The ‘news’ of the day, I just wiped my arse with it! - International Mass Media

The ‘news’ of the day, I just wiped my arse with it!
by finch Sunday, Jun 22 2008, 1:21am
international / mass media / commentary

Let’s start with ‘news’ from sunny Kandahar. As we all (should) know Western forces aren’t faring too well with their wars of plunder. Amazingly local people seem to resent invaders and occupiers, so let’s label them terrorists and us liberators – that ‘little’ inversion should satisfy the acutely aware fuck-knuckle yanks and Aussie slobs. Here’s the headline, “Taliban driven from Kandahar;” now that’s a real media gem, a claim worthy of a Rumsfeld or Cheney. Kandahar is the heartland of the tribal ‘Talibs' and Pashtuns or modern Taliban; it is their regional capital city and has been for centuries! The headline suggests that 80% of the city’s citizens have been driven out BUT note the first paragraph of the story:

“An operation by local and international troops appears to have cleared Taliban fighters from the outskirts of Kandahar, Afghanistan's second largest city.”

Did I really need to stress the word “appears?” Are we all able to see how the ‘news’ is constructed to deliver a message not an accurate account of events? So much for the prestigious ‘Financial Times’ of London, you pathetic pommy wankers!

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/89107990-3e62-11dd-b16d-0000779fd2ac.html

I’m not about to leave my tribal capital Sydney, Australia -- the home of the most obese population in the world – out of the picture. The story that hit the streets is, fattest nation in the world with “9 million obese” slobs in a population of 21 million, a world record if it’s true. But a little research reveals the figure is closer to 4 million but that is no excuse or cause to celebrate at the nearest American fast (poison) food outlet! The new Oz waistline is a legacy of American neo-colonial eating habits – every nation has a cuisine that identifies its 'culture' and Australia is nothing if not a good American colonial outpost!

The new (deserved) slogan for Oz is now, ‘Aussie Aussie Aussie, oink, oink, Oink!' Homeland of the mindless, servile, FAT SLOB!

http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2008/s2280848.htm

The ‘aggro’ news of the day comes to us from Israel, how did you guess? The New York Times via the SMH assists the US/Zionist agenda with its headline, “Israel rehearses long-range strikes” – toilet paper sales in Iran have skyrocketed, not really but that was the intent of the propaganda. No one doubts Israel’s madness or its ability to trigger WWIII by using tactical nukes, bunker-busters, on an Iranian installation. However, the free world and Iran’s powerful allies could not sit back and take such an affront. Russia and China have lost face in the Balkans, an attack on Iran would certainly escalate into a major exchange that could well see Israel obliterated – another instance of flagrant propaganda from the Western media.

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2008/06/20/1213770924652.html

But the ‘croc’ of the week goes to Afghan President Hamid ‘can’t even take a piss without NATO in attendance,’ Karzai, who stated he would pursue ‘bandits’ into Pakistan as a self-defensive measure. With whom and what force we would all like to know? NATO/US intervention has ensured the region remains fragmented into fiefdoms run by powerful warlords whose main source of revenue is now drugs! You guessed it again, wherever America fights its wars of ‘liberation’ drugs become the major export industry and source of revenue! Coincidence you say, not bloody likely! From the Vietnam Golden Triangle, to the Kosovo heroin gateway to Western Europe through to Central Asia and Afghanistan, now the undisputed heroin producing capital of the world.

Think of Uncle Sam when someone you love overdoses – small price to pay for supporting American ‘freedom, liberty and democracy’ – now there’s something you can really wipe your arse with!

U.S. says Taliban attacks may rise this year

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Taliban has created a "resilient insurgency" in Afghanistan and will likely maintain or increase the pace of its attacks this year, the Pentagon said on Friday.

In a report to the U.S. Congress, the Pentagon also singled out the safe havens for insurgents in Pakistan's border areas as the biggest threat to security in Afghanistan.

It said Washington and its allies had made substantial progress since ousting the Taliban from power after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States but lasting success would take time and require much more than just military means.

"The Taliban regrouped after its fall from power and have coalesced into a resilient insurgency," the report said.

In a sign of the increasing anxiety in Washington and other Western capitals about rising violence in Afghanistan, Congress ordered the comprehensive report when it approved the Pentagon's annual budget for this year.

The report said NATO and U.S. forces had killed some key insurgent leaders and removed sanctuaries inside Afghanistan.

"Despite these setbacks, the Taliban is likely to maintain or even increase the scope and pace of its terrorist attacks and bombings in 2008," it said.

"The Taliban will challenge the control of the Afghan government in rural areas, especially in the south and east. The Taliban will also probably attempt to increase its presence in the west and north," the report added.

The 72-page report offered some of the starkest U.S. comments yet on Pakistan's border areas.

TRIBAL AREAS

"The greatest challenge to long-term security within Afghanistan is the insurgent sanctuary within the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) of Pakistan," it said.

U.S. officials say the sanctuaries have flourished in recent months as Pakistani security forces have stopped pressuring insurgents while the government tries to strike peace deals with local tribes.

The U.S. commander of NATO forces in eastern Afghanistan said this week insurgent attacks there rose by 40 percent this year and Defense Secretary Robert Gates blamed that rise partly on a lack of pressure on the Pakistani side of the border.

The United States has some 32,000 troops in Afghanistan. Some 14,000 serve as part of a 53,000-strong NATO force charged with stabilizing the country while the remaining 18,000 perform missions ranging from training to counter-terrorism.

The report painted a positive picture of the Afghan army but said the police had faced problems.

"Generally, police development has been hindered by a lack of reform, corruption, insufficient U.S. military trainers and advisors and a lack of unity of effort within the international community," it said.

In addition, no comprehensive strategy exists to tackle the drug trade in Afghanistan, the world's top supplier of opium.

"While progress has been made in some areas, overall counter-narcotics efforts in Afghanistan have not been successful," the report said.

"There is a clear nexus between narcotics and the insurgency in Afghanistan that threatens U.S. gains in Afghanistan and the region," it added.

(Editing by David Storey and Todd Eastham)

© 2008 Thomson Reuters

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