Archive for October 8th, 2007
Public health: The hidden menace of mobile phones
Public health: The hidden menace of mobile phones Research into the link between regular handset use and disease reveals the risks rise significantly after 10 years, despite official assurances that they are safe. Geoffrey Lean reports
Published: 07 October 2007
Using a mobile phone for more than 10 years increases the risk of getting brain cancer, according to the most comprehensive study of the risks yet published.
The study – which contradicts official pronouncements that there is no danger of getting the disease – found that people who have had the phones for a decade or more are twice as likely to get a malignant tumour on the side of the brain where they hold the handset.
The scientists who conducted the research say using a mobile for just an hour every working day during that period is enough to increase the risk – and that the international standard used to protect users from the radiation emitted is “not safe” and “needs to be revised”.
They conclude that “caution is needed in the use of mobile phones” and believe children, who are especially vulnerable, should be discouraged from using them at all.
The study, published in the latest issue of the peer-reviewed journal Occupational Environmental Medicine, is important because it pulls together research on people who have used the phones for long enough to contract the disease.
Cancers take at least 10 years – and normally much longer – to develop but, as mobile phones have spread so recently and rapidly, relatively few people have been using them that long.
Official assurances that the phones are safe have been based on research that has, at best, included only a few people who have been exposed to the radiation for long enough to get the disease, and are therefore of little or no value in assessing the real risk.
Last month, Britain’s largest investigation into the health risks of the technology, the £8.8m Mobile Telecommunications and Health Research (MTHR) programme – funded by “government and industry sources” – reported that “mobile phones have not been found to be associated with any biological or adverse health effects”.
But its chairman, Professor Lawrie Challis, admitted that only a small proportion of the research had covered people who had used the phones for more than a decade. He warned: “We cannot rule out the possibility at this stage that cancer could appear in a few years’ time.”
He said the investigation had discovered “a very slight hint” of increased numbers of brain tumours among those exposed for more than 10 years, and called for more research.
The new study – headed by two Swedes, Professor Lennart Hardell of the University Hospital in Orebro and Professor Kjell Hansson Mild of Umea University, who also serves on the MTHR programme’s management committee – goes some way to meeting the deficiency.
The scientists pulled together the results of the 11 studies that have so far investigated the occurrence of tumours in people who have used phones for more than a decade, drawing on research in Sweden, Denmark Finland, Japan, Germany, the United States and Britain. They found almost all had discovered an increased risk, especially on the side of the head where people listened to their handsets.
Five of the six studies of malignant gliomas, cancers of the glial cells that support and protect the nerve cells, found an increased risk. The only one that did not still found an increase in benign gliomas. Four of the five studies that looked at acoustic neuromas – benign but often disabling tumours on the auditory nerve, which usually cause deafness – found them. The exception was based on only two cases of the disease, but still found that long-term users had larger tumours than other people.
The scientists assembled the findings of all the studies to analyse them collectively. This revealed that people who have used their phones for a decade or more are 20 per cent more likely to contract acoustic neuromas, and 30 per cent more likely to get malignant gliomas.
The risk is even greater on the side of the head the handset is used: long-term users were twice as likely to get the gliomas, and two and a half times more likely to get the acoustic neuromas there than other people.
The scientists conclude: “Results from present studies on use of mobile phones for more than 10 years give a consistent pattern of an increased risk for acoustic neuroma and glioma.” They add that “an increased risk for other types of brain tumours cannot be ruled out”.
Professors Hardell and Mild have also themselves carried out some of the most extensive original work into tumours among long-term mobile phone users and have come up with even more alarming results. Their research suggests they are more than three times more likely to get malignant gliomas than other people, and nearly five times more likely to get them on the side of the head where they held the phone. For acoustic neuromas they found a threefold and three-and-a-half-fold increased risk respectively.
They have also carried out the only study into the effects of the long-term use of cordless phones, and found this also increased both kinds of tumours. Their research suggests that using a mobile or cordless phone for just 2,000 hours – less than an hour every working day for 10 years – is enough to augment the risk.
Professor Mild told The Independent on Sunday: “I find it quite strange to see so many official presentations saying that there is no risk. There are strong indications that something happens after 10 years.” He stressed that brain cancers are rare: they account for less than 2 per cent of primary tumours in Britain, though they are disproportionately deadly, causing 7 per cent of the years of life lost to the disease. “Every cancer is one too many,” he said.
He said he uses a mobile phone as little as possible, and urges others to use hands-free equipment and make only short calls, reserving longer ones for landlines. He also said that mobiles should not be given to children, whose thinner skulls and developing nervous systems make them particularly vulnerable.
The danger may be even greater than the new study suggests for, as Professor Mild says, 10 years is the “minimum” period needed by cancers to develop. As they normally take much longer, very many more would be likely to strike long-term users after 15, 20 or 30 years – which leads some to fear that an epidemic of the disease could develop in the coming decades, particularly among today’s young people.
On the other hand, the professor points out that the amount of radiation emitted by phones has decreased greatly since the first ones came on the market more than a decade ago, which suggests that exposures and risks should also be falling. But he still recommended choosing phones that give out as little radiation as possible (see below), and pointed out that people are now also exposed to many other sources of radiation, such as masts and Wi-Fi systems, though these emit much less than mobile handsets.
Britain’s official Health Protection Agency – which has taken a cautious view of claims that radiation from mobile phones, their masts and Wi-Fi installations can damage health – admits that the study “may be indicative” of a risk, but says that “such analyses cannot be conclusive”.
The Mobile Operators Association said: “This is not new data for the World Health Organisation and the many independent expert scientific committees who state that there are no established health risks from using mobile phones that comply with international guidelines.”
Both sides agree that there is need for more research. Professor Mild said a possible link between mobile phones and Alzheimer’s disease should also be examined, since “we have indications that it might be a problem” as well as a possible link with Parkinson’s disease, “which can’t be ruled out”.
In the meantime, the scientists want a revision of the emission standard for mobiles and other sources of radiation, which they describe as “inappropriate” and “not safe”. The international standard is designed merely to prevent harmful heating of living tissue or induced electrical currents in the body – and does not take the risk of getting cancer into account.
Professors Hansen and Mild serve on the international BioInitiative Working Group of leading scientists and public health experts, which this summer produced a report warning that the standard was “thousands of times too lenient”.
The BioInitiative report added: “It has been established beyond reasonable doubt that some adverse health effects occur at far lower levels of exposure… some at several thousand times below the existing safety limits.” It also warned that unless this is corrected there could be “public health problems of a global nature”.
Case study: ‘Mobiles are the smoking of the 21st century; they need health warnings’
Neil Whitfield, a 49-year-old father of six, developed an acoustic neuroma in 2001 after years of heavy mobile phone use, on the left side of the head, to which he had held his handset. He says he had no family history of the disease and that when he asked a specialist what had caused it, the doctor had asked him if he used a mobile.
“I was on it four hours a day, easily” he says. “When I held it to my head, I could feel my ear getting warm.”
He adds that he completely lost his hearing in his left ear and was off work for 12 months. Unable to go back to his old job in marketing, he became a teacher, suffering a £20,000 drop in income.
“It has had a devastating effect on my family,” he says. “Mobile phones are the smoking of the 21st century; they should have health warnings on them. You would never buy a child a pack of cigarettes, but we give them mobiles which could cause them harm.”
Warning: your model might be dangerous
Exposure to radiation, shown as Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) levels, varies widely in different models. Manufacturers and the Government have ignored the Stewart report that urges they be clearly marked on phones and boxes. They are thus hard to find, though the Carphone Warehouse catalogue includes them. An easily accessible list of phones and radiation exposures is published in Germany, where low-radiation models, defined as having SAR of 0.6 or under, are encouraged
Des exercices militaires de grande envergure seront incessamment réalisés sous le commandement des États-Unis
Des exercices militaires de grande envergure seront incessamment réalisés sous le commandement des États-Unis
Par Dany Quirion pour Alter Info
Différentes sources en dehors des médias traditionnels nous informent, preuves à l’appui, que des exercices militaires d’envergure seront réalisées au-dessus de l’ensemble du plateau continental de l’Amérique du Nord et au nord de l’Océan Pacifique du 15 au 20 octobre 2007. Ces exercices seront réalisés avec l’étroite collaboration du Canada, de la Grande-Bretagne et de l’Australie.
See also : Dangerous-crossroads-us-sponsored-war-games
Ces exercices militaires seront précédés par un autre ensemble d’exercices organisés par le Japon. Selon un communiqué émis par le gouvernement de Tokyo, le Japon accueillera du 13 au 15 octobre prochain une coalition multinationale comprenant l’Australie, la France, la Nouvelle-Zélande, le Singapour, le Royaume-Uni et les États-Unis dans le secteur oriental de mer d’Izu Oshima ainsi qu’aux ports de Yokosuka et de Yokohama.
Les exercices qui se dérouleront au Japon ont pour but de prévenir et d’empêcher une attaque avec des armes de destruction massive.
Les exercices qui se dérouleront les jours suivants aux États-Unis et sur l’ensemble de l’Amérique du Nord, de même qu’au nord de l’océan Pacifique en se prolongeant à l’ouest vers les frontières extrême-orientales de la Russie et de la Chine, ont pour but de préparer les différents intervenants civils, militaires et gouvernementaux à un éventuel « désastre terroriste ou naturel » aux États-Unis.
Dans le cadre des exercices qui seront réalisés en Amérique du Nord, il apparaît pertinent de souligner que le professeur canadien Michel Chossudovsky souligne que « …le déploiement à grande échelle de l’US Air Force ressemble plus à un scénario en temps de guerre aérienne qu’à un exercice anti-terroriste… »
Par ailleurs, tout en soulignant que « ces exercices militaires seront réalisés à un moment historique capital, c’est-à-dire au beau milieu des pressions et des menaces sans cesses croissantes des États-Unis visant à déclarer réellement une « vraie guerre » contre l’Iran, » le professeur Chossudovsky souligne l’importante concomitance entre l’annonce du 18 septembre 2007 de la tenue de ces exercices militaires anti-terroristes et de l’annonce de l’administration Bush rapportée par le Telegraph le 16 septembre 2007 à l’effet qu’une action militaire contre l’Iran est envisagée aux niveaux les plus élevés du gouvernement et de l’armée des États-Unis.
Enfin, le professeur Chossudovsky rappelle qu’un document confidentiel dévoilé par des officiers du Pentagone stipulent que : « Une autre attaque [un second 11 septembre] pourrait créer une justification et l’occasion qui manque aujourd’hui pour exercer des représailles contre des cibles connues [l'Iran et la Syrie]… » (Le Washington Post du 23 avril 2006).
Sources :
Chossudovsky (anglais) : http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=6997
Nazemroaya (anglais) : http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=6992
Le communiqué (anglais) de Tokyo: http://www.mofa.go.jp/announce/event/2007/9/1175444_856.html
Le communiqué (anglais) de l’armée US relatif aux exercices militaires du 15 au 20 octobre prochain : http://mt-milcom.blogspot.com/2007/09/exercise-vigilant-shield-08-slated-for.html
L’article (anglais) du journal Telegraph a l’effet que l’administration Bush est en route pour faire la guerre contre l’Iran : http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/09/16/wiran116.xml
Vague d’attentats en Europe : Pour impliquer la France dans la guerre en Iran, Sarkosy doit organiser des attentats
Vague d’attentats en Europe : Pour impliquer la France dans la guerre en Iran, Sarkosy doit organiser des attentats
NDLR:
Selon les informations que nous vous donnions trois semaines auparavant, Sarkosy et la France-Yisrael sont sur le point de declencher la plus grande vague d’attentats qu’ait jamais connu l’Europe, pour impliquer plus massivement l’Europe dans la guerre en Asie du Sud-Est.
Nous vous informions que les vehicules etaient des voitures de luxes offertes par des richissimes libanais travaillant pour la CIA et le mossad en Allemagne, dans l’Europe de l’Est, en France. Plusieurs reseaux de voitures de luxes volees sont impliques, ces voitures transit par les ports du sud de la France vers le Moyen Orient et l’Afrique, ce sont de tres gros reseaux qui beneficient de la collaboration de la police et des services, tres bien arroses par le systeme. Comme nous vous le disions aussi, le GSPC de Nicolas Sarkosy et du general de la DST Tewfik serait accuse. Nous confirmons que des grandes villes seront ciblees en Europe, la menace concerne la France, et l’Allemagne principalement, le MI5 s’etant fait prendre la main dans le sac le mois de juin dernier… LE GSPC a ete armee par la France, au travers de Sarkosy et Alliot Marie depuis fin 2005, par l’intermediaire de marchand d’armes maliens et tchadiens proches de Idriss Debi. Des armes ont transite depuis le Tchad vers le sud de l’Algerie, la Mauritanie, le Mali, le Niger a egalement vu des groupes controles par le mossad, armes jusqu’au dents. La Libye fournit maintenant le mossad et la CIA en camps d’entrainement et mercenaires venus de toute part.Tout attentat commis en Europe sera le fait des reseaux sionistes atlantistes. Les reseaux clandestins de l’OTAN dans le sud de la France servent de logistiques aux services franco-israeliens, la meme chose pour l’Allemagne. Une fois encore les services de la France-Yisrael sont humilies en public, n’est ce pas Abu Sarksuzy al AZFI ? Sarkosy, t’as pas fait que rater Bouteflika.Quant a l’article publie ci-dessous, il est a mourrir de rire, mais bon 50,7% a vote pour un le pantin, il ne faut donc pas s’etonner du niveau !
A bon entendeur…
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La CIA craint qu’Al-Qaida prépare des attentats en Europe
Les services de renseignement américains ont transmis à leurs homologues européens des informations alarmantes. D’après l’Agence centrale de renseignement (CIA) américaine, “des opérationnels d’Al-Qaida basés en Europe et aux Etats-Unis” auraient le projet de commettre “des attaques-suicides ou des attentats à l’explosif” contre des cibles à Londres et dans des villes en Allemagne, en Italie et en France. Des attentats, selon la CIA, pourraient avoir lieu en octobre en Europe et aux Etats-Unis.
En France, les égouts de Paris seraient visés. Les services américains ont intercepté, le 11septembre, un courrier électronique adressé à un dénommé Salah Gasmi, présenté comme “le chef du comité médiatique” d’Al-Qaida au Maghreb islamique, l’ex-Groupe salafiste pour la prédication et le combat (GSPC) dirigé par Abdelmalek Droudkel.
Ce courriel, rédigé en anglais par un auteur inconnu, suggère la mise en œuvre d’un attentat contre les égouts de Paris dans le but de provoquer le chaos dans la ville. Les services français restent circonspects sur la probabilité d’un tel acte, déjà évoqué dans le passé et dont l’éventualité avait fait l’objet d’un reportage sur la chaîne de télévision arabe Al-Jazira.
De telles menaces sont fréquentes, et la CIA répercute toute information lui parvenant, indique-t-on du côté des services de renseignement français. A l’automne 2006, ce type de menace imprécise avait mobilisé les services français, en vain.
Toutefois cette menace doit “être prise au sérieux”, selon une note confidentielle de l’Unité de coordination de la lutte antiterroriste (UCLAT), en raison des déclarations récentes du numéro deux d’Al-Qaida, Ayman Al-Zawahiri, appelant l’ex-GSPC à frapper la France et les intérêts français au Maghreb. www.lemonde.fr
http://islamic-intelligence.blogspot.com/2007/10/vague-dattentats-en-europe-pour.html
Gordon Brown “n’exclut rien” dans le dossier du nucléaire iranien
Le Premier ministre britannique Gordon Brown a déclaré lundi qu’il “n’exclu(t) rien” dans le dossier du nucléaire iranien.
Lors de sa conférence de presse mensuelle au 10, Downing Street, le chef du gouvernement a dit “croire que cette question peut être résolue par des moyens diplomatiques, par les résolutions qui ont été adoptées par les Nations unies, par des sanctions si nécessaire”.
Mais il s’est refusé à reprendre à son compte une déclaration de l’actuel ministre de la Justice Jack Straw qui, lorsqu’il était à la tête de la diplomatie britannique, avait jugé “inconcevable” une action militaire contre Téhéran.
“Ce que je peux dire c’est que nous prenons très sérieusement ce que l’Iran propose, que nous sommes prêts à utiliser les méthodes que nous avons utilisées en diplomatie et les sanctions pour traiter ce problème et que je n’exclus rien”, a expliqué le chef du gouvernement.
Par ailleurs, Gordon Brown a mis en garde Téhéran à propos de l’Irak. “Ils ne doivent pas intervenir en Irak d’une façon qui génère des violences supplémentaires, soutient le terrorisme et cause des pertes humaines dans une jeune démocratie qui tente d’avancer”.
Il a averti l’Iran que “l’ingérence dans les affaires d’un autre pays, comme ils l’ont fait, sans aucun soutien des Nations unies ou d’autres organisations internationales est inacceptable”.
Tous ça pour dire qu’il est aux ordres et qu’il fera ce qu’on lui dira comme un bon toutou. N’est-il pas drôle lorsque il parle d”ingérence”, alors que le Royaume Unie est le premier pays génocidaires des Indiens, aujoud’hui des afghans et Irakiens, demain d’iraniens.
Quelle hypocrise !!
Britain to back U.S. air strikes on Iran
So the plan is for U.S. to launch limited air and special forces raids against Revolutionary Guard, and if the Iranians defend by hitting the UK forces which Bush has stationed along the border, Gordon Brown has agreed to support U.S. air strikes against Iran.
This gives the term “SUCKS” an entirely new meaning.
www.chinaview.cn
LONDON, Oct. 7 (Xinhua) — British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has agreed to support U.S. air strikes against Iran if the Islamic country orchestrates large-scale attacks by militants against British or American forces in Iraq, a British newspaper said on Sunday.
According to The Sunday Telegraph, Brown has been informed of U.S. plans to launch limited air and special forces raids against Revolutionary Guard bases, senior Pentagon officials was quoted as saying.
After talks with U.S. President George W. Bush during his visit in July, Brown indicated that Britain was “on board” for a military response — but only if Iran was proved to be behind a big militant attack or another stunt similar to the kidnapping of British sailors in March, said the report.
According to the report, the U.S. wanted Britain’s Special Air Service Regiment to take part in special forces raids inside Iran and had requested help from the Royal Navy to combat Iranian retaliation in the Gulf. But no decisions have been made.
Brown made clear to Bush that he would not support a campaign to destroy Iran’s nuclear program and bring about regime change in Tehran. But Pentagon officials said he did indicate he would be prepared to back strikes in certain circumstances.
“The British understand there’s a possible need to strike — not strategic bombing of nuclear sites but facilities in Iran in support of Iraqi elements. This understanding was reached shortly after Brown took office.” said Vincent Cannistraro, a former White House intelligence chief in close contact with senior Pentagon officials.
A Downing Street spokesman said, “While we won’t comment on the specifics of conversations between the Prime Minister and the President of the United States, this is not a version of events we recognize.”
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-10/07/content_6841271.htm
Clips from http://espresso.repubblica.it/dettaglio/Operazione-sciame-di-fuoco/1796788
The idea that Iran intends upon developing a nuclear bomb and to destroy Israel is by now widely recognized by everyone (with an agenda to destroy Iran).
What’s missing are confirmations and evidence beyond poor empty boasting, but in the past we have witnessed terroristic boasting that has at any rate, come about and nobody is willing to run the risk of underestimating it, not even for truth’s sake.
An Iranian or Iranian-supported attack against the American forces in Iraq, this too without a scrap of proof, has started to persuade even the most sceptical people.
Sooner or later, after much speaking about it and evoking it, it will be taken as an invitation or a challenge and it will really be carried out.
The (alleged) support Iran gives to Hamas and Hezbollah makes Teheran extremely vulnerable. An excess or mistake by one of these formations is sufficient to set off an immediate military intervention.
Whatever the kind of attack it may be, it will produce heavy military and civil casualties regardless of whether or not a nuclear emergency fall-out or a radiation leak is triggered.
Any kind of attack must have as its premise the destruction of defence structures: air and missile bases, deposits, mobile ramps, military ports, naval units, radars and anti-aircraft artilleries, land and armoured units, communication and command eadquarters will have to be eliminated before or during the attack against the nuclear installations.
Many of these structures are located near the most densely populated areas. Even taking into account the most sophisticated cruise missiles (alleged), the (alleged) intelligent bombs directed against the targets by the Israeli and American commandos,
who have already been operative for some time in Iran, a quite high margin of collateral effects remains.
Were mini nuclear fission bombs or neutron bombs to be used instead of the conventional “bunker busting” bombs, the damage percentage might (will) rise.
The military strategy of the attack against Iran can’t therefore be entrusted to a surgical attack or to one single component. It can be nothing but that of “Swarm Warfare”.
This strategy must use, naval, air, missile, space. To achieve all this, it’s necessary that the “swarm” of the various components and actions, which develop by focusing on one place and then by spreading to other directions and places, be are at least sufficient enough in order to prevent any sort of reaction.
The military actions have to be aimed at creating a humanitarian emergency that allows the international organizations to intervene in Iranian territory. Obviously, the responsibility for the catastrophe must be pinned on the Iranians themselves.
Even in this respect, everything is ready or practically ready, not least after Kouchner’s exhortation.
International agencies and NGOs are already looking forward to going to Iran to set women free from their chadors.
http://espresso.repubblica.it/dettaglio/Operazione-sciame-di-fuoco/1796788
Inside France’s secret war
Africa » Africa: Sub-Saharan
Inside France’s secret war
Johann Hari | Birao, Central African Republic | Oct 7
The Independent – For 40 years, the French government has been fighting a secret war in Africa, hidden not only from its people, but from the world. It has led the French to slaughter democrats, install dictator after dictator – and to fund and fuel the most vicious genocide since the Nazis. Today, this war is so violent that thousands are fleeing across the border from the Central African Republic into Darfur – seeking sanctuary in the world’s most notorious killing fields
I first heard whispers of this war in March, when newspapers reported in passing that the French military was bombing the remote city of Birao, in the far north-east of the CAR. Why were French soldiers fighting there, thousands of miles from home? Why had they been intervening in Central Africa this way for so many decades? I could find no answers here – so I decided to travel there, into the belly of France’s forgotten war. more after the jump
On the battlefield – Birao
I am standing now on its latest battlefield, looking out over abandoned mud streets streaked with ash. The city of Birao is empty and echoing, for the first time in 200 years. All around are miles of burned and abandoned homes, with the odd starved child scampering through the wreckage. What were all these buildings? On one faded green sign it says Ministry of Justice, on a structure reduced to a charcoal husk. In the market square, the people who have returned are selling a few scarce supplies – rice and manioc, the local yeasty staple food – and talking quietly. At the edges of the town, there are African soldiers armed and trained by the French, lolling behind sandbags, with machine guns jutting nervously at passers-by. They are singing weary nationalist anthems and dreaming of home.
To get here, you have to travel for eight hours on a weekly UN flight that carries eight passengers at most, and then ride on the back of a rusting flat-top truck for an hour along ravaged and broken roads. It is hard to know when you have arrived, because you are greeted only by emptiness and silence. What has happened here? Sitting amid the mud and dust and sorrow, I find Mahmoud, one of the 10 per cent of Birao’s residents who have returned to the rubble.
He is a thin-faced 45-year-old farmer, and explains, in a low, slow voice, how his home town came to this. “I woke up for morning prayers on 4 March and there was gunfire everywhere. We were very frightened so we stayed in the house and hoped it would stop. But then in the early afternoon my brother’s children came running to our house, screaming and crying. They told us the Forcés Armées Centrafricanes Faca – the army trained and equipped by the French, on behalf of their friendly neighbourhood strongman, President François Bozize had gone into their house. They wouldn’t calm down and explain. So I ran there, and I saw my brother on the floor outside, dead. His wife explained they had forced their way in and rounded him up, along with three men who lived nearby. They took them out on to the street and shot them one by one in the head.”
Mahmoud’s friend, Idris, lived nearby, and feared he, too, would be shot. He says now: “We could see the villages burning and the children were screaming and really scared, so we ran two kilometres out into the jungle. From there we could see our whole city on fire. We fled along the river and stayed out there. We ate fish, but there weren’t many. Some days we couldn’t catch anything and we starved. The children were so terrified. Still, when they hear a loud noise, they think there are guns coming and they start shaking.” Idris looks off into the distance and continues: “On the fourth day, we saw the French planes come. They each had six rockets that they fired. The explosions were loud. We don’t know what they were targeting, or why. Then the French soldiers arrived.” A military truck filled with French soldiers rumbles by not long after, its tanned troops wearing designer sunglasses and a “why am I here?” anxiety.
As Mahmoud and Idris talk it gets dark, and a suffocating blackness and silence falls on the city. There is no electricity and no moonlight. They explain in this blackness that the French-backed troops began firing and the French military began bombing in March for one reason: the desperate locals had begun to rise up against President Bozize, because he had done nothing for them. People here were tired of the fact that “there are no schools, no hospitals, and no roads”. “We are completely isolated,” they explain. “When it rains, we are cut off from the world because the roads turn to mud. We have nothing. All the rebels were asking was for government help.” As I stumble around Birao, I hear this every time: the rebels were simply begging for government help for the hungry, abandoned people. Even the bemused French soldiers and the Bozize lackeys sent to the area admit this privately. Yet the French response was with bombs against the rebels’ pick-up points. Why? What is there here that they want?
I look out towards the jungle and realise many of Birao’s residents are still hiding out there, risking the wild beasts. In the similarly burned-out areas in the north-west, I drive out into the jungle with Unicef and find these clusters of starving families scattered everywhere. In one cleared patch, I find a group of four men with their wives and mothers, clearing an area of ground with their bare hands where they will try to plant peanuts. They are living in handmade huts and set traps to catch mice to eat. Ariette Nulguhom is cradling her eight-month-old grandson with his distended little belly and praying he will survive another night. She tells me: “He’s been sick for a long time. We tried to get him to a nurse but there aren’t any. We think it is malaria but there is no medicine here. We don’t know what will happen… We are all weak and feverish. We’re exhausted because we work all day, every day. I have not eaten for days now.” When they left behind their houses, they left behind access to clean water, electricity, and medicine. When the Faca burned those homes, they burned away the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries for these families, too.
This is a forgotten corner of a forgotten country. Birao lies and dies in the far north-east of the Central African Republic. CAR itself has a population of just 3.8 million, spread across a territory bigger than Britain’s, landlocked at the exact geographical heart of Africa. It is the least-reported country on earth. Even the fact that 212,000 people have been driven out of their homes in this war doesn’t register on the global radar. In Birao, I realise I am too close to the immediate horror to find the deeper explanations for this war. I only begin to uncover the origins of this story when I stumble across a very rare find in the CAR – an old man.
http://agonist.org/20071007/inside_frances_secret_war
US Army cordons off al-Doura in preparation for massive attack
US Army cordons off al-Doura in preparation for massive attack
By Mohammad Al-Ghazzi BAGHDAD,
Oct 7 (KUNA) —
US troops on Sunday cordoned off various neighborhoods in the area of al-Doura southern Baghdad, in preparation for launching a military operation against militias using the area as a barricade.
The troops, and via megaphones, urged residents to evacuate the area before the Army conducts the storming operation, which will also witness aerial attacks, according to a source at the multinational force in Iraq.
Residents who fled the area to nearby ones told Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) that US army patrols allowed only women and 13-year-old children or younger to leave the area, where men were ordered to stay in position for searching.
Sources at the multinational force in Iraq told KUNA that the operation aimed at attacking a group of armed men, who were accused of launching a missile attack yesterday on al-Saqer military base.
Meanwhile, Iraqi police said this morning that nine civilians lost their lives and four others were injured due to two explosive devices’ explosions east and south of Baghdad.
Spokesman of Baghdad Law Enforcement Plan General Qassim Atta said last Monday the militants incurred heavy losses as result of joint security force operations. He told KUNA that replacing national police forces with army personnel was a “procedural arrangement” so that all forces have the chance to regroup.
http://www.kuna.net.kw/NewsAgenciesPublicSite/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=1846482&Language=en
The Century Of The Self – By Adam Curtis
The Century of the Self
The Untold History of Controlling the Masses Through the Manipulation of Unconscious Desires
“The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country.We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of. This is a logical result of the way in which our democratic society is organized.” – Edward Bernays THE CENTURY OF THE SELF
Adam Curtis’ acclaimed series examines the rise of the all-consuming self against the backdrop of the Freud dynasty.
To many in both politics and business, the triumph of the self is the ultimate expression of democracy, where power has finally moved to the people. Certainly the people may feel they are in charge, but are they really? The Century of the Self tells the untold and sometimes controversial story of the growth of the mass-consumer society in Britain and the United States. How was the all-consuming self created, by whom, and in whose interests?
The Freud dynasty is at the heart of this compelling social history. Sigmund Freud, founder of psychoanalysis; Edward Bernays, who invented public relations; Anna Freud, Sigmund’s devoted daughter; and present-day PR guru and Sigmund’s great grandson, Matthew Freud.
Sigmund Freud’s work into the bubbling and murky world of the subconscious changed the world. By introducing a technique to probe the unconscious mind, Freud provided useful tools for understanding the secret desires of the masses. Unwittingly, his work served as the precursor to a world full of political spin doctors, marketing moguls, and society’s belief that the pursuit of satisfaction and happiness is man’s ultimate goal.
Happiness Machines
Part OneThe story of the relationship between Sigmund Freud and his American nephew, Edward Bernays. Bernays invented the public relations profession in the 1920s and was the first person to take Freud’s ideas to manipulate the masses. He showed American corporations how they could make people want things they didn’t need by systematically linking mass-produced goods to their unconscious desires.
Bernays was one of the main architects of the modern techniques of mass-consumer persuasion, using every trick in the book, from celebrity endorsement and outrageous PR stunts, to eroticising the motorcar.
His most notorious coup was breaking the taboo on women smoking by persuading them that cigarettes were a symbol of independence and freedom. But Bernays was convinced that this was more than just a way of selling consumer goods. It was a new political idea of how to control the masses. By satisfying the inner irrational desires that his uncle had identified, people could be made happy and thus docile.
It was the start of the all-consuming self which has come to dominate today’s world.
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The Engineering of Consent
Part TwoThe programme explores how those in power in post-war America used Freud’s ideas about the unconscious mind to try and control the masses.
Politicians and planners came to believe Freud’s underlying premise – that deep within all human beings were dangerous and irrational desires and fears. They were convinced that it was the unleashing of these instincts that had led to the barbarism of Nazi Germany. To stop it ever happening again they set out to find ways to control this hidden enemy within the human mind.
Sigmund Freud’s daughter, Anna, and his nephew, Edward Bernays, provided the centrepiece philosophy. The US government, big business, and the CIA used their ideas to develop techniques to manage and control the minds of the American people. But this was not a cynical exercise in manipulation. Those in power believed that the only way to make democracy work and create a stable society was to repress the savage barbarism that lurked just under the surface of normal American life.
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There is a Policeman Inside All Our Heads:
He Must Be Destroyed
Part Three
Three: There is a Policeman Inside All Our Heads: He Must Be DestroyedIn the 1960s, a radical group of psychotherapists challenged the influence of Freudian ideas in America. They were inspired by the ideas of Wilhelm Reich, a pupil of Freud’s, who had turned against him and was hated by the Freud family. He believed that the inner self did not need to be repressed and controlled. It should be encouraged to express itself.
Out of this came a political movement that sought to create new beings free of the psychological conformity that had been implanted in people’s minds by business and politics.
This programme shows how this rapidly developed in America through self-help movements like Werber Erhard’s Erhard Seminar Training – into the irresistible rise of the expressive self: the Me Generation.
But the American corporations soon realised that this new self was not a threat but their greatest opportunity. It was in their interest to encourage people to feel they were unique individuals and then sell them ways to express that individuality. To do this they turned to techniques developed by Freudian psychoanalysts to read the inner desires of the new self.
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Eight People Sipping Wine in Kettering
Part Four
This episode explains how politicians on the left, in both Britain and America, turned to the techniques developed by business to read and fulfil the inner desires of the self.Both New Labour, under Tony Blair, and the Democrats, led by Bill Clinton, used the focus group, which had been invented by psychoanalysts, in order to regain power. They set out to mould their policies to people’s inner desires and feelings, just as capitalism had learnt to do with products. Out of this grew a new culture of public relations and marketing in politics, business and journalism. One of its stars in Britain was Matthew Freud who followed in the footsteps of his relation, Edward Bernays, the inventor of public relations in the 1920s.
The politicians believed they were creating a new and better form of democracy, one that truly responded to the inner feelings of individual. But what they didn’t realise was that the aim of those who had originally created these techniques had not been to liberate the people but to develop a new way of controlling them.
Les effets indésirables du Gardasil se dénombrent par milliers
Les effets indésirables du Gardasil se dénombrent par milliers
WND, le 6 octobre 2007
Selon les documents publiés par Judicial Watch, encore huit décès durant seulement les quelques derniers mois ont été reliés au Gardasil, le vaccin de Merck & Co qui cible le papillomavirus humain (HPV) sexuellement transmissible et que de nombreux États [des USA] envisagent de rendre obligatoire pour toutes les écolières.
Il y a aussi eu encore 1.824 réactions indésirables au médicament, ce qui porte le nombre total des problèmes connus à 3.461, selon le groupe d’intérêt public qui enquête et poursuit la corruption gouvernementale.
” À la lumière de ces informations, il est inquiétant de constater que l’État et les gouvernements locaux puissent autoriser d’une façon ou d’une autre ce vaccin pour les jeunes filles, ” a déclaré Tom Fitton, le président du groupe. ” Ces rapports de réactions indésirables suggèrent non seulement que le vaccin provoque de graves effets secondaires, mais pourrait même être fatal. “
WND a rapporté précédemment comment Merck avait fait pression sur les législateurs de l’État pour qu’ils exigent la vaccination, mais ils ont renoncé après que ces activités aient été dévoilées.
WND a aussi signalé qu’un chercheur clé sur le papillomavirus humain, la cible du Gardasil, a signalé qu’il avait besoin de davantage de tests, et comment même les Centres de Contrôle des Maladies ont suggéré que le vaccin ne devrait pas être obligatoire.
La controverse était à l’origine dans le projet de l’État et les autres exigences du gouvernement de vacciner les écolières contre une infection transmise uniquement par contact sexuel.
La cible de ce vaccin est le cancer du col de l’utérus, car les études montrent que celles qui ont le HPV ont une plus grande chance de développer plus tard un cancer du col de l’utérus. Toutefois, les opposants notent que ce genre de cancer se développe le plus souvent chez les femmes plus âgées, alors que le plan exige que les jeunes filles dès l’âge de 11 ou 12 ans soient vaccinées. Ils citent le manque de preuves que le vaccin puisse avoir un impact plus tard dans la vie.
Judicial Watch dit qu’il a obtenu des documents de la US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), sous la Freedom of Information Act, qui détaillent 1.824 nouveaux cas.
Ces cas ne comportent pas moins de huit décès liés au vaccin, en sus des trois signalés parmi les 1.637 effets indésirables rapportés plus tôt.
Parmi les nouvelles informations de Judicial Watch:
L’information a été reçue … concernant une jeune femme de 17 ans qui, en juin 2007 … a été vaccinée avec une première dose de Gardasil … Au cours de la soirée du même jour, la patiente a été retrouvée inconsciente (sans vie) par sa mère. La réanimation a été effectuée par le médecin d’urgence, mais en vain. La patiente est décédé par la suite (sic).
L’information a été reçue … concernant une fillette de 12 ans avec un passé d’insuffisance de l’aorte et de la valve mitrale … qui a été vaccinée le 1er mars 2007 au bras gauche par la médecine interne avec une première dose de Gardasil … Le 1er mars 2007, la patiente a été présentée au service des urgences avec une tachycardie ventriculaire et est décédée.
Les informations originales et les suivantes ont été reçues d’un médecin. Elles concernent une fillette en bonne santé de 13 ans qui a été vaccinée avec la première doses et la deuxième de Gardasil. Ultérieurement, la patiente a eu … une paralysie en bas de la poitrine, des lésions du nerf optique … À l’époque de ce rapport, la patiente n’avait pas récupéré.
Le flot de réactions indésirables signalées durant l’année 2007 à la FDA par le biais du Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, comprenait 347 réactions graves.
Judicial Watch dit : ” Sur les 77 femmes ayant reçu le vaccin durant leur grossesse, 33 ont subi des effets indésirables allant de l’avortement spontané à des anomalies fœtales. D’autres effets secondaires graves continuent à être signalés, dont, la paralysie, la paralysie faciale périphérique de Bell, le syndrome de Guillain-Barre, et les attaques d’apoplexie, “
Et ces chiffres ne peuvent même pas inclure tous les cas, dit Judicial Watch. Il a été intenté cette semaine une poursuite contre la FDA pour avoir omis de répondre intégralement aux demandes d’informations concernant le vaccin.
Judicial Watch voulait précisément l’accès à la correspondance concernant le vaccin entre Merck et la FDA, les communications entre la FDA et GlaxoSmithKline, qui travaille sur un vaccin similaire baptisé Cervarix, et les rapports des consommateurs, des professionnels de la santé et les autres problèmes en ce qui concerne le vaccin contre le HPV.
Lorsque les problèmes ont surgi de l’enquête de l’organisation sur le vaccin contre le HPV, et que les premiers rapports ont commencé à arriver, Fitton les a décrit comme ” un catalogue d’horreurs. “
Un rapport antérieur, N° 275438-1, décrit la réaction comme une thrombose coronaire, une soudaine mort cardiaque. ” La première dose de vaccin de Gardasil a été donnée le 12 mars 2007. Effondrée et morte le 26 mars 2007… L’échocardiogramme indiquait que le ventricule droit était très agrandi, le petit ventricule gauche de même avec de grands caillots de sang dans l’oreillette droite et le ventricule droit. “
Un autre rapport notait que la femme a été vaccinés et ” est morte d’un caillot sanguin 8 heures après avoir reçu le vaccin Gardasil. “
Des officiels avec Abstinence Clearinghouse ont noté dans une monographie que des groupes incluant la Texas Medical Association, l’American Academy of Pediatrics, l’Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, et l’American Academy of Environmental Medicine se mettent publiquement en grève contre la vaccination obligatoire.
Le groupe a déclaré : ” Le raisonnement de ces associations médicales est clair. Ils ne sont pas opposés aux progrès de la médecine, et soutiennent certainement tous les efforts visant à lutter contre les maladies mortelles. Le problème, tel que le voient ces organisations, réside dans le fait que le médicament a subi seulement trois ans et demi de tests, laissant la communauté médicale quelque peu dans le noir quant aux effets indésirables graves pouvant résulter à long terme. “
” Avec le potentiel d’effets indésirables graves il y a la question de l’efficacité. Il est évident qu’après environ quatre ans l’efficacité du vaccin diminue de façon importante. La valeur à long terme de ce vaccin n’a pas encore été déterminée. Si elle disparaît dans les six ans, les filles et les femmes ont besoin de répéter la batterie d’injections qu’elles ont reçu à l’origine ? ” Demande l’organisation.
Le Michigan a été le premier État à introduire un plan pour demander que le vaccin soit donné aux jeunes filles, mais la proposition a échoué. L’Ohio a aussi envisagé un plan qui a échoué en 2006.
Puis, en 2007, après l’agressive campagne de lobbying de Merck et la contributions de Women in Government, les législateurs d’au moins 39 États et de Colombia District ont travaillé sur le parrainage de ce genre de plans.
Original : http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=58004
Traduction de Pétrus Lombard pour Alter Info
Dimanche 07 Octobre 2007
WND
Dangerous Crossroads: US Sponsored War Games
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Dangerous Crossroads: US Sponsored War Games by Prof. Michel Chossudovsky |
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Global Research, October 6, 2007 |
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US Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) has announced the conduct of major war games under Vigilant Shield 2008 (VS-08).
Vigilant Shield 2008 :
(15 to 20 October, 2007) is designed to deal with a “terrorist” or “natural disaster” scenario in the United States.
The operation will be coordinated in a joint endeavor by the Pentagon and the Department of Homeland Security.
Yet, VS-08, which includes a massive deployment of the US Air Force resembles a war-time air scenario rather than an anti-terrorist drill. The VS-08 war games extend over the entire North American shelf. Canadian territory is also involved through Canada’s participation in NORAD. (See Nazemroaya, October 2007)
These war games are being conducted at an important historical crossroads, amidst mounting US pressures and threats to actually declare a “real war” on Iran.
VS-08 is predicated on the doctrine of preemptive warfare, with a vie to protecting the Homeland. The war games are coordinated with anti-terrorist drills directed against presumed Islamic terrorists.
Moreover, the announcement by NORTHCOM of the VS-08 war games-anti-terror drills coincided with a declaration by the Bush administration in early September that military action against Iran is being contemplated at the highest echelons of the US government and Military:
“President George W Bush and his inner circle are taking steps to place America on the path to war with Iran, .. Pentagon planners have developed a list of up to 2,000 bombing targets in Iran, … Pentagon and CIA officers say they believe that the White House has begun a carefully calibrated programme of escalation that could lead to a military showdown with Iran. (Quoted in The Sunday Telegraph, 16 September 2007).
VS-08 is a large scale military exercise to be conducted over North America and the Northern Pacific Ocean, extending westwards towards the Far East borders of Russia and China:
“USNORTHCOM’s primary exercise venues for VS-08 include locations in Oregon, Arizona and a cooperative venue with USPACOM in the Territory of Guam. NORAD’s aerospace detection and defense events will take place across all the exercise venues, to exercise the ability to mobilize resources for aerospace defense, aerospace control, maritime warning, and coordination of air operations in a disaster area.” (PNC, October 2007)
Both the war games under VS-08 as well as the domestic antiterrorist drills involve the participation of Canada, Britain and Australia:
“VS-08 and National Level Exercise 1-08 will provide local, state, tribal, interagency, Department of Defense, and non-governmental organizations and agencies involved in homeland security and homeland defense the opportunity to participate in a full range of exercise scenarios that will better prepare participants to prevent and respond to national crises. The participating organizations will conduct a multi-layered, civilian-led response to a national crisis.”( See NORTHCOM Fact Sheet).
Pacific Shield 2007
Vigilant Shield 2008 will be preceded by another set of exercises organized by Japan. The Tokyo government will host a multinational Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) Maritime Interdiction Exercise “Pacific Shield 07”(PS-07) in the eastern sea area off Izu Oshima, and at the Ports of Yokosuka and Yokohama (13-15 October, (See the Japanese government communique). The stated objective of the PS 07 exercises is to “prevent the spread of weapons of mass destruction (WMD)”. Australia, France, New Zealand, Singapore, the UK, and the US will be participating in ‘Pacific Shield 07′.
“Linked Exercises”
The administration is talking about “linked exercises”, where war scenarios are conducted simultaneously and in close coordination with civilian anti-terrorist drills. This central concept –which underlies the “Global War on Terrorism”– has a direct bearing on the conduct of the US led war in the Middle East. At the same time, the process of “domestic security” has become entrenched and integrated into military planning.
The ‘linked exercises” provide an environment which favors the militarization of civilian institutions. They also impart the military with a further opportunity to interfere in domestic civilian law enforcement and judicial functions.
The conduct of the anti-terrorist exercise is intended to justify the need to retaliate against an illusive outside enemy (Al Qaeda), even if the US is not attacked.
But there are indications that the administration has envisaged from the standpoint of military planning, for several years now, a scenario of a second major terrorist attack on America . According to Pentagon officials referring to a classified military document:
“Another [second 911] attack could create both a justification and an opportunity that is lacking today to retaliate against some known targets [Iran, Syria], according to current and former defense officials familiar with the plan.” (WP 23 April 2006).
The above Pentagon statement suggests that a “Second 911″ attack characterised by a “mass casualty producing event” is part of military doctrine and planning. A real “false flag” attack or even the threat of a terrorist attack could be used as a justification to wage war on Iran.
In the month following the 2005 7/7 London bombings, Vice President Dick Cheney is reported to have instructed USSTRATCOM to draw up a contingency plan “to be employed in response to another 9/11-type terrorist attack on the United States”. Implied in the contingency plan is the certainty that Iran would be behind a Second 9/11.
Targeting Russia and China
VS-8 is based on a scenario of confrontation with Russia and China. The Bush administration has accused Tehran of supporting Islamic terrorism, while also pointing to the fact that Iran in fact has the support of both China and Russia.
While the contents of VS-08 have not been released, last year’s Vigilant Shield exercise (Vigilant Shield 07), which simulated the outbreak of a major war, contemplated four hypothetical enemies: Ruebek (Russia), Churya (China), Irmingham (Iran) and Nemazee (North Korea).
In last year’s briefing documents of the Vigilant Shield 07 war games, the following scenario was contemplated by participants:
”•Nemazee continues to develop nuclear and missile capabilities
• Southwest Asian country of Irmingham intent on uranium enrichment program
• Western countries and United States seeking U.N. assistance to halt Irmingham’s enrichment program
• Eurasian country of Ruebek attempts to mediate Irmingham crisis by offering nuclear oversight while secretly supporting enrichment program
• Asian country of Churya will become concerned at increasing level of Ruebek-U.S. hostility”
(quoted by William Arkin, Washngton Post, October 2006)
The outcome of VS-07 was a limited attack by Ruebek and Nemazee on the United States.
“Minus 1 Day:
• Ruebek Expels US Mission
• Phase 2 / Execution: 10 – 14 Dec 06
– Pre-Attack I & W
– Imminent Terrorist Attack on Pentagon Suggests Pentagon COOP [continuity of operations plan]
– Nemazee Conducts 2 x ICBM Combat Launches Against United States
– Ruebek Conducts Limited Strategic Attack on United States”
TOPOFF 4: Selective Propaganda directed at “Top Officials”
This year’s VS-08 exercise combines the VS-08 hypothetical war scenario over the North American shelf with the conduct of major domestic anti-terrorist drills under TOPOFF 4.
The latter is a large scale anti-terror exercise for “top officials”. It includes the participation of senior decision makers from federal, State and municipal governments, law enforcement, nongovernmental bodies as well as representatives from the business community.
According to Denis Shrader, Deputy DHS Administrator in testimony to the US Congress (October 3):
“The exercise will be executed with the participation of all appropriate Cabinet-level secretaries or their deputies, and will include the activation of all necessary operations centers to accurately simulate a truly national response to these major terrorist incidents. This will include the utilization of all five elements of the National Operations Center and the FEMA Region IX and X Regional Response Coordination Centers. In addition, the FEMA Emergency Response Teams and Federal Incident Response Support Teams as well as DHS Situational Awareness Teams will activate in each of the venues and will simulate the establishment of a Joint Field Office in accordance with the latest National Response Framework guidance.”
This year’s TOPOFF 4 exercises involves setting off fake radiological dispersal devices (RDD) or “dirty bombs” in Oregon, Arizona and the US Pacific island territory of Guam. According to Northern Command:
“The T4 FSE, based on National Planning Scenario – 11 (NPS-11), begins as terrorists, who have been planning attacks in Oregon, Arizona, and the U.S. Territory of Guam successfully bring radioactive material into the United States. The first of three coordinated attacks occurs in Guam, with the simulated detonation of a Radiological Dispersal Device (RDD), or “dirty bomb,” causing casualties and widespread contamination in a populous area. Similar attacks occur in the hours that follow in Portland and Phoenix. A RDD is not the same as a nuclear attack. It is a conventional explosive that, upon detonation, releases radioactive material into the surrounding area. Although it does not cause the type of catastrophic damage associated with a nuclear detonation, there are severe rescue, health, and long-term decontamination concerns associated with a RDD.”
TOPOFF 4 will involve the participation of some 15,000 federal, state, territorial and local officials in what is described as “a full-scale response to a multi-faceted terrorist threat”. Canada, Australia and the UK will participate in TOPOFF. Observers from some 30 countries have also been invited.
“It will ‘accurately simulate a truly national response to these major terrorist incidents’ by emergency response teams, medical units, police forces and top government officials who will have to make difficult decisions to save lives.” (quoted by AFP, 4 October 2007)
TOPOFF is a propaganda operation intended for at top decision makers. The objective is to build a consensus among key decision makers that America is threatened by Islamic terrorists, using an improvised nuclear device.
These terrorists are, according to recent statements, supported by Tehran. The presumption is that the Islamic terrorists, rather than the US, UK or Israel, have the required military capabilities and constitute a real nuclear threat.
These various anti-terrorist scenarios are intended to build a consensus among key top officials in the US and its coalition partners that the terrorist threat is not only real but the terrorists would be attacking America in a “Second 911″ as part of a broader process of military confrontation, in which a number of enemy countries including Ruebek, Churya and Irmingham would be involved.
We are not, however, dealing with a classical media disinformation campaign. While the TOPOFF exercise has been casually mentioned in press reports, it is not the object of extensive media coverage. In fact very few people are aware of these exercises.
With regard to TOPOFF, the consensus building process is “internal”, it does not pertain to the public at large. The disinformation campaing is intended for key decision-makers within these various governmental and nongovernmental bodies. It includes more than 10,000 participants in important decision-making positions (federal and State officials, law enforcement, fire departments, hospitals, etc), who may be called to act in the case of an emergency situation. These individuals in turn have a mandate to impose the “Global War on Terrorism” consensus within their respective organizations, –i.e. with their co-workers and colleagues, as well as with the people working under their direct supervision.
In other words, this consensus building process reaches out to tens of thousands of people in positions of authority. The antiterrorist agenda and exercises thus become a “talking point” within numerous governmental and nongovernmental organizations.
In turn, the holding of these antiterrorist exercises supports the National Security doctrine of “preemptive war”, –i.e. that America has to legitimate right to self defense by intervening in foreign lands including Iran and that America must defend itself against terrorists.
It also sustains the myth of WMD in the hands of terrorists, being used against America, when in fact the US is the largest producer of WMD, with a defense budget of more than 450 billion dollars a year.
The objective is to sustain the war and national security agenda –and of course the possibility of martial law– within the governmental, nongovernmental and corporate business sectors. Ultimately, the objective is develop across the land, an unequivocal acceptance by key officials (and of their coworkers and subordinates), from the federal to the local level, for an emergency situation, where civil liberties and the rights of citizens would be suspended.
