Questions Grow Over Why Troops Didn’t Capture Him Alive
by Jason Ditz, May 03, 2011

A number of the details surrounding the Obama Administration’s initial account of the Sunday slaying of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan have been revised by officials today. The most noteworthy of these is the claim that bin Laden was killed in an intense firefight, and that officials really hoped to take him alive.

Despite emphasizing this in their initial account, officials are now confirming that there was no firefight in the room in which bin Laden was killed, and that the al-Qaeda founder was entirely unarmed when he was shot in the head by Navy SEALs.

Click here to continue reading “Story Changes: Osama Was ‘Unarmed,’ Officials Now Admit” by Jason Ditz.

Updated: 4 May 2011 – Bin Laden Story Continues to Change by Jason Ditz

Frank Barat puts questions to Noam Chomsky from artists, activists and journalists, on Egypt, corporate power, Palestine and more.

For his second interview in less than a year with Professor Noam Chomsky (the first one took place in Cambridge in September 2010 and is available here), Frank Barat asked well known artists and journalists to each send one question that they’d like to ask Noam.

John Berger

Political practice often surprises political vocabulary. For example, the recent Revolution in the Middle East is said to demand Democracy. Can we find more adequate words? Isn’t the use of the old and frequently betrayed words a way of absorbing the shock, instead of welcoming it and transmitting it further?

Just to begin I think the word revolution is a bit of an exaggeration. Maybe it will turn into a revolution but for the moment it’s a call for a moderate reform. There are elements in it, like the workers movement that have tried to move beyond that but that remains to be seen. However, the point is correct but there is no way out of that. It’s not the just the word democracy, it’s every word that is involved in discussion of political affairs. It has two meanings. It has its literal meaning and it has the meaning that’s assigned to it for political welfare, for ideology, for doctrine. So either we stop talking or we try to use the words in a sensible way. And it’s not just about democracy.

Click here to continue reading  “Interview with Noam Chomsky”.

*The full video of this interview is available on YouTube

May 1, 2011

Chris Hedges, speaking at a Truthdig fundraising event in Los Angeles on Sunday evening, made these remarks about Osama bin Laden’s death.

I know that because of this announcement, that reportedly Osama bin Laden was killed, Bob [Truthdig Editor Robert Scheer] wanted me to say a few words about it … about al-Qaida. I spent a year of my life covering al-Qaida for The New York Times. It was the work in which I, and other investigative reporters, won the Pulitzer Prize. And I spent seven years of my life in the Middle East. I was the Middle East bureau chief for The New York Times. I’m an Arabic speaker. And when someone came over and told … me the news, my stomach sank. I’m not in any way naive about what al-Qaida is. It’s an organization that terrifies me. I know it intimately.

Click here to continue reading “Chris Hedges Speaks on Osama bin Laden’s Death”.

May 2nd, 2011
by William Blum
www.killinghope.org

Iraq: Let us not forget what “humanitarian intervention” looks like.

Libya: Let us not be confused as to why Libya alone has been singled out for “humanitarian intervention”.

On April 9, Condoleezza Rice delivered a talk in San Francisco. Or tried to. The former Secretary of State was interrupted repeatedly by cries from the audience of “war criminal” and “torturer”. (For which we can thank our comrades in Code Pink and World Can’t Wait.) As one of the protesters was being taken away by security guards, Rice made the kind of statement that has now become standard for high American officials under such circumstances: “Aren’t you glad this lady lives in a democracy where she can express her opinion?” She also threw in another line that’s become de rigueur since the US overthrew Saddam Hussein, an argument that’s used when all other arguments fail: “The children of Iraq are actually not living under Saddam Hussein, thank God.” ¹

My response to such a line is this: If you went into surgery to correct a knee problem and the surgeon mistakenly amputated your entire leg, what would you think if someone then remarked to you how nice it was that “you actually no longer have a knee problem, thank God.” … The people of Iraq no longer have a Saddam problem.

Click here to continue reading “The Anti-Empire Report” by William Blum.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Izbet al-Tabib, Palestinian Authority (West Bank)

Released: Sunday, May 1st, 2011 at 19:30 EST (GMT -4:30)

Contact: Sheri Wander, Michigan Peace Team (USA Contact) 734-754-0648, or sheriwander.mpt@gmail.com.

On Sunday May 1st, 2011 in the village of Izbet al-Tabib in the Qalquiliya District of the Palestinian Authority, Michigan Peace Team (MPT) member Sandra C. Quintano suffered serious injuries after being physically assaulted by Israeli Military forces at a peaceful demonstration. The injury occurred at approximately 2:30pm local time, after Israeli military forces and bulldozers arrived at a demonstration site.

Ms. Quintano was standing with a group of 8 nonviolent peace activists on a roadway, gathered in an attempt to prevent violence by Israeli military, and prevent military and bulldozers from proceeding further into the area. The soldiers closest to the activists first approached a young man standing next to Ms. Quintano, and indicated he would be arrested if the group did not move. According to the Michigan Peace Team members present, several soldiers then closed in on this young man in a physically threatening manner. As had been previously agreed, the activists attempted to link arms to prevent one person from being singled out of the group as a target for violence.

It was as the soldiers made physical contact with the activists that Ms. Quintano says she felt herself being sent “flying through the air.” She describes that she felt she was “picked up and thrown out of the way” by Israeli soldiers. The nature of the assault is unclear; video footage of the incident and many additional eyewitness accounts are being reviewed at this time. MPT hopes to release more information as soon as possible.

Ms. Quintano suffered a gash to the head (see photo) and both of her wrists were broken. One of the wrist injuries appears to be particularly severe, according to her doctors. She was taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital and is undergoing observation and testing to determine the full extent of her injuries. Ms. Quintano was admitted to the hospital and will stay at least overnight. She was accompanied by an MPT teammate. We will share more information on Ms Quintano’s medical condition when it is made available.

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