Hi! Very interesting! pvddeyf

Rugby players spend a lot of time physical training Compared to other form of sports.I have read the
Rugby laws mentioned on this site. It's a gripping sport which targets the grip strength and the active mindedness of a player. American football and rugby league are also primarily collision sports, but their tackles tend to terminate much more quickly. For professional rugby, players are often chosen on the basis of their size and apparent strength and they develop the skill and power over the passage of time. In modern rugby considerable attention is given to fitness and aerobic conditioning as well as basic weight training.

Rugby players spend a lot of time physical training Compared to other form of sports.I have read the
Rugby laws mentioned on this site. It's a gripping sport which targets the grip strength and the active mindedness of a player. American football and rugby league are also primarily collision sports, but their tackles tend to terminate much more quickly. For professional rugby, players are often chosen on the basis of their size and apparent strength and they develop the skill and power over the passage of time. In modern rugby considerable attention is given to fitness and aerobic conditioning as well as basic weight training.

The said Truth is that the Criminals named here (Judges, Prosecutors, Police, Sheriff, Sheriffs Deputies, Local FBI, Local Homeland Security, Civilians, Politicians, est. est.) who are in fact directly involved in the planning and execution of the Bombing of the Federal Building in Oklahoma City and the Terrorist Attacks of 9 / 11.
The following Court records can be Checked and Verified on the Official Jackson County Michigan Website (look up site yourself to satisfy your curiosity for truth) or by directly accessing the Jackson County Michigan 12th District Court Website at; d12.com
See for yourselves.
There has not been even one Honest Judge, not one Honest Prosecutor, not one Honest Law Enforcement Officer of Any Kind in Jackson County Michigan for at least 30 years.
And this is one of President George Walker Bush's favorite places to visit.
He has come here many times not just during elections either. But to make sure his position and power is bought and paid for and to try to control and railroad the one person who has been an unwilling slave to the criminals in the government because of his abilities and talents and knowledge.
The Following has been published on not less then 16 NEWS websites;
When reading the case numbers the first two numbers are the year of the court action/offence charge filing.
Example;
TOWNSEND,RICHARD M 10-28-1966 91128FYB FY 12 WARRANT FELONY UNASSIGNED
"91128FYB FY 12" the first two numbers are "91" which means the offence/charge/Warrant was issued in 1991 and is still in effect as that it has not been removed from the courts record and that the case has never been heard.

Illusion is the Criminals best friend.
In Jackson County Michigan there are absolutely NO Honest Judges, NO Honest Prosecutors and No Honest Police and No Honest Sheriffs.
The following is a Court Document that Proves this;
Use the display settings below and click on to display the desired cases.
Last Name/Business: First: Case#:
Search text contained anywhere in name.
Judge/Jurist: All ARBUCKLE BISHOP DUNGAN FALAHEE FILIP GAGE GRANT JUSTIN MANSER MAZUR MCBAIN NELSON SANDERSON SCHMUCKER VANDERCOOK UNASSIGNED Court: All District Circuit Probate
Visitors
*NAME DOB *CASE # PETITION # *STATUS *CASE TYPE *JURIST
TOWNSEND,RICHARD 01-01-0001 061037LT LT 12 OPEN LANDLORD/TENANT JUSTIN
TOWNSEND,RICHARD M 10-28-1966 02J098541A OI 12 CLOSED ORDINANCE CIVIL INFRACTION UNASSIGNED
TOWNSEND,RICHARD M 10-28-1966 031739JP OM 12 CLOSED ORD. NON-TRF MISDEMEANOR UNASSIGNED
TOWNSEND,RICHARD M 10-28-1966 040295JPA OM 12 CLOSED ORD. NON-TRF MISDEMEANOR JUSTIN
TOWNSEND,RICHARD M 10-28-1966 91128FYB FY 12 WARRANT FELONY UNASSIGNED
TOWNSEND,RICHARD M 10-28-1966 91364FYA FY 12 WARRANT FELONY UNASSIGNED
TOWNSEND,RICHARD M 10-28-1966 98JP35823A OI 12 CLOSED ORDINANCE CIVIL INFRACTION UNASSIGNED
TOWNSEND,RICHARD M 10-28-1966 98JP44649B OI 12 CLOSED ORDINANCE CIVIL INFRACTION UNASSIGNED
TOWNSEND,RICHARD H 03-23-1943 99B699890A SI 12 CLOSED STATE CIVIL INFRACTION TRAFFIC UNASSIGNED
TOWNSEND,RICHARD M 10-28-1966 991634JP OM 12 CLOSED ORD. NON-TRF MISDEMEANOR JUSTIN
TOWNSEND,RICHARD 01-01-0001 04-3369LT LT 12 CLOSED LANDLORD/TENANT JUSTIN
TOWNSEND,RICHARD M 10-28-1966 02BT51726C OI 12 CLOSED ORDINANCE CIVIL INFRACTION UNASSIGNED
TOWNSEND,RICHARD M 10-28-1966 02BT51726B OI 12 CLOSED ORDINANCE CIVIL INFRACTION UNASSIGNED
TOWNSEND,RICHARD M 10-28-1966 02BT51726A OT 12 CLOSED ORDINANCE MISDEMEANOR TRAFFIC JUSTIN
TOWNSEND,RICHARD 10-28-1966 91057336 FH 38 CLOSED NON-CAPITOL FELONY UNASSIGNED
TOWNSEND,RICHARD 10-28-1966 91057494 FH 38 CLOSED NON-CAPITOL FELONY SCHMUCKER
TOWNSEND,RICHARD 01-01-0001 77011477 DM 38 CLOSED DIVORCE - MINOR CHILDREN NELSON
TOWNSEND,RICHARD M 01-01-0001 98090407 DP 38 CLOSED PATERNITY MCBAIN
TOWNSEND,RICHARD M 01-01-0001 99093394 PP 38 CLOSED PPO DOMESTIC SCHMUCKER
TOWNSEND,RICHARD M 10-28-1966 00JP45691A OI 12 CLOSED ORDINANCE CIVIL INFRACTION UNASSIGNED
TOWNSEND,RICHARD M 10-28-1966 00JP45691B OI 12 CLOSED ORDINANCE CIVIL INFRACTION UNASSIGNED
TOWNSEND,RICHARD H 03-23-1943 01C194992A SI 12 CLOSED STATE CIVIL INFRACTION TRAFFIC UNASSIGNED
TOWNSEND,RICHARD 01-01-0001 84034487 DI 38 CLOSED URESA INITIATION GRANT
TOWNSEND II,RICHARD M 10-28-1966 92062997 FH 38 CLOSED NON-CAPITOL FELONY NELSON
TOWNSEND II,RICHARD M 01-01-0001 02003251 PP 38 CLOSED PPO DOMESTIC SCHMUCKER
-----------
Case Number Petition # Name DOB
91128FYB FY 12 TOWNSEND, RICHARD 10-28-1966
Amount Assessed* Amount Paid Balance Due Last Payment
$ 0.00 $ 0.00 $ 0.00 00-00-0000
*Assessed amount does not include restitution ordered.
Comment
Jail Term: Years Months Days
0 0 0
Probation Term: Years Months Days
0 0 0
COUNT CHARGE ADJUDICATION DATE JUDGMENT
1 CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE DELIVERY/MANUFACTUR 02-20-1991 EXAM WAIVED ; DEFENDANT BOUND
2 CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE DELIVERY/MANUFACTUR 02-20-1991 EXAM WAIVED ; DEFENDANT BOUND
3 CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE DELIVERY/MANUFACTUR 02-20-1991 EXAM WAIVED ; DEFENDANT BOUND
--------------
Case Number Petition # Name DOB
91364FYA FY 12 TOWNSEND, RICHARD 10-28-1966
Amount Assessed* Amount Paid Balance Due Last Payment
$ 0.00 $ 0.00 $ 0.00 00-00-0000
*Assessed amount does not include restitution ordered.
Comment
Jail Term: Years Months Days
0 0 0
Probation Term: Years Months Days
0 0 0
COUNT CHARGE ADJUDICATION DATE JUDGMENT
1 CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE DELIVERY/MANUFACTUR 03-01-1991 EXAM WAIVED ; DEFENDANT BOUND
2 CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE DELIVERY/MANUFACTUR 00-00-0000
----------------
Richard Townsend is a DRUG Dealer who has been BRIBING EVERY JUDGE, Prosecutor and Police Officer and Sheriff and Sheriffs Deputy for the Last 15 years (and he has been Bragging about it also) since a Jackson County Judge issued the 2 Warrants for a total of 5 Felony counts of "Manufacturing and Delivery of Controlled Substances" (i.e. DRUGS).
Richard Townsend lived unencumbered by any law enforcement at 600 E. Ganson in Jackson Michigan for 15 years until he was busted by the DEA in January of 2006.
Richard Townsend was Married about a year ago by one of the Crooked Judges with 2 other Crooked Judges as Witnesses.
Richard Townsend has been seen by witnesses giving large stacks of cash to Jackson City Police Officers Gonzalas and Sgt. Mazur on a monthly basis for 6 months continuously prior to the DEA and U.S. Attorney's Office Raiding his home at 600 E. Ganson St. in Jackson Michigan during the first half of January 2006.
Now the Local Jackson County Criminals (i.e. Judges, Prosecutors and Police/Deputies) are trying to FRAME the HONEST person (i.e. Mr. Bengt Thulin) who turned them into the DEA and the U.S. Attorney's Office in January of 2006 for Crimes he has not committed including Not Paying Child Support.
Mr. Thulin has NO children and is Biologically incapable of being the father to any children because of an injury which he received when he was 12 years old and there are Medical Records to Prove this.
Mr. Thulin was a member of SOG and Honorably Discharged and the Army Meritorious Service Ribbon Awarded.
And for his Honor he is being Persecuted.

More evidence to come.
Never dismis.
Never delete.
The Truth comes in bits and peices for a reason.
We intend to make these criminals breath fear until THEY CHOOSE NOT to breath as that this is obviousely the only form of Justice left.

I worked in Naval Intel as a Marine Major during Viet Nam as part of NSA. The men at the top played very little in the roles of chaos at any agency of the Federal Government. The Bureaucrates who had been in the trenches could have cared less. I think all this changed when the cold war was over and the new push to spy work was ELINT,not HUMINT. This divided a culture that had done some great things since inseption of CIA. Now comes the new order, all the good spies have retired,died,moved to another NO SUCH AGENCY or written a book. It remains to be seen how the DNI and Homeland Security can get together with DOD and the Pentagon, in the money and turf battles about to start. Vrspy Buzz Baer Major USMC RET. Kailua Kona HI.

I worked in Naval Intel as a Marine Major during Viet Nam as part of NSA. The men at the top played very little in the roles of chaos at any agency of the Federal Government. The Bureaucrates who had been in the trenches could have cared less. I think all this changed when the cold war was over and the new push to spy work was ELINT,not HUMINT. This divided a culture that had done some great things since inseption of CIA. Now comes the new order, all the good spies have retired,died,moved to another NO SUCH AGENCY or written a book. It remains to be seen how the DNI and Homeland Security can get together with DOD and the Pentagon, in the money and turf battles about to start. Vrspy Buzz Baer Major USMC RET. Kailua Kona HI.

if Bush wanted to catch Osama, we'd have invaded Pakistan already, instead of him pardoning their top nuclear scientist who exported nuclear missile technology to FOUR terrorist nations with Bush's blessings.

this will all end badly, since Bush and his red commies in the White House took their eyes off the prize in greed over building permanent military bases in Iraq to hand over to Shiite Theocratic rulers.

Archer,

Why are you judging me for pointing out the truth?

I am not judging President Bush as being a liar, it has been proven that he is a liar just as President Clinton lied, President Reagan and President Bush 41 lied about Contragate, Richard Nixon lied during Watergate... shall I go on?

How can God bless a nation that is beset with a lying and killing policy machine, and citizens who are willing to overlook the liars, as they commit murder and mayhem around the world? Bush's latest Press Advisor, was used, and lied to. Remember Ari Flesicher...well, we won't get into that, but he quit too, remember?

Someone once asked me who was the number one terrorist nation in the world? I told them that, clearly for the past 4 or 5 decades, my own nation, the USA, has been the number one terrorist nation in the world. But, of course, we don't call what we do terrorism! Consider the money spent for so-called defense that has actually been spent for, the militarization of space and the USA's huge, without peer, spy network. And should we talk about the USA's terrorist cohorts like spying terrorist Israel's Massoud, Great Britain or the Saudi's. Shall I go on?

Rather than turn your wrath against and demonize me, a strategy used by Americans mostly on the Right lately; think about the almost 100,000 innocent human beings who have been either killed or maimed in Iraq alone, over the past 3-years. Do you want more of the same? Can you imagine being a citizen of this country and some occupying army comes in and kills, wounds or maims you, your son, wife or daughter, and you haven't done anything to provoke it?

Isn't it time for Americans to stop playing American-style politics with people's lives here and around the world, Archer? Innocent people are being slaughtered, and for none of the reasons that the American people were told (and none of the reasons that we were given, would have justified the behavior of the USA). You are in a country that began with invaders, murderers, white racists, genocidist, kidnappers, land-grabbers, molesters and rebels who did not want to pay their taxes...shall I go on, for it has never stopped? You are in a country that believes that it should be the pre-eminent country on the planet, why?

If nothing else Archer, think about the future, for this same nonsense will continue in the perpetuity until someone is willing to stand up and say that wrong is wrong, no matter who is doing it, even if it is being done by Americans. How many more humans will be slaughtered? There are some human beings in this world who would like to seek a peaceful solution to many of the world's prolonged geopolitcal problems.

And there have been many Americans who have visited the near and middle-east, who come back and report that there are people on the other side who desire peace with the west. Unfortunately, some middle-men on either side of the globe use propaganda, misrepresentation and outright lies in order to keep this back and forth non-sense going.

At this hour, terrorist America, my country, is trying to stir up something with Iran, why?. If America has the right to have 6,000 nuclear warheads (some land-based, some on submarines and God knows what is already in space) that can be activated within 24 hours, and another 8,000 or so that can be ready to go within a few weeks, certainly the USA does not have the right to tell another nation that you can not develop a nuclear program, or have nuclear weapons, and if you do, we will blow you up with our nuclear weapons.

When will the USA dismantle its weapons, if other nations are not permitted to have them? And why are these nations not permitted to have these weapons, is it not as a result of the USA twisting of the arms of the members of the United Nation's Security Council, to support its position to prevent other nations from doing what the USA has done itself for years, i.e., creating nuclear weapons to defend itself? Is that hypocritical Archer?

You probably have been socialized with this kind of western non-sense. To most Americans they refuse to see a double-standard. But America has always used this strategy, i.e., to keep its enemies disarmed, it makes it easier to strike them whenever you want to, did you know that Archer? Wake up Archer and stop supporting this kind of white-supremacist nonsense, even when your religious leader(s) support the non-sense. Tell your pastor and your church to stop supporting this kind of nonsense.

Join me and others in trying to be part of a peaceful world solution. America most learn to live peacefully among the family of nations of the world, without acting like the spoiled-child that it has acted like since its inception.

There are those of us who would like to eliminate all of the killing weapons and armaments around the world, but we also know who the number one resister to a plan for peace (that would not leave America with all of the advantages would be) would be, i.e., the United States of America.

So just as I began, I will end, the Bible says that God hates a liar? Jesus once asked, what will you condemn me for, telling the truth? Whether these other nations do things the way that America does or not, it does not matter; these nations also have a right to self-determination. We must learn to live in the world with other people who do not see things the way that Americans see them, and with nations who do not do things the same way that Americans do them.

Or to put it another way, then United Nation's Ambassador Andrew Young, speaking at Kent State University a couple of decades or so ago, said, that we must learn to live with people that we do not agree with, we cannot kill everyone that we disagree with. I am not the hypocrite, you are if you continue to support this kind of non-sense.

I can count on one finger the number of nation's who have interfered with the internal affairs of the USA, however, I do not have enough hands, fingers and toes to count the number of nations, to which the USA has interferred in their internal affairs, destablizied or replaced their governments or invaded their lands.

America must learn to leave peacefully with other nations, mind its own business, and stop killing people, even Muslims. For if you look back in the book of Genesis, Archer, you will discover the angel of the Lord appeared twice and spoke to Hagar just as she did to the virgin Mary. Do some research, and you will discover that Muslims are God's people too, just as the Chinese, Iranians, Koreans and others are...God's People! But misguided zealots, Jews, with a misguided policies like the USA killed Jesus, didn't they?

Oh and if you say that I am anti-semitic for saying that, let me repeat the words of the Apostle, My desire and prayer for Israel is that they might be saved...
Israel is not right about everything that they do either. Sorry for the length...

Peace & Grace Brother and to all of you,

www.wsws.org
www.onlinejournal.com
www.takingaim.info

FBI Wants Access to Dead Writer's Papers

By MARK SHERMAN, Associated Press Writer Tue Apr 18, 5:50 PM ET

WASHINGTON - Not long after columnist Jack Anderson's funeral,
FBI agents called his widow to say they wanted to search his papers. They were looking for confidential government information he might have acquired in a half-century of investigative reporting.
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The agents expressed interest in documents that would aid the government's case against two former lobbyists for the American
Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, who have been charged with disclosing classified information, said Kevin Anderson, the columnist's son.

In addition, the agents told the family they planned to remove from the columnist's archive -- which has yet to be catalogued -- any document they came across that was stamped "secret" or "confidential," or was otherwise classified.

"He would be rolling over in his grave to think that the FBI was going to go crawling through his papers willy-nilly," the younger Anderson told The Associated Press in an interview Tuesday.

His account is similar to conversations described by Mark Feldstein, a George Washington University journalism professor and Anderson biographer. Feldstein said he was visited by two agents at his Washington-area home in March.

"They flashed their badges and said they needed access to the papers," said Feldstein, a former investigative reporter. Anderson donated his papers to the university, but the family has not yet formally signed them over.

FBI Special Agent Richard Kolko, a spokesman in Washington, confirmed that the bureau wants to search the Anderson archive and remove classified materials before they are made available to the public. "It has been determined that, among the papers, there are a number of U.S. government documents containing classified information," Kolko said, declining to say how the FBI knows.

The documents contain information about sources and methods used by U.S. intelligence agencies, he said.

"Under the law, no private person may possess classified documents that were illegally provided to them. There is no legal basis under which a third party could retain them as part of an estate. The documents remain the property of the U.S. government," Kolko said.

Anderson died in December at age 83 after a career in which he broke several big scandals and earned a place on President Nixon's "enemies list." Authorities on several occasions tried to find the source of leaked information that became a staple of his syndicated column.

Given his history, Anderson's family might already have been skeptical when the FBI came calling.

The timing only deepened suspicion. The AIPAC investigation dates back at least five years.

"And right after he dies, they contact his widow," Kevin Anderson said.

Still, when the FBI first called Olivia Anderson and said it was a matter of national security, the family was willing to consider the request. Jack Anderson himself cooperated with the FBI from time to time, his son said.

The more the Andersons learned, however, the less willing they were to help. Lawyers for the family are preparing a letter to the FBI declining to cooperate, Kevin Anderson said. The story was first reported by the Chronicle of Higher Education.

"We don't think there's anything related to the current investigation there, based on the time frame and dad's poor health," he said. "They made it clear they want to look at everything and by the way, if we find anything classified, we'll have to remove it. I suspect that's their real intention, to get through these papers before they become public."

Feldstein, who is writing a book about Anderson's relationship with Nixon, said the attempt is part of the "greatest assault on the news media since the Nixon administration."

The AIPAC case itself has raised questions about press freedoms because the former lobbyists, Steven Rosen and Keith Weissman, are accused of sharing information with reporters, among others.

At the same time, journalists have been questioned or subpoenaed in the investigation of who in the Bush administration leaked a
CIA officer's identity and the Justice Department is probing who revealed the existence of the National Security Agency's warrantless eavesdropping program.

The agents who went to Feldstein's home asked if he had seen any classified documents, wanted the names of all graduate students who had looked through the papers and questioned him about where the documents are housed and who controls access to them.

"On the one hand, I think it's really disturbing to have the FBI come knocking at your door, demanding to look at things you've been reading. It smacks of a Gestapo state. On the other hand, it's so heavy handed to be almost ludicrous," Feldstein said.

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http://www.wsws.org/articles/2006/apr2006/pens-a24.shtml

Pension cuts and inequality wiping out retirement for American workers

By Jonathan Keane
24 April 2006

Use this version to print | Send this link by email | Email the author

For a growing number of US workers, dreams of a decent retirement are quickly evaporating as companies shift retirement costs onto workers, in the form of deductions from already declining wages, in order to maintain profits in a competitive global economy.

In the wake of the post-World War II business boom, US workers were granted certain limited concessions in a three-legged system of retirement security that included individual savings, government programs and private employer pensions. Between the 1940s and the 1980s, private pensions with a guaranteed payout (also known as defined-benefit pensions), became a standard component of compensation for a large section of the American workforce.

However, in the early 1980s, defined-benefit pension coverage peaked and then fell in part due to that decade's deindustrialization. The service sector jobs that supplanted industrial jobs had, for the most part, lower wages, fewer employer-paid benefits and less job security.

According to a recent study by the Aon Corporation, a consulting firm, a majority of over 1,000 US employers surveyed believe that a large portion of the US workforce will not have enough income to retire at a reasonable age. Of the employers surveyed, 32 percent said that between half and three-quarters of their employees would not have the needed income to retire between the ages of 62 and 65. And 37 percent asserted that one-quarter to nearly half of their employees would not be able to retire in this age range.

"A growing number of companies are shedding their pension plans, accelerating a trend that has resulted in the loss of nearly three-quarters of pension plans during the past two decades," Tami Luhby wrote in Newsday April 3. "Just under 47,000 companies offered defined-benefit pensions in 2001...down from more than 170,000 in 1985."

Company after company is now freezing its pension plan, replacing defined benefits with employee-paid 401(k) defined contribution plans. These include Alcoa Inc., General Motors Corp., Hewlett-Packard Co., IBM Corp., Lockheed Martin Corp., Sprint-Nextel, Unisys Corp. and WellPoint Inc.

Whatever differences there are in the new plans being implemented, what all of these corporations have in common is their desire to drastically reduce their exposure to retirement costs under conditions in which declining equities markets and falling interest rates have drained pension plan assets and driven up liabilities.

A study of 100 large employers by actuarial consultant Milliman Inc. showed plan assets from the end of 2001 to the end of 2002 fell by approximately "$90 billion, or about 10%, while plan liabilities increased by about that amount, or nearly 11%." Milliman also found, as the New York Times reported ("Pension Rule Could Lower Net Worths," April 14), that new accounting rules for pensions that are scheduled to take effect at the end of this year, will "wipe away about 8 percent of corporate America's net worth, revealing hidden weaknesses all across corporate America." Companies with financial difficulties and troubled pension funds will face the biggest crises, in some cases seeing their entire net worth wiped out. General Motors is one potential example. Overly optimistic assumptions about pension fund growth have inflated assets currently held on company balance sheets that do not really exist. The new rule reevaluates pensions with numbers pegged to realistic market-based pension values.

A recent study by Demos, a national think tank on business and society ("Shredding the Retirement Contract" by Heather McGhee and David A. Smith), relates, "Today, less than half of households nearing retirement include someone earning a traditional, employer-provider defined-benefit pension--down from almost two-thirds in 1983. The decline is even more pronounced among younger workers." The Demos study underscores the shift away from defined-benefit pensions toward defined-contribution plans, like 401(k)s and IRAs, which rely on employee savings and individual stock market choices rather than employer contributions. The latter plans are now utilized by 40 percent of American households.

The shift to reliance on individual contributions for retirement will make retirement for many untenable, especially since real wages have fallen and debt has increased.

The personal savings rate has reached the lowest level since the height of the Great Depression. McGhee and Smith report that "In 1981, the average family saved 11 percent of income and held 4 percent in credit card debt. In 2000, the average family held 12 percent of income in credit card debt and saved--1 percent." The resources of working people have been stretched to the breaking point by rising costs in education, health care and child care while hiring has also been increasingly geared to a contingent labor force that has meant less regular employment for millions of workers. The result is that many American workers cannot afford to make contributions to either savings or mutual fund investments for retirement.

McGhee and Smith predict "given the nation's growing wealth inequality, that a greater reliance on the individual's retirement contribution will create more income inequality among elderly households in the decades to come." The authors go on to say that seniors are now the fastest growing age group in bankruptcy courts. One out of every five middle-to-low-income seniors on fixed incomes faces debt hardships, spending more than 40 cents of every dollar on debt payments.

The gap in wealth between the top 20 percent and the bottom 20 percent was 30-fold in 1960. In four decades, that gap increased to more than 75-fold. Stagnant or declining real incomes for the bottom 60 percent have been the reality for working families now approaching retirement. US stock ownership is extremely concentrated: its majority is held by the wealthiest 5 percent of the population. Mutual funds are now held by 21 percent of pre-retirement households (i.e., those between 55 and 64 years old), however, with a base of only $20,000 in median defined contribution pension wealth, this inadequate amount has put more pressure to have more savings to make up the difference.

Congress's proposed pension reform bill provides no solutions. The bill only hands out more tax breaks to high earners who stand to gain by increasing the amount of allowable tax-exempt 401(k) contributions. The legislation would make permanent the $15,000 contribution cap (rather than returning it to $10,500), while automatically raising it each year with inflation. As only 5 percent of US households have enough money to contribute that much to a 401(k), only the wealthy and the most privileged sections of the middle class will benefit from this provision. Meanwhile, as with other tax breaks for the rich, it will leave the government with a reduced revenue base to fund social services.

Thus, the proposed legislation will only intensify the inequality that finds its consummate expression in the destruction of pension plans for hundreds of thousands of workers by corporate executives who themselves rack up retirement benefits worth tens if not hundreds of millions.

IBM CEO Samuel Palmisano, for example, is on track to receive an annual retirement benefit worth $4 million. At the beginning of this year, IBM announced a freeze on the pensions of 113,000 of its employees, with an anticipated savings for the company of $3 billion over the next four years.

Pfizer CEO Henry McKinnell is expected to receive the largest executive retirement package, worth more than $6.5 million annually when he reaches age 65. McKinnell is chairman of the Business Roundtable, one of the principal backers of the Bush administration's proposal to privatize Social Security.

To cite another recent example, Richard C. Green, chief executive for the utility firm Aquila Inc., stands to earn an annual pension of $900,000 despite an unprofitable tenure that saw the company's stock plummet to barely 10 percent of its previous value and approximately 1,000 of its employees laid off.

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It is quite naive to suggest that OBL is alive and well and holding out in some moutainous region as it is a well known fact that he is suffering from a kidney disorder and was e.g. in a Kuwaiti hospital in July prior to 9/11 undergoing dialysis treatment.

It is also known that he was visited by a CIA operative during his stay in hospital. - Why wasn't he taken out then ...?

In any case, it is absurd to suggest that he is hiding in some cave equipped with a dialysis machine and all the necessary medical modcons in order to keep him alive.

My guess is, he has either perished some time ago, or, more likely, enjoying life in some US protected environment.

The "tapes" that have appeared from time to time are, however, in my opinion undoubtedly fakes!

The idea of US and/or Pakistani troops conducting raids (of high or low visibility) in tribal areas was never wise and the results of having conducted such raids are not surprsing.

The capture of Mr. Bin Laden/Dr. Al-Zawahri will not halt the WOT/LW. By virtue of their leadership to date, they have ensured that the conflict will extend well beyond their deaths.

Perhaps the US/Pakistani governments have decided to accept that locating Mr. Bin Laden/Dr. Al-Zawahri is only minimally important and will have only a short-term effect on public perceptions about the WOT/LW? Additionally, the blowback on such 'captures' could be indeed be significant.

While Mr. Bin Laden is apparently alive, well, and 'ready', he has yet to address the US' latest threat to Iran concerning the use of nuclear weapons. No matter. Whether AQ and the Iranians 'get along' or not, the US' statements will simply serve to further support Mr. Bin Laden's position.

POTUS is in trouble and AQ knows this. What is not known is whether AQ is interested in capitalizing on this fact. IMHO, a hit by AQ in the US, (and specifically, before either the November 2006 or 2008 elections), will serve to degrade the entire Bush administration and its collective reaction to 9/11. Hitting the US again would allow AQ to 'prove' that POTUS and his administration coddled when they should have starkly warned and took the 'fight' overseas versus preparing the homeland for disaster.

Additionally, POTUS argued that the war in Iraq would serve to increase the security of the US when in fact, the conflict is serving to provide a new training ground for young men who support, or may support, Mr. Bin Laden. Hence, the next hit may very well be executed by individuals who received their training - in Iraq. The message would be: "You were fools to trust your leader's judgments and they failed to protect you."

AQ's credibility may be at stake due to their statements indicating hits, but Mr. Bush's credibility is also at stake in this equation.

I would not be surprised to see AQ capitalize on this particular 'opportunity', unless they simply are not yet ready to strike. There is too much to be gained by them in executing another attack (or series thereof) on the US/west and other countries, prior to Mr. Bush's departure from office.

Wikipedia

John Dimitri Negroponte (born July 21, 1939)

From 1981 to 1985 Negroponte was the U.S. ambassador to Honduras. During his tenure, he oversaw the growth of military aid to Honduras from $4 million to $77.4 million a year.

Critics say that during his ambassadorship, human rights violations in Honduras became systematic.

The previous U.S. ambassador to Honduras, Jack Binns, who was appointed by President Jimmy Carter, made numerous complaints about human rights abuses by the Honduran military and claimed he fully briefed Negroponte on the situation before leaving the post. When the Reagan administration came to power, Binns was replaced by Negroponte, who has consistently denied having knowledge of any wrongdoing. Later, the Honduras Commission on Human Rights accused Negroponte himself of human rights violations but his critics have failed, to date, in making those charges stick.

Negroponte supervised the construction of the El Aguacate air base where Nicaraguan Contras were trained by the U.S., and which some critics say was used as a secret detention and torture center during the 1980s. In August 2001, excavations at the base discovered 185 corpses, including

two Americans, who are thought to have been killed and buried at the site.

Negroponte is suspected by some commentators to have known of human rights abuses carried out by CIA-trained operatives in Honduras in the 1980s. Records also show that a special intelligence unit (commonly referred to as a "death squad") of the Honduran armed forces, Battalion 3-16, trained by the CIA and the Argentine 601st Intelligence Battalion and Army Intelligence Service, kidnapped, tortured and killed hundreds of people,

including U.S. missionaries.

Critics charge that Negroponte knew about these human rights violations and yet continued to collaborate with the Honduran military while lying to Congress.

In May 1982, a nun, Sister Laetitia Bordes, who had worked for ten years in El Salvador, went on a fact-finding delegation to Honduras to investigate the whereabouts of thirty Salvadoran nuns and women of faith who fled to Honduras in 1981 after Archbishop Óscar Romero's assassination. Negroponte claimed the embassy knew nothing about the nuns. However, in a 1996 interview with The Baltimore Sun, Negroponte's predecessor, Jack Binns, said that a group of Salvadorans, among whom were the women Bordes had been looking for, were captured on April 22, 1981, and savagely tortured by the DNI, the Honduran Secret Police, and then later thrown out of helicopters alive.

In early 1984, two American mercenaries, Thomas Posey and Dana Parker, contacted Negroponte, stating they wanted to supply arms to the Contras after the U.S. Congress had banned further military aid. Documents show that Negroponte brought the two together with a contact in the Honduran armed forces. The operation was exposed nine months later, at which point the Reagan administration denied any U.S. involvement, despite Negroponte's introductions of some of the individuals. Other documents detailed a plan of Negroponte and

then-Vice President

George H. W. Bush to funnel Contra aid money through the Honduran government.

there's always a bush in there somewhere's aint it the truth?

anyway, that's who word you have to trust regarding the _truth_ a career but kisser...

lick me I'll lick you kinda guy.

.

go to Tel Aviv.

Why we didn't invade Pakistan's semi autonomous regions I'll never understand.
If we had Bin Laden would be either dead or in our custody.

Due to this administration's failure to capture Bin Laden and to adequately fund Afghanistan's reconstruction along with its military we now have a Taliban led insurgency that is getting bigger and bolder.

Another lost opportunity in the GWOT.

I heard Osama is going to do fund raisers for Bush and Clinton.

tasting tasting one too 3

I heard Osama is going to do a fund raiser for Bush and Clinton.

I shall ride you like el zorro...

you're tellin g me that you love to suck my words..

The same can be said for those super long posts that I just scroll through without reading. Must be some kind of self-inflicted ego thing.

an enculturement, it needs to have it's butt kicked by the truth...

you can thank me by learning how to think, instead of buy into someone elses rant..

until then continue throwing your bodies at me as I squash you like the parasites you are...

next.

.

"

"Drumheller was the CIA's top man in Europe, the head of covert operations there, until he retired a year ago. He says he saw firsthand how the White House promoted intelligence it liked and ignored intelligence it didn't.

" 'The idea of going after Iraq was U.S. policy. It was going to happen one way or the other,' says Drumheller."

For example, Drumheller said that Naji Sabri, Iraq's foreign minister, had made a deal to reveal Iraq's military secrets to the CIA.

"According to Drumheller, CIA Director George Tenet delivered the news about the Iraqi foreign minister at a high-level meeting at the White House, including the president, the vice president and Secretary of State Rice.

"At that meeting, Drumheller says, 'They were enthusiastic because they said, they were excited that we had a high-level penetration of Iraqis.' "

That changed completely when Sabri said Saddam had no active weapons of mass destruction programs."

"

comment little person. I like people like you that have to struggle to think outside of the box...

you give me hope that one day you will learn to walk like your father...

ataboy...

Osama Bin Laden is desperately trying to tell the world that he still exists. The latest tape is the last straw. Sadly for him, no one is listening and his message has been largely ignored.

nehad ismail
camberley, england

Rumsfeld is going to get more people killed! I read Sean Naylor's book " Not A Good Day To Die" about how either Rumsfeld or Central Command tried to do Operation Anaconda on the cheap. There were too many casualties in that operation.
The civilians in the Bush administration have never taken Afghanistan or the war on terror seriously, and they have not, as in Iraq, used enough forces to get the job done.
I didn't, for many reasons, support the war in Iraq. Among those reasons being, we hadn't finished up in Afghanistan. Afghanistan worries me more that Iraq. Whoever wins in Iraq won't tolerate al-Qaida. But, Afghanistan is really tribal and divided. It demands some serious attention, which it will not get from the Bush Administration. I can only thank God that my two sons were in the service before Bush became President. I wish everybody's sons and daughters now in the service were in the same position. The insane are running the asylum!

When your mouth opens, nonsense comes out.

At no point in your rambling, incoherent post were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone who read the post is now dumber for having read to it.

Ditto for Arkin.

your gawd is one of many...

and actually a roman gawd.

the Romans stole the christians religion from them in 400 AD, and created the one true church RCC from which _all_

current modern day christian churches are descended...

they took away the individuals right to have a personal conversation relationship with divinity and

reestablished the churches role in suppressing free thinking, as a tool of control for the

Holy Roman Empire...emporer Constantine, established the RCC in 400 something AD...

_all_

?christian churches? are descended from the Roman usage of the church to control the masses by saying that _their_ church spoke for gawd...

and that their gawd could be called on to hurt _their_ enemies like

Pat Robertson proselytizes.........antichrist

.

Arkin, I know of a few kids who have a better insight into what is actually going on then you apparently do.

There are real reasons why we haven't 'found' Osama. Coincidentally, it is the same reason Saddam is (still) on trial; The US is complacent in ALL of the crimes we accuse these two people of.
How convenient it is that the 'distraction' of Osama and Saddam raises its head every time a major vote or issue concerning civil liberties is raised.

The people that stand beside the corruption and grant it its proverbial blessing by inaction that are as guilty as those committing the crimes.

It is time for the people to draw the line and maintain what few freedoms there are remaining.

Arkin, it's time to put down the misguided talking points and get to the truth....... Or get off the line.....

"God knows that you will never hear the truth from the mouth of a politician like George Bush!" Is this not judgemental? If you are truly faithful then you know what the Lord said of judging others. So, in my humble opinion, it is my belief that you are mocking the words of the Lord.

On one hand you claim, "A long time ago, I learned that when speaking to others, not to give my opinions, but instead to give them the word."

So I am curious to know where in the Bible it says, "God knows that you will never hear the truth from the mouth of a politician like George Bush!" I guess I just don't understand how you twist God's Word with human events and not form an opinion. The fact that you say the truth will never come out of Bush's mouth is not only your opinion (not the Words of God) but it is judgemental - in spite of the word of the Lord. You do not speak the Word of God or his Son - you deliver the message by preaching from the Bible.
I take no pleasure in arguing or debating with a servant of the Lord, no matter how misguided I may think the servant is. So I will end my opinion on this matter here.

makes Arkin a bad guy?

sounds like you want to make someone responsible for outing your president...

can you say, the emporer has no clothes?

.

Hi Archer,

A long time ago, I learned that when speaking to others, not to give my opinions, but instead to give them the word. I gave you the word, I thought, how does that make me an hypocrite?

America is truly out of synch with the Bible, just compare its behaviors and policies with what is written in scripture. Wars, eye-for-an-eye, murder, classism, ignorning the poor, rape, debauchery...shall I go on?

In the Bible, lying and hypocritical leaders like Nebuchadneezar were rebuked. Why do you support lying politicans today, yet you call me the hypocrite.

Well, they told Jesus that he had a devil, didn't they? Aren't you being hypocritcal?

Peace & Grace!

Rev. C. Solomon:

For whom do you speak?

"...I am neither a fascist-conservative nor theocon, or a right or left-wing wacko!

When I take the high-level view, lifting myself above blind patriotism (to any country), and rather basing both my opinions and conclusions on what I read in the Bible, which I believe is mostly the Word of God..."

"God knows that you will never hear the truth from the mouth of a politician like George Bush!" Do you speak for God then?

"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."

Archer is correct to ask, "Who cares?"

Arkin's dimented and retarded following believe Bush orchestrated 9/11. So of what importance is UBL when he didn't do anything? (That should help the conspiracy theorists.) And what in your life would change if UBL were caught tonight? Do we already know where UBL is and are tracking him? (Also see comments on "I'm the Idiot")

Our government has rightfully made a big deal out of the deficit. They have pounded Bush for the deficit. Now when the Bush administration goes to cut costs, people like Arkin, put on the blinders (ignores other programs being cut) and go after Bush for trying to cut into the deficit. Arkin is too superficial and specious to write the real story. And it is very possible there are other reasons why the administration wants to cut some exercises and not others. Priorities.

Won't it indeed be nice in 2009 when the sole source of ALL our public and private problems (the Bush Administration) will be gone and we will all be at peace and love each other?

character caused such an outcry when he stood up for himself...

New Yorkers had lived in fear for years....woman murdered outside of her apartment....her screams are recorded as she's murdered and assaulted 3 times over like a 3 hour period...and no one helped...

yeah, _the guilliani_, had an effect dramtatic

I am neither a fascist-conservative nor theocon, or am I a right or left-wing wacko, I am a Christian!

When I take the high-level view, lifting myself above blind patriotism (to any country), and rather base both my opinions and conclusions on what I read in the Bible, which I believe is mostly the Word of God, I come to a different conclusion than most Americans with respect to the problems and unrest in the world today. My conclusions are even different from most who consider themselves to be religious or Christians.

I understand the loyalty and the conclusions drawn by those individuals and countries that have benefited from the self-described largess of the United States of America. However, these same groups of individuals and countries, overlook the atrocities of the United States of America that have been levied against other individuals and countries in the past. Many of these individuals and countries who have been beneficiaries of the USA, will join in and support the nefarious behaviorw and activities of the United States of America. The same would decry the behavior of any other nation that would act in a similar manner as a warmongering nation like the USA.

I have been visiting the dc-Metro region this area for a while, recently I visited several churches in this region who openely celebrate the wholesale murder of innocent people in Iraq and other nations by the American Killing Machine.

America is a haughty nation, the only one to boast in recent times, as King Nebuchadnezzar of scripture was often wont to do, that it is "The Superpower", and your churches support America's blapshemy and idolatry. I thought that God was the Superpower!

America is a nation, that based upon its past accomplishments, is full of pride. And the Bible says that pride goeth before destruction and a haughty Spirit before a fall. If one would just step above the geo-political/east-west and north-south fray (the USA usually in the middle), one would understand why America has not only been attacked, but doggedly criticized by Osama and other nations of the world; some who were and still are allies of the United States of America.

America has been wrong itself on too many occasions, and therefore America is not in a position to judge any other nation or individual(s), including Osama, Iraq or Saddam Hussein; for the USA has been guilty itself of the similar behaviors ascribed to Osama Bin Laden (retributive in his case) and Saddam Hussein (former friend of the USA).

America has a history itself of genocide, murder, hegemony, corruption, enslavement, terrorism, destabilization of other countries, racism and greed. Where do wars come from? The Bible says that wars comes as a result of lusting, i.e., you have not, you want it, so you go about the task of taking it.

What is sad about too many nations and people of the world, not only the USA, is that truth has seemed to have left the earth. And, many of America's preachers are in bed with venal politicians and support policies that are the antithesis of the wisdom and the word of God. None of America's internal or domestic problems will be resolved for any length of time, given its misguided motives and attitudes; and sadly our children will continue to suffer into perpetuity, given the narrow-mindedness of self-interest and pseudo-nationalism of their parents.

I would suggest that America's definition of peace is that all men everywhere would simply submit to the policies and the will of misguided, greedy and malevolent American self-interest (not to mention America's design for the world). If you do not submit and comply with American hegemony, America will bring about swift retribution to any individual (including American citizens) or nations that gets in its way.

One day, we look forward to having a monarch to return to the earth that will rule the earth with righteous judgment, his judgment to the dismay of many will not be according to American self-interest or hegemony. The same cannot happen while so-called SuperPower nations are in control of the United Nations, or other world matters!

Will anyone else stand up and speak up for the truth and stop supporting the murder of innocent people and the occupation(s) of sovereign nations around the world; know that if you don't stand up the blood of innocent people, just like you, will be on your hands?

For to remain on the same course will only result in more freedom fighters like Osama Bin Laden who stand up for the rights of his people and friends against oppressive nations, including the USA, just as an American would stand up for its nation or friends, given the same circumstances. If Americans and Israel have the right to defend themselves against oppressors, ala George Bush, so do Muslims, Muslim nations and other peoples of the world, including the so-called Axis-of-Evil.

Many of your Priests, Rabbi's, Imam's, Prelates, Bishops, Pastors and other religious leaders will never tell you the same, because they too have their own vested interest in the American experiment succeeding. And God knows that you will never hear the truth from the mouth of politicians like George Bush!

Peace & Grace!

but I knew people in NYC, and the change was like night and day they said...

scofflaws ~= sociopaths

tell me mr delay is not a socio path.

or Pat Robertson, praying for his gawd to smite you?

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How the CIA created Osama bin Laden
BY NORM DIXON

"Throughout the world ... its agents, client states and satellites are on the defensive -- on the moral defensive, the intellectual defensive, and the political and economic defensive. Freedom movements arise and assert themselves. They're doing so on almost every continent populated by man -- in the hills of Afghanistan, in Angola, in Kampuchea, in Central America ... [They are] freedom fighters."

Is this a call to jihad (holy war) taken from one of Islamic fundamentalist Osama bin Laden's notorious fatwas? Or perhaps a communique issued by the repressive Taliban regime in Kabul?

In fact, this glowing praise of the murderous exploits of today's supporters of arch-terrorist bin Laden and his Taliban collaborators, and their holy war against the "evil empire", was issued by US President Ronald Reagan on March 8, 1985. The "evil empire" was the Soviet Union, as well as Third World movements fighting US-backed colonialism, apartheid and dictatorship.

How things change. In the aftermath of a series of terrorist atrocities -- the most despicable being the mass murder of more than 6000 working people in New York and Washington on September 11 -- bin Laden the "freedom fighter" is now lambasted by US leaders and the Western mass media as a "terrorist mastermind" and an "evil-doer".

Yet the US government refuses to admit its central role in creating the vicious movement that spawned bin Laden, the Taliban and Islamic fundamentalist terrorists that plague Algeria and Egypt -- and perhaps the disaster that befell New York.

The mass media has also downplayed the origins of bin Laden and his toxic brand of Islamic fundamentalism.
Mujaheddin

In April 1978, the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) seized power in Afghanistan in reaction to a crackdown against the party by that country's repressive government.

The PDPA was committed to a radical land reform that favoured the peasants, trade union rights, an expansion of education and social services, equality for women and the separation of church and state. The PDPA also supported strengthening Afghanistan's relationship with the Soviet Union.

Such policies enraged the wealthy semi-feudal landlords, the Muslim religious establishment (many mullahs were also big landlords) and the tribal chiefs. They immediately began organizing resistance to the government's progressive policies, under the guise of defending Islam.

Washington, fearing the spread of Soviet influence (and worse the new government's radical example) to its allies in Pakistan, Iran and the Gulf states, immediately offered support to the Afghan mujaheddin, as the "contra" force was known.

Following an internal PDPA power struggle in December 1979 which toppled Afghanistan's leader, thousands of Soviet troops entered the country to prevent the new government's fall. This only galvanized the disparate fundamentalist factions. Their reactionary jihad now gained legitimacy as a "national liberation" struggle in the eyes of many Afghans.

The Soviet Union was eventually to withdraw from Afghanistan in 1989 and the mujaheddin captured the capital, Kabul, in 1992.

Between 1978 and 1992, the US government poured at least US$6 billion (some estimates range as high as $20 billion) worth of arms, training and funds to prop up the mujaheddin factions. Other Western governments, as well as oil-rich Saudi Arabia, kicked in as much again. Wealthy Arab fanatics, like Osama bin Laden, provided millions more.

Washington's policy in Afghanistan was shaped by US President Jimmy Carter's national security advisor, Zbigniew Brzezinski, and was continued by his successors. His plan went far beyond simply forcing Soviet troops to withdraw; rather it aimed to foster an international movement to spread Islamic fanaticism into the Muslim Central Asian Soviet republics to destabilize the Soviet Union.

Brzezinski's grand plan coincided with Pakistan military dictator General Zia ul-Haq's own ambitions to dominate the region. US-run Radio Liberty and Radio Free Europe beamed Islamic fundamentalist tirades across Central Asia (while paradoxically denouncing the "Islamic revolution" that toppled the pro-US Shah of Iran in 1979).

Washington's favoured mujaheddin faction was one of the most extreme, led by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. The West's distaste for terrorism did not apply to this unsavory "freedom fighter". Hekmatyar was notorious in the 1970's for throwing acid in the faces of women who refused to wear the veil.

After the mujaheddin took Kabul in 1992, Hekmatyar's forces rained US-supplied missiles and rockets on that city -- killing at least 2000 civilians -- until the new government agreed to give him the post of prime minister. Osama bin Laden was a close associate of Hekmatyar and his faction.

Hekmatyar was also infamous for his side trade in the cultivation and trafficking in opium. Backing of the mujaheddin from the CIA coincided with a boom in the drug business. Within two years, the Afghanistan-Pakistan border was the world's single largest source of heroin, supplying 60% of US drug users.

In 1995, the former director of the CIA's operation in Afghanistan was unrepentant about the explosion in the flow of drugs: "Our main mission was to do as much damage as possible to the Soviets... There was a fallout in terms of drugs, yes. But the main objective was accomplished. The Soviets left Afghanistan."
Made in the USA

According to Ahmed Rashid, a correspondent for the Far Eastern Economic Review, in 1986 CIA chief William Casey committed CIA support to a long-standing ISI proposal to recruit from around the world to join the Afghan jihad. At least 100,000 Islamic militants flocked to Pakistan between 1982 and 1992 (some 60,000 attended fundamentalist schools in Pakistan without necessarily taking part in the fighting).

John Cooley, a former journalist with the US ABC television network and author of Unholy Wars: Afghanistan, America and International Terrorism, has revealed that Muslims recruited in the US for the mujaheddin were sent to Camp Peary, the CIA's spy training camp in Virginia, where young Afghans, Arabs from Egypt and Jordan, and even some African-American "black Muslims" were taught "sabotage skills".

The November 1, 1998, British Independent reported that one of those charged with the 1998 bombings of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, Ali Mohammed, had trained "bin Laden's operatives" in 1989.

These "operatives" were recruited at the al Kifah Refugee Centre in Brooklyn, New York, given paramilitary training in the New York area and then sent to Afghanistan with US assistance to join Hekmatyar's forces. Mohammed was a member of the US army's elite Green Berets.

The program, reported the Independent, was part of a Washington-approved plan called " Operation Cyclone".

In Pakistan, recruits, money and equipment were distributed to the mujaheddin factions by an organization known as Maktab al Khidamar (Office of Services -- MAK).

MAK was a front for Pakistan's CIA, the Inter-Service Intelligence Directorate. The ISI was the first recipient of the vast bulk of CIA and Saudi Arabian covert assistance for the Afghan contras. Bin Laden was one of three people who ran MAK. In 1989, he took overall charge of MAK.

Among those trained by Mohammed were El Sayyid Nosair, who was jailed in 1995 for killing Israeli rightist Rabbi Meir Kahane and plotting with others to bomb New York landmarks, including the World Trade Center in 1993.

The Independent also suggested that Shiekh Omar Abdel-Rahman, an Egyptian religious leader also jailed for the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center, was also part of Operation Cyclone. He entered the US in 1990 with the CIA's approval. A confidential CIA report concluded that the agency was "partly culpable" for the 1993 World Trade Center blast, the Independent reported.
Bin Laden

Osama bin Laden, one of 20 sons of a billionaire construction magnate, arrived in Afghanistan to join the jihad in 1980. An austere religious fanatic and business tycoon, bin Laden specialized in recruiting, financing and training the estimated 35,000 non-Afghan mercenaries who joined the mujaheddin.

The bin Laden family is a prominent pillar of the Saudi Arabian ruling class, with close personal, financial and political ties to that country's pro-US royal family.

Bin Laden senior was appointed Saudi Arabia's minister of public works as a favour by King Faisal. The new minister awarded his own construction companies lucrative contracts to rebuild Islam's holiest mosques in Mecca and Medina. In the process, the bin Laden family company in 1966 became the world's largest private construction company.

Osama bin Laden's father died in 1968. Until 1994, he had access to the dividends from this ill-gotten business empire.

(Bin Laden junior's oft-quoted personal fortune of US$200-300 million has been arrived at by the US State Department by dividing today's value of the bin Laden family net worth -- estimated to be US$5 billion -- by the number of bin Laden senior's sons. A fact rarely mentioned is that in 1994 the bin Laden family disowned Osama and took control of his share.)

Osama's military and business adventures in Afghanistan had the blessing of the bin Laden dynasty and the reactionary Saudi Arabian regime. His close working relationship with MAK also meant that the CIA was fully aware of his activities.

Milt Bearden, the CIA's station chief in Pakistan from 1986 to 1989, admitted to the January 24, 2000, New Yorker that while he never personally met bin Laden, "Did I know that he was out there? Yes, I did ... [Guys like] bin Laden were bringing $20-$25 million a month from other Saudis and Gulf Arabs to underwrite the war. And that is a lot of money. It's an extra $200-$300 million a year. And this is what bin Laden did."

In 1986, bin Laden brought heavy construction equipment from Saudi Arabia to Afghanistan. Using his extensive knowledge of construction techniques (he has a degree in civil engineering), he built "training camps", some dug deep into the sides of mountains, and built roads to reach them.

These camps, now dubbed "terrorist universities" by Washington, were built in collaboration with the ISI and the CIA. The Afghan contra fighters, including the tens of thousands of mercenaries recruited and paid for by bin Laden, were armed by the CIA. Pakistan, the US and Britain provided military trainers.

Tom Carew, a former British SAS soldier who secretly fought for the mujaheddin told the August 13, 2000, British Observer, "The Americans were keen to teach the Afghans the techniques of urban terrorism -- car bombing and so on -- so that they could strike at the Russians in major towns ... Many of them are now using their knowledge and expertise to wage war on everything they hate."

Al Qaeda (the Base), bin Laden's organization, was established in 1987-88 to run the camps and other business enterprises. It is a tightly-run capitalist holding company -- albeit one that integrates the operations of a mercenary force and related logistical services with "legitimate" business operations.

Bin Laden has simply continued to do the job he was asked to do in Afghanistan during the 1980's -- fund, feed and train mercenaries. All that has changed is his primary customer. Then it was the ISI and, behind the scenes, the CIA. Today, his services are utilized primarily by the reactionary Taliban regime.

Bin Laden only became a "terrorist" in US eyes when he fell out with the Saudi royal family over its decision to allow more than 540,000 US troops to be stationed on Saudi soil following Iraq's invasion of Kuwait.

When thousands of US troops remained in Saudi Arabia after the end of the Gulf War, bin Laden's anger turned to outright opposition. He declared that Saudi Arabia and other regimes -- such as Egypt -- in the Middle East were puppets of the US, just as the PDPA government of Afghanistan had been a puppet of the Soviet Union.

He called for the overthrow of these client regimes and declared it the duty of all Muslims to drive the US out of the Gulf states. In 1994, he was stripped of his Saudi citizenship and forced to leave the country. His assets there were frozen.

After a period in Sudan, he returned to Afghanistan in May 1996. He refurbished the camps he had helped build during the Afghan war and offered the facilities and services -- and thousands of his mercenaries -- to the Taliban, which took power that September.

Today, bin Laden's private army of non-Afghan religious fanatics is a key prop of the Taliban regime.

Prior to the devastating September 11 attack on the twin towers of World Trade Center, US ruling-class figures remained unrepentant about the consequences of their dirty deals with the likes of bin Laden, Hekmatyar and the Taliban. Since the awful attack, they have been downright hypocritical.

In an August 28, 1998, report posted on MSNBC, Michael Moran quotes Senator Orrin Hatch, who was a senior member of the Senate Intelligence Committee which approved US dealings with the mujaheddin, as saying he would make "the same call again", even knowing what bin Laden would become.

"It was worth it. Those were very important, pivotal matters that played an important role in the downfall of the Soviet Union."

Hatch today is one of the most gung-ho voices demanding military retaliation.

Another face that has appeared repeatedly on television screens since the attack has been Vincent Cannistrano, described as a former CIA chief of "counter-terrorism operations".

Cannistrano is certainly an expert on terrorists like bin Laden, because he directed their "work". He was in charge of the CIA-backed Nicaraguan contras during the early 1980's. In 1984, he became the supervisor of covert aid to the Afghan mujaheddin for the US National Security Council.

The last word goes to Zbigniew Brzezinski: "What was more important in the world view of history? The Taliban or the fall of the Soviet Empire? A few stirred up Muslims or the liberation of Central Europe and the end of the Cold War?"
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"We shall have a World government, whether or not we like it. The only question is whether World government will be achieved by conquest or consent."
James Paul Warburg, February 17, 1950, before the U.S. Senate

"All propaganda has to be popular and has to adapt its spiritual level to the perception of the least intelligent of those towards whom it intends to direct itself."
Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf ("My Struggle"), Vol. I

"There will be, in the next generation or so, a pharmacological method of making people love their servitude, and producing dictatorship without tears, so to speak, producing a kind of painless concentration camp for entire societies, so that people will in fact have their liberties taken away from them, but will rather enjoy it, because they will be distracted from any desire to rebel by propaganda or brainwashing, or brainwashing enhanced by pharmacological methods. And this seems to be the final revolution."
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"We are going to end up with world government. It's inevitable ... There's going to be conflict, coercion and consensus. That's all part of what will be required as we give birth to the first global civilization."
James Garrison, president, Gorbachev Foundation USA; quoted in The Daily Record, Dunn, NC, p.4 10/17/95
Memoirs Illustrating the History of JacobinismMemoirs Illustrating the History of Jacobinism, by Abbe Barruel Fire in the Minds of Men: Origins of the Revolutionary FaithFire in the Minds of Men: Origins of the Revolutionary Faith, by James H. Billington World Revolution: The Plot Against CivilizationWorld Revolution: The Plot Against Civilization, by Nesta H. Webster (6th revised edition) America's Secret Establishment: An Introduction to the Order of Skull & BonesAmerica's Secret Establishment: An Introduction to the Order of Skull & Bones, by Antony C. Sutton Secret Societies and Subversive MovementsSecret Societies and Subversive Movements, by Nesta H. Webster

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Oh you hypocrite!

"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."

You are no Reverend!

Posted by: Archer | Apr 24, 2006 2:14:02 PM | Permalink

Ditto to you Archie.

"want to end corruption in congress",

The Freakonomics guys say the actual reason for the decline in crimes nationwide during the 90s had nothing to do with Giuliani's crackdown or Clinton's 100,000 extra police. They said it had to do with the legalization of abortion two decades ealier. No unwanted babies mean no hardened criminals on the streets twenty years later! Freaky eh?

Rev. C. Solomon:

For whom do you speak?

"...I am neither a fascist-conservative nor theocon, or a right or left-wing wacko!

When I take the high-level view, lifting myself above blind patriotism (to any country), and rather basing both my opinions and conclusions on what I read in the Bible, which I believe is mostly the Word of God..."

"God knows that you will never hear the truth from the mouth of a politician like George Bush!" You speak for God then?

Oh you hypocrite!

"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."

You are no Reverend!

do what former mayor of NYC did when crime was out of control there...

arrest and prosecute for any crime, downto misdemeanor level,

hold your congress accountable by making them obey the same laws that they pass...

Guilliani found that scofflaws were also

murderers, rapists, assaultists, thieves and grand larcenists...

like your congress people.

I would imagine, simply prosecuting those that hire illegals would net you 14 or so...

check out the bush ranches, all of the bushes...

as well as Colorado representatives...

.

Bush bashing is all fine and good but just remember Clinton had Osama in his grasp and he chose to let him go. It is not the Amaerican president but the congressional members and the money that is running this show and war makes them rich.

Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld, et al. don't want to catch OBL. OBL is a valuable commodity to them. They would rather chase him around rather than find him dead. Without him, who would be next?

Who Cares?

I am neither a fascist-conservative nor theocon, or a right or left-wing wacko!

When I take the high-level view, lifting myself above blind patriotism (to any country), and rather basing both my opinions and conclusions on what I read in the Bible, which I believe is mostly the Word of God, I come to a different conclusion than most Americans would, with respect to the problems and unrest in the world today. My conclusions are even different from most who consider them religious or Christians.

My conclusions are even different from most who consider them religious, or to be Christians. I understand the loyalty and the conclusions drawn by those individuals and countries that have benefited from the self-described largess of the United States of America.

However, these same groups of individuals and countries, overlook the atrocities of the United States against other individuals and countries; and many of these individuals who have benefited, will join in and support the nefarious behavior and activities of the United States, which they would decry if the same thing happened to them or their nation as a result of the hegemony, of some other warmongering nation like the USA.

America is a haughty nation, the only one to boast in recent times, as King Nebuchadnezzar of scripture was often wont to do, calling by itself The Superpower' I thought that God was the Superpower.

America is a nation that is full of pride, based on its past accomplishments. And the Bible says that pride goeth before destruction and a haughty Spirit before a fall.

If one would just step above the geo-political/east-west fray and north-south fray (the USA usually in the middle), one would understand why America has not only been attacked but doggedly criticized by Osama and other nations of the world.

America has been wrong itself on too many nations, and therefore clearly not in the position to judge any other nation or individuals, and that includes Osama, even Iraq or Saddam Hussein for the USA has been guilty itself of the same behaviors as Osama (retributive in his case) and Saddam (former friend of the USA).

America has a history, itself, of genocide, murder, hegemony, enslavement, terrorism, destabilization of other countries, racism and greed.

Where do wars come from? The Bible says that wars comes as a result of lusting, you have not, you want it, so you go about the task of taking it.

What is sad about too many nations and people of the world is that truth has seemed to have left the earth; many of America's preachers are in bed with venal politicians and policies that are the antithesis of the wisdom of God.

None of our internal or domestic problems will be resolved for any length of time, given our misguided motives and attitudes, and our children will continue to suffer given the narrow-mindedness of self-interest and nationalism, into perpetuity.

I would suggest that America's definition of peace, is that all men everywhere simply submit to the policies and the will of misguided, greedy an malevolent American self-interest, not to mention America's design for the world.

And if you do not comply, America will bring about swift retribution to any individual or nation that gets in its way, even American citizens.

One day, we look forward to having a monarch return to the earth that will rule the earth with righteous judgment, and not by American interest or hegemony.

The same cannot happen while so-called SuperPower nations, are in control of the United Nations or world matters!

Will anyone else stand up and speak up for the truth and stop supporting the murder of innocent people and the occupation(s) of sovereign nations around the world; , for that blood is always on your hands?

To remain on the same course will only result in more freedom fighters like Osama Bin Laden, who stand up for the rights of his people against oppressive nations, including the USA, just as an American would stand up for its nation or friends under the same circumstances; Osama and others have that right, if America has the same right.

Many of your Priests, Rabbi's, Imam's, Prelates, Bishops, Pastors or other religious leaders will never tell you the same, because they have their own interests. And God knows that you will never hear the truth from the mouth of a politician like George Bush!

Peace & Grace!

Rev. C. Solomon

Lets face it: Bin Laden in far more valuable to the Rove/Cheney White House alive than dead. Like the witch doctor waving the bloody chicken in your face, they'd like to keep Osama around to scare us with, especially during an election year. Who can forget those random terror alerts thoughout the 2004 election every time King George's polls dipped (and how voters so easily bought it).

Honest to Christ, This Pentagon Propaganda is getting embarrassing! It's been 1,680 days since George WMD Bush said he'd catch UBL-RIP 'Dead or Alive!' USA! USA! USA!

Bin Laden/Rumsfeld Warn of Long Fight?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/23/AR2006042300447.html
In audiotape, al-Qaeda leader blames "Crusader-Zionist war" for a long list of attacks on Islam.

On September 10, 2001 the Washington Times reported that Israeli Intelligence has the capability to target the United States and make it look like a Palestinian/Arab "Terrorist" attack! It isn't anti-semitic to ask why the U.S. Government has classified evidence linking Israeli spies to the September 11, 2001 attacks, GOOGLE IT! There is something monstrously rotten in the United States! Last week U.S. Secretary of 'Defense' Donald Rumsfeld suggested in an interview with Rush 'Pills' Limbaugh that American critics of the 'War' in Iraq were being manipulated by the U.S. Corporate Media who were being manipulated by the "terrorists" like Bin Laden and Zarqawi? Yet, on April 10, 2006 the Washington Post reported that the U.S. Military/Government is also manipulating the U.S. Corporate Media by conducting a propaganda campaign on the U.S. Home Audience about "al-Qaeda in Iraq" and the one legged Abu Musab al-Zarqawi! When the hell did it become ok for the Military/Government to conduct Psy Ops on the American People, on September 11, 2001? The world changed on August 6,2001 when the President IGNORED the information the would have stopped 9/11, NEVER FORGET RIGHT! The majority of foreign fighters in Iraq are U.S. Occupation Troops, not "Al Queda in Iraq"! The Pentagon seems to be expanding their campaign with the emergence of the new "Al Queda in Iran", "Al Queda in Israel", "Al Queda in Palestine", etc! It's a real tragedy that the U.S. Media can't speak truth to power, just lies to powerlessness!

I find it rather naieve that some people seem to think that Al Qaeda is the only threat the US faces in the world and that to acknowledge and/or deal with another threat is taking one's eye off the ball or ignoring the Al Qaeda threat.

I would have to disagree with Rummy mightily on this one. Waziristan is a remote, mountainous region and frankly the more guys there the better. In most respects he is right, large scale troop deployments are not the best way to go after terrorists but this is different. This is more of a deer-drive operation in which numbers will work to our advantage. There may very well be more at work here than meets the eye, as is often the case, but I definitely disagree about the emphasis on SOCOM in this instance.

BTW...

One of the most concise argruments for Rumsfeld getting the heave-ho is in the "Lexington" column in the current edition of "The Economist".

http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=6828179

Yo! Bill.

-- Afghani is the currency used in Afghanistan.

-- Afghan people are commonly referred to as "Afghani" in South Asian languages such as Hindi and Urdu but the correct term in English is "Afghan".

Gosh I didn't vote for him or cheney.

finally you're talking about the Real War.

Look, Pakistan has been playing us since forever. Bush pardoned the very person who exported nuclear missile technology to four terrorist nations (the Pakistan chief nuclear scientist), agrees when they say Osama isn't in Pakistan (although everyone knows he is), and continues to fight the Wrong War in Iraq.

About time you posted a good opinion piece ...

Bush said in 2001 that he wanted OBL "Dead or Alive." then, like the flip-flopper he really is suddenly became mute about the man who attacked us.

Meanwhile, Saddam Hussein, who had nothing to do with 9/11 sits pretty in a court room.

Wake up America!

It seems to me that George W. Bush has created a sort of Black Hole in Iraq that sucks in all of the resources that would be applied to the war against Bin Laden and Al Quaeda. Echoes of that reality reverberate in Rumsfeld's "snowflakes". You don't have to be schooled in Quantum Mechanics to digest the meaning of "cut to an absolute minimum".

If Bush had kept his eye on the ball, if he had not been so completely obsessed with getting rid of Sadaam Hussein, if he had not become so enchanted with the neoconservative fantasies conjured up in the conclaves of the Project for a New American Century and if he were not afflicted with this silly, messianic affliction that deludes him into thinking Divine Providence has selected him to pave the way toward Armagaeddon and the Second Coming, it is more than likely that Osam would be sagfely in our hands by now and subjected to the humiliating process of American justice, instead of putting out taunting video pieces mocking Bush's weakness in failing to capture him.

God! Can we not speed up time and hasten to January 20, 2009?

Scaled back the hunt for OSL? IS it POSSIBLE they don't want to catch him, but keep him for a rally point? A symbol for hissing? Who'd put anything past those malicious idiots in DOD and the WH. Surely not.