The Iraq War legacy: 10 years on...behold the fruit of 'American Success'

Iraq war: Ever more shocked, never yet awed
PressTV
March 18, 2013



At 10 years since the launch of Operation Iraqi Liberation (to use the original name with the appropriate acronym, OIL) and over 22 years since Operation Desert Storm, there is little evidence that any significant number of people in the United States have a realistic idea of what our government has done to the people of Iraq, or of how these actions compare to other horrors of world history.

A majority of Americans believe the war since 2003 has hurt the United States but benefitted Iraq. A plurality of Americans believe not only that Iraqis should be grateful, but that Iraqis are in fact grateful.

A number of US academics have advanced the dubious claim that war making is declining around the world. Misinterpreting what has happened in Iraq is central to their argument. As documented in the full report, by the most scientifically respected measures available, Iraq lost 1.4 million lives as a result of OIL, saw 4.2 million additional people injured, and 4.5 million people become refugees. The 1.4 million dead was 5% of the population.

That compares to 2.5% lost in the US Civil War, or 3 to 4% in Japan in World War II, 1% in France and Italy in World War II, less than 1% in the U.K. and 0.3% in the United States in World War II. The 1.4 million dead is higher as an absolute number as well as a percentage of population than these other horrific losses. US deaths in Iraq since 2003 have been 0.3% of the dead, even if they’ve taken up the vast majority of the news coverage, preventing US news consumers from understanding the extent of Iraqi suffering.

In a very American parallel, the US government has only been willing to value the life of an Iraqi at that same 0.3% of the financial value it assigns to the life of a US citizen.

The 2003 invasion included 29,200 airstrikes, followed by another 3,900 over the next eight years. The US military targeted civilians, journalists, hospitals, and ambulances. It also made use of what some might call “weapons of mass destruction,” using cluster bombs, white phosphorous, depleted uranium, and a new kind of napalm in densely settled urban areas.

Birth defects, cancer rates, and infant mortality are through the roof. Water supplies, sewage treatment plants, hospitals, bridges, and electricity supplies have been devastated, and not repaired. Healthcare and nutrition and education are nothing like they were before the war. And we should remember that healthcare and nutrition had already deteriorated during years of economic warfare waged through the most comprehensive economic sanctions ever imposed in modern history.

Money spent by the United States to “reconstruct” Iraq was always less than 10% of what was being spent adding to the damage, and most of it was never actually put to any useful purpose. At least a third was spent on “security,” while much of the rest was spent on corruption in the US military and its contractors.

The educated who might have best helped rebuild Iraq fled the country. Iraq had the best universities in Western Asia in the early 1990s, and now leads in illiteracy, with the population of teachers in Baghdad reduced by 80%.

For years, the occupying forces broke the society of Iraq down, encouraging ethnic and sectarian division and violence, resulting in a segregated country and the repression of rights that Iraqis used to enjoy even under Saddam Hussein’s brutal police state.

While the dramatic escalation of violence that for several years was predicted would accompany any US withdrawal did not materialize, Iraq is not at peace. The war destabilized Iraq internally, created regional tensions, and -- of course - generated widespread resentment for the United States. That was the opposite result of the stated one of making the United States safer.

If the United States had taken five trillion dollars, and - instead of spending it destroying Iraq - had chosen to do good with it, at home or abroad, just imagine the possibilities. The United Nations thinks $30 billion a year would end world hunger. For $5 trillion, why not end world hunger for 167 years? The lives not saved are even more than the lives taken away by war spending.

A sanitized version of the war and how it started is now in many of our school text books. It is not too late for us to correct the record, or to make reparations. We can better work for an actual reduction in war making and the prevention of new wars if we accurately understand what past wars have involved.

DS/HSN/SL

CIA/MI6 knew the truth on the status of Iraq WMDs but ignored and hidden

credit: almanar

British, U.S. spies ignored intelligence before Iraq invasion
PressTV
March 18, 2013

Britain and U.S. spying agencies had ignored intelligence before invasion of Iraq that the country had no active weapons of mass destruction (WMDs), it has been revealed.

MI6 and CIA had been told through secret channels by Saddam’s foreign minister and his spy chief that Iraq had no WMDs, media reports said.

This is while that former Prime Minister Tony Blair told parliament in the run-up to the war that intelligence showed Iraq's nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons programme was "active", "growing" and "up and running".

According to a special Panorama programme in the BBC, British and U.S. spying agencies were informed by top sources months before the invasion that Iraq had no active WMD programme, and that the information was not passed to subsequent inquiries.

The programme explains how Naji Sabri, Saddam's foreign minister, told the CIA's station chief in Paris at the time, Bill Murray, through an intermediary that Iraq had "virtually nothing" in terms of WMD.

Meanwhile, Panorama confirms that three months before the war an MI6 officer met Iraq's head of intelligence, Tahir Habbush al-Tikriti, who also said that Saddam had no active WMDs.

The meeting in the Jordanian capital, Amman, took place days before the British regime published its now widely discredited Iraqi weapons dossier in September 2002.

Lord Butler, the former cabinet secretary who led an inquiry into the use of intelligence in the run-up to the invasion of Iraq, tells the programme that he was not told about Sabri's comments, and that he should have been.

Butler says of the use of intelligence: "There were ways in which people were misled or misled themselves at all stages."

When it was suggested to him that the body that probably felt most misled of all was the British public, Butler replied: "Yes, I think they're, they're, they got every reason think that."

MOL/JR/HE

Dick Cheney: one of the behind-the-scenes architect of Iraq War unapologetic/unremorseful of role in disastrous war & legacy

'I'd do it again in a minute': Dick Cheney unapologetic about War in Iraq 10 years on and defends use of torture to prevent terror
By KATIE DAVIES
DAILYMAIL
March 15, 2013

Former Vice President Dick Cheney says he has no regrets about the War in Iraq and would do it again 'in a minute' in a new documentary which airs tonight - days before the 10th anniversary of the U.S. led invasion.

In the film entitled The World According to Dick Cheney, Cheney says he 'feels good about' the U.S. led action which has cost the lives of 4,488 U.S. armed service members and 134,000 Iraqi civilians. He also defends the use of torture in the wake of 9/11 including the controversial technique of simulated drowning or water-boarding in the Showtime film.


No regrets: Cheney, left, pictured while serving as Vice President, said he would do the same again in a minute

The film marks ten years since the invasion, which has cost U.S. taxpayers $2.2 trillion to date, according to recent estimates by the Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University.

The Republican is interviewed by R.J. Cutler in his film, which also interviews Cheney supporters and detractors including close friend and political ally former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfield and former aide David Addington.

'I did what I did,' he says. 'It’s all on the public record, and I feel very good about it. If I had it to do over again, I’d do it in a minute.' He also says he is unmoved by critics of his ongoing pro-Iraq war stance adding: 'I don’t lay awake at night thinking, ‘Gee, what are they going to say about me now?’ He adds: 'I don't spend a lot of time thinking about my faults'.


In Iraq: The former Vice President, pictured here in Iraq, said he felt good about the decisions he made

Speaking about the post 911 War on Terror he repeats this steadfast confidence in the techniques used by the intelligence services and laws introduced by the Bush administration.
'It was a wartime situation, and it does require tough programs and policies if you're going to be successful,' he said. 'It was more important to be successful than it was to be loved.'
He also defends water-boarding and other techniques used by intelligence services to retract information. 'Tell me what terrorist attack you would have let go forward because you didn't want to be a mean and nasty fellow,' he says.

'Are you going to trade the lives of a number of people because you want to preserve your honor?'

'I don't run around thinking, 'Gee, I wish we had done this or wish we had done that.' The world is as you find it, and you've got to deal with that,' he says.

'You get one shot. You don't get do-overs. So you don't spend a lot of time thinking about it.'
It explores how Cheney came to wield considerable influence over President Bush and how he became one of the most powerful vice presidents in American history. It also touches on his early political career in Congress, rise to prominence in the Ford administration and stint out of politics as CEO of Halliburton.

The two-hour documentary will be aired on Showtime. It premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. Cutler is well-known for previous documentaries including The War Room and The September Issue.

'[Cheney] was certainly very generous with his time and supported the making of this film so I'm grateful to him for that,' Cutler said in an interview with CNN. 'He believes what he did in his time in office and over his 40 year career was the right thing. He believes his convictions are the right convictions,' Cutler says.

'My politics are beside the point, this is a film that is examining one of the most significant Vice Presidents - I would argue one of the most consequential non presidential political figures this country has ever known.'



Source: CNN

Shape-shifting Jesus spent his last supper with Pontius Pilate, claims just-deciphered 1,200-year-old Egyptian manuscript (DailyMail)

...Claim explains why Judas used a kiss to betray Jesus, since he could have transformed to foil any attempt at description

...Manuscript also claims that Pontius Pilate offered his own son for crucifixion in place of the Messiah - but Jesus declined

By DAMIEN GAYLE
DAILYMAIL
March 14, 2013

A 1,200-year-old Egyptian manuscript tells the story of the crucifixion with incredible plot twists - including the revelation that Jesus could change shape.

The ancient illuminated text's claim explains why Judas used a kiss to betray Jesus, since the Christian Messiah had the ability to transform his appearance.

It also claims Jesus in fact spent his last supper with the man who ordered his execution, Roman prefect Pontius Pilate, who is said to have offered to sacrifice his own son in Jesus' place.


Leonardo da Vinci's 'The Last Supper': A newly deciphered manuscript claims Jesus could change shape at will and in fact had his last supper with Pontius Pilate, the Roman prefect who sentenced him to death

And it defies the official Easter timeline by putting the day of Jesus' arrest on Tuesday evening, rather than the canonically agreed Thursday.

The translation from the original Coptic has been revealed for the first time in a new book by Roelof van den Broek, emeritus professor of the History of Christianity at Utrecht University in the Netherlands.

In the commonly-accepted Bible story it is claimed that the apostle Judas agrees to betray Jesus in exchange for cash, then kissed him to reveal his identity. The newly-deciphered text explains that, far from a sign of affection or guilt, the kiss was Judas' way of forestalling any shape-shifting confusion.

'The Jews said to Judas: How shall we arrest him [Jesus], for he does not have a single shape but his appearance changes. Sometimes he is ruddy, sometimes he is white, sometimes he is red, sometimes he is wheat coloured, sometimes he is pallid like ascetics, sometimes he is a youth, sometimes an old man...' it reads.

For a man who could walk on water, raise the dead, feed 5,000 people with just a single loaf of bread and a fish, and turn water into wine, such abilities are perhaps unsurprising.

But shape-shifting is not the only superpower the ancient manuscript attributes to Jesus - it also says that he could even turn himself invisible. It claims that on the night before his crucifixion, Jesus ate dinner with Pontius Pilate, the Roman prefect who decided his sentence - who, it is said, remarkably offered his son to be crucified in place of the Messiah.

Jesus declined the offer, explaining that if he could escape from his fate if he wanted to.
'Pilate, then, looked at Jesus and, behold, he became incorporeal: He did not see him for a long time,' the text says. Later that night, according to the manuscript, Pilate and his wife dreamed of an eagle representing Jesus being killed.

The incredible text, which is thought to be some 1,200 years old, is written in the name of St Cyril of Jerusalem, although, Professor van den Broek says, it was probably written by someone else. Back then it was looked after by monks at the Monastery of St Michael in the desert of north-west Egypt, south of Cairo.

The text was rediscovered in 1910 and, the following year, it was bought along with other manuscripts by the wealthy Wall Street financier JP Morgan. Morgan's collections were later given to the public and they are now kept in the Morgan Library and Museum in New York City.


A scene from the film 'The Passion of the Christ': The new manuscript offers a very different account of the days and events leading up to the death of Jesus from the conventional one given by the Bible

Professor van den Broek told LiveScience that the Bible was already canonised in Egypt by the time the text was written, but that such apocryphal stories nevertheless remained popular among believers.

He said he was not convinced that the monk who wrote down the story necessarily believed all the details in it, 'but some details, for instance the meal [Pontius Pilate had] with Jesus, he may have believed to have really happened.'

'The people of that time, even if they were well-educated, did not have a critical historical attitude,' he added. 'Miracles were quite possible, and why should an old story not be true?'
Professor van den Broek's book, Pseudo-Cyril of Jerusalem on the Life and the Passion of Christ, is out now, published by Brill.

Precious Islamic archaeological relics being dismantled & demolished in Saudi Arabia

The photos Saudi Arabia doesn't want seen – and proof Islam's most holy relics are being demolished in Mecca
Archaeologists fear billion-pound development has led to destruction of key historical sites
by JEROME TAYLOR
THE INDEPENDENT
March 15, 2013

The authorities in Saudi Arabia have begun dismantling some of the oldest sections of Islam’s most important mosque as part of a highly controversial multi-billion pound expansion.

Photographs obtained by The Independent reveal how workers with drills and mechanical diggers have started demolishing some Ottoman and Abbasid sections on the eastern side of the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca.

The building, which is also known as the Grand Mosque, is the holiest site in Islam because it contains the Kaaba – the point to which all Muslims face when praying. The columns are the last remaining sections of the mosque which date back more than a few hundred years and form the inner perimeter on the outskirts of the white marble floor surrounding the Kaaba.

The new photos, taken over the last few weeks, have caused alarm among archaeologists and come as Prince Charles – a long-term supporter of preserving architectural heritage – flew into Saudi Arabia yesterday for a visit with the Duchess of Cornwall. The timing of his tour has been criticised by human rights campaigners after the Saudis shot seven men in public earlier this week despite major concerns about their trial and the fact that some of the men were juveniles at the time of their alleged crimes.

Many of the Ottoman and Abbasid columns in Mecca were inscribed with intricate Arabic calligraphy marking the names of the Prophet Muhammad’s companions and key moments in his life. One column which is believed to have been ripped down is supposed to mark the spot where Muslims believe Muhammad began his heavenly journey on a winged horse, which took him to Jerusalem and heaven in a single night.

To accommodate the ever increasing number of pilgrims heading to the twin holy cities of Mecca and Medina each year the Saudi authorities have embarked upon a massive expansion project. Billions of pounds have been poured in to increase the capacity of the Masjid al-Haram and the Masjid an-Nabawi in Medina which marks where Muhammad is buried. King Abdullah has put the prominent Wahabi cleric and imam of the Grand Mosque, Abdul Rahman al-Sudais, in charge of the expansion while the Saudi Binladin Group – one of the country’s largest firms – has won the construction contract.

While there is little disagreement over the need to expand, critics have accused the Saudi regime of wantonly disregarding the archaeological, historical and cultural heritage of Islam’s two holiest cities. In the last decade Mecca has been transformed from a dusty desert pilgrimage town into a gleaming metropolis of skyscrapers that tower over the Masjid al-Haram and are filled with a myriad of shopping malls, luxury apartments and five star hotels.

But such a transformation has come at a cost. The Washington-based Gulf Institute estimates that 95 per cent of Mecca's millennium-old buildings have been demolished in the past two decades alone. Dozens of key historical sites dating back to the birth of Islam have already been lost and there is a scramble among archaeologists and academics to try and encourage the authorities to preserve what little remains.

Many senior Wahabis are vehemently against the preservation of historical Islamic sites that are linked to the prophet because they believe it encourages shirq – the sin of idol worshipping.

But Dr Irfan al-Alawi, executive director of the Islamic Heritage Research Foundation which obtained the new photographs from inside the Grand Mosque, says the removal of the Ottoman and Abbasid columns will leave future generations of Muslims ignorant of their significance.

“It matters because many of these columns signified certain areas of the mosque where the Prophet sat and prayed,” he said. “The historical record is being deleted. A new Muslim would never have a clue because there’s nothing marking these locations now. There are ways you could expand Mecca and Medina while protecting the historical heritage of the mosque itself and the surrounding sites.”

There are signs that King Abdullah has listened to concerns about the historical destruction of Mecca and Medina. Last October The Independent revealed how new plans for the masjid an-Nabawi in Medina would result in the destruction of three of the world’s oldest mosques on the west hand side of the main complex. However new plans approved by King Abdullah last week appear to show a change of heart with the bulk of the expansion now slated to take place to the north of the Masjid an-Nabawi.

However key sites are still at risk. The Independent has obtained a presentation used by the Saudis to illustrate how the expansion of Mecca’s main mosque will look. In one of the slides it is clear that the Bayt al-Mawlid, an area which is believed to be the house where Muhammad was born in, will have to be removed unless plans change.

The Independent asked the Saudi Embassy in London a number of questions about the expansion plans and why more was not being done to preserve key historical sites. They replied: “Thank you for calling, but no comment.”

NASA Rover Finds Conditions Once Suited for Ancient Life on Mars

Read NASA/JPL`s full  Press Release - 03.12.13

Nasa's Curiosity rover finds conditions WERE once right for primitive life on Mars - and scientists say there was even DRINKABLE water on the red planet
--Groundbreaking analysis by the chemical lab onboard the Curiosity rover shows ancient Mars   
   could have supported living microbes
--Scientists identified sulfur, nitrogen, hydrogen, oxygen, phosphorus and carbon - some of the 
   key chemical ingredients for life - in the powder
By MARK PRIGG
DAILYMAIL
March 12, 2013

Nasa's Curiosity rover has found that the red planet could have once supported primitive life.
An analysis of a rock sample collected by the rover found key chemical ingredients.
'We have found a habitable environment that is so benign and supportive of life, that probably if this water was around and you had been there, you would have been able to drink it,' said John Grotzinger, Curiosity's project scientist.


This powered rock that shows there may once have been life on Mars: Analysis of a rock sample collected by the curiosity rover found key chemical ingredients for life, Nasa said today

'A fundamental question for this mission is whether Mars could have supported a habitable environment,' said Michael Meyer, lead scientist for NASA's Mars Exploration Program at the agency's headquarters in Washington.

'From what we know now, the answer is yes.'

The groundbreaking analysis by the chemical lab onboard the Curiosity rover shows ancient Mars could have supported living microbes. Scientists identified sulfur, nitrogen, hydrogen, oxygen, phosphorus and carbon - some of the key chemical ingredients for life - in the powder Curiosity drilled out of a sedimentary rock near an ancient stream bed in Gale Crater on the Red Planet last month.

Clues to this habitable environment come from data returned by the rover's Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) and Chemistry and Mineralogy (CheMin) instruments.

The data indicated the Yellowknife Bay area the rover is exploring was the end of an ancient river system or an intermittently wet lake bed that could have provided chemical energy and other favorable conditions for microbes.

The rock is made up of a fine-grained mudstone containing clay minerals, sulfate minerals and other chemicals. This ancient wet environment, unlike some others on Mars, was not harshly oxidizing, acidic or extremely salty. The patch of bedrock where Curiosity drilled for its first sample lies in an ancient network of stream channels descending from the rim of Gale Crater.

The bedrock also is fine-grained mudstone and shows evidence of multiple periods of wet conditions, including nodules and veins.


This set of images shows the different types of rocks seen by NASA's Opportunity rover and Curiosity rover at two different parts of Mars. On the left is 'Wopmay' rock, in Endurance Crater, Meridiani Planum, as studied by the Opportunity rover. On the right are the rocks of the 'Sheepbed' unit in Yellowknife Bay, in Gale Crater, as seen by Curiosity.

Curiosity's drill collected the sample at a site just a few hundred yards away from where the rover earlier found an ancient streambed in September 2012.

'Clay minerals make up at least 20 percent of the composition of this sample,' said David Blake, principal investigator for the CheMin instrument at NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif.
These clay minerals are a product of the reaction of relatively fresh water with igneous minerals, such as olivine, also present in the sediment, Nasa said.

The reaction could have taken place within the sedimentary deposit, during transport of the sediment, or in the source region of the sediment.

The presence of calcium sulfate along with the clay suggests the soil is neutral or mildly alkaline.

Scientists were surprised to find a mixture of oxidized, less-oxidized, and even non-oxidized chemicals, providing an energy gradient of the sort many microbes on Earth exploit to live.
This partial oxidation was first hinted at when the drill cuttings were revealed to be gray rather than red.


This side-by-side comparison shows the X-ray diffraction patterns of two different samples collected from the Martian surface by NASA's Curiosity rover. The Rocknest reading (left) suggests a dry, aeolian (wind-shaped) environment with low water activity. The John Klein pattern (right) suggests a lacustrine (lakebed) environment with high water activity.

'The range of chemical ingredients we have identified in the sample is impressive, and it suggests pairings such as sulfates and sulfides that indicate a possible chemical energy source for micro-organisms,' said Paul Mahaffy, principal investigator of the SAM suite of instruments at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.

An additional drilled sample will be used to help confirm these results for several of the trace gases analyzed by the SAM instrument.

'We have characterized a very ancient, but strangely new 'gray Mars' where conditions once were favorable for life,' said John Grotzinger, Mars Science Laboratory project scientist at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, Calif.


This false-color map shows the area within Gale Crater on Mars, where NASA's Curiosity rover landed on Aug. 5, and the location where Curiosity collected its first drilled sample at the 'John Klein' rock

'Curiosity is on a mission of discovery and exploration, and as a team we feel there are many more exciting discoveries ahead of us in the months and years to come.'

Scientists now plan to work with Curiosity in the 'Yellowknife Bay' area for many more weeks before beginning a long drive to Gale Crater's central mound, Mount Sharp.

Investigating the stack of layers exposed on Mount Sharp, where clay minerals and sulfate minerals have been identified from orbit, may add information about the duration and diversity of habitable conditions.

Hugo Chavez, leader of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, dies at 58

"...Almost the only adversary it seemed he couldn't beat was cancer. He died Tuesday in Caracas at 4:25 local time after his prolonged illness. He was 58..." - AP News

"An emotional VP Nicolas Maduro made the announcement on Tuesday evening, flanked by leading Venezuelan political and military leaders."

The legacy of Hugo Chavez:

Hugo Chavez: The War On Democracy (2007), by John Pilger

'The War On Democracy' (2007) was John Pilger's first for cinema. It explores the current and past relationship of Washington with Latin American countries such as Venezuela, Bolivia and Chile.

Using archive footage sourced by Michael Moore's archivist Carl Deal, the film shows how serial US intervention, overt and covert, has toppled a series of legitimate governments in the Latin American region since the 1950s. The democratically elected Chilean government of Salvador Allende, for example, was ousted by a US backed coup in 1973 and replaced by the military dictatorship of General Pinochet. Guatemala, Panama, Nicaragua, Honduras and El Salvador have all been invaded by the United States.

John Pilger interviews several ex-CIA agents who took part in secret campaigns against democratic countries in the region. He investigates the School of the Americas in the US state of Georgia, where Pinochet’s torture squads were trained along with tyrants and death squad leaders in Haiti, El Salvador, Brazil and Argentina.

The film unearths the real story behind the attempted overthrow of Venezuela's President Hugo Chávez in 2002 and how the people of the barrios of Caracas rose up to force his return to power.

It also looks at the wider rise of populist governments across South America lead by indigenous leaders intent on loosening the shackles of Washington and a fairer redistribution of the continent's natural wealth.

John Pilger says: "[The film] is about the struggle of people to free themselves from a modern form of slavery". These people, he says, "describe a world not as American presidents like to see it as useful or expendable, they describe the power of courage and humanity among people with next to nothing. They reclaim noble words like democracy, freedom, liberation, justice, and in doing so they are defending the most basic human rights of all of us in a war being waged against all of us."

'The War On Democracy' was a Youngheart Entertainment, Granada and Michael Watt production. It was released in UK cinemas on 15 June 2007 and broadcast on ITV1, 20 August 2007. Directors: John Pilger and Chris Martin. Producers: Chris Martin and Wayne Young. Editor: Joe Frost. The film was made with the support of the humanitarian financier Michael Watt.

Awards: Best Documentary Award, 2008 One World Awards, London. The panel's citation read: "There are six criteria the judges are asked to use to select the winner of this award: the film's impact on public opinion, its appeal to a wide audience, its inclusion of voices from the developing world, its high journalistic or production standards, its success in conveying the impact of the actions of the world's rich on the lives of the poor and the extent to which it draws attention to possible solutions. One film met every one of these. It was the winner of the award: John Pilger's 'The War on Democracy'.

Johnpilger.com



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Current human-rights abuses in Bangladesh by repressive regime

If you have tears to drop,#Bangladesh
By ttorongo
CNN iReport
March 3, 2012 | Dhaka

While I am writing from Bangladesh I am in doubt whether world will ever get to know the grief of a green land Bangladesh, a small but most densely populated country of the world. I am in confusion since my language is not that much attractive but hopefully it will draw the most humanitarian hearts of the people from around the world. I just want to say, Bangladesh is in trouble. Please share your hands to save millions from persecution and killing by the state machinery of a radical secular government.

I have never thought of writing to the world people since I preserve the dignity that my country is my world. Whatever happens, let them inside my home and let the world know about we are happy since we are the highest in number in the UN peace keeping mission. But I am sorry, I have no way but to let you know that we are in trouble. We are in trouble for being burnt in political vendetta of some political groups, very powerful and indeed they are ruling us now.

What happened on last Thursday of February 2013 has never been experienced in the history. At least 50 people have died in police bullet for staging political processions, more than thousands have been bullet ridden and countless have been injured across the country. The country shocked with protests in every corner and straightly put down by the authorities by bullets, the only response to agitating demonstrators.

Why that has been happened to us? It was all about verdict, handed down by a court, not recognized internationally rather criticized by all rights groups including the UN, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch. That verdict was handed down to Delware Hossain Sayedee, an acclaimed preacher of Islam but, unfortunately, implicated for crimes against humanity during liberation war of Bangladesh in 1971. He has been handed down death sentence by a court set up by Bangladesh’s radical secular government which eventually achieved a critically debated position since its head had been revealed to concoct policy of charging the religious cleric. The head had to resign, but the verdict has been handed down as sketched by the resigned judge, even before hearing the arguments of either the prosecution or the defense.

How have been the charges? This question will haunt the generation to come for years. Just a glimpse into the witnesses would reveal how the justice had been handed down. In a charge the religious scholar has been accused of looting gold and silver from a house but no witness was been produced before the court. In another charge, the Maolana (Islamic term of a religious cleric) has been accused of setting fire on a house of a person during 1971 but the person was, stunning enough, not born at that time, let alone had a house. He is also charged with killing a man but whose wife filed a case during 1972 and of which case the final charge sheet was even framed. Name of Sayedee was not even there but he has been awarded with death of that person. In charge number 10- allegation of killing Bishabali has been placed. According to the allegation, a Razakar fired on Bishabali upon the order of Maolana Sayedee. But no witness has been produced to identify who carried the killing, what was done with the dead body or other relevant issues. On the other hand, Sukhranja Bali, brother of deceased Bishabali, defense witness for Sayedee was abducted from the Tribunal premise. Still the whereabouts of Bishabali is unknown. In these charge number eight and charge number ten, the tribunal has ordered death sentence to Allama Sayedee.
The tribunal’s ‘beyond reasonable doubts’ proved charges are also reasonable to consider and reconsider for a future at least to save a nation from splitting over political grounds. A charge has been brought against him of killing Bisha Bali for which he has been sentenced but whose brother Sukh Ranaja Bali, previously a prosecution witness but turned to into a defense witness for not going against a ‘valo manush Sayedee’ [ a good person Sayedee shouldn’t be blamed on false charges] has been abducted from the court premise. Just go a little bit more, a person Gouranga Shaha has accused Sayedee of raping his three younger sisters of the age of wedding and for which the Maolana has been sentenced. But Gouranga Shaha was born in 1963 and during the year of 1971 he had three younger sisters of the age of wedding and on ‘beyond reasonable doubt’ the Tribunal has accepted the charge.

Don’t be bored to get the stories from the Tribunal before reading one miraculous story of charge framing. Maolana Sayedee has been accused of raping a woman who, later, gave birth to a child. But the court evidences eventually proved that the woman gave birth to a child only within 4 months.

At this point, if you think I am against the trial of war criminals and verdict against crimes against humanity, I would not mind but would humbly request you to consider the point that if one person has not handed down justice what could the history to offer to injustice. It can spark crying if the person is an individual and if that person is an institution it would spark frustration and anguish. The followers of Sayedee have expressed their frustration and anger and many were seen praying. But their anger and frustration have eventually put down by bullets. May the be the future would write the crying and anguish or may the future will forget amid mass propaganda just like the most precious tear drops keep the footprint only inside the heart, not on the cheek.

The situation will continue to haunt many, uncountable at this moment and for many years to come indeed. The missing line is here. Crimes of against were carried during 1971 but were not carried by this person who is now convicted. The anguish of 1971 of Bangladesh has never been redressed but now some individuals are turning into new victims who have much political supports.

Today’s protests were massive so as the government’s violent but government supporting media didn’t publish them much. I have got a confirmed report that supporter of Sayedee was shot dead and later his two eyes were pulled out. This inhuman violence is nothing but simple cruelty and will be continued in a land where international interests are very low but human being, powerless, live there.

N. Korean leader Kim Jong Un sends President Obama a message

NBA star Dennis Rodman fresh back from his visit to N. Korea revealed the North Korean leader asked to pass along a message to President Obama, for him to just call Kim Jong Un. It seems simplistic and genuine enough saying he '[doesn`t] want to do war.' But off course this will fall on deaf ears here in the U.S. You have to give Dennis Rodman kudos for having the cojones to go to N. Korea as part of a basketball diplomacy to bring down the curtain over North Korea. Its very important in my mind and others to do so to slough off the layers of grime the media and establishment have painted on North Korea over the years. No country or government is perfect but to menace each other isn`t warranted and people deserve to know the truth first hand like Dennis did, not just be spoon fed lies or propaganda. Now, although on part of the North Koreans some of this may have been part of a propaganda campaign but nevertheless it does more good than harm. We humans now are so quick into jumping to conclusions and preconceived notions that we believe them as fact without ever hearing the other side, doing our research or ignore truths from history. People here need to step off their preconceived pedestals on everything and allow diplomacy and discussion to take place. It seems there is always a certain group who disavows dialogue and wants to keep the penchant of war and hostilities brooding. Lastly George Stephanopolous is a prime example of the very same people who constantly force feed us the same words over and over...from the interview he harped over prison camps, police state, human rights abuse...well Mr. Stephanopolous have you seen what`s happening here in the U.S.? We need objectivity. Only time will tell if the two Koreas and Korean people will ever be unified... 


[video courtesy of ABC News, copyright; all rights reserved]


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Dennis Rodman: Kim Jong Un Wants President Obama to ‘Call Him’

'Hey, Obama, call me, I don't want to do war': Message given to Dennis Rodman to pass on from North Korea's Kim Jong Un
By DAILYMAIL
March 3, 2013

Ex-NBA star Dennis Rodman says North Korean leader Kim Jong Un doesn't want war with the United States. He just wants President Barack Obama to call him.

Rodman, the highest-profile American to meet Kim since Kim took power in December 2011, says Obama and Kim share a love of basketball, so 'let's start there.'

Rodman is just back from a visit to North Korea with the Harlem Globetrotters basketball team and camera crews for the upcoming HBO series 'VICE,' during which he spent two days with Kim.

Playing defense: Appearing on ABC's This Week, Rodman said North Korea's Kim Jong Un just wanted U.S. President Barack Obama to call him


Pulling out all the stops: Rodman and his group were treated to lavish dinners while the millions of North Koreans starve

In his first interview about the trip, he spoke on ABC's 'This Week.'

'He wants Obama to do one thing: Call him,' Rodman told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos. 'He said, ‘If you can, Dennis – I don’t want [to] do war. I don’t want to do war.’ He said that to me.'
The trip took place amid strained ties between the U.S. and North Korea over the North's recent underground nuclear test.

Kim is regarded as one of the world's most oppressive leaders in a nation that builds prison camps and lets millions of its citizens starve to death.

In stark contrast to the poverty of his citizens, Kim welcomed the group with a feast, ice skating, and an aquarium visit.

Upon returning, Rodman shocked many by praising Kim.  'I love him,' he said. 'He's awesome.'

He stood by the controversial statement during his ABC interview.

'No, I’m not apologiz[ing] for him,' Rodman said. 'You know, he’s a good guy to me. Guess what? He’s my friend. I don’t condone what he does … [but] as a person to person – he’s my friend.'

Rodman is the first widely-known American to meet with Kim since he became head of North Korea, succeeding his Kim Jong-II, who died in 2011.

He has followed in his father's footsteps, defying U.N. sanctions by pursing a nuclear arms and missiles program he says is aimed at the U.S.

Kim also shared a love of basketball with his father, and is particularly fond of the 1990s Chicago Bulls championship teams, which included Rodman.

On his trip the two watched an exhibition game between the Globetrotters and North Korean players, with Rodman telling Kim before the crowd, 'You have a friend for life.'


Friends: Rodman defended his controversial statements saying he was not a politician and wanted to find common ground

'I'm not a politician,' Rodman wrote on Twitter. 'Kim Jung Un & North Korean people are basketball fans. love everyone. Period. End of story.'

The U.S. State Department has distanced itself from the visit and will not debrief Rodman on the meeting.

The decision not to talk to Rodman has been characterized as 'ridiculous' by some intelligence experts.

'There is nobody at the CIA who can tell you more personally about Kim Jong Un than Dennis Rodman, and that in itself is scary,' said Steve Ganyard, a former deputy assistant secretary of state.

Rodman expects to return to North Korea.

'I'm not like a diplomat,' he said. 'I'm [going to] go back, do one thing and find out more, what’s going on. Find out more.'


[video courtesy of ABC News, copyright; all rights reserved]

Is the Rothschild’s final conquest to gain control of Iran’s central bank?

ROTHSCHILDS WANT IRAN’S BANKS
By Pete Papaherakles
American Free Press
FEBRUARY 10, 2012

Could gaining control of the Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran (CBI) be one of the main reasons that Iran is being targeted by Western and Israeli powers? As tensions are building up for an unthinkable war with Iran, it is worth exploring Iran’s banking system compared to its U.S., British and Israeli counterparts.

Some researchers are pointing out that Iran is one of only three countries left in the world whose central bank is not under Rothschild control. Before 9-11 there were reportedly seven: Afghanistan, Iraq, Sudan, Libya, Cuba, North Korea and Iran. By 2003, however, Afghanistan and Iraq were swallowed up by the Rothschild octopus, and by 2011 Sudan and Libya were also gone. In Libya, a Rothschild bank was established in Benghazi while the country was still at war.

Islam forbids the charging of interest, a major problem for the Rothschild banking system. Until a few hundred years ago, charging interest was also forbidden in the Christian world and was even punishable by death. It was considered exploitation and enslavement.

Since the Rothschilds took over the Bank of England around 1815, they have been expanding their banking control over all the countries of the world. Their method has been to get a country’s corrupt politicians to accept massive loans, which they can never repay, and thus go into debt to the Rothschild banking powers. If a leader refuses to accept the loan, he is oftentimes either ousted or assassinated. And if that fails, invasions can follow, and a Rothschild usury-based bank is established.

The Rothschilds exert powerful influence over the world’s major news agencies. By repetition, the masses are duped into believing horror stories about evil villains. The Rothschilds control the Bank of England, the Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank, the IMF, the World Bank and the Bank of International Settlements. Also they own most of the gold in the world as well as the London Gold Exchange, which sets the price of gold every day. It is said the family owns over half the wealth of the planet—estimated by Credit Suisse to be $231 trillion—and is controlled by Evelyn Rothschild, the current head of the family.

Objective researchers contend that Iran is not being demonized because they are a nuclear threat, just as the Taliban, Iraq’s Saddam Hussein and Libya’s Muammar Qadaffi were not a threat.

What then is the real reason? Is it the trillions to be made in oil profits, or the trillions in war profits? Is it to bankrupt the U.S. economy, or is it to start World War III? Is it to destroy Israel’s enemies, or to destroy the Iranian central bank so that no one is left to defy Rothschild’s money racket?

It might be any one of those reasons or, worse—it might be all of them.