NEW ARM RACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST

Israel, Washington sign new defense agreement

Readers Number : 79

16/08/2007 Israel and the United States signed Thursday the Memorandum of Understanding on the new American defense package for Israel. Under the new aid agreement, the U.S. will transfer $30 billion to Israel over 10 years, compared with $24 billion over the past decade. Israel is slated to receive the first pay out in October 2008, amounting to $2.550 billion. That sum will grow each year by $150 million, until it reaches $3.1 billion in 2011. In addition, the agreement permits Israel to convert into shekels 26.3 percent of the aid money, thereby enabling it to procure defense equipment from Israeli companies. The rest of the aid must be used to purchase equipment from American military industries. Israeli negotiators tried to step up the percentage of aid that could be used for procurement from local companies, without success. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert met Wednesday with visiting U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, R. Nicholas Burns, in preparation for Thursday's signing. Olmert asked Burns to thank U.S. President George W. Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice for their efforts in transforming the understandings with Olmert, reached during his last visit to Washington, into a binding agreement. "The aid agreement with the U.S. is an important and significant component for Israel, and proves once again the depth of the relationship between the two countries and the United States' commitment to Israel's security, and to preserving its qualitative advantage over other countries in the Middle East," Olmert said. Burns met Thursday morning with Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer, who headed the Israeli team in negotiations with the U.S. At noon, Burns signed the aid agreement with Foreign Ministry Director General Aharon Abramovich, and meet with Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni. Burns also met Wednesday with Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz, who oversees the strategic dialogue with the U.S. Mofaz and Burns agreed to hold a strategic dialogue in mid-October on Iran and Lebanon.

Russia delivers air defense system to Syria Readers Number : 320 17/08/2007 Russia has begun delivery of modern air defense units to Syria. "The first part of the delivery to Syria has started," the centrist daily Nezavissimaya Gazeta reported, quoting information from a domestic military information agency. A spokesman for Russia's arms export agency Rosoboronexport declined to comment on the newspaper report. The report acknowledged that the delivery of the weapons, the Pantsyr-S1E self-propelled short-range missile air defense system, was particularly sensitive in light of Israeli claims last year that Russian arms sold to Syria had ended up in the hands of Hezbollah. Nezavissimaya Gazeta quoted an official involved in Russian arms export policy as describing concerns that Russian air defense weapons could be re-exported to Iran as "silly rumors". Officially, the contract was for the sale of 50 Pantsyr units for about 900 million dollars. Media reports have put the number of units sold to Syria at around 36. In May, the London-based arms specialist magazine Jane's Defense Weekly reported that Syria had agreed to send Iran at least 10 of the Pantsyr units. That report was categorically denied by a range of top Russian officials including First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov.

Turkey’s Islamic president

Turkey's Islamic-oriented ruling party on Monday decided to nominate Abdullah Gul again for president despite strong opposition to his candidacy, a party official said.

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13 Ağustos 2007 23:55

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When Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan proposed Gul as his party's candidate the last time, it ignited a backlash from the secular opposition, which accused Gul of having an agenda to scrap the secular traditions of the predominantly Muslim nation.

Murat Mercan, a senior party official, confirmed Gul's candidacy after a party meeting Monday. "Gul is a statesman who has great experience," Mercan told private CNN-Turk television. "I believe he would be very successful."

Gul's candidacy signals that Erdogan's party apparently bowed to pressure from grass-root supporters despite serious concerns raised by secular circles about Gul's candidacy.

It was Gul's candidacy that triggered a political crisis months ago, forcing the government to hold early parliamentary elections. The choice of candidate had alarmed the military-backed, secular establishment, which accused the government of seeking a lock on power so it could impose Islamic ways unchecked.

Erdogan's party won a majority of seats in July 22 elections, but it did not secure the two-thirds need to approve a presidential candidate alone during the first two rounds of parliamentary voting.

However, the president can be elected by a simple majority in the third round of voting if the parliament secures a quorum of lawmakers necessary for presidential elections. Cihan Pacaci, a senior member of the Nationalist Action Party, reiterated that his party pledged support to reach a quorum to prevent a new political crisis. "I don't see a chaos ahead," Pacaci told private NTV television Monday.

Still, Gul's nomination showed that the government could be heading toward another showdown with secularists, including the military.

"It is not appropriate to have a president who has problems with the founding philosophy of the Turkish Republic," Deniz Baykal, leader of the main opposition pro-secular Republican People's Party, said earlier Monday.

The job of president is critical to overall control of the state. The post is largely ceremonial, but the incumbent has the power to veto legislative bills and government appointments. President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, the current president, often frustrated the government by blocking its initiatives.

Onur Oymen, a senior member of the Republican People's Party, said Gul's candidacy amounted to a serious threat to the secular principles of the country.

"Gul's candidacy was not expected to contribute to peace and stability in the country," Oymen told private NTV television after the decision was announced.

Gul's wife wears an Islamic style headscarf, which many secular Turks regard as a symbol of political Islam and use as a reason why he should not become president.

Baykal, however, said the outfit of Gul's wife was not the real problem.

"In my opinion, the outfits of his wife is not an issue. Any one who can give confidence about the inside of his head can be" a candidate, Baykal said.

Sadullah Ergin, a member of the ruling party, had rejected Baykal's accusations as unjust.

"Gul has the right to be president like anyone else," Ergin told CNN-Turk television.

Baykal and other party leaders had called Erdogan to nominate a compromise candidate.

Gul already asked for meetings with opposition leaders on Tuesday to seek their support, private CNN-Turk television said. The first round of voting in parliament is due on Aug. 20.

Gul previously withdrew his bid after the secular opposition boycotted the presidential vote in parliament, and the nation's top court declared the process invalid. Huge throngs of pro-secular supporters staged anti-government rallies in major cities at the time.

But Gul, recalling crowds of people who chanted "Gul for President" during his election campaign, has said: "I cannot turn a blind eye to the will of people. The demand of the people is clear."

Situation In Somalia

DSAI - Media Statement

Anak Raja Bugis Versus Mat Tyson

Citizens In Solidarity with Raja Petra and Freedom of Speech !

KENYATAAN MEDIA

25 Julai 2007

Saya mengecam tekanan terbaru dari pihak kerajaan dan polis terhadap pengendali laman Malaysia Today, Raja Petra Kamaruddin.

Tindakan ke atas Raja Petra ini bermula dengan laporan polis dan disusuli oleh ucapan-ucapan mengkritik pengendali blog oleh beberapa pimpinan UMNO termasuk Dato' Seri Najib Tun Razak. Ini merupakan siri terbaru tekanan terhadap pengendali laman web dan blog selepas penahanan setiausaha saya Nathaniel Tan baru-baru ini.

Saya menyeru agar pihak polis menggunakan masa mereka untuk menyiasat dakwaan rasuah melibatkan pelbagai pimpinan kerajaan yang disiarkan di Malaysia Today dan membanteras jenayah yang sudah menjadi-jadi. Sudah begitu banyak laporan yang dibuat terhadap pimpinan kerajaan dahulu dan sekarang yang tidak disiasat langsung, tetapi laporan terhadap pengendali laman web mendapat tindakan segera polis.

Rakyat Malaysia memerlukan pemimpin yang bersifat terbuka dan memandang ke hadapan, bukannya yang masih terikut-ikut dengan budaya politik lama dan tidak dapat menerima realiti teknologi hari ini. Ketika pemimpin UMNO hebat menuntut pengendali blog untuk bertanggungjawab di atas penulisan mereka, saya menyeru pemimpin UMNO dan polis agar jangan lupa amanah mereka kepada rakyat.

ANWAR IBRAHIM

MEDIA STATEMENT

25 July 2007

I condemn the intimidation by the government and police towards Malaysia Today's webmaster, Raja Petra Kamaruddin.

The action against Raja Petra began as a police report and followed by speeches criticising bloggers by a few UMNO leaders including Dato' Seri Najib Tun Razak. This is the latest intimidation on webmasters and bloggers following the arrest of my secretary Nathaniel Tan recently.

I demand the police to use their time to investigate the numerous allegations of corruption involving government leaders published by Malaysia Today and to fight the rising rate of crime that is plaguing the country. Various reports have been made on present and former government leaders that have not been followed up, yet a report against a webmaster is immediately investigated by the police.

Malaysians need open-minded and forward-thinking leaders, not those still trapped by an outdated political culture and unable to grasp the technological realities of today. At a time when UMNO leaders are demanding bloggers to be responsible for their writing, I urge the UMNO leaders and police not to forget their responsibilities towards the Malaysian rakyat.

ANWAR IBRAHIM

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Inside Story - US and Iran discuss Iraq - 24 Jul 07

Lebanon and Gaza

Facts the Media is not Telling us

Barred from Attending Military Court Session

Ramsey Clark Barred from Attending Military Court Session Ikhwanweb [0] 15/7/2007

The Egyptian Security Forces have prevented Mr. Ramsey Clark, former US Attorney General, and Yvonne Ridley British journalist, from attending the today’s session of the military trial for 33 Muslim Brotherhood leaders.

It’s worth mentioning that although the Haickstep Military Base is located in a military zone and controlled by the Egyptian army, however, police is in full control on the ground.

During the first two sessions, government has also denied access to representatives from Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and Arab Human Rights organization.

Muhammad Sulaiman محمد سليمان

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Ramsey Clark Opposes Mubarak's Violation of Basic Rights

Egypt military trial condemned Courtesy Gulf News: Published: Tuesday, 17 July, 2007, 01:16 AM Doha Time

CAIRO: Former US attorney general Ramsey Clark yesterday condemned the military trials of members of Egypt’s opposition Muslim Brotherhood and called on President Hosni Mubarak to release them. “The arrest and detention once again of the Muslim Brotherhood is an outrageous violation of fundamental human rights,” Clark, 79, told reporters at the Egyptian Bar Association a day after being barred from attending the trial. “I’ve been in political trials on six continents.. . I have never been excluded from a court in any of these trials,” he said. “What does the government of Egypt fear? What is it ashamed of doing that it can’t do in broad daylight as the law requires?” Clark led a delegation of rights activists that included former Sunday Express British journalist turned Islamic activist Yvonne Ridley to Sunday’s session of the military trial of 40 leading Brotherhood activists. Together with a court observer from Amnesty International, the delegation was barred from entering the court which is on a military base. The Brotherhood members have been charged with funding an illegal organisation and money-laundering — charges they were originally acquitted from in a civil court. Over the past 10 years, Mubarak’s government has repeatedly relied on military tribunals, which have a more consistent rate of conviction, to try Islamist organisations. The latest crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood, which while banned holds a fifth of the seats in parliament, began last December and has targeted the organisation’ s funding mechanisms, freezing the assets and arresting prominent businessmen associated with the movement. “I ask the government and President Mubarak to recognise the error of what they have done and to embrace these defendants as worthy Muslims and release them,” Clark said. An attorney general in the 1960s, Clark went on to become an anti-war activist and has joined the defence teams at a number of high profile trials, including that of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussain and Egyptian cleric Omar Abdel Rahman. – AFP

MEDIA STATEMENT (KENYATAAN MEDIA) -DSAI

4 Julai 2007

Keputusan Mahkamah Tinggi hari ini untuk mengenepikan saman fitnah terhadap Dr. Mahathir Mohamed tanpa membenarkannya dibawa ke perbicaraan terbuka jelas sekali suatu ketidakadilan yang nyata terhadap dir saya, keluarga saya dan rakan-rakan saya. Keputusan ini juga menggambarkan kedudukan keadilan di Malaysia. Di dalam mencapai keputusannya, Pesuruhjaya Kehakiman Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat telah memilih untuk tidak mengendahkan hujah-hujah perundangan yang saya bentangkan kepada mahkamah untuk memberikan sebab mengapa Dr. Mahathir mesti menjawab saman saya kerana membuat kenyataan liar dan berniat jahat terhadap peribadi saya. Di atas sebab-sebab itu membuatkan saya terpaksa menyatakan keputusan ini langsung tiada nilai perundangan. Saya telah mengarahkan para peguam saya untuk memfailkan rayuan serta-merta.

ANWAR IBRAHIM


MEDIA STATEMENT

4 July 2007

The decision by the High Court today to strike out my defamation suit against Dr Mahathir Mohamed without hearing the case in open court is clearly a gross injustice to me and my family and friends. It is also a reflection of the state of justice in Malaysia. In coming to her decision, Judicial Commissioner Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat has chosen to ignore the overwhelming body of legal arguments that I have presented to the court as to why Dr Mahathir must answer my suit for making those scurrilous and malicious remarks about me. Under the circumstances, I am compelled to say that this decision is utterly devoid of any legal merit. I have instructed my lawyers to file for an appeal at once.

ANWAR IBRAHIM

Media Statement - Another Mockery to Malaysia's Judicial System

KENYATAAN MEDIA

27 Jun 2007

KEPUTUSAN KES ERIC CHIA MEMBURUKKAN LAGI IMEJ SISTEM KEHAKIMAN NEGARA

Pembebasan Tan Sri Eric Chia semalam menjadi satu lagi bukti bagaimana sejak Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi menjadi Perdana Menteri beliau gagal mengotakan janjinya untuk memerangi gejala rasuah.

Kesungguhan mahkamah untuk membuktikan bahawa pihak pendakwaan gagal membuktikan kes terhadap Eric Chia langsung tidak munasabah memandangkan wujud bukti salahlaku yang jelas di dalam kes ini. Mutu siasatan yang dijalankan terhadap skandal serius ini juga amat
mengecewakan.

Sebaliknya, saya telah mengumpulkan fakta yang cukup lengkap sebagai bukti rasuah dan penyelewengan berdasarkan laporan audit Price Waterhouse Coopers. Bahan-bahan ini telah melibatkan Chia di dalam pelbagai kegiatan bertentangan dengan undang-undang daripada melupuskan dana sehinggalah pembayaran yuran yang tinggi dan tanpa sebab kepada firma guaman Datuk VK Lingam.

Dengan rekod sistem kehakiman negara yang telah tercemar, memang tidak mengejutkan bahawa perbicaraan ini akan berakhir dengan pembebasan selepas sandiwara yang begitu berpanjangan. Apabila wujud bukti rasuah yang jelas dan tidak dapat dipertikaikan Peguam Negara telah mengenepikannya, kesalahan di mana beliau dan Ketua BPR sepatutnya
meletak jawatan atau disiasat segera.

.

Ketika kita di ambang apa yang dijangkakan pilihan raya wal, rakyat Malaysia sepatutnya memahami niat dan matlamat kerajaan Barisan Nasional dengan jelas. Rasuah masih lagi cara pilihan kita, dan retorik anti-rasuah hanyalah untuk digunakan untuk kempen politik
tetapi akan dilupakan apabila melibatkan kepentingan mereka sendiri.

Pada masa yang sama, kita boleh menjangkakan berbilion-bilion ringgit yang diselewengkan daripada Perwaja, Transmile dan lain-lain skandal, wang yang sepatutnya diperuntukkan untuk membasmi kemiskinan, pendidikan dan kesihatan akan terus berada di dalam kocek perasuah dan penjenayah yang terus bermaharajalela di negara kita.

ANWAR IBRAHIM


MEDIA STATEMENT

27 June 2007

ERIC CHIA'S ACQUITTAL ANOTHER MOCKERY OF MALAYSIA'S JUDICIAL SYSTEM

Tan Sri Eric Chia's acquittal yesterday offers yet another stark reminder that since coming to power in 2003 Prime Minister Dato' Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's anti-corruption drive has been an utter failure.

The Court's determination that the prosecution failed to present a compelling case against the former Perwaja chief is wholly unsatisfactory. At the same time, the quality of investigation over
this serious scandal has also been disappointing.

On the contrary, I have adduced substantive facts as evidence of corruption and malfeasance based on audit reports issued by Price Waterhouse Coopers. These documents implicate Chia in a wide range of illegal activities ranging from misappropriation of funds to the payment of exorbitant and unsubstantiated fees to Datuk VK Lingam's law firm.

Given the unreliable conduct of Malaysia's judicial system it was no stretch of the imagination to predict, as I did in 2004, that the trial would end in acquittal after many meaningless hours of theatrics. Where evidence of corruption was clear and incontrovertible the Attorney General systematically suppressed it, a sin for which both he and the Chief of the Anti Corruption Agency
should immediately tender their resignations or face immediate investigations.

On the eve of what many believe will be early elections, the Malaysian people should be clear in their understanding of the current government's aims and intentions. Corruption remains the preferred style of doing business, and talk of anti-corruption is merely a banner to be waved at press conferences and political rallies but conveniently ignored when one of its own is brought to task.

In the meantime, we can expect the billions of stolen ringgit from Perwaja, Transmile and other Enron-like scandals, money that should be allocated towards poverty alleviation, education, and healthcare, will stay in the pockets of the corrupt and crooked who rule this land.

ANWAR IBRAHIM

PARIS of the East

LEBANON

Lebanon is a destination country for the trafficking of Asians and Africans for the purpose of domestic servitude and for Eastern European and Syrian women trafficked for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation. Lebanese children are trafficked within the country for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor. Women from Sri Lanka, the Philippines and Ethiopia migrate to Lebanon legally, but often find themselves subjected to conditions of involuntary servitude as domestic servants. Many suffer physical and sexual abuse, non-payment of wages, threats, and withholding of passports. Eastern European and Syrian women come to Lebanon on "artiste" visas, but some become victims of forced prostitution.

>>>>snip

2007 State Department report on human trafficking in Lebanon
Thursday, June 14, 2007

Another Malaise & Discomfort - Civil War in Occupied Palestine

Devil's Spiral - Lebanon fighting spreads

Lebanese army helicopters have joined in
the assault on Fatah al-Islam [AFP]


Fighting has spread to a second Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon after an army checkpoint near Ain al-Hilweh in the south was attacked by rocket-propelled grenades.

The attack and ensuing fighting wounded five people and came as troops continued their latest assault against Fatah al-Islam fighters at Nahr al-Bared in the north on Sunday.

Lebanese families mourn army soldiers - 03 June 07

Bertie Ahern - Taosearch for the third time in the Celtic Tiger Economy

Irish PM Bertie Ahern's Fianna Fail party has won the country's general election, but narrowly failed to gain an overall majority in parliament.

Bertis will again be the taoiseach (prime minister) – for the third consecutive terms has led a coalition government since 1997 - a period of sustained economic growth for the Republic

IRISH RESULTS
Fianna Fail: 78 seats ; Fine Gael: 51
Labour: 20; Greens: 6
Independents: 5 ; Sinn Fein: 4
Progressive Democrats: 2
Total seats: 166


The party secured 78 seats in the 166-seat assembly, but saw a decline in the vote of its previous coalition partners, the Progressive Democrats.

Mr Ahern now faces the prospect of tough talks with opposition parties to build a coalition government.

He can count on two independents and two surviving Progressive Democrats.

The current situation is main opposition Fine Gael polled well, winning 51 seats, but its potential coalition partners Labour and the Greens fared less well. As a result, not even these three parties combined could overtake Fianna Fail and the PDs.

The Republic of Ireland's system of proportional representation means that parties' representation in the Dail (lower house of parliament) closely matches their percentage of the vote.

3 days of fighting in Lebanon.

Here is the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp, at the northern Lebanon, 4 miles North of Tripoli. At this camp, Lebanese army and militants of Fatah Islam group has been being fighting since yesterday Sunday.

According to Yahoo news: "Lebanese troops pounded a Palestinian refugee camp with artillery and tank fire for a second day Monday, raising huge columns of smoke as they battled a militant group suspected of ties to al-Qaida in the worst violence since the end of the 1975-90 civil war."

Here are pictures:

According to globalsecurity.org, "In what observers say is the worst fighting to hit Tripoli in two decades, army tanks opened fire on positions inside Nahr al-Bared camp held by militants from Fatah Islam, a Sunni al-Qaeda-styled group. ". "Sunday's violence began shortly after dawn when police raided a militant-occupied apartment on a major thoroughfare in Tripoli.

Authorities said police were looking for suspects of a bank robbery a day earlier in Amyoun, a town southeast of Tripoli. Local media reported the gunmen to be members of Fatah Islam. The armed militants resisted arrest and a gun battle ensued. It spread to surrounding streets and continued through the afternoon."

source google earth community.

Editor's note :
Kindly note that the videos were from CCN so hear the bad news but be reserved with their usual mediacracy of "Al Qaedah" related terror in the making and quick in "Bushism terror resolution" of sending in military might. Do you think by making a warlord out of Sinora or his successor will ever solve the issue.

MEDIA STATEMENT - FOUNDATION FOR THE FUTURE.

20 May 2007

The Foundation for the Future was first announced in Bahrain in Novembre 2005 by foreign and development ministers of the broader Middle East, North Africa, Europe and the United States. The Foundation is an independent set-up, involving governments and civil society to support civil society organisations in their efforts to foster democracy and freedom in the broader Middle East and North Africa.

From the onset, the Foundation obtained pledges of US$56 million. Thus far the Foundation only received funds from Turkey, the United Kingdom and Jordan, among others. The US has not disbursed any funds to the Foundation.

I was invited to join the board of the Foundation in mid 2006 together with representatives from Morocco, Kuwait, Iraq, Spain, Syria, Turkey, Lebanon, US, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Switzerland and Qatar.

The other board members include Kamel Abu Jaber, advisor to the Jordanian Foreign Minister; Dr. Cornelio Sommaruga, former President of the International Committee of the Red Cross; Professor Ibrahim Kallin, advisor to the Foreign Minister of Turkey; and Sandra Day O'Connor, former US Supreme Court justice.

The first board meeting was convened in Doha, Qatar at the invitation of Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jabr Al-Thani, the Foreign Minister and presently Prime Minister of Qatar on 15 July 2006, and I was unanimously elected as the first honorary chairman. The decision was to set up the headquarters in Beirut.

However, in the Board Meeting on 4 December 2006 in Amman, Jordan, I met the Jordanian Foreign Minister Abdelelah Al-Khatib, who endorsed the setting up of the regional secretariat in Amman due to the delay in the Beirut headquarters as a result of the Israeli attack on Lebanon. The next board meeting will convene in 29-30 May 2007 in Bahrain, Lebanon.

I did not appoint Ms. Shaha Ali Reza to the Foundation. She was first assigned by the World Bank through the US State Department to the Foundation in late 2005 before I became Chairman. The executive committee of the decided in mid 2006 to regularise the appointment so that Shaha advises directly from the World Bank and not the State Department.

The board will issue a full statement after the meeting in Bahrain next week. However, due to the incessant propaganda from the UMNO controlled-media, I have decided to issue this statement. If there is no clarification by the media on the matter, the Foundation will not hesitate to institute legal action against the relevant parties.

ANWAR IBRAHIM

Foundation for the Future Chairman

Kedudukan Kelantan - kewangan, Jenayah & Rasuah

Call That Humiliation?

Published on Saturday, March 31, 2007 by The Guardian/UK



No hoods. No electric shocks. No beatings. These Iranians Clearly Are a Very Uncivilised Bunch
by Terry Jones

I share the outrage expressed in the British press over the treatment of our naval personnel accused by Iran of illegally entering their waters. It is a disgrace. We would never dream of treating captives like this - allowing them to smoke cigarettes, for example, even though it has been proven that smoking kills. And as for compelling poor servicewoman Faye Turney to wear a black headscarf, and then allowing the picture to be posted around the world - have the Iranians no concept of civilised behaviour? For God’s sake, what’s wrong with putting a bag over her head? That’s what we do with the Muslims we capture: we put bags over their heads, so it’s hard to breathe. Then it’s perfectly acceptable to take photographs of them and circulate them to the press because the captives can’t be recognised and humiliated in the way these unfortunate British service people are.

It is also unacceptable that these British captives should be made to talk on television and say things that they may regret later. If the Iranians put duct tape over their mouths, like we do to our captives, they wouldn’t be able to talk at all. Of course they’d probably find it even harder to breathe - especially with a bag over their head but at least they wouldn’t be humiliated.

And what’s all this about allowing the captives to write letters home saying they are all right? It’s time the Iranians fell into line with the rest of the civilised world: they should allow their captives the privacy of solitary confinement. That’s one of the many privileges the US grants to its captives in Guantánamo Bay.

The true mark of a civilised country is that it doesn’t rush intocharging people whom it has arbitrarily arrested in places it’s just invaded. The inmates of Guantánamo, for example, have been enjoying all the privacy they want for almost five years, and the first inmate has only just been charged. What a contrast to the disgraceful Iranian rush to parade their captives before the cameras!

What’s more, it is clear that the Iranians are not giving their British prisoners any decent physical exercise. The US military make sure that their Iraqi captives enjoy PT. This takes the form of exciting “stress positions”, which the captives are expected to hold for hours on end so as to improve their stomach and calf muscles. A common exercise is where they are made to stand on the balls of their feet and then squat so that their thighs are parallel to the ground. This creates intense pain and, finally, muscle failure. It’s all good healthy fun and has the bonus that the captives will confess to anything to get out of it.

And this brings me to my final point. It is clear from her TV appearance that servicewoman Turney has been put under pressure. The newspapers have persuaded behavioural psychologists to examine the footage and they all conclude that she is “unhappy and stressed”.

What is so appalling is the underhand way in which the Iranians have got her “unhappy and stressed”. She shows no signs of electrocution or burn marks and there are no signs of beating on her face. This is unacceptable. If captives are to be put under duress, such as by forcing them into compromising sexual positions, or having electric shocks to their genitals, they should be photographed, as they were in Abu Ghraib. The photographs should then be circulated around the civilised world so that everyone can see exactly what has been going on.

As Stephen Glover pointed out in the Daily Mail, perhaps it would not be right to bomb Iran in retaliation for the humiliation of our servicemen, but clearly the Iranian people must be made to suffer - whether by beefing up sanctions, as the Mail suggests, or simply by getting President Bush to hurry up and invade, as he intends to anyway, and bring democracy and western values to the country, as he has in Iraq.

> Terry Jones is a film director, actor and Python
> www.terry-jones.net

> © 2007 The Guardian

Iran Clock Is Ticking

By Robert Parry
January 31, 2007



While congressional Democrats test how far they should go in challenging George W. Bush’s war powers, the time may be running out to stop Bush from ordering a major escalation of the Middle East conflict by attacking Iran.

/cut

Impeachment 2007 - A Constitutional Duty (Seymour Hersh)





The Arab TV station Al-Jazeera, is now in KL will that make Kuala Lumpur and Washington comfortable?

Malaysian Economic health, how is it?

This is one of the subjects you will study for corporate health form their Annual Accounts Reports. Ant that too, is what the political leaders said, as the CI or Composite Index (IK Index Komposite) reaches 1200 on 14 March 2007. Let's hear another opinion.

Perkembagan terkini Negara Malaysia