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Latest Articles: War, War, War
An Operational Doctrine for Intervention (William S. Lind)
Post Date: 2007-11-29 14:08:30 by historian1944
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Current discussions of how the United States should respond to hostile insurgencies stir up a painful sense of déjà vu. Too often, they reflect the enthusiasm for counterinsurgency so prevalent in the early 1960s. It sometimes seems as if the Vietnam War had never happened. In fact, there are at least four salient lessons from Vietnam that we ignore at our peril: First, we cannot sustain the long-term commitment counterinsurgency usually requires. The political pressure will become too great for any administration to bear as the body bags keep coming home and the blood and the grief are spread through the living rooms of America by television news. Prolonged counterinsurgency ...
World Faces "Cyber Cold War" Threat
Post Date: 2007-11-29 12:48:48 by Brian S
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By Peter Griffiths LONDON (Reuters) - A "cyber cold war" waged over the world's computers threatens to become one of the biggest threats to security in the next decade, according to a report published on Thursday. About 120 countries are developing ways to use the Internet as a weapon to target financial markets, government computer systems and utilities, Internet security company McAfee said in an annual report. Intelligence agencies already routinely test other states' networks looking for weaknesses and their techniques are growing more sophisticated every year, it said. Governments must urgently shore up their defenses against industrial espionage and attacks on ...
Playing Roulette in Pakistan
Post Date: 2007-11-29 10:22:01 by Zoroaster
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Robert Scheer's Columns Playing Roulette in Pakistan Posted on Nov 27, 2007 AP photos / Manuel Balce Ceneta / Adam Rountree / Lefteris Pitarakis The contenders: Benazir Bhutto (left) and Nawaz Sharif (right) are both determined to take power from President Pervez Musharraf, but would they be better for Pakistan and the West? By Robert Scheer It was a very good week for Saudi Arabia. The royal family’s favored Pakistani “president-in-exile,” Nawaz Sharif, returned in a triumphant homecoming, throwing down a major challenge to the rule of Gen. Pervez Musharraf, who’s still favored, for the moment, by the United States. Although Sharif can claim to be the true ...
Karl Rove's Shameless, Remorseless, Soulless Attempt to Rewrite History
Post Date: 2007-11-28 23:56:30 by kiki
1 Comments
I went on Countdown last night to talk about what Keith Olbermann called Karl Rove's "attack on history." During an interview with Charlie Rose, the erstwhile Boy Genius pulled out his bucket of whitewash and audaciously claimed that "one of the untold stories" about the war in Iraq is that the Bush administration had been "opposed' to Congress holding the vote authorizing the president to use military force in Iraq just a few weeks prior to the 2002 elections because "we thought it made it too political." Too political? For Karl Rove? That's like saying something was too bloody for Count Dracula. He went on to paint a picture of a White ...
THE ADMINISTRATION'S DIFFERENT APPROACH; 1998 visit sealed Bush's ties to Israel; After a trip to the Holy Land, the Texas governor "brought Israel back home with him in his heart."
Post Date: 2007-11-28 16:38:49 by Jethro Tull
7 Comments
Washington, D.C. -- If there's a starting point for George W. Bush's attachment to Israel, it's the day in late 1998 when he stood on the hilltop where Jesus is thought to have delivered the Sermon on the Mount, and, eyes brimming with tears, read aloud from his favorite hymn, "Amazing Grace." "He was very emotional. It was a tear-filled experience," said Matthew Brooks, a prominent Jewish Republican who escorted Bush, then governor of Texas, and three other GOP governors on the Mideast visit. "He brought Israel back home with him in his heart. I think he came away profoundly moved." Eight years later, Bush is living up to his reputation as the ...
On Visit to France, Donald Rumsfeld Hit with Lawsuit for Ordering, Authorizing Torture
Post Date: 2007-11-28 14:28:44 by richard9151
3 Comments
No Place To Hide U.S. and European human rights groups filed a lawsuit in France today charging former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld with ordering and authorizing torture. The plaintiffs include the New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights and the Paris-based International Federation of Human Rights. They say Rumsfeld authorized interrogation techniques that led to abuses at US-run prisons in Iraq and Guantanamo Bay. The complaint was filed with the Paris prosecutor’s office as Rumsfeld arrived in France for a visit. This is the fifth time Rumsfeld has been charged with direct involvement in torture since 9/11. Michael Ratner is the president of the Center for ...
Iraqi refugees begin journey home (because Visas or money ran out)
Post Date: 2007-11-28 03:53:59 by robin
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Iraqi refugees begin journey home Syria has had problems coping with 1.5 million refugees from Iraq Hundreds of Iraqi refugees have left temporary shelter in Syria to return to their homes in Iraq. About 800 people are travelling in a convoy of buses provided by the Iraqi government following two months of security improvements in Iraq. But there are also reports that life has become increasingly hard for some of the 1.5 million refugees in Syria. The Iraqi government hopes that if the convoy is successful, many more people will be encouraged to return to Iraq. The convoy was seen off by a group of men singing and waving the Iraqi flag. Those on board join ...
US Roadblock Shootings in Iraq Kill 5
Post Date: 2007-11-27 20:17:30 by tom007
1 Comments
US Roadblock Shootings in Iraq Kill 5 By HAMID AHMED – 13 hours ago BAGHDAD (AP) — American troops fired on vehicles trying to drive through roadblocks, killing at least five people, including one child, in two separate incidents, the U.S. military said Tuesday. One shooting in Baghdad took place in a northern neighborhood known to be a Shiite militia stronghold as the driver of a minibus collected employees to go to work at the Rasheed bank, police said. U.S. troops fired on the bus after the driver approached a U.S. roadblock Tuesday morning and tried to drive through. As many as four passengers were killed, including three women, police and hospital officials said. In a ...
Witnesses testify in Blackwater lawsuit
Post Date: 2007-11-27 19:02:52 by kiki
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WASHINGTON - A federal grand jury investigating Blackwater Worldwide heard witnesses Tuesday as a private lawsuit accused the government contractor's bodyguards of ignoring orders and abandoning their posts shortly before taking part in a Baghdad shooting that left 17 Iraqi civilians dead. Filed this week in U.S. District Court in Washington, the civil complaint also accuses North Carolina-based Blackwater of failing to give drug tests to its guards in Baghdad — even though an estimated one in four of them was using steroids or other "judgment altering substances." A Blackwater spokeswoman said Tuesday its employees are banned from using steroids or other enhancement ...
Rove: "Congress Pushed Bush to War in Iraq Prematurely"
Post Date: 2007-11-27 13:15:28 by kiki
2 Comments
You are not going to believe this, well, actually you will... According to Karl Rove (on Charlie Rose), the Bush Administration did not want Congress to vote on the Iraq War resolution in the fall of 2002, because they thought it should not be done within the context of an election. Rove, you see, did not think the war vote should be "political". Moreover, according to Rove, that "premature vote" led to many of the problems that cropped up in the Iraq War. Had Congress not pushed, he says, Bush could have spent more time assembling a coalition, and provided more time to the inspectors. If you are like me, you have stopped reading/listening, and are rushing to get your ...
Air Force Amy, A Patrotic Whore, A Sign Of The Times
Post Date: 2007-11-27 10:24:42 by tom007
14 Comments
DOWN
Post Date: 2007-11-27 08:29:52 by Itisa1mosttoolate
4 Comments
WORLD WIDE WEB libertypost.org www.libertyforum.org
Attention, comrades: Things are much better than our sorryass reality would indicate
Post Date: 2007-11-27 00:30:46 by kiki
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The swindle continues, reports the New York Times. "With American military successes outpacing political gains in Iraq, the Bush administration has" -- don't tell me, let me guess -- "lowered its expectation of quickly achieving major steps toward unifying the country, including passage of a long-stymied plan to share oil revenues and holding regional elections." Oh, shoot. Three-card monte is no fun when you spoil it like that. The press could very nearly start reporting on the Iraq debacle with a journalistic transparency that exposes the honestly absurd, to wit: "Today, the Bush administration breathlessly announced another goalpost moved, another ...
Republicans threaten to cut aid to Iraq
Post Date: 2007-11-26 23:19:27 by kiki
5 Comments
WASHINGTON - Two Republican senators said Monday that unless Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki makes more political progress by January, the U.S. should consider pulling political or financial support for his government. The stern warnings, coming from Sens. Lindsey Graham and Saxby Chambliss, are an indication that while GOP patience on the war has greatly increased this fall because of security gains made by the military, it isn't bottomless. "I do expect them to deliver," Graham, R-S.C., said in a phone interview upon returning from a Thanksgiving trip to Iraq. "What would happen for me if there's no progress on reconciliation after the first of the year, I ...
Defense Secretary Say War On Terrorism Needs More Help From U.S. Civilians; Calling For The Creation Of New Government Organizations
Post Date: 2007-11-26 22:55:52 by Brian S
4 Comments
MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) -- Defense Secretary Robert Gates is hoping for more help from civilian experts when it comes to winning the war against terrorism. He's calling for the creation of new government organizations, which could provide non-military expertise, or "soft power", in areas like communication, economic assistance and political development. Teams of experts could be sent abroad on short notice to supplement military efforts. In a speech at Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas, Gates said, "We must focus our energies beyond the guns and steel of the military." Outside the lecture hall, there was a small group of anti-war demonstrators, wearing ...
Glenn Beck Confronted, Protagonists Questioned By Secret Service
Post Date: 2007-11-26 19:26:23 by tom007
20 Comments
Glenn Beck Confronted, Protagonists Questioned By Secret Service Ron Paul supporters threatened with arrest for asking CNN host about recent tirade linking them with terrorists Prison Planet | November 26, 2007 Paul Joseph Watson Members of We Are Change Ohio were threatened with arrest and questioned by members of the Secret Service before and after confronting CNN host Glenn Beck this past weekend about his efforts to link Ron Paul supporters with terrorists, during public appearances at which Beck was promoting his new book. Pro-Ron Paul demonstrators were waiting for Beck as he arrived at two separate events in Ohio, but those who tried to question Beck about his recent tirade ...
US, Iraq Deal Sees Long-Term US Presence
Post Date: 2007-11-26 18:46:53 by Brian S
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WASHINGTON (AP) — President Bush on Monday signed a deal setting the foundation for a potential long-term U.S. troop presence in Iraq, with details to be negotiated over matters that have defined the war debate at home — how many U.S. forces will stay in the country, and for how long. The agreement between Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki confirms that the United States and Iraq will hash out an "enduring" relationship in military, economic and political terms. Details of that relationship will be negotiated in 2008, with a completion goal of July, when the U.S. intends to finish withdrawing the five combat brigades sent in 2007 as part of the troop ...
White House Releases "Principles" for Permanent Iraqi Presence
Post Date: 2007-11-26 16:34:43 by robin
3 Comments
White House Releases "Principles" for Permanent Iraqi Presence By Spencer Ackerman - November 26, 2007, 11:12AM So it begins. After years of obfuscation and denial on the length of the U.S.'s stay in Iraq, the White House and the Maliki government have released a joint declaration of "principles" for "friendship and cooperation." Apparently President Bush and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki signed the declaration during a morning teleconference. Naturally, the declaration is euphemistic, and doesn't refer explicitly to any U.S. military presence. -- Iraq's leaders have asked for an enduring relationship with America, and we seek an enduring ...
Media Overhyping Iraqis' Return Home?
Post Date: 2007-11-26 16:24:29 by robin
3 Comments
NEW YORK Since October, proponents of the "surge" of U.S. troops in Iraq have pointed to a relative decline in death and violence in Baghdad and a huge movement of Iraqis who have fled the country and now are allegedly returning home. But numbers have been funny in the war in the past, and may be twisted again, New York Times correspondent Damien Cave suggests today. "A half-dozen owners of Iraqi travel agencies and drivers who regularly travel to Syria agreed that the numbers misrepresented reality," Cave reports. "They said that the flow of returnees peaked last month, with more than 50 families arriving daily from Syria at Baghdad’s main drop-off point. ...
11 relatives of Iraqi journalist killed
Post Date: 2007-11-26 15:25:21 by robin
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11 Relatives of Pro-Baath Iraqi Journalist Killed in Baghdad SINAN SALAHEDDIN AP News Nov 26, 2007 11:23 EST Masked gunmen stormed the family home of a pro-Baath journalist and killed 11 of his relatives, colleagues said Monday, as Shiite legislators denounced a proposal to ease curbs on former members of Saddam Hussein's ruling party, dimming hopes for the U.S.-backed measure aimed at national reconciliation. Dhia al-Kawaz, editor of the Jordan-based Asawat al-Iraq news agency, was in Jordan when his sisters, their husbands and children were reportedly killed in Baghdad. According to the news agency's Web site, witnesses said more than five masked gunmen broke into the home and ...
IRAQIS MAY OFFER US DEAL TO STAY LONGER
Post Date: 2007-11-26 12:26:51 by rowdee
7 Comments
BAGHDAD (AP) - Iraq's government, seeking protection against foreign threats and internal coups, will offer the U.S. a long-term troop presence in Iraq in return for U.S. security guarantees as part of a strategic partnership, two Iraqi officials said Monday. The proposal, described to The Associated Press by two senior Iraqi officials familiar with the issue, is one of the first indications that the United States and Iraq are beginning to explore what their relationship might look like once the U.S. significantly draws down its troop presence. In Washington, President Bush's adviser on the Iraqi war, Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute, confirmed the proposal, calling it "a set of ...
Anglican Leader Blasts US Over Iraq
Post Date: 2007-11-26 11:35:19 by tom007
1 Comments
Anglican Leader Blasts US Over Iraq By THOMAS WAGNER – 16 hours ago LONDON (AP) — Rowan Williams, the archbishop of Canterbury, criticized the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in an interview published Sunday, saying it was worse than the British land grabs of the colonial era. The spiritual leader of the Church of England and the Anglican Communion described the situation in Iraq as the "the worst of all worlds," and compared it to the time when Britain was at the height of its imperial power. "It is one thing to take over a territory and even pour energy and resources into administrating it and normalizing it," said Williams. "Rightly or wrongly, that's ...
Tragedy and Travesty at Annapolis
Post Date: 2007-11-26 06:33:20 by Stephen Lendman
2 Comments
Tragedy and Travesty at Annapolis - by Stephen Lendman November 27 at Annapolis kicks off the latest Israeli-Palestinian Middle East peace process round that may be an historic first. It's the first time in memory the legitimate government of one side is excluded, and that alone dooms it. Like previous rounds, it's more pretense than peace, and as Jonathan Steele puts it in his November 16 Guardian column "The Palestinian path to peace does not go via Annapolis....so what do....Palestinians do next....In their decades-long bid for justice, they have tried everything:" armed struggle to compromise, but nothing works and the reason is simple. Their sincerity isn't ...
Iraqi Shiite Leader Defends Iran Against U.S. Charges It Is Fuelling Violence
Post Date: 2007-11-25 18:00:43 by Brian S
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BAGHDAD - Iraq's most influential Shiite politician said Sunday that the United States had not backed up claims that Iran is fuelling violence here, underscoring a wide gap on the issue between Washington and the Shiite-led Baghdad government. A draft bill to ease curbs on ex-Saddam Hussein loyalists in government services also drew sharp criticism from Shiite legislators, opening old wounds at a time when the United States is pressing the Iraqis for compromise for the sake of national unity. The Americans have long accused the Iranians of arming and training Shiite militias, including some linked to the U.S.-backed government of Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. U.S. officials ...
NYT: 'Just when it seemed safe' in Baghdad
Post Date: 2007-11-25 11:57:13 by robin
5 Comments
Violence has dipped in Iraq since 'the Surge' began earlier this year, but as New York Times video journalists Stephen Farrel and Diana Oliva Cave document, chaos can erupt at any moment. The two visited a centuries-old exotic pet market in Baghdad where life seemed to be returning to normal. "Families are venturing back, with the violence down," said one Iraqi merchant, "for the first time in a long time." But fast-forward to that same market one week later. This time, shoppers and sellers are reeling from the detonation of a bomb that had been concealed in a box used for transporting birds. "Last week, nothing happened. And for weeks before that, ...
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