“Although it seems unthinkable now, future wars may require censorship, news blackouts and, ultimately, military attacks on the partisan media. Perceiving themselves as superior beings, journalists have positioned themselves as protected-species combatants. But freedom of the press stops when its abuse kills our soldiers and strengthens our enemies.” RETIRED US ARMY COL. RALPH PETERS. Full article.
Category: politics
Obama Suggests He’ll Use ‘Preventive Detention’
preventive detention = thought policing = orwell’s 1984
In Closed-Door Meeting With Rights Groups, Obama Suggests He’ll Use ‘Preventive Detention’
Just when you think President Obama’s policies on war, civil liberties and Guantanamo couldn’t possibly look any more like the Bush/Cheney regime’s than they already do, the administration goes ahead and proves you dead wrong. In a meeting Wednesday with several human rights groups including the ACLU, the Center for Constitutional Rights and Human Rights Watch, Obama said he was “mulling the need for a ‘preventive detention’ system that would establish a legal basis for the United States to incarcerate terrorism suspects who are deemed a threat to national security but cannot be tried,” according to two participants in the “private session.” Full article.
Senate Votes To Block Funds For Guantanamo Closure
what???
Senate Votes To Block Funds For Guantanamo Closure
WASHINGTON — In a rare, bipartisan defeat for President Barack Obama, the Senate voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to keep the prison at Guantanamo Bay open for the foreseeable future and forbid the transfer of any detainees to facilities in the United States. Full article.
hope? not really.
protecting torturers. escalating american wars. change you can count off.
Obama administration threatens Britain to keep torture evidence concealed
Ever since he was released from Guantanamo in February after six years of due-process-less detention and brutal torture, Binyam Mohamed has been attempting to obtain justice for what was done to him. But his torturers have been continuously protected, and Mohamed’s quest for a day in court repeatedly thwarted, by one individual: Barack Obama. Today, there is new and graphic evidence of just how far the Obama administration is going to prevent evidence of the Bush administration’s torture program from becoming public. Full Article.
Mixed messages from President Obama after 100 days
some of the people who were tortured…
Afghan Villagers Describe Chaos of U.S. Strikes
wish we would channel the passion and energy aroused by the torture photographs into stopping the horrible war in afghanistan – thousands of civilians killed (including large numbers of children), more than 1.3 million people displaced and turned into refugees in pakistan. will it take graphic pictures to create some interest and revitalize the anti-war movement?
Afghan Villagers Describe Chaos of U.S. Strikes – NYTimes.com
stop the war in afghanistan
The war in Afghanistan: “Such a war can never be won, and can only lead to tragedy, not just for the people of Afghanistan, for whom it is already that, but for American troops and ultimately for America itself. It is a war that never should have been fought, and which now should be ended as rapidly as possible.” Dave Lindorff
Dave Lindorff: Obama Channels Cheney
“The truth is always better than a cover-up, and what we now have the president advocating is a cover-up of American torture. But that’s only part of the president’s slide into Cheneyism. We have the president now calling for the possible indefinite detention of terror suspects–an idea that only insures that there will always be an incentive for recruiting more terrorists (to avenge those in captivity)–and that makes a joke of our own Constitution, which guarantees everyone–not just citizens–the right to a trial, the right to a presumption of innocence, and protection from “cruel and unusual punishment,” which indefinite detention certainly is.” Full article.
war in afghanistan
Afghanistan: 95 children among dead in U.S.-Taliban clash
KABUL (AP) — Ninety-five Afghan children are among the 140 people said to have died in a recent U.S.-Taliban battle in western Afghanistan, according to a list drawn up by Afghan officials, a lawmaker said Wednesday. The U.S. military disputed the claim.
Full article.
the end of america
last section of an 8 part series, “the end of america”, written by naomi wolf. on the loss of civil liberties: “civil liberties don’t swing back like other issues. civil liberties is a v precious commodity, when u lose them, it tends to run out of ur hand like sand and it’s hard to get it back” (jonathan turley, constitutional law expert).
Obama’s Axis of Obedience
good analysis:
Conflating Afghanistan and Pakistan
Obama’s Axis of Obedience
By PAUL WOLF
“The question at hand is not whether Pakistan is on the verge of a takeover by reactionary religious extremists from Afghanistan. It is not. Conflating the situations in Afghanistan and Pakistan only confuses people. Pakistan is, however, experiencing an extraordinary upheaval of popular discontent. In a word, it’s the emergence of democracy. Left on its own, the Pakistani army could probably crush the resistence. But with Washington’s help, nearly anything is possible. The real question is, what form will the next series of political changes take.” Full article here.
Chris Floyd: A Full-Court Press for Pakistan War
finally someone who sees it clearly – the case that is being built for war in pakistan. nothing new. same MO: the press creates gradual hysteria (although everything seemed to be alright in pakistan when the swine flu first struck), the military experts start coming out of their holes to sell the war, the govt starts talking about where the next terror attack will come from and how we need to preempt, and finally the public comes to believe that there is no other solution – war is inevitable. do we have such short memories? we just went thru this same process with bush and iraq?
Rolling Out the Product Again
A Full-Court Press for Pakistan War
By CHRIS FLOYD
We asked for signs,
And signs were sent.
— Leonard Cohen, “Anthem”
We are now in the midst of a full-blown campaign to “roll out the product” for a new war: this time, in Pakistan. Anyone who lived through the run-up to the invasion of Iraq should be able to read the signs — anyone, that is, who is not blinded by partisan labels, or by the laid-back cool of a media-savvy leader far more presentable than his predecessor. Full article here.
obama’s surge in afghanistan
U.S. Troops In Iraq Excited To Finally Return To Afghanistan
Source: www.theonion.com
BAGHDAD—Since the announcement, Military officials have noticed improved morale, with many soldiers looking forward to returning to the one place where they felt they truly belonged. Full article here.
Al Jazeera Strikes Back at Pentagon, Releases Unedited Footage of US Soldiers’ ‘Bible Study’
A day after the Pentagon accused Al Jazeera of being ‘irresponsible and inappropriate’ for broadcasting the ‘hunt for Jesus’ in Afghanistan footage, the network releases unedited tapes. Full article here.