Stories of Peace, Earth and Justice - final

The Coming Conflagration: Alliances and Pacts

PEJ News - C. L. Cook - Prior to the Second World War, countries on either side of the looming conflict began mobilizing industry and the 'public mind' for what they knew was to be a grand war. They also began a frenzied diplomatic effort to form alliances. Today, a new alliance is forming to counter-balance the Anglo-American-NATO Axis powers that has drawn together traditional competitors China, and what's left of the Soviet Union; now they're wooing India to join the fold.

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The Coming Conflagration:
Alliances and Pacts

C. L. Cook

PEJ News
June 4, 2005

The destruction of the former Yugoslavia was merely an opening move in the grand game currently unfolding in Central Asia. For the last decade, the United States, aided faithfully by its NATO partners, has quietly encircled Russia's southern border, knocking off former Soviet Republics, emplacing compliant regimes, and building military bases. The base network effectively restricts Russia's accustomed access to resources in the region, and impedes the natural export route between Russia and the two fastest growing economic powers on the planet, China and India. Seeing the threat posed to their future economies by a bellicose U.S., last February China and Russia signed a mutual protection pact. Now, India is trying to mobilize Asian oil producers in an effort to keep Asian oil in Asia.

For their part, the United States has denied their "Forward Operating Locations" surrounding Russia and obstructing pipeline routes to India and China are designed as permanent bases from which America and its allies will control Caspian Basin oil reserves. Their presence there is simply part of the "War on Terror." It's an argument that carries little water for the Chinese, who've grown restive at what they see as an encirclement of their country too.

Last week, China announced it's own plans to "deter terrorism." The first step they say is a move to establish a military presence (Forward Operating Location?) in the troubled former Soviet Republic of Kyrgyzstan. The Kyrgyz government denies they will allow the Chinese to deploy in their country, but talks quietly continue.

In the Pacific too, the Chinese are watching the deployment of U.S. forces to forward bases in Guam and redeployments of U.S. troops currently in Japan. This, in conjunction with the re-emergence of militarism in Japan and it's recent announcement declaring China a possible "military threat" all contribute to a growing atmosphere of apprehension, punctuated by antagonistic episodes like Prime Minsister Koizumi's visit to a shrine for Japanese "heroes" of the former Empire and the whitewashing of atrocities committed by that empire across Asia prior to and during WWII.

History, to we inheritors, always seems obvious: "Why couldn't they see it coming?" Today, we are the living actors future generations will consider pityingly, when they too ask, "How could they not see the coming disaster?"

Mobilization, frantic alignments and alliances, and the propagandizing of the public mind, all unmistakable elements of a pattern leading inexorably to war; but this time it is different. With most of the current players nuclear capable, WWIII may leave no future generations to tut-tut our ignorance.



Chris Cook hosts the weekly public affairs program, Gorilla Radio, broad/webcast from the University of Victoria, Canada. He also serves as a contributing editor to PEJ.org. You can check out the GR blog here.




Deep Throat Comes Out

The anonymous source of intrepid Washington Post reporters, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein's earthshaking reports on Watergate, reports that led to the downfall of Richard Nixon's presidency, has remained anonymous for more than thirty years. Today, the insider's name has been revealed. -{lex}



Deep Throat Comes Out
C. L. Cook
May 31, 2005


PEJ News- Vanity Fair, a U.S. culture and news magazine has broken the story that eluded both reporters and Washington D.C. insiders for decades. They have revealed the source of the leaks that sunk the presidency of Richard M. Nixon. A mystery more tantalizing to political junkies than U.F.O. conspiracies, the identity of "Deep Throat" has had an enduring appeal.

In 1974, with the scandal of the administration's sanctioned burglary and theft of Democratic National Committee party files and strategies prior to Richard Nixon's 1972 re-election bid broken wide-open, Nixon resigned his post to avoid the ignominy of impeachment. He then faded from the American political scene, his accomplishments over-shadowed by the events surrounding the "Watergate" fiasco. The literal mother-of-all-"Gates," today the suffix is synonymous with political dirty tricks.

But how did a cunning, and seemingly all-powerful "War-time President"come to be unseated?

Even among his enemies, Richard Milhous Nixon was respected for his political acumen, and feared for his ruthlessness. Mentored by the infamous "Tail-gunner" Joe McCarthy of the Witch hunt era, Nixon's obsessive need for secrecy was legendary. So, how then did someone get close enough to "Tricky Dick's" inside circle to do so much damage? And, who could it be?

Everyone knew W. Mark Felt was an ambitious guy. The Number 2 in the F.B.I. had ambitions of taking up the recently deceased, J. Edgar Hoover's mantle as the next perennial overlord of the agency. It was Felt's naked avarice that convinced Nixon he was a man they could manipulate. He was desperate to quash the F.B.I. investigation into Watergate, knowing each day that investigation continued brought the truth closer to the Oval Office and its complicity.

Felt never got the post he coveted, but he did manage to do irreparable damage to the man who denied him. Long a controversial figure, he was convicted of violating civil rights through authorizing illegal searches of the homes and offices of perceived enemies of the White House, Felt never admitted his now revealed double life. He had been rumoured as the leaker, even accused in print, but he never cracked.

Nixon's White House tapes reveal, as early as 1972, Nixon confidante and felon to be, J.R. Haldeman told the president he "knew" the leaks were coming from Felt. For their part, both Woodward and Bernstein refuse to confirm, or deny the Vanity Fair story, saying they will stick to their original agreement not to release the name of their informant while he or she is alive.

The revelations take the wind out another theory, identifying George H.W. Bush as the informant, that made the media rounds several months ago.

W. Mark Felt is 91, and said to be in failing health.



Chris Cook hosts the weekly public affairs program, Gorilla Radio, broad/webcast from the University of Victoria, Canada.

[Note: Late Tuesday (31/05) both Woodward and Bernstein confirmed Felt's claims- lex]




The Town Fun Forgot

Swiftsure, Driftsure... I've lived in Victoria long enough to remember what the great annual regatta used to be and mean to the locals. Sadly passed, it's another case of our little burg's (d)evolution. But this attitude extends beyond us. I wrote the below a couple years back, and but for adding details like "our" government's further downward spiral towards militaristic fascism, it still holds true. - {lex}



The Town Fun Forgot
C. L. Cook
May 28, 2005


Been down to the Swiftsure yet?



I?m old enough to remember the raucous, mad, Bacchanalia that was Swiftsure. In "those" days, thousands of Victorians flocked to the inner harbour for the boats, buskers, and beer gardens. But a few years back a particularly heavy-handed Victoria City Police action, designed to make the popular event more tourist friendly, triggered a riot. Ever since, the police presence has grown, the fines become more costly and frequent, and the crowds dwindled.

What had once been the unofficial summer inaugural festival Victorians shared with visitors, is now just another opportunity to hawk cheesy t-shirts and mementos to the weekend owners of downtown Victoria. The locals now know, Victoria?s heart belongs to the tourists.

Another group of tourists will come to Canada this summer and the police have already put the word out. Yesterday, the RCMP announced Canadian soldiers have been given the ?green light? to shoot dead those with the temerity to protest the destruction of light, liberty, and the living world at the G8 meetings in Kananaskis, Alberta.

The men and women of the Canadian military, those newly returned from their War on Terrorism, will be lining their sights on Raging Grannies, Radical Cheerleaders, union leaders, and citizens concerned that the current economic paradigm, so ably represented by the corporate and government elite attending the G8 summit, is destroying the lives of millions around the world and will inevitably result in the destruction of the planet itself.

The message is clear: Kananaskis belongs to these others.

The dissoluton of our nation and its beliefs has been lightning fast. The election of Brian Mulroney and his delivery of our resources to foreigners; the crippling corporate trade deals; political surrender to the will of commerce; the abandonment of foreign policy and the laws that govern our constitution; and now our army used to enforce the will of George Bush and his criminal coterie. The RCMP?s message couldn?t be more clear: Canada doesn?t belong to you and we?re willing to kill to prove it.

My neighbour, a long time Canadian and Victoria resident remarked, ?Swiftsure is dead, hardly a person about.? We talked a little about the old days and concluded, it doesn?t belong to us anyway.


Chris Cook hosts Gorilla Radio, broadcast from the University of Victoria every Monday at 5pm on CFUV 102FM You can check out his blog here.





Lord Black Back in Hot Water

PEJ News - For those not following the saga of Conrad Black's stunning fall from grace, the one-time Canadian media magnate is facing prosecution in both the United States and Canada for allegedly defrauding Hollinger Inc., the international media company he once presided over. Now, Black has been caught on video tape defying a court order that he not remove any documents from Hollinger offices. -{lex}




Lord Black Back in Hot Water
C. L. Cook
May 26th, 2005



Through his personal spokesman, Conrad Black is said to have returned a dozen boxes he removed from Hollinger's Toronto headquarters. The spokesman says, Conrad Black claims the boxes in question were "personal property." But when talking about the newly minted British Lord, one must take into account his view of "personal."

In addition to his other problems with Hollinger, Black has suffered the indignity of being evicted from the building. Following the discovery of surveillance tapes recorded the Lord and his aide loading a Black's limo, Hollinger now says they will push the Ontario court to file contempt charges.

While head of Hollinger, Black is said to have siphoned millions of dollars out of the company illegally for his personal use. Spokesman, Jim Badenhauser said of Black, "He agreed to return the boxes and they've been returned to Ernst & Young."

Badenhaus went on to say, "There may have been papers, but they were things he believed O.K. for him to remove from the office." An Ontario court had forbidden Black's removal of documents without permission.

Hollinger Inc's own investigation discovered $32 million in payments Black made to himself, partner Barbara Amiel, and others; payments they say were unauthorized.

Hollinger is now suing Black and his confederates for more than 636 million dollars cdn.

A criminal investigation has also been launched in the U.S.






And the Winner Is... U.S.A. - Amnesty's 2004 #1 Human Rights Abuser

PEJ News - Look out Uzbekistan, Myanmar, and China, there's a new player on the human abuses scene: And this newcomer is Number One, with a bullet. -{lex}



And the Winner is...U.S.A.
C. L. Cook
May 25, 2005


Well, it had to happen. Every champion has its day, and then is done. It seemed unlikely the seasoned brutes running places like Saudi Arabia, Turkey, North Korea, and Iraq (in the old days) would ever be knocked from their vicious podiums, but in just over four years George W. Bush and his gang have rocketed the charts to top spot in Amnesty International's list of global heavies. And there seems no turning back.

In just four short years, the United States has transformed itself from the Defender of Light and Liberty to become the Dark Lord of Empire. Just imagine the accomplishments another four years promise: Imagine it like a distant scream bellowed from the belly of Abu Ghraib; imagine its echo, ricocheting from Baghdad to Bagram, Gitmo to the unknown outposts of America's global network of proxy gulags; imagine it bouncing from bloodied stone walls, through iron bars and steel doors, inexorably making its way to the surface.

And now, breaking into the light, the scream reveals Lady Liberty naked and gore-flecked.


Of course, you sophisticates out there, well versed in Chomsky and Zinn will yawn at Amnesty's top prize winner: What about Southeast Asia, Central America, the Philippines? What about the destruction of the first "Americans," gifted poxy blankets, whiskey and steel? "What else," you may ask, gentle reader, "is NEW!" While all you say, and much more, is true and has been known for a long time, this time it's different.

While the eminent Mssrs. mentioned above have spent decades banging their typewriters against the stony silence of America's conscience to bring this point home, what's new now is this: America's high horse on human rights abuses has come up lame. Its notable competitors in outrage witness that nag's pasturing and are instructed: No more will the long, wagging finger of Uncle Sam's disaproval hamper their economic, or military interests.

Following the world leader as ever, the pilchards and fry practicing their piddling atrocities in the deep places far from the light, the degraders of dignity, neglectors of humanity's aspirations, are now freed. Never now will a discouraging word be heard coming from Sheriff Sam. Just listen to this laugher from AI's Secretary General, Irene Khan:

" In 1973 AI published its first report on torture. It found that: ?torture thrives on secrecy and impunity. Torture rears its head when the legal barriers against it are barred. Torture feeds on discrimination and fear. Torture gains ground when official condemnation of it is less than absolute.? The pictures of detainees in US custody in Abu Ghraib, Iraq, show that what was true 30 years ago remains true today.

Despite the near-universal outrage generated by the photographs coming out of Abu Ghraib, and the evidence suggesting that such practices are being applied to other prisoners held by the USA in Afghanistan, Guant?namo and elsewhere, neither the US administration nor the US Congress has called for a full and independent investigation."

What this says to both the heinous regimes already out there, and those others contemplating the "Marquis de Sade Methodology of Governance" is: "Hey, go nuts! Nobody cares."

Sure Italy, you can dispose of your constitution. Sure China, you can practice religious persecution. Sure Uzbekistan, put another pot on the fire! Goody Two-Shoe America is past; time to meet the new number one!


Chris Cook hosts Gorilla Radio, a weekly public affairs program, broad/webcast from the University of Victoria, Canada. He's also a contributing editor to PEJ.org. You can check out the Gorilla Radio blog here.




Afghanistan: Canada's Iraq?

PEJ News: Defence Minister, Bill Graham says the plan to re-deploy Canadian operations currently in and around the northern capital city of Kabul are to go ahead. He also announced, an additional 1250 troops by early next year. -{lex}



Afghanistan: Canada's Iraq?
C. L. Cook
May 22, 2005

Last week, in a speech to the Standing Committee on National Defence and Veterans Affairs and the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, National Defence Minister Graham reiterated how Canada will face its "new" role in global military affairs. He cited the completion of a new Defence Policy Statement and its central document, A Role of Pride and Influence in the World.

According to Graham, that pride and influence will be expanded in Afghanistan first, then on to other "failed and failing states" around the globe. How those "failed and failing" will be chosen, or by whom, was left unsaid, but the minister did make it clear, Canada will move towards a "more sophisticated" operational integration with the U.S. military. Presumably, enhanced sophistication isn't necessary on the diplomatic front.

Graham informed the assembled worthies, Canada recognizes, "security at home often begins with security abroad," adding the new policy means his government will be "enhancing Canada's contribution to global security and peace building." The new direction is, in Graham's view, "informed by the rich operational experience of the Canadian Forces, both in Canada and locations ranging from Afghanistan to the Balkans, to Haiti.

That that "rich operational experience" includes the death and maiming of Canadian soldiers, as in Afghanistan; providing assistance to murderous thugs in the overthrow of a democratically elected government in Haiti; allowing the world's fastest growing human trafficking region in the Balkans; uselessly witnessing the explosion of heroin production, again in Afghanistan, and the of course, Somalia; or Rwanda. Minister Graham will excuse a lack of enthusiasm for his proudly announced new initiatives.

Never mind the more than $600 million cdn price tag for Afghanistan alone that comes with Mr. Graham's new found muscularity. Never mind that what the minister and his government recognize as splendid achievements are less charitably described in the countries where his largesse is experienced. The problem with Mr. Bill Graham's Role of Pride and Influence in the World is the precise diminishment of Canada and Canadians it will bring. Unleashing well-heeled NGO's like CIDA, in accompaniment with military logistic support, a la the U.S.A., will undoubtedly put Canada in the sights of the very terror groups he so sonoriously warns against. But, there is a more immediate problem with Graham's thinking: Afghanistan.

After four years of occupation, the coalition occupiers have little "influence" beyond the city limits of Kabul. Hamid Karzai is in Washington, D.C. at this very hour, readying to break the news to George Bush. But Bush's knows this. His pre-emptive jab at Karzai for allowing the heroin trade to flourish, designed to take some of the steam out of Karzai's "demands" that justice be brought against American soldiers involved in Afghanistan's Abu Ghraib-like abuses against prisoners at U.S. air-base/detention centre Bagram, tacitly acknowledges as much. Now, Bill Graham will preside over the relocation of the Canadians from their secure base, Camp Julien, to the south and west of the country, both areas seeing a resurgence of Taliban rebel activity; activity bearing more resemblance to Baghdad than the relatively calm Kabul.

Though Graham may like to believe all's well in Afghanistan, and Haiti for that matter, due to Canada's foreign adventurism, the fact is: things are not rosy in Afghanistan, and they're poised to get worse. Canadians are being marched into the mouth of the lion, while the pied Bill Graham pipes merrily away.


Chris Cook hosts Gorilla Radio, a weekly public affairs program, broad/webcast from the University of Victoria, Canada. He also serves as a contributing editor to PEJ.org. You can check out his blog here.



Addendum: M25-- Now too, I hear, the Israeli Defense Force will send pilots to "train" Canada's pilots to better bomb cities.--Proud and Influentionally yours - ape




Not Quite Dead Yet: Premature Obit for the STV Option Election Reform

PEJ News: The Times-Colonist reported today the demise of the Single Transferable Vote (STV) proposed in referendum during Tuesday's general election. The problem is: The 58.38% of voters (as reported) expressing a desire to see our system reformed, a mere 1.62% shy of passage of the initiative, is not a final tally. Keep an eye for the final figure release, May 30th. -{lex}



STV Option Election Reform:
Stories of its Death Premature?
C. L. Cook
May 19th, 2005

Why are these people smiling? The NDP claim electoral victory, though lost the election. The Liberals claim victory, though lost roughly 1 in 3 sitting members. And the Greens... Meanwhile, the most interesting aspect of this election, the STV referendum has been declared the dead victor of it all.

The Times-Colonist front page story today declares "Leaders Back Electoral Reform," but a further perusal of the accompanying article reveals that what the leaders of the big three political parties in B.C., in "a rare show of harmony" agree is:reform is an issue that, in Green Party head, Adriane Carr's words "B.C. needs to keep working on." Given that this is not a new issue, and two of the three parties had ample opportunity to table reform legislation and didn't, their harmonious determination to keep working on the issue is meaningless.

Reinstated Premier, Gordon Campbell more vaguely claims he's a "clear advocate" of a "look[ing] at ways of improving our system," and promises to "look at that in different ways in the future." For newly minted opposition leader, Carole James, she says her NDP party will push Campbell to bring forward "another option," as if the 1.62% (yet to be ratified) "short-fall" for the STV amounts to an outright rejection of the system the Citizen's Assembly recommended after months of research, argument, and compromise. James admits she didn't support STV for fear, she says, it would unfavourably effect rural ridings. She suggests a second referendum, using a different model, perhaps during municipal elections in the fall.

If there is agreement on Belleville Street, it's a collective sigh of relief from the players in B.C.'s political duopoly. Declaring STV officially dead before the votes are fully counted gives away the game. While all parties admit, the 58+% Yes results prove a deep desire for reform, those same numbers prove, in James' view "[voters] didn't feel that STV was the right model."

The numbers I find striking in the STV saga are: 77-2; not the 2001 election results, but the count of polls where STV received more than 50% approval. We clearly want democratic reform in British Columbia, and now is the time. No more studies, panels, or referenda. It's now time for Carole James and the NDP, Gordon Campbell and the Liberals to allow for the final numbers to be announced by Elections B.C., and then debate whether a 1%, or less shortfall is justification enough to shelve the project to look for reform, in the Premiers words, "in different ways in the future."


Chris Cook hosts Gorilla Radio, broad/webcast from CFUV Radio at the University of Victoria. He's also a contributing editor at PEJ.org. You can check out his blog at: http://gorillaradioblog.blogspot.com





"Militant" Takes on New Meaning

In any universe, other than the Looking Glass Land of George W. Bush's Amercia, Luis Posada Corriles would be deemed a terrorist. How else could you describe a man that would brag about putting a bomb on a civilian airliner, callously killing 73 people? Well, the BBC would have you call it "militancy." -{lex}




"Militant" Takes on New Meaning
C. L. Cook
May 18th, 2005
PEJ News

Of course, it's just semantics, or perhaps anti-semantics, but to hear the vernerable Grey Lady of the British fourth estate label a man who has admittedly promoted the strategic killing of civilians to further his political agenda anything less than a cold-blooded "terrorist" begs again the question: "Just what do you have to do to be considered a criminal by the judicially challenged Bush administration?"

Luis Posada Corriles, the man already convicted of conspiring to bring down Cuba's Castro and having spent some time incarcerated for his efforts to accomplish this through a terror campaign aimed with calculated indiscrimination against civil infrastructure, was arrested in the United States yesterday after press reports he was seeking asylum there. The Cuban and Venezuelan governments have known this and have petitioned the U.S. to extradite the "militant" for his role in the 1976 bombing that brought down a Cuban commercial airliner en route from Caracas to Havana.

Carriles' pedigree with the Bush family is well-documented. He's done stints with the CIA, is a veteran drugs and gun runner, enjoys a long and storied association with organized crime, and has proven his ruthlessness in dealing with official enemies. Not the faithful servant you want to see take a fall; especially if that public drop risks exposing some of the dirty deals American "intelligence" has hatched these decades past.

Corriles was extraordinarily close to the Bush family, having been a key player in the Iran-Contra Affair of the 1980's. Like many current Bush administration figures, now blithely profiting their erstwhile criminality in the service of Bush interests, Corriles had no reason to expect prosecution under the current continuance of that influence in America. But, the Immigration and Naturalization Service has reportedly taken him into to custody.

For his part, Carriles is begging immunity from both Venezualan and Cuban jurisdictions. The "troublesome two" of U.S. ambitions in Latin American have complained bitterly about U.S. harbouring of veterans of America's dirty wars in the region. Immigration Service officials say they are looking at Carriles' case and a decision is forthcoming. Will it be another Miami retirement for a terrorist?

For more on Luis' history, please see: http://www.afrocubaweb.com/posada.htm



Chris Cook hosts Gorilla Radio, brod/webcast from CFUV Radio at the University of Victoria, Canada.
Check out his blog at: http://gorillaradioblog.blogspot.com





Galloway Goes to Town on Senate Committee

PEJ News - "I'm here today, but last week you already found me guilty. You traduced my name around the world without ever having asked me a single question." - {GG}






Galloway Goes to Town
on Senate Committee
C. L. Cook
May 17th, 2005


Well used to intimidating critics and perceived enemies alike in the United States, it must have come as a bit of a shock for Bush loyalist and lead inquisitor, Senator Norm Coleman to face a subject uncowed by his ominously titled, "Oil For Influence: How Saddam Used Oil to Reward Politicians and Terrorist Entities Under the United Nations Oil-for-Food Programme" hearings. Last week, after condemning George Galloway extrajurally of personally profiting from the U.N. sanctions through deals cut with Saddam Hussein, the O. F. I. H. S. U. O. T. R. P. A. T. E. U. T. U. N. O. F. F. P. "invited" Galloway to appear in his own defense.

The British MP has long been an outspoken critic of both Bush's wars against Iraq, and the Israeli occupation of Palestine. He's also been a bane to Bush "poodle," Tony Blair, condemning his "sexed-up" intelligence assessments, and challenging Blair's legitimacy to remain Prime Minister in wake of damning revelations Blair lied the nation into war. Less than a fortnight ago, Galloway added injury to insult, successfully unseating one of Blair's favourite New Labour proteges, Oona King to win the Bethnal Green and Bow riding for his upstart, anti-war Respect party.

It's not difficult to imagine George W. putting in a word to Coleman to do to Galloway in America what Blair hasn't the credibility to pull off at home. But, as in Iraq, the Bush camp has underestimated their target. For, Mr. Galloway didn't go to Washington to appear before the acronyminously challenged Senate committee to implore understanding, or forgiveness; George Galloway came to fight. He opened the Bush baggage, all too familiar to Europeans, and used the Senate witch-hunt hearings as a prime platform to excoriate George Bush and the neo-con driven agenda of his administration.

"I met Saddam Hussein exactly the same number of times as Donald Rumsfeld met him," Galloway testified; adding, "the difference is that Donald Rumsfeld met him to sell him guns, and to give him maps the better to target those guns."

The "committee," consisting of only two Senators, chair Coleman and Democrat Carl Levin seemed unready for Galloway. The Guardian's Oliver Burkeman, reported Galloway's undaunted "bruising" style, "drew audible gasps and laughs of disbelief from the audience."

But, Galloway's best line of the proceeding was his opening answer to charges, an allusion to the infamous House Un-American Committee hearings of the 1950's. "I am not now nor have I ever been an oil trader and neither has anyone on my behalf." This evocation of Joseph McCarthy and his tyrannical excesses may prove the first of further set-backs to come for the bombastic Coleman, his ridiculous kangaroo committee, and the growing atmosphere of apprehension prevalent in Washington, D.C. today.


[see video of Galloway's testimony here. For a partial transcript, see: this]



Annotations

The Financial Times
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/c98b085c-c726-11d9-a700-00000e2511c8.html

cbc.ca
http://www.cbc.ca/storyview/MSN/world/national/2005/05/17/galloway-oilforfood050517.html

The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,1486417,00.html




Chris Cook hosts Gorilla Radio, broad/webcast from CFUV Radio at the University of Victoria, Canada.
You can check out his blog at: gorillaradioblog.blogspot.com



Newsweek Dives on Koran Desecration Story

PEJ News - The editors of American news magazine, Newsweek are back-peddling furiously on the story they printed last week of the desecration of the Koran by interrogators in Guantanamo Bay. {lex}




Newsweek Dives on
Koran Desecration Story
C. L. Cook
May 15th, 2005


Rattled perhaps by the outrage reverberating around the Muslim world, the editors of Newsweek have thrown into doubt the veracity of a story they published last week detailing desecration of the Holy Koran as a tool to make reluctant prisoners talk.

The revelations sparked wide-spread demonstration throughout the Muslim world, leading to at least 15 deaths confirmed in Afghanistan, where demonstrators were fired on.

The May 9th Newsweek report said U.S.interrogators, "in at least one case, flushed a holy book down the toilet." They now say that may not have been correct. Newsweek Editor Mark Whitaker issued apologies to those harmed by their allegations of the violation of the Koran, saying: "We regret that we got any part of our story wrong, and extend our sympathies to victims of the violence and to the U.S. soldiers caught in its midst," Whitaker's remarks have been published in tomorrow's Newsweek edition.

Newsweek's sudden reversal was prompted by the failure of the story's source, a senior U.S. official can now no longer recall wehre he first read the U.S. military report revealing the "alleged" practice.

Meanwhile, Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice made a surprise visit to Iraq today, where violence continues to escalate. She tried to diffuse the desecration scandal yesterday, saying the reports were "abhorrent to us all."


Chris Cook hosts Gorilla Radio, a weekly public affairs program broad/webcast from CFUV Radio at the University of Victoria, Canada. He also serves as a contributing editor at Pej.org.
Check out his blog at gorillaradioblog.blogspot.com




American Desecration Fuels Outrage Throughout Muslim World

PEJ News - As new tales of abuse eminate from freed prisoners of Camp X-Ray in Guantanamo Bay, more outrageous than the torture, sexual humiliation, and deprivation suffered by "detainees" there is the desecration of the Holy Koran by interrogators. Revelations that U.S. soldiers placed copies of the sacred book in toilets has sparked massive protests from Islamabad to Indonesia, but the most vehement demonstrations are in Afghanistan, where at least nine protesters have been shot dead. -{lex}



American Desecration Fuels Outrage
Throughout Muslim World
C. L. Cook
May 13, 2005


It had to happen; the "Muslim Street," as the pundits say, is in an uproar over the reported desecration by U.S. interrogators in Guantanamo of the Holy Koran. To Western sensibilities, it may seem baffling that the ill-treatment of a text is more upsetting than the gross violations meted out to the uncounted Muslim prisoners of America's burgeoning global prison network, but to Muslims the Koran is considered the literal word of Allah and treated with deep reverence. That reverence is protected by law in Pakistan and Afghanistan, where demonstrations are most vociferous. In these places, defilement of the text is a capital offence.


In Afghanistan, nine protesters were killed yesterday, bringing the toll to sixteen dead in two days of reaction there to the news of the violation. But, revulsion and anger are apparent in more moderate Muslim countries, including those allied with the United States and their self-declared "War on Terror." Indonesian officials demanded Washington punish those responsible for their "immoral action[s]," while Pakistan has called for a probe of the alleged incident.


The U.S. Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice has tried to calm the situation, saying these reports are "abhorrent to us all," and is assuring a full investigation will be made. But her reassurances have not silenced large and angry protests in Afghanistan and Pakistan, two of the shakiest of America's Muslim nation allies.

And, in Afghanistan especially, where a garrison of nearly 19,000 U.S. and several thousand international troops, including more than two thousand Canadians, are yet to gain control of the country, the resurgence of anti-American sentiment, already profound, is particularly unwelcome.

This could tie-down U.S. troops in the country making reinforcement of Iraq impossible. Casualty attrition in Iraq and dwindling enlistment in the United States is a serious concern for the U.S. military, and could bring calls for greater "contributions" by friends and clients for Afghanistan.



Chris Cook hosts Gorilla Radio, a weekly public affairs program, broad/webcast from CFUV Radio at the University of Victoria, Canada. He also serves as a contributing editor at PEJ.org

You can check out the Gorilla Radio Blog here...





Galloway Goes to Washington

PEJ News: With the election less than a week old in Britain, attacks against dissident former New Labour star, Respect Party MP George Galloway have begun. In an outlandish Bolton-esque fashion, accusations that Galloway had profited from the maligned U.N. Oil for Food Program has emerged from the United States. The report relies on virtually all the information used to attack Galloway and others critical of the U.N. approved sanctions against Iraq following 1991's Desert Storm. The same accusations Galloway defended at the time, and successfully filed suit against. - {lex}




http://www.indymedia.org.uk/images/2004/01/284247.jpg


Galloway Goes to Washington
C. L. Cook
May 12th, 2005

PEJ News - It didn't take long. Just hours after winning an unlikely victory against high-profile Tony Blair protege, Oona King in Britain's May 5th general election, outspoken war critic, and former New Labour insider, George Galloway was sand-bagged by "the BBC's principal rottweiler" Jeremy Paxman. Paxman, a prominent television news presenter congratulated the new MP with this:

Jeremy Paxman: "Mr Galloway, are you proud of having got rid of one of the very few black women in Parliament?"

To which the sensible Member answered:

Galloway: "What a preposterous question. I know it's very late in the night, but wouldn't you be better starting by congratulating me for one of the most sensational election results in modern history?"


This prime time jab by the nation's public broadcaster was nothing to Galloway, he's been a lightning rod for too long to be shocked by the likes of Paxman; but, the zap from Bush faithful Senator Norm Coleman's Senate Investigative Committee may have jotled him. The MP is being invited to participate in the committee's main event, the so-called "Oil For Influence: How Saddam Used Oil to Reward Politicians and Terrorist Entities Under the United Nations Oil-for-Food Programme" hearings. If the committee is long on title, it promises to make up for that with swift judgement.

Why Galloway would be willing to play the kangaroo in this planned pantomime is a mystery. But according to the Bethnel Green and Bow MP, he's been trying to reach the committee to be granted an opportunity to answer the unmerited accusations. Coleman denies knowledge of previous contact.

When asked about his appearance before the committee, Galloway said:

?Yes, I will be there, but I am not happy with the process. Who would be? Even in Kafka there was a trial of sorts.?

Sadly for Canadians, "our" public broadcaster is singing in tune with the BBC.

The hearings are scheduled for May 17th in Washington, and we'll then see how well Galloway weathers the whip.



Chris Cook hosts Gorilla Radio, broad/webcast from CFUV Radio at the University of Victoria, Canada.
He also serves as a contributing editor to PEJ.org



Inexorable War Creep: Canada Another Step into the Breach

Canada's pretence to non-alignment, or at least nothing more than a loose affiliation, with Bush administration ambitions of global energy domination lost another veil with Bill Graham's announcement of a Canadian troop deployment to the oilfields of Darfur. -{lex}



http://www.listentome.net/
evil/bush_mad.jpg





Inexorable War Creep
C. L. Cook
May 9th, 2005






http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/
department/pr_2003/site/images/bill.gif



PEJ News - There's been thunder and bluster coming from the Tory benches for more than a year demanding the humanitarian situation in Darfur requires an immediate military response. The risk we take in waiting, they insist, is another Rwanda in Sudan But that logic begs belief in the necessity to spend Canadian lives and taxes to avoid the possible repeat of an event they didn't care about when actually happening in Rwanda.

Saving black African lives has never been a priority here, not among the men making policy. Who cares today about Congo, where nearly ten times as many have died as have in the tragic Sudan, and continue to do so ? No, the real tragedy of Darfur is its unfortunate proximity to a great black sea of oil. As in other theatres of the grand global turmoil: Iraq; Colombia; Venezuela; it's oil putting Sudan in the octopus' sights. The humanitarian disaster is simply side-show, another Kosovo.

Canada's tentacles do great agency to the Bush administration's great work: Canadian troops engaged in the illegal war and regime change in Afghanistan. Canadian war ships, under U.S. command running search and seizure patrols in the Persian Gulf, federal police and Canadian military aiding an illegal and brutal regime in Haiti, a regime Canadian machinations helped implace. Yugoslavia, Somalia and now Darfur; it would be just another sad and too typical foreign policy story Canadians have endured these past years, but there's more to Darfur than meets the media eye. Because, there's more than one monster lurking in the tar.

Both China and India haven't rested on their sweatshop laurels. The two most rapidly growing economies in the world have been going abroad, investing, greasing palms, doing the ugly deeds need done to cut deals. China has been especially industrious, securing much of coveted Darfur, and they're determined to keep it. With the "Stans" gone Uncle Sam's way for now, China has to make a play in Africa. They've supported the government there with equipment and, depending on the source, some thousands of Chinese troops. Are Canadians really up for the Red Army? Is the final gambit in the great game a WWIV scenario over control of Africa's oil and minerals?

Clearly there is a humanitarian crisis in Darfur, but it has little to do with the story being peddled to "justify" another bloodbath for oil and reconstruction contracts. The infamous dastards this time are the Janjawid, an "anti-government militia" much in the style of Colombia's AUC; they are conveniently classified as enemies, while being used to do the government's dirtiest work. In this case, as in the wilds of Colombia, their job is to clear the indigenous from the riches they happen to reside atop. Meanwhile the emperor's agents have the ears and balls of the "rogue" leadership firmly in hand. It's a crisis, but not without a calculated cause.

Judging by ongoing Canadian interventions around the world,
is it reasonable to expect positive results from a Canadian-style operation?

Afghanistan is still a disaster three and half years after their liberation. Haiti worsens by the day; Iraq and the Persian Gulf boil hotter now than ever, and Central America is poised on a hair's edge, Castro and Chavez calling militias to readiness.

And now, Canada is to sally 150 hapless souls into the emperors breach. Just the first of more hundreds of handfuls of fodder to feed the indefatigable maw of war?

And barely a murmur. The great opposition to our collective march into the 19th century coming from Ottawa is a political slingshot sent at Minister Graham, purporting his announced intentions are merely a move to appease a disaffected defector of the Liberal party.

Like the Gomery hullaboo, it's a stain on a blue dress to keep the "dogs of the press" busy while Martin dons the steel.



Chris Cook hosts the weekly public affairs program, Gorilla Radio, broad/webcast from the University of Victoria, Canada and serves as a contributing editor to the progressive news site, PEJ.org. You can check out his blog, here.




The Fictionalized Life and Death of Pat Tillman

Last week, the Pentagon released its clarification of the death of Army Ranger Pat Tillman in Afghanistan last year. The report pretty much bears out the article I wrote in December, reproduced below. And, the Washington Post followed up on their report with extensive reaction to the Army cover-up by members of the Tillman family. -{lex}



Two National Football League stars walk away from the game at the height of their lucrative careers for reasons that illustrate the divide in today's America.





Two Americans, Two Americas
C. L. Cook
Dec. 5th 2004


Red Team, Blue Team

There's been much written, in the wake of the recent U.S. elections, of the split in the American political psyche. Some have extrapolated this division to the spiritual sphere, making of it a struggle to find the soul of the nation. The twin tales of the departure from the NFL of star players, Pat Tillman and Ricky Williams serve as analogues of a nation seeking its identity.

Pat Tillman came from a military family. After the 9/11 attacks against America, he began to view football as irrelevant in the broader scope of the nation's affairs. He and his brother, Kevin, a former football professional himself, joined the elite Army Rangers because, in Pat's words,

"A lot of my family has gone and fought wars, and I really haven't done a damn thing."

The brothers were assigned to the same unit, and initially sent to Iraq, before a subsequent transfer to Afghanistan. O­n April 22nd, 2004, they were ambushed while o­n patrol and Pat Tillman was killed.

The army was quick to award Tillman the Silver Star, and released a glowing account of the fatal encounter and Pat's heroism that would later prove to be mostly fiction. The truth was: Tillman's death was the culmination of a series of incompetent decisions made by superiors along the chain of command, compounded by equipment failure. Ultimately, he was killed by "friendly-fire," or in civilian terms, shot by his own side.

Some, o­n the anti-war, anti-empire side of the American bifurcation, used the lies told by the Pentagon, and the media's shameless jingoistic lionization of Tillman, to impugn his character and the accounts of his courage under fire, (completely untrue), while others went so far as to question the intelligence of the man who swallowed the Bush line o­n the "War o­n Terror" whole and ultimately died for a lie (less completely untrue).

Tillman believed he was serving the interests of his country, but he was no dummy. He graduated summa cum laude from Arizona State, while playing football, in less than four years. His friends say he was a voracious reader, and loved to discuss conspiracy theories. Whether he had come to doubt Washington's veracity, or entertain the greatest conspiracy theory of them all before the end is an open question.

Ricky Williams was a Heissman Trophy-winning star Running Back for the Miami Dolphins making millions a year, and o­n pace to break every record in the book. Then he decided to walk away. He'd been troublesome for the Dolphins, failing numerous drug tests for marijuana, and facing fines and suspension from the league. His drug use hadn't always been a problem for the NFL, though.

While recovering from an injury, doctors (and drugs-making giant Glaxxo SmithKline) convinced Williams his aversion to crowds of autograph seekers was due to a condition they called, "social anxiety disorder," or (SAD). He was quickly signed o­n as a "celebrity patient" for Glaxxo's new miracle cure for shyness, Paxil and began making the media rounds promoting the anti-depressant. But the drug didn't sit well with Williams, so he gave it up in favour of weed.

He wasn't shy about the benefits of leaf, saying it was "ten times better than Paxil" and should be made legal. The NFL didn't agree. Just weeks before the 2004 season began, still facing fines and censure, Ricky Williams walked, saying,

"I've realized, both o­n a psychological and physical level, that the things we do in football don't bring more harmony to your life. They just bring more disharmony."

Since his departure, Williams has gone o­n a world-wide odyssey, travelling through Asia, Europe, Australia, and finally home to California, in an effort to find his own path. He's gone vegan, enrolled in a course teaching the ancient Indian holistic medicinal practice, Ayurveda, and, even though faced with law suits from the league and savage attacks by the press, says he's never been happier. At his now defunct website, RunRickyRun.com, he wrote:

"I wish athletes today could have the same impact o­n social reform as they did when he [Jim Brown] was playing. When the likes of Ali, Malcolm X and Jim Brown all sat in the same room and discussed their views o­n America. Nowadays, it seems all some of us are interested in is how much money we can make. I love playing football, and I love making money, but I am starting to realize that those aren't the o­nly reasons God has given me so much talent."

Out of the game for good, Williams won't have the soap-box of professional sport to effect the kind of change he had envisioned, but his Ricky Williams Foundation continues to raise money to educate under-privileged kids in America.

We'll never know what positive contributions Pat Tillman could have made to his country.[Since this writing, the Pat Tillman Foundation has been created to do good works in community-lex]

Both these Americans, bright, driven, independent, and courageous will fade from the national consciousness, but together they represent the deep divisions of that country in a time when the need for existential soul-searching has never been more relevant.

Chris Cook produces and hosts the public affairs program, Gorilla Radio, heard weekly o­n CFUV Radio, University of Victoria.
http://cfuv.uvic.ca


Annotations

Run Ricky Run: Football, Pot, and Pain
Fred Gardner
Counterpunch.org
Aug. 7/8, 2004
http://www.counterpunch.org/gardner08072004.html

Ricky Williams at Holistic Medicine School
Associated Press
Nov. 24th, 2004
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6562580/

In the Kill Zone: The Unnecessary Death of Pat Tillman
Steve Coll
The Washington Post
Dec. 5th, 2004
http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/120604Y.shtml

Pat Tillman and Ricky Williams
Dec., 5th, 2004
Mickey Z.
http://www.mickeyz.net

The Runaway
Chris Jones
Esquire Magazine
Dec. 2004 Volume 142, Issue 6
http://www.esquire.com/features/articles/2004/041104_mfe_ricky.html


Former Dolphin Star Goes for Ayurvedic Medicine
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/football/pro/dolphins/sfl-rickyphgal04,0,5297408.photogallery?coll=sfla-dolphins-front




Berlusconi Reveals Italian Retreat from Iraq

Italian Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi admits Italy's Iraq withdrawal "timeline." His announcement comes a day after he defiantly denied Italian troop deployments would be effected by the heavily criticized "no fault" findings of American investigators looking into the March shooting of journalist, Giuliana Sgrena and Italian secret agent, Nicola Calipari in Iraq. {-lex}




Lost in the Translation:
Mixed Messages on Italian Iraq Pullout
C. L. Cook
May 6, '05

Will he Stay, or Will he Go?

While Britain's Guardian newspaper is reporting Silvio Berlusconi's commitment yesterday to "stay the course" in Iraq, today, AGI, an Italian news service with close ties to the PM's office says Berlusconi has revealed a withdrawal timeline for Italian troops now in Iraq. The embattled Mr. Berlusconi wouldn't give further details, but said he had discussed the timeline with the Iraqi leadership, Tony Blair and George Bush.

Berlusconi has been under tremendous pressure to quit Iraq. Italians have consistently rejected the invasion and subsequent occupation and ignoring public opinion has cost the Prime Minister dearly. His tremulous coalition government was crucified in last month's mid-term elections, losing 11 of 13 ridings, forcing Berlusconi to dissolve the government and forge a new, far weaker ruling coalition. Now, loud calls from prominent Italian politicians from both within the coalition and without appear behind today's withdrawal announcement. It's now just a matter of time, or timeline, before the Anglo-American alliance loses another partner.

Italians, already bitter about Berlusconi's arrogance and his close allegiance to George Bush, were outraged last month by American pronouncements on the infamous U.S. military attack against prominent journalist, Giuliana Sgrena and the man sent to Iraq to negotiate her release from insurgent kidnappers, Nicola Calipari. The pair and their secret service driver came under heavy fire from an American squad stationed on the road to the Baghdad airport. The offical results of a joint Italian-American military inquiry into the incident have worsened the situation, with the overwhelming reaction by Italians being calls of "Whitewash."

Though Italy's military contingent in Iraq is relatively small, approximately three thousand strong, the symbolism of fractures appearing in the so-called, "coalition of the willing" can only embolden the resistance, who are now mounting almost 200 attacks daily against the occupiers and their Iraqi collaborators. And with recruitment in the U.S. falling short of it's goals in each of the last three months, finding feet to fill those Italian boots on the ground lost could prove more significant than the numbers suggest.

Tony Blair's re-election rebuke in Britain, too should have the Bush camp worried. Though securing another majority mandate, for now, Blair is fully aware of the unpopularity of his Iraq adventure, as are his fellow New Labour members. There's already talk of a leadership challenge.

All in all, not a good week for the trilateral partners in conquest.


Chris Cook hosts Gorilla Radio, a weekly public affairs program, broad/webcast from the University of Victoria, Canada. He also serves as a contributing editor to the progressive news site, PEJ.org.

You can check out his blog at: http://gorillaradioblog.blogspot.com






The Pitiful Demise of the Eminent Grey Lady

PEJ News- The BBC has suffered severe criticism since its initial boosterism of the Iraq invasion, and now for its continuing blind support for the laughably implausible Tony Blair's contortion of facts that led Britain to follow George Bush into the quagmire. -{lex}



http://www.lou2002.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/
bbcnews24/BBC%20News%20Generic%201999%201.jpg




The Pitiful Demise of the Eminent Gray Lady
C. L. Cook
PEJ News
April 30th, 2005

Though their credibility lays in tatters at home, the Doyen's of the Beeb's international radio service, (rebroadcast weekdays through Camosun College's Village 900), seem unaware of just how low they, and the fourth estate generally has fallen in the eyes and ears of the public.

How else to explain the blatant propaganda-by-omission masqerading as news broadcast yesterday (Friday, April 29th, 2005) concerning the growing rift between allies Italy and the United States?

Clearly, the BBC must believe us all idiots, too preoccupied with sit-coms and shock jocks to see through their B.S.

It all stems from the infamous March shooting of Italian reporter, Giuliana Sgrena and her saviour, super-spy Nicola Calipari. Relying on the "memory hole theory," yesterday's BBC report failed to mention the fact that Sgrena, prior to the American assassination attempt, had been enduring the Iraq occupation not from the air conditioned terraces of an International Hotel, but with the families, women and children particularly, of Baghdad. The London scoops also felt mentioning her by name unnecessary, she was merely referred to as "an Italian national, kidnapped by terrorists."

That Sgrena's reports home were an essential element in forming massive opposition to Italy's participation in the disastrous fiasco was apparently deemed unimportant; that there could well have been motive behind the malice of the attack ignored; that opposition to the war in Italy has, triggered in large part by the "friendly fire" incident, rocked billionaire PM Berlusconi's coalition government, and the lame joint Italian/U.S. military investigation reports on the incident has enraged the Italian street, making a hasty departure of Italian troops from Iraq a distinct possiblilty, too seems just so much floppo to the newbies running the Beeb.

Listening for the hourly repeat of the BBC International News, I expected the story to be fleshed out; I expected at least one "W" of the five would be added. You know, "Who?" But what I got was a repeat of the incomplete.

It seems, the BBC has no room to include the names of survivors who dispute the official line they so assiduously toe. It's as though Sgrena has been disappeared, kidnapped for a second time. Though it's Giuliana Sgrena being silenced by the ethically challenged BBC editors, it's the British people, and those dwindling few on this side of the Atlantic still wowed by the poshly accented credibility front projected by the venerable broadcaster who're being hooded.

Fortunately, friend David Cromwell over at MediaLens.org is watching and reporting on the many failings of the once trusted public broadcaster. It's an example we would be well to follow here in Canada, before the CBC too is deemed unbelievable, thus unsupportable.



Addendum

This article was inspired by an e:mail exchange between myself and the estimable Mr. David Cromwell of Medialens.org, reproduced below. {Lex}


Subject: Chris Cook-- re: BBC International Radio--Sgrena inquiry

Greetings again, David; This BBC service here is wretched. Today, they "covered" the commission fracas. Interestingly though, the good ol' boys of the beeb omitted Sgrena, and the entire "journalists as ducks" angle. They instead focussed on Calipari, barely noting the release of an "Italian national" he had negotiated.

Perhaps she didn't survive afterall?
cheers
chris


David Cromwell:

Interesting to hear, thanks. They've been wretched, too, on the Attorney General's legal advice to Blair on war: and how all his caveats of 7th March 2003 disappeared but 10 days later.

The Cabinet did not see the full advice of 7th March, but only heard a verbal summary from the AG. Clare Short, a Cabinet minister then, said that questions weren't allowed. Blair is now saying, having been essentially forced to publish the full advice, that it's not the "smoking gun" that anti-war supporters had been saying (which is a strawman argument).

Andrew Marr, the BBC's political editor, has been saying much the same thing, i.e. toeing Blair's line. Scandalous. The next day, the BBC had decreed that the election campaign had "moved on from Iraq". I hope it's all been an eye-opener for yet more people about the abysmal journalism by the BBC.

best wishes,
David

Chris Cook hosts Gorilla Radio, broad/webcast from the University of Victoria, Canada. He's also a contributing editor at PEJ.org News, a progressive Victoria news site. Check out his blog at: Gorilla Radio Blog



[The Gray Lady is an honorific for the New York Times, but I felt it also fitting for the failing BBC.]





Curious News: Two Tortured Tales from Iraq

PEJ News- If there's still left anyone expecting to get a truthful picture of the situation in Iraq through the U.S. media, or their operating surrogate government there, I have an acre of beachfront property in Kansas to sell!

www.PEJ.org



Curious News:
Two Tortured Tales from Iraq

C. L. Cook

PEJ News
April 20th, 2005


A tale of two atrocities in Iraq is currently unfolding across the newswires and should, true to form, play big on the networks tonight.

The first involves the discovery of dozens (numbers vary, but the media-agreed toll is 50) of bodies floating in the Tigris river. This year's Interim President, Jalal Talabani blamed the insurgency, saying: "We have the full names of those who were killed and those criminals who commited these crimes.''

As there have been no arrests, no reports of kidnappings from Mada'in itself and accounts of the condition of the corpses found, ascertaining the "full names" of each of these unfortunates and the identities of their killers stretches credulity.

Stranger yet is the fact that, if Talabani is to be believed, this mass slaying of men, women, and children would mark a distinct departure for the resistance. While civilian women and children are killed daily by stray bullets, car bombs, and criminal activity, up to now they haven't been targeted for execution in the gruesome manner ascribed by Talabani to the bodies found in the Tigris.

And then there's Falah al-Naqib. He's last year's Interim Prime Minister, Iyad Allawi's soon to depart Interior Minister. He's blamed the rumours of the mass kidnappings on Iranian intelligence. Note: His accusation concurs with the majority opinion in both Mada'in, and throughout Iraq that the kidnapping story was just that: A story! Likely, a further effort to create a sectarian fissure in Iraq. A day after al-Naqib's verbal pratfall voila, dozens of horribly mutilated bodies start hitting the shore downstream of the city.

But, even that's not clear. Bodies beaching themselves at the feet of those living down river of Iraq's cities has been a daily occurrence since at least February. But now it appears, someone cares and has all the answers (pending publication) about who these dead are, who killed them, and why. Curious!

Our second story is no less grim, and it too is a crime solved by the Interim administration almost before it occurred!

Today, the bodies of 19, (or perhaps 20, depending on your news source) Iraqi men were discovered in the soccer stadium at Hidath, a satellite city not far from Baghdad. They had apparently been lined up, St. Valentine's Day Massacre style and mowed down by machine guns. None of the unfortunates were in military uniform, according to Associated Press (AP) reports, being ripped and read by every news agency from Dallas to New Dehli, but they have been "identified" as being members to a man of the Iraqi National Guard.

What's immediately odd about this account is the location. Soccer stadium executions are usually identified with the ruling power. But in this instance, the AP asserts the insurgents have beaten the ruling power to the punch.

Haditha has been ruled continuously by pro-Occupation factions, with at least one Mayor of the town paying for the privilege with his life. So, what we have here is the kidnapping of a platoon of National Guard soldier/police in the heart of a pro-Occupation town, their subsequent transit to the local football stadium and execution. And all this in a town that saw multiple car-bomb attacks against U.S. forces exactly one month ago yesterday.

I'll be waiting, bated-breathed for the 6 O'Clock News, and other fictions erupting the network pens! Or, maybe I'll just catch another Simpsons rerun.


Chris Cook hosts Gorilla Radio, a weekly public affairs program, broad/webcast from the University of Victoria, Canada and is a contributing editor at PEJ.org News


Annotations

Outgoing Interior Minister Warns on Iran, Badr Corps
http://www.juancole.com/2005/04/outgoing-interior-minister-warns-on.html

Sunni guerrillas had taken over 100 Shiites hostage at Mada'in
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-4944223,00.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-4951751,00.html
ALEXANDRA ZAVIS
Associated Press Writer





It's Confirmed: Bolton Nuts!

PEJ News- George Bush's nominee for U.S. Ambassador to the UN, John Bolton is currently suffering confirmation hearings. Every day, the voices of the many people he's stepped on during his grotesque career are rising, painting a portrait of a pathological liar with sociopathic tendencies. -{lex}



It's Confirmed: Bolton Nuts!
C. L. Cook
PEJ News
April 18, 2005


It seems everywhere John Bolton goes he leaves a trail of bullied and embittered subordinates. Any who contradict his often fantastical conclusions, or merely question his confabulations, are immediately berated, belittled, and find themselves the objects of smear campaigns designed to ruin their careers.

Consider the case of Melody Townsel. Ms. Townsel still feels the sting more than a decade later. So much so, she presented a letter to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee weighing the nomination. She claims, while working with US AID in Kyrgyzstan she ran afoul of Bolton. She'd written a letter to complain about the many problems with the contractor carrying out the aid contract. At the time, Bolton represented as legal counsel one of the contractors named. Townsel goes on to describe what happpened next.

"Within hours of sending a letter to US AID officials outlining my concerns, I met John Bolton, whom the prime contractor hired as legal counsel to represent them to US AID. And, so, within hours of dispatching that letter, my hell began. Mr. Bolton proceeded to chase me through the halls of a Russian hotel - throwing things at me, shoving threatening letters under my door and, generally, behaving like a madman. For nearly two weeks, while I awaited fresh direction from my company and from US AID, John Bolton hounded me in such an appalling way that I eventually retreated to my hotel room and stayed there. Mr. Bolton, of course, then routinely visited me there to pound on the door and shout threats."

"When US AID asked me to return to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan in advance of assuming leadership of a project in Kazakstan, I returned to my project to find that John Bolton had proceeded me by two days. Why? To meet with every other AID team leader as well as US foreign-service officials in Bishkek, claiming that I was under investigation for misuse of funds and likely was facing jail time. As US AID can confirm, nothing was further from the truth."

"As a maligned whistleblower, I've learned firsthand the lengths Mr. Bolton will go to accomplish any goal he sets for himself. Truth flew out the window. Decency flew out the window. In his bid to smear me and promote the interests of his client, he went straight for the low road and stayed there. John Bolton put me through hell - and he did everything he could to intimidate, malign and threaten not just me, but anybody unwilling to go along with his version of events. His behavior back in 1994 wasn't just unforgivable, it was pathological."

Serious charges, but coming from a self-described "whistleblower" easily brushed aside. But there's more. As an officer of the U.S. government, Bolton has consistently lied and schemed to further his own ambitions, sacrificing his sworn duties to his superiors. Unnamed insiders say Bolton, during his term as undersecretary of state for arms control and international security actively blocked intelligence reports from reaching his boss, Colin Powell, and Powell's successor, Condoleezza Rice.

This selective use of information concerning matters of State urgency are more than reckless, more than simply a case of individual ambition; these are treasonous offences that kept vital information regarding U.S. strategies for dealing with Iran and their alleged nuclear program; issues that could see another war in the middle-east.

The anonymous officials go on to cite a dozen examples of Bolton's "back channeling" information while serving as the undersecretary of state for arms control and international security. And worse, Bolton not only held on to information that didn't jibe with his world view, he also created "intelligence" that furthered those views. Remember Cuba's chemical weapons program? That hoary bit of nonesense came straight from the horse's mouth.

And now, the man who so famously said the U.N. building could lose ten stories and it wouldn't matter is poised to be the United States' top man? Only if he can outrun the hordes he's stepped on during his illustrious rise to power in George Bush's America!



Chris Cook hosts 'Gorilla Radio' a weekly public affairs program, broad/webcast from the University of Victoria, Canada and is a contributing editor at Pej News.







The Coming Clash of the Far East Titans

PEJ News: On the periphery of the media radar there's a broiling tension growing between the two giants of the Far East, China and Japan. -{lex}




The Coming Clash: Japan and China Nose to Nose
C. L. Cook
PEJ News
April 17th, 2005

Ostensibly, it's all about oil. One of the results of the U.S. powerplay in the middle-east is the energy isolation of the Far East. Desperate to secure future supplies, China and Japan, (and a host of other regional players), are vying for a highly touted offshore oilfield. But, the scrap for rights to drill in the contested area is exposing old sore spots between the Asian behemoths.

Yesterday, the Japanese government unilaterally granted permission to their national oil interests to begin surveying and "test" drilling in the East China Sea. The Chinese response is livid. For weeks, Beijing has allowed public demonstrations excoriating Japan for their recent expunging from history of the infamous Rape of Nanjing and its attendant atrocities. The rare permissions promise to make the Japanese Foreign Minister's scheduled visit to Beijing today uncomfortable.

It's not the first time the Chinese government has used "activists" to further their policies. In 2004, seven Chinese nationals occupied one of the disputed islands, destroying a lighthouse, and claimed "ownership" of the uninhabited, "Senkaku" to the Japanese, "Diaoyu" to the Chinese, Archipelago.

The Chinese believe Japan's granting of exploration rights is a provocation, a provocation that western analysts hint could lead to naval clashes. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Qin Gang said of the recent Japanese move, "Japan has come up with a provocation to China?s rights and the norm of international relations.? Ominously adding, "China has filed a protest and they resserve the right to take further action."

The dispute is growing, as import-reliant European nations voice partisan support.

China and Japan are, respectively, the 2nd and 3rd largest energy consumers, almost exculusively reliant on imports.



Chris Cook hosts and produces the weekly public affairs program, Gorilla Radio, broad/webcast from the University of Victoria, Canada, and serves as an editor at http://www.pej.org




Another Krakatoa? Quake-Rocked Java Evacuates Volcano Zone

PEJ News: Javanese confidence is shaken in the wake of a series of major earthquakes since the Boxing Day killer tsunami. Two more 6.5 Richter scale temblors today, and the lively activity of a dozen volcanoes, prompted Indonesian officials to issue an evacuation order. - {lex}


www.udstillinger.dnlb.dk/Udpluk/Images/Krakatao.JPG



Krakatoa II?
C. L. Cook
PEJ News
April 16th, 2005


Indonesia is on Volcano Watch today, as two significant earthquakes rattled the country's most populace island, Java. Accelerated volcanic activity since the massive December tsunami-triggering sub-seabed earthquake is not the only cause for concern.

On Sumatra, the island repeatedly rocked since Boxing Day, an eruption of Mount Talang, one of hundreds of live volcanoes within the equatorial nation, is creating so much seismic activity, scientists recommended the government issue evacuation orders to tens of thousands. The Indonesian military, and foreign aid agencies are now struggling to erect tent cities to house the displaced until the threat passes.

Today's quake was centred in the narrow stretch of water separating Java and Sumatra, the Sunda Strait. A second quake of undetermined magnitute also struck, its epicenter lying within twenty kilometers of West Java's capital city, Bandung. There have been to date no official reports of casualties.

Vulcanologist, Syamsul Rizal says he believes the increased activity is attributable to the December earthquake, so powerful it effected the planet's rotation.





When It's O.K. to Kill

PEJ News: Two separate inquiries into the shooting of journalists, one in the United States, the other in Israel, have effectively given the green light for the targeting and killing of members of the media. -{lex}


Let's Have Some Fun with It!

image: http://www.kesknadal.ee
/news_img/24nov04_falluja_killer_soldier_satan.jpeg





When It's O.K. to Kill
C. L. Cook
pej news
April 14, 2005



Korea 1950-'52



Baghdad, March 6th, 2005- They were singing and laughing in the car, happy to be heading home to Italy. Giuliana Sgrena, corrospondent for Italy's 'Il Manifesto' newspaper had endured weeks of mortal fear, not knowing who her kidnappers really worked for, or what they might do to her. She was an old Iraq hand, having covered the invasion and occupation from a uniquely feminine perspective, living with and documenting the effects of the conflict on Iraqi women and children. And her reports were uncompromisingly critical of America and it's so-called coalition.

It was Sgrena's unflagging sympathy with the Iraqi people that finally led to her release. That, and the negotiating skill of Nicola Calipari. Calipari had negotiated the release of two Italian humanitarian aid workers and three other Italians kidnapped in Iraq. Calipari, Sgrena, and their driver were now homefree, past the last military roadblocks with the airport in sight less than half a mile away. Then the shooting started.




http://www.palestinemonitor.org/mustafa/Picture1.jpg


An American tank, purportedly put along the route as "extra security' for the expected visit of U.S. Ambassador to Iraq, John Negroponte, swung it's turret around and opened fire on the car carrying the Italians. When the shooting stopped, Calipari was dead, Sgrena wounded, and the driver left, miraculously, only slightly wounded in the bullet riddled car. In Italy, the reaction was outrage.

The press in Italy had followed the drama of one of the country's best-known journalists, as it had the case of the "two Simona's," Simona Pari and Simona Torreta. And the story the U.S. military tried to sell on the incident, contradicted by the surviving Sgrena, made matters worse.

Today, a "joint Italian-U.S. investigation" found no fault on the part of the soldiers. In a released statement, the crack investigative team merely reiterated the military's original, already discredited story. End of story.

And in Israel today, nearly two years afer her husband, British filmmaker, James Miller was gunned down by an Israeli officer, the Israeli Defense Force ruled no fault was to be found. End of story.

But the story doesn't end here. There will be more journalists targeted and killed in this way. Today's double homicide rulings merely make it O.K.


Chris Cook is an editor with PEJ News and hosts Gorilla Radio, broad/webcast from the University of Victoria, Canada. Check out his blog at http://gorillaradioblog.blogspot.com



Annotations


US SOLDIERS CLEARED IN ITALIAN'S DEATH
U.S. soldiers reportedly have been cleared of wrongdoing in the shooting of an Italian journalist and an intelligence agent last month in Baghdad. http://www.nypost.com/news/worldnews/23237.htm

ITALIAN PRESS: ITALY "UNHAPPY" WITH RULING
http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=4397936

ITALIAN JOURNALIST: U.S. LIED
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/04/12/60II/main687555.shtml

ISRAELI SOLDIER CLEARED IN BRITISH JOURNALIST'S DEATH
An Israeli soldier accused of shooting a British cameraman dead has been cleared by a judge of any wrongdoing.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4444781.stm

ANGER AS ISRAELI SOLDIER CLEARED OVER JOURNALIST'S SHOOTING
http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=4399268





Killer Virus "Accidentally" Distributed Globally

pej news- The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has put out an urgent call to all labs receiving the virus to immediately destroy the bug and provide documentation verifying that action. - {lex}




Killer Flu Virus Distributed
Worldwide by U.S. Company
C. L. Cook
pej.org news




http://consusgroup.com/images/logos/
companies/meridian_bioscience.gif



April 13, 2005

Cinncinati-based, Meridian-Bioscience has admitted to sending a deadly virus to more than 4000 labratories worldwide. The H2N2 flu virus strain killed millions in 1957, before being effectively wiped out through a vaccine campaign. But, samples of the strain were preserved.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has put out an urgent call to all labs receiving the virus to immediately destroy the bug and provide documentation verifying that action. The great fear is: Because H2N2 has been treated as extinct, no immunization against it has been provided since 1968. That leaves those born after that year particularly vulnerable.

For its part, Meridian-Bioscience says the massive distribution of the killer flu strain was accidental, a claim CDC Director, Dr. Julie Gerberding says is, "almost impossible to believe." While senior World Health Organization scientist, Dr. Klaus Stohr criticized Meridian's decision to include this particular viral agent with others routinely sent out to labs as "unwise."

In a statement released today, Meridian-Bioscience denied culpability saying, "Such samples are used by professional laboratories accustomed to handling viral agents. The company has a long history of supplying samples to the College [of American Pathologists] and believes it has been and is in compliance with all applicable regulations."

Dr. Stohr says he believes the risks of an outbreak are remote and "should not lead to a big scare."

Laboratories receive these types of viruses and bacteria to better help them to detect and identify new, naturally occuring strains. Meridian says it sent the material as part of a contract to the College of American Pathologists. The particulars of that "contract" are still unclear. The CDC's Gerberding says the company did not immediately respond to calls for information, adding the CDC is still trying to find out what exactly happened.

"The explanation for why H2N2 was used in proficiency panels by Meridian Bioscience ... is not something that was clarified."It is almost impossible to believe they did not know they were dealing with H2N2," she said.

The appearance of the H2N2 virus was first detected by Canadian health officials March 26, but is believed to have been dispersed as long ago as September, 2004 throught the U.S. and countries including: Canada, Italy, Brazil, Hong Kong, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, and Jamaica.






Pandemic in the Making?
C. L. Cook
pej.org
April 11th, 2005



On March 23, the World Health Organization released reports officially naming the mysterious illness plaguing Angola. Marburg, the deadly virus first identified in the late sixties, was tagged as the culprit in the deaths of over 150 people since October. The viral haemorrhagic fever cousin to the more famous ebola fever has now spread to seven of Angola's 18 provinces, and the capital, Luanda.


The WHO's official diagnosis has prompted international crisis response.

Until a month ago, cases were sporadic, mostly occuring in very young children, but last month the first of 17 health care workers to become infected and die heightened concerns that this, the largest outbreak of its kind, could become a pandemic.


The spread of Marburg is creating an atmosphere of fear and suspicion.

The WHO suspended mobile surveillance efforts in the wake of stone-throwing attacks. Rumours have implicated foreign medical aid missions with creating the crisis through tainted child immunization programs. While locals say they are upset that friends and relations diagnosed and isolated in hospitals who died were quickly buried without next of kin notification, or ceremony.





Sumatra Hit by Third Quake

The Indonesian island of Sumatra was rocked Sunday by the third major earthquake to hit there since the massive Boxing Day, tsunami triggering temblor. -{lex}



Third Quake Sends Sumatrans Fleeing for High Ground
C. L. Cook
pej.org
April 10th, 2005


A 6.8 Richter magnitude earthquake struck today off the coast of Sumatra, sending panicked residents of the west coast city of Padang fleeing for high ground. The sub-seabed quake's epicenter is estimated at 25 kilometers below the seabed and roughly 110 kilometers southwest of the city.

In late March, an 8.7 Richter shaker in the same area killed more than 600 people.

No tsunami activity has been reported, but nervous locals were not waiting for official directions to evacuate the coast. For those staying behind, a series of aftershocks kept people out of doors.

Sumatra suffered the brunt of the last December's earthquake and tsunami.




This Week on Gorilla Radio
C. L. Cook
April 10th, 2005




http://dahrjamailiraq.com/gallery/albums/album25/widow_with_kids.jpg
A widow with children



Dahr Jamail

Dahr Jamail visited UVic last week. It was but one stop in his North American speaking tour. Jamail is a freelance journalist who?s spent more than eight months in Iraq. Entirely unembedded, he?s a journalist by default. The former mountaineer and social worker says the dissonance between the TeeVee Newz he received at home in Alaska and accounts he read on the internet and in international reportage urged him to travel to Iraq and find out the truth for himself. Dahr Jamail in the first segment.









http://www.edugraphics.net/ga7-wildlife/posters/ga753-g3.jpg



Chris Genovali

And; there?s a killing spree too, proceeding unchecked in British Columbia. In fact, it?s carnage sanctioned by the government of Gordon Campbell. Last month, Gordo cut the ribbon on the 2005 Grizzly Bear Hunt, clearing the way for a troglodyte invasion of B.C.?s backwoods. The renewal of the hunt accompanying the Liberal ascension in 2000 is responsible for the deaths of approximately 750 grizzly bears. Chris Genovali is the executive director of The Raincoast Conservation Society. His blistering article, ?Killing Grizzlies for Fun? appeared last week on CounterPunch.org. Chris Genovali and high-powered death in the woods in the second half.







http://streetnewz.communitypipe.org/templates/JavaBean/images/image_01.jpg


Janine Bandcroft

And, Janine Bandcroft will be here in at the bottom of the hour to bring us up to speed with all that?s good to do in and around Victoria this week. But first, Dahr Jamail and raising hell in the Holy City.



The Indefensible: Missile Falling

The U.S. Defence Department has ignored Canadian requests to alter the trajectory of a scheduled April 13th launch of a Titan IV rocket. There are concerns in Newfoundland, jetisoned stage debris will fall uncomfortably close to Hibernia's offshore oil platforms. - {lex}

Breaking update : U.S. officials have delayed again the controversial launch of the Titan IV. Citing "technical problems," the Air Force Space Command says they'll postpone until April 17th the mission that threatens to shut down Maritime oil production. The American administration maintains: the trajectory, coming within 25 kilometers of the Hibernia offshore oil fields, had only a "one in a trillion" chance of dumped booster rockets hitting one of the Hibernia's oil rigs.




http://www.windows.ucar.edu/headline
_universe/images/titan_iv_sm.jpg


Heads Up Newf! No Defence from This Missile
C. L. Cook
pej.org
April 9th, 2005


St John's Nfld. - The Canada-Newfoundland Offshore Petroleum Board has confirmed they are implementing a contingency evacuation plan for the massive Hibernia platforms in wake of The U.S. Defence Department's dismissal of their request to alter a flight that will see a roughly 10,000 kilogram spent rocket tank falling within a 25 kilometer radius of the offshoire oil field.

Newfoundland Premier, Danny Williams testily questioned what steps the Federal government had taken to convey the full merit of his, and the consortium of international oil companies operating in Hibernia, concerns, saying:

"If Canada is going to represent us on interests like this which are international, then I expect a good stream of information, solid, consistent information to come to me as the head of a province."

For their part, Air Force Space Command spokesperson, Masao Doi reassured nervous Newfoundlanders, saying:

"Safety is a top priority for us and we do a thorough safety check on all of our boosters when we plot trajectories over international waters.''



http://www.hmwent.com/images/
automationsolutions/8-Hibernia-Drill-Platform.jpg


Doi says he believes there's little chance personal injury will result the from debris plummeting into the sea. But those assurances aren't enough for the Offshore Petroleum Board. Board spokesperson, Simone Keough says their evacuation plan is moving ahead:

"The only thing that has changed in terms of our preparations is the date.''

The Titan IV launch had been scheduled earlier in the year, but has suffered delays due to technical difficulties.

Evacuation would mean shutting down the 230.000-barrel-per-day Hibernia project, at a cost estimated in the tens of millions of dollars.

A spokesperson for Deputy PM, Anne McLellan says senior government officials have been talking to Washington since Thursday, and are:

"trying to get clarity on what their plans are and are expressing our concerns about the economic impact that this would have.''


Indefensible !



Meeting Mr. Wilkins
C. L. Cook
pej.org
April 5th, 2005


Canada's Globe and Mail is reporting CTV assertions that republican State Legislator and speaker, David Wilkins has been touted by George W. Bush to fill the vacancy created by out-going Paul Cellucci. Wilkins is a long-time Bush family ally, and has previously refused both an Ambassadorial posting to Chile, and federal Judgeship. He now dismisses speculation about his assumption of the post as "rumour," while not ruling out the prospect.Wilkins was a top fundraiser and political operative for Bush during both elections, and his proposed posting would be seen a reward for a loyal backer of Bush administration policy.If he should take up the position, Wilkins will be walking into an increasingly fractious environment for the two neighbours, that has seen festering trade issues left unresolved, differing public stances on the war in Iraq, toughened border restrictions, and a growing tariff war. Marijuana proponents too will take note of Wilkins hard line on marijuana laws and punishments.



Bush to Address Almighty at Pope's Funeral

The man Pope John Paul II said had more in common with the Anti-Christ than any he'd known will travel to Rome for this Friday's funeral service. Bush was humble, saying: "It is my great honour on behalf of our country to express our gratitude to the almighty for such a man." We're still awaiting word if that was the royal "We." -{lex}



Bush to Address Almighty at Pope's Funeral
C. L. Cook
pej.org
April 5th, 2005

According to Britain's Guardian newspaper, plans for the first ever attendance of a sitting American president at a Papal funeral were started months ago. The Guardian reports speculation that the Bush party will include former president George H. W. Bush, Jeb Bush, and possibly former president Bill Clinton. Already, officials in Rome have expressed concern about the added security necessary to attend the American contingent of VIP's. They estimate an extra 10,000 police will be needed to provide security in a city already jammed, and expecting as many as 2 million pilgrims, well-wishers, and tourists Friday. St. Peters Square, the site of Friday's ceremonies, also presents concern.

The square was the site of the 1981 near-assassination of the Pontiff. The attendance of thousands of media representatives too presents worries for security, the feeling being such a high-profile event could prove a tempting target for terrorists seeking publicity. The circus-like atmosphere created by the near constant coverage of the Pope's illness and final succumbing has irked Italians, who fear it threatens the dignity of the final rites of John Paul's long and celebrated life.

What effect the appearance of Mr. Bush and party will have on Italians, already outraged over the blatant shooting of populist jounalist, Giuliana Sgrena and killing of her rescuer, Italian super-negotiator, Nicola Calipari in Iraq last month, is a consideration so far overlooked during the intense grieving period for the immensely popular Polish Pope. The vast majority of Italians joined in with the Pope's opposition to the invasion of Iraq, and have bitterly opposed Prime Minister Berlusconi's close relationship with Mr. Bush. In efforts to salvage political capital, Berlusconi made public pronouncements last month to begin pulling Italian troops out of the middle-east this summer.




Pope as a Little White Stain
C. L. Cook
pej.org
April 5th, '05


Don't get me wrong; though I'm not a Catholic, John Paul II was a figure that transcended his place, (that place being at the apex of the largest religious organization on the planet) I'm not dissing he, or the church. But, I think this rabid media circus dishonours not only the man revered by millions, it also does disservice to the everyday dignity of death itself.

Right now, thousands are dying around the world. There are no anchormen shedding tears for those killed by engineered famine, illegal wars, or for lack of medicine's they can't afford. While coiffed television presenters preen in St. Peter's Square, the planet continues its careening course to environmental destruction; the cause of this destruction kept almost entirely under wraps.

When then President Bill Clinton rounded up his NATO posse to obliterate Yugoslavia, contaminating it permanently with radioactive weaponry, the big news was all about a little blue dress. Or, more exactly, a little white stain on a little blue dress. Now, the same masters of the TeeVee Word are making of the passing of this extraordinary man another distraction.

I'm sure George W. and his criminal cohorts wish the Pope could die everyday. But then, there's always the royal wedding, reportedly postponed to honour the Pope, waiting to fill the next news cycle.


Two Americans, Two Americas

PEJ News - C. L. Cook - Two National Football League stars walk away from the game at the height of their lucrative careers for reasons that illustrate the divide in today's America.


www.PEJ.org




Two Americans, Two Americas

C. L. Cook

PEJ News
Dec. 5th 2004


Red Team, Blue Team

There's been much written, in the wake of the recent U.S. elections, of the split in the American political psyche. Some have extrapolated this division to the spiritual sphere, making of it a struggle to find the soul of the nation. The twin tales of the departure from the NFL of star players, Pat Tillman and Ricky Williams serve as analogues of a nation seeking its identity.

Pat Tillman came from a military family. After the 9/11 attacks against America, he began to view football as irrelevant in the broader scope of the nation's affairs. He and his brother, Kevin, a former football professional himself, joined the elite Army Rangers because, in Pat's words:

"A lot of my family has gone and fought wars, and I really haven't done a damn thing."

The brothers were assigned to the same unit, and initially sent to Iraq, before a subsequent transfer to Afghanistan. O­n April 22nd, 2004, they were ambushed while o­n patrol and Pat Tillman was killed.

The army was quick to award Tillman the Silver Star, and released a glowing account of the fatal encounter and Pat's heroism that would later prove to be mostly fiction. The truth was: Tillman's death was the culmination of a series of incompetent decisions made by superiors along the chain of command, compounded by equipment failure. Ultimately, he was killed by "friendly-fire," or in civilian terms, shot by his own side.

Some o­n the anti-war, anti-empire side of the American bifurcation used the lies told by the Pentagon, and the media's shameless jingoistic lionization of Tillman, to impugn his character and the accounts of his courage under fire, (completely untrue), while others went so far as to question the intelligence of the man who swallowed the Bush line o­n the "War o­n Terror" whole and ultimately died for a lie (less completely untrue).

Tillman believed he was serving the interests of his country, but he was no dummy. He graduated summa cum laude from Arizona State, while playing football, in less than four years. His friends say he was a voracious reader, and loved to discuss conspiracy theories. Whether he had come to doubt Washington's veracity, or entertain the greatest conspiracy theory of them all before the end, is an open question.

Ricky Williams was a Heissman Trophy-winning star Running Back for the Miami Dolphins making millions a year, and o­n pace to break every record in the book. Then he decided to walk away. He'd been troublesome for the Dolphins, failing numerous drug tests for marijuana, and facing fines and suspension from the league. His drug use hadn't always been a problem for the NFL, though.

While recovering from an injury, doctors (and drugs-making giant Glaxxo SmithKline) convinced Williams his aversion to crowds of autograph seekers was due to a condition they called, "social anxiety disorder," or (SAD). He was quickly signed o­n as a "celebrity patient" for Glaxxo's new miracle cure for shyness, Paxil, and began making the media rounds promoting the anti-depressant. But the drug didn't sit well with Williams, so he gave it up in favour of weed.

He wasn't shy about the benefits of leaf, saying it was "ten times better than Paxil," and should be made legal. The NFL didn't agree.

Just weeks before the 2004 season began, still facing fines and censure, Ricky Williams walked, saying:

"I've realized, both o­n a psychological and physical level, that the things we do in football don't bring more harmony to your life. They just bring more disharmony."

Since his departure, Williams has gone o­n a world-wide odyssey, travelling through Asia, Europe, Australia, and finally home to California, in an effort to find his own path. He's gone vegan, enrolled in a course teaching the ancient Indian holistic medicinal practice, Ayurveda, and, though faced with law suits from the league and savage attacks by the press, says he's never been happier. At his now defunct website, RunRickyRun.com, he wrote:

"I wish athletes today could have the same impact o­n social reform as they did when he [Jim Brown] was playing. When the likes of Ali, Malcolm X and Jim Brown all sat in the same room and discussed their views o­n America. Nowadays, it seems all some of us are interested in is how much money we can make. I love playing football, and I love making money, but I am starting to realize that those aren't the o­nly reasons God has given me so much talent."

Out of the game for good, Williams won't have the soap-box of professional sport to effect the kind of change he had envisioned, but his Ricky Williams Foundation continues to raise money to educate under-privileged kids in America.

We'll never know what positive contributions Pat Tillman could have made to his country.

Both these Americans, bright, driven, independent, and courageous will fade from the national consciousness, but together they represent the deep divisions of that country in a time when the need for existential soul-searching has never been more relevant.


Chris Cook serves as a contributing editor to PEJ News. He also produces and hosts the public affairs program, Gorilla Radio, heard weekly o­n CFUV Radio, University of Victoria, Canada. You can check out the GR Blog here.


Anotations:

Run Ricky Run: Football, Pot, and Pain
Fred Gardner
Counterpunch.org
Aug. 7/8, 2004
http://www.counterpunch.org/gardner08072004.html

Ricky Williams at Holistic Medicine School
Associated Press
Nov. 24th, 2004
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6562580/

In the Kill Zone: The Unnecessary Death of Pat Tillman
Steve Coll
The Washington Post
Dec. 5th, 2004
http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/120604Y.shtml

Pat Tillman and Ricky Williams
Dec., 5th, 2004
Mickey Z.
http://www.mickeyz.net

The Runaway
Chris Jones
Esquire Magazine
Dec. 2004 Volume 142, Issue 6
http://www.esquire.com/features/articles/2004/041104_mfe_ricky.html


Former Dolphin Star Goes for Ayurvedic Medicine
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/football/pro/
dolphins/sfl-rickyphgal04,0,5297408.photogallery?coll=sfla-dolphins-front


Attack Launched Against Abu Ghraib Prison
C. L. Cook
pej.org
April 2nd, '05

American military spokesmen confirm at least 18 U.S. casualties resulting a sophisticated, multi-pronged attack against the massive prison complex outside Baghdad. A combination of car bombs, Rocket Propelled Greanade barrage, and estimated 40-60 member troop assault occured as night fell and lasted about 40 minutes, according to the U.S. military.

Abu Ghraib, made infamous by the release of pictures of the torture and humiliation routinely practiced there, has repeatedly come under mortar and bombing attacks. The onset of attacks corrosponded to last year's discovery of a female inmate's letter detailing the rape and torture of women. In the letter, she begged the prison be destroyed.

According to a Red Cross report released last year, as many as 90% of those incarcerated are innocent civilians, arrested from the street, or in their homes and held without charge, or legal recourse.

The U.S. admits more than 10,000 Iraqis have been imprisoned since the fall of Saddam Hussein.




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