Armies of Liberation

Aghast, the world watched the horrific events of September 11th, 2001, unaware that it was a foreshadowing of a barbaric phenomenon that would spread to Istanbul, to Bali, to Riyadh, to Islamabad, to Baghdad, to Moscow, to Madrid, and to Beer Sheva, that civilians world over would be threatened with random death, beheading and kidnap within a few years. The atrocities have become commonplace in 2004.

Rudolph Giuliani, mayor of New York at the time of the attacks, led New Yorkers through their finest hour, unbowed, compassionate and determined to stand together. He is often called ‘Americas Mayor.’ During his recent speech at the Republican National Convention held in New York City, Giuliani recalled the day. He spoke of the moment American ’stood face to face with those people and forces who hijacked not just airplanes but a religion and turned it into a creed of terrorism dedicated to eradicating us and our way of life.’ (Read on …)

We arent bothered by the UN deadline at all. It never crossed our mind. said Sudans Agriculture Minister Majzoub Al-Khalifa.Sad, very sad. Its not a condemnation of multilateralism, because there is no unified international political will to take any action for the 2500 Sudanese who die daily. The UN 30 day deadline was more reflective of the international communitys desire to support Khartoum than to support its victims.

from MEMRI

Journalist and former Kuwaiti communications minister Dr. Sa’ad bin Tefla was interviewed on Jordanian television about the culture of violence in Arab countries. Dr. bin Tefla rejected the notion that this can be blamed on Israel or the U.S., and instead blamed cultural roots, frustration, religious extremism, and intra-Arab violence. The following are excerpts from the interview:(1)

“… Slaughter, destructive abuse, anarchy, and bloodshed in no way resemble Jihad according to Shari’a and resistance. These are anarchy and terrorism [and not Jihad], and they are indications of frustration and of a culture of collective suicide reminiscent of whales.

“I maintain that unfortunately many in television, radio, and the press act according to the story of the one who murders and than attends the funeral of the victim. It is they who have pushed these young people into frustration and caused them to die for nothing and kill others with them, and to divide the world into black and white. I maintain that we are all responsible for this culture, and that Zionism and imperialism have nothing to do with it…” (Read on …)

The attack on Bangladeshi citizens, the attack on the Russian airliners, and the numerous attacks on civilians around the world daily demonstrates the radical Islamists are truly attacking all of humanity and our RIGHT to self-determination. Tieing their goals to short term politcal gains, the nature of their enemy is often masked. Portraying it as the Saudi Royal Family, the Banglashi opposition party and “American imperialism,” it is an attack on every child in the world. The jihadiis, far from fracturing societies, are generating a sense of international brotherhood among civilians, a transnationalism that is forged of a common enemy, and a global identity among earthspeople. We are all New Yorkers. We are all Bangladeshi.

To clarify: There has not been an official or legal finding of fact in the Bangladeshi rally bombing, only a claim of responsibility for the atack sent to and published in a Bangladeshi newspaper by an unknown group threatening to continue their efforts to assasinate the oppostion leader.

“Where the press is free and every man able to read, all is safe.” –Thomas Jefferson

“To the press alone, chequered as it is with abuses, the world is indebted for all the triumphs which have been gained by reason and humanity over error and oppression.” –James Madison

“There is nothing absurd or impracticable in the idea of a league or alliance between independent nations for certain defined purposes precisely stated in a treaty regulating all the details of time, place, circumstance, and quantity; leaving nothing to future discretion; and depending for its execution on the good faith of the parties.” –Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 15

from the Federalist

Article here.

Care for a little Whine and Jeeze?

Abu Masab al-Zarqawi’s website is back up and running, fatwas and all, Rusty reports. Their American hosting company apparently has fixed that little problem of the American flag that they had yesterday. Using modern marvels to promote an ancient form of fascism, like Hitler used modern fim making to spread his propaganda, Zarqawi and his ilk want to impose a Taliban like state with the blood and fear of Americans, Muslims and humanity. That their host is in the US and probably claiming free speech rights is disheartening. that the ACLU and others would probably defend them, more so. That the Patriot Act is still opposed by anyone, absurd.

On a similiar note, My Vast Right Wing Conspiracy has a post about US companies that invest funds in terrorist sponsoring states. She links to Divestterror, a group that urges Americans to demand “our public and private pensions plans, college endowments, individual retirement account managers, 401(k) plans, and other investment vehicles exploit the leverage represented by investments in publicly traded companies that operate in terrorist-sponsoring states.” It is a movement similiar to the divestment of South African companies during the apartheid years.

for the Dems’s to be crying over Bob Perry’s 200,000 contribution to the swifties, when as mASS BACKWARDS reports near socialist George Soros has spent 12 million on anti Bush 527’s, and Soros’s business partner Peter Lewis 14 million.

Slowly recovering from the extremely devasting recent floods, Bangladesh faces another challenge says Rezwan of Third World View:

“The Islami fanatics of Bangladesh show their true colors again. They have been using the religion Islam to provoke the sentiments of the peace loving Bengalis, the majority of whom is good practicing Muslims. Recently a Bengali daily newspaper “The Prothom Alo” has published a series of reports about some Madrasas in remote corners of the country which has been giving training to extremists. The fundamentalists’ response was to burn copies of the Prothom Alo and ransacking its billboards in the capital for publishing the stories….Why the rage against Prothom Alo? Because, the investigative reports have clearly depicted the madrasas’ source of funds (mostly from Saudi Arabia & other Arab countries) and their missions – to clinch power of this country. These extremists have the same ideology of Al-Qaeda & Talibans….BNP do not realise now that their enemy is not the other oppositions, but their coalition partner, the Islamists. ”

Read the rest. There’s also a handy link to relief efforts for the flood victims.

Also today in Bangladesh AP reports: : “A series of bombs exploded as a top Bangladeshi opposition leader was speaking at a rally from atop a truck Saturday, killing at least 14 people and injuring hundreds, witnesses and news reports said….Bangladesh, an impoverished nation of 140 million people, has a history of political unrest. It has witnessed two presidents assassinated in military coups and 19 failed coup attempts since gaining independence from Pakistan in 1971.”

INSIGHTS on the yesterday’s attack from Rezwan who confirms that

the “13 grenades thrown on a crowded Awami League rally in Gulistan yesterday was an assassination attempt on Sheikh Hasina, leader of opposition and former prime minister of Bangladesh. The attack succeeded in killing at least 16 people and injuring more than 300 people….Attacks on the Awami League leadership at different public rallies across the country have increased recently as the party continues to have a firm stand against religious radicals…. If these quarters are not stopped, it will not be long when such attacks would be carried out in BNP rallies too. It is clear now that there are some quarters who wants to annihilate all those who are a threat in their efforts to make this country a Taliban-like state….The Awami League is again misdirecting the anger towards the government (because of power hunger) and again resorting to general strikes (Hartals). The BNP supporters are even thinking that it was AL’s internal clash (They have wildest of dreams without logic). But the blame game would certainly cheer up the perpetrators as they are being untouched and they are heading for their goal.”

Rewan highlights an important element of the representitive political model in majority Muslim countries. Radical Islamists are encouraged to join the political process and often form coalitions with other parties, increasing their popular strength. The goals of these Islamists though are fundamentally opposed to consensus government and self-representation. In the short term, opposition parties are targeted by the zeal of the Islamists, to the approval of their power hungry politicial partners. In the long term, neither the coaltion party nor the nation itself is safe when this fascist ideology is impowered to pursue their goal of a Taliban style state imposed and maintained by force.

Colin Powell weighs in: Washington, DC August 22, 2004:

The United States condemns in the strongest terms the horrific attacks on the Awami League that took place in Dhaka on August 21. The perpetrators of this heinous act clearly intend to undermine democracy in Bangladesh. They must not succeed. The United States expresses its condolences to the victims of these criminal attacks and their families. We reiterate our steadfast support for Bangladesh’s democracy and call for those responsible to be brought to justice. The United States urges all parties to act with restraint and to work together to reduce tensions and respect life.

Najah Ali lost his boxing bout: I was really hoping for a knockout in the fourth round. The Iraqi soccer team has won their game today and moves onto the next level. Ali Mohamed has the wrap-up:

The Iraqi soccer team is one victory away from an improbable trip to the podium.Emad Mohammed’s 12-yard bicycle kick in the 64th minute gave Iraq a 1-0 victory over Australia in the quarterfinals Saturday, putting the invaded, war-torn country in position to compete for only its second Olympic medal in the nation’s history.Iraq will play either Paraguay or South Korea in the semifinals in Thessaloniki on Tuesday. Even a loss in the semis would put the Iraqis in the bronze medal game, where they could become the first athletes from their country to win a medal since Abdul Wahid Aziz’s weightlifting bronze in Rome in 1960.

I had been rooting wholeheartedly for the team when this article, “Iraqi Footballers Fury at Bush,” appeared in the BBC, the NY Daily News, and newspapers around the world yesterday:

Mr Manajid, from Falluja – a hotbed of armed opposition to the US-led occupation in Iraq – said if he was not playing football “for sure” he would be fighting as part of the resistance….Coach Adnan Hamad said he was concerned with what the Bush administration was doing in Iraq. “My problems are not with the American people. They are with what America has done in Iraq: destroy everything,” he said. “The American army has killed so many people in Iraq. What is freedom when I go to the stadium and there are shootings on the road?”

Asher pointed out the characterization of these views as representitive of the whole team are unsubstantiated and wonders “But did any of the other footballers express different sentiments?” and he quotes Omar of Iraq the Model: “all the reporter could come up with were comments from 2 players and the coach out of 22 players and several trainers, medical staff…etc So if those were the ‘best’ comments he could get, I’m interested to know what were the comments of the others …”

When you add in this photo, they may have a point: maybe that’s not the consensus of the team. (Read on …)

The Sudan Tribune excerpts:

The present analysis offers an estimated total of 180,000 deaths in Darfur over the past 18 months. This includes a figure of 80,000 violent deaths…The US Agency for International Development’s “Projected Mortality Rates in Darfur, 2004-2005″ suggests that over 2,500 people are now dying daily—mainly invisibly. (Read on …)

From MEMRI

In an editorial in the Iraqi daily Al-Mada, Dr. Burhum Ahmad Salih, Deputy Prime Minister of Iraq and former prime minister of the regional Kurdish government in Suleimaniya, declares that the fight against terrorism is a collective responsibility from which none is exempt. The following are excerpts from the column:

“When you follow the terrorist operations in Iraq from the removal of the regime of Saddam Hussein on April 9, 2003 until today, you see clearly that they are heading toward a slippery slope that has no justification, even according to the perverse logic of the perpetrators. After they have raised the banner of ‘resisting the Occupier’ and targeting the ‘invading forces’ in order to ‘liberate the country,’ they eventually came to attack mosques and churches and markets, and to kill ordinary citizens mercilessly and shamelessly.

“In Ba’quba the terrorists targeted Iraqi citizens who stood in line to enlist in the police force and killed dozens of them and of the police. In the attack last Sunday [August 1] the target was worshippers in churches in Baghdad and Mosul, in coordinated attacks which had a clear purpose; namely, to stir up religious conflicts among members of the one Iraqi family. After having failed in their attempts to stir up civil war among Arabs, Kurds, and Turkmen, as well as sectarian conflict between Sunnis and Shi’ites, they resorted to targeting unsuspecting Christian citizens, who have coexisted peacefully with their fellow Iraqis for hundreds of years. All of these are easy targets, because it is impossible anywhere in the world – and especially in countries like Iraq, which are founded on the culture of respect for human rights and law – it is impossible in all of these countries to protect every single mosque and church and every shop, university, hospital, market, and institution. It is also impossible to discover the intentions of suicide terrorists before they arrive at the act of suicide unless they declare them publicly. (Read on …)

My post showed up in less than 12 hours. It showed up right away. On blogger is would take hours sometimes. I used to have to go into my archives to get the permalink to make trackbacks or wait 12 hours. Oh I’m having fun now.

I just edited without exiting. I like Word Press.

Wow. This is great. I won the blogging package at the Hook-a-Thon. (It was way too cheep so I sent some extra money to Hook.) Lisa at Blogs About Hosting has been so nice and all I had to do was give her my Blogger password and she did all the rest. I was so relieved. It was a perfect transaction for a non-techie like me. Quite inexpensive too. I was quite suprised shocked at how reasonable it is. (For those of you who didn’t key in on Hooks problem- his host dropped him without warning- and Lisa rescued him. ) Word Press is as easy as Blogger. More options and automatic trackbacks too. And you don’t have to wait hours for a post to show up. If I had known how easy it was, I would have done it much sooner.

The following are translations of comments posted in Arabic at the BBC website regarding Sadr.

From BBCArabic.com: I call on the whole world to come to Najaf to bear witness. The BBC should not call these people the Mehdi Army. They are unworthy of this holy name. They kill children because they shake hands with the American “infidels”. How can they claim to be religious?
Benna, Najaf, Iraq

From BBCArabic.com: People here should know that all Najafis totally reject Moqtada Sadr. His militia’s alleged defence of the city is just a cover-up for its members’ reckless acts. They are desecrating the city’s Holy Shrines and treat the local population exactly like Saddam’s henchmen use to.
Jasim Al Zubaydi, Najaf, Iraq

From BBCArabic.com: I am a resident of Najaf. I saw outsider gunmen – some of them foreign – sneaking into the city. Their intention is to threaten its peace and security under the cover of the Mehdi Army. Iraq has become a battlefield for settling scores. Some claim Islam, and they couldn’t be farther from it. There is also involvement by intelligence of neighbouring countries, and farther field.
Najaf Resident, Iraq

From BBCArabic.com: I am from Najaf and I did see a number of Iranians fighting there. A friend of mine saw lots of Iranian weapons in the hands of Al Sadr followers.
Haidar Mohammed, Najaf, Iraq

From BBCArabic.com: Large scale arrests of Al Mahdi Army took place in the city of Al Samawa. This was to prevent an outbreak of violence in this city, 80 km from Al Najaf, after militiamen from Mahdi Army attacked an Iraqi patrol and burned two police cars, wounding several policemen. Early this morning, we heard explosions in the Japanese base near Samawa, probably by mortar shells.
Ahmed Al Samawi, Samawa, Iraq

From BBCArabic.com: I am a resident of the city of Najaf. Iraqis are deliberately killed by the hands of other Iraqis in a conflict that marginalises the ordinary people. Presuming they were outlaws, are there thousands of outlaws out there? I don’t think Iran is involved in all this, knowing that the Sadr movement was always at odds with the Iranian government. Iyad Allawi started a sedition that will not stop even if Moqtada Al Sadr and all his followers are killed in Najaf because the Sadr Movement is counted by the millions.
Abrar Al Moussawi, Al Najaf City, Iraq

From BBCArabic.com: I ask America and Europe and all those who advocate democracy, freedom and free speech, how can a country allow itself to invade another country, kill its people and loot its wealth. If they really wanted to uproot the Baathists or the Sadr Movement, they have at their disposal professional killers who can assassinate those without harming the innocents. Their policy is therefore: eradicate everyone.
Ali Al Ghawri, Al Najaf, Iraq

Is this the election campaign? It is scary to think that Sadr could become the leader of the country. He exploits the situation in Iraq to increase his power while thousands of his impoverished followers die needlessly.
Abdul Sadek, Baghdad

From BBCArabic.com: I am writing to you from Najaf. Moqtada Sadr is trying to take full control of the city, as a stepping stone to expand his influence all over the Shia Islamic world. The ‘Sadr Movement’ men are armed gangs who have turned religious schools into training camps and arms storages. They have also instated tribunals ordering torture against civilians despite the fact that Moqtada doesn’t have the authority to issue religious decrees according to Jaafari jurisprudence.
Ali Abdul Majid, Najaf, Iraq

From BBCArabic.com: What does Moqtada want? If it is power, he has the right to, but not through fighting. He can establish a party and run for local elections. We refuse to see him forced upon us by his armed gangs.
Zayd, Najaf, Iraq

From BBCArabic.com: The real patriots are the ones who fight American occupation. I don’t agree with those who call Moqtada Sadr a terrorist.
Nawfal Kamal Abbas, Najaf, Iraq

From BBCArabic.com: The people of Najaf didn’t resent Moqtada Sadr at first, but they soon realised he was following instructions coming from countries that probably didn’t want to end up like Iraq. Moqtada started his latest move as soon as he came back from Iran. He proved to be inexperienced and lacking political shrewdness. I hope he will elude the traps that have been set for him .
Iraqi, Najaf, Iraq

From BBCArabic.com: What exactly is the ‘Sadr Movement’? Some would link it with the late Mohamad Sadek Al Sadr, while others identify it with his son Moqtada. None of this is true. This concept was instituted by the reformist Sheikh Mohammad Baker Al Sadr who served the nation and worked hard for its welfare. It was later highjacked by Moqtada and his followers.
Abu Mohammad Ali Al-Najafi, Najaf, Iraq

From BBCArabic.com: Can the ones who killed many Iraqis and forced an embargo upon us for more than ten years be considered liberators? How can they claim they are here to help us after they killed our loved ones? Resistance and martyrdom are thus a duty.
Ahmed Al Iraqi, Najaf, Iraq

From BBCArabic.com: Every household in Iraq has lost one of its members to Saddam’s dictatorship. Some were executed, other incarcerated or fled the country. Now Moqtada is finishing the job..
Ali Al Deek, Najaf, Iraq

From BBCArabic.com: I hold Moqtada and his men responsible for the destruction of the city of Najaf. They have nothing but contempt for this city and its people. Some of them are baathists or former members of Saddam’s intelligence and security apparatuses.
Mohammad Al Najafi, Najaf, Iraq

National conference meets to choose assembly “Under tight security and a curfew in parts of Baghdad, 1,300 political and religious leaders gathered for a three-day conference in the fortified Green Zone compound to choose the 100-member assembly. The assembly, or national council, will oversee the interim government until elections are held in January.

“Your presence here today is the biggest challenge to the forces of darkness that want to tear this country apart. This is not the end of the road, it is the first step on the way to democracy,” Allawi said in opening remarks.”

and Gooooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaalllllllllllllllll!!!!!!!!!!!!
Iraq wins 2-0 and moves to quarter finals.

Over 700 New Jersey residents were murdered on September 11th in the World Trade Center by Wahabbi zealots. The state was seared by a pain only New Yorkers can understand. Soon after, New Jersey was attacked by anthrax- one of the few states where anthrax was not a scare but a reality. Besieged and wounded, New Jersey was assaulted again a few months later by her governor, when Jim McGreevey hired his alleged lover Golan Cipel as homeland security chief. Mr. Cipel, a foreign national, was uniquely unqualified for the position.

Many have called Governors McGreeveys resignation speech courageous as he transformed himself into a member of an oppressed minority before our eyes. Unfortunately, McGreevey did not have sufficient courage to admit to his constituents that Mr. Cipel had spent months receiving a salary exceeding $100,000 compliments of Garden State taxpayers.

Perhaps McGreeveys greatest affront to the good people of New Jersey, exceeding his prior abuses of power, is his expectation that the state will open wide while an appointed governor is rammed down our throats, his expectation that the New Jersey electorate will relinquish to him our fundamental right to choose our elected officials.

McGreevey says he will remain in office until November 15th, 2004, effectively disenfranchising all the voters in the state. With a resignation before September 2nd, New Jersey voters would choose McGreeveys successor in November. With a resignation after September 2nd, State Senate President Richard Codey will step in to finish McGreevey’s term, which lasts until 2006.

As a result of this sleight of hand- resignation speech now, resignation in three months- another outrageous Democratic stunt has been achieved on the level of the Toricelli maneuver. Florida may just have lost the crown for the largest number of disenfranchised voters if the Trenton political machine can steal this election by not holding one.

In his 2004 State of the State address, Governor McGreevey said ‘We are here to create a government that stands up for those whose spirit and energy drive this state forward, but whose voices are too rarely heard.’ The Democratic Party now appears eager to silence those same voices and the voice of all New Jersey this November. Do they think we are too stupid to notice or too lazy to care?

From an administration plagued by improprieties and corruption-most recently involving hookers, videotape and a grand jury witness- we get the feeble excuse of ‘facilitating a responsible transition’ as the reason for the resignation delay. Before McGreevey holds himself out as an authority on responsibility, he would do well to apologize for his egregious breech of his fiduciary responsibility- a duty that involves the placement of his constituents physical safety ahead of his personal pleasures. He would do well to accept that although New Jersey is a heavily blue state, it nonetheless is part of the United States, a nation founded on the principal of self-representation.

In his ‘courageous’ resignation speech, McGreevey failed to mention that he is the subject of a federal corruption probe. He recognized that he is blessed to live in a nation with “the greatest tradition of civil liberties in the world.” The wellspring of those liberties is our representative government. In denying the New Jersey electorate the right to vote, Governor McGreevy is thwarting democracy itself.

Governor McGreevey may or may not owe his constituents an apology, but he does owe us the opportunity to vote for his successor. Corruption and lies, endangering his constituents, paying his supposed boyfriend with public funds, and stalling an election- this is Jim McGreeveys legacy. New Jersey deserves better. And we deserve it now.

Jane Novak is a New Jersey resident.

Works Cited:

McGreevey James. 2004 State of the State Speech.

http://www.state.nj.us/sos2004/speech.html

McGreevey James. Resignation Speech.

http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/news/wabc_081204_mcgreevey.html

email address: New Jersey Republicans: info@njgop.org

New Jersey Democratic Party Contact page

Phone Democratic Party: (609) 392-DEMS (3367)

McGreevey
The State House
P. O. Box 001
Trenton, NJ 08625
(609) 292-6000
email contact page

New Jersey Governor James McGreevys announcement that he is gay, a philanderer and resigning came as a shockwave that rippled across the state. Unable to fulfill his constitutional duties because he could be ‘vulnerable to rumors, false allegations and threats of disclosure,’ Governor McGreevy is stepping down effective November 15th.

McGreevy, a twice married father of two, said at a news conference: ‘Shamefully, I engaged in adult consensual affairs with another man, which violates my bonds of matrimony. It was wrong, it was foolish, it was inexcusable.’ Governor McGreevey extended his thanks to the people of New Jersey for the ‘privilege to govern.’ He directed his apology to his wife, asking for her ‘forgiveness and grace,’ as well he should.

It is not necessary that McGreevey apologize to his constituents for being gay or for being in the closet. An apology to New Jersey residents may be in order for poor judgment, indiscretion, and lack of restraint, regrettable qualities in any elected official, especially those holding the highest positions of trust. More troubling though, McGreeveys parting maneuver will force the appointment-not election- of his replacement. It will result in a statewide electoral disenfranchisement for more than two years, instead of two months.

McGreevy stated the reason for the three month delay between his announcement and the November 15 resignation date is to ‘facilitate a responsible transition.’
As a consequence of this date, Garden State voters will not have the opportunity to elect a new governor in the upcoming November election. If McGreevey resigns before September 15th, a special gubernatorial election will be held November 2nd. With the later resignation date, State Senate President Richard Codey will step in to finish McGreeveys term, which lasts until 2006.

New Jersey voters cannot help but be skeptical of the governor’s motives. Most recall the Trenton political machine’s ‘Toricelli maneuver’- replacing scandal plagued Senatorial candidate Robert Toricelli with Frank Lautenburg 32 days before he was to face Republican Doug Forrester. Many find it quite possible that the party is now attempting to retain Democratic control of the governorship for as long as possible, undermining the fundamental rights of the citizenry.

In his 2004 State of the State address, Governor McGreevy said ‘We are here to create a government that stands up for those whose spirit and energy drive this state forward, but whose voices are too rarely heard.’ The Democratic Party now appears eager to silence those same voices and the voice of all New Jersey this November.

In McGreevy’s two and a half years as governor, he has been surrounded by scandal. McGreevys top fund raiser Charles Kushner was recently charged with impeding a federal campaign-finance investigation by hiring prostitutes to videotape sexual activities with a grand jury witness. Commerce Secretary William Watley resigned in July in the face of allegations he funneled state money to his businesses and family. McGreeveys nominees for police superintendent and anti-terrorism coordinator were both forced to step aside. The legacy of McGreevey’s term may be impacting his resignation timetable more than transition concerns.

McGreevy and the Democratic apparatus have a duty to enable voters to elect a new governor at the earliest possible date. The goal of a ‘responsible transition’ does not supercede the fundamental right of the voters to vote for the highest position in the state.

McGreevy, in his resignation speech, acknowledged he was blessed to live in a nation with ‘the greatest tradition of civil liberties in the world.’ The wellspring of those liberties is our representative government. In denying the New Jersey electorate the right to vote promptly, Governor McGreevy is denying democracy in New Jersey. Governor McGreevey may or may not owe his constituents an apology, but he does owe us the opportunity to vote for his successor.

Works Cited:

McGreevey James. 2004 State of the State Speech.
http://www.state.nj.us/sos2004/speech.html

McGreevey James. Resignation Speech.
http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/news/wabc_081204_mcgreevey.

An Editorial in the Daily Star:

The Arab silence on this issue probably is not specific to Darfur or Sudan, but rather reflects a wider malaise that has long plagued our region: Arab governments tend to stay out of each other’s way when any one of them is accused of wrongdoing, and most Arab citizens have been numbed into helplessness in the face of public atrocities or criminal activity in their societies.

The modern history of the Arab world over the past 50 years has been defined by two broad trajectories that are intimately related: the concentration of economic and military power in the hands of small numbers of people who form the governing power elites, and that governing elite’s steady provision of basic services and job opportunities to the citizenry.

Read itall.

Release from US State Dept: Human trafficking takes on many forms in the 21st century with people becoming trapped into lives of servitude and misery through varied avenues and methods.

Foreigners who enter the United States legally or illegally may have to pay their “smugglers” or middle-men exorbitant fees. Some people arrive believing they’ll have a legitimate job as a housekeeper or nanny and end up as domestic slaves unable to leave their traffickers homes. Others are completely tricked and end up in forced, commercial, sexual exploitation. Some men believe they ll earn money working on a farm, but find themselves working to pay off the inflated “debt” from “travel costs” — working months and years on end while the traffickers pocket their earnings.

* We estimate that of the 600,000-800,000 people trafficked across country
borders every year, almost 70% are forced into the commercial sex industry.
Half of all victims are children. Many are forced to work in brothels,
illegitimate massage parlors, as “escorts,” or in pornography. When people
support such industries they are fueling the demand for commercial sexual
services that fuel the demand for trafficking victims.

REPORT SUSPECTED HUMAN TRAFFICKING CASES

* If you believe someone you know may be a trafficking victim, contact the
Department of Health and Human Services’ Human Trafficking Hotline at (888)
373-7888.

The site Stop Censoring Us posts thefollowing list that relates to internet usage in Iran. By these standards Michael Moore would be in jail, and so would many of us.

Publishing any material that denies or is against Islam
Disrespect towards Islamic religion or its respected legendaries
Publishing materials that are against country’s constitution or anything that threatens national unity and independence
Disrespecting supreme leader or any of the established high-ranking clerics
Humiliation of respected religious facts and established orders, treasures of Islamic revolution and bases of political ideologies of founder of the Islamic revolution (late ayatollah Khomeini)
Disrupting national unity
To make negative allegation and to cause doubts and disappointment among people on eligibility and effectiveness of the government
Advertising and distributing ideas of forbidden social and political groups
Publishing classified documents
Publishing content against moral beliefs of the society (such as pornography)
Encouraging the use of drugs
Publishing content that comprise baseless attack to government individuals or any other fellow countrymen
Revealing private relations of people and dishonoring their personal information
Distributing passwords or secrete codes of databases, software packages, e-mail accounts or introducing ways or cracking them
Illegal commercial and financial activities via internet including faking, gamble, etc.
Trading items via Internet that are illegal by law
Any activity towards hacking private networks in order to shutdown or decrease their level of service
Spying over the web and trying to illegally trace information passing through
Making any radio and/or TV station without authorization and control of Islamic Republic Broadcasting (IRIB)

IFEX: Reporters Without Borders has urged the
Syrian government to release five detained cyber-dissidents, three of whom
were sentenced last week to jail terms of up to four years for e-mailing
information to an online newspaper in the United Arab Emirates.

On 25 July 2004, the Supreme State Security Court (SSSC) in Damascus
sentenced Haytham Quteish to four years in jail. His brother, Mohammed
Quteish, was sentenced to three years, and journalist Yahia Al-Aws was
handed a two-year jail term, reports RSF. According to Amnesty
International, the individuals were convicted on charges including
“disseminating false news abroad.”

In June 2004, the SSSC sentenced Abdel Rahman Shagouri to two-and-a-half
years in prison for “publishing lies [that] harm the image and national
security” of Syria, says RSF. Shaguri had been caught e-mailing information
from the banned website www.thisissyria.net. Detained since February, he has
reportedly been tortured.

Meanwhile, Massud Hamid, a Kurdish journalism student, faces imprisonment on
charges of “belonging to an illegal organisation,” says RSF. Hamid was arrested in July 2003 for posting photos of a peaceful Kurdish demonstration in Damascus on the website www.amude.com. The Kurdish-language website is routinely blocked by Syria’s Internet service providers, all of whom are state-controlled. Hamid is being detained at Adra prison.

Mexico- our neighbor, just because it is close doesn’t mean its not corrupt. IFEX:The Organization of American States’ Special Rapporteur on Free Expression,
Eduardo Bertoni, has requested a report from the Mexican government
concerning the murder of journalist Roberto Mora García, citing
inconsistencies in the official investigation into the case.

Mora García, the editor of the daily
newspaper “El Mañana” in the northern city of Nuevo Laredo, was stabbed to
death on 19 March 2004. Mora García had written several articles about the
Gulf Cartel, a regional drug trafficking network, and accused police and
government workers of being involved.

The coalition (Comisión en Memoría de Roberto Mora García) conducted its own
inquiry into the murder and found that two suspects detained in the
investigation had been tortured while under interrogation. One of them was
later murdered in prison. The commission also revealed that a weapon found
at the home of one of the suspects was different from the one described in
the autopsy.

The International Freedom Exchange reports press freedom-an essential compnent of reform and democracy- has increased since the fall of Aristide. No surprise there.

Journalists, it seems, are able to breathe again. Press freedom has returned to the country and a “new wind of freedom” is blowing for radio stations in the capital, Port-au-Prince, says Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières, RSF).

In a report released on the heels of a fact-finding mission to Haiti from 7 to 11 June, RSF says Haiti’s new leaders have shown a willingness to solve the cases of murdered journalists…The leaders acknowledged the importance of solving the
cases and had given orders for them to be dealt with urgently.

While sounding a note of optimism about press freedom in Haiti, RSF says the country is in a fragile state. With rebel forces controlling half the country, including rural areas, journalists outside the capital work under riskier situations. Supporters of Aristide also pose a threat to journalists and if the government fails to disarm them before next year’s elections, the media may become the
target of new violence, warns RSF.

Read RSF’s report here: http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=10889

From Iranian Truth:…not only had the number of police and soldiers on the street increased, but that it had been marked with the arrival of a new type of enforcement, what Iranians call the Ranger. Rangers in Iran are characterized by camefelouge clothing, fairly tall and bulky, carrying a baton on their sides. The street rumor is that most of the Rangers are Arabs, possibly Lebanese or Syrian (it was also rumored back in the day that Rafsanjani’s hoods were Iraqis; much of when Iranians don’t want to think that they themselves could commit brutalities they usually think its an Arab). Rangers began appearing about a month ago, right around when social crackdowns were also started. From what I can tell, the Ranger units seem to be more as backup. There has been considerable trouble in Tehran with policing efforts, particularly traffic cops, and most of the Rangers seem to be located in areas riddled with traffic problems and regular police forces.

In a sick reminder of the al-Shura massacre, five churches were bombed in Iraq today.

The unprecedented attacks against Iraq’s 750,000-member Christian minority seemed to confirm community members’ fears they might be targeted as suspected collaborators with American forces amid a rising tide of Islamic fundamentalism….Iraqi police discovered a sixth bomb, consisting of 15 mortar rounds, outside a Baghdad church, and authorities disarmed it, the U.S. military said in a statement. The attacks did not appear to be suicide bombings, U.S. military and Iraqi officials said.

“This (attack) isn’t against Muslims or Christians, this is against Iraq,” Deputy Foreign Minister Labid Abawi told The Associated Press. Muslim clerics condemned the violence and offered condolences to the Christian community. “This is a cowardly act and targets all Iraqis,” Abdul Hadi al-Daraji, spokesman for radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, told Al-Jazeera television. Mohammed Fadil al-Samara’i, an official with the Sunni Iraqi Islamic Party, blamed terrorist groups and others “who profit from creating civil disturbances in Iraq.”

The attacks on the churches signaled a vast change in tactics for insurgents, who have focused many previous attacks on U.S. forces, Iraqi officials and police in a drive to push coalition forces from the country, weaken the interim government and hamper reconstruction efforts… Islamic radicals have warned Christians running liquor stores to shut down their businesses and have turned their sights on fashion stores and beauty salons. But the church attacks Sunday went far beyond those threats.

The more Zarqawi tries to turn the Iraqis against each other, the more they turn against him.