http://www.why-war.com/resources/files/ Important and obscure information about America's "War on Terror". en-us http://backend.userland.com/rss Why-War? 60 The full text of the Sixth Declaration of the Selva Lacandona, published in June 2005 by the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN). Tue, 09 Aug 2005 12:24:53 EDT http://www.why-war.com/resources/files/read.php?id=192 http://www.why-war.com/resources/files/read.php?id=192 At the beginning of 2005, for the first time ever, the White House released details about who receives money under the "faith-based" grant program. Thu, 17 Feb 2005 17:32:56 EST http://www.why-war.com/resources/files/read.php?id=191 http://www.why-war.com/resources/files/read.php?id=191 "Diligence Middle East is the Middle East subsidiary of Diligence LLC, a premier global risk consultancy and strategic business information provider. DME Iraq security services utilize integrated Expatriate and Iraqi specialists, providing for all aspects of security and information support to governmental, non-governmental and commercial organizations. Current operations in Iraq include discreet personal security teams, managed guard forces, risk and threat assessments and contingency planning, secure movement of high value assets, and bespoke training packages. DME also provides due diligence and investigative services for clients engaging in business in the region." Thu, 17 Feb 2005 16:59:57 EST http://www.why-war.com/resources/files/read.php?id=190 http://www.why-war.com/resources/files/read.php?id=190 A pdf version of Lynne Cheney's romance novel that was published in 1981 and has since been suppressed. USA Today writes that " A publisher has canceled plans to reissue a racy novel by Lynne Cheney, wife of Vice President Dick Cheney, after she said the book did not represent her 'best work.' New American Library, an imprint of Penguin Group (USA), was going to reprint Sisters, a historical romance published in 1981 that includes brothels, attempted rapes and a lesbian love affair." Sat, 25 Dec 2004 15:45:45 EST http://www.why-war.com/resources/files/read.php?id=186 http://www.why-war.com/resources/files/read.php?id=186 As the U.S. Air Force describes it, ADS is “a non-lethal, counter-personnel directed energy weapon. ... Traveling at the speed of light, the energy reaches the subject and penetrates the skin to a depth of less than 1/64 of an inch. Almost instantaneously it produces a heating sensation that within seconds becomes intolerable and forces the subject to flee. The sensation immediately ceases when the individual moves out of the beam or when the system operator turns it off.” As the Christian Science Monitor reported in 2002, military forces “could fend off crowds of rock throwers,” so the technology has clear applications in domestic protest/crowd control situations. The linked file is the USAF description of the project. Mon, 15 Nov 2004 23:37:18 EST http://www.why-war.com/resources/files/read.php?id=184 http://www.why-war.com/resources/files/read.php?id=184 For over a year, the people of Darfur have endured a vicious campaign of violence and terror which has led to huge numbers of deaths and forced more than a million people to flee from their destroyed villages in search of safety. Tue, 09 Nov 2004 20:05:36 EST http://www.why-war.com/resources/files/read.php?id=183 http://www.why-war.com/resources/files/read.php?id=183 From Security Indicators, Economic & Quality of Life Indicators to Polling, the Brookings Institution brings you your one-stop-shop for available data on Iraqi Reconstruction. Mon, 08 Nov 2004 02:16:36 EST http://www.why-war.com/resources/files/read.php?id=182 http://www.why-war.com/resources/files/read.php?id=182 Based on a series of cluster studies, Lancet estimates that making conservative methodological assumptions (See The Economist's Review of the Report), most likely 98,000 extra Iraqi deaths have occurred since the Invasion in March 2003. Currently the Brookings Institution, a major centrist Washington based Think-Tank, in their "Iraq Index," which is also available from why-war.com, estimates between 16,800 and 31,400 Iraqi casualties as of October 31, 2004. Iraqbodycount.net, the most cited source of civilian death statistics in the major media today, estimates between 14,000 and 16,400. Although these statistics may appear to be radically divergent, Lancet claims that they are the result of the difference between passive media monitoring and on-the-ground data gathering, and that furthermore, the trends in the wholely independent sources closely parallel one another, suggesting further evidence that the 98,000 projection may unfortunately in fact be correct. Mon, 08 Nov 2004 02:11:07 EST http://www.why-war.com/resources/files/read.php?id=181 http://www.why-war.com/resources/files/read.php?id=181 "We may not have stopped [imperialism] in its tracks — yet — but we have stripped it down. We have made it drop its mask. We have forced it into the open. It now stands before us on the world’s stage in all it’s brutish, iniquitous nakedness." Fri, 22 Oct 2004 17:17:39 EDT http://www.why-war.com/resources/files/read.php?id=180 http://www.why-war.com/resources/files/read.php?id=180 In a few key areas — electricity, the judicial system and overall security — the Iraq that America handed back to its residents Monday is worse off than before the war began last year, according to calculations in a new General Accounting Office report released Tuesday. Thu, 01 Jul 2004 11:05:46 EDT http://www.why-war.com/resources/files/read.php?id=179 http://www.why-war.com/resources/files/read.php?id=179 Has Iraq become a fertile soil for Islamic jihadist movements? Is there coordination between these movements and al-Qa'ida network? The following article by Dr Hani al-Siba'i, the director of Al-Maqrizi Center for Historical Studies, entitled: "Ansar Al-Islam, Ansar Al-Sunnah Army, Abu-Mus'ab Al-Zarqawi, and Abu-Hafs Brigades" was posted 14 March on Al-Basrah Net. Sun, 06 Jun 2004 16:43:05 EDT http://www.why-war.com/resources/files/read.php?id=178 http://www.why-war.com/resources/files/read.php?id=178 This is the first propaganda video created by Ansar al-Sunnah, an Iraqi resistance group. Sat, 05 Jun 2004 23:47:15 EDT http://www.why-war.com/resources/files/read.php?id=177 http://www.why-war.com/resources/files/read.php?id=177 On June 4th, 2004, three organizations – EarthRights International, the Government Accountability Project, and the Sustainable Energy and Economy Network – urged the United Nations Security Council to reject language in the draft US/UK resolution on Iraq that would immunize U.S. corporations from the legal consequences of their actions in the Iraqi oil sector. The Security Council is expected to vote on the Iraq Resolution as early as Monday, June 7th. Please contact your representatives regarding this issue ASAP. If this language survives, companies like Halliburton may be immune from any legal consequences from their actions in Iraq for the indefinite future. Sat, 05 Jun 2004 08:25:18 EDT http://www.why-war.com/resources/files/read.php?id=176 http://www.why-war.com/resources/files/read.php?id=176 This memo was prepared by the legal counsel to the president, on behalf of the Bush Administration in the beginning of 2002. It articulated the belief that in any conflict part of the “war on terrorism,” the participants would not be granted prisoner of war (POW) status under the Geneva Conventions. Gonzales outlined the ramifications of this judgment, including the ability to use interrogation techniques outside “Geneva’s strict limitations on questioning” and prevents American personnel from being charged under the War Crimes Act. The memorandum was vehemently opposed by Secretary of State Colin Powell, who had asked the president to reconsider his determination that the Geneva Convention did not apply, and he supplied his own memorandum on the subject. The president did not reconsider, and it has been speculated that it is this legal framework that engendered the human rights abuses in the Abu Ghraib prision in Iraq. [The memo is temporarily unavailable; you can download a copy off-site.] Wed, 26 May 2004 01:00:21 EDT http://www.why-war.com/resources/files/read.php?id=175 http://www.why-war.com/resources/files/read.php?id=175 This memo was sent by Secretary of State Colin Powell in response to a briefing paper prepared by the legal counsel to the president. The secretary of state is asking the president to reconsider his judgment that detainees held in the “war on terrorism” cannot be afforded Prisoner of War (POW) status under the Geneva Convention. Calling the DOJ’s document “inaccurate,” Powell’s response casts the decision to strip detainees of Geneva protections in an ominous light, accurately predicting the response domestically, internationally and within Iraq itself. “The United States has never determined that the GPW did not apply to an armed conflict in which its forces have been engaged,” the secretary wrote, and “while no-one [sic] anticipated the precise situation that we face, the GPW was intended to cover all types of armed conflict.” [The memo is temporarily unavailable; you can download a copy off-site.] Tue, 25 May 2004 21:17:53 EDT http://www.why-war.com/resources/files/read.php?id=174 http://www.why-war.com/resources/files/read.php?id=174 Iraqi resistance beheaded an American civilian and vowed more killings in revenge for the "Satanic degradation" of Iraqi prisoners, in a video statement dated May 11, 2004. Mon, 17 May 2004 22:51:56 EDT http://www.why-war.com/resources/files/read.php?id=173 http://www.why-war.com/resources/files/read.php?id=173 On May 11th, 2004 The Financial Times reported “An eye-witness told Amnesty's researchers that, rather than being hit accidentally by a warning shot as the army claimed, Hanan was killed when a soldier aimed at [the eight-year-old girl] and fired a shot from around 60 metres.” This report, however, did not fall on deaf ears. One the same day The Washington Post reported “A [British] High Court judge granted the families a full-court hearing into their claim that the soldiers' actions should be subject to British law and the European Convention on Human Rights... The ruling came as government officials responded to a new report by Amnesty International that accused soldiers of killing civilians -- including a child -- without justification.” Wed, 12 May 2004 20:03:16 EDT http://www.why-war.com/resources/files/read.php?id=172 http://www.why-war.com/resources/files/read.php?id=172 "That was on 4 May. On 10 October President Bush, in an electoral show (previous word published in English) staged at the White House with terrorist elements, members of Cuba's ultra-rightwing from Miami -- the worst of Miami's ultra-radical fauna -- said these words: 'The Cuban regime will not change by its own initiative, but Cuba must change.' Cuba must change, the president of the United States said on 10 October, by force; it must do so even if it is not willing to do so." Fri, 02 Apr 2004 00:20:15 EST http://www.why-war.com/resources/files/read.php?id=169 http://www.why-war.com/resources/files/read.php?id=169 This report, which was prepared at the request of Rep. Henry A. Waxman, is a comprehensive examination of the statements made by the five Administration officials most responsible for providing public information and shaping public opinion on Iraq: President George Bush, Vice President Richard Cheney, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of State Colin Powell, and National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice. It finds that the five officials made misleading statements about the threat posed by Iraq in 125 public appearances. The report and an accompanying database identify 237 specific misleading statements by the five officials. Wed, 17 Mar 2004 12:28:39 EST http://www.why-war.com/resources/files/read.php?id=168 http://www.why-war.com/resources/files/read.php?id=168 "Homeland security is a concerted national effort to prevent terrorist attacks within the U.S., reduce America’s vulnerability to terrorism, minimize damage, and assist in the recovery from attacks. The Department of Defense (DoD) role in homeland security can be summarized as follows: (1) homeland defense, the military protection of United States territory, domestic population, and critical defense infrastructure and assets from external threats and aggression; and (2) civil support, support to U.S. civil authorities for domestic emergencies and for designated law enforcement and other activities. Civil support missions are undertaken by the Department where its involvement is appropriate and where a clear end state for the Department’s role is defined." Sun, 14 Mar 2004 00:04:33 EST http://www.why-war.com/resources/files/read.php?id=167 http://www.why-war.com/resources/files/read.php?id=167 "Following is the full text of the Human Rights Record of the United States in 2003, released by the Information office of China's State Council Monday." Fri, 12 Mar 2004 14:31:42 EST http://www.why-war.com/resources/files/read.php?id=166 http://www.why-war.com/resources/files/read.php?id=166 "The public relies on the media to separate facts and tangible realities from assumptions and spin. [This report] evaluates how well the media has performed this task in regards to the issue of weapons of mass destruction (WMD). The study assesses how the coverage of WMD has changed over time and across geographies — especially since the launch of the “War on Terror” and the positioning of Iraq as the 'big' international story." Thu, 11 Mar 2004 18:40:27 EST http://www.why-war.com/resources/files/read.php?id=165 http://www.why-war.com/resources/files/read.php?id=165 "In the first, we investigate the general power relations in mobile practice that add to the surveillance and restriction of children’s mobility. In the second, we illustrate how parents monitor children’s mobility by chauffeuring them. In the third, we look into how parents remote control children’s mobility by means of behavioural restrictions and technology. By using statistical material and qualitative interviews, we illustrate how parents perceive and perform their own surveillance of children’s mobility. In addition, we comment on how children perceive their monitored mobility and how they cope with it. Finally, we reflect on the differences in parental mobile monitoring and relate this to welfare and socio-economic structures in the families." Thu, 04 Mar 2004 23:45:43 EST http://www.why-war.com/resources/files/read.php?id=164 http://www.why-war.com/resources/files/read.php?id=164 Full text of Adorno's "Anti-Semitism and Fascist Propaganda" Wed, 25 Feb 2004 18:44:34 EST http://www.why-war.com/resources/files/read.php?id=163 http://www.why-war.com/resources/files/read.php?id=163 Testimony by DIA Director Vice Admiral Lowell E. Jacoby on "Security Threats to the United States". Given to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. See also, CIA and FBI testimony. Wed, 25 Feb 2004 16:50:14 EST http://www.why-war.com/resources/files/read.php?id=162 http://www.why-war.com/resources/files/read.php?id=162