On this 10th anniversary of 9/11 attacks there are many things to reflect on and in this article we are going to focus on the relationship between 9/11 and the political 'Left'. Today 10 years later, the public particularly in the US seems quite dividved as numerous polls show that a majority of US citizens don't accept the official story and a significant portion believe the government was involved in one form or another. The mainstream media though is still very much on page with the official version of events. The details of the topic itself are divisive and two clear camps have arisen with opposing views and very little common ground between. At this stage many people are simply tired of discussing it and wish to move on. This article does not intend to dwell on the mechanics of the event itself but examine the wider political effects.

At this remove, there are several clear groupings around the interpretation of 9/11. We have of course the US government which used 9/11 to usher in the War on Terror, a war in which Cheney and Rumsfeld said may last indefinitely. Behind them are the corporate and state media as well as most governments especially those of Western Europe who whatever doubts they may have had, quickly fell into line when George Bush declared. 'You are either with us or against us'. As you move to places like Russia, parts of Asia and Africa, they are not so forth right, but they all in common eagerly instigated their own Wars on Terror and imposed draconian measures on civil liberties and greatly increased represssion.

Within days of the UN resolution for the Libyan no-fly zone a few months back, it has been known that this was purely a very thin cover for European and US ambitions of regime change to place a better puppet in power and to grab the billions in oil revenues that Libyan had in the bank. These revenues have already been seized.

The claim that NATO were bombing Libyan to save civilians was always a bit like 'fucking for virginity' and was extremely suspect coming from an organisation that was busy killing and maiming people in Afghanistan alongside the US.

In the past few weeks the mainstream pro-repressive pro-murder press has been giving a massive propanganda boost to the so called rebels. These ragbag assertment of cut-throats and extremists and even Al Qaeda jihad forces who had very little support were supported by thousands of continuous bombing raids by NATO and now last night NATO were instrumental in bombing Tripoli and straffing (heavy calibar gunships) civilians from helicopters. Crimes against humanity have been and are being committed by NATO and the terrorists that they have aided and abetted over the past few months as they terrorize the people of Libya, maim and murder them.

Libyan rebel commander admits his fighters have al-Qaeda links Abdel-Hakim al-Hasidi, the Libyan rebel leader, has said jihadists who fought against allied troops in Iraq are on the front lines of the battle against Muammar Gaddafi's regime. ....Earlier this month, al-Qaeda issued a call for supporters to back the Libyan rebellion, which it said would lead to the imposition of "the state of Islam" in the country.

Related Links: NATO Bombs Kill 85 Civilians | Leak of a 70 page Criminal NATO Plan to Occupy Libya by Jason Ditz and here too | Libyan Deaths, Media Silence by Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) The Old Imperialist Project to Divide Libya in Three has been Executed by Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya | Time to End Nato's War in Libya by Dennis Kucinich | Who Will Save Libya From Its Western Saviours by Jean Bricmont and Diana Johnstone | Charges mount of NATO war crimes in Libya | NATO’s terror bombing of Libya | The war in Libya and the crisis of the European Union -Part 1 Part 3 | Fierce fighting continues in Tripoli | For dictators, Britain does red carpet or carpet-bombing | Washington tried to snatch $1.5 billion to pay its NTC employees | Journalists who engage in war propaganda must be held accountable | NATO’s Puppet Regime in Libya Falls Apart (Aug 15th) | The CIA’s Fake “Arab Spring” Becoming A Long, Hot Summer Of War | Al Qaeda: Pawns of CIA Insurrection from Libya to Yemen | Gaddafi under siege: Two CIA-backed groups, an al-Qaeda-linked LIFG on top of power stakes

Podcasts/Video Libyan Rebel Supreme Commander Younis, Two Colonels Murdered by al Qaeda Faction / Libyan rebel rivalry weakens NATO -Interview of W. Tarpley in July | 'NATO starving civilians in Libya -Jul 8th | Report on Libya -interview on Guns and Butter show (June 29th) -Tarpley | Inteview of Matthew Rothschild on article: Stop the Bombing of Libya | Inteview of Jason Ditz on his article: Italian Foreign Minister’s call for an end to the Libya War after NATO airstrikes killed many civilians

NATO's humanitarian intervention in Libya. 0.23 Mb Guns and Butter Interview with Mohamed Hassan about Civil War in Libya 10.28 Mb

Today’s peace vigil at Shannon on 9 Jan 2011 was not a celebration but a commemoration of events that have been occurring over the past 11 years in Afghanistan and Iraq in which the United States waged unlawful and unjustified wars killing hundreds of thousands of people. It also commemorated and offered condolences on behalf of the many prisoners who were kidnapped, imprisoned without trial and in many cases tortured in Guantanamo and elsewhere. January 2011 also marks the 20th of the US led Gulf War in 1991, which led to the deaths of over two million Iraqi people in the decade up to 2001.

Related Links: Irish Police refuse to search US Warplanes at Shannon | The Unsustainability of War as a Business Model for Shannon Airport is Now Exposed | Irish Neutrality Temporarily Restored Thanks to Volcanic Ash | Black Hearts for Valentine’s Day at Shannon Airport | Over Three Flights A Day Carrying U.S. Weapons of War Through Ireland | Shannon Vigil Highlights Broken Promises over Guantanamo and Renditions | The Real Cost of US Military Use of Shannon Airport |

Shannon Watch's website - ShannonWatch.org

On Saturday 4th September Kate O’Sullivan, an activist from the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC), made a citizen’s arrest on former British Prime Minister Tony Blair at a book signing in Eason’s. However the Gardaí refused to act on the arrest, preferring instead to detain Ms. O’Sullivan for half an hour in a stairwell. At the protest outside Eason’s, where over 1,000 people gathered to protest the presence of Mr Blair in Ireland, at least three arrests of peaceful protesters where carried out, including that of a secondary school student. All have subsequently been released and are due in court on 30th September.

Indymedia Links:
Hundreds protest war-criminal Tony Blair in Dublin |Blair's Dublin Book Launch735 | Galway Stop Blair Protest at Eason's | Stop Blair - Urgent Call to Action | Arrest Blair Call – When War Criminal Visits Dublin | Photo essay | Eirigi protest
Other Links:
Blair must be arrested - John Pilger (newstatesman.com) | IPSC website | WSM article with videos | Tony Blair | Iraq war |

On January 28th, we had the chance to have a telephone talk with Camilla Chalmers, from the Plateforme Haïtienne de Plaidoyer pour un Développement Alternatif (Haitian Platform in Defence of an Alternative Development, PAPDA), in Port-au-Prince. Here we transcribe the questions and answers we could exchange in spite of the natural difficulties of communication in these circumstances. We believe his opinions represent a contribution to understand what’s really going on in Haiti, they contradict the official version of the media and give us a very precise notion of the type of solidarity that the Haitian people need –and that we should not fail to give.

Related Links:
The forest behind the trees: what’s behind the US occupation of Haiti? | Wikipedia on Haiti | Code Noir | Namoi Klein – My date with Aristide | Haiti's children die in UN crossfire | An Interview with Jean-Bertrand Aristide | Al Jazerra Haiti coverage | What Future for Haiti? - An Interview with Patrick Elie by Reed Lindsey | Taking us to democracy like cattle to a killing house - Patrick Elie | Haiti's Catch-22 - An interview with Patrick Elie | Interview with Aristide's lawyer, Miami-based Ira Kurzban | Will Criminal Gangs Take Control in Haiti's Chaos? | Fear of the poor is hampering Haiti rescue | Haiti's streets 'safer than before earthquake | US troop landings delay Haiti aid | Why the U.S. Owes Haiti Billions | The Rescue Operation's Priorities in Haiti | US accused of 'occupying' Haiti as troops flood in | Haiti - a history of intervention, occupation and resistance | Strong aftershock hits Haiti | Naomi Klien's document | has the world failed Haiti? (video) | US aid relative to other countries | The Incapacitation of Haiti | Against the grain main site | Haiti - a beginners guide (indy link)