Military Rumblings on Iran

Lest anyone doubt that the highly esteemed New York Times is anything but a propaganda mouthpiece for the American powers-that-be regardless of which "wing", Democrat or Republican, holds power in the White House, the story below should put those doubts to rest.

What follows is a thinly disguised left-wing criticism of the Bush administration and the quite obvious verbal threats towards Iran following Dubys'a second inaugural speech. What is interesting about the editorial below is that by appearing to criticize Bush's latest round of war-mongering, the NYT's subtly introduces a number of commonly held assumptions that in fact support the current adminstration's drive towards complete control over the Middle Eastern region.

But first the editorial...

Published: January 27, 2005
New York Times

President Bush began his second term with speculation rising about future military moves against Iran. Last week, Vice President Dick Cheney placed Iran first on the list of world trouble spots and darkly hinted that unless tougher measures were taken to curtail its nuclear program, Israel might launch its own pre-emptive airstrikes. Earlier this month, Seymour Hersh reported in The New Yorker that secret reconnaissance operations have already gotten under way inside Iran, as the Pentagon prepares target lists of nuclear sites that could be attacked from the air or by ground-based commando units.

So far, so good. Pretty much sticking to the facts, with even a brief mention of Sy Hersh's piece in the New Yorker that paints a chilling picture of the Neocon's plans for the next axis-of-evil target. What is interesting about this paragraph is the way the writer non-chalantly mentions American spying and secret intelligence operations inside a sovereign and independent nation like it was commonplace and wholly acceptable, and not in violation of international law.

Thus far, Mr. Bush has kept his own counsel. But these hawkish rumblings eerily recall the months before the American invasion of Iraq when some of the same officials pressed hardest for military action, while the president remained publicly uncommitted. Given that experience, it would be foolhardy to dismiss the current rhetorical buildup. We hope that this time, wiser heads in the administration will intervene before it is too late.

Talk about an understatement! Not only are the latest hawkish rumblings against Iran eerily similar to those in the run up to the Iraqi invasion, they are virtually identical. It's as if they are reading from the exact same script except with "n's" instead of "q's". One might consider that the strategy of publicly accusing one's enemy of having WMD in order to justify a later invasion, even though no evidence exists of such weapons, worked so well in Iraq that the PTB, knowing the majority of American public is generally too lazy to do any actual research and fact checking, decided to use the exact same strategy twice over.


As for the misguided hope that this time "wiser heads in the administration will intervene before it is too late", is pure manipulation and wishful thinking.

There is no question that Iran has been covertly developing the capacity to build nuclear weapons, and that diplomacy has so far failed to end these efforts. But precipitate American military action would almost certainly do far more harm than good. No major American ally, including Britain, favors such an approach. American planes and missiles alone cannot knock out all of Iran's many secret nuclear sites.

Baloney! If anything, Iran has been quite open with it's intentions to develop the capacity to build nuclear reactors for energy purposes. By putting the word "weapon" in there is nothing more than the parroting of Neocon propaganda for the intention of instilling fear into the reader and further demonizing a country that in next on the U.S. hit list. Dilpomacy, headed by the European Union and supported by the IAEA, appears to be working quite well, and the main reason the States oppose these peaceful efforts is because they explicitly want war with Iran, and are not interested in peace at all. And even if Iran does seek to manufacture nuclear weapons for their own defense, they appear to have every justification for doing so, seeing that their close neighbour Israel has numerous such weapons and has verbally threatened Iran many times with such a pre-emptive strike.

It is the epitome of hypocrisy that the strict standards applied to Arabic states in the region are not equally applied to the U.S. and Israel, who by any objective standard constitute the real axis-of-evil in the world. But then, those who have power, money and weaponry make the rules and therefore any such rules do not apply to them. Such is the arrogance and corruption of power.

American planes and missiles alone may not be able to knock out all of Iran's many secret nuclear sites, but an initial unprovoked attack by Israel, later supported by a US invasion may indeed be capable of such a feat.

An invasion of a country almost three times as populous as Iraq is well beyond the means of America's depleted ground forces. And an American military attack is probably the one thing still able to unite Iran's restive but nationalist population behind the unpopular clerical dictatorship.

Perhaps, winning a war against Iran is not the Neocons objective at all. Perhaps they will have Israel initiate an attack and then follow with an American invasion, not for the purpose of winning, put for the purpose drawing in other powerful countries like China, Russia and India who are sympathetic to Iran's interests, with the objective of embroiling the entire world in an end-times war in the Middle East.

The most effective leverage available to Washington is international economic sanctions. If American diplomacy can line up traditional European allies, there is a fair chance that the Iranian nuclear program can still be stopped.

Again, more flagrant propaganda from the NYT's. The so-called "European allies" have been trying to formulate a united strategy against Iran for some time, repeatedly asking for American assistance with the negotiations, and each time members of the Bush administration have adamantly refused using one assinine excuse after another.

Bottom line; the Neocons want war with Iran and will use every facet of their power to ensure that any kind of peaceful settlement fails.

Iran's nuclear ambitions predate the 1979 Islamic revolution. With crucial help from Pakistan and perhaps other countries, Iran now has centrifuges capable of enriching uranium to weapons grade. It also has considerable supplies of uranium ready to be enriched. Iran has promised not to enrich any of that uranium for now, under the terms of an agreement recently negotiated with Britain, France and Germany, and some experts believe there are still technical hurdles to overcome. Even if it mastered enrichment, Iran would still have to design, build and test a usable weapon. The best guess is that Iran remains at least three to five years from having the bomb.

It is interesting to note here, 3/4 of the way through the editorial, that the author actually mentions the possibility that Iran's nuclear intentions may indeed be for peaceful purposes, as they have been claiming all along. Also, given that Iran is still "three to five years from having the bomb", one can only wonder why heated Israeli and American rhetoric is being turned up at this point in time. It seems that those pulling Bush's strings are anxious for the great war to begin long before Iran has a chance of even becoming a threat, almost as if they are following a timeline of some kind.

A nuclear-armed Iran is an alarming prospect, given the radical nature of the Iranian regime, with its long and continuing record of sponsoring international terrorism, its undiluted hostility to the United States and Israel, and its intense regional rivalries with Iraq and Saudi Arabia. So effective crisis diplomacy needs to move into high gear.

Well, that mild semblance towards objectivity didn't last long. Now that the article is coming to a close, the lies have to be bucked up a notch and repeated a few more times so that they stick in the mind of the reader until the bitter end.

The freeze on uranium enrichment that Iran agreed to is only temporary. Its duration depends on the results of talks in which the Europeans are seeking a more definitive renunciation of nuclear enrichment. The Iranians, in return, want economic and trade rewards.

Expanded commercial ties with America and Europe are very appealing to Iran's ruling mullahs. Having marginalized the reformist political parties, they now see economic sluggishness and high unemployment as the only remaining threat to their continued grip on power. But the mullahs are unlikely to give up their nuclear weapons efforts, which are popular among Iranians of all political persuasions, unless they are plainly told that refusing will bring punishing economic isolation in the very near future. European leaders have not been willing to send that firm message yet, and need to do so.

So, there's your answer and the seeming point of the whole article; the imposition of economic sanctions against this radical, America/Israel-threatening, terrorist-sponsoring, oppressive regime is the only way to bring those nasty freedom-hating Mullah's to their knees.

What a waste of paper.

The next step should be a unified European-American stand that forces Iran to make a clear choice. Either fully renounce its nuclear enrichment programs and win significant trade and economic incentives or fail to do so and suffer severe economic penalties.

The Iranian nuclear challenge could not be more dangerous or more pressing. It is time to put aside unilateral American military bluster and European wishful diplomacy and get serious.

So, by offering the economic sanction solution to the unverifiable threat from Iran's supposed nuclear weapons program that will only be possibly operational in 3-5 years, this NYT's editorialist performs an indispensable service to the ruling elite by appearing to offer an alternative viewpoint to the war-mongering Republicans and yet doesn't appease those surrender-monkey's of Old Europe.

That way, the so-called liberal left of the American intelligensia can have something to debate over latte's at Starbucks, while the Neocon/Likudnik alliance quietly prepare an all out invasion of Iran in the very near future.

In the words of some not-so-famous guy...

"Iraq'd my karma after Iran over your dogma"

Relic

Deconstructing a Dictator

The following story appeared on the January 21st edition of the alternative news site Signs of the Times, and even though quite lengthy, compromises a darkly humourous response to the President's Inaugural speech. I'm reprinting it here in it's entireity.

Relic


SOTT
Jan 21/05

Yesterday, George W. Bush was inaugurated for his second term as President of the United States. We could be forgiven for finding it hard to share in the enthusiasm and joy that his supporters in Washington undoubtedly share. Knowing what the next four years of his rule will likely mean for the fate of the planet and all it's inhabitants, it seems that his speech on Capitol Hill in reality would sound more like a eulogy than a stately Presidential address.

It's difficult at the best of times to understand George's incoherent ramblings, and even though he was not the author of his 2005 Inagurual Address, the editors at Signs of the Times thought it might be helpful if we hired a translator to decipher the deeper meaning behind his words.

Vice President Cheney, Mr. Chief Justice, President Carter, President Bush, President Clinton, reverend clergy, distinguished guests, fellow citizens:

Translation: Mirror, mirror, on the wall...

On this day, prescribed by law and marked by ceremony, we celebrate the durable wisdom of our Constitution, and recall the deep commitments that unite our country. I am grateful for the honor of this hour, mindful of the consequential times in which we live, and determined to fulfill the oath that I have sworn and you have witnessed.

Translation: On this day marked by flagrant and unecessary excess, and while the people of Iraq continue to suffer and die by our hand, we celebrate the material trappings that define our culture. I am grateful for the rigged voting machines of Diebold, the spin doctors in the media, and the Machiavellian tactics of my handler Karl Rove; and with a specious mandate, I'm determined to spend my political capital, now free to do whatever I damn well please.

At this second gathering, our duties are defined not by the words I use, but by the history we have seen together. For a half century, America defended our own freedom by standing watch on distant borders. After the shipwreck of communism came years of relative quiet, years of repose, years of sabbatical - and then there came a day of fire.

Translation: Our duties are not defined by these words written for me, but by the reality that I alone create. For half a century, America has imposed it's will on any third world government that refused to capitulate to it's totalitarian demands. After Communism, there appeared to be years of relative quiet, while our secret undercover intelligence operatives staged successful coup-d'etat's and political assassinations, installing ruthless puppet dictators in poorer countries so that we could exploit their people and resources. After years of this tactic, we got tired of operating in secret, and decided to bring the show out into the open by deliberately staging our own day of fire.

We have seen our vulnerability - and we have seen its deepest source. For as long as whole regions of the world simmer in resentment and tyranny - prone to ideologies that feed hatred and excuse murder - violence will gather, and multiply in destructive power, and cross the most defended borders, and raise a mortal threat. There is only one force of history that can break the reign of hatred and resentment, and expose the pretensions of tyrants, and reward the hopes of the decent and tolerant, and that is the force of human freedom.

Translation: We have taken advantage of our vulnerable citizenry - by exploiting the source of ther deepest fears. For as long as recalcitrant regions of the world refuse to bend to America's will - we will accuse them of resentment and tyranny - we will use our agents in the media to endlessly repeat lies about their ideologies of hatred and murder - and the imaginary spectre of a mortal threat - all the while using our own violence and destructive power against them. There is no force in history that can break our reign of fear-mongering and intimidation, nor one that can expose the pretensions of tyrants like myself and my neocon cabinet. We will dash the rewards and hopes of the decent and tolerant, knowing full well that people will choose slavery as long as we can convince them that they are free.

We are led, by events and common sense, to one conclusion: The survival of liberty in our land increasingly depends on the success of liberty in other lands. The best hope for peace in our world is the expansion of freedom in all the world.

Translation: We are led by dark and malicious forces that we barely comprehend, but whose conclusions we will blindly follow to the bitter end. The survival and success of their nefarious agenda increasingly depends on continued invasion and occupation of other lands. The best hope for all out apocalyptic war in our world is the relentless expansion of American hegemony in all the world.

America's vital interests and our deepest beliefs are now one. From the day of our Founding, we have proclaimed that every man and woman on this earth has rights, and dignity, and matchless value, because they bear the image of the Maker of Heaven and earth. Across the generations we have proclaimed the imperative of self-government, because no one is fit to be a master, and no one deserves to be a slave. Advancing these ideals is the mission that created our Nation. It is the honorable achievement of our fathers. Now it is the urgent requirement of our nation's security, and the calling of our time.

Translation: The interests of the neocon/Zionist alliance, now in control in America, in manipulating the deepest fears of the populace are now one. From the day of our founding, we have prattled on about rights, freedoms and dignity, while at the same time acting to ensure that nothing of the sort should ever become reality. We invoke the name of Jehovah/Yahweh at every opportunity so that the faceless multitudes should cower and tremble upon hearing his name. We peddle the lie of self-government while we wholly govern everything about you, we take it upon ourselves to become your masters because you so willingly agree to become our slaves. Advancing the interests of the wealthy and ruling elite is the mission that created our nation, paid for by the blood and sweat of your fathers. Once again we invoke the illusion of security so that you may all offer your sons and daughters as cannon fodder in the upcoming war to end all wars. It is the urgent calling of our time.

So it is the policy of the United States to seek and support the growth of democratic movements and institutions in every nation and culture, with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world.

Translation: Watch out Iran, Syria, Lebanon, and all you other Middle Eastern nations, what is happening in Iraq will soon be happening to you. It is the ultimate goal of spreading American tyranny throughout your land, and inevitably engaging the entire world.

This is not primarily the task of arms, though we will defend ourselves and our friends by force of arms when necessary. Freedom, by its nature, must be chosen, and defended by citizens, and sustained by the rule of law and the protection of minorities. And when the soul of a nation finally speaks, the institutions that arise may reflect customs and traditions very different from our own. America will not impose our own style of government on the unwilling. Our goal instead is to help others find their own voice, attain their own freedom, and make their own way.

Translation: This is primarily a task of arms, as in testing the latest warfare technology on innocent civilians in developing nations, and we will use this force of arms indiscriminately and without provocation while saying that we are acting in our own defense. Freedom, by it's nature, must be believed by those we wish to enslave, they must believe that they choose it willingly, and thus can be easily coerced into defending their slavery, even at the cost of their own lives. And when a nation, or more accurately a nation's leader, doesn't have a soul, it's institutions, customs and traditions will reflect this abscence. America has always imposed it's own style of totalitarianism, especially on the unwilling. It's goal is to plunder and decimate their people and resources, quell the voice of dissent, help other nations attain their own slavery, and imprison and kill those who would speak the truth or stand in it's way.

The great objective of ending tyranny is the concentrated work of generations. The difficulty of the task is no excuse for avoiding it. America's influence is not unlimited, but fortunately for the oppressed, America's influence is considerable, and we will use it confidently in freedom's cause.

Translation: The ruling elite know full well the the implementation of global tyranny is the work of many generations. The difficulty of the task is no excuse for publicizing it, for it's success is dependant on it's secrecy. Now that I have been given a second mandate, America's influence is practically unlimited, which is fortunate for us, but most unfortunate for the world's oppressed, because our version of freedom, as seen in places like Afghanisatn and Iraq, is about to be imposed on the world at large.

My most solemn duty is to protect this nation and its people against further attacks and emerging threats. Some have unwisely chosen to test America's resolve, and have found it firm.

Translation: My most solemn duty is to disguise my true intentions, and keep repeating blatant lies about further attacks and emerging threats. Some have unwisely chosen to question my fundamentalist belief system and found it to be rigid and dogmatic.

We will persistently clarify the choice before every ruler and every nation: The moral choice between oppression, which is always wrong, and freedom, which is eternally right. America will not pretend that jailed dissidents prefer their chains, or that women welcome humiliation and servitude, or that any human being aspires to live at the mercy of bullies.

Translation: I always speak in simplistic dualisms, like either you are with us or against us. And I mean it when I say every ruler and every nation better heed my words because the runaway freight train of American-style democracy will soon be battering down your doors. The American government will spare to effort to ensure that all dissidents, foreign and domestic, will end up in chains, and that the soldiers in my army will inflict the maximum amount of humiliation and servitude upon any men and women unfortunate enough to be labelled as enemy combatants, because when you strip away my facade of kindness and compassion, I am nothing more than a arrogant bully.

We will encourage reform in other governments by making clear that success in our relations will require the decent treatment of their own people. America's belief in human dignity will guide our policies, yet rights must be more than the grudging concessions of dictators; they are secured by free dissent and the participation of the governed. In the long run, there is no justice without freedom, and there can be no human rights without human liberty.

Translation: We will continue to propagate whatever lies we like about other governments and how they treat their own people in order to justify future military action. America's contempt for human dignity will continue to guide our policies, and we only grudgingly pay lip-service to the notion of "rights" because we must hide that fact that we are really a bunch of petty dictators; whose fear of dissent is only matched by our overwhelming scorn for the people we govern. And as long as I'm in power, there will be no justice, no freedom, no human rights, and no human liberty.

Some, I know, have questioned the global appeal of liberty - though this time in history, four decades defined by the swiftest advance of freedom ever seen, is an odd time for doubt. Americans, of all people, should never be surprised by the power of our ideals. Eventually, the call of freedom comes to every mind and every soul. We do not accept the existence of permanent tyranny because we do not accept the possibility of permanent slavery. Liberty will come to those who love it.

Translation: Some, I know, have questioned my psychopathic rantings, though as Adolf Hitler, my mentor in history used to say, a good dictator can never allow any sort of doubt. Americans, of all people, are not likely to wake up to the bubble of illusion that I have surrounded them with. Even though the emergence of fascism will appear right before their eyes, they will not accept the truth of my permanent tyranny and the high probability of permanent slavery. For pain and suffering will come to those who fear it most and are aware of it least.

Today, America speaks anew to the peoples of the world: All who live in tyranny and hopelessness can know: the United States will not ignore your oppression, or excuse your oppressors. When you stand for your liberty, we will stand with you.

Translation: Today, America spouts the same tired rhetoric to the peoples of the world: All who live in fear of my tyranny shall be filled with hopelessness: the United States will augment your oppression, facilitate your oppressors. When you try to stand up for your liberty, we will shoot you down like dogs.

Democratic reformers facing repression, prison, or exile can know: America sees you for who you are: the future leaders of your free country.

Translation: Democratic reformers who are repressed, in prison or in exile can know for certain: America sees what you are trying to do: and our future leaders will make sure you stay that way.

The rulers of outlaw regimes can know that we still believe as Abraham Lincoln did: "Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves; and, under the rule of a just God, cannot long retain it."

Translation: The rulers of nations that we define as outlaw regimes can know that we will quote from any dead former President if it serves our ends. Even though the words of Abraham Lincoln apply more to us than any other country, it won't stop us seeing this sick and twisted charade to it's final conclusion.

The leaders of governments with long habits of control need to know: To serve your people you must learn to trust them. Start on this journey of progress and justice, and America will walk at your side. And all the allies of the United States can know: we honor your friendship, we rely on your counsel, and we depend on your help. Division among free nations is a primary goal of freedom's enemies. The concerted effort of free nations to promote democracy is a prelude to our enemies' defeat.

Translation: The leaders of governments who desire to emulate America's long habit of control need to know: To serve your people you must first capitulate to our will. Start on this journey of fear-mongering and intimidation and America will walk behind you with a smile on it's face and a knife in your back. And all the allies of the United States can know: your subservience will be rewarded, and even though we don't give a whit about your counsel and help, stick with us long enough and you may share in the spoils of our campaign of terror. Divide and conquer is our modus operandi. The unilateral effort of the world's greatest superpower will snuff out any chance of true democracy, and ensure whoever we label as an enemy will ultimately be defeated.

Today, I also speak anew to my fellow citizens: From all of you, I have asked patience in the hard task of securing America, which you have granted in good measure. Our country has accepted obligations that are difficult to fulfill, and would be dishonorable to abandon. Yet because we have acted in the great liberating tradition of this nation, tens of millions have achieved their freedom. And as hope kindles hope, millions more will find it. By our efforts, we have lit a fire as well - a fire in the minds of men. It warms those who feel its power, it burns those who fight its progress, and one day this untamed fire of freedom will reach the darkest corners of our world.

Translation: Today, I also regurgitate the same tired rhetoric to my loyal serfs and chattel: From all of you I have demanded your total obedience and unwavering sacrifice of your young in the name of national security, which you have granted in good measure. Our country has waged an unnecessary, illegal and immoral war half a world away, whose obligations become more and more difficult to fulfill. But despite the ever-growing number of dead, and because I declare that it would be dishonourable to abandon this task, we may need to reinstate the military draft in the near future. Yet because the lives of the common folk are so insignificant to our plans for global domination, tens of millions have acheived an premature exit from this earthly plane. And if all goes according to plan, tens of millions more will be sacrificed before my bloodlust is satiated. By the efforts of a powerful and sinister few, we have lit the entire world on fire, a fire we hope will engulf every nation and every person in it's all-consuming wrath. It warms the fireplaces of my heavily guarded fortress, it burns to a cinder everyone else who is unfortunate enough not to be me, and one day this untamed fire of my God's aggression will encompass all four corners of the globe.

A few Americans have accepted the hardest duties in this cause - in the quiet work of intelligence and diplomacy ... the idealistic work of helping raise up free governments ... the dangerous and necessary work of fighting our enemies. Some have shown their devotion to our country in deaths that honored their whole lives - and we will always honor their names and their sacrifice.

Translation: A few American and Israeli secret service agents have accepted the hardest duties in this cause - in the quiet work of intelligence and black-ops ... the undercover work of creating the most spectacular false-flag operation in all of history ... the stupendous feat of undertaking a new Pearl Harbour ... infiltrating and bypasssing the most fortified defenses in the world by hijacking four jumbo jets and crashing them into buildings on September 11, 2001 ... and to top it all off, blaming the entire operation on a group of cave dwelling radicals in country we had already planned to invade years before. They have shown their devotion to the ruling elite by scarficing the lives 3,000 innocent people, and shall be honoured their whole lives - and my masters will always be grateful, for none of this would have been possible without them.

All Americans have witnessed this idealism, and some for the first time. I ask our youngest citizens to believe the evidence of your eyes. You have seen duty and allegiance in the determined faces of our soldiers. You have seen that life is fragile, and evil is real, and courage triumphs. Make the choice to serve in a cause larger than your wants, larger than yourself - and in your days you will add not just to the wealth of our country, but to its character.

Translation: Thanks to the media, all Americans were witness to this horrible spectacle, most for the umpteenth time. I ask our youngest citizens to unquestioningly believe the "official version" even if the evidence contradicts their very eyes. You have seen the lengths of depravity we will go to ensure that our agenda is finally realized. You have seen that life is fragile, believed that the illusion is real, and ensured that evil triumphs. You've blindly made the default choice to serve a cause antithetical to the truth, a choice that favours entropy, one that is at odds with the higher part of yourself - and in these last days you will add not just to the demise of your country, but indeed to revealing it's true character.

America has need of idealism and courage, because we have essential work at home - the unfinished work of American freedom. In a world moving toward liberty, we are determined to show the meaning and promise of liberty.

Translation: America depends on illusory idealism and rabid nationalism, because there is still much work to be done at home - the unfinished work of preparing the hypnotized populace for economic meltdown and the imposition of martial law. In a world moving toward greater polarization, myself and the powers that be are determined to use your unwavering faith in our high moral character to show the real world effects of giving away your free will to small group of greedy psychopathic madmen.

In America's ideal of freedom, citizens find the dignity and security of economic independence, instead of laboring on the edge of subsistence. This is the broader definition of liberty that motivated the Homestead Act, the Social Security Act, and the G.I. Bill of Rights. And now we will extend this vision by reforming great institutions to serve the needs of our time. To give every American a stake in the promise and future of our country, we will bring the highest standards to our schools, and build an ownership society. We will widen the ownership of homes and businesses, retirement savings and health insurance - preparing our people for the challenges of life in a free society. By making every citizen an agent of his or her own destiny, we will give our fellow Americans greater freedom from want and fear, and make our society more prosperous and just and equal.

Translation: In the American version of freedom and democracy, citizens find great comfort and security in these lofty ideals, content with the material trifles of fast food and electronic gadgets, falsely believing themselves to be economically independant, all the while their entire financial system is on the verge of collapse. While the majority remains sleepily content and thinks freedom is being able to choose between different brands of carbonated sugar water, my government can then enact such draconian laws as the Homeland Security and Patriot Acts without a whisper of protest. My latest tour-de-force is to pilfer what is left of Social Security under the guise of "reform" in order to fuel my insatiable war machine. I will continue to feed you lies about having a stake in the future of our country, the high standards of our schools, and about building an ownership society. I will distract your attention away from the carnage in Iraq by talking about retirement savings, health insurance and a free society, all the while putting your sons and daughters on the battlefield in harms way with outdated equipment, and cutting their beneifts when they return home all maimed and wounded. By convincing every citizen that they are indeed a master of their own destiny, when exactly the opposite is true, by motivating them with fear, bread and circuses, bankrupting society, lining my own pockets, and spouting trite slogans about prosperity, justice and equality, we will fill our fellow Americans with pride when they willingly sacrifice themselves for the fatherland, and all the while dreaming that they are free.

In America's ideal of freedom, the public interest depends on private character - on integrity, and tolerance toward others, and the rule of conscience in our own lives. Self-government relies, in the end, on the governing of the self. That edifice of character is built in families, supported by communities with standards, and sustained in our national life by the truths of Sinai, the Sermon on the Mount, the words of the Koran, and the varied faiths of our people. Americans move forward in every generation by reaffirming all that is good and true that came before - ideals of justice and conduct that are the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Translation: In America's illusory ideal of freedom, the private interest depends entirely on the suggestibilty of the public - on the false intregrity of their egos coupled with a deep intolerance towards others, and their willingness to be ruled by those in positions of authority. We will continue to govern and control you by repeating the lie that you in fact govern yourselves. I will invoke the names of all three monotheistic religions to give the appearance of fairness, but we all know which one I've been talking to directly, which of course is the only one true God. Americans continue to stagnate in every generation, repeating the same mistakes of the those who came before - ignoring the truth of a grand intra-generational conspiracy which ensures that the keeper of my DNA will always be the one to sit upon the throne, while your descendants continue to live in squalor and do my dirty work. This is the true reality of justice in America as it was the same yesterday, today, and forever.

In America's ideal of freedom, the exercise of rights is ennobled by service, and mercy, and a heart for the weak. Liberty for all does not mean independence from one another. Our nation relies on men and women who look after a neighbor and surround the lost with love. Americans, at our best, value the life we see in one another, and must always remember that even the unwanted have worth. And our country must abandon all the habits of racism, because we cannot carry the message of freedom and the baggage of bigotry at the same time.

Translation: In America's illusory ideal of freedom, the only rights the weak have is to do service for those in power. The only mercy I will show, like I did when executing people as govenor of Texas, will indeed be a reflection of the true nature of my heart. Liberty for all is another hypnotic phrase which is essentially meaningless given the reality of our disparate social positions, and talk of interdependance, the worthiness of the unwanted and neighbourly love are designed specifically to manipulate your emotions and direct away from the fact that judging by my past behaviour, deep down inside, I am racist and a bigot too.

From the perspective of a single day, including this day of dedication, the issues and questions before our country are many. From the viewpoint of centuries, the questions that come to us are narrowed and few. Did our generation advance the cause of freedom? And did our character bring credit to that cause?

Translation: I can say whatever meaningless gobbledygook my speechwriters put on these cards as long as it has the words "freedom" and "character" in it, knowing the sheeple will lap it up.

These questions that judge us also unite us, because Americans of every party and background, Americans by choice and by birth, are bound to one another in the cause of freedom. We have known divisions, which must be healed to move forward in great purposes - and I will strive in good faith to heal them. Yet those divisions do not define America. We felt the unity and fellowship of our nation when freedom came under attack, and our response came like a single hand over a single heart. And we can feel that same unity and pride whenever America acts for good, and the victims of disaster are given hope, and the unjust encounter justice, and the captives are set free.

Translation: I am a uniter and all terrorists are dividers. I am a great healer for the wound that was inflicted upon us, because of my special relationship with that booming authoritarian voice in my head. I put my hand over my heart in a symbolic act of false piety, hopefully engendering feelings of pride and unity in my subordinates. Again, I'll make subtle reference to 9/11, and those poor victims of our deliberate attack upon ourselves, so as to remind all my slavish supporters that them evil terrorists are now on every street corner and under every bed. I'll throw in a couple more "freedoms" and "justice" because it looks like I'm getting near the end of this speech.

We go forward with complete confidence in the eventual triumph of freedom. Not because history runs on the wheels of inevitability; it is human choices that move events. Not because we consider ourselves a chosen nation; God moves and chooses as He wills. We have confidence because freedom is the permanent hope of mankind, the hunger in dark places, the longing of the soul. When our Founders declared a new order of the ages; when soldiers died in wave upon wave for a union based on liberty; when citizens marched in peaceful outrage under the banner "Freedom Now" - they were acting on an ancient hope that is meant to be fulfilled. History has an ebb and flow of justice, but history also has a visible direction, set by liberty and the Author of Liberty.

Translation: I am now confident with my Texan swagger and direct connection to the Almighty that I can wage war indiscrimiately and with abandon, as the good Lord has promised me a heavenly reward should I fulfill his mandate of wiping out all the brown-skinned people who stand in his way abolute and total dominion over this dark planet. God has chosen ME to usher in these end times, to fill up the hole in his blackest of souls, to feed the hunger that gnaws in the pit of his maw. I'm George W. Bush, and I am on a mission for the Author of this reality. This is my destiny. Better throw in a couple more "liberty's" and freedoms", just to be sure.

When the Declaration of Independence was first read in public and the Liberty Bell was sounded in celebration, a witness said, "It rang as if it meant something." In our time it means something still. America, in this young century, proclaims liberty throughout all the world, and to all the inhabitants thereof. Renewed in our strength - tested, but not weary - we are ready for the greatest achievements in the history of freedom.

Translation: By invoking the sentimentality of American history ingrained into each citizen by repeated indoctrination in the education system, once again I reaffirm by explicit intentions to bomb the hell out of any country that so much as looks at me the wrong way. Amen.

May God bless you, and may He watch over the United States of America.

Translation: ...who's the most evil of them all.

Tsunami relief provided "wonderful opportunity" for US: Rice

This lovely piece of propaganda uttered from the lips of the newly appointed U.S. Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice was reported by AFP and published at Channel News Asia, and exemplifies the psychopathic and opportunistic mindset of Bush's Neocon influenced cabinet.

19 January 2005 0407 hrs
- AFP

WASHINGTON : Asia's tsunami disaster provided a "wonderful opportunity" for the United States to show compassion with relief efforts that reaped "great dividends" on the diplomatic front, Secretary of State-designate Condoleezza Rice said.

This is typical of the rhetoric coming from representatives in the White House, who will take an enormous human tragedy like the SE Asian tsunami disaster, and look for ways in which they can reap some benefit for themselves.

Rice's remarks, made at her Senate confirmation hearing, drew a sharp rebuke from Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer who accused her of insensitivity to last month's catastrophe that claimed some 168,000 lives across the Indian Ocean.

Senator Boxer is right on the money in her appraisal of Dr. Rice's suitability for the job as Secretary of State. If you were unfortunate enough to sit through Condi's pathetic stonewalling, obfuscation, and verbal gymnastics during her confirmation hearing, you will notice that only Sebator Boxer and Senator John Kerry were the only two house Democrats who had the courage to vote against her confirmation.

Rice, the outgoing national security adviser, made clear in her opening statement Washington's hope of consolidating its influence in the region, following up on the goodwill generated by US military help and financial aid for tsunami victims.

"Our Asian alliances have never been stronger, and we will use that strength to help secure the peace and prosperity of the region," she told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that was expected to clear her nomination with little trouble.

In other words, it seems like the U.S. administration may have plans to establish a permanent military presence in the region under the guise of offering aid and security.

US officials have trumpeted the massive military relief effort mounted by the Pentagon as a humanitarian gesture that could score points in a part of the world where anger still lingers from the Iraq war. In response to a question, Rice agreed readily.

"I do agree that the tsunami was a wonderful opportunity to show not just the US government, but the heart of the American people, and I think it has paid great dividends for us," she said.

Boxer, a sharp critic of Rice's work as national security adviser, quickly took the nominee to task over the characterization of the tsunami as a "wonderful opportunity."

"The tsunami was one of the worst tragedies of our lifetime," Boxer said. "And it's going to have a 10-year impact on rebuilding that area. I was very disappointed in your statement. I think you blew the opportunity."

Well I suppose it's understandable, for a seemingly souless automaton like Condi must have a great deal of difficulty articulating any feelings of empathy towards the people of SE Asia, and so can only see the disaster in terms of ways she and her bosses can profit from the pain and suffering felt by others. It seems a natural extension of her essence or state of being.

On another topic, Rice signaled that President George W. Bush's administration would work to tighten ties with China, its one-time "strategic competitor," despite criticism of Beijing's human rights record.

"We are building a candid, cooperative and constructive relationship with China that embraces our common interests but still recognizes our considerable differences about values," Rice told the committee.

Her remarks reflected the delicate task facing Washington in dealing with the Asian giant that is expanding its political and economic influence not only in Asia, but in Latin America, Africa and Europe.

The US administration is counting on China to help rein in North Korea's nuclear weapons ambitions. But several thorny issues loom in Bush's second term, including trade, Taiwan and the potential lifting of Europe's 15-year arms embargo on China.

Still, Rice was optimistic, saying: "In Asia, we have moved beyond the false assumption that it is impossible to have good relations with all of Asia's powers."

Hmmmm, I wonder if she includes that much maligned axis-of-evil rogue state North Korea in her assessment above?

Oops, I guess not.

She called Japan, South Korea and Australia "key partners in our efforts to deter common threats and spur economic growth" and called for unity in insisting that North Korea, as well as Iran, "abandon their nuclear weapons ambitions and choose instead the path of peace."

Rice hailed the peaceful, democratic transfer of power in two Asian Muslim countries, Malaysia and Indonesia, but vowed to work for reform in Myanmar and North Korea, two of the countries she called "outposts of tyranny."

She said the United States was cooperating with India on a range of economic and security issues, while working with Pakistan "as a vital ally in the war on terror and a state in transition towards a more moderate and democratic future."

Who sez African-American women from a poor disadvantaged deep south rural background can't grow up to be manipulative opportunistic oppressors too?

As they say, the fruit doesn't fall too far from the tree.

Relic

Baker advises administration to consider a phased withdrawal of troops

This article from the San Francisco Chronicle features snippets from a speech by former Secretary of State and Daddy Dubya lackey James Baker. The two sections highlighted in bold lettering bespeak a certain flare for propagandistic gobbledygook that makes politicians like himself infamous for saying nothing and saying everything at the same time.

BARRY SCHWEID, AP Diplomatic Writer
Thursday, January 13, 2005

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Former Secretary of State James A. Baker III, an architect of the U.S. war with Iraq in 1991, is advising the Bush administration to consider a phased withdrawal of some of the 150,000 U.S. troops in Iraq.

Otherwise, Baker says, the United States risks being suspected of having an "imperial design" in the region.

A protracted U.S. military presence in Iraq is probably unavoidable since attacks on U.S.-led coalition forces and on Iraqi security forces are likely to continue, Baker said Tuesday in a speech at Rice University in Houston.

Suggesting the implementation a gradual withdrawal of troops from Iraq, Mr. Baker informs us that otherwise "the United States risks being suspected of having an 'imperial design' in the region". Notice how he doesn't say that the U.S. risks being "perceived" as having "imperial designs" but only risks being "suspected" of having them. As if they aren't even "suspected" now, but may be in the future.

Is Mr. Baker so oblivious to opinions of others outside of the United States that he doesn't realize that most of the the rest of the world have gone way past suspicion and into the realm of documented fact? Or is he just flat out lying?

An in-depth study of U.S. foreign policy leaves one with no other conclusion than that global imperialism is defacto the raison d'etre for America itself.

Taking over and controlling the governments, wealth and resources of other countries is what they do, have done, and will continue to do as long they remain the sole military superpower in the entire world.

Period.

So I guess, according to the master spin doctor, as is common to all high level politicians of his calibre, reality is indeed what they make it.

"Even under the best of circumstances, the new Iraqi government will remain extremely vulnerable to internal divisions and external meddling," he said.

Still, former President George H.W. Bush's secretary of state said, "any appearance of a permanent occupation will both undermine domestic support here in the United States and play directly into the hands of those in the Middle East who -- however wrongly -- suspect us of imperial design."

Again, listen to his language when he says "any appearance of a permanent occupation" as if after two years into a seemingly never-ending war and construction of the biggest U.S. military base in the region, it doesn't "appear" that way already. By phrasing his words in such a way is a deliberate diversion from the truth that the U.S. military is in Iraq for good. In fact, if recent new reports are any indication, the American war machine has now set it's sights on Iran and Syria, which only goes to show that their intentions are just the opposite. Rather than planning a realistic exit strategy, it seems the Neo-con/Zionist alliance are looking to exert greater control over the entire region.

Also, notice how he adds a "however wrongly" in there, just to make sure that his point is not misunderstood. Mr. Baker, I hate to be the one to burst your bubble, but just because you say something doesn't necessarily make it true. However, since you have the "authority" and reputation of the American government behind you, I guess it doesn't matter what anybody in the Middle East might think.

Right?

At the same time, Baker urged the Bush administration to call for a "good-faith effort" by the new Palestinian leadership to crack down on terror groups that target Israel and also "prevail upon Israel" to stop settlement activity in Palestinian areas during any peace talks.

"We should serve, when necessary, as a direct participant in the talks, offering suggestions, brokering compromises and extending assurances," Baker said.

Above all, he said, the administration should make it "unambiguously clear" to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon that his projected withdrawal from Gaza should not be part of a design to limit the Palestinians to enclaves.

Seeking peace in the Middle East improves chances of achieving stability in Iraq, said Baker, who helped plan the Persian Gulf war that forced Iraq to reverse its annexation of Kuwait.

"The road to peace doesn't run just through Jerusalem or just through Baghdad," he said. "That is a false choice. Today, it arguably runs through both."

Any reprimands made by the U.S. administration towards the Israeli government in regards to their illegal occupation and brutal repression of the Palestinian people is just a bunch of hot air spoken "for show" in front of the cameras. Sharon knows full well that he has the American government wrapped around his little finger and will continue to do everything in his power to ensure that peace never breaks out in Palestine.

You can take that to the bank.

Relic

Fox Features “Muslim Terrorists” in “24” Drama

Ah, where would the New World Order be without the propaganda arm of Fox News brazenly trumpeting the imaginary fears of an increasingly hypnotized and hoodwinkable American audience?

This article is disturbing on many levels, especially when one looks at the baseless and inflammatory rhetoric coming from Daniel Pipes in regards to the average Muslim-American citizen.

Pipes has strong connections to the American Jewish lobby as well as the current neo-con influenced adminstration, and if he is expressing sentiments such as these, you can sure bet that Bush and his gang secretly share the same views.

What we are seeing happening today towards the American Muslim population is almost an exact mirror-image of the way the Japanese were treated during World War II.

And this is no coincidence.

If the truth be told, the Muslims in America and around the world are being set up. They are a manufactered enemy, whose purpose is none other than to have a convenient scapegoat for which the U.S. government can blame for any so-called "terrorist attack". On one hand it gives the "hawks" an immediate reason to invade and plunder any middle eastern country they desire and on the other hand it serves to justify an ever-expanding military budget.

Any Muslim living in the United States right now has every reason to be seriously concerned about the anti-Arabic sentiment being propagated in the mainstream American news these days, and would be wise to take heed of such warnings and take action while they still can.

By Adam Wild Aba, IOL Correspondent
January 10 (IslamOnline.net)

WASHINGTON – The Fox network premiered on Sunday, January 10, the first episode of the action drama “24”, which in its fourth season features “Muslim terrorists” plotting attacks inside the US.

It portrays a Walkman-toting, bubble-gum-chewing Muslim teenager fighting with his conservative father about dating an American girl and talking on the phone, in a disguised effort to conceal their true “terrorist” nature.

The young man is also seen helping his parents mastermind a plot to kill as many Americans by launching an attack on a commuter train.

On the breakfast table, the father tells his young son: “What we will accomplish today will change the world. We are fortunate that our family has been chosen to do this.”

“Yes, father,” the son replies.

The US secretary of state is also seen taken hostage by the “Muslim terrorists.”

The drama climaxes with the defense secretary shown on an Internet video tape like those coming out of US-occupied Iraq.

The series, which earned an Emmy nomination for outstanding drama in each of its first three seasons, is named 24 because the action on the show occurs in “real-time.”

Each season covers the events of one day in the life of agent Jack Bauer and his colleagues at the Counter Terrorist Unit in Los Angeles.

Every episode in a season covers the events of one hour in that day (hence 24 episodes per season).

The drama is produced by the Fox Broadcasting Company, a television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of billionaire Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation.

News Corporation is one of the world's largest and most influential media corporations whose production of motion pictures and television programming are broadcast in 35 television networks in the US.

Murdoch is generally regarded as the most politically influential media proprietor in the world, and is regularly courted by politicians in the United States, Britain and Australia, according to the Wikipedia encyclopedia.

Muslim Anger

The Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) had on December 30, hit out at the new drama.

“The way the episode depicts Muslims creates an atmosphere in which many Americans look at all Muslims as suspects in the war on terror. It's very dangerous and very disturbing,” said CAIR spokeswoman Rabiah Ahmed.

“They are taking everyday American Muslim families and making them suspects; they're making it seem like families are co-conspirators in this terrorist plot,” she added.

A recent nation-wide poll, conducted by the Cornell University, showed that at least 44 percent of the Americans backs curbing Muslims’ civil rights and monitoring their places of worship.

A May 2004 report released by the US Senate Office Of Research concluded that Arab Americans and the Muslim community in the US have taken the brunt of the Patriot Act and other federal powers applied in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks.

The drama was, however, hailed by Jewish groups and lobbyists as a bid to reveal Muslims' “true nature.”

Jewish writer Daniel Pipes wrote in the Israeli Jerusalem Post and the American New York Post hoping Fox would not bow to Muslim objections on the series.

Bypassing the Senate, US President George Bush appointed in 2003 Pipes to the board of the US Institute of Peace, a government-funded think-tank which concentrates on foreign policy.

As a frequent commentator, Pipes has warned that America's Muslims were the enemy within and called for unrestricted racial profiling and monitoring of Muslims in the military, wrote the Guardian.

He claimed Muslim American government employees in law enforcement, the military and the diplomatic corps “need to be watched for connections to terrorism.”

Pipes also alleged that “mosques require a scrutiny beyond that applied to churches and temples.

The chilling comment near the end about how such dramatizations reveal Muslims "true nature" is about as sick and twisted as it gets, and shows a great deal more of the "true nature" of those making such comments as it does to Muslims themselves.

Remember, if someone's not being up front with you, chances are they'll eventually bite you from behind. ;-)

Relic

Iraqi civilians killed in shootout at checkpoint

The following story from the Chicago Tribune gives a good example of how the "official number of casualties" as reported by the U.S. miltary is often deliberately deflated in order to give the illusion that the Americans are waging a "clean, precise" war that limits the number of civilians hurt or killed.

By Aamer Madhani
Tribune staff reporter
Published January 10, 2005

BAGHDAD -- A day after Iraqi civilians were killed in a mistaken U.S. bombing near Mosul, more civilians died Sunday in a shooting incident near Baghdad in which circumstances were unclear but American troops initially were blamed.

Col. Adnan Abdul Rahman, a spokesman for Iraq's Interior Ministry, said early Sunday that a U.S. convoy was struck by a roadside bomb near a checkpoint in Yussifiyah, about 10 miles south of Baghdad, and U.S. forces responded by opening fire, mistakenly killing two Iraqi police officers and three civilians.

But Rahman later told The New York Times that he had not blamed the deaths on American fire and that it was not yet clear who fired the fatal shots. Early Monday, a U.S. military spokeswoman said she had no information about the incident.

U.S. military officials acknowledged Saturday that their forces had dropped a 500-pound bomb on the wrong house near Mosul, killing at least five Iraqi civilians.

Ten soldiers from the U.S.-led coalition died Sunday. Seven from Ukraine and one from Kazakhstan were killed in an ammunition dump accident, and an American soldier and a Marine were killed in separate attacks. In addition, the police chief in north-central Samarra was assassinated.

While Rahman said five Iraqis were killed in the checkpoint shooting Sunday, Dr. Anmar Abdul-Hadi, a physician at the al-Yarmouk hospital in Baghdad, said eight people were killed and 12 were wounded, The Associated Press reported.

House bombing toll disputed

There was a dispute as well regarding the casualty figures in Saturday's erroneous bombing. U.S. military officials acknowledged that five people were killed in the incident near Mosul, but some reports indicated that as many as 14 people may have died. [...]

In the first instance, the military claims that only five people (3 civilians and 2 Iraqi police officers) were killed, however reports from a Doctor who witnessed the bodies at a Baghdad hospital claim that eight people were killed with twelve wounded.

In the second instance, where an American plane "mistakenly" dropped a 500lb bomb on the wrong house, again U.S. official spokespersons report only five deaths, whereas witnesses on the ground verify that as many as fourteen people were killed by the errant bomb.

So, who is telling the truth? Which report could be considered more accurate?

Or perhaps, a better question to ask might be, which entity has the most to gain from lying about the true number of Iraqi dead?

A recent comment was posted on this alternative news site.

"Are we to assume that the real number of dead is somewhere in between those two figures? Not Likely. Whereas the U.S. war machine benefits greatly from a reduced body count, giving credence to the lie that the unfortunate slaughter of Iraqi civilians is rare with minimal collateral damage, witnesses in hospitals who record the actual number of dead receive no such benefit from inflating these numbers and are more likely to report what really happened."

The most important thing to remember about stories like this, is that the under-reporting of actual casualties by the mainstream media in America's illegal war is the norm, and whenever reports like these are issued from State department it is very likely the real death count will be much higher.

So it goes in these troubled times.

Whomever owns the news, ultimately controls what is scene and herd.

Relic

Brothers in Alms

Well, no better place to start than the New York Times. This editorial was published on Jan 8/05 seemingly in response to claims of America being called "stingy" in their initial pledged relief amounts to the recent SE Asian tsunami disaster.

The author below goes to great lengths to portray some of the richer Arabic nations as being cheap and unsympathetic to their Muslim brothers in Indonesia and surrounding area. This is a typical psychological defense mechanism, where the guilty, when "caught" doing something perceived as unacceptable, immediately point the finger away from themselves and onto others as a way of diverting attention away from the initial incident.

The writer's job becomes even easier if the newly accused scapegoat is a nation of brown-skinned people somewhere "over there".

By PETER BERGEN
Published: January 8, 2005
(New York Times)

Kabul, Afghanistan - AROUND the Islamic world it is common currency that Muslims are perpetual victims of Western and Zionist conspiracies. The bill of particulars includes the handling of prisoners at Guantánamo Bay, Israel's inequitable treatment of the Palestinians, and the deaths of thousands of civilians in Iraq - as a result first of United Nations sanctions after the Persian Gulf war, and more recently of the American occupation. The most articulate spokesman of such views is, of course, Osama bin Laden.

This paragraph starts out by telling us there exists a "common" perception in the Islamic world that Muslims are the "perpetual victims of Western and Zionist conspiracies".

He offers no refutation for this possibility, even though a vast amount of evidence suggests that it may well be true. What is more likely true is that they are not the victims of "conspiracies" but rather the deliberate "actions" of Western and Zionist interests. But it pretty much amounts to the same thing anyway.

All one needs to do is take a long hard look at what's happening in Iraq and Afghanistan right now, and one can plainly see how the Arabic people are indeed the "victims" of the psychopathic war games played by the United States and Israel.

The author then goes on to list four very compelling reasons why this perception might exist. When each reason is examined individually, in the light of observable evidence, it seems quite reasonable that the Arabic people would feel that way.

1.) Torture of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay. The photographs alone are evidence of observable fact. Had anyone seen photographs of thier friends and family being abused and humilitaed by an invading army, they's have every right to think that the invaders were "conspiring" against them.

2.) "Israel's inequitable treatment of the Palestinians", or so he calls it. This might be more accurately described as Israel's brutal occupation, including wanton murder, indiscriminate targeting of civilians, women and children, and relentess intimidation of the Palestinian people, whose land they stole. Again, the Muslims of Palestine might be forgiven in thinking that the Zionist government of Israel was "conspiring" against them.

3.) Finally he gets to the ever-rising body count in Iraq, including America's present day war on terror and all the deaths from sanctions imposed by the U.N. in the ten years preceeding. Notice how the author slying brings the U.N. into the equation. Wouldn't want to leave out Europe in this present round of Muslim-bashing.

Well, this one is pretty self-explanatory as well. The Muslims of the Middle East have been the targets of Western and Zionist hegemony over and over for generations, pretty much starting with the creation of the State of Israel after World War II.

The Red Cross estimates that over 100,000 Iraqi's have been killed so far, and millions lack the very basic minimums of sustaining life, such as shelter and clean drinking water. Their cities are reduced to rubble, their lives shattered and broken over two completely unecessary wars built entirely upon lies.

Yeah, it appears quite plain that the reason why it is "common currency" in the Islamic world feel that Western and Zionist interests are conspiring against them is because it's true.

They are.

However, this is not the end of the first paragraph, no. The author then finishes in fine form by invoking the name that all American's secretly fear, and by attributing such "conspiracies" to the greatest villan ever invented since Hitler, dismisses the entire Muslim problem into the ridiculous realm of fantasy and conspiracy.

The most articulate spokesman of such views is, of course, Osama bin Laden.

Bravo, Mr. Bergen.

The editorial continues...

Yet when Muslims are suffering, it is usually the West, and often the United States, that takes the lead in helping.

Baloney! If we are to take the latest disaster in Asia as an example, the U.S. government administration was slow and petty in their initial response to this enormous tragedy, whereas Dubya himself looked quite perturbed for having his Christmas holidays interrupted in order to respond to other people's suffering. Still, let's look at the examples this author provides to demonstrate how The U.S. often "takes the lead in helping".

For instance, when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979, Washington mounted its largest covert aid program since Vietnam to help the Afghan resistance; [...]

Jeez, there are so many lies and assumptions inherent in this one sentence, that it difficult to know where to begin. First of all, what the author fails to mention about this so called "covert aid program" to the Afghan resistance, was that this money was given to a Islamic fundamentalist rebel leader named Osama bin Laden, and helped arm and train the very al-Qaeda that would later be blamed for 9/11.

Osama and al-Qaeda were created and funded by the CIA, and evidence suggests that this remains true to this day.

Curious, no?

[...] when Somalis were starving in the early 1990's, President George H. W. Bush sent 25,000 American troops to help relief efforts; when Serbs were massacring Bosnian Muslims in the mid-1990's President Bill Clinton (belatedly) directed the United States Air Force to bomb Serbian positions, which led to the Dayton accords.

More recently, it was the United States that overthrew the tyrannical government of the Taliban, a regime recognized only by three Muslim countries: Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates. Other than Turkey, no Muslim nation has sent troops to Afghanistan to help stabilize the poorest country in the Islamic world (a few Muslim states, including Jordan, offered token deployments but were turned down).

Indeed, it was the United States that illegally invaded Afghanistan, after elements within U.S. and Israeli government intelligence orchestrated the Sept 11th attacks against themselves, and conveniently blamed their media-created enemy stooge for the event. Perhaps the reason why other more prosperous Muslim nations were reluctant to give aid to Afghanistan was because by doing so, it would legitimatize the entire invasion and in the eyes of fellow Muslims appear to give direct support to the American invaders and not to the common people of Afhanistan who really need it.

Now the same pattern - action by Western countries and inertia from Muslim states - can be seen in the efforts to provide relief for those hardest hit by the Indian Ocean tsunami. While 100,000 of the victims are from Aceh, the most Islamic of Indonesia's provinces, Muslim countries are contributing a relative pittance. Oil-rich Saudi Arabia is contributing the most: a paltry $30 million, about the same as what Netherlands is giving and less than one-tenth of the United States contribution. And no Arab governments participated in the conference in Jakarta on Thursday where major donors and aid organizations conferred over reconstruction efforts.

While this editorialist makes a point of comparing numbers in regards to dollars pledged as aid, he conveniently forgets to mention that the initial pledge offered by the American government was a paltry $400,000, which was only later increased, little by little, in response to being labelled as "stingy", and to match what other governments had pledged right off the bat.

It seems American government hypocrisy, repeated ad nauseum by their puppets in the mainstream media, knows no bounds.

This anemic effort on the part of the richest countries is emblematic of a wider political problem in the Islamic world. For all of the invocations by Muslim leaders of the ummah, or the global community of believers, they typically do little to help their fellow Muslims in times of crisis.

Baloney! Had this author offered any kind of proof or evidence to support his rascist claims, other than parroting official lies and propaganda, perhaps we could take his words at face value. However, it seems this entire editorial is a thinly disguised attack on Muslims in general, that only serves to fan the fires of anti-Arabic sentiment that is so popular in America today.

Arab leaders and their toothless talking shops like the Arab League and the Organization of the Islamic Conference are excellent at denouncing problems in Palestine and Iraq, but most stood silent as a million died in the war between Iraq and Iran during the 1980's. When President Hafez al-Assad of Syria massacred some 20,000 people after an Islamist uprising in the city of Hama in 1982, there were no expressions of outrage from the Islamic Conference. Egypt routinely tortures political prisoners, untroubled by fears that other Arab leaders will seriously condemn such actions.

After the multitude of evidence that clearly shows the brutal torture tactics of American soldiers against prisoners at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay, Mr. Bergen has the nerve to use Egypt as an example of States that sanction torture.

While it is true that Egypt has been known to torture prisoners, it is also true that the U.S. government routinely and secretly flies it's own prisoners to countries like Egypt and Syria, so that they can be tortured freely without interference from the ignorant American public, and away from the eyes of the world at large.

Perhaps the generosity of Western countries will spur Islamic states to recognize that invocations of religious Muslim solidarity will do little to feed the millions of Muslims who remain acutely vulnerable to disease and starvation in the aftermath of this enormous natural catastrophe.

You tell 'em, Peter!

There have been a few positive signs in recent days. Spurred by criticism, Saudi state-run television organized a telethon this week that raised private pledges of more than $75 million, and the Islamic Development Bank has pledged $500 million.

Much remains to be done, however. The Persian Gulf countries that are reaping a bonanza from record oil prices should send a meaningful percentage of those windfall profits to their fellow Muslims devastated by the tsunami, rather than lining the pockets of their ruling families. After all, zakat, the giving of charity, is one of the five pillars of Islam.

Yeah well, on a per capita basis, it appears that the U.S., despite being publicy forced to pledge over 300 million dollars, still ranks among the countries who overall helped out the least financially.

According to a recent report from the FreePress.org, the total amount pledged by the American government is roughly equal to what they spend in a day and a half fighting their bogus war in Iraq.

From this data, we can clearly see that the government of the United States's real priority lies in the business of exporting war, pain, death and terror, and will only help out during a real natural disaster if they grudgingly have to, or to gain some benefit for themselves.

Sad, but true.

Relic

Introduction from blogmaster

Hi, and welcome to Propaganda Alert.

Most of the mainstream media news coming out of America these days is so far from being objective that it makes Santa and the Easter Bunny seem almost plausible. Even so-called "reputable" newspapers like the New York Times and the Washingtom Post are chock full of subtle biases and manipulations that paint a deliberate "picture" of reality that favours the control system and maintaining the status quo.

The reason that these rags are thought of so highly is that they have pefected the science of verbal manipulation, honing it into such a fine art, that it often takes a great deal of work to disssect and understand the deeper meaning behind their quite obvious agenda.

From time to time I will be posting a relevent news story or op/ed piece that I feel exemplifies this process, and hopefully by comparing the writers slant and inherent assumptions to the facts, will help us gain a greater understanding of objective reality, which is what real journalism is supposed to be all about.

"All the news fit to print, eh?"

Relic