Stories that should not go away.

Youngfox Newsdump - Stories that should not go away.

Bush: 'War on Terror' can't be won - Guardian, U.K.

"George Bush admitted yesterday the war on terror could not be won, as the Republican party convention, designed to showcase the president as a resolute leader at a time of national peril, was launched in New York."

Iraq GIs allowed to avoid trials - Denver Post

"Army Spec. Juba Martino-Poole avoided trial on a manslaughter charge for fatally shooting an Iraqi prisoner, also in 2003. His punishment was the same: Turn in the uniform. Another specialist accused of raping a fellow soldier in Iraq last year was discharged without being prosecuted."

Blair refuses to accept US award - Sunday Herald, AU

"BRITISH Prime Minister Tony Blair is refusing to fly to the US to receive a medal bestowed on him by the nation for his support over last year's Iraq war, a London newspaper reported.."

Half of New Yorkers think feds let 9/11 happen - Zogby Poll

"The poll is the first of its kind conducted in America that surveys attitudes regarding US government complicity in the 9/11 tragedy. Despite the acute legal and political implications of this accusation, nearly 30% of registered Republicans and over 38% of those who described themselves as "very conservative" supported the claim."

Still Unreported: The Pay-off in Bush Air Guard Fix - Greg Palast

"This week, former Lt. Governor Ben Barnes of Texas 'fessed up to pulling the strings to keep Little George out of the jungle. "I got a young man named George W. Bush into the Texas Air Guard - and I'm ashamed."

New Nukes at U.S. Border! - Wired News

"Starting early next week, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, or CBP, agents will start testing a nuclear scanning device, called a Pulsed Fast Neutron Analysis system (PDF), that will show a border agent the molecular construction of all materials in an 18-wheeler without the agent having to open the truck."

Stop Loss Blowing Up in Pentagon's Face! - B.T.H.N. dot ORG

"Even as the Bush Administration moves to expand the Draft (let's call it what it is, even though the media won't, because it's aimed only at those who have volunteered for the Army, and have already served!), an angry rebellion is brewing in the ranks."

Pentagon/Israel Spying Case Expands: Fomenting a War on Iran - Juan Cole

"It is an echo of the one-two punch secretly planned by the pro-Likud faction in the Department of Defense. First, Iraq would be taken out by the United States, and then Iran."

Was/Is Golan Cipal (Gov. McGreevey's boy-toy) a Mossad agent?

"Cipel served in the navy as an officer and then moved to a secret position in intelligence, Niv said. Afterward, he worked for Avi Yehezkel, a Labor member of the Knesset, then moved to New York in 1994 and was studying while working as a spokesman for the Israeli Consulate."

Second Toy Found In Candy Appears To Depict Osama Bin Laden

Wiretapping the Web - MSNBC
A literal reading of electronic eavesdropping laws—coupled with a new FCC proposal—may make it easier for Washington to watch you online

2,000 U.S. troops killed in Iraq: Russian expert - Hindu Times

"Official statistics do not include casualties among non-U.S. nationals who sign up to serve in the American armed forces in order to get a U.S. `green card.' According to reliable information the share of non-Americans in the U.S. force in Iraq may be as high as 60 per cent," the source said.

U.S. Troops Training for Iraq in Israel - Rueters

The paper said the army units were being trained at the Adam special forces school near Modi'in in central Israel. It did not say what its source was, how many soldiers were involved or how long they would spend there.
"After completing their training, the units will return to Iraq," the newspaper said.

Israel trains US assassination squads in Iraq - The Guardian
"Israeli advisers are helping train US special
forces in aggressive counter-insurgency operations in Iraq, including the use of
assassination squads against guerrilla leaders, US intelligence and military
sources said yesterday.
The Israeli Defence Force (IDF) has sent urban
warfare specialists to Fort Bragg in North Carolina, the home of US special
forces, and according to two sources, Israeli military "consultants" have also
visited Iraq.
US forces in Iraq's Sunni triangle have already begun to use
tactics that echo Israeli operations in the occupied territories, sealing off
centres of resistance with razor wire and razing buildings from where attacks
have been launched against US troops.
But the secret war in Iraq is about to
get much tougher, in the hope of suppressing the Ba'athist-led insurgency ahead
of next November's presidential elections.
US special forces teams are
already behind the lines inside Syria attempting to kill foreign jihadists
before they cross the border, and a group focused on the "neutralisation" of
guerrilla leaders is being set up, according to sources familiar with the
operations.
"This is basically an assassination programme. That is what is
being conceptualised here. This is a hunter-killer team," said a former senior
US intelligence official, who added that he feared the new tactics and enhanced
cooperation with Israel would only inflame a volatile situation in the Middle
East.
"It is bonkers, insane. Here we are - we're already being compared to
Sharon in the Arab world, and we've just confirmed it by bringing in the
Israelis and setting up assassination teams."
"They are being trained by
Israelis in Fort Bragg," a well-informed intelligence source in Washington said."

"Wilkommen aus America - der Polizei Stadt"

Republicans bring the the pious brutality of The New World Order to New York, 2004.

The fortunate son likes to use military personnel and equipment as props in the building of his "tough guy" hawk mythos. For a worm that slithered into a crack when it came time to sacrifice himself in an unjust war this is the height of hypocrisy.
I don't blame anyone for skipping out on that brutal and criminal war but to use military bravado to prop up your cowardly image is just pathetic fakery. To slander those who served unquestioningly wrongly thinking their leaders had sent them into a just war is reprehensible.
I hope that enough Americans are bright enough to see through the posturing of these pathetic Chickenhawks and recognize them as the societal vampires feeding on the young, naive and poor that they really are.
Iraq is the 21st Century Nam for America. Maybe the lessons learned from Nam should be applied instead of debated.
Fuck the oil companies, to hell with the pious arrogance of false gunpoint "democracy", the U.S.A. needs to leave the Middle East and allow them to define their own fate.

Youngfox

Jesus of the East : A compelling article from Fortean Times exploring the many travels of The Christ in his undocumented years. Some conclude that a tomb in the disputed Kashmir region is the final resting place of Jesus.

Translation: "You have to respect these Holy Sites."

Image found on The Angry Arab.

From the "When hypocrites attack" files.

How dare you reveal brutal American hypocrisy ?!?
Abu Ghraib whistleblower targeted
"The family of Sgt. Joseph Darby, the whistleblower who exposed the abuses in Abu Ghraib, is in protective custody because of death threats."
I suppose the moral of this tale is to never question or reveal the criminal activities of the U.S.A. and for god sake never ever tell the truth.

From the "Wilkommen aus Kanada - der Polizei Stadt" files.

It appears that the hysteria of Police State Fortress America is incrementally creeping into my beloved Canuckistan.
The Right Wing in this country is jealous of the iron grip control over the population enjoyed by the Patriot Act bolstered "Law Enforcement" agencies in the U.S. so they keep trying to mold us in the American image.

"Police want 25-cent surcharge on phone bills to fund wiretaps."

"OTTAWA - The Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police wants every phone and internet customer in the country to pay a surcharge of 25 cents a month to help cover the cost of eavesdropping on "criminals".
The money would boost police coffers in the face of an increasing number of expensive court-approved wiretaps on drug suspects, money launderers and potential terrorists." - CBC.ca

This audacious attempt to make citizens pay so they can be wire-tapped is offensive.
While it is hard to ignore the Right Wing fascism in America,
(because it results in mass murder and thought control) sometimes the slow drip of Right Wing power-mongering in Canada can go unnoticed. This cannot stand. These arrogant conservative bastards must be repelled before we are conditioned by the State to enjoy things like media censorship and the removal of our civil liberties for the sake of ambiguous "safety" like our southern neighbours.

From the "resistance is futile" files.
Appointing a new C.I.A. chief just three months before an election leaves me with the sickening feeling that this corrupt and murderous agency will pull out every dirty trick in its propaganda psyops bag to ensure the
re-appointment (democratically or otherwise) of the Bush/Cheney Cartel while under the control of Bush/Cheney marionette Porter Goss.

That’s all well and bad but it appears that the Bush Regimes efforts to squash dissent and promote compliant groupthink has extended to the F.B.I. as well.
“So, the FBI is now protecting America by investigating American protesters.”
It is chilling to see how the great chaotic fear of terrorism has lulled many Americans into unquestioningly embracing the right wing police state and its agenda of permanent war.

From the "You don't know the past, you don't know the future" files.

"Our opponents would like the people to believe that in a time of danger it would be hazardous to change the administration that has brought us to this time of danger. I think it would be hazardous not to change. I think it would be hazardous to continue four more years of stagnation and indifference here at home and abroad, of starving the underpinnings of our national power, including not only our defense but our image abroad as a friend.
This is an important election -- in many ways as important as any this century -- and I think that the Democratic Party and the Liberal Party here in New York, and those who believe in progress all over the United States, should be associated with us in this great effort. The reason that Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman and Adlai Stevenson had influence abroad, and the United States in their time had it, was because they moved this country here at home, because they stood for something here in the United States, for expanding the benefits of our society to our own people, and the people around the world looked to us as a symbol of hope."
From John F. Kennedy's Acceptance of the New York Liberal Party Nomination, September 14, 1960

I found this speech to be compelling and many of its elements relevant to todays political situation in the United States.
It has become fairly apparent in my short lifetime that for every progressive step forward a Democratic Administration makes the next Republican government to either win or steal office will bury it with an avalanche of regressive domestic policies and a greed-based willingness to manufacture public consent of "mass murder for profit" as foreign policy.

John Kerry is no J.F.K. but next to the Bush/Cheney Cartel of oil executives and Military Industrial Complex interests, he still looks progressive, despite his middle of the road campaign obviously designed to swing undecided votes and assure other "terrorized" and internationally isolated Americans that he would not hesitate to unleash America's grotesquely huge Military Industrial Complex on any country that defies their will and does not bow in service of America's wants and needs.
This thought seems to comfort these ignorant individuals who feel it is America's right to mass murder populations and dictate global governments at gunpoint.

The Bush/Cheney War Profit regime must be removed simply because they have turned the U.S.A. not only into the most despised country in the world but also into the greatest threat to world peace and social justice.
The bellicose arrogance of the Cartel combined with its Third Reich inspired domestic propaganda and public intimidation of dissenters demonstrates the sad fact that a great many in America are thoughtless consumer sheep unwilling to question the "My country right or wrong" jingoism that has allowed their nation to become an Imperialist Police State.

The Bush Cartel's "Lewis Carol" vision of Gunpoint Democracy in Iraq is so pious and ignorant that the promised "democratic domino effect" will not be a utopian move to elected governments in the Middle East but a renewed determination of despots to stockpile weapons and fortify their grasps on the control of their nations.
This phony American desire for "democracy" and human rights is revealed as false when you consider the unfailing American support for the fiercely undemocratic and brutal House of Saud, not to mention U.S. support of racist Apartheid policies, massive arsenal of REAL weapons of mass destruction and willingness to invade the borders of surrounding countries almost daily demonstrated by Israel.

As America wastes countless innocent lives to secure oil supplies and pipelines in the region, the real enemies of America are intensely watching its military strategies and capabilities and insuring that the U.S.A. will never again enjoy such an easy invasion march towards another nation's natural resources or militarily strategic lands.

No matter who Americans vote for in November the international carnage caused by the arrogance and greed of the Bush/Cheney War Profit Regime and the resulting global mistrust and hatred of the U.S.A. will linger for generations.
Only a progressive government will allow the United States to resurrect its status as a beacon of hope and freedom in the world and that can only happen if some drastic policy changes concerning the Middle East occur.

Somewhere in an alternate dimension "Sane America" is impeaching its War Criminals and restoring its Constitutional Republic.

(image from bagnewsnotes)

Intelligence analyst questions U.S. efforts in Iraq
By KAITLIN LEARY, Telegraph Staff

"The Nashua native returned from Iraq last week after being deployed for 14 months. He came back to his wife and family looking exactly the same, they say, but his views on life have definitely changed.

“I had my romantic vision about humanity torn down,” McGerald said. “It got reduced to quivering hunks of meat.”According to McGerald, he often saw fellow soldiers and Iraqis die for frivolous reasons. He recounted a time when an Iraqi car was shot at, killing the driver, because it was driving toward soldiers past curfew.
(SNIP)

“I studied and obsessed over the enemy,” McGerald said. “That was my job.”McGerald went on to say he is often at odds with himself because at times he does not believe in the necessity of the war in Iraq.
“We have a big mess,” he said. “Some of our efforts are just going in the wrong direction.”

McGerald said the United States’ intentions in the war are “ignorant.” He said he doesn’t think it’s possible for a democracy to be built in Iraq.
(SNIP)

“A good 90 percent of the guys we were fighting were guys that just wanted us out of their country,” McGerald said. “If we had a foreign army here, it would be the same.”
(SNIP)

“It made me very afraid of the system, of the government and the people in power,” he said. “My main goal is to find a civilized way of getting out of the military.”
McGerald is scheduled to return to Iraq within the next year. He does not expect to be released until February 2006.
“I feel like I have done my time,” he said."

If you've got skills you can find a job in Canada. I think you'll find a majority of the population here will understand your moral dilemma. Decent and loving sons and daughters should not have to sacrifice their futures to the Imperialist visions of the ruling Bush/Cheney War Profit Cartel.

The guy in this article says he is going back, good soldier and all. As sad as the possibility of his death in Iraq may be, I think it is better for all concerned in the ongoing reality of Bush/Cheney's oil war, to have some troops over there who will not torture, multilate, murder and otherwise treat Iraq's people like subhumans.

He seems to understand human nature and has a willingness to extend the concept of human dignity to America's subjugated colony. I hope he gets to have a future.

Your New World Orders

Something stinks in Bush/Cheney's America.

"Dr. Lawrence Britt, a political scientist, wrote an article about fascism which appeared in Free Inquiry magazine -- a journal of humanist thought. Dr. Britt studied the fascist regimes of Hitler (Germany), Mussolini (Italy), Franco (Spain), Suharto (Indonesia), and Pinochet (Chile). He found the regimes all had 14 things in common, and he calls these the identifying characteristics of fascism. The article is "Fascism Anyone?,"
Lawrence Britt, Free Inquiry, Spring 2003, page 20."

The 14 characteristics are:

1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism - Fascist regimes tend to
make constant use of patriotic mottos, slogans, symbols, songs, and other
paraphernalia. Flags are seen everywhere, as are flag symbols on clothing and in public displays.

2. Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights - Because of fear
of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are
persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of "need."
The people tend to look the other way or even approve of torture, summary
executions, assassinations, long incarcerations of prisoners, etc.

3. Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause -
The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to
eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: racial, ethnic or religious
minorities; liberals; communists; socialists, terrorists, etc.

4. Supremacy of the Military - Even when there are widespread
domestic problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of government
funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and military service are
glamorized.

5. Rampant Sexism - The governments of fascist nations tend to
be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional gender
roles are made more rigid. Opposition to abortion is high, as is homophobia and
anti-gay legislation and national policy.

6. Controlled Mass Media - Sometimes the media is directly
controlled by the government, but in other cases, the media is indirectly
controlled by government regulation, or sympathetic media spokes people and
executives. Censorship, especially in war time, is very common.

7. Obsession with National Security - Fear is used as a
motivational tool by the government over the masses.

8. Religion and Government are Intertwined - Governments in
fascist nations tend to use the most common religion in the nation as a tool to
manipulate public opinion. Religious rhetoric and terminology is common from
government leaders, even when the major tenets of the religion are diametrically
opposed to the government's policies or actions.

9. Corporate Power is Protected - The industrial and business
aristocracy of a fascist nation often are the ones who put the government
leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government
relationship and power elite.

10. Labor Power is Suppressed - Because the organizing power of
labor is the only real threat to a fascist government, labor unions are either
eliminated entirely, or are severely suppressed.

11. Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts - Fascist nations
tend to promote and tolerate open hostility to higher education, and academia.
It is not uncommon for professors and other academics to be censored or even
arrested. Free expression in the arts is openly attacked, and governments often
refuse to fund the arts.

12. Obsession with Crime and Punishment - Under fascist regimes,
the police are given almost limitless power to enforce laws. The people are
often willing to overlook police abuses and even forego civil liberties in the
name of patriotism. There is often a national police force with virtually
unlimited power in fascist nations.

13. Rampant Cronyism and Corruption - Fascist regimes almost
always are governed by groups of friends and associates who appoint each other
to government positions and use governmental power and authority to protect
their friends from accountability. It is not uncommon in fascist regimes for
national resources and even treasures to be appropriated or even outright stolen
by government leaders.

14. Fraudulent Elections - Sometimes elections in fascist
nations are a complete sham. Other times elections are manipulated by smear
campaigns against or even assassination of opposition candidates, use of
legislation to control voting numbers or political district boundaries, and
manipulation of the media. Fascist nations also typically use their judiciaries
to manipulate or control elections.

Welcome To The United States under The Bush/Cheney Regime.

"They Knew...
Despite the whitewash, we now know that the Bush administration was warned before the war that its Iraq claims were weak"
By David Sirota and Christy Harvey
In These Times

Dithering End Times

photo:Rafiq Maqbool, AP
Dhaka, India : I don't think he's worried about his Playstation.

From the “Dithering End Times” files.

Ugh.
The grey clouds have provided a respite from the cloistering humidity of the past week.
The cats are no longer stretched out in front of the fan like drying pelts.
It seems that the weather is a totally different season from one day to next.
I seem to recall much more consistency in the seasons not all that long ago.
I can also remember a time when you could be outside for more than twenty minutes without sunscreen or a hat and not feel the itching sizzle of the Sun’s unfiltered radioactive love on your exposed skin.
Could you imagine covering your self in baby oil and languishing in the sun for hours like tan seekers in the 1970’s?
Your flesh would look like bubble wrap in no time.

Lately the T.V. has been showing images of melted polar ice caps swirling around people’s front porches and carrying off their possessions.
Flooding is occurring all over the world this season from Bangladesh to Peterborough.
In Ontario the Dalton McGuinty Liberal government,
(Like butter on a burn but still better than the Conservatives), has already cut supplemental cheques and I am sure most will survive to wonder why after the first big flood, not so long ago, they didn’t prepare for the possibility of this one.
In Dhaka they hope for a lift to higher ground so they can find out who will remember them first - god, government or NGO.
It is horrible.
This is yet another of the daily reminders of why Canadians must remain conscious of the world around us.
We might be able to help some how, or at the very least, learn from our mistakes and pass on the lesson.
As the luckiest nation on this Earth we must have something to share.

It is pretty easy to figure out why the many currently burning forests of North America and the World are so tinder dry. The rain the forests were supposed to receive this year is bubbling up out of somebody’s toilet in Ontario or sweeping someone’s crops down the river in India.
But it is all natural Earth changes. Just ask the “scientists” from Exxon or the Bush Administration.

I personally like the Jerry Falwell approach to global warming.
He tells his “flock” not to worry about global climate change because Jesus is coming soon.
Just continue to unquestioningly breed, consume and obey, cause hey, Armageddon is a comin’!
I guess that they just have to keep on shooting abortion doctors, promoting sexual discrimination and telling everybody else how to live because blue-eyed War Jesus might be running a little late for the rapture.
He must be busy personally blessing the child buggery, torture and mass murder of the latest Crusade in Iraq wrought by the blessed will of his anointed holy emperor, George W. Bush.
It is amazing how terrorist zealots the world over can pervert religion to excuse their evil actions.