America’s Top Bin Laden Expert: Osama’s Dead, the Tape is Phony

FPF: concerning 'The Pentagon's propaganda war' - BBC - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/3ser2

AMERICA’S TOP BIN LADEN EXPERT: OSAMA’S DEAD, THE TAPE IS PHONY

THE MESSAGE WAS RECORDED BY AN IMPOSTOR

Op-Ed by Kevin Barrett

As a Ph.D. Islamologist and Arabist I really hate to say this, but I’ll say it anyway: 9/11 had nothing to do with Islam.* The war on terror is as phony as the latest “Bin Laden tape.” (1)

It’s a tough thing to admit, because I know on which side my bread is buttered - and dropping Islam from the 9/11 equation is dropping my slice of bread butter-side-down. The myth that 9/11 had something to do with Muslims has poured millions, if not billions, into Arabic and Islamic studies. I finished my Ph.D. last year, so all I have to do is keep my
eyes in my pocket and my nose on the ground, parrot the party line, and I’ll be on the fast track to tenure track.

The trouble is, it’s all based on a Big Lie. Take the recent “bin Laden” tape - please! That voice was no more bin Laden than it was Rodney Dangerfield channeling my late Aunt Corinne from Peoria. I recently helped translate a previously unknown bin Laden tape, a real one from the early 90’s, back when he was still alive. I know the guy’s flowery religious rhetoric. The recent tape wasn’t him.

The top American bin Laden expert agrees. Professor Bruce Lawrence* - head of Duke University’s Religious Studies department, has just published a book of translations of bin Laden’s speeches. He says the recent tape is a fake, and that bin Laden has been dead for years. (2)

ERSATZ BIN LADEN TAPES, “VERIFIED” BY THE CIA, ARE NOTHING NEW.

Every “Bin Laden” statement since 2001 has been blatantly bogus. The last we heard from the real Bin Laden came in his post-9/11 statements to Pakistani journalists: "I stress that I have not carried out this act, which appears to have been carried out by individuals with their own motivation... I have already said that I am not involved in the 11 September attacks in the United States... I had no knowledge of these attacks..." (3) - [FPF: It was an inside job - Google - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/7tj9d]

Then on December 13th, 2001, as George Bush was whining about the “outrageous conspiracy theories” that were spreading like wildfire, the first and shoddiest of the “Bin Laden speaks from beyond the grave” tapes appeared. The video’s sound and picture quality were horrible. It showed a big guy with a black beard, doing a passable imitation of Bin Laden’s voice, claiming foreknowledge, if not responsibility, for the 9/11 attacks, and chortling over their success.

THE TROUBLE WAS, THE BIG GUY CLEARLY WAS NOT BIN LADEN. HE WAS AT LEAST 40 OR 50 POUNDS HEAVIER, AND HIS FACIAL FEATURES WERE OBVIOUSLY DIFFERENT. (4)

The “Fatty Bin Laden” tape was widely ridiculed, and I have yet to meet an informed observer who considers it authentic. (If you haven’t figured this out yet, go back and look at the images from the tape, and compare them to other images of Bin Laden.) But the media let the fraud pass without asking the hard questions: Why was the US government
waving this blatantly fake “confession” video in our faces?

THE MESSAGE WAS RECORDED BY AN IMPOSTOR

Perhaps due to the widespread hilarity evoked by “Fatty Bin Laden,” the next “Osama from beyond the grave” message had no images—it was an audio tape delivered to al-Jazeera in fall, 2002. The CIA verified it as authentic, and then got a rotten egg in the face when the world’s leading voice identification experts at IDIAP in Switzerland reported that “the message was recorded by an impostor.” (5)

Every “bin Laden” message since then has been equally phony. They are released at moments when the Bush Regime needs a boost—and the American media goes along with the fraud. Remember the bogus bin Laden tape that made headlines right before the 2004 presidential elections? If you didn’t figure out that it was a CIA-produced commercial for George Bush, I have some great bridges to sell you. Walter Cronkite, bless his heart, opined that Karl Rove was behind that tape. (6) But the rest of the media just kept pretending that the Emperor was clothed.

PREPARE PUBLIC OPINION FOR ANOTHER FALSE-FLAG 9/11 STYLE ATTACK

And the fraud continues. Last week’s “bin Laden” tape has been ridiculed by America’s top bin Laden expert—yet the US media keeps right on holding a transparent fig leaf in front of the Emperor’s crotch! Professor Lawrence believes that this phony tape was designed to distract world opinion from the horrific massacre of Pakistani civilians by an errant CIA drone. But it may have another, more sinister purpose: To prepare public opinion for another false-flag 9/11 style attack designed to trigger a US-Israeli nuclear attack on Iran. (7)

As our top Bin Laden expert Professor Lawrence informs us, the real Bin Laden, who insisted that he had nothing to do with 9/11, has been dead for quite some time--probably 1since 2001. The fake messages have been fabricated by al-CIA-duh to support the Bush regime and its phony “war on terror.” It is time for Americans to rise up in revolt against the fake-terror masters who are looting US taxpayers, torching our Constitution, demolishing our economy, and threatening nuclear Armageddon.

[andend] - Story at Url.: http://mujca.com

This story already was written in New York on Aug. 24, 1998 - "Bin Laden comes home to roost" - His CIA ties are only the beginning of a woeful story - By Michael Moran - editor foreign news MSNBC - Url.: http://msnbc.com/news/190144.asp?cp1=1

Google search - Results 1-10 of about 827,000 for "Osama bin Laden" +fake - Url: http://tinyurl.com/bk462

FOR ACCURACY: THIS IS ONE OF THE STORIES HE'S REFERRING TO:

ABC11 news team Investigates:

Duke Professor Skeptical of bin Laden Tape

By Amber Rupinta

(01/19/06 -- DURHAM) - A Duke professor says he is doubtful about Thursday's audiotape from Osama bin Laden.
Bruce Lawrence has just published ?Messages to the World: The Statements of Osama Bin Laden,? a book translating bin Laden?s writing. He is skeptical of Thursday?s message.

?It was like a voice from the grave,? Lawrence said.

He thinks bin Laden is dead and has doubts about the tape. Lawrence recently analyzed more than 20 complete speeches and interviews of the al Qaida leader for his book. He says the new message is missing several key elements.

?There?s nothing in this from the Koran. He?s, by his own standards, a faithful Muslim,? Lawrence said. ?He quotes scripture in defense of his actions. There?s no quotation from the Koran in the excerpts we got, no reference to specific events, no reference to past atrocities.?

While the CIA confirms the voice on the tape is bin Laden?s, Lawrence questions when it was recorded. He says the timing of its release could be to divert attention from last week?s U.S. air strike in Pakistan. The strike targeted bin Laden?s deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri, and killed four leading al Qaeda figures along with civilians.

Lawrence believes faulty Pakistani intelligence led to the strike and the civilian deaths, and the tape was leaked by Pakistani authorities to divert attention from their mistake.

?It led to a failed military operation where America got blamed, but they people who are really to blame are the ones who provided the intelligence,? Lawrence said. ?I think this is an effort to say were not going look at this terrible incident that happened.?

Another element that Lawrence takes issue with in bin Laden?s latest message is it?s length - - only 10 minutes. Previously, the shortest was 18 minutes.

Amber Rupinta, Anchor/Reporter - ABC11 News Team

* ABC - News - Url.: http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=local&id=3828678

* January 23, 2006 - According to Russian General, 9/11 was a Globalist Inside Job: “The organizers of the 9/11 attacks were the political & business circles interested in destabilizing the world order - by Kurt Nimmo - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/7fj6s

FPF / Related:

* "Sarah, if the American people had ever known the truth about what we Bushes have done to this nation, we would be chased down in the streets and lynched." - George Bush Senior speaking in an interview with Sarah McClendon in December 1992. - 'The Demonic Cabal - (excellent article!) Url.: http://tinyurl.com/bvtvd

* Entertainer Harry Belafonte, one of the Bush neocon administration’s harshest critics, compared the US Homeland Security Department to the Nazi Gestapo - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/8uvoe

* Google search "Biggest threat to world peace" - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/dk2lj

* The Pentagon's propaganda war - BBC - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/3ser2

* MSNBC - Live Vote: Do you believe President Bush's actions justify impeachment? - Url.: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10562904/

"People do not forget. They do not forget the death of their fellows, they do not forget torture and mutilation, they do not forget injustice, they do not forget oppression, they do not forget the terrorism of mighty powers. They not only don't forget: they also strike back." - 2005 Nobel Literature Prize winner Harold Pinter - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/9cyeq

* One of the best videos made: British MP George Galloway has told US senators who accused him of profiting from Iraq oil dealings their claims were the "mother of all smokescreens". - Full testimony in transcript and a video which is a great pleasure to watch, seeing Galloway sweep the floor with neocon rat Coleman - 47 Minutes - Url.: http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article8868.htm

* The Nuremberg principles: "Any person who commits an act which constitutes a crime under international law is responsible therefor and liable to punishment." - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/byurp

* 'The war in Iraq is illegal' - BBC: video & text-interview of the United Nation's Secretary General Kofi Annan - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/5pl2v

* Reference guide to the Geneva Conventions - Url.: http://www.genevaconventions.org

* The leaked 'Downing Street Memos' expose the criminal lies by war criminals like Bush, Blair, Berlusconi (It.) Balkenende (NL) - their collaborating media and other malignant ilk - Url.:  http://www.downingstreetmemo.com/

* Wayne Madsen - ''The neo-cons have done to the U.S. Intelligence Community what Hurricane Katrina did to the Gulf Coast and New Orleans. America has never been weaker. Rather than creating a "New American Century," the neo-cons have created a new global "Dark Age" of fear and constant war.'' - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/bj754

* Who's financing? - The 'Federal Reserve' and it's usurers is the absolute biggest crime against all humanity ever. - Url.: http://www.apfn.org/apfn/reserve.htm

* NWO letter: ''we can cancel your credit or freeze your accounts'' - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/cjo7l

*Read the Fightin' Cock Flyer - Url.: http://fightincockflyer.blogspot.com/

* The infamous US 'Lie Factory' -  Url.: http://tinyurl.com/8ncal

* Help all the troops - of whatever nationality - to come back from abroad! - AND WITH ALL THEIR WEAPONS, WHICH WE WERE FORCED TO PAY FOR BY TAXES - [http://www.apfn.org/apfn/reserve.htm ] - We need them badly at home in many countries to fight with us against our so called 'governments' and their malignant managers - Url.: http://www.bringthemhomenow.org/

FPF-COPYRIGHT NOTICE - In accordance with Title 17 U. S. C. Section 107 - any copyrighted work in this message is distributed by the Foreign Press Foundation under fair use, without profit or payment, to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the information. Url.:  http://liimirror.warwick.ac.uk/uscode/17/107.html

FOREIGN PRESS FOUNDATION
http://forpressfound.blogspot.com/
Editor: Henk Ruyssenaars
http://tinyurl.com/amn3q
The Netherlands
FPF@Chello.nl

-0-

        

Robert Fisk is a brilliant and courageous journalist, but...

MEDIA LENS: CORRECTING FOR THE DISTORTED VISION OF THE CORPORATE MEDIA

HR/FPF-COMMENT: THE GREAT TASK OF PROPAGANDA IS TO MAKE DISSENT SEEM UNREALISTIC, EMBARRASSING, AND ABSURD.

Of my more than four decades as a foreign correspondent I spent nine living and working in North/West Africa, - sometimes for the BBC and CBS too when they still knew what journalism was - covering the area as good as I could. An area including Lebanon and the rest of the Middle East misery. I was never allowed into Israel. During most of those years the headquarters of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) it's leading politicians and Abu Ammar (Arafat) were in Tunis. I lived there - of my own choice - from 1987 untill I was declared 'persona non grata' Sept. 1996.

So I know Robert Fisk a little bit, and agree with MediaLens: "Fisk is a brilliant and courageous journalist" - and I too have often referred to or quoted him. But according to my experience I can only agree with 3/4 of what he writes: and I will never share his omissions. Papers ike The Independent c.s. are definitely NOT to be trusted. The critical articles they use as "alibi-journalism" - "Look we wrote critical about it"! - But most avid readers know they too wrote towards an illegal war.*

For part 1 we wrote: Front man Bush said: ''Either you are for us, or for the terrorists'' - Here you can see some of those who prefer the US/UK 'gunship diplomacy' and genocides: just remember the names of the critics, writers and the 'secret service trio', the so called 'liberal' info-sheets 'The Observer', 'The Independent' and 'The Guardian': they are dishonest and always have been producing 'alibi-journalism': 25% correct and 75% adjusted to the policies of the 'government's managers'. The analysis below confirms this again. - HR

[endquote] - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/9329k

MEDIA ALERT: BEYOND THE 'BLOG-O-BOTS' - PART 2


January 23, 2006 - In Part 1 of this alert we reviewed Robert Fisk‚s observation that „more and more people are trying to find a different and more accurate narrative of events in the Middle East. It is a tribute to their intelligence that instead of searching for blog-o-bots or whatever, they are looking to the European 'mainstream' newspapers like The Independent, the Guardian, The Financial Times.

Fisk observed of mainstream press reporting that it „must have considerable basis in truth because otherwise it wouldn't appear in a major British paper„. (Justin Podur, ''Fisk: War is the total failure of the human spirit'' - December 5, 2005; http://www.rabble.ca/rabble_interview.shtml?sh_itm=a37c84dbd62690c4c1abb1a898a77047&rXn=1&)

Fisk is a brilliant and courageous journalist - we have quoted his work many times - but we profoundly disagree with these comments.

British historian Mark Curtis reviewed the performance of the Independent and other newspapers in his book The Ambiguities of Power:

"Of the five daily broadsheet newspapers in Britain - the Daily Telegraph, Times, Financial Times, Independent and Guardian... the first three - which account for around 70 per cent of broadsheet readership - systematically fail to elucidate the specific link between British policy and human rights abuses. The Independent also regularly portrays the reality of British foreign policy in an inaccurately benevolent light." (Curtis, The Ambiguities of Power, Zed Books, 1995, pp.116-117)

As an example, we can consider the Independent‚s performance in the lead up to, and immediate aftermath of, the invasion of Iraq.

Two months before Blair launched his war of aggression, an Independent story described how the prime minister had "spent much of yesterday advancing the cause of world peace with a series of high-profile Downing Street guests". (Andrew Grice, ''Putting the world to rights: a busy day in Downing Street'' The Independent, January 10, 2003)

As the government‚s audacious campaign of deception reached its peak on the eve of war, an Independent editorial said of Blair: "his patent sincerity has impressed, banishing his reputation as a fickle politician without convictions". (Leader, ''A divided world stands on the brink of a war that could have been avoided,‚ The Independent, March 18, 2003)

The following day, the editors responded to Blair‚s lie-packed March 18 speech to parliament:

„Tony Blair's capacities as a performer and an advocate have never been in doubt. But this was something much more... this was the most persuasive case yet made by the man who has emerged as the most formidable persuader for war on either side of the Atlantic. The case against President Saddam's 12-year history of obstructing the United Nation's attempts at disarmament has never been better made. (Leader, ''Whatever the anxieties over this conflict, Mr Blair has shown himself to be a leader for troubled times'' - The Independent, March 19, 2003)

Like the rest of the media, the Independent was happy to promote the endless flood of terror alerts and scare stories used to frighten the public into supporting the war. The Independent's lead story on February 19, 2003 claimed that "three giant cargo ships are being tracked by US and British intelligence on suspicion that they might be carrying Iraqi weapons of mass destruction". (Michael Harrison, 'Iraq crisis: three mystery ships are tracked over suspected weapons' cargo,' The Independent, February 19, 2003)

The report added: "the movement of the three ships is the source of growing concern among maritime and intelligence experts".

In an online Guardian debate on June 5, the Observer‚s Peter Beaumont said of this story: "just goes to show, we can all make mistakes. ie the story was - as far as i know - a load of cobblers."

Two weeks later, Michael Harrison, author of the Independent article, assured us:

"We are confident of our sources and satisfied with the veracity of the story. Indeed, we are continuing to pursue the story with the intention of reporting on it further. Hope this is of help." (Email to David Cromwell, June 19, 2003)

Alas, nothing more was ever heard of this concocted tale.

An August 2003 Independent editorial was titled:

"The Americans are trying to build a prosperous, democratic Iraq, but they cannot do it on their own." (Leader, The Independent, August 9, 2003)

We could cite endless other examples and omissions from the Independent‚s reporting on US-UK sanctions against Iraq, on Iraq‚s non-existent WMD, on Kosovo, East Timor, Afghanistan, Haiti, climate change, and so on.

Yasmin Alibhai-Brown of The Independent summed up the reality in an email to us:

„So much of what you say [about media complicity in human rights abuses] is depressingly true and believe me there are days when I want to have two baths to wash away my sense of disgust that I am part of the media industry." (Alibhai-Brown, email to David Cromwell, August 16, 2000)

In 2001 Noam Chomsky said of the Independent's reporting on Iraq:

"It's worth remembering that no matter how much they try, they are part of the British educated elite, that is, ideological fanatics who have long ago lost the capacity to think on any issue of human significance, and entirely in the grip of the state religion. They can concede errors or failures, but anything more is, literally, inconceivable." (Chomsky, email to David Cromwell, February 24, 2001)

A couple of weeks after Fisk praised the British press, the Independent's sister paper, the Independent on Sunday, presented a year-end review of the world‚s conflicts in 2005, focusing heavily on Iraq.

This review was a thing of wonder for us. The article lists many instances of Iraqi civilians killed by suicide bombers, and of ‚coalition‚ troops killed by insurgents. But there is not one mention of Iraqi civilians being killed or injured by 'coalition' forces:


„JANUARY

No let-up in war in Iraq ... American soldier convicted of abusing detainees at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq and jailed for 10 years ... Helicopter crash kills 31 US Marines ... Iraqis vote in first election since the invasion ... violence flares in Darfur, Sudan ... Ten servicemen, nine British and one Australian, die in Iraq when Hercules plane crashes.

FEBRUARY

North Korea boasts for first time that it has nuclear weapons ... Suicide bombers kill 125 in Hillah, Iraq, worst such attack since coalition invasion ... former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri assassinated in Beirut ... Syria blamed, pulls 14,000 troops from Lebanon.

MARCH

US military deaths in Iraq reach 1,500 ... Judge to preside at trial of Saddam Hussein is murdered.

APRIL

Ibrahim al-Jaafari, a Shia, is named Iraq's interim Prime Minister ... Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani sworn in as interim President ... Robert Mugabe retains power in Zimbabwe elections amid accusations of electoral fraud.

MAY

Hundreds reported killed in crackdown on uprising in Uzbekistan ... Iraq violence soars, with 350 dead in suicide bombings in two weeks.

JUNE

Suicide bomber targets school in Kashmir, 14 die ... violence in run-up to Iranian election.

JULY

Britain a terrorist target for the first time since launch of 'war on terror' ... British suicide bombers kill 52 people in attacks on London transport ... Innocent Brazilian killed by police who think he is terrorist ... Repeat attack on transport system fails, with four suspected would-be bombers detained ... Roadside bomb in Iraq kills three British servicemen.

AUGUST

Fourteen US Marines from a reserve unit die in deadliest roadside bomb used on US forces in the Iraq war.

SEPTEMBER

Co-ordinated bombings kill at least 160 in Baghdad ... North Korea pledges to drop its nuclear weapons development ... US soldier Lynndie England jailed for three years for abusing prisoners.

OCTOBER

Bombs in Bali kill 22 ... US military deaths in Iraq reach 2,000.

NOVEMBER

In France, two weeks of rioting strike cities ... Suicide bombers target three hotels in Amman, Jordan, killing 60. Iraqi woman held after her explosive belt failed to detonate.

DECEMBER

Death toll in Iraq war stands at 30,000 Iraqis, 2,140 US soldiers and 97 British service personnel. - (Independent on Sunday, December 18, 2005)


Below, we provide a small sample from the missing facts:


Whole Streets Were Obliterated

In an entry for January 8, 2005, Iraq Body Count reported 14 Iraqi civilians killed by a laser-guided bomb dropped by a US F-16 jet in Aathya, near Mosul: „suspected insurgent hideout, wrong house hit„. (http://www.iraqbodycount.org/database/bodycount35.php?ts=1137165789)

On January 18, independent journalist Dahr Jamail reported from Baghdad:

„The U.S. military is resorting to collective punishment tactics in Iraq similar to those used by Israeli troops in the occupied territories of Palestine, residents say. Military bulldozers have mown down palm groves in the rural al-Dora farming area on the outskirts of Baghdad, residents say. Electricity has been cut, the local fuel station destroyed and the access road blocked. - (Jamail, ''U.S. Military Resorting To Collective Punishment'' - Inter Press Service, January 18, 2005)

Also in January, the Observer reported figures that ‰suggest 600 civilians are dying a month - which would equate to about 11,000 casualties in the past 18 months‰. (Antony Barnett, ŒFighting kills 135 children,‚ The Observer, January 30, 2005)

On May 9, the Chicago Tribune reported that more than 1,000 US troops, supported by fighter jets and helicopter gunships, had attacked villages in and around Obeidi, a city near the Euphrates river not far from the Syrian border. Some 75 Iraqis - described as „insurgents‰ were reported killed. (James Sturcke, ŒUS troops kill 75 insurgents,‚ Chicago Tribune, May 9, 2005)

On May 19, Dahr Jamail reported:

„As with the siege of Fallujah six months back, U.S. claims over the siege of the Iraqi town Al Qa'im are being challenged now by independent sources.‰ (Jamail, ŒUS Claims Over Siege Challenged,‚ Inter Press Service, May 19, 2005)

Iraqi civilians and doctors in the area said no foreign fighters were present in the town. Al Qa'im and surrounding areas had suffered severe destruction, and many in the town (population 110,000) had been killed, they said. The town‚s centre had been ‰been almost completely destroyed,‰ according to the director of Al-Qa'im hospital Dr. Hamdi Al-Alusi. He said the casualties included many women, children and elderly people, and appealed to humanitarian organisations to intervene quickly.

In June the Guardian reported the launch of ŒOperation Spear‚ targeting the Iraqi cities of Karabila and Qaim. This involved bombers, helicopters and 1,000 marines with tanks and amphibious assault vehicles. The chief doctor at the main hospital in Qaim, counted at least 17 civilian dead during the offensive, according to Reuters, while the director of Ramadi hospital „said he had taken possession of at least 50 bodies discovered in and around Karabilah‰, including three women and four men with Egyptian passports, according to the Los Angeles Times. (http://www.voices.netuxo.co.uk/library/letter_augsep05.htm)

According to a member of the Karabila city council „about 16 houses were destroyed and 71 were damaged‰ and „three mosques, two schools and a medical clinic for children and pregnant women were wrecked‰. (Ibid)

In Qaim, „whole streets were obliterated‰ and „every house was searched, often only after the front gate had been blown off with explosives‰ and „weapons caches were detonated on the spot bringing houses down around them‰. (Ibid)

In July, the media reported that little information was available about three more offensives: ŒOperation Dagger‚ in Central Iraq; ŒOperation Sword‚ - involving 1,000 US troops and 100 Iraqi soldiers - and ŒOperation Scimitar‚, which began on July 7 with raids 19 miles southeast of Fallujah.

In August, the BBC reported: „Almost 1,000 people are known to have died in a stampede of Shia pilgrims in northern Baghdad, Iraqi health officials have said.‰ (August 31, 2005 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4199618.stm)

In September, US forces attacked Tal Afar. In a bid to soften resistance, the US military carried out repeated air and artillery strikes against the city, where most of the population of 200,000 was reported to have fled to the surrounding countryside. (ŒTroops launch offensive on Iraq town,‚ Associated Press, September 10, 2005)

On October 18, Jonathan Finer reported in the Washington Post: „A series of U.S. air and ground strikes Sunday near the western city of Ramadi killed 70 suspected insurgents, the military said in a statement Monday. But Ramadi health workers and residents, including several eyewitnesses, reported 39 civilians among the dead, including 18 children allegedly killed when an aerial bombardment targeted a U.S. Humvee that had been disabled by a deadly roadside bomb on Saturday.‰ (Jonathan Finer, ŒU.S. strikes kill 70 in Iraq,‚ Washington Post, October 18, 2005)

The report continued:

„Family members of the victims descended upon Ramadi General Hospital, which ran out of refrigeration space for the dead. The bodies of a woman and three children lay in the garden Monday, and victims' relatives fought with each other as they sifted through remains.‰

In November, dozens of civilians including women and children were reportedly killed in US air strikes near al-Qaim, local doctors said:

„We‚ve been receiving the injured since Monday morning‚s air strikes,‰ Dr Ahmed al-Rabia‚a from al-Qaim hospital said. Local witnesses said the dead and injured were mainly civilians. According to al-Rabia‚a, several women and children were among the 43 dead and 25 injured who reached his hospital. (ŒCivilians killed near al-Qaim in air strike, doctors sayŒ; November 1, 2005; http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=49875&SelectRegion=Middle_East&SelectCountry=IRAQ)

On November 6, the Observer reported:

„Thousands of American and Iraqi troops, backed by fighter jets, besieged an insurgent-held town near the Syrian border yesterday in Iraq's biggest military assault since the storming of Falluja... About 2,500 American troops and 1,000 Iraqi army soldiers cordoned off roads around Husaybah.‰ (Ned Temko, ŒMajor US attack on eve of Iraq talks,‚ The Observer, November 6, 2005)

On November 23, the Guardian reported the aftermath of this offensive:

„There was more resistance at Ubaydi in the following days. The US went in with tanks, Humvees, helicopters and planes. They swept from one end to the other, searching for weapons. They kicked in doors or used explosives to get in, or used tanks to do it... When people saw a ferocious assault was under way, they began to leave town. Women and children came out carrying white flags. It was eerie seeing columns of people appearing through the smoke and explosions, with no one knowing which direction the shooting was coming from. I am sure we will hear of more casualties.‰ (Sean Smith, ŒUp close: the reality of Iraq's hidden war,‚ The Guardian, November 23, 2005)

None of the above was deemed worthy of mention in the Independent on Sunday‚s article reviewing the world‚s conflicts in 2005.


SUGGESTED ACTION

The goal of Media Lens is to promote rationality, compassion and respect for others. In writing letters to journalists, we strongly urge readers to maintain a polite, non-aggressive and non-abusive tone.

Write to Simon Kelner, editor of the Independent:
Email: s.kelner@independent.co.uk

Write to Leonard Doyle, foreign editor of the Independent:
Email: l.doyle@independent.co.uk

Write to Michael Williams, the Independent on Sunday's reader's editor, about the 2005 review in his paper:
Email: readerseditor@independent.co.uk

Write to us at: editor@medialens.org

The first Media Lens book has just been published: 'Guardians of Power: The Myth Of The Liberal Media' by David Edwards and David Cromwell (Pluto Books, London, 2006). For further details, please click here:

http://www.medialens.org/bookshop/guardians_of_power.php

This is a free service but please consider donating to Media Lens: http://www.medialens.org/donate.html

A printer-friendly version of this alert can be found here for approximately one week after the date at the top: http://www.medialens.org/alerts/index.php
and then, thereafter, in our archive at: http://www.medialens.org/alerts/archive.php

Visit the Media Lens website: www.medialens.org

Fwd. by:

FOREIGN PRESS FOUNDATION
http://forpressfound.blogspot.com/
Editor: Henk Ruyssenaars
http://tinyurl.com/amn3q
The Netherlands
fpf@chello.nl

* Entertainer Harry Belafonte, one of the Bush neocon administration’s harshest critics, compared the US Homeland Security Department to the Nazi Gestapo - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/8uvoe

* Google search "Biggest threat to world peace" - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/dk2lj

* MSNBC - Live Vote: Do you believe President Bush's actions justify impeachment? - Url.: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10562904/

* 'The war in Iraq is illegal' - BBC: video & text-interview of the United Nation's Secretary General Kofi Annan - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/5pl2v

* Who's financing? - The 'Federal Reserve' and it's usurers is the absolute biggest crime against all humanity ever. - Url.: http://www.apfn.org/apfn/reserve.htm

* The infamous US 'Lie Factory' -  Url.: http://tinyurl.com/8ncal

*Read the Fightin' Cock Flyer - Url.: http://fightincockflyer.blogspot.com/

* Help all the troops - of whatever nationality - to come back from abroad! - AND WITH ALL THEIR WEAPONS, WHICH WE WERE FORCED TO PAY FOR BY TAXES - [http://www.apfn.org/apfn/reserve.htm ] - We need them badly at home in many countries to fight with us against our so called 'governments' and their malignant managers - Url.: http://www.bringthemhomenow.org/

FPF-COPYRIGHT NOTICE - In accordance with Title 17 U. S. C. Section 107 - any copyrighted work in this message is distributed by the Foreign Press Foundation under fair use, without profit or payment, to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the information. Url.: http://liimirror.warwick.ac.uk/uscode/17/107.html

* It's very unlikely, but if you would prefer to unsubscribe from the FPF-list: Pls. just send an email in return with the word 'unsubscribe'.

-0-

Bolivia's new president: Latin America's dream is US' nightmare

HR: As a survivor of the CIA's and Kissinger's holocaust of President Salvador Allende and the Chilean dream in their bloodbath coup, it's with fear and pride one reads about Morales and Bolivia in the text below; I am still after 40 years hoping for a humane development; without the usual US neocon's killing and plunder.* The greedy gringos: the Federal Reserve* banking establisment's ruthless robbers and the deadly spreading of their form of 'democracy' from the barrel of a gun must be stopped. - [http://tinyurl.com/5u98v] - They are malignantly dangerous, a global cancer very fast to be cured before it kills us all, those monsters of remorseless cruelty. [ ]

***************************************************************************

Evo Morales Sworn in as Bolivia's First Indigenous President, Hails Election as End of "Colonial and Neo-Liberal Era"

WORLD LEADERS FROM 11 NATIONS ATTENDED EVO MORALES' INAUGURATION

SUPPORT FOR MORALES STANDS AT 74 PERCENT

Monday, January 23rd, 2006 - In Bolivia, the country's first-ever indigenous president - Evo Morales - was sworn in on Sunday. He focused his nearly two-hour inaugural address on bringing justice to the country's indigenous majority and reaffirmed his pledge to nationalize the country's vast natural gas reserves. We speak with author and journalist James Petras.

In Bolivia, the country's first-ever indigenous president - Evo Morales - was sworn in on Sunday. He focused his nearly two-hour inaugural address on bringing justice to the country's indigenous majority. Morales spoke of the years of discrimination against Indians and compared Bolivia to apartheid-era South Africa.

HE ALSO REAFFIRMED HIS PLEDGE TO NATIONALIZE THE COUNTRY'S VAST NATURAL GAS RESERVES AND ASKED WEALTHY NATIONS TO WRITE OFF BOLIVIA'S $3.4 BILLION DOLLARS IN FOREIGN DEBT.

Bolivia is the poorest country in South America, but it has the second-largest reserves of natural gas on the continent. The 46 year-old Morales won the presidency in December with more popular support than any Bolivian president in decades. He is the latest in a string of left-leaning leaders to assume power in South America in what many see as a backlash against U.S.-backed free-market policies. Bolivia has had five presidents in four years.

Morales rise to power began with his leadership of the coca growers union and his high-profile opposition to the U.S.-funded eradication of the coca crop. He helped to lead the street demonstrations by Indian and union groups that toppled the country's last two presidents.

During his campaign, Morales said he would be the United States' "worst nightmare." He blasted the proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas, saying the idea was a sure way to enslave Latin Americans to the interests of American big business.

HR: THE SHARKS IN THE U.S HAVE CRITICIZED MORALES

The U.S has criticized Morales for his close ties to Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez and Cuban president Fidel Castro. But on Saturday, U.S Assistant Secretary of State, Thomas Shannon met with Morales and reportedly expressed a desire to strengthen diplomatic relations with Bolivia. After meeting with Shannon, Morales told reporters: "Relations between Bolivia and the United States are going to continue."

An opinion poll released this weekend by the Bolivian firm Apoyo said that support for Morales stands at 74 percent, an unprecedented level in the country's recent history. Morales broke into tears on Sunday as he donned the presidential sash and medal.

On Saturday, a day before the official swearing in ceremony, thousands of supporters came to the Indian ceremony that was held for Morales at Tiwanaku, a pre-Incan site that Indians believe confers strength on visitors. There, barefoot and dressed as a sun priest, he received a baton, encrusted with gold, silver and bronze, that will symbolize his Indian leadership.

World leaders from 11 nations attended Evo Morales' inauguration on Sunday. They included Nestor Kirchner, the President of Argentina, Luis Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil and the outgoing president of Chile, Ricardo Lagos. Also in attendance was Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez who had this to say about Morales" victory.

FIND MORE AT THE SITE OF DEMOCRACU NOW - URL.: HTTP://TINYURL.COM/D6SRY

* James Petras, author and journalist, Professor Emeritus at SUNY Binghamton. He has written about Latin America for many years and is author of the book, "Social Movements and State Power: Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Ecuador." [www.democracynow.org] - [andend]

Fwd. by:

* An american insider tells on video how the 'greedy gringos' with their private banks kill millions and earn billions: Perkins story on the CIA 'jackals' and how the multinationals are cheating the world out of trillions - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/4p5yo

* How the 'Robber Barons' work: HR on Wolfowitz and 'Bloody Mary for breakfast' - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/8x3be

* "Sarah, if the American people had ever known the truth about what we Bushes have done to this nation, we would be chased down in the streets and lynched." - George Bush Senior speaking in an interview with Sarah McClendon in December 1992. - 'The Demonic Cabal - (excellent article!) Url.: http://tinyurl.com/bvtvd

* Entertainer Harry Belafonte, one of the Bush neocon administration’s harshest critics, compared the US Homeland Security Department to the Nazi Gestapo - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/8uvoe

* Google search "Biggest threat to world peace" - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/dk2lj

* MSNBC - Live Vote: Do you believe President Bush's actions justify impeachment? - Url.: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10562904/

* "People do not forget. They do not forget the death of their fellows, they do not forget torture and mutilation, they do not forget injustice, they do not forget oppression, they do not forget the terrorism of mighty powers. They not only don't forget: they also strike back." - 2005 Nobel Literature Prize winner Harold Pinter - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/9cyeq

* 'Spreading democracy' - Countries & US Death Squads - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/drnca - A 55' second sound bite concerning the US 'bringing democracy' everywhere - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/5u98v

* 'Crying Wolf' - Media Disinformation and Death Squads in Occupied Iraq - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/7ttx8

* Reference guide to the Geneva Conventions - Url.:  http://www.genevaconventions.org

* Al Qaeda – The Database - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/cqx69

* The 9/11 WTC drama was PNAC terror - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/9np7d - It was an inside job - Google - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/7tj9d

* Wayne Madsen - ''The neo-cons have done to the U.S. Intelligence Community what Hurricane Katrina did to the Gulf Coast and New Orleans. America has never been weaker. Rather than creating a "New American Century," the neo-cons have created a new global "Dark Age" of fear and constant war.'' - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/bj754

* Who's financing? - The 'Federal Reserve' and it's usurers is the absolute biggest crime against all humanity ever. - Url.: http://www.apfn.org/apfn/reserve.htm

* NWO letter: ''we can cancel your credit or freeze your accounts'' - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/cjo7l

*Read the Fightin' Cock Flyer - Url.: http://fightincockflyer.blogspot.com/

* The infamous US 'Lie Factory' -  http://tinyurl.com/8ncal

* He who travels far will often see things

Far removed from what he believed was the Truth.

When he talks about it in the fields at home,

He is often accused of lying,

For the obdurate people will not believe

Inexperience, I believe,

Will give little credence to my song.

'Journey to the East' - Hermann Hesse

* Help all the troops - of whatever nationality - to come back from abroad! - AND WITH ALL THEIR WEAPONS, WHICH WE WERE FORCED TO PAY FOR BY TAXES - [http://www.apfn.org/apfn/reserve.htm ] - We need them badly at home in many countries to fight with us against our so called 'governments' and their malignant managers - Url.: http://www.bringthemhomenow.org/

* FPF-COPYRIGHT NOTICE - In accordance with Title 17 U. S. C. Section 107 - any copyrighted work in this message is distributed by the Foreign Press Foundation under fair use, without profit or payment, to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the information. Url.:  http://liimirror.warwick.ac.uk/uscode/17/107.html

* It's very unlikely, but if you would prefer to unsubscribe from the FPF-list, pls. just send an email in return with the word 'unsubscribe'.

FOREIGN PRESS FOUNDATION
http://tinyurl.com/6v8ru
Editor: Henk Ruyssenaars
http://tinyurl.com/amn3q
The Netherlands
FPF@Chello.nl

-0-



        

An American Hitler and his Gestapo

From Capitol Hill Blue - The Rant

By DOUG THOMPSON

Publisher - Capitol Hill Blue

Jan 23, 2006 - The U.S. Department of Justice, led by Alberto “The Constitution is an outdated document” Gonzales, wants to know if you’ve been looking at any racy material on the Internet.

Yahoo and MSN have already complied with subpoenas from Gonzales’ storm troopers demanding records on who is using their search services to look at porno sites on the Internet.

Google, to their credit, said no and is now caught in a tough legal fight against the George Bush’s Gestapo.

Ohmigod! Did he say Gestapo?

Damn right I did. If you don’t think the rights-robbing, privacy-invading, Constitution ignoring administration of George W. Bush is anything less than a Hitler-style Gestapo then you’ve got your head stuffed so far up your ass that all that brown stuff is blinding you.

America, once hailed as the land of the free, has – under the tyranny of King George – become Amerika, reviled as a global thug that doesn’t give a damn about anyone’s rights, especially those of its own citizens.

Protest if you want. Spout the Republican Party line is you can without gagging. I don’t give a damn. If you believe George W. Bush is anything less than an American Hitler then you’re too damn dumb and stupid to argue with anyway.

Bush is an evil man, a power-grapping despot who believes in absolute rule, a madman so wrapped up in his perceived role as “a wartime President” and “Commander in Chief” that he believes no law applies to him or his rotting, corrupt, administration. The Constitution? Why it’s just “a goddamned piece of paper” to this insane megalomaniac.

Legal scholars agree that Bush blatantly broke the law by ordering the National Security Agency to spy on Americans without warrants or court review. The only cretins who support this dictator are the brain-dead Republicans who put power above the law and party loyalty above their country.

Bush is a traitor to his country. As a traitor, he should be led from the White House in chains and tried as one. Since he insists he is a “wartime President,” then let’s try the son-of-a-bitch as a wartime traitor, a Benedict Arnold who turned on his country and gave aid and comfort to its enemies.

Bush has done far more damage to the freedoms and security of American than Osama bin Laden. In fact, I’m starting to believe the traitorous asshole is in league with bin Laden and others who want this country destroyed.

No true American would treat the Constitution with the contempt that spills like toxic bile from the lips of George Bush. No true American would continue to support this maniac as he continues to dismantle what once was the greatest country in the world.

Bush is clearly guilty of high crimes against the Constitution of the United States. It’s time to give this reincarnation of Adolph Hitler exactly what he deserves.

Doug Thompson

[andend] - 2005 Capitol Hill Blue - Url.:


* "Sarah, if the American people had ever known the truth about what we Bushes have done to this nation, we would be chased down in the streets and lynched." - George Bush Senior speaking in an interview with Sarah McClendon in December 1992. - 'The Demonic Cabal - (excellent article!) Url.: http://tinyurl.com/bvtvd

* Entertainer Harry Belafonte, one of the Bush neocon administration’s harshest critics, compared the US Homeland Security Department to the Nazi Gestapo - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/8uvoe

* Google search "Biggest threat to world peace" - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/dk2lj

* One of the best videos made: British MP George Galloway has told US 'senators' - who accused him of profiting from Iraq oil dealings - their claims were the "mother of all smokescreens". - Full testimony in transcript and a video which is a great pleasure to watch, seeing Galloway sweep the floor with neocon rat Coleman - 47 Minutes - Url.: http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article8868.htm

* 'Crying Wolf' - Media Disinformation and Death Squads in Occupied Iraq - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/7ttx8

* Who's financing? - The 'Federal Reserve' and it's usurers is the absolute biggest crime against all humanity ever. - Url.: http://www.apfn.org/apfn/reserve.htm

* NWO letter: ''we can cancel your credit or freeze your accounts'' - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/cjo7l

* Wayne Madsen - ''The neo-cons have done to the U.S. Intelligence Community what Hurricane Katrina did to the Gulf Coast and New Orleans. America has never been weaker. Rather than creating a "New American Century," the neo-cons have created a new global "Dark Age" of fear and constant war.'' - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/bj754

* MSNBC - Live Vote: Do you believe President Bush's actions justify impeachment? - Url.: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10562904/

*Read the Fightin' Cock Flyer - Url.: http://fightincockflyer.blogspot.com/

-0-