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Saturday, September 6, 2008 |
Ruud Lubbers, Joris Voorhoeve, Jan Pronk en Tineke Lambooy have published a plea for 'cooperation not confrontation with Russia', in NRC Handelsblad. This is a group of a former PM, two former ministers and a university Reader. They are of the opinion that Europe should take a more independent stance from the US, giving special attention to the feelings of other countries and nations.
The interference of the West in political and economical matters of former East countries linked to Russia, has reached an unacceptable level. If Russia did and does not have the right to interfere with their former satellites, then even the less so has the West. The hotheads in the Bush administration and Britain are heading for a serious collision which endangers peace in Europe.
The latest stupidity of the West is the introduction of privatisation in Azerbaijan.
GAP: "Today, the Government Accountability Project (GAP) filed a report with the U.S. Treasury Department that exposes the World Bank's role in the widespread corruption surrounding privatization in Azerbaijan during the late 1990's. The report shows that James Wolfensohn, then president of the World Bank, personally assisted a rogue financier in his efforts to gain control of the State Oil Company of the Republic of Azerbaijan (SOCAR). While these efforts were ultimately unsuccessful, documents show that Wolfensohn silenced Bank staff members who spoke out about corrupt government officials working with Viktor Kozeny, a notorious financial operator who had allegedly defrauded investors in the Czech Republic of nearly $1 billion only three years earlier."
And recently the US has started attacking Pakistan on an unprecedented scale and is spreading the war in Afghanistan even further. This madness must end. Just look at the possible effects of a large conflict:
GlobalResearch: "The threat of a series of local conflicts or of one global military conflict is bound to affect the overall condition of the world economy. Access to natural resources will be of fundamental importance to the stability of national economies. Since Russia is the world's top resource-rich country and it has successfully reformed its traditionally most problem-ridden sector - the manufacturing of consumer products - the Russian economy should be able to endure high food and technology prices.
The economy of the majority of Western countries will move from stagnation to long-term recession. The position of the US will be the best among the Western countries since it has large oil reserves and has raised the domestic natural gas production by 50% over the recent years. Therefore, in case Europe once again allows the US strategists to get it involved in a cold war with Russia, its own economy will be particularly vulnerable.
The US dollar will lose its current status of the global currency. The US will no longer be a country with attractive living conditions, and a migration of quality workforce from the country will commence. The US will be plagued by crime and will face the problem of preserving its territorial integrity. The international community will have to dispatch a peacekeeping force to the US territory to maintain order in the country and to prevent international terrorists from making inroads into its nuclear arsenals.
The EU in its current form will stop to exist. A new system of the European collective security will be based on the alliance of Russia, Germany, and France and on a partition of Europe into their respective spheres of influence.
Great Britain will be distanced from the continent again and lose its competitive advantages. London will stop serving as the world's financial center."
MoscowNews: "Russia underlined its right to a 'preventive' nuclear strike this week in what military analysts interpreted as a move to introduce more clarity into the nation's defense doctrine. The statements, made by Chief of General Staff Yuri Baluyevsky on Saturday, were followed by naval exercises in the northern Atlantic that will feature over 40 aircraft of the Air Force. Though unrelated, the developments pointed to a Russia not so much on the offensive as a one that was eager to bring its defense doctrine in line with that of the Western world and make it more up to date with contemporary military demands."
Pravda: "The successful test launch of the Topol-M missile has proved that the up-to-date Russian warhead is capable of subduing the USA's air defense, Russian military specialists say.
The unpredictable flight trajectory of the Russian missile makes it immune to destruction."
11:09:53 AM 
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AfterDowningStreet: "Next weekend in Andover, Mass., a group of attorneys, academics, and activists will gather to plan the prosecution of Dick Cheney, George Bush, and the lawyers and advisors who, together with them, are responsible for war crimes. The conference is open to the public and expected to be well attended."
CenterForConstitutionalRights: "On September 11-12, 2008, Evangelicals for Human Rights, with the National Religious Campaign Against Torture and Mercer University, will host a national summit on torture in Atlanta, GA, on the campus of Mercer University. Featuring some of the nation's top thinkers and leaders in the anti-torture community, this conference is co-sponsored by an unprecedented group of organizations.
We invite you to be a part of this two day conference. We will examine the journey of the United States, since September 11, 2001, from a nation that championed human rights, albeit imperfectly, to a nation that publicly acknowledges and supports the use of torture.
Obviously, for people of faith, the journey does not end here. Speakers and participants will also explore the path of return to once again becoming a nation that leads the world in the protection of human rights."
WCL: "Cosponsored by Washington College of Law, the National Institute of Military Justice and the Federalist Society, and in cooperation with the ABA Section of International Law National Security Committee. The next conversation in global counter-terrorism will consider the long-term future of terrorist-related detentions. The resolution of this conversation will depend on chosen model to govern the detention. Many lawyers have argued that the United States and its allies are at war with terrorists under the laws of armed conflict. Yet others counter that terrorism is fundamentally a domestic criminal offense and should be prosecuted under the law enforcement paradigm. While substantial efforts have been made to resolve these and related disagreements by making procedural alterations in the military commissions or the proposed National Security Court, many critics argue that these modifications are unable to overcome the very same conceptual challenges that justify the changes. After more than six years of discussion, this issue remains unresolved within the legal community. This conference advances that conversation by asking whether the law enforcement and international humanitarian law models are able to theoretically address the unique characteristics of international terrorism or whether new concepts are needed."
Let's make ourselves perfectly clear. The US has engaged in torture and has thus placed itself on the same level as totalitarian dictatorships. The US at present is a rogue state, a failed state. Regime change is what we need.
ICH: "In what appears to be the first use of criminal charges under the 2002 Minnesota version of the Federal Patriot Act, Ramsey County Prosecutors have formally charged 8 alleged leaders of the RNC Welcoming Committee with Conspiracy to Riot in Furtherance of Terrorism. Monica Bicking, Eryn Trimmer, Luce Guillen Givins, Erik Oseland, Nathanael Secor, Robert Czernik, Garrett Fitzgerald, and Max Spector, face up to 7 1/2 years in prison under the terrorism enhancement charge which allows for a 50% increase in the maximum penalty."
Amy Goodman of Democracy Now! was illegally arrested.
Sott: "International Criminal Court has been flooded with South Ossetians' briefs accusing Georgia of 'genocide' in the pro-independence republic."
10:42:12 AM
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© Copyright 2008.
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