Appeasement Driven by Oil

The Bush Administration and Darfur

By David Morse

Appeasement driven by oil is surely as reprehensible as any. When confronted with reality, this President is clearly reluctant to confront the genuine "Islamo-terrorists" of his nightmares.
http://informationclearinghouse.info/article15172.htm

Attack On Iran Inevitable - Nuke Use In White House Plan

Air Force Colonel Sam Gardiner (ret.) says U.S. forces will assassinate Iran's leadership.

A Must Watch Interview

Retired Air Force Colonel Sam Gardiner on the probability of air strikes on Iran and the likely consequences. Click here to view. Real video and windows media.
http://informationclearinghouse.info/article15170.htm

Secret Reports Dispute White House Optimism

By Bob Woodward

Instead of a "long retreat," the report forecast a more violent 2007: "Insurgents and terrorists retain the resources and capabilities to sustain and even increase current level of violence through the next year."
http://informationclearinghouse.info/article15162.htm

Bush calls for 'world offensive'

By Maxim Kniazkov in Washington

STUNG by criticism, US President George W. Bush has called for fighting America's enemies "across the world" as he stepped up his counter-offensive following charges that his policies were breeding a new generation of Islamic terrorists.
http://informationclearinghouse.info/article15175.htm

The anatomy of a massacre

A special report by Robert Fisk

Wissam talks slowly but without tears as he describes what happened next. "I lost sight of Myrna. I just couldn't see her any more for the dust flying around. Then the helicopter came back and started firing its guns at the children, at any of them who moved. I ran away behind a tel [a small hill] and lay there and pretended to be dead because I knew the pilot would kill me if I moved. Some of the children were in bits."
http://informationclearinghouse.info/article15165.htm

Appeasement Driven by Oil

The Bush Administration and Darfur

By David Morse

Appeasement driven by oil is surely as reprehensible as any. When confronted with reality, this President is clearly reluctant to confront the genuine "Islamo-terrorists" of his nightmares.
http://informationclearinghouse.info/article15172.htm

Victory for Austrian opposition BBC News
Austria's opposition Social Democrats have won a surprise election victory, defeating Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel's People's Party.With all but absentee ballots counted, the centre-left Social Democrats won 35.7% of the vote, narrowly beating the the People's Party at 34.2%. Even as votes were being counted, Mr Schuessel said it would take "a small miracle" for his party to win. The Social Democrat's Alfred Gusenbauer is likely to become the new chancellor. The far right Freedom Party, which ran an anti-immigrant campaign, came in at third place with 11%, followed by the Greens at 10%. The far-right party founded by Joerg Haider, the Alliance for the Future of Austria, seems just to have made it into parliament with 4% - this, despite its split from the Freedom Party last year. Before the vote, opinion polls had suggested a narrow victory for Mr Schuessel's party.About 400,000 postal votes have still be to be counted and that could affect the final results, in particular, for the Greens and the Alliance for the Future of Austria. Coalition negotiations are likely to be time-consuming and difficult, reports the BBC's Bethany Bell in Vienna. The most obvious alliance is a grand coalition between the People's Party and the Social Democrats, an option preferred by many Austrians. Otherwise, the conservatives could in theory try to form a coalition with the two far-right parties. But so far, Austria's leading politicians are refusing to commit themselves. Mr Schuessel took office in 2000 in a controversial alliance with the far-right Freedom Party, then led by Mr Haider. He won re-election in 2002. More than six million Austrian voters were eligible to vote for the 183-seat parliament.

A Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy?

By Mike Whitney

Next week, President Bush will sign the “Military Commissions Act of 2006” into law. - The law will allow Bush to imprison anyone he chooses and abuse them as he sees fit. It places Bush above the law, our first American monarch.
http://informationclearinghouse.info/article15169.htm

Why I'm Banned in the USA

By Tariq Ramadan

My experience reveals how U.S. authorities seek to suppress dissenting voices and -- by excluding people such as me from their country -- manipulate political debate in America. Unfortunately, the U.S. government's paranoia has evolved far beyond a fear of particular individuals and taken on a much more insidious form: the fear of ideas.
http://informationclearinghouse.info/article15180.htm

The New Face of Class War

By Paul Craig Roberts

The United States is the first country in history to destroy the prospects and living standards of its labor force. It is amazing to watch freedom-loving libertarians and free-market economists serve as apologists for the dismantling of the ladders of upward mobility that made the America of old an opportunity society.
http://informationclearinghouse.info/article15177.htm

Serbian party quits over Mladic BBC News
A key party in Serbia's governing coalition G17 Plus has quit in protest at the failure to capture the fugitive war crimes suspect Ratko Mladic.Leader Mladjan Dinkic said the party's ministers had submitted letters of resignation to the prime minister. He said the party was disappointed Serbia had failed to meet EU conditions on restarting talks on closer ties by failing to hand over Gen Mladic. Gen Mladic is wanted by The Hague war crimes tribunal on genocide charges. The charges relate to the massacre of thousands of Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica in 1995 during the Bosnian war. The EU suspended talks with Serbia earlier this year over Belgrade's failure to capture the Bosnian Serb general. G17 Plus had said it would resign from the government if Gen Mladic was not been handed over by 1 October. The move is not expected to lead to a collapse of the government, as it is to hold early general elections after parliament on Saturday approved a new constitution claiming sovereignty over the UN-administered province of Kosovo.

Craig Murray on Manufacturing Terror : Oil, Lily Pad Bases and Torture :

Why is the Bush administration so attached to torturing people that it would pressure a supine Congress into raping the US constitution by explicitly permitting some torture techniques and abolishing habeas corpus for certain categories of prisoners?
http://www.juancole.com/2006/10/craig-murr...ing-terror.html

America goes too far:

Historian Paul Kennedy tells Ezzat Ibrahim that the great wheel of history is turning against the United States
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2006/814/intrvw.htm

Polls: Democrats run strong in Senate races MSNBC
GOP-held seats in Montana, Ohio and Tennessee at risk, latest polls showThree new polls of likely voters, conducted by Mason-Dixon, show Democrats with a real chance to make significant gains in the Senate. In all three states, Republicans currently hold the seats. The Democrats need to gain six seats in order to take control of the Senate.

Montana: Burns v. Tester
In Montana, incumbent Republican Senator Conrad Burns is trailing his Democratic opponent Jon Tester by a 47 percent to 40 percent margin with 3 percent supporting a third party candidate and 10 percent undecided. This poll was conducted for Lee Newspapers. Senator Burns is not viewed nearly as favorably as Jon Tester by the likely voters in this poll. Only 36 percent view Burns favorably compared with 48 percent for Tester. And more, 45 percent view Burns unfavorably compared with 26 percent for Tester. Given that Burns is the incumbent, those numbers indicate a significant problem for his re-election. While the candidates are virtually tied among men, 45 percent for Burns, 44 percent for Tester, there is a large gap between them among women; Tester is supported by 50 percent of women compared to 35 percent who support Burns.

Ohio: DeWine v. Brown
In Ohio, incumbent Republican Senator Mike DeWine and Sherrod Brown, his Democratic challenger, are in a virtual tie. Brown is supported by 45 percent of likely voters and DeWine is supported by 43 percent. Only 2 percent support a third party candidate and 10 percent are undecided. The poll was conducted for the Cleveland Plain Dealer. DeWine is viewed about as favorably as Brown is by Ohio voters, 41 percent view DeWine favorably and 39 percent view Brown favorably. But DeWine’s unfavorable rating, 33 percent, is substantially higher than Brown’s 22 percent. Brown has significant support among Black voters where he leads DeWine by an 83 percent to 7 percent margin. Among White voters, DeWine leads Brown, 47 percent to 41 percent. There is a significant gender gap with women supporting Brown by a 47 percent to 39 percent margin and men supporting DeWine by a 47 percent to 43 percent margin. The key to this race is likely to be the votes of independents. In this poll, Brown leads among independents by a 52 percent to 33 percent margin.

Tennessee: Ford v. Corker
In Tennessee, in the open seat currently held by majority leader Bill Frist, Democrat Harold Ford, Jr. and Republican Bob Corker are in a virtual tie. Ford is supported by 43 percent of likely voters and Corker is supported by 42 percent. Only 1 percent support a third party candidate and 14 percent are undecided. The poll was conducted for the Memphis Commercial Appeal and the Chattanooga Times Free Press. Ford is viewed favorably by more Tennessee voters, 44 percent, than is Corker, 38 percent, and less unfavorably, 30 percent to Corker’s 35 percent. Ford has significant support among Black voters, where he is ahead of Corker 91 percent to 3 percent. Corker leads among White voters by a 49 percent to 35 percent margin. And there is a significant gender gap as well. Ford leads among women, 47 percent to 38 percent but Corker leads among men, 46 percent to 39 percent. Independent voters in this poll give Corker the nod by a 43 percent to 33 percent margin but 23 percent of them are still undecided.

The 50 percent factor
Both Republican incumbents -- Sens. Burns and DeWine -- are significantly under the 50 percent threshold, and Burns is trailing significantly. There are five weeks to go before the election, which is plenty of time for major events and shifts in voter preference. But at least in these three Senate races, all Republican held seats, Democrats appear to have a real chance of winning.

Methodology
These polls were conducted by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research, Inc. Interview dates were: September 26 through September 28, 2006, in Montana, and September 25 through September 27, 2006, in Tennessee and Ohio. A total of 625 likely voters in each state were interviewed by telephone. Those interviewed were selected by the random variation of the last four digits of telephone numbers. A cross-section of exchanges was utilized in order to ensure an accurate reflection of the state. Quotas were assigned to reflect voter turnout by county. The margin for error, according to standards customarily used by statisticians, is no more than plus or minus 4 percentage points in each poll. This means that there is a 95 percent probability that the "true" figure would fall within that range if the entire population were sampled. The margin for error is higher for any subgroup, such as a gender or regional grouping.
By Sheldon Gawiser, Tiffany Turner, Costas Panagopoulos
NBC News Election Unit

FBI to Look at Foley's Actions

WASHINGTON - As pressure mounted on Republicans over their
handling of the scandal involving former Rep. Mark Foley, the FBI
said that it had begun a preliminary inquiry to determine whether
the disgraced Florida lawmaker had violated federal law by sending
sexually explicit instant messages to at least one teenager who
had served as a congressional page. By Noam N. Levey and Chuck
Neubauer.
http://email.latimes.com/cgi-bin1/DM/y/eBA...Io30G2B0HuFp0EG

Private-Sector Anger Builds as Public Pension Costs Rise

HADDONFIELD, N.J. - Lawmakers feel the heat from taxpayers who see
their own benefits wither, and traditional payouts give way to
401(k)-style plans. By Molly Hennessy-Fiske.
http://email.latimes.com/cgi-bin1/DM/y/eBA...Io30G2B0HuFq0EH

The Chaos Behind California Executions

SAN JOSE - Trial testimony paints lethal injection methods as
haphazard, with little medical oversight. By Maura Dolan and Henry
Weinstein.
http://email.latimes.com/cgi-bin1/DM/y/eBA...Io30G2B0HuFr0EI

A Ribbon Cut Stubborn Day Fire Down to Size

A divide-and-conquer strategy helped officials corral the
long-raging backcountry blaze. By Deborah Schoch.
http://email.latimes.com/cgi-bin1/DM/y/eBA...Io30G2B0HuFs0EJ

Playoff-Bound Dodgers Already Thinking Ahead

SAN FRANCISCO - With a mix of veterans and rookies, L.A. hopes it
is situated for success for years to come. By Tim Brown.
http://email.latimes.com/cgi-bin1/DM/y/eBA...Io30G2B0HuFt0EK

Mercy Comes to a Slum

BANGKOK, Thailand - For three decades, Father Joe Maier has made
it his mission to take in the throwaway youths of Bangkok's
largest ghetto. By John M. Glionna.
http://email.latimes.com/cgi-bin1/DM/y/eBA...Io30G2B0HuFu0EL

Rival Palestinian Gunmen Clash, Leaving 8 Dead

JERUSALEM - Armed men from the governing Hamas movement and its
rival, Fatah, clashed in a series of gun battles in the Gaza Strip
that left at least eight people dead and dozens more injured,
Palestinian officials said. By Ken Ellingwood.
http://email.latimes.com/cgi-bin1/DM/y/eBA...Io30G2B0HuFv0EM

Brazilian Vote Forces Lula Into Runoff

SAO PAULO, Brazil - Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva
fell short of the votes needed to avoid a runoff election this
month, official results showed. By Patrick J. McDonnell.
http://email.latimes.com/cgi-bin1/DM/y/eBA...Io30G2B0HuFw0EN

Woman, Child Killed in Raid at Baghdad Slum

BAGHDAD - Iraqis say the two were sleeping on a roof as
American-led forces and militants traded fire. U.S. officials are
unsure about civilian casualties. By Doug Smith and Zeena Kareem.
http://email.latimes.com/cgi-bin1/DM/y/eBA...Io30G2B0GwJ40EL

Reconfigured Supreme Court Takes Up Cases

WASHINGTON - Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justice Samuel
A. Alito Jr., President Bush's two appointees, will have a chance
to shift the law to the right on two charged issues - abortion and
race - during the Supreme Court term that starts today. By David
G. Savage.
http://email.latimes.com/cgi-bin1/DM/y/eBA...Io30G2B0GwJ70EO

Ban Trans Fats? That Takes the Cake

NEW YORK - Some N.Y. restaurant owners say a proposal to bar
hydrogenated vegetable oil goes too far. By Ellen Barry.
http://email.latimes.com/cgi-bin1/DM/y/eBA...Io30G2B0HuFx0EO

Market Crash Turns Focus to Driver Tests

Deaths led to scrutiny of laws governing older motorists. A DMV
pilot plan will use a battery of exams to identify risky drivers
of any age. By John Spano.
http://email.latimes.com/cgi-bin1/DM/y/eBA...Io30G2B0HuFy0EP

Secrets, and the obvious, revealed

Bob Woodward's "State of Denial" is the third volume in what
aspires to be an inside history of George W. Bush's wartime
presidency. Less wishfully hagiographic than "Bush at War," less
credulously detached than "Plan of Attack," this book's analysis
essentially mirrors the shift in opinion on the administration's
conduct of the war that has occurred in the foreign policy
establishment's broad middle ground, where "reasonable"
Republicans and Democrats still mingle in amiable,
man-of-the-world solidarity. By Tim Rutten.
http://email.latimes.com/cgi-bin1/DM/y/eBA...Io30G2B0HuF80EK

Narrowing the field

High school athletes are fitter, more skilled and better trained
than ever before. But these top-notch athletes, say many health
and fitness experts, have become the singular focus of the youth
sports system - while teenagers of average or low ability no
longer warrant attention. By Shari Roan.
http://email.latimes.com/cgi-bin1/DM/y/eBA...Io30G2B0HuGB0EV

Democrats on the Verge

As political stakes get higher, party affiliation matters more,
yet means less.
http://email.latimes.com/cgi-bin1/DM/y/eBA...Io30G2B0HuGC0EW

Washington sex e-mail row deepens BBC News
Senior US politicians have called for a full inquiry into the conduct of former Congressman Mark Foley, who is accused of improper contact with House staff.When confronted last week with sexually suggestive messages he had sent to boys, the Florida Republican resigned. The FBI is examining the messages to see if any law has been broken. The scandal has led to accusations that senior Republicans may have been aware of the communications but decided to ignore them. Mr Foley - a member of the House of Representatives caucus on missing and exploited children - apologised when announcing his resignation on Friday. House Speaker Dennis Hastert on Sunday urged the justice department to investigate Mr Foley's messages to pages - students serving as messengers and assistants to members of Congress. Some messages were sexually explicit and at least one of the recipients was only 16 years old. The White House and Democratic leaders in Congress also called for a criminal inquiry. "There is going to be, I'm sure, a criminal investigation into the particulars of this case," said White House counsel Dan Bartlett - who called the allegations "shocking". The BBC's Justin Webb in Washington says that over the weekend it has become clear that a minor embarrassment for the Republican party might become something far worse. It has emerged that Mr Foley's behaviour had been known about for some time by senior colleagues, including the party's leader in the House. They are now arguing about how much they knew - but the Democrats and some Republicans have called for the party's Congressional leaders to step down. Our correspondent says the scandal could cost the Republicans votes in next month's mid-term elections - votes they cannot afford to lose.

http://www.dawn.com/2006/10/02/int9.htm

White House in crisis over ‘Iraq lies’ claims

By Paul Harris

NEW YORK: President George Bush was braced for one of the toughest fights of his political life on Saturday as a fierce row broke out over whether he has been misleading the American public over the worsening violence in Iraq. The crisis also rippled across the Atlantic with claims that the administration hid crucial Iraq intelligence from its British allies.

Sparking the crisis was a series of leaks from a hard-hitting new book by the political journalist Bob Woodward, one of the two Washington Post reporters who broke the Watergate scandal that engulfed the Nixon administration three decades ago. The book lifts the lid on an administration in crisis, claiming that Bush and his top officials have deliberately covered up the seriousness of the violence in the war-torn country.

Woodward has so far been sympathetic to the Bush administration’s decision to go to war in Iraq. In a TV interview Woodward accused Bush of keeping the real situation in Iraq secret from the American public and playing down the true level of violence. “There’s public [information] and there’s private. But what did they do with the private? They stamp it secret. No one is supposed to know,” he says.

His book — State of Denial — is also understood to say Tony Blair was angry at discovering that Washington was keeping key intelligence on Iraq from Britain — even classifying reports based partly on contributions from British operatives as off-limits. In some cases, British personnel flying US planes in Iraq were denied access to pilots’ manuals, the book reportedly alleges. Downing Street denied to comment on Saturday.

Woodward’s book says that insurgent attacks in Iraq are now running at a rate of about four an hour and that officials believe the situation will get worse next year. That allegation is particularly damaging to the administration, which has staked its reputation in mid-term Congressional elections on its ability to win the war. It also flies in the face of regular Republican claims that the situation in Iraq is improving. Woodward’s book also provides a gripping insider’s account of a White House deeply divided over Iraq.

It shows that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has been at odds with Bush over the war and that former White House chief of staff Andy Card had backed the replacement of Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld — but was overruled.

It portrays Bush as determined to stick it out even if his only supporters are whittled down to his wife and the White House dog. “I will not withdraw, even if Laura and Barney are the only ones supporting me,” Woodward quotes Bush as having told top Republicans at a White House meeting. The book could not have come at a worse time for the Republican Party. America is gearing up for vital elections and both parties are fighting on the issue of national security. That is usually a Republican strength, but Woodward’s book will undermine the idea that the ruling party is best at prosecuting the war.

Bush spokesman Tony Snow has denied one key allegation — that Rumsfeld no longer takes calls from Rice. “That is ridiculous,” Snow said. The White House has also insisted that the war in Iraq remains a vital part of the wider “war on terror.” In his weekly radio address, Bush said that fighting Islamic militants was part of winning the struggle against “terrorists.”

He also slammed Democrats and others who used a leaked intelligence report last week — which warned that invading Iraq had made America more prone to terrorist attack — to score political points against Bush’s Iraq policy. “Some in Washington have selectively quoted from this document to make the case that, by fighting the terrorists in Iraq, we are making our people less secure here at home. This argument buys into the enemy’s propaganda.”

But it is now far from clear that such arguments are resonating with the American public. The Democrats, who once shied away from any debate on national security, have started to make it the central plank of their mid-term campaign. The party pulled no punches on Saturday in responding to Bush’s radio speech by choosing the Democratic Congressional candidate Tammy Duckworth to give its official response. Duckworth is a helicopter pilot who lost both legs in Iraq and now is a candidate for a seat in Illinois.

She vigorously attacked Republican attempts to paint her party as ‘cutting and running’ from the war. “I believe the brave men and women who are serving in Iraq today, their families and the American people, deserve more than the same empty slogans and political name-calling,” Duckworth said.—Dawn/The Observer News Service

http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/opinion/?id=17683

Iraq’s failed policy


What is tragically sad is not the report’s findings but the Bush administration’s stubborn refusal to acknowledge that the Iraq war and the occupation have enraged Arabs and Muslims throughout the world, notes Alon Ben-Meir.


Try as it may to put the best face on it, the American intelligence agencies’ assessment of global terrorism trends is damning the Bush administration in whichever way we look at it. In many ways the report stated the obvious: The Iraq war has contributed directly to the rise of Islamic radicalism and the diffusion of the Jihad ideology globally, and made the overall problem of terrorism considerably worse. What is tragically sad is not the report’s findings but the Bush administration’s stubborn refusal to acknowledge that the Iraq war and the occupation have enraged Arabs and Muslims throughout the world. Instead of dealing with the disastrous repercussions of the war and developing a viable exit strategy, the administration continues to link international terrorism to Iraq when in fact Iraq itself was thrown into a civil war.


As the Congressional elections are heating up, the discussions are refocused on the question whether the United States, especially in the wake of the intelligence assessment, should stay the course in Iraq or seek an exit strategy. The administration’s contention that American forces will gradually withdraw once the Iraqi military and security forces can maintain security is misleading. Past experience in training security forces, their questionable loyalty to the state and the conditions on the ground simply do not support the administration’s position.


It is clear that the continued occupation in itself has provided the greatest motivation for the Sunni Jihadis, Ba’athists and Saddamists to violently resist the American presence. The Shiites want American troops to stay, not to preserve democracy but to consolidate their power base and blunt any political challenge. Meanwhile, sectarian killing will not end, not only because of a long historical enmity between the Shiites and Sunnis but for the Sunnis, in particular, the struggle is existential. As a result the Shiite Alliance each keeps their own militia including Muqtada Sadr’s Mahdi Army to provide physical protection as well as safeguard their national long-term agenda to preserve Shiites dominance by any means and at all cost. To that end the militias work closely with the security and military forces that are predominantly Shiites and government officials tacitly promote sectarian cleansing. Although the Bush administration continues to deny the obvious, Iraq is in a civil war. One might ask then under what conditions American troops can withdraw when the Shiite and the Sunnis deliberately promote chaotic situation to serve their own, albeit contradictory agendas. Iraq will not stay in one piece and the violence will not end regardless of the pretext under which the United States continues to occupy Iraq.


Whereas there is a general public consensus that the United States cannot simply fold its tent in Iraq and leave, a timeframe (up to two years) for withdrawal of American forces must, nevertheless, be established. There is no evidence, as the administration contends that such a timetable will hand a victory to the insurgents or embolden the terrorist groups to lay in wait or intensify their attacks to accelerate the American departure.


If the intelligence report has any merit then it must be clear that ending the occupation will suck out much of the insurgents’ wind and greatly mitigate the motivation of many Jihadis to wage a blind war of terror against the United States and its allies. Moreover, as long as the Shiites led al-Maliki government is allowed to exploit the presence of American forces to promote its own sectarian agenda, the United States is playing into their hand and thereby perpetuating the corruption that has swept most government officials and ministries. After a couple of national elections and the passage of the constitution the Iraqi government must understand how high the stakes are and what to do to preserve their nascent democracy. That said, the Iraqi democracy will not be preserved by American forces regardless of their size and staying power. In fact, the longer American troops linger the greater the resistance and the weaker the elected government becomes because such government is seen as no more than an American tool in the service of Washington’s own narrow agenda. In one way or another, Iraq will eventually be divided into several provinces. The United States can, indeed should, assist Iraq in the transition so that the Sunni provinces will end up with equitable share of the nations’ oil resources - a critical requirement to ending the violence.


This administration can hardly be forgiven for adopting misguided policy toward Iraq based on neoconservative wishful thinking but it cannot be forgiven for manipulating the information about the situation in Iraq to mislead the public by insisting on the correctness of its defunct policy. Neither the war on terror nor the war in Iraq can be won unless the administration abandoned its failed “stays the course” policy. A timeframe is needed for withdrawal of American forces that have already made great sacrifices far beyond the call of duty.

Alon Ben-Meir is professor of international relations at the Center for Global Affairs at NYU. He teaches courses on international negotiations and Middle Eastern Studies.

www.alonben-meir.com

SECRETARY OF TURBULENCE: CONDOLEEZZA RICE TAKES THE LONG VIEW -- MAYBE TOO LONG - BRET STEPHENS (OPINION JOURNAL FROM THE WALL STREET JOURNAL EDITORIAL PAGE, SEPTEMBER 30): The State Department itself has increased its budget for supporting Voice of America radio and TV broadcasts in Farsi. What's telling is that Ms. Rice, in an interview with The Wall Street Journal, mentions none of this: Her primary method for dealing with the Iranian regime, it seems, is to deal with the regime, not to seek to change it.
http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/fe...ml?id=110009020

REVOLT OF THE GENERALS - RICHARD J. WHALEN (NATION, 28 SEPTEMBER): Gen. Barry McCaffrey, a hero in the 1991 Gulf War who visited Iraq and Kuwait this past spring: "U.S. public diplomacy and rhetoric about confronting Iranian nuclear weapons development [are] scaring neighbors in the Gulf."
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20061016/whalen

STATE DEPT: FORGET OUR INVASIONS, LOOK AT OUR CULTURE! - SPIN OF THE DAY (CENTER FOR MEDIA AND DEMOCRACY, SEPTEMBER 29): The U.S. State Department, which has been widely criticized for ineffectual public diplomacy, recently announced its new "Global Cultural Initiative." It's a joint effort "to educate Americans and participating nations about other cultures," reports PR Week. U.S. PR czar Karen Hughes explained, "Public diplomacy isn't just the work of government. ... Every American who travels abroad or welcomes a foreign visitor can be an ambassador for America."
http://www.prwatch.org/node/5243
LINK TO PR WEEK ARTICLE (subscription required)
http://www.prweek.com/us/login/required/595577

WHO SAYS AMERICA HAS LOST ITS MANUFACTURING EDGE? WE'RE GREAT AT PRODUCING TERRORISTS - ADAM HANFT (HUFFINGTON POST, SEPTEMBER 30): So long as we're unwilling to conceive of foreign policy in anything less than Manicheistic terms, we'd be better off taking Karen Hughes' budget and using it fund more airport gel detectors.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/adam-hanft/w...st_b_30544.html

FIXING THE US IMAGE TAKES LONG TO UNDO - (WOMBAT'S BLOG, OCTOBER 10): Karen Hughes is the friendly face that's supposed to improve our image in the Arab world. Interesting that they're sending a woman to choose Americas image in the Arab world. Would that help.
http://www.wombatburrow.org/blog/?p=88

IT'S THE POLICY, STUPID! - MUSTAPHA ZEIN (AL-HAYAT, OCTOBER 1): The US State Department wanted to propagate the extraordinary success achieved by Arabic-speaking Alberto Fernandez (Director of the Office of Press and Public Diplomacy in the Department of State Bureau of Near East Affairs and a frequent guest on Arab satellite channels), so White House "spice dealer" Karen Hughes decided to increase the American presence on Arab and European screens by 100% and create media superstars that the Arab viewer will be accustomed to.
http://english.daralhayat.com/opinion/OPED...72d6/story.html

VOICE OF AMERICA TV TO DEBUT IN AFGHANISTAN (NEWSMAX.COM, SEPTEMBER 29): The Saturday-through-Thursday newscasts, which will air in the Dari and Pashto languages in a one-hour block titled TV Ashna (Friend), will offer a new source of regional and world news to Afghanistan's emergent television market.
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2006/9/...537.shtml?s=icp

MIND WARS: AMERICANS, GLOBAL COMMUNITY ARE TARGETS OF DECEPTION ON IRAQ, THREATS TO PEACE - STEVE HAMMONS (AMERICAN CHRONICLE, CA, SEPTEMBER 28): In late August, news accounts described a new $20 million program to monitor media reports in not only the Middle East, but also within the U.S. Appropriate efforts of this kind can be very helpful in accomplishing legitimate goals as well as creating goodwill and effective public diplomacy for the U.S. and Americans.
http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/...articleID=14097

THE DEMISE OF AMERIKA HAUS BERLIN: WHO NEEDS CULTURAL CENTERS AND LIBRARIES ANYWAY? - PATRICIA H. KUSHLIS (WHIRLED VIEW, SEPTEMBER 29): What far too many Americans don't understand is the degree to which the administration has been able to insulate us from the rest of the world. Conversely, they also don't realize the degree to which the American media machine plays little -- if any role in shaping international opinion.
http://whirledview.typepad.com/whirledview...emise_of_a.html

CLASH: MUSHARRAF IS (NOT) THE MAN - MASOODR (UNCLASH: UNWINDING THE CONFRONTATION BETWEEN ISLAM AND THE WEST THROUGH REASONABLE DISCOURSE AND DEBATE, OCTOBER 1): Pakistanis are outraged that their President Musharraf has used a taxpayer-funded state visit to the United States to promote his book, which is a means of personal promotion and enrichment as much as it is public diplomacy.
http://unclash.blogspot.com/2006/10/clash-...is-not-man.html

AL QAEDA INCREASINGLY RELIANT ON MEDIA - HASSAN M. FATTAH (NEW YORK TIMES, SEPTEMBER 30): Chris Heffelfinger, a specialist in jihadi ideology at the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point: "Al Qaeda has been turning itself from an active organization into a propaganda organization. They now appear to be focused on putting out disinformation and projecting the strength of the mujahedeen.Ö?
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/30/world/30...agewanted=print

WHERE'S THE TRUST? - MARC LYNCH (ABU AARDVARK, SEPTEMBER 29): "So this afternoon I went to download the latest Ayman al-Zawahiri [Al Quaeda leader] video from the usual forum where I find al-Sahab productions. And I found it right away, and downloaded it, and then... it opened as a password protected file. Password protected! What has this online world come to when even al-Qaeda jihadist terrorists feel like they can't trust people?
http://abuaardvark.typepad.com/abuaardvark...s.html#comments
SEE ALSO
http://abuaardvark.typepad.com/abuaardvark...hiri_video.html

BUSH ADMITS TO SETBACKS IN AFGHANISTAN - TOM RAUM, ASSOCIATED PRESS (WASHINGTON POST, SEPTEMBER 29): President Bush asserted Friday that critics who claim the Iraq war has made America less safe embrace "the enemy's propaganda."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...2900802_pf.html

ALL THE NEWS FROM IRAQ IS BAD ... AND GETTING WORSE: THE BREAKING POINT - MIKE WHITNEY (COUNTERPUNCH, SEPTEMBER 30/OCTOBER 1): The administration continues to (cynically) believe that their well-paid propagandists can prevail in the "hearts and minds" campaign by creating patriotic sound bytes and poignant anecdotes about devoted soldiers performing their duties. What's needed, however, is a dramatic change of policy.
http://www.counterpunch.org/whitney09302006.html

WHY I'M BANNED IN THE USA - TARIQ RAMADAN (WASHINGTON POST, OCTOBER 1): "For more than two years now, the U.S. government has barred me from entering the United States to pursue an academic career. ... I am increasingly convinced that the Bush administration has barred me [because it] doesn't care for my political views. (Tariq Ramadan, a fellow at Oxford University, is author of "Western Muslims and the Future of Islam.")
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...2901334_pf.html

TRIBUNAL BILL SETS UP AN IRONIC LEGAL LIMBO: DETAINEES DEEMED LESS OF A THREAT MIGHT GO UNTRIED YET BE UNABLE TO CHALLENGE DETENTION - JULIAN E. BARNES AND RICHARD B. SCHMITT (LOS ANGELES TIMES, SEPTEMBER 30): The government plans to try about 100 of the detainees being held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba -- those suspected of the most serious crimes against the United States. These prisoners, and any others charged, would be able to appeal convictions to the U.S. courts. The other 355 detainees, who are considered less of a threat, may never be tried and may therefore be denied the right to challenge their imprisonment.
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/a...142,print.story

NO 'HOLIDAY' IN GUANTAMO: I NEVER SAW RUMSFELD'S VOLLEYBALL COURTS DURING MY TWO YEARS IN AMERICA'S GULAG - MOAZZAM BEGG (LOS ANGELES TIMES, OCTOBER 1): It's little wonder that there are powerful voices -- including European allies, former U.S. presidents, Hollywood stars and even veterans of conflicts such as the Vietnam War -- joining Amnesty International and former detainees in calling for the closure of Guantanamo.
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-op-...inion-rightrail

WHAT MY FATHER SAW AT NUREMBERG: SIXTY YEARS AGO TODAY, MY FATHER WATCHED THE U.S. WIN THE BATTLE OF IDEAS. HAVE WE LOST OUR WAY? - CHRISTOPHER DODD (LOS ANGELES TIMES, OCTOBER 1): Just as the word "Nuremberg" once defined the United States' moral authority and commitment to justice, what we risk today is that, one day, the loss of that moral authority and a commitment to injustice may also be defined by a single word: "Guantanamo." (Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) is a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.)
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-...inion-rightrail

SOFT CELL: THE REALITY OF GUANTANAMO - RICH LOWRY (NATIONAL REVIEW, SEPTEMBER 28): Dealing with unappeasable murderous fanatics, while at the same time honoring our civilized norms, is never going to be easy. Gitmo is an attempt to find that balance, in the midst of what everyone here -- the detainees and their minders -- recognizes as an ongoing war.
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ODE2Y...DZjZTc1NjliZDI=

RIP, BILL OF RIGHTS, RIP - RICHARD KIM (NATION, OCTOBER 1): The US now holds 14,000 detainees in prisons in Iraq, Guantanamo, Afghanistan and other undisclosed locations. 14,000 people who can be held indefinitely, without a fair trial, by secret evidence they have no access or that may be obtained by what most consider torture.
http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion?bid=15

LOOK PAST THE TORTURED DISTORTIONS - JOHN W. WARNER, JOHN MCCAIN AND LINDSEY O. GRAHAM (WALL STREET JOURNAL, OCTOBER 2): The Military Commissions Act of 2006 achieves a fair system for the prosecution and conviction of suspected terrorists and also reaffirms and underscores our nation's commitment to the Geneva Conventions, which we must uphold as a matter of principle and to protect our service members in this and future wars.
http://online.wsj.com/article_print/SB1159...1846979627.html
PAID SUBSCRIPTION

WHEN PUSH COMES TO TORTURE - JONAH GOLDBERG (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, SEPTEMBER 28): According to the torture prohibitionists, there must be a complete ban on anything that even looks like torture, regardless of context, even though we'd never dream of a blanket ban on killing.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion...ncommentary-hed

WHY TORTURE IS STILL AN OPTION: THE COMPROMISE TERRORISM DETAINEE BILL LIMITS INTERROGATION ABUSES -- AND LETS BUSH SET THE LIMITS - MICHAEL DUFFY (TIME MAGAZINE, OCTOBER 1)
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/...1541238,00.html

EVEN TIMOTHY MCVEIGH WAS AFFORDED CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS: THE FLAWS IN THE MILITARY COMMISSIONS ACT - SEN. RUSSELL FEINGOLD (COUNTERPUNCH, SEPTEMBER 28): If we cloak cruel or degrading interrogations done in the name of American safety with euphemisms like "alternative techniques," if we create arbitrary dates for when differing degrees of morality will apply, we will have betrayed our principles and ourselves.
http://www.counterpunch.org/feingold09282006.html

A CONSTITUTIONAL SHREDDING: ROUNDING UP U.S. CITIZENS - MARJORIE COHN (COUNTERPUNCH, SEPTEMBER 30/OCTOBER 1): Because the Military Commissions Act of 2006 governing the treatment of detainees was adopted with lightning speed, barely anyone noticed that it empowers Bush to declare not just aliens, but also U.S. citizens, "unlawful enemy combatants."
http://www.counterpunch.org/cohn09302006.html

TERROR 2016 - AZIZ HUQ (TOMPAINE.COM, SEPTEMBER 29): The Military Commissions Act of 2006 is a blank check cashed in the liberties of the country's citizens and in the wasted lives of the unfortunate innocent people swept up in America's global detention system.
http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2006/09/29/terror_2016.php

WHY CHURCHILL OPPOSED TORTURE: THE BRITISH LEADER UNDERSTOOD WHAT PRESIDENT BUSH DOES NOT: WHEN IT COMES TO PRISONERS OF WAR, WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND - NIALL FERGUSON (LOS ANGELES TIMES, OCTOBER 2): Last week, both houses of Congress approved a bill -- the Military Commissions Act -- that would permit the indefinite, extrajudicial incarceration of terrorist suspects and their interrogation using torture in all but name.
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-...inion-rightrail

WHEN DEMOCRACY FAILS US - JERRY LANSON (COMMON DREAMS, SEPTEMBER 29): Even those who have fought proudly in Iraq and Afghanistan and fully support all aspects of what President Bush calls Americas War on Terror say that tinkering with the Geneva Conventions could open the floodgates of torture everywhere, endangering any American soldier unlucky enough to be captured by an enemy.
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0929-34.htm

CRAIG MURRAY ON MANUFACTURING TERROR: OIL, LILY PAD BASES AND TORTURE - JUAN COLE (INFORMED COMMENT: THOUGHTS ON THE MIDDLE EAST, HISTORY, AND RELIGION, OCTOBER 1): How do you prove to yourself and others a big terror threat that requires a National Security State and turn toward a praetorian society? You torture people into alleging it. Global terrorism is being exaggerated and hyped by torture just as the witchcraft scare in Puritan American manufactured witches.
http://www.juancole.com/
(scroll down link for item)

ON TORTURE - ED KINANE (COMMON DREAMS, SEPTEMBER 30): It's frightening that, at this time and in this nation, torture must be discussed as if it were a legitimate issue. What's next -- the pros and cons of child molestation?
http://www.commondreams.org/cgi-bin/print....s06/0930-20.htm