment before flying back to Tehran.
http://tinyurl.com/cfjbq
U.S. warns Iran over nuclear program:
"We are moving into a period of time with Iran where I think we're going to have to, the world is going to have to make some decisions," Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said.
http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/news/national/010606b2_iran
Axis of Fanatics -- Netanyahu and Ahmadinejad :
Using religious claims to bolster their quests for power, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Benjamin Netanyahu each stand to gain by pointing to the menacing fanaticism of the other. Yet many Iranians and Israelis recognize the grave dangers of such posturing.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article11478.htm
Iran briefs Syria on latest nuclear studies:
Minister Mohammed Reza Bagheri said here on Thursday that he has informed the Syrian leadership of the latest developments concerning the country's nuclear studies.
http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2006/jan/1264353.htm
Syria: Khaddam plans to topple al-Assad:
A former Syrian vice-president says he is seeking to topple the government through a popular uprising.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/806C114A-2385-4C04-B553-3FB6C6EFCFC9.htm
US ambassador escapes Taliban suicide bomb :
The US ambassador fled a central Afghan town after a Taliban suicide bomber killed 10 people and wounded 50, further stoking fears of an Iraqi influence on the escalating insurgency.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/afghanistan/story/0,1284,1680422,00.html
Afghan officials accused on drugs :
The security chief at Kabul airport has accused Afghan officials of colluding with drug smugglers and ordering the release of arrested suspects.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/4585188.stm
Charles Sullivan : Peak Oil and the End of Empire :
Those in power are secretly panic stricken. America's unequaled military firepower is utterly dependent on the life blood of cheap oil to keep the machinery of run- amok capitalism running. Given the atrocities that the U.S. is inflicting with impunity around the world, there will be hell to pay when that advantage is lost.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article11471.htm
US backs India's quest to acquire nuke technology:
In a strong endorsement of India's quest to acquire technology and equipment to generate atomic power, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has said that it will have to have civilian nuclear energy and not be dependent on countries posing concerns.
hhttp://tinyurl.com/ahaxe
An Imperial President? Bush Claims Right To Ignore New Law Banning Torture:
Three influential Republicans Senators are condemning President Bush for claiming he has the authority to ignore a new law banning the torture of prisoners during interrogations.
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/01/06/1451239
Padilla Begins Defense:
Padilla was transferred to civilian custody Thursday and made his first appearance in court. He was scheduled to return Friday to enter a plea.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/01/05/terror/main1181844.shtml
Guantanamo Bay force feeding raises painful memories :
Former prisoners of recent British penal history recall the trauma of torture and forced feeding, now happening to Muslim hunger strikers
http://tinyurl.com/affrg
Letter from Al Jazeera Cameraman imprisoned in Guantanamo:
I cannot stop asking myself this question, why do they punish me? It is becoming an obsession, but I cannot get it out of my head. All these punishments began when they put me in prison in Bagram, Afghanistan.
http://tinyurl.com/7n9rh
Arcata City Council urges Bush impeachment:
A split City Council yesterday passed a resolution demanding the impeachment or resignation of President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.
http://www.kesq.com/Global/story.asp?S=4326198&nav=9qrx
Jerry Texiero-Vietnam War Resister::
In its push to hold Jerry Texiero out as an example to those in today's military (to dissuade them from walking away from another of this country's unnecessary and created wars), the Marine Corps is breaking every law on the books.
http://jack-dalton.blogspot.com/2006/01/jerry-texiero-vietnam-war-resister_05.html
China signals reserves switch away from dollar:
China indicated on Thursday it could begin to diversify its rapidly growing foreign exchange reserves away from the US dollar and government bonds - a potential shift with significant implications for global financial and commodity markets.
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/f39fa8e4-7e25-11da-8ef9-0000779e2340.html
Report: Whistle-Blower to Testify Against NSA:
Former Employee Alleges Illegal Intelligence was Conducted
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article11474.htm
NSA whistleblower asks to testify:
A former National Security Agency official wants to tell Congress about electronic intelligence programs that he asserts were carried out illegally by the NSA and the Defense Intelligence Agency.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20060104-114052-6606r.htm
Congressmembers write White House to ask if reporters were bugged:
The Democrats asked for information regarding whether any reporters or other members of the media have had phone calls intercepted under the NSA program.
http://rawstory.com/news/2005/Congressmembers_write_White_House_ask_if_0105.html
Bush Abruptly Ended Abramoff Investigation in 2002! :
Don't forget that Jack Abramoff's own secretary, Susan Ralston, became Karl Rove's Personal Assistant, and that Abramoff said he contacted Rove personally on relieving his client Tyco from having to pay some taxes and still be able to get federal contracts. Abramoff said "he had contact with Mr. Karl Rove" on Tyco.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/12/2/103145/544
Molly Ivins: More Texan sleaze and stink:
The DeLay Foundation for Kids was set up 18 years ago and works on behalf of foster children. But it is also a way for companies to give unregulated and undisclosed funds: It's a way for companies to get into DeLay's good graces or, as Fred Lewis from Campaign for People says, "another way for donors to get their hooks into politicians."
http://www.freepress.org/columns/display/1/2006/1292
'DeLay Inc.' Lobbying Firm Has Links to Three Capital Scandals :
Representative Tom DeLay's campaign to get Republicans to dominate Washington lobbying may have worked too well for Alexander Strategy Group.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=arXHk9Sp9kkM&refer=us
Political Donations From Aabramoff:
Who got what?
http://tinyurl.com/ey3ej
Ties That Bind?:
The White House is moving to distance itself from disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff-who raised thousands for the Bush-Cheney campaign.;
Cunningscam: Much More Than Meets The Eye :
Abramoff isn't the only mega-scandal that could rock Washington this year. Two powerful committee chairmen in the House could soon find themselves ensarled in the scandal that has already taken down former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham.
http://thinkprogress.org/2006/01/05/cunningscam-more
In case you missed it:
Legal looting: Cunningham case only hints at extent of rot
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20051208/news_lz1ed08top.html
Close ties make Rep. Lewis, lobbyist Lowery a potent pair:
From powerful positions on the House Appropriations Committee, California Rep. Jerry Lewis has greenlighted hundreds of millions of dollars in federal projects for clients of one of his closest friends, lobbyist and former state Congressman Bill Lowery.
http://tinyurl.com/7atfw
Why The Patrriot Act, Redux: Fascism Is The Here And Now:
"Fascism is a politico-economic system in which there is: total executive branch control of the government; no independent judiciary; no Constitution that embodies the Rule of Law standing above the people who run the government; no inherent rights or liberties; a single national ideology that first demonizes and then criminalizes all political, religious, and ideological opposition to it; and total corporate determination of economic, fiscal, and regulatory policy."
http://thepoliticaljunkies.net/Archived/Year%202005/Dec/Wk3-5/Jonas.htm
Doug Ireland: Scandalous!
A Year of Republican Treachery: You could wait for the book, or check out the darkest shadows of the past 12 months right here:
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article11473.htm
Medicare drug plan beset by glitches:
The program, which began Sunday, shifts the administration of Medicare prescription drug coverage to private companies that are preapproved by Medicare.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/3569069.html
Medicare Officials' Attendance at Lavish Contractor Meetings Probed:
Medicare officials responsible for overseeing $300 million awarded annually to private contractors regularly attended conferences sponsored by the groups at lavish beach and mountain resorts, according to a Senate panel reviewing the contractors.
http://tinyurl.com/bcoem
IRS tracked taxpayers' political affiliation :
As it hunted down tax scofflaws, the Internal Revenue Service collected information on the political party affiliations of taxpayers in 20 states.
http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/5440902p-4912739c.html
US satellites 'spying' on anti-whaling ships:
Greens leader Senator Bob Brown says he is outraged at a Japanese claim that US naval intelligence is using satellites to spy on the anti-whaling activities of Greenpeace and Sea Shepherd in the Southern Ocean
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200601/s1543032.htm
Onward - Warriors of the Rainbow:
http://www.gratefulchild.org/projects/gcweb/gc/html/onward/
[Jan 7, 06]
• More Revelations Of Illegal Spying By Us Government
World Socialist Web Site --
www.wsws.org/ articles/2006/jan 2006/nsa- j07.shtml ,
By Joe Kay, January 7, 2006
UNITED STATES: Over the past week, several new reports have emerged casting additional light on the vast extent of illegal spying carried out by the US government. It is becoming increasingly clear that the government has initiated a major project to collect and database the communications of US citizens and non-citizens, including opponents of the war in Iraq and other policies of the Bush administration.
Moves to initiate the program began before September 11, 2001. However, as with all the policies pursued by the government since then, the terrorist
attacks have been used to justify the spying under the overarching pretext
of the "war on terrorism."
James Risen, one of the authors of the original New York Times article
exposing a broad program of spying by the National Security Agency (NSA)
without legally required court-issued warrants, has published a book
entitled State of War: The Secret History of the CIA and the Bush
Administration. The book elaborates on what has already become clear from
Risen's own articles and other reports that have emerged in the press:
that the spying program is much broader than the administration has been
forced to acknowledge, and includes surveillance on purely domestic
communications as well as communications entering and leaving the United
States.
Risen reports that the NSA has been able to gain access to
telecommunications switches, which are routing stations run by a handful
of giant companies that direct large quantities of telephone calls and
e-mails. "Unknown to most Americans," Risen writes, "the NSA has extremely
close relationships with both the telecommunications and computer
industries, according to several government officials. Only a very few top
executives in each corporation are aware of such relationships or know
about the willingness of the corporations to cooperate on intelligence
matters."
These switches contain both international communications and
communications entirely within the US. Because the US controls the
Internet infrastructure, much of the world's e-mail traffic at some point
passes through stations located within the United States. "With its direct
access to the US telecommunications system, there seems to be no physical
or logistical obstacle to prevent the NSA from eavesdropping on anyone in
the United States that it chooses," Risen writes. The program established
to allow the NSA spying is a highly secretive "special access program,"
with no oversight or accountability required from the NSA regarding the
communications it decides to monitor and for what reason.
Washington Post correspondent Walter Pincus reported in an article on
January 1 that the NSA has been sharing the data it collects with other US
agencies, including the military's new command for North America, the
Northern Command (Northcom). Citing current and former administration
officials, the Post reported that the agencies that may have access to the
information collected by the NSA include the FBI, the Defense Intelligence
Agency (DIA), the CIA and the Department of Homeland Security.
According to Pincus, "At least one of those organizations, the DIA [the
military intelligence arm], has used NSA information as the basis for
carrying out surveillance of people in the country suspected of posing a
threat, according to two sources. A DIA spokesman said the agency does not
conduct such domestic surveillance but would not comment further."
While the officials insisted that the NSA tracks only individuals with
apparent links to organizations that the US government considers to be
terrorist, other agencies may be using it for more general purposes, the
Post reported. "What data sets are included is a policy decision [made by
individual agencies] when they involve other than terrorist links," the
newspaper quoted one former administration official as saying.
The DIA databases are coordinated by Northcom, which collects information from the NSA as well as other intelligence and police agencies.
According to an earlier report by Pincus, one of the databases run by the
military included information on anti-war protestors. This database is
shared with other organizations, including law enforcement agencies.
This sharing of names and information within intelligence agencies is
widespread. A brief report in Newsweek on May 2, 2005, which has received
little attention in the media since, noted, "According to information
obtained by Newsweek, since January 2004 NSA received -- and fulfilled --
between 3,000 and 3, 500 requests from other agencies to supply the names
of US citizens and officials (and citizens of other countries that help
NSA eavesdrop around the world, including Britain, Canada and Australia)
that initially were deleted from raw intercept reports." In total, the
news magazine reported, the number of names provided by the NSA to other
agencies during this period surpassed 10,000.
The danger that these steps pose to the democratic rights and personal
freedom of the American people can hardly be overemphasized. The
establishment of the Northern Command in 2002 was a critical step in the
expansion of the role of the military in domestic affairs. In the summer
of 2005, reports emerged of plans being developed within Northcom for the
military to assume sweeping new powers, using a terrorist attack or
natural catastrophe as the reason. (See "Pentagon devising scenarios for
martial law in US")
Any databases or lists of names, culled from searches through e-mails and
telephone conversations, could form the basis for mass round-ups and
arrests of anyone considered to be a threat to "national security."
Such plans are hardly unprecedented. In the 1980s, the Regan
administration worked out a procedure for mass arrests of opponents of a
US invasion of Nicaragua or El Salvador. The current director of national
intelligence, John Negroponte, was US ambassador to Honduras during the
time, and was closely involved with US actions in Central America,
including the US-financed war against the government of Nicaragua.
Negroponte, now occupying a position tasked with coordinating the work of
15 different intelligence agencies, including the NSA and the DIA, is
presumably a central figure in the coordination of the illegal spying
operations currently being employed by the Bush administration.
A central component of the administration's policy since it came to office
has been to erect the foundations for what would amount to a presidential
dictatorship. The same officials who developed pseudo-legal arguments to
justify the spying program have argued that the president has the
constitutional authority as commander in chief to detain any individual,
including any US citizen, indefinitely and without charges on the grounds
that he or she may be a threat to national security.
The new NSA spying program was so blatantly in violation of the 1978
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which requires the NSA to obtain
warrants for domestic spying from a special intelligence court, that it
generated divisions within the Bush administration itself.
A New York Times article on January 1 noted that at one point in 2004,
Deputy Attorney General James Comey, then acting as attorney general while
John Ashcroft was recovering from surgery, refused to give approval to
some aspects of the program. Ashcroft himself apparently indicated some
reservations after an emergency intervention by White House Chief of Staff
Andrew Card and White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales, now attorney
general. That Ashcroft, who was closely associated with all the attacks
on democratic rights of Bush's first term, had some concerns is indicative
of the extraordinary breadth of the spying program.
The Bush administration continues to lie about the extent and purpose of
the spying. In a speech on January 4 to the Heritage Foundation, Vice
President Dick Cheney repeated the argument that the spying is authorized
by the US Constitution and the congressional resolution passed following
the attacks on September 11. He also repeated the line that the spying is
necessary for the "war on terrorism" and is limited to "terrorist-linked
international communications." If the surveillance had been in place prior
to September 11, "we might have been able to pick up on two hijackers who
subsequently flew a jet into the Pentagon," he said.
According to the arguments of Cheney, Bush and the administration as a
whole, the "war on terrorism" grants unlimited powers, and anyone who
opposes these powers is aiding and abetting terrorism. The claim that if
the government had these powers before September 11, it would have been
able to stop the attacks is absurd on two counts. First, it is by now well
documented that the FBI and CIA had information on at least some of the
hijackers but did not act on this information. There is considerable
evidence that points to the complicity at some level of the government
itself in facilitating the attacks, which provided a pretext for a major
policy shift, including the introduction of new spying powers and a vast
expansion of US military action abroad, including the implementation of
pre-existing plans to invade Iraq.
Second, plans for the expansion of NSA spying powers began before
September 11. Their aim is not to combat terrorism, but to monitor the
activity of the American people.
According to a January 3 report in the online magazine Slate, the NSA's
attempts to gain access to telecommunications switches began months before
the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington. "A former telecom
executive told us that efforts to obtain call details go back to early
2001, predating the 9/11 attacks and the president's now celebrated secret
executive order," Slate reporters Shane Harris and Tim Naftali wrote. "The
source, who asked not to be identified so as not to out his former
company, reports that the NSA approached US carriers and asked for their
cooperation in a data-mining operation, which might eventually cull
"millions' of individual calls and e-mails."
A report written by the NSA in December 2000 for the incoming Bush
administration argued that the agency had to develop new ways to exploit
modern communications systems. While circumspect on specific proposals,
the Transition 2001 report, made public after a Freedom of Information Act
request by the non-governmental National Security Archives, called for
much more expansive monitoring of telecommunications.
The report stated that under conditions in which communications are now
"mostly digital, carry billions of bits of data, and contain voice, data
and multimedia...senior leadership must understand that today's and
tomorrow's mission will demand a powerful, permanent presence on a global
telecommunications network that will host the "protected communications
of Americans as well as targeted communications of adversaries."
A report written somewhat earlier, in June 1999, by Lieutenant General Jim
Clapper of the NSA Scientific Advisory Board, argued for similar measures.
While heavily redacted, the report, also made available by the National
Security Archives, called for the development of "digital network
intelligence," which it defined as "the intelligence from intercepted
data communications transmitted between, or resident on, networked
computers." Modern communications posed the problem of "manipulating huge
volumes of heterogeneous complex data," it said.
Such large-scale data mining operations have now been implemented.
The Democratic Party is complicit in the implementation of these broad new
spying powers. Leading members of the party were informed and repeatedly
briefed on the NSA program, going back to at least October 2001.
A letter recently released by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, written
on October 11, 2001, when she was the ranking Democrat on the House
Intelligence Committee, demonstrates that the Democrats knew of the
attempts to expand the powers of the NSA, even prior to an explicit and
secret presidential authorization to begin the program.
The letter was written in response to a briefing given by the head of the
NSA, Michael Hayden, to the House and Senate intelligence committees. In
her letter, Pelosi does not object to the new programs as such, but rather
raises concerns about "whether, and to what extent, the National Security
Agency has received specific presidential authorization for the operations
you are conducting."
In spite of the fact that the Democrats were informed of the illegal
program, no attempt was made to inform the American people and oppose this
illegal and unconstitutional violation of democratic rights. Even with the
public exposure of the secret NSA program, and Bush's brazen assertion of
his intention to continue its authorization, no leading Democrats have
broached the possibility of impeachment. They are well aware of their own
responsibility, and they have no disagreement with the administration's
fundamental aim: the suppression of political opposition to the
militarist and imperialist policies of the US ruling elite.
[Emphasis added]
[Jan 7, 06]
• [Russian mafia is in town, etc., etc.]
NEWS.com.au, January 8, 2006
AUSTRALIA, and elsewhere: Secret report: RUSSIAN MAFIA IS IN TOWN:
RUSSIAN gangsters, including ex-KGB agents, have infiltrated Australia,
establishing extortion, gun-running and prostitution rackets, Australian
Federal Police say.
http://email.news.com.au/ct/click?q=4f-Iac4IIUQ17Cw4j88gpF~smE_nsRR
Funeral: Moving tribute to league legend:
THE children of rugby league legend Steve Rogers told movingly of his
greatness as a father at his funeral yesterday.
http://email.news.com.au/ct/click?q=64-UBDhIuLmNuUJIfiNGQrcwa8XEdRR
Pacific Highway: Truckies could pay $70 toll:
TRUCKIES could pay up to $70 in tolls on the Pacific Highway between
Sydney and Brisbane under plans to fast-track the final upgrade of the
road.
http://email.news.com.au/ct/click?q=79-rsXHIEBm9m5jNnQmF7Xx0tADURRR
Iraq: US woman journalist kidnapped:
A US woman journalist was kidnapped in Baghdad today and her translator
killed, Iraqi security sources said, in the latest hostage crisis
involving Westerners in the war-torn country.
http://email.news.com.au/ct/click?q=8e-Ve8cQCnCKX_rdi_PDFvBDVfFLdRR
ONLINE BOOST FOR FIRMS:
NEARLY one in three small businesses reported a surge in online sales in
the lead-up to Christmas, a new survey reveals.
http://email.news.com.au/ct/click?q=21-UPiOIjdyDulyS_voQIvhj8Rl8RRR
Borrowers: Race to fix loans:
BORROWERS are rushing to fix home-loan interest rates, fearing higher
petrol prices will lead the Reserve Bank to raise official rates.
http://email.news.com.au/ct/click?q=36-wgY~IiIGfXB~ejUMxgE_Q6rM~9RR
Investors: Shares have long-term value:
IT was like a Japanese bullet train zipping past, such was the speed
with which 2005 was crossed from our diaries.
http://email.news.com.au/ct/click?q=4b-k_F7IBUELWMQA9UP9a8_5F3t0sRR
Economy: Reasons for cheer in 2006:
SINCE New York's Wall Street renamed its customary December surge as the
Santa Claus rally, I suppose the January sprint we saw this week counts
as the Hogmanay fling.
http://email.news.com.au/ct/click?q=75-whVtIKUTMF74QEK_rEPPsvJBBRRR
MEN NOW TARGETS OF SPIKING:
AN increasing number of men are having their drinks spiked and then
being mugged or sexually assaulted, NSW Police said.
http://email.news.com.au/ct/click?q=69-CY8iIoWwaIFglWPMoxEvOxcKWdRR
Claim: School weigh-ins led to anorexia:
A SCHOOL weigh-in program has been blamed for a 12-year-old Mildura
girl's anorexia.
http://email.news.com.au/ct/click?q=7e-XDQeInpvFvDqTQQi6~fYwwzxU9RR
Pubs: Drunks face zero tolerance:
DRUNKS who are kicked out of pubs and clubs will be banned from other
licensed premises in Victoria, under a radical plan to combat
troublemakers.
http://email.news.com.au/ct/click?q=db-rm79QJEnb8jhwNJvp162wpzRyRRR
Extortion: Gangs link to home threats:
VICIOUS teen gangs extorted protection money from suburban families to
stop their houses being burgled at Christmas, a Melbourne councillor has
claimed.
http://email.news.com.au/ct/click?q=05-gDWLIG8L7tWJNBdfn5IGxOYub9RR
Hole: WINDOWS FLAW PATCHED:
MICROSOFT has stepped outside its "patch Tuesday" regime to release a
fix for a critical Windows flaw that left systems dating back to Windows
98 vulnerable.
http://email.news.com.au/ct/click?q=2f-hYtFIqnMF05FjWDP20I38z_WrsRR
Signed: Intel, Google in video deal:
INTERNET media powerhouse Google and chipmaker Intel integrate Google's
video service into Intel's new Viiv consumer platform.
http://email.news.com.au/ct/click?q=59-y52oIEnvHtskw31lpQ1W_DUYMRRR
TV: HD bigger than colour, says Sony:
SONY chief executive Howard Stringer said he expects the transition to
high-definition television and video will be a watershed, surpassing
even the move from black-and-white to colour TV.
http://email.news.com.au/ct/click?q=83-U~EXQYJC1Z~b8gWtu28lBwUUBRRR
Employment: IT jobs take holiday dip:
THE seasonal slowdown saw IT&T job vacancies dip 1.13 per cent,
seasonally adjusted, last month, but the sector performed better than
the national average of, a survey shows.
http://email.news.com.au/ct/click?q=ad-_4KAQzEZSIc0N3ZQhVDfsYpODsRR
A GERMAN theatre company said overnight that it will stage a play in a
Berlin brothel designed to focus attention on "what really happens" in
the world of prostitution.
http://email.news.com.au/ct/click?q=01-9oQDI2jusqfl8rfvuPVpGegWY9RR
Bracing: Claims medicine made from human bones:
A POPULAR Indian yoga guru whose classes attract hundreds of thousands
of morning television viewers has been accused of using human bones in
his medicines, media reports said.
http://email.news.com.au/ct/click?q=55-TAoaIKJQNI4rDeFqmLt8ckaAIRRR . Copyright 2006 News Limited .
[Jan 8, 06]
• [World unheeding of Congo war 3.9 m victims]
Information Clearing House (USA),
http://www. information clearinghouse. info/ , OR
http://snipurl. com/ayzc ,
January 08, 2006
Congo's 3.9 m victims: Deadliest crisis in 60 years,
By David Blair
"Ignorance about its scale and impact is almost universal and international engagement remains completely out of proportion to humanitarian need." The committee found that Congo's war claimed 38,000 lives every month in 2004.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article11481.htm
Video report: US air strike kills Iraqi women and children: police :
"I absolutely confirm there were no terrorists in this house," police chief Colonel Sufyan Mustafa told Reuters.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article11480.htm
Civilian Killed:
One civilian was killed and another wounded when U.S. soldiers opened fire on their car as it approached a checkpoint on a main road in Baiji,
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/ANW727000.htm
Doctor shot by gunmen:
Doctor Ali Hussein, an employee at Falluja hospital, was killed by gunmen in the city
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/ANW727000.htm
Insurgents clash with US troops in Fallujah :
"A sniper opened fire at a group of US soldiers, shooting four of them in al-Wahda district in central Fallujah," a local journalist told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-01/07/content_4022682.htm
American journalist kidnapped in Iraq:
Iraqi police officials said Saturday unidentified gunmen have kidnapped an American female journalist after killing her Iraqi translator in Baghdad.
http://tinyurl.com/978qy
US generals disagree on Iraq violence:
"The country's on the verge of a civil war," General Sanchez told soldiers preparing to deploy to Iraq during a ceremony held in Heidelberg, Germany.
http://smh.com.au/news/world/us-generals-disagree-on-iraq-violence/2006/01/07/1136609984022.html
Karen Kwiatkowski: He-Said, He-Said, and a 2006 Prediction :
The destruction of a sovereign Iraq was the primary objective of this war - and that mission has in fact been accomplished. Bush was and remains correct from the moment he famously landed on an aircraft carrier and announced, "Mission Accomplished."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/karen-kwiatkowski/hesaid-hesaid-and-a-2_b_13373.html
Analysis: Iraq's dark realities:
While the insurgents were motivated to play the political game and stay on their best behavior, violence around Iraq abated somewhat. However, once they had concluded that they were going to be given nothing worthwhile by the new Shiite masters of the country and their Kurdish allies, they felt free to unleash all their undiminished capabilities again.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article11482.htm
US general gloomy on future for Iraq:
Sectarian rivalries and inefficient Iraqi ministries could turn the Iraqi security forces into 'militias or armed gangs,' Lt. General John Vines, the senior US operational commander in Iraq, told The New York Times.
http://www.forbes.com/work/feeds/afx/2006/01/06/afx2432260.html
Bremer says US did not expect insurgency in Iraq:
Paul Bremer, who led the U.S. civilian occupation authority in Iraq after the 2003 invasion, has admitted the United States did not anticipate the insurgency in the country, NBC Television said on Friday.
http://tinyurl.com/dhg7u
Number of badly wounded soldiers on rise in Iraq :
Military medical advances are keeping more soldiers alive in the Iraq War but also creating a growing pool of badly wounded veterans who will need expensive, long-term medical care, the U.S. secretary of Veteran Affairs said on Friday.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060107/us_nm/iraq_veterans_dc_1
Hassan ransom payment 'blocked by Foreign Office':
A MILLIONAIRE who wanted to pay a ransom for the release of Margaret Hassan, the British aid worker kidnapped in Iraq and later murdered, was allegedly intimidated into dropping his offer, writes Maurice Chittenden.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-1965627,00.html
The Whitewashing of Ariel Sharon:
From the beginning to the end of his career, Sharon was a man of ruthless and often gratuitous violence. The waypoints of his career are all drenched in blood, from the massacre he directed at the village of Qibya in 1953
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article11484.htm
Audio: Eye-Witness To Sabra-Shatila Massacare:
"The slaughter of unarmed children, women, the aged and the infirm was shocking. For me, I was doubly outraged that I had to discover the truth about a brave and generous people only through their deaths. Until then, I never knew Palestinian refugees existed. As a fundamentalist Christian, I had been a supporter of Israel, hated Arabs and saw the Palestinian Liberation Organisation as terrorists to be loathed and feared."
http://www.inminds.co.uk/from-beirut-to-jerusalem.html
Gordon Prather : On Another Planet :
Back in October 2003, after seeing what Bush and Blair did to Iraq on the pretext of destroying Iraq's non-existent nuke programs, Iran began negotiations with France, Germany and the United Kingdom (EU/E3) with the explicit expectation of obtaining - at a minimum - assurances from the Europeans that Bush and Blair would not do unto them what they had just done unto Iraq.
http://www.antiwar.com/prather/?articleid=8357
Them or Us: AIPAC on Trial:
In August 2004, the FBI and the US Justice Department counter-intelligence bureau announced that they were investigating a top Pentagon analyst suspected of spying for Israel and handing over highly confidential documents on US policy toward Iran to AIPAC which in turn handed them over to the Israeli Embassy.
http://www.counterpunch.com/petras01072006.html
Eight security guards on border with Afghanistan killed :
Assailants armed with rockets and assault rifles attacked a newly built checkpoint near the Afghan border in Pakistan before dawn today, killing all eight security forces, officials said.
http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/nationworld/story/5442985p-4914226c.html
One killed in a bomb blast in eastern Afghanistan :
A passerby was killed and a policeman injured on Saturday by a roadside bomb in eastern Afghanistan, officials said, changing their earlier statement that it was a suicide attack.
http://dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=1006128
U.S. Still Force Feeding Forty Guantanamo Hunger Strikers
Merkel criticises Guantanamo Bay : German Chancellor Angela Merkel says the US detention camp at Guantanamo Bay "should not exist", in an interview days before she meets George W Bush.
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=80316
Bush using a little-noticed strategy to alter the balance of power:
President Bush agreed with great fanfare last month to accept a ban on torture, but he later quietly reserved the right to ignore it, even as he signed it into law.
http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/13568438.htm
NSA chief not concerned by congressional inquiries:
A 1978 law, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, forbids domestic spying on U.S. citizens without the approval of a special court. In the wake of the September 11 attacks, Bush secretly authorized the NSA to intercept communications without court approval.
http://tinyurl.com/9645r
Report disputes spy plan legality:
The non-partisan research arm of Congress on Friday questioned the legal foundation of President Bush's decision to order eavesdropping on Americans without court warrants.
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/13572257.htm
Orwell could have a case against Bush:
Lawyers for the estate of George Orwell have announced their intention to sue President Bush for plagiarism.
http://www.americanpolitics.com/20051220Young.html
The lie detector you'll never know is there:
THE US Department of Defense has revealed plans to develop a lie detector that can be used without the subject knowing they are being assessed.
http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=mg18925335.800
Computer chips get under skin of enthusiasts :
The computer chips, which cost about $2, interact with a device installed in computers and other electronics. The chips are activated when they come within 3 inches of a so-called reader, which scans the data on the chips. The "reader" devices are available for as little as $50.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060106/tc_nm/technology_implants_dc
DeLay's Decision Won't End GOP Troubles :
Republicans worried about their party's future have succeeded in pushing embattled former Majority Leader Tom DeLay off the stage. Even so, the Republicans' election-year troubles are far from over.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5530519,00.html
Officials Focus on a 2nd Firm Tied to DeLay :
Having secured a guilty plea from the lobbyist Jack Abramoff, prosecutors are entering a new phase of the corruption investigation in Washington and are focusing on a lobbying firm that may hold the key to whether Tom DeLay or other lawmakers will face criminal charges in the case.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article11483.htm
Tyco acknowledges it was source of $1.6m pocketed by Abramoff:
Tyco International, whose former CEO became a symbol of corporate corruption, acknowledged Thursday it is the Jack Abramoff client referred to as "Company A" in court documents describing the lobbyist's scheme to funnel millions of dollars in lobbying fees to himself.
http://www.fosters.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060106/NEWS0201/101060157
New Job for Former Cheney Aide:
I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, who served as chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney until his October 28 indictment and subsequent resignation, has joined the Hudson Institute as a senior adviser, it was announced on Friday.
http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewPolitics.asp?Page=\Politics\archive\200601\POL20060106c.html
Gentle Genocide: Why Kill All at Once?:
Do it gradually, while no one is watching!
http://villagevoice.com/news/0602,cartoons,71573,9.html
Medicare Misery:
The new Medicare bill is about to kick in, and what it offers to seniors isn't pretty.
http://www.prospect.org/web/page.ww?section=root&name=ViewWeb&articleId=10792
[Jan 8, 06]
• Bremer says US did not expect insurgency in Iraq
The Observer (London) ,
http://observer .guardian.co.uk/ world/story/ 0,16937,168 1748,00.html ,
by Paul Harris in New York, Sunday January 8, 2006
NEW YORK: Paul Bremer, who led the US civilian occupation authority in Iraq after the 2003 invasion, has admitted that the Americans 'didn't really see' the
threat coming from insurgents in the country.
He also criticised President George Bush and Defence Secretary Donald
Rumsfeld, saying they had not listened to his concerns about the quality of Iraq's army, and that ultimately the White House bore responsibility for decisions that had led to the current violence.
Bremer, interviewed by the US television network NBC before the
publication this week of his book on Iraq, recounted the decision to disband the Iraqi army quickly after arriving in Baghdad, a move many experts now consider was a major mistake.
The comments come as British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw visited Iraq
yesterday and painted a more rosy picture of the country's future. Straw's
surprise visit will see him hold talks with virtually the entire Iraqi
leadership.
Straw was bullish on the capability of Iraq's own security forces. 'There
is now very great day-to-day, hour-to-hour co-operation between the
coalition commanders and Iraqi commanders in very many provinces,' he told
the BBC.
But Bremer's comments will upset that optimistic picture and join a
lengthening list of Iraqi hawks turned critics of policy in the country.
Brem