Winning Hearts & Minds

‘Carrying the Future’ in Afghanistan

"The rest of the world does resist. It does not want our propagandistic textbooks, it does not want our drones, it does not want our support of radical Islamists, it does not want our soldiers, and it does not want our diplomats or NGOs engaging in all manner of manipulation of domestic affairs overseas. Sadly, until young Americans like this foreign service officer start to question the mythologies spouted by politicians and duly amplified by the corporate media about the indispensability of the US 'carrying the future,' there will be many more unnecessary deaths -- on all sides." Continue reading →

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The UN Declares War on Katanga — Again

"With the backing of both the U.S. and the Soviet Union, UN military forces were deployed to Katanga, where they carried out bloody punitive actions that killed scores of innocent people and prompted a widespread international outcry. A British inquiry documented acts of rape, plunder, and terrorism committed by multinational Blue Helmet forces. Echoes of the UN’s war to suppress Katanga five decades ago were heard last week when the UN Security Council passed a Chapter Seven resolution – the world body’s equivalent of a declaration of war – authorizing the deployment of a multinational military brigade to disarm and “neutralize” rebel groups in Congo." Continue reading →

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Military Presentation Labels Evangelicals, Catholics as ‘Religious Extremism’

"The incident occurred during an Army Reserve Equal Opportunity training brief on extremism. Topping the list is Evangelical Christianity. Other organizations listed included Catholicism, Al Qaeda, Hamas, the Ku Klux Klan, Sunni Muslims, and Nation of Islam. The military also listed 'Islamophobia' as a form of religious extremism. Army spokesman George Wright told Fox News that the briefing happened last year and is just now coming to light. This was an 'isolated incident not condoned by the Dept. of the Army,' he said." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMilitary Presentation Labels Evangelicals, Catholics as ‘Religious Extremism’

New Poll Finds 86 Percent Of Americans Don’t Want To Have A Country Anymore [2006]

"Among the 86 percent of poll respondents who were in favor of discontinuing the nation, the most frequently cited reasons were a lack of significant results from the current democratic process (36 percent), dissatisfaction with customer service (28 percent), and exhaustion (22 percent). Of those who were against maintaining an American nation, 77 percent said they believe that having a country is 'counter to the best interests of Americans.' Twelve percent said 'the time and effort citizens spend on the country could be better spent elsewhere,' and 8 percent said they just didn't care." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNew Poll Finds 86 Percent Of Americans Don’t Want To Have A Country Anymore [2006]

World War II bomb found near Berlin’s main train station

"An unexploded World War II bomb has been unearthed near Berlin’s main train station, risking possible disruptions to rail and road traffic, authorities said Wednesday. 'The bomb was found yesterday afternoon on property belonging to the rail company,' a police spokesman told AFP, adding that the 100-kilogramme (220-pound) explosive was dropped by the Allies during the Second World War. More than six decades after the war, authorities believe there are still some 3,000 bombs buried beneath Berlin alone, and unexploded devices are regularly discovered in construction work." Continue reading →

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Army: Drone strike ‘condolence payments’ for targets killed ‘an expression of sympathy’

"There’s little documentation of where and how such payments are being made. The government has released almost no information on civilian casualties sustained in drone strikes conducted by the CIA and the military in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia. Officials maintain they have been 'in the single digits' in recent years, while independent researchers put the total for the past decade in the hundreds. Certainly, though, drone strikes and condolence payments make for a striking match: The technological apex of war combined with an age-old method of compensating loss." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingArmy: Drone strike ‘condolence payments’ for targets killed ‘an expression of sympathy’

Glenn Greenwald: The message sent by America’s invisible victims

"The most propagandistic aspect of the US War on Terror has been, and remains, that its victims are rendered invisible and voiceless. They are almost never named by newspapers. They and their surviving family members are virtually never heard from on television. The Bush and Obama DOJs have collaborated with federal judges to ensure that even those who everyone admits are completely innocent have no access to American courts and thus no means of having their stories heard or their rights vindicated. Radical secrecy theories and escalating attacks on whistleblowers push these victims further into the dark." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGlenn Greenwald: The message sent by America’s invisible victims

UN human rights chief slams failure to shut Guantanamo

"Washington is breaking international law by holding detainees indefinitely at Guantanamo and must honour a pledge to shut the controversial jail, the UN’s human rights chief said. 'The continuing indefinite incarceration of many of the detainees amounts to arbitrary detention and is in clear breach of international law. It severely undermines the United States’ stance that it is an upholder of human rights… When other countries breach these standards, the US — quite rightly — strongly criticises them for it.' The jail, in a US Navy base in Cuba, was opened in 2002 to hold prisoners taken in the 'War on Terror' waged by George W. Bush after the 9/11 attacks." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingUN human rights chief slams failure to shut Guantanamo

Why Is the U.S. Funding International Drug Rehabs Known for Torture and Abuse?

"Children are not exempt from indefinite detainment in these camps. UNICEF-sponsored investigations in Laos found 150 detainees under 18 in 2003, and more than 600 children in 2006. Despite calls from human rights organizations, the United States has continued to pump money into the Somsanga Rehabilitation Center. In March of last year, 12 United Nations agencies, including the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the World Health Organization, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and UNAIDS, issued a joint statement calling for the closure of drug-user detention centers where they identified grave human rights violations." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWhy Is the U.S. Funding International Drug Rehabs Known for Torture and Abuse?

Guatemala’s president: ‘My country bears the scars from the war on drugs’

"This is often the problem with the war on drugs: shifting the problem from one region to another. The transit nations are now recognised as a distinct set of countries caught in the war on drugs. As they produce and consume few drugs they are among the more innocent victims. But now they have a bullish and vociferous spokesperson in Guatemala’s president, Otto Pérez Molina. A previously hardline director of military intelligence, Pérez Molina became president a year ago. He surprised many when, within weeks, he declared that the war on drugs had failed and that the international community needed to end the 'taboo' of debating decriminalisation." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGuatemala’s president: ‘My country bears the scars from the war on drugs’