[cia-drugs] Re: From US to El Salvador: 'Gangs' and the 'Global War on Terror'
WW2 has to end. Colonialism has to end. -Bob --- In cia-drugs@yahoogroups.com, "Vigilius Haufniensis" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/1141/1/ > From US to El Salvador: 'Gangs' and the 'Global War on Terror' > Written by J. Heyward > Wednesday, 20 February 2008 > Source: The San Fransisco Bay View > > > > Police Attack Students"We're under domestic insurgency. If we don't get it, it will get us." - California Attorney General Jerry Brown, Anti-Gang Conference, Riverside, Calif., December 2007 > > "We're mounting a coordinated, aggressive suppression strategy that targets the worst offenders and the most violent gangs. We're converging local, state, federal and even international efforts ... coming at them with everything we have." - Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Feb. 8, 2007, press conference > > On May 1, 2007, Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton was scheduled to visit El Salvador with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to announce a new policing partnership between Los Angeles, Mexico and El Salvador. > > His plans were interrupted, however, by a brutal LAPD attack on a peaceful immigrant rights rally in MacArthur Park. Riot police stormed the park, assaulting the crowd with teargas, clubs and rubber bullets, then trampling and beating two mainstream journalists and chasing people into the streets. > > Villaraigosa made the visit to El Salvador alone. Insisting that he wouldn't let "the immigration issue" distract from the purpose of his trip, the mayor tried to distance himself from police violence at home while depicting El Salvador as a new frontier in trade and tourism but lacking in security. What he did not disclose, of course, was the fact that the Salvadoran National Police (PNC) has been at the forefront of El Salvador's safety concerns, having been recently implicated in eight political assassinations, an attack on a student march at the National University, at least a dozen violent raids on street vendors and two student disappearances since the opening of a new U.S. police training academy in El Salvador - the International Law Enforcement Academy (ILEA). > > Instead, he attributed El Salvador's instability to "gangs" and signed an additional contract with the director of the PNC, Rodrigo Avila, "to track and detain cross-border gang members and Salvadoran deportees." Under the agreement, officers from the Los Angeles Police Department's gang unit share training, tactics and intelligence with the Salvadoran force. The program is intended to augment Salvadoran President Tony Saca's "Mano Dura" (Iron Fist) policy, a severe version of former New York Mayor Rudy Guiliani's Zero Tolerance Program. > > "These laws are never intended to solve crime," says FMLN deputy Lorena Peña, "but to criminalize the poor. Now there's the anti-terrorist law and the people of the informal sector, unions and organizers have come under increased repression - all under the guise of stopping crime. The right has a policy of keeping people terrorized by selectively murdering organizers and people on the left to strike fear." > > In the seven months that followed Villaraigosa's visit, the PNC carried out another massive raid on street vendors in San Salvador that resulted in the brutal arrests of 28 street vendors, an attack on a water privatization protest in Suchitoto where 14 people were arrested and an invasion of a rural community, Cutumay Camones, in Santa Ana on behalf of a private sewage company that resulted in a four-month-long standoff. > > The 28 street vendors and 14 Suchitoto protestors were charged with "acts of terrorism" under the Salvadoran right wing's new anti-terrorism law. (See this update on the case.) The Law against Acts of Terrorism criminalizes the "simulation, preparation, financing and organizing of any mobilizations and other acts of protest." While the charges on the vendors were eventually dropped, the Suchitoto charges still stand and, if found guilty, protestors could spend up to 60 years in prison for organizing a street march. > > The PNC's actions and the Salvadoran government's interpretation of terrorism have been consistently endorsed by the U.S. State Department. Before he was forced to resign, U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales initiated the first phases of the U.S.-Salvadoran "anti-gang" agreement and suggested that the Salvadoran government consider also implementing the death penalty. > > Upon leaving his post as U.S. ambassador in 2007, Douglas Barclay applauded the ARENA government's achievement of approving the Anti-Terrorism Law and urged officials to apply it and create more repressive laws - including authorization for domestic surveillance of phone calls - under the pretense of fighting crime. > > "First they opened an FBI office and there's an INTERPOL office here as well," s
[cia-drugs] Why Is John McCain Running Against Robert A. Taft?
http://antiwar.com/justin/
Why Is John McCain Running Against Robert A. Taft?
It's all about Ron Paul
by Justin Raimondo
John McCain loves reporters, and the feeling is mutual: after all, he's
great copy, has a fantastic narrative, and is always eager to make their jobs
easier by giving them plenty of good quotes to chew over. The latest
installment of the longest love affair in American politics appears in the New
Yorker, in Ryan Lizza's "On the Bus," wherein McCain talks about everything
under the sun: the campaign ("I just had my interrogation on Russert. It's a
good thing I had all that preparation in North Vietnam!"); his recent
contretemps over the Iraq "timetable" issue with Romney; and what he's reading
these days - David Halberstam's The Coldest Winter, an account of the Korean
War and the politics surrounding the darkest days of the Cold War.
"It's beautifully done. It's not just about the war, but it's a very good
description, whether you agree with it or not, of the political climate at that
time - the split in the Republican Party between the Taft wing and the
Eisenhower wing, and Harry Truman's incredible relationship with MacArthur. At
least half the book is about the political situation in the United States
during that period - the isolationism, who lost China, the whole political
dynamic. That's what I think makes it well worth reading."
McCain has "isolationism" on his mind, as well he might: over 60 percent
of the American people want out of Iraq, and they have no appetite for the new
wars that McCain clearly sees on the horizon. Indeed, in a recent outburst he
declared:
"It's a tough war we're in. It's not going to be over right away. There's
going to be other wars. I'm sorry to tell you, there's going to be other wars.
We will never surrender but there will be other wars. And right now - we're
gonna have a lot of PTSD [post traumatic stress disorder] to treat, my friends.
We're gonna have a lot of combat wounds that have to do with these terrible
explosive IEDs that inflict such severe wounds. And my friends, it's gonna be
tough, we're gonna have a lot to do."
Ah, but some people don't see this horror as inevitable - those dreaded
"isolationists," whom McCain hates and fears. As Lizza puts it: "McCain has
decided that it's the isolationists - a group that he defines broadly, and
which includes the Left and the Right - who are the real threat."
Of course, there is no such creature as an "isolationist": no one
advocates putting the U.S. in a box, cutting off trade and cultural relations
with the rest of the world, and going the way of the Hermit Kingdom.
"Isolationist" is a vintage smear word, used by the War Party since time
immemorial to characterize its opponents as addle-brained cranks. Any and all
advocates of a non-militaristic policy of peaceful engagement with the world
will inevitably be tarred with the I-word, and there's no way around it. The
War Party, with its media connections and virtual monopoly on mainstream
outlets, will see to that.
McCain, whose symbiotic relationship with the media fueled his rise to
prominence, is counting on this to position himself as the latter-day Harry
Truman, the valiant crusader against the forces of Isolationism and Reaction.
He is right, however, about the real danger to his presidential prospects: not
the mythical creature of "isolationism," but the very real rising tide of
anti-interventionism, i.e., opposition to our foreign policy of relentless
aggression. One can see, here, the outsized impact Ron Paul's presidential
campaign has had - because the Paulians certainly have McCain spooked:
"One afternoon, McCain talked about his surprise at the resurrection of
this element in his party, which has been particularly visible in the candidacy
of the libertarian Texas congressman Ron Paul. 'We had a debate in Iowa. I
mean, it was, like, last summer, one of the first debates we had. It was
raining, and I'm standing there in the afternoon, it was a couple of hours
before the debate,' McCain said. 'And I happen to look out the window. Here's a
group of fifty people in the rain, shouting "Ron Paul! Ron Paul!"' McCain
banged on the table with both fists and chanted as he imitated the Paul
enthusiasts. 'I thought, Holy sh*t, what's going on here? I mean, go to one of
these debates. Drive up. Whose signs do you see? I'm very grateful - they've
been very polite. I recognize them and say thanks for being here. They haven't
disrupted the events. But he has tapped a vein.'"
Yes, he has, hasn't he? A record-making fundraising effort initiated
entirely by volunteers, a youth movement that is sweeping the campuses if not
the polling booths, and a lot of respectful attention (and some of it not so
respectful). As a politician, McCain can't help but be impressed - and more
than a little anxious.
The ghost of R
[cia-drugs] Fw: Secret Service Gave Order to Stop Screening Obama Crowd In Dallas
- Original Message - From: CLG News To: CLG News Sent: Thursday, February 21, 2008 3:43 PM Subject: Secret Service Gave Order to Stop Screening Obama Crowd In Dallas News Updates from Citizens For Legitimate Government 21 Feb 2008 http://www.legitgov.org/ All items are here: http://www.legitgov.org/#breaking_news Secret Service Gave Order to Stop Screening Obama Crowd In Dallas --Police concerned about order to stop screening for weapons 21 Feb 2008 Security details at Barack Obama's rally Wednesday stopped screening people for weapons at the front gates more than an hour before the Democratic presidential candidate took the stage at Reunion Arena. The order to put down the metal detectors and stop checking purses and laptop bags came as a surprise to several Dallas police officers who said they believed it was a lapse in security. Dallas Deputy Police Chief T.W. Lawrence, head of the Police Department's homeland security and special operations divisions, said the order -- apparently made by the U.S. Secret Service -- was meant to speed up the long lines outside and fill the arena's vacant seats before Obama came on. GOP Operative: Rove Sought to Smear Dem --Says Top Bush Adviser Asked Her to Take Compromising Pictures of Alabama Gov. Siegelman 21 Feb 2008 A Republican operative in Alabama says Karl Rove asked her to try to prove the state’s Democratic governor was unfaithful to his wife in an effort to thwart the highly successful politician’s re-election. Rove’s attempt to smear Don Siegelman was part of a Republican campaign to ruin him that finally succeeded in imprisoning him, says the operative, Jill Simpson. Please forward these updates to anyone you think might be interested. Those who'd like to be added to the list can go here: http://www.legitgov.org/#subscribe_clg and add your name. Those who wish to be removed from the list can access the same link and click 'unsubscribe.' Please write to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] for inquiries/issues/concerns with your subscription. CLG Newsletter editor: Lori Price, Manager. Copyright © 2008, Citizens For Legitimate Government ® All rights reserved. CLG Founder and Chair is Michael Rectenwald, Ph.D. No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.516 / Virus Database: 269.20.9/1291 - Release Date: 2/21/2008 11:05 AM
[cia-drugs] Senators in Emergency Landing
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8UUU3S80&show_article=1 Senators in Emergency Landing Feb 21 03:38 PM US/Eastern WASHINGTON (AP) - Helicopters carrying three senior U.S. senators made emergency landings Thursday in the mountains of Afghanistan because of a snowstorm. Sens. John Kerry, Joseph Biden and Chuck Hagel were aboard the aircraft. No one was injured, according a statement from Kerry's office. The senators and their delegation returned to Bagram Air Base in a motor convoy, and have left for Turkey. "After several hours, the senators were evacuated by American troops and returned overland to Bagram Air Base, and left for their next scheduled stop in Ankara, Turkey," the Kerry statement said. "Sen. Kerry thanks the American troops, who were terrific as always and who continue to do an incredible job in Afghanistan." The lawmakers were on a trip this week that included stops in India, Turkey and Pakistan, where they observed the elections earlier this week. Kerry and Biden are Democrats from Massachusetts and Delaware, respectively, and the Republican Hagel is from Nebraska. <>
[cia-drugs] Rioters burn U.S. embassy (with video)
Rioters burn U.S. embassy (with video)Belgrade's US Embassy set on fire Serb rioters broke into the U.S. Embassy Thursday and set fire to an office after a large protest against Kosovo's independence that drew an estimated 150,000 people. Masked attackers broke into the building, which has been closed this week, and tried to throw furniture from an office. A blaze broke out but firefighters swiftly put out the flames. Authorities drove armored jeeps down the street and fired tear gas to clear the crowd. The protesters dispersed into side streets where they continued clashing with authorities. The neighboring Croatian Embassy also was attacked by the same group of protesters. In Washington, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the U.S. ambassador to Serbia was at his home and in contact with U.S. officials. Serbia has "a responsibility now to devote the adequate resources to ensure that that facility is protected," McCormack said. The protesters appeared to have been in the Embassy's consular building area, McCormack said. U.S. security officials and Marine guards were in a separate part of the compound, the chancery, but no staff were present at the Embassy, he said. More than a dozen nations have recognized Kosovo's declaration of independence on Sunday, including the United States, Britain, France and Germany. But the declaration by Kosovo's ethnic Albanian leadership has been rejected by Serbia's government and the ethnic Serbians who populate northern Kosovo. Russia, China and numerous other nations have also condemned the declaration, saying it sets a precedent that separatist groups around the world will seek to emulate. Kosovo, which is 90 percent ethnic Albanian, has not been under Belgrade's control since 1999, when NATO launched airstrikes to halt a Serbian crackdown on ethnic Albanian separatists. A U.N. mission has governed Kosovo since, with more than 16,000 NATO troops and KFOR, a multiethnic force, policing the province. But Serbia and Kosovo's Serbs, who make up less than 10 percent of Kosovo's population refuse to give up Kosovo, a territory considered the ancient cradle of Serbs' state and religion. Earlier Thursday, police estimated that about 150,000 people had attended a rally in the Serbian capital. The crowd waved Serbian flags and carried signs reading "Stop USA terror." One group set fire to a red-and-black Albanian flag. --MORE-- http://tinyurl.com/2ub439 CRIMES AND CORRUPTIONS OF THE NEW WORLD ORDER NEWSWIRE - FEBRUARY 20, 2008 http://tinyurl.com/2sbfkf MARC PARENT, mparent, mparent, ccnwon CRIMES AND CORRUPTIONS OF THE NEW WORLD ORDER NEWS http://mparent-2.blogspot.com/ http://www.wakeupfromyourslumber.com/blog/38 - Looking for the perfect gift? Give the gift of Flickr!
[cia-drugs] Should mercenaries be honored?
http://www.buffalo.edu/reporter/vol39/vol39n22/articles/Taussig-RubboMercenaries.html Should mercenaries be honored? By CHARLES ANZALONE Contributing Editor America's increasing use of private military contractors in Iraq and other international battlefields is changing the traditional emotional and psychological relationships between U.S. citizens and those who fight for their country, a UB Law School professor says. Mateo Taussig-Rubbo examines whether these military contractors-sometimes called soldiers for hire or mercenaries-should be embraced as heroes and given the same honors as those who serve in the conventional armed forces. Or should they occupy a more distant position from what the associate professor calls our country's "tradition of sacrifice"? Taussig-Rubbo does not judge how U.S. citizens should view these military contractors. Instead, he urges the legal community to continue to address the lack of legal clarity concerning the actions and responsibilities of these soldiers for hire. Just as important, he says, are the questions of where these soldiers fall within the long-standing and profound American tradition of honoring those who lose their lives fighting this country's wars. "Being a citizen in a democracy has traditionally required sacrifice," says Taussig-Rubbo. "What is the place of this sacrifice in a democracy? And should the government recognize the death of military contractors as sacrifices?" Taussig-Rubbo acknowledges the legal issues that arise from the U.S. using these private military contractors. Are their actions covered by international law? U.S. military law? American civil law? But, he says, legal accountability is only the beginning of important civic and social issues that should be addressed as these military contractors occupy an increasingly visible role in U.S. military activity. "The rich, important tradition in this country says those who die and suffer for this country are honored in a certain way," says Taussig-Rubbo, who plans to publish his research in a paper called "Outsourcing Sacrifice: The Labor of Private Military Contractors." "So when someone dies in uniform, the public, family and elected officials say 'that was a death for the nation.'" Using paid contractors-the most notable of them being Blackwater USA, a private company known for its high profile and sometimes controversial methods in Iraq-complicates this tradition, he says. The use of military contractors separates the soldiers from the established lines of military command and control, he says. Their emergence is one way a government can avoid liability for the actions of those fighting a war. Privatization of the military also has led to sidestepping traditional controls on those engaged in combat, according to Taussig-Rubbo. And if the government can substitute private military contractors instead of its conventional forces, he asks, does that make it easier to get involved in a war? Relying on these contracted soldiers also changes the idea of sacrifice. "This practice maintains that sacrifice takes place, but the significance is removed from the purview of the government and the public, and is contained within the private sphere of the family and the company," according to Taussig-Rubbo. "The contractors are awkwardly positioned in relation to the traditional understanding of sacrifice, a tradition that has been the basis behind Americans' imaginings about those who kill and are killed on behalf of the nation." Just how the U.S. regards these military contractors became an international story in 2004 when four armed Blackwater contractors were ambushed and then "grotesquely and spectacularly killed, dismembered and immolated" in Fallujah, Taussig-Rubbo recalls. "In a way, they were sacrificed," he says. "They were seen as dying for our nation. They were not just mercenaries. The uncharitable way to look at it is that they were not heroes. But the majority response seems to have been that they had sacrificed." The legal debate is essential, he says. But the social dimensions also matter to many Americans. "The sacrifice theme resonates with many people," Taussig-Rubbo says. "The traditional story of soldiers and sacrifice is important. When we become aware of these contractors and their activities, we're not sure what to think about them. A lot of questions come to mind. Are they mercenaries? Are they like soldiers? Are they something else?" Taussig-Rubbo earned a law degree at Yale Law School and a doctorate in anthropology from the University of Chicago. He previously practiced in the area of cross-border transactions with a New York City law firm and clerked for a U.S. District Court judge in the Southern District of New York. He teaches advanced topics in constitutional law in the UB Law School.
[cia-drugs] Violence erupts on Kosovo-Serbia border
sounds like the latest brzezinski "color revolution." -vmann http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5ibt0DET9_s3CGXQZ7uBVaqlwYTrQ Violence erupts on Kosovo-Serbia border http://afp.google.com/media/ALeqM5gaeq_TWE5z48V43ufI1uGDaWdnjA?size=m BELGRADE (AFP) â?" Violence flared on the Kosovo-Serbia border on Thursday, when several hundred former Serbian army reservists angered by Kosovo's independence attacked police with stones and burning tyres. As Italy joined other major European powers in recognising Kosovo and Serbs poured into Belgrade for a rally to protest against the independence declaration, the group attacked around 100 Kosovo riot police at the southern Serbian border crossing point of Merdare. Serbian police estimated around 300 reservists were involved in the assault. The violence was the latest in a series of incidents that followed Sunday's unilateral declaration of independence from Serbia by Kosovo's ethnic Albanian-dominated parliament -- a move vehemently opposed by Belgrade. Thick black plumes of smoke billowed from the border crossing and a NATO helicopter hovered overhead after the attack by the reservists, which lasted 20 minutes until they retreated. The reservists, civilians who once served in the Serbian army, had crossed a Serbian checkpoint unhindered. In another incident, a UN-run court was stoned overnight in the Serb-populated half of the tense northern Kosovo town of Mitrovica, police said. On Tuesday, two other border crossing points at Banja and Jarinje were closed for 24 hours after they were ransacked and torched by at least 1,000 Serbs from Kosovo and Serbia. The commander of the NATO-led Kosovo Force (KFOR), General Xavier Bout de Marnhac, said leaders of Kosovo's minority Serb community were responsible for the incident. Hardline Kosovo Serb political leader Milan Ivanovic hit back, calling KFOR "a servant of US interests" and accusing foreign forces of turning "Kosovo into a concentration camp." The border attack was the most violent reaction to the unilateral break by Kosovo and marked the first intervention by KFOR -- made up of 17,000 troops from more than 30 countries -- since the independence declaration. Meanwhile, convoys of buses and trains ferried people to Belgrade for a "Kosovo is Serbia" protest in front of the old Yugoslav parliament, which was expected to draw hundreds of thousands demonstrators. Both President Boris Tadic and Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica had urged a peaceful protest. The Belgrade rally was due to begin at 5:00 pm (1600 GMT) and end with "prayers for Kosovo" at the huge Serbian Orthodox Temple of Saint Sava. Most Serbs bitterly oppose losing Kosovo, which they consider the cradle of their history, culture and religion. So far, 21 of the 27 EU member states have backed Kosovo's independence, either formally recognising it or declaring their intention to do so. Cyprus, Romania and Spain have explicitly refused to do either. The latest countries to give their nod to Kosovo were Italy, Denmark and Estonia on Thursday. Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi said recognition "in no way diminishes our friendship and affection for Serbia." Speaking to European lawmakers in Strasbourg on Wednesday, Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic said: "We are struggling for what is legitimately ours. We will not tolerate this illegal act of secession." Serbia, whose parliament declared the break illegal, is recalling its ambassadors from nations that recognise Kosovo, including Australia and the United States, and has fired off letters of protest. Pope Benedict XVI called on all sides Thursday to exercise calm. "With regard to the current crisis in Kosovo, I call upon all interested parties to act with prudence and moderation, and to seek solutions that favour mutual respect and reconciliation," the pope told the new Serbian ambassador to the Vatican. In Vienna, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe was due to discuss Kosovo on Thursday, the first day of its two-day parliamentary assembly.
[cia-drugs] The Lisbon Treaty is Anti-Westphalian; Simple Excerpts from the Treaty
http://larouchepac.com/news/2008/02/20/lisbon-treaty-anti-westphalian-simple-excerpts-treaty.html The Lisbon Treaty is Anti-Westphalian; Simple Excerpts from the Treaty Increase Decrease February 20, 2008 (LPAC)--Now that one of the principal authors of the Lisbon Treaty has openly stated the intention of the treaty, with that in mind, a quick read-through of the consolidated treaty will yield the following text: Article 32 Member States shall consult one another within the European Council and the Council on any matter of foreign and security policy of general interest in order to determine a common approach. Before undertaking any action on the international scene or entering into any commitment which could affect the Union's interests, each Member State shall consult the others within the European Council or the Council. Member States shall ensure, through the convergence of their actions, that the Union is able to assert its interests and values on the international scene. Member States shall show mutual solidarity. Article 34 1. Member States shall coordinate their action in international organisations and at international conferences. They shall uphold the Union's positions in such forums. The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy shall organise this coordination. ... 2. ... Member States which are also members of the United Nations Security Council will concert and keep the other Member States and the High Representative fully informed. Member States which are members of the Security Council will, in the execution of their functions, defend the positions and the interests of the Union, without prejudice to their responsibilities under the provisions of the United Nations Charter. When the Union has defined a position on a subject which is on the United Nations Security Council agenda, those Member States which sit on the Security Council shall request that the High Representative be invited to present the Union's position. What is reprinted above is only a very small, but very important aspect nonetheless, of the entire Lisbon Treaty package: replace that Westphalian Principle, that not only saved civilization from itself but was the defining principle of modern nation states, with a typically imposed fascist "consensus." References The consolidated version of the "Treaty on European Union" can be found here: http://www.iiea.com/publicationxtest.php?publication_id=33 The original, non-consolidated version of the treaty may be found here: http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/en/treaties/index.htm
[cia-drugs] Thriving Afghan opium crop hampers development-IMF
http://www.precisenews.us/news.html?articleId=13167381&buyerId=preciseNews&channelId=914&title=Thriving%20Afghan%20opium%20crop%20hampers%20development-IMF&tags=thriving%20afghan%20opium%20crop%20development Thriving Afghan opium crop hampers development-IMF Lesley Wroughton Reuters North American News Service Feb 20, 2008 13:50 EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A thriving Afghan opium crop earned farmers about $1 billion in 2007 and together with a resurgence in violence was hampering economic development, the International Monetary Fund said Wednesday. In an annual economic review of the Afghan economy, the IMF said opium production in Afghanistan had spiraled to 8,200 tonnes in 2007 from 185 tonnes in 2001 and was by far the largest cash crop in the country. "The volatile security situation and the persistence of the drug economy are weakening attempts at broadening economic development," the IMF said. "The drug economy, while being a source of livelihood for many households, continues to be a major obstacle for Afghanistan to regain its comparative advantage in traditional exports," it added. It said Afghanistan's share of world opium supply increased to about 93 percent in 2007 from 52 percent in 1995, making it the world's largest opium producer despite efforts since the fall of the Taliban six years ago to bring production under control. Despite the presence of more than 50,000 foreign troops led by NATO and the U.S. military, as well as some 140,000 Afghan troops, militants have made a comeback in the past two years, and more than 11,000 people have been killed in violence. As part of their campaign to drive out foreign troops and topple Afghanistan's government, the al Qaeda-backed Taliban largely rely on suicide raids and roadside bomb attacks. The IMF said it was not qualified to comment on Afghanistan's opium production, and cited figures from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime that estimate the total value of the opium harvest in Afghanistan was worth about $4 billion in 2007, compared with $2.7 billion in 2005. "Given the size of the opium economy, clearly a good part of it is injected through either consumption or higher savings in the economy," Mohamad Elhage, IMF mission chief for Afghanistan, told a conference call with reporters. While opium production has flourished in the south and west of the country, Elhage said a worsening security situation was having a broader impact on the overall economy. "We have seen a reduction to some extent in foreign direct investment and implications on the budget because more spending will be allocated to security either through the central government budget or through the external budget, which is funded by donors," Elhage said. "So clearly the security situation is not helping in terms of achieving fiscal sustainability in the period ahead and also it is having an impact on the investment climate," he added. Still, Elhage praised the Afghan government for a strong performance under a three-year IMF-supported economic program. "Despite the weakening security situation, if we look at the macro level the economy continues to perform well," he said. Economic growth in Afghanistan is expected to exceed 13 percent in fiscal 2007/08, rebounding from 6.1 percent in 2006/07 when the economy was hit by a drought. Elhage said revenue performance had doubled as a percentage of gross domestic product and strengthened the fiscal situation, while private banking was expanding. "So progress at macro-level continues to be made, however, clearly the security situation is going to have an impact," he said, adding: "When you have a weakening security situation it will impact the investment climate and willingness by investors to take more risk in the country." (Editing by Chizu Nomiyama) Source: Reuters North American News Service
[cia-drugs] Movement to Reject Dictatorial Lisbon Treaty Grows
http://larouchepac.com/news/2008/02/20/movement-reject-dictatorial-lisbon-treaty-grows.html Movement to Reject Dictatorial Lisbon Treaty Grows Increase Decrease February 20, 2008 (LPAC)--There is growing momentum throughout Europe, against the British-centered attempt to impose a supranational dictatorship through the so-called Lisbon Treaty. Lyndon and Helga LaRouche have stressed that such a fascist coup d'etat, is part and parcel of the move to impose the Bloomberg-Mussolini option on the United States, and crush democratic-republican government internationally. If just one of the 27 European Union nations votes down the Treaty, it cannot go into effect. a.. In Ireland, the Sinn Fein party has started distribution of one half million leaflets calling for a "no" vote on the Treaty, in the yet-to-be scheduled, but mandated referendum on its adoption. b.. In Austria, the opposition parties are strongly opposing the Treaty, with the Free Democratic Party beginning to collect signatures for a referendum. c.. In Slovakia, opposition to the Treaty led the government to call off the ratification vote, because it feared it would lose. Passage requires a three-fifths majority, which the pro-Lisbon faction has nowhere near. d.. In Slovenia, the opposition Slovenian Nationalist Party is continuing to mobilize against the Treaty, despite the fact that the parliamentary speaker threw out its motion for a referendum. e.. In Finland, opinion polls are showing that 69 percent of the population opposes the Treaty, which is seen as destroying the nation's traditional neutrality, and leading toward increased tensions with Russia. f.. In Sweden, leaders of the youth movement of the ruling party are calling for a referendum, as are other groups, among them labor, who oppose the economic policies of the European Union. This movement goes against the Prime Minister's decision for a parliamentary ratification of the Lisbon Treaty in November.
[cia-drugs] Lisbon Treaty Based on Program of British Fascist Oswald Mosley
http://www.larouchepac.com/news/2008/02/19/lisbon-treaty-based-program-british-fascist-oswald-mosley.html Lisbon Treaty Based on Program of British Fascist Oswald Mosley Increase Decrease February 19, 2008 (LPAC) -- Sir Oswald Mosley, the leader of the British Union of Fascists who was jailed during World War II for his support of Hitler, was one of the most ardent advocates of a united Europe, with its own currency, and anti-American outlook. His plan from the years after World War II is strikingly similar to what oligarchical interests are attempting to secretly ram through today as the Lisbon Treaty. Mosley began his organizing for a supranational European government from the moment he was released from jail in 1948 by an old family friend of Winston Churchill. One of his leading points was that Europe should form a single currency free from dollar "domination." In 1962, Mosley pulled together a broad grouping of European parties at a conference in Venice. A European Declaration, endorsed by the conference, called for replacing the sovereign power of nations over their economy with a European Goverrnment, the classic recipe for control by supranational financial and banking interests. Wages, salaries, and pensions were to be equalized in all nations--meaning broken down to the lowest prevailing level. This was to be a "third way," superior to American capitalism or communist tyranny. The preamble to that 1962 program for a new, fascist European empire read: "[We] now declare our European communion of blood and spirit in the following urgent and practical proposals of our new generation which challenge present policies of division, delay and subservience to the destructive materialism of external powers, before which the splendour of our history, the power of our economy, the nobility of our traditions, and the inspiration of our ideals must never be surrendered." <>
[cia-drugs] Bill O'Reilly talks about lynching Obama's wife
"I don't want to go on a lynching party against Michelle Obama unless there's evidence, hard facts, that say this is how the woman really feels." http://blogs.citypages.com/gop/2008/02/bill_oreilly_ta.php Bill O'Reilly talks about lynching Obama's wife Filed under: Barack Obama Media Matters is calling attention to a strange freudian slip by Bill O'Reilly in which he makes reference to "lynching" Michelle Obama. In defending Michelle Obama from a caller's accusation, O'Reilly said: "I don't want to go on a lynching party against Michelle Obama unless there's evidence, hard facts, that say this is how the woman really feels." Now normally I'm not one to play language police--I recently stirred up a hornet's nest of comments when I disagreed with Hillary Clinton throwing a tantrum over an off-hand reference to "pimping out" Chelsea--but this comes barely a week after President Bush condemned nooses, saying: "The era of rampant lynching is a shameful chapter in American history." I guess the question is: Do you think O'Reilly would have used the term "lynching party" if he was talking about a white wife, or was this some subconscious expression of racism? <>
[cia-drugs] US Sen McCain Urges Bush To Veto Bill To Ban CIA Waterboarding
US Sen McCain Urges Bush To Veto Bill To Ban CIA Waterboarding http://www.nasdaq.com/aspxcontent/NewsStory.aspx?cpath=20080220%5cACQDJON200802201429DOWJONESDJONLINE000748.htm&; YELLOW SPRINGS, Ohio (AP)--Republican presidential candidate John McCain said President George W. Bush should veto a measure that would bar the CIA from using waterboarding and other harsh interrogation methods on terror suspects. Sen. McCain, R-Ariz., voted against the bill, which would restrict the CIA to using only the 19 interrogation techniques listed in the Army field manual. His vote was controversial because the manual prohibits waterboarding - a simulated drowning technique that McCain also opposes - yet McCain doesn't want the CIA bound by the manual and its prohibitions. McCain, who was tortured as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, is well-known for his opposition to waterboarding, which puts him at odds with the Bush administration. "I knew I would be criticized for it," McCain told reporters Wednesday in Ohio. "I think I can show my record is clear. I said there should be additional techniques allowed to other agencies of government as long as they were not" torture. "I was on the record as saying that they could use additional techniques as long as they were not cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment," McCain said. "So the vote was in keeping with my clear record of saying that they could have additional techniques, but those techniques could not violate" international rules against torture. The legislation bars the CIA from using waterboarding, sensory deprivation or other harsh coercive methods to break a prisoner who refuses to answer questions. Those practices were banned by the military in 2006. Bush has threatened to veto the legislation, which cleared the House in December and won Senate approval last week. One supporter of the bill, Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said last week that if Bush vetoes the measure, "he will be voting in favor of waterboarding." If a president disagrees with legislation, he should veto it, McCain said. He said he disapproves that Bush sometimes signs legislation he dislikes, then issues critical "signing statements" outlining his objections. McCain said he would never issue a critical signing statement: "If I disagree with a law that's passed, I'll veto it." "I think if you disagree with a law, you have a constitutional right to veto that, authority to veto that," McCain said. (END) Dow Jones Newswires 02-20-081429ET Copyright (c) 2008 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. GO RON PAUL!
