The VALIANT

Wednesday 24 December 2008

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2009


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To All Readers, Visitors and Friends all over the world, I wish all of you and your family a Merry and Blessed Christmas, and Happy New year 2009.

For some 2008 will have been their best year and for others not so good. Either way you need to take a break every now and then and this is a great time to do it.

Thank you for all your support this year. I appreciate every comment and all the feedback that I get. Without you there would be no blog.

May 2009 be your best year ever.

Tuesday 23 December 2008

Hamas threatens Israel with suicide bombers


Big News Network.com
Monday 22nd December, 2008

Hamas has told Israel it will not rule out sending suicide bombers to Israel if military operations in the Gaza Strip are escalated.

A Hamas Gaza spokesman has warned the Israeli government that the Palestinian resistance will use every available means to defend its people in the face of the Israeli aggression, including martyrdom operations.

Israel has been debating a large-scale military operation in the Gaza Strip in response to an increase in rocket fire from over the border.

Militants, mainly from the Islamic Jihad, have launched over 60 missiles and mortars at southern Israel since a truce was declared void last Friday.

Welcome to wingnut world, where war crimes go unreported

(Op-ed) Brad Friedman - The Guardian
Tuesday 23rd December, 2008

Noting the war crimes now known and admitted to by George Bush and Dick Cheney, George Washington University's highly-respected constitutional law professor Jonathon Turley asked MSNBC's Keith Olbermann last week: "If someone commits a crime and everyone's around to see it and does nothing, is it still a crime?"

The US torture policy approved by George Bush and Dick Cheney should spark a public outcry.
So where's the outrage? And what media is reporting it? Don't Americans care about war crimes?
Of course they do. But only if they know about them.


The discussion came in the wake of a new bipartisan US Senate report that found that Bush was responsible for approving torture and abuse at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq and Cheney's admission during an ABC interview that he helped to approve torture and abuse in interrogations.

During the interview, Turley mentioned that it'll be up to the citizens whether or not any action is actually taken to prosecute those who committed these crimes. "It will ultimately depend on citizens, and whether they will remain silent in the face of a crime that's been committed in plain view," Turley suggested. "It is equally immoral to stand silent in the face of a war crime and do nothing, and that is what the citizens are doing."

But is there any real basis for his well-meaning argument that accountability could possibly be brought by popular demand? Unfortunately, as the media has been virtually silent about what may be the most offensive crimes ever committed by an executive branch in the US (just as silent as they were during the lead-up and follow-through of the Iraq war, when those same officials sent our nation into war on the basis of demonstrable lies), it's bloody unlikely that most citizens will even learn about these scandals, much less take action on them. And if they did, who would bother to report it? As Turley said: "There's this gigantic yawn as we hear about a war crime on national television being discussed matter-of-factly by the vice-president."

But how much can citizens actually do, particularly with the sparse amount of information they've been presented? They hit the streets to protest by the millions, prior to and during the Iraq war, and the bulk of the media didn't bother to even cover it.

I'm currently driving through Oklahoma (passenger seat) as I write this. Republicanist Sean Hannity is yammering away, misinforming listeners on the radio, and a station promo just announced he'll be followed by Michael Savage for three hours, then Laura Ingraham for three hours, then John Gibson for three hours. Rightwing nuts all. I'm guessing Rush Limbaugh was on before Hannity. So, in those 15 consecutive hours of rightwing talk – on our publicly owned airwaves – who exactly will be informing citizens of the documented evidence of war crimes committed by Bush and Cheney?

Yes, if the citizens began throwing shoes everywhere by the millions, someone in the corporate mainstream media might cover it somewhere. But without the daily barrage of a real media, covering the topics that actually matter, with the attention they deserve, the citizens are often clueless, and otherwise virtually powerless, in this wingnut-fed media world we've allowed to be created around us.

If you doubt any of that, just ask yourselves what we'd be listening to on talk radio, and thus watching on the cable news network, and thus see debated on the floor of Congress, had a bipartisan panel found that President Bill Clinton had approved war crimes that hastened the deaths of thousands of US troops, just before vice-president Al Gore went on ABC News to admit it, and even crow about it. You suppose that coverage might help inspire a citizen uprising in that case? You bet. But it is, for the moment, a wingnut world. We just live in it.

Do Americans simply not care about war crimes? Of course they do. But not unless they know about them, and not unless the argument that they occurred, and the evidence of it, is presented in the detail that such an issue merits. While a small number of outraged citizens who take action actually can make enormous differences on the local level, accountability for international war crimes requires an untiring, responsible, focused media to inspire the mobilisation of a nation.

Such as it is, these crimes were committed by Republicans, and didn't overtly involve sex, so they don't actually matter.

Arguably, as Turley noted, none of it even happened at all. "I think that's really the argument of this administration: 'It can't be a crime because no one's prosecuted us for it.'"

It's good to be king.

Friday 19 December 2008

Brazil to boost troops in Amazon, weapons industry


By MARCO SIBAJA ; Associated Press Writer
Published: December 18th, 2008 04:42 PM | Updated: December 18th, 2008 07:22 PM

BRASILIA, Brazil -- Brazil will beef up troops in its vast Amazon rain forest, build nuclear and conventional submarines to protect offshore oil fields and modernize its weapons industry under a national defense plan outlined in a report Thursday.

Strategic Affairs Minister Roberto Mangabeira Unger (left) said the plan calls for investments to modernize and equip the armed forces, create a rapid deployment force and update its weapons industry. Officials did not provide a cost estimate.

"The plan includes the restructuring of Brazil's weapons industry to guarantee the supply of defense material without depending on foreign suppliers," President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (right) said at a ceremony to unveil the plan.

Defense Minister Nelson Jobim (left) said the government will increase the number of troops in the Amazon from 17,000 to 25,000, though he did not offer a timetable.

The report says Brazil "will develop its capacity to design and manufacture conventional and nuclear submarines" to protect its coastline, as well as recently discovered offshore oil reserves that could hold up to 55 billion barrels of oil.

"Investments will be accelerated and partnerships established to execute the nuclear submarine project," the report said.

France has promised to provide Brazil with technology to build the Scorpene diesel attack submarine, which officials hope to use to develop what would be Latin America's first nuclear-propelled sub.

Brazil's defense industry was the largest in the developing world in the mid-1980s, but it declined along with demand after the end of the Cold War.

In 1990, the country's two largest arms manufacturers, Engesa and Avibras, sought protection from creditors for debts of about US$200 million.

Brazil says any defense partnership must help the country develop its weapons industry.

"We will not simply be buyers or clients, but partners," Mangabeira said earlier this year. "Any arrangement into which we will enter must, in principle, contemplate a significant element of research and development in Brazil."

Wednesday 17 December 2008

Arab world lauds Iraqi TV journalist' shoe-hurling at Bush


ANI - Tuesday 16th December, 2008

Baghdad, Dec.16 : The Iraqi television journalist who hurled his shoes at visiting US President George W. Bush in Baghdad on Sunday, is being feted around the Arab world for having the courage to showcase the rage in the region over a war that is still regarded as unpopular.

President Bush, on a surprise trip to Iraq and Afghanistan, got a taste of dissent at a Baghdad press event Sunday when an Iraqi journalist threw shoes at him, forcing him to duck.

In Saudi Arabia, a newspaper reported that a man had offered 10 million dollars to buy just one of what has almost certainly become the world's most famous pair of black dress shoes.

A daughter of Colonel Muammar el-Qaddafi, the Libyan leader, reportedly awarded the shoe thrower, Muntader al-Zaidi, a 29-year-old journalist, a medal of courage.

According to the New York Times, in Sadr City, people calling for an immediate American withdrawal removed their footwear and placed the shoes and sandals at the end of long poles, waving them high in the air. And in the southern Iraqi city of Najaf, people threw their shoes at a passing American convoy.

In street-corner conversations, on television and in Internet chat rooms, the subject of shoes was inescapable throughout much of the Middle East on Monday, as was the defiant act that inspired the interest: a huge and spontaneous eruption of anger at President Bush on Sunday in his final visit here.

Some deplored Zaidi's act as a breach of respect or of traditional Arab hospitality toward guests, even if they shared the sentiment.

"Although that action was not expressed in a civilized manner, it showed the Iraqi feelings, which is to object to the American occupation," said Qutaiba Rajaa, a 58-year-old physician in Samarra, a Sunni stronghold north of Baghdad.

Zaidi, who remained in custody Monday, provided a rare moment of unity in a region often at odds with itself.

In Syria, Zaidi's picture was shown all day on state television, with Syrians calling in to share their admiration for his gesture and his bravery.

In central Damascus, a huge banner hung over a street, reading, "Oh, heroic journalist, thank you so much for what you have done."

In Lebanon, reactions varied by political affiliation, but curiosity about the episode was universal. An American visitor to a school in Beirut's southern suburb, where the Shiite militant group Hezbollah is popular, was besieged with questions from teachers and students alike, who wanted to know what Americans thought about the insult.

The instantly mythic moment took place Sunday night at a news conference by President Bush and Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki in Baghdad's Green Zone, a session meant partly to trumpet recent security gains in Iraq.

As Bush was speaking, Zaidi rose abruptly from about 12 feet away, reared his right arm and fired a shoe at the president's head while shouting in Arabic: "This is a gift from the Iraqis; this is the farewell kiss, you dog!"

Bush deftly ducked and the shoe narrowly missed him. A few seconds later, the journalist tossed his other shoe, again with great force, this time shouting, "This is from the widows, the orphans and those who were killed in Iraq!" Again, the shoe sailed over the president's head.

Zaidi was subdued by a fellow journalist and then beaten by members of the prime minister's security detail, who hauled him out of the room in his white socks. Zaidi's cries could be heard from a nearby room as the news conference continued.

A number of Iraqis said they were dismayed by what Zaidi had done.

Zaidi, who has not been formally charged, faces up to seven years in prison for committing an act of aggression against a visiting head of state.

A statement from the Maliki's government described the shoe-throwing as a "shameful, savage act that is not related to journalism in any way."

It called on Al Baghdadia, the Cairo-based satellite television network for which Zaidi works, to publicly apologize.

But as of Monday night, no apology from the network had been forthcoming.

Facebook closes down hate site


Big News Network.com
Tuesday 16th December, 2008

Internet site Facebook has shut down a web site in which a group of Serbians inserted celebratory messages on the massacre of 8,000 Muslims in Srebrenica.

After online appeals from nearly 20,000 Facebook subscribers, the company closed the site.

A Serbian group called Noz Zica Srebrenica celebrated the detention and killing of around 8,000 Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica in 1995 by Bosnian Serb forces.

A Facebook spokesman said the message content had violated Facebook terms of use.

Friday 12 December 2008

Report says Rumsfeld allowed torture


Big News Network.com
Thursday 11th December, 2008

A US report, following a two year investigation, has declared former US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and other US officials allowed the use of torture on foreign detainees.

The report says Rumsfeld "redefined the law" to allow the abuse of detainees in US custody.

The authors of the report, Senator Carl Levin, chairman of the Armed Services Committee, and Senator John McCain, said the abuse could not simply be attributed to the actions of “a few bad apples” acting on their own.

They said: "The fact is that senior officials in the United States government solicited information on how to use aggressive techniques, redefined the law to create the appearance of their legality, and authorized their use against detainees."

Even though the Bush administration had suggested that the use of torture techniques came from interrogators who had requested tougher methods for al-Qaeda and Taliban members, the report concluded that the use of torture originated from a February 2007 memo from President Bush that said the Geneva Convention did not apply to non-government fighters.

China considers sending navy to disperse pirates


Big News Network.com
Friday 12th December, 2008

The Chinese navy may be sent to the Gulf of Aden to carry out an offensive against Somali pirates.

China is currently deciding whether to send its navy to fight piracy off the coast of Somalia, after two of its vessels were captured last month.

Chinese national defence experts have been discussing the possibility with foreign affairs diplomats following the most recent seizure of a Hong Kong-flag ship with a 25-member crew.

The China Daily has reported the diplomats feel the government should use caution and only go to the Gulf of Aden region within U.N. rules.

The United Nations has adopted three resolutions since July asking the international community to respond to the piracy problem off Somalia.