Saturday, October 15, 2011

Headlines for July 14 - July 20

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!