Sanctions businesses

The US Treasury Dept has allowed many US businesses to trade with Iran and other blacklisted countries. The total amount of trade amounts to billions of dollars.

Nixon war drugs

Nixon's drug war was fake according to fintan otoole.

Wikileaks Afghan drugs

Costa said that the Taliban were hoarding heroin stocks to keep prices high on Western streets, Wikileaks cable reveal.

Top Secret America

A follow up on the Washington Post's series on Top Secret America, this time on the domestic intelligence gathering apparatus designed to supposedly prevent home-grown terrorism, but in fact gathers intelligence about US citizens.

Irish economic crisis

Article on Ireland's economic crisis and a link to Andy Storey's paper calling for default.

Also here is a piece by Walden Bello, comparing Ireland's rise and fall to that of the East Asian Tigers and China.

Afghanistan reconciliation

Matthew Hoh says that the US was not interested in talks with the Taliban before, although the Taliban gave signs they were; and that as of now, the US is promoting talks, but that's just because it fits Washington's timeline, namely that now we're into the surge and the military can say they've made progress over the Taliban.

Afghanistan health care

The claim that 85% of Afghans have access to health care has been much repeated but is not true. It is based on the fact that 85% of districts in Afghanistan have a health facility, but it doesn't mean that all Afghans in the district have access to it.

Liu Xiaobo and Nobel Peace Prize

Excellent article on Liu Xiaobo's views: he endorsed the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, etc. Of course, the Nobel Peace Prize doesn't mean anything.

Kosovo

Good article on the US and NATO attack on Kosovo in 1999 and the recent report on the human organs trade.

Afghan peace movement

Afghans for Peace.

NHL Discrimination

Discrimination in the NHL against francophone, European and American players.

Afghanistan peace movement

Peace demonstration in Afghanistan about human rights.

US and Central Asia

Wikileaks on US support for Central Asian dictators in order to establish and foothold in Eurasia in competition with China and Russia.

US Egypt

Good article on US support for Egypt although it is a dictatorship.

US recruited Nazis in post war

The US recruited Nazis after World War 2 for their knowledge of communist countries, new documents reveal.

Israel and drugs

Wikileaks says Israel organized crime is an important contributor to the drug trade, in particular to Europe and the US.

Afghanistan drugs CIA

Another captured Afghan drug lord was a CIA informant.

Afghan peace group

A letter from the Afghan Youth Peace Volunteers here.

Saudi royals party drugs

Wikileaks reveals that Saudi elites drink alcohol and use drugs in their wild parties, while those activities are illegal in the country.

Iran wikileaks

Gareth Porter and Jim Lobe on Iran and Wikileaks saying that Arab countries do not really want military strikes against Iran.

Sahimi Iran

Sahimi n Iran and wikileaks.

EU Afghanistan

The EU does not believe in the Afghanistan campaign and is just there out of deference to the US, according to the wikileaks cables.

Saudia Arabia largest funding source for terrorists

Wikileaks cables show that the US State Dept recognizes that Saudi Arabia is the world's most significant funding source for Sunni terrorists.

Iran drugs harm reduction

Two articles here and here about Iran's move toward harm reduction, which is now threatened by Ahmadinejad. This brought great benefits to Iran's addicts.

wikileaks pakistan drones

The Wikileaks cables reveal that Pakistani leaders acquiesce in using drones even if in public they protest:

The WikiLeaks documents also lay bare the Pakistani leadership's acquiescence to the use of U.S. drone aircraft to target suspected militants in its tribal area, with Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani telling the American ambassador: "We'll protest in the National Assembly (parliament) and then ignore it." Pakistani leaders, including Gilani, claim they're pressing Washington to stop them.

Ireland and Israel wikileaks

Wikileaks revealed that the Irish government, in the face of popular pressure, had restricted the shipping of US weapons to Israel via Shannon airport.

Obama protected Bush against torture probe

In Spain.

EU subsidies to corporations

The main website is here from the FT.

EU funds are allocated to tobacco companies in Europe, against WHO regulations.

And McDonald's too benefits from the EU gravy train.

And some companies get funds as they relocate from Western to Eastern Europe to cut labor costs.

Wikileaks Amano IAEA

The wikileaks cables show that the US and Amano are very close on policy.

Wikileaks drugs Karzai Afghanistan

The memo said that in April 2009 Karzai pardoned five Afghan policemen caught with 273 pounds (124 kilograms) of heroin because they were related to two heroic figures of the Afghan civil war fought in the mid-1990s.

The policemen were tried, convicted and each was sentenced to 16 to 18 years in prison, but Karzai "pardoned all five of them on the grounds that they were distantly related to two individuals who had been martyred during the civil war," the memo said.

According to the document, Karzai also intervened in the narcotics case of Haji Amanullah, the son of a wealthy businessman and one of the president's supporters.

"Without any constitutional authority, Karzai ordered the police to conduct a second investigation which resulted in the conclusion that the defendant had been framed," Ricciardone wrote.

He wrote that intelligence reports indicated Karzai was also planning to release Ismail Safad, a drug trafficker sentenced to 19 years in jail. Safad was a priority target for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency who was arrested in 2005 with large quantities of heroin and weapons.

Abdul Makhtar, deputy director of the Afghan prison department, said Safad was still incarcerated at Pul-i Charkhi prison, the main detention facility in Kabul.

Wali Karzai and drugs wikileaks

US diplomats recognize that Wali Karzai is involved in drug trafficking, according to Wikileaks cables.

Koreas

Good article on the steps toward reconciliation between North and South Korea and the breakdown of the process in the last 3 years.

Ireland

Paul Krugman on Ireland.

Koreas

Raimondo has a good critical summary of the South North Korea issues.

US in Pakistan

The US is increasing its presence in Pakistan to conduct counter-insurgency with a new agreement to give freer access to its military personnel.

Ireland

Mark Weisbrot on Ireland who says that the drastic cuts imposed by the EU/IMF bailout don't ahve to be.

Iran nuclear

Sahimi on the recent history of US-Western negotiations and deals with Iran on nuclear issues and sanctions.

US dependence on warlords

Video on US dependence on warlords in Spin Boldak:

Iran Washington Post

The Washington Post editors are openly in favor of military threats toward Iran, against the UN charter.

Iran nuclear laptop

Gareth Porter raises doubts on the authenticity of the laptop documents in the Iranian nuclear file.

US spies ni Mexico

The US has spies in Mexico under the pretext of the drug war. The Pentagon, FBI and CIA are involved.

US military bases

Nick Turse on US military bases around the world.

Food hunger in US

Article on hunger in the US.

More than 50 million Americans — or 16.6 percent — had problems getting adequate nutrition last year.

Workers run businesses in Argentina

In the wake of the economic crisis in Argentina, more and more businesses left abandoned by their owners are now being run by workers.

China in Africa

Good article on China in Africa, which like the former European colonial powers, goes there to exploit resources on the back of African workers while African elites benefit:
Now, however, that exploitation has become so widespread and rank that the African people are turning against the increasing influence and presence of the Chinese on their continent. Reports of disgruntled Africans working on Chinese projects for what amounts to a slave's wage have come to epitomize Sino-African relations as much as any sparkling new infrastructure.

There was a particularly ugly reminder of this last month in the southern town of Sinazongwe in Zambia, where Chinese managers of the Collum Coal Mine fired on workers protesting against their dismal pay conditions. In the ensuing mayhem, 11 Zambians were wounded; three Chinese employees were also injured. Two Chinese managers of the mine, Xiao Li Shan and Wu Jiu Hua, have been charged with attempted murder and released on bail of $10,000 as an investigation into the shooting continues.

US nuclear START

Hillary Clinton and Robert Gates argue in favor of passing the New START Treaty. They mention that this won't hurt US defenses because:
-It will not restrict our ability to modernize our nuclear forces. On the contrary, the United States will continue to maintain a robust nuclear deterrent based on our "triad" of delivery systems: intercontinental ballistic missiles, submarine-launched ballistic missiles and heavy bombers for nuclear armaments. To sustain and modernize these systems, the administration has proposed spending well over $100 billion during the next decade.
-It will not limit our ability to develop and deploy the most effective missile defenses to protect America's forces and territory, and to enhance the security of our allies and partners. This administration is committed to sustaining and improving our missile defense capabilities and has proposed spending nearly $10 billion in fiscal 2011 to do so.
-Furthermore, the treaty permits us to make investments as needed to maintain a secure and effective nuclear stockpile. The administration has proposed spending $7 billion for this purpose in the current fiscal year - a nearly 10 percent increase - and more than $80 billion to modernize our nuclear weapons complex over the next decade, including a major life-extension program for current warheads. In all, the administration proposes spending more than $180 billion on the infrastructure that sustains our nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them - a substantial investment in the credibility and efficacy of America's nuclear deterrent.
-Finally, New START will not constrain our ability to develop and deploy the most effective conventional capabilities possible, including strike systems that could potentially hit a target anywhere on the globe in less than an hour.

Canada Afghanistan

Article on Canada in Afghanistan outlining the tortured, deaths and billions spent by Canada.

Guns Mexico drugs

A report says that US efforts to stem the flow of guns to Mexico are poor and not well organized. U.S. and Mexican officials estimate that more than 90% of the guns seized at the border or taken after raids and shootouts in Mexico originated in the United States, with California and Texas the largest providers.

Big tobacco

Big Tobacco companies are expanding markets to the developing world and fighting regulations worldwide.

Nazis in the US

A report by the US government says that the US protected many Nazis after WW2, used in the US for say weapons development. The Justice department tried to block the report (successfully) for a number of years).

Dean Baker

Dean Baker on Obama's Commission to cut the deficit.

Iran sanctions

Article on the consequences of sanctions on Iran.

Top-100 best paid in education Ireland

Morgan Kelly's article is here.

And this article below is from here.

The top 100 best-paid in education

At a time of unprecedented budget cuts and the possible return of third-level fees, SEAN FLYNN and PETER MCGUIRE reveal the salaries of the highest earners in Irish education

OVER 75 per cent of the €8.59 billion education budget is absorbed by pay and pensions. This means that all other education services must be funded from the €2.14 billion non-pay element of the budget. Overall, Ireland has one of the lowest levels of education spending in the OECD. It is ranked close to the bottom of international league tables when it comes to spending in relation to GDP.

The consequences of this under-investment are evident throughout the sector. It can be seen in dilapidated classrooms, lack of adequate support for information technology, meagre investment in early childhood education, lack of basic school facilities, and so on.

But a striking feature of the Irish education service is the relatively high rates of pay for academics and bureaucrats – especially at senior levels.

Today’s survey of the high earners in education comes amid increasing calls for a €100,000 cap on public service salaries. Many of those featured on this page point out they have already taken pay cuts and absorbed the public service pension levy. The universities say they need to pay the best to attract the best. But the top earners also include senior figures from the huge number of education quangos.

In all, more than 60 staff in the education sector earn more than €150,000, according to The Irish Times survey. A further 476 staff earn more than €110,000. In all, 497 people are on the professorial salary scale, €113,573–€145,952.

The education sector has 95,554 full-time staff – about 27 per cent of total public sector employment. Of these, 59,000 are teachers, 10,400 are special-needs assistants and 20,000 work in third-level colleges. The cost of teacher salaries is €2.1 billion at primary and €1.9 billion at second level. The cost of pay in the university/IT sector is €1.3 billion.

A further €62 million is spent on pensions to 22,700 education staff in primary, second-level and in ITs.

Inevitably, there are other top earners within the system whose names do not feature on today’s list – some third-level colleges and other educational bodies were more cooperative than others when it came to disclosing salary details.

The figures in this survey were compiled by Peter McGuire

1 PROF DES FITZGERALD

Vice-president for research, UCD

€263,602

Fitzgerald may be Ireland’s highest-paid academic but he has actually seen his salary fall from €409,000 in the past year, as UCD came under pressure to justify his exceptional pay packet.

Headhunted from the College of Surgeons, UCD says research income has more than tripled under Fitzgerald’s watch. Critics say his salary level is inappropriate in a university facing severe budgetary cuts and one with debts of more than €12 million.

2 PROF FRANK GANNON

Director general, Science Foundation Ireland

€259,697

Gannon leaves SFI at the end of the year after being headhunted by the Queensland Institute of Medical Research in Brisbane. He made a major impact on national science policy, including at Cabinet level. Described as a key asset by Minister for Enterprise Batt O’Keeffe, his departure is regarded as a huge loss.

A spokesperson said that Gannon’s salary level is “required in order to secure the services of a uniquely qualified individual with the necessary international scientific reputation and managerial experience, to deliver on the ambitious agenda the Government has entrusted to SFI.”

3 DR MICHAEL MURPHY

President, UCC

€232,151

The highest-paid university president in Ireland. Last year, former education minister Batt O’Keeffe asked the seven university presidents to take a pay cut but they have not responded to this request. UCC has debts of more than €10 million. Under Murphys tenure, UCC has routinely outperformed both UCD and Trinity College in the battle to secure research funding.

A spokesman for the college said that the presidents salary is HEA-approved and reflects his previous clinical background. The president also retains a special adviser, Eamonn Sweeney, who earns €118,000 per year.

4 PROFESSOR TOM BEGLEY

Dean, School of Business, UCD

€231,575

Begley’s role as dean of the UCD School of Business means he oversees the undergraduate Quinn School and the graduate Michael Smurfit School. The Smurfit MBA held its top 30 spot in the Financial Times European chart this year. The school also came in 98th in the global rankings. With more than 3,000 students and 30,000 alumni, the UCD Business School has a long reach into Irish corporate life.

5 PROFESSOR NICK QUIRKE

Principal, College of Engineering, Mathematical and Physical Sciences, UCD €227,659

Despite losing a special allowance last year, Quirke remains as one of the highest-paid academics in Ireland. His salary was sanctioned by the HEA under a special framework agreement, designed to help colleges attract top academics from Ireland and abroad.

Quirke fits the profile of the high-level international academic that Irish universities have been so eager to entice: he has published more than 110 papers in international journals and is editor-in-chief of the international journal, Molecular Simulation and chairman of the Journal of Experimental Nanoscience.

6 BRIGID McMANUS

Secretary General, Department of Education and Skills

€215,590

Only the fourth woman to reach the position of Secretary General and the first in the Department of Education and Science. Appointed in 2005. Regularly puts in 12 hour days (or longer) in Marlborough Street.

7 DR JAMES BROWNE (Joint 7th)

President, NUIG

€212,755

Became president four years ago after losing out in controversial circumstances more than a decade ago. Regarded as a tough, no-nonsense character who does not do small talk. That said, much respected across the sector and praised for NUIG’s strong links with local industry.

7 DR HUGH BRADY (Joint 7th)

President, UCD

€212,755

One of the most prominent and controversial figures in Irish education, Brady has brought about sweeping changes at Irelands largest university. Under fire at recent Dáil Public Accounts Committee and asked to justify €1.6 million in illegal, unauthorised bonuses to senior staff.

Credited with moving UCD swiftly up the world ranking. After languishing in 221st place, it is now in the worlds top 100 in the Times Higher ranking.

9 MARY COUGHLAN

Minister for Education

€208,526

Dubbed “Calamity Coughlan’’ during a controversial term in Enterprise and Employment. Has adopted a low profile and more cautious approach in Education. As Tánaiste, under pressure to deliver substantial education cuts in forthcoming budget.

10 EAMON DREA

Vice-president for staff, UCD

€202,913

A UCD graduate, he took an arts degree programme in the 1970s and went on to specialise in English and American literature. He then studied law at King’s Inns and was called to the bar in 1990. A civil servant for a decade, Drea worked at senior levels in the Department of the Environment and in the Department of Finance. Under Drea, an increasing number of lecturers at UCD are employed on short-term or hourly contracts.

THE OTHER TOP EARNERS

11.John Hegarty

Provost, Trinity College Dublin €202,118

12. Professor Brian Norton President, Dublin Institute of Technology

€193,843

12. Brian MacCraith

President, Dublin City University €193,843

12. Professor Don Barry President, University of Limerick €193,843

15.Paul OToole

Director general, FÁS

€189,115

16.Brian Cawley

Director general, Institute of Public Administration

€188,952

17.Tom Collins

Interim president, NUI Maynooth €184,150

18.Professor Frances Ruane

Director, Economic and Social Research Institute

€175,572

19.Professor Paul Giller Registrar/vice-president for academic affairs, UCC

€160,759

20. Professor Anne Scott Registrar, DCU €151,800 plus allowance of €14,145 –

total salary package €160,097

21.Dr Brendan Murphy

President, Cork IT

€156,630

21. Professor Kieran Byrne President, Waterford IT

€156,630

21. Marian Coy

President, Galway-Mayo IT

€156,630

21.Dr Philip Nolan

Registrar UCD

€156,249

21. Gerry OBrien

Bursar, UCD

€156,249

21. Professor Jim Ward

Registrar, NUI Galway

€156,249

21. Dr Séamus MacMathúna Secretary, NUI Galway

€156,249

21. Mary Dooley

Bursar, NUI Galway

€156,249

21. Professor Patrick J Prendergast

Vice-provost /chief academic officer, TCD

€156,249

21. Darina Kneafsey

Chief operating officer, TCD

€156,249

31. Con O’Brien

Vice-president for the student experience, UCC

€155,184

31. Professor Grace Neville

Vice-president for teaching and learning, University College Cork. €155,184

31. Professor Michael Peter Kennedy

Vice-president for research policy and support, UCC.

€155,184

34. Professor Eugene Kennedy Vice-president for research, DCU €153,685

35. Aíne Gibbons

Vice-president for development, UCD

€151,802

36. Professor Richard Kennedy Vice-president for learning and innovation, DCU

€151,800

36. Dr Maria Hinfelaar

President, Limerick IT

€151,800

36. Dr Ruaidhri Neavyn

President, IT Carlow

€151,800

36. Denis Cummins

President, Dundalk IT

€151,800

36. Prof Ciarán Ó Catháin

Athlone IT

€151,800

36. Dr Mary Meaney

President, IT Blanchardstown €151,800

36. Jim Devine

Director, Dún Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology €151,800

36. Paul Hannigan

President, Letterkenny IT €151,800

36. Professor Terri Scott President, Sligo IT

€151,800

36. Michael Carmody

President, IT Tralee

€151,800

36. Pat McLaughlin

President, IT Tallaght

€151,800

36. Mike OMalley

Bursar, NUI Maynooth

€151,800

36. Frank Soughley

Finance officer, DCU

€151,800

36. John Field

Director of finance, UL

€151,800

36. Secretary

UL (position currently vacant) €151,800

36. Professor Paul McCutcheon Registrar, UL

€151,800

36. Ian Matthews

Treasurer, Trinity College €151,800

36. Diarmuid Collins

Bursar, University College Cork €151,800

54. Padraic McNamara

Chief executive, State Examinations Commission €150,712 plus expenses of €1,318.21

54. Pat Curtin

Chief executive, National Council for Special Education.

€150,712

56. Executive Faculty Deans DCU

Salary scale rising to €150,667

– Jim Dowling

Dean of Engineering and Computing

– Professor Bernard Pierce

School of Business

– Professor Eithne Guilfoyle

Humanities and Social Sciences

– Professor Malcolm Smyth

Science and Health

60. Martin Conry

Secretary, DCU

€148,533

61. Stan McHugh

Chief executive, FETAC

€146,191

61. Padraig Walsh

Chief executive, National Qualifications Authority of Ireland salary scale of €127,796 to €146,191

63. Dr Martin Butler Vice-president for students, UCD Professorial scale rising to €146,022

63. Dr Padraic Conway Vice-president for university relations, UCD

to €146,022

63. College Principals, UCD salary scale rising to €146,022

–Professor Mary Daly

Arts and Celtic Studies

–Professor Brigid Laffan

Human Sciences

–Professor Maurice Boland

Life Sciences

68. David Redmond

Registrar, NUI Maynooth €146,001

69. Declan McGonagle

Director, National College of Art and Design.

€145,952

69. Dr Noel O’Connor

Director of student services, DIT Salary scale to €145,952

69. Paul Flynn

Director of finance and resources, DIT

to €145,952

69. Director/deans of colleges, DIT

– Bríd Grant

College of Arts and Tourism

– Mike Murphy

College of Engineering and Built Environment

– Paul OSullivan

College of Business

– Michael Devereux

College of Science and Health

Salary scale rising to €145,952

69. Professor Terry Smith

Vice-president for research,

NUI Galway

€145,952

69. Professor Rowena Pecchenino

Dean of the Faculty of Social Science, NUI Maynooth

€145,952

69. Professor Colm O’Morain

Dean of Health Sciences, TCD

€145,952 (Salary scale of professor consultant paid for by Tallaght Hospital, 50 per cent of which is reimbursed by TCD. The College pays in the order of €120,000.)

79. Tom Boland

Chief executive, Higher Education Authority

€145,392

80. Dr Pauric Travers

President, St Patricks College: €145,328

80. Dr Peadar Cremin

President, Mary Immaculate College

€145,328

82. Professor James Walsh

Deputy president, NUI Maynooth €144,607

83. Professor Caroline Fennell Head of College of Arts, Celtic Studies and Social Science, UCC €143,134

83. Professor Patrick Fitzpatrick Head of the College of Science, Engineering, and Food Science, UCC

€143,134

85. Attracta Halpin Registrar, National University of Ireland: €138,719 plus registration officer allowance of €635

86. Professor Michael Marsh

Dean of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, TCD Salary scale of €108,048–€138, 655

86. Professor Chris Curtin

Vice-president for innovation and performance, NUI Galway €138,655

86. Vice-president for research Professor Terry Smith, TCD €138,655

86. Professor Ray ONeill

Vice-president for research NUI Maynooth

€138,655

86. Professor Gerry Lyons

Dean of engineering and informatics, NUI Galway

salary scale to €138,655

86. Anne Fitzgerald

Secretary, Trinity College. Salary scale of €108,048–€138,655

92. Dr Thomas OConnor

Dean of Arts, Celtic Studies and Philosophy

€133,001*

92. Dr Bernard P Mahon

Dean, Faculty of Science and Engineering, NUI Maynooth

€133,001*

94. Gearóid Ó Conluain

Chief executive officer, Higher Education and Training Awards Council

€132,687 plus expenses of €7,009

95. Professor William Golden Dean of Business, Public Policy and Law, NUI Galway

€126,351

96. Anne Looney

Chief executive, National Council for Curriculum and Assessment €119,636

97. Éamonn Sweeney

Advisor to the president of UCC €118,000

98. Gerry Whyte

Dean of students at TCD

salary scale of €113,604–€145,952

98. Dr David Lloyd

Dean of research at TCD salary scale of €113,604–€145,952

100. Professor BG Loftus

Dean of medicine, NUI Galway €112,610

FOOTNOTES

– Assistant Director Generals FÁS: €134,523-€153,885 Average salary: €149,469

– Asst Secretary Generals

Department of Education and Skills: at upper end of pay scale, based on incremental service, can earn up to €146,191

– Professorial salary scale UCD, UCC, TCD, NUIM, NUIG, DCU, and UL (appointed after 1995) €113,573–€145,952

– Professorial salary scale UCD, UCC, TCD, NUIM, NUIG, DCU, and UL (appointed before 1995) €107,964–€138,719

– Chief executives of larger VEC areas: upper pay scale of €129,854

– Registrars, secretaries, heads of development, and financial controllers Cork IT, Galway-Mayo IT, Waterford IT, Limerick IT, Athlone IT, Dundalk IT, Sligo IT.

Top salary of €114,997

- Associate Professors: salary scale of €82,970–€110,058

*At NUI Maynooth, Dr Thomas OConnor and Dr Bernard Mahon (both at number 92) are not on professorial scale and are paid their academic salary plus an allowance, bringing them to point three on the professorial salary scale which is €126,525.

– For historical reasons, the salary of the Secretary at UCD, John Coman, is not paid at HEA rates (€156,249). The correct figure was not available.

Bush memoirs

Some points on Bush's memoirs from the Guardian, such as the fact that he planned an attack on Iran and Syria.

Al Qaeda Jason Burke

Jason Burke on the state of terrorism today and Al Qaeda:
In conclusion, a new way of looking at al-Qaida as a phenomenon would be to abandon the idea of a central group, an ideology and even of affiliates, and to see instead a huge matrix of interlocking networks all of which evolve simultaneously and in response to each other and to outside pressures informed by a common culture. Naturally individuals with particular resources – charisma, cash, learning, security, credibility – draw networks together and create nodes.

Clusters of these nodes form something that, at least from outside, looks like an organisation. One such cluster is currently centred on the Pakistani tribal zones. Another, somewhat less dense, is centred on Yemen. A third, less dense still, is in Somalia. Nodes that existed earlier in the decade in Algeria, Iraq and Saudi Arabia have now largely broken up. In the chaotic, shifting, multivalent world that is contemporary Islamic militancy we can expect the nodes that currently exist to break up too at some stage. Others inevitably will reform elsewhere. Predicting how and when they do so will not be an easy task.

Intelligence on terror groups

Intelligence agencies are using former Guantanamo detainees as moles in terrorist groups.

Obama cuts funding for AIDS

Article showing that Obama cut funding for AIDS by $1.1 billion a year.

British torture

British soldiers conducting torture in interrogation in Iraq. There is a video too. And another article here.

Guantanamo and US prisons

Good article comparing the US prison system to Guantanamo adn saying that there are many comparisons that can be made.

UK France military cooperation nuclear

France and the UK will now be developing nuclear warheads together, along with other areas of military cooperation, with full US approval.

US sectarian strategy in Iraq torture

Gareth Porter says that the US adopted a strategy of supporting Shia death squads and commandos (like the Wolf Brigade) in Iraq against the Sunnis, under the supervision of Petraeus, which led to Al Qaeda in Iraq responding in kind during the civil war.

New Start Treaty

Article showing that the New START Treaty allows for much spending on modernizing the US nuclear arsenal.

Iran Honduras elections

Article by Ed Herman and David Peterson that compares media coverage of elections in Honduras and Iran.

Private prison companies

Private prison companies lobbied for and helped draft Arizona's immigration law.

Afghan warlords training in Australia

Afghan militias that will fight with Australian troops in Afghanistan are training in Australia.

Afghan elections warlords

The elections in Afghanistan have produced a new crop of younger warlords in parliament, pushing aside some of the older mujahideen who had fought the Russians. Those who increased their hold on power are this new crop of strongmen who have benefited greatly from US/NATO contracts and support, making much money out of that.

Iran covert operations

Article tracing the long series of covert operations organized by the US against Iran.

Nir Rosen

An interview with Nir Rosen about Iraq and Afghanistan.

Mexico drugs

Good article from NPR which argues with good data that the Mexican government and military are siding with the Sinaloa cartel in the drug war.

Suicide terrorism

Robert Pape's study says that suicide terrorism arises in response to foreign occupations, not because of religious motives.

Marijuana war on drugs

Very good article on the war on drugs on marijuana, which targets mostly blacks and hispanics.There are links to reports by Harry Levine.

Iraq wikileaks

Some articles about the Wikileaks release of 400,000 documents on the Iraq war:

Patrick Cockburn on some of the conflicts that took place in Iraq since 2003.

Drugs Afghanistan

Russia's drug control chief, Viktor Ivanov, makes the mistake of saying that the Taliban capture only 0.2% of drug money in Afghanistan because he uses the $65 billion figure which is the total revenues of sales worldwide, but that's irrelevant for Afghanistan.

Murdoch taxes

Rupert Murdoch's enterprises only pay about 6% tax on their astronomical profits.

US bases in Afghanistan

US military base construction in Afghanistan is proceeding apace, raising doubts about Obama's announced intent to withdraw in July 2011...

Citizens United

The Citizens United decision by the Roberts court has considered that corporations have the same free speech rights as natural persons. The result is a flood of corporate money in electoral races as in Colorado.

wastewater in palestine

Video on how Israeli settlers dump their wastewater on Palestinian lands:

Iraq unions

Iraqi unions have suffered since Saddam's overthrow (and before).

Iraqi coalition politics

Jason Ditz summarizes the choices of foreign powers in Iraq:
Any majority coalition government in Iraq required the participation of two of the three major blocs, and each side had its foreign advocate, with the Obama Administration supporting the Maliki-Allawi pairing, Syria supporting an Allawi-Sadr pairing, and Iran supporting the Maliki-Sadr pairing that ultimately won out. Maliki may risk a lot in forming a coalition overtly opposed by the US, which is still occupying the nation, but he might be risking even more to expel Sadr after a deal has been made for a coalition which would strengthen the Shi’ite clergy, a move that is supported both by his key allies in Iran and by a large portion of Maliki’s own constituency.

Greenwald suicide terrorism

Glenn Greenwald had a good post on the causes of terrorism and suicide terrorism discussing reports that say they are related to occupations.

China pipelines

Pepe Escobar's article on China's quest for energy through pipelines etc.

US financial wars

A Counterpunch special report on the world economy and the new financial war conducted by the US.

UK jail racism

A new report about Equality in Britain found 7 times more blacks in jail than their proportion of the population, as opposed to 4 times in the US.

Iran china

Chomsky on the rise of China around the world and in the Middle East, which is displacing the US.

And South Korea, after agreeing to apply sanctions on Iran, quietly found another way to maintain its trade with Iran.

US-Korea FTA

Article from FPIF on the US-Korea FTA that says that the deal is a bad thing, it's just to boost corporate power.

Colombia bases

Colombia's Constitutional Court has blocked the US-Colombia agreement to make 7 military bases available to US forces in Colombia.

Nuclear North Korea

Excellent article on US nuclear plans against North Korea throughout the postwar period.

Pantano murders

Pantano is running for Congress but he murdered two unarmed civilians in Iraq in 2005.

Afghanistan

Thomas Ruttig attacks Blackwill's idea of dividing Afghanistan into a Pashtun land and a non-Pashtun land.

Iraq war

The National Security Archive has released a three-part report on the preparations for the Iraq War. Here is a summary by John Prados.

Blackwater contract state department

Blackwater just got another fat contract from the State Department.

Iran media

Iran will only give subsidies to media that are favorable to the establishment.

Wali Karzai CIA

Ahmed Wali Karzai has been on the CIA payroll since before 9-11 according to Bob Woodward's new book.

Iran sanctions

The US is imposing sanctions on certain companies that do business with Iran but not on others if they come from Russia or China, with whom the US does not want to/cannot pick up a fight.

Biofuel in Afghanistan

Some researchers are proposing to use Afghanistan's poppies to produce diesel biofuel, or to make it with some other crop. It looks like the poppy for peace senlis proposal. The diesel fuel could be used by the US military for now.

Domestic surveillance

The FBI is spying on progressive groups and this trend has increased under Bush and Obama.

The settlement freeze that wasn't

The settlement freeze was barely a small decrease in the pace of construction.

British government knew about torture

Previously classified documents, disclosed in the high court, show that the UK government was warned repeatedly in January 2002 that British citizens were possibly being tortured after capture by US forces in Afghanistan, that the US was planning to hold some indefinitely without trial, and that British military lawyers were complaining about breaches of the Geneva conventions.

While the heavily redacted documents – released in civil proceedings brought by six former Guantánamo inmates – betray British concern about American conduct, they also appear to show that diplomats, civil servants and government lawyers were anxious to find ways to remain, in the words of Tony Blair, "standing shoulder to shoulder" with the US.

Stasi works for NATO

Former Stasi code breakers have been hired as code breakers for NATO and Germany since after unification of Germany.

7,000 dead in Israel/Palestine

About 7,000 died over the last 10 years in Israel/Palestine, about 85% of which are Palestinians.

Gaza flotilla

A UN report corroborates accounts of people on the flotilla and refutes those of Israel.

Arab opinion

Here is a poll about Arab public opinion for the Brookings Institution.

Israel wiped off the map

Article about Ahmadinejad's supposed call to wipe Israel off the map, whereas in fact it was a call for regime change in Israel.

Obama State Secrets

Obama invoked the State Secrets claim again to dismiss suits against his administration's policies.

Iraq archives released

The Digital NSA released documents showing that Rumsfeld ordered Franks to initiate plannign for war with Iraq in November 2001, among other things.
Document 8 outlines some notes about ways to start the war.

No settlement freeze in West Bank

The Guardian reports that there never was a freeze on settlements construction in the West Bank; all there was is a weak freeze on starting up new construction, but construction that had already started was allowed to continue.

Newly released archives

New archives give more details on Taliban negotiations with the US to hand over bin Laden before and after 9-11.

Google

The US is the country that asks google to remove pages the most, although we don't have data on China.

Kyrgyzstan

Article outlining the competition between US and Russia in Kyrgyzstan by Asia Times online. China and Russia could cooperate to keep the US out of Eurasia.

Afghan media

The Afghan media is dominated by warlords, who basically all own channels.

Contractors' deaths

More private contractors have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan so far this year than regular US troops.

FBI targets antiwar groups

Some articles here and here and here. The FBI is targeting antiwar groups in the US as it has done for a long time.
Basically the FBI is spying on anti war groups using the false pretext that they're terrorists.

Afghanistan media

Article on how the Karzai government and Fahim close media outlets they see as critical of them. Iran does the same in Afghanistan.

Israel settlement "freeze"

Since the freeze began, the pace of new construction in the West Bank declined only slightly, and the freeze was not even applicable to East Jerusalem.

US decline

The US is in decline, says Dilip Hiro, as shown by Washington's growing inability to pressure its rivals into doing what it would like them to do.

Gulf buys US weapons

Gulf states will buy $123 billion of US weapons over the next 4 years.

China Pakistan nuclear

China is planning to build nuclear reactors in Pakistan.

Sudan

Article about Sudan and China and US.

Illiteracy in Iraq

Illiteracy has climbed in Iraq since the 1980s, when it was listed as an illiteracy-free country, but today it has reached almost 20% of the population due to the war and sanctions.

US night raids

The increase in US forces (SOF) night raids in Afghanistan was substantial under McChrystal and resulted in many Afghan deaths:
McChrystal had increased the level of SOF raids from the 100 to 125 a month during the command of his predecessor, Gen. David McKiernan, to 500 a month during 2009. And the figures released by Petraeus revealed that McChrystal had doubled the number of raids on homes again to 1,000 a month before he was relieved of duty in June.
But it also resulted in a decrease in the number of IEDs disarmed thanks to local Afghans' tips.

Compensation in Iraq

The Iraq government has agreed to pay $400 million to American victims of Saddam who were taken hostage at the time of the invasion of Kuwait. The Americans had sued Iraq saying they had been submitted to torture. Iraqis are all upset about this today as they get just a few thousands when they get killed.

Guantanamo

Good article of the Obama position on Guantanamo and military tribunals.

US Iraq Afghanistan

Good quiz with questions about US actions in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Tea party

Good summary article about the Tea Party movement.

Iraq torture prisons

Amnesty International released a report saying that 30,000 are held in detention in Iraq's prisons without trial. The US has transferred several thousands prisoners into this system, showing that they don't care about torture etc. And see here.
The report is here.

Corruption Afghanistan

Good report by Cordesman on corruption in Afghanistan which outlines many ways in which the US is responsible.

Mexico drugs

A new report on weapons trafficking from the US to Mexico from the Wilson center, which is an important in the drug war.

Foreign aid in Afghanistan

This article details foreign aid to Afghanistan over 2001-2009.

Donors spent US$36 billion in Afghanistan in 2001-2009 out of a total of $62 billion pledged in grants and loans, according to the DFR.

Among the dozens of donors, Sweden came out top in terms of covering the gap between commitment and action - translating 90 percent of its pledges into concrete funding, followed by the UK and the USA, while the Asian Development Bank ranked last at 60 percent.

The USA has been the single largest donor to Afghanistan over the past eight years, disbursing US$23.417 billion.

Over the past five years per capita donor aid has been $1,241 - far less than the amount spent in Iraq and Bosnia, according to the DFR, despite Afghanistan having some of the worst poverty and vulnerability indicators in the world.

Half of this is spent by foreign militaries:
President Hamid Karzai’s government has been pilloried over allegations of endemic corruption, ineptitude and the mismanagement of aid, but it disbursed only 23 percent of foreign grants (about $8 billion).

Over $29 billion (77 percent of the total disbursed aid) was directly spent by donors with little or no government input; more than $15 of the $29 billion was disbursed directly by foreign military channels, according to the DFR.

This includes the Commanders Emergency Response Programme - where senior officers in the field have access to cash for tactical spending - and the Provincial Reconstruction Funds, which "aims to win ‘hearts and minds’,” said Oxfam’s Jackson.

So over half of the aid is spent on security:
Over half of the total disbursed assistance in 2002-2009 (about $19 billion) was spent on the security sector, particularly on strengthening the police and army, the DFR figures show.

Health received 6 percent, education and culture 9 percent and agriculture and rural development got 18 percent of the total $36 billion aid.

US attempts to dislodge Chavez

From here.

US Interference In Venezuelan Elections

---

By Eva Golinger

Source: Chavez Code

Friday, September 10, 2010

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In 2002, the US Agency for International Development (USAID) arrived in Venezuela with a mission: Remove Hugo Chavez from power

A report commissioned by the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) and published in May 2010 by the Spanish Foundation for International Relations and Foreign Dialogue (FRIDE) revealed that this year alone, international agencies are investing between $40-50 million in anti-Chavez groups in Venezuela. A large part of those funds have been channeled to the opposition coalition, Democratic Unity (MUD), and its campaign for the upcoming legislative elections on September 26.

A majority of funding comes from US agencies, particularly USAID, which has maintained a presence in Venezuela since 2002 with the sole intention of aiding in President Chavez’s removal from power. For the past eight years, USAID has channeled millions into political parties, organizations and private media entities linked to the opposition, helping them to grow and unify, and providing strategic advice, support and resources for their political campaigns.

Unlike in other nations, USAID has no formal agreement or authorization from the Venezuelan government to operate in the country. As an oil-wealthy nation, Venezuela does not qualify for economic aid from the United States. Nonetheless, USAID has been operating in Venezuela unauthorized through its political office during eight years, funding and helping to design and plan anti-Chavez campaigns and feeding an internal conflict with millions of US taxpayer dollars.

USAID’S BEGINNINGS IN VENEZUELA

In a confidential memorandum dated January 22, 2002, Russell Porter, head of USAID’s Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI), revealed how and why USAID set up shop in Venezuela. “OTI was asked to consider a program in Venezuela by the State Department’s Office of Andean Affairs on January 4…it became clear there is growing concern about the political health of the country. OTI was asked if it could offer programs and assistance in order to strengthen the democratic elements that are under increasing fire from the Chavez government”.

The Office of Transition Initiatives is a division of USAID that works exclusively with political matters to further US government objectives abroad. OTI provides short-term, rapid and flexible assistance to aid “political transitions and stabilization efforts” in countries of strategic importance to Washington.

Porter visited Venezuela on January 18, 2002 and held nine meetings in Caracas with representatives from opposition political parties and organizations. “There is a belief among nearly everyone I spoke with that Chavez will not finish out the year as president”, wrote OTI’s chief, noting, “Rumors of a coup are pervasive…The next election is four years away. Given the situation now, Chavez will not likely be around to participate in it”.

To ensure Venezuela’s political destiny would be favorable to US interests, Porter commented, “For democracy to have any chance of being preserved, immediate support is needed for independent media and the civil society sector…One of the large weaknesses in Venezuela is the lack of a vibrant civil society…The National Endowment for Democracy (NED) has a $900,000 program in Venezuela that works with NDI, IRI and the Solidarity Center to strengthen political parties and the Unions…This program is useful, but not nearly sufficient. It is not flexible enough, nor does it work with enough new or non-traditional groups. It also lacks a media component”.

“Civil society needs to be strengthened in order to reduce social conflict and begin to rebuild the democratic infrastructure. While OTI is not the right office to rebuild long-term democratic infrastructure, it is the office that can best reduce social conflict by working with the media and civil society. In addition, with no USAID Mission in Venezuela, OTI is the natural office to start a high-impact program quickly. Success, however, is far from guaranteed. No matter how good the program, anti-democratic forces may well overrun democracy, but then OTI will need to be there to pick up the pieces and strengthen those democratic elements that remain”, elaborated Porter, evidencing the extent of US intervention. He concluded, “I recommend OTI send an assessment team to Venezuela as soon as possible with a prejudice toward starting an active program to support civil society and the media”.

ELECTORAL INTERVENTION: RECALL REFERENDUM

After the failed coup d’etat against President Chavez in April 2002, OTI formally established its office in Caracas with a clear objective: facilitate a recall referendum against the Venezuelan President.

Another confidential memo dated October 2003 from OTI outlined the strategy: “The most immediate program objective…is the realization of a successful referendum, followed by the restoration of stable democratic governance”.

USAID defined its strategy with “two distinct, but closely interrelated components”. “The first of these is the faciliation of a successful and legitimate recall referendum process…The second component is support for fostering an inclusive reconciliation process”. First, they would have to recall Chavez’s mandate, and then, implement a “transition and reconciliation government”. To achieve the first objective, USAID channeled more than $750,000 to a “public information campaign” in Venezuelan media. “The purpose of this assistance…will be to help the population better understand the procedure and what is at stake…”

Through USAID and NED support, Sumate, a Venezuelan organization, was created to provide “domestic observation/quick count” and “electoral education campaigns”, all of which were directed against President Chavez. From that time on, Sumate has maintained the same role in all subsequent electoral campaigns. Sumate’s founder, Maria Corina Machado, met personally with President George W. Bush in the White House in May 2005 as a sign of support for the Venezuelan opposition. Today, she is a candidate in the upcoming National Assembly elections.

For the recall referendum process, USAID additionally invested $1.3 million into opposition “political party strengthening” to aid in “campaign organization and structure, message development and grassroots campaigning”.

As evidence to the close relationship maintained between US agencies and opposition groups in Venezuela, the confidential memo revealed, “OTI will hold regular coordinating meetings with the grantees funded directly through USAID in both Caracas and Washington to ensure…implementing partners are achieving the objectives of the program”.

OTI field offices usually do not extend beyond a time period of 2-3 years. However, in the case of Venezuela, USAID anticipated an exception. “The US objective in Venezuela is the continuation of a stable, free market-oriented democracy. Regardless of the result of the referendum process, given the continued potential for conflict and volatility, the OTI program should probably continue into FY ’05…If instability and volatility continue, the eventual restoration of stability in Venezuela is important enough to USG interests for consideration of reintroducing a longer-term USAID program”.

After the recall referendum was won victoriously by the Chavez camp, USAID opted for a greater investment and expansion of the agency’s interventionist activities in Venezuela.

INTERVENTION IN LEGISLATIVE ELECTIONS – 2005/2010

A declassified cable sent in April 2005 from then US Ambassador in Caracas, William Brownfield, to the Secretary of State and the National Security Council outlined the work the National Democratic Institute (NDI) and the International Republican Institute (IRI) were pursuing “to facilitate the renovation/transformation of Venezuela’s political parties”. “They are working with opposition parties to help them focus on their survival as relevant political institutions”, revealed the cable.

“In January 2005, NDI began implementation of a year-long $500,000 project focusing on party transformation…Of primary importance will be the mobilization and engagement of reformist forces (e.g. young leaders, women, civil society) so that necessary change does indeed occur” in the legislative elections.

Brownfield indicated how “experienced trainers/political consultants” were brought from the US to aid opposition parties in the “development of strategies and messages that address the aspirations of low-income voters”, which the US Ambassador considered a “high priority”, considering it’s the base of hard-core Chavez supporters. And although opposition parties AD and COPEI appeared as principal beneficiaries of these programs, the cable also revealed support to Primero Justicia for “modern techniques of message development and diffusion”.

In January 2005, IRI also received $500,000 to continue its program of “campaign schools” for opposition candidates. According to the document, “Topics to be covered in the campaign schools include: campaign strategy and organization, message development, outreach, fundraising, public relations, get-out-the-vote techniques, and candidate selection”. Not only were US agencies funding and training opposition candidates, but they were involved in selecting them as well.

In the end, the opposition chose to boycott the legislative elections instead of facing a severe defeat at the polls.

2010

Five years later, the funds opposition parties are receiving have multiplied by the millions, as have the hundreds of new anti-Chavez organizations created in Venezuela under the façade of NGOs.

In 2003, USAID funded 66 programs in Venezuela. Today, this figure has grown to 623 with more than $20 million. USAID’s original objective of “strengthening civil society” has been achieved.

There remains no doubt the Venezuelan opposition – in all its manifestations – is product of the US government. US agencies fund and design their campaigns, train and build their parties, organize their NGOs, develop their messages, select their candidates and feed them with dollars to ensure survival.

Until USAID achieves its principal objective – Hugo Chavez’s ouster – their work will continue.

Note: In the US, foreign funding for political campaigns or political parties is strictly prohibited. Organizations that receive foreign funding for other non-campaign related political or media activities must register as Foreign Agents under the Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA). In Venezuela, while the law does prohibit foreign funding of political parties and campaigns, recipients of these funds, and their foreign funders, have cried political persecution and accused the government of repression when attempting to impose the law.

Inequality

Juan Cole's blog has a good post on inequality and how the rich appropriate most resources.

Osirak

Juan Cole writes:
People going ballistic over the Bushehr reactor are perhaps remembering the 1981 Israeli attack on the French-made OSIRAK reactor in Baghdad. But that was a piece of counter-productive theater anyway. The French had insisted on constructing a light water reactor, and on putting in safeguards against its being used for weapons construction. The Israeli attack therefore did not forestall a weapons program; the reactor would have been almost impossible to use for that purpose. After the Israeli attack, though, Saddam Hussein launched a crash program to enrich uranium through magnetatrons, an effort that appears to have failed or to have been a very long-term proposition. It was the Israeli strike that convinced the Baath regime to carry out a crash program of nuclear weapons advances that only Baghdad’s defeat in the Gulf War revealed. The Israelis would have been better off leaving the innocuous OSIRAK alone; as it was they provoked an Iraqi crash nuclear weapons program that might have ultimately borne fruit had it not been for Saddam’s rash and brutal invasion of Kuwait.

Bible Quran

Bible is more violent than the Quran.
See also Juan Cole here.
And see Juan Cole on Sept 7 2010.

Sahimi Iran

Good article by Sahimi on Iran and Obama.

Iraq

Gareth Porter has a good summary article arguing against the official Iraq line by Petraeus.

Drug legalization

Antonio Maria Costa argues that legalizing drugs would result in a worldwide epidemic.

Mexico drug war

Two very good articles saying that 1) NAFTA pushed Mexican farmers to northern Mexico, but then they lost their jobs when China and India became the places to send your manufacturing, so then the unemployed Mexicans started participating in the drug trade for the drug cartels. Also, up to 2000 the PRI sort of arbitrated between the cartels and everybody took in a cut from the drug trade; after 2000 the PAN chose to stop arbitrating between the cartels, which by that time had made a lot of money due to NAFTA which allowed drugs to be traded across the US border more easily; so the war between cartels exploded. 2) the US is funding the Mexican military to supposedly eliminate drug cartels, whereas in fact the Mexican military is taking sides with some cartels to fight other cartels:


Behind Mexico's Bloodshed.
The Real News. September 1, 2010

Bruce Livesey: While free trade wiped out Mexico's traditional agriculture, the drug cartels moved in.

Flourishing drug demand in the U.S. and Canada has combined with the destruction of Mexico's traditional economy to increase the power of the Mexican drug cartels. At the same time, the cartels are at war over the drug market in Mexico, with drastic results including the recent massacre of 72 undocumented migrants in Northern Mexico.

Bio

Bruce Livesey has been a journalist for more than 25 years, most recently focusing his attention on the drug war in Mexico where he produced radio pieces for NPR and CBC radio. He previously worked as a television producer at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation current affairs program CBC News Sunday which followed six years at the CBC program the fifth estate as an associate producer where he worked on stories involving, among others, George W. Bush's connections to the bin Laden family, the failings of the Patriot missile, Canada's most powerful mobsters, and an examination of the rise of Islamist terrorism in Europe as part of a co-production with the PBS program Frontline and the New York Times. He has written for over 30 newspapers and magazines and produced television stories for Al-Jazeera English and Current TV.
Comments from Registered Members

Transcript

JESSE FREESTON, PRODUCER, TRNN: The discovery of 72 murdered migrants on a ranch in northern Mexico last week has brought more attention to the violence in a country in the grips of a war between competing drug cartels. I spoke with investigative journalist Bruce Livesey, who recently returned from Ciudad Juárez on Mexico's northern border, where he produced reports for NPR and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

FREESTON: I think, Bruce, a lot of people are aware of the violence in Mexico, but not all of us really understand it and what's at the roots of it. And sort of that was what compelled your journey there. Could you tell us a little bit about what you found?

BRUCE LIVESAY, INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST: It's a somewhat complicated story, in the sense that it's very much rooted in the history of Mexico, in sort of the past and recent times. And, essentially, in a nutshell, up until about 2000 the arrangement in Mexico was that the Mexican state and government and the political party at the time, which was the PRI, and the cartels sort of worked all in this kind of tango of corruption together. And so drugs could pass through Mexico, and everybody got a bit of money out of it, and the role of the state was to sort of manage and be a referee among the cartels. And what changed was in 2000 the PRI fell from power, and essentially PAN came to power on an anticorruption platform. So they essentially didn't want to be the referee among the cartels any longer. And what that led to was that in this sort of vacuum of power, the cartels began to compete with each other openly for each other's marketplace. Really it was through, I'd say, from about 2000 to 2006, the violence among the cartels began to grow as they began to sort of jostle for market share. I think the other thing that was very critical in this was NAFTA, and NAFTA played a role in two ways. In the early 1990s, the Americans were very successful in preventing, stopping sort of the flow of drugs to Florida from Columbia, especially cocaine. And what this did was that it forced the Colombians to think of another route of the drugs into the North American market, and they essentially cut a deal with the Mexican drug cartels to start transporting the drugs through Mexico. And when NAFTA came into effect in the early '90s, this made it much easier, 'cause the flow of trucks across the border increased enormously. And they began throwing shipments of heroin, crystal meth, and marijuana in with these shipments of cocaine, and it made them suddenly much more wealthier. Their portion of controlling the American market place grew enormously. So most of the drugs now entering the United States come through Mexico. So you had this combination of where the Mexican drug cartels got wealthier, the government stopped playing this role of being the referee. And what always happens in the world of organized crime, when you have no sort of regulation, is that-and it's generally a world that attracts the most ruthless aspect of the population-is you end up with a lot of people killing each other. And that's really sort of at-in an overview, what's been happening.

FREESTON: It hasn't just brought in maybe the most ruthless aspects as well. It's also brought in normal people who've sort of been left between a rock and a hard place. And maybe talk about NAFTA and some of the other aspects of the transformation of the Mexican economy.

LIVESAY: One thing that occurred with NAFTA was it allowed American produce, you know, especially, you know, agricultural produce, into the Mexican market. And essentially the Americans, their produce was cheaper and better than the Mexicans'. So essentially what that did is it wiped out the Mexican agricultural sector to a great extent. So a lot of the small farmers in central Mexico who were just, you know, barely getting by suddenly were out of work, and they essentially migrated north to cities like Juárez, where factories had been set up, in the maquiladoras, and to take advantage of, you know, free trade, essentially to exploit Mexican workers and produce goods for the American market. And so you saw Juárez in the sort of late '90s, early 2000s actually become a prosperous city-you know, a lot more investment there and a large growth in population. Well, then a couple of things happened. One is that a lot of those jobs vanished when suddenly China and India became the place to be, to send your manufacturing. So you had now this displaced population in northern Mexico who couldn't go back to the land to make a living because they couldn't compete with American produce, and increasingly their only economic opportunity was the drug trade. This was essentially dealing in narcotics. So they became employees of the drug cartels. And that-so now you have a significant portion of the Mexican population that is involved somehow, either directly or indirectly involved, in the drug trade. It is now considered the second biggest export and industry in Mexico is the drug trade, after oil production.

FREESTON: So 2006, Felipe Calderón comes to power in what could best be described as a controversial election. Then what happens?

LIVESAY: Many believe that in order to sort of put a stamp of legitimacy on his government that, as you say, got elected under questionable circumstances, he decides to act like the macho man and send the army into-primarily in northern Mexico, into the towns and villages and cities, in order to ostensibly take on the drug cartels. And they will say, we're taking on all the drug cartels. So the problem was that Calderón doesn't really control the state. He doesn't-the state has become so corrupted over the decades that it's easily manipulated by other forces in Mexico. He also-he failed to recognize-or perhaps he did know this, but the upshot was the Mexican army has long played a role in the drug trade, going back 100 years. In the mid-'90s, one of the most famous arrests was the drug czar in Mexico who was also a Mexican military general. And he was in bed with the Juárez cartel, so that the Mexican Army has this long history of corruption with the drug trade. So, essentially, Calderón was sending in a force that he didn't really control. And what essentially has happened is the Mexican army got easily corrupted and manipulated by the drug trade, and especially by the drug cartels. So now what's happened is that the army has taken sides in the war among the cartels.

FREESTON: I'm just going to-we're going to end this segment here. And in the next segment we'll talk about specifically how that relationship plays out and what you saw in Ciudad Juárez, if you join us for part two of our interview with Bruce Livesey.


BEHIND MEXICO'S BLOODSHED Pt. 2.
The Real News. September 3, 2010

In part two of our interview with investigative journalist Bruce Livesey, we discuss the violence in Ciudad Juarez. Livesey, recently returned from Mexico's murder capital, says that the Mexican military is showing evidence that it is supporting the Sinaloa Cartel in it's bid to take out the local Juarez Cartel for this key transportation corridor.

Bio

Bruce Livesey has been a journalist for more than 25 years, most recently focusing his attention on the drug war in Mexico where he produced radio pieces for NPR and CBC radio. He previously worked as a television producer at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation current affairs program CBC News Sunday which followed six years at the CBC program the fifth estate as an associate producer where he worked on stories involving, among others, George W. Bush's connections to the bin Laden family, the failings of the Patriot missile, Canada's most powerful mobsters, and an examination of the rise of Islamist terrorism in Europe as part of a co-production with the PBS program Frontline and the New York Times. He has written for over 30 newspapers and magazines and produced television stories for Al-Jazeera English and Current TV.

Transcript

JESSE FREESTON, PRODUCER, TRNN: Welcome back to The Real News Network. I'm Jesse Freeston in Toronto with Bruce Livesey, who recently returned from Ciudad Juárez, which is one of the epicenters, really, of this playing out drug conflict in Mexico. When we left off, you were talking about the role that the Mexican army has played in the drug trade. If you could, elaborate a little bit more on that and talk about specifically what you saw in Juárez.

BRUCE LIVESEY, INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST: Sure. Juárez has become now the most dangerous city in the world. It's-there, essentially, about 7 to 10 people are murdered every day. And the story that's generally been told is that it's a war between two drug cartels, so the Juárez drug cartel, which has been there for a long time, and the Sinaloan drug cartel, which is trying to move in. In early 2008, violence in Juárez sort of went from being sort of normal to escalating. In March of that year, the Calderón government sent the army in to essentially occupy Juárez. And then the violence got much worse and has continued to get much worse in spite of the army's presence. So this seemed very counterintuitive. You know, what was going on? Why was the violence getting much worse? And what we discovered or what I discovered is that essentially the army has taken sides. They have sided with the Sinaloan drug cartel against the Juárez Cartel, and they are helping primarily the Sinaloans take out members of the Juárez Cartel. So, essentially, the assassins for each of the cartels are locked in this sort of deadly battle. But, essentially, the Sinaloans are winning, and they're winning with the assistance of the Mexican army.

FREESTON: So one thing that some other people have pointed out that I've read, particularly in the Mexican press, was that while the justification for something like Plan Mérida, where the US is giving a little over $1 billion a year to help the Mexican army, is justified from the perspective that the Mexican army is undermanned or under-armed against these drug cartels, that the drug cartels are more powerful and have better weaponry and things like this, well, at the same time we're not really seeing many casualties in the Mexican military, are we? And so maybe talk about that.

LIVESEY: The odd skirmish occurs. But again the question is, you know, is the skirmish occurring because the Mexican army is taking on, again, some elements of the drug cartel on behalf of another cartel? And what we saw in Juárez was that the army essentially was playing this role of doing nothing. They would sort of show up after the murders. And there was evidence that they were clearly helping the assassins of the Sinaloan Cartel do their business. So in Juárez the evidence is essentially their role was just to kind of drive around in circles and allow and/or help the Sinaloans take out the Juárez Cartel.

FREESTON: Who were the victims of these murders?

LIVESEY: Well, again, another complicating factor, especially in Juárez, is that what's occurred in the last few years is that Juárez has become a market for drugs, so the amount of addicted Mexicans has also exploded. So there are two things happening in Juárez. There is the Sinaloans trying to take out the leadership and foot soldiers of the cartels. They're also taking out the street dealers of competing gangs who sell drugs in Juárez. And you have things that just don't-in that respect, where they've gone into drug clinics, so clinics that are being set up to get people off drugs, and they've massacred the addicts, and in order to send a message: don't get off the drugs. The other thing that's clearly happened is there's a lot of innocent bystanders getting killed. There's enormous industry and shakedown rackets. So they're going into businesses and to homes and they're basically demanding money from people, and if they don't pay, they shoot them. So, like, the violence is, like, on about three or four levels: there's, you know, what-the army killing people; there's the cartels killing cartel members; there's cartel members taking out, you know, neighborhood people who are not paying or businesses who are not paying, essentially, graft.

FREESTON: Is there any way to tell, necessarily, at what level this relationship is between the army and the drug cartels? Is it happening at a local level? Or how high up does it go? Is there any way to tell?

LIVESEY: It's hard to. We-and that was the question we asked. We said, how-what we were told was that it definitely goes up to the level of the district commander. So the regional commanders are in on it, because the commanders would change, but the Mexican army's role would not change. What we were told was generally-is the corruption occurs at a somewhat regional level. So once the army moved into a region, the drug cartels essentially would cut a deal with the army commanders. But whether it goes all the way up to the generals who report to Calderón, we don't know.

FREESTON: Well, there's also-you know, the political leadership, both not only in Mexico but in the US, must be aware of this at this point. I mean, the US has DEA [Drug Enforcement Administration] agents on the ground there as well. I mean, is there any recognition that this is going on, any acknowledgment?

LIVESEY: We spent some time trying to ascertain that, and we felt that, yes, there are elements of the DEA in particular and aspects of the American government who believe this to be true. The problem is that they have drunk the Kool-Aid, you know, that for political reasons it is not good politics in America to suggest that they are funding an organization, which is the Mexican army, that essentially is working for drug cartels, even if they think it might be going on. They essentially put blinkers up in that respect. So we discovered that, yes, there are elements of the intelligence community in the United States who are aware of this, but that it is politically, you know, problematic, if you're in those institutions, to begin questioning your masters. And that's really what's happened.

FREESTON: Alright, Bruce. Well, thank you very much for your time.

LIVESEY: Thanks, Jesse.

FREESTON: And will you be heading back to Mexico any time soon?

LIVESEY: I'm going back to Texas to do a story some time later this year, somewhat related to the drug trade, yeah.

FREESTON: Well, hopefully we can talk to you again after that.

LIVESEY: Okay.

FREESTON: Thanks for joining us on The Real News Network.

CIA paying Karzai officials

The CIA is paying a number of high officials in the Karzai administration to obtain information on him and his government. Iran, Turkey and Saudi Arabia are apparently doing the same.

The CIA bankrolled Afghanistan's intelligence service, and its financial ties to government officials has proliferated in recent years.

"There are probably not too many officials we haven't met and contacted and paid," a former CIA official said.

US builds long term bases in Afghanistan

The US is building military bases in Afghanistan that show that they intend to stay in the long term.

US Iraq

Juan Cole has a good summary piece on the US role in Iraq at CNN.

Immigration

The Secure Communities program is accused of being a pretext to deport immigrants who have committed minor "crimes".

Iraq

Ken Pollack writes about the myth of US combat troops withdrawal from Iraq:

Myth: As of this month, the United States no longer has combat troops in Iraq.

1.Not even close. Of the roughly 50,000 American military personnel who remain in Iraq, the majority are still combat troops -- they're just named something else. The major units still in Iraq will no longer be called "brigade combat teams" and instead will be called "advisory and assistance brigades." But a rose by any other name is still a rose, and the differences in brigade structure and personnel are minimal.

American troops in Iraq will still go into harm's way. They will still accompany Iraqi units on combat missions -- even if only as "advisers." American pilots will still fly combat missions in support of Iraqi ground forces. And American special forces will still face off against Iraqi terrorist groups in high-intensity operations. For that reason, when American troops leave their bases in Iraq, they will still, almost invariably, be in full "battle rattle" and ready for a fight.

What has changed over the past 12 to 18 months is the level of violence in Iraq. There is much less of it: The civil war and the insurgency have been suppressed and the terrorists have been marginalized, so American troops have been able to pass the majority of their remaining combat responsibilities to the Iraqi security forces. Most U.S. troops now have little expectation of seeing combat in Iraq. Instead, they are spending more time acting as peacekeepers, protecting personnel and facilities, and advising Iraqi formations. But that didn't start this month: It's more or less what they have been doing since the "clear and hold" operations to take back the country from militias and insurgents ended in 2008.

US and Russia competition in Central Asia

Russia is trying to increase its influence in Central Asia, just like the US, with implications for Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Conspiracy theories

A list of the top 10 conspiracy theories.

Costa Rica

Article on how the US will bring military equipment to Costa Rica in the name of the war on drugs:

The Lowest Form Of Military Aggression.
Luis Roberto Zamora Bolaños. Americas Program. August 10, 2010

On July 1, 2010, Costa Rica's Legislative Assembly authorized the U.S. military to undertake policing duties in Costa Rica, based on an expired "Cooperation Agreement." Just one small problem: Costa Rica abolished its army in 1949 and since then has had no national military forces.

Costa Rica is world-renowned for its natural environment, its political and democratic stability in a region of conflict, it's commitment to protecting human rights, and its peaceful and unarmed neutrality in foreign affairs.

Throughout ithe country's history since independence, Costa Rica has distanced itself from the power struggles in the region, with only occasional exceptions, including the U.S. invasion in 1856. The country has grown alongside increasing indices of human development, which by the 1980s had nearly reached First World levels.

In 1949, after its last internal conflicts, Costa Rica established a new republic. The Constitution prohibited an army and delegated the power to "monitor and maintain public order" exclusively to civilian police forces. The country became a leader in promoting human rights and the American Convention on Human Rights was signed in San Jose, Costa Rica in 1969.

Later the Cold War turned hot in Central America and spread throughout the isthmus. In the middle of pressure from the Nicaraguan Sandinistas and the contras (counter-revolutionary forces) trained by the CIA, then-President Luis Alberto Monge proceeded in November of 1983 to declare the permanent, unarmed neutrality of Costa Rica vis a vis the violent conflicts of other nations. This enabled the country to maintain peace in the midst of the wars and conflicts of its neighbors, and to continue to develop within a region that was collapsing.

Recently, Costa Rica became the first country in the world to recognize and declare the Right to Peace. Remarkably, this happened in the midst of a process of destruction of the judicial apparatus that the government of Oscar Arias put into practice, for which Costa Rica has been reported to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights under charges of judicial bias in favor of former President Arias, his families and policies. The Right to Peace declaration was the result of two cases brought by the author before the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice.

The first case challenged the Costa Rican government's support for the coalition that invaded Iraq in 2003. In this case, the Court annulled the support, stating it violated the commitment to neutrality because it was a unilateral act. It also declared that support for the U.S. invasion violated the United Nations Charter and contradicted a fundamental principle of "the Costa Rican identity", which is peace as a fundamental value. Never before had the court annulled the support of a government for an invasion.

The second case filed in October of 2008 concerns a decree issued by Oscar Arias-a Nobel Peace Prize recipient-that authorized the extraction of thorium and uranium, nuclear fuel development and the manufacture of nuclear reactors "for all purposes." The Court annulled the contested decree, recognizing the existence of a Right to Peace, which had been violated by the decree due to the fact that it contained elements directly related to the "anti-value" of war.

The "Right to Peace" imposes both positive and negative obligations on the State. Positively, the State must promote international peace; negatively, the State must refrain from authorizing war-related activities, including entry, production, purchase, sale, storage, import, export, etc., of items, goods or services made or intended to be used in a war. The Constitutional Court of Costa Rica issued this decision.

Apart from the Costa Rican history, the world has been affected by multiple problems, among them drug trafficking. Unfortunately, in today's world with today's politicians and their way of conducting what Plato called "the art of governing," drug trafficking has become a convenient "security excuse" for achieving their own economic or hegemonic imperialist purposes.

Despite its legal obligations to peace, Costa Rica has not been an exception to the rule. It simply needed a few servile puppet governments willing to do anything for their own interests and that of their boss, to trample and destroy the achievements of the sovereign people won through democratic struggles and within the institutional framework.

The permission granted by the legislature to the United States military is based on an agreement for joint maritime patrols between the U.S. and Costa Rica that expired in October 2009. This permit that ended in 2009 only allow for Coast Guard patrols and never authorized the entry of the United States military personnel and only covered coast guard missions.

However, the Legislature has now authorized the entry of 12,207 U.S. soldiers and 46 military vessels, 45 armed with artillery. Forty-three of these are warships similar to the "Oliver Hazard Perry." The ships carry 180 Sikorsky Blackhawk helicopters in the SH-60 and MH-60 categories designed primarily for anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, naval special warfare, combat search and rescue, among others.

In addition to the exorbitant sum of 180 helicopters, the entry of ten McDonnell Douglas (Boeing) AV-8B Harrier II aircraft carriers was authorized. These are land attack planes (for supposed sea operations?) that can carry on board 25 mm. Equalizer GAU-12 machine guns, four 70 mm. LAU-5003 rocket launchers with a capacity of 19 CRV7 rockets, and six AGM-65 Maverick missiles or two AGM-84 Harpoon or two AGM-88 HARM. These ships may also carry CDU-100 cluster bombs, Mark 80 unguided bombs, Paveway laser-guided bombs or Mark 77 napalm bombs.

The agreement also grants permission for aircraft carriers such as the "Wasp amphibious attack," which are specifically assault ships.

Everything on the list of ships, aircraft, helicopters and troops detailed above is designed and intended to be used in a war. Therefore, they cannot be deployed in our country because the negative obligation requires the State to reject them as elements that are counter to and in violation of the Right to Peace.

The U.S. Embassy in Costa Rica says there is no problem because the United States will not send all the equipment authorized. Two points are important here. First, I do not believe the U.S. ambassador's word on this. Second, the problem is not what the U.S. sends; the problem is a domestic one, lying in what was authorized to enter and operate within the country.

Despite the legal limitations in the country, and despite a constitutional obligation to invest only civilian police with the duties of monitoring and enforcing our public order, the submissive legislative assembly-dominated by the ruling parties-is allowing the U.S. military to play war games on our sovereign land as if it were a game of chess.

As a Costa Rican, the saddest part of this situation, besides the destruction of our history, is that we're going to militarize the country with foreign armies to protect the Colombian drugs and Venezuelan oil that the United States consumes. If the U.S. government's purpose was really to eliminate the drug problem, it would attack the problem where drugs are grown or in countries closer to production. The "war on drugs" is nothing more than an excuse for ulterior motives. If there is a battle, the free soil of this country of peace-a nation with no army and a pledge to neutrality-will enable and facilitate the return of the Cold War that the United States so badly needs for its survival.

The whole situation is grotesque, to me the lowest form of military aggression in modern times.

Luis Roberto Zamora Bolaños is a trial lawyer in his hometown Heredia, Costa Rica. He received his degree in Law from the University of Costa Rica, has litigated in promoting the Right to Peace, achieving constitutional recognition in 2008. Prior to that, he successfully went to the Supreme Court to force his country to withdraw the support given to the coalition invasion of Iraq. Since 2005 he has participated in forums and conferences in promoting the Right to Peace, including the World Peace Forum in Vancouver 2005, the World Social Forum 2007 in Nairobi, the 62 UN DPI Conference on Disarmament, in Mexico in 2009, the Conference on the 60th anniversary of the Stockholm Declaration of 2010 on nuclear disarmament in Paris, among others. Parallel to his work as a trial lawyer, Zamora works pro-bono for peace related issues. Currently he is involved as an expert on the right to peace and nuclear disarmament in international forums.