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Wednesday, September 6, 2006 |
SenlisCouncil: "The Taliban have regained control over the southern half of Afghanistan and their frontline is advancing daily, warned The Senlis Council on the release of an evaluation report of the reconstruction of Afghanistan marking the five year anniversary of 9/11. The Report is based on extensive field research in the critical provinces of Helmand, Kandahar, Herat and Nangarhar.
Taliban's return to power is a direct consequence of the flawed approach that the US-led international community has taken in Afghanistan since 2001
'When you first came here we were so glad to see you. Now we have lived with you in our country for five years and we see you tell a lot of lies and make a lot of false promises,' says a former Mujaheedin commander from Kandahar quoted in the Report.
The US-led nation-building efforts have failed because of ineffective and inflammatory military and counter narcotics policies. At the same time there has been a dramatic under-funding of aid and development programs."
WashingtonPost: "President Bush issued a stern warning yesterday about what he called the continuing terrorist threat confronting the nation, using the haunting words of Islamic extremists to support his assertion that they remain determined to attack the United States."
Yadayadayada, said the POTUS, while he is losing it on all fronts. He is promising us a permanent terrorist threat, so he was, is and will be incompetent.
LATimes: "Bowing to critics of its tough interrogation policies, the Pentagon is issuing a new Army field manual that provides Geneva Convention protections for all detainees and eliminates a secret list of interrogation tactics."
Yahoo: "The US War Crimes Act of 1996 makes it a felony to commit grave violations of the Geneva Conventions. The Washington Post recently reported that the Bush administration is quietly circulating draft legislation to eliminate crucial parts of the War Crimes Act. Observers on The Hill say the Administration plans to slip it through Congress this fall while there still is a guaranteed Republican majority - perhaps as part of the military appropriations bill, the proposals for Guantánamo tribunals or a new catch-all 'anti-terrorism' package."
Haaretz: "A number of European states are refusing to allow El Al cargo planes carrying Israel Defense Forces equipment from stopover landings in their airports.
The refusal came from states considered friendly with Israel, including Britain, Germany and Italy, according to Captain Etai Regev, the chairman of El Al's pilots' union."
And there is another candidate for urgent removal from office.
Guardian: "Gordon Brown made clear yesterday that Tony Blair's coded offer to leave Downing Street within the next 12 months was not good enough."
1:40:55 PM 
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ACLUTV: "The American Civil Liberties Union and Robert Greenwald (Outfoxed, Unconstitutional) present The ACLU Freedom Files, a revolutionary, 10-part series that tells the stories of real people in America whose civil liberties have been threatened, and how they fought back."
(Via Doug's)
And liberties outside the US are even more precarious. Much is decided by money.
Monbiot: "After the Fund [IMF] 'helped' the struggling economies of East and South East Asia in 1997, by laying waste to them on behalf of US hedge funds and investment companies(10), the nations of that region decided that they would never allow themselves to fall prey to it again. They began indemnifying themselves against its tender loving care by building up their own reserves of capital. Now, just as China and South Korea have ensured that they will never again require the Fund's services, they have been granted more power to decide how it operates. In other words they are deemed fit to govern when - like the G7 - they can exercise power without reaping the consequences. The smaller your stake in the outcome, the greater your vote."
AlterNet: "Halliburton has become synonymous with war profiteering, but there are lots of other greedy fingers in the pie. We name names on 10 of the worst:
CACI and Titan, Bechtel, Aegis Defense Services, Custer Battles, General Dynamics, Nour USA Ltd, Chevron, ExxonMobil and the Petro-imperialists.
1:17:56 PM
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