The Bush administration is feigning shock and disgust over the revelations of systematic torture of Iraqi prisoners. But there is no doubt whatsoever in my mind that the White House was fully aware that such crimes were being committed and by whom. Not only that, they continually took steps to cover their own butts should the matter ever come up - like refusing to sign onto the International Court and declaring an instant end to the war in May 2003 to circumvent the Geneva Convention. Among the mercenaries being trained in the US and deployed to Iraq, some on the Pentagon payroll, are former commandos from the brutal Pinochet regime and "enforcers" from South Africa's former Aparthied regime."
The Real Butchers of Baghdad: G. W. Bush and His Corporate Mercenaries
By Cheryl Seal
The Bush administration is feigning shock and disgust over the revelations of systematic torture of Iraqi prisoners. But there is no doubt whatsoever in my mind that the White House was fully aware that such crimes were being committed and by whom. Not only that, they continually took steps to cover their own butts should the matter ever come up. I will make that case later. But first, let's take a look at the group that is, I am certain, perpetrating, or engineering the perpetration of, crimes against Iraqi civilians.
Soldiers of Misfortune
Mercenaries, of course, have a history that extends back into the murkiest depths of human history. These are paid fighters - supreme opportunists - whose only allegiance is to themselves and, more loosely, to the guy who signs their checks. Patriotism, honor, and democracy don't enter into the deal. The primary focus of a mercenary is getting the job done, by any means, and collecting their pay off.
In every war in the past 50 years in which mercenaries were deployed, atrocities have been committed with an unfailing regularity. After South Africa's aparthied government fell, thousands of former soldiers and police were displaced - many of them brutal racists who had committed torture and other abuses under Aparthied. Hundreds of these people were hired to fight in various hotspots, from the Sudan and Zimbabwe to Kosovo. Not surprisingly, many have since been charged with atrocities committed while "fighting" in these places. In fact, the problem of criminal activity by South African mercenaries became such an embarrassment for the South African government that it passed a law in 1999 banning South African citizens from acting as mercenaries abroad. But most "soldiers of fortune" and the companies that recruit them consider themselves above any law and have simply gone underground, working out deals via the Internet and thumbing their noses at such laws.
Despite this dubious history, the use of mercenaries has become increasingly popular in recent decades as western corporations (often using the US military as their "point force") expand their operations into resource-rich or strategically positioned nations that are unstable and/or uncooperative. Many outfits, including the UK's Sandline and Northridge Services Group or the USA's Blackwater Security Consulting, act more or less as mercenary "brokers," recruiting "manpower" from anywhere they can find it, including South Africa -despite the 1999 law. UK-recruited mercenaries have been accused of atrocities in Zimbawe and the Ivory Coast, while Russian mercenaries stand accused of participating in ethnic cleansing in Kosovo.
While the Blair and Bush regimes try to play down the mercenary theme, calling such people "civilian contractors," the BBC reports that "one military source who wanted to remain anonymous [states that] mercenaries were still very active and could command $10-20,000 a month for their services." In fact, a company called Erinys with offices in South Africa and the UK, which is operating illegally - not even bothering to register with the government - won a huge contract to protect the oil industry interests of western corporations in Iraq. Mercenaries contracted by US corporations like Halliburton are receiving a minimum of $100,000 per year. In true corporate style, the accepted euphemism for mercenary brokers in the US is "risk management companies." Makes it sound almost like Morgan Stanley, eh?
The four "civilian contractors" ambushed and brutally murdered near Fallujah were in fact mercenaries recruited by a Blackwater Security Consulting. Blackwater operates a 2,400-square-acre training facility in Moyock North Carolina. Even if the four murdered men were not guilty of any crimes against Iraqis themselves, they most certainly may have been the victims of "guilt by association" with other mercenaries who had committed crimes such as torture. That some Blackwater recruits could be capable of committing such crimes is beyond doubt: many are veterans of some of the most repressive regimes of recent history. Among Blackwater's contribution to the Iraq war are at least 60 commandos who worked for Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet and an untold number of former aparthied South African soldiers and police. At least 1,500 South African mercenaries are now in Iraq - a situation that clearly flaunts the 1999 law. Chile, alarmed by the situation, is now investigating the recruitment of mercenaries. Add to the quality of recruits the sheer numbers of mercenaries now in Iraq -an estimated 15,000-20,000- and you have a recipe for humanitarian disaster.
But mercenary recruiters have thrived with obscene vigor since Bush took office. Since 2001, Blackwater's profits have increased by 300%. Last October, Blackwater landed a $35.7-million contract to train at least 10,000 sailors from Virginia, Texas, and California each year in the fine art of guerilla warfare (the Blackwater folks like to call this "force protection" training.).
There are already many reports that mercenaries in Iraq routinely act in violation of International and US military laws governing rules of engagement and conduct in a war and post-war occupation zone. For example, the "Army Times" reported that mercenaries were using armor-piercing, limited-penetration rounds manufactured by RBCD of San Antonio. These bullets were banned by the US military because of the horrific, unnecessary suffering and damage they inflict, such as shredding internal organs. "The bullet is so controversial that if [the mercenary], a former SEAL, had been on active duty, he would have been court-martialed for using it," says the AT. "The ammunition is 'nonstandard' and hasn't passed the military's approval process.
It has, since the prison torture scandal broke, emerged that military contractors -i.e., mercenaries hired by the Pentagon- have been engaged in the torture/interrogation of prisoners, including those at Abu Ghraib prison. War crimes expert Gary Solis of Georgetown University says the only reason he can think of that US military would use mercenaries for such a "delicate operation" as prisoner interrogation is that there are too few real military people available. Solis says that so many critical positions have been eliminated from the military now that when they do need trained specialists, they simply don't exist. All that are available, says Solis, are "trigger pullers." Worse, the mercenaries hired by the US military are not only being paid up to three times more than honest US soldiers subject to military law, but are being paid by TAXPAYERS.
But while Solis thus suggests that the problem can be traced directly back to Bush's failure to plan for any contingency in Iraq except happy, warmly welcoming Iraqis, great weather, and no loss of basic services (despite the targeted bombing out of water treatment and power facilities) I say this is wishful thinking. Bush never planned to use a larger military force in Iraq. He was no doubt assured by Cheney, Rumsfeld, Kissinger, and other "advisors" that 15,000 or so brutal mercenaries roaming the countryside would be more than enough "muscle" to keep Iraqis in line. After all, that tactic had worked for Cheney in Burma, for Kissinger in Indonesia and Chile, and for Rummy in the Iran-Iraq conflict.
The Case for Bush's Premeditated Complicity in the Systematic Abuse of Iraqi Civilians
Since the scandal broke, observers have been calling for investigations, for war crimes charges, for court martials. What most, in their blissful ignorance don't know, is that Bush and Co. made sure well ahead of time that its operations in Afghanistan and Iraq would escape accountability. From the day Bush and his pals commandeered the White House and set their sights on Central Asian oil (simultaneous events), they have worked to maneuver into place all the corporate-style blocks to accountability available to them. First, to evade the Geneva Convention in Afghanistan, Bush never formally declared war. Instead, he claimed that the US bombing and invasion was part of the "war on terror" and that the war on terror did not constitute a "real war" under the Geneva Convention. This twisting of international law and morality outraged many international law experts and human rights advocates - an outcry kept conveniently out of nearly all the US media.
Kenneth Roth, Executive Director of Human Rights Watch said, "To say that the Geneva Conventions do not apply to a war on terrorism is particularly dangerous, as it is all too easy to imagine this 'exception' coming back to haunt U.S. forces in future conflicts." How right he was! Bush used this "interpretation": of what constitutes war to justify the indiscriminate round up of Muslims and their shipment to Guantanomo Bay's infamous Camp X-ray, where they have been held, protected by no laws, regulations or basic sense of moral "right" ever since.
Next came Iraq. Has no one stopped to wonder, especially now with 20-20 hindsight, why, in July 2002, just as Bush was first publicly rattling his saber towards Iraq, that he also announced that he would not sign onto the International Criminal Court? This move was designed to place the US beyond prosecution by the international community for crimes just such as those committed in Abu Ghraib.
It is quite obvious Bush anticipated the need for this preventive measure. Even if he could dodge the Geneva Convention bullet, Bush knew that there are several internationally recognized laws that are supposed to be observed both during and after a war in an occupied country. "Article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and which the United States ratified in 1992, provides that 'No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.' Also in force at all times is the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and the UN Standard Minimum Rules on the Treatment of Prisoners to which the United States became a party in 1994."
In addition, Article 3 of the International Convention states that "A mercenary, as defined in article 1 of the present Convention, who participates directly in hostilities or in a concerted act of violence, as the case may be, commits an offence for the purposes of the Convention.'" Knowing that mercenaries were going to be on the scene, Bush knew he had to cover his ass. So what seemed like an inexplicable act of arrogance back in July 2002 (his failure to acknowledge the International Court) now clearly seems a simple cynical act of "preemptive self defense."
To attack Iraq so soon after Afghanistan, Bush had to trump up a sufficiently compelling pretext -thus he settled on WMDs. To rally the American public and "coalition forces" behind him, he also had to make it the war "official." However, he made sure that the war's "official" status lasted as short a time as possible. Thus, on May 2, 2003, before the heaviest fighting had even begun, we find our vulture-in-chief parading the decks of an aircraft carrier declaring an end to major conflict. As a result, everything that is going on in Iraq today is beyond the touch of the Geneva Convention. During an interveiw with NPR's Cheryl Conley on May 2, 2004, war crimes expert Gary Solis of Georgetown University stated that even the most horrific and systematic abuse of prisoners, even those committed at a military run facility like Abu Ghraib are not war crimes. Why? Because, says Solis, anyone captured after Bush declared an end of major conflicts would automatically lose their prisoner of war status under the Geneva Convention. They would instead be classed as "insurgents."
There is no doubt at all that Bush knew that the Pentagon and US corporations in Iraq were planning to use mercenaries extensively. Not only that but, Bush and Co. knew what sort of means these mercenaries would use to "quell resistance" and welcomed it. An extensive report of abuses at the Abu Ghraib prison was sent to the Pentagon in January. Yet Myers claims he never saw it, nor did Bush or Rumsfeld. But again, this is merely a slippery corporate ploy to elude accountability. Not seeing the report and not being aware of its contents are two different things. I am sure that it was prearranged by team Bush that any reports like that were NOT to be acknowledged or passed on beyond a certain point in the chain of command. Just as certain pieces of information on terrorist activity before 9/11 were not passed on beyond a certain "checkpoint". This way Bush, Cheney and the Bush cabinet could later honestly claim the never saw them. That they knew the contents, however, seems quite certain.
Need more evidence? Just days before the abuse of Iraqi civilians became public knowledge, Bush nominated John Negroponte to be the ambassador to Iraq. Negroponte, as Bush was quite well aware, was widely believed to have OK-ed and then systematically covered up, the systematic torture and murder of prisoners in Honduras. (see links to the Baltimore Sun investigative report below). What better man to have on the job in Iraq if you are running a banana republic-style operation? With all of the gifted seasoned diplomats around to choose from, Bush chose a known accomplice to torture and murder.
The techniques being used on the Iraqi prisoners are disturbingly similar to those used by the CIA in Central America -including Honduras under Negroponte's watch. A CIA training manual declassified under the Freedom of Information Act in 1997 details torture methods used against "insurgents" in Central America in the 1980s. "Human Resource Exploitation Training Manual -- 1983" and a CIA Vietnam-era training manual called "KUBARK Counterintelligence Interrogation -- July 1963," both taught the same method of torture being used in Iraq by the US right now: stripping suspects naked and keeping them blindfolded. Dark, windowless interrogation rooms with no toilet. The 1983 manual advises an interrogator to "manipulate the subject's environment, to create unpleasant or intolerable situations. The manual suggests that prisoners be deprived of food and sleep, and made to maintain rigid positions, that they be threatened with rape or death and that their familes be threatened. In its 1995 investigative report on Negroponte in Honduras, the "Baltimore Sun" reported that "Ines Consuelo Murillo was tortured by a secret Honduran military intelligence unit called Battalion 316. Her captors tied the 24-year-old woman's hands and feet, hung her naked from the ceiling and beat her with their fists. They fondled her. They nearly drowned her. They clipped wires to her breasts and sent electricity surging through her body." Sounds sickening familiar now, doesn't it? (see bibliography below).
Last but not least, evidence that Bush knew and promoted heavy-handed tactics in Iraq can be found with just one glance at the people with whom he has surrounded himself. Richard Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Richard Myers, Condolezza Rice, Paul Wolfowitz - all served in the US government at the height of the power of some of the most repressive US-backed regime, including Pinochet and Saddam. In fact, many of the same crimes being committed in Iraq were committed by Halliburton mercenaries in Burma while Cheney was CEO. The Institute for Public Accuracy reports, "Cheney's Halliburton also profited enormously from projects around the world that have been widely condemned for horrendous human rights abuses and massive environmental destruction. The numerous examples include doing business with the notorious Yadana pipeline project in Burma --an environmentally damaging project on behalf of which, according to a U.S. federal court, egregious human rights abuses were committed, including murder, torture, rape, forced labor and forced relocation."
In short, the evidence that Bush knew about and condoned, if not promoted outright, abuses of Iraqi civilians is screaming at the American public...which has, alas, so far chosen to turn a deaf ear.
Torture, Rape and Murder by Halliburton Mercenaries in Burma while Cheney was CEO
http://www.accuracy.org/press_releases/PR071602.htm
Background Paper on Geneva Conventions and Persons Held by U.S. Forces
http://www.hrw.org/backgrounder/usa/pow-bck.htm
Declassified Paper proves torture was taught by CIA
http://users.westnet.gr/~cgian/ciatortu.htm
US Officials Misstate Geneva Convention Requirements
http://hrw.org/press/2002/01/us012802.htm
International Law, Article 7
. http://www.hrw.org/backgrounder/usa/pow-bck.htm
Mercenaries in Africa's conflicts
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/3501632.stm Russian Mercenaries Accused of Kosovo Atrocities http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/375754.stm
Mercenaries 'R' Us
http://www.workingforchange.com/article.cfm?itemid=16701 One-Shot Killer http://www.armytimes.com/story.php?f=1-292925-2426405.php Laws of War and War Crimes http://www.npr.org/rundowns/rundown.php?prgDate=02-May-2004&prgId=2
A Survivor of Honduras CIA torture under Negroponte's Watch tells her tale
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-negroponte3a,0,3966794.story
Negroponte's coverup in Honduras
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-negroponte5.story
By Cheryl Seal
The Bush administration is feigning shock and disgust over the revelations of systematic torture of Iraqi prisoners. But there is no doubt whatsoever in my mind that the White House was fully aware that such crimes were being committed and by whom. Not only that, they continually took steps to cover their own butts should the matter ever come up. I will make that case later. But first, let's take a look at the group that is, I am certain, perpetrating, or engineering the perpetration of, crimes against Iraqi civilians.
Soldiers of Misfortune
Mercenaries, of course, have a history that extends back into the murkiest depths of human history. These are paid fighters - supreme opportunists - whose only allegiance is to themselves and, more loosely, to the guy who signs their checks. Patriotism, honor, and democracy don't enter into the deal. The primary focus of a mercenary is getting the job done, by any means, and collecting their pay off.
In every war in the past 50 years in which mercenaries were deployed, atrocities have been committed with an unfailing regularity. After South Africa's aparthied government fell, thousands of former soldiers and police were displaced - many of them brutal racists who had committed torture and other abuses under Aparthied. Hundreds of these people were hired to fight in various hotspots, from the Sudan and Zimbabwe to Kosovo. Not surprisingly, many have since been charged with atrocities committed while "fighting" in these places. In fact, the problem of criminal activity by South African mercenaries became such an embarrassment for the South African government that it passed a law in 1999 banning South African citizens from acting as mercenaries abroad. But most "soldiers of fortune" and the companies that recruit them consider themselves above any law and have simply gone underground, working out deals via the Internet and thumbing their noses at such laws.
Despite this dubious history, the use of mercenaries has become increasingly popular in recent decades as western corporations (often using the US military as their "point force") expand their operations into resource-rich or strategically positioned nations that are unstable and/or uncooperative. Many outfits, including the UK's Sandline and Northridge Services Group or the USA's Blackwater Security Consulting, act more or less as mercenary "brokers," recruiting "manpower" from anywhere they can find it, including South Africa -despite the 1999 law. UK-recruited mercenaries have been accused of atrocities in Zimbawe and the Ivory Coast, while Russian mercenaries stand accused of participating in ethnic cleansing in Kosovo.
While the Blair and Bush regimes try to play down the mercenary theme, calling such people "civilian contractors," the BBC reports that "one military source who wanted to remain anonymous [states that] mercenaries were still very active and could command $10-20,000 a month for their services." In fact, a company called Erinys with offices in South Africa and the UK, which is operating illegally - not even bothering to register with the government - won a huge contract to protect the oil industry interests of western corporations in Iraq. Mercenaries contracted by US corporations like Halliburton are receiving a minimum of $100,000 per year. In true corporate style, the accepted euphemism for mercenary brokers in the US is "risk management companies." Makes it sound almost like Morgan Stanley, eh?
The four "civilian contractors" ambushed and brutally murdered near Fallujah were in fact mercenaries recruited by a Blackwater Security Consulting. Blackwater operates a 2,400-square-acre training facility in Moyock North Carolina. Even if the four murdered men were not guilty of any crimes against Iraqis themselves, they most certainly may have been the victims of "guilt by association" with other mercenaries who had committed crimes such as torture. That some Blackwater recruits could be capable of committing such crimes is beyond doubt: many are veterans of some of the most repressive regimes of recent history. Among Blackwater's contribution to the Iraq war are at least 60 commandos who worked for Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet and an untold number of former aparthied South African soldiers and police. At least 1,500 South African mercenaries are now in Iraq - a situation that clearly flaunts the 1999 law. Chile, alarmed by the situation, is now investigating the recruitment of mercenaries. Add to the quality of recruits the sheer numbers of mercenaries now in Iraq -an estimated 15,000-20,000- and you have a recipe for humanitarian disaster.
But mercenary recruiters have thrived with obscene vigor since Bush took office. Since 2001, Blackwater's profits have increased by 300%. Last October, Blackwater landed a $35.7-million contract to train at least 10,000 sailors from Virginia, Texas, and California each year in the fine art of guerilla warfare (the Blackwater folks like to call this "force protection" training.).
There are already many reports that mercenaries in Iraq routinely act in violation of International and US military laws governing rules of engagement and conduct in a war and post-war occupation zone. For example, the "Army Times" reported that mercenaries were using armor-piercing, limited-penetration rounds manufactured by RBCD of San Antonio. These bullets were banned by the US military because of the horrific, unnecessary suffering and damage they inflict, such as shredding internal organs. "The bullet is so controversial that if [the mercenary], a former SEAL, had been on active duty, he would have been court-martialed for using it," says the AT. "The ammunition is 'nonstandard' and hasn't passed the military's approval process.
It has, since the prison torture scandal broke, emerged that military contractors -i.e., mercenaries hired by the Pentagon- have been engaged in the torture/interrogation of prisoners, including those at Abu Ghraib prison. War crimes expert Gary Solis of Georgetown University says the only reason he can think of that US military would use mercenaries for such a "delicate operation" as prisoner interrogation is that there are too few real military people available. Solis says that so many critical positions have been eliminated from the military now that when they do need trained specialists, they simply don't exist. All that are available, says Solis, are "trigger pullers." Worse, the mercenaries hired by the US military are not only being paid up to three times more than honest US soldiers subject to military law, but are being paid by TAXPAYERS.
But while Solis thus suggests that the problem can be traced directly back to Bush's failure to plan for any contingency in Iraq except happy, warmly welcoming Iraqis, great weather, and no loss of basic services (despite the targeted bombing out of water treatment and power facilities) I say this is wishful thinking. Bush never planned to use a larger military force in Iraq. He was no doubt assured by Cheney, Rumsfeld, Kissinger, and other "advisors" that 15,000 or so brutal mercenaries roaming the countryside would be more than enough "muscle" to keep Iraqis in line. After all, that tactic had worked for Cheney in Burma, for Kissinger in Indonesia and Chile, and for Rummy in the Iran-Iraq conflict.
The Case for Bush's Premeditated Complicity in the Systematic Abuse of Iraqi Civilians
Since the scandal broke, observers have been calling for investigations, for war crimes charges, for court martials. What most, in their blissful ignorance don't know, is that Bush and Co. made sure well ahead of time that its operations in Afghanistan and Iraq would escape accountability. From the day Bush and his pals commandeered the White House and set their sights on Central Asian oil (simultaneous events), they have worked to maneuver into place all the corporate-style blocks to accountability available to them. First, to evade the Geneva Convention in Afghanistan, Bush never formally declared war. Instead, he claimed that the US bombing and invasion was part of the "war on terror" and that the war on terror did not constitute a "real war" under the Geneva Convention. This twisting of international law and morality outraged many international law experts and human rights advocates - an outcry kept conveniently out of nearly all the US media.
Kenneth Roth, Executive Director of Human Rights Watch said, "To say that the Geneva Conventions do not apply to a war on terrorism is particularly dangerous, as it is all too easy to imagine this 'exception' coming back to haunt U.S. forces in future conflicts." How right he was! Bush used this "interpretation": of what constitutes war to justify the indiscriminate round up of Muslims and their shipment to Guantanomo Bay's infamous Camp X-ray, where they have been held, protected by no laws, regulations or basic sense of moral "right" ever since.
Next came Iraq. Has no one stopped to wonder, especially now with 20-20 hindsight, why, in July 2002, just as Bush was first publicly rattling his saber towards Iraq, that he also announced that he would not sign onto the International Criminal Court? This move was designed to place the US beyond prosecution by the international community for crimes just such as those committed in Abu Ghraib.
It is quite obvious Bush anticipated the need for this preventive measure. Even if he could dodge the Geneva Convention bullet, Bush knew that there are several internationally recognized laws that are supposed to be observed both during and after a war in an occupied country. "Article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and which the United States ratified in 1992, provides that 'No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.' Also in force at all times is the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and the UN Standard Minimum Rules on the Treatment of Prisoners to which the United States became a party in 1994."
In addition, Article 3 of the International Convention states that "A mercenary, as defined in article 1 of the present Convention, who participates directly in hostilities or in a concerted act of violence, as the case may be, commits an offence for the purposes of the Convention.'" Knowing that mercenaries were going to be on the scene, Bush knew he had to cover his ass. So what seemed like an inexplicable act of arrogance back in July 2002 (his failure to acknowledge the International Court) now clearly seems a simple cynical act of "preemptive self defense."
To attack Iraq so soon after Afghanistan, Bush had to trump up a sufficiently compelling pretext -thus he settled on WMDs. To rally the American public and "coalition forces" behind him, he also had to make it the war "official." However, he made sure that the war's "official" status lasted as short a time as possible. Thus, on May 2, 2003, before the heaviest fighting had even begun, we find our vulture-in-chief parading the decks of an aircraft carrier declaring an end to major conflict. As a result, everything that is going on in Iraq today is beyond the touch of the Geneva Convention. During an interveiw with NPR's Cheryl Conley on May 2, 2004, war crimes expert Gary Solis of Georgetown University stated that even the most horrific and systematic abuse of prisoners, even those committed at a military run facility like Abu Ghraib are not war crimes. Why? Because, says Solis, anyone captured after Bush declared an end of major conflicts would automatically lose their prisoner of war status under the Geneva Convention. They would instead be classed as "insurgents."
There is no doubt at all that Bush knew that the Pentagon and US corporations in Iraq were planning to use mercenaries extensively. Not only that but, Bush and Co. knew what sort of means these mercenaries would use to "quell resistance" and welcomed it. An extensive report of abuses at the Abu Ghraib prison was sent to the Pentagon in January. Yet Myers claims he never saw it, nor did Bush or Rumsfeld. But again, this is merely a slippery corporate ploy to elude accountability. Not seeing the report and not being aware of its contents are two different things. I am sure that it was prearranged by team Bush that any reports like that were NOT to be acknowledged or passed on beyond a certain point in the chain of command. Just as certain pieces of information on terrorist activity before 9/11 were not passed on beyond a certain "checkpoint". This way Bush, Cheney and the Bush cabinet could later honestly claim the never saw them. That they knew the contents, however, seems quite certain.
Need more evidence? Just days before the abuse of Iraqi civilians became public knowledge, Bush nominated John Negroponte to be the ambassador to Iraq. Negroponte, as Bush was quite well aware, was widely believed to have OK-ed and then systematically covered up, the systematic torture and murder of prisoners in Honduras. (see links to the Baltimore Sun investigative report below). What better man to have on the job in Iraq if you are running a banana republic-style operation? With all of the gifted seasoned diplomats around to choose from, Bush chose a known accomplice to torture and murder.
The techniques being used on the Iraqi prisoners are disturbingly similar to those used by the CIA in Central America -including Honduras under Negroponte's watch. A CIA training manual declassified under the Freedom of Information Act in 1997 details torture methods used against "insurgents" in Central America in the 1980s. "Human Resource Exploitation Training Manual -- 1983" and a CIA Vietnam-era training manual called "KUBARK Counterintelligence Interrogation -- July 1963," both taught the same method of torture being used in Iraq by the US right now: stripping suspects naked and keeping them blindfolded. Dark, windowless interrogation rooms with no toilet. The 1983 manual advises an interrogator to "manipulate the subject's environment, to create unpleasant or intolerable situations. The manual suggests that prisoners be deprived of food and sleep, and made to maintain rigid positions, that they be threatened with rape or death and that their familes be threatened. In its 1995 investigative report on Negroponte in Honduras, the "Baltimore Sun" reported that "Ines Consuelo Murillo was tortured by a secret Honduran military intelligence unit called Battalion 316. Her captors tied the 24-year-old woman's hands and feet, hung her naked from the ceiling and beat her with their fists. They fondled her. They nearly drowned her. They clipped wires to her breasts and sent electricity surging through her body." Sounds sickening familiar now, doesn't it? (see bibliography below).
Last but not least, evidence that Bush knew and promoted heavy-handed tactics in Iraq can be found with just one glance at the people with whom he has surrounded himself. Richard Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Richard Myers, Condolezza Rice, Paul Wolfowitz - all served in the US government at the height of the power of some of the most repressive US-backed regime, including Pinochet and Saddam. In fact, many of the same crimes being committed in Iraq were committed by Halliburton mercenaries in Burma while Cheney was CEO. The Institute for Public Accuracy reports, "Cheney's Halliburton also profited enormously from projects around the world that have been widely condemned for horrendous human rights abuses and massive environmental destruction. The numerous examples include doing business with the notorious Yadana pipeline project in Burma --an environmentally damaging project on behalf of which, according to a U.S. federal court, egregious human rights abuses were committed, including murder, torture, rape, forced labor and forced relocation."
In short, the evidence that Bush knew about and condoned, if not promoted outright, abuses of Iraqi civilians is screaming at the American public...which has, alas, so far chosen to turn a deaf ear.
Torture, Rape and Murder by Halliburton Mercenaries in Burma while Cheney was CEO
http://www.accuracy.org/press_releases/PR071602.htm Background Paper on Geneva Conventions and Persons Held by U.S. Forces
http://www.hrw.org/backgrounder/usa/pow-bck.htm Declassified Paper proves torture was taught by CIA
http://users.westnet.gr/~cgian/ciatortu.htm US Officials Misstate Geneva Convention Requirements
http://hrw.org/press/2002/01/us012802.htm International Law, Article 7
.
http://www.hrw.org/backgrounder/usa/pow-bck.htm Mercenaries in Africa's conflicts
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/3501632.stm Russian Mercenaries Accused of Kosovo Atrocities http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/375754.stm Mercenaries 'R' Us
http://www.workingforchange.com/article.cfm?itemid=16701 One-Shot Killer http://www.armytimes.com/story.php?f=1-292925-2426405.php Laws of War and War Crimes http://www.npr.org/rundowns/rundown.php?prgDate=02-May-2004&prgId=2 A Survivor of Honduras CIA torture under Negroponte's Watch tells her tale
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-negroponte3a,0,3966794.story Negroponte's coverup in Honduras
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-negroponte5.story 
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Comments
Hide the following 18 comments
heroes
06.05.2004 00:09
Either way, maybe you should back up your accusations with a little evidence. If these people were THAT bad, then I can equally provide evidence that the enemy and other African nations were doing as bad or worse. The SADF are heroes and it is a shame they must find employment as mercenaries, but not forever..
The black communist govt of the ANC are temporary visitors in the offices of the government, and the ex SADF personnel have no doubt taken their professionalism with them to other countries.
die vierkleur transvaal
Minority Report
06.05.2004 08:38
Those thousands of course included lots of uninvolved people swept up in the dragnet. But hey. Can't make an omelette without breaking a few eggs, right.
Ian
the heroic SADF
06.05.2004 10:06
I thought they were terrorist thugs propping up a brutal racist murderous regime, but now I am convinced they were the very definition of benevolence.
Anyone else here born yesterday?
Furat Al-Samaraie
rubbish
06.05.2004 12:54
When will you people realise the truth, that the likes of the ANC that you adore so much, were and still are far worse than the Boer government ever was. The left is whipping up hysteria from 10 years ago today to try and smear these men who are now working elsewhere. Just because they fought for their country, a nation which is as old as America is, that the Boers discovered in the 1600s, and it was only through luck that they ended up the MINORITY and became inevitable victims of the majority black population which is merciless in its attacks on whites (1,500 farmers and their families raped, TORTURED and murdered since 1994). White people built the towns, roads, education system, health system (biggest hospital in the Southern Hemisphere exclusively for the use of our black population). If it wasn't for us the blacks would still be living in tents and mud huts and eating eachother (some people say they haven't changed though...). We should be thanked for the cars they drive, the clothes they wear, the language they speak, the healthcare they use, the internet, telecomms, EVERYTHING whites invented for them. Hell, we even feed them, our farmers put food on their plates and they thank us with racist shit about wanting to take OUR land. DIE LAND IS ONS LAND! It was uninhabited when whites arrived, we simply pitched up and built a civilisation, 80% of our blacks are actually from outside SA and moved in when we provided them with jobs.
The justification behind smears on whites from SA is empty. You're just quoting from your communist propaganda manuals, and have done NO reading up. No matter what you dig up the whites were justified even if EVERYTHING you dig up is true, because all you've done by supporting the communists was give the whip to the kaffir so that he can rape, torture, murder, throw us out of our homes and our land, and steal everything we worked for. Don't you people understand the concept of misinfomration and propaganda?? I suggest you speak to some people who really were there in the apartheid years on the white side for another view before you dig up stupid cliche's from the 80's about "brutal racist whites".
die vierkleur transvaal
"The ANC communist"
06.05.2004 17:31
The ANC have adopted US-backed neoliberal policies selling off everything left right and centre to the point where many can't even aford water. Its certainly an interesting strain of Communism. Just goes to show that to someone who thinks the Apartheid regime was a bundle of universal liberty, EVERYONE IS A COMMUNIST! lol
Tom
.
06.05.2004 17:57
Their terrorist-wing, MK, was trained and provided with weapons by the former USSR and East Germany. They linked up with other organisations such as ZANLA and ZAPU in Rhodesia (now called Zimbabwe) and both of those were financed and supported by the USSR and China. Russian spies were caught in South Africa spying for the ANC and their terrorist wings. Cubans were fighting in Angola alongside the so-called "african liberation" movements who ALL received money from the communist bloc.
Nelson Mandela wrote an essay entitled, "How to be a good Communist".
In Zimbabwe, Bob MugApe and his ZANUPF buddies use the term "Comrade" when referring to people, and so does the state media. This is an old communist tradition. They even adopt the communist salute. The ANC remains silent as farms are destroyed and their occupants brutalised, raped and/or murdered by thugs. Their workers are thrown out and left to starve or beaten/raped/murdered. The govt of SA could EASILY solve this, as they did in the 1970s when traitors in the SA govt forced Ian Smith in Rhodesia to negociate, by threatening sanctions of their own, and cutting off the electricity. The ANC could do this but won't because they secretely agree with what MugApe is doing. They even invited him to "Freedom Day" with open arms.
The ANC might not be following ECONOMIC communist policies, their policies are Thatcherite in general not Communist.. ECONOMICALLY SPEAKING...
But their SOCIAL policies are clearly Marxist/Communist orientated. Affirmative action based on the equality-religion that states that everyone is of equal ability and potential no matter what, is an inherently marxist idea. Everybody is totally equal in every respect, Mozart and the welfare bum are equal? Got to be kidding me! That lunacy is from communism and from the likes of Marx and Gramski. The "new SA" constitution is based on feminism, false-equality and the destruction of the nuclear family.
In addition, they are following a communist-inspired redistribution of land programme. Yes I bet most of it IS going to cronies like in Zimbabwe just the same as the USSR did to the Kulaks and the people of Ukraine by stealing their land and raping/murdering them. This is just like what goes on in Zimbabwe. The ANC are in a hurry to "speed-up" land redistribution, (i.e stealing it off farmers to give to incompetants and to cronies, people who are LESS productive in farming and LESS skilled.) What they really want is to make it like Zimbabwe, only with less hassle by being more organised. Still the same results though. This is JUST LIKE what happened in Russia.
SOCIAL communism is what it's all about. New Labour are an example. They may be right wing on the economy but on gay "rights", feminism, mass immigration and anti-white bias they are totally to the left. They might talk the talk occasionally to appease the conservative voter by they are walking the left wing walk.
The ANC promised our blacks, on the black radio stations and in the black newspapers, back in 1994, that they'd be living in our houses, and on our farms which they would own, and would be driving our cars. The majority haven't and they will soon get restless. Crime has already run out of control thanks to the politically correct rubbish they have forced our great police and security forces to accept (illiterate police, corruption, promotion based on black skin rather than merit.. criminals rights, etc.). The plan is that when Nelson Mandela dies that will be the trigger, and thousands of blacks will start slaughtering the whites and taking their homes. The reason is that EVERYONE will know when he dies,so it's a "good" trigger.
So mark my words, the ANC are the SAME as the likes of MugAPE or even worse! Think about what the whites managed to achieve and how good things were when we ran the show compared to what the ANC are doing now and have in store before you start rattling out anti-white propaganda!
die vierkleur transvaal
Oh I see
06.05.2004 18:08
Tom
actually
06.05.2004 18:23
SOUTH AFRICA
FACT: White people have lived in South Africa much longer than Negroes. There have been White settlements in South Africa for over 300 years, about the same length of time Europeans have lived in North America. Even 150 years after the first colonies around Capetown, at the beginning of the 19th Century, there still were no Blacks within 500 miles. The Blacks wandered in from central Africa later on, possibly fleeing the slave trade or due to famine. In fact, most of South Africa's Blacks were born in other countries.
Sources: "South Africa: Time to Choose Sides" Soldier of Fortune, Dec. '89.
"The Christian Heritage of South Africa Under Attack!", Peter Hammond, Herald the Coming, Dec. '92.
Jacob, A. White Man, Think Again! 1965, publ. by author.
FACT: South Africa is by far the wealthiest and most advanced country in Africa, producing nearly 75% of the continent's Gross National Product. It is almost completely self- sufficient so boycotts have little affect upon its economy. In fact most of Africa is dependent upon South Africa. South Africa is governed by a Western parliamentary republic and strictly segregated racially. South Africa grants complete self-government to the Blacks in their own areas of the country.
Sources: "South Africa: Time to Choose Sides" Soldier of Fortune, Dec. '89.
"The Christian Heritage of South Africa Under Attack!", Peter Hammond, Herald the Coming, Dec. '92.
Jacob, A. White Man, Think Again! 1965, publ. by author.
FACT: Though South Africa is perpetually criticized by the world press for its racial separatism, its Blacks live better than the Blacks of any other African country and are multiplying rapidly and healthily. 87% of Black welfare costs are being paid by the White man. This includes food, clothing, training, housing, education an health care. --even old age pensions.
Source: Jacob, A. White Man, Think Again! 1965, publ. by author.
FACT: Thousands of South African Blacks graduate from college every year, more than three times as many as in the rest of Africa combined. Every Black child is within walking distance of a primary school. Africa's largest hospital, which serves Blacks almost exclusively and performs over 1800 operations per month, is in South Africa.
Source: Jacob, A. White Man, Think Again! 1965, publ. by author.
FACT: The Blacks of South Africa own more cars than do all the citizens of the Soviet Union.
Source: "South Africa: Time to Choose Sides" Soldier of Fortune, Dec. '89.
FACT: South Africa has more Black doctors, lawyers, professional people, and millionaires than all of the rest of the world combined.
Source: "The Christian Heritage of South Africa Under Attack!", Peter Hammond, Herald the Coming, Dec. '92.
FACT: In fact, conditions are "so bad" for Blacks in South Africa that the country has a tremendous problem with illegal Black immigration, having over one million illegal foreign workers. (14) (29)
Sources: Jacob, A. White Man, Think Again! 1965, publ. by author.
"South Africa: Time to Choose Sides" Soldier of Fortune, Dec. '89.
===
Since the ANC took power:
Ten years after Apartheid...
Here are the things you will never see in the major news media regarding post-Apartheid South Africa:-
In 10 years 1+ million South Africans, mostly blacks, lost their jobs due to the ANC's creeping socialism
Unemployment is at a staggering 45%+ - much worse than under white rule & worse than the 30% unemployment in the USA during the Great Depression.
(Note: under Apartheid, unemployment was only 19% - despite sanctions, a civil war and world hatred)
1 million whites stand to lose their jobs in the coming years to Affirmative Action
1,400+ White commercial farmers were murdered & our food production is being threatened by "Land Reform"
They say by 2014, 30% of commercial farmland will be owned by blacks
though I think it will happen much sooner & on a much bigger scale
115,000 land claims by blacks have been processed so far...
We are the rape capital of the world... it is conservatively estimated that we have 50,000 rapes per annum
1,231 children under 5 were raped in 13 months by blacks believing in AIDS myths. Many babies who are raped die...
40% of rape survivors are under 18...
We are now an international drug-smuggling route, comparable to Colombia...
We export cannabis grown by blacks...
We are the largest users of mandrax in the world...
150-200 Police are shot dead annually by violent criminals...
Our Police have the highest suicide rate in the world...
Our society is 7 times more violent (per capita) than the USA...
In violent crimes, we match Russia & Colombia...
Crime is so high the Govt put a moratorium on the release of crime statistics for a year & fudged them ever since...
The Democratic Alliance (conservatively) estimates there are 300,000 robberies per annum
Our prisons are often filled to capacity (170,000+) & then thousands are let go, sometimes without being charged...
In January 2004, it was reported that some of our prisons are 300% over capacity...
In March 2004, it was reported that the prison population was 180,000...
Mandela's "Birthday Present" to the country (yes they used those words), was to release 9,000 criminals...
Murderers have been "forgiven" by our Presidents, only to murder again...
On 3rd March 2004, on SABC TV3 News it was announced that to "Celebrate Ten Years of Democracy" they might let thousands of prisoners go free...
More prisons have been built after Apartheid but even that is not enough to cope with the crime wave...
More blacks are in our prisons after Apartheid than before. (They no longer fear the Police)...
The ANC LOVES criminals. They gave them the vote! It was announced over 100,000 prisoners would be registered & allowed to vote
Some criminals were afraid of being registered to vote. They feared if their finger-prints were taken they'd be implicated in other yet undiscovered crimes!!
(My question is how they can be in prison in the first place without being fingerprinted!!
Strange things happen in this country!)
We had 10 years of peace, with no international sanctions and yet, the much-awaited boom never came.
Our socialist economy dribbles along. GDP growth is estimated at 1.3% per annum which compares weakly with (sometimes) double digit growth rates under white rule.
The Democratic Alliance estimates that 6% GDP growth is possible even now if the economy was run better.
In the Johannesburg (Gauteng) area, 80% of self-help schemes for blacks have failed since 1994.
South Africa's economy, employment & crime rates were better when the world hated us and we had civil strife.
In the end, the only winners were the handful of the new Wealthy Black Super Elite...
Maybe if the world had left South Africa alone things would have been better...
Let there be no illusions where the ANC wants to take us. They support & give money to: Zimbabwe, Haiti & DRC (Zaire) who are ruled by Socialist Dictators who suppress even the blacks!
SO THERE YOU GO, EVEN MOST BLACKS THINK IT WAS BETTER UNDER APARTHEID
die vierkleur transvaal
MORE proof.. this time about the police
06.05.2004 18:28
READ THESE EXTRACTS!!
Published in SA Crime Quarterly No 5, September 2003 Personal security concerns in South African townships
- Comments from the mouths of our black South African's -
1) "The current SAPS police are lazy, they take bribery...People don’t respect them. It was much better during the apartheid period. The apartheid police made mistakes but did their work very well. They were competent and very committed unlike the current police...The only thing they know how to do is to sit under trees and drink. They don’t care about the safety of the community.
*** 2) The SAP police were effective in fighting crime. Our lives were better at that time than now... I sometimes miss the apartheid period because we were safe at that time and when you had left your possessions they would still be there when you came back, but today, forget it.
***
3) If you reported a case the SAP would follow it until the criminal was found. There were no stories of missing dockets. They made sure that the criminals paid for their crimes by locking them in jail and beating them.
*** 4) Criminal activity was not a real problem in the townships. It was not a big problem at all. People were free to walk where they wanted... Blacks were not scared of other people, they were only worried about being arrested by the police if they were out late in the wrong area. They were not scared of meeting other black people. People felt very safe in those days.
***
5) Crime was not a problem during apartheid. Criminals were criminals just because they wanted to be criminals. It was not too bad then. Most people had jobs...Criminals were a bit considerate during the apartheid years. For instance, when they robbed people, they left them money for transport unlike current criminals who do not leave you a single cent. They take everything that you have and then they kill you.
***
The author goes on to say "The SAPS, in contrast, is castigated as shamelessly corrupt. To be fair, a number of respondents noted that the SAPS is more approachable than its predecessor. This is typical Liberal bullshit ! That is what we hear - "the SAPS are more approachable" , fine and dandy .What is more important, being approachable or damn useless at the job of catching murderers ? Remember the 8% conviction rate . Now how about the SAPS doing their bloody job for once without accusations of bribery , corruption and drunkenness ?
And remember the Anti Corruption Unit was closed . Guess why . Look at the number of corrupt cops . A national disgrace .
Published in SA Crime Quarterly No 4, June 2003 Quote - "The huge number of complaints received by the unit suggests that police corruption had reached endemic proportions in South Africa, and that the ACU was recognised by the public as a structure where complaints of corruption could be made without fear of victimisation. Moreover, the Review of South Africa’s National Anti-Corruption Agencies argues in relation to the SAPS Anti-Corruption Unit that “it is important to retain a specific and dedicated focus on addressing corruption in the Criminal Justice System, which this Unit has done effectively over the years”.12
Clearly, both perceptions and incidents of police corruption and criminality are a serious problem in South Africa. A recent survey found that, of all government services, the police were perceived to be the most corrupt, with 37% of respondents stating they believed it ‘very likely’ or ‘likely’ that they would be expected to offer some material reward or favour in return for services rendered from a police officer.13 While these are perceptions, and do not necessarily reflect the actual extent of police corruption and criminality, the fact that on average 1,320 police officials were convicted on criminal charges per year between 1995 and 1999 suggests that a serious problem exists.14 The question may therefore legitimately be asked: why then was the Anti-Corruption Unit closed"? - end of quote
SAP = old police under white rule
SAPS = new police where blacks are given unfair advantages and whites are not promoted.
SO CLEARLY THIS HAS ALSO GONE DOWNHILL.. JUST LIKE EVERYTHING WHEN THE BLACKS TAKE OVER. EVERYWHERE IN AFRICA HAS GONE DOWNHILL! SO YOU HAVE LOST THE ARGUMENT, HOW CAN YOU PROOVE YOUR POINT WHEN THE KAFFIRS HAVE PROOVEN IT FOR ME!!!!!!
die vierkleur transvaal
when you start ...
07.05.2004 07:33
FUCK OFF you ignorant racist troll.
Just another variation of the 'land for a people for a people without a land' lie.
I'm not bothered enough to enter your distorted lens on the world to read through the rest of the shit you are so keen to inform us of.
I'm sure there are probably one or two good points in there about the creeping curruption of the SA gov, and the struggle to turn away from the long years of bitter dispute being sometimes lost - but when you make such stupid and offensive claims, they are rendered useless.
Once agian FUCK OFF you ignorant racist troll.
jackslucid
e-mail:
jackslucid@hotmail.com
I can't even believe
07.05.2004 08:47
To get into a detailed argument means digging up a whole load of facts on apartheid South Africa, which is now a dirty page in history and nothing more. The issues that face South Africa now are the problems of neo-liberal economics and the problem of aids. Your call for white supremacy might be better off posted on some BNP message board, perhaps.
Still, I find it very interesting to read your posts. It reminds me of the way in which the Israelis try to justify their apartheid, and the way in which the right has always tried to justify the oppression and humiliation of other people. Zionist posters, have a read of what this guy is saying, does it remind you of anything?
The desire of people to live in freedom with dignity will always triumph over greedy, selfish people. You can keep ranting and raving all you like, but the ground has fallen away beneath your feet, and you should do some serious soul searching, rather than clinging onto dead ideas that have dragged you into the depths of racism. Just let it go, and you'll be free.
Hermes
Reference material
07.05.2004 10:01
As for the export of marijuana, I believe that there was a huge trade overseen by the white master race prior to the defeat of the apartheid system, are you concerned by the loss of jobs in that particular sector? And anyway I have to congratulate the brave weed growers of SA, Durban Poison is a fine smoke, thanks.
Have fun in your bizarre little world of white supremacy, people like you are really the best advert for why white supremacy is such an oxymoron.
Danger
you've still lost the argument
07.05.2004 10:41
But, no matter what you say, and even if you proove your "oppression" stories to be correct, you have still lost. Why?
Because everywhere in Africa has gone down-hill since the whites stopped running the show. I think everyone who's ever watched the news or read any books can clearly see this. Poverty is higher, their economies are doing worse, they rely on whitey to prop them up with aid and constant loans. They blame all their problems on us when it is their own racial difficiencies that are to blame.
So you claim that apartheid was wrong, maybe it was, but it was far better for most people white and black than idiotic rule by the ANC where crime has skyrocketed and the services have declined terribly. The only bad thing about apartheid was that blacks were still present in SA, they should have all been moved to enlarged homelands, i.e seperate nations, and a proper seperate development policy pursued.. much like the "two state" solution in Israel/Palestine which nobody bats an eyelid about!
Mark my words, South Africa has declined DRAMATICALLY, and will continue to do so as long as the blacks remain in power. Read up yourselves!
die vierkleur transvaal
HA HA HA HA HA HA HA !
07.05.2004 11:19
So what exactly is this, from the next paragraph of your post:
"when it is their own racial difficiencies that are to blame."
Ha Ha Ha. Fascists without power are like lightbulbs without power, vacuous and not very bright.
As you yourself acknowledge, SA's problems are due to economic policy which strangely has nothing to do with skin colour. You may have noticed that 'lefties' aren't to keen on neoliberalism either?
SA's problems are the problems of capitalism in a country without the exploititive geopolitical power to provide a placating welfare state. You really are hilarious with this 'racial segregation' thing you've got going on. Yeah, medieval europe, theres a model for a future society! Let me quote the profoundly fitting words of IMCUK's very own jackslucid, when I say "FUCK OFF you ignorant racist troll"
Tom
actually
07.05.2004 11:34
Unemployment is around 45%, MUCH worse than under white rule.
1 million South Africans have lost their jobs. Jobs that were there under apartheid but are now gone.
Business does not want to invest in a country where crime is rampant, worse than it EVER was under apartheid. They do not want to invest in a country where corruption is rampant, worse than anything ever witnessed under apartheid. They also do not want to invest in a country which is threatening its commercial farming sector with having their land taken off them, hardly a stable nation to invest in!
Fact is most people think that SA will go the way of Zimbabwe and that is very much racial! Stealing the white farms is not capitalism it is nothing but pure racism on the part of Mugabe and socialist-inspired dogma about redistribution.
It is racial because it is the black govt with its affirmative action and other policies that have brought this demise about. The crime situation which is the biggest problem is racial because nearly all the criminals are blacks and they disproportionately target white farms and white households and rape white women. It's a black on white war against us, that's racial. That's why millions of skilled whites are leaving in droves, and why the Rand is worth jack shit compared to its previous high's under apartheid.
die vierkleur transvaal
I repeat: HA HA HA HA HA HA HA !
07.05.2004 12:16
Anyhow, I have participated in you grand distraction for long enough. This thread was about mercenaries in Iraq - a topic that needs looking at. There are reports (The Ecologist Feb 2004) that mercenaries are testing new bullets on Iraqis because 'field data' is hard to come by. They're killing people solely to find better ways of killing people. Good article Cheryl, shame about the link to democrats.com - like liberal presidents never commit war crimes! Down with parties, down with politicians, down with the elective oligarchy. Viva democratic revolution :-)
Tom
In fact
07.05.2004 14:14
I read in a magazine, somewhere, randomly, that white people are inherently stupid. We're too incompetent to do anything right, and continuously justify our mistakes to ourselves through ever more elaborate rhetoric of self-deception. Also, we have to take out our frustration on the superior races because of a deep-rooted inferiority complex, stemming from the small size of our penises compared to those of the black africans.
Still, everyone knows the Chinese are the master-race. There's a billion of them, they're all really smart and they all know kung-fu. We should just accept our place as the race that cleans their houses and fills their gas-tanks.
Hermes
...
07.05.2004 16:08
I could then go and research all the terrible and stupid things the afrikana did in South Africa, but apartheid is thankfully a page in history now, and your arguments are irrelevant today, in a discussion about Iraq.
You're just an incredibly silly person
Hermes