July 31, 2008
Elaine Meinel Supkis
Global power is shifting away from the US and European empires. So both are howling with rage over the thought of anyone besides themselves having nuclear bombs. Also, revolutions and riots break out all over the place as bombs go off as 'terrorists' struggle with various empires. And all empires hate terrorism at home and LOVE it when they are doing it to unarmed or poorly armed peasants and natives. Colonization is good if European or Americans are colonizing Palestine or Ireland but no good if the Chinese move to Africa or if Africans seek to come to the US or European empires! And torture and nuclear armaments are all over the news as we look exactly like the Soviet Union.
Al-Qaeda in Iraq Leader May Be in Afghanistan
The leader of the Sunni insurgent group al-Qaeda in Iraq and several of his top lieutenants have recently left Iraq for Afghanistan, according to group leaders and Iraqi intelligence officials, a possible further sign of what Iraqi and U.S. officials call growing disarray and weakness in the organization.U.S. officials say there are indications that al-Qaeda is diverting new recruits from going to Iraq, where its fighters have suffered dramatic setbacks, to going to Afghanistan and Pakistan, where they appear to be making gains.
Despite fighting civilians and various tribal people and peasants over the last 200 years, the US still doesn't get it. All insurgencies operate under on principal: strike and run. When the empire puts on too much pressure, move onwards to a new local and repeat. Huge empires can end up on wild goose chases across the centuries. These can be cheap or expensive chases. It is all up to the people at the center of the empire to decide if this is a golden opportunity for corruption or if it is something serious.
Chasing insurgents in circles across the globe is, for the present US military/industrial complex, a fun and lucrative game. Vast fortunes are being assembled as the military does everything in its power to make this chase after barely armed civilians as expensive as humanly possible. This is why tremendously expensive bomber jets and spy planes that cost many billions of dollars are being used to fire missiles or drop bombs that are hideously expensive on tents occupied by women and children or bombing a lunar landscape or terrorizing whole cities and alienating the populace.
Absolutely no one from the President of the Empire of the USA down to the lowliest soldier is cost cutting. No one is counting up the costs of this expensive exercise in imperial powers. No one is trying to see if it might be a waste of time and money, bombing civilians from the air. The entire concept of the 'war on terror' has really been a front in the much more important and real war: the seizure of maximum finances from the US empire itself. This is why these wars are lost. Like clockwork. At no time do we ever win a war against a recalcitrant people. The illusion of victory lures the US population into supporting these endless, hideously expensive enterprises that gain us exactly nothing.
For our expensive empire's expansion simply means we must spend more and more. Since everything under the sun in the Pentagon has been 'privatized' this means these wars are all about profits, not any sane evaluation of the value or cost of various enterprises. The thing being sold to the American people is, if we only can run down and kill off or buy off all terrorists, we will be safe. The lunacy of this proposition is obvious: this month, we have seen a very strong up-tick in global terrorist bombings.
From China to Russia, from India to Sri Lanka, in Africa, in the Middle East, in Pakistan, in all the countries we are seeking to control via military force, we see a rise in 'terrorism'. This week, England announced that the true terrorists are not Muslims but Catholic Irish! HAHAHA. Back to one's roots. Always, this was the real terror for the Crown. Ireland and Scotland as well as Wales were early targets of Royal imperial interests. So, 1,000 years later, it continues. This durability shows us that military force cannot stop 'terrorism'. Imperial policies, on the other hand, cause this terrorism.
After all, why are Catholic Irish angry with British Crown colonialism? That is a very long story. For example, my own clan was given a hunk of Ireland by Queen Anne. We gave it up during the Troubles beginning with the mid-19th century. Hanging onto these estates proved to be too expensive. So one retreats. All over this planet, the ruling elites of Britain, France and Spain claimed giant hunks of the earth for themselves and over the centuries, outraged natives fought back, sometimes passively but also sometimes quite explosively. The only time this stops is if the empire gives up. Right now, England insists on occupying a huge hunk of Ireland. Thus, the terror and Troubles continues.
Palestinians: IDF troops wound 9 at boy's funeral in West Bank
Israel Defense Forces troops wounded nine Palestinians in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Wednesday in a clash with protesters at the funeral of a 11-year-old boy killed a day earlier, Palestinian medics said.They said the troops had shot the casualties with rubber bullets while fighting stone-throwing protesters. A 18-year-old Palestinian was hit in the head by a rubber bullet and doctors described him as brain dead.
An initial Border Police investigation has found that Ahmed Moussa , 11, who was killed at a West Bank protest on Tuesday, died from a live round fired by one of the security force's troops.
Ahmed Moussa died during a confrontation with Israeli security forces on Tuesday in the West Bank village of Na'alin. Villagers have been protesting for months against Israel's separation fence.
The latest ugly reports from the latest European attempts at conquering natives, appropriating their lands and destroying them as a people. Like the Crown of Britain, the wealthy Jewish supporters of invading Palestine are extremely ruthless and brutal. They hope that they can live in 'peace' while oppressing a huge number of people. They hope that the natives will 'forget' the past and not bring it up in the future. After 1,000 years, the Irish or the Palestinians will finally figure out that alien invaders have a right to occupy and control their homelands. Then they go away, somewhere far away. Like, colonize Australia or North America. Or maybe, Africa?
Indeed, in the British press this month, there is outright hysteria about nearly a million Chinese moving to Africa. In France, Spain and Italy as well as England, there is fury about several million Africans seeking to come to Europe! Oh my! An invasion! Stop it! HAHAHA. The fears about Africans coming to Europe is pure racism. Millions and millions of Europeans invaded the entire planet and ruthlessly annihilated, enslaved or suppressed the rest of humanity including China itself. In 1800, China didn't colonize England, just for example. Now that the people who were enslaved, colonized and oppressed are now reversing the flow. They are moving into the former or present empires that rule the earth.
Imagine if a million Iraqi refugees, caused by the US/UK colonial invasion, were to move to England and the US? So far, less than 10,000 have been allowed into the heart of the global empire! We will not let in more than a tiny trickle.
Olmert not confident of peace deal this year
(CNN) -- Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert does not believe a peace accord with the Palestinians can be reached by the end of the year, according to a senior Israeli official. Speaking to parliament's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Olmert said Monday that Jerusalem's status was the main hurdle in the way of reaching such an agreement, according to the official, who attended the committee meeting.Olmert and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas signed a joint statement in November at a U.S. summit for Middle East peace, pledging to work toward securing a peace agreement by the end of this year. The Bush administration has repeatedly said it believes a peace deal can be achieved by the end of President Bush's final term in office.
Olmert is resigning because he is corrupt. He is corrupt in exactly the same way our own empire is corrupt. Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska of 'Bridge to Nowhere' fame, is finally being hauled into court because his corruption was finally totally obvious. The people of Alaska are fearful the flow of easy IOU Federal money will slow down. Accustomed to getting a free ride, they worry that fiscal restrictions will be placed on them. No longer able to tap into the endless wealth of endless debt at the heart of the empire, they will not have huge financial gains from Steven's corruption.
Israel is corrupt because they, too, have tapped into the endless IOU supply system in Washington, DC. The Jewish lobbies have so utterly infected everyone there with corruption, from top to bottom, they now have gained the ability to redirect public funding from the US citizens to their pet country, Israel. As the red ink mounts, these powerful, rich lobbyists can't talk about cutting spending at all. For then the topic of cutting the #1 recipient of US funding, Israel, comes up. So money is spent on the politicians to NOT talk about balancing the budget.
Every time, by the way, they do talk this way, enraged voters besiege them to cut off Israel. So mum is the word these days. Israel assassinates its leaders if they negotiate too much. Israel's domestic politics is very chaotic so they alway can fall back on the excuse, they have no leaders and therefore, can't negotiate anything. This will not win in the end. The Palestinians know they are in a battle to the death just like the Irish knew this. Starvation, privation, denial of property rights, savage military suppression and yet, a thousand years later, the Irish battle onwards and so will the Palestinians.
Like with the Irish who used to fight each other before the British Crown invaded, this suppression and supplanting of natives is driving them together into a much stronger political entity. Despite the present split of Hamas versus PLO, Hamas will win in the end due to the fact that the PLO is a paid entity of the US empire. And quite unpopular because of this. The 'peace' the US seeks in Palestine is identical to the 'peace' England wants with the Irish: for them to shut up, go away and let the occupation become legitimate and eternal. A hopeless desire.
Ahmadinejad Condemns World Powers for Atomic Arsenals
(Bloomberg) -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad criticized the world's most powerful countries for expanding their atomic arsenals while attempting to stop the progress of other nations toward ``peaceful nuclear energy.''``The expansion of nuclear arms by oppressing powers is continuing and other nations' peaceful nuclear activities are being condemned by these very countries through accusations that they are being aimed at constructing nuclear weapons,'' Ahmadinejad said in a speech aired live on state television.
England is upgrading its nuclear arsenal. They cling to this arsenal so they can imagine they are an empire and global power capable of menacing China or Brazil. Oops. China has nukes! Well, at least they can menace Brazil. This is very, very expensive. The British economy is on the ropes and going down, fast. Yet the imperial rulers there insist on keeping up the fiction of global domination no matter what. Who is menacing Britain?
THE IRISH! They don't have nukes! Britain thinks the Irish are the greater danger. Yet, money is spent on nuclear bombs. I'm absolutely certain that if Queen Anne had nuclear bombs, she would have dropped them on Dublin back in 1740. And King George III would have done the same to Boston, absolutely. The world's biggest empires insist on clinging to nuclear bombs and feel no compunction about threatening others with these weapons.
Nonaligned countries back Iran's nuclear program
(AP) — More than 100 nonaligned nations backed Iran's right to peaceful uses of nuclear power on Wednesday, an endorsement sought by Tehran in its standoff with the U.N. Security Council over its refusal to freeze uranium enrichment.The decision came as supreme Iranian leader Ayatolla Ali Khamenei pledged to continue the country's nuclear program.
Senior Iranian officials depicted the support from a high-level conference of the Nonaligned Movement as deflating claims by the U.S. and its allies that most of the international community wanted Iran to stop enrichment.
115 nations to be exact. And this is nearly half of the planet earth. Not one of them have nuclear bombs. The two that do have these bombs, Pakistan and India, both show the utility of such weapons. The US constantly demands the right to bomb natives and peasants in Pakistan. And Pakistan says 'No.' End of story. If they had no nukes, the US and UK would not hesitate for even one minute to bomb, bomb, bomb Pakistan! This is why I say, if the major imperial powers refuse to disarm, everyone should have at least one nuclear bomb. That would stop a lot of border wars, incidentally. Look at Pakistan and India: no longer a problem with each other or with China! They now negotiate everything.
The strike plan was known as Concept Plan (CONPLAN) 8022 and first entered into effect in the summer of 2004 to provide the president with a prompt, global strike capability against time-urgent and mobile targets.CONPLAN 8022 was the first attempt to operationalize the “Global Strike” mission assigned to U.S. Strategic Command in January 2003. The mission was triggered by new White House guidance following the terrorist attacks in September 2001 and fear of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
Lack of leadership and definition has since placed Global Strike in limbo, with little progress and prompt effects instead being incorporated into other existing strike plans. “Global Strike” is now described as a much broader mission synonymous with the “New Triad” first articulated by the Bush administration’s 2001 Nuclear Posture Review.
Periodically, the military in the US empire plot WWIII. Then, someone sane comes along and looks in horror at the script and rips it up. When Bush unilaterally said, we have the right to make preemptive nuclear strikes on not only China and Russia but anyone, the world gasped. Since that day, the Russians and Chinese have cheerfully told all their neighbors, this is the new global war policy and they have set up systems to accommodate the US in this matter. The loud warnings that if the US even thinks about attacking two of some of its biggest lending banker nations, Europe and Japan will vanish in a nuclear firestorm has started big pushes by our allies to kill this program.
So it was killed to the relief of Europe and Japan. But this doesn't make headline news in the US nor is there any sane analysis about this matter in the major media which is up and down the line, totally war mongering and pro-violence.
The deficit would amount to roughly 3.5 percent of the nation's $14 trillion economy.The official pointed to a faltering economy and the bipartisan $170 billion stimulus package that passed earlier this year for the record deficit.
I include this as a perfect example of how the media lies by omission. The US deficit grew massively because we have the most expensive military on earth and they are spending an absolute fortune on chasing civilians and bombing civilians. And the supplementary funds for this cost far more than the stupid 'stimulus' package which was not even a tax cut but rather, a deferral of paying taxes. But rare is the article that mentions our bloated and misdirected military spending when talking about our deficits! And never, ever is Israel mentioned. Let's look at one of a million examples of this waste and wild spending:
U.S. Says Contractor Made Little Progress on Iraq Projects
The U.S. government paid a California contractor $142 million to build prisons, fire stations and police facilities in Iraq that it never built or finished, according to audits by a watchdog office.The Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR) said Parsons of Pasadena, Calif., received the money, part of a total of $333 million but only completed about one-third of the projects, which also included courthouses and border control stations. The inspector general's office is expected to release two detailed audits today, evaluating Parsons's work on the contract, which is worth up to $900 million.
"Far less was accomplished under this contract than originally planned," the inspector general wrote. "Millions of dollars in waste are likely associated with incomplete, terminated and abandoned projects under this contract." Auditors did not give a dollar figure of how much had potentially been wasted, but they said Parsons got about 10 percent -- or $11.3 million -- of the $108 million of award fees it could have received.
*snip*
But now the prison -- known as Kahn Bani Sa'ad Correctional Facility -- sits unfinished and dilapidated. Local residents have derisively nicknamed it "the whale." At one of the buildings, the second floor is without a roof. Gray cement walls jut up in the sky. There is no plumbing or electricity. Windows have not been put in, and walls are unpainted. Roads in the complex remain unpaved.
A report came out this week that none of our bridges are being fixed! Another story was, Bush and his gang want to privatize the entire Eisenhower Freeway system and turn it into all toll roads owned by the Chinese and the Arab oil lords! We are going broke, our nation is falling apart and we are lining the pockets of a million leeches who want to be Daddy Warbucks.
Parson's Military Installations and Ranges
Since the company's founding in 1944, Parsons has expanded its professional and contractual relationships with Department of Defense (DoD) clients. Personnel with secret and top secret security clearances are skilled in developing one-of-a-kind, first-of-a-kind solutions for classified programs.Parsons has participated in virtually every missile defense system, including the National Missile Defense, Space Defense Initiative, MX-Peacekeeper/MX, Minuteman, Safeguard, Sentinel, and Nike.
We are the leading contractor for ordnance site studies and clearance, currently conducting projects dealing with explosive ordnance throughout the U.S. and abroad. Parsons has developed innovative approaches to digital data collection and integrated geophysics, global positioning systems, and geographic information systems to cost-effectively analyze ordnance contaminated sites, conduct risk assessment, and detail areas for cleanup for anticipated land use.
Parsons has significant experience in military operations and all of the technical disciplines that support range sustainability. Our engineering, environmental, and planning staffs bring unique skills and experience together in an integrated approach.
*snip*
We are committed to maintaining a safe and healthy construction-site environment. The objective of our conscientious, well-trained employees is to conduct operations effectively and efficiently through a system designed to prevent workplace accidents, injuries, and illness. We achieve this objective through a combination of concerned management and responsible and knowledgeable supervision.Parsons extensive experience with heavy rigging, land and water transportation, and computerized material control management all add up to cost-effective solutions for projects of all sizes and complexity.
Note how this corrupt, venal corporation that lines many pockets in DC boasts about being 'cost effective'! HAHAHA. Arrest them all. And confiscate their profits. Use this to balance the budget. If we do this to all the entities feeding off of the corrupt Pentagon, we will not only see the budget deficit reduced to zero, we might even afford to fix our own nation instead! Gads! Why aren't either of our Presidential candidates suggesting this?
Indeed. Anyone talking this way gets no media attention or is attacked mercilessly.
China Imports Workers to Build Embassy in U.S., Sparking Anger
(Bloomberg) -- To the touchy, tense relationship between global superpowers, add this gritty irritant: As Washington's unemployment rate rose, China brought over hundreds of laborers to build its U.S. embassy.China has been using an aging motel in Washington for three years to house the army of workers who built the $250 million granite and glass embassy, which at 345,500 square feet is one of the city's largest. Now, with the embassy scheduled to open tomorrow, some labor officials and lawmakers are being less than diplomatic in their criticism.
``This is outrageous,'' says Mark Levinson, chief economist at Unite Here!, a union representing 450,000 industrial, textile and hotel employees nationwide. ``When the U.S. is in a recession and Chinese imports are flooding into the U.S., the Chinese should be using American workers.''
This is too childish, by the way. The Chinese trusted us in the past and for example, when they ordered Boeing jets for the President of China, they found the CIA had wired in a host of spy equipment systems! When Russia insisted on building our embassy during the Cold War, they also riddled it with spy stuff! And so on. The Chinese cannot let us build them anything. Or we will riddle it with spy stuff. End of story. About spying, I NEVER had as much trouble with my telephone service as when the Chinese leaders lived with me. Gads. I was lucky anything worked right. Periodically, I would scold the State Department about this. The Chinese always went out to make important phone calls, of course. On top of this, the Chinese secret police spied on their own people. It got rather messy at one point. I had to eject one of the Chinese officers because he annoyed me too much.
The Military-Industrial Complex
by Chalmers Johnson and Tom Engelhardt
Several inferences can be drawn from Shorrock's shocking expos?. One is that if a foreign espionage service wanted to penetrate American military and governmental secrets, its easiest path would not be to gain access to any official U.S. agencies, but simply to get its agents jobs at any of the large intelligence-oriented private companies on which the government has become remarkably dependent. These include Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), with headquarters in San Diego, California, which typically pays its 42,000 employees higher salaries than if they worked at similar jobs in the government; Booz Allen Hamilton, one of the nation's oldest intelligence and clandestine-operations contractors, which, until January 2007, was the employer of Mike McConnell, the current director of national intelligence and the first private contractor to be named to lead the entire intelligence community; and CACI International, which, under two contracts for "information technology services," ended up supplying some two dozen interrogators to the Army at Iraq's already infamous Abu Ghraib prison in 2003. According to Major General Anthony Taguba, who investigated the Abu Ghraib torture and abuse scandal, four of CACI's interrogators were "either directly or indirectly responsible" for torturing prisoners. (Shorrock, p. 281)
HAHAHA. Quite. Note that both Russia and China are not this stupid. And a stupid empire doesn't last long, does it? There is corruption in both Russia and China but if this corruption extends to foreigners taking over the system like we have here, people are executed. Here, the media lies about this level of alien corruption and attacks anyone who dares to mention that the US is being corrupted by aliens. The business of CACI torturing people is interesting. Private KGBs litter our nation.
Statement Regarding Baseless CCR Lawsuit 5/7/08
CACI will not try this baseless lawsuit in the press. We reject emphatically this latest plaintiff's allegations and claims. After nearly four years, plaintiffs' counsel, Susan Burke, Shereef Akeel and the Center for Constitutional Rights, are perpetuating baseless allegations against CACI as part of their "big lie" propaganda campaign. From day one, CACI has rejected these prepostorous allegations and intends to vigorously defend itself and vindicate the company's good name.While Ms. Burke's and Mr. Akeel's politically driven agenda and specious accusations always create a few news headlines, court cases are based on facts and the facts are on our side.
After numerous and thorough government investigations, no CACI employee or former employee has been charged with any misconduct in connection with CACI's interrogation work in Iraq. CACI has unequivocally renounced the abuse that occurred at Abu Ghraib prison and has cooperated fully in all government inquiries of this matter. CACI does not condone or tolerate illegal or inappropriate behavior by any employee when engaged in CACI business.
Contrary to the image foisted upon the public by Susan Burke and Shereef Akeel, CACI provided qualified, dedicated professionals who were called to serve in highly stressful and very dangerous conditions and received good performance reviews for the work they did. We invite people to read the newly released book – Our Good Name – which documents public statements, government reports, and sworn testimony before Congress and the courts, and provides a factual account of CACI's role at Abu Ghraib prison. The book, Our Good Name, cites reputable sources in the public record. We did not do what Ms. Burke and some in the press did – cite anonymous sources, quote those with a political agenda against the war, or make outrageous allegations without facts.
The book – Our Good Name – is the definitive account of what our company went through during the Abu Ghraib controversy and sets the record straight concerning the interrogation work we were asked to perform in Iraq.
Yes, they hire only experts from the Vatican. No one expects the Spanish Inquisition except for the Opus Dei members of the Supreme Court.
Documents Released by the CIA and Justice Department in Response to the ACLU's Torture FOIA
Memo Dated January 28, 2003, from CIA to OLC
Contains "communications from the CIA to OLC on a matter in which the CIA requested legal advice from OLC" and shows that CIA interrogators were permitted to use both "Standard Techniques" and "Enhanced Interrogation Techniques" and that in each CIA interrogation session in which an Enhanced Technique was employed, a "contemporaneous record" was created setting forth, among other things, "the nature and duration of each such technique employed" and "the identities of those present."Memo Dated August 4, 2004, from CIA to OLC
Contains "communications from the CIA to OLC on a matter in which the CIA requested legal advice from OLC" and shows that CIA interrogators were told that the Justice Department had concluded that certain interrogation techniques, "including the waterboard," did not violate the torture statute. The document also indicates that CIA interrogators were told to take into account the possibility that their actions would ultimately be subject to judicial review.Memo Dated August 1, 2002, from OLC to CIA
Memo "advising the CIA regarding interrogation methods it may use against al Qaeda members," and includes information "regarding potential interrogation methods and the context in which their use was contemplated." The document also discusses "alternative interrogation methods," a phrase that was echoed by President Bush in a September 2006 speech promoting the Military Commissions Act. Though heavily redacted, the document shows that the Justice Department authorized alternative interrogation methods after concluding that "those carrying out these procedures would not have the specific intent to inflict severe physical pain or suffering" or "to cause severe mental pain or suffering." The memo explains: "Prolonged mental harm is substantial mental harm of sustained duration, e.g. harm lasting months or even years after the acts were inflicted upon the prisoner." The memo also includes this sentence: "Your review of the literature uncovered no empirical data on the use of these procedures, with the exception [redacted]." The memo is signed by Jay Bybee, who also signed the "organ failure" memo issued to the CIA the same day, and who is now a federal appellate judge.
Years ago, I once had an extended debate with a Russian woman about the KGB. She denied they tortured people. I, personally, knew victims of this torture! So as I brought forward one case after another of torture AFTER 1980 [She did admit Stalin tortured people] she simply denied it all. So it is here: the entire planet knows we torture Muslims as well as tasering, beating and intimidating Americans. 'Interesting question', as Kerry said when a student was then tortured for asking these questions about the Bilderbergers and the Illuminati. HAHAHA. There is no Illuminate! And if you ask, you get tasered right in front of one of them.
But then, Kerry is also a Skull and Bonesman and thus, approves of torture. They do this to each other, after all, in between praying to Geronimo's skull for total power over all humanity.
Contrary to the image foisted upon the public by Susan Burke and Shereef Akeel, CACI provided qualified, dedicated professionals who were called to serve in highly stressful and very dangerous conditions and received good performance reviews for the work they did. We invite people to read the newly released book – Our Good Name – which documents public statements, government reports, and sworn testimony before Congress and the courts, and provides a factual account of CACI's role at Abu Ghraib prison.
Posted by: Lisa | August 20, 2008 at 08:49 AM