Moon of Alabama Brecht quote
Back to Main

June 24, 2009
Links June 24 09

Please add your links, views and news in the comments.

Posted by b on June 24, 2009 at 05:54 UTC | Permalink
Comments

Oh dear, where’s CNN with the funeral bombing coverage in Pakistan? Why aren’t they showing the photos of Neda’s equivalent in Pakistan? It reminds me of a Benny Hill sketch I saw long ago where some poor sap was locked in the stockade to be flogged by the townspeople at will. People would sit down beside him, and perform lude acts and then beat him for their behavior. The sketch was very analogous to the Western Media’s coverage of Iran when juxtaposed with their coverage of all global issues.

Posted by: Obamageddon | Jun 24 2009 13:13 utc | 1

there is also this of course
http://articles.latimes.com/2009/jan/27/world/fg-iran-opposition27

Posted by: outsider | Jun 24 2009 15:29 utc | 2

and there is also this – I agree with this analysis.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/jun/18/iran-elections-us-foreign-policy

Posted by: outsider | Jun 24 2009 15:44 utc | 3

O’geddon,
If our armed forces really are taking measures to prevent civilian casualties, they’d never let their drones come anywhere near a wedding or funeral ceremony.

Posted by: Cynthia | Jun 24 2009 15:59 utc | 4

For Uncle $cam:
ACLU Challenges Defense Department Personnel Policy To Regard Lawful Protests As “Low-Level Terrorism”

“DoD employees cannot fully protect our nation and its values unless they understand that a core American value is the constitutional right to criticize our government through protest activities,” said ACLU of Northern California attorney Ann Brick. “It is fundamentally wrong to equate activism with terrorism.”
Among the multiple-choice questions included in its Level 1 Antiterrorism Awareness training course, the DoD asks the following: “Which of the following is an example of low-level terrorist activity?” To answer correctly, the examinee must select “protests.”

hey, i’ve got an idea: let’s support democracy at home, first, before involving ourselves in the complicated affairs of other nations. doesn’t that sound like a good idea?

Posted by: Lizard | Jun 24 2009 16:34 utc | 5

Cynthia,
Call me bat shit crazy, as Copeland has, but I don’t think they give a damn about civilian casualties. In fact, I think they prefer it because it sows the seeds of terror. It’s psychological warfare. I consider what the U.S. military has done in the past 55 years to be nothing short of terror. If a suicide bomber who can usually kill, at most, several hundred people at a time can be labeled a terrorist then that makes the U.S. military the greatest terrorist of all time.

Posted by: Obamageddon | Jun 24 2009 16:51 utc | 6

Lizard, the problem with that is, the majority may agree that activists should be equated with terrorists, so supporting democracy wouldn’t necessarily preclude this conflation. The point is, you can’t have anything resembling democracy without a properly informed public capable of critical thought.

Posted by: Obamageddon | Jun 24 2009 17:07 utc | 7

@O’mageddon, #6:
O, ya, o-ya.
I’ve always said:
If a suicide bomber who walks into a crowded square counts as terrorism, then why doesn’t a carpet-bomber laying down materiel from 3000 feet count the same?
The only answer i’ve ever gotten is:
One of them wears a spiffier uniform.

Posted by: china_hand2 | Jun 24 2009 17:15 utc | 8

The Battle of Algiers: 1966 Film Depicting Algerian War of Independence Against French Occupation Parallels Brutal U.S. Occupation of Iraq

This is an excerpt of The Battle of Algiers. This is a scene of a press conference where the Algerian resistance fighter, Ben M’Hidi, is answering questions from reporters.
REPORTER: Mr. Ben M’Hidi, isn’t it a filthy thing to use women’s baskets to carry explosives for killing people?
LARBI BEN M’HIDI: Doesn’t it seem even filthier to drop napalm bombs on defenseless villages, wreaking even greater havoc? It would be better if we, too, had planes. Give me the bombers, and you can have the baskets.
REPORTER: Mr. Ben M’Hidi, in your opinion, does the FLN still have some chance of defeating the French army?
LARBI BEN M’HIDI: The FLN has more possibility of beating the French forces than they have of stopping history.

Aerial bombs as deadly as suicide bombers [what an understatement …]

“It is a predictable consequence of using this type of weapon,” says study author Michael Spagat of the Royal Holloway, University of London. “Once you understand that, you can’t completely say this is unintentional, in that it is understood that this is going to happen.”

Posted by: Outraged | Jun 24 2009 17:39 utc | 9

Doesn’t it seem even filthier to drop napalm bombs on defenseless villages, wreaking even greater havoc? It would be better if we, too, had planes. Give me the bombers, and you can have the baskets.
Thanks, Outraged, that is so superb, I want to frame it and hang it on my wall, or put it on a teeshirt. Priceless.

Posted by: Obamageddon | Jun 24 2009 17:50 utc | 10

China Hand2
The difference is in the number of people supporting the killing… Terrorist have a few dozen or a few hundred calling them heros… they guys in the spiffy uniforms have millions. That’s all the only difference between the two.
And while I’m ranting…
I was talking to a guy at the flyshop today who was bitching about “government health care” telling me how stupid it is and how you can’t trust the government with anything.
So I said that the biggest problem wasn’t the cost of health care it was all the money we spend on the fucking military in the USA to which he replied that I should thank the military for being able to speak my mind.
Gag me!
How many times am I going to have to hear these stupid assholes tell me the government sucks, but the military is great? Don’t these fucking idiots realize they are one and the same? The government is the military and vice versa.. DUH!
The fact that I’m able to speak my mind is because the ACLU keeps the fucking military and the fucking government from stealing that from me… but I doubt this will continue for much longer. As many lawyers as there are there ain’t enough that give a shit about free speech to keep fighting that uphill battle.

Posted by: DavidS | Jun 24 2009 17:50 utc | 11

NPR breathlessly reported yesterday that the anti-regime movement in Iran now has a “poster death.” A young women’s 5 minute death agony was widely disseminated on YouTube.
In passing they mentioned that “a shot was fired” and “the young woman was hit.” So the “poster death” could not honestly be attributed to the regime. That fact will be conveniently buried.

Posted by: JohnH | Jun 24 2009 19:44 utc | 12

JohnH, I would call that honest, objective reporting, something that’s sadly been missing in the majority of Western MSM. The presumption is that security forces of the government murdered her, and that may well be the case, but until there’s further evidence, it’s conjecture, and partial and and unobjective reporting to imply it was government security forces.

Posted by: Obamageddon | Jun 24 2009 20:12 utc | 13

Lancaster, Pa., under self-surveillance

By Bob Drogin
June 21, 2009
Reporting from Lancaster, Pa. — This historic town, where America’s founding fathers plotted during the Revolution and Milton Hershey later crafted his first chocolates, now boasts another distinction.
It may become the nation’s most closely watched small city.
‘I don’t want to live like this’ Crime solvedSome 165 closed-circuit TV cameras soon will provide live, round-the-clock scrutiny of nearly every street, park and other public space used by the 55,000 residents and the town’s many tourists. That’s more outdoor cameras than are used by many major cities, including San Francisco and Boston.
Unlike anywhere else, cash-strapped Lancaster outsourced its surveillance to a private nonprofit group that hires civilians to tilt, pan and zoom the cameras — and to call police if they spot suspicious activity. No government agency is directly involved.
Perhaps most surprising, the near-saturation surveillance of a community that saw four murders last year has sparked little public debate about whether the benefits for law enforcement outweigh the loss of privacy.
“Years ago, there’s no way we could do this,” said Keith Sadler, Lancaster’s police chief. “It brings to mind Big Brother, George Orwell and ‘1984.’ It’s just funny how Americans have softened on these issues.” ( Just not ha-ha funny )
“No one talks about it,” agreed Scott Martin, a Lancaster County commissioner who wants to expand the program. “Because people feel safer. Those who are law-abiding citizens, they don’t have anything to worry about.”

Wind em up, and they abuse themselves…

Posted by: Uncle $cam | Jun 24 2009 20:17 utc | 14

“U.S. Covert Operations in Iran
In April, 2006, investigative journalist Seymour M. Hersh wrote in the New Yorker magazine that “The Bush Administration, while publicly advocating diplomacy in order to stop Iran from pursuing a nuclear weapon, has increased clandestine activities inside Iran and intensified planning for a possible major air attack.”
A source with ties to the Pentagon told Hersh that American units were operating in Iran and “working with minority groups in Iran, including the Azeris, in the north, the Balochis, in the southeast, and the Kurds, in the northeast.” The principle goal was to “‘encourage ethnic tensions’ and undermine the regime.”[36]”,
This is from the FPJ link first in this series. It reminds me of the riveting account Parviz gave of the well-trained non-Iranian-looking people beating and herding the demonstrators. Did he, or someone else, say they resembled Balochis and Azeris?
It’s this violence that is capturing the world’s attention now – what a master stroke if the US furtively had the Bs & As trained in crowd control techniques used to protect the RNC from protesters, and make life diffiult and painful for Amy Goodman and others, eh!
almost unbelievably effective in destabilizing Iran, perhaps!

Posted by: lambent1 | Jun 24 2009 20:50 utc | 15

heh! waddya know? the US is into the finals. there is no joy in Spain tonight.

Posted by: dan of steele | Jun 24 2009 21:28 utc | 16

Look no further than the US and you’ll know that Iran isn’t the only country on the planet where fascism has got a death grip on democracy. Fascists in Washington, led by Team Obama, are wanting to use our hard-earned tax dollars to not only train our kids to kill others around the world, but also teach them how to spy on others, here and abroad. If this isn’t fascism, I don’t know what is!

Posted by: Cynthia | Jun 24 2009 22:13 utc | 17

helena cobban @CSM
My talk with Hamas about peace with Israel

Posted by: annie | Jun 24 2009 22:58 utc | 18

so we really have to listen to this blood-drenched mass murderer Obama lecture Iran on their conduct the same day a US drone murders 80 Pakistanis? fucking despicable.

Posted by: ran | Jun 24 2009 23:36 utc | 19

I’m with Lizard @ 5.
Obamageddon @ 7: That’s why the several states demanded a Bill of Rights before agreeing to ratify the US Constitution. They realized the terror of the mob could ruin a democracy, and they demanded individual rights be part of the Constitution.
Since then, the oligarchs and conservatives have been trying to whittle away the rights contained in those 10 amendments. Our current president took a whack at the 4th amendment when he voted to support Bush’s FISA desires. Told me a lot about Obama.

Posted by: jawbone | Jun 25 2009 0:57 utc | 20

I woke up to news of the two drone attacks this morning.
Not a good start to the day. US military said most of the dead were Taliban; BBC mentioned that could not be corroborated.

Posted by: jawbone | Jun 25 2009 1:09 utc | 21

jawbone: US military’s word on anything if fucking worthless. if they announced the sky is blue I’d have to go outside and double-check.

Posted by: ran | Jun 25 2009 1:26 utc | 22

Always good to see your work, anna missed.

Posted by: beq | Jun 25 2009 17:01 utc | 23

Back to Main