In the Wake Of the Tsunami, the Vultures Begin to Circle

Didn't take 'em long, did it? from RightMarch.com, the people who would, strangely, presume to inform you that "Giving these predatory monsters our money and a new relief mission is tantamount to giving them a new license to rape and pillage people who need love and compassion." As long as the UN exists, "it will siphon off vast amounts of money, manpower and resources that might otherwise accomplish some good." No matter what horrors the United Nations perpetrates on innocent people, there is no accountability, no punishment, no consequence. That's why it is inevitable that we will only create new victims of this global monstrosity by sending more relief money to the UN. What did the United Nations do to these guys that would incur such hatred, such venom? And what do I do with my aid contributions? They've got an opinion on that too... Missionaries! Yes! RightMarch feels that those damned "furrriners" at the UN, those no-goodniks who would deign to hold the United States accountable for things that only tyrannical despots like Idi Amin would do; things like torture, war crimes, aggressive war, etc., would just pocket your money! So they have just the right place for your money. in fact they've even sent out the ollowing: ALERT: We've found what is probably the best way to help victims of last week's killer tsunami -- and it does NOT involve corrupt organizations like the United Nations. Please give now:http://www.adnamis.org/specialGiving.cfm?project_id=70001SU ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Imagine my surprise when I looked further into the site where I would be sending my aid dollars and saw this: "The Advancing Native Missions Organization (ANM) exists for one purpose: to help take the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the world’s remaining unreached peoples. We do this by standing behind 3,500 indigenous or native missionaries who are reaching their own people in more than 60 countries of the world." Well....I don't know what to say..... Not a Relief organization like UNICEF or Red Cross/Crescent? what? Why? And why their tirade against UN aid efforts? What's the connection here? And then it dawns on me. RightMarch! Neo-cons. Haliburton! Of course. That's Haliburton's job isn't it? To rebuild nations that have been flattened by flood, war and....and.... well... that's good enough! Damned UN is cutting Halliburtons grass! -- Gary Williams ......Taking bets on the first day that we see a no-bid contract go to Halliburton (Kellogg, Brown & Root...you know the guys? Whitehouse? Ring any bells?) -- Gary Williams http://mycos.blogspot.com/

Justice Expands 'Torture' Definition (washingtonpost.com)

It appears that it may have taken a few years, but hopefully, finally,......the nightmare vision of 9/11 has receded in peoples minds enough that they are beginning to behave with reasonable intent rather than anger and raw emotional feelings for vengeance. I believe this to have been the popular state of mind and one that the Bush cabal calculatedly used in perhaps the most cynical abuse of America's power ever seen since Hitlers use of the collapse of Weimar Germany to justify his excesses. Gary Williams ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Justice Expands 'Torture' Definition Earlier Policy Drew Criticism By R. Jeffrey Smith and Dan Eggen Washington Post Staff Writers Friday, December 31, 2004; Page A01 The Justice Department published a revised and expansive definition late yesterday of acts that constitute torture under domestic and international law, overtly repudiating one of the most criticized policy memorandums drafted during President Bush's first term. In a statement published on the department's Web site, the head of its Office of Legal Counsel declares that 'torture is abhorrent both to American law and values and international norms' and goes on to reject a previous statement that only 'organ failure, impairment of bodily function, or even death' constitute torture punishable by law." Continued.......

Donahue: The Narco-Terrorist Who Came In from the Cold

December 30, 2004 Please Distribute Widely Dear Colleague, In September of 2002, U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft announced, with great fanfare, the indictment and extradition order against Colombian paramilitary leader Salvatore Mancuso of the United Self Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC, in its Spanish initials), on the State Department's list of international terrorist organizations: "Salvatore Mancuso caused the brutal murder of another Colombian drug trafficker as retribution for failing to pay a drug debt," charged Ashcroft. "Today, we see more clearly than ever the interdependence between the terrorists that threaten American lives and the illegal drugs that threaten American potential. As today's indictment reminds us, the lawlessness that breeds terrorism is also a fertile ground for the drug trafficking that supports terrorism. To surrender to either of these threats is to surrender to both.” Earlier this month Mancuso - who, after the mysterious disappearance of paramilitary leader Carlos Castaño earlier this year, became the boss of this narco-terrorist organization - turned himself in to Colombian authorities, as Stewart Tuttle, head of the Political Affairs division of the U.S. Embassy in Bogota looked on. Sean Donahue reports: "Tuttle and his superiors were strangely silent a week later when the government of President Alvaro Uribe announced that it would not extradite Mancuso to the U.S. to face cocaine trafficking and money laundering charges as long as the death squad leader agreed to 'cease all illegal activities' and encourage other paramilitaries to take part in the government’s demobilization process. While the U.S. hasn’t formally dropped its extradition request, neither the U.S. Embassy nor the U.S. State Department has issued a public statement about Uribe’s decision to delay or cancel Mancuso’s handover to U.S. authorities – which is highly unusual to say the least, given that Mancuso is the head of a terrorist organization and is accused of conspiring to smuggle over seventeen tons of cocaine to the U.S. and Europe..." Read more at: http://www.narconews.com/ Once again, the "war on drugs" is enforced selectively. Even when an accused international terrorist is involved in cocaine trafficking, U.S. officials (and their favorite Latin American president Alvaro Uribe of Colombia) let the big fish slip through the net while devoting billions of dollars and hundreds of thousands of prison cells to punishing the poor, the voiceless, the little fish... >From somewhere in a country called América, Al Giordano Publisher The Narco News Bulletin http://www.narconews.com/ new email: narconews@gmail.com Narco News is supported by: The Fund for Authentic Journalism P.O. Box 71051 Madison Heights, MI 48071 USA http://www.authenticjournalism.org The Fund receives online donations at this web page: http://www.authenticjournalism.org Apply for your co-publisher's account, here: http://www.narconews.com/copublisher/application.php Subscribe for free alerts of new reports: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/narconews http://groups.yahoo.com/group/narconewsbrasil <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/narconews/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: narconews-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/

Coalition News

Item: Findlaw: December 28 2004 BIN LADEN, AL-ZARQAWI BENEFIT IN ALLIANCE Associated Press An audiotape purportedly from Osama bin Laden suggests the al-Qaida chief has accepted Abu-Musab al-Zarqawi's offer to unite the world's most famous terror group and the bloodiest insurgency inside Iraq, national security experts say. http://news.findlaw.com/ap/a/w/1152/12-28-2004/20041228001505_01.html Analysis: <> A number of recent government reports indicate that the widespread insurgency cannot be defeated and that the stated goals of the invasion will not be achieved. Maj. Isaiah Wilson III,who served as an official historian of the Iraq war and later as a war planner in Iraq, states in a Washington Post article that, "those who planned the war suffered from stunted learning and reluctance to adapt. the 'western coalition' failed, and continues to fail, to see Operation Iraqi Freedom in its fullness the U.S. military remains perhaps in peril of losing the 'war,' even after supposedly winning it." Wilson's comments are a powerful indictment of imperial hubris and the stubborn unwillingness to accept the parameters of brute force. <> Counterpunch via ICH: Read the ICH newsletter online: http://207.44.245.159/ Disappearing Act: Fallujah and the Media: The extent of America's war crimes in Falluja is gradually becoming apparent. On December 24, approximately 900 former residents of the battered city were allowed to return to their homes only to find that (according to BBC) "about 60% to 70% of the homes and buildings are completely crushed and damaged, and not ready to inhabit. http://www.counterpunch.org/whitney12272004.html <> The siege, which began on November 8, was intended to rid the city of an estimated 5,000 insurgents who were using it as a base of operation. The results have been devastating. Over 250,000 people have been expelled from their homes and the city has been laid to waste. The US military targeted the three main water treatment plants, the electrical grid and the sewage treatment plant; leaving Fallujans without any of the basic services they'll need to return to a normal life. Many believe that this was done intentionally so that major US corporations and constituents of the Bush administration can rebuilt the city at some future time. Most of the city's mosques have been either destroyed or seriously damaged and entire areas of the city where the fighting was most fierce have been effectively razed to the ground. So far, the army has only removed the dead bodies from the streets; leaving countless decomposed corpses inside the ruined buildings. A large percentage of these have been devoured by packs of scavenging dogs. The stench of death is reported to be overpowering. The displaced families who returned on Thursday were hoping to escape the cold weather and lack of food and water at their improvised tent cities. Many of those who have inspected their homes say the damage is too great and they don't expect to stay. The siege of Falluja was planned to send a message that the US would take a "get- tough" approach with the burgeoning resistance. They wanted to demonstrate that defiance was futile in the face of the world's most powerful military. The full force of America's arsenal, including F-16s, C-130s, Abrams tanks, and Apache Helicopters were unleashed on a few thousand rebels in a civilian enclave. The stupidity of that action is now apparent. Two weeks into the campaign, the military claimed victory saying they had "broken the back of the insurgency", but the truth has proved to be far different. In reality, the assault has only dispelled the illusion of US invincibility. Pockets of resistance still maintain a tenacious grip on parts of the city and the guerilla-style tactics have negated the overwhelming force of their adversary. If anything, the siege has only emboldened the resistance and broadened its sphere of influence. Violence has now spread throughout the Sunni triangle; ending last week with a devastating mortar attack that killed 22 in a mess tent outside Mosul. Now, the occupation forces are in a defensive mode; having to spend much of their energy simply trying to protect supply lines and oil facilities. Insurgents are increasingly able to "operate at will". <> http://www.counterpunch.org/whitney12272004.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Today, Americans would be outraged if U.N. troops entered Los Angeles to restore order; tomorrow they will be grateful. This is especially true if they were told there was an outside threat from beyond, whether real or promulgated, that threatened our very existence. It is then that all peoples of the world will plead with world leaders to deliver them from this evil. <> When presented with this scenario, individual rights will be willingly relinquished for the guarantee of their well being granted to them by their world government." -- Henry Kissinger speaking at Evian, France, May 21, 1992 Bilderburgers meeting. Unbeknownst to Kissinger, his speech was taped by a Swiss delegate to the meeting.