"COLOSSAL DAMAGE TO THE ENTIRE REGION"

"I think there is a good reason why the propaganda system works that way. It recognizes that the public will not support the actual policies. Therefore it is important to prevent any knowledge or understanding of them."
~ Noam Chomsky.

Sibel Edmonds' ears must be burning. She was being talked about last Friday by Scott Horton and Joe Lauria. You can listen in on the conversation, which runs about 51 minutes.

In an amazing interview, an Azerbaijani so-called "terrorist" expert praises the effectiveness of HPG's recent BTC operation:

The threat of [so-called] terror acts against BTC was taken into account while planning the construction of the pipeline. The participating countries took into account the real threats at all sections of the pipeline. The threats of [so-called] terror acts from the Armenian side were taken into account at the Azerbaijani section of the pipeline, Abkhaz and South Ossetian at Georgian section and Kurdish at Turkish.

[ . . . ]

The Kurdish [so-called] terror organization PKK assumed responsibility for explosion at the BTC pipeline...

The philosophy of the [so-called] terrorist act lies in causing damage to the most critical points of the country, including civilians, strategic objects and so on, which may create serious concerns of the country and the world society. The most painful point for the whole region is the BTC pipeline. The due infrastructure including terminals, oil tankers and others, has been created for the purpose. The explosion suspended operation of the whole infrastructure.

Which country suffered greatest losses from the explosion at BTC pipeline?

Undoubtedly, the [so-called] terrorist act against BTC caused a colossal damage to the entire region. As I have already said, it is necessary to search an alternative way of transportation. It is unclear how much time will be needed for pipeline restoration. We had to transport oil by the Baku-Novorossiysk pipeline, which are many millions of expenses. [So-called] Terrorists have reached their goals. Colossal economic damage was caused to the region, not speaking of the ecological damage.

[ . . . ]

Which measures should be taken to strengthen BTC security?

It is impossible to ensure the security of the pipeline by a whole army, even if there were guards at each meter. The [so-called] terrorist act of September 11 of 2001 demonstrated vulnerability of the defense systems of state objects, regulated by the man factor. The United States, having great opportunities of espionage and counterespionage, fell victims. I consider it necessary to adopt the 14th convention of the international security of interstate pipelines. The document should be approved by European structures. I think it will be approved by Europe, as BTC is important for it. And later the document could be presented to UN.

Here's Bush's take on the ass-kicking that Russia's applying to Georgia:

"Russia has invaded a sovereign neighboring state and threatens a democratic government elected by its people. Such an action is unacceptable in the 21st century."

Let's change one word and see what we get:

"Turkey has invaded a sovereign neighboring state and threatens a democratic government elected by its people. Such an action is unacceptable in the 21st century."

Isn't that what Bush should have said in February, when Turkey invaded Iraq? But, during that invasion, it was HPG that was doing the ass-kicking.

In another fine example of hypocrisy, we have former Unocal "advisor" and Afghan neocon toady Zalmay Khalilzad making the same kind of stupid statements as his boss:

"Is your government's objective regime change in Georgia, the overthrow of the democratically elected government of Georgia?" Khalilzad asked Vitaly Churkin, the Russian ambassador.

He said the days of overthrowing leaders by military means in Europe were gone and that Russia's nostalgia about the past was being reflected in the present conflict.

Churkin's replied that "regime change is an American expression. We do not use such an expression".

But he added: "But sometimes there are occasions, and we know from history, that there are different leaders who come to power, either democratically or semi-democratically, and they become an obstacle."

Western media lies about the Russia/Georgia conflict is certainly another case for the application of Noam Chomsky and Edward Herman's Propaganda Model, as outlined in Manufacturing Consent. Within 24 hours from initial news reports, in which Georgia invaded South Ossetia, the capitalist corporate media immediately ran headlines saying "Russia invades Georgia".

The reality is that the headlines should have read "US invades Russia".

Perhaps the best place to keep up with the situation, without Western propaganda, is over at Vineyard Saker's place.