media because it was a fraud, perpetuated by your United States
government.
First we were told we could not assemble -- our bodies had to stay in
motion. Mere minutes later a young man with a backpack and a guitar
strolled through and as he spoke with rank authorities the message from
the bull horn became righteous and powerful. The young man then
moved to the edge of the walk, mumbled something, and immediately
we were told to shut it down and get out of the park.
Amazing how that works, is it not? Read that last paragraph again.
The aggression from the agents in charge was directed towards us, not
in dealing with a supposed bomb threat. As I moved slowly through the
park I asked a relatively relaxed agent if, indeed, there was a bomb threat.
He casually replied, "mmhmm."
This was not an evacuation of any sort; it was a trampling of rights to
assemble and to speak freely. You see, we were disturbing the BBQ and
birthday celebration with the truth.
Just outside of the park, opposite the festivities at the Big House, we
continued speaking and flyering and expressing other rights as provided
in the Constitution; yet, again, we ruffled too many feathers and were
forced to cross the street, and our "free speech zone" was officially a
quarter mile away from the one man who needed to listen to us.
The above is from Cindy Sheehan's "On Protesting, and Fighting the Power" (Peace
of Action) and she's correct, it's rather strange that a bomb threat took place in DC
-- outside the White House, no less -- and no one in the media reported it. Except
of course, it wasn't a legitimate threat. A legitimate threat -- real or prank -- outside
the White House on Fourth of July would lead the news broadcasts and be splashed
over the front of the next day's papers. The fact that this didn't happen indicates the
whole thing was staged and the police were in on it. Who else was in on it? The
White House? Cute little trick they have to clear out protests? Send someone out
to holler "bomb threat" and give the police an excuse to clear the area?
If the person hollering "bomb threat" was not an employee of the police/government
on an official mission, there would be (a) a police incident report (even if the one
yelling claimed "prank") and (b) an arrest record (again, even if the one yelling
claimed "prank"). So where are those documents?
A peaceful protest was shut down on Sunday due to a 'bomb threat.' This took place
outside the White House. The media that's created and inflated threats against Barack
to up the drama count has a real one or a real prank and they're not reporting it?
They're not asking questions? What's the deal.
These would be public records. Where are they?
In London, the Iraq Inquiry continues. Today they hear from the UK Ambassador to
Iran from 2003 to 2006 Richard Dalton and the UK Ambassador to Iran from 2006
to 2009 Geoffrey Adams. Yesterday's big witness was MP Bob Ainsworth whose
posts had included Minister of State for the Armed Forces (2007 to 2009) and
Secretary of State for Defence (2009). Graeme Wilson (Sun) reports:
He told the Iraq Inquiry there were times that he wanted to say sorry to
relatives but Government lawyers stopped him.
Mr Ainsworth - Labour's Armed Forces minister in 2007 and Defence
Secretary in 2009 - said: "There were some horror stories about how
people were dealt with."
Ruth Barnett (Sky News) adds:
Mr Ainsworth said there were times he wanted to offer public apologies
but was told not to by lawyers.
"There were occasions where because of legal advice you simply can't
say that, you're opening us up to liabilities, you have to hone your
words and be careful," he said.
"That can cause distress."
Yesterday Rasmussen Reports released results from a poll (plus/minus 3%) where
Americans were asked whether or not they believed that the US military ended
combat operations at the end of August? 33% of respondents -- snorting hope,
apparently -- say yes. 59% -- that would be a clear majority -- say no. They were
also asked how history will view the Iraq War. 36% say as a failure, 33% say as a
success and 31% just don't know. The 33% figure took a hard hit from March when
41% were saying the illegal war would be seen as "a success."
In related news, Lara Jakes (AP) interviewed the top US commander in Iraq, Gen Ray
Odierno, yesterday and, "Gen. Ray Odierno brought up the possibility of a U.N. force
during an interview with The Associated Press. He observed that there is no immediate
end in sight to the yearslong dispute between Arabs and Kurds, who have managed an
uneasy political dance under American supervision since the fall of Saddam Hussein."
We'll close with this from Zed Books:
The new Zed Catalogue June - December 2010 is available! You can
download it here. If you would like to make sure you receive a copy in
the post, please email marketing@zedbooks.net with your mailing address
and we will send one out to you by return. You can download a Complete Stocklist of all the paperbacks we currently have available here. If you
have any questions please do get in touch.
Reclaiming the F Word
The New Feminist Movement
Catherine Redfern and Kristin Aune
''There has never been a better, more exciting time to be a feminist. This book shows the
positive impact of feminism on our daily lives. Reclaiming The F Word should be every
woman's - and many men's - bedside companion.' - Zoe Margolis, aka Abby Lee, author of
Girl With A One Track Mind
'A lucid and lively examination of the state of contemporary feminism from two women who
really know what they're talking about. Most importantly, at a time when it's easy to feel
down-hearted about the state we're in, this book is full of hope.' - Libby Brooks, deputy comment
editor,The Guardian
Paperback ISBN: 9781848133952 £12.99
www.zedbooks.co.uk/reclaiming_the_f_word
The Essential Nawal El Saadawi
A Reader
Edited by Adele Newson Horst
Saadawi is a figure of international significance and her work has a central place in the
history and culture of the Arabic world of the last fifty years. Featuring work never before
translated into English, this book, the first volume in 'Zed's Essential Feminists' series,
gathers a section of the whole range of Saadawi's writing together in one volume for the
first time. From fiction - novellas and short stories - to essays on politics, culture, religion
and sex, from extensive interviews to her work as a dramatist, from poetry to selections of
her travel writing, this book will be essential to anyone wishing to gain a sense of the total
range of Saadawi's work.
Paperback ISBN: 9781848133358 £18.99
www.zedbooks.co.uk/the_essential_nawal_el_saadawi
The End of Certainty
Towards a New Internationalism - NOW IN PAPERBACK!
Stephen Chan
''A long and rather splendid dinner with Stephen Chan: a ten-course tasting menu from a three-
star Michelin restaurant specialising in global cultural history ... I left the restaurant with a
sound appreciation of the limits of my own knowledge, and a sense of how superficial are my pretensions to cosmopolitanism. So I'll be coming back for more.' - TheIndependent
'Fascinating and energetic ... the field of international relations is given an overdue shake-up
by an author unusually conversant with a wide range of literature, as well as videogames and
martial arts.' - The Guardian
Stephen Chan was awarded an OBE for 'services to Africa and to higher education' in the 2010 Queen's Birthday
Honours List, published on Saturday 12 June. Click here for more information and a comment from Professor
Chan.
www.zedbooks.co.uk/the_end_of_certainty
 |
Why Doesn't Microfinance Work?
The Destructive Rise of Local Neoliberalism
Milford Bateman
'For some time, there has been fragmented evidence that microcredit is way over-hyped
as an instrument of development, but Bateman pulls it all together and connects the
microfinance fad with the underlying neoliberal themes of so much official development
assistance.
It's a timely, much-needed, and must-read book for anyone interested in the problems of
development assistance.' - David Ellerman, author of Helping People Help Themselves: From the
World Bank to an Alternative Philosophy of Development Assistance.
ISBN: 9781842779118 £15.99
www.zedbooks.co.uk/why_doesn't_microfinance_work
The Lord's Resistance Army
Myth and Reality
Tim Allen and Koen Vlassenroot
'There are no excuses for Joseph Kony and his bestial 'Christianity', but there are
reasons for it rooted in the politics and history of Uganda and its neighbours. This
book goes beyond the simplistic media stereotypes to provide the best analysis yet
of how these child-abusers continue to defy international justice.'- Geoffrey Robertson
QC, author of Crimes Against Humanity: The Struggle for Global Justice
'This book will be essential reading for anyone interested in the conflict in Uganda and
in "terror" more generally.' - David Keen, LSE, author of Complex Emergencies
ISBN: 9781848135635 £19.99
www.zedbooks.co.uk/the_lords_resistance_army
The Aid Triangle
Recognizing the Human Dynamics of Dominance, Justice and Identity
Malcolm MacLachlan, Stuart C. Carr and Eilish McAuliffe
'A thought-provoking book that poses key questions about the nature and
mechanisms of development. It is an anthropocentric and humane analysis of the
contemporary industry of international relations, striving with humility for both the
giver and receiver of aid to 'develop' through creative action. The book identifies the
human at the center of international assistance as the origin of an appropriate hermeneutic
of development, but cogently argues that recognition of this human concern is generally
'taboo', trumped by the interests of business and politics. Taking cues from social-
psychological evaluation of the nature of giving, the authors challenge the neo-liberal
priorities of modern development practice, and envision an approach to international
assistance free from dominance, injustice and the suppression of local identity.'
- Professor Alastair Ager, Executive Director, Global Health Initiative, Mailman School of Public Health,
Columbia University, USA
ISBN: 9781842779118 £15.99
www.zedbooks.co.uk/the_aid_triangle
The Rise and Fall of Neoliberalism
The Collapse of an Economic Order?
Edited by Kean Birch and Vlad Mykhnenko
'Since the 1970s, the politics of "neoliberalism," based on the purported concern to
minimize state interference in the economy and thus to unleash "free" markets, have
been mobilized at various sites and scales across the world economy. This book provides
useful intellectual tools for deciphering the ideological, social and institutional foundations
of neoliberalism and its wide-ranging implications for the still ongoing regulatory
reorganization of capitalism.' - Neil Brenner, New York University
ISBN: 9781848133495 £18.99
www.zedbooks.co.uk/the_rise_and_fall_of_neoliberalism
Taking Aim at the Arms Trade
NGOS, Global Civil Society and the World Military Order
Anna Stavrianakis
'Is civil society the answer to war? Anna Stavrianakis' pioneering study, examining NGO
responses to the arms trade, demonstrates the ambiguities of their relationships. This
well-researched, incisive study is essential reading for anyone concerned with the
possibilities of change and challenges to military power in our society.'
- Martin Shaw, Research Professor, Department of International Relations, University of Sussex
ISBN: 9781848132696 £19.99
www.zedbooks.co.uk/taking_aim_at_the_arms_trade
The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.
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the sun
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ruth barnett
the associated press
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