Dick is offended!

Vice President Dick Cheney today said he was offended by Amnesty International's condemnation of the United States for what it called "serious human rights violations" at Guantanamo Bay. "For Amnesty International to suggest that somehow the United States is a violator of human rights, I frankly just don't take them seriously," he said. An Amnesty executive hit back saying Cheney also does not take seriously torture and the Geneva Convention.

Read it here.

Well, may be Mr. Cheney should take it a bit more seriously. After all, one day he might wish to go for a vacation outside the US. But as the head of the US branch of Amnesty International suggeted, he, just like Rumsfeld and other gang members, might get arrested for crimes against humanity. So Dick, you better take it seriously, very seriously.

Memorial Day

It is Memorial day in the US. As a result, there is an opportunity for those who lied to the American people and caused death to about 1700 Americans so far (on top of tens of thousands Iraqis) based on bogus claims of WMD, AL-Qaeda and..., to attempt to show that they share the sorrow of the families of those who have lost their lives in Iraq.

Memorial day could serve as a reminder that there indeed were tens of thousands of Americans, as part of a larger group of millions who lost their lives to free the world from the Nazi Germany. I wish the whole fascism had disappeared after the second world war, but now that we see different forms and shapes of fascism, we should not allow this to make us forget about those true heroes who lost their lives for the noble cause of freedom. We should not let their memories vanish and we should forever cherish their courage and sacrifice. Please join me in having a minute of silence as a respect to those American and non-American heroes.

Push for the truth! Ask Bush!

Via Wanda's Words on a Page, I came across this letter from the US Congressman John Conyers, Jr. to George Bush asking him specific questions about the "Downing Street Memo" dealing with the decesion to invade Iraq. The letter focuses on the minutes of a meeting meeting of Prime Minister between Tony Blair and his top advisers and indicates that the United States and Great Britain agreed, by the summer of 2002, to attack Iraq, before the invasion and before you Bush even sought Congressional authority to engage in military action, and that U.S. officials were deliberately manipulating intelligence to justify the war. According to the writer, in order to get to the bottom of the truth, he is asking for the help from Americans to sign on the letter and to help him push to get the truth out.

There goes US's "love" for democracy

A new report from the World Policy Institute has found that the U.S. is routinely funneling military aid and arms to undemocratic nations. In 2003 more than half of the top 25 recipients of U.S. arms transfers in the developing world were defined as undemocratic by the State Department.

Yes, even by the State Department's standards. Read/Watch it here.

Listen Mr. Rumsfeld! His talk includes you

WASHINGTON - Amnesty International USA urged foreign governments Wednesday to use international law to investigate Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and other alleged American "architects of torture" at Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo Bay and other prisons where detainees suspected of ties to terrorist groups have been interrogated.

"If those investigations support prosecution, the governments should arrest any official who enters their territory and begin legal proceedings against them," said William Shulz, executive director of the U.S. branch of the international human rights agency.

Don't miss what Amnesty International's US branch suggests. Watch it here. Don't miss it.

Bravo Amnesty! Bravo Mr. Shulz! Could not be clearer than that. Bravo for taking such principled position.

A different experience with the war

I came across this comment left by a reader at GreatScat!

My brother just finished a 14 month tour in Iraq, serving with the army. I also lost a couple of friends the same day to a roadside bomb. They were in the guard. I tried voting for the other guy but it didn't work. My state went blue both times any way and it justt wasn't enough. What gets me is that the people who are really feeling the pain in this war are us working class slugs. W're the ones who have family and friends who signed up because they had to. The people directing this war don't have to fret over the people they love being in a war zone. Our troops are just tools to them. Bush, Cheney, and the rest of them don't care, they're too remote. The war never touches them. Remember those pictures from thanksgiving just before the election. Bush made that surprise trip to Iraq to serve turkey to then soldiers. That's the closest he ever came to this bloody mess and did it even make the slightest impact. Did he even take a mament to contemplate all the pain and suffering he's caused. I can't ansewer that, but I doubt it. He has that same starry eyed glazed over look he always has. The look of a fanatic doing gods work, not caring about this life because a better one awaits in heaven.

racya 05.25.05 - 1:14 pm #

Well, let's hope commentaries such as this have some impact in opening some pluged minds.

Congratulations America, World's center of "fairness, justice, freedom and democracy"

Remember the Gulag? Was it long ago? Were you not even born yet? Don't worry, you can learn, first hand, about the "new Gulag", run by the country that claims to be the center of the world's fairness, justice and freedom. Guantanamo Bay will be a shame for America for years and decades to come. Amnesty International has blasted the United States, for bringing to live the memories of the Gulag by running a Gulag-like prison camp.

Even the most dedicated war-lovers will always fail to explain how could the treatment of over 500 prisoners who are being held for over three years without being charged, can be called fair and just. Being held for three years without being charged. Anyone with a bit of humanity, can see that something, something big is seriously wrong in this whole affair.

What is the difference?

Zahraa Ali, four years old, lies in the burn unit of a Baghdad hospital. Her family was hit by an aerial bombing attack while driving. Her parents, 24-year-old brother, and nine-year-old sister died. Zahraa eventually died. Only her three-month-old sister survived.
[Photo: David Leeson / The Dallas Morning News] Found at GreatScat!


A separate attack on a mosque at Mahmoudiya, south of Baghdad, killed at least seven people. Four-year-old Nori Abdul Hussein was one of many children wounded.

Aerial bombing or suicide bombing! what's the difference? They all claim their victims, including these two four-year old children.

Joke? No! It's real

Iran's Council of Guardians rejected the applications of all but six of more than 1,000 potential candidates.

Yeah, it seems so untrue and so much like a joke. But it isn't. It is true.

An open letter to Bush

Open Letter to George W. Bush; Signed by 823 students, faculty and alumni of Calvin College:

We are alumni, students, faculty and friends of Calvin College who are deeply troubled that you will be the commencement speaker at Calvin on May 21st. In our view, the policies and actions of your administration, both domestically and internationally over the past four years, violate many deeply held principles of Calvin College.
Calvin is a rigorous intellectual institution, and a truly Christian one. Since its inception in1876, Calvin has educated its students to use their minds and hearts to transform the world into a “beloved community” where no one is an outcast and all of God’s children are cared for. Calvin teaches its students to work for peace and justice, and to be good stewards of God’s creation.
By their deeds ye shall know them, says the Bible. Your deeds, Mr. President—neglecting the needy to coddle the rich, desecrating the environment, and misleading the country into war do not exemplify the faith we live by. (Emphasis by Faramin)
Moreover, many of your supporters are using religion as a weapon to divide our nation and advance a narrow partisan agenda. We are deeply disappointed in your failure to renounce their inflammatory rhetoric.
We urge you not to use Calvin College as a platform to advance policies that violate the school’s religious principles. Furthermore, we urge you to repudiate the false claims of supporters who say that those who oppose your policies are the enemies of religion.

To the US and Britain, only friends are allowed to kill

"Such people must be shot in the forehead," Uzbekistan dictator Islam Karimov once said of political dissidents. "If necessary, I'll shoot them myself." When not personally gunning down his opposition, Karimov keeps busy by instructing his security forces to boil, rape or asphyxiate political prisoners.

And.... Yes, he is one the closest US allies... .
And then after whole world started to react to the killing of hundreds of people in only a few days, the US and Britain were forced to play their sad and comical roles:

"We have some concerns about human rights in Uzbekistan, but we are concerned about the outbreak of violence, particularly by some members of a terrorist group freed from prison. And we urge both the government and the demonstrators to exercise restraint at this time." Scott McClellan said.

and here is what British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said:

I am extremely concerned by reports that Uzbek troops opened fire on demonstrators in Andizhan. I totally condemn these actions and I urge the Uzbek authorities to show restraint in dealing with the situation and look for a way to resolve it peacefully.

Is it not ridiculously comical?

So, Britain urges restraint on the Uzbek authorities who stand accused of gunning down civilians. The US urges the gunned down civilians to exercise restraint when taking bullets from the Uzbek authorities.

How bast**d, how hypocrite, how... .
And for those who cannot see the hypocricy of the US and Britain, how stupid!

Problems to come

These are serious problems and will get even more serious by time, and I don't believe for a second that George Bush and his gang care about them a bit.

She? Bestseller? You've got to be kidding.

A friend suggested to me to post the documentary STICKS AND STONES on my blog. When on site, you can watch the documentary by clicking on entire documentary, or if you don't have much time, you can just watch one of the most talked-about exchanges in Sticks and Stones which occurred between the Canadian reporter Bob McKeown and Ann Coulter and concerned Canada's role in the Vietnam War, by clicking on Watch the McKeown/Coulter exchange....

Interestingly, Ann Coulter who clearly appears to be a dumb idiot, is the author of four New York Times bestsellers - How to Talk to a Liberal (If You Must), Treason: Liberal Treachery From the Cold War to the War on Terrorism; Slander: Liberal Lies About the American Right; and High Crimes and Misdemeanors:The Case Against Bill Clinton. . Yeah, Bestseller. She is a frequent guest on many TV shows, including Hannity and Colmes, Wolf Blitzer Reports, At Large With Geraldo Rivera, Scarborough Country, HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher, and The O'Reilly Factor.

After laughing a bit at the "icon", I'd suggest you watch the whole documentary which would give you a good picture of how ugly the political disagreements in the US have become and how much of the peoples' way of thinking is shaped by the US media.

By the way, Don't forget to watch the reaction of the FOX News and other US networks to Sticks and Stones: click on Take a look. They were mad as hell.

Once again, Bravo Galloway!

George Galloway rubbished Republican senate committee chairman Norm Coleman's dossier of evidence and stared him in the eye. "Now I know that standards have slipped over the last few years in Washington, but for a lawyer, you are remarkably cavalier with any idea of justice," Galloway said.

Mr Galloway said he had met Saddam Hussein on two occasions - the same number of times as US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. "The difference is Donald Rumsfeld met him to sell him guns and maps - the better to target those guns. I met him to try to bring about an end to sanctions, suffering and war," he said.

"I have a rather better record of opposition to Saddam Hussein than you do, and than any member of the British or American governments do," he told the committee.

"Senator, in everything I said about Iraq, I turned out to be right and you turned out to be wrong," he told the chairman, whom he labelled a "neo-con, pro-war hawk".

"Now, Senator, I gave my heart and soul to oppose the policy that you promoted. I gave my political life's blood to try to stop the mass killing of Iraqis by the sanctions on Iraq which killed one million Iraqis, most of them children, most of them died before they even knew that they were Iraqis, but they died for no other reason other than that they were Iraqis with the misfortune to born at that time. I gave my heart and soul to stop you committing the disaster that you did commit in invading Iraq. And I told the world that your case for the war was a pack of lies.

"Senator, in everything I said about Iraq, I turned out to be right and you turned out to be wrong and 100,000 people paid with their lives; 1600 of them American soldiers sent to their deaths on a pack of lies; 15,000 of them wounded, many of them disabled forever on a pack of lies.

As expected, George Galloway clearly humiliated the US Senate committee and completely turned the table on them and accused them of committing crimes against the Iraqi people. Don't miss it. Watch it. It's all here.

Not the accused, but the accuser

"I am not expecting any justice from the innards of the US government but I want to appear not as the accused but as the accuser."
He added: "They seem blissfully unaware that for people in the rest of the world the villains of the peace in Iraq are them."

Bravo Galloway! Turn the table on them.

Feel free to go, even if not invited!

It is her first visit to Iraq since being promoted to secretary of state earlier this year. Ms Rice had planned to travel to Iraq in March, but the trip had to be scrapped when news of it leaked out in advance.

To ensure security this time, only a handful of state departments knew and Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari was only told of the plan on Friday.

I thought high officials of states, are usually invited by the host before they travel into sovereign countries. Sovereinty? Oops, that doesn't apply to Iraq today.

Goering's Lessons well learned by Bush Administration

The Bush administration periodically put the USA on high alert for terrorist attacks even though then-Homeland Security chief Tom Ridge argued there was only flimsy evidence to justify raising the threat level, Ridge now says.

As simple as that. That's how they successfully fooled (and are still fooling) the American general public. They have well-learned it from Herman Goering (the propaganda master of the Nazi Germany):

"Of course the people don't want war. But after all, it's the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it's always a simple matter to drag the people along whether it's a democracy, a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism, and exposing the country to greater danger." Herman Goering at the Nuremberg trials

Bonus? Halliburton?

Such a "loyal" ex-executive you are Dick!

US soldier lifts lid on Guantanamo 'abuse'

...In an interview with the BBC, Sgt Saar says that bizarre, sexual abuses at the prison camp set dangerous precedents that paved the way for mistreatment of US detainees in Iraq.... .

Read it here.

Jihad, American style?

Wanda at Words on a Page, discovers different type of developing Jihad. This time it is taking shape by the American Christian right.

Jewish? Israeli? Whatever! They are respectable.

Israelis with integrity and sense of responsibility? Here there are some.

What could he really do?

Back at GreatScat, I saw the picture below which has been recently released by the US army. Obviously, the photo is nothing but a piece of propaganda by the US army. After all, we know very well that what has no significant value for the US army, is the lives of the innocent people, particularly children. US army's "generosities" in dropping bombs on civilians have been a clear indication of US army's brutality.

However, the fact that an entity such as the US army does not regard enough value to the lives of civilians to even bother to do body-count of those it has killed, does not change the fact that there are many of the personnel in the US army who are caring and who do feel moral responsibility and act according to that. Well, the best for these caring personnel would have been not to be part of such an aggressive killing machine, but now that they are, let's at least hope to see them act according to their humane responsibility. The above picture is touching and there is no reason for me to believe what the soldier shows here is fake.

What I see in the above picture is not strange and surprising to me at all. After all, as I said, the US soldiers too, have families, brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers and children and seeing a young child fatally hurt like the one in the above photo, can break the hearts of many of the soldiers. But we should not forget that if there was no occupation, scenes such as the above would much less likely be created. And let us not forget that no matter how caring the soldier in the above photo is, he cannot bring back thousands of perished lives, like the one in his arms, who were perished as a result of the presence of him and his alikes in Iraq; occupation of Iraq, that is.

Sooner or later

Defeated but, this is just a right start.

Darfur genocide? What genocide?

Remember, only a few months ago, the US accused Sudan of carrying out genocide in Darfur. Looks like to the Washington bastards, that was a thing of the past and Sudan is now an ally in US's "war on terror".

One only has to be brain-dead not to see the level of Washington's hypocrisy.