Secrecy Reigns at Global Economic Forum

Cheney, Ashcroft to Represent US
by Jim Lobe



WEF MEETS: BARBED WIRE & SECRECY
General view of the Swiss ski town of Davos surrounded with barbed wire for the 33rd World Economic Forum (WEF), 21 January 2004 .Business and political leaders are meeting at this snowy Alpine resort for five days of public and private talks, with the main focus expected to surround Iraq and the weak dollar. (AFP/ERIC FEFERBERG)


WASHINGTON - On the eve of this year's World Economic Forum (WEF), the annual get-together of global business and government movers and shakers in Davos, Switzerland, a major environmental group is calling on the meeting to open its doors to public scrutiny.

Friends of the Earth International (FoEI) charged that both the guest list and the private agenda have been kept secret by WEF's organizers although most of the issues taken up in conference rooms at the exclusive ski resort--including plans to resume international trade negotiations that broke down last September at a World Trade Organization (WTO) meeting in Cancun, Mexico--affect hundreds of millions of people around the world.

It said the WEF's secrecy constituted a threat to democracy.


While the WEF claims to act in the public interest, said Tony Juniper, FoEI's vice chairman, "behind closed doors and the WEF's public-relations gloss, there is a different reality."

The theme of this year's meeting, in which more than 2,000 representatives from the world's biggest companies are expected to participate, is "Partnering for Security and Prosperity," a subject that will be highlighted in WEF's ''Open Forum," that runs parallel to the confidential talks.

...

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0121-09.htm

Bush made Osama deal with Musharraf

IANS[ SATURDAY, AUGUST 23, 2003 06:49:05 PM ]

LONDON: Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has struck a deal with the US not to capture Osama Bin Laden, fearing this could lead to unrest in Pakistan, according to a special investigation by The Guardian .



The paper reported Saturday that Bin Laden was being protected by three elaborate security rings manned by tribesmen stretching 192 kms in diameter in northern Pakistan.



The paper's information is based on comments made by Mansoor Ijaz, an American of Pakistan origin who, the paper said, knows al-Qaeda better than most people and had close contacts in Pakistan's intelligence agencies.



Ijaz believed an agreement was reached between Musharraf and US authorities shortly after Bin Laden's flight from his stronghold Tora Bora in Afghanistan in December 2001.



The Pakistanis feared that to capture or kill Bin Laden so soon after a deeply unpopular war in Afghanistan would incite civil unrest in Pakistan and trigger a spate of revenge al-Qaida attacks on Western targets across the world.



"There was a judgment made that it would be more destabilising in the longer term. There would still be the ability to get him at a later date when it was more appropriate", Ijaz told The Guardian .

...

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/articleshow?msid=144096

Report: Rumsfeld considers striking Hizbullah to provoke Syria

By DOUGLAS DAVIS

US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld is considering provoking a military confrontation with Syria by attacking Hizbullah bases near the Syrian border in Lebanon, according to the authoritative London-based Jane's Intelligence Digest.

In an article to be published on Friday, the journal said multi-faceted US attacks, which would be conducted within the framework of the global war on terrorism, are likely to focus on Hizbullah bases in the Bekaa Valley of eastern Lebanon.

It noted that the deployment of US special forces in the Bekaa Valley, where most of Syria's occupation forces in Lebanon are based, would be highly inflammatory and would "almost certainly involve a confrontation with Syrian troops."

Such a conflict might well prove to be the objective of the US, said the journal, which described Washington's strategic benefits from a confrontation with Syria. These include:

* Pressuring Damascus into ending its support for anti-Israel Palestinian groups;

* Persuading Syria to abandon its weapons of mass destruction and to withdraw its troops from Lebanon;

* Stimulating a situation where Syrian leader Bashir Assad can be ousted;

* Crushing Hizbullah and ending its presumed connections with al-Qaida.

"The political consequences of a US attack against Lebanon. . . could result in the destabilization of a country that is still rebuilding its infrastructure a decade after a ruinous 15-year civil war," noted the journal.

"It would also fuel Muslim and Arab hostility toward the US at a time when US-led occupation forces are fighting the ongoing insurgency in Iraq.

...

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1074745158639&p=1008596981749

January 15, 2004 -- STEVEN Brill had a summit meeting of TV anchormen and their bosses over dinner at his Fifth Avenue apartment on Tuesday night with Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge to discuss how they'll cover the next terrorist attack. Brill, whose book "After" detailed the response to 9/11, spearheads the America Prepared Campaign to educate the public. Joining Brill, his wife Cynthia and two of their three kids for dinner were Fox News Channel boss Roger Ailes, ABC News prexie David Westin, CBS News
Andrew Heyward, CNN anchor Aaron Brown, plus Peter Jennings and Tom Brokaw.

...

http://www.nypost.com/gossip/44885.htm


*****************

TV Execs Meet To Discuss Coverage Of Next Attack On US

Portland Indy Media
1-22-4


A summit meeting of TV anchormen and their bosses with Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge to discuss how they'll cover the next terrorist attack on America.

ABC, CBS, CNN, NBC, & Fox reps present.

Steven Brill had a summit meeting of TV anchormen and their bosses over dinner at his Fifth Avenue apartment on Tuesday night with Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge to discuss how they'll cover the next terrorist attack. Brill, whose book "After" detailed the response to 911, spearheads the America Prepared Campaign to educate the public. Joining Brill, his wife Cynthia and two of their three kids for dinner were Fox News Channel boss Roger Ailes, ABC News prexie David Westin, CBS News chief Andrew Heyward, CNN anchor Aaron Brown, plus Peter Jennings and Tom Brokaw.

Combined with Cheney's speech that the "next attack will be worse, tens or hundreds of thousands of casualties" and Tommy Franks "next attack = martial law" and the draft bill in congress (mandatory service for all men and women 18-26) and the 40,000 troops already serving against their will and neo-con obvious dreams of global conquest...America ain't looking so good right now. What are we gonna do about it?

Can we afford to wait for the election this fall? what about William Safire's prediction of an October surprise attack? I think we'd better think pre-emptively and stop these guys before the next attack hits.

Spread the message far and wide - martial law is not acceptable....and Bush and company will be the major benefactors of another attack.

http://www.rense.com/general48/next.htm

...

A coroner is considering opening a fresh inquest into the death of David Kelly after it emerged that Lord Hutton was not passed all the information that police had collected about the weapons expert's apparent suicide.

...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/hutton/story/0,13822,1128856,00.html

;)

Irán údajne stál za útokmi 11. septembra

Hamburg 22. januára (TASR) - Iránska tajná služba stála údajne za krvavými teroristickými útokmi z 11. septembra 2001 na ciele v New Yorku a vo Washingtone. Uviedol to dnes príslušník nemeckého Spolkového kriminálneho úradu (BKA) na Vyššom krajinskom súde v Hamburgu, kde pokračuje proces s Maročanom Abdalgháním Mzúdím obvineným z plánovania týchto teroristických útokov.

Kriminalista sa pritom odvolával na výpoveď nemenovaného bývalého agenta iránskej tajnej služby, ktorý je podľa neho dôveryhodným zdrojom. Podľa príslušníka BKA bol obvinený Mzúdi v minulosti na inštruktáži v Iráne.

Pôvodne mali dnes vyniesť rozsudok. Napokon však v stredu Spolková prokuratúra informovala, že má ďalšieho dôveryhodného svedka - bývalého agenta, tak dnes súd pokračoval vypočutím jeho výpovede.

Mzúdi, ktorý bol pravdepodobným pomocníkom jedného z pilotov unesených lietadiel Muhammada Attu, je obvinený zo spolupáchateľstva vraždy vo viac ako 3000 prípadoch a z napomáhania teroristickej organizácii. Prokuratúra pre neho požaduje 15-ročný trest odňatia slobody.

Hamburský súd ho na základe decembrovej výpovede anonymného svedka prepustil z vyšetrovacej väzby. Obhajoba požaduje zbavenie obžaloby.

Copyright © TASR 2004

http://sme.sk/clanok-1240231.html

Britka zatčena za žert o bombách

Až na 15 let vězení může být na základě amerického protiteroristického zákona odsouzena britská dívka, která při kontrole zavazadla v Miami na Floridě žertem vyvolala falešný pumový poplach. "Dejte si pozor, mám tam tři bomby," řekla Samantha Marsonová (21) v neděli letištnímu zřízenci ve chvíli, kdy mu podávala zavazadlo. Do letadla British Airways do Londýna již nenastoupila. Když prý totiž své tvrzení na opakovaný dotaz dvakrát zopakovala, byla namístě zatčena a převezena do místní věznice. Nyní čeká na zaplacení kauce, která v přepočtu činí 127 tisíc korun. Formální žaloba bude vznesena 6. února. Poslanec z místa jejího bydliště Mathew Green včera vyzval americké úřady, aby zvážily, zda je "kriminál přiměřenou odpovědí na hloupé vtipy"

(rm)

http://pravo.novinky.cz/p018a08j.html

Woman faces 15 years in jail for making bomb joke in airport: According to the arrest report, Miss Marson placed her bag on the belt at a security check, telling a Transportation Security Administration screener: "Hey be careful, I have three bombs in here" - before allegedly repeating the joke twice more when confronted by officials.



http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/shropshire/3417847.stm

Who armed North Korea? Donald Rumsfeld! Just an accident!

http://www.prisonplanet.com/archives_arming_nkorea.html

Bush names long-time Skull & Bones friend to head SEC

...

President Bush turned to Wall Street today and selected William H. Donaldson, a former head of the New York Stock Exchange, founder of a successful brokerage firm and longtime friend of the Bush family, to be the next chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

...

A native of Buffalo, Mr. Donaldson was a member of Skull and Bones, the Yale secret society.

...

http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/11/business/11SEC.html

Press Remarks with Foreign Minister of Egypt Amre Moussa

Secretary Colin L. Powell

Cairo, Egypt (Ittihadiya Palace)
February 24, 2001

SECRETARY POWELL: I received a very warm welcome from the leaders and I know there is some unhappiness as expressed in the Egyptian press. I understand that, but at the same time, with respect to the no-fly zones and the air strikes that we from time to time must conduct to defend our pilots, I just want to remind everybody that the purpose of those no-fly zones and the purpose of those occasional strikes to protect our pilots, is not to pursue an aggressive stance toward Iraq, but to defend the people that the no-fly zones are put in to defend. The people in the southern part of Iraq and the people in the northern part of Iraq, and these zones have a purpose, and their purpose is to protect people -- protect Arabs -- not to affect anything else in the region. And we have to defend ourselves.

We will always try to consult with our friends in the region so that they are not surprised and do everything we can to explain the purpose of our responses. We had a good discussion, the Foreign Minister and I and the President and I, had a good discussion about the nature of the sanctions -- the fact that the sanctions exist -- not for the purpose of hurting the Iraqi people, but for the purpose of keeping in check Saddam Hussein's ambitions toward developing weapons of mass destruction. We should constantly be reviewing our policies, constantly be looking at those sanctions to make sure that they are directed toward that purpose. That purpose is every bit as important now as it was ten years ago when we began it. And frankly they have worked. He has not developed any significant capability with respect to weapons of mass destruction. He is unable to project conventional power against his neighbors. So in effect, our policies have strengthened the security of the neighbors of Iraq, and these are policies that we are going to keep in place, but we are always willing to review them to make sure that they are being carried out in a way that does not affect the Iraqi people but does affect the Iraqi regime's ambitions and the ability to acquire weapons of mass destruction, and we had a good conversation on this issue.

...

http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2001/933.htm

CIA Refuses to Declassify Info on Project Bojinka

On 04 June 2002, I sent the National Security Agency a Freedom of Information Act request asking for files on Project Bojinka. (Bojinka was the plot by radical Islamists—led by WTC-bomber Ramzi Yousef—to 1) blow up a dozen US passenger jets in mid-flight, 2) assassinate President Clinton and the Pope, and 3) ram hijacked passenger planes into US landmarks, including the Twin Towers, the Pentagon, the White House, CIA Headquarters, and the Sears Tower.) The plot was discovered in 1995 when authorities in the Philippines raided Yousef's apartment.

The NSA said that it would cost me thousands of dollars for them to search for Bojinka documents, then screen them for possible release. Even if they decided that not a single document was releasable, I'd still have to pay the outlandish fees.

Some of the Bojinka documents that the NSA has in its possession were created or translated by the Central Intelligence Agency, so the NSA asked the CIA to review them for release. Eighteen of the documents are non-English language news articles that had been translated by the CIA's Foreign Broadcast Information Service. These are unclassified and reveal nothing new, which is why they were released. (Perhaps I'll post them at a future date.) The two crucial documents--the ones created by the CIA--have been withheld in full under the rubric of national security, foreign policy, and other such constantly-invoked excuses.

Like the NSA and the Defense Intelligence Agency, the CIA doesn't want us to know one single, solitary thing about this forerunner of 9/11. Stop asking questions, citizens---



http://www.thememoryhole.org/911/cia-bojinka.htm

CIA Refuses to Declassify Info on Project Bojinka

On 04 June 2002, I sent the National Security Agency a Freedom of Information Act request asking for files on Project Bojinka. (Bojinka was the plot by radical Islamists—led by WTC-bomber Ramzi Yousef—to 1) blow up a dozen US passenger jets in mid-flight, 2) assassinate President Clinton and the Pope, and 3) ram hijacked passenger planes into US landmarks, including the Twin Towers, the Pentagon, the White House, CIA Headquarters, and the Sears Tower.) The plot was discovered in 1995 when authorities in the Philippines raided Yousef's apartment.

The NSA said that it would cost me thousands of dollars for them to search for Bojinka documents, then screen them for possible release. Even if they decided that not a single document was releasable, I'd still have to pay the outlandish fees.

Some of the Bojinka documents that the NSA has in its possession were created or translated by the Central Intelligence Agency, so the NSA asked the CIA to review them for release. Eighteen of the documents are non-English language news articles that had been translated by the CIA's Foreign Broadcast Information Service. These are unclassified and reveal nothing new, which is why they were released. (Perhaps I'll post them at a future date.) The two crucial documents--the ones created by the CIA--have been withheld in full under the rubric of national security, foreign policy, and other such constantly-invoked excuses.

Like the NSA and the Defense Intelligence Agency, the CIA doesn't want us to know one single, solitary thing about this forerunner of 9/11. Stop asking questions, citizens---



http://www.thememoryhole.org/911/cia-bojinka.htm

http://www.thememoryhole.org/cia-swat-journalists.htm
Deleted Article:
CIA Official Calls for "Sending SWAT Teams into Journalists’ Homes"

http://www.federalobserver.com/archive.php?aid=3612

Bush Official: One More Terror Attack On US, Goodbye Civil Rights

JAXXE --- --- 1.05:04 21.1.2004
jo, tahle situace s volbou prezidenta v USA mi přípomíná jeden díl simpsnů, kde kandidovali dva mimozemšťani, aby ovládli spolu ovládli svět

Teroristi: vodca je pokazený syn mocného politika bohatej ropnej rodiny
Americká vláda: vodca je pokazený syn mocného politika bohatej ropnej rodiny

Teroristi: Vodca vyhlási svätú vojnu (Džihád) proti svojim nepriateľom a verí, že ktokoľvek, kto nie je s ním, je proti nemu, verí, že boh je na jeho strane a akékoľvek prostriedky sú ospravedlniteľné
Americká vláda: Vodca vyhlási svätú vojnu (krížovú výpravu) proti svojim nepriateľom a verí, že ktokoľvek, kto nie je s nim, je proti nemu, verí, že boh je na jeho strane a akékoľvek prostriedky sú ospravedlniteľné

Teroristi: Podporovaní extrémistickými fundamentalistickými náboženskými vodcami, ktorí hlásajú nenávisť, netoleranciu a prenasledovanie svojich oponentov
Americká vláda: Podporovaná extrémistickými fundamentalistickými náboženskými vodcami, ktorí hlásajú nenávisť, netoleranciu a prenasledovanie svojich oponentov

Teroristi: Vedenie nebolo zvolené väčšinou v slobodných voľbách
Americká vláda: Vedenie nebolo zvolené väčšinou v slobodných voľbách

Teroristi: Pracujú cez organizácie ako al Káida s agentmi v mnohých krajinách, používajú bombové útoky, vraždy a iné teroristické taktiky
Americká vláda: Pracuje cez organizácie ako al Káida s agentmi v mnohých krajinách, používajú bombové útoky, vraždy a iné teroristické taktiky

Teroristi: Používajú vojnu ako zámienku na priškrtenie nesúhlasu a podkopanie osobných slobôd
Americká vláda: Používajú vojnu ako zámienku na priškrtenie nesúhlasu a podkopanie osobných slobôd

Teroristi: Preferenčná zbraň: trojdolárový nožík
Americká vláda: miliardový bombardér B1

Daniel Solnit

http://www.doublestandards.org/solnit1.html

Bush chcel vojnu od svojho nástupu

PRAVDA

Vojnu proti Iraku začal americký prezident George Bush plánovať už krátko po svojom nástupe do funkcie - dávno pred teroristickými útokmi v septembri 2001. Tvrdí to bývalý Bushov minister financií Paul O'Neill. ,,Už od začiatku panovalo presvedčenie, že Saddám Husajn je zlý človek a treba ho odstrániť," povedal O'Neill v rozhovore pre americkú televíziu CBS. Saddám bol vraj témou číslo jeden už desať dní po Bushovej inaugurácii, osem mesiacov pred útokmi na dvojičky.
Dôvody nezaujímali nikoho
O'Neill má povesť otvoreného človeka. Bushovu administratívu musel opustiť po tom, čo verejne vyjadril pochybnosti o Bushovej ekonomickej politike. Údaje zo zákulisia Bieleho domu zverejnil vo svojej knihe Cena lojality americký novinár a držiteľ Pullitzerovej ceny Ron Suskind, ktorému bývalý minister financií poskytol viacero dokumentov, ktoré fakty potvrdzujú.
Podľa O'Neilla boli rokovania vlády často o Iraku. Nikdy vraj nezazneli otázky, prečo práve Saddám a prečo teraz. ,,Všetko bolo len o tom, ako to spraviť. Prezident raz povedal: Nájdite mi spôsob, ako to urobiť," spomína si O'Neill.
O obsadení Iraku sa hovorilo už na začiatku roku 2001. Jeden z tajných dokumentov, ktoré O'Neill dostal, mal názov Povojnová okupácia Iraku. Plánovali sa v ňom také veci, ako vyslanie mierových síl, zriadenie vojnových tribunálov a dokonca čo s irackou ropou.

Ronovi Suskindovi sa podarilo získať aj materiál Pentagonu z roku 2001 o možnej budúcnosti irackej ropnej infraštruktúry. ,,Obsahoval mapy s možnými oblasťami ťažby. Tiež údaje o zahraničných záujemcoch, aké môžu mať plány a podobne," povedal pre CBS Suskind.
George Bush pritom počas svojej prezidentskej kampane kritizoval predchádzajúcu administratívu Billa Clintona a Ala Gora za to, že je príliš zasahuje do cudzích záujmov a posiela do iných krajín veľa amerických vojakov.

Podľa bývalého ministra financií na rokovaniach administratívy úplne chýbal dialóg. Viceprezident Dick Cheney a prezidentovi blízki spolupracovníci slúžili najmä na to, aby zabránili iným názorom dostať sa k prezidentovi. ,,Bush bol ako slepý v miestnosti plnej hluchých," povedal o schôdzach vlády O'Neill. Amerického prezidenta vraj nikdy príliš nezaujímala domáca politika a na zasadaní vlády sa príliš ako inšpiratívny vodca neprejavoval.
O'Neill sa však odvety za zverejnenie citlivých informácií neobáva. ,,Nemusím sa na nič pripravovať, nemyslím, že by na mňa útočili za to, že som povedal pravdu," povedal bývalý minister pre CBS. ,,Prečo by ma mali trestať za pravdu?"

http://spravy.pravda.sk/sk_svet.asp?r=sk_svet&c=A040112_061228_sk_svet_p01

Bush sa chystá zaviesť označovanie návštevníkov farbami

SME - Nemci kedysi označovali skupiny obyvateľstva Davidovou hviezdou, čo je dodnes považované za najhorší morálny zločin.
Administratíva amerického prezidenta Georga Busha zamýšľa označovať pasažierov leteckých liniek trojstupňovou farebnou škálou, predstavujúcou mieru rizika vstupu danej osoby na územie krajiny. Na základe tohto bezprecedentného kroku bude každý návštevník Spojených štátov označený jednou z troch farieb - zelenej, žltej a červenej, na základe osobných údajov krátko po rezervovaní si letenky.
Hovorca Úradu pre bezpečnosť v doprave (TSA) Mark Hatfield opatrenie opísal ako systém overovania identity. Okamžite tak reagoval na kritické hlasy, že systém narúša osobné slobody cestujúcich. "Červeným" pasažierom bude vstup do USA zamietnutý, "žltých" budú úrady bližšie preverovať a bez problémov sa na územie krajiny dostanú len pasažieri označení zelenou farbou.

http://www.sme.sk/clanok-1229388.html