The Largest Minority

August 1st, 2008 by Manila Ryce

The sound quality sucks in this video so turn your speakers up.

Faiz Shakir of Think Progress interviews Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Seymour Hersh, who reveals that Vice President Cheney had planned to put US Navy Seals in Iranian PT boats in the Strait of Hormuz to provoke a war with other US vessels in a similar fashion to the Gulf of Tonkin Incident.

Hersh states: “There was a dozen ideas proffered about how to trigger a war. The one that interested me the most was why don’t we build — we in our shipyard — build four or five boats that look like Iranian PT boats. Put Navy seals on them with a lot of arms. And next time one of our boats goes to the Straits of Hormuz, start a shoot-up.”

Being the world’s only superpower comes with some perks - no one ever fucks with you - but that can also be a curse when maintaining your status depends on waging perpetual wars against indefensible nations. If you can’t get them to attack you, then you just have to attack yourself. US foreign policy is outright terrorism and “false flag operations” are a key part of that policy.

As if carrying out a “false flag operation” wasn’t easy enough, the planning, execution, and scapegoating is all funded by American taxpayers who then fit the bill for the upcoming war itself and volunteer themselves to be slaughtered in it as well.

h/t AlterNet

August 1st, 2008 by Manila Ryce

In a departure from its usual policy of shooting first and not asking questions later, Israel has actually been negotiating with Hezbollah while talking to Syria and Hamas. Such progress was glaringly uncharacteristic of a state which makes it a point not to negotiate with terrorists (the Israeli definition of a “terrorist” is any Arab who objects to being a slave).

So why the sudden change in policy? Well, it would seem that while facing multiple investigations of corruption and the still-present defeat of the second war against Lebanon fresh in the minds of Israelis, Prime Minister Olmert has been compensating on the diplomatic front to gain favor with a public increasingly dissatisfied with his character.

However, now that Olmert has announced he will resign, right-wing Likud Party leader Benjamin Netanyahu (or Benji as he likes to be called) has demanded that national elections be held to decide a new Prime Minister because he is likely to be the winner of those elections. “This government has reached an end … it doesn’t matter who heads Kadima,” the hardline Netanyahu told Israeli Radio as he railed against Olmert’s talks with the Palestinians and Syria. “They are all partners in this government’s total failure. National responsibility requires a return to the people and new elections.” Fresh elections, which would put Netanyahu back into power as the prime minister, seem very likely

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July 27th, 2008 by Manila Ryce

McCain and Obama think it was. Given that they can’t say anything without checking with focus groups and military sponsors first, what do you think? Sabah al-Nasseri argues that the Iraqis not only brought down the violence and rebuilt the government, but that the US “surge” actually made things more difficult for them to do so. The main cause of death and instability in Iraq has always been, and continues to be, the US occupation.

July 24th, 2008 by Manila Ryce

Disgusting.

July 22nd, 2008 by Manila Ryce

No, not by the fashion police. The UN War crimes tribunal announced Monday that Former Bosnian Serb President Radovan Karadžić is in custody after being on the lam for more than a decade. He is charged with genocide, crimes against humanity, and violations of the law of war.

When Bosnia and Herzegovina seceded from Yugoslavia in 1992, Karadžić declared himself president of a Bosnian Serb republic. The Bosnian Serbs were backed by Yugoslavian military and paramilitary forces, and quickly seized control of most of the country. During the conflict, Serb forces ethnically cleansed the territories they seized with forced displacements and killings of Muslims and Croats.

One crime in particular, which Karadžić is accused of overseeing, is the massacre at Srebrenica. The area was a UN “safe area” until it was overrun by Serbian troops who killed almost 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys. It was the largest massacre in Europe since World War II.

It’s believed that added pressure lead to Karadzic’s arrest. In December, the European Union warned Serbia that it would have to cooperate with the war crimes tribunal if it wanted to join the organization. Serge Brammertz of the Tribunal said, “It is also an important day for international justice, because it clearly demonstrates that nobody is beyond the reach of the law and that sooner or later all fugitives will be brought to justice.”

source

July 21st, 2008 by Manila Ryce

The above video shows an Israeli soldier shoot a rubber coated steel bullet from just 1.5 meters away at the left foot of Abu-Rahma, a bound and blindfolded Palestinian who was protesting the continued construction of Israel’s Apartheid Wall. The incident was taped by a fourteen-year-old girl on July 7th in the West Bank. A probe was only launched into the conduct of the soldiers when human rights organization B’Tselem received the video and demanded that the Military Police Investigation Unit conduct an immediate investigation.

Despite IDF claims that such abuse is in “direct contradiction with IDF values and principles”, just as the US military claimed to be true when pictures from Abu Ghraib were made public, it is well known that this kind of abusive behavior is standard procedure, and that it comes down from the top. In fact, it’s a lieutenant colonel who is seen holding Rahma’s arm in the film as the lower-ranking soldier takes aim and fires.

July 19th, 2008 by Manila Ryce

Lebanon celebrated Wednesday as it exchanged the bodies of two Israeli soldiers for five living Lebanese prisoners and the bodies of almost 200 Lebanese and Palestinian fighters. Though it came at a heavy cost, Hezbollah’s victory over Israel is undeniable. It is a victory for all resistance. It is a victory for us.

July 16th, 2008 by Manila Ryce

Judging from the Bush administration’s change in policy, it would appear as though Iran’s missile tests were successful in more ways than one.

The United States does not invade countries which can defend themselves. We invade countries like Iraq and Grenada because they pose a potential economic opportunity and NO potential military threat. If Iran were really the most dangerous nation in the world, as the administration has irresponsibly stated over and over again, then any military option would be completely off the table. Only after the Iranians have shown that they do in fact have the ability to put up a fight have we decided to attend talks to avoid one.

An envoy from the US will attend weekend talks with Iran and other major powers over Tehran’s nuclear programme.

The announcement on Tuesday that William Burns, the US under-secretary of state, is to attend a meeting in Geneva with Saeed Jalili, Iranian nuclear negotiator, is a switch in position for the US.

Burns will join Javier Solana, the EU foreign policy chief, and envoys from China, Russia, France, Britain and Germany, at the meeting, due on Saturday.

They will discuss Iran’s response to an offer made by world powers last month to give up nuclear work that the West believes is aimed at building an atomic bomb and Tehran says is for peaceful power-generation purposes.

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