USA

the pot and the kettle

antarchi — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 15:00:47 -0600

"Russia has invaded a sovereign neighboring state and threatens a democratic government elected by its people. Such an action is unacceptable in the 21st century" 1

Says who. Says the man who began the 21st century with unprovoked invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, and who threatens to engineer a third invasion before the first decade of the century is over. Says the man at whose hands over a million have died and as many at least have been forced from their homes. Says the unelected President and Commander-in-Chief of the strongest military force the planet has ever known. Says the self-appointed ruler of the world.

1. George Bush

the victim of disinformation

antarchi — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 04:29:31 -0600

I have been accused of relying on sources which are funded by the CIA - in particular, the reports by the Institute of War and Peace Reporting (IWPR) which is funded by the National Endowment for Democracy and United States Institute for Peace (among about another 30 funding organisations). So the following was my justification for reading their reports, and even believing some parts of them. The particular article in question was How the Georgian War Began.

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rushing to judgement

antarchi — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 12:05:52 -0600

The internet has been bubbling for 10 days now with experts on the Caucasus, Ossetia, Abkhazia, Georgia, and the big bad Russian bear. Everyone understands what's going on. No-one agrees with anyone else. Firm, decisive analyses from 'experts' (and a few experts) tell us precisely who did what, when, for which reason, and what we can expect to see next. Until you read the next analysis - which tells you exactly the opposite.

The Western Narrative

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facing the bear

antarchi — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 17:05:08 -0600

miliband is very sorry

antarchi — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 18:27:05 -0700

The European Court of Human Rights condemned the so-called “five techniques” used by UK military and security forces during that period. It ruled that the techniques - hooding, wall-standing, noise, deprivation of food and drink, and sleep deprivation - were cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, banned under the European Convention on Human Rights. The British government gave “a solemn undertaking” to the court that the techniques would never again be used on British soil."

Human Rights Watch -
Dangerous Ambivalence: UK Policy on Torture since 9/11

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iraq is a stable and democratic country

antarchi — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 10:25:10 -0700

... and other idiotic sayings.

'Yesterday was an important day for the Iraqi people. The United Nations Security Council unanimously expressed the desire for Iraq to be free and peaceful'.

George Bush in a press conference at the G8 summit (June 2004)

'The Iraqi people know the sacrifices you are making. They're grateful to you. They are grateful to your families.'

George Bush to the soldiers and families of Fort Hood (Apr 2005)

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Poems from Guantanamo

antarchi — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 16:15:10 -0700

Humiliated In The Shackles

By Sami al Hajj

When I heard pigeons cooing in the trees,

Hot tears covered my face.

When the lark chirped, my thoughts composed

A message for my son.

Mohammad, I am afflicted.

In my despair, I have no one but Allah for comfort.

The oppressors are playing with me,

As they move freely around the world.

They ask me to spy on my countrymen,

Claiming it would be a good deed.

They offer me money and land,

And freedom to go where I please.

Their temptations seize

My attention like lightning in the sky.

But their gift is an empty snake,

Carrying hypocrisy in its mouth like venom,

They have monuments to liberty

And freedom of opinion, which is well and good.

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so far gone

antarchi — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 18:43:04 -0600

A horrible, shocking documentary:

Ghosts of Abu Ghraib

How on earth can we pull back from where we are, and how did we manage to get so far. By turning away, compartmentalising what is happening, by allocating it to 'politics' or 'war' or something else towards which we can look or not look and for which we bear no share of blame - by doing all of that we let it happen, on and on, worse and worse, and more and more impossible to halt.

certainty and venom

antarchi — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 18:56:08 -0600

I am surprised by the venom that the 9-11 'truth' movement attracts among the left. I have toyed with aspects of it for a while, occasionally following up links that I receive through various mailing lists by people that surprise me, and sometimes wondering if I need to take it more seriously. Until now, I resisted doing that: I managed to laugh off those who mailed the links as far-off, out-of-touch, irrational fantasists.

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tragedy of our time

antarchi — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 15:14:09 -0600

"I think it is one of the great tragedies of our time that so many people have died, so many people have been displaced and so many people face famine as a result of the events of Darfur."

Gordon Brown, September 2007

* * *

It is, most certainly. According to (that well-known trusted source) the BBC, 'Some 200,000 people have been killed and 2m displaced in Darfur since 2003.' The BBC devotes video, audio and textual reports accompanied by photos to the protests being held today, with the message 'don't look away'. Gordon Brown is played over and over again on the World Service, sounding sober and sympathetic, in control.

What a tragic contrast with the total lack of attention given last week to a new poll by ORB, a respected polling company used and normally quoted by the BBC. A google search for 'bbc iraq poll orb' brings up just 2 polls quoted by the BBC: one asked British parents whether they would be happy for their son to join the army, and the second asked whether British troops were winning or losing the war. But the ORB poll that asked Iraqi citizens how many of their household had died since the invasion as a result of the violence has been almost totally ignored, as far as I can see.

That poll, conducted in August of this year, suggests that there have been 1,220,580 Iraqi deaths since the invasion in 2003. That is over a million deaths since the already sanctions-crushed Iraqis were invaded by the world's greatest military power (and its poodle).

The figure of a million roughly tallies with an estimate from Just Foreign Policy, based on the Lancet study (last October) and 'a rate of increase derived from Iraq Body Count'. Just Foreign Policy also reckon the death count is just over a million: 1,044,607 (to date). And the figure also tallies roughly with an estimate by Gideon Polya, a scientist and writer, in February of this year. He too used the Lancet study as a basis, and estimated that by February 2006, there had been over a million victims as a result of the invasion. 600,000 of those needless deaths, he estimates, were children under 5.

If 200,000 deaths and 2 million displaced is one of the great tragedies, what is a million deaths (or more) and 4 million displaced? What is it when those deaths have come about as a result of a pre-planned invasion, built on fabricated reasons and a deliberate policy of false propaganda? What is it when the invading poodle, the British Ministry of Defence states publicly that it "does not maintain records that would enable a definitive number of [Iraqi] civilian fatalities to be recorded."? And what is it when the British media keeps silent about 1 million deaths, pointedly ignores them, and presents the man who wrote the cheques for war as sober, sympathetic, in control?

Well - what would it be, if it had been Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, China or Iran who had invaded, unprovoked, through deceit, and for selfish gain, causing a million needless deaths?

* * *

"How many people do you have to kill before you qualify to be described as a mass murderer and a war criminal? One hundred thousand? More than enough, I would have thought."

Harold Pinter, from his Nobel Lecture 'Art, Truth and Politics'