Where has all the rage gone?

I was twelve in 1968. I remember going to the biggest anti war protest ever in Amsterdam. 10s of thousands of people marching, against the war in Vietnam. My grandfather, who had fought in the resistance in the second world war when my mother was twelve, with my Jewish step grandmother who had lost her husband to the concentration camps in the II WW, and my parents  who had lived through the II WW, the hunger winter, the bombings, the violence and the deportation, of Jews( amongst others my fathers childhood friend a Jewish girl he just to play with),  , Labour leaders, Intelligencia, the gays, the gypsies and other undesirables and me and my sister, who grew up in the aftermath of war torn Europe.
When I was born 11 years after the war, there still was not a single tree in Amsterdam. They had all been chopped down to provide a little fuel in that cold and hungry winter (People would cycle a 100 km on bicycles with wooden tires to get a bag of potatoes or even tulip bulbs, which contrary to  popular  belief  taste horrible and are not on the daily menu of the the Dutch people)  we still no as the “honger winter” the “hunger winter.
We walked strong and proud that day, we all knew what war was about, and it is never about freedom, or democracy, or liberation. It is always about brutal domination of one people over another and the theft of their resources. Even the “liberation” of Europe at the end of the war was staged and planned after the brutal money men and the military complex and the Bush family had earned their blood money.

We were strong then, and our leaders were scared of us, because they knew that we knew, and we were not going to take another war lying down. We knew that war is always in the end, a war of the leaders against their people, because ” the people”  always wake up to what their leaders are doing in their name, and they always will fight to take the power back.

But we grew complacent and we became  wealthy ourselfes and we forgot: If we the people are not guarding  jealously our freedom, and our peace against the greedy, the corrupted, the manipulators and the power hungry , than we will end up poor and destitute and enslaved again.(travellerev) 

NEW YORK Five years ago today, as the U.S invasion of Iraq continued in its early stages, E&P published an article by Ari Berman, then an intern here, that examined the public attitudes on the eve of the war. He probed polls that found, on the most basic point, that roughly 2 out of 3 Americans backed an assault on Iraq.

But the attitudes driving those numbers raised serious issues about a misinformed public and the media’s role. He found that a startlingly high percentage falsely believed that Saddam helped plan the 9/11 attacks or Iraqi hijackers were involved that day, and that Iraqi WMD had already been found.

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Two Brothers and Two Scandals

Buzzy Krongard allegedly knew Princes father, and according to an ex-Blackwater employee was good mates with Erik Prince well before Blackwater was accorded it’s first CIA contract. He was a regular visitor in Moyock. It was while Krongard was 3th in power in the CIA that Prince was awarded his first CIA contract in April 2002.
Other interesting coincidences?

Prince was an intern in 1989 while Cheney was secretary of defence under Bush Sr.. Cheney a the time Asked Halliburton to research how best to privatize the military. Prince did not like how “liberal the white house was and became a marine. In the year 1997, the same year, the PNAC group got on the way, Prince established the first Blackwater compound in  Moyock. According to Al Clark the man who brought the Blackwater idea to Erik Prince, the company hit the ground running. While former executives now portray the early days  as slow, Jeremy Scahills book on Blackwater claims that the volume of “Black” and private contracts make it hard to assess this. Al Clark remembers SEALs, FBI, Special forces training in the compound from day one.(Travellerev)

The State Department’s top internal investigator, Inspector General Howard Krongard, revealed in a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing Tuesday, that his brother, Alvin B. Krongard, was a member of the advisory board of Blackwater, the very private mercenary company whose bloody, murderous behavior the IG office was supposed to be investigating.

Unmentioned in reports on this tainted relationship was the fact that Alvin Krongard, the former third-ranking leader of the CIA from 2001-2004, has also been the subject of some speculation regarding possible foreknowledge of the 9-11 attacks by some within the intelligence establishment.

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Despite Rhetoric, Dems Poised To Give Bush A Blank Check For Iraq

If it looks like a duch,walks like duck, quacks like a duck….. Let’s face it, the democrats are collaborating with the fascist cabal. I hope that one day the American people will do what the Dutch did with collaborators after WW II.
It involved a lot of hair shaving, public shaming, feathers and tar. Oh and long prison sentences and the loss of property. Just imagine Pelosi homeless in front of her own house, or Reid covered in tar and feathers. Sorry, guys but sometimes I just get so damn angry.(Trevellerev)

Despite their rhetoric about not wanting to hand President Bush another “blank check” for the Iraq War, Democrats appear poised to give him exactly that — enough cash to keep the war going full steam for as long as six months, no strings attached.
Democratic leaders continue to fear GOP attacks that cutting off or slowing funds would hurt the troops, despite anger among the Democratic base over the party’s failure to use Congress’ power of the purse to end the war.

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War pimp allert: Petraeus puts heat on Iran over Iraq violence.

Petraeus listed the type of weapons he said Iran was supplying to militias in Iraq.

He said this comprised advanced rocket-propelled grenades, shoulder-fired “Stinger-like” air defense missiles and 240mm rockets. This was in addition to components used to make explosively formed projectiles (EFPs), a particularly deadly roadside bomb that has killed hundreds of U.S. troops in Iraq.

Petraeus also suggested there was an Iranian link in the assassination of two provincial governors in southern Iraq in August. Both were killed by roadside bombs.

“They are implicated in the assassination of some governors in the southern provinces,” said Petraeus.

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For Balkan Shipping Agent, War Is Good for Business

Why is the US doing business with a sleezy serb weapons dealer?

NIS, Serbia — For the past four years Tomislav Damnjanovic has played a crucial role in the United States’ wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Since 2003, he has delivered millions of rounds of ammunition, guns, grenades and mortars to the governments of Iraq and Afghanistan, United Nations officials say, facts he does not dispute. His aircraft have even been used to shuttle supplies between American bases in Iraq, saving troops from having to make hazardous trips by land.

But it was not always so.

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The People vs. the Profiteers

Americans working in Iraq for Halliburton spin-off KBR have been outraged by the massive fraud they saw there. Dozens are suing the giant military contractor, on the taxpayers’ behalf. Whose side is the Justice Department on?
by David Rose November 2007 On first meeting him, one might not suspect Alan Grayson of being a crusader against government-contractor fraud. Six feet four in his socks, he likes to dress flamboyantly, on the theory that items such as pink cowboy boots help retain a jury’s attention. He and his Filipino wife, Lolita, chose their palm-fringed mansion in Orlando, Florida, partly because the climate alleviates his chronic asthma, and partly because they wanted their five children to have unlimited access to the area’s many theme parks.Grayson likes theme parks, too. Toward the end of two long days of interviews, he insists we break to visit Universal Studios, because it wouldn’t be right for me to leave his adopted city without having sampled the rides. Later he sends me an e-mail earnestly inquiring which one I liked best.

He can be forgiven a little frivolity. In his functional home-office in Orlando, and at the Beltway headquarters of his law firm, Grayson & Kubli, Grayson spends most of his days and many of his evenings on a lonely legal campaign to redress colossal frauds against American taxpayers by private contractors operating in Iraq. He calls it “the crime of the century.”

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All you need is a crazy rich guy with a private army. part 4

Erik Prince’s connections read like a who is who of the 9/11 suspects and war profiteers.

If like me you have come to the realization that the official conspiracy theory about the events of 9/11 is impossible and that the body of scientific evidence proves that 9/11 was an inside job than you have to wonder how the perpetrators and planners could realize their ideologies. You have to wonder about how they could form a cadre of men prepared to ruthlessly kill Americans to further their own greedy agenda. This is one possible way.

Secretive and well connected Erik Prince, a ultra right wing re-converted catholic with a drive for a new crusade, might very well fit the bill. The next few weeks I will present the case.

In the mean time have a look at this PDF. It is a visual lay out of all the connections that have helped Erik Prince and Blackwater.
It will be updated as I find more connections. It will be followed by articles about the connections and what they mean in the bigger picture. 

Let me count the ways in which Erik Prince is connected

Contracts to BLACKWATER USA

Blackwater earns more than 1 Billion since 2000.
And this is what can be traced.
Blackwater  became operational the same year (1997) PNAC wrote their infamous; Rebuilding America’s defences.
According to Al Clark who started Blackwater with Erik Prince the company hit the ground running, with al kinds of CIA and other contracts. Erik Prince by the way was an intern in the White house when Cheney was secretary of defence under Daddy Bush. (1992) This was the period before Cheney became a CEO for Haliburton and it was in this period that he asked Haliburton to research the privatization of the military. Erik Prince was the son of one of the republican party’s wealthiest supporters and Erik didn’t like all the things he saw at the white house. Inviting Gays and all these environmental laws and stuff like that. At the time Cheney and Rumsfeld and their Neocon cronies were regarded as the “Crazies”. (Sources Jeremy Scahill and col. Bowman)  

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Lawmaker says Rice interfered with Iraq inquiry

By Sue Pleming

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A leading Democratic lawmaker on Tuesday accused Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice of interfering in congressional inquiries into corruption in Iraq’s government and the activities of U.S. security firm Blackwater.

Democratic Rep. Henry Waxman said State Department officials had told the Oversight and Government Reform Committee he chairs they could not provide details of corruption in Iraq’s government unless the information was treated as a “state secret” and not revealed to the public.

“You are wrong to interfere with the committee’s inquiry,” Waxman said in a letter to Rice. “The State Department’s position on this matter is ludicrous,” added Waxman, a vocal opponent of the Bush administration’s Iraq policies.

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China says it opposes threatening Iran with war

BEIJING (Reuters) – China is opposed to threatening Iran with war over its nuclear program and stands for a diplomatic solution, a government spokeswoman said on Tuesday.

The United States, Germany, France, Britain, Russia and China have backed two rounds of U.N. sanctions against Iran over its refusal to halt uranium enrichment and other sensitive work that could be used to make nuclear weapons.

“We believe the best option is to peacefully resolve the Iranian nuclear issue through diplomatic negotiations, which is in the common interests of the international community,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said at a regular briefing.

“We do not approve of easily resorting to threatening use of force in international affairs,” Jiang said when asked to comment on remarks by French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner raising the prospect of war with Iran.

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Russia Says U.S. Attack on Iran Would Be Catastrophic

By Sebastian Alison and Henry Meyer

Sept. 18 (Bloomberg) — A U.S. military strike on Iran would have “catastrophic consequences,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Losyukov said.

“Bomb attacks on Iran would be a wrong move leading to catastrophic consequences,” Losyukov said in an interview with newspaper Vremya Novostei, published on the ministry’s Web site.

Losyukov’s remarks come two days after French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said the world should “prepare for the worst” in the crisis over Iran’s nuclear program, and that “the worst is war.” In Moscow today, Kouchner said everything must be done to avoid war and called for all sides to “negotiate, negotiate, negotiate without a break.”

Iran says it’s pursuing a nuclear research program to generate energy. The U.S. accuses it of enriching uranium to make a nuclear bomb. The State Department is trying to rally support for a third round of United Nations sanctions against Iran at the Security Council in New York.

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Update: Rice apologises for US security firm shootings

Yep, looks like Blackwater is going nowhere. 

Ewen MacAskill in Washington
Tuesday September 18, 2007
The Guardian

Members of Blackwater scan Baghdad from their helicopter. Photograph: Marwan Naamani/AFP/Getty
 

The US secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, apologised to the Iraqi government yesterday in an attempt to prevent the expulsion of all employees of the security firm Blackwater USA.The ministry of interior yesterday took the decision to expel Blackwater after eight Iraqi civilians were killed and 13 wounded in Baghdad when shots were fired from a US state department convoy on Sunday.

Diplomats, engineers and other westerners in Iraq rely heavily on protection by Blackwater. The Iraqi decision created confusion on the ground, with uncertainty over whether protection was still available and whether Blackwater staff should leave the country immediately.

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Update: Blackwater in Iraq

According to the Veterans 911 truth site:

Randi Rhodes just reported that Bush called Malaki and that Iraq will reconsider its decision to ban Blackwater. who’s attorney is Ken Starr…!
Remember, Blackwater does not have that many Mercenaries in Iraq, but they are by far the most well connected.

Update: Will Iraq Kick Out Blackwater?

Don’t count your chickens until they hatch.

Although I would welcome the withdrawal and dismantling of all mercenary groups in Iraq and in all the other countries were they operate I would not count on that happening anytime soon. The US army is now a minority compared to the contractor groups in Iraq and the troops are so overstretched that there is no way they can replace them. Added to that Blackwater is protecting all the VIP’s, not the US army. It will be until hell freezes over before they leave Iraq.

Monday, Sep. 17, 2007 By ADAM ZAGORIN AND BRIAN BENNETT/WASHINGTON

Blackwater US private security contractors secure a site in Baghdad where a roadside bomb exploded near the Iranian embassy, 2005.

Ahmad al-Rubaye / AFP / Getty

TIME has obtained an incident report prepared by the U.S. government describing a fire fight Sunday in Baghdad in which at least eight Iraqis were reported killed and 13 wounded. The deadly incident occurred when a convoy of U.S. personnel protected by Blackwater security contractors came under small arms fire. Blackwater returned fire, resulting in the Iraqi deaths. The loss of life has provoked anger in Baghdad, where the Interior Ministry has suspended Blackwater’s license to operate around the country. Several Iraqi government officials have indicated their opposition to Blackwater’s continued presence in their country.

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Administrative remedy with NIST denied

Personally I would like to see fired USA Iglesias do the criminal 911 investigation, at least he has proven time and again that he has integrity and Cogones. 

September 14, 2007 – A conflict of interest is defined as a real or potential conflict between private / professional / political interests and official responsibilities of a government employee, government agency, and / or sub-contractors under government contract that occurs when a situation arises in which there is a divergence between personal, professional, or political interests and the obligations to the public, such that an impartial observer might reasonably question whether the actions and decisions, or lack of actions and decisions, taken by the government employee, government agency, and / or sub-contractors under government contract related to the situation would be influenced by consideration of the government employees’, government agencies’, and / or sub-contractors’ private, professional, or political interests.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), along with its sub-contractors working on the technical investigation to determine how World Trade Center Building Seven (WTC7) collapsed, has an undeniable, clearly definable, conflict of interest.  This conflict of interest places NIST in violation of the Data Quality Act.

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Iraqi police say security contractors open fire in western Baghdad, killing at least 9

BAGHDAD: Security contractors opened fire in western Baghdad on Sunday, killing at least nine civilians and wounding 18, Iraqi police said. The U.S. Embassy said contractors working for the State Department were involved in an incident but provided no further details.

The shootings happened about 12:30 on Nisoor Square in the predominantly Sunni neighborhood of Mansour, a police officer said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to release the information.

The security contractors were in a convoy of six SUVs and left the scene after the shooting. The policeman said he did not have more details, but a witness said the shooting erupted after an explosion.

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France says possible war with Iran

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said his country must prepare for the possibility of war against Iran over its nuclear programme, but he did not believe any such action was imminent.
   
Seeking to ratchet up the pressure on Iran, Kouchner also told RTL radio and LCI television that the world’s major powers should use further sanctions to show they were serious about stopping Tehran getting atom bombs, and said France had asked French firms not to bid for tenders in the Islamic Republic.
   
“We must prepare for the worst,” Kouchner said in an interview, adding: “The worst, sir, is war.”

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Secret raid on Korean shipment

 Uzi Mahnaimi in Tel Aviv, Sarah Baxter in Washington and Michael Sheridan

IT was just after midnight when the 69th Squadron of Israeli F15Is crossed the Syrian coast-line. On the ground, Syria’s formidable air defences went dead. An audacious raid on a Syrian target 50 miles from the Iraqi border was under way.

At a rendezvous point on the ground, a Shaldag air force commando team was waiting to direct their laser beams at the target for the approaching jets. The team had arrived a day earlier, taking up position near a large underground depot. Soon the bunkers were in flames.

Ten days after the jets reached home, their mission was the focus of intense speculation this weekend amid claims that Israel believed it had destroyed a cache of nuclear materials from North Korea.

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Bush setting America up for war with Iran

By Philip Sherwell in New York and Tim Shipman in Washington
Last Updated: 3:20am BST 16/09/2007

Senior American intelligence and defence officials believe that President George W Bush and his inner circle are taking steps to place America on the path to war with Iran, The Sunday Telegraph has learnt.

Dick Cheney (‘The Man’) with George W BushPentagon planners have developed a list of up to 2,000 bombing targets in Iran, amid growing fears among serving officers that diplomatic efforts to slow Iran’s nuclear weapons programme are doomed to fail.

Pentagon and CIA officers say they believe that the White House has begun a carefully calibrated programme of escalation that could lead to a military showdown with Iran.

Now it has emerged that Condoleezza Rice, the secretary of state, who has been pushing for a diplomatic solution, is prepared to settle her differences with Vice-President Dick Cheney and sanction military action.

In a chilling scenario of how war might come, a senior intelligence officer warned that public denunciation of Iranian meddling in Iraq – arming and training militants – would lead to cross border raids on Iranian training camps and bomb factories.

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Alan Greenspan claims Iraq war was really for oil

Graham Paterson AMERICA’s elder statesman of finance, Alan Greenspan, has shaken the White House by declaring that the prime motive for the war in Iraq was oil.

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