Be Alert! - Oct. 10, 2006

Succot (Feast of Tabernacles/Booths) is on Shabbat (Friday night), 15 Tishrei 5767 (October 7, 2006).

 IMPORTANT NOTICE: This is the Friday, October 6th Edition of BE /\ LERT! that I twice attempted to send out (Friday 10/6 and Sat 10/7) that arrived as unreadable HTML code or MIME Format.

This was due to an error that occurred while adding a date and time stamp to the subject line so that BE /\ LERT! will have a the date showing when it arrives to your inbox.

I want to stress that there is no new format for BE /\ LERT! .

I hope this clears up any confusion that may have occurred.

Warmest regards in Christ Jesus,
Scott Brisk  

All the world's a stage.... And the Pageant is for Mr. World and his Vice Regent  

It is quite amazing to watch the beastly candidates amass themselves for the show.

Psalms 2:1-7  
Why are the nations in an uproar and the peoples devising a vain thing? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers take counsel together against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying, "Let us tear their fetters apart and cast away their cords from us!" He who sits in the heavens laughs, The Lord scoffs at them. Then He will speak to them in His anger and terrify them in His fury, saying, "But as for Me, I have installed My King Upon Zion, My holy mountain." "I will surely tell of the decree of the LORD:  He said to Me, `You are My Son, Today I have begotten You.

John 5:43
"I have come in My Father's name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, you will receive him.

1 John 2:18

Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared; from this we know that it is the last hour.

Speech By Javier Solana, EU High Representative For The Common Foreign And Security Policy 
[Given for the American Jewish Committee]
On The Occasion Of The Opening Of The Transatlantic Institute
Brussels , 12 February 2004

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Allow me to thank David Harris for those kind words of introduction, and the Board of Governors of the American Jewish Committee for giving me the honour to speak to you this evening.

One year after the attacks of 9/11, I was in New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly. I had the honour and pleasure to be the dinner guest of the Executive Committee of the American Jewish Committee. We talked late into the night, about history, geography, politics and the problems of the world. On some things we disagreed. But on one thing we were all agreed. There needed to be a better, broader dialogue between the two sides of the Atlantic. I am delighted that, thanks to the generosity of the Baruch family, the American Jewish Committee has acted in very concrete fashion to contribute to that dialogue by establishing the Transatlantic Institute here in Brussels.

For my many Jewish friends here this evening the Magem David - the Star of David - is a symbol of their religious faith. For my many Israeli friends it is a symbol of their nation. In its two interlocked triangles I see also a symbol of two other triangles. These are two triangles that, in the decades to come, will have a major bearing on the fortunes of us all. The first triangle is that between America, Europe and Israel. The second triangle is that between Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

Let me begin by talking about that first triangle. In the bonds that link America, Europe and Israel we find the foundations of our civilisation. What are these bonds? What do we share?

To begin with, we have a common political heritage. We share certain convictions about human rights. We place a high value on the freedom of conscience. We are guided by the importance of evidence in the search for truth. We believe that ideas should be tested through criticism, dialogue and debate. These things are the pillars of our civilisation. Although founded in religion, all these ideas have their secular expression. They are the foundations of our modern democracies.

We have a shared culture also, thanks in no small part to the massive Jewish contribution to the arts, literature, philosophy, music and science. The richness and diversity we see in all these fields owes much to Jewish creativity.

And, of course, we have a shared history. It is a history of both the best and the worst that mankind is capable of. In that history we see inspiring episodes: of mutual enrichment and progress, of liberty and liberation, of the sharing and development of ideas that have shaped the world we live in today. But we see also shameful episodes: of expulsion and Diaspora; of pogroms and emigration; of discrimination and persecution. And in the Holocaust we see a crime of unparalleled proportions that has forever scarred the heart and the conscience of Europe.

What Churchill described as "the tragedy of Europe" provided the impetus not only to the creation of the State of Israel in 1947, but also to the transformation of Europe. The Europe that has grown and developed into the European Union has embraced reconciliation and turned away from nationalism. It has rejected the idea of Carl Schmitt that the fundamental organising principle of politics should be the antithesis between friend and foe.

Today, we are less than 100 days away from achieving an historic unification of Europe. With American help, a continent in ruins, a continent divided by war and ideology, has been transformed into what Kofi Annan described last month as "a shining light of tolerance, human rights, and international cooperation."

Simone Veil, Auschwitz survivor and first President of the European Parliament, has said that the witnesses to the Holocaust have no right to forget. I believe that no European has the right to forget. All Europeans have the obligation to remember. It is in that spirit that this new Europe has been built. A Europe of tolerance, of peace, of human rights. A Europe with the obligation to remember, but also with the capacity to act. Europe is aware of its responsibilities - those of the past and those of the future.

Europe's special responsibility - both moral and historical - creates a unique relationship with Israel. We are committed to Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state, where all Israeli citizens have a right to live in peace, security and dignity. And we respect the Israeli Government's right and duty to protect its citizens. But we are also convinced that the best way to secure these rights, the only lasting way to secure them, is through the creation of an independent, democratic Palestinian state.

Today, it is not just Israel's peace and security that is at stake. It is ours too. Israel is our friend and our neighbour. The Middle East is on Europe's doorstep. War and terror, if allowed to continue, will not be contained to the streets of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. With every new atrocity we must become more determined, not less, to find lasting peace and security.

To a people traumatised by more than three years of sickening terrorist attacks, the European message of peace may sound naive. It is meant as the practical advice of a candid friend. Experience - not theory - tells us that the bitterest of enemies can be reconciled. It was a peace based on justice and political compromise, together with the active and generous support of America that allowed Europe to replace conflict with co-existence.

Of course, the Arab-Israeli conflict does not present the same diagnosis. But some of the prescription is the same. The idea that violence will prevail - whether it is blind and bloody, or organised and uniformed - must be dismissed. Those moderate voices that reject violence must be given encouragement. Reform and openness to compromise must be rewarded. And there must be a sustained, determined international involvement. Europe is ready to play her part - not as a sponsor of one side or the other, or as a counterweight, but as a partner of all parties in the search for lasting peace.

This brings me to the second triangle of which I spoke - that between Judaism, Christianity and Islam. The three sides of this triangle are present in all of our societies today - in the United States, in Europe and in Israel and the Palestinian territories. The capacity of our societies to flourish, perhaps to survive, depends on finding the means of co-existence.

It is a triangle with common roots. Abraham is the common ancestor for Jews, Christians and Muslims. But successful co-existence is not guaranteed by shared origins. It will be achieved only through mutual respect and tolerance. That means attacking ignorance and promoting reason. It means attacking injustice and promoting human rights. And it means recognising the equal worth of all people, whatever their nationality, colour or religion.

Simon Wiesenthal once noted that "tolerance and human rights require each other". A climate of tolerance succeeds best where the human rights of all are guaranteed, and the best guarantee of the respect of human rights is where tolerance prevails.

Tolerance and mutual respect must begin in our own societies. None of us must show the slightest complacency about racism - of any form. Europeans, more than anyone else, must be alive to the dangers of anti-Semitism. I will repeat what I have stated before. Recent acts and expressions of anti-Semitism in Europe are outrageous. The burning of Synagogues, the physical and verbal abuse of Jews in the street, the desecration of cemeteries. This must stop. It is an attack, not just against Jews, but against the Europe of which we are so proud - the Europe of tolerance, of peace, of human rights.

But let us not confuse two very different things. Acts and expressions of anti-Semitism within the European Union are not acts and expressions of anti-Semitism by the European Union. The policies of the European Union are neither anti-Semitic nor anti-Israel.

I think that Jonathan Sacks, the Chief Rabbi of Britain, got it right when he said that:

"No nation is perfect. No nation is above criticism. A democracy must welcome criticism - and Israel is a democracy. Indeed it was the prophets of ancient Israel who invented the institution of self-criticism three thousand years ago. To this day, Jews are gold medallists in the art of self-criticism."

Former Israeli Foreign Minister, Abba Eban made the same point when he said, "We are the nation who can't take yes as an answer."

Yes, there are boundaries to legitimate criticism. I recognise that. We have a duty of vigilance. We must draw a line between legitimate criticism and vilification.

Suspicion and antagonism are not inevitable between religions. The Jews expelled from my home country, Spain, lived in peace and harmony in the Muslim countries where they settled for many centuries. In the Palestinian territories, towns that today are synonymous with communal strife and violence were for centuries a model of peaceful co-existence between Jews and Muslims. And if centuries of co-existence can be overturned, then so can centuries of prejudice. In our own lifetimes we have witnessed a remarkable reconciliation between the Catholic Church and Jews.

The dialogue achieved between Jews and Christians must be extended to Islam. This dialogue must begin with a rejection of violence. I welcome the statements of religious leaders of all three great faiths condemning violence in the name of religion as a desecration to religion. A united rejection of incitement, hatred and misrepresentation are essential beginnings.

But, at a political level, dialogue cannot end with the fact of violence. It must also address the sources of this violence. Replacing the current matrix of hatred and hurt, of humiliation and injustice is a daunting task. It is one that demands that Jew, Christian and Muslim afford each other mutual respect. It is one that will require the combined energies of the United States, Europe and Israel, and of Israel's neighbours.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I applaud the work done by the American Jewish Committee in strengthening the links between all the elements of these two interlocking triangles. You have worked in the best traditions of that shared political heritage of which I spoke - openness, dialogue, and respect for the views of others. I am sure that these values will guide the important work of the Transatlantic Institute. I wish the Institute every success.

Thank you.

http://www.ajc.org/site/apps/nl/content2.asp?c=ijITI2PHKoG&b=838519&ct=1123865

UK : Clinton.. The Man Who Would Heal The World
MIRROR - By Rosa Prince Political Correspondent - September 28, 2006 -- IT was an inspirational rallying call that ended in a sermon - but the message was clear throughout.
In a speech as powerful as it was persuasive, preacher-man Bill Clinton declared not just Britain needed the Labour Party in government - but the world.
Along the way, President William Jefferson Clinton III established himself as the first truly global politician' a leader marshalling his troops of "progress" against those who seek to divide.
And the Manchester conference crowd lapped it up as he urged them to get into the "future-business".
In words that would not have been out of place in the Arkansas churches where he first learned the power of oratory, he thundered: "The great promise of progressive politics in the end is that we really do believe our common humanity is more important than our differences."
At that moment he became warrior and missionary, his faith helping the poor, his battle-plan to end global injustice.
Since quitting the White House six years ago, Bill Clinton has dedicated himself to making the world a better place.
He founded the Clinton Foundation, a charity whose ambitions include battling to halt climate change, stamping out poverty and disease, and "racial, ethnic and religious reconciliation".
No longer forced to pander to narrow interests of US voters, Clinton has taken up cudgels on behalf of world citizenry.
He told the conference that a child in China, Kenya, Bolivia or Norway was as precious as one from Arkansas, Texas, New York or Ohio.
And he insisted "progressives" should never relax "...if a world away, trapped in poverty, in Africa or East Asia there is a child who is just as smart as our kid, just as deserving of a decent life.
"You can't get a divorce from the rest of the world. You can't walk away. And therefore we have to work towards all the challenges." The clues to all his inspiration were there in his speech....
AND in a damning indictment of George Bush and his quickness to identify enemies, he urged understanding even for someone as vilified as the holocaust-denier, Iranian President Ahmadinejad.
Next big clue was his shameful admission that as US president he had given arms to Pakistan, a country so poor it could not offer free education, and then watched in horror as parents desperate for any kind of schooling sent their sons to madrassahs, where religious fanatics taught "twisted" logic - fuelling terror.
He said: "Since we can't kill, jail or occupy all of our enemies, we also have to spend some time and money making more and more partners and fewer enemies
"It is so much cheaper to alleviate poverty, put kids in school, fight disease, build government and economic capacity in a poor country than fight a war. You have to believe in equal opportunity and empowerment, rather than the concentration of wealth and power."
And that was where Labour's foot-soldiers came into the equation. Clinton explained to the delegates that he needed a Labour Prime Minister in No 10 because only Labour shared his vision.
And the world could not afford another mistake such as that by US Democrats which allowed a dangerous Republican president into the White House.
So their mission, their battle in his global war on poverty and injustice, was to win the next election.
HE said: "We can't pursue our international obligations if we lose support at home. We need you. The rest of the world needs you.
"And I hope that before long my country will join you in building a world with more partners and more co-operation."
So spoke the first global politician â?" but will another one be joining him soon?....
He went on to laud the achievements of Mr Blair's government in terms so warm they became not so much a peon of praise, as an anointment of the man he hopes will join him in his crusade to heal the world.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/tm_objectid=17833386%26method=full%26siteid=94762%26headline=clinton---the-man-who-would-heal-the-world-name_page.html

Branson makes $3bn climate pledge
BBC NEWS - September 21, 2006 - Sir Richard Branson is to invest $3bn (£1.6bn) to fight global warming.

The Virgin boss said he would commit all profits from his travel firms, such as airline Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Trains, over the next 10 years.

"We must rapidly wean ourselves off our dependence on coal and fossil fuels," Sir Richard said.

The funds will be invested in schemes to develop new renewable energy technologies, through an investment unit called Virgin Fuels.

One of the UK's best known entrepreneurs, Sir Richard made the announcement in New York on the second day of the Clinton Global Initiative, an annual conference hosted by former US President Bill Clinton....

Sir Richard recently launched a new Virgin Fuels business, which will invest up to $400m in green energy projects....

Friends of the Earth broadly welcomed Sir Richard's announcement, but the environmental pressure group warned that the continued fast growth in air travel could not be maintained "without causing climatic disaster"....

Major donations

Mr Branson's investment pledge comes after US billionaire investor Warren Buffett announced in June that he was donating $37bn to charity. ...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/5368194.stm

South Korean Favored for Annan's Post
ASSOCIATED PRESS - By NICK WADHAMS - September 28, 2006 -- UNITED NATIONS: South Korea's foreign minister kept his spot as the clear favorite in the race to succeed U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan in an informal poll Thursday, the only one among the seven candidates to get the needed majority of votes.

Ban Ki-Moon received 13 votes in favor, one against and one of no opinion, China's U.N. Ambassador Wang Guangya said. He slipped slightly from the previous poll, held Sept. 14, when he received 14 votes in favor and one against.

Despite that dominating lead, the secrecy of the ballot meant it was not known whether he got the necessary approval of all five veto- wielding members of the council, and the ballot is difficult to interpret. The results could either give Ban the momentum he needs to win or clear the field for more people to enter the race.

The 15 council nations checked one of three boxes for each candidate: "Encourage," "discourage," and "no opinion." Secretary-General Kofi Annan steps down on Dec. 31, when his second five-year term expires.

Bangladesh 's U.N. Ambassador Iftekhar Chowdhury said he attended a speech Ban gave on Wednesday and approved.

"He came out quite good _ mature, balanced, and with the right amount of experience, gravitas, the qualities that you seek in a secretary- general," Chowdhury said. "We think he'll make an excellent secretary- general, of course."

None of other six candidates to succeed Secretary-General Kofi Annan even got the necessary nine favorable votes to make their campaigns viable.

As with the previous two polls, Shashi Tharoor, the Indian U.N. undersecretary-general, was second, with eight in favor, three against and four undecided. Latvia's President Vaira Vike-Freiberga was third with seven in favor, six against and two undecided.

Thailand 's Deputy Prime Minister Surakiart Sathirathai, who was the first to announce his candidacy last year, received five favorable votes and seven against, worse than last time and likely the result of a coup back home.

The other three candidates _ former U.N. disarmament chief Jayantha Dhanapala, Jordan's U.N. Ambassador Prince Zeid al Hussein and former Afghan Finance Minister Ashraf Ghani _ received only three votes in favor.

In the next straw poll, set for Monday, the five veto-wielding members of the council will use different colored ballots than the other 10. A veto from one of the five _ Britain, China, France, Russia or the United States _ could doom their campaigns.

U.S. Ambassador John Bolton said he would have preferred the colored ballots Thursday.

"We should have had a differentiated ballot today," Bolton said in a statement. "I look forward to a real vote on Monday, when we'll have two different colored ballots.

Associated Press reporter Edith M. Lederer contributed to this story.

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/09/28/D8KE4M2O1.html

Major chains refuse to play Bush death film
RUETERS/HOLLYWOOD REPORTER - By Nicole Sperling and Anne Thompson - October 6, 2006 - LOS ANGELES -- Newmarket Films set itself an unusual challenge when it decided to release the controversial faux investigative documentary "Death of a President" just six weeks after acquiring the movie at the Toronto International Film Festival last month.

But it might face an even more formidable obstacle because several major theater chains are refusing to play the film, which mixes real news footage with dramatized segments depicting the fictional 2007 death of
President Bush.

Newmarket , the 12-year-old Los Angeles-based film financing, production and distribution company, plans to open the film October 27, just in time for the November 7 election.

"Yes, it's controversial," Newmarket co-founder Chris Ball said. "It's quite a compelling political thriller. In many ways it is sympathetic to
George Bush. It talks about a rush to judgment. In no way is it a call for violence."

But the country's largest theater chain, Regal Entertainment Group, has passed on playing the film, citing the subject matter as the primary reason. "We would not be inclined to program this film," Regal Entertainment Group CEO Mike Campbell said. "We feel it is inappropriate to portray the future assassination of a sitting president, regardless of political affiliation." ...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061006/en_nm/president_dc

Pope Deepens Gap Between Muslim World, West
ANADOLU NEWS AGENCY ( Turkey) - September 22, 2006 -- Javier Solana, the EU foreign policy chief, said that the gap between the Muslim world and the West has increased significantly.

Solana, who attended the conference organized by former U.S. President Bill Clinton to address the most urgent global problems, expressed his concern about the increasingly deepening gap between the Islamic world and the West.

Solana further said: “The divide that persists in the world is more profound than we think, and we better be aware of that. It’s not getting smaller, but growing.”

He also warned listeners that Muslims should not be provoked, even for the sake of free speech and open thought.

Noting that governments could take action to prevent the divide from growing further, Solana stressed that this might not be enough, and civil society elements should assume a role to establish ties between the civilizations.

http://www.zaman.com/?bl=international&alt=&hn=36703

Waiting for the imam's return to Earth
THE TIMES of LONDON - October 3, 2006 - THE followers of Moqtada al-Sadr believe that the US invaded Iraq to prevent the return to Earth of their sect’s messiah-like figure, the Mahdi, or 12th imam.

Hojatoleslam al-Sadr claims that his militia is preparing for the day when the Mahdi, the last direct descendent of the revered Shia figure Ali, reappears. Shia believe that the Mahdi, who disappeared in 868, will bring justice to Earth.

At a prayer service in the central Iraqi city of Kufa on September 15, the cleric told a crowd of thousands that the Americans were collecting a dossier on the Mahdi to prevent his return. “Did you ever ask yourself about why all of this, the bloodshed and the prisons? Why are the brothers fighting each other for a political game planned by the Americans? This all happened because they (the Americans) are waiting for the Mahdi. This planning started ten years ago. They have a big file for Imam Mahdi and they just need his picture to complete it.”

Hojatoleslam al-Sadr and his advisers are convinced that the Americans want to destroy Islam and stop the Mahdi. “The Americans are trying to hijack Islamic movements. They think that these are serving the Mahdi’s interests. Whatever they did in Afghanistan and Iraq are all attempts to hijack the Mahdi’s return.”

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0%2C%2C3-2385384%2C00.html

A Tale of Two Babylons, New and Old

Matthew 24:6a
"You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars.

1 John 2:22
Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son.

Suicide bombers follow Quran, concludes Pentagon briefing
WORLDNETDAILY - September 27, 2006 - With suicide bombings spreading from Iraq to Afghanistan, the Pentagon has tasked intelligence analysts to pinpoint what's driving Muslim after Muslim to do the unthinkable.

Their preliminary finding is politically explosive: it's their "holy book" the Quran after all, according to intelligence briefings obtained by WND.

In public, the U.S. government has made an effort to avoid linking the terrorist threat to Islam and the Quran while dismissing suicide terrorists as crazed heretics who pervert Islamic teachings.

"The terrorists distort the idea of jihad into a call for violence and murder," the White House maintains in its recently released "National Strategy for Combating Terrorism" report.

But internal Pentagon briefings show intelligence analysts have reached a wholly different conclusion after studying Islamic scripture and the backgrounds of suicide terrorists. They've found that most Muslim suicide bombers are in fact students of the Quran who are motivated by its violent commands – making them, as strange as it sounds to the West, "rational actors" on the Islamic stage.

In Islam, it is not how one lives one's life that guarantees spiritual salvation, but how one dies, according to the briefings. There are great advantages to becoming a martyr. Dying while fighting the infidels in the cause of Allah reserves a special place and honor in Paradise. And it earns special favor with Allah.

"Suicide in defense of Islam is permitted, and the Islamic suicide bomber is, in the main, a rational actor," concludes a recent Pentagon briefing paper titled, "Motivations of Muslim Suicide Bombers."

Suicide for Allah a 'win-win'

"His actions provide a win-win scenario for himself, his family, his faith and his God," the document explains. "The bomber secures salvation and the pleasures of Paradise. He earns a degree of financial security and a place for his family in Paradise. He defends his faith and takes his place in a long line of martyrs to be memorialized as a valorous fighter.

"And finally, because of the manner of his death, he is assured that he will find favor with Allah," the briefing adds. "Against these considerations, the selfless sacrifice by the individual Muslim to destroy Islam's enemies becomes a suitable, feasible and acceptable course of action."

The briefing – produced by a little-known Pentagon intelligence unit called the Counterintelligence Field Activity, or CIFA – cites a number of passages from the Quran dealing with jihad, or "holy" warfare, martyrdom and Paradise, where "beautiful mansions" and "maidens" await martyr heroes. In preparation for attacks, suicide terrorists typically recite passages from six surahs, or chapters, of the Quran: Baqura (Surah 2), Al Imran (3), Anfal (8), Tawba (9), Rahman (55) and Asr (103).

CIFA staffs hundreds of investigators and analysts to help coordinate Pentagon security efforts at U.S. military installations at home and abroad.

The Pentagon unit is especially concerned about a new wave of suicide bombings hitting Afghanistan.

Suicide bombings have killed more than 200 people in Afghanistan this year, up from single digits two years ago. On Tuesday, a suicide bomber detonated his explosive vest and killed 18 outside an Afghan government compound. Last week, a suicide bomber riding a bike killed at least four NATO soldiers. And earlier this month, a suicide car bomber rammed into a U.S. military convoy near the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, killing 16 people, including two American soldiers.

500 suicide bombers in reserve

The U.S. command in Afghanistan now warns that a suicide bombing cell is operating inside the Afghan capital. Meanwhile, the Taliban's top military commander told ABC News he has 500 suicide bombers at his disposal.

"We have so many of them that it is difficult to accommodate and arm and equip them," Mullah Dadullah Akhund said. "Some of them have been waiting for a year or more for their turn to be sent to the battlefield."

The emergence of a suicide cell in Kabul troubles military analysts because suicide attacks are the most effective weapon Muslim terrorists can use against the West. The Rand Corp. predicts they'll pose a serious and constant threat to the U.S. for years to come.

The U.S. intelligence community is growing increasingly worried, as well.

"Most jihadist groups will use suicide attacks focused primarily on soft targets to implement asymmetric warfare strategy," warns the just-declassified executive summary of the National Intelligence Estimate on the global terror threat. "Fighters with experience in Iraq are a potential source of leadership for jihadists pursuing these tactics."

Many scholars and media pundits, however, insist Muslim suicide bombers are not driven by religion.

"Beneath the religious rhetoric with which [such terror] is perpetrated, it occurs largely in the service of secular aims," claims Professor Robert A. Pape of the University of Chicago. "Suicide terrorism is mainly a response to foreign occupation rather than a product of Islamic fundamentalism."

He says U.S. foreign policy is more a factor than faith.

"Though it speaks of Americans as infidels, al-Qaida is less concerned with converting us to Islam than removing us from Arab and Muslim lands," Pape said.

But what about the recent video by Adam Gadahn, the American al-Qaida, warning fellow Americans to convert to Islam before al-Qaida attacks again?

"He never mentions virgins or the benefits Islamic martyrs receive in Heaven," Pape asserted.

In fact, Gadahn notes 36 minutes into his speech that Allah reserves the highest rewards – "honors and delights" – for martyrs in Paradise.

"[He] promised the martyr in his path the reward over and above the reward of the believer," Gadahn said. "He has promised them honors and delights too numerous to go into here."

The 9/11 hijackers and the London bombers made martyrdom videos. In their last testaments, they recite the Quran while talking of their "love of death" and "sacrificing life for Allah." Seven martyrdom videotapes also were recovered by British authorities in the foiled transatlantic sky terror plot.

Before the 9/11 attacks, the hijackers shaved and doused themselves with flower water in preparation for their weddings with the beautiful virgins in Paradise. "Know that the women of Paradise are waiting, calling out 'Come hither, friend of Allah,'" according to a four-page letter circulated among them titled "THE LAST NIGHT." "They have dressed in their most beautiful clothing."

But are the virgins scriptural or apocryphal? French documentarian Pierre Rehov, who interviewed the families of suicide bombers and would-be bombers in an attempt to find out why they do it, says it's not a myth or fantasy of heretics.

He says there's no doubt the Quran "promises virgins" to Muslim men who die while fighting infidels in jihad, and it's a key motivating factor behind suicide terrorism.

"It's obviously connected to religion," said Rehov, who features his interviews with Muslims in a recently released film, "Suicide Killers." "They really believe they are going to get the virgins."

He says would-be Muslim suicide bombers he's interviewed have shown him passages in the Quran "in which it's absolutely written that they're going to get the girls in the afterlife."

Muslim clerics do not disavow the virgins-for-martyrs reward as a perverted interpretation of the Quran.

And even Muslim leaders in the West condone suicide bombings. British scholar Azzam Tamimi recently told 8,000 Muslims in Manchester, England, that dying while fighting "George Bush and Tony Blair" is "just" and "the greatest act of martyrdom." Earlier, he said it's "the straight way to pleasing Allah."

And the founder of an allegedly mainstream Muslim group in Washington – the Council on American-Islamic Relations – also has given his blessing to suicide bombings.

Addressing a youth session at the 1999 Islamic Association for Palestine's annual convention in Chicago, CAIR founder Omar Ahmad praised suicide bombers who "kill themselves for Islam," according to a transcript provided by terror expert Steve Emerson's Investigative Project.

"Fighting for freedom, fighting for Islam, that is not suicide," Ahmad asserted. "They kill themselves for Islam."

Osama bin Laden has encouraged "Muslims brothers" to defeat the U.S. and U.K. with suicide attacks.

"I tell you to act upon the orders of Allah," he said in 2003, "be united against Bush and Blair and defeat them through suicide attacks so that you may be successful before Allah."

http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=52184

'Sensitivity training' for U.S. troops in Iraq
American soldiers being taught this month to 'understand Ramadan, Islamic culture'

WORLDNETDAILY - From JOSEPH FARAH'S G2 BULLETIN - October 3, 2006 - While many U.S. troops in Iraq are bracing for an increase in terrorist attacks coinciding with the Islamic holy month, other soldiers, including officers, are cringing at new requirements that include "sensitivity classes" on how to "understand Ramadan and the Islamic culture," reports Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin.

"I am disturbed by a trend here that is occurring as we serve here in Iraq," one Army major told the premium online intelligence newsletter edited by the founder of WND. "I am a Christian and so are most soldiers here, as they would probably identify with that religion if not practice it."

He tells the story of one of his men, performing the duty of guarding civilian Iraqis working on a U.S. military base. When it was time for lunch, the soldier was told he could not eat because the Army wanted to be sensitive to the fasting Iraqis.

"I understand the concept," said the officer. "But isn't that forcing us to learn about Islam and even practice its principles? Who cares if Muslims want to fast. We don't force a guy not to eat. This is the equivalent of forcing our soldiers to practice Ramadan fasting."

There has been no fast from terrorist violence in Iraq this Ramadan.

The top U.S. military spokesman in Iraq, Maj. Gen. William B. Caldwell, reports a significant spike in violence in and around Baghdad beginning with the onset of Ramadan last Monday. Suicide attacks, he said, are at their highest levels. Murders and executions are currently the No. 1 cause of civilian deaths in Baghdad, and operations against sectarian death squads have been stepped up, the general reported.

The bodies of 40 men who were shot and had their hands and feet bound have been found in the capital just before the weekend. All the victims showed signs of torture, police Lt. Thayer Mahmoud said. They were dumped in several neighborhoods in both eastern and western Baghdad.

On the first day of Ramadan last year, a Sunni Muslim suicide bomber blew up a Shiite mosque in Hilla, Iraq, in the middle of a memorial service, killing 25 worshippers. This year, on the first day of Ramadan, a Sunni suicide bomber in Baghdad killed 35 people who were lining up in a Shiite neighborhood to buy fuel. The same day, the severed heads of nine murdered Iraqi police officers and soldiers were found north of Baghdad.

"I don't know how sensitivity training of U.S. troops is going to solve the real problems facing this country," said one Army veteran of two tours of Iraq.

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=52247

Bob Woodward: Bush Misleads On Iraq
CBS NEWS, 60 MINUTES - Reported by Mark Wallace - October 1, 2006 - NEW YORK: President Bush's former chief of staff, Andy Card, said the Bush presidency will be judged by three things: “ Iraq, Iraq, Iraq.” Bob Woodward, of Watergate fame, has just completed his third book on the Bush presidency, “State of Denial.”

Woodward spent more than two years, interviewed more than 200 people including most of the top officials in the administration and came to a damning conclusion. He tells Mike Wallace that for the last three years the White house has not been honest with the American public.

"It is the oldest story in the coverage of government: the failure to tell the truth," Woodward charges.

Asked to explain what he means that the Bush administration has not told the truth about Iraq, Woodward says, "I think probably the prominent, most prominent example is the level of violence."

Not just the growing sectarian violence — Sunnis against Shias that gets reported every day — but attacks on U.S., Iraqi and allied forces. Woodward says that’s the most important measure of violence in Iraq, and he unearthed a graph, classified secret, that shows those attacks have increased dramatically over the last three years.

"Getting to the point now where there are eight, 900 attacks a week," he says. "That’s more than 100 a day—that is four an hour. Attacking our forces."

Woodward says the government had kept this trend secret for years before finally declassifying the graph just three weeks ago. And Woodward accuses President Bush and the Pentagon of making false claims of progress in Iraq – claims, contradicted by facts that are being kept secret.

For example, Woodward says an intelligence report classified secret from the Joint Chiefs of Staff concluded in large print that "THE SUNNI ARAB INSURGENCY IS GAINING STRENGTH AND INCREASING CAPACITY, DESPITE POLITICAL PROGRESS."

And “INSURGENTS RETAIN THE CAPABILITIES TO…INCREASE THE LEVEL OF VIOLENCE THROUGH NEXT YEAR.” [Emphasis in original]

But just two days later a public defense department report said just the opposite. “Violent action, will begin to wane in early 2007,” the report said.

What does Woodward make of that?

"The truth is that the assessment by intelligence experts is that next year, 2007, is going to get worse and, in public, you have the president and you have the Pentagon [saying], 'Oh, no, things are going to get better,'" he tells Wallace. "Now there’s public, and then there’s private. But what did they do with the private? They stamp it secret. No one is supposed to know," says Woodward.

"Why is that secret? The insurgents know what they’re doing. They know the level of violence and how effective they are. Who doesn’t know? The American public," he adds.

"President Bush says over and over as Iraqi forces stand up, U.S. forces will stand down. The number of Iraqis in uniform today I understand is up to 300,000?" Wallace asks.

"They’ve stood up from essentially zero to 300,000. This is the military and the police," Woodward replies.

"But, U.S. forces are not standing down. The attacks keep coming," Wallace remarks.

"They’ve stood up and up and up and we haven’t stood down, and it’s worse," Woodward replies.

John Negorponte knows it’s worse. He’s the U.S. Director of National Intelligence, and according to Woodward, Negroponte thinks the U.S. policy in Iraq is in trouble – that violence is now so widespread that the U.S. doesn’t even know about much of it; and that the killings will continue to escalate.

"He was the ambassador there in Iraq and now he sees all the intelligence," Woodward says. "I report he believes that we’ve always going almost back to the beginning, miscalculated and underestimated the nature of the insurgency."

Why?

"There’s this feeling, 'How can a bunch guys running around putting improvised explosive devices in dead animals and by the side of the road in cars, cause all this trouble," Woodward says.

Woodward reports that a top general says Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has so emasculated the joint chiefs that the chairman of the chiefs has become “the parrot on Rumsfeld’s shoulder.”

And, according to Woodward, another key general, John Abizaid, who’s in charge of the whole Gulf region, told friends that on Iraq, Rumsfeld has lost all credibility.

"What does that mean, he doesn’t have any credibility anymore?" Wallace asks.

"That means that he cannot go public and articulate what the strategy is. Now, this is so important they decide," Woodward explains. "The Secretary of State Rice will announce what the strategy is. This is October of last year." She told Congress the U.S. strategy in Iraq is "clear, hold and build."

"Rumsfeld sees this and goes ballistic and says, 'Now wait a minute. That’s not our strategy. We want to get the Iraqis to do these things.' Well it turns out George Bush and the White House liked this definition of the strategy so it’s in a presidential speech he’s gonna give the next month," Woodward tells Wallace. "Rumsfeld sees it. He calls Andy Card, the White House chief of staff and says 'Take it out. Take it out. That’s not our strategy. We can’t do that.' Card says it’s the core of what we’re doing. That’s two and a half years after the invasion of Iraq. They cannot agree on the definition of the strategy. They cannot agree on the bumper sticker."

"General John Abizaid, commander of all U.S. forces in the Middle East, you quote him as saying privately a year ago that the U.S. should start cutting its troops in Iraq. You report that he told some close Army friends, quote, 'We’ve gotta get the f out.' And then this past March, General Abizaid visited Congressman John Murtha on Capitol Hill," Wallace says.

"John Murtha is in many ways the soul and the conscience of the military," Woodward replies. "And he came out and said, 'We need to get out of Iraq as soon as it’s practical' and that sent a 10,000 volt jolt through the White House."

"Here’s Mr. Military saying, 'We need to get out,'" Woodward continues. "And John Abizaid went to see him privately. This is Bush’s and Rumsfeld’s commander in Iraq," Woodward says.

"And John Abizaid held up his fingers, according to Murtha, and said, 'We’re about a quarter of an inch apart, said, 'We’re that far apart,'" Woodward says.

"You report that after George W. Bush was reelected, his chief of staff, Andy Card, tried for months to convince the president to fire Don Rumsfeld. Why?" Wallace asks.

"To replace him. Because it wasn’t working. Card felt very strongly that the president needed a whole new national security team," Woodward says.

"You write Laura Bush was worried that Rumsfeld was hurting her husband. Andy Card told her the president seemed happy with Rumsfeld. And the first lady replied, quote, 'He’s happy with this but I’m not.' And later she said, 'I don’t know why he’s not upset,'" Wallace remarks.

"What’s interesting, Andy Card, as White House chief of staff every six weeks set up a one on one meeting with Laura Bush. Set aside an hour and a half to talk about what’s going on, what are the president’s anxieties? Smart meeting," Woodward explains. "And in the course of these sessions the problem with Rumsfeld came up. And she voiced her concern about the situation."

But Dick Cheney wanted Rumsfeld to stay. Why?

"Well, Rumsfeld’s his guy," Woodward says. "And Cheney confided to an aid that if Rumsfeld goes, next they’ll be after Cheney."

Cheney stunned Woodward by revealing that a frequent advisor to the Bush White House is former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who served Presidents Nixon and Ford during the Vietnam War.

"He’s back," Woodward says. "In fact, Henry Kissinger is almost like a member of the family. If he’s in town, he can call up and if the president’s free, he’ll see him."

Woodward recorded his on-the-record interview with Cheney, and here’s what the vice president said about Henry Kissinger’s clout: "Of the outside people that I talk to in this job I probably talk to Henry Kissinger more than just about anybody else. He just comes by and I guess at least once a month," Cheney tells Woodward. "I sit down with him."

Asked whether the president also meets with Kissinger, Cheney told Woodward, "Yes. Absolutely."

The vice president also acknowledged that President Bush is a big fan of Kissinger.

"Now, what’s Kissinger’s advice? In Iraq, he declared very simply:
'Victory is the only meaningful exit strategy.' This is so fascinating. Kissinger’s fighting the Vietnam War again. Because in his view the problem in Vietnam was we lost our will. That we didn’t stick to it," Woodward says.

He says Kissinger is telling the president to stick to it, stay the course. "It’s right out of the Kissinger playbook," Woodward says.

In his book, published by CBS sister company, Simon & Schuster, Woodward reports that the first President Bush confided to one of his closest friends how upset he is that his son invaded Iraq.

"The former President Bush is said to be in agony, anguished, tormented by the war in Iraq and its aftermath," Wallace says.

"Yes," Woodward replies.

Asked if the former president conveys that message to his son, Woodward says, "I don’t know the answer to that. He tells it to Brent Scowcroft, his former national security advisor."

"You paint a picture, Bob, of the president as the cheerleader-in-chief. Current reality be damned. He’s convinced that he’s gonna succeed in Iraq, yes?" Wallace asks.

"Yes , that’s correct," Woodward says.

Woodward interviewed President George W. Bush for the first two books for hours.

"And do you know what? There are people who are gonna say, look Woodward is savaging President Bush because he wouldn’t see him for this book," Wallace remarks.

Woodward says that's not true. "He did not, and I asked. And I made it very clear to the White House what my questions were, what my information was. What could he say? That the secret chart is not right?" Woodward says. "That these things that happened in these meetings didn’t occur? They’re documented. I talked to the people who were there. Your producer, Bob Anderson, has listened to the tapes of my interviews with people to make sure that it’s not just kind of right, but literally right. This is what occurred."

And Woodward says that no matter what has occurred in Iraq, Mr. Bush does not welcome any pessimistic assessments from his aides, because he’s sure that his war has Iraq and America on the right path.

"Late last year he had key Republicans up to the White House to talk about the war. And said, 'I will not withdraw even if Laura and Barney are the only ones supporting me.' Barney is his dog," Woodward says. "My work on this leads to lots of people who spend hours, days with the president."

"And in most cases they are my best sources. And there is a concern that we need to face realism. Not being the voice that says, 'Oh no, everything’s fine,' when it’s not," Woodward adds.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/09/28/60minutes/main2047607.shtml

Negroponte denies terror claims
BBC NEWS - September 26, 2006 - US Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte has rejected claims that the terrorist threat to the US has increased since the invasion of Iraq.

He was commenting for the first time on recent leaked excerpts of a government report suggesting the conflict had fuelled Islamic radicalism.

Mr Negroponte said the Iraq war made up only a small part of the report, and overall the threat had not increased.

He said that in fact it had diminished since the 11 September 2001 attacks.

"My personal assessment with respect to the United States is that we are certainly more vigilant, we're better prepared, and in that sense I think we could safely say that we are safer," he said on Monday.

The leaked excerpts were published by the New York Times on Sunday.

The paper quoted the report as saying the invasion and occupation of Iraq has spawned a new generation of Islamic radicalism that has spread across the globe.

It also warns that Islamic militants who have fought in Iraq could foment radicalism and violence when they return to their home countries, much as returning Jihadis did after the war against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan in the 1980s.

Mr Bush has consistenly dismissed such reasoning in the past, arguing that Islamic militants had hated the US long before it invaded Iraq or Afghanistan.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5380340.stm

Senate Approves $70B for War Spending

ASSOCIATED PRESS - By ANDREW TAYLOR - September 29, 2006 - The Senate unanimously approved $70 billion more for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan Friday as part of a record Pentagon budget.

The bill, now on its way to the White House for President Bush's signature, totals $448 billion. It was passed by a 100-0 vote after minimal debate.

Approval by a comfortable margin came despite intense partisan divisions over the course of the Iraq war, which is costing about $8 billion a month. Another infusion of money will be needed next spring.

At the White House, President Bush said he would sign the bill and thanked Congress "for passing legislation that will provide our men and women in uniform with the necessary resources to protect our country and win the war on terror."

"As our troops risk their lives to fight terrorism," he said, "this bill will ensure they are prepared to defeat today's enemies and address tomorrows threats. I look forward to signing this bill into law."

The House-Senate compromise bill provides $378 billion for core Pentagon programs, about a 5 percent increase, though slightly less than President Bush asked for. The $70 billion for Iraq and Afghanistan is a down payment on war costs the White House has estimated will hit $110 billion for the budget year beginning Oct. 1.

Congress has now approved $507 billion for Iraq, Afghanistan and heightened security at overseas military bases since the Sept. 11, attacks, according to the Congressional Research Service. The war in Iraq has cost $379 billion and the conflict in Afghanistan now totals $97 billion.

The Iraq war continues to be unpopular with voters, according to opinion polls, but even Democratic opponents of the war voted for the Pentagon measure, which provides funding for body armor and other support for U.S. troops overseas.

" America is in deep trouble in Iraq," said Edward Kennedy, D-Mass. "The continuing violence and death is ominous.... Militias are growing in strength and continue to operate outside the law. Death squads are rampant."

The growing price tag of the Iraq conflict is partly driven by the need to repair and replace military equipment worn out in harsh, dusty conditions in Iraq and Afghanistan or destroyed in battle. Almost $23 billion was approved for Army, Marine Corps and National Guard equipment such as helicopters, armored Humvees, Bradley armored fighting vehicles, radios and night-vision equipment.

Lawmakers allotted $1.9 billion for new jammers to counter improvised explosive devices in Iraq and Afghanistan and $1 billion is provided for body armor and other personal protective gear.

There is also a stack of pet projects for lawmakers' homes states and districts, including $372 million obtained for Hawaii, home of Daniel Inouye, top Democrat on the defense appropriations panel.

"There are 2,000 earmarks in the bill directed by Members of Congress _ somewhere around $8 billion _ and a large portion of those don't have anything to do with the mission of the Defense Department," said Tom Coburn, R-Okla.

The legislation would be the first of 11 spending bills to clear Congress for the new budget year. The homeland security bill is the only other ready to pass before Congress leaves Washington this weekend. Nine bills funding domestic programs and foreign aid will wait until a lame duck session. That means delays in funding increases for veterans health care.

So little progress has been made on other bills that the Pentagon measure also carries a stopgap funding bill to keep open through Nov. 17 agencies whose funding bills won't have passed. Only the homeland security measure is expected to also pass before Congress leaves Washington to campaign.

The core bill contains $86 billion for personnel costs, enough to support 482,000 Army soldiers and 175,000 Marines. That would provide for a 2.2 percent pay increase for the military, as Bush requested in his February budget.

The bill provides $120 billion for operations and maintenance costs, just less than the Pentagon request. And $81 billion goes for procurement of new weapons, with $76 billion dedicated to research and development costs.

That's still not enough for the White House, which requested $4 billion more. But House appropriators diverted that money to ease cuts in domestic programs. Earlier this year, the Senate passed a version shifting $9 billion to domestic programs but backed off in the face of a White House veto threat.

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/09/29/D8KEMH300.html

Senate Approves Broad New Rules to Try Detainees
NEW YORK TIMES - By KATE ZERNIKE - September 29, 2006 - WASHINGTON, Sept. 28 — The Senate approved a measure on Thursday on the interrogations and trials of terrorism suspects, establishing far-reaching rules to deal with what President Bush has called the most dangerous combatants in a different type of war....

The bill would set up rules for the military commissions that will allow the government to proceed with the prosecutions of high-level detainees including Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, considered the mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

It would make illegal several broadly defined abuses of detainees, while leaving it to the president to establish specific permissible interrogation techniques. And it would strip detainees of a habeas corpus right to challenge their detentions in court....

The bill was a compromise between the White House and three Republican senators who had resisted what they saw as Mr. Bush’s effort to rewrite the nation’s obligations under the Geneva Conventions. Although the president had to relent on some major provisions, the vote allows him to claim victory in achieving a main legislative priority.

The bill was a compromise between the White House and three Republican senators who had resisted what they saw as Mr. Bush’s effort to rewrite the nation’s obligations under the Geneva Conventions. Although the president had to relent on some major provisions, the vote allows him to claim victory in achieving a main legislative priority.

“As our troops risk their lives to fight terrorism, this bill will ensure they are prepared to defeat today’s enemies and address tomorrow’s threats,” the president said in a statement after the vote....

Democrats argued that the rules were being rushed through for political gain too close to a major election and that they would fundamentally threaten the foundations of the American legal system and come back to haunt lawmakers as one of the greatest mistakes in history.

“I believe there can be no mercy for those who perpetrated the crimes of 9/11,” Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, Democrat of New York, said. “But in the process of accomplishing what I believe is essential for our security, we must hold onto our values and set an example that we can point to with pride, not shame.” ...

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/29/washington/29detain.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin

The United States of Barbarism
LEWROCKWELL.com - by James Bovard - September 26, 2006 - The U.S. Senate is cutting a deal with President Bush to make America a banana republic. Last week, three senators reached an agreement with the White House that will de facto permit the CIA to continue torturing people around the world. And the deal will prevent anyone – including Bush administration officials – from being held liable for the torture.

This is latest sign that our elected representatives in Washington believe that the federal government deserves absolute power over everyone in the world. Former Secretary of State Colin Powell warned recently that Bush’s efforts to gut the Geneva Conventions would cause the world to "doubt the moral basis of our fight against terrorism.”

But more important, the Senate-White House torture deal should cause Americans to doubt the moral basis of their entire government. After 9/11, many Bush administration officials seemed determined to use any and every means to bludgeon people suspected of terrorism or terrorist intent. The Justice Department delivered to the White House a memo in August 2002 explaining why Bush was not bound by the War Crimes Act or the Anti-Torture Act.

The memo began by largely redefining torture out of existence. It then explained why even if someone died during torture, the torturer might not be guilty if he felt the torture was necessary to prevent some worse evil. The memo concluded by revealing that the president has the right to order torture because he is above the law, at least during wartime (even if Congress has not declared war).

The Justice Department declared that the president may effectively exempt government officials from federal criminal law, noting that “Congress cannot compel the President to prosecute outcomes taken pursuant to the President’s own constitutional authority. If Congress could do so, it could control the President’s authority through the manipulation of federal criminal law.”

The memo’s absolutism would have brought a smile to despots everywhere: “As the Supreme Court has recognized ... the President enjoys complete discretion in the exercise of his Commander-in-Chief authority and in conducting operations against hostile forces.... we will not read a criminal statute as infringing on the President’s ultimate authority in these areas.”

Thus, the “commander-in-chief” label automatically swallows up the rest of the Constitution. Yet, as Yale Law School Dean Harold Koh observed, “If the president has commander-in-chief power to commit torture, he has the power to commit genocide, to sanction slavery, to promote apartheid, to license summary execution.”

This is the doctrine that the Senate-White House deal largely codifies. It will be up to the president to declare which interrogation methods U.S. agents can use – almost regardless of the Geneva Conventions. It will be up to the president to decree who will face “rough” interrogation.

The details of the torture deal vivify how our politicians no longer give a darn about maintaining even a pretense of due process. The agreement will permit the use of coerced confessions in military tribunals – turning the judicial clock back to the 1600s. The Washington Post noted that the agreement permits “defense attorneys to challenge the use of hearsay information obtained through coercive interrogations in distant countries only if they can prove it is unreliable.” Thus, there is a presumption of correctness to whatever accusation is bludgeoned out of people in secret prisons around the world.

And it will be almost impossible to disprove an accusation when a defense lawyer is not allowed to question – or perhaps even know – who made the charge.

But that is fair enough for the U.S. Congress.

The New York Times noted that the agreement “would impose new legal standards that it forbids the courts to enforce.” Thus, it will be impossible for the vast majority of detainees at Guantanamo to challenge their detention.

The unverified accusations of U.S. government officials will still be the highest law of the land. The habeas corpus rights that go back to the Magna Charta of 1215 will be null and void under the agreement for many, if not most, detainees.

The torture scandal shows what happens when politicians and political appointees are permitted to redefine barbarism out of existence. If the government can effectively claim a right to torture, then all other limits on government power are practically irrelevant. What would it take to make the public acquiesce to the torture of Americans? Would simply applying an “odious” label (such as “cult member” at Waco, or “Muslim” with John Walker Lindh) to the victims be sufficient?

James Bovard [send him mail] is the author of the just-released Attention Deficit Democracy, The Bush Betrayal, and Terrorism & Tyranny: Trampling Freedom, Justice, and Peace to Rid the World of Evil. He serves as a policy advisor for The Future of Freedom Foundation.

http://www.lewrockwell.com/bovard/bovard34.html

Image conscious: Pentagon hires PR firm
WORLD TRIBUNE - September 28, 2006 - WASHINGTON — The Defense Department has hired a public relations firm to improve media coverage of the U.S. military in Iraq.

The U.S. Army awarded a two-year contract to the Washington-based Lincoln Group. Under the contract, Lincoln would monitor English and Arab media outlets and write material and speeches for military commanders.

"You can complain about access, or you can change how you operate," Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said.

[The contract was awarded as Congress has determined major failures in projects in Iraq conducted by U.S. firms. The special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction, an independent office created by Congress, said construction of a $75 million police academy in Iraq was grossly mismanaged and could be demolished, Middle East Newsline reported. The project was headed by Parsons Corp.]

Officials said Lincoln would receive $6.2 million per year over a two-year period. They said the company would seek to "build support" in Iraqi, Arabic, international and American audiences for the U.S. military goal to forge democracy and destroy the insurgency in Iraq....

The contract stipulated that Lincoln monitor such media outlets as the New York Times, Fox Television and the Saudi-owned satellite channel, Al-Arabiya.

"Lincoln Group is proud to be trusted to assist the multinational forces in Iraq with communicating news about their vital work," Lincoln Group spokesman Bill Dixon said.

In 2005, Lincoln was identified as having paid Iraqi newspapers and editors for stories favorable to coalition forces. At the time, the company and Pentagon came under severe criticism for seeking to manipulate the Iraqi media.

Democrats in Congress said they would question the Pentagon regarding the contract to Lincoln. They said the Pentagon should be working to improve stabilization efforts in Iraq rather than the military's image....

Officials said the award to Lincoln was a standard contract that did not stipulate paying journalists for favorable coverage. They said the contract did not represent new activity by the U.S. military in Iraq.

The Multi-National Forces-Iraq has been contracting the Washington-based Rendon Group to monitor the media for the U.S. military in Iraq. Rendon's one-year contract had been extended from September to Oct. 27 until Lincoln could assume the project.

The U.S. Army also plans to sponsor secret polls in Iraq to assess the effectiveness of military operations. Officials said the Multi-National Command in Baghdad wants to hire a private company to determine support for insurgency groups in Iraq. So far, polls have shown that Iraqis support attacks on the U.S.-led coalition.

"Since the end of major combat operations in Operation Iraqi Freedom, Coalition Forces have sought to build robust and positive relations with the people of Iraq and to assist the Iraqi people in forming a new government," a notice on the FBODaily.com government contracting website said.

http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/06/front2454007.0444444446.html

Rice Makes Visit to Kurdish North
ASSOCIATED PRESS - By ANNE GEARAN - October 6, 2006 - IRBIL, Iraq -- Convinced oil revenue is the long-term key to economic independence for a unified Iraq, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice appealed Friday for cooperation from the autonomous and oil rich Kurdish north.

Rice visited the region's powerful president, Massoud Barzani, less than two weeks after the regional government threatened to break away from Iraq in a dispute over oil.

After a session with their staff, followed by a lengthy one-on-one meeting at the Kurdish government offices in Irbil, Rice and Barzani stood in front of U.S. and Kurdish flags and spoke to reporters.

Barzani, speaking in Kurdish through an interpreter, said Kurdistan, "like any other nation, has the right to self-determination." However, he said he is committed to a "federal democratic and pluralistic Iraq."

For her part, Rice thanked Barzani for the Kurds' long cooperation with the United States, adding, "and I appreciate also your important participation in the process of national reconciliation. Thank you."

When he was asked about the future distribution of oil wealth, Barzani did not repeat recent assertions that Kurdistan alone should control new contracts and business arrangements for oil pumped in the region. But at the same time, he gave no endorsement of proposed national legislation on dividing up income from oil.

Rice's two-day trip to Iraq is meant to show U.S. support for the country's fragile central government, under assault by a spiral of sectarian violence and growing calls for autonomy among Iraq's regions. ...

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20061006/D8KJ5I000.html

Iraq PM Announces Plan to Unite Parties
ASSOCIATED PRESS - By LEE KEATH - October 2, 2006 - BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Iraq's prime minister announced a new plan Monday aimed at ending the deepening crisis between Shiite and Sunni parties in his government and uniting them behind the drive to stop sectarian killings that have bloodied the country for months.

The four-point plan, which emerged after talks between both sides, aims to resolve disputes by giving every party a voice in how security forces operate against violence on a neighborhood by neighborhood level.

Local committees will be formed in each Baghdad district - made up of representatives of every party, religious and tribal leaders and security officials - to consult on security efforts. A Sunni representative, for example, could raise a complaint if he feels police are not pursuing a Shiite militia after an attack. A central committee, also made up of all the parties, will coordinate with the armed forces.

"We have taken the decision to end sectarian hatred once and for all," Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki told reporters. "We have vowed before Almighty God to stop the bloodshed." ...

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20061003/D8KGRLAO0.html

al-Qaida in Iraq: 4,000 Insurgents Dead
ASSOCIATED PRESS - September 28, 2006 - CAIRO, Egypt -- The new leader of al-Qaida in Iraq said in an audio message posted on a Web site Thursday that more than 4,000 foreign insurgent fighters have been killed in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. It was believed to be the first major statement from insurgents in Iraq about their losses.

"The blood has been spilled in Iraq of more than 4,000 foreigners who came to fight," said the man, who identified himself as Abu Hamza al-Muhajir - also known as Abu Ayyub al-Masri - the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq. The voice could not be independently identified.

The Arabic word he used indicated he was speaking about foreigners who joined the insurgency in Iraq, not coalition troops.

Al-Masri is believed to have succeeded Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who died in a U.S. airstrike north of Baghdad in June.

In the message, the speaker also called for explosives experts and nuclear scientists to join his group's holy war against the West.

"The field of jihad (holy war) can satisfy your scientific ambitions, and the large American bases (in Iraq) are good places to test your unconventional weapons, whether biological or dirty, as they call them," said the speaker.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20060928/D8KDUES80.html

US 'threatened to bomb' Pakistan
BBC NEWS - September 22, 2006 - The US threatened to bomb Pakistan "back to the stone age" unless it joined the fight against al-Qaeda, President Pervez Musharraf has said.

General Musharraf said the warning was delivered by former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage to Pakistan's intelligence director.

"I think it was a very rude remark," Gen Musharraf told CBS television.

Pakistan agreed to side with the US, but Gen Musharraf said it did so based on his country's national interest.

"One has to think and take actions in the interest of the nation, and that's what I did," he said.

'Ludicrous' requests

The extracts from the CBS show 60 Minutes, which will run on Sunday, were released on the same day that the White House praised Pakistan for its co-operation in America's "war on terror".

Gen Musharraf is due to meet US President George W Bush at the White House on Friday.

The BBC's Jonathan Beale in Washington says that Gen Musharraf was deliberately distancing himself from the White House in the face of intense pressure within Pakistan over his close ties to Washington.

He is also due to launch his autobiography next week and some analysts say the timing of the revelation may be an attempt to generate interest in the book. ...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/5369198.stm

Aznar:“Muslims should apologize for occupying Spain for 800 years”
Bush and his war on terror, said the West is under attack from radical Islam and must defend itself. “It is them or it is us,” Aznar said. “There is no middle ground.”

EIBT 24 BASQUE NEWS AND INFORMATION CHANNEL - September 23, 2006 - Muslims should apologize for occupying Spain for 800 years and a U.N.-backed program to encourage dialogue between them and West is stupid, former Spanish prime minister Jose Maria Aznar has said. Aznar made his comments Friday night in a speech at the Hudson Institute, a thinktank in Washington, D.C., as he discussed Pope Benedict XVI's recent remarks on Islam and violence. Aznar, a firm ally of U.S. President George W.

Bush and his war on terror, said the West is under attack from radical Islam and must defend itsel