Burma Interview: Aung San Suu Kyi on Opposition, Talking with the Regime, and Joining Facebook

I think the South Africans worked up to this compromise that –-- for whatever people did –-- they must take responsibility for that based on a principle of accountability. We all have to live together and one has to compromise. We have got to think about the future of the nation rather than about immediate gratification in the form of taking revenge. I have to say that I have suffered so much less in the hands of the regime than many others. So it is easier for me to talk perhaps about forgiveness and reconciliation. And yet that is the direction in which my mind as well as my heart takes me.

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Terrorism Analysis: Can Al Qa'eda Be Defeated? (No.)

Last weekend, the top British military officer, General Sir David Richards, said publicly what officials have been circulating privately almost since the Bush administration stupidly hit on the slogan “War on Terror” to describe their post-9/11 crusade.

This is not a war that can be won in any conventional sense.

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Iran Document: Lawyer Mostafaei to Supreme Leader "You are Main Culprit Behind All These Crimes"

Where are you dear Mr. Khamenei to see what crimes and atrocities are being committed in the judiciary and the Islamic republic prisons, in particular in the security “Guantanamo” ward 209 in Evin prison?  We both know very well that you are the main culprit behind all these crimes. It is you who has closed your eyes as you issue any order to protect your power.

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US Video: On Journalism and Objectivity (Olbermann)

Keith Olbermann, using broadcaster Ted Koppel's editorial "Olbermann, O'Reilly, and the Death of Real News" in The Washington Post,  comments on the state of US journalism and the dangers of false notions of "objectivity:

The Latest from Iran (17 November): TV Justice

1820 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty has more on the case of Parvin Tajik (see 1140 GMT), given a 1 1/2-year sentence for speaking to foreign media about her brother, detained journalist Abdolreza Tajik.

The Tajik family had written in July that Abdolreza had been "dishonoured" in prison.

1740 GMT: Lost in Translation. Press TV clarifies confusion over the Iranian presentation of its war-crime exercises (see 1118 GMT):

Spokesman for the "Modafean Aseman Velayat 3," (Defenders of Velayat Skies) drill General Hamid Arjangi said earlier on Wednesday that Iranian forces have identified the mock (emphasis added) intrusion of six "unknown planes" into the country's airspace.

As part of the drill, we had six reports about the intrusion of six unknown planes into the country's space [on Tuesday], Arjangi said, adding that in every six cases the planes were forced to lift off and interception operations were carried out, Fars News Agency reported.

However, The Washington Post, Associated Press and AFP among other Western media outles, reported that Iran's armed forces intercepted six "unknown planes" that intruded into the country's airspace during aerial defense maneuvers, citing Fars News Agency as the source.

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Iran Analysis: Propaganda & (In)Justice --- Why Another Sakineh "Confession"?

So Sakineh Mohammad Ashtiani --- whether or not she was played by an actress on TV on Monday night --- is an actress herself. She is placed before the cameras to give a performance both of justification and distraction. 

Justification that any measure, even if it bends the judicial system, is OK because it is "justice" for her crimes and those of others. Distraction because the Iranian regime does not want its people to look off-stage as, to maintain its authority, it breaks that judicial system and puts it behind bars.

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Torture: Britain Pays Out --- So When Does the US Accept Responsibility? (Gude)

The British government's settlement agreement to pay compensation to former Guantánamo detainees  over claims that they were unlawfully captured and abused while in custody is a meaningful, though not complete, government statement on its complicity in extraordinary rendition and torture. Coming so soon after George W Bush's boast that he enthusiastically authorised torture, the British move highlights the absurdity of the American political and legal processes that so easily prevents any accountability for such blatant misconduct and lawlessness.

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Israel-Palestine Analysis: US Asks West Jerusalem, "What Happens on the 91st Day?"

According to the London-based Al-Quds al-Arabi, Ramallah --- noting the recent US "incentives" offered to Israel to get a three-month extension of the freeze on settlement construction in the West Bank --- is also seeking its own American package.

The Obama administration is being asked to increase funds for the Palestinians and to spell out a "political commitment" for an agreement on the border issue within three months. The Palestinian Authority also wants Washington's assurance that it will deal with the issue of Palestinian refugees, compensating them through an international fund that would involve most countries in the region, including Israel.

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Burma Update: National League for Democracy to Demand Recognition (Ko Htwe)

Lawyers representing the National League for Democracy (NLD) will appear before the Burmese Supreme Court in Naypyidaw on Thursday and argue that the regime's Election Commission was wrong in banning the party.

The lawyers discussed the case with NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Monday. The NLD said she would not accompany the three lawyers to Naypyidaw.

The NLD was officially disbanded after failing to register for the Nov. 7 election. In its case before the Supreme Court, the NLD calls for the cancellation of Article 25 of the Political Parties Registration Law, which requires existing political parties to re-register or face disbandment.

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Torture: Britain to Pay Millions to Those Abused in Guantanamo & Other Prisons (BBC)

Around a dozen men, who accused British security forces of colluding in their torture overseas, are to get millions in compensation from the UK government.

Some of the men, who are all British citizens or residents, were detained at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp in Cuba.

At least six of them alleged UK forces were complicit in their torture before they arrived at Guantanamo.

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