Assalamu alaikum,
Poll: over 40% of Canadian teens think America is "evil"
by Arthur Weinreb, Associate Editor, Canada Free Press
June 30, 2004
Can West News Services, owners of several Canadian newspapers including the National Post as well as the Global Television Network commissioned a series of polls to determine how young people feel about the issues that were facing the country's voters. Dubbed "Youth Vote 2004", the polls, sponsored by the Dominion Institute and Navigator Ltd. were taken with a view to getting more young people involved in the political process.
In one telephone poll of teens between the ages of 14 and 18, over 40 per cent of the respondents described the United States as being "evil". That number rose to 64 per cent for French Canadian youth.
This being Canada, the amount of anti-Americanism that was found is not surprising. What is significant is the high number of teens who used the word "evil" to describe our southern neighbour. As Misty Harris pointed out in her column in the Saskatoon Star Phoenix, evil is usually associated with serial killers and "kids who tear the legs off baby spiders." These teens appear to equate George W. Bush and Americans with Osama bin Laden and Hitler, although it is unknown if the teens polled would describe the latter two as being evil. Whether someone who orders planes to be flown into heavily populated buildings would fit that description would make a good subject for a future poll.
The Liberal government came into power in 1993 gushing anti-Americanism. Former Prime Minister Jean Chr?tien's communications director, Francoise Ducros, made headlines when she referred to President Bush as a moron. Liberal MP Carolyn Parrish was picked up on a boom microphone saying, "Damn Americans — I hate those bastards". Not only did Parrish not apologize for her remarks, but she later appeared on a television show hosted by alleged comedian Mike Bullard and laughed about the incident. Parrish played to the anti-Americanism of the youthful studio audience by saying that she couldn't guarantee that she wouldn't do it again.
Not only did then Prime Minister Jean Chr?tien not take any action against his staff or caucus members, he himself engaged in America-bashing. The depth of his anti-Americanism surfaced shortly after the 9/11 attacks when he blamed the arrogance and greed of the West (read the United States) for those attacks.
When Paul Martin assumed office last December, the childish cheap shots ended but, if anything, anti-Americanism became stronger.
Anti-Americanism played a prominent role in the election strategy of the Liberals. Paul Martin portrayed himself as the saviour of Canadian medicare while saying that if Stephen Harper and the Conservative Party of Canada came to power they would introduce "American-style" health care. Martin was happy to take credit for cutting taxes and eliminating the deficit during the 1990s when he was Minister of Finance, but he referred to tax cuts included in the Conservative Party platform as being "American-style tax cuts". Canadians who favour lower taxes or the private delivery of health care services or smaller governments or anything similar to what is found in the United States were called "un-Canadian" by Paul Martin.
It is therefore not surprising that a high percentage of Canadian youth think that the United States is evil. Nor is it surprising that this feeling is more pronounced in Quebec where Bloc Quebecois leader Gilles Duceppe said that he would rather live under the United Nations than the Stars and Stripes. The left wing Canadian political parties, aided by their supporters in the elite media don't seem to be able to say anything positive about Canada without denigrating the United States in the process.
The poll results reflect that anti-Americanism will be solidly entrenched in future generations of Canadians. As well as listening to the propaganda espoused by their political leaders and the media, these kids have no experience with what constitutes real evil. They live in a country that much like pre-9/11 America, thinks that terrorist attacks are something that happens in other countries. And as the World War II veterans slowly die off, they have no conviction of the evil that the allies risked their lives to defeat.
With anti-Americanism playing such a prominent role in this past election campaign, it is no wonder that the United States was viewed in such a negative light.
salam
I live here in the US. while that doesnt make me a spokeperson or expert for/on america, i believe it gives me the little known things about the US. True the US government is displaying an attitude which many, perhaps including myself, can call devillish. Waging illegal and immoral Wars, Supporting Isrealiethnic cleansing on palestinians, encouraging civil strife for furthering their selfish goals. This is evil.
However, the compassionate spirit of the American people cannot be ignored. I mean this Country is the largest acceptor of refugees many whom are Muslims. The people of this nation fund many foundations which inturn allows many people to come and study here. The country that give the largest amount for aid in America, IE the american tax dollars. This nation allows 55000 people,annually, from poor countries to come and work.
In a nut shell, I believe there are 2 americas, the govt and the people. the govt is devillish the people are not.
I believe this topic is worth debating. I am at present having too little a time at my disposal.
Assalamu alaikum,
Mr. Bush Man and Mr. Tony Blunders..... deceived the World......... now
'Tony Blair conceded for the first time on Tuesday that weapons of mass destruction may never be found in Iraq, but continued to insist that Saddam Hussein had posed a grave threat.'
Quote from: "EMTL"Assalamu alaikum,
The Liberal government came into power in 1993 gushing anti-Americanism. Former Prime Minister Jean Chr?tien?s communications director, Francoise Ducros, made headlines when she referred to President Bush as a moron. Liberal MP Carolyn Parrish was picked up on a boom microphone saying, "Damn Americans ? I hate those bastards". Not only did Parrish not apologize for her remarks, but she later appeared on a television show hosted by alleged comedian Mike Bullard and laughed about the incident. Parrish played to the anti-Americanism of the youthful studio audience by saying that she couldn?t guarantee that she wouldn?t do it again.
EMTL, if you like bloody morons!!!!! I repeat, bloody morons, Indeed, bloody suckers!!!!
The biggest problem with America is the ignorance most Americans have of the rest of the world and the fact that they believe too easily what their Government tells them.
America's behaviour in Afghanistan and Iraq has been truly evil. The people of America have been persuaded by their President that what they have been doing is good and many accept this without thinking it out for themselves.
What ever happened to our friend of a few months ago, Jack Fulcher?
Assalamu alaikum,
US President George Bush has reportedly acknowledged for the first time that he has miscalculated post-war conditions in Iraq.
The New York Times quoted Bush as saying during a 30-minute interview that he made "a miscalculation of what the conditions would be" in post-war Iraq.
But he insisted that the 17-month-long battle against resistance forces was the unintended by-product of a "swift victory" against Saddam Hussein's military, the Times reported on Thursday.
Bush said his strategy had been "flexible enough" to respond.
"We're adjusting to our conditions" in places like Najaf, the paper quoted him as saying.
The Times said Bush deflected further inquiries as to what had gone wrong with the occupation.
US casualties
According to the Pentagon, 969 US troops have died in Iraq since the invasion, 828 of them since 30 April 2003. An additional 6,690 service members have been wounded, most of them during the occupation.
Nearly 1000 US troops have been
killed since the invasion
In an interview published on Friday in USA Today, Bush said that Americans would re-elect him to a second term even if they disagree with his decision to invade Iraq.
Bush said voters "know who I am and I believe they're comfortable with the fact that they know I'm not going to shift principles or shift positions based upon polls and focus groups."
Bush told USA Today that "the American people have seen me make the hardest of decisions. That's just going to have to be a part of their decision-making process."
Nuclear concerns
In the Times interview, the president also discussed the issue of North Korea and Iran's nuclear ambitions, saying that he would not be rushed to set deadlines.
The newspaper said "Bush displayed none of the alarm about North Korea's growing arsenal that he once voiced regularly about Iraq."
It quoted him as saying about the leaders of North Korea and Iran: "I don't think you give timelines to dictators." Bush told the Times he would continue diplomatic pressure.
"I'm confident that over time this will work - I certainly hope it does," the newspaper quoted Bush as saying of the diplomatic approach.
THE MOST TERRIBLE SITUATION IS WHEN THEY FINISHED THEIR TERRORIST ATTACK ON INNOCENT PEOPLE, THEY SAY IS WRONG COMPILATION OF SECRETS REPORTS! NO APOLOGY TO ANYONE, BECAUSE THEY ARE THE SUPER POWERS!
Report: No WMD stockpiles in Iraq
CIA: Saddam intended to make arms if sanctions ended
Thursday, October 7, 2004 Posted: 10:50 AM EDT (1450 GMT)
Charles Duelfer, head of the Iraq Survey Group, testifies Wednesday at a Senate Armed Services committee hearing. Says: Saddam Hussein did not possess stockpiles of illicit weapons at the time of the U.S. invasion in March 2003 and had not begun any program to produce them, a CIA report concludes.
The uS is not just knowing that Saddam did not have any WMDs they knew months (maybe years) before the war, all the reports are just political, we will soone be feed with an suggestion that Bush and Bliar went to war on the basis of the information from their intelligence agencies and as heads of their govt had to act based on those reports, now if the report are wrong then the agencies have a problem, and so it is not their fault. The war was unjust, wrong and has made the world a really unsafe place
there are too many answers to d question why we all think US ..just d name itself oozes evil..period!
Assalamu alaikum,
In the news.........BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Iraqi security forces, backed by U.S. Marines and troops, Tuesday launched a series of raids on seven mosques in Ramadi, the U.S. military said.
I am going to say only one word on this topic: PROPAGANDA!
Iraqis may sue US over invasion
Around 15,000 Iraqis have been killed since the 2003 invasion
A US report stating Saddam Hussein had no weapons of mass destruction after 1991 should pave the way for Iraqis to sue US-led forces for invading the country, an Iraqi politician has said.
Iyad al-Samarrai of the Iraqi Islamic Party said on Thursday that the report, drafted by the chief US weapons inspector in Iraq, Charles Duelfer, proves the war was "not legitimate".
"All the information available before the war showed that [president] Saddam Hussein had put an end to his [weapons] programme," he said.
"These weapons were used as a pretext by the US and British governments to invade Iraq."
He added: "We have the right to demand compensation and the withdrawal of the occupation forces."
Apology demanded
Suha Said, a member of the Iraqi interim parliament, said "now that the WMD file is closed, it's only natural that Washington should compensate the Iraqi people for all the damage inflicted since April 9, 2003".
"The United States should now pull their troops out of Iraq and present a formal apology to the Iraqi people," she added.
The US report found that Iraq's nuclear capability, far from being reconstituted as the US had insisted before the war, was "decaying rather than being preserved" and would have taken years to rebuild.
In the build-up to the March 2003 invasion, US President George Bush had called Iraq a "gathering threat". The leaked report on Wednesday said Iraq was actually a diminishing threat.
A British report by Lord Robin Butler released in July had already charged that Prime Minister Tony Blair had taken his country to war on "very thin" grounds.
Bush's credibility
Former UN weapons inspector in Iraq Hans Blix had also condemned the war, arguing that Saddam's Iraq was never proven to possess WMD.
The report reaches the same conclusion and explains that Iraq had given up its weapons programme after the 1991 Gulf War and had not revived it when the invasion was launched in March 2003.
"We have the right to demand compensation and the withdrawal of the occupation forces"
"This report adds nothing new," said Jassim Muhammad Salem, an editorialist for al-Mada daily.
"The invasion was not motivated by the weapons of mass
destruction. Even [US President George] Bush and [Defence Secretary Donald] Rumsfeld admitted they wanted to start implementing their plan for a Greater Middle East," he said.
He was referring to a plan touted by Bush's administration as a solution to reform and democratise the Middle East but has been perceived by many as an aggressive imperialist bid.
Interim parliament member Abbas al-Bayati said the new report could also undermine Bush's credibility and benefit his Democrat rival in the 2 November presidential elections.
AFP
The US Army is poised to continue its merciless attrocities of killing innocent Iraqis. The bombings of children and defenceless people in Falluja is an injustice. Allah Ya isa!!!!!!
Assalamu alaikum,
here is an interesting write-up for you....
Fallujah: Murder Made Respectable
Linda S. Heard, solitairemedia@yahoo.co.uk
Iraq is under martial law, complete with curfews and
press restrictions. A report in the prestigious Lancet
says 100,000 Iraqi civilians have been killed since
the start of the invasion. Unemployment is running at
70 percent, kidnappings and beheadings are rife, while
the breakdown in security has driven every
international aid agency out of the country.
But never mind, Fallujah — a town of 300,000 souls of
which many have already met their Maker — has finally
been pacified. That'll teach them to lay off foreign
mercenaries in future. Oops! I mean contractors, of
course. Congratulations USA!
Now that all is right with the world, some 200,000
exiled civilians can return home, provided they still
have one that is. A report in the Los Angeles Times
describes the city as "a tableau of destroyed
buildings, burned-out cars, battered mosques and piles
of rubble". No building was sacrosanct including
hospitals and clinics.
The fate of those who stayed behind because they have
nowhere else to go or did not want to abandon their
belongings and valuables is uncertain. Reports of
families burying their dead in gardens, eking out an
existence on flour or dates, bleeding to death without
medical assistance or becoming ill after drinking
contaminated water paint an ugly picture.
We have yet to discover how many newly minted orphans
there are, courtesy of the Marines, such as
five-year-old Aysha Saleem who lost her parents and
grandparents in one of the US military's "precision
strikes". Indeed, we may never know as the mouths of
reporters embedded with the troops open and close
according to military diktats.
We would never know how US soldiers are breaching the
Geneva Conventions but for a renegade video aired by
Australian ABC television. In it, a Marine shouts:
"I've just injured one. He's between two buildings".
One of his colleagues walks over to a tiny alleyway
separating two houses, climbs up onto a metal drum,
and fires his weapon in cold blood. "He's done," he
announces flippantly.
We may never learn whether his victim, exterminated
like a rat, was a hardcore foreign fighter, a local
insurgent or merely a male resident of Fallujah
prevented from leaving. Men aged between 15 and 55
were either rounded up or forced to fight to stay
alive. Members of the Scottish Black Watch regiment,
whose job they say is to patrol the "rat run",
confirmed the status of fleeing Iraqis as rodents.
In a further breach of the Geneva Conventions, US
troops prevented a Red Crescent convoy of emergency
aid from reaching the main Fallujah hospital, where
wounded residents have been forbidden from entering.
Yet even though the stench of human flesh pervades
their nostrils, one Marine held to the view: "We will
win the hearts and minds of Fallujah by ridding the
city of insurgents. We are doing this by patrolling
the streets and killing the enemy." Those who have
lost mothers, daughters, sons and brothers to his
bountiful nature will, no doubt, be grateful.
Another such enlightened soldier Lt. Col. Gareth
Brandl told the BBC: "The enemy has got a face. He's
called Satan. He lives in Fallujah". Others of his ilk
were holding evangelical ceremonies or dressing up as
gladiators for chariot races, using horses confiscated
from Iraqis, in the mold of the movie Ben Hur.
A third, a music lover, was quoted as saying: "Only
two songs send a shiver up my spine. The Marine hymn,
and that song by Toby Keith after 9-11 which says
'we're gonna kick you up the ass — that's the American
way." The majority of US soldiers in Iraq still
believe the lie that Saddam Hussein had links to Osama
Bin Laden and the attacks on America.
For the 48 percent of Americans who voted against the
Bush doctrine, this is not the American way. They
include a former Marine Staff Sergeant James Massey
from Waynesville, North Caroline, who told the WSW
website: "We're committing genocide in Iraq".
He describes his disillusionment thus: "We were like a
bunch of cowboys who rode into town shooting up the
place. I saw charred bodies in vehicles that were
clearly not military vehicles. I saw people dead on
the side of the road in civilian clothes." He recalls
how his trigger-happy compatriots mowed down 30
civilians at a checkpoint on a single day.
Iraq's Girl Blogger who pens Baghdad Burning is
similarly angry over Fallujah. She writes: "Iraqis
will never forgive this. Never! It's outrageous. It's
genocide and America — with the help and suppor t of
(Iyad) Allawi — is responsible."
The land of deprivation, death and degradation, which
Iraq has become due to US intervention, is there for
all to see but where is the outrage? Why aren't decent
people of every faith up in arms?
Author and philosopher George Orwell may have the
answer. "The nationalist not only does not disapprove
of atrocities committed by his own side, but he has a
remarkable capacity for not even hearing about them."
"Political language... is designed to make lies sound
truthful and murder respectable" goes another of
Orwell's remarkable insights.
But the politicians aren't the only ones to blame for
the horror masquerading as the spread of democracy.
Extremist religious leaders are just as culpable as is
a supine media, which despite its various mea culpas
over its failure to say it like it is, has once again
stifled truth.
Think about it. How can individuals, fighting for
their own freedom against a foreign power in the towns
and cities of their birth and protecting their wives
and children, possibly be "terrorists"?
And by the same token why should those rampaging
foreign armies whose members believe freedom extends
to being able to play video games be labeled
honorable? Such is the big lie, and one that is the
duty of all those who are able to cut through the
propaganda, to quash.
There is but one truth for the vast majority of
Iraqis. They want no more pretty promises, corrupt
plutocrats, superpower pawns or deviant torturers.
Amid a growing insurgency, most of all, they want the
invaders and their military hardware gone. Who of
sound mind and compassionate heart can possibly blame
them?
— Linda S. Heard is a specialist writer on Middle East
affairs. She welcomes comments
The American assault on Falluja is one of the most evil acts perpetrated in recent history. By all reasonable judgement it is a huge war crime. The American troops are behaving like homocidal savages.
I'm sure the people of Iraq will have their revenge and drive the Americans out of Iraq.
George Bush and Tony Blair should be indicted as war criminals.
Assalamu alaikum,
The US Marines are vandalising mosque and killing even the wounded and defenceless civilans.
WASHINGTON, 17 November 2004 — The US Defense Department is investigating the shooting of an apparently wounded and unarmed Iraqi prisoner by a Marine in a mosque in Fallujah, Iraq.
US, Iraqi Forces Raid Mosque in Baghdad
Naseer Al-Nahr • Arab News
BAGHDAD, 20 November 2004 — Iraqi forces, backed by US soldiers, stormed one of the main Sunni mosques in Baghdad after Friday prayers, opening fire and killing at least three people, witnesses said.
In the battle for control of Mosul, Iraqi forces raided several areas overnight, killing 15 insurgents, Iraqi and US military officials said.
At least 13 other insurgents were captured in Mosul, authorities said.
About 40 people were arrested at the Abu Hanifa Mosque in the capital's northwestern Azamiyah neighborhood, said the witnesses, who were members of the congregation. Another five people were wounded.
It appeared the raid at Abu Hanifa Mosque was part of the crackdown on Sunni clerics launched in parallel with military operations against the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah.
US troops were seen securing the mosque's outer perimeter and sealing it off. Some American soldiers also were seen inside the compound.
Witnesses heard explosions coming from inside the mosque, apparently from stun grenades. Inside the office of the imam, books, including a Qur'an, and a computer were found scattered on the floor, and the furniture was turned upside down.
At least 10 US armored vehicles were parked at the mosque, along with two vehicles carrying about 40 Iraqi National Guards, witnesses said.
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Every time I look at Iraq my heart grieves..what waste of life!
Assalamu alaikum,
Source: http://www.arabnews.com/page=7§ion=0&article=54943&d=23&m=11&y=2004
When Seeing Is Not Believing
Linda Heard, solitairemedia@yahoo.co.uk
CAIRO, 23 November 2004 — Unless you've spent the past week meditating on a mountaintop, you've watched the video everyone is talking about. It's the one where a US Marine walks into one of Fallujah's mosques and cold-bloodedly shoots a wounded, unarmed combatant in the head.
If the victim had been a dog or a horse, American indignation would have been palpable. But because the dead man is prejudged and demonized, he is automatically the bad guy, the wretched face of evil incarnate, while the US corporate media churns out a litany of psychobabble excuses for his trigger-happy killer.
Texas Democrat Sylvester Reyes blames the embedding of reporters for the public display of America's dirty laundry. "We should not be providing Al-Jazeera with the kind of propaganda they've had the last couple of days," he told the House Armed Services Committee. "We don't want to know everything that is happening on the field," he said in true "hear no evil, see no evil" style.
The bullyboy of Fox News Bill O'Reilly, far from holding the Marine accountable for his breach of the Geneva Conventions, targets the Qatar-based Arabic network.
Proud that his "Factor" was the only show, which purposefully refrained from showing photographs and videos of the abuses at Abu Ghraib, he blames Al-Jazeera for re-running the incriminating tape, claiming it foments hatred and endangers US troops.
O'Reilly, like America's newly anointed Attorney-General Alberto Gonzales, appears to consider those clauses of the Geneva Conventions, which govern the treatment of prisoners as "quaint". Translated, this applies only to non-Americans detained by the US and not the other way around.
If we cast our minds back to the invasion when five captured US soldiers were shown sipping tea on the now defunct Iraqi television, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld bitterly complained the relaying of pictures showing prisoners of war violated the Geneva Conventions.
His views were echoed at the time by that dour Lebanese-American fellow Gen. John Abizaid, who went for Al-Jazeera's jugular at a press conference for re-broadcasting, and more recently singled out the network as portraying the US "as purposely targeting civilians".
While few would thus accuse the US, some believe the Pentagon has shown a callous indifference toward what it terms "collateral damage" leaving it to others to tally up its deadly handiwork.
While civilian deaths and US military abuses are conveniently brushed aside by the Bush administration, and its mouthpiece Fox News, O'Reilly complains the tape showing the murder of Margaret Hassan was deliberately buried by Al-Jazeera. The network itself insists it was "too graphic to broadcast".
So here we have it. According to O'Reilly, videos of the US military threatening naked detainees with attack dogs should not be seen by the sensitive viewing public, but the graphic murder of a female charity worker is par for the course.
Naturally, religious right-wingers like O'Reilly would love that tape to be broadcast over and over again because it reinforces the perception of the bestial insurgent while bolstering the invaders' moral high ground. In this way, he hopes, sickened and disgusted, we would all leap on to the crusading Bush bandwagon to fight the good fight.
This is pure speculation on my part but Al— Jazeera's reluctance may stem from the brewing debate over "who killed Margaret Hassan?"
British journalist Robert Fisk cleverly highlights the strange circumstances surrounding Margaret's kidnapping in a recent article. He writes: "So, if anyone doubted the murderous nature of the insurgents, what better way to prove their viciousness than to produce evidence of Margaret Hassan's murder?" He concludes with the thought-provoking question: "Who gains from Margaret Hassan's death?
Certainly not the insurgency. Mrs. Hassan was married to an Iraqi, had dual British-Iraqi nationality, spoke fluent Arabic and was a convert to Islam. She had spent some 30 years caring for the Iraqi people and had been a vehement opponent of the US-led sanctions and invasion. So why was she taken in the first place? Even Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi's ruthless band of thugs urged her immediate release."
Every crime has a motive. In the case of Mrs. Hassan it is difficult to see what this could be from the point of view of the resistance.
When compared to previous militant tapes, the videos of Mrs. Hassan pleading for her life were unique. There were no banners, no armed, masked men in the background, no claims of responsibility, and, in a departure from the usual decapitation, Margaret was hooded and shot.
Muslims rarely kidnap and kill women. In the 1980s, there was a spate of hostage taking in Lebanon but women were generally off limits.
When the fanatical Taleban captured the British journalist Yvonne Ridley during the invasion of Afghanistan she was well treated until she was set free at the Pakistani border.
In Iraq, two female Italian aid workers were taken and subsequently released, as were female members of Interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's family and a woman with duel Polish-Iraqi citizenship. We may never know who killed Margaret Hassan but we do know who shot an injured man taking refuge in a place of worship. Both killings are reprehensible. Both killings are an affront to humanity. And both must be investigated and universally condemned.
A third contentious video showed Al-Zarqawi's Fallujah headquarters to which embedded journalists were taken on a guided tour.
So nice of the terrorist to put up an Al-Qaeda sign on the wall just in case his visitors were confused about where they were, and it was even nicer of him to leave behind computers bursting with intelligence goodies so that all his friends and associates can be traced. Shades of the Jessica Lynch show, courtesy of Pentagon Productions, or evidence that America's enemy No. 2 is deficient in gray matter? You decide.
— Linda S. Heard is a specialist writer on Middle East affairs. She welcomes feedback.
PROUD TO LET YOU KNOW THAT, THAT JOURNALIST YVONNE CAPTURED BY TALIBAN HAS CONVERTED TO ISLAM, SIMPLY IMPRESSED BY "HANDSOME YOUNG MEN, INTERROGATING ME WITHOUT EVEN LOOKING AT ME, ASKING ME ALL THE WHILE WETHER I WAS FINE AND NEEDED ANYTHING". THEIR FAITH!
SABILUNA? SABILUNA?
AL-JIHAD! AL-JIHAD!