US intelligence ‘dead wrong’ on Iraq threat

Yet weren't they saying Iraq had no WMDs back then, specifically fall of 2003? GWBush certainly wasn't listening then and even more damning is now, he accuses the intelligence community of not having the very information... which they had on Iraq and he didn't choose to listen to?
GWBush and his administration actually interfered, even tampered with the findings of the intelligence agencies back then to justify their invasion of Iraq.
I try to be more objective in my blogging but with today's findings and hypocrisy by GWBush, it's impossible to hold back my disgust for him.
Mugabe, Bush, Hussein... same injustice but in different forms.

Elections are underway in Zimbabwe as the oppostion tries to win an improbable victory inspite of dirty tricks and intimidation by incumbent ruler Robert Mugabe and his ruling party. These last few years have seen Zimbabwe slide deeper and deeper into a morass as Mugabe has turned into a despot with his diatribes,tightening of control over society using his feared state security srvice and his encouragement of armed invasions of white-owned farms and jailing of opposition party members and journalists. Once considered one of the most prosperous African countries Zimbabwe is now wrought with corruption, instability, repression and famine.

Report on Darfur

From the land of Great Britain comes this report which criticises the international community including Britain for its feeble response to the Darfur crisis in Sudan. The report was drafted by a committee made up of MPs who said the international community were too engrossed in securing an end to the Sudanese civil war between the government and the rebel South to pay much attention to the developing Darfur crisis. Though ending the decades-long civil war was important, ignoring the situation in Darfur has allowed it to escalate to the point where at least 2 million people have been made refugees and over 150,000 killed. Blame was not just cast on the UN, Britain and other governments but also Sudan itself.

Urgent action by Britain and other developed nations is being called for especially as the Darfur crisis is in danger of becoming history repeated, specifically the Rwanda genocide and inspite of the many obstacles to intervention. Skeptics can say why should Europeans and Americans (though with their actions of this milennium who can really trust them with intervening in another country) take the responsibility to go into a distant and poverty and war-stricken country to improve matters, and it's a valid point. However there is just a small matter of these Europeans specifically Britain, being the former masters and rulers of some of these distant, chaotic countries like Rwanda and so are responsible in some measure for the situation in these countries such as ethnic and religious tension and inequality.

Intervention does not necessarily mean armed invasion and occupation like what happened to Iraq but less or non-violent means like aerial surveillance and establishing protected zones for refugee camps and settlements as well providing more aid to the African Union which has cease-fire observers and a small force of 3000 soldiers in Darfur.


Information on the Sudan (2nd) civil war which was recently ended officially with an agreement between the government and the SPLA (Sudanese People's Liberation Army).

I haven't been posting much on Africa this past year so I'm going to at least post briefly on a few issues going on. There hasn't been much focus on Africa in the mainstream media which isn't unusual given that there's never an ongoing coverage of Africa.

The Sudan crisis in Darfur has been going on for 2 years as the UN tries to punish suspected war criminals by trying them before the International Criminal Court (ICC). On Tuesday the UN voted to impose sanctions as well strengthen an arms embargo against Sudan to punish it for its lack of serious action to rein in the guilty parties and stop the mass killings, with a list of offenders to be drawn up by a Security council committee. The death toll is indeed shocking with at least over 150,000 dead in the Darfur conflict which the Sudanese government has done little to resolve or stop.

The UN has also voted to send a peace-keeping force to Southern Sudan to support a recent peace settlement which ended a decades-long war between the SPLM and Sudanese government.

The Army is seeking 101,200 new active-duty Army and Reserve soldiers this year alone........On the same topic as my recent post link regarding the desperation of the US Army to replenish its troop strength, this NY Times story goes into more detail about the immense difficulties and pressures that Army recruiters face in doing their job. I feel for them, especially the guy who applied for conscientous objector status after hearing from some of the people he recruited after their service in Iraq. Of course it's difficult to get guys into the Army now, like I said, those Americans (surprisingly) aren't as foolish as the rest of us think. I honestly think it'd be impossible, both morally and psychologically to be a recruiter, going into malls and universities and telling kids to give up their normal life and sign up for something that they're going to put their lives on the line for. Defending your country or an ally is one thing but invading and occupying a country without much support from the local population is unjust. A recruiter with real conscience and honor should tell all potential recruits that joining the Army is not just a way to travel the world and learn new skills but go into hostile places and risk your life and limbs whilst enduring hate and contempt from the locals which isn't even really meant for you but your commanding officers, government and brash, dishonest and unjust President.

The obsolescence of newspapers and journalism?

Much has been made of the growing popularity and power of bloggers with regards to news reporting and the lessening effectiveness of newspapers. Some are saying that newspapers may be losing their relevance to the bloggers. That may be true but mainly because people are reading news on the internet more than from newspapers and even then, a lot of people do browse the online forms of media outlets like BBC, MSNBC and even the notorious Fox News.

I don't agree with this assumption at all. The faults of mainstream media have been well publicised and critiqued as mainstream media is perceived to be pandering to whims of and controlled by agendas of government and corporate interests as well as riveting but frivolous headlines to draw viewers/readers like the Martha Stewart and Michael Jackson cases.
However I think that too little credit has been given to the original role of journalism and
media in society.

The reporting of news and events in the world is mostly done by journalists and media organisations.
While bloggers link to each other, they also derive most of their news and opinions references/links from media sources. Without the news from media journalists and correspondents on or near the spot, bloggers would not be able to do their work effectively.
So it's not like bloggers are replacements or competitors with journalists but rather serve to complement each other in that bloggers can offer a more opinionated view as well as provide fact checks to works of journalism to prevent media disinformation such as happened with the revelation of White House "reporter" Jeff Gannon as a member of an alleged pro-Republican organisation.

While there's some serious problems regarding the credibility of journalism, blogs by themselves are not the answer but fixing and improving upon the quality of reporting is. There is definitely a role for blogs in the media environment and inspite of the controversies including CNN's Eason Jordan for instance, weblogs can only be seen as a benefit to newsreaders.
Blogging is not a replacement or alternative but a modern, substantial enhancement for journalism.

See here to read aout the conference on blogging, journalism and credibility that was held at Harvard University in January to discuss the current and changing media environment in which people are still trying to determine how best blogs fit in with journalism and big media.

Kyrgyzstan's deposed leader condemns 'coup' that sent him fleeing this week. So far things have been peaceful but it's too early to tell.

Another huge rally, this time in Taiwan where the President himself, Mr. Chen Shui-bian came out to lead a rally to protest against China's recently-passed anti-secession law. This law, which gives China the right to use any action it deems necessary, including armed invasion and attack, against Taiwan if Taiwan moves towards any form of independence.

Tulip revolution- Kyrgyzstan's president finally toppled by protesters

Oppostition protesters rallied outside and charged the presidential headquarters in Bishkek, causing president of 15 years Askar Akayev to flee and thus, abdicate(for lack of a better word) his office of power. This "lemon or tulip revolution" follows and seems to have been inspired by the "Orange revolution" in Ukraine and Georgia's Rose revolution in which Soviet-era authorities were thrown out by well-organised and western-supported street protests which introduced new pro-Western governments into power.
In all these cases, the protests were triggered by allegations of rigged election results in favor of the pro-Russian governments. I'm just curious if these same protests were to be organised by the Democrats in the US against GWBush, then what would happen?


It seems that the people of America are smarter than we assume. Their Army has to resort to more drastic and (more dishonest) measures to get recruits after missing its recruiting goal for the 3rd month in a row after 5 years of meeting it.

UN report assumes Syria did threaten former Lebanese prime minister Hariri with "physical harm" last summer. I'm sure that the report is true, that Syria did threaten Hariri but I'm still skeptical that Syria did it considering it's so obvious and convenient to blame them for the murder.

Canada denies refugee status to American soldier

Well, apparently in legal terms this guy did not deserve to be allowed to stay in Canada as a refugee. It's true that he would not really face persecution or cruel and unusual punishment if sent back to the United States and that he voluntarily signed up for the Army. Still, it's sad that a man who has the moral courage to leave the US military because he believes the war in Iraq is illegal and what he and his fellow soldiers are doing there is unjust will now have to face possible desertion charges in the US and jail time. It's not like this man Jeremy Hinzman was some spineless coward who failed his country and army comrades, he served for 3 years, was a paratrooper and served in Afghanistan no less.

It's even sadder because this means the US military is free to hook in recruits whenever and however they can, like glamorous television advertising making extravagant promises and luring young impressionable high school students, then do with them whatever they want, including sending them off to unjust wars. I understand that Mr. Hinzman and his fellow soldier dissenters all joined the Army of their own free will but I believe that does not mean they signed their lives away. They, and any other soldier should have the opportunity and right to disagree with what they are asked, sorry ordered to do and go if they feel that it is wrong. Instead of staying quiet and going along with the rest in following orders from their commanders and their President, these dissenters are speaking out and stating their opposition to the war in Iraq and refusing to return to serve.

I believe if a soldier is ordered to risk his/her life and face death then he/she should at least have a worthy cause to be doing that for. And invading and occupying Iraq os not one of them.

Iraq's new parliament will meet again Saturday to try to close a deal on choosing a government. If successful, the formation of a functional government will be one more reason for the US to at least loosen control of the country such as removing most of its military presence, just like Syria was forced to in Lebanon. The US continues to hold back on a specific withdrawal plan which many people think is good because of the insurgency and resistance going on. However one of the main reasons cited for the need for the continuous presence of US forces is the threat of civil war between the Shiite majority and Sunni minority. Though plausible, this possibility does not seem as much a likelihood as Dahr Jamail writes here.

US and Iraqi army forces dealt their largest blow in recent times to Iraqi resistance/insurgents by killing a large number of militants in a raid on a training camp in Tikrit.

Talks continue between Iran and the European powers of Germany, France and Britain over Iran's nuclear program while the US continues to exert pressure to prevent Iran from continuing building its nuclear power. OF course, there's a little irony in all of this.

Following up Sunday's posting, former US presidential candidate Pat Buchanan writes how with the call for democracy in the Middle East, there's a strong possibility that Hezbullah, long considered a terrorist organisation by the US can actually be elected into power in Lebanon which would cause the US to recognise it as a legitimate party of the people which it has now started to do.

Protesters seize control of cities in the tiny Central Asian country Kyrgyzstan as unrest intensifies due to anger over suspected electoral fraud.

This blog is about global injustice yet for a long time I've focused mainly on war and politics concerning the aggression and oppression of major powers against weaker foes eg. US and Iraq, Russia and Chechnya. There's many other issues of injustice that plague the world and I'm hoping to post more on these issues.

Though slavery (of Africans) officially ended in the 1800s, there's a different, sinister form of slavery that exists nowadays. Sex slavery and trafficking especially involving young victims has become quite prevalent in areas like South East Asia, East Europe and Central America.
In recent coverage of the tsunami tragedy that affected Southern Asia, it was even worse to read about how young children were being targeted by kidnappers for possible trafficking as child sex slaves.
This NYTimes story highlights the scourge of sex slavery in the little South-East country of Cambodia, which experienced the terror of Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge in the 70s and 80s, where sex trafficking is almost a major industry and young girls and their bodies are the products for sale.

With the recent elections in Iraq and the street protests in Lebanon, as well as the Palestinian election that elected their new leader Mahmoud Abbas, it seems GWBush might be right and can be regarded as somewhat of a savior or visionary who has brought through democracy and thus given rise to fresh hopes of stability and prosperity to the Middle East. Finally.

Or is it? Checking through all the media coverage and articles from different sources, there're still questions and issues that need to be addressed and answered before writers can justify proclaiming the "successful" election in Iraq , GWBush can start receiving prizes and the public starts feeling stupid and Republicans can bask and gloat over their leader's glory.

The old, not so stale accusation of media bias arises here again, with the question: Why is it when the (pro-western opposition) people protest against the (not pro-western) government in Ukraine and Lebanon, it's considered "people power",regaled as the triumph of democracy and freedom and lauded with great fanfare whereas Hezbullah brings out at least half a million in Lebanon and it's considered manipulative and given scant coverage and publicity in the (mainstream) media?

Secondly, since when does holding elections albeit with substantial turnouts signify the coming of democracy and stability and prosperity? It is much too premature to assume elections and even democracy can substantially benefit the Middle East.

Then, if oppresive regimes or governments are overthrown and elections are really held in Lebanon and Syria and Saudi Arabia and Islamic parties win them, would the US and its allies accept this outcome and even if they did, how long would it be before they attempt to intervene/invade/interfere to install a "friendly" government/administration a la Chile or South Vietnam back in the days.

Iraq-there were large turnouts for their election and yes, under Saddam democratic elections would not be possible. This large electorate mostly had a main purpose and that is to have the americans leave. And yet, the US refuse to even consider a withdrawal plan or date. Is this democratic? The US invaded Iraq, toppled Saddam, and freed the people from tyrannic rule. Why did they do this though? Out of the goodness of their hearts, Saddam had Weapons of mass-destruction or links with terrorism?? Or because they could claim the gratitude and obeyance of the locals as their liberators, take control of the country, install their own approved stooge as leader, and exploit Iraq and its oil resources?

Ukraine-last fall there was a huge controversy concerning the election results (reminds me of something similar) which erupted with mass protests and rallies led by the opposition whose leader, a Victor Yuschenko claimed he was cheated because of balloting fraud, and who incidentally happens to be a pro-western pro-market economy guy. Termed the Orange Revolution, the media devoted lots of attention and headlines towards this and the common assumption was that the Russian-supported candidate, former Victor Yanukovych along with his Russian "patrons" had fixed the election results to prevent Yuschenko's victory. Yet behind all this Western freedom and people power versus Russian socialism and corruption plotlines was a more subtle manipulation at hand as described in this extensive article here and in the Guardian.

Today is the second anniversary of the Invasion of Iraq by America, dubbed by the Americans:Operation Iraqi Freedom. As expected, sizeable protests were held in America, Canada and Europe though numbers weren't as great as those 2 years ago before the invasion. Inspite of the smaller protests those who think the invasion and occupation of Iraq was right shouldn't think that people have forgotten or simply stopped caring about this issue and that heated anti-Bush emotions have subsided, rather people have become more aware of injustices in the world and anti-Bush, anti-Republican/conservative passions have intensified.

In Canada, the main protests were held in Montreal and Toronto.
Protests were also held throughout Europe and even Japan.
A few pictures from these protests.

Opposition rallies in Lebanon to counter Hezbullah rally

An even more massive rally occured in Beirut yesterday as the anti-Syrian opposition movement gathered over 800,000 people in responseto a huge pro-Syrian rally organised by the Hezbullah party last week, which attracted 500,000 people and to demand an international inquiry into the assassination of former Prime minister Rafiq Hariri.
With both pro-Syrian and anti-Syrian opposition mustering hundreds of thousands of Lebanese to take to the streets in protests and express their differing views passionately, it's becoming even harder to determine what the situation is there, except to say that the atmosphere is highly charged and there are fears that a civil war is looming in the near future.

Chechynan rebel leader and former elected president Aslan Maskhadov was killed after a firefight with Russian forces. Known as a moderate,as opposed to extremist, leader who was willing to negotiate peace terms with Russia, his death signifies the ruthlessness of Russian forces as they continue to try to crush the Chechynan resistance and reconquer this breakaway "nation" which declared independence from Russia in 1994.

This article really froze me for an instant when I read it. It made me think about how the "war" or occupation in Iraq has progressed so far and of GWBush's steady confident and bold attitude. The writer makes some decent points about how things have turned out and it makes for interesting reading. Keep in mind the writer is a contributor to Fox News, as written in the Time bio.

American arrogance, wrongdoing and hypocrisy cannot be denied as detailed in this Express opinion.

Besides all the commotion by the international community regarding the issues in Lebanon, there's also been some serious attacks going on in Iraq. It's terrible the constant bombings and firefights, whoever the victims and aggressors are.

The wounding of female Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena has been controversial. It was also tragic that an Italian agent, who helped secure her release, was killed by US forces, and now, it's disturbing that there's so much confusion on the circumstances of that incident.
This brings up a point, that if even over a friendly fire incident involving nationals of a close US ally-Italy, the US can't even clear up the truth, then in incidents involving Iraqis, how can the US version be any more credible.

An article from Counterpunch on US motives against Syria concerning the recent events in Lebanon.

"Of course we expect more American pressure," the (Syrian)information minister, Mehdi Dakhlallah, said. "President Bush is speaking daily about Syria as if he has no other work."

What a great comment on Bush and his administration's recent behavior against Syria.

500,000 rally in support of Syria in the capital Lebanon. Amidst opposition claims of people being bused in from Syria and locals being pressured to participate and blah,blah,blah, -not to say that some criticism regarding this rally may not be true but you can't deny the staggering size of this rally which dwarfed the anti-Syrian ones. "Are all those hundreds of thousands of people puppets?Is all this crowd agents for the Syrians and intelligence agencies" as Hezbullah leader Sheik Nasrallah asked, really to the outside world.

You also can't deny the fact that the majority of Syrians are muslims and supporters of Syrian influence in their country, which many regard as better than that of American or Israeli influence.

Worth taking a look at.
The World's Top 10 dictators of 2004 from Parade magazine.

I've been checking out 2 interesting magazines recently, both aren't big or famous but they deal with politics and world injustice. First up is Canadian This magazine, which features articles on science, society, alternative art and world Canadian politics.

New Internationalist concerns itself with issues of injustice around the world.
Read this report on the World Social Forum 2005 to understand a little more of this burgeoning social issues conference that gathers activists of different fields (union, anti-corporation, anti-war, writers etc.) from different regions, as well as politicans and journalists twice a year (after this year). Hopefully it will grow to the point where many substantial and practical ideas and plans about social justice can be proposed (but not to the point that it ignores and loses its grassroots participants) and agreed upon and its influence will increase so that world leaders and politicians would respect this forum and heed its advice.

There's lots of rejoicing going on in Lebanon as the current cabinet stepped down and international pressure and opinion mounts on Syria to withdraw its troops from Lebanon. Certainly there's no love lost for the Syrians who many Lebanese resent because of their dominance of Lebanese politics.
In spite of this euphoria and unity displayed in calling for Syria's withdrawal, there's still challenges ahead for Lebanon.

Amongst which, is the fact that the true killers behind Hariri's killing are yet to be found.
Here's a case that Syria is not be the main suspect behind that.

Fighting rages on in the Democratic Republic of Congo, formely known as Zaire. Interestingly, offensive action was waged against local militiamen by UN peacekeepers, who apparently had been attacked previously by this militia.