COLONIALISM and IMPERIALISM

A court hearing is underway to determine the sentence for Don Michael Ayala, the U.S. mercenary who was employed by the Human Terrain System, the program that also hired the army reservist and anthropologist, Paula Loyd, set on fire by Abdul Salam in Chehel Gazi, Kandahar Province, Afghanistan on 04 November 2008, and dying from her wounds on 07 January 2009. Ayala has pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of “voluntary manslaughter” for having executed Salam (see here, and here). Don Ayala...Read Full Story

Is it a surprise any more, that Paula Loyd should be resurrected for one more promotional tour for the U.S. Army’s Human Terrain System? I am referring here specifically to the piece by Amy Yee, in the June 2009 issue of The Progressive, conveniently titled “A Friend Falls in Afghanistan” (thanks to a commentator on the previous related post for the notice). It is important to analyze these articles, especially now that we are seeing the propaganda go through some fine tuning, little...Read Full Story

REVISED & UPDATED (Sat. 09 May 2009) Is there any surprise to how American “justice” works when it comes to American war criminals? Have there not been enough minor sentences, and enough kangaroo courts of foreign detainees, to establish this fact? Following John Stanton, who was present for the sentencing of Ayala at the Eastern District Court division in Alexandria, Virginia (I am grateful for the notices he sent by email), the Associated Press and Wired reported that Don Michael Ayala, is...Read Full Story

An Appropriate Introduction — Noam Chomsky, “Exterminate all the brutes”: Gaza 2009 On Saturday December 27, the latest US-Israeli attack on helpless Palestinians was launched. The attack had been meticulously planned, for over 6 months according to the Israeli press. The planning had two components: military and propaganda. It was based on the lessons of Israel’s 2006 invasion of Lebanon, which was considered to be poorly planned and badly advertised. We may, therefore, be fairly confident...Read Full Story

The top 10 posts for April 2009 and the pattern of visits in many ways continued what was observed for March 2009, concerning in some cases stories that will of course continue to be relevant. The top post overall was “Sex Beats Money, Hitler Beats Gandhi: More Google Insights” (11 April), with 960 views. The second most visited post concerned Ward Churchill’s court victory, “The Verdict is in: WARD CHURCHILL WINS!” (02 April), with 690 views. The third most viewed post, and one of my...Read Full Story