Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Palestinians killed in 'Nakba' clashes - Middle East - Al Jazeera English
Palestinians killed in 'Nakba' clashes - Middle East - Al Jazeera English
What say ye about this, President Obama?
What say ye about this, President Obama?
Saturday, May 14, 2011
The Right's 'Big Lie' Strategy: When Losing, Simply Rewrite History | | AlterNet
The Right's 'Big Lie' Strategy: When Losing, Simply Rewrite History | | AlterNet
The struggle for hearts and minds begins at home.
The struggle for hearts and minds begins at home.
Friday, May 13, 2011
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Monday, May 9, 2011
Guernica / Noam Chomsky: My Reaction to Osama bin Laden’s Death
Guernica / Noam Chomsky: My Reaction to Osama bin Laden’s Death
Why do I love Noam Chomsky? Because his conscience is unimpaired.
Why do I love Noam Chomsky? Because his conscience is unimpaired.
Sunday, May 8, 2011
The day bin Laden vanished forever - Opinion - Al Jazeera English
The day bin Laden vanished forever - Opinion - Al Jazeera English
I hate to rain on everyone's parade, but one can reason on the basis of blind faith, or one can reason on the basis of wishful thinking, or one can reason on the basis of evidence. Call me old-fashioned, but I stubbornly insist upon the third of those three options.
I hate to rain on everyone's parade, but one can reason on the basis of blind faith, or one can reason on the basis of wishful thinking, or one can reason on the basis of evidence. Call me old-fashioned, but I stubbornly insist upon the third of those three options.
Saturday, May 7, 2011
One Can Reason On The Basis of Blind Faith
or one can reason on the basis of wishful thinking, or, one can reason on the basis of evidence. The last of those three options is always my preference, though I know that such rationality makes me appear quite eccentric in the USA of 2011. Still, I stubbornly persist.
The NYT reported that the CIA closed down its "capture OBL" unit in late 2005. A variety of reasons for this action were given at the time, e.g., the agency's "evolving understanding" of how "al-Qaeda functions," but certainly one plausible reason was that it was known then, in intelligence circles, that OBL was dead.
When the authorities who are responsible for accumulating evidence, preserving it, and presenting it, refuse or fail to live up to their responsibilities, one has reasonable room for doubt.
The NYT reported that the CIA closed down its "capture OBL" unit in late 2005. A variety of reasons for this action were given at the time, e.g., the agency's "evolving understanding" of how "al-Qaeda functions," but certainly one plausible reason was that it was known then, in intelligence circles, that OBL was dead.
When the authorities who are responsible for accumulating evidence, preserving it, and presenting it, refuse or fail to live up to their responsibilities, one has reasonable room for doubt.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Washington’s official story unravels, confirming extra-legal execution of Bin Laden
Washington’s official story unravels, confirming extra-legal execution of Bin Laden
If OBL was assassinated on 5-1-11, we are left with this mess...
If OBL was assassinated on 5-1-11, we are left with this mess...
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
It Is Reasonable To Ask
Let us return to July, 2001.
Osama bin Laden is hospitalized in Dubai for treatment of a serious kidney ailment.
It is reasonable to ask how his health fared in the subsequent decade, living as he must have for some part of the time in fairly primitive circumstances--he was, after all, a fugitive from justice in the third world.
Is it possible that he died of natural causes sometime during the 10 years that elapsed between September 11, 2001 and May 1, 2011?
If he did die of natural causes in that period, would the intelligence services of the United States or its allies learn of his death?
If the intelligence services of the United States did learn of his death by natural causes in that period, would this information be disclosed to the American public?
Was not Osama bin Laden worth more to the War On Terror alive and at large as a bogeyman than he would be if he were dead?
Would not Osama bin Laden's death by natural causes rob the American people of the satisfaction of revenge on bin Laden for the crimes against humanity of which he was accused (but for which he was never tried)?
Do the aforementioned possibilities represent incentives for members of the United States government involved with the War On Terror (some of whom have, in fact, profited from it handsomely, e.g., Richard Cheney) to withhold the intelligence of Osama bin Laden's death by natural causes from the American people?
Has interest in the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden among members of the American public not cooled in recent years?
Upon taking office in January 2009, was President Obama briefed as to the current intelligence on Osama bin Laden?
If Osama bin Laden had passed away prior to Barack Obama's taking office, or during his first term as President, would not President Obama be informed of this fact?
As of April 2011, was not Barack Obama campaigning for re-election?
As of April 2011, were not Barack Obama's prospects for re-election in 2012 less than certain (to put it mildly)?
Have the stories concerning the alleged assassination of Osama bin Laden in May of 2011 been consistent or shifting?
Has the American public been provided proof of Osama bin Laden's assassination?
Are "good taste" and "decorum" adequate justifications for withholding evidence from the American public in a matter vital to the national interest?
Have officials of the United States government not provided false or misleading information to the American public regarding other matters vital to the national interest in the recent past?
When will members of the American public begin to demand that U.S. government officials provide it with evidence of claims that it makes relative to matters vital to the national interest?
Osama bin Laden is hospitalized in Dubai for treatment of a serious kidney ailment.
It is reasonable to ask how his health fared in the subsequent decade, living as he must have for some part of the time in fairly primitive circumstances--he was, after all, a fugitive from justice in the third world.
Is it possible that he died of natural causes sometime during the 10 years that elapsed between September 11, 2001 and May 1, 2011?
If he did die of natural causes in that period, would the intelligence services of the United States or its allies learn of his death?
If the intelligence services of the United States did learn of his death by natural causes in that period, would this information be disclosed to the American public?
Was not Osama bin Laden worth more to the War On Terror alive and at large as a bogeyman than he would be if he were dead?
Would not Osama bin Laden's death by natural causes rob the American people of the satisfaction of revenge on bin Laden for the crimes against humanity of which he was accused (but for which he was never tried)?
Do the aforementioned possibilities represent incentives for members of the United States government involved with the War On Terror (some of whom have, in fact, profited from it handsomely, e.g., Richard Cheney) to withhold the intelligence of Osama bin Laden's death by natural causes from the American people?
Has interest in the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden among members of the American public not cooled in recent years?
Upon taking office in January 2009, was President Obama briefed as to the current intelligence on Osama bin Laden?
If Osama bin Laden had passed away prior to Barack Obama's taking office, or during his first term as President, would not President Obama be informed of this fact?
As of April 2011, was not Barack Obama campaigning for re-election?
As of April 2011, were not Barack Obama's prospects for re-election in 2012 less than certain (to put it mildly)?
Have the stories concerning the alleged assassination of Osama bin Laden in May of 2011 been consistent or shifting?
Has the American public been provided proof of Osama bin Laden's assassination?
Are "good taste" and "decorum" adequate justifications for withholding evidence from the American public in a matter vital to the national interest?
Have officials of the United States government not provided false or misleading information to the American public regarding other matters vital to the national interest in the recent past?
When will members of the American public begin to demand that U.S. government officials provide it with evidence of claims that it makes relative to matters vital to the national interest?
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Bin Laden was Unarmed When Shot Dead
US: Bin Laden was unarmed when shot dead - Americas - Al Jazeera English
Bin Laden's code-name among US forces was "Geronimo." That speaks volumes. I guess it had to be either that or "Nat Turner." Is it possible that racist-imperialists have a sense of irony? Somehow I doubt it.
Oh, and by the way, a U.S. government spokesman has "clarified" that Bin Laden was not using his wife as a "shield." That's a little trope we picked up from the Israelis, just in case the murder of women and children who "get in the way" happens to offend anyone's sensibilities.
Bin Laden's code-name among US forces was "Geronimo." That speaks volumes. I guess it had to be either that or "Nat Turner." Is it possible that racist-imperialists have a sense of irony? Somehow I doubt it.
Oh, and by the way, a U.S. government spokesman has "clarified" that Bin Laden was not using his wife as a "shield." That's a little trope we picked up from the Israelis, just in case the murder of women and children who "get in the way" happens to offend anyone's sensibilities.
We Killed Osama bin Laden, Now Let’s Kill the Myth - New America Media
We Killed Osama bin Laden, Now Let’s Kill the Myth - New America Media
Wonderfully sane and informed commentary.
Wonderfully sane and informed commentary.
Monday, May 2, 2011
Maybe I'm Just Old-Fashioned...
...but it used to be that when you killed public enemy no. 1, you provided proof to the public. Like this picture of John Dillenger laid out in the morgue.
I'm not anxious to see a dead body, but it strikes me that, in the case of Osama Bin Laden, some such photograph should have accompanied the reports of his killing.
Now, I know that images can be manipulated via computer, so perhaps a photograph like the above photo of Dillenger still would not be conclusive proof. Even so, I find it odd that such proof was not immediately provided to the public.
Now with the passage of time, the emergence of such proof will become more and more suspect.
I don't doubt that Bin Laden is dead. My question is: has he been dead for several years and has that fact been concealed from the American public?
For a long while, he was worth more to the U.S. government alive and at large than dead. Until this recent news, he has been largely forgotten. Perhaps this is the final Bin Laden card the U.S. Government had to play.
What if he died of natural causes a few years ago? What if he died in the initial pounding of the mountains in Afghanistan in late 2001? Who would have known?
The claim that he was flown to the Arabian Sea within hours of his death in an effort to be responsive to "Muslim sensitivities" just does not seem credible.
If the U.S. Government desires to be responsive to Muslim sensitivities, it can begin by withdrawing all troops from Iraq and Afghanistan, stop drone attacks in Pakistan, Afghanistan, the Yemen, and Libya, and stop propping up dictators throughout the Arab world.
Burying a Muslim at sea who did not die at sea is a very odd reading of fiqh.
It appears to me to be an attempt to dispose of a body--if, in fact, such a burial at sea even occurred.
Pardon my skepticism, but we are talking about the government that invented Saddam's WMDs, a heroic death for Pat Tillman, staged the Jessica Lynch rescue, etc., etc.
I'm not anxious to see a dead body, but it strikes me that, in the case of Osama Bin Laden, some such photograph should have accompanied the reports of his killing.
Now, I know that images can be manipulated via computer, so perhaps a photograph like the above photo of Dillenger still would not be conclusive proof. Even so, I find it odd that such proof was not immediately provided to the public.
Now with the passage of time, the emergence of such proof will become more and more suspect.
I don't doubt that Bin Laden is dead. My question is: has he been dead for several years and has that fact been concealed from the American public?
For a long while, he was worth more to the U.S. government alive and at large than dead. Until this recent news, he has been largely forgotten. Perhaps this is the final Bin Laden card the U.S. Government had to play.
What if he died of natural causes a few years ago? What if he died in the initial pounding of the mountains in Afghanistan in late 2001? Who would have known?
The claim that he was flown to the Arabian Sea within hours of his death in an effort to be responsive to "Muslim sensitivities" just does not seem credible.
If the U.S. Government desires to be responsive to Muslim sensitivities, it can begin by withdrawing all troops from Iraq and Afghanistan, stop drone attacks in Pakistan, Afghanistan, the Yemen, and Libya, and stop propping up dictators throughout the Arab world.
Burying a Muslim at sea who did not die at sea is a very odd reading of fiqh.
It appears to me to be an attempt to dispose of a body--if, in fact, such a burial at sea even occurred.
Pardon my skepticism, but we are talking about the government that invented Saddam's WMDs, a heroic death for Pat Tillman, staged the Jessica Lynch rescue, etc., etc.
Bin Laden's Body
What's that about? His body was flown to the Arabian Sea to be disposed of?
I think the American people have a right to see the body of the man they have been taught to fear for a decade.
The NYT also reported that he was conveniently "shot in the head"--making identification all that more difficult.
I have felt for a long time that Bin Laden has been dead for years.
This story is for domestic U.S. consumption.
Analysis: Killing the alibi - Opinion - Al Jazeera English
Analysis: Killing the alibi - Opinion - Al Jazeera English
Now we can end the wars we started in Afghanistan and Iraq and bring all the troops home to ticker-tape parades, right? By the way, what's this story in the NYT about Bin Laden being buried at sea?
Now we can end the wars we started in Afghanistan and Iraq and bring all the troops home to ticker-tape parades, right? By the way, what's this story in the NYT about Bin Laden being buried at sea?
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