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NEWS DISSECTOR: The Pentagon's New Plan: Son of Shock And Awe
NEWS DISSECTOR July 16, 2007
The Pentagon's New Plan: Son of Shock And Awe
US AIR FORCE READIED FOR ACTION IN IRAQ
US PLANS FOR MIITARY INTERVENTION IN AFRICA
HOW PROTESTERS ARE MUZZLED AT PRESIDENTAL APPEARENCES
Thirty yeas ago this month, New Yorkers experienced the summer of the Son of Sam, a serial killer who prowled the streets. Thirty years later, Iraqis are bracing for the summer of the son of Shock and Awe.
While most of our media is building up the political conflicts and growing opposition in Washington to the war citing this report and that showing how benchmarks have not been reached, the Pentagon is preparing the next phase of its war. Since the US and Iraqi forces are losing on the ground, its time to return to the air with more strategic bombing that is likely to inflict even more punishment to civilians. The Air Force,having failed with its shock and awe campaign in 2003 is planning a new wave of air assaults.
GRIM REAPER NOW WEAPON
We are now in the age of the REAPER with the US launching experiental weapons from building data bases with biometric info on Iraqis (USA TODAY) to using a new p*** that kills more than the Predator. Don't you just love these names"
BALAD AIR BASE, Iraq (AP) - The airp*** is the size of a jet fighter, powered by a turboprop engine, able to fly at 300 mph and reach 50,000 feet. It's outfitted with infrared, laser and radar targeting, and with a ton and a half of guided bombs and missiles.
The Reaper is loaded, but there's no one on board. Its pilot, as it bombs targets in Iraq, will sit at a video console 7,000 miles away in Nevada.
The arrival of these outsized U.S. "hunter-killer'' drones, in aviation history's first robot attack squadron, will be a watershed moment even in an Iraq that has seen too many innovative ways to hunt and kill.
That moment, one the Air Force will likely low-key, is expected "soon,'' says the regional U.S. air commander. How soon? "We're still working that,'' Lt. Gen. Gary North said in an interview.
The Reaper's first combat deployment is expected in Afghanistan, and senior Air Force officers estimate it will land in Iraq sometime between this fall and next spring. They look forward to it.
"With more Reapers, I could send manned airp***s home,'' North said.
CRANK IT UP BOYS
AP: "A corporal testifying in a court-martial said Marines in his unit began routinely beating Iraqis after officers ordered them to "crank up the violence level.""
Meanwhile, CNN reports" White House rejects GOP moderates on Iraq. A US General was pleading for more time according to the Times: "Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch said that that it would take until next spring for an offensive in Baghdad to work." Ligfht at the end of the tunnel anyone?
TARGETING AFRICA
When President George W. Bush announced the formation of a military command for Africa (AFRICOM) this past February, it came as no surprise to the Heritage Foundation. The powerful right-wing organization designed it. The Heritage Foundation, founded in 1973 by ultra-conservatives Paul Weyrich and Joseph Coors and funded by such right-wing mainstays as the Scaife Foundation, has a strong presence in the Bush Administration. While not as influential as the older and richer American Enterprise Institute, it has a higher profile when it comes to Africa policy.
Back in October 2003, James Jay Carafano and Nile Gardner of the Heritage Foundation laid out a blueprint for how to use military power to dominate that vast continent. "Creating an African Command," write the two analysts in a Heritage Foundation study entitled U.S. Military Assistance for Africa: A Better Solution, "would go a long way toward turning the Bush Administration's well aimed strategic priorities for Africa into a reality." While the Bush Administration says the purpose of AFRICOM will be humanitarian aid and "security cooperation," not "war fighting," says Ryan Henry, principal deputy undersecretary of defense for policy.
The Heritage analysts were a tad blunter about the application of military power: "Pre-emptive strikes are justified on grounds of self-defenseAmerica must not be afraid to employ its forces decisively when vital national interests are threatened." Carafano and Gardner are also quite clear what those "vital interests" are: "The United States is likely to draw 25 percent of its oil from West Africa by 2015, surpassing the volume imported from the Persian Gulf."
TOM GOLTZ ON ELECTIONS IN TURKEY
MONEY IN POLITICS:
AP: WASHINGTON - Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton ended the first half of the year with more than $30 million each for the presidential primaries, a formidable financial performance for the two leading Democratic White House contenders.
GETTING RUSHDIE?
Joe Dunphy notes:
"In this issue of Afghan newswire, I call your attention particularly to the article/translation about the anger in the Muslim world over ENGLAND's plans to elevate Salman Rushdie to Lord Rushdie. In weighing the various news stories in the US press about potential terror threats in the US, it would seem that the US press and even the US government is downplaying the seemingly more likely threat of an attack specifically on Rushdie, particularly right before or right after the Queen attempts to make him a Lord.
I am not an expert in Mid East Studies, but it would seem that the articles that said specifically what they considered to be a threat should at least tip off officials to the relative likelihood of the event. In my opinion, the competition for homeland security dollars as the Oct. 1 deadline looms for the new Federal fiscal budget goes into effect may drown out the real clues by a "school of red herrings" that have more to do with domestic budget and turf wars than actual threats.
BUSH'S MANUAL FOR CONTAINING PROTEST
By Matt Rothschild in the Progressive:
After a myriad of stories about people being excluded from events where the President is speaking, now we know that the White House had a policy manual on just how to do so. Called the "Presidential Advance Manual," this 103-page document from the Office of Presidential Advance lays out the parameters for how to handle protesters at events. "Always be prepared for demonstrators," says the document, which is dated October 2002 and which the ACLU released as part of a new lawsuit.
In a section entitled "Preventing Demonstrators," the document says: "All Presidential events must be ticketed or accessed by a name list. This is the best method for preventing demonstrators. People who are obviously going to try to disrupt the event can be denied entrance at least to the VIP area between the stage and the main camera platform. ? It is important to have your volunteers at a checkpoint before the Magnetometers in order to stop a demonstrator from getting into the event. Look for signs they may be carrying, and if need be, have volunteers check for folded cloth signs that demonstrators may be bringing."
In another section, entitled "Preparing for Demonstrators," the document makes clear that the intention is to deprive protesters of the right to be seen or heard by the President: "As always, work with the Secret Service and have them ask the local police department to designate a protest area where demonstrators can be placed, preferably not in view of the event site or motorcade route."
The document also recommends drowning out protesters or blocking their signs by using what it calls "rally squads." It states: "These squads should be instructed always to look for demonstrators. The rally squad's task is to use their signs and banners as shields between the demonstrators and the main press platform. If the demonstrators are yelling, rally squads can begin and lead supportive chants to drown out the protestors (USA!, USA!, USA!).
MEDIA: Colonial Media in a Post Colonial Era
PAUL JAY'S REAL NEWS IS COMING CLOSER TO FRUITION
Watch their new video
WATCH REPORT: I PHONE HEARINGS IN DC
RATS AT THE NY TIMES?
The hot rumor is that all that digging across from the Port Authority Bus Station in New York disturbed nests of NY sized rats who have now taken up residence in the new NY Times Tower built with oodles of tax breaks dispensed by at least two Mayors. I don't know about real rats but some of another kind seem to be hard at work especially when it comes to reviewing films or books that raise deeper questions about our society.
The NY Times reacted to Steve Buscemi's critical take on journalism in his new movie Interview with a pretentious put down It was like the Vatican Times might have approached some critique of the Pope?like a subject that is verboten in polite company.
And then came the Times Book Review to mock, insult, and deride John Perkins's new book on the American Empire. Now we have known for years by reading the paper?whose price keeps rising?that the only empires were long ago or in the Communist world. America has no imperial objectives. That message has been pounded into us over the years. And so it was again by Joe Queenan, a humorist, hardly an expert on the issues he was writing about, or shour we say trashing:
Perkins is the author of the fabulously successful, and in some quarters revered, "Confessions of an Economic Hit Man," which explains how a cabal of wicked men like him have enabled perfidious corporations to seize control of the p***t. Now, in a follow-up written not for crass financial gain but because he owes it to his fellow man, the promiscuously altruistic Perkins comes completely clean about the epochal role he has played in ruining life on earth.
This is a good example of how uncomfortable critiques are dealt with in the "paper of record."
My Scottish friend Paul O'Hanlon has kept me abreast of the protest in front of the British Parliamennt against the war. He has outlasted Tony Blair. His vigil is now in its SEVENTH YEAR, writes Paul:
Parliament Square peace campaigner Brian Haw is now in his 7th year of a 24/7 protest outside the Houses of Parliament - today (Friday 13th July) is day 2,232 of his magnificent effort.
Here are 20 photos of his demonstration taken in June and July this year along with a few from 2005.
And since I am thinking of the UK, here's Bill Bowles commenting on Channel 4 coverage of Pakistan:
Five centuries of colonialism and imperialism have left a legacy of a deeply ingrained racism which expresses itself at every level of society but which is most insidiously expressed by the state and its mouthpieces, the corporate and state-run media.
Taken as individual expressions, they appear to be innocuous, or at least not directly offensive but when viewed contextually, that is to say as visible articulations of official policy, their impact over time reinforces whatever prejudices people have already absorbed.
Take for example the following quote from Channel 4 News (10/7/07) about the siege of the Red Mosque in Islamabad, Pakistan made by Jon Snow as he allegedly reported on events there. Snow tells us that Pakistan is,
"a breeding ground for global terror"
There are so many implications embedded in these six word that they need to be exposed for what they are: inflammatory and racist and simply untrue.
On what did Snow base his unequivocal utterance that Pakistan is "a breeding ground for global terror"? Well we learned nothing from the report, for Snow failed to mention that the Pakistani dictatorship of Musharaff is a client of both the US and the UK, that it is supported financially by both states as well as being the recipient of arms and other strategic support. In a deal worth $5 billion,
"On June 28 [2006], the Pentagon detailed plans to provide Pakistan with 36 F-16C/D combat aircraft, an assortment of F-16 engines and upgrade kits, and thousands of bombs and missiles, including 500 advanced air-to-air missiles. Describing Pakistan as a "vital ally" the Pentagon stated the arms would be used in fighting terrorists, such as al Qaeda." ? 'Pakistan, Saudi Arabia Cleared for U.S. Arms Buys', Arms Control Association Website, September 2006.
Dissector Daily Forum: Comments on Canadian Media
SOME AMERICAN HISTORY: Last survivor of Ludlow Massacre dies at 94
By TAMMY ALHADEF THE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN
Mary Benich-McCleary, the last known survivor of the Ludlow Massacre, has died of a stroke.
McCleary, 94, of Morgan City, La., died June 28.
She was 18 months old when the Colorado militia attacked striking miners and their families on April 20, 1914, at the Ludlow mining camp north of Trinidad during a labor strike.
McCleary, her parents John and Dominika "Minnie" Benich, and her two brothers narrowly escaped death when the militia attacked the striking miners' tent colony.
The conductor of the train that brought the militia members to the tent colony saved many lives, said McCleary's daughter, Bridget McCleary-Arcemont, also of Morgan City.
"He saw women holding babies - probably my grandmother - and stopped the train before the militia could mow them down with gunfire," she said.
McCleary's father rescued 3-year-old John while her mother scooped up baby Tom, who was just 9 days old. They ran for the Black Hills southeast of town. "They ran along the tracks just
under the gunfire. When they got up there they realized there was no Mary," McCleary-Arcemont said.
FROM TOM PAINE.COM: TRY INCARCEREX
LETTERS:
Adam Bemma writes from Canada:
I am a journalism student from Toronto, Canada. Recently the local newspaper the Toronto Star has redesigned its entire look and format.
Since then, I noticed that the only reporter (one of the only in the country) covering the media beat is now no longer writing about that issue. So I emailed the reporter (Antonia Zerbisias) and asked her if the paper decided to no longer run her column, since the redesign, or if she herself chose to stop covering media-related issues. She told me that she had to stop covering the media because "it was like banging my head against the wall."
I would like to see something about this in the media dissector because I think its something that should concern everybody in society, when the media stop reporting on their own and start becoming lapdogs of the corporations that run these news outlets.
RE CONRAD BLACK: TELL MORE ABOUT CANADA
Cynthia McLean writes from Vancouver BC:
As a Canadian, I say use the "Fall" of Conrad Black as a Canadian morality tale for Americans! He was a crook and a believer in Might Makes Right.
He was (is?) also a Canadian, born and raised in the Canadian upper class and political elite, even if he craved more a Lordship in Britain (Oh how Jean Chretien must have laughed at the verdict!).
.
Plum the Canadian angle ? at the same time you plum the angle of the Canadian national healthcare system, as noted by Michael Moore in 'Sicko'. Conrad Black and Barbara Amiel have long histories in Canadian consciousness; but this is true more in Montreal and Toronto, than in Calgary and Vancouver.Examine the Canadian commitment to Peace & Good Govrnment, in contrast to the US Life, Liberty and Pursuit of Happiness.
I hope you will pursue this Conrad Black story of Corporate malfeasance for Americans, and stretch it to include the Canadian context, which offers - perhaps - interesting parallels and different options, eh? I say this as a US citizen.
We did post a story from a Canadian newspaper.
TELL THE TRUTH ABOUT IRAQI DEATHS
Gabriele Zamparini writes in his Cats Meow blog:
While the Iraqi slaughtered by the Anglo-American illegal, immoral war of aggression might be well over one million, the Western mainstream media keep using the ridiculous figures provided by Iraq Body Count.
Nothing decent can at this point be expected by an organization that seems much more interested in its "reputation" than to the victims of this genocide.
It's not surprising that most of the mainstream media, starting with The Guardian, keep hiding the Anglo-American genocide of Iraqis since they are directly responsible for this genocide.
But the anti-war movement? Too many organizations, intellectuals and activists have been supporting IBC and defending its ridiculous counting and its shameful work to discredit the peer reviewed study published by the Lancet.
It's quite time that those organizations and intellectuals in the anti-war movement that have more visibility and can get more attention from the mainstream media start to speak out against this revolting show. Too many people keep being deceived by the pernicious collaboration between IBC and the mainstream media. Silence is no more an option. Solidarity does not mean omerta.
LOU DOBBS
Nasla writes:
Danny - just watching Lou Dobbs report about all the disgusting food coming from China. One thing that is really unnerving is that most food sold in the USA - fish, poultry, vegatables etc do NOT have to indicate the country of origin - SO PEOPLE COULD BE EATING A LOT MORE STUFF FROM CHINA than they realize (Like what I wrote to you about re Vitamin Shop).
That's why I only like to buy food where its origin is clear. Especially, fish!!! ya see what i mean?
Eugene Duran is bummed out:
Danny, Can you not see that the political rhetoric is related to our times and the desperation those in power have in order to maintain their reign. Are you so blind to the times that you cannot see that the time to make changes is over? It's time to prepare for what we all have feared. You cannot change what is about to occur. It's too late. Help yourself and your family while you still can.
RICHARD DECHERT WRITES
I had attended University of Minnesota classes on population research and social demography from 1970 to 1972 when the Club of Rome's "Limits to Growth" book was published. Despite the ferocious reactions to it, I felt that its predictive scenarios were essentially valid. So I worked with a Minneapolis-based environmental coalition to present them to the Twin Cities regional Metropolitan Council, the Minnesota Legislature, a national environmental convocation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, and many other entities.
Thirty-five years later the worst of those scenarios are becoming alarmingly true. Yet for far too many governments, social institutions and individuals, stabilizing world population remains a rigid "moral" taboo. What a tragedy!
See my "Reflections on Live Earth, Save Our Selves, and 'Limits to Growth'"
Video Interview with John Pilger
UK based journalist John Pilger, reviews the last 40 years of U.S. and U.K Foreign policy, Its costs and effects on an unsuspecting world.
Welcome to the new week. I take a break next week.
Your items and comments are welcome. Write: Dissector@mediachannel
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