July 20, 2004 | HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH New York — Sudan government documents incontrovertibly show that government officials directed recruitment, arming and other support to the ethnic militias known as the Janjaweed, Human Rights Watch said today. The government of Sudan has consistently denied recruiting and arming the Janjaweed militias, including during the recent visits of U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell and UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. Human Rights Watch said it had obtained confidential documents from the civilian administration in Darfur that implicate high-ranking government officials in a policy of militia support. ?It’s absurd to distinguish between the […]
Daily Archives: July 20, 2004
11 posts
20 July 2004 | DemocracyNow! A grand jury has subpoened documents from Halliburton regarding the company’s dealings with Iran. The company, which was formerly headed by Vice President Dick Cheney, set up a subsidiary in the Cayman Islands to skirt U.S. laws that bar companies from dealing with Iran. The grand jury is investigating whether Halliburton broke the U.S. laws on dealing with Iran. U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg, a Democrat, said the probe should address the role of the Republican vice president. Lautenberg said “The question must be asked: did this possible violation occur between 1995 and 2000 while Dick […]
July 20, 2004 | Charleston Daily Mail from staff, wire reports An investigator for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals videotaped chickens being kicked, stomped and thrown against a wall by workers at the Pilgrim’s Pride plant in Moorefield, a supplier for Kentucky Fried Chicken. The fast-food chain has been under pressure since last year over treatment of animals. Officials from Yum! Brands Inc., which owns Kentucky Fried Chicken, saw the video Monday. Kentucky Fried Chicken “will require that the employee or employees responsible will be terminated,” spokeswoman Bonnie Warchauer told The New York Times.
[ In the World War II era, United States Army lieutenant colonel S.L.A. Marshall discovered that “only about fifteen per cent of American riflemen in combat had fired at the enemy.” ?Fear of killing, rather than fear of being killed, was the most common cause of battle failure in the individual,? Marshall wrote. ?At the vital point, he becomes a conscientious objector.? Under his influence, the military undertook a ?Revised Program of Instruction,? aimed at desensitizing troops to killing other human beings. But what the military has not had to deal with are the effects of this training on its […]
[ Foodbanks are reporting a phenomenon occurring at urban, rural and suburban food banks nationwide – a surge of first-time clients who never before considered themselves needy but suddenly, because of a layoff or other challenge, cannot pay their rent or living costs…. According to the Agriculture Department, 11 percent of U.S. families – encompassing 34.9 million people – are “food insecure,” meaning they lack the means to ensure themselves of healthy meals and are vulnerable to at least a mild form of chronic malnutrition. A U.S. Conference of Mayors survey of 25 cities found that demand at food banks […]
18 July 2004 | ASSOCIATED PRESS by SUZANNE GAMBOA WASHINGTON — In only a few e-mails, Enron employees laid bare the reality of politics: the money trail from companies seeking favors from lawmakers with the power to grant them. The e-mails circulated among Enron officials in 2000 and 2001, before the collapse of the Houston energy company, are under review by the House ethics committee, which is considering whether to investigate the fund-raising activities of the No. 2 leader in the House, Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Texas. Enron officials map out in the e-mail how to get the most for their […]
U.S. links 35 arrests in Iowa to terror: But most defendants’ ties to violence appear doubtful 18 July 2004 | DesMoines Register by BERT DALMER Federal prosecutors say they built 35 terrorism-related cases in Iowa in the two years after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. But a Des Moines Sunday Register analysis of the cases found that most defendants had questionable links to violent extremism. Those defendants who could be identified by the newspaper were, in most cases, charged with fraud or theft and served just a few months in jail. The number of terrorism-related cases even took one […]
[ From the piece: By perpetrating propaganda the U.S. cannot deflect global attention from the fact that it is the U.S. who is responsible for the creation of al Qaeda and the Taliban, the Iranian foreign ministry official noted. –BL ]19 July 2004 | TehranTimes.com
excerpted from 19 July 2004 | Daily Times [Pakistan] By Khalid Hasan WASHINGTON: The US media has surprisingly failed to pick up the shocking disclosure by Sydney Morning Herald, Australia?s leading newspaper, that the Irqai Prime Minister Iyad Allawi personally executed six suspected insurgents in a Baghdad police station. The story by award-winning Australian journalist Paul McGeough said that the prisoners were handcuffed and blindfolded, lined up against a courtyard wall and shot by the Iraqi PM. Dr Allawi is alleged to have told those around him that he wanted to send a clear message to the police on how […]
[ Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi’s approval of such bombings is only likely to exacerbate Iraqis’ fears about their new CIA-linked leader. –BL ] July 18, 2004 | Associated Press Baghdad, Iraq – A U-S airstrike authorized by Iraqi interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi has hit purported trenches and fighting positions in Fallujah. Those positions allegedly were used by foreign fighters linked to the al-Qaida network. But the nature of the target is in dispute. Residents say it was civilian, not military. Fourteen people were killed and body parts were strewn across the area. During a visit to Iraq, Deputy Secretary […]
excerpted from 19 July 2004 | Boston Globe by Bryan Bender Since the June 28 handover of power, the 160,000 coalition forces have averaged more than two deaths a day, among the highest rate of losses since the war began 15 months ago. By Saturday, 36 US soldiers had died this month, compared with 42 last month, according to a Globe analysis of official statistics. …. By Friday, more than 10,000 coalition soldiers had been wounded. In all, 893 Americans have died since the war began in March 2003, most of them in hostile action. “We are going to see […]