Unedited Interview with General Laurent Nkunda Part I of 6

Georgianne Nienaber and Helen Thomas, independent journalists, traveled to the compound of General Laurent Nkunda, charismatic leader of the rebel CNDP (National Congress for the Defense of the People) in the eastern Congo. The CNDP, for those of you who don't know, has been one of the key protagonists in the ongoing and bloody conflict in the Congo, and has been a very disciplined and effective military force.

General Nkunda, however, has been getting a large amount of negative press in the mainstream media, and has been accused of massacres and war crimes, and even the killing of endangered Congolese gorillas.

In the past few days, after the Rwandan government, which had been loosely allied with Nkunda, forged an agreement, whose details we do not fully know yet, with President Joseph Kabila of the DR Congo, a shift in alliances subsequently took place and Nkunda suddenly found himself arrested by the Rwandan military. He may now face extradition to the Congo, where the government has already been making serious war crimes charges against him. However, how really true are these charges, or might they just be a contrived attempt to railroad Nkunda?

Rarely is his side of the story heard in the West, so here is an opportunity to hear it directly from him.

Since Miss Nienaber has written extensively about African gorillas, the interview actually begins with that topic before moving on to other subjects.

Even Hutus Dispute Charges that Tutsi General Nkunda Committed Atrocities in Kiwanja

Although Rwandan forces have indeed just arrested General Nkunda after, apparently, some deal was cut with the DR Congo, it is not clear whether they will extradite him to the Congolese government. The latter, however, is eager to blame all their problems on Nkunda. For example, read this excerpt from a January 23, 2009 New York Times article:

Kikaya bin Karubi, a member of Congo’s Parliament, said General Nkunda’s arrest “could be the beginning of the end of all the misery.”

“Look what happened at Kiwanja,” he said, referring to a small Congolese town where United Nations officials said General Nkunda’s forces went door to door, summarily executing dozens of civilians in November.

(source)

However, even though General Nkunda is a Tutsi, the Hutus of Kinshasa are incensed that he is being falsely accused by the UN and others of atrocities in Kiwanja, so much so that they sent out this response, originally in French, which has now been translated:

Object: Clarifications regarding the killings at KIWANJA on the dates 11/04/08 and 11/05/08.

To the Honorable National and Provincial elected officials of Rutshuru at KINSHASA and at GOMA.

Honorable Deputies,

We, members of the community HUTU of the Rutshuru base, having kept pace with the waves of declarations of honorable Jean Bosco BARIHIMA, Ernest KYAVIRO and NYABIRUNGU MWENE SONGA as well as those of President Jean SEKABUHHORO of the

HUTU community of KINSHASA on the topic of the events at KIWANJA of the 4th and 5th of November where there was death of men.

All in adopting their worry for protection of the population, we nonetheless have deplored the contradictions concerning the description of acts that logically each person would have been able to refer to at the root for reliable facts if at least they still have confidence in this basis that they pretend to defend. At the regard of this confusion certainly sown by a spirit of contempt of the base and with the goal of distracting whoever would like to establish the truth, we have insisted on carrying a formal denial regarding all the allegations given over to the media.

1. History

The CNDP entered KIWANJA on 10/28/08 without beating or killings. All the population is witness and the FARDC came to avoid the removal of men, of whom certain are not yet found at present, goods such as the bikes, mopeds, and cars without talking of looted merchandise. No deputy mentioned/recalled this case as if it is within the rights of the FARDC to act thus.

2. The Acts

On 11/04/08, just after a week of total tranquility, the MAIMAI-PARECO-FDLR coalition, presents itself at KIWANJA in the middle of the day in order to sow/spread desolation. Alas many among them were in civilian clothes but armed. This resulted in total confusion. Some officers and servicemen of the CNDP and some journalists and their drivers were taken, fires were set all over the city without response by the CNDP and their forces came in. On 11/05/2008 the response of the CNDP intervenes and the coalition is in the middle of crushing defeat. It is in the course of these affronts that there were many deaths principally in the MABUNGO Quarter where the combats took place. Subsequently well understood is the massive displacement of the population.

3. The Damages
a) Human Damages:

In the city of KIWANJA and its surrounding areas, 74 people, of which 5 in uniforms had found the dead (probably should read “were found dead”) without counting the bodies of combatants transported by their own. Among the wounded, we have inventoried ten found in health facilities. All 69 civilian killings belong to all ethnicities, contrary to declarations of deputies/representatives who abusively attribute them to their ethnic group. We are not able to attribute the responsibility for these events to the CNDP while these people are dead, several on the battlefield and another in the crossfire between the CNDP and all the coalition.

The attached list of victims will be authentic to those who would like to know the truth. Among the people taken (word could mean “rescued” or “kidnapped”), three of the CNDP were miraculously able to escape, two were killed by the MAIMAI while the two journalists and their chauffeur were returned to the MONUC.

b) Material Damages
The damages are enormous and won’t be precisely known until the effective resumption of activities, but the basics return (are returned?) in pillaging merchandise, cows, vehicles, telephones, money, household goods, and the destruction of buildings by bombs. We consider that the statements made by the deputies/representatives are nothing but treason given that they were published without consultation of the only reliable source on the ground; we demand that they provide other elements or proof that is contrary to this here.

We also remind them that some such erroneous declarations do nothing but fuel the hatred between authority and those managed instead reinforcing peaceful cohabitation.

Thus, we think you to be sufficiently clarified

For the community,

The President: Mamert Muzige

The Reporter: Jean Paul Rurahoze

The Councilors: 1. Pascal Uzamukanda
2. Patrice Mpabuka

Rachel Maddow Show: Richard Engel Reporting From Gaza

This Rachel Maddow video discusses Israel's media planning and strategy to time and spin the war on Gaza, planning that began well before the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel was put into effect in later June, 2008, according to reporter Richard Engel, who has been talking to Israeli officials and states that Israel planned the Gaza operation for about a year. This means that for Israel, the ceasefire was only a Machiavellian tactic, not an end goal. Massive damage to Gaza was the end goal, and this was achieved, at the costs of thousands of deaths and injuries. The Lords of Karma are not pleased.

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Congolese Rebel Leader Denies Reports of His Ouster in Western Press

General Laurent Nkunda (photo by Georgianne Nienaber)

In the ongoing horror story that is the Democratic Republic of the Congo, there are reports and counter-reports that the main rebel army, the CNDP, is breaking apart into two camps. According to a New York Times report on January 11, 2008:

Gen. Laurent Nkunda, the leader of the Tutsi-dominated rebel group known as the C.N.D.P., is fighting off an attempt to topple him by Jean Bosco Ntaganda, his chief of staff, a ruthless fighter known as the Terminator who is wanted by the International Criminal Court in The Hague for war crimes, according to accounts from both camps. (source)

In fact a BBC report on January 5, 2009 was quoting allegations that Nkunda may have actually been overthrown, as well as denials by the same. A split would be a welcome development to Joseph Kabila, the president of the Congolese government and army, who has been losing battle after battle to the CNDP, but seasoned journalists should be asking just how true the reported split is and whether Kabila, more than just welcoming such a development, may actually be aiding and abetting any split.

Because communications between the media and the CNDP are difficult at best, it is always an effort to hear Nkunda's side of the story. However, two independent journalists, Georgianne Nienaber and Helen Thomas, did just that, traveling to Nkunda's compound in eastern Congo to interview him face-to-face in early January, prior to the above BBC report. Miss Nienaber recently filed her transcription of the interview at The Huffington Post, which you can click here to read.

Miss Nienaber now follows up that report with the results of a telephone interview Nkunda gave to journalists on January 12, which she has given me permission to post here at Mosquito Blog:

Congolese Rebel Leader Denies Reports of His Ouster in Western Press

Congolese sources allege $250,000 in bribes from Congolese General John Numbi to CNDP faction leader Bosco Ntaganda





General Laurent Nkunda leads the National Congress for the Defense of the People in the Democratic Republic of Congo. On January 12 Nkunda vehemently denied western news accounts of his ouster in a phone interview with independent journalists who were on the ground in the region and had met personally with Nkunda days before.

"This is absolutely not true," Nkunda said from his location in north Kivu Province in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on Monday January 12.

The rival who challenged Nkunda's leadership was CNDP military chief of staff General Bosco Ntaganda, who accused Nkunda of obstructing peace efforts in the region on January 8.

This is the second time in recent months that Ntaganda has caused a controversy. In October, Ntaganda signed a statement announcing Nkunda's death, according to AFP reports.

Most major western news outlets are today reporting that CNDP faction leader Ntaganda is now in control of the CNDP following a meeting in Goma with alleged “senior officers” of the CNDP.

Contrary to the drumbeat present in western media that Nkunda has lost control of the CNDP; there is another side to the story.

The continuing reports of a split are puzzling to sources within the CNDP movement. Information gathered on Numbi and Ntaganda from sources within the CNDP was obtained weeks before the current move by Ntaganda.

Sources very close to Nkunda and professional members of the resistance maintain that Ntaganda has personal contacts and enhanced communication with the BBC and is in collusion with General John Numbi, the current chief of the Congolese Air Force, who was a prominent player in Ntaganda’s Goma press conference.

Nkunda confirmed reports from these civilian sources within the CNDP that Congolese General Numbi arranged for payment of $250,000 and promise of amnesty from Congolese president Joseph Kabila to destroy Nkunda.

Possessing no military training, Numbi was originally recruited by Congolese President Laurent Kabila and was promoted to his current rank by Joseph Kabila.

In "DRC Update: Building Security for the Elections," prepared before the last election, Jim Terrie in African Security Review wrote about General John Numbi, who remains a close confidant of Joseph Kabila:

"[He and others] declared support for President Kabila's re-election campaign, although they are contesting his Partie du Peuple pour la Réconstruction et la Démocratie (PPRD) in all other constituencies in Katanga. To achieve their objectives, they have supported the tribal 'Mai Mai' militias as well as urban gangs that are available for hire for political agitation and violence against political and ethnic opponents, including members of the Union pour la Démocratie et le Progrès Social (UDPS) party of Kabila's main opponent (at the time), Etienne Tshisekedi...."

The situation here is further complicated by the fact that the CNDP does not have access to the current news cycle. It may take days before they can react to stories appearing in international media.

Nkunda estimated that Ntaganda had "as few as 36 soldiers" with him, out of an estimated 7,000 in the CNDP.

Nkunda said Ntaganda "is suspended from command, and being followed by the disciplinary committee of the CNDP high command." Nkunda sent his military representatives to talk with Ntaganda and told him that he would be held accountable for his actions.

This was the second time in a week that Nkunda agreed to talk with the independent journalists. An interview was obtained with General Nkunda at his compound three days before the initial BBC reports of his ouster. >

Another Bush Corporate Media Myth Exposed

The corporate media has done an outstanding job of limiting debate and options available to the American people. The corporate propaganda promotes the myth that the US media is liberal.
The actual bias is "corporate control" not liberal theology.

How angry would the American people be with George Bush and the corporations of America if it was well known that we could have deposed Saddam Hussein without an invasion, no loss of life, and without bankrupting America. The truth? Saddam Hussein offered to leave Iraq weeks before Bush invaded Iraq and this has been "KNOWN" all along and NOT been reported. A few reports have emerged in the US over the years but the media refused to report it consistently....so the story has not become well known.

Doubt what I say? Then check out the multiple sources here.

Bush and the corporate media and their cronies lie to America and they have made huge profits from this.

Seems to me we need some new laws and regulations. What if..

No One could Profit from War. Corporations like to say they have the same "rights" as people (which I still dispute.) How about corporations have to be liable and responsible for their actions just like everyone else. Therefore, anything defense related has to be done at cost...actual costs NOT inflated costs. Corporate officers and top management should be prosecuted for any criminal decisions and activities that they participate in. Corporate decisions and policies should have a paper trail that can be accessed by regulatory authorities.

Media Corporations have to replace their fake news programs with citizen journalists chosen by local communities and regional communities that they serve. We will always have a need for sound local news reporting.

We should also realize that there are other areas where profit should not be allowed. I'm thinking clean air and clean water....these are basic human rights and corporations are currently trying to buy up the world's water. In fact, our nations banks are currently engaged in trying to purchase water rights in their unquenchable greed...the unquenchable greed that has currently landed us into our current economic predicament.

Shouldn't our Justice System go after the evildoers "especially" if they were the leaders making the biggest profits from this mess we are in? It's not about revenge it's about deterrence. We need to put an end to folks profiting from lying, stealing, torturing and killing for profits and/or power. The big fish should not be let off the hook if our justice system is going to be set right.

I remain hopeful that some on the extreme right are not lost in their Kool-Aid addiction and they will start to question many of the myths they currently swallow and will join the rest of the grassroots as we put the pressure on all our elected officials to serve our nation honorably,

Buzz...Buzz...

Mosquito Update: Lately the posts have been sporadic due to new endeavors that the folks on this blog are exploring including the possibility of relocating to another communities for Alma, Star and possibly Mosquito.

acCongratulation to Mac on the recent publication of his book. Way to Go Mac!

Chickens Coming Home to Roost

FINALLY...Fox News is sowing what it reaps...and they aren't happy. Someone needs to tell Fox News that Freedom of Speech INCLUDES the right NOT to talk to a propaganda outfit like Fox.

I'd love to see this happen more often. Fox reporters are so histrionic....this crowd is vocal NOT out of control.

Here's a sermon that makes lots of sense

If only more preachers had been speaking out like this in the week(s) prior to Bush, Cheney, and the Corporate Media rushing this nation off to an illegal invasion. Maybe if we had powerful, brave ministers like this more Christians would have searched their souls and listened to Jesus in their hearts....and maybe there would have been enough of us to give our Congress the courage to have countered the Bush/Cheney war plans.

Call me an idealist or whatever you want to call me. l will do what l must to keep hope alive so I will keep acting on my beliefs. I believe it's better than being apathetic....Apathy kills.....



Now the question is....are you going to let the corporate media spin and spread it's propaganda so "they" can annihilate the people's candidate and install another "corporate" president into the White House?

The 60's Phenomenon

It's amazing to look back at the phenomenal sixties and to see how far trendsetting the youth were. The Beatles started music video before it even had a name....and the passionate youth gathered together, united in such large groups to hear the "visionary" music of our generation and IMAGINED how to make a better world.

No wonder the powers that be decided that our music had to be controlled...in this day and time, with the way the majority of people feel about Iraq and George Bush don't you find it "mind blowing" that the peace songs have been banned from our radio stations? First, Clearwater banned the Dixie Chicks (and then promised Congress they would not abuse their use of OUR airwaves again.) Of course, Clearwater lied. Despite high sales, Clearwater has refused to play Springsteen's latest album....Pink's Dear Mr. President, as you already know, is getting no airplay.

And our FCC, funded by our tax dollars, instead of regulating the corporations, INCREASED their monopolies and the corporations propaganda power last month. The FCC acted against the wishes of the overwhelming majority of the American people AND our Congress.

You know we need a revolution...

Prevent a Major Disaster!! ACT NOW

There they go again….It’s an instant replay of the same plan of action that got us all stuck in the Iraq quagmire.

Bush, Cheney and their “pundits” in the corporate media and in the ultra conservative think tanks have taken to dominating the airwaves with their “cherry picked” intelligence to pave the way for invading Iran.

Once again it’s nothing but LIES heaped upon LIES.

Fact—the MAJORITY of middle east foreign experts state that it would be a huge mistake for the United States to launch an illegal invasion on Iraq. You can find some of these experts here.

Up till now it’s been the neocons and their supporters are the ones with blood soaked hands. They have been responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Iraqi’s and thousands of American troops on their hands. If this Iran attack is launched there will be many more deaths piled on top of this and the terrorist attacks against the U.S. will increase not decrease.

However, IF the American public allows an illegal Iran invasion to take place the rest of the world will not make a distinction between the Bush Cabal and the American public. We no longer have the excuse that we did not know. Bush, Cheney, and the corporate media pundits fooled us to support an illegal invasion of Iraq….but if we are fooled “twice” by the exact same tactics then the rest of the world will see Americans as responsible for the actions of our government.

If you think America has problems now....an illegal invasion of Iran will make the Iraq invasion pale by comparison. (It would be like say, invading Rhode Island.) America will face more serious consequences if the madmen in the White House are allowed to continue this disastrous course to invade Iran. The Bush Cheney plan to invade Iran is a disaster. Fury will be unleashed on our poor troops in Iraq AND terrorist attacks against the U.S. will increase. There is no way that invading Iran will make a single American safer. (Though it will make the war profiteers and oil companies richer...once again at the expense of the American taxpayer.)

You have the power to prevent a major disaster like this country has never known before. Don’t be complicit in the war crimes of Bush and Cheney…. Do it for your family, your friends, your community....Take a stand and speak out loudly, firmly, and clearly.

It will take only a few minutes of your time to contact your senator and representative and DEMAND that Congress insure that Bush and Cheney cannot invade Iran without Congressional approval. Ask them to support Senator Jim Webb’s legislation forcing the White House to get Congressional approval before they launch another illegal attack on another nation. (Note: Webb's legislation does not prevent Bush from acting in “self-defense.” But a war or an illegal invasion should not occur unless Congress is willing to support it.)

Media Watch---Please FACT CHECK

When will the corporate media allow journalists and reporters to do their jobs? The job starts with FACT CHECKING....The Republicans are dispersing a bunch of talking points that are FALSE...and the corporate media is once again becoming a fascist neo-con propaganda machine...simply reporting false accusations.

1--The White House wants the Democratic Congress labeled a "do nothing" Congress....FALSE...it's the Republican party who are putting the brakes on legislative activities. IF Congress does pass a decent bill King George is threatening to VETO.

2--The White House is reporting PROGRESS with the Bush Surge. FALSE--Insurgent attacks are higher now than they were pre-surge...and the Iraqi government has not met a single bench mark. The White House desperately wants the American people to think progress is being made so they can continue this war. The White House is already acting like the September deadline means nothing....They want another "new" deadline set for Spring. Once again the same old spin just to keep this war going on and on and on....while the American people continue to die and go heavier and heavier into death. And for what? So George Bush and Dick Cheney can save face and continue to collect war time profits for themselves and their cronies?

3--The White House is still itching to attack Iran so they continue to state that Iran is "meddling" in Iraq's affairs. This is partially true. However, they do not mention that the BIGGEST MEDDLER are Bush and Cheney's favorite Middle East nation--Saudi Arabia. The Saudi's are increasing their support (with manpower and material support) of the Sunni's....the very insurgents attacking our troops on a daily basis. In addition, the Bush White House has just discovered a Saudi bank and a Saudi family financing Al Qaeda...and they have decided to do nothing about it. Yet with the latest Bush executive order they will immediately confiscate an American citizen's property and cash assets if Bush thinks they are subverting the Iraqi war effort. And now Bush and Cheney want to sell the Saudi's more military hardware....military hardware that "could" make it's way into Iraq and be used against our troops. Heckuva job Bushie.

The corporate media has shown that all it will do is spread propaganda. The corporate media helped us get into this war with propaganda and they are going to continue the propaganda to keep us in this war....

So American's need to continue to shout out to the Congress to SUPPORT OUR TROOPS AND STOP THE WAR NOW!!

When you want factual news check out democracynow.org where you can access the daily report via video, audio, or transcripts. And of course, continue to check out "reputable blogs." Beware that the neo-cons have recently begun an onslaught into the blogosphere and are now supplying talking points to various right wing blogs.....They continue to believe the endless repetition will once again sell falsehoods as truth to the American people.

Please don't drink the Kool Aid folks. Remember that recent history shows that if the White House is making a statement it is probably false......don't believe anything unless you fact check it yourself.

Buzz...Buzz...

Joe Blow Hard Lieberman is at it again..

Joseph Lieberman is at it again....blowing hard on the trumpet for Tricky Dick Cheney and George Bush. Spreading an outright propagandistic lie across our land....According to Joe Blow Hard....Iran is intent on attacking America.

I can imagine how an ordinary citizen apeaking such nonsense might end up on a psychiatric ward for an assessment. How has Joe Lieberman and his pals--Tricky Dick and George--managed to escape a psychological assessment for so long?

In the meantime I feel sorry for the CT citizenry. They must be embarrassed...in the same way any educated citizenry would be embarrassed. In the same way, many Virginians were embarrassed by our former Senator George Allen. If someone from CT is not embarrassed by Joe Lieberman...then, I'm embarrassed for you.

Hitler, Propaganda and Recycling Iraq as Iran

How many of you know that the very propaganda techniques employed with devastating effect by the White House and worldwide Neocon apparatus were first articulated by Adolf Hitler back in 1925 in his autobiography, Mein Kampf? His spiritual heirs are employing them today to manipulate us into war against Iran. Read on:

*****

"The people in their overwhelming majority are so feminine by nature and attitude that sober reasoning determines their thoughts and actions far less than emotion and feeling."
-Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf (Ralph Manheim translation, p.183)

*****
Adolf Hitler expounded upon propaganda considerably in his massive autobiographic polemic against the Jews, Bolshevism and most things civilized, Mein Kampf (My Life), first written in 1925. Actually, Hitler was the director of propaganda for the Nazi Party for a time.

In the above quotation, he is cynically observing that for mass propaganda to work on the masses, one has to throw logic out the window and hit them with images and rhetoric that provoke fear, anger, patriotism, disgust, etc., and on a more primal level, by triggering their archetypal longings through symbols like the Swastika. However, I would hesitate to say that the Nazis themselves understood all the attractions of the Swastika, especially its sexual connotations, other than on a subconscious level.

To circumvent logic for emotions was a critically important point for a movement that was itself illogical at its core. Nazi ideology depended on a mystical belief system to promote its notion of Aryan superiority, which, like eugenics in general, it could only disguise as science.

Hitler also underscored several other key propaganda tenets, such as repetitiveness and simplicity:

"But the most brilliant propagandist technique will yield no success unless one fundamental principle is borne in mind constantly and with unflagging attention. It must confine itself to a few points and repeat them over and over. Here, as so often in this world, persistence is the first and most important requirement for success." (ibid, p.184)

Then there is what may be described as the Nazis' grand propaganda principle:

"All this was inspired by the principle - which is quite true in itself - that in the big lie there is always a certain force of credibility; because the broad masses of a nation are always more easily corrupted in the deeper strata of their emotional nature than consciously or voluntarily; and thus in the primitive simplicity of their minds they more readily fall victims to the big lie than the small lie, since they themselves often tell small lies in little matters but would be ashamed to resort to large-scale falsehoods. It would never come into their heads to fabricate colossal untruths, and they would not believe that others could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously. Even though the facts which prove this to be so may be brought clearly to their minds, they will still doubt and waver and will continue to think that there may be some other explanation."
-Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf (James Murphy translation, p. 134)

The world has seen how effective the above principles were in the Nazis' ultimate goal, the "victory of the idea". They succeeded not only in Nazifying Germany, but spread their toxic ideology across Europe and even overseas, America itself seeing the rise of such Fascist organizations as the American Bund Movement in the 1930s:

"Propaganda tries to force its doctrine on the whole people.....Propaganda works on the general public from the standpoint of an idea and makes them ripe for the victory of this idea, while the organization achieves victory by the persistent, organic, and militant union of those supporters who seem willing and able to carry on the fight for victory."
-Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf (Ralph Manheim translation, p. 582)

Thus, all the above principles must be implemented by a strong propaganda apparatus, a dedicated and single minded organization that brooks no internal dissent, and ultimately no external dissent. Reality has been pigeonholed and the pigeons must not be allowed to debate the shape of their hovels.

Enter the Bush Administration
Whether or not Karl Rove and the apparatiks in the White House have actually read Mein Kampf I do not know. Have they incorporated those same propaganda principles espoused by Hitler? The answer is a resounding YES!

Let us look at the run-up to the war in Iraq after 9/11 as a case in point, although I will not get into the raging debate as to whether 9/11 was the American Reichstag fire. However, let me ask, soon after the lightning collapse of the Towers, was a dominant idea promoted that had to be indoctrinated into the American people as widely as possible? Yes, the idea that Saddam Hussein was an imminent threat who must be dealt with immediately before he could strike with "weapons of mass destruction", a good, chilling phrase meant to terrify mothers and children and alarm the men.

Was going to war justified primarily by reason or appeals to emotions? Emotions largely. Balanced, reasoned debate based on real facts was largely absent. Debate was skewed to begin with by false reports about alliances between Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda, non-existent chemical/biological mobile stations, "yellow cake and aluminum tubes", and so forth. I won't even dwell on the obvious fact that Saddam Hussein's military capacity was largely impotent in 2003, especially against the United States. Emotionally speaking, there were strident appeals to patriotism, always against the looming background of the vaporized Twin Towers of 9/11, not to mention the great fear, anger and disgust this evoked in the average American. The mindset became, for millions of Americans: 9/11=al Qaeda=Iraq, so protect ourselves and get revenge!

Was this mantra that Saddam's regime was an evil, al Qaeda-loving threat to international security repeated constantly? Yes is not a strong enough term. Repetition was 24/7 from multiple sources: government, radio, TV, websites, newspapers, magazines, Right-wing pulpits, and on and on.

Was the Big Lie utilized? Yes again, as already inferred above. Everything was a lie except for Hussein's track record as a tyrant, and even this was embellished. How much bigger a whopper, to mention just one, can you contrive than the B-movie scenario that Iraq planned to use unmanned drones launched from merchant ships to spray American cities with deadly chemicals. We are half-way to Orson Welles' famous 1938 radio show, War of the Worlds, which scared the Hell out of countless Americans, with concoctions like this. All told, this was a rather fantastic fairy tale, all explained away after the fact as the product of faulty intelligence. Of course, some, such as diehard Congresswoman Thelma Drake, are still striving to depict several hundred degraded, 20-year old chemical artillery shells recovered from the Iraqi desert as the missing WMDs. Good luck.

Was there a singularly focused propaganda apparatus driving the entire campaign? Only one of the most massive in history. The White House, State Department, Pentagon, co-opted portions of the CIA and NSA, all the Right-wing think tanks, all the Neocon-biased media owned by the likes of Rubert Murdoch, Sun Myung Moon and others worked relentlessly in lockstep to vilify Saddam Hussein as the great threat to America.

Enter the American Foreign Policy Council
Where am I leading with all of this? Well, on January 23, 2007, the American Foreign Policy Council (AFPC), the esteemed (largely in Neocon and Right-wing circles) "think-tank" announced that it was launching a week-long TV advertising campaign aimed at "educating" the American public about the growing threat posed by a nuclear Iran. This has subsequently run on CNN, MSNBC, Headline News and the Fox News Channel in Washington DC, Maryland and northern Virginia. The campaign consists of two rather nasty 30 second TV commercials. This just happened to coincide with 1) the State of the Union address in which Bush demonized Iran; 2) the heightening build-up of American Naval forces in the Persian Gulf, a second carrier group (the Stennis) having just sailed from the West coast, 3) orders to allow American soldiers in Iraq to shoot to kill Iranian "combatants" (how they will be able to tell who these shadowy Iranians are before shooting them is not explained, or will they arrest them, interrogate them and then execute them?); and 4) the recent acrimonious arrests of Iranian diplomats in Iraq by American forces, actions that have antagonized both the Kurdish and Iraqi authorities, to only partially list all the current initiatives against Iran.

In other words, Hitler's propaganda principles have now been turned against a new victim, Iran, and incorporated into the larger, multi-faceted escalation of hostilities, with the AFPC serving as an appendage of the American government, either directly or vicariously.

This is rather unprecedented, a private think tank trumpeting and financing hysterical propaganda against a foreign nation on TV. And just who is the AFPC? To quote from their own website: "AFPC is a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing information to those who make or influence the foreign policy of the United States and to assisting world leaders, particularly in the former USSR, with building democracies and market economies. AFPC is widely recognized as a source of timely, insightful analysis on issues of foreign policy, and works closely with members of Congress, the Executive Branch and the policymaking community. It is staffed by noted specialists in foreign and defense policy, and serves as a valuable resource to officials in the highest levels of government." (See: www.afpc.org/ ) Within the AFPC, a program called the IFI or Iran Freedom Initiative, apparently spearheaded by AFPC Vice President for Policy, Ilan Berman, has commissioned the advertisements.

Hmmm. Everyone toots their own horn, but AFPC is so important to leaders in Russia that when you run their name in the Russian Pravda and Itar-Tass search engines, they register zero hits, although their website, to be fair, does list some glowing comments by several members of the Russian Duma. And indeed, one gets the impression from their website of wise, tweed-suited senior professorial types pontificating expertly on crucial matters of State. But after you review the scripts of their two anti-Iranian commercials, you suddenly begin to imagine half-naked lunatics dancing around a bonfire, chanting, "Disembowel Iran, disembowel Iran, font of all evil!"

The first commercial's script conjures up Iran as a nuclear threat and accuses it of being the world's largest state sponsor of terrorism, killing hundreds of Americans, nurturing 25,000 suicide-bombers against the United States and Europe, as well as developing a dangerous nuclear capability. Then, with true Orwellian panache, the ad asks the audience to "Stand up for peace. Call up the White House and tell them to enforce sanctions against Iran today." We have seen how well coercive sanctions against Iraq "stood up for peace" in that luckless country.

The first script also dutifully lists "references" for its allegations, the first dig, that "Iran is the world's largest state sponsor of terrorism" being backed up by a BBC article reporting that Condoleezza Rice has charged that Iran is the central banker for world terrorism. And that's it. NO EVIDENCE, NO EXPOSE, just her disingenuous statement! What terrific research, enough to make a 6th grader blush with embarrassment.

The next allegation is that the Iranians have supported attacks that have killed Americans, basing it on a lawsuit against Iran by American families who lost loved ones when the Marine Barracks was blown up in Lebanon in 1983 during the Lebanese civil war. Iran ignored the lawsuit, considering it specious, and U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth awarded the judgment to the plaintiffs by default, coupled with the prosecutor's investigation.

However, a case where there are no defense arguments and cross-examination alleges much but proves nothing. What AFPC is really referring to is an attack on the Marine barracks in direct retaliation for President Reagan ordering the battleship USS New Jersey, with its massive guns, to lead deadly naval sea and air bombardments of pro-Syrian Druse villages and positions on the Lebanese coast-line. Reagan, thus, was directly taking sides in the raging civil war. At that point, America ceased to be a neutral peacekeeper.

Several Shiite militias claimed responsibility for the assault, including the Free Islamic Revolutionary Movement, which even named the two suicide bombers. Hezbollah was not even an official organization at this point (being founded in 1985 as an amalgam of Shiite militias), yet Judge Lamberth finds in his ruling that, amazingly, YET TO BE CREATED Hezbollah carried out the bombing on orders from Iran, rather sloppy scholarship indeed. However, this is good enough for the AFPC.

I can go on and on against each of the AFPC's allegations, especially the main broadsides that 1) President Ahmadinejad of Iran wants to wipe Israel off the map and 2) that they are on the verge of developing a nuclear bomb that, to hear the Israelis shiver and prattle about it, the Iranians will apparently immediately hide in a goat cart, sneak into Tel Aviv and detonate. Ahhh yes, paranoia, it makes deranged fools of us all. Meanwhile, Israel possesses some two hundred to six hundred nuclear weapons, according to various intelligence agencies. Nothing like the teapot calling the kettle black.

Regarding the "wipe out Israel" quote, it has now been proven by, not one, but many investigators and scholars that Ahmadinejad was only quoting an old Ayatollah Khomeini prophecy in Persian to the effect that the regime occupying Jerusalem shall vanish from history, a far cry from the skewed translation, ironically by an Iranian news agency that later retracted it, that the state of Israel itself should be wiped off the map - regime collapse versus the annihilation of an entire people, quite a big difference.

As for the terrifying specter of a nuclear-armed Iran, no one (except of course the always self-serving and imaginative Israeli intelligence services and Dick Cheney's X-ray vision) can find any direct proof that Iran even has a nuclear weapons program, let alone a viable one, not the AEIA, not the CIA, not anyone halfway credible. As for the industrial nuclear program that Iran is so proud of and stubborn about, this just came out in The Observer in England this past Sunday, January 28:

"Iran's efforts to produce highly enriched uranium, the material used to make nuclear bombs, are in chaos and the country is still years from mastering the required technology. Iran's uranium enrichment programme has been plagued by constant technical problems, lack of access to outside technology and knowhow, and a failure to master the complex production-engineering processes involved. The country denies developing weapons, saying its pursuit of uranium enrichment is for energy purposes.

"Despite Iran being presented as an urgent threat to nuclear non-proliferation and regional and world peace - in particular by an increasingly bellicose Israel and its closest ally, the US - a number of Western diplomats and technical experts close to the Iranian programme have told The Observer it is archaic, prone to breakdown and lacks the materials for industrial-scale production." ( )

The article only gets more embarrassing for Iran as it continues, not to mention for the AFPC and its "timely, insightful analysis" of realities in Iran. Yes, it is tough being a propagandist in the era of the blogosphere.

Combating the Propaganda
However, the AFPC probably really doesn't care because it is working within the Hitlerian framework of peddling the Big Lie, and if past history be the judge, the new wave of fear propaganda, in essence recycling and retooling the same lies used against Iraq for use against Iran, will succeed in staining America with yet more innocent blood, both American and Iranian, while the Neocon ideologues and merchants of death cackle in the shadows, rejoicing in their sadistic handiwork, unless.....

Unless we turn Hitler's principles against them. For example, in opposition to the Big Lie, we should loudly trumpet the full truth about Iran, warts and all, exposing all the Neocon lies ferociously, providing trustworthy sources and promoting honest scholars, while welcoming Iranians into our hearts as well, for the Biggest Truth is, of course, that God, or the infinite creative consciousness, is in all beings (even Neocons), and that we are all, in the deepest respect, brothers and sisters. When you assume that perspective, you gradually abandon the demonization of others and begin to think in terms of real diplomacy and reconciliation.

We must also incessantly reaffirm and reinforce the truth, because it is not enough to expose a lie once and rest on our laurels, for the totalitarian hardcore out there will regroup like Hydras. And we must enlarge our platform for speaking the truth. That means we must continue to obstruct the strident and ongoing Fascistic attempts to monopolize and control all aspects of the media, to pigeonhole Americans' minds, and continue to build or restore our own venues for presenting the truth to the world.

Finally, to put the lie to Hitler's observation that the "feminine", unthinking masses are persuaded primarily by pushing emotional hot-buttons, we must extol our fellow citizens to really wake up. This will require some detoxification and consciousness raising, but it will be worth it if we can truly awaken the sleeping American giant to its higher, spiritual destiny.

*****

Quote of the Week, By Voltaire

In light of President Bush's "surge" speech this Wednesday tonight on national television, this quotation seems particularly appropriate:

"Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities."

-François-Marie Arouet de Voltaire

THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX

Introducing the first of our Thinking Outside the Box series. TOB's will be utilized to assist our creative thinking, expand our options, choices, and solutions and hopefully help us reduce the close mindedness and narrow world view that comes in part to a "puritan heritage" that helped found this county. However, the lack of options that comes with narrow mindedness is promoted by many power brokers in the USA mainstream, especially our corporate media.

Thanks to Liz Diaz for creating great graphics for our Thinking Outside the Box series....

Now...for our first installment we will travel to Denmark and a creative solution they put into action to stop speeding. There was only one problem...It worked too well.

ABC Disney Path to 911 Going to get Rocky

Organized Boycott is forming. It will include Disney, ABC, and major companies affiliated with the decision to use this propaganda flick to influence our 2006 elections. I will put out the info as I get it. In the meantime here is a graphic that is licensed under creative commons and can be used on your website or blogs to advertise the well deserved backlash these corporations have earned.
Graphic Created by sbwoodside

My Buzz on the Film--Path to 911

What Path to 9/11 Should Show—

1—The Secret Energy Task Force Meetings with Big Oil and VP Dick Cheney and their plans and schemes for the Iraqi Oil Fields.

2-The players involved in The Project for a New American Century and the desire for a new “Pearl Harbor” so they could launch their agenda.

3—The transition of the White House from the Clinton Team to the Bush Team…..The Bush team making fun of the Clinton team and Clinton's “obsession” with Osama Bin Laden and Al Queda.

4—The CIA is seriously concerned about an impending attack by Al Queda in the United States. It is so serious a threat that they must interrupt President Bush’s month long vacation at his ranch in Crawford Texas. A CIA agent is flown to Crawford to brief President Bush….At the end of the briefing Bush tells the CIA agent that his ass is now covered so he can go.
This report is given to other top officials in the Bush Administration….No one takes any action.

5. 9/11 occurs….show what all the top folks in the Bush Adminstration and the Pentagon are doing during the early morning hours and throughout the day….(Including the canceled airline travel that some were to take that morning).

6. Reenact the scene of George Bush reading the goat story to the children in the elementary school and show the discrepancies leading up to it (what he knew before he started reading and what he was told while reading the book)

7. President Bush finally boarding a plane and being flown to a secret bunker in the Midwest….until he surfaces to say I’m the President and I’m in charge.

8. The Bush White House grounds all planes.

9. The Bush White House gives approval for chartered jets to fly around the country picking up Osama Bin Laden’s relatives and flying them out of the country even though the FBI wanted to interrogate Bin Laden’s relatives.

10. Osama Bin Laden takes credit for the 9/11 tragedy.

11. Bushvows to get Osama Bin Laden Dead or Alive.

12. The EPA is told by the Bush administration to falsify their data and tell New Yorkers that the area around ground zero is safe.

13. No evidence from the building is kept…even though another building collapses that was not hit by a plane.

13. The discovery of unusual trading and stock options (including the airline industry) and how some got rich off of 9/11. This sort of trading results in an automatic investigation of the stock trades. In this case, no investigation has taken place.

14. Osama Bin Laden (very tall Arab who is on dialysis DAILY) cannot be found.

15. Resources are taken away from the hunt for the 9/11 villains and used to launch a war on a country and a people who had nothing to do with 9/11.

17. CIA concludes that Osama Bin Laden released a tape during Bush’s second election campaign in order to get Bush re-elected.

16. We are now stuck in an Iraq quagmire….millions have been made by Cheney, Haliburton, BIG OIL, and other Bush Cronies.

17. Osama Bin Laden is free, has bases in Pakistan that are now “allowed” by the Pakistani government, and he is able to continue his Al Queda operations.

18. Bush continues to stay the course, and the war profiteering is continuing….

19. The Body Count of how many US Troops, Iraqi troops, and Iragi civilians (men, women, and children) have died.

Are you kidding? It’s a crucial election and the corporations want to keep the feeding trough open. They are going to air a FICTIONALIZED version of the events blaming Clinton for 9-11.

ABC and Walt Disney want to keep a Corporate Controlled Congress in place.

Hopefully, the backlash from the American people will not only install a Democratic Congress but create a nationwide boycott of ABC and an international boycott of Walt Disney.