The 36-foot-long Reapers are each the size of a jetfighter, can fly about 16 hours, and can carry a dozen guided bombs and missiles. They are built with laser and radar targeting. (US Air Force via Associated Press/ File)."
Giraffes have returned to southern Sudan since the war ended. It is now the site of one of the largest mammal migrations. (Miguel Juarez/ Washington Post)."
A woman injured during a suicide bomb attack at the base for the African Union’s peacekeepers in Mogadishu was carried by a relative on the way to a hospital yesterday. Leaders of the Islamist group Shabab claimed responsibility for the attack. (Farah Abdi Warsameh/Associated Press)."
Displaced Somalis demonstrated against reduced relief food distribution at a camp outside of Mogadishu. (Feisal Omar/Reuters).
Villagers looked at the remains of a house belonging to supporters of Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud in Dera Ismail Khan, Pakistan. Reports of Mehsud’s death were unconfirmed. (Ishtiaq Mehsud/Associated Press)
Children took refuge yesterday in a police office after clashes between security forces and Islamist radicals in Maiduguri. Fighting in the northern Nigerian city raged for a second day. (Pius Utomi Ekpei/AFP/Getty Images)
Somali women who have been forced from their homes by violence in Mogadishu protested the lack of water near a camp for internally displaced people. (Mohamed Dahir/ AFP/ Getty Images)
Only craters and rubble remain of the Khazna village near Mosul after truck bombs exploded yesterday as residents slept. (Khalid Al-Mousuly/ Reuters)
Followers of radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, seen on a poster at center, attended prayers in Baghdad yesterday. (KARIM KADIM/ASSOCIATED PRESS)
This undated photo showed Lynndie England holding a leash connected to a naked detainee at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. (Washington Post/ File)
Josh Habib (far left), a 53-year-old translator, along with two Marines, spoke to Afghan villagers. He has hiked in extreme heat, and said this is not the job he signed up for. (David Guttenfelder/Associated Press)
An egg seller in Kabul stood by a campaign billboard yesterday for President Hamid Karzai. A recent poll financed by the US government indicated that the race was tightening. (Paula Bronstein/ Getty Images)
A U.S. soldier reacts after a suicide car bomb explosion which occurred near the main gate of NATO's headquarters in Kabul, Afghanistan, Saturday Aug. 15, 2009. (AP Photo/Saurabh Das7 die, 91 wounded in blast near NATO HQ in Kabul)
--Gaza children shatter world record--"
Bai Yun (right) is pregnant again. The 17-year-old panda has given birth to four cubs since arriving at the San Diego Zoo. (Associated Press/ File 2007)
Given that a U.S.-sponsored coup is underway and everywhere in the media, I especially liked this one:
And here is something that may surprise you given the war-promoting demonization of the Iranians:
"As he concluded his sermon, Khamenei invoked the names of Shiite saints and began weeping."
What the hell is wrong with the Iranians? They actually have leaders that feel?
And here is a forgotten group of people you haven't heard much about lately:
In fact, the main trouble in the region is coming from the "rebels [who] rose in 2003." The unspoken reason why Eastern Africa is such a mess? The Israeli weapons-smuggling ring that the Somali pirates exposed with their taking of the Faina.
Speaking of Somalia:
Strange how the "terrorists" show up right after a peace deal, huh?
Btw, readers, Somalia is worse than Darfur but you would never know it from the MSM of AmeriKa.
That was after the U.S. called in Ethiopian troops to overthrow the security-bringing Islamists.
Don't hear much about those war crimes, do you?
Okay, on to the "HOT" WARS....
This photo not as colorful:
A boy whose house was destroyed by a US airstrike carried what was left of his belongings. Deadly airstrikes have prompted calls for better training to reduce civilian casualties. (Fraidoon Pooyaa/ Associated Press/File)
How would you like your mud-brick house to be flattened by "an Air Force B-1 dropped a 2,000-pound bomb.... troops called in F-18 fighter jet air strikes as well?"
And expect more of this because,
"the report does not recommend changes in tactics and procedures used in Afghanistan.... and the [chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen] has already said there is no reason to punish any US personnel."
No, the U.S. never punishes anyone for war crimes; that's only for the other guy.
And then the gall of the military to say that
"other recommendations include improving the military’s ability to get its side of the story in front of Afghans faster, something commanders say is frustratingly difficult. The US should be “first with the truth,’’ the report said."
Then start telling the truth about 9/11, the standdown orders, and war games.
And suddenly the Twitter phenomenon sure makes a lot of sense, doesn't it?
Didn't know they were up in Afghanistan, did you?
"A team based in Kabul will update and maintain the sites.... US troops already scour websites, respond to questions from individuals, and rebut what the military considers to be false information."
That's with YOUR TAX DOLLARS, America -- so your own government can run a propaganda operation on you.
Aren't the MSM newspapers enough? (Oh, right, no one is purchasing or reading them these days because of the atrocious journalism and out right lies).
Related: Twitter and Life in the Shitter.
Now watch this for true information, not military lies:
"The footage you are about to see is poignant, heart-wrenching, and often a direct result of U.S. foreign policy. In order to help the refugees whose lives have been shattered by U.S. foreign policy and military attacks, please provide aid through the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan. For more on Afghan civilian casualties, watch Director Robert Greenwald on MSNBC's The Ed Show.
Watch: VIDEO
Also related: Air strike on Afghanistan — an eyewitness account
How about next door?
Children queueing with their parents at a food distribution centre in Manyar, a town under curfew in the Swat valley. Photograph: Declan Walsh)
Of course, let us not forget the American costs, as much as the MSM would like us to forget:
"at least 4,316 members of the US military have died in Iraq since the war began in March 2003"
Yup, the cost of ZIONIST WAR LIES!
Let's not forget the Iraqis, either:
Ever notice that "Al-CIA-Duh" shows up just when the U.S. needs them (or relaxes the violence, as the case may be)?
Add some more lives to the over over one million (must be two million by now) Iraqis dead from this invasion and occupation.
And a people I will NEVER FORGET:
.... They want you to forget:
Read the whole article HERE""
Meanwhile, what is the mass-murderer-in-chief doing?
President Obama worked the grill during a White House Father’s Day event for teenagers and young men. (Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images)
Oh, isn't that special as he rains down missiles on Pashtuns and other innocent men, women, and children.
As for that vaunted "change" we keep hearing about, these are only the latest backtracks as Obama morphs into George W. Bush III:
"Obama's plan would.... [extend] President Bush's 2001 and 2003 tax cuts, as well as other tax cuts that are scheduled to expire."
And in the biggest stab in the back:
"A federal judge said yesterday that he wants to look at notes from the FBI’s interview with former Vice President Dick Cheney during the investigation into who leaked the identity of a CIA operative... arguments by Obama administration lawyers that sounded much like the reasons the Bush administration provided for keeping Cheney’s interview from the public.... that future presidents and vice presidents may not cooperate with criminal investigations if they know what they say could become available to their political opponents and late-night comics who would ridicule them"
Since when do LATE NIGHT COMEDY SHOWS factor into GOVERNMENT DECISIONS?!
So Obama is defending Dick Cheney's treason now?
I don't want to hear anymore Cheney vs. Obama stories, 'kay?
Cripes, even the names are still the same: "Rice.... the US ambassador to the United Nations"
And you know what?
It's not just the Arab or Muslim kid:
Children looked at penguins in Simons Town, South Africa. Overfishing and pollution have posed a big threat to penguins. (Schalk Van Zuydam/ Associated Press)."
by ED CIACCIO
www.opednews.com
"A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death."~~Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
It's a speech known very well to advocates of peace and social justice. It's an audacious, even dangerous speech which turned many former supporters against him after he gave it, and may even have accelerated the efforts of those who felt so threatened by this audacity that they murdered him a year after he delivered it. And it's a speech that has even more resonance for us today than it did more than 40 years ago, and not merely because we will see our first African-American President inaugurated five days after what would have been Dr. King's 80th birthday.
On April 4, 1967, exactly a year before his assassination, King gave a speech -- "Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence" -- at a meeting of Clergy and Laity Concerned at Riverside Church in New York City. Clergy and Laity Concerned was one of many groups opposed to the Vietnam War. This powerful, enlightening speech contains passages which are strikingly, even eerily, more relevant to us today than when King first spoke them. Replace "Vietnam" with "Iraq and Afghanistan" and this speech is as timely as if it was given this morning. Anticipating and answering those who criticized him for speaking out against the illegal, unnecessary war on the people of Vietnam, he said:
"I knew that America would never invest the necessary funds or energies in rehabilitation of its poor so long as adventures like Vietnam continued to draw men and skills and money like some demonic destructive suction tube. So I was increasingly compelled to see the war as an enemy of the poor and to attack it as such... I knew that I could never again raise my voice against the violence of the oppressed in the ghettos without having first spoken clearly to the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today -- my own government."
"This I believe to be the privilege and the burden of all of us who deem ourselves bound by allegiances and loyalties which are broader and deeper than nationalism and which go beyond our nation's self-defined goals and positions. We are called to speak for the weak, for the voiceless, for victims of our nation and for those it calls enemy, for no document from human hands can make these humans any less our brothers."
In his 1967 speech, citing such a U.S. foreign policy, even before the term 'blowback' was widely known, King said: The "love" of which King speaks is not the sentimental, Hallmark-card variety. It is not a mushy, "bleeding-heart liberal" emotion. It is a very active verb. Its closest meaning in English is demonstrating "compassion" and "empathy" (not mere "sympathy"), two words which carry within them the meanings of putting oneself in the place of those who are suffering, of "feeling the way they feel", not just "feeling for them." Out of this compassion comes the realization not only of our literal as well as moral kinship, but of the need for justice or fairness for those suffering and oppressed, especially due to our values and our way of living. It is the basis of the Golden Rule as well as of our own Declaration of Independence.
A genuine revolution of values means in the final analysis that our loyalties must become ecumenical rather than sectional. Every nation must now develop an overriding loyalty to mankind as a whole in order to preserve the best in their individual societies. This call for a world-wide fellowship that lifts neighborly concern beyond one's tribe, race, class and nation is in reality a call for an all-embracing and unconditional love for all men. We still have a choice today; nonviolent coexistence or violent co-annihilation.
"Power devoid of love and conscience" is exactly what we in the U.S. have been blighted with for at least the past eight years, but which has also been the modus operandi of all governments, whether they call it "realpolitik" or "pragmatism," for most of human history. That is why "reform" will not suffice. That is why "a radical revolution of values is needed now, meaning "radical" in both the sense of "extreme" and "going to the root of," and "revolution" as in "overthrowing" the accepted, but continuously failing, value system of our culture.
We ignore, or choose to forget this full legacy, not only to our shame and peril, but to that of future generations.
--MORE--"
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
We're rapidly approaching our eighth consecutive wartime Christmas, and I suppose I should be used to the horror of it all by now. But no dice.
I'm not getting used to anything. Instead I'm realizing that I think of Christmas much as I think of the Glorious War On Terror.
I hate it. I wish it were over. And I wish we would never have another one.
Every aspect of Christmas during wartime strikes me as gross and disgusting and totally perverted; or perhaps I should say it strikes me as even more gross, disgusting and perverted than it does in peacetime.
This year in particular:
I do not wish to give or receive any gifts.
I do not wish to chop down any trees and bring them into my house.
I do not wish to hang any lights or ornaments.
I do not wish to buy or consume any seasonal foods or beverages.
I do not wish to host or attend any festive gatherings.
I do not wish to visit or be visited by anyone.
And I'm tired of being sneered at because none of these things appeal to me.
I feel exactly the same way about the Glorious War crimes: the noble war crimes that are still going on in Afghanistan and Iraq, the proxy war crime that is still going on in Somalia, the mostly undeclared war crime being waged against Pakistan, the threats of unprovoked war crimes against Iran and Venezuela, the clandestine war crimes being waged against most of Africa, and most of South America, and big parts of Asia, and so on, and on and on ... and that's not to mention the home front: the war against the Constitution, the war against your job, the war against your savings, and especially the war that's being waged against the truth -- not only by the government and the complicit major media but by much of the so-called "independent" media as well.I look around and I see all this and I just don't see anything worth celebrating.
It's all gross and perverted ... and the people who revel in it disgust me to no end.
I understand that there's no analytical value in any of this; it won't help anyone to overthrow any tyrants or to throw off any chains. But if you find yourself feeling exceptionally repulsed by all the festivities this Christmas, it might help you to know you're not alone.
--MORE--"
It does, WP!
Also see: Christmas And The GWOT [2]: Personal Salvation And National Destruction
Left: Squatters are occupying white farms at the onset of the Land reforms in Zimbabwe. (Land Acquisition Amendment Act 2000) The white farmers owned much of the country's best agricultural land, which they mostly attained by decree of the British Crown and military incursions.
Israel must make it clear to Hamas that it is responsible for the deterioration of the situation. Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni also stated that a large scale military offensive is a possibility in order to weaken Hamas.
The political and social engineering executed in Zimbabwe are the causes of the current collapse of the nation -- resulting in an unprecedented rate of inflation, (231,000,000%) which sees exponential augmentation hourly, rampant malnutrition and epidemic diseases that ravage the country. The ultimate aims of the European Union and the American government imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe were meant to weaken and remove the regime of President Robert Mugabe. These stifling international capital's low-level warfare are complemented by actions taken by institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, which sought to pressure and impose a government amenable to the west on the people of Zimbabwe in the name of "democratic elections." In Zimbabwe we have another case of kill and murder the people in so legal means in order to save them according to the vision of outsiders.
Left: Political liberalization and ascension do not necessarily equal economic freedom. Rhodesia, named after the British conqueror, Cecil Rhodes, became "independent" in 1980 after a long guerilla campaign led by Robert Mugabe in the 1960s and 1970s.
In 2002, the fifteen member states of the European Union decided to impose sanctions on Zimbabwe. Sanctions are war without guns and bloodshed, and have limited, if any, effectiveness for changing behavior or governments of target countries. We are now reaping the havoc of these sanctions as disease, famine races across Zimbabwe's communities with hundreds dead and thousands facing the threat of imminent death. As we witnessed in Iraq, where half million childred died as a result of sanction, these devices target to kill or injure infants, children, the elderly, and the chronically ill as well as the poor. The elite are never effected by sanctions, they are immune to the assault released upon a nation. Even if the object of these sanctions were geared toward the government it would necessarily, be the last sector to suffer because they merely redirect resources to withstand the onslaught, while the people remain defenseless.
The objective in Zimbabwe is not "democracy" and "economic recovery" nor is it the case in Gaza or Palestine in general. The extreme impetus exacted in Zimbabwe and Palestine are in light of the economic interests of capital, and to maintain the viability of those interests as well as the control of the land and the local political apparatus, which may be in a position to limit the hold of these assets. In Zimbabwe the root cause of the ire of the Capitalists was the land reform legislation promulgated by the goverment. In Gaza it is the fear and hatred of the Palestinian people's claims to their land and natural resources, which Israel asserts is embodied in Hamas--"the hostile territory and the enemy entity." But have no doubt, whichever political configuration that represents the people of Palestine would pose a danger to the long felt dreams of Zionists for a greater Israel. Therefore, any elected Palestinian government must meet the extreme prejudice of the police power of the state of Israel.
Left: Israel is imposing collective punishment on the 1.5 million Palestinians of Gaza, who continue to face chronic shortages of electricity, fuel, food and basic necessities in the context of an ongoing campaign of military violence executed by the apartheid state of Israel to bring Gaza to its knees.
Israel is using its blockade of Gaza in order to turn it into a mirror image of the decrepit state of Zimbabwe to ultimately, point the condemning finger at Hamas and claim: "See they were in control and the place went to hell with economic destitution, famine and disease. They need us to control them in order to save them from themselves." The military and economic siege instituted against Gaza are crimes against humanity. This affront against the Palestinian people in Gaza is more vile than a blitzkrieg of bombs and machine gun fire precisely, because the method destroys in a protracted and deliberate manner indiscriminately--not merely lives but reaches deep into the soul to extinguish the very human will itself.
Left: Israel retains control of Gaza's borders, coastline and airspace in a total siege and reserves the right to re-enter the territory at will. While the people are forced to live on handouts from NGOs such as the World Food Program.
The siege against Gaza physically closes the borders between Gaza and the outside world. In addition, there is a commercial siege: imports and exports are restricted and the limited amounts of products that enter Gaza are under stringent regulations. Israel has been able to mobilize its allies in the west to effectuate further pressure on the Gaza strip, stripping it bear with a capital and goods embargo. The cut off of water supplies, electricity and basic essential elements that farmers, hospitals and manufacturers need are causing many deaths and injuries. These encroachments have led to many hardships among the Palestinians. Moreover, the Israeli missile attacks carry on uninterrupted and continue to cause massive destruction and death. Not only do the Israelis kill civilians, they also destroy the agricultural fields and houses and other needed infrastructure such as power plants, sewage facilities and water resources -- these are war crimes and the world remains silent because the world bodies that could intervene are controlled by Israel and her allies. The Israelis feel the Gaza capitulation is a fait accomplit -- they are prepping Gaza for a final blow in an imminent invasion. Ostensibly, the government of Israel will install a favorable administration in the wake of Hamas, which will facilitate their rape and expansion in the long view of a greater Israel. All in all, the situation in Gaza is horrific and getting worse all the time.
Various justifications and ploys have been used by foreign colonial elites throughout recent history in order to manipulate the political and social landscape to marshal forces for their benefit--divide, emulsify and rule. The realities of the Hamas and Fatah duality and clash are direct results of Israeli input to control the political milieu in Palestine. Israeli security departments nurtured the nascent Muslim Brotherhood, which maturated into Hamas. Thereafter, Hamas becomes a convenient source of evil to be pointed to by Israel in order to justify its oppressive machine against Gaza in particular and the Palestinian people in general. Israel continues to prop up Fatah through otherwise weak operatives such as Mahmoud Abbas, patronizingly referred to as "Abu Mazen" by his handlers in Tel Aviv. We are witnessing these maneuvers and manipulations in political and social engineering in harsh plain view in both, Zimbabwe and Gaza today--civilians are suffering and dying.
--MORE--"by Chris Floyd
As you might expect, the New York Times buries the lede in its latest story about Somalia, but surprisingly, the general outlines of the truth of the rapidly collapsing situation on this third front in the “War on Terror” can be gleaned from the piece.
Some 14 paragraphs into the story, Establishment water-carrier Jeffrey Gettleman finally gets down to the heart of the matter, and, to his credit, delivers an admirably succinct précis of the latest imperial flameout:
In 2006, Islamist troops teamed up with clan elders and businessmen to drive out the warlords who had been preying upon Somalia’s people since the central government first collapsed in 1991. The six months the Islamists ruled Mogadishu turned out to be one of the most peaceful periods in modern Somali history.
But today’s Islamists are a harder, more brutal group than the ones who were ousted by an Ethiopian invasion, backed by the United States, in late 2006. The old guard included many moderates, but those who tried to work with the transitional government mostly failed, leaving them weak and marginalized, and removing a mitigating influence on the die-hard insurgents.
On top of that, the unpopular and bloody Ethiopian military operations over the past two years have radicalized many Somalis and sent hundreds of unemployed young men — most of whom have never gone to school, never been part of a functioning society and never had much of a chance to do anything but shoulder a gun — into the arms of militant Islamic groups.
That is pretty much it, give or take some details — such as the extent of Washington’s direct involvement in the ongoing destruction of Somalia, which as we have often noted here, involved not only arming, training and funding the Ethiopian invaders, but also dropping US bombs on fleeing refugees, lobbing US missiles into Somali villages, renditioning refugees — including American citizens — into captivity in Ethiopia’s notorious dungeons, and running U.S. death squads in Somalia to “clean up” after covert operations. (The latter is no deep dark secret, by the way; U.S. officials openly boasted of it to Esquire Magazine.)
Now, as anyone not completely blinded by imperial hubris could have predicted, the entire misbegotten exercise has collapsed into the worst-case scenario. A relatively stable, relatively moderate government which held out a promise of better future for the long-ravaged land was overthrown– ostensibly to prevent it from becoming a hotbed of radical extremism. The resulting violence, chaos and brutal occupation by foreign forces led directly and inevitably to — what else? — a rise in radical extremism. Thousands of innocent people have been killed, hundreds of thousands have been driven from their homes, millions have been plunged into the direst poverty and the imminent threat of starvation and disease, unspeakable atrocities and unbearable suffering are arising, as they always do in any situation, anywhere, when a human community is destroyed.
Yet none of this penetrates the glossy shell of imperial hubris — not even now, when the disaster is so glaring that even eager water-carriers of empire like Gettleman are forced to acknowledge reality (albeit in the closing paragraphs). For the real thrust of the Times story is not outrage at the living hell engendered by the Terror War’s third “regime change” operation. No, the Times’ “analysis” is clearly aimed at one goal: continuing the brutal occupation of the Ethiopian invaders....
--MORE--"
It worked:
"Witnesses: Ethiopians troops pouring into Somalia
MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Ethiopian troops are pouring into neighboring Somalia to fight radical Islamists who have taken over much of the country, raising fears of more violence in a country fighting a deadly insurgency and piracy, witnesses and the Somali government said Tuesday.
The Ethiopians' advance comes just weeks before they are scheduled to withdraw after an unpopular, two-year presence here. The Ethiopians are integral to protecting the Western-backed government, and their planned withdrawal at the end of the month will likely herald the administration's collapse.
Dahir Dhere, a Somali military spokesman, said the Ethiopians are "helping the Somali people and they will get rid of al-Shabab," referring to the extremist Islamic group that is advancing steadily toward the capital, Mogadishu....
--more--"
Related: The Saviors of Somalia
“If I go there will be trouble. And if I stay it will be double.” So the song goes. There’s about 44 days before Chicken Shit McGrew and Shotgun Slim are set to sail into the sunset. Chicken Shit is probably thinking about punching cows because cows don’t have fists and can’t punch him back. Ole Shotgun is dreaming of aging lawyers levered off of skeet machines but… that can’t be enough for them, can it? Once you’ve gotten a taste for innocent, undefended blood it’s a hard jones to kick.
I can’t see them just packing it in and heading for
**************
You have to understand that it’s not enough for these people just to take everything you have. The real charge comes with humiliating you and shoving what little dignity you have down your throat while your companions wait their turn. I’m surprised they didn’t tie you up and let you watch them have their way with the women before they threw you out. It must have been an oversight. Yeah, they’re going to kill you but they want to have some sport first.
Something is wrong with the world. Something is very, very wrong. They just did another ‘bait and switch’ and you still don’t get it. You’re going to sit on your couch and watch TV while they empty the contents of the house into their vans. Then they’re going to take the couch so …you’ll sit on the floor. Then they’re going to take the TV. Then they’re going to boot you out of the house and then they’re going to arrest you for loitering.
44 days and counting… then comes the winter.
--MORE--"
I'll give you THREE GUESSES why this item makes my blog today:
Women carried buckets of water in Budiriro near Harare, Zimbabwe yesterday, where a cholera epidemic is killing hundreds, as the nation's clinics run out of drugs. (Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi/ Associated Press)
Do you see what I see in this next photo, readers? I see a BROTHER'S LOVE!
Slum conditions in parts of Harare show the extent of the health crisis in Zimbabwe, where a cholera epidemic could infect up to 60,000 people. (Philimon Bulawayo/reuters)
What kind of childhood is this? Growing up all too fast!!
Children collected stagnant water yesterday for use at home in Harare. The collapse of Zimbabwe's health and sanitation systems has created fears of a regional cholera epidemic. (Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi/ Associated Press)
How can the world allow beautiful children like these little boys to suffer?
A boy carried a container to fetch water yesterday in Mutare, Zimbabwe. South Africa is sending more military doctors to treat Zimbabwean cholera victims. (Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi/Associated Press)
If it were healthy and possible, I would give them all the water coming from my eyes and dripping from my face!
Oh, God!! Must such BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE be made to SUFFER SO?!!!!!
by Mike Whitney
"The Ethiopian invasion, which was sanctioned by the US government, has destroyed virtually all the life-sustaining economic systems which the population has built for the last fifteen years." Abdi Samatar, professor of Global Studies at the University of Minnesota, Democracy Now
December 02, 2008 "Information Clearinghouse" --- Up until a month ago, no one in the Bush administration showed the least bit of interest in the incidents of piracy off the coast of Somalia. Now that's all changed and there's talk of sending in the Navy to patrol the waters off the Horn of Africa and clean up the pirates hideouts. Why the sudden about-face? Could it have something to do with the fact that the Ethiopian army is planning to withdrawal all of its troops from Mogadishu by the end of the year, thus, ending the failed two year US-backed occupation of Somalia?
The United States has lost the ground war in Somalia, but that doesn't mean its geopolitical objectives have changed one iota. The US intends to stay in the region for years to come and use its naval power to control the critical shipping lanes from the Gulf of Aden. The growing strength of the Somali national resistance is a set-back, but it doesn't change the basic game-plan. The pirates are actually a blessing in disguise. They provide an excuse for the administration to beef up it's military presence and put down roots. Every crisis is an opportunity.
There's an interesting subtext to the pirate story that hasn't appeared in the western media. According to Simon Assaf of the Socialist Worker:
--MORE--"
When I think of the Congo, the first thing I think of is 1,400 People Die Every Day.
Then I think of the 10 MILLION(?) DEAD!!
Meanwhile, the AmeriKan MSM is all wrapped up in rebel-bashing and the politics! Sigh!
"Congo rebels quit town, seeking talks
KIBATI, Congo - Congolese Tutsi rebels withdrew yesterday from an eastern border town in what they said was a gesture to persuade President Joseph Kabila's government to open peace talks with them.
United Nations peacekeepers said rebel forces loyal to renegade General Laurent Nkunda had pulled out of Ishasha, on Democratic Republic of Congo's eastern frontier with Uganda. The rebels had seized the town on Thursday, sending thousands of refugees fleeing over the border in the latest upsurge of conflict in Congo's eastern North Kivu Province.
The pullout from Ishasha followed a meeting on Saturday between Nkunda and a UN special envoy, former Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo, who criticized the rebels for seizing territory despite a cease-fire Nkunda himself declared. Obasanjo is trying to set up direct talks between the rebel leader and Kabila to end weeks of rebel advances, which have displaced more than a quarter of a million civilians, causing a humanitarian emergency in the mineral-rich state.
"We have decided to withdraw from Ishasha because when we secured it at the weekend everyone said we had breached the cease-fire," rebel spokesman Bertrand Bisimwa said.
--more--""Police, soldiers face off in Zimbabwe
HARARE, Zimbabwe - Police wielding guns and riot sticks skirmished with unarmed soldiers in Zimbabwe's capital yesterday, after frustration over unpaid wages touched off a riot.
Police took away one civilian hit by a bullet. Trouble began when soldiers attacked money changers and stole cash after being unable to draw their wages at banks. Zimbabwe's dire financial situation has triggered a cash shortage, making it impossible for people to get access to enough money to survive.
Associated Press reporters watched as hundreds of people gathered, some lobbing stones while others cheered. Rioters broke windows in at least two shops, rushed in, and grabbed groceries and clothing. As violence spread through central Harare, two trucks filled with riot police carrying tear gas canisters headed downtown. Men in plainclothes and armed with submachine guns - assumed to be intelligence agents - began arresting soldiers.
Sure smells like CIVIL WAR to me! Maybe the people will finally dump this murderous regime.
The violence was the second time in a week that soldiers attacked money changers amid widespread unease in Zimbabwe. Authorities battling a cholera epidemic cut water supplies because of a shortage of chemicals at treatment plants, fueling emotions further.... --more--"
And in the nick of time, too!
"Zimbabwe's cholera death toll hits nearly 500
HARARE (Reuters) - The death toll from Zimbabwe's worst recorded cholera epidemic has risen to nearly 500, the World Health Organization said on Tuesday, in a sign of the rapidly deepening crisis.
The spread of cholera, normally a preventable and treatable disease, highlights the collapse in the once relatively prosperous African nation.... The WHO said most regions of Zimbabwe were reporting infections, with the fatality rate reaching up to 50 percent in some areas. It reported 484 deaths and 11,735 total infections.
"Cholera outbreaks in Zimbabwe have occurred annually since 1998, but previous epidemics never reached today's proportions. The last large outbreak was in 1992 with 3,000 cases recorded," the WHO said in a report. Zimbabwean rights groups estimate that up to 1,000 people have died from the disease. The water delivery system has broken down in Harare and other cities, forcing residents to drink from contaminated wells and streams.
Hundreds of Zimbabweans are crossing the South African border each day to seek treatment....
--more--"The suffering of Africans is a stain upon us all.
Related: 1,400 People Die Every Day in the Congo
"Rebels in east Congo capture 2 border posts, town" by Anita Powell, Associated Press Writer | November 28, 2008
Congolese displaced by fighting carry bags of blankets distributed by aid workers at the stadium in the rebel held town of Rutshuru, eastern Congo, Wednesday Nov. 26, 2008. Thousands of people massed in the rebel-held town in eastern Congo Wednesday to receive the largest distribution of aid since fighting engulfed the area a month ago. The U.N. Children's Fund handed out soap, blankets and water containers, supplies that can help combat diseases such as cholera, said spokesman Jaya Murthy. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)
See what those women are carrying on their backs? That's why the photograph makes the blog. They are the most precious items in our world, folks: CHILDREN!
GOMA, Congo --Rebels captured two border posts and a town in eastern Congo, increasing their stranglehold over the region as thousands of refugees flee into neighboring Uganda, officials said Friday. Ugandan army spokesman Tabaro Kiconco said the rebels grabbed control of the border post of Ishasha on Friday morning after recently capturing a town with the same name just over a mile (2 kilometers) away.
Rebel spokesman Bertrand Bisimwa confirmed his army had taken the town but did not mention the border post. "We took this area of Ishasha peacefully. There wasn't a fight," Bisimwa said. Kiconco also said the rebels had grabbed the Nyakokoma landing site on Lake Edward, which acts as a border post for those traveling to Uganda by boat.
At least 13,000 frightened civilians have fled into Uganda over the last two days, according to Robert Rosso, a spokesman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. "Some of the stories told by the refugees are terrifying," said Rosso. "They talk of passing many dead bodies as they walked for several days into Uganda."
The town and border posts are the latest to fall in rebel hands as the army of renegade general Laurent Nkunda increases its grasp over this lawless stretch of Congo's eastern hills. Nkunda, an ethnic Tutsi, says his rebels are fighting to protect Congo's minority Tutsis from the Hutu militia that fled here after helping perpetrate the 1994 genocide that killed more than half a million Tutsis in Rwanda. But his critics contend he is more interested in power and Congo's mineral wealth.
Bisimwa alleged that the Rwandan Hutu militia, known as the FDLR, was telling people to flee in order to attract international attention to stop the progress of Nkunda's rebels. "If people cross the border they think they can use the international community to force us to stop our initiative ... This is the propaganda of the FDLR," said Bisimwa.
Some refugees already have fled three or four times since years of low-level fighting in eastern Congo intensified with a rebel offensive launched Aug. 28. More than 250,000 people have abandoned their homes since then. Doctors Without Borders said four of 10 children suffering from measles have died in the village of Birundule, which they reached Thursday with a mobile clinic.
The agency is trying to get medical care to some of the tens of thousands of people hiding in forests or just running from village to village as they try to stay ahead of the fighting. The militia, the rebels and Congo's government soldiers all are accused of grave atrocities against civilians. On Friday, the U.N.'s top human rights official called for urgent action to stop the killing, rape and looting in eastern Congo. Navi Pillay says U.N. investigators should be given unhindered access to investigate abuses and that perpetrators must be held accountable.
Yes, alleged African war criminals should be held accountable by the U.N.; however, those mass-murderers in Washington, London, and Tel Aviv get a pass!
The U.N. Security Council has agreed to reinforce its mission in Congo with 3,000 more soldiers and police because the current mission of 17,000 is spread too thin. It has not been decided whether the additional troops would come from Europe or Africa.
--more--"How come the U.N. never prevents genocides, and why are they always around when they occur?
"Civilians flee as Congo rebels attack
Refugees lined up to register at the UN High Commissioner for Refugees center in Ishasha, on Congo's border with Uganda. (T.J. Kirkpatrick/Reuters)
GOMA, Congo - More than 10,000 Congolese civilians fled to Uganda in a matter of hours yesterday to escape renewed fighting, the UN refugee agency said.... --more--"
Related: Behind the Numbers Untold Suffering in the Congo
The War that did not make the Headlines: Over Five Million Dead in Congo?
Here's one:
"On December 12, 1991, while serving as chief economist for the World Bank, Summers authored a private memo arguing that the bank should actively encourage the dumping of toxic waste in developing countries, particularly "under populated countries in Africa," which Summers described as "UNDER-polluted."
That doesn't bode well for AFRICA, Mr. AFRICAN-AMERICAN president!!!!
How come the MSM always cites Summers' divisive comments about women, but they NEVER BRING UP the comment about DUMPING TOXIC WASTE in AFRICA?
Because THAT is being DONE as we speak!
And why must so many die?
Here is one reason: OIL
Now I'm really disgusted. All the death and misery for oil (among other natural resources)?
"Troops attack refugees at Congo camp
A girl displaced by fighting waited for aid yesterday at the village of Ntamugenga in Congo. Years of sporadic violence have intensified. (Finbarr O'Reilly/ Reuters)
Do you know the value of the girl above, readers?
I do: she is a unique human being and a special soul that is PRICELESS!!!!
KIBATI, Congo - Soldiers went on an overnight looting and shooting spree in a Congolese refugee camp, stealing from hungry and traumatized people who have fled fighting in the country's east, witnesses said yesterday....
Not rebels, soldiers!! You know, OUR GUYS!!!!
Patrice Sebahunde, 60, said he was awakened at 10 p.m. by four soldiers pointing guns in his face. They took his family's food, clothes, and their plastic water bucket. "They came up, pointed a gun at me, and said, 'Wake up, wake up, give us money and everything you have,' " Sebahunde said.
Bernard Udafuye said his house also was looted by soldiers Sunday night who stole food and a bucket. But he did not blame them, saying the soldiers are hungry. Witnesses to the looting said the soldiers shot in the air, and that one stray bullet hit a 45-year-old woman in the head, killing her instantly....
UN refugee officials who had reported Thursday's shooting said they had no information about any violence Sunday. But at least 10 witnesses who spoke separately to the Associated Press told the same story. --more--"
The U.N.!!! They sound as bad as AmeriKa!!!!
What, civilians dead in violence? We don't know nuthin'!!!!
1,400 People Die Every Day in the Congo
Need I type more?
"Congolese stone UN convoy at camp
KIBATI, Democratic Republic of Congo - Thousands of people displaced by fighting in eastern Congo stoned UN vehicles at a refugee camp yesterday in anger at the organization's failure to protect them.
Soldiers who had stopped the UN peacekeepers' convoy at an impromptu roadblock at the Kibati camp then dragged a group of men off the trucks, accusing them of being rebels. Peacekeepers' spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Jean-Paul Dietrich said 10 surrendered rebels were among these men, and that they were to have been turned over to the military today, "but because of this incident, it was agreed on the spot to hand them over."
***********************
Some refugees blame the UN for their plight, in failing to protect them from atrocities they say were committed by both rebels and government troops.
"We are very unhappy about what (the UN) is doing here," said Boyazo Ruzuba, 29, a resident of Kibati. "Before (the peacekeepers) came, we had peace. Now, we don't have peace. They are helping rebels."
Yeah, except if you read my Congo labels you will find:
"Nkunda criticized the 17,000-strong UN peacekeeping force, questioning why it had never gone after Rwandan Hutu militias that he said were at the heart of the conflict."
That QUESTION ANSWERS ITSELF, doesn't it?
How many more MSM LIES do we have to put up with?
The 17,000 Congo peacekeepers whose primary mandate is to protect the local people are badly overstretched, the UN says, and it has approved deployment of 3,100 reinforcements. --more--"
The U.N NEVER HELPS where it goes because it is NOT INTENDED to do that!!! It is a GLOBALIST ORGANIZATION that SICKENS and KILLS PEOPLE!!
I didn't want to face the facts; however, Alex Jones is strong on that issue and I'm sorry, America, he is not making it up!
Just ANOTHER INSTITUTION I used to belive in demolished like a WTC tower on 9/11!!!!I personally think the west is arming both sides because you never get any in-depth investigating by the Zionist MSM on this issue. It wouldn't be the first time they pulled confusing fooleys over your eyes.
Needless to say, I am annoyed that the article is a rebel-bashing piece of crap dealing with the "politics." What about the SUFFERING CONGOLESE, you bunch of turd-brained, racist Zionists in charge of AmeriKa's MSM?
Related: 1,400 People Die Every Day in the Congo
Yup, U.N. is doing a GREAT JOB with their LARGEST PEACE-KEEPING CONTIGENT in the world. They DON'T WANT TO STOP IT, folks!
"For Congo rebels, winning hearts and minds is not easy" by Todd Pitman, Associated Press | November 23, 2008
RUTSHURU, Congo - Surrounded by insurgent fighters, the bespectacled leader of Congo's rebels held his first public rally yesterday in newly conquered territory, telling the few thousand people who showed up: "Do not be afraid."
But winning over the terrified population of a half-empty town that accuses rebels of looting, rape, and forced recruitment won't be easy.
I get sick of the propaganda:
"Government troops, who looted and raped in Goma as they retreated Wednesday.... live among the refugees there, creating a tense and dangerous situation. Both government and rebel forces are accused of gross human rights abuses although, in this latest fighting, refugees say the rebels are not molesting them. --source--"
So, HOW MANY MORE FUCKING LIES are you going to tell, Zio-media? God damn it!!!!!!!!!!
"Nobody wants them here," said a 29-year-old human rights worker, after he was out of earshot of plain-clothed rebel intelligence agents who trailed him and every other civilian an Associated Press reporter tried to talk to. He declined to be identified because he feared for his safety....
Yeah, sure, because AP SAYS IT it is true, huh? I'm starting to wonder, DID THEY JUST MAKE THIS GUY UP? Oh, it is a WESTERN HR WORKER, huh? Where's that salt shaker?
***************
Nkunda was heavily guarded by scores of rebel fighters, who crisscrossed Rutshuru's main road in jeeps they had captured from the army resembling World War II era relics. Rebels spread out along the edges of the crumbling stadium, patting down the roughly 3,000 who entered.
Not a problem when an AMERICAN PRESIDENT is guarded by troops, is it? Yeah, that's what I thought!
After arriving in a white sport utility vehicle, Nkunda, carrying his trademark cane topped with an eagle's head, raised his thin arms and danced with a group of girls to a traditional, heavily distorted, Rwandan tune that boomed from a broken loudspeaker. He began his speech by saying, "I know there are people who like us and there are some who don't. But I want to talk."
Sporting a military uniform, the wiry rebel leader called for unity among the vast Central African nation's myriad ethnic groups, saying conflict among them was destroying efforts to rebuild the country. 
Laurent Nkunda held a rally in Rutshuru, Congo, yesterday, and a crowd (below) in the newly conquered territory came to get a glimpse of the rebel leader. Nkunda said he is fighting to protect Congo's minorities, especially ethnic Tutsis. (Roberto Schmidt/ AFP/ Getty Images)
How come he doesn't look evil like Olmert or Bush?
He compared his movement to the country's Belgian colonizers, saying God sent them both "and nobody can fight the will of God." '
Now THAT is a ZIONIST INSULT and LIE!!! I simply REFUSE to BELIEVE the African leader would compare himself to the MASS-MURDERING COLONIZATION of King Leopold!!!!! One thing to lie, Zionist MSM, but another thing to TELL WHOPPERS!!! You are EXPERTS in telling WHOPPERS!!!!!!
But he also said "the will of God is peace and I want peace."
I certainly believe him more than my Zionist mouthpiece her!
Nkunda's fighters captured Rutshuru in late October, taking over the main road running north from Goma. The move enabled Nkunda to link the territory straddling a volcanic mountain chain on Congo's eastern border with a formerly isolated rebel stronghold of Kitchanga to the west. Most of the area is rural pastureland, and its greatest value may lay in giving rebels a stronger hand to force the government to negotiate. Today, rebels are collecting road taxes and replacing town officials and police with their own.
Many Congolese believe the rebels are heavily made up of Rwandan soldiers, and see the rebellion partly as a Rwandan invasion. Rwanda denies its troops are involved. Nkunda criticized the 17,000-strong UN peacekeeping force, questioning why it had never gone after Rwandan Hutu militias that he said were at the heart of the conflict.
That QUESTION ANSWERS ITSELF, doesn't it? Related: France's Mass-Murdering Holocaust Deniers
As a young Congolese in exile in Uganda, Nkunda fought with Tutsi-led Rwandan forces that stopped Rwanda's genocide 14 years ago, ousting that country's Hutu government. He went on to become a senior commander within the Rwandan-organized Congolese rebel group, which held a huge swath of the east during a 1998-2002 war.
After a peace deal ended that fighting, he joined Congo's army but quit in 2004 to launch his rebellion. "People say we are Rwandans, but it's not true," Nkunda said yesterday. "We are all Congolese." --more--"
I don't know about you, but it sure seems that the Zionist MSM is demonizing him. He must be working AGAINST the New World Order and their plans -- and therefore, I support him!!!
Meanwhile, contemplate how "pirates" can run circles around western warships. See if you can count HOW MANY are there!
"Pirates free tanker after ransom paid; Crew unharmed, oil cargo intact, Greek firm says" by Demetris Nellas, Associated Press | November 23, 2008
ATHENS - Somali pirates have released a hijacked Greek-owned tanker with all 19 crew safe and the oil cargo intact after payment of a ransom, the ship's management company said yesterday. It did not say how much was paid....
NATO has four warships, including a Greek frigate, on duty off the 2,400-mile coastline of Somalia.... The four-ship contingent was dispatched to the region under a UN mandate to escort vessels chartered by the World Food Program to Somali ports, and to conduct patrols designed to deter pirates from attacking merchant ships transiting the Gulf of Aden.
Pirates also provide a convenient CUI BONO excuse for western powers to be there, too. No coincidence that this is happening just as the Islamists are returning to power in Somalia by defeating the occupying forces of Ethiopia and their Somali collaborators? We are SEEING RIGHT THROUGH THIS SHIT, Zio-media, so STOP SHOVELING!!!!!!!!
Okay, so far I have counted at least four NATO ships and an undetermined number of U.S. ships.
"Kenyan seafarers often are unnoticed victims of piracy off Somalia" by Edmund Sanders, Los Angeles Times | November 23, 2008
MOMBASA, Kenya - .... About 30 ships have been hijacked off Somalia this year, making the waters the most dangerous in the world. The Sept. 26 hijacking of a Ukrainian vessel laden with tanks and other military equipment sparked an international outcry.
International outcry? Where?
Of course, the Zionist MSM ONCE AGAIN covers up the fact that the "Ukranian" vessel is ISRAELI-OWNED!!!!
Hmm. The crisis only became newsworthy after a JEWISH SHIP (running weapons to southern Sudan rebels) was hijacked? Yup, the WORLD is a WAITER when you are ISRAELI!!!!
But even with more than half a dozen foreign warships now roaming the area, including several from the United States, pirates continue to terrorize the coast.... --more--"
Pffft. Yup, OUR GUYS are TERRORISTS!!!!!
What's more than half a dozen? More than a dozen? Why the ambiguity?
And if the WESTERN POWERS can NOT stop PIRATES, then how the hell they gonna win a war against Iran or Russia?
Anybody think of that?
"Mankind's new best friend?; Trained giant rats sniff out land mines, tuberculosis" by Colin Nickerson, Globe Correspondent | November 23, 2008
Reviled as vermin through the ages, rats are becoming unlikely soldiers in the struggle against two scourges of the developing world: land mines and tuberculosis. In Mozambique, special squads of raccoon-size rats are sniffing out lethal explosive devices buried across the countryside, remnants of the country's anticolonial and civil wars of the last century.
In neighboring Tanzania, teams of rats use their twitchy noses to detect TB bacteria in saliva samples from four clinics serving slum neighborhoods. So far this year, the 25 rats trained for the pilot medical project have identified 300 cases of early-stage TB - infections missed by lab technicians with their microscopes. If not for the rodents, many of these victims would have died and others would have spread the disease.
"It's fair, I think, to call these animals 'hero rats,' " said Bart Weetjens, the Belgian conceiver of both programs. The rat squads, at first derided by some international aid officials as ridiculous, have won support from the World Bank and praise from the UN and land mine eradication groups. Now there are plans to deploy the creatures to Angola, Congo, Zambia, and other land mine-infested lands.
You mean, like LEBANON?
"Memory Hole: Hezbollah and the Bomblets
(Updated: Originally published October 22, 2006)
The figures came from a report in the Boston Globe, presumably to counter an earlier story on Israel's use of the "bomblets."
Let alone Israel's use of chemical weapons.
According to the report (citing human rights groups), Hezbollah also used cluster bombs, so everything is relative now.
Bloody Muslims as bad as us (geez, isn't that a self-incriminating statement on our free society)!!
Then the #s:
Lebanese civilians killed: 1,200
Israeli civilians killed: 119
That's a 10:1 ratio!!!
Usually signifies the AGGRESSOR nation, which in this case happens to be WHOM , reader?
Cluster bomblets delivered:
Israel: 1,400,000
Hezbollah: 4,400
An astounding and incredible 318-to-1 ratio!
Talk about LITTERING!!!!!
Oh, and those were all taxpayer-financed and approved, Amurkns!!!!
Israeli deaths due to CBs: 1
Lebanese deaths due to CBs: Unknown
Amount of time to clear munitions:
Israel: "quickly cleared most of the unexploded bomblets."
Lebanon: UN "still tallying... unexploded ordnance in southern Lebanon."
Yeah, expected to take about TWO YEARS!!!
Which means they are HALFWAY DONE, hanh?!
How many INNOCENT LEBANESE KIDS have gotten BLOWN UP in the interim?
And HOW MANY WILL in the next year?
People under assault from us deserve no recriminations.
It is WE OURSELVES who need to look into the mirror -- or paper -- first and foremost before we critique others.
Can you now see the PRO-ISRAEL BIAS delivered to our doors everyday, folks?
****************
Although rats make almost everyone's short list of horrors - associated with filth, disease, and destruction of food crops - they "are really nice creatures," according to Weetjens. "They are organized, sensitive, sociable, and smart," said the former product engineer in a telephone interview from Antwerp, Belgium, home base for Apopo International, the nonprofit organization that trains and deploys the rats.
In the 1990s, he journeyed to Africa to study land mine clearance techniques. He put his engineer's mind to the expensive, clumsy, and often risky methods employed to detect the lethal contraptions of metal and explosive that detonate underfoot. Land mines claim casualties for decades after the last shot is fired in a conflict; millions are strewn in former and present fighting zones across Africa, Asia, and Europe.
But NOT the MIDDLE EAST, huh, jewsmedia?
And think of ALL THIS TIME, MONEY and LIFE WASTED on WAR, folks!!!!
The wickedly durable antipersonnel devices kill or maim thousands of people every year, mainly in the poorest of countries. Removal of the weapons is a priority of the United Nations and other groups....
******************
For both TB and land mines, the rats are trained to respond to the sound of a clicker; when the rat makes the scratching motion that means it has detected an explosive or the odor of disease, the handler or trainer responds by snapping the clicker, which means a nut or fruit is on the way. So why don't the animals just scratch every few minutes to win a treat?
"That would be human behavior," said Weetjens. "Rats are more honest."
Good Lord, people, they are BETTER than us!
For the record, I always thought dogs were idiots for being our friends. What sentient life form would want to be friends with a plunderer of habitats and a mass-murderer of species?
"some aid agencies estimate upward of 1,400 deaths per day.... due to ongoing epidemics and war-related causes"
Oh, the humanity!!!!!! All over RESOURCES!!
Just wondering why the Globe ignored the Congo today.
"U.N.: Gunmen kill woman while trying to rape girl at camp
(CNN) -- Armed men entered a Congolese camp for displaced people Friday to kidnap and rape a girl, but when the girl screamed, the gunmen fired shots, killing a 20-year-old woman, a U.N. spokesman said....
Andrej Mahecic, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees' spokesman in Geneva, Switzerland, said he did not if the gunmen involved in Friday's attack were with the Tutsi militia or Congolese military. He said the men entered the camp about 1 a.m.
The girl yelled for help and people came out of their huts to see what was happening. Shots were fired, killing a young woman. The armed men forced some families out of their huts and looted the dwellings, Mahecic said.
UNICEF has issued a statement on humanitarian conditions in North Kivu, saying there is a "very high risk of child deaths due to malnutrition, malaria, respiratory infections." Cholera is endemic, it said, and threatens to worsen without latrines and clean water....
*********
Aid organizations have long said the enormous African country -- which borders nine nations and is more than twice the size of Alaska -- is suffering a humanitarian disaster. World Vision says the conflict in Congo -- ongoing since 1997 -- is the deadliest since World War II.
"The last decade of conflict has resulted in some 4 million deaths; an estimated 1,200 people die every day due to ongoing epidemics and war-related causes; some aid agencies estimate upward of 1,400 deaths per day," the Christian relief organization said in a news release.
All PRICELESS and UNIQUE and INDIVIDUALS and SOULS!! Aaaaah!
--more--"
Well, guess what? The Globe reported it; however, they CENSORED the REPORT!
I wish I could say I was surprised.
"Islamic militants join hunt for pirates in Somalia
MOGADISHU, Somalia: Dozens of Islamic militants stormed the Somali port of Haradheere on Friday hunting the pirates behind the seizure of a Saudi supertanker on Saturday, a local elder said. Separately, the police in the capital, Mogadishu, said they had ambushed and killed 17 Islamist militants, in an illustration of the chaos in the country that has fueled a dramatic surge in piracy....
Keep that in mind, please.
The Islamists have been fighting the government and its Ethiopian allies for about two years.
Yeah, they are ETHIOPIAN ALLIES not OCCUPIERS!!!
Also see: Ethiopia's Invisible War Crimes
Ethiopian Atrocities in Somalia
They launch guerrilla strikes in the capital almost daily and control most of the south, including a town just 14 kilometers from Mogadishu.
Yup, yup, yup. I get tired of the Muslim-hating, Zionist-controlled garbage that passes for "news" around here. Yup, the ISLAMICS are ALWAYS the AGGRESSORS -- even when they are DEFENDERS!
Islamist leaders deny allegations they collude with pirates and insist they will stamp down on them if they win power, citing a crackdown when they ruled the south briefly in 2006.
Another reason they had to be dislodged, huh? Can't have peace and tranquility under a Muslim government -- unless they are royalty oil-producing toadies.
Some analysts, however, say Islamist militants are benefiting from the spoils of piracy and arms shipments facilitated by the sea gangs. Analysts also accuse government figures of collaboration with pirates. --more--"
There you go: the EVOLVING LIES of the MSM!!!
See: U.S. Behind Somali Piracy
Okay, so I'm all prepared for a big piece of propaganda in my Saturday Globe.
Now, can you see what they OMITTED (and are you surprised)?
MOGADISHU, Somalia - A radical Islamic group in Somalia said yesterday that it will fight the pirates holding a Saudi supertanker loaded with $100 million worth of crude oil.
They get you started early with the propaganda, don't they? Oh, it's AP!
I PAID FOR THIS PAPER, Mr. Bush, and will quote what I like!!!! Trust me, readers, I am only cutting away the bs!
Abdelghafar Musa, a fighter with al-Shabab who claims to speak on behalf of all Islamic fighters in the Horn of Africa nation, said ships belonging to Muslim countries should not be seized. "We are really sorry to hear that the Saudi ship has been held in Somalia. We will fight them [the pirates]," Musa told AP Television News....
***************
Somalia has not had a functioning government since 1991. When an umbrella Islamic group, which included al-Shabab, controlled most of southern Somalia for six months in 2006, there were few reports of piracy.
And ther ya' go!
The United States, however, considers al-Shabab a terrorist organization and accuses the group of harboring the Al Qaeda-lined terrorists who allegedly blew up the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998, killing more than 230 people.
You know, I have had it, I have had it, I have had it, with the "Al-CIA-Duh" BULLS***!!!!! We KNOW WHAT THAT IS, so we KNOW WHAT THIS IS!!!!!!!!!!
In recent weeks Islamists have again seized control of most of southern Somalia, with al-Shabab holding the largest territory. Kenya's foreign affairs minister said yesterday that all nations should work together to curb piracy because it can disrupt world trade....
Yeah, and THAT is what is IMPORTANT -- not PEOPLE!!!!
************
The Somalian pirates have the support of their communities and rogue members of the government. Often dressed in military fatigues, pirates travel in open skiffs with outboard engines, working with larger ships that tow them far out to sea. They use satellite navigational and communications equipment and an intimate knowledge of local waters, clambering aboard commercial vessels with ladders and grappling hooks.
I love the cover story s***; and WHOSE TECHNOLOGY are they receiving? C'mon, folks, we ALL KNOW it is WESTERN EQUIPMENT!!!
C'mon, folks, ANOTHER AGENDA is being PUSHED because a) the globalist toadies and their Ethiopian occupiers are getting their asses kicked, and b) this is part of pushing the New World Order and getting a foothold (read: occupation) of Somalia going -- right at the critical Suez Canal juncture!
And CUI BONO?
They are typically armed with automatic weapons, antitank rocket launchers, and grenades - weaponry that is readily available throughout Somalia. --more--"
Supplied by who? How come the MSM never goes there, huh? I think we ALL KNOW WHY!!!
Just in time for the BUSY TRAVELING SEASON, too!!!
:-(
"Islamic group ready to fight pirates; Says Muslims were victims of one seizure" by Mohamed Sheikh Nor, Associated Press | November 22, 2008
MOGADISHU, Somalia - .... Also yesterday, one of the world's largest oil tanker companies warned that it may divert cargo shipments, which would boost costs up to 40 percent.
Frontline Ltd.
".... Sudan (a Muslim nation with an independent foreign policy which supports Palestinian rights). To an overwhelming degree, the propaganda campaign behind the so-called “Darfur genocide campaign’ is the Israeli state and its political apparatus in the US, namely the ZPC. Most of the media celebrities, led by prominent Hollywood Zionist director Steven Spielberg, have engaged in an exercise of selective moral indignation – supporting Israel, while ignoring its starvation blockade of Gaza, supporting the US occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq while attacking China for its ‘immoral’ oil contracts with the Sudan.
The CPMAJO has focused on the Darfur ‘genocide’ because by doing so it favors the brutal separatists in southern Sudan, armed and advised by Israel, as a means of depriving pro-Palestinian Sudan of a large oil rich region in the south of the country. The Darfur campaign deliberately and systematically excludes any mention of the Israeli Supreme Court’s approval of Israel’s food and fuel blockade and deliberate prevention of the movement of medical personnel in Gaza and the West Bank, its approval of Israel’s practice of torture (‘forceful interrogations’), armed assaults on the vital infrastructure and civilian population centers of Gaza. Hollywood’s Darfur sideshow is a sham propaganda effort at selective humanitarian concern...."
Sort of puts the Zionist AmeriKan MSM coverage in perspective, doesn't it?
"At Hague, bid to arrest Darfur rebels
AMSTERDAM - The International Criminal Court prosecutor yesterday requested arrest warrants for Darfur rebels for the first time, accusing them of storming an African Union camp and killing 12 peacekeepers.
Despite a cease-fire declared in Darfur by Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir last week, the army said its forces had killed 30 rebels while repelling an assault in North Darfur. Chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo, who also wants to put Bashir on trial over Darfur, said rebel attacks on peacekeepers last year were considered war crimes under the court's statute and vowed that they would not go unpunished.
"Attacking peacekeepers is a very serious crime," Moreno-Ocampo said. "This means civilians have no protection."
Of course, if the U.S. or Israel are the killers, no one goes after them.
Hey, I am for punishing all murderous sots in this world; however, I have had it with WESTERN SELECTIVITY regarding ITS WAR CRIMINALS!!! When you got Bliar and Bush in the dock, get back to me, will ya?
Moreno-Ocampo has made the request to the judges of the court, based at The Hague. The Haskanita attack in September 2007, in which 8 peacekeepers were also wounded, was the bloodiest assault on peacekeepers since the Darfur conflict began in 2003.
The rebel commanders, whose names were not released, attacked the peacekeeping camp without warning and overwhelmed the base, AU officials said. Ten peacekeepers were killed on the spot. Two died of their wounds.
Aren't there any war crimes charges for MASSACRING CIVILIANS? Oh, right, that's what the Sudanese guy is charged with.
The peacekeepers, now a joint AU-UN force, have been unable to end fighting that international experts say has killed 200,000 people and displaced 2.5 million. --more--"
Gee, one day it is 300,000, now 200,000. What is it, a typo?
Just ANOTHER AFRICAN SLAUGHTER that goes on and on with no end, right?
And here is another interesting fact:
"General Wesley Clark, who commanded the North Atlantic Treaty Organization bombing campaign in the Kosovo war, recalls in his 2003 book Winning Modern Wars being told by a friend in the Pentagon in November 2001 that the list of states that Rumsfeld and deputy secretary of defense Paul Wolfowitz wanted to take down included Iraq, Iran, Syria, Libya, Sudan and Somalia [and Lebanon]."
Wow!! That REALLY PUTS the MSM propaganda in to perspective!!!!
"Maritime experts say powerful warlords in Somalia hire fishermen to become pirates"
The WARLORDS are OUR GUYS, readers!! They are NOT ISLAMISTS, that's for sure!!!!!!!
"Indian Naval Warship Destroys Pirate Vessel" by Emily Wax and Ann Scott Tyson, Washington Post | November 20, 2008
NEW DELHI, Nov. 19 -- An Indian navy frigate battled with and sank a vessel described as a pirate mother ship in the Gulf of Aden, one of the world's busiest and most lawless shipping lanes, the navy said Wednesday.
Amid a surge of piracy around the hijacking-plagued Horn of Africa, the Indian navy said in a statement that fire from its INS Tabar set the pirate vessel aflame after it failed to stop for investigation. The Indian navy statement said that before the Tuesday night battle, the crew of the renegade vessel could be seen on board with a full complement of modern weapons and tools -- satellite phones, night-vision goggles, AK-47 assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenade launchers.....
Yeah, who is arming these guys? They seem pretty well-equipped.
Answer: YOU ARE, America!! But WHY (keep reading)?
****************Maritime experts say powerful warlords in Somalia hire fishermen to become pirates and then try to extract hundreds of thousands of dollars in ransom from the owners of hijacked boats. Total ransom payments have reached $30 million this year, experts said. The warlords use the money to buy more sophisticated weapons and equipment.... --more--"
FROM WHOM?
And now the WHY:
"US Navy urges steps to halt spike in piracy; India says it sank vessel in hijack attempt" by Thom Shanker, New York Times | November 20, 2008
WASHINGTON - The commander of American and allied naval forces off the coast of Somalia has begun efforts to halt a spike in piracy, urging merchant vessels to sail with armed guards on board and to travel only within lanes now patrolled by warships.
Oh, NOW I GET IT!!!
See: Blackwater's Navy
And they still can't stop these guys, huh? WTF?
You got U.S. warships, NATO warships, and private mercenaries there, and yet the piracy is ESCALATING?
Sounds to me like the U.S., et al, is PROTECTING the PIRATES!!!!
Pentagon officials said the growing problem of piracy presented yet another vexing national security threat that could not be solved by force alone, even though increased patrols had reduced the success rate of pirate raids.
??????
The one possible exception is a Ukrainian freighter held by pirates, with cargo including T-72 tanks, rocket-propelled grenades and anti-aircraft guns. Any attempt to unload that cargo into Somalia may prompt military action, Pentagon officials said.... --more--"
Yup, they will never tell you that ship is Israeli-owned. And WHO KNOWS where those weapons were headed, if the U.S. is willing to go to war over them (unless they were not meant for Somalia, right)?"Report faults US on impartiality of humanitarian aid delivery" by Colum Lynch, Washington Post | November 20, 2008
UNITED NATIONS - The United States, the world's largest international aid donor, is among the worst at promoting the independence, impartiality, and neutrality of humanitarian aid deliveries to needy populations, according to a survey by a Madrid-based nonprofit group that monitors donors' performance.
The Development Assistance Research Associates Humanitarian Response Index 2008 measures how effectively the world's 23 largest donors deliver aid. The United States ranked 15th in overall effectiveness and 13th in the level of generosity measured by the size of its economy. But it ranked near the bottom, 22d, when it came to adherence to principles and guidelines established by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development to ensure that political considerations don't exclude worthy recipients of aid.
The Development Assistance Research Associates' findings reflect what it called the United States' use of humanitarian assistance to achieve military or political goals in eight crisis zones the group studied, including Afghanistan, Colombia, and the Palestinian territories.
The "assessment challenges the view of the United States, deeply embedded in the American psyche and regularly reinforced in the rhetoric of public officials, as the world's preeminent humanitarian actor, the paragon of global compassion," Larry Minear, a retired professor at Tufts University, wrote in the report....
That and the TORTURE!!!!
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DARA's survey is based on interviews with more than 350 humanitarian aid agencies in 11 crisis areas - Afghanistan, Bangladesh, the Central African Republic, Chad, Colombia, Congo, Nicaragua, the occupied Palestinian territories, Peru, Sri Lanka, and Sudan. Sweden, Norway, and Denmark were the highest performers, while France, Austria, Italy, Portugal, and Greece received the lowest marks. --more--""Taking on the crisis in Congo" by Anneke Van Woudenberg | November 20, 2008
Anneke Van Woudenberg is a senior researcher on the Democratic Republic of Congo at Human Rights Watch.
I RECENTLY returned from eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where I walked through the deserted villages and squalid displaced person camps that mark the spectacular countryside. A fragile ceasefire agreement between the Congolese government and rebel commander Laurent Nkunda collapsed in August, followed by heavy fighting throughout parts of North Kivu province. More than one million people have been forced to flee their homes.
To visit the camps and the dilapidated hospitals crammed with injured civilians is horrifying, but what is even worse is the possibility that this conflict could spread, making Congo the centerpiece once again of brutal regional war, like the one that ended five years ago.
Knowing that war in the Congo has cost 5 million civilian lives in the last decade, international leaders seem ready to take this crisis seriously. A diplomatic solution to the crisis is desperately needed, and for such efforts to succeed the shuttle diplomacy will need to be sustained, even when Congo falls out of the headlines.
Truthfully, I am surprised to see it printed in my Zionist-controlled War Daily.
To find a solution, diplomats will have to deal with two uncomfortable realities. The first is that Nkunda, bent - he says - on protecting Congolese Tutsi, has been able to use Rwandan territory to recruit soldiers, gather funds, and tranship such goods as military uniforms. The second is that the Congolese army collaborates with the Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, an armed group led by Rwandan Hutu, including some who participated in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.
My colleagues and I have documented terrible human rights abuses committed by all the forces in the region: Nkunda's soldiers, FDLR combatants, and Congolese army troops. They have killed civilians, raped women, abducted children to serve as soldiers, and pillaged the food crops people need to survive. In a heartbreaking public letter from 44 human rights groups in North Kivu this week, the pain of this brutality is evident. "We don't know which saint to pray to; we are condemned to death by all this violence and displacement," the letter says.
You know, I don't want to knock HRW because they do a lot of great work; however, they are still a WESTERN-CENTRIC (and thus, Zionist-influenced) organization.
I mean, consider this:
"Government troops, who looted and raped in Goma as they retreated Wednesday.... live among the refugees there, creating a tense and dangerous situation. Both government and rebel forces are accused of gross human rights abuses although, in this latest fighting, refugees say the rebels are not molesting them. --source--"
And yet this piece leaves us with the impression that all atrocities are equal, being committed by all sides equally. Is that the way it is? Should I believe my Zionist War Daily.
High-ranking Rwandan authorities, themselves Tutsi, deny aiding Nkunda, yet his agents have recruited hundreds of experienced soldiers within Rwanda, many of them demobilized from the Rwandan army. Whether Rwandan officials encourage this or merely tolerate it matters little to most Congolese. Given the history of Rwandan military occupation of eastern Congo in the last war, the presence of Rwandans in Nkunda's ranks fuels the hostility of other ethnic groups against Congolese Tutsi.
I would just like to remind readers that it was the Tutsis who suffered the genocide.
Meanwhile Congolese government soldiers are collaborating with the Hutu FDLR despite having agreed in 2007 to break links with the militia and disarm it.
Now I'm beginning to recognize more of the media bias in its coverage. Once again, the west is on the side of mass-murderers!
The FDLR, based in eastern Congo, says it intends to overthrow the government of Rwanda but instead abuses Congolese citizens and enriches itself from Congo's minerals. The continued FDLR presence is seen by Rwandan officials as evidence of Congo's hostility against Rwanda.
Calling card: Behind the Numbers Untold Suffering in the Congo
Diplomacy will take time, something the people of eastern Congo don't have. While awaiting a solution, they need immediate protection against the armed assailants who brutally maraud their way through the region.
Nkunda is trying, which is why he's being ripped in the Zionist AmeriKan MSM!
The Congolese pin their hopes on an increase in the number of UN peacekeeping troops who can stand up and say no to the killers and rapists.
That's sick; half the time, the U.N. troops are doing that s***, and the other half of the time they are ignoring it!!!
UN Secretary Genera Ban Ki-moon pleaded for reinforcements last month for the over-stretched force, but the UN Security Council has not yet acted. Once authorized, peacekeepers will need at least two months to arrive. The European Union, which has troops who can deploy quickly, has been asked to fill the gap, but EU leaders dither in indecisive debate.
Yeah, it is amazing how SLOW the WORLD RESPONSE is when it comes to AFRICANS!! Probably because they are not Jewish, huh?
Meanwhile, more people in eastern Congo die. US, EU, and African Union leaders must step up efforts to find ways to protect civilians while they continue work on the diplomatic front.
President-elect Obama visited Congo while he was a senator and was an active voice standing up for the people of this war-torn nation. The crisis in the Congo demands immediate attention from his new administration. The world has failed Congo too often in the past. It cannot do so again. --more--"
Well, I'm posting them every chance I get and am hollering from my soapbox!!
Of course, there is no discounting a ruse being used so that the U.N. and world community can get in there to CONTROL those RESOURCES!!!
I hardly care about that, readers; what I CARE ABOUT are the PEOPLE and their suffering!!!!
Look at 'em!!!!!
"Congo rebels say they're pulling back
Women carried plastic sheeting they received from the World Food Program yesterday at a camp in eastern Congo. (Karel Prinsloo/Associated Press)
KAYNA, Congo - Rebels were pulling back their forces from the frontlines to allow talks with the army, their spokesman said yesterday, as retreating army soldiers battled mobs of spear-wielding militiamen. Streams of machine-gunfire crackled through the rural hilltop village of Kayna all day as so-called Mai Mai militias attacked government soldiers who had been fleeing a rebel advance farther south.
Yesterday's violence marked another low in the complex crisis that is Congo. It also has dealt a severe blow to the army, which relies on help from the Mai Mai in its broader war with rebel leader Laurent Nkunda.
So the Mai Mai's turned on the government, huh?
And let's try to clear the complexities up for you, readers:
Behind the Numbers Untold Suffering in the Congo
The War that did not make the Headlines: Over Five Million Dead in Congo?
Fighting between the army and Nkunda's men since August has forced hundreds of thousands of people from homes into crowded displaced camps. The UN puts the total refugee figure at 250,000, but tens of thousands have also deserted Kayna and Kanyabayonga. Rebels have advanced close to Kanyabayonga, perched on a mountain ridge around 10 miles south of Kayna.
Rebel spokesman Bertrand Bisimwa said yesterday that his group would immediately withdraw 25 miles from hotspots around the northern towns Kiwanja and Kanyabayonga to allow rebels and Congolese army officials to meet today. The meeting near Kanyabayonga "will examine the establishment of zones of separation between their two armies, in order to prevent any possibility of confrontation," Bisimwa said in a statement.
Sure looks like the "rebels" are working for peace, doesn't it?
PFFFFFFTTTTTT!!!!!
"Ships diverted after tanker hijacking; Norwegian firm won't risk facing Somali pirates" by Mohamed Sheikh Nor and Barbara Surk, Associated Press | November 19, 2008
MOGADISHU, Somalia - A major Norwegian shipping group yesterday ordered its more than 90 tankers to sail around Africa rather than use the Suez Canal after Somali pirates seized a Saudi supertanker carrying $100 million in crude. The United States and other naval forces decided against intervening in the seizure of the supertanker. The pirates captured an Iranian cargo ship Tuesday, the seventh vessel seized in 12 days.
With all that NATO and U.S. firepower in the area? I'm sorry, folks, but this is SMELLING REAL BAD!!!!
The Gulf of Aden, off Somalia, connects to the Red Sea, which in turn is linked to the Mediterranean by the Suez Canal. The route is thousands of miles and many days shorter than going around the Cape of Good Hope off the southern tip of Africa. "This will incur significant extra cost, but we expect our customers' support and contribution," said Terje Storeng, Odfjell's president and chief executive.
Translation: prices will be going up!
"Odfjell is frustrated by the fact that governments and authorities in general seem to take a limited interest in this very serious problem," he added, describing the seizures as "ruthless, high-level organized crime."
Yeah, STRANGE, isn't it? One almost wonders if it is not the SOMALI WAR LORDS the U.S. backed that is doing this. Anyhow, I won't find the answer in the Zionist War Daily. That is meant only to confuse.
Pirates have seized dozens of ships off Somalia's coast in the last year, generally releasing them after ransoms were paid. NATO has three warships in the Gulf of Aden and the US Navy's Fifth Fleet has ships in the region. But the MV Sirius Star was seized far from where they patrol. While Somali pirates have seized 36 ships over the past year, among them a Ukrainian ship loaded with arms that is still being held, never had they seized a vessel as large as the Sirius Star and so far out to sea.
Notice how the MSM has covered up the fact that the Ukranian ship is owned by an ISRAELI COMPANY?! They are RUNNING WEAPONS into AFRICA, readers, and YOU ARE NOT MEANT TO KNOW THAT!!! When I type Zionist bias, folks, I MEAN IT!!!!
The tanker was more than 450 nautical miles southeast of Mombasa, Kenya, an area far south of the zone where warships have increased their patrols.... With naval forces unwilling to intervene, shipowners in past piracy cases have ended up paying ransoms for their ships, cargos and crew. The latest ship seized was a bulk cargo carrier flying a Hong Kong flag and operated by the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines. US Navy Commander Jane Campbell of the Bahrain-based Fifth Fleet said the status of the crew and cargo was not known.
Oh, they captured an IRANIAN boat, huh? How much you wanna bet the U.S finds uranium on board?
I'm sorry, readers, but I am just not buying lying AmeriKan MSM propaganda anymore. This piracy bit is RIDICULOUS in today's world, and I am NOT BELIEVING the COOKED UP MSM COVER STORY anymore.
"A girl carried water she collected in a camp for displaced people yesterday in Kibati, just north of Goma in eastern Congo. The nation's army clashed with rebels in some of the worst fighting in a week."
And the U.N. is DOING NOTHING ABOUT IT!! Just like in Bosnia!
"Congo rebels push north despite cease-fire pledge" by Finbarr O'Reilly, Reuters | November 18, 2008
RWINDI, Congo - Well-armed Tutsi rebels in eastern Congo have pushed back demoralized army troops and advanced north, extending the territory under their control, despite their leader's pledge to support a cease-fire and peace talks, witnesses said yesterday.
Government troops abandoned their position late on Sunday at Rwindi, 80 miles north of Goma in Democratic Republic of Congo's North Kivu Province, after a battle with the rebels involving small arms and heavier weapons. UN peacekeeping troops at Rwindi stayed in their base during the fighting....
The blatant bias against the rebels is the Zionist AmeriKanMSM tipping its hand as t o which side it is on. That cease-fire was a unilateral one by the rebels, and the government never agreed.
**********
To the north, sporadic gunshots rang out that peacekeepers said were probably fired by hungry soldiers poaching animals. Local residents said they wanted the conflict to stop.
Yeah, the people never want war.
"There were more than 100 bombs that fell last night. What kind of cease-fire is that?" said Clement Augustin Kasabuni, 33.
A UN official said the retreating government soldiers had destroyed equipment left behind in Rwindi including ammunition and a rocket launcher. The rebels have been collecting large amounts of military hardware abandoned by the weak and chaotic Congolese army. --more--"
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