Showing posts with label Obama. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Obama. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Media Lies and Misinformation on Bin Laden


Corporate media manipulators love a big story they can hype, distort and falsify to attract large audiences, unaware they're getting managed news, not truth.

Moreover, the bigger the event, the worse the reporting, and no matter how often they're fooled, madding crowds rely on proved unreliable sources like US cable and broadcast TV, as well as corporate broadsheets and popular magazines publishing rubbish not fit to print.

After Obama's May day announcement, round-the-clock coverage now features "story one" ad nauseam, cheerleading the death of a dead man with no one allowed on to refute it.

A previous article did, accessed through the following link:

http://sjlendman.blogspot.com/2011/05/lies-damn-lies-and-bin-ladens-death.html

Separating fact from fiction, it explained:

(1) Significant facts from David Ray Griffin's important book titled, "Osama Bin Laden: Dead or Alive?" In it, he provided objective and testimonial evidence of his December 2001 death, likely from kidney failure, not a special forces hit squad getting their man then or now.

(2) Forensic evidence that post-9/11 videos and audios were fake.

(3) Bin Laden's role as a CIA asset, as well as called "Enemy Number One," using him advantageously both ways.

(4) Also, reports of his 2001 hospitalizations in Pakistan and Dubai where (in July) the emirate's CIA station chief visited him in his hospital room. Why not if he was a valued asset, his likely status until his natural, not violent, death.

Nonetheless, Western politicians and media, notably America's, never miss a chance to report fiction, not fact, especially on headline news like bin Laden's death, a decade after it happened.

Examples of Media Misreporting

Several May 2 New York Times articles provide painful reading, including Mark Mazzetti, Helene Cooper and Peter Baker's headlined, "Behind the Hunt for Bin Laden," saying:

"For years, the agonizing search for (him) kept coming up empty. Then last July, Pakistanis working for the (CIA) drove up behind a white Suzuki navigating the bustling streets near Peshawar, Pakistan," and discovered, after checking its license, that it belonged to his "most trusted courier...."

Claiming he lead them to bin Laden's location, it said:

"79 American commandos in four helicopters descended on (it). Shots rang out....Of the five dead, one was a tall, bearded man with a bloodied face and a bullet in his head."

Bin Laden's manhunt ended, said the writers, when he was identified, then quickly buried at sea to hide the evidence, though under English common law most often, no body means no killing or crime. In other words, without proof, prosecutorial allegations are baseless.

Nonetheless, Mazzetti, Cooper and Baker recounted a decade-long fantasy, including detainee interrogations in secret Eastern Europe prisons, widespread surveillance, wiretaps, satellite images and more before tracking bin Laden to a Abbottabad, Pakistan compound and killing him.

No matter that none of it was true and much more. International and constitutional law prohibit sending uninvited military forces to another country for any reason.

Moreover, no one suspected of any crime may be summarily executed with no arrest, no due process, no no judicial fairness, and no trial. Just a bullet, bomb or slit throat, Washington's version of summary judgment besides torture and imperial wars as official policies.

These topics were ignored in major media reports, focused solely on killing a decade earlier dead man.

On May 2, Times writers Scott Shane and Robert Worth headlined, "Even Before Al Qaeda Lost Its Founder, It May Have Lost Some of Its Allure," saying:

Bin Laden had "long been removed from managing terrorist operations and whose popularity with Muslims worldwide has plummeted in recent years," calling him a "violent extremis(t) without saying he was replaced after his 2001 death so, of course, his influenced waned. Out of sight, out of mind, especially when dead.

A May 2 Times editorial headlined, "The Long-Awaited News," saying:

"The news that (he'd) been tracked and killed by American forces filled us, and all Americans, with a great sense of relief....(but we must) remember that the fight against extremists is far from over."

Noting years of painstaking "vigilance and persistence," it praised Obama for "show(ing) that he is a strong and measured leader. His declaration on Sunday night that 'justice has been done' was devoid of triumphalism."

In fact, he affirmed continuity of America's war on terror - state terror, including four imperial wars and numerous proxy ones, expending enormous sums while popular needs go begging.

Ignoring truth, he repeated lies endorsed shamelessly by America's media, notably by Times correspondents, op-ed contributors, and editorial writers with comments like:

"Bin Laden's death is an extraordinary moment for Americans and all who have lost loved ones in horrifying, pointless acts of terrorism."

Unmentioned was decades of US and Israeli-sponsored state terrorism responsible for millions of deaths, destruction and human suffering. Earlier, noted scholar/activist Eqbal Ahmad (1934 - 1999) called it:

"illegal violence, (including) torture, (attacking and bombing) villages, destruction of entire peoples, (and) genocide," adding, "Who will define the parameters of terrorism, or decide where terrorists lurk? Why, none other than the United States, (its leading practitioner) which can from the rooftops of the world set out its claim to be the sheriff, judge and hangman, all at one and the same time."

So while rhetorically supporting equal justice and democratic values, Washington spurns international and constitutional law, using brute force to assert might over right, all the while proclaiming just cause reasons for its actions.

No wonder Ahmad called America "a troubled country," sowing "poisonous seeds" globally, saying "(s)ome have ripened and others are ripening (with no) examination of (what they've) sown," adding that "(m)issiles won't solve the problem." In other words, violence assures more of it, but don't expect America's media to explain.

On May 2, Washington Post writers Greg Miller and Joby Warrick headlined, "Bin Laden discovered 'hiding in plain sight,' " recounting the same fantasy as Times writers, saying:

"The commandos swept methodically through (his) compound's main building, clearing one room and then another" until they got their man. Sounding more like bad fiction, they said the operation was secretly planned for months, culminating with Sunday's assault, adding bin Laden wasn't hiding in a cave after all.

A WP editorial headlined, "Possible consequences of the bin Laden coup," saying:

"There are multiple reasons to celebrate" his death, including loss of Al Qaeda's leader, the prowess of US intelligence and military, and that the "prime (9/11) author (finally was) brought to justice."

It brought "a rare moment of common celebration and relief in a divided America. But (it's) not clear to what degree al-Qaeda's operations will be affected by the loss of its leader." It may, in fact, strengthen its resolve. History shows dead militants often inspire followers.

Ignoring illegal operations on foreign soil, it worried most about ending or curtailing them prematurely, no matter the toll in human life and neglect for popular domestic needs. For now, celebratory joy takes precedence, even for false reasons.

A Wall Street Journal editorial headlined "Victory in Abbottabad," saying:

Killing bin Laden "doesn't end the war against Islamic terror (note the racism), but it is a crucial and just victory that is rightfully cause for celebration."

Ignoring daily US war crimes, including killer drones murdering civilians, it railed against "combatants who hide in the world's dark corners, who rarely fight in the open and who attack innocents far from any conventional battlefield."

Praising Obama, it called it "a moment to salute George W. Bush....a vindication of (his war on terror, intelligence, and) interrogation policies," torturing innocent victims to extract false confessions and information about things they know nothing about, including bin Laden's alleged whereabouts.

His death, said the writer, "is a measure of justice for the thousands he killed (and) a warning to others who would kill Americans that they will meet the same fate, no matter how long it takes or where they try to hide."

This and other accounts like it, sadly, is what passes for corporate opinion in America, endorsing state terror and vilifying those against it.

Huffington Post contributor Michael Calderone headlined "Network Anchors Head to Ground Zero for Bin Laden Coverage," saying:

They never miss a chance to misreport major news, including the three broadcast anchors: NBC's Brian Williams, ABC's Diane Sawyer, and CBS' Katie Couric (an entertainer impersonating a newsperson) "host(ing) an expanded, one-hour May 2 edition of their nightly broadcasts from" Ground Zero.

Several cable channels joined them, including CNN and Fox, reporting fiction about a decade earlier dead man.

Time magazine's cover story featured bin Laden's full-page image with a pronounced red X crossing him out, highlighting what didn't happen to the detriment of readers believing inaccurate reporting.

Al Jazeera was just as bad with stories like one headlined, "Obama says world safer without Bin Laden," saying:

He "claimed responsibility for planning the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington," providing no corroborating evidence. In fact, in David Ray Griffin's writings, he said:

"(T)here is no good evidence that bin Laden had planned or even specifically authorized the 9/11 attacks." Those believing it cite his misinterpreted September 2001 Al Jazeera interview, rejoicing in the attacks but denying knowledge or responsibility.

Griffin said one of his aides confirmed that he had "no information or knowledge about the attack(s)" but he "thanked Almighty Allah and bowed before him when he heard this news." Days later he told Al Jazeera:

"I stress that I have not carried out this act, which appears to have been carried out by individuals with their own motivation."

During two subsequent October 2001 interviews, he praised the "vanguards of Islam (who) destroyed America," but again admitted no knowledge or responsibility.

Al Jazeera now claiming it is a lie.

BBC aired the same misinformation as did America's National Public Radio (NPR) and Public Broadcasting (PBS), calling his death a blow to Al Qaeda. So did Democracy Now, ignoring bin Laden's decade earlier natural, not violent, death.

Nation magazine editor Katrina vanden Heuvel also swallowed the big lie, headlining her article, "With Osama bin Laden Dead, It's Time to End the 'War on Terror,' " that was entirely bogus from inception, saying:

"Today, President Obama and his team have a chance to reset our fight against terrorism," vanden Heuvel not condemning its lawlessness, America's imperial wars, a president with no credibility, a falsely reported 9/11 event, and that the only relevant terror is what Washington unleashes globally against nonbelligerent nations.

Instead, she praised Obama's "humane and sober" position, calling it "a relief to hear in his words reminders of" a brief post-9/11 period before America went to war in Afghanistan, then Iraq, undertakings Nation magazine supported at the time and still stops short of rejecting.

A Final Comment

On May 2, Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting's Peter Hart headlined, "Bush's Palpable Persistence in Pursuit of bin Laden," suggesting he stopped looking, knowing he died, quoting him saying in March 2002:

"Who knows if he's hiding in some cave or not. We haven't heard from him in a long time....I don't know where he is. I really just don't spend that much time on him, to be honest with you."

Washington Monthly's Steve Benen offered more evidence of no interest in pursuing him, saying:

"In July 2006, we learned that the Bush administration closed its unit that had been hunting bin Laden," reported also by New York Times writer Mark Mazzetti on July 4, saying the CIA ceased all efforts last year pursuing him.

Along with David Ray Griffin's important work, it's more proof of bin Laden's 2001 death, putting a lie to Obama's announcement and shameless journalists repeating it.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening.

http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour/.
posted by Steve Lendman @ 1:17 AM

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Bye Bye Bin Laden but Hello Obama!

May 2, 2011

“Osama Bin Laden is dead, Justice has been done.”- President Obama, 1 May 2011.
 
On October 29, 2004, the Arab television network, Al Jazeera, broadcasted excerpts from a videotape of Osama bin Laden speaking in Arabic and addressing Americans, in which he accepted responsibility for the September 11, 2001 attacks, condemned the Bush government’s response to the attacks and also admitted the attacks were a part of a campaign of revenge and deterrence motivated by his witnessing of the destruction in the Lebanese Civil War in 1982.

The tape also contained bin Laden’s first public acknowledgment of al-Qaeda‘s involvement in the attacks on the U.S., noting that he first thought about attacking the World Trade Center in 1982, after watching Israeli aircraft bomb Lebanon during the 1982 Invasion of Lebanon:

“While I was looking at these destroyed towers in Lebanon, it sparked in my mind that the tyrant should be punished with the same and that we should destroy towers in America, so that it tastes what we taste and would be deterred from killing our children and women.”

Khalid Sheikh Mohammad involvement in the terror upon America, “By his own account…stemmed from his violent disagreement with U.S. foreign policy favoring Israel.” [1]

Abdulmutallab’s attempt to blow up a plane on Christmas Day in 2009, was fueled by “his sympathies toward the Palestinians and anger over Israel’s actions in Gaza.” [Ibid]

A few days after THAT DAY, President Bush went on TV and told we the people to “GO SHOP” if we wanted to HELP and that “They hated us because we were free!”

I did NOT want to shop and I did NOT react with FEAR to THAT DAY, but intense curiosity.
I wondered if ‘THEY’ hated us so much to target and murder innocent people had something to do with Americans mindless over consumption of the world’s resources and apathy towards the poor, oppressed and occupied.

Up until THAT DAY we call 9/11, I was a typical self-satisfied, self-centered, uninformed, misinformed comfortably numb American. THAT DAY changed everything and even though I did not know any of the innocent who were terrorized nor their families or friends, I felt a visceral connection and reacted by researching so as to learn WHY some people in the world hated US so much that they could target and murder innocent ones. I learned PLENTY!

On THAT DAY we call 9/11, the media assumed the role of secretaries taking down dictation but “Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the president or any other public official.” -Theodore Roosevelt

In December 2001, FOX News began a four part series -that has since been removed from their website- regarding Israel’s spying on America.

In Part One, host Brit Hume stated:

“It has been more than 16 years since a civilian working for the Navy was charged with passing secrets to Israel. Jonathan Pollard pled guilty to conspiracy to commit espionage and is serving a life sentence. At first, Israeli leaders claimed Pollard was part of a rogue operation, but later took responsibility for his work. Now Fox News has learned some U.S. investigators believe that there are Israelis again very much engaged in spying in and on the U.S., who may have known things they didn’t tell us before September 11. Fox News correspondent Carl Cameron has details in the first of a four-part series.” [2]

Carl Cameron reported, “Since September 11, more than 60 Israelis have been arrested or detained, either under the new patriot anti-terrorism law, or for immigration violations. A handful of active Israeli military were among those detained, according to investigators, who say some of the detainees also failed polygraph questions when asked about alleged surveillance activities against and in the United States. There is no indication that the Israelis were involved in the 9-11 attacks, but investigators suspect that they Israelis may have gathered intelligence about the attacks in advance, and not shared it. A highly placed investigator said there are “tie-ins.” But when asked for details, he flatly refused to describe them, saying, “evidence linking these Israelis to 9-11 is classified. I cannot tell you about evidence that has been gathered. Its classified information.”

Numerous classified documents obtained by Fox News indicated that even prior to September 11; as many as 140 other Israelis had been detained or arrested in a secretive and sprawling investigation into suspected espionage by Israelis in the United States. Investigators from numerous government agencies are part of a working group that’s been compiling evidence since the mid ’90s. These documents detail hundreds of incidents in cities and towns across the country that investigators say, “May well be an organized intelligence gathering activity.”

“Why would Israelis spy in and on the U.S.? A general accounting office investigation referred to Israel as country A and said, ‘According to a U.S. intelligence agency, the government of country A conducts the most aggressive espionage operations against the U.S. of any U.S. ally.’

“A defense intelligence report said Israel has a voracious appetite for information and said, ‘the Israelis are motivated by strong survival instincts which dictate every possible facet of their political and economical policies. It aggressively collects military and industrial technology and the U.S. is a high priority target…Israel possesses the resources and technical capability to achieve its collection objectives.’ “[Ibid]

After the dot-com bubble burst in 2000, Israel’s economy was devastated, but then came 9/11, and “suddenly new profit vistas opened up for any company that claimed it could spot terrorists in crowds, seal borders from attack and extract confessions from closed-mouthed prisoners…Many of the country’s most successful entrepreneurs are using Israel’s status as a fortressed state, surrounded by furious enemies, as a kind of twenty-four-hour-a-day showroom–a living example of how to enjoy relative safety amid constant war…Israel now sends $1.2 billion in ‘defense’ products to the United States—up dramatically from $270 million in 1999…That makes Israel the fourth-largest arms dealer in the world…Much of this growth has been in the so-called ‘homeland security’ sector. Before 9/11 homeland security barely existed as an industry. By the end of this year, Israeli exports in the sector will reach $1.2 billion–an increase of 20 percent. The key products and services are …precisely the tools and technologies Israel has used to lock in the occupied territories. Israel has learned to turn endless war into a brand asset, pitching its uprooting, occupation and containment of the Palestinian people as a half-century head start in the ‘global war on terror.’” [3]

On 31 August 2004, Zogby International, the official North American political polling agency for Reuters, released a poll that found nearly half (49.3%) of New York City residents and 41% of those in New York state believed that US leaders had foreknowledge of impending 9/11 attacks and “consciously failed” to act. Of the New York City residents, 66% called for a new probe of unanswered questions by Congress or the New York Attorney General.

A few of the still unanswered questions asked by the 9/11 family members

1. Why were standard operating procedures for dealing with hijacked airliners not followed that day?
2. Why were the extensive missile batteries and air defenses reportedly deployed around the Pentagon not activated during the attack?
3. Why did the Secret Service allow Bush to complete his elementary school visit, apparently unconcerned about his safety or that of the schoolchildren?
4. Why hasn’t a single person been fired, penalized, or reprimanded for the gross incompetence we witnessed that day?
5. Why haven’t authorities in the U.S. and abroad published the results of multiple investigations into trading that strongly suggested foreknowledge of specific details of the 9/11 attacks, resulting in tens of millions of dollars of traceable gains?
6. Why has Sibel Edmonds, a former FBI translator who claims to have knowledge of advance warnings, been publicly silenced with a gag order requested by Attorney General Ashcroft and granted by a Bush-appointed judge?
7. How could Flight 77, which reportedly hit the Pentagon, have flown back towards Washington D.C. for 40 minutes without being detected by the FAA’s radar or the even superior radar possessed by the US military?
8. How were the FBI and CIA able to release the names and photos of the alleged hijackers within hours, as well as to visit houses, restaurants, and flight schools they were known to frequent?
9. What happened to the over 20 documented warnings given our government by 14 foreign intelligence agencies or heads of state?
10. Why did the Bush administration cover up the fact that the head of the Pakistani intelligence agency was in Washington the week of 9/11 and reportedly had $100,000 wired to Mohamed Atta, considered the ringleader of the hijackers?
11. Why did the 911 Commission fail to address most of the questions posed by the families of the victims, in addition to almost all of the questions posed here?
12. Why was Philip Zelikow chosen to be the Executive Director of the ostensibly independent 911 Commission although he had co-authored a book with Condoleezza Rice? [4]

Those who are demanding deeper inquiry now number in the hundreds of thousands who comprehend that JUSTICE will NOT be done until TRUTH triumphs!
1. Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, March 2010, page 35
2. Israel is Spying In and On the US
3. www.thenation.com
4. wearewideawake.org


River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

Obama Says bin Laden Is Killed: Can We Believe Him?


  Osama Bin Laden's Ghost on Twitter.


Obama Says bin Laden Is Killed: Can We Believe Him?

Monday, May 2, 2011 09:39


 US president Barack Obama announced last night that Osama bin Laden had been killed on Sunday in a US operation in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad, about 61km north of Islamabad.

"Tonight, I can report to the people of the United States and the world, the United States had carried an operation that has killed Osama bin Laden, a terrorist responsible for killing thousands of innocent people. Today, at my direction, the United States carried out that operation... they killed Osama bin Laden and took custody of his body. The death of Bin Laden marks the most significant achievement to date against al-Qaeda."

Later, it was reported that Bin Laden's body was buried in the sea.

The timing of the announcement of Bin Laden's killing and the quick disposal of his body raise several questions.

There were reports that Osama Bin Laden had died in December, 2001. If those reports were true, how he is killed once again in Abbottabad?

If the person killed in Abbottabad is indeed Bin Laden, that story should have been verified by an independent DNA test. Why did the US authorities quickly disposed of the body, that too in the sea, at an undisclosed location, without waiting for an independent DNA verification? Is there an effort to destroy evidence?

We need an answer, because for the blood of this man, more than a million men, women and children were killed in Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan. Several million people were made refugees. Thousands of families were destroyed. Thousands of people were tortured and disappeared. Thousands of US servicemen got killed in those countries.

We need an answer.

Binu Mathew is the editor of http://www.countercurrents.org. He can be reached at editor@countercurrents.org.
River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

DR. ASHRAF EZZAT:Bin Laden Fictional Film Comes To An End

May 2, 2011 posted by Dr. Ashraf Ezzat ·  

“The war on terrorism merchandise has been too long on the market; but with more intellectuals debunking it, and as time went by, and profits went down this product of high tech-deception was approaching its shelf expiry date. In other words the Bin Laden version of fear/submission warfare had to be withdrawn from the market and declared over and done with, successfully that is” 

“This bad movie that we have been watching for ten years now was losing on the top ranking and had to be pulled out from world political theatres” 

Dr. Ashraf Ezzat


Wanted not alive but definitely dead, Bin Laden had to be declared finally captured and killed.

Almost ten years since 9/11 has passed. A long decade through which the whole world have been following day to day main stream media-or mania, that is- coverage of the so called war on terrorism.

The end of a dreary fiction
 Unlike most declared and waged wars through history this war on terrorism obscured the perception of ordinary people for it specifically lacked one essential element of the definition of embattling namely, an obvious and tangible enemy.
The most sophisticated and devastating terrorist operation in history has been clumsily and conveniently nailed against one person alone.
To our disappointment it was not the joker, the comic book super villain; it was Osama Bin Laden, the frail and gloomy bearded renegade who along with a bunch of so called mujahideen dwelled in the caves of Afghanistan- a country that virtually never existed in the geographical memory of most Americans- formed a group of a handful of professional guerrilla fighters, close to Sylvester Stallone’s “the expendables”, said to be capable of destroying the west and ruling over the world.

The Expendables
There is no denying that 9/11 attacks are the most huge and ugliest terrorist operations ever and so are the conspiracy behind them.

Throughout the last ten years we have not been merely following the military operations of this futile and senseless war on terrorism, rather we were desperately trying to grasp some sort of purpose or any meaning for it altogether.
The United States and allies stumbling through a series of utter failures and embarrassments along this crusade against Bin Laden have realized that this farcical war has unbelievably dragged out to the point of

endangering the very rationale and reasoning behind it, and why it started in the first place.

The war on terrorism merchandise has been too long on the market; with more intellectuals debunking it, and as time went by, and profits went down this product of high tech- deception was approaching its shelf expiry date. In other words the Bin Laden version of fear/submission warfare had to be withdrawn from the market and declared over and done with, successfully that is.

The white house with its shrewd politicians realized that this Bin Laden saga was dwindling away and beginning to lose its grip on people.

Too many anti- 9/11 theses, too many solid conspiracy theories undermining the 9/11 official report in what seemed like a counter-attack by internet battalions of critical blogging and punditocracy began to sway people’s mindset about 9/11.

Playing back “war on terrorism” video picks

Playing backward the war on terrorism video we would probably discover that we are watching some sort of fiction- and not a very good one, I have to say.

Along this awfully long film, not based on a truly honest story, we could stop for moments of discernment as we hit the button and freeze on chosen shots like the following:
- The collapse of world trade center –WTC- buiding7 like a house of cards in 6.5 seconds long after the fall of the twin towers.
- Forensics and experts pointing the finger at missile attacks on the Pentagon.
- Invasion of Iraq 2003 instead of invading Saudi Arabia- Osama Bin Laden’s native country.
- The United States and allies failing to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq but nonetheless managed to massively destroy Iraq for Israel’s sake.
- The American troops and allies in Afghanistan with a mission impossible of trying to drive their indigenous tribes – Taliban- out of the country, a silly mission but sold to the Americans as the reasonable tactic of this military crusade.
- Weapons and opium sales hit new world records as American troops, military contractors and war lords have become the new holders of the Afghani poppy fields’ franchise.
- General Stanley A. McChrystal – US former commander of American and allied troops in Afghanistan- getting high smoking poppy, and in a moment of revealing truth, began to see the scene in Afghanistan as it really is and sarcastically slammed this whole war and ridiculed the whole bunch of politicians in Washington who had geared it in the first place.
- American soldiers bored with this pathetic mission of fighting natives -who probably never heard of New York before, let alone Ground Zero – began to kill Afghanis for fun and collect their fingers as trophies.
- Wikileaks- or wikidleaks- revealing tons of confidential military documents targeting and accusing Pakistan as not doing enough to help the United States eliminate this super Bin Laden so that the boys could pack up and go home to America.
- Recent massive jail break in Kabul with hundreds of Taliban leaders and top operatives on the loose again bringing those years of American military operations back to scratch.
There is a lot more footage like of drones killing civilians in Pakistan and hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians killed in Iraq … etc, to be replayed and discerned again on this mythical hunt of Bin Laden but that would take time and skills available only to guys at wikileaks.

Bin Laden, the end of a dreary fiction

War on terrorism
 Lately this movie-like plot of the die hard-Bin Laden was waning away and getting boringly overstreched it had to come to an immediate end one way or another. It had to come to an end before more people, with their perception not obscured any more, start wondering what all that devastation and chaos got to do with capturing a single man.
This bad movie that we have been watching for ten years now was losing on the top ranking and had to be pulled out of world political theatres.

There was no way for this world hunt and this war of terror to end without a moment of apparent victory, the huddled masses of viewers of this terribly long movie had to be given a good finale.

They had to be given a catch worthy of their time, taxes and most of all their believing it happened the way it was told.
Wanted not alive but definitely dead, Bin Laden had to be declared finally captured and killed.
Bin Laden II released soon in all political theatres
But to get this done and over with without leaving any trace or a chance for someone to doubt or investigate the war on terrorism story, the white house and CIA officials, like what they did back in 9/11 quickly getting rid of the debris of the collapsed towers that contained valuable forensic evidences and clues as to how those gigantic towers were demolished in seconds the CIA took the body of Osama Bin Laden and in less than 24 hours got rid of it and buried it in the bottom of the sea.
Reminiscent of the mafia way of getting rid of the ones they kill out of fear they would squeal on them, and In a critical and long waited for moment of capturing an extremist Muslim and international terrorist, the United States ironically decided to observe the Muslim traditions of burying the dead as soon as possible and to honor Bin Laden by dumping his body in the bottom of the sea.

And exactly as this fictional movie started with a hasty statement from the white house that it was Osama bin laden who pulled off 9/11, the end came quite similarly hasty as president Obama emerged from the white house and with a victorious grin on his face announced “Tonight, I can report to the people of the United States and the world, the United States had carried an operation that has killed Osama bin Laden, a terrorist responsible for killing thousands of innocent people”

End of Bin Laden film. Lights on again and time to take a short break before we start watching another episode of this Bin Laden saga.

The United States has decided it was time to pull the shades down on this going nowhere anymore plot but it won’t be long before the release of Ben Laden part II that will hit the world political theatres by the title of “ Ben Laden’s Affiliates … The Hunt Goes On”
For more articles by Dr. Ashraf Ezzat visit his website

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Monday, May 2, 2011

Now What? Obama Bags Osama

by Carlos Latuff
Leave a Comment Posted by realistic bird on May 2, 2011

by RANDALL AMSTER,
 source

President Obama’s shocking May Day announcement that Osama bin Laden has been killed and his body captured promises to usher in a new era of U.S. foreign and domestic policies alike. But what will this portend in actual practice? The implications for the future are potentially staggering in their full import, and they turn initially on how this seminal event will undoubtedly be used to justify U.S. policies that have defined the recent past.

In his announcement, President Obama demonstrated how different he is in temperament (if not policy making) from his predecessor, George W. Bush. Coming eight years to the day after the infamous “Mission Accomplished” speech — and, coincidentally, falling on the 66th anniversary of the announcement of Hitler’s death — Obama’s rendering contained none of the misplaced bravado (“Bring It On”) or glorification of misery (“We Got Him!”) that defined the previous administration. Instead, the President spoke in measured terms about justice, courage, and American resolve in the face of grave challenges.

Still, despite his deliberate tone, Obama’s words are especially notable for their explicit vindication of the military operations of the past decade. Overtly citing the war in Afghanistan and the practices of the global intelligence apparatus as primary drivers of this potential closure event, the President has put his stamp of approval on the circuitous post-9/11 course of action that brought us here. Taking this further, the post-speech media spin implicitly extends his logic to validate tactics such as drone strikes and undeclared military incursions that have placed the U.S. in ethically murky waters while waging the War on Terror around the world.

Wearing his flag pin, President Obama invoked the legacy of Bush-era initiatives aimed at “winning” the war, and perhaps most poignantly, drew our focus back to the events of 9/11 as the impetus for this decade-long struggle that has now at least partly been brought to fruition. Yet Obama was equally clear that this is not the end of the conflict and that “the cause of securing our country is not complete,” reminding us that we must “remain vigilant at home and abroad” since “there’s no doubt that al Qaeda will continue to pursue attacks against us.”

Make no mistake, this announcement signals a clear intention to vindicate the decisions of the past decade and continue on a similar course going forward. As if to affirm this historical eventuality, the media’s immediate focus on the spontaneous demonstrations of patriotic fervor that have sprung up with echoes of “USA, USA” brings us right back to those fateful September days in 2001. The tenor of these public celebratory gatherings, and the content of the President’s announcement, convey a strong sentiment that the last decade’s wars have been worth it, and likewise that the extraordinary security measures here at home have been equally successful.

On some level, the death of a single individual is essentially being heralded as a justification for the deaths of at least hundreds of thousands (a figure largely comprised of civilians) in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere. It remedies all legal and moral defects attendant to the use of “enhanced interrogations” and “extraordinary renditions.” It clears the ledgers on the trillions of dollars spent to undertake these efforts for nearly ten years. It squelches dissent on Patriot Act policies and the Homeland Security apparatus. And, most appreciably, it retroactively validates the Bush Administration’s open-ended waging of global warfare.

The reality of this retrospective confirmation will have serious implications for the near future. Undoubtedly, debates about the wisdom of military operations (wherever we are deploying them) will be tamped down, and attempts to rein in military spending will likewise be muted. Security at home will be amped up for a while in an abundance of caution over potential retaliatory attacks by al Qaeda, and (assuming none are forthcoming) soon after will slip back to the “new normal” we’ve been experiencing — with nary a complaint in the public discourse.

Significantly, President Obama will appear eminently presidential, and even his most ardent critics will deem him praiseworthy. Americans will unite in a renewed spirit, and the stalled economic recovery will receive a shot in the arm from this moment of national buoyancy. Just as the First Gulf War was said to have dispelled the military malaise of Vietnam, this episode will go a long way toward abating the war-weariness of the post-9/11 era. American exceptionalism will be reinvigorated both as a political mandate and a psychological phenomenon, as the world is reminded that the U.S. makes good on its threats and, in the end, keeps its promises.

People will celebrate this moment in many quarters, perhaps as they did to an extent on VE Day and VJ Day (yes, Americans cheered the use of atomic weapons on civilians in Japan and the carpet-bombing of Dresden as tools of “winning” World War II). In this case, we are not likely to be offered such a strong sense of closure; rather, this will be a boost to a flagging effort and a likely enabler of its aggressive continuance. Where will the next front be in this generational war? Who will be the next bogeyman, the “face of evil” that galvanizes American fears and determination alike? With all that is at stake — politically, economically, ideologically — the one thing we can be reasonably assured of is that the present paradigm will continue in full force.

I would very much like to report the opposite. By cutting off the head of al Qaeda, and with due regard to the pro-democracy surge of the Arab Spring, the era of perpetual warfare could be supplanted by a period of unprecedented peace. America might slowly draw down its military operations, and redirect vast resources to education and opportunity for oppressed peoples in the Middle East and here at home alike. President Obama may finally earn his Nobel Peace Prize, and concomitantly help move the country from the near-ruination of a war economy to the stable prosperity of a long-awaited peace dividend. Renewed American pride could obviate the need for ever-expanding security schemes and incursions into liberty, as people are again seen as “good.”

It could still happen this way, but it will take more than the death of one individual — no matter his iconic stature as evil incarnate — to somehow countermand the events and roll back the ethos of recent years. However it breaks in the days ahead, one thing is paradoxically certain: we will continue to find ourselves living in decidedly uncertain times.

Randall Amster, J.D., Ph.D., teaches Peace Studies at Prescott College and serves as the Executive Director of the Peace & Justice Studies Association.
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Obama kills Osama, Again! - Pakistani TV; Image of Dead Bin Laden Fake

Posted on May 2, 2011 by rehmat1|

 On Sunday, Barack Obama fired another shot from his Zionist ’smoking gun’ from the White House: “Good evening. Tonight, I can report to the American people and to the world that the United States has conducted an operation that killed Osama bin Laden, the leader of Al Qaeda (a US asset), and a terrorist who’s responsible for the murder of thousands of innocent men, women, and children”.

Someone, who has been following an objective source, would believe that Al-Qaeda must be the US and Israel, the two “terrorists states which are responsible for the murder of hundreds of thousands of innocent men, women, and children” in Muslim countries.

Amer Taheri, wrote in the New York Times Op-Ed (July 11, 2002): “Osama bin Laden is dead. The news first came from sources in Afghanistan and Pakistan almost six months ago: the fugitive died in December and was buried in the mountains of southeast Afghanistan. Pakistan’s president, Pervez Musharraf, echoed the information. The remnants of Osama’s gang, however, have mostly stayed silent, either to keep Osama’s ghost alive or because they have no means of communication”.

Interestingly, even the Israelis who masterminded the 9/11 - believe Osama Bin Laden is dead, as reported by Jane’s on December 27, 2002.

During Russian occupation of Afghanistan, Washington-Riyadh-Islamabad used Osama Bin Laden to guide the Afghan Mujahideen in defeating Russian Red Army. Once that was done, both Mujahideen groups and Osama Bin Laden lost their ‘usefulness’ and were declared the ‘enemies of civilization’. Osama Bin Laden, has long been considered dead as result of kidney disease or by the BLU-82 Daisy Cutter bombs used by US forces at Tora Bora caves in Afghanistan.

Over eight years ago, Pakistan’s former military dictator and a great friend of both the US and Israel, Gen. Pervez Musharaf, in an interview he gave to CNN, had said: “I think now, frankly, he is dead for the reason he is a kidney patient. I don’t know if he has been getting all that treatment in Afghanistan now. And the photographs that have been shown of him on television show him extremely weak. I would give the first priority that he is dead”.

“I don’t know where he is. I have no idea and I really don’t care. It’s not that important. It’s not our priority,” said Dubya George Bush on March 13, 2002.

Benazir Bhutto had also claimed that Osama Bin Laden is dead.

“When you hear a threat which is “probably” made by bin Laden, just remember that he’s “probably” dead. Also think about who benefits from your believing he’s alive,” What Really Happened website which was hacked just moment before Obama fired the latest lie.



Local Editor

Pakistani television stations on Monday withdrew an image broadcast of the purported body of Osama bin Laden after his killing not far from Islamabad overnight, saying the picture was a fake.

Several private channels showed what they called an "unverified" picture of bin Laden's bloodied face after the United States said he had been killed.

"It was a fake picture, it was on the Internet in 2009," Rana Jawad, Islamabad bureau chief of Geo television, said.

"When we checked we found it was fake and we pulled it out," he said.

Pakistani channels earlier showed the image of a face sporting a bushy and black beard with less of the white or grey hair detected in the most recent video footage of bin Laden when he was alive.

There were extensive blood stains on the forehead and left temple. The right eye was shut but the white of the left eye was visible.

Television also broadcast footage of flames rising from a compound in Abbottabad overnight and footage after daybreak of armed Pakistani forces standing guard at the building where bin Laden was reportedly killed.

The compound is in Bilal Town, in the suburbs of Abbottabad, which is about 50 kilometres (30 miles) northwest of the Pakistani capital Islamabad.



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Sunday, May 1, 2011

Exposing ‘Democracy’ Promotion in the Middle East

by Maidhc O' Cathail



Considering the significant role played by pro-Israelis in promoting democratic change in the Middle East, it is perhaps only fitting that in his Passover greeting the U.S. President would compare the pro-democracy uprisings to the foundational Jewish liberation narrative: In his message, he likened the story of Passover to the revolutions sweeping the Middle East, saying “the passage of the children of Israel from bondage and repression to freedom and liberty” applies to the “modern stories of liberation in the Middle East.” Obama wished Jewish families around the world a happy Passover and urged that the world must work to “alleviate the suffering, poverty, injustice, and hunger of those who are not yet free.”

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