Thursday, March 31, 2011

Gandhi Was Gay

Must of been since he didn't like war and killing people, right?

And despite the fact that the author and biographer disagree, the agenda-pushing AmeriKan media leaves you with that impression.

"Topic of homosexuality in reviews spurs Indian state to ban book on Gandhi" by Associated Press /
March 31, 2011

MUMBAI — A state in western India banned a Pulitzer Prize-winning author’s new book about Mahatma Gandhi yesterday after reviews said it hints that the father of India’s independence had a homosexual relationship.

Joseph Lelyveld, the author, says his work is being misinterpreted. More bans have been proposed in India, where homosexuality was illegal until 2009 and still carries social stigma.

Gujarat’s state assembly voted unanimously to immediately ban “Great Soul: Mahatma Gandhi and His Struggle With India.’’

The furor was sparked by local media reports, based on early reviews out of the United States and the United Kingdom, some of which emphasized passages suggesting Gandhi had an intimate relationship with Hermann Kallenbach, a close friend from Germany. “Great Soul’’ has not yet been released in India, so few here have read it.  

You guys just can not stop shoveling s***, can you?

“The book does not say that Gandhi was bisexual or homosexual,’’ Lelyveld wrote in an e-mail. “It says that he was celibate and deeply attached to Kallenbach. This is not news.’’ 

And yet it is in my paper.

He noted that his book — which he said is about Gandhi’s struggle for social justice and the evolution of his social values — is available both in the United States and as an e-book download.  

Yes, SOMEHOW that ALWAYS GETS LOST when it comes to the agenda-pushing media.

“It should not be hard for anyone to determine what it actually says,’’ Lelyveld wrote. “It’s a pious hope, but I’d say someone might take the trouble to look at it before it’s banned.’’

Sudhir Kakar, a psychoanalyst who has written about Gandhi’s sexuality and reviewed some of his correspondence with Kallenbach, said he does not believe the two men were lovers.

“It is quite a wrong interpretation,’’ he said. Gandhi’s great goals were nonviolence, celibacy, and truth, he said.  

Hey, don't be sad, two out of three ain't bad.

Politicians in the state of Maharashtra, home to India’s financial capital Mumbai, have also called for a ban on the book and, along with Gujarat’s chief minister Narendra Modi, have asked the central government to bar publication nationwide.

--more--"

Such a hot topic Globe has to weigh in with an insulting editorial:

"Globe Editorial
Gandhi: No need for a pedestal
March 31, 2011

The fuss over a new biography of Mohandas Gandhi only reinforces the extent to which admirers and critics alike have put the Indian independence leader on a pedestal 

As opposed to the war criminals the AmeriKan media elevates? 

Besides, the GUY DESERVES IT!

In his book “Great Soul,’’ journalist Joseph Lelyveld recounts how Gandhi’s frustration about attitudes toward Indians in South Africa evolved into a broader notion of equality and human dignity everywhere. But the book also explores Gandhi’s inconsistencies and political missteps and — more controversially — makes mention of an ambiguous personal relationship between Gandhi and a German man.

Look, he was human. The bullets proved that.

The book has been greeted with great relish in some circles. In a review published in the Wall Street Journal, conservative historian Andrew Roberts asserts that “Great Soul’’ reveals Gandhi as a “political incompetent and a fanatical faddist.’’ The more salacious reviews (to which Lelyveld has objected, it should be noted) have prompted the Indian state of Maharashtra to consider banning the book.

While Lelyveld’s book complicates the standard picture of Gandhi, it doesn’t undercut Gandhi’s achievements.

Leave it to the war-promoting press to do that.

If anything, it’s more inspiring when highly fallible individuals accomplish great things. As anti-government revolutions play out in Libya, Tunisia, and Egypt, many Americans nervously scan the scene, hoping for Gandhi-like leaders who can rise above the temptations, prejudices, and petty disputes that bedevil every country. 

I'm waiting for one in my own country (the closest we have right now is Ron Paul).

It’s reassuring to know that, in his own time, Gandhi himself — despite his accomplishments — might not have satisfied that standard.  

Yup, nonviolent. noncooperation was a failure.


I certainly understand the look of weariness.  In my case I'm tired of the Boston Globe.

--more--"  

Related 

"Generations to come will scarce believe that such a one as [Gandhi] ever in flesh and blood walked upon this earth" 

 I have a hard time believing it these days. 

"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." 

That seems to be the way the masters want it. 

Mr. Crowley

What went on in your head?

"State Dept. spokesman quits over remarks; Decried treatment of leaks suspect" by Farah Stockman,  Globe Staff / March 14, 2011

WASHINGTON — State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley resigned yesterday after his disparaging remarks about the Pentagon, made to a small seminar at MIT on the power of blogging, tweeting, and Facebook, appeared in blog postings by members of the audience.   

You can not tell the truth in AmeriKa if you are anywhere near power.

Crowley, a retired colonel who served 26 years in the Air Force, called the Pentagon’s treatment of an Army private accused of leaking classified documents to WikiLeaks “ridiculous’’ and “counterproductive.’’

The patsy framed for the Israeli intelligence leak.

Private First Class Bradley Manning is being held in solitary confinement in a military jail for 23 hours a day, and is stripped each night and given a suicide-proof smock to wear to bed.

The remarks, which Crowley later described as his personal opinion, were blogged by BBC reporter and Nieman fellow Philippa Thomas. The next day, CBS’s Political Hotsheet blogged about her report. So did Foreign Policy Magazine and Salon. On Friday, President Obama was asked about them at a White House press conference....

Siva Vaidhyanathan, professor of media studies at the University of Virginia, who said he heard about the remarks on Twitter within minutes:  “If you want to get your message out, the old-fashioned way is to have a quiet discussion with a reporter as an exclusive. The new way is to let it boil up from the tweeters and the bloggers.’’  

That is why newspapers are dying.  

Well, the divisive, agenda-pushing, war-promoting lying helped.

Vaidhyanathan said Crowley, who also served as spokesman for President Clinton’s National Security Council, would not have used the same blunt words at the State Department because it would have reflected poorly on Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.  

So EGOS enter into the equation when it comes to the truth and the AmeriKan government?

Crowley, a 59-year-old Massachusetts native who graduated from the College of the Holy Cross, did not return a phone call yesterday. But he kept on tweeting....  

Going over the head of the Amerikan media, huh?

--more--" 

And if the AmeriKan media is promoting a blog you know it is part of the controlled-opposition operation:

"Volunteer site with Harvard roots spreads citizen journalism’s voice" by Jennifer Preston, New York Times / March 14, 2011

NEW YORK — As part of Tunisia for Global Voices, a volunteer-driven organization and platform that works with bloggers all over the world to translate, aggregate, and link to online content. reporting, Amira al-Hussaini said the site turned to Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter, where other bloggers and hundreds of ordinary people stepped into the role of citizen journalist and shared their experiences, cellphone photos, and videos online....

Rebecca MacKinnon, a former Tokyo bureau chief for CNN who founded Global Voices and Ethan Zuckerman, a technologist and Africa expert, said the network grew out of an international meeting of bloggers held at Harvard in late 2004. 

I do not trust blogs by former media types (I'll bet she's glad she's not on assignment in Tokyo now) that are sanctioned by the New World Order Ivy League training school for elite management and promoted by the agenda-pushing paper.

They saw an opportunity to leverage content produced on blogs and social media sites like Twitter outside the United States and to help create a global community for them and their work....

--more--"

Time to do battle against the forces of good(?), Crowley:

"The Holy See has improved getting its message out online, with a dedicated YouTube channel and Twitter accounts, and its increasing presence on Facebook....  

Who can blame them after the way they have been singled out by the Zionist AmeriKan media?

Not that the pooper-pumping perverts are undeserving of the scorn. 

Won't find me in a pew these days.

--more--"  

Opening Day Drink

I think I need a drink when I look at New England's newspaper these days. 

City questions Sox plan for mixed drinks
As the Boston Red Sox prepare for their April 8 home opener at Fenway Park, the team is moving to expand the sale of mixed alcoholic beverages throughout the historic ballpark, drawing concerns from Boston police and Mayor Menino. 

At least you will be feeling good during the game as the radiation falls from the sky. 

And no April Fools Day joke: 

State’s interior warned of snow

Looks like I'm going to be busy tomorrow and on my scheduled day off, dear readers.  I'm sorry.

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Nothing New In the World Today

According to the Boston Globe's website:

March 29:
March 30:
Gee, those are not the stories and headlines in my printed paper.

Compare and see for yourself:

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/2011/03/29/

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/2011/03/30/

What a PoS operation.

Boston Globe Snail Mail

And I have been reading them about as fast.

Letter’s long journey ends, mystery begins

Must be marked express seeing as it was on the front page and all.  

As I so often say with the unread stacks of Boston Globe's upon my desk "I'll open it later." 

I'm sorry to have lost the morning, dear readers, but I promise to have some posts prepared for tonight.

Passing Over the Boston Globe

It is what I will soon be doing to the Boston Globe.

‘Seder in a Box’ provides essentials for Passover
 
Related: Pats owner’s deep ties to Israel are personal

Both page one Metro lead features.  

Only serving their diminishing readership I guess.

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Obama in South America

He and his had a good time. That's all that matters.

"Obama to visit Latin America in effort to restore US influence" by Associated Press / March 19, 2011

BRASILIA, Brazil — It lacks the urgency of a nuclear crisis in Japan, or fighting in Libya, or the threat of a government shutdown at home. 

But the wars will go on.

But President Obama today begins a trip to Latin America that many in the hemisphere consider long overdue and that the White House believes will help restore US influence in the region....   

I hate to be the one to tell you this, America, but we are losing it!  That's what happens when you hook your star to the Israeli wagon.

The trip, considered by many in the hemisphere as long overdue, is also an effort to solidify relationships that have slipped two years after Obama declared “a new chapter of engagement’’ with the region.

Oh, he's stiffed you guys down south, too?!?!

In that time, China has expanded its economic footprint in the region and has surpassed the United States as Brazil’s top trade partner....    

Oh, THAT IS a CONCERN!!  

And what is the U.S. doing?  

Off waging mass-murdering wars in faraway lands over lies!!

Obama will meet with recently elected President Dilma Rousseff of Brazil today, followed by meetings with President Sebastian Pinera of Chile, and President Mauricio Funes of El Salvador. In selecting those three, Obama is reaching out to nations whose political leaders have displayed a pragmatic governing style and where anti-Americanism is on the wane.  

Translation: He's seeing the few friends we have down there.

As such they stand in stark contrast  to Venezuela and Bolivia, led by leftist populists known for agitating against the United States.

Honestly, I'm sick of the slanted journalism and ax-grinding bias.  

Also see: Landslide ruins 400 homes in Bolivia

Then the floods were forgotten.

At the same time, in Brazil, Chile, and El Salvador, Obama’s showcasing democracies that have emerged from turbulent pasts and that, in his administration’s view, serve as examples of a pathway out of the current upheaval in the Middle East.

Yeah, the turbulent pasts were mostly due to help from the CIA.  You know, standard stuff, coups and crap.

The trip also presents Obama with an opportunity to spell out his goals for the region — much as he did for the Middle East in a speech in Cairo in June 2009. 

Meaning he will be letting you know what the New World Order has in store for you.

--more--"  

And I cut away the froth for you, readers:

"In Latin America, Obama sees opportunity for US job growth" by Jim Kuhnhenn, Associated Press / March 20, 2011

BRASILIA — Executives from a number of American corporations, including International Paper, Cargill, Citigroup, and Coca-Cola, participated in the CEO session.  

Obama is nothing more than a salesman for corporations -- with nuclear reactor builder GE one of his top campaign donors.

Obama began his three-country, five-day tour of Latin America against the backdrop of ominous developments in earthquake-ravaged Japan, where officials are struggling to prevent a meltdown at a damaged nuclear power plant, and in Libya, where a US and European coalition launched a risky military operation to protect civilians from attacks by Moammar Khadafy’s force.  

The place has already melted down, and now they are talking about plutonium poisoning.  The fact that the AmeriKan corporate media has been minimizing and obfuscating the dangers is most distressing. The corporate media simply does not care.

Brazil stands out for its strategic and economic importance to the United States. It is a member of an exclusive club of influential developing nations, along with Russia, India, and China, collectively known in economic circles as the BRIC nations.

Putting a BRIC upside the AmeriKan head.

Obama is looking to reset the US relationship with Brazil, which has split with Washington on several issues....   

That's odd. 

My print paper says "an emerging economic power that even without being hostile has annoyed Washington with its independent ways."

Yeah, I guess they had to clean that up. 

--more--" 

Of course, we know what independent ways they mean:

"Obama hails rise of Brazil, a key economic partner; But trade policy, UN seat still causing friction" by Perry Bacon Jr. and Juan Forero, Washington Post / March 21, 2011

RIO DE JANEIRO — With a crisis in Libya competing for his time, President Obama stuck to the agenda of his state tour of Brazil, arriving yesterday morning in a once-notorious slum that Brazilian officials now hold up as a symbol of a rejuvenated country.  

Yeah, war never far from his mind.

“Welcome Obama,’’ a group of children said after the president and his entourage arrived in City of God, made famous by a 2002 Brazilian film of the same name. Obama kicked a soccer ball with pint-size boys and swayed to the beat of a samba performance at a makeshift community center.

Michelle Obama and their daughters, Sasha and Malia, accompanied the president as he got a firsthand look at a neighborhood long battered by crime and poverty but that, like Brazil itself, is now on the rise. Indeed, Brazilian officials have been eager to show how a new police initiative and the country’s strong economic growth have improved life even for the disenfranchised.  

I guess they didn't let bankers rip them off for $14 TRILLION dollars.

It was the president’s first stop in a day in which the administration hoped to emphasize its commitment to building economic and diplomatic ties to Latin America’s biggest country. But never far from Obama’s mind was Libya....  

Actually, it has been bothering me lately and making me sour.  

ANOTHER F***ING WAR?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The operations against Libya’s strongman encroached on what Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton characterized as a vital trip for US diplomacy — a tour designed to improve sometimes strained relations with Brazil, the world’s seventh-largest economy and an important market for US products.... 

US companies are interested in lucrative contracts that will be awarded ahead of the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, as well as the investments that will become available as Brazil works to develop deep-sea oil reserves off Rio’s coast. The White House also said Obama talked up Boeing F-18 jet fighters to Brazil’s new president, Dilma Rousseff, as Brazil weighs updating its air force fleet. 

He's NOT THERE FOR JOBS! 

He's there for CORPORATIONS, OIL, and WEAPONS SALES!!!

Still, there is disharmony on various issues. Rousseff gently chided the United States for its protectionist policies. And Obama did not endorse Brazil for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council, a major initiative of Brazilian diplomacy.  

He STUCK a THUMB in there eye?  

Ah, the diplomatic touch of George W. Bush.

It also appears the United States will be unable to prod Brazil to share Washington’s efforts to isolate Iran, as that country moves forward with its nuclear program.  

Yeah, and THAT is a REAL STICKING POINT for Israel's lieutenant.

But there was more than trade on Obama’s agenda....     

Like enjoying himself while radiation sweeps the planet and he pocks Africa, the Middle East, and Central Asia with missile strikes 

--more--"  

Time to move on to Chile:

"Obama praises Chile as shining example of transition to democracy; Urging region on, also refers to Mideast turmoil" by Jim Kuhnhenn, Associated Press / March 22, 2011

SANTIAGO, Chile — President Obama held up Latin America as a shining example for those in the Middle East fighting for democracy, while urging leaders in the region to recommit themselves to defending human rights and strengthening democratic institutions in their own countries.  

Does anyone listen to that crap coming out his mouth anymore?

“At a time when people around the world are reaching for their freedoms, Chile shows that, yes, it is possible to transition from dictatorship to democracy, and to do so peacefully,’’ Obama said yesterday.

With no help from the U.S. 

See: The Most Important Thing to Come Out of Chile  

Operation Condor, huh?

Speaking at the midway point of his five-day tour of Latin America, Obama declared the region ready to take on more responsibility on the world stage, and said the United States no longer views it as one embroiled in perpetual conflict or trapped in endless cycles of poverty.... 

Then we have truly lost the region because those were the results of U.S. policies.  

And I'm glad my government has dropped its prejudicial stereotypes.

--more--"

"Obama wraps up Central America trip" by Associated Press / March 23, 2011

SAN SALVADOR — President Obama vowed closer cooperation yesterday with the Central American nations where US policies on crime, immigration, and other issues have outsize influence on populations that depend heavily on their giant neighbor to the north.

Speaking in El Salvador, the final stop on his three-country Latin American tour and the only one in Central America, Obama promised to work on increasing trade and economic growth, fighting drug trafficking, and creating opportunities so that people can find opportunity in their home countries and “don’t feel like they have to head north to provide for their families.’’

“The United States will do our part’’ in combating the increasing scourge of drug trafficking, the president said, standing next to El Salvador’s president, Mauricio Funes, who welcomed Obama’s attention to the oft-overlooked region. Obama announced a new $200 million partnership with El Salvador to combat drug wars that have led to a spike in homicides here and in other Central American countries.  

Yeah, too bad banks love drug loot.

Yet Obama’s five-day visit to Latin America has been overshadowed from the start by the war he’s running in faraway Libya, and just before the news conference started, the White House said Obama would be cutting his visit short....   

He has his priorities.

--more--"

Obama Takes Command

I thought you (not me, readers; I voted Nader last time out) elected him to end the wars, and now he has started a third one? 

How many countries can we dump missiles into before it is a world war?

"Obama schedules Monday address on Libya; President expected to detail handover to NATO control" by Robert Burns and Ben Feller, Associated Press / March 26, 2011

WASHINGTON —The speech offers him his best chance to explain the purpose and scope of the mission to a nation weary of war. Obama has spoken about the matter since authorizing the use of force, but not in a setting as prominent as an evening speech, as he seeks to take command of the story.

Translation: it is a propaganda pitch.

Obama is expected to explain how the US-led campaign is shifting to NATO control, and how the multinational approach with Arab support puts the United States in the strongest position to achieve the goals of protecting Libyan civilians, a White House official said....

With the Obama administration eager to take a back seat, it remained unclear when NATO would assume command of the no-fly patrols. Also unclear was when — and even if — the US military’s Africa Command would hand off to NATO the lead role in attacking Libyan ground targets.

Are you sick of the lying yet?

The US commander in charge of the overall international mission, Army General Carter Ham, said “We could easily destroy all the regime forces that are in Ajdabiya,’’ but the city itself would be destroyed in the process. “We’d be killing the very people that we’re charged with protecting.’’

Yeah, that is what we are doing.

Instead, the focus is on disrupting the communications and supply lines that allow Khadafy’s forces to keep fighting in Ajdabiya and other urban areas such as Misrata, Ham said in a telephone interview from his Africa Command headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany.

The White House announcement of Monday’s speech came after Obama’s teleconference yesterday with a bipartisan group of key members of Congress. The call came amid complaints on Capitol Hill that Obama was not adequately consulting about the intervention in Libya with Capitol Hill.

Related: Congress Comes Together On Libya 

Everything okay now?

During the call, Obama and other officials emphasized to lawmakers that the United States’ military role would be decreasing going forward, according to an official who listened to the conversation and spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the closed meeting.  

So he LIED TO THEM, too?

Obama reiterated the US position that Khadafy should leave power. But he said, as he has publicly, that the United States planned to follow the mission of the UN Security Council resolution, which centers on the protection of Libyan civilians. The campaign is not aimed at killing Khadafy, the official said.
 
That's why they missiled his house.

House Speaker John A. Boehner asked a series of questions and got direct answers from both the president and Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the official said. The president also took questions from the Senate’s top Republican, Mitch McConnell, and from other lawmakers.

After the call, a spokesman for Boehner said the speaker wants the Obama administration to do more to explain how the mission in Libya “is consistent with US policy goals.’’  

Three words: oil, gas, and water.

--more--"

"Pentagon cuts Navy firepower aimed at Libya" by Robert Burns, Associated Press / March 28, 2011

WASHINGTON — In a sign of US confidence that the weeklong assault on Libya has tamed Moammar Khadafy’s air defenses, the Pentagon has reduced the amount of naval firepower arrayed against him, officials said yesterday.  

Please keep that in mind for later.

The move, not yet publicly announced, reinforces the White House message of a diminishing US role. That shift will be central in President Obama’s national address on Libya, scheduled for 7:30 tonight.
 
Who cares if it is a lie? You want to believe your president, right?

Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton appeared on three Sunday news shows to promote the administration’s case ahead of the speech.... 

I'm glad I no longer watch those shows.

The shrinking of the naval presence adds substance to Obama’s expected reassurance to the American people that the United States is now handing off to partner countries in Europe and elsewhere the bulk of the responsibility for suppressing Khadafy’s forces.

Sort of the way a nice urine gravy adds to a roast s***.

Obama administration officials claimed progress in Libya, but lawmakers in both parties voiced skepticism over the mission’s length, scope, and cost.  

Someone want to turn that record over?

Obama is trying to address those issues in a speech that is expected to provide his fullest explanation of the US role in Libya and what lies ahead.

Among other questions for Obama is whether the Libyan intervention should serve as a model for US policy toward other Arab countries where revolts against authoritarian governments are gaining ground.  

Well, no, otherwise we would already be bombing the bejeezus out of Bahrain and Yemen.

--more--"

I didn't watch the speech or any news coverage afterward; my only AmeriKan media prism is New England's flagship newspaper (sob).


"Brutality in Libya required swift action, Obama says; Vows US will reduce role in coming days" b Donovan Slack and Farah Stockman, Globe Staff / March 29, 2011

WASHINGTON — US attacks on Libya are essential to prevent Moammar Khadafy from slaughtering his citizens and destabilizing a vital region, President Obama asserted last night in an address that sought to clarify the mission’s goals and counter concerns its beginning was clumsily executed and its end is uncertain.

The barbarity of Khadafy’s forces and the scope of his threats demanded immediate action, the president said, hinting that there was little time for a full congressional debate and approval.

“We knew that if we waited one more day, Benghazi — a city nearly the size of Charlotte — could suffer a massacre that would have reverberated across the region and stained the conscience of the world,’’ Obama said. “It was not in our national interest to let that happen. I refused to let that happen.’’ 

And yet he stands by silently as Israel victimizes Palestinians. 

And which nation invade Iraq over a boatload of lies, destabilizing the region? 

It has REACHED the POINT where I can NO LONGER LISTEN to or READ what our leaders say!

The president said the United States is about to significantly reduce its role in the operation....

Meaning the coverage will begin dwindling soon.

“Sometimes, the course of history poses challenges that threaten our common humanity and common security,’’ Obama said, ticking off the need to respond to genocide and natural disasters as examples.

As he commits it in places like Pakistan and Afghanistan.

“These may not be America’s problems alone, but they are important to us, and they are problems worth solving.’’

I think the world would rather we sit a few out, thanks.

Failing to act, he said, would have emboldened other repressive leaders in the region to use violence to stay in power. 

Like they are doing in Yemen, Bahrain, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, etc, etc, etc.

The president, however, insisted the mission should not be broadened to include ousting Khadafy.

Just a week ago he was saying Khadafy must go. Must have been speaking off-script.

Obama said he would work toward that goal but only by using nonmilitary means.

Does he really think we are buying his bulls***?

“If we tried to overthrow Khadafy by force, our coalition would splinter,’’ he said, adding that costs would multiply and be borne by the US alone. “To be blunt, we went down that road in Iraq.’’  

How come we are still there?

The swift Libyan intervention — which marks the first time Obama has ordered US troops into a new conflict — is considered a key test of his presidency and a moment that allowed him to delineate his most comprehensive vision yet for America’s role in the world and the role of the military abroad.

Related: 

PNAC 

A Clean Break  


Can't we get one from those parasites?

“He laid the beginnings of an Obama doctrine,’’ said Stephen Flanagan, a national security specialist at the Center for Strategic and International Studies....    

And the PARAGRAPH EDITED OUT for you webbers? 

At least one recent poll shows Americans solidly behind the president's decision. Seventy percent favored the establishment of a no-fly zone over Libya in a March 18-20 CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll. Fifty-four percent favored airstrikes against Khadafy's forces, with 43 percent unopposed.

They must have realized what an outrageous lie it was. 

"A poll conducted by Fox News last week, before the airstrikes started, found a majority of Americans, 65 percent, opposed to military involvement in Libya"  

And there is no reason for the WAR-WEARY, WAR-HATING American public to FLIP on that, sorry!!!  

We don't want to answer the klaxon anymore because the klaxon is a lie.

The rest makes it:

If Khadafy and his regime are gone in a month, replaced by a democratic government sympathetic to the United States, the president could take credit for a strategic and political victory, said Tom Kelly, professor emeritus of history and American studies at Siena College in New York.  

Isn't that the SAME S*** we were told about Saddam and Iraq?

But if the conflict drags on and fails to stop Khadafy from attacking civilians, it would be a resounding defeat and more fodder for Obama critics....
 
It was a defeat when that first cruise missile was let loose.

Richard Eichenberg, a political science professor at Tufts, said Obama’s actions on Libya echoed President Clinton’s reluctant intervention to stop the atrocities in Kosovo after he had vowed to focus on strengthening the economy.

“Clinton almost failed,’’ Eichenberg said. “He had to bomb the Serbs for 60 days. He thought it was going to be over much sooner.’’   

Yup, Billo littered Serbia with depleted uranium -- the same thing Obama is doing to Libya!

Clinton’s ratings fell as refugees poured out of Kosovo and the Serbs held their ground. But months later, as UN peacekeepers took over and the operation looked like a success, his popularity surged, Eichenberg said.

Obama last night used an earlier UN intervention in the Balkans as a guidepost to highlight how in only one month the United States and its allies were able to mobilize and prevent a massacre in Libya.

“When people were being brutalized in Bosnia in the 1990s, it took the international community more than a year to intervene with air power to protect civilians,’’ Obama said.

Tom Malinowski, who wrote speeches for Clinton during the Kosovo engagement, agreed Obama acted quickly in Libya.

“This was probably the fastest military response to an impending human rights crisis in history,’’ said Malinowski, now Washington director for Human Rights Watch. “I think it says that despite his enormous sensitivity to America’s domestic troubles and the message that he gets every day from his base that he needs to focus on domestic concerns, he remains committed to a vision of America playing a larger role in the world.’’  

That's a Human Rights Watch guy?
 
He's pro-Empire!!!

--more--" 

Updates:

US launches new missile barrage at Libyan facilities

A US defense official said ships and submarines launched 22 cruise missiles, the most in several days, at Libyan storage facilities in Tripoli today.  

Washing his hands in blood like Bush used to do. Comes with serving Israel, I guess. 

Pentagon: Libya mission has cost US $550m so far 

The empire is bankrupting us, and to have such cretins at the top that toss around the tax loot like they toss around missiles.  

I'm ashamed, appalled, and disgusted, dear readers. I throw my hands up, condemn this crap-hole government of mine, and wonder WTF next?  Collapse of your own dead weight, you stinking hulk of a corpse.  

Qatar Quits Arab League

They really ought to after this little maneuver:

"Qatar joins in flights to enforce Libya no-fly zone; Becomes 1st Arab country to take part in operation" by Hadeel Al-Shalchi, Associated Press / March 26, 2011

TRIPOLI, Libya — Fellow Arab and African nations raised the international pressure yesterday on Libyan leader Moammar Khadafy, with tiny Qatar flying the Arab world’s first combat missions over his country and the African Union imploring him to move toward democratic elections. 

Related: Arabs Angry at Libyan Airstrikes

Also see: Signing Off In Vermont

Yeah, I think I might start junking Al-Jazeera seeing the source.

The military operation against Khadafy, which yesterday included airstrikes by British and French jets, remains a US-led operation....

And will be no matter what you are told by the government or its mouthpiece.

Aside from the United Arab Emirates, which pledged 12 warplanes, the international effort to protect Khadafy’s opponents has no other countries from the Arab League, a 22-member group that was among the driving forces behind the UN Security Council decision to impose a no-fly zone over Libya.  

That sure as hell ain't the way I remember it. 

Yeah, they asked for help, and then licketysplit there was a U.N. resolution.

Related: Emiratis Call For Independence

I doubt they endorsed this.

The United States has provided millions of dollars in equipment to many of the league’s countries, including Saudi Arabia and Jordan.  

That's why the Saudi occupation of Bahrain is minimized, and why Jordan coverage is so distorted.

A Health Ministry official said 114 Libyans have died in the international airstrikes, but he did not provide a breakdown of soldiers and civilians.  

Murder, by any other name....

Army General Carter Ham said late Thursday that although he was not sure whether civilians died in airstrikes, “we have been very, very precise and discriminate in our targeting.’’ British Foreign Secretary William Hague went further, saying there have been “no confirmed civilian casualties’’ from airstrikes....  

Don't they SAY THAT EVERY TIME they BOMB the HELL out of some place?

--more--"

"Rebels in Libya recapture major crossroads city; Victory is first big gain since strikes began" by Kareem Fahim and David D. Kirkpatrick, New York Times / March 27, 2011

AJDABIYA, Libya —The rebel victory was the first sign that the allied attacks, directed not only against Khadafy’s aircraft and defenses but also against his ground troops, were changing the dynamics of the battle for control of the country, erasing weeks of loss as the airstrikes opened the way....

Yup, we're winning now!

President Obama, in his weekly radio address, tried to reassure Americans that the mission was both important and effective. “Today, I can report that thanks to our brave men and women in uniform, we’ve made important progress,’’ he said, adding, “We are succeeding in our mission.’’  

What's that, killing Libyans?

**************

At a news conference in Tripoli, the Libyan capital, Deputy Foreign Minister Khalid Kaim repeated accusations that the airstrikes have killed dozens of civilians, though the Khadafy government has not yet presented evidence of those deaths....  

That never seem to bother the slavish AmeriKan media when it comes to the AmeriKan government.

The air campaign, dominated by US, British, and French forces and mostly coordinated by the United States in its initial week, is to be turned over to NATO oversight under an agreement by the allies in recent days. But it is unclear how long it will take for a complete handover, and the Obama administration has been pressed at home to assure a US electorate that the United States will not be drawn into another long war.

(Blog editor totally disheartened at this point; I'm so sick of being lied to by this government)

The rebel forces are still outgunned on the ground by Khadafy’s better-equipped militia, the rebel battle lines are still hundreds of miles from the capital, and there is no indication of an imminent uprising in the west against the government.

There was evidence yesterday that the allied military effort was having an effect not just in the rebel-held east, but in the west as well.  

Readers, they JUST SAID.... ARRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!

In Misurata, where Libya’s military has kept up a tight siege against the last opposition redoubt in the western part of the country, rebel commanders said the allied airstrikes had allowed them to hold out.

Fighting around Misurata erupted again yesterday, according to a rebel spokesman using the name Aiman. He said tanks and artillery resumed firing into the city yesterday morning until three waves of airstrikes forced them back.

--more--"   

Related: Woman bursts into hotel to tell of rapes 

Smells like a staged incident to me.

"US role in Libya lauded, criticized; 2 Hub rallies take opposite stances on military effort" by Matt Byrne, Globe Correspondent / March 27, 2011

Several dozen demonstrators gathered yesterday at Copley Square to express gratitude for the international military effort in Libya that they said has already saved an untold number of civilian lives in the conflict between rebels and the forces of Libyan leader Moammar Khadafy.  

This is making me sick, readers.

Demonstrators at a smaller Boston rally argued against US involvement in Libya....  

Yeah, right. The war-weary American people are always outnumbered according to war-promoting paper.

--more--"

But we're winning!!!! 

"Libya rebels capture Khadafy hometown, ex-official says; NATO agrees to take command of coalition strikes" by Kareem Fahim and David D. Kirkpatrick, New York Times / March 28, 2011

AJDABIYA, Libya — Rebels captured Surt, the hometown of Libyan leader Moammar Khadafy, the country’s former ambassador to the United Nations, Mohammed Abdel Rahman Shalgham, told Al Jazeera.  

Told AJ?  Wait a day.

Shalgam, who defected to join the opposition, was speaking from New York, Bloomberg News reported today. He said he got the information from the rebel leaders.

The capture of Khadafy’s hometown came after rebels backed by allied warplanes recaptured two strategic oil towns as they erased recent losses.

The rebel gains set the stage for the battle for Surt, considered a potentially decisive objective in the war for Libya.

The gains underscore the essential role that Western airstrikes — now focused mainly on Khadafy ground troops since the elimination of his air defenses — have played in turning around the rebels’ fortunes.  

This is gross propaganda, dear readers. 

See what the poor American people are subjected to if they happen by a newspaper or its website?

Libyan state television reported that Surt had been bombed in air raids late last night. Heavy bombardment of Tripoli also began after nightfall.

At a meeting yesterday in Brussels, NATO agreed to take over the entire military mission in Libya, including the airstrikes targeting the Libyan military. The decision effectively relieved the United States of leading the fight and ended a week of squabbling among the allies over the issue.

The agreement by NATO, which works by unanimity, was announced by the alliance secretary general, Anders Fogh Rasmussen.

The airstrikes, which began a week ago, have quickly reversed the military balance along the eastern coast. The rebel advance yesterday moved the eastern front farther west than it had been at the peak of rebel gains several weeks ago....

In western Libya, however, the rebel-held city of Misurata was still under siege by loyalist forces and by yesterday evening rebels were again reporting street fighting in the center of the city and shelling from Khadafy tanks around the outside.

The rebels said earlier in the day that allied airstrikes had kept up through the night, destroying a major ammunition depot that exploded in a blaze of light. 

Allied airstrikes outside Misurata had kept up through the previous night, rebels said, destroying a major ammunition depot that exploded in a blaze of light. It was still burning 13 hours after the initial blast, said Muhammad, a rebel spokesman there whose full name was withheld for his family’s safety.

Speaking over a satellite hook-up and hospital generator, he contradicted statements from the Qaddafi government that it had restored power and water to the city. He said that rebels had used a local generator to restore electricity to about half the city. But he said that water remained cut off and that residents were using a small supply from a desalination facility there. The reports were impossible to confirm because the Qaddafi government has prevented journalists from reaching the city.

In Tripoli on Sunday, most stores were closed. Usually busy streets were deserted. Officials said the port had been closed to ships carrying refined fuel as well as food and other goods. Gasoline was in increasingly short supply, and lines of cars at gas stations stretched for several blocks. Some motorists said they had turned out before dawn for a chance to fill up, or waited in line for more than two hours to reach the pump. Residents also stood in long lines for bread at bakeries, mainly because the migrant workers Libyans rely on to bake and do other service jobs have fled the country....  

--more--"

"Libyan troops dig in to defend Khadafy’s hometown" by Ryan Lucas,  Associated Press / March 29, 2011

BIN JAWAD, Libya — Rebel forces bore down yesterday on Moammar Khadafy’s hometown of Surt, a key government stronghold where a brigade headed by one of the Libyan leader’s sons was digging in to defend the city and setting the stage for a bloody and possibly decisive battle.

I'm sorry, but I WAS TOLD YESTERDAY that they had ALREADY CAPTURED IT! WTF?

The opposition made new headway in its rapid advance westward through oil towns and along stretches of empty desert highway toward Surt and beyond to the big prize — the capital, Tripoli.

But the rebels remain woefully outgunned by Khadafy’s forces, who had swept the insurgents from their positions in eastern Libya before the international intervention forced government troops to withdraw.

Rebel leaders acknowledged that they could not have held their ground over the last week without international air and cruise missile strikes, and General Carter F. Ham, the ranking American in the coalition operation, warned that the rebel gains could be quickly reversed without continued air support.
 
Where have we HEARD THAT BEFORE, Americans?

Libya state television reported new NATO air strikes after nightfall in the cities of Garyan and Mizda about 40 miles and 90 miles respectively from Tripoli.

NATO insisted that it was seeking only to protect civilians and not to give air cover to an opposition march. But that line looked set to become even more blurred 

Yeah, protect civilian by blowing them up, whooooooshhhhh!

The airstrikes now are clearly enabling rebels bent on overthrowing Khadafy to push toward the final line of defense on the road to the capital.

Vice Admiral William Gortney, staff director for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the United States was hitting Libyan targets with Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt aircraft, designed to provide battlefield support to friendly ground forces.

Also joining the battle, he said, were Air Force AC-130 gunships, a low-flying aircraft armed with a 105mm howitzer and a 40mm cannon. Those two types of aircraft give the United States more ability to confront pro-Khadafy forces in urban areas with less risk of civilian casualties.

But we AIN'T LEADING NUTHIN' and have been relieved of the fight!!!! 

There was growing criticism from Russia and other countries that the international air campaign is overstepping the bounds of the UN resolution that authorized it.  

Hey, we are the Empire. Talk to the hand.

The complaints came at a critical transition in the campaign from a US to a NATO command. The change threatens to hamper the operation, as some of the 28 NATO member nations plan to limit their participation to air patrols, rather than attacks on ground targets....  

How much you wanna bet the U.S. never hands off a damn thing?

The official Tunisian news agency said late yesterday that Foreign Minister Moussa Koussa of Libya arrived in Tunis on what it called a private visit. Koussa crossed into the country through the Ras Jedir border crossing.

Implication is a defection, right?  

See: Tunisia Takeover

Ah, a safe haven.

Some residents were fleeing Surt as soldiers from a brigade commanded by Khadafy’s son al-Saadi and his militiamen streamed to positions on the city’s outskirts, witnesses said. Surt was hit by airstrikes Sunday night and yesterday morning, witnesses said, but they did not know what was targeted.  

WTF? I was told the town had been captu.... awwwwww, what's the use?!!

Surt, which houses a significant air and military base, is crucial both for its strategic position and its symbolic value. Over the years, Khadafy has made it effectively Libya’s second capital, building up what had been a quiet agricultural community into a city of 150,000 with lavish conference halls where Arab and African summits were held.

Fighting in such a densely populated area is likely to complicate the rebels’ advance and add to the ambiguity of the NATO-led campaign, authorized by a Security Council resolution to take all necessary measures to protect civilians.

In Russia, which abstained from the UN vote, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said strikes on Khadafy’s forces would amount to taking sides in what he called Libya’s civil war, and thus breach the mandate that was initially envisaged as establishing a no-fly zone only to protect civilians.
But the inclusion of language allowing “all necessary means’’ opened the door to airstrikes and cruise missile attacks on Khadafy’s forces to stop attacks on cities and cut supply lines.

--more--"   

I should quit reading the Boston Globe.

Libya's Next Leader

He's got that page-one AmeriKan stamp of approval!

"Libyan reformer now face of rebellion; US-educated professor gains confidence of Western leaders" by Farah Stockman, Globe Staff / March 28, 2011
WASHINGTON — He arrived in a suit, without an entourage. One day after US missiles began striking Moammar Khadafy’s forces, the balding, US-educated professor met Senator John F. Kerry of Massachusetts at a hotel in Cairo to outline his vision for Libya’s future.
Mahmoud Jibril, a reform-minded former Libyan official and the face of the rebel movement to the West, has played a key role in persuading the United States and its allies to offer a lifeline to Libya’s rebellion.

“He makes a case that people want to hear,’’ said an aide to Kerry who was not authorized to be quoted by name. “He seems to represent the kind of moderation that people want to see in a new Libyan government.’’

Those who have met him — including Kerry, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee; Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton; and President Nicolas Sarkozy of France — have emerged from their meetings more confident that Libya’s fledgling opposition is steered by democratic and Western-leaning visionaries, not Islamic extremists. 

Related:

Commander: Signs of Al Qaeda

Gimme an 'effin break, will ya?

But Jibril, who earned a PhD in political science from the University of Pittsburgh, also underscores a major weakness of the movement to topple Khadafy: their lack of military might. Seven members of the 31-person interim council set up to coordinate the opposition are university professors, while only three are generals, according to a US official who has met with the opposition.

“They are students and professors. They are not professional fighters,’’ said Ali Aujali, who resigned as Libya’s ambassador to the United States to support the opposition. Aujali made an urgent public appeal on Thursday for the United States to provide weapons, training, and logistical support to the rebels....

HERE WE GO AGAIN!!

Jibril has become one of the opposition’s most potent weapons since the rebellion broke out in February. In meetings with US and European officials, he brandishes plans to start a central bank, a national oil company, and a television station in rebel-held territory, a sign that he is preparing for a long struggle. He gives rousing speeches, pledging to hold free elections.... 

I can see why the paper is promoting him.

Jibril headed an economic planning board that was the nation’s preeminent think tank on the economy and traveled to Houston two years ago to meet with US oil executives, said Aujali, who accompanied him....  

Is there really a need for me to comment?  Draw your own conclusions.

--more--"

Yemen Protesters Are Terrorists

That is the messaging I'm getting from my Zionist War Daily:

"Yemen president ready to leave nation in 'safe hands’; Ouster sought as protesters fear renewed" by Ahmed Al-Haj, Associated Press / March 26, 2011

SANA, Yemen — Facing growing calls for his resignation, Yemen’s longtime ruler told tens of thousands of supporters yesterday that he is ready to step down but only if he can leave the country in “safe hands,’’ while antigovernment protesters massed for a rival rally.

President Ali Abdullah Saleh spoke in a rare appearance before a cheering crowd outside his presidential palace in the Yemeni capital.

Across town, an even larger number of people converged on a square in front of Sana University chanting slogans calling for his ouster and waving red cards emblazoned with the word “leave,’’ despite fears of more violence a week after government security forces shot dead more than 40 demonstrators in the capital.

Yes, no stern criticism or resounding speeches from Obama or his (not mine; I disown 'em as of this minute) government.

Protesters carried through the square the bodies of two protesters hit in last week’s shooting who recently died of their wounds, their coffins draped with Yemeni flags. Demonstrators prayed over the bodies and chanted to the president, “Everyone who falls as a martyr shakes your throne, o Ali!’’ as the bodies were taken for burial.

Armed with assault rifles, soldiers from units that defected to the uprising patrolled the square to protect protesters. Hundreds of people lined up to be searched before entering, many clad in white robes and turbans, with prayer mats over their shoulders for noontime prayers.  

Makes me want to weep because it is what armies should be about.

Thousands also marched in antigovernment protests in two areas of the southern port city of Aden. Security forces dispersed one of the protests with tear gas, participants said.

I keep waiting to read the paragraph with U.S. reaction, etc.

Last week’s bloodshed prompted a wave of defections by military commanders, ruling party members, and others, swelling the ranks of the opposition and leaving the president isolated.

Yeah. not only is it ALL the PEOPLE, but their president is in the same boat as ours.

Saleh, in power for nearly 32 years, responded by imposing a state of emergency that allows media censorship and gives authorities wide powers to search homes and arrest suspects without judicial process, censor mail, and tap phone lines.  

And the U.S. issued a stern warning about freedom of spee.... and human righ....  oh, never mind. 

Actually, Obama has programs like that; Bush left 'em to him. And lucky Americans, our corporate media is self-censoring.

He has made gestures trying to appease the protesters, to no avail.... 

Isn't that atrocious reporting considering one gesture was sniping away at crowds of people peacefully protesting?

--more--"

"Exit talks in Yemen yield no progress; President holds on; militants may expand reach" by  Ahmed Al-Haj, Associated Press / March 27, 2011

SANA, Yemen — Allies of Yemen’s president and his political opponents failed to make progress yesterday in talks on a possible exit for the man who has led the nation through 32 years of growing poverty and conflict and whose rule is now deeply imperiled by a popular uprising.

Officials on both sides of yesterday’s talks, which were attended by the US ambassador, said the parties refused to give any ground. After six weeks of unprecedented protests in Yemen, Saleh says he is willing to step aside in a peaceful transition of power, but has left himself room for maneuvering by adding the condition that he wants to leave the country in “safe hands.’’

The protesters — whose ranks have been bolstered by defecting military commanders, lawmakers, Cabinet ministers, diplomats, and even Saleh’s own tribe — are insisting he go immediately.  

What is so hard to understand about that?

The demands and defections have only grown since government security forces shot more than 40 demonstrators to death in the capital of Sana a week ago.  

Yeah, MURDERING YOUR OWN PEOPLE OFTEN BACKFIRES!

As the political turmoil deepened, there were signs that Islamic militants in the remote reaches of Yemen were seeking to make gains on the situation. Residents and witnesses in Jaar said suspected Al Qaeda militants moved from the mountains yesterday to seize control there a few weeks after police fled.

Oh, no, not Al-CIA-Duh again!! 

President Ali Abdullah Saleh asserted in a TV interview that without him, the country would be at grave risk of breaking apart.

“Yemen is a ticking bomb and if the political system collapses and there’s no constructive dialogue there will be a long civil war that will be difficult to end,’’ he told the Al-Arabiya network....

The United States holds a large stake in Yemen’s future. 

Just not in its own.

It considers Saleh a key ally against an active Al Qaeda branch that calls Yemen home....  

Yeah, well, which "Al-CIA-Duh" would that be, huh?

The made-up "Al-CIA-Duh?"    

Or the "Al-CIA-Duh" CREATION for the COURTROOM!?

Related:


Prop 101: Al-CIA-Duh and the OSI

Prop 101: Al-CIA-Duh's Greatest Hits


Prop 101: The "Terrorism" Business


New York Times Admits War on Terror is U.S. Creation

Oh, AmeriKa's MSM KNOWS ALL ABOUT and yet STILL PUSHES the CHARADE, huh?


--more--"

Yup, the "terrorists" are coming to power because of "protesters."

"Yemen leader drops offer to leave" by Ahmed Al-Haj, Associated Press / March 28, 2011

 SANA, Yemen — Yemen’s president, clinging to power yesterday despite weeks of protests, scrapped an offer to step down by year’s end, and Islamic militants took advantage of the deteriorating security to seize of another southern town.

So which intelligence agency is overseeing them, CIA or Mossad?

President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s opponents — a group that started with university students and has expanded to include defecting military commanders, politicians, diplomats, and even Saleh’s own tribe — had immediately rejected his offer a week ago to leave by the end of this year.  

Yup, the WHOLE POPULATION is enabling "terrorists!"

 The offer’s formal withdrawal indicates that an attempt by both sides to negotiate a transfer of power to end the crisis has failed.

In a sign of what is at stake in Yemen if security further unwinds, Islamic militants seized control of a small weapons factory, a strategic mountain, and a nearby town in the southern province of Abyan, said a witness and security officials.  

What is a WEAPONS FACTORY doing in YEMEN? 

They have POVERTY and NO JOBS, but one fine weapons industry? 

No wonder AmeriKa loves her dictator ally so much!

A day earlier, militants believed to belong to Yemen’s active Al Qaeda offshoot swept into another small town in the area called Jaar. In both cases, the militants moved in with no resistance because police had withdrawn weeks earlier in the face of challenges by antigovernment protesters.  

Yup, I TOLD YOU!! Yup, PROTESTERS ENABLE TERRORISTS!!! 

What a PATHETIC DOSE of PROPAGANDA!

Saleh, who has ruled for 32 years, is a key ally of the United States in battling Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which the Obama administration considers the top terrorist threat to the United States.

The Obama administration is concerned that the cooperation could be imperiled if Saleh departs....

Yes, they are NOT WORRIED about PEOPLE being MOWED DOWN by GOVERNMENT FORCES HERE!

--more--"  

Related: Yemen factory blast kills 110, underlines authority collapse (By Laura Kasinof, New York Times) 

My print copy carries an AP piece, and I'm sick of "Al-CIA-Duh" is taking over is Saleh splits.

Sure is strange how a WEAPONS factory taken over by CIA-Duh explodes once the poor public comes upon the scene to salvage what they can.  The cover-story lie, 'er, excuse is someone tossed a lighted cigarette into the last of the explosives.  

Do they really expect us to believe this crap anymore, or do they just not care?  Throw as much s*** on the wall and see if it sticks?

Obama Quiet About Bahrain

Why wouldn't he be?  They are behaving just like Israel.

"In Bahrain yesterday, security forces fired tear gas and pellets at antigovernment protesters. One person died, activists said.

Bahrain’s government, meanwhile, brushed aside suggestions for an international investigation into the deaths of protesters or allegations that police attacked wounded protesters at a hospital.

Defying a ban on public gatherings, thousands of people poured out of Muslim prayer services yesterday at mosques in Shi’ite towns and demonstrated against the ruling Sunni dynasty, which has declared a three-month period of emergency rule and invited a Saudi-led military force to help quell the unrest.

That Saudi-led occupation sure has been kept quiet.

--more--"    

Come to think of it, the AmeriKan media has been awfully quiet, too.

Also see: What About Bahrain?

Syria In Their Sights

The neo-con, agenda-pushing globe-kickers and their mouthpiece media, who else?  

"Syria may lift some laws seen as repressive; Following protest deaths, activists vow to press on" by Hussein Malla and Zeina Karam, Associated Press / March 25, 2011

DARAA, Syria — The Syrian government pledged yesterday to consider lifting some of the Mideast’s most repressive laws in an attempt to stop a weeklong uprising in a southern city from spreading and threatening its nearly 50-year rule.

The promises were immediately rejected by many activists who called for demonstrations around the country today in response to a crackdown that protesters say killed dozens of antigovernment marchers in Daraa.

“We will not forget the martyrs of Daraa,’’ a resident said by telephone. “If they think this will silence us they are wrong.’’

The coming days will be a crucial test of the surge of popular discontent that has unseated autocrats in Tunisia and Egypt and threatens to push several others from power.

On one side in Syria stands a regime unafraid of using extreme violence to quash unrest.  

On the other side, Israe.... oh, right.

In one infamous example, it leveled entire sections of Hama with artillery and bulldozers to put down an uprising by the Sunni Islamist Muslim Brotherhood in 1982.   

Something Israel does to Palestinians all the time.

Facing the regime is a loosely organized protest movement. The protesters have persisted through seven days of increasing violence by security forces, but have not inspired significant unrest in other parts of the country. 

Oh, this IS a CIA COUP ATTEMPT!!!

“Even if the government can contain violence to Daraa for the time being, protests will spread,’’ Joshua Landis, a Syria expert at the University of Oklahoma, wrote in a recent blog posting. “The wall of fear has broken.’’  

Did I tell you I'm also sick of agenda-pushing Globe insults?

President Bashar al-Assad, a close ally of Iran and its regional proxies, Hezbollah and Hamas, appears worried enough to promise increased freedoms for discontented citizens and increased pay and benefits for state workers — a familiar package of incentives offered by other nervous Arab regimes in recent weeks....

Gee, who would want them gone?

Human rights groups say violations of other basic liberties are rife in Syria, with torture and abuse common in police stations, detention centers, and prisons, and dissenters regularly imprisoned for years without due process....  

Just like the guys at Gitmo. 

Actually, didn't we even render people to Syria for torture? 

--more--"

"Syria kills demonstrators as protests grow; After offering concessions, forces open fire" by Michael Slackman, New York Times / March 26, 2011

CAIRO — Military troops opened fire during protests in the southern part of Syria yesterday and killed peaceful demonstrators, according to witnesses and news reports, hurtling the strategically important nation along the same trajectory that has altered the landscape of power across the Arab world.

Tens of thousands of demonstrators in the southern city of Dara’a and in other cities and towns took to the streets in protest, defying a state that has once again demonstrated its willingness to use lethal force....    

That's where I stopped reading this particular piece of propaganda. 

--more--"  

Then I began thinking about what Israeli is currently doing to Gaza (again), and what the U.S. has been doing in Libya the last week (after eight years-plus in Iraq and Afghanistan, with Pakistan getting its share of missile marks as well).   

More: Syria gripped by tension, mourning amid new violence (By Michael Slackman and Liam Stack, New York Times)

Article is a total rewrite, and I'm sick of it.   

"Syria may ease limits on political freedoms; Emergency law in place since 1963" by Hussein Malla, Associated Press / March 28, 2011

LATAKIA, Syria — In the seaside city of Latakia, gangs of young men, some armed with swords and hunting rifles, roamed through the streets yesterday, closing alleys with barricades and roughly questioning passersby in streets scarred by days of antigovernment unrest.

The scenes were a remarkable display of anarchy in what had been one of the Mideast’s most tightly controlled countries.

The government said 12 people had been shot to death during unrest in Latakia in recent days and blamed the deaths on unidentified gunmen firing from rooftops.

Syria has been rocked by more than a week of demonstrations that began in the drought-parched southern agricultural city of Daraa and exploded nationwide on Friday, with security forces opening fire on demonstrators in at least six places, killing dozens.

A Damascus-based activist said residents of an impoverished hillside neighborhood of the capital known as Mezah-86 reported that government forces were attacking demonstrators there last night. 

--more--" 

"As Syrians awaited a rumored lifting of the country’s long state of emergency, security forces tried again to end unrest. Troops fired tear gas on a crowd of some 4,000 people in Daraa who were calling for more political freedoms, witnesses said. They also fired live ammunition in the air to disperse the crowd.

Armed groups appeared to be threatening an escalation in violence in the country’s main port city of Latakia. Residents were taking up weapons and staffing checkpoints to guard against unknown gunmen roaming the streets carrying sticks and hunting rifles, according to witnesses.

Syria’s president, Bashar Assad, who has wavered between cracking down and compromising, is expected to address the nation as early as today to announce whether he will lift a nearly 50-year state of emergency and move to annul other harsh restrictions on civil liberties and political freedoms.

The southern city of Daraa — drought-stricken, rural, and impoverished — has become the flashpoint for 10 days of antigovernment protests in a country that has a history of brutally crushing dissent. At least 61 people have been killed since March 18, according to Human Rights Watch. Touched off by the arrest of teenagers who scrawled antigovernment graffiti on a wall in Daraa, the protests exploded nationwide Friday. Security forces launched a swift crackdown, opening fire in at least six locations around the country. 

--more--"