Saturday, May 21, 2005
Saddam photo scandal doesn't add up
Anyone willing to take a bet that the Saddam photo scandal was a setup that will be turned around and blamed on the "liberal media" and a "leak"—and somehow turned into war propaganda justifying more attacks against carefully enraged Islamic populations?
Also notice, if the photos are authentic, that Saddam is in great shape. Once a CIA asset, always a CIA asset, denied exposure and protected, until someone decides it's execution time.
Also notice, if the photos are authentic, that Saddam is in great shape. Once a CIA asset, always a CIA asset, denied exposure and protected, until someone decides it's execution time.
Tuesday, May 17, 2005
Behind the Koran-flushing noise, the Bush administration prepares for the next illegal war
To put the Koran-flushing headlines in the right context, it's clear that the Bush administration and the American media have resorted to Byzantine trickery to mask brutal realities that continue to unfold on the war front.
Unable to exert its control of Iraq, unable to stop resistance to its illegal occupation, and desperate to move US forces in preparation for the coming war in Iran, the Bush administration has pulled out all the stops:
1. As Mike Ruppert writes in From The Wilderness:
"As we have so clearly said in FTW and in 'Crossing the Rubicon,' the intent of the neocons has always been to create a civil war in Iraq. Why? With the country eventually carved up like Yugoslavia into much smaller regions the demands on the US military will be greatly decreased. After all, the only thing we really want to protect is the oil which runs in a thin sliver of land from Basra in the south to Kurdish-controlled areas around Mosul in the north. As far as Dick Cheney is concerned, the rest of the "brown" people can kill themselves. We are after all overpopulated, aren't we? The fact is that the civil war is already underway. The dramatic increase in bombings and attacks reflects not just attacks on the US military, but Muslim on Muslim violence."
This "let it happen" civil war, long forecasted by observers such as Scott Ritter, is simply part of the plan.
2. Anti-US violence across the Middle East, indigenous resistance to occupation, has been ongoing. The US propaganda apparatus has intentionally characterized this as "terrorism," "sectarian fanaticism," etc.
3. There is exhaustive documented proof of prisoner torture and abuse by Anglo-American forces, many years worth that the Bush administration has desperately attempted to deny—and the corporate media has purposely not reported. This brutality is standard CIA/Pentagon procedure, creatively worsened, and signed off by Bush (Alberto Gonzales). Abu Ghraib was a tip of the huge iceberg, an iceberg that includes the massacre of (uncounted) thousands. It appears that the Koran-flushing incident (another tiny tip of the iceberg) has been singled out in order to provide the American public with an explanation (other than the truth) for the expanding violence from the Iraqi resistance, and rage across the Middle East. This is an example of a "limited hangout."
4. Just as other scandals (such as the Dan Rather/CBS/Bush story) have been twisted, co-opted and turned by the Bush media manipulation army of Karl Rove, Newsweek and Michael Isikoff are being blamed for fabricating the story, resulting in a dubious retraction. The Bush forces have decided to cast the right-wing mainstream corporate media in the role of the patsy—"liberal"-bashing on steroids. The resulting backlash against the so-called "liberal" media will totally shut down what little reporting is done by reporters, and push an already right-wing corporate media (that already functions as "embedded" Pentagon stenographers) even further into US government control (if that is possible). Again, as the war expands and deepens, so must control of information.
5. Even as the likes of Rumsfeld are taking advantage of this propaganda twist to create a furious noise—to drown out the truth about the US occupation (and resistance to it) and deflect blame—all the evidence of torture sits there like a pile of stinking garbage. The rest of the world is not fooled. The angry masses in the Middle East certainly are not fooled.
There has never been a more critical moment to ignore the myriad distractions and noise, and the Bush administration smoke.
The US wants Iraq's oil, to hell with the rest (literally). The US will attack Iran, if not unilaterally, then in concert with its proxies. The US must execute its geostrategy in every region, and flush the entire world down the toilet.
Unable to exert its control of Iraq, unable to stop resistance to its illegal occupation, and desperate to move US forces in preparation for the coming war in Iran, the Bush administration has pulled out all the stops:
1. As Mike Ruppert writes in From The Wilderness:
"As we have so clearly said in FTW and in 'Crossing the Rubicon,' the intent of the neocons has always been to create a civil war in Iraq. Why? With the country eventually carved up like Yugoslavia into much smaller regions the demands on the US military will be greatly decreased. After all, the only thing we really want to protect is the oil which runs in a thin sliver of land from Basra in the south to Kurdish-controlled areas around Mosul in the north. As far as Dick Cheney is concerned, the rest of the "brown" people can kill themselves. We are after all overpopulated, aren't we? The fact is that the civil war is already underway. The dramatic increase in bombings and attacks reflects not just attacks on the US military, but Muslim on Muslim violence."
This "let it happen" civil war, long forecasted by observers such as Scott Ritter, is simply part of the plan.
2. Anti-US violence across the Middle East, indigenous resistance to occupation, has been ongoing. The US propaganda apparatus has intentionally characterized this as "terrorism," "sectarian fanaticism," etc.
3. There is exhaustive documented proof of prisoner torture and abuse by Anglo-American forces, many years worth that the Bush administration has desperately attempted to deny—and the corporate media has purposely not reported. This brutality is standard CIA/Pentagon procedure, creatively worsened, and signed off by Bush (Alberto Gonzales). Abu Ghraib was a tip of the huge iceberg, an iceberg that includes the massacre of (uncounted) thousands. It appears that the Koran-flushing incident (another tiny tip of the iceberg) has been singled out in order to provide the American public with an explanation (other than the truth) for the expanding violence from the Iraqi resistance, and rage across the Middle East. This is an example of a "limited hangout."
4. Just as other scandals (such as the Dan Rather/CBS/Bush story) have been twisted, co-opted and turned by the Bush media manipulation army of Karl Rove, Newsweek and Michael Isikoff are being blamed for fabricating the story, resulting in a dubious retraction. The Bush forces have decided to cast the right-wing mainstream corporate media in the role of the patsy—"liberal"-bashing on steroids. The resulting backlash against the so-called "liberal" media will totally shut down what little reporting is done by reporters, and push an already right-wing corporate media (that already functions as "embedded" Pentagon stenographers) even further into US government control (if that is possible). Again, as the war expands and deepens, so must control of information.
5. Even as the likes of Rumsfeld are taking advantage of this propaganda twist to create a furious noise—to drown out the truth about the US occupation (and resistance to it) and deflect blame—all the evidence of torture sits there like a pile of stinking garbage. The rest of the world is not fooled. The angry masses in the Middle East certainly are not fooled.
There has never been a more critical moment to ignore the myriad distractions and noise, and the Bush administration smoke.
The US wants Iraq's oil, to hell with the rest (literally). The US will attack Iran, if not unilaterally, then in concert with its proxies. The US must execute its geostrategy in every region, and flush the entire world down the toilet.
Wednesday, May 11, 2005
24: the popular face of Bush murder and terrorism
The mindset of a society is often exemplified by its popular entertainment. Unfortunately for the world today, the finest example of America's post-9/11 love of imperialism and Bush-CIA/US aggression is the Fox (Rupert Murdoch) television series 24.
From its breathless “kill Arabs before they do another 9/11” time bomb storyline, to its ultra-racist depictions of Muslims (and Chinese), and the program's enthusiastic embrace of torture (a nod to Alberto Gonzales), it is no less than Bush administration “war on terrorism” paranoia and propaganda on steroids, spitting poison from its fangs, and fanning the violent pro-war mob mentality of an ignorant American populace like the best Karl Rove program.
This season's 24 storyline is a Dick Cheney/Donald Rumsfeld wet dream: Islamic “terrorists” colluding with Chinese “terrorists”, threatening the United States with nuclear annihilation, and “all hell breaking loose”. It is this exact wet dream that the Bush administration's criminals are provoking with its policies. Months from now, fans of 24 may look back and think, stupidly, “Wow, this is just like the show”.
This thorough analysis of 24 should be read in its entirety:
Fox's 24:propaganda thinly disguised as television programming
The piece details how 24 is indeed a favorite among Bush neocons, such as Daniel Pipes, and how the show's creators, producers and writers militantly promote the Bush war at every turn. In response to criticism from the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) about the program's racist stereotyping, Fox officials had actor Kiefer Sutherland (who plays the asinine counter-terrorist Jack Bauer) read the following non-apology:
“While terrorism is obviously one of the most critical challenges facing our nation and the world, it's important to recognize that the American Muslim community stands firmly beside their fellow Americans in denouncing and resisting terrorism in every form.”
As the WSWS piece notes, “The statement as presented by Sutherland actually contains a not-so-subtle message about Islamic or Arab Americans or even any other Americans who oppose the war on terror, and recognize it as a cover for the brutal agenda of US imperialism at home and abroad.” In essence, the Bush crime empire, through the Fox network, has issued a threat to all individuals who believe in the rule of law, who believe in true law and order.
Post-9/11, Pentagon interference in American film production and Bush administration/CIA involvement in Hollywood productions have been direct, and rampant. Not surprisingly, Hollywood has churned out a loud and steady stream of “anti-terrorism”, pro-CIA travesties such as “Spy Games,” and pro-US/anti-everyone else deceptions such as “Black Hawk Down” and “Hotel Rwanda.” So complete is government control that, unlike previous periods, there are no critical depictions of the US government to be found anywhere in the American entertainment world.
In coming weeks, Americans will be subject to such imperialist fare as “Kingdom of Heaven,” an “action” film about the Crusades, in which Christians will wholesale slaughter followers of Islam (sure to be a favorite among Bush's Christian Reconstructionist theocrats), and Steven Spielberg's “Into the West,” a glorification of American manifest destiny, featuring the wholesale slaughter of Native Americans, gorgeously filmed.
Enjoy the bloodshed, America.
From its breathless “kill Arabs before they do another 9/11” time bomb storyline, to its ultra-racist depictions of Muslims (and Chinese), and the program's enthusiastic embrace of torture (a nod to Alberto Gonzales), it is no less than Bush administration “war on terrorism” paranoia and propaganda on steroids, spitting poison from its fangs, and fanning the violent pro-war mob mentality of an ignorant American populace like the best Karl Rove program.
This season's 24 storyline is a Dick Cheney/Donald Rumsfeld wet dream: Islamic “terrorists” colluding with Chinese “terrorists”, threatening the United States with nuclear annihilation, and “all hell breaking loose”. It is this exact wet dream that the Bush administration's criminals are provoking with its policies. Months from now, fans of 24 may look back and think, stupidly, “Wow, this is just like the show”.
This thorough analysis of 24 should be read in its entirety:
Fox's 24:propaganda thinly disguised as television programming
The piece details how 24 is indeed a favorite among Bush neocons, such as Daniel Pipes, and how the show's creators, producers and writers militantly promote the Bush war at every turn. In response to criticism from the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) about the program's racist stereotyping, Fox officials had actor Kiefer Sutherland (who plays the asinine counter-terrorist Jack Bauer) read the following non-apology:
“While terrorism is obviously one of the most critical challenges facing our nation and the world, it's important to recognize that the American Muslim community stands firmly beside their fellow Americans in denouncing and resisting terrorism in every form.”
As the WSWS piece notes, “The statement as presented by Sutherland actually contains a not-so-subtle message about Islamic or Arab Americans or even any other Americans who oppose the war on terror, and recognize it as a cover for the brutal agenda of US imperialism at home and abroad.” In essence, the Bush crime empire, through the Fox network, has issued a threat to all individuals who believe in the rule of law, who believe in true law and order.
Post-9/11, Pentagon interference in American film production and Bush administration/CIA involvement in Hollywood productions have been direct, and rampant. Not surprisingly, Hollywood has churned out a loud and steady stream of “anti-terrorism”, pro-CIA travesties such as “Spy Games,” and pro-US/anti-everyone else deceptions such as “Black Hawk Down” and “Hotel Rwanda.” So complete is government control that, unlike previous periods, there are no critical depictions of the US government to be found anywhere in the American entertainment world.
In coming weeks, Americans will be subject to such imperialist fare as “Kingdom of Heaven,” an “action” film about the Crusades, in which Christians will wholesale slaughter followers of Islam (sure to be a favorite among Bush's Christian Reconstructionist theocrats), and Steven Spielberg's “Into the West,” a glorification of American manifest destiny, featuring the wholesale slaughter of Native Americans, gorgeously filmed.
Enjoy the bloodshed, America.
