statism watch

Aluf Benn, Haaretz
January 7, 2009

The way events played out yesterday did not stir the political leadership into thinking of stopping the ground offensive and moving toward a cease-fire. On the contrary, Israel is moving toward a decision to occupy the whole Gaza Strip.

The message yesterday from Jerusalem was that it is impossible to end Operation Cast Lead without an achievement, and if in the next two days there is no satisfactory diplomatic solution, Israel will have to broaden the operation.

“Broadening the operation” could mean moving from house to house as in Operating Defensive Shield in 2002 in the West Bank, aiming to kill or capture as many Hamas fighters as possible. Or it could mean surrounding Gaza City, similar to the way the Egyptian Third Army was cut off in 1973, or like the siege of Beirut in 1982, until Hamas’ leaders emerge from their hideouts with their hands up. This could take several weeks.

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Jim Brown, The Canadian Press
January 7, 2009

OTTAWA — The long-delayed inquiry into the Mulroney-Schreiber affair won’t be able to complete its work and deliver a final report until the end of 2009 — 25 months after Prime Minister Stephen Harper asked for the probe.

Mr. Justice Jeffrey Oliphant, the head of the inquiry, confirmed Wednesday that unforeseen technical and other problems will make it impossible to meet his previously established deadline of mid-June.

“I therefore sought from the government an extension of the mandate of the inquiry,” Judge Oliphant informed lawyers for all sides. “I have been advised that the extension I sought has been granted, and the inquiry’s mandate will now terminate on Dec. 31.”

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Why was the VOIP account set up in the US? Why did it fall to the FBI to assemble this dossier? Remember how Scotland yard came up with the conclusion that Benazir Bhutto was killed by hitting her head on her sunroof – rather than by being assassinated in broad daylight, which is on video? And why does Indian External Affairs want to prejudge the outcome before allowing Pakistan to get involved? Intelligence agencies are professional liars, and the truth will out.

Randeep Ramesh, The Guardian
January 7, 2009

‘Don’t saddle yourself with hostages, kill them’ attackers were told, according to transcripts in government report

Details of macabre conversations of the gunmen who rampaged through Mumbai for three days have been revealed in the Indian government’s dossier against Pakistan, which has appeared on the internet.

The dossier, which was put online by Indian newspapers, had been the central plank of New Delhi’s diplomatic offensive against Islamabad, where it claims the 10 terrorists were trained, equipped and dispatched.

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CBC News
January 7, 2008

A U.S. war deserter and mother of three young children was ordered to leave Canada when she appeared at a deportation hearing Wednesday in Mississauga, Ont.

Kimberly Rivera moved to Toronto from Texas in early 2007 with her husband and two children after refusing redeployment to Iraq. In late November, she gave birth to a third child in Canada.

She had served in Iraq in 2006 as a gate guard at a forward operating base, according to the War Resisters Support Campaign.

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This is what happens when you let diabolical control freaks have control of institutions: they want to be puppet masters. Hey, we’re not your slaves!

Noah Schachtman, Wired.com
January 7, 2009

For two decades or more during the Cold War, the CIA and the military allegedly plied the unwitting with acid, weed, and dozens of psychoactive drugs, in a series of zany (and sometimes dangerous) mind-control experiments. Now, the Vietnam Veterans of America are suing the agency and the Pentagon for perceived abuses suffered under the so-called “MK-ULTRA” and other projects.

Six veterans are suffering from all kinds of ailments tied to this “diabolical and secret testing program,” according to a statement from the vets’ lawyers, passed on to SpyTalk’s Jeff Stein.

The experiments allegedly included “the use of troops to test nerve gas, psychochemicals, and thousands of other toxic chemical or biological substances, and … the insertion of septal implants in the brains of subjects in … mind control experiments that went awry, leaving many civilian and military subjects with permanent disabilities.” Subjects were tested without their consent, the veterans say. And when the trials were over, the government failed to “provide health care or compensation.”

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