A Stand For Justice
Top CIA Officer: Israel Will Probably Attack Iran in Sept.
Baer added that Netanyahu is "also hoping to draw the United States into the conflict, and in fact there's a warning order inside the Pentagon to prepare for conflict with Iran."
The retired senior CIA officer predicted a scenario in which Israel would attack the Natanz nuclear facility as well as "a couple of others to degrade their capabilities."
"The Iranians will strike back were they can and that will be in Basra and in Baghdad," where the US has a diminished troop presence, Baer said, adding "we've started to look at Iran's targets in Iraq and across the border."
Economic gaps widening in affluent Israel
A month ago, Israel's central bank raised its official 2011 growth forecast to 5.2 percent, more than twice the International Monetary Fund's estimate released in June for real GDP growth for advanced economies. Unemployment in Israel has fallen to 5.8 percent, its lowest level in decades.
The current government "has had significant economic achievements," Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz boasted in a television interview on Tuesday. Why are we going broke giving Israel billions of our taxpayer dollars and other perks?
Lawmaker: Iran shot down unmanned US spy plane
Lawmaker Ali Aghazadeh Dafsari said the drone was flying over the Fordo uranium enrichment site near the holy city of Qom in central Iran, the state TV–run Youth Journalists Club said.
US spares Pakistan aid but keeps pressure
Hezbollah warns Israel over Med gas
Last week, Lebanon's Foreign Minister Adnan Mansur said the maritime border as proposed by Israel posed a threat to regional security.
The proposed frontier cuts through Lebanon's economic zone, he said, adding that Beirut would "turn to the United Nations."
The Corporate Supreme Court by Ralph Nader
Never have I urged impeachment of Supreme Court justices. I do so now, for the sake of ending the Supreme Court's corporate-judicial dictatorship that is not accountable under our system of checks and balance in any other way.
U.S. may act unilaterally vs Iran-armed Iraq militias
Panetta, who as CIA director helped oversee the covert raid that killed Osama bin Laden, said his number one priority since becoming defense secretary was to defeat al Qaeda. He has estimated there are around 1,000 al Qaeda fighters in Iraq.
In language reminiscent of the Bush era, he appeared to link the Iraq war to the September 11, 2001 attacks in his comments to troops. Huh?
Confidential: New biography says Hollywood producer worked as Israeli spy, arms dealer
"When the Israelis were first informed of the investigation by Assistant Secretary of State Richard W. Murphy earlier this year, they apparently were not aware of the export licensing requirements for Krytrons," Time wrote. "Prime Minister Shimon Peres last week told a U.S. television interviewer that Israel's close relationship with the U.S. obviates any need to smuggle out sensitive technology."
Indeed, LAKAM itself was closed in 1986 following revelations that it had recruited an American naval researcher, Jonathan Pollard, to spy for Israel against the United States, causing the largest crisis in the history of U.S.–Israeli relations.
No Early End to Libyan War Expected
Pluralities and majorities of respondents in numerous polls taken here since March have said that Washington should "not be involved" in military operations in Libya.
Dying At Home to Win In Afghanistan by Philip Giraldi
The neoconservatives truly seem to inhabit a world that differs significantly from the place where the rest of us dwell.
Iran may deploy warships in Atlantic
S&P warns that chance of downgrading U.S. credit rating is 50 percent
Standard & Poor’s said late Thursday that it could downgrade the U.S. credit rating as soon as this month, and there is a 50 percent chance it will do so within three months, if Washington fails to come to an agreement over the nation’s debt.
Amid Murdoch Scandal, Some Fear Pro-Israel Media Voice Will Be Muted
Murdoch’s sudden massive reversal of fortune – with 10 top former staffers and executives under arrest in Britain for hacking into the phones of public figures and a murdered schoolgirl, and paying off the police and journalists – has supporters of Israel worried that a diminished Murdoch presence may mute the strongly pro-Israel voice of many of the publications he owns.
...“Murdoch said he didn’t see what the Palestinians’ problem was and James said it was that they were kicked out of their f—ing homes and had nowhere to f—ing live,” the account in The Guardian said. Murdoch chided his son for using foul language in the prime minister’s home.
Rupert Murdoch is a Christian Zionist and is thus a staunch Israel-supporter. And his Fox News network reflects that. I am not heartbroken in the least at the news of this scandal. Ladies and gentlemen, Karma is served.
Iran, China ink $4 bn in infrastructure deals
China and Iran have become major economic partners in recent years, partly thanks to the withdrawal of Western companies in line with sanctions against the Islamic republic over its contentious nuclear drive.
Iraq, Iran issue border demands after clashes
Ron Paul's new TV ad opposes raising debt limit
President Barack Obama has said that if a deal to raise the debt ceiling is not passed by Aug. 2, the U.S. government could default on its loans, creating a financial crisis. Paul and some conservative Republican members of Congress reject that conclusion and have insisted on spending cuts.
The Fast Fix PAC-ed to the gills
What makes these PACS "super" is that they can raise unlimited amounts of money from almost any source.
They came into existence after a landmark Supreme Court ruling in 2010 that did away with the ban on corporations and labor unions from spending unlimited sums directly advocating for the election or defeat of candidates.
Turkey jails 14 over alleged anti-U.S. attack plan
A Turkish court has jailed 14 people pending trial on charges of al Qaeda membership for allegedly planning an attack on the U.S. embassy in Ankara, state media said on Saturday.
Silver and Koch Spar Over Weiner Seat
Koch recently called on Jews to defect to the GOP to send a message of disapproval to President Barack Obama over his handling of relations with Israel.
Silver conceded that Jews may be unhappy with the president’s stance, but insisted that sending a Republican to Congress from the heavily Democratic district would only make things worse.
“What we need is more Democrats who will go to bat for Israel, notwithstanding what a president may think,” Silver told the News.
It's always about Israel.
Jews: Argentina and Iran both failed in bomb probe
Apparently, We Are All Belarusians
On Tuesday the Tom Lantos Human Rights Hearing convened to discuss what to do about the Syrian regime, which may or may not be engaging in wholesale repression depending on who you believe. Lantos is dead, but while he lived he was considered a major conduit for illegal passage of classified information to the Israeli government. It is nice to see that his spirit lives on in the 112th Congress, particularly as Syria is a front line state that is considered an enemy by Tel Aviv. The Lantos meeting is co-sponsored by Congressman Frank Wolf of Virginia, who is a major recipient of AIPAC funding.
New Man in Tel Aviv by Philip Giraldi
Now some of us old fashioned types have long believed that an American ambassador is supposed to represent US interests, but that is apparently no longer the case, at least when Israel is involved. Even assuming that Obama is dissimulating just a tad to burnish his pro-Israeli credentials, the assertion that Israel’s security is job number one should be producing some indigestion somewhere in the media or punditocracy, but, alas, I cannot find it.
Former US official derides Palestinian UN effort
Bolton is in Israel along with other members of the Friends of Israel Initiative, a group founded last year by former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar.
Neocons Fume Over US Boat to Gaza By Ray McGovern
It certainly appears that the Likudniks, the U.S. neocons and some of the “Harvards” are running scared as Israel’s growing extremism and anti-Muslim bigotry becomes harder to perfume over with every passing day.
Iran 'ready to cooperate' over attack on Argentine Jews
Israel has pointed the finger at the Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah for carrying out the attacks, which the Jewish state believes were masterminded by Tehran.
Christian Zionists unite in D.C. to express support for Israel
The prime minister encouraged the conference attendees to not only think of Israel as an ally of the Unites States, but as indistinguishable from it This is the main problem with Israel-supporters. And it's why when I say I don't support Israel, they call me a traitor. They do not see Israel and the United States as two separate entities. It's why they feel the US should fight Israel's enemies (Iraq, now Iran). It's why the US Congress works tirelessly on their behalf - due to the efforts of the powerful Israeli lobby.
Murdoch faces calls for break-up of media empire
US Republican hopeful backs right to ban synagogues
Republican presidential hopeful Herman Cain on Sunday said US communities that want to ban synagogues have a right to do so, as he backed opponents of a synagogue being built in Tennessee.
"Judaism is both a religion and a set of laws –– Talmudic laws. That's the difference between any one of our traditional religions where it's just about religious purposes," Cain told Fox News Sunday. Imagine if he had said that? The uproar. It's only ok to do this to Muslims, evidently.
32 killed in Syria protests, Damascus moves: activists
Syrian forces killed at least 32 civilians on Friday, including 23 in the capital Damascus, in an intensifying crackdown on protests against President Bashar al–Assad, activists said.
War With Iran? US Neocons Aim to Repeat Chalabi-Style Swindle
Why would some of the most vocal advocates for prosecuting the war on terror now take an Islamic terrorist group under its wing and persistently lobby the State Department and the US Congress to have the group removed from terrorist list? Simply put, they say the enemy of the enemy is our friend. Maryam Rajavi, the MEK leader and self-proclaimed president of Iran, is their new Chalabi.
Assad to offer presidential election as Homs death toll rises
How to Liberate America from Wall Street Rule
Over the past 30 years, virtually all the benefit of U.S. economic growth has gone to the richest 1 percent of Americans. Effective tax rates for the very rich are at historic lows and many of the most profitable corporations pay no taxes at all.
Assad loyalists kill 10 in attacks in Homs
A 12–year old boy was among those killed in Homs on Monday the Local Coordination Committees said, adding that the attacks focused on the al–Khalidiya district of the city.
Crackdown escalates in east Syria, protesters killed
Syrian forces shot dead two pro–democracy protesters on Thursday in eastern provincial capital Deir al–Zoran, residents said, as a crackdown escalated against dissent in the tribal region bordering Iraq's Sunni heartland.
Indonesian Muslim group forms anti-terror squad
An Indonesian Islamic youth group has set up a unit to counter radicalism in Muslim communities and even help police defuse homemade bombs, its chairman said Monday.
Iran 'hangs' child sex murderer: report
Iran has hanged a man convicted of raping and murdering a five–year old girl in a village near the southern port city of Bandar Abbas, the ISNA news agency reported on Sunday. We should do that HERE.
Syrian opposition forms council to counter Assad
U.N. nuclear agency brings Syria to Security Council
The U.N. nuclear watchdog brought allegations of covert atomic work by Syria before the Security Council on Thursday, but the 15–nation body took no immediate action amid divisions among key powers.
The Secrecy of the Obama Administration - James Bamford Unplugged!
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Headlines for July 7 - July 13
A Stand For Justice
Iran prepares for nuclear work in bunker: sources
diplomatic sources say
Russia lays out "step-by-step" approach on Iran
Russia on Wednesday laid out a "step–by–step" approach under which Iran could address questions about its nuclear program and be rewarded with a gradual easing of sanctions.
The proposal, described by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov after talks with President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, seeks to revive negotiations to put to rest Western suspicions that Iran may be seeking nuclear arms.
Taming deficit means pain for middle class, poor
the spending cuts and tax hikes that are on the table would have a major impact on most Americans–especially members of the middle class and the poor.
House Threatens To Cut Off Palestinian Aid Over Statehood Move
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee was urging its activists as late as Wednesday to press Congress, mired in budget debates, to pass the resolution.
In the end, only six lawmakers – three Republicans and three Democrats –voted against.
All’s ‘Fare’ in War by Philip Giraldi
The other side of Lawfare, as the name indicates, is using the law itself as a weapon of war. The Israelis and American supporters of Israel have caught on to the potential of the legal weapon and are using lawsuits to tie up opponents.
....The lawsuit was filed with the assistance of the Shurat HaDin or Israel Law Center, which has been established as a Non-Government Organization intended to use the law against groups that are critical of Israel. The objective is to harass such groups with litigation so they become ineffective or, even better, bankrupted by legal costs.
....Any group deemed to be hostile to Israel will be attacked and litigated against. Many of the charges will be frivolous but those who are sued will have to waste time and resources defending themselves, which is precisely what is intended.
....Canadian legislators are already considering making any criticism of Israel a hate crime, and once the idea takes hold here in the United States something similar is sure to follow, creating yet another basis for litigation Wow. Is this America or the USSR?
Panetta Spins by Philip Giraldi
The issue of Iranian support for Shi’a militias is more serious in that it can be considered to be a casus belli, i.e. “they are killing our troops.” It also ties into a recent comment by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Admiral Mullen and a reported statement by senior State Department official in Iraq Thomas Nides. Nides admitted that there was no actual proof that Iran was involved, only “classified intelligence.” In other words, “I can’t tell you but I think it’s true.”
I have been following this issue ever since it was first surfaced in 2005, when it was claimed that Iranian supplied improvised explosive devices (IEDs) were being used in Iraq, and, later, in Afghanistan. The evidence for the Iranian involvement has always been on the thin side, particularly as it was subsequently discovered that many of the weapons were being manufactured in a former bicycle factory in Iraq. They are definitely low tech and the need for Iranian involvement was always somewhat suspect.
US isn't world's moral arbiter: Iranian FM
The United States cannot be the world's moral arbiter, a top Iranian official said here Monday, dismissing charges that Tehran is involved in smuggling weapons to insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The United States "has been making such statements for 30 years. We don't consider the US to be able to rule on what is right and what is wrong," Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi told a news conference in the Slovenian capital.
US Caught Off-guard by Iran Sanctions
The decision by Iran's Parliament (Majlis) to impose sanctions on and indict 26 US officials who have perpetrated war crimes and violated human rights has come as a great surprise to the US government that has always accused independent nations such as Iran of violating human rights and supporting terrorism.
Ron Paul announces retirement from Congress
Texas Republican Rep. Ron Paul made a surprise announcement Tuesday that he will not seek re–election to Congress, spelling an end to a nearly 24–year House career amid his third run for president.
Iran denies US claims it armed Iraq rebels
U.S. may act unilaterally vs Iran-armed Iraq militias
U.S. officials blame Shi'ite militias armed by Iraq's Shi'ite neighbor Iran for most of the recent attacks and U.S. military explosives experts showed reporters traveling with Panetta pieces of rockets used for attacks in Iraq that they linked to Iran.
Oil rises to above $97 after US crude supply drop
Oil prices rose to above $97 a barrel Thursday in Asia as a report showed U.S. crude supplies fell more than expected for a second week, suggesting demand is improving.
House Passes $649B Defense Spending Bill
The House on Friday overwhelmingly passed a $649 billion defense spending bill that boosts the Pentagon budget by $17 billion and covers the costs of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
US Cancels Millions in Aid to Pakistan Military
Despite billions of dollars in American aid since the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, the relationship has long been tense because of Pakistan's reluctance to target Taliban militants on its territory who stage cross-border attacks against NATO troops in Afghanistan.
US Official: No Tangible Evidence at Hand to Prove Iran's Aid to Iraqi Militants
Speaking to FNA in Iraq's Northern Kurdish city of Erbil on Monday, US Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources Thomas Nides repeated his country's earlier claims against Iran, but admitted that the US has no "strong and tangible evidence" to prove the claim.
The Establishment in Panic by Patrick J. Buchanan
The Republican Party has not said it will refuse to raise the debt ceiling. It has an obligation to do so, and will.
The House has simply said it will not accept new taxes on a nation whose fiscal crisis comes from overspending.
Israel recognizes South Sudan, offers economic aid
Israel recognized South Sudan Sunday, offering the new state economic help after it seceded from the mainly Arab Muslim north, which has no relations with the Jewish state. Israel, a prosperous country, recipient of the largest share of US taxpayer foreign aid is offering economic assistance to SOME OTHER COUNTRY? How about they GIVE US OUR MONEY BACK? We give them BILLIONS in taxpayer dollars each year. These are NOT LOANS. These are grants given at the beginning of the year so that Israel can further gain by the interest on the money. As US schools close, teachers are laid off, states, towns and villages are having to make severe cuts in order to balance their budgets, Israel sits high on the hog and is eager to dole out OUR MONEY.
Israel approves work on controversial museum
Israel has approved the start of work on a controversial Museum of Tolerance that will be built on the site of an old Muslim cemetery in Jerusalem, a spokeswoman said on Wednesday. This would be headlines in the US and Congress would pass at least one resolution condemning the act if it were MUSLIMS that were building ANYTHING on a JEWISH cemetery.
Lebanon warns Israel against sea border move
"President Michel Sleiman warns against any unilateral decisions Israel may take on maritime borders which would be a breach of international law, as is Israel's habit," Sleiman's office said in a statement.
Lebanon lawmakers approve Hezbollah-backed government
Iran threatens to attack rebels across Iraq border
"The terrorists will not be allowed to take sanctuary in Iraq's territory and attack Iran with the support of America and the Zionist regime," the official said. "Action will be taken against these terrorists." The Israelis trained the Kurds, according to UK news sources.
Interpol issues warrants for Hariri killing suspects
For Israel, a Balkan bloom despite Palestine chill
The Israeli leader, a free–market champion who is quick to celebrate his country's hi–tech advances and endurance through global economic doldrums, made no secret of wanting to exploit recent off–shore natural gas discoveries as strategic exports.
"Because we need very little of this, we intend basically to lay a pipeline or create a shipping lane. We can be a big supplier in the natural gas field," he said. Israel is FAT from the US taxypayer welfare checks that we HAND them every year. Billions, kids. And there are tons more peripheral perks that they receive such as the US Security Council veto at the UN, defense agreements, numerous pieces of legislation, and the action taken in the Middle East by the US military.
Leon Panetta, a Defense Secretary With a Long History of Cooperation with Israel
During his recently completed stint as CIA director, Panetta worked closely with Israeli intelligence, which reportedly has shared information about Iran and about terror threats.
“It is important to understand that despite differences on Middle East policy, the military and intelligence relations between the U.S. and Israel were extremely strong,” said Jim Colbert, policy director of the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs. “Director Panetta was closely involved on these issues.”
This really means that America is in BIG trouble. We will be attacking Iran before long, no doubt.
U.N. council split likely on Syria atomic issue: U.S.
Notice how the issue is about what Syria MIGHT have been doing and NOT the fact that Israel violated international law by bombing Syria without any provocation.
Lawyer Who Promotes Anti-Sharia Laws Publishes New Study on Islamic Extremism
Four years in the making, and part of a project costing hundreds of thousands of dollars, Yerushalmi’s study is titled “Shari’a and Violence in American Mosques” and was co-written by Mordechai Kedar, a professor of Middle East studies at Israel’s Bar-Ilan University. It is published in the current issue of the Middle East Quarterly, the flagship publication of the conservative think tank, the Middle East Forum.
The study has been strongly criticized by liberal organizations but seized upon by conservative publications, such as FrontPage Magazine and National Review Online, as proof that Islam constitutes a grave threat to national security. Writing in National Review Online, Andrew McCarthy said the results proved that, “what we wishfully call ‘radicalism’ is in fact the Islamic mainstream.”
...Yerushalmi did say that one of the study’s funders was the Center for Security Policy, a neoconservative think tank devoted to opposing what it perceives to be the growing threat of radical Islam in the United States.
Put forth by Israelis and pushed forward by neocons, are you surprised?
Syria says Clinton's remarks on Assad "provocative"
Tug-of-war over Iraqi Jewish trove in US hands
There are claims of Jewish pressure to prevent the return of the collection, and questions about why the U.S. didn't prevent the looting of Arab and Islamic treasures during the invasion but was able to bring the Jewish collection to safety in America. That's a good point. Americans need to learn what the term 'philosemitism' means, and its implications. This country via our government seems to be suffering from it, and suffering for it.
U.S. slams Syria for 'outrageous' embassy attack
The United States on Monday condemned Syria for refusing to protect the U.S. embassy in Damascus from an "outrageous" attack by government loyalists it said were seeking to divert attention from Syria's internal political crisis.
US says Assad failed to prove himself legitimate
West piles pressure for UN action on Syria
Bolstered by support, Syrians pour into streets
Hundreds of thousands of Syrians poured into the streets of the opposition stronghold Hama on Friday, bolstered by a gesture of support from the American and French ambassadors who visited the city where a massacre nearly 30 years ago came to symbolize the ruthlessness of the Assad dynasty.
The visit by U.S. Ambassador Robert Ford drew swift condemnation from the Syrian government, which said the unauthorized trip was proof that Washington was inciting violence in the Arab nation.
Debating Taboos by Ralph Nader
The first nationally televised debate (C-SPAN) on the subject of mandatory voting, or voting duty, occurred in Washington D.C. on June 27, 2011 (watch it at: http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/DebateonMa). Why did it take so long? Because discussing this topic has been a taboo in electoral, legislative and main media arenas. Hmm. That's an interesting concept.
Corporate Tax Escapees and You
France slams Russia, China block on UN Syria vote
Paul Caps his Congressional Career
Bachmann Looks for Social Conservative Support
As Michael Dougherty wrote in the cover story of TAC‘s June issue, “the Tea Party, confusedly hailed by the media as a grassroots libertarian spasm, turns out on inspection to be the religious right wearing a tricorn hat and talking about Obamacare.”
Dougherty continues: “Neoconservatives who call for confrontation with Iran, a closer relationship with Israel, and pressing the War on Terror are not echoed by religious conservatives—they’re drowned out by them.”
Turkish FM to visit Iran
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu will visit Iran on Sunday to discuss a wave of unrest shaking Middle East countries, a senior Turkish diplomat said.
Lebanon's Hariri slams Hezbollah over UN court
Lebanon's opposition leader Saad Hariri on Tuesday defended a UN–backed court that has indicted Hezbollah members in the 2005 murder of his father against "misleading accusations" by the Shiite group
Iran prepares for nuclear work in bunker: sources
diplomatic sources say
Russia lays out "step-by-step" approach on Iran
Russia on Wednesday laid out a "step–by–step" approach under which Iran could address questions about its nuclear program and be rewarded with a gradual easing of sanctions.
The proposal, described by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov after talks with President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, seeks to revive negotiations to put to rest Western suspicions that Iran may be seeking nuclear arms.
Taming deficit means pain for middle class, poor
the spending cuts and tax hikes that are on the table would have a major impact on most Americans–especially members of the middle class and the poor.
House Threatens To Cut Off Palestinian Aid Over Statehood Move
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee was urging its activists as late as Wednesday to press Congress, mired in budget debates, to pass the resolution.
In the end, only six lawmakers – three Republicans and three Democrats –voted against.
All’s ‘Fare’ in War by Philip Giraldi
The other side of Lawfare, as the name indicates, is using the law itself as a weapon of war. The Israelis and American supporters of Israel have caught on to the potential of the legal weapon and are using lawsuits to tie up opponents.
....The lawsuit was filed with the assistance of the Shurat HaDin or Israel Law Center, which has been established as a Non-Government Organization intended to use the law against groups that are critical of Israel. The objective is to harass such groups with litigation so they become ineffective or, even better, bankrupted by legal costs.
....Any group deemed to be hostile to Israel will be attacked and litigated against. Many of the charges will be frivolous but those who are sued will have to waste time and resources defending themselves, which is precisely what is intended.
....Canadian legislators are already considering making any criticism of Israel a hate crime, and once the idea takes hold here in the United States something similar is sure to follow, creating yet another basis for litigation Wow. Is this America or the USSR?
Panetta Spins by Philip Giraldi
The issue of Iranian support for Shi’a militias is more serious in that it can be considered to be a casus belli, i.e. “they are killing our troops.” It also ties into a recent comment by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Admiral Mullen and a reported statement by senior State Department official in Iraq Thomas Nides. Nides admitted that there was no actual proof that Iran was involved, only “classified intelligence.” In other words, “I can’t tell you but I think it’s true.”
I have been following this issue ever since it was first surfaced in 2005, when it was claimed that Iranian supplied improvised explosive devices (IEDs) were being used in Iraq, and, later, in Afghanistan. The evidence for the Iranian involvement has always been on the thin side, particularly as it was subsequently discovered that many of the weapons were being manufactured in a former bicycle factory in Iraq. They are definitely low tech and the need for Iranian involvement was always somewhat suspect.
US isn't world's moral arbiter: Iranian FM
The United States cannot be the world's moral arbiter, a top Iranian official said here Monday, dismissing charges that Tehran is involved in smuggling weapons to insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The United States "has been making such statements for 30 years. We don't consider the US to be able to rule on what is right and what is wrong," Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi told a news conference in the Slovenian capital.
US Caught Off-guard by Iran Sanctions
The decision by Iran's Parliament (Majlis) to impose sanctions on and indict 26 US officials who have perpetrated war crimes and violated human rights has come as a great surprise to the US government that has always accused independent nations such as Iran of violating human rights and supporting terrorism.
Ron Paul announces retirement from Congress
Texas Republican Rep. Ron Paul made a surprise announcement Tuesday that he will not seek re–election to Congress, spelling an end to a nearly 24–year House career amid his third run for president.
Iran denies US claims it armed Iraq rebels
U.S. may act unilaterally vs Iran-armed Iraq militias
U.S. officials blame Shi'ite militias armed by Iraq's Shi'ite neighbor Iran for most of the recent attacks and U.S. military explosives experts showed reporters traveling with Panetta pieces of rockets used for attacks in Iraq that they linked to Iran.
Oil rises to above $97 after US crude supply drop
Oil prices rose to above $97 a barrel Thursday in Asia as a report showed U.S. crude supplies fell more than expected for a second week, suggesting demand is improving.
House Passes $649B Defense Spending Bill
The House on Friday overwhelmingly passed a $649 billion defense spending bill that boosts the Pentagon budget by $17 billion and covers the costs of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
US Cancels Millions in Aid to Pakistan Military
Despite billions of dollars in American aid since the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, the relationship has long been tense because of Pakistan's reluctance to target Taliban militants on its territory who stage cross-border attacks against NATO troops in Afghanistan.
US Official: No Tangible Evidence at Hand to Prove Iran's Aid to Iraqi Militants
Speaking to FNA in Iraq's Northern Kurdish city of Erbil on Monday, US Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources Thomas Nides repeated his country's earlier claims against Iran, but admitted that the US has no "strong and tangible evidence" to prove the claim.
The Establishment in Panic by Patrick J. Buchanan
The Republican Party has not said it will refuse to raise the debt ceiling. It has an obligation to do so, and will.
The House has simply said it will not accept new taxes on a nation whose fiscal crisis comes from overspending.
Israel recognizes South Sudan, offers economic aid
Israel recognized South Sudan Sunday, offering the new state economic help after it seceded from the mainly Arab Muslim north, which has no relations with the Jewish state. Israel, a prosperous country, recipient of the largest share of US taxpayer foreign aid is offering economic assistance to SOME OTHER COUNTRY? How about they GIVE US OUR MONEY BACK? We give them BILLIONS in taxpayer dollars each year. These are NOT LOANS. These are grants given at the beginning of the year so that Israel can further gain by the interest on the money. As US schools close, teachers are laid off, states, towns and villages are having to make severe cuts in order to balance their budgets, Israel sits high on the hog and is eager to dole out OUR MONEY.
Israel approves work on controversial museum
Israel has approved the start of work on a controversial Museum of Tolerance that will be built on the site of an old Muslim cemetery in Jerusalem, a spokeswoman said on Wednesday. This would be headlines in the US and Congress would pass at least one resolution condemning the act if it were MUSLIMS that were building ANYTHING on a JEWISH cemetery.
Lebanon warns Israel against sea border move
"President Michel Sleiman warns against any unilateral decisions Israel may take on maritime borders which would be a breach of international law, as is Israel's habit," Sleiman's office said in a statement.
Lebanon lawmakers approve Hezbollah-backed government
Iran threatens to attack rebels across Iraq border
"The terrorists will not be allowed to take sanctuary in Iraq's territory and attack Iran with the support of America and the Zionist regime," the official said. "Action will be taken against these terrorists." The Israelis trained the Kurds, according to UK news sources.
Interpol issues warrants for Hariri killing suspects
For Israel, a Balkan bloom despite Palestine chill
The Israeli leader, a free–market champion who is quick to celebrate his country's hi–tech advances and endurance through global economic doldrums, made no secret of wanting to exploit recent off–shore natural gas discoveries as strategic exports.
"Because we need very little of this, we intend basically to lay a pipeline or create a shipping lane. We can be a big supplier in the natural gas field," he said. Israel is FAT from the US taxypayer welfare checks that we HAND them every year. Billions, kids. And there are tons more peripheral perks that they receive such as the US Security Council veto at the UN, defense agreements, numerous pieces of legislation, and the action taken in the Middle East by the US military.
Leon Panetta, a Defense Secretary With a Long History of Cooperation with Israel
During his recently completed stint as CIA director, Panetta worked closely with Israeli intelligence, which reportedly has shared information about Iran and about terror threats.
“It is important to understand that despite differences on Middle East policy, the military and intelligence relations between the U.S. and Israel were extremely strong,” said Jim Colbert, policy director of the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs. “Director Panetta was closely involved on these issues.”
This really means that America is in BIG trouble. We will be attacking Iran before long, no doubt.
U.N. council split likely on Syria atomic issue: U.S.
Notice how the issue is about what Syria MIGHT have been doing and NOT the fact that Israel violated international law by bombing Syria without any provocation.
Lawyer Who Promotes Anti-Sharia Laws Publishes New Study on Islamic Extremism
Four years in the making, and part of a project costing hundreds of thousands of dollars, Yerushalmi’s study is titled “Shari’a and Violence in American Mosques” and was co-written by Mordechai Kedar, a professor of Middle East studies at Israel’s Bar-Ilan University. It is published in the current issue of the Middle East Quarterly, the flagship publication of the conservative think tank, the Middle East Forum.
The study has been strongly criticized by liberal organizations but seized upon by conservative publications, such as FrontPage Magazine and National Review Online, as proof that Islam constitutes a grave threat to national security. Writing in National Review Online, Andrew McCarthy said the results proved that, “what we wishfully call ‘radicalism’ is in fact the Islamic mainstream.”
...Yerushalmi did say that one of the study’s funders was the Center for Security Policy, a neoconservative think tank devoted to opposing what it perceives to be the growing threat of radical Islam in the United States.
Put forth by Israelis and pushed forward by neocons, are you surprised?
Syria says Clinton's remarks on Assad "provocative"
Tug-of-war over Iraqi Jewish trove in US hands
There are claims of Jewish pressure to prevent the return of the collection, and questions about why the U.S. didn't prevent the looting of Arab and Islamic treasures during the invasion but was able to bring the Jewish collection to safety in America. That's a good point. Americans need to learn what the term 'philosemitism' means, and its implications. This country via our government seems to be suffering from it, and suffering for it.
U.S. slams Syria for 'outrageous' embassy attack
The United States on Monday condemned Syria for refusing to protect the U.S. embassy in Damascus from an "outrageous" attack by government loyalists it said were seeking to divert attention from Syria's internal political crisis.
US says Assad failed to prove himself legitimate
West piles pressure for UN action on Syria
Bolstered by support, Syrians pour into streets
Hundreds of thousands of Syrians poured into the streets of the opposition stronghold Hama on Friday, bolstered by a gesture of support from the American and French ambassadors who visited the city where a massacre nearly 30 years ago came to symbolize the ruthlessness of the Assad dynasty.
The visit by U.S. Ambassador Robert Ford drew swift condemnation from the Syrian government, which said the unauthorized trip was proof that Washington was inciting violence in the Arab nation.
Debating Taboos by Ralph Nader
The first nationally televised debate (C-SPAN) on the subject of mandatory voting, or voting duty, occurred in Washington D.C. on June 27, 2011 (watch it at: http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/DebateonMa). Why did it take so long? Because discussing this topic has been a taboo in electoral, legislative and main media arenas. Hmm. That's an interesting concept.
Corporate Tax Escapees and You
France slams Russia, China block on UN Syria vote
Paul Caps his Congressional Career
Bachmann Looks for Social Conservative Support
As Michael Dougherty wrote in the cover story of TAC‘s June issue, “the Tea Party, confusedly hailed by the media as a grassroots libertarian spasm, turns out on inspection to be the religious right wearing a tricorn hat and talking about Obamacare.”
Dougherty continues: “Neoconservatives who call for confrontation with Iran, a closer relationship with Israel, and pressing the War on Terror are not echoed by religious conservatives—they’re drowned out by them.”
Turkish FM to visit Iran
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu will visit Iran on Sunday to discuss a wave of unrest shaking Middle East countries, a senior Turkish diplomat said.
Lebanon's Hariri slams Hezbollah over UN court
Lebanon's opposition leader Saad Hariri on Tuesday defended a UN–backed court that has indicted Hezbollah members in the 2005 murder of his father against "misleading accusations" by the Shiite group
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Headlines for June 30 - July 6
A Stand For Justice
Oil up past $96 on higher price forecast
Oil prices bounced back above $95 a barrel Tuesday on the back of forecasts for more expensive crude in 2012, though gains were limited by the dollar's rise and doubts about global demand. Speculators strike again. Treason.
Israeli minister: Don't take eyes off Iran
Britain believes Tehran has conducted at least three secret tests of medium–range ballistic missiles since October, amid an apparent escalation of its nuclear program and increased scrutiny from the International Atomic Energy Agency.
The Tea Party and Goldman Sachs: A Love Story
The whole point of the tea party is to focus concern over our stagnant economy on something called “big government” while ignoring the big corporations that have bought the government as an accessory to their marketing strategies.
The US Must End Its Illegal War in Libya Now by Dennis Kucinich
the war is illegal under the United States constitution and our War Powers Act, because only the US Congress has the authority to declare war and the president has been unable to show that the US faced an imminent threat from Libya. The president even ignored his top legal advisers at the Pentagon and the department of justice who insisted he needed congressional approval before bombing Libya.
Think tank: Shrink ground forces, end counterinsurgency missions for savings
To help heal the nation’s economic sores, Washington could free up billions annually by drastically altering how it uses the U.S. military and shaving the size of the Army and Marine Corps, according to a new study.
Winners and Losers by Philip Giraldi
Bolton, a leading neoconservative, has been calling for attacking Iran for a number of years. As part of his argument, he always maintains that Iran’s acquisition of a nuclear weapon is imminent. He never explains why it hasn’t happened yet, making one suspect that his warnings are baseless and politically motivated. Even the United States intelligence community, in its recently concluded review of the National Intelligence Estimate of 2007, has stated its belief that there is no evidence that Iran has restarted the nuclear weapons program that it abandoned in 2003.
As recovery lags, corporations prosper–and lobby for more
So to recap: This recovery is among the weakest since World War Two. But three years after the financial industry caused the economy to tank, corporations are doing better than ever, without using their profits to hire people. Meanwhile, they're lobbying for more tax breaks, which would make the deficit problem worse.
Hezbollah leader rejects Hariri court indictments
He also portrayed the head of the court, Antonio Cassese, as a friend of Israel who is hostile to Hezbollah and said many of its officials had links to U.S. intelligence.
"This investigation, and this court... as far as we are concerned is American and Israeli," he said.
U.N. prosecutor says Hezbollah should help Hariri probe
Footage aired by Nasrallah on Saturday included scenes of a conference in Israel at which the U.N. Lebanon tribunal's president Antonio Cassese was praised as a friend of Israel.
Nasrallah also showed pictures of documents which he said showed that 97 computers used by investigators had been shipped out of Lebanon via Israel, instead of directly from Beirut's airport or seaport, to the tribunal's headquarters in the Netherlands.
U.S. urges Lebanon to act on Hariri indictments
Of course the US urges Lebanon to do so - at Israel's urging of course. This was a complete setup from day one to turn the Lebanese against Hezbollah. It has Israeli false flag operation written all over it.
Letter: AIPAC a big Kirk supporter
Such a plan provides a powerful suggestion that Kirk is in someone’s back pocket. It also brings to mind a February 2010 report on the TPMMuckraker website that states that the senator received $1,025,000 from pro-Israeli Pacs — AIPAC, in particular.
After that, he called for the U.S. Navy to assist the Israeli navy to intercept the next Gaza relief flotilla on the high seas
The FBI's synagogue bomb plot
Throughout the sentencing, Judge McMahon remained firm: this case was a government invention. The men in question did not agree to carry out the crime due to ideology. They had no allegiance to, or even knowledge, of the terrorist group Jaish-i-Mohammed, in whose name they allegedly acted. They were not motivated to criminal behaviour by their allegiance to Allah. They were motivated, purely and simply, by money; as such, they were criminals deserving punishment, but not terrorists. As Judge McMahon repeatedly stated, these men were not equivalent to the 2010 Times Square bomber, Faisal Shazad, or other ideologically motivated terrorists. It's not the entrapment that bothers this reporter but rather the potential for the spread of anti-Semitism. Ok.
Fourteen Propaganda Techniques Fox "News" Uses to Brainwash Americans
Take the enormous amount of misinformation that is taken for truth by Fox audiences: the belief that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and that he was in on 9/11, the belief that climate change isn't real and/or man-made, the belief that Barack Obama is Muslim and wasn't born in the United States, the insistence that all Arabs are Muslim and all Muslims are terrorists, the inexplicable perceptions that immigrants are both too lazy to work and are about to steal your job. The pro-Israelis use the same methods.
Hezbollah chief defends Hariri suspects in Lebanon
Nasrallah said the suspects named in the indictment are brothers "who have an honorable history in resisting Israeli occupation." He went on to cast doubt on the U.N.–backed tribunal investigating the crime and said it was biased. Awful strange that those fingered were Israel's enemies, eh? Can you say false flag?
Syrian forces shoot dead 14 in Hama: activists
The Peasants Are Revolting by Philip Giraldi
Brooks appears to be bothered most by the fact that the Tea Partiers are so common. How dare they not pay attention to “scholars and intellectual authorities,” which undoubtedly includes David Brooks himself. Brooks seems unaware that it is precisely folks like him and his scholarly buddies who have gotten the rest of us in a mess that appears to have no exit door. His invocation of the “ancient habits of our nation” appears to accept running up catastrophic debts while fighting a series of wars of choice, which he, of course, chose and even cheerleaded. That is not so much an ancient habit as a recent one, brought to us courtesy of Brooks and his friends over at The Weekly Standard, The Wall Street Journal, and the American Enterprise Institute.
Movement to Abolish Corporate Personhood Gaining Traction
Throughout the country people have responded by organizing against “corporate personhood,” a court-created precedent that illegitimately gives corporations rights that were intended for human beings.
Russia criticizes US over abuses in wars abroad
Debating Taboos by Ralph Nader
Make your own list of public taboos. For example, in all the talk about debts, deficits and taxes, notice the near total silence about a huge revenue producer, with a ready base of popular support, a Wall Street securities transaction tax--often called a tax on high volume financial speculation. In President Obama's 70 minute news conference last week, not one reporter asked his position on this proposed tax. Moreover, no President has been asked this question in public for at least the last 40 years. Yet several countries have such a tax and the U.S. had such a tax until about fifty years ago.
Pandit’s Payouts Climb Toward $200 Million as Top Bailout Recipient Slips
“Pandit, his $1 pay notwithstanding, cannot be considered modestly paid,” said Graef Crystal, a compensation expert and Bloomberg News consultant based in Las Vegas. “Taxpayers saved this bank, and he’s getting a bundle while shareholders are getting shortchanged on the stock price.”
McCain & Lieberman Keep Up Interventionist Rhetoric
Is Default Inevitable? by Patrick J. Buchanan
Administrations of both parties contributed to this rise in the federal share of gross domestic product. But the GOP committed itself in 2010 to rein it in, without raising taxes. On that pledge the GOP triumphed and should keep its commitment.
America: Indebted to War
The most significant Republican proposal to actually reduce spending to a degree in tune with the severity of our problem was put forth by Sen. Rand Paul. Paul introduced a plan in March that would balance the budget in five years and reduce the debt by $4 trillion. Paul’s plan sought not simply to stop or reform spending—but to cut it—the very thing virtually every Republican claims to support and agrees must happen.
Syrian forces kill 24, protesters tell Assad to go
The assaults concentrated on the northern section of Jabal al–Zawya region, home to 15,000 people, many of whom are trying to flee to Turkey, which already has 10,000 refugees from attacks in Idlib earlier this month.
Oil up past $96 on higher price forecast
Oil prices bounced back above $95 a barrel Tuesday on the back of forecasts for more expensive crude in 2012, though gains were limited by the dollar's rise and doubts about global demand. Speculators strike again. Treason.
Israeli minister: Don't take eyes off Iran
Britain believes Tehran has conducted at least three secret tests of medium–range ballistic missiles since October, amid an apparent escalation of its nuclear program and increased scrutiny from the International Atomic Energy Agency.
The Tea Party and Goldman Sachs: A Love Story
The whole point of the tea party is to focus concern over our stagnant economy on something called “big government” while ignoring the big corporations that have bought the government as an accessory to their marketing strategies.
The US Must End Its Illegal War in Libya Now by Dennis Kucinich
the war is illegal under the United States constitution and our War Powers Act, because only the US Congress has the authority to declare war and the president has been unable to show that the US faced an imminent threat from Libya. The president even ignored his top legal advisers at the Pentagon and the department of justice who insisted he needed congressional approval before bombing Libya.
Think tank: Shrink ground forces, end counterinsurgency missions for savings
To help heal the nation’s economic sores, Washington could free up billions annually by drastically altering how it uses the U.S. military and shaving the size of the Army and Marine Corps, according to a new study.
Winners and Losers by Philip Giraldi
Bolton, a leading neoconservative, has been calling for attacking Iran for a number of years. As part of his argument, he always maintains that Iran’s acquisition of a nuclear weapon is imminent. He never explains why it hasn’t happened yet, making one suspect that his warnings are baseless and politically motivated. Even the United States intelligence community, in its recently concluded review of the National Intelligence Estimate of 2007, has stated its belief that there is no evidence that Iran has restarted the nuclear weapons program that it abandoned in 2003.
As recovery lags, corporations prosper–and lobby for more
So to recap: This recovery is among the weakest since World War Two. But three years after the financial industry caused the economy to tank, corporations are doing better than ever, without using their profits to hire people. Meanwhile, they're lobbying for more tax breaks, which would make the deficit problem worse.
Hezbollah leader rejects Hariri court indictments
He also portrayed the head of the court, Antonio Cassese, as a friend of Israel who is hostile to Hezbollah and said many of its officials had links to U.S. intelligence.
"This investigation, and this court... as far as we are concerned is American and Israeli," he said.
U.N. prosecutor says Hezbollah should help Hariri probe
Footage aired by Nasrallah on Saturday included scenes of a conference in Israel at which the U.N. Lebanon tribunal's president Antonio Cassese was praised as a friend of Israel.
Nasrallah also showed pictures of documents which he said showed that 97 computers used by investigators had been shipped out of Lebanon via Israel, instead of directly from Beirut's airport or seaport, to the tribunal's headquarters in the Netherlands.
U.S. urges Lebanon to act on Hariri indictments
Of course the US urges Lebanon to do so - at Israel's urging of course. This was a complete setup from day one to turn the Lebanese against Hezbollah. It has Israeli false flag operation written all over it.
Letter: AIPAC a big Kirk supporter
Such a plan provides a powerful suggestion that Kirk is in someone’s back pocket. It also brings to mind a February 2010 report on the TPMMuckraker website that states that the senator received $1,025,000 from pro-Israeli Pacs — AIPAC, in particular.
After that, he called for the U.S. Navy to assist the Israeli navy to intercept the next Gaza relief flotilla on the high seas
The FBI's synagogue bomb plot
Throughout the sentencing, Judge McMahon remained firm: this case was a government invention. The men in question did not agree to carry out the crime due to ideology. They had no allegiance to, or even knowledge, of the terrorist group Jaish-i-Mohammed, in whose name they allegedly acted. They were not motivated to criminal behaviour by their allegiance to Allah. They were motivated, purely and simply, by money; as such, they were criminals deserving punishment, but not terrorists. As Judge McMahon repeatedly stated, these men were not equivalent to the 2010 Times Square bomber, Faisal Shazad, or other ideologically motivated terrorists. It's not the entrapment that bothers this reporter but rather the potential for the spread of anti-Semitism. Ok.
Fourteen Propaganda Techniques Fox "News" Uses to Brainwash Americans
Take the enormous amount of misinformation that is taken for truth by Fox audiences: the belief that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and that he was in on 9/11, the belief that climate change isn't real and/or man-made, the belief that Barack Obama is Muslim and wasn't born in the United States, the insistence that all Arabs are Muslim and all Muslims are terrorists, the inexplicable perceptions that immigrants are both too lazy to work and are about to steal your job. The pro-Israelis use the same methods.
Hezbollah chief defends Hariri suspects in Lebanon
Nasrallah said the suspects named in the indictment are brothers "who have an honorable history in resisting Israeli occupation." He went on to cast doubt on the U.N.–backed tribunal investigating the crime and said it was biased. Awful strange that those fingered were Israel's enemies, eh? Can you say false flag?
Syrian forces shoot dead 14 in Hama: activists
The Peasants Are Revolting by Philip Giraldi
Brooks appears to be bothered most by the fact that the Tea Partiers are so common. How dare they not pay attention to “scholars and intellectual authorities,” which undoubtedly includes David Brooks himself. Brooks seems unaware that it is precisely folks like him and his scholarly buddies who have gotten the rest of us in a mess that appears to have no exit door. His invocation of the “ancient habits of our nation” appears to accept running up catastrophic debts while fighting a series of wars of choice, which he, of course, chose and even cheerleaded. That is not so much an ancient habit as a recent one, brought to us courtesy of Brooks and his friends over at The Weekly Standard, The Wall Street Journal, and the American Enterprise Institute.
Movement to Abolish Corporate Personhood Gaining Traction
Throughout the country people have responded by organizing against “corporate personhood,” a court-created precedent that illegitimately gives corporations rights that were intended for human beings.
Russia criticizes US over abuses in wars abroad
Debating Taboos by Ralph Nader
Make your own list of public taboos. For example, in all the talk about debts, deficits and taxes, notice the near total silence about a huge revenue producer, with a ready base of popular support, a Wall Street securities transaction tax--often called a tax on high volume financial speculation. In President Obama's 70 minute news conference last week, not one reporter asked his position on this proposed tax. Moreover, no President has been asked this question in public for at least the last 40 years. Yet several countries have such a tax and the U.S. had such a tax until about fifty years ago.
Pandit’s Payouts Climb Toward $200 Million as Top Bailout Recipient Slips
“Pandit, his $1 pay notwithstanding, cannot be considered modestly paid,” said Graef Crystal, a compensation expert and Bloomberg News consultant based in Las Vegas. “Taxpayers saved this bank, and he’s getting a bundle while shareholders are getting shortchanged on the stock price.”
McCain & Lieberman Keep Up Interventionist Rhetoric
Is Default Inevitable? by Patrick J. Buchanan
Administrations of both parties contributed to this rise in the federal share of gross domestic product. But the GOP committed itself in 2010 to rein it in, without raising taxes. On that pledge the GOP triumphed and should keep its commitment.
America: Indebted to War
The most significant Republican proposal to actually reduce spending to a degree in tune with the severity of our problem was put forth by Sen. Rand Paul. Paul introduced a plan in March that would balance the budget in five years and reduce the debt by $4 trillion. Paul’s plan sought not simply to stop or reform spending—but to cut it—the very thing virtually every Republican claims to support and agrees must happen.
Syrian forces kill 24, protesters tell Assad to go
The assaults concentrated on the northern section of Jabal al–Zawya region, home to 15,000 people, many of whom are trying to flee to Turkey, which already has 10,000 refugees from attacks in Idlib earlier this month.
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Headlines for June 23 - June 29
A Stand For Justice
Cost of war at least $3.7 trillion and counting
The final bill will run at least $3.7 trillion and could reach as high as $4.4 trillion, according to the research project "Costs of War" by Brown University's Watson Institute for International Studies. (http://www.costsofwar.org) Send the bill for the Iraq war to the neocons who pushed for it based on cooked intel. They should be jailed for treason.
A Cell Phone Links Bin Laden to Pakistan Intelligence
The most compelling piece of evidence that the Pakistani government was complicit in the harboring of Osama bin Laden came today in a New York Times report about a cell phone recovered from Osama bin Laden's courier. The phone reveals contacts with Harakat-ul-Mujahadeen, a militant group established by Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency. Making matters worse for Pakistan, longtime affiliates with the ISI told the Times "they were convinced that the ISI played a part in sheltering Bin Laden."
Justice Dept.: 2 arrested in Seattle terror plot
"Mujahidh admitted that he was planning on carrying out an attack at the MEPS for the purpose of killing United States military personnel in order to prevent them from going to Islamic lands and killing Muslims," the complaint said.
Among The Costs Of War: Billions A Year In A.C.?
Iran says U.S. exploits Syria uprising to save Israel
"As interests of America and its allies are endangered in the region ... they are trying to shift the crisis by creating problems for independent countries (like Iran and Syria)."
Shoot First Diplomacy by Philip Giraldi
Once upon a time the Secretary of State was supposed to protect Americans overseas, particularly when the Americans are not doing anything illegal. But that was before Israel and its Lobby decided what American citizens can and cannot do. A good friend of mine Ray McGovern, who is on the American vessel, is a deeply religious former CIA senior analyst. He has friends on the National Security Council who informed him last week that the US government would let the Israelis do whatever they want to the flotilla and would, in fact, approve of any action taken. In the aftermath, the State Department would do nothing to help any US citizen killed, injured, or arrested. Except possibly have them arrested a second time.
Something Rotten This Way Comes by Philip Giraldi
It is indisputable that Israel and its friends in the White House and Defense Department played a major role in creating the lies and generating the momentum in the drive to war against Iraq in 2002, a conflict that continues to claim American casualties and which has left Iraq in ruins. Now the push is on to “do something” about Iran. There have been a number of bills in Congress that stop just short of declaring war on the Mullahs and there are signs that the Israeli government might be planning a military action before the end of the summer. Does anyone doubt that the United States would immediately be drawn into such a conflict, with disastrous consequences in terms of a terrorist response and energy prices that would skyrocket? Wow. Read on for more groveling to Israel by US politicians, pundits and would-be presidents.
U.S. Senate Passes Resolution Threatening To Suspend Palestinian Aid
The United States Senate has passed a resolution threatening to suspend financial assistance to the Palestinian Authority if its leaders “persist in efforts to circumvent direct negotiations by turning to the United Nations or other international bodies,” and called on U.S. President Barack Obama to veto a UN vote on unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state. Capitol Hill once again working for Israel, not America.
Elderly woman has to remove diaper for pat-down
A gravely ill 95–year–old woman had to remove her wet diaper at an airport so that she could be patted down by security screeners and nearly missed her flight, her daughter said Monday. Wow.
Iran in 'alarming' breaches of UN sanctions: envoys
The United States, France and Britain also stepped up demands for the publication of a UN Security Council expert report on Iran sanctions which is being blocked by Russia.
Iran's supreme leader accuses US of terrorism
Iran's supreme leader on Saturday accused the United States of supporting terrorism, pointing to American drone strikes in Pakistan and Afghanistan that he said have killed scores of civilians.
Obama declares beginning of end of Afghan war
President Barack Obama Wednesday ordered all 33,000 US surge troops home from Afghanistan by next summer and declared the beginning of the end of the war, vowing to turn to nation building at home.
Supreme Court to review warrantless GPS tracking
The Supreme Court will weigh in on an important privacy issue for the digital age: whether the police need a warrant before using a global positioning system device to track a suspect's movements.
Obama Leaves Door Open to Long-Term U.S. Afghan Combat
And in a section of the speech that must be interpreted in the context of his past policy decisions on Iraq, Obama appeared to support the desire of Defense Secretary Robert Gates and General David Petraeus to keep a substantial number of combat troops in Afghanistan beyond the publicly announced "transition" in 2014.
A War the Neocons Lost by Patrick J. Buchanan
the people who should be indicted by history are not those who, after half a trillion dollars and a decade of bleeding, decided to cut America’s losses, but those who stampeded this country into two of the longest and least necessary wars in the history of the republic. Amen, Mr. PJB.
Obama Financial Supporters Get Top Jobs
like other presidential aspirants, Obama relied heavily on mega-donors to propel his campaign across the finish line and many fundraisers have shared in the spoils of victory. Some took jobs in pivotal federal agencies such as the Department of Justice, Department of Energy and the Federal Communications Commission, while others have served on influential advisory commissions and boards that meet periodically to help formulate policy. Two dozen have been appointed ambassadors to foreign countries.
GOP's Pawlenty Blames Obama for Mideast Deadlock
“It breaks my heart that President Obama treats Israel, our great friend, as a problem, rather than as an ally,” Pawlenty said. “Today the president doesn’t really have a policy toward the peace process. He has an attitude. And let’s be frank about what that attitude is. He thinks Israel is the problem. And he thinks the answer is always more pressure on Israel.”
That is in fact the answer. Cutting off all aid to that nation until it can abide by international law would do wonders for the peace process.
Brooklyn Hasid charged with felony hate crime after attacking neighbor
"F–––ing Arabs! F–––ing terrorists!" Schwartz screamed when he grabbed his neighbor, Selda Turan, 27. He shoved the woman against her car and poured beer on her head, a police source said.
Turan's husband of 13 months, Mustafa Turan, rushed out of their house to protect his wife, but Schwartz punched him in the face, the source said.
Neighbors said the Turans moved into the heavily Jewish neighborhood about a month ago. They said the victims were from Turkey; it wasn't clear if they were Muslim.
Iran fires 14 missiles in 2nd day of war games
"Except America and the Zionist regime, we do not feel a threat from any other country,"
Gone With the Papers
The death of journalism, the loss of reporters on the airwaves and in print who believed the plight of the ordinary citizen should be reported, means that it will be harder for ordinary voices and dissenters to reach the wider public. The preoccupation with news as entertainment and the loss of sustained reporting will effectively marginalize and silence those who seek to be heard or to defy established power.
Israel adopts tougher Iran sanctions
The measures, which do not need further parliamentary approval, were taken after a committee found in March that, despite years of calling for tough international action against arch–foe Iran, Israel's existing legislation did not live up to public policy.
Israpundit » Blog Archive » Michelle Bachmann For President
Bachmann grovels and kowtows to Israel and its US supporters. Repulsive. For which country is she seeking to serve? Bachmann is dead wrong on Israel and America sharing the same values. America is a nation that affords liberty and justice FOR ALL. Bachmann is also LYING when she said that Americans support her view on Israel. She evidently didn't see these two polls from 2010 which state that only 2/3 of the American people want to take Israel's side in that conflict.
Lebanon expects Hariri indictments soon
The long–awaited indictments are expected to accuse members of Shi'ite group Hezbollah of involvement in the killing and have already triggered a political crisis which brought down the government of Hariri's son, Saad al–Hariri, in January.
Former CIA officer questions EU motives in Syria
EU and US intervention in Syria is designed to harm Iran and to protect Israel and Lebanese Christians, not Syrian people, according to Robert Baer, a retired CIA officer with experience of the region. Robert Baer, one of the good guys.
US 'could withdraw funding from UN if Palestine state is recognised'
Susan Rice, the American ambassador to the UN, said there was "no greater threat" to US support and funding of the UN than the prospect of Palestinian statehood being endorsed by member states. I doubt the rest of the world cares at this point. We've obstructed justice long enough, thanks to the efforts of the Israeli lobby.
What’s a Neoconservative?
A neocon is someone who believes in Israel First!, and who cloaks that sentiment in American patriotism.
House rejects measure to continue US role in Libya
Shortly after that vote, the House turned back a Republican-led effort to cut off money for military hostilities in the Libyan war.
What Neocons Don't Understand About War
In National Review, The Weekly Standard, and the Washington Post, leading War on Terror hawks are expressing outrage at the timeline President Obama set for troop reductions in Afghanistan
The American Police State is the 'New Normal'
According to The New York Times, the FBI just raided a data center in Virginia and seized many of its servers, causing websites owned by "tens of clients" to go offline –– including those belonging to people who hadn't broken a law, and were not suspected of any crime.
Activist: Syria kills 2 protesting after funerals
Syrian activists say 20 people were killed in Friday demonstrations across Syria, including two children aged 12 and 13.
Iran unveils new underground missile silo: state tv
Syrian forces kill 5 civilians in clampdown
Syrian forces kill 15 protesters, activists say
How anything you've EVER said on the internet could be seen by employers as Feds approve firm that dishes dirt on applicants
Iran denies British nuclear missile claim
Iran denied Wednesday testing a missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead as Britain says.
Syria tank assault kills 11 near Turkey border
Syrian troops shot dead 11 villagers on Wednesday, residents said, as authorities pressed on with a tank–led assault that has driven thousands of refugees across the northwest border with Turkey.
Russia: Iran's nuclear plant to start up in August
A top Russian diplomat reportedly says Iran's first nuclear power plant will finally start up in August.
Cash and Cyberware on the US Offensive
Among other things, the State Department is financing the creation of stealth wireless networks that would enable activists to communicate outside the reach of governments in countries like Iran, Syria and Libya, according to participants in the projects.
‘JINSA John’ Bolton Tells Congress to Bomb Iran, Support Terrorist MEK
“I’ve argued for [military strikes against Iran] for about three and a half years,” John Bolton told the House Foreign Affairs Committee today. “Absent military action against Iran’s nuclear weapons program, Iran will have weapons much sooner rather than later,” Bolton said. “It’s a big mistake to conclude, as I believe the Administration has, that a nuclear Iran can be contained and deterred.”
Even as Bolton called for bombing Iran, President Bush’s controversial former Ambassador to the UN received a warm reception from Republicans and many Democrats on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. The Chairwoman of the committee, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, even went so far as to say “I love John Bolton.” Israel's cheering squad in full display. Repulsive.
Cost of war at least $3.7 trillion and counting
The final bill will run at least $3.7 trillion and could reach as high as $4.4 trillion, according to the research project "Costs of War" by Brown University's Watson Institute for International Studies. (http://www.costsofwar.org) Send the bill for the Iraq war to the neocons who pushed for it based on cooked intel. They should be jailed for treason.
A Cell Phone Links Bin Laden to Pakistan Intelligence
The most compelling piece of evidence that the Pakistani government was complicit in the harboring of Osama bin Laden came today in a New York Times report about a cell phone recovered from Osama bin Laden's courier. The phone reveals contacts with Harakat-ul-Mujahadeen, a militant group established by Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency. Making matters worse for Pakistan, longtime affiliates with the ISI told the Times "they were convinced that the ISI played a part in sheltering Bin Laden."
Justice Dept.: 2 arrested in Seattle terror plot
"Mujahidh admitted that he was planning on carrying out an attack at the MEPS for the purpose of killing United States military personnel in order to prevent them from going to Islamic lands and killing Muslims," the complaint said.
Among The Costs Of War: Billions A Year In A.C.?
Iran says U.S. exploits Syria uprising to save Israel
"As interests of America and its allies are endangered in the region ... they are trying to shift the crisis by creating problems for independent countries (like Iran and Syria)."
Shoot First Diplomacy by Philip Giraldi
Once upon a time the Secretary of State was supposed to protect Americans overseas, particularly when the Americans are not doing anything illegal. But that was before Israel and its Lobby decided what American citizens can and cannot do. A good friend of mine Ray McGovern, who is on the American vessel, is a deeply religious former CIA senior analyst. He has friends on the National Security Council who informed him last week that the US government would let the Israelis do whatever they want to the flotilla and would, in fact, approve of any action taken. In the aftermath, the State Department would do nothing to help any US citizen killed, injured, or arrested. Except possibly have them arrested a second time.
Something Rotten This Way Comes by Philip Giraldi
It is indisputable that Israel and its friends in the White House and Defense Department played a major role in creating the lies and generating the momentum in the drive to war against Iraq in 2002, a conflict that continues to claim American casualties and which has left Iraq in ruins. Now the push is on to “do something” about Iran. There have been a number of bills in Congress that stop just short of declaring war on the Mullahs and there are signs that the Israeli government might be planning a military action before the end of the summer. Does anyone doubt that the United States would immediately be drawn into such a conflict, with disastrous consequences in terms of a terrorist response and energy prices that would skyrocket? Wow. Read on for more groveling to Israel by US politicians, pundits and would-be presidents.
U.S. Senate Passes Resolution Threatening To Suspend Palestinian Aid
The United States Senate has passed a resolution threatening to suspend financial assistance to the Palestinian Authority if its leaders “persist in efforts to circumvent direct negotiations by turning to the United Nations or other international bodies,” and called on U.S. President Barack Obama to veto a UN vote on unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state. Capitol Hill once again working for Israel, not America.
Elderly woman has to remove diaper for pat-down
A gravely ill 95–year–old woman had to remove her wet diaper at an airport so that she could be patted down by security screeners and nearly missed her flight, her daughter said Monday. Wow.
Iran in 'alarming' breaches of UN sanctions: envoys
The United States, France and Britain also stepped up demands for the publication of a UN Security Council expert report on Iran sanctions which is being blocked by Russia.
Iran's supreme leader accuses US of terrorism
Iran's supreme leader on Saturday accused the United States of supporting terrorism, pointing to American drone strikes in Pakistan and Afghanistan that he said have killed scores of civilians.
Obama declares beginning of end of Afghan war
President Barack Obama Wednesday ordered all 33,000 US surge troops home from Afghanistan by next summer and declared the beginning of the end of the war, vowing to turn to nation building at home.
Supreme Court to review warrantless GPS tracking
The Supreme Court will weigh in on an important privacy issue for the digital age: whether the police need a warrant before using a global positioning system device to track a suspect's movements.
Obama Leaves Door Open to Long-Term U.S. Afghan Combat
And in a section of the speech that must be interpreted in the context of his past policy decisions on Iraq, Obama appeared to support the desire of Defense Secretary Robert Gates and General David Petraeus to keep a substantial number of combat troops in Afghanistan beyond the publicly announced "transition" in 2014.
A War the Neocons Lost by Patrick J. Buchanan
the people who should be indicted by history are not those who, after half a trillion dollars and a decade of bleeding, decided to cut America’s losses, but those who stampeded this country into two of the longest and least necessary wars in the history of the republic. Amen, Mr. PJB.
Obama Financial Supporters Get Top Jobs
like other presidential aspirants, Obama relied heavily on mega-donors to propel his campaign across the finish line and many fundraisers have shared in the spoils of victory. Some took jobs in pivotal federal agencies such as the Department of Justice, Department of Energy and the Federal Communications Commission, while others have served on influential advisory commissions and boards that meet periodically to help formulate policy. Two dozen have been appointed ambassadors to foreign countries.
GOP's Pawlenty Blames Obama for Mideast Deadlock
“It breaks my heart that President Obama treats Israel, our great friend, as a problem, rather than as an ally,” Pawlenty said. “Today the president doesn’t really have a policy toward the peace process. He has an attitude. And let’s be frank about what that attitude is. He thinks Israel is the problem. And he thinks the answer is always more pressure on Israel.”
That is in fact the answer. Cutting off all aid to that nation until it can abide by international law would do wonders for the peace process.
Brooklyn Hasid charged with felony hate crime after attacking neighbor
"F–––ing Arabs! F–––ing terrorists!" Schwartz screamed when he grabbed his neighbor, Selda Turan, 27. He shoved the woman against her car and poured beer on her head, a police source said.
Turan's husband of 13 months, Mustafa Turan, rushed out of their house to protect his wife, but Schwartz punched him in the face, the source said.
Neighbors said the Turans moved into the heavily Jewish neighborhood about a month ago. They said the victims were from Turkey; it wasn't clear if they were Muslim.
Iran fires 14 missiles in 2nd day of war games
"Except America and the Zionist regime, we do not feel a threat from any other country,"
Gone With the Papers
The death of journalism, the loss of reporters on the airwaves and in print who believed the plight of the ordinary citizen should be reported, means that it will be harder for ordinary voices and dissenters to reach the wider public. The preoccupation with news as entertainment and the loss of sustained reporting will effectively marginalize and silence those who seek to be heard or to defy established power.
Israel adopts tougher Iran sanctions
The measures, which do not need further parliamentary approval, were taken after a committee found in March that, despite years of calling for tough international action against arch–foe Iran, Israel's existing legislation did not live up to public policy.
Israpundit » Blog Archive » Michelle Bachmann For President
Bachmann grovels and kowtows to Israel and its US supporters. Repulsive. For which country is she seeking to serve? Bachmann is dead wrong on Israel and America sharing the same values. America is a nation that affords liberty and justice FOR ALL. Bachmann is also LYING when she said that Americans support her view on Israel. She evidently didn't see these two polls from 2010 which state that only 2/3 of the American people want to take Israel's side in that conflict.
Lebanon expects Hariri indictments soon
The long–awaited indictments are expected to accuse members of Shi'ite group Hezbollah of involvement in the killing and have already triggered a political crisis which brought down the government of Hariri's son, Saad al–Hariri, in January.
Former CIA officer questions EU motives in Syria
EU and US intervention in Syria is designed to harm Iran and to protect Israel and Lebanese Christians, not Syrian people, according to Robert Baer, a retired CIA officer with experience of the region. Robert Baer, one of the good guys.
US 'could withdraw funding from UN if Palestine state is recognised'
Susan Rice, the American ambassador to the UN, said there was "no greater threat" to US support and funding of the UN than the prospect of Palestinian statehood being endorsed by member states. I doubt the rest of the world cares at this point. We've obstructed justice long enough, thanks to the efforts of the Israeli lobby.
What’s a Neoconservative?
A neocon is someone who believes in Israel First!, and who cloaks that sentiment in American patriotism.
House rejects measure to continue US role in Libya
Shortly after that vote, the House turned back a Republican-led effort to cut off money for military hostilities in the Libyan war.
What Neocons Don't Understand About War
In National Review, The Weekly Standard, and the Washington Post, leading War on Terror hawks are expressing outrage at the timeline President Obama set for troop reductions in Afghanistan
The American Police State is the 'New Normal'
According to The New York Times, the FBI just raided a data center in Virginia and seized many of its servers, causing websites owned by "tens of clients" to go offline –– including those belonging to people who hadn't broken a law, and were not suspected of any crime.
Activist: Syria kills 2 protesting after funerals
Syrian activists say 20 people were killed in Friday demonstrations across Syria, including two children aged 12 and 13.
Iran unveils new underground missile silo: state tv
Syrian forces kill 5 civilians in clampdown
Syrian forces kill 15 protesters, activists say
How anything you've EVER said on the internet could be seen by employers as Feds approve firm that dishes dirt on applicants
Iran denies British nuclear missile claim
Iran denied Wednesday testing a missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead as Britain says.
Syria tank assault kills 11 near Turkey border
Syrian troops shot dead 11 villagers on Wednesday, residents said, as authorities pressed on with a tank–led assault that has driven thousands of refugees across the northwest border with Turkey.
Russia: Iran's nuclear plant to start up in August
A top Russian diplomat reportedly says Iran's first nuclear power plant will finally start up in August.
Cash and Cyberware on the US Offensive
Among other things, the State Department is financing the creation of stealth wireless networks that would enable activists to communicate outside the reach of governments in countries like Iran, Syria and Libya, according to participants in the projects.
‘JINSA John’ Bolton Tells Congress to Bomb Iran, Support Terrorist MEK
“I’ve argued for [military strikes against Iran] for about three and a half years,” John Bolton told the House Foreign Affairs Committee today. “Absent military action against Iran’s nuclear weapons program, Iran will have weapons much sooner rather than later,” Bolton said. “It’s a big mistake to conclude, as I believe the Administration has, that a nuclear Iran can be contained and deterred.”
Even as Bolton called for bombing Iran, President Bush’s controversial former Ambassador to the UN received a warm reception from Republicans and many Democrats on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. The Chairwoman of the committee, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, even went so far as to say “I love John Bolton.” Israel's cheering squad in full display. Repulsive.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Headlines for June 16 - June 22
A Stand For Justice
PAUL: Time to end Federal Reserve secrecy
Among the facts that the Federal Reserve would rather you didn’t know is that at the height of the financial turmoil in 2008, when average Americans were just beginning to suffer, the institution was passing out sweetheart deals to protect the powerful and well-connected. Among the beneficiaries were foreign banks, Wall Street giants and even the company that then owned MSNBC. Take time to read this article, written by Ron Paul.
Israel asks US to let spy attend father's funeral
The U.S. defense establishment is considered hostile to the idea of clemency, claiming Pollard caused huge, but largely undisclosed, damage. Yes he did. This man should thank God he's allowed to live. In other countries, he'd have been shot or hung for his treacherous actions. I have zero sympathy for him, and I believe that those 'Americans' that argue on his behalf are themselves just as treacherous.
Israel hits $7.2 billion in arms exports - UPI.com
The Americans remain uneasy about Israeli defense links to China, in particular about the Chengdu J-10, China's new air force fighter, which reputedly involves technology from the joint U.S.-Israeli Lavi fighter project of the 1980s.
The delta-winged Lavi, being developed by IAI, was canceled in 1987 under political pressure from Washington because of soaring costs....
Six years after the Pentagon blocked Israel from advanced military technology over concerns about leaks to China, Washington is once again funding Israeli high-profile air-defense missile systems development.
....Iron Dome is being built by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems of Israel. The U.S. Congress authorized $205 million to support the Iron Dome program in early 2011.
India has expressed interest in the Arrow but given extensive funding provided by the United States, such sales might be problematical. In March, The Jerusalem Post reported that the Defense Ministry was discussing possible Iron Dome sales to European NATO states.
More Israeli treachery: the transfer of US technology to China, to later be used against us, no doubt.
Israel's UN ambassador tells U.S. Jews: Prepare for September vote on Palestinian state
Prosor stressed before the Jewish leaders that they must take advantage of the Jewish community's connections with decision makers in order to get results. Who owns this place anyway?
Gates: Iran supplying arms to Iraqi Shiite groups
Defense Secretary Robert Gates says Shiite extremists, not al–Qaida terrorists, are to blame for most of the recent U.S. military deaths in Iraq, and they're "clearly getting some fairly sophisticated and powerful weapons" from Iran. Setting the stage for war?
Iran invites U.N. atom chief to see its nuclear sites
Iraq hunting $17 billion missing after U.S. invasion
Iraq's parliament is chasing about $17 billion of Iraqi oil money it says was stolen after the 2003 U.S.–led invasion and has asked the United Nations for help to track it down.
Paul packs them in at major GOP conference
And those supporters loudly applauded Paul throughout his address, as he preached against American involvement in overseas wars and alliances by saying, "Americans are sick and tired of no-win wars around the world."
La Nation Building du Jour by Philip Giraldi,
Tea Partiers who are resistant to government overspending are right to do so, but they fail to come to grips with the underlying cause of the sorry state of the US economy, which is the constant wars that have been fought since 2001. The wars have sucked trillions of dollars out of the US economy and, as they are unending, they are fated to claim trillions more in the decade to come, a legacy that derives from both Bush and Obama.
States look to Internet taxes to close budget gaps
State governments across the country are laying off teachers, closing public libraries and parks, and reducing health care services, but there is one place they could get $23 billion a year if they could only agree how to do it: Internet retailers such as Amazon.com.
Strange Definitions of War and Peace by Rep. Ron Paul
Last week I joined six Republican and three Democratic colleagues to file a lawsuit against the Obama administration over its illegal war against Libya. Now that more than 90 days have passed since the president began bombing Libya, no one can seriously claim that the administration has complied with the clear requirements of the 1973 War Powers Resolution.
Fixing America Begins With Foreign Policyby Philip Giraldi
If overseas interventionism has worked there is little evidence to support that view. It is up to those who advance an imperial America agenda and an intrusive national security state to explain to all of us what has been gained from all the foreign adventures and sacrifice of constitutional freedoms over the past ten years.
Libya mission to cost $1.1 bln by Sept 30 -White House
Kerry, McCain Come to Obama’s Rescue Over Libya
Hoping to head off growing insurgencies in both major parties over Washington’s participation in NATO’s military campaign against Libya, two key senators Tuesday unveiled a resolution that would give President Barack Obama the authority to continue operations there for up to one year.
U.S.: Israeli missile defense system can protect our Mideast bases
General Patrick said that the multi-layered defense system being developed by Israel – comprised of Iron Dome and Magic Wand systems on the lower levels and Arrow 2 and 3 systems on the atmospheric level and above – will strengthen the ability of the U.S. to protect its forces in the Middle East. Are we ever getting out of the Middle East?
U.S. Mayors Pass Resolution To Bring 'War Dollars' Home
That resolution will now become official policy of the mayors' organization -- a small symbol of growing opposition to the war in Afghanistan. The mayors are asking that money spent on wars abroad be used in the United States to develop cities and towns. The last time the conference approved a resolution like this was during the Vietnam War.
Iran slams NATO's "deadly strikes" on Libya
Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister for European Affairs Ali Ahani on Tuesday condemned the deadly strikes by NATO on Libya, saying the attacks are "killing innocent people and destroying the country's economic infrastructure," the English language satellite Press TV reported.
Oil falls to below $92 amid stronger US dollar
A strengthening U.S. dollar has helped drag crude down from almost $115 early last month. A rising dollar makes commodities such as oil more expensive for investors with other currencies.
Jews and Latinos Form a Pragmatic Congressional Alliance
The Jewish community would like to see its Latino counterparts become more active on issues relating to Israel, a tall order for a community whose immediate political challenges in this country leave little time for foreign policy concerns, much less concern about the Middle East.
The Latino community, meanwhile, wishes to see Jewish lawmakers help push through comprehensive immigration reform, which is all but stuck in Congress.
...Over the past decade, the Jewish organizations have increased their outreach to Latino communities on both the local and national levels. Jewish groups have taken Latino leaders on trips to Israel and tried to join forces in discussing domestic policy issues.
....Meanwhile, expectations on the Jewish side of the coalition, focus, among other things, on the recent move by several Latin American countries to recognize a Palestinian state. Now you know who is pushing the amnesty for illegals program and why.
Jewish Seat Threatened By Growing Latino Bloc
Though Berman and Sherman have similar voting records, Berman’s reputation as a pro-Israel heavyweight with a nuanced view on foreign affairs has established him as the higher-profile Jew in Congress. “He is a cardiac case,” said Doug Bloomfield, former legislative director of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the pro-Israel lobby. “His support for Israel keeps his blood pumping.”
Really now.
Decline of Jews On Capitol Hill Could Mean a Loss of Power
One of the possible consequences of New York Rep. Anthony Weiner’s Twitter-gate affair is another decline in the number of Jewish representatives in Congress.
The massive overrepresentation of Jews on Capitol Hill, long a source of pride for the community, has been shrinking in recent years and could drop in the coming election cycle from 41 to the mid 30s, a level last seen 15 years ago.
....“At the end of the day, it won’t matter much in terms of the Jewish agenda,” said Kurt Stone, political science professor at Florida Atlantic University and author of two books on Jews in Congress. On the issue of Israel, Stone explained, there is almost a wall-to-wall consensus in Congress
Straight from the horse's mouth, kids. Doesn't really matter anyway if the representative is Jewish or not - that's why they have AIPAC, which has almost all of Congress in its back pocket.
Are Jews Warming to the Tea Party?
Within the Tea Party, Bachmann is at the forefront of those making Israel a key part of her agenda. In her speech at the high-profile Faith & Freedom Conference held in Washington in early June, Bachmann termed Obama’s call for a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict based on Israel’s 1967 boundaries and mutually agreed land swaps “shocking.” She followed up by buying ads on Jewish websites reiterating this message.
Bachmann is not alone. Attacks on Obama’s Israel policy have come from former Alaska governor Sarah Palin, known as the Tea Party’s biggest draw. Pundit Glenn Beck, a vocal critic of the Obama presidency, has been devoting much of his airtime lately to the issue of Israel.
Read more: http://forward.com/articles/138661/#ixzz1QhoCSsFU
Run now from this phony 'Tea Party', patriots. They are wolves in sheep's clothing who have a passionate attachment to a nation other than this one- Israel, something George Washington warned about in his Farewell Address.
Obama tells Jewish donors that U.S.-Israel disagreements are only 'tactical'
President Obama took part tonight at two Democratic fundraisers at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Washington, DC, for the Obama Victory Fund. The first was a dinner with Americans in Support of a Strong U.S.-Israel Relationship. The second was dinner with the Mid-Atlantic Finance Committee, for about 100 participants.
Experts Fear Israeli Design to Balkanise Arab States
"The western campaign against Libya wasn't undertaken to protect human rights or foster democracy," said al-Sakhawi. "It was launched with the aim of breaking Libya up politically so as to prevent the unification of three revolutionary Arab states - Egypt, Libya and Tunisia - which together might pose a threat to Israeli regional dominance."
Gaza and American ‘Security’ By Ray McGovern
I also have been cautioned by a source with access to very senior staffers at the National Security Council that not only does the White House plan to do absolutely nothing to protect our boat from Israeli attack or illegal boarding, but that White House officials “would be happy if something happened to us.” ....
..former CIA specialist on al-Qaeda, Michael Scheuer, who had the audacity to state on C-SPAN: “For anyone to say that our support for Israel doesn’t hurt us in the Muslim world … is to just defy reality.”
The Likud Lobby had already succeeded in getting Scheuer fired from his job at the Jamestown Foundation think tank for his forthrightness, and the Israeli media condemned his C-SPAN remarks as “blatantly anti-Semitic.” There can be a high price to pay for candor on this neuralgic issue.
...An unusually candid view of the dangers accruing from the U.S. identification with Israel’s policies appeared several years ago in an unclassified study published by the Pentagon-appointed U.S. Defense Science Board on Sept. 23, 2004. Contradicting President George W. Bush, the board stated:
“Muslims do not ‘hate our freedom,’ but rather, they hate our policies. The overwhelming majority voice their objections to what they see as one-sided support in favor of Israel and against Palestinian rights.” Ray McGovern is a former CIA analyst.
US Neocons' New Overtures to Terrorist Opposition Group in Iran, Part 2 Truthout
MKO's latest alliance is with the American neoconservatives and the Israel lobby in the United States. Rajavi and MKO believe that, with the help of American neoconservatives, they will eventually come to power. Over the past several months, six conferences sponsored by US neoconservatives and their allies have been held in Europe and the United States to prop up MKO as the leading alternative to the Islamic Republic. Such infamous neoconservative figures as John Bolton and former CIA director R. James Woolsey support MKO. The neocons also channel their support for MKO through right-wing groups such as the Iran Policy Committee (IPC). An investigation published by Jim Lobe's LobeLog in September 2010 revealed that the IPC has shared an address, accountants and some staff with multiple organizations that either fronted for or had direct ties to Iraqi conman Ahmad Chalabi's Iraqi National Congress - the same body that fabricated much of the bogus intelligence that neocons used to garner support for the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. The neocons want war with Iran. Bad.
Obama tells Jewish donors he strongly backs Israel
Obama made the comments at a high–dollar fundraiser at a Washington hotel hosted by Americans in Support of a Strong U.S.–Israel Relationship. This is why campaign financing should be abolished.
Israeli leaders test nuclear bunker in defense drill
Israeli leaders holed up in a new underground nuclear bunker on Wednesday as part of annual maneuvers to prepare for a possible missile war with Iran, Syria and their Lebanese and Palestinian guerrilla allies.
Israel reveals it has returned dozens of kilograms of nuclear waste to U.S.
The U.S. stopped supplying enriched uranium for the Sorek reactor as early as 1977 following a law passed by the U.S. Congress and because Israel was not a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), Haaretz reported at the time. However, according to some Israeli sources, Israel still has an adequate stock of enriched uranium, supplied by the U.S. before the embargo and the prohibition of the sale of enriched uranium was put in place, to keep the Sorek reactor operating on the part-time basis that it has been for years. According to American data, the U.S. provided between 1960-1975, 19 kilograms of highly enriched uranium to fuel the reactor.
More bin Laden by Philip Giraldi
When America Comes Home by Patrick J. Buchanan
Gates’ patience with the Europeans is, understandably, just about exhausted. Two decades after the Soviet Union disintegrated and the Red Army went home, America is still carrying 75 percent of the NATO burden for the defense of Europe.
The Plan to Destabilize Syria
The central idea was to foment unrest in a well circumscribed area and to proclaim the establishment of an Islamic emirate that would serve as a platform for the dismemberment of the country. The choice of the Daraa district can be explained by its proximity to the Jordanian border and the Israeli occupied Golan Heights. This layout would make it easy to funnel supplies to the secessionists.
Russia's Medvedev opposed to U.N. vote on Syria: report
Ahmadinejad joins China, Russia leaders at summit
Returning to his past claims that a conspiracy could have been behind the September 11 attacks on the United States, Ahmadinejad added:
"Have any of our countries played a part in the creation of 9/11 under whose pretext Afghanistan and Iraq were invaded and more than one million people have been killed or wounded?"
The War Against ‘Isolationism’ by Justin Raimondo -- Antiwar.com
Syrian forces prevent refugees fleeing to Turkey
the mass killings of Syrian Sunnis have made Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan increasingly critical of Assad.
Erdogan has warned Syria against repeating a brutal campaign of repression in the 1980s that killed thousands. He has also sent his foreign minister and the head of Turkey's land forces to tour the border refugee region in the last several days.
Syrian forces open fire on protesters; 16 killed
Syrian security forces fired on thousands of protesters Friday, killing a teenage boy and at least 15 other civilians as accounts emerged of more indiscriminate killing and summary executions by the autocratic regime of President Bashar Assad, activists said.
Ex-Spy Alleges Bush White House Sought to Discredit Critic
Glenn L. Carle, a former Central Intelligence Agency officer who was a top counterterrorism official during the administration of President George W. Bush, said the White House at least twice asked intelligence officials to gather sensitive information on Juan Cole, a University of Michigan professor who writes an influential blog that criticized the war.
You're Going to Need a Warrant For That, Officer
Asia surpasses Europe in millionaires and wealth
Powered by fast–growing China and India, the Asia–Pacific region's millionaire ranks rose 10 percent to 3.3 million, second only to the 3.4 million residing in North America and inching ahead of Europe, which had 3.1 million.
Russia, China warn West against Arab interference
Russia and China oppose outside interference in the unrest in the Arab world, the two presidents said on Thursday in a declaration, as the West seeks their support for increasing pressure on Syria.
Angelina Jolie visits Syrian refugees in Turkey
Ron Paul wins 2012 Republican straw poll in New Orleans
Representative Ron Paul easily won a Republican Leadership Conference straw poll of the party's 2012 presidential contenders on Saturday, with former U.S. envoy to China Jon Huntsman finishing second.
Republican maverick Ron Paul wins a second straw poll and reminds the critics why he matters
why won’t Paul go away? His followers will tell you that Ron Paul keeps on winning because he is right on the issues. And he has certainly been vindicated on the subjects upon which he has built his reputation – fiscal policy and war. He was right to predict that the 2008 bailout would distribute public money to irresponsible private institutions and prolong the recession. At the time he was a lone voice. But his “throw ‘em to the wall” philosophy is now Tea Party orthodoxy, and the Republican leadership likes to pretend that it said that all along too.
Refugee crisis mushrooms as Syrian army attacks
'The War You Don't See': A Film You Won't See
AP Interview: Israel says Assad's prospects dim
Barack said Israel was also in the final stages of testing the David's Sling ballistic missile defense system, which would defend against medium–range ballistic missiles and cruise missiles.
"Disappointed" EU prepares to expand Syria sanctions
Seven protesters killed in Syria during rallies
Will Weiner’s Jewish District Hit The Political Chopping Block?
The 2012 federal redistricting process mandates that New York state must lose two seats in the House of Representatives next year. Weiner’s District 9 — which encompasses parts of Queens and Brooklyn — was originally considered a safe seat. But Weiner’s follies have put his district at risk. State and federal Democrats could decide to chop up District 9, allocating pieces of it to adjacent Congressional territories. The dissolution of Weiner’s district would mean the dissolution of one of the most solidly Jewish Congressional blocs in the country
....Weiner embodies a particular blend of traits common to many Jewish politicians: He votes left on social issues and right — in Weiner’s case, hard right — on Israel policy.
PAUL: Time to end Federal Reserve secrecy
Among the facts that the Federal Reserve would rather you didn’t know is that at the height of the financial turmoil in 2008, when average Americans were just beginning to suffer, the institution was passing out sweetheart deals to protect the powerful and well-connected. Among the beneficiaries were foreign banks, Wall Street giants and even the company that then owned MSNBC. Take time to read this article, written by Ron Paul.
Israel asks US to let spy attend father's funeral
The U.S. defense establishment is considered hostile to the idea of clemency, claiming Pollard caused huge, but largely undisclosed, damage. Yes he did. This man should thank God he's allowed to live. In other countries, he'd have been shot or hung for his treacherous actions. I have zero sympathy for him, and I believe that those 'Americans' that argue on his behalf are themselves just as treacherous.
Israel hits $7.2 billion in arms exports - UPI.com
The Americans remain uneasy about Israeli defense links to China, in particular about the Chengdu J-10, China's new air force fighter, which reputedly involves technology from the joint U.S.-Israeli Lavi fighter project of the 1980s.
The delta-winged Lavi, being developed by IAI, was canceled in 1987 under political pressure from Washington because of soaring costs....
Six years after the Pentagon blocked Israel from advanced military technology over concerns about leaks to China, Washington is once again funding Israeli high-profile air-defense missile systems development.
....Iron Dome is being built by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems of Israel. The U.S. Congress authorized $205 million to support the Iron Dome program in early 2011.
India has expressed interest in the Arrow but given extensive funding provided by the United States, such sales might be problematical. In March, The Jerusalem Post reported that the Defense Ministry was discussing possible Iron Dome sales to European NATO states.
More Israeli treachery: the transfer of US technology to China, to later be used against us, no doubt.
Israel's UN ambassador tells U.S. Jews: Prepare for September vote on Palestinian state
Prosor stressed before the Jewish leaders that they must take advantage of the Jewish community's connections with decision makers in order to get results. Who owns this place anyway?
Gates: Iran supplying arms to Iraqi Shiite groups
Defense Secretary Robert Gates says Shiite extremists, not al–Qaida terrorists, are to blame for most of the recent U.S. military deaths in Iraq, and they're "clearly getting some fairly sophisticated and powerful weapons" from Iran. Setting the stage for war?
Iran invites U.N. atom chief to see its nuclear sites
Iraq hunting $17 billion missing after U.S. invasion
Iraq's parliament is chasing about $17 billion of Iraqi oil money it says was stolen after the 2003 U.S.–led invasion and has asked the United Nations for help to track it down.
Paul packs them in at major GOP conference
And those supporters loudly applauded Paul throughout his address, as he preached against American involvement in overseas wars and alliances by saying, "Americans are sick and tired of no-win wars around the world."
La Nation Building du Jour by Philip Giraldi,
Tea Partiers who are resistant to government overspending are right to do so, but they fail to come to grips with the underlying cause of the sorry state of the US economy, which is the constant wars that have been fought since 2001. The wars have sucked trillions of dollars out of the US economy and, as they are unending, they are fated to claim trillions more in the decade to come, a legacy that derives from both Bush and Obama.
States look to Internet taxes to close budget gaps
State governments across the country are laying off teachers, closing public libraries and parks, and reducing health care services, but there is one place they could get $23 billion a year if they could only agree how to do it: Internet retailers such as Amazon.com.
Strange Definitions of War and Peace by Rep. Ron Paul
Last week I joined six Republican and three Democratic colleagues to file a lawsuit against the Obama administration over its illegal war against Libya. Now that more than 90 days have passed since the president began bombing Libya, no one can seriously claim that the administration has complied with the clear requirements of the 1973 War Powers Resolution.
Fixing America Begins With Foreign Policyby Philip Giraldi
If overseas interventionism has worked there is little evidence to support that view. It is up to those who advance an imperial America agenda and an intrusive national security state to explain to all of us what has been gained from all the foreign adventures and sacrifice of constitutional freedoms over the past ten years.
Libya mission to cost $1.1 bln by Sept 30 -White House
Kerry, McCain Come to Obama’s Rescue Over Libya
Hoping to head off growing insurgencies in both major parties over Washington’s participation in NATO’s military campaign against Libya, two key senators Tuesday unveiled a resolution that would give President Barack Obama the authority to continue operations there for up to one year.
U.S.: Israeli missile defense system can protect our Mideast bases
General Patrick said that the multi-layered defense system being developed by Israel – comprised of Iron Dome and Magic Wand systems on the lower levels and Arrow 2 and 3 systems on the atmospheric level and above – will strengthen the ability of the U.S. to protect its forces in the Middle East. Are we ever getting out of the Middle East?
U.S. Mayors Pass Resolution To Bring 'War Dollars' Home
That resolution will now become official policy of the mayors' organization -- a small symbol of growing opposition to the war in Afghanistan. The mayors are asking that money spent on wars abroad be used in the United States to develop cities and towns. The last time the conference approved a resolution like this was during the Vietnam War.
Iran slams NATO's "deadly strikes" on Libya
Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister for European Affairs Ali Ahani on Tuesday condemned the deadly strikes by NATO on Libya, saying the attacks are "killing innocent people and destroying the country's economic infrastructure," the English language satellite Press TV reported.
Oil falls to below $92 amid stronger US dollar
A strengthening U.S. dollar has helped drag crude down from almost $115 early last month. A rising dollar makes commodities such as oil more expensive for investors with other currencies.
Jews and Latinos Form a Pragmatic Congressional Alliance
The Jewish community would like to see its Latino counterparts become more active on issues relating to Israel, a tall order for a community whose immediate political challenges in this country leave little time for foreign policy concerns, much less concern about the Middle East.
The Latino community, meanwhile, wishes to see Jewish lawmakers help push through comprehensive immigration reform, which is all but stuck in Congress.
...Over the past decade, the Jewish organizations have increased their outreach to Latino communities on both the local and national levels. Jewish groups have taken Latino leaders on trips to Israel and tried to join forces in discussing domestic policy issues.
....Meanwhile, expectations on the Jewish side of the coalition, focus, among other things, on the recent move by several Latin American countries to recognize a Palestinian state. Now you know who is pushing the amnesty for illegals program and why.
Jewish Seat Threatened By Growing Latino Bloc
Though Berman and Sherman have similar voting records, Berman’s reputation as a pro-Israel heavyweight with a nuanced view on foreign affairs has established him as the higher-profile Jew in Congress. “He is a cardiac case,” said Doug Bloomfield, former legislative director of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the pro-Israel lobby. “His support for Israel keeps his blood pumping.”
Really now.
Decline of Jews On Capitol Hill Could Mean a Loss of Power
One of the possible consequences of New York Rep. Anthony Weiner’s Twitter-gate affair is another decline in the number of Jewish representatives in Congress.
The massive overrepresentation of Jews on Capitol Hill, long a source of pride for the community, has been shrinking in recent years and could drop in the coming election cycle from 41 to the mid 30s, a level last seen 15 years ago.
....“At the end of the day, it won’t matter much in terms of the Jewish agenda,” said Kurt Stone, political science professor at Florida Atlantic University and author of two books on Jews in Congress. On the issue of Israel, Stone explained, there is almost a wall-to-wall consensus in Congress
Straight from the horse's mouth, kids. Doesn't really matter anyway if the representative is Jewish or not - that's why they have AIPAC, which has almost all of Congress in its back pocket.
Are Jews Warming to the Tea Party?
Within the Tea Party, Bachmann is at the forefront of those making Israel a key part of her agenda. In her speech at the high-profile Faith & Freedom Conference held in Washington in early June, Bachmann termed Obama’s call for a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict based on Israel’s 1967 boundaries and mutually agreed land swaps “shocking.” She followed up by buying ads on Jewish websites reiterating this message.
Bachmann is not alone. Attacks on Obama’s Israel policy have come from former Alaska governor Sarah Palin, known as the Tea Party’s biggest draw. Pundit Glenn Beck, a vocal critic of the Obama presidency, has been devoting much of his airtime lately to the issue of Israel.
Read more: http://forward.com/articles/138661/#ixzz1QhoCSsFU
Run now from this phony 'Tea Party', patriots. They are wolves in sheep's clothing who have a passionate attachment to a nation other than this one- Israel, something George Washington warned about in his Farewell Address.
Obama tells Jewish donors that U.S.-Israel disagreements are only 'tactical'
President Obama took part tonight at two Democratic fundraisers at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Washington, DC, for the Obama Victory Fund. The first was a dinner with Americans in Support of a Strong U.S.-Israel Relationship. The second was dinner with the Mid-Atlantic Finance Committee, for about 100 participants.
Experts Fear Israeli Design to Balkanise Arab States
"The western campaign against Libya wasn't undertaken to protect human rights or foster democracy," said al-Sakhawi. "It was launched with the aim of breaking Libya up politically so as to prevent the unification of three revolutionary Arab states - Egypt, Libya and Tunisia - which together might pose a threat to Israeli regional dominance."
Gaza and American ‘Security’ By Ray McGovern
I also have been cautioned by a source with access to very senior staffers at the National Security Council that not only does the White House plan to do absolutely nothing to protect our boat from Israeli attack or illegal boarding, but that White House officials “would be happy if something happened to us.” ....
..former CIA specialist on al-Qaeda, Michael Scheuer, who had the audacity to state on C-SPAN: “For anyone to say that our support for Israel doesn’t hurt us in the Muslim world … is to just defy reality.”
The Likud Lobby had already succeeded in getting Scheuer fired from his job at the Jamestown Foundation think tank for his forthrightness, and the Israeli media condemned his C-SPAN remarks as “blatantly anti-Semitic.” There can be a high price to pay for candor on this neuralgic issue.
...An unusually candid view of the dangers accruing from the U.S. identification with Israel’s policies appeared several years ago in an unclassified study published by the Pentagon-appointed U.S. Defense Science Board on Sept. 23, 2004. Contradicting President George W. Bush, the board stated:
“Muslims do not ‘hate our freedom,’ but rather, they hate our policies. The overwhelming majority voice their objections to what they see as one-sided support in favor of Israel and against Palestinian rights.” Ray McGovern is a former CIA analyst.
US Neocons' New Overtures to Terrorist Opposition Group in Iran, Part 2 Truthout
MKO's latest alliance is with the American neoconservatives and the Israel lobby in the United States. Rajavi and MKO believe that, with the help of American neoconservatives, they will eventually come to power. Over the past several months, six conferences sponsored by US neoconservatives and their allies have been held in Europe and the United States to prop up MKO as the leading alternative to the Islamic Republic. Such infamous neoconservative figures as John Bolton and former CIA director R. James Woolsey support MKO. The neocons also channel their support for MKO through right-wing groups such as the Iran Policy Committee (IPC). An investigation published by Jim Lobe's LobeLog in September 2010 revealed that the IPC has shared an address, accountants and some staff with multiple organizations that either fronted for or had direct ties to Iraqi conman Ahmad Chalabi's Iraqi National Congress - the same body that fabricated much of the bogus intelligence that neocons used to garner support for the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. The neocons want war with Iran. Bad.
Obama tells Jewish donors he strongly backs Israel
Obama made the comments at a high–dollar fundraiser at a Washington hotel hosted by Americans in Support of a Strong U.S.–Israel Relationship. This is why campaign financing should be abolished.
Israeli leaders test nuclear bunker in defense drill
Israeli leaders holed up in a new underground nuclear bunker on Wednesday as part of annual maneuvers to prepare for a possible missile war with Iran, Syria and their Lebanese and Palestinian guerrilla allies.
Israel reveals it has returned dozens of kilograms of nuclear waste to U.S.
The U.S. stopped supplying enriched uranium for the Sorek reactor as early as 1977 following a law passed by the U.S. Congress and because Israel was not a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), Haaretz reported at the time. However, according to some Israeli sources, Israel still has an adequate stock of enriched uranium, supplied by the U.S. before the embargo and the prohibition of the sale of enriched uranium was put in place, to keep the Sorek reactor operating on the part-time basis that it has been for years. According to American data, the U.S. provided between 1960-1975, 19 kilograms of highly enriched uranium to fuel the reactor.
More bin Laden by Philip Giraldi
When America Comes Home by Patrick J. Buchanan
Gates’ patience with the Europeans is, understandably, just about exhausted. Two decades after the Soviet Union disintegrated and the Red Army went home, America is still carrying 75 percent of the NATO burden for the defense of Europe.
The Plan to Destabilize Syria
The central idea was to foment unrest in a well circumscribed area and to proclaim the establishment of an Islamic emirate that would serve as a platform for the dismemberment of the country. The choice of the Daraa district can be explained by its proximity to the Jordanian border and the Israeli occupied Golan Heights. This layout would make it easy to funnel supplies to the secessionists.
Russia's Medvedev opposed to U.N. vote on Syria: report
Ahmadinejad joins China, Russia leaders at summit
Returning to his past claims that a conspiracy could have been behind the September 11 attacks on the United States, Ahmadinejad added:
"Have any of our countries played a part in the creation of 9/11 under whose pretext Afghanistan and Iraq were invaded and more than one million people have been killed or wounded?"
The War Against ‘Isolationism’ by Justin Raimondo -- Antiwar.com
Syrian forces prevent refugees fleeing to Turkey
the mass killings of Syrian Sunnis have made Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan increasingly critical of Assad.
Erdogan has warned Syria against repeating a brutal campaign of repression in the 1980s that killed thousands. He has also sent his foreign minister and the head of Turkey's land forces to tour the border refugee region in the last several days.
Syrian forces open fire on protesters; 16 killed
Syrian security forces fired on thousands of protesters Friday, killing a teenage boy and at least 15 other civilians as accounts emerged of more indiscriminate killing and summary executions by the autocratic regime of President Bashar Assad, activists said.
Ex-Spy Alleges Bush White House Sought to Discredit Critic
Glenn L. Carle, a former Central Intelligence Agency officer who was a top counterterrorism official during the administration of President George W. Bush, said the White House at least twice asked intelligence officials to gather sensitive information on Juan Cole, a University of Michigan professor who writes an influential blog that criticized the war.
You're Going to Need a Warrant For That, Officer
Asia surpasses Europe in millionaires and wealth
Powered by fast–growing China and India, the Asia–Pacific region's millionaire ranks rose 10 percent to 3.3 million, second only to the 3.4 million residing in North America and inching ahead of Europe, which had 3.1 million.
Russia, China warn West against Arab interference
Russia and China oppose outside interference in the unrest in the Arab world, the two presidents said on Thursday in a declaration, as the West seeks their support for increasing pressure on Syria.
Angelina Jolie visits Syrian refugees in Turkey
Ron Paul wins 2012 Republican straw poll in New Orleans
Representative Ron Paul easily won a Republican Leadership Conference straw poll of the party's 2012 presidential contenders on Saturday, with former U.S. envoy to China Jon Huntsman finishing second.
Republican maverick Ron Paul wins a second straw poll and reminds the critics why he matters
why won’t Paul go away? His followers will tell you that Ron Paul keeps on winning because he is right on the issues. And he has certainly been vindicated on the subjects upon which he has built his reputation – fiscal policy and war. He was right to predict that the 2008 bailout would distribute public money to irresponsible private institutions and prolong the recession. At the time he was a lone voice. But his “throw ‘em to the wall” philosophy is now Tea Party orthodoxy, and the Republican leadership likes to pretend that it said that all along too.
Refugee crisis mushrooms as Syrian army attacks
'The War You Don't See': A Film You Won't See
AP Interview: Israel says Assad's prospects dim
Barack said Israel was also in the final stages of testing the David's Sling ballistic missile defense system, which would defend against medium–range ballistic missiles and cruise missiles.
"Disappointed" EU prepares to expand Syria sanctions
Seven protesters killed in Syria during rallies
Will Weiner’s Jewish District Hit The Political Chopping Block?
The 2012 federal redistricting process mandates that New York state must lose two seats in the House of Representatives next year. Weiner’s District 9 — which encompasses parts of Queens and Brooklyn — was originally considered a safe seat. But Weiner’s follies have put his district at risk. State and federal Democrats could decide to chop up District 9, allocating pieces of it to adjacent Congressional territories. The dissolution of Weiner’s district would mean the dissolution of one of the most solidly Jewish Congressional blocs in the country
....Weiner embodies a particular blend of traits common to many Jewish politicians: He votes left on social issues and right — in Weiner’s case, hard right — on Israel policy.
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Headlines for June 9 - June 15
A Stand For Justice
More than $6 billion in Iraq reconstruction funds lost
The Iraqi and U.S. governments have been unable to account for a substantial chunk of the billions of dollars in reconstruction aid the Bush administration literally airlifted into the country. If the cash proves to have been stolen, the heist could represent "the largest theft of funds in national history," according to a report in the Los Angeles Times. Wow.
End Excessive Oil Speculation Now
Even Goldman Sachs suggests that legal speculation may be adding 65-70 cents to the price of a gallon of gasoline.
Speculators, in other words, are imposing a private tax on us.
Asking too much of U.S. consumers
Turkey's Erdogan presses Assad's envoy over unrest
Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan held crisis talks with an envoy of Syria's president on Wednesday as Ankara pressed its once well–regarded neighbor to end a crackdown on protesters that it has called "savagery."
The New Powers the FBI Just Granted Itself
The Federal Bureau of Investigations has rewritten its own operations manual, giving its agents more autonomy than ever to conduct low-level searches without a paper trail.
Secret U.S. effort aims to help dissidents: report
The State Department is also financing creation of stealth wireless networks to enable activists to communicate beyond the reach of governments in countries like Iran, Syria and Libya, the Times said, citing participants in the projects
Russia, China snub U.N. council talks on Syria: envoys
Russia and China dislike the idea of any council discussion of Syria and have suggested they might use their veto power to kill the resolution. Lebanon, India, Brazil and South Africa have also said they have problems with the text.
Russia objects to US warship in Black Sea
Russia's Foreign Ministry issued a statement Sunday saying Russia "has repeatedly stressed that we will not leave unnoticed any elements of U.S. strategic infrastructure in the immediate vicinity of our borders and will consider any such steps as a threat to our security."
Phone taps convict three more of insider trading
Three former securities traders were convicted on Monday on all counts of fraud and conspiracy to commit insider trading on pending mergers, in another victory for prosecutors in their probe of suspicious trading on Wall Street.
US Congress votes against Libya funding
Fed prepares for last spurt of easy money flood
The Fed said it will buy $50 billion of Treasuries, the final series of government bond purchases that marks the last phase of the $600 billion program it launched in November 2010 to prevent another recession.
As a result, once the purchases are concluded on June 30, the financial sector will receive only a fraction of the roughly $100 billion a month in easy money it has been getting from the Fed.
6 killed, tanks near Iraq as Syria faces backlash
Forces stationed in Jisr al–Shugur shot dead a family of four on Monday, London–based rights activist Rami Abdel Rahman said.
AIPAC Pushes Hard for War With Iran
The overarching problem is the Israel lobby’s subversion of American governance through election fraud, the evasion of tax regulations and laws regulating foreign lobbies, and the systematized, ongoing infiltration of operatives into key government posts to advance the interests of a foreign state. Unfortunately for AIPAC, the Americans gathering to challenge it cross party lines. Whether they wear American flag pins on their suit lapels or Birkenstocks over wool socks is of ever declining significance. Thank God for that. But Americans need to get in the know and take action at a quicker pace, before it's too late.
Target: Iran by Philip Giraldi
An ‘article’ by Seymour Hersh that appeared last week in the New Yorker reveals some details of the still classified 2011 National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on Iran. To put it succinctly, there is no actual evidence that Iran has a nuclear weapon program. None. Hersh’s article elicited a response from a number of anonymous White House sources who disputed the article’s conclusions, suggesting very clearly that the Obama Administration embraces the Iranian threat narrative, if only to be able to cite Tehran as the reason for the repeated American failures in the region. Hersh also reported that the NIE had been delayed for four months because the White House had wanted a harsher judgment on Iran’s likely intentions. The intelligence community, having been burned once over Iraq, refused to comply. Read on for the legislation put forth by Israel-firsters on Capitol Hill.
Obama’s Dilemma — and Ours by Patrick J. Buchanan
We overextended ourselves. We bankrupted ourselves.
We undertook the defense of nations all over the world having little to do with our vital national interests. We fought unnecessary wars. We doled out trillions in foreign aid to ingrates, incompetents, opportunists and thieves.
Activists cry foul over FBI probe
The apparent targets, all vocal and visible critics of U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East and South America, deny any ties to terrorism. They say the government, using its post-9/11 focus on terrorism as a pretext, is targeting them for their political views....
All 23 of the activists invoked their right not to testify before a grand jury, defying U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, whose office is spearheading the investigation. Patrick Fitzgerald, now a stoolie to the neocons, rather than a prosecutor thereof. Sad.
Ex-CIA officer: Israel spies on US
An example, Giraldi said, is the Chinese Chengdu Jet J-10 that has been built with technologies that originally came from the US.
This is despite the fact that Israel relies heavily on the US for political and military support.
“It should almost be seen as an act of war,” Giraldi emphasized. Please take a few minutes to give a listen to former counterterrorism officer, Philip Giraldi.
Import prices rise for 8th straight month
Import prices rose for an eighth straight month in May despite a drop in fuel costs, with the year–on–year increase reaching its highest level in nearly three years, according to data on Friday.
Just 26% Favor Continued Military Action in Libya
A plurality of voters now opposes further U.S. military action in Libya, and most say President Obama needs congressional approval to continue those operations.
US must make cuts or risk economic failure
Author and well known international investor Jim Rogers said the US is in terrible trouble. Congress should act swiftly to cut spending dramatically to save the economy.
Iraq will ask US troops to stay post-2011, says Panetta
American held for spying on Pak N-facilities , to be deported
EXCLUSIVE: New Documents Claim Intelligence on Bin Laden, al-Qaeda Targets Withheld From Congress' 9/11 Probe
the Bush administration was fully aware the terrorist organization had set its sights on those structures prior to 9/11 and, apparently, government officials failed to act on those warnings.
US congressman says Iraq should repay war costs
Iraqis: We won't repay U.S.
Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, a Republican from California, suggested during a trip to Baghdad with fellow lawmakers Friday that once Iraq becomes a rich and prosperous country, it could repay the United States.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0611/56776.html#ixzz1PxaVydCZ
CIA's Osama bin Laden informants arrested by Pakistan – report
Some in Washington see the arrests as another sign of the disconnect between US and Pakistani priorities in the fight against extremists, the newspaper reported.
F.B.I. Agents Get Leeway to Push Privacy Bounds
Some of the most notable changes apply to the lowest category of investigations, called an “assessment.” The category, created in December 2008, allows agents to look into people and organizations “proactively” and without firm evidence for suspecting criminal or terrorist activity.
Syria: 'They Shot People Who Were Trying to Get Away'
American Diplomacy 101 by Philip Giraldi
It seems that Rohrabacher and some fellow wingnuts to include Ileana Ros Lehtinen, the committee chairman, have a soft spot in their hearts for MEK because it is an enemy of the Mullah regime in Tehran. They have tried a number of times to get it delisted as a terrorist organization. Not coincidentally, the congressmen who are fond of MEK are also passionate supporters of Israel. My enemy’s enemy…
Non-Interventionist Conservatives Go Mainstream?
Debate Rages over US Withdrawal
"I would hope that (the withdrawal) is very small," the 2008 Republican presidential candidate, Sen. John McCain, told the Financial Times this week. "I would hope that it is 3,000. We need another fighting season (against the Taliban)." McCain wants to keep our troops over there so that they can protect Israel. McCain: Iraq troop pullout bad for Israel
Iran and the Issue of Nuclear Weapons
Israeli politicians are addicted to the Iran threat. Iran serves, alongside the Palestinians, as the latter day ruthless anti-Semite who would destroy the Jews. Zionists seem to need this kind of “existentialist” enemy. This is the equivalent of the Islamic fundamentalist taking the place of the hateful communist as the great enemy that the United States also seems to need. The Israeli lobby is more influential in formulating U.S. foreign policy toward Iran than all of the nation’s intelligence services put together.
Who’s an Isolationist?
Neocons not happy when anyone dare oppose their war plans.
America for Sale: Is Goldman Sachs Buying Your City?
it's coming to a city near you -- it may already be there. We're talking about the sale of public assets to private investors. You may have heard of one-off deals, but what we'll be exploring with the Huffington Post is the scale and scope of what is a national and organized campaign to shift the way we govern ourselves. In an era of increasingly stretched local and state budgets, privatization of public assets may be so tempting to local politicians that the trend seems unstoppable. Yet, public outrage has stopped and slowed a number of initiatives.
Why Google Earth Pixelates Israel
Israel's low–resolution e–presence can be traced back to the 1997 National Defense Authorization Act. Tucked inside the 2,870–page bill is a two–bullet point section titled "SEC. 1064. PROHIBITION ON COLLECTION AND RELEASE OF DETAILED SATELLITE IMAGERY RELATING TO ISRAEL" (page 2653). Below, the full–text:
Syrians flee as troops mass, West concern grows
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Thursday said 2,400 people had already crossed into Turkey.
Lebanon gets Hezbollah-led cabinet after 5-month lag
Lebanon's Prime Minister Najib Mikati announced Monday a long–delayed government dominated by Iranian–backed Hezbollah and its allies, which is likely to cause alarm among Western powers at a time of regional turmoil.
Key US lawmaker urges aid cut-off for Lebanon
A key US lawmaker called Monday for cutting all US aid to Lebanon's new government, in which Hezbollah and its allies hold the majority, and to any Palestinian government in which Hamas is a partner.
"The US should immediately cut off assistance to the Lebanese government as long as any violent extremist group designated by the US as foreign terrorist organizations participates in it," said House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Ileana Ros–Lehtinen, a Republican and frequent White House critic. Ros-Lehtinen is one of Israel's top shills on Capitol Hill.
The Missing Headlines Israelists Schumer, Lieberman, Chertoff turning U.S. into Islamophobic police state
In an interview last year with a Jewish radio talk show in New York, Senator Schumer said he believed that HaShem(an Orthodox Jewish term for “God”) gave him the name “Schumer” — which means “guardian” — so that he could fulfill his “very important” role in the U.S. Senate as a “guardian of Israel.” Presumably, Schumer’s God-given role also includes turning the country he is actuallypaid to represent — the United States — into an Islamophobic police state.
Pentagon Sees Libya Military Costs Soar - FT
U.S. military operations in Libya are expected to cost hundreds of millions of dollars more than the initial $750 million outgoing defense secretary Robert Gates estimated last month, the Financial Times reported on its website Thursday, citing figures it obtained. And for what? And is not Syria's Assad doing exactly the same thing Ghaddafi was allegedly doing to his people? And the US takes no action against Syria. Why? Because Israel prefers Assad.
The Republicans Heart Netanyahu
Republicans see an opportunity to seize on the distance between a recalcitrant, right-wing Israeli regime and a liberal Democratic American president for their own political gain. What’s more, the party’s base is increasingly dominated by the conservative Christian Zionists, whose love for Israel is, according to their interpretation of Scripture, commanded by the Almighty.
Most Americans think Congress is unethical
Israel’s ‘Mr. Security’ Goes Rogue
In a series of semi-public talks with academics, journalists and a Knesset committee, Dagan has been arguing since January that Iran is further from gaining a nuclear weapon than Israel’s leaders claim and that the notion of attacking Iran’s nuclear installations, a cornerstone of Benjamin Netanyahu’s defense strategy, is “stupid.” He says that an attack wouldn’t succeed in eliminating Iran’s dispersed, heavily fortified nuclear sites. It would, however, spark a regional war which could threaten Israel’s existence. Moreover, he says, issuing military threats in order to deter Iran and stiffen Western resolve has the perverse effect of spurring Iran to speed up its efforts, in self-defense.
Read more: http://www.forward.com/articles/138492/#ixzz1Q337ki5s
Thank you for your honesty and cojones, Mr. Dagan. While you are looking out for your country, I am looking out for mine.
Graham: Now is the time to take action in Syria
"If it made sense to protect the Libyan people against Qaddafi - and it did, because they were going to get slaughtered if we hadn't sent NATO in when he was on the outskirts of Benghazi -the question for the world is, have we gotten to that point in Syria?" asked Graham. "We may not be there yet but we're getting very close."
Well, at least he is not a hypocrite. At least, not on this issue.
Fleeing Syrians tell of revolt, mutiny and mayhem
As more than 2,400 Syrians streamed across the open Turkish borders on Thursday ahead of tanks and troops who surrounded their hometown, they brought with them the first accounts of a week of revolt, mutiny and mayhem in Jisr al–Shughour. The streets were deserted, leaving no resistance against a regime equipped for all–out battle.
Helicopter gunships fire on Syrian protesters
Mitt Romney, Ron Paul clash on Afghanistan pullout
Iran urges world community to pressure Israel into joining Non-Proliferation Treaty
"The world community should put pressure on the Zionist regime (Israel) to join the NPT and allow inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)," Iranian Foreign Minister Ali-Akbar Salehi said.
Ron Paul Won the Debate
The reason foreign policy wasn’t discussed for most of the debate is because the 2012 GOP’s first concern—like much of the country—is the economy. But in 2008, Paul was already warning of the current economic crisis. In fact, Paul’s argument has always been that America is going bankrupt due in large part to an expensive and detrimental foreign policy. The questions related to foreign policy asked Monday were far more sympathetic to Paul’s long held views than that of any other Republican candidate in 2008.
Goldman investigated over £31m Libyan 'bribe'
Goldman Sachs' dealings with Muammar Gaddafi's regime have come under scrutiny from US regulators investigating whether they broke anti-bribery laws.
Syrian Army deserter 'We were ordered to shoot on the people'
Syrian troops sweep through north; unrest kills 32
Elite Syrian forces moved swiftly through the country's restive north on Friday, raining tank shells on rebellious towns, torching farmland and shooting protesters who tried to tear down a poster of President Bashar Assad, activists and refugees said.
New Square: Where Tradition And the Rebbe Rule
Among other things, New Square residents must walk streets strictly divided by gender, with women on one side and men on the other, as Yiddish signs posted on telephone poles lining those streets dictate. Women are not allowed to drive
....This is not New Square’s first turn in the spotlight in connection with a scandal. In January 2001, President Bill Clinton commuted the sentences of four New Square officials who had been convicted earlier in a multi-million dollar federal Pell Grant scandal. This was shortly after the village overwhelmingly voted for Clinton’s wife in the November 2000 Senate campaign.
What? Guess where this takes place? Yes, good old America. Who owns this place? Wait, I thought we were in danger of Sharia Law here?
Bank Bailouts Explained:
More than $6 billion in Iraq reconstruction funds lost
The Iraqi and U.S. governments have been unable to account for a substantial chunk of the billions of dollars in reconstruction aid the Bush administration literally airlifted into the country. If the cash proves to have been stolen, the heist could represent "the largest theft of funds in national history," according to a report in the Los Angeles Times. Wow.
End Excessive Oil Speculation Now
Even Goldman Sachs suggests that legal speculation may be adding 65-70 cents to the price of a gallon of gasoline.
Speculators, in other words, are imposing a private tax on us.
Asking too much of U.S. consumers
Turkey's Erdogan presses Assad's envoy over unrest
Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan held crisis talks with an envoy of Syria's president on Wednesday as Ankara pressed its once well–regarded neighbor to end a crackdown on protesters that it has called "savagery."
The New Powers the FBI Just Granted Itself
The Federal Bureau of Investigations has rewritten its own operations manual, giving its agents more autonomy than ever to conduct low-level searches without a paper trail.
Secret U.S. effort aims to help dissidents: report
The State Department is also financing creation of stealth wireless networks to enable activists to communicate beyond the reach of governments in countries like Iran, Syria and Libya, the Times said, citing participants in the projects
Russia, China snub U.N. council talks on Syria: envoys
Russia and China dislike the idea of any council discussion of Syria and have suggested they might use their veto power to kill the resolution. Lebanon, India, Brazil and South Africa have also said they have problems with the text.
Russia objects to US warship in Black Sea
Russia's Foreign Ministry issued a statement Sunday saying Russia "has repeatedly stressed that we will not leave unnoticed any elements of U.S. strategic infrastructure in the immediate vicinity of our borders and will consider any such steps as a threat to our security."
Phone taps convict three more of insider trading
Three former securities traders were convicted on Monday on all counts of fraud and conspiracy to commit insider trading on pending mergers, in another victory for prosecutors in their probe of suspicious trading on Wall Street.
US Congress votes against Libya funding
Fed prepares for last spurt of easy money flood
The Fed said it will buy $50 billion of Treasuries, the final series of government bond purchases that marks the last phase of the $600 billion program it launched in November 2010 to prevent another recession.
As a result, once the purchases are concluded on June 30, the financial sector will receive only a fraction of the roughly $100 billion a month in easy money it has been getting from the Fed.
6 killed, tanks near Iraq as Syria faces backlash
Forces stationed in Jisr al–Shugur shot dead a family of four on Monday, London–based rights activist Rami Abdel Rahman said.
AIPAC Pushes Hard for War With Iran
The overarching problem is the Israel lobby’s subversion of American governance through election fraud, the evasion of tax regulations and laws regulating foreign lobbies, and the systematized, ongoing infiltration of operatives into key government posts to advance the interests of a foreign state. Unfortunately for AIPAC, the Americans gathering to challenge it cross party lines. Whether they wear American flag pins on their suit lapels or Birkenstocks over wool socks is of ever declining significance. Thank God for that. But Americans need to get in the know and take action at a quicker pace, before it's too late.
Target: Iran by Philip Giraldi
An ‘article’ by Seymour Hersh that appeared last week in the New Yorker reveals some details of the still classified 2011 National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on Iran. To put it succinctly, there is no actual evidence that Iran has a nuclear weapon program. None. Hersh’s article elicited a response from a number of anonymous White House sources who disputed the article’s conclusions, suggesting very clearly that the Obama Administration embraces the Iranian threat narrative, if only to be able to cite Tehran as the reason for the repeated American failures in the region. Hersh also reported that the NIE had been delayed for four months because the White House had wanted a harsher judgment on Iran’s likely intentions. The intelligence community, having been burned once over Iraq, refused to comply. Read on for the legislation put forth by Israel-firsters on Capitol Hill.
Obama’s Dilemma — and Ours by Patrick J. Buchanan
We overextended ourselves. We bankrupted ourselves.
We undertook the defense of nations all over the world having little to do with our vital national interests. We fought unnecessary wars. We doled out trillions in foreign aid to ingrates, incompetents, opportunists and thieves.
Activists cry foul over FBI probe
The apparent targets, all vocal and visible critics of U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East and South America, deny any ties to terrorism. They say the government, using its post-9/11 focus on terrorism as a pretext, is targeting them for their political views....
All 23 of the activists invoked their right not to testify before a grand jury, defying U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, whose office is spearheading the investigation. Patrick Fitzgerald, now a stoolie to the neocons, rather than a prosecutor thereof. Sad.
Ex-CIA officer: Israel spies on US
An example, Giraldi said, is the Chinese Chengdu Jet J-10 that has been built with technologies that originally came from the US.
This is despite the fact that Israel relies heavily on the US for political and military support.
“It should almost be seen as an act of war,” Giraldi emphasized. Please take a few minutes to give a listen to former counterterrorism officer, Philip Giraldi.
Import prices rise for 8th straight month
Import prices rose for an eighth straight month in May despite a drop in fuel costs, with the year–on–year increase reaching its highest level in nearly three years, according to data on Friday.
Just 26% Favor Continued Military Action in Libya
A plurality of voters now opposes further U.S. military action in Libya, and most say President Obama needs congressional approval to continue those operations.
US must make cuts or risk economic failure
Author and well known international investor Jim Rogers said the US is in terrible trouble. Congress should act swiftly to cut spending dramatically to save the economy.
Iraq will ask US troops to stay post-2011, says Panetta
American held for spying on Pak N-facilities , to be deported
EXCLUSIVE: New Documents Claim Intelligence on Bin Laden, al-Qaeda Targets Withheld From Congress' 9/11 Probe
the Bush administration was fully aware the terrorist organization had set its sights on those structures prior to 9/11 and, apparently, government officials failed to act on those warnings.
US congressman says Iraq should repay war costs
Iraqis: We won't repay U.S.
Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, a Republican from California, suggested during a trip to Baghdad with fellow lawmakers Friday that once Iraq becomes a rich and prosperous country, it could repay the United States.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0611/56776.html#ixzz1PxaVydCZ
CIA's Osama bin Laden informants arrested by Pakistan – report
Some in Washington see the arrests as another sign of the disconnect between US and Pakistani priorities in the fight against extremists, the newspaper reported.
F.B.I. Agents Get Leeway to Push Privacy Bounds
Some of the most notable changes apply to the lowest category of investigations, called an “assessment.” The category, created in December 2008, allows agents to look into people and organizations “proactively” and without firm evidence for suspecting criminal or terrorist activity.
Syria: 'They Shot People Who Were Trying to Get Away'
American Diplomacy 101 by Philip Giraldi
It seems that Rohrabacher and some fellow wingnuts to include Ileana Ros Lehtinen, the committee chairman, have a soft spot in their hearts for MEK because it is an enemy of the Mullah regime in Tehran. They have tried a number of times to get it delisted as a terrorist organization. Not coincidentally, the congressmen who are fond of MEK are also passionate supporters of Israel. My enemy’s enemy…
Non-Interventionist Conservatives Go Mainstream?
Debate Rages over US Withdrawal
"I would hope that (the withdrawal) is very small," the 2008 Republican presidential candidate, Sen. John McCain, told the Financial Times this week. "I would hope that it is 3,000. We need another fighting season (against the Taliban)." McCain wants to keep our troops over there so that they can protect Israel. McCain: Iraq troop pullout bad for Israel
Iran and the Issue of Nuclear Weapons
Israeli politicians are addicted to the Iran threat. Iran serves, alongside the Palestinians, as the latter day ruthless anti-Semite who would destroy the Jews. Zionists seem to need this kind of “existentialist” enemy. This is the equivalent of the Islamic fundamentalist taking the place of the hateful communist as the great enemy that the United States also seems to need. The Israeli lobby is more influential in formulating U.S. foreign policy toward Iran than all of the nation’s intelligence services put together.
Who’s an Isolationist?
Neocons not happy when anyone dare oppose their war plans.
America for Sale: Is Goldman Sachs Buying Your City?
it's coming to a city near you -- it may already be there. We're talking about the sale of public assets to private investors. You may have heard of one-off deals, but what we'll be exploring with the Huffington Post is the scale and scope of what is a national and organized campaign to shift the way we govern ourselves. In an era of increasingly stretched local and state budgets, privatization of public assets may be so tempting to local politicians that the trend seems unstoppable. Yet, public outrage has stopped and slowed a number of initiatives.
Why Google Earth Pixelates Israel
Israel's low–resolution e–presence can be traced back to the 1997 National Defense Authorization Act. Tucked inside the 2,870–page bill is a two–bullet point section titled "SEC. 1064. PROHIBITION ON COLLECTION AND RELEASE OF DETAILED SATELLITE IMAGERY RELATING TO ISRAEL" (page 2653). Below, the full–text:
Syrians flee as troops mass, West concern grows
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Thursday said 2,400 people had already crossed into Turkey.
Lebanon gets Hezbollah-led cabinet after 5-month lag
Lebanon's Prime Minister Najib Mikati announced Monday a long–delayed government dominated by Iranian–backed Hezbollah and its allies, which is likely to cause alarm among Western powers at a time of regional turmoil.
Key US lawmaker urges aid cut-off for Lebanon
A key US lawmaker called Monday for cutting all US aid to Lebanon's new government, in which Hezbollah and its allies hold the majority, and to any Palestinian government in which Hamas is a partner.
"The US should immediately cut off assistance to the Lebanese government as long as any violent extremist group designated by the US as foreign terrorist organizations participates in it," said House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Ileana Ros–Lehtinen, a Republican and frequent White House critic. Ros-Lehtinen is one of Israel's top shills on Capitol Hill.
The Missing Headlines Israelists Schumer, Lieberman, Chertoff turning U.S. into Islamophobic police state
In an interview last year with a Jewish radio talk show in New York, Senator Schumer said he believed that HaShem(an Orthodox Jewish term for “God”) gave him the name “Schumer” — which means “guardian” — so that he could fulfill his “very important” role in the U.S. Senate as a “guardian of Israel.” Presumably, Schumer’s God-given role also includes turning the country he is actuallypaid to represent — the United States — into an Islamophobic police state.
Pentagon Sees Libya Military Costs Soar - FT
U.S. military operations in Libya are expected to cost hundreds of millions of dollars more than the initial $750 million outgoing defense secretary Robert Gates estimated last month, the Financial Times reported on its website Thursday, citing figures it obtained. And for what? And is not Syria's Assad doing exactly the same thing Ghaddafi was allegedly doing to his people? And the US takes no action against Syria. Why? Because Israel prefers Assad.
The Republicans Heart Netanyahu
Republicans see an opportunity to seize on the distance between a recalcitrant, right-wing Israeli regime and a liberal Democratic American president for their own political gain. What’s more, the party’s base is increasingly dominated by the conservative Christian Zionists, whose love for Israel is, according to their interpretation of Scripture, commanded by the Almighty.
Most Americans think Congress is unethical
Israel’s ‘Mr. Security’ Goes Rogue
In a series of semi-public talks with academics, journalists and a Knesset committee, Dagan has been arguing since January that Iran is further from gaining a nuclear weapon than Israel’s leaders claim and that the notion of attacking Iran’s nuclear installations, a cornerstone of Benjamin Netanyahu’s defense strategy, is “stupid.” He says that an attack wouldn’t succeed in eliminating Iran’s dispersed, heavily fortified nuclear sites. It would, however, spark a regional war which could threaten Israel’s existence. Moreover, he says, issuing military threats in order to deter Iran and stiffen Western resolve has the perverse effect of spurring Iran to speed up its efforts, in self-defense.
Read more: http://www.forward.com/articles/138492/#ixzz1Q337ki5s
Thank you for your honesty and cojones, Mr. Dagan. While you are looking out for your country, I am looking out for mine.
Graham: Now is the time to take action in Syria
"If it made sense to protect the Libyan people against Qaddafi - and it did, because they were going to get slaughtered if we hadn't sent NATO in when he was on the outskirts of Benghazi -the question for the world is, have we gotten to that point in Syria?" asked Graham. "We may not be there yet but we're getting very close."
Well, at least he is not a hypocrite. At least, not on this issue.
Fleeing Syrians tell of revolt, mutiny and mayhem
As more than 2,400 Syrians streamed across the open Turkish borders on Thursday ahead of tanks and troops who surrounded their hometown, they brought with them the first accounts of a week of revolt, mutiny and mayhem in Jisr al–Shughour. The streets were deserted, leaving no resistance against a regime equipped for all–out battle.
Helicopter gunships fire on Syrian protesters
Mitt Romney, Ron Paul clash on Afghanistan pullout
Iran urges world community to pressure Israel into joining Non-Proliferation Treaty
"The world community should put pressure on the Zionist regime (Israel) to join the NPT and allow inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)," Iranian Foreign Minister Ali-Akbar Salehi said.
Ron Paul Won the Debate
The reason foreign policy wasn’t discussed for most of the debate is because the 2012 GOP’s first concern—like much of the country—is the economy. But in 2008, Paul was already warning of the current economic crisis. In fact, Paul’s argument has always been that America is going bankrupt due in large part to an expensive and detrimental foreign policy. The questions related to foreign policy asked Monday were far more sympathetic to Paul’s long held views than that of any other Republican candidate in 2008.
Goldman investigated over £31m Libyan 'bribe'
Goldman Sachs' dealings with Muammar Gaddafi's regime have come under scrutiny from US regulators investigating whether they broke anti-bribery laws.
Syrian Army deserter 'We were ordered to shoot on the people'
Syrian troops sweep through north; unrest kills 32
Elite Syrian forces moved swiftly through the country's restive north on Friday, raining tank shells on rebellious towns, torching farmland and shooting protesters who tried to tear down a poster of President Bashar Assad, activists and refugees said.
New Square: Where Tradition And the Rebbe Rule
Among other things, New Square residents must walk streets strictly divided by gender, with women on one side and men on the other, as Yiddish signs posted on telephone poles lining those streets dictate. Women are not allowed to drive
....This is not New Square’s first turn in the spotlight in connection with a scandal. In January 2001, President Bill Clinton commuted the sentences of four New Square officials who had been convicted earlier in a multi-million dollar federal Pell Grant scandal. This was shortly after the village overwhelmingly voted for Clinton’s wife in the November 2000 Senate campaign.
What? Guess where this takes place? Yes, good old America. Who owns this place? Wait, I thought we were in danger of Sharia Law here?
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