tagged w/ US Policy
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With anti-government zeal in America high and US lawmakers unable to reach a consensus on the size and scope of the federal budget, uncertainty is rampant in the US wind energy community.
http://bit.ly/rZm29PWith anti-government zeal in America high and US lawmakers unable to reach a consensus... more
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In a landmark case, twenty-three Americans, mostly CIA operatives, have been convicted in Italy for kidnapping a Muslim cleric from the streets of Milan in 2003. They were all tried in absentia after the United States refused to hand them over. The convictions turn them into international fugitives who risk arrest abroad. The case marks the first time any American has been convicted for taking part in a so-called “extraordinary rendition.” We go to Rome to speak with the Italian prosecutor who brought the case, Armando Spataro, and get comment from international law and human rights attorney Scott Horton. [includes rush transcript]In a landmark case, twenty-three Americans, mostly CIA operatives, have been convicted... more
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Oil and social gains: WHY THE U.S. IS TARGETING IRAN
“The forces opposing Washington’s policy ofendless war--whether waged through sanctions, coups, invasions, bombings or sabotage--should stand with Iran, recognize its accomplishments, defend its gains and oppose imperialism’s efforts to
re-colonize the country.”
Why is Iran increasingly a target of U.S. threats?
Who in Iran will be affected if the Pentagon implements plans, already drawn up, to strike more than 10,000 targets in the first hours of a U.S. air barrage on Iran?
What changes in policy is Washington demanding of the Iranian government?
In the face of the debacle U.S. imperialism is facing in Iraq, U.S. threats against Iran are discussed daily. This is not a secret operation. They can't be considered idle threats. Two aircraft carriers--USS
Eisenhower and USS Stennis--are still off the coast of Iran, each one accompanied by a carrier strike group containing Hornet and
Superhornet fighter-bombers, electronic warfare aircraft, antisubmarine and refueler planes, and
airborne command-and-control planes. Six guided-missile destroyers are also part of the armada. Besides this vast array of firepower, the Pentagon has bases throughout the Middle East able to attack Iran with cruise missiles and hundreds of warplanes. In fact, the U.S. is already engaged in a war on Iran. Ever-tightening sanctions, from both the U.S. and U.N., restrict trade and the ordering of equipment, spare parts and supplies. Seymour Hersh reported in the New Yorker magazine a year ago that U.S. special operations forces were already operating inside Iran in preparation for a possible attack. U.S.-backed covert operatives had
entered Iran to organize sabotage, car bombings, kidnappings and attacks on civilians, to collect targeting data and to foment anti-government ethnicminority groups. News articles have reported in recent months that the Pentagon has drawn up plans for a military blitz that would strike 10,000 targets in the first day of attacks. The aim is to destroy not just military targetsbut also airports, rail lines, highways, bridges, ports, communication centers, power grids, industrial centers, hospitals and public buildings.
It is important to understand internal developmentsin Iran today in order to understand why this country
is the focus of such continued hatred by U.S. corporate power. Every leading U.S. political figure has weighed in on
the issue, from George W. Bush, who has the power to order strikes, to Hillary Clinton,
who has made her support for an attack on Iran clear, to John McCain, who answered a reporter's question on policy toward Iran by
chanting "Bomb, bomb, bomb Iran" to the tune of the Beach Boys' song, "Barbara Ann." The media--from the New York Times to the Washington Post to banner headlines in the tabloid press to right-wing radio talk shows--are
playing a role in preparing the public for an attack.The significance of oil production
and oil reserves in Iran is well known. Every news article, analysior politician's threat makes mentionof Iran’s oil. But the impact of Iran’s nationalization of its oil resources is not well known. The corporate owners in the U.S. want to keep it asecret from the people here. They use all the power of their media to demonize the Iranian leadership and caricature and ridicule the entire population, their
culture and religion.
What’s been achieved?
The focus of media coverage here is to describe Iran as medieval, backward and feudal while somehow becoming a nuclear power.
It is never mentioned that more than half the university students in Iran are women, or that more than a third of the doctors, 60 percent of civil servants and 80 percent of all teachers in Iran are women. At the time of the 1979 Iranian Revolution, 90 percent of
rural women were illiterate; in towns the figure was over 45 percent.Also ignored is the stunning achievement of full literacy for Iranian youth.
Even the World Bank, now headed by Bush's --Oil and social gains: WHY THE U.S. IS TARGETING IRAN
“The forces opposing... more
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"Clearly, the path we have taken in imposing sanctions hasn't influenced the Burmese junta," she said, adding that the route taken by Burma's neighbors of "reaching out and trying to engage them has not influenced them, either." Clinton stated in Indonesia.
It is about time to do away with these stupid sanctions on Burma. They have done nothing but pushed the Burmese into the arms of China and strengthened the control of people who want to only rape and pillage the resources of Myanmar.
I couldn't believe it when I learned after the Saffron Revolution in 2007 that Burmese gems were not under the sanctions (now they are).
Also I remember in 2001 when a lot of college students were protesting against some businesses (Marriott International being one of them) who were still doing business in Burma despite the sanctions.
I can relate first hand what happened to the hotel that Marriott left. I worked in the hotel in 2000-2001. At the time the hotel was a five star property, the staff were paid relatively well and there were a lot of staff. They were proud of their hotel and their work.
I came back to do a consultant job for the same hotel in 2006. The hotel was now being run by a Thai management company. There had been several food sanitation issues, which was why I was called in. The hotel was dirty, staff were so tired and overworked they walked around like zombies. Talking to tour agents, the hotel is now considered to be a two or three star hotel. The staff are depressed, they know what the hotel should be like.
Part of the problem is that there are no tourists. Since the Saffron Revolution there have been even less. Granted there is also problems with tourists, especially the large package tour groups that come rushing through, stopping in Bagan, Ngapali and Inle Lake. What Burma/Myanmar needs is more individual tourists who want to go to Burma/Myanmar to meet the people, to learn something new, experience a whole different world.
The large money oriented business of the package tours, keeps the tourists in a fish bowl as they view Burma and the money from these groups usually only ends up in a few people's pockets.
The hotels that I worked for in Burma were connected to the government, but they never made a cent of profit and actually are giving good jobs to a quite a lot of staff, indirectly supporting large extended families.
I hope to see the sanctions dropped soon, but I also hope that some care is done with how that happens so the traditional ways of Burma are not completely destroyed as well."Clearly, the path we have taken in imposing sanctions hasn't influenced the... more
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With the Supreme Court on "conservative lock-down" Obama will pass his influence on the lower courts in the Federal Justice System. Look for changes in long-time conservative Virginia and some key areas in New York state.With the Supreme Court on "conservative lock-down" Obama will pass his... more
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"Compared to the Republicans, the Democrats, I think they are hawks," said Ghazi Suleiman, a human rights lawyer and member of the Southern People's Liberation Movement, which has a fragile power-sharing agreement with the ruling party. "I know Obama's appointees. And I know their policy towards Sudan. Everybody here knows it. The policy is very aggressive and very harsh. I think we really will miss the judgments of George W. Bush.""Compared to the Republicans, the Democrats, I think they are hawks," said... more
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