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- Liquid Funk
- Apr 22, 2008
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Not sure if anyone posted these yet - The Big Picture - Libya: Unrest and uncertainty
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Feb 26, 2011 20:25
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- Apology
- Nov 12, 2005
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by Y Kant Ozma Post
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The protest in Algeria is struggling to survive:
quote:
Fresh attempts to stage a protest rally in Algeria’s capital have been hampered by riot police.
Demonstrators, led by Said Sadi, head of the opposition Rally for Culture and Democracy, were again prevented from gathering in Martyrs’ Square.
This for the third consecutive Saturday.
The crackdown in Algiers came despite the lifting of a 19-year-old state of emergency by President Abdelaziz Bouteflika on Thursday. While a concession to opposition groups, the move is unlikely to satisfy calls for more democratic freedoms.
http://www.euronews.net/2011/02/26/algerian-police-prevent-pro-democracy-rally/
Good luck, Algeria, I wish you well.
I forget which stage of grief the dictator Saleh in Yemen is at:
quote:
President Ali Abdullah Saleh vowed on Saturday to defend the republic of Yemen to the last drop of blood, saying at a meeting with the army commanders that the hundreds of thousands of protesters seeking the ouster of his regime are just imitating the Libyan people.
" There is a continuous plot against Yemen's unity and we are in the armed forces have vowed to protect the republican system to the last drop of blood," he told the meeting, adding: " this vow is standing and will remain".
Saleh who has recently made concessions as the protests erupted in the aftermath of the Tunisian revolt, said there are external conspiracies against Yemen and the opposition does not have an idea where the country will go or what the results of these conspiracies are.
What the opposition is doing is just inflexibility and if the opposition parties have real demands we would meet, he said.
We made many concessions through the House of Representatives and Shura but the opposition are not in favor of their country's interest, added Saleh, whose concessions earlier this month included promises not to run for president again and not to bring his son to power when his term expires in 2013.
On Friday, millions of Yemeni people prayed in the streets in many cities of the republic as hundreds of thousands have been continuing sit-ins and determined they will not abandon what they are on until the Saleh government was removed.
Saleh also said that the remarks of former premier Haider Al-Attas to BBC came within the bids of the separatists who are coordinating with the Joint Meeting Parties, the opposition coalition, to oust the regime, saying as if they are saying: let us seize this opportunity to oust the regime and to separate the south then.
"Our nation has passed through many difficulties over the last four years and we have been addressing the situation through democratic and peaceful means. We are contacting the opposition leaders but our efforts went in vain," Saleh said.
I am confident the Yemeni people and army will thwart any plots aiming at taking the country back to two countries and imamate rule, he said, adding that what the protesters are just imitating the Libyans.
http://www.yemenpost.net/Detail123456789.aspx?ID=100&SubID=3192&MainCat=3
I think he's past denial and bargaining, since he seems to know he's in trouble and has moved into the "I will die here" and "blame it on foreigners" stage out of the Arab Dictator playbook.
The Egyptian migrant workers who recently fled Libya have some interesting tales to tell (I guess it depends on your definition of the word "interesting"):
quote:
Libya: Security Forces Fire on Protesters in Western City
Pro-Gaddafi Thugs Terrorize Egyptian Migrants, Causing Flight to Tunisia
FEBRUARY 26, 2011
Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch
(Ras Ijdir, Tunisia) - Libyan security forces and pro-government groups in the western city of Zawiyah have violently attacked anti-government protesters and Egyptian migrant workers, Human Rights Watch said today.
Hundreds of Egyptian migrants crossed the border into Tunisia on February 25, 2011, joining thousands of other migrants who had been stranded there for three days awaiting assistance, Human Rights Watch said.
"West of Tripoli in Zawiyah city, government security forces firing on demonstrators are causing bloodshed and chaos," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. "Pro-Gaddafi thugs have terrorized Egyptian migrant workers, causing hundreds to flee to Tunisia."
Egyptian migrant workers who fled to Tunisia from Zawiyah, a coastal city 40 kilometers west of Tripoli, told Human Rights Watch that Libyan security forces shot at protesters who had defied government orders to stay inside their homes and who tried to hold a demonstration after Friday prayers. One migrant worker said he saw approximately 3,000 protesters in the main square, some of whom carried guns. He said that he later saw a group of men carrying several bodies, apparently in the direction of the cemetery.
Several migrant workers reported that opposition forces controlled much of Zawiyah, but that government security forces controlled surrounding areas and had set up checkpoints on the outskirts. They said, though, that armed pro-government groups as well as security forces remained within the city and shot at demonstrators or persons who stepped outside their homes. One witness reported seeing a tank in the city.
An Egyptian migrant worker described security forces firing at people's front doors to scare them into remaining indoors. "They fired at my door, and I didn't know what was happening or why they were shooting at our house," he said. "I heard gunfire the entire night, like they were going door to door," he said.
Egyptian migrant workers who had fled Zawiyah and surrounding towns described being trapped in their homes for days, unable to leave for fear of being shot. "We ran out of food in our house after four days and finally had to take a chance to leave," said Mohamad Rifa'ii, who had been living in Midan Shuhadat. "Some Libyans helped us to escape, and on the way we saw tanks on the street."
Egyptian migrant workers described being threatened and attacked by pro-government groups armed with knives and clubs following a speech on February 21 by Seif al-Islam al-Gaddafi, son of the Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, in which he blamed the uprising in Libya on foreigners.
One Egyptian worker who fled Ajailat described how, following the speech, armed men had burst into the home he shared with other workers. "They came and told us they would kill us if we didn't leave the country by Thursday," he said. "We started packing our things."
Another Egyptian worker showed Human Rights Watch the bruises on his face that he said was from an attack by a pro-government armed group. "After Seif's speech, a gang of about 10 Libyan men forced their way into our house at about 2 a.m. and started attacking us, telling us that we were the cause of the uprising," he told Human Rights Watch. "They beat me and three of my friends until finally our Libyan landlord and some other Libyan men came in and told them to leave and to stop beating us. We knew it was time to go and started packing our things."
For the past several days, thousands of foreign migrant workers have streamed out of Libya across the Tunisian border. Several Egyptian migrant workers told Human Rights Watch that Libyan security forces took the batteries, SIM cards, and memory cards from their mobile phones at checkpoints as they left the country. Two showed Human Rights Watch how security forces had broken the cameras on their telephones as well. "They wanted to make sure we couldn't take any pictures or videos with our cameras," one said.
Several thousand Egyptians have been stranded at the border in tents set up by the Tunisian army, awaiting evacuation by the Egyptian government. Those stranded for several days expressed anger and frustration at the failure of the Egyptian government to arrange for their prompt evacuation.
"We've just escaped guns and bullets, leaving our possessions and jobs behind, and now we come here to freeze in tents," said one Egyptian migrant worker. "How come other governments have evacuated their nationals with boats and planes, but here across the border there is no one waiting for us? We don't even have our cell phones to call our families to tell them we are OK."
"The Libyan government is responsible for the security of foreigners within its borders," Whitson said. "But the international community needs to do more to help those who have escaped the horror.
http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2011/02/26/libya-security-forces-fire-protesters-western-city
There are early, unconfirmed reports of protests in Oman:
quote:
@SultanAlQassemi
Sultan Al Qassemi
Al Hurra: Eyewitness: Thousands are protesting in Oman. Protesters are unhappy about the ministerial changes, calling it the same faces.
@SultanAlQassemi
Sultan Al Qassemi
Al Hurra: Omani intellectuals warn Sultan Qaboos. Protests in Sohar, Muscat, Dhofar & Sur. Demanding "reforms & end to corruption"
Oman.
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Feb 26, 2011 22:34
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- Xandu
- Feb 19, 2006
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It's hard to be humble when you're as great as I am.
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Obama seems to have reached that breaking point
http://www.politico.com/blogs/laurarozen/0211/Obama_tells_Merkel_Qadhafi_lost_legitimacy_to_rule_should_leave_now.html posted:
The President stated that when a leader’s only means of staying in power is to use mass violence against his own people, he has lost the legitimacy to rule and needs to do what is right for his country by leaving now
Saleh kicked out a lot of foreign journalists and is forbidding them from leaving Sana'a to go south, where the heart of the protests are. (Taiz and Aden). Not a good sign.
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Feb 26, 2011 22:40
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- Xandu
- Feb 19, 2006
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It's hard to be humble when you're as great as I am.
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Proposed constitutional changes in Egypt. At a glance, it seems reasonable, but there could be other parts of the constitution that need to be changed.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/26/us-egypt-constitution-changes-idUSTRE71P28520110226?pageNumber=2 posted:
The proposed amendments will be put up for public debate through the media, army officers have said, before a referendum to approve them to be followed by parliamentary and presidential elections. Egypt's constitution was suspended after the military council took power.
Some opposition figures and jurists say the entire document must be rewritten from scratch.
Here are details of some relevant articles from the constitution and the amendments:
PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES (ARTICLE 76)
Under this article only a handful of candidates could stand in presidential elections that were due in September -- one from Mubarak's National Democratic Party (NDP) and others from small recognized parties with little weight. In theory, independents could also stand but would need endorsements from 250 elected officials, including 65 members of the lower house. Parliament is now dissolved.
Under the proposed draft, presidential candidates must either have: the support of 30 members of parliament; or the backing of 30,000 eligible voters across about half of the country's governorates; or be nominated by a registered political party with at least one member elected to either the upper or lower house of parliament.
TERM LIMITS FOR THE PRESIDENT (ARTICLE 77)
The suspended constitution allowed the president to seek re-election indefinitely. Mubarak was in his fifth six-year term. The opposition wanted to limit the president to two terms in office, as in many democratic countries.
The draft proposed a curb on the length of the president's term to four years and imposed a two-term limit on a leader.
THE CONDUCT OF ELECTIONS (ARTICLE 88)
Under the current article, an appointed election committee that includes judges and public figures supervises the election. The opposition had wanted constitutional changes to deter election rigging, a practice widespread for decades. The most important step would be to reinstate the principle of judicial supervision, eliminated from the constitution in 2007 (Article 88).
The change restored full judicial supervision.
COURT RULINGS ON RIGGED VOTES (ARTICLE 93)
The article says that only parliament can rule on the eligibility of people to service in the assembly. The NDP majority has used this to ignore court rulings invalidating the election of some parliamentarians.
The change gives the supreme constitutional court the right to rule on the eligibility of people to become parliament members.
APPOINTMENT OF VICE PRESIDENT (ARTICLE 139)
Under the current article, the president of the republic may appoint one or more vice-presidents, define their jurisdiction and relieve them of their posts. The rules relating to the calling to account of the president of the republic shall be applicable to the vice-presidents.
The drafted amendments say the president must appoint a vice president within 60 days from taking office. In the situation that the post of vice presidency is empty, the president is obliged to appoint another deputy immediately.
EMERGENCY LAWS (ARTICLE 148)
Under the current constitution, the president can call a state of emergency but it has to be approved by the parliament.
The change says the president must present the announcement of a state of emergency to parliament within seven days. It must then be approved by a majority. It says the state of emergency should not last for more than six months, after which it cannot be extended without the approval of the people through a referendum.
PRESIDENT'S USE OF MILITARY JUSTICE (ARTICLE 179)
This article allows the president to transfer any case concerning "terror" to any judicial body, which gives him the right to use military courts. The government has long used military courts in cases they said concerned national security and Islamist violence where verdicts are swifter.
A decades-old state of emergency, which the army-led administration has pledged to end, also allows for trying civilians in military courts.
The draft proposes the cancellation of the article.
AMENDING THE CONSTITUTION (ARTICLE 189)
The rules say the president can ask parliament to approve an constitutional amendment or parliament can propose its own amendments. But all amendments must be approved in a referendum.
The proposed change adds that the president has the right to request a new constitution after cabinet approval, but also gives the same right to parliament if half the members of the lower and upper chambers request it. In both cases, the new constitution must be approved in a referendum.
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Feb 26, 2011 23:03
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- Apology
- Nov 12, 2005
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by Y Kant Ozma Post
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An interesting (and completely unconfirmed) report:
quote:
@SultanAlQassemi
Sultan Al Qassemi
Al Hurra: Activists in Zawiya: Citizens detain four men who tried to poison water resource (50km/30miles west of the capital Tripoli) #Libya
Now I was under the impression that truly poisoning the water supply for a large area would be inefficient to say the least, and impossible to say the most. Wouldn't the poisoners need such huge supplies of poison that they'd need trucks and water pumps in order to distribute the poison through the water supply? Your thoughts and ideas on this are appreciated.
I think that this might just be hysteria. I'm doubtful that whoever has been detained would actually be capable of poisoning the water supply.
Ahaha, follow the money, friends:
quote:
COLONEL Gaddafi secretly deposited 3 billion pounds ($4.8bn) with one of London's Mayfair private wealth managers last week as he sought to protect his family's fortunes.
The deal was brokered on his behalf by a Swiss-based intermediary who, it is understood, had previously approached another well-known City stockbroking firm five weeks ago with a view to depositing funds.
However, when that stockbroker discovered the ultimate identity of the source of the funds, it advised the intermediary to take his business elsewhere.
The chief executive of the firm told The Times: "I said no, because personally I'm not comfortable dealing with murdering tyrants with blood on their hands."
The go-between then looked for another firm to take the funds.
I thought Gaddahfi hated the Swiss? I guess he doesn't hate them so much that he doesn't trust them to hide his money.  Who else is surprised that bankers can have morals? *raises paw*
I've been seeing tweets in Arabic all morning suggesting that an interim government is being formed in Libya, and finally, here's an article that suggests it's true:
quote:
Ex Libyan minister forms interim govt-report
Sat Feb 26, 2011 8:02pm GMT
RABAT Feb 26 (Reuters) - Libya's ex-justice minister Mustafa Mohamed Abud Ajleil has led the formation of an interim government based in the eastern city of Benghazi, the online edition of the Quryna newspaper reported on Saturday.
Quryna quoted him as saying that Muammar Gaddafi "alone" bore responsibility "for the crimes that have occurred" in Libya and that his tribe, Gaddadfa, were forgiven.
"Abud Ajleil insisted on the unity of the homeland's territory, and that Libya is free and its capital is Tripoli," Quryna quoted him as saying in a telephone conversation. (Reporting by Souhail Karam, Editing by Jon Boyle)
http://af.reuters.com/article/commoditiesNews/idAFLDE71P0GU20110226
No need to click through on this one, I pretty much quoted the whole thing.
Gosh, I hope this is true:
quote:
@SultanAlQassemi
Sultan Al Qassemi
Al Arabiya: UN Correspondent: All countries agree on draft UN resolution on #Libya, they are awaiting China's final word now.
China 
Apology fucked around with this message at 23:14 on Feb 26, 2011
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Feb 26, 2011 23:05
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- Frozen Horse
- Aug 6, 2007
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Just a humble wandering street philosopher.
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^According to Wikipedia, the town's population is 291000. Assuming a very modest 10 gallons of water per capita daily consumption, one gets into a very large amount of water quickly for any reasonable size of reservoir to buffer through the dry season. Assuming that the plan is for acute poisoning rather than having sufferers of Itai-Itai cursing Qadhaffi's name decades hence, one needs something like arsenic or cyanide. For cyanide, you'd need something on the order of 100 mg per person, so about 30 kg. However, you'd need to multiply that by the number of days supply in the reservoir, since otherwise it is too diluted or it's all in the pipe leading out of the reservoir and can be flushed out.
Roark posted:
Jut posted:
People from his tribe, people who believe he's defending the country, and people enticed by a car and money.
Maybe also, people who have a commissar pointing a gun at them from off camera. It makes me wonder exactly how they're doing that giving out of guns. I wonder how many of the people receiving them are people who are good enough actors to get armed by the dictator that they're about to overthrow?
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Feb 26, 2011 23:19
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- Apology
- Nov 12, 2005
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by Y Kant Ozma Post
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Frozen Horse posted:
^According to Wikipedia, the town's population is 291000. Assuming a very modest 10 gallons of water per capita daily consumption, one gets into a very large amount of water quickly for any reasonable size of reservoir to buffer through the dry season. Assuming that the plan is for acute poisoning rather than having sufferers of Itai-Itai cursing Qadhaffi's name decades hence, one needs something like arsenic or cyanide. For cyanide, you'd need something on the order of 100 mg per person, so about 30 kg. However, you'd need to multiply that by the number of days supply in the reservoir, since otherwise it is too diluted or it's all in the pipe leading out of the reservoir and can be flushed out.
Also, people who know that if he goes down, they're going down too (secret police etc).
So it would be possible there, because the water supply is small in comparison to say, New York City. However, you'd have to have a pretty large crate of cyanide in order for it to work, so it would be very difficult, if not impossible, to do it surreptitiously.
I appreciate your input as I am the world's shittiest mathematician.
The US weighs in (finally):
quote:
Obama, Clinton: Gadhafi should leave Libya 'now'
04:39 PM
By David Jackson, USA TODAY
President Obama told German Chancellor Angela Merkel today that Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi should surrender power immediately because of the attacks he has made on his own people.
"The President stated that when a leader's only means of staying in power is to use mass violence against his own people, he has lost the legitimacy to rule and needs to do what is right for his country by leaving now," said a White House readout of the Merkel call.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton echoed Obama's demand in a statement saying that Gadhafi's government would he held "accountable for its violation of human rights"
"Moammar Gadhafi has lost the confidence of his people and he should go without further bloodshed and violence," Clinton said in her statement.
Obama spoke with Merkel a day after the U.S. placed unilateral economic sanctions on Libya, and as the U.S. works with allies like Germany on a set of international sanctions.
The White House readout of the Merkel call:
The President spoke today with Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, as he has done with many of his international counterparts this week, to discuss the situation in Libya and coordinate our urgent efforts to respond to developments and ensure appropriate accountability.
The President and the Chancellor shared deep concerns about the Libyan government's continued violation of human rights and brutalization of its people.
The President stated that when a leader's only means of staying in power is to use mass violence against his own people, he has lost the legitimacy to rule and needs to do what is right for his country by leaving now.
The leaders reaffirmed their support for the Libyan people's demand for universal rights and a government that is responsive to their aspirations, and agreed that Gadhafi's government must be held accountable.
They discussed appropriate and effective ways for the international community to respond. The President welcomed ongoing efforts by our allies and partners, including at the United Nations and by the European Union, to develop and implement strong measures.
The President and the Chancellor also discussed the global economic recovery and the need for effective tools to promote economic stability in the Eurozone.
Here is Clinton's statement:
The United States strongly condemns the ongoing violence and human rights violations committed by the government of Libya against its own people. As President Obama said, these actions violate international norms and every standard of common decency. They must stop.
We are moving quickly on a series of steps to hold the Libyan government accountable for its violation of human rights and to mobilize a strong response from the international community.
Last night the United States took action to limit the ability of senior officials of the Gadhafi regime to travel. As Secretary of State, I signed an order directing the Department to revoke U.S. visas held by these officials, others responsible for human rights violations in Libya, and their immediate family members. As a matter of policy, new visa applications will be denied.
This step followed President Obama's Executive Order freezing assets and imposing financial sanctions on members of the regime responsible for abuses against their own people and the suspension of the very limited defense trade we have had with Libya, including pending sales of spare military parts and other licenses allowing private companies to sell military equipment there.
The United States is also working with our friends and partners to mobilize a strong and unified response from the international community to hold accountable the perpetrators of these unacceptable violations of universal human rights. This afternoon I continued close consultations with our European allies, including EU High Representative Catherine Ashton. Negotiations are underway at the United Nations Security Council on a resolution that would impose new sanctions and restrictions. On Monday, I will meet with a number of counterparts in Geneva and address the UN Human Rights Council, which on Friday recommended suspending Libya's membership. We are also working with partners to determine how to provide humanitarian assistance to those in need. Consistent with the President's guidance, we will continue to look at the full range of options to hold the Libyan government accountable and support the Libyan people.
We have always said that the Qadhafi government's future is a matter for the Libyan people to decide, and they have made themselves clear. When a leader's only means of staying in power is to use mass violence against his own people, he has lost the legitimacy to rule and needs to do what is right for his country by leaving now. Moammar Gadhafi has lost the confidence of his people and he should go without further bloodshed and violence. The Libyan people deserve a government that is responsive to their aspirations and that protects their universally recognized human rights.
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Feb 26, 2011 23:29
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- Warcabbit
- Apr 26, 2008
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Wedge Regret
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You could also just throw a couple dead cows/people in. That'd poison things up pretty good.
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Feb 26, 2011 23:31
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- Homeroom Fingering
- Apr 25, 2009
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The secret history (((they))) don't want you to know
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Although it seems more like hype trying to expand the Middle East protests, Al-Jazeera has this up.
Protest fever reaches Vietnam - http://english.aljazeera.net/video/asia-pacific/2011/02/201122611524710573.html
There's no real article to it, just a video report. Couldn't find much information anywhere else, searching for Vietnam Protests just ends up with pages of hippies from the 60s.
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Feb 26, 2011 23:33
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- bich
- Dec 18, 2009
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by Ozmaugh
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Warcabbit posted:
You could also just throw a couple dead cows/people in. That'd poison things up pretty good.
Maybe if everyone in Libya drank out of a tiny town well or something, throwing a dead cow or five into a large city's water reservoir and saying it'll poison people is like putting a single traffic cone in the middle of a 6 lane freeway excepting it to stop traffic
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Feb 26, 2011 23:40
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- Warcabbit
- Apr 26, 2008
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Wedge Regret
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This is true... but I was thinking it was easier to get dead people than cyanide at the moment, in Libya. Maybe they were dumping a truckload or something.
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Feb 26, 2011 23:54
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- Narmi
- Feb 26, 2008
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Apology posted:
Now I was under the impression that truly poisoning the water supply for a large area would be inefficient to say the least, and impossible to say the most. Wouldn't the poisoners need such huge supplies of poison that they'd need trucks and water pumps in order to distribute the poison through the water supply? Your thoughts and ideas on this are appreciated.
I think that this might just be hysteria. I'm doubtful that whoever has been detained would actually be capable of poisoning the water supply.
It could just be that Gadahffi doesn't know how to poison wells and just told some guys "go there, do this" thinking it would work. I mean, honestly, the man has no idea what he's doing at this point so I wouldn't put it past him to poison the water supply without knowing how to actually poison the water supply.
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Feb 27, 2011 00:02
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- bich
- Dec 18, 2009
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by Ozmaugh
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Qadaffi's next step is to have all his supporters wear werewolf costumes and say that Libya is haunted so everyone runs away and he can buy up all the property for cheap
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Feb 27, 2011 00:08
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- Young Freud
- Nov 26, 2006
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bich posted:
Qadaffi's next step is to have all his supporters wear werewolf costumes and say that Libya is haunted so everyone runs away and he can buy up all the property for cheap
And he would've gotten away with it if it hadn't been for those meddling demonstrators.
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Feb 27, 2011 00:09
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- Apology
- Nov 12, 2005
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by Y Kant Ozma Post
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Somebody please reassure me that this comes from bat country:
quote:
Behind the Arab Revolt is a Word We Dare Not Speak
Revolt in the Arab world is not merely against a resident dictator. (Aljazeera)
By John Pilger
Shortly after the invasion of Iraq in 2003, I interviewed Ray McGovern, one of an elite group of CIA officers who prepared the President's daily intelligence brief. McGovern was at the apex of the "national security" monolith that is American power and had retired with presidential plaudits. On the eve of the invasion, he and 45 other senior officers of the CIA and other intelligence agencies wrote to President George W. Bush that the "drumbeat for war" was based not on intelligence, but lies.
"It was 95 per cent charade," McGovern told me.
"How did they get away with it?"
"The press allowed the crazies to get away with it."
"Who are the crazies?"
"The people running the [Bush] administration have a set of beliefs a lot like those expressed in Mein Kampf … these are the same people who were referred to in the circles in which I moved, at the top, as ‘the crazies.’"
I said, "Norman Mailer has written that that he believes America has entered a pre-fascist state. What’s your view of that?"
"Well … I hope he’s right, because there are others saying we are already in a fascist mode."
On 22 January, Ray McGovern emailed me to express his disgust at the Obama administration’s barbaric treatment of the alleged whistleblower Bradley Manning and its pursuit of WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange. "Way back when George and Tony decided it might be fun to attack Iraq," he wrote, "I said something to the effect that fascism had already begun here. I have to admit I did not think it would get this bad this quickly."
On 16 February, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gave a speech at George Washington University in which she condemned governments that arrested protestors and crushed free expression. She lauded the liberating power of the internet while failing to mention that her government was planning to close down those parts of the internet that encouraged dissent and truth-telling. It was a speech of spectacular hypocrisy, and Ray McGovern was in the audience. Outraged, he rose from his chair and silently turned his back on Clinton. He was immediately seized by police and a security goon and beaten to the floor, dragged out and thrown into jail, bleeding. He has sent me photographs of his injuries. He is 71. During the assault, which was clearly visible to Clinton, she did not pause in her remarks.
Fascism is a difficult word, because it comes with an iconography that touches the Nazi nerve and is abused as propaganda against America’s official enemies and to promote the West’s foreign adventures with a moral vocabulary written in the struggle against Hitler. And yet fascism and imperialism are twins. In the aftermath of World War Two, those in the imperial states who had made respectable the racial and cultural superiority of "Western civilisation," found that Hitler and fascism had claimed the same, employing strikingly similar methods. Thereafter, the very notion of American imperialism was swept from the textbooks and popular culture of an imperial nation forged on the genocidal conquest of its native people. And a war on social justice and democracy became "US foreign policy."
As the Washington historian William Blum has documented, since 1945, the US has destroyed or subverted more than 50 governments, many of them democracies, and used mass murderers like Suharto, Mobutu, and Pinochet to dominate by proxy. In the Middle East, every dictatorship and pseudo-monarchy has been sustained by America. In "Operation Cyclone," the CIA and MI6 secretly fostered and bank-rolled Islamic extremism. The object was to smash or deter nationalism and democracy. The victims of this Western state terrorism have been mostly Muslims. The courageous people gunned down last week in Bahrain and Libya, the latter a "priority UK market," according to Britain’s official arms "procurers," join those children blown to bits in Gaza by the latest American F-16 aircraft.
The revolt in the Arab world is not merely against a resident dictator but a worldwide economic tyranny designed by the US Treasury and imposed by the US Agency for International Development, the IMF and World Bank, which have ensured that rich countries like Egypt are reduced to vast sweatshops, with half the population earning less than $2 a day. The people’s triumph in Cairo was the first blow against what Benito Mussolini called corporatism, a word that appears in his definition of fascism.
How did such extremism take hold in the liberal West? "It is necessary to destroy hope, idealism, solidarity, and concern for the poor and oppressed," observed Noam Chomsky a generation ago, "[and] to replace these dangerous feelings with self-centred egoism, a pervasive cynicism that holds that [an order of] inequities and oppression is the best that can be achieved. In fact, a great international propaganda campaign is under way to convince people – particularly young people – that this not only is what they should feel but that it’s what they do feel."
Like the European revolutions of 1848 and the uprising against Stalinism in 1989, the Arab revolt has rejected fear. An insurrection of suppressed ideas, hope and solidarity has begun. In the United States, where 45 per cent of young African-Americans have no jobs and the top hedge fund managers are paid, on average, a billion dollars a year, mass protests against cuts in services and jobs have spread to heartland states like Wisconsin. In Britain, the fastest-growing modern protest movement, UK Uncut, is about to take direct action against tax avoiders and rapacious banks. Something has changed that cannot be unchanged. The enemy has a name now.
- John Pilger was born and educated in Sydney, Australia. He has been a war correspondent, filmmaker, and playwright. Based in London, he has written from many countries and has twice won British journalism's highest award, "Journalist of the Year," for his work in Vietnam and Cambodia.
http://www.palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=16683&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
I know that at least parts of this article are true. This is seriously freaking me out 
There is definitely talk of forming an interim government and holding free elections in Libya some time in the near future:
quote:
Terror in Tripoli as Kadhafi told to quit
February 27, 2011 - 9:54AM
Residents of Tripoli cowered in their homes Sunday as US President Barack Obama hoped to avert a bloody battle for the Libyan capital by urging a defiant Moamer Kadhafi to step down "now."
Libya's former justice minister late Saturday announced the formation of a transitional government, which will include military representatives, that will pave the way for free elections in three months' time.
"Our national government has military and civilian personalities. It will lead for no more than three months, and then there will be fair elections and the people will choose their leader," said Mustafa Abdel Jalil.
Abdel Jalil was speaking in an interview on Al-Jazeera television from the eastern town of Al-Baida, near Benghazi, where the protests against Kadhafi's rule ignited on February 15.
It was not immediately clear whether other cities that liberated themselves had coordinated the move with Abdel Jalil, who resigned from Kadhafi's government on Monday in protest at his brutal crackdown against protesters.
http://news.theage.com.au/breaking-..._medium=twitter
Let's all hope that they're able to go through with this.
In the meantime, while everyone is busy elsewhere, the Israelis take the opportunity to bomb Gaza:
quote:
Two injured as Israeli jets continue to bomb Gaza Strip
Feb 26, 2011, 13:25 GMT
Gaza City - Israeli military jets carried out three successive air strikes on Saturday afternoon against militants in the southern Gaza Strip, leaving two injured, medics and witnesses said.
According to the witnesses, the F16 planes first fired a missile at a training camp belonging to the Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Islamist Hamas movement, in the southern city of Rafah.
Rescue teams and ambulances responded to the scene, where two Palestinians were reported to be in need of medical assistance. Damage to the area was also reported.
Two more successive air strikes then followed in Rafah, again targeting training camps of the Qassam Brigades.
Early on Saturday, Israeli planes had also carried out a pair of air strikes in the southern and central Gaza Strip against training camps of the Islamic Jihad, causing no injuries.
The air strikes have been in response to homemade rockets that were fired from Gaza at southern Israeli communities.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had warned Hamas, which controls Gaza, that it would respond harshly to any rocket attack carried out by militants in the enclave.
http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/middleeast/news/article_1622198.php/Two-injured-as-Israeli-jets-continue-to-bomb-Gaza-Strip
Another example of "You set off a firecracker so we're going to respond with dozens of giant missiles."
Apology fucked around with this message at 00:44 on Feb 27, 2011
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Feb 27, 2011 00:38
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- Shageletic
- Jul 25, 2007
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The first article comes off as conspiracy drivel to me, and not really connected to what's going on in the Middle East.
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Feb 27, 2011 00:45
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- Narmi
- Feb 26, 2008
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Apology posted:
Another example of "You set off a firecracker so we're going to respond with dozens of giant missiles."
I'm surprised that Hamas hasn't learned that they're never going to accomplish anything through force, since they'll ne4ver be able to amass enough, against Israel. Given what's going on in their neighbours, you'd think they'd realize that peaceful protests could accomplish a lot more than all the rockets they've thrown at Israel.
Then again they are religious fanatics, and those aren't known for listening to reason.
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Feb 27, 2011 00:58
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- big fat retard
- Nov 11, 2003
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I AM AN IDIOT WITH A COMPULSIVE NEED TO TROLL EVERY THREAD I SEE!!!! PAY NO ATTENTION TO WHAT I HAVE TO SAY!!!
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Shageletic posted:
The first article comes off as conspiracy drivel to me, and not really connected to what's going on in the Middle East.
Every time there's a revolution or protest of any type, anywhere, aging Leftists like Pilger try to shoehorn in their bullshit ideology about neo-liberalism and IMF KKKapitalism. It's kind of like a herpes infection in that it's not dangerous but it's annoying as gently caress and will never ever go away.
I was at the anti-Mubarak protest in NYC and I was not surprised at all to find that there were aging Leftist blowhards there handing out flyers attempting to shoehorn in the Egyptian uprising with their stupid ideology.
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Feb 27, 2011 00:59
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- Jack Napier
- Aug 5, 2010
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by Ozma
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THE HORSES rear end posted:
Every time there's a revolution or protest of any type, anywhere, aging Leftists like Pilger try to shoehorn in their bullshit ideology about neo-liberalism and IMF KKKapitalism. It's kind of like a herpes infection in that it's not dangerous but it's annoying as gently caress and will never ever go away.
I was at the anti-Mubarak protest in NYC and I was not surprised at all to find that there were aging Leftist blowhards there handing out flyers attempting to shoehorn in the Egyptian uprising with their stupid ideology.
Ironic War Criminal, is that you?
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Feb 27, 2011 01:08
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- KIM JONG TRILL
- Nov 29, 2006
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GIN AND JUCHE
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Mubarak implementing IMF policies pretty much directly lead to the lovely economic conditions that sparked the mass protests in Cairo.
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Feb 27, 2011 01:19
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- koren
- Sep 7, 2003
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John Pilger is not 'from bat country' and neoliberal economic policy is a large factor in the food crisis in egypt.
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Feb 27, 2011 01:23
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- Jut
- May 16, 2005
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by Ralp
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That's Pilger, one of the best journalists who's ever existed. Ever.
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Feb 27, 2011 01:25
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- Narmi
- Feb 26, 2008
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Just out of curiosity, has the Patriot Act been repealed yet? If not, is there any plan as to how long it'll stay around?
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Feb 27, 2011 01:35
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- Xandu
- Feb 19, 2006
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It's hard to be humble when you're as great as I am.
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If economic problems were the cause of the protests (they were certainly a large factor, but I don't think the most important one), then billion dollar subsidies and economic solutions would have saved these dictators. The reality is that people want political reform and the ability to elect their own leaders. Most, if not all, of the people in Tahrir Square were not laborers subsisting on $2 a day, they were people that wanted freedom.
quote:
In the Middle East, every dictatorship and pseudo-monarchy has been sustained by America.
And this line is of course nonsense, but I suspect John Pilger knew that when he wrote it.
US foreign policy around the world, and especially in the Middle East has been and still is shameful, however.
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Feb 27, 2011 02:08
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- Narmi
- Feb 26, 2008
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News sources reporting that the UN Security Council adopted Libya sanctions resolution unanimously:
quote:
The UN Security Council has unanimously imposed sanctions on Libyan regime, ordering an arms embargo against Libya, a travel and assets ban on Muammar Gaddafi and his regime and a crimes against humanity investigation into the Libya bloodshed.
The council made a new demand for an immediate end to attacks on civilians by Gaddafiloyalists which it said had been incited "from the highest level of the Libyan government." The UN says more than 1,000 people have been killed in the unrest.
The travel ban and assets will target the 68-year-old Libyan leader, seven of his sons and daughter Aisha, other family members and top defence and intelligence officials accused of playing a role in the bloodshed.
Sixteen names are on the sanctions list.
The council ordered an immediate halt in arms sales to Libya and referred the civilian attacks to the International Criminal Court because it said the deaths "may amount to crimes against humanity."
No word of a no-fly zone unfortunately.
e: Forgot the link.
Narmi fucked around with this message at 02:46 on Feb 27, 2011
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Feb 27, 2011 02:36
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- Young Freud
- Nov 26, 2006
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Second-largest refinery in the Middle East just got blown up.
In Iraq.
Apparently, it was big enough that my friend's mom called him just a couple minutes ago.
Young Freud fucked around with this message at 03:51 on Feb 27, 2011
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Feb 27, 2011 03:47
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- Xandu
- Feb 19, 2006
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It's hard to be humble when you're as great as I am.
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Probably unrelated to the protests, these things happen occasionally in Iraq.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/02/201122654436778763.html posted:
An oil refinery in the Iraqi town of Baiji has been shut down following a fire started by a bomb attack, according to the governor of Salahuddin province.
One person was reportedly killed in the attack, which occurred at around 4:30am local time (01:30GMT) on Saturday.
Jane Arraf, reporting from Baghdad, quoted Abdul Qader al-Saab, deputy director of the state-owned North Oil Company, as saying that unknown gunmen equipped with silencers infiltrated the biggest refinery in the Baiji refining complex, laid IEDs [Improvised explosive devices] in several operational units and fled before detonating them.
"[Saab] also said that the entire refinery has now closed and that a chemical engineer died from smoke inhalation and several others were injured," she said.
The Baiji refinery was controlled for a long time by al-Qaeda fighters, who used it to finance attacks.It is located about 180km north of Baghdad.
Iraq currently has three major refineries - Baiji in the north, Basra in the south, and Dora in south Baghdad.
They have a combined capacity to handle 550,000 barrels per day of crude, producing refined products including 12 million litres of petrol, 15 million litres of diesel, nine million litres of heating oil and large volumes of fuel oil for power stations.
Baiji on its own has overall capacity of 290,000 barrels but was operating at 70 per cent capacity before the attack.
Overall violence in Iraq has dropped sharply since the peak of sectarian conflict in 2006-07, but attacks still occur on a
daily basis.
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Feb 27, 2011 03:54
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- Nonsense
- Jan 26, 2007
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THE HORSES rear end posted:
Every time there's a revolution or protest of any type, anywhere, aging Leftists like Pilger try to shoehorn in their bullshit ideology about neo-liberalism and IMF KKKapitalism. It's kind of like a herpes infection in that it's not dangerous but it's annoying as gently caress and will never ever go away.
I was at the anti-Mubarak protest in NYC and I was not surprised at all to find that there were aging Leftist blowhards there handing out flyers attempting to shoehorn in the Egyptian uprising with their stupid ideology.
You don't understand anything, don't post as if you do.
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Feb 27, 2011 03:56
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- Cjones
- Jul 4, 2008
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Democracia Socrates, MD
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Narmi posted:
Just out of curiosity, has the Patriot Act been repealed yet? If not, is there any plan as to how long it'll stay around?
Has it been repea-hahaahahahahah
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Feb 27, 2011 04:00
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- Nonsense
- Jan 26, 2007
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Cjones posted:
Has it been repea-hahaahahahahah
It was repealed the same day Congress broke up AT&T, and nationalized Exxon.
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Feb 27, 2011 04:01
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- Ogive
- Dec 22, 2002
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by Lowtax
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Nonsense posted:
It was repealed the same day Congress broke up AT&T, and nationalized Exxon.
And dealt with Haliburton.
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Feb 27, 2011 04:05
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- Yaos
- Feb 22, 2003
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She is a cat of significant gravy.
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Narmi posted:
Just out of curiosity, has the Patriot Act been repealed yet? If not, is there any plan as to how long it'll stay around?
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Feb 27, 2011 04:35
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- Russell William Thorpe
- Nov 18, 2004
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A no-fly zone would be a tricky fucker to enforce, because it means lots of flak/anti-air to fire back at, which means either ground attacks or taking losses. Also, it's not clear what exactly the current admin's real goals are. It's always a combination of wanting to support democracy and not wanting to get into an oil crisis that could hurt your chances in the next election. And I bet the other oily dictators in the region do NOT want to see this kind of precedent being set.
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Feb 27, 2011 04:57
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- Xandu
- Feb 19, 2006
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It's hard to be humble when you're as great as I am.
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Narmi posted:
How is the Patriot Act in the Bill of Rights? I thought it could be repealed, or declared unconstitutional. It should expire sometime this year (it was set to expire in 2 days, though it almost got enough votes for a longer extension).
He's being sarcastic because the patriot act is never going to be repealed.
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Feb 27, 2011 05:04
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- Adbot
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ADBOT LOVES YOU
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May 17, 2024 11:22
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- Apology
- Nov 12, 2005
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by Y Kant Ozma Post
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I got a reply about this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQht0HiiYxU
This is what the man was forced to say:
quote:
Its hard to hear him but basically he is saying his brother was killed in a car accident and not by basij forces during the uprising on Feb 14th. The eye witness account is that this guy's brother was protesting and he was captured by the security forces and thrown over the bridge into the oncoming traffic where he was killed. The security forces are doing anything they can to scare people from coming out on the streests as we see gaddafi is engaged in killing his people.
2:07
Iran 23 Feb 2011 forcible confession of Martyr Hamed Nour Mohammadi's father
http://www.facebook.com/Fre...
اعتراف اجباری پدر شهید حامد نور محمدی به کشته شدن پسرش در تصادف رانندگی
Apology fucked around with this message at 07:28 on Feb 27, 2011
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Feb 27, 2011 05:23
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Feb 26, 2011 20:05
SoroScrew 
