September 2003
Venezuelan news media dissected
Posted: Tuesday, September 30, 2003
by Antonia Zerbisias
http://www.thestar.com/
A confession: For 18 months now, I have been collecting clippings about the political turmoil in Venezuela. But I have been remiss in not writing about it or, more specifically, the media crimes being committed there.
Venezuela is where President Hugo Chavez, a charismatic former paratrooper, not white and not a member of the traditional ruling class, has been fending off what appears to be a regime change that is, if not instigated by the United States, certainly aided and abetted by it. I'd like to say last week's news was filled with stories of how the United States is backing a recall vote to oust Chavez - whom the media love to describe as "anti-democratic'' and "a dictator" - except that most media are not only distorting this story, they're ignoring it.
The thing is, Chavez is nothing like Saddam Hussein - although, it must be said, Chavez did visit the Iraqi leader. It's also true that Chavez is soft on Cuba's Fidel Castro. But, while Chavez did go to prison for trying to overthrow the government in 1992, he has since been democratically elected president, not once but twice: first in a landslide in 1998 and again in 2000, with a solid majority.
And yet the Bush administration, has been working, directly or otherwise, to bring the Chavez government down because, well, because ...
Did I happen to mention oil?
Depending on your source, Venezuela, which supplies 12 per cent of the crude that goes to the U.S., is the world's third-largest (says the CIA), fourth-largest (Associated Press) or fifth-largest (Wall Street Journal) exporter of oil. Naturally, it's of intense interest to the oil-obsessed Bushies.
That's why former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer has spouted such trash as, "President Chavez has had a rule that has been controversial and has not met with widespread popular support within Venezuela ..." or why Secretary of State Colin Powell has questioned Chavez's "understanding of what a democratic system is about."
The poor of Venezuela, the vast majority of the population, love Chavez because he is bringing them not only democracy, but also a chance to access the country's vast natural wealth. For example, as last Sunday's Star revealed, Chavez's land reform laws, which are redistributing 2 million hectares of idle, state-owned property to poor families, are upsetting the wealthy élite who, as in many Latin American states, have long exploited the campesinos. And so they are exercising their economic might to bring Chavez down.
Well, they don't say information is power for nothing. Venezuela's wealthy anti-Chavez class owns the five largest television stations and nine of the 10 major national newspapers. And time and time again in the last few years, particularly in April, 2002, when Chavez's opposition staged a coup against him and again last winter when there was a 64-day oil strike and business lockout, the private media have gone on the attack, in ways that make the U.S. feeding frenzy on the Bill Clinton thong-gate look like a Victorian ladies' tea.
Over and over, they have incited the overthrow of this democratically elected government and viciously manipulated images to make it look bad.
You think that the toppling of the Saddam statue in Baghdad was used as propaganda? You should see how Venezuela's private networks made it look as if Chavez supporters were shooting unarmed government protestors. It's there in the stunning documentary Chavez: Inside The Coup, on CBC Newsworld's The Passionate Eye tonight at 10. The film has won all kinds of international awards, including the top prizes at this year's Banff and Monte Carlo TV festivals, plus scored a standing ovation at this month's Toronto film fest.
The thing about the Venezuelan media is, they often feed the international media. Never do they tell you that the infant mortality rate under Chavez has plummeted or that school enrolment has soared. It's all doom and gloom, linked to the "leftist" Chavez. Just last week for instance, Reuters relied on "local television'' images to report how Chavez forces were terrorizing oil company workers. But having seen Inside The Coup's dissection of the Venezuelan media, I had to discount the story.
Which is not good, either for journalism, democracy or the people of Venezuela. As Naomi Klein noted in The Nation, Venezuela "isn't the only country where a war is being waged over oil, where media owners have become inseparable for the forces clamouring for `regime change' and where the opposition finds itself routinely erased by the nightly news."
I expect that my Venezuela regime change clipping file is going to get mighty fat - and fast.
Reproduced for Fair Use Only from:
http://www.thestar.com/
Latest News
Posted: Tuesday, September 30, 2003
¤ A Riveting American Drama
¤ Who's Sordid Now?
¤ Bush Growing More Vulnerable on Credibility, War, and the Economy
¤ Another Falsehood on Iraq Goes Unchallenged
¤ Washington Insiders' New Firm Consults on Contracts in Iraq
¤ Israeli Army Destroys Home of West Bank Militant
¤ Syria Feeling U.S. Pressure Over Iraq
¤ Arabs Criticize Alleged WMD in Israel
¤ The Unbuilding of Iraq
¤ US pulls out of Liberia
¤ U.S.-British Differences Show Iraq Intelligence Gap
¤ US troops in Afghan gun battle
¤ Doubt grows over prewar intelligence
¤ Illogical wingnut defenses
¤ When will they stop betraying this country?
¤ To die in Iraq
¤ Bush's big swindle of Americans, Iraqis to pay off corporations
¤ The Cuba Fixation
¤ The battle of Ariel
¤ Arabs and the Racial Lessons of 9/11
¤ Iraqi defectors' weapons claims were 'false'
¤ 'Too many uncertainties'
¤ US paid $1m for 'useless intelligence' from Chalabi
¤ Inside America's 'Colossal Blunder'
¤ Doubt grows over prewar intelligence
¤ US responds in strength to latest ambushes
¤ US soldier killed in Falluja attack
¤ Paying the price of war in Iraq
¤ War was a political disaster for Labour and Cabinet was complicit
¤ As reform falters, Syrian elite tighten grip
¤ The Mess in Potamia
¤ Washington Insiders' New Firm Consults on Contracts in Iraq
¤ Democrat Disputes Rice on Iraq Claims
¤ Revolting Development
¤ Iran's race for nuclear weapons
Flashback Iran: Damned if they do, damned if they don't
Flashback Time for Colin Powell to Retire
¤ 15 militants killed in held Kashmir
¤ Rhetoric and reality at UN
¤ Reservists walk out of services
¤ Blair lied, say 59 per cent in new poll
¤ War a 'disaster' for Blair
¤ Brown at odds with Blair on ties to US
¤ Israeli Army Destroys Militant's House
¤ CIA to combat terrorism with Bin Laden video game
¤ Flashback The Jihadi War
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Posted: Monday, September 29, 2003
¤ Once Strip-Mined, Twice Shy
¤ But Foreign Aid Is Bribery! And Blackmail, Extortion, and Theft Too!
¤ The Real Clowns in Recall 'Circus' Are the Press
¤ Blame Game Can Prove Destructive
¤ Debate Goes from 'War on Terror' to Anti-U.S. Sentiment
¤ The Myth of Western Intelligence Agencies
¤ Pilots Who Say No to Assassination
¤ Dubya's Red Shoes
¤ The trouble with incurious George
¤ The Great Pretender
¤ Bush to enter eye of British storm
¤ Iraq, 9/11 Still Linked By Cheney
Flashback White House Warriors Blame Everyone But Themselves
¤ Calling a Lie a Lie
¤ Weapons Of Mass Deception?
¤ What’s Love of Democracy Got to Do With It?
¤ Don't Mention The Oil. Or Ask About The Victims
Flashback Iraq postwar insecurity began in Washington: report
¤ 7 U.S. Soldiers Reportedly killed In Iraq Attacks
¤ U.S. Soldier Killed by Guerrillas West of Baghdad
¤ US rules out Indian force in Iraq
¤ Ethnic and Religious Fissures Deepen in Iraqi Society
¤ Civilian death toll prompts tension in Fallujah
¤ Anger at 'don't mention the war' vote
¤ Demonstrators along both coasts demand U.S. pullout from Iraq
¤ Powell, Rice defend intelligence behind decision to go to war
¤ House panel questions Iraq proof
¤ Road To Darkness
¤ US fast-tracks UN motion on Iraq
¤ US intelligence on Iraqi weapons 'flawed'
¤ CIA condemned for flawed intelligence on Iraqi weapons
¤ ‘US intelligence on Iraq significantly deficient’
¤ New Criticism on Prewar Use of Intelligence
¤ Bush's Iraq intelligence fragile, say investigators
¤ 3,000 dead yet peace remains elusive. Palestinians. More than 2,200
¤ 15 Militants Killed Near Kashmir
¤ Arafat Supporters March on West Bank
¤ The other one's in trouble too
¤ Iran stands defiant over nuclear programme
¤ Seven guards of governor killed in attack by Taliban
¤ A move to the right, not to the future
¤ Dirty wars cast shadow on virtues of Patriot Act
¤ Iraq reconstruction plan not available
¤ Fireworks at the UN
¤ Killing Arafat is wrong
¤ A neoconservative's love ode to Rumsfeld
¤ Fears rise about U.S. aims
Latest News
Posted: Sunday, September 28, 2003
¤ Chasing a Mirage
¤ Operation Oprah
¤ No wonder America has so many enemies
¤ So, What Went Wrong?
¤ Reluctance to Share Control in Iraq Leaves U.S. on Its Own
¤ In time of war, National Guard finds recruits, parents reluctant
¤ Four US soldiers wounded in separate bomb attacks in Iraq
¤ 10 Die in Colombia Bombing
¤ Halliburton Creating Iraqi Secret Police At Your Expense
¤ Bush feels heat over Iraq contracts
¤ The humiliation of an American president
¤ W's double quagmires
¤ Bogged down in Baghdad
¤ Is Rumsfeld annoying?
¤ Chechen prime minister 'poisoned'
¤ Italy slowly comes back to light
¤ At least 10 dead in bike-bomb attack
¤ Clark: Americans 'embarrassed' by Bush
Flashback An occupation cannot last
¤ Why the Media Don't Call It as They See It
¤ Venezuela may be forced to apply "diplomatic restrictions" on oil to U.S.
¤ US kills three more in Sunni triangle
¤ UK troops in Iraq warned of 'inevitable' terror attack
¤ Pakistan stokes feud with India
¤ Price of an undeleted expletive
¤ Death threats and dark forces test 'liberated' Afghan media's mettle
Flashback Fanning The Flames Of Hatred
¤ Worldwide protests against Iraq occupation
¤ Iraqi reconstruction for 'Dummies'
¤ Addressing causes of terrorism
¤ War films are reel deal for US forces in Iraq
¤ Blair must go, say anti-war marchers
¤ I won't resign. I'm going on and on and on
¤ US won't pay for Iraq's long-term reconstruction: Bremer
Flashback Remember Afghanistan?
¤ Pyongyang hurls insults at Rumsfeld
¤ CIA answers Iraq criticism
¤ Britain leads sale of weapons to poor
¤ Exporting Censorship to Iraq
¤ Rebuilding Iraq
¤ Patience May Not Be An Option
Latest News
Posted: Saturday, September 27, 2003
¤ Thousands stage Iraq demo
¤ With each attack, U.S. image in Iraq erodes
¤ We have a right to rip Bush and his war
¤ Condoleezza Rice and the case of the big swindle
¤ Just say no to Bush
¤ Hostility to Bush has started to move across the Atlantic
¤ Bush again falsifies issues
Flashback Is Bush's War in Iraq A "Brain Fart"?
¤ Whom did Mr. Bush speak for?
¤ Macmillan backed Syria assassination plot
¤ Iraqi Witnesses: US Fire Killed 4 Civilians
¤ Going Nowhere, Slowly, in Gaza
¤ Israel kills 6 Palestinians, including toddler
¤ Annan's "shock and awe" at UN about pre-emptive attacks
¤ Bush bombs at the UN
¤ Guerrillas Fire Rockets at Baghdad Hotel Housing Americans
¤ S Arabia won't send troops to Iraq
¤ South Koreans Oppose Soldiers in Iraq
¤ American Compound Attacked in Baghdad
¤ Karzai: Al-Qaida Purged From Afghanistan
¥ Ok if you say so
¤ Bush Counters Criticism of Iraq Request
¤ US anger at Putin over Iran
¤ CIA seeks probe of White House
¤ 'You lied, they died,' US parents tell Bush
¤ Two more US soldiers killed in Iraq
¤ Bush Lied And Our Soldiers Died
¤ More US troops face Iraq call-up
¤ Mortar kills nine Iraqis as US sets self-rule deadline for Iraq
¤ Patriots and invaders
Flashback Iraqi Women No Better Off, U.N. Official Says
¤ GIs Kill 2 Iraqis; U.S. Compound Attacked
¤ Marshall Plan for Iraq? Not quite
¤ The hard truths of a failed plan
¤ Bush has a battle on his hands
¤ A failure in Iraq
¤ Can we restructure the United Nations?
¤ US: Leaner is not always meaner
Latest News
Posted: Friday, September 26, 2003
¤ Thousands expected at London anti-war demo
¤ Bush faces growing domestic criticism
¤ The Failure to Find Iraqi Weapons-New York Times spin
Flashback When "Doves" Lie The New York Times plays down anti-war opinion
¤ Terror investigation 'coming undone'
¤ What American Sheep Think
¤ Powell Asking Europeans to Shun Arafat
¤ A War Still in Search of a Rationale
¤ Three dead in attack on Israeli settlement
¤ Before the Era of Insecurity
¤ Bomb Destroys the Media's Illusions
¤ American Psycho
¤ How $87 Billion Could Buy Some Real Security
¤ Three dead in attack on Israeli settlement
¤ The Retreat From Baghdad
¤ The Other Lies of George Bush
¤ Vietnam's Shadow Lies Across Iraq
¤ The totality of the lies
¤ On how to make enemies
¤ Bush's bad news blues
¤ Feeding Frenzy
¤ Back to Halliburton
¤ New Halliburton flap dogs Cheney
¤ A fly on the Oval Office wall
¤ Anger Control in Baghdad
¤ Oil Folly
¤ Rift opens between US and the Iraqi leaders it installed
¤ Time to confront the monopoly myth about good and evil
¤ CIA admits it can't find weapons
¤ 8 Killed in Mortar Attack on Iraq Market
¤ US soldier killed in Kirkuk
¤ Seven US soldiers wounded in convoy ambush
¤ Iraq slips further into turmoil
¤ The retreat from Baghdad
¤ War was justified, Straw tells UN
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¤ Rumsfeld defends $87bn war request as 'exit strategy'
¥ Oh really....
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¤ U.N. Cuts Iraq Staff After Second Bombing
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¤ Powell Asking Europeans to Shun Arafat
¤ Forget France, the neighbours are restless
¤ Bush finds an ally in Germany, but no troops or money
¤ Brazilian President Heads for Cuba Visit
¤ One death, five versions. Now is the time for Lord Hutton to judge
¤ Kelly's family condemns British government
¤ Accident blamed as 50th UK soldier dies in Iraq
¤ Avoiding an Iraq in Iran
¤ At stake in Iraq is the future of the entire region
¤ Iran: Damned if they do, damned if they don't
¤ Israeli air force grounds 'refuseniks'
¤ Six Palestinians, one Israeli soldier killed
¤ Edward Said dies
¤ Putin's coloring lesson for Bush
¤ Eight killed in held Kashmir violence
U.S. Dangerous Policy
Posted: Friday, September 26, 2003
Washington Pursues Dangerous Policy in Venezuela by Mark Weisbrot
In recent weeks U.S. officials have made a series of remarkably unfriendly statements against the government of Venezuela, and its President Hugo Chavez. This breach of diplomatic norms can only serve to worsen relations between the two countries. It also provokes resentment in Latin America -- in the same way that the Bush administration's decision to disregard the United Nations and invade Iraq lowered our standing throughout the world.
Latest News
Posted: Thursday, September 25, 2003
¤ France, Bush & Drunk Driving
¤ Iraq Has Now Become the Crucible of Global Politics
¤ Against Blind Imperial Arrogance
¤ Don't Blame Bush's Speechwriters
¤ Washington Pursues Dangerous Policy in Venezuela
¤ Bush tries something new: belligerent begging
¤ Up to 100,000 expected at London Iraq protest
¤ Blair govt is lying - Kelly family lawyer
¤ Amnesty International report denounces US treatment of war prisoners
¤ President Bush's Inspectors Find No Weapons
¤ The hunt for weapons of mass destruction yields - nothing
¤ US inspectors fail to uncover evidence of Saddam's arsenal
¤ No Conclusions Likely in Iraq CIA Report
¤ CIA plays down hopes of finding Saddam's WMD
¤ WMD evidence will be found: Prime Minister John Howard
¤ American interests clash with Arabs’ in ongoing media war
¤ Criticism of Bush rises after UN speech
¤ Bush at the UN
¤ 'Logic' of occupation points to more trouble
¤ BBC chief says defending Iraq story right
¤ Iraq has now become the crucible of global politics
¤ Israeli pilots refuse to fly assassination missions
¤ Israeli Incursion Kills 1 Palestinian
¤ US public wants a bigger UN role
¤ Syria denies US spy ring
¤ GM crops? No thanks
¤ Spy mystery at Guantanamo Bay as Syria denies link to accused...
¤ 12 killed during one of worst days of violence since Iraq war ended
¤ Three Iraqis killed in cinema attack, bus blast
¤ Musharraf, Bush discuss Iraq, Afghan, Kashmir issues
¤ Lawsuits against Sharon, Bush senior dismissed
¤ A system that suits Iraq
¤ Divided they stand
¤ Megawati hits out at US war on terrorism
¤ Bush and Chirac battle it out in General Assembly
Washington Pursues Dangerous Policy in Venezuela
Posted: Thursday, September 25, 2003
by Mark Weisbrot
In recent weeks U.S. officials have made a series of remarkably unfriendly statements against the government of Venezuela, and its President Hugo Chavez. This breach of diplomatic norms can only serve to worsen relations between the two countries. It also provokes resentment in Latin America -- in the same way that the Bush administration's decision to disregard the United Nations and invade Iraq lowered our standing throughout the world.
"I think that some of the things that he [Chavez] has done at home politically and his policies on the economic side, has ruined what is a relatively wealthy country," said Roger Noriega, the State department's top diplomat for the Americas. This statement is ironic, since Venezuela's current recession is mainly a result of the 64-day oil strike organized in December and January by opposition leaders seeking to overthrow the government. The State Department did not criticize this strike nor ask its friends in the opposition to desist from it, even though the Bush administration was preparing for war in the Middle East and had a strong interest in maintaining the flow of oil from Venezuela, the world's fifth largest oil exporter.
U.S. officials have also made a number of statements indicating support for a referendum to recall President Chavez. This is in sharp contrast to the Bush administration's position on the California referendum. When Republicans were gathering signatures to recall Governor Gray Davis, the Bush team remained studiously neutral.
In addition, U.S. Ambassador to Venezuela Charles Shapiro violated diplomatic protocol by meeting with the country's newly appointed electoral commission last week , even before the commission had met with the government. He offered "assistance" with the commission's work, including their first task of deciding whether to accept the opposition's recall petition. The petition was subsequently rejected unanimously by the commission, with even the opposition members abstaining.
Administration officials have also made statements, without offering any evidence, indicating that the Chavez government is supporting the guerillas in neighboring Colombia. And in July our government cut off U.S. Export-Import Bank credits to Venezuela.
Chavez has responded angrily to these statements and actions, telling our government "not to meddle" in Venezuela's internal affairs. Noriega, in turn, accused Chavez of "unrelenting hostility" to the United States.
But how would the Bush Administration react if the president of France, for example, were to call for the impeachment of President Bush? Clearly it is Washington's hostility to Venezuela that is causing the problem.
In fact, the Bush Administration openly supported the military coup against President Chavez in April 2002, reversing its stance after it became clear that the United States was diplomatically isolated.
Our government's clear pro-opposition bias, as well as its lack of respect for democracy and national sovereignty in Venezuela, prevents it from playing any positive role in resolving political conflicts there. Nor is such intervention necessary.
Venezuela is a democracy, with complete freedom of the press, speech, assembly and association. In spite of Washington's support for the military coup last year, the Chavez government has done its best to maintain friendly relations with the United States. It is our third largest trading partner in Latin America, and has always -- except during the opposition's oil strike -- been a reliable energy supplier.
The Bush Administration's policies are destabilizing Venezuela, politically and economically. This is wrong and dangerous, and has the potential to push the country towards civil war. There needs to be more pressure on the Bush team here in the United States to change course, before it creates another foreign policy disaster.
Mark Weisbrot is co-Director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, in Washington, DC (www.cepr.net).
Distributed to newspapers by Knight-Ridder/Tribune Information Services
Published on Thursday September 25, 2003 by CommonDreams.org
Latest News
Posted: Wednesday, September 24, 2003
¤ Iraqis Negative About Bush's U.N. Speech
¤ No WMD in Iraq, source claims
¤ The Real Looting is About to Begin
¤ Occupation and Censorship
¤ US may call up more reservists for Iraq
¤ Assassination, Occupation, Separation
¤ Israel A Danger
¤ The Toxic Legacy of the Iraq War; Generational Casualties
¤ Afghan Warlords Thrive Beyond Official Reach
¤ Rumsfeld: Bush $87B Request Is Affordable
¤ 2 Iraqi Boys, Injured, Tell of a Jet Attack in the Night
¤ With No Plan Apparent, GIs in Iraq Slowly Becoming Frantic
¤ Bush Should Have Listened Instead
¤ A Nightmare in Iraq
¤ Iraqi broadcasters risk being closed if they put Saddam's voice on air
¤ US aggression breeds terror: UN chief
¤ Annan trounces Bush at UN
¤ Bush isolated as speech to UN falls flat
Flashback Bush’s Macho Facade Goes Limp
¤ The incredible shrinking Bush
¤ Audience Unmoved During Bush's Address at the U.N.
¤ Bush to world: Drop dead! The president lays an egg at the U.N.
¤ At the U.N., Bush Wins No Fresh Pledges of Iraq Aid
¤ UN loses patience with the American way
¤ Arabs Criticize Bush's U.N. Speech
¤ Bush's plea for UN help in Iraq sparks hostile response
¤ Singing the Baghdad Blues
¤ French President Speaks to the U.N. General Assembly
¤ Bomb Misses U.S. Patrol, Kills Iraqi
¤ Iraqis blame U.S. for 3 deaths during attack on farmhouse
¤ Another raid in Iraq leaves doubt
¤ Bomb Misses U.S. Patrol, Kills Iraqi
¤ Iraq: the reality and rhetoric
¤ The tangled WMD web
¤ Owning up to deceptions on the Iraq war
Flashback U.S. soldiers in Iraq shrug at Bush's U.N. speech
¤ Two Arab channels banned in Iraq
¤ All the lofty policy talk ignores Iraqis' needs
¤ 200 held in Yemen 'to placate US'
¤ Afghan Official Confident of U.N. Help
¤ UK recalls MI6 link to Palestinian militants
¤ Postwar Iraq Reopens U.S., U.N. Divide
¤ Campbell's hatred laid bare
¤ Iraqi dossier was hardened up after email from Blair's aide
¤ Email reveals Blair aide beefed up Saddam threat
¤ ‘Jewish extremists planned attacks on mosques’
¤ US encouraging crimes against Palestinians: Arafat
¤ Israel using ex-Chechnya snipers in West Bank
¤ The real obstacle to peace is Sharon, not Arafat
¤ Axis of oppression
¤ 17 killed in held Kashmir
¤ Turkish govt slammed over US loan
¤ Howard lashes 'opportunistic' French
¤ Friends of the family
¤ Fear and loathing in America
¤ Administration stuck in an infinite loop
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Latest News
Posted: Tuesday, September 23, 2003
¤ Journo claims proof of WMD lies
¤ Media ignores Bush admission that Saddam not involved in 9-11
¤ Key Phrase Was Dropped from UK Iraq Dossier
¤ U.N. Chief Criticizes U.S. Attack on Iraq
¤ Blow to Blair as majority say war not justified
¤ Iraq Raid Prompts Finger-Pointing
¤ After failure to find weapons of mass destruction
¤ With no plan apparent, GIs in Iraq slowly becoming frantic
¤ The Unfortunate Incident at the Baghdad Zoo
¤ "We Have Proof of the CIA in Venezuela"
¤ Another Day in the Bloody Death of Iraq
¤ Over 1,500 violent civilian deaths in occupied Baghdad
¤ A Fence of Deception
¤ Sharon is disillusioned by US support, but that will change
¤ Efforts to Bring Down Arafat Seem Only to Prop Him Up
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¤ Bush's UN speech to ask much, give little
¤ Bush to World: Drop Dead!
¤ Iraq Plan Calls for Museum, ZIP Codes
¤ U.S. Soldiers Kill 3 Iraqis in Raid
¤ Six Months After the Attack on Iraq, Was the Anti-war Movement Right?
¤ Kennedy's 'Uncivil' Truths on Iraq
¤ U.S Administration Knew Iraq Could Not Pay for Reconstruction...
¤ They Lied and Many Soldiers Died
¤ The Truths About Iraq That Bush Isn't Telling
¤ After the Internet
¤ Fire retardant found in breast milk
¤ Put a cap on war-based hyper-profits
¤ Open investment policy looks like 'world occupation' to Iraq merchants
Flashback U.S. will make massive dues payment to U.N.
¤ Bush: 'I Don't Read Newspapers'
¤ Hoon: We let public think 45 minutes related to WMD
¤ Britain's intelligence claim on Iraq
¤ US has lost the lesson of history
¤ U.S. to hold off on cuts to Israel loan guarantees
¤ Israel vastly strengthened in wake of Iraq war
¤ US revives Taliban tryst in Afghanistan
¤ Annan challenges US on force
¤ Say no to privatisation
¤ Terror as usual
¤ The Campbell Diaries: my private war with the BBC
¤ Blair's spin doctor's diary revealed
¤ Blair looks less spinner, more spun
¤ Bush Won't Agree to Quick Iraq Handover
¤ Allies were right to wage war on Iraq, Bush tells UN
¤ At the UN, Bush won't budge on Iraq war
¤ Musharraf warns against equating Islam with terrorism
¤ 15 militants among 20 killed in held Kashmir
¤ US forces attacked in Afghanistan
¤ Influx of Polish troops prompts Iraqis to view US in a kinder light
¤ Partners in Iraq
¤ The mean streets of Baghdad
¤ Bush running behind Clark in poll
¤ Giant Arctic ice shelf breaks up
Diplomatic Restrictions
Posted: Monday, September 22, 2003
Venezuela may be forced to apply "diplomatic restrictions" on oil supplies to the United States of America By: VHeadline.com Reporters
Reports from Dominican Republic say that authorities in Santo Domingo say they don't have a clue of the whereabouts of former Venezuelan President Carlos Andres Perez (CAP), wanted on an extradition warrant to face charges of corruption in Venezuela additional to his conviction a decade ago of multi-$ million corruption related to a secret government slush fund.
The news comes in the wake of the Venezuelan government's decision to suspend vital oil supplies to the Dominican Republic over its refusal to deal with ex-President Perez who has been using his luxury residence there as a base for further conspiracies against the government of his arch-enemy President Hugo Chavez Frias. It was a coup attempt by Chavez Frias in February 1992 that was the beginning of the end for CAP, who was impeached and kicked out of office the following year. He was convicted and served out a sentence under house arrest at his mansion in a southern suburb of Caracas. Full Article
Latest News
Posted: Monday, September 22, 2003
¤ U.S. administrator in Iraq opposes early sovereignty
¤ Deadlines in Iraq can't be ignored
¤ Support for War in Iraq Based on Fallacious Reasoning
¤ A Long Red Line Of Subversion And Deception
¤ What's The Best Weapon Against Lies? Your Fingers
¤ Hispanic Soldiers Die in Greater Numbers in Iraq
¤ How the World Can Aid Iraq Without Helping Bush
¤ America puts Iraq up for sale
¤ Entire enterprises -- except oil -- available to foreign investors
¤ Something Killer
¤ TV reporters lack sense to come in out of the rain
¤ Campbell wanted to expose dossier story source
¤ John Pilger Reveals Wmds Were Just A Pretext For Planned War On Iraq
¤ "Wag the Dog" Keeps on Barking
¤ The Meaning of 'Remove'
¤ Tiger and Zoo I Know!
¤ Talking Truth on Iraq
¤ Bush Administration's Appetite for Power is Never Satisfied
¤ Bush goes AWOL when soldiers need care
¤ Arafat Says Wants Total Truce; Israel Rejects Move
¤ US approval for Bush falling
¤ It's The Terrorism, Stupid When All Else Fails, Snivel And Whine
¤ Bush Will seek aid from 3 nations he rebuffed before war
¤ Bush calls Kennedy's Iraq criticism `uncivil'
Flashback Kennedy Says Case for Iraq War Was Fraud
¤ This round, Bush really hits the trifecta
¤ Assessing the risks in Iraq the hard way
¤ Blurring the line: Hussein and 9/11
¤ The Get-Rich Con: Are Media Values Better Now?
¤ Pearl Harbour: History Whitewashed?
Flashback Is the "Surprise Attack" on Pearl Harbor relevant to understanding 9/11?
Flashback How Americans are blackmailed by Israel
¤ This is an unjust war of hypocrisy
¤ A year later at UN, Bush's new take on Iraq
¤ Car bomb explodes near UN compound in Baghdad
¥ Co-incidence or an incident designed for gathering UN 'support'?
¤ Bush to push UN on troops, cash for Iraq
Flashback Bush to Tell U.N. He Made 'Right Decision' on Iraq
¤ Bush: I'm Open to U.N. Role in Iraq Vote
¤ Chirac lays out plan for Iraqi sovereignty
¤ Iraq's simmering south
¤ 18 dead in held Kashmir violence
¤ China rejects US sanctions
¤ Bush team looks to have it both ways
¤ Leaning on Iran not to make nukes
¤ US denies Indonesia access to Hambali
¤ Restoring electrical power to the people will do more than...
¤ Economic Overhaul for Iraq
¤ Howard may yet rue this war
¤ Dangers Of War
Latest News
Posted: Sunday, September 21, 2003
¤ They tell loud lies, then whisper apologies
Flashback Americans Draw a Veil of Secrecy as Casualties Grow
¤ US Troops Fire On Journalists
Two different figures for same incident
Flashback Eight US Soldiers Die in Iraq Ambush
Flashback Three US soldiers die in ambush near Tikrit
¤ Mystery pneumonia toll may be much higher
¤ Iraq adopts sweeping economic reforms
¤ Bush questioning hard-line Iraq policies
¤ Housing Plan for Top Aides in Afghanistan Draws Rebuke
¤ U.N., again
¤ Nine Israelis face deportation
¤ Stretched Thin, Lied to & Mistreated
¤ Iraq attacks kill three US troops
¤ Three U.S. Soldiers Killed in Iraq
¤ They are called 'The Searchers'. But what are they looking for?
¤ How Americans have fooled themselves about the war in Iraq
¤ Iraq's occupiers suspected of losing touch with reality
¤ Bush covers up climate research
¤ A U.S. administration in disarray
¤ Blair gets the cold shoulder at Berlin summit
¤ Tony's Trials
¤ Attacks Kill Troops, Wound Iraqi Official
¤ Attack Kills 2 Americans Near Iraq Prison
¤ Market Blast Kills 3 in Indian Kashmir
¤ BBC's Dyke in furious attack on Blair 'coterie'
¤ Bush steps up fight against European safety testing
¤ Bush's approval rating on Iraq drops
¤ As the going gets tough ... Bush goes to the UN
¤ America needs a bigger army
¤ US misguided foreign policies expose its political juvenility
Flashback Cheney and Halliburton Sitting in a Tree . . .
Flashback More Questions For Cheney
Flashback 'Drunk' U.S. soldier shoots Mendouh rare tiger in Baghdad zoo
¤ Mendouh survived Saddam ... but not Uncle Sam
¤ Chirac says ‘non’ to Blair’s plea to bury Iraq hatchet
¤ Who’ll ?inch ?rst: Iran ... or the world?
Flashback Sharon: Iran Next on War List
¤ Syria rejects US pressure for cooperation
¤ Israel slams UN vote on Arafat
¤ 17 Afghans die in US bombing
¤ Soldiers for Reconstruction
¤ Derailment of another peace effort
¤ U.S.: Won't back any Palestinian government run by Arafat
¤ Bush's tame U.S. media may yet have teeth
CIA planned to bring down Chavez Frias
Posted: Saturday, September 20, 2003
Venezuelan Military Intelligence says overwhelming evidence the CIA planned to bring down Chavez Frias' airplane en route to United Nations in New York September 20, 2003 By: Roy S. Carson, www.vheadline.com
Details behind the sudden decision to cancel President Hugo Chavez Frias' next-week trip to Washington D.C. and New York (to deliver a speech to the United Nations) are being revealed by security services who say they have "overwhelming evidence" of a CIA-backed plan to "bring down" the Chavez Frias' airplane during the scheduled flight to the United States from Caracas. Sources in Venezuela's Military Intelligence Directorate (DIM) have told VHeadline.com that "presented with overwhelming evidence of Washington's planned attack on the Presidential flight, it was decided that the President's personal security was preeminent and that he should not go!"
Latest News
Posted: Saturday, September 20, 2003
¤ The progress of disaster
¤ Return to Afghanistan
¤ Civilians died in U.S. raid-Afghan official
¤ Jumpy U.S. soldiers fire on official, reporters
¤ What good friends left behind
¤ New Afghan Threat: Smack
¤ On Apache Terrorism
¤ Colin Powell's Shame
¤ The white Colin Powell?
¤ Exploiting the Dead of Halabja
¤ Stage Zero
¤ Autopsy of a Fiasco Foretold
¤ Iraq Official Shot in Assassination Try
¤ Putin Says Russia May Send Troops to Iraq
¤ Bush at the UN - More misleading to come?
¤ Late Night thoughts on Iraq
¤ CIA planned to bring down Chavez Frias' airplane
¤ War against terror to continue
Flashback Sharon: Iran Next on War List
¤ Those Murderous Israelis
¤ Under Reported
¤ The global hierarchy of race
¤ The Missing Link
¤ Iraq and Al Qaeda
¤ With Iraq, We've Been Had Again
¥ Only those who decided that they could trust Bush
¤ UN surges to Arafat's defence
¤ Bush Stance on Arafat Draws Criticism
¤ Haitians Feel Abandoned by America
¤ America's rich get richer thanks to tax-cutting Bush
¤ Drug ads row snares Cronkite
Flashback US Battles Terror With a Touch of the Spanish Inquisition
¤ No easy path to reform of UN big five
¤ Three killed in Iraq mine blasts
¤ US seeks 40,000 troops as Saddam aide surrenders
¤ US seeks Pak troops for Iraq reconstruction
¤ U.S. again looks to isolate France
¤ French lesson for Bush
¤ British Labour Party blames humiliating poll defeat on war backlash
¤ The where and how of Kelly's suicide spelt out, but not the why
¤ Paul Krugman one of Bush's most scathing critics hence the death threats
¤ Neo-Jacobins Push For World War IV
¤ A reshaped Al-Qaeda is more dangerous than before
¤ India sticks with Iran, for now
¤ Donor delay spells doom for Afghanistan
¤ Blasts kill six near US base in Afghanistan
¤ Civilians Died in U.S. Taliban Raid-Afghan Official
¤ Powell admits 'serious' problems in Iraq
¤ 'Case for Iraq war a fraud made up in Texas'
¤ White House is ambushed by criticism from America's military community
¤ China moves to calm Sars jitters with daily updates
Venezuelan Reform
Posted: Saturday, September 20, 2003
Venezuelan reform: 41,000 families get land
CARACAS (IPS/GIN) - The Venezuelan government has distributed a million hectares of land to 41,000 families in seven months as part of a reform program whose five-year goal is to settle 500,000 families on 10 million hectares. President Hugo Chavez recently visited the farming town of Cubiro in west-central Venezuela, where another 212,911 hectares were distributed to 10,263 families, and $3.5 million in loans were made available to small farmers. In addition, 19 tractors were delivered to 62 agricultural cooperatives. The settling of more than 10,000 families on small farms around Cubiro marked the start of the second phase of the government’s reform program, during which 63,400 families are to receive a total of one million hectares. But the government’s efforts have run up against staunch opposition from agribusiness and large landholders, and the rural workers’ struggle for land has been plagued by violence. A number of land activists have been killed by hired gunmen.
Latest News
Posted: Friday, September 19, 2003
¤ The Evil of Two Lessers
¤ Utter Lies First, Correct Later: Diplomacy, Neocon-Style
¤ US Battles Terror With a Touch of the Spanish Inquisition
¤ Hurricane death toll rises
¤ US rich get richer
¤ Explosion rocks Baghdad
¤ Peace Plan Fails to Deal with the Occupation
¤ The Terrorism Link That Wasn't
¤ Are You Syria-Ous?
> They're Saying Iraqi WMD Were Hidden In Syria!
¤ Bush’s Iraqi Smoke
¤ 9/11 and Missing Case for Iraq War
¤ Big lie on Iraq comes full circle
¤ Cheney's conflict with the truth
¤ France and America, A Shared History
¤ A Fine Hour
¤ Another Day, Another Death-Trap For The US
¤ Useful idiot
¤ Kennedy stands by criticism of Bush on Iraq
¤ How the US improverished Haiti
¤ The Real Cost Of US Support For Israel - $3 Trillion
¤ U.S. Troops Mistakenly Target Italy Envoy killing Iraqi interpreter
¤ Baghdad Burning
¤ Ashcroft on the Offensive, Calls Criticism 'Hysterics'
¤ Factional Clashes in Afghanistan Kill 13-Residents
¤ Tragedy in New York: French Fried Friedman
¤ Immigrants Could End up Fighting War in Iraq
¤ A serving US soldier calls for the end of an occupation based on lies
¤ Coalition May Relax Grip on Iraq Citizens
¤ True scale of American investment in Iraq revealed
¤ Cheney's old firm's $3bn Iraq bonanza
¤ Bush finds obstacles mounting on Iraq
¤ Isabel shuts down Washington
¤ Three die from Isabel fury
¤ Convoy ambush as US looks for way out
¤ Eight US soldiers killed in Iraq ambush
¤ Three US soldiers die in ambush near Tikrit
Flashback Disappearing the Sick and Injured in Iraq
¤ 14 militants among 21 killed in held Kashmir
¤ Threatening Arafat
¤ France and the United States are at war
¤ BBC news chief leaves reporter out in the cold
¤ Israel-Idi Amin nexus revealed
¤ Reserve pilots to refuse assassination
¤ Bush blames Arafat for wrecking peace efforts
¤ Clock ticking for US to sway Iraqis
¤ US softens on Iraq terror link
¥ No they lied and are trying to revise history
¤ Afghan elite seizes land for mansions as poor lose homes
Latest News
Posted: Thursday, September 18, 2003
¤ No Evidence Iraq Stockpiled Smallpox
Flashback Iraq and North Korea Possess Smallpox, Intelligence Indicates
¤ Kennedy Says Case for Iraq War Was Fraud
Flashback Cheney is still paid by Pentagon contractor
¤ The Big Lie
Flashback Bush seeks to put UN 'face' on US oil grab
¤ Expired Israeli Foodstuffs Invade Iraqi Market
¤ What th...? So now he tells us: Bush admits no Iraqi link to Sept.11
¤ Do they think we're retarded?
¤ "Better in Middle East than in Middle America"
¤ Mistakes of Vietnam repeated with Iraq
¤ The Pakistan Squeeze
¤ Eighth Pillar of Wisdom? Iraq Is a Deep Morass
¤ Bush Doesn't Expect Quick U.N. Resolution on Iraq
¤ New Iraq army to cost U.S. $2 billion
¤ U.S. Sees $2 Billion Extra Aid for Afghanistan
¤ Blix attacks "spin and hype" over Iraq
¤ Explosion Reported at Iraq Oil Pipeline
¤ House-Senate Panel OKs $368B Defense Deal
¤ Israel trying to prevent U.S.-aid deduction from fence costs
¤ US troops die in Tikrit ambush
¤ Eight US soldiers killed in Iraqi ambush
¤ I Supported Terrorism
¤ Land of the Free, Home of the Slave
¤ Planet Full of Doofuses
¤ Hurricane George
¤ Why keep old lies around?
¤ The BBC, Self-Glorification And Disaster
¤ Monroe spin doctorin
¤ Multilateralism or not, Iraq is a mess
¤ Our role in the terror
¤ Blix backs BBC accusations of Iraq 'spin'
¤ Blix’s replacement doubts WMDs’ existence
¤ Iraq dumped WMDs years ago, says Blix
Flashback Iraq's Former Info Min Says Baghdad Had No WMD
Flashback Bush: No Evidence Saddam Involved in 9/11
¤ Bush Distances from Cheney on Saddam-9/11 Link
¤ The impact of Bush linking 9/11 and Iraq
¤ Awakening at Cancun
¤ How not to deal with Israel
¤ Russia rejects US pressure on N-cooperation with Iran
¤ US soldiers kill teenager at wedding in Iraq
¤ US soldier killed, four injured in Iraq
¤ Taliban claim capture of four US troops
¤ Unilateralism Disgraced
¤ Gilligan admits mistakes but still stands by his story
¤ Children suffer less from Sars
¤ Israeli Forces Kill Hamas Militant in Gaza
¤ Israeli Settlers convicted of trying to blow up Palestinian school
Flashback U.K. Breaks Own Arms Embargo, Sells to Israel Via U.S.
¤ US blacklists Russian arms firm selling to Iran
¤ U.S.-Led Forces Kill 11 Taliban Fighters
Latest News
Posted: Wednesday, September 17, 2003
¤ The Terrible Truth About Iraq
¤ Pre-emptive Strike's Predictable Outcome
¤ Cheney's misspeaking streak
¤ Holding Fire
¤ An American carrying out his duty in Iraq wonders aloud...
¤ Losing Dollars and Sense in Iraq
¤ Too Little of It on Iraq
¤ Wolfowitz Contradicts Cheney
¤ Bush clears Saddam of 9/11 attacks
Flashback Bush: Iraq, al Qaeda linked
Flashback 9/11 spurred war, Rumsfeld says
¤ An Administration That Thinks And Acts As A Child
¤ Is Iran Next? History Says it Shouldn't Be
¤ Iraqis' Bitterness Is Called Bigger Threat Than Terror
¤ Governments Are Mafias, War Is Their Racket
¤ Halliburton salary has nothing to do with $2 billion military contracts
Flashback Cheney denies helping old firm to contracts
¤ Bush: The Price Of Arrogance
¤ Arab countries asked the U.N.to call on Israel to halt threats
Flashback Israel Must Be Declared A Terrorist State
¤ Arafat shrugs off US veto of UN demand to Israel
¥ I guess Arafat is no longer surprised by the hypocrisy
¤ U.S. worried about revenge attacks
¥ Don't worry be Happy, you got the OIL
¤ Four US soldiers wounded in two attacks in Iraq
¤ Syria, Libya Listed as 'Rogue States'
¤ We Aren't the World
¤ The 'war on terror' and its paradoxes
¤ US vetoes UN resolution against Arafat’s exile
¤ Costello warns Sharon: don't expel Arafat
¤ No proof Iran developing N-weapons, says Russia
¤ Iranian test case
Flashback Iran given seven weeks to answer nuclear questions
Flashback Atomic Board Favors Giving Iran Deadline
¤ Quest for weapons in Iraq draws blank, says report
¤ Spy chief regrets '45 minute' Iraq weapons claim
¤ Senate rejects new US media laws
¤ Will the Media Let Bush Lose?
¤ US economic folly should worry us all
¤ Taliban police chief shot dead
¤ Six Americans, two Britons held in Iraq
¤ Blair, Schröder and Chirac to set new course for EU
¤ Bush's Big Blunder
¤ America's hegemony dream becomes nightmare
¤ What Bush Learned From Enron
¤ Big Difference 24 Hours Can Make in Cheney's Media Fantasy Parade!
Flashback Rumsfeld sees no link between 9/11 and Iraq
Flashback US says intelligence backs Iraq-al-Qaeda links
¤ US admits holding 10,000 Iraqi prisoners
Flashback Iraqi Leader Says U.S. Troops Mistreat Civilians
¤ U.S. Raids in Saddam's Hometown Leave Iraqis Angry
¤ Three Easy Pieces for Any Decent American
¤ Why US treads rough road toward UN backing in Iraq
¤ 10 killed in held Kashmir violence
¤ Kelly inquiry opens up official’s nerves
¤ Time for paradigm shift
¤ Types of intelligence
Latest News
Posted: Tuesday, September 16, 2003
¤ Lying his way to war: Crean's assault on PM
¤ Cheney link of Iraq, 9/11 challenged
¤ The Sweet Smell of Bullshit on Sunday Morning
¤ US Corporations Win from War in Iraq
¤ Bush at the UN
¤ US troops upgrade missile defense capability in South Korea
¤ U.S. Vetoes Resolution on Arafat at U.N.
¤ Cnn Gives Christiane 'Private' Dress Down
¤ The Press Self-muzzled' Its Coverage of Iraq War
¤ Soldier killed, 11 Iraqis hurt
¤ Afghans Protest Homes' Destruction
¤ Jordan orders freeze on Hamas accounts
¤ Troop movements baffle S. Korea, U.S.
¤ Saying 'No!' To The War In Iraq
¤ Defense team hit for Iraq failures
¤ Are You Feeling 'Dragged Along'?
¤ Is George Bush the most dangerous president in U.S. history?
¤ Why it's Good That the Trade Talks Broke Down
¤ 'Bush's Vietnam syndrome'
¤ 'Misspeak' first, correct it later
¤ Rethinking Iraq
¤ It all depends what you mean by 'have'
¤ Don't Believe All You Read About US Loathing of France
¤ And the winner is . . . Western arrogance
¤ Iranian test case
¤ Brussels urges shakeup of 'medieval' WTO
¤ WTO breakdown: Why the walkout?
¤ A threat to the rich
¤ Algerian pilot sues US over terror charges
¤ Soldier shot colleague in Kabul
¤ US nowhere near capturing bin Laden
¤ Just don't mention Saddam or bin Laden
¤ Under Blair, Britain has ceased to be a sovereign state
¤ Ariel, you're ruining our conspiracy!
¤ U.S. to withhold some funds from Israel
¥ Another slap on the hand or is it a handshake
¤ Israel criticised at United Nations for threat to Arafat
¤ Critics of Israel are not all bigots or foes
¤ The battle for hearts and minds
¤ Cheney denies helping old firm to contracts
¤ War and Red Ink
¤ Powell says Syria not doing enough on terrorism
¤ Senior U.S. Official to Level Weapons Charges Against Syria
¤ When will US hand over Iraq?
¤ Say no to troops deployment in Iraq
¤ Telling kids to say 'no' to war
¤ Dialogue or Clash Of Civilisations?
¤ Tennis stars mourn sister as man is held over killing
Latest News
Posted: Monday, September 15, 2003
¤ It Was the Oil and It Is Like Vietnam
¤ Bush's Big Blunder
¤ Does George Bush Cry?
¤ Assassinating Arafat
¤ The Luckiest Man in the World
¤ Bush's War on Terror Failing
¤ The War Party's Enablers: All of Us
¤ Powell's Baghdad Briefing Ignores High Price of Failure
¤ Ten Years Later, the World is Upside Down
¤ Hunt for trickster with George Bush bank notes
¤ Iraqi police chief killed
¤ Blair on Iraq Rack as Spy Chief Breaks Cover
¤ Powell, in Baghdad, Suggests That Critics 'Hold Their Fire'
¤ Blast wrecks Russian security building
¤ For Citizen Soldiers, an Unexpected Burden
¤ 6 US commandos feared dead
¤ Guerrillas Kill U.S. Soldier in Baghdad
¤ The Cost of Money
¤ Wrong war in the wrong place
¤ $1 billion international image campaign isn't enough to buy U.S. love
¤ 'Failure is not an option'
¤ Incompetence or evil?
¤ Secret Slaughter by Night, Lies and Blind Eyes by Day
¤ QWagmire
¤ Prioritizing Pakistan at the Expense of Afghanistan
¤ President Bush's Mis-State of the Union
Flashback One Thousand Reasons to dump George Bush
¤ The Latest Bush Gang Whoppers
¤ Two years on and what the f... ?
¤ On the slippery slope in Iraq
¤ Dialectics of Terror
¤ Imperial Sociopaths
¤ Betrayal of Trust
¤ Either Cheney is a Complete Liar or is Too Stupid to be Vice-President
¤ Original Transcript of Cheney's Meet The Press interview
Flashback Iraq takes a toll on Rumsfeld
Flashback Whatever you say, Mr. President, sir . . .
¤ Amanpour: CNN practiced self-censorship
¤ Ex-U.S. diplomat slams occupation of Iraq
¤ Global trade talks collapse in acrimony
¤ Bush can expect a hot welcome
¤ Powell flies in to Iraqi anger at deaths
¤ The war on terror is not a clash of cultures
¤ Mexican standoff: the west is rumbled
¤ Blow to world economy as trade talks collapse
¤ World trade talks collapse
¤ Catch 22
¤ 13 killed in held Kashmir violence
¤ U.S. actions send a bad signal to Africa
¤ U.S. May Seek More Aid for Iraq
¤ Powell rejects fast transfer of Iraq power
¤ Insurgents Kill American Soldier in Iraq
¤ China Upstages US at Nuclear Non-Proliferation Conference
¤ Arabs to raise Israel’s nukes issue in IAEA meeting
¤ 150,000 Chinese troops on N Korean border
¤ Japan warns that it will attack if North Korea aims missile
¤ Killing Arafat an option: deputy PM
¤ US role in Philippines after peace deal
¤ French diss
¤ 6 US commandos feared dead
¤ Concern Grows About the Course of War in Iraq
¤ Israel makes arrests, demolishes Palestinian homes
¤ Israeli sword hangs over Arafat
¤ U.S. expected to abstain from UN vote on deportation of Arafat
¤ Americans are objects of hatred in Falluja's mosques
Latest News
Posted: Sunday, September 14, 2003
¤ Clueless in Iraq
¤ Straw 'urged Blair not to go to war'
¤ Hain denies Straw made anti-war warning
¤ US renews French feud over Iraq
¤ UK and US clash with France again over Iraq
¤ France accused as UN summit on Iraq stalls
¤ Talks by U.N. Fail to Break Impasse on Iraq Self-Rule
¤ Victory? What victory?
¤ America's hidden battlefield toll
¤ Inability to communicate with GIs led to deadly incident
¤ Soldier Killed in Iraq Roadside Bombing
¤ Roadside bomb kills US soldier
¤ Resentment over Iraq rises as reservist families feel pinch
¤ US and Britain isolated as Iraq angrily buries its dead
¤ Drug craze is fuelling murder on streets of Iraqi capital
¤ It was an idyllic, peaceful night - then, boom!
¤ Taliban Destroy Afghan Police Station
¤ The damaging questions keep coming
¤ Iraqis Vow Revenge for Killings by U.S. Soldiers
¤ U.S. Soldiers Welcome Powell to Baghdad
¤ It's no secret: let he who is without spin...
¤ Bush Insists Strategy for Iraq Is 'Clear'
¤ US apologises for friendly fire killing in Fallujah
¤ In the public eye
¤ 23 killed in held Kashmir suicide attack, gunbattles
¤ Discrimen and the Mideast
¤ Can the UN handle Iraq?
¤ Israel slams world 'hypocrisy' over Arafat
¤ UN warns Israel: do not expel Arafat
¤ America set to torpedo trade talks
¤ Rich nations 'renege on pledge to reform trade and help poor'
¤ Mobiles 'make you senile'
¤ Brain beats all computers
¤ '1,000 flu cases in Beijing misdiagnosed as Sars'
¤ S. Korea Cleans Up After Typhoon Kills 84
Latest News
Posted: Saturday, September 13, 2003
¤ A mystery the US is in no hurry to resolve
¤ 87 Billion Apologies
¤ Powell Dismisses French "Unrealistic" Proposal On Iraq
¤ Thousands Attend Funeral Of Fallujah "Friendly Fire" Victims
¤ Latest Iraq casualty: Our national prestige
¤ Cowboy and country
¤ Narcissus in the White House
¤ Iraq quagmire? Plan working
¤ Iraq's Epic Suffering Is Made Invisible
Flashback ¤ Two Symbols of American Capitalist Hegemony
¤ US killing of eight Iraqi police fuels anger in troubled town
¤ U.S. troops kill 8 Iraqi policemen by mistake
¤ Eight Iraqis killed in 'friendly fire' mix-up
¤ Ten Iraqi Security Personnel Killed by U.S. Fire
Flashback China baulks at US Iraq plan
¤ China 'backsliding' on human rights: US
Flashback China overtook Britain and the US as a destination
> for foreign investment
¤ Support for Bush and war slumps
¤ Bush says 'no free nation can be neutral'
> in call for international support to help stabilise Iraq
¤ Scooping the poop
¤ Paying the bills for Iraq
¤ Powell to Visit Iraq After Geneva Meetings
¤ Crisis talks as poor nations stand firm
¤ Hugo Chavez Wins Recall Petition Battle
¤ Thousands of Children Rally for Arafat
¤ Masses rally round Arafat with a message of defiance for Israel
¤ Israeli threat of exile strengthens Arafat's hand
¤ Israel fumes as Arafat basks in international limelight
¤ Enough of war, enough of bloodshed. Enough
¤ What is driving the Indo-Israeli alliance?
¤ The Indo-Israel nexus
¤ Immigrants sue Spanish PM for claiming terror groups link
¤ Suspected Rebels Kill 4 Troops in Kashmir
¤ Typhoon Maemi Kills 42 in South Korea
¤ US data hit Bush's hopes
¤ For richer, for poorer
¤ Iran given seven weeks to answer nuclear questions
¤ Rafsanjani Blames UN Nuclear Watchdog for False Reports on Iran
¤ Dems Scrap Plans To Look Into Claims White House Manipulated Iraqi Intel
¤ The truth is out there
¤ Australia was told: war will fuel terror
¤ Terrorism stunt angers US officials
¤ Bomb suspects killed in shootout
¤ Europe must resist US dominance: ex-Spanish PM
¤ Two years down 'Insanity Avenue'
¤ Total now 294 after two U.S. soldiers killed
¤ Iran Deplores Assassination of Swedish FM
¤ Taliban plan guerilla tactics to frustrate US
Chavez Wins
Posted: Saturday, September 13, 2003
Hugo Chavez Wins Recall Petition Battle
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - President Hugo Chavez won another round in Venezuela's bitter power struggle as election authorities threw out an opposition petition for a referendum on ending his rule. The National Elections Council ruled Friday that opponents violated Venezuela's Constitution by conducting the petition drive before the midpoint of Chavez's six-year term - Aug. 19. Organizers collected more than 3 million signatures. It was another victory for a president who survived an April 2002 military coup attempt and a long general strike earlier this year that accelerated Venezuela's economic recession.
Remembering Chile's 9/11
Posted: Saturday, September 13, 2003
by Paul Street; September 10, 2003
"Close to Perfect:" A Different, Bloodier Nine-Eleven
The events of September 11th were horrific, tragic, and criminal on a monumental scale. Planes flew low over an American nation's leading city. Buildings erupted in flames. There was an official death toll of more than 3,000. Thousands of innocent people were ruthlessly slaughtered. Their loved ones were placed in horrible suspense, waiting to learn the fate of missing husbands, wives, sisters, cousins, and children. An American country was left in shock, with an uncertain future, as the perpetrators evaded capture and punishment. September 11th was a dark, bloody day of historic proportions. It was a prelude to regression, repression and heightened bloodshed.
Yes, the overthrow of the democratically elected government of Chile's president Salvadore Allende on September 11th, 1973 was a terrible watershed. The low-flying planes belonged to the Chilean Air Force. They came on the orders of Chilean General Augusto Pinochet to bomb La Moneda Presidential Palace, where Allende, a self-declared Marxist, killed himself before he could be assassinated. Hundreds of real and suspected Allende supporters were gunned down in Santiago's soccer stadium, fashioned into a torture center and concentration camp. Across the nation, in the streets and military detention centers, Pinochet's forces murdered 20,000 and tortured 60,000 in the first few months after 9/11/1973. One million Chileans were forced into exile. According to leading international relations analyst William I. Robinson, it was "the bloodiest coup in Latin-American history" (Robinson, Promoting Polyarchy: Globalization, US Intervention, and Hegemony [Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press, 1996], p. 46).
According to a report from Patrick Ryan, the US Naval Attaché stationed with the United States Military Group in Chile that black September, the coup was "close to perfect." It was, Ryan told his superiors, a great victory for "free men aspiring to goals which are to the benefit of Chile and not self-serving world Marxism." (Situation Report, Navy Section, United States Military Group, Valparaiso, Chile, October 1, 1973, available online at http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB8/ch21-01.htm)
This state-terrorist rampage targeted the left and the mass popular social movements ("Marxist" and otherwise) that brought Allende to power in September 1970. Chilean trade unions and other popular organizations were dismantled. Clinics serving the poor were closed down. Twenty-six newspapers and magazines were shuttered. Chilean state and society, exceptional among Latin American states in the degree or its respect for civic freedoms and bourgeois-democratic political institutions, was militarized at every level.
Next came the restructuring of Chile's political economy along "free market" lines, meaning state protection for the wealthy and savage market discipline for the poor. Land, factories, mines, and mills that had been put under public direction for public service were returned to their "rightful" owners, "rescued" for the noble pursuit of egoistic, capitalist profit. This was consistent with the counsel of University of Chicago economic "experts," who arrived to spread Milton Friedman's delusional notion that capitalism and democracy are identical phenomena.
The socioeconomic consequences of the new "freedom" and "democracy" were striking. As the Chilean rich got richer during the first ten years of Pinochet's rule, the number of Chileans living below the official poverty line rose from 17 to 40 percent. The related slashing of health expenditures and programs led to an explosion of poverty-related diseases at the bottom of Chile's increasingly steep pyramid. Those who questioned the policies leading to these aristocratic outcomes did so at the risk of torture and murder by the fascist "free market" state.
"In Our Own Best Interests": Saving Chile from the "Irresponsibility" of Its Own People
It was all carried out to the applause and with the assistance and political cover of the US power elite. When the American ambassador to Chile expressed misgivings about Pinochet's use of torture, he received a sharp rebuke from US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who oversaw US covert actions and made sure that the ambassador was kept out of the "black-ops" loop during the early 1970s. For Kissinger and President Richard Nixon, humanitarian concerns were irrelevant. The higher Cold War goal was to protect global capitalism and American multinational corporate interests from the virus of "Marxism." Stated more accurately, the purpose was to crush the contagious notion that national social and economic policy should and could be conducted with collective and egalitarian purposes and national self-determination in mind. Kissinger seems to have been most concerned with the demonstration effect successful Chilean left-democratic governance might have on Italy, where left parties were in a position to make gains within the existing parliamentary political system.
Upon learning of Allende's election in 1970, Nixon informed Kissinger and CIA Director Richard Helms that the newly elected government of Chile was "unacceptable." He instructed his dark foreign policy stars to devise a scheme for keeping Allende out of office. "Not concerned risks involved," read Helms' notes on Nixon's instruction. "No involvement of the embassy. $10,000,000 available, more if necessary. Full-time job - best men we have...Make the economy scream. 48 hours for plan of action."
Kissinger saw "no reason," he once remarked, that the US should stand by and let a nation "go Marxist" because "its people are irresponsible." Consistent with that judgment, Kissinger and the CIA were centrally involved in efforts to de-stabilize and overthrow the Allende regime through various means, including military force. This pivotal, illegal US intervention in Chile's internal affairs is now a matter of voluminous documentary and scholarly record, much of which can be perused in a number of sources listed in an Appendix at the end of this article.
One year after the US-instigated coup, President Gerald Ford - in the oval office thanks to some domestic White House "black ops" that garnered unfavorable attention in the imperial homeland (Watergate) - claimed that US actions in installing Pinochet were "in the best interests of the people of Chile and certainly in our own best interests."
Historical Connections
Twenty-eight years to the day after Chile's 9/11, the world witnessed a different, more spectacular form of unimaginable violence, broadcast live on national TV, with different ideological and geo-political parameters. The culprits were almost certainly based in the extremist Islamic terror networks of the Middle East.
There are some interesting, dark connections, however, between these two Nine-Elevens. The US policy of deterring democracy and social justice in the perceived interest of US multinational corporations and world capitalism was hardly restricted to Chile and the official Cold War era (1945-1991). In pursuit of the same basic goals that informed the US/Pinochet coup, the US has supported and in some cases conducted anti-democratic coups against excessively (from a US perspective) "left" governments (any state that proposed to encourage development of its sovereign territory in significant autonomy from the US-dominated world capitalist economic system) in Syria (1949), Iran (1953), Iraq (1963), Indonesia (1965), and Greece (1967). It provided massive economic and military assistance to authoritarian Middle Eastern regimes that suppressed democratic and left opposition and kept their domestic economies open to foreign and especially US corporate penetration and domination. It armed Israel, waged war and enforced a deadly, decade-long sanctions campaign against Iraq, stationed troops indefinitely in the Islamic Holy Land, and provided cover for Israel's prolonged, racist annexation of Palestinian territory. The US funded the Arab far-right, supporting arch-reactionary Islamic extremists like Osama bin Laden, valued as weapons in the same Cold War that provided cover for the US campaign to crush national self-determination, democracy, and social justice in places like Iran, Vietnam, Nicaragua, and Chile.
By largely eliminating the left, undercutting democracy, and generally subjecting regional developments to imperial fiat both during and after the official Cold War, the US shrunk the available space for "normal" (Western-style/parliamentary) airing of social, political and related international grievances in the Middle East. This, in turn, brought "blowback" (an internal CIA term for the unintended consequences of secret US foreign policies) from America's imperial periphery to the skies and streets of New York City and Washington DC, where Pinochet's henchmen (part of a CIA-sponsored team of international assassins code-named "Operation Condor") killed a former Allende supporter and his American driver (Olando Letelier and Randy Moffit) in 1976. How darkly appropriate, then, that George W. Bush attempted to put Kissinger, a leading perpetrator in the state-terrorist events of 9/11/73, at the head of a federal commission to investigate US security lapses prior to 9/11/2001, which opened the door for new levels of US and US-sponsored state terrorism.
Worthy and Unworthy 9/11s
Of course, only a tiny percentage of the US population knows about Chile's 9/11, for reasons that go beyond obvious gaps of time, geography, and language. A relevant explanatory text here is the second chapter, titled "Worthy and Unworthy Victims," of Noam Chomsky and Ed Herman's Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of The Mass Media (New York, NY: Pantheon, 1988), published as the Cold War was nearing its partial conclusion with the collapse of the Soviet deterrent (itself part of the context for 9/11/2001) to American global ambitions. "A propaganda system," the authors noted, "will consistently portray people abused in enemy states as worthy victims, whereas those treated with equal or greater severity by its own government or clients will be unworthy." Identified with the official US Cold War "enemy" force of socialism or Marxism - really social egalitarianism and national self-determination (still the basic adversaries of US policy in the "post-Cold-War era") - Pinochet's victims have only recently attained a small measure of historical worthiness in dominant US corporate-state media. This slight retrospective legitimacy comes far too long after the terrible facts. It is no match for the worthiness bestowed on the most officially precious victims in US History: the Americans who died on the only 9/11 that matters in a nation that drifts through history in a dangerous fog of selective, top-down remembrance.
Paul Street (pstreet@cul-chicago.org) will speak on "State-Run Media" on Friday, September 26, 2003 at a conference titled "Is Our Media Serving Us?" at Columbia College, Hokin Annex, 623 S. Wabash, Chicago, IL, 12:45 PM.
Appendix: Selected Sources on US Involvement in 9/11/73 and Related Developments in Chile
US Senate, Select Committee to Study Government Operations With Respect to Intelligence Activities, Covert Action in Chile, 1963-1973 (Washington DC: Government Printing Office, 1975); United States Congress, Select Committee to Study Government Operations With Respect to Intelligence Activities, Interim Report: Alleged Assassination Plots Involving Foreign Leaders, 94th Congress, 1st Session, November 10, 1975 (Washington DC: Government Printing Office, 1975); William Blum, The CIA: A Forgotten History (London: Zed, 1986), pp. 232-243; Seymour M. Hersh, "The Price of Power: Kissinger, Nixon, and Chile," Atlantic Monthly, 250 (1982), no. 6, 21-58; Poul Jensen, The Garotte: The United States and Chile, 1970-73 (Aarhus, Denmark: Aarhus University Press, 1988); Christopher Hitchens, The Trial of Henry Kissinger (New York, NY: Verso, 2001), pp. 55-76; "Why Is the U.S. Mum About Pinochet?," CNN.com (November 25, 1998), available online at http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/europe/9811/25/pinochet.us/; National Security Archives, The Chile Documentation Project (2000-2001), available online at http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/latin_america/chile.htm.
Reproduced with permission from Paul Street
http://www.zmag.org/
Inequality Before and After 9/11
Posted: Saturday, September 13, 2003
by Paul Street
I'll always remember the day I tried to engage in that silly exercise called "speaking truth to power." It was early December of 2001. My topic was American policymakers' decision to place nearly a million black people behind bars and to mark more than one in three black males with a felony record. As a member of a Chicago-based council of advisers working to help ex-offenders "reintegrate" into the "free world," I was invited to a pleasant conference room to give my thoughts on these matters to Matt Bettenhausen, Illinois' "Deputy Governor for Criminal Justice and Public Safety." Along with eight other council members, I presented facts and reflections on the vicious circle of racially disparate mass incarceration. Among other things, I noted that there were nearly 20,000 more black males in the Illinois state prison system than the number of black males enrolled in the state's public universities. There were more black males in the state's correctional facilities just on drug charges, I added, than the total number of black males enrolled as undergraduates in Illinois state universities.
Bettenhausen, who hails from a local family of accomplished racecar drivers, arrived in time only for the last talk. He apologized for his lateness, explaining that he had been meeting with the state's Attorney General to discuss the "War On Terrorism." His eyes beamed with pride as he told us how much busier he had become since his appointment as the state's "first-ever Homeland Security Coordinator." With an American flag pin prominently displayed on his lapel, he regaled us with the latest reports on the United States military campaign in Afghanistan. He was clearly relishing his new supposed importance in the battle between planetary good and evil. "Wow," a fellow presenter muttered, "he watches CNN."
After thus communicating the relative insignificance of our issue at this moment of sweeping global consequence, Bettenshausen told us that then Illinois governor George Ryan would not be reversing his recent decision to eliminate higher education and vocational training for prisoners from the state's budget. These cuts, he claimed, were compelled by the "post-September economic downturn" – a dubious dating of an overdue correction in the capitalist business cycle.
Tires squealing, he apologized for racing off to another meeting related to "the war on terror." I was instantly reminded of James Madison's comment that "the fetters imposed on liberty at home have ever been forged out of the weapons provided for defense against real, pretended, or imaginary dangers from abroad." Another phrase also came to mind: plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose (the more things change, the more they stay the same).
"Everything Changed"
According to a great national myth propagated by the in-power right wing War Party and its allies and enablers in the dominant state-corporate media, "everything changed" on September 11, 2001. Before 9/11, this authoritarian narrative runs, Americans lived in peaceful division, pleasantly but naively stuck in their own little prosperous domestic spheres. We were cheerfully but innocently blind to the dangers of a still-precarious world and to the related greatness and vulnerability of our nation. We were too preoccupied with our busy little lives to grasp our creeping moral decline, epitomized by the sexual transgressions and lies of Bill Clinton.
Thanks to 9/11, we have lost our innocence and awakened to our national magnificence and the related threats we face from bad people who hate and envy our freedom and prosperity. United We Stand: we have transcended old divisions in shared allegiance to the "war on terrorism" – a new crusade against a new semi-permanent Evil Other that is the true replacement for Cold War predecessors in Moscow and Beijing. We have been morally, politically, and spiritually toughened, unified, and regenerated by violence: our own and that of our "freedom"-hating enemies.
Racially Disparate Residential Neo-liberalism
How curious, then, to pick up the "Metro" section of a recent (August 6th) issue of my leading local newspaper – The Chicago Tribune. The front page contains a photograph of 15 well-dressed white people relaxing in a plush and very predominantly Caucasian North Side neighborhood (Lincoln Park). They are positioned to permit a photographer to re-create George Seurat's late 19th century painting, titled "Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte."
It's a perfect image of bourgeois calm and oblivious, self-satisfied, imperial repose. The photograph, the Tribune reports, will be used for a "recruitment poster" by the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, which does not seem terribly interested in attracting student's from the city and metropolitan area's large African-American population.
Things are a bit more stressful in another, blacker part of town. Further down on the same page of the same section, we can read the results of a recent research report on 1,587 African-Americans living in the decrepit Ida B. Wells housing project on the city's South Side. More than half of the households there have incomes less than $5,000. Less than a fourth of the heads of those households are employed. According to the Urban Institute, 1,000 people living at Wells may end up homeless as a result of the city's imminent demolition of the project. There's an endemic shortage, the Institute notes, of affordable housing for the project's residents and indeed for poor people throughout the city. Only a small number of the displaced will qualify to live in the "mixed income" dwellings the city will build where the facility used to sit.
This is terrible, but it's an old story. Since the early- and mid-90s, public authorities have been demolishing public housing projects with only minimal attention to the needs and limited resources of predominantly black public housing residents. The Chicago version is called the "Chicago Housing Authority Transformation Plan," a local monument to the market worshipping, privilege-friendly philosophy of global corporate neo-liberalism. Pushing disadvantaged inner-city residents and the idea of social justice to the remote margins of public concern, that philosophy holds that markets make the best decisions, that social action to improve your situation is self-defeating and silly, and that the best and only way to succeed in life is as a sovereign individual consumer and investor in a "free market society." Its triumph was proclaimed "inevitable" ("there is no alternative") by leading architects of American policy and opinion long before lunatics from a distant US-protected oil sheikdom turned flying gasoline-filled symbols (and agents) of petroleum-addicted corporate globalization into weapons of mass destruction.
As researchers and activists pointed out long before the jetliner attacks "changed everything," the available stock of such housing in Chicago is insufficient to absorb the displaced public housing population. That population is "free" to be homeless, thanks to the working of economic forces that carry social costs of secondary concern to local policymakers. Those policymakers, including the Mayor, are beholden to commercial and real estate property developers seeking to remove poor black inner city residents from choice urban investment locations. Those locations are slated for predominantly white professionals, who want to live and shop in proximity to their offices in downtown Chicago, a leading headquarters for heavily state-subsidized and global corporations like the Boeing Corporation, which equips such marvelous adventures in democratic free-market progress as the terrorist occupation of Palestine (1948 to the present) and the bombings of Baghdad (both pre- and post-9/11) and (pre-9/11) Belgrade.
Correctional Continuities
Another story on the exact same Tribune page also indicates that some situations remain "normal" in the post-September 11 era. It notes that seven inmates, mostly black, were recently beaten with pool cues by guards at the city's giant Cook County Jail. How pre-9/11: this is the third such high-profile incident reported in the last four years at Cook County. The latest revelations come just days after Cook County States' Attorney Richard Devine – notorious in the black community for his habit of putting innocent African-Americans on death row – announced that he would not file charges in connection with the beating of five shackled Cook County inmates in July 2000. Meanwhile, federal investigators are conducting a civil-rights violation investigation into an alleged mass beating involving 40 guards at the same jail in 1999.
Last July, the Chicago public was momentarily shocked – these things pass, as the media moves on – to learn of a terrible accident on Interstate 57, south of Chicago. Several blacks and Hispanics were critically injured and two died when a van rolled over while carrying 18 Chicagoans to visit loved ones warehoused in racially disparate mass penitentiaries located in the southern part of Illinois. Terrible, but not new: on January 26th of 2001, almost 9 months before "everything changed," a Salvation Army van carrying eleven people on Interstate 55 south of Chicago collided with a tractor-trailer, killing all ten of the van's passengers and its driver. Ten of the dead were Black and one was Hispanic. The van was part of a regular service that took people from Chicago's predominantly black West Side to visit relatives and mates doing time in state prison.
After both crashes, nobody in the local media or politics had much to say about the relationship between the victims' race and the nature of the van's destination. There were no connections made between the tragedy and the state's policy decision to dramatically increase the number of prisoners in Illinois – mostly black and from the Chicago area – from 27,000 in 1990 to nearly 47,000 in 2000 (even as crime fell) and its related building of 11 new mass correctional facilities in Illinois during the same period; massive job-programs for de-industrialized downstate whites that are placed at increasingly vast distances from the "offenders'" home communities (See Paul Street, The Vicious Circle: Race, Prison, Jobs and Community in Chicago, Illinois, and the Nation, Chicago: Chicago Urban League, October 2002).
Last Hired, First Fired
Speaking of jobs, an excellent recent front-page article in the Tribune notes that mass lay-offs enacted during the curiously "jobless" Bush "recovery" have hit Chicago's black population especially hard. Blacks "feel frozen out of the work world," as local activist Eddie Read told the Tribune. The feeling among black workers and job applicants, the paper explains, is very different from the late 1990s, when increased labor demand significantly cut black unemployment, even among lesser-skilled inner city workers. It is worth noting, however, that the black unemployment rate (18.2 percent) was more than four times higher than the white unemployment rate (less than 5 percent) even at the peak of the "Clinton boom" – which "lifted more yachts than rowboats" as the Tribune noted last year. Also meriting mention is the fact that Chicago area job growth in the booming 90s was dramatically higher in white communities than in black communities (see The Color of Job Growth, a 2002 report of the Chicago Urban League). Here we are dealing with continuities that go back much further than 9/11. They reach back further than the Great Depression, when blacks were the "last hired and first hired" for neither the first nor the last time in American history.
Ghetto Lives
To more directly sense the rich continuities of racial homeland inequality in Chicago before and after "everything changed," you don't need to read newspapers or studies. You can drive west out of the city's downtown on Madison Avenue, past the stadium that Michael Jordan built (the United Center) and into the heart of desperately impoverished West Side neighborhoods like North Lawndale and West and East Garfield. A large number of teen and younger adult males gather on street corners. Most of them are part of the city's large and very disproportionately black concentration – estimated at 97,000 strong in 2001 by the Center for Labor Market Studies (Northeastern University) – of "disconnected youth," 16- to 24-years olds who are both out of school and out of work. Many of them are clearly enrolled in gang organizations and engaged in the narcotics trade. Many of them have already served or will soon serve as raw material for the aforementioned "downstate" prison industry. Older unemployed males, many unrecorded in the nation's official unemployment statistics (their "discouraged" status means they are no longer actively participating in the labor force), congregate around liquor stores and missions. The endemic stress, disappointment, and danger of inner-city life is etched on their faces.
Equally evident is the relative absence of retail facilities, services, and institutions that are standard in richer, whiter neighborhoods: full-service modern grocery stores, drugstores, bookstores, restaurants, doctors, dentists, lawyers, dry-cleaners, banks, personal investment and family insurance stores, boutiques, coffee shops, and much more. Businesses and homes are visibly dilapidated, with many of the former relying on hand-painted signs to advertise their wares. Local business owners, many of whom are Arab, protect their enterprises from burglary with bars and gated shutters. Pawnshops and barebones storefront churches are widely visible, as are liquor stores and currency exchanges advertising super-exploitive Payday loans. Taxicabs are scarce and those that do serve the neighborhoods are generally low-budget, fly-by-night "jitney" firms.
The small number of whites seen in these neighborhoods and their South Side counterparts are males working in traditional working-class "jobs that pay" – street and sewer repair, construction trades, firemen, and the like – that appear to be unavailable to black males.
Police cars cruise warily, their occupants donning bullet-proof vests deemed necessary in waging the war on drugs in neighborhoods where people with felony records outnumber legitimate jobs.
This is pretty much how these neighborhoods looked and felt before 9/11. Truth be told, they look a lot like they did in the 1960s, even before the riots that are supposed to have taken away their vitality, actually stolen by a process of disinvestment that was already well underway.
Accelerated Continuity
How have things changed since 9/11 in these neighborhoods? Simply put, the core continuities of human suffering and hopelessness have been accelerated. Things have gotten worse at a quickened pace, thanks in large part to the racially disparate joblessness of the current recovery. Also part of the unpleasant equation is 9/11 itself, or more accurately the official, right-led public and media response to the terror attacks. September 11th gave the radical-right Bush junta – falsely labeled conservative – a precious opportunity to divert public attention away from the causes and consequences of urban inequality, to starve, cripple, and pre-empt programs that might alleviate the suffering caused by racism and related socioeconomic inequality, and to conflate dissent with treason. These masters of war at home and abroad have seized on the opportunity with all deliberate speed, consistent with the timeworn conduct of concentrated power, before and since "everything changed." Empire abroad has always been and remains both reflection and agent of inequality and repression at home.
Paul Street is an urban social policy researcher in Chicago, Illinois. His book Empire Abroad, Inequality at Home: Essays on America and the World Since 9/11 (Paradigm Publishers) will be available next year.
Originally published on:
http://www.blackcommentator.com/55/55_think_street.html
Latest News
Posted: Friday, September 12, 2003
¤ Fiscal immorality
¤ Expanding Power, Gutting Liberty
¤ Exploiting the Dead
¤ Michael Moore to Wesley Clark: Run!
¤ Some Other Things You Might do with $87 Billion
¤ A Knife to the Heart WTO Kills Farmers
¤ Free Trade Is War
¤ US Truth And Justice Commission Needed
¤ Iraq: Creating a Threat Where None Existed
¤ Declare Victory and Leave
¤ Ozone hole is bigger than it has ever been
¤ Bushmire
¤ Exploiting the Atrocity
¤ Times Change, Principles Don't
¤ US troops kill Iraqi police
¤ Wolfowitz Shifts Rationales on Iraq War
¤ Two soldiers killed
¤ Disaster in the Making
¤ Osama bin Forgotten: Bush under fire over bin Laden, Iraq
¤ Bush is paying the price for his historical illiteracy
¤ Last Rights
¤ White House/Exxon link
¤ Ed Koch: Bush Haters Should be 'Horsewhipped'
¤ Report reveals Blair overruled terror warning
¤ America has changed - for the worse
¤ Israel's move will explode entire area, says new PM
¤ A lesson in the dangers of hubris
Flashback Israeli Shipping Co move from World Trade Center 2 wks before 9/11
¤ Overlapping Flashpoints in Eurasia
¤ Blair’s dark cabal
¤ PM ignored intelligence advice on Iraq
¤ Want to know why 'terrorists' hate the US?
¤ World leaders unite behind Arafat
¤ Decision to expel Arafat sparks protests
¤ US refuses to concede grip on Iraq
¤ Iraq/US money for 9/11 pay-off ruled out
¤ Perhaps now Sweden will wake up to the new realities
¤ The price she paid
¤ Israelis threaten to exile Arafat
¤ Rejoinder from Israel
¤ Oil thrills but kills
¤ GIs Mistakenly Shoot Iraq Police Officers
¤ GIs Mistakenly Kill 11 Iraqi Officers
¤ 'Iraq policemen killed' in friendly fire tragedy
¤ Three US soldiers hurt in Iraq
¤ Atomic Board Favors Giving Iran Deadline
¤ Farmer who got a hearing by paying the ultimate price
¤ Punching above their weight
¤ Bin Laden video is compilation of repeats, says expert
¤ UN cleared to end Libya sanctions
¤ France urges America to change tack
¤ The perils of fighting 'terror'
¤ How Washington Sold Our Soul for Saudi Crude.
¤ Exploiting the Atrocity
¤ Making Terrorists
¤ Returning From Iraq War Not So Simple for Soldiers
¤ Beijing lashes out at ‘distorted’ US view of Chinese military might
¤ China bids to stop Sars re-run
Flashback China leads for foreign investors
Latest News
Posted: Thursday, September 11, 2003
¤ White House Had Plan For Al Qaeda
¤ Maps And Charts Of Iraqi Oilfields
¤ Swedish FM Dies Of Stab Wounds After Attack
> Swedish Foreign Minister Anna Lindh, a key advocate
> of the Palestinian cause and boycott of Israel
¤ What Can $87 Billion Buy?
¤ Can Israel Maintain its Nuclear Superiority in the Middle East?
¤ Why Don't We Have Answers To These 9/11 Questions?
¤ Bush Backs Pressure on Palestinian Militants
¤ Jerusalem Post Says: "Kill Arafat"
¤ Truth Is Scarce
¤ Where From Here?
¤ Spinning Sept. 11 Into a Useful Political Ploy
¤ Bush Resignation Hailed by World Leaders
¤ Three Tragic Sept. 11ths
¤ How the 'War on Terror' Has Brought Only More War and More Terror
¤ Surplus Of Lies And Tax Cuts
¤ Bush's Counterterror Proposals Could Be a Hard Sell
¤ Big shootout west of Fallujah
¤ BAE denies existence of £20m slush fund
¤ Rumsfeld Says More G.I.'s Would Not Help U.S. in Iraq
¤ Kingdom’s Trade With US Has Surged Since Sept. 11
¤ Bush eating words on war's end
¤ The Same Old Mindless Mantras
¤ A Grandiose Folly
¤ Media Must Explain Lack of 9/11-Saddam Link
¤ The Pinochet Files
¤ The Other, Almost Forgotten 9/11
¤ State Terrorism and September 11, 1973 & 2001
¤ The Political Capital of 9/11
¤ Another fine mess
¤ Angry Iraqis tell of U.S. troops making fatal errors
¤ Foreign views of U.S. darken since Sept. 11
¤ Bush Resignation Hailed by World Leaders
¤ Misconnecting the dots
¤ No Awe in Baghdad and Shock Is Creeping Into Washington
¤ 'War on Terror' veils assaults on the environment
¤ War on Terrorism
¤ Calling a Lie a Lie
¤ Two 9/11s, one story
> To understand better what happened in New York in 2001,
> go back to Chile in 1973
¤ Misperceptions abound in US
¤ Poor farmers' mass show of strength
¤ A Look at U.S. Daily Deaths in Iraq
¤ 1973 coup in Chile Flash
¤ Two years on, is the world a different place?
¤ Suicide bombing at US spy base in northern Iraq
¤ 9/11: Tip of the iceberg
¤ They made a mess of Nigeria...
¤ Wurgggh churrgh gok! Freddie's back
¤ Iraq inquiry leak leaves Hoon at the precipice
¤ Pakistan must stay away from another ‘US jihad’
¤ Why the war on terror is not going well
¤ We were told that life would change for ever.
¤ We're Not Happy Campers
¤ The roadmap of human folly
¤ Terrorism and the battle of wits
¤ Washington's policies veering off course
¤ The UN pays in blood
¤ Saudi Arabia dismisses Israeli allegations
¤ Calls for Blair to resign
¤ Southeast Asia counts its costs
Latest News
Posted: Wednesday, September 10, 2003
¤ Bush's New War Lies
¤ How dumb do they think we are?
¤ Bush's Conceptual Blunders
¤ Solving The Enigma Of Bush’s Character
¤ Stuck Like Lyndon
¤ Not Next Month or Next Year
¤ The Invisible War
¤ The Scourge of Militarism
¤ Thinking Beyond Our Own Self-interest
¤ Administration is Risking a 'Tipping Point'
¤ Hamas Leader Survives Israeli Air Strike
¤ Forces Strained in Iraq Mission, Congress Is Told
¤ Witness claims newsman killed by U.S. helicopter in SECOND attack
¤ New Film of Osama Bin Laden Is Shown
¤ American Misperceptions
¤ Welcome: this way for cluster bombs
¤ Russia calls for independent government in Iraq
¤ Strategy on Pyongyang is wrong, Bush told
¤ Suicide bomber kills three in Iraq
¤ Protesters disrupt Rumsfeld speech
¤ The First Victims of the US State
¤ Fixing Iraq Bush's way won't make America safer
¤ Two die as Israel continues careless assassination policy
¤ Another Phony Justification for Invading Iraq
¤ Skewed priorities make us less safe
¤ Why Congress should vote no on the $87 billion check for occupation
¤ Have thugs will travel
¤ Knifeman Stabs Swedish Foreign Minister
Flashback: ¤ Swedish Foreign minister angers Israel with comments
¤ Israel targets Hamas leader
¤ Alarm in south-east Asia as tests confirm Sars case
Flashback China leads for foreign investors
¤ Suicide Attacker Set Off Iraq Car Bomb
¤ The president must take responsibility for the problems in Iraq
¤ America's dirty torture secret
¤ Gunfire at embassy in Iran
¤ Left holding the baby
¤ The Pinochet files
¤ Indians protest at Sharon visit
¤ Sharon's passage to India rings alarm bells in Pakistan
¤ Palestinians pay for Indian ambitions
¤ The down side of cozying up to Israel
¤ Straw admits he wanted 'killer' words in dossier
¤ US has no idea when troops will pull out of Iraq
¤ For every $1 we give in aid, we take $2 through unfair trade
¤ American professor says arrest is unlawful
¤ The Stench, Two Years On
Flashback This is Going to Hurt
¤ Iraq’s weapons declaration may have been true: Blix
¤ Taliban kill four Afghan ‘soldiers’
¤ America's world
¤ Sleeping with the enemy
¤ 13 killed in held Kashmir
¤ US soldier killed in attack on tanker convoy
¤ Suicide bombings kill 15 in Israel
¤ The US is trying to have its cake and eat it too!
¤ Back to square one
¤ The president's character
¤ Bush is all for sacrifices - by other people
¤ America's blocked message
¤ Stuck in a terrible fiscal state
Latest News
Posted: Tuesday, September 9, 2003
¤ Less Secure, Isolated and Dead Broke
¤ A Shell Game on the American Electorate
¤ White House Bawds Breed New Terror
¤ Thugs in Business Suits
Flashback Israel and Iran: Covert friends?
¤ Venezuela says OPEC will exclude Iraq until it is recognized by the U.N.
¤ Will blow everybody for $87 billion Cartoon
¤ Victims' Kin, Bush Take Different Paths
¤ The Sunday Night Presidential Address
¤ How the Bush Administration's Opposition to the I.C.C
> Has Put Peacekeepers and Others in Danger
¤ Other People's Sacrifice
¤ Considering Iraq, Democracy, Free Labor
¤ Political Jeopardy over Korea, Iraq
¤ Who's Winning the War on Terror? Sorry, George
¤ The President's Address: A Suggested Script
¤ Metaphor
¤ Spy Agencies Warned of Iraq Resistance
¤ Will Press Roll Over Again on New WMD Report?
¤ Arms Fair Protestors' Big 'No Tanks'
¤ Homemade Bombs Bedevil Troops
¤ Hamas claims two deadly bombings
¤ Bush stakes future on stable Iraq
¤ In Panic Mode Full Reversal
¤ He must admit the error of his ways
¤ You know, $87 billion is a lot of money
¤ Bush tries to sell same old soap
¤ Will Congress ever ask the right questions
¤ Senators challenge Pentagon on Iraq postwar planning
¤ Path of Lies: 9/11 to Iraq
¤ Rumsfeld Is Muted On Weapons Hunt
¤ Deja vu all over again
¤ Bush changes strategy with $87bn gamble
¤ The price tag in Iraq
¤ More Than 100 Killed in Nigeria Bus Crash
¤ Deadly diplomacy
¤ Straw implicated in the naming of Kelly
¤ The United States of Anxiety
¤ Larson Visits Iraq
Flashback White House insider cleans up Bush's image on film
¤ 78% of Bush's Postwar Spending Plan Is for Military
¤ 11 killed in held Kashmir violence
¤ Endgame or another farce?
¤ US looking for push-buttons in Iraq
¤ Australia exempt as Bush seeks more help in Iraq
¤ Bush's strength as wartime leader looking like liability
¤ Reserve Tours Are Extended
¤ No reason to continue dialogue with US: N Korea
¤ Oil pipeline to Turkey attacked again in Iraq
¤ Israel and India join forces
¤ Suspicion falls on Chechens for Iraqi blasts
¤ Britain dispatches 1,200 more troops to Iraq
Latest News
Posted: Monday, September 8, 2003
¤ Bush wants $87,000,000,000 more to continue Operation Quagmire
¤ The Bush Speech Spinning a Fiasco
¤ Through Eyes of Foreigners The US Political Crisis
¤ Of Dialogue and Assassination Off With Their Heads!
¤ Bush and the Echo Chamber Globalizing the Whirlwind
¤ All This Could Have Been Prevented
¤ Weapons of Mass Destruction in Our Midst
¤ The War in Iraq is Not Over and Neither Are the Lies to Justify It
¤ What About the 90-day Occupation?
¤ Letter from Baghdad: The Progress of Disaster
¤ Perpetual War, Waste
¤ No U-Turn On The Road To Empire
Flashback ¤ Powell's Remarks to the United Nations Security Council
¤ War may have turned Iraq into a hub for terrorists
¤ Oval Office outrages just keep coming
¤ About Face
¤ I love my country. I hate my president
¤ George, Ariel, Bill and Roy: Setting 'examples
¤ Bush Struggles With Iraq Burdens
¤ Signs of desperation
¤ Great New Book
¤ The imperial retreat begins
¤ Attacks Beset Afghan Girls' Schools
¤ U.S. Officer Says Operation Taking Toll on Taliban
¤ Five Afghan Soldiers Killed in Ambush
¤ Allies Don't Jump at Bush Call for Funds
¤ The UN has fed a monster that now threatens it and everyone else
¤ Kill unarmed civilians then lie through your teeth
¤ Bush Shifts War Rationale From Iraqi Arms
¤ Setting The Terror Trap
¤ Iraq isn't working
¤ Eleven Wounded in Fresh Attack on Gaza
¤ Amnesty International Examines Israel
¤ IDF refuses to clear mines from land for Arab school in J'lem
¤ Combat in Colombia Kills 7 Soliders
¤ Debate Grows Over Israeli Target Killings
¤ Fear of $80bn Iraq bill moves Bush to address nation
¤ Bush pleads for cash, UN support
¤ US woos Europe as costs force Iraq U-turn
¤ Bush bid to steady Iraq jitters
¤ This is really a war on dissenters
¤ Protests at arrest of al-Jazeera reporter
¤ Afghanistan echoes with anti-US calls
¤ Iran’s regime poses difficult problem for the world: Rice
¤ Nuclear pressure could backfire, Iran warns US
¤ No sex please, you're American
¤ Selling death in London
¤ The torturers' picnic
¤ Tony Blair will be reminded daily that you only live once
¤ Curfew that targets teenage Aborigines is criticised as racist
¤ When dogma meets democracy
¤ U.S. objects to Israel's Arrow deal with India
¤ Israeli PM Sharon due in India to cement fast-growing alliance
¤ 'Gates of Hell' threat sparks Israeli alert
¤ IDF wants to continue striking in Gaza, despite failed attack
¤ Powell pledges renewed Mideast effort as US frowns on Israeli raid
¤ In Iraq, one incident, two stories
Latest News
Posted: Sunday, September 7, 2003
¤ Iraq has become bloody mess
¤ From Swagger to Stagger
¤ Hungary sweats over US plans for Iraqi camp
¤ Day by day, the noose tightens round No 10
¤ U.S. Homeland Security Is Struggling
¤ British PM Blair should quit
¤ Seven soldiers wounded in Iraq attacks
¤ US keeps it quiet for second 9/11 anniversary
¤ Afghans See U.S.-Backed Warlords As Enemy
¤ Powell Urges Palestinians to Fight Terror
¤ Sharon says Hamas leaders are marked for death
¤ Hat in hand
¤ Blunder after blunder in US foreign policy
¤ A family, maimed and then forgotten
¤ A far diminished republic
¤ Get the facts straight, Fox friends
¤ The Rhetoric of Fear
¤ Purported Al Qaeda Audio Tape Promises More Attacks
¤ Chemical attack drill on the Tube
¥ Britian and the U.S keep their population in fear
¤ Rumsfeld Lashes Out at Iraqi Critics
¤ Bush poll numbers hit new low
¤ What should the Dems say after Bush's speech?
¤ Cost of Empire": the high price of U.S. policies
¤ 'Two more straws'
¤ The UN should just say 'no'
¤ Britain and US will back down over WMDs
¤ Two yrs after the attacks, has the war on terror made the world safer?
¤ Bush seeks an exit strategy as war threatens his career
¤ Peace plan in turmoil as Palestinian PM resigns and Israel attacks
¤ EU asks Israel to end violance
¤ Israel braces for 'gates of hell' revenge attack
¥ Israel setting the stage for another 'attack'?
¤ UN divided over plea by the US
¤ Sending extra British troops 'pushes Army to break point'
¤ ‘Downing Street made Dr Kelly’s life hell’
¤ Two years after September 11, Osama elusive as ever
¤ Two years on, the president might be nuts, but...
¤ Why Are We In Iraq? (And Liberia? And Afghanistan?)
¤ America’s Haul Of Shame
¤ Farah tried to plead with the US troops but she was killed anyway
¤ Evil awakening gives new life to terrorism
¤ Iraq at the crossroads
¤ Paying the price
¤ Can Mr Blair regain the people's trust?
¤ The corrosion of integrity at Labour's heart
¤ Racism tarnishes 'rainbow rugby'
¤ India spins on its own axis
¤ Ozone hole may hit new record
¤ One dead, 10 hurt as Disney roller-coaster comes off rails
¤ Worst storm in 50 years tears into Bermuda
Latest News
Posted: Saturday, September 6, 2003
¤ This War on Terrorism is Bogus
¤ 'DC 9/11' is too pro-Bush, and too late
¤ Dollar Has Biggest Weekly Decline Against the Euro Since July
Flashback Iraq could deploy chemical, biological arms in minutes: Britain
¤ Bush Numbers Hit New Low
¤ Palestinian prime minister resigns
¤ Chronology of Abbas' 4 Months in Office
¤ 9 Killed in Escalating Kashmir Violence
¤ Meacher sparks fury over claims on September 11 and Iraq war
¤ Search for Iraq Weapons Proves Elusive
¤ Mumbo-Jumbo War
¤ US must concede more on Iraq says Europe
¤ British charity worker killed in Iraq gun attack
¤ Homeless Families evacuated as Israelis blow up flats
¤ The Forgotten Prisoners of Guantanamo
¤ Bush rattled by signs of 'jobless recovery' in US
¤ UN to close London base after government refuses to help with soaring costs
¤ From Bad to Worse...
¤ Postwar Iraq moves dangerously close to civil disaster
¤ Gas leak kills 14 in Iraq
¤ Iraq Must Not Remain Occupied
¤ The UN Failed the Iraqi People
¤ The Korean Talks Were a Disaster
¤ Who Benefits? Pakistan "Recognizes" Israel
¤ Meglomania as Foreign Policy
¤ The Militarization of the Americas
¤ Britain sends more troops to Iraq amid signs of thaw at UN
¤ Seeking UN shelter in Iraq
¤ Kelly family wants Hutton to recall Blair
¤ Security at Iraq Munitions Sites Is Vulnerable
¤ Three injured in Baghdad mosque attack
¤ US draft resolution
¤ End of the beginning
¤ U.S. troops want Rumsfeld to send them home
¤ The importance of losing the war
¤ Now in Arabia, Needed in Italy
Latest News
Posted: Friday, September 5, 2003
¤ Why Doesn't the Prez Visit the Wounded?
¤ About as American as apple pie in the sky
¤ What Needs to be Done
¤ Exxxtreme Ashcroft
¤ We Were Warned About This Chaos
¤ Seeking Help, Wanting Control
¤ Bush Outlines His New "What, Me Worry?" Plan for the Economy
¤ US isolated as Europe scorns plea for more troops in Iraq
¤ We can win the war in Vietnam
¤ The Big Lie Of Jessica Lynch
¤ Triumph of a Bush
¤ Bush Moves On
¤ Does God bless more than America?
¤ Who's Counting the Dead in Iraq?
¤ Rumsfeld gets hostile reception in Saddam's hometown
¤ What If We'd Never Gone To War With Iraq?
¤ Hey, Let's Call in the UN
¤ Bush's Reversals Made Without Humility
¤ President's Sept. 11 Plans
¤ Beijing frustrated with US policy on North Korea
¤ US 'corporate invasion' brings no respite from war
¤ Australia not to send peacekeepers to Iraq
¤ Gunmen open fire at Iraq mosque
¤ Iraqi youth accidentally killed by US troops
¤ The U.N. and Iraq
¤ 'This is no good, sir!'
¤ Lessons not learnt
¤ Quagmire? What quagmire?
¤ 'Old Europe' says no to Bush again
¤ Europe-US gulf widens
¤ Saudi missile haul raises fears of air attack
¤ Pentagon spends millions seeking environmentally friendly bullets
¤ Al-Hakim: No shortage of suspects
¤ Britain pushes for Hamas ban
¤ Fresh row over UN role in Iraq
¤ Iraq's fresh start may be another false dawn
¤ Suspected Militant Killed in Israeli Raid
¤ China leads for foreign investors
¤ Consumers halt US media rule change
¤ U.S. to Add 10 to Global Terrorist List
¤ America plays the economic blame game
¤ Wolfowitz: U.S. Wants U.N. Help on Iraq
¤ Hey, let's call in the UN
¤ Blair ponders sending more troops to Iraq
¤ 18 killed in held Kashmir violence
¤ Bush seeks $60bn more for Iraq reconstruction
¤ US forces kill three Iraqi guerrillas
¤ Iran freezes cultural ties with UK
¤ Judge warns no one safe in Kelly’s case
¤ The Osama game
¤ Beware, American friends!
¤ Reality check
Latest News
Posted: Thursday, September 4, 2003
¤ Between Iraq and a Hard Place
¤ The Quagmire of Denouncing a "Quagmire"
¤ Blood, Oil, and Tears - and the 2004 Bush Campaign Strategy
¤ Private Military Firms - New Element in War
¤ Bailing Bush Out Of His Iraq Fiasco
¤ Looking For WMD? Come To London's Docklands
¤ What Were They Thinking?
¤ Waging a War that has Already been Lost
¤ Folly & Fraud What It's Really Costing Us
¤ Die Laughing
¤ Bush forced to eat humble pie
¤ What went wrong: A fair and balanced look at America's new Vietnam
¤ Suicide bomber injures two US troops in Iraq
¤ Dossier exaggerated the case for war
¤ Officials Testify They Complained That Threat Was Inflated
¤ Al-Qaeda: Overestimate at your peril
¤ Six killed in bomb attack on Russian passenger train
¤ Britain and US overstretched by occupation
¤ U.S. turns to UN for troops in Iraq
¤ Would a UN occupation be any better?
> Why should countries that were opposed to the war
> assume responsibility for its painful consequences?
¤ Nice war - here's the bill
¤ Send more troops or risk failure, Blair told
¤ Schröder says call for troops made him feel sick
¤ Iraq’s future not bright under US: Khamenei
¤ Time running out for Afghanistan
¤ Business targeted for rights abuse
Flashback President Bush Urges Senate to Support Retroactive 'Enron Escape'
¤ Hubris repeats itself ... in Iraq
¤ Grim scorecard for the novice empire
Flashback Depp Says U.S. Is Like 'Dumb Puppy,' 'Broken Toy'
¤ For sale, Bush dolls in all his poses
Flashback George W. Bush's Resume
Flashback Brilliant As Ever
¤ Bring Them On (And On)
¤ U.S. rushed post-Saddam planning
¤ India toys with its nuclear button
¤ India to buy 66 Hawk jets
¤ Failure in Afghanistan
¤ Afghan military tied to drug trade
¤ Russia should stop its unjust suppression of Chechnya
¤ Peace plan dead: Arafat
¤ A new corn-based plastic disappears into the dirt
¤ Weapons scientist 'took massive drug overdose'
Latest News
Posted: Wednesday, September 3, 2003
¤ The US: HyperPower in a Sinkhole
¤ Clowns and Lion Tamers
¤ Conscripting Turkey
¤ A Power, Yes, But Not Super
¤ The Pentagon's Bungled Psyops Strategy
¤ They're Back in Town - Don't Miss the Show!
¤ Just Say No!...To Politics
¤ Iraq's Mystery Terrorists
¤ Fit To Print?
¤ Oops! Iraq chaos may cloud Bush's Sept. 11 legacy
¤ Bush's Floundering Doctrine
¤ Remember how we got here
¤ Bush's trifecta of deception
¤ Idolatry, pledges and flag-waving spur Bush re-election effort
¤ Operation FUBAR
¤ The blind prophet
¤ Rich/Poor Trade 1
¤ BAE wins £1bn Hawk contract
¤ Libya severs diplomatic ties with Lebanon over missing cleric
¤ Questions, critics rise in wake of Israeli strikes
¤ Mossad team visited Iraq for anti-terror efforts
¤ Bomb attack near Tikrit injures four US soldiers
¤ Bombshell hits government's claims
¤ The occupation is responsible for all this blood
¤ Shia mourners demand end to US occupation
¤ The US is slip sliding into an abyss
¤ Did Bush administration violate constitution?
¤ More armed guards on US flights
¤ The blind prophet
¤ Star attacks US culture of fear
¤ Deficit? What deficit?
¤ Can We Afford To Occupy Iraq?
¤ Yearly Iraq Occupation Cost May Reach $29B
¤ Latest Iraq threat: cash crunch
¤ Caged
¤ America is building a world order
¤ Judge may block new US media rules
¤ New No 10 press chief, same old story - keep up the attack on BBC
¤ Bomb blast at Baghdad police station shows US opponents more confident
¤ See Through The Dust
¤ Nuclear weapons: Gaps in logic do matter
¤ Israel Invades Gaza Town
¤ Hungary is cool to U.S. idea to train Iraqis
¤ Pakistan to send more troops to Saudi Arabia
¤ Beijing decides military size isn't everything
¤ Bashir guilty but cleared of leading JI
¤ Iran and the forgotten anniversary
¤ Clash of politics and culture threatens to strike the wrong note
¤ The socialist roots of the Korea crisis
¤ Don't let U.S. hard-liners start another war
¤ Killing of six million Jews impossible for Nazis
¤ US let bin Laden's family leave country
¤ Spinning the Howard line
Latest News
Posted: Tuesday, September 2, 2003
¤ A Nation On the Brink of Civil War
¤ Iraqi Liberation, Bush Style
¤ Predictable Propaganda
¤ Facing the Truth About Iraq
¤ U.S. Government Must Take a Consistent Stance Against Terrorism
¤ Actor Tim Robbins Takes a Swipe at Hollywood Over Iraq
¤ Mad Men Across The Desert
¤ ABB: Anybody But Bush For President?
¤ See Through The Dust
¤ Resistance in Iraq is home grown
¤ Bush pals hired to rewrite Iraqi law
¤ Lost in America, 2003: Have you no sense of decency?
¤ Iraqi oil democracy and American oil despotism
¤ Punch drunk
¤ Inside Karl Rove's Diary: "Things Aren't Going So Well"
¤ Bush was all too willing to use émigrés' lies
¤ Glimmers of hope: Time to wake up from the Bush nightmare?
¤ Protesters line the streets
¤ Dead UK Scientist Had No History of Depression
Flashback Poor intelligence? Why CIA failed in plans for Iraq coup
Flashback Sharon is a punk, says ambassador
¤ Former POW Jessica Lynch agrees to $1-million book deal
¤ Israeli Strike Kills Palestinian Girl
¤ So George, how do you feel about your mom and dad?
¤ The worst of times
¤ Meeting Mr Bechtel
¤ Dr David Kelly: Betrayed.
¤ Ministers in Iraq's first post-war cabinet named
> But the ministers will have little real power.
> That will remain in the hands of Paul Bremer, the US administrator.
¤ Contradictions in the American way of life
¤ Countries Resist Aid To Iraq
¤ Number of Wounded in Action on Rise
¤ British firms set sights on Libya
¤ How Tony Blair climbed the foothills of the big lie
¤ A timeout for America
Latest News
Posted: Monday, September 1, 2003
¤ Would You Believe, or Get Dummy
¤ Taliban Ambush Patrols, Killing 8 Afghans
¤ U.S. to Delay Transfer of Security Powers
¤ Inquiry Is Leaving Britons Unsatisfied
¤ Violence in Kashmir Claims 17 Lives
¤ Iraqi quits council in security protest
¤ What Was Mossad Doing In Najaf One Week Before The Bombing?
¤ Egyptian Government Daily Al-Ahram: The US Is Behind The Najaf Bombing
¤ US attacked over green card soldiers
> Nearly 40,000 of America's frontline soldiers are not US citizens.
¤ Saudi princes 'linked' to bin Laden
¤ Wait Just A Minute Officer, I Know My Rights...
Flashback Jewish leaders praise Bush support for Israel
¤ Bush turns back on former POWs
¤ How Sharon destroyed the cease-fire
¤ Kelly widow adds to Blair woe
¤ Unless The White House Abandons Its Fantasies
> Civil War Will Consume The Iraqi Nation
¤ 'Dossier did not correspond with reality'
Flashback British Dossier on Iraq Scandal
¤ 45-minute claim rejected
¤ Kelly felt 'betrayed' by MoD, widow tells inquiry
¤ The Campbell Diaries
¤ Iraqi council demands US loosen its grip
¤ Grief and anger on the streets as funeral of murdered cleric begins
¤ 300,000 march with cleric's coffin, vow revenge
¤ Hard to Keep Track of the Dead in Iraq
¤ Deal reached over cheap drugs for poor nations
¤ The generic ripoff: Big Pharma won. The world's poor lost
¤ 'Saddam' denies involvement in Najaf bombing
¤ White House likens Iraq to postwar Germany to retain support
¤ U.S. troops and delusions dying in Iraq quagmire
¤ Families seek answers about soldiers' deaths
¤ Iraqi history is back
¤ The going gets tough for Bush in Iraq
¤ Bush Planned Iraq 'Regime Change' Before Becoming President
¤ Israeli missile strike kills one, injures 25
¤ Palestinian leadership split as Israel attacks Gaza
Flashback Palestinian schoolgirl shot dead
¤ US troops die in week-long fight with Taliban
¤ US troops kill six Iraqis, intensify Saddam hunt
¤ US soldiers killed in attack on Taliban
¤ US offers $9bn arms sale to Pakistan
¤ Nowhere has post-9/11 paranoia struck more deeply than in U.S universities
¤ Personifying evil is a dangerous Bush strategy
¤ Food fight bully targets Third World
¤ Charles Bronson dies aged 81
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