Swat Taliban want Imran Khan to be their mediator

No talks with Taliban now: Fazl

Swat Taliban want Imran Khan to be their mediator

By our correspondent

LAHORE: Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman has said negotiations with the Taliban leadership were possible in the past but there was no appropriate time or circumstances for such an exercise now. He was talking to the media after his meeting with Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif at Raiwind on Friday.

Fazlur Rehman said the process of preparing a constitutional package for repealing the 17th Amendment was in the final stages. He stressed upon strengthening parliament and implementing its resolutions in letter and spirit.

Thye overall political situation of the country, matters of mutual interest and other national affairs were discussed during the meeting. Referring to his meeting with the chief minister Punjab, Fazl said it was a routine interaction aimed at creating harmony between the political parties. He said such meetings should continue as harmony among the political forces was necessary to save the system. He stressed upon forming a permanent set-up for accountability in the country. He said that the NRO was not an issue of his party as no JUI-F member took benefit of the controversial ordinance.

Referring to the statement of Prime Minister Gilani over the apex court’s verdict on the NRO, he expressed the hope that the government would implement the court’s decision. He said the decision of starting the military operation in Fata was taken by the GHQ and not by parliament. He claimed that he had some concrete proposals for ending terrorism in the country but no one had responded positively.

Our Peshawar correspondent adds: The Swat Taliban have announced their willingness to accept the Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan as a mediator for ending the conflict in Swat and the rest of the Malakand Division and bringing durable peace in the area.

A message of the Taliban Shura in Swat was conveyed in an audiocassette delivered to The News in Peshawar. It contained a statement in Pashto by a Swat Taliban military commander, who identified himself as Nooruddin Muhammad alias Abu Akash. He said he was the head of the military wing of the militants in Swat.

Praising Imran Khan as a true patriot, sincere Pakistani, good human-being and pro-Muslim politician, Taliban Commander Nooruddin Muhammad said they had trust in him as an intermediary.

“Unlike other politicians, Imran hasn’t sold out his soul. His Qibla is still the holy Ka’aba,” he remarked. He said the Taliban had never closed the door of talks with the government to resolve all outstanding issues. “We are Pakistanis and we don’t want to harm our country. Our objection is to the government’s policy of toeing the US line and fighting its own people at the behest of America,” he argued.

The Taliban commander maintained that the militants only attacked security forces and law-enforcement agencies in retaliation after their homes were bombed and their families were wiped out. He alleged that the CIA, RAW and Pakistan’s pro-US rulers were involved in acts of terrorism in public places and bazaars. Hinting at the PPP and the ANP, he charged that two ruling political parties in Pakistan were pursuing the US agenda.

“They should learn a lesson from the fate of Musharraf who too followed the American agenda. Unfortunately, Pakistan is ruled by politicians who live in Washington and London before coming to power and go back to these places after losing power,” Nooruddin Muhammad said in his audio message. He said that the Swat Taliban head Maulana Fazlullah was safe and presently in a secure place.

Car-Bomb Strikes Shia Procession In Karachi

19 injured in Karachi car blast

KARACHI: At least 19 people have been wounded in a car blast at Khilafat Chowk in Paposh Nagar Karachi.

SSP Javed Baloch confirmed that it was a car blast, which went off when a Muharram procession was passing through Paposh Nagar.

The injured have been shifted to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital for emergency care.

Police and rangers reached the blast site where rescue services have kick started.

MS Abbasi Shaheed Hospital said that 19 injured, including rangers personnel, women and children, have been brought to the facility.

What did the Americans cook for China in mysterious Copenhagen meeting?

What did the Americans cook for China in mysterious

Copenhagen meeting?

Chinese Premier Plays Key Role In Evolving Consensus For Global Climate Moot Success

http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/2003/12.11/photos/10-wenmain-450.jpg

By MAKHDOOM BABAR

Editor-in-Chief, The Daily Mail of Pakistan

Saturday, 26 December 2009.

WWW.AHMEDQURAISHI.COM

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan—While the Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao was making all out sincere efforts to come up with a strategy to resolve the global climate crisis at the historical World Summit over the issue at Denmark’s capital city of Copenhagen and When China finally emerged as the key State  in the last-minute attempt to exchange ideas to reach consensus in an otherwise failed moot, the Americans were busy in organizing a mysterious meeting of  certain countries but they deliberately avoided to invite the Chinese Premier to this meeting, reveal the findings of The Daily Mail.

The Daily Mail’s findings, confirmed by Chinese official News Agency Xinhua’s report over the issue, indicate that officially the Americans, the conveners of the said meeting, being held on the sidelines of Copenhagen Summit, had placed the name of China amongst the participants of the said mystifying meeting, yet, putting aside all norms, practices and protocol, the Chinese delegation or the staff of the Chinese Premier were not either formally or informally invited nor were they informed about the  meeting and the Chinese Premier came to know about this meeting from some other foreign leader, participating the main conference.  The Daily Mail’s findings reveal that as a result of this meeting, the next day’s proceedings of the Summit began with a mysterious delay of about one and a half hour while the Chinese Premier was supposed to be the opening speaker of the day’s proceedings.  The Daily Mail’s investigations also indicate that it was only after the mysterious meeting convened by the Americans that certain states made baseless criticism on China during Climate Change moot. The Daily Mail has launched comprehensive investigations into the matter and will soon reveal what actually happened in the said mysterious meeting.

Xinhua adds. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao left Beijing for the climate summit in Copenhagen, Denmark on Dec. 16, when pessimism and disappointment were simmering among negotiators, who, after about 10 days’ bargaining, found a bridge to span their rift seemed a mission impossible.

“It will be a tough task. Now I can feel how heavy my duty is to attend the meeting on behalf of the Chinese government,” Wen told reporters aboard his plane en route to Copenhagen.

Nevertheless, Wen said he was confident that the talks would bear fruit. “As so many world leaders are gathered there, I believe there should come some achievements,” he said. “No matter what the result is, China’s action plan will not change, its voluntary reduction target will always be non-negotiable, and its determination in hitting the target will never waver.”

Premier Wen’s schedule on Dec. 17 was almost fully occupied by meetings with world leaders.

During the meeting with Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen, Wen suggested that in order to achieve an outcome for the conference, all parties should stick to the consensus they had reached while leaving differences for future negotiations. “Now it seems to be the only way out. If we can reach a resolution of such a kind, it could well be an achievement of the talks,” Wen said.

In his talks with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who expressed that a fruitless conference would be unacceptable, Wen proposed to formulate a political document that may reflect the consensus of different parties.

“It is unrealistic to hope to fill in the gap between nearly 200 countries in less than two days. China and the people of the world all wish for the success of the meeting, and the current priority is to crystalize a consensus,” Wen said.

He told the UN chief it was important to fix on the political aspiration to deliver confidence and hope to the world.

The drafting of the final document must be transparent while concerns of different parties, especially developing countries, must be taken into consideration, Wen stressed.

Wen’s talks with Ban were followed by the meeting with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. They agreed that the two major developing countries must firmly stand with other developing countries to safeguard their common interests.

The Chinese Premier’s meeting with representatives of island countries and underdeveloped nations lasted for over two hours, the longest during his stay in Copenhagen.

Wen said although China had always urged developed nations to fulfill their funding commitments, China would not vie for even a cent with other developing countries if such a fund were available.

In addition, China would continue to assist those countries to cope with climate change, Wen told President of the Maldives Mohammed Nasheed, Prime Minister of Grenada Tillman Thomas, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, and Sudanese Presidential Assistant Nafie Ali Nafie.

Wen’s whirlwind negotiations that afternoon involved British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama.

The three industrialized countries, though ambitious in leading international cooperation on climate change issues, lacked understanding of developing countries and had therefore raised some unrealistic and unfair requests.

Once again, Wen urged all parties to stop pointing fingers at each other or bargaining at the critical moment of the talks. He said China’s commitment on mitigation actions is “unconditional and non-negotiable.” It was not conditioned on or linked with commitments by any other country, Wen said.

On the transparency issue in self mitigation actions, Wen said China was willing to conduct talks and cooperation.

He stressed that developing countries’ major tasks in eradicating poverty and developing economy should not compromise the environment. But their development also required the developed world’s understanding and support, both financially and in technology.

After the meetings, Wen immediately instructed Vice Foreign Minister He Yafei to hold a press conference to brief the world media on the talks, a move to fulfill his commitment to transparency.

At a banquet hosted by Danish Queen Margrethe II on Dec. 17 evening, Premier Wen was told that the United States would hold a small-scope meeting between several countries’ leaders after the dinner.

During his talk with a foreign leader, Premier Wen learnt China was on the list of the meeting’s participating countries while he himself was not invited and neither did the Chinese delegation receive a notice for the mysterious meeting.

Why was the Chinese delegation not informed? Premier Wen felt quite astonished and was vigilant after he confirmed the meeting with other foreign leaders.

During the conference, similar situations occurred when some countries proposed a draft resolution through clandestine negotiations, which went against the principle of openness and transparency and triggered strong discontent.

Premier Wen took the incident seriously and came back to his hotel immediately to call an emergency meeting to study countermeasures for the situation.

On behalf of the Chinese delegation, Vice Foreign Minister He Yafei came to the meeting and expressed strong dissatisfaction to the convocator’s ulterior motive for not informing China.

He said that the meeting should be transparent and no participants should impose their will on others. Any scheme in darkness would probably lead to a fruitless summit.

On the second morning of his stay in Copenhagen, hours before the final summit segment of the U.N climate change conference, at 9:45 a.m., Chinese Premier arrived at the main venue of the conference, 15 minutes earlier than the scheduled opening.

However, neither the host Danish Prime Minister Rasmussen nor the U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was present even at 10 a.m. This situation made the People guessing as to what was the matter, but no one came to explain the reason for the delay.

At this particular juncture of time, Premier Wen made a prompt decision to propose a meeting of the BASIC countries. The leaders just sat around a tea table in the hall and began exchanging views. It was until 11:30 that Rasmussen announced the opening of the summit.

Premier Wen was the first to deliver a speech, titled “Build Consensus and Strengthen Cooperation to Advance the Historical Process of Combating Climate Change.”

In the speech with 2,000-odd Chinese characters, Wen made it clear that what China thought, did and would do to cope with climate change. At the end of his speech, Wen made a serious promise.  “It is with a sense of responsibility to the Chinese people and the whole mankind that the Chinese government has set the target for mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. This is a voluntary action China has taken in the light of its national circumstances. We have not attached any condition to the target, nor have we linked it to the target of any other country,” Wen said.

“We will honor our word with real action. Whatever outcome this conference may produce, we will be fully committed to achieving and even exceeding the target.”

Premier Wen’s speech won long-time applause at the conference venue. Some foreign leaders congratulated Wen on his speech with handshaking.

After U.S. President Barack Obama’s speech, Premier Wen held talks with him in a meeting room just behind the summit venue. The two leaders agreed that the participating countries of the conference should achieve a political resolution as soon as possible and continue cooperation on climate change.

As soon as the talks ended, Wen asked members of the Chinese delegation to inform the Group of 77 and other BASIC countries of the Sino-American talks, aiming to speed up negotiations between developing and developed countries

Developing and developed countries discussed the final document, but failed to make any progress as a result of divergence of views, even when the Copenhagen climate change conference was scheduled to conclude hours earlier.

Some countries were drafting announcement of the conference’s possible failure, and certain foreign leaders even made irresponsible criticism against China.

At the Bella Center, the venue of the conference, journalists started to pack luggage. People around the world were wondering how and when the Danish government would declare failure of the largest and highest level climate change conference ever in human history.

It was Premier Wen who played a key role in the last-minute attempt to exchange ideas and reach consensus.

Wen believed that it was impossible to reach a legally binding agreement at that time, while no country was willing to be responsible for the failure if the conference yielded no result in the end.

“As long as there is hope of one percent, we should not give up and must instead make 100 percent of effort,” he told the Chinese delegation.

Wen decided to meet other leaders of the BASIC countries again and make a final attempt.

At the same time, President Obama said he wanted to have a second meeting with Premier Wen. Wen agreed to meet him after the BASIC meeting ended.

The BASIC countries leaders agreed that the Copenhagen conference might fail and all-out efforts should be made to help achieve some results.

They agreed to reach consensus on key issues first and then negotiate with the United States and European countries on the basis of safeguarding interests for the developing countries and with the highest degree of flexibility.

Wen urged to keep contact and enhance cooperation with African countries, the Group of 77 and small island states.

At 6:50 p.m., when the BASIC leaders were reviewing their final common position, President Obama showed up, which was a bit of surprise for those in the room although the scheduled time for the Sino-American meeting was over.

Obama stopped with one foot outside the gate and asked Premier Wen with smiles if he should wait outside or join the discussion.

Premier Wen stood up and politely invited Obama to join them. Obama accepted and walked around the room to shake hands with all the people present, before taking a seat to the left of Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and opposite to Wen.

The BASIC leaders knew very well the U.S. stance since they all met respectively before.

Premier Wen said efforts should be made to adopt a resolution in order to affirm the achievements of the meeting and build consensus. He then made clear the position of BASIC countries on several key issues.

Obama briefed the leaders of BASIC countries about the latest U.S. stance, saying both sides were very close on the wording of these issues, before the leaders of the five nations started the negotiations.

While the leaders were discussing, journalists were anxiously waiting outside. Some of them even took photos through the window.

Applause were heard before long as the BASIC countries finally reached agreement with the United States on the wording of some key issues. The United States said it was willing to consult with the European Union.

The BASIC countries discussed with some other countries while the U.S.-Europe talks went on. A few more countries reviewed the draft later.

An hour later, news came that the parties concerned agreed on the draft and were ready to submit it for a voting at the conference. It was already nine hours after the scheduled conclusion of the conference.

The achievement was a result of joint efforts by all the participating countries other than out of the will of one or two countries.

Copenhagen witnessed what a role China played in this complicated and tough process.

There have been different interpretations on the outcome over the past few days, but people have to recognize that international cooperation to cope with climate change has moved a step ahead on the right direction, through the joint efforts of the international community. It delivered hope and confidence to the world.

In this process, China showed the greatest sincerity, tried its best and played a constructive part.

In a recent interview with Xinhua, Wen said China would like to work with other countries, with the Copenhagen talks as a new beginning, to honor commitments, cooperate more closely and conclude the “Bali Roadmap” negotiations at an early date.

He called for efforts to seek new progress from the international cooperation on climate change and make due contributions to human endeavor to deal with climate change.

Mr. Babar can be reached at macbabur@hotmail.com

Avatar–Environmentalism As Religion for Our Kids

[The freaks with their “Gaia” religion.]

Avatar the movie: the religion of the left

By Phill Kline

The visuals are stunning, the story borrowed and the message shallow and false. John Cameron’s new epic Avatar features a jump in animation technology and a throwback of over 1,000 years to pantheism.

Set in 2154, the movie features a U.S. mega-corporation mining the distant planet of Pandora for a rare mineral that suspiciously looks like a carbon spewing lump of coal. The mining is conducted with smoke belching machinery that rape the planet while the human workers are protected by Marine mercenaries from the mind melding sensual native population of 10 foot tall spiritual beings.

The natives are one with their native planet, including their mother-god Eywa. Eywa is the planet, and the natives reach oneness by entwining fibers from their bodies with the fibers of the planet. This representative sexual union allows them to hear their departed ancestors and gain rhythm with the planet — a séance orgy so to speak. All life on the planet is one, with one spirit and one energy.

Avatar’s themes represent the new American “apology” at its best. The movie mirrors complaints about U.S. expansionism of the 1800’s that drove Native Americans from their sacred grounds and reflects the “new” history that represents modern America as an imperialistic regime willing to do anything for wealth and power.

The movie’s villain, the commander of the mercenary Marine force, reinforces this view when speaking with the movie’s hero Jake Sully. Sully is a wounded Marine who lost the use of his legs in battle for the U.S. in Venezuela. The commander was also in Venezuela and mentions he also saw action in Nigeria. Both countries, in which the U.S. has never fought, are oil-exporting countries and the movie assumes are places where we will fight and die in the future.

As any student of the “new” history knows, U.S. soldiers are buried on islands in the Pacific, in Europe and in Southeast Asia and Korea in order to protect our polluting ways.

In the movie, these polluting ways have “killed our mother,” the Earth, and now we must bring our imperialistic exploitive and destructive ways to the spiritually focused pantheistic cultures of planet Pandora, named after the Greek mythical goddess and which literally means “she who sends up gifts.”

Avatar seeks audience cheers for slaughtering the Marines who are portrayed as bent on killing, cash and forwarding the capitalistic matricidal imperialist ways of the United States.

Sully, is on assignment as a mercenary for the megacorp. His assignment places him deep undercover in the native population. Technology allows him to exist in a native body (an Avatar) such that he befriends and then falls in love with the spiritual princess of the natives. While in the avatar he is also able to run and fly and hunt and love.

Over time he predictably identifies with the natives and goes to battle against the Marines. Offering a prayer to Eywa, the Marine, now native, Sully, asks for Eywa’s help in repelling the Americans. In the prayer, Sully states “I know you have chosen me for a purpose….”

Such a prayer represents atheistic Hollywood’s dilemma. The only way to reconcile a godless Darwinistic worldview with a deeply spiritual American culture is to convert environmentalism into religion. For what greater purpose for man than to save mother earth, or Pandora? And thus, our purpose in a purposeless world.

Further, as a plea for Eywa’s assistance Sully asks the planet god to look into his memories to see how there is no green on earth and how his people have “killed our mother.”

Sully’s soon to be bride, a native princess, hears his prayers and instructs him that Eywa does not choose sides, a bow to the modern definition of tolerance, but only balances the forces of life and death.

All of this builds to the movies epic battle scene. US Marines moving in with carbon belching high tech machines to face the arrow firing natives. The battle looks lost for the good guys (the natives not the Marines) until Eywa chooses sides and she chooses Al Gore environmentalism. Suddenly Pandora’s animals join forces and attack the U.S. forces. The attack is led by giant, aggressive, hippo-resembling beasts with giant anvil heads.

Nature prevails and evil capitalism and man is defeated. Eywa thereby expresses the only truth respected by the left, a truth worth choosing sides for — a truth worth killing for, mother earth. China’s forced abortion policy as spiritual expression.

But Sully still has one more critical passage. He desires to permanently inhabit a native body, his Avatar. To do this he must join forces with Eywa and possibly be reborn into a native body. He is warned that all is Eywa’s choice — he may be reborn as a native or he may not for as all of us know — it is always the mother’s choice.

As the natives join in a ritual touching and chanting that has a cultist quality, Jake Sully is laid before Eywa, becomes one with the planet through the intertwining of the fiber of his Avatar and the planet and is reincarnated as a 10 foot dragon subduing arrow flinging environmentalist.

Avatar represents the left’s first epic introduction of the new Darwin spiritualism. Since Darwin cannot survive in the West’s spiritual culture, Darwin has now become god in the form of mother earth. Every living thing on planet Pandora is a god. And so, the new left has reached back in history to leap ahead of the scientific age. In the new religion, man is not god as in the age of reason and science. Rather, all is god and thereby nothing is god. But at least we’re spiritual.

All this provided just in time for Christmas, oops, the Winter Solstice.

At least my theatre audience did not applaud when Sully’s eyes came alive in his Avatar body at the “climatic” (predictable) end of the movie. In fact, the movie did not draw cheers or tears at any point. Perhaps we were still fixated on Hollywood’s tossing our Marines around in the jaws and claws of Eywa’s warriors — Freudian expressions of the left’s desire for that all-powerful environmental protecting global police force.

Call me unenlightened, but when I see a Marine battle an anvil headed beast called forth by a planet-god — I root for the U.S. Marine.

© Phill Kline

Depleted Uranium Trains to Move from Savannah River to Clive, Utah

DOE: Trainloads of nuke waste on way to Utah

By Judy Fahys

The Salt Lake Tribune

Related

Trainloads of depleted uranium will soon be on the move, rolling over the objections of critics on their way to a Utah burial site.

A Department of Energy official on Thursday informed U.S. Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, that 11,000 tons of the low-level radioactive waste — packed in 14,800 drums — is ready to be shipped from the Savannah River cleanup in South Carolina.

Rubbish from bomb-making and enrichment, the Savannah River waste will be buried at EnergySolutions Inc.’s specialized landfill in Tooele County. Both state and federal regulators are looking at what measures are needed to make sure shallow disposal sites like EnergySolutions’ can safely contain large amounts of DU, as depleted uranium is often called.

“We are now ready to initiate the first of the three planned rail shipments,” said DOE spokeswoman Lauren Milone.

The news dismayed Utahns who have been urging the Energy Department to wait until site-safety is settled.

“I am very disappointed that this material is headed to Utah, despite my concerns,” said Matheson, who asked Energy Secretary Steven Chu for a delay.

“I will continue to press the NRC for an appropriate review of necessary safety standards for this waste, which essentially remains hazardous forever,” Matheson added.

Questions about DU safety began in earnest last spring, after the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) noted that it had never examined the potential risks of

disposing of large quantities of DU in landfills, other than deep, underground sites. DU is unusual, the NRC noted, because it actually grows increasingly hazardous for a million years.

Nonetheless, the NRC opted to retain DU’s classification as “Class A” low-level radioactive waste and set out on a several-year study about what requirements need to be met to ensure large quantities are safe at specific sites. Other Class A waste, by definition, should be safe enough to build a house on after 100 years.

With about 1.4 million tons of DU in government stockpiles and expected from commercial enrichment plants coming online soon, EnergySolutions remains the nation’s only disposal option for virtually all of that waste.

The Salt Lake City company already has 49,000 tons of DU, which would exceed the state’s hazard standards in about 35,000 years.

In its decision Thursday, DOE cited a Dec. 1 letter by Utah Director of Environmental Quality Amanda Smith, who noted that EnergySolutions is licensed to accept DU even as the state updates its site-safety requirements for DU over the next few months. Smith said she had not seen the letter informing Matheson about the imminent shipments.

“We’ll be looking at the letter,” she said, declining further comment.

Peter Jenkins, chairman of the Radiation Control Board, said he was surprised how quickly DOE made its decision about the Savannah River waste. He added that he was pleased about a pending state license condition that requires EnergySolutions to pay for digging up the DU if the site review does not demonstrate that the landfill can contain the waste safely for at least 10,000 years.

“The state has positioned itself to take the proper recourse,” he said.

Over the past six months, as the board has considered its options for dealing with DU, there has been a concern that the state might not be able to act swiftly enough to stall additional DU. In July, EnergySolutions told board members it had a standing contract with the Energy Department but no active orders.

Vanessa Pierce, director of the Healthy Environment Alliance of Utah, pointed out that her group has been pressing Gov. Gary Herbert to request a delay from DOE. She likened the current situation to the federal government’s message during atomic testing in the West.

“Utahns are again being put at risk,” she said, even though the federal government is aware of health and environmental risks. She also noted that DOE had opted against sending the DU to a government-owned disposal site in Nevada because it would have taken a year to complete an in-depth environmental impact assessment that was promised to that state.

“Governor Herbert has not stood up to demand the same protections the Nevadans and the rest of the country has been offered,” Pierce said. “His silence is nothing but tacit approval of plans to send this waste here.”

fahys@sltrib.com

Department of Energy statement:

After careful consultation with the regulators, DOE has decided to continue its efforts at the Savannah River Site to prepare the remaining inventory of depleted uranium (DU) oxides for off-site shipment and disposal, and we are now ready to initiate the first of the three planned rail shipments. The planned shipments will comply with all licensing requirements of the Clive facility in Utah, requirements of the Utah regulators and EnergySolutions’ license. EnergySolutions is a fully licensed facility for the disposal of low -level radioactive waste and waste containing DU.

Lauren Milone, DOE spokeswoman

Sri Lanka-vs-The Empire

Death of democracy and road to dictatorship

Whence the threat?:

A. A. M. Nizam

We Sri Lankans succeeded in ending 30 years of brutal terrorists aggression in May this year due to the wholehearted contribution made by each and every patriotic citizen that enabled the Armed Forces to destroy the military wing of the terrorists at Nandikadal annihilating the LTTE military leadership and put an end to the life of its megalomaniac leader Prabhakaran. This splendid success could never have been achieved if not for the total commitment made by all those who contributed towards this goal, in the face of sturdy and unprecedented combined attempts made by the powerful western nations, Tamil Diaspora and proxies of LTTE, treacherous political desperados and political bandits. NGO vultures and the South Indian political elements to force a halt to the offensive operations and rescue the terrorist leadership. In the whole history of Sri Lanka it never faced such threats and warnings from a multitude of fronts simultaneously.


Suharto

General Augusto Pinochet

General Ziaur Rehman

General Zia ul Haq

The patriotic masses who yearned for a complete wipe out of the terrorists and terrorism were however apprehensive that once again the victory will be snatched away from them as it happened in 1987 with the mere drop of Parippu parcels and Indian pressure under which President Jayewardene shamelessly acquiesced and commanded Lt. General Denzil Kobbekaduwa to halt operations and withdraw the Forces to their respective barracks.

If not for this political intervention, and the shameless genuflecting to foreign pressure, Lt. General Kobbekaduwa and his troops would have wiped out the terrorists forever, as the LTTE at that time was in a nascent stage and had only a few thousand fighting cadres and had no Navy and had no air wing.

After President Jayewardene Sri Lanka was ruled by several Presidents and Prime Ministers and all of them failed to put an end to the rapidly growing terrorist scourge since all of them lacked determination and the political will to annihilate the terrorists, succumbed to external pressure, became deceptive to LTTE’s cunning manoeuvres, failed to provide adequate men and material to all Forces including the Police, had no faith in the capabilities of our Security Forces, and moreover were ineffective to muster the backing of all patriotic masses from all walks of life for the war effort.

Annihilation of the LTTE’s military wing was possible because of a multitude of factors. The prime factor among them was the solid and staunch leadership given by the President who by making every effort to provide men and material for the Forces unswervingly faced all pressures, criticisms and threats from the world’s most powerful nations and foiled all attempts made by treacherous political desperados and political bandits to topple the Government with the objective of halting the operations against the terrorists. Nonetheless, we should not remain complacent of what was achieved but be very cautious of the dangers that may befall us from the combined cabal of disgruntled elements who were unsuccessful in saving the LTTE leadership. The mere annihilation of the LTTE military wing will not make Sri Lanka safe. The last minute sturdy attempts made by western nations including the joint visit made by Foreign Ministers of two powerful western nations (initial attempt was to make it a joint visit of three Ministers) point to the fact that how important LTTE was in their neocolonial geopolitical road map in the face of rising Asian giants China and India.

Since Sri Lanka is situated in a strategically important location than the illegally acquired Dieggo Garcia the western nations, despite unavoidable proscription of LTTE, considered and valued the LTTE as a vibrant agent to destabilize the region, as they maintain Israel, Georgia and several other nations and terrorist organizations to destabilize regions and establish their economical and political hegemony over those regions.

Having lost the mercenary force, the LTTE, which they were nurturing to destabilize China and India and other nations in the Asian region, the western imperialists together with the international LTTE elements and unpatriotic political desperados and hooligans would certainly attempt now to install a puppet regime in Sri Lanka. Most Sri Lankans were unaware that on October 15 some treacherous elements under Uniform attempted to snatch away the people’s victory over the LTTE, and install such a puppet regime. Swift action taken by the President and India placing its Security Forces on alert foiled the intended coup attempt.

If not for the swift action taken by the President, similar to what happened through an Army coup in Indonesia in 1966 overthrowing President Sukarno’s 32-year rule would have happened in Sri Lanka, and by now several thousand would have lost their lives in a blood bath worse than the Uva-Wellassa blood bath. In Indonesia, the western powers and the local treacherous political elements resentful of President Sukarno’s people-friendly rule and his close relationship with China supported Suharto’s take over of power and following this take over military backed militia went on rampage and mercilessly murdered upto two million.

Similarly in Chile, the Popular Unity Government elected in 1970 of President Dr. Salvador Allende was toppled in 1973 with active support from American CIA and a military dictatorship headed by General Augusto Pinochet was installed. Following this coup over 3,200 people were killed, at least 80,000 were imprisoned, 30,000 subjected to gruesome torture, and another around 200,000 people fled the country seeking asylum in Argentina, Peru and several other Latin American countries. It was also reported that Dictator Pinochet’s military intelligence even killed some of these exiled people going into the countries they found asylum.

45 die in India bridge collapse incident

45 die in India bridge collapse incident

Sat, 26 Dec 2009 15:49:57 GMT
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Forty-five people are thought to have lost their lives in western India after an under-construction bridge collapsed in the state of Rajasthan.

Dozens of laborers fell into the Chambal river late Thursday when the bridge they were working on buckled.

Rescue workers had recovered dozens of bodies by Saturday. Earlier reports had put the number of dead at 17.

Authorities have launched an inquiry into the accident. Two senior project managers, including a South Korean national, have been arrested on culpable homicide charges.

Deadly accidents on construction sites are relatively common in India where health and safety rules are routinely flouted.

The UN’s International Labor Organization estimates that 50,000 people die in the country each year over work-related incidents.

Every “al Qaida” Bombing Shows the World How Incompetent the “Super-Terrorists” Really Are

[Isn’t it curious how every little terror attempt, even the really stupid ones like the “shoe-bomber,” this guy and the doctor who tried to blow-up a car load of gas cans in London are turned into gigantic proofs of a “world-wide Islamist conspiracy”?  This incident was first reported as firecrackers on an airplane, now tools like Rep. King of NY claim that it was a “sophisticated device.”  Surely the organization of Islamic supermen who can run 911 type operations from caves and require 100,000 US troops to kill 100 or less of them in Afghanistan could do better than firecrackers and tennis shoe bombs with paper fuses, or gas cans in a car.  All the governments of the world are lying about “al Qaida,” September 11, and everything since then, and the day is soon coming when the lies will not cover their asses.]

Main Image

U.S. says al Qaeda-linked man tries to blow up plane

DETROIT (Reuters) – A Nigerian man believed to be linked to al Qaeda militants was in custody on Saturday after he tried to ignite an explosive device on a U.S. passenger plane as it approached Detroit, U.S. officials said.

The suspect, who suffered extensive burns, was overpowered by passengers and crew on the Christmas Day flight from Amsterdam. The passengers, two of whom suffered minor injuries, disembarked safely from the Delta Air Lines plane.

“We believe this was an attempted act of terrorism,” a White House official told Reuters.

British police were searching premises in central London on Saturday in connection with the incident. The man was believed to have spent time in Britain as a student and authorities were trying to establish details about his activities in the country, a British counter-terrorism source said.

European airports meanwhile tightened security checks on U.S.-bound flights in response to the failed attack.

Dutch counter-terrorism authorities said they were trying to figure out where the suspect had come from, how he had been screened and how he had managed to board the flight.

Northwest Airlines flight 253 had left Amsterdam airport on Friday with 278 passengers onboard and was approaching its destination Detroit when the man tried to ignite the device or mixture, U.S. officials said.

Representative Peter King of New York, the senior Republican on the House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee, said the explosive device was “fairly sophisticated,” and the suspect was a 23-year-old Nigerian.

Federal officials identified him as Abdul Farouk Abdulmutallab, according to U.S. newspapers. ABC News and NBC News reported that he attends University College London, where he studied engineering.

King told CNN the suspect was listed in a database as having a connection to militants.

“My understanding is…that he does have al Qaeda connections, certainly extremist terrorist connections, and his name popped up pretty quickly” in a search.

“I would say we dropped the ball on this one.”

King said the suspect started his journey in Nigeria.

The Nigerian government ordered security agencies to investigate the incident and said they would cooperate fully with the American authorities.

“All the necessary security measures are in place in Nigeria. Any passenger, including crew members, on any flight is subject to the same security screening,” a spokesman for Nigeria’s Federal Airport Authority said.

Security at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport and at other airports in Europe with U.S.-bound flights was stepped up.

“This incident shows once again that vigilance is necessary at all times in the fight against terror,” European Commission vive-president Jacques Barrot said in Brussels.

Judith Sluiter, a spokeswoman for Dutch counter-terrorism agency NCTb, said it had started a probe into the incident, trying to determine where the suspect originated from.

“He did not go through passport control,” a Dutch military police spokesman said.

Passenger Richelle Keepman, arriving in Detroit, said the incident was terrifying.

“I thought — I think we all thought we weren’t going to land, we weren’t going to make it,” Keepman told NBC News.

Another passenger, Melinda Dennis, said the man was severely burned.

“His entire leg was burned. They required a fire extinguisher as well as water to put it out,” she told NBC.

“You could smell the smoke when we landed. You could smell the scent of something being burned when we landed.”

Once on the ground, the aircraft was moved to a remote area at Detroit’s airport where all baggage was being rescreened, the Transportation Security Administration said.

Citing U.S. officials, the Wall Street Journal said the Nigerian had told investigators that al Qaeda operatives in Yemen had given him the device and instructions on how to detonate it.

But NBC, citing anti-terrorism officials, said he claimed to have been acting on his own.”

PART OF A LARGER PLOT?

King said investigators were looking into whether the incident was part of a larger plot.

There is a “world-wide alert to make sure this is not part of a larger overall scheme,” he said.

The New York Times, citing a senior Homeland Security official, said the device was made from a mixture of powder and liquid and was more incendiary than explosive.

The official said Abdulmutallab told law enforcement authorities he had explosive powder taped to his leg and used a syringe filled with chemicals to mix with the powder in an attempt to cause an explosion.”

The attempt appeared similar to one eight years ago when a British-born man, Richard Reid, tried but failed to blow up a transatlantic jumbo jet by lighting explosives stuffed into his shoes. Reid, a follower of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, is serving a life sentence in a U.S. prison.

It also is the latest in a string of terrorism-related plots in the United States over the past few months. Al Qaeda militants carried out the September11, 2001, attacks in the United States in which three passenger planes were hijacked.

(Additional reporting by Todd EasthamJeremy PelofskyMohammad Zargham and Jim Wolf in Washington; Peter Bohan in Chicago; Ben Berkowitz in Amsterdam, Rosalba O’Brien and William Maclean in London; Editing by Angus MacSwan)

If America Was a Democracy and Obama Was Really for Change

Leo Lewis in Tokyo and David Robertson

Yukio Hatoyama, the new Japanese Prime Minister, has stunned a nation already mired in huge public debt by unveiling the country’s biggest ever postwar budget: a 92.3 trillion yen (£630 billion) spending spree aimed at “saving people’s lives”.

The unprecedented budget, which supposedly shifts Japan’s fiscal spending focus “from concrete to lives”, comes amid rising concern about the solidity of sovereign debt in the world’s second-largest economy.

The new budget will require additional debt issuance of Y44.3 trillion — within the Government’s expected band, but still at a level that will raise Japan’s debt-to-GDP ratio to nearly 195 per cent.

Of foremost concern, analysts for Nomura said, is that Japanese tax revenues are expected to fall to Y37.40 trillion this year, the lowest that they have been since 1984. It was, analysts said, a watershed moment — the first time that new debt issuance has exceeded tax revenues since the Second World War.

Mr Hatoyama said: “We were just able to stay at a level in which we can maintain fiscal discipline.”

Mr Hatoyama swept to power in August with grand promises that the era of wasteful public spending would end. Japan’s unnecessary and notoriously expensive “roads to nowhere” public works projects would be curtailed and the money diverted to supporting beleaguered households.

Four months on from that victory and Mr Hatoyama has spent more than any of his predecessors and has yet to make any serious impact on the wider effort of repairing Japan’s shattered economy. Unemployment is falling from its March highs, but not at anything like the pace in other Asian economies. Mr Hatoyama has also been hurt personally by the arrest of a former aide this week amid a money scandal that bore all the hallmarks of the politics of “old Japan” — precisely the sort of venality that Mr Hatoyama and his Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) were elected to crush. Prosecutors in Tokyo accused Keiji Katsuba, 59, of falsifying funding reports beginning in 2000 and listing dead people as donors.

Political analysts said that the episode would not be crippling to Mr Hatoyama, who has denied knowledge of the matter and does not face charges, but it adds to pressures that already include a weakened domestic economy and strained relations with the United States.

Seiji Adachi, senior economist with Deutsche Bank, said: “The scandal in itself is not so serious, but it tarnishes his reputation further and diminishes his power to be an effective prime minister.”

The Government hopes that the budget’s inclusion of steps such as allowances for families raising children and free public high school education will boost its popularity before an Upper House election next summer. That election is critical for Mr Hatoyama and the DPJ. Only by winning an outright majority in the Upper House can the new Prime Minister be free of the various coalitions that have hampered his first months in power.

“I believe that we have delivered all we can without compromising fiscal discipline,” Mr Hatoyama said. “Our country’s economic and employment conditions are very severe. The most important thing for us is to protect the lives of the Japanese citizens.”

The budget plan will contain Y53.4 trillion in policy spending; 51 per cent of that will go to social security programmes. This is the first time that social security has received more than half of policy spending, reflecting the new Government’s focus on jump-starting consumption rather than the big public works projects carried out by former administrations.

Tax revenues are expected to make up less than half the Government’s 2010-11 budget, falling behind new debt borrowing for the first time since the Second World War after a deep recession that devastated company profits.

Time to Abolish the US Congress

[As these sell-outs argue over which of their money-stealing schemes will fly without provoking a revolution among the sheep, the illegal wars that they have authorized rage-on in multiple countries.  For our own sakes, for the sake of posterity and for the sake of humanity itself, the American people must activate their absolute right and duty and abolish this government.]

Senate, House to Haggle Over Differences

Negotiators Need to Overcome Divisions on Abortion and Public Plan; Doctors, Device Makers and Hospitals Push Late Changes.

IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

hen in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

hen in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.