Wolf… ignored? Well, you’re preaching to choir there, even if I’m not entirely sure what it is that you are referring to specifically. Hang in there and keep contributing. I’m sure somebody somewhere is still reading. Hell, I’m still here.

Posted by: Monolycus | Sep 15 2007 19:20 utc | 4

From energyandcapital.com: “Without guaranteed access to Iraq’s oil,we absolutely could not maintain our military and economic dominance of the world. Vice President Cheney has known this, even spoken publicy about it, for years. And why else would he have convened a meeting of Big Oil representives within his first month in the White house to pore over maps of Iraq’s oil fields, as if that were the top priority of the administration?”
“We’re building and maintaining permanent military bases from which our military will ensure a near-monopoly of the world’s second-largest oil reserve.”
Such a hugh and easy story, and yet the Iraqi oil law, that will make this all possible, is never mentioned or even touched here in the US “liberal media.” So very sad.

Posted by: ben | Sep 15 2007 19:50 utc | 6

I am appalled at every advance of the Hillary Clinton political machine. Wesley Clark endorsed her today, which indicates he has done a deal for a slot in her Administration.
The two of them appall me a great deal, because they are perfect representatives of the imperial American mindset, which is a product with very little shelf life left in it. Electing them will be akin to beating a dead horse — it wastes valuable time and effort, and yet promises only more of the same.
She will not renounce the Iraq invasion as the fraud and mistake that it was and is. She will not take any military option off the table when it comes to preventing Iran’s nuclear goals. She will not promise single-payer health reform, only piecemeal expansion of current programs that simply feed Federal monies into the hands of private insurers and the pharmaceutical racket.
She will not punish the GOP for its transgressions of our Constitution, nor will she take any trouble to see that those kinds of transgressions are undone or made impossible in future. She intends to occupy the Unitary Executive seat that Dick Cheney and the nazi Addington have created in the Oval Office, and use it herself.
At a moment in American history when the nation needs desperately to meet itself, face some hard truths about our true role in the world, and choose paths of internal sustainability for this country and for the world, her focus is on further corporatizing the Federal government, further advancing American dominance of the morally bankrupt globalization of the planet, and further exercise of the same preemptive military approach that Mister Bush calls America’s special role in international affairs.
She’s GOP-Lite. I hope one or another of her fundraising scandals will derail her purchase of the nomination. I cannot in good conscience vote for her.
America can do a lot better than Hillary. If it cannot, it deserves the cuckolding it is asking for.

Posted by: Antifa | Sep 15 2007 20:53 utc | 8

As many say about the two parties in America, the Democrats and Republicans are just two wings of the same bird of prey, and never has that been truer than right now.

Posted by: Ensley | Sep 15 2007 22:11 utc | 10

http://tinyurl.com/2clryv (2006)
http://tinyurl.com/ywd4sg (2007)
Maybe Damascus is too close to Kirkuk?
Bush-Hunt is writing black ops deals
for Iraqi oil, and Basra has fallen,
then Mosul to Diyarbakir is the way.
Bomb Al Hasakah into the Stone Age(TM).
http://tinyurl.com/2rz9zk (comment)
http://tinyurl.com/3bbm96 (map)

Posted by: Haka Sahla | Sep 15 2007 23:56 utc | 12

Thanks for the heads up, jj. Guns and Butter is truly a great radio program. If you own an mp3 player and want to download the two programs for later listening, or listening while walking in the woods, as I like, here are the real links to plug into your browser:
http://aud1.kpfa.org/data/20070822-Wed1300.mp3
http://aud1.kpfa.org/data/20070815-Wed1300.mp3
R’giap,
You’re beautiful writing has been the only thing sustaining me for the last few days. Thanks.

Posted by: Malooga | Sep 16 2007 1:34 utc | 14

sometimes ya just gots to use the truth to sell yr product
Alan Greenspan claims Iraq war was really for oil

[The USA]’s elder statesman of finance, Alan Greenspan, has shaken the White House by declaring that the prime motive for the war in Iraq was oil.
In his long-awaited memoir, to be published tomorrow, Greenspan, a Republican whose 18-year tenure as head of the US Federal Reserve was widely admired, will also deliver a stinging critique of President George W Bush’s economic policies.
However, it is his view on the motive for the 2003 Iraq invasion that is likely to provoke the most controversy. “I am saddened that it is politically inconvenient to acknowledge what everyone knows: the Iraq war is largely about oil,” he says.
Greenspan, 81, is understood to believe that Saddam Hussein posed a threat to the security of oil supplies in the Middle East.

Posted by: b real | Sep 16 2007 4:45 utc | 16

Agreed, Malooga. Better than the dismal Democ. Now (or Never) sadly.
Shipping the nukes to Barksdale was just an “accident”. See this proves it…and damn if it wasn’t fast… so clearly the Network is Mobilized for Action…Seriously Scary Shit – you are advised to proceed w/yr. mouth empty of liquids…
Nuke mystery. Remember those six nuclear missiles “accidentally” shipped from Minot, North Dakota to Barksdale, Louisiana? Conspiracy buffs have pounced on the revelation that one soldier (and possibly two compatriots) who might have witnessed this “accident” met with a mysterious end. From cryptogon:
Airman 1st Class Todd Blue was assigned to the unit that provides security for that bomber wing at Minot Air Force base. He died while on leave in Virginia. No further details have been released.
Blue protected nuclear storage facilities.
Meanwhile, a Minot Air Force Base B-52 pilot named Weston Kissel died on leave in Tennessee, in a motorcycle accident.
The third death seems the least “hinkey” (as cops used to say): A 20 year old Minot AFB man named Adam Barrs died in a vehicle crash. Barrs was the passenger; his driver survived.
I’m sure the Air Force will have explanations for all three deaths that clear away any hint of mystery. On the other hand — remember Pat Tillman?
link

Posted by: jj | Sep 16 2007 7:09 utc | 18

The US never bought much of Iraq’s oil to begin with. 90% of Iraq’s and the rest of the Gulf region’s oil (as of the last time I found a write-up on it), goes to China, Japan, India, and other smaller Asian countries; in that order. So whoever controls Iraq’s (and Iran’s) oil somewhat then controls China’s oil and that of the other Asian countries. If not the actual goal, it is surely a nice byproduct of Bush’s war; kind of like having your foot on the accelerator of other nation’s economical progress.

Posted by: Ensley | Sep 16 2007 14:53 utc | 20

I heard on the Guns and Butter radio broadcast linked above that foreigners are loaded with US $ that they can not use to buy US corporations, so they have to buy us govt debt, mortgage debt, etc. Well… the dominant supermarket chain in my home area is fully Dutch owned, Ahold bought it off KKR. I know some Chinese outfit Haier almost bought Maytag, while backed by Blackstone, but were outbid by Whirlpool, not blocked by law. So…
Is there some sort of documentation of the claim that foreign entities can not buy US companies? Examples (other than the supposedly port-security-based blocking of the Dubai ports deal)? Are they only allowed to do it if they are not taking majority control? It is interesting and extremely hypocritical if true.

Posted by: boxcar mike | Sep 16 2007 15:09 utc | 22

re jj @18
Wayne Madsden compiles AP and other stories. Another odd AF death in September in Washington state. Major in AF Special Ops, John Frueh, was found dead near his rental car in a popular hiking area, while on leave from his base at AF SpecOps Command in Florida. He had gone to Oregon to attend a friend’s wedding, but missed the wedding.

Posted by: small coke | Sep 16 2007 15:50 utc | 24

Clinton versus Guiliani will be the same meme
as Bush versus Kerry: Put up Kerry as a straw dog.
See who salutes. If possible, Swiftboat him back
into the low 40’s, then have him walk away with
no protest, (and $25M in campaign funds richer).
If not, if they hadn’t succeeded with Swiftboat,
Kerry would’ve been another Repug Skull ‘n Bones,
in tie-dyed sheep’s clothing, so unimpeachable.
Now comes Clinton. Everyone in the world knows
Hillary would activate 100% of the Repug base and
even some of the Repug dead to vote for whomever is on the Gooper ticket, in this case,
Guiliani, ala Insécurité, Inégalité, Aucune Confrérie.
If somehow the Repugs can’t Whitewater Clinton into
the low 40’s, as pointed out this thread, she’ll be
a deficit-and-spend-more enabler of Neo-Zi’ism, and
the Paul’s and the Kucinich’s just an interesting
read on coffee table books in the Neo-Zi Gulag, for
those who still have coffee tables and homes left.
Ergo, Guiliani 2008, classic WWE of costumes and clowns.
Before Rudy’s got his eight in, WW2 vets will die off,
60’s hippies retire expat, ECL intellectuals internally
exiled, and immigrants expelled, leaving US a compliant
exploitable labor force who value collaboration over
confrontation, and aren’t afraid to do a little pump-
and-dumping themselves, if it puts bacon on the table,
binge drinking and e-bay black-marketing the new meme.
Red Army, Blue Army, the same Gang of 535 Politburo,
same end-of-the-day moral-fiscal bankrupcy. Would you
like boiled turnips with your cabbage soup, comrade?

Posted by: Peris Troika | Sep 16 2007 16:41 utc | 26

rick
i take your point but i follow the dictum of the theologian martin buber who told us, “you can only gain power over the nightmare by calling it by its real name”
almost my entire argument against my friend slothrop was based on his refusal to understand that the empire that is controlling & destroying this world has its capital in washington
the other aspect of my argument against him was essentially – the people were always missing, absent, had dissapeared
it seemed only americans appeared
& so when i take my responsibility for my position against u s imperialism – i do so with whatever precision i possess
the forces in iraq carrying out enormous crimes & carnage against the people of iraq are directed by americans
i understand that a german living in berlin, munich or koln in 1943 did not give one ounce of consideration to the people of the east. on the contrary, as a population they facillitated it. they may not have known the details but the people are not stupid – they knew the general character of what was happening & by the time of goebells ‘ winter gifts to the soldiers’ – where citizens gave their warm clothes to those on the eastern front – they knew full well what was happening. it is only in middle & late 1944 that their real doubts enter because that enemy is arriving at their door.
that moment was too late for reflection & generally speaking except for the rape of women which was horrendous – the avenging soviet armies were lenient in what they could have done. they like black south africans could have & perhaps should have torn the country apart – piece by piece. but that is not what happened & histories that tell otherwise are simply fabricating
so when i speak of the u s empire, when i speak of americans – i know what i am doing
the great majority of the people who post here are americans & as i have sd often enough – it is the first forum in which i have spoken to americans, ever
it is the criminal aspects of this war that oblige me to speak of indelicate things – like haditha for example – or where a young girl was raped & murdered, where soldiers killed the family to cover up their criminal enterprise. the day to day slaughter has to be given a name – these people the victims & the perpetrators in a just world should never be forgotten
but we live in a world where these crimes are constantly hidden – even by progressive people because the essential truth of it is so horrifying & so telling
i watched on the internet a doco -(awful it must be sd directed by the horrible scribbler of words mark bowden) about the ‘real story’ of black hawk down
& the cultural imperatives inherent in the things all & i mean all the soldiers & airmen – were by their very nature the discourse of criminals, war criminals.
their deaths were noble, courageous, were done despite the corrupt clinton, were manly, were heroic, were team & individual effort while the deaths of tens of thousands of somalis were at best unmentioned & at wors totally disregarded except as addendums to their own heroism – “i asked the gunner to shoot into the crowd”, “the helicopters shot at everything” on & on – descriptions not of soldierly task but those of murder.
what the u s was horrified by again was not the facts but the imagery – the imagery of american soldiers being dragged through the streets of mogadishu
& it is the imagery that they are concerned about because – the whole enterprise is a cultural one & always has been – from when the spanish empire asked in spanish to indigenous people whether they had faith in god & when they did not respond – they were slaughtered. the dominant culture has always carried weaponry
i suppose that is the difference of the late 20th century & the century we are living through today is that the empire does not have the monopoly on the use of force & fear
there is an unequal distribution
in somalia it was enough for the u s army to leave very rapidly indeed
in iraq – it is conveneitnly used to hide the horror of their own act & of their initiation into the worst of savageries. they play with the religious confession of people like some perverse toy.
& puppets like petraeus co-ordinate the perpetrators – as has always been the case since the time of the romans. it is simply that the crimes of empire are being expanded & elaborated under the u s empire

Posted by: remembereringgiap | Sep 16 2007 17:42 utc | 28

re Iraqi oil, I recall seeing a report shortly before the invasion, saying that the Cheney Energy Commission expected 25% of US oil imports to come from Iraq in the future. The US also guarantees oil supply for Israel. The reason they have to Iraqi legislation is to shield US oil majors from legal limbo. US govt itself has zero ability or expertise to explore for, produce, or transport crude.
The geopolitical problem isn’t control of oil supplies to Europe, Japan, or China. The basic trouble is declining production and few if any remaining “elephants” (big oil fields) except Iraq. Ignore OPEC quotas. They can’t raise production much if they wanted to.
Natural gas fields in Siberia or the Artic shelf don’t count, as far as the US is concerned. The Pentagon needs oil for jet fuel, diesel, lubricants, industrial transport.
W.

Posted by: Wolf DeVoon | Sep 16 2007 18:21 utc | 30

sabra & shatilla – remeberance – there is some strong material in french too that people ought to read

Posted by: remembereringgiap | Sep 16 2007 18:41 utc | 32

Oh, I like this… Message to you fucks…
Congress’ complicity not going unnoticed…
…by the World Court at the Hague:
Congress’ Liability in a Nuclear Strike on Iran
No more European vacations for our legislators?
by Jorge Hirsch
snipet:

The reasons why members of Congress are liable to face criminal indictment by the ICC in the aftermath of a U.S. nuclear attack on Iran are:
The crimes will be in the category of “most serious crimes of international concern”;
The U.S. Congress funded the creation of the weapons to commit the crimes, and paid the salaries of the servicemembers that pushed the buttons;
The U.S. Congress was aware that conditions were such that the crimes could occur in the ordinary course of events;
The U.S. Congress had the authority and ability to prevent the crimes from occurring, and failed to take reasonable measures within its power to do so;
At least some members of Congress actively aided, abetted and assisted in the commission of the crimes.

The weapons actually “belonged” to Congress in the chain of custody and they failed to put restrictions on Mister Bush:
snipet:

Congress has the constitutional power to legislate under which conditions nuclear weapons, the most terrible weapons created by mankind, will be used in military operations. By funding the research, development and manufacture of these weapons, at the rate of over 6 billion dollars per year, and handing them over to the Executive without putting any restriction on their use, members of Congress have made themselves liable for crimes that may be committed with “their” weapons. And there is the aggravating circumstance that the Executive announced to Congress that it would use nuclear weapons under conditions constituting serious violations of the laws and customs applicable in armed conflict, and that Congress knew that such conditions were very likely to occur.

Now can the ICC arrest and try and convict these fucks, if they false flag and let one off here?

Posted by: Uncle $cam | Sep 16 2007 21:51 utc | 34

I apologise if this has previously been brought to the attention of MoA, but after a quick skim I found no reference to this timely article, despite the fact it is prominent in Counterpunch this weekend now past on my side of the date line, I have decided to slap up a bit of rhetoric on the piece.
Written by a pentagon staffer under the pseudonym HERMAN MINDSHAFTGAP lol the article is called:
Has There Ever Been a Surge? If so, Has it a Future?
the article seeks to expose the myth of the surge eg:

The United States has 162,000 troops in Iraq, compared to 132,000 in the middle of January. However, US troop levels in January were only slightly above the low point of the entire war and do not constitute a reasonable basis for comparison. The previous high point for US troop levels was 160,000 in November and December of 2005, so the current levels do not even constitute a new peak. Of course, the previous “surge” was sustained for only two months, whereas the current “surge” is expected to last longer. How much longer? The Army and Marine Corps can probably sustain current force levels for another 6 to 13 months. After that, force levels will decline rapidly unless there is a major increase in the number of involuntarily mobilized reservists. The previous peak for a six-month period was 148,000, from December 2004 through May 2005. The previous peak for a 13-month period was 146,900, from December 2004 through December 2005. Hence, current US troop levels are only eight to nine percent above the highest levels that were previously sustained for a meaningful amount of time. It is doubtful that this qualifies as a “surge.”

The article also points out that during the peak of 05 there were thousands more foreign troops working the provinces of Iraq, most of whom are long gone. Those that aren’t gone, are going.
There is much more of this article which I leave to others to click thru but the revelations in the first couple of pars are surely in need of a much wider airing.
There can be little doubt that as the summer fighting season draws to a close, Iraqi resistance have pulled back (eg al-Sadr’s forces, or the ‘Sunni of Anbar’) to gird their loins, and contemplate any changes to the political and military landscape.
We all have our pet theories about what the results of this contemplation probably followed by limited ‘consultation’ may bring. As some may be aware, I am of the opinion that parts of the resistance will play things things tighter with more co-operation between those militias allied to the urban poor and those forces led by traditional tribal leaders, many of whom held positions in the ‘old’ Iraqi military.
But in the end it doesn’t matter much. In all likelihood the one thing which most non-amerikan empire funded predictions share is that the level of violent opposition will ramp upwards.
I am dismissive of the amerikan empire funded predictions on the unscientific grounds that they have been wrong about everything else and since there is nothing to suggest that sufficient changes have been made to the motives or methodology of their predictions, they are unlikely to suddenly ‘get one right’.
So if the violence levels do ramp up next year, does the amerikan political machine (which was who the surge was designed for), have many options left?
There are only really two. They can fight back hard in the hope that eventually their luck will change, or the more likely one, ignore the fucker. After all it is happening half a world away and most people are sick of the subject – bored by it although they would never admit to it. Hell we see it in here, where many would rather devote themselves to arcane theories about how two or three thousand people were blown up 6 years ago than any difficult truths about the twenty or thirty thousand humans who have been killed in Iraq this summer.
That wasn’t always the case but since it can seem there are no new arguments/debates/discussions to be had on this subject, people are jaded. Personality attacks or pedantic sub-editing can be the most impassioned responses to any Iraq invasion related post which cannot be diverted into a stream of vitriol against Cheney/Bush/Clinton or their flunkies. All perfectly natural when we consider that the Iraqi outrage has been with us in one form or another since 1990, with the last 5 years being such a debacle of horror, shame and incompetence by amerika, that even the humanist oriented people which many MoA-ites are, can longer bear to follow the atrocity which their nation has inflicted upon the people of Iraq.
I suspect that most amerikans have tuned out as much as they can, since they discovered that they had indeed been fooled again. Which is exactly what the pols want.
The media has been slower to wind back on “the Iraq issue” – one human’s bloody hand to mouth struggle for existence being for him/her a “War” but in the land of it’s perpetrators is has become “an issue”. It may be the biggest issue on the political landscape at the moment but I’d reckon that by mid 2008, if allowed, it will be just another issue.
The media have always been able to use the cop-out of personal safety to avoid asking any hard questions within Iraq. That has enabled them to cherry-pick their stories to suit the media corporations’ priorities, but up until now they couldn’t find an excuse for avoiding the issue altogether. No matter that viewers have repeatedly demonstrated a preference for some famous bimbo’s brush with amerika the punisher of all equally, than “ragheads” killing and being killed. Blondes generally preferred – from hotel owners’ gran daughters to the suicidally broken hearted actor of late. Big black Bimbos with guns are also returning to to favoured status. After all, the tingle of fear mixed with unspoken racial superiority requires less contrived thinking in that circumstance. A lot less introspection than the increasingly rare, remote, and let’s face it, worryingly successful, Arab with a bomb. Success, even if it is the result of comparatively shorter oppression, does make the unspoken racial superiority part more difficult.
Anyway the network has the demographics, the thing is now that the surge has created this breakthrough, in the form of an outbreak of peace (yeah well listen – the truth is what we say it is and we say that things are better – never mind what your pinko-communistic or islamo-fascist inspired ‘statistics’ say)
Of course to pull this off, Iraqis will have to cut back on killing amerikan soldiers, and hopefully, reduce the deaths of others as well. Well at least publicly unavoidable deaths. That will take some doing, but with money and political advantages to be distributed amongst Iraqi power brokers, it may be possible to achieve a reduction in amerikan deaths. Especially if more mercenaries security contractors are used.
I think that both the political establishment and the media corporations are dreaming if they plan on reducing amerikan military casualties. They may get a decline over a short span while everyone grabs what they can from the hated invaders but the resistance knows that their long term interests can never be served by allowing Iraq to become ‘just another issue’ back in the land of the invader.
And that is without even considering the ‘oil law’ which has become the same sort of article of faith amongst Iraqis as it is amongst the oil corporations. The difference being Iraqis are determined that it not be passed, while oil companies are equally insistent that it will.
Normally one would have to back the Mobil/Exxon mob ahead of millions of raggedy assed Iraqis, but these are far from normal circumstances. Yes the oil corps and their fellow travelers do pour a mob of money into amerikan political campaigns but the purpose of that for most pols anyhow, is to win those campaigns. I seriously doubt that anyone believed to be close to the source of the inevitable wave of slaughter which would strike Iraq before during and after the politicking necessary to get the fucker through will be able to offset that ‘negative’ with any amount of oil dough.
At this stage it is probable that the amerikan pols on both sides of Tweedle St would happily support any meaningless piece of garbage which could be termed “the oil Law”. But by the same token Iraqis have watched amerika in action for some time now and they have come to believe that signing any agreement with the word ‘oil’ written into it, would at a later date, be re-interpreted by amerika as meaning all the oil in Iraq belonged to US oil corporations.
I can’t see any Iraqi pols, bar the totally venal such as Chalabi signing up, and even he is likely to baulk. As Abdul-Sattar Abu Risha discovered, it doesn’t matter who you are there are some things that no leader can get away with in the ‘new Iraq’.

Posted by: Debs is dead | Sep 16 2007 23:52 utc | 36

debs @ 36
a solid post my friend

Posted by: remembereringgiap | Sep 17 2007 0:51 utc | 38

another piece of that al jazeera video rpt on foreign fighters i posted on in the previous open thread
Islamist opposition chief denies al Jazeera report from Somalia

ASMARA, Eritrea Sep 16 (Garowe Online) – A leading Somali Islamist official who was recently elected to head an opposition movement based in Eritrea has dismissed a critical video report aired by Al Jazeera TV last week as propaganda.
Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, executive chairman of the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia, said in the Eritrean capital Asmara on Sunday that the Al Jazeera report is a “complete fabrication.”
“The Islamic Courts do not need foreign fighters for we have enough Somali fighters,” Sheikh Sharif said, referring to video images of masked non-Somali fighters somewhere in the jungles of southern Somalia.
The Al Jazeera report showed masked gunmen, including foreign fighters, target practicing their assault rifles and detonating landmines.

there is an embed of a segment of the video rpt not in the two other excerpts which i linked to previously. a related article in that post stated

The report depicted the gunmen target practicing on caricatures of Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf, Somali Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and even U.S. President George W. Bush.

this new video shows those “caricatures” — a sheet of 8 1/2 by 11 paper ripped out of a spiral notepad w/ those family names scribbled, in english btw, above a bullseye sketch of three concentric labeled, in english again, 10, 11, and 12, secured to the top of four posts scattered in a clearing. amusingly, one of the individuals is shown firing a shoulder-launched weapon at one of those posts for target practice.
since every other speaker in the video clips i’ve seen so far does not speak english outside of “abu mansoor al-amriki,” we can probably assume that he is the one who drew up those “caricatures” for target practice.
could this guy be associated w/ al jazeera, staging some propaganda for the cameras? it happened in the niger delta when a kenyan (?) reporter paid some youths to pose as militants & created a fake rpt out of it which made it all the way to cnn before it was exposed.
why would any somalis need a u.s. citizen to teach them how to handle & fire weapons or wage battle? the targets, i’d say, we can rule out as being created strictly for the camera. at most, i see less than 12 “insurgents” at any one time. something very fishy about this entire report.

Posted by: b real | Sep 17 2007 4:05 utc | 40

Rick,
you are right, I should be more specific – as in “we” I mean the USA and its citizens, of which I am one, although I leve abroad.
And “America” has become – for better or worse – the accepted abbreviation for the “United States of America” in most political discourse. Just like Holland is actually only one province of the Netherlands.
“Mexico”, “Canada”, “Central/Latin America” are used to describe the non-US components.
I have managed to offend many Canadians with my usage.

Posted by: ralphieboy | Sep 17 2007 6:00 utc | 42

On the question of foreigners buying domestic assets –
1) w/in the month China announced that since it wasn’t too welcome to buy up more xAm. assets, it would take its bucks & head to Europe. Germany (Merkel) told them to shove it that Germany wasn’t for sale. England & Italy are so bankrupt they were forced to accede.
2) As far as America goes, Unfortunately most assets have been sold already. How is this for starters for a list of Foreign Ownership of xUS Industries:
Sound recording: 97%
Commodity Contracts Dealing 79%
Motion Pic. & Sound Recording 75%
Metal Ore Mining 65%
Motion pic & video 64%
Wineries & distilleries 64%
Database, directory, etc. 63%
Book Publishers 63%
Or if that’s not offensive enough, try this:
From 07/03/1978 to 09/04/2007, the Average amount of US companies sold to foreign acquirors PER DAY as reported is $176,497,824.
More Details Here.

Posted by: jj | Sep 17 2007 7:45 utc | 44

This is Noteworthy. One of David Rockefeller’s chief advisers/minions, Zbig, has said something helpful.
In an article in the Foreign Policy publication, Brzezinki wrote: “Given that the Middle East is currently the central challenge facing America, Professors John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt have rendered a public service by initiating a much needed public debate on the role of the ‘Israel lobby’ in the shaping of US foreign policy.” Walt and Mearsheimer responded by thanking Brzezinksi.link

Posted by: jj | Sep 17 2007 9:37 utc | 46

Abbas Threatens to Boycott November “Peace” Conference; Condi Due in Jerusalem Today

Palestinian authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas will not attend Washington’s regional peace summit in November unless Israel agrees to a reach an agreement with the Palestinians there, Abbas’ associates told Haaretz Sunday, adding the summit could “prove dangerous”. With U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice expected to arrive in Jerusalem Monday, the Saudis also submitted some preconditions for their attendance.
The Palestinian sources were reacting to Olmert’s statement that afternoon that Israel and the Palestinians will not present an Agreement of Principles on final status issues at the summit, but issue a joint declaration instead. “We are formulating a joint declaration to headline the regional meeting, should it take place,” Olmert told ministers from his party, Kadima, in Jerusalem.
“If Olmert says there’ll just be a declaration, it’s not worth going to this meeting in Washington,” said Nimr Hamad, an adviser to Abbas. In an unusual move, the chairman’s office issued a press release reacting to Olmert’s statement.

Is he perhaps realizing that he might have been had?

Posted by: Bea | Sep 17 2007 13:41 utc | 48

The shock doctrine at work..

Fisk documents the dismantling of Iraqi culture – Klein exposes the history behind the destruction.

Posted by: Uncle $cam | Sep 17 2007 14:14 utc | 50

@47
US security firm Blackwater banned from Iraq
Iraqi Brigadier-General, Abdul-Karim Khalaf, confirmed that a mortar had landed close to the convoy and said the US firm had ‘opened fire randomly at citizens’.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has strongly condemned the company’s actions and denounced what he called the criminal response of the US contractors.
And today Iraqi Interior Minister Jawad al-Bolani issued an order to cancel Blackwater’s licence and prohibit the company from operating anywhere in Iraq.
PS. By the way, since I’m mainly a lurker, THANKS b and all the MoAers for providing so much info and so much passion for justice in this World that I too can share whith you. I cosider all of you as my friends and comrades to the struggle of humanity to save whatever can be saved from the barbaric capitalist system that today dominates the World.

Posted by: PaulM | Sep 17 2007 14:37 utc | 52

This Blackwater story is big. The US relies on its mercenaries. If their license remains revoked and they are kicked out, then this is the beginning of the end. It sets a precedent for all other mercenaries. And they’ll go with a wimper, too.

Posted by: Malooga | Sep 17 2007 15:25 utc | 54

North Korea Talks Delayed; No Future Date Set

“China officially notified us this afternoon that it has become difficult for the six-party talks to be held on Sept. 19,” the ministry said, referring to the talks also involving the United States, China, Russia, Japan and the two Koreas.
The ministry gave no reason for the delay.

Posted by: Bea | Sep 17 2007 15:29 utc | 56

Much as Blackwater is deplorable, the fact that it is the Interior Ministry banning Blackwater makes one suspect that this action is part of something greater.
Didn’t some study group in US just recommend that the Interior Ministry be disbanded, because it was a dangerous arm of Shia militia and otherwise dysfunctional?
Procedural problems with enforcing a Blackwater ban:

However, it’s unclear how the Interior Ministry would expel Blackwater. Unlike other private U.S. security firms in Iraq, as of May, Blackwater hadn’t registered with the Iraqi government to operate in Iraq. The Coalition Provisional Authority — the now-defunct occupational government — issued a decree in 2004 immunizing security contractors from Iraqi prosecution and placing their operations under the jurisdiction of U.S. authorities.

Blackwater – one of many. Numbers.

Blackwater, one of many security firms safeguarding U.S. personnel in Iraq, has an estimated 1,000 employees operating in the country, and Iraq-related contracts with the State Department worth over $100 million. Official estimates place between 20,000 and 30,000 private security contractors in Iraq — the equivalent of about six U.S. Army brigades.

And where else?

Posted by: small coke | Sep 17 2007 15:35 utc | 58

A little more Naomi Klein: She answers questions posed to her on an open thread at the Guardian here.

Posted by: Bea | Sep 17 2007 15:51 utc | 60

Goddamn it! Compared To What…

Posted by: Uncle $cam | Sep 17 2007 15:58 utc | 62

Just posted two posts on the old OT (#64) when I meant to post them here… sorry!

Posted by: Bea | Sep 17 2007 16:20 utc | 64

annie – So Blackwater ban would be one more move in the power struggle between Maliki and US. and who?
US somehow persuades Sadr and his militia, part of Maliki’s security force, to stand down. Maliki-Interior respond w/ threat to US personnel of losing their Blackwater bodyguards?

Posted by: small coke | Sep 17 2007 16:34 utc | 66

for beq & anna missed other plasticiens here – an intersting programme on iraqi artists in exile

Posted by: remembereringgiap | Sep 17 2007 17:09 utc | 68

sorry. that was in response to bea, 67

Posted by: annie | Sep 17 2007 17:14 utc | 70

“If we don’t fight Blackwater over there, we’ll have to fight them here!”
The chickens never fail to come home and roost.

Posted by: Bea | Sep 17 2007 17:32 utc | 72

“If we don’t fight Blackwater over there, we’ll have to fight them here!”
Ha! The sad legacy of war. At least DU has left them with low sperm counts.
Bea, watch out or you’ll lose your tenure.

Posted by: Malooga | Sep 17 2007 17:38 utc | 74

It gets murkier – the scuffle over Blackwater.
According to commentor at FDL:

Blackwater serves as the personal security detail for Prime Minister Maliki and other top officials in the Government.
It has been Blackwater alone that has saved the Prime Minister and other top officials from repeated assassination attempts.

Posted by: small coke | Sep 17 2007 19:41 utc | 76

we will witness
but i am absolutely certain – nothing will happen to these murdering mercenaries. not a thing. nothing at all. from katrina we learnt that blackwater & killers like them will be used against the american people – in time
tho it has the potential, as malooga points out, to be explosive – i imagine in a few days a deal will be done & we will hear no more of it until their next massacre of innocents

Posted by: remembereringgiap | Sep 17 2007 20:21 utc | 78

coha: The Oil Race is On: China Signs Multi-Billion Dollar Oil Contract with Venezuela, But India Also Wants Latin American Oil

It is no revelation to say that India, as it begins to bloom as a global power, is adopting a China-like posture in its search for new oil suppliers. New Delhi’s quest for energy supplies, as well as other extracted resources, has brought the Asian powerhouse to the Western Hemisphere, and to Washington’s attention. India is befriending potential oil suppliers, be it Mexico or Venezuela, Cuba or Canada. Even more interesting are New Delhi’s approaches to Cuba regarding the island’s possible oil reserves. It seems clear that India is hungry for guaranteed oil sources in order to maintain its booming economy’s momentum and its growing geopolitical influence, and in Latin America it is finding these potential suppliers and new friends.
On July 2nd, the Financial Express published an article predicting that the Indian government will send the Indian Navy to fly the flag throughout the hemisphere in oil-rich zones, especially locations where the state-owned oil company, ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL), has invested in oil and gas exploration. Pranab Mukherjee, external affairs minister, said that maritime diplomacy has become an essential component of India’s overseas foreign policy and that it must fulfill its necessities outside the immediate geographical area. “We have to look at the investments ONGC Videsh is making in energy rich areas such as Sakhalin, Sudan, Nigeria and Venezuela and extend our maritime interests through maritime diplomacy,” Mukherjee said.

Posted by: b real | Sep 17 2007 22:24 utc | 80

Blackwater – Time says it has the incident report that USgovt filed. Report mentions attack on convoy by small arms, no mention of IED. Blackwater responded with military discipline. Armed insurgents, not civilians. That’s the report.
Time acknowledges that witnesses reported an explosion starting the melee. Also, Time reports “Iraqi police and armed personnel” in “Iraqi national guard vehicles” blocking the way of another convoy coming to rescue the first Blackwater convoy.
Rice says US will investigate. Waxman says he will investigate too.
According to “a senior Iraqi official contacted by TIME, as far as the license being permanently revoked, “it’s not a done deal yet.”
Sounds like some Interior forces faced down some Blackwater forces. Who knows what about. Or how long the whole incident lasted. How nearby is all this backup – 2nd (Blackwater or USmil?) convoy, Iraqi Interior forces, “American” helicopter?

Posted by: small coke | Sep 17 2007 22:53 utc | 82

The so-called ‘contractors’ can be brought to account under Iraqi law.
i don’t think this is correct debs,
Order 17 gives all foreign personnel in the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority immunity from “local criminal, civil and administrative jurisdiction and from any form of arrest or detention other than by persons acting on behalf of their parent states.”
small coke..In re the cheney/cia nexus you mention, one can’t help wondering whether Iraqis might have intel about “security force” activities along the Iran border, too. as far as i know the cia is still in charge of the iraqi intellegence, spy etc under shahwani. of course they still have their own which probably makes for some conflict. i think a schism occurred when the cia/shahwani refused to turn over the info they had fearing it would get to tehran. so much for sovereignty .
shadow war C&L video of blackwater author Jeremy Scahill

Posted by: annie | Sep 18 2007 0:12 utc | 84

& here the buffoon kouchner barks

Posted by: remembereringgiap | Sep 18 2007 1:28 utc | 86

Girls! Music! Palestine!
A Boston journalist reports on her experience teaching music to young girls in the West Bank this summer. A very moving piece.

Posted by: Bea | Sep 18 2007 2:43 utc | 88

Well, here’s what NBC affiliate NBC6 has to say: Police Use Taser On UF Student During Kerry Speech.
Looks like He was tasered (which is supposed to be something used in place of shooting someone). If it weren’t for the taser, would they have shot him?
You know, sad thing is, Kerry was in a position to exercise some leadership here. The kid was dragged away because he was perceived as being disrespectful to Kerry. If Kerry had stepped away from the lectern, and walked over to where the cops were hog-tying and tasering this kid and…ahh, fuck it. And fuck Voltaire too.

Posted by: Uncle $cam | Sep 18 2007 4:20 utc | 90

Probably shouldn’t even pass this along, but my local (TV)news said that “security contractors from the Blackwater group are being kicked out of Iraq for firing on civilians”. No follow up, of course.

Posted by: anna missed | Sep 18 2007 6:22 utc | 92

Ahh, guess they got it from the the local fishwrap:
BAGHDAD — The Iraqi government announced Monday that it was ordering Blackwater USA, the security firm that protects U.S. diplomats, to leave the country after what it said was the fatal shooting of eight Iraqi civilians following a car bomb attack against a State Department convoy.
The order by the Interior Ministry, if carried out, would deal a severe blow to U.S. government operations in Iraq by stripping diplomats, engineers, reconstruction officials and others of their security protection…..

Posted by: anna missed | Sep 18 2007 6:27 utc | 94

Interesting who is coming out against war on Iran

Despite the report of continued Iranian involvement in Iraq, a former top U.S. Middle East commander, retired Army Gen. John P. Abizaid, emphasized in a speech yesterday the need to “contain” the Iranian regime — even if it becomes a nuclear-armed state — and stressed that war with Iran should be considered a last resort.
“I believe that we can contain Iran,” Abizaid said in a talk at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He said the United States and other countries must vigorously press Tehran to “cease and desist” from obtaining nuclear weapons.
Still, he said, “There are ways to live with a nuclear Iran,” adding: “Iran is not a suicide nation. . . . I don’t believe the Iranians intend to attack us with nuclear weapons. We have the power to deter Iran should it become nuclear.”

Posted by: b | Sep 18 2007 7:41 utc | 96

The crazyiness of U.S. imigration: Music Scholar Barred From U.S., but No One Will Tell Her Why

Nalini Ghuman, an up-and-coming musicologist and expert on the British composer Edward Elgar, was stopped at the San Francisco airport in August last year and, without explanation, told that she was no longer allowed to enter the United States
…
But the door has remained closed to Ms. Ghuman, an assistant professor at Mills College in Oakland, Calif., who is British and who had lived, studied and worked in this country for 10 years before her abrupt exclusion.
…
After a year of letters and inquiries, Ms. Ghuman and her Mills College lawyer have been unable to find out why her residency visa was suddenly revoked, or whether she was on some security watch list. Nor does she know whether her application for a new visa, pending since last October, is being stymied by the shadow of the same unspecified problem or mistake.

Posted by: b | Sep 18 2007 9:14 utc | 98

Asia Times reports on the Blackwater imbroglio:

As private-sector employees, security contractors are not subject to military court-martial, but under a 2004 decree of the Coalition Provisional Authority, they cannot be tried by the Iraqi justice system, either. As of yet, no US contractors have been convicted for killing Iraqi civilians.
The perception among Iraqis that US security contractors can act with impunity has engendered widespread resentment, and led the Iraqi government to vow on Monday that the perpetrators of Sunday’s deaths in Baghdad will be tried in Iraqi courts.
The State Department’s pledge of a thorough investigation into the deaths appeared designed to head off this same possibility by keeping judgment of the contractors in US hands.

and

But Prattap Chatterjee of CorpWatch told Inter Press Service that even if Blackwater were banned from operating in Iraq, most of its employees could transfer to similar private security firms and the overall security situation for the US would not change much.
“It’s hard to police an itinerant group of mobile warriors,” Chatterjee said. “Even if Blackwater itself were banned from operating in Iraq, it’s likely that its contractors could find work at [comparable firms like] Aegis or Triple Canopy.”

Posted by: Bea | Sep 18 2007 11:58 utc | 100