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Paul Craig Roberts: The Iraqi Genocide

October 17th, 2007 by CD

Another good article by Paul Craig Roberts

Excerpt (read the rest here)

The US government has broken every agreement with Russia by withdrawing from the anti-ballistic missile treaty, pushing NATO to Russia’s borders, conniving to place missiles in Poland and the Czech Republic, and buying governments in former Soviet republics and installing US military bases therein.

When Russian President Putin finally has enough and protests, the US Secretary of State blames Putin for being difficult and restarting the cold war.

Few Americans realize it, but they take the cake.

International polls show that the rest of the world regard the US and Israel as the greatest dangers to world peace. Americans claim that they are fighting wars against terrorism, but it is US and Israeli terrorism that worries everyone else. The rest of the world knows that the wars are about US and Israeli hegemony and that the US and Israel are prepared to engage in whatever acts of terror are necessary to achieve hegemony.

Burma Monks: Update

October 5th, 2007 by CD

From BBC:

In Burma, state media has said that 2,093 people were arrested during the crackdown on the protests. _44155934_monks_ap203bod.jpg

It said 692 people had already been released after signing a declaration that they would not take part in any future rallies.

However, BBC sources in Burma say as many as 10,000 people - many of them monks who led the marchers - have been rounded up for interrogation in recent days.

Dozens are feared to have died during the suppression of the protests, which were triggered by a government decision to raise the price of fuel.

Residents of the main city, Rangoon, say the streets are now quiet during daylight hours, with the police and army keeping a low profile.

But during the overnight curfew, they say raids by the security forces continue.

War made easy: Government deception and media spin

October 4th, 2007 by CD

War Made Easy reaches into the Orwellian memory hole to expose a 50-year pattern of government deception and media spin that has dragged the United States into one war after another from Vietnam to Iraq. Narrated by actor and activist Sean Penn, the film exhumes remarkable archival footage of official distortion and exaggeration from LBJ to George W. Bush, revealing in stunning detail how the American news media have uncritically disseminated the pro-war messages of successive presidential administrations.

Read more…

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5CF5pfVzLI[/youtube]

Burma: Communique of the International Communit

September 30th, 2007 by CD

The world watches to see what the international will do besides the usual press release(s) of “we stand by you”.

ASEAN

Relationship: The Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) has in the past appeared reluctant to condemn a fellow member but member-states appear increasingly uneasy. Asean foreign ministers meeting in New York urged the Burmese authorities to halt violence against the demonstrators.

Interests: Concern to preserve the unity of the regional bloc needs to be balanced against the desire for regional stability, and pressure from Western countries that wish to secure Asean support for action against the military regime in Rangoon.

Comment: “We hope that the Myanmar [Burmese] authorities and all other parties in Myanmar will appreciate the broader implications of their actions on the region as a whole and act accordingly.” Singapore foreign ministry, current Asean chair.

CHINA

Relationship: A close trading and diplomatic relationship it is seen as the country with the strongest potential to influence events in Burma. It has blocked UN sanctions against Burma but recently called for “restraint” by “all” parties.

Interests: Burma’s oil and gas reserves are important for a rapidly developing and energy-hungry China but, as a regional power, Beijing also has an interest in ensuring that events in Burma do not lead to regional instability.

Comment: “China hopes that all parties in Myanmar exercise restraint and properly handle the current issue so as to ensure the situation there does not escalate and get complicated, and does not influence the stability of Myanmar and the peace and stability of the region.” Chinese foreign ministry

Read the rest of this entry »

Burma: Killings, Protest and more

September 29th, 2007 by CD

Some of your questions about this crisis are answered below.

Q&A: Protests in Burma

What sparked the protests?

On 15 August the government decided to increase the price of fuel. Both petrol and diesel doubled in price, while the cost of compressed gas - used to power buses - increased five-fold.

The hikes hit Burma’s people hard, forcing up the price of public transport and triggering a knock-on effect for staples such as rice and cooking oil.

Pro-democracy activists led the initial demonstrations in Burma’s main city, Rangoon. When about 400 people marched on 19 August, it was the largest demonstration in the military-ruled nation for several years.

The authorities moved swiftly to quell the protests, rapidly arresting dozens of activists. Nonetheless, protests continued around the country. Numbers were small, but demonstrations were held in Rangoon, Sittwe and other towns.

Why are monks involved?

The monks started participating in large numbers after troops used force to break up a peaceful rally in the central town of Pakokku on 5 September.

At least three monks were hurt. The next day, monks in Pakokku briefly took government officials hostage. They gave the government until 17 September to apologise, but no apology was forthcoming.

When the deadline expired, the monks began to protest in much greater numbers and also withdrew their religious services from the military and their families.

There have been protests every day since the deadline, both in Rangoon and elsewhere, and they are getting bigger by the day. Tens of thousands of monks are now involved.

The participation of the monks is significant because there are hundreds of thousands of them and they are highly revered. The clergy has historically been prominent in political protests in Burma.

Because of the clergy’s influence, the government has tried hard to woo many senior abbots. The fact that these abbots have chosen to remain silent is a sign for many people that they condone the protests.

Analysts believe that any violence against the monks could trigger a national uprising.

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Income levels in Vietnam

September 4th, 2007 by CD

Vietnam has been substantial improvements in terms of alleviating poverty throughout the country. According to the latest data available from the Government Statistics Office, the national poverty rate fell to 24.1% in 2003-04 from 28.9% in 2001-02, based on a poverty line that would allow a household to buy 2,100 calories worth of food per person daily and provide for basic needs such as shelter and clothing.  With that being said, Vietnam still has quite a bit to go with combating the growing inequalities in this arena. 

According to the EIU, Although income levels are rising, there is a fairly high degree of income inequality, and poverty will remain a serious problem in many parts of the country. According to the General Statistics Office, the percentage of people living in poverty (the poverty line is based on the cost of purchasing 2,100 calories of food per person per day, plus a modest quantity of non-food items) stood at about 24% in 2004. This was down from 28.9% in 2001-02. However, some areas suffer a much higher rate of poverty than the national average. In the north-west, for example, the poverty rate stood at 54% in 2004, and in the Central Highlands it was 32.7%, whereas in the south-east region it was only 6.7%.
The government will make progress in reducing the incidence of poverty.  However, in most parts of the country market opportunities will still mainly be limited to the lower end of the market.  Opportunities at the higher end of the market will be limited to the main urban areas, particularly the capital, Hanoi, and in Ho Chi Minh City, which is significantly richer than the rest of the country. 

Gwangju massacre 1980

August 26th, 2007 by CD

Since, I will be taking my vacation to S. Korea in two months, I thought I would clubbing.jpgpresent some Korean history.  Many of us have heard of the Tian’anmen protest, but I am sure most people have never heard of the Gwangju massacre that happened in 1980.   Hundreds were killed…

 

Events in Kwangju unfolded after the dictator of South Korea; Park Chung-Hee was assassinated by his own chief of intelligence. In the euphoria after Park’s demise, students led a huge movement for democracy, but General Chun Doo-Hwan seized power and threatened violence if the protests continued. All over Korea, with the sole exception of Kwangju, people stayed indoors. With the approval of the United States, the new military government then released from the frontlines of the DMZ some of the most seasoned paratroopers to teach Kwangju a lesson. Once these troops reached Kwangju, they terrorised the population in unimaginable ways. In the first confrontations on the morning of May 18, specially designed clubs broke heads of defenceless students. As demonstrators scrambled for safety and regrouped, the paratroopers viciously attacked: “A cluster of troops attacked each student individually. They would crack his head, stomp his back, and kick him in the face. When the soldiers were done, he looked like a pile of clothes in meat sauce.” [Lee Jae-Eui, Kwangju Diary: Beyond Death, Beyond the Darkness of the Age, p. 46] Bodies were piled into trucks, where soldiers continued to beat and kick them. By night the paratroopers had set up camp at several universities.

As students fought back, soldiers used bayonets on them and arrested dozens more people, many of whom were stripped naked, raped and further brutalised. One soldier brandished his bayonet at captured students and screamed at them, “This is the bayonet I used to cut forty Viet Cong women’s breasts [in Vietnam]!” The entire population was in shock from the paratroopers’ over-reaction. The paratroopers were so out of control that they even stabbed to death the director of information of the police station who tried to get them to stop brutalising people. [Kwangju Diary, p. 79]

Read more here

 

Year Zero: How America aided Pol Pot

August 11th, 2007 by CD

This is a very emotional movie by John Pilger on how the United States was mostly responsible for the rise of Pol Pot.  Yes, the United States goverment aided the rise of Pol Pot.  I will let the video speak for itself. 

Year Zero: The Silent Death of Cambodia

 

[video width="320" height="240"]http://www.videos.informationclearinghouse.info/yearzero100.wmv[/video]

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