In These New Times

A new paradigm for a post-imperial world

Archive for July, 2008

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‘G8 leaders support me on Zimbabwe’

Posted by seumasach on July 10, 2008

“The G8 leaders have been widely interpreted as giving Mbeki a slap in the face over his quiet diplomacy in Zimbabwe by recommending that a special UN envoy should be appointed on Zimbabwe.”

Interpreted, that is,  by the western press which is as monolithic as it is mendacious. London and Washington command only in the virtual world which their press create.

Peter Fabricius

10th July, 2008

President Thabo Mbeki has pointed out that G8 leaders have expressed support for his controversial mediation in the Zimbabwe crisis.

The 2008 G8 summit ended in Japan on Wednesday.

He was apparently responding to reports that his mediation had been slighted.

Mbeki said the G8 leaders as a whole, in a meeting with African leaders, and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, in a one-on-one meeting with Mbeki, had supported his effort.

Mbeki was speaking in an interview with the SABC at the summit. The G8 leaders have been widely interpreted as giving Mbeki a slap in the face over his quiet diplomacy in Zimbabwe by recommending that a special UN envoy should be appointed on Zimbabwe.

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Showdown with Moscow as G8 bid to crackdown on Mugabe hits buffers

Posted by seumasach on July 10, 2008

Oh dear! It looks like Brown’s attempt to bounce Russia into supporting his Zimbabwe policy has badly backfired. We totally agree with the Russia spokesman:

“Russia’s ambassador to the UN, Vitaly Churkin, went even further, suggesting the measures in the draft Security Council resolution drawn up by the United States and Britain were outside the UN Charter.

“I personally believe some elements of the draft are quite excessive and clearly in conflict with the notion of sovereignty of a state member of the United Nations,” he told the BBC.”

For Russia the defence of national sovereignty is crucial as they know their own to be under threat. Conversely, for the cowboys operating out of London and Washington overriding it is the foundation of the lawless world they wish to control and plunder.

independent.ie

10th July, 2008

BRITAIN was on course for a diplomatic showdown with Russia last night after Moscow branded proposed international sanctions against Zimbabwe “excessive”.

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Financial Collapse: Banks Going Quietly Into the Night?

Posted by smeddum on July 10, 2008

Wednesday, 9 Jul 2008 cnbc

Posted By:Stan Yee

In a somewhat solemn moment, Cramer brings up a problem lurking in the market: stocks dropping without a sound. There’s plenty of noise about certain companies because someone said this or that, but what of the ones that sink quietly? Lately, there are more of these companies going quietly into the night: banks, brokers, homebuilders — the trifecta (or “Achilles’ heel” per Cramer’s label) of the down market. These companies are failing not because of things said, but because of things not said — none of the right people are saying the right things. Read the rest of this entry »

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U.S. ground troops in Iraq done by mid-2009: general

Posted by seumasach on July 10, 2008

Yahoo News

9th July

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. ground troops in Iraq will be mostly finished with security operations by the middle of 2009, the senior U.S. Army officer in charge of training Iraqi forces said on Wednesday.

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Nuclear ‘scare’ against Iran exposed

Posted by seumasach on July 10, 2008

Gareth Porter(Asia Times)

10th July, 2008
WASHINGTON – A 15-page paper on the process requirements for casting and machining of uranium metal into hemispherical forms – said to useful only for making the core of a nuclear weapon – has been raised by the United Nations’ International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in recent months as evidence of an alleged Iranian intention to build nuclear weapons.

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How Britain wages war

Posted by smeddum on July 10, 2008

John Pilger New Statesman
Published 10 July 2008
The military has created a wall of silence around its frequent resort to barbaric practices, including torture, and goes out of its way to avoid legal scrutiny Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Drive to Global War | Tagged: , | Leave a Comment »

Al-Jazeera TV Report Discusses Stances on, Changes in Iraqi-US Security Talks

Posted by seumasach on July 10, 2008

“Asked to explain the “contradictory statements” of the Iraqi prime minister and the White House spokesman, he says that the US Administration is afraid of directly announcing a deadline for its withdrawal for two reasons. He adds: “The first reason is because this would affect the morale of the US Army, which is essentially collapsing, desperate, and in a state of confusion and disorder. They believe that the gunmen would step up their activity and would have greater power and morale.” He further notes that during the previous six months there has been a lot of “confusion and contradiction” amongst the parties to the political process, the Iraqi Government, and US leaders.

He adds: “What is being promoted by politicians now is a way to conceal the US defeat in Iraq. This is because they realize that, as soon as they announce this, the political process will collapse, either gradually or suddenly.””

Tuesday, July 08, 2008

iStockAnalyst

Doha Al-Jazeera Satellite Channel Television in Arabic at 0501 gmt on 8 July carries the following announcer-read report over video: “White House Spokesman Gordon Johndroe has denied that the security discussions on the presence of the US forces in Iraq between the Iraqi Government and the US Administration aim to set a timetable for withdrawing from Iraq. Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al- Maliki has hinted that negotiating a memorandum of understanding between Iraq and the United States includes setting a timetable for the withdrawal of the US forces, rather than a long-term agreement.”

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The truth about “Operation Redemption” of Ingrid Betancourt and the American Mercenaries

Posted by seumasach on July 10, 2008

Pravda

9th July, 2008

To be able to understand “Operation Redemption” to free Ingrid Betancourt and the mercenaries of the company Northrop Grumman Corporation who were released together with her, it is necessary to connect the pieces published in the media and their meaning, to filter the content, and from there to form a true understanding of the facts of what happened.

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Canada gives war resister second chance

Posted by smeddum on July 10, 2008

Posted in Drive to Global War | Tagged: , , | Leave a Comment »

Seymour Hersh: US Training Jondollah and MEK for Bombing preparation

Posted by seumasach on July 9, 2008

CASMII Press Release

8 July 2008

In an interview with NPR on his latest New Yorker Article, titled ‘Preparing the battlefield’, the renowned investigative journalist Seymour Hersh reveals more striking details of his findings on the aim of the $400 million budgeted US covert operations inside Iran. He provides valuable information on US military preparations to strike the country, on the total expansion of the Bush Administration’s executive power, about the US recognition of Iran’s overall positive role in Iraq and on the US support for the anti-Iran terrorist organisations Jondollah, PJAK and MEK.

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Bipartisan approach to US Iraq withdrawal emerging

Posted by seumasach on July 9, 2008

Bipartisanship(Missing Links)

9th July, 2008

AlHayat this morning sums up this way

The negotiations between Iraq and the US have reached a ticklish stage with the disagreement having been made public: Baghdad is insisting on a schedule for the withdrawal of the forces, and rejects immunity from Iraqi law [for the US forces]; while Washington says it is not opposed to a temporal framework [probably “timeframe” is the Washingtonese] for the operation (of withdrawal) and it links the operation to circumstances on the ground.

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