As The World Squirmsã

 

~Serious Comment for Serious People - A Global Perspective for Just a Few Friends~

 

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Sunday, July 20, 2008

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Special Comment

 

RESOLUTION 362: The U.S. Congress’s Backdoor War Declaration and Iran's Right to Nuclear Energy

 

·     What are Iran's nuclear rights?

·     Is Iran a "threat to peace and security?"

·     Are sanctions against Iran legal?

·     What did A. Q. Khan sell to Iran?

·     Would Iran give nuclear technology to Hezbollah?

 

Protesters Against Resolution 362 Arrested at Pelosi’s Home (Video)

 

 

The Pentagonization of US life

 

Nick Turse and Tom Engelhardt of Tomdispatch.com, in the second part of their video interview by Pepe Escobar, discuss the ramifications of militarism in American life - how over 100 contractors are now on the Pentagon's payroll. This is closely connected to the way the Bush administration expanded militarization abroad through a worldwide US "empire of bases." The backlash was inevitable. Engelhardt says the Bush administration "may have single-handedly given birth to a multipolar world." Continue…

 

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin (R) and National Security Council of Saudi Arabia Secretary General Prince Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz (L)

 

Saudis Bail on the Bush Regime

 

The Eurasia Daily Monitor reports: “A simple, one-sentence Russian language news item published by Russia's Interfax on July 14 seemingly signals yet another tectonic shift in the Middle East's volatile mixture of oil, religion and weaponry. The item read, "An agreement about military-technical collaboration (VTS) between Russia and Saudi Arabia was signed Monday evening, reports an Interfaks [sic] correspondent; the agreement was signed in the presence of RF Prime Minister Vladimir Putin by Federal agency on VTS head Mikhail Dmitriev and National Security Council of Saudi Arabia Secretary General Prince Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz" (Interfax, July 14).

The next day the Saudi Press Agency provided more details, differing from the Interfax bulletin by noting that it was actually Bandar and Putin who signed the agreement, adding that "Bandar reiterated the keenness of the Custodian of the two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz on further cementing Saudi-Russian relations in the political, military, security, cultural and technological domains" (Saudi Press Agency, July 15).

While no text of the agreement was published, the news apparently represents a major potential realignment of the Middle East's geopolitical realities, made all the more extraordinary by the fact that, beginning 29 years ago and continuing through the entire Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia matched, dollar for dollar, the United States' covert assistance to the Mujahideen.”
Continue…

 

UK Parliamentary Panel: US 'Can't Be Trusted on Torture'

 

The Herald Sun (Australia) reports: “Ministers [UK] have previously taken at face value statements from their US counterparts, including Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and President George W. Bush, that Washington does not resort to such practices[torture].

But the cross-party foreign affairs committee said that stance should be abandoned given admissions from the US director of national intelligence, Michael McConnell, that "water-boarding" had been used on terror suspects.

Foreign Secretary David Miliband has told parliament on two occasions this year that the practice, which simulates drowning during interrogation, amounts to torture.

Mr Miliband's position has "serious implications" for government policy, the committee said in its 214-page Human Rights Annual Report 2007-8.


’We conclude that, given the clear differences in definition, the UK can no longer rely on US assurances that it does not use torture, and we recommend that the government does not rely on such assurances in the future,’ it said.

Britain is a signatory to a United Nations convention that prevents the extradition of suspects to countries where torture is used. If adopted, a change in approach could affect such transfers.

Continue…

 

UK Relies on Torture Tactics of Pakistani Agencies

 

Pakistans Jang Group reports: Britain is surprisingly showing no urgency in signing an extradition treaty with Pakistan to get one dozen most-wanted people from Islamabad, suspected of involvement in terrorism on the British soil.

This lack of willingness is due to the UK
s realisation that unlike the Pakistani secret agencies, the MI-5 and MI-6 may not be able to extract information from the suspects through torture because of legal complications, diplomatic sources have claimed. British and Pakistani authorities have been discussing the proposal of signing a treaty on extradition for many years without any significant progress. Officials from Pakistan and the UK have been visiting the capitals of both the countries yet they have not agreed anything in black and white. Continue...

 

Brown Plans to Withdraw UK Troops

 

The Independent (London) reports:  Gordon Brown prepared the ground for a historic realignment in the "war on terror" yesterday by setting out a four-point plan for withdrawal of British troops from Iraq by the end of next year.”

Continue…

 

 

 

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“Political language ... is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder

respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.”

 

~George Orwell~

 

Bush lobbyist quits in ‘bribes’ row, US Congress investigates

 

Medvedev, Ahmadinejad call for strong Tehran-Moscow ties

 

Ahmadinejad says nuclear talks a step forward

 

Beijing begins massive Olympic shutdown

 

Hezbollah Chief Makes Rare Appearance to Greet Former Prisoners in Lebanon

 

Sarkozy to meet Obama in Paris on July 25

 

Brazil accuses rich countries of deception akin to Joseph Goebbels at World Trade talks

 

Brown urges Israel to stop settlement

 

 

No injuries as 2 Basque bombs rock northern Spain

 

Obamania grips Europe ahead of visit by "John Kennedy of our time"

 

Chavez says US ties would be no warmer with Obama

 

Israel makes arrests in alleged plot against Bush

 

Turkey bombs Kurd rebel targets in Iraq

 

Arab ministers criticize International Criminal Court charges against Sudan president

 

Mexican state police chief gunned down

 

Cuba Reiterates Rejection of US Hegemonic Policy

 

UN Chief Says Billions Needed to Halt Global Food Crisis

 

Moscow urges Japan not to provoke public hostility toward Russia over island dispute

 

Singh Stakes Career on US Nuclear Pact

 

Australia's food bowl faces grim times as Murray River drops to lowest level ever recorded

 

 

 

PERSPECTIVE

 

HE'S BACK! Ross Perot Sponsors New Public Interest Website

 

 

 

 

An extraordinarily prescient video interview with General Norman Schwarzkopf and Robert Gates - Deputy National Security Advisor to Former President George Bush Sr.

 

Why Invading Iraq Was A Very Stupid Idea…

 

(Click on blinking dot above for video)