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BUSHES
and SAUDIS
"To militant
Islamic fundamentalists who loathed
pro-West
multibillionaire Saudi royals, no one fit
the bill better
than (Saudi Ambassador in
Washington Prince) Bandar... Because
thousands of
innocent people had been killed and most of the killers
were said to be Saudi, it was up to Bandar, ever the
master
illusionist, to assure Americans that everything was
just fine between
the US and Saudi Arabia."
"The relationship was
unprecedented. Never before had
a president of the United States - much
less, two presidents
from the same family - had such close personal and
financial
ties to the ruling family of another foreign power."
Mid-East
Realities - MER - www.MiddleEast.Org - 27 July 2004:
In the 1980s and 1990s the Saudi Royals and their associated business
cronies and oil companies were extra busy throwing around, and in most
cases grossly overpaying or wasting, their money in the United States,
especially in Washington. The main goal of course was to
purchase both influence and protection. The secondary goal was to
purchase good 'public relations' by having a cabal of those on the take
they could count on for everything from some pro-Saudi spin, to a good
Op Ed, to some behind-the-scenes fixes.
As a result the Saudis essentially bought themselves many high-priced
lawyers, politicians, and media types -- in addition to all their
business and arms industry cronies -- whom they helped set up with
various kinds of think-tanks and public relations firms. Among
the names of those involved are Fred Dutton, John Duke Anthony, Jim
Zogby, United Press International (since sold), Middle East
Broadcasting, Al-Hayat, Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, CNI,
American Muslim Council, AAI, Jim Akins, Richard Curtiss...and the list
goes on and on beyond those in the semi-public eye.
When it comes to politicians, long-time Washington Ambassador Saudi
Ambassador Prince Bandar bin-Sultan did all he could to cozy up to
those in power -- both Democrats and Republicans at various times --
including trying to forge close relations with key persons associated
with the Israeli-Jewish lobby, among them 'his friend' Martin Indyk,
one of the top Israeli operatives in Washington.
And so the close Saudi relations with the Bush Family -- after all
Bush Senior was the former head of the CIA, Vice-President for eight
crucial years, and then of course President himself at the time of the
first Gulf War -- are just a part of this larger mostly untold overall
story. But the Bushes, unlike others in Washington, also
had their fingers in extensive oil dealings. And then of course
who would have imaged back at the time of the first Gulf War that a Bush son would be President of the United States at the
time of 11 September 2001, largely with a team of Washington veteran
operatives going back as far as Nixon, and then the Reagan and Bush I
years.
What the Saudis have done in Washington is not at all the same however
as building real power structures which, for instance, is what the truly powerful Israeli-Jewish
lobby has done. First of all they squandered much more money and achieved
very little lasting results. Secondly they were never
seriously interested in anything other than themselves and the
perpetuation of their own superwealth and power -- thus for instance
serious support for the plight of the Palestinians or for building
strong and independent think-tanks and institutions was never part of
the Saudi plan. They went about buying up people and
things they could control and manipulate, keeping them weak and always
awaiting the next check, precisely to be able to keep them under their
thumb usually unsure of their actual 'loyalties'.
The unexpected block-buster Michael Moore film has of course exposed
some of this story to a wide audience in recent months; and opened the
door to far more inquiry and investigations. Fahrenheit 9/11 was itself based
partly on the research and book by Craig Unger. This
excerpt from Ungar's book, House of Bush - House
of Saud, published earlier this month in The Independent in London provides
key insights into the historic interconnections between the Bushes and
the Sauds -- a reality which had already transformed our world for years
and then, through a complex series of connections, actually led to the
events of 9/11 and since then to much of its aftermath.
|
The
Biggest Crime in American History
and
Planes are Grounded. Yet the
House
of Saud Gets Safe Passage Home.
By
Craig Unger
Sunday 18 July 2004 - The independent, UK:
The ties between the
Bush family and the Saudi royals are revealed in a hard-hitting new
book by Craig Unger, a key source for Michael Moore's film 'Fahrenheit
9/11'. Here we print an exclusive extract.
It was the
second Wednesday of September 2001. Terrorist attacks had grounded all
commercial and private aviation throughout the entire United States for
the first time in history. Former vice-president Al Gore was stranded
in Austria because his flight to the United States was cancelled.
Former president Bill Clinton was stuck in Australia. Major League
Baseball games were postponed. American skies were nearly as empty as
they had been when the Wright brothers first flew at Kitty Hawk.
America was paralysed by terror, and for 48 hours, virtually no one
could fly.
No one,
that is, except for the Saudis. [In Washington] Prince Bandar bin
Sultan bin Abdul Aziz, the Saudi Arabian ambassador to the United
States, was orchestrating the exodus of more than 140 Saudis scattered
throughout the country. They included members of two families: One was
the royal House of Saud, the family that ruled the kingdom of Saudi
Arabia, and which, thanks to the country's vast oil reserves, was
without question the richest family in the world. The other family was
the Sauds' close friends and allies, the Bin Ladens, who in addition to
owning a multibillion-dollar construction conglomerate had spawned the
notorious terrorist Osama bin Laden.
At 52, Prince Bandar had long
been the most recognisable figure from his country in America. Widely
known as the Arab Gatsby, with his trimmed goatee and tailored
double-breasted suits, Bandar was the very embodiment of the
contradictions inherent in being a modern, jet-setting, Western-leaning
member of the royal House of Saud.
Profane,
flamboyant, and cocksure, Bandar entertained lavishly at his
spectacular estates all over the world. When it came to embracing the
culture of the infidel West, Bandar outdid even the most ardent
admirers of Western civilisation - that was him patrolling the
sidelines of Dallas Cowboys football games with his friend Jerry Jones,
the team's owner. To militant Islamic fundamentalists who loathed
pro-West multibillionaire Saudi royals, no one fit the bill better than
Bandar.
And yet,
his guise as Playboy of the Western World notwithstanding, deep in his
bones, Prince Bandar was a key figure in the world of Islam. His
father, defence minister Prince Sultan, was second in line to the Saudi
crown, Bandar was the nephew of King Fahd, the ageing Saudi monarch,
and the grandson of the late king Abdul Aziz, the founder of modern
Saudi Arabia, who initiated his country's historic oil-for-security
relationship with the US when he met Franklin D Roosevelt on the USS
Quincy in the Suez Canal on 14 February, 1945. The enormous royal
family in which Bandar played such an important role oversaw two of the
most sacred places of Islamic worship, the holy mosques in Medina and
Mecca.
Now, in
the immediate aftermath of 9/11, the ugly seams of the relationship
[between the US and the House of Saud] had been laid bare. Because
thousands of innocent people had been killed and most of the killers
were said to be Saudi, it was up to Bandar, ever the master
illusionist, to assure Americans that everything was just fine between
the US and Saudi Arabia. Bandar had always been a smooth operator, but
now he and his unflappable demeanour would be tested as never before.
Bandar
desperately hoped that early reports of the Saudi role had been
exaggerated - after all, al-Qa'ida terrorist operatives were known to
use false passports. But at 10pm on the evening of 12 September, about
36 hours after the attack, a high-ranking CIA official - according to
Newsweek magazine, it was probably CIA director George Tenet - phoned
Bandar at his home and gave him the bad news: 15 of the 19 hijackers
were Saudis. Afterward, Bandar said: "I felt as if the Twin Towers had
just fallen on my head." Public relations had never been more crucial
for the Saudis. Bandar swiftly retained PR giant Burson-Marsteller to
place newspaper ads all over the country condemning the attacks and
dissociating Saudi Arabia from them.
But Osama
bin Laden was Saudi, of course, and he was not just any Saudi. The Bin
Ladens were one of a handful of extremely wealthy families that were so
close to the House of Saud that they effectively acted as extensions of
the royal family.
Like
Bandar, the Bin Laden family epitomised the marriage between the United
States and Saudi Arabia. Their huge construction company, the Saudi
Binladin Group (SBG), banked with Citigroup and invested with Goldman
Sachs and Merrill Lynch. [The family company and various family members
use the spelling Binladin rather than Bin Laden, the spelling most
frequently used for Osama.] Over time, the Bin Ladens did business with
such icons of Western culture as Disney, the Hard Rock Café,
Snapple and Porsche. In the mid-Nineties, they joined various members
of the House of Saud in becoming business associates with former
secretary of state James Baker and former president George Bush by
investing in the Carlyle Group, a gigantic Washington, DC-based private
equity firm. As Charles Freeman, the former US ambassador to Saudi
Arabia, told The Wall Street Journal: "If there were ever any company
closely connected to the US and its presence in Saudi Arabia, it's the
Saudi Binladin Group."
The Bin
Ladens and members of the House of Saud who spent time in the United
States were mostly young professionals and students attending high
school or college. Many lived in the Boston area, thanks to its high
concentration of colleges. One of at least four members of the family
to have the name Abdullah bin Laden, a young brother of Osama, was a
1994 graduate of Harvard Law School and had offices in Cambridge,
Massachusetts.
Several
Bin Ladens had attended Tufts University, near Boston. Two Bin Ladens -
Mohammed and Nawaf - owned units in the Flagship Wharf condominium
complex in Charlestown Navy Yard on Boston Harbor. Some of the young,
chic, sophisticated members of the family appeared even more
Westernised than Bandar. Wafah Binladin, a 26-year-old graduate of
Columbia Law School, lived in a $6,000-a-month rented loft in New
York's fashionable SoHo and was considering pursuing a singing career.
As for the Saudi royal family, many of them were scattered all over the
United States.
Shortly
after the attack, one of the Bin Ladens, an unnamed brother of Osama's,
frantically called the Saudi embassy in Washington seeking protection.
He was given a room at the Watergate Hotel and told not to open the
door. King Fahd, the ageing and infirm Saudi monarch, sent a message to
his emissaries in Washington. "Take measures to protect the innocents,"
he said. Meanwhile, a Saudi prince sent a directive to the Tampa Police
Department in Florida that young Saudis who were close to the royal
family and went to school in the area were in potential danger.
Bandar
went to work immediately. If any foreign official had the clout to pull
strings at the White House in the midst of a grave national security
crisis, it was he. A senior member of the Washington diplomatic corps,
Bandar had played racquetball with Secretary of State Colin Powell in
the late Seventies. He had run covert operations for the late CIA
director Bill Casey that were so hush-hush they were kept secret even
from President Ronald Reagan. He was the man who had stashed away 30
locked attaché cases that held some of the deepest secrets in
the intelligence world. And for two decades, Bandar had built an
intimate personal relationship with the Bush family that went far
beyond a mere political friendship.
All over
the country, members of the extended Bin Laden family, the House of
Saud, and their associates were assembling in various locations. At
least eight planes were available for their transportation. Officially,
the FBI says that it had nothing to do with the repatriation of the
Saudis.
"I can say
unequivocally that the FBI had no role in facilitating these flights
one way or another," says Special Agent John Iannarelli.
Bandar,
however, characterised the role of the FBI very differently. "With
coordination with the FBI," he said on CNN, "we got them all out."
Meanwhile, the Saudis had at least two of the planes on call to
repatriate the Bin Ladens. One of them began picking up family members
all across the country. Starting in Los Angeles on an undetermined
date, it flew first to Orlando, Florida, where Khalil Binladin, a
sibling of Osama bin Laden's, boarded. From Orlando, the plane
continued to Dulles International Airport outside Washington, before
going on to Logan Airport in Boston on 19 September, picking up members
of the Bin Laden family along the way.
As the
planes prepared for take-off at each location across the country, the
FBI repeatedly got into disputes with Rihab Massoud, Bandar's
chargé d'affaires at the Saudi embassy in Washington. "I recall
getting into a big flap with Bandar's office about whether they would
leave without us knowing who was on the plane," said one former agent
who participated in the repatriation of the Saudis. "Bandar wanted the
plane to take off and we were stressing that that plane was not leaving
until we knew exactly who was on it." In the end, the FBI was able to
check papers and identify everyone on the flights. Spokesmen for the
FBI assert that the Saudis had every right to leave the country.
The top
brass at Logan Airport [in Boston] did not know what was going on. The
FBI's counterterrorism unit should have been a leading force in the
domestic battle against terror, but here it was not even going to
interview the Saudis. [One private jet landed at Logan to pick up more
members of the Bin Laden family who wanted to leave.] On September 19,
under the cover of darkness, they did.
The Bin
Laden family had expressed "the strongest denunciation and
condemnation" [of the attacks]. A persuasive case could be made that it
was against the interests of the royal family and the Bin Ladens to
have aided the terrorists. On the other hand, this was the biggest
crime in American history. How is it possible that Saudis were allowed
to fly, even when all of America, FBI agents included, was grounded?
Had the White House approved the operation - and, if so, why?
When
Bandar arrived at the White House on Thursday September 13, 2001, he
and President Bush retreated to the Truman Balcony, a casual outdoor
spot behind the pillars of the South Portico that also provided a bit
of privacy.
The two
men lit up Cohiba cigars and began to discuss how they would work
together in the war on terror. Bush said that the United States would
hand over any captured al-Qa'ida operatives to the Saudis if they would
not cooperate. The implication was clear: the Saudis could use any
means necessary - including torture - to get the suspects to talk.
But the
larger points went unspoken. The two men were scions of the most
powerful dynasties in the world. The Bush family and its close
associates - the House of Bush, if you will - included two presidents
of the United States; former secretary of state James Baker, who had
been a powerful figure in four presidential administrations; key
figures in the oil and defence industries, the Carlyle Group, and the
Republican Party; and much, much more. As for Bandar, his family
effectively was the government of Saudi Arabia, the most powerful
country in the Arab world. They had hundreds of billions of dollars and
the biggest oil reserves in the world. The relationship was
unprecedented. Never before had a president of the United States - much
less, two presidents from the same family - had such close personal and
financial ties to the ruling family of another foreign power.
Yet few
Americans realised that these two dynasties, the Bush family and the
House of Saud, had a history dating back more than 20 years. Not just
business partners and personal friends, the Bushes and the Saudis had
pulled off elaborate covert operations and gone to war together. They
had shared secrets that involved unimaginable personal wealth,
spectacular military might, the richest energy resources in the world.
They had
been involved in the Iran-contra scandal, and in secret US aid in the
Afghanistan war that gave birth to Osama bin Laden. Along with then
vice-president Bush, the Saudis has joined the United States in
supporting the brutal Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein for seven full
years after knowing that he had used weapons of mass destruction.
In the
private sector, the Saudis had supported George W Bush's struggling oil
company, Harken Energy, and in the Nineties they made common cause with
his father by investing in the Carlyle Group. In the 1991 Gulf War, the
Saudis and the elder Bush had fought side by side. And now there was
the repatriation of the Bin Ladens, which could not have taken place
without approval at the highest levels of the executive branch of
President George W Bush's administration.
Only Bush
and Bandar know what transpired that day on the Truman Balcony. But the
ties between the two families were so strong that allowing the Saudis
to leave America would not have been difficult for Bush. It would also
have been in character with a relationship in which decisions were
often made through elaborate and contrived deniability mechanisms that
allowed the principals to turn a blind eye to unseemly realities and to
be intentionally "out of the loop". The ties between the two families
were an open secret that in some ways was as obvious as the proverbial
elephant in the living room. Yet at the same time it was somehow hard
to discern even for the most seasoned journalists.
Perhaps
that was because the relationship had been forged all over the globe
and arced across different eras - from the Reagan-Bush years to the
Clinton administration to the presidency of George W Bush.
To
understand its scope and its meaning, one would have to search through
tens of thousands of forgotten newspaper stories, read scores of books
by journalists and historians, and study myriad "secret" classified
documents and the records of barely remembered congressional probes of
corporate intrigue and Byzantine government scandals. One would have to
journey back in the time to the birth of al-Qa'ida at the terrorist
training camps during the Afghanistan war. One would have to study the
Iran-Iraq War of the Eighties, the 1991 Gulf War, and the Iraq War of
2003. One would have to try to deduce what had happened within the
corporate suites of oil barons in Dallas and Houston, in the executive
offices of the Carlyle Group, in the Situation Room of the White House,
and in the grand royal palaces of Saudi billionaires. One would have to
interview scores of politicians, oil executives, counterterrorism
analysts, CIA operatives and businessmen from Washington and Saudi
Arabia and Texas. One would have to decipher brilliantly hidden agendas
and purposefully murky corporate relationships.
Finally,
one would have to put all this information together to shape a
continuum, a narrative in which the House of Bush and the House of Saud
dominated the world stage together in one era after another. Having
done so, one would come to a singular inescapable conclusion: namely,
that, horrifying as it sounds, the secret relationship between these
two great families helped to trigger the Age of Terror and give rise to
the tragedy of 9/11.
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July 2004
Target IRAN (July 31, 2004)
But regardless of outcome, just as soon as the U.S. election contest is decided, if not before, this huge historic issue looms large for the world. And it may well explain why the Israelis are moving toward a 'National Unity Government' again, something they traditionally do in times of war. Indeed, as these articles suggest, much is already happening to push public opinion, and no doubt behind-the-scenes where the political and military planners really operate there is much planning and anxiety underway.
Bush on Drugs for depression and paranoia? (July 30, 2004)
"President George W. Bush is taking powerful
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Israel expands West Bank settlements and grab still more land (July 29, 2004)
Months after Ariel Sharon announced his dramatic plan to pull Jewish settlers out of Gaza, portraying it as a sacrifice for peace, the government is grabbing more land for West Bank settlements.
The last 10 exclusive MER articles and FlashBacks. (July 28, 2004)
These are the last 10 exclusive MER articles and FlashBacks as of 28 July 2004
Arafat's Pickle + Barak's Choking (July 28, 2004)
Professor Edward Said: "It really doesn't matter whether he declares a Palestinian state or not, because he'll have a state without real borders -- they're controlled by the Israelis -- no real
sovereignty, no real country -- it will be cut up into cantons and he won't have east Jerusalem. He won't be able to get rid of the settlers and won't have control over the water, air or sea. Aside from all that, he'll have a state of sorts... [It's] a sign of both exasperation and weakness.''
July 2000
Saudi Money and Influence in Washington (July 27, 2004)
In the 1980s and 1990s the Saudi Royals and their associated business cronies and oil companies were extra busy throwing around, and in most cases grossly overpaying or wasting, their money in the United States, especially in Washington. The main goal of course was to purchase both influence and protection. The secondary goal was to purchase good 'public relations' by having a cabal of those on the take they could count on for everything from some pro-Saudi spin, to a good Op Ed, to some behind-the-scenes fixes.
Please support MER now (July 23, 2004)
Roots of Israeli Apartheid (July 23, 2004)
The roots of what has become Israeli Apartheid and now the widely-condemned nearly 500 kilometer long "Wall" are in this approach to the Palestinians long known as "Revisionism Zionism" and long the underlying philosophy of those who today rule Israel and attempt to speak for American Jewry.
U.S. Presbyterian Church Acts To Divest from Israel (July 22, 2004)
Finally, one of the Christian denominations in the United States has acted in a principled and courageous way. Will this "most censorious decision ever embraced by any Christian denomination in the United States against Israel" just taken by the American Presbyterian Church now open the door for others to follow?
Israel's Weapons of Mass Destruction (July 20, 2004)
True to character in contemporary Washington, not one word about how it is Israel's possession of a vast arsenal of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction, including submarines to deliver these weapons by missile throughout the greater Middle Eastern and south Asian regions, that has greatly fueled the race for such weapons in past decades.
Kerry Pledges More for CIA, Pentagon, Israel (July 19, 2004)
The Democratic Candidate for President and his top surrogates has not only called for more troops for Iraq Kerry has now called for doubling again the number of CIA agents and spies worldwide. And he's sent his Jewish brother Cam to Israel and American Jews pledging more support for Israel as well.
Allawi shot inmates in cold blood, say witnesses (July 17, 2004)
Iyad Allawi, the new Prime Minister of Iraq, pulled a pistol and executed as many as six suspected insurgents at a Baghdad police station, just days before Washington handed control of the country to his interim government, according to two people who allege they witnessed the killings.
Iraqi's Uniting in 'War of Liberation' Against American Occupiers (July 17, 2004)
...a combining of the Iraqi nationalist populations and religious groups in an escalating 'war of liberation' against the U.S. occupying forces of the Pentagon and CIA. This is now the greatest challenge not only to the American occupation but to the essentially puppet government installed with a fast secret hand-shake by Paul Bremer (who then ran even faster to the airport) and now run by disguised remote control by Ambassador Negroponte.
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Of course they'll never say so in the open, but the Americans and the Israelis prefer an Iraqi civil war, or at least the further breakdown of the country into distinct Kurdish, Shiite, and Sunni areas, rather than a combining of the nationalist Shiite and Sunni groups in an escalating war against the U.S. occupying forces of the Pentagon and CIA.
NewsFlash! US-chosen-protected 'Interim Iraqi PM' personally executed six (July 16, 2004)
The explosive claims in tomorrow's Sydney Morning Herald and Age newspapers allege that the prisoners were handcuffed and blindfolded, lined up against a courtyard wall and shot by the Iraqi Prime Minister. Dr Allawi is alleged to have told those around him that he wanted to send a clear message to the police on how to deal with insurgents. Two people allege they witnessed the killings and there are also claims the Iraqi Interior Minister was present as well as four American security men in civilian dress.
Hitler Name Resurfaces In Washington (July 16, 2004)
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Judge of Second Circuit Court of Appeals
Iraq Teeters (July 15, 2004)
"The war was fought to weaken Iraq permanently, and
if possible to break it up into separate 'statelets', so as to prevent it ever again challenging Israel or US oil and strategic interests in the Gulf."
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The issue is whether the Arabs and those who truly care about justice and international law are finally going to have the guts -- which they have never had in the past in view of threats from the U.S. and Israel what would be done if they dared -- to confront the U.S. in the Security Council and then to demand the General Assembly take the one major action that is within its power, suspension of the G.A. membership of Israel.
Osama Strikes Again (July 12, 2004)
And now...the truly 'unthinkable' for Americans. From his hideing place whereever that may be Osama Bin Laden has U.S. officials, and now the American people, actually contemplating and chatting about 'postponing' The American election...if...
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New Version MiddleEast.Org now available (July 11, 2004)
Covering Up The Truth - The "Intelligence", WMDs, and 9/11 Coverups All Proceed. (July 11, 2004)
COVERING UP the TRUTH -- The "Intelligence", WMDs, and 9/11 Coverups All Proceed.... "And fourth the U.S. government knew then, and knows now, of the unprecedented level of Israeli-Jewish lobby penetration of key government positions in a way that seriously skews perceived U.S. national interests and security concerns to align with those of Israel."
Israel - Sanctions Now (July 10, 2004)
But the General Assembly does have a kind of super moral power. It was exercised against South Africa in the days of apartheid. It now should be exercised against Israel. Until there is a real and sovereign Palestinian State, and until Israel's apartheid policies are ended once and for all, the U.N. General Assembly should now act to remove the credentials of the Israeli delegation and suspend Israel from the General Assembly.
CDA - Central Disinformation Agency (July 9, 2004)
If there is regime change in the U.S., one can bet that much of the most incriminating actual evident, the crucial paper trails, are already being hidden and in the days right after the election will be taken, shredded, and 'disappeared' in one way or another. The top ranging neocons at the Pentagon and the White House, and the Vice-President and his top aides, have the most to fear and no doubt are working overtime to protect their asses.
Top US 'Peace Negotiator' Now Works Directly for Israelis (July 8, 2004)
Remember now, this is the very same 'Ambassador' Dennis Ross whom the 'even-handed' Americans insisted be the top 'peace process negotiator' for a decade or so between Israel and the Palestinians. Remember as well that the much flaunted and constantly lied about 'peace process' Ross directed erupted in recent years -- as MER had predicted all along by the way -- into the worst mayhem and bloodshed ever. It also has brought worse than apartheid conditions to the Palestinian people and a great escalation in hatred and what the Americans love to simply call 'terrorism' regardless of causes, distinctions, places, and realities.
Amb Dennis Ross, 'Peace Process Chief (July 8, 2004)
Remember now, this is the very same 'Ambassador' Dennis Ross whom the 'even-handed' Americans insisted be the top 'peace process negotiator' for a decade or so between Israel and the Palestinians. Remember as well that the much flaunted and constantly lied about 'peace process' Ross directed erupted in recent years -- as MER had predicted all along by the way -- into the worst mayhem and bloodshed ever. It also has brought worse than apartheid conditions to the Palestinian people and a great escalation in hatred and what the Americans love to simply call 'terrorism' regardless of causes, distinctions, places, and realities.
Top U.S. 'Peace Process Negotiator' Now Works for Israelis (July 7, 2004)
Remember now, this is the very same 'Ambassador' Dennis Ross whom the 'even-handed' Americans insisted be the top 'peace process' 'negotiator' for a decade or so between Israel and the Palestinians. Remember as well that the much flaunted and constantly lied about 'peace process' erupted in recent years (as MER had predicted all along by the way) into the worst mayhem and bloodshed ever as well as today's worse than apartheid conditions for the Palestinian people.
Pentagon Neocon Corruption and Israeli-Connections (July 7, 2004)
The American media, especially the Washington-based American media, isn't going to take on this one about the neocons and the Israeli-Jewish lobby. There will be no Washington Post exposee of this quite possibly worse than Watergate situation. The major foreign media with the resources and manpower now should.
Debacle Looms in both Afghanistan and Iraq (July 6, 2004)
Everywhere the Bush Administration is proclaiming success and courting disaster. Both the economic and political policies pursued by the U.S. in recent years are heavily mortagaging the future and will make American leadership and supremacy in world affairs far more difficult and costly in the not so distant future. The real price to be paid for all the excesses, all the lies, all the deceptions, all the unprecedented overpaying and overpromising, is not now...but some years ahead for the American Empire.
Saddam's Huge Statue - More Lies and Deceptions (July 5, 2004)
But now read how this made-for-TV drama was conceived, carried out, and orchestrated by U.S. Marines with, in all likelihood, the advance planning and assistance of the CIA which now has its largest operations station in the world not far from Firdos Square where the huge statue once stood.
"Independence Day" - In the US and Iraq (July 4, 2004)
It's Independence Day in the USA. But that's little consolidation to the Iraqis, to the Palestinians, or to the Chechnyans or Afghanis and so many other miserably oppressed peoples -- politically, economically, militarily, and culturally -- throughout today's troubled bleeding world.
Amira Hass Speech in Stockholm (July 3, 2004)
Amira Hass is an extraordinarily courageous Israeli journalist who has lived with and boldly reported about the Palestinian people and Israel's increasingly severe repression and dispossession of them. The above poem by Swedish poet Helga Henschen was chosen to highlight the award.
From Vietnam to Iraq and Abu Ghraib (July 2, 2004)
Few in Washington these days have time or interest or reason to connect these historical dots. Bbut they are in reality crucial to a full understanding of how things have gotten to where they are...and the direction things are still heading.
Bremer and his 'Israeli Flag' Gone from Iraq (July 1, 2004)
If these guys have been making policies and decisions about the future of Iraq and the Middle East in the same way they did about a new Iraqi flag....well then the chaos, incompetence, corruption, and miserable failures all need be underscored even more that we had previously realized. And that is saying a lot!
How Bremer Slinked Away on Monday (July 1, 2004)
But judge for yourself after a little more insight. For real journalism these days is often not what you find on the front-page... Read this inside the paper analysis story about what actually happened in Baghdad on Monday -- not about the tag lines and rhetorical hyperbole the Americans love to sucker the media with. And after doing so it's even harder than ever to imagine this is all going to have a happy ending.
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