How the Irish Can Save Civilization (Again)

By BRIAN M. CARNEY - WSJ SEPTEMBER 10, 2009

In three weeks' time, Ireland will, for a moment, hold the fate of Europe in its hands. Through a quirk of Irish constitutional procedure, on Oct. 2 the Republic of Ireland will be the only European Union nation to hold a referendum on a treaty to revamp how the EU, home to half a billion people, does business. The Lisbon Treaty, therefore, will stand or fall on the votes of perhaps one and a half million Irishmen and women.

From the perspective of Brussels, this is grossly unfair—a miscarriage of democracy masquerading as democracy. The Irish have stymied the denizens of Brussels' European Quarter before, most recently the first time they voted against the Lisbon Treaty last year.

Back then, the establishment in Brussels blamed one man above all for the defeat. His name is Declan Ganley. He was one of the driving forces behind the No campaign the last time around, and he's back to do it again. Your correspondent recently sat down with him to find out what he's fighting for in trying to see to it that Ireland once again votes No to Lisbon—and in the process, he hopes, forces the EU to choose a different path.

***Read all at: Source

More: Ireland’s 100 Reasons to Vote ‘No’ to the Lisbon Treaty

irish government propaganda posters above

1. The European Union has already created massive pockets of unemployment, with countries such as Spain – who have ratified Lisbon – suffering with unemployment rates of 18%. Why should Ireland sign up to a failing European Union?

2. About 450,000 people are unemployed, crushed by cuts, taxes, mortgage payments, on top of public bank-bail-outs and yet, the politicians who brought this upon Ireland are also asking for trust over the Lisbon treaty.

3. MEPs claim up to €1,000,000 in expenses each term, while massive job losses continue on an everyday basis.

4. Ireland remains a full member of the EU without the Lisbon treaty, and is in fact economically and politically better off without the treaty.

5. If Ireland votes No, she will continue to have access to Europe’s single market – the Lisbon treaty is concerned more with intensifying European government, using a constitutional document, which will crush trade, jobs and industry in Ireland .

6. Foreign investment has actually increased since Ireland voted No last year.

7. Under the Lisbon treaty, the EU can levy taxes on Ireland for the first time.

8. 150,000 Irish jobs, at least, are under threat through direct employment in multinational companies. Since Lisbon will interfere in taxation and the low corporate tax rate, those multinationals will simply leave for lands with lower corporate tax rates.

9. Lisbon will not aid the recession – to the contrary, it will make it worse.

10. The Lisbon treaty allows big business to import cheap labour and undercut Irish workers, in much the same way as it has done in labour disputes in the UK and the Nordic countries.

See the other 90 reasons to vote NO here...

Guess what? US has already lost badly its war in Afghanistan

Here is the result of 8 years of savage war and occupation. Now do you expect a different result from more years of the same?:

'Taliban hold sway over in 97% of Afghanistan' 11 Sep 2009
A policy research group says the Taliban have a significant presence in almost every corner of Afghanistan, eight years after their overthrow by US-led forces. A security map by the London-based International Council on Security and Development (ICOS) showed a deepening security crisis with substantial Taliban activity in at least 97 percent of the war-ravaged country.

More: Eight years after 9/11 Taliban now have a permanent presence in 80% of Afghanistan
ICOS - International Council on Security and Development

Afghan Resistance Statement
The Afghan Historical Background and the Impetuous Outburst of the British Ambassador
Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan - September 11, 2009 -

In recent months, Mujahideen have dealt a crushing blow at American and British forces in all parts of our country. As a result, hundreds of invading soldiers have lost their lives. The graph of military capability and war tactics of the invaders has lost its splendor and credibility in the eyes of the public of their countries. Still, they have recently resorted to image-boosting propaganda and assertions in order to manipulate the views of the public of the world in their favor and make up for the setbacks they have faced in the field. In this context, we can refer to the assertions of the British Ambassador in Kabul who says that the British soldiers will remain in Afghanistan for one generation. The best and reasonable retort to the outburst of the British Ambassador would be no more than that he should go through the history and the historical background of the Afghans once again. Any invading power which has made aggression against this land, has faced ultimate defeat... Read all: http://www.uruknet.de/?p=57831

Undercounting deaths in Iraq, Afghanistan
Bernd Debusmann - Reuters September 10, 2009

WASHINGTON: By most counts, the death toll of U.S. soldiers in America's wars in Iraq and Afghanistan stood at 5,157 in the second week of September. Add at least 1,360 private contractors working for the U.S. and the number tops 6,500.

Contractor deaths and injuries (around 30,000 so far) are rarely reported but they highlight the United States' steadily growing dependence on private enterprise.

It's a dependence some say has slid into incurable addiction. Contractor ranks in Iraq and Afghanistan have swollen to just under a quarter million. They outnumber U.S. troops in Afghanistan and they almost match uniformed soldiers in Iraq. ... Read all


Death and Dying in the Age of No Change's Non War
It's Time to be Impolite About Afghanistan
By RON JACOBS - September 11, 2009 -

In Germany, Chancellor Merkel defends a murderous attack on civilians siphoning fuel from two stuck oil tankers, telling her countrymen that the war in Afghanistan is not really a war at all. In Washington, Bush administration holdover Robert Gates (whose role in carrying on the mission of the Empire is clearer by the day) tells the press that Washington will not "abandon" Afghanistan or Pakistan. In the White House, the current set of deciders discusses how many more troops to send into the mountains and plains of Afghanistan to fight an enemy in Chancellor Merkel's non-war while they add private mercenaries working for the dollar in their other zone of occupation, Iraq. The occupying soldiers have suffered more casualties in the Afghan non-war this past year than ever before. Yet, the big fool says to push on. The phrase from Tacitus comes to mind with only a slight modification. "They make desolation," he wrote. "and call it peace." In Afghanistan, they make desolation and call it freedom... Read all: http://www.uruknet.de/?p=57836