November 2002

World News
Posted: Saturday, November 30, 2002

¤ War, war, war
¤ Arab Americans & American Jews Agree
¤ Belarus: KGB Chief Accuses U.S. Of Staffing Embassy With Spies
¤ South Koreans protest U.S. acquittals
¤ U.S. Is Preparing Base in Gulf State to Run Iraq War
¤ The truth behind the Miss World riots
¤ Swiss scientists 95% sure that Bin Laden recording was fake
¤ Monitors give Pyongyang arms deadline
¤ Russian soldier killed eight of his colleagues
¤ Sleeping with the enemy
¤ Weapons of mass distraction
¤ Once again, Africa has become the battleground for somebody else's war
¤ American held among Kenya suspects
¤ Inspections proved Blair's 'lies': Iraq
¤ Kenya holds 12 over attacks, US points to al Qaeda
¤ UN watchdog deplores North Korea nuclear stance
¥ Why not call on the US, Israel and Russia first?
¤ Sharon pledges to take revenge
¤ Whites flock to isolated desert enclave
¤ This could be a long and dangerous war
¤ Angry nation brings home its dead and wounded
¤ Straight from the shoulder - deadly threat airlines dread
¤ Kenya is the venue, but it's not the target
¤ We don't deserve this, shocked workers cry
¤ Israeli travellers find the world is getting smaller

General Strike Approaches
Posted: Saturday, November 30, 2002

-- VHeadline.com reader Jose Arconada Rodriguez writes: As the date for a new general strike approaches (Monday, December 2), and in view of the scarce support it is bound to find within a Venezuelan society increasingly weary of a vain, sterile and all-too-long campaign of harassment against a legitimate government of Venezuela, new outbreaks of sponsored violence and rioting are bound to occur ... mainly in the capital Caracas ... inducing more chaos and promoting am unsustainable situation which is the only strategy Venezuela's opposition has been able to come up with.

Incapable as it has been of offering convincing reasons for President Hugo Chavez to stand down, it will more than ever before act out of despair, under the poor quality umbrella of Coordinadora Democratica ... an ill-intentioned creature born out of an only apparently contra natura coupling between corrupt union leaders and a predatory corporate leadership ... with the vast majority of the country's privately-owned media playing its role of a loud, all pervading, hysterical "Greek choir," and a few military officers who (acting out of sheer spite), have been staging a non-stop harangue calling to civil and military desobedience.

Their show has been on now for 500+ hours, they proudly claim. In any other country they would have already spent 499 and a half hours behind military prison bars (far more than that, if we take into account that many of them were personally involved in the April 11 coup d'etat) and we would all have found their imprisonment perfectly reasonable.
But not so in Venezuela, where the media is only praying for that to happen so that they can shout and scream accusations of Stalinist behavior on the part of the Chavez Administration.

The Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Tribunal of Venezuela has ruled that the call for a consultative referendum seeking for President Chavez to stand down is null and void ... and the Greek choir will only howl and wail louder as some remunerated squads keep dropping tear gas cans here and there.

Why?

Because getting violently rid of Chavez is the one and only fast track back to a life of selfish privilege.

Why not wait for the constitutionally envisaged referendum in August 2003?

Because they know too well that Chavez would win it again.
Serious journalism will find in Venezuela a case study of public opinion manipulation.

Thank you, VHeadline.com for your brave and intelligent work of journalism. Keep it up!

Jose Arconada Rodriguez
josarconada@hotmail.com

World News
Posted: Friday, November 29, 2002

¤ Norway set to ban public smoking
¤ Chechnya's Forgotten Majority
¤ UN plans to boost weapons inspection teams by 300
¤ Saudis hit back over terror funding claims
¤ Critics mock choice of Kissinger for inquiry
¤ Henry's revenge
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¤ Shhh! American Prisoners Being Held in Afghanistan
¤ UN struggles to explain away inspector with S&M fetish
¤ UN team faces smear campaign
¤ Fighting Dirty: A new low for the War Party
¤ Saddam hides arsenal in people's homes
> This reads like the customary US/UK propaganda
¤ Planes kill civilian, Iraq claims
¤ Front lines in the mother of all public relations battles
¤ Total Information Awareness (Flash)
¤ How the War Party Put Iraq on the Side of the Angels
¤ Accounts in Israeli banks used for terrorism
¤ Fears for Chechen refugees as camp is cleared
¤ Look at Israel's nukes too says Goff
¤ Mombasa attacks 'a dangerous escalation of terror'
¤ Six dead in attack on Likud party office
¤ American war on terror: courting disaster
¤ Wary of West, Muslim tourists from ME throng Malaysia

World News
Posted: Thursday, November 28, 2002

¤ N Korea accuses US of 'fabrication'
¤ Sharon's massive win over Netanyahu in Likud race
¤ Thinking with a Manichaean bent
¤ Disgraced Admiral Now a Super Spy
¤ What Happens When You Wake Up A War Monger?
¤ America is voting for Sharon
¤ Churchill's Cousin Was A Russian Spy
¤ The Churchill you didn't know
¤ Aide to Canadian PM replaced for calling Bush a "moron"
¤ Bush picks Kissinger to head official probe?
> New stage in the September 11 coverup
¤ The Kissinger Bombshell
¤ Thwarting an African Taliban
¤ Think-tank downplays Saddam threat
¤ Iraq producing weapons in mobile factories: US
¤ Group rejects US plan for military rule
¤ The Latest Kissinger Outrage
Why is a proven liar and wanted man in charge of the 9/11 investigation?
¤ Twin attacks target Israeli hotel, plane
¤ Israelis targeted in Kenya attacks
¤ 3 Israelis dead in Kenya blast; Arkia plane attacked
¤ Eleven Dead In Kenya Bomb Attack
¤ Palestinian Gunmen Kill Five Israelis
¤ More to US appeasement of Saudi Arabia than meets the eye
¤ Russia demands Georgia extradite detained Chechens
¤ Palestinian olive trees sold to rich Israelis
¤ US denies Saudi ultimatum
¤ Blast on South African bridge
¤ US, Jews under threat from Islam: Pat Robertson
¤ Saudi princess outraged her donation was linked to terrorists
¤ White House treads very softly on Saudi finance
¤ Indonesia still dangerous place, warns US diplomat
¥ Indonesia refuses to allow the US to set-up base
¤ UN inspectors welcome Iraqi cooperation
¤ Disease Outbreaks in N. Congo Kill 185
¤ Cost-price drugs plan for poor countries
¤ Saudis react with fury to American accusations of funding al-Qaida
¤ Schröder makes u-turn on Iraq
¤ Indonesia still dangerous place, warns US diplomat
¤ Miss World flies home to another storm of protest
¤ Thinking with a Manichaean bent
¤ Who says the United Nations is better than NATO?
¤ Rethinking foreign aid
¤ Palestinian olive trees sold to rich Israelis
¤ Russia demands Georgia extradite detained Chechens

World News
Posted: Wednesday, November 27, 2002

¤ Iraq wants press at inspections - UN doesn't
¤ Bush Family Dipping Into Security Pie
¤ Bush names Kissinger to head 9/11 probe
¤ Henry Kissinger: Haunted by his past
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¤ War With Iraq
¤ South African whites plot to get 'their own' back
¤ Bali suspect 'admits al-Qaeda link'
¤ First Iraq inspection completed
¤ Go check your stores, adamant Iraqis told
¤ There will be only one winner of an Iraqi war - Osama bin Laden
¤
¤ Screws put on Saudi to tackle al-Qaeda financiers
¤ Big Business's Funding Shift Boosts GOP
¤ Ford Motor Is Linked to Argentina's 'Dirty War'
¤ Bush Taps Kissinger to Head 9/11 Probe
¤ USAC Passes Resolution Condemning War with Iraq
¤ Germany pledges to supply Israel with Patriot missiles
¤ Turkey demands talks on joining EU
¤ Bush 'sorry' over S Korean deaths
¤ North Korea ends de-mining stand-off
¤ Colombian rebels kill troops in ambush
¤ Courage under Israeli fire
¤ Germany Gives U.S. Overflight Rights
¤ France and Germany plan Euro defence union
¤ Arafat Deputy: Uprising Was a Mistake
¤ UN whistleblower awarded £100,000
A United Nations worker who won her case for unfair dismissal after she blew the whistle on an alleged prostitution racket involving her colleagues in Bosnia was awarded more than £100,000 in compensation yesterday.

¤ Aids epidemic 'bringing social collapse'
¤ What will be the trigger for war?
¤ Fatwa is issued on Nigerian journalist
¤ France paralysed by mass walkouts
¤ 3 Minor Earthquakes Hit San Francisco
¤ Ship Fires Blaze in Japan and Hong Kong
¤ South Africa Government shuns apartheid lawsuits
¤ US increases pressure on Saudis over terrorist funds
¤ UN inspectors: Our technology will find Saddam's weapons
¤ PM's aide quits after calling Bush a moron
¤ US divvies aid funds to worthy poor countries
¤ Nine Maoist rebels among 12 dead in Nepal
¤ Three school children among 13 killed in held Kashmir
¤ Israeli army storms Gaza Strip
¤ Troops occupy U.S. Congress
¤ UN whistleblower awarded £100,000
¤ France and Germany plan Euro defence union

World News
Posted: Tuesday, November 26, 2002

¤ US urges Saudi action against terror
¥ In other words, let us use your base
¤ Italian Doctor Says Cloned Baby Due in January
¤ Risk of internet collapse rising
¤ Saudi denies funds were passed on
¤ Feds Doubt Allegations of Saudi Terror Funding
Although Royal charity money may have reached
a roommate of 9/11 hijackers, U.S. officials
say even he was unaware his friends were terrorists
¤ Syria acts to defuse Kurdish 'timebomb'
¤ Situation in Afghanistan worsening: Russian envoy
¤ One year on: Fear of a neverending war
¤ Four years on, UN team back in Iraq
¤ The £1m-a-mile wall that divides a town from its own land of plenty
¤ Philip Morris factory is a smoke-free zone
¤ FBI: Hate Crimes Vs. Muslims Rise
¤ Blix warns Iraq to come clean with UN before deadline
¤ Palestinian boy, 8, killed by IDF gunfire in Nablus
¤ Situation in Afghanistan worsening: Russian envoy
¤ 10 Indian troops killed in exchange of fire along LoC
¤ Jammu temple siege ends as two more militants killed
¤ Early morning arrests in the land of the free
¤ Yugoslavia 'at centre' of arms trade with Saddam
¤ Baghdad protest as UN team flies in
¤ War on terrorism challenges the right to remain silent
¤ The inspectors fly in - with limited scope
¤ Two US bases in Afghanistan hit by rockets
¤ Watchdog warns of boom in slave trade
¤ Bevy of beauties all dressed up with nowhere to go
¤ City mourns after Miss World riots
¤ Yugoslavia 'at centre' of arms trade with Saddam
¤ Saudis play down growing row over terrorist links
¤ Israel fears Hamas wooing Egypt, planning to shunt Arafat
¤ War on terrorism challenges the right to remain silent
¤ Two US bases in Afghanistan hit by rockets
¤ Some Israeli pols talk about fencing off the whole West Bank

World News
Posted: Monday, November 25, 2002

¤ Targeting terrorism . . . or privacy?
¤ Before US reorders the world, sober thinking on costs
¤ Voters are unprepared for real cost of war
¤ U.N. Monitor Says Iraqis Are Denying Having Arms Cache
¤ The Price of Paranoia The Myriad Costs of Homeland Security
¤ We should preserve freedom from terror, not sacrifice it more
¤ The Invisible Death of Iain Hook
¤ Pentagon Papers' Ellsberg Sees Deja Vu in Iraq
¤ FBI: Surge in Crimes Against Muslims
¤ Anti-Saddam groups urged to employ sabotage
¤ Saudi Calls Report on Gifts to Hijackers 'Crazy'
¤ White House: Saudis 'Good Partner' in Terror War
¤ U.S. ties with Saudi Arabia at "crisis stage"
¤ Bush Signs Homeland Bill Into Law
¤ Commons debate on Iraq opens
¤ U.S. expected to approve $14 billion aid request
¤ S. Korean Students Firebomb US Base In Protest
¤ Where is Israel's Daniel Ellsberg?
¤ Lawyers fear misuse of cyber murder law
¤ Colombian paramilitaries agree to cease-fire
¤ The Beauty Myth
¤ Israeli occupation army murders another child in Nablus
¤ Blair: No Doubt Saddam Has Weapons
¤ Weapons denial could be breach: Blair
¤ Blair is potentially a greater danger than Saddam
¤ Whose Hands Are Dirty?
¤ Lobby Targets Egypt, Saudi Arabia for Overthrow
¤ Bush administration to track Iraqis living in the US
¤ The Philippines joins US "war and terrorism"
¤ U.S. May Test Two-War Doctrine
¤ Arab "U.S." business wary of wrath over Iraq war
¤ Pakistan uses US plane to trade with North Korea
¤ Lieberman asks Bush to tell all about Saudi ties
¤ Saudis dismiss talk of funds for terrorists
¤ Soldiers 'thought official's mobile was grenade'
¤ CIA agents try to buy intelligence
¤ Undercover force tackles arms flow to rogue states
¤ Eight dead in attacks on Kashmir temples
¤ 11 killed in militants' attack on Jammu temple
¤ City under curfew, pageant departs
¤ Plan to poison millions of black South Africans foiled
¤ Israeli shots kill UN man during ceasefire bid
¤ You must fight Iraq within your budget, Brown tells the Army
¤ Cuts will leave Army struggling in the sand
¤ New (Very Long) Bin Laden Letter Threatens Civilians

An instrument to secure Venezuela's future
Posted: Monday, November 25, 2002

VHeadline.com editorial commentary (c) by Gustavo Coronel

An instrument to secure Venezuela's future
... not merely be a way to survive the present

Monday, November 25, 2002 -- A group of more than 250 Venezuelans of the most diverse expertise and political tendencies has answered an initiative by former Presidential candidate Henrique Salas Romer to convene a Congress entitled "A Project For Venezuela" which will aim to establish a 15-year plan for Venezuela ... road maps which could be utilized by any political leader in charge, to assist in policy-making.

For years now, Venezuela has lacked a clear sense of direction ... a Plan which could serve the country to become a harmonious society and an integral part of the 21st century.

The "Project For Venezuela" Congress is, thus far, a virtual one inasmuch as participants are distributed all over Venezuela but divided into five main sectors: Social Development (as in Quality of Life); Balance between the cities and rural areas; Sustainable Development; National Security, and The State for the 21st century.

Each sector, in turn, includes 4-5 round tables each of which have a Coordinator, a Secretary and 10 members ... although anyone interested in the different topics could contribute to the tables.

I have accepted the coordination of the Round Table in Petroleum, Mining, Tourism & Environment. Initially, these topics would seem to be quite unrelated and, yet, they have a common denominator in sustainable development.

Venezuela has lived for too many years with the exploitation of petroleum and minerals, which are of a non-renewable nature. Tourism, on the other hand, is a renewable resource where the environment and its preservation should be one of the most common concerns.

The Petroleum, Mining, Tourism & Environment Round Table has already started its work, on the basic premise that the economic well-being of the Venezuela of the future should rely on renewable resources rather than in resources which have a finite life span. Petroleum & Mining will continue to be very important contributors to the Venezuelan economy but not any more as the only, or even, the most important resources.

Although the methodology of the Congress' work of has not yet definitely been agreed, we have already started to work on the basis that Venezuela is sick and tired of diagnoses and that what we urgently require is the cure.

Hundreds of thousands of pages have been written about Venezuela's ailments and many of my fellow countrymen seem to feel that the more voluminous the diagnosis, the better. They forget that the Ten Command-ments occupy only half a page. We Venezuelans are experts on the WHY but very little has been done about the WHAT and the HOW ... what in the planning terminology is usually called OBJECTIVES and STRATEGIES. Our work will emphasize the Objectives & Strategies rather than repeating the diagnoses for yet another time. While Objectives, as they are identified for every area of work, should rather be few and permanent in timeframe ... Strategies can and probably should be numerous and flexible. I would like to give just one example of the task we are just starting to accomplish...

The first Objective we have visualized is for the Venezuelan petroleum sector and reads:

"To provide the Nation with optimum income for the longest period of time....."

Although this is a short statement, it contains much substance. For example, it talks about optimum, not maximum income. For many years now the tendency of Venezuelan governments has been to obtain of maximum income. However, the Nation could be much better served by an optimum income over the longest possible time ... even if that income is not the maximum theoretically obtainable at any given time. Another concept contained in the statement is that of Nation. In Venezuela, petroleum has never really been the property of the Nation but the property of the State ... a very different thing! The Nation is all of us! The State is usually confused with the Government! Petroleum income has been, and is being handled by the Government ... which often has very different priorities to those of the Nation. Furthermore, the fact that petroleum income is handled by the Government (Executive Power only due to the weakness of the other powers) and usually with minimum transparence, has historically been one of the greatest sources of Venezuelan corruption.

It is easy to see, therefore, that the Strategies to accomplish the Objective should be flexible, devoid of rigidities usually associated with ideological dogmas. We have created a "religion" around petroleum. It should be totally controlled by the State is one of those dogmas. Why? Isn't the private sector more efficient? We should always belong to OPEC. Why? Is an alliance between producers necessarily better than an alliance with consumers?

Perhaps the crux of the matter is that we have to maintain a strategic balance between our loyalties to one group and to the other. But we must never insist on a dogmatic, inflexible approach. This is just an example of the type of considerations we are dealing with in the "Project For Venezuela" Congress and the outcome of this effort could be used by anyone. It will emphasize the rationale over the dogmatic.

It should, at least, serve to incite many more Venezuelans to think instead of fighting.

It will be an instrument designed to secure Venezuela's future and not merely be a way to survive the present.

Gustavo Coronel is the founder and president of Agrupacion Pro Calidad de Vida (The Pro-Quality of Life Alliance), a Caracas-based organization devoted to fighting corruption and the promotion of civic education in Latin America, primarily Venezuela. A member of the first board of directors (1975-1979) of Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), following nationalization of Venezuela's oil industry, Coronel has worked in the oil industry for 28 years in the United States, Holland, Indonesia, Algiers and in Venezuela. He is a Distinguished alumnus of the University of Tulsa (USA) where he was a Trustee from 1987 to 1999. Coronel led the Hydrocarbons Division of the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) in Washington DC for 5 years. The author of three books and many articles on Venezuela ("Curbing Corruption in Venezuela." Journal of Democracy, Vol. 7, No. 3, July, 1996, pp. 157-163), he is a fellow of Harvard University and a member of the Harvard faculty from 1981 to 1983. In 1998, he was presidential election campaign manager for Henrique Salas Romer and now lives in retirement on the Caribbean island of Margarita where he runs a leading Hotel-Resort.

You may contact Gustavo Coronel at email ppcvicep@telcel.net.ve

Homeland Schmomeland
Posted: Monday, November 25, 2002

by Charley Reese
The new Department of Homeland Security will merge 22 federal agencies and 170,000 federal employees into one monstrous bureaucracy. It will not make America safer.

After all, the key agencies most directly involved in fighting terrorism are excluded. They are the Central Intelligence Agency, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Defense Department, not to mention the National Security Agency. So, if the most important intelligence agencies are left as separate agencies, what do they hope to accomplish by consolidating less-important agencies? MORE

World News
Posted: Sunday, November 24, 2002

¤ The Oval Office Liars' Club
¤ Western conceit ignores culture and history of Arabia
¤ Israel has banned all Palestinian fishermen
¤ Full text: bin Laden's 'letter to America'
¤ Blix making friends as the hawks hover
¤ West outgrows Nato paper tiger
¤ Kosovo still not ready for talks with Serbia
¤ Iran hardliners stage show of strength
¤ U.S. Defends FBI's Saudi-9/11 Probe
¤ Saudi Arabia denies funding hijackers
¤ Saudis arrest sixth 'bomb' Briton
A sixth British man has been arrested in Saudi Arabia
in connection with a series of bomb attacks against westerners.
¤ Settling Iraq problem will not end terrorism: Russia
¤ US warship docks in China
¤ US pulls out Karzai's military bodyguards
¤ US plea for British base to bomb Iraq
¤ Muslim Charity Leader Ordered Deported
¤ Iraq hits out at Bush on eve of new inspections
¤ With dominion over all
¤ Some Got rich off Tragedy
¤ Sharon's hard-line policy of terror reoccupation
¤ Top Sharon adviser on 'aid request' in Washington
¥ Pay up or troops remain in Palestine to frustrate war
¤ Israeli forces destroy more Palestinian homes
¤ Briton killed in Jenin 'pleaded for ceasefire'
¤ US forces told to destroy supply lines of terror
¤ U.S. at Work at Saudi Base but War Role Is Uncertain
¥ Hand over the base or be exposed
¤ Yugoslavian officials 'sold chemical weapons to Iraq'
¤ Focus: The secret war
Behind public preparations for an invasion,
British and American aircraft are destroying
Iraq's air defences while covert groups of
special forces are training Kurdish fighters
and preparing equipment. Raymond Whitaker reports

¤ Blair will lead a divided country into war
¤ 'Perverse' Blair stifles Iraq debate
Tony Blair's government stands charged with being
"somewhere between perverse and hypocritical"
in its attempts to stifle dissent in tomorrow's
Commons debate on Iraq.

¤ Palestinian farmers lose land to Israeli border fence
¤ Putin raises questions over U.S.-led coalition
¤ Lawmakers: FBI probe of Saudis falls short
¤ CIA agents try to buy intelligence
¤ CIA 'justifies' killing of al-Qaida suspects
¤ UN contests Israeli army account of Jenin official's death
¤ New U.S. Road Map Termed "Anti-Israeli"
¤ Israeli acts of terror designed to humiliate

World News
Posted: Saturday, November 23, 2002

¤ White House confirms Saudi probe
¤ S Arabia denies having al-Qaeda sleeping cells
¤ Iraq Inspectors to Start Slowly
¤ Justice Dept. Acts to Use New Power in Terror Inquiries
¤ Bush to push for amnesty for Mexican illegal aliens
¤ Pentagon's plan to eyeball America's databases is drawing fire
¤ Head of Afghan Multinational Force Warns of Attacks if Iraq Is Invaded
¤ Right-wing US group lobbies for war on Iraq
¤ Bethlehem Occupation Must End 'As Quickly As Possible': US
¤ What is Antisemitism?
¤ N. Korea bans use of U.S. dollars
¤ Bush Administration Seeks to Relax Clean Air Rules
¤ Report: 9/11-Saudi Links Unexamined
¤ Reports: Saudis probed for Sept. 11 links
¤ 1-US 9/11 inquiry checking on Saudi government links
Setting the stage for an assault on the Saudis for refusing their bases. Is the US government going after Saudi Oil next?
¤ President Bush May Be "Moron": Stupidity Experts
¤ Veterans Say Pentagon Still Covering Up Weapons Tests
¤ North Korea shuts door on nuclear inspectors
¤ Bush Welcomes New NATO Partners
By adding members that are hungry for US aid, Bush can claim majority NATO support for his war campaign
¤ Auto-ID: Tracking everything, everywhere
¤ Welcome to the American Gestapo
¤ Colonial conquest in the name of "liberation"
¤ Aid worker killed 'by Israeli soldier'
¤ Putin stands firm with US on disarming Iraq
¤ Rumsfeld says U.S. would not believe Iraqi denial
¤ Bethlehem back under Israeli occupation
¤ Fence them in: the Israeli Army's solution to the intifada
¤ Top ranking al-Qaeda captive named
¤ Oil company set to profit from disaster
¤ 105 killed in Miss World protests

World News
Posted: Friday, November 22, 2002

¤ Putin Questions Reliability of U.S. Allies in War on Terrorism
¤ Iraq's nuclear non-capability
¤ U.S. Warplanes Hit Targets in Iraq for Third Day
¤ Over a barrel
The mother of all legal rows over who has the right to Iraq's lucrative
oilfields is likely if the United States wins its war for the country itself
¤ Subs to have big war role
¤ FBI Denies Shift in Terrorism Fight
¤ 'Suicide bomber' set off blast: suspect
¤ Chechnya is Russia's Internal Affair: Bush
¥ Lives are exchanged for oil profit
¤ House rubber-stamps Homeland Security Bill
¤ NATO looks beyond its 7 new ex-communist invitees
¤ U.S. to deploy Aegis destroyer to guard Israel
¤ CIA: North Korea can build nukes right now
¥ OK, OK, OK, N Korea is not that evil anymore
¤ N Korea raises stakes in nuclear row
¤ The Most Biased Name in News
> Fox News Channel's extraordinary right-wing tilt
¤ On the Microsoft FTP server leak
¤ Deep Doo-Doo And Weapons Of Mass Distraction
¤ CBS Sells Fake TV News in VNR Venture
¤ The Bush White House is at war - with itself
¤ Weapons checks are one thing - spying another, says Iraq
¤ Nato's doubters prevent solid support for US
¤ U.N. official killed in West Bank
¤ Spate of Anti-US Attacks Raises Arab Terrorism Fears
¤
¤ Ukraine leader turns up to spoil the party
¥ Just can't miss that KKK gathering
¤ Miss World riots 'leave 100 dead'
¤ Key Bali suspect 'confesses role'
¤ Israelis troops raid Bethlehem
¤ Over a barrel
¤ Wildlife suffers as oil spreads along Spanish coast
¤ Jakarta's military chief threatens to sue Washington Post for £640m
¤ Not so big, Mac
¤ Gov't Has Trouble Finding Immigrants
¤ Why is Mr Blair attacking our civil liberties?
¤ Nato suffers from a terminal illness, but no one dares kill it off just yet
¤ The CIA's Yemen Operation: a Legal Critique
¤ A Brief History Of Alfredo Peña's Little Army
¤ Weapons checks are one thing - spying another
¤ At least 11 killed as bomb explodes on crowded bus
¤ Red Cross charged over blood bank scandal
¤ Deaths feared in anti-Miss World riots in Nigeria
¤ Israel seals off Bethlehem and razes Gaza home
¤ NATO commits to "effective action" on Iraq, but Germany holds back

Another Coup Foiled in Venezuela
Posted: Friday, November 22, 2002

"I was fooled when they told me that they sought a democratic solution and what had really been intended was a secret pact between (union boss) Carlos Ortega and (ex-General) Medina Gómez that a general strike… would try to generate disorder, violence and death so that the Armed Forces could take political control of the country. For that, they have accumulated weapons below Plaza Altamira and the Four Seasons Hotel..."

- Army Captain Pedro Sánchez Bolívar, minutes ago,
breaking from the "dissident" ex-military commanders in Caracas

Listen to the audio recording of the press conference

Publisher's Note: Over the past few days, AP, Reuters and other simulators of international public opinion have produced a number of articles that comment on the Venezuelan National Guard's "takeover" of the Caracas Metropolitan police stations. What's missing in most of these articles is context. The following article, by Alex Main, provides a little background information on the PM that helps understand why the Venezuelan government decided to have it de-clawed.

I met Alex Main last June, while I reported from the Venezuelan capital. A clean-cut young man from the United States (he was wearing a suit when I met him), he had recently arrived in Caracas to see, with his own eyes, what was happening. We went, together, to the popular barrio of San Juan and spoke directly with many of the people there that the U.S. commercial media correspondents never allow to be heard. Main has subsequently become an important organizer of international solidarity efforts with Venezuelan democracy, and an honest set of eyes and ears for the rest of us.

- Al Giordano

Continue The "Take-Over" of Caracas Police HQ Was Necessary

Palestinian Identity Under Siege
Posted: Thursday, November 21, 2002

by PAUL de ROOIJ, www.counterpunch.org

The Palestinian struggle -- that a people should endure such unremitting cruelty from Israel and still not give up, is a collective miracle.

--- Edward Said,
"Disunity and factionalism",
Al Ahram 21 August 2002.

The Israeli war waged against the Palestinians has taken many forms and not all of them well known to us. Bombings, assassinations, house demolitions, and arbitrary imprisonment are some of the concrete manifestations in this war--these are clear for all to see and understand. However, other tactics employed in this war aren't so evident. Foremost among them is an assault on the Palestinian identity itself.

European colonialists learned that to keep a strangle hold on their possessions a policy of divide and rule was necessary. However, the unintended consequence of this was to engender a strong nationalism, a force that eventually doomed the colonialist enterprise. The Israelis have learned this lesson, and trying to implement measures that shield them from the errors of the past. The policies now applied in the Occupied Territories (OPT) apply the divide and rule principle, but they attempt to quell the nationalism that accompanied this in the past. The foremost element to achieve this is to actively demolish or restrict the Palestinian identity in the OPT.

The process of connecting all the settlements in the OPT to Israel proper by building the networks of the so-called bypass roads also entailed intentionally stopping traffic and contact between neighboring towns in the OPT; contact between the West Bank and Gaza has been mostly impeded since 30/Sept/2000.

It is now very difficult for a resident of any Palestinian city to visit the nearby village. Either a circuitous path must be taken, or it is simply impossible to cross the so-called military checkpoints, in reality choke points. Furthermore, quite a few villages have been isolated thanks to the fences and walls currently being built unilaterally by Israel. Finally, some Palestinian villages have been isolated due to the settlement expansion activities.

Consequently it is difficult for Palestinians anywhere to relate to other Palestinians elsewhere in the OPT. The Israeli instigated policy aims to fragment the Palestinian identity, and make people think of themselves exclusively as residents of Ramallah or Bethlehem.

Fence

For the past 145 days (since June 25, 02), Nablus has been under military curfew. People are only allowed out for a few hours every week, otherwise they are subjected to a lock down regime that even prevents them from sitting on a balcony or peer out of the window. Here the frame of reference of the citizens of Nablus has been further restricted to only account for the individual. People are atomized, and start to view their problems with reference only to themselves, and it is difficult for them to appreciate that it is their entire community facing this collective punishment. Again, the Palestinian identity is threatened, and the ensuing frame of reference stultified so that it can be manipulated more easily by the Israeli military. Nablus' militancy singled it out for this atomization and an assault on people's identity. From the Israel occupying forces (IOF) perspective, perhaps it is an experiment to determine how others can similarly be "broken".

During the past few months community leaders not related to the Palestinian Authority have been rounded up and subjected to arbitrary detentions (e.g., see Arbitrary Detentions [1]). The aim of this policy is to remove leaders who provide the necessary cohesion to a society. Once the educated organizers have been imprisoned, the sense of isolation is reinforced, increasing the vulnerability of the population. Furthermore, the actions of the Israeli occupation have targeted the middle class where most of the leadership of a society emanates. The people who can direct others or offer an interpretation of events are hounded, imprisoned or isolated.

For Palestinians the temptation to escape the communal misery must be very difficult for many to resist. It may come in the form of the advertisements by the Israeli ultra right-wing Moledet Party offering assistance for Palestinians to emigrate; the temptation to drop everything and leave must be very great (e.g. see: One way ticket [2]). The enticements by Israeli soldiers to obtain collaborators are an added element in the psychological warfare. People will be tempted to obtain favors, food, permission to work, in exchange for betraying fellow Palestinians. Accepting to collaborate accelerates the demolition of their Palestinian identity; it is difficult to see how these people will act in the interests of their society afterwards. The suspicion that someone in their midst is giving information to the IOF also poisons the air in the mind of other Palestinians. Either way, the Palestinian identity has come under threat by attempts to corrupt the vulnerable or criminal elements in the society.

Traveling in the West Bank and Gaza one immediately becomes aware of the importance of symbols. The IOF is very keen to plant an Israeli flag wherever it is, and it is keen to rip down Palestinian symbols. Even the colors of the Palestinian flag elicit a violent response from soldiers. During the first intifada in July 1989, Jamal Radwan, an agricultural laborer from Gaza and a father of five, had the tattoo of the Palestinian flag on his arm cut off by an Israeli soldier. The scar runs more than half way from his shoulder to his elbow. Perhaps today the IOF isn't so much concerned with the physical manifestation of symbols, but is more concerned with the mental national identity.

During the Israeli invasion of Beirut, Israeli soldiers plundered and destroyed the Palestinian archives and important cultural treasures. During the invasion of Ramallah earlier this year, the same thing happened, important historical archives were plundered, key databases destroyed, and the video archives of the Palestinian TV stations were damaged. The Sakakini Centre and Kasaba Theatre in Ramallah, two very important contemporary cultural institutions, were demolished earlier this year. These attacks aim to erase the Palestinian history and culture, an important aspect of any national identity. While Israelis belabor their past and use it for political ends, they are at the same time attempting to erase the history of the nation they occupy.

If one thinks of one's national identity, then some buildings and their history come to mind. For the English Big Ben is extremely important; Americans similarly relate to the Statue of Liberty. For Palestinians the key symbols are the Haram Al Sharif temple (known to Israelis as Temple Mount) and the Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, the Casbah -- the Old Town (dating from 71BC) -- and the al-Khadra Mosque (1,000+ years old) in Nablus, all are of great importance. The latter has already been demolished in several phases this year--this is destruction of world heritage monuments. The Casbah has been blasted by very large bombs and repeatedly hit by tank fire (see Nablus info [3]). The Church of the Nativity with a spiritual value to hundreds of millions of people was damaged earlier this year by Israeli actions. A clear threat hangs over the Haram Al Sharif temple with ever increasing calls by the erstwhile fanatic fringe of the settlers, but increasingly coming from centrist politicians to demolish the temple. The extremist settlers aim to blow it up or undermine the structure by digging tunnels under it; some "centrist" politicians have called to cut the building in pieces, and send the crates to Saudi Arabia. Supposedly, this temple is in the way of a planned Jewish sacred temple, and just like Palestinians have been pushed aside in most of their homeland, their monuments may soon be cast aside too. The destruction of the national identity has an architectural component.

Jerusalem Model

For decades, Israelis have been attempting to erase the vestiges of the 400+ Palestinian villages and towns destroyed during the 1948 war. The towns have been bulldozed and the ruins have been built over. Where one finds a pine forest in Israel proper one will find the ruins of a Palestinian village that the Israelis are trying to hide. In recent months, many of these ruined villages have been "developed" so that Palestinians won't be able to claim them in an eventual peace agreement, but part of the process is to rid the country of Palestinian history and vestiges. Erasing the ruined villages is not only an attempt to rid any Palestinian claim to the land, but also another attempt to demolish their identity. The most potent symbol for Palestinians is the "key"--the claim to the homes that the Israelis stole. The key is also the principal symbol excised out of all cartoons and art by the Israeli censor. Further demolition of the ruins has important implications for all.

Archeology has been a battleground with a long history. Israelis have always claimed monopoly in archeology, and they have prohibited Palestinians from studying this field in Israeli universities. Israeli archeologists will usually concentrate on the old layers in the archeological excavations, to the exclusion of the more recent ones dealing with Palestinian history -- these are usually destroyed. A few years ago, Dr. Albert Glock, an American archeologist head of the Palestinian Institute of Archeology at Bir Zeit University, was excavating the recent layers near Ramallah when he was mysteriously assassinated. Palestinians suspect that the Israelis assassinated him because digging up the recent history counters the Israeli attempts to bury the Palestinian history.

The looming threat of war against Iraq casts a dark shadow over the Palestinians. As Prof. Illan Pappe has stated, it is now a centrist political position in Israel to propose plans for "transfer" -- that obscene euphemism for the mass expulsion of Palestinians. One can read about this in the Israeli press, listen to the Molodet Party's proposals, or one can listen to some of the principal cabinet members in the current government; they all clamor with varying degrees of viciousness about plans to expel the Palestinian population. The only restraining factors are the international reaction to such a crime and the feasibility of expelling the population to Lebanon, Jordan, or Iraq. Graham Usher, a British journalist, recently said that what is being envisaged by the US in the area is not simply "regime change, but region change." [Note 4] If such seismic changes are implemented entailing the redrawing of borders in Iraq and Jordan, then Israel may see an opportunity to implement its sinister plans. One must see the current attempts to demolish the Palestinian identity in this context. An atomized and brutalized population without any effective leadership can perhaps be terrorized to flee across the border in the event of a war.

It is unimaginable why any population should be subjected to the threat of ethnic cleansing in the 21st century. After WWII, the world had achieved a consensus that the "might makes right" principle was unacceptable and incompatible with peace. Annexation by war, it was agreed, could not be tolerated. As such, the incessant pressure to expel the Palestinian population, to erase their history, and to demolish their identity, are incompatible with principles that have formed the basis of international law and consensus for the past 50+ years. It is the responsibility of the so-called international community to put a stop to the war and to the Israeli campaign against Palestinians. One would hope that the UN would play a leading role, but the organization is currently compromised and manipulated by the US. One can hardly expect Kofi Annan, a venal politician, to act decisively; the Rwandan genocide occurred during his watch, and the callousness he exhibited then doesn't portend for an active role now. Unfortunately, up to now, the stance of most European governments has been disgraceful. Similarly, the role of major human rights organizations with responsibility for the area has been less than honorable (see Amnesty [5]). The establishment of a war crimes tribunal holding Sharon, Mofaz, Netanyahu, Ben-Eliezer, and Peres, to account is of paramount importance, yet no action is seen for its institution. One fears the worst: that mass crimes and ethnic cleansing will occur in the area and no peep will be heard from the so-called international community.

Paul de Rooij is an economist living in London.

Note 1: www.counterpunch.org/bahour1023.html

Note 2: news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/2377273.stm

Note 3: www.nablus.org/invasion/press2.html.
Don't miss: www.theartnewspaper.com/news/article.asp?idart=10291
Nothing like seeing the photos.

Note 4: Talk given in the House of Parliament, London, Nov. 14, 2002.

Note 5: www.counterpunch.org/rooij1031.html

World News
Posted: Thursday, November 21, 2002

¤ The Downside of Foreign Military Intervention
¤ Missiles R Us takes on the world
¤ Pentagon to Track American Consumer Purchases
¤ Pentagon confirms 'snooping' system
¤ Britain prepares 30,000 troops to answer US call
¤ Jerusalem bus blast kills 11
¤ Nile calls for Muslim headscarf ban
¤ Oil giants still hire cheaper, older ships
¤ Why is it only oil tankers that snap in half?
¤ Blast at Ecuador Army Base Kills 5
¤ Teen Opens Fire at Trinidad School
¤ ‘Either I will be dead or several other people’
¤ A war that can't be won
¤ US must put Afghanistan back together
¤ A snap in the dark
¤ Washington on its own in clash over no-fly zones
¤ Moussaoui tied to 9/11 plot, says US
¤ US agrees it must do more to rebuild Afghanistan
¤ Sniper suspect's request for psychiatrist denied
¤ Peru's rainforest at risk as US firms push gas project
¤ Stay alert ... against terrorist attacks and draconian measures
¤ Bush warns Saddam not to deny he has weapons
¤ Gunman ignites fire at McDonalds in Saudi Arabia
¤ Pakistan's Musharraf to transfer power in next few days
¤ Nigerian Muslims riot over Miss World report
¤ US warns citizens of 'terror actions'
¤ Two black holes merging

BREAKING NEWS: Illegal weapons dumps
Posted: Wednesday, November 20, 2002

www.vheadline.com

BREAKING NEWS: Illegal weapons dumps in Plaza Altamira and Four Seasons basements ... Venezuelan Army Captain Pedro Sanchez Bolivar -- one of the rebel officers who has camped out in Plaza Altamira for the past several weeks -- has revealed that anti-government opposition forces have been storing quantities of arms and ammunition.

Sanchez Bolivar says he has been deceived into believing that his fellow rebels were seeking a democratic solution.

In a shock announcement, he has told reporters that rebel General Enrique Medina Gomez has conspired with trade union leader Carlos Ortega to incite protesters "to create general mayhem, violence and to kill if necessary" to force a military takeover of the Chavez Frias government.

Sanchez Bolivar has called on fellow officers to not allow themselves to be drawn into terrorist plans for a coup d'etat ... "it will only leave blood on the pages of our Venezuelan history."

In late breaking news, it has been revealed that the rebel officers have received financial support from "a North American embassy" as well as huge sums from Venezuelan business personalities.

Not unsurprisingly, rebel Brigadier General Jose Felix Ruiz Guzman has rushed to the microphones in Plaza Altamira to claim that Sanchez Bolivar has been "bought" by the government and that he is currently "collaborating with government spy agencies to smear the opposition "disobedience" rebellion in Plaza Altamira.

Ruiz Guzman says Sanchez Bolivar is "simply a parrot for Chavez Frias" and that he will be "taking appropriate measures to ensure that these fools do not plant weapons there."

World News
Posted: Wednesday, November 20, 2002

¤ When Bush and Ashcroft Promise to Uphold Rights, Beware
¤ Anger and fear don't justify war with Iraq
¤ Fighting terror by terrifying U.S. citizens
¤ 'Unexploded bombs' kill Afghan children
¤ U.S. watch list has 'taken on life of its own,' FBI says
¤ The UN Resolutions & Saddam
¤ Mosque-bomb suspect remembered as "a true Jewish hero"
¤ ADC cautions media on Israel's deceptions
¤ Did Wolfowitz Blow CIA Secret To Set Up the President?
¤ War crimes arrest blow to Iraqi opposition
> Contrast: Did Saddam Hussein Gas His Own People?
¤ Bush flies to seek Nato support against Iraq
¤ Bush calls for new Nato commitment
¤ PRAGUE, Czech Republic: Bush said...
¤ Israel rejects black Hebrews as Jews
Read: ¤ Israel and White Supremacy
¤ Attack on Baghdad without new UN resolution illegal
Britain and the US would be in breach of international law if they use force
against Iraq without a new UN resolution, a leading barrister warned yesterday
¤ Palestinian, 4 civilians killed by Israeli forces
¤ Pakistani MP: "America is the biggest terrorist state"
¤ US embassy worker beaten in Zimbabwe
¥ This is the US-UK report
¤ War vets detain US trespassers
¥ This is Zimbabwe's report
¤ Three arrested in California on terror charges
¤ Annan clashes with US over no-fly violations
¤ US backs down on rift over no-fly war
¤ Iraq firing at US aircraft is not material breach
¤ Nato boosts its arsenal for political ends
¤ Iraqi mattress and slipper factories for examination
¤ Bush flies to seek Nato support against Iraq
¤ Disaster threatens coastline as stricken tanker breaks apart
¤ US claim tests Baghdad consensus
¤ White House offers to defray war costs
¤ Bomb plot foiled ahead of NATO meeting
¤ US urged to resume nuclear tests
¤ Explosion near Tokyo US Army base
¤ Terrorists threaten Australia
¤ Suspicious types to face police searches
¤ We forgot he was a bomb suspect, say Indonesians
¤ Driver's Bali role in doubt but he ran guns

World News
Posted: Tuesday, November 19, 2002

¤ Oil tanker breaks in two off Spanish coast
¤ Indian PM issues Iraq warning
¤ The Homeland Security Monstrosity
¤ New Bush administration attack on civil liberties
¤ Vaccinating America at Gunpoint
¤ ACLU Calls on President Bush to Disavow New Cyber-Spying Scheme
¤ Israeli army desertions rise
¤ How close is America to outright dictatorship?
¤ US secret agents work at Microsoft
¤ More Leeway On U.S. Spying
¤ Alleged MI6 death plot exposed
¤ US puts finishing touches to its Iraq invasion plans
¤ As arms inspectors arrive, row erupts over US smears
¤ Team leader says attacks by hawks 'unhelpful'
¤ Blix bears brunt of hawks'frustration
¤ Saddam already defying UN, says White House
¤ Annan Says Iraqi No-Fly Zone Firing No Violation
¤ Hebron settlers plan to build 1,000 units in new neighborhood
¤ 15 Hebron families warned of house demolitions
¤ Mitzna promises immediate Gaza withdrawal
¤ Al-Qaeda cells spread across Europe
¤ Bush now seems to accept that this must be a UN war
¤ Germans call Churchill a war criminal
¤ Internment Camps: The Mechanics Of Tyranny
¤ On the West Bank
¤ US, British jets bomb Northern Iraq, AGAIN
¤ Australian accused of plot to bomb embassies
¤ Yes, I drove the van: bomber's brother surrenders
¤ Mixed feelings greet Blix on Baghdad's streets
¤ Blix caught between Iraq and a hard place
¤ Slip of the tongue, or did N Korea admit having the bomb?
¤ Sharon supports settlers' expansion move
> First occupy the land illegally then steal more
¤ Jewish settlers lay claim to road through Hebron
¤ Russian police recover historic Newton books
¤ British 'set out to terrorise civilians'
¤ Al-Jazeera is expanding it's Washington bureau

Venezuela's opposition must back off
Posted: Monday, November 18, 2002

Editorial commentary (c) by VHeadline.com
Business News Editor Robert Rudnicki

Monday, November 18, 2002 -- Which ever way you look at it, the opposition must back off if it wants to avoid a social explosion. It's clear that the government is not going to give the opposition a chance to remove it until it is constitutionally permitted, i.e.. August 2003.

So whichever way you look at the last few weeks events, it's going to have to be the opposition that leads the way in the calming of the situation.

Pro-government supporters no doubt believe that the government is merely responding to pressure placed upon it by the opposition, and it is this pressure that, over the weekend, forced the government to take control of the Metropolitan Police from vehement government-critic, Metropolitan Caracas Mayor Alfredo Pena.

No doubt 'Chavistas' will feel that the opposition threat to call a national general strike, the continuing Plaza Altamira protest and the recent actions of the Metropolitan Police are more than sufficient reasons for the government to respond with a further show of force ... and if the opposition continues to scale up its pressure, then they probably think the government should follow suit.

On there hand, opponents of President Hugo Chavez Frias and his government will probably be accusing the President and his backers of creating a problem-reaction-solution scenario, whereby the government could be creating situations on the streets that it then uses to justify its responses in front of the national and particularly the international community.

The opposition no doubt sees the deaths during last week's demonstrations outside Caracas' Metropolitan City Hall, and last night's explosion outside the Globovision TV news station, as well as similar explosions at the headquarters of several newspapers, Confederation of Trade Unions (CTV) and Federation of Chambers of Commerce & Industry (Fedecamaras) offices as government-planned attacks aimed at giving the government the excuse of stepping up the militarization of the capital and placing troops outside all key Caracas institutions.

Either way, the only viable and peaceful solution for the opposition to take is to back off and wait for August 2003.

Of course, if the government were to back down and call an election in the next few weeks, that would provide a more viable and less confrontational solution to the current crisis ... but lets face it ... it's not going to happen ... and whatever anyone says it is unconstitutional.

At a time when United Nations weapons inspectors are heading back into Iraq, it is very unlikely that Washington will want to see the Venezuelan boat rocking ... no wonder President Chavez Frias took the opportunity at the weekend to reassure the US that oil supplies would continue to be guaranteed.

This may give the President the maneuver room he needs to step up pressure on the opposition without the normally speedy criticism of US politicians.

The President must feel that so long as he remains broadly within the Constitution, he's on pretty solid ground until August.

Rightly or wrongly, it now seems that unless the opposition wants to allow/force the government into further increasing its grip on power ... or speeding along a huge civilian or military explosion ... it may be the order of the day to step back and take the coming months to develop a long-term strategy that is capable of winning support from all sectors of Venezuelan society and to choose a plausible contender to represent that strategy.

If the opposition really wants to give birth to a new improved Venezuela, maybe it should take the coming nine months to develop properly, and not risk being stillborn.

World News
Posted: Monday, November 18, 2002

¤ U.S., U.N. Differ on Arms Hunt
¤ Bush's War Cabinet is riven by feuding
¤ Court OKs Broad Wiretap Powers
¤ White House Works Phones for Homeland Bill
¤ CIA Feels Strain of Iraq and Al Qaeda
¤ N Korean nuclear 'admission' in doubt
¤ Bomb Attack on US Base in Japan
¤ Mubarak Calls For Similar WMD Inspection On Israel
¤ Antiwar Activists Plan to Stay The Course
> Women Settling In For Four-Month Vigil
¤ Israel says Iraq hints it would strike at Israel attacked
¥ Even Amazon knows Israeli sources cannot be trusted
¤ Amazon denies backing Israel
> Amazon has cancelled its deal with the Jerusalem Post
¤
¤ Bush Homeland Security bill nears passage by US Congress
¤ Protecting corporations, victimizing workers
¤ Iraq calls on the UN to stop US violations
¤ Secretary Rumsfeld Live Interview
¤ Unanswered questions remain in Bali investigations
¤ No "Worshipers" Were Killed in Hebron
¤ U.S. military: Iraqis fire on coalition planes again
¤ Iraq lashes out at U.S. over "no fly" zone claims
¤ Iraq vows to deny US pretext for war
¤ Gene-altered grain mishaps spark fears of contamination
Corn, soybeans in two U.S. states ordered destroyed
Texas firm takes responsibility for farm incidents
¤ Bush versus Robin Hood
¤ Democrats Finally Get It: Bush's War on Terrorism is a Dud
¤ Venezuela's opposition must back off
¤ Analysis / The attack in Hebron was not a 'massacre'
¤ US must disarm: Carter
¤ Ease up on Zimbabwe, world urged
¤ Spain blames UK over oil disaster
¤ Blix leads weapons team back into Iraq
¤ Israeli Copters, Tanks Hit Gaza City
¤ N. Korea Radio Says Nation Has Nukes
¤ Nato grapples with new role in terror war
¤ The US will be legislator, judge and executioner
¤ US Afghan ally 'tortured witnesses to his war crimes'
¤ Baghdad warns that a US strike will lead it to hit back at Israel
¤ How can Mr Blair persuade the voters to go to war
¤ A blunt question for the terrorists: Can't you do any better?
¤ Seven killed as British coach overturns
¤ US troops are losing battle of the bulge
¤ Team 'unlikely to find Iraq arms'
¤ Bali Bombers' faces revealed amid warnings to public
¤ Downer ducking out on Bali, says Labor
¤ Al-Qaeda video may signal raid on hotel
¤ Tension already as Blix heads for Iraq

World News
Posted: Sunday, November 17, 2002

¤ Israel won't agree to int'l intervention
¥ Sure they won't
¤ Israel lies about civilian deaths in Hebron
¤ MASSACRE? 'Jewish Worshippers' Were All Armed Men
¤ Bush Leading Toward Lawless World Of Endless Wars
¤ Americans need truth before starting a war
¤ Amnesty International & Israel: Say it Isn't So!
¤ U.S./Iraq Farce, Act 1: Prove a negative
¤ Israeli jets roar over Lebanon, Hizbollah fires
¤ Greeks Protest Against War in Nov 17 Rally
¤ Federal agencies often seek public input, then ignore it
¥ Like most governments worldwide
¤ Sharon Wants to Bolster Settlements
¤ U.S., Israel Conducting Covert Missions in Iraq
¤ Bush restates threat to take military action
¤ US nervous that Iraq may get a clean bill of health
¤ The Complete 9/11 Timeline
¤ The invincible Kiwi
¤ Al Gore warns that Bush is leading America into deep trouble.
¤ Pentagon creates a Big Brother so Uncle Sam can keep his eye on us
¤ Blair 'is arming tyrants' to beat terror
¤ With disarmament off the agenda, will Japan go nuclear next?
¤ Thousands Expected For Ga. Protest
¤ Blix admits risk of spies in team
¤ 'Green pope' warns of worldwide catastrophe over new Gulf War
¤ A shameful chapter in the recent history of Wall St
¤ UN pressures Saddam
¤ Israel hits back after 12 killed in ambush
¤ Iraq will cooperate with weapons inspectors: Tareq
¤ Israeli troops re-occupy Hebron; arrest 41
¤ Musharraf sworn in as president
¤ Iraq says U.N. inspectors will "expose the truth"
¤ Sudan peace talks focus on power-sharing

What Would George W. Do?
Posted: Sunday, November 17, 2002

VHeadline.com
by Charles Hardy

George W. Bush is President of the United States of America. Hugo Chavez Frias is president of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. George W. Bush's brother is Governor of the State of Florida. Hugo Chavez Frias' father is Governor of the State of Barinas. George W. Bush works out of the White House in Washington, D.C. Hugo Chavez Frias works out of Miraflores in Caracas, D.F.

George W. was a pilot in the Texas Air National Guard ... he eventually became a lowly Lieutenant. Today he is Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces of the United States. Hugo C. became a Lieutenant Colonel. Today he is Commander-in-Chief of the Venezuelan armed forces.

George W. had an interest in baseball. He became part owner of the Texas Rangers in 1989 and invested $606,000. In 1998 he sold his interest for $15,000,000. Hugo C. also has had an interest in baseball, but not the luxury of a financial one. He enjoys playing the game.

We have, then, two men with somewhat similar backgrounds.

Now here's today's question for all those who see the United States as the bastion of freedom of expression and the beacon of democracy:
What would George W. Bush do if a handful of military officers decided to declare themselves in disobedience to him as Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces and set up camp between the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.?

The answer: he would unhesitatingly send in federal troops to immediately arrest and jail them.

Now my question is, why doesn't Hugo Chavez Frias do the same?

I don't know but here are two possible answers:

1) He is dealing with a part of society that is having a tantrum. They're babies who will cry and kick because they can't have their way. They lost their election three years ago and, until daddy will give in to them and give them what they want, they are not going to stop yelling. Chavez Frias would like to spank them, but that wouldn't help. Besides that, the television cameras would blare any spanking around the world and give the Venezuelan family an even poorer image than that which the opposition has already given it.

2) He doesn't want violence. In spite of all the claims that Chavez Frias is the reason for the division that exists today in Venezuela, I continue to maintain that it was always there. Chavez Frias just happened to be the one to announce the bad news. It is not Chavez Frias, but the opposition who have exacerbated the situation and who continue to do so.

Hugo Chavez Frias has shown an incredible patience ... George W. Bush would never have done so.

Now another question:
What would George W. Bush have done if the Mayor of Washington, D.C. acted like Alfredo Pena, using the police as "an appendix" (the words of a Metropolitan Police officer) to support a group of people in favor of overthrowing the government?

The answer: He would take over the police.

What did Hugo Chavez Frias do?

The answer: After a lot of patience, he finally did the same that George W. Bush would have done long ago.

I didn't vote for President Bush (and I cringe as I write this), but maybe President Chavez Frias should be more like him. So, here we have two men with many similarities. Yet one acts and would act in an authoritarian manner and considers himself to be the leader of the free world ... the other acts with extreme patience and gentleness and is called a "dictator" and "communist."

We have George W. Bush ... who just barely won an election under very strange circumstances ... with the Supreme Court, not the people, voting him into office. Nobody questions his legitimacy. We also have Hugo Chavez Frias who won an election with almost 60% of the votes and now the opposition wants him to resign.

Let's face it. They don't want a referendum, really. They want a resignation because they, who have held the power for so long, want it back. They have $ millions to spend on publicity to try to convince everyone that they were right all along: that the democratic elections in 1998 were a mistake.

Yes, they were a mistake. . . for them. Their strategy failed. Chavez Frias was never supposed to have won. He did.

So, go on. Cry! Shout! Kick your feet! I'm not saying you won't get your way someday. But I will always maintain that, just because you have money and power, you don't deserve it and you never have.

In the meantime, don't criticize Hugo Chavez Frias if he starts acting like your hero, George W. Bush.

You asked for it!

World News
Posted: Saturday, November 16, 2002

¤ 7 civilians killed in US-British raids: Iraq
¤ Doctors: Bill allows forced vaccinations
¤ U.S., India Discussing Military Sale
¤ Sharon and Mofaz agree not to exile Arafat
¤ U.S. plots reaction to no-fly incident
¤ Saddam: U.S. Wants 'to Wage War'
¤ Nato strike force to bypass states in hunt for terrorists
¤ We aren't bombing Sadam, but the citizens of Iraq
¤ US expands Iraq resolution to include no-fly zones
UN Security Council members had insisted that the
resolution did not cover actions in the no-fly zones.

¤ Globalist Plan to Disarm America
¤ Fox News Series On Israeli Spying In America
¤ True Lies About U.S. Aid to Israel
¤ White House rejects criticism of anti-terror campaign
¤ Pentagon Zionist campaign to get George Tenet fired!
¤ Blix says will sack spies on Iraq inspection team
¤
¤ The easy war, or the hard way. (Flash)
¤ Al-Qaida Leader's Son Tortured To Death By FBI
¤ Jimmy Carter Slams 'Arrogant' US Foreign Policy
¤ At least 12 dead in attack on Israelis in Hebron
¤ Iraqi army is tougher than US believes
¤ Meet the cloned cash cow
¤ Surplus to requirements?
¤ Sweet nothings
¤ UN begs to differ with Bush
¤ Rattled Czechs hand security over to the Pentagon
¤ Argentina may be left out in cold after $1.4bn repayment default
¤ Afrikaners feel they are losing ground
¤ Australia rejects PNG pleas for loan relief
¤ Revenge of a Child
¤ Warning that war could plunge world into deep recession
¤ It is fear, not greed, that drives Mr Bush
¤ Open gates, despite it all
¤ U.S. won't support Net "hate speech" ban
¤ FBI's secret detention of suspect alarms Pakistan
¤ German parliament extends role in war on terror
¤ 150 feared dead as Maoists launch attacks in Nepal
¤ Leave us to discover the truth, says chief nuclear inspector
¤ Disarming missile man's Iraq mission
¤ Rattled Czechs hand security over to the Pentagon
¤ Pakistani's execution sparks rallies
¤ UN readies to end presence in Bosnia

World News
Posted: Friday, November 15, 2002

¤ Phase Two of Bush's War Plan Rumbles Ahead
¤ At least 12 Israelis killed
> 20 wounded in Hebron shooting attack
¤ Gun attack 'kills several Israelis'
¤ Homeland Security bill 'A supersnoop's dream'
¤ British Empire blamed for modern conflicts BBC
¤ The US will soon have to choose Saddam's successor
¤ US training Iraqis to run post-Saddam government
¤ Baghdad warns UN it is acting 'contrary to the law'
¤ Go ahead Saddam, make Bush's day ...
¤ 'We' have played straight into Bin Laden's hands
¤ We don't want your oil, Blair tells Iraqis
¤ Bush tries to cut off Pyongyang's oil supply
¤ Israel seizes 'leader of kibbutz raid'
> Israel just got to make those raids seem important
¤ Powell attacks Christian right
¤ Deal reached on 9-11 inquiry
¤ Israel and White Supremacy
¤ Police chief defends 'smiling assassin' circus
¤ Bombings will go on: Hamas
¤ Interview made perfect sense to Indonesians
¤ US army fires Arabic linguists for being gay
¤ All set for Kasi's execution
¤ UN condemns Afghan police for killing students
¤ Pakistan, Russia to swap terror intelligence
¤