Maoist Rebel News February 14th, 2009

U.S. Soldier Who Refused Service Returns From Canada

Cliff Cornell's tough exterior dissolves into tears as he reflects on his return to the Army four years after he fled to Canada to avoid the war in Iraq.

"I'm nervous, scared," Cornell said, wiping puffy eyes beneath his sunglasses Monday at a Savannah hotel after a three-day bus ride from Seattle. "I'm just not a fighter. I know it sounds funny, but I have a really soft heart."

Cornell, 29, of Mountain Home, Ark., planned to turn himself in to military police Tuesday at nearby Fort Stewart, where he'll likely face criminal charges for abandoning his unit before it deployed to Iraq in January 2005.

He said he fled because he doesn't think the war has improved the lives of Iraqis, and he couldn't stomach the thought of killing.

"During my training, I was ordered that, if anyone came within so many feet of my vehicle, I was to shoot to kill," said Cornell, who enlisted in 2002 but never deployed to war. "I didn't join the military to kill innocents."

The Army artillery specialist made it to Canada in 2005 and soon started a new life working at a grocery store on Gabriola Island in British Columbia.

Cornell's exile ended last week when he crossed the U.S.-Canada border into Washington state. He left voluntarily to avoid deportation.

"There are probably another three or four who are imminently under threat of deportation, and we're trying hard to fight that," Robidoux, spokeswoman for the Toronto-based War Resisters Support Campaign said.

The lower house of Canada's Parliament passed a nonbinding motion in June urging that U.S. military deserters be allowed to stay in Canada, but the Conservative Party government has ignored the vote.

During the Vietnam War, thousands of Americans took refuge in Canada, most of them to avoid the military draft. Many were given permanent residence status that led to Canadian citizenship, but the majority went home after President Jimmy Carter granted amnesty in the late 1970s.

The Army has listed Cornell as a deserter since a month after he left, but he hasn't been formally charged with any crimes, said Fort Stewart spokesman Kevin Larson.

After returning to Fort Stewart, Cornell could be placed into a unit or be held at a local jail. The unit Cornell was assigned to when he fled - the 1st Battalion, 39th Field Artillery Regiment - disbanded in March 2006.

Cornell's attorney said he hopes the Army shows some leniency since Cornell avoided the war because of his political convictions.

"This is different from someone leaving for selfish reasons," Branum said. "This is someone who said, 'I'm not going to kill civilians."'

It is disgusting how Canada can deport a war resister who refuses to fight a war because the war is illegal, but know it refused to fight that same war for the same reason.


Brazil Indians Suspected of Cannibalism

Police in Brazil's Amazon rain forest are investigating three native Indians suspected of murdering and eating a 21-year-old handicapped man in a rare case of cannibalism, local authorities said on Tuesday.

The Indians of the Kulina tribe near the Peruvian border are accused of having killed and eaten the insides of Ocelio Alves de Carvalho, a 21 year-old student in the town of Envira in Amazonas state.

"The body was quartered and then carved up with more than 100 cuts -- we think they ate his insides," Sgt. Osmildo Fereira da Silva of the state police in Envira told Reuters.

The three Indians apparently boasted of eating Carvalho's heart and liver to relatives in a reservation called Aldeia do Cacau, Fereira said.

Police interrogated a suspect but did not arrest anybody, Fereira said.

The Kulina do not practice cannibalism and police suspect the three Indians were drunk or took drugs.

"Alcoholism is widespread among Indians throughout the region," said Inspector Pablo Souza, with the Federal Police in the state capital Manaus.

"This is not usual in the region, it seems like an isolated case of homicide," he said.

There are nearly 1 million native Indians in Brazil, whose lands make up 12 percent of the country's vast territory.

While some live on large reservations in the rain forest, many are cramped in ghetto-like reservations in Mato Grosso do Sul state, which borders Bolivia and Paraguay.

I'm wondering if this "news story" is even true, or if it has anything to do with the recent attemps to push the Native Indians off their land. Propaganda against a people a government is trying to get out of the way almost never fails.


US Seeks to Rework Foreign Ties

U.S. Vice-President Joe Biden has outlined some of the key points of the new U.S. administration's foreign policy, including what he calls the collective effort needed to fight global terrorism and Washington's willingness to talk to Iran about Tehran's nuclear ambitions.

The United States is willing to talk to Iran, but he warned that Tehran must abandon its "illicit nuclear program" and "support for terrorism" or it will continue to face pressure and isolation, Biden said in a speech Saturday to world leaders attending the Munich Security Conference.

"The Iranian people are a great people. The Persian civilization is a great civilization. But Iran has acted in ways that are not conducive to peace in the region or to the prosperity of its people; its illicit nuclear program is but one of those manifestations," he said. "Our administration is reviewing policy toward Iran, but this much is clear: We will be willing to talk."

"President Obama has made clear that he will seek a new way forward, based on mutual interests and mutual respect," Biden said.

"In the Muslim world, a small and I believe very small, number of violent extremists are beyond the call of reason. We will and we must defeat them. But hundreds of millions of hearts and minds in the Muslim world share the values we hold dearly. We must reach them," he said.

A number of world leaders have expressed concerns that Iran may try to develop nuclear weapons, although the country's president has insisted its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.

Oh yea here comes that Iran is a threat bullshit again. I'm still wondering what happened to that 22 year veteran CIA agent that sued the government. I'm not sure people remember him, he was the one that was fired for refusing to falsify his reports. He sued the government to declassify his reports that showed Iran has no nuclear weapons. He was also the same guy who said Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction, and we all know how that turned out. I'm wondering if this guy was still alive. He was mentioned on Countdown with Keith Olbermann a few months ago, but I was unable to find any recent information on him. I hope he is still among the living.


Inconclusive Election Puts Israel, Peace in Limbo

Israel's Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu each claimed victory in an inconclusive general election that has both sides looking for possible partners in a coalition government.

With almost all the votes counted on Wednesday morning, Livni's Kadima party has claimed 28 seats, only one more than Netanyahu's conservative Likud party. Avigdor Lieberman's ultra-nationalist Yisrael Beteinu party had a strong showing, gaining four seats to finish with 15 seats. Defence Minister Ehud Barak's Labour party, Israel's ruling party for years, had its worst ever showing, winning just 13 seats. The Orthodox Shas party won 11 seats.

Several hours after polls closed, Livni and Netanyahu staged rival victory rallies.

"With God's help, I will lead the next government," Netanyahu told cheering Likud activists early Wednesday.

An hour later, Livni told her supporters that "the people have spoken, and they have chosen Kadima."

Livni called on Netanyahu to join a coalition government that she will lead.

Both Kadima and Likud will have to make alliances with other smaller parties in order to form a coalition government in the Knesset, the 120-seat parliament.

None of this matters really because the Palestinians are still going to be slaughtered.

Saturday Janauary 7th, 2009

Colombian court denies extradition request
from the U.S. for a kidnapper

The Colombian Supreme Court has denied a request from the U.S. to extradite a guerrilla captured during last year's rescue of three American mercenaries.

The court said its decision is not subject to appeal.

U.S. Embassy officials had no immediate comment.

The court says Alexander Farfan, alias "Gafas," or glasses, cannot be extradited on kidnapping and terrorism charges because the crimes for which he is wanted were committed in Colombian territory.

The court said its decision was based on careful consideration of Colombian law and multilateral treaties such as the 1979 International Convention against the Taking of Hostages.

President Alvaro Uribe had no immediate comment.

However, Uribe's close adviser, Jose Obdulio Gaviria, called the ruling "a political decision."

"It means to say that from now on the court can't extradite anyone," he told The Associated Press. "I think it's a decision that should be reconsidered."

On July 2, Colombian military agents posing as members of a humanitarian mission spirited to safety U.S. captives Marc Gonsalves, Tom Howes and Keith Stansell, along with French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt.

Farfan and a second rebel from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, Gerardo Antonio Aguilar, or "Cesar," were captured during the operation.

Both were indicted and the United States requested their extradition a week later.

(Alexander Farfan is guilty of terrorism for kidnapping a mercenary? A mercenary who's paid to kill people in a foriegn land, has no right to be there and is breaking the law by operating there? Please, this mercenary should be on trial for terrorism charges, not Alexander Farfan)


Israeli navy Impounds Lebanese aid boat enroute to Gaza Strip

Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak says the Israeli navy has intercepted a ship carrying activists and supplies from Lebanon to the Gaza Strip.

Barak says the navy is towing the vessel to the Israeli port of Ashdod. The ship had set sail on Wednesday in a bid to defy Israel's blockade of Gaza.

Reporters from Arab TV stations Al-Jadeed and Al-Jazeera who were on the vessel said the Israelis fired at the ship before boarding it and beating the crew.

They said they were unable to show pictures of the incident as the Israeli force smashed their broadcast equipment.

The Israeli military says it never fired at the ship.

(Yea sure you didn't, just liek those UN aid stations you bombed, or those UN aid convoys you kept destroying? Where the hell is the spineless UN? Why are they not charging Israel with war crimes for the things they keep doing over and over again?)


Greek group vows to launch deadly attacks on police, other targets

A previously unknown group that has claimed responsibility for a shooting and grenade attack against an Athens police station is vowing to kill police officers and expand its targets to prominent Greeks.

The group, which calls itself Sect of Revolutionaries, issued a statement on a computer disk left on the grave of a teenager whose shooting by police in December sparked Greece's worst riots in decades.

An anonymous caller tipped off the local daily Ta Nea to the disk's location, and the paper published the statement Thursday.

The group claimed it had been "unlucky" not to kill a police officer during a pre-dawn attack Tuesday against the police station in the western suburb of Korydallos, in which three assailants in hoods and helmets opened fire and threw a hand grenade that failed to explode. Nobody was injured.

"Our aim was to execute them," the statement said of the police officers, adding: "They were lucky, we were unlucky, next time they will not have luck on their side."

The group also vowed to target other prominent Greeks.

"To those who are already wondering why we chose some random cops and not a high-ranking official, a prominent journalist, a state functionary or at least a capitalist, we answer that their turn will come," the statement said.

Police spokesman Panayiotis Stathis said Wednesday that authorities were taking the statement seriously, and that the group seemed to be following the methods of the Revolutionary Struggle extremists who shot and seriously wounded a riot policeman last month.

"It seems to be genuine; it's a group that has not appeared before but the methodology seems to be the same as that of Revolutionary Struggle," Stathis said.

Although the anti-authoritarian rioting sparked by the teenager's death subsided before Christmas, attacks on police targets have increased.

Small cooking gas canisters exploded outside the office of a minister in charge of police in central Athens early Thursday, causing minor damage and no injuries.

Last month, Revolutionary Struggle claimed responsibility for a Jan. 5 shooting that seriously wounded a 21-year-old riot policeman in central Athens. The group is best known for firing a rocket-propelled grenade into the U.S. Embassy in Athens in 2007, and the U.S. is offering a $1 million reward for information leading to the capture of a group member.

Greece had faced a domestic insurgecy threat for decades, but authorities cracked down on violent left-wing groups before the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens.

The country's deadliest group, November 17, killed 23 people in targeted shootings and bombings between 1975 and 2002 before a botched bombing led police to capture key group members.

In its annual report on terrorism last year, the U.S. State Department said it believed Revolutionary Struggle and November 17 could be linked. Revolutionary Struggle has carried out at least six bombings since 2003, targeting police stations, government ministries, a bank and a courthouse.

(I see when you fight the power of the government its called terrorism. But when you are govenerment that helps Israel committ genocide against Palestinians, its called, "doing NATO's job".)


Canada Should Pursue 'Buy Canadian' Strategy: Jack Layton

Canada should adopt a "Buy Canadian" strategy in response to the "Buy American" clause included in the proposed U.S. stimulus package, NDP Leader Jack Layton urged Tuesday.

The NDP or New Democratic Party was the party started by former Communist Party member Tommy Douglas

During question period in the House of Commons, Layton said that there's a "golden opportunity" to boost slumping domestic sales with a "perfectly legal and appropriately designed 'Buy Canadian' strategy."

"The United States has had a 'Buy American' act for 76 years," Layton said. "It's perfectly legal under the World Trade Organization, and, in fact, under NAFTA, governments are allowed to buy at home in order to use taxpayers' money to create jobs for workers and to support communities and their industries.

"Mexico, China, Japan, South Korea, they all have national procurement policies, and it would be a good idea for Canada. Can the prime minister tell us what's wrong with a 'Buy Canadian' policy as permitted under continental and global trade rules?"

The controversial provision, part of the $819-billion US financial stimulus package before the U.S. Congress, would require all public works projects funded by the stimulus package to use only U.S.-made iron and steel.

During question period, Prime Minister Stephen Harper shot back that the specific proposals before the U.S. Congress violate trade obligations and that Layton is suggesting the government respond by starting a trade war with the U.S.

"That is not advice that we will be taking," Harper said.

The Tory government has called on Congress to remove the controversial clause in the stimulus package. In a letter to senior U.S. Senate leaders, the Canadian ambassador in Washington, Michael Wilson, said the clause could spark protectionist measures in other countries.

"The leader of the NDP asked the question, 'What would be wrong with policies that have us just buy here?' What's wrong with it is we are a world trading leader," Harper said. "We can compete with the best in the world; we can sell around the world. We want to sell around the world, and that's what our policy is designed to have us do."

The Democratic-controlled U.S. House of Representatives approved the economic stimulus package in a vote last week, and the Senate began debating it on Monday.


Obama Imposes Pay Cap on Executives

President Barack Obama on Wednesday imposed $500,000 caps on senior executive pay for the most distressed financial institutions receiving federal bailout money, saying Americans are upset with "executives being rewarded for failure."

Obama announced the dramatic new government intervention into corporate America at the White House, with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner at his side. The president said the executive-pay limits are a first step, to be followed by the unveiling next week of a sweeping new framework for spending what remains of the $700 billion financial industry bailout that Congress created last year.

The executive-pay move comes amid a national outcry over huge bonuses to executives heading companies seeking taxpayer dollars to remain afloat. The demand for limits was reinforced by revelations that Wall Street firms paid more than $18 billion in bonuses in 2008 even amid the economic downturn and the massive infusion of taxpayer dollars.

"This is America. We don't disparage wealth. We don't begrudge anybody for achieving success," Obama said. "But what gets people upset — and rightfully so — are executives being rewarded for failure. Especially when those rewards are subsidized by U.S. taxpayers."

(I assume this is a shot at us. We don't hate anyone for doing well either. Although they keep saying we do. The problem is the system and means by whihc a person generates wealth, not that they do generate wealth.)

The pay cap would apply to all institutions that have negotiated agreements with the Treasury Department for "exceptional assistance." Those would include American International Group Inc., Bank of America Corp., and Citigroup Inc.

Firms that want to pay executives above the $500,000 threshold would have to use stock that could not be sold or liquidated until they pay back the government funds.

Generally healthy institutions would have more leeway. They also face the $500,000 limit if they're getting government help, but the cap can be waived with full public disclosure and a nonbinding shareholder vote.

Obama said that massive severance packages for executives who leave failing firms are also going to be eliminated. "We're taking the air out of golden parachutes," he said.

(Which is a tremendous idea considering. It angers me that all those people who caused the problems are actually going to profit off of them. While the working class is left with the problem.)

Other new requirements on "exceptional assistance" will include:

—The expansion to 20, from five, the number of executives who would face reduced bonuses and incentives if they are found to have knowingly provided inaccurate information related to company financial statements or performance measurements.

—An increase in the ban on golden parachutes from a firm's top five senior executives to its top 10. The next 25 would be prohibited from golden parachutes that exceed one year's compensation.

—A requirement that boards of directors adopt policies on spending such as corporate jets, renovations and entertainment.

The administration also will propose long-term compensation restrictions even for companies that don't receive government assistance, Obama said.

Those proposals include:

— Requiring top executives at financial institutions to hold stock for several years before they can cash out.

— Requiring nonbinding "say on pay" resolutions — that is, giving shareholders more say on executive compensation.

— A Treasury-sponsored conference on a long-term overhaul of executive compensation.

(I propose an amendment to this bill that would place anyone who recieved a bouns after destroying working class live to be thrown in jail and have all their assests seized.)

Nkunda Arrested

Nkunda was arrested on the 22nd of January. The DR Congo, in collaboration with Rwanda, will be working to wipe out all hostile militias in the area. It came as a surprise when Rwanda supposedly pulled the plug on the CNDP.


Publicity Stunt with Blackwater

The contract between Washington and Blackwater Co. expires in May. Obama doesn't plan on renewing the contract. However, we must keep in mind that Obama still has a few months to use Blackwater.

There are two other groups just like Blackwater currently operating in Iraq. So cutting ties with one company is just a publicity stunt. Obama will use the other two companies to commit America's war crimes.


Iraqi "Democracy"

The elections of the US puppet government in Iraq have been called a success by Washington and the Baghdad puppets. There are questions about the fairness of these elections, and the UN said there must be an investigation into the accusations. Voter turnout was lower than expected at just over 50%.


Colombian Rebels to Free Hostages

The International Red Cross says a helicopter has departed to pick up four hostages that Colombia's leftist rebels promised to free.

Three police officers and a soldier are among six hostages the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia says it is freeing unilaterally.

The police and soldier have been held for two years or less. The two politicians set to be released Monday and Wednesday have been held far longer.

The Red Cross says those picked up Sunday will be flown to the provincial capital of Villavicencio in Colombia's eastern lowlands.

The unilateral releases are the guerrillas' first in nearly a year, but analysts say chances for a peace dialogue with Colombia's government are far off.


Israel Vows 'Disproportionate' Response to Hamas Rocket Fire

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert threatened on Sunday a "disproportionate" response to the continued rocket and mortar fire into Israel from the Hamas-elected Gaza Strip.

Shortly after Olmert spoke, three Israelis were wounded by mortars, medics and the Israeli army said. The wounded included two soldiers and the first Israeli civilian hurt since a January 18 truce ended Israel's 22-day offensive in the coastal enclave.

Two rockets struck southern Israel earlier on Sunday, causing no damage or casualties. A wing of al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a group belonging to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction, claimed responsibility for that attack.

No group made an immediate claim for the mortar shootings.

"The government's position was from the outset that if there is shooting at the residents of the south, there will be a harsh Israeli response that will be disproportionate," Olmert said at the weekly cabinet meeting.

"We will act according to new rules which will ensure that we will not be drawn into a war of incessant shooting on the southern border, which would deprive the residents of the south of a normal life," he said, without elaborating.

A spokesman for the Hamas government in the Gaza Strip condemned what he described as Olmert's "aggressive statement."

But the spokesman, Taher al-Nono, also urged all Palestinian factions to "respect the national consensus" on the ceasefire the Islamist group declared two weeks ago after Israel announced it was halting the Gaza offensive.

Israel was criticized internationally for the deaths, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza, of more than 1,300 Palestinians, including at least 700 civilians.

Critics said Israel had responded disproportionately, in its air and ground offensive in heavily populated areas, to cross-border rocket attacks over the previous eight years that killed 18 people.

During the Gaza campaign, 10 Israeli soldiers and three civilians were killed.

Since the truce, in addition to Sunday's injuries, an Israeli soldier was killed and three others were wounded when a bomb exploded next to their patrol. Israeli air strikes since January 18 have killed three Palestinians and wounded 10.

Israel said Hamas militants bore responsibility for civilian deaths in Gaza by operating inside its towns and refugee camps.

Egypt has been trying to broker a long-term ceasefire that would end Hamas weapons smuggling into the Gaza Strip and also lead to a reopening of Gaza border crossings, one of the Islamist group's main demands.

Olmert's comments were echoed by Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, a candidate for prime minister in Israel's February 10 election. Olmert, who quit in a corruption scandal in September but stayed on as caretaker prime minister, is not running.

"Israel will respond," said Livni, who replaced Olmert as head of the ruling, centrist Kadima party. "This is my position. It was clear before, during and after the operation, and this is how I will conduct myself as prime minister."

Opinion polls in the final stretch of an election campaign dominated by security issues and promises by candidates to keep Hamas at bay, suggest the right-wing Likud party of former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will win the most votes.


Obama Calls Wall St. Bonuses 'Shameful'

A Democratic senator closely allied with President Obama said Friday she was introducing legislation to cap compensation for employees of companies taking U.S. government aid during the economic downturn.

Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri announced the action a day after Obama said he was outraged by a report of some $18 billion in Wall Street bonuses paid at a time taxpayer money was being used to shore up the crumbling financial system.

Obama called the bonuses "shameful," adding the actions of Wall Street represented the "height of irresponsibility."

Under the bill by McCaskill, an early endorser of Obama's presidential candidacy, employees would not be able to make more money than the U.S. president -- $400,000 a year -- until their companies no longer relied on government aid, such as the Troubled Asset Relief Program that bails out banks.

"We have a bunch of idiots on Wall Street that are kicking sand in the face of the American taxpayer," an enraged McCaskill said on the floor of the Senate. "They don't get it. These people are idiots. You can't use taxpayer money to pay out 18 billion dollars in bonuses."

McCaskill's proposed compensation limit would cover salaries, bonuses and stock options.

Jesus Christ could you get anymore of an obvious theft? Could there be anymore of a blatant slap in the face to the people of America? Could there be any bigger of a "Fuck You" and a middle finger to the working class? Could you get anymore of a sign of contempt from these people?

This is the very essence of capitalism. The accumulation of wealth by any means possible and a big screw you on top of it. The very wealth that the people struggled to obtain. (Poor unprivlidged middle class we're told.) This could not be any better of fact slapped in your face that capitalism was meant to bilk you out of YOUR money.

And people think that this executive order by Barak Obama will put a stop to that. No it won't, because the damage is done and it will not be undone. I gaurentee you that in like a month there will be a lawsuit by finnancial executives. Probably paid for by the bailout money, claiming that placing a salary cap on them violates the consitiution. That same consitution that was not there to prevent the theft to begin with.

I'm reminded for something I said last year:

"The more things appear to have changed, the more they stay the same."

In other words, nothing really changes. So I think of Mao:

"Change must come through the barrell of a gun."

Special Comment: Wall Street Bailout

18 billion dollars hua? 18 billion dollars. What really pisses me off the most about this is the shear hypocritical nature of this bailout. Every argument that every capitalist gives against communism is along the lines of refusing to give money for state enterprises because “it’s my money, I made it”. Yet here we are. The largest and most powerful supporters of capitalism and all the diseases it causes begging with their hands out for public money. That same money they say shouldn’t even be public money because “they” earned it.

What supposedly makes capitalism so great? The fact that we can succeed or fail by our own virtues. People with ambition can do good things for everyone, because there is a supposed virtue to selfishness. If you spend public funds to help people they will never help themselves. They need to be self-sustaining, they need to have personal responsibility, and you succeed or fail in the market of your own abilities. Competition, it brings out the best in all of us! Ha!

If the federal government gives even a dollar to a public works sector, or a single dollar to fight urban poverty, these same people are right there to scream “Communism”! If even one dollar goes to helping regular people they scream how us Reds are taking over and going to kill everyone. They even scream about how Obama is a communist, and their idiot supporters believe them! Anyone with half a god damn brain, or a shred of intelligence can see how bullshit all of this is.

For all their dogma about “free markets”, individualism and personal profits; I can’t help getting this vision in my head. A vision of little Oliver Twist in an Armani suit walking back to the man dishing out the gruel pot filled with money and begging, “Please sir, my I have some more?”

And they ask on a FOX Business Network in a segment: “Should Wall Street Get Bonuses?”

I think we should all be asking ourselves if we should be taking to the streets with rifles and taking our money back. I think we should be storming Wall St. and taking away their possessions, taking away their homes the way others are having theirs taken away because of the actions of these Wall St. Scumbags.

It’s all based on personal ability. Survival of the fittest or some social Darwinist bullshit like that. Unless of course you work on Wall St.

And in the end, you Wall street monstrosities have managed to give us proof that violent revolution is necessary, to remove scum like you.