Head of entire CIA Bin Laden task force resigns

A very good read- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4034833.stm

Mike Scheuer, head of an entire CIA unit dedicated only to finding and dealing with Osama Bin Laden, RESIGNED last month and amid his continued criticism of US foreign policy and our failure to address the causes of terrorism.

And from the same article, OK- the following is a little out of context, or should I say in a selective context, but it is not out of sequence. On a psychological level these statements are ominous, to say the least, but he did said this. Just repeat the following over and over like a mantra-

"The numbers are all good. "

"... the threat is real ..."

"We are much safer,

but we are not yet safe."

"... all the terrorists have to do is be successful once ..."

-Cofer Black, recent State Department's counter-terrorism co-ordinator and former director of the CIA counter-terrorism centre.

a ruse to fund the war industry

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/middle_east/2004/iraq_log/default.stm


OLD CUSTOMS Posted by Bryan Suits Baghdad, 10 December
This has been a valuable experience. I've enjoyed reading comments from Iraqis. I don't have a lot of patience for the opinions of those who are not here to see things for themselves. When I was home on leave I was dumbfounded by the disconnect between reality as I knew it in Iraq, and the American television punditry. All were carrying on about "The Arab Street" and other bits of silliness. I know it sounds like a cop out, but I've never felt more strongly that people who haven't been a part of this need to give some credit to those of us who have.

Regardless of what you think you know about the US Army in Iraq, I guarantee it's come to you through the media's filter. I spend the vast majority of my time amongst Iraqis. I respect most of their culture and the rest bewilders me. I know that we Westerners are confused by much of what happens in this part of the world. But I continually try to understand. I have forged real friendships with the people who are supposed to hate me the most.

In the end, they've learned that Americans are idealists. My men aren't here for the money. With one vocal exception, my men want to leave here knowing they made it better. America didn't install Saddam. Any of the cynics out there who persist in that fiction have no real understanding of what kind of man Saddam was.

Why isn't the UN here helping this place prepare for its first real election? I have no idea. I can only guess that lingering bitterness over the American decision to go to war with Saddam has clouded their ability to see the larger good. I hope Afghanistan changes their mind. As for me, I can report that in my area of responsibility today, no one was killed for opposing the government. No one was killed because of the way they worship. No athletes were tortured because of poor performance. No ethnic minorities were gassed. And no cheap limestone palaces were completed for the price of 200 schools.

What did happen was that an American lieutenant and his eight men from the west coast of the United States drove south from Baghdad at 0800. They drove in the near freezing morning air to review a water line which will bring tap water to a town that hasn't had it in years. They arrived at 0930 and were recognised by a man who brought them coffee instead of the traditional tea. He remembered the lieutenant from three weeks ago when he gave the man a pound of American coffee called "Seattle's Best".

Through a translator the man said that soon he'll make the Americans' coffee from fresh tap water, not bottled water. The coffee was thick and sweet, flavoured with cardamom. The aroma and flavour were luxurious. After a few minutes the inspection was complete and the Americans went on their way to their next stop. The man with the coffee and the lieutenant shook hands and the man pulled him closer to kiss his cheek. The lieutenant was once uncomfortable with this, but after 10 months this feels like an old custom.



God, what kind of hand picked psy-op is this guy? His other "posts" are equally nauseating and elitist. Here is a great response from the 'net:

Bryan Suits-

"America didn't install Saddam. Any of the cynics out there who persist in that fiction have no real understanding of what kind of man Saddam was. "

The truth is never cynical, Mr. Suits. Deliberate naivety or convenient short memory is. Everyone has seen the picture of Rumsfeld shaking Saddam's hand in the 1980's, and the involvement goes far deeper- it's a matter of record. Try a google search for "Iraq Conflict: The Historical Background". You have much to learn. Iraq is typical of many CIA "covert action" disasters over the years, like Viet Nam.

I am so sick of Mr. Suits' arrogant, self-justifying tone through his posts. I DON'T appreciate his efforts, or "sacrifice". I don't appreciate his historical naivety or superior attitude because he took part in an unethical war while huge numbers of more informed people protested. Here is "Seattle's Best": You don't speak for me. You are ignorant of your own military history and you are deluded if you think Europeans will help you out of the corrupted, murderous mess you participated in. Iraqi friendliness to you is no justification for the invasion. Perhaps you could learn from them, but when you are home, I will not be as appreciative or nice as Iraqi's for what you have participated in. You have brought shame on me and your country for fighting a war without popular support, on a premise that was little more than a ruse to fund the war industry.

touché. If there is anything worse than an idiot, it's an arrogant idiot in a uniform with a gun. I like the typical attitude from Suits, that unless you basically are in Iraq either participating in Suits' war, or hugely risking your saftey (BECAUSE of Suits war) as a western observer or aid worker, you have no right to an opinion. How convenient for the military! Brilliant! I suppose the right to vote is the next target. Quite a catch-22. First, during the illegal war, Viet Nam, they said "Love it or leave it", then during the illegal Iraqi war they said "You're either with us or against us", now they say "You're either fighting our war or you are uninformed." Brilliant! Typical jarhead moron- all the introspective capability of a highschool football player. The perfect pawn of the administration.

(That, is presuming his posts are not just a PR campaign)

How About a Job with the SEALS?

News from Colombia

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4074485.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4087311.stm

Historical

http://www.sustainableenterprises.com/_vti_bin/shtml.exe/Planet/columbiavietnam.htm

(copy)
U.S. stirring up another Vietnam in Columbia
Misguided foreign policy creates strife between South American neighbors, too

Newsline from Aug. 19, 2001 — BOGOTA, Colombia — by JAVIER BAENA, Associated Press Writer — Thousands of soldiers backed by jets and helicopter gunships pursued a column of rebels through Colombia's southern jungle Sunday, killing 20 guerrillas, including a high-ranking commander, the military said. In a major assault, the army deployed 3,500 soldiers, dozens of helicopters and fighter planes after locating more than 1,000 members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, in the jungle near San Jose del Guaviare, about 185 miles southeast of Bogota....The leftist 16,000-strong FARC, Colombia's largest guerrilla group, has been fighting the government for more than three decades. Fighting kills about 3,000 people a year. The government and the FARC have held sporadic peace talks for the past three years, but have failed to reach substantive agreements.Newsline from Nov. 21, 2000 — BOGOTA, Colombia — by JARED KOTLER, Associated Press Writer — White House drug czar Barry McCaffrey on Monday predicted heavy fighting in an approaching U.S.-backed anti-drug offensive and warned that there would be repercussions for Colombia's neighbors... He predicted stiff resistance by some 2,000 FARC and 600 paramilitary fighters to attempts by U.S.-trained army battalions to retake the coca fields... "We've got thousands of people with automatic weapons down there, and it's going to be a tough go,'' he said.EDITOR'S NOTE -- check out the wildly varying estimates of FARC strength between the older and newer articles. In fact, estimates range all the way up to 22,000 now.

Commentary by Bob Horowitz
Let's see if this sounds familiar... America sends military money and advisors to a far-off land to fight against a shadowy group of battle-tested warriors who live in a drug-producing region, and operate a lucrative drug business. We will attempt to drive the guerrillas from their home turf, but do not fully comprehend the complex relationships between the warring groups of militias and the native people caught in between.

If you were alive in the early 1960s, this may ring a few bells. Before all the shouting was done, the cost to America was some 57,000 soldiers and billions of dollars. The cost to the Vietnamese people was even higher.

Now we are starting down a similar path in South America. This year, the Bush Administration is spending $731 million of your tax dollars spraying Monsanto's Roundup all over the Andes. Great deal for Monsanto: bad deal for taxpayers and residents of the spraying target regions. A total of $1.3 billion in U.S. funds is approved for this dangerous operation, more than half of this will go toward the purchase of attack helicopters from US manufacturers Sikorsky and Bell. One day after American Ambassador Anne Patterson delivered the keys to 14 new Blackhaw helicopters, reports conservative columnist Arianna Huffington, Columbian President Andres Pastrana broke off peace talks with the rebels. Coincidence?

U.S. officials are also forcing Columbians to allow the release into the wild of a potentially dangerous new toxic fungus, again aimed at killing coca plants, but which may threaten their food supply and their health.

America seems determined to cause strife in Latin America. Helping the Columbian government on an ill-advised military campaign against its own people is guaranteed to make life miserable for everybody involved, fan the flames of a larger conflict, and make all of our south American neighbors hate us even more. The drug economy is complex; this is a overly simple and potentially treacherous "solution."

Please share your thoughts on this subject. (Read others' thoughts on this subject)
And why on Earth are we spending $1.3 billion, just to start, on a Latin American drug war? Surely, it can't be because a small percentage of Americans, much like others around the world, like to snort a little blow and shoot a little smack. We pack the drugs in our noses and veins, but the Columbians who make it and sell are more likely to die from it. When they do, they will very likely take a few of our boys and lots of innocent locals with them.
America needs to take responsibility for its citizens' behavior. It's not Columbia's fault we do so many drugs. Because the root of the problem lies within each user-nation's borders, we must look within for solutions to the drug problems in America.

In the mean time, let's not start another war. We are losing the drug war on the home front, and it's a safe bet we'll lose in the Columbian jungle, too. Saner heads must prevail.
Contact your U.S. congressperson and U.S. senator today to urge them to end the ridiculous and expensive war on drugs and stop the dangerous U.S. military buildup in Columbia.
A regularly updated and comprehensive look at the Colombia situation.
A detailed history of the FARC and its involvement with the drug trade.
DynCorp in Columbia: Outsourcing the Drug War
Environmental Research Foundation #713
Church activists say Plan Columbia is a plan for death.
From The Nation
Please share your thoughts on this subject. (Read others' thoughts on this subject)

Response to this page from the Sustainable Enterprises community:
"I agree with Bob Horowitz. The war on drugs in Columbia is devastating to the indigenous people living there. Noam Chomsky's recent book, Propaganda and the Public Mind, is very informative about the spraying of biological and chemical agents on the coca crops of Columbia. He talks about how the U.S. uses the excuse that Roundup Ultra is killing the coca crop in Columbia, when in reality, we want to kill the left-wing guerrillas and grassroots movements against Pastrana. If you have any more information about Plan Columbia, the use of herbicides in Columbia, or the resemblance of Vietnam in Columbia, I would greatly appreciate reading it. Thank you."

"obviously if you would have paid attintion to the last 40 + years of drug fighting this country has done within the states you would see that somthing else must be done. we are killing ourselves because of drug addiction not because a few people want a little snort up the nose or tute a little smack, which statistics have shown can kill you on your first try. if because of addiction we can't stop our people from taking drugs we must try to stop them at their source. its liberals like you who marched in new york protesting our military involvment in afganistan after the brutal attacks on the twin towers. you would rather see our country slowly decay and die from drugs and terrorist attacks than step up to the plate and take out problems that not only affect our country but many others aswell. if we must sacrafice some of our fighting men in order to stop the major drug flow into the united states and posably set up an actual goverment that does not rely solely on drugs so be it. not only would we better from it but so would columbia in the long run."

How can you sit by and Play armchair quarterback? I do not agree with Bob. Why don't some of you come up with a different solution rather than be apart of the problem? What else have we done to take care of the problem of a dripping drain but by mopping up the floor instead of fixing the drain? We are in the business of diplomatic relation aren't we?

The issue now is that Plan Colombia is the only hope that the Colombian people have that the ELN and FARC will be defeated and the nation can return to normal. Contrary to your opinion that this is going to start a new Vietnam. Vietnam was a country divided, Colombia is a united nation infiltrated by thugs supported by drug money. There is a big difference and to make this comparison is not possible nor supported by the facts. The Drug Lords have more money than the Colombian Government, since they do not have to be concerned about the operation of the government nor be concerned about providing for Colombia's Citizens. The ELN and FARC serve only to protect the interests of the Drug Business along with terrorist acts. I suggest that you read the Colombian newspapers, Caracol Radio's Site on the Internet has English translation, poor as it can be, it still allows you to understand the issues that face this nation. It is the most difficult thing in the world to envision a nation being held hostage by less than 1% of it's population. As I have mentioned both the ELN and FARC are the mercenary armies of the drug lords. It is drug money that provides them with modern arms and training from terrorists, some from the Arab world that makes them an insurmountable enemy for the Colombian Government. The monetary aid, initiated during the Clinton Administration and continued during President Bush's first year have provided the Colombian Military with the necessary essentials to conduct a real war against terrorists.

Columbian paramilitary groups' funding comes mainly from drugs. These groups commit a majority of the atrocities in the country, and have close links with the Columbian military (so they can say "we didn't do it. it was the paramilitaries"). The guerrillas funding comes from taxing those in the areas they control (including peasant farmers growing coca, the only crop off which they can profit). The FARC is hardly a drug lord hired mercenary force. They are freedom fighters, relentlessly battling an oppressive regime that serves the interests of rich elites. An alternative political party was allowed to form in the eighties, but its leaders (including those religious leaders involved in "liberation theology") were murdered. When people are given no peaceful options to affect change, they will resort to violence. In fact, according to the declaration of independence, they should resort to violence. Not only does the US involvement in Columbia do absolutely nothing to stem the flow of drugs, it supports a war against the Columbian population. Which isn't surprising, seeing as the war in drugs in the US is a war against that countries own population.

Comment

This is typical American policy and some of the responses are typical of our hypocritical American stupidity and arrogance. Many indigenous cultures were in America before violent, self-justifying Europeans came and wiped out 98% of it. Native cultures were rich and had great respect for the environment and made great use of many important plants for foods, medicine and ritual. There was never a problem with misuse of any plants, and never was there a type of misuse which caused others to suffer. Now after centuries (millennia?) of use by native cultures, and after most indigenous culture is gone, severely stressed or disrupted, Americans have an insatiable appetite for the most purified, unnatural and dangerous forms of traditional native plants. In fact, most of these plants are common weeds. Now that Americans have come with their great wealth and money which is unfairly far overvalued against central and south American currencies, their great demand, which they refuse to admit and cannot address themselves or even take responsibility for, has completely corrupted tiny third world economies like Columbia. These countries are run by huge illicit drug militias which would put the American prohibition to absolute shame. Prohibition was clearly never workable within the US because of "gangland violence", but we also control the source of our own alcohol production, so it's more profitable to keep alcohol legal than "illicit" drugs, but we still have no interest in really preventing or treating alcohol misuse. How is it that Americans are so against drug use again?

So here, America has come with the world's greatest and most hypocritical hunger for drugs, proceeded to totally corrupt poor native economies, and grants itself the right to blame the third world for pushing drugs on "poor, unsuspecting Americans!" My God, Americans are truly now such dangerously deluded, overfed morons that the weight of their huge, hypocritical, paranoid, fat asses should be enough to make everyone hate them for what they are. Our government and our corporations have spread little but misery and destruction on our own land and elsewhere, all the way back to our independence. We have a history of proselytizing and missionary work that brought only intolerance and destruction on cultures which were in reality more sophisticated and less violent than our own, but unlike even the fascist Romans, we actually cultivate a great lie, a lie even against God, that the fact of what we do is not true. We believe we are doing the opposite of what we actually are doing. We call our destruction "freedom", or democracy, so we can even sleep at night or face ourselves in the mirror, but the lie is breaking down, and conservative Americans are becoming more stressed, more sick and diseased and fat because of their lie. They are falling from their own weight and want to take as many people as possible down with them in their frustration. They are now even pushing the world towards a nuclear apocalypse, and if that happens Americans would surely blame innocent people even for that, who were right to stand against them. America will continue to rain paranoia down on the world while watching it play out on CNN. Americans would watch CNN until the last day of the apocalypse, never daring to question their own lies or risk their fat asses to stop any part of it.

Americans demand more illicit drugs than any other country, and spend the world's most powerful currency to get it, then they blame some poor nation like Columbia for America's suicidal addiction, and destroy Columbia out of spite. We poison their forests with sprays, destroy what is left of their native society, replace hearty native crops with terminator seeds, ban common weeds and important native plants used for millennia, while pushing our own hyperexpensive pharmaceutical drugs back on the third world. Ironically, these pharmaceuticals are sometimes based on banned native medicines. We Americans are not really even American, we are a nation of hateful, spiteful, insecure bastards without a country, drawn here from every part of the globe by greed. We are absolute bastards because of our policies and it's incredible that the entire third world has not banned the US from their soil. We are the Un-Americans.

What ever happened to..

That great gay-bar video? With the track by Electic Six?