"The `evil axis' hits back"
The liberal Toronto Star editorialized (3/5):
"As U.S. President George Bush gets ready to crush Saddam
Hussein, the rest of the 'axis of evil' are feeling
Saddam's pain.
But far from being cowed, North Korea
and Iran seem determined to deny Bush the chance to do
to them what he's about to do to Saddam.
It's getting prickly out there.
In Korea, the mercurial Kim Jong-il has countered a threat with a crisis. He has an illegal nuclear bomb or two, and is eyeing an assembly line....
Iran, too, is a worry. Tehran has a murky
'peaceful' nuclear program that's getting murkier.
It has rebuffed IAEA requests for better access to nuclear
sites....
All the talk in Washington of 'taking out'
Saddam's regime before it can arm itself with horror
weapons has emboldened Korea, and tempted Iran, to
shield themselves from attack by acquiring the very
nukes Saddam lacks.
Washington's aggressive doctrine of pre-emptively' smashing regimes that pose no threat but in theory might risks inviting an arms race that
can only damage U.S. interests.
Having loosed this stampede, Bush must now try to rein it in.
The campaign against terror remains America's chief priority.
But getting North Korea to abandon its nukes and persuading Iran not to go down the nuclear road ought to be high on the presidential agenda.
Higher than regime change in Iraq.
Iraq is a problem.
But Korea is a crisis. And Iran is fast becoming one.
However Bush may loathe Pyongyang and Tehran, he needs
to cool his moralizing, rein in his hawkish advisers
and deploy skilled diplomats to engage these regimes
in a dialogue to head off catastrophe. Toppling Saddam
is a potentially fatal distraction." http://wikileaks.ch/cable/2003/03/03OTTAWA659.html
Saturday, April 30, 2011
IRAQ:Viewing cable 03OTTAWA658, MEDIA REACTION: IRAQ
The 'dream palace' will be
one in which the Americans are led by their political
and military leaders through unfamiliar cultural
territory, using largely inappropriate means toward
long-term engagements for which Americans are not
prepared, financially or psychologically.
An administration with revolutionary objectives is running
U.S. policy.
The realists have been banished or marginalized, considered wimps too inclined to compromise. The ideologues believe they are the
terrorists' nightmare, but, instead, they
are the terrorists' dream, because they have
overreacted. By pursuing 'regime change,' starting with
a U.S. general running Iraq for two years or
more, the U.S. will turn even more people against them
and provide the best recruiting ground yet for militant
fundamentalism.
The shock sought by the Americans,
therefore, will more likely be to
themselves.
Unless, of course, the U.S. does an
Afghanistan, and turns Iraq, once conquered, from last
year's headlines to today's back pages.
In which case, Iraq, an artificial country, will fall apart in
chaos." http://wikileaks.ch/cable/2003/03/03OTTAWA658.html
one in which the Americans are led by their political
and military leaders through unfamiliar cultural
territory, using largely inappropriate means toward
long-term engagements for which Americans are not
prepared, financially or psychologically.
An administration with revolutionary objectives is running
U.S. policy.
The realists have been banished or marginalized, considered wimps too inclined to compromise. The ideologues believe they are the
terrorists' nightmare, but, instead, they
are the terrorists' dream, because they have
overreacted. By pursuing 'regime change,' starting with
a U.S. general running Iraq for two years or
more, the U.S. will turn even more people against them
and provide the best recruiting ground yet for militant
fundamentalism.
The shock sought by the Americans,
therefore, will more likely be to
themselves.
Unless, of course, the U.S. does an
Afghanistan, and turns Iraq, once conquered, from last
year's headlines to today's back pages.
In which case, Iraq, an artificial country, will fall apart in
chaos." http://wikileaks.ch/cable/2003/03/03OTTAWA658.html
IRAQ:Viewing cable 03OTTAWA610, MEDIA REACTION: IRAQ (This cable reveals the insanity and obsessive side of BUSH, his thirst for dictatorship holds no bounds)
Since 9/11, Americans
have been subjected to the most intense propaganda
campaign from their government since World War I.
Much of the mainstream U.S. media have been intimidated
by the Bush administration into unquestioningly
amplifying its party line. Or, in the worst tradition
of yellow, jingoist journalism, they act as
cheerleaders for war....
The American public, often wobbly about geography, history and international
affairs, has been alternatively terrified and enraged
by bare-faced lies that Iraq was about to attack
America with nuclear weapons or germs, and was a secret
ally of al-Qaida.
A shocking two-thirds of Americans
mistakenly believe Iraq staged the 9/11 attacks....
It's frightening to see Bush claim with a straight face
his war against Iraq will bring democracy and peace to
the Mideast, and save Iraqis from repression.
Why didn't he begin by saving Palestinians from the
repression by his alter-ego, Israeli Prime Minister
Ariel Sharon?
If Bush really cared about Mideast democracy, he's had two years to do something about U.S.-sponsored dictatorships like Egypt and Pakistan,
or medieval autocracies such as Morocco, Jordan, Saudi
Arabia and America's Gulf protectorates.
When Bush says he will bring democracy to benighted Iraqis, what he
really means is U.S. rule.
In Bush-speak, 'democracy'
has been perverted to mean U.S. imperial hegemony....
Many Americans simply don't understand their leadership
is about to plunge the nation into an open-ended,
dangerous colonial war.
All the propaganda about
democracy, human rights and regional stability is the
same kind of double-talk used by the 19th century
British and French imperialists who claimed they were
grabbing Africa and Asia to bring the benefits of
Christian civilization to the heathens.... Misery loves
company.
An American-occupied Iraq looks destined to
join the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza as another
human, political and moral disaster for all concerned." http://wikileaks.ch/cable/2003/03/03OTTAWA610.html
have been subjected to the most intense propaganda
campaign from their government since World War I.
Much of the mainstream U.S. media have been intimidated
by the Bush administration into unquestioningly
amplifying its party line. Or, in the worst tradition
of yellow, jingoist journalism, they act as
cheerleaders for war....
The American public, often wobbly about geography, history and international
affairs, has been alternatively terrified and enraged
by bare-faced lies that Iraq was about to attack
America with nuclear weapons or germs, and was a secret
ally of al-Qaida.
A shocking two-thirds of Americans
mistakenly believe Iraq staged the 9/11 attacks....
It's frightening to see Bush claim with a straight face
his war against Iraq will bring democracy and peace to
the Mideast, and save Iraqis from repression.
Why didn't he begin by saving Palestinians from the
repression by his alter-ego, Israeli Prime Minister
Ariel Sharon?
If Bush really cared about Mideast democracy, he's had two years to do something about U.S.-sponsored dictatorships like Egypt and Pakistan,
or medieval autocracies such as Morocco, Jordan, Saudi
Arabia and America's Gulf protectorates.
When Bush says he will bring democracy to benighted Iraqis, what he
really means is U.S. rule.
In Bush-speak, 'democracy'
has been perverted to mean U.S. imperial hegemony....
Many Americans simply don't understand their leadership
is about to plunge the nation into an open-ended,
dangerous colonial war.
All the propaganda about
democracy, human rights and regional stability is the
same kind of double-talk used by the 19th century
British and French imperialists who claimed they were
grabbing Africa and Asia to bring the benefits of
Christian civilization to the heathens.... Misery loves
company.
An American-occupied Iraq looks destined to
join the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza as another
human, political and moral disaster for all concerned." http://wikileaks.ch/cable/2003/03/03OTTAWA610.html
IRAQ:Viewing cable 03OTTAWA592, MEDIA REACTION: IRAQ; NAM
Their resolution on
Iraq, for example, supports the disarming of Saddam
Hussein's regime, but only by
the UN and not by the U.S. acting independently with
allies.
The resolution does not preclude military
action under a UN mandate if all else fails....
NAM delegates wanted to take a similar stance over
North Korea. A draft resolution negotiated in corridors
and back-rooms over the past few days
would have called on Pyongyang to reverse its decision
late last year to withdraw from the nuclear Non-
Proliferation Treaty....
The problem for everyone -
North Korea's neighbours at least as much as the U.S. -
is that Pyongyang does have weapons of mass destruction
and a highly competent and motivated million-man army.
Saddam, in contrast, probably has only the remnants of
his dreams to acquire a mass killing machine. Erratic
North Korea is such a dangerous proposition it has to
be handled delicately while Iraq does not."
CELLUCCI
http://wikileaks.ch/cable/2003/03/03OTTAWA592.html
Iraq, for example, supports the disarming of Saddam
Hussein's regime, but only by
the UN and not by the U.S. acting independently with
allies.
The resolution does not preclude military
action under a UN mandate if all else fails....
NAM delegates wanted to take a similar stance over
North Korea. A draft resolution negotiated in corridors
and back-rooms over the past few days
would have called on Pyongyang to reverse its decision
late last year to withdraw from the nuclear Non-
Proliferation Treaty....
The problem for everyone -
North Korea's neighbours at least as much as the U.S. -
is that Pyongyang does have weapons of mass destruction
and a highly competent and motivated million-man army.
Saddam, in contrast, probably has only the remnants of
his dreams to acquire a mass killing machine. Erratic
North Korea is such a dangerous proposition it has to
be handled delicately while Iraq does not."
CELLUCCI
http://wikileaks.ch/cable/2003/03/03OTTAWA592.html
IRAQ:Viewing cable 03OTTAWA591, MEDIA REACTION: IRAQ
"George W. Bush, the engineer"
Editorialist Mario Roy wrote in the centrist La Presse
(2/28): "George W. Bush redrew the map of the Middle-
East and undertook some spectacular political
engineering work on Wednesday.... Everything is
coherent with what could be called the Wolfowitz
doctrine...the U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary and a high
level strategist who considers it the West's duty to
spread its values of liberty and democracy. But we have
said it before: imposing democracy by force is not a
good idea.... Moreover, one cannot imagine a worst
guide than America to show the way especially in this
region where, rightly or wrongly, the U.S. is
thoroughly detested. The fact that the Bush
administration fails to see these pitfalls leaves us
speechless."
CELLUCCI
http://wikileaks.ch/cable/2003/03/03OTTAWA591.html
Editorialist Mario Roy wrote in the centrist La Presse
(2/28): "George W. Bush redrew the map of the Middle-
East and undertook some spectacular political
engineering work on Wednesday.... Everything is
coherent with what could be called the Wolfowitz
doctrine...the U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary and a high
level strategist who considers it the West's duty to
spread its values of liberty and democracy. But we have
said it before: imposing democracy by force is not a
good idea.... Moreover, one cannot imagine a worst
guide than America to show the way especially in this
region where, rightly or wrongly, the U.S. is
thoroughly detested. The fact that the Bush
administration fails to see these pitfalls leaves us
speechless."
CELLUCCI
http://wikileaks.ch/cable/2003/03/03OTTAWA591.html
WIKILEAKS: The greatest missing person fraud and the involvement of the British Goverment in helping to cover up the disappearance of Madeleine McCann . The burning question on reading the WIKILEAKS leaked cable, when children disappear everyday, why was WASHINGTON so interested in this particular child ?
http://madeleinemccannagenda.blogspot.com/2011/04/americas-most-wanted-speaks-with-mccann.html
WHY did Gerry McCann run to WASHINGTON ?
Gerry visited the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and the International Center for Missing and Exploited Children, learning about some of the techniques they use to track missing kids. Gerry also met with U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez.
Friday, April 29, 2011
Denial of your U.S. passport application...if you fail to supply the information required..whereas a 'microchip' would make life so much easier !
The U.S. Department of State is proposing a new Biographical Questionnaire for passport applicants. The proposed new Form DS-5513 asks for all addresses since birth; lifetime employment history including employers’ and supervisors names, addresses, and telephone numbers; personal details of all siblings; mother’s address one year prior to your birth; any “religious ceremony” around the time of birth; and a variety of other information. According to the proposed form, “failure to provide the information requested may result in … the denial of your U.S. passport application.”
http://ontd-political.livejournal.com/8065396.html
http://ontd-political.livejournal.com/8065396.html
EU will ban much of herbal medicine.
Dear friends,
In 3 days, the EU will ban much of herbal medicine, pressing more of us to take pharmaceutical drugs that drive the profits of big Pharma.
The EU Directive erects high barriers to any herbal remedy that hasn't been on the market for 30 years -- including virtually all Chinese, Ayurvedic, and African traditional medicine. It's a draconian move that helps drug companies and ignores thousands of years of medical knowledge.
We need a massive outcry against this. Together, our voices can press the EU Commission to fix the directive, push our national governments to refuse to implement it, and give legitimacy to a legal case before the courts. Sign below, forward this email to everyone, and let's get to 1 million voices to save herbal medicine:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/eu_herbal_medicine_ban/?vl
It's hard to believe, but if a child is sick, and there is a safe and natural herbal remedy for that illness, it may be impossible to find that remedy.
On May 1st the Directive will create major barriers to manufactured herbal remedies, requiring enormous costs, years of effort, and endless expert processes to get each and every product approved. Pharmaceutical companies have the resources to jump through these hoops but hundreds of small- and medium-sized herbal medicine businesses, across Europe and worldwide, will go bust.
We can stop this. The directive has been passed in the shadows of the bureaucracy, and it cannot stand under the light of democratic scrutiny. The EU Commission can withdraw or amend it, and a court case is currently challenging it to do so. If European citizens everywhere come together now, it will give legitimacy to the legal case, and add to growing pressure on the Commission. Sign below, and forward this email to everyone:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/eu_herbal_medicine_ban/?vl
There are arguments for better regulation of natural medicine, but this draconian directive harms the ability of Europeans to make safe and healthy choices. Let's stand up for our health, and our right to choose safe herbal medicine.
With hope and determination,
Ricken, Iain, Giulia, Benjamin, Alex, Alice, Pascal, Luis and the rest of the Avaaz team.
SOURCES:
EU herbal medicines law set for legal challenge:
http://www.euractiv.com/en/health/eu-herbal-medicines-law-set-legal-challenge-news-503563
European Union directive to ban natural remedies in favor of pharmaceuticals:
http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/8826364-european-union-directive-to-ban-natural-remedies-in-favor-of-pharmaceuticals
Traditional Chinese medicine firms may face delisting in EU market:
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90776/90883/7343301.html
EU crackdown on herbal 'remedies':
http://www.independent.ie/national-news/eu-crackdown-on-herbal-remedies-2628345.html
Support the Avaaz community! We're entirely funded by donations and receive no money from governments or corporations. Our dedicated team ensures even the smallest contributions go a long way -- donate here.
 In 3 days, a new EU directive will ban much of herbal medicine, denying us safe remedies and feeding the profits of big pharma. Let's raise a massive outcry to push the Commission to fix the Directive, and our national governments to refuse to implement it. Let's get to 1 million voices to save herbal medicine:  |
The EU Directive erects high barriers to any herbal remedy that hasn't been on the market for 30 years -- including virtually all Chinese, Ayurvedic, and African traditional medicine. It's a draconian move that helps drug companies and ignores thousands of years of medical knowledge.
We need a massive outcry against this. Together, our voices can press the EU Commission to fix the directive, push our national governments to refuse to implement it, and give legitimacy to a legal case before the courts. Sign below, forward this email to everyone, and let's get to 1 million voices to save herbal medicine:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/eu_herbal_medicine_ban/?vl
It's hard to believe, but if a child is sick, and there is a safe and natural herbal remedy for that illness, it may be impossible to find that remedy.
On May 1st the Directive will create major barriers to manufactured herbal remedies, requiring enormous costs, years of effort, and endless expert processes to get each and every product approved. Pharmaceutical companies have the resources to jump through these hoops but hundreds of small- and medium-sized herbal medicine businesses, across Europe and worldwide, will go bust.
We can stop this. The directive has been passed in the shadows of the bureaucracy, and it cannot stand under the light of democratic scrutiny. The EU Commission can withdraw or amend it, and a court case is currently challenging it to do so. If European citizens everywhere come together now, it will give legitimacy to the legal case, and add to growing pressure on the Commission. Sign below, and forward this email to everyone:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/eu_herbal_medicine_ban/?vl
There are arguments for better regulation of natural medicine, but this draconian directive harms the ability of Europeans to make safe and healthy choices. Let's stand up for our health, and our right to choose safe herbal medicine.
With hope and determination,
Ricken, Iain, Giulia, Benjamin, Alex, Alice, Pascal, Luis and the rest of the Avaaz team.
SOURCES:
EU herbal medicines law set for legal challenge:
http://www.euractiv.com/en/health/eu-herbal-medicines-law-set-legal-challenge-news-503563
European Union directive to ban natural remedies in favor of pharmaceuticals:
http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/8826364-european-union-directive-to-ban-natural-remedies-in-favor-of-pharmaceuticals
Traditional Chinese medicine firms may face delisting in EU market:
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90776/90883/7343301.html
EU crackdown on herbal 'remedies':
http://www.independent.ie/national-news/eu-crackdown-on-herbal-remedies-2628345.html
Support the Avaaz community! We're entirely funded by donations and receive no money from governments or corporations. Our dedicated team ensures even the smallest contributions go a long way -- donate here.
Thursday, April 28, 2011
The Obama File: Lt.Col Lakin is serving jail time for asking the President of the United States to show his birth certificate to the people of America. Obama suddenly produces a 'birth certificate' that has been proven to be fraudulent according to reports..
http://www.theobamafile.com/_eligibility/ColLakin.htm
http://wikileaksleaks.blogspot.com/2011/04/obamas-birth-certificate-is-fraud-take.html
http://wikileaksleaks.blogspot.com/2011/04/obamas-birth-certificate-is-fraud-take.html
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
New World Order: Why so secret ?
Foreword by: Louis TurnerHere is a "blast from the past" that was written on April 5, 2004 and should enlighten many as to what is going on in Washington. This article is well written and should be passed on to those who take an interest in the continuing Masonic conspiracy in America. Many of you may already know that Obama is Bush's cousin and the skulls don't fall far from the crypt folks.
http://anti-masonicparty.blogspot.com/2010/07/why-so-secret.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7313789.stm
Obama distant cousin of Bush
Royal Wedding: MET shoot to kill policy...
http://www.google.co.uk/gwt/x?q=royal+wedding+shoot+to+kill&ei=9Ae4TfmWFciC8gPz24eqAQ&ved=0CAkQqQIwAA&hl=en&source=m&rd=1&u=http://www.metro.co.uk/news/861795-anti-royalists-banned-from-london-royal-wedding-protests
http://www.google.co.uk/gwt/x?q=royal+wedding+shoot+to+kill&ei=tQi4TbDDDsO_jgf23rl9&ved=0CBAQFjAD&hl=en&source=m&rd=1&u=http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/242581/Royal-Wedding-Be-ready-to-shoot-to-kill-Scotland-Yard-tells-its-marksmen
http://www.google.co.uk/gwt/x?q=royal+wedding+shoot+to+kill&ei=tQi4TbDDDsO_jgf23rl9&ved=0CBAQFjAD&hl=en&source=m&rd=1&u=http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/242581/Royal-Wedding-Be-ready-to-shoot-to-kill-Scotland-Yard-tells-its-marksmen
IRAN on edge as Syria fights for survival..
Iran is likely to open talks with opposition groups if it appears that Assad is doomed, said Meir Javedanfar, an analyst on Iranian affairs based in Israel. Iran has too much at stake in Syria to risk being cut out if Assad is ousted: huge Iranian investments in Syrian projects such as an auto assembly plant and a cement factory and possible loss of influence over Hezbollah and Hamas.
'When it comes to looking after its own interests, the Iranian regime is very pragmatic, especially since they know that Assad would do the same to them if the shoe was on the other foot,' said Javedanfar. 'When it comes to choosing between friendship and its own interests, to Iran’s rulers the former is easily expendable.'
http://www.english.mojahedin.org/pagesEn/detailsNews.aspx?newsid=12298
'When it comes to looking after its own interests, the Iranian regime is very pragmatic, especially since they know that Assad would do the same to them if the shoe was on the other foot,' said Javedanfar. 'When it comes to choosing between friendship and its own interests, to Iran’s rulers the former is easily expendable.'
http://www.english.mojahedin.org/pagesEn/detailsNews.aspx?newsid=12298
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
China tells U.S. stop meddling in our affairs....
Image by Louis Turner..
The two-day U.S.-China Human Rights Dialogue starts Wednesday in Beijing. The State Department said last week the talks would focus on the dissident crackdown, rule of law, freedom of religion and expression, and labor and minority rights.
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/04/26/china-warns-interfere-human-rights/
Opinion: WikiLeaks skewers US on Guantanamo, and rightly so
WikiLeaks is alive and well, and it’s a good thing too, says Daniel Scheschkewitz. The latest data released on Guantanamo is hair-raising, showing how little evidence was used to imprison people and put them in limbo.
Israeli propaganda: There seems to be a group of extremists on twitter exagerating events taking place in Syria. I am in contact with Syria and I can tell you people are very surprised at how stupid the Americans really are...there is an agenda thats for sure and generating propaganda via twitter does not work for those who have family living in Syria..
Monday, April 25, 2011
PETER FERBRACHE: To stop a money laundering investigation escalating into the biggest assault on the Press in generations. This time prior restraint worked. A new PRE-LIBEL SUPERINJUNCTION now muzzles all UK press from reporting on the scandal involving a Credit Suisse executive.
http://guernseytrustvictims.blogspot.com/
http://operationorethegambleconnection.blogspot.com/2011/03/httpguernseytrustvictims.html
http://operationorethegambleconnection.blogspot.com/2011/03/httpguernseytrustvictims.html
Guantánamo Bay files: Shaker Aamer, inmate from Britain the US won't let go
UK wants him released but US says he is Bin Laden associate who has incited hunger strikes and 'runs half the prisoners'
Shaker Aamer with two of his children, son Michael and daughter Johninh, in an undated photograph. The Guantánamo Bay authorities regard the British resident as an ally of Bin Laden and a rabble-rouser among his fellow inmates.
Britain has appealed repeatedly for his release.
Photograph: PA
A British resident whose release William Hague has sought from Guantánamo is alleged by the US to be a top al-Qaida terrorist and one of the key leaders inside the camp, leaked files from the prison camp in Cuba reveal.
The authors of Aamer's 15-page prison file claim he controls the other inmates, organises hunger strikes, makes false allegations, and is a "close associate" of Osama bin Laden as well as a former key member of the "London cell".
They say he was a former London room-mate of Zaccarias Moussaoui, the 9/11 conspirator serving a life sentence in the US.
This lurid picture clashes with a very different British view.
The foreign secretary, William Hague, repeated on 31 March that he was pressing the US to return Aamer "to put right some of the damage caused to Britain's moral authority by allegations of complicity in torture and in rendition leading to torture".
Two years before that, in March 2009, the Foreign Office's counter-terrorism head, Robert Chatterton-Dixon, told the US state department's counter-terrorism specialist, Dell Dailey, that neither Britain nor Saudi Arabia would prosecute Aamer if he were released.
In a classified cable obtained by the Guardian, Dailey said Robert Hannigan, the UK's security adviser, was also present.
Dixon "raised the Guantánamo detainee case of Shaker Aamer, a Saudi national and former British resident whose wife and children are resident in the UK. He reiterated the British request for Aamer's release and return to the UK and did not believe Aamer would be subject to British or Saudi criminal proceedings on his return."
"The Mabahith identified detainee as a high priority for the government of Saudi Arabia, an indication of his law enforcement value to them.
"
Aamer has not only alleged he has been tortured , but also led a hunger strike.
His file details the GTMO administration's marked hostility towards him, possibly as a result. The file says: "Detainee is unco-operative and continues to withhold information of intelligence value about his extremist activities and associations. Detainee has failed to fully account for his travels and high-level associates which have been reported by other JTF-GTMO detainees.
"Detainee is extremely egotistical, has manipulated debriefers and guard staff, and will continue to attempt to do so to support his political agenda.
Detainee refuses to participate in direct questioning, often citing imaginary or assumed mistreatment of himself, or others, as justification of this refusal in a classic example of al-Qaida counter-interrogation techniques."
The file's authors quote one of his fellow prisoners allegedly saying Aamer "runs all the other detainees" and add their own assessment: "He can summon support from over one half of Camp Delta's detainee population."
In a list of alleged continuing "activities against the US" while a prisoner, the files quote other prisoners admitting he "passed information to other detainees" and "had the necessary power and control [over the detainees] to issue an order for other detainees to attempt suicide".
Aamer was "very happy about" one such attempt, according to a notorious prison informer, Mohamed Basardah, who has been accused of unreliability.
The files claim: "Detainee stated that the death of a detainee at JTF-GTMO would 'open the eyes of the world and result in the closure of the base'."
Another alleged piece of intelligence attempts to implicate Aamer's lawyer, Clive Stafford Smith, in helping to organise a hunger strike, a claim Stafford Smith has already vigorously denied.
The file says that this second informer "stated the primary reason the JTF-GTMO detainees went on the hunger strike was because detainee's lawyer told them exactly what they needed to do".
The alleged informer also told interrogators that he saw Aamer personally meet Osama bin Laden during the fighting in the Tora Bora mountains of Afghanistan.
The informer, described as "highly compliant", is also recorded claiming knowledge of "the possible procurement of portable nuclear bombs by Chechen mujahideen leaders".
He has subsequently been released, while Aamer remained inside.
Aamer was originally captured in Jalalabad by Afghan forces after the retreat from Tora Bora in December 2001. He was turned over to the US and alleges that British intelligence officers were present while he was being maltreated at the Bagram airbase. He was then flown to Guantánamo on 13 February 2002.
He is understood to be one of a group of British-based detainees who have received a compensation settlement from the UK government.
After Shaker Aamer's nine years of imprisonment without trial, the US is refusing to let him return to the UK despite repeated official requests from Britain. He is one of the 172 untried inmates who remain marooned in the prison camp.
They say he was a former London room-mate of Zaccarias Moussaoui, the 9/11 conspirator serving a life sentence in the US.
This lurid picture clashes with a very different British view.
The foreign secretary, William Hague, repeated on 31 March that he was pressing the US to return Aamer "to put right some of the damage caused to Britain's moral authority by allegations of complicity in torture and in rendition leading to torture".
Two years before that, in March 2009, the Foreign Office's counter-terrorism head, Robert Chatterton-Dixon, told the US state department's counter-terrorism specialist, Dell Dailey, that neither Britain nor Saudi Arabia would prosecute Aamer if he were released.
In a classified cable obtained by the Guardian, Dailey said Robert Hannigan, the UK's security adviser, was also present.
Dixon "raised the Guantánamo detainee case of Shaker Aamer, a Saudi national and former British resident whose wife and children are resident in the UK. He reiterated the British request for Aamer's release and return to the UK and did not believe Aamer would be subject to British or Saudi criminal proceedings on his return."
Aamer's Guantánamo file, not updated since November 2007, claims the opposite, saying the Saudis have implicated him in high-level crimes. "Saudi intelligence (Mabahith) stated detainee left Saudi Arabia and joined [Osama bin Laden] in Afghanistan.
"
Aamer has not only alleged he has been tortured , but also led a hunger strike.
His file details the GTMO administration's marked hostility towards him, possibly as a result. The file says: "Detainee is unco-operative and continues to withhold information of intelligence value about his extremist activities and associations. Detainee has failed to fully account for his travels and high-level associates which have been reported by other JTF-GTMO detainees.
"Detainee is extremely egotistical, has manipulated debriefers and guard staff, and will continue to attempt to do so to support his political agenda.
Detainee refuses to participate in direct questioning, often citing imaginary or assumed mistreatment of himself, or others, as justification of this refusal in a classic example of al-Qaida counter-interrogation techniques."
The file's authors quote one of his fellow prisoners allegedly saying Aamer "runs all the other detainees" and add their own assessment: "He can summon support from over one half of Camp Delta's detainee population."
In a list of alleged continuing "activities against the US" while a prisoner, the files quote other prisoners admitting he "passed information to other detainees" and "had the necessary power and control [over the detainees] to issue an order for other detainees to attempt suicide".
Aamer was "very happy about" one such attempt, according to a notorious prison informer, Mohamed Basardah, who has been accused of unreliability.
The files claim: "Detainee stated that the death of a detainee at JTF-GTMO would 'open the eyes of the world and result in the closure of the base'."
Another alleged piece of intelligence attempts to implicate Aamer's lawyer, Clive Stafford Smith, in helping to organise a hunger strike, a claim Stafford Smith has already vigorously denied.
The file says that this second informer "stated the primary reason the JTF-GTMO detainees went on the hunger strike was because detainee's lawyer told them exactly what they needed to do".
The alleged informer also told interrogators that he saw Aamer personally meet Osama bin Laden during the fighting in the Tora Bora mountains of Afghanistan.
The informer, described as "highly compliant", is also recorded claiming knowledge of "the possible procurement of portable nuclear bombs by Chechen mujahideen leaders".
He has subsequently been released, while Aamer remained inside.
Aamer was originally captured in Jalalabad by Afghan forces after the retreat from Tora Bora in December 2001. He was turned over to the US and alleges that British intelligence officers were present while he was being maltreated at the Bagram airbase. He was then flown to Guantánamo on 13 February 2002.
He is understood to be one of a group of British-based detainees who have received a compensation settlement from the UK government.
Guantánamo Bay files: Binyam Mohamed held on torture 'confessions'
Fellow captive Abu Zubaydah was waterboarded until he named British resident as 'dirty bomb' plotter
The Guantánamo Bay files demonstrate how authorities tried to cover up Binyam Mohammed's harsh interrogation in Pakistan and torture in Morocco before he signed a confession under duress. Photograph: Shaun Curry/AFP/Getty Images
Guantánamo's commandant tried to stop the incoming Obama administration returning Binyam Mohamed to Britain, claiming he had "unique information of intelligence value" and had plotted "to inflict mass casualties within the US".
The US military insisted Mohamed was involved in a so-called "dirty bomb" plot. But the authorities cited discredited testimony extracted from a fellow prisoner who had himself been waterboarded.
The leaked reassessment of Binyam Mohamed's case, dated 26 December 2008 and signed by Rear Admiral David Thomas, graphically demonstrates the flimsiness of much of the evidence extracted by CIA interrogators in their secret prisons. Those interrogated were subsequently deposited in
Guantánamo where their confessions were apparently treated as hard fact.
On the basis of this material Thomas said he "recommends this detainee for continued detention … Even if released with rehabilitation, close supervision and means to successfully reintegrate into his society … [he] would probably re-engage in extremist activities … GTMO determines this detainee to be a high risk, as he is likely to pose a threat to US interests and allies."There were two key factors against Mohamed, according to Thomas's report: that he had confessed, and that another inmate, Abu Zubaydah, confirmed his link to a "dirty bomb" plot against America. Both pieces of evidence, it has now been established, were obtained by ill-treatment possibly amounting to torture.
"During an interrogation in 2004 detainee admitted guilt on his part and 'wished to bring his case to a peaceful resolution' which included a signed statement documenting his activities … Detainee admitted his involvement in the H-bomb plot intended to attack the US."
However, according to Mohamed himself, who was released only a few weeks later in February 2009 after UK government intervention, he was at the time of the confession being kept shackled for days on end in a pitch-black CIA cell, systematically deprived of sleep and subjected to 24-hour rock music played at top volume.
It followed brutal torture in cells in Morocco, where his genitals were slashed with a scalpel, he says.
This in turn came after admitted degrading ill-treatment in Pakistan – where he was captured in 2002 – that took place with the complicity of MI5 officers.
The UK court of appeal ruled last year he had been subjected to "cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment by the United States authorities".
Mohamed says his confession was false.
After he made it he was transfered to Guantánamo, on 19 September 2004.
The Guantánamo "detainee assessment" report claims details of Mohamed's involvement in the dirty bomb plot were confirmed by another inmate. But it discloses his identity: Abu Zubaydah, a Palestinian who it is now admitted was waterboarded – a near-drowning experience – in another secret prison by CIA interrogators to make him implicate others. Zubaydah's prisoner number is GZ-10016.
"GZ-10016 stated detainee and US-10008 presented the idea to him of constructing a nuclear dirty bomb for an attack against the US. GZ-10016 reported detainee stated he could make the dirty bomb work and expressed his willingness to become a martyr.
" US-1008 is José Padilla, who was subsequently arrested entering the US and eventually convicted on other charges of aiding terrorism but never faced charges relating to the dirty bomb claims.
As well as citing Zubaydah's post-waterboarding statements to interrogators, the files claim that Mohamed downloaded instructions on how to build an "H-bomb" from the internet. But it has emerged since Mohamed's release that the material he viewed was a spoof article by a US satirical magazine.
Guantanamo bay files: Children and sick old men among detainees..
The Guantánamo files reveal the often fragile physical and mental condition of Guantánamo's oldest and youngest residents, who have included an 89-year-old man and boys as young as 14.
But the internal files on some prisoners paint a very different picture. A 2002 assessment of Guantánamo's oldest prisoner, Mohammed Sadiq, who was then 89, revealed dementia, depression and sickness. "His current medical issues include major depressive disorder, senile dementia and osteoarthritis, for which he receives prescribed treatment." The Afghan national was also being assessed for prostate cancer.
Another elderly and unsuitable prisoner was found to have senile dementia on arrival at Guantánamo. Haji Faiz Mohammed, then 70, was flown to the base in 2002 after being swept up in a raid by US troops in Afghanistan. "There is no reason on the record for detainee being transferred to Guantánamo Bay detention facility," his assessment says.
The files shed light on the way mere children were shipped to the cages in Cuba. Naqib Ullah, who was about 14 when captured in 2003, spent a year interned at Guantánamo.
US interrogators accepted Naqib's version of events. "Detainee was a kidnap victim and a forced conscript of a local warring tribe, affiliated with the Taliban. Though the detainee may still have some remaining intelligence, it's been assessed that that information does not outweigh the necessity to
remove this juvenile from his current environment and afford him an opportunity to 'grow out' of the radical extremism he has been subject to." Naqib Ullah was flown home in 2004.
Another young inmate fared less well. Omar Khadr, aged 15 at the time, is the son of an alleged al-Qaida leader in Canada. He killed a US soldier by throwing a grenade at him during a battle at a suspected al-Qaida base in Afghanistan. Khadr has spent nearly nine years in Cuba as a result.
"Detainee continues to provide valuable information on his father's associates, and on non-governmental organisations that he worked with in supporting al-Qaida, as well as other major facilitators of interest to the US."
Khadr pleaded guilty to war crimes at a military tribunal in October 2010, becoming the first minor to face such a conviction since the second world war. The plea deal is due to see him transferred to Canada later this year, to serve the remainder of an agreed eight-year sentence.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/apr/25/guantanamo-files-children-old-men?intcmp=239
WIKILEAKS: reveal once and for all there is 'no war on terror' it is a HOAX
...and for those who were tortured and later accused of being terroroists..I would confess to anything they wanted me to say to stop the torture...wouldn't you ? If they had nuclear to wipe out the West BELIEVE ME they would have used it long ago after what we have done to them, their women and their children...It is simply an exercise of American Goverment policy... fear to keep us in our places...and if you believe this garbage then they have won.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/apr/25/guantanamo-files-lift-lid-prison
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/apr/25/guantanamo-files-lift-lid-prison
NEWZEALAND:To all New Zealanders....
As of April 14, 2011, a crime has been committed against you; the Copyright Amendment Bill, has enabled law enforcement to cut off the Internet access of any New Zealander accused of piracy and fine you up to $15,000, without solid evidence.
In addition, your government appears to feel that it is acceptable to control users' Internet activity. With the help of larger corporations, the government will start logging IP addresses to initiate lawsuits. Any download, including those necessary to view media streams via Youtube or other social media sites, can be viewed as infringement of copyright laws - whether or not the download is legal - under the presumption of file transferring or sharing.
This law directly contradicts the ideals that Anonymous holds true, such as Internet freedom for all.
The 'accused' are additionally having their basic human rights violated by being presumed guilty until proven innocent. Furthermore, by suspending an account holder, rather than the access of those who are downloading, the account holder is deemed to be guilty of an offence they have not necessarily been proven to have committed.
Such actions are not those of a democracy but rather the characteristics of a lobbyist totalitarian state. Many of you have already begun to protest in order to shed light on this bill, which was hastily passed under the guise of a national emergency, with little public notice. You must join your fellow New Zealanders and show that you will stand against such outrageous behaviour, and deter other nations' governments from following. New Zealand has long been seen as a world leader when it comes to equality and human rights; let's not have this perception change now. Continue your protests with the knowledge that you are not alone - Anonymous and Internet users everywhere will stand in support of this movement.
Your civil liberties and privacy are under attack. Do not let those that you have voted into office silence you.http://piratenpad.de/ep/pad/export/NZNZ/latest?format=html
Secret US files on Mamdouh Habib and David Hicks released by WikiLeaks
A summary filed by the Cairo lawyers says Mr Habib was detained without charge for six months and subjected to “the most horrible torture methods” including electric shock, cigarette burns, attack by dogs, sexual violation and water torture.
The documents allege some of Mr Habib's interrogations were conducted personally by General Sulaiman, who has been Egypt's intelligence chief since 1993, and that torture occurred in the presence of Jamal Mubarak, who was a senior official in the ousted regime.
Mr Habib received a confidential payout from the Australian government after a legal case in which he accused the government of aiding and abetting his torture by foreign agents in Pakistan, Egypt, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/in-depth/wikileaks/secret-us-files-on-mamdouh-habib-and-david-hicks-released-by-wikileaks/story-fn775xjq-1226044540011
The documents allege some of Mr Habib's interrogations were conducted personally by General Sulaiman, who has been Egypt's intelligence chief since 1993, and that torture occurred in the presence of Jamal Mubarak, who was a senior official in the ousted regime.
Mr Habib received a confidential payout from the Australian government after a legal case in which he accused the government of aiding and abetting his torture by foreign agents in Pakistan, Egypt, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/in-depth/wikileaks/secret-us-files-on-mamdouh-habib-and-david-hicks-released-by-wikileaks/story-fn775xjq-1226044540011
U.S. kept Khadr at Gitmo to grill him: files
One of the reasons the memo cites for keeping him at the Guantanamo prison is that he "never expressed any genuine remorse for the killing of that soldier." The U.S. said all along that he had confessed to the killing early in his detention, but Khadr's defence lawyers maintained that any confession was extracted, like some other prisoners' admissions, through torture.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2011/04/25/us-guantanamo-khadr-wikileaks.html
http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2011/04/25/us-guantanamo-khadr-wikileaks.html
GITMO FILES: An example of how to read each prisoners report...
Crucially, the files also contain detailed explanations of the supposed intelligence used to justify the prisoners' detention. For many readers, these will be the most fascinating sections of the documents, as they seem to offer an extraordinary insight into the workings of US intelligence, but although many of the documents appear to promise proof of prisoners' association with al-Qaeda or other terrorist organizations, extreme caution is required.
The documents draw on the testimony of witnesses -- in most cases, the prisoners' fellow prisoners -- whose words are unreliable, either because they were subjected to torture or other forms of coercion (sometimes not in Guantánamo, but in secret prisons run by the CIA), or because they provided false statements to secure better treatment in Guantánamo.
http://wikileaks.ch/gitmo/prisoner/278.html
The documents draw on the testimony of witnesses -- in most cases, the prisoners' fellow prisoners -- whose words are unreliable, either because they were subjected to torture or other forms of coercion (sometimes not in Guantánamo, but in secret prisons run by the CIA), or because they provided false statements to secure better treatment in Guantánamo.
http://wikileaks.ch/gitmo/prisoner/278.html
The GUANTANAMO Files: Wikleaks releases over 800 documents on detainees...
In its latest release of classified US documents, WikiLeaks is shining the light of truth on a notorious icon of the Bush administration's "War on Terror" -- the prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, which opened on January 11, 2002, and remains open under President Obama, despite his promise to close the much-criticized facility within a year of taking office.
In thousands of pages of documents dating from 2002 to 2008 and never seen before by members of the public or the media, the cases of the majority of the prisoners held at Guantánamo -- 758 out of 779 in total -- are described in detail in memoranda from JTF-GTMO, the Joint Task Force at Guantánamo Bay, to US Southern Command in Miami, Florida.
http://wikileaks.ch/gitmo/index.html
In thousands of pages of documents dating from 2002 to 2008 and never seen before by members of the public or the media, the cases of the majority of the prisoners held at Guantánamo -- 758 out of 779 in total -- are described in detail in memoranda from JTF-GTMO, the Joint Task Force at Guantánamo Bay, to US Southern Command in Miami, Florida.
http://wikileaks.ch/gitmo/index.html
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Saturday, April 23, 2011
SYRIA:The Hama Massacre of 1982
Under their regime's rule, one need only to look at the Hama massacre of 1982 to realize the sheer amount of suffering that the innocent people of Syria have had to endure.
The year was 1982. Hafez Assad, the then dictator of Syria, had banned all other political parties except the Ba'ath (his own). He had them ruthlessly dissolved, their leaders often killed. The free press of Syria had also been outlawed.
The only newspapers that were allowed into circulation were official Ba'ath papers. Needless to say, the people of Syria eventually grew furious with these turn of events. A new political party was formed ... the Muslim Brotherhood.
Not fearing the dictates of Assad, the Muslim Brotherhood had one major goal: to overthrow the dictator of Syria. They made their presence known and soon enough, people started listening to them.
Seeing the new wave of extreme anti-government sentiment as a threat to himself, Hafez Assad deployed his army with one goal ... to make such an example of the Muslim Brotherhood that no man would ever dare challenge his rule again.
The residents of a Syrian city named Hama had been more persistent in their criticisms of the dictator than other towns. For that reason,
Hafez Assad decided that Hama would be the staging point of the example he was to make to the Syrian people. In the twilight hours of February the 2nd, 1982, the city of Hama was awakened by loud explosions. The Syrian air force had began to drop their bombs from the dark sky.
The initial bombing run cost the city few casualties. It's main purpose had been to disable the roads so that no-one could escape. Earlier in the night, Syrian tanks and artillery systems had surrounded Hama. With the conclusion of the air bombing run, the tanks and artillery began their relentless shelling of the town.
The cost in human lives was severe. As homes crumbled upon their living occupants and the smell of charred skin filled the streets, a few residents managed to escape the shelling and started to flee. They were met by the Syrian army which had surrounded the city ... they were all shot dead.
Hours of shelling had turned Hama into rubble. The tanks and artillery had done all that they could. The next wave of attacks came in the form of Syrian soldiers. They quickly converged onto the town killing anything that would move. Groups of soldiers would round up men, women, and children only to shoot them in the back of the head. Many other soldiers would invade homes with the orders to kill all inhabitants.
After the majority of the people in Hama were dead, the soldiers began looting. They would take all that they could from the now empty homes. Some were seen picking through the dead civilians looking for money, watches, and rings.
With their mission completed and their pockets filled with loot, the soldiers began to retreat from the city. One would think that would have been the last wave of the attacks. It was not. The final attack on Hama was the most gruesome. To make sure that no person was left alive in the rubble and buildings, the Syrian army brought in poison gas generators. Cyanide gas filled the air of Hama. Bulldozers were later used to turn the city into a giant flat area.
The Syrian government death count was place at around 20,000 people dead ... but the Syrian Human Rights Committee estimates it to be much higher, at somewhere between 30,000 to 40,000 civilians dead or missing.
Amnesty International reported:
"Some monitors stated: old streets of the city were bombed from the air to facilitate the introduction of military forces and tanks through the narrow streets, like the al-Hader street, where homes were crushed by tanks during the first four days of fighting.
On February 15th, after days of intense bombardment, Defense Minister General Mustafa Tlass announced that the rebellion was put out, but the city remained under siege and surrounded. Door-to-door searches along with extensive arrests continued during the next two following weeks, while various news leaks talked about atrocities committed by the security forces and
mass killings of innocent city residents. It is not easy to know what did exactly occur, but Amnesty International mentioned news of a mass execution of some 70 people outside the city hospital on February 19th and the annihilation of all residents of
the al-Hader area on the hands of the Defense Brigades (Saraya el-Defaa) on the same day. Other reports talk of using containers of cyanide gas to kill all inhabitants of buildings, where rebels were suspected of residing. Also, people were grouped in the military airport, city stadium, and military camps and were left there without shelter or food for days."
The following are some very telling excerpts from the Syrian Human Rights Committee report on the Hama massacre:
"It is rather impossible for a writer to paint a picture of the massacres committed against women and newborn children or to describe the methods used to murder members of the same family, one after another right before the eyes of the ones to follow the same fate.
They would cut the guts of a baby while his mother held him, and then fire a stream of bullets onto her to prevent her from giving birth to another future opposition member. They would fire right on the head of an elder, while he murmured a prayer after what he had just witnessed.
Children would scream asking for their mom, or grandfather just to be answered with a stream of bullets killing them all. A family would fall in a pool of their blood, but not for long, because soldiers would set everything ablaze after ransacking the house for any valuables and cutting the hands and ears off in their crazed rush to loot the jewelry worn.
Not one store escaped theft, ransacking or bulldozing, no mosques escaped destruction, nor any minarets remained erect in Hama during that tragic month, even churches were not spared and suffered a similar fate."
"The regime violated the most basic rights of its people, starting with the right to live and ending with the citizenship rights, motivated only by its utter hatred towards Hama and its citizens because they opposed the regime most when compared to other Syrian cities." "The Syrian regime deals with its citizens by utilizing state terrorism, because it has given up on its duty as a preserver of lives of its citizens and a protector of their properties, honor and dignity."
http://www.irandefence.net/showthread.php?t=7563
US Deems 9/11 Responders Terrorists?
Thousands of Americans, who risked their lives to save lives during the 9/11 terror attacks on US soil, will soon be screened by the FBI terrorism watch list.A host of 9/11 first responders, who saved countless lives, will now have their personal data put through a government terror database and will be considered possible terrorists under a provision in James Zadroga 9/11 Health & Compensation Act — a bill named after an NYPD detective who died of 9/11 — related illnesses, The Huffington Post reported on Thursday.
Read more…
http://wewantinformation.com/letsroll/us-deems-911-responders-terrorists/
Swine Flu New "Twilight Zone" 1/5: Dr Mercola On Obama’s Swine Flu Emergency
The shocking truth about WHY Obama announced a National Public Health Emergency in the US this weekend. Dr Mercola and Barbara Loe Fisher discuss important new information regarding this topic. Dr Mercola implores everyone to share this CRITICAL information. Read Dr Mercola's riveting full report here: products.mercola.com The intention of this report is to show you with the government's own statistics that there appears to be MASSIVE amounts of misinformation and outright deception going on.....
http://wewantinformation.com/letsroll/swine-flu-new-twilight-zone-15-dr-mercola-on-obamas-swine-flu-emergency/
US, UK Nuclear Submarine Secrets Accidentally Published Online
A “technical error” has caused Britain’s Ministry of Defense to inadvertently publish classified sections of a report containing sensitive information about US Navy and British military nuclear submarines, the BBC reports.
The original is no longer available, but the redacted PDF is here. Via Yahoo News:
http://www.parliament.uk/deposits/depositedpapers/2011/DEP2011-0648.pdf
http://wewantinformation.com/news/us-uk-nuclear-submarine-secrets-accidentally-published-online/
The original is no longer available, but the redacted PDF is here. Via Yahoo News:
http://www.parliament.uk/deposits/depositedpapers/2011/DEP2011-0648.pdf
http://wewantinformation.com/news/us-uk-nuclear-submarine-secrets-accidentally-published-online/
Syrian troops open fire on mourners at funerals for pro-democracy protesters
Security forces injure three in Douma and fire at mourners approaching Izra'a to stop them attending mass funeral
Lebanese policemen at a protest in Tripoli against the Syrian regime on Friday, a day that saw about 100 demonstrators killed by the security forces. Photograph: Adel Karroum/EPA
Syrian security forces have opened fire on mourners at mass funerals for pro-democracy protesters killed in the bloodiest day of uprising against President Bashar al-Assad's regime.
Paki Gang Rapists Go Free, Christians in Fear of Genocide
Paki supreme court upholds acquittal of 5 of 6 men in high-profile gang rape case
The Lahore High Court upheld eight acquittals and overturned five of the six convictions. The death penalty for the sixth man, Abdul Khaliq (second from right) was commuted to life in prison
http://sheikyermami.com/2011/04/23/paki-gang-rapists-go-free-christians-in-fear-of-genocide/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
Where does the information from your mobile phone go?
The recent revelation that iPhones store personal geolocational data shouldn’t really surprise anyone, but Big Brother Watch has discovered some evidence of the potential uses of this information. Firstly, we hear the story of Green Party politician Malte Spitz in Germany, who sued his network provider Deutsche Telekom to force them to hand over six months of his phone data. He then passed this on to Zeit Online, a German website, who combined the geolocational data with readily available information from online resources such as Twitter, blog entries and websites.http://www.bigbrotherwatch.org.uk/
Friday, April 22, 2011
Colombo: Final days in Vanni: 600 Tamils shot and killed as stray dogs- First Person Revelation. Testimony in full.
By K.T.Rajasingham
Colombo, 19 April, (Asiantribune.com):
S.Kanagaratnam - A former TNA MP
More than 600 innocent Tamil civilians were shot and killed like stray dogs from 1 October 2008 to 18 May 2009 in the Vanni region, but not a single innocent civilian was killed by the Sri Lankan Armed Forces in the hostility campaign against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
SYRIA/ Wikileaks cable reveals Syrias price for US support...2010
Syrian is ready to cooperate with America again over Iraq but only at a price and flatly refuses to link an Israeli deal with Iran’s nuclear capability. These are the key messages revealed in one of the top secret cables published by Wikileaks this weekend. The cable “10Damascus8, Codel Gregg’s December 30 meeting with President” discusses “a frank one hour meeting” between Syrian President Bashar Al-Asad and six visiting US Senators Judd Gregg, Evan Bayh, Arlen Specter, Mike Enzi, John Cornyn and Amy Klobuchar on 30 December 2009. (Photo credit not known, sourced here)
Asad began the talks by saying he wanted a return of Turkish-facilitated indirect talks with Israel but said Syria's relationship with Iran should not be linked to Israeli peace negotiations. Syria's ties with Hamas and Hezbollah could be “satisfactorily resolved” only after peace was achieved. Asad said he wanted to see better relationships with the US but his foreign minister Walid al-Muallim said the ball was in the Americans’ court for taking the next positive step.
Asad called Iran the region’s most important country and said the West should acknowledged Iran's NPT-protected right to enrich uranium under IAEA monitoring. Instead of insisting Iran ship all of its Low Enriched Uranium at once as the West demands, Asad said Iran’s counter-offer to ship several batches of LEU for enrichment abroad was "reasonable". Asad said Iran was not interested in pursuing a nuclear weapon, but warned an Israeli military strike on its nuclear infrastructure would fail to end the program and would only increase Iran's determination.
Asad also refused to link Iran’s nuclear program with Israeli talks, arguing it would complicate both issues. Asad said eight months of indirect peace talks in May 2008 with Israel under Turkish auspices had achieved more than several years of direct negotiations with Israel in the 1990s. Direct talks failed because of the lack of "rules of negotiation." He said indirect talks represented the best way to establish terms of reference similar to those reached by James Baker in 1991. Asad urged the US and EU to support the Turkish initiative. “Israel's military superiority would not secure it from attack against missiles and other technologies,” he said.
Asad then bristled at suggestions Syria was allowing extremists across its borders into Iraq. Asad blamed the situation on the absence of political cooperation with the US. The Americans possessed a "huge information apparatus" but lacked the ability to analyse this information successfully. "You're failing in the fight against extremism,” he told the Senators. “While we lack your intelligence capabilities, we succeed in fighting extremists because we have better analysts.”
Asad said Syria had refused to cooperate with President Bush because it did not trust him and because his administration had wrongly accused Syria of supporting foreign fighters. When President Obama assumed office, Syria tried to be positive. Asad said he had shared the idea with Special Envoy Mitchell of a border security cooperation initiative with Iraq as a first step (the CIA analyst disputed this saying it was an American suggestion to which Syria reluctantly agreed).
Asad also compared the difficulty of patrolling the large Iraqi border with similar issues on US-Mexico border. "In the US you like to shoot (terrorists),” he said. “Suffocating their networks is far more effective.” Asad blamed “US mistakes in Iraq" for trouble in the region. The report said despite a shared interest with the US in ensuring Iraqi stability, Syria would not immediately jump to intelligence cooperation without ensuring its own interests would be respected. "I won't give it (intelligence cooperation) to you for free," Asad told the Senators.
The Senators had two other agenda items they wanted Syria to address: to facilitate the release of three detained Americans in Iran, and re-open the Damascus Community School. Asad said he was unfamiliar with the detained Americans issue but was “ready” to reopen the school after he shut it down in response to a US military attack in 2008 that killed seven Syrian civilians.
The cable went into a great more detail of the discussions than was revealed by Senator Specter’s account of the CODEL in the February congressional record. While Specter mentioned the Turkish solution and the "decoupling" of Iran he made no mention of the LEU offer or what Asad requested of the US in exchange for intelligence support.
The report is one of 15,000 Top Secret classified documents released by Wikileaks on the weekend. On Sunday they began the painstaking task of publishing over a quarter of a million leaked US embassy cables. The cables date from 1966 to February 2010 and contain confidential communications between the State Department and 274 embassies in countries throughout the world.
http://nebuchadnezzarwoollyd.blogspot.com/2010/11/wikileaks-cable-reveals-syrias-price.html
http://www.raceforiran.com/syrian-president-bashar-al-assad-on-iran
Asad began the talks by saying he wanted a return of Turkish-facilitated indirect talks with Israel but said Syria's relationship with Iran should not be linked to Israeli peace negotiations. Syria's ties with Hamas and Hezbollah could be “satisfactorily resolved” only after peace was achieved. Asad said he wanted to see better relationships with the US but his foreign minister Walid al-Muallim said the ball was in the Americans’ court for taking the next positive step.
Asad called Iran the region’s most important country and said the West should acknowledged Iran's NPT-protected right to enrich uranium under IAEA monitoring. Instead of insisting Iran ship all of its Low Enriched Uranium at once as the West demands, Asad said Iran’s counter-offer to ship several batches of LEU for enrichment abroad was "reasonable". Asad said Iran was not interested in pursuing a nuclear weapon, but warned an Israeli military strike on its nuclear infrastructure would fail to end the program and would only increase Iran's determination.
Asad also refused to link Iran’s nuclear program with Israeli talks, arguing it would complicate both issues. Asad said eight months of indirect peace talks in May 2008 with Israel under Turkish auspices had achieved more than several years of direct negotiations with Israel in the 1990s. Direct talks failed because of the lack of "rules of negotiation." He said indirect talks represented the best way to establish terms of reference similar to those reached by James Baker in 1991. Asad urged the US and EU to support the Turkish initiative. “Israel's military superiority would not secure it from attack against missiles and other technologies,” he said.
Asad then bristled at suggestions Syria was allowing extremists across its borders into Iraq. Asad blamed the situation on the absence of political cooperation with the US. The Americans possessed a "huge information apparatus" but lacked the ability to analyse this information successfully. "You're failing in the fight against extremism,” he told the Senators. “While we lack your intelligence capabilities, we succeed in fighting extremists because we have better analysts.”
Asad said Syria had refused to cooperate with President Bush because it did not trust him and because his administration had wrongly accused Syria of supporting foreign fighters. When President Obama assumed office, Syria tried to be positive. Asad said he had shared the idea with Special Envoy Mitchell of a border security cooperation initiative with Iraq as a first step (the CIA analyst disputed this saying it was an American suggestion to which Syria reluctantly agreed).
Asad also compared the difficulty of patrolling the large Iraqi border with similar issues on US-Mexico border. "In the US you like to shoot (terrorists),” he said. “Suffocating their networks is far more effective.” Asad blamed “US mistakes in Iraq" for trouble in the region. The report said despite a shared interest with the US in ensuring Iraqi stability, Syria would not immediately jump to intelligence cooperation without ensuring its own interests would be respected. "I won't give it (intelligence cooperation) to you for free," Asad told the Senators.
The Senators had two other agenda items they wanted Syria to address: to facilitate the release of three detained Americans in Iran, and re-open the Damascus Community School. Asad said he was unfamiliar with the detained Americans issue but was “ready” to reopen the school after he shut it down in response to a US military attack in 2008 that killed seven Syrian civilians.
The cable went into a great more detail of the discussions than was revealed by Senator Specter’s account of the CODEL in the February congressional record. While Specter mentioned the Turkish solution and the "decoupling" of Iran he made no mention of the LEU offer or what Asad requested of the US in exchange for intelligence support.
The report is one of 15,000 Top Secret classified documents released by Wikileaks on the weekend. On Sunday they began the painstaking task of publishing over a quarter of a million leaked US embassy cables. The cables date from 1966 to February 2010 and contain confidential communications between the State Department and 274 embassies in countries throughout the world.
http://nebuchadnezzarwoollyd.blogspot.com/2010/11/wikileaks-cable-reveals-syrias-price.html
http://www.raceforiran.com/syrian-president-bashar-al-assad-on-iran
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