mpgrap-082709-090209

The Brute Factory
Must Read - A quote...."September 01, 2009 "Information Clearing House" -- Henry Kissinger once referred to military service people as ‘dumb, stupid animals to be used’ as tools of foreign policy. One wonders if this man of no regrets nevertheless wishes he had not vocalized what in fact has been the position of successive US governments including the present one? Madeleine Albright, after famously stating that the undisputed deaths of 500,000 Iraqi children due to hunger and easily preventable diseases during the post Gulf War I sanctions ‘were worth it’ later admitted that the statement did not have a nice ring to it. But Herr Doktor doesn’t apologise. Not for millions of deaths in Viet Nam, Cambodia, and Laos. Not for Agent Orange. Not for Operation Phoenix. Not for demanding more death in Iraq."

Former High-Ranking Intelligence Officer: Cheney Responsible for 9/11
Must Read - Full quote...."David Steele is a former 20-year Marine Corps infantry and intelligence officer, the second-ranking civilian in U.S. Marine Corps Intelligence, and former CIA clandestine services case officer. Steele has previously written that "9/11 was at a minimum allowed to happen as a pretext for war". This month, Steele went further, writing:"

"Pakistan briefed Cheney [about the plans for the terrorist attacks ahead of time] …nations also got wind of this and warned the CIA. We also had two walk-ins to the FBI, one in Orlando, one in Newark, that were dismissed by the FBI because the names were all virgins and not in the FBI data base—the arrogance of stupid bureaucracy. -- Cheney saw an opportunity for what Bush called his trifecta, and gave it to him by giving the go-ahead to ISI and Al Qaeda, and ordering up a terrorism exercise that allowed him to send all relevant close-in air defense strip alert craft away from the target areas, and to disable the NORTHCOM normal response to flight path diversion."

"While the details might be open to debate, many other very high-level intelligence officers have said the "official" explanation for 9/11 makes no sense. And see this and this." -- also posted at BLN

So Now Professor Jones Agrees with Me?
Must Read - (Check out the comments) - A quote...."For months I have been taking hits from my colleagues in the Truth movement for my stand on the Jones, Harrit, Roberts paper “Active Thermetic Material…“. -- I have stated, for the record and in no uncertain terms, that their “nano-thermetic material” could not have been what pulverized the floor systems and was probably not what was used as cutter charges." -- For more on the two articles shown above see....9/11 - NORAD & 9/11 - WTC7 & 9/11 - WTC-1&2
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Government Withholds Key Torture Documents In ACLU Lawsuit
A quote...."NEW YORK – The government has said it will continue to withhold dozens of documents related to the treatment of detainees in U.S. custody overseas. The Justice Department was facing an August 31 deadline to release the documents, including a presidential directive authorizing CIA "black sites" as well as CIA inspector general (IG) records and documents from the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) regarding the CIA's use of "enhanced interrogation techniques," in response to two Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuits filed by the American Civil Liberties Union." - The CIA is NOT trying to hide their use of gross, brutal and medieval interrogation techniques, what they're trying to hide is their use of these techniques to fabricate lies, falsify intelligence and wring fake confessions from their prisoners to justify the Neocons' plans of world wide mayhem and murder. - mpg -- For more on this issue see....9/11 - Iraq - Torture Fables

American Diplomats Advocated "Nuremberg Defense"
A quote...."Two newly-obtained documents show how American diplomats during the Bush administration worked tenaciously to incorporate what is commonly known as the Nuremberg Defense into a new international convention addressing enforced disappearances." -- also posted at CommonDreams

"Phrase 'War on Terror' Returns to White House Lexicon [It (the phrase) - like Bush himself - never really left.] 01 Sep 2009 Press Secretary Robert Gibbs may have returned the United States to the "War on Terror" -- or at least returned the term "War on Terror" to the White House glossary -- when he used the abandoned phrase Monday in response to a question about the current situation in Afghanistan. "You can't under-resource the most important part of our War on Terror, you can't under-resource that for five or six or seven years... and hope to snap your fingers and have that turn around in just a few months," Gibbs said during the daily briefing to reporters." -- Paragraph quoted form CLG

Obama White House Has Secret Plan To Harvest Personal Data From Social Networking Websites
A quote...."NLPC has uncovered a plan by the White House New Media operation to hire a technology vendor to conduct a massive, secret effort to harvest personal information on millions of Americans from social networking websites."

Ganging up on Iran - posted at Online Journal
Special Note - A quote...."US President Barack Obama is beginning to get a reputation for never failing to disappoint. People everywhere shared so many high hopes for the man who promised “change,” but after seven months in office the only real change is the White House dog. As Obama’s approval ratings hover around 50 percent, he is spending most of his time struggling with the economy and trying to sell a controversial health care plan to a skeptical nation -- two very unglamorous pursuits. - On the foreign policy front, you would be forgiven for imagining that George W. Bush is still pulling the strings. No change on Afghanistan and Iraq. No closure of the US gulag in Cuba. No cessation of the CIA’s rendition program. Moreover, he’s going with the same old Middle East “road map” and the same old hostile stance toward Iran."

Change!
Charts - War Alert - False Flag Alert - Great charts, not that the "elites" care what the "people" think, of course. Obviously it's getting around that time to boost Obama's poll numbers, and it is September after all, the markets (and soon the economy) appear to be curling over, the elites have strenuously pumped it up for the last six months selling into it all the way, therefore it's quite possible they intend to do "it" all over again. Just like the Neocons did in 2001. - mpg -- For more on this type of "Great Game" play-call, see....The First "Red War Warning" in a Year - 07-18-09

As Pentagon Cancels Rendon Group Contract, US-NATO Spokesman in Afghanistan Defends Using Company to Profile Journalists - More on the DOD's reporter profiling program cancelation - mpg -- A quote...."The Pentagon is canceling its contract with the private public relations firm The Rendon Group to produce background profiles of journalists seeking to cover the war. One journalist profiled was Nir Rosen, who got a hold of his profile. The Rendon Group reported to the Pentagon that Rosen’s reporting in Afghanistan was “highly unfavorable to international efforts." The Rendon Group profile also mentioned Rosen’s appearance on Democracy Now!, when he stated his belief that the war is unwinnable and that the US should withdraw. We speak with Col. Wayne Shanks, the public affairs officer for US and NATO forces in Afghanistan. [includes rush transcript] -- || Real Video Stream || Real Audio Stream || MP3 Download || More… || -- For more about this issue see....US Fake Intel / Propaganda -Pentagon's Reporter Profiling Program

Shocked, Shocked! The Pentagon Is Profiling Journalists!
Related Article - A quote...."The thing that gets me is none of this is really a surprise. The Rendon Group didn’t come out of a hole in the desert, it helped start the war. In fact its propaganda and message management work for the government goes back decades. Meanwhile, the military has put all sorts of restrictions on its official embeds and that’s why we have independent reporters who risk life and limb to get the story. The military hired a covert PR firm to plant “good news” in Iraqi papers — why wouldn’t it want to keep tabs and try to manage journalists it couldn’t outright buy or silence?" -- also posted at AntiWar

Wake up America: Forced vaccinations, quarantine camps, health care interrogations and mandatory “decontaminations” -- A quote...."The United States of America is devolving into what might be described as “medical fascism” and Massachusetts is leading the way with the passage of a new bill, the “Pandemic Response Bill” 2028, reportedly just passed by the MA state Senate and now awaiting approval in the House."
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The U.S. Is Deploying Its Vietnam-Iraq Fig Leaf
Must Read - A quote...."I and many of my colleagues wrote massively about the U.S.'s colossal mistakes in invading Afghanistan, Pakistan and surrounding areas after 9/11. The U.S. officials clearly knew nothing significant about the vast central Asian world, especially Afghanistan. The very first massive attacks – annihilating from the air much of the urban infrastructure of Afghanistan – was a splendid way to lose the hearts and minds of the masses of the people and to allow the local guerilla and narco leaders to flourish. Aligning with the Northern League was a perfect way to betray Pakistan and the vast Pashtun population of Afghanistan-Pakistan. Bribing tribal and clan leaders to put the U.S. puppet, Karzai, in power was a perfect self-goal – self-defeat. Supporting his monstrous corruption and all the rest was a splendid way to drive the stakes of rage through the hearts of the people. The daily slaughter of women and children by Predators, A-10 Hellfires, F-16 bombs and all the rest was utterly stupendous in enraging the world against the U .S. I got very tired writing essays about how insane it was to slaughter Afghan and Pakistani women and children to win hearts and minds."

George Will's Afghanistan Moment
Must Read - A quote...."The conservative columnist calls for a pull-out from Afghanistan, arousing a swift and concerted denunciation from the Right. -- America's slipping fortunes in Afghanistan have caused conservatives to ally with Obama on staying the course, while liberal and moderate support for the President's war efforts have been foundering, as the Wire has covered here and here. Today, George Will, the premier tory conservative columnist in the Washington Post, breaks ranks with Republicans in a bombshell column that joins war skeptics by calling for a withdrawal of American troops:"

Amid Massive Voter Fraud, Afghan Tribal Leaders Demand Karzai Resignation
A quote...."Facing the prospect of several more weeks of counting the dubious results of August’s presidential election, Afghan tribal elders met today in the city of Kabul to demand that President Hamid Karzai resign so that an interim government could be installed to hold clean elections."

A Little Girl in Kabul
A quote...."Guljumma talked about what happened one morning last year when she was sleeping at home in southern Afghanistan's Helmand Valley. At about 5 AM, bombs exploded. Some people in her family died. She lost an arm." -- also posted at ICH & Uruknet
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On How all Hell hasn't Broken out in Iraq and the US Military doesn't Need to Stay there; or, Damn Lies and Statistics -- Special Note - Analysis - A quote...."One of the major headlines out of Iraq today is the release of non-insurgent casualty figures for August, which are 456, as Agence France Presse reports. This was the highest monthly toll since July of 2008. I commend AFP on how it reported this story. Unlike a lot of other pieces, this one does not exaggerate the significance of August's figures and points out that there was also a surge of violence in June, when the US military was still largely in charge of security, and when 367 Iraqi civilians and members of security forces were killed."

Outgoing IAEA Chief ElBaradei Calls Iranian Threat 'Hyped'
A quote...." Jerusalem Post" -- Mohamed ElBaradei, outgoing chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency, has called the Iranian threat "hyped," saying there is no proof the Islamic republic will soon have nuclear weapons. -- "In many ways, I think the threat has been hyped," ElBaradei told the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists in an interview released Tuesday."

Russia: Isolating Iran no solution to nuclear issue
A quote...."Russia's Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov says the military option and isolation will not help diffuse tensions surrounding Iran's nuclear program."

US/Israel Versus Iran: The Nuclear Chess Game
A quote...."Since 2003 Iran has been coerced into playing a nuclear chess game against US and Israel. Western media outlets have been playing the part of cheer leaders for the American Israeli side, preparing the observing masses for the expected American Israeli 'checkmate' move against Iran. Not a single day passes without the description and analyses of a tactical move, with each analysis ending with the question of when, rather than if, the Israelis would bomb Iranian nuclear facilities."

India reels under explosive nuclear charge
A quote...."NEW DELHI -- In an explosive revelation that may well have unsavory foreign policy repercussions, a senior official of India's premier defense organization - the Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) - who played a pivotal role in orchestrating India's nuclear program during the Pokhran nuclear tests in 1998, has declared that the tests that year were a dud and not nearly as successful as projected to the world. -- The declaration by K Santhanam - remarkable as it comes from a top nuclear scientist directly associated with India's nuclear program - has stirred a hornet's nest in New Delhi."

Abkhazia threatens to sink Georgian navy in its waters
A quote...."The Abkhazian President has issued an order for the Navy to destroy Georgian ships illegally entering the Republic’s waters."

Abkhazia to fire upon Georgian ships violating its border
A quote...."MOSCOW/TBILISI, September 2 (RIA Novosti) - Abkhazia's president has ordered that force be used against Georgian vessels violating the former Georgian republic's maritime border, the Abkhazian foreign minister said on Wednesday."

Oil stirs conflict on Black Sea
Oil & Geo-Politics -- A quote...."While the European Union frets over Russian efforts to impose its energy diktat by building gas and oil pipelines on the bottom of the Black Sea, new conflicts are emerging - not over transit routes, but over rich hydrocarbon resources beneath its ancient waters."

KYRGYZSTAN: A New Great Game Begins
Geo-Politics -- A quote...."BISHKEK, Sep 2 (IPS) - A U.S. base located just 40km from a Russian base - it can happen in Kyrgyzstan, a new focal point in the great geopolitics of Central Asia where China and Turkey are beginning to show their cards as well."

Germany: Big losses for the conservative CDU in state elections
A quote...."The results of the three state elections held in Germany last Sunday provide a glimpse into the real state of social relations in the country."
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Something completely different in Japan
A quote...."The Democratic Party of Japan's radical pledges to boost social welfare and streamline the notoriously obstructionist bureaucracy may signal the end of post-war politics, but there are doubts the promises can be fulfilled, even if prime minister-designate Yukio Hatoyama can tame fractious elements in his party."

Penn: The DPJ Victory and Japanese-Islamic Relations
A quote...."The thumping victory of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) in the Japanese general elections is going to have a strong influence on the future of Japan’s relations with the Islamic world. The DPJ has pledged to make the US-Japan alliance an “equal partnership,” by which they appear to mean that they will no longer be content to quietly accept foreign policy directions from Washington. -- That said, the DPJ is a moderate party that believes in the importance of the US-Japan alliance, so long as it begins to function differently. DPJ leaders wish to make up their own minds about Japanese interests and then work with their American partners toward mutually beneficial solutions. Although this sounds like common sense, the reality of recent years has been that the Japanese government has consistently allowed US policymakers to determine the direction of Japanese foreign policy out of their paralyzing fear—encouraged by certain US officials and commentators—that any Japanese refusal on a major issue could lead to a weakening of the American commitment to guarantee Japan’s security in East Asia."

US Rules Out Negotiations With New Japan Govt on Base Deal
A quote...."In a statement issued today by the State Department, the United States ruled out holding negotiations with the new Japanese government about a deal it had negotiated with the previous government to pay billions of dollars in return for a slight decrease in US troop presence on the island of Okinawa. Instead they say they hope the new officials will “moderate” their position."
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Canadian politics thrown into turmoil as Liberals quit
A quote...."OTTAWA — Canada’s Liberal Party withdrew Tuesday its crucial support for Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s ruling Conservatives, opening the door to a possible fourth snap election in five years next month."

DEVELOPMENT: Brazil, India, South Africa to Broaden "Voice of the South"
A quote...."RIO DE JANEIRO, Sep 1 (IPS) - The sixth ministerial meeting of the India-Brazil-South Africa (IBSA) forum agreed Tuesday in Brasilia to strengthen the dialogue between the three emerging powers in order to establish common positions on regional and international matters and boost South-South cooperation."

USA Denies Visa to Wife of Cuban Antiterrorist
A quote...."Havana, Sep 1 (Prensa Latina) The US government has kept its visa denial to Adriana Perez, wife of one of the five Cuban antiterrorists jailed in the United States, falling into a violation of its own legislation."

Venezuela Tells UNASUR Meeting, U.S. “Talking about War”
A quote...."Mérida, August 31st 2009 (Venezuelanalysis.com) - In a special meeting of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) on Friday to address the issue of the seven military bases in Colombia to be used by the U.S., participating countries agreed to strengthen South America as a "peace zone." - also posted at OhBummer

Colombian lawmakers pass bill to allow Uribe's re-election
Oh look! The US-NRE helps stage a coup to topple Zelaya in Honduras because they accused him (falsely) of trying to seek a third term as president. Whereas the US-NRE's swine-flu infected, death squad sponsoring, region threatening, narcotics peddling, all around thug, gets a third term to "pose" as Columbia's president so he can "service" the US-NRE's elites. It's simply disgusting. Doesn't Latin America have any pride? – mpg -- A quote...."BOGOTA, Sept. 2 (Xinhua) -- Colombia's Lower House passed a bill late Tuesday aimed at allowing President Alvaro Uribe to seek a third consecutive term as the head of state. "

Chilean judge orders arrest of 129 former soldiers, police - Yeah, hey Cheney, you paying attention? - mpg
A quote...."SANTIAGO, Sept. 1 (Xinhua) -- Chilean judge Victor Montiglio issued arrest warrants Tuesday against 129 former Chilean soldiers and police for human rights violations during Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship."
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More On The Palestinian Situation....

European Gullibility Is Strangling Palestine
Must Read - Quote of the Day...."They [the Jews of Israel] have demanded much from the world because they suffered a holocaust over a half century ago. However, the world has paid dearly for Nazi crimes. Netanyahu would have the world pay more." -- also posted at AtheoNews & WarInIraq

Rabbis Considering Ban on Selling Houses to Arabs
A quote...."(IsraelNN.com) Hareidi and national-religious rabbis will meet Monday in Jerusalem to discuss ways of dealing with the Arab influx into Jewish neighborhoods in northern Jerusalem, as well as the purchasing of agricultural land in the Galilee by wealthy foreign Arabs."

No halt to settlement policy: Israeli minister
A quote...."An Israeli cabinet minister has categorically confirmed that construction and expansion of illegal Jewish settlements in and around Jerusalem (al-Quds) will continue." -- also posted at AtheoNews

Palestinain girl complains to ICC over Gaza war
A quote...."A 15-year-old Palestinian girl has demanded the International Criminal Court to probe into the Israeli three-week war on the blockaded Gaza Strip. -- Amira Alqerem whose family was killed in an Israeli assault on the Tal Al Hawa neighborhood in the Gaza Strip told journalists in The Hague" I am here to lodge a complaint against the occupying army". -- also posted at WarInIraq & Uruknet

Israel using arrests to silence Palestinian journalists
A quote...."The Palestinian Media Coalition has expressed grave concern over Israel's arrest of Palestinian journalists. - The PMC condemned the Zionist action after Israeli soldiers kidnapped journalist Seri Sammour on August 31 in a raid on his house in Jenin in the north of the occupied West Bank." -- also posted at AtheoNews

Another Israeli War Crime - "Two Gaza militants killed by Israeli gun fire"
Special Note - A quote...."That's the title of this article, I have a problem with it. Firstly, why are they the militants, because they are Palestinians who dare to resist an occupying illegal force? After all, they were the ones shot at whilst walking in their own country! The "real" militant terrorists sit in tall safe watchtowers, armed to the teeth, shooting at anyone they want to, even when the person is in another country and is not threatening them in any way. Israel thinks it is allowed to kill when it merely "thinks" it may be in "danger" So, here's the logic, again this is !Zionist" logic. If I think you look suspicious I can kill you, it's "ok" because I'm a Zionist and we have no laws that govern us except our warped racist-nationalist religion and being the "chosen" ones. That's a "Get Out Of Jail Free Card"

"YES WE CAN"... End US Aid to Israel
Action Alert - A quote...."Why stop at just military aid? Our monthly welfare checks to that Apartheid nightmare should also cease. And all of those lucrative Pentagon contracts and DHS funds that either buys military equipment from Israel or sends our police chiefs there for hate training should be cancelled."
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More on the US-NRE's Honduran Coup....

Anti-Coup Hondurans Resist on Day 66
A quote...."Tegucigalpa, Sep 1 (Prensa Latina) Honduran people's forces and progressive parties have reached on Tuesday their 66th consecutive day of resistance against the June 28 military coup."

Honduras: Out of the Vortex, Into the Vacuum
A quote...."After returning from an intense two weeks of accompanying international delegations in Honduras, I am just beginning to realize what a vortex we were in. Back in the United States, with a few days of hindsight, I realize that the sustained repression we witnessed, culminating with an unprovoked attack on Wednesday, August 12, with hundreds of people beaten up, wounded, hospitalized, jailed and missing - had socked a powerful punch. This deliberate blow knocked everyone off their feet, which was obviously the intent of those responsible for the coup."
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Democracy is dead ... lobbyists rule America -16-point manifesto for the new 'Lobbyist Nation of America'
Special Note- A quote...."And here's why: Ask any neuroeconomist, behavioral-finance quant, investment psychologist or other practitioner of the mysterious "science of irrationality" and they'll tell you that Americans have two self-sabotaging mental biases that killed democracy from within: "Denial" and "Magical Thinking" make us easy targets. Our brains are being manipulated by clandestine forces beyond our control. We can't see them or resist." -- also posted at Creative-i

Are we getting good Marx? I think not By William Bowles
Special Note - A quote...."I often wonder how Karl Marx would react were he to find himself here, right now? After all, he too lived through momentous and world-changing times, perhaps even more so than the changes we are experiencing, given that his was the world that gave birth to the rise of the Machine and capitalism as we know it. Born on the cusp so-to-speak and I too, was born on the cusp, 23 July, 1945, a couple of weeks before the empire showed the world that it was truly barbarian when it dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki."

Fed Will Now Monetize The Most Recently Issued Agencies
Treasury Alert - A quote...."The Federal Reserve announced earlier a shift in its strategy in purchasing Agency debt, whereby it would purchase almost exclusively the most recently issued Agency paper: "

Disappointing August SAAR Estimate
Chart - Full quote...."The chart below says it all: August SAAR, estimated at 13.7 million by Citigroup economists, was slightly better than the prevailing consensus of 13.3 million, significantly below Goldman's ebullient expectation of 15.5 million, and will likely be seen as a disappointment of the impact of Cash for Clunkers. And now comes the subsidy hangover. Zero Hedge provides its September estimate of a 9.5 million SAAR, mostly as a function of at least 1.5 million auto sales having been pulled from forward periods. We would not be surprised if the actual number comes in below our estimate."

Euro jobless rate climbs to 9.5 pct
A quote...."BRUSSELS (AP) -- The jobless rate in the 16 nations that use the euro climbed to a new 10-year high of 9.5 percent in July despite other signs that the economy is starting to recover, the EU statistics agency Eurostat said Tuesday."
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An August Afternoon in Yellowstone - The Wolf at Trout Creek
A good read - mpg -- A quote...."Two or three hundred of the shaggy beasts are crowded in the little valley. The bulls have left their normal bachelor groups and joined the big herds of cows and calves to parry each other for preferred mates. They are antsy, kicking up dust devils that swirl around them like brown mist."

Why Not Crippling Sanctions for Israel and the US?
Must Read - Why not indeed! - Two of the biggest terrorist supporting rogue states around. One of them, Israel who since its inception has aided and abetted mayhem and murder throughout the region, and the other, the US-NRE, who in conjunction with the Saudi Royals and Britain have spent close to a hundred billion dollars during the last thirty years to support every single Wahabbist, Salafist, Jihadist group out there to justify their Neo-Colonial plans for the Middle East. It appears this dynamic trio of evil and their side kick Britain are not going to stop their murderous activities until the world community stops them.....one way or another. – mpg -- A quote...."August 31, 2009 "Information Clearing House" -- In Israel, a country stolen from the Palestinians, fanatics control the government. One of the fanatics is the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. Last week Netanyahu called for “crippling sanctions” against Iran. -- The kind of blockade that Netanyahu wants qualifies as an act of war. Israel has long threatened to attack Iran on its own but prefers to draw in the US and NATO." -- also posted at WarInIraq & DProgram

Duel in the Sun: America's Iraqi Clients Play the Al Qaeda Card on Syria
Special Note - Related Article - A quote...."The American client government in Iraq has embarked on a remarkable campaign of diplomatic hostilities with its neighbor, Syria, accusing Damascus of, among other things, the modern-day blood libel that immediate[ly] consigns a nation to diplomatic hell, and makes it a target for what George W. Bush used to call "the path of action": supporting al Qaeda." -- also posted at Uruknet

Related Article - "Iraq ministry bombers 'recently freed by US' The suicide bombers who killed 95 people in devastating attacks at Iraqi government ministries on August 19 had recently been released from US custody, a senior interior ministry official said on Sunday. 31 Aug 2009 The bombings in Baghdad also wounded 600 people in what was the worst day of violence to hit the country for 18 months. "The suicide bomber who blew himself up at the ministry of foreign affairs was released three months ago from Camp Bucca," the official told AFP on condition of anonymity, referring to the US jail near Basra. "The suicide bomber who blew himself up outside the ministry of finance was also released a few months ago from the same jail." [As the CLG has asserted from the get-go: Probe any major attack of terror and find: A) CIA B) Blackwater/Xe C) MI5 D) Mossad E) All of the Above.]" -- Paragraph quoted from CLG

Related Article - "Blackwater Tapped Foreigners on Secret CIA Program --Nearly a dozen Blackwater 'surrogates' were recruited to join the Blackwater-CIA death squad program.30 Aug 2009 When the CIA revived a plan to kill or capture terrorists in 2004, the agency turned to the well-connected ~~security company~~ mercenaries then known as Blackwater USA... The former senior CIA official said that close to a dozen Blackwater "surrogates" were recruited to join the death squad program. The recruits, the former official said, were not told they were working for the CIA. The program reportedly cost millions of dollars over an eight-year span." -- Paragraph quoted from CLG
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Rise Of Mercenary Armies Menace World
Must Read - Related Article -- A quote...."Scahill says “Domestic opposition to wars of aggression results in fewer people volunteering to serve in the armed forces, which historically deflates the war drive or forces a military draft. At the same time, international opposition has made it harder for Washington to persuade other governments to support its wars and occupations. But with private mercenary companies, these dynamics change dramatically, as the pool of potential soldiers available to an aggressive administration is limited only by the number of men across the globe willing to kill for money. With the aid of mercenaries, you don’t need a draft or even the support of your own public to wage wars of aggression, nor do you need a coalition of ‘willing” nations to aid you. If Washington cannot staff an occupation or invasion with its national forces, the mercenary firms offer a privatized alternative---including Blackwater’s 21,000-man contractor database….If foreign governments are not on board, foreign soldiers can still be bought.”

We Need a Special Prosecutor for Blackwater and Other CIA ‘Contractors’ - But, we ain't gonna get one.
Must Read - A quote...."Some parts of Blackwater’s clandestine work for the CIA have begun to leak out from behind the iron curtain of secrecy. The company’s role in the secret assassination program and its continued involvement in the CIA drone attacks that occur regularly in Afghanistan and Pakistan have become front-page material in the Washington Post and New York Times. There is much more to this story than has been reported publicly, and details will continue to emerge, particularly about Blackwater’s aviation division(s)." -- also posted at CommonDreams

America's Tortured Past
Must Read - A quote...."In response to two Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuits, "The government today handed over to the American Civil Liberties Union (one of dozens of documents comprising an unprecedented 130,000 previously secret pages, including) a detailed official description of the CIA's interrogation program." -- Referring to a heavily redacted December 2004 report (originally commissioned by CIA director George Tenet) detailing torture of prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan, it "describes the use of abusive interrogation techniques including forced nudity, sleep deprivation, dietary manipulation and stress positions." Far worse ones were understated or redacted entirely." - bold by website editor -- Far, far worse. - mpg

Doctors had 'central role' in CIA abuse: rights group
Related Article - A quote...."Health professionals played a central role in developing, implementing and providing justification for torture," PHR said in its report. -- "Health professionals in the (federal government) and psychologist contractors engaged in designing and monitoring harmful interrogation techniques. Such medical participation in torture is a clear violation of medical ethics."

Obama Administration Seeks “Emergency Control” of the Internet
Must Read - A quote...."You have to hand it to congressional Democrats. Mendacious grifters whose national security agenda is virtually indistinguishable from Bushist Republicans, when it comes to rearranging proverbial deck chairs on the Titanic, the party of “change” is second to none in the “all terrorism all the time” department. - While promising to restore the “rule of law,” “protect civil liberties” while “keeping America safe,” in practice, congressional Democrats like well-coiffed Republican clones across the aisle, are crafting legislation that would do Dick Cheney proud!" -- also posted at Creative-i

Dictator Obama – The Worst Is Yet To Come
Related Article - A quote...."If it wasn’t before, the ultimate purpose of Dictator Barack Hussein Obama should now be clear to even his most die-hard fans. With Obama’s planned and now-revised “Cybersecurity Act of 2009, his inordinately broad and sweeping powers to take control of the Internet AND private networks is making its way through the Senate. The bill gives Obama’s Executive Branch the power to shut down the Internet for any reason he considers to be a “Cybersecurity emergency.” That, of course, is anything Obama decides to declare an emergency." - also posted at DProgram - For more on this issue see....Attempts to Control the Internet

Analysis: Obama keeps Bush nominees in top posts
A quote...."In what may be the top two national posts in light of today's crises at home and abroad, Obama stuck with the picks of former President George W. Bush in reappointing Fed chief Ben Bernanke and Defense Secretary Robert Gates."

The Corruption of Empire
Must Read - A quote...."Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz predicted in 2003 that the cost of the Iraq war would be covered by Iraqi oil revenue, which would also pay for reconstruction. The Iraq war has in fact cost the United States more than $900 billion, including more than $145 billion US and Iraqi dollars for rebuilding and local contracting to support US forces. Six years of reconstruction has been a failure, with most projects unfinished or so poorly built that they have been abandoned. Water and electricity has not been restored to the level enjoyed under Saddam Hussein. Even those inclined to look on the bright side acknowledge that at least $13 billion has been lost to fraud, theft, and waste. Most would put the number much higher, possibly as much as $125 billion if one includes both American and Iraqi money."

US Hummers Enter Pakistan, Undercover American Soldiers In Islamabad
A quote...."A large number of US armored carriers have arrived at Port Qasim. Here are the first exclusive pictures. This adds to increased activity of armed US 'diplomats' in the two cities of Islamabad and Peshawar and the construction of the world's largest US embassy in Islamabad close to sensitive federal government departments. The PPP government and other Pakistani politicians are silently encouraging this expanded American role to counterbalance a powerful Pakistani military." - also posted at BLN

Special Note - "US officials cancel contract to profile reporters 31 Aug 2009 U.S. military authorities in Afghanistan have terminated a contract with a ~~public affairs~~ propaganda company that was producing background profiles of reporters covering a war that's becoming increasingly unpopular with the American public. The work being done by The Rendon Group had become a "distraction to our main mission here," Rear Adm. Gregory Smith, director of communications for U.S. Forces Afghanistan, said Monday in an e-mailed statement. [What, exactly, *is* the 'mission' in Afghanistan?]" -- Paragraph quoted from CLG -- For more about this issue see....US Fake Intel / Propaganda -Pentagon's Reporter Profiling Program

Covering for Cheney - The Press and Torture
Special Note - A quote...."In the last few days the Post has markedly increased its effort to “catapult the propaganda” (to borrow a phrase from former President George W. Bush). When the wind is still, Nazi propaganda chief, Joseph Goebbels can be heard cheering from the grave. -- Frankly, I was wondering when this return to form would happen at the Post. I was surprised to see Post journalists recently losing their grip, so to speak, and falling into the practice of reporting real facts — like the sickening revelations in the long-suppressed CIA Inspector General’s report on torture." -- Ahhhh, more sordid, sick, disgusting, presstitution from that old whorehouse on the Potomac, just when are those guys down there gonna stop doing tricks for the elites, who the heck do they think they are, Jeff Gannon. – mpg -- For more on this issue see....US Fake Intel / Propaganda

Anti-war groups turn against Barack Obama after Afghanistan surge
A quote...."There is rising disillusion among liberals and peace activists that a president who built his campaign on his opposition to the war in Iraq now views America's other conflict as a "war of necessity". -- Mr Obama has already added 21,000 extra troops to the 38,000 stationed there by George W Bush. In the next few weeks, he is likely to receive requests from the Pentagon for more when Gen Stanley McChrystal, the US commander in Afghanisan, submits a report on the progress of the war." -- also posted at WarInIraq
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Taliban Ready if Afghan Government Fails, Analyst Warns
A quote...."CANBERRA (Reuters) - Afghanistan's government must fight corruption and quickly deliver services to Afghans, because Taliban militants are filling gaps and winning support to their cause, a top counter-insurgency expert said on Monday. -- The Taliban were already running courts, hospitals and even an ombudsman in parallel to the government, making a real difference to local people, said David Kilcullen, a senior adviser to U.S. commander General Stanley McChrystal." - bold by website editor -- Can't have that!! Let's go kill some more Afghans to teach them a lesson. The US-NRE could start by bombing the hospital. - mpg

The U.S. needs Iran and Russia
Must Read - A quote...."Aug. 31, 2009 | There is an old saying in military affairs, that everyone wants to do strategy and tactics, but real men do logistics. That is, moving persons and materiel around and managing supplies seems tedious, but they are crucial to success. The Obama administration has substituted the Logistics of War for the War on Terror. It is moving troops and equipment and assets around in the millions, on a vast scale, and therefore its enemies -- whether the Sunni radicals in Iraq or the neo-Taliban -- are also concentrating on logistics." -- also posted at ICH & WarInIraq

Rocket attack destroys 20 Nato tankers at Chaman border
Related Article - A quote...."CHAMAN: A number of Nato oil tankers were destroyed in a rocket attack near Custom House and FC Office at Pak-Afghan Border near Chaman. - According to Geo News, supplies including 1500 oil tankers which were to be transported for Nato forces came under a rocket attack near Chaman border, triggering a blaze. Twenty oil tankers were completely destroyed in the attack. - The reason for presence of such a large quantity of the equipment and vehicles at Chaman border was suspension of Pak-Afghan traffic a day earlier."

West faces losing battle over Afghan poll fraud
Special Note - A quote...."Widespread and systematic fraud during the Afghan presidential elections has tarnished the legitimacy of any future government and undermined the Nato campaign there, Western and Afghan officials have admitted."

Karzai threw his cap down in spat with Holbrooke
A quote...."KABUL: In a recent meeting between Afghan President Hamid Karzai and US special envoy Richard Holbrooke, Karzai reportedly whipped off his distinctive karakul sheepskin cap and slammed it onto the table where the two men were having dinner."

US role in Colombia and Honduras sparks Latin American criticism
A quote...."Storm signs are up over Latin America as new tensions play out against historical memories. The great liberator, Simon Bolivar, said in 1929 that the United States is “destined by Providence to plague America with misery in the name of liberty”. Over nearly 200 years of U.S. military and economic intervention in Latin American affairs have taught the leaders, governments and peoples of the hemisphere to be on their guard."

Colombia’s President Has Swine Flu
A quote...."BOGOTA (AP) — Colombian President Alvaro Uribe has the swine flu and officials have advised other South American leaders who met with him at a summit of the infection, authorities said Sunday." - bold by website editor -- How utterly apropos, no sooner does Uribe invite the virus of the US-NRE's military establishment to "infect" Latin America with its so-called "endless war", then he himself literally becomes and infection and a danger, just like his government and his policies, to the rest of Latin America and its people. - mpg -- For more on this issue see....Viral-Neocons : A clinical medical diagnosis. - mpg - 05-25-06

Chavez Starts International Tour
A quote...."Caracas, Aug 31 (Prensa Latina) Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is starting in Libya, on Monday, a tour of northern Africa, the Middle East and Europe, to fulfill political and economic objectives and strengthen the Revolution he has been leading since 1999."

Mexican Senate swears in first ever left-wing leader
A quote...."MEXICO CITY, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- The first left-winger to lead Mexico's upper legislative house, the Senate, took office on Monday with a speech that committed the body to pushing for more security and a better economy. -- "We all have the responsibility to take action to contribute to an exit to this crisis and a return to development, for the executive to assume its responsibility in security, and for Mexicans to assume the full use of the rights," said Carlos Navarrete Ruiz."

Hatoyama vows distance from US-style capitalism - Heads up folks, what the US-NRE has ain't "capitalism"
A quote...."Japan's new Premier-in-waiting Yukio Hatoyama has vowed to pursue new politics that would take Tokyo away from the 'excesses of US-style capitalism'. [Wow!] -- Hatoyama, 62, who is expected to announce a transition team on Monday, said that he wanted 'Japan to be more independent'. [Double Wow!] -- The winner of Sunday's general elections emphasized that he would distance Japan from 'US diplomatic policies'. [Triple Wow!] --
The new Japanese new prime minister is said to be a strong critic of what he calls Tokyo's 'subservient position to Washington'. [Oh, Oh, we're gonna be bombing Tokyo.] - mpg - also posted at AtheoNews

BRAZIL:New Law Would Put Oil Revenue into Development - Instead of foreigner's pockets, what a great idea.
A quote...."RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug 31 (IPS) - On what he referred to as "a new independence day for Brazil," President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva announced Monday proposed new legislation that would increase state control over the management of the country's enormous offshore oil finds, with the aim of channeling much of the state's oil revenue into a national social fund."
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More On The Palestinian Situation....

Israeli Bodysnatchers - Story Puts Israeli Government in Frenzied Denial Mode
Special Note - A quote...."The investigative report written by Swedish journalist Donald Boström and published in Sweden’s largest newspaper Aftonbladet about Israeli occupation forces killing Palestinians with the objective of stealing their organs has raised a political and media storm in Israel, disclosing up a horrible crime perpetrated for years under the full gaze of the ‘free’ world. These criminal acts began in 1992 when Palestinians started to witness a sharp rise in the number of young Palestinians disappearing and of bodies of Palestinians killed by occupation forces being returned with organs such as hearts, kidneys, livers and eyes missing." -- "Stealing" their organs is one thing and a monstrous act in and of itself, picking out Palestinian teenagers to murder them for their organs is a completely different story. There is ample evidence of Israeli theft of organs, and it's beginning to look like even worse crimes than that may have been committed. In either case the International Community and the EU's governments will have to act to maintain any credibility whatsoever with their citizens. If the article shown above is in any way borne out by the evidence however, there will have to be immediate legal actions taken against everyone involved; there will have to be a reckoning. - mpg -- see also a relevant quote shown below....

"We are the wealthiest one percent. Do you not know you are a commodity? You are a product? You function only to provide a service; you exist only to be a worker unit, a sex unit, a killer unit, a consumer unit, even an organ donation unit? One of the more profitable trades from the former Yugoslavian republic while it broke apart was the export of human organs to the United States. It was only fitting that those with less money should serve us so. We deeply regret that the Iraqis bury their dead so quickly, we could have become a much closer people if this weren’t their custom. Such a sad waste of a good resource is anathema to us. Would it not be more fitting if, as we killed them for their oil, we used their very organs to prolong our lives?" -- quoted from *The Wealthiest One Percent – The Spirit of Liberal Capitalism - mpg - posted 12-15-05 to 12-30-05*

Message to President Obama and Americans with a Conscience
Quote of the Day -- "There comes a time comes when silence is betrayal...History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people. We are called to speak for the weak, for the voiceless, for victims...We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people. The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. Cowardice asks the question: is it safe? Expediency asks the question: is it politic? Vanity asks the question: is it popular? But conscience asks the question: is it right? And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular- but one must take it simply because it is right.’ -- *Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.*

Scott Horton Interviews Eugene Bird
Audio Interview - Special Note - A quote...."Eugene Bird, president of the Council for the National Interest Foundation, discusses Obama’s leaked plan for a Palestinian state, evictions and house demolitions in non-Jewish areas of East Jerusalem, increasing agreement among foreign policy elites that Israel must make concessions and how Iran’s nuclear issue is exaggerated by Israel to divert attention away from the Palestinian issue."

Not one penny has reached Gaza
A quote...."JERUSALEM // It has been six months since the international community pledged nearly US$5 billion (Dh18bn) in aid to the Palestinian people, chiefly for the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip after Israel’s devastating offensive there this year. -- None of this aid has reached Gaza and no reconstruction has started." -- also posted at Uruknet

15-year-old boy killed by Israeli troops, three others injured
A quote...."Ramallah – Ma'an – A 15-year-old boy died early Tuesday morning from wounds sustained after he was shot by Israeli soldiers overnight, Palestinian and Israeli officials confirmed."

Bil’in: Israeli military night raid
A quote...."Around 3:30 am, the Israeli occupation forces invaded Bil’in once again arresting 2 Palestinians. -- Two houses were raided simultaneously by at least 40 soldiers. In the first house, Ashraf Mohammad Jamal Tofik Al-Khatib (age 29) was arrested. In the second house, they arrested Hamru Hisham Bornat (age 24)."

Palestinian fisherman wounded, boat burnt by Israeli shell
A quote...."GAZA, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- Israeli navy set fire to a Palestinian fishing boat off Gaza shore on Monday morning, injuring a fisherman, Palestinian sources and witnesses said. -- The fire was caused by a shell fired by an Israeli gunboat, the sources said. -- Hamas ministry of agriculture said the fisherman was moderately burned and his colleagues succeeded in taking him out to the hospital."

Gaza-bound goods stuck at the border
The Israelis just can't let those Palestinians do business and make a shekel fair and square to put food on their family's table. One would guess it's how the Israelis really like to do "business". - mpg -- A quote...."GAZA CITY, occupied Gaza Strip (IPS) - Abu Abed can't make a profit, and although 54 years old, he still has not married. "I can't pay my rent, I can't afford a wedding."

We made it to Gaza on 23rd August 2008, 29 August 2009
Video Free Gaza - Action Update - A quote...."We will return. We will come back. We will never forget. -- A year ago, 23rd August 2008, 44 of us saw the coastline of Gaza in the distance, after 30 hours of traveling across the Mediterranean Sea. We were jubilant. We had made it to Gaza. We had actually made it to Gaza. We had really, really made it to Gaza.

Jordan Boycotts Israel - It's spreading like wildfire folks! Join the boycott, spread the word, tell your friends.
Action Alert - A quote...."The Jordanian Engineers Association, 70,000 members strong, has called for a boycott of Israel in a very smart and accurate way. The President of the association has issued a statement and the logic used is absolutely brilliant. Abdullah Obeidat quite rightly says that all the members should not fall for the "hasbara" tourist agencies are using in their package deals to visit "holy places" He points out that ALL the holy places are under Israeli occupation, including the ones in the Palestinian territories... CORRECT. He also points out that to sign up for these tours you must gain "approval" from the Israeli embassy in Jordan. By doing so, this is an acceptance of the Israeli occupation of those Palestinian territories....CORRECT." -- For more on how to boycott Israel see the upper-left-corner of the "Front Page" of this website. - mpg
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More on the US-NRE's Honduran Coup....

Toppling a Coup, Part VII: A School of Leaders in Honduras
A quote...."AUGUST 30, 2009, LA CEIBA, HONDURAS: Scratch the surface of the de facto Honduran coup regime and its architects can’t help but demonstrate, again and again, that one of its unspoken reasons to exist is their unbridled racism toward considerable sectors of the national and international community."

Honduran elections to worsen political crisis: Zelaya
A quote...."uring an interview with the Honduran radio "Radio Globo," Zelaya said in neighboring Nicaragua that "the democracy is in grave damage, and the elections will be held in a repression environment where the president was ousted by forces."
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More on the Iranian Election.....

Iran News Agency Reports Prisoner Died of Abuse
A quote...."CAIRO — In what may be the first admission that a prisoner died from abuse by Iranian prison authorities in the wake of post-election unrest, a semiofficial news service reported Monday that the son of an adviser to a prominent conservative politician had died of “physical stress, conditions of imprisonment, repeated blows and harsh physical treatment.”
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Go to Pittsburgh, Young Man, and Defy Your Empire
A quote...."Globalization and unfettered capitalism have been swept into the history books along with the open-market theory of the 1920s, the experiments of fascism, communism and the New Deal. It is time for a new economic and political paradigm. It is time for a new language to address our reality. The voices of change, those who speak in powerful and yet unfamiliar words, will cry out Sept. 25 and 26 in Pittsburgh when protesters from around the country gather to defy the heads of state, bankers and finance ministers from the world’s 22 largest economies who are convening for a meeting of the G-20. If we heed these dissident voices we have a future. If we do not we will commit collective suicide." -- also posted at ICH & CommonDreams

Liquidity to Keep the Financial System from Collapsing in a Heap
Must Read - A quote...."Ben Bernanke never should have been reappointed as Fed chairman. Obama made a big mistake. The main thing to remember about Bernanke is that, in the two years since the financial crisis began, he's made no effort to force the large banks and financial institutions to write-down their losses. Nor has he pushed for the regulations that are needed to restore confidence in the system. The credit system is still clogged because the banks are buried under $1.5 trillion in toxic assets and non performing loans which are defaulting at the fastest pace on record. At the same time, Bernanke has failed to push for reform of derivatives trading, off-balance sheet operations, securitization or capital requirements for financial institutions. The good news is that Bernanke has demonstrated great creativity in providing sufficient liquidity to keep the financial system from collapsing in a heap. The bad news is that the core problem is not liquidity at all, but solvency. A good portion of the banking system is underwater. That's why Bernanke's actions have been a complete flop." -- For more on this issue see....An Economic Choice - Empire or Nation State - 08-28-09 - mpg

Back to Voodoo Economics and the "Green Shoots Recovery"
A quote...."The much vaunted “green shoots” of recovery phrase coined by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and hailed by the corporate media, began to break out into the sunlight during a period of soaring unemployment, collapsing house prices, foreclosures, falling consumer purchases and disastrous consumer confidence levels. This is without mentioning the 81 banks which have failed in the U.S. already in the first 8 months of this year."

Fed, Treasury fear mass commercial property foreclosures
Full quote...."The perilous state of many CMBS issues has Federal Reserve and Treasury officials searching for ways to prevent widespread foreclosures on commercial real estate mortgages. In some cases, lenders can keep a lid on distressed commercial property loans made directly to borrowers and held directly by the lender by extending the debt so long as the underlying properties generate sufficient cash flow to cover the debt service. But because of the way they are structured, it is extraordinarily difficult to do this with loans tied to CMBS issues. Wall Street Journal, The (08/31) "