Tuesday, January 09, 2007

The Urge to Surge and the Spoils of Iraqi Oil

Is President Bush's plans for a surge of 20,000 more U.S. troops in Iraq related to legislation pending before Iraq's parliament which would grant oil corporations historic access to Iraqi oil? Chris Floyd thinks so. He argues that Bush and company have already "won" in Iraq with the passing of this law, expected to be approved some day this week.

Sunday, January 07, 2007

The Pot of Black Gold at the end of the Rainbow in Iraq

The Iraqi parliament will be considering the passage of a law this week which will likely set the stage for massive privatization of the country's oil. This privatization will allow for the flow of profits from the oil supply to benefit outside investors much more than the people who live on the land above it. The weakness of the Iraqi government in relation to its neo-colonial masters in Washington makes it very difficult for a different deal to be struck than the one being proposed.

Thursday, January 04, 2007

Surge Talk

Robert Dreyfuss' recent article, "Traveling the Planet Neocon Road to Baghdad (Again)," outlines the ridiculousness of the debate around increasing the number of troops in Iraq in an attempt to do something, anything, about what is increasingly being seen as a U.S. failure. His conclusion is historically on point and will likely be repeated in this current occupation: "It will be the Iraqis who end the war. It will be the Iraqis who eventually kill enough Americans to break the U.S. political will, and it will be the Iraqis who sweep away the ruins of the Maliki government to replace it with an anti-American, anti-U.S.- occupation government in Iraq. That is basically how the war in Vietnam ended, and it wasn't pretty."

Tuesday, January 02, 2007

We've always had him...

Check out this flash video on the history between Saddam Hussein and the United States. You might be surprised to learn that up until the begining of the 1991 Gulf War the relationship was a fairly cozy and mutual one. Sadaam's rise and fall in Iraq has more to do with American economic and political interests in the region than with human rights and democracy.

Monday, January 01, 2007

Project Censored's Top 25 Censored Stories of 2006

Every year Project Censored, a media watchdog organization, puts out their top 25 under reported and censored news stories of the past year. Check out this years' top 25 for further proof of the need for independent and non-corporatized media.

#1 Future of Internet Debate Ignored by Media

#2 Halliburton Charged with Selling Nuclear Technologies to Iran

#3 Oceans of the World in Extreme Danger

#4 Hunger and Homelessness Increasing in the US

#5 High-Tech Genocide in Congo

#6 Federal Whistleblower Protection in Jeopardy

# 7 US Operatives Torture Detainees to Death in Afghanistan and Iraq

#8 Pentagon Exempt from Freedom of Information Act

#9 The World Bank Funds Israel-Palestine Wall

#10 Expanded Air War in Iraq Kills More Civilians

#11 Dangers of Genetically Modified Food Confirmed

#12 Pentagon Plans to Build New Landmines

#13 New Evidence Establishes Dangers of Roundup

#14 Homeland Security Contracts KBR to Build Detention Centers in the US

#15 Chemical Industry is EPA’s Primary Research Partner

#16 Ecuador and Mexico Defy US on International Criminal Court

#17 Iraq Invasion Promotes OPEC Agenda

#18 Physicist Challenges Official 9-11 Story

#19 Destruction of Rainforests Worst Ever

#20 Bottled Water: A Global Environmental Problem

#21 Gold Mining Threatens Ancient Andean Glaciers

#22 $Billions in Homeland Security Spending Undisclosed

#23 US Oil Targets Kyoto in Europe

#24 Cheney’s Halliburton Stock Rose Over 3000 Percent Last Year

#25 US Military in Paraguay Threatens Region

cheap treadmill