Monthly Archives: February 2007

New United Nations Chief Tackles the Agency’s Tradition of Patronage Jobs

Posted on
Reply

UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 27 — Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is installing tough new requirements for hundreds of jobs at the United Nations that he hopes will begin to dispel the reputation for inaction and bloat that has long dogged the institution, according to officials in his office.

He is adopting the changes, which include increasing internal competition for jobs and removing some job guarantees, first in his own office, and is calling on others to follow suit or leave the organization.  …  http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/28/world/28nations.html?th&emc=th

Iran, Syria expected to join US at Baghdad talks next month – International Herald Tribune

Posted on
Reply

BAGHDAD, Iraq: Envoys from the West and Islamic nations – including Iran, Syria and the United States – are expected to attend a conference next month on efforts to stabilize Iraq, a diplomatic adviser said Tuesday.

The meeting, planned for mid-March in the Iraqi capital, is an attempt by the US-backed government to seek greater regional assistance and study ways to fight insurgents and tensions between Iraq’s majority Shiite Muslims and Sunnis.

Some nations had expressed reservations about taking part in the conference because of security worries and political sensitivities. Some of Iraq’s Sunni neighbors are wary about being seen as lending too much support to the Shiite-led government.

But Labed Abbawi, an adviser to Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, said “there has been positive responses” from nearly all the nations and groups invited, which include Iraq’s neighbors, the Arab League and the five permanent U.N. Security Council members.

Source: Iran, Syria expected to join US at Baghdad talks next month – International Herald Tribune

The myth of Muslim support for terror | csmonitor.com

Posted on
Reply

…Public opinion surveys in the United States and Europe show that nearly half of Westerners associate Islam with violence and Muslims with terrorists. Given the many radicals who commit violence in the name of Islam around the world, that’s an understandable polling result.

But these stereotypes, affirmed by simplistic media coverage and many radicals themselves, are not supported by the facts – and they are detrimental to the war on terror. When the West wrongly attributes radical views to all of the world’s 1.5 billion Muslims, it perpetuates a myth that has the very real effect of marginalizing critical allies in the war on terror. … The myth of Muslim support for terror | csmonitor.com

US’s Iraq oil grab is a done deal

Posted on
Reply

The law represents no less than institutionalized raping and pillaging of Iraq’s oil wealth. It represents the death knell of nationalized (from 1972 to 1975) Iraqi resources, now replaced by production sharing agreements (PSAs) – which translate into savage privatization and monster profit rates of up to 75% for (basically US) Big Oil.

Source: Asia Times Online :: Middle East News – US’s Iraq oil grab is a done deal

Canada’s Move to Restore Rights

Posted on
Reply

The United States was not the only country to respond to the horror of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks with policies that went much too far in curtailing basic rights and civil liberties in the name of public safety. Now we see that a nation can regain its senses after calm reflection and begin to rein back such excesses, but that heartening news comes from Canada and not the United States.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/27/opinion/27tue1.html?th&emc=th

2 Oscars for "Truth"

Posted on
Reply

Oscar

Former Vice President Al Gore and Academy Award winner for Best Documentary Feature Davis Guggenheim at the 79th Annual Academy Awards at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. February 25, 2007. (Photo courtesy AMPAS)

Onstage, Guggenheim handed the Oscar to Gore, who said, “People all over the world – we need to solve the climate crisis. It’s not a political issue. It’s a moral issue. We have everything that we need to get started with the possible exception of the will to act. That’s a renewable resource. Let’s renew it.”

Musician and songwriter Melissa Etheridge took home the Best Song Oscar for “I Need To Wake Up,” the theme song for “An Inconvenient Truth,” beating three original songs from the show business musical “Dreamgirls.”

http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/feb2007/2007-02-26-01.asp

Environment News Service

Posted on
Reply

Scientists Embark on International Polar Year 2007-2008 telescope
WASHINGTON, DC, February 26, 2007 (ENS) – Polar scientists, the heads of U.S. government agencies, and politicians with an interest in Arctic and Antarctic research today took part in the opening ceremony for the International Polar Year 2007-2008 at the National Academies of Science in Washington. And at the South Pole, a giant U.S. telescope saw first light. >>more

Japanese Whaler Restarts Engines, Moves Away From Antarctica Nisshin
WELLINGTON, New Zealand, February 26, 2007 (ENS) – The Japanese whaling vessel Nisshin Maru restarted its engines and departed the Ross Sea Sunday, 10 days after a fire disabled the ship and claimed the life of one crew member. It is still unclear whether the whaler will continue killing whales this season. >>more

Why Bush Does Diplomacy Mafia-Style

Posted on
Reply

 

Shank: How can the U.S. government think an attack on Iran is feasible given troop availability, troop capacity, and public sentiment?

Chomsky: As far as I’m aware, the military in the United States thinks it’s crazy. And from whatever leaks we have from intelligence, the intelligence community thinks it’s outlandish, but not impossible. If you look at people who have really been involved in the Pentagon’s strategic planning for years, people like Sam Gardiner, they point out that there are things that possibly could be done. I don’t think any of the outside commentators at least as far as I’m aware have taken very seriously the idea of bombing nuclear facilities. They say if there will be bombing it’ll be carpet bombing. So get the nuclear facilities but get the rest of the country too, with an exception. By accident of geography, the world’s major oil resources are in Shi’ite-dominated areas. Iran’s oil is concentrated right near the gulf, which happens to be an Arab area, not Persian. Khuzestan is Arab, has been loyal to Iran, fought with Iran not Iraq during the Iran-Iraq war. This is a potential source of dissension. I would be amazed if there isn’t an attempt going on to stir up secessionist elements in Khuzestan. U.S. forces right across the border in Iraq, including the surge, are available potentially to “defend” an independent Khuzestan against Iran, which is the way it would be put, if they can carry it off.

Shank: Do you think that’s what the surge was for?

 Chomsky: That’s one possibility. There was a release of a Pentagon war-gaming report, in December 2004, with Gardiner leading it. It was released and published in the Atlantic Monthly. They couldn’t come up with a proposal that didn’t lead to disaster, but one of the things they considered was maintaining troop presence in Iraq beyond what’s to be used in Iraq for troop replacement and so on, and use them for a potential land move in Iran — presumably Khuzestan where the oil is. If you could carry that off, you could just bomb the rest of the country to dust. … AlterNet: War on Iraq: Chomsky on Why Bush Does Diplomacy Mafia-Style

Be cautious about impeaching Bush

Posted on
Reply

 

What would the charges be? Launching a war based on lying to the people, incompetent and corrupt administration of the occupation after the war, deceiving the people about conditions in Iraq and refusal to begin removing the troops when the public had made it clear that they wanted an end — all substantially more serious than [Bill Clinton's] perjury in a civil trial. Not valid reasons for removing a president? If a majority of the House should say that they are valid reasons, then they become valid reasons. What better cause for dumping a president than monumental and stubborn incompetence that has caused tens of thousands of deaths?   CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Andrew Greeley :: Be cautious about impeaching Bush

Israel ‘may rue Saddam overthrow

Posted on
Reply

Yuval Diskin

Yuval Diskin is concerned Iraq’s instability could spread west

The head of Israel’s domestic security agency, Shin Bet, has said his country may come to regret the overthrow of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

Yuval Diskin said a strong dictatorship would be preferable to the present “chaos” in Iraq, in a speech to teenage Jewish settlers in the West Bank.

He also said the Israeli security services and judiciary treated Arabs and Jewish suspects differently.

Link to BBC NEWS | Middle East | Israel ‘may rue Saddam overthrow

Al Gore, Global Warming, the Oscars and the Iraq War

Posted on
Reply

That the Al Gore film “An Inconvenient Truth” was legitimized by an Oscar Sunday night for “Best Documentary” has wider implications for the future of the United States than it might seem, though admittedly it is a small step.
We know that Exxon Mobil is a significant funder of the American Enterprise Institute and has used it to attempt to bribe “scientists” to cast doubt on global warming. Lee Raymond, who was CEO of Exxon Mobil until 2005, is the vice-chair of AEI’s board of directors.
We also know that the American Enterprise Institute is the most hawkish of the Washington “think tanks,” and that its staffers were key to thinking up and promoting the Iraq War with lies and propaganda.
A=B, B=C, therefore A=C. Exxon Mobil is a big behind the scenes player in the Iraq War by virtue of its support for AEI. In fact, I think a boycott of its gas stations is in order until the company cuts off AEI and stops promoting the Iraq War and muddying the waters on global warming. (It pledged to do the latter in the past, but obviously was lying).
So the point is that the American Enterprise Institute symbolizes the intersection of Oil and War, which are the two most menacing threats to the future of America. …

…Likewise, the religious rigidity of the Pushtun peoples of Helmand province is not the real reason for the US insistence on occupying Afghanistan. It is the vast Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan gas fields that Cheney has his eye on. It was the US hope to use a pipeline from Turkmenistan to supply Pakistan and India, and so forestall a deal by those two countries with Iran. The inability of the Bush administration to calm things down in Afghanistan sufficiently for anyone to dream of putting in such a pipeline and having it avoid routine sabotage has made it likely that Iran will break out of the Bush boycott toward the East. …  http://www.juancole.com/2007/02/al-gore-global-warming-oscars-and-iraq.html

SHOW ME THE MONEY!