September 2005 - Page 4 of 6

Private military arrives in New Orleans

Super User September 14, 2005 Super User

NEW ORLEANS – Heavily armed paramilitary mercenaries from Blackwater, a private security firm that also works in Iraq, began patrolling the streets of New Orleans last week. Some of them said they have been "deputized" by the Louisiana governor, and have been given the authority to use lethal force by the Department of Homeland Security, according to a report by Jeremy Scahill and Daniela Crespo for Democracy Now!

"This is a totally new thing to have guys like us working CONUS (Continental United States)," a heavily armed Blackwater mercenary told the journalists. "We’re much better equipped to deal with the situation in Iraq." Some Blackwater employees are among the most feared professional killers in the world, accustomed to operating without concern for legal consequences. Some of the men in New Orleans had returned from Iraq as recently as two weeks before. read more

Germany, Russia join forces on gas pipeline

Super User September 14, 2005 Super User

BERLIN – While critics within the European Union complain that Germany is putting its own interests above those of other member states, it has signed a $5 billion pipeline agreement with Russia that will bypass the current energy network and transport gas under the Baltic Sea, RIA Novasti, the Russian news agency, reported last week. Russia’s Gazprom will own 51 percent of the pipeline, with Germany’s EON and BASF each taking 24.5 percent.

Germany needs energy agreements to secure its long-term development and revitalize its economy. Russia supplies a quarter of Europe’s gas needs, but German dependency is even greater – a third of all oil and gas imports. read more

Mahathir’s Iraq war criticism triggers walkout

Super User September 14, 2005 Super User

KUALA LUMPUR – Former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad triggered a diplomatic walkout from a human rights conference in Malaysia’s capital last week when he accused the United States and Britain of killing innocent civilians in Iraq. According to Agence France Press, Mahathir told an audience of some 350 diplomats and human rights activists that the invasion was made on false pretenses, and the claim that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction "was a lie."

British High Commissioner Bruce Cleghorn, one of the diplomats who left, said he "was not prepared to listen to a tirade of abuse and misrepresentation of his country and its foreign policy." Hungarian Ambassador Tamas Toth also walked out in protest, saying his country was part of the "coalition of the willing." The U.S. embassy said none of its officials attended the conference, sponsored by the government-backed National Human Rights Commission, but that it was preparing a response to Mahathir’s allegations. read more

Skeletons poisoning Venezuelan politics

Super User September 14, 2005 Super User

CARACAS – At least 70 paper skeletons have appeared mysteriously across Caracas, hanging from overpasses, attached to railings, and strewn on the ground. Officials blame the opposition, citing the skeletons as a poisonous attempt to stir public fear.

According to news reports, the skeletons display anti-government messages. Some are also toxic. When two police officers touched an envelope attached to one of the hand-drawn figures, they became ill and were briefly hospitalized for what appeared to be a case of poisoning. Authorities have assigned an anti-terrorism unit to the case. read more

Copper vs. Ecology in Ecuador

Stuart Schussler September 14, 2005 Stuart Schussler

Junín, a small town in the mountainous Intag region of northwestern Ecuador, is home for about 500 Ecuadorians. The community is rich in many ways. Fertile land produces organic coffee, sugar cane, and oranges for exportation. Junín is located next to the Cotacachi-Cayapas Ecological Reserve and the people of the village created their own community ecological reserve 8 years ago. These protected areas cover a large expanse of cloud forest and contain one of the world's most biologically diverse ecosystems. Public works projects like road maintenance or repairs on the school house are done with the traditional minga system, where members from each family volunteer to do a couple days of work for the common good. However, in the eyes of Ascendant Copper Corporation, a Canadian mining company, Junín's wealth isn't in its people or its diverse ecosystem-it's in its rocks.

Crossing the Rubicon: An Interview with Michael Ruppert

Rob Williams September 13, 2005 Rob Williams

Michael Ruppert

Most people I know have some intuitive sense that the stories told about the way the world works in our culture of daily "news" (and I use the term loosely) are suspect. The real stories about power and the ways power is exercised lie buried beneath the surface. But how deep, to quote The Matrix's Morpheus, does this rabbit hole go? For those willing to crawl down the hole, U.S. investigative journalism has its own Morpheus, and his name is Michael Ruppert.