Mayday!

Pope Warns of Increase in Anti-Semitism
Friday August 19, 2005 1:01 PM
By DAVID McHUGH
Associated Press Writer

COLOGNE, Germany (AP) - Pope Benedict XVI warned Friday of rising anti-Semitism and hostility to foreigners during a visit to a synagogue that was rebuilt after being destroyed during the Nazis’ infamous Kristallnacht pogrom in 1938.

Benedict became only the second pope to visit a synagogue, praying and remembering Holocaust victims with Cologne’s Jewish community - Germany’s oldest.

“Today, sadly, we are witnessing the rise of new signs of anti-Semitism and various forms of a general hostility toward foreigners,'’ he said.

He reaffirmed his commitment to continue in the path of his predecessor, John Paul II, who made the first papal visit to a synagogue in Rome in 1986 and improved relations between Catholics and Jews.

Benedict said progress had been made, but “much more remains to be done. We must come to know one another much more and much better.'’

He did not elaborate on his warning except to call for more vigilance, receiving loud applause from the audience after his remarks.

Earlier, Benedict stood quietly with his hands clasped during a Hebrew prayer before a memorial to the 6 million Jews killed by Nazi Germany, and strode into the main hall as the choir sang, “Shalom alechem,'’ or “peace be with you.'’

Comment: While the Arabs are being portrayed in the West as blood-thirsty, sub-human killers, certainly a racist portrayal, the Western media is still selling the idea that “anti-Semitism” is the real danger. While most of the so-called “terrorist” attacks around the world are the work of Mossad, we are being told over and over again that it is the Arabs who are the terrorists.

Which has to make you wonder why the Israelis are always being favoured in the press and why the Israelis are always being supported by the US.

The gates of hell
By Jamal Mudhafar
Azzaman, August 7, 2005
The headline of this article is not a title of a science fiction film. It truthfully translates what is currently taking place in Iraq.

The gates of hell are now wide open – thanks to U.S. invasion – and their fires have enveloped almost everything in our country.

There is no electricity, no water, no fuel, no food rations, no security, no sewage …

There is terror everywhere and there is fear of everything – fear of the present and of what lies ahead in the future.

All indications tell that our future is bleak as there is nothing left in this country that makes you feel secure about your own future and that of your children.

What is happening is not a war, rebellion or insurgency. It is mass killing and annihilation coupled with torture and brutal and barbaric dismembering of innocent people.

Bombing and shelling of towns goes ahead and no one gives a damn for the lives lost and property damaged.

Politicians have not honored any of the promises they made during elections. There is a dangerous decline in the public services and government performance.

The shock we have received since U.S. troops landed in our midst and the new is beyond description.

Fear and terror have gripped the nation. Wherever you are at any time of the day you are liable to be killed by a stray bullet.

Stray bullets are no longer the prerogative of U.S. troops and their tormentors – the insurgents.

Almost everyone in Iraq now use their guns to shoot in order to scare, wound or kill.

If the bodyguards of a senior official want to reach a destination on time and are delayed by traffic jam, they fire in the air to scare other drivers to give way.

If someone is injured or killed as a result it is his or her problem.

Killing by mistake is now perhaps one of the main causes of death in Iraq.

Trust between the people and the government has collapsed. And now we are at the mercy of the stars because neither U.S. troops nor the government have the slightest idea of who is blowing up whom and why?

Comment: Chaos. Such was the real aim of the invasion of Iraq, and it is an unqualified success. Chaos just goes to confirm the dominant view of the Arabs in the media: “they’re beasts who don’t appreciate democracy”. We wonder what the USA would look like if an invading army had taken control.

There is an argument to be made that an invader has indeed taken control of the US: the neocons, many of whom are citizens of both the US and Israel. Why does the US so actively pursue an agenda that was so clearly written in Tel Aviv? The “Peak Oil” meme and its sister meme, “We’re in Iraq for the oil”, give a cover to the Israeli agenda; with Americans and their love of gas-guzzlers, the idea that “we are there for the oil” or that oil is running out, seems to make sense. Yes, there is a lot of waste. The entire US economy is structured around the car. To go anywhere if you live in towns without public transit is to be dependent upon a car. And the killing of public transit and the use of public transit as a class marker (rich people don’t ride the bus) means that everyone who wants to “be” someone needs a car. Just look at how important cars are for people’s sense of identity.

So it appears logical that we are running out of oil, it appears logical that “we are in Iraq for the oil”, but that doesn’t make it true; it only makes it the perfect alibi

Finger points to British intelligence as al-Qaeda websites are wiped out
Times Online
July 31, 2005

Over the past fortnight Israeli intelligence agents have noticed something distinctly odd happening on the internet. One by one, Al-Qaeda’s affiliated websites have vanished until only a handful remain, write Uzi Mahnaimi and Alex Pell.

Someone has cut the line of communication between the spiritual leaders of international terrorism and their supporters. Since 9/11 the websites have been the main links to disseminate propaganda and information.

The Israelis detect the hand of British intelligence, determined to torpedo the websites after the London attacks of July 7.

The web has become the new battleground of terrorism, permitting a freedom of communication denied to such organisations as the IRA a couple of decades ago.

One global jihad site terminated recently was an inflammatory Pakistani site, www.mojihedun.com, in which a section entitled How to Strike a European City gave full technical instructions. Tens of similar sites, some offering detailed information on how to build and use biological weapons, have also been shut down. However, Islamic sites believed to be “moderate”, remain.

One belongs to the London-based Syrian cleric Abu Basir al-Tartusi, whose www.abubaseer.bizland.com remained operative after he condemned the London bombings.

However, the scales remain weighted in favour of global jihad, the first virtual terror organisation. For all the vaunted spying advances such as tracking mobile phones and isolating key phrases in telephone conversations, experts believe current technologies actually play into the hands of those who would harm us.

“Modern technology puts most of the advantages in the hands of the terrorists. That is the bottom line,” says Professor Michael Clarke, of King’s College London, who is director of the International Policy Institute.

Government-sponsored monitoring systems, such as Echelon, can track vast amounts of data but have so far proved of minimal benefit in preventing, or even warning, of attacks. And such systems are vulnerable to manipulation: low-ranking volunteers in terrorist organisations can create background chatter that ties up resources and maintains a threshold of anxiety. There are many tricks of the trade that give terrorists secure digital communication and leave no trace on the host computer.

Ironically, the most readily available sources of accurate online information on bomb-making are the websites of the radical American militia. “I have not seen any Al-Qaeda manuals that look like genuine terrorist training,” claims Clarke.

However, the sobering message of many security experts is that the terrorists are unlikely ever to lose a war waged with technology.

Comment: Israel suspects it was British intelligence that closed down the “terrorist” sites… Here’s a good question: Has anyone actually visited one of these alleged sites? Of course not! We would all be afraid of being associated with terrorists, right?