"If there is a country that has committed unspeakable atrocities in the world, it is the United States of America. They don't care for human beings. [...] One power with a president who has no foresight and cannot think properly is now wanting to plunge the world into a holocaust. [...] All that Bush wants is Iraqi oil." On Blair: "He is the foreign minister of the United States. He is no longer prime minister of Britain." On Anglo-American undermining of the UN: "Is it because the secretary-general of the United Nations is now a black man? They never did that when secretary-generals were white."
Nuclear weapons and pollution linked to 65 million deaths"Pollution from nuclear energy and weapons programmes up to 1989 will account for 65 million deaths, according to a European scientific committee headed by an adviser to the British Government."
Pentagon to grow annual budget to half a trillion dollars Blix Says He Saw Nothing to Prompt a War Senator Ted Kennedy: The United States would become "a symbol of death, destruction and aggression" across the globe if it drops a nuclear bomb on Iraq Our Nuclear Talk Gravely Imperils Us Kennedy Wants Bush to Give Congress Iraq 'Evidence' Kurt Vonnegut vs. the !�*!@Günter Grass: No Beginning or End to WarI myself feel that our country, for whose Constitution I fought in a just war, might as well have been invaded by Martians and body snatchers. Sometimes I wish it had been. What has happened, though, is that it has been taken over by means of the sleaziest, low-comedy, Keystone Cops-style coup d'etat imaginable. And those now in charge of the federal government are upper-crust C-students who know no history or geography, plus not-so-closeted white supremacists, aka 'Christians,' and plus, most frighteningly, psychopathic personalities, or 'PPs.'
We know how people create enemies where none exists. We know, and have plenty of pictures to illustrate it, what happens in war when the target is not quite hit. We are familiar with the words for damage and casualties which we are told to accept as inevitable. We are used to the relatively small number of its own dead that the world's number one ruling power has to count and mourn while the mass of enemy dead, including women and children, go uncounted and are not worth mourning.
"I suspect they're getting ready to do this all across all the states," Matulka said in a January 30, 2003 interview. "God help us if Bush gets his touch screens all across the country," he added, "because they leave no paper trail. These corporations are taking over America, and they just about have control of our voting machines."
US says aluminium tubes are evidence of Iraq's nuclear goal"THE United States strengthened its claim that Iraq was pursuing a nuclear goal last night, disclosing some of the evidence that it will put before the United Nations next week."
Stephen Zunes: An Annotated Overview of the Foreign Policy Segments of President George W. Bush's State of the Union Address Charles Rangel on Bush's State of the Union Address Robert Byrd criticizes Bush tactics Bush backs Big Brother database John Pilger: Blair is a coward"Unelected in 2000, the Washington regime of George W Bush is now totalitarian, captured by a clique whose fanaticism and ambitions of 'endless war' and 'full spectrum dominance' are a matter of record.
"All the world knows their names: Bush, Rumsfeld, Rice, Wolfowitz, Cheney and Perle, and Powell, the false liberal. Bush's State of the Union speech last night was reminiscent of that other great moment in 1938 when Hitler called his generals together and told them: 'I must have war.' He then had it.
"To call Blair a mere 'poodle' is to allow him distance from the killing of innocent Iraqi men, women and children for which he will share responsibility.
"He is the embodiment of the most dangerous appeasement humanity has known since the 1930s. The current American elite is the Third Reich of our times, although this distinction ought not to let us forget that they have merely accelerated more than half a century of unrelenting American state terrorism: from the atomic bombs dropped cynically on Japan as a signal of their new power to the dozens of countries invaded, directly or by proxy, to destroy democracy wherever it collided with American 'interests', such as a voracious appetite for the world's resources, like oil.
"When you next hear Blair or Straw or Bush talk about 'bringing democracy to the people of Iraq', remember that it was the CIA that installed the Ba'ath Party in Baghdad from which emerged Saddam Hussein."
John Pilger has received the following awards: 1966 Descriptive Writer of the Year; 1967 Reporter of the Year; 1967 Journalist of the Year; 1970 International Reporter of the Year; 1974 News Reporter of the Year; 1977 Campaigning Journalist of the Year; 1979 Journalist of the Year; 1979-80 UN Media Peace Prize, Australia; 1980-81 UN Media Peace Prize, Gold Medal, Australia; 1979 TV Times Readers' Award; 1990 The George Foster Peabody Award, USA; 1991 American Television Academy Award ('Emmy'); 1991 British Academy of Film and Television Arts - The Richard Dimbleby Award; 1990 Reporters San Frontiers Award, France; 1995 International de Television Geneve Award
Paul Wolfowitz: Why Saddam is a target in our war on terror Robert Fisk: Don't forget the third clock still ticking away"First, there was the ticking clock: the countdown to the war by the United States.
"Then there was the second ticking clock: the diary of the week - the Blix statement, the State of the Union Address, the Blair-Bush war cabinet.
"No one in the press talked about the third ticking clock: the dollar, the collapsing US economy, Venezuela and North Korea.
"How easily do we slip into war?
"The people don't support us? Why, let them be reminded of the asphyxiated Kurds of Halabja (whom we didn't care about at the time), the 'weapons of mass destruction' which have never been used against us (but which we helped to create), the flagrant breach of United Nations resolutions of which Iraq has stood guilty (along with Israel, though we mustn't say so).
Robert Fisk: The coffee table war: American publishers have been churning out glossy memorials to the Twin Towers and bullish pro-war propaganda. But do their arguments stand up? Arundhati Roy: Confronting Empire"The most recent and most meretricious contribution to this utterly fraudulent 'debate' in the United States is The Threatening Storm: The Case for Invading Iraq (Random House, New York) by Kenneth Pollack, a former CIA spook and an ex-director for 'Gulf affairs' at the National Security Council. It's the book that all America is supposed to be talking about and its title (the 'Threatening Storm' is, of course, a copy-cat version of The Gathering Storm, the first volume of Winston Churchill's Second World War history) tells you all you need to know about the contents.
"Just as George W Bush last year tried to dress himself up as Churchill fighting appeasement, so Pollack twice pretends that the world is confronting the same dilemma that confronted Britain and France in 1938. The Allies could have won in a year, he claims, if they had gone to war against Hitler then. The fact that Britain and France, though numerically stronger in troops, were weaker in modern armaments -- whereas the United States today can crush Saddam's forces in a week -- is not allowed to interfere with this specious argument. Pollack accepts that Saddam is not Hitler, but once more Saddam is dressed in Hitler's clothes -- just as Nasser was the Mussolini of the Nile during the Suez crisis of 1956 -- and anyone who opposes war is, by quiet extension, a Nazi sympathiser."
George Monbiot: Stronger than Ever: Far From Fizzling Out, The Global Justice Movement is Growing in Numbers and Maturity"Mr Bush and Mr Blair might have a tougher fight than they anticipated. Not from Saddam Hussein perhaps - although it is still not obvious that they can capture and hold Iraq's cities without major losses - but from an anti-war movement that is beginning to look like nothing the world has seen before.
Stealing Money From Kids U.S. Expected to Attack Iraq Within Weeks"A U.S.-led military force is likely to strike Iraq within three weeks, and will aim to secure victory by the end of March, military analysts predicted yesterday.
"Following Monday's critical report by United Nations weapons inspectors, military experts said their best guess now is that an attack will begin shortly after Feb. 14, the date of the inspectors' next report."
Bush: new al-Qaida link to Iraq"President Bush claimed yesterday that the US had fresh evidence of links between Iraq and al-Qaida, as Washington prepared to release its secret files on Saddam Hussein in a bid to gain global support for a war."
Hundreds of US troops locked in fiercest Afghan battle for nearly a year"Hundreds of American soldiers, backed by B-1 bombers and Apache helicopters, were locked in their largest and fiercest battle in Afghanistan for nearly a year yesterday."
"'There will not be a safe place in Baghdad,' said one Pentagon official who has been briefed on the plan."
"'We want them to quit. We want them not to fight,' says Harlan Ullman, one of the authors of the Shock and Awe concept which relies on large numbers of precision guided weapons.
"'So that you have this simultaneous effect, rather like the nuclear weapons at Hiroshima, not taking days or weeks but in minutes,' says Ullman.
"'You're sitting in Baghdad and all of a sudden you're the general and 30 of your division headquarters have been wiped out. You also take the city down. By that I mean you get rid of their power, water. In 2,3,4,5 days they are physically, emotionally and psychologically exhausted,' Ullman tells Martin."
Shock & Awe: Is Baghdad the Next Hiroshima? The Secret Behind the Sanctions: How the U.S. Intentionally Destroyed Iraq's Water Supply Rania Masri: Suffering ten years of U.S. war Project Censored Iraqi leaders to be target of US 'shock and awe' air assault US mulls air strategies in Iraq 800 missiles to hit Iraq in first 48 hours 41 Nobel Laureates Sign Against a War Without International Support"The undersigned oppose a preventive war against Iraq without broad international support. Military operations against Iraq may indeed lead to a relatively swift victory in the short term. But war is characterized by surprise, human loss and unintended consequences. Even with a victory, we believe that the medical, economic, environmental, moral, spiritual, political and legal consequences of an American preventive attack on Iraq would undermine, not protect, U.S. security and standing in the world."
Antiwar Movement Swells, Still Searching for Its Voice Richard Butler: U.S. Guilty of 'Shocking Double Standards' on Iraq Norman Schwarzkopf: "I think it is very important for us to wait and see what the inspectors come up with, and hopefully they come up with something conclusive." Another step towards war: UK and US claim justification as Blix accuses Baghdad of lies, but UN inspectors get more time"The US and Britain were yesterday declaring victory for their hawkish stand on Iraq, after the chief United Nations weapons inspector accused Baghdad of lying about its stockpiles of VX gas, anthrax and plans to develop long-range missiles."
Another step towards war Waiting for war Is Saddam hiding something? Blix gives his verdict on Iraqi weapons Report leaves US divided Weapons search must continue Baghdad proclaims its innocence and saves bitterest venom for Blair No confrontation, no dispute - and no doubt that the storm is coming US flag burnt in protests"The Israeli writer Uri Avnery once delivered a wickedly sharp open letter to Menachem Begin, the Israeli prime minister who sent his army to defeat in Lebanon. Enraged by Begin's constant evocation of the Second World War -- likening Yasser Arafat in Beirut to Hitler in his Berlin bunker in 1945 -- Avnery entitled his letter: 'Mr Prime Minister, Hitler is Dead.'
"How often I have wanted to repeat his advice to Bush and Blair. Obsessed with their own demonisation of Saddam Hussein, both are now reminding us of the price of appeasement. Bush thinks that he is the Churchill of America, refusing the appeasement of Saddam. Now the US ambassador to the European Union, Rockwell Schnabel, has compared Saddam to Hitler. 'You had Hitler in Europe and no one really did anything about him,' Schnabel lectured the Europeans in Brussels a week ago: 'We knew he could be dangerous but nothing was done. The same type of person [is in Baghdad] and it's there that our concern lies.' Mr Schnabel ended this infantile parallel by adding unconvincingly that 'this has nothing to do with oil'."
How I created the axis of evil US flag burnt in protests Israeli officer rapped for blocking raid"An Israeli officer has been removed from his post for obstructing an air attack against the Palestinians.
"According to the Israeli newspaper, Maariv, the military intelligence officer held back information 'for reasons of conscience' because he believed the raid would harm civilians."
Palestinian killed by grenade thrown during Gaza funeral Israel Sets Tight Security Before Vote U.S. Economic Aid Found to Subsidize More than Half of Israeli Settlements Costs Inspectors fail to find smoking gun Full text of Hans Blix's statement Key points of Hans Blix's statement Report's Findings Undercut US Argument US Could Destroy UN with War, Demirel Says"'You don't want Saddam, we don't want Saddam, but for years you didn't do anything,' Demirel said of the United States. 'If you move him now' without establishing an accepted international legal framework 'it will upset the international system. ... If you say 'I am a superpower, I don't care,' it will destroy the United Nations. The United Nations should not be destroyed.'"
"On the road to Basra, ITV was filming wild dogs as they tore at the corpses of the Iraqi dead. Every few seconds a ravenous beast would rip off a decaying arm and make off with it over the desert in front of us, dead fingers trailing through the sand, the remains of the burned military sleeve flapping in the wind.
"'Just for the record,' the cameraman said to me. Of course. Because ITV would never show such footage. The things we see -- the filth and obscenity of corpses -- cannot be shown. First because it is not 'appropriate' to depict such reality on breakfast-time TV. Second because, if what we saw was shown on television, no one would ever again agree to support a war."
Arkin: Bush has lowered bar for using ultimate weapon"WASHINGTON -- One year after President Bush labeled Iraq, Iran and North Korea the 'axis of evil,' the United States is thinking about the unthinkable: It is preparing for the possible use of nuclear weapons against Iraq.
"At the U.S. Strategic Command (STRATCOM) in Omaha and inside planning cells of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, target lists are being scrutinized, options are being pondered and procedures are being tested to give nuclear armaments a role in the new U.S. doctrine of 'preemption.'"
"And over at the staid Davos conference in Switzerland, Malaysian Prime Minister Mohammed Mahatir told the corporate and political elite of the world Thursday: 'People want revenge. You kill our people, we will kill you.'"
US Secretary of State Colin Powell warned Saddam Hussein that the US was prepared to go it alone against Iraq, if necessary. He also warned other countries that Saddam could use his doomsday weapons against the West or give the technology to terrorists. Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, he declared that the inspection in Iraq had run its course and he had lost faith in the process. "The nexus of tyrants and terror, of terrorists and weapons of mass terror, is the greatest danger of our age," he said.
Israeli troops have killed 12 gunmen, during a raid on small weapons factories deep into Gaza City. As well as stepping up the raids, Israel's defence minister has also stepped up the rhetoric. He revealed he is not ruling out a reoccupation of the entire Gaza Strip, home to more than one million Palestinians. The Palestinians accused Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of ordering the raid - the deepest into Gaza City in more than two years of fighting - to win more votes.
Allied jets patrolling the southern no-fly zone over Iraq struck five communication relay sites. The action came after Iraqi aircraft "violated" the zone, the US military said. The aircraft from the US-British coalition used precision-guided weapons in the raid against sites that can be used in targeting the patrol aircraft, the US Central Command said in a statement on its web site.
The UN nuclear agency's report to the Security Council will contain no surprises, Mohamed ElBaradei, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency says. His assessment could justify or erode the United States' case for swift military action. He said he would give the council "as comprehensive a picture as possible" when he and chief UN inspector Hans Blix brief the UN on Monday. "I hope our report will give the international community an objective assessment. How they want to use it - that's their prerogative," he said.
President George W Bush will prepare the US for a possible war with Iraq during next week's State of the Union address. He gave a preview of his 2003 agenda during a radio broadcast. He plans to boost the economy, make the country safer from attack and give the elderly greater access to health care. The address will come one day after UN weapons inspectors present their findings to the Security Council.
A Spanish judge has jailed 16 suspected al Qaida terrorists. The order comes pending further investigation and a possible extradition request from French authorities probing a failed bombing plot, court sources said. The 16 men arrested on Friday in Barcelona and other cities in northeast Spain denied any links to al Qaida, the sources at the National Court said.
A US military U2 spy plane has crashed in South Korea, the South Korean Defence Ministry said. South Korea's Yonhap news agency said the plane crashed in Hwasung, 31 miles south of Seoul. Media reports said three people on the ground were injured, and that an American pilot ejected safely. The US has 37,000 troops in South Korea, which shares the world's most heavily militarised border with North Korea.
Blair: war can start without UN arms find"Tony Blair has raised the temperature in the confrontation with Iraq by insisting there is no need for United Nations weapons inspectors to find a 'smoking gun' for Saddam Hussein to be in breach of UN resolutions and face military action."
Inconclusive Blix report will not halt drive for war UK seeks support as EU split over Iraq widens Short conflict 'better than none' Stop. Think. Listen: Stop the rush to war. Think of the consequences. Listen to reason Powell tells allies: US will not shrink from war 'We're being bulldozed into war' Crunch time at Camp David Don't disdain the doves I'm losing patience with my neighbours, Mr Bush Writes, and wrongs, of war Refugee crisis looms The endgame US buys up Iraqi oil to stave off crisis Huge dust cloud threatens Asia Shell moves mountains to take oil from the land of the Cree"DAVOS, SWITZERLAND -- Harsh criticism of U.S. policy over Iraq and heated discussion about the United States' role as the world's only superpower dominated the normally polite seminars of the World Economic Forum yesterday.
"Again and again, world leaders and other participants in the prestigious five-day talk shop criticized U.S. plans to topple the regime of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and they charged the United States with hypocrisy for its policies on human rights and refusing to sign international treaties."
Members of House Petition for Caution Over 1,000 turn up to remember Hobeika: Mourners say case deserves more attention"More than 1,000 people marked the one-year anniversary of Elie Hobeika's assassination on Friday, as speakers at a commemorative Mass questioned why the judiciary failed to assign the case priority."
BBC News: Profile: Elie Hobeika Official Statement by the Lawyers of the Survivors of the Sabra and Shatila Massacre Concerning Positive Legislative Developments in Belgium: Plaintiffs Welcome New Bill, Lawyers Express Confidence in Relaunching Case against Sharon, Yaron, and other Israelis and Lebanese, 23 January 2003 ICJ Press Release 2002/04: Arrest Warrant of 11 April 2000 (Democratic Republic of the Congo v. Belgium) ARREST WARRANT OF 11 APRIL 2000 (DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO v. BELGIUM) indictsharon.net"A group of more than 100 legal experts warned President George W Bush in a letter published today that senior officials could face prosecution if US soldiers committed warcrimes in Iraq.
"The experts said violations of international humanitarian law by US and allied forces 'were extensively documented' during the 1991 Gulf War and military campaigns in Kosovo in 1999 and in Afghanistan in late 2001.
"'Given these past violations, there is a reasonable basis for assuming that in any future military action against Iraq, these requirements will once again be breached,' they wrote.
"The letter, signed by more than 100 law professors and non-governmental organisations, was also sent to US defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and his Canadian counterpart, Jean Chretien.
"Previous violations included 'indiscriminate methods of attack,' the use of cluster bombs and fuel-air explosives, and attacks on electricity supplies and dams, it said."
U.S. lawyers warn Bush, Rumsfeld, on war crimes U.S. Weighs Tactical Nuclear Strike on Iraq"WASHINGTON -- As the Pentagon continues a highly visible buildup of troops and weapons in the Persian Gulf, it is also quietly preparing for the possible use of nuclear weapons in a war against Iraq, according to a report by a defense analyst."
US interrogators turn to 'torture lite': The second half of our investigation finds America bending the rules in the wake of September 11"The United States is condoning the torture and illegal interrogation of prisoners held in the wake of September 11, in defiance of international law and its own constitution, according to lawyers, former US intelligence officers and human rights groups."
'People's UN' marches to beat of new drum: Anti-capitalist activists gather in Brazil as prospect of war gives fresh impetus to search for alternatives"The nearest thing to a people's United Nations, the World Social Forum (WSF), opened yesterday in the southern Brazilian city of Porto Alegre."
When will we resist? The Pentagon precedent: Peter Lennon finds contemporary relevance in Norman Mailer's account of the 1967 Washington anti-war march Bush approves nuclear response U.S. May Not Press U.N. for a Decision on Iraq Next Week"WASHINGTON, Jan. 24 -- Seeking ways to defuse tensions with longtime European allies, Bush administration officials said today that they were considering a delay of possibly several weeks before pressing the United Nations for a decision about Iraq's compliance with Security Council resolutions."
Scepticism over papers detailing chemical warfare preparations Iraq: no nuclear evidence"The United Nations' nuclear inspectors will deliver a serious blow on Monday to Washington's case for going to war with Iraq, telling the world they have found nothing and giving Saddam Hussein good grades for cooperation."
"At least nine Palestinians were killed and 42 wounded when Israeli forces with tanks and helicopters moved deep into Gaza City. It was the highest death toll in Gaza in five months and the incursion was the deepest into Gaza City in more than two years of fighting. Tanks were seen half a mile from Palestine Square, which marks the centre of the city of about 300,000."
"US Secretary of State Colin Powell has warned the international community that it cannot shrink from its responsibility to disarm Iraq by force just because 'the going is getting tough.' 'The burden is upon Iraq,' Powell said on his arrival in the Swiss resort of Davos, where 2,300 world political and business leaders have gathered for the annual World Economic Forum. 'Iraq must comply, or it will be made to comply with military force.' En route here from Washington, Powell said no decision on use of force would be made before US President George Bush meets British Prime Minister Tony Blair next Friday at Camp David, Maryland."
"Saddam Hussein will be stripped of his weapons of mass destruction by force unless he disarms voluntarily. Prime Minister Tony Blair and US President George Bush reiterated their determination to deal with the threat posed by the Iraqi dictator. Downing Street said that the "lengthy" conversation was a stock-taking exercise ahead of United Nations chief weapons inspector Hans Blix's crucial report on the progress of inspections to the Security Council in New York on Monday, President Bush's State of the Union address, and Mr Blair's talks with President Bush at Camp David at the end of next week."
"Iraq will use 'every method' to defend itself against an attack by U.S. forces and would inflict heavy casualties on the attackers, according to an Iraqi leader. Saadoun Hammadi, speaker of Iraq's National Assembly, said there was no alternative. They would not turn the other cheek, but would fight fiercely until the end using every method available. He did not expand on what he meant by 'every method.'"
"Anti-globalisation protesters threw snowballs and tried to burn a US flag in a demonstration outside the World Economic Forum in Switzerland. Elsewhere in country, demonstrations turned uglier, and police used water cannons, tear gas, and rubber pellets to control the crowds. Police in the town of Landquart, an hour from Davos, said there were a number of scuffles with the demonstrators, who refused to submit to searches before continuing to Davos. Instead, they blocked the railway line for several hours."
"'It's an indication of what he really thinks of us and the work we do and the quality of it,' said one Pentagon worker, who asked not to be identified."
"I don't believe a word of what Bush says. He's not as wise as a president of the United States should be. He thinks the cowboyish way. Under him, the world may end up with a one-state tyranny. In our Oriental way of thinking, people of age and power are respected. But they have the wisdom to concede to the young and the weak. The United States does not. That's the core of the world's current conflict with America."
Too Many Smoking Guns to Ignore: Israel, American Jews, and the War on Iraq"Most of the vociferously pro-Israeli neo-conservative policymakers in the Bush administration make no effort to hide the fact that at least part of their intention in promoting war against Iraq (and later perhaps against Syria, Iran, Hezbollah, and the Palestinians) is to guarantee Israel's security by eliminating its greatest military threats, forging a regional balance of power overwhelmingly in Israel's favor, and in general creating a more friendly atmosphere for Israel in the Middle East. Yet, despite the neo-cons' own openness, a great many of those on the left who oppose going to war with Iraq and oppose the neo-conservative doctrines of the Bush administration nonetheless utterly reject any suggestion that Israel is pushing the United States into war, or is cooperating with the U.S., or even hopes to benefit by such a war. Anyone who has the temerity to suggest any Israeli instigation of, or even involvement in, Bush administration war planning is inevitably labeled somewhere along the way as an anti-Semite. Just whisper the word 'domination' anywhere in the vicinity of the word 'Israel,' as in 'U.S.-Israeli domination of the Middle East' or 'the U.S. drive to assure global domination and guarantee security for Israel,' and some leftist who otherwise opposes going to war against Iraq will trot out charges of promoting the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, the old czarist forgery that asserted a Jewish plan for world domination."
Role Reversal: Bush Wants War, Pentagon Urges Caution January 22, 2003"An angry Rumsfeld, who backs Bush without question, is said to have told the Joint Chiefs to get in line or find other jobs. Bush is also said to be 'extremely angry' at what he perceives as growing Pentagon opposition to his role as Commander in Chief.
"'The President considers this nation to be at war,' a White House source says, 'and, as such, considers any opposition to his policies to be no less than an act of treason.'"
FBI searches for Iraqi spies in US January 25, 2003"The FBI is questioning up to 50,000 US-based Iraqis in a search for potential terrorists or people who might provide information helpful to a US war effort. Agents are interviewing Iraqis in their homes and where they work, study and worship. The interviews began about six weeks ago and will last several months. The FBI is looking for people who might wish to harm the US or whose visas have expired. The agency is also seeking those who might be interested in helping the US overthrow Iraqi President Saddam Hussein."
Source: Times Online
US planes bomb Iraqi air defences January 25, 2003"US warplanes have bombed an Iraqi air defence site, the 12th strike in the southern no-fly zone this month. The planes used precision-guided bombs to target an air defence command and control site near Al Haswah on Friday evening. The planes bombed the site because its presence poses a threat to pilots patrolling the southern no-fly zone."
Source: Times Online
Israeli raids leave several dead January 25, 2003"Israeli soldiers have killed two Palestinians, including a 45-year-old woman, who attacked them with grenades and a pistol, the army said. Helicopter gunships have also fired 11 missiles at Gaza City, destroying a metal workshop and damaging a hospital chapel. The Israeli army also raided Beit Hanoun in Gaza, calling on residents in a northern neighbourhood that borders Israel to evacuate their homes. More than 20 Palestinians were wounded, a one man killed during the raid."
Source: Times Online
Russell Mokhiber on covering the White House: "They keep you at the gate. They don't let you in. They don't give you a press pass. If they let you in they let you in late. If you get in they don't call on you. If they call on you, they don't answer the question." January 24, 2003 The Bush Exit Ramp January 22, 2003"George W. Bush's followers hail his tough comments as proof of his straight-talking style and his 'moral clarity.' But his often-insulting remarks about political and international adversaries also raise questions about whether the president's loose tongue is becoming a national security danger to the American people."
Troops 'could face court action' January 24, 2003 A Warrior Against War January 24, 2003"David Hackworth is one of the most celebrated soldiers in modern U.S. history."
[...]
"'Having thought long and hard about war with Iraq,' Hackworth told me, measuring his words carefully, 'I cannot find justification. I don't see a threat. They are not Nazi Germany. This is not the Wehrmacht. In no way does the situation in Iraq affect my nation's security. That is the bottom line of analyzing threats. 'Does this country threaten my country's security?' In this case, absolutely not.'"
Documents 'show Saddam's chemical plans' January 24, 2003 San Francisco Board of Supervisors rejects USA Patriot Act January 23, 2003"The San Francisco Board of Supervisors approved on Tuesday a resolution condemning the USA Patriot Act, making it one of the largest cities in the nation to oppose the Bush administration policy, according to supporters."
Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) Analysis Of The Provisions Of The USA PATRIOT Act That Relate To Online Activities (Oct 31, 2001) American dream tarnished by widening wealth gap January 24, 2003 Torture trail to September 11: A two-part investigation into state brutality opens with a look at how the violent interrogation of Islamist extremists hardened their views, helped to create al-Qaida and now, more than ever, is fuelling fundamentalist hatred January 24, 2003"By day, Lazoghly Square is a fume-filled circus of honking taxis and frustrated drivers. By night, the heavily guarded entrance to the ministry of the interior is one of the most feared addresses in Egypt.
"Through a black marble arch lies the headquarters of the state security investigation unit (SSI) where political dissidents and Islamists rounded up in pre-dawn raids are interrogated. Detainees, according to innumerable accounts, are routinely tortured.
"Punishments reportedly involve prisoners being beaten, suspended over the edge of doors by arms tied behind their backs, subjected to cigarette burns and electric shocks, sexually harassed, deprived of sleep and food, and forced to watch relatives being tortured. In some cases heavy weights are put on inmates' legs or detainees are subjected to extreme cold."
Anger at Rumsfeld attack on 'old Europe' January 24, 2003 Israelis detain hundreds without trial January 24, 2003 The message from the Bush camp: 'It's war within weeks' January 24, 2003President George Bush is determined to go to war with Saddam Hussein in the next few weeks, without UN backing if necessary, according to authoritative sources in Washington and London.
US ultimatum to France and Germany over war vote January 24, 2003 UK and US facing isolation over Iraq January 24, 2003 08:43"The US and Britain appear increasingly isolated in their hard-line stance on Iraq. France, Russia and China, the other permanent members of the UN Security Council, have spoken out against war. So too has Nato ally Germany, a current Security Council member due to take over chairmanship from the French."
Source: Times Online
Opposition to Iraq war widens January 23, 2003"China has joined other leading members of the United Nations Security Council to voice strong opposition to an American-led war on Iraq."
Anti-War Movement Grows Louder, Stronger: Activists rally, cities pass peace resolutions in effort to influence policy, avert conflict. January 23, 2003 'No inspections before enforcement' January 23, 2003"Secretary of State Colin Powell, chafing over criticism of the U.S. policy on Iraq, says he sees no need for further inspections before moving ahead with enforcement of U.N. resolutions requiring President Saddam Hussein to disarm. A burgeoning dispute between the United States and some of its allies could hamper efforts to reach a consensus next week when the monitors report on 60 days of searches and the U.N. Security Council considers its next moves. The White House sought to minimize the dispute. Presidential spokesman Ari Fleischer said 'the president is confident that Europe will heed the call.' Fleischer acknowledged, however, that 'it's entirely possible that France won't be on the line.'"
Source: Times Online
Russia: no immediate grounds to attack Iraq January 23, 2003"The Russian foreign minister, Igor Ivanov, today said that there are no immediate grounds to use force against Saddam Hussein's regime."
44 Labour rebels in anti-war vote Pentagon office plans for post-Saddam Iraq January 23, 2003"President Bush has established a Pentagon office to plan in detail the rebuilding and administration of a post-war Iraq, officials have revealed."
Straw meets Powell as divisions over Iraq widen Flashpoints 22 January 2003: Attorney Stanley Cohen on the new police state Germany blocks the road to war January 23, 2003"GERMANY will use its power as incoming president of the UN Security Council to try to head off war with Iraq by asking the chief weapons inspectors to report twice in three weeks, The Times has learnt."
How the world is split US 'to attack Iraq in February', says Russia January 22, 2003"The Russian military has learned that the United States and its allies have already decided to invade Iraq in the second half of February, Russia's Interfax news agency reported today."
US 'will attack Iraq next month' EU allies unite against war Labour MPs attack Hoon over Iraq France and Germany unite against Iraq war War is not inevitable: All an attack on Iraq will do is fan the flames of terrorism. It's time for the anti-war camp to act decisively Blair stand puts strain on coalition Israeli troops devastate West Bank village market January 22, 2003"Israeli soldiers demolished 62 shops at a market yesterday, destroying the livelihood of hundreds of Palestinians."
Joseph Stiglitz: The myth of the war economy: Markets loathe uncertainty and volatility. Conflict brings both January 22, 2003"War is widely thought to be linked to economic good times. The second world war is often said to have brought the world out of depression, and war has since enhanced its reputation as a spur to economic growth. Some even suggest that capitalism needs wars, that without them, recession would always lurk on the horizon.
"Today, we know that this is nonsense."
Aerial photos from the January 18, 2003 San Francisco protest against a war in Iraq January 19, 2003 The Peace Movement is Making a Mistake: Oil Shouldn't Be the Only Reason for Opposing This War January 21, 2003 Nader Criticizes President's Handling of Iraq: Calls Bush, Other Top Republicans 'Belligerent Draft Dodgers' January 21, 2003"'Day after day on television, Mr. Bush comes on and goes after [Iraqi President] Saddam Hussein,' Nader said. 'But have you heard him speak about health care for 50 million Americans? Have you heard him speak about hunger? About homelessness? Have you heard him speak about the criminal injustice system? Have you heard him speak about the massive child poverty? Have you heard him speak about cracking down on corporate crime that steals trillions of dollars from millions of Americans?' Nader said.
"'But you've heard him speak about Saddam. For every question we put to the president about domestic needs he has one answer: attack Iraq, attack Iraq, attack Iraq. Psychologists would call this the obsessive-compulsive syndrome.'"
'Axis of Evil' Rhetoric Said to Heighten Dangers: Many foreign policy observers think Bush's phrasing, although effective on the home front, caused serious damage abroad"'It was harmful both conceptually and operationally,' said Graham Allison, government professor and former dean of the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. 'Conceptually, the 'axis' suggested a relationship among the entities that doesn't exist. More important, operationally, the reaction of the world and the North Korea debacle demonstrates that it was a mistake.'"
Voice of the Mirror: TOGETHER WE CAN STOP THIS IMMORAL WAR January 21, 2003 Robert Fisk: The Media Column: War journalists should not be cosying up to the military January 21, 2003"It looks like a rerun of the 1991 Gulf War. Already American journalists are fighting like tigers to join 'the pool', to be 'embedded' in the US military so that they can see the war at first hand -- and, of course, be censored."
Ari Fleischer, professional obscurantist January 21, 2003 Yasmin Alibhai-Brown: The voices of people of colour need to be heard in the land: Western politicians need to pay serious attention to the heaving fury across the globe and in their own lands January 20, 2003"Hot news! For two weeks now I have been the heroine of the right in the United States, including fanatical pro-gun lobbyists and the multitudes who want to nuke Iraq now."
Ralph Nader: The Pentagon Connection January 20, 2003 Austin, TX: 25,000 attend Austin MLK march and rally January 20, 2003 Stephen Zunes: Remembering the Real Martin Luther King January 20, 2003"He died while planning the Poor People's March, where he was to lead thousands of poor Americans -- black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Indians -- to Washington, DC to demand not just racial justice, but economic justice."
"Perhaps it was no accident that he was murdered not during his campaign to end segregation, but when he began to challenge the foundations of American capitalism, militarism and imperialism."
Bush Approval Rating in Free Fall Let's opt out of absurd war with Iraq January 19, 2003 As War Drums Grow, Peace Activist Stands Her Ground January 20, 2003"The word courage often is used to describe an act of valor on a battlefield. But the word can also apply to a person standing up for peace.
"So it was one Wednesday afternoon last summer when Aase Loescher arrived at the weekly peace vigil at the Monroe County Courthouse. No one else showed up that day.
"Loescher, 74 and a grandmother of six, picked up her sign and stood alone as pedestrians and autos moved past in the late afternoon.
"It was tough, but she did it.
"'I don't like to be conspicuous,' Loescher said. 'When I speak in public, my heart beats so fast. Yet this is a cause I feel so strongly about that it gives me strength.'"
Eyes of Texas upon Los Alamos lab: University there hopes to edge out UC as manager of nuclear weapons facility January 20, 2003"If the U.S. Energy Department fulfills its threat to fire the University of California as manager of scandal-racked Los Alamos National Laboratory, a strong contender to replace UC would be the University of Texas."
[...]
"In 1996, U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, complained that UC's contract to run Los Alamos was a sweetheart deal that had lasted too long.
"'I believe that UT can do a better job,' he said, and called for 'a fair and open competition' for the job."
Nationwide protests against war on Iraq January 20, 2003"In Washington, D.C., San Francisco, Tokyo, Paris, Cairo, London and even Antarctica, hundreds of thousands demonstrated across the globe against war in Iraq this weekend. In the largest protests, organizers said up to 500,000 took to the streets in Washington with another 200,000 in San Francisco."
26,000 troops to be sent to the Gulf"[British] Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon today announced the deployment of a much larger than expected 26,000-strong land force of British troops for potential military action against Iraq."
Sharon says only the US matters in deciding the fate of the Palestinians. January 20, 2003"Ariel Sharon yesterday dismissed European peace efforts as anti-Israeli and said only the US matters in deciding the fate of the Palestinians.
"The prime minister's comments followed an interview with Newsweek magazine released yesterday in which he was asked about the efforts of the Quartet - the US, UN, EU and Russia - to map out a road to peace. 'Oh, the quartet is nothing! Don't take it seriously! There is [another] plan that will work,' he said."
Robert Fisk: This looming war isn't about chemical warheads or human rights: it's about oil Along with the concern for 'vital interests' in the Gulf, this war was concocted five years ago by oil men such as Dick Cheney 18 January 2003"Through the open door, where rain splashed on the paving stones, a sharp east wind howled in from the east, from the Jordanian and Iraqi deserts. Every man in the room believed President Bush wanted Iraqi oil."
Bernie Sanders: The USA Patriot Act: What Are You Reading? January 19, 2003"A HALF a century ago, George Orwell used the famous phrase 'Big Brother is watching you' in his novel 1984. Today, under the provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act, Big Brother will indeed be watching us every time we use a public library. Or buy a book."
US hardliners discussed attacking North Korea Bush rolls back 30 years of affirmative action John le Carré: "The United States of America Has Gone Mad" January 15, 2003"America has entered one of its periods of historical madness, but this is the worst I can remember: worse than McCarthyism, worse than the Bay of Pigs and in the long term potentially more disastrous than the Vietnam War."
ACLU: "Americans are unknowingly becoming targets of government surveillance" January 15, 2003"The United States has now reached the point where a total 'surveillance society' has become a realistic possibility, the American Civil Liberties Union warned in a report being released today."
ACLU Report: U.S. Heading Toward Big Brother Society $50M investment fund formed for post-Hussein Iraq to transfer wealth to foreign investors January 7, 2003"With the valuation of assets available in Iraq being very attractive, Daman believes this is the right time to participate in asset acquisition in Iraq so that the fund will be able to make windfall once the reconstruction of Iraq begins, and at the same time investors are getting an opportunity in the rebuilding of Iraq."
Iraq Links Cancers to Uranium Weapons: U.S. Likely to Use Arms Again in War January 13, 2003"Something is killing the children in Dr. Emad Wisam's hospital ward, and filling it up again and again with more sick and dying kids."
Bushwhacked January 13, 2003"Now, still on the Post staff, he [Bob Woodward] functions as a semi-official court stenographer to the Bush White House. [...] In the American press, day after day, the White House controls the agenda. The supposedly liberal American press has become a dog that never bites, hardly barks but really loves rolling over and having its tummy tickled. [...] If there is a Watergate scandal lurking in this administration, it is unlikely to be Woodward or his colleagues who will tell us about it. If it emerges, it will probably come out on the web. That is a devastating indictment of the state of American newspapers."
General Media January 11, 2003"When the US marches to war, the media march with it. And within the media the generals generally are heavily armed with microphones. The din of collateral language is rising to cacophonous levels. The mobilization and ubiquity of present and past brass on the airwaves is an essential component of manufacturing consent for war. Perhaps we need no-air zones for them. That's unlikely to happen when ABC/TV and NPR's Cokie Roberts gushes, "I am, I will just confess to you, a total sucker for the guys who stand up with all the ribbons on and stuff and they say it's true and I'm ready to believe it."
Nudist protesters strike AGAIN January 12, 2003 The U.S. Needs to Open Up to the World: To this European, America is trapped in a fortress of arrogance and ignorance Perle calls weapons inspectors 'complete idiot[s]' and says the US will attack Iraq 'without UN backing' January 10, 2003 Admiral Eugene Carroll: Iraq war is "madness" January 8, 2003 Butterflies flying higher and north to escape warmth (Independent/UK, 08 January 2003) January 3, 2003"Preparations for war have a momentum of their own ... I'm afraid that we're already far down that road to when war becomes inevitable. Unless the American people really speak up and tell their elected representatives, the President, the Congress, that this is madness. Going to war that will end up with the United States occupying the state of Iraq and facing the hostility of the entire Islamic world for as far into the future as you can see..."
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Last modified: Sun Mar 28 17:31:00 CST 2004