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It was the worst terrorist attack in Britain's history, the deadliest assault on U.S. civilians until 9/11 and a political powder keg that roiled governments around the world. On Dec. 21, 1988, a bomb exploded in the forward cargo hold of Pan Am Flight 103, a jetliner flying from London to New York. Within less than a minute, the Boeing 747 splintered into thousands of pieces and fell 31,000 feet, smashing down in the village of Lockerbie, Scotland. The impact killed 11 villagers and destroyed 21 homes. None of the 259 people on board the aircraft survived. On August 21,...

EDINBURGH -- Do not believe that Scotland was united behind Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill's decision to grant "compassionate" release to the terminally ill convicted Pan Am 103 bomber Abdel Basset al-Megrahi in August. When al-Megrahi flew home to a hero's welcome in Libya, Member of Scottish Parliament Richard Baker recalls "universal outrage" among Scots at the sight of Scotland's flag "being waved to welcome home the Lockerbie bomber in Tripoli. It just turned stomachs" -- and produced among sensible Scots "profound shame and embarrassment." Al-Megrahi was released after the former Libyan intelligence officer served a mere eight years in Scottish...

The Libyan killer of a British policewoman will never be brought to justice in Britain after a secret deal approved by Jack Straw. The Foreign Office bowed to Libyan pressure and agreed that Britain would abandon any attempt to try the murderer of WPC Yvonne Fletcher, shot outside the Libyan embassy in London 25 years ago. Anthony Layden, Britain’s former ambassador to Libya, said this weekend he had signed the agreement with the Libyan government three years ago, when Straw was foreign secretary. At the time Britain was negotiating trade deals worth hundreds of millions of pounds with Libya. The...

Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill, who recently released the Lockerbie bomber, has a brother who is an energy-industry executive and who has worked at firms that have pitched for oil business in Libya. The Scottish government, which has said that it made full disclosure of facts relevant to the decision, didn't disclose this relationship, and opposition politicians on Monday criticized this. [Kenny MacAskill] Agence France-Presse/Getty Images Scotish Justice Minister Kenny MacAskill Over the years, Allan MacAskill has worked for several companies that sought oil business in Libya. Allan MacAskill says he didn't work on any of his employers' Libyan oil...

Lord Mandelson has dismissed claims that the release of Lockerbie bomber is linked to a trade deal - as the head of the FBI slams the Scottish government. The claim was made by Seif al Islam, the son of Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi, in a television interview filmed as Abdelbaset al Megrahi was flown home. "In all commercial contracts, for oil and gas with Britain, (Megrahi) was always on the negotiating table," he said. "All British interests were linked to the release of Abdelbaset al Megrahi." He said he had met Colonel Gaddafi twice in the past year, and on...

Gordon Brown was under fresh pressure last night after shocking claims by Libya that the release of the Lockerbie bomber was linked explicity to trade deals benefiting Britain. Colonel Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam said the case of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi was discussed at every meeting between the then Prime Minister Tony Blair and the Libyan leader. But the Foreign Office strongly denied any link between the boosting of UK business interests and the freeing of the man convicted of Britain's worst terrorist atrocity. A spokesman insisted: 'No deal has been made between the UK Government and Libya in...

I hope everyone has heard about the war in South Ossetia and Georgia. You probably are convinced by what the media reports, in particular that “Russia is the aggressor against innocent Georgia”. Our government is backing Georgia and also telling us about Russia’s aggression. But that is a lie. I have always made fun of the conspiracy theory people, but I find myself in the same position–criticizing the government and sounding crazy. But I cannot keep quite when such an injustice is going on; so please do not take my words as that of a crazy man who hates America–on...

The force of Russia’s attack against Georgia this weekend sends a strong signal that Moscow is determined not to relinquish control over the oil-rich Caspian region. Georgia has scant energy resources of its own, but hosts pipelines built by international oil majors to carry Caspian oil and gas to western markets. Its railways also transport substantial volumes of oil from the region to Black Sea ports. The east-west energy corridor across Azerbaijan and Georgia to Turkey established with strong political backing from the US, has eroded Russia’s stranglehold over energy exports from one of the world’s few remaining untapped oil...

Americans who buy the smallest cars on the market are twice as likely to have fatal accidents as drivers of midsize and larger vehicles, according to a report being released today by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. The data and increased sales of the fuel-efficient "minicars" prompted the institute to test, for the first time, eight models to determine which are safest. Minicars typically weigh about 2,500 pounds or less, half the weight of large pickup trucks or SUVs such as the 4,500-pound Ford Explorer... In the testing, only the Nissan Versa received "good" ratings in front, side, and...

Top News Story Persian Journal The editor of Kayhan Newspaper, Hussein Shariatmadari, hasrecently said: "if Iran is put under the UN sanctions, the 5+1 states [i.e. the USA, the UK, France, China, Russia and Germany] would be the biggest losers from economic and political points of view." He has added: "closing the Strait of Hurmoz can be one of the retaliatory reactions [of Iran]... . if we are made subject to the sanctions, then naturally we can use some leverages, such as closing the Strait of Hormuz. Closing the Strait of Hormuz will seriously stop the flow of oil...

Do you still remember the old liberal claim that Bush invaded Iraq for oil? For some reason they don't make it anymore. May we ask why? Can it be, because no oil has been stolen? As everyone had the chance to see, America made no attempt to tap into Iraq's oil after toppling Saddam, not even to defray the costs of liberation. This presented liberals with a conundrum. Wanting to believe only the worst about the president, they had to invent another dark reason for the invasion. So they made him into a Hitlerite who revels in conquest and destruction....

See for example this thread first. Al Qaeda has launched an attack To stab their best friends in the backWahabbi'ist cults Lead to these results Whether here, their own home, or Iraq!

Friday, June 17, 2005 DARFUR ON MY MIND Greg Palast, Michael Moore,Progressive Politics and Genocide Perfect Together !! A story by Ruth Gidley appeared on Reuters Alert Net pages on 06/15/05 : "Oil Discovery Adds New Twist to Darfur Tragedy" http://www.alertnet.org/thefacts/reliefresources/111885496661.htm The author was apparently surprised to discover there was oil in Darfur,and to learn that its presence - on the killing fields - might be a motive for the killing. She was compelled to admit the United States has no interest in the oil,and, after,a bit of dancing around,admitted China might be one of the interested parties. Gee !...

CNBC's Ron Insana sat down with President Bush for an exclusive interview on topics including Social Security, personal savings accounts, the stock market, budget deficit, Medicare, oil prices, the dollar, international trade, and terror. Here is a transcript of that interview. President Bush: No. Listen, now's the right time to talk about permanently fixing Social Security because every year we wait it costs $600 billion more for the next generation. In other words, it's going to cost that much more money a year by -- if there's political delay. Secondly, I mean, I think most people will tell you that...

"As we here at home contemplate our own duties, our own responsibilities, let us think and think hard of the example which is being set for us by our fighting men. Our soldiers and sailors are members of well-disciplined units. But they're still and forever individuals, free individuals. They are farmers and workers, businessmen, professional men, artists, clerks. They are the United States of America. That is why they fight. We too are the United States of America. That is why we must work and sacrifice. It is for them. It is for us. It is for victory.” -- Franklin...

The advent of a new year is an appropriate time for resolutions, and here is one some critics of the war in Iraq should memorize, unless of course they think it is their duty instead of simply their right to be loutish and ignorant. "I promise to quit insisting that the war in Iraq was about securing oil for greedy Americans and that the prime culprits include owners of SUVs," they will repeat over and over again but only after having acquainted themselves with some facts and analyses they have so far studiously avoided. It was a laziness brought on...

Well, over that last few years, I have pretty much started downloading all of my music off of P2P sites, because so many artist are such left wing whack jobs, that I refuse to support them financially but I still want to listen to their music. The one last and final holdout whom I would always go and buy the CD was Eminem, because, and I believe this 100 percent, there is not another lyricst on the face of God's green Earth who can match his skills on the microphone. Nobody who has ever laid words over a beat can...

France has been accused of agreeing to a crackdown on exiled opponents of Iran in return for lucrative commercial contracts. Lawyers for France's human rights league, speaking on the anniversary of a huge police raid on the National Council of Resistance of Iran near Paris, pointed out "troubling coincidences" in the timing of the operation and a series of deals with Teheran. In March last year, the regime signed a large contract with the French telecommunications group Alcatel for a telephone network. In April last year Teheran offered the petrol giant TotalFina a £660 million gas fields contract. At the...

NEW YORK — A U.S. soldier who left his unit in Iraq rather than fight for what he called an "oil-driven war" is claiming that he's a conscientious objector who believes the war is unjust and that he's upset over civilian deaths. Staff Sgt. Camilo Mejia (search), 28, of Miami Beach, Fla., faces a court-martial Wednesday. If convicted of desertion by a military jury at Fort Stewart, Ga., he could find himself in prison for a year and may receive a bad conduct discharge.

This is what was posted: Senator Joe Biden shoots down Al Franken ... Telling him that President George Bush would have thrown his body in front of the planes himself if it would have stopped 9/11. When Franken tried to bring up the war for oil conspiracy theory, Senator Biden basically told him that was bull just like the war for revenge for the attempt on his fathers life theory was bunk. Franken sounded demoralized when Senator Biden finished the interview.