Re: [Biofuel] The Quiet Death Of Freedom
Hi Todd >Nice read. This gent writes well. Doesn't he. Pilger's a veteran, I guess he's a kind of Grand Old Man of real journalism by now, revered and reviled both, and he doesn't stop. There's more of him in the list archives. Some oldies but goodies from the London Daily Mirror: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/allnews/page.cfm?objectid=12581179&method =full&siteid=50143 PILGER: BLAIR IS A COWARD 29 January 2003 http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/allnews/page.cfm?objectid=11392430&method=full PILGER: THIS WAR IS A FRAUD 1 November 2001 http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/allnews/page.cfm?objectid=11427607&method=full JOHN PILGER: THIS WAR OF LIES GOES ON 16 November 2001 Also: http://www.johnpilger.com He has a good section at ZNet too. Best Keith >Todd Swearingen > > >http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article11462.htm > > > >The Quiet Death Of Freedom > > > >By John Pilger > > > >01/05/06 "ICH" -- -- On Christmas Eve, I dropped in on Brian Haw, > >whose hunched, pacing figure was just visible through the freezing > >fog. For four and a half years, Brian has camped in Parliament Square ___ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/
Re: [Biofuel] The Quiet Death Of Freedom
Nice read. This gent writes well. Todd Swearingen >http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article11462.htm > >The Quiet Death Of Freedom > >By John Pilger > >01/05/06 "ICH" -- -- On Christmas Eve, I dropped in on Brian Haw, >whose hunched, pacing figure was just visible through the freezing >fog. For four and a half years, Brian has camped in Parliament Square >with a graphic display of photographs that show the terror and >suffering imposed on Iraqi children by British policies. The >effectiveness of his action was demonstrated last April when the >Blair government banned any expression of opposition within a >kilometre of Parliament. The High Court subsequently ruled that, >because his presence preceded the ban, Brian was an exception. > >Day after day, night after night, season upon season, he remains a >beacon, illuminating the great crime of Iraq and the cowardice of the >House of Commons. As we talked, two women brought him a Christmas >meal and mulled wine. They thanked him, shook his hand and hurried >on. He had never seen them before. "That's typical of the public," he >said. A man in a pin-striped suit and tie emerged from the fog, >carrying a small wreath. ""I intend to place this at the Cenotaph and >read out the names of the dead in Iraq," he said to Brian, who >cautioned him: "You'll spend the night in cells, mate." We watched >him stride off and lay his wreath. His head bowed, he appeared to be >whispering. Thirty years ago, I watched dissidents do something >similar outside the walls of the Kremlin. > >As night had covered him, he was lucky. On 7 December, Maya Evans, a >vegan chef aged 25, was convicted of breaching the new Serious >Organised Crime and Police Act by reading aloud at the Cenotaph the >names of 97 British soldiers killed in Iraq. So serious was her crime >that it required 14 policemen in two vans to arrest her. She was >fined and given a criminal record for the rest of her life. > >Freedom is dying. > >Eighty-year-old John Catt served with the RAF in the Second World >War. Last September, he was stopped by police in Brighton for wearing >an "offensive" T-shirt, which suggested that Bush and Blair be tried >for war crimes. He was arrested under the Terrorism Act and >handcuffed, with his arms held behind his back. The official record >of the arrest says the "purpose" of searching him was "terrorism" and >the "grounds for intervention" were "carrying placard and T-shirt >with anti-Blair info" (sic). > >He is awaiting trial. > >Such cases compare with others that remain secret and beyond any form >of justice: those of the foreign nationals held at Belmarsh prison, >who have never been charged, let alone put on trial. They are held >"on suspicion". Some of the "evidence" against them, whatever it is, >the Blair government has now admitted, could have been extracted >under torture at Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib. They are political >prisoners in all but name. They face the prospect of being spirited >out of the country into the arms of a regime which may torture them >to death. Their isolated families, including children, are quietly >going mad. > >And for what? From 11 September 2001 to 30 September 2005, a total of >895 people were arrested in Britain under the Terrorism Act. Only 23 >have been convicted of offences covered by the Act. As for real >terrorists, the identity of two of the 7 July bombers, including the >suspected mastermind, was known to MI5, and nothing was done. And >Blair wants to give them more power. Having helped to devastate Iraq, >he is now killing freedom in his own country. > >Consider parallel events in the United States. Last October, an >American surgeon, loved by his patients, was punished with 22 years >in prison for founding a charity, Help the Needy, which helped >children in Iraq stricken by an economic and humanitarian blockade >imposed by America and Britain. In raising money for infants dying >from diarrhoea, Dr Rafil Dhafir broke a siege which, according to >Unicef, had caused the deaths of half a million under the age of >five. The then Attorney-General of the United States, John Ashcroft, >called Dr Dhafir, a Muslim, a "terrorist", a description mocked by >even the judge in his politically-motivated, travesty of a trial. > >The Dhafir case is not extraordinary. In the same month, three US >Circuit Court judges ruled in favour of the Bush regime's "right" to >imprison an American citizen "indefinitely" without charging him with >a crime. This was the case of Joseph Padilla, a petty criminal who >allegedly visited Pakistan before he was arrested at Chicago airport >three and a half years ago. He was never charged and no evidence has >ever been presented against him. Now mired in legal complexity, the >case puts George W Bush above the law and outlaws the Bill of Rights. >Indeed, on 14 November, the US Senate effectively voted to ban habeas >corpus by passing an amendment that ov
[Biofuel] The Quiet Death Of Freedom
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article11462.htm The Quiet Death Of Freedom By John Pilger 01/05/06 "ICH" -- -- On Christmas Eve, I dropped in on Brian Haw, whose hunched, pacing figure was just visible through the freezing fog. For four and a half years, Brian has camped in Parliament Square with a graphic display of photographs that show the terror and suffering imposed on Iraqi children by British policies. The effectiveness of his action was demonstrated last April when the Blair government banned any expression of opposition within a kilometre of Parliament. The High Court subsequently ruled that, because his presence preceded the ban, Brian was an exception. Day after day, night after night, season upon season, he remains a beacon, illuminating the great crime of Iraq and the cowardice of the House of Commons. As we talked, two women brought him a Christmas meal and mulled wine. They thanked him, shook his hand and hurried on. He had never seen them before. "That's typical of the public," he said. A man in a pin-striped suit and tie emerged from the fog, carrying a small wreath. ""I intend to place this at the Cenotaph and read out the names of the dead in Iraq," he said to Brian, who cautioned him: "You'll spend the night in cells, mate." We watched him stride off and lay his wreath. His head bowed, he appeared to be whispering. Thirty years ago, I watched dissidents do something similar outside the walls of the Kremlin. As night had covered him, he was lucky. On 7 December, Maya Evans, a vegan chef aged 25, was convicted of breaching the new Serious Organised Crime and Police Act by reading aloud at the Cenotaph the names of 97 British soldiers killed in Iraq. So serious was her crime that it required 14 policemen in two vans to arrest her. She was fined and given a criminal record for the rest of her life. Freedom is dying. Eighty-year-old John Catt served with the RAF in the Second World War. Last September, he was stopped by police in Brighton for wearing an "offensive" T-shirt, which suggested that Bush and Blair be tried for war crimes. He was arrested under the Terrorism Act and handcuffed, with his arms held behind his back. The official record of the arrest says the "purpose" of searching him was "terrorism" and the "grounds for intervention" were "carrying placard and T-shirt with anti-Blair info" (sic). He is awaiting trial. Such cases compare with others that remain secret and beyond any form of justice: those of the foreign nationals held at Belmarsh prison, who have never been charged, let alone put on trial. They are held "on suspicion". Some of the "evidence" against them, whatever it is, the Blair government has now admitted, could have been extracted under torture at Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib. They are political prisoners in all but name. They face the prospect of being spirited out of the country into the arms of a regime which may torture them to death. Their isolated families, including children, are quietly going mad. And for what? From 11 September 2001 to 30 September 2005, a total of 895 people were arrested in Britain under the Terrorism Act. Only 23 have been convicted of offences covered by the Act. As for real terrorists, the identity of two of the 7 July bombers, including the suspected mastermind, was known to MI5, and nothing was done. And Blair wants to give them more power. Having helped to devastate Iraq, he is now killing freedom in his own country. Consider parallel events in the United States. Last October, an American surgeon, loved by his patients, was punished with 22 years in prison for founding a charity, Help the Needy, which helped children in Iraq stricken by an economic and humanitarian blockade imposed by America and Britain. In raising money for infants dying from diarrhoea, Dr Rafil Dhafir broke a siege which, according to Unicef, had caused the deaths of half a million under the age of five. The then Attorney-General of the United States, John Ashcroft, called Dr Dhafir, a Muslim, a "terrorist", a description mocked by even the judge in his politically-motivated, travesty of a trial. The Dhafir case is not extraordinary. In the same month, three US Circuit Court judges ruled in favour of the Bush regime's "right" to imprison an American citizen "indefinitely" without charging him with a crime. This was the case of Joseph Padilla, a petty criminal who allegedly visited Pakistan before he was arrested at Chicago airport three and a half years ago. He was never charged and no evidence has ever been presented against him. Now mired in legal complexity, the case puts George W Bush above the law and outlaws the Bill of Rights. Indeed, on 14 November, the US Senate effectively voted to ban habeas corpus by passing an amendment that overturned a Supreme Court ruling allowing Guantanamo prisoners access to a federal court. Thus, the touchstone of America's most celebrated
