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9/11 Truth Manifesto

Wednesday, December 19th, 2007

Joel S. Hirschhorn

For evidence that America�s political system is a criminal conspiracy, open your mind to piles of new analyses that prove beyond doubt that the official 9/11 story is a lie. Years of a bipartisan cover-up of 9/11 lies make it much more than one horrendous past event. It endures in infamy as a symptom of a corrupt and dishonest government.

Every day we pay for what 9/11 and its cover-up have burdened us with, including the costly Iraq war and the erosion of the rule of law and constitutional rights. Power elites have suppressed the truth because they fear what will happen when the public understands that 9/11 was not accomplished solely by foreign terrorists.

Technically sound analyses of what happened at the World Trade Center have unequivocally shown that the official 9/11 story is not credible (www.ae911truth.org). Truth seekers have met their burden of proof; the government has not met theirs. Simply put, controlled demolition brought down three buildings, not fires from the impact of planes on two of them. Not only was the US government involved, it has also conspired to hide the truth from the public. Why? Republican and Democratic politicians and power elites fear that 9/11 truth will remove what little public trust remains in government. The truth will produce political instability, perhaps breaking the two-party stranglehold on our political system. And it should. And it must, if we are to finally obtain the deep political reforms our nation desperately needs.

The decline started before George W. Bush and his criminal co-conspirators accelerated it with their blatant disregard for the rule of law and our Constitution. It will continue, even with a Democratic administration, unless we reform our political system. We must remind Americans that our nation was born in an insurrectionist, populist rebellion against political tyranny � and that 9/11 teaches us that we need a Second American Revolution. We must destroy the domestic Axis of Arrogance of our plutocracy more than fear a foreign Axis of Evil. How?

A vast nationwide grassroots 9/11 truth movement is ignored by the mainstream news media. Its success will be the catalyst for renewing American democracy. It will produce a shock wave that rattles the brains of all Americans: Shock therapy from a truth so powerful and unsettling that Americans finally see the decline of American democracy that allowed 9/11 and its cover-up.

Make no mistake, the 9/11 truth movement holds the future of the United States. We are not subversive �conspiracy theorists� or enablers of foreign terrorism. We are patriotic warriors working to nullify group delusion produced by government propaganda. Dozens of books and websites reveal countless technical contradictions and inconsistencies with the official government 9/11 story and the laws of physics. The weight of the evidence supports one painful verdict: Our federal government played a role, probably through a large �black op.� The �why� is obvious: To justify an unjust war to serve corporate interests and greed.

Here is our opportunity: To make 9/11 the tipping point for American democracy renewal. Our enemies fear that if this movement succeeds, their plutocratic, elitist cabal � the Axis of Arrogance � run by the two-party duopoly will collapse. Corruption keeps our political system stable � truth must clean it up. Instability is the necessary price for restoring democracy.

A Paradigm Shift

9/11 lies have sustained the ruling terrorism-threat paradigm. 9/11 truth must energize a new political-reform paradigm. Patriotism framed as defending the nation against terrorism must be replaced by patriotism focused on repairing American democracy.

Already, status quo protectionists lie about us to defeat our movement. Things will get worse as our movement draws closer to bringing down the corrupt political system. And we are getting closer. Only 16 percent of Americans believe that members of the Bush administration are telling the truth about what they knew about terrorist attacks on the US prior to 9/11, according to a New York Times/CBS News poll. But what people say in polls is not the same as coming out publicly and vociferously for 9/11 truth, or seeing the roots of 9/11 in the decay of American democracy, not merely the actions of a few evil people.

The deceived public must be re-educated to see the arrogant power elites running our national plutocracy as worse than radical Islamic terrorists. Paul Craig Roberts captured the essence of the problem: �Americans think their danger is terrorists. They don’t understand the terrorists cannot take away habeas corpus, the Bill of Rights, the Constitution. … The terrorists are not anything like the threat that we face to the Bill of Rights and the Constitution from our own government in the name of fighting terrorism. Americans just aren’t able to perceive that.�

9/11 is a history lesson to inform the nation about democracy decline. As John McMurtry asked, �So which goes - the faith in America�s greatness and goodness in the world, or the facts which disclose the opposite at the very top?� We must always remember that Americans are better than their government. They do not get the government they deserve. They get the government that the rich and powerful impose. That must end.

We confront more than power elites. There is psychological resistance of millions of Americans to painful 9/11 truth � a shameful, �unthinkable� truth about their elected government. Even if they have doubts about the official story, they instinctively recoil and erect mental barriers to block out the full truth. They want to keep believing that they live in a great democracy. They want to believe that when the Bush administration is replaced our democracy will be in good shape again. Hard to accept that 9/11 truth could not have been suppressed this long without the tacit or explicit approval of Democratic politicians and power brokers.

It is as if we are telling children that their parents are mass murderers. Distracted, time-poor, depressed, political disengaged, cynical and insecure Americans do not want to hear that their government had a hand in 9/11. That for years their two-party-controlled government has blatantly lied to them. That thousands of good Americans have died and been terribly injured in a war propped up by the false-flag 9/11 fiction. In sum, that despite elections a vast criminal conspiracy has been so successful for so long. Such thoughts hurt.

Also, political instability is scary to ordinary Americans. But stability based on corruption and lies is destructive. Only when Americans see 9/11 as a political attack (by Americans on Americans) � not solely a terrorist attack (by foreigners on Americans) � will they understand that revealing 9/11 truth must lead to major political reforms. Instability is the cost of democracy renewal.

Here are powerful messages: The collapse of the rule of law is more important than the collapse of buildings. Countless more have died because of 9/11 than on 9/11. The events of 9/11 ultimately are less important than the reasons for and consequences of 9/11.

As John McMurtry said, �[9/11] allowed an illegitimate administration to transmute into America�s patriotic champion at war - above accountability and the rule of law. �Defending America from another terrorist attack� became a political blank check for corporate corruption of government expenditures with impunity, war criminal acts and threats across the Islamic and alternative third world, and attacks on civil rights and commons at home.� All this persists as 9/11 lies persist.

Despite record-low levels of public trust in Congress and the president, too many Americans still believe that elections are the path to major political reforms. Despite a solid history of campaign lies from politicians, and overwhelming belief that the nation is on the wrong track, Americans keep hoping that they can vote their way into a better future. Most Americans do not have a Boston Tea Party mentality. They are unready to revolt despite revolting conditions. Our truth movement must help Americans accept painful truth and its political fallout. We must put all the technical truth discovered by reputable scientists and engineers to work for systemic reforms.

We must do more than oust the official story and obtain a new 9/11 investigation that now has wide support by hundreds of respected Americans (www.patriotsquestion911.com). We must guide Americans into a more patriotic and courageous mental state. We must help Americans become outraged and rebellious, yet also optimistic about major political reforms.

Political Strategy

Success against the power elites running and ruining our nation requires building an army of Americans openly revolting against the two-party corporatist state now in control. The 9/11 truth movement must use political strategies to defeat the status quo political establishment. Here are three actions.

First, with detailed technical analyses unequivocally proving that the official story is false, the movement can draft a bill that might be titled The 9/11 Truth Act of 2008. This proposed federal legislation should be delivered to every member of the House and Senate early next year. It would clarify the investigation: What its scope and objectives must be. What reliable entity, public or private or a combination, must be used. How the public must be given opportunities to present information. What resources must be provided and what time frame must be adhered to.

We must take the initiative and specify exactly what kind of new official 9/11 investigation is necessary, recognizing that professionals in the truth movement have limited resources and cannot address all questions. The 9/11 truth movement itself must define exactly what the first real credible and comprehensive government sponsored investigation must consist of. We can have no confidence in anything that the political establishment might devise to silence our movement. We must tell the public, the media and the political world what is required to reveal the total truth as to what caused, for example, the collapse of three World Trade Center buildings, especially building 7 not even hit by a plane.

Developing and submitting this legislation must then be followed up by all 9/11 groups urging their supporters to bombard Congress with demands for hearings and passage of the bill. This is the way to engage more Americans politically to obtain full 9/11 truth.

However, few politicians� comments support the truth movement. A rare statement came from presidential candidate Ron Paul. In a radio interview in January, 2007 he said that the 9/11 investigations to date are �more or less cover-up and no real explanation of what went on.� However, later in the year when he became more visible he was asked about the possibility of the official story being orchestrated by the government. He said emphatically �absolutely not.� In another interview, when asked whether he thought 9/11 was an inside job that our government made happen, he responded forcefully �No.� So apparently Paul sees a cover-up but not about the involvement of our government. Would he support legislation for a new investigation?

Thus the second critical political action is this: Proclaim that only politicians that actively support passage of our legislation will earn support in the 2008 elections from the millions of Americans doubting the official 9/11 story. This threat is an absolute necessity. If the legislation is not passed by Congress and signed into law by President Bush, then we must aggressively support a boycott on voting for all Democrats and Republicans in the 2008 federal elections.

Third, all those committed to 9/11 truth should honor what the Founders gave us in our Constitution in case some day Americans lost confidence in the federal government, especially in Congress. That day has arrived. 9/11 was that day. They gave us the option in Article V for a convention of state delegates to propose constitutional amendments. We must see SYSTEM reforms as only achievable through constitutional amendments that Congress will never propose nor achieve through normal legislation.

Congress and the entire elitist political establishment have intentionally denied us a convention for over 200 years. The one and only requirement in Article V has more than been satisfied by over 500 state applications from all 50 states. Enough is enough. Our truth movement should join the effort of Friends of the Article V Convention at www.foavc.org by urging truth group members to join FOAVC. The political establishment fears both 9/11 truth and an Article V convention. We must grasp that 9/11 truth can bring us to the brink of political reforms and the convention is the process to obtain them.

Conclusion

The 9/11 truth movement must also be a political movement � but not in any partisan sense. 9/11 truth can help Americans take back their country. 9/11 truth can end the criminal, corrupt and conniving plutocracy that stole our government and mutilated our democracy.

We must transform 9/11 from a catalyzing event for imperialistic war-mongering to one for democracy renewal. We must convert terrorist-transfixed fear into political reform enthusiasm.

The pursuit of truth is not always the pursuit of happiness � not when the truth hurts. The 9/11 truth movement is not about finding immediate happiness. It is about rebooting American democracy and, after accomplishing that, earning happiness.

[A former full professor of engineering at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and then senior official with the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment and the National Governors Association, Joel S. Hirschhorn is now an activist writer and can be reached through www.delusionaldemocracy.com. This article is based on presentations given at a recent conference sponsored by Boston 9/11 Truth.]

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Police brutality cases on rise since 9/11

Wednesday, December 19th, 2007

By Kevin Johnson

WASHINGTON — Federal prosecutors are targeting a rising number of law enforcement officers for alleged brutality, Justice Department statistics show. The heightened prosecutions come as the nation’s largest police union fears that agencies are dropping standards to fill thousands of vacancies and “scrimping” on training.

Cases in which police, prison guards and other law enforcement authorities have used excessive force or other tactics to violate victims’ civil rights have increased 25% (281 vs. 224) from fiscal years 2001 to 2007 over the previous seven years, the department says.

During the same period, the department says it won 53% more convictions (391 vs. 256). Some cases result in multiple convictions.

Federal records show the vast majority of police brutality cases referred by investigators are not prosecuted.

‘CODE OF SILENCE’: Milwaukee beating case collars ‘bad cops’

University of Toledo law professor David Harris, who analyzes police conduct issues, says it will take time to determine whether the cases represent a sustained period of more aggressive prosecutions or the beginnings of a surge in misconduct.

The cases involve only a fraction of the estimated 800,000 police in the USA, says James Pasco, executive director of the National Fraternal Order of Police (FOP), the nation’s largest police union.

Even so, he says, the FOP is concerned that reduced standards, training and promotion of less experienced officers into the higher police ranks could undermine more rigid supervision.

“These are things we are worried about,” Pasco says.

For the past few years, dozens of police departments across the country have scrambled to fill vacancies. The recruiting effort, which often features cash bonuses, has intensified since 9/11, because many police recruits have been drawn to military service.

In its post-Sept. 11 reorganization, the FBI listed police misconduct as one of its highest civil rights priorities to keep pace with an anticipated increase in police hiring through 2009.

The increasing Justice numbers generally correspond to a USA TODAY analysis of federal law enforcement prosecutions using data compiled by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University.

Those data show 42 law enforcement prosecutions during the first 10 months of fiscal year 2007, a 66% increase from all of fiscal 2002 and a 61% rise from a decade ago.

David Burnham, the co-founder of the TRAC database, says prosecutions appear to be increasing, but “more important” are the numbers of cases prosecutors decline.

Last year, 96% of cases referred for prosecution by investigative agencies were declined.

In 2005, 98% were declined, a rate that has remained “extremely high” under every administration dating to President Carter, according to a TRAC report.

The high refusal rates, say Burnham and law enforcement analysts, result in part from the extraordinary difficulty in prosecuting abuse cases. Juries are conditioned to believe cops, and victims’ credibility is often challenged.

“When police are accused of wrongdoing, the world is turned upside down,” Harris says. “In some cases, it may be impossible for (juries) to make the adjustment.”

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Tasers don’t reduce shootings

Wednesday, December 19th, 2007

Tasers don’t reduce shootings, despite police and politicians’ claims

Despite claims by politicians and some police officers that Tasers would save lives by preventing shootings, the devices that are being used by a growing number of police forces were never meant as an alternative to guns, experts say.

Statistics obtained by the Canadian Press bear out that idea, showing that in some of the cities that have recently adopted Tasers, the number of police shootings has remained fairly consistent and low, while Tasers are being used exponentially more often.

Police are ideally supposed to try oral warnings and force by hand before resorting to the Taser, or other means such as pepper spray or the baton.
(CBC)

In Winnipeg, for example, police shootings of suspects are rare. There was one in 2003, and none in 2004. In 2006, the Winnipeg Police Service fired guns on suspects twice. They also started using Tasers in September of that year, firing them at individuals 37 times before the year was out.

“Tasers are not meant to replace firearms,” Cst. Adam Cheadle, the service’s use of force co-ordinator, said in a recent interview.

“The Taser is on the same playing field as a baton or [pepper] spray.”

In Calgary, there was only one officer-involved shooting in 2003 — two years before Tasers were introduced — and none in 2007. So far this year, Calgary police have “deployed” (a term that includes any incident where the machine is unholstered and its laser is activated, even if it ends up not being fired) their Tasers 133 times.

In Montreal, police were involved in three shooting incidents in 2003, before they had Tasers. They also used their firearms three times last year, while firing Tasers 28 times.

Numbers in many other jurisdictions are hard to come by. The RCMP, whose members have fired Tasers more than 3,000 times since 2001, said it doesn’t keep track of how often firearms are used across the country. Police spokespersons in Toronto, Vancouver and Halifax were unable to provide comparable statistics on Taser and gun usage.

‘Another use-of-force tool’

The numbers that have been released counter the idea promoted by some politicians and police officials in the early 2000s, when the stun guns were being introduced, that officers would be able to use Tasers instead of their guns and that could save lives.

When the RCMP unveiled plans to equip its Alberta detachments with Tasers in 2002, Sgt. Steve Gleboff told reporters “what we’re trying to do is eliminate the necessity to shoot somebody.”

Two years later, when controversy erupted over Taser usage in Ontario, then Community Safety Minister Monte Kwinter said the devices were a better alternative to firearms.

Even the man currently probing the RCMP’s use of Tasers, Paul Kennedy, head of the RCMP Public Complaints Commission, told a police oversight convention last year that being hit by a Taser was better than being hit by a bullet.

That expectation was wrong, according to the man who trains Calgary police officers to use Tasers.

“Use of force experts across Canada right now, we’re kind of shaking our heads going, ‘How did we give the impression to the lay public or the media that Tasers were ever supposed to be a replacement for lethal force?’” said Staff Sgt. Chris Butler.

“They were another use-of-force tool in the same regard as the baton, the O.C. spray. Just another tool.”

Reduce injuries, compared to batons or spray

While Tasers may not reduce the number of police shootings, Butler said they have succeeded in reducing the number of injuries that can result from an officer having to use a baton or pepper spray on a suspect, or wrestle with him.

“In 99.7 per cent of Taser uses, there are no injuries. When you compare that to a baton use, the statistical likelihood of injuries from a Taser deployment are much less.”

The growing use of Tasers was highlighted in an interim report by the RCMP complaints commissioner last week, which said Taser use “has expanded to include subduing resistant subjects who do not pose a threat of grievous bodily harm or death and on whom the use of lethal force would not be an option.”

In response, the Mounties issued new guidelines limiting Taser use to situations where “a subject is displaying combative behaviours or is being actively resistant.”

Eighteen people in Canada have died in recent years after being hit by a Taser, although the company that manufactures the weapons stresses they have never been directly blamed for a death.

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UK Gitmo detainee near suicide after years of torture

Wednesday, December 19th, 2007

By Robert Verkaik

A British resident being held in Guantanamo Bay may be close to suicide after five years of captivity and torture at the hands of the Americans, the Foreign Secretary David Miliband has been warned in a medical report sent to the Government this week.

The report concludes that Binyam Mohamed, from Kensington, west London, is at the end of his “psychological tether” after guards at the US naval base in Cuba switched off the water supply to his cell when he began spreading his own faeces over the walls. Mr Mohamed is one of at least seven detainees being held at Guantanamo Bay who claim British residency. Three of the men are expected to be reunited with their families before Christmas after the Government successfully negotiated their release. But the Americans have made it clear that Mr Mohamed must remain in detention to face a military tribunal on charges of terrorism.

In his letter to Mr Miliband, Clive Stafford Smith, the legal director of the UK-based Reprieve representing Mr Mohamed, now 29, calls for an “urgent humanitarian intervention” in his case.

Mr Stafford Smith said: “The urgency is underlined today because Mr Mohamed has been repeatedly smearing his cell walls with faeces. This is not because Mr Mohamed is trying to violate the rules (as the US military apparently believes), but because of his mental instability. The military’s response is to cut the water to his cell off, compounding an obvious health hazard.”

A preliminary medical opinion, commissioned by Reprieve, has found Mr Mohamed to be suffering from severe depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Dr Daniel Creson, a respected psychiatrist from Texas who has extensive experience in the treatment of the victims of torture, warns that the deterioration in Mr Mohamed’s health suggests that he “is reaching the end of his psychological tether”.

Mr Stafford Smith told Mr Miliband: “Your Government’s intervention on behalf of the British residents in Guantanamo has been welcome. Perhaps my other three clients will spend this festive season at home with their families, after many years of incarceration without trial. Mr Mohamed will spend it in a cell smeared with faeces. There is no prisoner in Guantanamo who has suffered more than Mr Mohamed, and I am very concerned that, without rapid intervention, he will only leave that terrible place in a casket.”

Mr Mohamed was born in Ethiopia and came to Britain in 1994, where he lived for seven years, sought political asylum and was given leave to remain while his case was resolved. But while travelling he was arrested in Pakistan on a visa violation and turned over to the US authorities. On 21 July 2002 Mr Mohamed was rendered to Morocco on a CIA plane. His lawyers claim he has endured years of torture in which has been physically abused, including having his genitals cut with a razor blade.

Mr Stafford Smith said: “Once he got to Guantanamo Bay, far from receiving the palliative care that this history of torture would call for, he has faced on-going mistreatment –held in solitary confinement in a Supermax prison, physically abused, and deprived of any meaningful treatment. Please do not let the US military public relations delude anybody, as the prison he is in is harsher than any of the many Death Row prisons I have visited in the past 25 years.”

Dr Creson’s medical evaluation was based on interviews with Mr Mohamed and a mental health questionnaire completed with the help of Reprieve

A Foreign Office spokesman declined to comment on the case.

A letter to David Miliband

Dear Mr Miliband,

There is an urgent need for humanitarian intervention on behalf of Binyam Mohamed, the British resident from Kensington who the US apparently plans to continue holding in Guantanamo Bay, and who I am representing in his habeas corpus proceedings.

As we hope to see three British residents home in the next few days, Mr Mohamed’s plight becomes ever more stark. I am sure that you are aware that Mr Mohamed has suffered torture and abuse by US foederati in Pakistan and Morocco, and by US personnel themselves in the Dark Prison of Kabul and in Guantánamo Bay itself. That the Bush Administration continues to deny its role in the torture and inhuman treatment of prisoners such as Mr Mohamed is, sad to say, simply dishonest.

…I doubt either you or I ever thought we would be dealing with the consequences of torture committed by the US on someone from Britain. It is sad that this is the case, but our horror must motivate us into vigorous action.

Yours sincerely,

Clive Stafford-Smith

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Ex-CIA: War with Iran in the offing

Wednesday, December 19th, 2007

A former senior CIA analyst says the United States and Israel are planning war against Iran before the next presidential election.

Ray McGovern said Monday despite a recent National Intelligence Estimate conceding that Iran is not conducting a nuclear weapons program, a joint US and Israeli war on the Islamic Republic is likely to happen.

The former analyst expounded that the close American relationship with Israel, which alleges Iran is a threat to its existence and to the international community, is the driving force behind a potential strike.

McGovern called on those wishing to prevent a military conflict with Iran to voice their opposition to President Bush’s headstrong approach towards Tehran and its nuclear program.

Although the report by US intelligence services has meant another embarrassment for the White House over its accusation against Tehran, the US president seems to be indifferent to the assessment.

President Bush, who is scheduled to visit Jerusalem in January, bald-facedly continues his rhetoric against the Islamic Republic, claiming Tehran poses a threat to the international community.

MD/MG

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VIDEO: CIA trying to undermine the White House?

Wednesday, December 19th, 2007

Phyllis Bennis is a Senior Analyst at the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington D.C. She is the author of Before and After: U.S. Foreign Policy and the September 11 Crisis and Challenging Empire: How People, Governments, and the U.N. Defy U.S. Power.

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Trust in the Mainstream Media at an all time low

Wednesday, December 19th, 2007

Trust in the Media at an all time low…. 6 Bogus stories in 6 weeks

On Monday October 29, 2007… The Multi-National Force Iraq turned over Karbala Province to the Iraqis.
This was supposed to be good news, right?
It wasn’t.

The good news was drowned out by media reports that 20 headless bodies were found in Diyala Province.

On Tuesday, after there were already questions about this Diyala slaughter, TIME Magazine based their report on this horrible massacre:

The horrible discovery in Diyala Province Monday was disturbing even by the standards of Iraq’s running sectarian violence. Iraqi police said they found 20 decapitated bodies dumped near a police station west of Baquba, the capital of Diyala province.

It was a lie.
The 20 headless bodies story was a hoax.
It never happened.

** There was never any evidence of this event.
** There was no official report on this event.
** There were no photos of this event.
** The Iraqi media denied this event.
** The MNF-I officials denied the event.
** The Diala Security Operations Chief denied the event.

TIME Magazine has never corrected their bogus report.

* * * * * * * * * *

On November 29, 2007… It happened again.
The Western media including the Reporters Without Borders organization reported:

11 close family members of Jordanian-based Baathist reporter Dia al-Kawwaz, who runs the online anti-Iraq newspaper Shabeqat Akhbar al-Iraq, were slaughtered in Baghdad. The attack occurred in the Al-Shaab neighborhood shortly after 7 a.m. Shia militia men shot dead two of Kawwaz’s sisters, their husbands and their seven children, aged 5 to 10. They then exploded the house on their way out.

This made headlines around the world.
This was a lie, too.

Two days later, the “dead family members” of Dia Al-Kawwaz appeared on Iraqi television smiling and waving to the cameras.

They managed to convince the Iraqi audience that they were in fact quite alive.

** Not one Western Media Organization showed this photo or film of the waving family members.
Not one.

* * * * * * * * * *

On Thursday November 29, 2007… The mainstream media reported that 12-25 “construction workers” were killed in a Bombing by NATO forces in Afghanistan this time.
The so-called construction workers ended up being Taliban fighters after all.

* * * * * * * * * *

On December 2, 2007… The Dwelah Massacre made major headlines.
In the reports 13 people were slaughtered by Al-Qaeda in their sleep and their homes were torched in the village of Dwelah, Iraq… including a young child.

This was also a lie.
MAJ Peggy Kageleiry from Task Force Iron PAO responded to the reports:

“The story you are reading in the news is NOT true… CF assessment: Wildly inflated, irresponsibly exaggerated claims-no 600 families displaced, no 200 terrorists, no evidence of civilian KIA.”

It was just another bogus media report from Iraq.

* * * * * * * * * *

On December 10, 2007… There was an explosion at a refinery in Baghdad.
The media immediately reported it as a rocket attack:

A plume of smoke rises from Doura refinery after a rocket attack in Baghdad December 10, 2007. A rocket attack sparked a big fire at a domestic oil refinery in southern Baghdad on Monday but the plant was still operating, Iraqi police and officials said.
(REUTERS/Mahmoud Raouf Mahmoud)

Flames and smoke rises from al Dora oil refinery in South Baghdad, Iraq, on Monday, Dec. 10, 2007. A rocket or a mortar shell hit the oil refinery, early Monday, police and an Oil Ministry spokesman said. The U.S. military confirmed an attack in the area. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed)

However, the fires were not set off by a a rocket attack.
The MNF-Iraq Press Desk confirmed:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
RELEASE No. 20071210-03
December 10, 2007

Baghdad refinery fire deemed accidental
Multi-National Division – Baghdad PAO

BAGHDAD – Multinational Division – Baghdad forces determined that the cause of a fire at the Doura Oil Refinery today was the result of an industrial accident.

The fire, which began around 9 a.m., was initially believed to have been started by indirect fire, but when units of the 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Inf. Div. arrived on the scene, its cause was determined to be the result of a pipe explosion.

(The MNF-I forces have not been able to conduct a definitive crater analysis to resolve what caused the explosion.)

* * * * * * * * * *

On December 13, 2007… The media reported that 12 mutilated bodies were found in Muqdadiya.
CNN reported:

Iraqi soldiers have found a mass grave of mutilated bodies in a restive region north of Baghdad, a local security official told CNN Thursday.

It was another bogus report.
Task Force Iron’s PAO- “This appears to be false reporting.”

* * * * * * * * * *

In roughly six and a half weeks the mainstream media reported 6 bogus stories from Iraq and Afghanistan.
There certainly could be more.
They all reflected poorly on the US and US military.

Isn’t it past time that the media be held accountable for their horrible record?

And… Is it really surprising that only 29% of Americans, Germans and Brits trust their media?

Gateway Pundit

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VIDEO: I’ll go to court rather than have an ID card

Wednesday, December 19th, 2007

Newly elected Liberal Democrat party leader makes a few comments about the proposed ID scheme

Nick Clegg MP has vowed to face court proceedings rather than register for an ID card if the government presses ahead with plans to make them compulsory.

If he were elected leader of the party he would urge his fellow MPs not to co-operate and ask Liberal Democrat controlled councils to ensure no local public services require an identity card.

Video was recorded before he was elected leader

Nick renewed his passport in May 2006 to avoid being included on the National Identity Register for another ten years.

Nick Clegg said:

“If the government seeks to make ID cards compulsory on every British citizen I will lead a people’s campaign to thwart the programme. I, and I expect thousands of people like me, will refuse to be forced to register.

“This is an issue that is so contrary to the spirit of British liberty and privacy that I would not be able to stand by. I am willing to do everything in my power to stop this intrusive, expensive and unnecessary imposition on the liberty of the British people.”

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What are they hiding?

Wednesday, December 19th, 2007

A federal judge has taken a significant step in dismantling the wall of secrecy the Bush administration has needlessly built around the White House.

Judge Royce Lamberth ruled that White House visitors logs were public records and that the public had a right to see them.

The logs, maintained by the Secret Service, had been public until 2006, when the Bush administration, which adheres to the principle that its business is nobody’s but its own, declared that the logs were presidential records and thus exempt from the Freedom of Information Act under the doctrine of executive privilege.

Executive privilege is intended to protect the confidentiality and candor of the advice the president receives. The logs say only who visited the White House, when and for how long; they contain nothing about the substance of the visits.

It might shed light, however, on White House political machinations.

The White House says it will appeal, using that as an excuse not to comment on the legal setback. One day, it is to be hoped, Congress and the courts will throw open the doors and windows of the Bush administration and the sun will shine in. Unfortunately, it is likely to be long after it has left office.

Scripps Howard News Service

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UN expresses “grave concern” over CIA torture

Wednesday, December 19th, 2007

UN representative expresses “grave concern” over CIA torture, Guantánamo hearings

By Naomi Spencer

Following a visit earlier this month to the US military prison at Guantánamo Bay, a United Nations human rights representative reported ongoing abuse, drumhead judicial proceedings, and other violations of international law. The report by the UN official, charging the US government with widespread criminality, has been almost entirely ignored by the US media.

In a report to the UN Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva December 13, Special Rapporteur on human rights and counterterrorism Martin Scheinin said he believed the CIA continues to engage in so-called “extraordinary rendition,” secret detentions and torture. Scheinin suggested that hundreds of detainees held at Guantánamo were not being prosecuted to keep revelations of abuse from emerging. During his visit, he was not allowed to have unmonitored interaction with detainees.

Of the 305 Guantánamo detainees, about 80 have already been put through combatant status review tribunals (CSRT) and declared not to be “enemy combatants,” although they have not been released. The military has announced that it plans to hold these hearings for another 80 detainees, after which they could ostensibly be convicted by military trial. But for 150 so-called “high value” prisoners, Scheinin said, “There is not enough evidence that could be presented, even to a military commission chaired by a military judge. Partly there may not be evidence and partly the risk of issues of torture being raised is too high.”

“Bringing them to court would bring to the court’s attention the method through which the evidence, including the confessions, were obtained,” Scheinin told the press following his report.

In addition to the recent revelations that the CIA had destroyed interrogation tapes, he said the indefinite detention without trial “is one further affirmation of the conclusion that the CIA or others have been involved in methods of interrogation that are incompatible with international law.” The CIA, Scheinin stated, “has been involved and continues to be involved in the use of interrogation techniques that violate the absolute prohibition against torture.”

The destruction of the CIA interrogation tapes showing the torture of at least two prisoners underscores the basic fact that egregious human rights violations by the US are not isolated events. On the contrary, torture and illegal detentions have been the standard operating procedure for the CIA, with the cooperation of military brass and the support of the entire political establishment.

Scheinin said that in a meeting with representatives of the CIA during his visit to the United States, “the CIA refused to engage in any meaningful interaction aimed at clarifying the means of compliance with international standards of methods of interrogation and accountability in respect of possible abuses.” He also said the CIA refused to meet with him a second time. This stonewalling is yet further evidence of the lawlessness of the US government.

Significantly, Scheinin noted that behavior by CIA officials “supports the suspicion that the CIA has been involved and continues to be involved in the extraordinary rendition of terrorism suspects and possibly other persons.”

Moreover, the report concluded, “It is unlikely that the CIA would be able to run a global programme of rendition and detention of terrorist suspects without at least logistical support by the United States military authorities.”

Although the Bush administration declared that it held no other “high value” detainees in secret detention after transferring 14 to Guantánamo Bay from around the world in 2006, it reserved the possibility of resuming the practice whenever it wished, and has rendered at least one other detainee since then. Other suspected detainees remain missing.

It should not be forgotten that, in addition to those detainees being held at Guantánamo, the US continues to hold some 700 detainees in Afghanistan and approximately 18,000 detainees in Iraq. Many of these are classified by the US as “unlawful enemy combatants” in order to deny them fundamental legal rights.

While at the Guantánamo Bay prison, Scheinin observed the pre-trial military proceedings against Salim Ahmed Hamdan, the alleged former driver of Osama bin Laden. Hamdan, captured in Afghanistan in 2001, has been held at Guantánamo since 2002.

The drumhead character Hamdan’s CSRT was evident. “The hearings provided graphic illustrations of the practical difficulties in providing fair trials at a distant military base, and confirmed the difficulties or even impossibility of the defense to provide evidence,” Scheinin told the press. “Neither witnesses from abroad or high-value detainees from the Guantánamo detention facility next door could be heard, at least on this particular occasion.”

The written report is more specific: “These are administrative processes rather than judicial ones. Detainees are not provided with a lawyer during the course of hearings.” Even if all charges are dropped, “the most that a reviewing court may do is to order reconsideration of a decision, not release.” This violates international prohibitions on arbitrary detention, habeas corpus rights, the right to a timely trial, and other fundamental legal protections.

As could be expected, US media coverage of the report and the Hamdan CSRT has been nonexistent. Neither the New York Times, Washington Post, nor Los Angeles Times published an article on the topic, with the main coverage in the US coming from brief wire reports from the AP and Reuters.

Also typical, the response of the US government to the report has consisted largely of the attempt to dismiss and discredit it. Melanie Khanna, a US legal adviser, was quoted in both the AP and Reuters articles at some length. Khanna said that sections of Scheinin’s report dealing with legal violations by the US “simply catalogue well-known criticisms and fail even to acknowledge that there are multiple ways of approaching the difficult issues discussed…”

“We hope that in future the work of the Special Rapporteur proceeds differently,” Khanna said, claiming Scheinin’s description of the combatant status reviews was “in part misleading about the facts of the process, and revisits well-worn, ill-informed criticisms of military commissions hearings. The unfortunate fact is that a large part of the report again repeats unfair and oversimplified criticisms of the United States.”

However, the “well-worn” arguments against the military tribunals have also been made by the US Supreme Court—specifically in regard to the case of Hamdan—before this decision was scuttled by Congress in the 2006 Military Commissions Act. In that case, Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, the court ruled that President Bush did not have the authority to establish military commissions, and found them to be illegal under military law and the Geneva Conventions.

When Hamdan was subject to another military commission in June 2007, charges of conspiracy and supporting terrorism were thrown out by the military judge, who ruled that the commission lacked jurisdiction because Hamdan had not been officially classified as an “unlawful enemy combatant.”

The government appealed this decision, asking a military court to declare Hamdan an “unlawful enemy combatant” so he can be tried once again. A ruling has not been issued as of this writing. During the hearing, the defense was denied the request to call three “high value” detainees held at Guantánamo for testimony on the spurious grounds that the request was not timely because of the clearance required to access such prisoners. The detainees, Khalid Sheik Mohammed, Ramzi Bin al-Shib and Abu Faraj al-Libi, have all been subjected to CIA interrogations and torture.

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Hearing into destroyed CIA tapes

Wednesday, December 19th, 2007

A US judge last night ordered the Bush administration to explain whether the CIA violated a court order by destroying videotapes of the harsh interrogations of two terrorism suspects.

US District Court Judge Henry Kennedy, who in 2005 had ordered the government to preserve information on prisoner mistreatment at the US naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, scheduled a court hearing on the tapes for Friday, overriding government objections.

Lawyers for a group of Guantanamo Bay inmates contesting their detention had requested the hearing to learn whether the government had complied with the preservation order. They cited reports that information obtained from the interrogations implicated five unnamed Guantanamo detainees.

“We hope to establish a procedure to review the government’s handling of evidence in our case … and generally to require an accounting from a government that has admitted that it destroyed evidence,” said David Remes, an attorney for the group of inmates.

He declined to comment on whether he believed any of his clients were implicated during the interrogations.

The CIA on December 6th disclosed that it had destroyed hundreds of hours of interrogation tapes, prompting an outcry from congressional Democrats and human rights activists. The sessions recorded on the tapes were believed to have included a form of simulated drowning known as waterboarding, which has been condemned internationally as torture.

The CIA said it destroyed the tapes lawfully and did so out of concern for the safety of agents involved if the recordings were ever made public. The White House has repeatedly denied the United States tortures terrorism suspects.

The Justice Department declined to comment on the judge’s hearing order but the department last week urged Kennedy not to investigate the videotapes.

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Motion Picture Association censors out US torture

Wednesday, December 19th, 2007

Motion Picture Association censors out US torture

Denial of US torture is everywhere, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) had decided that the US public will not be allowed to see posters for the documentary Taxi to the Dark Side because a hooded prionser suggests torture, which isn’t suitable for children. Perhaps they should have told that to the administration before the US started torturing children in Iraq and Guantanamo.

From Variety:

MPAA rejects Gibney’s ‘Dark’ poster
Org objects to hood on torture docu’s one-sheet

By Anne Thompson

The MPAA has rejected the one-sheet for Alex Gibney’s documentary “Taxi to the Dark Side,” which traces the pattern of torture practice from Afghanistan’s Bagram prison to Abu Ghraib to Guantanamo Bay.

ThinkFilm opens the pic, which is on the Oscar shortlist of 15 docs, on Jan. 11.

The image in question is a news photo of two U.S. soldiers walking away from the camera with a hooded detainee between them.

An MPAA spokesman said: “We treat all films the same. Ads will be seen by all audiences, including children. If the advertising is not suitable for all audiences it will not be approved by the advertising administration.”

According to ThinkFilm distribution prexy Mark Urman, the reason given by the Motion Picture Assn. of America for rejecting the poster is the image of the hood, which the MPAA deemed unacceptable in the context of such horror films as “Saw” and “Hostel.” “To think that this is not apples and oranges is outrageous,” he said. “The change renders the art illogical, without any power or meaning.”

The MPAA also rejected the one-sheet for Roadside Attractions’ 2006 film “The Road to Guantanamo,” which featured a hooded prisoner hanging from his handcuffed wrists. At the time, according to Howard Cohen, co-president of Roadside Attractions, the reason given was that the burlap bag over the prisoner’s head depicted torture, which was not appropriate for children to see.

“Not permitting us to use an image of a hooded man that comes from a documentary photograph is censorship, pure and simple,” said producer, writer and director Gibney. “Intentional or not, the MPAA’s disapproval of the poster is a political act, undermining legitimate criticism of the Bush administration. I agree that the image is offensive; it’s also real.”

ThinkFilm plans to appeal the ruling, although Urman admitted that he “doesn’t know what that entails. I’ve only appealed ratings before.”

If ThinkFilm ignores the MPAA and uses materials that have not been approved, it runs the risk of having the rating revoked, which is what happened earlier this year to “Captivity.”

The “Taxi” ad art is actually an amalgam of two pictures. The first, taken by Corbis photographer Shaun Schwarz, features the hooded prisoner and one soldier. Another military figure was added on the left. Ironically, the original Schwarz photo was censored by the military, which erased his camera’s memory. The photographer eventually retrieved the image from his hard drive.

“It’s the photo that would not die,” Gibney said. “This movie is not a horror film like ‘Hostel.’ This is a documentary and that image is a documentary image.”

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NSA Controls SSL Email Hosting Services

Wednesday, December 19th, 2007

Just learned following within the past few days:

Certain privacy/full session SSL email hosting services have been purchased/changed operational control by NSA and affiliates within the past few months, through private intermediary entities.

Hushmail: now fully owned by private entity NSA affiliate; has had informal relationship with NSA for a number of years that effectively provided NSA with real time access to Hushmail’s hosting servers.

Safe-mail.net: Israeli-based, ironically privately lauded by NSA and US military several years ago for its sound implementation of SendMail with SSL webmail GUI frontend. Now provides mail server info to NSA in real time.

Guardster.com (SSH/SSL proxy): NSA contractors have “bought” full access rights to Guardster servers a few days ago. Separate but related: faciliated port sniffing of hosting servers at Everyones Internet, on NSA affiliates’ behalf, has been ongoing for a number of months now.

More info on industry Windows security software:

Zone Alarm, Symantec, MacAfee: All facilitate Microsoft’s NSA-controlled remote admin access via IP/TCP ports 1024 through 1030; ie will allow access without security flag. Unknown whether or not software port forward routing by these same programs will defeat NSA access.

I will continue to provide more info on the above and related topics upon discovery.

http://cryptome.org/nsa-ssl-email.htm

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Freaked Out About FaceBook

Wednesday, December 19th, 2007

thought the creepiest things to happen to social networking was when old guys, claiming to be eighteen-years-old started roaming social networks like MySpace and FaceBook looking to hook up with fifteen-year-olds.But now there’s a whole different kind of creepiness. And this one includes old guys in white lab coats roaming through FaceBook profiles. A bunch of scholars at Harvard University and University of California have decided to turn the vastly popular FaceBook into a giant mouse maze.

If you’re a constant visitor of the site then you’ve probably added those quirky applications that let you throw your friend out window, bake them a cake, head butt – or make up your own little creative action.

Researchers have begun studying one class of students at a particular college, where applications like ‘Hot or Not’, ‘Pirates vs. Ninjas’, and cute little digital pets have become tools in determining certain aspects of social interactions online.

The story in the New York Times didn’t specify if the class being studied knew that these creeps – I mean – scholars had informed them that they were looking at every little program they added, picture they posted, and whether or not they liked the movie Fight Club or not.

Now, I understand that if you want to get a juicy perspective on youth culture – Facebook would be a good place to start. But there’s something about social science freaks digging through my profile and trying to find meaning in the fact that I just dropkicked my friend that makes me a little uncomfortable.

Most of the time, I think social networking profiles are just a plastic exterior that doesn’t necessarily represent us as an individual. It’s more like an external attachment, like a external hard drive. It isn’t really apart of us but it can be – but it’s temporary and changes without us having to change along with it. Trying to draw together some conclusion and hidden meaning in stuff like this can only end with misinterpretations.
—Eming Piansay

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Chancellor should withdraw funding for ID cards

Wednesday, December 19th, 2007

Alistair Darling’s promise to increase penalties for wilful misuse of data is a wholly inappropriate response to recent data losses. If the police are unable now to apprehend fraudsters operating from beyond British jurisdiction, such legislation will be no deterrent to further criminal activity.

Instead of diversionary legislative theatrics, the correct response is to prevent sensitive data from being exposed in the first place. That requires that HM Government stop collecting and centralising so much personal information and that Whitehall curbs its promiscuous data-sharing habits.

In stark contrast to the incompetence now routinely on display in Westminster, the Scottish Government and Parliament are to be applauded for the resolution on data protection that was passed last Thursday.

The Liberal Democrat motion - amended by the Greens and supported by the SNP and independent MSPs - will greatly improve confidence in the handling of personal information in Scotland.

The cross-party consensus resolves to seek additional powers for the Assistant Information Commissioner for Scotland; calls for government data audits to be independent and accountable to Parliament; calls for a review of Citizens Accounts; and demands that all data-handling procedures be fully compliant with data-protection principles.

Significantly, the Scottish Parliament also resolved that the Scottish Government, local authorities and public bodies should deny the Home Office access to personal information for the UK ID database.

UK ministers must accept that any case for the national ID scheme and Transformational Government agenda has been undermined entirely by the blizzard of revelations in recent weeks.

While the Chancellor’s mind is focused on data protection, he should take a firm lead. In his next statement to the Commons, Mr Darling should announce that all funding for the ID scheme will be withdrawn.

Geraint Bevan, 3e Grovepark Gardens, Glasgow.

Has the UK Data Protection Act been breached by the loss of the hard drive containing information on learner drivers in the US?

Who in the UK is responsible for the records while they are in the US ?

Why were the records moved to a hard disk and taken off Pearson’s secure site in Iowa?

How many copies of the data have been made in the US?

Who has them?

What are they being used for?

The Secretary of State’s reassurances that the data could be found in the telephone directories and the voters’ roll do not hold water. Large numbers of people deliberately keep their particulars off both of these publications.

Maggie Jamieson, 37 Echline Place, South Queensferry.

Each week the government loses data. Could it possibly make next week’s loss the income tax files?

John Ashworth, Woodside, Helensburgh.

Newsquest

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 19th, 2007 at 10:58 pm and is filed under 9/11 Truth, Contributions & Guests, General . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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