Loyalty without truth
is a trail to tyranny.
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a middle-aged George Washington
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Friday, 4 January 2008 at 3h 28m 6s | Oil For What Scandal |
| Thursday, 3 January 2008 at 4h 12m 44s | What fighting terrorism really means | You have to read the entire article, because there are more examples. But the
first one
given, is
amply sufficient.
[Icelander Erla Ósk Arnardóttir Lilliendahl] flew to New York City with her girlfriends, first
class, from her native Iceland, to partake of "the Christmas spirit." She was drinking white wine
en route and, as she put it, "look[ing] forward to go shopping, eat good food, and enjoy life." On
an earlier vacation trip, back in 1995, she had overstayed her visa by three weeks, a modest enough
infraction, and had even returned the following year without incident.
This time -- with the President's Global War on Terror in full swing -- she was pulled aside at
passport control at JFK Airport, questioned about those extra three weeks 12 years ago, and soon
found herself, as she put it, "handcuffed and chained, denied the chance to sleep… without food and
drink and… confined to a place without anyone knowing my whereabouts, imprisoned." It was "the
greatest humiliation to which I have ever been subjected."
By her account, she was photographed, fingerprinted, asked rude questions -- "by men anxious to
demonstrate their power. Small kings with megalomania" -- confined to a tiny room for hours, then
chained, marched through the airport, and driven to a jail in New Jersey where, for another nine
hours, she found herself "in a small, dirty cell." On being prepared for the return trip to JFK and
deportation, approximately 24 hours after first debarking, she was, despite her pleas, despite her
tears, again handcuffed and put in leg chains, all, as she put it, "because I had taken a longer
vacation than allowed under the law."
[SOURCE: Tom
Engelhardt | tomdispatch.com | 2 January 2008]
All of this happened on 12 December 2007 - 3 weeks ago. Here is a translated version of her web
account.
Lost
During the last twenty-four hours I have probably experienced the greatest humiliation to which I
have ever been subjected. During these last twenty-four hours I have been handcuffed and chained,
denied the chance to sleep, been without food and drink and been confined to a place without anyone
knowing my whereabouts, imprisoned. Now I am beginning to try to understand all this, rest and
review the events which began as innocently as possible.
Last Sunday I and a few other girls began our trip to New York. We were going to shop and enjoy the
Christmas spirit. We made ourselves comfortable on first class, drank white wine and looked forward
to go shopping, eat good food and enjoy life. When we landed at JFK airport the traditional
clearance process began. We were screened and went on to passport control. As I waited for them to
finish examining my passport I heard an official say that there was something which needed to be
looked at more closely and I was directed to the work station of Homeland Security. There I was
told that according to their records I had overstayed my visa by 3 weeks in 1995 and. For this
reason I would not be admitted to the country and would be sent home on the next flight. I looked
at the official in disbelief and told him that I had in fact visited New York after the trip in
1995 without encountering any difficulties. A detailed interrogation session ensued. I was
photographed and fingerprinted. I was asked questions which I felt had nothing to do with the issue
at hand. I was forbidden to contact anyone to advise of my predicament and although I was invited
at the outset to contact the Icelandic consul or embassy, that invitation was later withdrawn. I
don't know why. I was then made to wait while they sought further information, and sat on a chair
before the authority for 5 hours. I saw the officials in this section handle other cases and it was
clear that these were men anxious to demonstrate their power. Small kings with megalomania. I was
careful to remain completely cooperative, for I did not yet believe that they planned to deport me
because of my "crime". When 5 hours had passed and I had been awake for 24 hours, I was told that
they were waiting for officials who would take me to a kind of waiting room. There I would be given
a bed to rest in, some food and I would be searched. What they thought they might find I cannot
possibly imagine. Finally guards appeared who transported me to the new place. I saw the bed as if
in a mirage, for I was absolutely exhausted. What turned out was something else. I was taken to
another office exactly like the one where I had been before and once again a long wait ensued. In
all, it turned out to be 5 hours. At this office all my things were taken from me. I succeeded in
sending a single sms to worried relatives and friends when I was granted a bathroom break. After
that the cell phone was taken from me. After I had been sitting for 5 hours I was told that they
were now waiting for guards who would take me to a place where I could rest and eat. Then I was
placed in a cubicle which looked like an operating room. Attached to the walls were 4 steel plates,
probably intended to serve as bed and a toilet. I was exhausted, tired and hungry. I didn't
understand the officials’ conduct, for they were treating me like a very dangerous criminal. Soon
thereafter I was removed from the cubicle and two armed guards placed me up against a wall. A chain
was fastened around my waist and I was handcuffed to the chain. Then my legs were placed in chains.
I asked for permission to make a telephone call but they refused. So secured, I was taken from the
airport terminal in full sight of everybody. I have seldom felt so bad, so humiliated and all
because I had taken a longer vacation than allowed under the law.
They would not tell me where they were taking me. The trip took close to one hour and although I
couldn’t see clearly outside the vehicle I knew that we had crossed over into New Jersey. We ended
up in front of a jail. I could hardly believe that this was happening. Was I really about to be
jailed? I was led inside in the chains and there yet another interrogation session ensued. I was
fingerprinted once again and photographed. I was made to undergo a medical examnination, I was
searched and then I was placed in a jail cell. I was asked absurd questions such as: When did you
have your last period? What do you believe in? Have you ever tried to commit suicide?
I was completely exhausted, tired and cold. Fourteen hours after I had landed I had something to
eat and drink for the first time. I was given porridge and bread. But it did not help much. I was
afraid and the attitude of all who handled me was abysmal to say the least. They did not speak to
me as much as snap at me. Once again I asked to make a telephone call and this time the answer was
positive. I was relieved but the relief was short-lived. For the telephone was set up for collect
calls only and it was not possible to make overseas calls. The jail guard held my cell phone in his
hand. I explained to him that I could not make a call from the jail telephone and asked to be
allowed to make one call from my own phone. That was out of the question. I spent the next 9 hours
in a small, dirty cell. The only thing in there was a narrow steel board which extended out from
the wall, a sink and toilet. I wish I never experience again in my life the feeling of confinement
and helplessness which I experienced there.
I was hugely relieved when, at last, I was told that I was to be taken to the airport, that is to
say until I was again handcuffed and chained. Then I could take no more and broke down and cried. I
begged them at least to leave out the leg chains but my request was ignored. When we arrived at the
airport, another jail guard took pity on me and removed the leg chains. Even so I was led through a
full airport terminal handcuffed and escorted by armed men. I felt terrible. On seeing this, people
must think that there goes a very dangerous criminal. In this condition I was led up into the
Flugleiðir waiting room, and was kept handcuffed until I entered the embarkation corridor. I was
completely run down by all this in both body and spirit. Fortunately I could count on good people
and both Einar (the captain) and the crew did all which they could to try to assist me. My friend
Auður was in close contact with my sister and the consul and embassy had been contacted. However,
all had received misleading information and all had been told that I had been detained at the
airport terminal, not that I had been put in jail. Now the Foreign Ministry is looking into the
matter and I hope to receive some explanation why I was treated this way.
[SOURCE: Comment
306 | erla1001.blog.is | 12 December 2008
And there is this next little bit too (its a long article). You have to go to the source to get
the links which source all of the assertions in the first paragraph. There are nine links.
Think Guantanamo is bad, do ya?
Take, for example, a December 1st Washington Post piece in which reporter Craig Whitlock revealed
one more small part of the CIA's global network of secret imprisonment. We already knew, among
other things, that the CIA had set up and run its own secret prisons in Eastern Europe and probably
in Thailand; that it had a network of secret sites in Afghanistan like "the Salt Pit" near Kabul;
that it may have used the "British" island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean, as well as American
ships, naval and possibly commercial, to hold prisoners beyond the purview of any authority or even
the visits of the International Red Cross; that it ran an air fleet of leased executive jets
(including some from Jeppesen Dataplan, a subsidiary of Boeing, which made it back into the news in
December because of a lawsuit launched by the ACLU); that these were used to transport terror
suspects it snatched up off city streets or battlefields anywhere on the planet to its own "black
sites" or which it "rendered" in "extraordinary" manner to the jails and torture chambers of Syria,
Egypt, Uzbekistan, and other lands whose agents had no qualms about torturing and abusing
prisoners.
Whitlock, however, added a new piece to the CIA's incarceration puzzle: an "imposing building" on
the outskirts of Amman, Jordan. This turns out to be the headquarters of the General Intelligence
Department, Jordan's powerful spy and security agency (and the CIA's closest Arab ally in the
Middle East). Known as a place where torture is freely applied, it has been a way-station for "CIA
prisoners captured in other countries." The first terror suspects kidnapped by Agency operatives
were, it seems, flown to Jordan and housed in that building before Guantanamo was up and running or
the Agency had been able to set up its own secret prisons elsewhere. There, the prisoners were
hidden, even from the International Red Cross
[SOURCE: Tom
Engelhardt | tomdispatch.com | 2 January 2008]
| Thursday, 3 January 2008 at 3h 39m 26s | Bhutto was shot |
Meanwhile, the caretaker government is furiously backtracking on its earlier claims that Benazir
Bhutto died of a concussion. The retraction comes after videotape surfaced that shows her being
shot. The Pakistani public has been enraged by the appearance of a cover-up in official
pronouncements on the cause of her death.
[SOURCE: | Hindustan
Times | 2 January 2008 ]
And According to professor Juan Cole
The USG Open Source Center sent out the following note, which points out that in scouring jihadi
web sites, the analysts have found none where al-Qaeda has taken credit for assassinating Benazir
Bhutto. You think of the announcement by al-Qaeda posted the morning of 7/7/05 when the London
Underground was bombed. Yet they are not claiming this one.
" As of 1830 GMT on 31 December, OSC has not observed any official statements from Al-Qa'ida
claiming
responsibility for the assassination of Benazir Bhutto on any of the websites that normally
disseminate authenticated statements from the group. OSC will continue to monitor these websites
for any such claims. "
[SOURCE: Juan Cole | juancole.com | 2
January 2008]
| Wednesday, 2 January 2008 at 1h 24m 45s | Milan's new tax on automobiles travel into downtown | In Milan, the city government has a new "anti-pollution" law beginning with the new
year.
The law classifies groups of automobiles
and assesses a ticket for some of the groups to have access to the center of town. The idea is to
give incentives to the use of public
transportation and also provide funds so that the available public transportation facilities can be
improved.
Certain kinds of vehicles will be exempted: public transportion vehicles, electric cars, and
vehicles that transport the handicapped.
Furthermore,
The daily tax varies from 2 to 10 euros. The yearly fee is 50 to 250 euros. The tickets are
available from kiosks, tobacco shops,
transportation information centers, and also the internet. {You affix the ticket stub to your
car.] Surveillance cameras are placed at
43 different points of access to the center of town. Fines range from 74 to 285 euros.
Translated from the French by me.
[SOURCE: Rome Correspondent | Le Monde | 2 January 2008 ]
| Wednesday, 2 January 2008 at 18h 18m 8s | What economic gifts will 2008 bring | Floyd Norris puts the economic dilemma of 2008 as follows:
In 2008, the biggest issue for Wall Street and the banks will be assessing the damage. Can the securitization market recover, and
continue to provide financing for everything from credit cards to corporate loans? Or will its failure in the area of subprime loans
spread, leaving it discredited and other parts of the economy desperate for cash?
On the answer to that question may hinge the answer to whether the latest financial crisis will pass with little impact on the real
economy, or whether it will pull down all the parts of the economy that enabled most investors to have a good year while their
brokers were suffering.
[SOURCE: Floyd Norris | New York Times | 2 January
2007 ]
| Sunday, 30 December 2007 at 1h 28m 53s | Navy JAG Andrew Williams Letter to Editor | Here's why Navy JAG Andrew Williams resigned in
protest,in his
own
words.
The final straw for me was listening to General Hartmann, the highest-ranking military lawyer in
charge of the military
commissions, testify that he refused to say that waterboarding captured U.S. soldiers by Iranian
operatives would be torture.
His testimony had just sold all the soldiers and sailors at risk of capture and subsequent torture
down the river. Indeed, he would
not rule out waterboarding as torture when done by the United States and indeed felt evidence
obtained by such methods could
be used in future trials.
Thank you, General Hartmann, for finally admitting the United States is now part of a long
tradition of torturers going back to the
Inquisition.
In the middle ages, the Inquisition called waterboarding “toca” and used it with great success. In
colonial times, it was used by
the Dutch East India Company during the Amboyna Massacre of 1623.
Waterboarding was used by the Nazi Gestapo and the feared Japanese Kempeitai. In World War II, our
grandfathers had the
wisdom to convict Japanese Officer Yukio Asano of waterboarding and other torture practices in
1947, giving him 15 years hard
labor.
Waterboarding was practiced by the Khmer Rouge at the infamous Tuol Sleng prison. Most recently,
the U.S. Army court martialed
a soldier for the practice in 1968 during the Vietnam conflict.
General Hartmann, following orders was not an excuse for anyone put on trial in Nuremberg, and
it will not be an excuse for
you or your superiors, either.
Despite the CIA and the administration attempting to cover up the practice by destroying
interrogation tapes, in direct violation
of a court order, and congressional requests, the truth about torture, illegal spying on Americans
and secret renditions is coming
out.
[SOURCE: Think Progress | 29 December
2007]
[SOURCE: Andrew
Williams | Letter to
Editor The Peninsula Gateway : Gig Harbor, WA |
26 December 2007]
| Sunday, 30 December 2007 at 16h 17m 2s | Bush signs the CHIP bill | After vetoing the bill twice which included increasing Tobacco taxes so that 4 million more children could be included.
But
that
was too much for the White House and the Republicans.
The Democratic-pushed bills would have expanded the program by $35 billion. Bush said the legislation did not put the neediest
children first. He opposed the tax increase and, more broadly, fought against what he saw as a movement toward more
government health coverage.
The joint federal-state program currently provides benefits to roughly 6 million people, mostly children. Democratic lawmakers
still want to expand enrollment and are negotiating with some Republicans leaders on another try.
[SOURCE: Ben Feller AP Writer 30 December 2007 Boston Globe ]
The Republicans explain the reasons for the 2 veteos:
- the program will still serve those that it should: children from families who earn too much to qualify for Medicaid but
cannot afford private insurance.
- they don't want to increase taxes
- they don't want to "inhibit" market forces by creating a government program
All of the above reasons are ludicrous political cover for the slavish devotion to predatory private insurance corporations. When
institutions evolve which develop privileged positions within the hierarchy of distribution, a society must reflect on the actual
benefits to the larger society. If the institutions in question are providing less than adequate service at increasing costs, it is
obvious that the said institutions have become predatory to the socio-economic system at large.
Businesses and individuals would all benefit from nationalized health insurance, because a pool of funds from the entire citizenry
enables cost efficiencies that are otherwise impossible when the market is segmented into various types of individuals : young,
old, healthy, and persons with terminal illnesses or costly diseases (cancer, heart ailments, asthma, diabetes). Instead the costs
of misallocating resources to those who can afford them, and covering those who cannot, are passed on to the consumers -- ie,
those who pay insurance premiums.
In other words, the costs of insurance company inefficiency and 30% overhead are bourne by ratepayers. These are the "market
forces" the Republicants don't want to "inhibit". The corporatists are really just apologists for predatory institutions that put
money in their retirement funds.
| Sunday, 30 December 2007 at 15h 53m 26s | Ron Paul rips Fox News |
Ron Paul said the decision to exclude him from a debate on Fox News Sunday the weekend before the New Hampshire Primary is
proof that the network “is scared” of him.
“They are scared of me and don’t want my message to get out, but it will,” Paul said in an interview at a diner here. “They are
propagandists for this war and I challenge them on the notion that they are conservative.”
[SOURCE: James Pindell 30 December 2007 Boston Globe]
| Sunday, 30 December 2007 at 5h 15m 14s | Fixed rate mortgage expirations in Britain | The home mortgage crisis is not only in the United States.
Last month, the Financial Services Authority estimated that 1.4 million homeowners faced a
potentially devastating hike in repayments when their fixed-rate mortgage terms expired in 2008:
the authority said it feared many would "find it difficult, if not impossible, to refinance their
mortgages on favourable terms, leaving them facing a significantly higher rate on their borrowings,
which will prove too much for them to afford".
[SOURCE: Joanna Moorhead 29 December 2007 The London
Guardian]
| Sunday, 30 December 2007 at 4h 59m 20s | Let's not forget about Kurdistan |
Just in case you forgot about Kurdistan. Turkey has been bombarding Kurdistan, with the implicit
permission of the United States. The green area is the area where the Kurds reside. Almost all of
Western Turkey is involved, a little bit of Iran, and a small piece of Northern Iraq. In fact,
very little of Kurdish land is actually in Iraq. Easily 60% is on Turkish soil.
And now Israel is aiding the Turks in their use of Drones.
[SOURCE: Cecile Hennion 28 December 2007 Le Monde ]
Agents from the firm Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) tasked to make operational some Heron drones
(avions sans pilote), participated in operations led by Turkey in the North of Iraq,
according to
the Turkish Daily News and Haaretz (published 27 December).
Since mid-December, Turkish air forces have multiplied their raids against the Kurdish groups PKK's
positions, killing between 150 and 175 of them, according to the Turks. Fighting against the
central authority in Ankara since 1984, the PKK has entrenched itself in the mountains of Northern
Iraq ...
In May 2005, IAI announced the signing of a contract with Turkey for 190 million dollars in order
to buy the Heron drones. The presence of Israeli personnel as late as October 2007 was explained as
a "provisional solution." IAI accepted to rent the devices, writes Haaretz, placed in operation by
Israeli professionals, over a year for 10 million dollars.
Translated from the French by me.
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