Isn't it lucky that America has you, then? Lol.

As I understand it, the webpage's being contracted out. When finally "up," it will be run by the EIB Network with responsible-opposing-views furnished by Fox News. State Department oversight will be provided by Assistant Secretary Hughes office. Terms & conditions have yet to be disclosed.

As I understand it, the webpage's being contracted out. When finally "up," it will be run by the EIB Network with responsible-opposing-views furnished by Fox News. State Department oversight will be provided by Assistant Secretary Hughes' office. Terms & conditions have yet to be disclosed.

The State Dept. also deleted Colin Powell's comments made in Jan. 2001 where he said Saddam Hussein has "no significant capability with respect to weapons of mass destruction." That was an authoritative link for the anti-Bush crowd. Now it's gone. Various terrorism statistics have been deleted, too, now that we lost the war on terror.

Isn't this just another example of how this administration wants to manage the news and information that the public gets? My experience has been that any administration that goes to such lengths to control the news is displaying what in the legal community is known as "consciousness of guilt".

It is clear that this President has a great deal to hide and is going to great lengths to do just that.

The State Department should publish a list of who visits their website - on the main page of their website. They should also publish the links each visitor clicked on and whether known or suspected terrorists have clicked on those links as well... (the State Dept. should also keep secret the names of all it's employees including the Secretary of State)(an aside: the US should from now on only hold secret elections at secret times with secret candidates and of course keep the winners of the contests secret [we could continue to use Biden, Kean, et al as spokes persons - without disclosing whether they are still in power...])

i believe these measures are necessary to win the war for freedom and democracy.

shhhh

Welocme to the New Republic. China has nothing on this administration. Thanks to the 51% who bought BUsh & Co.'s rubbish in the last round. I guees we could buy a copy of the Hearld Tribune to seek truth.Or perhaps the Reader's Digest....

Media manipulaiton of the worst kind - that's what the Bush administration is doing. In an age of internet and instant communication not that it really matters but it reveals a great deal about those who seek to hide something. Yesterday it was about manipulating the Iraqi news media where we supplied the news for MONEY - is that not some kind of mercenary action? Today we want to black out what everyone else is thinking about us.

There has been a sort of consistency in the administration's approach - COVER UP! When something is laid bare in spite of our herculean efforts to hide what is unsavory, we begin to spin and parse phrases as Ms Rice has been doing these days in regard to CIA torture camps and "renditions." She says that America does not allow torture but then her definition of torture is not what you and I (and the rest of the world) thinks it is: inhumane and cruel treatment of people where water-boarding is included. Her definition of torture does not include the delivery the CIA makes of suspected terrorists to countries where torture is routine. Why would the CIA fly these people to countries where torture is practiced daily? Does Ms Rice not know that? No, she does not, because she is only "Her Master's Voice." And the tragedy is that the "Master" is but a puppet in the hands of the Vice Master who pulls the strings.

Colin Powell tried to defend the administration line that Saddam was an imminent threat because he possessed WMD; now Rice tries to justify torture. Let's bury our heads in the sand and pretend we don't know what the world is thinking of our actions condoning and approving torture.

It's pretty obvious why the Bush administration would want to hide from the American public what the foreign press is saying about the U.S. these days: it's overwhelmingly negative. Hardly surprising, given how discredited Bush and company -- and by extension the U.S. itself -- are the world over. From an illegal war sold to the U.S. by means of deceit and deception to utter disregard and contempt for its allies and for international treaties to destabilizing the Middle East and openly advocating - and practising - torture, there's not much more the Bush administration can do to further discredit itself internationally. Still, I predict that this State Department attempt to hide the ugly truth from Americans won't work.

It is becoming obvious that in America the truth is only available to the chosen, not to the average American. Democracy disapeared when Bush came into office. The average American can call the truth a "conspiracy theory" because they will never be allowed access to the truth. Looking at the general level of malaise, most Americans don't care about the truth, they are quite happy being managed like infants in daycare. Others do care, but they have quite a job on their hands.They are forced to speak up for themselves and for the passive millions who may never wake up.
Quote attributed to Jeb Bush (Florida Governor)
"The truth is useless. You have to understand this right now. You can't deposit the truth in a bank. You can't buy groceries with the truth. You can't pay rent with the truth. The truth is a useless commodity that will hang around your neck like an albatross all the way to the homeless shelter. And if you think that the million or so people in this country that are really interested in the truth, you got another thing coming. Because the million or so people in this country that are really interested in the truth don't have any money."
The Government-Corporation of America sees the truth as only a hindrance to their goal of total global control. The polls taken in Canada, Germany, and Britain show that a large number believe Bush arranged 9/11. They also believe Iraq is about oil and control of the Mideast.
In America it is another story, even with evidence at people's disposal they do not in large numbers believe anything beyond the word of their elected government. Sitting ducks.
Now with the electoral system set up so that they can plan who wins, and a fair system does not exist, they are in control. Democracy is a thing of the past.

The behavior of American military personnel in Iraq is certainly less than honorable. Planned and deliberate torture of prisoners of war, slaughter of civilians, looting, rapes, the use of Willie Peter against civilians, the killing of inconvenient foreign news people, the mass desertions in Ireland and other unpleasantries have branded the United States with the same hot iron once used on the Germans, the Japanese and, to a lesser degree, the Soviet Army.

It is painfully obvious that this country has lost, completely lost, the conflict in Iraq. There are too many highly motivated and well-armed insurgents and too few increasingly demoralized military (general officers excluded) to permit any kind of an actual victory.

In partisan warfare, the irregulars almost always have the upper hand because they can choose the time and place of their attacks and he who attempts to defend everything, defends nothing.

Vietnam was a great military and political defeat and one would think that Washington would learn from its past errors but obviously, it has not.

Every soldier, sailor, Marine or airman who dies, is wounded for life or otherwise scarred by this useless exercise in political fascism, certainly evokes pity but for those vicious swine who plotted this war and who have kept it going without any plan to end it, should be taken out and shot in public...in batches of ten and without the benefit of clergy.

Fooj: The behavior of American military personnel in Iraq is certainly less than honorable

CORRECTION: The behavior of some American military personnel in Iraq is certainly less than honorable and truly a disgrace!

fooj: It is painfully obvious that this country has lost, completely lost, the conflict in Iraq.

Not to all. This is because US media largely *refuses* to show the face of the extremist hiding behind the veil of Lady Liberty.

Boy George has fathered a conservative Islamic theocracy with extremely close ties to Iran which he deemed an `axis of evil'.

As soon as the US public knows Boy George has fathered a conservative Islamic theocracy with extremely close ties to Iran in repsonse to the 9/11 attacks there will be extreme outrage I hope.

9/11 + Iraq = A conservative Islamic theocracy with extremely close ties to Iran????

fooj: should be taken out and shot in public...in batches of ten and without the benefit of clergy.

I disagree. Put them in Abu Ghraib.

The biggest problem that Bush has now is that people in THIS country are finally starting to pay attention. Because this is happening, it's impossible to hide the truth. I think a good segment of the GOP will be held responsible for war crimes very soon.

fooj and sword, The citizens of the USA who voted for Bush should be shot in batches of tens. These are the real traitors to our country. Mindless idiots. Lemmings they are. Whole world- Bush will issue a blanket pardon. Fill in the blanks

It is simply a change in management from USINFO to the new management under the Designated Intelligence Services.The new acronym will be DISINFO.This is being done to conform with all levels of Intelligence gathering and dissemination.

The article reads: "The USINFO website is undergoing signficant design changes"

Not only is the site gone, the page in its place has a "signficant" error on it.

The page reads: "The USINFO website is undergoing signficant design changes"

Not only is the site gone, the page in its place has a "signficant" error on it.

Re: the Times on Dr. Rice
The Times on Dr. Rice.
It wasn't long ago where Drs. were real Drs. you know " say ahhh" and what a hullabaloo it was. And now it's no more Ms. Rice guy. Its Dr. Rice to you.
Not all Drs. are crated equal, well some are, sometimes, I think?
In any case not any dead white guys. Just some other guys, sort of, sometimes?

The following is part of the text of Harold Pinter, this years winner of the Noble Prize in Literature, acceptance speech broadcasted to the Nobel Prize committee in Stockholm on Saturday. In all the 500+ tv stations available in this country nowhere could the complete unedited speech be found...hardly surprising I suppose with the government currently in power.

The full text is available at

http://books.guardian.co.uk/news/articles/0,6109,1661516,00.html
Art, truth and politics

"...the majority of politicians, on the evidence available to us, are interested not in truth but in power and in the maintenance of that power. To maintain that power it is essential that people remain in ignorance, that they live in ignorance of the truth, even the truth of their own lives. What surrounds us therefore is a vast tapestry of lies, upon which we feed."

"The United States supported and in many cases engendered every right wing military dictatorship in the world after the end of the Second World War. I refer to Indonesia, Greece, Uruguay, Brazil, Paraguay, Haiti, Turkey, the Philippines, Guatemala, El Salvador, and, of course, Chile. The horror the United States inflicted upon Chile in 1973 can never be purged and can never be forgiven.

Hundreds of thousands of deaths took place throughout these countries. Did they take place? And are they in all cases attributable to US foreign policy? The answer is yes they did take place and they are attributable to American foreign policy. But you wouldn't know it.

It never happened. Nothing ever happened. Even while it was happening it wasn't happening. It didn't matter. It was of no interest. The crimes of the United States have been systematic, constant, vicious, remorseless, but very few people have actually talked about them. You have to hand it to America. It has exercised a quite clinical manipulation of power worldwide while masquerading as a force for universal good. It's a brilliant, even witty, highly successful act of hypnosis.

I put to you that the United States is without doubt the greatest show on the road. Brutal, indifferent, scornful and ruthless it may be but it is also very clever. As a salesman it is out on its own and its most saleable commodity is self love. It's a winner. Listen to all American presidents on television say the words, 'the American people', as in the sentence, 'I say to the American people it is time to pray and to defend the rights of the American people and I ask the American people to trust their president in the action he is about to take on behalf of the American people.'

It's a scintillating stratagem. Language is actually employed to keep thought at bay. The words 'the American people' provide a truly voluptuous cushion of reassurance. You don't need to think. Just lie back on the cushion. The cushion may be suffocating your intelligence and your critical faculties but it's very comfortable. This does not apply of course to the 40 million people living below the poverty line and the 2 million men and women imprisoned in the vast gulag of prisons, which extends across the US."

"At least 100,000 Iraqis were killed by American bombs and missiles before the Iraq insurgency began. These people are of no moment. Their deaths don't exist. They are blank. They are not even recorded as being dead. 'We don't do body counts,' said the American general Tommy Franks.

Early in the invasion there was a photograph published on the front page of British newspapers of Tony Blair kissing the cheek of a little Iraqi boy. 'A grateful child,' said the caption. A few days later there was a story and photograph, on an inside page, of another four-year-old boy with no arms. His family had been blown up by a missile. He was the only survivor. 'When do I get my arms back?' he asked. The story was dropped. Well, Tony Blair wasn't holding him in his arms, nor the body of any other mutilated child, nor the body of any bloody corpse. Blood is dirty. It dirties your shirt and tie when you're making a sincere speech on television."

Pinter's speech is riveting, the man is a bloody genius but I guarantee you 99% of Americans will hear, read or see nothing, nada, zero about this speech. Heck ask 99% of Americans and they probably couldn't even tell you who Harold Pinter is.

Ignorance, as the old saying goes, is bliss.

Is it still not okay to believe Jessica Lynch?

America's brain is not engaged and has not been for a long time. It is part of the American psyche to have no interest in anyone beyond their borders. The only collateral damage Americans care about is their own. The fact that they have cost millions of lives for their selfish pursuit of American power in other countries, and pretend it never happenned, never confront their president save the war in Vietnam and the protests that impressed everyone globally. Now they are quiet, but Americans generally will never care enough about the pain they cause beyond their borders. They are complicit in the war crimes because they can't be bothered to complain, or research what is going on.
It is frustrating to see the naivete, the lack of interest in anything but the government party line. American newspapers and Pravda are twins. That is where they get the idea that the murder of citizens in other nations is a heroic act, no matter how self centered the war is.
Ford built trucks for German occupation troops in France with the authorization from Dearborn, Michigan. Or that Colonel Sosthenes Behn, the head of the international American telephone conglomerate ITT, flew from New York to Madrid to Berne during the war to help improve Hitler's communication system and improve the robot bombs that devasted London. Or that ITT built the FockWulfs that dropped bombs on British and American troops. Or that crucial ball bearings were shipped to Nazi-associated customers in Latin America with the collusion of the vice-chairman of the U.S. War Production Board in partnership with Goerings cousin in Philidelphia when American forces were desperate for them? Or that such arrangements were known about in Washington and either sanctioned or deliberately ignored?
America was no great saviour in WW2, they didn't enter the war until it was in their self interest to do so, years after Canada and Europe entered the war. They came in at the last minute and assumed they won the war for others and we owe them. Ignore the fact they refused to help just to aid the nations of Europe, and only assisted to assist themselves.
Why would American's know who Pinter is? They would need interest, other than self serving interest? How could they make a buck from Pinter, then you'd be talking.

While there are examples of American Imperialism, It is not all powerful. Look at Vietnam and Iraq for the United States and Afghanistan for the Soviet Union. Dictatorships have existed from the beginning of time, and even major powers have their limits. While we, as Americans must take resposibility for our mistakes, we are not dealing with angels in the Middle East or Latin America. Every country in the world makes mistakes, and they are all required to correct them or suffer the consequences.
However, you must always remember in the process of correction not to use the same methods as the governments you replace. Trust between individuals and nations is based on a good reputation. Respect for human life and human rights are also essential.

SpeakoutforDemocracy: America's brain is not engaged and has not been for a long time. It is part of the American psyche to have no interest in anyone beyond their borders.

Speaking of a dis-engaged brain, look at the shallowness and the simpleness by which you have homogenized all Americans.

How does your post demonstrate a deep, skilled, and reasoned interest in the melange of Americans who are beyond your border?

You belittle all Americans for not being interested in Pinter (who is right) and at the same time deliver an extremely un-insightful critique which is akin to the level of thought that you are attributing to all Americans.

Weird, no?

HINT: America is an extremely diverse country filled with immigrants and people within various and countless layers of acculturation. Not all fit into your *stupid* little category.

Mysterious no name poster when I speak of Americans I am making a general statement. Generally it is my experience Americans are passive to a corrupt government. Historically they accept a lot of corruption, while still calling America,"The best country in the world". There is a disconnect between what is going on and the general reality. Energy is put into flag waving propaganda and not enough into keeping a democracy healthy.
I have anger at the Human Rights Abuses that America is responsible for, at their hypocracy. There is a huge problem with Americans not even bothering to vote-they show the world that even though many in this world suffer in America's hands that the average American can't even bother to vote to change this.I see people who are putting down those of dissenting opinion and name calling. It is the numbers that concern me.
I know this anger, mine and others from countries other than America, is spilling over. I am generally not an angry person but American behaviour over a very long period of time has worn down my nice veneer. Others suffer and America still denies, when is America going to get it's act together and try a little humbleness concerning their war crimes. The tired old God Bless America ( and nobody else), the flag waving, and this best country in the world are all an insult to others who live in peace and have a much better lifestyle than your government allows.
Some introspection is called for, open the door and get to know your neighbours. It is the totality of the damage that America has caused in your name and the passivity in responding to it. American education is a handicap to most people even being able to truly be able to participate in a healthy democracy. As the world seethes Americans are still acting as if their nation is not in crisis. It is scary to watch.
The world is pissed, not just me. Look around you, we are not going to put up with your crap anymore. It is time to change and until then get used to the hostility because you will see a lot of it.
As I see if you are not a part of the solution then you are the problem. I hope you and others are doing more than blogging.
A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government.The first fight should be to make your media more responsible so they report the whole story, the story we get from our news sources.
Whether I like the average American is a moot point at this point. It's like seeing someone murdered and the witness didn't bother to do anything, it is your country murdering the innocent for your oil. What are you doing about it?

Kill what messenger, people? Condi scored a big success in Europe, right? I'm surprised the "loyal opposition" already hasn't accused the US Govt. of threatening to send the applauding and smiling European leaders one-way tickets to the alleged undisclosed-location detention facilities! Do I really have to get the only reliable news and interpretations thereof from Bill O'Reilly, Michael Savage and the Megarushbo?

This is not the only thing the State Dept has removed. I use their website daily to put together a calendar and newsletter of information on US Asia policy. They also removed from their US public site their International Diplomatic Calendar. It was moved to the USINFO site, a site that now has no link on the formal State site. If you are not a foreign journalist or don't know about it, you can't get it. Also their digest of US policy statements is only accessible through USINFO. It is no wonder very few people access it. Also the posting of documents and statements is very slow and unreliable. The Chinese are better!

Pinter is right - America is wrong.

Early Warning Signs of FASCISM
DISDAIN FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
IDENTIFICATION OF ENEMIES/SCAPEGOATS
as a Unifying Cause
SUPREMACY OF THE MILITARY
RAMPANT SEXISM
CONTROLLED MASS MEDIA
OBSESSION WITH NATIONAL SECURITY
RELIGION AND GOVERNMENT
are intertwined
CORPORATE POWER IS PROTECTED
LABOUR POWER IS SUPRESSED
DISDAIN FOR INTELLECTUALS AND THE ARTS
OBSESSION WITH CRIME AND PUNISHMENT
RAMPANT CRONYISM AND CORRUPTION
FRAUDULENT ELECTIONS
-Lawrence W. Britt

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