December 2009

Jet bomb 'not part of larger plot'
Posted: Tuesday, December 29, 2009

¤ The Iranian Nuke Forgeries
U.S. intelligence has concluded that the document published recently by the Times of London, which purportedly describes an Iranian plan to do experiments on what the newspaper described as a "neutron initiator" for an atomic weapon, is a fabrication, according to a former Central Intelligence Agency official.

¤ BBC now admits al qaeda never existed

¤ Yemen Next
Yemen is the Afghanistan of the Arab world. It is the poorest Arab country, its government is weak, its people are armed, it already faces a serious rebellion, it is strongly tribal and its mountain ranges are a natural refuge for groups like al-Qa'ida. There is nothing new about the growing political, social and economic crisis in Yemen, but the world is waking up to it only since the attempt to blow up a Detroit-bound plane has been linked to al-Qa'ida in Yemen.

¤ Yemen, Yemen Everywhere
Whether you've been forced to listen to Pat Buchanan (again) promote the suspension of rule of law, watched as the media machine chewed noisily on Joe Lieberman's latest pitch for preemptive war, or felt assuredly unassured by our President's promise to fight terrorism 'wherever it is', one thing ought to be certain by now: The US 'War on Terror' is neither at its beginning, its middle, and certainly not at its end

¤ Napolitano: No indication of larger terror plot
¤ Jet bomb 'not part of larger plot'

¤ Passengers help foil attack on Detroit-bound plane
¤ Officials: Only A Failed Detonator Saved Northwest Flight

¤ One Day We’ll All Be Terrorists
Syed Fahad Hashmi can tell you about the dark heart of America. He knows that our First Amendment rights have become a joke, that habeas corpus no longer exists and that we torture, not only in black sites such as those at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan or at Guantánamo Bay, but also at the federal Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC) in Lower Manhattan.

¤ Bank Presidents and US President
¤ The Nevada gambler, al-Qaida, the CIA and the mother of all cons
¤ China executes Akmal Shaikh

¤ Barack Obama and Langston Hughes on “Grumblers” and “Merry Christmas”
When US presidents offer us their holiday greeting messages, do we know what are they really saying? How hard can it be to figure that out? Langston Hughes died in 1967, but he knew what every US president, including Barack Obama is really saying, underneath and behind the mask.

¤ U.S. promises unlimited financial assistance to Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac
¤ Mumbai terror suspect David Headley was 'rogue US secret agent'
Flashback: ¤ Noam Chomsky - America is not a Democracy

¤ Superpower Video
Examining key moments in America's history elicits a more consistent and plausible set of motives for US foreign policy actions guided by global expansion and military dominance, rather than the hyperbolic calls for democracy and totalitarian regime change that we have become so accustomed to hearing.

¤ Welcome to Pashtunistan: the aim of America's secret war?
¤ Chavez announces new discount 'socialist' stores
¤ Report says 225,000 Haiti children work as slaves

¤ U.S. Cruise missile attacks in Yemen

¤ Cuban minister says Obama "imperial, arrogant"
¤ Top Cuban official says Obama lied in Copenhagen
¤ Iran nuclear trigger report fabricated by U.S.: Ahmadinejad

¤ Obama Ordered U.S. Military Strike on Suspected "Terrorists"
¤ US air raids kill 63 civilians in Yemen
¤ US drones in Pakistan kill at least 20...

¤ First, Kill No Celebrities: New Year's Resolutions for the Drug Industry

Venezuela and China Consolidate "Strategic Alliance," Expand Bilateral Trade
Posted: Sunday, December 27, 2009

By James Suggett
December 25, 2009 - Venezuelanalysis.com

Venezuelan and Chinese government officials and business leaders met in Caracas this week to discuss bilateral relations. As a result of the accords signed at the meeting, Venezuela will increase its supply of oil to China to more than 600,000 barrels per day next year, and China will increase its investments in Venezuelan agriculture, infrastructure, mining, and energy production.

In a press conference, Venezuelan Planning and Development Minister Jorge Giordani called Venezuela's growing economic relationship with China "a consolidated strategic alliance based on the premise of equality and mutual respect that will be consolidated even more by two countries that have a shared vision of a multi-polar world."

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez vowed to supply China with "all the oil it needs for its development and advancement" and said Venezuela hopes to eventually supply a million barrels of oil per day to China. According to Telesur, Venezuela is currently China's fourth largest oil supplier.

In addition, China's Sinohydro Corporation and Venezuela's state electricity company CORPOELEC agreed to cooperate to increase Venezuela's hydroelectricity production. Venezuela has experienced rolling power outages over the past three months as a result of drastically increased demand and a drought that caused a drop in the water level at a principal dam.

The Chinese Development Bank Corporation also pledged a $1 billion credit for Venezuela's state-owned mining company, CVG, and Chinese state-owned and private companies agreed to invest in Venezuelan railways, fish and shrimp production.

Venezuelan Trade Minister Eduardo Saman said he expects an increase in Venezuela's imports of Chinese cars, electric appliances, pharmaceuticals, and other goods over the coming years, and that this will help to combat domestic price speculation.

In recent years, China and Venezuela have created mixed enterprises, in which Venezuela maintains a 60% controlling share, to explore for, extract, refine, and transport oil from Venezuela's Orinoco Oil Belt, as well as to explore for natural gas off the Venezuelan coast.

Last year, China built and launched Venezuela's first telecommunications satellite, and Venezuelan students are studying aerospace engineering in Chinese universities.

Since 2003, annual trade between the two countries has increased from less than a half a million dollars to approximately $5 billion in 2008. In addition to this, China and Venezuela have signed $5 billion worth of planned Orinoco oil accords, and created a $12 billion bilateral investment fund for future projects.

President Chavez said the unprecedented growth in bilateral relations between Venezuela and China has the goal of creating a "balance in the world, a pluri-polar world," in which there is no single dominant super power such as the United States. He said China "has demonstrated that it is not necessary to attack those who are weakest in order to be a great power."

Since Chavez's election in 1998, Venezuela has increased its economic relations with countries in almost every region of the world, including Africa, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Eastern and Western Europe, and Latin America.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on How to Tackle Climate Change: "We Must Go from Capitalism to Socialism"
Posted: Wednesday, December 23, 2009

December 23rd 2009
by Amy Goodman - Democracy Now!

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez spared no criticism of the climate conference in Copenhagen. At a joint news conference he held with the Bolivian president Evo Morales on Friday afternoon—this was before President Obama announced the accord—Chavez called the proceedings undemocratic and accused world leaders of only seeking a face-saving agreement. He described President Obama as having won the "Nobel war prize" and said the world still smelled of sulfur, referring to his comments about President Bush at the United Nations last year. Well, shortly after the news conference, I caught up with President Chavez for a few minutes.

Amy Goodman: You sell more oil to the United States than any country but Canada. Your economy depends on oil, yet you are here at a climate change summit. What's your proposal?

President Hugo Chavez: [translated] The problem is not the oil, but what they do with the oil. The United States is the biggest spender of oil and of all the planet resources. Oil is a very valuable resource for life—electric heaters. We must transition ourselves to a post-oil era. And that's what we must discuss, searching and developing new sources of energy. And that requires scientific research. That requires investment. And the developed countries must be the ones to assume this responsibility first.

Amy Goodman: What level of emissions are you willing to support reductions of emissions?

President Hugo Chavez: [translated] One hundred percent. One hundred percent. We must reduce the emissions 100 percent. In Venezuela, the emissions are currently insignificant compared to the emissions of the developed countries. We are in agreement. We must reduce all the emissions that are destroying the planet. However, that requires a change in lifestyle, a change in the economic model: we must go from capitalism to socialism. That's the real solution.

Amy Goodman: How do you throw away capitalism?

President Hugo Chavez: [translated] The way they did it in Cuba. That's the way. The same way we are doing in Venezuela: giving the power to the people and taking it away from the economic elites. You can only do that through a revolution.

Amy Goodman: President Obama—what is your reaction to his speech today?

President Hugo Chavez: [translated] Obama is a big frustration. In my opinion, Obama can become one of the biggest frustrations in the history for many people, not for me, but the people of the United States that voted for him and saw him as a symbol of hope for change. But he has given continually to the most aggressive Bush policies, the imperialist policies.

Amy Goodman: What example of that?

President Hugo Chavez: [translated] The war. I told Obama, when he took the initiative to come visit us in the Summit of the Americas—we talked for a few minutes. I told him, "Obama, let's work for peace in Colombia. That's what I am proposing. Let's get a team together to analyze the problem." But absolutely nothing. He is now installing seven military bases in Colombia. That's just one example.

And in Iraq and Afghanistan, policies of war. Guantanamo, it is a great frustration. And I feel sorry, not for me. You are from the United States. I feel sorry for you, because you deserve a government that takes care of the problems of the people of the United States and stops thinking about dominating the rest of the world and just governs over the United States, eradicates the problems of the United States, the poverty, the inequality, which gets bigger every day, the unemployment, families on the street, homeless, without Social Security, diseases. I wish for you to get a government that truly takes care of you first and then works towards peace for the rest of the world.

Amy Goodman: The US government calls you a dictator. What is your response?

President Hugo Chavez: [translated] I laugh. I laugh. It is the empire calling me a dictator. I'm happy. And I remember Don Quixote, Quixote who was with Sancho, you know, and the dogs start to bark, and Sancho says, "They are going to bite us." And Quixote wisely answers, "Take it easy, Sancho, because if the dogs are barking, it is because we are galloping." I will be very sad and worried if the imperialist government was calling me a great democratic man. No, it is them, the empire, who attack those who are truly contributing to the real democracy.

Amy Goodman: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez speaking to us in Copenhagen on Friday.

Venezuela to Demand Extradition of Banker Detained in the U.S.
Posted: Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez announced yesterday that United States authorities have detained former banker Eligio Cedeño, who recently fled the country to avoid charges over embezzling millions of dollars.

The president said that Cedeño, the former president of Canarias and Bolivar Banks, was detained in Fort Lauderdale, Miami and that Venezuela will seek his extradition.

Cedeño, is in currently in the custody of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and was "detained because he left Venezuela illegally and was trying to illegally enter the United States," Chavez said.
Full Article : venezuelanalysis.com

Obama Is Preparing for War in South America
Posted: Monday, December 21, 2009

Interview with Eva Golinger

By Mike Whitney
December 21st 2009 - Information Clearing House

Mike Whitney: The US media is very critical of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. He's frequently denounced as "anti-American", a "leftist strongman", and a dictator. Can you briefly summarize some of the positive social, economic and judicial changes for which Chavez is mainly responsible?

Eva Golinger: The first and foremost important achievement during the Chávez administration is the 1999 Constitution, which, although not written nor decreed by Chávez himself, was created through his vision of change for Venezuela. The 1999 Constitution was, in fact, drafted - written - by the people of Venezuela in one of the most participatory examples of nation building, and then was ratified through popular national referendum by 75% of Venezuelans. The 1999 Constitution is one of the most advanced in the world in the area of human rights. It guarantees the rights to housing, education, healthcare, food, indigenous lands, languages, women's rights, worker's rights, living wages and a whole host of other rights that few other countries recognize on a national level. My favorite right in the Venezuelan Constitution is the right to a dignified life. That pretty much sums up all the others. Laws to implement these rights began to surface in 2001, with land reform, oil industry redistribution, tax laws and the creation of more than a dozen social programs - called missions - dedicated to addressing the basic needs of Venezuela's poor majority. In 2003, the first missions were directed at education and healthcare. Within two years, illiteracy was eradicated in the country and Venezuela was certified by UNESCO as a nation free of illiteracy. This was done with the help of a successful Cuban literacy program called "Yo si puedo" (Yes I can). Further educational missions were created to provide free universal education from primary to doctoral levels throughout the country. Today, Venezuela's population is much more educated than before, and adults who previously had no high school education now are encouraged to not only go through a secondary school program, but also university and graduate school.

The healthcare program, called "Barrio Adentro", has not only provided preventive healthcare to all Venezuelans - many who never had access to a doctor before - but also has guaranteed universal, free access to medical attention at the most advanced levels. MRIs, heart surgery, lab work, cancer treatments, are all provided free of cost to anyone (including foreigners) in need. Some of the most modern clinics, diagnostic treatment centers and hospitals have been built in the past five years under this program, placing Venezuela at the forefront of medical technology.

Other programs providing subsidized food and consumer products (Mercal, Pdval), job training (Mission Vuelvan Caras), subsidies to poor, single mothers (Madres del Barrio), attention to indigents and drug addicts (Mission Negra Hipolita) have reduced extreme poverty by 50% and raised Venezuelans standard of living and quality of life. While nothing is perfect, these changes are extraordinary and have transformed Venezuela into a nation far different from what it looked like 10 years ago. In fact, the most important achievement that Hugo Chávez himself is directly responsible for is the level of participation in the political process. Today, millions of Venezuelans previously invisible and excluded are visible and included. Those who were always marginalized and ignored in Venezuela by prior governments today have a voice, are seen and heard, and are actively participating in the building of a new economic, political and social model in their country.

Mike Whitney: On Monday, President Chavez threw a Venezuelan judge in jail on charges of abuse of power for freeing a high-profile banker. Do you think he overstepped his authority as executive or violated the principle of separation of powers? What does this say about Chavez's resolve to fight corruption?

Eva Golinger: President Chávez did not put anyone in jail. Venezuela has an Attorney General and an independent branch of government in charge of public prosecutions. Chávez did publicly accuse the judge of corruption and violating the law because that judge overstepped her authority by releasing an individual charged with corruption and other criminal acts from detention, despite the fact that a previous court had not granted conditional freedom or bail to the suspect. And, the judge released the suspect in a very irregular way, without the presence of the prosecutor, and through a back door. The suspect then fled the country.

This is part of Venezuela's fight against corruption. Unfortunately - as in a lot of countries - corruption is deeply rooted in the culture. The struggle to eradicate corruption is probably the most difficult of all and will probably not be achieved until new generations have grown up with different values and education. In the meantime, the Chávez administration is trying hard to ensure that corrupt public officials pay the consequences. That judge, for example, engaged in an act of corruption and abuse of authority by illegally releasing a suspect and therefore was charged by the Public Prosecutor's office and will be tried. It has nothing to do with what Chávez said or didn't say, it has to do with enforcing the law.

Mike Whitney: Why is the United States building military bases in Colombia? Do they pose a threat to Chavez or the Bolivarian Revolution?

Eva Golinger: On October 30th, the US formally entered into an agreement with the Colombian government to allow US access to seven military bases in Colombia and unlimited use of Colombian territory for military operations. The agreement itself is purported to be directed at counter-narcotics operations and counter-terrorism. But a US Air Force document released earlier this year discussing the need for a stronger US military presence in Colombia revealed the true intentions behind the military agreement. The document stated that the US military presence was necessary to combat the "constant threat from anti-US governments in the region". Clearly, that is a reference to Venezuela, and probably Bolivia, maybe Ecuador. It's no secret that Washington considers the Venezuelan government anti-US, though it's not true. Venezuela is anti-imperialist, but not anti-US. The US Air Force document also stated that the Colombian bases would be used to engage in "full spectrum military operations" throughout South America, and even talked about surveillance, intelligence and reconnaisance missions, and improving the capacity of US forces to execute "expeditionary warfare" in Latin America.

Clearly, this is a threat to the peoples of Latin America and particularly those nations targeted, such as Venezuela. Most people in the US don't know about this military agreement, but it they did, they should question why their government, led by Nobel Peace Prize winner Barack Obama, is preparing for war in South America. And, in the midst of an economic crisis with millions of people in the US losing jobs and homes, why are millions of dollars being spent on military bases in Colombia? The US Congress already approved $46 million for one of the bases in Colombia. And surely more funds will be supplied in the future.

Mike Whitney: What is ALBA? Is it a viable alternative to the "free trade" blocs promoted by the US?

Eva Golinger: The Bolivarian Alliance of the Americas - Trade Agreement for the People, is a regional agreement created five years ago between Venezuela and Cuba, and now has 9 members: Bolivia, Cuba, Ecuador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Antigua and Barbuda, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Dominica. ALBA is a trade agreement based on integration, cooperation and solidarity, contrary to US trade agreements which are based on competition and exploitation. It promotes a way of trading between nations that assures mutual benefits. For example, Venezuela sells oil to Cuba and Cuba pays with services - doctors, educators and technological experts that help to improve Venezuela's industries. Venezuela sells oil to Nicaragua and Nicaragua pays with food products, agricultural technology and aide to build Venezuela's own agricultural industry, which long ago was abandoned by prior governments only interested in the rich oil industry. ALBA seeks to not just provide economic benefits to its member nations, but also social and cultural advances. The idea is to find ways to help members develop and progress in all aspects of society. ALBA recently created a new currency, the SUCRE, which will be used as a form of exchange between member nations, eliminating the US dollar as the standard for trade.

Mike Whitney: Are US NGO's and intelligence agents still trying to foment political instability in Venezuela or have those operations ceased since the failed coup?

Eva Golinger: In fact, the funding of political groups in Venezuela, and others throughout Latin America that promote US agenda, has increased since the April 2002 coup against President Chávez. Through two principal Department of State agencies, USAID and the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), the US government has channeled more than $50 million to opposition groups in Venezuela since 2002. The USAID/NED budget to fund groups in Venezuela in 2010 is nearly $15 million, doubled from last year's $7 million. This is a state policy of Washington, which the Obama Administration plans to amp up. They call it "democracy promotion", but it's really democracy subversion and destabilization. Funding political groups favorable to Empire, equipping them with resources, strategizing to help formulate political platforms and campaigns - all geared towards regime change - is a new form of invasion, a silent invasion. Through USAID and NED, and their "partner NGOs" and contractors, such as Freedom House, International Republican Institute, National Democratic Institute, Pan-American Development Foundation and Development Alternatives, Inc., hundreds of political groups, parties and programs are presently being funded in Venezuela to promote regime change against the Chávez government. US taxpayer dollars are being squandered on these efforts to overthrow a democratically elected government that simply isn't convenient for Washington. Remember, Venezuela has 24% of world oil reserves. That's a lot!

Mike Whitney: How hard has Venezuela been hit by the economic crisis? Do the people understand Wall Street's role in the meltdown?

Eva Golinger: Actually, the Chávez government has taken important steps to shelter Venezuela from the financial crisis. People here in Venezuela absolutely understand Wall Street's role in the crisis and know that the US capitalist-consumerist system is principally responsible for causing the financial crisis, but also the climate crisis that the world is facing. The Venezuelan government took preventive steps against the financial crisis, such as withdrawing Venezuela's reserves from US banks two years ago, creating cushion funds to ensure social programs would not be cut and diversifying Venezuela's oil clientele so as not to be dependent solely on US clients. Recently, several banks have been nationalized by the Venezuelan government and others have been liquidated. But this was more due to the mismanagement and internal corruption within those banks. The Venezuelan government reacted quickly to take over the banks and guarantee customers' savings would not be lost. In fact, it's the first time in Venezuela's history that no customers have lost any of their money during a bank liquidation or takeover. This is part of the Chávez Administration's policy of prioritizing social needs over economic gain.

Mike Whitney: Here's an excerpt from a special weekend report by Bloomberg News:

"Americans have grown gloomier about both the economy and the nation’s direction over the past three months even as the U.S. shows signs of moving from recession to recovery. Almost half the people now feel less financially secure than when President Barack Obama took office in January...Fewer than 1 in 3 Americans think the economy will improve in the next six months....Only 32 percent of poll respondents believe the country is headed in the right direction, down from 40 percent who said so in September." (Bloomberg)

The frustration and disillusionment with the US political/economic system has never been greater in my lifetime. Do you think people in the United States are ready for their own Bolivarian Revolution and steps towards a more progressive, socialistic model of government?

Eva Golinger: The rise of Barack Obama neutralized a growing sentiment for profound change inside the US. Hopefully, the slowdown in US activism will only be temporary. South of the border, there is tremendous change taking place. New social, political and economic models are being built by popular grassroots movements in Venezuela, Bolivia and other Latin American nations that seek economic and social justice. I believe strongly that models in process, like the Bolivarian Revolution, provide inspiration and hope to those in the US and around the world that alternatives to US capitalism do exist and can be successful.

The US has a rich history of revolution. There are many groups inside the US dedicated to building a better, more humanist system. Unity and a collective vision are essential aspects of building a strong movement capable of moving forward. Every nation has its moment in history. This is the time of Latin America. But there is great hope that the people of the US will soon unite with their brothers and sisters south of the border to bring down Empire and help build a true world community based on social and economic justice for all.

Eva Golinger, winner of the International Award for Journalism in Mexico (2009), named “La Novia de Venezuela” by President Hugo Chávez, is a Venezuelan-American attorney from New York, living in Caracas, Venezuela since 2005 and author of the best-selling book, “The Chávez Code: Cracking US Intervention in Venezuela” (2006 Olive Branch Press).

Source: Information Clearing House

Chavez, Morales, Mugabe lash out at Copenhagen
Posted: Friday, December 18, 2009

¤ Obama says 'unprecedented' deal reached on climate
Comment: ¤ Posted by krmckeon | 12/18/09 07:14 PM EST
The big break through agreement was that they would all go home and make a list of what they would do to reduce global warming! Are you kidding?? Sounds more like a 4th grade homework assignment than an international treaty.

¤ Obama Pledges Action With Or Without Climate Deal (Video)

¤
¤ Castro mocks Obama visit to Copenhagen
¤ Venezuela's Chavez 'Still' Smells Sulfur After Obama Speech
¤
¤ UN denies asking leaders to stay on in Copenhagen
¤ Barack Obama's speech disappoints and fuels frustration at Copenhagen

¤ President Chavez brought the house down
When he said the process in Copenhagen was "not democratic, it is not inclusive, but isn't that the reality of our world, the world is really and imperial dictatorship…down with imperial dictatorships" he got a rousing round of applause. When he said there was a "silent and terrible ghost in the room" and that ghost was called capitalism, the applause was deafening.

¤ Hugo Chavez's Speech in Copenhagen (VIDEO)
¤ Welcome to Denmark President Mugabe, says PM Rasmussen
¤ Evo Morales stuns Copenhagen with demand to limit temp. rise to 1C

¤ Chavez, Morales, Mugabe lash out at Copenhagen
Firebrand leaders Hugo Chavez, Evo Morales and Robert Mugabe turned up the heat at the UN climate talks, dumping the blame for global warming squarely at the feet of capitalism.

¤ Chavez: If Climate Were Bank, U.S. Would Have Saved It
Chavez had a comment on the protests, too. "I think we need to say hello to all the people out there," he said. "Most of them young."

¤ Chavez compares Copenhagen Summit to 'imperial dictatorship'

¤ CLIMATE CHANGE: Chávez, Morales Lash Out at Wealthy North
Presidents Evo Morales of Bolivia and Hugo Chávez of Venezuela had harsh words for rich countries Wednesday, accusing them of driving the COP 15 talks to the brink of failure out of "selfishness" and supporting a "culture of death."

¤ Macdonald blasts 'sycophant' Blair
Sir Ken Macdonald, who was director of public prosecutions for much of Mr Blair's premiership, accused him of "sycophancy" towards Washington and using "alarming subterfuge" to mislead the British people into the conflict.

¤ Drone attacks may be expanded in Pakistan
U.S. officials seek to push CIA drone strikes into the major city of Quetta to try to pressure Pakistan into pursuing Taliban leaders based there.
¤ Drug money saved banks in global crisis, claims UN advisor
¤ Mercenaries and assassins: The real face of Obama's "good war"
¤ Scott Ritter: Our Murderers in the Sky
¤ Dubai gets $10B from Abu Dhabi to cover debt

¤ Intoxicated by power, Blair tricked us into war
¤ Blair and the "narcissist's defence"
Ken MacDonald on why "I did what I thought was right" is not a defence
¤ Iraq: The Crime of the Century
The purpose of the Chilcot inquiry is to normalise an epic crime by providing enough of a theatre of guilt to satisfy the media
¤ Climate Change Talks Back On After Walkout

¤ Developing countries boycott UN climate talks

¤ EU ready to work with Mugabe as Zimbabwe's president

A Decade of Propaganda? The BBC’s Reporting of Venezuela.
Posted: Friday, December 18, 2009

Researchers at the University of the West of England, UK, have exposed ongoing and systematic bias in the BBC's news reporting on Venezuela. Dr Lee Salter and Dr Dave Weltman analysed ten years of BBC reports on Venezuela since the first election of Hugo Chavez to the presidency in an ongoing research project, and their findings so far show that the BBC’s reporting falls short of its legal commitment to impartiality, truth and accuracy.
Full Article : venezuelanalysis.com

Hugo Chavez in Cuba: I came here to stay forever
Posted: Monday, December 14, 2009

During his closing address at the 8th Summit of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Americas, Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez Frias said that since his first visit to Cuba, his humble life has been marked forever by the giant that is Fidel Castro, and then he read a letter sent to him by the leader of the Cuban Revolution, in which he recalls their first meeting, and made touched comments about the ideologies of Bolivar and Marti, concerning Latin American integration.
Full Article : cadenagramonte.cubaweb.cu

Intoxicated by power, Blair tricked us into war
Posted: Monday, December 14, 2009

The members of the Chilcot Inquiry have a choice: they can be loyal to the Establishment or they can expose the subterfuge

By Ken Macdonald
December 14, 2009

The degree of deceit involved in our decision to go to war on Iraq becomes steadily clearer. This was a foreign policy disgrace of epic proportions and playing footsie on Sunday morning television does nothing to repair the damage. It is now very difficult to avoid the conclusion that Tony Blair engaged in an alarming subterfuge with his partner George Bush and went on to mislead and cajole the British people into a deadly war they had made perfectly clear they didn't want, and on a basis that it's increasingly hard to believe even he found truly credible. Who is any longer naive enough to accept that the then Prime Minister's mind remained innocently open after his visit to Crawford, Texas?

Hindsight is a great temptress. But we needn't trouble her on the way to a confident conclusion that Mr Blair's fundamental flaw was his sycophancy towards power. Perhaps this seems odd in a man who drank so much of that mind-altering brew at home. But Washington turned his head and he couldn't resist the stage or the glamour that it gave him. In this sense he was weak and, as we can see, he remains so. Since those sorry days we have frequently heard him repeating the self-regarding mantra that "hand on heart, I only did what I thought was right". But this is a narcissist's defence and self-belief is no answer to misjudgment: it is certainly no answer to death.
Full Article : timesonline.co.uk

Mr. President, War Is Not Peace
Posted: Sunday, December 13, 2009

¤ Berlusconi hit in the face after rally in Milan

¤ America's Race to the Bottom
¤ Obama and Western Civilizations: Hypocritical Rhetoric and Righteous Holocausts

¤ 'Just War' Is Just Words
President Obama, the Afghan war escalator, received the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway, and proceeded to deliver his acceptance speech outlining the three criteria for a "just war" which he himself is violating. The criteria are in this words: "If it is waged as a last resort or in self-defense; if the force used is proportional; and if, whenever possible, civilians are spared from violence."

¤ CHOGM's Shameful Legacy

¤ Iranian hardliners lash out at opposition after protests

¤ Hundreds arrested at Copenhagen protest rally
Hundreds of people were arrested in Copenhagen today after sporadic street violence broke out during a major protest march as UN climate change talks reached their halfway point. The demonstration, organised to urge conference delegates to work out a binding deal to tackle climate change, was largely peaceful but was marred when a group of protesters threw bricks at police.

¤ WMD treaty violations and inspection refusal for biological, nuclear, chemical weapons. Iran? No, US
First, the length of a headline prevents me from including the damning introduction of treaty violation of torture, legal war, use of depleted uranium, and refusal to make antipersonnel landmines illegal. Now, to substantiate the headline’s shocking and factual lead:
President Obama rejected inspection protocol for US biological weapons, in Orwellian contradiction to his statement to strengthen the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC). This comes after increased US investment in bio-weapons during the Bush Administration with multiple reports of secret and illegal programs.

¤ Sound familiar? US refuses to allow UN inspectors to investigate its WMDs
The United States said Wednesday that it remained opposed to international inspections of biological weapon sites, even though it stressed its commitment to a UN treaty covering such arms and invaded Iraq in part over its alleged stalling of -- UN weapons inspectors.

¤ Great progress made in Zimbabwe, says UN
¤ EU ready to work with Mugabe as Zimbabwe's president

¤ The Peace Candidate Myth: Yeswecanistan

¤ Chomsky says Israel, 'US military base'
Renowned American sociopolitical analyst Noam Chomsky says Israel functions as Washington's main weapons storage base in the Middle East. "Israel is essentially a US military base, the US positions weapons there, that's a very close military and intelligence tie," the Jewish academic told Press TV on Wednesday while explaining the complexity of relations between Washington and Tel Aviv.

¤ Cuba Detains a U.S. 'Contractor'
¤ US Has Role in Africa's Unplanned Baby Bonanza
¤ Nearly 1000 Detained in Copenhagen Climate Protest

¤ Global Protests Demand Action on Climate Change
Thousands of activists demonstrated in central Copenhagen Saturday to turn up the heat on global warming, amid people power protests across the world to press for action instead of words. The heart of the Danish capital was a sea of blue as environmentalists and anti-capitalist demonstrators gathered for a six-kilometre (four-mile) march that would take them to the venue of the ongoing UN conference.

¤ Flourishing Palestinian Sex Trade Exposed In New Report
¤ Mercenaries and assassins: The real face of Obama’s “good war”

¤ Lessons from Venezuela
Venezuelan Ambassador to Nigeria Enrique Fernando Arrundell could not have offered his advice on Nigeria's management of its petroleum resources at a better time. The anchor of government's argument is that higher prices would draw foreign investors to the down stream sector of the industry.

¤ Chavez's Historic Call for a Fifth Socialist International
¤ Leaders of the rich world are enacting a giant fraud

¤ Nobel-winning Obama defends war in call for peace

¤ Mr. President, War Is Not Peace
Eloquence in Oslo cannot change the realities of war.
As President Obama neared the close of his Nobel address, he called for "the continued expansion of our moral imagination." Yet his speech was tightly circumscribed by the policies that his oratory labored to justify.
Lofty rationales easily tell us that warfare is striving for the noble goal of peace. But the rationales scarcely intersect with actual war. The oratory sugarcoats the poisons, helping to kill hope in the name of it.

¤ Are deaths from violence in Iraq being under-reported? Video

¤ Who is counting the bodies in Iraq?
¤ Child killed in Afghan wedding blast
¤ Obama Wins the Nobel Peace Prize. Is This a Joke?
¤ Robert Fisk - Obama is a Disaster Video

¤ US Openly Accepts Bin Laden Long Dead
Conservative commentator, former Marine Colonel Bob Pappas has been saying for years that bin Laden died at Tora Bora and that Senator Kerry's claim that bin Laden escaped with Bush help was a lie. Now we know that Pappas was correct. The embarassment of having Secretary of State Clinton talk about bin Laden in Pakistan was horrific. He has been dead since December 13, 2001 and now, finally, everyone, Obama, McChrystal, Cheney, everyone who isn't nuts is finally saying what they have known for years.

¤ Normalising the crime of the century
I tried to contact Mark Higson the other day only to learn he had died nine years ago. He was just 40, an honourable man. We met soon after he had resigned from the Foreign Office in 1991 and I asked him if the government knew that Hawk fighter-bombers sold to Indonesia were being used against civilians in East Timor.
“Everyone knows,” he said, “except parliament and the public.”
“And the media?”

¤ Copenhagen climate summit in disarray after 'Danish text' leak

¤ Bolivia's Morales Says Will Deepen Leftist Reforms

¤ Morales claims victory in Bolivian election
Evo Morales has claimed victory in Bolivia's presidential election after exit polls suggested he had acquired around 60 per cent of the total vote.
The provisional results place current president Mr Morales over 35 per cent ahead of his nearest rival Manfred Reyes Villa, who is believed to have obtained just 23 to 25 per cent of the vote, giving him a second four-year term.

¤ Saudi Arabia calls for 'climategate' investigation

¤ Denmark's warm and 'fuzzy facts'

¤ The bootstrap theory of propaganda
The New York Times and U.S. politicians are, through assertion and repetition, attempting to create as common knowledge the idea that Iran has a nuclear weapons program and that the last presidential election in Iran was fraudulent, even though there is no evidence to back either claim.

¤ Copenhagen climate summit: 1,200 limos, 140 private planes and caviar wedges

¤ Honduras: The Obama Administration's First Latin American Waterloo
¤ Elections In Honduras: Pantomime Democracy And State Terror

¤ Obama Lied: Taliban Did Not Refuse to Hand Over Bin Laden
Obama slipped past a real doozy Tuesday night when he said the Taliban refused to hand over bin Laden. It just ain't so. They tried three times to open negotiations for this, but Bush refused each time. He wanted to bomb people so bad it hurt.

¤ Obama’s speech on Afghanistan: A compendium of lies

Lessons from Venezuela
Posted: Friday, December 11, 2009

Venezuelan Ambassador to Nigeria Enrique Fernando Arrundell could not have offered his advice on Nigeria's management of its petroleum resources at a better time. The anchor of government's argument is that higher prices would draw foreign investors to the down stream sector of the industry.

Professor and Minister of Information Dora Akunyili had solicited Venezuelan investments for our refineries.

Mr. Arrundell's response was without diplomatese. He launched a profound lecture on Nigeria's oil and gas.

"In Venezuela, since 1999, we've never had a raise in fuel price. We only pay $1.02 to fill the tank. What I pay for with N12,000 here [in Nigeria], in Venezuela I'll pay N400. What is happening is simple. Our President [Hugo Chavez] decided one day to control the industry, because it belongs to Venezuelans. If you don't control the industry, your development will be in the hands of foreigners...
Full Article : vanguardngr.com

Obama with Blood on His Hands
Posted: Friday, December 4, 2009

¤ Obama’s Afghan 'Strategy' – Another American Tragedy
Shortly after President Obama’s Afghanistan War escalation speech, I was contacted by the Voice of America’s Russian Language Service. They wanted to interview me. These are the questions they asked: What do you think about Obama's new strategy for Afghanistan? Were you surprised by it? Do you think it would be possible to carry out all Obama's objectives by 2011? Would Afghanistan, you think, cease to being a failed state?

¤ US liberals express anger over Obama's decision to raise troop levels

¤ Searching in Vain for the Obama Magic

¤ Obama with Blood on His Hands
For many Americans, the promise of the new Obama administration was that finally the United States would reject the neocon concept that America can ignore international law and use indiscriminate violence around the world to assert its interests. That hope was largely snuffed out Tuesday when President Obama gave his hawkish generals and the neocon pundits most of what they wanted by expanding the eight-year-old Afghan War and guaranteeing more violations of the laws of war

¤ President Elect, Most Voted in Uruguay History
President elect Jose Mujica has been the most voted in the Uruguayan history, an unprecedented fact in this South American nation, local media outlets highlighted on Tuesday.

¤ Lacalle campaign concedes Uruguay election

¤ Former guerrilla leading Uruguay's presidential vote

¤ Addicted to Nonsense
Will Tiger Woods finally talk to the police? Who will replace Oprah? (Not that Oprah can ever be replaced, of course.) And will Michaele and Tareq Salahi, the couple who crashed President Barack Obama’s first state dinner, command the hundreds of thousands of dollars they want for an exclusive television interview? Can Levi Johnston, father of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s grandson, get his wish to be a contestant on “Dancing With the Stars”?

¤ Financial Crisis in Dubai: Towards a Nightmare Scenario?

¤ You Get What you Vote For!
The so-called anti-war movement currently finds itself in somewhat of a quagmire: What to do when the man you raised money for, volunteered for, and yes, even voted for, actually fulfills one of his most repulsive campaign promises?

¤ An Open Letter To President Obama On Afghanistan
¤ Obama's Afghan War Plan: Nine Key Points

¤ Journalism 2009: Desperate Metaphors, Desperate Revenue Models, And The Desperate Need For Better Journalism

¤ Americans Are Deeply Involved In Afghan Drug Trade

¤ The truth of UK's guilt over Iraq
With its troops no longer engaged in military operations inside Iraq, Great Britain has been liberated politically to conduct a postmortem of that conflict, including the sensitive issue of the primary justification used by then Prime Minister Tony Blair for going to war, namely Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, or WMD.

¤ Iraq: The war was illegal
¤ Iran threatens to pull out of nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
¤ Climate change: this is the worst scientific scandal of our generation
¤ Inquiry into stolen climate e-mails

¤ Venezuela Refuses to Recognise Honduran Elections
On Sunday, the Venezuelan government congratulated the president-elect of Uruguay, Jose Mujica, for his victory in the run-off elections, and also called the Honduran elections a "farce," refusing to recognise the results. Mujica, an ex-guerrilla and member of the National Liberation Movemement-Tuparamos, and currently member of the centre-left party Frente Amplio (Broad Front), won the presidential run-off elections yesterday with 52.6% of the vote.

¤ Washington Alters U.S. Air Force Document on Accord with Colombia
In an explicit attempt to hide Washington's military objectives in South America, a U.S. Air Force document submitted to Congress in May 2009 that provoked deep concerns in the region has been modified and re-published on November 16, 2009. The official U.S. Air Force document, revealed and denounced by this author on November 4th, explained the justification for a $46 million request to improve the military installations in one of the seven bases Washington will occupy under the military accord signed on October 30th between Colombia and the United States.

¤ Venezuela and Iran Inaugurate Binational Fund, Advance Bilateral Relations

¤ When electoral fraud is met by congratulations
It has become standard practice in many parts of the world for opposition candidates to decry as fraudulent election results that favor the incumbent. Charges of vote fraud are routinely levelled against governing parties that win elections contested by opposition parties backed by Western governments.

¤ How I Stopped Hating Thanksgiving and Learned to Be Afraid

¤ The Audacity of Failure: The 4-year presidency of Barack Hoover Obama

¤ Dubai debt crisis: Now British banks face fresh crisis after investing billions

¤ "Dubai model" was the vision of one man

¤ Dubai in deep water as ripples from debt crisis spread
Fears of a dangerous new phase in the economic crisis swept around the globe yesterday as traders responded to the shock announcement that a debt-laden Dubai state corporation was unable to meet its interest bill. Shares plunged, weak currencies were battered and more than £14 billion was wiped from the value of British banks on fears that they would be left nursing new losses.

¤ Dubai debt move 'carefully planned'
¤ Cuba conducts war games with U.S. invasion in mind
¤ Ahmadinejad to Chavez: 'We're going to be together until the end'

¤ US trying to 'trick' Iran over nuke deal: LarijaniIranian parliamentary speaker Ali Larijani said Wednesday that Washington was trying to "trick" Tehran through a high-profile nuclear fuel deal brokered by the UN atomic watchdog.
The conservative who was Tehran's former chief nuclear negotiator also said Iranians must avoid falling prey to US "smiles" as the Americans carry "hidden daggers."

¤ Mullah Omar rejects Karzai’s call for peace talks

¤ US in back-channel talks with Afghan Taliban

Chavez's Historic Call for a Fifth Socialist International
Posted: Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Caracas -- Addressing delegates at the International Encounter of Left Parties held in Caracas, November 19-21, Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez stated "the time has come for us to convoke the Fifth International." Faced with the capitalist crisis and the threat of war that is putting at risk the future of humanity, "the people are clamoring for" greater unity of left and revolutionary parties willing to fight for socialism, he said.

Like his call in 2005 to build "21st Century Socialism" and his call in 2006 for the creation in Venezuela of a new, mass revolutionary party - the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) - Chavez's call to unite the left in a new International is historic.
Full Article : venezuelanalysis.com

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