Blackwater Founder Accused of Intent to Kill

Blackwater Founder Accused in Court of Intent to Kill (washingtonpost.com)

McCain pushes back against Cheney, says torture violated law (rawstory.com)

They were buddies and they're buried together.

"If Afghanistan, one of the poorest countries in the world, and really hardly a country at all, is a threat to US national security, so is Malawi, Burundi and Fiji. American national security is not to the slightest degree threatened by the Taliban." (commondreams.org)

Cindy Sheehan Protesting Obama’s Illegal War Of Agression (therobalution.com)

The "art" of rendition and systematic torture

First documents to be released to show the "art" of rendition and the systematic torture that ensues. In a nutshell these documents are sick and prove that the Bush admin. was a sadistic bunch of thugs. (pubrecord.org)

Obama’s continuation of rendition is yet another repudiation of his campaign promises. Foreign Affairs 2007: Obama said he would “eliminate the practice of extreme rendition, where we outsource our torture to other countries.” (wsws.org)

200 Dead Memorial, Sat 22nd Aug, Hull

A gathering was held on Saturday 22nd at Hull's war memorial to remember the 206 dead British soldiers and the tens of thousands of dead of Afghanistan. Jonathan Young, aged 18 from Hull, had been killed two days prior. A call was made to bring the troops home and to stop the killing. Members of Hull Stop the War Coalition and Hull area Green Party, among others, took part.

Judge Orders Fed To Disclose Who Received Bailout Trillions (infowars.com)

The Truth About The Afghan Election

The Truth About The Afghan Election (counterpunch.com)

OCTOBER 24th DEMO: 69% in Britain say troops home now: Demonstrate London Saturday 24 October.

Brazil calls Obama over US bases (news.bbc.co.uk)

UK to share fingerprints with Canada, Australia (news.zdnet.co.uk) !!!!!

Bush’s day of reckoning is inevitable, because as a signatory of the convention against torture Obama will be in violation of International Law by not investigating Bush. (commondreams.org) - Hmm, we'll see...

The Real Boston Tea Party was an Anti-Corporate Revolt (commondreams.org)

CIA Report Into the Bush Administration’s Torture Programs, Finally Released. (timesonline.co.uk)

"200 Dead", 12.30pm, Saturday, War Memorial, Hull

"200 Dead", 12.30pm, Saturday, War Memorial, Hull

There will be a memorial tomorrow, Saturday 22nd Aug, at 12.30pm at the War Memorial, opposite Paragon Station, Hull.

There will be a reading of the names of the dead both British and Afghani.

Hull Stop the War Coalition will attend with a stall and banner.

All other groups and individuals are welcome.

Currently there are 206 British dead.

AFGHANISTAN IN QUOTES

TONY BENN - I think you have to understand the history of this. Britain invaded Afghanistan in 1839, captured Kabul, and was defeated the following year, and 15,000 British troops were killed in the retreat. Britain invaded Afghanistan in 1879. Britain was in Afghanistan in 1919. The Russians were in Afghanistan. I led a delegation to the Russian ambassador in London to protest that. The United States government, President Bush, the first one, funded Osama bin Laden to fight the Russians to get them out of Afghanistan. ... And the situation we’re in now is very straightforward. The United States and NATO, forty countries with 64,000 troops, in eight years have been unable to defeat the Taliban. And this is a Vietnam War for America and for the rest of the—well, for the people involved, soldiers and civilians on both sides, it’s an absolute tragedy.

Marina of RAWA, interviewed by John Pilger - “We, the women of Afghanistan, only became a cause in the west following 11 September 2001, when the Taliban suddenly became the official enemy of America. Yes, they persecuted women, but they were not unique, and we have resented the silence in the west over the atrocious nature of the western-backed warlords, who are no different. They rape and kidnap and terrorise, yet they hold seats in [Hamid] Karzai’s government. In some ways, we were more secure under the Taliban. You could cross Afghanistan by road and feel secure. Now, you take your life into your hands.”

John Pilger - The truth about the “good war” is to be found in compelling evidence that the 2001 invasion, widely supported in the west as a justifiable response to the 11 September attacks, was actually planned two months prior to 9/11 and that the most pressing problem for Washington was not the Taliban’s links with Osama Bin Laden, but the prospect of the Taliban mullahs losing control of Afghanistan to less reliable mujahedin factions.

"To me, I confess, [countries] are pieces on a chessboard upon which is being played out a game for dominion of the world."
Lord Curzon, viceroy of India, speaking about Afghanistan, 1898

Rex Tomb, spokesman, FBI’s public affairs unit - “The reason why 9/11 is not mentioned on Osama bin Laden’s Most Wanted page is because the FBI has no hard evidence connecting bin Laden to 9/11.”

Ali al-Megrahi released the following statement

Released on compassionate grounds, the man who probably didn't bomb Pan Am 103, al-Megrahi released the following statement: (news.bbc.co.uk)

UK 'can't find' $13bn in military hardware (abc.net.au)

CIA assassination program had been outsourced to Blackwater, ex-officials say (latimes.com)

It's not just that the CIA wanted to outsource assassinations to Blackwater; it's that they were ready to directly pay the company's executives millions of dollars without a contract in an act of amazing government corruption (trueslant.com)

Iraq - refugees still not allowed to bury the dead

Camp Ashraf, Iraq - refugees still not allowed to bury the dead, lawyers barred from obtaining visas, American military witnesses silent (themarknews.com)

One in nine Americans uses food stamps (wsws.org)

Tom Ridge now admits that the Bush Adminstration urged him to raise the Homeland Security alert level during the heat of Bush's re-election campaign, an act so blatantly political he *considered* resigning over it. (usnews.com)

In Iraq? Afghanistan? For 100 years? NO.

U.S. troops could be forced by Iraqi voters to withdraw a year ahead of schedule under a referendum the Iraqi government backed Monday. (washingtonpost.com)

with Congressmen Dennis Kucinich (D) and Ron Paul (R).

STOP THE BLAME GAME

STOP THE BLAME GAME

I am told I come first

learn to like myself

maybe then

I might learn to like others

who am I anyway

and what is there to like

where do I start

my nose stubby and short

sitting oddly between my brows

flared too much at the tips

hoping to touch the base of my cheeks

STOP

enough of this rant

don’t let me torture you

with figments from my closet

just one more thought

to seal my promise

“don’t point the finger of blame

at another

you’ll find three more pointing back at you”

reminds me of our Prime Minister

wallowing in the pan of grief

mourning the two hundred dead

soldiers in Afghanistan

whilst warning of the increasing span

to preserve our National Interest

mind body and soul

how dreadful

our Prime Minister cannot be told

stop the blame game

there must be something

about ourselves that we like

louis ivan jones

copywrite August 2000

email uis@uis.karoo.co.uk

199 British soldiers dead. Afghanistan

The Russians couldn't win it. NATO can't win it. Afghans will finish the job. As is their right.

New Afgan law: husbands can deny food to wives who don't submit to their sexual demands. (guardian.co.uk)

arguably, the United States is the most flagrant violator of NPT commitments, frequently intervening to prevent other NPT-signatories from exercising their "inalienable rights," affirmed under the NPT, to access nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, "without discrimination."

GENERAL

UK Government's statement that ID card has not been hacked proves that it really is just another useless bit of plastic (computerweekly.com)

Britain “sleepwalked into a surveillance society” -- there is a request to snoop on the public every 60 secs (telegraph.co.uk)

Eyewitness from Honduras: The U.S. is involved in what is happening in Honduras up to its eyeballs. The leaders of the coup government, the military and those financing the coup are all the principal allies of the U.S. (laprogressive.com)

Calling the Bank's Bluff: Why a Debtor's Revolt Would Work.

Taser International launches court action to quash inquiry's recommendations for preventing taser deaths. (cbc.ca)

Geneva Conventions turn 60 years old

Today the Geneva Conventions turn 60 years old. Despite the fact that 194 states have ratified them, it still faces a struggle for respect. (news.bbc.co.uk)

More than 300 UK children a day are being put on to the DNA database, around one in six are likely to have never been convicted of any crime. (telegraph.co.uk)

Sibel Edmonds offers details of Turkey’s covert operations in U.S. (reporter.am)

Another U.S. Missile Kills at Least 10 in Pakistan Tribal Area (nytimes.com)

University researchers get Sequoia e-voting machine, reverse engineer ROM, demonstrate vote-count altering hack (theregister.co.uk)

Nosocomial infections are infections which are a result of treatment in a hospital or a healthcare service unit, but secondary to the patient's original condition.

U.S., Britain and Israel have tried to bypass the Geneva Conventions

U.S., Britain and Israel have tried to bypass the Geneva Conventions on the grounds that they do not apply to "terror suspects" or "terrorists" (commondreams.org)

Two convicted for refusal to decrypt data (theregister.co.uk)

Authorities made over half a million requests to access private emails and telephone records in the UK last year (news.com.au)

Blackwater = Murder, Inc.? Almost all nation's leading newspapers fail to cover explosive new allegations from two company employees (bradblog.com)

Burma: Suu Kyi house arrest extended 18 months... American who swam to meet her... 7 years hard labour. (sbs.com.au) - Perhaps Clinton can work his magic agian...

Facepalm: "People such as scientist Stephen Hawking wouldn't have a chance in the U.K., where the NHS would say the life of this brilliant man, because of his physical handicaps, is essentially worthless." (ibdeditorials.com)

Karzai family has opium and blood on their hands

The Karzai family has opium and blood on their hands. They systematically install low-level officials up to provincial governors to make sure that, from the farm gate, the opium is moved unfettered. This is the man who has been presented internationally as the symbol of the “democracy”? (wsws.org)

SUNDAY 9th AUG - Hiroshima Day

SUNDAY - Quaker Meeting - Hiroshima Day
12.30pm, Sunday 9th August 2009.
Peace Garden, Hull. (College end of Queen's Gardens)



leader of the Pakistani Taliban killed last week - sets off a power struggle within the fundamentalist sect. (juancole.com)

Chicago - Free Gary McKinnon

Chicago - Free Gary McKinnon
Chicago - with Chrissie Hinde, Dave Gilmour, Bob Geldof and Gary McKinnon.

Harry Patch is buried today. 1,400 people will attend inside Wells Cathedral, thousands more outside. Two soldiers each from the armies of Belgium, France and Germany will also accompany the coffin. (guardian.co.uk)

Gordon Brown 'suppressed defence report'

Gordon Brown 'suppressed defence report' revealing waste of up to £2.5 billion a year (google.com)

John Pilger Wins Sydney Peace Prize

By the Sydney Peace Foundation
“For work as an author, film-maker and journalist as well as for courage as a foreign and war correspondent in enabling the voices of the powerless to be heard. For commitment to peace with justice by exposing and holding governments to account for human rights abuses and for fearless challenges to censorship in any form.’ Continue

Make Wars History - Crime Reporting Campaign

SUNDAY - Peace Vigil for Hiroshima

SUNDAY - Peace Vigil for Hiroshima
Peace Garden, Hull. (College end of Queen's Gardens)
12.30pm, Sunday 9th August 2009.

MI5 men could face 'torture' perjury charge over Guantanamo prisoner (dailymail.co.uk)

Call For Inquiry Into Alleged UK Role In Torture (theherald.co.uk) *

Claims Of British Complicity In Torture Abroad: MPs And Peers Call For Independent Inquiry (news.sky.com)

BBC: International debate is needed on the use of autonomous military robots

The 44th president of the United States was elected amid hopes that he would roll back his country's global dominance. Today, he is commander-in-chief of an unprecedented network of military bases that is still expanding. (zmag.org)

Home Office says immigrants need to contribute to UK's "democratic life", but anti-war activism could count against you (guardian.co.uk)

Panetta basically pardons the entire Bush administration. (rawstory.com)

The Economist forced to back down over lies on Venezuela and Bolivia (links.org.au)

Al Qaeda offers ceasefire in exchange for withdrawal from Afghanistan (abcnews.go.com)

US - A Coalition of One

US now "Coalition of the One" (google.com)

Has Iran 8 weeks left? After a joint American-Israeli exercise which included training on the in-flight refueling of Israeli F-16i attack jets by American airplanes, the US tells Israel that Iran has 8 weeks left (thenation.com)

Afghanistan: US up to its ears in trouble - The US is not just fighting the Taliban, they are fighting the Pashtun people (therealnews.com)

MPs McKinnon letter to Obama,Telegraph, 1 AUG 2009

John Rees on the Israel-Palestine Conflict