Iranian Nobel winner sues the US

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3974099.stm

>>Iranian Nobel Prize winner Shirin Ebadi is suing the US government for blocking publication of her memoirs.

>>Ms Ebadi and the Strothman Agency, a literary agent that wants to represent her, filed the suit in New York last week.

>>According to US Treasury Department regulations, American companies are not allowed to publish works by authors in Iran, Cuba and Sudan unless the works have already been completed without any American involvement.

>>Ms Ebadi said in her suit that blocking the publication of her memoirs in the US would be a "critical missed opportunity both for Americans to learn more about my country and its people from a variety of Iranian voices and for a better understanding to be achieved between our two countries".<<


Ebadi: The first Iranian and first Muslim woman to win the Nobel peace prize

banning the works of a Nobel Laureate in PEACE no less.

Well howdy... how comes it was ok for Mr. Dick to do bidness with Iran through subsidiaries?? How come not a single repercussion has come to pass?? Maybe because he who sits in the big chair gets to do exactly as he damn well pleases?? I am sure that if you want an inside view of what went down between BP, U.S. oil companies, the CIA, and Iran, you need look no further than this book... it is all in there.

It should be required reading for every citizen of this country so they could finally realize what has been done in their names for the past 50 - 60 years.... and it ain't all pretty.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0471265179/qid=1099409116/sr=2-1/ref=pd_ka_b_2_1/103-6796958-8831018
>>"Stephen Kinzers brilliant reconstruction of the Iranian coup is made even more fascinating by the fact that it is true. It is as gripping as a thriller, and also tells much about why the United States is involved today in places like Afghanistan and Iraq."
–Gore Vidal, author of Lincoln, Burr, and 1876.

"Remarkable, readable, and relevant . . . All the Shahs Men not only reads like an exciting, page-turning spy novel, it deals with the hard issues of today."
–Senator Richard Lugar, Chairman, Senate Foreign Relations Committee

"A well-researched object lesson in the dismal folly of so-called nation-building. British and American readers of today should blush with shame."
–John le Carré, author of The Spy Who Came In from the Cold
and The Tailor of Panama<<

http://www.truthout.org/docs_01/02.03E.Hallib.Iraq.htm
UNITED NATIONS -- During last year's presidential campaign, Richard B. Cheney acknowledged that the oil-field supply corporation he headed, Halliburton Co., did business with Libya and Iran through foreign subsidiaries. But he insisted that he had imposed a "firm policy" against trading with Iraq.

helping one to understand why "they don't like us" as much as they used to....

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1594200076/ref=pd_sim_books_4/103-6796958-8831018?v=glance&s=books

>>Steve Coll's Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001 offers revealing details of the CIA's involvement in the evolution of the Taliban and Al Qaeda in the years before the September 11 attacks. From the beginning, Coll shows how the CIA's on-again, off-again engagement with Afghanistan after the end of the Soviet war left officials at Langley with inadequate resources and intelligence to appreciate the emerging power of the Taliban. He also demonstrates how Afghanistan became a deadly playing field for international politics where Soviet, Pakistani, and U.S. agents armed and trained a succession of warring factions.

At the same time, the book, though opinionated, is not solely a critique of the agency. Coll balances accounts of CIA failures with the success stories, like the capture of Mir Amal Kasi. Coll, managing editor for the Washington Post, covered Afghanistan from 1989 to 1992. He demonstrates unprecedented access to records of White House meetings and to formerly classified material, and his command of Saudi, Pakistani, and Afghani politics is impressive. He also provides a seeming insider's perspective on personalities like George Tenet, William Casey, and anti-terrorism czar, Richard Clarke ("who seemed to wield enormous power precisely because hardly anyone knew who he was or what exactly he did for a living"). Coll manages to weave his research into a narrative that sometimes has the feel of a Tom Clancy novel yet never crosses into excess. While comprehensive,

Coll's book may be hard going for those looking for a direct account of the events leading to the 9-11 attacks. The CIA's 1998 engagement with bin Laden as a target for capture begins a full two-thirds of the way into Ghost Wars, only after a lengthy march through developments during the Carter, Reagan, and early Clinton Presidencies. But this is not a critique of Coll's efforts; just a warning that some stamina is required to keep up. Ghost Wars is a complex study of intelligence operations and an invaluable resource for those seeking a nuanced understanding of how a small band of extremists rose to inflict incalculable damage on American soil.<<