By Pepe Escobar
In "Masters of War", Bob Dylan sang, "Hide behind desks" but "we can see through your masks". Now, applying their version of grassroots democracy, the US has declared that Fallujah has been "liberated". But the virtual ghost town is celebrating with no cries of joy - with no cries at all: only with the stench of tons of explosives, and the stench of decomposing bodies.
Baghdad sources close to the resistance tell Asia Times Online that in essence the Americans control (...)
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Masters of war
18 November 2004 par (Open-Publishing)
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The untamed threat of al-Qaeda
18 November 2004 par (Open-Publishing)
By Erich Marquardt
On October 29, al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden released a new videotape, revealing the first images of the leader in more than a year. The video offered proof that bin Laden is alive and healthy with access to modern technology. The resurgence of bin Laden emphasizes the threat still posed by Islamic revolutionaries to the United States and its interests.
Bin Laden applauds US response to September 11 attacks Bin Laden is undeterred by the Bush administration’s (...) -
Death, Delusion and Democracy
18 November 2004 par (Open-Publishing)
2 commentsby Robert Fisk
So the death of Yasser Arafat is a great new opportunity for the Palestinians, is it? The man who personified the Palestinian struggle - "Mr Palestine" - is dead. So things can only get better for the Palestinians. Death means democracy. Death means statehood. That the final demise of the corrupt old guerrilla leader should be a sign of optimism demonstrates just how catastrophic the conflict in the Middle East has now become. It’s a bit like Fallujah. The more we destroy (...) -
Who Killed Margaret Hassan?
18 November 2004 par (Open-Publishing)
84 comments“Propaganda is to a democracy what the bludgeon is to a totalitarian state” (Noam Chomsky)
by Yamin Zakaria
There are truths; there are lies; there is then the middle ground of half-truths: propaganda. Those who engage in its dissemination are malicious criminals. And those who are subjected to it are the victims. Propaganda is consumed innocently, like drinking a glass of milk that has been contaminated with small drops of urine; the taste, color, odor of the milk is sustained, so the (...) -
Mordechai Vanunu : long walk to freedom
18 November 2004 par (Open-Publishing)
Mordechai Vanunu served 18 years in an Israeli prison for blowing the whistle on the country’s nuclear weapons programme. Last week he was arrested again - but not before he had given Duncan Campbell the following exclusive interview
by Duncan Campbell
It was precisely noon in Jerusalem and the bells in the tower of St George’s Cathedral were echoing over the city. The short, trim man in the apricot shirt and dark trousers who was ringing them was smiling broadly. "Down there," he (...) -
U.S., Iraq Try to Reassert Control in Mosul
18 November 2004 par (Open-Publishing)
By Alissa J. Rubin
BAGHDAD - U.S. and Iraqi forces struck insurgent strongholds in the northern city of Mosul today, trying to reestablish control over a city where rebels have festered and overtaken local police.
Regional authorities have ordered all four bridges closed into Mosul, Iraq’s third-largest city. U.S. and Iraqi troops also began taking back police stations in west Mosul, a military spokeswoman said.
"We are in the process of securing all of police stations and returning (...) -
Court martial confirms Britain given advance warning of Iraq invasion
18 November 2004 par (Open-Publishing)
By Harvey Thompson
A court martial into the killing of a British soldier, held on October 26, heard how United States defence officials passed on plans for war against Iraq to the British Army almost six months before the invasion.
The information emerged during the trial of Lance Corporal Ian Blaymire, who was facing charges for the manslaughter of fellow soldier John Nightingale while serving in Iraq. Both men were reservists with the Territorial Army (TA), deployed as drivers with (...) -
Powell Movement
18 November 2004 par (Open-Publishing)
4 commentsThat’s what Jon Stewart’s Daily Show called the resignation of Colin Powell. A Powell movement. (They didn’t even touch the possible pun on Colin.)
That’s how bad it has become. The Bush national security team is now so bad that it is a joke. The Daily Show noted that Powell was the administration’s “most influential moderate.” He was, at the same time, Stewart noted, also its “least influential moderate.” (See Letterman’s Top 10 comments on Powell below.)
It’s clear to me that the (...) -
Progressive Resistance
18 November 2004 par (Open-Publishing)
by John Peters
Shortly after declaring major combat operations complete, President Bush was faced with the reality that Iraqi resistance to “liberation” was on the rise.
Just wait until Saddam’s sons are captured or killed, cautioned Bush, then the resistance of the few diehards will end. Uday and Qusay were dispatched in a six hour gun battle with U.S. forces, who utilized superior numbers, attack aircraft, anti-tank weapons and assault vehicles. (Oh yes, Uday and Qusay had their own (...) -
AP Photographer Tells of Flight From Besieged City of Fallujah
18 November 2004 par (Open-Publishing)
In the weeks before the crushing military assault on his hometown, Bilal Hussein sent his parents and brother away from Fallujah to stay with relatives.
The 33-year-old Associated Press photographer stayed behind to capture insider images during the siege of the former insurgent stronghold.
"Everyone in Fallujah knew it was coming. I had been taking pictures for days," he said. "I thought I could go on doing it."
In the hours and days that followed, heavy bombing raids and thunderous (...)