Sunday, November 23, 2008

THE STATE OF THE UNION George Bush can be considered the worst American president ever. This video is typical for his present standing. And then there is that other calamity bird we just escaped from. The video gives an insight into the weird psychological make-up of Palin. ICH: "A Texas judge has set an arraignment date for Friday for Vice President Dick Cheney and former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. They were indicted this week by a Texas grand jury on state charges accusing them of responsibility for prisoner abuse in a privately run federal jail." The NIC Global Trends 2015 Report you have all heard about. Some reports about the financial crisis. 12:02:26 PM

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

BREAKING NEWS ... the New York Times for July 4th, 2009. Download here. (It can take a few minutes, just wait.) Notice the article "Court Indicts Bush on High Treason Charge". 5:36:35 PM

Thursday, October 30, 2008

WE WANT CHANGE! Yahoo: "The UN General Assembly on Wednesday voted overwhelmingly for the 17th year in a row in favor of lifting the 46-year-old US trade embargo on communist-ruled Cuba, as Havana hoped for better ties with a new US administration." Reuters: "The U.S. helicopter attack into Syria this week underscores the Bush administration's determination to cross borders when it can strike an enemy target, and to weather any international backlash." WireDispatch: "A young Guantanamo prisoner's confession to Afghan police was obtained through torture and cannot be used as evidence in his trial on charges of wounding U.S. soldiers with a grenade, a judge in the U.S. war crimes court ruled Tuesday." Most worrying: BradBlog: "Our friends at VideoTheVote.org were able to capture some early coverage of the vote-flipping incidents on ES&S iVotronic machines in WV. We now have reports of votes flipping from Democratic to Republican (and other) candidates across the states of WV, TN, TX and MO." 10:18:02 AM

Saturday, October 25, 2008

THE END OF AMERICA AS WE KNOW IT Guardian: "The former Federal Reserve chairman, Alan Greenspan, has conceded that the global financial crisis has exposed a 'mistake' in the free market ideology which guided his 18-year stewardship of US monetary policy." The End of America. 11:44:52 AM

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

ANOTHER DEBACLE FOR BUSH Haaretz: "The former head of Britain's security services said in remarks published Saturday that the response to the 9/11 terror attacks in the United States was a huge overreaction. Stella Rimington, who retired 12 years ago from Britain's domestic security service, MI5, said the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 were not that different from other terrorist attacks." InTheMiddle: "Baghdad witnessed another demonstration with more than one million Iraqi, Arabs and Kurds and others, Muslims and Christians and others, Sunnis and Shiites and others demonstrated together against the occupation and the long term agreement, asking for a complete withdrawal that leaves no permanent bases, no troops, and no mercenaries." 10:22:35 AM

Thursday, October 9, 2008

UNLAWFUL DETENTION ACLU: "According to newly released military documents, the Navy applied lawless Guantánamo protocols in detention facilities on American soil. The documents, which include regular emails between brig officers and others in the chain of command, uncover new details of the detention and interrogation of two U.S. citizens and a legal resident - Yaser Hamdi, Jose Padilla and Ali al-Marri - at naval brigs in Virginia and South Carolina." 12:33:54 PM

Saturday, September 27, 2008

NO BLOCKADE ThinkProgress: "The Democratic leadership in the House 'effectively shelved' a proposed non-binding resolution that 'critics say would amount to a naval blockade of Iran because of concerns that it could provoke another war, officials on Capitol Hill said'. The Washington Times reports: Even though the document would not be a law but a 'statement of policy' aimed at preventing Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, the Democratic leadership is worried that it could be viewed by the Bush administration as a green light to use military force against Iran, officials said. The draft 'demands that the president initiate an international effort' that would impose 'stringent inspection requirements on all persons, vehicles, ships, planes, trains and cargo entering or departing Iran'." 4:23:55 PM

Thursday, September 25, 2008

CONSEQUENCE MANAGEMENT RESPONSE George W. Bush ended his debacle speech with the words 'May God bless you.' This time no 'God bless America'. Note the modal auxiliary 'may'. Said with his usual smirk it sounded more like 'I wash my hands of you, you are now in the hands of the Almighty' (which is also a term given by the United States Marines for close air support). It sounded ominous. It is ominous. ArmyTimes: "The 3rd Infantry Division's 1st Brigade Combat Team has spent 35 of the last 60 months in Iraq patrolling in full battle rattle, helping restore essential services and escorting supply convoys. Now they're training for the same mission - with a twist - at home. Beginning Oct. 1 for 12 months, the 1st BCT will be under the day-to-day control of U.S. Army North, the Army service component of Northern Command, as an on-call federal response force for natural or manmade emergencies and disasters, including terrorist attacks. It is not the first time an active-duty unit has been tapped to help at home. In August 2005, for example, when Hurricane Katrina unleashed hell in Mississippi and Louisiana, several active-duty units were pulled from various posts and mobilized to those areas. But this new mission marks the first time an active unit has been given a dedicated assignment to NorthCom, a joint command established in 2002 to provide command and control for federal homeland defense efforts and coordinate defense support of civil authorities. The brigade will not change its name, but the force will be known for the next year as a CBRNE Consequence Management Response Force, or CCMRF (pronounced 'sea-smurf')." DemocracyNow: "The army unit may be called upon to help with civil unrest and crowd control." American prisons are booming. It has become an industry (largely privatised, of course). We can expect a large intake soon. It looks like Washington is expecting civil disturbances. The real criminals, though, are in the White House and American finance. NYTimes: "One of the giant mortgage companies at the heart of the credit crisis paid $15,000 a month from the end of 2005 through last month to a firm owned by Senator John McCain's campaign manager, according to two people with direct knowledge of the arrangement. The disclosure undercuts a statement by Mr. McCain on Sunday night that the campaign manager, Rick Davis, had had no involvement with the company for the last several years." Guardian: "The FBI is investigating four Wall Street institutions at the heart of the financial crisis over their role in the sub-prime mortgage meltdown, it emerged today. Reports said preliminary investigations into potential corporate fraud at the US mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the insurer American International Group and the investment bank Lehman Brothers had been opened. They are among 26 companies being scrutinised by the FBI. Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae and AIG were bailed out by the government in the last fortnight, while Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy. Senior executives at the companies are also believed to be in the FBI's sights, while the securities and exchange commission is also reportedly assessing possible civil fraud claims against the four firms." WashingtonPost: "A former Iraqi official estimated yesterday that more than $13 billion meant for reconstruction projects in Iraq was wasted or stolen through elaborate fraud schemes." BBC: "A BBC investigation estimates that around $23bn (£11.75bn) may have been lost, stolen or just not properly accounted for in Iraq." AmericaBlog: "Should we prosecute those who caused this economic problem? As it stands today, we have given a free pass to those CEOs who profited enormously and then were pushed out, with hundreds of millions. How can we watch our once vibrant economy fall apart like this, forcing an expensive bailout (and likely higher taxes, reduction in standard of living and even more cutbacks) and then do nothing? These are the same people who complained about 'welfare mamas' so again, let them live by their own rules. Regardless of his other positions, Sarkozy is not wrong on this. Those responsible for the crisis that has swept global financial markets should be punished, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said overnight in his first reaction to the latest bout of economic turmoil." The Bush administration is a criminal administration. It is headed by war criminals, and it has efficiently ruined America and many economies abroad. They are the ones who should be in prison. I have a feeling the elite is expecting the wrath of the people any day now. 10:50:26 AM

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

US GENERALS PLANNING FOR RESOURCE WARS IrishTimes: "The US military sees the next 30 to 40 years as involving a state of continuous war against ideologically-motivated terrorists and competing with Russia and China for natural resources and markets, writes Tom Clonan. Further evidence of America's future military intentions is contained in recently published strategy documents issued by the US military. Under the auspices of the US department of defence and department of the army, the US military have just published a document entitled 2008 Army Modernization Strategy which makes for interesting reading against the current backdrop of deteriorating international fiscal, environmental, energy resource and security crises. The 2008 modernisation strategy, written by Lieut Gen Stephen Speakes, deputy chief of staff of the US army, contains the first explicit and official acknowledgement that the US military is dangerously overstretched internationally. It states simply: 'The army is engaged in the third-longest war in our nation's history and ... the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT) has caused the army to become out of balance with the demand for forces exceeding the sustainable supply.' The document reveals a number of profoundly significant - and worrying - strategic positions that have been adopted as official doctrine by the US military. In its preamble, it predicts a post cold war future of 'perpetual warfare'. According to its authors: 'We have entered an era of persistent conflict ... a security environment much more ambiguous and unpredictable than that faced during the cold war.' 'We face a potential return to traditional security threats posed by emerging near-peers as we compete globally for depleting natural resources and overseas markets.' This thinly-veiled reference to Russia and China will, perhaps, come as little surprise given recent events in Ossetia and Abkhazia. The explicit reference in this context to future resource wars, however, will probably raise eyebrows among the international diplomatic community, who prefer to couch such conflicts as human rights-based or rooted in notions around freedom and democracy. The document, however, contains no such lofty pretences. It goes on to list as a pre-eminent threat to the security of the US and its allies 'population growth - especially in less-developed countries - [which] will expose a resulting 'youth bulge'.' This youth bulge, the document goes on to state, will present the US with further 'resource competition' in that these expanding populations in the developing world 'will consume ever increasing amounts of food, water and energy'. It states explicitly that the US military is preparing to fight continuous resource wars 'for the long haul'." The above army document admits that our world resources are becoming scarce and it is based on the premiss that it is right to rob other nations of their resources. In short, the above document is based on a fascist ideology. Gordon Brown yesterday in one sentence of his speech confirmed his resolve to continue supporting the US and the imperialist wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Never before have so few in such a criminal way decided on the fate of so many. John le Carré: "Britons have been stripped of civil liberties. We have been taken to war under false pretences, and stripped of our civil rights in an atmosphere of panic. Our lawyers don't take to the streets as they have done in Pakistan. Our MPs allow themselves to be deluded by their own spin doctors, and end up believing their own propaganda." ACLU: "A federal court today ordered the Department of Defense to release photographs depicting the abuse of detainees by U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. 'This is a resounding victory for the public's right to hold the government accountable,' said ACLU staff attorney Amrit Singh, who argued before the court. 'These photographs demonstrate that the abuse of prisoners held in U.S. custody abroad was not aberrational and not confined to Abu Ghraib, but the result of policies adopted by high-ranking officials. Their release is critical for bringing an end to the administration's torture policies and for deterring further prisoner abuse.' The government claimed that the public disclosure of such evidence would generate outrage and would violate U.S. obligations towards detainees under the Geneva Conventions." How cynical can they get? Citing the Geneva Conventions to prevent the publication! When they have breached all national and international laws, including the Geneva Conventions all those years! 11:38:39 AM

Saturday, September 20, 2008

THE WAR CRIMINALS AND THEIR HANGMEN NATO's clown-in-chief Jaap de Hoop Scheffer is trying to humour Saakashvili and being a good lapdog to the US hawks. He is pathetic. He knows that Saakashvili is nothing but a tool in the hands of the Western imperialists to get Russia into submission. NATO is no longer a defensive organisation, it's highly offensive and expansive, and is a part of the neo-imperialist new world order. It is in essence a fascist organisation that does not recognise the sovereign rights of other nations. There is no excuse. At a moment when the chances for peaceful coexistence never have been so positive, NATO is heading the wrong way. Jaap de Hoop Scheffer is the shame of the Netherlands. By the way, the only reason why the Dutch governments were/are so happy to hop behind rogue elements like George W. Bush is that our leaders are eager to be rewarded with top jobs. Jaap de Hoop Scheffer is a lackey. Anyway, if we are to believe the latest news about Georgia, Jaap is overstepping the mark. Saakashvili is a liability, he is a loose cannon on rolling deck. And being friends with a war criminal like George W. Bush does not make it better. Regnum: "The American side intends to make the former speaker of the Georgian Parliament Nino Burjanadze or the permanent representative of Georgia to the UN Security Council Irakli Alasania the president of Georgia, declared Vladimir Zhirinovsky, the head of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) during a meeting with Prime Minister of Russia Vladimir Putin. 'Our faction has information about it,' said Zhirinovsky. According to the leader of LDPR, Irakli Alasania has been career employee of the CIA for 10 years and is pro-American and anti-Russian. 'They want to write off Saakashvili, these are their intentions,' underlined Zhirinovsky. He stressed that representatives of the Georgian Diaspora from Russia have recently visited the US. They kept saying: 'It is enough, take Saakashvili away!' said Zhirinovsky." Independent: "Nato needs to stop expanding, according to a leading British strategic think tank. The International Institute for Strategic Studies challenged the Nato secretary-general today by warning against embracing Georgia and Ukraine in the light of last month's Caucasus war. 'The policy of Nato enlargement now, we believe, would be a strategic error,' the head of the IISS , John Chipman, told journalists yesterday. Speaking at the launch of the organisation's annual review of world affairs, he criticised the 26-nation military alliance for viewing enlargement as an 'institutional priority' - 'as if riding a bicycle eastwards is necessary to keep the bicycle upwards'. Russia's implacable opposition to Nato expansion on its borders, by absorbing former Warsaw Pact states, was a critical factor in last month's war with Georgia, which was prompted by the Georgian government's decision to attempt to gain control militarily of the breakaway region of South Ossetia." And if we look at the killing of civilians in Afghanistan and elsewhere the NATO chief could be liable for war crimes. AlterNet: "Ramped-up U.S. and NATO airstrikes in Afghanistan are causing an increased civilian death toll, raising concerns about the fallout from civilian deaths on the war effort against the Taliban insurgency, according to a major new report by Human Rights Watch (HRW) released here Monday. The 43-page report, 'Troops in Contact: Airstrikes and Civilian Deaths in Afghanistan', warned that the cost in civilian casualties caused by the increase in bombings goes well beyond the loss of human life and could put the nearly seven-year U.S.-NATO war effort at risk." The largest partner in NATO is the US, and we all know that the US is a rogue state. Which makes NATO an instrument in the rogue foreign policy of the US. The US does not recognise the rule of law. HRW: "Human Rights First Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer Elisa Massimino today outlined concrete steps the United States must take in order to realize a return to the rule of law in two key areas: (1) enforcing legal prohibitions on torture and other cruel and inhuman treatment of prisoners; and (2) abandoning the failed experiment at Guantánamo in favor of the proven effectiveness of our federal criminal courts. These steps were presented in testimony delivered by Massimino to the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Property Rights of the Senate Judiciary Committee, in a hearing devoted to 'Restoring the Rule of Law'." EC: "The fact that George W. Bush ordered and/or 'signed off' on that series of crimes called 911 can be proven in court. George W. Bush, therefore, must be prosecuted for the crimes of high treason, waging war upon the people of the US, and instances of mass murder in the US, Afghanistan, and Iraq. There is more than mere probable cause to bring those charges - there is a case that can be made now with official documentation available in the public record. Much more will be revealed in a real investigation, as opposed to another 'whitewash' commission like that now literally dis-owned by the co-chairs of the 911 Commission. The question then is: what must be done to make the question of prosecutions an issue that must be addressed by the candidates? What must be done to take this issue to the media and on the internet? Recently, speakers Vincent Bugliosi, author of 'Prosecuting George W. Bush For Murder', Colleen Costello, Human Rights USA, David Lindorff, and Journalist David Swanson raised the issues at the Robert H. Jackson conference. Bush should be indicted for war crimes under US Codes. Additionally, Bush may be prosecuted, as well, in international courts, in this case, the Hague for having abrogated US treaty obligations with respect to the conduct of war, i.e, war crimes." The Prosecution of George W. Bush for murder. FindLaw: "Vice President Dick Cheney's incredible and deadly lie: by deceiving a congressional leader, Cheney sent us to war on false pretenses and violated the separation of powers - as well as the Criminal Law." By associating themselves with the rogue plans and intentions of war criminals like George W. Bush and Cheney, politicians like Gordon Brown, David Miliband and Jaap de Hoop Scheffer are making themselves liable for crimes committed abroad. 11:36:15 AM

© Copyright 2008 Hetty Litjens.