Thursday, August 03, 2006

Israeli soldiers were captured —not "kidnapped"

Invaluable assistance: Vierotchka

Big brother media got it wrong again! Almost universally ignored is the mounting evidence that the two Israeli soldiers were not kidnapped; they were captured inside Lebanon. [See Forbes: Israeli soldiers were captured —not "kidnapped"]

The implications are enormous. If true, then Israel is guilty of aggression —a war crime! Moreover, Israel lied! The war crime of "aggression" is in addition to crimes associated with Israel's deliberate targeting of civilians.

Crimes against humanity:

Murder, extermination, enslavement, deportation and other inhuman acts done against any civilian population, or persecutions on political, racial or religious grounds, when such acts are done or such persecutions are carried on in execution of or in connection with any crime against peace or any war crime.

Principles of the Nuremberg Tribunal, 1950

Concurrently the human rights group —Human Rights Watch —has accused Israel of war crimes in connection with what it calls "...indiscriminate attacks against civilians." The new report refutes Israeli claims that Hezbollah uses civilians as human shields and states flatly that the claims are false. Previously, Human Rights Watch addressed Hezbollah conduct and condemned attacks on civilian areas.

The current report by Human Rights Watch is entitled Fatal Strikes: Israel’s Indiscriminate Attacks Against Civilians in Lebanon. It analyzes " ...two dozen cases of Israeli air and artillery attacks on civilian homes and vehicles." According to the report, of 153 dead civilians, 63 are children.

Given that so little reported these days is true, it is hard not to conclude that the chaotic state of the world is a result of evil people acting upon deliberate lies. People act upon what they believe to be true and nothing good comes of it. There is, however, a worse case. Some people know the truth but lie anyway and act upon what they know to be untrue.

L. Neil Smith is often credited for having said that "truth is the first casualty of war". He might have said that. But he also said something even better:
Government is waging war against the people.

—L. Neil Smith

On the home front, the Bush administration —in danger of being found guilty of war crimes itself —continues a shameless campaign to make legal after the fact the crimes that it has already committed. Under Bush, the office of Attorney General is reduced to rewriting established principles of law so that the "President" of the United States doesn't wind up in a dank cell —or even the gallows!

U.S. official pushes for 'clarity' on handling terror suspects

By Kate Zernike The New York Times
Published: August 3, 2006

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has pressed Congress to refine the definition of war crimes prohibited under the Geneva Conventions, as the Bush administration and lawmakers continue to debate the rules for treatment and trials of terrorism suspects.

Administration proposals on how to bring suspects to trial have moved closer to what some senators have said they will demand, but two hearings Wednesday on Capitol Hill foreshadowed a fight over the definition of coercive interrogation tactics.

Administration lawyers and senators also continued to clash over evidence obtained through coercion or hearsay and how to deal with classified evidence.

The Supreme Court ruled in late June that terrorism suspects must be extended the protections outlined in a provision of the Geneva Conventions that prohibits "outrages upon personal dignity, and in particular humiliating and degrading treatment."

Gonzales argued Wednesday that the language of the provision, known as Common Article 3, was too vague.

And because the U.S. War Crimes Act, passed a decade ago, makes it a felony to violate that provision, he said that troops could be prosecuted for interrogation tactics considered too harsh.

Congress, he said, could "help by defining our obligations" under the provision.

Gonzales, publicly discussing the administration's new proposal for prisoner trials for the first time since the court's ruling, said it would offer legislation that included a proposal to change the War Crimes Act, to bring "clarity" in defining which violations of Common Article 3 rise to the level of war crimes.

"The surest way to achieve that clarity and certainty, in our view, is for Congress to set forth a definite and clear list of offenses serious enough to be considered war crimes," he said.

But senators said Congress should not endorse any treatment it would not want used on U.S. soldiers.

"We must remain a nation that is different from, and above, our enemies," said Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona.

The differences between the administration and the Senate were most pronounced when McCain asked Gonzales whether statements obtained through "illegal and inhumane treatment" should be admissible. Gonzales paused for almost a minute before responding.

"The concern that I would have about such a prohibition is, what does it mean?" he said.

"How do you define it? I think if we could all reach agreement about the definition of cruel and inhumane and degrading treatment, then perhaps I could give you an answer."

McCain, a former prisoner of war, said that using illegal and inhumane interrogation tactics and allowing the evidence to be introduced would be "a radical departure" from longstanding U.S. policy.

The court ruled in June that the military tribunals that President George W. Bush had established for suspects held at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, violated international law and were not authorized by U.S. statute.

Lawyers from the Defense and Justice departments initially tried to persuade Congress simply to approve the tribunals. By Wednesday, the administration had changed its position. "What we are considering now is a better product," Gonzales said.

He said the administration proposed enacting a new code of military justice modeled on court-martial procedures. The new proposal departs from the initial tribunals in several ways. The presiding officer would be a military judge, for example, and would rule on evidence, but not participate in the final verdict. The jury would have five members, instead of three, with 12 in death- penalty cases. Conviction would require two-thirds of the jury to agree, and unanimity in death-penalty cases.

But the proposal also departs from court-martial procedures, in that suspects would not be entitled to warnings regarding self-incrimination, or to Article 32 proceedings, which are similar to a grand jury.

It would allow the introduction of hearsay evidence that the judge ruled "reliable" and would share classified evidence with the defense counsel, but not necessarily the defendant." ...

Infamy!

Additional resources and updates:

Bush's War on Lebanon

Abdel Wahab

George Bush and Ehud Olmert are far removed from danger. They order the killing of Lebanese civilians and refuse to agree to a ceasefire. What sort of creatures are they by the standards of the 21st century? If they are human beings, then they must be two criminals who make war a means to exercise barbarism.

George Bush gave Ehud Olmert a new deadline to end his mission in Lebanon. However, the mission will not be accomplished. The mission is basically a figment of the imagination, and planning and hopes are useless. The US, or its dog, Israel, cannot exterminate a segment of an Arab society simply because they do not like it. This has been proven in the fight against Hamas, and it will be the case in the war on Hezbollah.

Given Washington's rejection of a ceasefire, it can no longer claim that it helps its Arab friends in the region. How can the Arab leaders convince their peoples that real benefits may accrue from the continued killing and devastation in Lebanon? Is there a policy that underlies the death and destruction? Of course not. Killing and devastation may be considered the whim of the world's sole great power in George Bush's times. Even in the world of cowboys, there is the man and the monster; and there is the wise person and the wicked one.

Bush sleeps in peace because the killing is going on in Lebanon. Moreover, John Bolton, the US envoy to the UN, has degenerated from a crude Zionist to the most obnoxious level of Zionist racism. In his opinion, the killing of Lebanese civilians should not be considered the same as the deaths of civilians in Israel. He believes that Israeli civilians who are killed are the victims of terror, while Lebanese civilians are killed in 'military operations dictated by the principle of self defense'. Bolton, once honored by some Lebanese who thought he had become sane, should be admitted into a mental hospital. But he managed to stay out of it, and qualified as Bush's envoy to the UN.

Dr. Condoleezza Rice, like Olmert, was baptized as a Sharonite. Basically, they are all Sharonites who were waiting for this opportunity. They wage wars whose results are guaranteed, as though these wars were simply training courses for their pilots. No one is brothering the neo-Sharonites in their wars. Dr. Condee says a ceasefire will be implemented when the situation becomes appropriate. Therefore, she will not agree to the deployment of international forces or any procedures that would signal an end to the military operations. She is waiting for Olmert to give a sign that the mission is complete: 'We killed as many civilians as we could. We have left nothing standing. We inflicted the worst damage possible on fields and property. We denied them access to supplies and drugs. We have turned Lebanon into an 'aid agency' that is accused of inability and failure. We terrified Syria into thinking that we may attack it, too. But we have not been able to destroy Hezbollah and the Resistance. We will cease fire, and let's see what happens in Lebanon.'

In fact, all the parties saw an opportunity to seize Lebanon. The stage is set for all roles, except the role of the State. Bush has the impudence to say that he is anxious for the Lebanese State, though it is the last of his concerns, and of his criminal ally, Olmert. The Lebanese State is also the least priority for Damascus, Tehran and Hezbollah itself. The State is like a decor that pleases everybody. It does not matter if the vast majority of the Lebanese counts on the State, and wants it to be established on the ruins of war. It is others who shape the destiny of the State, army and society. They all play the same game as the Israelis, who urged the Palestinian Authority to do what they themselves avoided. The Israelis crippled the Authority, and destroyed its tools that enabled it to function. The Israelis are now striking the Lebanese army, only because the Lebanese PM voiced his intention that the State should take full control of Lebanon.

On the seventh day of the Bush-Olmert campaign, the families slaughtered in the massacres are no longer able to draw the sympathy of the US President or even the British PM, although both swore that some divine revelation had beckoned them to the war against Iraq. There is no divine message to draw their attention to the crimes of Israel. ...

And from the Washington Post

Hezbollah Leader Threatens Tel Aviv

By SAM F. GHATTAS

The Associated Press
Thursday, August 3, 2006; 2:37 PM

BEIRUT, Lebanon -- Hezbollah's leader offered Thursday to stop rocket attacks on northern Israel in return for an end to airstrikes throughout Lebanon.

However, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah also vowed to fire rockets into Tel Aviv if Israel strikes Beirut proper. Israeli warplanes have repeatedly bombarded Hezbollah strongholds in southern suburbs of Beirut.

Analysis: Blair rejects Israel bias

LONDON, England (UPI) -- British Prime Minister Tony Blair lent his backing Thursday to Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora`s seven point plan for resolving the current conflict between Israel and Hezbollah. It is a move apparently designed to demonstrate his evenhandedness following weeks of intense criticism within Britain of his apparent bias towards Israel.

Under a heavy media grilling at his monthly press conference, Blair attempted to fend off claims that he is taking a one-sided approach to the conflict, insisting that he had been working all along for a cease-fire and that he stood in 'complete solidarity' with the Lebanese people.

'Please don`t misunderstand me about this,' he pleaded. 'Any sentient human being could not fail to be moved by what they see, the suffering and death.'







The Existentialist Cowboy

31 comments:

Sebastien Parmentier said...

Geez, Len, where the hell and how did you pulled out this AP/Forbes article?

That version of the facts had been changed and travestied almost overnight.

This, is full of implication indeed. And indeed, if this version proves to be the real one, Israel is blatantly guilty of war crime!

This piece of news is a little piece of history. Great find, Len. Even if it implies that the world is even more insane that it tries to look like on newspapers... this historical reality check allows the politically acute ones to know who are the real assholes...

Anonymous said...

This is considerably older (relevant to the shootdown of the Iranian airbus I mentioned earlier in another thread) - http://homepage.ntlworld.com/jksonc/docs/ir655-nightline-19920701.html
- however, it serves to illustrate the lengths to which people will go to deliberately hide the truth, and then only grudgingly release facts piecemeal and directly proportional to what they think you know.

Unknown said...

Dante, I had invaluable assistance from vierotchka. I should have and will add an acknowledgement to a revision of the article.

The obvious explanation is simply this: the "word" came down from "on high" and subsequent versions met with big bro's approval. I am also comfortable with the fact that it comes from "Forbes". It's better to hammer a knee-jerk conservative with sources that "he" cannot possibly impugn with a mere smear!

The report has the ring of truth. I could never imagine Hezbollah raiding Israeli territory and making off with two "kidnapped" hostages. That would be daring, indeed! I don't think it happened.

Finally, PBS ran an old documentary about Ed Murrow last evening. It was obviously made when PBS still had a glimmer of integrity. It's not just about Murrow; it's about how BIG MEDIA has absolutely no soul whatsoever. I feel sorry for your, aspiring journalists seeking to change the world by telling the truth. If it could not happen with Murrow at CBS, there is even less chance now. When some 4 to 6 big multi-national dominate media, there is no hope.

In the meantime, we still have the blogosphere. Enjoy it while it lasts. When we begin to makes an impact, the fascists will shut down the internet. They've already begun the campaign.

Sebastien Parmentier said...

Why am I not surprised that La Duchesse Du Google had something to do with it.... She had always demonstrated an amazing talent in digging for those kind of gems...

Sebastien Parmentier said...

Forbes was just lucky to get the wire at 5.41 am before a John Smith worked that wire at the ministry of truth, well, at Associated Press. I am sure that, by 7:00 am, the media had received a travestied version of the AP wire. Lucky for them. The story would have not been the same if an idiot from AFP happened to be around South Lebanon as well...

benmerc said...

I hear that Len,

I fear the end of blog will happen when the big utility/server suppliers get the congress to sign on with them for the rate increase. It will not be about suppression, it will be seen as a "business" move, there for legitimate. I mean for god's sake, we can not tamper with "Corporatist Capitalism"...that would be "unholy".

Well, killing of American indigenous was a "business" move also, and we seemed to have absorbed that little factoid with out a bother on our conscious, so I assume the american populace will swallow this pill also. But we could extrapolate forever on that behavior mechanism as it has been deployed throughout our history.

Also, have you seen the latest winger spin on the Qana massacre? go to this site:


http://johnmckay.blogspot.com/2006/08/more-qana-conspiracy-ive-already.html

J. Mckay has some interesting information and insights, sorry my links don't go through...but I am not that good with this technology... the address is there to check out, decent site.

Damn, I wake up OK, read a little news, and by 7:30 a.m. ... I am full of vitriol. But I should consider myself lucky,If I were Iraqi I could be waking with irradiated bullets flying about. I guess I will have to settle for some other Industrial disease.

Unknown said...

Dante: Forbes was just lucky to get the wire at 5.41 am before a John Smith worked that wire at the ministry of truth,

Not so long ago, about 90 percent of syndicated news copy was written by either AP or UPI. It was a rare radio news guy, for example, who wrote his own stuff. Even so, certain phrases are just picked and repeated —without question. In this case the official story —kidnapping —just became "the" way the story was told. That excuses no one. The story was obviously a partisan "plant" —a brilliant job of framing the debate. Karl Rove could not have done a better job. It just got picked up and repeated even by those outside the conspiracy.

benmerc: It will not be about suppression, it will be seen as a "business" move, there for legitimate.

That's how CBS got rid of Murrow. They couldn't find a sponsor for him. It was all just business. At Harvard and Yale, they teach a "business ethic" i.e. there is NO ethic but the bottom line. By that standard, Murder Inc. is entirely ethical. It is sure to make money. The attempt by business to escape social responsibility is seen to be fallacious when take to its absurd conclusions.

we seemed to have absorbed that little factoid with out a bother on our conscious, so I assume the american populace will swallow this pill also. But we could extrapolate forever on that behavior mechanism as it has been deployed throughout our history.


Whatever nefarious mind convinced the media that it was a "kidnapping" pulled off a brilliant big of framing. It's already become a meme. Although, I may have had a record amount of traffic to this blog over the last week, it is not NEARLY enough to have changed the way that event will be referred to or thought of in the future. For billions worldwide, it's still a "kidnapping".

Anonymous said...

August 12: International day of solidarity and protest

International appeal for an immediate and unconditional cease-fire

Today, July 30th, another massacre was committed in Lebanon: More than sixty civilians, among them 37 children, were killed by Israeli bombs while they were sleeping in shelters in the village of Qana. They died not very far away from the mass grave holding the bodies of 106 civilians burned by a previous Israeli attack in April 1996 inside a shelter provided by a UN battalion.

Reacting to this terrible news, the only sane decision that needs to be made immediately is that of a ceasefire.

A ceasefire would allow for humanitarian relief to reach the innocent victims, for the bodies to be buried instead of being eaten by the dogs, and for all the underlying problems to be negotiated and eventually solved. More victims can only produce more hatred.

In the last few days, Lebanon has been promised by the EU, the UK and the US help in rebuilding its infrastructure and humanitarian aid to assist the eight hundred thousand internally displaced persons and “humanitarian corridors”, but they stopped short of demanding a ceasefire, which encouraged Israel to continue with its “mission” of unilaterally enforcing the resolution to disarm Hezbollah. With that same logic, Hezbollah could argue it has a mission to enforce the many UN Security Council resolutions demanding Israel to withdraw from the occupied Palestinian territories and to implement the right of return of the Palestinian refugees.

On July 27, Israeli Justice Minister Haim Ramon said that Israel had given civilians ample time to leave southern Lebanon. “All those now in south Lebanon are terrorists who are related in some way to Hezbollah,” he said, according to the BBC. The same strategy is in these days deployed in the Gaza Strip where the populations of neighborhoods and refugee camps are asked to leave their homes. This comes down to blatant collective punishment of entire populations.

The escalating violence in Lebanon can not be solved unilaterally with self-proclaimed righteousness by any party. Peace is negotiated between enemies, not with friends. And the first step to any negotiation is a ceasefire. Or is it that every child has to die so that they do not grow into “terrorists”?

A year ago, the UK Prime Minister championed the cause of including in the UN mandate the “responsibility to protect populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity”. Yet the UN, the European Union, The United States and the United Kingdom have failed in their responsibility to protect the Lebanese and Palestinian children. Or even to clearly condemn the latest Israeli criminal acts.

The international civil society and social movements are raising their voice and mobilizing throughout the world not only to express their indefectible solidarity with the Lebanese people, but also to build a huge international barrier against the global war of re-colonization of the world.

We are demanding:

· An immediate and unconditional cease-fire, in Lebanon as well as in the Palestinian Occupied Territories!
· The implementation of full sovereignty to Lebanon and the national rights of the Palestinian people!
· No NATO forces on the Lebanese territory!

We support the call of the international solidarity delegation in Lebanon for an international day of protest and solidarity on August 12th.

Please support this appeal either as an individual or as an organization (include name of the signatory and/or organization and country) by sending an e-mail to the following:

# Arab NGO Network for Development (ANND)
annd@annd.org


# Michael Warschawski
Anti-War movement in Israel
Alternative Information Center/Jerusalem
Member of the WSF/IC
mikaic@alt-info.org

_____________________________________________
SIGNATORIES

ORGANIZATIONS

1 IBASE, Brasil, Cândido Grzybowski member of WSF International Council
2 International Alliance of Inhabitants, Cesare Ottolini, coordinator
3 Habitat International Coalition (HIC)
4 Ubuntu Forum Secretariat, Josep Xercavins, Coordinadtor
5 Third World Network, Martin Khor - Director
6 Le Monde Diplomatique, Bernard Cassen, journaliste et directeur général
7 Coordinación de Mujeres del Paraguay, Clide Soto, Carmen Vallejo, Carolina Thide
8 Association for Progressive Communications (APC), Anriette Esterhuysen - Executive Director
9 Social Watch, Roberto Bissio, International secretariat
10 Social Development Network, Edward Oyugi, Executive Director/ Kenya
11 Central Unica dos Trabalhadores (CUT), Brasil
12 Articulacion Feminista Marcosur (South America), Virginia Vargas, Lilián Celiberti, Line Bareiro, Carla Batista, Guacira de Oliveira, Yuma Schumager
13 ATTAC - Brasil, Antonio Martins, member of WSF International Council
14 Attac Vlaanderen (Belgium), Francine Mestrum
15 Jubilee South, Vinod Raina
16 WSF Karachi Organising Coommittee, Karamat Ali
17 Pakistan Peace Coalition
18 REMTE (Latinoamerican Network of Women Transforming the Economy / Red Latinoamericana Mujeres Transformando la Economia), Magdalena Leon T.
19 Network for Social Justice and Human Rights (Rede Social de Justiça e Direitos Humanos), Maria Luisa Mendonça, Brazil
20 ALAI (Agencia Latinoamericana de Información), Sally Burch
21 Alternatives Internationales, Gustave Massiah
22 All India Peoples Science Network, Amit Sen Gupta
23 Focus on the Global South, Walden Bello
24 Istituto Paulo Freire, Isabel Pato
25 Network Institute for Global Democratization (NIGD), Dr. Teivo Teivainen
26 Consejo Latinoamericano de Ciencias Sociales (CLACSO), Emilio Taddei
27 Lebanese women council
28 ABONG (Brazilian Association of NGOs), Carolina Gil
29 Red Afrolatino-americana e Afro-Caribenha de Mujeres, Nilza Iraci
30 Geledés - Instituto da Mulher Negra/ Brazil
31 Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era (DAWN)
32 Campaign against fundamentalisms, Lucy Garrido, Cecilia Olea
33 Bahrain Center for Studies and Research, Mohamad Noman Jalal
34 FASE, Fátima Mello Director/Brazil
35 Cotidiano Mujer/ Uruguay, Elena Fonseca, Elena Bitencur, Ana Cristina González, Adriana Fontán
36 LGBT South-South Dialogue
37 Red Nacional Género y Economía, México, Leonor Aida Concha
38 Observatorio da Cidadania- Brasil, Fernanda Carvalho
39 Action for Economic Reforms, Men Sta. Ana
40 Red de Educación Popular Entre Mujeres de América Latina y el Caribe (REPEM), Ximena Machicao
41 Internatinal Council for Adult Education - ICAE
42 Third World Network (TWN) - Africa
43 Espaces Marx / Transform!, Elizabeth Gautier
44 Encuentros Hemisféricos contra el ALCA
45 Convergencia de los Movimientos de los Pueblos de las Américas (COMPA)
46 Centro Memorial Dr.Martin Luther King,jr, Habana, Cuba
47 FAMES (Forum des Femmes Africaines pour un monde de l'Economie Solidaire) Senegal
48 Grassroots Global Justice, USA
49 Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign (PPEHRC), National Coordinator Cheri Honkala, USA
50 ARCI - Italian Working Group for World Social Forum, Raffaella Bolini
51 Instituto del Tercer Mundo (ITeM) - Clara Píriz, Presidenta
52 Global Policy Forum Europe, Jens Martens


INDIVIDUALS

1 Hans von Sponeck, UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq (1998-2000)
2 Noam Chomsky
3 Karine Lacasse, Alternative, Canada
4 Graciela Rodriguez/EQUIT Coordinator and IGTN Global Coordinator
5 Atila Roque/Brazil INESC
6 Chikako Nishiguchi/Japan
7 Valeria Bismar
8 Illena rivera/Venezuela
9 Jean Kasaparbauer/US citizen, Caucasian-German
10 Hadi Bismar/Lebanese Canadian
11 Eva Friedlander /United States
12 Jean Marie Kraemer/Lebanon
13 Rafic Baddoura/medical doctor
15 Leila Sharaf/Jordanian senate
16 Shirley Walters/Cape Town- South Africa
17 Yvonne Underhill-Sem, Cook- Islands/New Zealand
18 Lea Maria/journalist from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
19 Jorge Beloqui/Maths Professor at the University of São Paulo
20 Chola Mtonga/Zambia
21 Professor Vijay Naidu/Director, Development Studies-Institute of Geography-School of Earth-Sciences-Victoria University-Wellington
22 Mariama Williams/Jamaica
23 Noji Matutu/Johannesburg -South Africa
24 Charaf Ahmimed/IDRC-Canada
25 Elsa Duhagon/ Uruguay
26 Magela Sigillito, Uruguay
27 Pablo Accuosto/ Uruguay
28 Amanda Soares de Brito/ Brasil
29 Minar Pimple, MDG campaign
30 Sunie Arima/Action Aid International

Anonymous said...

The former chief of Pakistan's military intelligence (ISI), Maj. Gen.Hameed Gul is reported as saying that America will definitely attack Iran and Syria simultaneously in October.link

And Larisa Alexandrovna from Raw Story responds to a Lukery post where she confirms this idea. link

"Since last year we have been using a terrorist organization, MEK [Mujahedeen-e Khalq], on the ground in Iran to act as a "disrupting force."

Just in March alone, MEK assassinated 22 Iranian officials, including a governor. We have set of smallish bombs and other "destabilizing" activities there since last year. These actions are prepping the ground for something...but for what?

The OVP[Office of the Vice President] has retained the services of Iran Contra arms man, Gorba [Gorbanifar], to "act as eyes and ears on the ground" to make sure that no "unauthorized" negotiations take place [that might permit some undesirable peace-making deal on uranium between, say, the EU and Iran].

We have bypassed the UNSC [the United Nations Security Council] and approached EU banks directly already [to impose financial sanctions against Iran].

We have attempted to implicate both Iran/Iraq in a WMD smuggling plot (see my article on this).

The US DOD has created an OSP[Office of Special Plans] for Iran called the Iranian Directorate, with the same exact people (minus 2)[as the Iraq OSP].

The US State Department is funneling large amounts of cash to "opposition" groups in Iran.

These are but a few points and it is impossible to deny that we are actively engaged in regime change already.

But the US does not have the authority or reason to justify an aerial attack on Iran, although we did a great deal of illegal pre-war bombing in Iraq prior to attacking them (see my article).

I and others have said we would need a trigger....The questions now are what the trigger will be, not if there will be an attack."


I've lifted these comments because I believe they are important [Larisa and Lukery won't mind]. They indicate the strategic mindset of the current US leadership. And that we are almost certainly on track for attacks on Iran and Syria.

Larisa's blogspot and Iran articles are here.

Anonymous said...

Bush's lunatic foreign policy is driving the nails deeper in the Republican (and Conservative) coffin by the day. It is significant to note that only a desperate and spontaneous act that does not require the support of the public is likely to remain a viable choice.

Here's an interesting and informative piece on the gathering political power of Nasrahlla:

http://www.bitterlemons-international.org/inside.php?id=586

Sorry, I don't know how to hyperlink, you'll have to do the copy-and-paste thing. It's worth seeing, as is just about everything else on the Bitter Lemons site. The line in this piece that resonated with me was, "Some Israelis continue to hope that a statesman will emerge and achieve a stable peace with Palestinians and Arabs". Although many have written off the notion that any peace will ever prevail in that tormented region, it's never been further away than that visionary leader, whoever he or she may be.

But it isn't Ehud Olmert.

Anonymous said...

Curiouser and curiouser. Here's another interesting and punchy link...

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=CHO20060726&articleId=2824

...regarding the recently completed Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, the emerging strategic importance of Ashklelon and Eilat, and the resource-driven imperative for control of the Eastern Mediterranean.

Motive, means.....and opportunity.

SadButTrue said...

Benmerc said, "for god's sake, we can not tamper with "Corporatist Capitalism"...that would be 'unholy' ".

Len's response, "The attempt by business to escape social responsibility is seen to be fallacious when take to its absurd conclusions."

As pointed out in Joel Bakan's frighteningly incisive three-part documentary, The Corporation, the beginning of the end for American democracy actually came way back in the post civil war era. It was then that corporate lawyers foisted the idea on business-friendly courts that these conglomerate entities should be treated as 'persons' under the law. Relying then on 14th. amendment provisions meant to protect the newly-emancipated slaves, corporations increasingly garnered the rights of full citizens, while somehow accruing none of the obligations. The patent absurdity of this premise would be laughable if the consequences for Real citizens were not so disastrous. Try to draft a corporation into the armed service in time of war, for instance. The culmination of this ever-increasing sanctity of the corporate 'personage' (the corporation being the sacred cow of the American legal system) came with the decision that large amounts of money funneled through lobbyists and campaign funds into political pockets was 'free speech.' The end result of this freedom of expression enjoyed by 'persons' like Enron, Exxon and Halliburton is that they derive the maximum benefit from all government actions, while escaping social responsibility in the form of taxation and regulation almost completely.
AirAmericaRadio's Randi Rhodes is only half joking when she challenges the American corporate world, "Oh yeah, I'll start treating you like a person the day you come back from your colonoscopy."

Anonymous said...

Just a followup. Nafeez Ahmed is also saying that an Iran attack has been scheduled by the US, Britain and Israel before the end of the year.

Anonymous said...

....."The Monterey Institute for International Studies already showed nearly two years ago in a detailed analysis that the likely consequences of a strike on Iran by the US, Israel, or both, would be a regional conflagaration that could quickly turn nuclear, and spiral out of control." - Nafeez Ahmed

benmerc said...

As you state sadbutrue, the corporation is the ultimate "Sacred Cow" of our times. Michael Parenti delves into the rise of corporate culture in American history with one of his books: "Democracy for the Few". What I also like about Dr. Parenti is that he offers alternative actions we as individuals and then local community can take in confronting these Goliaths.

I have been meaning to view The Corporation, but have yet to do so, gee I wonder if I can rent it at Block Buster? I will be looking into that, I say 50/50 chance. Never the less, years ago when I was a small business owner I was told I should immediately put the company into the highest corporate category I could legally register as. All of this was of course to avoid the responsibility of any mishap in any way shape or form to protect your personal wealth, from lawsuits to debt.

It is bred into the system from the get-go, things not going well? Just change the name and walk away. It varies by degree from state to state, and of course it does not warrant you behave irresponsible, but look at the results of our current business atmosphere, and the greed of corporate culture, and how it is celebrated.

In the big operations it boils down to nothing but profit, the Holy Grail of corporatism.
Of course in a capitalist system profit is expected, but how much and at what costs? These are the very issues that never seem to be approached by the mainstream corporate world. The old method models need to be grossly revised, some discarded and others actualized. The irony is it should not be because it is an impossibility to run a responsible, yet profitable corporation.

That myth has been proven false per the responsible and sustainable corporate climate and practice engaged by many of the “New Age” style corporations that have emerged over the last ten to fifteen years. Will the gilded giants ever come around to a sense of social and geo-political responsibility, and usher in an age of sane, fair practiced sustainable economies and method? Not if the bulk of their product is armaments and revolves around global conflict and aggression. This is the crux of the schism that separates the culture of change we face as a global community.

Sebastien Parmentier said...

Officially, Israel's ground invasion of Lebanon is an act of self-defense against Hezbollah's threat, aimed at creating a security buffer zone until the arrival of a "multinational force with an enforcement capability". But increasingly, as the initial goal of a narrow strip of only a few kilometers has now been extended up to the Litani River deep in Lebanon, the real motives behind Israel's invasion are becoming crystal-clear.

It's about (de facto) annexation, stupid. This is a war to annex a major chunk of Lebanese territory without necessarily saying so, under the pretext of security buffer and deterrence against future attacks on Israel.
dfeqzm

benmerc said...

Yea...they want to regain what they walked from in 2000, and oh yea, again... its about the H2O.

Anonymous said...

In all honesty I cannot accept full credit since I found those links in a site that Damien (I think it was) had posted in another thread. But that takes no glitter away from my given title of "Duchesse de Google"! :D

Anonymous said...

It probably wasn't my link. But I'll take the credit anyway Vierotchka - I have no shame.

Unknown said...

Vierothka, damien...you're BOTH brilliant and I am honored that you choose this forum to post on : )

I'm glad we got the story. It completely reframes the "debate"

SadButTrue said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
SadButTrue said...

Vierotchka, the Duchess of Google, I like that. Good on ya' Dante, for coming up with that. I bet Duchess V looks mighty good in the tiara too.

As much as I consider this my home away from home, I haven't had the chance to visit much lately. My absence is explained HERE: An Exciting New Project in a Friendly Neighbour post. I have been very busy this last week.

Short version: I found myself an orphaned band of liberal ruffians with little to no blogging experience last week, and took it upon myself to create a group blog for them called Les Enragés . All Americans (except me), two Texans, one Columbia School of Journalism grad, many philosophers, and most significantly, one translator who speaks Hebrew and has a son in Tel Aviv. This last, Shunra (Aramaic for cat, BTW) has allowed us to scoop the English speaking news services, AP, Reuters, BBC etc., not once but twice in our first week of operation. Pardon my lack of humility in considering this to be major laurels, but this blog is only starting its seventh day this morning.

Please drop by and check it out, you will not regret it. Len if you like it enough, I would appreciate any promotion (blogroll, mention in a post) you could come up with, or maybe a cross post either way (or both ways.) I think I can almost guarantee that you will agree this is a significant project. Anyone else who can help, it would surely be appreciated. Thank you for putting up with my pimping on a Sunday. {ö¥ö} -SBT-

Unknown said...

welcome back, sad. The repeated paragraph is fixed and thanks for pointing it out. The links are great. I do have some articles in the works —articles that had been put a back burner by the developments in the Middle East.

Anonymous said...

Completely off topic (almost). Dante and Mark, and anyone who knows French, here is un petit cadeau for you. I hope you'll like it. :)

I hope you don't mind, Len. :)

Anonymous said...

It probably wasn't my link. But I'll take the credit anyway Vierotchka - I have no shame.

LOL! :D

Sebastien Parmentier said...

Vierotchka, merci, merci, merci, merci, merci!!!! (pour Leo)

Anonymous said...

Dante Lee - I was quite sure you'd like it. After all, in so many ways that poem is just... you! :)

I hope you took the time to look around while you were there, and that you liked what you saw and heard.

Sebastien Parmentier said...

I browsed your site on the daily basis. Another gem I remembered seeing was "L'histoire de Melody nelson" from Gainsbarre..

Anonymous said...

I see that Israel has purposely bypassed pockets of Hezbollah rockets in Lebanon in order to obtain some PR advantage. And that "as of noon Sunday, since July 12, the Israeli Air Force (IAF) has carried out 6,800 missions". Yet our media tells us that Israel is cowering under an unprovoked rocket onslaught.

Juan Cole gives an excellent account of why we should believe the current actions in Lebanon can be expected to extend into a broader conflict.

"The wholesale destruction of all of Lebanon by Israel and the US Pentagon does not make any sense....More wars to come, in this scenario, since hitting Lebanon was like hitting a politician's bodyguard. You don't kill a bodyguard just to kill the bodyguard. It is phase 1 of a bigger operation."

These Israeli attacks can only have meaning in terms of a long-planned broader strategy.

And Pierre Tristam quotes from an article in the WSJ “[W]orried that Hezbollah’s armed wing might attack too, the Israeli military has issued a high-level alert along its northern border with Lebanon.” This was reported on July 10, two days before the kidnapping of the two Israeli soldiers.

So, there was a 'high level alert' in place?

The whole story stinks. Juan Cole got it right: this has larger strategic aims written all over it.

Anonymous said...

Dante Lee, Len, Mark, look at what I just found thanks to Technorati!

Après tout...

The blog is pretty interesting - it is that of a Canadian in Quebec somewhere. Smart fellow.

:)

Unknown said...

Vierotchka,

...un blogue contenant des documents d'archives extraordinaires surtout sur la musique, bien sûr, mais aussi sur tout. Passionnée de politique américaine, photographe, poète et philosophe

He IS a smart fellow. That's a great and deserving review of your blog. Congrats!