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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Ilaine who wrote (41147)	8/31/2002 1:57:08 PM
From: KLP	Read Replies (4) \| Respond to of 281500

Was suspect planning to crash aircraft into US embassy in Europe? Saturday, 31 August, 2002, 16:46 GMT 17:46 UK Hijack suspect took flying lessons Police detained the suspect after finding a gun Swedish police are still questioning a man on suspicion of planning to hijack a plane, amid speculation that he intended to crash the aircraft into a US embassy. He took flying lessons in the USA, but did not finish the training. It is possible that he has since obtained some sort of qualification Margareta Linderoth, national security police chief The chief of the national security police confirmed reports that the man had received flying lessons in the US. However, military and police sources appeared to be at odds over the suspected hijacker's motive. A military intelligence source told Reuters news agency: "We know for sure that the plan was to crash the plane into a US embassy in Europe." But police chief Margareta Linderoth said: "It's false information. I deny it absolutely." Karem Chatty: Gun found in toiletries bag She also rejected reports that the police were looking for four other men, including an explosives expert, who might have been working with the 29-year-old suspect. The suspected would-be hijacker was arrested at Vesteras airport 100km (60 miles) north-west of Stockholm on Thursday, after a gun was found in his hand luggage as he tried to board a flight for Stansted in the UK. Swedish police are trying to establish whether he has any connection with extreme Muslim groups such as al-Qaeda. The man, identified as Kerim Chatty, denied knowledge of the gun and said he was on his way to an Islamic conference in Birmingham in central England. Previous convictions British police - said to include anti-terrorism experts from Scotland Yard - are working closely with their Swedish counterparts on the case. Police released the people who had been travelling with the suspect Police spokesman Ulf Palm said the suspect had previous convictions for theft and assault. Britain's Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said the arrest showed "the threat of international terrorism remains". The suspect, born in Sweden to Tunisian parents, was one of a group of about 18 adults and two children apparently bound for the Birmingham meeting. Prosecutors in Sweden have until early next week to decide whether to bring formal charges against the man, although they can apply to hold him for longer. Hijacking carries a sentence of between six months and life imprisonment in Sweden. WATCH/LISTEN ON THIS STORY The BBC's Stephen Sackur "The Swedish authorities are taking these events very seriously" Airport security adviser Gunnar Harmen "It's not difficult to find a gun when they're screening your hand luggage" Islamic conference spokesman Abu Khadeejah "It's quite surprising that individuals like this would have been attending our conference" Prof Paul Rogers, Peace Studies, Bradford University "We must remember that the al-Qaeda network is still very active" See also: 30 Aug 02 \| Europe Swedish airport security praised 30 Aug 02 \| England Hijack suspect 'not attending conference' 30 Aug 02 \| Europe 'It can't get more scary than this' news.bbc.co.uk

To: Ilaine who wrote (41147)	8/31/2002 3:29:41 PM
From: SirRealist	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

>>They had their story -- the 15-year-old daughter of the Kuwaiti ambassador to the US testified without being identified, and therefore she was a liar and the whole story was made up. It's part and parcel of the "hidden agenda" mentality. Everything the government and mainstream media tells you is a lie. You can only trust alternative media and minority political parties.<< #1: Read the book #2: She was coached on what to say, and never visited the hospital, as K&H's VP admitted and it was claimed she could not give her last name because of fears of reprisal against her family. #3: Why didn't they use an actual eyewitness? #4: No, the government never lies, does it? #5: I've worked for the government. My father worked for the USAF. We each have five senses and a brain. #6: 'Everything' is your overstatement. #7: Depends on the alternate media source. Minority political parties? Yeah, right! #8: As medical personnel who worked throughout the war in all maternity and pediatric wards at all Kuwait hospitals that have 'em, were interviewed, you don't find it at all suspicious that NONE supported the accounts? I guess they were all on coffee breaks and their peers forgot to tell them what they missed. #9: I'm sure the Kuwaiti government is even more forthcoming and truthful than our own, right? #10: It is precisely BECAUSE people are trusting the government and major media INSTINCTIVELY that such stories carry weight. washington-report.org globaled.org globaled.org After considering the one nurse you find credible who indicated one baby died in another nurse's arms, and finding out the Ambassador's daughters limited (if at all) contact with one hospital, let's remember her testimony: >>"I saw the Iraqi soldiers come into the hospital with guns. They took the babies out of the incubators ... and left the children to die on the cold floor." << One company (Kroll) commissioned by the Kuwaiti government claimed it found one incident in which "perhaps a half dozen" babies were removed from incubators, but provided no evidence to support the claim. Every indendent investigation yielded zero, including investigations by Canadian Broadcast Company and ABC News. As to the rest of the major media, its performance was criticized by another marginal publication of the 'alternative media', the Columbia Journalism Review: cjr.org >>"We became convinced that the story about babies dying in this way did not happen on the scale that was initially reported, if, indeed, it happened at all," said an Amnesty International spokesman.<< Middle East Watch: >>After the liberation of Kuwait, we visited all Kuwaiti hospitals where such incidents were reported to have taken place. We interviewed doctors, nurses and administrators and checked hospital records. We also visited cemeteries and examined their registries. While we did find ample evidence of Iraqi atrocities in Kuwait, we found no evidence to support the charge that Iraqi soldiers pulled babies out of incubators and left them to die. Kuwaiti government witnesses who during the Iraqi occupation asserted the veracity of the incubator story have either changed their stories or were discredited. The propagation of false accounts of atrocities does a deep disservice to the cause of human rights. It diverts attention from the real violations that were committed by Iraqi forces in Kuwait, including the killing of hundreds and the detention of thousands of Kuwait citizens and others, hundreds of whom are still missing."<< That bolded part was my original point. I have no doubts about the brutality of the soldiers. When the Kuwaiti government added spin, it was unnecessary, but it is consistent with their wartime propaganda effort. Btw, while working to aid homeless people, I encountered the same sort of spin being employed at the national level by Mitch Snyder's group, as they used the percentage game "the fastest growing group of homeless people is women with children". Sure, if ten become twenty, that's a hundred percent increase. Yet the facts were that over 70% of all homeless people were single men. I opposed that game, but it had its intended effect. Support for the homeless women and children grew tremendously. The problem was, most of the funds that flowed in was spent for that minority, while the majority got meager gleanings. Single men simply aren't viewed with anywhere near similar sympathy. The sympathy support for babies is as good as it gets. Similarly, the postwar reports of Amnesty International about Kuwaiti atrocities drew far less coverage or sympathy: greenleft.org.au And I haven't even begun to mention the credibility of Hill & Knowlton itself, or its connections to many administrations. The VP who coached the Ambassador's daughter went on to an administrative position in the Clinton White House, for the most recent example. And here's a one page backgrounder on H&K that I consider a MUST READ: mediafilter.org If the credulousness of a lot of people exists, it's not because of a love of fiction. It's because a lot of people have been treated like morons by those who lie and once fooled, they remain suspicious, as they should. This is simply the blowback that comes from what governments have done, and those who accept government pronouncements without question are either uninformed, gullible, or consent with the direction the government is headed and simply don't care about the lies.

To: Ilaine who wrote (41147)	9/1/2002 2:22:12 AM
From: margie	Respond to of 281500

Do you believe the stories about incubator babies? Senator FAIRCLOTH: "My statement also gets to another cover-up of that conflict, not as touching as the sick veterans, but well worth a review. The Commerce Department has a lot of questions to answer about its role leading up to the Gulf War. It is also time that we in the Banking Committee revisit a current Commerce Department nominee—Lauri Fitz-Pegado, who played a crucial role in shaping public opinion toward U.S. involvement, and she did it by personally orchestrating perjured testimony before Congress. (From OPENING STATEMENT of SENATOR LAUCH FAIRCLOTH at the Senate Hearings, Banking Committe Chairman: Senator Donald W. Riegle, Jr. about: "UNITED STATES DUAL-USE EXPORTS TO IRAQ AND THEIR IMPACT ON THE HEALTH OF THE PERSIAN GULF WAR VETERANS WEDNESDAY, MAY 25, 1994 gulflink.osd.mil Senator FAIRCLOTH: "In 1990, after the Iraqi invasion of their country, the Kuwaiti government in exile formed Citizens for a Free Kuwait. They hired the lobbying firm of Hill and Knowlton to influence public opinion in this country toward entering the conflict. Lauri Fitz-Pegado was in charge of the effort. Her strategy was to use alleged witnesses to atrocities, to tell stories of human rights violations in occupied Kuwait. Using their testimony, she orchestrated what has come to be known as the Baby Incubator Fraud. (Fitz-Pegado "coached Naira, a 15-year-old Kuwaiti girl, and failed to identify her as the child of the Kuwaiti ambassador to the US). Naira testified before Congress that she bad seen them take babies out of the incubators, and leave the babies "on the cold floor to die." Naira's emotional testimony riveted human rights organizations, the news mediums, and the Nation. That incident was cited by six Members of the U.S. Senate as reasons to go to war with Iraq." Lauri Fitz-Pegado then orchestrated another appearance before the U.S. Security Council on November 27, 1990. She employed witnesses who testified using false names and occupations. The most important of these phony witnesses was a man who called himself Dr. Ebrahim. With Lauri Fitz-Pegado there in New York, he claimed to have personally buried 40 babies pulled from incubators by the Iraqis. Dr. Ebrahim told the Security Council that he was a surgeon. But after the war, when the scam was exposed as a total fraud, he admitted to being a dentist and had never buried any babies or seen any. More lies." "Reputable human rights organizations and journalists concluded that the baby incubator story was an outright fabrication. Every study commissioned by the Kuwaiti government could not produce a shred of evidence that the ambassador's daughter had been back in occupied Kuwait to do volunteer work in a hospital. It was a total fabrication." "The Fitz-Pegado scam continues. None of & these facts and allegations were disclosed to either you Mr. Chairman, or other Members of the Banking Committee when her nomination was voted on here. If confirmed, Lauri Fitz-Pegado would have control over a global network of 200 trade offices in 70 countries. My opposition is based not on party or ideology. It is based on the fact that there are few people in America who have less business being in charge of our Nation’s trade secrets than Lauri Fitz-Pegado....Lauri Fitz-Pagado's nomination should be returned to the Banking Committee for further review. If it is not, then facts that are far more embarrassing to Ms. Fitz-Pegado and to others in Government will be revealed in other speeches and in long, protracted debate on the Senate floor. Mr. Chairman, the Banking Committee was hoodwinked by a professional scam artist.. I thank you, Mr. Chairman." ---------- I believe Fitz Pegado was nominated and selected; with more support from Democrats. Good link Sir Realist mediafilter.org "One study found that 40 percent of the news content in a typical U.S. newspaper originated with public relations press releases, story memos, or suggestions. The Columbia Journalism Review, which scrutinized a typical issue of the Wall Street Journal, found that more than half the Journal's news stories "were based solely on press releases." Although the releases were reprinted "almost verbatim or in para- phrase," with little additional reporting, many articles were attributed to "a Wall Street Journal staff reporter." Par for the course, the WSJ is continuing their strong support of an invasion of Iraq; citing the usual Iraqi propaganda: threats of WMD, nuclear threat, Mohammed Atta links, Al queda links to Iraq. Who knows where these links originated: from Iraqi opposition groups with as much credibility as "Citizens for a Free Kuwait" OR from Hill & Knowlton or Richard Perle or Lawrence M or Laurie Mylroie (what happened to her? "Pentagon spokeswoman Victoria Clarke was general manager of Hill & Knowlton before joining this Bush administration."(BUSH #43) iranexpert.com "There is something fundamentally wrong when a foreign government can pay a powerful, well-connected lobbying and public relations firm millions of dollars to convince the American people and the American government to support a war halfway around the world. In another age this activity would have caused an explosion of outrage. But something has changed in Washington. Boundaries no longer exist." "Not only do these PR firms act as foreign propaganda agents, but they work closely with U.S. and foreign intelligence agencies.." "Former CIA official Robert T. Crowley admitted, that the CIA used its H&K connections to put out press releases and make media contacts to further its positions. ...H&K employees at the small Washington office and elsewhere, distributed this material through CIA assets working in the United States news media." mediafilter.org It is hard to know what is credible and what is political propaganda these days, both Republican and Democrats use similar tactics. "News" may originate from sophisticated PR firms; from "think tanks" with an agenda; from Intelligence agencies especially the CIA; from the DoD or Department of State or the administration itself, leaked to the press.