News (Page 2) -- February 5, 2005

Time to Scrap the NPT - " There’s only one country that has ever used nuclear weapons. There’s only one country that has used nuclear weapons on civilian population centers. There’s only one country that has ever threatened to use nuclear weapons on non-nuclear countries. There’s only one country that has over 10,000 nuclear weapons many of which are on hair-trigger alert for enemies real or imagined. There’s only one country that has developed a regime of low-yield, bunker-busting, "usable" nuclear weapons; stating that they could be legitimately used, not to deter aggression or to stave off an imminent threat, but simply to eliminate the "suspicion" of weapons programs. There’s only one country that justifies unprovoked aggression (preemption) in its National Security doctrine; allowing it to attack any potential rival to its global dominance. There’s only one country that currently occupies a Muslim nation of 25 million inhabitants without any proof of an imminent threat, weapons-systems, or territorial aggression. The purpose of the NPT (Nonproliferation Treaty) is to reduce or eliminate the development of nuclear weapons. If it is to have any relevance at all it must be directed at nations that not only have weapons, but demonstrate a flagrant disregard for the international laws condemning their use. The IAEA should focus its attention on those states that have a clear record of territorial aggression, military intervention, or who consistently violate United Nations resolutions."

Nuclear Iran feared - "The U.S. and EU are exerting maximum diplomatic and psychological pressure on Iran to prevent it from enriching uranium in spite of its legal right to do so. Tehran remains defiant, but may yet compromise by shipping uranium to Russia for enrichment."

Can the President Order a Killing on U.S. Soil? - "In the latest twist in the debate over presidential powers, a Justice Department official suggested that in certain circumstances, the president might have the power to order the killing of terrorist suspects inside the United States."

U.S. is back in assassination business - "Under Presidents Reagan, Bush "41" and Clinton, the executive order prohibiting political assassination was maintained and honored. As has now been publicly revealed, the administration of Bush "43" secretly repealed the prohibition on assassination. In its place, under the omnipresent 9/11 rationale, the U.S. is back in the business of assassination. If a poll of Americans were taken, most would acknowledge the perplexing problem of torture and other abuses chronicled in Iraq and Afghanistan. However, very few, if any, would be aware of the change in policy on assassination. The news media have covered the problem of torture, to an extent that most viewers and readers are numb to the news. However, the more fundamental and certainly irreparable problem of political assassination has not been raised, discussed or examined. It is almost as if the code of the news media being embedded with the U.S. forces is their implicit agreement not to cover or mention something like planned political killing."

a PICTURE says a THOUSAND words - "This was a calculated move on behalf of a handful of people who stand to gain the most from an imminent military clash of civilizations."

Revealed: secret plan to keep UK troops permanently in Iraq - "BRITAIN is laying secret plans to maintain a permanent military presence in Iraq."

Why believe your LYING eyes - "Are these people on crack? Don’t they read the news? ... Either these people are hopelessly stupid, or they think that WE are."

Surveillance Net Yields Few Suspects - "Intelligence officers who eavesdropped on thousands of Americans in overseas calls under authority from President Bush have dismissed nearly all of them as potential suspects after hearing nothing pertinent to a terrorist threat, according to accounts from current and former government officials and private-sector sources with knowledge of the technologies in use. Bush has recently described the warrantless operation as "terrorist surveillance" and summed it up by declaring that "if you're talking to a member of al Qaeda, we want to know why." But officials conversant with the program said a far more common question for eavesdroppers is whether, not why, a terrorist plotter is on either end of the call. The answer, they said, is usually no."

What kind of 'patriot' supports a tyrant? - "Mr Bush eavesdrops on our conversations. He cooperates with no inquiry or oversight, on any matter from energy policy to the attacks of 9/11 to the response to Hurricane Katrina. He sternly lectures Americans on the limits of political debate, while imprisoning and torturing men, women, and children in secret prisons. He sends American troops to fight and die for nebulous, slippery causes that have nothing to do with defending America. And as he does all this and so much more, Bush's supporters cheer him on, and ask only what more freedoms and rights they can yield?"

Eye Scan Technology Comes to Schools - "As many as four adults can be designated to pick up each child in the district, but in order to be authorized to come into school, they will be asked to register with the district's iris recognition security and visitor management system. At this point, the New Jersey program is not mandatory."

World Tracker turns anyone into a cellphone spy - " Forget those piddly wiretaps. The next frontier in warrant-free surveillance is upon us, and it's open to everyone. A UK service called World Tracker apparently uses cell tower data (or GPS, when available) to track the location of just about any GSM cellphone. Just enter the number you want to track into the service's handy Google Maps-based interface, and you'll be able to zoom in on the device's location, with accuracy somewhere between 50 and 500 meters."