Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Headlines for January 13 - January 19

A Stand For Justice


Israel tested worm linked to Iran atom woes: report

In what the Times described as a joint Israeli–U.S. effort to undermine Iran's nuclear ambitions, it said the tests of the destructive Stuxnet worm had occurred over the past two years at the heavily guarded Dimona complex in the Negev desert.




Stuxnet Virus Attack: Russia Warns of ‘Iranian Chernobyl'
Russian nuclear scientists are providing technical assistance to Iran's attempts activate the country's first nuclear power plant at the Gulf port.

But they have raised serious concerns about the extensive damage caused to the plant's computer systems by the mysterious Stuxnet virus, which was discovered last year and is widely believed to have been the result of a sophisticated joint US-Israeli cyber attack.


AIPAC on Trial By Philip Giraldi
Rosen claims to have “about 180” documents that demonstrate that classified information was regularly collected by AIPAC and given to the Israeli Embassy with the full knowledge of the organization’s executive director and other senior officials, something they have denied under oath. He also claims that depositions of FBI agents who questioned AIPAC officials will demonstrate that the collection and use of classified information was routine, generally known, and widely accepted within AIPAC. Notice all of the neoconservatives involved in passing intelligence to AIPAC. Big surprise there, huh?


Government Spy Infiltrated Antiwar Groups Before FBI Raids
“When I speak of disruption, I am referring to an August 2009 solidarity delegation to Palestine. This delegation was a fact-finding mission, where participants were to witness the conditions for Palestinians living under U.S.-backed occupation, and to express our solidarity in a person-to-person way. Officer Sullivan made public her plans to join this delegation, she helped to promote it and fundraise for it here in our community. At the same time, she was secretly working to sabotage the trip entirely. Through her work, reports were passed onto Israeli authorities, who then barred entry to the two Minneapolis women traveling with Karen Sullivan. Her action, on behalf of the U.S. government, deprived these women of their rights to travel, association and dissent. The government was wrong to disrupt our important and legal work against U.S. aid to Israel.”


States Warned of $2 Trillion Pensions Shortfall



International envoys tour key Iranian nuclear site



Iran joins Venezuela, Libya to say no harm in $100 oil



US Debt Passes $14 Trillion, Congress Weighs Caps
Today's debt level represents a $45,300 tab for each and everyone in the country


US drones shot down outside Iran airspace: army



Tony Blair to appear before Iraq war inquiry on 21 January
The inquiry is believed to be concerned about the revelation in documents released in June showing that the day before he privately assured Bush he would back US-led military action, Blair was warned by Lord Goldsmith, then attorney general, that an invasion of Iraq would be illegal.


Foreclosure Filings in U.S. May Jump 20% From Record 2010 as Crisis Peaks
The number of U.S. homes receiving a foreclosure filing will climb about 20 percent in 2011, reaching a peak for the housing crisis, as unemployment remains high and banks resume seizures after a slowdown, RealtyTrac Inc. said.


Economy facing headwinds, but Bernanke hopeful
Jobless claims hit a 10-week high last week while producer prices shot up in December, pointing to headwinds for an economy that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said was showing fresh vigor.


WikiLeaks Activist Searched, Questioned At Seattle Airport



Local Blogger Probed By Feds
Arnott said U.S. Capitol police canvassed members of Congress to come up with a list of people across the country who might be considered potential threats to members of Congress. It's up to local law enforcement to protect members of Congress when they return to their home districts.


$100 a barrel likely as gas prices stay above $3
Gas prices continued their climb above the $3.00 a gallon mark for the third straight week. The national average price of regular grade gasoline was $3.10 Friday, up 2 cents from a week ago. Prices remain 12 cents higher than a month ago, 34 cents above year-ago prices, yet $1.01 below the record of $4.11 set in July 2008.


Why Hezbollah Walked



Mossad Zeros in on Tehran's Nuclear Program
Mossad's attacks on Iranian nuclear scientists right in the center of Tehran has cast a spotlight on Israel's shadowy war

........Targeted killings outside of its borders have been used as a military weapon more often by Israel than by any other country. In its 63 years of existence, Israel has acquired a high degree of craftsmanship when it comes to snuffing out its opponents, and was the first country to develop the technology for targeted killings from the air.

In 1978 Israeli agents used poisoned toothpaste to kill Wadih Haddad, the leader of a faction of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). Seven years later they packed a copy of the Koran with explosives and sent it to Ali-Akbar Mohtashamipur, Iran's ambassador to Syria. In 1997 they attempted, but ultimately failed, to assassinate Hamas leader Khaled Mashal with the neurotoxin botulin in the Jordanian capital, Amman.

And exactly a year ago, they appeared unconcerned that surveillance cameras captured each stage of their murder of Hamas activist Mahmoud al-Mabhouh -- allowing the world to examine the anatomy of that Dubai attack. Israel is quite capable of executing murders in even hostile nations such as Iran. Tell me again that it was Hezbollah that killed Hariri? Laughable.


US diplomacy suffers a setback in Lebanon
American diplomacy in the Middle East suffered a setback Wednesday when U.S. ally Saudi Arabia abandoned efforts to mediate the political crisis in Lebanon, where the militant group Hezbollah has toppled the Western–backed government.

The withdrawal of Arab powerhouse Saudi Arabia is the latest sign that the competition over influence in Lebanon is tipping in favor of Hezbollah and its patrons Iran and Syria.

My country ought to stop meddling in the affairs of other nations (at the behest of and on behalf of Israel). We have enough problems and frankly, we don't have a dog in that fight.


First US ambassador in 5 years arrives in Syria



Jewish and English 'Defence Leagues' Alliance Sparks Violent Protests in Canada
Demonstrators representing several anti-racism and social action groups shouted slogans and taunts at members of the JDL, whose Canadian leader, Meir Weinstein, announced recently that his group would ally with the British organization, which is known for violence and extremism. Police on foot and horseback managed to control the protest, but not before one officer reportedly suffered a broken rib.


First indictment filed in Lebanon's Hariri killing
On Monday, Foreign Minister Ali Shami cautioned the U.S. to stop meddling in Lebanon. He summoned American Ambassador Maura Connelly to explain her weekend meeting with Nicolas Fattouch, a key undecided lawmaker, as politicians scramble to form a government.




Lebanon in Limbo: A Nation Haunted by the Murder of Rafiq Hariri



The US/Israeli Coup in Beirut
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton preemptively torpedoed negotiations between Saudi Arabia and Syria by telling "Saudi King Abdullah and Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri that the U.S. would reject any settlement at the expense of the UN tribunal." (Tehran Times) Clinton knew that the Saudi-Syria team was close to a "breakthrough" that would have resolved contentious issues related to the investigation of the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. She could not allow that to happen because it would derail the US/Israeli plan for regime change and another Israeli invasion of Lebanon.


Avi Shlaim on the Neoconservative Middle East War Agenda
After mentioning the major goals of the plan, including the removal of Saddam’s regime, Shlaim declares: “Thus, five years before the attack on the twin towers, the idea of regime change in Baghdad was already on the agenda of some of Israel’s most fervent Republican supporters in Washington.” (p. 299) Regarding the connection of that policy to actual American interests, Shlaim opines that “While the authors’ devotion to Israel’s interests was crystal-clear, their implicit identification of those interests with American interests was much more open to question.”


Israel troops on alert after Lebanon govt falls
Israeli troops in the north were on alert Thursday over worries that the political turmoil in Lebanon might spill over into renewed violence on their shared border, following the collapse of the Lebanese government.




What Now For Lebanon?
More likely would be Israel undertaking a White House green lighted invasion of Lebanon to degrade Hezbollah and Syria as a forward base-up weakening of Iran from ground level. Congressional sources report that the Pentagon disagrees with Israel and intend to attack not from the base but from above the top of the Resistance pyramid which is Iran. The US will hit Iran hard thus hopefully opening up another attempt to peel away Syria and forced them to accept a peace deal with Israel.


Independent Investigation or US-Israeli Cat's-paw?
In August 2010, Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah presented "intercepted Israeli reconnaissance footage" and "the recorded confessions of Israeli spies" at news conference in Beirut to support his claim that Israel was responsible for the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri. The aerial footage, taken by Israeli unmanned drones, showed the same route taken by Hariri's motorcade on the day of the assassination, suggesting that the ex-PM was being pursued.

Nasrallah's revelations were compelling but, unfortunately, they were ignored by the western media except for the Christian Scientist Monitor which compiled the information in an article titled "Is Hezbollah right that Israel assassinated Lebanon's Rafik Hariri?"

Here's an excerpt from the CSM:

“Israel has the capability to carry out this type of operation, such as Hariri’s assassination and the other assassinations that targeted Lebanon during the past few years,” said Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, adding that Israel’s motive was to cast the blame on its enemies, Syria and Hezbollah. ("Is Hezbollah right that Israel assassinated Lebanon's Rafik Hariri?", Christian Scientist Monitor)


Who Lost the Middle East? By Patrick J. Buchanan
should a new wave of revolts sweep the region, we might see the final collapse of the neoconservative foreign policy of George W. Bush.


Military strike on Iran is what unites Netanyahu and Barak
Netanyahu and Barak have hinted over the past two weeks that Israel is on the verge of a surprising diplomatic move. In his address to foreign reporters, Netanyahu promised that in 2011 "the truth will emerge" about who really wants peace in the region.


Federal Probe May Open New Front in Terror War
Subpoenas issued in December reportedly included no details on the information requested. Maureen Clare Murphy, an activist called to testify, said her subpoena simply told her to appear at a hearing January 25. She said she believes that the subpoena came as a result of her work organizing “solidarity delegations to the West Bank.”

....Cole conceded that it’s unlikely for the Times to be prosecuted. This underscores the concerns of Kadidal and others that the Supreme Court ruling could open the door to selective prosecution.

“I don’t think it’s going to be The New York Times that’s going to be prosecuted. I think it’s going to be the small solidarity groups who are working to change the status quo,” said Murphy, the subpoenaed activist.

Do you think this same effort is made to subpoena those that offer material support to Jewish groups on the list of terror organizations? They do in fact have representation on that list, I've seen it. American Israel-supporters send millions and millions of dollars in support of illegal Israeli settlements, war crimes, but not one word is uttered by our officials about it, nevermind any subpoenas.


Capitol Police Compiling Lists of ‘Threats’ to Congressmen
A number of Congressmen have openly discussed imposing harsh new curbs on political speech in the wake of the Tucson shooting, but so far none of those laws has passed, and it seems beyond the simple intimidation factor the FBI can do very little about political critics of seated Congressmen at the moment.


Sen. Joe Lieberman says he will retire in 2012



Turkey prepares to host Iran nuclear talks
Turkey's foreign minister has met EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton for talks ahead of next week's nuclear talks between Iran and world powers in Istanbul.




A Clear Danger to Free Speech
Although this proposed law may be constitutional as applied to government employees who unlawfully leak such material to people who are unauthorized to receive it, it would plainly violate the First Amendment to punish anyone who might publish or otherwise circulate the information after it has been leaked.


Congress quietly prepares to renew Patriot Act
FBI and Department of Justice officials had consistently argued that restricting their blanket authority to conduct warrantless searches would harm national security. The Founding Fathers are rolling in their graves.


Homeland Security's laptop seizures: Interview with Rep. Sanchez



U.S. Officials Privately Say WikiLeaks Damage Limited
Some of the cases of more serious damage have occurred in countries where WikiLeaks' revelations have publicized closer ties with Washington than local officials publicly admit.


Seymour Hersh Unleashed
"What I'm really talking about is how eight or nine neoconservative, radicals if you will, overthrew the American government. Took it over," he said of his forthcoming book. "It's not only that the neocons took it over but how easily they did it -- how Congress disappeared, how the press became part of it, how the public acquiesced."


Latest Chapter in Mideast Tension Is Dennis Ross vs. George Mitchell
The reported friction is, in part, a result of Ross’s increasing influence over Middle East peacemaking efforts. While originally focused on Iran and regional strategic issues, Ross’s portfolio has broadened to include Israel, as the White House has felt a need to repair frayed ties with American Jews and Israeli officials disturbed over perceptions that the administration was pressuring Israel.

....“Dennis is the closest thing you’ll find to a melitz yosher, as far as Israel is concerned,” said the Anti-Defamation League’s national director, Abraham Foxman, who used the ancient Hebrew term for “advocate.”

Yes, that makes sense : have a pro-Israeli as a 'peace negotiator'.





Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Headlines for January 6 - January 12

A Stand For Justice


Economists Foretell of U.S. Decline, China's Ascension
"The age of American predominance is over," he told a panel. "The (Chinese) Yuan will be the world's reserve currency within two decades."


Mossad chief: Iran won't go nuclear before 2015
Israel's newly retired spy chief thinks Iran will not be able to build a nuclear bomb before 2015, Israeli media reported Friday – further pushing back Israeli intelligence estimates of when Tehran might become a nuclear power.




Appropriators Sound Support for Israel Missile Defense

In August, House appropriators pushed funding for Israeli missile defense to $422.7 million, its highest level ever.

Funding for Israel missile defense over the past two years adds up to nearly $1 billion. Aid to support the short-range David's Sling anti-missile system, for example, more than doubled from $37 million in FY 2008 to $80 million in FY 2010.

With the mounting Iranian threat and Israel's role as America's strongest ally in the Middle East, lawmakers say, Congress will need to continue to strongly fund these programs.

"I continue to view the Jewish state as America's most important military and intelligence and economic ally and friend in that most dangerous and important part of the world," said Rep. Steve Rothman (D-N.J.), who sits on the Appropriations subcommittees on Defense, Homeland Security and State and Foreign Operations As more Americans are jobless and go hungry, Congress continues to shovel billions to Israel.


Poisonous Politics by Patrick J. Buchanan
As of today, there is not a shred of evidence of any connection between what Sarah Palin or Fox News said and what Jared Loughner did. From the evidence, Loughner had his first and perhaps his only encounter with Giffords in 2007, a year before Palin ever came to national attention as the running mate of John McCain.

The man charged with this awful atrocity is Jared Loughner.


The Meaning of WikiLeaks by Philip Giraldi
Classified information and how it is used was also the focus in the trial that was terminated in May 2009 of Steven Rosen and Keith Weissman, AIPAC employees who passed sensitive intelligence to Israeli government officials and to Glenn Kessler at the Washington Post. The very same people at the Wall Street Journal and the Weekly Standard who are now calling on the federal government to declare war on WikiLeaks and to summarily execute Julian Assange were at that time complaining about the fact that Rosen and Weissman had been charged with a crime because "everyone" passes around classified information in Washington. Excellent points made by Mr. Giraldi.


Patriot Act, a Nazi Law: Ex-CIA Officer
“The Patriot Act was similar to legislation carried out by the Nazis because essentially it was using terrorism in both cases as an excuse to strip civil liberties that were enjoyed in both countries; in the United States and Germany,” Phillip Giraldi said in an interview with Press TV.


Lockheed’s Shadow
Lockheed Martin doesn’t actually run the U.S. government, but sometimes it seems as if it might as well. After all, it received $36 billion in government contracts in 2008 alone, more than any company in history. It now does work for more than two dozen government agencies from the Department of Defense and the Department of Energy to the Department of Agriculture and the Environmental Protection Agency. It’s involved in surveillance and information processing for the CIA, the FBI, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the National Security Agency (NSA), the Pentagon, the Census Bureau, and the Postal Service.

....While the bulk of its influence-peddling activities may be perfectly legal, the company also has quite a track record when it comes to law-breaking: it ranks number one on the “contractor misconduct” database maintained by the Project on Government Oversight, a Washington-DC-based watchdog group.

...Tim Shorrock, author of the seminal book Spies for Hire, has described Lockheed Martin as “the largest defense contractor and private intelligence force in the world.” As far back as 2002, the company plunged into the “Total Information Awareness” (TIA) program that was former National Security Advisor Admiral John Poindexter’s pet project. A giant database to collect telephone numbers, credit cards, and reams of other personal data from U.S. citizens in the name of fighting terrorism, the program was de-funded by Congress the following year, but concerns remain that the National Security Agency is now running a similar secret program.

....In the meantime, since at least 2004, Lockheed Martin has been involved in thePentagon’s Counterintelligence Field Activity (CIFA), which collected personal data on American citizens for storage in a database known as “Threat and Local Observation Notice” (and far more dramatically by the acronym TALON). While Congress shut down the domestic spying aspect of the program in 2007 (assuming, that is, that the Pentagon followed orders), CIFA itself continues to operate. In 2005, Washington Post military and intelligence expert William Arkin revealed that, while the database was theoretically being used to track anyone suspected of terrorism, drug trafficking, or espionage, “some military gumshoe or overzealous commander just has to decide someone is a ‘threat to the military’” for it to be brought into play. Among the “threatening” citizens actually tracked by CIFA were members of antiwar groups. As part of its role in CIFA, Lockheed Martin was not only monitoring intelligence, but also “estimating future threats.” Holy crap, Batman. Clearly they don't have as much power over our government than the Israeli lobby. Or do they? Hmm....put your white hat on and ride, LM.


Netanyahu: Only 'credible' military threat led by U.S. can stop nuclear Iran
Only the convincing threat of military action headed by the United States will persuade Iran to drop plans to build an atomic bomb, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday.


Israel’s Post-American Future
In an example of dialectical thinking run amok, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has turned the strategic logic behind the patron-client state relationship on its head. He has “threatened” Washington that unless it supports his radical Zionist agenda, Jerusalem would ally itself with another global player that would supposedly be willing to prop up a militarized anti-Arab Jewish Ghetto in the Middle East.


US forced to import bullets from Israel as troops use 250,000 for every rebel killed



Israel admits Iran incapable of producing nuclear weapon before 2015
"There's a lot that's happened. We've seen this worm, this virus that's attacked the computers that run the Iranian uranium enrichment process,” Steinberg said. “We've seen some scientists who have been killed and injured, people who are working on the nuclear enrichment program in Iran, and we've seen sanctions. When you put those pieces together, it makes sense to see a slowdown in the process." Israel was behind those events.


What Would Einstein Say? By Fidel Castro
Today the leaders of the State of Israel practice genocide and are associating themselves with the most reactionary forces on the planet.


Iran says it has arrested spy ring linked to Israel



Law and Disorder by Philip Giraldi
So why the sympathy in the media and within government circles for the oligarchs? Well, it is the usual nonsense. Hardliners in Washington, many of whom are our good old friendly neocons, need an enemy and Russia was available. Some have also cleverly woven into their narrative the theme of anti-Semitism, always available when all else fails. The fact is that most oligarchs and their enablers from the West who looted Russia were Jewish and a number were Israeli citizens. But they were also criminals Another must read article by Philip Giraldi.


AIPAC Challenged in Court Over Espionage and Theft of Classified Report Investigation
On January 10, 2011, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee was challenged in the District of Columbia Superior Court over its past receipt, duplication and redistribution of U.S. government classified documents.


Hezbollah and its allies topple Lebanon government
Disputes over the tribunal have paralyzed the government for months, with Hezbollah denouncing the court as a conspiracy by the U.S. and Israel and urging the prime minister to reject any of its findings. But Hariri has refused to break cooperation with the Netherlands–based tribunal.


Pentagon Must Sharpen Iran Strategy to Counter Arms Buildup, Congress Says
The provision is the second in as many years directing the military leaders to initiate a specific task pertaining to Iran. Congress last year, in its fiscal 2010 defense bill, required an unclassified report on Iran's current military capabilities and strategy.

The new section goes further and "appears to reflect the views of those who believe a more well–developed military option" is needed to counter Iran's potential nuclear weapons program, said Kenneth Katzman, a Middle East analyst with the non–partisan Congressional Research Service.

Israel pleased, no doubt.


Iran warns neighbors not to aid Israel
Iran warned neighboring countries not to help its arch–foe Israel, one day after announcing it had rounded up a spy ring linked to Israel which it said had assassinated an Iranian nuclear scientist.




Lebanon's Hariri urges more U.N. pressure on Israel
Lebanon's prime minister urged the U.N. chief on Sunday to increase pressure on Israel to end all violations of Lebanese borders, and to help prevent it from exploiting Lebanese oil and gas, a Lebanese official said.




Iran vows to bring Israel to justice for 'crimes against humanity'
Iran has declared that it intends to seek international action against Israel after blaming the Mossad for the murder of a nuclear scientist last year, Iran's Press TV reported on Tuesday.


Israeli Anti-Missile System Faces Fire at Home and Delays in U.S. Funding
speaking under usual diplomatic rules of anonymity, an Israeli diplomat said that Congress’s strong bipartisan support for funding the program meant that Israel had nothing to worry about, despite the unfortunate delay.


As Americans go hungry..


The Uses of Political Violence by Justin Raimondo
Although the neoconservatives were generally discredited in the wake of the Iraq war, when the complete failure of their policies – and prophecies – became all too apparent even to many of them, the dead-enders among them have sought to make a comeback by transferring their war on Muslims from the Middle East to the home front.


Ex-CIA officer charged with giving reporter secrets
A former CIA officer was arrested on Thursday on charges of illegally disclosing national defense information about Iran to a New York Times reporter who wrote a book.

The U.S. Justice Department said Jeffrey Sterling, 43, was charged with six counts of unauthorized disclosure of national defense information and one count of unlawfully keeping national defense information, mail fraud, unauthorized conveyance of government property and obstructing justice.




Clinton urges Gulf to keep focus on Iran sanctions
Speaking on her plane as it landed in Abu Dhabi, Clinton advised caution when asked about new Israeli estimates suggesting Iran would take longer to acquire the capacity to build a nuclear bomb than previously feared.

"We don't want anyone to be misled by anyone's intelligence analysis," Clinton told reporters.


Wage Drop Has Been Worst In Decades



America Has ‘Reached The Point Of No Return,’ Reagan Budget Director Warns
Republicans, who were elected to a majority in the House of Representatives on promises to cut government spending, promised to cut $100 billion from the budget in their first year. Relatively few have proposed significant decreases in defense spending, and GOP leadership has outright dismissed the possibility.


Are the Deficits Forever? by Patrick J. Buchanan
As Boehner put it, we can’t kick the can up the road anymore, because we’ve come to the end of the road. Like Greece and Portugal, Ireland and Illinois, New York and New Jersey, we have arrived at Hotel California.


Who is Responsible for Giffords? by Philip Giraldi
The terrorist attack on Congresswoman Giffords and her entourage raises some interesting questions of culpability since the laws governing terrorism have been made so elastic that almost anyone can be charged for almost anything. If Jared Loughner were a Muslim, this shooting would have been called a terrorist attack. For those that claim that not all Muslims are terrorists but all terrorists are Muslims: it's true because only those crimes committed by Muslims are called terrorist attacks. When the crime is committed by a European-American, who is not Muslim, this simply is branded a murder.


Iran broadcasts 'confession' of man it says was part of assassination plot
Iran's state TV has broadcast the apparent confession of a man it describes as "the main element" of an Israeli-trained network involved in the assassination of an Iranian scientist last year.


Helping Mujahideen-e-Khalq
The material-support statute doesn’t need revision to accommodate non-existent defects. What it does need — and does not often enough get for fear of offending some Muslim organizations — is rigorous enforcement against accurately designated organizations, of which MEK is not one. ~Mukasey, Ridge, Giuliani, and Townsend





Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Headlines for December 30 - January 5

A Stand For Justice


US Military Investigates 'Death Squad' Accused of Murdering Afghans
In the chat, Winfield says he is troubled by one murder by other members of his unit. "Some innocent guy about my age just farming. They made it look like the guy threw a grenade and them and mowed him down ... Everyone pretty much knows it was staged. If I say anything it's my word against everyone. There's no one in this platoon that agrees this was wrong. They all don't care."


Leading conservatives openly support a Terrorist group
GOP Rep. Peter King is launching a McCarthyite Congressional hearing to investigate radicalism and Terrorism sympathies among American Muslim while ignoring his own long history of enthusiastic support for Catholic Terrorists in Northern Ireland; as Marcy Wheeler says: "Peter King would still be in prison if the US had treated his material support for terrorism as it now does."


Israeli PM appeals to US to free convicted spy
Israeli analyst Yossi Alpher speculated that it could be part of a deal over the stalled peace talks. He said Netanyahu could sell concessions to his hard–line government more easily if he won freedom for Pollard at the same time.

On the other hand, Alpher said, it could be just a "populist gesture on Netanyahu's part directed at various circles in Israel and the American Jewish community."

How is it that releasing an American traitor would please the American Jewish community? Explain that one to the rest of us.


Pollard Again by Philip Giraldi
That this man should go free to curry favor with the Israel Lobby and with a snake like Netanyahu is despicable. Bill Clinton almost did it and one wonders if a politically damaged Obama will take the plunge. If he does, the defense and intelligence communities will not stand for it, setting up an interesting confrontation with the White House over the next two years. Obama should once and for all state emphatically that Pollard will never go free.


'Mossad, US, UK cooperating to sabotage Iran nukes'
The sabotage included, according to the report, the introduction of the Stuxnet computer virus into 30,000 computers in Iran’s nuclear reactors and explosions in October in which 18 Iranian technicians were killed at a factory in the Zagros mountains that manufactured Shihab missiles.

According to the sources, the assassination of five Iranian nuclear scientists were also carried out by the Mossad in cooperation with the American and British intelligence agencies.


Will 2011 Become 1848? by Philip Giraldi
Sarah Palin recently paused in her campaign to amass as much money in as short a time as possible to inveigh against Iran in December 23rd’s USA Today. Mamma Grizzly, who in all probability had the article written for her by some neocon hack like Bill Kristol, opens up with “Iran continues to defy the international community in its drive to acquire nuclear weapons” and goes downhill from there. “Israel would face the gravest threat to its existence…Iran’s leaders have repeatedly called for Israel’s destruction”…“a second Holocaust”…“Iran has provided arms used to kill American soldiers”…she is the “biggest state sponsor of terrorism.”


Iran claims to down spy planes but offers no proof
Iran's Revolutionary Guard claims to have shot down several Western spy planes, including two in the Persian Gulf, but provided no evidence.




Iran invites world, save US, to tour nuclear sites



Rudy Giuliani and John Bolton Are Terrorists Now
The former Bush officials presumably like the MEK because the MEK wants to kill Iranians, which is a good thing right now even though Saddam Hussein probably killed more Iranians than anyone who ever lived and that didn't seem to get him much sympathy from John Bolton.


US memo: Iranian hard-liners blocked nuke deal



Census: Number of Poor May Be Millions Higher
The number of poor people in the U.S. is millions higher than previously known, with 1 in 6 Americans — many of them 65 and older — struggling in poverty due to rising medical care and other costs, according to preliminary census figures released Wednesday. Let's send Israel another billion.


Number of Uninsured Americans Soars to 50 Million
Last week the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured issued a new report giving a grim assessment of the toll the recession and high unemployment has taken on the nation's workforce: the number of uninsured rose to 50.0 million in 2009, an increase of 4.3 million. Let's send Israel another billion dollars.


63 Percent of Americans Oppose War in Afghanistan
Opposition to the war in Afghanistan is at an all-time high, with 63 percent of the public now opposed to U.S. involvement there, according to a new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey.


What’s “Weird” About Ron Paul?
Truth be told, from the last election to today, the degree to which Paul has been out of sync with his party and the larger conservative movement has more often reflected where everyone but Ron Paul has strayed from conservative principles. National Review is correct to note that the congressman is weird among conservatives — Ron Paul has never been as confused, hypocritical or politically schizophrenic as the larger conservative movement. Weird


Judith Miller Scolds Assange for not ‘Verifying’ Sources
Judith Miller was heavily exploited as a very useful, very willing tool for the neoconservatives pushing the country into war with Iraq in 2003. Citing unverified evidence of Saddam Hussein’s nuclear ambitions, Miller wrote for The New York Times a series of reports that were later used by the Bush Administration as grounding for the invasion. Here was her response when it all backfired and fingers started pointing to her shoddy, agenda-ridden reporting:

“[M]y job isn’t to assess the government’s information and be an independent intelligence analyst myself. My job is to tell readers of The New York Times what the government thought about Iraq’s arsenal.”


Dramatic spike in gas prices forecast
The former head of Shell Oil has warned that gas prices could hit $5 a gallon by 2012 because of fast-growing demand in emerging countries such as China and India, where more and more people are buying cars, combined with restraints on drilling in the U.S. in the wake of last year's disastrous Gulf oil spill.


Aftenposten: Israel gears up for Iran attack



Standing together against US government witch hunt
In a press release issued by the Committee to Stop FBI Repression, Murphy stated, "Along with several others, I am being summoned to appear before the Grand Jury on Tuesday, January 25th, in the Dirksen Federal Building in Chicago. We are being targeted for the work we do to end US funding of the Israeli occupation, ending the war in Afghanistan and ending the occupation of Iraq. What is at stake for all of us is our right to dissent and organize to change harmful US foreign policy" First they came for ...


Max Blumenthal « Antiwar Radio with Scott Horton and Charles Goyette
how the David Project – an Israel-lobby-created college campus group targeting pro-Palestinian academics – laid the foundation for the Islamophobia crusade; Pamela Geller‘s interesting history and close affiliation with European fascists; and how widespread fear of a global Islamic caliphate gives the US empire a reason for existence and serves to justify the otherwise nonsensical wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.


UK cable in 1980 said Israel ready to use bomb
A British ambassador to Israel warned as early as 1980 that Israel would detonate a nuclear bomb in case of a new war with the Arabs, according to previously secret state documents released on Thursday.




Oil settles below $90 as monthlong rally sputters
"The question everyone has is how much further do we have to go before we start stunting the economic recovery,"


WikiLeaks quotes IDF chief: Iran could hit Israel within 12 minutes
Ashkenazi is supposed to have also told the American delegation on November 15, 2009 that Israel was preparing for a large-scale war with Hamas or Hezbollah.


Lawmaker Plans Controversial Hearings on Islamic Threat
New York Rep. Peter King has long railed against a “wall of political correctness” blocking out his warnings about the mass threat he sees coming from the mosques of America. Now, as incoming chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, the Long Island Republican is poised to do something about this.

King, who has vowed to make hearings on this perceived threat his first order of business as chairman, promises to “do all I can [to] drive the public debate on Islamic radicalization.” But some question whether a former supporter of the Irish Republican Army, which targeted civilians with its bombs, is the right person for this job.


Recall this article, and also this one. The greatest amount of anti-Muslim vitriol in this country effuses from Israel-supporters.


AIPAC Protests Disclosure of Its Secret Files by Grant Smith
AIPAC is determined to treat the Rosen defamation lawsuit as that of a “disgruntled former employee” while dodging more relevant questions about its own handling of government classified information. Rosen has continually introduced highly sensitive AIPAC documents into court filings while threatening to put more about AIPAC’s most sensitive operations into the public domain Well well well. Read the entire article. What was this all about, hmm?...


Now the rich get richer quicker
These figures show that the shocking economic collapse of the last two years has been no collapse whatsoever for the most affluent, even while it remains traumatic for most, and catastrophic for many. Yet instead of generating a sense of moral urgency, this condition has produced a spirit of entitlement among the privileged, complacency among the struggling middle, and resignation among the impoverished.


The Tea Party and Foreign Policy
They really need to get informed on what really is happening overseas. And this knowledge is not going to be gleaned from the likes of Fox News.


Soon To-Be Ex-Congressman John Hall Warns Against Creeping Fascism
In a wide-ranging interview before he prepares to leave the House of Representatives, Hudson Valley Congressman John Hall warned that the nation could quickly descend into Fascism if more is not done to curb the influence of corporate money in politics.


Khodorkovsky's trip to the slammer: "Booyah, Putin"



US worried by 'trend' of Christian attacks
In the past few days, anti–Christian attacks left 21 people dead in Egypt, two slain in Iraq and 86 slaughtered in Nigeria.




There's no substitute for Washington
This week it emerged that $205 million in American aid pledged for the acquisition of an additional Iron Dome missile interception system is being delayed because of a dispute in Congress. And Israel expects the administration to abide by its commitment and increase annual defense aid to $3 billion, an all-time record, while it deliberates over cuts in its defense budget.





Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Headlines for December 23 - December 29

A Stand For Justice


Stealth Resolutions by Congress by Philip Giraldi
Then comes the really interesting part. The mainstream media did not report on the passage of House Resolution 1765, as if it did not happen. Nothing appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, Fox News, NBC, ABC, CBS, or PBS. Nada. Did some gatekeeper news editors decide that the story did not reflect well on Israel and its friends in Congress so it had to vanish down the memory hole? Congress again lining up and bending its knee before AIPAC was not news? Apparently not.

....You have created that evil, Frank, you and all your buddies in Congress who line up to do AIPAC’s bidding and pass shameful pieces of paper like House Resolution 1765, which do terrible damage to the United States and its interests on behalf of Israel. Dante’s Ninth Circle of Hell, the lowest level, was reserved for those who betray their own country. If God truly exists and will someday mete out justice, I expect to learn that you and many of your colleagues from the 111th Congress someday will be doing hard time there. Former CIA Philip Giraldi, hat's off to you, Sir.


West has 3 years to rein in Iran: Israeli minister
The United States and its allies have up to three years to curb Iran's nuclear programme, which has been set back by technical difficulties and sanctions, a senior Israeli official said on Wednesday.

Somehow Israel's problems become OUR problems.


Xmas joy mixed with threats for Mideast Christians



Democrats up in arms over hints of reduced aid for Israel
David Harris, president of the National Jewish Democratic Council, charged that “for America to remain engaged as a world leader, and for the sake of Israel’s security, Congress must fully fund foreign aid and aid to Israel together. As the pro-Israel community has said for decades, the two cannot be separated for a host of reasons.”

Harris referred to Israel aid as the “centerpiece” of the pro- Israel community’s agenda.

“To do any less would threaten the bipartisan support that has been the hallmark of this issue – and risk the future of foreign aid,” he said. Israel's shills on Capitol Hill are trying to find ways to spare Israel any cuts to its share of US foreign aid in the midst of cuts to others'. AIPACers are naturally behind it. How many services will be cut to AMERICANS as a result?


US Congress approves defence spending legislation
This year's bill, which received largely bipartisan support in Congress, agreed to $725bn in defence proposals, including $158.7bn for combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

If approved by the president, the measure would continue to restrict the Pentagon's ability to close the Guantanamo Bay detention camp as well as prohibit the transfer of detainees to the US.


Britain forms plan for Gulf evacuation in event of war with Iran
The British armed forces are drawing up contingency plans to evacuate hundreds of thousands of British residents and tourists from Dubai and other Gulf cities in the event of war with Iran.


'WikiLeaks to publish Israel cables on Second Lebanon War, Dubai assassination'
In an interview with Al Jazeera, Assange said that only very few files related to Israel were published so far and that WikiLeaks intends on releasing many more documents over the next six months. Hmm?


Iran hangs man convicted of spying for Israel
According to IRNA, Siadat confessed to spying for Israel starting in 2004 in return for $60,000, as well as an additional $7,000 each time he met with Israeli handlers. IRNA said he met up with Israeli intelligence agents during "foreign trade" trips to Turkey, Thailand and the Netherlands and that he transferred data through a digital camera, transmitters and laptop.




WikiLeaks to Release Israel Documents in Six Months
WikiLeaks will release top secret American files concerning Israel in the next six months, its founder Julian Assange disclosed yesterday.

In an excusive interview with Al Jazeera, Assange said only a meagre number of files related to Israel had been published so far, because the newspapers in the West that were given exclusive rights to publish the secret documents were reluctant to publish many sensitive information about Israel.


....“The Guardian, El-Pais and Le Monde have published only two percent of the files related to Israel due to the sensitive relations between Germany, France and Israel. Even New York Times could not publish more due to the sensitivities related to the Jewish community in the US,” he added. Really now?


Egyptian has 'revealed three Israeli spy cells'
The aim of the missions was to deliver sums of money to a Syrian holding a "sensitive" post with the security services.

Al–Shuruk daily said Abdul Razzak has provided investigators with copies of reports he had passed on to Israeli intelligence from a Syrian chemist working for the security services in connection with a Syrian nuclear programme.

The Syrian expert had been spying for Israel for 13 years, according to the confessions. He was executed in Syria last month, said Al–Shuruk, which did not give sources for its report.




Israel destroyed Syria nuclear reactor: WikiLeaks
Former US president George W Bush recounted in his memoirs that he resisted Israeli pressure to bomb the site.

In 2008, current US President Barack Obama said when he was a Democratic hopeful for the White House that Israel was right to bomb the suspected nuclear facility in Syria.


IF Obama could put America’s own real interests first…



UAE 'held back full story of hotel assassination'



Report: Accused Egyptian spy says Israel paid Syrian agent for nuclear plan details
An Egyptian charged with spying for Israel told authorities that his Syrian counterpart was paid 1.5 million dollars to provide Israel with information on Syrian nuclear activities, Egyptian media reported Wednesday.


Counter-terror ‘Expert’ Tells Cops: Kill Militant Muslims, ‘Including Children’
A counter-terrorism consultant told a meeting of law enforcement officials that the way to combat militant Muslims is to "kill them ... including the children," says a news report.

Walid Shoebat, a self-described "former PLO terrorist" who "now speaks out for USA and Israel," reportedly made the comment at a speech during a conference of the International Counter-Terrorism Officers Association in Las Vegas this past October, according to the Huffington Post's Chip Berlet.


Commies Are At It Again by Philip Giraldi
What this is really all about is the hidden message, conveyed by Clinton’s reference to selective. Khodorovsky is Jewish, as are most of the oligarchs who stripped Russia of its wealth in the 1990s, and he has his own claque of supporters who regard his conviction as anti-Semitism.

The fact is that anyone who has looked into the looting of Russia knows very well that Khodorovsky is guilty as hell on all charges. This case is demonstrative of the ever-increasing philosemitism of the American government. The spread of philosemitism, not democracy, has become their mission. Conversely, the demonization of those that do not subscribe to this supremacism is also taking place by this same institution.


“National Security” Means Tyranny
Given the free and open nature of the internet, as enjoyed by WikiLeaks, Sen. Joe Lieberman has introduced the “Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act of 2010,” which would allow government regulation of the internet in the name of protecting the nation’s financial security, even giving the president a “kill switch” ability to shut down the entire internet. Despite Congress denying the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) such power and federal courts declaring it unconstitutional, last week the FCC pushed forward. Said Sen. Jim DeMint of this legislation, “Americans loudly demanded a more limited federal government this November, but the Obama Administration has dedicated itself to expanding centralized government planning. Today, unelected bureaucrats rammed through an internet takeover, even after Congress and the courts warned them not to.”


2010: What Came, What Went, What’s Next
You wouldn’t know it from listening to Jewish liberals, but November 2 was a great day for our people. Finally, there will be a Jew in the top leadership ranks of the House of Representatives. After Pelosi, Hoyer and Clyburn, we can take pride in the ascension of Eric Cantor! More seriously, the election is great for Jews on almost every issue we care about: Israel (more support), Iran (more pressure), education (more choice), national security (more serious), immigration (more reform) and the peace process (more realistic). In addition, like all Americans, we can hope the fiscal mess made by previous Congresses will now be addressed.

Read more: http://www.forward.com/articles/134149/#ixzz1A74d2n79


Pharmaceutical Industry Fraud
A resolution -- sponsored by House Foreign Relations Committee Chair Howard Berman (D-CA), Middle East Subcommittee Chair Gary Ackerman (D-NY), and soon-to-be House Foreign Relations Committee Chair Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) -- condemned the findings of the UN Human Rights Council report for documenting such infringements on civil liberties and other human rights violations by the Israeli government. Should be noted for the other form of treason Congress demonstrates (aside from its treason regarding foreign lobbies).


Which ISPs Hand Private Surfing Info Over To Secretive Private Group Who Monitors It For The Feds?
A Vigilant press release says that the organization tracks more than 250 million IP addresses a day and can "develop portfolios on any name, screen name or IP address."



The merger of journalists and government officials



The rich are much richer than you and me
The poorest U.S. households have had a negative net worth in every reading dating back to 1962, meaning that their debts and other liabilities outweigh their assets. They fell deeper into a hole the last two years, with their net worth falling to negative $27,000 on average, or nearly twice as much as they owed two years earlie


Why Wikileaks will be the death of big business and big government.
The Wikileaks revolution isn’t only about airing secrets and transacting information. It’s about dismantling large organizations—from corporations to government bureaucracies. It may well lead to their extinction.


In Money-Changers We Trust
The failure to provide serious regulation of the financial industry to avoid future downturns is documented in devastating detail in that Dec. 28 Bloomberg report, written by Christine Harper: "The U.S. government, promising to make the system safer, buckled under many of the financial industry's protests. Lawmakers spurned changes that would wall off deposit-taking banks from riskier trading. They declined to limit the size of lenders or ban any form of derivatives."


Terrorist watch list: One tip now enough to put name in database, officials say



FoxNews Keeping You Safe From Terrorism?
Indy woman linked to terrorist groups


Press TV News Analysis, James Morris, Richard Millet and Dahr Jamail on Israeli Nukes # 1



Press TV News Analysis, James Morris, Richard Millet and Dahr Jamail on Israeli Nukes # 2



Press TV News Analysis, James Morris, Richard Millet and Dahr Jamail on Israeli Nukes # 3



Press TV's Waqar Rizvi talks to James Morris on "Mossad in Iraq"