‘Wiped off the Map’ – The Rumor of the Century

bismi-lLahi-rRahmani-rRahiem
In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful

=== News Update ===

‘Wiped off the Map’ – The Rumor of the Century

by Arash Norouzi

Across the world, a dangerous rumor has spread that could have catastrophic implications. According to legend, Iran’s president has threatened to destroy Israel, or, to quote the misquote, “Israel must be wiped off the map.” Contrary to popular belief, this statement was never made.

On Tuesday, October 25th, 2005 at the Ministry of Interior conference hall in Tehran, newly elected Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad delivered a speech at a program, reportedly attended by thousands, titled “The World Without Zionism.” Large posters surrounding him displayed this title prominently in English, obviously for the benefit of the international press. Below the poster’s title was a slick graphic depicting an hour glass containing planet Earth at its top. Two small round orbs representing the United States and Israel are shown falling through the hour glass’ narrow neck and crashing to the bottom.

Before we get to the infamous remark, it’s important to note that the “quote” in question was itself a quote – they are the words of the late Ayatollah Khomenei, the father of the Islamic Revolution. Although he quoted Khomeini to affirm his own position on Zionism, the actual words belong to Khomeini and not Ahmadinejad. Thus, Ahmadinejad has essentially been credited (or blamed) for a quote that is not only unoriginal, but represents a viewpoint already in place well before he ever took office.

The Actual Quote:

So what did Ahmadinejad actually say? To quote his exact words in Farsi:

“Imam ghoft een rezhim-e ishghalgar-e qods bayad az safheh-ye ruzgar mahv shavad.”

That passage will mean nothing to most people, but one word might ring a bell: rezhim-e. It is the word “regime.” pronounced just like the English word with an extra “eh” sound at the end. Ahmadinejad did not refer to Israel the country or Israel the land mass, but the Israeli regime. This is a vastly significant distinction, as one cannot wipe a regime off the map. Ahmadinejad does not even refer to Israel by name, he instead uses the specific phrase “rezhim-e ishghalgar-e qods” (regime occupying Jerusalem).

So this raises the question.. what exactly did he want “wiped from the map”? The answer is: nothing. That’s because the word “map” was never used. The Persian word for map, “nagsheh” is not contained anywhere in his original Farsi quote, or, for that matter, anywhere in his entire speech. Nor was the western phrase “wipe out” ever said. Yet we are led to believe that Iran’s president threatened to “wipe Israel off the map.” despite never having uttered the words “map.” “wipe out” or even “Israel.”

The Proof:

The full quote translated directly to English:

“The Imam said this regime occupying Jerusalem must vanish from the page of time.”

Word by word translation:

Imam (Khomeini) ghoft (said) een (this) rezhim-e (regime) ishghalgar-e (occupying) qods (Jerusalem) bayad (must) az safheh-ye ruzgar (from page of time) mahv shavad (vanish from).

Here is the full transcript of the speech in Farsi, archived on Ahmadinejad’s web site

The Speech and Context:

While the false “wiped off the map” extract has been repeated infinitely without verification, Ahmadinejad’s actual speech itself has been almost entirely ignored. Given the importance placed on the “map” comment, it would be sensible to present his words in their full context to get a fuller understanding of his position. In fact, by looking at the entire speech, there is a clear, logical trajectory leading up to his call for a “world without Zionism.” One may disagree with his reasoning, but critical appraisals are infeasible without first knowing what that reasoning is.

In his speech, Ahmadinejad declares that Zionism is the West’s apparatus of political oppression against Muslims. He says the “Zionist regime” was imposed on the Islamic world as a strategic bridgehead to ensure domination of the region and its assets. Palestine, he insists, is the frontline of the Islamic world’s struggle with American hegemony, and its fate will have repercussions for the entire Middle East.

Ahmadinejad acknowledges that the removal of America’s powerful grip on the region via the Zionists may seem unimaginable to some, but reminds the audience that, as Khomeini predicted, other seemingly invincible empires have disappeared and now only exist in history books. He then proceeds to list three such regimes that have collapsed, crumbled or vanished, all within the last 30 years:

(1) The Shah of Iran – the U.S. installed monarch

(2) The Soviet Union

(3) Iran’s former arch-enemy, Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein

In the first and third examples, Ahmadinejad prefaces their mention with Khomeini’s own words foretelling that individual regime’s demise. He concludes by referring to Khomeini’s unfulfilled wish: “The Imam said this regime occupying Jerusalem must vanish from the page of time. This statement is very wise.” This is the passage that has been isolated, twisted and distorted so famously. By measure of comparison, Ahmadinejad would seem to be calling for regime change, not war.

The Origin:

One may wonder: where did this false interpretation originate? Who is responsible for the translation that has sparked such worldwide controversy? The answer is surprising.

The inflammatory “wiped off the map” quote was first disseminated not by Iran’s enemies, but by Iran itself. The Islamic Republic News Agency, Iran’s official propaganda arm, used this phrasing in the English version of some of their news releases covering the World Without Zionism conference. International media including the BBC, Al-Jazeera, Time magazine and countless others picked up the IRNA quote and made headlines out of it without verifying its accuracy, and rarely referring to the source. Iran’s Foreign Minister soon attempted to clarify the statement, but the quote had a life of its own. Though the IRNA wording was inaccurate and misleading, the media assumed it was true, and besides, it made great copy.

Amid heated wrangling over Iran’s nuclear program, and months of continuous, unfounded accusations against Iran in an attempt to rally support for preemptive strikes against the country, the imperialists had just been handed the perfect raison d’être to invade. To the war hawks, it was a gift from the skies.

It should be noted that in other references to the conference, the IRNA’s translation changed. For instance, “map” was replaced with “earth.” In some articles it was “The Qods occupier regime should be eliminated from the surface of earth.” or the similar “The Qods occupying regime must be eliminated from the surface of earth.” The inconsistency of the IRNA’s translation should be evidence enough of the unreliability of the source, particularly when transcribing their news from Farsi into the English language.

The Reaction:

The mistranslated “wiped off the map” quote attributed to Iran’s president has been spread worldwide, repeated thousands of times in international media, and prompted the denouncements of numerous world leaders. Virtually every major and minor media outlet has published or broadcast this false statement to the masses. Big news agencies such as The Associated Press and Reuters refer to the misquote, literally, on an almost daily basis.

Following news of Iran’s remark, condemnation was swift. British Prime Minister Tony Blair expressed “revulsion” and implied that it might be necessary to attack Iran. U.N. chief Kofi Annan cancelled his scheduled trip to Iran due to the controversy. Ariel Sharon demanded that Iran be expelled from the United Nations for calling for Israel’s destruction. Shimon Peres, more than once, threatened to wipe Iran off the map. More recently, Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu, who has warned that Iran is “preparing another holocaust for the Jewish state” is calling for Ahmadinejad to be tried for war crimes for inciting genocide.

The artificial quote has also been subject to additional alterations. U.S. officials and media often take the liberty of dropping the “map” reference altogether, replacing it with the more acutely threatening phrase “wipe Israel off the face of the earth.” Newspaper and magazine articles dutifully report Ahmadinejad has “called for the destruction of Israel.” as do senior officials in the United States government.

President George W. Bush said the comments represented a “specific threat” to destroy Israel. In a March 2006 speech in Cleveland, Bush vowed he would resort to war to protect Israel from Iran, because, “the threat from Iran is, of course, their stated objective to destroy our ally Israel.” Former presidential advisor Richard Clarke told Australian TV that Iran “talks openly about destroying Israel.” and insists, “The president of Iran has said repeatedly that he wants to wipe Israel off the face of the earth.” In an October 2006 interview with Amy Goodman, former UN Weapons Inspector Scott Ritter referred to Ahmadinejad as “the idiot that comes out and says really stupid, vile things, such as, ‘It is the goal of Iran to wipe Israel off the face of the earth.’” The consensus is clear.

Confusing matters further, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad pontificates rather than give a direct answer when questioned about the statement, such as in Lally Weymouth’s Washington Post interview in September 2006:

“Q: Are you really serious when you say that Israel should be wiped off the face of the Earth?

“A: We need to look at the scene in the Middle East – 60 years of war, 60 years of displacement, 60 years of conflict, not even a day of peace. Look at the war in Lebanon, the war in Gaza – what are the reasons for these conditions? We need to address and resolve the root problem.

“Q: Your suggestion is to wipe Israel off the face of the Earth?

“A: Our suggestion is very clear:… Let the Palestinian people decide their fate in a free and fair referendum, and the result, whatever it is, should be accepted…. The people with no roots there are now ruling the land.

“Q: You’ve been quoted as saying that Israel should be wiped off the face of the Earth. Is that your belief?

“A: What I have said has made my position clear. If we look at a map of the Middle East from 70 years ago…

“Q: So, the answer is yes, you do believe that it should be wiped off the face of the Earth?

“A: Are you asking me yes or no? Is this a test? Do you respect the right to self-determination for the Palestinian nation? Yes or no? Is Palestine, as a nation, considered a nation with the right to live under humane conditions or not? Let’s allow those rights to be enforced for these 5 million displaced people.”

The exchange is typical of Ahmadinejad’s interviews with the American media. Predictably, both Mike Wallace of 60 Minutes and CNN’s Anderson Cooper asked if he wants to “wipe Israel off the map.” As usual, the question is thrown back in the reporter’s face with his standard “Don’t the Palestinians have rights?, etc.” retort (which is never directly answered either). Yet he never confirms the “map” comment to be true. This did not prevent Anderson Cooper from referring to earlier portions of his interview after a commercial break and lying, “as he said earlier, he wants Israel wiped off the map.”

Even if every media outlet in the world were to retract the mistranslated quote tomorrow, the major damage has already been done, providing the groundwork for the next phase of disinformation: complete character demonization. Ahmadinejad, we are told, is the next Hitler, a grave threat to world peace who wants to bring about a new Holocaust. According to some detractors, he not only wants to destroy Israel, but after that, he will nuke America, and then Europe! An October 2006 memo titled “Words of Hate: Iran’s Escalating Threats” released by the powerful Israeli lobby group AIPAC opens with the warning, “Ahmadinejad and other top Iranian leaders are issuing increasingly belligerent statements threatening to destroy the United States, Europe and Israel.” These claims not only fabricate an unsubstantiated threat, but assume far more power than he actually possesses. Alarmists would be better off monitoring the statements of the ultra-conservative Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, who holds the most power in Iran.

As Iran’s U.N. Press Officer, M.A. Mohammadi, complained to the Washington Post in a June 2006 letter:

“It is not amazing at all, the pick-and-choose approach of highlighting the misinterpreted remarks of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in October and ignoring this month’s remarks by Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, that ‘We have no problem with the world. We are not a threat whatsoever to the world, and the world knows it. We will never start a war. We have no intention of going to war with any state.’”

The Israeli government has milked every drop of the spurious quote to its supposed advantage. In her September 2006 address to the United Nations General Assembly, Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni accused Iran of working to nuke Israel and bully the world. “They speak proudly and openly of their desire to ‘wipe Israel off the map.’ And now, by their actions, they pursue the weapons to achieve this objective to imperil the region and threaten the world.” Addressing the threat in December, a fervent Prime Minister Ehud Olmert inadvertently disclosed that his country already possesses nuclear weapons: “We have never threatened any nation with annihilation. Iran, openly, explicitly and publicly threatens to wipe Israel off the map. Can you say that this is the same level, when they are aspiring to have nuclear weapons, as America, France, Israel, Russia?”

Media Irresponsibility:

On December 13, 2006, more than a year after The World Without Zionism conference, two leading Israeli newspapers, the Jerusalem Post and Haaretz, published reports of a renewed threat from Ahmadinejad. The Jerusalem Post‘s headline was Ahmadinejad: Israel will be ‘wiped out’, while Haaretz posted the title Ahmadinejad at Holocaust conference: Israel will ‘soon be wiped out’.

Where did they get their information? It turns out that both papers, like most American and western media, rely heavily on write ups by news wire services such as the Associated Press and Reuters as a source for their articles. Sure enough, their sources are in fact December 12th articles by Reuter’s Paul Hughes [Iran president says Israel's days are numbered], and the AP’s Ali Akbar Dareini [Iran President: Israel will be wiped out].

The first five paragraphs of the Haaretz article, credited to “Haaretz Service and Agencies.” are plagiarized almost 100% from the first five paragraphs of the Reuters piece. The only difference is that Haaretz changed “the Jewish state” to “Israel” in the second paragraph, otherwise they are identical.

The Jerusalem Post article by Herb Keinon pilfers from both the Reuters and AP stories. Like Haaretz, it uses the following Ahmadinejad quote without attribution: ["Just as the Soviet Union was wiped out and today does not exist, so will the Zionist regime soon be wiped out," he added]. Another passage apparently relies on an IRNA report:

“The Zionist regime will be wiped out soon the same way the Soviet Union was, and humanity will achieve freedom,” Ahmadinejad said at Tuesday’s meeting with the conference participants in his offices, according to Iran’s official news agency, IRNA.

He said elections should be held among “Jews, Christians and Muslims so the population of Palestine can select their government and destiny for themselves in a democratic manner.”

Once again, the first sentence above was wholly plagiarized from the AP article. The second sentence was also the same, except “He called for elections” became “He said elections should be held…”

It gets more interesting.

The quote used in the original AP article and copied in the Jerusalem Post article supposedly derives from the IRNA. If true, this can easily be checked.

There you will discover the actual IRNA quote was:
“As the Soviet Union disappeared, the Zionist regime will also vanish and humanity will be liberated.”

Compare this to the alleged IRNA quote reported by the Associated Press:
“The Zionist regime will be wiped out soon the same way the Soviet Union was, and humanity will achieve freedom.”

In the IRNA’s actual report, the Zionist regime will vanish just as the Soviet Union disappeared. Vanish. Disappear. In the dishonest AP version, the Zionist regime will be “wiped out.” And how will it be wiped out? “The same way the Soviet Union was.” Rather than imply a military threat or escalation in rhetoric, this reference to Russia actually validates the intended meaning of Ahmadinejad’s previous misinterpreted anti-Zionist statements.

What has just been demonstrated is irrefutable proof of media manipulation and propaganda in action. The AP deliberately alters an IRNA quote to sound more threatening. The Israeli media not only repeats the fake quote but also steals the original authors’ words. The unsuspecting public reads this, forms an opinion and supports unnecessary wars of aggression, presented as self defense, based on the misinformation.

This scenario mirrors the kind of false claims that led to the illegal U.S. invasion of Iraq, a war now widely viewed as a catastrophic mistake. And yet the Bush administration and the compliant corporate media continue to marinate in propaganda and speculation about attacking Iraq’s much larger and more formidable neighbor, Iran. Most of this rests on the unproven assumption that Iran is building nuclear weapons, and the lie that Iran has vowed to physically destroy Israel. Given its scope and potentially disastrous outcome, all this amounts to what is arguably the rumor of the century.

Iran’s president has written two rather philosophical letters to America. In his first letter, he pointed out that “History shows us that oppressive and cruel governments do not survive.” With this statement, Ahmadinejad has also projected the outcome of his own backwards regime, which will likewise “vanish from the page of time.”

source:
http://www.antiwar.com/orig/norouzi.php?articleid=11025

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The Palestinians’ choice

bismi-lLahi-rRahmani-rRahiem
In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful

=== News Update ===

By Saree Makdisi

Originally published June 22, 2007
In the West, there’s a huge sense of relief. The Hamas-led government that has been causing everyone so much trouble has been isolated in Gaza, and a new government has been appointed in the West Bank by the “moderate,” peace-loving Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas.

So why, then, do Palestinians not share in the relief? Well, for one thing, the old government had been democratically elected; now it has been dismissed out of hand by presidential fiat. There’s also the fact that the new prime minister appointed by Mr. Abbas – Salam Fayyad – has the support of the West, but his election list won only 2 percent of the votes in the same election that swept Hamas to victory. Mr. Fayyad and Mr. Abbas have the support of Israel, but it is no secret that they lack the backing of their own people.

There is a reason the people threw out Mr. Abbas’ Fatah party in last year’s election. Palestinians see the leading Fatah politicians as unimaginative, self-serving and corrupt, satisfied with the emoluments of power.

Worse yet, Palestinians came to realize that the so-called peace process championed by Mr. Abbas (and by Yasser Arafat before him) had led to the permanent institutionalization – rather than the termination – of Israel’s four-decade-old military occupation of their land. There are twice as many settlers in the occupied territories today as there were when Yitzhak Rabin and Mr. Arafat first shook hands in the White House Rose Garden. Israel has divided the West Bank into besieged cantons, worked diligently to increase the number of Jewish settlers in East Jerusalem and turned Gaza into a virtual prison.

People voted for Hamas last year not because they approved of the party’s sloganeering, not because they wanted to live in an Islamic state, not because they support attacks on Israeli civilians, but because Hamas was untainted by Fatah’s complacency and corruption, untainted by its willingness to continue pandering to Israel. Fatah leaders were viewed as mere policemen of the perpetual occupation. Hamas offered an alternative.

Here in the United States, Hamas is routinely demonized, known primarily for its attacks on civilians. Depictions of Hamas portray its “rejectionism” as an end in itself rather than as a refusal to go along with a political process that has proved catastrophic for Palestinians.

Has Hamas done unspeakable things? Yes, but so has Fatah, and so too has Israel (on a much larger scale). There are no saints in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Palestinians see a lot of hypocrisy in the West’s anti-Hamas stance. Since last year’s election, for example, the West has denied aid to the Hamas government, arguing, among other things, that Hamas refuses to recognize Israel. But that’s absurd; after all, Israel does not recognize Palestine either. Hamas is accused of not abiding by previous agreements. But Israel’s suspension of tax revenue transfers to the Palestinian Authority, and its refusal to implement a Gaza-West Bank road link agreement brokered by the United States in November 2005, are practical, rather than merely rhetorical, violations of previous agreements, causing infinitely more damage to ordinary people. Hamas is accused of mixing religion and politics, but no one has explained why its version of that mixture is any worse than Israel’s – or why a Jewish state is acceptable but a Muslim one is not.

Let’s be honest. Hamas did not run into Western opposition because of its Islamic ideology but because of its opposition to (and resistance to) the Israeli occupation.

A genuine peace based on a two-state solution would require an end to the Israeli occupation and the creation of a territorially contiguous, truly independent Palestinian state.

But that is not happening. Fatah seems to have given up, its leaders preferring to rest comfortably with the power they have. Ironically, it is Hamas that is taking the stands that would be prerequisites for a true two-state peace plan: refusing to go along with the permanent breakup of Palestine and not accepting the sacrifice of control over borders, air space, water, taxes and even the population registry to Israel.

Embracing the “moderation” of Mr. Abbas allows the Palestinian Authority to resume servicing the occupation on Israel’s behalf, for now. In the long run, though, the two-state solution is finished because Fatah is either unable or unwilling to stop the ongoing dismemberment of the territory once intended for a Palestinian state.

The only realistic choice remaining will be the one between a single, democratic, secular state offering equal rights for Israelis and Palestinians – or permanent apartheid.

Saree Makdisi, a professor of English and comparative literature at UCLA, writes often about the Middle East. This article originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.

source:
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bal-op.hamas22jun22,0,5429363.story?coll=bal-oped-headlines

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HAMAS OPENS DOORS OF NOTORIOUS PRISON : A Visit to Fatah’s Torture Chamber

bismi-lLahi-rRahmani-rRahiem
In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful

=== News Update ===

HAMAS OPENS DOORS OF NOTORIOUS PRISON

A Visit to Fatah’s Torture Chamber

Ulrike Putz, SpeigelOnLine

 

Gaza Strip, June 21, 2007

A building formerly occupied by Fatah’s intelligence service in Gaza was long notorious for torture and execution. Now Hamas is in control — and is letting former inmates visit the chamber of horrors.

The cells are small, perhaps six feet by six feet, with only an overhead lamp to provide light. The toilet is a hole in the floor behind a small wall. The prisoners have scribbled graffiti on the walls, including slogans like “Al-Qaida in Jerusalem” and “Islamic Jihad.” One inmate even scratched the phrase “Mother, oh my mother” into the plaster.

The children have no interest in the graffiti. Four of them are rushing through the 30-odd basement cells, their mother and aunts in tow. The nine-member family has taken the afternoon off. Where parents in other parts of the world might take their children to a chamber of horrors in an amusement park, the main attractions in the Gaza Strip these days are Fatah’s torture chambers.

The headquarters of the Fatah-controlled security force in Gaza have been open to the public since last Thursday. Every day is open house now.

For years the complex was a symbol of the horror disseminated by the security forces that reported directly to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. This is where Hamas men were taken after Fatah had arrested them. Some of those lucky enough to be eventually released reported that they had been tortured. Others disappeared forever.

‘A Symbol of Injustice’

Human rights organizations like Amnesty International have long voiced criticism of systematic human rights violations in the security force’s prisons, both in Gaza and the West Bank. In this respect, the fact that Hamas captured the Fatah headquarters in Gaza last week was more than just strategically significant — it was also a highly symbolic act.

“This building is a symbol of injustice in stone,” says Abu Mohammed, an officer in Hamas’s militant al-Qassam Brigades, who led the attack on the complex. He and his unit have occupied the compound since the building was captured, and Abu Mohammed is using the gatehouse as his office. “We came because we wanted to see the place where our brothers were killed,” he says.

Three days ago, his soldiers exhumed four bodies that had been hastily buried in one of the prison basements, he says wearily. They were able to identify a fellow al-Qassam Brigades member, Nasser al-Juju. They believe he was killed shortly before he was discovered: “The others have been lying in this basement for a long time.”

In the room next to the guard booth, large puddles of blood are drying out, surrounded by swarms of flies. “Fatah used this room to shoot people,” says the al-Qassam militiaman.

But why the security force would have performed executions in a room with two windows, directly adjacent to the gate of the complex, remains unclear. One can’t help but suspect that Abu Mohammed’s men may have used the room to shoot Fatah men who wanted to surrender.

Eyewitnesses last Thursday reported that the Fatah members who were defending the building were shot in the head, one after another, when, with their shirts removed and their hands held above their heads, they had attempted to surrender. “We didn’t kill a single one of them,” counters Abu Mohammed. “That would be un-Islamic.”

A stack of Dushka machine gun ammunition and a book titled “The Lessons of the Vietnam War” lie on the desk in front of Abu Mohammed. Both items had just been dropped off. Hamas, says Mohammed, has called upon residents to return stolen property to the Palestinian Authority — and that was precisely what local residents were doing.

Abu Mohammed reads out a long list: weapons, weapons, and more weapons, CDs, ammunition, landmines, computers, walkie-talkies. These things have all been brought back already, says Mohammed, adding that more and more people suffering from guilty consciences had contacted the office to drop off items they had taken illegally.

The scheme seems almost unbelievable at first, but it is confirmed a few minutes later at the gate. Abu Ahmed wears a knit cap and a long robe, the outfit of the devout Muslim. He glances sheepishly at a list of items he took while cleaning out the security force’s building, which he says he would like Hamas to pick up from his house: “Printer paper, a chair, a wall clock, a fan, a video recorder with remote control, and a radio.”

He apologizes for his greed, explaining that Fatah killed his brother during the fighting. As he is speaking, a donkey trots through the gate, pulling a cart stacked with doors, lumber, parts of filing cabinets, drainage pipes — items sent back by their temporary owner.

Abu Mohammed, who is wearing blue Hamas camouflage, is all smiles. “Look,” he says. “When Hamas calls upon people to return stolen goods the people comply — voluntarily, no less.”

Revisting the Worst Days of His Life

Imad al-Akad has been in the security force building before — four years ago. His eyes blindfolded, he was led through long corridors. The blindfold was only taken off once he had reached an overcrowded communal cell.

Akad was arrested because he had thrown stones at an army major who had allegedly raped a child. Akad, who was just 18 at the time, got off lightly — he was released after 11 days. He never saw the notorious isolation cells in the basement.

Today he has come here with friends to visit the place where he spent the worst days of his life. “One ticket for the complete tour, please,” he says, joking with the Hamas men at the entrance.

But other former inmates were less inclined to make light of the place when they visited the former prison in recent days, say the guards. Grown men wept when they saw their former cells. Others accompanied widows who came to see where their husbands had been murdered.

Hamas has assumed power in the Gaza Strip, but what it does it intend to do with it? Does it aim to establish an Islamic state based on the Iranian model? “One cannot prescribe something like that,” Abu Mohammed says at his desk in the guard booth. “Only God can lead us to that.”

And what is better for Gaza, now that Hamas is in charge? “That you, as a foreign journalist, can sit here without being kidnapped,” says the militia leader, smiling thinly. “There is security in Gaza now, even for Fatah’s people.”

Hamas, says Mohammed, has released all of the captured enemies — “except for a few dozen with blood on their hands” — and guarantees their safety. “We now have law and order.”

Translated from the German by Christopher Sultan

The headquarters of the Fatah-controlled security force in Gaza have been open to the public since last Thursday. Abu Mohammed, an officer in Hamas’s militant al-Qassam Brigades, led the attack on the complex.

For years the complex was a symbol of the horror disseminated by the security forces that reported directly to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Hamas men were taken here after Fatah had arrested them. Some of those lucky enough to be eventually released reported that they had been tortured. Others disappeared forever.

Imad al-Akad was held in the security force building four years ago. He has come to revisit the place where he spent the worst days of his life.

Hamas has called upon residents to return stolen property to the Palestinian Authority. Local residents are doing just that.

In the room next to the guard booth, large puddles of blood are drying out, surrounded by swarms of flies. It is not clear who was executed here, or by whom.

source:
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,489898,00.html

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Hamas in the West Bank rejects Abbas’ address, assures they welcome national dialogue

bismi-lLahi-rRahmani-rRahiem
In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful

=== News Update ===

Hamas in the West Bank rejects Abbas’ address, assures they welcome national dialogue

Ma’an

June 21, 2007

Nablus – Ma’an – The Hamas movement in the West Bank launched on Thursday a scathing criticism of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ address to the Palestine Liberation Organization’s central council in Ramallah on Wednesday.

Questioning the legitimacy of President Abbas’ proposed actions, Hamas’ West Bank leadership asserted in a statement that they would not accept any such “mistreatment of the law.”

On the other hand, Hamas assured that their movement maintains their condemnation of any killing, kidnapping or insult of any Palestinian citizen regardless of their identity or affiliation.

“This condemnation comes as essential principles of the movement’s views, moral values and national commitment,” the Hamas statement read. Such action is “not a justifiable response for anyone,” Hamas said.

The movement also assured that all punishment of criminals, murderers and traitors must take place in court.

The Hamas leadership accused President Abbas (Abu Mazen) of staying silent in the face of Israeli oppression of Palestinians. “If anyone accused us of being silent about the events in Gaza, the most silent one is the president, Abu Mazen, because he is the one who is ignoring the Israeli assassinations against Palestinians and fighters in Gaza and the West Bank without any distinction,” Hamas charged.

“By day and night he continues his protocol meetings with the Israeli prime minister,” Hamas continued scathingly.

The Hamas leadership also criticized Abbas for his “calm” regarding the “420 attacks in the West Bank against Palestinian persons, institutes and municipalities, and their only sin was their Islamic Arab commitment.”

“He is the one who is keeping silent on the difficult situation in the West Bank.”

Hamas also called on Abbas to provide a “clarification for the arrests, kidnappings and the cruel executions of our men in the West Bank”.

In response to President Abbas’ rejection of dialogue with Hamas, whom he described as “a group of killers which accuses others of either treason or atheism”, Hamas retorted that such a rejection is “shameful.”

Hamas said in their statement, “We still welcome the national dialogue, which we hope will resolve the division in the homeland and result in sharing legitimacy.”

The Hamas leadership added that they still welcome Arab efforts to find a solution to the events in Gaza and all mediation efforts aimed at finding a better solution.

In addition, Hamas also rejected the suggestions of replacing the Palestinian Legislative Council with the Palestinian National Council as the principal, legitimate point of reference.

Hamas accused the PNC of gaining legitimacy from the “questionable and incomplete” legality of the PLO and its institutions.

Hamas also accused President Abbas of trying to ignore the Palestinian Basic Law.

The Hamas leadership asserted that the PLC “is in control of themselves and they won’t forget the Palestinian prisoners in the Israeli prisons and they will keep faithful to them and their patriotism in the face of the entire world.”

source:
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=23188

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Abu Ghraib Cover-up About to Explode

bismi-lLahi-rRahmani-rRahiem
In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful

=== News Update ===

June 21, 2007

Abu Ghraib Cover-up About to Explode

(Brent Budowsky)

@ 12:42 pm

Gen. Antonio Taguba is one of America’s most respected senior officers, was put in charge of the Abu Ghraib investigation, and has now leveled a series of powerful public charges that will soon blow this case sky-high.

Gen. Taguba went public early this week in long on-the-record interviews with Sy Hersh reported in his New Yorker piece now on newsstands.

Among other things, Taguba says:

1. He was ordered not to investigate higher-ups in the chain of command, which means there was (is) a cover-up protecting the highest-ranking Bush administration officials who might have criminal liability.

2. Early in his investigation he was threatened with career retribution if he dared to seek the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

3. After his investigation he was punished by being forced into early retirement.

4. He suggests that Don Rumsfeld might have lied when he testified before Congress, which would be a criminal offense.

5. He details meetings in which Rumsfeld spoke to him in terms that were sarcastic, rude and unprofessional shortly before Rumsfeld would publicly say how much he supported the investigation and wanted the truth to come out.

6. He reveals specific acts of torture that are beyond what was publicly known, and videos of Abu Ghraib torture have not been released that provide strong evidence that the crimes of Abu Ghraib were known earlier and far higher up than previously reported.

7. He expresses serious concern that the same forms of torture used at Abu Ghraib were (are?) also used at Guantanamo Bay, which remains open and the subject of world-wide condemnation.

At some point Gen. Taguba will be called to testify publicly and will prove one of the most explosive witnesses in six years, while investigative reporters and almost certainly congressional committees are currently looking into Abu Ghraib.

The implications of this are enormous because they go to potential perjury and giving false testimony to Congress and investigators, and lead outward throughout the dark side of the Bush years.

There is a high probability that investigation of the Abu Ghraib crimes and cover-up will lead upward to Donald Rumsfeld and his coterie of neoconservative aides and their shadow CIA run through the Department of Defense.

There is a substantial possibility this leads to the role of Alberto Gonzales on the range of torture issues at the Department of Justice and during his years as White House Counsel.

There is significant possibility this leads to Vice President Cheney, the most aggressive advocate of what the world considers torture of any senior official anywhere in the free world.

Gen. Taguba should be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his honor, integrity and courage throughout this shameful episode and for having the honor to speak out publicly, visibly and unequivocally now.

The stakes are high and the storm clouds are gathering for those who committed, ordered or covered up crimes of torture.

source:
http://pundits.thehill.com/2007/06/21/abu-ghraib-cover-up-about-to-explode/

===

-muslim voice-
______________________________________
BECAUSE YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO KNOW

Bush Slaughter His Own Peoples : 9-11 Culprits? Why the Towers Really Fell

bismi-lLahi-rRahmani-rRahiem
In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful

=== News Update ===

9-11 Culprits? Why the Towers Really Fell

 

Len Hart, The Existentialist Cowboy

June 22, 2007

There is probable cause to begin an official investigation of George W. Bush in connection with the mass murders of US citizens on 911. In US law, investigations proceed from probable cause that a crime has been committed. Commonly, it refers to a standard by which an officer may make an arrest in connection with a crime. There are other, related senses of the term -but for our purposes here we focus upon the legal standard by which a grand jury may assert that a crime has been committed and that charges may be brought against a person or persons.

We know that a crime was committed on 911. George W. Bush, of course, quashed all investigations before they could begin. Since when are crimes not investigated? Since the ascension of Ronald Regan who similarly got away with Iran/Contra, an act of treason if there ever was one. Treason, in this case, being “aiding and abetting” an avowed enemy of the United States as defined by the US government itself.

It is not too late, however, to begin such an investigation. There is no statute of limitations on mass murder. Congress should appoint and empower a special prosecutor with whatever authority is needed to subpoena George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, John Ashcroft, Colin Powell, Condoleeza Rice et al. Rumfeld, by the way, is already on record referring to the shooting down of Flight 93 and also to a missile –not an airliner –crashing into the Pentagon. Powell, meanwhile, has already apologized for having presented to the UN a pack of lies about Iraq’s alleged WMD. Now is the time to pressure a criminal conspiracy that shows many signs of falling apart. Now is the time to go for the jugular -and the truth -about what this partisan, criminal conspiracy has done to subert the rule of law in this nation.

Critics of 911 officialdom need not tolerate quietly the absurd, blanket criticisms of “conspiracy theorists”. Aside from being ad hominem attacks, they merely label. Bush “theories”, meanwhile, insult the intelligence of every American with the most absurd official conspiracy theories to ever come down the pike.

If “conspiracies” did not exist, most crimes would be petty except perhaps murder and egregious assaults. Conspiracies are rather common. The law books are full of them. Google or Findlaw the word “conspiracy”. You will find at least 200 years of precedent and case law having to do with “conspiracies”. I daresay most crime is conspiratorial in nature. What is a gang, if not a conspiracy? Apparently SCOTUS never got the Bush memo that “conspiracies” do not exist. It might have spared the justices a lot of time deciding cases about something that is said not to exist. Even Bushies felt constrained to posit the existentence of a vast conspiracy -al Qaeda! Why are Bush theories, full of gaping holes, logical inconsistencies, and misstatements of fact, given such great weight when Bush is known to have lied about everything else?

Read this first: 70 Reasons to Doubt the official conspiracy theory. Then read Maureen O’Farrell.

Sept. 11 commission co-chair Lee Hamilton’s prediction that another terrorist attack is all but certain, for example, when combined with concerns about George W. Bush’s imperial ambitions, creates the kind of speculation the founding fathers engaged in, long before FOX News was there to pooh-pooh concerns about tyrannical designs.

And though predictions and conspiracy theories are often speculative and contrived, it must be remembered that the term “tin foil hat” has its roots in historical fact and the tendency to tag a “gate” onto scandals proves that some conspiracy theories do, in fact, turn out to be true.

–Maureen Farrell, Top 10 ‘Conspiracy Theories’ about George W. Bush, Part 1

Let’s make something clear at the outset: probable cause that George W. Bush committed a crime is NOT a “theory” of any sort. It is what it is: probable cause, a minimum legal standard that must be met before an arrest and charge. Secondly, I am less interested in any theory, including the official one, than I am in finding the evidence that only a real investigation can turn up. I am interested in the admissible evidence that will prove beyond reasonable doubt that Bush is guilty of the crimes that may be charged him should such an investigation proceed. First, the big holes in Bush’s set of official and often contradictory theories:

• Jet fuel cannot burn hot enough or long enough to melt steel. [See: Why Indeed Did the WTC Buildings Collapse?]
• No steel building has ever fallen from fire –but on 911 not one, not two, but three buildings fell into their footprints within seconds of beginning descent.
• The “hijackers” said to have piloted 757′s into the twin towers couldn’t even fly Cessnas, let alone airliners.

The 14th-century philosopher William of Occam said multiplicity ought not to be posited without necessity. In other words the simplest solution is most probably correct. Logically, the simplest solution is that solution with the fewest number of unproven assumptions. Or, in the words of Dr. John Lienhard of the University of Houston –we should make no more assumptions than we really need to explain anything. This concept is called Occam’s Razor for William of Occam who articulated it.

In Bush’s case, the official conspiracy theory explains nothing. Official theories are constantly papered over with new but inadequate hypotheses and, in the end, nothing said by the Bush gang explains anything at all. Nothing at all can be verified in any way. Nothing at all said by Bush about 911 can be believed. That nothing at all can be verified is convenient for Bush but it hardly exculpates him. Lack of evidence itself may not be evidence of guilt but lack of evidence because investigations were quashed or obstructed is something else again.

Had there been any truth to the official conspiracy theory, identifiable wreckage and a black box would have been recovered from the Pentagon. Rumsfeld inadvertently told the truth; he referred to a a “missile” [his word] that struck the Pentagon. That would, of course, explain no black box. It would also explain the lack of airliner wreckage. See how simply “truth” explains what is left inexplicable with lies. Simply, no airliner struck the Pentagon. It is the very vindication of William of Occam.

In the meantime, check the official Arlington National Cemetery Web site. None of those buried in connection with 911 were positively identified. Unknown “ashes” were said to have been hijackers! Oh really? Then why did they not show up on the Flight manifest? Show me some admissible evidence that said hijackers were even on board.

It’s time for Bush to put up or shut up or, better, give himself up to Federal Marshalls! If Bush and his PNAC buds are innocent, then Investigate 911! What have innocent people to fear from a fair, complete and real investigation? It’s time to put Bush, Marvin Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Condolezza Rice, and John Ashcroft under oath. There is probable cause now to have the lot of them arrested by Federal Marshalls. There is probable cause to begin an investigation of the Bush White House for the mass murder of US citizens.

Bush-Linked Company Handled Security for the WTC, Dulles and United

by Margie Burns

George W. Bush’s brother was on the board of directors of a company providing electronic security for the World Trade Center, Dulles International Airport and United Airlines, according to public records. The company was backed by an investment firm, the Kuwait-American Corp., also linked for years to the Bush family.

The security company, formerly named Securacom and now named Stratesec, is in Sterling, Va.. Its CEO, Barry McDaniel, said the company had a ‘completion contract’ to handle some of the security at the World Trade Center ‘up to the day the buildings fell down.’

It also had a three-year contract to maintain electronic security systems at Dulles Airport, according to a Dulles contracting official. Securacom/Stratesec also handled some security for United Airlines in the 1990s, according to McDaniel, but it had been completed before his arriving on the board in 1998.

McDaniel confirmed that the company has security contracts with the Department of Defense, including the US Army, but did not detail the nature of the work, citing security concerns. It has an ongoing line with the General Services Administration – meaning that its bids for contracts are noncompetitive – and also did security work for the Los Alamos laboratory before 1998.

…

Marvin Bush joined Securacom when it was capitalized by the Kuwait-American Corporation, a private investment firm in DC that was the security company’s major investor, sometimes holding a controlling interest. Marvin Bush has not responded to telephone calls and e-mails for comment.

KuwAm has been linked to the Bush family financially since the Gulf War. One of its principals and a member of the Kuwaiti royal family, Mishal Yousef Saud al Sabah, served on the board of Stratesec.

The managing director at KuwAm, Wirt D. Walker III, was also a principal at Stratesec, and Walker, Marvin Bush and al Sabah are listed in SEC filings as significant shareholders in both companies during that period.

Marvin Bush’s last year on the board at Stratesec coincided with his first year on the board of HCC Insurance, formerly Houston Casualty Co., one of the insurance carriers for the WTC. He left the HCC board in November 2002.

It’s all an unbelievable series of incredible and fantastic coincidences. I wonder –what are the odds that the brother of occupant of the Oval Office would just happen to be in charge of WTC security at a time when wild al Qaeda “evil doers” were plotting to bring down the very buildings for which which Marvin was responsible.

This just in from the Daily Scare:

New Study from Pilots for 9/11 Truth: No Boeing 757 Hit the Pentagon

By Jim Fetzer

A study of the black box data provided by the government to Pilots for 9/11 Truth has confirmed the previous findings of Scholars for 9/11 Truth that no Boeing 757 hit the Pentagon on 9/11. “We have had four lines of proof that no Boeing 757 hit the building,” said James Fetzer, founder of Scholars for 9/11 Truth. “This new study by Pilots drives another nail into a coffin of lies told the American people by The 9/11 Commission”.

The new society, an international organization of pilots and aviation professionals, petitioned the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) under the Freedom of Information Act and obtained its 2002 report on American Airlines Flight 77, a Boeing 757 that, according to the official account, hit the ground floor of the Pentagon after it skimmed over the lawn at 500 mph plus, taking out a series of lamp posts in the process. The pilots not only obtained the flight data but created a computer animation to demonstrate what it told them. …

A related development. Michael Moore now says that he wants to get to the bottom of 911.

Excellent 9/11 Resources:

The Bush/Cheney Holocaust in Iraq: Criminality, Immorality, Incompetence and Desperation

70 Reasons to doubt

Washington Post and MSNBC Reveal Growing Power, Prestige of the 9/11 Movement

BBC Article Titled “The 9/11 Conspiracy Movement”

Time Magazine Explores 9/11 Conspiracies and Poll Showing Many Believe 9/11 Cover-up

CNN Gives Major Coverage to 9/11 Cover-up in March 2006 With Charlie Sheen, Others

Ex-FBI Chief Accuses 9/11 Commission of Cover-up in Wall Street Journal

New York Times article on 9/11 movement, 9/11 polls, 9/11 convention

Association of Influential Scholars Challenges 9/11 Commission Results – Miami Herald

Los Angeles Times Questions Official 9/11 Story in Revealing Interview

ABC News: US Military Planned to Orchestrate Terrorism Against US Citizens as War Pretext

What some have called War corporatism, I call fascism or Nazism. It goes far beyond mere “conspiracy theories”, a label designed to confuse and distract. The real culprit is called the Project for the New American Century. As pointed out, their goals are hardly secret but that does not excuse them any more than Hitler’s boast that he had waged war on the Jew in full view of the world could have expiated him from the execution that most surely awaited him.

My definition of “war corporatism” is simple: Bush, indeed the US government, is in the death business. Just as Adolf Hitler partnered with the likes of I.G. Farben, Thyssen and Krupp, the US government has partnered with the big defense contractors to make of war a racket. Face up to the undeniable implications: the US government, under Bush, is a criminal enterprise. That, not a raggedly band of terrorists up in the hills, is why the towers fell on 911.

source:
http://existentialistcowboy.blogspot.com/2007/06/911-culprits-why-towers-really-fell.html

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-muslim voice-
______________________________________
BECAUSE YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO KNOW

Lawyers claim British government approved systematic policy of torture in Iraq

bismi-lLahi-rRahmani-rRahiem
In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful

=== News Update ===

Lawyers claim British government approved systematic policy of torture in Iraq

Paul Mitchell, WSWS

22 June 2007

Lawyers are claiming that the British government approved a systematic policy of torture of detainees in Iraq.

The claim follows a ruling on June 13 by the Law Lords in the House of Lords­the highest court in Britain­in the Al-Skeini and others v Secretary of State for Defence case. The case was brought by the families of six Iraqi civilians who died in British-occupied Basra in 2003. One of the dead, Baha Mousa, died in British custody while UK soldiers on patrol shot the other five.

Mousa, a 26-year-old receptionist, was detained and allegedly tortured along with others by soldiers in the Queen’s Lancashire Regiment at the UK’s Temporary Detention Facility. This is said to have involved hooding with sandbags, keeping stress positions for long periods, sleep deprivation and being subjected to kickboxing “games,” where soldiers competed to see how far they could be kicked.

Photographs and records show Mousa suffered 93 injuries, including four broken ribs, a fractured nose, smashed wrists and a ligature around his neck. According to one witness, “I heard Baha Mousa screaming. I was still hooded but it sounded like he was in another room. I heard him scream: ‘Please help me, blood is coming out, please help me, I am going to die.’ The last thing I heard him say was: ‘My nose broke.’ After this there was silence.”

In February 2004, the International Red Cross “expressed concern” to the British government over the treatment meted out to Mousa and other detainees who were “made to kneel, face and hands against the ground, as if in a prayer position…. The soldiers stamped on the backs of the necks of those raising their head.”

Medical examinations showed “large haematomas with dried scabs on the abdomen, buttocks and sides, thighs, wrists, nose and forehead consistent with their accounts of beatings.”

The Law Lords’ judgement confirms a High Court ruling in 2004, which was opposed by the government. Mousa’s family and the relatives of the five other Iraqis had argued that the government was in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and the UK Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA) by not conducting an independent inquiry into the deaths. They added that such an inquiry was made even more necessary because coalition personnel enjoyed complete immunity from prosecution under Coalition Provisional Authority Order 17.

The government argued that the ECHR only applied to Europe and was not applicable to British troops in Iraq, and that the HRA only applied in UK territory.

In their judgement, the Law Lords ruled that that there must be a full independent inquiry whenever detainees such as Mousa suffer inhuman treatment, torture or death whilst detained in UK military establishments anywhere in the world. However, they also agreed with the High Court that because the other five Iraqis were not in custody and their shootings had occurred on Iraq territory, which was outside UK jurisdiction, their case was therefore “outside the scope of the convention and the Act.” Their case is now to be taken to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

Des Browne, the defence secretary, welcomed the Law Lords ruling, saying it provided “helpful clarification of the precise legal framework under which UK forces operated overseas.”

He claimed, “We have never argued that the treatment of Baha Mousa was acceptable or that his death should not have been investigated,” but he continued to refer to the Mousa’s treatment as “an unlawful conditioning process” rather than torture.

Following the Law Lords’ ruling, lawyer Phil Shiner representing the Mousa family repeated his calls for an independent inquiry. He told the Times that the government had tried to cover up the “shocking new revelations” during a court martial of those involved in Mousa’s death that revealed that the government and the top army brass were “complicit in a systematic policy of torturing detainees in British military custody.”

At the court martial at Camp Bulford in southern England earlier this year, Corporal Donald Payne of the Queen’s Lancashire regiment pleaded guilty to inhumane treatment and was jailed for a year and dismissed from the army, making him Britain’s first convicted war criminal. Six other soldiers, including the former commander of the regiment, Col. Jorge Mendonca, had their cases thrown out amid claims that there were gaps in the evidence and that some key suspects did not appear at the trial.

Shiner explained, “To date the UK Government has managed to suppress much of this material, including all the bundles of documents and evidence from the court martial, and a shocking video showing hooded and cuffed detainees being verbally and physically abused as they were man-handled into the UK’s preferred stress position.”

Shiner added, “We’re not just talking about nuanced degrading treatment, this is torture by any definition of that word…. And we’re not just talking about torture, we’re talking about the techniques the Heath government banned, such as hooding, sleep deprivation, stressing, food deprivation and white noise.”

According to Shiner the ban brought in by Edward Heath’s Conservative government in 1972 during the crisis in North Ireland was overturned after the government’s chief law officer, Attorney General Lord Peter Goldsmith, declared that the HRA did not apply abroad and thus lower legal standards were permitted. The Defence, Intelligence and Security Centre at Chicksands in central England became the centre for training in these techniques.

As a result, it became standard practice to hood detainees in Iraq using sandbags and plastic cement bags. And there was “huge resistance at the highest levels” to stopping the practice because of pressure from the US.

Shiner also criticised army doctors who certified that detainees were fit to withstand ill-treatment and actually initiated it.

He concluded by saying, “The implications of this case are enormous.”

Shami Chakrabarti of Liberty, one of the human rights groups that initiated the court cases, commented, “The significance of this decision is that individual soldiers cannot be left as scapegoats and left to carry the can for the failures of our government and our military high command…. [T]he Human Rights Act protects anyone detained by British authorities anywhere in the world.”

Further hearings are likely following the Al-Skeini ruling. A number of cases involve abuses committed at Camp Breadbasket in May 2003 by soldiers in the 1st Battalion, the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers. They detained Iraqis who had been looting and then beat them, forced them to simulate oral and anal sex and suspended them from a forklift truck. Martyn Day, a lawyer acting for the claimants, said, “There are 10 cases being prepared in relation to Camp Breadbasket and a further 20 claims relating to a variety of allegations of abuse committed by soldiers in other parts of southern Iraq.”

source:
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2007/jun2007/tort-j22.shtml

===

-muslim voice-
______________________________________
BECAUSE YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO KNOW

US admits 14 American military deaths in 24 hours Thursday

bismi-lLahi-rRahmani-rRahiem
In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful

=== News Update ===

US admits 14 American military deaths in 24 hours Thursday

In a dispatch posted at 6:18pm Makkah time afternoon Thursday, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that the US military admitted on Thursday that 14 American troops had been killed within the previous 24 hours.

Mafkarat al-Islam reported the US military as saying that five American troops were killed along with their Iraqi translator when an Iraqi Resistance bomb went off by their vehicle in the northeastern part of Baghdad on Thursday. One other American soldier and two Iraqis were also injured in that blast, the American statement said.

An Iraqi Resistance rocket or shell struck a US military vehicle on Thursday, the US acknowledged, killing one American soldier and wounding three more of them in an attack “north of Baghdad.”

Two US Marines were killed “to the west of Baghdad” and four more of them wounded in a Resistance attack on Wednesday.

An Iraqi Resistance land mine went off under a US convoy “to the west of Baghdad,” killing four US troops and wounding a fifth, the Americans announced.

Iraqi Resistance forces attacked US Marines in al-Anbar Province, killing two of the Americans.

Earlier in the day, in a dispatch posted at 9:30am Baghdad time Thursday morning, the Association of Muslim Scholars of Iraq (AMSI) reported an Iraqi Resistance bomb went off by a US patrol in the al-Hurriyah area of northwestern Baghdad on Wednesday. A source in the Iraqi puppet police reported that US troops surrounded the area and prevented anyone from approaching so as to prevent news of the US casualties from leaking out.

source:
http://www.albasrah.net/pages/mod.php?mod=art&lapage=../en_articles_2007/0607/iraqiresistancereport_210607.htm

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-muslim voice-
______________________________________
BECAUSE YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO KNOW

US Terrorize The Whole World by “War on Terror” – 7 Jumadil Akhir 1428 H (23.6.07)

bismi-lLahi-rRahmani-rRahiem
In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful

=== News Update ===

911 Culprits? Why the Towers Really Fell

There is probable cause to begin an official investigation of George W. Bush in connection with the mass murders of US citizens on 911. In US law, investigations proceed from probable cause that a crime has been committed. Commonly, it refers to a standard by which an officer may make an arrest in connection with a crime. There are other, related senses of the term -but for our purposes here we focus upon the legal standard by which a grand jury may assert that a crime has been committed and that charges may be brought against a person or persons.

We know that a crime was committed on 911. George W. Bush, of course, quashed all investigations before they could begin. Since when are crimes not investigated? Since the ascension of Ronald Regan who similarly got away with Iran/Contra, an act of treason if there ever was one. Treason, in this case, being “aiding and abetting” an avowed enemy of the United States as defined by the US government itself.
http://existentialistcowboy.blogspot.com/2007/06/911-culprits-why-towers-really-fell.html

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US Humanity Crime : Abu Ghraib Cover-up About to Explode (Brent Budowsky)

Gen. Antonio Taguba is one of America’s most respected senior officers, was put in charge of the Abu Ghraib investigation, and has now leveled a series of powerful public charges that will soon blow this case sky-high.

Gen. Taguba went public early this week in long on-the-record interviews with Sy Hersh reported in his New Yorker piece now on newsstands.
http://pundits.thehill.com/2007/06/21/abu-ghraib-cover-up-about-to-explode/

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The Palestinians’ choice

In the West, there’s a huge sense of relief. The Hamas-led government that has been causing everyone so much trouble has been isolated in Gaza, and a new government has been appointed in the West Bank by the “moderate,” peace-loving Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas.

So why, then, do Palestinians not share in the relief? Well, for one thing, the old government had been democratically elected; now it has been dismissed out of hand by presidential fiat. There’s also the fact that the new prime minister appointed by Mr. Abbas – Salam Fayyad – has the support of the West, but his election list won only 2 percent of the votes in the same election that swept Hamas to victory. Mr. Fayyad and Mr. Abbas have the support of Israel, but it is no secret that they lack the backing of their own people.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bal-op.hamas22jun22,0,5429363.story?coll=bal-oped-headlines

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PLO is “an illegal and illusory authority,” PLO political chief Qaddoumi says

Bethlehem – Ma’an – The Palestine Liberation Organization is as a “an illegal and illusory authority,” the head of the PLO’s political department, Farouq Qaddoumi, charged on Thursday. He also accused Palestinian President Abbas of misusing his presidential authorities.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=23211

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Hamas In Full Control of Gaza Security

The Hamas General commander, Abu Obida Aljrah and his troopers, members of the Hamas Executive Force, exercise at the former Fateh Palestinian security HQ in Gaza City on Thursday afternoon.

Hamas Executive Forces and the QB ( al Qassam Brigades ) seized full control of the Gaza Strip last week, after five days of battle off, the ” Presidential Guard ” and the”Security Forces” of Mahmoud Abbas and Mohammed Dahlan.

Abbas and Dahlan abandoned their posts and escaped with thousands of other Fateh members -[ Fateh gunmen and Fateh officials], involved in conspiracy against the Hamas Movement – They fled to stay in air conditioned luxurious hotel rooms to the illusionary safety of the Palestinian West Bank – others crossed the border from the Gaza Strip to Egypt – with a little help from the Israelis.
http://palestinefreevoice.blogspot.com/2007/06/hamas-in-full-control-of-gaza-security.html

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HAMAS OPENS DOORS OF NOTORIOUS PRISON : A Visit to Fatah’s Torture Chamber

A building formerly occupied by Fatah’s intelligence service in Gaza was long notorious for torture and execution. Now Hamas is in control — and is letting former inmates visit the chamber of horrors.

The cells are small, perhaps six feet by six feet, with only an overhead lamp to provide light. The toilet is a hole in the floor behind a small wall. The prisoners have scribbled graffiti on the walls, including slogans like “Al-Qaida in Jerusalem” and “Islamic Jihad.” One inmate even scratched the phrase “Mother, oh my mother” into the plaster.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,489898,00.html

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Hamas in the West Bank rejects Abbas’ address, assures they welcome national dialogue

Nablus – Ma’an – The Hamas movement in the West Bank launched on Thursday a scathing criticism of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ address to the Palestine Liberation Organization’s central council in Ramallah on Wednesday.

Questioning the legitimacy of President Abbas’ proposed actions, Hamas’ West Bank leadership asserted in a statement that they would not accept any such “mistreatment of the law.”
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=23188

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“They see us all as criminals”

Standing at the entrance to Nahr al-Bared Camp a week ago in the still, oppressive heat waiting with Fatme for her sister and her nieces to be evacuated, we watched as two large army trucks emerged from the camp. Though the backs of the trucks were covered with tarpaulin and soldiers forbade the assembled journalists from filming, as the trucks roared by we could see that each contained about thirty men and boys, handcuffed, some blindfolded, most with their heads bent down towards their laps. One youth, however, sat with his head held high, staring back at the camp, with a tasseled kuffiya draped around his shoulders. His small act of defiance and pride, of rejecting the criminalization of his people and struggle, reduced Khadija, who stood next to me, to tears as she said “I am so exhausted, I feel burnt inside, as if all beauty is gone from my life, but seeing him makes me understand that I can’t despair, that I have to stay strong — to rebuild our camp and our lives.”
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article7049.shtml

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Salman Rushdie, Our Perspective is Bigger!

Whilst anger mounts, over the planned honouring of “Satanic Verses” author Salman Rushdie, the British Government has stood by the decision and denounced the international protests by claiming, “We have a tolerance of other people’s point of view and we don’t apologise for that.”

The statement was issued by the British Home Secretary John Reid, with the Pakistan National Assembly calling the Queens honour to Rushdie, “an insult to the religious sentiments of Muslims”, with an Iranian organisation apparently placing an £80,000 “bounty” on the writers head.
http://www.uruknet.info/?p=m33909&hd=&size=1&l=e

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Iraqis to Bush: “You have left us with nothing”

According to a recent UN report, the Green Zone is now coming under heavy fire on a daily basis. The report said that the so-called “International Zone”–which houses the U.S. embassy and Iraqi government office—is being pelted regularly with a “barrage of mortar bombs and missiles…The attacks have become more frequent and more accurate.”(Reuters)
http://www.uruknet.info/?p=m33919

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Lawyers claim British government approved systematic policy of torture in Iraq

Lawyers are claiming that the British government approved a systematic policy of torture of detainees in Iraq.

The claim follows a ruling on June 13 by the Law Lords in the House of Lords—the highest court in Britain—in the Al-Skeini and others v Secretary of State for Defence case. The case was brought by the families of six Iraqi civilians who died in British-occupied Basra in 2003. One of the dead, Baha Mousa, died in British custody while UK soldiers on patrol shot the other five.
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2007/jun2007/tort-j22.shtml

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Completion of a Wall , Beginning of Suffering

First of all I’d like to say that I don’t live in Adhamyia , I live at the borders of it , that means I can hear almost every loud explosion or clashes that happens there , in addition to that , many of my relatives and friends lives there and I used to hang out there (till last year) so I’m emotionally attached to Adhamyia for those reasons , anyway I’d like to tell something that I think few had heard about from the media.
http://last-of-iraqis.blogspot.com/2007/06/completion-of-wall-beginning-of.html

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Iraqi Resistance Report for events of Thursday, 21 June 2007

• Arab Baath Socialist Party elects ‘Izzat Ibrahim General Secretary, succeeding the martyred President Saddam Husayn as head of the pan-Arab political party.
• Resistance bomb targets US patrol in Baghdad’s al-A‘zamiyah Thursday morning.
• US admits 14 American military deaths in 24 hours Wednesday-Thursday.
• Tariq ‘Aziz wants resolution of his case after 49 months in prison with no charge and no trial; amid deteriorating health, a target of American “psychological warfare.”
• Sectarian terror spreads with US, puppet Iraqi forces throughout Samarra’, one week after their bombing of the Shi‘i Shrine of the Two Imams
• AMSI reports: US, puppet Iraqi forces spreading terror throughout Samarra’, one week after they bombed the Shi‘i Shrine of the Two Imams in an effort to spark sectarian strife.
• Resistance truck bomber kills 12 in strike on puppet police, government compound in Sulayman Bak.
• Residents of Ba‘qubah area appeal for humanitarian help after three days of continuous American shelling and offensive.
• Resistance bomb targets puppet “Shock Troop” headquarters in al-Mada’in, killing two.
• Resistance bomb targets US patrol in al-Miqdadiyah Tuesday afternoon.
• Residents of Ba‘qubah area appeal for humanitarian help after three days of continuous American shelling and offensive.
• US launches new offensive north of al-Hillah Thursday morning.

http://www.albasrah.net/pages/mod.php?mod=art&lapage=../en_articles_2007/0607/iraqiresistancereport_210607.htm

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Israeli aircraft again violate Lebanon airspace despite UN 1701

Beirut – Israeli warplanes made low-altitude supersonic passes over southern Lebanon and the Bekaa valley in the east on Thursday, police said, adding that they were the most intense overflights this year.
http://yalibnan.com/site/archives/2007/06/israeli_aircraf.php

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‘Wiped off the Map’ – The Rumor of the Century

Across the world, a dangerous rumor has spread that could have catastrophic implications. According to legend, Iran’s president has threatened to destroy Israel, or, to quote the misquote, “Israel must be wiped off the map.” Contrary to popular belief, this statement was never made.

On Tuesday, October 25th, 2005 at the Ministry of Interior conference hall in Tehran, newly elected Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad delivered a speech at a program, reportedly attended by thousands, titled “The World Without Zionism.” Large posters surrounding him displayed this title prominently in English, obviously for the benefit of the international press. Below the poster’s title was a slick graphic depicting an hour glass containing planet Earth at its top. Two small round orbs representing the United States and Israel are shown falling through the hour glass’ narrow neck and crashing to the bottom.
http://www.antiwar.com/orig/norouzi.php?articleid=11025

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The CIA’s Family Jewels: Agency Violated Charter for 25 Years, Wiretapped Journalists and Dissidents

CIA Announces Declassification of 1970s “Skeletons” File, Archive Posts Justice Department Summary from 1975, With White House Memcons on Damage Control

WASHINGTON – JUNE 22 – The Central Intelligence Agency violated its charter for 25 years until revelations of illegal wiretapping, domestic surveillance, assassination plots, and human experimentation led to official investigations and reforms in the 1970s, according to declassified documents posted today on the Web by the National Security Archive at George Washington University.
http://www.commondreams.org/news2007/0622-01.htm

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Slap Doesn’t Stick: Corrupted Congress Will Help Bush Escape Court Ruling

Sidney Blumenthal adds a worthy comment to the recent ruling by the arch-conservative federal court that struck down George W. Bush’s outrageous claims to tyrannical power. The court recognized what we have been saying here (and elsewhere) for years: that Bush’s claims, if accepted, mean the end of even the pretense of a constitutional republic in the United States.
http://www.chris-floyd.com/Articles/Articles/Slap_Doesn%27t_Stick%3A_Corrupted_Congress_Will_Help_Bush_Escape_Court_Ruling/

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Cheney Power Grab: Says White House Rules Don’t Apply to Him

Justin Rood Reports:
Cheneypowergr_mn Vice President Dick Cheney has asserted his office is not a part of the executive branch of the U.S. government, and therefore not bound by a presidential order governing the protection of classified information by government agencies, according to a new letter from Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., to Cheney.
http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2007/06/cheney-power-gr.html

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-muslim voice-
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BECAUSE YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO KNOW