The Military-Industrial Complex: Impacts on the Third World by Prof. Aziz Choudry

Dandelion Salad

by Prof. Aziz Choudry
Global Research, December 11, 2008
GATT Watchdog and APRN

Military-Industrial Complex and Impacts on the Third World Written by Aziz Choudry, GATT Watchdog Tuesday, 25 November 2008 16:57

Military-Industrial Complex and Impacts on the Third World

We live and struggle in an era of blatantly militarized capitalism and the violence of capital. War, occupation, national security ideologies and repression of dissent –at home and abroad – make for booming business opportunities the world over. As pro-free market US journalist Thomas Friedman succinctly put it: “The hidden hand of the market will never work without a hidden fist – McDonald’s cannot flourish without McDonnell Douglas, the builder of the F-15. And the hidden fist that keeps the world safe for Silicon Valley’s technologies is called the United States Army, Air Force and Marine Corps.”2

Militarized capitalism: The military-industrial complex in 2008

CODE-RED: People for Revolution! by Cindy Sheehan

Cindy Sheehan for Congress

by Cindy Sheehan
Dandelion Salad
featured writer
Cindy Sheehan for Congress

December 13, 2008

That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. — Preamble to the Declaration of Independence

“An army of principles can penetrate where an army of soldiers cannot.” — Thomas Paine (Revolutionary)

I was recently in Cuba to attend a Human Right’s conference. Cuba is a lovely country (with many problems still) that will be celebrating 50 years of Revolution on January 1st of 2009.

Cuba is struggling economically because there are limits to what a tiny island nation can do, especially when the mightiest nation on this planet sits menacingly to the north and has maintained a blockade against trade and travel for many decades. The nation of Cuba is struggling economically, but since they have been able to survive (not quite thrive) after all this time gives the citizens of Cuba a rightful pride and sense of unity that is not so apparent in The Empire that has tried to crush them.

Mosaic News – 12/12/08: World News from the Middle East

Dandelion Salad

Warning

.

This video may contain images depicting the reality and horror of war/violence and should only be viewed by a mature audience.

linktv

Mosaic needs your help! Donate here: http://linktv.org/contribute

“Pakistan Arrests Members of Jamaat Adawa,” Al Jazeera TV, Qatar
“US Defense Secretary Visits Afghanistan,” Al Jazeera TV, Qatar
“Camp X-Ray Guantanamo,” Dubai TV, UAE
“Livni sparks Arab ‘transfer’,” IBA TV, Israel
“Jahwar Escapes from Lebanese Authoritiesm,” Al Arabiya TV, UAE
“Najaf Airport Opens,” IBA TV, Israel
“Imam Dies in Iraqi Police Custody,” Baghdad TV, Iraq
“Hajj and Terrorism,” Link TV, USA
Produced for Link TV by Jamal Dajani.

Vodpod videos no longer available.

more about “Mosaic News – 12/12/08: World News fr…“, posted with vodpod

Bill Moyers Journal: Glenn Greenwald + Emma Coleman Jordan + FCC Update

Dandelion Salad

Updated: Dec. 16, 2008 added Greenwald’s article

Bill Moyers Journal
PBS
Dec 12, 2008

Glenn Greenwald

Bill Moyers sits down with political commentator and Salon.com blogger Glenn Greenwald who asks: Are we a nation ruled by men or by laws? A former constitutional and civil rights lawyer, Greenwald looks at the legacy of the Bush Administration, the prospects for President-elect Obama’s cabinet choices, as well as the possibilities for government accountability.

via Bill Moyers Journal . Watch & Listen | PBS.

Emma Coleman Jordan

Georgetown University’s legal and finance scholar Emma Coleman Jordan takes Bill Moyers through recent news on the bailouts as big business begs for more.

via Bill Moyers Journal . Watch & Listen | PBS.

FCC Update

Bill Moyers on a recent report on abuse of power at the FCC.

via Bill Moyers Journal . Watch & Listen | PBS.

***

Bill Moyers interviews Glenn Greenwald

TheBoksMan

Vodpod videos no longer available.

more about “Bill Moyers interviews Glenn Greenwald“, posted with vodpod

Obama may make Powell Mideast envoy

Dandelion Salad

Yitzhak Benhorin
Ynetnews
12.13.08, 10:14

Sources in Washington tell Ynet appointment of Republican statesman as special envoy to Middle East is ‘a serious option’. Former chief negotiator Dennis Ross, ex-Ambassador Daniel Kurtzer nominated for role as well

WASHINGTON – A new appointment for the Middle East? US President-elect Barack Obama is considering appointing former Secretary of State Colin Powell as the special peace envoy to the Middle East.

Sources in Washington told Ynet on Saturday that Powell’s appointment as special envoy is “a serious option”.

[…]

via Obama may make Powell Mideast envoy – Israel News, Ynetnews.

FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog may contain copyrighted material. Such material is made available for educational purposes, to advance understanding of human rights, democracy, scientific, moral, ethical, and social justice issues, etc. This constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

see

Obama’s Appointments by Steven Jonas

Obama-Barack

Russian troops back in Georgian village

Dandelion Salad

Press TV
Sat, 13 Dec 2008 10:44:11 GMT

Georgia says hundreds of Russian soldiers have returned to a disputed Georgian village after pulling back from the area a day earlier.

The European Union mission monitoring a ceasefire between Moscow and Tbilisi said on Friday Russian forces had withdrawn from the village of Perevi, near South Ossetia.

However, Georgia’s Interior Ministry said between 500 and 600 Russian soldiers were in Perevi on Saturday. The EU mission confirmed the report, but could not say how many soldiers were in the village, Reuters reported.

“The Russians kicked the Georgian police out of Perevi this morning,” Interior Ministry spokesman Shota Utiashvili said. “They staged a show with paratroopers.”

[…]

via Press TV – Russian troops back in Georgian village.

FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog may contain copyrighted material. Such material is made available for educational purposes, to advance understanding of human rights, democracy, scientific, moral, ethical, and social justice issues, etc. This constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

see

Georgia

A Black President but still no Equality, Freedom or Democracy by Roland Michel Tremblay

By Roland Michel Tremblay
featured writer
Dandelion Salad
The Marginal
December 13, 2008

The problem with leaders like Blair and Bush is that they reset everything as far as civil rights and liberties are concerned. Once again, instead of fighting for freedom, a better world, we are here fighting to regain our most basic rights that we have lost. Clever, but let me bypass all that and fight for more. We need to free ourselves from everything in this world, everything.

Blair was much worse than Bush when it came to building a fortress of a Police State, and though in America they can now hope for change, in Britain there is no such hope. Neither the Conservatives nor the Labours will bring about some fresh air, we can only expect more suffocation.

I should take a look at those so-called progressive Liberal Democrats who were centrist before the New Labour came about, and see if there is any hope there. I doubt it, not on the scale I wish to witness change in this world. Even Obama could not achieve it. It can only come from all of us, as long as we keep it in mind and operate those changes in our day to day life.

After all, it is a realistic and achievable goal. No need for government or any kind of authority to achieve a world free from discrimination and oppression, we only need to look at ourselves and change the way we go about doing what we do, no matter who we are and what we do.

Atrocity Unlimited: US Seeks to Turn Somalia into Global Free-Fire Zone

Dandelion Salad

by Chris Floyd
Empire Burlesque
Dec 11, 2008

Not content with destroying the only vestige of stability that Somalia had known for almost two decades by arming, backing and participating in a brutal “regime change” invasion by Ethiopia, the Bush Administration now wants to turn the ravaged land into an international “free fire zone,” a giant Fallujah where any powerful nation on earth can launch armed incursions on Somali soil, wreaking the usual “collateral damage” in the search for pirates — or for those arbitrarily designated as pirates.

The Bush Regime is drafting a UN Security Council resolution that will give “the international community” carte blanche to “hunt down” alleged pirates on land in Somalia, the Guardian reports:

A draft resolution that would permit states fighting piracy to “take all necessary measures ashore in Somalia, including in its airspace” has been circulated to members of the UN Security Council. Prior consent for raids would be required from Somalia’s weak and fractured government…

As we noted here recently, the “Somali government” is a rapidly collapsing coalition of CIA-paid warlords and Ethiopian collaborators which “controls” only a few city blocks of territory in the entire country. It is unfathomable that this near-fictitious entity would or could oppose a “request” by a world power to send armed forces into Somalia in a noble quest to clamp down on pirates. And what happens when these invading forces inevitably clash with the various other armed groups now waging a multi-sided, hydra-headed war in the country? Why, the invaders will have to take stern “force protection” measures, of course.

via Atrocity Unlimited: US Seeks to Turn Somalia into Global Free-Fire Zone or via Global Research

Jim Rogers Calls Most Big U.S. Banks “Bankrupt” + The Crash of 08

Dandelion Salad

By Jonathan Stempel
ICH
December 12, 2008

NEW YORK (Reuters)

Jim Rogers, one of the world’s most prominent international investors, on Thursday called most of the largest U.S. banks “totally bankrupt,” and said government efforts to fix the sector are wrongheaded.

Speaking by teleconference at the Reuters Investment Outlook 2009 Summit, the co-founder with George Soros of the Quantum Fund, said the government’s $700 billion rescue package for the sector doesn’t address how banks manage their balance sheets, and instead rewards weaker lenders with new capital.

Dozens of banks have won infusions from the Troubled Asset Relief Program created in early October, just after the Sept 15 bankruptcy filing by Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc (LEHMQ.PK: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz). Some of the funds are being used for acquisitions.

“Without giving specific names, most of the significant American banks, the larger banks, are bankrupt, totally bankrupt,” said Rogers, who is now a private investor.

[…]

via Jim Rogers Calls Most Big U.S. Banks “Bankrupt” – Information Clearing House – ICH.

***

Jim Rogers: The Crash of 08

Contrarian6

12/07/08

Jim Rogers appears on the Lew Rockwell show. Podcast

Vodpod videos no longer available.

more about “Jim Rogers: The Crash of 08 “, posted with vodpod

.

see

Jim Rogers’ quarrel with CNBC

Jim Rogers: Nobody has any confidence in this clowns

Jim Rogers: They are unleashing an inflationary holocaust

Senate rejects auto bailout by David Rogers + GOP Willing to Kill the Auto Bailout and the UAW

Dennis Kucinich: Our Automotive Industry Is Necessary To National Security + Paul: How Much is This Really Costing!

The Economy Sucks and or Collapse 2

US Use of Bases in Germany Illegal

Dandelion Salad

Democracy Now!
Dec 12, 2008

US Use of Bases in Germany for Iraq War Goes Against German Constitution that Forbids Launching Wars from German Soil, Says Activist

Germany is home to tens of thousands of US troops and the largest number of US bases in the world outside of America. We speak with US activist Elsa Rassbach. She moved to Berlin, where she is part of the American Voices Abroad Military Project. [includes rush transcript]

Real Video Stream

Real Audio Stream

MP3 Download

via Democracy Now! | US Use of Bases in Germany for Iraq War Goes Against German Constitution that Forbids Launching Wars from German Soil, Says Activist.

***

DN! GERMAN WAR BASES ILLEGAL

StartLoving1

Vodpod videos no longer available.

more about “DN! GERMAN WAR BASES ILLEGAL“, posted with vodpod

see

Senate Report Finds Rumsfeld Directly Responsible for US Torture of Prisoners

AWOL US Soldier Seeks Asylum in Germany Over Returning to “Illegal” War in Iraq

Senate Report Finds Rumsfeld Directly Responsible for US Torture of Prisoners

Dandelion Salad

Democracy Now!
Dec 12, 2008

Senate Report Finds Rumsfeld Directly Responsible for US Torture of Prisoners

A bipartisan Senate report has accused former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and other top Bush administration officials of being directly responsible for the abuse and torture of prisoners at Guantanamo and other US prisons. We speak with the man who sued Donald Rumsfeld in Berlin, German, attorney Wolfgang Kaleck. [includes rush transcript]

Real Video Stream

Real Audio Stream

MP3 Download

via Democracy Now! | Senate Report Finds Rumsfeld Directly Responsible for US Torture of Prisoners.

***

Rumsfeld directly responsible for torture

IWantDemocracyNow

Vodpod videos no longer available.

more about “Rumsfeld direcly responsible for torture“, posted with vodpod

.

see

Torture on Dandelion Salad

AWOL US Soldier Seeks Asylum in Germany Over Returning to “Illegal” War in Iraq

Dandelion Salad

Democracy Now!
Dex 12, 2008

AWOL US Soldier Seeks Asylum in Germany Over Returning to “Illegal” War in Iraq

A US soldier who went absent without leave a year and a half ago to avoid returning to Iraq has applied for asylum in Germany. Specialist Andre Shepherd served in Iraq between September 2004 and February 2005 as an Apache helicopter mechanic. When his unit was called up to return to Iraq in early 2007, he went AWOL to avoid redeployment, calling the war “illegal.” He lived underground in Germany for a year and a half before applying for asylum two weeks ago. We speak with Shepherd in his first international broadcast interview. [includes rush transcript]

Real Video Stream

Real Audio Stream

MP3 Download

via Democracy Now! | EXCLUSIVE…AWOL US Soldier Seeks Asylum in Germany Over Returning to “Illegal” War in Iraq

Afghan Massacre – The Convoy of Death

Dandelion Salad

In case you missed this.

Posted previously on my old blog.

Warning

This video may contain images depicting the reality and horror of war/violence and should only be viewed by a mature audience.

replaced video May 14, 2013

Najibullah Quraishi on Jan 5, 2013