[The following blog is actually, in reality, a column that was printed in Synthesis Weekly on Tuesday, 5/27. It was written by Bob Howard, who can be reached at madbob@madbob.com]

Hearts and Minds

The Incredible Terrible Saga of Sami al-Hajj: During the first phase of Bush’s “War on Terror,” a host of suspected dissidents were rounded up and sent to the US military’s secretive detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Guantanamo Bay is US territory leased from Cuba; though the Cuban government has never cashed the US checks for that land. The reason a military prison was constructed and harbored in that unlikely location is because attorneys for the Bush administration felt that the legal status of Guantanamo Bay was ambiguous and as such prisoners held there would not be subject to the normal regulations that govern the capture, holding and interrogation of foreign POWs. As a result of this legal ambiguity, Guantanamo has been a haven for incredible abuse of both the prisoners and the legal system in general.

One of the early stated goals in the “War on Terror” was to win the “hearts and minds” of the Afghani, Iraqi, and by extension, the citizens of the whole Middle East. Now, I understand perfectly well that when you go to war there is going to be a lot of what they call “collateral damage” — meaning innocent civilians, women and children will be killed. It is an inevitable consequence of dropping bombs and shooting bullets. Collateral damage is one of those calculated risks. The bad guys are so bad that it behooves us in the long run to blow up civilians to get to them. I don’t agree with the logic, but I understand it.
But every so often another story pops up that makes me shake my head and say, “Really? That’s how we’re going about winning the hearts and minds of the people whose countries we are invading?” I just learned the details of one of these stories. It involves a man named Sami al-Hajj who has spent the last six years at Guantanamo Bay. You might ask what al-Hajj’s crime was? It turns out that he was captured because he was a cameraman for Al Jazeera, the most popular Arab-based news outlet in the world. The US at the time was working under the assumption that Al Jazeera was actually in cahoots with Al Qaeda and they interrogated al-Hajj on dozens of separate occasions in order to try and get him to confess this link. He never would because, according to al-Hajj, there is no link between Al Qaeda and Al Jazeera.

[righteous indignation to follow the jump.] (more…)

From Daily Kos:

This Florida based Gulfstream II jet aircraft # N987SA crash landed on September 24, 2007 after it ran out of fuel over Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula it had a cargo of several tons of Cocaine on board now documents have turned up on both sides of the Atlantic that link this Cocaine Smuggling Gulfstream II jet aircraft # N987SA that crashed in Mexico to the CIA who used it on at least 3 rendition flights from Europe and the USA to Guantanamo’s infamous torture chambers between 2003 to 2005.

Question, so now that it is out in the open that the war in drugs is nothing but a sham (and has been, um, since the beginning). Who is going to go to jail for this incident? And when are they going to let out the hundreds of thousands of people who fill our prisons for selling drugs? In reality, good ole USA street slangin’ wouldn’t haven’t been possible without the CIA’s successful attempts to flood our country full of mind numbing narcotics and create a generation of addicts.

Another question, why do we pay our taxes? was our tax money used to fly this jet?

I’m not guilty. *You’re* the one that’s guilty. The lawmakers, the politicians, the Columbian drug lords, all you who lobby against making drugs legal. Just like you did with alcohol during the prohibition. You’re the one who’s guilty. I mean, c’mon, let’s kick the ballistics here: Ain’t no Uzi’s made in Harlem. Not one of us in here owns a poppy field. This thing is bigger than Nino Brown. This is big business. This is the American way.
- New Jack City

“How fortunate for governments that the people they administer don’t think.”
-Adolf Hitler

Wake up!

from news.com.au

As far as pop goes, Lily Allen is fine by me. Listening to her reminds me of the two weeks that I really liked Lauren Hill’s stuff. Plus, I’m a sucker for Ms. Allen’s drunk-talking-shit-on-stage-who-gives-a-fuck antics. Still, I think it’s funny that the US is revoking her Visa and deporting her ass back to the UK. This will prove to be the first real challenge of UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s reign. Oh, besides the whole demanding the release of five British detainees from Guantanamo thing, and dealing with the security who murdered an innocent man in the subway because they thought he had a bomb… But yeah, Lily Allen, see ya!

Allen was searched and detained for five hours after being stopped at LA airport on Sunday, and they weren’t after an autograph.

Her unscheduled meeting with US officials was triggered by concerns after her arrest in London in March when she allegedly clashed with a photographer.

The 22-year-old, currently at her hotel in Los Angeles, is due to leave the US and return to the UK within the next few days.

In other news, fuck lolcats.