09 October 2007

Scott Ritter: The Big Lie: ‘Iran Is a Threat’

Its important to remember just who Scott Ritter is:

"Scott Ritter was a Marine Corps intelligence officer from 1984 to 1991 and a United Nations weapons inspector in Iraq from 1991 to 1998."

He knows what he's talking about unlike others. Anyway, well worth the read.

Anf if you have the time its worth remembering Four Myths Government and Media Use to Scare Us About 'Dictators'.

Other scary stories include the loss of billions of dollars by the big investment firms and banks. Merrill Lynch Warns of Loss on $5 Billion Writedown while "Citigroup said its quarterly earnings would fall 60 percent, as it planned to write down more than $3 billion in securities backed by underperforming mortgages and loans tied to corporate bonds. "
At the same time another "Two Banks Face $3 Billion In Mortgage Losses". JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America are expected to disclose losses of about $3 billion in mortgage securities and leveraged loans when they report earnings this month, the Financial Times reported, citing an analyst. Interesting to note isn't it that just 5 years ago, as we can read in this FT report the figures were even worse: "Citigroup, a top lender and long-time adviser to WorldCom, lost more than $11bn in market value. Bank of America and JP Morgan Chase, leaders of loan syndicates for WorldCom, lost $3.9bn and $2.8bn in their market values, respectively." That time fraud was behind the losses: "The attorney general's office said on Wednesday it had taken notice that Mr Grubman downgraded WorldCom just a day before the company revealed a $3.8bn accounting fraud."

Anyway its still bad enough, $11 billion gone. Poof! Just lke that! Where did it go to? Things just don't disappear...

Also worth reading is Neil Mackay's account of "what Britain will look like 10 years from now: a world in which Fortress Britain uses fleets of tiny spy-planes to watch its citizens, of Minority Report-style pre-emptive justice, of an underclass trapped in sink-estate ghettos under constant state surveillance, of worker drones forced to take on the lifestyle and values of the mega-corporation they work for, and of the super-rich hiding out in gated communities constantly monitored by cameras and private security guards."

Also check out "Inside France's secret war": "For 40 years, the French government has been fighting a secret war in Africa, hidden not only from its people, but from the world. It has led the French to slaughter democrats, install dictator after dictator – and to fund and fuel the most vicious genocide since the Nazis. Today, this war is so violent that thousands are fleeing across the border from the Central African Republic into Darfur – seeking sanctuary in the world's most notorious killing fields "

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