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The Gadarene Gambit: Surging Over the Cliff in Afghanistan
Chris Floyd
And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes. And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains... [Jesus] said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit. And he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are many. And he besought him much that he would not send them away out of the country. Now there was there nigh unto the mountains a great herd of swine feeding. And all the devils besought him, saying, Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them. And forthwith Jesus gave them leave. And the unclean spirits went out, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea, (they were about two thousand;) and were choked in the sea. – The Gospel of Mark
The "Good War" in Afghanistan -- now in its eighth year with no one even pretending there is light at the end of the tunnel – is about to reach yet another "major milestone" in its blood-stained progress. No, we don't mean this week's presidential election – a chaotic, violent affair that will produce more chaos, more violence, more dissension and repression, whoever is "elected" to head the widely despised and mistrusted American-backed government. We're talking about the "strategy review" now being conducted by the death-squad commander appointed by Barack Obama to lead the war in Afghanistan and Pakistan: General Stanley McChrystal.
Nader Was Right: Liberals Are Going Nowhere With Obama
Chris Hedges
The American empire has not altered under Barack Obama. It kills as brutally and indiscriminately in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan as it did under George W. Bush. It steals from the U.S. treasury to enrich the corporate elite as rapaciously. It will not give us universal health care, abolish the Bush secrecy laws, end torture or “extraordinary rendition,” restore habeas corpus or halt the warrantless wiretapping and monitoring of citizens. It will not push through significant environmental reform, regulate Wall Street or end our relationship with private contractors that provide mercenary armies to fight our imperial wars and produce useless and costly weapons systems.
The US Denounces Iran While running fake elections in Afghanistan
Eric Margolis
This week’s presidential election in Afghanistan will be an elaborate piece of political theater designed to show increasingly uneasy Western voters that progress is being made in the war-torn nation after seven years of US-led occupation.
Most Afghans already believe they know who will win the vote: the candidate chosen by the United States and its NATO allies.
Voting will mostly be held in urban areas, under the guns of US and NATO troops. The countryside, ruled by Taliban, who are often local farmers moonlighting as fighters, is too dangerous for this electoral charade. Over half of Afghanistan is under Taliban influence by day, 75% at night. The entire election and vote-counting election commission are financed and run by the US. So are leading candidates. Ten thousand Afghan mercenaries hired by the US will police the polls and intimidate voters. US-financed Afghan media are busy promoting Washington’s candidates.
Free Mohammed Khatib and the Non-Violent Activists from Bil'in
By Irish
Mohammed Khatib
At 3AM on Monday, August 3, the Israeli army raided Bil’in and arrested Mohammad Khatib, along with six other Palestinian community activists and one American human rights observer from the village. This move is an attempt by Israeli authorities to silence a popular resistance movement gaining international attention and inspiring other Palestinian communities. This West Bank agricultural village, known for its weekly protests against the Israeli apartheid wall, has become a symbol for the Palestinian popular resistance to Israel’s ongoing military occupation.
Israel Begins Sell-off of Refugees’ Land
Jonathan Cook
Privatisation to Subvert Palestinian Hopes of Restitution.
Amin Muhammad Ali, a 74-year-old refugee from a destroyed Palestinian village in northern Israel, says he only feels truly at peace when he stands among his ancestors’ graves.
The cemetery, surrounded on all sides by Jewish homes and farms, is a small time capsule, transporting Mr Muhammad Ali — known to everyone as Abu Arab — back to the days when this place was known by an Arabic name, Saffuriya, rather than its current Hebrew name, Tzipori. Unlike most of the Palestinian refugees forced outside Israel’s borders by the 1948 war that led to the creation of the Jewish state, Abu Arab and his family fled nearby, to a neighbourhood of Nazareth.
The Colorado Springs Soldier-Murders, Guy Harvey Baker and the Hidden Costs of War
Gary G. Kohls, MD
Given the sobering realities of horrific war crimes over in Iraq followed by rapes, murders and suicides in Colorado Springs, CO, by members of the U S Army’s Fourth Infantry Division, Fourth Brigade www.gazette.com it is well to re-examine an old case of a similar nature perpetrated by an unfortunate ex-Marine who was also trained to kill without mercy or remorse.
"Justice" — Fromme to Peltier
Re-reported, edited by Carolyn Bennett
Dressed in red nun-like robes, Lynette ‘Squeaky’ Fromme drew a semi-automatic .45 pistol from a holster on her thigh, aimed the gun at U.S. President Gerald R. Ford, and pulled the trigger. Fromme was disarmed by Secret Service agents and members of the public thus preventing injury to the President. The gun was later found to contain no bullets in the chamber but a clip of ammunition.
Though she had not been charged in cult leader Charles Manson’s “Helter Skelter” massacres (only contempt of court for refusing to testify in that 1969 case), Fromme was reportedly among his earliest and most devoted followers. During his trial she with other followers camped outside the courthouse showing the letter ‘X’, copying Manson's marking, carved into her forehead.
Eighteen Year Old Boy Dies After Jail House Beating by Sheriff’s Deputies
Raymond Ponzini
Rutherford County jail, Tennessee
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is supposedly conducting an investigation into the death and possible murder of an 18-year-old boy who was taken to the Rutherford County jail in Tennessee.
It seems things went a little bit too far. Young Andron Reed died or was killed soon after he was handed over to County Sheriff’s deputies late Friday night. He had been arrested after leading state troopers on a high-speed chase down Interstate 24, which ended in a slight accident. Luckily for all no one was injured according to the highway patrol officers who took Andron and his brother Octavius into custody at the scene. Of course Andron was arrested on a variety of charges ranging from evading arrest to driving under the influence and even assault, but how many times have we heard about people being falsely charged with assault by the police to justify or cover their actions.
”Global Warming” Issues: Journalists Show Their Bias
Michael R. Fox, Ph.D.
Journalists Show Bias on Global Warming Issues.
Read these quotes:
“As scientific evidence has accumulated that the planet is warming and that humans are behind it, many previous skeptics have been won over. There remains a vocal cadre of critics, however, at least some of whose arguments have shifted over the last several years from outright denial that the earth is warming to insisting it's unrelated to human activity — and even if it is, likely nothing much to worry about."
"Some of the most vocal skeptics have done relatively little recent peer-reviewed scientific research on the topic, and some have had their voices amplified via financial support from industries opposed to any government regulation or taxation of greenhouse gas emissions."
"Others do have training and experience, at least in some aspects of the wide-ranging issue, and are not bankrolled by industry. But overall, their number represents a distinctly minority position in the ongoing and normal colloquy among scientists about the evidence of climate change and its likely impacts."
Health Care Zeke: The other Emanuel
Carrie Budoff Brown
There’s an Emanuel brother behind President Barack Obama's budget, but it’s not the one you think.
Ezekiel J. Emanuel, big brother to White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, is quickly emerging as a key player in Obama’s health-care overhaul, the biggest push to expand coverage in two decades.
Known as Zeke, Emanuel has labored behind the scenes on the issue for years, well-known to people who follow it closely. But he has significantly raised his political profile by signing on as a top adviser to White House budget chief Peter Orszag. And there he was Thursday, a fidgety presence at the back of the briefing room, nodding in approval as Orszag detailed the budget, and trading conversation with aides around him. “He has been detailed at Peter’s request to be the chief kibitzer on health care reform and health care issues at the OMB,” [Office of Management and Budget] said Robert Reischauer, president of The Urban Institute, who has worked health care.
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