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Powell Aid Calls Cheney a War Criminal
(BBC NEWS, 29 November 2005)
Col Lawrence Wilkerson accused Mr Cheney of ignoring a decision by President Bush on the treatment of prisoners in the war on terror. . . . Asked by the BBC's Today if Mr Cheney could be accused of war crimes, he said: "It's an interesting question." . . . "Certainly it is a domestic crime to advocate terror," he added. . . . "And I would suspect, for whatever it's worth, it's an international crime as well." . . . This is an extraordinary attack by a man who until earlier in the year was Mr Cheney's colleague in the senior reaches of the Bush team, the BBC's Justin Webb in Washington says. . . . Col Wilkerson has in the past accused the vice-president of responsibility for the conditions which led to the abuse of prisoners. . . . But this time he has gone much further, appearing to suggest Mr Cheney should face war crimes charges, our correspondent adds. . . . He said that there were two sides of the debate within the Bush administration over the treatment of prisoners. . . . Mr Powell and more dovish members had argued for sticking to the Geneva conventions, which prohibit the torture of detainees. . . . Meanwhile, the other side "essentially wanted to do away with all restrictions". . . . Mr Bush agreed a compromise, that "Geneva would in fact govern all but al-Qaeda and al-Qaeda look-alike detainees". . . . "What I'm saying is that, under the vice-president's protection, the secretary of defence [Donald Rumsfeld] moved out to do what they wanted in the first place, even though the president had made a decision that was clearly a compromise," Col Wilkerson said. . . . He said that he laid the blame on the issue of prisoner abuse and post-war planning for Iraq "pretty fairly and squarely" at Mr Cheney's feet. . . . "I look at the relationship between Mr Cheney and Mr Rumsfeld as being one that produced these two failures in particular, and I see that the president is not holding either of them accountable... so I have to lay some blame at his feet too," he went on. . . . In the BBC interview, Col Wilkerson also developed his views on whether or not pre-war intelligence was deliberately misused by the White House. . . . He said that he had previously thought only honest mistakes were made. . . . But recent revelations about doubts in the intelligence community that appear to have been suppressed in the run-up to the war have made him question this view.

. . . Read more!


posted by LoZo 7:08 AM

 

Blair Prevented Bush from Bombing al-Jazeera in Qatar
(Kevin Maguire And Andy Lines, Mirror.co.uk, 22 November 2005)
Bush planned to bomb Arab TV station al-Jazeera in friendly Qatar, a "Top Secret" No 10 memo reveals. . . . But he was talked out of it at a White House summit by Tony Blair, who said it would provoke a worldwide backlash. . . . A source said: "There's no doubt what Bush wanted, and no doubt Blair didn't want him to do it." Al-Jazeera is accused by the US of fuelling the Iraqi insurgency. . . . The attack would have led to a massacre of innocents on the territory of a key ally, enraged the Middle East and almost certainly have sparked bloody retaliation. . . . A source said last night: "The memo is explosive and hugely damaging to Bush. . . . "He made clear he wanted to bomb al-Jazeera in Qatar and elsewhere. Blair replied that would cause a big problem. . . . "There's no doubt what Bush wanted to do - and no doubt Blair didn't want him to do it." . . . "Bush was deadly serious, as was Blair. That much is absolutely clear from the language used by both men." . . .
Yesterday former Labour Defence Minister Peter Kilfoyle challenged Downing Street to publish the five-page transcript of the two leaders' conversation. He said: "It's frightening to think that such a powerful man as Bush can propose such cavalier actions. . . . "I hope the Prime Minister insists this memo be published. It gives an insight into the mindset of those who were the architects of war." . . . Bush disclosed his plan to target al-Jazeera, a civilian station with a huge Mid-East following, at a White House face-to-face with Mr Blair on April 16 last year. . . . At the time, the US was launching an all-out assault on insurgents in the Iraqi town of Fallujah. . . . Al-Jazeera infuriated Washington and London by reporting from behind rebel lines and broadcasting pictures of dead soldiers, private contractors and Iraqi victims. . . . Dozens of al-Jazeera staff at the HQ are not, as many believe, Islamic fanatics. Instead, most are respected and highly trained technicians and journalists. . . . To have wiped them out would have been equivalent to bombing the BBC in London and the most spectacular foreign policy disaster since the Iraq War itself. . . . The No 10 memo now raises fresh doubts over US claims that previous attacks against al-Jazeera staff were military errors. . . . In 2001 the station's Kabul office was knocked out by two "smart" bombs. In 2003, al-Jazeera reporter Tareq Ayyoub was killed in a US missile strike on the station's Baghdad centre.

. . . Read more!


posted by LoZo 11:06 AM

 

Prepare for Peak Oil Now
(Richard Heinberg, AlterNet, November 14, 2005)
[NOTE: The following is only a brief summary of a lengthly article. The link above will take you to the full text of this important essay.]

Only 150 years ago, 85 percent of all work being accomplished in the U.S. economy was done by muscle power -- most of that by animal muscle, about a quarter of it by human muscle. Today, that percentage is effectively zero; virtually all of the physical work supporting our economy is done by fuel-fed machines. What caused this transformation? Quite simply, it was oil's comparative cheapness and versatility. . . . Today petroleum provides 97 percent of our transportation fuel, and is also a feedstock for chemicals and plastics. . . . It is no exaggeration to say that we live in a world that runs on oil. . . . However, oil is a finite resource. Therefore the peaking and decline of world oil production are inevitable events -- and on that there is scarcely any debate; only the timing is uncertain. Forecast dates for the peak range from this year to 2035. . . . Evidence that we are approaching peak includes the following:** ExxonMobil documents that global oil discoveries peaked in 1964. Declining rates of discovery are therefore a long-established trend. ** Chevron notes in recent advertisements that 33 of 48 nations are in decline. We have thus seen the peaking of production in a majority of individual nations, including some important producers such as Indonesia, Norway, Great Britain, and Venezuela. Mexico will reach its peak within the next two years. ** As noted by the International Energy Agency, there is evidence that a substantial amount of "proven reserves" in OPEC countries are illusory, the result of a scramble for market share within a cartel that allocates export quotas based on stated reserves. . . . Expressions of concern have been voiced by corporations, prominent organizations, and knowledgeable individuals, including ChevronTexaco, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Volvo, Ford Motor Company Executive Vice President Mark Fields, the Chinese Offshore Oil Corporation’s chief economist, and numerous petroleum scientists and oil industry analysts. . . . The question immediately arises: Will alternative sources be able to make up the difference? . . . Alternative sources often discussed include oil sands from Canada, shale oil in Colorado, coal-to-liquids, gas-to-liquids, nuclear, and renewables such as solar and wind. Each of these will require immense investment and well over a decade of intense effort in order to produce substantial quantities of energy to offset declines from fossil fuels. And in most cases, rates of production are and will be constrained by non-economic factors. . . . Early this year a report was released, prepared for the U.S. Department of Energy by a team led by Robert L. Hirsch, who has a distinguished background in the oil industry and is a senior energy analyst at SAIC and the Rand Corporation. The Hirsch Report (titled "Peaking of World Oil Production: Impacts, Mitigation and Risk Management") concludes that price signals will arrive at least ten years too late to enable a gentle, market-led transition away from oil to other energy sources. The report describes Peak Oil as an "unprecedented" challenge for modern societies, and describes economic, social, and political risks if preparation is not undertaken soon enough, or on adequate scale. . . . Let me read you a few sentences from the Hirsch Report: The problems associated with world oil production peaking will not be temporary, and past "energy crisis" experience will provide relatively little guidance. The challenge of oil peaking deserves immediate, serious attention, if risks are to be fully understood and mitigation begun on a timely basis. Mitigation will require a minimum of a decade of intense, expensive effort, because the scale of liquid fuels mitigation is inherently extremely large. Intervention by governments will be required, because the economic and social implications of oil peaking would otherwise be chaotic. . . . The report also concludes that the costs of preparing too late for global oil peak would far outweigh those of preparing too early. . . . we are already seeing serious impacts resulting from current prices in the $60-per-barrel range. For example . . . currently tens of thousands of farmers are agonizing over whether they can afford to plant next year’s crop, given high fuel and fertilizer costs . . . In the chemistry industry alone, more than 100 plants have closed and more than 100,000 jobs have been lost just this year. . . . Home heating costs are projected to be 40-50% higher this winter than last. . . . As prices go even higher, and with actual scarcities of fuel, people will experience difficulties commuting, and the maintenance of our far-flung food distribution systems may become problematic. . . . On top of all this, oil is a strategic resource: as supplies become scarce, there is increasing likelihood of international conflict. . . . To avoid the worst-case scenario we must begin today to reduce our dependence on oil. The effort must have top priority. It must focus primarily on reducing demand, and only secondarily on producing large quantities of alternative transportation fuels. . . . However, without a Protocol -- essentially a system for global oil rationing -- we will see extremely volatile prices that will undermine the economies of all nations, and all industries and businesses. We will also see increasing international competition for oil likely leading to conflict; and if a general oil war were to break out, everyone would lose. Given the alternatives, the Protocol clearly seems preferable. . . . National governments, local municipalities, corporations, and private individuals will all need to contribute to the effort to wean ourselves from oil, an effort that must quickly expand to include a reduction in dependence on other fossil fuels as well. . . . All of this will constitute an immense challenge for our species in the coming century. We will meet that challenge successfully only if we begin immediately.

. . . Read more!


posted by LoZo 12:40 PM

 

Amman Hotel Bombings: Israelis Evacuated Before Attack
(Argentina Indymedia, November 11, 2005)
According to the Israeli media, their citizens had been evacuated hours before the bombs went off, killing among others 3 members of a Chinese Defense delegation, and the Head of Palestine's intelligence service. . . . In the orchestrated bombings in the Jordanian capital Amman, also three officials of a Chinese Defense delegation were killed. Three adults which, their ages of 41, 43 and 44 notwithstanding, in many media now unjustly are described as university 'students'. In that case they must be very important 'students', because in the Chinese capital their sudden death - during a low profile visit - has led to the sending of an investigating 'working group' composed of officials from the Ministry of National Defense and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. - [http://tinyurl.com/7bt2o] . . . But also Maj. Gen. Bashir Nafeh, head of Palestinian military intelligence was a victim, with many more. . . . ISRAELI NATIONALS EVACUATED BEFORE THE ATTACKS - On the 10th of November the Los Angeles Times used this quote in an article: "The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that Israelis staying at the Radisson on Wednesday had been evacuated before the attacks and escorted back home "apparently due to a specific security threat." . . . Amos N. Guiora, a former senior Israeli counter-terrorism official, said in a phone interview with The Times that sources in Israel had also told him about the pre-attack evacuations. . . . "The question that needs to be answered is why weren't the Jordanians working at the hotel similarly removed?" . . . Because anybody is able to see the changing of the story again: the Chinese have been turned into 'students'. The mainstream media report concerning the perpetrators* in the latest version that 'the blasts were caused by suspected suicide bombers.' . . . But earlier RTV reports quoting police and eyewitnesses were different: police sources among others told information service Reuters that ''the Radisson blast had been caused by a bomb placed in a false ceiling.'' - [http://tinyurl.com/bc34b] . . . The Foreign Ministry stated yesterday that no Israeli tourists are known to have been injured in the blasts. . . . Representatives of Israel's embassy in Amman were I contact with local authorities to examine any report of injured Israelis, but none were received. There are often a number of Israeli businessman and tourists in Amman, including in the hotels hit yesterday. . . . CNN reported an eyewitness saying the Jordanian prime minister's car was at the Grand Hyatt at the time of the blast. . . . Police said a second explosion hit the nearby Radisson SAS hotel, where about 250 people were attending a wedding reception. At least five were killed and at least 20 wounded in that blast, believed to have been caused by a bomb placed in a false ceiling, police sources at the scene told Reuters.

. . . Read more!


posted by LoZo 2:29 PM

 

Outrage as Paris burns and French riots spread
(Charles Bremner, Times Online, November 07, 2005)
M Chirac held an emergency meeting last night with senior Cabinet members responsible for security, but violence erupted soon after it concluded. . . . Ten police were injured after being shot at by more than 200 rioters in Gringy, south of Paris. Cars were set alight on the streets of Nantes, Orleans, Rennes and Rouen, officers in Toulouse had to use tear gas on a mob, and youths in St Etienne forced passengers off a bus before burning it. . . . After the meeting with ministers, M Chirac said: “The last word must be with the law.” Those sowing “violence or fear” would be “arrested, judged and punished”. His priority was to stamp out the rampages, he said. . . . His first public announcement since the unrest began was designed to reassure a population that has grown outraged over the rioting by youths, mainly of Arab and African origin, who have set fire to cars, stoned police and firemen and attacked shops, schools and businesses. The unrest, previously confined to the outlying suburbs, captured the attention of the whole of France yesterday after youths in a dozen cities caused mayhem on their estates. . . . MPs in M Chirac’s Union for a Popular Movement have questioned President’s delay in speaking. François Hollande, leader of the Socialist Opposition, said that M Chirac’s entire Government was in question. The violence is widely blamed on the harsh rhetoric and tactics of Nicolas Sarkozy, the Interior Minister and UMP leader.

11 NIGHTS OF VIOLENCE
15 CITIES AFFECTED
900 ARRESTS
4000 VEHICLES BURNT
2,300 ADDITIONAL POLICE ON PATROL

. . . Read more!


posted by LoZo 5:37 PM

 

U.S. Building Military Base in Paraguay
(Mariela Perez, Granma Daily, November 2005)
In spite of the US and Paraguayan governments denials about the prolonged presence of US troops in this South American country -- allegedly to carry out military manoeuvres there until December 2006 -- there is much debate about the possibility of Washington establishing a military base in Paraguay. . . . What are their intentions? An essential one would be the ability to intervene in any bordering nation, especially in Bolivia, in an open act of interference in the internal affairs of that country where, according to ballot forecasts, Evo Morales, the leader of the Movement Towards Socialist (MAS) is expected to win the general elections on December 18. . . . Another reason would be to control the business of the MERCOSUR (Southern Common Market) the regional economic block consisting of Paraguay, Uruguay, Brazil and Argentina, at a time when Latin America is moving in another direction of integration, without the presence of the powerful US. . . . Political analysts agree that conditions for establishing a base -- apparently at Mariscal Estigarribia, 250 kilometers from the Bolivian frontier, which would strengthen the US presence on the region --, have been quietly created. . . . One of the first steps was the granting of diplomatic immunity to the US troops by the Uruguayan Parliament last May which would exonerate soldiers there from being subject to national and international law, should major blunders occur. . . . This privilege -- which Brazil and Argentina have not granted to US troops -- was kept dark by authorities in Asuncion and only came to light a month later when made public by a Buenos Aires newspaper. . . . Up to now we only know that Paraguay and the US have signed a military agreement for hundreds more marines to enter the country over the next eighteen months. Under this agreement -- which can be extended -- the first contingents of US troops, planes, arms and military equipment have been arriving there since last July. . . . The establishment of a US military base at Mariscal Estigarribia, where the Unites States has already built an airport and facilities exist to receive troops would, according to press sources, add to the more than eight hundred installations of this type that the US has in some forty countries.

. . . Read more!


posted by LoZo 8:46 AM