Tom Dispatch ‘s Tomgram: Chalmers Johnson, How to Sink America Within the next month, the Pentagon will submit its 2009 budget to Congress and it’s a fair bet that it will be even larger than the staggering 2008 one. Like the Army and the Marines, the Pentagon itself is overstretched and under strain — and like the two services, which are expected to add 92,000 new troops over the next
Press TV reports: Pakistan’s United Council of Action has criticized President Pervez Musharraf for meeting Israeli war minister Ehud Barak in France. In a statement issued on Tuesday, Senator Khurshid Ahmed, the council’s parliamentary leader, termed the meeting a violation of Pakistan’s principled position and said it tarnished the country’s image in the Arab and Islamic world. It is deplorable that President Musharraf invited Israeli minister to his hotel room
By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA for AP news Influential members of Muqtada al-Sadr’s movement have urged the anti-U.S. Shiite cleric not to extend a cease-fire when it expires next month, officials said Monday, a move that could jeopardize recent security gains. The Iraqi Red Crescent Organization, meanwhile, gave a higher death toll than Iraqi officials from last week’s devastating house explosion in the northern city of Mosul. The relief organization said more
Sibel Edmonds on Marc Grossman by Gary Leupp for Dissident Voice I am not one to easily embrace conspiracy theories, and in particular have found the idea that 9-11 was somehow an inside job too incredible for serious consideration. On the other hand, there are some very fishy aspects to some officials’ behavior pertaining to the attacks. Justin Raimondo has made a very good case for the fact that Mossad
(The following was sent to me by a reader to whom I am most grateful. VS)——- The assassination of the leftist investigative journalist and columnist Ugur Mumcu in 1993 was seen by Turkey’s secular establishment, media and armed forces as an opportunity to galvanize anti-Islamic feelings in general and anti-Iranian feelings in particular. The assassination was blamed on Iran, who allegedly used the (Turkish) Hizbullah as a pawn. In reality,
(The following was sent to me by a reader to whom I am most grateful. VS) source: http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=94893 “Turkey, US to discuss anti-PKK work, defense ties” by Umit Enginsoy, Turkish Daily News, 29 January 2008 [emphasis added] A top Turkish general will meet with his U.S. counterparts in Washington this week to review the military cooperation against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and to discuss bilateral defense matters. Gen.
This morning I finally gathered the courage to sit down and listen to Caligula’s speech to the Imperial Senate. I was prepared for the worst, but what I actually saw was even worse than what I had expected. What should I have expected to hear from the most incompetent President in US history speaking in front of a Congress even more despised by the American people? Should I have had
Al-Manar TV reports: The Islamic Resistance Movement of Hamas has dismissed as an Israeli-led conspiracy PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’s proposal to deploy his own, Western-trained forces at the Rafah crossing along with the EU monitors. Palestinian Authority said Monday that it had reached a deal with Egypt to take control of the Gaza border. Hamas spokesman Sami Abu-Zuhri dismissed the proposal, calling it an “Israeli-led international conspiracy with the participation
Just listen to this loony: This is not just some smiling lunatic speaking, no, this is nothing less than Yona Metzger the Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel, i.e. the head of the largest most numerous group of religious Jews in Israel. And that gentleman calmly proposes to commit a major crime against humanity (deportation). Interestingly, in the Haaretz article about this interview the editors only report on Metzger’s crazy proposals,
Alas, we can be sure that the one he will deliver tonight will be far more boring and far less realistic.
There is the facade: organization like NATO, or the British Commonwealth, or the Arab League. And then there are the real alliances, the ones that matter when things get tough, when important decisions need to be made. Some of them are centered around a common project, such as the ECHELON countries, while others have almost no visible existence. As usual, these are less conspiracies than collusions. These alliances are informal,
(Source: Gush Shalom mailing list and website)——- Click here to watch video from the convoy (sorry, Hebrew only) The initiative for the large action that took place today (26.1.08) started when the well-know psychiatrist, Dr. Eyad al-Sarraj, the human-rights activist from Gaza, met in the Gush Shalom office with a small group of Israeli peace activists, in order to tell them about the desperate situation in the strip. It was
It was the be expected: the Pharaoh, who had been told by his masters that he was expected to “solve the problem” moved his stormtroopers in to attempt to close the border between Egypt and Gaza. Simultaneously, the Empire sensing that the situation might be getting out of control at the United Nations moved to prevent the adoption of a UNSC resolution on the blockade of Gaza. Lastly, Israel carried
Haaretz Analysis: Hamas shows IDF who is in charge By Avi Issacharoff and Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondents (emphasis added. VS) A few Israel Defense Forces Engineering Corps officers surely shed a tear yesterday while viewing the television reports from Rafah: The barrier built by the IDF with blood and sweat along the Philadelphi Route, on the Gaza Strip border with Egypt, was coming down. It was, apparently, the final remnant
The following was sent to me by a correspondent to whom I am very grateful for this interesting item. I cannot vouch for the accuracy of the translation. VS ANKA News Agency, 21 January 2008 Former Prime Minister and current Defense Minister Ehud Barak will visit Turkey in February at the invitation of his Turkish counterpart Vecdi Gönül. Diplomatic sources said that the purpose of Barak’s visit to Turkey is
The developments in Gaza are the proof that the Israeli intelligence services are the most over-rated on the planet. Long gone is the “Entebbe” image of a daring and all-knowing Israeli intelligence community and as more information comes in about the recent developments in Gaza one is lead to wonder how incompetent the Israelis really are. Times Online has revealed that Hamas ‘spent months cutting through Gaza wall in secret
I have never understood where the myth of the ‘clever Israelis’ came from (probably from the ‘superior Jewish intellect’ canard, itself a blatantly self-serving and racist belief). Today, the Israeli handling of the Hamas phenomenon appears to me as an ideal case study in stupidity and arrogance. I just came across such a perfect example of this delusional arrogance that I decided that I needed to share it with you.
According to the United Nations, some 350,000 Gazans have streamed into Egypt after Hamas militants blew up dozens of holes in the metal wall which separated Gaza from Egypt. Most of the wall is now destroyed. Obviously, while this is good news for the Gazans starved by the Israeli blockade, this development is also full of potential dangers. It is unlikely that Hamas will stop the firing of Kassam rockets
Bush’s Iran/Argentina Terror Frame-Up by GARETH PORTER posted online on January 18, 2008 here: http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080204/porter Research for this article was supported by the Investigative Fund of The Nation Institute. Although nukes and Iraq have been the main focus of the Bush Administration’s pressure campaign against Iran, US officials also seek to tar Iran as the world’s leading sponsor of terrorism. And Team Bush’s latest tactic is to play up a
