False Flag 2007 No. 1

The most striking thing about New Years Eve in Bangkok was despite the Bombing Bloodbath just around the corner Pad Pong the Sex Bar lined Market Place in Silom was opened for business, packed with party revelers and its usual trade of men looking for cheap Asian intimacy. The only place emptied by the Army Coup directed Police was a much more innocent part of this multi faceted city. “Coincidently” the very place that the second round of bombs exploded just after Midnight, injuring no one. Hurray for the coup leaders, hurray for a very Thai Terrorist Act, can’t stop the Ping Pong shows!

The Authorities in Bangkok were also immediately sure this had nothing to do with the Muslim insurgency in the south of the country, before any substantial investigation had taken place. We don’t want the people getting “off message”. No the official word is these bombs were planted by forces opposed to the coup.

What a strange message for these people to push, I’m sure that the bombing will get a lot of Thais on to the pro democracy band wagon. Or maybe there is a very obvious logic at work here. Lets join the dots. (more…)

Thailand’s deposed Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has denied being behind bomb blasts in Bangkok that killed three people and injured 38.
In a letter sent from Beijing, Mr Thaksin said the attacks on New Year’s Eve bore all the hallmarks of Muslim militants fighting in the south.

PM Surayud Chulanont has already said it is unlikely insurgents are to blame.

On Monday, he suggested “groups that have lost political powers” were behind the attacks, without giving names.

“These were not just the previous government, but include all those which have lost power in the past. We could not at this stage pinpoint which particular group was involved,” he said.

A number of people linked to the government of Mr Thaksin, which was deposed in a bloodless coup in September, have been questioned over the attacks. (more…)

BANGKOK — At least six small bombs exploded in Bangkok on Sunday, killing two people and wounding more than 20, shocking the Thai capital into cancelling some New Year countdown celebrations.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the bombs, which went off within about an hour and included one planted under a seat at a bus stop outside a shopping mall which wounded 17 people, two seriously, they said.

Police said they did not believe the bombs were the work of militants in the Muslim-majority far south who have set off a series of bombs in towns there during three years of separatist insurgency and who do not issue claims of responsibility.

“I don’t believe it has anything to do with the militants in the south,” deputy national police chief General Achiravit Supanpasat told a news conference, referring to an insurgency which has cost more than 1,800 lives. (more…)

Australian Prime Minister John Howard on Friday called for the immediate expansion of uranium mining and the development of nuclear powered energy.

Unveiling a final report on the nation’s future energy requirements, Howard backed the controversial findings first revealed last month and said nuclear energy should feature in any plan for Australia’s future needs.

“The reality is we won’t have nuclear power stations tomorrow, but over time if we are to have a sensible response, we have to include nuclear power,” he told reporters in Sydney.

“It is foolish and backward-looking and old fashioned of people to say ‘Well, we will always oppose the use of nuclear power’.”

Howard said while nuclear energy was not a “silver bullet” solution to global warming or energy security, a nation such as Australia would be “crazy in the extreme if we didn’t allow for the development of nuclear power.” (more…)

MELBOURNE, Australia — Thirteen men accused of belonging to a terrorist cell that was plotting a major attack in Australia pleaded not guilty to the charges Monday.

The men, all Muslims, were among 18 suspects arrested last year in coordinated pre-dawn raids in Melbourne and Sydney in a two-year operation police said prevented a catastrophic terror attack in Australia, possibly targeting a nuclear reactor in southern Sydney.

The 13 appeared in the Victorian state Supreme Court to plead not guilty to belonging to a terrorist organization and other terrorism-related offenses. The remaining five suspects were arrested in Sydney, where they are awaiting trial. (more…)

India’s top nuclear scientists have repeated their fears that a landmark nuclear deal with the United States will place limitations on the country’s weapons programme, the media reported Saturday.

The deal allows the export of nuclear fuel and technology to energy-hungry India for the first time since it first tested a nuclear device in 1974. US President George W. Bush is expected to sign the accord on Monday.

But the scientists said the final version of the bill, which reconciled versions of the legislation approved by the US House of Representatives and Senate, contained clauses that India had previously objected to.

“The act makes it explicit that if India conducts such tests, the nuclear cooperation will be terminated,” the scientists said in a statement published by the Asian Age newspaper. (more…)

U.S. prosecutors charged a former Chinese national with stealing military-related trade secrets and using them in sales proposals to China and the Malaysian and Thailand air forces, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said on Thursday.

Xiaodong Sheldon Meng, 42, a Canadian citizen, stole combat and commercial simulation software and other materials from his former employer, San Jose, California-based Quantum3D, according to a statement issued by U.S. Attorney Kevin Ryan’s office.

“The economic espionage charges allege that Meng, formerly a resident of Beijing, China, and a resident of Cupertino, California, stole the trade secrets from Quantum3D with the intent that they would be used to benefit the foreign governments of China, Thailand, and Malaysia,” the statement said. (more…)

US President George W. Bush on Saturday hailed the US Congress’s passage of a landmark bill allowing civilian nuclear fuel and technology to be exported to India for the first time in 30 years.
“I am pleased that our two countries will soon have increased opportunities to work together to meet our energy needs in a manner that does not increase air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, promotes clean development, supports nonproliferation and advances our trade interests,” Bush said in a statement.

“I appreciate Congress’s support for the US-India civil nuclear cooperation initiative,” Bush said, adding: “I look forward to signing this bill into law soon.” (more…)

Factories in Bangladesh are breaking pledges to workers made by big UK retailers

Some of Britain’s best-known high street brands are selling “cheap chic” clothes at the expense of workers in Bangladesh who are paid 5p an hour despite pledges to protect basic labour rights, an investigation by War on Want will reveal today.

Employees in Bangladesh are forced to work excessive hours, refused access to trade unions and face abuse and sacking if they protest, says the report, Fashion Victims, based on interviews with 60 garment workers from six factories.

War on Want says that although Primark, Asda and Tesco have stated publicly they will limit the working week and pay a “living wage” overseas, these commitments are flouted in their suppliers’ factories. The Guardian, which interviewed workers in Dhaka, confirmed the allegations of excessive hours and poor working conditions in the report. Employees making clothes for the three retailers said they had no choice but to work longer than the agreed 60 hours a week. (more…)

Pakistan test launched a nuclear-capable medium range missile on Wednesday, two days after South Asian rival India conducted its first trial of a new ballistic intercept system.
The Pakistani Hatf 4 or Shaheen-1 missile — Shaheen means “eagle” in Urdu — has a range of 700 kilometers (437 miles) meaning it can hit targets deep inside neighbouring India.

“Pakistani troops today conducted a successful launch of the medium range Hatf 4 or Shaheen-1 missile,” the military said in a statement.

The test came as part of a continuing exercise by Pakistan’s Army Strategic Force Command. On November 16 Pakistan test fired a Ghauri missile with a longer range of 1,300 kilometers (812 miles) away. (more…)

US President George Bush shrugged off massive protests against his visit to the world’s most populous Muslim nation yesterday as a sign of a healthy democracy, as thousands braved heavy rains to call him a war criminal and a terrorist.

Bush also pledged to work with Indonesia’s government to fight Islamic extremists.

The archipelago is considered an important ally in Washington’s war on terror, but public anger is high over US foreign policy in the Middle East and the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, seen by many here as attacks on their faith. (more…)

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Monday he had assured Chinese President Hu Jintao Japan would not acquire nuclear weapons, but use its position as the only country to have suffered atomic attacks to urge members of the nuclear club to reduce their arsenals.

Abe was speaking at a news conference during an official visit to Vietnam following a summit of Asia-Pacific leaders in Hanoi, at which the issue of how to deal with North Korea’s October nuclear test was high on the agenda.

“Our country is the only one in the world to have suffered a nuclear attack,” Abe said. “We have to take the lead in persuading the world to give up nuclear weapons,” he added. (more…)

BHUBANESHWAR, India — India on Sunday successfully test-fired a medium-range nuclear-capable missile with a range of up to 300 kilometers (180 miles), a defense ministry official said.

The Prithvi missile was fired into the Bay of Bengal from the test range in Chandipur in the eastern state of Orissa, the official said on condition of anonymity as he is not allowed to reveal his identity under ministry rules.

India’s Prithvi test comes three days after rival Pakistan carried out a similar test of its nuclear-capable Ghauri missile, also known as the Hatf 5. (more…)

JAKARTA, Indonesia — Thousands wound through the streets of Indonesia’s capital and gathered at a grand mosque Sunday to protest President Bush’s upcoming visit to the world’s most populous Muslim nation, some chanting “War criminal” and “You are a terrorist!”

Bush’s arrival Monday comes amid mounting anger over U.S. policy in the Middle East and the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan — seen by many here as attacks on their faith. (more…)

George W Bush is due to arrive for a major summit in Vietnam today, seeking to re-invigorate his presidency following his Republicans’ crushing defeat in last week’s Congressional elections. Mr Bush is scheduled to attend the 21-nation Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (Apec) forum, but the visit will raise uncomfortable reminders of America’s problems in Iraq and of the president’s personal war record. The standoff over North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme will probably top the official agenda in meetings the president will have during his eight-day, three-nation Asian trip.

In a speech en route in Singapore yesterday, Mr Bush warned North Korea against transferring nuclear weapons or material to other countries, saying such an act would be considered a “grave threat” to the United States. He will also assure Asian trading partners of his commitment to free trade. (more…)