On the small, remote island of Diego Garcia, in the Indian Ocean halfway between Africa and Indonesia, the United States has one of the most secretive military bases in the world.  

President George W. Bush's successor should renounce his monarchy. It betters the instruction of King George III, which provoked the Declaration of Independence. 

from Crikey ….. 

Torture for Dummies: a US Justice Dept primer 

Jeff Sparrow writes: 

With an occupying army waging war in Iraq and Afghanistan, with military bases and corporate bullying in every part of the world, there is hardly a question any more of the existence of an American Empire. Indeed, the once fervent denials have turned into a boastful, unashamed embrace of the idea. 

Much of what lines supermarket aisles is not food. It's merely foodlike, and it's making us sick. 

If you think Americans in general have a strong preference for peace, you have not been paying attention; nor have you been immersing yourself in history books.

The country in which Americans take such pride today is the product of people who were willing, and often eager, to kill anyone who obstructed what they presumed to be their Manifest Destiny.

The US Congress, the US media, the American people, and the United Nations, are looking the other way as Cheney prepares his attack on Iran. 

If only America had an independent media and an opposition party. If there were a shred of integrity left in American political life, perhaps a third act of naked aggression – a third war crime under the Nuremberg standard – by the Bush Regime could be prevented.  

from Crikey ….. 

South Australia: The Authoritarian State 

Greg Barns writes: 

In his September 19, 2006 address to the United Nations President Bush said: "My country desires peace. Extremists in your midst spread propaganda claiming that the West is engaged in a war against Islam. This propaganda is false, and its purpose is to confuse you and justify acts of terrorism..... We respect Islam". In the same speech he went on to say: "Every nation that travels the road to freedom moves at a different pace, and the democracies they build will reflect their own culture and traditions".  

Despite Abbott's repeated declarations that nobody is above Texas law, he has prosecuted no Republicans. 

Dear Kevin, 

Was it only four months ago that we woke up to the clean sweet air of a Howard-less Australia?

Americans are a proud and patriotic people. They live in the world's only superpower. They have the highest standard of living in the world, measured by per-capita income. Today, however, they are perplexed, anxious. 

from the Center for American Progress ….. 

The Pentagon needs two things to survive: war and oil. And it can’t make the first if it doesn’t have the second. In fact, the Pentagon’s methods of mass destruction - fighters, bombers, tanks, Humvees, and other vehicles - burn 75 percent of the fuel used by the DoD. For example, B-52 bombers consume 47,000 gallons per mission over Afghanistan.  

But don’t expect big oil (or even smaller petroplayers) to turn off the tap for peace. 

The number of US soldiers to die in Iraq has reached 4000, the US military said on Monday, just days after the fifth anniversary of a war that President George Bush says the United States is on track to win. 

The US military said in a statement four soldiers were killed late on Sunday when a roadside bomb, the biggest killer of American soldiers in Iraq, exploded near their vehicle in southern Baghdad. One soldier was wounded in the attack.