Web of Democracy

The latest Anti-Empire report, from William Blum. 

 - 'Fears of Blame for Defeat Shadow Afghan War Meetings': 

"In a remarkable parallel with a similar turning point in the Vietnam War 44 years ago, President Barack Obama will preside over a series of meetings in the coming weeks that will determine whether the United States will proceed with an escalation of the Afghanistan War or adjust the strategy to reduce the U.S. military commitment there." [IPS] 

- 'McChrystal's Infomercial: 60 Minutes and the General':

"[T]he interview was more than just another “60 Minutes” puff piece. Four-star battlefront generals don’t put on dog-and-pony shows for reporters without a very good reason for doing so, and he put on a very fancy show for Martin, with stops at his room, his office, his briefing room, trips in his helicopter and SUV, and much more. It’s difficult to imagine that McChrystal’s reason was anything other than putting pressure on the Obama administration to give him the series of very large troop increases he thinks he needs to win his war." [Bruce Jackson, Counterpunch] 

(P.S. You can watch the McChrystal-60 Minutes love-in here]

"Yesterday, the coup regime in Honduras led by Roberto Micheletti decreed a 45-day state of emergency, suspending all constitutional guarantees, including freedom of association, freedom of expression, freedom of press and privacy. The Brazilian Embassy in Teguicigalpa, where President Zelaya remains in a state of refuge, has been surrounded by repressive regime forces for days now and is under siege. Tear gas bombs and high frequency sounds are being directed towards the embassy in an effort to torture Zelaya out of the building. These violent actions violate the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and Consular Affairs, which accords embassies and consulates immunity and prohibits host countries from invading their territory or engaging in attacks against their personnel. On Saturday, September 26th, coup dictator Roberto Micheletti issued an "ultimatum" to Brazilian President Luis Ignacio "Lula" Da Silva, claiming that the coup regime would raid the Brazilian Embassy and strip it of its diplomatic immunity if the Brazilian government does not hand over President Zelaya to the regime. President Lula rejected the illegal demand." (PCFTR)also here,

 - 'Troops raid Honduran media groups'

 - Coup regime's [U.S. lobbyist/PR counsel informed) propaganda spin, via The Guardian:

"Honduras's interim leaders suspended key civil liberties last night in response to "calls for insurrection" by ousted president Manuel Zelaya, empowering police and soldiers to break up…

"In the following interview--conducted at Venezuela's mission to the United Nations in New York--Hugo Chávez talks about his relationship with Barack Obama and what his election could mean for the United States, as well as about the Honduran crisis, plans to extend the Pentagon's presence in Colombia, domestic successes and challenges, and the legacy of Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva." [The Nation]

"“American Radical” interviews [Norman] Finkelstein about his up­bringing and its relationship to his work, interspersed with foot­age of him hectoring hostile aud­iences and the like. This is supplemented with testimonials from colleagues, friends, family and adversaries, with the aim of rendering a multifaceted image of the man. Given the tone of un­compromising adulation that can underlie such profiles, audiences may be surprised at how frank this portrait of Finkelstein is." [Daily Star; also AmericanRadicaltheFilm.com]

The recent Obama talk show circuit frenzy immediately brought this classic film to mind, which I'd only recently been alerted to. 
"Using the 1992 presidential election as his springboard, documentary filmmaker Brian Springer captures the behind-the-scenes maneuverings of politicians and newscasters in the early 1990s. Pat Robertson banters about "homos," Al Gore learns how to avoid abortion questions, George Bush talks to Larry King about halcyon -- all presuming they're off camera. Composed of 100% unauthorized satellite footage, Spin is a surreal expose of media-constructed reality." [watch the entire film via Google Video]
[Related: there are many articles that detail/discuss the role of Public Relations, and the use of new media in the context of 'Brand Obama.']

Neo-cons and humanitarian imperialists unite (again)

The latest round of the attempt to legalize and legitimize 'humanitarian intervention' begins today.

The Globe and Mail reports:

 "Far-away genocides - like Rwanda's in the 1990s and Darfur's today - pose grave national security threats that warrant robust intervention by countries like Canada and the United States, according to a report to be published today."

Key R2P Lobby organizations -  the Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies (MIGS) and the United States Institute for Peace (USIP) - are holding a joint panel today where they will unveil 'The Will to Intervene Report' (available here, 160pp). According to USIP the report "aims to operationalize the principles of the Responsibility to Protect," in spite of the continuing  wariness of many countries toward the possibility of R2P's being used - as it so often has historically - as a justification for 'humanitarian imperialism.'

The report comes on the heels of an appeal for the Obama administration to craft "A Genocide Policy that works" by key Obama advisor, Sarah Sewall, in the Boston Review (Sewall was also interviewed for the 'Will to Intervene' report). Today, Sewall is both a member of the U.S. Department of Defense's Policy Board Advisory Committee and the Director of the Harvard University Carr Center's Mass Atrocity Response Operations program; she has been a long-time supporter of R2P.

Sewall is perhaps best known for her advocacy of…

Jeb Sprague reports from the upcoming G20 summit in Pittsburgh:

"As media and government delegates prepare for the G20 Summit to be held Sep. 24-25 in Pittsburgh, local business and activist groups are promoting clashing visions of days to come." 

...

"The G20 protesters face hurdles in getting their message out to a wider audience. With official politics in the United States channeled through a corporate media and a powerful two-party monopoly, peace and justice organisers say, the biggest challenge is just for their message to be heard." ['Activists, Big Business Converge on G20 Meet.' IPS] 

This article, snippet-ed below, reminds me to remind you to head on over to the Documentary Film Network and watch the most important documentary series ever made about the Central Intelligence Agency, On Company Business. (Part 2, Part 3):

(LA Times) "The CIA is deploying teams of spies, analysts and paramilitary operatives to Afghanistan, part of a broad intelligence "surge" that will make its station there among the largest in the agency's history, U.S. officials say.

When complete, the CIA's presence in the country is expected to rival the size of its massive stations in Iraq and Vietnam at the height of those wars. Precise numbers are classified, but one U.S. official said the agency already has nearly 700 employees in Afghanistan.

...

The intelligence expansion goes beyond the CIA to involve every major spy service, officials said, including the National Security Agency, which intercepts calls and e-mails, as well as the Defense Intelligence Agency, which tracks military threats.

..

The CIA's buildup is the latest in a series of escalations there. After having only a few operatives there after the Sept. 11 attacks, the agency's presence climbed to about 150 by the end of 2001, and 300 at the close of 2005.

...

 [T]he bulk of the CIA's workforce is scattered among secret bases and military outposts that dot the country.

...

One of the largest concentrations of CIA personnel is at Bagram air base north of Kabul, the headquarters for U.S. military special operations…

'Everyone seems to be agreeing with Bin Laden these days':

"Colin Kenny, chair of Canada's senate committee on national security and defence, said this week that "what we hoped to accomplish in Afghanistan has proved to be impossible. We are hurtling towards a Vietnam ending." [Kenny, we should recall, nevertheless, has been the leading voice for increased military spending in the Canadian Senate] 

"Close your eyes and pretend those last words came from the al-Qa'ida cave. Not difficult to believe, is it? Only Obama, it seems, fails to get the message."

...

"It is instructive to turn at this moment to the Canadian army, which has in Afghanistan fewer troops than the Brits but who have suffered just as ferociously; their 130th soldier was killed near Kandahar this week. Every three months, the Canadian authorities publish a scorecard on their military "progress" in Afghanistan – a document that is infinitely more honest and detailed than anything put out by the Pentagon or the Ministry of Defence – which proves beyond peradventure (as Enoch Powell would have said) that this is Mission Impossible or, as Toronto's National Post put it in an admirable headline three days' ago, "Operation Sleepwalk". The latest report, revealed this week, proves that Kandahar province is becoming more violent, less stable and less secure – and attacks across the country more frequent – than at any time since the fall of the Taliban in 2001. There was an "exceptionally high" frequency of attacks this…

"Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said Thursday that he has ordered the deployment of as many as 3,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan to meet what the top commander there has described as pressing security needs. 

The additional troops, who Gates said were requested by Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, the top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan, are not part of units designated to be deployed under President Obama's original orders to send 21,000 more service members to Afghanistan this year."

(Washington Post)

I, too, have a new article up at Rabble.ca.

"The U.S. Justice Department issued a letter Tuesday asking Congress to renew provisions of the law that allow authorities to conduct roving electronic eavesdropping, or wiretaps, access business records and track so-called "lone wolf" suspects with no known links to foreign powers or terrorist groups." [VOA (BB's foreign propaganda arm)]

Zirin & Wolf's bottom line: "We should stand without question in solidarity with Caster Semenya and express nothing but contempt for those who would get off, financially or otherwise, on seeing her destroyed." [The Nation]

The Sun's Bill Kaufmann tells it more or less like it is:

"[On Afghanistan]...both leading parties...are singing from the same rancid songsheet...So much for the showcase election designed more to buck up support for the Afghan mission in western nations than bring democracy to Afghans...Our troops...are being gamed -- a sickening affront no number of yellow magnetic stickers can dissolve...The people instrumental in sending young soldiers to their deaths for an increasingly illusory cause don't want the cost of their myopia seen in images even minimally graphic...We've never glimpsed what a roadside bomb actually does to our own soldiers. Merely an occasional diet of it would have Canadians clamouring for the plug to be pulled well before the 2011 deadline...In a scenario reminiscent of America's two-party state fiction, it's impossible to discern the Liberal position on Afghanistan from the Tory. In a way, it's fitting -- neither of our country's largest political parties reflects the views of most Canadians on Afghanistan...Canadians have reason to fear a majority government of either stripe will extend the fighting mission under some guise. Plans to keep some troops there past 2011 are already in place." [Edmonton Sun]

"The Iraqi TV journalist who threw his shoes at then-president George W. Bush will be showered with gifts including a four-bedroom house — and at least one potential bride — upon his imminent release from jail...."What (he) did was heroic and deserves all this appreciation from people who hate occupation..." [USA Today]

In light of scheduled upcoming visits to Canada by the fugitives in question, Lawyers Against the War and Rabble.ca are combining forces to call on the Canadian government to ensure they "be barred from entering Canada in accordance with the inadmissibility provisions of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) provisions that bar entry to foreign nationals suspected of human or international rights violations." [Global Research, more]

Take an hour and listen to "Chile: Promise of Freedom," a gripping audio documentary about "the coup in Chile September 11, 1973 (the 'other' September 11th)." [In the Freedom Archives]

[And remember: "Within three weeks of the coup, Canada recognized Augusto Pinochet's military junta." Said Canada's Ambassador to Chile at the time, "I can see no useful purpose to withholding recognition unduly." [Quoted in/on p. 99, The Black Book]

According to reports, the pro-'classic' counterinsurgency International Council on Security and Development (formerly the Senlis Council) has released new findings (apparently not yet available on their website) that say the Taliban-led Afghan insurgency now has " a "permanent presence" in 80 percent of the country." This is up from 72% last December, and 54% in 2007, according to the same organization.

"Washington notables broke ground on the future home of the Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday, symbolically starting construction on the biggest federal building project in the Washington area since the Pentagon 68 years ago...Department leaders hope the $3.4 billion consolidation [of 15,000 employees ] will help the department fulfill its core mission -- protecting the homeland -- in ways big and small." [Said Senator Joe Lieberman], "I feel like we've finally given a home to this child we've created, which is finally reaching maturity." [CNN]

(Look on the bright side, this is a bargain at less than four U.S. super-embassy's in Pakistan, notwithstanding the fact that many people are dencouncing these "as an “imperial” American presence, echoing Iraq and Afghanistan..." [Globe and Mail])

The beginnings of one, anyway. In the 'Research' section you'll find a list of Canadian companies that either currently have contracts with Iraqi officials (in Baghdad and/or the Kurdistan Region), or have been active in pursuit of Iraqi oil deals since the 2003 invasion. A work in progress, this will nevertheless (hopefully) assist those interested in tracking/digging into the issue. Feedback, suggestions (not to mention research leads) re: how to develop this section, what's missing, etc. are always welcome. [permalink]

[Iggy]: “This is where a chill falls over the room because everybody expects me to say that [the tar sands are] terrible and we’ve got to shut them down. Absolutely not… and for once the word ‘awesome,’ that we overuse all the time, is truly what you feel when you’re there. It is awe-inspiring. The capital investment, the sheer size of this thing, the fact that there are 100 years of deposits…” [h/t]

- In related news, 'Tar-sands oil standoff brews in Minnesota.' [h/t: 'Front Group Defends Tar Sands as 'North American Energy'']

- For a balanced, on-the-ground report on the recent Afghan elections, listen to Sonali Kolhatkar's interview with Radio France Internationale's Tony Cross; the interview kicks off the weekly digest & runs about twenty minutes. (Listen here)

- As I was reminded this week, one of Canada's most astute radio commentators is Phil Taylor of 'The Taylor Report.' I thoroughly enjoyed the August 24th broadcast (mp3).

If you read my new article ("Canada's outsourced war for Iraq's oil riches"), you will have noticed the passage that describes how SkyLink Aviation (aka SkyLink Arabia), the Canadian company that appears to have profited the most from "mission critical" work in support of the counterinsurgency war/occupation of Iraq, seem to have 'disappeared' a company newsletter from the internet after I queried them about it. Luckily, I kept a hard copy (dated September 2006), which I am posting here. For good measure, I've also uploaded another of their newsletters that I obtained, from October 2005.

These newsletters are all the more interesting since it's apparent that the company  doesn't want you to read them. Although there's no mention of their extensive work for mercenary companies such as Blackwater, they do provide some context about their work for a key member of 'Halliburton's Army,' KBR. As for KBR, here was the extent of their response to my query regarding their $10 million contract with SkyLink:

"The air charter contract for transporting KBR personnel was awarded through a full and open competition.  For the safety and security of our personnel, we are not in a position to provide any additional information about the contract."

The newsletters have a permanent home in 'Declassified.'

Back from visiting the Bolivarian Revolution in Venezuela, Chomsky dispenses with Ian Williams, bloody hands and all...

"I can only interpret the bluster and evasions as his way of admitting that his charges are groundless, mere slander, and that he recognizes, at some level, his own complicity." [Foreign Policy in Focus]