CheguveraI think the link is from ABC, now if it was from CBS you could have a point :p
Anyway i think he was arrested in Israel and Bush (and the bad man in black suits around him )were in power at the time.
Oh Yeah, since he was arrested in the paragon of civil liberties the utopia of infalliable humans i.e. Israel, where none of its citizen’s can do no wrong, after all they are the chose people, makes it all kosher…..Give me a friggin break…..
CheguveraAn Open Letter to Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens)
Dear Yusuf Islam,
First, allow me to begin with an apology for the actions of the Bush administration and the Ministry of Homeland Security for so shamelessly exploiting you earlier this week. As you are undoubtedly aware, the Bush administration rarely does anything without ulterior motive, or for political gain, although it can be fairly stated this is the generally accepted modus operandi of many governments, not simply the Bush administration.
As it now appears, the Bush administration denied you entry into the United States for two reasons: as a public relations ploy in an effort to seize control of airline passenger lists (more or less under the control of airlines) and also portray a famous Muslim and peace activist as a terrorist in support of Hamas.
In regard to the first, the Bush administration, under a recommendation put forth by the September 11 commission, wants to centralize airline passenger lists in an all-encompassing database and thus deny more people permission to travel based on political and religious affiliation. In short, they want to restrict the travel of their political opponents.
Second, the Bush administration has, since the events of September 11, consistently strived to portray Muslims as a threat to the national security of the United States, not simply fundamentalist Muslims but all Muslims without exception. Obviously, this is part of a larger strategy devised by key administration officials and so-called neoconservative policy advisors who believe the national security of the United States is inextricably bound with that of Israel, in particular the government of Ariel Sharon and the extreme right-wing Likud Party.
I believe, based on policy papers and pronouncements issued by neoconservative think-tanks (the American Enterprise Institute, the Project for a New American Century, and the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs, to name but three), the neoconservatives, in league with the reactionary Likud Party in Israel, are interested in not only diminishing the influence of Arab and Muslim governments in the Middle East, but also desire to “reshape” their culture and society (through overt and covert warfare) for the sake of a so-called Greater Israel, that is to say an expansionist Israel.
One document in particular (“A Clean Break: A New Strategy for Securing the Realm”), authored in 1996 by influential American neoconservatives and the Institute for Advanced Strategic and Political Studies in Washington and Jerusalem for then in-coming Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, proposes the destruction of the Oslo Accords, annexation of the West Bank and Gaza, and the overthrow of governments in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Iran. Several Bush administration officials and policy advisors, including Richard Perle, Douglas Feith, David Wurmser, and John Bolton, co-authored this document and now direct foreign policy initiatives for the United States. Recently John Bolton, as Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security, has called for overthrowing the Islamic government of Iran, as spelled out in the “Clean Break” document.
As well, Bolton, with an all-star neoconservative cast from the Project for a New American Century, signed a letter sent to Clinton in 1998 calling for the overthrow of Saddam Hussein. As we now know, literally within hours of the September 11 attacks on the WTC and the Pentagon, Bush Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld was calling for an invasion of Iraq, even though there was absolutely no evidence that Saddam Hussein had anything to do with the attacks. Not surprisingly, Rumsfeld had signed the PNAC letter addressed to Clinton.
Obviously, the Bush neoconservatives are well on their way to realizing Israel’s policy objectives. As further evidence that Sharon and the Likud Party are working overtime to dictate U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) was implicated in a spy scandal a few weeks ago (specifically, attempting to influence the Bush administration’s policy toward Iran). It is a well-documented fact that AIPAC wields enormous power over not only the executive branch of the U.S. government, but Congress as well.
“The American Israel Public Affairs Committee is a lobbying group that used to support whatever government was in power in Israel, and used to give money even-handedly inside the US. My perception is that during the past decade AIPAC has increasingly tilted to the Likud in Israel, and to the political Right in the United States,” notes Juan Cole, a history professor at the University of Michigan. “[AIPAC] and a few allies have succeeded in imposing complete censorship on both houses of Congress. No senator or congress member dares make a speech on the floor of his or her institution critical of Israeli policy … [and if a Congress person does speak out] that person is targeted for unelection in the next congressional campaign, with big money directed by AIPAC and/or its analogues into the coffers of the senator or congressman’s opponent. Over and over again, AIPAC has shaped the US congress in this way, so successfully that no one even dares speak out any more.”
As an American citizen, I am, to say the least, concerned about this undue and apparently ironclad influence a small, self-described “cabal” of neoconservatives, pro-Israel lobbying groups, and others in unison with a far right-wing Israeli government have over not only my country’s foreign policy but domestic policy as well, as evidenced by your recent experience.
Extremist neoconservatives, well entrenched in the White House and Pentagon, demand “total war,” as the influential neoconservative Michael Ledeen describes it, against Islam. Not only will Ledeen’s “total war” be waged in Iraq, Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia, and elsewhere in the Middle East, but here, in America, as well. Muslims in America, as I am sure you are well aware, are under intense scrutiny and increasingly fall victim to draconian law enforcement and surveillance measures, racial profiling, and even calls for mass expulsion and internment (the latter argued by author Michelle Malkin and others).
Naturally, during a second Bush administration, “total war” against Islam will not only intensify but is likely to reach catastrophic proportions if the violence and chaos in Iraq spreads elsewhere in the Middle East, as promised. In fact, I believe this violence and chaos is part of the neoconservative plan to disrupt and weaken Islamic societies.
Some naively believe if John Kerry is elected president in November he will change U.S. foreign policy. However, considering Kerry’s unswerving and publicly announced support for Israel and the Sharon regime, this is unlikely. In short, it appears America is set on an unalterable course of generational conflict (a modern version of the Crusades) directed against not only Muslims in the Middle East, but eventually around the world (as of 2003, the total number of Muslims in the world stood at nearly 1.5 billion).
So, what can be done?
Unfortunately, not much.
However, Europeans and other people around the world can effectively express their outrage and disapproval of America’s policies in much the same way many of them express their outrage and disapproval of Israel and its treatment of the Palestinians: through economic boycott.
As it now appears, the only way to stop the neoconservative drive toward total war is to shut down the economic system that drives the war machine here in the United States.
Refuse to buy American products.
In fact, refuse to market your products in the United States.
Of course, as a musician, your livelihood depends on selling products in America, a huge and lucrative market. However, I cannot realistically think of another way to shut down the economic machine that fuels the drive toward total war and, ultimately, global destruction as more and more nations, in response to American military aggression, arm themselves with nuclear weapons. As an example of nuclear brinkmanship, consider the truly scary situation emerging in Iran and North Korea.
Sooner or later, somebody, somewhere, will defensively respond with nukes to the neoconservative master plan of perpetual war. I fear it is only a matter of time. In the meantime, we can work to shut down the system through economic boycott and a refusal to participate in our own demise. Of course, this may be naïve, but I cannot think of a reasonable alternative.
Sincerely,
Kurt Nimmo
CheguveraStraight from the horse’s mouth…….
Cat Stevens: He hasn’t changed but the U.S. has
9/29/2004 – Political Social – Article Ref: LT0409-2466
Number of comments:
Opinion Summary: Agree: Disagree: Neutral:
By: Yusuf Islam
Los Angeles Times* –
I was flying to Nashville last week with my 21-year-old daughter to explore some new musical ideas with a record label there. Ironically, I was trying to remain low-profile because of the speculation that it might have raised in the music world about a return of “the Cat.” Media attention was the last thing I wanted. But it seems God wanted otherwise.
Toward the end of our journey from London to Washington, the plane was diverted. The captain announced something about “heavy traffic.” After landing in Bangor, Maine, six tall, blue-uniformed officers boarded and surrounded me and my daughter.
“Is your name Yusuf Islam?” they asked.
“Yes,” I confirmed.
“Do you mind coming with us and answering a few questions?”
At that point my heart stopped, and my daughter’s face turned aspirin-white. This was the start of the nightmare.
Three FBI agents escorted me away from my daughter and asked me questions. At first, it sounded like they might have me mixed up with somebody else, as they repeated the spelling of my name.
“No. Y-u-s-u-f,” I carefully spelled out. The agents looked a bit puzzled.
As they continued asking questions, some of their queries were obviously not related to me, so I thought this must be a matter of simple mistaken identity. Whether it was a mix-up or not remained unclear because they weren’t under any obligation to give me a reason; the green visa waiver form I had so neatly filled in earlier had effectively denied me any right to appeal or answers. It was only when an immigration official read out to me a legal reference number that he mentioned some implication with “terrorism” – no further details necessary.
The most upsetting thing was being separated from my daughter for 33 hours – not knowing how she was or when and where we might be united. Because my phone was confiscated, I couldn’t contact my family.
God almighty! Is this the same planet I’d taken off from? I was devastated. The unbelievable thing is that only two months earlier, I had been having meetings in Washington with top officials from the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives to talk about my charity work. Even further back, one month after the attack on the World Trade Center, I was in New York meeting Peter Gabriel and Hillary Rodham Clinton at the World Economic Forum!
Had I changed that much? No. Actually, it’s the indiscriminate procedure of profiling that’s changed. I am a victim of an unjust and arbitrary system, hastily imposed, that serves only to belittle America’s image as a defender of the civil liberties that so many dearly struggled and died for over the centuries.
Need I say that any form of terrorism or violence is the antithesis of everything I love and stand for? Anyone who knows me will attest to this. I have spent my life in the search for peace and understanding, and that was mirrored clearly in my music. Since becoming a Muslim, I have devoted my life to education, charity and helping children around the world.
Consistently I have condemned the attacks of 9/11, stating that the slaughter of innocents, the taking of hostages and cold blooded killing of women and children have nothing do with the teachings of Islam. I’ve openly and publicly repudiated the actions of groups that resort to such acts of inhumanity – whatever their names. Any allegations to the contrary are fabricated. The Koran equates the murder of one innocent person with the murder of all of humanity.
Ever since I embraced Islam in 1977, people have regularly tried to link me with things I have nothing to do with. Take the Salman Rushdie case as an example, or the regurgitating of the accusation that I support groups like Hamas.
I am a man of peace, and I denounce all forms of terrorism and injustice; it is simply outrageous for anyone to suggest otherwise. The fact that I have sympathy for ordinary people in the world who are suffering from occupation, tyranny, poverty or war is human and has nothing to do with politics or terrorism.
Thank God my daughter and I were relieved of our ordeal and delivered home safely. I also thank all those who prayed for me and supported me through this dark episode; I have never harbored any ill will toward people of God’s great Earth anywhere – and wish the reverse was also true.
CheguveraAn-70 can be in the C-17 class. You would just have to re-engine it with the Russian equivalent of B-757 engines, the Tu-330 engines.
Check out this cool site with a realistic rendition of the proposed An-70 with jet engines:
CheguveraI can tell you from personal experience that current US measures carried out in the name of protecting americans from terrorism are nothing but a witch hunt of muslims 😡 and as long as a christian fanatic a la Ashcroft are at the helm that trend is likely to continue. There is no methodology, no systematic and intelligent way of implementing measures that are actually effective and produce results.
Eventhough hundreds, if not thousands have been arrested in the broad sweep of immigrant enclaves, and locked up on minor immigration violations, that would otherwise be overlooked, not one has been charged with any criminal activity let alone terrorism.
Take for example the case of poor white american attorney from Oregon who was arrested and locked up based on the credible of credible information that he was directly involved in the Madrid train bombing. The only credible part was that he was a muslim and if it was not for the Spanish authorities who insisted, rather demanded of the americans that the finger prints found at the site of the bombing do not match that of the poor attorney, the poor chap would still be languishing in the detention apparatus designed to single out and apprehend whoever happens to be muslim, their involvment in any terrorist activities do not matter.
CheguveraMaybe the Axis of Evil designation had something to do with the rhetoric.
CheguveraAmerica’s next war?
Posted: August 23, 2004
1:00 a.m. Eastern
© 2004 Creators Syndicate, Inc.
“The United States of America will not permit the world’s most dangerous regimes to threaten us with the world’s most destructive weapons.” This is the heart of the Bush Doctrine from the president’s “axis of evil” address to Congress. And the nations that constituted that axis were Iraq, Iran and North Korea.
Under this doctrine, Iraq was invaded, Saddam overthrown and his army disbanded, though we have yet to find any of the “world’s most destructive weapons.”
With North Korea, the train has left the station. Pyongyang can now produce nuclear weapons and may possess half a dozen. For nations like North Korea and men like Kim Jong Il do not build costly and complex ballistic missiles simply to throw conventional explosives across an ocean.
Which leaves Iran. With Moscow’s assistance, Tehran has been constructing a nuclear power plant at Bushehr. Once operational, Bushehr will, like Yongbyon in North Korea, yield plutonium as a byproduct.
Last year, the International Atomic Energy Agency also stumbled on a secret uranium-enrichment plant at Natanz. Its centrifuges were found to contain traces of weapons-grade uranium. Highly enriched uranium, U-235, is a component of atomic bombs. Little Boy, dropped on Hiroshima, had a uranium core. Fat Man, dropped on Nagasaki, had a plutonium core.
Lately, an effort by Russia, France and Germany to have Iran open up its nuclear plants to inspection has been rebuffed by Tehran. Having seen how America dealt summarily with Iraq, but proceeds gingerly with North Korea, Tehran has likely concluded that when a superpower is threatening pre-emptive strikes and preventive war, only nuclear weapons can deter it. Those who do not have such deterrents get the Saddam and Taliban treatment.
So it appears that the decisive test of the Bush Doctrine will come in Iran. And that test is probably not far off.
The Israelis have reportedly practiced strikes on Iran by crossing Turkish airspace and have special forces in the Kurdish regions of Iraq. There are rumors Sharon has told the White House that if we do not effect the nuclear castration of Iran, Israel will do the surgery herself, because she cannot live under the cloud of an atomic bomb in the possession of the patrons of Hezbollah.
Enter the “cakewalk” neoconservatives. Though disastrously wrong about Iraq’s receptivity to U.S.-imposed democracy, and though they face disgrace and oblivion if Bush loses, they have one last card to play: That is to have America widen her wars with Afghanistan and Iraq with a pre-emptive strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities. For the neoconservatives, Iraq was simply Phase II of “World War IV” for imperial domination of the Middle East and serial destruction of the regimes in Iraq, Syria, Iran and Saudi Arabia, as well as of Hezbollah, Hamas and the Palestinian Authority.
The neocons have not abandoned this imperial project. Nor has Bush removed a single one from power, though they may yet cost him his presidency. And the neoconservative commentariat is again beating the drums for war – this time on Iran.
This is their hole card. If they can ignite a new war, the country may forget how they bungled the old war. In escalation lies vindication.
And, in truth, Iran is a matter the president and Pentagon must address. Can we live with an Iranian atom bomb, which will restrict U.S. freedom of action in the Gulf and likely lead to proliferation of nuclear weapons in the Arab world? Or is Iran the place where the Bush Doctrine must be applied, even if it ultimately requires U.S. air and missile strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites?
Given the overstretch of U.S. forces, the invasion and occupation of a nation three times as large and populous as Iraq is off the table. And what would be the probable result of America launching air strikes and starting yet another fire in the middle of the world’s gasoline station?
Tehran would likely retaliate by sending fighters into Iraq, stirring up Shia guerrillas in the south, aiding anti-American warlords in Afghanistan, sponsoring terror attacks on U.S. citizens and inciting Hezbollah to refire the Lebanon front.
We could find ourselves in a third war with no allies save Israel. Another consequence could be the disruption of oil shipments from Iran, Iraq and the Gulf, a run-up in prices to $60 or $70 a barrel, and recessions in Japan, Europe and the United States.
Presently, America and her European allies appear to be moving toward Security Council sanctions if Iran does not render hard assurances it is not going nuclear. But if the mullahs have concluded their only defense against U.S. or Israeli pre-emptive strikes is a deterrent of their own – a not unreasonable assumption given what happened next door – we are headed for a showdown that will change our world forever.
Cheguveraimo Iran hasnt been on the anti-american terrorist/al-keeda bandwagon for quite a while now around 15 yrs. they do provide aid to hezbollah in lebanon I think.
As much as the neocons and their supporters would want you to believe, Hizbollah has never directly targeted america nor is it planning to strike at american interests any time soon. The only glaring exception was the marines barracks bombing, but that too was due to america’s naivety, duped into doing others bidding. Also lead to a serious fall from grace for the neocons in the Reagen admin.
However, neocons’ tenacity has paid off and they have been able to co-opt a foreign-relations and intellectually challenging presdent to give them a free hand in pursuing their long stated agenda (reference to the policy paper put together by the Perle gang, Feith, Wolfowitze, Wurmser, et al in the mid nineties). So it really does’nt matter who Iran is supporting, nor does it significantly matter that Iran infact cooperated with the US in going after the Al-Qaeda in the immediate aftermath of 9/11, and that a virulently anti-shia entity like Al-Qaeda would be the last thing Iran would be supporting or protecting.
In essence, if Iran is attacked it would not be because it is threatening america or her interests. Rather, how big a problem it will continue to pose to Israel.
CheguveraINdia is probably going to become the most pro US country in Asia as the younger generation who grew up watching MTV and Bolywood movies which always showcase American living standards gets tothe workforce. A strong relaitonship with Israel 🙂 and a good Indian lobby in the US helps out as well.
Is’nt that awfully tragic for a country traditionally championing the cause of the oppressed around the globe. Its conspicuous and noble opposition to the western imperialism, since it had experienced the affliction first hand, non-alligned movement et al. Now its itching to be an all-willing accessory to the neo-imperealism of America’s Christian right.
Abandonment of the India’s traditional support of the Palestinian freedom struggle and the unwavering support of the pogrom carried out against the Palestinians by the extremist right wing elements of both Israel and US administrations cannot be hailed as step in the right direction.
Why don’t the Indians reach out to the equally popular peace movement in Israel and urge the extremist likud gov’t of Sharon, through which its acquiring ever-growing list of weapons systems and currying influence in Washington to be less brutal in its treatment of the Palestinians? The dynamics have truly changed and the Indian foreign policy at least when the BJP was in power seemed to have been driven by the same messianic and biblical dogma that the extremist right wing christians, Bush’s constituents had used to justify its support of the Israel and complete indifference to the suffering of the Palestinians.
One sincerely hopes that Congress would reverse some of the most ill-concieved policies implemented by the BJP, which were rooted in biogtry and blind hatred.
Cheguveracourtesy of american tax payer money Egypt will still have the
most powerful army and AF in northern africa. they have been #1
or #2 military grant recepient for quite a while now.
They have been a prennial #2 recepient. Never #1, that distinction goes to Israel, which by far beats everybody else at #1.
CheguveraI suspect that the reason why the actuator housing/bulges are bigger then usual is because they would be doubling as hardpoints. There does’nt seem to be any provisions for inner two hardpoints, the only logical place seems to be the acutator bulges. Hence the outer most pylon, the inner two acutator bulges/hardpoints on each wing and one centerline hardpoint would make a total of seven hardpoints.
CheguveraDeluded to the nth degree. How many times have they been taken for a ride by americane’s, santioned time after time, yet have no sense of ignominy and/or self-respect. They should take a lesson from Iran, no delusions on their part.
Cheguveraeveryone spies on everyone. thats the reality.
I know of a certain El Presidante whose brothers, mother and son supposedly hold US passports while he rules a country that can at best
be called a “rogue nation”. he shall remain unnamed for now 🙂the extent of US leverage and penetration among developing countries
is quite frightening.
So El Presidente is a CIA asset planted by americans to rule the rogue nation?
And does the latter part of your post apply to Israelis as well?
CheguveraMaybe the indians should’ve learnt a lesson from Mossad’s spying activities against its sole benefactor, Jonathan Pollard et al, and had kept its guard up while cozying upto the israelis….
CheguveraAre you guys serious? I highly doubt Israel has the foundries necessary to produce all the parts needed for an aesa radar such as the t/r modules/mmic’s/etc. This is a capability which requires extremely advanced technology and billions of dollars to set up a production line, so it would be beyond the capability of a small country like Israel. To my knowledge only USA, Japan, and Russia can do it.
Never doubt the power of US taxpayer.
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