World News
2/11/02 - 2/17/02

Sunday 2/17/02

Civilian toll in US raids put at 1,000  2/17/02 Boston Globe: a gross undercount, as usual in the US media. Plus bizarre, maudlin antics of US soldiers: "''The Americans said they were very sorry about the bombing,'' Pashtoon said. Then, he said, the soldiers took out a small piece from the World Trade Center and buried it in the village's graveyard. ''They also took a small part of a building in the town, and they said they would bury it in New York,'' Pashtoon said."

Washington reconstructed  2/17/02 Boston Globe: "The excavators are uncovering the foundation of what once was the nation's biggest whiskey distillery, a slave-operated enterprise that helped make Washington one of the nation's wealthiest men. Washington, whiskey king? Yes, and a major slave profiteer, too. " Drugs and economic oppression have remained mainstays of US dominance.

AK-47 training held at London mosque  2/17/02 Guardian, Uk

US forces move on Filipino militants  2/17/02 Independent, UK: The Empire moves against 60 hoods whose only ace is their government's ability to anger and alienate the population they move in, an ability now ably re-inforced by US troops!

20,000 Israelis rally for peace - Speakers urge nation to end occupation of West Bank, Gaza Strip  2/17/02 San Francisco Chronicle

U.S. troops' foray into southern Philippines evokes memories of Pershing, Colt .45 pistol  2/17/02 San Francisco Chronicle: memories of another genocide.

America's laser of death cleared for take-off  2/17/02 Telegraph, UK: The Battle Star's death ray. Now they will be able pulverize a village without dropping bombs, automating what they did so well in Afghanistan … and Iraq, Vietnam, Korea, Cambodia, Laos, etc etc etc

Saturday 2/16/02

14 more priests under investigation in widening sex scandal  2/16/02 AP: after revealing over 80 pedophile priests in Massachusetts, New Hampshire weighs in.

20,000 Israelis Rally for Peace in Tel Aviv  2/16/02 AP

BBC’s Robin Lustig and President Obasanjo of Nigeria  2/16/02 BBC

Colombia’s ‘dirty war’  2/16/02 Boston Phoenix: "Right-wing terror squads torture and kill union workers and activists"

Secretary of Army Thomas White Alters Website To Hide Leading Role in Enron  2/16/02 Common Dreams

JUSTICE DEPARTMENT HIDING SECRET WEEKLY REPORTS TO THE ATTORNEY GENERAL  2/16/02 Cryptome

Probes of Intelligence Agencies and FBI  2/16/02 Cryptome, US

On Videotape, Bin Laden Charts a Violent Future  2/16/02 Democrats.com: interesting articles first printed 9/9 but rewritten after 9/11 and deleted from the New York Times' site.

DANGEROUS DEALINGS - Changes to U.S. Military Assistance After September 11  2/16/02 Human Rights Watch: the Empire strikes back: "Human Rights Watch is concerned about post-September 11 U.S. policy because it opposes military assistance to governments that have engaged in a pattern of gross violations of international human rights or humanitarian law. Several of the policy's potential beneficiaries have poor human rights records that include torture, political killings, illegal detention, and religious persecution, as well as histories of international humanitarian law violations, such as unlawful attacks on civilians. The modifications in the U.S. foreign military assistance program make it easier for known violators to acquire the tools of abuse, thus implicating the United States in abuses that result. The loosening of restrictions on military assistance also sets a dangerous example for arms exporting nations around the world."

Israeli Army suffers pair of sharp blows  2/16/02 IHT: "But when a tank arrived on a service road a short while later, a mine packed with at least 100 pounds (45 kilos) of explosives blew up directly underneath it. The blast blew the tank's turret off, detonated the tank's shells and instantly killed three soldiers inside."

U.S. terror claim is blow to Iran reformists  2/16/02 IHT: "This was immensely damaging. It really, really hurt Khatami," said a Western diplomat in Tehran who was interviewed by telephone. "Iran had been engaging in constructive diplomacy since Sept. 11 - as constructive as anyone. Now, the conservatives are all saying, 'See, we told you they'd screw you in the end.'"

Al Qaeda Linked to Russian Arms Broker  2/16/02 LA Times

Corridos y Narcocorridos  2/16/02 Miami New Times: "In contrast to her hard-bitten "jackal woman" image, Angeleno singer Rivera comes across as a devoted mother and consummate pop professional in Elijah Wald's superb book Narcocorrido: A Journey into the Music of Drugs, Guns, and Guerrillas. Wald travels deep into Mexico and the American Southwest in search of the performers that have made the narcocorrido the hottest trend in Mexican pop. Despite its immense popularity in that country, the genre is effectively banned on Mexican radio. And despite its popularity among the Mexican and Chicano population in our own country, narcocorridos remain invisible to mainstream America and shunned by events like the Grammy Awards that usually reward commercial success."

The Two Enron System  2/16/02 NYT

U.S. Tightening Rules on Keeping Scientific Secrets  2/16/02 NYT

Atacan a soldados británicos en Afganistán  2/16/02 Radio Sancti Spíritus: British troops attacked in Afghanistan

Rebels spend drug millions on guns  2/16/02 Telegraph, UK: "Extremist Albanian rebels seeking to start a new round of conflict in the southern Balkans have been buying millions of pounds worth of weapons with the proceeds of heroin smuggling from Afghanistan to the streets of a dozen European capitals." Just like the cocacontra gangs in Miami.

Three dead, 53 wounded in bomb attacks in southern Philippines  2/16/02 Yahoo

Friday 2/15/02

Lay Sought Bush Aid As Texas Gov.  2/15/02 AP: and W hardly knew the guy!

Pro-jihad website draws readers  2/15/02 BBC: "Azzam.com receives approximately five million hits a day across the world, and if you were to add up all the sister sites they have, you are possibly looking at 15 million hits a day," Mr Kahan says.

Terror suspect describes jail 'ordeal'  2/15/02 BBC: In the UK: "An Algerian pilot who has been released on bail accused of training some of the 11 September hijackers has described his time in jail as a "living nightmare".

Chariots of ire: is US jingoism tarnishing the Olympic ideal?  2/15/02 Guardian, UK: The host broadcaster, NBC, also linked the opening ceremony with the war effort when, during the parade of nations, it referred to the Iranian athletes as part of Mr Bush's "axis of evil". During the ceremony NBC made frequent crosses to American troops in Afghanistan, who pointed to the flag on their uniforms and chanted "USA".

Alabama police chief denies racism played role in incidents  2/15/02 Nando Times

U.S. attack killed children, Afghan survivors say  2/15/02 Nando Times: just like Viet Nam.

Central Asia, the "War Against Terror," and Enron  2/15/02 Peter Dale Scott

Sharon war crimes case 'to be closed'  2/15/02 Telegraph, UK: "The court said it was firmly established that holders of high office, such as heads of state or government, enjoyed immunity from jurisdiction."

Afghan minister killed in Kabul: Al-Jazeera  2/15/02 Times of India

Thursday 2/14/02

Noam Chomsky on the Drug-Terror Link  2/14/02 Alternet: "The state turns to terror -- that's what's been happening in Colombia for a long time, since before there was a Colombian drug trade. Counterinsurgency has been going on there for 40 years; President Kennedy sent a special forces mission to Colombia in the early 1960s. Their proposal to the Colombian government was recently declassified, and it called for "paramilitary terror" -- those are their words -- against what it called known communist proponents. In Colombia, that meant labor leaders, priests, human rights activists, and so on. Colombian military manuals in the 1960s began to reflect this advice. In the last 15 years, as the US has become more deeply involved, human rights violations are up considerably."

Attackers Fire at Afghan U.S. Base  2/14/02 AP

Editor Of The Courier Newspaper Fired Suddenly  2/14/02 Caledonian Record, VT: freedom of speech, so long as the owner allows it.

Split grows over US foreign policy  2/14/02 Financial Times

Allies point the finger at Britain as al-Qaida's 'revolving door'  2/14/02 Guardian, UK

I watched a soldier shoot at children  2/14/02 Guardian, UK: "then we spotted five boys, probably about 13 years old, throwing occasional stones at the Israeli soldiers ahead of us. We stood and watched from our position in the crowd, secretly admiring their nerve if not their accuracy. One of the soldiers had clearly had enough and aimed his gun at them. He can't shoot, we thought; they're unarmed and they're only boys. But he did. He took aim and fired directly at them. They scattered, and for a moment we thought one of them had been hit. Not content with this result, the soldier climbed up on to one of the concrete posts, clearly visible against the sky, and took slow aim and fired again, and again." - Fort Apache...

Stunt aims to turn jury against Taliban suspect  2/14/02 Guardian, UK: "Angry family of dead CIA officer arrives at trial of John Lindh " - said CIA agent threatened Lindh with torture and death on video before being killed in the uprising by angry talibans he was also threatening.

Man Found Near Pentagon Detained  2/14/02 Las Vegas Sun

Carlucci Can't Hide His Role in 'Lumumba'  2/14/02 Pacific News Service: "When HBO airs "Lumumba" this Saturday, viewers won't get the whole story. That's because former U.S. Secretary of Defense Frank Carlucci has succeeded in getting the cable network to effectively bleep out his character from the film. But hiding the U.S. role in the popular African leader's assassination, writes PNS contributor Lucy Komisar, won't be so simple."

Huge Fire at U.S. Base in Kandahar  2/14/02 Reuters: just like Viet Nam.

US planes rain dollars on Afghanistan  2/14/02 Reuters: "US aircraft over southern Afghanistan have scattered $100 bills tucked into envelopes bearing a picture of President George W. Bush, witnesses said on Thursday.Read this story in... Hindi " - buying another US election? Wrong country, W!

Wednesday 2/13/02

BIZARRO WORLD - Post-9/11: Life as a comic book  2/13/02 Antiwar.com: "Bizarro, for his part, told the Salt Lake Tribune that he thought the sky marshals were hijackers. When three men, "old enough to be his grandchildren," started yelling and demanding that everyone put their hands on their heads, "I believed I was witnessing a hijacking of our airplane," he said. Bizarro, in spite of his name, just doesn't get it: everything's changed, you dolt! Up is down. Down is up. Ugly is beautiful, and vice-versa. Sky marshals act like hijackers - makes sense to me… "Bizarro, a frequent traveler, said he had never heard the restriction announced before," the Salt Lake Tribune reports, "and no one stopped him when he stood up." But of course, you ninny! When someone's committing a felony, the idea is not to stop them but to let them go ahead."

Tougher love for Israel  2/13/02 Christian Science Monitor: wonder how long the author will keep his job.

World Trade Center Scrap Lands in India  2/13/02 CorpWatch: "As with so many other unwanted materials from the US, more than 30,000 tons of steel scrap -- possibly contaminated with asbestos, PCBs, cadmium, mercury and dioxins -- has been exported to India and other parts of Asia. Though the risks from the scrap are probably not on the order of the health threats at Ground Zero, the U.S. nevertheless has the obligation to ensure that toxic contamination from the World Trade Center is not exported to other nations."

Fighters who slipped through the net  2/13/02 Guardian, UK: ". A Guardian investigation has established that despite the extensive military campaign and ground troop operations, many of the Taliban and al-Qaida's fighting elements have simply slipped unnoticed into Pakistan, and are being protected by an underground network of rightwing Islamists and Taliban sympathisers. Many are paying their way out on escape routes through Iran."

Germany joins criticism of Bush  2/13/02 IHT

Chief Takes Over New Agency to Thwart Attacks on U.S.  2/13/02 NYT: The Coca Contra boys keep coming back into the government. Poindexter was Ollie North's boss: "John M. Poindexter, the retired Navy admiral who was President Ronald Reagan's national security adviser, has returned to the Pentagon to direct a new agency that is developing technologies to give federal officials instant access to vast new surveillance and nformation- analysis systems..."Mr. Poindexter was responsible for several computer policy mistakes in the computer security realm in the 1980's," said Marc Rotenberg, a former counsel with Senate Judiciary Committee, referring to Mr. Poindexter's policies that shifted control of computer security to the military. "It took three administrations and both political parties over a decade to correct those mistakes." Poindexter was convicted of conspiracy, false statements, destruction and removal of records, and obstruction of Congress and then let off as the Iran Contra case collapsed, insuring immunity for the participants.

Big Brother is watching you read  2/13/02 Salon

Somalia Urges U.N. to Help It Fight Terrorism  2/13/02 Somalia

US Mis-strikes in Afghanistan: Accidents or Possible War Crimes?  2/13/02 The Nation

Escaping the Hell of the Holy Land  2/13/02 Village Voice: "The main reason we are thinking about going is that we have no hope for the future for the kids," she said. "We work very hard and pay so much income tax. The government's priorities are not my priorities. They give my money to religious families with 10 kids. And we don't see things getting better. "Twenty years ago it was taboo, shameful, for Israelis to leave the country," Tali said. "Today we hear that there are 300,000 Israelis just in New York City. No one is ashamed anymore. Even the older generation is not ashamed to tell their kids to go and to urge them not to come back." - repeating the cycle seen in South Africa under Apartheid?

Convicted sex offender nearly wins GOP award  2/13/02 Virginian Pilot: "Spokesmen for the National Republican Congressional Committee, an arm of the Republican National Committee that raises millions of dollars to elect GOP candidates to the U.S. House of Representatives, acknowledged Tuesday that convicted sex offender Mark A. Grethen was invited to accept the award at its Business Advisory Council's luncheon in March. U.S. Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va., chairs the NRCC."

Tuesday 2/12/02

Gore says Bush treats allies with 'disdain'  2/12/02 Ananova: . "The evil we now confront is not just the one-time creation of a charismatic leader and his cohorts, or even a handful of regimes. "What we deal with now is today's manifestation of an anger welling up from deep layers of grievance shared by many millions of people." You got that part right, Al.

Daschle: Bush's 'Axis' Phrase Wrong  2/12/02 AP: "We've already seen the moderates in Iran scramble to draw distance between us and them, and I think we've got to be very careful with how we approach all three countries."

Germany warns US against unilateralism  2/12/02 BBC: The Brits, the French, and now the Germans…

Les paysans afghans reçoivent des semences génétiquement modifiées au titre de l'aide américaine  2/12/02 Centre de recherche sur la mondialisation, Montreal: US donates genetically modified seed stock to Afghans, to complete the destruction.

Panel Told NYC Was Misled on Air Quality  2/12/02 Chicago Tribune: "But many firefighters and other rescue workers at ground zero labored without respirators, leading to respiratory ailments such as the persistent "World Trade Center cough," shortness of breath and nosebleeds. To determine whether any long-term health effects show up, a registry is being created to track firefighters who worked at the site." - what about the thousand of local inhabitants at severe risk of cancer from asbestos and other particles?

Oil, Sharon and the Axis of Evil  2/12/02 Counterpunch: "So here comes the Israeli leadership and shouts from the roof-tops: Iran is the enemy! Iran must be attacked! Who has made that decision? When? How? And most importantly - Where? Clearly not in Jerusalem, but in Washington DC. An important component of the US administration has given Israel a sign: Start a massive political offensive in order to pressure the Congress, the media and American public opinion."

In Iran, 'Death to America' is back  2/12/02 CS Monitor: congratulations, W.

Afghans are still dying as air strikes go on. But no one is counting  2/12/02 Guardian, UK: "There are no official US figures, and nor have the dozens of non-governmental charities now operating in the country done any independent research. "Undoubtedly there have been civilian casualties," says a well-informed Afghan professional working for an NGO mainly funded by the US government. "No one is doing a real assessment of that. It gets very political. Please don't ask me about that." - the wonders of USAID money...

America's imperial war  2/12/02 Guardian, UK: "But other interests in Afghanistan are doing rather nicely. On January 29, the IMF's assistant director for monetary and exchange affairs suggested that the country should abandon its currency and adopt the dollar instead. This would, he explained, be a "temporary" measure, though, he conceded, "when an economy dollarises, it takes a little while to undollarise". The day before, the administrator of the US Agency for International Development revealed that part of its aid package to Afghan farmers would take the form of GM seed." - war profiteers!

Storm over Afghan civilian victims  2/12/02 Guardian, UK: "US military officials, who had routinely rejected earlier accounts of civilian casualties as enemy propaganda, were forced back on the defensive at a Pentagon press conference yesterday at which every question focused on targeting errors and the treatment of captives." - got that, Rummy?

Turner: Attackers 'Brave, but Nuts'  2/12/02 Las Vegas Sun: "The reason that the World Trade Center got hit is because there are a lot of people living in abject poverty out there who don't have any hope for a better life," he said. He said the attacks were an act of desperation, and that Americans lack an understanding of a willingness to die for one's country. "I think they were brave at the very least," Turner said of the 19 airliner hijackers believed to have committed the attacks, adding that they "might have been a little nuts."

MARINES ON WAY  2/12/02 Mirror, UK: to Somalia…

Orthodox Jews Mass Protest Against the State of Israel  2/12/02 NetureiKarta.org: "Estimated 20,000 Orthodox Jews demonstrating on Tuesday February 12th, in front of the Israeli Consulate in New York City, organized by the Central Rabbinical Congress of USA and Canada, to voice their opposition to the existence of the state of Israel, their suppression of religion and brutal treatment of religious people."

Palestinian Tied to Front of Military Jeep, Bled to Death  2/12/02 Palestine Chronicle

No other viable option  2/12/02 Poor Maganzine: "The proposed reinstatement of the draft - and why low-income youth enlist in the Army."

Palestinians storm Hebron prison and free prisoners  2/12/02 Ummah News: "Fearing a possible Israeli aerial bombing of the main Palestinian Authority security compound in Hebron, hundreds of Palestinians, including men, women and children, stormed the Mukata'a prison last night, freeing scores of detainees and prisoners."

Monday 2/11/02

Donald Rumsfeld: Matinee Idol or Prevaricator-in-Chief?  2/11/02 Alternet: Rummy, you lie!

El ministro de Exteriores marroquí dice que España es "racista" con su país  2/11/02 El Mundo

Airline Passenger Arrested for Leaving Seat Within 30 Minutes of Salt Lake City  2/11/02 Fox News: passenger abuse: "Because of the incident, air marshals aboard the plane ordered all passengers to put their hands on their heads for the rest of the flight."

Office of UN envoy damaged in Israeli jet attack  2/11/02 Independent, UK

US army tactics at Cuba 'to shock'  2/11/02 Irish Times: as in Kandabar?

Enron Lobbyist Plotted Strategy Against Democrats  2/11/02 LA Times: "Instead of picking the fight that has been picked for us, we should pick a new fight," said the confidential April 2001 memo, presented to energy companies and industry groups. The memo suggested the industry "change the dynamic by 'Carterizing' the Democrats"--an allusion to the dour ex-president. "We need to make them the 'eat your peas' party." Gillespie's simultaneous lobbying and campaign strategizing underscore Enron's influence in Washington before its collapse last year, as well as the way politics and policy often blur under the loophole-filled laws governing their combination. Gillespie said he never shared his memo with the White House, and his thoughts on political strategy, offered in informal conversations with administration officials, were never taken. But within weeks, Gillespie's recommendations surfaced in advertising promoting Bush's energy plan. One newspaper ad read, "Remember the 70s? Gas lines were long, rationing was in, Jimmy Carter was president and he told us to wear a sweater."

Report on a James Bamford Talk at Berkeley  2/11/02 Lew Rockwell: "NSA had other problems: only one or two (at the most) NSA people can speak an Afghan language."

Kissinger, Nixon: elder Bush 'too weak' for China  2/11/02 Reuters: "When Nixon proposed Bush as a cloaked emissary for a trip that would eventually pave the way for the reopening of U.S.-Chinese relations, Kissinger responded, "Absolutely not, he is too soft and not sophisticated enough." When Nixon proposed Bush as a cloaked emissary for a trip that would eventually pave the way for the reopening of U.S.-Chinese relations, Kissinger responded, "Absolutely not, he is too soft and not sophisticated enough."

Iraq reveals bloody results of US-British bombing  2/11/02 Ummah News: "Iraq said on Saturday that 1,476 Iraqis have been killed and over 1,330 others injured in the U.S.- British air raids in the two no-fly zones in the northern and southern parts of the country since the 1991 Gulf War." - half of the WTC toll in 11 years. File in the why do they hate us bin.

Palestinians challenge Israeli police over death  2/11/02 Ummah News: no Geneva convention here…even the German Government stopped civilians in WWII when they tried to beat allied airmen to death.

Algerian radical spills beans on bin Laden "terror network"  2/11/02 Yahoo News

World News

"There is one safeguard known generally to the wise, which is an advantage and security to all, but especially to Democracies as against despots: suspicion." -- Demosthenes

Qawafil-ush-Shuhadaa http://www.shuhadaa.com [ARABIC]

Islam Question & Answer - Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid

Islaam Homepage

Islamic Assembly of North America [IANA on LINE]

Jam'iat Ihyaa' Minhaaj al-Sunnah Homepage

Nida'ul Islam/ The Call of Islam Magazine Online

Words Written in Blood. Arabic book collection of Shaheed Sheikh

Abdullah Azzam [ARABIC]

Maps & Weather

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/destinations/

A number of maps here
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/afghanistan.html

http://www.weatherhub.com/

Estimates of the total number of Muslims range from 0.7 to 1.2 billion worldwide and 3 to 6 million in the U.S. About 20% of all people on earth follow Islam. The religion is in a period of rapid growth.

Christianity is currently the largest religion in the world. It is followed by about 33% of all people -- a percentage that has remaind stable for decades. It is expected that, if current trends continue, Islam will become the most popular religion sometime in the mid-21^st century.

-- http://www.religioustolerance.org/islam.htm

Death from America

Iraq news: Soaring death rates among Iraqi children, 1999 BBC, UNICEF 500,000 child deaths

Ramsey Clark: Report to UN Security Council re: Iraq, 1/26/2000
1.5 million deaths

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World News 2/11/02 - 2/17/02

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World News
2/11/02 - 2/17/02