Ayaan Hirsi Ali vs Waris Dirie

I wonder which name is more well known around the world? My guess is Ayaan Hirsi Ali is more well known. They are both Somali and have experienced FGM and both ran away from home when their fathers tried to arrange marriages for them to older men. They both are activists who want to stop the practice of FGM and improve women's rights.

How they differ is that Ali became a Dutch member of parliament, while Dirie became a fashion model. Dirie is a Muslim, while Ali is no longer a Muslim. They also differ in that while Dirie only talks about FGM and women's rights, Ali talks politics and often voices biased and misinformed arguments concerning the West and the Muslim world. In other words, when discussing politics, Ali says what Westerners want to hear, not an honest and balanced criticisms of boths sides of the issues.

Since Waris Dirie is not as popular, in the media as Ali, here is something about her life http://www.hcc.hawaii.edu/~pine/Phil110/waris-dirie.html

She was a UN goodwill ambassador in the fight against FGM. I don't know if she is still working with the UN, since I have not seen her in any media reports recently. She has a foundation that campaigns against FGM. see here http://www.waris-dirie-foundation.com/web/e_index.htm

This is not going to help the Palestinians.

British teachers’ union weighs boycott of Israel
Britain’s largest union of university and college teachers voted to hold talks on an academic boycott of Israel, a spokesman said Thursday The University and College Union, which represents around 120,000 employees, voted Wednesday to
allow local branches to make a final decision on imposing a boycott on cooperation with Israeli academics. Union members voted on a motion asking them to note that “Israel’s 40-year occupation has seriously damaged the fabric of Palestinian society through annexation, illegal settlement, collective
punishment and restriction of movement.”

See complete article at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18963199/
Exactly what kind of conscience do these people have, if they only talk about what Israel is doing, but they don't talk about what Britain and the United States are doing in Iraq?

If the boycott is done and it spreads to other countries what will happen? Conveniently, a terrorist act wil take place (committed by agent provocateurs) and Israel will say "We told you so." These terrorist acts (whether it was the killing of the Isrealis at the 1972 Munich Olympics, or the hijacking of Air France Flight 139, where hostages were held at Entebbe Airport in Uganda, or the hijacking of the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro), benefit Israel more than it does the Palestinians

If these British teachers want things to improve for the Palestinians, why don't they set the example by having their government stop its participation in the occupation of Iraq?

This also goes to the Americans on the radical left who want to talk about Israel's treatment of the Palestinians, but do not want to discuss the United States' war crimes around the world.

Israel's Nuclear Double Standards

During the apartheid era of South Africa, Israel gave the country its nuclear capablities see http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Global_Secrets_Lies/Israel_SAfrica.html
(excerpted from the book Israeli Foreign Policy by Jane Hunter)

Now that Iran is developing nuclear power, Israel portrays it as the most dangerous country in the world.

United States oil imports and Saudi Arabia investments

According to http://www.eia.doe.gov/pub/oil_gas/petroleum/data_publications/company_level_imports/current/import.html

in March 2007,
the top 5 countries that the U.S. imported crude oil from are
Canada 1,780,000 barrels per day
Mexico 1,621,000 barrels per day
Nigeria 1,290,000 barrels per day
Saudi Arabia 1,216,000 barrels per day
Venezuela 1,036,000 barrels per day

And the top 5 countries that the U.S. imported Petroleum from are
Canada 2,305,000 barrels per day
Mexico 1,749,000 barrels per day
Nigeria 1,346,000 barrels per day
Venezuela 1,285,000 barrels per day
Saudi Arabia 1,244,000 barrels per day

According to http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2089.htm

"Canada and the U.S. have one of the world’s largest investment relationships. The U.S. is Canada's largest foreign investor. Statistics Canada reports that at the end of 2005, the stock of U.S. foreign direct investment in Canada was $228 billion, or about 65% of total foreign direct investment in
Canada. U.S. investment is primarily in Canada's mining and smelting industries, petroleum, chemicals, the manufacture of machinery and transportation equipment, and finance. "

On the same government website it says about
Saudia Arabia at http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/3584.htm

During and after the Gulf War, the Government of Saudi Arabia provided water, food, shelter, and fuel for coalition forces in the region. There also were monetary payments to some coalition partners. Saudi Arabia's combined costs
in payments, foregone revenues, and donated supplies were $55 billion. More than $15 billion went toward reimbursing the United States alone.

It does not give figures about how much Saudi Arabia invests in the United States and vice versa.

Here (http://www.washtimes.com/op-ed/20060115-103622-3038r.htm ) is an article that says “...government sources estimate Saudi holdings in the United States at $400 billion to $800 billion.”
This particular article is warning us of the influence Saudi contributions to media outlets and Universities will have. The reality is whatever influence they have is negligible in these areas.

Another way the U.S. gets back its money from purchasing oil is by selling the Saudis sophisticated expensive weaponry. ( http://www.fas.org/asmp/profiles/saudi_arabia.htm ) The Saudis don’t have the qualified personnel to use the weaponry, which is why they and Kuwait had to look to the United States for help when Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait.

Israeli agents 'helped Entebbe hijackers'

Mr Colvin told his superiors that his source suggested that the attack was carried out by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine with help from the Israeli Security Service, the Shin Bet.

It was designed to torpedo the rival Palestine Liberation Organisation's standing in France and to prevent what they saw as a growing rapprochement between the PLO and the Americans.

''My contact said that the PFLP had attracted all sorts of wild elements, some of whom had been planted by the Israelis,'' Mr Colvin added. The message was received without comment by the Foreign Office but later officials recorded that a journalist from the Liverpool Post, Leo Murray, had also told them that a splinter group of PFLP was planning a series of spectacular incidents to disrupt contacts between the PLO leader Yasser Arafat and the US.

complete article at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/06/01/nhijack01.xml

When did they have a chance to put the explosives in the WTC Towers?

People may wonder when was there a chance to place explosives in the World Trade Center towers. Here is a brief video that helps to explain this. Starting in about a minute and a half into the video there is a discussion about peopple who worked in the World Trade Center Towers who said that prior to 9/11 there had been several unexplained evacuations and power downs in the towers.

9/11 Truth: Unusual Evacuations & Power-Downs in the WTC Prior To 9/11



Now that I think about it, there were many parts of the WTC that were vacant (not rented) before 9/11, this probably shortened the amount of time needed for the buildings to be evacuated. Here is an article (see second item called "Skyscaper Award") that talks about how before 9/11 the WTC 7 was mostly vacant and after 9/11, when it was rebuilt, it has become attractive as office space.
http://www.downtownexpress.com/de_211/undercover.html

Who is debunking whom? Why did the World Trade Center 7 building collapse?

In the Metro Section of the May 30, 2007 New York Times, in Jim Dwyer’s column “A notion from 9/11 is kept alive”, he has deluded himself into thinking that he has debunked alternate theories regarding WTC 7. He writes in his column, “...a comprehensive study by Popular Mechanics magazine concluded that along the bottom 10 floors, a quarter of the south face was knocked away.”

If the south part of the building had “a quarter of the south face” of the building knocked out, then the building would topple over, not collapse straight down into its own base. (The website whatreallyhappened.com first pointed this out)

There is a website that is dedicated to debunking 9/11 conspiracy theories, and it does the same thing. In attempt to disprove those who say not much damage was done to the WTC 7 building, it unwittingly goes on to reveal a flaw in the “official” explanation of why the building collapsed. ( http://www.911myths.com/html/wtc7_damage.html ) The website repeatedly makes reference to the damage on the south side of the building. There is a quote from Battalion Chief John Norman (Special Operations Command - 22 years), “...at the edge of the south face you could see that it was very heavily damaged.”

Would a building that was heavily damaged on one side collapse straight down into its base or would it topple over?

Here is a compilation of video clips showing WTC 7 collapsing

Can what's going on in Iraq just be called a "civil war?"

How can what is going on in Iraq be called a civil war, when it is foreign governments (mainly USA and Britain) that
#1) bombed the country and destroyed its infrastructure
#2) rounds up thousands of Iraqis and jails them without justification
#3) makes decisions when elections are to take place and whether the results are valid
#4) benefit more from reconstruction projects than the Iraqis
#5)can break into jails to release prisoners against the Iraqi's governments wishes. (Remember when two British men where caught disguised as Arabs carrying explosives and weapons in their car? Their fellow British soldiers broke into the jail they were in and helped them to escape) see http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=20051015&articleId=1089

The U.S., Britain, Israel and Iran are contributing to the chaos with their agent provocateurs.

In honor of our veterans, we call for truth

from an Ashland, Oregon newspaper
complete editorial at http://www.dailytidings.com/2006/1111/stories/1111_editorial.php

Anniversaries cause us to instinctively pause and reflect, just as our leg jolts forward after a well-positioned tap on the knee. In honor of our veterans — to whom we owe a debt we can never repay — the least we can do on this Veteran's
Day is look back at the decisions made that sent our troops into battle, and the roles we played in those decisions. Perhaps upon reflection, our reaction may
change.

The fifth anniversary of Sept. 11, 2001 served as the reflex hammer touch to the knee of American conscience. As the country attended memorials and revisited painful memories of 9/11, the reflection also opened our collective mind once again to the many unanswered questions, legitimate concerns and
conflicting evidence in the official description of those events.

Forget the conspiracy theories for a minute and set aside the political gamesmanship. We are a country that spent five years and $100 million investigating President Clinton. We probed the depths of the Iran-Contra scandal — a debacle that would have never come fully into the public eye had a special investigator not been appointed.

This administration has spent far more energy and time seeking the leak of Valerie Plame's identity and Barry Bonds' use of steroids than it has in fully explaining how three skyscrapers crumbled in an instant and nearly 3,000 people were killed. While an independent investigation may never fully answer every question, it will help to heal the wounds of this nation and widespread distrust of our leaders this attack has caused.

If, however, the questions that remain serve to shed light on new information, that too serves the public. And it is the responsibility of this trusted media industry to dig, probe, investigate and uncover the truth behind government events and decisions that impact the public. On this Veterans Day, we can do no less on behalf of the brave men and women who have been sent to the Middle East based upon rationale that stems directly from the events of 9/11. While we pay homage to all veterans of the Armed Forces today, we are reminded of our duty to watch closely those leaders in the White House and Congress who make the decisions to send our troops to war.

We invite every single American daily newspaper to join us in our demand for an independent council to completely and thoroughly investigate the deaths of nearly 3,000 American citizens in the attacks of 9/11.

America will be better informed, and this is our job.

Green-Eyed Afghan and Sudanese

The first image is the cover of a book about Sudan. The second image is of an Afghan girl from the cover of 1985 National Geographic magazine

I couldn't help noticing the similarity in their eyes and the simliarity in their situation. The photo of the Afghan girl was exploited commercially all over the world, but what good did it do to help the people of Afganistan?

She was one of the world's most famous faces, yet no one knew who she was. Her image appeared on the front of magazines and books, posters, lapel pins, and even rugs, but she didn't know it. Now, after searching for 17 years, National
Geographic has once again found the Afghan girl with the haunting green eyes. from http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/03/0311_020312_sharbat.html

Sure there are charities that "help" the Afghan people but nothing to stop the mass bombings and occupation of Afghanistan by the United States. No acknowledgement of the millions who died during the Afghan-Russian war.

The same is being done with Sudan. The picture of the Sudanese child is from the cover of a book called "Not On Our Watch" by Don Cheadle and John Prendergast. John Pendergast is on the Board of Directors of SaveDarfur.org

The two authors were recently interviewed on Democracy Now http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/05/03/1357220 .

Copy and paste the long url below (written in BOLD) in a new window for a scathing commentary by Keith Harmon Snow about the interview. He is angry about the fact that Amy Goodman did not bring up the past and current role of John Prendergast in Africa.

allthingspass.com/uploads/html-194THE%20FAILURE%20OF%20WBAI's%20DEMOCRACY%20NOW.htm

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Here are some additional articles by Keith Harmon Snow about the Sudan and other countries in Africa

• http://allthingspass.com/journalism.php?jid=165

• http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=%20SN20070207&articleId=4717

• http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=%20SN20051016&articleId=1096

Here is an article by F. William Engdahl about "China and USA in New Cold War over Africa’s oil riches"

• http://www.engdahl.oilgeopolitics.net/Geopolitics___Eurasia/Oil_in_Africa/oil_in_africa.html

Darfurgenocide

U.S. past and present relations with Iraq and Iran

"Leave Us Alone," Iranian Reformers Say http://www.progressive.org/node/4253

Refugees create new 'Baghdad'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/6575755.stm

Here is a little history of US. Intervention in Iran and Iraq
Regime Change: How the CIA put Saddam's Party in Power http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/51/217.html

Review of the Book All the Shah’s Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror http://www.law.harvard.edu/students/orgs/hrj/iss17/booknotes-All.shtml

Fueling the Iran-Iraq Slaughter
http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=15&ItemID=2292

Israel and 9/11

This is a video and transcript of a four part news report by Carl Cameron, that discusses possible connections between Israel and 9/11. This report appeared on FOX News. You won’t find it on their website anymore, but it is available on the Information Clearing House Website, along with transcripts. In the fourth part, Carl Cameron is introduced by Tony Snow. Tony Snow is the current White House Press Secretary.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article7545.htm

In the Counterpunch newsletter, Volume 14, No. 3/4 there is a story about the cheering Isreali “art students” that got caught on 9/11.

http://www.muslimwakeup.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=57970&highlight=#57970

Videos questioning the official 9/11 investigation

• ---> http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7866929448192753501&q=loose+change&hl=en
  
  
• ---> http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4194796183168750014&hl=en
  
  
• ---> http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4260823951534797708&q=9%2F11+evacuations&hl=en

Learn about genocide in Africa here http://allthingspass.com/index.html