The New York Times
NOW THIS IS WHAT 'I' CALL A BIRTHDAY PRESENT. Thank you, Iraq. (Tears in my eyes). Peace to everyone in Iraq. We are trying to earn your friendship. Our government is very wrong about so much and the pain you all have suffered is our's.
Excavating the Lies being Buried by Bush/Blair in the Iraqi Desert (Also Known As "I Told You So")
The administration of George Walker Bush and Richard Cheney has used Iraq as a political wedge in the USA while driving religious focus to the forefront of the USA political landscape creating a Legislative Coup encouraged by the Executive Office to destroy the democracy of the USA and the USA Constitution.
Iraq was a country in transition before the invasion. It has much work ahead of it but the invasion destroyed it's 'contained state' into a country of anarchy. As a result the only focus of media has been the Bush Instilled Government then substituted by a well run Shi'ite take over of the Central Government. It is up to the Shi'ite majority to lead the country out of anarchy to peace among it's citizens. This is compromised by the fact the Iraqi Central Government appears to operate under the Shadow of the infidels of the USA placing into positions exiles loyal to Western Influence determined to keep the economic status of Iraq oil in the hands of The West rather than abandoning those ways and struggling with organizing it's own internal ministries loyal ONLY to the citizens of Iraq, including Sunni Arabs.
Iraq's Sunnis are actually the saviors of Iraq, which is the heart of Islam. Their resistance should be met with respect and the understanding the USA Coalition was wrong in their assertions before the United Nations Security Council. It should be met with the understanding the USA Coalition is incapable of apologies to them. Instead of further violence a representative group of Sunnis needs to take an active part in the new government speaking out against the atrocities of the Bush/Cheney Coalition and demand reconstruction of beloved cities such as Fallujah in war reparations from the USA guaranteed to them by The Geneva Conventions.
Iraq Sunnis have carried the 'heart' of Iraq with them during the years of invasion. They first witnessed the lies and prejudices of the USA Bush/Cheney Administration at the UN Security Council. Then what followed was the complete disregard by the USA Coalition of the United Nation's Security Council, realizing now the Bush/Blair Coalition organized and planned long before petitioning the UN an invasion using the UN as a 'smoke screen' for it's plans. The Sunnis, being the primary ethnic group of the Iraqi military and police because of Saddam's paranoia and pathological hatred of the Shi'ites and the Kurds realized they were the only Iraqis equipped to protect Iraq. They took that responsibility seriously carrying in their hearts the vindication of THE TRUTH to resistance any transformation of Iraq by the coalition. They were right. They continue to be right.
What the Sunnis in their insistence of THE TRUTH has left in it's wake is a determined Ayatollah who saw the opportunity to TAKE IRAQ from the invasionary forces and organized the Shi'ites into a determined majority to win an election and set policy incorporating Islamic precepts into Iraqi law. The Shi'ite majority has succesfully 'won' Iraq back from the hands of the infidel invaders. What is left to be done is an incorporation of these two great loyalist ethnic groups. One, the Shi'ites, standing in majority of Islamic demands on Iraq's new government and the other, the Sunnis standing in resistance to anything but the truth of Iraq before the assault of The West. These two great loyalist groups must come together in final defeat of the USA Coalition replacing 'occupation forces' with Iraqi military once again with the understanding the country of Iraq is now a Representative Theocracy which includes all it's citizens. When this is accomplished the final step is protecting the wealth of Iraq which the Kurds have successfully accomplished for decades in their region of the country. The third largest ethnicity group holds the fiscal future of Iraq in it's territorial right to exist and completes the picture creating an Iraq that is secure in it's Islamic History and Future, rich in fiscal assets for future generations of Iraqis and a history mired in THE TRUTH of the invasion seeking justice though the Geneva Accords and The World Courts to bring the USA lead coalition before the world's scrutiny and ridicule to prevent any further exploitation or destruction of Islam.
To fall short of any of these goals will serve only Osama bin Laden's legacy declaring the Iraq Invasion 'proof' of al Qaeda's justified existence. Worldwide Jihad will have it's basis in fact forever if the Sunni's aren't elevated to inclusion in the Iraqi government removing all the shame and ridicule brought to them by the Iraqi invasion. The USA Coalition was wrong. They had no plans for Iraq after the invasion except it's exploitation making up rules of engagement as they went along including the torture and imprisonment of people who never deserved any ill treatment.
I do not see my country as a hero to these people so much as exploiter as has been proven by records profits of companies like Halliburton and Bechtel while 100,000 innocent civilians have died, including women and children of a generation that could have inherited a far different Iraq under directed international policies of peaceful transition ending a dictatorship while strengthening the citizens of Iraq in democratic principles. The Iraqi society still remains splintered due to the overriding lies of the American Occupiers and the International Community should continue to resist assistance to this occupation which helps define the Sunni Rebellion.
The USA Coalition has placed itself in a Catch 22 situation as a defender to a new Iraqi government recognized by the same International Community that resists assistance to the occupying forces while it protects same from demise as that is where the political vestiture for Bush lies. The USA military needs to assume 'peacekeeper' among people they do not belong for the sake of allowing civil peace rather than resistance. The USA military is wrong to act against the rebels so much as protect the civilians from the violence. Attacking and destroying Fallujah was wrong and further actions of same is more of a stimulant to continued and escalated rebellion among IRAQI CIVILIANS singled out as 'trouble makers' when in fact they have witnessed an invasion based in lies and deception designed for corporate profit.
Iraq LITERALLY is a 'Fiery Phoenix' entrenched in the ashes of a former dictator that needs rebirth in a manner that records it's history with the truth making it's own citizens it's liberators including the Sunni Rebellion and not a distant liberator named Bush that was in truth a profiteer.
A very different picture emerges from Islam when a politically driven Evangelical Christian American President is elevated to 'Iraqi Sainthood' as opposed to The Truth of the Invasion and the Capitalist Exploitation of an oil rich Iraqi Desert to exonerate a wayward corporate executive turned American Vice President in Dick Cheney from the grasp of angry stockholders. The picture is the truth and elevation of Islam as opposed to the further exploitation of it.
The Message From the Sunni Heartland
By PATRICK GRAHAM
Published: May 22, 2005
DURING the nearly two years I reported from Iraq, from November 2002 to August 2004, I spent a great deal of time with Sunni Arab families in Baghdad and the countryside around Fallujah. I rented an apartment in Ramadi and visited for hundreds of hours in the houses of people who were deeply involved in the insurgency.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/22/weekinreview/22graham.html?hp
HERE AGAIN, the problem is not Afghanistan, but the USA. A program anywhere cannot be successful if under funded and under enforced. If the Wrong Minded Bush/Cheney Administration and Puppet Congress had focused all it's efforts on Afghanistan the Poppy Culture would no longer exist. If the troops in Iraq had been deployed to Afghanistan Osama bin Laden would be in prison or dead by now along with his Cleric Omar. Blaming Hamid Karzi is the most bizarre scapegoating I have ever witnessed. He has stood by the side of the USA post 9/11 to attempt to secure and somewhat 'well done' the future of Afghanistan from the hands of the people who attacks the USA. NOW, because, Rumsfeld has been a puppet for Cheney and the focus of all efforts in foreign policy has shifted to Halliburton profits, Hamid Karzi is a failure and more than that an enemy. This is nothing but pure unadulterated propaganda and an appauling cowing of the media on bended Christian knee to pander the King of the Castle in the White House for mercy.
To put it mildly? This is some of the most pandering BULL SHIT I have ever read The New York Times put out !!
U.S. Memo Faults Afghan Leader on Heroin Fight
By DAVID S. CLOUD and
Published: May 22, 2005
WASHINGTON, May 21 - United States officials warned this month in an internal memo that an American-financed poppy eradication program aimed at curtailing Afghanistan's huge heroin trade had been ineffective, in part because President Hamid Karzai "has been unwilling to assert strong leadership."
Darko Zeljkovic for The New York Times
Two Afghan workers scraped opium paste from a field of poppies near Kandahar. The U.S.-backed poppy-eradication program has had little effect.
A cable sent on May 13 from the United States Embassy in Kabul, the Afghan capital, said that provincial officials and village elders had impeded destruction of significant poppy acreage and that top Afghan officials, including Mr. Karzai, had done little to overcome that resistance.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/22/international/asia/22afghan.html?hp&ex=1116820800&en=68f4e747f803b0b2&ei=5094&partner=homepage
NOW, this is not bad work. Not even covert. We'll take what they have to offer and sort the wheat from the chaff. Bring 'em on. They are no one that we haven't heard from before. I can't help it if they have chronic constipation and can't get past THEIR PAST founders and their FOUNDER flaws.
On a Christian Mission to the Top
By LAURIE GOODSTEIN and DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK
Published: May 22, 2005
For a while last winter, Tim Havens, a recent graduate of Brown University and now an evangelical missionary there, had to lead his morning prayer group in a stairwell of the campus chapel. That was because workers were clattering in to remake the lower floor for a display of American Indian art, and a Buddhist student group was chanting in the small sanctuary upstairs.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/22/national/class/EVANGELICALS-FINAL.html
EXACTLY CORRECT !! The New Class Structure of the USA includes safe guarding the treasuries of Cheney and Halliburton.
The Military Class of the USA
JIM WILSON/The New York Times
On a humid November evening in Gulfport, Miss., National Guard members from Tennessee waited to board jumbo jets that would start their journey to Iraq. The line of soldiers was so long, it edged along the runway for hundreds of yards.
http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2005/05/20/national/20050522_MILITARY_SLIDESHOW_1.html
IT'S ABOUT DARN TIME you all are getting this right. It's only been half a lifetime Michael Moore has carried this reality and others in his heart of hearts.
A more appropriate title for this is: "…so where do you get your meager income from?"
Blue Collars in Olive Drab
By JONATHAN D. GLATER
Published: May 22, 2005
On a humid November evening in Gulfport, Miss., National Guard members from Tennessee waited to board jumbo jets that would start their journey to Iraq. The line of soldiers was so long, it edged along the runway for hundreds of yards.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/22/national/class/MILITARY-FINAL.html
Can't say enough about this insight.
Shadowy Lines That Still Divide
By JANNY SCOTT and DAVID LEONHARDT
Published: May 15, 2005
There was a time when Americans thought they understood class. The upper crust vacationed in Europe and worshiped an Episcopal God. The middle class drove Ford Fairlanes, settled the San Fernando Valley and enlisted as company men. The working class belonged to the A.F.L.-C.I.O., voted Democratic and did not take cruises to the Caribbean.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/15/national/class/OVERVIEW-FINAL.html
Swedes Dispute Translation of a U.N. Legend's Book
By WARREN HOGE
Published: May 22, 2005
UNITED NATIONS, May 20 - Nothing left behind by Secretary General Dag Hammarskjold after his death in a plane crash in Congo in 1961 had a more enduring impact than a typewritten manuscript found in the bedside table of his New York apartment with an accompanying letter saying it was his "only true profile."
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/22/international/europe/22dag.html?hp
The Mirror
STAR WARS: EPISODE III - REVENGE OF THE SITH
Xbox, PS2,
£40, out now
NOW the time the last instalment of Star Wars Fever to prepare for is, as Yoda might say.
Games of films are generally rubbish, but this bucks the trend. It is a great arcade-style third-person action adventure.
You start off swapping between control of Anakin and Obi-Wan.
Excellent graphics, the chance to challenge your mates to light-sabre duels and the ability to improve your character's abilities at the end of each mission make this a winner.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/funandgames/gamezone/tm_objectid=15484108%26method=full%26siteid=94762%26headline=star%2dwars%2d%2d58%2d%2depisode%2diii%2d%2d%2drevenge%2dof%2dthe%2dsith-name_page.html
Sydney Morning Herald
Test Japan's whaling claims in court: Labor
May 22, 2005 - 10:35AM
Australia should legally test Japan's claim that its whaling is for scientific purposes, Labor said today.
The Opposition foreign affairs spokesman, Kevin Rudd, said today that, despite Australia's good relationship with Japan, Australia should take it to the International Court of Justice on the issue if diplomatic efforts to change its views failed.
Japan is seeking to double its scientific whaling program's kill count at an International Whaling Commission meeting in Korea next month.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/Test-Japans-whaling-claims-in-court-Labor/2005/05/22/1116700581271.html
Negligence blamed as 41 soldiers left dying in blizzard
By Fiona Ortiz in Santiago
May 22, 2005
The Sun-Herald
Hopes faded yesterday for 41 soldiers trapped in the Andes after a blizzard hit their regiment during a mountain exercise, said Chile's army chief, who blamed the tragedy on negligence by army officers.
At least five men are already reported to have died. "The probabilities are low, very low" that the men survived, army commander-in-chief General Juan Cheyre told reporters after going part way up the slopes of the Antuco volcano near the Argentine border, 600 kilometres south-east of Santiago, to evacuate the only body so far recovered.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/Negligence-blamed-as-41-soldiers-left-dying-in-blizzard/2005/05/21/1116533579460.html
Karzai demands action on prison abuse
May 22, 2005 - 2:48PM
Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who will arrive in Washington later today to meet with US President George Bush, has demanded greater control over American military operations in Afghanistan and vigorous punishment of soldiers who mistreat prisoners.
He also said he wants the United States to hand over all Afghan prisoners still in US custody.
In a volatile southern Afghan province, meanwhile, a US soldier was killed and three were wounded in the latest in a string of attacks launched by loyalists of the ousted Taliban regime.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/Karzai-demands-action-on-prison-abuse/2005/05/22/1116700585169.html
Kylie's surgery a success
By Christine Sams and AAP
May 22, 2005
The Sun-Herald
Dr Jenny Senior addresses the media.
Photo: Reuters
Kylie Minogue's breast cancer has been successfully removed, her surgeon announced yesterday.
Reading from a written statement, Dr Jenny Senior said the pop singer underwent surgery at 5pm on Friday in St Frances Xavier Cabrini Hospital in Melbourne.
"Her spirits are high and she's feeling fine. She has family and friends around her," Dr Senior said.
"Kylie has been the perfect patient and has charmed all my staff. I just wish I could have met her under happier circumstances.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/People/Kylies-surgery-a-success/2005/05/21/1116533581800.html
Warning over changes to super laws
May 22, 2005 - 3:50PM
Many Australians could be disadvantaged under new laws allowing for choice in superannuation, former Reserve Bank governor Bernie Fraser has warned.
He said there was a risk of poor advice from competing fund entrants leading to poor alternatives for employees.
Mr Fraser, a trustee and independent director of several super funds, launched a television advertising campaign for Industry Super Funds ahead of the introduction of the choice of funds laws on July 1.
Industry Super Funds started more than 20 years ago after an ACTU-led campaign and represents more than 3.8 million workers.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/National/Warning-over-changes-to-super-laws/2005/05/22/1116700586351.html
Corby makes last-ditch plea for pardon
May 22, 2005 - 7:50PM
Accused drug smuggler Schapelle Corby has taken the unusual step of begging for a pardon from the Indonesian president before her verdict has been handed down.
Lawyers for the Gold Coast beauty student will take delivery tomorrow of her letter begging President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to set her free.
As Ms Corby's judgement day nears, her business backer Ron Bakir has apologised to the Indonesian prosecutors for accusing them of offering to take a bribe in return for a lighter sentence.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/National/Corby-makes-lastditch-plea-for-pardon/2005/05/22/1116700588335.html
Torture acceptable, says former NCA chief
May 22, 2005 - 5:28PM
Into the fray: Peter Faris.
Photo: Andrew de la Rue
A former chairman of the National Crime Authority says torture is acceptable against terrorists and in some domestic criminal situations.
And Peter Faris, QC, has drawn from the classic Clint Eastwood film Dirty Harry to illustrate why.
Mr Faris today joined the debate sparked last week by the head of Deakin University's law school, Mirko Bagaric, and Deakin law lecturer Julie Clarke, who said torture was acceptable in some circumstances.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/National/Torture-acceptable-says-former-NCA-chief/2005/05/22/1116700585264.html?oneclick=true
The New Zealand Herald
BOP residents brace for more as rains come again
22.05.05 4.00pm UPDATE
Worried Bay of Plenty residents are bracing themselves for more flood damage as the area is again being hit with heavy rain.
Tauranga City Council communications manager Elizabeth Hughes said heavy rain started falling about 2.00pm today.
However the Met Service said today’s rain should not be as bad as Wednesday’s deluge where flood waters damaged dozens of homes.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10126838
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