Obama? Linked to Terrorism?? What About the Republicans?

Now, I am no great fan of Obama. Let's face it, he is still going to protect the capitalist system, despite its obvious failings. However, the very idea that he supports terrorism, whilst Sarah Palin and John McCain are somehow free from such associations, deserves some scrutiny. After all, they are members of a party that have strengthened Osama Bin Laden beyond even his wildest dreams. They fell for the trap and every single day they have provided more and more propaganda for Bin Laden's ideology. They have done the terrorists job for them and, in any other country, these leaders would be tried for treason. And yet bizarrely, their support for terrorism has been overlooked. A McCain victory would be a dream come true for Bin Laden. More aggression, more proof that the West wants to destroy Islam. What more could he ask for?

But that is not all. John McCain has stood shoulder to shoulder with a renowned terrorist in the Americas. A terrorist who wields immense power. A terrorist who is responsible for the deaths of hundreds, if not thousands, of ordinary people. A terrorist who is financially supported by the current Republican administration. So where is the proof for this outlandish claim? Well..........

John McCain and Sarah Palin - The Terrorist's Choice

Jewish Terrorists Attack Academic

'Self-hating' Jew is often a term applied to those that criticise Israeli policies, so why not also apply it to those ultra-rightist Jews that attack their fellow Jews? Like the nasty characters that carried out this attack:

A well-known Israeli critic of Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank, Zeev Sternhell, has been slightly wounded in a bomb attack.

Police suspect ultra-nationalists Israelis were behind the attack.

Professor Sternhall has also strongly opposed the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip, describing it as immoral and ineffective.

Earlier this year, Professor Sternhall was awarded the prestigious Israel Prize for political science.

Mr Sternhell suffered minor shrapnel wounds in one leg.

Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said several assailants were waiting for Mr Sternhell shortly after midnight on Wednesday outside his home in Jerusalem.

Reports say police investigators found posters in Mr Sternhell's neighbourhood offering a reward of $320,000 to anyone who kills a member of Peace Now, an Israeli group that campaigns against settlement building to which the academic belongs.

Bolivia, Venezuela - Coups in Waiting?

It certainly appears that whilst the public are distracted by moose shooting censorship lovers and the second coming, the US government is once more attempting a spot of covert regime change in South America. As RickB has already noted over at Ten Percent, both Venezuela and Bolivia have now expelled their American ambassadors as a result of apparent attempts by the American government to remove these governments from power. It has also emerged that the American government may have been supporting officers within the Venezuelan army who are hostile to Chavez. According to The Guardian, Chavez said:

'...several Venezuelan military officers had been detained following an investigation by his intelligence services. During his televised address he played a recording of purported conversations between the alleged conspirators.

Earlier, the defence minister, General Gustavo Rangel Briceño, and a pro-Chávez TV host, Mario Silva, named several senior officers from the navy, air force and national guard as suspects.'

Not content with supporting anti-government forces in Venezuela, the US government has further attempted to smear Chavez by once more linking him to the Colombian drug trade and the FARC. Again, from The Guardian:

Separately, the US treasury accused three members of Chávez's inner-circle of materially assisting the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc), leftist guerrillas who traffick cocaine and are considered terrorists by the US and EU. Hugo Carvajal Barrios and Henry Rangel Silva are senior intelligence officials and Ramón Rodríguez Chacin was interior minister until this week when he unexpectedly resigned, citing personal reasons.

Venezuela's government acknowledges talking to Farc to negotiate hostage releases but denies funnelling weapons or drug money.

Visiting Britain this week, the US drugs czar, John Walters, repeated claims that Venezuela and Bolivia were taking over from Colombia in the export of cocaine.

It would be funny if it wasn't so serious. After all, the US government also play a key role in supporting terrorist organisations in Colombia. Despite Uribe's well documented links to human rights abuses, as well as his links to right-wing terrorists operating within his borders, the US government continues to fund his government to the hilt. If Chavez is guilty of aiding a 'terrorist organisation' in Colombia, Bush is equally guilty. And yet, in this world of inverted mirrors and perverse logic, Chavez is the threat and Bush is the solution. And if anyone thinks that Bush Terror Inc will cease trading come 2009, I am afraid they are very much mistaken.

Chavez Out Manoeuvres Critics

Chavez clearly caught a few by surprise with his statement regarding the FARC, particularly given the unsubstantiated allegations against Venezuela by Colombia:

Colombia's defence minister has welcomed a call by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez for Farc rebels to end their four-decade struggle.

Mr Chavez, whom Colombia has accused of financing Farc, had earlier said the group was "out of step" and called on them to release all their hostages.

He urged Alfonso Cano, Farc's new leader, to "let all these people go".

Colombian Defence Minister Juan Manuel Santos welcomed the comments as long as they were "translated into action".

"Our fundamental strategic objective is that our neighbours collaborate in the fight against terrorism," said Mr Santos.

He said the move meant that Colombia and Venezuela would be able to renew their ties, to the benefit of both nations.

Perhaps Chavez might use this opportunity to have greater influence on Colombian politics. Certainly, any perceived support for the FARC would have impeded the development of a political leader sympathertic to Chavez in Colombia. Perhaps this is not the best news for Uribe.

Israeli Terrorist Escapes Justice.....For Now....

And what would have happened if the man in question was a Muslim one wonders?

A notorious Israeli mercenary has successfully appealed to the European court of human rights to postpone his extradition from Russia to Colombia, where he faces an 11-year jail sentence for training rightwing paramilitaries and a private army for the drug barons of the Medellín cartel.

Yair Klein, 64, a reserve lieutenant colonel in the Israel defence forces (IDF)and a veteran of the six-day and Yom Kippur wars, has done business with armed groups in Latin America and Africa for 25 years. He has spent nine months in a Moscow prison but last week the Russian supreme court ordered that the extradition go ahead. Klein's Russian lawyer turned to the human rights court for a temporary stay on the grounds that he could suffer ill-treatment if sent to Bogotá. There were also concerns about the fairness of the 2001 trial, which sentenced him in absentia. During the hearing he said: "Extradition to Colombia would mean a death sentence."

While the court deliberates - which could take months - Klein's supporters in Israel, who consider him a war hero, will continue to campaign for his return. His Israeli lawyer, Mordechai Tsivin, said: "In Israel his arrival would be great joy."

Yet another example of the Israeli government's support for terrorism. Perhaps their activities are not surprising when considering that their biggest backer is the world's biggest terrorist state.

Colombia Probes Links With FARC

Colombian prosecutors have asked the Supreme Court to investigate three opposition legislators for alleged links to the leftist Farc rebels.

The investigations were prompted by analysis of laptop computers seized in a cross-border raid into Ecuador, said chief prosecutor Mario Iguaran.

Under suspicion is Senator Piedad Cordoba. She has helped mediate the release of six Farc-held hostages.

She said her links with Farc were only to help free the hostages.

Mr Iguaran said five other Colombians and four foreigners were suspected of Farc links, including an Ecuadorean politician and a Venezuelan regional legislator and a US academic.

The other two Colombian legislators under investigation are Senator Gloria Ines Ramirez and Wilson Borja, a member of the lower house of the congress.

You'd think that maybe they would focus more on their government's links to terrorism, wouldn't you?

World's Leading Terrorist State Accuses Venezuela

Perhaps this week's 'it would be funny if it wasn't for the fact that the US is run by loonies' moment comes from a CNN report regarding the latest US terror report. According to CNN:

Venezuela's associations with terror states, Iran's meddling in Iraq and the resurgence of al Qaeda in Afghanistan top the concerns in a new State Department report on terrorism threats in countries around the world.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is not cooperating with U.S. anti-terror efforts and has "deepened Venezuelan relationships with state sponsors of terrorism Iran and Cuba," the annual report says.

The report notes Chavez's "ideological sympathy" for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia and the Colombian-based National Liberation Army, which "regularly crossed into Venezuelan territory to rest and regroup."

While the report says it "remained unclear to what extent the Venezuelan government provided support to Colombian terrorist organizations," it notes that Venezuelan weapons stocks have turned up in the hands of Colombian terrorist organizations.

It's the last paragraph that is particularly interesting. American weapons are often found in the hands of terrorists in Colombia which, by their own reckoning, means that the American government is 'providing support to Colombian terrorist organisations'. Worse still, US backed terrorists are responsible for far more murders than other 'terrorist organisations' in Colombia. So I guess, from an impartial perspective, one could argue that the US is a greater terrorist threat than Venezuela. Which is hardly in any doubt when one sees the terror that the US government brings to the world.

Uribe's Cousin Arrested in Colombia

(With thanks to RickB at Ten Percent for his multi-MOA linked post on the same subject.)

The Colombia/terrorist state story has taken yet another disturbing twist. It has emerged that Mario Uribe Escobar, President Uribe's cousin, has been arrested due to alleged links to right-wing paramilitaries. From the BBC:

A cousin and key ally of Colombian President Alvaro Uribe has been arrested over alleged ties to paramilitary groups.

Mario Uribe Escobar, who stepped down as a senator last October, denies accusations of criminal conspiracy.

He went to the Costa Rican embassy in Bogota seeking asylum, but his request was turned down.

As he left the embassy, he was taken into custody and driven away in a police jeep.

Mario Uribe is one of the most prominent figures arrested over alleged paramilitary links.

A jailed former paramilitary leader, Salvatore Mancuso, has alleged that he met Mario Uribe several times and was asked by him to support his senate campaign in 2002.


This is merely the latest revelation in a long series of revelations regarding the Colombian government's links to terror (far more than any so-called terrorist state proclaimed by Bu$h). A Colombian government that the UK and the US continue to fund and arm, despite continuous human rights abuses (watch this slideshow for more). It is time for the West to cease arming this nation that is clearly a failed state in the hands of a group of terrorists who have no qualms about murdering thousands of citizens to protect their position in power. It is time that a true terrorist state was confronted for it's crimes against humanity. With the US in it's corner, what are the chances of that?

US Goverment to Designate Venezuela as a State Sponsor of Terrorism?

You may remember from one of my earlier posts that I wrote that US experts were looking into the emails that were discovered on laptops belonging to the murdered members of the FARC. This seemed particularly suspicious at the time as Colombia is a well known proxy for the US in South America, and Venezuela has long been in their sights. It has now emerged that US attorneys are looking into the possibility of labelling Venezuela a state sponsor of terrorism. From United Press International:

WASHINGTON, March 10 (UPI) -- A government official said the White House asked attorneys to look into requirements for placing Venezuela on the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism.

The inquiry follows allegations that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's ties with Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia guerrillas ran deeper than originally thought, The Miami Herald reported Monday.

The legal review follows Colombia's seizing four computers belonging to a FARC guerrilla leader in a March 1 raid. In them, it was hinted that the Venezuelan government was in the process of providing $300 million in assistance FARC, which officials in the United States and Colombia call a "narco-terrorist" group but Chavez considers a legitimate insurgency.

The U.S. official -- speaking anonymously to the Herald -- wouldn't predict if the discoveries would lead to sanctions, saying the documents' veracity must be corroborated.

If the documents are shown to be true, then "I think it will beg the question of whether or not Venezuela, given Chavez's interactions with the FARC, has ... crossed the threshold of state sponsor of terror," the official said.

Of course, it will be the United States who will determine the veracity of these documents in what will be an entirely self-serving 'investigation'. And the documents themselves?? Well, Greg Palast has discovered that, what a surprise, they are cooked up. From his website:

The US press snorted up this line about Chavez’ $300 million to “terrorists” quicker than the young Bush inhaling Colombia’s powdered export.

What the US press did not do is look at the evidence, the email in the magic laptop. (Presumably, the FARC leader’s last words were, “Listen, my password is ….”)

I read them. (You can read them here) While you can read it all in español, here is, in translation, the one and only mention of the alleged $300 million from Chavez:

“… With relation to the 300, which from now on we will call “dossier,” efforts are now going forward at the instructions of the boss to the cojo [slang term for ‘cripple’], which I will explain in a separate note. Let’s call the boss Ángel, and the cripple Ernesto.”

Got that? Where is Hugo? Where’s 300 million? And 300 what? Indeed, in context, the note is all about the hostage exchange with the FARC that Chavez was working on at the time (December 23, 2007) at the request of the Colombian government.

Indeed, the entire remainder of the email is all about the mechanism of the hostage exchange. Here’s the next line:

“To receive the three freed ones, Chavez proposes three options: Plan A. Do it to via of a ‘humanitarian caravan’; one that will involve Venezuela, France, the Vatican[?], Switzerland, European Union, democrats [civil society], Argentina, Red Cross, etc.”

Now we await the results of this investigation. If Bush has his way, Venezuela could be next to join the infamous 'axis of evil'. A dream come true for many in the establishment who have become disturbed by the recent rise in populist leaders throughout the region. This could lead to increased attempts to destabilise Venezuela and increased support for Chavez's opponents in the country. Just one question. If it only takes a few dubious emails to class Venezuela as a state sponsor of terrorism, how much more evidence is required to prove that President Uribe runs a terrorist state?

Israel News Special

Numerous stories from Haaretz worthy of comment today. However, given that I am about to hit the sack, feel free to knock yourself out with comments aplenty (that means both of you). First, Olmert confirms the building of 750 new settlement homes:

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has approved the renewed construction of hundreds of an estimated 750 new homes in the West Bank settlement of Givat Ze'ev near Jerusalem, the Housing Ministry said Sunday.

The project approved for the Agan Ayelot neighborhood of Givat Ze'ev drew criticism from the Palestinian Authority over Israel's commitment to the peace process.

The prime minister's spokesman said the project was in line with the state's current policy on construction in existing settlements.

"The project was approved by previous governments, and Olmert approved its resumption because it meshes with government policy," he said.

"It is consistent with our long-standing position that building within the large settlement blocs, which will stay a part of Israel in any final status agreement, will continue," Regev said. "Construction outside the settlement blocs has been frozen."

News that is sure to calm tensions in the region.

Second, can you hear the faint beating of drums?? Here commenceth a smear campaign as a prelude to further threats against Iran:

Housing Minister Ze'ev Boim has accused the head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog of acting as an agent for Iran and of allowing the Islamic Republic to proceed with its uranium enrichment without international intervention.

"When you examine his behaviour you cannot but reach the conclusion that he is a sort of planted agent ... who has served well the interests of Iran," Boim, a member of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's Kadima party said in an interview Sunday with Channel One television.

Boim said ElBaradei had allowed Iran time to develop its nuclear bomb plans and that his decisions had thwarted international efforts to stop the Iranians.

"During his years as head of the agency, he has allowed it to be derelict in its duties and has allowed the Iranians to have probably the most important thing of all - time.

"His decisions, have many times been taken with a form of coordination with the Iranians and he has made it impossible to create a strong coalition which could stop Iran's uranium enrichment program," Boim said.

Did someone say "wacky conspiracy theory"??

Back to the peace process, and some predictable stalling by the Israeli government:

Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni on Sunday told visiting U.S. envoy James Jones that that the creation of a Palestinian state amid the current situation in the Gaza Strip and ongoing attacks on Israelis was not in line with Israel's security demands.

"Israel is obligated to respond to terror, and every process must offer a unilateral response to its security needs," said Livni. "The creation of a Palestinian state is not the required answer to Israel's security needs."

The foreign minister said a future Palestinian state must comprise officials "who want not only to live in peace with Israel, but are also able to fight terror and promise the realization of all of its security needs."

The Palestinians, of course, are not "obligated to respond to terror". Especially when over 100 Palestinians are killed (49 of which were civilians) by state terror tactics.

Finally, celebrity news. Goldie Hawn was at a charity fundraising dinner for the Jewish National Fund. The Jewish National Fund will only sell property to Jews, not Arabs:

Pro-Palestinian activists beating drums and blaring horns have protested a visit by Hollywood actress Goldie Hawn to an Israeli charity's fundraising dinner.

Around 150 demonstrators marched on Glasgow's Hilton hotel, where the actress was speaking to supporters of the Jewish National Fund.

The fund is Israel's main land distributor. But the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, which organized the protest, believes it is a racist organization and criticized Hawn for lending her support.

Way to go Goldie.

Ecuador Sends Troops To Colombian Border

It would seem that Ecuador has sent troops to the border with the world's leading terrorist state:

Ecuador and Venezuela have moved troops to their borders with Colombia in an escalating row over the killing of a Farc rebel leader in Ecuador.

Ecuador and Venezuela have also both expelled Colombian diplomats.

Colombian troops entered Ecuador on Saturday in a raid that killed Colombian rebel leader Raul Reyes.

Of course, the Colombian government is talking of it's sisterhood with a neighboring South American country but they have never been that concerned about their neighbours in the past. On the contrary, Colombia is seen by Washington as crucial to re-asserting ideological dominance in the region. It is unlikely that further action will be taken by Venezuela or Ecuador, but the current situation is sure to be used as an example of the danger that the left-wing tide poses to US interests.

Alex James - I Support President Uribe

Yes, I perhaps should have been unsurprised by the rather superficial nature of the Panorama investigation fronted by Alex James of Blur (not a band that have ever been to my taste, I despised Britpop, anyway, I digress...). The programme essentially put out the message that, like, cocaine is wrong man. People, like, die and stuff. Well fuck me, do I really need some washed up pop star from an overrated pop band to tell me that? No, I fucking didn't mainly because I have the odd brain cell knocking around inside my head something that many pop stars seem to be sadly lacking (perhaps due to all the charlie that happily inhale up their noses - which is in turn an attempt to cover up the stench of the god awful shite they trot out).

One of James' pearls of wisdom was his description of 'Plan Colombia' as 'controversial', although there was no explanation why this might be (apart from a fleeting visit to one farmer's banana crop that had been ruined by the random spraying - well, I say 'random'). No mention whatsoever of the catastrophic effect that this policy has had on the people living in rural parts of Colombia, not to mention neighboring countries in South America. Yes, clearly Plan Colombia is 'controversial', perhaps James should win an award for biggest understatement of the century. However, one other moment really underlined how out of his depth the WigWam star really was.

James practically wanked himself into a frenzy over his audience with President Uribe. The sense that James was rubbing his crutch during Uribe's impassioned pleas was palpable. So much so, I just wished he would just ejaculate over Uribe's face and get it over with. Impartial broadcasting at it's best by the BBC. Then came the piece de resistance. After his brief interview/orgasm, James announced that 'I support this man' and claimed that he was exactly what Colombia needed. This, if nothing else, was evidence enough that charlie really fucks you up permanently. No mention of Uribe's well documented links to terrorists in Colombia, no mention of how Colombia is perhaps the world's leading terrorist state. No, just James giving Uribe some cheese before bending over before him and allowing Uribe the privilege of ramming his...........

Now, I know this has come across as rather flippant and cynical of what James was trying to do and, well, it is. While it is laudable that James was brave enough to confront the consequences of his actions (unlike some of his pampered contemporaries), he could have looked into the circumstances a little harder (although, granted, with the new 30 minute running time, it is hard to imagine any subject being covered in depth on Panorama anymore). Presented with a golden opportunity, James could have confronted Uribe on his support for terrorists that also rely on the coke business. Instead, he was unquestioning in his support of a leader who has extensive links to right-wing paramilitaries. In the hands of a more experienced documentary maker, this could well have been an insightful, thought provoking piece on the situation in Colombia. Instead, it was rather like much of James' musical output over the past few years - undemanding and uninspired. God I hated Blur and their Britpop buddies.

Pots and Kettles and Dick Cheney

As intellectually bankrupt as ever, Dick Cheney had this to say about Iran:

"Our country, and the entire international community, cannot stand by as a terror-supporting state fulfills its grandest ambitions.''

Boy, I had to stifle a laugh at that one. Mind you, he is right. We cannot stand by as a terror-supporting state fulfills its grandest ambitions. Ahhh, the good old Dick Cheney double-standard. Someone pop a balloon behind his back, maybe the next heart-attack might finish him off.

Iran and Pakistan - The American Contradiction

Sometimes even The Guardian disappoints me. The US has been upping the ante against Iran with its latest threat to class the Iranian Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organisation. Not withstanding the fact that this would make it easier to portray Iran as a state harboring terrorists (and thus, under the Bu$h doctrine, make it easier to launch an attack), this move is an interesting contradiction with the situation in Pakistan, and its relationship with America.

One of the pretexts for this move by the US, is that Iran has been fomenting violence in neighboring Afghanistan. On page 13, The Guardian makes plain the government view on the troubles via an interview with Des Browne. Browne made the following statement:

"I have no doubt - because we have uncovered evidence - of weapons coming in through narco-trafficking routes, supplying weapons to the Taliban. I have reason to believe the Taliban go to Tehran for training."

He also accuses Iran of:

"backing every horse in the race."

This is all part of the Iran interfering with its neighbours pitch that the Western powers are spreading around. However, turn to page 26 and we find an interesting little story, buried away near the back of the international section:

The Pakistani government gave substantial military support to the Taliban in the years leading up to the September 11 attacks, sending arms and soldiers to fight alongside the militant Afghan movement, according to newly released US official documents.

Islamabad has acknowledged diplomatic and economic links with the Taliban but has denied direct military support. The US intelligence and state department documents, released under the country's freedom of information act, show that Washington believed otherwise.

The suspicion has lingered that some elements of Pakistani intelligence are still protecting the Taliban and its al-Qaida allies in the autonomous tribal areas along the Afghan border. US officials have warned they might take direct military action without Islamabad's approval.

So, while Iran is considered a hostile nation due to alleged activities in Afghanistan, Pakistan is considered a friend in similar circumstances. So when is the United States going to proclaim MQM as a terrorist organisation? I guess never as right-wing groups remain infatuated with right-wing military dictators.

Democrats Support School of Americas Funding

Hat-tip to Ten Percent for this one:


214 Members of Congress missed the chance to stand up for human rights, justice and democracy, and voted to keep the funding for the SOA/WHINSEC flowing.

The WHINSEC PR machine and high-ranking Pentagon officials used taxpayer money to put a lot of pressure on Members of Congress.

Tens of thousands of emails, faxes and calls flooded the halls of Congress over the past three days. Students, clergy, union members and veterans travelled to DC and visited with hundreds of Congressional offices to communicate clearly that there is no room for institutions like the SOA/WHINSEC in our future.


Thanks to the support of a few Democrats, the funding will continue. From IndyBay:


On 6/21/07, 42 Democrats voted No on the McGovern Amendment which would have cut off funding to the torture school formerly known as the School of Americas (Assassins), now known as Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC). 6 more votes were needed to pass it. All Reds and Greens would certainly have voted Yes and that is what makes Reds and Greens viable.


The vote was 203 Yes, 214 No, 1 voting "Present" and 19 Not Voting. For more on the torture and murder training camp courtesy our tax dollars in Fort Benning, Georgia to train torturers and murderers of workers and peasants in Latin America who try to organize for a better life, see the School of Assassins Watch website at:


http://www.soaw.org/


The roll call vote may be found at:


http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2007/roll536.xml#P


and the list of House of Representative Democrats voting No may be found below. Strangely, House Speaker Pelosi is not found on any list, not even present.


List of Shameful Democrats, demonstrating utter bankruptcy of Democratic Party majority, one of many lists of shame:

• Abercrombie, Neil, Hawaii
• Barrow, John, Georgia
• Bishop, Sanford D. Georgia
• Boren, Dan, Oklahoma
• Cardoza, Dennis, California
• Carney, Christopher, Pennsylvania
• Castor, Kathy, Florida
• Clyburn, James, South Carolina
• Cooper, James, Tennessee
• Costa, James, California
• Cuellar, Henry, Texas
• Dingell, John, Michigan
• Edwards, Chet, Texas
• Gonzalez, Charles, Texas
• Gordon, Bart, Tennessee
• Herseth Sandlin, Stephanie, South Dakota
• Jefferson, William, Louisiana
• Johnson, E.B., Texas
• Klein, Ron, Florida
• Lampson, Nick, Texas
• Mahoney, Tim, Florida
• Marshall, James, Georgia
• Matheson, James, Utah
• McIntyre, Michael, North Carolina
• Meek, Kendrick, Florida
• Miller., Brad, North Carolina
• Murphy, Patrick, Pennsylvania
• Murtha, John, Pennsylvania
• Perlmutter, Ed, Colorado
• Peterson, Colin, Minnesota
• Reyes, Silvestre, Teaxs
• Rodriguez, Ciro, Texas
• Ross, Michael, Arkansas
• Ruppersberger, Dutch, Maryland
• Sestak, Joseph, Pennsylvania
• Skelton, Ike, Missouri
• Space, Zachary, Ohio
• Spratt, John, South Carolina
• Tanner, John, Tennessee
• Taylor, Gene, Mississippi

Present: Christensen, Donna, US Virgin Islands
Not Voting: Bordallo, Madeline, Guam
Costello, Jerry, Illinois
Cramer, Robert, Alabama
Johnson, Henry, Georgia
Meehan, Marty, Massachusetts
Melancon, Charles, Louisiana
Napolitano, Grace, California
Ortiz, Solomon, Texas
Rangel, Charles, New York
Sanchez, Loretta, California
Scott, David, Georgia
Weiner, Anthony, New York

http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2007/roll536.xml#P

If your representative is listed above, write them an email and ask them why they voted in support of WHINSEC.

More Evidence of Uribe's Links to Paramilitaries?

The scandal rumbles on. From the Miami Herald:

A lawyer for a U.S. labor union has asked the State Department to investigate the infiltration by Colombia's illegal paramilitaries into President Alvaro Uribe's first electoral campaign, based on a video showing then-candidate Uribe meeting with a group that included a man identified as a paramilitary leader.

The video, a copy of which was obtained by El Nuevo Herald, does not indicate that Uribe was aware one of the men at the meeting was a paramilitary leader. It appears to be a campaign event, and the dozen or so other participants identify themselves as civic leaders from the city of Barrancabermeja.

From the images and the date that appears on the video, the meeting was held Oct. 31, 2001, during a campaign stop by Uribe in Puerto Berrío, near Barrancabermeja.

The paramilitary man at the meeting was identified by human-rights activists from Barrancabermeja as Frenio Sánchez Carreño, second in command of a unit of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, or AUC, the paramilitaries' umbrella group. The man identified as Sánchez does not speak on the video.

Sánchez was arrested less than two months after the meeting in an operation announced at a news conference by Colombia's version of the FBI, the Administrative Security Directorate. Then-agency Director Germán Jaramillo said Sánchez, also known as Comandante Esteban, was wanted on charges his unit had murdered some 80 people in the previous two years.

Time to call an end to the corrupt regime that governs Colombia, the links with various paramilitary leaders is becoming all too apparent. However, it is not only elected officials that are tainted by links to terrorists, big business also stands accused of links to terrorism:

Relatives of 22 Colombians killed by militants in their country's banana-growing region claim in a lawsuit that Chiquita Brands International and Chiquita Fresh North America financed terrorist groups that killed innocent civilians.

Attorneys for the relatives filed the lawsuit Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Fort Lauderdale. They claim Chiquita's payments to guerrilla groups between 1997 and 2004 helped fuel the region's volatile guerrilla warfare and led to the 22 deaths. The victims are mostly banana workers and include an 8-year-old child. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages.

So, when is the 'war on terror' due to hit Colombia, the worlds leading terrorist state?

More Evidence Of Colombian Government's Ties to Paramilitaries

From the Houston Chronicle:

ITAGUI, COLOMBIA — As the razor-wired gates slid open, an armored SUV escorted by police sharpshooters on motorcycles roared out of the prison yard.

The motorcade is part of the morning routine at this mountainside penitentiary. One by one, jailed leaders of Colombia's paramilitary death squads are whisked off to court to confess their crimes.

Their testimony has confirmed what many have suspected all along: that the cream of Colombian society — senators, business leaders, army generals — promoted and financed the paramilitaries, who committed hundreds of massacres during their 20-year dirty war against Marxist guerrillas and became major cocaine traffickers in the process. More revelations about the links between the outlawed gunmen and the country's elite are expected in the coming weeks.

"Do you think an irregular force of 17,000 fighters armed to the teeth could move throughout the country without anybody knowing? Without anybody collaborating?" paramilitary leader Ivan Duque asked in a jailhouse interview.

"That's why I call this a country of hypocrisies," he said, "a society of lies."

The most damaging allegations were leveled last week by Salvatore Mancuso, the commander-in-chief of the now-demobilized paramilitary army, during three days of testimony that shook the government of President Alvaro Uribe, the Bush administration's closest ally in Latin America.

Mancuso accused small-town mayors, big-time congress members and Uribe's vice president and defense minister of collaborating with the gunmen.

He described active-duty police officers piloting paramilitary helicopters packed with cocaine. He said businesses ranging from Colombia's state-run oil company to U.S. banana exporters regularly paid the paramilitaries for protection from the guerrillas.

What's more, Mancuso laid much of the blame for the outlawed militias' expansion at the Colombian government's feet.

Reap What You Sow

A survey of US combat troops deployed in Iraq has found that one in 10 said they mistreated civilians and more than a third condoned torture to save the life of a comrade, a report said Friday.

The study by an army mental health advisory team found continuing problems with morale and that acute mental health issues were more prevalent among troops with lengthening tours or on their second and third deployment to Iraq. "They looked under every rock, and what they found was not always easy to look at," said Ward Casscells, the Pentagon's health affairs chief.

For the first time ever, a sampling of soldiers and marines in combat units were questioned on issues of character, and their answers suggested hardened attitudes toward civilians among front line troops:

-- About 10 percent of soldiers surveyed reported mistreating non-combatants or damaging their property when it was not necessary;

-- Less than half of the soldiers and marines would report a team member for unethical behavior;

-- More than a third of all soldiers and marines reported that torture should be allowed to save the life of a fellow soldier or marine.

Major General Gale Pollock, the army's acting surgeon general, sought to make a distinction between soldiers' thoughts about torture and their actions.

"These men and women have been seeing their friends injured and I think that having that thought is normal," she said at a Pentagon press conference.

"But what it speaks to is the leadership that the military is providing, because they're not acting on those thoughts. They're not torturing the people," she said.

The team surveyed 1,320 soldiers and 447 marines between August and October 2006 in Iraq. Although the report was completed in November, it was only released Friday in censored form after its findings began to leak to the press. The study found that morale among soldiers was worse than among marines, which it said was explained in part by the marines' shorter six month tours.

The team recommended that the army's yearlong tours in Iraq either be shortened, or that soldiers be given 18 to 36 months between deployment to recover. Instead, the army is moving in the opposite direction, extending tours to 15 months to keep pace with a surge in forces. The army is struggling to allow units a year at home between deployments.-

Well apart form the propaganda they try and use this report for I have just one thing to add, wait until they get home, when the aftercare fails, when the spousal abuse starts, when the death by cop starts, when the hate crimes against muslims start. There is a talking point that they can't leave Iraq because the terrorists will follow them back to the US, the sad truth is it's the damaged human beings in their own military who will bring the terror home.

Colombia & Blair

Anthony being ever so keen to do exactly what his Whitehouse tops tell him has made sure that Britain is giving lots of help to Uribe and his merry band of state terrorist thugs:-

Whitehall refuses to disclose the extent of British military involvement on the grounds of national security. "We provide some military aid but we don't talk about the details," a Foreign Office spokeswoman said. SAS training of the narcotics police, the Fuerza Jungla. Military advice to the army's new counter-guerrilla mountain units. A surge in the supply of military hardware and intelligence equipment. Assistance in setting up an intelligence centre and a joint intelligence committee. The Foreign Office confirmed four years ago that Britain had given training and advice on urban warfare techniques, counter-guerrilla strategy and "psychiatry". Since then ministers have admitted training the Colombian narcotics police but declined to elaborate on grounds of "national security". One of the reasons for their reticence is the role of the SAS, whose activities are never formally acknowledged. Sent by Mrs Thatcher in 1989 to fight the drug cartels, they are believed to have extended their role to counter-insurgency training.-

Now that was all from 4 years ago (and older, so nice to see Thatcher getting in on the evil), so what is the state of play now? Colombia Solidarity in their most recent issue make a plea for pressure on Blair to stop UK aid to the Uribe crime syndicate:-

Underlying Blair's pro-Uribe stance are the interests of the handful of British multinationals extracting huge profits from Colombia's oil and coal. In his notorious HMS Albion speech Blair celebrated the tradition of colonial counter-insurgency arguing that the UK must continue to use “hard power” and “do war fighting”. Indeed, the expertise of how to terrorise a civilian population until all resistance is pacified is being applied in Colombia today, where hard power translates into human rights abuses.

Such is Nu-Labour, sucking up to the most radical right wing regime America has ever seen and making all the same toruture regime thugs its friends, and this is a supposed left wing party that has a large majority. Not that democracy is dead, but it is coughing up blood.

Physician Heal Thyself

-around 60% of torture victims report seeing a health professional involved in monitoring their interrogation, setting up how harsh the interrogation can be, and so forth. -

You can read all of this, listen to this, or watch this at Democracy Now!

-After 9/11, the Pentagon began using so-called behavioral science consultants, or "biscuit" teams to help interrogators obtain information from prisoners at Guantanamo Bay and elsewhere. These medical teams reportedly advised the military on how to "break" detainees to make them more cooperative.
Dr. Steven Miles, author of "Oath Betrayed: Torture, Medical Complicity, and the War on Terror." He is a professor of medicine at the University of Minnesota Medical School and a faculty member of its Center for Bioethics. He is also a practicing physician.

"the medical system is entirely integrated into the abuse, that there was a structure, there was an actual policy mechanism that can be seen for the delayed release of torture-related homicides, that there was an entire structure for culling patients medical records for information on their vulnerabilities, incorporating that into harsh, incursive interrogation plans, monitoring those plans, designing those plans with psychological insights to exploit the particular characteristics of Islamic men, and then monitoring the disintegration of these men, and feeding that back into the torture plans.

looks very much like, oh, for example, the way physicians were complicit in torturing Argentina or Paraguay or Chile. Basically they hid torture. They delayed the release or concealed death certificates pertaining to deaths by torture. They helped design and monitor harsh interrogations, and they neglected basic medical needs as they failed to record injuries from torture and failed to report that torture up the chain of command or to places that could stop it.he was not a prisoner. He was actually a U.S. employee, and somebody else said that he was getting ready to attack our unit. And, in fact, around 85% of the prisoners in Iraq and 60% in Guantanamo are innocent of any insurgency or al-Qaeda activity by the Military Intelligence's own estimate. In this case, we picked up one of our own employees. So Schlesinger said -- well, the guy blurted out a bunch of names after they fired a gun next to his head, and Schlesinger said, “This is a great example of a ticking time bomb case.” But the problem was --

the guy gave out names of people who were innocent, just because he was scared. We alienated him as an informant, and none of these names panned out. But here's the follow-up to the story: what they did then was they let this lieutenant colonel off very lightly and they allowed him discharge with a pension, okay? And about a hundred congressmen gave him dinners across the United States.

this government’s definition of what’s a legal interrogation is infinitely elastic and so that this is not a profound barrier to psychologists, and it doesn't surprise me that the military will shift over to working with psychologists. In fact, they screen the docs before they go down to Guantanamo to make sure they have no moral objections to force-feeding and then they take the docs who don't have an objection to force-feeding, and those are the docs who get to go to Guantanamo."-

At this moment psychiatrists and their professional body have taken a stand and are generally not involved in the torture regime. However American psychologists have failed to show much backbone, their association passed a bullshit resolution which sounded good but actually allowed them to cooperate with the Bush crime family. Learn more at psychoanalyst Stephen Soldz's blog http://psychoanalystsopposewar.org/blog/