Fisk: Afghanistan in Crisis
Monday, December 1st, 2008
By Robert Fisk | The collapse of Afghanistan is closer than the world believes. Kandahar is in Taliban hands—all but a square mile at the centre of the city—and the first Taliban checkpoints are scarcely 15 miles from Kabul. Hamid Karzai’s deeply corrupted government is almost as powerless as the Iraqi cabinet in Baghdad’s “Green Zone”; lorry drivers in the country now carry business permits issued by the Taliban which operate their own courts in remote areas of the country.
The Red Cross has already warned that humanitarian operations are being drastically curtailed in ever larger areas of Afghanistan; more than 4,000 people, at least a third of them civilians, have been killed in the past 11 months, along with scores of Nato troops and about 30 aid workers. Both the Taliban and Mr Karzai’s government are executing their prisoners in ever greater numbers. The Afghan authorities hanged five men this month for murder, kidnap or rape—one prisoner, a distant relative of Mr Karzai, predictably had his sentence commuted—and more than 100 others are now on Kabul’s death row.
This is not the democratic, peaceful, resurgent, “gender-sensitive” Afghanistan that the world promised to create after the overthrow of the Taliban in 2001. Outside the capital and the far north of the country, almost every woman wears the all-enshrouding burkha, while fighters are now joining the Taliban’s ranks from Kashmir, Uzbekistan, Chechnya and even Turkey. More than 300 Turkish fighters are now believed to be in Afghanistan, many of them holding European passports.
“Nobody I know wants to see the Taliban back in power,” a Kabul business executive says—anonymity is now as much demanded as it was before 2001—“but people hate the government and the parliament which doesn’t care about their security. The government is useless. With so many internally displaced refugees pouring into Kabul from the countryside, there’s mass unemployment—but of course, there are no statistics.
“The ‘open market’ led many of us into financial disaster. Afghanistan is just a battlefield of ideology, opium and political corruption. Now you’ve got all these commercial outfits receiving contracts from people like USAID. First they skim off 30 to 50 per cent for their own profits—then they contract out and sub-contract to other companies and there’s only 10 per cent of the original amount left for the Afghans themselves.”
Afghans working for charitable organisations and for the UN are telling their employers that they are coming under increasing pressure to give information to the Taliban and provide them with safe houses. In the countryside, farmers live in fear of both sides in the war. A very senior NGO official in Kabul—again, anonymity was requested—says both the Taliban and the police regularly threaten villagers. “A Taliban group will arrive at a village headman’s door at night—maybe 15 or 16 of them—and say they need food and shelter. And the headman tells the villagers to give them food and let them stay at the mosque. Then the police or army arrive in the day and accuse the villagers of colluding with the Taliban, detain innocent men and threaten to withhold humanitarian aid. Then there’s the danger the village will be air-raided by the Americans.”
In the city of Ghazni, the Taliban ordered all mobile phones to be switched off from 5pm until 6am for fear that spies would use them to give away guerrilla locations. The mobile phone war may be one conflict the government is winning. With American help the Interior Ministry police can now track and triangulate calls. Once more, the Americans are talking about forming “tribal militias” to combat the Taliban, much as they did in Iraq and as the Pakistani authorities have tried to do on the North West Frontier. But the tribal lashkars of the [1980s] were corrupted by the Russians and when the system was first tried out two years ago—it was called the Auxiliary Police Force—it was a fiasco. The newly-formed constabulary stopped showing up for work, stole weapons and turned themselves into private militias.
“Now every time a new Western ambassador arrives in Kabul, they dredge it all up again,” another NGO official says in near despair. “ ’Oh,’ they proclaim, ‘let’s have local militias—what a bright idea.’ But that will not solve the problem. The country is subject to brigandage as well as the cruelty of the Taliban and the air raids which Afghans find so outrageous. The international community has got to stop spinning and do some fundamental thinking which should have been done four or five years ago.”
What this means to those Westerners who have spent years in Kabul is simple. Is it really the overriding ambition of Afghans to have “democracy”? Is a strong federal state possible in Afghanistan? Is the international community ready to take on the warlords and drug barons who are within Mr Karzai’s own government? And—most important of all—is development really about “securing the country”? The tired old American adage that “where the Tarmac ends, the Taliban begins” is untrue. The Taliban are mounting checkpoints on those very same newly-built roads.
The Afghan Minister of Defence has 65,000 troops under his dubious command but says he needs 500,000 to control Afghanistan. The Soviets failed to contain the country even when they had 100,000 troops here with 150,000 Afghan soldiers in support. And as Barack Obama prepares to send another 7,000 US soldiers into the pit of Afghanistan, the Spanish and Italians are talking of leaving while the Norwegians may pull their 500 troops out of the area north of Heart. Repeatedly, Western leaders talk of the “key”—of training more and more Afghans to fight in the army. But that was the same “key” which the Russians tried—and it did not fit the lock.
“We” are not winning in Afghanistan. Talk of crushing the Taliban seems as bleakly unrealistic as it has ever been. Indeed, when the President of Afghanistan tries to talk to Mullah Omar—one of America’s principal targets in this wretched war—you know the writing is on the wall. And even Mullah Omar didn’t want to talk to Mr Karzai.
Partition is the one option that no one will discuss—giving the southern part of Afghanistan to the Taliban and keeping the rest—but that will only open another crisis with Pakistan because the Pashtuns, who form most of the Taliban, would want all of what they regard as “Pashtunistan”; and that would have to include much of Pakistan’s own tribal territories. It will also be a return to the “Great Game” and the redrawing of borders in south-west Asia, something which—history shows— has always been accompanied by great bloodshed.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Sunday, November 30th, 2008 at 12:55 pm
Sunday, November 30th, 2008 at 12:55 pm
James L. Jones Is Obama’s National Security Advisor
By Ignatius Reilly
!
According to multiple news reports, Barack Obama will name retired Marine James L. Jones, Jr. as his National Security Advisor on Monday. He will be one of several cabinet members to be named by Obama on Monday.
James L. Jones
Barack Obama is expected to name four cabinet post positions on Monday according to multiple sources. Hillary Clinton will be named Secretary of State, as we reported here. Eric Holder will be the Attorney General, as we reported here. Janet Napolitano will be named the head of the Department of Homeland Security.
A less public figure will become Obama’s National Security Advisor: retired General James L. Jones, Jr.
In other posts, I have made some rather pointed remarks on Obama’s appointments to his cabinet, stating that Obama seems to starting a Clinton Sequel Administration rather than a Change Administration. However, I have no objections to the appointment of James L. Jones, Jr. He is a true patriot and American hero.
Biography of James L. Jones, Jr.
General James Logan Jones, Jr. was born on December 19, 1943. He is the son of James L. Jones, Sr., who served as a Marine in World War II, and stayed in the military after the war, serving mostly in Europe. James L. Jones, Jr. was raised mostly in France. After childhood, Jones, Jr. attended Georgetown University, where he played forward for the much heralded Hoyas basketball team.
After college, Jones joined the U.S. Marine Corps in 1967. He was almost immediately sent to Vietnam. He served his country with distinction in Vietnam, being promoted to First Lieutenant. After returning to the United States, he continued his service in the Marine Corps, and served both at home and in Okinawa, Japan. He received promotions throughout his early career and went on to attend the National War College in Washington, D.C. Upon graduation from War College, he continued his distinguished career with the Marines in many posts throughout the country and abroad.
He was promoted to General on June 30, 1999. General Jones assumed duties as the Commander of U.S. European Command on January 16, 2003 and Supreme Allied Commander Europe on January 17, 2003, a position he held until his retirement in 2007.
In 2007, General Jones served as Chairman of the Congressional Independent Commission on the Security Forces of Iraq. In November 2007, he was appointed by Secretary of State Condeleeza Rice as a special envoy for Middle East Security.
James L. Jones Is Obama’s National Security Advisor
By Ignatius Reilly
!
According to multiple news reports, Barack Obama will name retired Marine James L. Jones, Jr. as his National Security Advisor on Monday. He will be one of several cabinet members to be named by Obama on Monday.
James L. Jones
Barack Obama is expected to name four cabinet post positions on Monday according to multiple sources. Hillary Clinton will be named Secretary of State, as we reported here. Eric Holder will be the Attorney General, as we reported here. Janet Napolitano will be named the head of the Department of Homeland Security.
A less public figure will become Obama’s National Security Advisor: retired General James L. Jones, Jr.
In other posts, I have made some rather pointed remarks on Obama’s appointments to his cabinet, stating that Obama seems to starting a Clinton Sequel Administration rather than a Change Administration. However, I have no objections to the appointment of James L. Jones, Jr. He is a true patriot and American hero.
Biography of James L. Jones, Jr.
General James Logan Jones, Jr. was born on December 19, 1943. He is the son of James L. Jones, Sr., who served as a Marine in World War II, and stayed in the military after the war, serving mostly in Europe. James L. Jones, Jr. was raised mostly in France. After childhood, Jones, Jr. attended Georgetown University, where he played forward for the much heralded Hoyas basketball team.
After college, Jones joined the U.S. Marine Corps in 1967. He was almost immediately sent to Vietnam. He served his country with distinction in Vietnam, being promoted to First Lieutenant. After returning to the United States, he continued his service in the Marine Corps, and served both at home and in Okinawa, Japan. He received promotions throughout his early career and went on to attend the National War College in Washington, D.C. Upon graduation from War College, he continued his distinguished career with the Marines in many posts throughout the country and abroad.
He was promoted to General on June 30, 1999. General Jones assumed duties as the Commander of U.S. European Command on January 16, 2003 and Supreme Allied Commander Europe on January 17, 2003, a position he held until his retirement in 2007.
In 2007, General Jones served as Chairman of the Congressional Independent Commission on the Security Forces of Iraq. In November 2007, he was appointed by Secretary of State Condeleeza Rice as a special envoy for Middle East Security.
The Obama “Dream Team”: Rubin-clones and political fakery
The Obama “Dream Team”: Rubin-clones and political fakery
Mike Whitney
Global Research
November 30, 2008
Things are getting crazier by the day. On Tuesday, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson announced that the Fed would commit another $800 billion to fight the financial crisis which has spread to the broader economy and is causing sharp declines in consumer spending. The Fed plans to buy $600 billion of mortgage-backed securities (MBS) from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and another $200 billion of Triple A bonds from non-bank financial companies that provide financing for consumers. There’s just one little glitch, Fannie and Freddie are already owned by the government, so buying the bad paper is like moving the figures from one ledger to another. It’s pointless. Except for the fact, that by shuffling the paperwork, Bernanke can drive down long-term interest rates and (hopefully) rekindle flagging home sales. It’s a parlour trick.
The men behind these remedies are limited by institutional loyalties that will keep them from overhauling the system in meaningful way. Photo: Former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers.
And with the other $200 billion he can kick-start the securitization market by purchasing bundles of student loans, credit cards and car loans. Investors have been boycotting the asset-backed securities (ABS) markets for months now which has choked off the flow credit to consumers. So the Fed is trying to unclog the plumbing by stepping in as the lender of last resort. Of course, if the Fed really wanted to get money to consumers, there are much easier ways to do it, like cutting the payroll tax, mailing out stimulus checks or issuing tax rebates to couples making under $60,000 per year. But that’s not the objective. What Bernanke really wants to do is to rev up securitization again because that’s the vehicle the investment banks and hedge funds use to increase profits through leveraged bets on odd-sounding derivatives. (CDO, MBS, CDS). BFor now, no one is buying dodgy securities because no one knows they’re really worth. Until that can be worked out, investors will stay away. That’s why it would be better to cut back on the liquidity and work harder on transparency. Price discovery for structured investments is critical. If investors think that prices are reliable, then they’ll jump back in. If not; it’s no dice.
Bernanke and Paulson are trying to tackle the financial crisis from the wrong end. This isn’t about liquidity or “access to credit”, its about confidence. The public’s trust has been betrayed a million times over. They’ve been tricked with WMD, bamboozled with phantom enemies, and cheated with bogus securities. All the surveys say the same thing; public confidence is at an all-time low. As a result, fear and pessimism are more widespread than any time in recent history. People no longer expect tomorrow to be better than today. In fact, they expect it to be worse, and for good reason. The country has broken loose from its moorings and is adrift. There’s no accountability at any level of government. It doesn’t matter how big or heinous the crime, no one pays. The justice system is a sham. In fact, the D.O.J. is just a weapon for destroying political enemies; that’s it. The one noteworthy conviction in the last 8 years was home-decorating guru Martha Stewart. What a joke. In his memoirs, Bush can boast, “At least we got Martha Stewart off the streets.”
And it’s not just the justice system that lacks credibility either; it’s the financial system, too. The stampede out of the stock market to US Treasurys shows how quickly trust can turn to panic. The downward spiral of the economy reflects the mood of the country; dark and gloomy. That’s not something that can be changed with more liquidity. After all, the economy is more than the sum of its parts, just like people are more than just consumption machines that can be zapped like rats into spending themselves into oblivion. They’re sentient beings who can see the deteriorating economic conditions closing in on them and threatening their security. They’re scared. Bernanke–the academic–sees the economy through the lens of his research on the Great Depression. He, like many other monetarists, believe that the depression was the result of the one-third contraction in the money supply during the 1930s. It is a widely held view and it could be true. But if that’s the case, than why haven’t the Fed’s myriad lending facilities–which have flooded the financial system with trillions of dollars of liquidity–stopped the markets from crashing and the recession from deepening. Could it be that there are other factors involved besides money supply?
People are hunkering down for a reason, and its not just lost revenue. They’ve lost faith in their institutions–the government, the banks, and the media; everybody is in it for themselves, and it shows. Even now, with the economy teetering at the brink of disaster, high-ranking officials like Paulson are still diverting hundreds of billions of dollars from the Treasury to their Wall Street buddies leaving nothing behind but a few scraps for the working stiffs. And Paulson isn’t alone either; his Darwinian “dog eat dog” creed is the prevailing ethos of the corrupt oligarchy that runs the country, Republican and Democrat alike, it makes no difference. It’s “me first” and the public be damned.
If Bernanke really wants to know how the economy is doing, he should pay a visit to any town or city in America. Business is off everywhere; it’s not just retail. The restaurants, the gas stations, the dry cleaners; even the casinos are hurting. The lines at the food banks are longer than the unemployment lines, and the only business that’s booming is the pawn shops where the family silver is traded away for gas money or a few bucks to blow on groceries. This is what recession looks like from the ground floor where people are struggling to just make ends meet. No more 3-course dinners at Olive Garden and no more $5.25 lattes and cranberry scones at Starbucks. It’s Campbells for lunch, Spam for dinner and plenty of wool blankets for evening TV.
Does Paulson think he can “turn off” the public’s pessimism like a light switch?
Does Bernanke think he can get people to spend themselves further into debt by lowering interest rates?
It can’t be done. And the Obama camp is going to run into the same brick wall. The nation’s confidence has been shattered and people are developing a bunker mentality.
A d v e r t i s e m e n t
The truth is, Obama was shoehorned into the White House because the ruling elite saw that the country was slipping into a consumer-led depression. They needed a bright new face to restore confidence and spark optimism during the tough times ahead. But now that he’s been elected, they’ve surrounded him with the same men who created the present crisis. Lawrence Summers pushed for the repeal of the laws which prevented commercial banks from merging with the Wall Street casinos and he also helped to deregulate derivatives trading which now threatens to bring down the entire financial system if a major player, like Citigroup, goes under.
Timothy Geithner and Lawrence Summers were central figures in the bubble-driven growth and deregulation mania of the last decade. Their influence factored heavily into the speculation that was brought on by low interest rates, easy credit and massive leverage; the lethal combo that created the present crisis. Their elevation to the top positions in the administration –along with Paul Volcker–proves that the Obama presidency is just more political fakery; a charming and charismatic figurehead placed in front of the executive podium to conceal the machinations of deeply-entrenched interests who are busy rebuilding the trickle-down system from the ground up. There’s nothing new here, and certainly nothing progressive. The much-celebrated “Dream Team” is an amalgam of Rubin-clones who used Obama as a land-bridge to the White House to strengthen the status quo and get on with the task of shifting the nation’s wealth to Wall Street’s economic royalists.
The fact is, the Obama star-studded economic recovery team emerges from the same ideological petris-dish as Bernanke and Paulson. Their world view is shaped by the same strong sense of entitlement which will prevent them from enacting the regulatory reforms that need to be put in place to restore transparency, confidence and credibility. Instead, they will unleash a torrent of stimulus (infrastructure and green technology mainly) followed by unorthodox monetarist/fiscal chicanery (like purchasing stocks on the equities market or buying long-term Treasurys) all of which will hide the fact that they are not forcing the bad debts out into the open so they can be written down and the markets can reestablish equilibrium.
No one disputes that Geithner, Summers and Volcker are smarter and more competent than Team Bush, and that, their Keynesian plan to inject massive doses of stimulus into the economy will have a positive effect. But that’s as far as it goes. The men behind these remedies are limited by institutional loyalties that will keep them from overhauling the system in meaningful way. Neither Summers, nor Geithner nor Volcker would ever dare to tamper with the revenue-producing system which maintains the orderly division between rich and poor. That just won’t happen.
So, after the fanfare subsides and Obama’s economic team puts its stimulus plan in motion, there should be some marginal uptick in economic activity. But unless the underlying problems are addressed, there’s little hope of any lasting recovery. The banks need to take their medicine and write down the losses. Regulators have to decide which institutions are solvent and can be saved, and which are underwater and will have to be shut down. The Obama administration will have to open a bank morgue, like the Resolution Trust Corporation (RTC), so the bad assets from failed banks can be sold at auction to the highest bidder. That’s the only way to put this whole mess behind us and start to dig out. Putting the securities up for bid will restore confidence and, eventually, lure investors back into the stock market. It will also remove the zombie banks from hanging on and depending on government bailouts. There’s a method for unwinding sick banks through restructuring debt. It needs to be put to use.
Regardless of what the new administration does, the stock markets will take another leg down between the end of 2009 to early 2010, finding a bottom on the Dow of 4,500 or thereabouts (70% plus declines took place on the NASDAQ following the dot.com bust, Japan during the 1990s “lost decade” and the Great Depression. In none of these cases was the bottom reached in the first year) Hedge fund redemptions will force more deleveraging and more wild swings on the stock market. The banks–which have accounted for nearly half of their losses–will need to write off another $800 to $900 billion before they see daylight. It’s a long uphill slog and no one knows where they’ll get the capital. Unemployment will skyrocket, housing will overshoot to the downside, and there will be the first random incidents of political instability (and rioting) in major US cities. The economy will be flat on its back for some years into the future. How quickly the markets rebound depends largely on how fast Obama’s team is able to grasp that the system needs deep structural change and a banking system that is not paralyzed with debt.
Mike Whitney
Global Research
November 30, 2008
Things are getting crazier by the day. On Tuesday, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson announced that the Fed would commit another $800 billion to fight the financial crisis which has spread to the broader economy and is causing sharp declines in consumer spending. The Fed plans to buy $600 billion of mortgage-backed securities (MBS) from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and another $200 billion of Triple A bonds from non-bank financial companies that provide financing for consumers. There’s just one little glitch, Fannie and Freddie are already owned by the government, so buying the bad paper is like moving the figures from one ledger to another. It’s pointless. Except for the fact, that by shuffling the paperwork, Bernanke can drive down long-term interest rates and (hopefully) rekindle flagging home sales. It’s a parlour trick.
The men behind these remedies are limited by institutional loyalties that will keep them from overhauling the system in meaningful way. Photo: Former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers.
And with the other $200 billion he can kick-start the securitization market by purchasing bundles of student loans, credit cards and car loans. Investors have been boycotting the asset-backed securities (ABS) markets for months now which has choked off the flow credit to consumers. So the Fed is trying to unclog the plumbing by stepping in as the lender of last resort. Of course, if the Fed really wanted to get money to consumers, there are much easier ways to do it, like cutting the payroll tax, mailing out stimulus checks or issuing tax rebates to couples making under $60,000 per year. But that’s not the objective. What Bernanke really wants to do is to rev up securitization again because that’s the vehicle the investment banks and hedge funds use to increase profits through leveraged bets on odd-sounding derivatives. (CDO, MBS, CDS). BFor now, no one is buying dodgy securities because no one knows they’re really worth. Until that can be worked out, investors will stay away. That’s why it would be better to cut back on the liquidity and work harder on transparency. Price discovery for structured investments is critical. If investors think that prices are reliable, then they’ll jump back in. If not; it’s no dice.
Bernanke and Paulson are trying to tackle the financial crisis from the wrong end. This isn’t about liquidity or “access to credit”, its about confidence. The public’s trust has been betrayed a million times over. They’ve been tricked with WMD, bamboozled with phantom enemies, and cheated with bogus securities. All the surveys say the same thing; public confidence is at an all-time low. As a result, fear and pessimism are more widespread than any time in recent history. People no longer expect tomorrow to be better than today. In fact, they expect it to be worse, and for good reason. The country has broken loose from its moorings and is adrift. There’s no accountability at any level of government. It doesn’t matter how big or heinous the crime, no one pays. The justice system is a sham. In fact, the D.O.J. is just a weapon for destroying political enemies; that’s it. The one noteworthy conviction in the last 8 years was home-decorating guru Martha Stewart. What a joke. In his memoirs, Bush can boast, “At least we got Martha Stewart off the streets.”
And it’s not just the justice system that lacks credibility either; it’s the financial system, too. The stampede out of the stock market to US Treasurys shows how quickly trust can turn to panic. The downward spiral of the economy reflects the mood of the country; dark and gloomy. That’s not something that can be changed with more liquidity. After all, the economy is more than the sum of its parts, just like people are more than just consumption machines that can be zapped like rats into spending themselves into oblivion. They’re sentient beings who can see the deteriorating economic conditions closing in on them and threatening their security. They’re scared. Bernanke–the academic–sees the economy through the lens of his research on the Great Depression. He, like many other monetarists, believe that the depression was the result of the one-third contraction in the money supply during the 1930s. It is a widely held view and it could be true. But if that’s the case, than why haven’t the Fed’s myriad lending facilities–which have flooded the financial system with trillions of dollars of liquidity–stopped the markets from crashing and the recession from deepening. Could it be that there are other factors involved besides money supply?
People are hunkering down for a reason, and its not just lost revenue. They’ve lost faith in their institutions–the government, the banks, and the media; everybody is in it for themselves, and it shows. Even now, with the economy teetering at the brink of disaster, high-ranking officials like Paulson are still diverting hundreds of billions of dollars from the Treasury to their Wall Street buddies leaving nothing behind but a few scraps for the working stiffs. And Paulson isn’t alone either; his Darwinian “dog eat dog” creed is the prevailing ethos of the corrupt oligarchy that runs the country, Republican and Democrat alike, it makes no difference. It’s “me first” and the public be damned.
If Bernanke really wants to know how the economy is doing, he should pay a visit to any town or city in America. Business is off everywhere; it’s not just retail. The restaurants, the gas stations, the dry cleaners; even the casinos are hurting. The lines at the food banks are longer than the unemployment lines, and the only business that’s booming is the pawn shops where the family silver is traded away for gas money or a few bucks to blow on groceries. This is what recession looks like from the ground floor where people are struggling to just make ends meet. No more 3-course dinners at Olive Garden and no more $5.25 lattes and cranberry scones at Starbucks. It’s Campbells for lunch, Spam for dinner and plenty of wool blankets for evening TV.
Does Paulson think he can “turn off” the public’s pessimism like a light switch?
Does Bernanke think he can get people to spend themselves further into debt by lowering interest rates?
It can’t be done. And the Obama camp is going to run into the same brick wall. The nation’s confidence has been shattered and people are developing a bunker mentality.
A d v e r t i s e m e n t
The truth is, Obama was shoehorned into the White House because the ruling elite saw that the country was slipping into a consumer-led depression. They needed a bright new face to restore confidence and spark optimism during the tough times ahead. But now that he’s been elected, they’ve surrounded him with the same men who created the present crisis. Lawrence Summers pushed for the repeal of the laws which prevented commercial banks from merging with the Wall Street casinos and he also helped to deregulate derivatives trading which now threatens to bring down the entire financial system if a major player, like Citigroup, goes under.
Timothy Geithner and Lawrence Summers were central figures in the bubble-driven growth and deregulation mania of the last decade. Their influence factored heavily into the speculation that was brought on by low interest rates, easy credit and massive leverage; the lethal combo that created the present crisis. Their elevation to the top positions in the administration –along with Paul Volcker–proves that the Obama presidency is just more political fakery; a charming and charismatic figurehead placed in front of the executive podium to conceal the machinations of deeply-entrenched interests who are busy rebuilding the trickle-down system from the ground up. There’s nothing new here, and certainly nothing progressive. The much-celebrated “Dream Team” is an amalgam of Rubin-clones who used Obama as a land-bridge to the White House to strengthen the status quo and get on with the task of shifting the nation’s wealth to Wall Street’s economic royalists.
The fact is, the Obama star-studded economic recovery team emerges from the same ideological petris-dish as Bernanke and Paulson. Their world view is shaped by the same strong sense of entitlement which will prevent them from enacting the regulatory reforms that need to be put in place to restore transparency, confidence and credibility. Instead, they will unleash a torrent of stimulus (infrastructure and green technology mainly) followed by unorthodox monetarist/fiscal chicanery (like purchasing stocks on the equities market or buying long-term Treasurys) all of which will hide the fact that they are not forcing the bad debts out into the open so they can be written down and the markets can reestablish equilibrium.
No one disputes that Geithner, Summers and Volcker are smarter and more competent than Team Bush, and that, their Keynesian plan to inject massive doses of stimulus into the economy will have a positive effect. But that’s as far as it goes. The men behind these remedies are limited by institutional loyalties that will keep them from overhauling the system in meaningful way. Neither Summers, nor Geithner nor Volcker would ever dare to tamper with the revenue-producing system which maintains the orderly division between rich and poor. That just won’t happen.
So, after the fanfare subsides and Obama’s economic team puts its stimulus plan in motion, there should be some marginal uptick in economic activity. But unless the underlying problems are addressed, there’s little hope of any lasting recovery. The banks need to take their medicine and write down the losses. Regulators have to decide which institutions are solvent and can be saved, and which are underwater and will have to be shut down. The Obama administration will have to open a bank morgue, like the Resolution Trust Corporation (RTC), so the bad assets from failed banks can be sold at auction to the highest bidder. That’s the only way to put this whole mess behind us and start to dig out. Putting the securities up for bid will restore confidence and, eventually, lure investors back into the stock market. It will also remove the zombie banks from hanging on and depending on government bailouts. There’s a method for unwinding sick banks through restructuring debt. It needs to be put to use.
Regardless of what the new administration does, the stock markets will take another leg down between the end of 2009 to early 2010, finding a bottom on the Dow of 4,500 or thereabouts (70% plus declines took place on the NASDAQ following the dot.com bust, Japan during the 1990s “lost decade” and the Great Depression. In none of these cases was the bottom reached in the first year) Hedge fund redemptions will force more deleveraging and more wild swings on the stock market. The banks–which have accounted for nearly half of their losses–will need to write off another $800 to $900 billion before they see daylight. It’s a long uphill slog and no one knows where they’ll get the capital. Unemployment will skyrocket, housing will overshoot to the downside, and there will be the first random incidents of political instability (and rioting) in major US cities. The economy will be flat on its back for some years into the future. How quickly the markets rebound depends largely on how fast Obama’s team is able to grasp that the system needs deep structural change and a banking system that is not paralyzed with debt.
Oops, We Meant $7 TRILLION!” What Hank and Ben Are Up to and How They Plan to Pay for It All
Oops, We Meant $7 TRILLION!”
What Hank and Ben Are Up to and How They Plan to Pay for It All
Ellen Brown, November 30th, 2008
www.webofdebt.com/articles/oops.php
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“We make money the old fashioned way. We print it.”
- Art Rolnick, Chief Economist for the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank
The $700 billion that was arm-twisted from Congress by Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson in October was evidently just the camel’s nose under the tent. According to a November 24 Bloomberg report, the Paulson/Bernanke team is now prepared to pay $7.76 trillion to rescue the financial system.[1] Prepared to pay how? Congress has not raised its debt ceiling to anywhere near that level; but the approval of Congress, which originally voted down the controversial $700 billion bailout, is apparently no longer necessary. The door has been opened, and the Treasury Secretary and Fed Chairman feel they can now pledge whatever they want. Perhaps they are inching up a zero at a time just to see what the public’s tolerance is for unrepayable debt. The new sum – $7.76 trillion – represents $25,000 for every citizen in the country, or half the value of everything produced in the nation last year; yet it’s not clear that a mere half of our net worth will rescue the financial system. One bankrupt bank after another has been bailed out with public money, in a futile effort to prevent a collapse of a massive multi-trillion dollar derivatives pyramid created by the banks.[2] But according to the Comptroller of the Currency, U.S. commercial banks now carry over $180 trillion in derivatives on their books. The public is liable to be bankrupted before this mess is resolved.
On top of the $700 billion initially extorted from Congress, an additional $2 trillion in loans and commitments has already been made by the Federal Reserve and the Treasury. Yet that wall of money has not kept the imperiled banks from collapsing. Citigroup was one of the nine lucky recipients of Paulson’s largesse in October, when he set out to recapitalize the banks by trading dollars for shares. The bank received $25 billion from the Treasury; yet this handout was insufficient to keep its stock from dropping below $4 a share. Citigroup was then bailed out by the Treasury to the tune of another $20 billion, along with a commitment to guarantee $306 billion in toxic assets on its books. That equals half the $700 billion bailout, just for one bank; yet Citigroup’s books, which sport derivative bets of $37 trillion, won’t look much better than before.
Meanwhile, commentators are scratching their heads over where the money is supposed to come from to pay for all this. Congress hasn’t approved these multi-trillion dollar sums, and the Federal Reserve doesn’t show them on its books. Some clues to this mystery came on November 25, when according to The New York Times:
What Hank and Ben Are Up to and How They Plan to Pay for It All
Ellen Brown, November 30th, 2008
www.webofdebt.com/articles/oops.php
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“We make money the old fashioned way. We print it.”
- Art Rolnick, Chief Economist for the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank
The $700 billion that was arm-twisted from Congress by Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson in October was evidently just the camel’s nose under the tent. According to a November 24 Bloomberg report, the Paulson/Bernanke team is now prepared to pay $7.76 trillion to rescue the financial system.[1] Prepared to pay how? Congress has not raised its debt ceiling to anywhere near that level; but the approval of Congress, which originally voted down the controversial $700 billion bailout, is apparently no longer necessary. The door has been opened, and the Treasury Secretary and Fed Chairman feel they can now pledge whatever they want. Perhaps they are inching up a zero at a time just to see what the public’s tolerance is for unrepayable debt. The new sum – $7.76 trillion – represents $25,000 for every citizen in the country, or half the value of everything produced in the nation last year; yet it’s not clear that a mere half of our net worth will rescue the financial system. One bankrupt bank after another has been bailed out with public money, in a futile effort to prevent a collapse of a massive multi-trillion dollar derivatives pyramid created by the banks.[2] But according to the Comptroller of the Currency, U.S. commercial banks now carry over $180 trillion in derivatives on their books. The public is liable to be bankrupted before this mess is resolved.
On top of the $700 billion initially extorted from Congress, an additional $2 trillion in loans and commitments has already been made by the Federal Reserve and the Treasury. Yet that wall of money has not kept the imperiled banks from collapsing. Citigroup was one of the nine lucky recipients of Paulson’s largesse in October, when he set out to recapitalize the banks by trading dollars for shares. The bank received $25 billion from the Treasury; yet this handout was insufficient to keep its stock from dropping below $4 a share. Citigroup was then bailed out by the Treasury to the tune of another $20 billion, along with a commitment to guarantee $306 billion in toxic assets on its books. That equals half the $700 billion bailout, just for one bank; yet Citigroup’s books, which sport derivative bets of $37 trillion, won’t look much better than before.
Meanwhile, commentators are scratching their heads over where the money is supposed to come from to pay for all this. Congress hasn’t approved these multi-trillion dollar sums, and the Federal Reserve doesn’t show them on its books. Some clues to this mystery came on November 25, when according to The New York Times:
Mumbai terrorists used Chechen tactics
Mumbai terrorists used Chechen tactics
Russia Today
November 29, 2008
Editor’s note: It should be remembered that Chechen rebel leaders Shamil Basayev and Al Khattab were trained and indoctrinated in CIA sponsored camps in Afghanistan and Pakistan. “[In 1994] the Pakistani Inter Services Intelligence arranged for Basayev and his trusted lieutenants to undergo intensive Islamic indoctrination and training in guerrilla warfare in the Khost province of Afghanistan at Amir Muawia camp, set up in the early 1980s by the CIA and ISI and run by famous Afghani warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar,” according to Levon Sevunts, writing for The Gazette, Montreal, 26 October 1999. See Michel Chossudovsky, Who Is Osama Bin Laden? Research on Globalisation, September 12, 2001.
The terrorists in the Indian city of Mumbai, who killed more than 150 people and injured over 300, used the same tactics that Chechen field militants employed in the Northern Caucasus, says Russian counter terrorism presidential envoy Anatoly Safonov.
In towns of the Northern Cauasus in 1990s, terrorists seized homes and hospitals and took numerous hostages.
“These tactics were used during raids by militant Chechen field commanders Shamil Basayev and Salman Raduyev against the towns of Buddyonnovsk and Pervomaiskoye. For the first time in history the entire towns were terrorized, with homes and hospitals seized. The Mumbai terrorists have learned these tactics well,” Safonov told Russian news agency
Safonov says that the terror in Mumbai is proof that the anti-terror measures on a regional level are insufficient.
“The world is spending enormous resources to fight nonexistent threats and to support the military adventures of the leaders of certain countries. And it turns out that a big city may be unprotected against the raid of a handful of terrorists. This is another warning that in the global world terrorism truly remains the greatest challenge,” Safonov said to Interfax.
He also pointed out that now it’s the task of Indian special services to track down the terrorist group behind the attack on Mumbai. Safonov said they would need to determine whether it was “a subsidiary of some prominent terrorist organization”.
The presidential aide expressed hope that the Russian-Indian working group for combating terrorism will meet in the near future.
“We express our support and condolences to the people of India and sympathize with the families that lost relatives and dear ones in the terrorist attack in Mumbai,” Safonov said.
On Thursday terrorists attacked 10 targets in Mumbai, including several five star hotels, a cafe and a railway station.
Police say they have regained full control over the city.
Russia Today
November 29, 2008
Editor’s note: It should be remembered that Chechen rebel leaders Shamil Basayev and Al Khattab were trained and indoctrinated in CIA sponsored camps in Afghanistan and Pakistan. “[In 1994] the Pakistani Inter Services Intelligence arranged for Basayev and his trusted lieutenants to undergo intensive Islamic indoctrination and training in guerrilla warfare in the Khost province of Afghanistan at Amir Muawia camp, set up in the early 1980s by the CIA and ISI and run by famous Afghani warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar,” according to Levon Sevunts, writing for The Gazette, Montreal, 26 October 1999. See Michel Chossudovsky, Who Is Osama Bin Laden? Research on Globalisation, September 12, 2001.
The terrorists in the Indian city of Mumbai, who killed more than 150 people and injured over 300, used the same tactics that Chechen field militants employed in the Northern Caucasus, says Russian counter terrorism presidential envoy Anatoly Safonov.
In towns of the Northern Cauasus in 1990s, terrorists seized homes and hospitals and took numerous hostages.
“These tactics were used during raids by militant Chechen field commanders Shamil Basayev and Salman Raduyev against the towns of Buddyonnovsk and Pervomaiskoye. For the first time in history the entire towns were terrorized, with homes and hospitals seized. The Mumbai terrorists have learned these tactics well,” Safonov told Russian news agency
Safonov says that the terror in Mumbai is proof that the anti-terror measures on a regional level are insufficient.
“The world is spending enormous resources to fight nonexistent threats and to support the military adventures of the leaders of certain countries. And it turns out that a big city may be unprotected against the raid of a handful of terrorists. This is another warning that in the global world terrorism truly remains the greatest challenge,” Safonov said to Interfax.
He also pointed out that now it’s the task of Indian special services to track down the terrorist group behind the attack on Mumbai. Safonov said they would need to determine whether it was “a subsidiary of some prominent terrorist organization”.
The presidential aide expressed hope that the Russian-Indian working group for combating terrorism will meet in the near future.
“We express our support and condolences to the people of India and sympathize with the families that lost relatives and dear ones in the terrorist attack in Mumbai,” Safonov said.
On Thursday terrorists attacked 10 targets in Mumbai, including several five star hotels, a cafe and a railway station.
Police say they have regained full control over the city.
How the Financial Crisis Was Built Into the System
How the Financial Crisis Was Built Into the System
by Robert Kiyosaki
Posted on Monday, November 24, 2008, 12:00AM
How did we get into the current financial mess? Great question.
Turmoil in the Making
In 1910, seven men held a secret meeting on Jekyll Island off the coast of Georgia. It's estimated that those seven men represented one-sixth of the world's wealth. Six were Americans representing J.P. Morgan, John D. Rockefeller, and the U.S. government. One was a European representing the Rothschilds and Warburgs.
In 1913, the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank was created as a direct result of that secret meeting. Interestingly, the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank isn't federal, there are no reserves, and it's not a bank. Those seven men, some American and some European, created this new entity, commonly referred to as the Fed, to take control of the banking system and the money supply of the United States.
In 1944, a meeting in Bretton Woods, N.H., led to the creation of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. While the stated purposes for the two new organizations initially sounded admirable, the IMF and the World Bank were created to do to the world what the Federal Reserve Bank does to the United States.
In 1971, President Richard Nixon signed an executive order declaring that the United States no longer had to redeem its paper dollars for gold. With that, the first phase of the takeover of the world banking system and money supply was complete.
In 2008, the world is in economic turmoil. The rich are getting richer, but most people are becoming poorer. Much of this turmoil is directly related to those meetings that took place decades ago. In other words, much of this turmoil is by design.
Power and Domination
Some people say these events are part of a grand conspiracy, and that might well be. Some people say they represent the struggle between capitalists, communists and socialists, and that might be, too.
I personally don't participate in the debate over a possible global conspiracy; it's a waste of time. To me, the wider struggle is for power and domination. And while this struggle has done a lot of good — and a lot of bad — I just want to know how to avoid becoming its victim. I see no reason to be a mouse trying to stop a herd of elephants from fighting.
Currently, many people are suffering due to high oil price, the slowdown in the economy, loss of jobs, declines in home values, increased bankruptcies and businesses closings, savings being wiped out, the plummeting stock market, and rising inflation. These realities are all direct results of this financial power struggle, and millions of people are its victims today.
An Extreme Example
I was in South Africa in July of this year. During my television and radio interviews there, I was often asked my opinion on the world economy. Speaking bluntly, I said that South Africans had a better opportunity of comprehending the global turmoil because they're neighbors to Zimbabwe, a country run by Robert Mugabe.
In my interviews, I said, "What Mugabe has done to Zimbabwe, the Federal Reserve Bank and the IMF are doing to the world." Obviously, my statements disturbed many of the journalists. I did my best to comfort them and assure them I was not an anarchist. I explained, as best I could, that Zimbabwe was an extreme example of an out of control power struggle.
After they were assured I was only using Zimbabwe to illustrate my point, I said, "If you want to understand the world economy, take a refugee from Zimbabwe to lunch." I advised them to ask the refugee these questions:
1. How fast did the economy turn?
2. When did you know that you were in financial trouble?
3. When did you finally decide to leave Zimbabwe?
4. If you could do things differently, what would you have done?
Three Approaches to a Crumbling Economy
I spoke to three young couples from Zimbabwe while I was in South Africa. Two couples were recent refugees now living in South Africa, and one couple still lives in Zimbabwe. All three couples had interesting stories to tell.
One couple said that they would have quit their jobs earlier. Instead, they hung on, hoping the economy would change. Then, virtually overnight, the value of the Zimbabwean dollar dropped and inflation went through the roof. Even though they received pay raises, the couple couldn't survive and soon depleted their savings. They left Zimbabwe by car with almost nothing. If they could've done something differently, they told me, they would have started a business in Zimbabwe and began exporting products to South Africa, so that they would have had South African currency and a bank account there before they fled.
The second couple that fled the country said they saved money and paid off their house and other debts even as the Zimbabwean dollar fell in value. Looking back, they say they would've saved nothing and gotten deeply in debt in Zimbabwe, allowing them to pay off their debt with the cheaper dollars. Instead, they fled after they lost their jobs, leaving behind their house and owning $200,000 in nearly worthless Zimbabwean dollars.
The third couple still lives in Zimbabwe. When they saw the writing on the wall, they set up a business in South Africa and, with the profits, began acquiring tangible assets in Zimbabwe. Often, they'll buy an asset in Zimbabwe and pay the seller in South African currency. They believe that once Mugabe is gone and order is restored, they'll be in a strong financial position.
Many Problems, Few Solutions
There are three major problems with the events of 1913, 1944, and 1971. The first is that the Fed, the World Bank, and the IMF are allowed to create money out of nothing. This is the primary cause of global inflation. Global inflation devalues our work and our savings by raising the prices of necessities.
For example, when gas prices soared, many people said that the price of oil was going up. In reality, the main cause of the high price of oil is the decreasing value of the dollar. The Fed, the World Bank, and the IMF, like Zimbabwe, are mass-producing funny money, thereby increasing prices and devaluing our quality of life.
The second problem is that our economic crises are getting bigger. In the 1970s, the Fed faced and solved million-dollar crises. In the 1980s, it was billion-dollar crises. Today, we have trillion-dollar crises. Unfortunately, these bigger crises mean more funny money entering the system.
Apocalypse Soon
The third problem is that in 1913, the Fed only protected the large commercial banks such as Bank of America. After 1944, the Fed, the World Bank, and the IMF began bailing out Third World nations such as Tanzania and Mexico. Then, in 2008, the Fed began bailing out investment banks such as Bear Sterns, and its role in the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac debacle is well known. By 2020, the biggest of bailout of all will probably occur: Social Security and Medicare, which will cost at least a $100 trillion.
Even if we find more oil and produce more food, prices will continue to rise because the value of the dollar will continue to decline. The dollar has lost over 90 percent of its value since the Fed was created. The U.S. dollar will continue to decline because of those seven men on Jekyll Island in 1910.
Granted, the funny-money system has done a lot of good — it has improved the world and made a lot of people rich. But it's also done a lot of bad. I believe somewhere between today and 2020, the system will break. We're on the eve of financial destruction, and that's why it's in gold I trust. I'd rather be a victor than a victim.
by Robert Kiyosaki
Posted on Monday, November 24, 2008, 12:00AM
How did we get into the current financial mess? Great question.
Turmoil in the Making
In 1910, seven men held a secret meeting on Jekyll Island off the coast of Georgia. It's estimated that those seven men represented one-sixth of the world's wealth. Six were Americans representing J.P. Morgan, John D. Rockefeller, and the U.S. government. One was a European representing the Rothschilds and Warburgs.
In 1913, the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank was created as a direct result of that secret meeting. Interestingly, the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank isn't federal, there are no reserves, and it's not a bank. Those seven men, some American and some European, created this new entity, commonly referred to as the Fed, to take control of the banking system and the money supply of the United States.
In 1944, a meeting in Bretton Woods, N.H., led to the creation of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. While the stated purposes for the two new organizations initially sounded admirable, the IMF and the World Bank were created to do to the world what the Federal Reserve Bank does to the United States.
In 1971, President Richard Nixon signed an executive order declaring that the United States no longer had to redeem its paper dollars for gold. With that, the first phase of the takeover of the world banking system and money supply was complete.
In 2008, the world is in economic turmoil. The rich are getting richer, but most people are becoming poorer. Much of this turmoil is directly related to those meetings that took place decades ago. In other words, much of this turmoil is by design.
Power and Domination
Some people say these events are part of a grand conspiracy, and that might well be. Some people say they represent the struggle between capitalists, communists and socialists, and that might be, too.
I personally don't participate in the debate over a possible global conspiracy; it's a waste of time. To me, the wider struggle is for power and domination. And while this struggle has done a lot of good — and a lot of bad — I just want to know how to avoid becoming its victim. I see no reason to be a mouse trying to stop a herd of elephants from fighting.
Currently, many people are suffering due to high oil price, the slowdown in the economy, loss of jobs, declines in home values, increased bankruptcies and businesses closings, savings being wiped out, the plummeting stock market, and rising inflation. These realities are all direct results of this financial power struggle, and millions of people are its victims today.
An Extreme Example
I was in South Africa in July of this year. During my television and radio interviews there, I was often asked my opinion on the world economy. Speaking bluntly, I said that South Africans had a better opportunity of comprehending the global turmoil because they're neighbors to Zimbabwe, a country run by Robert Mugabe.
In my interviews, I said, "What Mugabe has done to Zimbabwe, the Federal Reserve Bank and the IMF are doing to the world." Obviously, my statements disturbed many of the journalists. I did my best to comfort them and assure them I was not an anarchist. I explained, as best I could, that Zimbabwe was an extreme example of an out of control power struggle.
After they were assured I was only using Zimbabwe to illustrate my point, I said, "If you want to understand the world economy, take a refugee from Zimbabwe to lunch." I advised them to ask the refugee these questions:
1. How fast did the economy turn?
2. When did you know that you were in financial trouble?
3. When did you finally decide to leave Zimbabwe?
4. If you could do things differently, what would you have done?
Three Approaches to a Crumbling Economy
I spoke to three young couples from Zimbabwe while I was in South Africa. Two couples were recent refugees now living in South Africa, and one couple still lives in Zimbabwe. All three couples had interesting stories to tell.
One couple said that they would have quit their jobs earlier. Instead, they hung on, hoping the economy would change. Then, virtually overnight, the value of the Zimbabwean dollar dropped and inflation went through the roof. Even though they received pay raises, the couple couldn't survive and soon depleted their savings. They left Zimbabwe by car with almost nothing. If they could've done something differently, they told me, they would have started a business in Zimbabwe and began exporting products to South Africa, so that they would have had South African currency and a bank account there before they fled.
The second couple that fled the country said they saved money and paid off their house and other debts even as the Zimbabwean dollar fell in value. Looking back, they say they would've saved nothing and gotten deeply in debt in Zimbabwe, allowing them to pay off their debt with the cheaper dollars. Instead, they fled after they lost their jobs, leaving behind their house and owning $200,000 in nearly worthless Zimbabwean dollars.
The third couple still lives in Zimbabwe. When they saw the writing on the wall, they set up a business in South Africa and, with the profits, began acquiring tangible assets in Zimbabwe. Often, they'll buy an asset in Zimbabwe and pay the seller in South African currency. They believe that once Mugabe is gone and order is restored, they'll be in a strong financial position.
Many Problems, Few Solutions
There are three major problems with the events of 1913, 1944, and 1971. The first is that the Fed, the World Bank, and the IMF are allowed to create money out of nothing. This is the primary cause of global inflation. Global inflation devalues our work and our savings by raising the prices of necessities.
For example, when gas prices soared, many people said that the price of oil was going up. In reality, the main cause of the high price of oil is the decreasing value of the dollar. The Fed, the World Bank, and the IMF, like Zimbabwe, are mass-producing funny money, thereby increasing prices and devaluing our quality of life.
The second problem is that our economic crises are getting bigger. In the 1970s, the Fed faced and solved million-dollar crises. In the 1980s, it was billion-dollar crises. Today, we have trillion-dollar crises. Unfortunately, these bigger crises mean more funny money entering the system.
Apocalypse Soon
The third problem is that in 1913, the Fed only protected the large commercial banks such as Bank of America. After 1944, the Fed, the World Bank, and the IMF began bailing out Third World nations such as Tanzania and Mexico. Then, in 2008, the Fed began bailing out investment banks such as Bear Sterns, and its role in the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac debacle is well known. By 2020, the biggest of bailout of all will probably occur: Social Security and Medicare, which will cost at least a $100 trillion.
Even if we find more oil and produce more food, prices will continue to rise because the value of the dollar will continue to decline. The dollar has lost over 90 percent of its value since the Fed was created. The U.S. dollar will continue to decline because of those seven men on Jekyll Island in 1910.
Granted, the funny-money system has done a lot of good — it has improved the world and made a lot of people rich. But it's also done a lot of bad. I believe somewhere between today and 2020, the system will break. We're on the eve of financial destruction, and that's why it's in gold I trust. I'd rather be a victor than a victim.
India, Corporate Media Moves To Frame Pakistan For Suspicious Attacks
India, Corporate Media Moves To Frame Pakistan For Suspicious Attacks
Perfect pretext for continued bombing raids, increase in U.S. military aggression as promised by President elect Barack Obama - “official story” is manufactured around contradictions and lies
Paul Joseph Watson & Steve Watson
Prison Planet.com
Thursday, November 27, 2008
As we predicted would happen in our early report yesterday, Indian government authorities are now blaming Pakistan for being behind the ongoing attacks in Mumbai, providing a perfect pretext for expanded U.S. military aggression against a country that is also a target for President elect Barack Obama.
As we outlined yesterday, “With the corporate media desperate to pin the blame in order to score much needed propaganda points for the ailing war on terror, suspicion is likely to fall on Pakistan, a country that President elect Barack Obama openly threatened during his presidential campaign.”
That has now occurred with both the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as well as senior Indian military officials fingering Pakistan as being behind the plot, despite the fact that the group who claimed responsibility is based in India.
“It is evident that the group which carried out these attacks, (is) based outside the country,” said Singh, “We will take up strongly with our neighbors that the use of their territory for launching attacks on us will not be tolerated,” obviously making reference to Pakistan.
(ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW)
Indian Major General R.K. Hooda has also blamed Pakistan, stating, “They are from across the border and perhaps from Faridkot, Pakistan.”
Pakistani defense minister Ahmed Mukhtar told AFP, “In previous cases they have acted like this, but later it all proved wrong,” Ahmed Mukhtar told Agence France-Presse.
“We are very much positive that Pakistan is not involved in this,” he said.
The mainstream corporate media in the U.S. and Britain has dutifully relayed the propaganda, affirming an Al-Qaeda/Pakistan origin despite the fact that every aspect of the attack contradicts previous alleged attacks by Al-Qaeda.
The press has also gone into an obsessive overdrive with constant coverage of the events, despite largely ignoring similar bombings in the past which occur in India on a regular basis. That in itself is proof that a very specific agenda is being pushed.
Constant reminders that the attacks ‘targeted foreigners, American and Britons’ contradict the fact that a handful of foreigners were killed in comparison to over 100 Indians. Multiple reports of indiscriminate shooting also quashes the notion that any kind of targeted attack against westerners took place. But this is the story being sold because the tragedy will be used as another excuse to expand the war on terror and increase U.S. military strikes inside Pakistani territory.
Indian government representatives are uniformly beginning to repeat a scripted explanation of events in Mumbai, in the hope that it will become the accepted truth behind the ongoing terrorist attacks and exonerate their own officials and security forces from any blame or criticism over a failure to protect Indian citizens.
Government officials continue to claim that the level of planning, preparation and coordination could not have been achieved without help from experienced terrorists, particularly groups linked to Al Qaeda.
The press is also beginning to repeat the overture that the previously unheard of Deccan Mujahideen group is a front for Pakistani terrorists affiliated with followers of Osama Bin Laden.
While it is patently illogical to suggest that a foreign terrorist group intent on grabbing public attention by causing mass panic would subsequently hide behind a false identity, India’s prime minister has blamed “external forces.” stating:
“The well-planned and well-orchestrated attacks, probably with external linkages, were intended to create a sense of panic, by choosing high profile targets and indiscriminately killing foreigners,”
In actual fact very few foreigners were killed (four at time of writing have been announced dead) and the gunmen were witnessed firing into crowds of Indians.
Now further reports, such as this one from AP, are disseminating the same mantra:
Magnus Ranstorp, a terrorism specialist with the Swedish National Defense College, said there are “very strong suspicions” that the attacks have a link to al-Qaida.
He said the fact that Britons and Americans were singled out is one indicator, along with the coordination of the attacks.
The facts tell a different story, however - one Briton killed, no dead Americans, no dead or injured Israelis, yet up to 125 Indians killed.
The only “evidence” of any Al Qaeda or foreign Islamist involvement has been the citing of the “coordination” of the attacks.
Apparently, the ability to use some kind of timing and communications devices, and possibly some form of calendar to determine an agreed upon date for the attacks now represents advanced coordination.
Indian authorities have requested that “citizen journalists” not spread information or first hand accounts regarding the attacks via web portals such as Twitter, citing concerns that the terrorists may gain “strategic information” from them.
However, it is not made clear how grenade toting gunmen, holed up and conducting running battles with crack Indian commando forces will have an opportunity to log on to their Twitter accounts and surf through the millions of stories to gain said strategic information.
Meanwhile, more considered reports are highlighting the fact that the assailants are more likely to be close to the fragmented but effective Indian Mujahideen movement, an Indian muslim group opposed to Hinduism.
As Jason Burke of the London Guardian comments, the jumble of tactics and targets seems to indicate a homegrown Indian outfit.
Equally, the style of the attack – more a mass guerrilla assault on a series of soft-targets in a major city than the standard spectacular blasts that we have come to associate with those strikes linked closely to the al-Qaida hardcore – makes it that much more difficult to decipher.
Using boats to attack is certainly original and rare – though al-Qaida used boat bombs against the USS Cole in 2000. Hostage taking is also not a usual feature of core al-Qaida attacks.
Indeed, the guns and grenade style is more reminiscent of the operations of militant groups in Kashmir (and elsewhere in India), Afghanistan or even in the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka.
As we highlighted in our earlier article, “Christine Fair, senior political scientist and a South Asia expert at the RAND Corporation insisted the style of the attacks and the targets in Mumbai suggested that the militants were likely to be Indian Muslims - and not linked to Al Qaeda or the violent South Asian terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba,”.
However, Neocon outlets such as Bill Kristol’s Weekly Standard are setting the tone:
Indian intelligence believes the Indian Mujahideen is a front group created by Lashkar-e-Taiba and the Harkat ul Jihad al Islami to confuse investigators and cover the tracks of the Students’ Islamic Movement of India, or SIMI, a radical Islamist movement. The groups receive support from Pakistan’s Inter-Service Intelligence and are al Qaeda affiliates.
The geopolitical consequences are clear, as geopolitical consultancy Stratfor highlights:
If the Nov. 26 attacks in Mumbai were carried out by Islamist militants as it appears, the Indian government will have little choice, politically speaking, but to blame them on Pakistan. That will in turn spark a crisis between the two nuclear rivals that will draw the United States into the fray.
[...] the Indian government has two choices. First, it can simply say that the perpetrators are a domestic group. In that case, it will be held accountable for a failure of enormous proportions in security and law enforcement. It will be charged with being unable to protect the public. On the other hand, it can link the attack to an outside power: Pakistan. In that case it can hold a nation-state responsible for the attack, and can use the crisis atmosphere to strengthen the government’s internal position by invoking nationalism. Politically this is a much preferable outcome for the Indian government, and so it is the most likely course of action. This is not to say that there are no outside powers involved — simply that, regardless of the ground truth, the Indian government will claim there were.
The truth behind the attacks is once again quickly becoming irrelevant, citizens and journalists are being encouraged not to ask questions and not to spread information. It is becoming clear that the attacks will be blamed on Islamic militants no matter what and will undoubtedly serve as further pretext to increase bombing campaigns in Pakistan and beef support for the ailing war on terror in Afghanistan.
Perfect pretext for continued bombing raids, increase in U.S. military aggression as promised by President elect Barack Obama - “official story” is manufactured around contradictions and lies
Paul Joseph Watson & Steve Watson
Prison Planet.com
Thursday, November 27, 2008
As we predicted would happen in our early report yesterday, Indian government authorities are now blaming Pakistan for being behind the ongoing attacks in Mumbai, providing a perfect pretext for expanded U.S. military aggression against a country that is also a target for President elect Barack Obama.
As we outlined yesterday, “With the corporate media desperate to pin the blame in order to score much needed propaganda points for the ailing war on terror, suspicion is likely to fall on Pakistan, a country that President elect Barack Obama openly threatened during his presidential campaign.”
That has now occurred with both the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as well as senior Indian military officials fingering Pakistan as being behind the plot, despite the fact that the group who claimed responsibility is based in India.
“It is evident that the group which carried out these attacks, (is) based outside the country,” said Singh, “We will take up strongly with our neighbors that the use of their territory for launching attacks on us will not be tolerated,” obviously making reference to Pakistan.
(ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW)
Indian Major General R.K. Hooda has also blamed Pakistan, stating, “They are from across the border and perhaps from Faridkot, Pakistan.”
Pakistani defense minister Ahmed Mukhtar told AFP, “In previous cases they have acted like this, but later it all proved wrong,” Ahmed Mukhtar told Agence France-Presse.
“We are very much positive that Pakistan is not involved in this,” he said.
The mainstream corporate media in the U.S. and Britain has dutifully relayed the propaganda, affirming an Al-Qaeda/Pakistan origin despite the fact that every aspect of the attack contradicts previous alleged attacks by Al-Qaeda.
The press has also gone into an obsessive overdrive with constant coverage of the events, despite largely ignoring similar bombings in the past which occur in India on a regular basis. That in itself is proof that a very specific agenda is being pushed.
Constant reminders that the attacks ‘targeted foreigners, American and Britons’ contradict the fact that a handful of foreigners were killed in comparison to over 100 Indians. Multiple reports of indiscriminate shooting also quashes the notion that any kind of targeted attack against westerners took place. But this is the story being sold because the tragedy will be used as another excuse to expand the war on terror and increase U.S. military strikes inside Pakistani territory.
Indian government representatives are uniformly beginning to repeat a scripted explanation of events in Mumbai, in the hope that it will become the accepted truth behind the ongoing terrorist attacks and exonerate their own officials and security forces from any blame or criticism over a failure to protect Indian citizens.
Government officials continue to claim that the level of planning, preparation and coordination could not have been achieved without help from experienced terrorists, particularly groups linked to Al Qaeda.
The press is also beginning to repeat the overture that the previously unheard of Deccan Mujahideen group is a front for Pakistani terrorists affiliated with followers of Osama Bin Laden.
While it is patently illogical to suggest that a foreign terrorist group intent on grabbing public attention by causing mass panic would subsequently hide behind a false identity, India’s prime minister has blamed “external forces.” stating:
“The well-planned and well-orchestrated attacks, probably with external linkages, were intended to create a sense of panic, by choosing high profile targets and indiscriminately killing foreigners,”
In actual fact very few foreigners were killed (four at time of writing have been announced dead) and the gunmen were witnessed firing into crowds of Indians.
Now further reports, such as this one from AP, are disseminating the same mantra:
Magnus Ranstorp, a terrorism specialist with the Swedish National Defense College, said there are “very strong suspicions” that the attacks have a link to al-Qaida.
He said the fact that Britons and Americans were singled out is one indicator, along with the coordination of the attacks.
The facts tell a different story, however - one Briton killed, no dead Americans, no dead or injured Israelis, yet up to 125 Indians killed.
The only “evidence” of any Al Qaeda or foreign Islamist involvement has been the citing of the “coordination” of the attacks.
Apparently, the ability to use some kind of timing and communications devices, and possibly some form of calendar to determine an agreed upon date for the attacks now represents advanced coordination.
Indian authorities have requested that “citizen journalists” not spread information or first hand accounts regarding the attacks via web portals such as Twitter, citing concerns that the terrorists may gain “strategic information” from them.
However, it is not made clear how grenade toting gunmen, holed up and conducting running battles with crack Indian commando forces will have an opportunity to log on to their Twitter accounts and surf through the millions of stories to gain said strategic information.
Meanwhile, more considered reports are highlighting the fact that the assailants are more likely to be close to the fragmented but effective Indian Mujahideen movement, an Indian muslim group opposed to Hinduism.
As Jason Burke of the London Guardian comments, the jumble of tactics and targets seems to indicate a homegrown Indian outfit.
Equally, the style of the attack – more a mass guerrilla assault on a series of soft-targets in a major city than the standard spectacular blasts that we have come to associate with those strikes linked closely to the al-Qaida hardcore – makes it that much more difficult to decipher.
Using boats to attack is certainly original and rare – though al-Qaida used boat bombs against the USS Cole in 2000. Hostage taking is also not a usual feature of core al-Qaida attacks.
Indeed, the guns and grenade style is more reminiscent of the operations of militant groups in Kashmir (and elsewhere in India), Afghanistan or even in the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka.
As we highlighted in our earlier article, “Christine Fair, senior political scientist and a South Asia expert at the RAND Corporation insisted the style of the attacks and the targets in Mumbai suggested that the militants were likely to be Indian Muslims - and not linked to Al Qaeda or the violent South Asian terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba,”.
However, Neocon outlets such as Bill Kristol’s Weekly Standard are setting the tone:
Indian intelligence believes the Indian Mujahideen is a front group created by Lashkar-e-Taiba and the Harkat ul Jihad al Islami to confuse investigators and cover the tracks of the Students’ Islamic Movement of India, or SIMI, a radical Islamist movement. The groups receive support from Pakistan’s Inter-Service Intelligence and are al Qaeda affiliates.
The geopolitical consequences are clear, as geopolitical consultancy Stratfor highlights:
If the Nov. 26 attacks in Mumbai were carried out by Islamist militants as it appears, the Indian government will have little choice, politically speaking, but to blame them on Pakistan. That will in turn spark a crisis between the two nuclear rivals that will draw the United States into the fray.
[...] the Indian government has two choices. First, it can simply say that the perpetrators are a domestic group. In that case, it will be held accountable for a failure of enormous proportions in security and law enforcement. It will be charged with being unable to protect the public. On the other hand, it can link the attack to an outside power: Pakistan. In that case it can hold a nation-state responsible for the attack, and can use the crisis atmosphere to strengthen the government’s internal position by invoking nationalism. Politically this is a much preferable outcome for the Indian government, and so it is the most likely course of action. This is not to say that there are no outside powers involved — simply that, regardless of the ground truth, the Indian government will claim there were.
The truth behind the attacks is once again quickly becoming irrelevant, citizens and journalists are being encouraged not to ask questions and not to spread information. It is becoming clear that the attacks will be blamed on Islamic militants no matter what and will undoubtedly serve as further pretext to increase bombing campaigns in Pakistan and beef support for the ailing war on terror in Afghanistan.
The International Backers of the Mumbai Attacks
The International Backers of the Mumbai Attacks
Written by www.daily.pk
Saturday, 29 November 2008 19:09
Reuters states that at least 80 people have been killed and that, "An organisation calling itself the Deccan Mujahideen claimed it was behind attacks". CNN television is already stating as fact that the Mumbai attacks were funded and supported by foreign sources, implicating Pakistan where President-elect Obama promised to take the so-called "war on terrorism" when he assumes office in January. The attacks which are on-going at this moment set the stage for redeployment of U.S. troops from Iraq to Pakistan as Obama promised. George W. Bush has been quick to condemn the attacks and CNN is giving round-the-clock coverage, reminiscent of corporate media coverage of the 9/11 attacks in the United States.
Linking Pakistan, Al-Queda, Muslims and Terrorism
CNN, Reuters and other corporate media immediately called these attacks with bombs, automatic weapons and hand grenades "terrorist attacks" emanating from Pakistan with roots in "Al Queda" and "Islamist Terrorists". CNN TV also states that these attacks target "western business people and well-heeled western tourists", staying at Mumbai's luxury hotels. The Deccan Herald states that the Deccan Mujahideen claimed responsibility via a convenient e-mail message received by the Deccan Herald (DC). DC states,
"The term itself (Deccan Mujahideen) is not very specific, and according to CNN may just be a generic term for radicals in the region. 'Deccan' is an area of India and 'Mujahideen' is the plural form of a term referring to a Muslim participating in a jihad."
Associated Press described the attackers,
"Teams of heavily armed gunmen stormed luxury hotels, a popular restaurant and a crowded train station in coordinated attacks across India's financial capital Wednesday night, killing at least 78 people and taking Westerners hostage, police said. A group of suspected Muslim militants claimed responsibility."
Reuters describes them, "The previously unknown or little known group sent an email to news organisations claiming responsibility." This is a familiar attribution to "terrorist attacks" which, because the organisation is "unknown", noone can prove otherwise. CNN TV states emphatically, "This is definitely an international attack using domestic terrorists". We have no doubt that the latter statement is true but the question is, "Who are those international backers of these attacks?"
International backing and support
Modern criminal investigation still rests on the Aristotile's 3 equally important causal factors: Means, Method and Motivation.
Factor analysis - Means, Method and Motivation: Powerful western media organisations reinforce their opinions with repetition, linking assaults like these with former "Islamist attacks" and another "terrorist attack". Their logic and factor analysis use (1) the weapons used, (2) the similarity of past attacks by "Al Queda" and (3) motivation. But of course they never consider the possibility, based on this same factor analysis, that the architects may be the CIA and/or Mossad.
Means: That the most powerful military machine in the world has the means to arm groups like the one who is carrying out the Mumbai attacks requires no apology or defense.
Method: History is replete with examples of U.S./Israeli use of a surrogate to attack their enemies. William John Fox pointed this out in his exemplary analysis, Deliver Us From Chaos: Ten Political Commandments. In 1953 they used domestic terrorism to overthrow Mohammad Mosaddeq, former Prime Minister of Iran. They used the Afghan Mujahideen to attack Russia in the same year of their resistance. The CIA and the U.S. ambassador secretly engineered the “Rose Revolution” in Georgia in 2003 and "the U.S. encouraged the Israeli-trained Georgian army to invade the disputed enclave of South Ossetia five years later".
Motivation: The only difference between the factors used by the capitalist media and ours is motivation. Regarding motivation, CNN states "they (Deccan Mujahideen) want to create as much damage and attention to themselves as possible". CIA/Mossad are masters at destruction, but the last thing they want is bringing attention to themselves. Motivation for the U.S. to take it's war to Pakistan fits perfectly with these attacks. As a matter of fact, Barack Obama and Joe Biden already declared their intention to take the war to Pakistan and stated with certainty that Obama's "mettle would be tested" by a major international "incident" in the near future. If the perpetrators want to draw attention to themselves, their method (i.e. killing civilians), simply does not make sense unless one buys the Bush regime's religion-based simplism that they are simply "evil". Militant's fighting for causes such as independence or national sovereignty want least of all, international negative attention or popular hatred. The only thing missing from the corporate media explanation is George W. Bush's idiotic claim that "the terrorists are jealous of our freedoms". Using this the corporate media's methodology, it is entirely reasonable and just as easy to implicate the CIA and Mossad.
Terrorism
We must also remember where the very term, "terrorism" was born in 1947 and who carried it out? - Israel. The term has been internationalised and popularised since then by the corporate media, rarely if ever pointing to its origins. Today, "terrorism" has become a household term, associated solely with Muslims throughout the world and it was developed into a basis for a war without end. The military assault on Mumbai is another a mini-9/11 in the sense that it provides a platform for juicing and expanding the "anti-terror" war under a new Obama administration which will no doubt be backed by other western governments.
Criminal Investigation
CNN tells us that the FBI has offered to help investigate the crime. The question is whether their interest is real investigation or damage control. If the FBI uses this time worn formula it could very easily end up evidence pointing to their own government. Were the FBI to "discover" CIA or Mossad involvement can any sane person expect they would reveal their findings to the public? Using "means, method and motivation" analysis, our "criminal investigation" leads to the CIA and Mossad as perpetrators of this event. L Blough
Written by www.daily.pk
Saturday, 29 November 2008 19:09
Reuters states that at least 80 people have been killed and that, "An organisation calling itself the Deccan Mujahideen claimed it was behind attacks". CNN television is already stating as fact that the Mumbai attacks were funded and supported by foreign sources, implicating Pakistan where President-elect Obama promised to take the so-called "war on terrorism" when he assumes office in January. The attacks which are on-going at this moment set the stage for redeployment of U.S. troops from Iraq to Pakistan as Obama promised. George W. Bush has been quick to condemn the attacks and CNN is giving round-the-clock coverage, reminiscent of corporate media coverage of the 9/11 attacks in the United States.
Linking Pakistan, Al-Queda, Muslims and Terrorism
CNN, Reuters and other corporate media immediately called these attacks with bombs, automatic weapons and hand grenades "terrorist attacks" emanating from Pakistan with roots in "Al Queda" and "Islamist Terrorists". CNN TV also states that these attacks target "western business people and well-heeled western tourists", staying at Mumbai's luxury hotels. The Deccan Herald states that the Deccan Mujahideen claimed responsibility via a convenient e-mail message received by the Deccan Herald (DC). DC states,
"The term itself (Deccan Mujahideen) is not very specific, and according to CNN may just be a generic term for radicals in the region. 'Deccan' is an area of India and 'Mujahideen' is the plural form of a term referring to a Muslim participating in a jihad."
Associated Press described the attackers,
"Teams of heavily armed gunmen stormed luxury hotels, a popular restaurant and a crowded train station in coordinated attacks across India's financial capital Wednesday night, killing at least 78 people and taking Westerners hostage, police said. A group of suspected Muslim militants claimed responsibility."
Reuters describes them, "The previously unknown or little known group sent an email to news organisations claiming responsibility." This is a familiar attribution to "terrorist attacks" which, because the organisation is "unknown", noone can prove otherwise. CNN TV states emphatically, "This is definitely an international attack using domestic terrorists". We have no doubt that the latter statement is true but the question is, "Who are those international backers of these attacks?"
International backing and support
Modern criminal investigation still rests on the Aristotile's 3 equally important causal factors: Means, Method and Motivation.
Factor analysis - Means, Method and Motivation: Powerful western media organisations reinforce their opinions with repetition, linking assaults like these with former "Islamist attacks" and another "terrorist attack". Their logic and factor analysis use (1) the weapons used, (2) the similarity of past attacks by "Al Queda" and (3) motivation. But of course they never consider the possibility, based on this same factor analysis, that the architects may be the CIA and/or Mossad.
Means: That the most powerful military machine in the world has the means to arm groups like the one who is carrying out the Mumbai attacks requires no apology or defense.
Method: History is replete with examples of U.S./Israeli use of a surrogate to attack their enemies. William John Fox pointed this out in his exemplary analysis, Deliver Us From Chaos: Ten Political Commandments. In 1953 they used domestic terrorism to overthrow Mohammad Mosaddeq, former Prime Minister of Iran. They used the Afghan Mujahideen to attack Russia in the same year of their resistance. The CIA and the U.S. ambassador secretly engineered the “Rose Revolution” in Georgia in 2003 and "the U.S. encouraged the Israeli-trained Georgian army to invade the disputed enclave of South Ossetia five years later".
Motivation: The only difference between the factors used by the capitalist media and ours is motivation. Regarding motivation, CNN states "they (Deccan Mujahideen) want to create as much damage and attention to themselves as possible". CIA/Mossad are masters at destruction, but the last thing they want is bringing attention to themselves. Motivation for the U.S. to take it's war to Pakistan fits perfectly with these attacks. As a matter of fact, Barack Obama and Joe Biden already declared their intention to take the war to Pakistan and stated with certainty that Obama's "mettle would be tested" by a major international "incident" in the near future. If the perpetrators want to draw attention to themselves, their method (i.e. killing civilians), simply does not make sense unless one buys the Bush regime's religion-based simplism that they are simply "evil". Militant's fighting for causes such as independence or national sovereignty want least of all, international negative attention or popular hatred. The only thing missing from the corporate media explanation is George W. Bush's idiotic claim that "the terrorists are jealous of our freedoms". Using this the corporate media's methodology, it is entirely reasonable and just as easy to implicate the CIA and Mossad.
Terrorism
We must also remember where the very term, "terrorism" was born in 1947 and who carried it out? - Israel. The term has been internationalised and popularised since then by the corporate media, rarely if ever pointing to its origins. Today, "terrorism" has become a household term, associated solely with Muslims throughout the world and it was developed into a basis for a war without end. The military assault on Mumbai is another a mini-9/11 in the sense that it provides a platform for juicing and expanding the "anti-terror" war under a new Obama administration which will no doubt be backed by other western governments.
Criminal Investigation
CNN tells us that the FBI has offered to help investigate the crime. The question is whether their interest is real investigation or damage control. If the FBI uses this time worn formula it could very easily end up evidence pointing to their own government. Were the FBI to "discover" CIA or Mossad involvement can any sane person expect they would reveal their findings to the public? Using "means, method and motivation" analysis, our "criminal investigation" leads to the CIA and Mossad as perpetrators of this event. L Blough
The Mumbai terror attacks were part of a carefully planned and coordinated operation involving several teams of experienced and trained gunmen.
November 30, 2008
India's 9/11. Who was Behind the Mumbai Attacks?
Washington is Fostering Political Divisions between India and Pakistan
by Michel Chossudovsky
Global Research, November 30, 2008
- 2008-11-29
The Mumbai terror attacks were part of a carefully planned and coordinated operation involving several teams of experienced and trained gunmen.
The operation has the fingerprints of a paramilitary-intelligence operation. According to a Russian counter terrorist expert, the Mumbai terrorists "used the same tactics that Chechen field militants employed in the Northern Caucasus attacks where entire towns were terrorized, with homes and hospitals seized". (Russia Today, November 27, 2008).
The Mumbai attacks are described as " India's 9/11".
The attacks were carried out simultaneously in several locations, within minutes of each other.
The first target was in the main hall of Mumbai's Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus railway station (CST), where the gunmen fired indiscriminately into the crowd of passengers. The gunmen " then ran out of the station and into neighboring buildings, including Cama Hospital"
Attacks by separate groups of gunmen took place at two of Mumbai's luxury hotels - the Oberoi-Trident and the Taj Mahal Palace, located at the heart of the tourist area, within proximity of the Gateway of India.
Taj Mahal Hotel
The gunmen also opened fire at Café Leopold, a stylish restaurant in the tourist area. The third target was Nariman House, a business center which houses Chabad Lubavitch, Mumbai's Jewish Center. Six hostages including the Rabbi and his wife were killed.
The domestic airport at Santa Cruz; the Metro Adlabs multiplex and the Mazgaon Dockyard were also targeted.
"The attacks occurred at the busiest places. Besides hotels and hospitals, terrorists struck at railway stations, Crawford Market, Wadi Bunder and on the Western Express Highway near the airport. Seven places have been attacked with automatic weapons and grenades.(Times of India, 26 November 2008),
Indian troops surrounded the hotels. Indian Special Forces commandos were sent into the two hotels to confront the terrorists. Witnesses at the hotels said that the gunmen were singling out people with US and British passports.
Members of the Indian security forces taking up firing positions between fire trucks and ambulances on the grounds of the Taj Hotel on Friday. (Ruth Fremson/ The New York Times )
Casualties, according to reports, are in excess of 150 killed. Most of those killed were Indian nationals, many of whom died in the attack on the Chhatrapati Shivaji railway Terminus.
At least 22 foreigners were killed in the attacks. Fourteen police officers, including the chief of the anti-terror squad, were killed in the attacks.
Who was Behind the Attacks?
A virtually unknown group called "the Deccan Mujahideen", has according to reports, claimed responsibility for attacks. The Deccan Plateau refers to a region of central-Southern India largely centered in the State of Andhra Pradesh. This unknown group has already been categorized, without supporting evidence, as belonging to the Al Qaeda network of terrorist organizations.
Police reports confirm that nine "suspected attackers" have been arrested and three of the attackers have, according to unconfirmed police sources, confessed to belonging to Lashkar-e-Taiba [Lashkar-e-Tayyiba], a Pakistani Kasmiri separatist organization, covertly supported by Pakistani military intelligence (ISI). At least one of the arrested, according to the reports, is a British citizen of Pakistani descent.
In chorus, both the Western and Indian media are pointing fingers at Pakistan and its alleged support of Islamic terrorist organizations:
"Strategic gurus and security analysts in the US and from across the world are examining Pakistan's role in terrorism following yet another terror episode in India ending with fingers pointed at its widely-reviled neighbor.
While initial reports from India suggested the Mumbai carnage was a localized attack by militant malcontents in India because of the "Deccan Mujahideen" decoy that was used to claim responsibility, evidence cited by Indian army and security experts based on phone intercepts, nature of weaponry, mode of entry by sea etc., has quickly focused the attention on Pakistan." (Times of India, November 27, 2008)
The US media has centered its attention on the links between the Mumbai attacks and the "resurgent terrorist groups [which] enjoy havens in Pakistan's tribal areas as well as alleged protection or support from elements of Pakistani intelligence." (Washington Post, November 28, 2008).
"Clash of Civilizations"
In Europe and North America, the Mumbai attacks by Islamic fundamentalists are perceived as part of the "Clash of Civilizations". "Militant Islam is involved in a war against civilization".
The dramatic loss of lives resulting from the attacks has indelibly contributed to reinforcing anti-Muslim sentiment throughout the Western World.
The outlines of the terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India, are becoming clear. The terrorists targeted India, the U.S. and Britain, and the Jewish people. (Market Watch, November 28, 2008)
According to the media, the enemy is Al Qaeda, the illusory "outside enemy " which has its operational bases in the tribal areas and North West Frontier Province of Pakistan. Washington's self-proclaimed holy mandate under the "Global War on Terrorism" is to take out bin Laden and extirpate Islamic fundamentalism.
America's right to intervene militarily inside Pakistan in violation of Pakistan's sovereignty is therefore upheld. Bombing villages in the tribal areas of North West Pakistan is part of a "humanitarian endeavor", in response to the loss of life resulting from the Mumbai attacks:
"Before these awful raids, news from South Asia had been encouraging. The central problem remains pacifying Afghanistan, where U.S. and other NATO forces struggle to stamp out Taliban and al-Qaeda elements." (Washington Post, November 28, 2008)
"Washington, however, wants the Pakistani army's cooperation in fighting terrorism. In recent weeks, U.S. officers in Afghanistan reported better results, crediting the Pakistanis with taking the offensive against the Taliban on Pakistani territory."
Media Disinformation
US network TV has extensively covered the dramatic events in Mumbai. The attacks have served to trigger an atmosphere of fear and intimidation across America.
The Mumbai attacks are said to be intimately related to 9/11. Official US statements and media reports have described the Mumbai attacks as part of a broader process, including the possibility of an Al Qaeda sponsored terrorist attack on US soil.
Vice President Elect Joe Biden during the election campaign had warned America with foresight that "the people who... attacked us on 9/11, -- they've regrouped in the mountains between Afghanistan and Pakistan and are plotting new attacks". (emphasis added)
These are the same people who were behind the terror attacks in Mumbai.
These are also the same people who are planning to attack America.
Immediately following the Mumbai attacks, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg put New York City's subway system "on high alert" based on "an unsubstantiated report of potential terrorism here in New York. This report led the New York Police Department to take precautionary steps to protect our transit system, and we will always do whatever is necessary to keep our city safe," Bloomberg said in a statement" (McClatchy-Tribune Business News, November 28, 2008, emphasis added).
It just so happens that one day before the Mumbai attacks, "the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) had warned that there is a 'possible but uncorroborated' Al -Qaeda threat against the New York transportation system." (Ibid)
"As the attacks in Mumbai were carried out, U.S. authorities issued a warning that Al-Qaeda might have recently discussed making attacks on the New York subway system. A vague warning, to be sure. 'We have no specific details to confirm that this plot has developed beyond aspirational planning, but we are issuing this warning out of concern that such an attack could possibly be conducted during the forthcoming holiday season,' the FBI and Department of Homeland Security said." (Chicago Tribune, November 29, 2008)
Pakistan's Military Intelligence is America's Trojan Horse
The media reports point, in chorus, to the involvement of Pakistan's Military Intelligence, the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI), without mentioning that the ISI invariably operates in close liaison with the CIA.
The US media indelibly serves the interests of the US intelligence apparatus. The implications of these distorted reports are that:
1. The terrorists are linked to Al Qaeda. The Mumbai attacks are a "State sponsored" operation involving Pakistan's ISI
2. The Mumbai gunmen have ties to terrorist groups in Pakistan's tribal areas and North West Frontier Province.
3. The continued bombing of the tribal areas by the US Air Force in violation of Pakistan's' sovereignty is consequently justified as part of the "Global War on Terrorism".
The ISI is America's Trojan Horse, a de facto proxy of the CIA. Pakistani Intelligence has, since the early 1980s, worked in close liaison with its US and British intelligence counterparts.
Were the ISI to have been involved in a major covert operation directed against India, the CIA would have prior knowledge regarding the precise nature and timing of the operation. The ISI does not act without the consent of its US intelligence counterpart.
Moreover, US intelligence is known to have supported Al Qaeda from the outset of the Soviet Afghan war and throughout the post-Cold War era. (For further details see Michel Chossudovsky, Al Qaeda and the War on Terrorism, Global Research, January 20, 2008)
CIA sponsored guerilla training camps were established in Pakistan to train the Mujahideen. Historically, US intelligence has supported Al Qaeda, using Pakistan's ISI as a go-between.
"With CIA backing and the funneling of massive amounts of U.S. military aid, the Pakistani ISI had developed into a "parallel structure wielding enormous power over all aspects of government". (Dipankar Banerjee, "Possible Connection of ISI With Drug Industry", India Abroad, 2 December 1994).
In the wake of 9/11, Pakistan's ISI played a key role in the October 2001 invasion of Afghanistan, in close liaison with the US and NATO military high command. Ironically, in October 2001, both US and Indian press reports quoting FBI and intelligence sources, suggested that the ISI was providing support to the alleged 9/11 terrorists.(See Michel Chossudovsky, Cover-up or Complicity of the Bush Administration, The Role of Pakistan's Military Intelligence (ISI) in the September 11 Attacks, Global Research, November 2, 2001)
Pakistan's Chief Spy Appointed by the CIA
Historically, the CIA has played an unofficial role in the appointment of the director of Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence (ISI).
In September, Washington pressured Islamabad, using the "war on terrorism" as a pretext to fire the ISI chief Lieutenant General Nadeem Taj.
"Washington is understood to be exerting intense pressure on Pakistan to remove ISI boss Nadeem Taj and two of his deputies because of the key agency's alleged "double-dealing" with the militants.( Daily Times, September 30, 2008
President Asif Ali Zardari had meetings in New York in late September with CIA Director Michael Hayden. (The Australian, September 29, 2008), Barely a few days later, a new US approved ISI chief Lieutenant General Ahmed Shuja Pasha was appointed by the Chief of the Army, General Kayani, on behalf of Washington.
Lt. General Ahmed Shuja Pasha
In this regard, the pressures exerted by the Bush administration contributed to blocking a parliamentary initiative led by the PPP government to put the country's intelligence services (ISI) under civilian authority, namely under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Interior.
Lt. Gen. Ahmed Shuja Pasha (right) next to Gen. Ashfaq Kayani on the USS Abraham Lincoln talking with Michael Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The U.S. Violates Pakistan's Territorial Sovereignty
The US is currently violating Pakistan territorial sovereignty through the routine bombing of villages in the tribal areas and the North West Frontier Province. These operations are carried out using the "war on terrorism" as a pretext. While the Pakistani government has "officially" accused the US of waging aerial bombardments on its territory, Pakistan's military (including the ISI) has "unofficially" endorsed the air strikes.
In this regard, the timely appointment of Lt. General Ahmed Shuja Pasha to the helm of the ISI was intended to ensure continuity in US "counter-terrorism" operations in Pakistan. Prior to his appointment as ISI chief, Lt. General Ahmed Shuja Pasha was responsible, in close consultation with the US and NATO, for carrying out targeted attacks allegedly against the Taliban and Al Qaeda by the Pakistani military in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP).
Upon his appointment, Lt Gen Ahmed Shuja Pasha implemented a major reshuffle within the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), replacing several of the ISI regional commanders. ( Daily Times, September 30, 2008). In late October, he was in Washington, at CIA headquarters at Langley and at the Pentagon, to meet his US military and intelligence counterparts:
"Pakistan is publicly complaining about U.S. air strikes. But the country's new chief of intelligence, Lt. Gen. Ahmed Shuja Pasha, visited Washington last week for talks with America's top military and spy chiefs, and everyone seemed to come away smiling." (David Ignatieff, A Quiet Deal With Pakistan, Washington Post, November 4, 2008, emphasis added).
The Timing of the Mumbai Attacks
The US air strikes on the Tribal Areas resulting in countless civilians deaths have created a wave of anti-US sentiment throughout Pakistan. At the same token, this anti-American sentiment has also served, in the months preceding the Mumbai attacks, to promote a renewed atmosphere of cooperation between India and Pakistan.
While US-Pakistan relations are at an all time low, there were significant efforts, in recent months, by the Islamabad and Delhi governments to foster bilateral relations.
Barely a week prior to the attacks, Pakistan president Asif Ali Zardari "urged opening the Kashmir issue to public debate in India and Pakistan and letting the people decide the future of IHK."
He also called for "taking bilateral relations to a new level" as well as forging an economic union between the two countries.
Divide and Rule
What interests are served by these attacks?
Washington is intent on using the Mumbai attacks to:
1) Foster divisions between Pakistan and India and shunt the process of bilateral cooperation and trade between the two countries;
2) Promote internal social, ethnic and sectarian divisions in both India and Pakistan;
3) Justify US military actions inside Pakistan including the killing of civilians in violation of the country's territorial sovereignty;
4) Provide a justification for extending the US led "war on terrorism" into the Indian sub-continent and South East Asia.
In 2006, the Pentagon had warned that "another [major 9/11 type terrorist] attack could create both a justification and an opportunity that is lacking today to retaliate against some known targets" (Statement by Pentagon official, leaked to the Washington Post, 23 April 2006). In the current context, the Mumbai attacks are considered "a justification" to go after "known targets" in the tribal areas of North Western Pakistan.
India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has stated that "external forces" forces carried the attacks, hinting to the possible role of Pakistan. The media reports also point in that direction, hinting that the Pakistani government is behind the attacks:
US officials and lawmakers refrained from naming Pakistan, but their condemnation of "Islamist terrorism" left little doubt where their anxieties lay.
....
What has added potency to the latest charges against Islamabad is the Bush administration's own assessment - leaked to the US media - that Pakistan's intelligence agency ISI was linked to the bombing of the Indian Embassy in Kabul some weeks back that killed nearly 60 people including a much-admired Indian diplomat and a respected senior defense official. (Times of India, November 27, 2008)
The Attacks have Triggered Anti-Pakistani Sentiment in India
The attacks have served to foster anti-Pakistani sentiment within India as well as sectarian divisions between Hindus and Muslims.
Time Magazine has pointed in no uncertain terms to the insidious role of "the powerful Inter Services Intelligence organization — often accused of orchestrating terror attacks on India", without acknowledging that the new head of the ISI was appointed at Washington's behest. (Time online).
The Time report suggests, without evidence, that the most likely architects of the attacks are several Pakistani sponsored Islamic groups including Lashkar-e-Taiba (Army of the Pure), "which is part of the 'al-Qaeda compact'", Jaish-e-Mohammed, a Kashmiri separatist organization belonging to Al Qaeda which claimed responsibility in the December 2001 terrorist attacks on the Union parliament in Delhi and The Students Islamic Movement of India, (SIMI). (Ibid)
Both Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed are known to be supported by the ISI.
Islamabad-Delhi Shuttle Diplomacy
Pakistani president Asif Ali Zardari indicated that his government would fully collaborate with the Indian authorities.
Pakistan's newly elected civilian government has been sidetracked by its own intelligence services, which remain under the jurisdiction of the military high command.
The Pakistan's People's Party government under the helm of Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani has no control over the military and intelligence apparatus, which continues to maintain a close rapport with its US counterparts. The Pakistani civilian government, in many regards, is not in control of its foreign policy. The Pakistani Military and its powerful intelligence arm (ISI) call the shots.
In this context, president Asif Ali Zardari seems to be playing on both sides: collusion with the Military-Intelligence apparatus, dialogue with Washington and lip service to prime minister Gilani and the National Assembly.
On November 28, two days following the Mumbai attacks, Islamabad announced that the recently appointed ISI chief Lieutenant General Ahmed Shuja Pasha would be dispatched to Delhi for consultations with his Indian counterparts including National Security Advisor M K Narayanan and the heads of India's external intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) and the Intelligence Bureau, responsible for internal intelligence. RAW and Pakistan's ISI are known to have been waging a covert war against one another for more than thirty years.1
On the following day (November 29), Islamabad cancelled the visit of ISI chief Lt Gen Shuja Pasha to India, following Indian foreign minister Pranab Mukherjee's "very aggressive tone with Pakistani officials [in a] telephone [conversation] after the Mumbai attacks". (Press Trust of India, November 29, 2008 quoting Geo News Pakistan).
Tense Situation. Deterioration of India-Pakistan Relations
The Mumbai attacks have already created an extremely tense situation, which largely serves US geopolitical interests in the region.
Islamabad is contemplating the relocation of some 100,000 military personnel from the Pakistani-Afghan border to the Indian border, "if there is an escalation in tension with India, which has hinted at the involvement of Pakistani elements in the Mumbai carnage." (Pakistan news source quoted by PTI, op cit).
"These sources have said NATO and the US command have been told that Pakistan would not be able to concentrate on the war on terror and against militants around the Afghanistan border as defending its borders with India was far more important," (Ibid, Geo News quoting senior Pakistani journalist Hamid Mir).
US Interference in the Conduct of the Indian Police Investigation
Also of significance is Washington's outright interference in the conduct of the Indian police investigation. The Times of India points to an "unprecedented intelligence cooperation involving investigating agencies and spy outfits of India, United States, United Kingdom and Israel."
Both the FBI and Britain's Secret Service MI6 have liaison offices in Delhi. The FBI has dispatched police, counter-terrorism officials and forensic scientists to Mumbai "to investigate attacks that now include American victims..." Experts from the London's Metropolitan Police have also been dispatched to Mumbai:
"The U.S. government's "working assumption" that the Pakistani militant groups Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed are suspects in the attacks "has held up" as Indian authorities have begun their investigation, the official said. The two Kashmiri militant groups have ties to al Qaeda." (Wall Street Journal, November 28, 2008)
The role of the US-UK-Israeli counter terrorism and police officials, is essentially to manipulate the results of the Indian police investigation.
It is worth noting, however, that the Delhi government turned down Israel's request to send a special forces military unit to assist the Indian commandos in freeing Jewish hostages held inside Mumbai's Chabad Jewish Center (PTI, November 28, 2008).
Bali 2002 versus Mumbai 2008
The Mumbai terrorist attacks bear certain similarities to the 2002 Bali attacks. In both cases, Western tourists were targets. The tourist resort of Kuta on the island of Bali, Indonesia, was the object of two separate attacks, which targeted mainly Australian tourists. (Ibid)
The alleged terrorists in the Bali 2002 bombings were executed, following a lengthy trial period, barely a few weeks ago, on November 9, 2008. (Michel Chossudovsky, Miscarriage of Justice: Who was behind the October 2002 Bali bombings? Global Research, November 13, 2009). The political architects of the 2002 Bali attacks were never brought to trial.
A November 2002 report emanating from Indonesia’s top brass, pointed to the involvement of both the head of Indonesian intelligence General A. M. Hendropriyono as well as the CIA. The links of Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) to the Indonesian intelligence agency (BIN) were never raised in the official Indonesian government investigation --which was guided behind the scenes by Australian intelligence and the CIA. Moreover, shortly after the bombing, Australian Prime Minister John Howard "admitted that Australian authorities were warned about possible attacks in Bali but chose not to issue a warning." (Christchurch Press, November 22, 2002).
With regard to the Bali 2002 bombings, the statements of two former presidents of Indonesia were casually dismissed in the trial procedures, both of which pointed to complicity of the Indonesian military and police. In 2002, president Megawati Sukarnoputri, accused the US of involvement in the attacks. In 2005, in an October 2005 interview with Australia's SBS TV, former president Wahid Abdurrahman stated that the Indonesian military and police played a complicit role in the 2002 Bali bombing. (quoted in Miscarriage of Justice: Who was behind the October 2002 Bali bombings?, op cit)
Note
1. In recent months, the head of India's external intelligence (RAW), Ashok Chaturvedi has become a political target. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is intent upon firing him and replacing him with a more acceptable individual. It is unclear whether Chaturvedi will be involved in the intelligence and police investigation.
India's 9/11. Who was Behind the Mumbai Attacks?
Washington is Fostering Political Divisions between India and Pakistan
by Michel Chossudovsky
Global Research, November 30, 2008
- 2008-11-29
The Mumbai terror attacks were part of a carefully planned and coordinated operation involving several teams of experienced and trained gunmen.
The operation has the fingerprints of a paramilitary-intelligence operation. According to a Russian counter terrorist expert, the Mumbai terrorists "used the same tactics that Chechen field militants employed in the Northern Caucasus attacks where entire towns were terrorized, with homes and hospitals seized". (Russia Today, November 27, 2008).
The Mumbai attacks are described as " India's 9/11".
The attacks were carried out simultaneously in several locations, within minutes of each other.
The first target was in the main hall of Mumbai's Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus railway station (CST), where the gunmen fired indiscriminately into the crowd of passengers. The gunmen " then ran out of the station and into neighboring buildings, including Cama Hospital"
Attacks by separate groups of gunmen took place at two of Mumbai's luxury hotels - the Oberoi-Trident and the Taj Mahal Palace, located at the heart of the tourist area, within proximity of the Gateway of India.
Taj Mahal Hotel
The gunmen also opened fire at Café Leopold, a stylish restaurant in the tourist area. The third target was Nariman House, a business center which houses Chabad Lubavitch, Mumbai's Jewish Center. Six hostages including the Rabbi and his wife were killed.
The domestic airport at Santa Cruz; the Metro Adlabs multiplex and the Mazgaon Dockyard were also targeted.
"The attacks occurred at the busiest places. Besides hotels and hospitals, terrorists struck at railway stations, Crawford Market, Wadi Bunder and on the Western Express Highway near the airport. Seven places have been attacked with automatic weapons and grenades.(Times of India, 26 November 2008),
Indian troops surrounded the hotels. Indian Special Forces commandos were sent into the two hotels to confront the terrorists. Witnesses at the hotels said that the gunmen were singling out people with US and British passports.
Members of the Indian security forces taking up firing positions between fire trucks and ambulances on the grounds of the Taj Hotel on Friday. (Ruth Fremson/ The New York Times )
Casualties, according to reports, are in excess of 150 killed. Most of those killed were Indian nationals, many of whom died in the attack on the Chhatrapati Shivaji railway Terminus.
At least 22 foreigners were killed in the attacks. Fourteen police officers, including the chief of the anti-terror squad, were killed in the attacks.
Who was Behind the Attacks?
A virtually unknown group called "the Deccan Mujahideen", has according to reports, claimed responsibility for attacks. The Deccan Plateau refers to a region of central-Southern India largely centered in the State of Andhra Pradesh. This unknown group has already been categorized, without supporting evidence, as belonging to the Al Qaeda network of terrorist organizations.
Police reports confirm that nine "suspected attackers" have been arrested and three of the attackers have, according to unconfirmed police sources, confessed to belonging to Lashkar-e-Taiba [Lashkar-e-Tayyiba], a Pakistani Kasmiri separatist organization, covertly supported by Pakistani military intelligence (ISI). At least one of the arrested, according to the reports, is a British citizen of Pakistani descent.
In chorus, both the Western and Indian media are pointing fingers at Pakistan and its alleged support of Islamic terrorist organizations:
"Strategic gurus and security analysts in the US and from across the world are examining Pakistan's role in terrorism following yet another terror episode in India ending with fingers pointed at its widely-reviled neighbor.
While initial reports from India suggested the Mumbai carnage was a localized attack by militant malcontents in India because of the "Deccan Mujahideen" decoy that was used to claim responsibility, evidence cited by Indian army and security experts based on phone intercepts, nature of weaponry, mode of entry by sea etc., has quickly focused the attention on Pakistan." (Times of India, November 27, 2008)
The US media has centered its attention on the links between the Mumbai attacks and the "resurgent terrorist groups [which] enjoy havens in Pakistan's tribal areas as well as alleged protection or support from elements of Pakistani intelligence." (Washington Post, November 28, 2008).
"Clash of Civilizations"
In Europe and North America, the Mumbai attacks by Islamic fundamentalists are perceived as part of the "Clash of Civilizations". "Militant Islam is involved in a war against civilization".
The dramatic loss of lives resulting from the attacks has indelibly contributed to reinforcing anti-Muslim sentiment throughout the Western World.
The outlines of the terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India, are becoming clear. The terrorists targeted India, the U.S. and Britain, and the Jewish people. (Market Watch, November 28, 2008)
According to the media, the enemy is Al Qaeda, the illusory "outside enemy " which has its operational bases in the tribal areas and North West Frontier Province of Pakistan. Washington's self-proclaimed holy mandate under the "Global War on Terrorism" is to take out bin Laden and extirpate Islamic fundamentalism.
America's right to intervene militarily inside Pakistan in violation of Pakistan's sovereignty is therefore upheld. Bombing villages in the tribal areas of North West Pakistan is part of a "humanitarian endeavor", in response to the loss of life resulting from the Mumbai attacks:
"Before these awful raids, news from South Asia had been encouraging. The central problem remains pacifying Afghanistan, where U.S. and other NATO forces struggle to stamp out Taliban and al-Qaeda elements." (Washington Post, November 28, 2008)
"Washington, however, wants the Pakistani army's cooperation in fighting terrorism. In recent weeks, U.S. officers in Afghanistan reported better results, crediting the Pakistanis with taking the offensive against the Taliban on Pakistani territory."
Media Disinformation
US network TV has extensively covered the dramatic events in Mumbai. The attacks have served to trigger an atmosphere of fear and intimidation across America.
The Mumbai attacks are said to be intimately related to 9/11. Official US statements and media reports have described the Mumbai attacks as part of a broader process, including the possibility of an Al Qaeda sponsored terrorist attack on US soil.
Vice President Elect Joe Biden during the election campaign had warned America with foresight that "the people who... attacked us on 9/11, -- they've regrouped in the mountains between Afghanistan and Pakistan and are plotting new attacks". (emphasis added)
These are the same people who were behind the terror attacks in Mumbai.
These are also the same people who are planning to attack America.
Immediately following the Mumbai attacks, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg put New York City's subway system "on high alert" based on "an unsubstantiated report of potential terrorism here in New York. This report led the New York Police Department to take precautionary steps to protect our transit system, and we will always do whatever is necessary to keep our city safe," Bloomberg said in a statement" (McClatchy-Tribune Business News, November 28, 2008, emphasis added).
It just so happens that one day before the Mumbai attacks, "the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) had warned that there is a 'possible but uncorroborated' Al -Qaeda threat against the New York transportation system." (Ibid)
"As the attacks in Mumbai were carried out, U.S. authorities issued a warning that Al-Qaeda might have recently discussed making attacks on the New York subway system. A vague warning, to be sure. 'We have no specific details to confirm that this plot has developed beyond aspirational planning, but we are issuing this warning out of concern that such an attack could possibly be conducted during the forthcoming holiday season,' the FBI and Department of Homeland Security said." (Chicago Tribune, November 29, 2008)
Pakistan's Military Intelligence is America's Trojan Horse
The media reports point, in chorus, to the involvement of Pakistan's Military Intelligence, the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI), without mentioning that the ISI invariably operates in close liaison with the CIA.
The US media indelibly serves the interests of the US intelligence apparatus. The implications of these distorted reports are that:
1. The terrorists are linked to Al Qaeda. The Mumbai attacks are a "State sponsored" operation involving Pakistan's ISI
2. The Mumbai gunmen have ties to terrorist groups in Pakistan's tribal areas and North West Frontier Province.
3. The continued bombing of the tribal areas by the US Air Force in violation of Pakistan's' sovereignty is consequently justified as part of the "Global War on Terrorism".
The ISI is America's Trojan Horse, a de facto proxy of the CIA. Pakistani Intelligence has, since the early 1980s, worked in close liaison with its US and British intelligence counterparts.
Were the ISI to have been involved in a major covert operation directed against India, the CIA would have prior knowledge regarding the precise nature and timing of the operation. The ISI does not act without the consent of its US intelligence counterpart.
Moreover, US intelligence is known to have supported Al Qaeda from the outset of the Soviet Afghan war and throughout the post-Cold War era. (For further details see Michel Chossudovsky, Al Qaeda and the War on Terrorism, Global Research, January 20, 2008)
CIA sponsored guerilla training camps were established in Pakistan to train the Mujahideen. Historically, US intelligence has supported Al Qaeda, using Pakistan's ISI as a go-between.
"With CIA backing and the funneling of massive amounts of U.S. military aid, the Pakistani ISI had developed into a "parallel structure wielding enormous power over all aspects of government". (Dipankar Banerjee, "Possible Connection of ISI With Drug Industry", India Abroad, 2 December 1994).
In the wake of 9/11, Pakistan's ISI played a key role in the October 2001 invasion of Afghanistan, in close liaison with the US and NATO military high command. Ironically, in October 2001, both US and Indian press reports quoting FBI and intelligence sources, suggested that the ISI was providing support to the alleged 9/11 terrorists.(See Michel Chossudovsky, Cover-up or Complicity of the Bush Administration, The Role of Pakistan's Military Intelligence (ISI) in the September 11 Attacks, Global Research, November 2, 2001)
Pakistan's Chief Spy Appointed by the CIA
Historically, the CIA has played an unofficial role in the appointment of the director of Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence (ISI).
In September, Washington pressured Islamabad, using the "war on terrorism" as a pretext to fire the ISI chief Lieutenant General Nadeem Taj.
"Washington is understood to be exerting intense pressure on Pakistan to remove ISI boss Nadeem Taj and two of his deputies because of the key agency's alleged "double-dealing" with the militants.( Daily Times, September 30, 2008
President Asif Ali Zardari had meetings in New York in late September with CIA Director Michael Hayden. (The Australian, September 29, 2008), Barely a few days later, a new US approved ISI chief Lieutenant General Ahmed Shuja Pasha was appointed by the Chief of the Army, General Kayani, on behalf of Washington.
Lt. General Ahmed Shuja Pasha
In this regard, the pressures exerted by the Bush administration contributed to blocking a parliamentary initiative led by the PPP government to put the country's intelligence services (ISI) under civilian authority, namely under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Interior.
Lt. Gen. Ahmed Shuja Pasha (right) next to Gen. Ashfaq Kayani on the USS Abraham Lincoln talking with Michael Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The U.S. Violates Pakistan's Territorial Sovereignty
The US is currently violating Pakistan territorial sovereignty through the routine bombing of villages in the tribal areas and the North West Frontier Province. These operations are carried out using the "war on terrorism" as a pretext. While the Pakistani government has "officially" accused the US of waging aerial bombardments on its territory, Pakistan's military (including the ISI) has "unofficially" endorsed the air strikes.
In this regard, the timely appointment of Lt. General Ahmed Shuja Pasha to the helm of the ISI was intended to ensure continuity in US "counter-terrorism" operations in Pakistan. Prior to his appointment as ISI chief, Lt. General Ahmed Shuja Pasha was responsible, in close consultation with the US and NATO, for carrying out targeted attacks allegedly against the Taliban and Al Qaeda by the Pakistani military in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP).
Upon his appointment, Lt Gen Ahmed Shuja Pasha implemented a major reshuffle within the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), replacing several of the ISI regional commanders. ( Daily Times, September 30, 2008). In late October, he was in Washington, at CIA headquarters at Langley and at the Pentagon, to meet his US military and intelligence counterparts:
"Pakistan is publicly complaining about U.S. air strikes. But the country's new chief of intelligence, Lt. Gen. Ahmed Shuja Pasha, visited Washington last week for talks with America's top military and spy chiefs, and everyone seemed to come away smiling." (David Ignatieff, A Quiet Deal With Pakistan, Washington Post, November 4, 2008, emphasis added).
The Timing of the Mumbai Attacks
The US air strikes on the Tribal Areas resulting in countless civilians deaths have created a wave of anti-US sentiment throughout Pakistan. At the same token, this anti-American sentiment has also served, in the months preceding the Mumbai attacks, to promote a renewed atmosphere of cooperation between India and Pakistan.
While US-Pakistan relations are at an all time low, there were significant efforts, in recent months, by the Islamabad and Delhi governments to foster bilateral relations.
Barely a week prior to the attacks, Pakistan president Asif Ali Zardari "urged opening the Kashmir issue to public debate in India and Pakistan and letting the people decide the future of IHK."
He also called for "taking bilateral relations to a new level" as well as forging an economic union between the two countries.
Divide and Rule
What interests are served by these attacks?
Washington is intent on using the Mumbai attacks to:
1) Foster divisions between Pakistan and India and shunt the process of bilateral cooperation and trade between the two countries;
2) Promote internal social, ethnic and sectarian divisions in both India and Pakistan;
3) Justify US military actions inside Pakistan including the killing of civilians in violation of the country's territorial sovereignty;
4) Provide a justification for extending the US led "war on terrorism" into the Indian sub-continent and South East Asia.
In 2006, the Pentagon had warned that "another [major 9/11 type terrorist] attack could create both a justification and an opportunity that is lacking today to retaliate against some known targets" (Statement by Pentagon official, leaked to the Washington Post, 23 April 2006). In the current context, the Mumbai attacks are considered "a justification" to go after "known targets" in the tribal areas of North Western Pakistan.
India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has stated that "external forces" forces carried the attacks, hinting to the possible role of Pakistan. The media reports also point in that direction, hinting that the Pakistani government is behind the attacks:
US officials and lawmakers refrained from naming Pakistan, but their condemnation of "Islamist terrorism" left little doubt where their anxieties lay.
....
What has added potency to the latest charges against Islamabad is the Bush administration's own assessment - leaked to the US media - that Pakistan's intelligence agency ISI was linked to the bombing of the Indian Embassy in Kabul some weeks back that killed nearly 60 people including a much-admired Indian diplomat and a respected senior defense official. (Times of India, November 27, 2008)
The Attacks have Triggered Anti-Pakistani Sentiment in India
The attacks have served to foster anti-Pakistani sentiment within India as well as sectarian divisions between Hindus and Muslims.
Time Magazine has pointed in no uncertain terms to the insidious role of "the powerful Inter Services Intelligence organization — often accused of orchestrating terror attacks on India", without acknowledging that the new head of the ISI was appointed at Washington's behest. (Time online).
The Time report suggests, without evidence, that the most likely architects of the attacks are several Pakistani sponsored Islamic groups including Lashkar-e-Taiba (Army of the Pure), "which is part of the 'al-Qaeda compact'", Jaish-e-Mohammed, a Kashmiri separatist organization belonging to Al Qaeda which claimed responsibility in the December 2001 terrorist attacks on the Union parliament in Delhi and The Students Islamic Movement of India, (SIMI). (Ibid)
Both Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed are known to be supported by the ISI.
Islamabad-Delhi Shuttle Diplomacy
Pakistani president Asif Ali Zardari indicated that his government would fully collaborate with the Indian authorities.
Pakistan's newly elected civilian government has been sidetracked by its own intelligence services, which remain under the jurisdiction of the military high command.
The Pakistan's People's Party government under the helm of Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani has no control over the military and intelligence apparatus, which continues to maintain a close rapport with its US counterparts. The Pakistani civilian government, in many regards, is not in control of its foreign policy. The Pakistani Military and its powerful intelligence arm (ISI) call the shots.
In this context, president Asif Ali Zardari seems to be playing on both sides: collusion with the Military-Intelligence apparatus, dialogue with Washington and lip service to prime minister Gilani and the National Assembly.
On November 28, two days following the Mumbai attacks, Islamabad announced that the recently appointed ISI chief Lieutenant General Ahmed Shuja Pasha would be dispatched to Delhi for consultations with his Indian counterparts including National Security Advisor M K Narayanan and the heads of India's external intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) and the Intelligence Bureau, responsible for internal intelligence. RAW and Pakistan's ISI are known to have been waging a covert war against one another for more than thirty years.1
On the following day (November 29), Islamabad cancelled the visit of ISI chief Lt Gen Shuja Pasha to India, following Indian foreign minister Pranab Mukherjee's "very aggressive tone with Pakistani officials [in a] telephone [conversation] after the Mumbai attacks". (Press Trust of India, November 29, 2008 quoting Geo News Pakistan).
Tense Situation. Deterioration of India-Pakistan Relations
The Mumbai attacks have already created an extremely tense situation, which largely serves US geopolitical interests in the region.
Islamabad is contemplating the relocation of some 100,000 military personnel from the Pakistani-Afghan border to the Indian border, "if there is an escalation in tension with India, which has hinted at the involvement of Pakistani elements in the Mumbai carnage." (Pakistan news source quoted by PTI, op cit).
"These sources have said NATO and the US command have been told that Pakistan would not be able to concentrate on the war on terror and against militants around the Afghanistan border as defending its borders with India was far more important," (Ibid, Geo News quoting senior Pakistani journalist Hamid Mir).
US Interference in the Conduct of the Indian Police Investigation
Also of significance is Washington's outright interference in the conduct of the Indian police investigation. The Times of India points to an "unprecedented intelligence cooperation involving investigating agencies and spy outfits of India, United States, United Kingdom and Israel."
Both the FBI and Britain's Secret Service MI6 have liaison offices in Delhi. The FBI has dispatched police, counter-terrorism officials and forensic scientists to Mumbai "to investigate attacks that now include American victims..." Experts from the London's Metropolitan Police have also been dispatched to Mumbai:
"The U.S. government's "working assumption" that the Pakistani militant groups Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed are suspects in the attacks "has held up" as Indian authorities have begun their investigation, the official said. The two Kashmiri militant groups have ties to al Qaeda." (Wall Street Journal, November 28, 2008)
The role of the US-UK-Israeli counter terrorism and police officials, is essentially to manipulate the results of the Indian police investigation.
It is worth noting, however, that the Delhi government turned down Israel's request to send a special forces military unit to assist the Indian commandos in freeing Jewish hostages held inside Mumbai's Chabad Jewish Center (PTI, November 28, 2008).
Bali 2002 versus Mumbai 2008
The Mumbai terrorist attacks bear certain similarities to the 2002 Bali attacks. In both cases, Western tourists were targets. The tourist resort of Kuta on the island of Bali, Indonesia, was the object of two separate attacks, which targeted mainly Australian tourists. (Ibid)
The alleged terrorists in the Bali 2002 bombings were executed, following a lengthy trial period, barely a few weeks ago, on November 9, 2008. (Michel Chossudovsky, Miscarriage of Justice: Who was behind the October 2002 Bali bombings? Global Research, November 13, 2009). The political architects of the 2002 Bali attacks were never brought to trial.
A November 2002 report emanating from Indonesia’s top brass, pointed to the involvement of both the head of Indonesian intelligence General A. M. Hendropriyono as well as the CIA. The links of Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) to the Indonesian intelligence agency (BIN) were never raised in the official Indonesian government investigation --which was guided behind the scenes by Australian intelligence and the CIA. Moreover, shortly after the bombing, Australian Prime Minister John Howard "admitted that Australian authorities were warned about possible attacks in Bali but chose not to issue a warning." (Christchurch Press, November 22, 2002).
With regard to the Bali 2002 bombings, the statements of two former presidents of Indonesia were casually dismissed in the trial procedures, both of which pointed to complicity of the Indonesian military and police. In 2002, president Megawati Sukarnoputri, accused the US of involvement in the attacks. In 2005, in an October 2005 interview with Australia's SBS TV, former president Wahid Abdurrahman stated that the Indonesian military and police played a complicit role in the 2002 Bali bombing. (quoted in Miscarriage of Justice: Who was behind the October 2002 Bali bombings?, op cit)
Note
1. In recent months, the head of India's external intelligence (RAW), Ashok Chaturvedi has become a political target. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is intent upon firing him and replacing him with a more acceptable individual. It is unclear whether Chaturvedi will be involved in the intelligence and police investigation.
We were trained by Pak navy: Captured terrorist
India TodayLATEST NEWSStory
We were trained by Pak navy: Captured terrorist
Aaj Tak Bureau
New Delhi, November 29, 2008
: Captured terroristAzam Amir, the terrorist who was held by the Mumbai Police, has made some striking revelations regarding the Mumbai terror attacks.
Azam has disclosed that the Pakistan Navy had trained the terrorists in boating and swimming to carry out the attacks in Mumbai. Azam was arrested on Wednesday from Girgaum Chowpatty in an encounter with the police. Ismail Khan, an accomplice of Amir, reportedly died in the gunbattle.
Sources say Azam has also revealed that people from gangster Dawood Ibrahim's gang helped the terrorists from Karachi in organising the attacks.
Reports suggest that the planning for the terror attacks in Mumbai had begun almost a year ago in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir. Azam has reportedly told the police that around 20 Pakistan nationals were trained in PoK to carry out the attacks. The training in PoK went on for almost five-and-half months, during which the terrorist were taught the use of sophisticated arms and ammunition.
At the end of the five months training, all terrorists were given a months leave and were ordered to gather in Karachi after the break for training in boating, rowing and swimming by the Pakistan Navy.
They were then handed over some CDs and maps of the Taj and Oberoi hotels. The CDs and maps also had pictures of important rail stations like VT. At the end of this training a batch of 10 terrorists was set off for India via the Indian sea route.
Mumbai Police expects more details will come out during the course of their investigations.
We were trained by Pak navy: Captured terrorist
Aaj Tak Bureau
New Delhi, November 29, 2008
: Captured terroristAzam Amir, the terrorist who was held by the Mumbai Police, has made some striking revelations regarding the Mumbai terror attacks.
Azam has disclosed that the Pakistan Navy had trained the terrorists in boating and swimming to carry out the attacks in Mumbai. Azam was arrested on Wednesday from Girgaum Chowpatty in an encounter with the police. Ismail Khan, an accomplice of Amir, reportedly died in the gunbattle.
Sources say Azam has also revealed that people from gangster Dawood Ibrahim's gang helped the terrorists from Karachi in organising the attacks.
Reports suggest that the planning for the terror attacks in Mumbai had begun almost a year ago in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir. Azam has reportedly told the police that around 20 Pakistan nationals were trained in PoK to carry out the attacks. The training in PoK went on for almost five-and-half months, during which the terrorist were taught the use of sophisticated arms and ammunition.
At the end of the five months training, all terrorists were given a months leave and were ordered to gather in Karachi after the break for training in boating, rowing and swimming by the Pakistan Navy.
They were then handed over some CDs and maps of the Taj and Oberoi hotels. The CDs and maps also had pictures of important rail stations like VT. At the end of this training a batch of 10 terrorists was set off for India via the Indian sea route.
Mumbai Police expects more details will come out during the course of their investigations.
Brain Waves Are Window into Autism Language Woes
Brain Waves Are Window into Autism Language Woes
Posted By: Carla Jones Created: 11/30/2008 1:59:02 PM Updated: 11/30/2008 2:01:26 PM
http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/health/news-article.aspx?storyid=124989&catid=10
By LINDSEY TANNER
AP Medical Writer
CHICAGO (AP) -- Unique brain wave patterns, spotted for the first time in autistic children, may help explain why they have so much trouble communicating.
Posted By: Carla Jones Created: 11/30/2008 1:59:02 PM Updated: 11/30/2008 2:01:26 PM
http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/health/news-article.aspx?storyid=124989&catid=10
By LINDSEY TANNER
AP Medical Writer
CHICAGO (AP) -- Unique brain wave patterns, spotted for the first time in autistic children, may help explain why they have so much trouble communicating.
David Kirby: The Growing List of Professionals Recognizing the Vaccine/Autism
November 30, 2008
David Kirby: The Growing List of Professionals Recognizing the Vaccine/Autism Connection
From David Kirby:
The List Keeps Growing
By David Kirby
It’s getting harder to keep up with the list of scientists, doctors, and public health officials who now believe that a vaccine-autism connection is at the least possible, and should be researched further.
Earlier this week, Dr. Peter Fletcher, former Chief Scientific Officer at the UK Department of Health was added. Now, eight more prominent researchers have joined the group. (See list below – they are the last eight names added).
These are the authors of the new study, “Mitochondrial Disease in Autism Spectrum Disorder Patients: A Cohort Analysis,” who did chart reviews on Hannah Poling and two dozen other young people with autism and mitochondrial dysfunction.
In my opinion, it could well prove to be one of the most significant autism studies published to date. (My Huffington Post article on this is HERE:
Mito disorders, which might affect 7-to-30 percent of all children with ASD, can predispose kids to developmental regression following a stressful trigger. Such a trigger might come from a febrile infection – or it could conceivably come from a vaccine reaction, the authors wrote.
“There might be no difference between the inflammatory or catabolic (breaking down of tissue) stress of vaccinations and that of common childhood diseases, which are known precipitants of mitochondrial regression,” they said.
And then they wrote this: “Large, population-based studies will be needed to identify a possible relationship of vaccination with autistic regression in persons with mitochondrial cytopathies (cellular disorders).”
And so, they get added to the list.
The list keeps changing in other ways. For example, late last spring it listed, “all three presidential candidates” (Obama, Clinton and McCain). Soon enough, that will be changed to US President, Secretary of State, and a pivotal and potentially filibuster-busting Senator from Arizona.
Another change: Before, the list said, “Autism researchers at Johns Hopkins University Medical Center.” Now, those people can be named, along with their colleagues: Investigators at the Cleveland Clinic and Massachusetts General Hospital. I have also listed a Harvard scientist who sits on an advisory panel of the federal Inter-Agency Autism Committee (IACC).
It makes you wonder how long the term “fringe” can seriously be applied to people who believe that this debate is not over.
Finally, keep your eye on the draft National Vaccine Plan at HHS, especially this January - right around the time the nation gets a new HHS Secretary and, reportedly, a new Director of the CDC – both of whom could potentially be added to the list, as well.
-----------------------------------------------
In 2008, the following groups and individuals have advocated, or at least considered, further study of a possible vaccine-autism connection:
1) Presidenti-Elect Barack Obama,
2) Sen. Hillary Clinton, Secretary of State Designee
3) Sen. John McCain, Senior Senator from Arizona and pivotal minority vote
4) Dr. Julie Gerberding, Director of the CDC
5) Dr. Bernadine Healy, Former Director of the NIH and President of the American Red Cross
6) Rep. Brad Miller, (D-NC), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight of the House Committee on Science and Technology
7) Members of the HHS Vaccine Safety Working Group
8) Officials at the CDC’s Immunization Safety Office who drafted the federal vaccine safety research agenda, the National Vaccine Plan
9) Medical personnel at the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program of HHS, who ordered federal compensation to Hannah Poling for her vaccine-associated autism.
10) Dr. Martha Herbert, Harvard University, and other members of the Strategic Planning Workgroup of the federal Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC)
11) Members of the CDC’s Clinical Immunization Safety Assessment Network (CISA)
12) America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), the national association representing nearly 1,300 companies covering more than 200 million Americans
13) Research grant making officials at Autism Speaks
14) Dr. Douglas Wallace, Professor of Molecular Medicine at the University of California, Irvine, Director of the UCI Center for Molecular and Mitochondrial Medicine in Genetics, and member of the Scientific & Medical Advisory Board of the United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation
15) Dr. Peter Fletcher, former Chief Scientific Officer at the UK Department of Health
16) Dr. Jon Poling, prominent neurologist and father to Hannah Poling
17) Dr. Jacqueline R. Weissman, Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine
18) Dr. Richard I. Kelley, Department of Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins University Medical Center and Division of Metabolism, Kennedy Krieger Institute
19) Dr. Margaret L. Bauman, Department of Pediatrics and Learning and Developmental Disabilities Evaluation and Rehabilitation Services (LADDERS), Massachusetts General Hospital
20) Dr. Bruce H. Cohen, Neurological Institute and Pediatrics Institute, Cleveland Clinic
21) Dr. Katherine F. Murray, Genomic Department of Pediatrics and Learning and Developmental Disabilities Evaluation and Rehabilitation Services (LADDERS), Massachusetts General Hospital
22) Dr. Rebecca L. Mitchell, Genomic Medicine Institute, Cleveland Clinic
23) Dr. Rebecca L. Kern, Department of Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins University Medical Center and Division of Metabolism, Kennedy Krieger Institute
24) Marvin R. Natowicz, Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine
“HONORARY MEMBER”:
HHS Secretary Designee Tom Daschel, who said in November of 2002: “Mercury-based vaccine preservatives actually have caused autism in children.”
David Kirby: The Growing List of Professionals Recognizing the Vaccine/Autism Connection
From David Kirby:
The List Keeps Growing
By David Kirby
It’s getting harder to keep up with the list of scientists, doctors, and public health officials who now believe that a vaccine-autism connection is at the least possible, and should be researched further.
Earlier this week, Dr. Peter Fletcher, former Chief Scientific Officer at the UK Department of Health was added. Now, eight more prominent researchers have joined the group. (See list below – they are the last eight names added).
These are the authors of the new study, “Mitochondrial Disease in Autism Spectrum Disorder Patients: A Cohort Analysis,” who did chart reviews on Hannah Poling and two dozen other young people with autism and mitochondrial dysfunction.
In my opinion, it could well prove to be one of the most significant autism studies published to date. (My Huffington Post article on this is HERE:
Mito disorders, which might affect 7-to-30 percent of all children with ASD, can predispose kids to developmental regression following a stressful trigger. Such a trigger might come from a febrile infection – or it could conceivably come from a vaccine reaction, the authors wrote.
“There might be no difference between the inflammatory or catabolic (breaking down of tissue) stress of vaccinations and that of common childhood diseases, which are known precipitants of mitochondrial regression,” they said.
And then they wrote this: “Large, population-based studies will be needed to identify a possible relationship of vaccination with autistic regression in persons with mitochondrial cytopathies (cellular disorders).”
And so, they get added to the list.
The list keeps changing in other ways. For example, late last spring it listed, “all three presidential candidates” (Obama, Clinton and McCain). Soon enough, that will be changed to US President, Secretary of State, and a pivotal and potentially filibuster-busting Senator from Arizona.
Another change: Before, the list said, “Autism researchers at Johns Hopkins University Medical Center.” Now, those people can be named, along with their colleagues: Investigators at the Cleveland Clinic and Massachusetts General Hospital. I have also listed a Harvard scientist who sits on an advisory panel of the federal Inter-Agency Autism Committee (IACC).
It makes you wonder how long the term “fringe” can seriously be applied to people who believe that this debate is not over.
Finally, keep your eye on the draft National Vaccine Plan at HHS, especially this January - right around the time the nation gets a new HHS Secretary and, reportedly, a new Director of the CDC – both of whom could potentially be added to the list, as well.
-----------------------------------------------
In 2008, the following groups and individuals have advocated, or at least considered, further study of a possible vaccine-autism connection:
1) Presidenti-Elect Barack Obama,
2) Sen. Hillary Clinton, Secretary of State Designee
3) Sen. John McCain, Senior Senator from Arizona and pivotal minority vote
4) Dr. Julie Gerberding, Director of the CDC
5) Dr. Bernadine Healy, Former Director of the NIH and President of the American Red Cross
6) Rep. Brad Miller, (D-NC), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight of the House Committee on Science and Technology
7) Members of the HHS Vaccine Safety Working Group
8) Officials at the CDC’s Immunization Safety Office who drafted the federal vaccine safety research agenda, the National Vaccine Plan
9) Medical personnel at the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program of HHS, who ordered federal compensation to Hannah Poling for her vaccine-associated autism.
10) Dr. Martha Herbert, Harvard University, and other members of the Strategic Planning Workgroup of the federal Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC)
11) Members of the CDC’s Clinical Immunization Safety Assessment Network (CISA)
12) America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), the national association representing nearly 1,300 companies covering more than 200 million Americans
13) Research grant making officials at Autism Speaks
14) Dr. Douglas Wallace, Professor of Molecular Medicine at the University of California, Irvine, Director of the UCI Center for Molecular and Mitochondrial Medicine in Genetics, and member of the Scientific & Medical Advisory Board of the United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation
15) Dr. Peter Fletcher, former Chief Scientific Officer at the UK Department of Health
16) Dr. Jon Poling, prominent neurologist and father to Hannah Poling
17) Dr. Jacqueline R. Weissman, Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine
18) Dr. Richard I. Kelley, Department of Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins University Medical Center and Division of Metabolism, Kennedy Krieger Institute
19) Dr. Margaret L. Bauman, Department of Pediatrics and Learning and Developmental Disabilities Evaluation and Rehabilitation Services (LADDERS), Massachusetts General Hospital
20) Dr. Bruce H. Cohen, Neurological Institute and Pediatrics Institute, Cleveland Clinic
21) Dr. Katherine F. Murray, Genomic Department of Pediatrics and Learning and Developmental Disabilities Evaluation and Rehabilitation Services (LADDERS), Massachusetts General Hospital
22) Dr. Rebecca L. Mitchell, Genomic Medicine Institute, Cleveland Clinic
23) Dr. Rebecca L. Kern, Department of Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins University Medical Center and Division of Metabolism, Kennedy Krieger Institute
24) Marvin R. Natowicz, Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine
“HONORARY MEMBER”:
HHS Secretary Designee Tom Daschel, who said in November of 2002: “Mercury-based vaccine preservatives actually have caused autism in children.”
Hundreds dead after Christian and Muslim gangs clash in Nigeria
Hundreds dead after Christian and Muslim gangs clash in Nigeria
Reuters guardian.co.uk, Sunday November 30 2008 00.01 GMT The Observer, Sunday November 30 2008 Article historyMore than 200 people have been killed in two days of clashes between Christians and Muslims in central Nigeria, the Red Cross said yesterday, during the worst unrest in the country for years.
Reuters guardian.co.uk, Sunday November 30 2008 00.01 GMT The Observer, Sunday November 30 2008 Article historyMore than 200 people have been killed in two days of clashes between Christians and Muslims in central Nigeria, the Red Cross said yesterday, during the worst unrest in the country for years.
Russian hackers penetrate Pentagon computer system in cyber attack
Russian hackers penetrate Pentagon computer system in cyber attack
Computer hackers suspected of working from Russia successfully penetrated Pentagon computer systems in one of the most severe cyber attacks on US military networks.
By Alex Spillius in Washington
Last Updated: 4:23PM GMT 30 Nov 2008
The electronic attack was so serious that Adm Michael Mullen, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, briefed President George W Bush and Robert Gates, the defence secretary.
Defence officials told the Los Angeles Times that the attack struck computers within the US Central Command, which oversees Iraq and Afghanistan, and involved malicious software - known as "malware" - that permeates a network.
"This one was significant, this one got our attention," said an official, speaking anonymously.
Officials did not disclose the extent of the damage and would not elaborate on the reasons for believing the assault originated in Russia.
The Pentagon and other US government departments face repeated cyber attacks, especially from Russia and China, either from individuals or indirectly from those countries' governments.
Within the past 18 months Russia has been accused of orchestrating major electronic attacks on neighbours Estonia and Georgia.
Computer hackers suspected of working from Russia successfully penetrated Pentagon computer systems in one of the most severe cyber attacks on US military networks.
By Alex Spillius in Washington
Last Updated: 4:23PM GMT 30 Nov 2008
The electronic attack was so serious that Adm Michael Mullen, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, briefed President George W Bush and Robert Gates, the defence secretary.
Defence officials told the Los Angeles Times that the attack struck computers within the US Central Command, which oversees Iraq and Afghanistan, and involved malicious software - known as "malware" - that permeates a network.
"This one was significant, this one got our attention," said an official, speaking anonymously.
Officials did not disclose the extent of the damage and would not elaborate on the reasons for believing the assault originated in Russia.
The Pentagon and other US government departments face repeated cyber attacks, especially from Russia and China, either from individuals or indirectly from those countries' governments.
Within the past 18 months Russia has been accused of orchestrating major electronic attacks on neighbours Estonia and Georgia.
Now, arrested terrorist Ajmal says 'kill me'
Now, arrested terrorist Ajmal says 'kill me'
30 Nov 2008, 0954 hrs IST, Akela, MUMBAI MIRROR
Print EMail Discuss Share Save Comment Text:
Arrested terrorist Azam Amir Kasav, alias Ajmal Kasab has stopped eating for the last two days. Kasab, currently in crime branch custody, has been Forces that tackled terrorists|
lodged in the lockup at the commisserate’s office since he was caught near Girgaum Chowpatty on Wednesday night. Since Kasab’s arrest, the police have been trying hard to get more information from him about his group, but he seems to be a tough nut to crack.
Kasab has stopped eating to avoid police torture since he was discharged from the Nair hospital on Thursday afternoon.
“Neither is he eating anything nor has he agreed to reveal anything about his links,” an officer from the crime branch said.
Interrogators have tried feeding him a couple of times. The officers have also revealed that Kasab has been repeatedly requesting them to kill him.
Kasab was arrested by D B Marg Police, his companion Abu Ismail was killed. Kasab was injured. Both were taken to Nair hospital at Mumbai Central.
30 Nov 2008, 0954 hrs IST, Akela, MUMBAI MIRROR
Print EMail Discuss Share Save Comment Text:
Arrested terrorist Azam Amir Kasav, alias Ajmal Kasab has stopped eating for the last two days. Kasab, currently in crime branch custody, has been Forces that tackled terrorists|
lodged in the lockup at the commisserate’s office since he was caught near Girgaum Chowpatty on Wednesday night. Since Kasab’s arrest, the police have been trying hard to get more information from him about his group, but he seems to be a tough nut to crack.
Kasab has stopped eating to avoid police torture since he was discharged from the Nair hospital on Thursday afternoon.
“Neither is he eating anything nor has he agreed to reveal anything about his links,” an officer from the crime branch said.
Interrogators have tried feeding him a couple of times. The officers have also revealed that Kasab has been repeatedly requesting them to kill him.
Kasab was arrested by D B Marg Police, his companion Abu Ismail was killed. Kasab was injured. Both were taken to Nair hospital at Mumbai Central.
Prentice warms to critics ahead of climate talks
Prentice warms to critics ahead of climate talks
Article Comments (2) BILL CURRY and MARTIN MITTELSTAEDT
Globe and Mail Update
November 28, 2008 at 7:11 PM EST
OTTAWA and TORONTO — Through a series of casual chats on Parliament Hill, Environment Minister Jim Prentice has personally invited his opposition critics to join him at the UN's global climate-change talks taking place next week in Poland.
It is a small but symbolic gesture that signals a clear change in tone on the environment file from the Harper government.
This time last year, opposition environment critics were furious at then- environment-minister John Baird, who broke from established practice in refusing to bring them as part of the Canadian delegation.
Known as the Convention on Climate Change, the annual gathering allows countries to share ideas and negotiate new targets for reducing greenhouse-gas emissions.
This round of talks – being held in the western Polish city of Poznan – comes at a crucial moment. Time is running out for the countries to negotiate an extension to the Kyoto Protocol before it expires in 2012.
World leaders have to make progress in Poland on drafting terms for the extension, which must be approved at the next United Nations summit just 11 months from now in Copenhagen, if it is to have any hope of being implemented.
Having already pledged to work closely with U.S. president-elect Barack Obama on global warming, Canada's new Environment Minister appears to be softening his government's partisan edge.
“I think there's a growing understanding and growing sophistication,” said John Drexhage, director of the International Institute for Sustainable Development. “I see a change in tone on the part of the Harper government.”
In an interview, Mr. Prentice said countries will be focused on meeting that looming deadline of next year when they gather in Poznan.
“In Copenhagen, the world will essentially turn the page in one way or another on Kyoto and hopefully conclude a new international protocol,” he said.
The minister predicts the talks in Poznan will be affected by three main factors: the global economic downturn; a growing internal debate in Europe over emission reduction targets; and the election of Mr. Obama, who has vowed to re-engage the United States in the UN climate-change process.
“Poznan is an extremely important stock-taking conference,” Mr. Prentice said. “This will be first chance for the international community to come together to talk about the way forward in light of those realities.”
The minister is also planning a visit to Washington in the near future to gather information on how Canada could work with Mr. Obama on climate change.
Mr. Prentice's critics say that while the shift in tone is welcome, they will be looking for significant changes in Canada's approach at these UN talks.
Environmentalists at home and abroad have been highly critical of Canada – both for rejecting the Kyoto targets set by the previous Liberal government and for refusing to join European leaders in calling for even deeper goals for 2020 and beyond.
Environmentalists have also accused Canadian officials of acting deliberately to prevent consensus for more aggressive greenhouse-gas reduction targets.
“It'll be a good test as to whether Canada will decide to rejoin the world community in terms of the environment,” Liberal MP Ken Dryden said. “You can give signs beforehand … but I think this will be the best indication of where Mr. Harper's mind is on this. The environment has never been a priority for him.”
The Polish talks will have to grapple with several thorny technical issues. Currently, international shipping and air travel are exempt from emission controls, and there is pressure for them to be included in any new pact. There is also a debate over whether developing countries with tropical forests should be given emission credits for agreeing not to log these areas. After the burning of fossil fuels, deforestation is one of the biggest contributors to global warming.
While the politicians try to negotiate terms of an extension, environmentalists say scientific evidence of accelerating climate changes is making it imperative that they agree to major emission reductions.
“The science is in. Climate change is happening faster than any of our models predicted,” said Julia Langer, a spokeswoman for WWF-Canada, an environmental advocacy group.
The talks will provide an indication of whether the international community is up for the kind of sizable emission cuts – perhaps as much as 40 per cent by 2020 – that many scientists and environmentalists say will be needed to avoid widespread environmental damage from global warming.
Ms. Langer said the Kyoto extension should aim to have emissions peak somewhere between 2015 and 2020. “The window for actually stopping dangerous climate change is closing very quickly,” she said.
Article Comments (2) BILL CURRY and MARTIN MITTELSTAEDT
Globe and Mail Update
November 28, 2008 at 7:11 PM EST
OTTAWA and TORONTO — Through a series of casual chats on Parliament Hill, Environment Minister Jim Prentice has personally invited his opposition critics to join him at the UN's global climate-change talks taking place next week in Poland.
It is a small but symbolic gesture that signals a clear change in tone on the environment file from the Harper government.
This time last year, opposition environment critics were furious at then- environment-minister John Baird, who broke from established practice in refusing to bring them as part of the Canadian delegation.
Known as the Convention on Climate Change, the annual gathering allows countries to share ideas and negotiate new targets for reducing greenhouse-gas emissions.
This round of talks – being held in the western Polish city of Poznan – comes at a crucial moment. Time is running out for the countries to negotiate an extension to the Kyoto Protocol before it expires in 2012.
World leaders have to make progress in Poland on drafting terms for the extension, which must be approved at the next United Nations summit just 11 months from now in Copenhagen, if it is to have any hope of being implemented.
Having already pledged to work closely with U.S. president-elect Barack Obama on global warming, Canada's new Environment Minister appears to be softening his government's partisan edge.
“I think there's a growing understanding and growing sophistication,” said John Drexhage, director of the International Institute for Sustainable Development. “I see a change in tone on the part of the Harper government.”
In an interview, Mr. Prentice said countries will be focused on meeting that looming deadline of next year when they gather in Poznan.
“In Copenhagen, the world will essentially turn the page in one way or another on Kyoto and hopefully conclude a new international protocol,” he said.
The minister predicts the talks in Poznan will be affected by three main factors: the global economic downturn; a growing internal debate in Europe over emission reduction targets; and the election of Mr. Obama, who has vowed to re-engage the United States in the UN climate-change process.
“Poznan is an extremely important stock-taking conference,” Mr. Prentice said. “This will be first chance for the international community to come together to talk about the way forward in light of those realities.”
The minister is also planning a visit to Washington in the near future to gather information on how Canada could work with Mr. Obama on climate change.
Mr. Prentice's critics say that while the shift in tone is welcome, they will be looking for significant changes in Canada's approach at these UN talks.
Environmentalists at home and abroad have been highly critical of Canada – both for rejecting the Kyoto targets set by the previous Liberal government and for refusing to join European leaders in calling for even deeper goals for 2020 and beyond.
Environmentalists have also accused Canadian officials of acting deliberately to prevent consensus for more aggressive greenhouse-gas reduction targets.
“It'll be a good test as to whether Canada will decide to rejoin the world community in terms of the environment,” Liberal MP Ken Dryden said. “You can give signs beforehand … but I think this will be the best indication of where Mr. Harper's mind is on this. The environment has never been a priority for him.”
The Polish talks will have to grapple with several thorny technical issues. Currently, international shipping and air travel are exempt from emission controls, and there is pressure for them to be included in any new pact. There is also a debate over whether developing countries with tropical forests should be given emission credits for agreeing not to log these areas. After the burning of fossil fuels, deforestation is one of the biggest contributors to global warming.
While the politicians try to negotiate terms of an extension, environmentalists say scientific evidence of accelerating climate changes is making it imperative that they agree to major emission reductions.
“The science is in. Climate change is happening faster than any of our models predicted,” said Julia Langer, a spokeswoman for WWF-Canada, an environmental advocacy group.
The talks will provide an indication of whether the international community is up for the kind of sizable emission cuts – perhaps as much as 40 per cent by 2020 – that many scientists and environmentalists say will be needed to avoid widespread environmental damage from global warming.
Ms. Langer said the Kyoto extension should aim to have emissions peak somewhere between 2015 and 2020. “The window for actually stopping dangerous climate change is closing very quickly,” she said.
9/11 No One Could Imagine
9/11 No One Could Imagine
Diary Entry by Gene Cappa
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"Nobody in our government, at least, could envision flying airplanes into buildings on such a massive scale".
::::::::
BUT that turns out NOT to be true (at 2.32 minutes), click here, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=em_XyTeNA1g On the morning of September 11 2001, the US Defence Agencies had been running pre-planned simulations of terrorist attacks involving crashing planes into the WTC and Pentagon. The Bush administration described the event as "a bizarre coincidence". The matter was not mentioned by the media. True to form for false-flag terror attacks, it seems that these Military Drills were used as cover for the attack.
Webster Tarpley lays out a very convincing case that military drills were used as cover and pretext for the attacks of 9/11. Using drills, our own military resources were directed, in supposed practice attacks, which were 'flipped live' by moles working within the government. Using such drills, most of the fighter air cover of the US was redirected to Alaska and Canada. Other drills were used to inject dozens of false "blips" onto FAA radar screens. Still other drills, ones using 'live fly' hijacked aircraft, were apparently 'flipped live' and the planes crashed into the towers under remote control.
The 'hijackers' are mere patsies, DOD controlled "red team" actors. The supposed 'hijackers' are essentially actors trained by the military and CIA to play the part of the "red team" in simulated terrorist drills. The now famous "Able Danger" program was most likely one half, the red half, of a hijack drill the other half being "Able Warrior."
Bombs, explosions, secondary explosions, explosive devices....how many more times do we need to hear these words being said by 9/11 witnesses before we start asking questions about what really happened on that awful day?
These witnesses include fire crew, police officers and media reporters-who all heard and saw explosions going off inside the towers, long before they actually fell, click here, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pd8B-8Au-Wk . Many witnesses reported powerful explosions in the basements of the buildings long before they collapsed. Plus, controlled demolition experts agree that the collapses of the three buildings bear all of the hallmarks of a controlled demolition.
For example, we see demolition "squibs" shooting out of the windows of the buildings before they started to collapse. All three buildings collapsed at near freefall speed. Building 7, which wasn't hit by a plane and contained only small scattered fires, came down symmetrically in just 6-seconds. And 6-weeks after 9/11, liquified steel was found under the rubble of all three buildings and the temperature was still in excess of 1500F.
Jet-fuel simply cannot burn hot enough to reach that sort of temperature. And many of the steel beams found in the rubble of the three buildings were cut diagonally - in exactly the same way as shaped-charges slice through steel diagonally to bring a building straight down. Sulfur residue was also found on the steel beams. Sulfur used with thermite is called thermate -- which produces even faster results than thermite, reaching temperatures of over 4,000F. We also see red-hot molten steel dripping from the windows of the towers prior to their collapse.
How much more evidence do we need before the government and mainstream media finally talks about this issue? By ignoring this issue, the government and media are just insulting our intelligence! We really need to wake up to the facts and ask questions. If we don't, what does that say about us? If you haven't yet heard about this subject, please go to Google and find out about the melting point of steel, and about the maximum temperature that jet-fuel can reach, and about the use of theremate shaped-charges in controlled demolitions.
Once you know these facts, you'll realise that those three buildings simply could NOT have collapsed in the way they did UNLESS they were brought down in a controlled demolition.
Diary Entry by Gene Cappa
vote nowBuzz up!
SAVE FAVORITESVIEW FAVORITES
View Ratings | Rate It
"Nobody in our government, at least, could envision flying airplanes into buildings on such a massive scale".
::::::::
BUT that turns out NOT to be true (at 2.32 minutes), click here, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=em_XyTeNA1g On the morning of September 11 2001, the US Defence Agencies had been running pre-planned simulations of terrorist attacks involving crashing planes into the WTC and Pentagon. The Bush administration described the event as "a bizarre coincidence". The matter was not mentioned by the media. True to form for false-flag terror attacks, it seems that these Military Drills were used as cover for the attack.
Webster Tarpley lays out a very convincing case that military drills were used as cover and pretext for the attacks of 9/11. Using drills, our own military resources were directed, in supposed practice attacks, which were 'flipped live' by moles working within the government. Using such drills, most of the fighter air cover of the US was redirected to Alaska and Canada. Other drills were used to inject dozens of false "blips" onto FAA radar screens. Still other drills, ones using 'live fly' hijacked aircraft, were apparently 'flipped live' and the planes crashed into the towers under remote control.
The 'hijackers' are mere patsies, DOD controlled "red team" actors. The supposed 'hijackers' are essentially actors trained by the military and CIA to play the part of the "red team" in simulated terrorist drills. The now famous "Able Danger" program was most likely one half, the red half, of a hijack drill the other half being "Able Warrior."
Bombs, explosions, secondary explosions, explosive devices....how many more times do we need to hear these words being said by 9/11 witnesses before we start asking questions about what really happened on that awful day?
These witnesses include fire crew, police officers and media reporters-who all heard and saw explosions going off inside the towers, long before they actually fell, click here, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pd8B-8Au-Wk . Many witnesses reported powerful explosions in the basements of the buildings long before they collapsed. Plus, controlled demolition experts agree that the collapses of the three buildings bear all of the hallmarks of a controlled demolition.
For example, we see demolition "squibs" shooting out of the windows of the buildings before they started to collapse. All three buildings collapsed at near freefall speed. Building 7, which wasn't hit by a plane and contained only small scattered fires, came down symmetrically in just 6-seconds. And 6-weeks after 9/11, liquified steel was found under the rubble of all three buildings and the temperature was still in excess of 1500F.
Jet-fuel simply cannot burn hot enough to reach that sort of temperature. And many of the steel beams found in the rubble of the three buildings were cut diagonally - in exactly the same way as shaped-charges slice through steel diagonally to bring a building straight down. Sulfur residue was also found on the steel beams. Sulfur used with thermite is called thermate -- which produces even faster results than thermite, reaching temperatures of over 4,000F. We also see red-hot molten steel dripping from the windows of the towers prior to their collapse.
How much more evidence do we need before the government and mainstream media finally talks about this issue? By ignoring this issue, the government and media are just insulting our intelligence! We really need to wake up to the facts and ask questions. If we don't, what does that say about us? If you haven't yet heard about this subject, please go to Google and find out about the melting point of steel, and about the maximum temperature that jet-fuel can reach, and about the use of theremate shaped-charges in controlled demolitions.
Once you know these facts, you'll realise that those three buildings simply could NOT have collapsed in the way they did UNLESS they were brought down in a controlled demolition.
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