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Deconstructing Neocon Propaganda on Terrorism

Deconstructing Neocon Propaganda on Terrorism

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A must read: “The Clash of Civilizations Doesn’t Exist… Yet” by Joshua Holland, AlterNet. Posted September 1, 2006.

The neocons who are pushing a Clash of Civilizations are mirror-images of the terrorists that inspire their hyperbolic fear — they are just as irrational and just as great a threat to our security.

To the extent that some terrorist groups have recently turned their eyes to us, it’s not a matter of hating our freedoms or our women’s bare shoulders. It’s because we’ve supported many of those repressive regimes — often with troops on the ground — from Indonesia to Iran.

Consider this: in the epic struggle between East and West, some of our staunchest allies are the undisputed champs in spreading violent Islamic extremism. Saudi Arabia and Pakistan established fundamentalist, anti-Western madrassas all across the world, funneled gobs of cash to extremist groups, and nurtured and supported them in their infancy. It wasn’t just random individuals within those countries; Saudi Arabia made it a foreign policy priority to spread its brand of Wahhabism, mostly to counter the perceived threat of Pan-Arabism and other anti-colonial ideologies. Pakistan’s intelligence service, the ISI — sometimes called a “state within a state” — not only supported the Taliban in Afghanistan but funded, equipped and helped train some of the most notorious terror groups that grew out of that country in the 1990s. Talk all you want about Syria and Iran supporting Hezbollah, these are the great terror-sponsoring states, and they’re on the side of the Western democracies.

What’s more, the West isn’t all that unified in this great existential struggle to save itself from destruction. A recent poll of citizens in the United Kingdom, our most loyal ally and a country that largely believes the Clash of Civilizations meme, found that — “by a margin of more than five to one — the public wants Tony Blair to split from President George W. Bush and either go it alone in the ‘war on terror’, or work more closely with Europe.” Just 14 per cent believed “Britain should continue to align itself with America.” A Pew Global Attitudes survey in June found that in Spain, supposedly a target of “Islamic Imperialism” and the victim of one of the most spectacular terror attacks ever, “four times as many people oppose the war on terror as support it (76 percent to 19 percent).”

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Grassroots Activist Actions of Day

Grassroots Activist Actions of Day

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Don’t Block Our Voices

You elected them! They represent you! Yet some lawmakers don’t want to hear from you anymore and have set up technology to block your messages! Not long ago, Congressional offices started to adopt new technology that blocks emails sent through organizational websites. More than 100 nonprofit organizations responded with a resounding “No!” and now it’s your turn.

Tell Congress not to block your communications to them
(Consumers Union)

Don’t Weaken Identity Theft Protections

The House may vote soon on federal proposals that may limit your state’s ability to better protect you against identity theft. Incredibly, this bill would let companies that lose your sensitive information decide whether to tell you about it. That means companies could leave you in the dark when they fail to keep your personal information protected. The bill also would make you wait until after you’ve become a victim of identity theft to freeze access to your credit files to stop crooks from opening fraudulent accounts in your name. Most states that have adopted security freeze laws let consumers exercise this right before the damage is done.

Tell Congress this is unacceptable, and that you want strong identity theft protections!
(Consumers Union)

Don’t Block Our Internet Access to Content and Services
The House recently voted against preserving the open nature of the Internet; but this week a Senate committee will vote on whether to preserve Internet freedom. Tell the Senate to vote to prevent the cable and phone companies who own the Internet’s pipes and wires from impairing or blocking your access to Internet services and content.

Act now.
(Consumers Union)

Shame on You Verizon Wireless
A federal Administrative Law Judge recently found that Verizon Wireless illegally disciplined a pro-union worker and interfered with employees’ rights to form or support a union. And Verizon Wireless workers say the company used “scare tactics” and intimidation to prevent employees from joining unions. Verizon Wireless forced its employees to do its dirty work—a federal investigation revealed a company rule requiring employees to report all union activity at their worksite, as part of the company’s national “Emergency Procedures.” And in an action reminiscent of Wal-Mart’s closure of a Quebec store when its employees formed a union, Verizon Wireless shut down a call center after its employees moved closer to getting their union. Verizon Wireless’ top competitor—Cingular Wireless—honors its employees’ wishes if they choose to form a union. Even employees at Verizon’s landline division have union representation—65,000 of them, in fact! Verizon Wireless workers simply desire what their colleagues have—the right to have a say in their working conditions, some job security, and protection from unfair treatment and firings.

Tell Verizon Wireless to Stop Interfering With Employees Who Want To Form Unions
(American Rights at Work)

Here We Go Again! Stop Big Media from Eliminating the Cross-Ownership Limitations
The Federal Communications Commission and industry lobbyists are trying to let huge media companies get even bigger by resurrecting the same rule changes that millions of Americans rejected in 2003. FCC Chairman Kevin Martin — backed by the biggest media giants — is angling to eliminate the newspaper-broadcast “cross-ownership” ban that prevents a single conglomerate from owning the major daily newspaper as well as radio and TV stations in a single market. And he wants to lift local ownership caps on how many TV stations one company can own in your town. If these rule changes were approved, one company could own the major paper, eight radio stations and three television stations in the same city. A handful of huge companies already control nearly all of the media in America. Such concentration destroys local news, sidelines dissenting views, and stifles competition. When we allow one company to own everything, we lose the diversity of views that is the lifeblood of our democracy. If he prevails, we will see the further demise of local news, independent voices and critical journalism. In 2003, your letters and calls stopped this nonsense. Now we need to do it again.

Tell the FCC that Big Media is Big Enough
(Stop Big Media)

Stop the Slash and Burn of Reserve Wetlands

The Bush administration has announced plans to sell oil and gas leases on long-protected wildlife habitat in Alaska’s Western Arctic Reserve as early as this September. Nestled in the northeastern corner of the reserve, the sensitive wetlands surrounding Lake Teshekpuk provide a pristine nesting area for tens of thousands of migratory birds, and calving grounds for the 46,000-member Teshekpuk Lake caribou herd. But the Bush administration would strip the area of federal protections and allow oil giants such as ConocoPhillips to destroy this Arctic sanctuary with gravel mines, roads, drill pads, pipelines and processing facilities.

Tell Interior Secretary Kempthorne to halt the September lease sale.
(Save BioGems)

Support Women’s Rights in Afghanistan
As the Taliban militia returns and increases its violent attacks against women to prevent them from exercising their rights, we must urge Congress to support organizations that promote and protect women’s rights and the women-led nonprofits that provide urgently needed assistance to women and girls.

Take Action
(Feminist Majority/Democracy in Action)

Not Just a Few Bad Apples

Not Just a Few Bad Apples

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ACLU Reveals New Evidence that Government Knew Abuse was Widespread Before Abu Ghraib Photos –

OK, we knew that just by following the tracks of Bush’s legal team…

Still, here’s some more proof for you.

Torture is UnAmerican. Sign the petition.

Army Documents Show Senior Official Reportedly Pushed Limits on Detainee Interrogations (5/2/2006)

NEW YORK — New Army documents released by the American Civil Liberties Union today reveal that Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez ordered interrogators to “go to the outer limits” to get information from detainees. The documents also show that senior government officials were aware of abuse in Iraq and Afghanistan before the Abu Ghraib scandal broke.

“When our leaders allow and even encourage abuse at the ‘outer limits’, America suffers,” said Anthony D. Romero, ACLU Executive Director. “A nation that works to bring freedom and liberty to other parts of the world shouldn’t stomach brutality and inhumanity within its ranks. This abuse of power was engineered and accepted at the highest levels of our government.”

Among the documents released today by the ACLU is a May 19, 2004 Defense Intelligence Agency document implicating Sanchez in potentially abusive interrogation techniques. In the document, an officer in charge of a team of interrogators stated that there was a 35-page order spelling out the rules of engagement that interrogators were supposed to follow, and that they were encouraged to “go to the outer limits to get information from the detainees by people who wanted the information.” When asked to whom the officer was referring, the officer answered “LTG Sanchez.” The officer stated that the expectation coming from “Headquarters” was to break the detainees.

The ACLU also released an Information Paper entitled “Allegations of Detainee Abuse in Iraq and Afghanistan” dated April 2, 2004, two weeks before the world saw the pictures of torture at Abu Ghraib prison. The paper outlined the status of 62 investigations of detainee abuse and detainee deaths. Cases include assaults, punching, kicking and beatings, mock executions, sexual assault of a female detainee, threatening to kill an Iraqi child to “send a message to other Iraqis,” stripping detainees, beating them and shocking them with a blasting device, throwing rocks at handcuffed Iraqi children, choking detainees with knots of their scarves and interrogations at gunpoint.

The ACLU said the document makes clear that while President Bush and other officials assured the world that what occurred at Abu Ghraib was the work of “a few bad apples,” the government knew that abuse was happening in numerous facilities in Iraq and Afghanistan. Of the 62 cases being investigated at the time, at least 26 involved detainee deaths. Some of the cases had already gone through a court-martial proceeding. The abuses went beyond Abu Ghraib, and touched Camp Cropper, Camp Bucca and other detention centers in Mosul, Samarra, Baghdad, Tikrit, as well as Orgun-E in Afghanistan.

“These documents are further proof that the abuse of detainees was widespread and systemic, and not aberrational,” said Amrit Singh, a staff attorney with the ACLU Immigrants’ Rights Project. “We know that senior officials endorsed this abuse, but these officials have yet to be held accountable.”

Last week, the government authenticated that two videos released by the Palm Beach Post in March 2005 were videos that the government was withholding from the ACLU’s Freedom of Information Act request. The videos are part of a set that has come to be known as the “Ramadi Madness” videos and were made by members of the West Palm Beach-based Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 124th Infantry Regiment. The two scenes the government authenticated are called “See Haj Run” and “Blood Clot.” They depict scenes of urban battle and persons being captured and detained by U.S. forces.

Among the more than 9,000 pages of Defense Department documents made public by the ACLU today are several investigations detailing cruel and degrading treatment and killings. The investigations include:

  • An investigation into the death of a detainee at Forward Operating Base Rifles near Al Asad, Iraq established probable cause to believe that several soldiers assaulted a detainee and committed negligent homicide, and conspired to cover up the death. The detainee died when a soldier lifted him up from the floor by placing a baton under his chin, fracturing his hyoid bone. It appears that the soldiers received written letters of reprimand and counseling. The full document is online at www.aclu.org/projects/foiasearch/pdf/DOD049269.pdf
  • A heavily redacted e-mail dated May 25, 2004 shows that a presumed officer or civilian government official was told of three reports of abuse of detainees described as “probably true/valid.” One detainee was “in such poor physical shape from obvious beatings that [name redacted] asked the MP’s to note his condition before he proceeded with interrogation.” Another detainee was “in such bad shape … that he was laying down in his own feces.” These cases seem to have occurred in Abu Ghraib and Camp Cropper. The full document is online at www.aclu.org/projects/foiasearch/pdf/DODDIA000208.pdf
  • An investigation shows a doctor cleared a detainee for further interrogations, despite claims he had been beaten and shocked with a taser. The medic confirmed that the detainee’s injuries were consistent with his allegations, stating, “Everything he described he had on his body.” Yet, the medic cleared him for further interrogation, giving him Tylenol for the pain. There is no indication that the medic reported this abuse. The full document is online at www.aclu.org/projects/foiasearch/pdf/DOD052120.pdf

Today’s documents come in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request filed by the ACLU, the Center for Constitutional Rights, Physicians for Human Rights, Veterans for Common Sense and Veterans for Peace. The New York Civil Liberties Union is co-counsel in the case.

To date, more than 100,000 pages of government documents have been released detailing the torture and abuse of detainees. The ACLU recently launched a new powerful search engine for the public to access the documents at www.aclu.org/torturefoiasearch. The search engine allows people to uncover details about abuse that may not have been reported in the media, said the ACLU.

The FOIA lawsuit is being handled by Lawrence Lustberg and Megan Lewis of the New Jersey-based law firm Gibbons, Del Deo, Dolan, Griffinger & Vecchione, P.C. Other attorneys in the case are Amrit Singh, Jameel Jaffer and Judy Rabinovitz of the ACLU; Arthur Eisenberg and Beth Haroules of the NYCLU; and Barbara Olshansky of the Center for Constitutional Rights.

The documents released today are available online at: action.aclu.org/torturefoia/released/050206/

Expanding Prison Camps and Adding Troops

Expanding Prison Camps and Adding Troops

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BBC News Aug 18

Rolling in more troops for prison security, taking in more prisoners, building yet another prison camp.

As the insurgency continues, there are now nearly 11,000 prisoners in major US-run detention centres – twice as many as last September. US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said last month he would like to give Iraq’s government full responsibility for detainees as soon as was feasible. But the US has offered no timetable for such a handover.

A Pentagon spokesman, Air Force Lt-Col John Skinner, said detention operations in Iraq were expanding. The battalion, from the division’s 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, will be deployed to Iraq over the next two months, Pentagon officials said on Wednesday. It has already served once in Iraq, from September 2003 to April 2004, and before that in Afghanistan. The troops are being prepared to perform duties such as providing security around prison compounds and for transportation of prisoners.

PRISON CAPACITY

Abu Ghraib – expanded to house 4,000
Camp Bucca – 6,000, to take an extra 1,400
Camp Cropper – 100, to take 2,000 more
Fort Suse – to take 2,000

A fourth facility at Fort Suse in the Kurdish city of Suleimaniya, 330km (205 miles) north of Baghdad, is expected to be completed next month. The three older prisons are being expanded.

The $50m (£28m) construction programme, announced in June, will eventually allow the US to hold 16,000 prisoners.

NION – Bush Crimes Against Humanity

NION – Bush Crimes Against Humanity

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No election, whether fair or fraudulent, can legitimize criminal wars on foreign countries, torture, the wholesale violation of human rights, and the end of science and reason.

Not in Our Name has announced that they will be sponsoring an International Commission of Inquiry on Crimes Against Humanity Committed by the Bush Administration.

As the charter for the commission states, “When the possibility of far-reaching war crimes and crimes against humanity exists, people of conscience have a solemn responsibility to inquire into the nature and scope of these acts and to determine if they do in fact rise to the level of war crimes and crimes against humanity.”

The commission will meet in New York in October and will consider evidence on four specific issues:

  1. Wars of Aggression, with particular reference to the invasions and occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan.
  2. Torture and Indefinite Detention, with particular reference to the abandonment of international standards concerning the treatment of prisoners of war and the use of torture.
  3. Destruction of the Global Environment, with particular reference to systematic policies contributing to the catastrophic effects of global warming.
  4. Attacks on Global Public Health and Reproductive Rights, with particular reference to the genocidal effects of forcing international agencies to promote “abstinence only” in the midst of a global AIDS epidemic.
Provocative Questions

Provocative Questions

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Dennis Rahkonen (‘The Republican Wile E. Coyote‘, 6-27-05) thinks that Durbin’s apology was unwise. In his view, we should perhaps be making more actual historical comparisions between this administration and that of Hitler’s Germany. Here are some starter questions for eager researchers…

Did German motorists have “Support Our Troops” ribbons on their Volkswagens in 1943?

Did conservatives loyal to Hitler pooh-pooh reports of Jews being abused in concentration camps in the same way neocon Bush backers blithely dismiss documentation by Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and even the FBI that Muslims are being routinely abused at U.S. detention centers in Afghanistan, Iraq and Cuba?

Did they actually believe the contrived pretext for the Wehrmacht’s assault on Poland? (Nazi provocateurs dressed in Polish military uniforms “attacked” German border posts and a German radio station.)

Was there a German entertainer like Toby Keith who rallied backing for the official cause with jingoistic, xenophobic phonograph recordings?

When news of Guernica, Lidice and the Warsaw Ghetto reached the German masses, were they any less propagandized about what really happened there then we are about Fallujah?

Was the German press as craven in refusing to criticize Hitler’s purpose as the American media are in failing to seriously challenge George Bush?

Finally, will history and humankind accord his despicable war for oil and hegemony any kinder status than they have for the crimes of the Third Reich?