Hillary Clinton campaign links to Colombian regime

Posted on April 4, 2008 by petrel41

This video from the USA is called Dan Kovalik – Assassination of Trade Unionists [in Colombia].

From the blog of David Sirota in the USA:

Ten months ago, I posed a very simple question right on this site: Can the Clinton machine deliver another NAFTA? I noted at the time that an army of former Clinton administration officials had been put on the Colombian government payroll to push a NAFTA-style free trade deal. These people — many waiting to get back into government should Hillary Clinton win — are making up to $100,000 a month from a murderous right-wing regime that is one of the worst human rights violators in the Western Hemisphere. Now, today, we see how high up the Clinton machine this corruption really goes.

Update 7 March: Clinton strategy chief resigns in free trade row: here. Mark Penn finally fired: here.

Striking construction workers arrested in United Arab Emirates

Posted on April 4, 2008 by petrel41

This video is called UAE Construction Workers – Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Middle East.

By Bill Van Auken:

United Arab Emirates: Over 600 construction workers arrested after protest

4 April 2008

Authorities in the United Arab Emirates arrested 625 South Asian construction workers Wednesday after they and others downed tools at their job site, blockaded streets with construction materials and fought a running battle with riot police.

Some 800 workers participated in the protest. They fought back against the police, throwing stones, bricks and other building materials. At least 15 of them, as well as several police, were injured and taken to local hospitals.

The clashes erupted in the al-Nahda district of Sharjah, the third largest of the seven semiautonomous states that make up emirates, which is adjacent to Dubai. Police were called in from Dubai and other parts of the emirates to suppress the Indian, Pakistani, Bengali and Afghani contract laborers who joined the protest.

Bush claims right to torture

Posted on April 4, 2008 by petrel41

This video is called Bush: Torture is Good for USA.

By Joe Kay:

2003 Justice Department memo justifies torture, presidential dictatorship

4 April 2008

On Tuesday, the Defense Department released a 2003 memo asserting the right of the US president to order the military to torture prisoners.

The memo is signed by then-Deputy Assistant Attorney General John Yoo and is dated March 14, 2003, one week before the launch of the Iraq war. It is the latest memo to be released that argues for virtually unrestrained executive powers as part of the president’s “Commander-in-Chief” authority.

The memo should serve as a sharp warning about the type of barbaric methods the US government is employing and will continue to employ to suppress all international and domestic opposition.

The timing of the memo indicates that it was intended at least in part to provide a justification for the future torture of prisoners captured during the Iraq war.