Judging from photoshopped photos, editorial cartoons, and entries on other websites I think I missed something interesting having to do with duct tape and homeland security and/or Tom Ridge. I feel like I’m a traveller from the past experiencing some unknown cultural anecdote. Wtf.
Society
17
Feb 03
The Origin of the Palestine-Israel Conflict
…
The 1967 War and the
Israeli Occupation of the
West Bank and Gaza
Did the Egyptians actually start the 1967 war, as Israel originally claimed?
“The former Commander of the Air Force, General Ezer Weitzman, regarded as a hawk, stated that there was ‘no threat of destruction’ but that the attack on Egypt, Jordan and Syria was nevertheless justified so that Israel could ‘exist according the scale, spirit, and quality she now embodies.’…Menahem Begin had the following remarks to make: ‘In June 1967, we again had a choice. The Egyptian Army concentrations in the Sinai approaches do not prove that Nasser was really about to attack us. We must be honest with ourselves. We decided to attack him.’ “Noam Chomsky, “The Fateful Triangle.”
Was the 1967 war defenisve? – continued
“I do not think Nasser wanted war. The two divisions he sent to The Sinai would not have been sufficient to launch an offensive war. He knew it and we knew it.” Yitzhak Rabin, Israel’s Chief of Staff in 1967, in Le Monde, 2/28/68
13
Feb 03
Crazy
I can’t believe there are missile launchers in our nation’s capital. It’s insane. Is this a real response to a credible threat or just a way to scare people ahead of this Iraq charade? I wish you could trust someone to tell you the truth.
Missile Launchers Positioned in D.C.:
The missile launchers that can be seen from the South Capitol Street bridge are the result of the government’s planning efforts.
The protection measures would include Customs Service aircraft flying high, keeping track of air traffic over the metro area, Air National Guard fighter jets patrolling above and Army radar systems positioned alongside Avenger air defense missile systems mounted on HumVees.
The government put these measures in place during President Bush’s January State of the Union message, then pulled them back. They went back into place when officials determined there was an increased likelihood for terrorist attacks and increased the nation’s Homeland Security alert status to orange from yellow.
12
Feb 03
Regarding Iraq
- AMERICAN war planners believe that they have little more than 48 hours from the start of a ground war to kill President Saddam Hussein if they are to avoid a protracted conflict and a complicated peace.
The opening days of the war are planned as a massive air assault aimed at collapsing Saddam’s command structure, followed by a “rush for Baghdad” by ground forces. US special forces and CIA teams are already operating on the ground in Iraq. But if US forces cannot find Saddam or present credible evidence that he is dead, they will face stiffer resistance from the Iraqis. “If people think Saddam is still alive they will be frightened to come out and support us, even if he is powerless,” one US official said.
I’ve seen reports that the US will bombard Baghdad with 400 cruise missiles in a 24 hour period. Cowards and murderers.
Although the Iraqi people would elect their new president, occupying the interim post would probably make Mr Chalabi the clear favourite. Hamid Karzai, the interim president of Afghanistan, was subsequently confirmed as the country’s leader. Mr Chalabi has the firm backing of the Pentagon’s civilian leadership and Vice President Dick Cheney’s office but senior figures in the State Department have argued against him.
“One school of thought was that people in Iraq would resent someone from outside,” said the official. Mr Chalabi was educated at Seaford College in Sussex and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and took a PhD in maths at the University of Chicago.
State Department desk officers have described Mr Chalabi as corrupt, citing his 1992 conviction in absentia in Jordan for embezzlement and theft. Mr Chalabi, who has survived at least nine assassination attempts, says he was framed after his Petra Bank, the third largest in Jordan, collapsed.
The official, who said the debate over whether to go to war “is over”, stressed that Mr Chalabi would not be a puppet leader propped up by America and that free democratic elections would take place in Iraq as soon as practicable.
Yeahhhh, right.
He said the Iraqi opposition in exile would not be allowed to control decisions for all Iraqis. “While we are listening to what the Iraqis are telling us, the United States government will make its decisions based on what is in the national interest of the United States,” he added.
The officials denied that a desire to control Iraqi oil played any part in the U.S. motivation for an invasion, which they justify as the best way to rid the country of alleged chemical and biological weapons.
But Feith, once part of a pro-Israeli lobbying group that has been pressing for the overthrow of Saddam for years, said a U.S. occupation could benefit Israel and Middle East peace.
I’ve seen Feith on CSPAN. He’s a real ‘sucker of satan’s cock’ as Bill Hicks would say.
08
Feb 03
Cold war American propaganda
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The National Security Archive at George Washington University today published on the World Wide Web documents concerned with an early Cold War campaign to win hearts and minds in the Middle East, launched 50 years before current efforts to achieve United States “public diplomacy” goals in the region.
Soon after the events of September 11, the administration of George W. Bush announced a wide-ranging campaign to improve the image of America in Arab countries and in the greater Muslim world. One year later, its results appear unimpressive: a recent Pew Research Center poll found increasingly unfavorable international views of the U.S., “most dramatically, in Muslim societies.”
The documents collected here describe an earlier program to expand and revitalize American propaganda directed at the Middle East, and the methods that were utilized, including graphic displays, manipulation of the news, books, movies, cartoons, activities directed at schools and universities, and exchange programs. U.S. propaganda efforts were assisted by collaborating governments, the news media, academics, publishers, and private associations. The documents show that many of the factors that generated resentment of the U.S. during the 1950s, and that impeded the effectiveness of U.S. propaganda, have persisted into the 21st century.
08
Feb 03
Not much time, but here’s the goods
Nothing at the facility, Iraqi officials asserted as they showed reporters around, constitutes a violation of U.N.-imposed weapons restrictions.
29
Jan 03
War-brewing: Venezuelan bankers do their part
Ahead of the scheduled GF2, Never Forget War, or whatever they’re calling this planned slaughter of thousands of innocents, Venezuelan banks are easing up on their rebellion against the Venezuelan government. No doubt important folks in South American banking got calls from the Bush administration along the lines of ‘hey, don’t put Venezuelan oil supplies in jeopardy by trying to overthrow the democratically elected leader of Venezuela until AFTER we’ve turned Iraq into the jewel in the American crown.’
As the invisible hand of capital and the crushing boot of military conquest work well together, Venezuelan banks started letting people take out their own money again and resumed normal hours. The global elite will turn up the heat on Chavez after Iraq has been turned into glass.
22
Jan 03
Call me cynical
U.S. Promises to Hold Iraqi Oil ‘In Trust’
“If we are the occupying power, it will be held for the benefit of the Iraqi people and it will be operated for the benefit of the Iraqi people,” he said.
“How will we operate it? How best to do that? We are studying different models. But the one thing I can assure you of is that it will be held in trust for the Iraqi people, to benefit the Iraqi people. That is a legal obligation that the occupying power will have,” he added.
Powell said the U.S. military would not want to run Iraq for long after a possible invasion but he declined to speculate how long U.S. troops would stay in the country.
“There is no desire for the United States armed forces to remain in charge or to run a country for any length of time beyond that which is necessary to make sure that there is an appropriate form of government to take over from the initial military occupation,” he said.