In the latest development from army-occupied Nuevo Laredo, 44 kidnapping victims freed June 26 when over 200 Mexican federal agents raided three safe houses. Shots were fired at one of the houses, but nobody was injured. A crowd of relatives of the disappeared gathered, awaiting word on kidnap victims. Some of the victims – 38 men and six women – had been held as long as three months. Many were in their teens. Few were older than 30.

Authorities in Mexico City said many were abducted because of their loyalty to rival drug cartels, which are waging a bloody war for control of the lucrative corridor through Nuevo Laredo and Laredo, TX. Some of the families were from Nuevo Laredo, where scores of residents have reportedly disappeared in recent months. Others came from Texas, where some US citizens have crossed the border and have never been heard from again. (San Diego Union-Tribune, June 28)

I know we're all supposed to hate Judith Miller, but she is absolutely on the right side in her current battle with the Justice Department. And the Supreme Court's decision not to hear her case is a dangerous blow to freedom, as Miller's employer, the New York Times notes in an editorial today:

After an international campaign brought shame on the government of Pakistan, a turnaround in the case of Mukhtaran Mai. Two weeks ago she was under arrest and her attackers were free. Now the reverse is true.

Defendants in Pakistan's Infamous Gang Rape Ordered Re-Arrested
By Ayaz Gul, VOA
Islamabad
28 June 2005

Pakistan's Supreme Court has ordered the re-arrest of 13 men accused of involvement in the gang rape of a woman in 2002, pending completion of the final appeals in the case. The high-profile affair has been the object of great international attention.

As we noted yesterday, reportage on the oil market jittters sparked by the Iran elections included a quote from one analyst predicting an imminent rise to $100 a barrel. This ominous figure is being heard more and more. The Wall Street Journal on June 22 ran an overview of predictions concerning the oil market and its impact on the world economy that quoted Tom Petrie, an "oil bull" who runs his own energy investment bank and research operation out of Denver. Petrie puts the chances that oil will rise to $80 to $100 a barrel in the next couple of years at greater than 50 percent.

The UK Business Telegraph reports June 27 that Iran's president-elect Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a fundamentalist hardliner who won the run-off three days ago as a darkhorse populist candidate, has called for a radical shake-up of the country's oil industry and a crackdown on foreign companies. Domestic firms will be given priority in awarding contracts. "I will cut the hands off the mafias of power and factions who have a grasp on our oil, I stake my life on this," he said. "People must see their share of oil money in their daily lives."

It seems that Mommar Qaddafi's Libya, of all places, has been overlooked by the current Bush "regime change" offensive. Now that sanctions have been lifted, an opposition is starting to emerge, and appears (in contrast to its counterparts in Syria, Uzbekistan, Belarus, Cuba, etc.) to be independent of Washington and the West.

As we've recently noted, nothing makes the 9-11 "skeptics" (who are actually among the most gullible people in the world) giddier than a whiff of vindication from The Establishment. Pretty ironic, given that their entire world view is predicated on the assumption of a monolithic and omnipotent Conspiracy. This time it's Paul Craig Roberts, a supply-side wonk from the Reagan Treasury Department. What the 9-11 conspiranoiacs (as we prefer to call them) don't get is that The Establishment is no less likely than any other cross-section of society to produce cranks and wackjobs. More likely, in fact. Especially the Reagan administration! James Watt, Alexander Haig, the Gipper himself—wackjobs on parade! Funnier still, while they are distributing Roberts' words to give themselves a sense of mainstream legitimacy, the medium that ran this piece of detritus, Arctic Beacon, states on its homepage that among the topics it seeks to explore is "the Alien Presence on Earth and UFO Phenomena."

Way to go, conspiranoiacs!

Now let's see... This is the same United States of America that initiated war against Iraq for allegedly stonewalling UN inspectors, right? Thanks to TruthOut for passing this one along.

UN Experts Cite Guantanamo Torture Reports
By Bradley S. Klapper
The Associated Press

Thursday 23 June 2005

Geneva - UN human rights investigators, citing "persistent and credible" reports of torture at the US base in Guantanamo Bay, urged the United States on Thursday to allow them to check conditions there.