Iraq's massive oil reserves, the third-largest in the world, are about to be thrown open for large-scale exploitation by Western oil companies under a controversial law which is expected to come before the Iraqi parliament within days.
The US government has been involved in drawing up the law, a draft of which has been seen by The Independent on Sunday.
It would give big oil companies such as BP, Shell and Exxon 30-year contracts to extract Iraqi crude and allow the first large-scale operation of foreign oil interests in the country since the industry was nationalized in 1972.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers part 2of2
Is the story of what happens to everyday Americans when corporations go to war.
Acclaimed director Robert Greenwald (Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price, Outfoxed and Uncovered) takes you inside the lives of soldiers, truck drivers, widows and children who have been changed forever as a result of profiteering in the reconstruction of Iraq. Iraq for Sale uncovers the connections between private corporations making a killing in Iraq and the decision makers who allow them to do so.
Brave New Films are both funded and distributed completely outside corporate America. Over 3000 people donated to make Iraq for Sale, and it is up to you to distribute it. Give copies to co-workers and organize a screening in your neighborhood. Get involved →
A small South Carolina parts supplier collected about $20.5 million over six years from the Pentagon for fraudulent shipping costs, including $998,798 for sending two 19-cent washers to a Texas base, U.S. officials said.
The company also billed and was paid $455,009 to ship three machine screws costing $1.31 each to Marines in Habbaniyah, Iraq, and $293,451 to ship an 89-cent split washer to Patrick Air Force Base in Cape Canaveral, Florida, Pentagon records show.
The owners of C&D Distributors in Lexington, South Carolina -- twin sisters -- exploited a flaw in an automated Defense Department purchasing system: bills for shipping to combat areas or U.S. bases that were labeled ``priority'' were usually paid automatically, said Cynthia Stroot, a Pentagon investigator.
The film is 75 minutes long.
Acclaimed director Robert Greenwald (Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price, Outfoxed and Uncovered) takes you inside the lives of soldiers, truck drivers, widows and children who have been changed forever as a result of profiteering in the reconstruction of Iraq. Iraq for Sale uncovers the connections between private corporations making a killing in Iraq and the decision makers who allow them to do so.
Brave New Films are both funded and distributed completely outside corporate America. Over 3000 people donated to make Iraq for Sale, and it is up to you to distribute it. Give copies to co-workers and organize a screening in your neighborhood. Get involved →
A small South Carolina parts supplier collected about $20.5 million over six years from the Pentagon for fraudulent shipping costs, including $998,798 for sending two 19-cent washers to a Texas base, U.S. officials said.
The company also billed and was paid $455,009 to ship three machine screws costing $1.31 each to Marines in Habbaniyah, Iraq, and $293,451 to ship an 89-cent split washer to Patrick Air Force Base in Cape Canaveral, Florida, Pentagon records show.
The owners of C&D Distributors in Lexington, South Carolina -- twin sisters -- exploited a flaw in an automated Defense Department purchasing system: bills for shipping to combat areas or U.S. bases that were labeled ``priority'' were usually paid automatically, said Cynthia Stroot, a Pentagon investigator.
The film is 75 minutes long.
Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers part 1of2
Is the story of what happens to everyday Americans when corporations go to war.
Acclaimed director Robert Greenwald (Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price, Outfoxed and Uncovered) takes you inside the lives of soldiers, truck drivers, widows and children who have been changed forever as a result of profiteering in the reconstruction of Iraq. Iraq for Sale uncovers the connections between private corporations making a killing in Iraq and the decision makers who allow them to do so.
Brave New Films are both funded and distributed completely outside corporate America. Over 3000 people donated to make Iraq for Sale, and it is up to you to distribute it. Give copies to co-workers and organize a screening in your neighborhood. Get involved →
A small South Carolina parts supplier collected about $20.5 million over six years from the Pentagon for fraudulent shipping costs, including $998,798 for sending two 19-cent washers to a Texas base, U.S. officials said.
The company also billed and was paid $455,009 to ship three machine screws costing $1.31 each to Marines in Habbaniyah, Iraq, and $293,451 to ship an 89-cent split washer to Patrick Air Force Base in Cape Canaveral, Florida, Pentagon records show.
The owners of C&D Distributors in Lexington, South Carolina -- twin sisters -- exploited a flaw in an automated Defense Department purchasing system: bills for shipping to combat areas or U.S. bases that were labeled ``priority'' were usually paid automatically, said Cynthia Stroot, a Pentagon investigator.
The film is 75 minutes long.
Acclaimed director Robert Greenwald (Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price, Outfoxed and Uncovered) takes you inside the lives of soldiers, truck drivers, widows and children who have been changed forever as a result of profiteering in the reconstruction of Iraq. Iraq for Sale uncovers the connections between private corporations making a killing in Iraq and the decision makers who allow them to do so.
Brave New Films are both funded and distributed completely outside corporate America. Over 3000 people donated to make Iraq for Sale, and it is up to you to distribute it. Give copies to co-workers and organize a screening in your neighborhood. Get involved →
A small South Carolina parts supplier collected about $20.5 million over six years from the Pentagon for fraudulent shipping costs, including $998,798 for sending two 19-cent washers to a Texas base, U.S. officials said.
The company also billed and was paid $455,009 to ship three machine screws costing $1.31 each to Marines in Habbaniyah, Iraq, and $293,451 to ship an 89-cent split washer to Patrick Air Force Base in Cape Canaveral, Florida, Pentagon records show.
The owners of C&D Distributors in Lexington, South Carolina -- twin sisters -- exploited a flaw in an automated Defense Department purchasing system: bills for shipping to combat areas or U.S. bases that were labeled ``priority'' were usually paid automatically, said Cynthia Stroot, a Pentagon investigator.
The film is 75 minutes long.
Monday, August 27, 2007
Buying the war:Part 1of3
Bill Moyers returns to PBS with a 90-minute special called “Buying the War,” and it features prominently the work of the Washington Bureau in the run-up to the Iraq war. Producing journalism that raised doubts about the war’s rationale, or about the country’s planning for it, was a lonely place to be in the months after 9/11. But that’s where the reporting of Knight Ridder’s Warren Strobel and Jonathan Landay, and bureau chief John Walcott, squarely took them.
The Moyers report provides a very interesting narrative about the signals missed by many reporters as they weighed pre-war evidence. Our colleagues Landay, Strobel and Walcott weren’t missing. Here’s Jonathan speaking on the show about a story in the New York Times, which cited an Iraqi Kurd’s assertion that Iraq had hidden chemical and biological weapons:
“There were some red flags that the New York Times story threw out immediately, which caught our eye immediately. The first was the idea that a Kurd, the enemy of Saddam, had been allowed into his most top-secret military facilities. I don’t think so. That was, for me, the biggest red flag. And there were others, like the idea that Saddam Hussein would put a biological weapons facility under his residence. I mean, would you put a biological weapons lab under your living room? I don’t think so.”
Are we proud of their work? Damned right. It came about through smart and dogged reporting but also because of a big ration of courage. It sure as heck looked like there was a right side and wrong side in the run-up to the war, and darned if it didn’t seem like Walcott, Strobel and Landay must be on the wrong side. They were not.
One of John Walcott’s favorite questions at news meetings is, “But is it true?” This show is a quite good reminder that we journalists, no matter how “slam-dunk” the assertion, must never fail to ask it.
The Moyers report provides a very interesting narrative about the signals missed by many reporters as they weighed pre-war evidence. Our colleagues Landay, Strobel and Walcott weren’t missing. Here’s Jonathan speaking on the show about a story in the New York Times, which cited an Iraqi Kurd’s assertion that Iraq had hidden chemical and biological weapons:
“There were some red flags that the New York Times story threw out immediately, which caught our eye immediately. The first was the idea that a Kurd, the enemy of Saddam, had been allowed into his most top-secret military facilities. I don’t think so. That was, for me, the biggest red flag. And there were others, like the idea that Saddam Hussein would put a biological weapons facility under his residence. I mean, would you put a biological weapons lab under your living room? I don’t think so.”
Are we proud of their work? Damned right. It came about through smart and dogged reporting but also because of a big ration of courage. It sure as heck looked like there was a right side and wrong side in the run-up to the war, and darned if it didn’t seem like Walcott, Strobel and Landay must be on the wrong side. They were not.
One of John Walcott’s favorite questions at news meetings is, “But is it true?” This show is a quite good reminder that we journalists, no matter how “slam-dunk” the assertion, must never fail to ask it.
Uncovered - The Whole Truth About the Iraq War
In his documentary feature, UNCOVERED: The War on Iraq, filmmaker Robert Greenwald chronicles the Bush Administration's determined quest to invade Iraq following the events of September 11, 2001. The film deconstructs the administration's case for war through interviews with U.S intelligence and defense officials, foreign service experts, and U.N. weapons inspectors -- including a former CIA director, a former ambassador to Saudi Arabia and even President Bush's Secretary of the Army. Their analyses and conclusions are sobering, and often disturbing, regardless of one's political affiliations.
Since this film was first released in November 2003 via thousands of house parties organized by MoveOn.org, the issues addressed have become well known, and the arguments made by the experts in the film have been proven. Most recently, by the Downing Street Memos.
This is an important film documenting exactly how the Bush administration hoodwinked the American people into supporting an unnecessary war. A war that has claimed tens of thousands of lives, and continues today.
Since this film was first released in November 2003 via thousands of house parties organized by MoveOn.org, the issues addressed have become well known, and the arguments made by the experts in the film have been proven. Most recently, by the Downing Street Memos.
This is an important film documenting exactly how the Bush administration hoodwinked the American people into supporting an unnecessary war. A war that has claimed tens of thousands of lives, and continues today.
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Inside story:Darfur Crisis
Millions of people have fled their homes since the conflict in the Darfur region in western Sudan began in 2003.
The United Nations estimates that 2.1 million people are internally displaced, many of them living in one of 130 officials camps across region.
The United Nations estimates that 2.1 million people are internally displaced, many of them living in one of 130 officials camps across region.
Friday, August 24, 2007
Iran's Nuclear Secrets part 1of3
As Iran defies the world by restarting its nuclear program, Paul Kenyon travels to the Islamic Republic with UN nuclear inspectors, and gains exclusive behind-the-scene access to the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Iranian negotiators talk candidly about why they deceived the world over their nuclear program for 18 years.
The diplomatic to-ing and fro-ing covered in the program was filmed in the first six months of this year.
But it takes on a new complexion now we know that Iran later abandoned the diplomacy and chose to start enriching uranium again.
First shown in May of 2005, the program has been updated with the latest events.
Iranian negotiators talk candidly about why they deceived the world over their nuclear program for 18 years.
The diplomatic to-ing and fro-ing covered in the program was filmed in the first six months of this year.
But it takes on a new complexion now we know that Iran later abandoned the diplomacy and chose to start enriching uranium again.
First shown in May of 2005, the program has been updated with the latest events.
North Korea:Children of the secret state part 1
Children of the
Secret State
Children of the Secret State' is an investigation into North Korea, considered by many as the last Stalinist dictatorship, a hidden and sealed country riddled with propaganda and saturated with hostility to democracy and the West.
Joe Layburn and the Hardcash team discovered a young North Korean, known by the pseudonym 'Ahn Chol', who has been filiming undercover so that the world can see what is going on in his native land: the country where his parents both starved to death.
His devastating footage shows some of the estimated 200,000 street children, mainly orphans, foraging for food in the mud and the gutters, ignored by the adults around them and ignored by the state which claims they are at its bosom.
Joe embarks on a state-run tourist visit of North Korea, revealing vast unoccupied hotels, empty boulevards and countless monuments of Kim Jong II, the county's leader.
Secret State
Children of the Secret State' is an investigation into North Korea, considered by many as the last Stalinist dictatorship, a hidden and sealed country riddled with propaganda and saturated with hostility to democracy and the West.
Joe Layburn and the Hardcash team discovered a young North Korean, known by the pseudonym 'Ahn Chol', who has been filiming undercover so that the world can see what is going on in his native land: the country where his parents both starved to death.
His devastating footage shows some of the estimated 200,000 street children, mainly orphans, foraging for food in the mud and the gutters, ignored by the adults around them and ignored by the state which claims they are at its bosom.
Joe embarks on a state-run tourist visit of North Korea, revealing vast unoccupied hotels, empty boulevards and countless monuments of Kim Jong II, the county's leader.
Seoul train:North Korean refugees part 1
"With its riveting footage of a secretive underground railroad, SEOUL TRAIN is a riveting documentary about the life and death of North Koreans as they try to escape their homeland. SEOUL TRAIN is the definitive exposé into this growing and potentially explosive humanitarian crisis. It portrays not only the human toll, but also the complex geopolitics of a crisis that threatens to undermine the stability of East Asian peace. SEOUL TRAIN will have its television premiere on PBS' Independent Lens, hosted by Edie Falco.
By combining vérité footage, personal stories, and interviews with experts and government officials, SEOUL TRAIN depicts the flouting of international laws by major countries, the inaction and bureaucracy of the United Nations, and the heroics of activists who put themselves in harm's way to save the refugees. Today, there are an estimated 250,000 North Korean refugees living underground in China. They escaped a food crisis and other persecutions at home that have claimed the lives of approximately 3 million in the past 10 years. As the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) stands idly by, the Chinese government-in direct violation of international laws to which it's a party-systematically arrests and forcibly repatriates hundreds of these refugees each month.
Defecting from North Korea is a capital offense, and repatriated refugees face human rights abuses ranging from concentration camps and torture to forced abortion and summary executions. For a lucky few refugees, however, there is hope. A group of multinational activists has taken it upon themselves to create an underground railroad. Via a network of safe houses and escape routes, the activists-at great personal risk-help the refugees in daring escapes to freedom over thousands of miles of Chinese territory. This is an odyssey in which betrayal and deceit lurk around every corner, and the price of getting caught likely means death. It's an epic tale involving years on the lam living in underground shelters, North Korean and Chinese agents, double-crosses, covert border crossings, and the terror of what happens if they get caught
By combining vérité footage, personal stories, and interviews with experts and government officials, SEOUL TRAIN depicts the flouting of international laws by major countries, the inaction and bureaucracy of the United Nations, and the heroics of activists who put themselves in harm's way to save the refugees. Today, there are an estimated 250,000 North Korean refugees living underground in China. They escaped a food crisis and other persecutions at home that have claimed the lives of approximately 3 million in the past 10 years. As the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) stands idly by, the Chinese government-in direct violation of international laws to which it's a party-systematically arrests and forcibly repatriates hundreds of these refugees each month.
Defecting from North Korea is a capital offense, and repatriated refugees face human rights abuses ranging from concentration camps and torture to forced abortion and summary executions. For a lucky few refugees, however, there is hope. A group of multinational activists has taken it upon themselves to create an underground railroad. Via a network of safe houses and escape routes, the activists-at great personal risk-help the refugees in daring escapes to freedom over thousands of miles of Chinese territory. This is an odyssey in which betrayal and deceit lurk around every corner, and the price of getting caught likely means death. It's an epic tale involving years on the lam living in underground shelters, North Korean and Chinese agents, double-crosses, covert border crossings, and the terror of what happens if they get caught
Occupation 101:Israel-Palestine Conflict Pt. 1
"A thought-provoking and powerful documentary film on the current and historical root causes of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Unlike any other film ever produced on the conflict -- 'Occupation 101' presents a comprehensive analysis of the facts and hidden truths surrounding the never ending controversy and dispels many of its long-perceived myths and misconceptions.
The film also details life under Israeli military rule, the role of the United States in the conflict, and the major obstacles that stand in the way of a lasting and viable peace. The roots of the conflict are explained through first-hand on-the-ground experiences from leading Middle East scholars, peace activists, journalists, religious leaders and humanitarian workers whose voices have too often been suppressed in American media outlets.
The film covers a wide range of topics -- which include -- the first wave of Jewish immigration from Europe in the 1880's, the 1920 tensions, the 1948 war, the 1967 war, the first Intifada of 1987, the Oslo Peace Process, Settlement expansion, the role of the United States Government, the second Intifada of 2000, the separation barrier and the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, as well as many heart wrenching testimonials from victims of this tragedy."
SUPPORT THE MAKERS OF THIS OUTSTANDING DOCUMENTARY, GET THE DVD: http://www.occupation101.com/purchase.html
The film also details life under Israeli military rule, the role of the United States in the conflict, and the major obstacles that stand in the way of a lasting and viable peace. The roots of the conflict are explained through first-hand on-the-ground experiences from leading Middle East scholars, peace activists, journalists, religious leaders and humanitarian workers whose voices have too often been suppressed in American media outlets.
The film covers a wide range of topics -- which include -- the first wave of Jewish immigration from Europe in the 1880's, the 1920 tensions, the 1948 war, the 1967 war, the first Intifada of 1987, the Oslo Peace Process, Settlement expansion, the role of the United States Government, the second Intifada of 2000, the separation barrier and the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, as well as many heart wrenching testimonials from victims of this tragedy."
SUPPORT THE MAKERS OF THIS OUTSTANDING DOCUMENTARY, GET THE DVD: http://www.occupation101.com/purchase.html
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