News: Asia
» 2007
December 8, 2008
And now for a world government
I have never believed that there is a secret United Nations plot to take over the US . I have never seen black helicopters hovering in the sky above Montana. But, for the first time in my life, I think the formation of some sort of world government is plausible. A “world government” would involve much more than co-operation between nations. It would be an entity with state-like characteristics, backed by a body of laws. The European Union has already set up a continental government for 27 countries, which could be a model. The EU has a supreme court, a currency, thousands of pages of law, a large civil service and the ability to deploy military force. So could the European model go global? There are three reasons for thinking that it might.
Read article in the Financial Times (UK)
Comment: Democracy in the European Union has now been almost completely subverted by corporate interests. As such, exporting the European model of government to the rest of the world would effectively turn the planet’s system of governance into a global dictatorship.
December 4, 2008
Iraqi council gives final approval to pact with US
Iraq's presidential council on Thursday approved a security pact that sets out a three-year timeframe for U.S. troops to leave, a spokesman said, the final step for the agreement to replace a U.N. mandate that expires Dec. 31.
Read Associated Press news report at google.com
November 28, 2008
Iraqis OK 3-year troop withdrawal pact
Lawmakers' approval hailed and criticized
Iraq's Parliament approved a three-year timetable yesterday for the withdrawal of US troops, a pact supporters call a path to sovereignty and opponents say could be used to keep Americans on Iraqi soil indefinitely. The pact is the first step taken by Iraqi legislators toward ending the US presence in their country since the American-led invasion in March 2003. It is expected to be ratified by Iraq's three-person presidency council.
Read article in the Boston Globe (USA)
November 24, 2008
Russian analyst predicts decline and breakup of U.S.
A leading Russian political analyst has said the economic turmoil in the United States has confirmed his long-held view that the country is heading for collapse, and will divide into separate parts. Professor Igor Panarin said in an interview with the respected daily Izvestia published on Monday: "The dollar is not secured by anything. The country's foreign debt has grown like an avalanche, even though in the early 1980s there was no debt. By 1998, when I first made my prediction, it had exceeded $2 trillion. Now it is more than 11 trillion. This is a pyramid that can only collapse."
Read article on the RIA Novosti website (Russia)
November 18, 2008
Iraq war 'violated rule of law'
Legal advice given to Tony Blair by the attorney general prior to the Iraq war was fundamentally "flawed," a former law lord has claimed. Lord Bingham said Lord Goldsmith had given Mr Blair "no hard evidence" that Iraq had defied UN resolutions "in a manner justifying resort to force". Therefore, the action by the UK and US was "a serious violation of international law," Lord Bingham added.
Read article on the BBC News website (UK)
November 5, 2008
Vice-president says Iraq-U.S. pact should be put to vote
An Iraqi vice-president has said a draft security pact being negotiated with the United States should be put to a nationwide referendum. Tareq al-Hashemi, a Sunni Arab, said in a statement on Tuesday that the deal, which outlines the framework for the U.S. military presence in Iraq, “must not pass without approval from Iraqis”. “This agreement is an important and sensitive subject ... Iraqis should have their say,” he said. A draft agreement agreed last month allows U.S. forces to remain in Iraq for another three years, but after talks with Iraqi MPs it was sent back to Washington for further revisions. The Iraqi cabinet sought key changes, including greater legal jurisdiction over U.S. troops and guarantees that U.S. soldiers would not launch attacks on other countries from Iraq.
Read article in the Tehran Times (Iran)
October 22, 2008
Russia says media reports on possible Arctic conflict 'alarmist'
Russia's Foreign Ministry believes media speculation about the possibility of a war over the Arctic are ungrounded and "alarmist," an ambassador at large said Wednesday. "Media assessments of possible aggression in the Arctic, even a third world war, are seen as extremely alarmist and provocative. In my opinion, there are no grounds for such alarmism," Anton Vasilyev, who is also a high-ranking official on the Arctic Council, said. "We are following the situation in the region, this also includes the military activity of other countries, but we hope cooperation will be the main feature," he said.
Read article on the RIA Novosti website (Russia)
September 26, 2008
Medvedev orders upgrade of Russia's nuclear deterrent by 2020
President Dmitry Medvedev said on Friday that Russia must upgrade its nuclear deterrent and fully supply the Armed Forces with modern weaponry by 2020. He said Russia would make the modernization of its nuclear deterrent and Armed Forces a priority in light of the recent military conflict with Georgia.
Read article on the RIA Novosti website (Russia)
September 24, 2008
China banks told to halt lending to US banks
BEIJING, Sept 25 (Reuters) - Chinese regulators have told domestic banks to stop interbank lending to U.S. financial institutions to prevent possible losses during the financial crisis, the South China Morning Post reported on Thursday. The Hong Kong newspaper cited unidentified industry sources as saying the instruction from the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) applied to interbank lending of all currencies to U.S. banks but not to banks from other countries.
Read news report at reuters.com
September 19, 2008
Russia wants cooperation with U.S., will rise above its rhetoric
Russia wants to maintain cooperation with the United States and will not succumb to its rhetoric and enter a new spiral of confrontation, the Foreign Ministry said Friday. Responding to the U.S. top diplomat's speech on the Russia-Georgia conflict, the ministry said Russia was "prepared to deal with the American side in all formats" but would not "succumb to its rhetoric and get drawn into confrontation, either verbal or any other."
Read article on the RIA Novosti website (Russia)
September 16, 2008
Ban GMO rice, Greenpeace asks Senate
MANILA, Philippines - Environmental group Greenpeace asked the Senate to ban the sale of genetically modified organism (GMO) rice, as it opened a photo exhibit highlighting the importance of rice. The group cited the importance of rice to Filipino culture, saying this is why it must be protected from risky genetic modification. "Greenpeace is here at the Senate to lobby our senators to enact a legislation to protect our most important staple food from the inherent risks of genetic engineering. Genetic engineering is an unproven, unpredictable and unnecessary technology. The resulting genetically-modified food crops threaten human health, the environment, and farmers' livelihoods," said Greenpeace Southeast Asia Genetic Engineering Campaigner Daniel Ocampo, in a statement on the group's Web site (www.greenpeace.org.ph).
Read article on the gmanews.tv website (Philippines)
September 8, 2008
Gorbachev says NATO growth aimed at isolating Russia
Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev has said that calls from the U.S. and other Western powers to bring Ukraine and Georgia into NATO are purely aimed at isolating Russia. "Why does NATO need these countries? To fight against Iran? This is just ridiculous," Gorbachev told Spanish agency EFE.
Read article on the RIA Novosti website (Russia)
September 8, 2008
Russia confirms sending warships to the Atlantic, Caribbean
A Russian naval task force from the Northern Fleet will go on a tour of duty in the Atlantic Ocean and participate in joint naval drills with the Venezuelan navy in November, a Navy spokesman said on Monday. "In line with the 2008 training program and in order to expand military cooperation with foreign navies Russia will send in November a naval task force from the Northern Fleet, comprising nuclear-powered missile cruiser Pyotr Velikiy and support ships, to the Atlantic Ocean," Capt. 1st Rank Igor Dygalo said.
Read article on the RIA Novosti website (Russia)
August 28, 2008
Putin Suggests U.S. Provocation in Georgia Clash
MOSCOW — As Russia struggled to rally international support for its military action in Georgia, Vladimir V. Putin, the country’s paramount leader, lashed out at the United States on Thursday, contending that the White House may have orchestrated the conflict to benefit one of the candidates in the American presidential election. Mr. Putin’s comments in a television interview, his most extensive to date on Russia’s decision to send troops into Georgia earlier this month, sought to present the military operation as a response to brazen, cold war-style provocations by the United States. In tones that seemed alternately angry and mischievous, he suggested that the Bush administration may have tried to create a crisis that would influence American voters in the choice of a successor to President Bush. “The suspicion would arise that someone in the United States created this conflict on purpose to stir up the situation and to create an advantage for one of the candidates in the competitive race for the presidency in the United States,” Mr. Putin said in an interview with CNN. He added, “They needed a small victorious war.” Mr. Putin did not specify which candidate he had in mind, but there was no doubt that he was referring to Senator John McCain, the Republican.
Read article in the New York Times (USA)
August 27, 2008
Russian analyst points to link between Georgian attack and Iran
A senior Russian military analyst said on Wednesday that the U.S. and NATO by arming Tbilisi used the conflict in Georgia as a dress rehearsal for a future military operation in Iran. Col. Gen Leonid Ivashov, president of the Academy of Geopolitical Studies, told a news conference at RIA Novosti, "We are close to a serious conflict - U.S. and NATO preparations on a strategic scale are ongoing. In the operation the West conducted on Georgian soil against Russia - South Ossetians were the victims or hostages of it - we can see a rehearsal for an attack on Iran. There is a great deal of "new features" that today are being fine tuned in the theater of military operations." He said the likelihood of a war against Iran was growing with each passing day, "As a result, the situation in the region will become destabilized," and added "causing chaos and instability" was becoming Washington's official policy line.
Read article on the RIA Novosti website (Russia)
August 27, 2008
Russia to respond militarily to U.S. missile shield
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has said Russia will have to respond militarily to the deployment of elements of a U.S. missile shield in Central Europe. The deal to place 10 interceptor missiles in Poland was reached in mid-August, and followed the signing of an agreement on July 8 by the U.S. and Czech foreign ministries to place a U.S. radar in the Czech Republic. "These missiles are close to our borders and constitute a threat to us," Medvedev said in an interview with Al-Jazeera television on Tuesday. "This will create additional tension and we will have to respond to it in some way, naturally using military means."
Read article on the RIA Novosti website (Russia)
August 26, 2008
Russia not seeking new Cold War, but not afraid - Medvedev
Russia does not want a new Cold War but is not afraid of one should it occur, the Russian president told the Russia Today international news channel on Tuesday.
Read article on the RIA Novosti website (Russia)
August 26, 2008
Russia recognizes Georgia's breakaway republics
Russia's president signed decrees on Tuesday recognizing Georgia's breakaway South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states despite warnings by Western leaders not to do so.
Read article on the RIA Novosti website (Russia)
August 15, 2008
Gorbachev blames Georgia for provoking war, West for backing it
Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev has blamed Georgia for provoking hostilities in its breakaway region of South Ossetia and criticized Western states for backing Tbilisi. Appearing on CNN's "Larry King Live" on Thursday, Gorbachev said Russia had moved additional forces into South Ossetia in response to the "devastation" in the South Ossetia capital of Tskhinvali. "This was the use of sophisticated weapons against a small town, against a sleeping people. This was a barbaric assault," Gorbachev told CNN.
Read article on the RIA Novosti website (Russia)
Comment: In an article published in the Washington Post newspaper on August 12, Gorbachev - the last president of the Soviet Union and who was awarded the Nobel peace prize in 1990 - stated that “[w]hat happened on the night of August 7 is beyond comprehension. The Georgian military attacked the South Ossetian capital of Tskhinvali with multiple rocket launchers designed to devastate large areas. Russia had to respond.” He added that “[t]he Georgian leadership could do this only with the perceived support and encouragement of a much more powerful force. Georgian armed forces were trained by hundreds of US instructors, and its sophisticated military equipment was bought in a number of countries. This, coupled with the promise of Nato membership, emboldened Georgian leaders.”
August 15, 2008
Russia: Poland risks attack because of US missiles
MOSCOW (AP) — A top Russian general said Friday that Poland's agreement to accept a U.S. missile interceptor base exposes the ex-communist nation to attack, possibly by nuclear weapons, the Interfax news agency reported.
Read Associated Press news story at google.com
August 15, 2008
Venezuela blames US for Georgia-Russia conflict
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is accusing the United States of masterminding the current conflict between Georgia and Russia. A statement from Chavez's government alleges the conflict was "planned, prepared and ordered" by Washington in an "incitement of violence."
Read Associated Press news story at google.com
August 15, 2008
US, Poland agree to anti-missile defense deal
WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland and the United States struck a deal Thursday that will strengthen military ties and put an American missile interceptor base in Poland, a plan that has infuriated Moscow and sparked fears in Europe of a new arms race.
Read Associated Press news story at google.com
July 31, 2008
'Major discovery' from MIT primed to unleash solar revolution
Scientists mimic essence of plants' energy storage system
In a revolutionary leap that could transform solar power from a marginal, boutique alternative into a mainstream energy source, MIT researchers have overcome a major barrier to large-scale solar power: storing energy for use when the sun doesn't shine.
Read article on the MIT website (USA)
Comment: Liberation from the tyranny of the oil cartel continues to draw closer.
July 31, 2008
AIDS: importance of nutrition confirmed
An 18-month study on more than 10,500 people with HIV/AIDS in Tamil Nadu found nutritional supplements improved their health. In what may be the biggest study ever conducted in India, the Tamil Nadu State AIDS Control Society (TANSACS) has found conclusive evidence that providing micro and macronutrients to people living with HIV/AIDS greatly improves their health and quality of life.
Read article in The Hindu (India)
July 24, 2008
Russia could place bombers in Latin America, N.Africa - paper
Russian strategic bombers may soon be deployed at airbases in Cuba, Venezuela and Algeria as a response to the U.S. missile shield in Europe and NATO's expansion, Russian daily Izvestia said on Thursday. Moscow has strongly opposed the possible deployment by the U.S. of 10 interceptor missiles in Poland and an accompanying tracking radar in the Czech Republic as a threat to its national security. Washington says the defenses are needed to deter a possible strike from Iran, or other "rogue" states. Moscow has also expressed concern over NATO's expansion to Russia's borders and pledged to take "appropriate measures" to counter the U.S. and NATO moves.
Read article on the RIA Novosti website (Russia)
July 23, 2008
Moscow must answer U.S. shield with Cuban 'spy' site - analyst
Russia should respond to U.S. missile defense plans for Central Europe by reopening a 'spy' facility in Cuba to gather intelligence on the United States, a Russian analyst said on Wednesday. The electronic monitoring and surveillance facility near Havana at Torrens, also known as the Lourdes facility, the largest Russian Sigint site abroad, was shut down in October 2001 by then- president Vladimir Putin. "Cuba is a unique place to gather intelligence on the United States. I believe that the reopening of this station is both possible and necessary amid the threat that the Americans are creating for Russia," Alexander Pikayev, head of the disarmament and conflict resolution department at the Russian Academy of Sciences' World Economics and International Relations Institute, told a news conference at RIA Novosti.
Read article on the RIA Novosti website (Russia)
July 9, 2008
Iran tests missiles in Persian Gulf
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Iran test-fired nine long- and medium-range missiles Wednesday during war games that officials said aimed to show the country can retaliate against any U.S. and Israeli attack, state television reported. Gen. Hossein Salami, the air force commander of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards, said the exercise would "demonstrate our resolve and might against enemies who in recent weeks have threatened Iran with harsh language," the TV report said. Wednesday's war games were being conducted at the mouth of the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway through which about 40 percent of the world's oil passes. Iran has threatened to shut down traffic in the strait if attacked.
Read Associated Press news report at google.com
July 8, 2008
Paul: Congress supports bombing Iran
Former Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul says members of Congress have voiced support for a pre-emptive nuclear strike on Iran. "I hear members of Congress saying 'if we could only nuke them'," said the congressman Thursday. "If we do (attack) it is going to be a disaster," he told the Alex Jones Show. The 72-year-old veteran politician added that the atmosphere in Congress indicates that a military strike on Iran has already been condoned.
Read article on the Press TV website (Iran)
July 4, 2008
Judge orders Google to give YouTube user data to Viacom
SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) - A US judge has ordered Google to expose to Viacom the video-viewing habits of everyone who has ever used YouTube in a decision condemned by the Internet giant and privacy advocates.
Read AFP news story at google.com
Comment: The ruling, which could have serious privacy implications for internet users worldwide, orders Google to turn over every record of every video watched by YouTube users, including users' names and IP addresses.
July 2, 2008
US Admiral Warns Against Israeli Strike On Iran
Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, on Wednesday warned against the possible Israeli strike on Iran's nuclear facilities, saying that it would plunge the already volatile area into deeper chaos and added that it would be very stressful on the United States. "My strong preference, here, is to handle all of this diplomatically with the other powers of governments, ours and many others, as opposed to any kind of strike occurring," Admiral Mullen told reporters at a Pentagon press conference on Wednesday. "This is a very unstable part of the world. And I don't need it to be more unstable," he added.
Read news report on the RTT News website (USA)
June 17, 2008
Law School to Plan Bush War Crimes Prosecution
A conference to plan the prosecution of President Bush and other high administration officials for war crimes will be held September 13-14 at the Massachusetts School of Law at Andover. "This is not intended to be a mere discussion of violations of law that have occurred," said convener Lawrence Velvel, dean and cofounder of the school. "It is, rather, intended to be a planning conference at which plans will be laid and necessary organizational structures set up, to pursue the guilty as long as necessary and, if need be, to the ends of the Earth."
Read Massachusetts School Of Law press release at informationclearinghouse.info
June 11, 2008
Wonder medicine plant claims to cure cancer
Scientists have finally identified and named a wonder plant that has been creating waves here for some time now. The plant traditionally called Kam-sabut is claimed to be able to cure cancer cases which doctors have given up on. Researchers from Manipur University's life science department say the plant belongs to the Euphorbia ceae family but was of a new species and a new name Croton Caudatus Gieseler has been allotted by the Botanical Survey of India, Shillong following a submission of a research report submitted by a MU team. Extracts of Euphorbia ceae of at least 10 species are used by Columbian traditional healers to treat ulcers, cancers, tumours, warts and other diseases.
Read article in The Statesman (India)
June 6, 2008
Bush Overstated Evidence on Iraq, Senators Report
WASHINGTON – A long-delayed Senate committee report endorsed by Democrats and some Republicans concluded that President Bush and his aides built the public case for war against Iraq by exaggerating available intelligence and by ignoring disagreements among spy agencies about Iraq's weapons programs and Saddam Hussein's links to Al Qaeda.
Read article in the New York Times (USA)
June 5, 2008
EU vision for Asia-Pacific
KEVIN RUDD has outlined an ambitious vision for Australia and the other nations of the Asia-Pacific to form a community modelled on the European Union by 2020. In a speech to the Asia Society in Sydney last night, the Prime Minister said the new body would share a "comprehensive sense of community" in security, trade, economics and politics.
Read article in the Sydney Morning Herald (Australia)
Comment: Democracy in the European Union has now been almost completely subverted by corporate interests. As such, Rudd's proposal here should clearly be viewed with great suspicion.
May 29, 2008
Bolton dodges attempted 'war crimes' arrest
The environmental campaigner George Monbiot last night tried and failed to make a citizen's arrest of the former Bush administration official John Bolton over alleged "war crimes" committed during the invasion of Iraq in 2003. As Bolton, a former US ambassador to the UN, ended an hour-long discussion at the Hay festival, Monbiot, who had earlier challenged him for alleged breaches of the postwar Nuremberg Principles, defining war crimes, moved towards the stage waving a charge sheet. But security staff intervened and bundled Monbiot out of the tent as 20 supporters chanted "war criminal" and waved placards.
Read article in The Guardian (UK)
Comment: Monbiot's Charge Sheet for the attempted arrest of John Bolton specifically cites the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg's ruling that "to initiate a war of aggression … is not only an international crime; it is the supreme international crime".
May 28, 2008
Bush 'plans Iran air strike by August'
The George W Bush administration plans to launch an air strike against Iran within the next two months, an informed source tells Asia Times Online, echoing other reports that have surfaced in the media in the United States recently.
Read article on the Asia Times Online website
May 19, 2008
DNA damage 'caused by pesticides'
New research in India suggests exposure to pesticides could have damaged the DNA of people in farming communities, leading to higher rates of cancer. Scientists at Patiala University, Punjab state, did the study, tracking a group of farmers for several months.
Read article at BBC News (UK)
Comment: Many pesticides are manufactured by some of the same pharmaceutical and chemical companies that would like to ban vitamin supplements and force GM foods onto our dinner plates.
May 19, 2008
Democracy and the Web
Users of the Internet take for granted their ability to access all Web sites on an equal basis. That could change, however, if Internet service providers started discriminating among content, to make more money or to suppress ideas they do not like. A new "net neutrality" bill has been introduced in the House, which would prohibit this sort of content discrimination. Congress has delayed on this important issue too long and should pass net neutrality legislation now.
Read editorial in the New York Times (USA)
Comment: To learn more about the need for net neutrality and internet freedom, click here.
May 12, 2008
Quiet US Confession: Weapons Were Not Made In Iran After All
Longstanding accusations against Iran arming militants in Iraq
In a sharp reversal of its longstanding accusations against Iran arming militants in Iraq, the US military has made an unprecedented albeit quiet confession: the weapons they had recently found in Iraq were not made in Iran at all. According to a report by the LA Times correspondent Tina Susman in Baghdad: "A plan to show some alleged Iranian-supplied explosives to journalists last week in Karbala and then destroy them was cancelled after the United States realized none of them was from Iran. A U.S. military spokesman attributed the confusion to a misunderstanding that emerged after an Iraqi Army general in Karbala erroneously reported the items were of Iranian origin. When U.S. explosives experts went to investigate, they discovered they were not Iranian after all."
Read article on the Centre for Research on Globalization website (Canada)
April 30, 2008
Afghan 'health link' to uranium
Doctors in Afghanistan say rates of some health problems affecting children have doubled in the last two years. Some scientists say the rise is linked to use of weapons containing depleted uranium (DU) by the US-led coalition that invaded the country in 2001. A Canadian research group found very high levels of uranium in Afghans during tests just after the invasion.
Read article at BBC News (UK)
April 30, 2008
Mass Protests against GM Crops in India
India-wide coalition against GM Brinjal in the wake of toxic GM cotton
As India edges closer to what is probably the last year of field trials for Bt Brinjal (eggplant, aubergine) before commercial approval may be granted, large scale resistance has been building up all over the country. Bt Brinjal, if allowed in India, would be the first food crop in the world with the Bt gene inserted into it that is to be directly consumed by human beings. Indians feel that they are about to be made guinea pigs by USAID, and by Monsanto and Cornell University that have developed this crop.
Read press release on the website of the Institute of Science in Society (ISIS) (UK)
April 25, 2008
Malaysia's ex-PM Mahathir wants Iraq war leaders on war crimes charges
LONDON (AFP) - Former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad has called for an international tribunal to try Western leaders with war crimes over the war in Iraq, a spokesman for the organisers said. In a speech at Imperial College, London, Mahathir called for a tribunal to try US President George W. Bush plus former prime ministers Tony Blair of Britain and John Howard of Australia for their part in the conflict, said a spokesman for the Muslim group the Ramadhan Foundation, which set up the event. Spokesman Mohammed Shafiq told AFP that Mahathir, who was in office from 1981 to 2003, wants to see the trio tried "in absence for war crimes committed in Iraq.
Read AFP news story at yahoo.com
February 11, 2008
How the spooks took over the news
In his controversial new book, Nick Davies argues that shadowy intelligence agencies are pumping out black propaganda to manipulate public opinion – and that the media simply swallow it wholesale.
Read article in the Independent (UK)
February 4, 2008
Poland Agrees to Host U.S. Shield
The United States and Poland reached "an agreement in principle" on missile defense Friday, prompting an angry reaction from Russia over the weekend. Poland agreed to let the U.S. military install missile interceptors on its territory after Washington consented to a demand by Warsaw's new center-right government to beef up the country's air defenses.
Read editorial in the Moscow Times (Russia)
Comment: Moscow has adamantly opposed the plans of U.S. President George W. Bush to install 10 interceptors in Poland and a radar installation in the Czech Republic, which Washington says are meant to protect against an attack by Iran or other "rogue states." The Kremlin - which believes the U.S. missile shield is directed against Russia - has threatened to target the Polish and Czech sites and to deploy missiles in the Kaliningrad region, which borders Poland.
January 24, 2008
Publish the secret document on Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, ministers are told
Ministers were ordered yesterday to make public a secret document about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction that could shed light on the origins of the Government's claim that Saddam Hussein needed just 45 minutes to launch non-conventional warheads at British troops. The unpublished draft document was drawn up by John Williams, who in 2002, before the invasion of Iraq, was the head of information at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and one of the senior government spin-doctors. Yesterday the Information Tribunal ruled that the Williams report should be made public so that people could make their own judgment as to whether its contents could have influenced the official dossier on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction (WMDs), including the 45-minute claim.
Read article in The Times (UK)
Comment: Given that no weapons of mass destruction were ever found in Iraq, the people of Asia and the world already know that the original reason given for the invasion of that country was a lie. However, the American and British-led military conflict in Iraq and the related threats to Iran, North Korea and other Asian countries are not primarily about fighting 'terrorism' or conquering oil fields. Instead, they are part of a deliberate long-term strategy by American and British-controlled pharmaceutical and petrochemical investment groups to escalate a major international crisis as a means of creating a psychological "state of fear" and maintaining global economic control.
January 5, 2008
Cutbacks to Iraqi food rations threaten malnutrition and starvation
Under conditions of widespread malnutrition, run-away inflation and mass unemployment, the Iraqi Trade Ministry is preparing to slash the provision of subsidised food and basic hygiene necessities under the Public Distribution System (PDS).
Read article on the World Socialist Web Site (WSWS)
Comment: The PDS was introduced by Saddam Hussein's Baathist regime as a short-term answer to the UN economic sanctions imposed during the Gulf War of 1990-1991. It is estimated that these sanctions led to as many as one million Iraqi deaths, including those of 500,000 children, between 1991 and 1998. Denis Halliday, the then United Nations Humanitarian Co-ordinator in Iraq, resigned in protest in October 1998, declaring: "We are in the process of destroying an entire society. It is as simple and terrifying as that. It is illegal and immoral." Notably, therefore, by the time of the March 2003 invasion, virtually the entire Iraqi population was to some extent reliant on food rations to meet even their basic nutritional requirements. Nevertheless, the US military has utterly failed to ensure that they received them. As such, the UN's retrospective and continued approval of the US-led military occupation of Iraq only further cements the final erosion of its credibility, thus heralding the ultimate demise of its role as servant to the people of the world.