Showing posts with label war-crimes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label war-crimes. Show all posts

Monday, November 28, 2005

Aussie ministers plot to kill dissent

Indonesian justice can be bought and sold, but not for a song!

INDONESIA'S latest bombing scare campaign continues in its unabated momentum to ramp up terror fears and here in Australia. According to the mass media giants - who would gladly fall off the back of their chairs to promote it for the hoWARd dictatorship and for a price$$$, of course!


And never let a bombing or a bombing plot go by, john hoWARd, especially 'State Sanctioned Terror' (set up to promote fear in the community), no doubt, on our doorstep, of course, and emanating from those authorities in Indonesia who can, no doubt, be 'bought and sold' when it comes to justice, but not for a song!

Or be bought to promote THE FEAR of 'terror when necessary' for that matter, but not for a song! Because this is a game that would bleed you dry if you were not a very wealthy person or a very wealthy nation!

After all, that is what this fear is intended for and no doubt the authorities need to make the most out of it. So now we continue to receive propaganda from the Indonesian authorities about their alleged findings and continue to harbor the fears created by it especially if we intend to go to Indonesia for a holiday.

And we trust the Indonesian authorities right? As far as we can, buy them right? Wrong if you ask me! Because bombing fears and fears of any terrorist acts or plots in our midst are used very well by the authorities to induce fear in our community and to give authorities the power and the will of the people in order to promote their illegal and degrading activity, which includes wars, terror and tyranny. And then an authoritarian defence to it or to fully introduce new draconian laws and to have people believe they are necessary.

They'd have you believe that there is a valid reason, with bombs and terror plots on our own doorstep and the fear of it, that you can pick up in any pro-government media outlet, even on Sunday!

The problem I have with believing the Indonesian authorities though is that in the case of Michelle Leslie she was able to buy the legal system but only if she had enough money because that is how the legal system works in Indonesia.

The other fear is the general state sanctioned terror that exists and has been reported and well documented for years in Indonesia so they are not myths or even conspiracy theories. The Australian authorities seem to think they are? Why is that?

Like the second Bali bomb blast in 2002, [CIA] that could only have been produced using military hardware and beyond any comprehension of even Azahari bin Husin! If he was the perpetrator then where did he get it?

So if that is how the government and legal system work in Indonesia then that is how everything works in Indonesia from the top down.

That is what they call law in Indonesia? Buying justice, but not for a song!

So we continue to receive propaganda from the Indonesian authorities about their big bust and the alleged killing of Azahri bin Husin the alleged mastermind in the Bali bombings. As well as those latest scapegoats who allegedly help set up the latest bombings in the cafes in October?

Material that was said to be collected from the police raid that allegedly included video tapes, books, and computer data is being slowly drip fed all the way back here for a very good reason, no doubt, as part of hoWARd's plan to introduce Anti-Liberty laws and have the community believe that they are necessary.

Any bombing or any state terror anywhere in the world whipped up by the media giants goes a long, long way in ramming through draconian laws even if they have to have a fishing expedition here raiding peoples homes or even to go into a state run prison and accuse a worker or a 'preacher' of an underworld communication racket between prisoners in custody?

So the authorities and their media giants will go to any length during this important Christmas rush period to find terror or create it, to get their way. We know the pro-government media bought it, but did the Australian authorities buy it and how much did it cost?

Indonesian Election: Australia $48 Million?


The threat from terror groups and failed states means Australia needs a high-tech, rapid deployment defence force, the defence minister says.


Allegedly, now ministers alexander downer and chris ellison were the intended targets of a plot by a terror group, that no one had originally heard of, called Jemaah Islamiah, to attack a memorial service last month for the victims of the 2002 Bali bombings, says the Indonesian government and pro-government Australian media giants.

Sure, we should be really angry now, that these terrorists should plot to blow up the Bali mourners! And that should buy hoWARd the coward a free kick to any draconian laws that he now seeks to enforce, based on the communities deep emotions, anguish and fears of another attack?

Drip-fed propaganda helps purported by the Indonesian authorities and sent to us has been paid for in the 'trust' that we somehow have to have to work with those 'Indonesian authorities' to clear it all up. The same authorities who can be bought and sold, but not for a song, in relation to Indonesian justice 'anytime' 'any place' in Indonesia?

God Bless Michelle Leslie a model prisoner who also managed to buy her way out of the State Sanctioned Terror, but not for a song, which was so very necessary in a place where there is no real justice and state sanctioned terror.

Especially when you're going to get 15 years for two pills that were allegedly found in your possession whilst on holiday. Even if a person got caught with two pills it is certainly no crime and certainly does not change the rort by the Indonesian authorities to exploit 'any poor lamb that comes along' with the 'threat' of a long prison sentence in hell or even death unless they pay for their own life.

Trust them?

So when you hear about a government source in Indonesia confirming that a plot, contained in detailed plans drawn up by terror mastermind Azahari bin Husin, was an attempt to assassinate the Australian 'foreigner' alexander drowner and 'injustice' 'miniature' the grand 'ellusion', who attended the service in Kuta along with 350 other people, including 50 Australian victims of the bombings? Then you know its bullshit brought on by those same Australian authorities that attempt to now sell it to the Australian people, but not for a song!

So how much did this cost the Australian authorities? To turn a blind eye on justice and for the 2002, 2004 and 2005, bombings in Bali and the Australian Embassy in Jakarta?

Certainly not as much as the victims and certainly not their own lives.

And how much did it cost all those people who were blown up on the dance floors and in the cafes or on the job at the Embassy? Yes it cost some of them their lives. With the living victims and their relatives and friends suffering indefinite anguish pain or disability.

Not too cheap at all unless you're a minister in the Indonesian or Australian government who is apparently busy trying to fix the problem? A CIA spy who is apparently a terrorist expert, who is apparently trying to fix the problem or media giant picking up bonus points, who is apparently trying to report the problem that goes on as long as hoWARd wants them to!

drowner confirmed yesterday that there were fears the memorial could be targeted.

"Everybody knew that there were risks involved; it was there, we were all aware of that," he said.

Very well aware of I'd say drowner, you war criminal.

drowner: "We put in place, as did the Indonesians, very substantial security for all those who went to the ceremony in Bali.

They did not plan a bombing at the ceremony!

drowner: "The ceremony was short, but it was a very moving ceremony and I think it meant a lot to those families. And the fact that there was security ensured that they were safe."

The same security that can be bought and sold! BUT NOT FOR A SONG!

Sinator Ellusion's office said he would not comment on issues relating to his safety.

He feels guilty!

And anyway the plot was abandoned because of the 'tight security', which can be bought and sold, but not for song!

The state instead decided not to harm the ministers but to carrying out the bombing where it could only effect innocent victims before the memorial, with the three scapegoat bombings at the Bali restaurants on October 1 where twenty-three people, including four Australians and the three other scapegoats, were killed on behalf of STATE SANCTIONED TERROR.

Allegedly Azahari's plans were discovered by police who can be bought and sold in Indonesia, but not for a song!

On a computer disc allegedly being carried by a courier early this month. The alleged seizure was allegedly made the day before the alleged JI bombmaker was killed when the police allegedly discovered his hideout in East Java.

Bill Hardy lost his 20-year-old son, Billy, in the attacks on October 12, 2002, and addressed last month's service. He was defiant about the plot and said he would return to Bali for memorial services in the future.

"I'm not going to be dictated to by these cowards. These scum are not going to stop me going to Bali," he yesterday.

"It's a memorial for someone who was murdered. If I say I'm not going because of them, once I've done that I'm beaten."

Mr Hardy said he was "delighted" when he heard Azahari had been killed.

"They're murderers and barbarians. Even in death, he was a coward. He didn't have the guts enough to stand up and face the music. He was a coward."

[Yet his own government conspired to let it happen! Don't you just feel sorry for this person? The Australian government showed no more sensitivity than the murder in cold blood of Balibo five.]

But if he only knew his own government conspired to let it happen and was behind it then he would turn his anger onto the hoWARd government and the Indonesian authorities, for their state sanctioned terror and their war on terror, (which is terror).

And also a front for their illegal and degrading war in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Final conclusions

Now the government seeks to close the door on your conclusions and the Indonesian authorities alleged findings about the bombings with federal dictator philip duddock saying the evidence uncovered on the computer disc was consistent with the government's terror threat assessment for Indonesia at the time.

But more likely consistent with the general corruption by the Indonesian authorities all the time, which can be bought and sold, but not for a song!

There is no price in Indonesia for an 'Australian government politician' either, a price that the Australian authorities can easily afford, by not getting directly involved in the bomb blasts, in other words Australian politicians' are a protected species because they're pulling the strings.

But this is not good enough for 'ordinary peasants, tourists or holidaymakers' unaware of any 'sinister plot' that would take their life or use them as scapegoats for the war on terror, (which is state sanctioned terror).

How much did this cost the Australian authorities?

duddock said documentary evidence found at the site of Azahari's death suggested Australians had been at real risk of a terrorist attack. [?]

Terrorist expert required?


Perhaps we need another speech from a CIA terrorist expert to fully secure duddock's view that we should continue to hold onto grave fears if we visit Indonesia? Or if we try to prevent the hoWARd dictatorship introducing new draconian laws?

duddock: "All of that, of course, is consistent with the travel warnings that we have given in relation to Indonesia. Terrorist attacks were certainly possible," duddock said.

He had inside information!

duddock: " And what we now have is the evidence that affirms that advice that this group, Jemaah Islamiah, operating in Indonesia, had identified a large number of targets and they would have posed considerable risk to Australians."

And that is what he dearly wants you to believe!

The threat remained, he said. "Obviously, the capture of that information (and) the death of Azahari has made some difference but others who have been complicit in these activities still remain at large, and that's a matter of continuing concern to us," duddock said.

Rock the house

john hoWARd's abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz news said last night that Michelle Leslie was guilty of possessing two pills and therefore she deserved to have been threatened and belittled by prime miniature hoWARd the coward.

[Who is angry by the way because Ms Leslie proved beyond any doubt that the Indonesian authorities can be bought or sold, but not for a song.]

Why is the prime minister so angry: Leslie


John Howard 'angry'. Not a good role model for a Prime Minister!

But when justice in Indonesia can be bought and sold, but not for a song, then the worry has to be how legitimate our own government purports to be whilst working hand in hand with the Indonesian authorities in their war on terror (which is state sanctioned terror), and to inform all Australians about alleged perpetrators of bombings and bomb plots.

7/7 London Bombings Final Word: Her Majesty's Terrorist Network

The fake terrorist attacks we see almost every day on the news, including all the daily bombings in Iraq (by supposed "insurgents" who happened to have huge stockpiles of explosives for the past 2 years straight), including the Bali bombings and the London bombings, are all lame efforts to scare everyone into submission into supporting the fake "War on Terror" (used to disguise and justify seizing and controlling oil-rich middle-eastern land and to develop hatred against Muslims and Arab-looking people so that people will be more willing to join the army and kill such innocent people).

By Simon Said 28 November 05

Related:

CIA agent spreads terror fears in Australia
An international CIA spy from Indonesia says there are many terrorist networks operating in Australia - meanwhile the bombs are going off in his own backyard. But don't you worry he gets paid well to promote fear because he's part of the program on the 'war on terror' (which is usually state sanctioned terror to promote fear most of the time)!

Police Raids: Howard's Terror forum Monday 21/11
Public Forum Monday 7pm 21/11 at UTS with the lawyer of men arrested in recent 'anti-terror' raids. Come along to hear how the recent raids in Sydney and the broader "war on terror" is affecting local communities in Sydney, from para-military policing to racial profiling and discrimination. Share your ideas on how we can build community resistance to abuses of power by governments, police and security forces.

hoWARd, will keep chilling you!
CHILLING new propaganda tape send by john hoWARd the coward's mates from Indonesia should give him the political power to pass new 'Anti-Terror legislation' here.

Bali trio scapegoats for state terror
THREE more men will be used as scapegoats for Indonesian State sanctioned terrorism and charged with involvement in last month's Bali suicide bombings that killed four Australians, Indonesian police said last night.

Bali bomber? Azahari dead?
Allegedly the government responsible and or complicit in the Bali bombings and an attack on the Australian embassy in Jakarta cannot now be blamed because the Indonesian authorities claim to have blown up a man they blamed it on.

Police 'had role in' Bali blasts
INDONESIAN [politicians,] police or military officers may have played a role in the 2002 Bali bombing, the country's former president, Abdurrahman Wahid has said.

Embrace nuclear weapons: The Un-Australian?
The Un-Australian newspaper and its political leader john hoWARd have outlined terrorist justification for [false flag] terror attacks in Bali, London and New York and urged neo-liberals and the other 80 per cent of Australians to embrace the 'fear' of nuclear weapons in an article today headed :Embrace nuclear weapons: Bashir.

Daily Telegraph: Mercy for murderers
AUSTRALIA: THESE are the faces of the injured children in the illegal and degrading war on Iraq and Afghanistan - faces that the Australian government chose to forget.

Bin Laden my target, then where has he bin?
A 'prisoner' has allegedly told Indonesian police that OSAMA bin Laden, sent a bundle of 'Australian dollars' to fund last year's bombing of the Australian embassy in Jakarta, but OSAMA gets blamed for everything!

It's just not cricket: Khan
The perception in the West remained that somehow Islam was connected to militarism and terrorism, that all Muslims believe that all suicide bombers go straight to heaven. No one mentioned that before [false flag operations of] 9/11 70 per cent of suicide bombings in the world were committed by the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka, who were Hindus.

Zarqawi: Everywhere and nowhere
AMMAN, Jordan - A remarkable proportion of the violence taking place in Iraq is regularly credited to the Jordanian Ahmad al-Khalayleh, better known as Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, and his al-Qaeda-linked organization in Iraq.

Lashkar-e-Tayiba - Blow Up or Beat Up
Pakistani militant group Lashkar-e-Tayiba has been branded a terrorist organisation by Australia, the US and Pakistan. It's been accused of being part of the al-Qa'ida network and of planning attacks in Australia.

Bashir: All lies
Bashir handed out as a trophy on a silver plate for George Dubya, and John HoWARd? Abu Bakar Bashir is a Preacher and a Teacher and not a terrorist leader as pro-government media are broadcasting.

INDONESIA: US to resume military ties
In the boldest statement on the subject to date, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has signalled that the US is ready to restore full military training ties with the Indonesian military (TNI). But the announcement coincides with new evidence of the TNI's involvement in the murder of two US nationals in 2002 and what is being dubbed the "biggest timber heist ever".

CIA informer tells court of Bashir's visits?
The key witness in the trial of Indonesian teacher and cleric Abu Bakar Bashir has told a Jakarta court that Bashir once inspected graduating troops at a terrorist training camp?

Sept 11 US false flag operation poses $130,000 challenge
A millionaire activist who believes the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001 were and "inside job" is offering a $130,000 reward to anyone who can prove him wrong.

100's of thousands of Aussies cancel holidays in Indonesia?
Australians are being warned to avoid international hotels in Indonesia, particularly the Hilton chain, with intelligence pointing to an imminent terrorist attack. Australia's ambassador to Indonesia, David Ritchie, delivered the travel advice to the Hilton chain within minutes of its release yesterday.

Fool me twice 1-20 -Official release (BALI BOMBINGS/ETimor) Exposing the Australian government's lies about the East Timor massacres, the cover-up of the Bali bombings (including '93 WTC attack) and subsequent anti-terror legislation forced through parliament.

The Truth About Bali Bombings Part 1 REMIX Part One + Two: Que Bono. Who Benefited? The Bali Bombings were a direct US-Israeli response to the growing Peace marches and Anti War Movement in Australia that was ballooning at an alarming rate after 9-11 and after Bush announced he was waging illegal invasions. It also very quickly secured Indonesia's and Australia's subservience to the US and cemented involvement in the US led War on Terror, and subsequent illegal invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Part TWO: Who really Benefited from the Bali Bombings?

PART THREE: The Investigation(s) Or lack thereof The Primary man at the centre of the Bali investigations got warned off the scent by US Ambassador to Indonesia..

Part 4: The Truth About Bali Bombings Eye witness Testimony and memorial dedication..

Indonesian police set-up Jakarta man?
"Who would blow themselves up when there is no war? Who would give up their life for no struggle? The CIA would! Why? Because the CIA are at war with the world, and they aim to cause terror and slam the Iron fist of fear into the community in the Asian pacific region."

See Links History From 2002:

AFP: The unlikely CRIMINAL
It was born of a bombing and it made its name after a far more devastating act of terrorism. But for most of the 25 years in between, little was known about the Australian Federal Police force or the work it did.

SMS was Keelty's first choice: Alleged bomber
Keelty: "It was just days before Australia's embassy was attacked on September 9"? But you couldn't believe SMS could you? If your life depended on it? What about inviting him to you birthday party? Would you believe answering his own SMS text message? Could you trust him with that?

EVERYONES ABC PROPAGANDA?
THE HEADLINE: New Indonesian President flags strengthening anti-terror laws

Liberal PR stunt, behind SMS attack warning
Australian Federal Police (AFP) Commissioner Mick Keelty has revealed information about an SMS message warning of an attack on a western embassy in Indonesia came from an Australian businessman in Jakarta.

Community backs candidate wife's Bali claims
Federal Labor Party candidate Ivan Molloy says he supports the sentiments of his wife, a Queensland state politician, who blames the Liberal Party for the 2002 Bali bombings.

Liberal PR stunt, behind SMS attack warning
Australian Federal Police (AFP) Commissioner Mick Keelty has revealed information about an SMS message warning of an attack on a western embassy in Indonesia came from an Australian businessman in Jakarta.

Howard and Downer to blame for Jakarta bombing: JI?
Alleged JI Members pushed back journalists at the site of a powerful blast outside the Australian embassy in Jakarta. The Federal Government has to be condemned for the bomb attack outside the Australian embassy in Jakarta.

Indonesian Election: Australia $48 Million?
The threat from terror groups and failed states means Australia needs a high-tech, rapid deployment defence force, the defence minister says.

Greens want Flood to front Bali inquiry
Greens Senator Bob Brown wants the author of a key report into Australia's intelligence agencies to appear before a Senate committee examining the Bali bombings.

FLASHBACK: BALI BOMBINGS? HOWARD'S ELECTION CAMPAIGNS?
Indonesian terror warnings on the eve of a federal election are nothing new to Australians. This week's terror campaign by the Howard government and its corporate media allies.

Black market should have been closed to people smugglers
A man charged over a people-smuggling voyage that ended in 350 deaths will face the second day of his committal hearing today.Khaled Daoed is charged with numerous offences over the sinking of the Indonesian fishing boat SIEV X three years ago.

Keelty foresees more terrorism
Australian Federal Police (AFP) Commissioner Mick Keelty says terrorist groups will continue to find new ways to threaten countries.

US to keep military ties with Indonesia. Target Australia?
US President George W Bush says America plans to resume cooperation with Indonesia's armed forces.

The Daily Propaganda Bali bombings could have been worse?
The Australian Federal Police (AFP) Commissioner, Mick Keelty, says the bombs that killed 88 Australians in Bali could have done a lot more damage if they had been built differently.

GI propaganda expert earns $200,000 a year: terror dope
A terrorism dope who is on capitalist drugs says the South-East Asian extremist group Jemaah Islamiah (JI) has raised $200,000 a year from supporters in Australia.

GI propaganda expert earns $200,000 a year: terror dope
A terrorism dope who is on capitalist drugs says the South-East Asian extremist group Jemaah Islamiah (JI) has raised $200,000 a year from supporters in Australia.

US Deputy Sheriff dismisses Indonesian comment that US king of terrorists
Deputy Sheriff to the US Prime Minister John Howard says he does not agree with comments by the Indonesian Vice-President Hamzah Haz that the real terrorist is the United States for attacking Iraq.

Keep the bastards honest: Publicity keeps an eye on ethics?
The Australian Federal Police commissioner says investigations into terrorist links to Australia are being made more difficult by public debate about the progress of inquiries.

GI divided: Australian experts
GI has descended into a disparate collection of cells working at cross-purposes, with deep divisions on strategy and no clear leader except to say the Indonesian Military could be involved, senior Australian counter-propaganda police believe.

GI killers uncovered
GI has cordial flavours ranging from Raspberry all the way down to Tropical Pineapple and a new generation of drinkers have joined the ranks.

Eye for an eye or blind toothless people?
Terrorists ALLEGED by the Daily Terror, 7 August 03, have claimed responsibility for the Jakarta bombing and are alleged to have sent a chilling warning that they will kill more Westerners if Bali bomber Amrozi is sentenced to death today.

Australian Terror cell here long before Bali
The Australian terrorist Captain Cook infiltrated Australia years before the Bali bombings in which 202 people perished. Aboriginal people attempted to remember Captain Cook not as a founding father but as a harbinger of dispossession and death, a sign of white amnesia. Another anniversary year-used to mark two hundred years since Cook had journeyed along the east coast of Australia and, for some people, discovered a continent.

Did the CIA blow up Bali?
In a nation where conspiracy theories and rice are two of life's staples, Indonesians appear to be changing their habits. You can still get rice with your Kentucky Fried, but conspiracy theories easy to find, at least as far as the Bali bombings are concerned.

Australia's Terrorism Wake Up Call [164] The horrific bombings of the Sari Club and Paddy's Bar in Bali, on October 12, 2002, considerably strengthened the hand of the CoW in pursuing the War on Terror. Here was an opportunity to harden the hearts of the Australian and US public against Islamic fundamentalists. It was also a chance for the Indonesian government to justify harsh measures in the war against terrorists and secessionists, such at those in the province of Aceh.

2nd Renaissance -10 The War on Witches [150]
In 1484, Pope Innocent VIII issued a Papal Bull that became the rationale for establishing the Inquisition in Germany. The following excerpt from the Bull sets out the official view of the danger of witches to the community. The Bull and this this passage provided the sole excuse for the torture and cruel executions that were, ultimately, to be the fate of up to fifty percent of the population of some villages.

First strike and you're out!
The ideology of a super loser? John Howard shocks the nation again. A nation who cannot believe Howard's stupidity following the Bali bombing. The Bali bombing which was in direct retaliation for his previous remarks towards a first strike on Iraq.

Civil and Democratic Islam websites communicating?
THE internet is becoming a virtual forum for people exchanges, with many sites specifically targeting Australia to stop the racial hate followers, and plan to continue to communicate with each other. Fantastic!

GI Strikes again! Plots plots and more plots
GI cordial's foiled plot to flood foreign embassies in Singapore, including the Australian high commission, would have used high sugar levels at the controls of cordial laden truck, a US interrogation of a key GI figure has revealed. The plot, uncovered by Singaporean authorities last December before it was fully planned, originally was intended for missions in Manila, not Singapore. The revelations, obtained by GKCNN through key summaries of the US interrogation of Mohammed Mansour Jabarah, demonstrate the new depth of GI members' commitment to the sugar cause.

Alarm over terror in 'Australia'?
ISLAMIC extremists linked to GI cordial fired weapons and conducted close-quarter combat training in remote forests all over Australia. Paint Bombs were the weapon of choice.

Australian accused of plot to bomb embassies
A spokesperson for Justice Action Mr.Sooth Sayer said " the arrest is most likely connected to the invasion of the mans privacy by the new powers of ASIO. These are extraordinary laws that were invented, using people as pawns to get unprecedented powers to use to lever John Howard's propaganda machine."

Friday, November 25, 2005

UK Issues Gag Order to the Daily Mirror:Bush/Al-Jazeera Memo

The United Kingdom has used the Official Secrets Act to prevent UK newspaper the Daily Mirror from continuing to publish information regarding an alleged transcript of a conversation between Tony Blair and George W. Bush in which the President is said to have discussed taking military action against Arab television broadcaster Al-Jazeera.

Since the gag order was issued, no new information has been released regarding the transcript, as the British government has threatened all media organizations they would be breaking the law if details about the memo are released.

According to the Daily Mirror, during the course of the transcripted conversation, Prime Minister Blair talked Bush out of launching an military strike on Al-Jazeera's news offices in Qatar. The talked are alleged to have taken place on the 16th of April, 2004.

Just in UK Newswire

Democracy Now censored by being faded down for approx four minutes.

Today at 16:39 GMT Democracy Now was faded down for approximately four minutes while the programme was discussing a leaked memo in which President Bush allegedly discusses bombing the Arabic satellite network Al Jazeera at this stage I don't know if its because of the UK Official Secrets Act.

The United States has not officially denied the existence of the memo. Also, two people have been charged in Britain under the Official Secrets Act for 'damaging disclosure of a document relating to international relations'.

One of those people is Lee O'Connor, a former employee of former MP (member of parliament) Tony Clarke, whose office the memo allegedly ended up in. Another is civil servant David Keogh.

It worth noting that the United States has attacked Al-Jazeera twice in the past - once in the 2001 bombing of its Kabul office in Afghanistan, and again in the 2003 bombing of it's Baghdad office, in which an Al-Jazeera journalist was killed. The United States has since refused to allow Al-Jazeera to operate from within Iraq - the newschannel has essentially been banned from the country.

By Scotty B posted 25 November 05

Related:

The Dirty War: Torture and mutilation used on Iraqi 'insurgents' Bombs around Baghdad killed 33 people yesterday, but out of sight is a much more shadowy conflict - one in which the US and Britain seem unable to stop death squads and disappearances.

Chemical weapon use by US forces in Iraq confirmed
"I heard the order to pay attention because they were going to use white phosphorus on Fallujah. In military jargon it's known as Willy Pete - Phosphorus burns bodies, in fact it melts the flesh all the way down to the bone - I saw the burned bodies of women and children."

Bush responds to political crisis with lies and new war threats
President George W. Bush's speech Thursday on "the war on terror" constitutes a sobering measure of both his government's desperate political crisis and the threat that it will try to extricate itself from this crisis through escalating militarism.

Iran helps kill our soldiers: Britain... yeh right!
With Bush talking up the threat of Iran in the same way he did before illegally invading Iraq we now have the British linking Iran with deaths of British soldiers in Iraq.

Iraq's constitutional referendum makes a mockery of democracy
Iraq's referendum on the draft constitution to be held on October 15 has turned into a farce. Last Sunday, the US-backed ruling coalition of Kurdish and Shiite fundamentalist parties amended the country's electoral laws to virtually guarantee a positive result.

How STUPID are the Americans? DON'T GET CAUGHT BETWEEN AN ADDICT AND HIS DRUG! Saddam Hussien was a dealer. We knew he was unstable and couldn't be trusted, but he was OUR dealer. We depended on him. Things you normally wouldn't even think about doing aren't an obstacle when you're addicted.

It's not the terrorists' it's us
While we watch the latest round of appalling violence and mayhem spilling across our screens it is worth considering its cause.

It's better to cry wolf now than to wait until the oil has run out No one knows how much is left, but humankind can't wait any longer before coming up with alternatives. And next in the queue? Who knows? All I can say is that George Bush himself does not appear to share the US Geological Survey's optimism. "In terms of world supply," he said in March, "I think if you look at all the statistics, demand is outracing supply, and supplies are getting tight." What has he seen that we haven't?

Cindy Sheehan Arrested Outside the WhiteHouse
USA: Cindy Sheehan - the mother of a soldier killed in Iraq who set up camp outside George Bush's ranch recently - was amongst dozens arrested today outside the Whitehouse. Read her inspirational statement or non-violent action.

Eye's on the prize
Georgie Ann Geyer, who may be America's most perceptive international affairs columnist, wrote in the Saturday, September 17 Washington Times about a recent Washington conference concerning the mess in the Middle East. That could, of course, have been a conference topic back as far as the First Triumvirate, when an earlier Crassus lost his head in the Land Between the Rivers. We can only hope we are not as close to the loss of the republic itself as Rome was by that time.

Bush, Howard, Blair, Axis of Evil
From bad to worse is the new sub-text slogan for Bush and his administration. Appearing on US media, flanked by Cheney, Rumsfeld and numerous other (wooden) neo-cons, Bush repeated his rehearsed lines - "we are problem solvers".

A Confused Morality
The immorality of US presidential advisor Karl Rove can not compare in magnitude to the immorality of the US wars of aggression against Iraq and Afghanistan. The Nuremberg trials set a precedent which should be applicable here.

US-inflicted carnage on Iraqi people
The Dossier of Civilian Casualties 2003-2005, published this month by the organisation Iraq Body Count (IBC), is the most detailed assessment to date of how the illegal US-led invasion and occupation of Iraq have caused the death and injury of tens of thousands of civilians.

CCTV for illegal and degrading war
Prime loser john hoWARd says he is impressed with how effective closed circuit television cameras have been in identifying suspects in the London bombings.

Resistance in Iraq legitimate: Sadr
Moqtada Sadr says he will not take part in Iraq's political process while the US remains. Resistance to foreign troops in Iraq is "legitimate", Shiite leader Mr Moqtada Sadr said.

Don't Blame Bush
Maybe you think that it's all just a bad dream. In a few years there will be a new President of the United States and everything will be different then. Everything will be back to normal. The bad news is, you are awake. The really bad news is, it isn't Bush.

Suicide bombers may target PM: UK
AUSTRALIA: UK bombers are warning fascist war criminals like john HoWARd that they could become victims to suicide bombers if they continue to pre-emptively kill, maim and torture innocent indigenous people in sovereign nation states like Iraq and Afghanistan.

Galloway breaks consensus over London bombings
He said: "The purpose of terrorism is not only to kill and maim the innocent. It is to put despair and anger and hatred in people's hearts. [Also as a call to arms for the British people to try to legitimise the occupation's of Iraq and Afghanistan and to continue with their resource wars in the Middle East.]

London terror bombings: a political crime!
Once again, the world is witnessing horrific scenes of death, injury and suffering sustained by people who bear no responsibility for the crimes committed by their governments.

Galloway: Cry for social change
Then there came a time when the colonies said, "We want to become independent and free." Now we are returning to the colonies we were driven out of. The most significant of these is Iraq.

UK false flag: where the bombers struck
The London transport system was coping with the peak of the morning rush hour when the coordinated terror attack the capital had feared became reality.

Zarqawi: Everywhere and nowhere
AMMAN, Jordan - A remarkable proportion of the violence taking place in Iraq is regularly credited to the Jordanian Ahmad al-Khalayleh, better known as Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, and his al-Qaeda-linked organization in Iraq.

US confirms civilian deaths in Afghan air strike!
American-led forces have mistakenly killed scores of Afghan civilians since engineering the fall of the Taliban regime in late 2001, including 48 who died when a wedding party came under attack three years ago.

Labor, 'Showroom Dummies'
Labor does not oppose illegal and degrading wars? Nor do they stand up for renditioned and tortured citizens, welfare rights, people held in detention for years on end? Or anything else that matters to the marginalised voters who have to rely on the minor parties time and time again for some support.

Australia: Lib/Lab Cult Squad
AUSTRALIA: WHEN pastor peter costello delivered a speech in July last year from the pulpit of the hillsong church, an 18,000-strong cult, based in Sydney's northwestern suburbs, most people wrote them off, all accept those neo-liberals who were seeking the gargoyle vote.

Back to kill the innocent
THE fascist Federal government will send Australian militants and guerrillas to war on Afghanistan, two years after they were last deployed there in the mountains full of indigenous people.

Crush, Kill, Destroy, Labor Wants War on Afghanistan
Labor's Pre-emptive war spokesman, robert mcClelland, says Australia needs to redeploy troops to Afghanistan after an attack today against a US helicopter left 17 missing.

Howard off to US, UK - part 5
PART-5- PRIME minister john hoWARd will meet US president george w buSHIT, British prime minister tony blair and queen 'imperialism' herself during a 10-day visit to the United States and the UK next month.

Searching for resistance in Afghanistan
Tribal leaders listen in a meeting in Miana Shien, Kandahar province, southern Afghanistan, on Saturday in an attempt to end the fighting that has killed more than 175 freedom fighters since Tuesday.

Battlelines drawn on Security Council
THE US has outlined its first detailed position on UN Security Council reform, proposing a limited expansion of the permanent membership by two nations - one of them Japan - and foreshadowing a major statement next week on specific criteria to be met by candidate countries.

Bush's demon-aid tactic strikes again
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is the George W Bushit's mastermind demon to help bolster support to continue to wage the US-led Illegal and degrading war on Iraq. Another report that senior aide to Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi (a George Bushit demon) used time and time again, as an excuse to wage war in Iraq has allegedly been captured.

Zarqawi tape 'magic': ABRACADABRA
An [alleged] audio recording in which Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, alleged Al Qaeda's leader [scapegoat and patsy in the resource wars who must have bled to death in Iraq by now], 'already', denies reports that he has been seriously wounded, and that's magic, says Mr Houdini, a magician.

Lying and bullshitting the same thing
Australia: The Un-Australian Newspaper: "AS well as all the bullshit in politics, there's even more in our metaphoric and colloquial language. Bullshit is the subject of serious philosophical inquiry in a little book called On Bullshit, published by the 'highly respected' Princeton University Press. To the surprise and delight of the author, it's stampeding out of bookshops all over the world."

Is this our most dangerous Newspaper?
The Daily Terrorist should be managed with manacles and flown into Siberia via a jumbo jet tomorrow amid fears government fascists may attempt to use them again on someone else.

IRAQ: Washington gives up on Iraqi security forces?
According to a United Press International report published the next day, General John Abizaid, who directs all US military forces in the Middle East, described the progress in developing Iraqi forces to fight the anti-occupation resistance as "disappointing".

UN Dialogue among Civilizations
This roundtable is a contribution to the UN Dialogue among Civilizations project that began in September 2000. At the first round table debate on Dialogue among Civilizations, Kofi Annan, Secretary General of the UN stated that, cultural diversity - in his opinion - is not only the basis for the Dialogue among Civilizations, but also the reality that makes dialogue necessary, since the perception of diversity as a threat is the very seed of war. [The role of religion in creating a culture of peace and moving on from a culture of fear.]

Zarqawi' figment of the US imagination, used time, and time again! US propaganda 'terror monster' the alleged Al Qaeda's leader in Iraq has been used by the US and its Coalition of the Killing as an excuse so many times he has bled to death, surely?

BUSH ON TRIAL
Tuesday May 17, 2005, Brussels - Today, representatives of the World Tribunal on Iraq (WTI) delivered a law summon and invitation letter addressed to President Bush at the US Embassy in Brussels.

Iraqi police vent anger at US after car bombings
Iraqi police hurled insults at US soldiers after two suicide car bomb blasts in Baghdad killed at least seven people and left 19 wounded, including policemen. "It's all because you're here," a policeman shouted in Arabic at a group of US soldiers after the latest in a bloody wave of attacks that have rocked Baghdad this month. "Get out of our country and there will be no more explosions," he told the uncomprehending Americans staring at the smouldering wreck of a car bomb.

UK report shows Iraq war illegal: former defence chief
Ruling Class Lord Goldsmith said a final UN resolution may be needed, that hard evidence of Iraqi non-compliance may have been required, and the UK could face sanction by international courts.

300,000 Iraqis protest occupation and genocide
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Chanting "Death to America" and burning effigies of President Bush and Saddam Hussein, tens of thousands of Iraqis flooded central Baghdad on Saturday in what police called the largest anti-American protest since the fall of Baghdad, the capital, exactly two years ago.

Annan calls for human rights agency revamp!
The commission has been harshly criticised recently by human rights groups claiming it has become less of a body for upholding human rights, and more of a haven for violators.

Attacks kill 21 two years after Iraq invasion
IRAQ: At least 21 people were killed on Sunday in attacks mainly targeting US/Iraqi security forces on the two-year anniversary of the US-led illegal and degrading war on of Iraq.

Wolfowitz's World Bank nomination worries Oxfam
The head of Oxfam in Australia has raised concerns about the nomination of US Deputy Defence Secretary Paul Wolfowitz as the next head of the World Bank.

USA - FEELING THE HEAT FROM INTERNATIONAL FIRE:
It seems the United States of America (The World Watchdog) is dictating and practising double-standards --- a unique law for America and another set of laws for all other countries.

CALL TO ACTION of the ANTI-WAR ASSEMBLY
Two years after the invasion of Iraq, there is more opposition to the war in the US, in the coalition countries, and all over the world than ever before.

Returning veterans of Iraq/Afghanistan
In the last two years, nearly one million U.S. service-members have served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Regardless of how you may feel about the war, most of us agree that those service-members deserve the best possible care and treatment our country can provide.

The Veil of Freedom
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Two years after the invasion of Iraq and just weeks before the country's first free election, [occupation, US puppet gov't] "Amina" began wearing a headscarf for the first time in her life. Her father insisted upon it.

Iraqi women eye Islamic law
BAGHDAD - Covered in layers of flowing black fabric that extend to the tips of her gloved hands, Jenan al-Ubaedy knows her first priority as one of some 90 women who will sit in the national assembly: implementing Islamic law.

IRAQ: Shiite and Sunnis to unite against occupation?
Iraq: "I call on all religious and political powers that pushed towards the elections and took part in them to issue an official statement calling for a timetable for the withdrawal of the occupation forces from Iraq", Moqtada al Sadr, the popular young Iraqi Shiite cleric who last year led an armed rebellion against the US-led occupation, declared on February 4.

Democracy, Iraqi style
"In a darkened hall, candidates for Iraq's main Shia party sit listening to a turbaned cleric speaking into a microphone. They are being told how to campaign for the election without getting killed.

Violence continues ahead of Iraq Shoe Sale
Pre-Shoe Sale violence in Iraq is showing no signs of abating with the deaths today of two American militants following on from yesterday's killing of 22 US/Iraqi militants.

US transport company pulls out of Iraq
A large American transport company has become the first contractor to pull out of Iraq because of the continuing violence.

Rumsfeld's war, torture and occupation ideology!
War criminal Donald Rumsfeld faced critical questioning at a Washington media conference, after the announcement that it was a suicide bomber who caused the blast inside a US military base in Mosul yesterday, killing 22 people including 14 illegal militants.

Annan admits to a tough year
United Nations secretary-general Kofi Annan admits he has had his worst year at the United Nations and he is looking forward to it being over.

Iraq sale to be contested by 100 buyers
A hundred buyers, blocs and independents will contest Iraq's first shoe sale, in decades, on January 30, the George Dubya Bushit - Iraqi Sales Commission (GDB/ISC) said.

Fallujah refugees in desperate need of aid: UN
More than 200,000 people who fled Fallujah ahead of the US attack have yet to return and many are in desperate need of aid, with temperatures in Iraq heading towards freezing, a new UN emergency report says.

UN panel proposes criteria for legitimate military action
With countries still bitterly divided over the war in Iraq, a high-level panel appointed by the United Nations has recommended a five-step guideline to determine when to use military action.

Indonesians rally against Fallujah assault
About 8,000 Indonesian Muslims have staged a peaceful rally against a major US-led assault on Iraq's rebel city of Fallujah, which has claimed 2,000 lives.

UK politicians launch Blair impeachment bid
Parliamentarians and celebrity campaigners have launched a bid to impeach UK Prime Minister Tony Blair for "gross misconduct" over his justification for the Iraq war.

'This One's Faking He's Dead' 'He's Dead Now'
Fallujah: Video shows US soldier killing wounded insurgent in cold blood
by Andrew Buncombe in Washington.

US: Very superstitious? Writing's on the wall!
The US military says it has discovered close to 20 torture sites in the course of its massive attack against the resistance in the Iraqi city of Fallujah?

World Vision Aust pulls out of Iraq
The organisation says the country has simply become too dangerous and its decision to leave was made before the apparent murder of Care Australia's Iraq director Margaret Hassan.

US Senator slams !!! 'dysfunctional, rogue' CIA
Influential US Republican Senator John McCain blasted the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) as a "dysfunctional" and "rogue" organisation that needs to be reformed.

Civilian death toll to rise in Fallujah
The attack on the Iraqi city of Fallujah has taken its toll on Iraqi civilians no doubt including children and young babies. Iraqi's have witnessed civilian casualties. Yesterday during the assault on the main hospital nurses and patients were blindfolded after the US/Iraq militia stormed the main hospital and took control.

Illusionary demons blamed for US led Attack Iraq, Fallujah
In the name of an illusionary figure thought up by US militants suggests that Al Qaeda's? ally "Abu Musab al-Zarqawi" has called on Muslims to take up arms against their US enemy as American militia attacked the Iraqi city of Fallujah? Just a coincidence or just good timing?

Full-scale attack on Fallujah begins
Correspondents say radio traffic heard at a US militant's staging post just outside Fallujah indicates US/Iraqi militia have moved at least four blocks into Fallujah, and are still advancing.

US/Iraqi militants storm Fallujah hospital
United States troops and US/Iraqi militia have seized the main hospital in the Iraqi city of Fallujah without a fight, according to a pool reporter travelling [in-bed] with the troops. Those in hospital beds did not resist they were too sick and the doctor kept on operating regardless.

US warplanes and artillery attack Fallujah!
Journalists [in-bed] with the US military say warplanes fired at suspected resistance targets around Fallujah as night fell on Sunday, while artillery shells pounded a nearby town.

State of emergency: Allawi 'killer of saints'
The US puppet, Iyad Allawi otherwise known as "Sock" killer of saints has declared a state of emergency for 60 days to quell violent resistance gripping the country ahead of January's shoe sale.

US Empire Votes For Pre-Emptive War!!!
United States President George Dubya Bushit has been re-elected, winning four more years to press his war on liberty after a bitter campaign against Democrat John Kerry that focused on the US empire's role as - imperialists - initiating pre-emptive war - on the sovereign nation of Iraq - without the United Nations approval and in direct contravention of International law.

Saddam's family dismiss lawyer
The family of deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein has dismissed the head of his defence team. Other team members had accused the lawyer, Mohammad Rashdan, of acting without consulting them.

Who's counting the dead in Fallujah? CARE?
In distress: CARE says it is deeply concerned about the wellbeing of Mrs Hassan. But who's counting the dead in Fallujah?

Iraqi civilian deaths put at 100,000
Tens of thousands of Iraqis have been killed in violence since the US-led invasion last year, according to public health experts who estimate there were 100,000 "excess deaths" in 18 months.

Unknown News Update - 2009
More than 103 times as many people have been killed in these wars and occupations than in all terrorist attacks in the world from 1993-2004. About 241 times as many people have been killed in Afghanistan and Iraq than in the ghastly attacks of September 11, 2001.

Bushite group threatens civil liberties in Iraq
Allegedly a group led by George W Bushite has forced freedom fighters to threaten to behead a Japanese hostage it said worked with Japanese forces in Iraq if Tokyo does not withdraw its forces from the country within 48 hours.

US secretly moved prisoners out of Iraq for questioning: report
The CIA has secretly transferred detainees out of Iraq for interrogation after asking the US Justice Department to write a memo justifying the practice, which violates the Geneva Conventions.

Weapons inspectors missed WMD in Iraq
An Iraqi minister has said United Nations nuclear inspectors are welcome to return in response to concerns of an "apparent systematic dismantlement" of Saddam Hussein's once-vigorous nuclear program.

US accused of breaching international law
The United States is violating international law by holding prisoners in its war on terror incommunicado and in secret hiding places, Human Rights Watch said in a report to be published on Tuesday calling for an end to such practices.

Allies 'planned' Iraq war despite denials
The United States, Australia and Britain started to plan the invasion of Iraq months before the conflict, according to a report Wednesday quoting a leaked Pentagon document.

UN warns of Iraqi malnutrition
One in four Iraqis are dependent on food rations to survive and many of them have to sell what little food they have for basic necessities like medicine and clothes, the UN World Food Program (WFP) said.

Jordan's king doubts Iraqi elections possible
Iraq is far too unsafe to hold elections as scheduled in January and extremists would do well in the poll if Baghdad tried to hold it, Jordan's King Abdullah said in an interview. Excluding troubled areas from the nationwide poll would only isolate Iraq's Sunnis and create deeper divisions in the country, he said.

Annan tells world leaders to respect law
United Nations (UN) secretary-general Kofi Annan has made an impassioned plea to bring about the rule of law across the globe today. Mr Annan told world leaders to respect international law at home and abroad.

CO-OFFENDERS DO NOT REBUFF UN ON 'ILLEGAL WAR'
The 'coalition of the killing's' complicities - the US, Britain and Australia - have insisted that their countries' military action in Iraq was legal after they have committed war crimes against humanity.

Iraq war illegal, says Annan
United Nations secretary-general Kofi Annan says the United States decision to invade Iraq in March 2003 was "illegal". Australia was a key supporter of the war on Iraq and sent troops to join the United States-led invasion last year.

Bush team 'knew of abuse' at Guantanamo
Evidence of prisoner abuse and possible war crimes at Guantanamo Bay reached the highest levels of the Bush administration as early as autumn 2002, but Donald Rumsfeld, the defence secretary, chose to do nothing about it, according to a new investigation.

Journalists ordered to leave Najaf as fighting continues
Journalists have been kicked out of Najaf as clashes flared in the Iraqi city, prompting speculation that a major United States-led assault on enemy Shiite fighters was imminent.

Enemy Mortars attack opening of Iraqi summit
US Enemies have fired mortars at a meeting where Iraqi puppet government leaders met to pick an interim national assembly, killing at least two people.

Iraqi Women in the Occupation Prisons As Material and Means of Violations It is important to say at the beginning that there are many psychological, social and cultural obstacles for Iraqi women to talk openly about what they actually went through inside the occupation prisons.

Ancient Babylon ruined by foreign troops: Iraqi minister
Iraq: Foreign forces in Iraq have caused severe damage to the site of ancient Babylon, one of the world's most renowned archaeological treasures, and need to leave the area as soon as possible, Iraq's Culture Minister Mofeed al-Jazaeri said.

Whatcha Gonna Do, When They Come For You? Bad boy!
Former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was a threat and sought to possess weapons of mass destruction, United States President George W Bush reaffirmed when asked why no such weapons had been discovered in Iraq.

Saddam trial US propaganda
Saddam Hussein's trial will play an important part in the US election no doubt and for that to work at its potential just put a "women" behind it "She called the trials". Then add some "cleansing" like she's just doing the dishes and then some "reconciliation" by slaying Hussein during a US election. Now you can go and tell everyone you're reversing the trauma but really you're killing two birds with one Saddam.

Pilger said White House knew Saddam was no threat
Australian investigative journalist John Pilger says he has evidence the war against Iraq was based on a lie which could cost George W Bush and Tony Blair their jobs and bring Prime Minister John Howard down with them.

Monday, November 14, 2005

US Senate moves to ban court review of Guantanamo detentions

Legislating a war crime

Acting with virtually no debate or warning, the US Senate on Thursday passed, in the form of an amendment to a military budget bill, a far-reaching measure denying so-called "enemy combatants" any right to challenge their detention in US courts.

While this reactionary piece of legislation is aimed in the first instance at the more than 500 men and boys who have been imprisoned without charges, facing torture and abuse, at the Pentagon's concentration camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, it constitutes a frontal assault on basic democratic rights and the constitutional form of government in the United States itself.

The measure would turn into law the Bush administration's arrogation to itself of the power to order the arrest and imprisonment of anyone it sees fit on the sole say-so of the president as "commander-in-chief" without formally charging them or even revealing their detention and without any possible review by the courts.

It would dramatically alter the balance of power between the different branches of the US government, undermining the independence of the judiciary and denying the courts the ability to review the actions of the presidency and consider the appeals of those claiming to have been unjustly imprisoned.

Introduced by Senator Lindsey Graham (Republican, South Carolina) and passed by a Senate vote of 49 to 42, the amendment effectively strips the US courts of any jurisdiction over those detained in the so-called war against terror and overturns the extremely limited moves by the courts to review the legality of the Bush administration's actions.

The legislation would likely end up applying to all non-citizens detained by the government both outside the US and within.

The measure was approved under conditions in which the US government has come under increasing fire internationally over a flood of revelations concerning secret prisons run by the CIA in eastern Europe and elsewhere and the torture of detainees by both the intelligence agency and the US military.

As the Senate voted, prisoners in Guantanamo were continuing a protracted hunger strike to demand that they be granted conditions guaranteed by the Geneva Convention and that they be permitted a hearing in a genuine court.

Graham made it clear that his amendment is designed to ensure that the criminal abuse of these detainees continues. "It is not fair to our troops fighting in the war on terror to be sued in every court in the land by our enemies based on every possible complaint," he said.

While an attempt will reportedly be made next week in the Senate to remove the abrogation of habeas corpus from the bill, it is virtually certain that the Graham amendment would win the support of the Republican-controlled House and be signed into law by Bush.

Under international law, the Graham amendment itself constitutes a war crime. It violates the 1907 Hague treaty, which declares it a crime to "declare abolished, suspended, or inadmissible in a court of law the rights and actions of the nationals of the hostile party."

It likewise violates the Geneva Convention, which protects detainees by prohibiting "the passing of sentences and the carrying out of executions without previous judgment pronounced by a regularly constituted court, affording all the judicial guarantees which are recognized as indispensable by civilized peoples."

The most fundamental of these guarantees--and one of the cornerstones of democratic rights worldwide--is the right to petition a court for a writ of habeas corpus.

The measure passed the Senate just three days after the US Supreme Court announced that it would rule on the constitutionality of the kangaroo-court-style military tribunals that the Pentagon has set up at Guantanamo to supposedly determine whether detainees can be released.

Not only would the amendment void this case, it would also apply retroactively to other rulings and to appeals filed on behalf of hundreds of detainees in various federal courts. Among the rulings that would be nullified is a June 2004 US Supreme Court finding in the case of Rasul v. Bush that foreign citizens accused of terrorism can challenge their detention in the US courts.

It is not a matter of the courts having served as champions of the detainees' rights. On the contrary, they have for the most part bowed to the administration's claims that the president is entitled to extraordinary powers because the US is supposedly at war, including the power to hold "enemy combatants" without charges or trial.

The courts have ignored the fact that this so-called "war on terror" has never been declared, has no defined enemy and is presented as a conflict that will continue indefinitely, making the extraordinary powers of the president essentially permanent. As for "enemy combatant," this is a term that has never been defined, outside of describing anyone the president wants detained without granting them either the legal rights of someone charged criminally or the rights granted to prisoners of war under the Geneva Convention.

Institutionalizing dictatorial methods

Nonetheless, by legislating the exclusion of the courts from any review of these police-state measures, the Senate's action represents a significant step toward the institutionalization of dictatorial forms of rule within the US.

The measure also gives the lie to another item tied to the Defense Appropriations Bill, the so-called McCain torture amendment--passed by a vote of 90 to 9--barring "cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment" against those detained by the US government.

The Bush administration has threatened to veto the entire military funding bill if the amendment remains, while Vice President Dick Cheney has exerted political pressure on the Senate to specifically exempt the CIA from the proscription of torture so that it can continue the brutal methods it employs at a network of secret prisons scattered around the globe.

The Graham amendment turns this ban on torture into a dead letter, or rather window dressing, for continuing the brutalization of thousands of people held by the US against whom no charges much less evidence has been presented. If they have no right to seek redress in the courts, then the administration is free to do with them as it likes, including torture and extra-judicial executions, without fear of exposure.

The amendment drew sharp fire from both human rights and attorneys' groups nationwide.

The New York City Bar called the measure "precisely the wrong action at the wrong time." It noted that the Bush administration "asserting extraordinary wartime powers, has created a whole new structure, based on tenuous legal ground, to indefinitely detain any person anywhere whom the President claims to be an enemy combatant (a term for which there is still no settled definition in law), and argues that he may do so without judicial review."

The National Institute of Military Justice issued a statement declaring, "The proposed amendment would sanction unreviewable Executive detention that cannot be harmonized with our Nation's longstanding adherence to the rule of law."

And the American Civil Liberties Union warned: "By depriving all courts of jurisdiction over nearly all claims by foreign detainees held at Guantanamo Bay, the Graham amendment would eviscerate the protections of the McCain amendment and other anti-torture laws, violate the Constitution by denying the Supreme Court its role as the final authority on whether government actions are constitutional and legal and terminate nearly all court cases brought by military officers on behalf of detainees."

Once the right of habeas corpus has been abolished for foreign detainees and those whom the president declares "enemy combatants," what is to stop the Congress from passing a law declaring that no American citizen has the right to challenge his or her imprisonment?

The legal framework is being constructed for the type of state that existed in Latin America in the 1970s, when people "disappeared" to be tortured and executed in the security forces' clandestine prisons, with no one held accountable and no challenge permitted within the courts.

That such a proposal--repudiating a principle that has been part of democratic legal rights going back to the Magna Carta nearly 800 years ago--could be tacked on as an amendment to a military spending bill speaks volumes about the nature of the US government and America's ruling elite.

It is a government that operates on the basis of conspiracy and deliberate concealment of its policies from the American people. Within the financial oligarchy that dominates political life and controls both major parties, there is no significant constituency for the defense of bedrock constitutional principles.

In an atmosphere of fear and hysteria whipped up in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, attacks--events that have yet to be fully explained to the American people--the Bush administration has rammed through sweeping attacks on democratic rights, with the full collaboration of the Democratic Party. These include the Patriot Act, giving police and intelligence agencies unprecedented powers of surveillance, search and seizure.

It has since invoked a "global war on terror" as a pretext for launching an unprovoked and illegal war against Iraq as well as for carrying out a systematic war against the US Constitution.

This drive to demolish centuries' old rights is part of an international process that has seen in just the past week the imposition of sweeping "anti-terrorism" legislation in both Britain and Australia and the declaration of a state of emergency in France.

Underlying this global process is the unprecedented polarization between a wealthy financial elite and masses of working people, whose basic democratic rights are increasingly seen by the capitalist political establishments in every country as an intolerable obstacle to immensely unpopular policies, including war and the eradication of what remains of generations' worth of social reforms.

The Graham amendment, in its attempt to enshrine into law the dirty and illegal practices that have been carried out by the Bush administration over the past four years, represents a stark warning that this process is very far advanced and is encountering no serious resistance from any section of the political establishment.

The defense of democratic rights--including the essential right of habeas corpus--is today possible only through the independent political mobilization of the working class.

By Bill Van Auken posted 14 November 05

WSWS.org

Related:

ATROCITY THREATENS TO BECOME OFFICIAL U.S. FOREIGN POLICY
The Senate amendment to the new Defense [WAR] Appropriations Act would explicitly prohibit the U.S. government from subjecting those in its custody to cruel, inhumane, or degrading treatment or punishment.

GOP Leaders to Bush: 'Your Presidency is Effectively Over'
“Stop throwing the Constitution in my face,” Bush screamed back. “It’s just a goddamned piece of paper!”

Former chaplain paints grim picture of Guantanamo Bay
KERRY O'BRIEN: Now to a first-hand and rather grim picture of life behind bars for the terrorism suspects [scapegoats and patsies to bolster support for the illegal and degrading resource wars in the Middle East] at the US prison camp at Guantanamo Bay. It's an account from an officer who served there, a former Army Muslim chaplain, Captain James Yee, one of the few people to have regular contact with Australian detainee David Hicks.

News on David Hicks:
David Hicks will be tried on scapegoat-related charges before a controversial US military rendition on November 18. The 30-year-old Australian citizen, formerly of Adelaide, would be the first Guantanamo prisoner to be tried by a military 'caught' at Guantanamo Bay.

Government must ensure justice for Hicks
The Australian Catholic Social Justice Council is calling on the Australian Government to secure real justice for Australian citizen David Hicks. The call follows a Pentagon announcement of a resumption of military commission hearings at Guantanamo Bay.

For David Hicks
In David's eyes Australia hasn't changed much, a country hidden behind a mask of another foreign nation, freely trading independence, American values, with no real identity, with pseudo autonomy, as long as the strings are attached to another nation's apron, all crystal clear except to dim-witted Australians.

a cowardly disgrace .....
Whilst US lawyers continue their fight to secure the legal and human rights of Australian citizen, David Hicks, his government has quietly reaffirmed its decision to abandon him to his fate.

87 detainees on hunger strike at Guantanamo
A hunger strike at a US detention centre [prison] for terrorism suspects [scapegoats and patsies for resource wars in the Middle East] at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba has entered its second month with 87 prisoners refusing food, a military spokesman says.

HUNGER STRIKE AT GUANTANAMO
Detainees [prisoners] at the American military prison at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba are on hunger strike against their indefinite detention, according to human rights lawyers.

All Australians deserve a fair trial
David Hicks will not receive a fair trial in Guantanamo Bay . We must demand that Foreign Minister Alexander Downer get David Hicks back here to face an Australian court:

GetUp! Stand Up! Stand Up For Your Rights!
This government is already rattled. But our work has only just begun. This morning Senator Robert Hill announced that the Government plans to roll back the Senate budget estimates process, which plays a crucial role in exposing government bungles and cover-ups.

David Hicks justice betrayed ......
AUSTRALIA/CUBA/USA: A stated belief of the Liberal Party is: "We believe in a just & humane society in which the importance of the family and the rule of law & justice is maintained."

HICKS: Not a Happy Birthday!
AUSTRALIA/CUBA/US :David Hicks, the Australian imprisoned at the US Base of Guantanamo Bay, will be 30 years old this coming Monday August 7, 2005.

Democrats make cowardly retreat on Guantanamo torture
US: Senator Richard Durbin's sniveling apology Tuesday for his remarks on US torture at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp was entirely predictable, another of the "profiles in cowardice" that the Democratic Party serves up on a regular basis.

HOSTAGES OF THE WAR ON TERROR
Over 17,000 people including minors are now imprisoned by the US as a result of the 'War on Terror'. More than 540 men and minors, including David Hicks remmain imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay.

Hicks 'should be an Australian'
Australian David Hicks should have already been returned to Australia instead of being exploited by the US and Australian authorities.

WAR ON TERROR, WAR ON HUMAN RIGHTS: AMNESTY
The Canterbury-Bankstown Peace Group & the Justice for Hicks & Habib Campaign welcome the statement by Amnesty International Secretary General Irene Khan, condemning the US Administration for condoning torture and the suppression of 'human rights' in their 'war on terror'.

UN Dialogue among Civilizations
This roundtable is a contribution to the UN Dialogue among Civilizations project that began in September 2000. At the first round table debate on Dialogue among Civilizations, Kofi Annan, Secretary General of the UN stated that, cultural diversity - in his opinion - is not only the basis for the Dialogue among Civilizations, but also the reality that makes dialogue necessary, since the perception of diversity as a threat is the very seed of war. [The role of religion in creating a culture of peace and moving on from a culture of fear.]

Torture not acceptable on anyone: Community!
Australia: A former chairman of the National Crime Authority has spoken out in favour of torture for John HoWARd and the Neo-Cons no doubt, saying it should be used against terrorists and in domestic criminal situations but not against QC's?

Torture can never be justified
I am forwarding the following statement issued by AMCRAN in regards to a paper: "Not Enough (Official) Torture in the World? The Circumstances in which Torture is Morally Justifiable" written by Professor Mirko Bagaric, Head of Deakin Law School & Julie Clarke, Lecturer, Deakin Law School, in which they justify torture.

Torture okay: propaganda paper
Mean in Black John HoWARd and Pastor Peter Costello with Professor Mirko Bagaric, and fellow Deakin lecturer Julie Clarke, torture okay for them. Question?

Association for the Prevention of Torture
What needs to be done now? All States Parties to the UN Convention against Torture should seriously consider ratifying the OPCAT as soon as possible. National Institutions and others promoting the human rights of people deprived of their liberty need to be informed of their potential role as national preventive mechanisms under the OPCAT.

CIA defends terror suspect transfers?
Suspected terrorists [scapegoats for the Coalition of the Killings's resource wars in the Middle East] in US custody have been transferred to third countries for the past 20 years, CIA director Porter Goss told the US Senate armed services committee.

Pentagon chiefs cleared over prisoner abuse?
US: The Pentagon has cleared itself of any high-level responsibility for the abuse of detainees in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay because it was the guard dogs that initiated the torture all along.

USA - FEELING THE HEAT FROM INTERNATIONAL FIRE:
It seems the United States of America (The World Watchdog) is dictating and practising double-standards --- a unique law for America and another set of laws for all other countries.

Guantanamo challenge puts off Hicks trial
Australian [scapegoat] suspect David Hicks's 'military trial'?, has been further delayed due to the postponement of a separate legal challenge to the US's legal process for Guantanamo Bay detainees?

Guantanamo guards blinded prisoner: lawyer
UK/CUBA: British permanent resident detained at the US camp for terrorism suspects [scapegoats] in Guantanamo Bay was blinded in one eye following an assault by guards, his lawyer says.

Amnesty slams Govt position on US trial system
Amnesty International has described as "absurd", the Federal Government's continued support for the United States military commission that will try Australian detainee [scapegoat] David Hicks on terrorism allegations.

US judge orders CIA release Guantanamo records
A US federal judge has ordered the CIA to release records regarding the treatment of prisoners detained in Guantanamo Bay and other facilities in the "war on terror" to a civil rights groups.

Hicks lawyer welcomes Guantanamo ruling
Stephen Kenny, the lawyer representing the family of Guantanamo Bay detainee David Hicks, has welcomed a US court ruling that military commissions set up to try detainees at Guantanamo Bay are unconstitutional.

Australia: a presumption of guilt......
KAREN PERCY: Two of Australia's leading barristers have seized on the return of Guantanamo Bay detainee, Mamdouh Habib, to launch an unprecedented attack on the Federal Attorney General, Philip Ruddock.

Aust Community criticises Govt for 'crimes'!
Australia: The Law Council of Australia is warning that the Federal Government must learn from its mistakes over Guantanamo Bay? Now that's a mistake!

Australian Govt Guilty of Crimes: Community
Australia: The community says federal fascists who allowed the torture of its citizenry including Mamdouh Habib may be arrested when the United Nations War Crimes Tribunal address the War Crimes Indictment set out by the community.

US judge dismisses? Guantanamo legal challenge
A US federal judge has dismissed the cases of seven Guantanamo Bay prisoners who sought to challenge the lawfulness of their continued detention?

US 'landlord' slams! Guantanamo 'law violations'
Cuba has demanded that the United States cease its "criminal conduct" in abusing prisoners held at the base it illegally occupies on Cuba's south-eastern tip, saying procedures at Guantanamo violate international law.

Concern over ramifications of Hicks FOI failure
There are claims that a decision by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal will give some countries the opportunity to refuse diplomatic aid to detained Australians.

FBI emails reveal Guantanamo abuse
In memos over a two year period FBI agents said they witnessed the use of torture techniques, which included the use of dogs, prisoners being shackled to the floor in foetal positions for up to 24 hours, left without food and water, left to defecate upon themselves.

Hicks alleges Guantanamo abuse: report
Guantanamo Bay prisoner David Hicks has reportedly claimed that prisoners at the US run prison camp have been beaten while blindfolded and handcuffed, terrorised by attack dogs, and forced to take drugs.

US lawyer wants inquiry into Hicks trial process
The lawyer defending Australian terror suspect [scapegoat for resource wars] David Hicks has called for an inquiry into whether the military commission hearing the case meets legal standards.

Australia Sells Its Citizens Short
Australian citizens, Mamdouth Habib and David Hicks have been illegally incarcerated in the Guantanamo Bay facility established by the US military as part of the War on Terror.

Downer won't press US for 'torture' report?
The Australian Government says it has tried and failed so far to get a copy of a report by the International Red Cross which claims psychological and physical coercion of detainees at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba?

UK minister criticises US over Guantanamo!
UK: Washington's policy on the legal status of detainees at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp in Cuba is unacceptable, a senior British minister said.

FBI emails reveal Guantanamo abuse
In memos over a two year period FBI agents said they witnessed the use of torture techniques, which included the use of dogs, prisoners being shackled to the floor in foetal positions for up to 24 hours, left without food and water, left to defecate upon themselves.

Lawyers hail 'unlawful' ruling in Guantanamo trial
Human rights groups and lawyers for Guantanamo detainees have welcomed a US federal judge's ruling which halted as unlawful the military tribunal trial of a Guantanamo prisoner accused of being Osama bin Laden's bodyguard and driver.

Hicks's lawyers seek panel decision
Lawyers for Australian Guantanamo Bay detainee David Hicks will make another attempt to dismiss charges against their client in a series of motions hearings starting in Cuba today.

Torture, the British way
Great to be British, isn't it? Time was, we were really uptight, but now we can talk about anything - sex, religion, politics. No matter how personal and complex the subject, we'll discuss it with Richard and Judy, or slap our private Polaroids of it on our websites. Which leaves me puzzled about our silence, even shyness, over this whole torture thing.

US secretly moved prisoners out of Iraq for questioning: report
The CIA has secretly transferred detainees out of Iraq for interrogation after asking the US Justice Department to write a memo justifying the practice, which violates the Geneva Conventions.

Pentagon dumps Guantanamo tribunal officers
The Pentagon has dumped three members of a military tribunal that will hear the trials of Guantanamo prisoners, including Australian David Hicks, but kept the presiding officer despite challenges to his impartiality.

Guantanamo detainees win right for private meetings
In a defeat for the US Government, a federal judge has ruled that three prisoners held at the naval base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba can meet with their attorneys in private. In a defeat.

Lawyers complain about Guantanamo trials
US: Lawyers for 63 detainees at the US detention camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba have complained before a US federal court at the slow pace their cases are being handled by authorities.

Judge orders US to release Guantanamo records
The United States Government must release documents within 30 days relating to the treatment of prisoners held at American overseas detention centres, including Guantanamo Bay and Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison, a US federal judge ordered.

Bush team 'knew of abuse' at Guantanamo
Evidence of prisoner abuse and possible war crimes at Guantanamo Bay reached the highest levels of the Bush administration as early as autumn 2002, but Donald Rumsfeld, the defence secretary, chose to do nothing about it, according to a new investigation.

Hicks, Habib denied a fair go: Amnesty
The secretary-general of Amnesty International has criticised the Federal Government's treatment of the two Australians detained at Guantanamo Bay.

Govt's Hicks concerns an 'election stunt', says Brown
Greens Senator Bob Brown has accused the Federal Government of an election stunt with its questions to the United States authorities about the trial of "Australian Citizen" David Hicks.

Abu Ghraib inquiry slams Aust Government
A US inquiry into the Iraqi prison abuse scandal has been highly critical of Australian, Major George O'Kane, for glossing over early warnings about the treatment of detainees.

Australian Federal Government complicity in war crimes
Complaint to Australian law officers about Australian Federal Government complicity in war crimes.

Hicks family arrives at Kangaroo Caught
Terry Hicks says he feels very emotional about seeing his son for the first time in five years.

Hicks defence team likely to gain more time
The head of the military trials planned for two Australians held at Guantanamo Bay says he believes their defence teams will be given whatever additional time they need to prepare for trial.

Hicks, Habib denied natural justice: Liberal MP
A federal Liberal MP has accused the Government of not doing enough to secure a fair trial for Guantanamo Bay detainees, David Hicks and Mamdouh Habib.

Guantanamo abuse claims prompt new inquiry calls
New claims of abuse at Guantanamo Bay Cuba have prompted fresh calls for an Australian inquiry into the treatment of detainees David Hicks and Mamdouh Habib.

Hicks movie to premiere in Adelaide
A movie about Guantanamo Bay detainee David Hicks, President versus David Hicks, by award winning filmmaker Curtis Levy will be screened in Adelaide tomorrow.

There is no justification for torture
In the weeks since the abuses at Abu Ghraib prison were revealed, evidence continues to seep out of similar mistreatment of prisoners in other US military detention centers in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantanamo Bay.

Guantanamo prisoners may be moved to US soil
The US authorities may move hundreds of prisoners from their controversial Guantanamo Bay detention camp in Cuba to the United States following new Supreme Court rulings, the Los Angeles Times has reported.

Pentagon names tribunal for Hicks trial
The Pentagon has named the officers who will decide the fate of David Hicks and two other Guantanamo prisoners charged by the United States in the first US military tribunals since World War II.

US terror suspects can challenge detention
The US Supreme Court has ruled that US courts have jurisdiction to hear appeals from foreign detainees held as enemy combatants in the US military base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Hicks lawyer praises Guantanamo decision
The lawyer for an Australian man detained at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base has welcomed a US Supreme Court ruling permitting judicial appeals from foreign detainees held as enemy combatants.

Hicks and Habib in the Melting Pot
Australia: The United States has brought three criminal charges against Australian David Hicks, accusing him of conspiracy to commit war crimes, attempted murder and aiding the enemy, the Pentagon has said.

Rumsfeld had approved abuse
US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld authorised hoods, the stripping of prisoners and the use of dogs to terrify inmates at Guantanamo Bay almost two years ago, documents released yesterday revealed.

How much is that doggy in the prison? Woof woof!
Did the Iraqi prisoner's get their rations while they were treated like chums?

Failure to condemn prison abuse risks lives: Kenny
The Prime Minister is morally bankrupt stay "alert and alarmed"

Prisoner's identity concealed to prevent Red Cross access
US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, acting at the request of the CIA, ordered that a suspected Iraqi insurgent leader be detained off the books to conceal his identity from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the Pentagon has confirmed.

US has secret prisons: rights group
The United States is holding terrorism suspects in more than two dozen detention centres worldwide, about half of which operate in total secrecy, according to a new human rights report.

This won't hurt much
For some time now, I've been trying to find out where my son goes after choir practice. He simply refuses to tell me. He says it's no business of mine where he goes after choir practice and it's a free country.