ICH: How The Spooks Took Over The News
 
Resent-Date: Mon, 11 Feb 2008 23:28:19 -0600 (CST)


Our enemies didn't adhere to the Geneva Convention. Many of my
comrades were subjected to very cruel, very inhumane and degrading
treatment, a few of them even unto death. But every one of us --
every single one of us -- knew and took great strength from the
belief that we were different from our enemies, that we were better
than them, that we, if the roles were reversed, would not disgrace
ourselves by committing or countenancing such mistreatment of them.
- John McCain, Republican US Senator

= Shamefully we now learn that Saddam's torture chambers reopened
under new management, U.S. management. - Edward Kennedy

= This fight has nothing to do with soldierly gallantry or principles
of the Geneva Convention. If the fight against the partisans is not
waged with the most brutal means, we will shortly reach the point
where the available forces are insufficient to control the area.
It is therefore not only justified, but it is the duty of the troops
to use all means without restriction, even against women and children,
so long as it ensures success. - Wilhelm Keitel, chief of staff of
the Supreme Command of the Armed Forces of Germany [Dec. 16, 1942]

=

This so-called ill treatment and torture in detention centers,
stories of which were spread everywhere among the people, and later
by the prisoners who were freed . were not, as some assumed, inflicted
methodically, but were excesses committed by individual prison
guards, their deputies, and men who laid violent hands on the
detainees. - Rudolf Hoess, the SS commandant at Auschwitz

=

The degree of civilization in a society can be judged by entering
its prisons.

- Fyodor Dostoyevsky

= The debate here isn't only how to protect the country. It's how
to protect our values.

If cruelty is no longer declared unlawful, but instead is applied
as a matter of policy, it alters the fundamental relationship of
man to government. It destroys the whole notion of individual rights.
The Constitution recognizes that man has an inherent right, not
bestowed by the state or laws, to personal dignity, including the
right to be free of cruelty. It applies to all human beings, not
just in America -- even those designated as 'unlawful enemy
combatants.' If you make this exception the whole Constitution
crumbles. - Alberto J. Mora, former Navy General Counsel [Feb. 27,
2006 issue of The New Yorker, entitled "The Memo"]

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Read this newsletter online http://tinyurl.com/dy6yy

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Number Of Iraqis Slaughtered Since The U.S. Invaded Iraq "1,173,743"

http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/iraq/iraqdeaths.html

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Number of U.S. Military Personnel Sacrificed (Officially acknowledged)
In America'sWar On Iraq 3,960 http://icasualties.org/oif/

The War in Iraq Costs $493,536,029,692

See the cost in your community
http://nationalpriorities.org/index.php?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=182

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A Tidal Wave of Misery is Engulfing Iraq

By Michael Schwartz

The degradation of Iraq under the American occupation regime was
what initially set in motion the forces that led to the exile of
much of the country's most precious human resources- Without them,
Iraq must continue its downward spiral toward a nation of slum
cities.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19327.htm

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The Chicken Doves

By Matt Taibbi

Elected to end the war, Democrats have surrendered to Bush on Iraq
and betrayed the peace movement for their own political ends.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19326.htm

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The US-NATO Preemptive Nuclear Doctrine

Trigger a Middle East Nuclear Holocaust to Defend "The Western Way
of Life"

By Michel Chossudovsky

The controversial NATO sponsored report entitled "Towards a Grand
Strategy for an Uncertain World: Renewing Transatlantic Partnership".
calls for a first strike use of nuclear weapons. The preemptive use
of nukes would also be used to undermine an "increasingly brutal
World" as a means to prevent the use of weapons of mass destruction:

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19330.htm

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Europeans See What America Cannot

By Eric Margolis

If impassioned claims by U.S. and Canadian politicians that the
little Afghanistan war must by won at all costs, then why don't
they stop orating, impose conscription, and send 400,000 soldiers,
including their own sons, to fight in Afghanistan?

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19331.htm

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How The Spooks Took Over The News

By Nick Davies

Shadowy intelligence agencies are pumping out black propaganda to
manipulate public opinion - and that the media simply swallow it
wholesale.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19328.htm

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In case you missed it

Coverup: Behind The Iran Contra Affair

Video

The shadow government of assassins, arms dealers, drug smugglers,
former CIA operatives and top US military personnel who were running
foreign policy unaccountable to the public, revealing the Reagan/Bush
administration's plan to use FEMA to institute martial law and
ultimately suspend the Constitution.

Strikingly relevant to current events.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19325.htm

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The Mother of All Rip-offs

"Get Ready For A Real Hosing"

By Mike Whitney

Trillions of dollars have been lost, the financial system is reeling,
and the nation is headed into recession. We want scalps---not
excuses!

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19324.htm

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McCain 10,000 Years Music Video

Video

This parody commercial, putting John McCain's speeches about the
war in Iraq into a song a'la the Barack Obama "Yes We Can" video,
is pretty funny.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19329.htm

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At Least 23 Killed In Another Bloody Dat Of US occupation:

Two car bombs that exploded in southern Baghdad within a few minutes
of each other on Monday, killed at least 15 people and wounded 45
others, Iraqi police said.

http://www.reuters.com/article/middleeastCrisis/idUSL11725673

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US Sniper Gets 10 Years For Murder Of Unarmed Iraqi Civilian :

Sgt. Evan Vela faced a possible life sentence. Earlier Sunday,
jurors found him guilty of murder without premeditation in the May
11 killing of an Iraqi man south of Baghdad.

http://snipurl.com/1zhgv

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Liar and War Criminal: Powell warns against deadline for US withdrawal
in Iraq: :

"The big issue here is at what rate can the Iraqis be responsible
for assuming their own security?

http://snipurl.com/1zhgx

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Exiled Iraqis too scared to return home despite propaganda push :

There has been no mass return of the two million Iraqis who fled
to Syria and Jordan or a further 2.4 million refugees who left their
homes within Iraq.

http://snipurl.com/1zhgz

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al-Qaida Regaining Some Footing :

Al-Qaida in Iraq appears to have regained some footing with a series
of high-profile and deadly bombings over the past two weeks and a
sabotage blast Monday that may leave parts of northern Iraq without
electricity until next week.

http://snipurl.com/1zhh0

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Eleven dead in Pakistan election violence :

A suicide bomb killed an election candidate and nine other people
in Pakistan on Monday, while a political worker died in a clash
between rival parties as a wave of pre-poll violence intensified.

http://snipurl.com/1zhh3

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Mansoor Dadullah, senior Taliban figure, caught and wounded in
Pakistan :

Pakistani security forces critically wounded a top figure in the
Taliban militia fighting U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, among
six militants captured after a firefight near the border Monday.

http://snipurl.com/1zhh5

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Civilian killed, the other injured by NATO's occupaion forces:

One civilian was killed and another injured by the NATO's warning
shot when their car failed to keep safe distance from NATO vehicle
on Sunday in western Afghan province of Farah, said a NATO statement
released here on Monday.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-02/11/content_7587656.htm

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Mullah Omar: Taliban no Threat to US:

The reclusive leader of the Taliban said Monday the Islamic militia
is not a threat to other countries and he called on citizens of
NATO nations to pressure their governments to withdraw troops from
Afghanistan.

http://snipurl.com/1zh8g

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Israel sees Hamas defeated in months:

Israeli leaders vowed on Monday to step up their war against Hamas
and predicted the Islamists' grip on the Gaza Strip would end within
months.

http://africa.reuters.com/world/news/usnL11659070.html

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'IDF should wipe out parts of Gaza':

Israel will escalate its ground and air operations in the Gaza Strip
this week and may begin targeting members of the Hamas political
leadership in the wake of intensified Kassam rocket attacks against
Sderot, senior defense officials said Sunday.

http://snipurl.com/1zhh8

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India condemns Israel for attacks on Gaza civilians:

India on Monday condemned Israel's use of force in civilian areas
in Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip and said it would soon send humanitarian
relief to the area.

http://snipurl.com/1zhha

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How an Iranian 'Oil Bourse' Threatens the American Empire:

It's been over seven years since the US had real or competent
leadership and now a neo-ape man may precipitate our return to the
cave! Iran's planned oil bourse threatens not only Bush's simplistic
view of the world, it strikes at the the coffers of "big oil".

http://snipurl.com/1zhhc

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Chavez threatens to halt oil sales to US:

President Hugo Chavez on Sunday threatened to cut off oil sales to
the United States in an "economic war" if Exxon Mobil Corp. wins
court judgments to seize billions of dollars in Venezuelan assets.

http://snipurl.com/1zhhf

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US Embassy in Bolivia Tells Peace Corps Volunteers to Spy on
Venezuelans and Cubans:

We go to Bolivia to speak with the Fulbright scholar Alexander van
Schaick and Jean Friedman-Rudovsky, the reporter who broke the story
for ABC News.

http://snipurl.com/1zhhg

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Pentagon charges Sept. 11 suspects:

The Pentagon has charged six detainees at Guantanamo Bay with murder
and war crimes in connection with the Sept. 11 attacks. Officials
said Monday they'll seek the death penalty in what would be the
first capital trials under the terrorism-era military tribunal
system.

http://www.thestate.com/breaking/story/313893.html

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Bush orders clampdown on flights to US:

The demand to put armed air marshals on to the flights is part of
a travel clampdown by the Bush administration that officials in
Brussels described as "blackmail" and "troublesome", and could see
west Europeans and Britons required to have US visas if their
governments balk at Washington's requirements.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/feb/11/usa.theairlineindustry

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Cheney's office seeks to bar release of video depositions :

The motion comes in a lawsuit filed by Steven Howards, who claims
he was wrongfully arrested after making comments to Cheney about
the Iraq war in June 2006, when Cheney attended a conference in
Beaver Creek.

http://www.9news.com/news/local/article.aspx?storyid=86128

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Let Us Work Towards Peace & Joy

Tom Feeley