A Stand For Justice
Speculation Explains More about Oil Prices Than Anything Else
Feel like you're being robbed every time you fill the gas tank? Not sure who to blame? Try Wall Street.
Distinguished Panel will Question Military Aid to Israel
Constitution Project Urges Congress to Reform Patriot Act Now, Not to Simply Reauthorize Expiring Provisions
All three expiring provisions, the "business/library records," "roving wiretaps," and "lone wolf," should be allowed to sunset unless significant reforms are made to protect the rights of Americans.
Worrying gap between US military, civilians: Mullen
The US military's top officer warned Saturday about a worrisome disconnect between civilians and troops, saying soldiers are becoming isolated from the rest of American society.
Some Questions for Bibi by Philip Giraldi
Speaking of attacking, you rocketed, strafed, and torpedoed a US Naval vessel the USS Liberty in international waters in 1967, killing 34 of the crew and injuring 174. The attack was both unprovoked and brutal, intended to sink the ship and kill everyone on board. You claim it was an accident but have never given American investigators access to your government records. It sounds like a cover-up and many Americans are wondering whether you will ever come clean on what happened that day. Will you ever open up your records relating to the Liberty? Excellent questions by former CIA counterterrorism officer, Philip Giraldi.
Netanyahu lectures Obama in Oval Office
Lectured like an insolent child for daring to cross Israel.
Bibi to Congress: No compromise on Jerusalem, refugees or Jordan River presence
Netanyahu received a warm reception from Congress, including more than two dozen standing ovations, and made a forceful case highlighting the commonalities between Israel and America and explaining Israel’s security challenges. He talked about the threat of Iran’s nuclear program and said the Palestinian Authority must end its agreement with Hamas, which he called “the Palestinian version of al-Qaida.”
The Israeli prime minister had an informal delivery, cracking several jokes and twice turning around to address Vice President Joe Biden. When a heckler interrupted Netanyahu at one point, Congress tried to drown her out with a standing ovation, much as the pro-Israel crowd at the annual banquet of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee did the previous evening for the Jewish state's leader. Our own president doesn't get this many ovations when he speaks to Congress. Netanyahu is the real leader of Congress, and he knows it. Israel's wishes trump the wishes of the American people, 2/3 of whom want the US to take no side in that conflict.
Center for Constitutional Rights Launches Case Seeking U.S. Knowledge of and Role in Deadly Israeli Attack on Humanitarian Flotilla to Gaza
said Center for Constitutional Rights Senior Staff Attorney, Katherine Gallagher. “A U.S. citizen was killed and the U.S. has not conducted an independent investigation into his killing in international waters by a foreign military. Indeed, the State Department did not even mention the killing of Furkan Doğan in its recently released Human Rights report on Israel. We need to know what our government is doing to protect us – and hold those to account who harm U.S. citizens.” If the killers are Israelis, our govenrment does NOTHING.
Jewish Donors Warn Obama on Israel - WSJ.com
One top Democratic fund-raiser, Miami developer Michael Adler, said he urged Obama campaign manager Jim Messina to be "extremely proactive" in countering the perception in the Jewish community that Mr. Obama is too critical of Israel.
Obama and the Israel Lobby
Ron Paul to Obama: Stop Dictating to Israel
Patriotic Americans to Israel: stop dictating to America.
Obama vows to stand up to Hezbollah over 'assassination'
"Iran continues to support terrorism across the region, including providing weapons and funds to terrorist organizations," Obama said in a speech to the pro–Israel lobby, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.
"So we will continue to work to prevent these actions, and will stand up to groups like Hezbollah who exercise political assassination, and seek to impose their will through rockets and car bombs," Obama said. Obama basically stating: 'we will continue to be Israel's bitch'.
Obama eases Israeli anger on Mideast peace vision
Obama's speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) also served as a reminder his peace formula could cost him support among Jewish and pro–Israel voters and donors as he runs for re–election in 2012. Some prospective Republican presidential challengers have already accused him of betraying Israel, Washington's closest ally in the region.
...While Obama won the Jewish vote overwhelmingly in 2008, some prominent Jewish Americans were rethinking their support for his re–election after this week's events.
Some Israelis have never felt entirely comfortable with Obama, unnerved by his early attempts to reach out to Iran and his support for Arab revolutions that have unsettled Israel.
Oh dear.
Netanyahu: Militant Islam threatening the world
Israel's prime minister, in an address to Congress on Tuesday, held out the threat of a military strike against Iran's nuclear facilities, saying the only time Iran halted its nuclear program was when it feared such an attack. Sorry Bibi, but militant Zionism (backed by hundreds of nukes) with its visions of Greater Israel, and its total control over both houses of Congress, is a greater threat.
Judge awards $300M in each of 2 suicide bombings
The other award was made to American citizen Seth Haim, his father and his brother. They were injured in the 1995 bombing of a bus in the Gaza Strip by the Iranian–supported Shaqaqi Faction of the Palestine Islamic Jihad.
U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth said he was making the awards – which will be difficult, perhaps impossible, for the families to collect – in the interest of deterring future terrorist attacks.
Israel and the Right
For most traditional conservatives of Reagan’s era, support for Israel did not necessarily mean unconditional support for absolutely everything Israel did. This is generally not true of the neoconservatives. If the US condemned Israel for attacking Iraq in 1981, it was not a shock that by the time the neoconservative Bush administration came to power two decades later America and Israel would more often begin to share the same enemies.
Israeli attaché expelled from Russia over spying allegations
The Russian Foreign Ministry on Thursday confirmed that Leiderman had been expelled. He was caught “red-handed after he received classified information from a Russian citizen in Moscow on May 12,” it said. The ministry expressed its protest and declared the Israeli citizen persona non grata over activities “incompatible with his diplomatic status.” He was given 48 hours to leave Russia.
Israel Pushing Obama Toward War with Iran
Activists Decry Probe Revealed by Found FBI Papers
Kelly said agents went through thousands of files at his house, emptied drawers and cabinets and took away boxes of materials. When his partner was recently looking through a file cabinet, she came across the FBI documents, Kelly said.
FBI spokesman Steve Warfield said most of the papers appeared to be legitimate FBI documents and were left behind by mistake. It may happen to these activists now. But who will it be next, hmm?
Former Netanyahu Aide Leaked Secret Nuclear Project with U.S.
The leak, published by several media organizations last July, asserted that the United States and Israel had reached substantive understandings in secret talks on the civilian nuclear issue. Washington was furious and demanded an investigation into the source of the leak. Netanyahu complied, and the culprit eventually proved to be Arad.
The secret talks took place in June 2010, shortly after Obama infuriated Israel by backing a resolution on a nuclear-free Middle East at the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty review conference. A month later, reports on the secret talks appeared simultaneously in Haaretz, on Channel 2 television and on Army Radio. According to these reports, the United States had given Israel unequivocal guarantees that its "strategic capabilities" in the nuclear field would be preserved and strengthened.
Russia: Israel's military attaché arrested while receiving secret information
Russia said on Thursday it expelled Israel's military attache last week after catching the diplomat spying.
Was Obama's speech too tough on Israel Republican criticism mounts.
Several GOP presidential contenders slammed Mr. Obama’s comments on Israel. “President Obama has thrown Israel under the bus,” said former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, in a statement. “He has disrespected Israel and undermined its ability to negotiate peace.”
Congressional Republicans picked up similar themes.
Top Jewish Americans ponder support for Obama
Morton Klein, president of the Zionist Organization of America, wrote an open letter to the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, calling on it to cancel a scheduled address by Obama to the lobby group on Sunday.
Russia sabotaged Iran nuclear programme: report
The leaked documents, which were not immediately available on either the Yediot or Wikileaks websites, purportedly detail talks between the head of Israel's Atomic Energy Commission and then–US ambassador to Israel Richard Jones.
Many in US-Israel lobby wary of Obama peace push
"Most of us are very disappointed in Obama's comments," Cheryl Rosenbaum, an AIPAC delegate from Glenview, Illinois, a suburb outside of Obama's hometown Chicago, told AFP.
"I need a safe and secure Israel," she said,
...AIPAC will use its clout to burnish the US–Israel relationship, and pressure lawmakers in some 500 meetings Tuesday to pledge that they have Israel's back. Hey that's nice. But the rest of Americans want a safe and secure AMERICA. And AMERICA'S interests ought to come FIRST.
Bibi and Obama Now Set To Battle for Congress, Public Opinion
Guess who won? Who got the 25 standing ovations? Not Obama.
Imperial Secrecy By Stephen M. Walt
as both Joseph McCarthy and Dick Cheney understood, the easiest way to convince people to give up their civil liberties is to magnify foreign threats. Once people are sufficiently scared, they will be more than happy to compromise civil liberties, especially if they think this is necessary for their protection (see under: Patriot Act).
Veteran U.S. Diplomat: We Are Becoming the USSR
US Actions, Not Obama's Words Tell Story of US Middle East Policy by Dennis Kucinich
These wars, along with the conflicts over Pakistan, Yemen and Libya will continue to cost the American people hundreds of billions of dollars and add trillions to the deficit, diverting resources from pressing domestic needs in health care, education, job creation and retirement security.
Venezuela fumes at U.S. oil sanctions over Iran
Venezuelan officials from Chavez down condemned the measures against state oil company PDVSA, announced by the U.S. government as punishment for two shipments to Iran of an oil blending component worth $50 million.
The Iran-9-11 Connection
The lawsuit, they say, may offer the best hope of getting to the truth about whether Iranian government officials had advance knowledge of the plot and worked with al Qaeda to make it easier for several of the hijackers to travel undetected in the year before the attacks.
The suit, brought in the United States District Court in Manhattan on behalf of the families of dozens of 9/11 victims, is promising testimony from three Iranian defectors, all of them identified as former members of Iran's central spy agency, who will implicate Iran and its terrorist proxies in Lebanon in the Sept. 11 attacks. Here we go, folks. I wonder how much bribing it took of these defectors to concoct this story.
Shootings in Syria push death toll above 900
Syrian security forces opened fire on a funeral procession for slain anti–government protesters Saturday, pushing the number of people reported killed in a two–month uprising to more than 900 and making it one of the deadliest of the Arab Spring.
Fear in Syria: Secret Police Swarm Damascus, Say Residents
“Bibi” Votes Republican by Patrick J. Buchanan
Obama, however, was lectured like some schoolboy in the Oval Office in front of the national press and a worldwide TV audience.
And two days later, he trooped over to the Israeli lobby AIPAC to walk back what he had said that had so infuriated Netanyahu.
“Bibi” then purred that he was “pleased” with the clarification. Who owns this place, folks?
Congress Wielding Foreign Aid Budget in Effort to Influence Shape of New Middle East
The discussion over foreign aid to the Middle East is being conducted against the backdrop of increasing calls for austerity and against reluctance among lawmakers to approve any new budgetary expense. And while Israel, with an annual aid package of $3 billion, has been reassured that American funding is safe, its neighbors in the region are faced with both economic and political hurdles in Congress when seeking a share of foreign aid from the United States.
...Israel enjoys other foreign aid perks, including the ability to spend parts of the military aid in Israel rather than use it all to purchase American-made defense goods. It also enjoys early disbursement of the aid that enables Israel to earn interest on the funds throughout the year.
Calls for budget cuts, an Israeli diplomat dealing with the issue said, has caused some alarm among pro-Israel activists, but “we were assured very quickly that our aid is safe,” the diplomat said.
As jobless Americans lose their homes, go hungry and as schools close all over the country, so long as Israel has its billions. Israel, with its prosperous economy...
US Politicians Kowtow to a Foreign Leader
Yet, as I am not the first to point out, there was nothing new in what the President said about the 1967 borders. That didn’t matter to Obama’s critics, however: so quick were they to pick up the latest party line from Tel Aviv that they didn’t even bother to acknowledge this, but were only concerned with echoing every jot and tittle of the Israeli position. Not since the heyday of the old Communist Party USA, when the Daily Worker was adept at not only defending but anticipating the line handed down by the Kremlin, have we seen such a phenomenon: the kowtowing before a foreign leader by American politicians.
AIPAC Hits Capitol Hill With Hard Line Message on Palestinian Authority
AIPAC delegates, as they embark on lobbying meetings on Tuesday, will ask their representatives to support resolutions in the House and Senate that reaffirm the American opposition to a unilateral Palestinian move at the U.N. and threaten the P.A. with cutting American aid if it moves forward with the Hamas unity agreement.
More resolutions on behalf of Israel that have no import for the vast majority of Americans. Who owns Congress?
Republicans Use Israel To Attract Jewish Voters — And Jewish Money
While a majority of AIPAC members and activists, according to a former staffer, are Democrats — as are most members of the Jewish community — strong supporters of the group are more likely to make political decisions based on the candidate’s views on Israel.
NSA Tom Donilon Addresses The Washington Institute (AIPAC spin-off Think Tank)
Speaking before an audience of more than 400 policymakers, diplomats, journalists, and members of the Institute’s board of trustees, he offered a behind-the-scenes look at the operation against Usama bin Laden, reiterated the White House’s commitment to prevent Iran from achieving a nuclear weapons capability, and discussed the depth and breadth of the U.S.-Israel strategic relationship. The WINEP is a part of Israel's lobby in the US.
'Israel pushing Obama into war with Iran'
Morris said it was worrying that Obama's National Security Advisor Tom Donilon has called on the Washington Institute for Near East Affairs to take stronger actions against Iran.
Israel in a Post-American Era by Patrick J. Buchanan
And what happened Sunday on the 63rd anniversary of Israel’s independence and the Palestinian “nakba,” or “catastrophe,” where 700,000 fled or were driven into exile, is perhaps the most ominous portent of all.
Palestinian protesters approached the fence separating Lebanon and Israel and climbed the fence on the Israeli-occupied Golan heights to come and reclaim Palestinian lands. Fifteen to 20 were shot to death and scores were wounded by Israeli troops.
The Enemy of My Enemy . . .
Then there’s his position on foreign assistance. Ron Paul has raised the specter of the “Israel Lobby,” voted against condemning the United Nations for its scurrilous Goldstone Report on the 2008 Gaza war, and declared America should be neutral between Israel and the Palestinians. Rand Paul simply says sorry, we can’t afford the aid. “We can’t give away money to any country, even to our allies,” he told me.
Bibi Rides Again by Philip Giraldi
Benjamin Netanyahu reacts furiously to the mention of 1967, berating Hillary Clinton over the phone before the speech, seeking to have the date removed. Interestingly, Netanyahu’s intervention means he received a copy of the speech before it was given I found that fact interesting too.
EU significantly extends sanctions against Iran
The European Union significantly extended its sanctions against Iran Monday, reflecting mounting frustration over a lack of progress in nuclear talks with Tehran.
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Monday, May 30, 2011
Headlines for May 12 - May 18
A Stand For Justice
Politics Obama announces steps to speed US oil production
Facing continued public unhappiness over gas prices, President Barack Obama is directing his administration to ramp up U.S. oil production by extending existing leases in the Gulf of Mexico and off Alaska's coast and holding more frequent lease sales in a federal petroleum reserve in Alaska.
President Urged to Seek Congressional Approval for Military Action in Libya
Today, members of The Constitution Project's bipartisan War Powers Committee, including its co-chairs, former Members of Congress Mickey Edwards (R-OK) and David Skaggs (D-CO), as well as war powers expert Louis Fisher, urged President Obama to immediately seek congressional approval if he plans to continue America's military operations in Libya.
Iran: Bushehr nuclear power plant 'successfully launched'
Iran's nuclear power plant in Bushehr has been put online, Iranian Foreign Minister said on Wednesday, adding that the plant would become fully operational within several weeks.
Israel Hunts Syria Infiltrators After Day of Bloodshed
In Lebanon, Syria and the Palestinian territories, people gathered to mourn the 14 people killed when Israeli troops opened fire on thousands of protesters who sought to breach its northern borders.
Israel burnishes missile shield as Mideast churns
Partly funded by the United States, Arrow III is envisaged as the future Israeli bulwark against Iran and Syria, with shorter–range interceptors providing protection against rockets favored by neighboring Lebanese and Palestinian guerrillas.
Treasury to tap pensions to keep goverment afloat
The Obama administration will begin to tap federal retiree programs to help fund operations after the government loses its ability today to borrow more money from the public, adding urgency to efforts in Washington to fashion a compromise over the debt.
Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11136/1146916-84-0.stm?cmpid=nationworld.xml#ixzz1NnCrPLTX
Warrants Let Agents Enter Homes Without Owner Knowing
These search warrants don’t involve knocking on doors or any type of warning at all. Delayed-notice search warrants, or "sneak-and-peek" warrants, allow federal agents to enter your home without telling you they’ve been there until months later.
After 2 Months, No End in Sight to Libyan Air Campaign
Iraq dossier drawn up to make case for war – intelligence officer
In hitherto secret evidence to the Chilcot inquiry, Major General Michael Laurie said: "We knew at the time that the purpose of the dossier was precisely to make a case for war, rather than setting out the available intelligence, and that to make the best out of sparse and inconclusive intelligence the wording was developed with care."
15 Syrian army personnel killed in clashes: paper
The death toll of Syrian army members and security forces killed in clashes with "armed terrorist gangs" in the towns of Tal Kalakh and Daraahas has risen to 15, the state-run al-Baath daily reported Wednesday.
Tea party godfather Ron Paul running for president
As far back as 2007, long before people were evoking the fabled Boston Tea Party to symbolize their disgust with an overtaxing central government, Ron Paul was hosting a "Tea Party Fundraiser" aboard a shrimp boat near Galveston.
Organizer and Paul campaign volunteer Elizabeth Day remembers that supporters wore period dress and rolled fake barrels of tea into the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Can't stand the fact that the mainstream media only grudgingly give Paul attention - and they continue to tar and feather him as a 'nut' when they do. His views are not offbase, not by a long shot. His views are right on par with the Founding Fathers of this nation. Unfortunately, he stands alone on Capitol Hill with his beliefs. So comparatively speaking, compared to the rest on Capitol Hill that are beholden to foreign and corporate interests - sure, his views I guess could be seen as radical. As radical as the views that our Founding Fathers had in their day.
Corporate Demands, Federal ‘Reform,’ Keep Shifting Healthcare Costs to Workers
GE’s demands are particularly obscene because it is sitting on $25 billion in savings and is threatening to close more U.S. plants, i.e. move more jobs to Mexico, China and elsewhere. And they're particularly dangerous because GE is modeling bad behavior for other corporations to emulate.
House panel authorizes nearly $700 billion in Defense spending
House Dems protest GOP's plans for permanent war against terror
"By declaring a global war against nameless individuals, organizations and nations 'associated' with the Taliban and al Qaeda, as well as those playing a supporting role in their efforts, the Detainee Security Act would appear to grant the president near unfettered authority to initiate military action around the world without further congressional approval," Democrats wrote. "Such authority must not be ceded to the president without careful deliberation from Congress."
ACLU Sues Homeland Security Over Seizure Of Activist's Computer
With heavy hearts, Christians leave Baghdad
Those Irrepressible Neocons
Jennifer Rubin, on the other hand, was just one of those plugging along in Kingdom Neocon (she was a contributing editor to Commentary and its blog, Contentions) until recently, when the neocon editor of the Washington Post editorial page, Fred Hiatt, plucked her from obscurity and brought her to the Post.
Beyond their Commentary roots, the two are almost ideologically identical. And that means that they are both driven, above all other considerations, by dedication to the concept of Greater Israel (a concept which is taken more seriously inside the Beltway than it is in Israel itself).
....So let's not hear from this crowd about the poor Iranians or Syrians or Libyans, or whatever other group they suddenly profess to care about. Better they should think about those thousands of Americans, along with the hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, who perished as a consequence of the horrific war they enthusiastically agitated for. Don't they have enough to atone for without adding more deadly U.S. military interventions? Beautiful piece.
Pollard Again By Philip Giraldi
The Lobby has been active lately in the lead-up to the AIPAC conference. A letter calling on Obama to free Pollard has been circulating since January and has attracted a number of endorsements including George Shultz. Last week 36 congressmen signed on to a letter originated by Rep. Steve Israel (no irony intended) calling on the Turkish government to stop the next aid flotilla planned for Gaza, which will likely depart next month. The letter implies that there will be dire consequences, and rightly so, if the ships are allowed to sail. Today the White House press secretary all but commended Israel for killing twenty protesters along the Syrian and Lebanese borders during demonstrations on Sunday, praising the “restraint” and noting that it was a proper remedy for “unauthorized border crossing.”
Arab Spring Fails to Improve U.S. Image
for the most part, Obama’s handling of issues in the Muslim world, including the recent uprisings in the Middle East, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Iran and Afghanistan, are met with disapproval.
Israel’s Security Elite Joins the Opposition
It probably won’t surprise you to hear that the leaders of Israel’s security establishment, the people who’ve led the fight against the state’s enemies for decades, are more frightened now than they’ve been in a long time. You might be shocked, though, to hear what’s got them in a panic.
'Catastrophic' picture emerges of Syrian town
At least eight people were killed Sunday in Talkalakh – the most recent casualties from a government crackdown that already has killed 850 people nationwide since mid–March, according to the National Organization for Human Rights in Syria. A town of about 70,000 residents, Talkalakh has been under a military siege since last week.
The Jewish Roots of Madoff's Crime
Madoff’s $50 billion fraud, which landed him in jail for the rest of his life; decimated hundreds, perhaps thousands, of investors, and left his own family in ruins, was not a Jewish crime — it was too far-flung and globalized to deserve that narrow description. It was a crime perpetuated by someone who happened to be Jewish. But now, two and a half years after Madoff’s arrest, Henriques’s work makes it evident that this was a crime enabled by Jewish businessmen like Chais, Shapiro, Levy and Picower; by Jewish power brokers like Ezra Merkin, and by Jewish institutions that gave into the allure of easy, reliable, bountiful money without doing the due diligence they owed their clients, donors and causes.
Medvedev says Russia 'won't back' UN Syria resolution
Britain, France and Germany have been pushing for the UN Security Council to condemn Syria's crackdown on pro-democracy protests. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has been using tanks and troops to crush the dissent.
France says gaining support for U.N. Syria resolution
French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said on Tuesday France and Britain were close to getting nine votes for a resolution on Syria at the U.N. Security Council, but Russia and China were still threatening to use their veto.
U.S. accuses Syria of inciting Israel border clashes
White House spokesman Jay Carney expressed regret for the loss of life in confrontations on Israel's frontiers with Syria, Lebanon and Gaza on Sunday but said Israel "has the right to prevent unauthorized crossing at its borders." We're still Israel's bitch.
The People vs. Goldman Sachs
A Senate committee has laid out the evidence. Now the Justice Department should bring criminal charges
Osama bin Laden Transfigured by Philip Giraldi
amidst the euphoria over the death of America’s great enemy, many Americans have, perhaps surprisingly to some, not embraced the more war all the time agenda and instead are seeing the death of bin Laden as an opportunity to restore some measure of normality and sanity to our fractured foreign and defense policies. President Obama has scored a great success in the eyes of most Americans
Scores of Syrians flee violence to Lebanon
US, EU ready new sanctions on Syria
US Middle Class Disappearing Into Abyss?
One Lawman With the Guts to Go After Wall Street
Eric Schneiderman will probably fail, as did his predecessors in that job; the honest sheriff doesn’t last long in a town that houses the Wall Street casino. But decent folks should be cheering him on. Despite a mountain of evidence of robo-signed mortgage contracts, deceitful mortgage-based securities and fraudulent foreclosures, the banks were going to be able to cut their potential losses to what was, for them, a minuscule amount.
Politics Obama announces steps to speed US oil production
Facing continued public unhappiness over gas prices, President Barack Obama is directing his administration to ramp up U.S. oil production by extending existing leases in the Gulf of Mexico and off Alaska's coast and holding more frequent lease sales in a federal petroleum reserve in Alaska.
President Urged to Seek Congressional Approval for Military Action in Libya
Today, members of The Constitution Project's bipartisan War Powers Committee, including its co-chairs, former Members of Congress Mickey Edwards (R-OK) and David Skaggs (D-CO), as well as war powers expert Louis Fisher, urged President Obama to immediately seek congressional approval if he plans to continue America's military operations in Libya.
Iran: Bushehr nuclear power plant 'successfully launched'
Iran's nuclear power plant in Bushehr has been put online, Iranian Foreign Minister said on Wednesday, adding that the plant would become fully operational within several weeks.
Israel Hunts Syria Infiltrators After Day of Bloodshed
In Lebanon, Syria and the Palestinian territories, people gathered to mourn the 14 people killed when Israeli troops opened fire on thousands of protesters who sought to breach its northern borders.
Israel burnishes missile shield as Mideast churns
Partly funded by the United States, Arrow III is envisaged as the future Israeli bulwark against Iran and Syria, with shorter–range interceptors providing protection against rockets favored by neighboring Lebanese and Palestinian guerrillas.
Treasury to tap pensions to keep goverment afloat
The Obama administration will begin to tap federal retiree programs to help fund operations after the government loses its ability today to borrow more money from the public, adding urgency to efforts in Washington to fashion a compromise over the debt.
Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11136/1146916-84-0.stm?cmpid=nationworld.xml#ixzz1NnCrPLTX
Warrants Let Agents Enter Homes Without Owner Knowing
These search warrants don’t involve knocking on doors or any type of warning at all. Delayed-notice search warrants, or "sneak-and-peek" warrants, allow federal agents to enter your home without telling you they’ve been there until months later.
After 2 Months, No End in Sight to Libyan Air Campaign
Iraq dossier drawn up to make case for war – intelligence officer
In hitherto secret evidence to the Chilcot inquiry, Major General Michael Laurie said: "We knew at the time that the purpose of the dossier was precisely to make a case for war, rather than setting out the available intelligence, and that to make the best out of sparse and inconclusive intelligence the wording was developed with care."
15 Syrian army personnel killed in clashes: paper
The death toll of Syrian army members and security forces killed in clashes with "armed terrorist gangs" in the towns of Tal Kalakh and Daraahas has risen to 15, the state-run al-Baath daily reported Wednesday.
Tea party godfather Ron Paul running for president
As far back as 2007, long before people were evoking the fabled Boston Tea Party to symbolize their disgust with an overtaxing central government, Ron Paul was hosting a "Tea Party Fundraiser" aboard a shrimp boat near Galveston.
Organizer and Paul campaign volunteer Elizabeth Day remembers that supporters wore period dress and rolled fake barrels of tea into the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Can't stand the fact that the mainstream media only grudgingly give Paul attention - and they continue to tar and feather him as a 'nut' when they do. His views are not offbase, not by a long shot. His views are right on par with the Founding Fathers of this nation. Unfortunately, he stands alone on Capitol Hill with his beliefs. So comparatively speaking, compared to the rest on Capitol Hill that are beholden to foreign and corporate interests - sure, his views I guess could be seen as radical. As radical as the views that our Founding Fathers had in their day.
Corporate Demands, Federal ‘Reform,’ Keep Shifting Healthcare Costs to Workers
GE’s demands are particularly obscene because it is sitting on $25 billion in savings and is threatening to close more U.S. plants, i.e. move more jobs to Mexico, China and elsewhere. And they're particularly dangerous because GE is modeling bad behavior for other corporations to emulate.
House panel authorizes nearly $700 billion in Defense spending
House Dems protest GOP's plans for permanent war against terror
"By declaring a global war against nameless individuals, organizations and nations 'associated' with the Taliban and al Qaeda, as well as those playing a supporting role in their efforts, the Detainee Security Act would appear to grant the president near unfettered authority to initiate military action around the world without further congressional approval," Democrats wrote. "Such authority must not be ceded to the president without careful deliberation from Congress."
ACLU Sues Homeland Security Over Seizure Of Activist's Computer
With heavy hearts, Christians leave Baghdad
Those Irrepressible Neocons
Jennifer Rubin, on the other hand, was just one of those plugging along in Kingdom Neocon (she was a contributing editor to Commentary and its blog, Contentions) until recently, when the neocon editor of the Washington Post editorial page, Fred Hiatt, plucked her from obscurity and brought her to the Post.
Beyond their Commentary roots, the two are almost ideologically identical. And that means that they are both driven, above all other considerations, by dedication to the concept of Greater Israel (a concept which is taken more seriously inside the Beltway than it is in Israel itself).
....So let's not hear from this crowd about the poor Iranians or Syrians or Libyans, or whatever other group they suddenly profess to care about. Better they should think about those thousands of Americans, along with the hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, who perished as a consequence of the horrific war they enthusiastically agitated for. Don't they have enough to atone for without adding more deadly U.S. military interventions? Beautiful piece.
Pollard Again By Philip Giraldi
The Lobby has been active lately in the lead-up to the AIPAC conference. A letter calling on Obama to free Pollard has been circulating since January and has attracted a number of endorsements including George Shultz. Last week 36 congressmen signed on to a letter originated by Rep. Steve Israel (no irony intended) calling on the Turkish government to stop the next aid flotilla planned for Gaza, which will likely depart next month. The letter implies that there will be dire consequences, and rightly so, if the ships are allowed to sail. Today the White House press secretary all but commended Israel for killing twenty protesters along the Syrian and Lebanese borders during demonstrations on Sunday, praising the “restraint” and noting that it was a proper remedy for “unauthorized border crossing.”
Arab Spring Fails to Improve U.S. Image
for the most part, Obama’s handling of issues in the Muslim world, including the recent uprisings in the Middle East, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Iran and Afghanistan, are met with disapproval.
Israel’s Security Elite Joins the Opposition
It probably won’t surprise you to hear that the leaders of Israel’s security establishment, the people who’ve led the fight against the state’s enemies for decades, are more frightened now than they’ve been in a long time. You might be shocked, though, to hear what’s got them in a panic.
'Catastrophic' picture emerges of Syrian town
At least eight people were killed Sunday in Talkalakh – the most recent casualties from a government crackdown that already has killed 850 people nationwide since mid–March, according to the National Organization for Human Rights in Syria. A town of about 70,000 residents, Talkalakh has been under a military siege since last week.
The Jewish Roots of Madoff's Crime
Madoff’s $50 billion fraud, which landed him in jail for the rest of his life; decimated hundreds, perhaps thousands, of investors, and left his own family in ruins, was not a Jewish crime — it was too far-flung and globalized to deserve that narrow description. It was a crime perpetuated by someone who happened to be Jewish. But now, two and a half years after Madoff’s arrest, Henriques’s work makes it evident that this was a crime enabled by Jewish businessmen like Chais, Shapiro, Levy and Picower; by Jewish power brokers like Ezra Merkin, and by Jewish institutions that gave into the allure of easy, reliable, bountiful money without doing the due diligence they owed their clients, donors and causes.
Medvedev says Russia 'won't back' UN Syria resolution
Britain, France and Germany have been pushing for the UN Security Council to condemn Syria's crackdown on pro-democracy protests. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has been using tanks and troops to crush the dissent.
France says gaining support for U.N. Syria resolution
French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said on Tuesday France and Britain were close to getting nine votes for a resolution on Syria at the U.N. Security Council, but Russia and China were still threatening to use their veto.
U.S. accuses Syria of inciting Israel border clashes
White House spokesman Jay Carney expressed regret for the loss of life in confrontations on Israel's frontiers with Syria, Lebanon and Gaza on Sunday but said Israel "has the right to prevent unauthorized crossing at its borders." We're still Israel's bitch.
The People vs. Goldman Sachs
A Senate committee has laid out the evidence. Now the Justice Department should bring criminal charges
Osama bin Laden Transfigured by Philip Giraldi
amidst the euphoria over the death of America’s great enemy, many Americans have, perhaps surprisingly to some, not embraced the more war all the time agenda and instead are seeing the death of bin Laden as an opportunity to restore some measure of normality and sanity to our fractured foreign and defense policies. President Obama has scored a great success in the eyes of most Americans
Scores of Syrians flee violence to Lebanon
US, EU ready new sanctions on Syria
US Middle Class Disappearing Into Abyss?
One Lawman With the Guts to Go After Wall Street
Eric Schneiderman will probably fail, as did his predecessors in that job; the honest sheriff doesn’t last long in a town that houses the Wall Street casino. But decent folks should be cheering him on. Despite a mountain of evidence of robo-signed mortgage contracts, deceitful mortgage-based securities and fraudulent foreclosures, the banks were going to be able to cut their potential losses to what was, for them, a minuscule amount.
Friday, May 27, 2011
Headlines for May 5 - May 11
A Stand For Justice
Morale plunges among troops in Afghanistan
“We’re an Army that’s in uncharted territory here,” said Gen. Peter Chiarelli, Army vice chief of staff, who has focused on combat stress. “We have never fought for this long with an all-volunteer force that’s 1 percent of the population.”
Bin Laden death sparks new talk over Patriot Act
Thousands of Syrians Take to Streets for ‘Day of Defiance’
Syrian security forces opened fire on hundreds of protesters on the outskirts of the capital Friday as thousands of people joined demonstrations across the country calling for an end to President Bashar Assad's regime, witnesses and activists said.
The cost of bin Laden: $3 trillion over 15 years
By conservative estimates, bin Laden cost the United States at least $3 trillion over the past 15 years, counting the disruptions he wrought on the domestic economy, the wars and heightened security triggered by the terrorist attacks he engineered, and the direct efforts to hunt him down.
Let the Patriot Act Expire by Philip Giraldi
Broadly speaking, the Patriot Act was designed to make it easier for law enforcement to investigate US citizens and permanent residents by easing legal restraints on records and activities that were hitherto considered private or required a judge's order to access. The Act has enjoyed bipartisan support since 2001. Amen.
Pakistan pays U.S. lobbyists to deny it helped bin Laden
Alarmed by lawmakers' demands to cut off billions of dollars of U.S. aid after bin Laden was found living in a Pakistani safe house for six years, President Asif Ali Zardari has ordered a full–court press to quell mounting accusations that it helped the al Qaeda leader avoid capture.
Oil prices higher after jobs report, gas dips
Oil drops below $100 on worry of weaker US demand
Oil plunged nearly 9 percent to settle below $100 per barrel. Investors who had ridden a months–long rally fled the market Thursday because of concerns about weakening demand for fuel in the U.S.
Obama Administration Plans Corporate Tax Cut In Year Of Record Profits
In the first quarter of 2011, Exxon-Mobil, the world’s biggest and most profitable corporation, raked in $10.7 billion. That’s a 69 percent increase over the same quarter last year, and the highest quarterly profit since 2008. This is happening during a time when citizens are searching underneath the couch cushions to scrape together enough change in order to fill their gas tanks so they can go file for unemployment benefits.
Exxon also happens to be one of US Uncut’s top targets. The oil giant uses offshore subsidiaries in the Caribbean to avoid paying taxes in the United States. The company paid zero U.S. income tax in 2009, while enjoying billions in taxpayer-funded subsidies and its CEO’s total compensation reached over $29 million Corporate and foreign interests own this country, folks.
Child reported killed as Syrian forces crack down
Pakistan's army warns US not to stage more raids
Pakistan's army broke its silence Thursday over the U.S. commando raid that killed Osama bin Laden, acknowledging its own "shortcomings" in efforts to find the al–Qaida leader but threatening to review cooperation with Washington if there is another similar violation of Pakistani sovereignty.
30 killed in Syria protests, activist says News.com.au
AL-KHALIL/HEBRON: The dayafter Bin Laden died.
I was in Hebron on September 11, 2001. I remember old men approaching me on the street, eyes full of tears, telling me that God would help me and my fellow citizens. Other Palestinian friends called us, sobbing, as they described what they were watching on TV......I asked a Hebronite friend what most Palestinians in Hebron were saying about Bin Laden's death. Most, he said, do not care. A small minority were upset about the killing. A much larger minority, himself included, thought Bin Laden deserved his fate. A member of the Christian Peacekeeper Teams in Hebron offers Palestinian perspectives that you won't find in mainstream American media
Former Mossad chief: Israel air strike on Iran 'stupidest thing I have ever heard'
When asked about what would happen in the aftermath of an Israeli attack Dagan said that: "It will be followed by a war with Iran. It is the kind of thing where we know how it starts, but not how it will end."
Israel defense minister: Iran won't bomb us
Israel's defense minister says even if Iran develops nuclear arms, it is unlikely to bomb Israel.
Bin Laden vows no US security in final tape: website
Addressing US President Barack Obama, he said: "America will not be able to dream of security until we live in security in Palestine. It is unfair that you live in peace while our brothers in Gaza live in insecurity."
"Accordingly, and with the will of God, our attacks will continue against you as long as your support for Israel continues," he warned in a message posted on Shamikh1.net, a conduit for Al–Qaeda communications. Wait, I thought they 'hated us for our freedoms'?...
Gas prices could slow job growth this year
Average gas prices have risen for 44 straight days. Consumers are spending more to fill the tanks, leaving them with less to spend elsewhere. As a result, many companies are feeling less certain about the economy's health.
'Bin Laden dead long before US raid'
Iran's intelligence minister says the country has reliable information that former head of the al-Qaeda terrorist group Osama bin Laden died of disease some time ago.
Kucinich Calls for Real Troop Reductions from Afghanistan, Renews Call to End War
“It is time to start taking care of things here at home: health care, child care, education, social security, job security, retirement security and creating a manufacturing policy that focuses on steel, automotive, aerospace and rebuilding our national infrastructure,” said Kucinich.
'The Worst I've Seen By Far:' Budget Cuts Meet Poverty in the Heartland
House Republicans Shred Constitution With Backdoor Proposal of Permanent War
Dem Senators Defend Big Oil Against Own Party
Democratic Sens. Mark Begich and Mary Landrieu, who represent Alaska and Louisiana, respectively, each took to the Senate floor Wednesday to decry their party's attempt to strip tax breaks from the top oil companies.
Exxon Mobil Dodges the Tax Man
More striking still is the discrepancy between Exxon Mobil's rates and those of most American breadwinners. The company’s effective rate of 17.6 percent is nearly 16 percent below the average individual federal tax rate, which according to the Congressional Budget Office was 20.4 percent as of 2007.
Iraq Withdrawal Date For U.S. Troops May Be Pushed Back Beyond 2011
Pentagon spokesperson Elizabeth Robbins confirmed to The Huffington Post that U.S. forces could stay beyond 2011 to help the Iraqi Security Forces fill the "gaps" in their operations.
Russia slams Libya contact group
Russia yesterday criticised a Western-led grouping that has pledged aid to the Libyan rebels fighting Muammar Gaddafi’s forces, warning that it must not seek to usurp the authority of the UN Security Council.
Pakistan Military Knew About Bin Laden Raid Well In Advance Of Attack
Record Number of Americans Targeted by National Security Letters
The latest report to Congress on the Justice Department’s use of foreign intelligence surveillance powers has just been released, and it shows a truly stunning increase in the number of Americans whose sensitive phone, Internet, and banking records were obtained by the FBI — without judicial oversight — pursuant to National Security Letters
Congressional Staffers Fear Retaliation if They Displease Lobbyists, New Public Citizen Survey Shows
Vanishing American Footprint by Patrick J. Buchanan
Why is America’s footprint shrinking in that part of the world?
First, Americans have never been less popular there, and one demand of every revolution is for a new government, independent of the United States, that will defend the national sovereignty.
Second, we are broke. We can no longer afford the bases. We can no longer afford the wars. We can no longer afford the aid.
Ex-Israeli spymaster opposes Iran attack
Former spymaster Meir Dagan told a weekend conference that an effective attack on Iran would be difficult because Iranian nuclear facilities are scattered and mobile, Israeli media reported.
Dagan also cautioned that a strike would be liable to trigger war with Iran and possibly Syria.
Doing bin Laden by Philip Giraldi
John Bolton: I care about things besides bombing Iran
Bolton is, of course, a single-issue guy. His issue is bombing Iran. That is the only reason why anyone has expressed any interest in him as a candidate: He is the man who promises to bomb Iran. Every foreign policy issue of our time looks like a nail to John Bolton, and his hammer is bombing Iran. John Bolton = Israel-firster and neocon extraordinaire.
Your Taxes Fund Anti-Muslim Hatred
The poison of this rhetoric was on display a few days ago when a trustee of City University of New York blocked the playwright Tony Kushner, who is Jewish, from receiving an honorary doctorate because of Kushner’s criticism of Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians. The trustee, Jeffrey S. Wiesenfeld, labeling Kushner “an extremist,” told The New York Times that the Palestinians “who worship death for their children are not human.”
Syrian shelling kills 18, evokes 1982 crackdown
The Syrian army shelled residential areas and unleashed gunmen Wednesday, and a human rights group said at least 18 people were killed, including an 8–year–old boy. The shelling of neighborhoods evoked memories of the Assad regime's brutal, 40–year legacy of crushing dissent. No action on the part of America is taken because Israel wants Assad to stay in power, as opposed to the action we took with Libya for its gunning down of protesters.
Osama’s Undying Reach by Patrick J. Buchanan
Some yet argue that Osama and al-Qaida attacked us because they hate our freedoms. Why, then, did they fight the Russians? Did they hate the freedoms enjoyed by Soviet citizens in Leonid Brezhnev’s time?
In his 1998 declaration of war, Osama gave three reasons. Americans, he said, had deployed their infidel troops on sacred Saudi soil. Americans were strangling a crushed Iraqi people with murderous sanctions. Americans were enabling Zionists to oppress and rob Palestinian Arabs of their lands. His reasons for attacking us were available online at one point. But most Americans still believe - because they've been willfully deceived by government leaders - that we were attacked because of our freedoms. Lie.
War is a Sticky Business by Philip Giraldi
And just to demonstrate that Washington continues to live in a complete fantasy world, wars four and five just might be hovering on the horizon. Last week Senators John McCain, Joe Lieberman, and Lindsey Graham all called on the Obama Administration to get tough with Syria. They had better check first with their minders in Israel since it is by no means clear whether Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu would welcome the removal of Syrian President Bashar Assad, who is, at least, predictable compared to whatever kind of regime would succeed him. And then there is Iran, always the enemy of choice, with a constant drumbeat from Tel Aviv and Washington.
Ron Paul raises more than $1 million in 24 hours
Petraeus: Can He Tell It Straight? By Ray McGovern
Iran will continue to loom large as a target for intelligence analysis during Petraeus’s tenure at CIA. What is disconcerting on that front is that Petraeus has been eager to serve up “intelligence” to portray Iran in the worst light. One rather strange but instructive example comes to mind. It involved a studied, if disingenuous, effort to blame all the troubles in southern Iraq on the “malignant” influence of Iran.......
Though Petraeus’s testimony might strike many of us as a no-brainer, not so for the neocons. They resist any suggestion that Israeli intransigence regarding peace talks on Palestine contributes to the dangers faced by American soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan or by the American people from possible acts of terrorism at home.
With Liberty and Justice for… Corporations?
In a statement after the ruling, Deepak Gupta, a lawyer with the public interest group Public Citizen who argued the case on behalf of the Concepcions, called the decision a “crushing blow to American consumers and employees, ruling that companies can ban class actions in the fine print of contracts. Now, whenever you sign a contract to get a cell phone, open a bank account or take a job, you may be giving up your right to hold companies accountable for fraud, discrimination or other illegal practices. Class actions are an essential tool for justice in our society.
Armed gang kill 10 Syrian civilians: state agency
An armed gang shot dead ten Syrian civilian workers on their way back from Lebanon in a bus ambush near the Syrian city of Homs Sunday, the official state news agency said.
Amid Syria's turmoil, Israel sees Assad as the lesser evil
"I prefer the political extremism of Assad over religious extremism," says Ayoub Kara, a parliament member from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party. "We don’t want religious extremism on the border."
The Defeat of the United States by Al Qaeda
The goal is also for the U.S. government, in response, to stay bogged down in endless wars in the Islamic world, radicalizing people there and causing them to see the U.S. as a crusader army — in the meantime wearying and demoralizing the U.S. population and bankrupting the government. To paraphrase the late Mr. Bin Laden, it’s only necessary for a couple of brothers with “Al Qaeda” written on a piece of cloth to show themselves in Antarctica, and the President will send Marines to fight the penguins there “so we won’t have to fight them here.”
US Military Support of Foreign Governments Increases Terror Attacks on US Citizens: Study
US-Israeli relations: Obama back on top?
President George W Bush, surrounded by neocon advisers who viewed Arabs the same way the Israeli right did, was happy to conflate 9/11 and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The Israelis became us and the Palestinians became al Qaeda. Yasser Arafat, the Palestinian leader who had recognised Israel and worked with Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin to thwart terrorism, instantly became Osama bin Laden.
Morale plunges among troops in Afghanistan
“We’re an Army that’s in uncharted territory here,” said Gen. Peter Chiarelli, Army vice chief of staff, who has focused on combat stress. “We have never fought for this long with an all-volunteer force that’s 1 percent of the population.”
Bin Laden death sparks new talk over Patriot Act
Thousands of Syrians Take to Streets for ‘Day of Defiance’
Syrian security forces opened fire on hundreds of protesters on the outskirts of the capital Friday as thousands of people joined demonstrations across the country calling for an end to President Bashar Assad's regime, witnesses and activists said.
The cost of bin Laden: $3 trillion over 15 years
By conservative estimates, bin Laden cost the United States at least $3 trillion over the past 15 years, counting the disruptions he wrought on the domestic economy, the wars and heightened security triggered by the terrorist attacks he engineered, and the direct efforts to hunt him down.
Let the Patriot Act Expire by Philip Giraldi
Broadly speaking, the Patriot Act was designed to make it easier for law enforcement to investigate US citizens and permanent residents by easing legal restraints on records and activities that were hitherto considered private or required a judge's order to access. The Act has enjoyed bipartisan support since 2001. Amen.
Pakistan pays U.S. lobbyists to deny it helped bin Laden
Alarmed by lawmakers' demands to cut off billions of dollars of U.S. aid after bin Laden was found living in a Pakistani safe house for six years, President Asif Ali Zardari has ordered a full–court press to quell mounting accusations that it helped the al Qaeda leader avoid capture.
Oil prices higher after jobs report, gas dips
Oil drops below $100 on worry of weaker US demand
Oil plunged nearly 9 percent to settle below $100 per barrel. Investors who had ridden a months–long rally fled the market Thursday because of concerns about weakening demand for fuel in the U.S.
Obama Administration Plans Corporate Tax Cut In Year Of Record Profits
In the first quarter of 2011, Exxon-Mobil, the world’s biggest and most profitable corporation, raked in $10.7 billion. That’s a 69 percent increase over the same quarter last year, and the highest quarterly profit since 2008. This is happening during a time when citizens are searching underneath the couch cushions to scrape together enough change in order to fill their gas tanks so they can go file for unemployment benefits.
Exxon also happens to be one of US Uncut’s top targets. The oil giant uses offshore subsidiaries in the Caribbean to avoid paying taxes in the United States. The company paid zero U.S. income tax in 2009, while enjoying billions in taxpayer-funded subsidies and its CEO’s total compensation reached over $29 million Corporate and foreign interests own this country, folks.
Child reported killed as Syrian forces crack down
Pakistan's army warns US not to stage more raids
Pakistan's army broke its silence Thursday over the U.S. commando raid that killed Osama bin Laden, acknowledging its own "shortcomings" in efforts to find the al–Qaida leader but threatening to review cooperation with Washington if there is another similar violation of Pakistani sovereignty.
30 killed in Syria protests, activist says News.com.au
AL-KHALIL/HEBRON: The dayafter Bin Laden died.
I was in Hebron on September 11, 2001. I remember old men approaching me on the street, eyes full of tears, telling me that God would help me and my fellow citizens. Other Palestinian friends called us, sobbing, as they described what they were watching on TV......I asked a Hebronite friend what most Palestinians in Hebron were saying about Bin Laden's death. Most, he said, do not care. A small minority were upset about the killing. A much larger minority, himself included, thought Bin Laden deserved his fate. A member of the Christian Peacekeeper Teams in Hebron offers Palestinian perspectives that you won't find in mainstream American media
Former Mossad chief: Israel air strike on Iran 'stupidest thing I have ever heard'
When asked about what would happen in the aftermath of an Israeli attack Dagan said that: "It will be followed by a war with Iran. It is the kind of thing where we know how it starts, but not how it will end."
Israel defense minister: Iran won't bomb us
Israel's defense minister says even if Iran develops nuclear arms, it is unlikely to bomb Israel.
Bin Laden vows no US security in final tape: website
Addressing US President Barack Obama, he said: "America will not be able to dream of security until we live in security in Palestine. It is unfair that you live in peace while our brothers in Gaza live in insecurity."
"Accordingly, and with the will of God, our attacks will continue against you as long as your support for Israel continues," he warned in a message posted on Shamikh1.net, a conduit for Al–Qaeda communications. Wait, I thought they 'hated us for our freedoms'?...
Gas prices could slow job growth this year
Average gas prices have risen for 44 straight days. Consumers are spending more to fill the tanks, leaving them with less to spend elsewhere. As a result, many companies are feeling less certain about the economy's health.
'Bin Laden dead long before US raid'
Iran's intelligence minister says the country has reliable information that former head of the al-Qaeda terrorist group Osama bin Laden died of disease some time ago.
Kucinich Calls for Real Troop Reductions from Afghanistan, Renews Call to End War
“It is time to start taking care of things here at home: health care, child care, education, social security, job security, retirement security and creating a manufacturing policy that focuses on steel, automotive, aerospace and rebuilding our national infrastructure,” said Kucinich.
'The Worst I've Seen By Far:' Budget Cuts Meet Poverty in the Heartland
House Republicans Shred Constitution With Backdoor Proposal of Permanent War
Dem Senators Defend Big Oil Against Own Party
Democratic Sens. Mark Begich and Mary Landrieu, who represent Alaska and Louisiana, respectively, each took to the Senate floor Wednesday to decry their party's attempt to strip tax breaks from the top oil companies.
Exxon Mobil Dodges the Tax Man
More striking still is the discrepancy between Exxon Mobil's rates and those of most American breadwinners. The company’s effective rate of 17.6 percent is nearly 16 percent below the average individual federal tax rate, which according to the Congressional Budget Office was 20.4 percent as of 2007.
Iraq Withdrawal Date For U.S. Troops May Be Pushed Back Beyond 2011
Pentagon spokesperson Elizabeth Robbins confirmed to The Huffington Post that U.S. forces could stay beyond 2011 to help the Iraqi Security Forces fill the "gaps" in their operations.
Russia slams Libya contact group
Russia yesterday criticised a Western-led grouping that has pledged aid to the Libyan rebels fighting Muammar Gaddafi’s forces, warning that it must not seek to usurp the authority of the UN Security Council.
Pakistan Military Knew About Bin Laden Raid Well In Advance Of Attack
Record Number of Americans Targeted by National Security Letters
The latest report to Congress on the Justice Department’s use of foreign intelligence surveillance powers has just been released, and it shows a truly stunning increase in the number of Americans whose sensitive phone, Internet, and banking records were obtained by the FBI — without judicial oversight — pursuant to National Security Letters
Congressional Staffers Fear Retaliation if They Displease Lobbyists, New Public Citizen Survey Shows
Vanishing American Footprint by Patrick J. Buchanan
Why is America’s footprint shrinking in that part of the world?
First, Americans have never been less popular there, and one demand of every revolution is for a new government, independent of the United States, that will defend the national sovereignty.
Second, we are broke. We can no longer afford the bases. We can no longer afford the wars. We can no longer afford the aid.
Ex-Israeli spymaster opposes Iran attack
Former spymaster Meir Dagan told a weekend conference that an effective attack on Iran would be difficult because Iranian nuclear facilities are scattered and mobile, Israeli media reported.
Dagan also cautioned that a strike would be liable to trigger war with Iran and possibly Syria.
Doing bin Laden by Philip Giraldi
John Bolton: I care about things besides bombing Iran
Bolton is, of course, a single-issue guy. His issue is bombing Iran. That is the only reason why anyone has expressed any interest in him as a candidate: He is the man who promises to bomb Iran. Every foreign policy issue of our time looks like a nail to John Bolton, and his hammer is bombing Iran. John Bolton = Israel-firster and neocon extraordinaire.
Your Taxes Fund Anti-Muslim Hatred
The poison of this rhetoric was on display a few days ago when a trustee of City University of New York blocked the playwright Tony Kushner, who is Jewish, from receiving an honorary doctorate because of Kushner’s criticism of Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians. The trustee, Jeffrey S. Wiesenfeld, labeling Kushner “an extremist,” told The New York Times that the Palestinians “who worship death for their children are not human.”
Syrian shelling kills 18, evokes 1982 crackdown
The Syrian army shelled residential areas and unleashed gunmen Wednesday, and a human rights group said at least 18 people were killed, including an 8–year–old boy. The shelling of neighborhoods evoked memories of the Assad regime's brutal, 40–year legacy of crushing dissent. No action on the part of America is taken because Israel wants Assad to stay in power, as opposed to the action we took with Libya for its gunning down of protesters.
Osama’s Undying Reach by Patrick J. Buchanan
Some yet argue that Osama and al-Qaida attacked us because they hate our freedoms. Why, then, did they fight the Russians? Did they hate the freedoms enjoyed by Soviet citizens in Leonid Brezhnev’s time?
In his 1998 declaration of war, Osama gave three reasons. Americans, he said, had deployed their infidel troops on sacred Saudi soil. Americans were strangling a crushed Iraqi people with murderous sanctions. Americans were enabling Zionists to oppress and rob Palestinian Arabs of their lands. His reasons for attacking us were available online at one point. But most Americans still believe - because they've been willfully deceived by government leaders - that we were attacked because of our freedoms. Lie.
War is a Sticky Business by Philip Giraldi
And just to demonstrate that Washington continues to live in a complete fantasy world, wars four and five just might be hovering on the horizon. Last week Senators John McCain, Joe Lieberman, and Lindsey Graham all called on the Obama Administration to get tough with Syria. They had better check first with their minders in Israel since it is by no means clear whether Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu would welcome the removal of Syrian President Bashar Assad, who is, at least, predictable compared to whatever kind of regime would succeed him. And then there is Iran, always the enemy of choice, with a constant drumbeat from Tel Aviv and Washington.
Ron Paul raises more than $1 million in 24 hours
Petraeus: Can He Tell It Straight? By Ray McGovern
Iran will continue to loom large as a target for intelligence analysis during Petraeus’s tenure at CIA. What is disconcerting on that front is that Petraeus has been eager to serve up “intelligence” to portray Iran in the worst light. One rather strange but instructive example comes to mind. It involved a studied, if disingenuous, effort to blame all the troubles in southern Iraq on the “malignant” influence of Iran.......
Though Petraeus’s testimony might strike many of us as a no-brainer, not so for the neocons. They resist any suggestion that Israeli intransigence regarding peace talks on Palestine contributes to the dangers faced by American soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan or by the American people from possible acts of terrorism at home.
With Liberty and Justice for… Corporations?
In a statement after the ruling, Deepak Gupta, a lawyer with the public interest group Public Citizen who argued the case on behalf of the Concepcions, called the decision a “crushing blow to American consumers and employees, ruling that companies can ban class actions in the fine print of contracts. Now, whenever you sign a contract to get a cell phone, open a bank account or take a job, you may be giving up your right to hold companies accountable for fraud, discrimination or other illegal practices. Class actions are an essential tool for justice in our society.
Armed gang kill 10 Syrian civilians: state agency
An armed gang shot dead ten Syrian civilian workers on their way back from Lebanon in a bus ambush near the Syrian city of Homs Sunday, the official state news agency said.
Amid Syria's turmoil, Israel sees Assad as the lesser evil
"I prefer the political extremism of Assad over religious extremism," says Ayoub Kara, a parliament member from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party. "We don’t want religious extremism on the border."
The Defeat of the United States by Al Qaeda
The goal is also for the U.S. government, in response, to stay bogged down in endless wars in the Islamic world, radicalizing people there and causing them to see the U.S. as a crusader army — in the meantime wearying and demoralizing the U.S. population and bankrupting the government. To paraphrase the late Mr. Bin Laden, it’s only necessary for a couple of brothers with “Al Qaeda” written on a piece of cloth to show themselves in Antarctica, and the President will send Marines to fight the penguins there “so we won’t have to fight them here.”
US Military Support of Foreign Governments Increases Terror Attacks on US Citizens: Study
US-Israeli relations: Obama back on top?
President George W Bush, surrounded by neocon advisers who viewed Arabs the same way the Israeli right did, was happy to conflate 9/11 and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The Israelis became us and the Palestinians became al Qaeda. Yasser Arafat, the Palestinian leader who had recognised Israel and worked with Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin to thwart terrorism, instantly became Osama bin Laden.
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Headlines for April 28 - May 4
Apologies for the tardiness. I will try and get caught up in the days to follow.
A Stand For Justice
9/11 Victims’ Family Members React to the Killing of Osama Bin Laden
Taliban vow revenge for bin Laden's death
Fears of Qaeda vengeance after U.S. kills Osama
World leaders warned of revenge attacks after Osama bin Laden was killed in a U.S. assault in Pakistan on Monday that brought to a dramatic end the long manhunt for the al Qaeda leader who had become the most powerful symbol of Islamist militancy.
Osama bin Laden raid yields trove of computer data
The assault force of Navy SEALs snatched a trove of computer drives and disks during their weekend raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound, yielding what a U.S. official called “the mother lode of intelligence.”
Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0511/54151.html#ixzz1N2Z83oOH
Prosperous but Unequal: OECD Report Spotlights Alarming Trend
Growing by 7.8% last year, the Israeli economy ranked fifth highest in growth among the group’s 34 members. Israel’s growth outstripped that of the United States, Britain, Japan, Germany and France.
Read that again. We are giving Israel BILLIONS of American taxpayer dollars each year. These are not loans. Meanwhile, across America, cities, towns and villages are having to make drastic budget cuts as Israel PROSPERS (at our expense. WHY? Ask your Congressman.
Exxon Profit Up 69 Percent as Gas and Oil Prices Boost Top Five Oil Companies
Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell today reported first-quarter profit increases of 69 percent and 30 percent, respectively, from the same period last year. With rising gas and oil prices, analysts expected the five biggest oil companies -- with Exxon as the largest -- to report that they are swimming in revenue.
Tread lightly on Syria, Russia warns UN Security Council
Gaza demonstrators condemn death of bin Laden
About 25 people holding pictures and posters of bin Laden rallied outside a Gaza City university. The crowd included al–Qaida sympathizers as well as students who said they opposed bin Laden's ideology, but were angry at the U.S. for killing him and consider him a martyr. I will remind you that there are over 1 million Palestinians in Gaza, and another couple million in the West Bank. Predictably, this headline was put on the front page of Yahoo as was the case when in the immediate aftermath of 9/11, the handful of Palestinians passing out candy was aired alongside footage of the carnage. Nah, there's nobody in the media that wants you to hate all Palestinians or anything..
Syria: 4 soldiers killed in attack on army post
Syria's state–run television says "armed terrorists" have attacked a military post in the southern city of Daraa, killing four soldiers and capturing two.
Oil falls below $113 after bin Laden killed
Syrian forces kill 62, U.S. toughens sanctions
A medical source told Reuters soldiers in Deraa killed 19 people when they fired on thousands of protesters descending from nearby villages in a show of solidarity with the southern city where Syria's uprising broke out six weeks ago.
Brotherhood: U.S. troops should now quit Iraq, Afghan
Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood said on Monday that U.S. soldiers should be withdrawn from Afghanistan and Iraq after the killing of Osama bin Laden, the mastermind of the September 11 attacks that led to two U.S.–led wars.
Bin Laden's Death: What This Means for Pakistan's ISI
That bin Laden had been living in a specially constructed compound less than an hours' drive from Pakistani military HQ, and in the same town as the country's premier military academy, makes the near constant denials by Pakistan's intelligence agencies that the terror group leader was in the country difficult to swallow.
America’s Middle Class Crisis: The Sobering Facts
The bottom line is simple says Schwenninger: The middle class is shrinking, which threatens the social composition and stability of the world's biggest economy. "I worry that we're becoming a barbell society – a lot of money wealth and power at the top, increasing hollowness at the center, which I think provides the stability and the heart and soul of the society... and then too many people in fear of falling down."
What’s In It for Us, Mr. Obama? by Philip Giraldi
That Washington has become a victim of the internal politics of the Middle East is largely due to manipulation by Israel and its lobby, which has turned all Americans into enablers of Israeli policies, no matter how short-sighted or ill-conceived. It is the US national interest that has been sacrificed in the process. That is the point
....Several congressmen, including Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs committee, and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor explicitly stated their opposition to any reduction in aid to Israel. But the real surprise came in the final spending bill. Israel not only was not cut in its assistance level, it received $205 million in additional funding for its Iron Dome defensive missile development, which competes with US defense firm Raytheon’s Patriot system. Read that excerpt again, folks. As schools are being closed in YOUR towns and cities, we're still shoveling billions to Israel in order for it to continue to pillage and plunder Palestine.
Palestinian factions sign unity deal in Cairo
Abbas said Israel does not wish to see the Palestinians united because it thrives on their divisions. Divide and conquer is a strategy employed in the Middle East to lessen any threats, and so too is it employed here in the US. If everyone is at each other's throats here because of party line issues, then they aren't paying attention to the real problem in this country.
Israel Acquires Additional Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules Lockheed Martin
Israel ordered its first C-130J in April 2010 and will receive that aircraft in spring 2013. The next two aircraft will be delivered in late 2013 and late 2014 respectively. The contract also covers a number of items to meet Israel’s unique operational requirements. The Israeli Air Force’s new Super Hercules are the longer fuselage or "stretched" variant of the C-130J. At US taxpayers' expense, no doubt.
Iranian state TV carries report of Israeli build-up
Iranian state television ran a report Monday saying Israeli military aircraft were massing at a U.S. air base in Iraq for a strike on Iran.
Iran: US should leave Mideast with bin Laden death
The United States has no excuse to keep troops in the Middle East after killing al–Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, a senior Iranian official said Monday.
Osama bin Laden's death won't end Afghan mission, U.S. and NATO officials say
US Silences on the Arab Spring are Deafening
While Washington intervened in Libya to protect civilians from Muammar Gaddafi's attacks, it's responding to uprisings in Bahrain, Yemen, and Iraq with a particular quiescence. The Obama administration has hardly said a peep about the need for democracy in Saudi Arabia or the other oil-rich states of the Gulf, even as those regimes are cracking down on the small but growing number of democracy activists in their midst.
Pressure Builds to End Afghan War
A weariness about the Afghanistan war had set in well before bin Laden’s killing. A March poll by ABC News and The Washington Post found that nearly two-thirds of those responding no longer think the war is worth fighting.
FBI using surveillance software to track suspects online
The documents show that software called the Computer and Internet Protocol Address Verifier (CIPAV) was used by the FBI since at least 2001. The software allows the FBI to collect a variety of information from a computer every time it connects to the Internet, including the IP address, Media Access Control (MAC) address, open communication ports, list of the programs running, URLs visited, and more.
Forty years of hurt
THE dollar’s recent decline has taken it to new lows.
US aims financial hits at Syrian officials, Iran
President Barack Obama authorized the action for repression and human rights abuses committed by Syrian authorities seeking to quell six weeks of protests. Activists say more than 500 people have been killed, 42 on Friday alone.
5 banks fail in Fla., Ga., Mich.; makes 39 in '11
The FDIC expects the cost of resolving failed banks to total around $52 billion from 2010 through 2014.
IAEA chief: Syria tried to build nuclear reactor
Suggesting that Amano had erred in making the public comments, the IAEA later put out a statement that he "did not say that the IAEA had reached the conclusion that the site was definitely a nuclear reactor."
“Kill-the-Doll-ar…Kill-the-Dolll-ar…!”
Cue Ride of the Valkyries. Ben Bernanke is pre-flighting the helicopter. He explained today it’s become necessary to Destroy the Dollar in Order to Save It
Constant Conservative Ron Paul
Paul’s conservative consistency remains true, even when—and perhaps especially when—his fellow conservatives disagree with him. When conservatives attack Paul for his non-interventionist foreign policy views, the Texas congressman is quick to remind them that it is mathematically impossible to reduce the debt or deficits without addressing Pentagon spending. Cutting NPR, Planned Parenthood and earmarks will do nothing to effectively reduce the debt, no matter how much each might excite conservatives emotionally.
Middle East politics at play in passport dispute
when the mother asked that her son's passport and other documents indicate that he was born in Israel, State Department officials refused, citing longstanding U.S. policy to refrain from expressing an official view about Jerusalem's status. Israel has proclaimed the once–divided city as its capital; the U.S. and most nations do not recognize Jerusalem as the capital.
A lawsuit followed. The dispute over Menachem's passport, a mix of the thorny politics of the Middle East and a fight between Congress and the president over primacy in foreign policy, has landed at the Supreme Court. The justices could say as early as Monday whether they will hear the case.
Another waste of taxpayer dollars.
Mike Huckabee for President 2012 What His Holocaust Gaffe Reveals - The Daily Beast
Huckabee usually gets away with this sort of thing because he is pro-Israel, if by pro-Israel one means unequivocally supporting Israeli irredentism. Unlike the majority of American Jews, he opposes a two-state solution, and in February he said Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem should be resettled in “a territory that [is] in the hands of Muslims, in the hands of Arabs,” which might make him the first modern American presidential aspirant to openly champion ethnic cleansing.
...Huckabee even leads group tours of evangelicals to Israel for about $4,500 a person; naturally, one of the stops is Megiddo, or, in Greek, Armageddon He sounds like a real genius...
Death in the Desert by Philip Giraldi
I am not suggesting for a second that the recent bombing is in any way faked, but it is easy to forget what Ghadafi is really like and what he is capable of.
Is Israel's Rightwing in Eric Cantor's District?
Cantor is listed on Maplight.org as the top recipient of campaign money from "pro-Israel" groups in the U.S. House of Representatives, having taken in over $200,000. These groups, most of them affiliated with AIPAC, dump tens of millions of dollars into U.S. elections each cycle. And they certainly appear to get what they pay for.
Surprise, Surprise! Iraq War Was About Oil by Ray McGovern
Former Prime Minister Tony Blair spoke publicly about Israel’s input into the all-important Bush-Blair deliberations on Iraq in Crawford, Texas, in April 2002. Inexplicably, Blair slipped up on his propensity for hiding important facts from the public and told some truth, though his indiscretion got little attention in America’s FCM. Blair said:
“As I recall that [April 2002] discussion, it was less to do with specifics about what we were going to do on Iraq or, indeed, the Middle East, because the Israel issue was a big, big issue at the time. I think, in fact, I remember, actually, there may have been conversations that we had even with Israelis, the two of us [Bush and Blair], whilst we were there. So that was a major part of all this.”
Panic From the Houses of Congress and Aipac?
Netanyahu, the conferees were told, wants Congress to flex its muscle with the White House and deliver a strong message to President Obama that his political future is tied to Israel’s. Hence the current “America needs Israel more than ever stupid!” campaign wafting from the Israel Lobby across the talk radio airwaves.
Syrians protest from rooftops after army action
Mission Accomplished
This is the perfect moment for the president to declare victory in the Global War on Terror (I’m ready to play along) and announce our expedited withdrawal from Iraq and Afghanistan.
US to examine possible sanctions against Venezuela
Rep. Connie Mack, R-Fla, who is the Chairman of the House Western Hemisphere Subcommittee, has accused Venezuela of violating the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions Accountability and Disinvestment Act of 2010 imposed by the United States against Iran
10 States Where Pensions Are Running Out of Money
World is Drowning in Corporate fraud
Two years after the biggest financial crisis in history, fueled by unscrupulous behavior by the biggest banks on Wall Street, not a single financial leader has faced jail. When companies are fined for malfeasance, their shareholders, not their CEOs and managers, pay the price. The fines are always a tiny fraction of the ill-gotten gains, implying to Wall Street that corrupt practices have a solid rate of return.
Bills would transfer oversight of terror cases
A bill in the House of Representatives, sponsored by Rep. Bobby Shilling, R-Ill., would require terrorism suspects, including those arrested in the United States, to be placed in military custody unless the Defense secretary rules otherwise.
Have We Forgotten 9/11?
Government officials now say there are less than 100 Al-Qaeda members in Afghanistan where we have 100,000 troops. We now know Saddam Hussein had nothing to with Bin Laden and yet 50,000 troops remain in Iraq. Prominent hawks like Sen. John McCain are calling for more intervention in Libya and relatively new hawks like Sen. Marco Rubio want to see stronger U.S. action in Syria. Both senators also believe we should stay in Iraq and Afghanistan indefinitely. None of this has anything to do with fighting Al-Qaeda.
Let’s Declare Victory
The most profound effect of bin Laden’s death will be on Americans. Since September 11, 2001, we have waged two (three?) wars in the name of stopping bin Laden’s brand of Islamic terrorism. This is as close to a clear cut victory that we are ever going to get. That also makes it out best chance of getting American soldiers out of Afghanistan.
A Stand For Justice
9/11 Victims’ Family Members React to the Killing of Osama Bin Laden
Taliban vow revenge for bin Laden's death
Fears of Qaeda vengeance after U.S. kills Osama
World leaders warned of revenge attacks after Osama bin Laden was killed in a U.S. assault in Pakistan on Monday that brought to a dramatic end the long manhunt for the al Qaeda leader who had become the most powerful symbol of Islamist militancy.
Osama bin Laden raid yields trove of computer data
The assault force of Navy SEALs snatched a trove of computer drives and disks during their weekend raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound, yielding what a U.S. official called “the mother lode of intelligence.”
Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0511/54151.html#ixzz1N2Z83oOH
Prosperous but Unequal: OECD Report Spotlights Alarming Trend
Growing by 7.8% last year, the Israeli economy ranked fifth highest in growth among the group’s 34 members. Israel’s growth outstripped that of the United States, Britain, Japan, Germany and France.
Read that again. We are giving Israel BILLIONS of American taxpayer dollars each year. These are not loans. Meanwhile, across America, cities, towns and villages are having to make drastic budget cuts as Israel PROSPERS (at our expense. WHY? Ask your Congressman.
Exxon Profit Up 69 Percent as Gas and Oil Prices Boost Top Five Oil Companies
Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell today reported first-quarter profit increases of 69 percent and 30 percent, respectively, from the same period last year. With rising gas and oil prices, analysts expected the five biggest oil companies -- with Exxon as the largest -- to report that they are swimming in revenue.
Tread lightly on Syria, Russia warns UN Security Council
Gaza demonstrators condemn death of bin Laden
About 25 people holding pictures and posters of bin Laden rallied outside a Gaza City university. The crowd included al–Qaida sympathizers as well as students who said they opposed bin Laden's ideology, but were angry at the U.S. for killing him and consider him a martyr. I will remind you that there are over 1 million Palestinians in Gaza, and another couple million in the West Bank. Predictably, this headline was put on the front page of Yahoo as was the case when in the immediate aftermath of 9/11, the handful of Palestinians passing out candy was aired alongside footage of the carnage. Nah, there's nobody in the media that wants you to hate all Palestinians or anything..
Syria: 4 soldiers killed in attack on army post
Syria's state–run television says "armed terrorists" have attacked a military post in the southern city of Daraa, killing four soldiers and capturing two.
Oil falls below $113 after bin Laden killed
Syrian forces kill 62, U.S. toughens sanctions
A medical source told Reuters soldiers in Deraa killed 19 people when they fired on thousands of protesters descending from nearby villages in a show of solidarity with the southern city where Syria's uprising broke out six weeks ago.
Brotherhood: U.S. troops should now quit Iraq, Afghan
Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood said on Monday that U.S. soldiers should be withdrawn from Afghanistan and Iraq after the killing of Osama bin Laden, the mastermind of the September 11 attacks that led to two U.S.–led wars.
Bin Laden's Death: What This Means for Pakistan's ISI
That bin Laden had been living in a specially constructed compound less than an hours' drive from Pakistani military HQ, and in the same town as the country's premier military academy, makes the near constant denials by Pakistan's intelligence agencies that the terror group leader was in the country difficult to swallow.
America’s Middle Class Crisis: The Sobering Facts
The bottom line is simple says Schwenninger: The middle class is shrinking, which threatens the social composition and stability of the world's biggest economy. "I worry that we're becoming a barbell society – a lot of money wealth and power at the top, increasing hollowness at the center, which I think provides the stability and the heart and soul of the society... and then too many people in fear of falling down."
What’s In It for Us, Mr. Obama? by Philip Giraldi
That Washington has become a victim of the internal politics of the Middle East is largely due to manipulation by Israel and its lobby, which has turned all Americans into enablers of Israeli policies, no matter how short-sighted or ill-conceived. It is the US national interest that has been sacrificed in the process. That is the point
....Several congressmen, including Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs committee, and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor explicitly stated their opposition to any reduction in aid to Israel. But the real surprise came in the final spending bill. Israel not only was not cut in its assistance level, it received $205 million in additional funding for its Iron Dome defensive missile development, which competes with US defense firm Raytheon’s Patriot system. Read that excerpt again, folks. As schools are being closed in YOUR towns and cities, we're still shoveling billions to Israel in order for it to continue to pillage and plunder Palestine.
Palestinian factions sign unity deal in Cairo
Abbas said Israel does not wish to see the Palestinians united because it thrives on their divisions. Divide and conquer is a strategy employed in the Middle East to lessen any threats, and so too is it employed here in the US. If everyone is at each other's throats here because of party line issues, then they aren't paying attention to the real problem in this country.
Israel Acquires Additional Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules Lockheed Martin
Israel ordered its first C-130J in April 2010 and will receive that aircraft in spring 2013. The next two aircraft will be delivered in late 2013 and late 2014 respectively. The contract also covers a number of items to meet Israel’s unique operational requirements. The Israeli Air Force’s new Super Hercules are the longer fuselage or "stretched" variant of the C-130J. At US taxpayers' expense, no doubt.
Iranian state TV carries report of Israeli build-up
Iranian state television ran a report Monday saying Israeli military aircraft were massing at a U.S. air base in Iraq for a strike on Iran.
Iran: US should leave Mideast with bin Laden death
The United States has no excuse to keep troops in the Middle East after killing al–Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, a senior Iranian official said Monday.
Osama bin Laden's death won't end Afghan mission, U.S. and NATO officials say
US Silences on the Arab Spring are Deafening
While Washington intervened in Libya to protect civilians from Muammar Gaddafi's attacks, it's responding to uprisings in Bahrain, Yemen, and Iraq with a particular quiescence. The Obama administration has hardly said a peep about the need for democracy in Saudi Arabia or the other oil-rich states of the Gulf, even as those regimes are cracking down on the small but growing number of democracy activists in their midst.
Pressure Builds to End Afghan War
A weariness about the Afghanistan war had set in well before bin Laden’s killing. A March poll by ABC News and The Washington Post found that nearly two-thirds of those responding no longer think the war is worth fighting.
FBI using surveillance software to track suspects online
The documents show that software called the Computer and Internet Protocol Address Verifier (CIPAV) was used by the FBI since at least 2001. The software allows the FBI to collect a variety of information from a computer every time it connects to the Internet, including the IP address, Media Access Control (MAC) address, open communication ports, list of the programs running, URLs visited, and more.
Forty years of hurt
THE dollar’s recent decline has taken it to new lows.
US aims financial hits at Syrian officials, Iran
President Barack Obama authorized the action for repression and human rights abuses committed by Syrian authorities seeking to quell six weeks of protests. Activists say more than 500 people have been killed, 42 on Friday alone.
5 banks fail in Fla., Ga., Mich.; makes 39 in '11
The FDIC expects the cost of resolving failed banks to total around $52 billion from 2010 through 2014.
IAEA chief: Syria tried to build nuclear reactor
Suggesting that Amano had erred in making the public comments, the IAEA later put out a statement that he "did not say that the IAEA had reached the conclusion that the site was definitely a nuclear reactor."
“Kill-the-Doll-ar…Kill-the-Dolll-ar…!”
Cue Ride of the Valkyries. Ben Bernanke is pre-flighting the helicopter. He explained today it’s become necessary to Destroy the Dollar in Order to Save It
Constant Conservative Ron Paul
Paul’s conservative consistency remains true, even when—and perhaps especially when—his fellow conservatives disagree with him. When conservatives attack Paul for his non-interventionist foreign policy views, the Texas congressman is quick to remind them that it is mathematically impossible to reduce the debt or deficits without addressing Pentagon spending. Cutting NPR, Planned Parenthood and earmarks will do nothing to effectively reduce the debt, no matter how much each might excite conservatives emotionally.
Middle East politics at play in passport dispute
when the mother asked that her son's passport and other documents indicate that he was born in Israel, State Department officials refused, citing longstanding U.S. policy to refrain from expressing an official view about Jerusalem's status. Israel has proclaimed the once–divided city as its capital; the U.S. and most nations do not recognize Jerusalem as the capital.
A lawsuit followed. The dispute over Menachem's passport, a mix of the thorny politics of the Middle East and a fight between Congress and the president over primacy in foreign policy, has landed at the Supreme Court. The justices could say as early as Monday whether they will hear the case.
Another waste of taxpayer dollars.
Mike Huckabee for President 2012 What His Holocaust Gaffe Reveals - The Daily Beast
Huckabee usually gets away with this sort of thing because he is pro-Israel, if by pro-Israel one means unequivocally supporting Israeli irredentism. Unlike the majority of American Jews, he opposes a two-state solution, and in February he said Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem should be resettled in “a territory that [is] in the hands of Muslims, in the hands of Arabs,” which might make him the first modern American presidential aspirant to openly champion ethnic cleansing.
...Huckabee even leads group tours of evangelicals to Israel for about $4,500 a person; naturally, one of the stops is Megiddo, or, in Greek, Armageddon He sounds like a real genius...
Death in the Desert by Philip Giraldi
I am not suggesting for a second that the recent bombing is in any way faked, but it is easy to forget what Ghadafi is really like and what he is capable of.
Is Israel's Rightwing in Eric Cantor's District?
Cantor is listed on Maplight.org as the top recipient of campaign money from "pro-Israel" groups in the U.S. House of Representatives, having taken in over $200,000. These groups, most of them affiliated with AIPAC, dump tens of millions of dollars into U.S. elections each cycle. And they certainly appear to get what they pay for.
Surprise, Surprise! Iraq War Was About Oil by Ray McGovern
Former Prime Minister Tony Blair spoke publicly about Israel’s input into the all-important Bush-Blair deliberations on Iraq in Crawford, Texas, in April 2002. Inexplicably, Blair slipped up on his propensity for hiding important facts from the public and told some truth, though his indiscretion got little attention in America’s FCM. Blair said:
“As I recall that [April 2002] discussion, it was less to do with specifics about what we were going to do on Iraq or, indeed, the Middle East, because the Israel issue was a big, big issue at the time. I think, in fact, I remember, actually, there may have been conversations that we had even with Israelis, the two of us [Bush and Blair], whilst we were there. So that was a major part of all this.”
Panic From the Houses of Congress and Aipac?
Netanyahu, the conferees were told, wants Congress to flex its muscle with the White House and deliver a strong message to President Obama that his political future is tied to Israel’s. Hence the current “America needs Israel more than ever stupid!” campaign wafting from the Israel Lobby across the talk radio airwaves.
Syrians protest from rooftops after army action
Mission Accomplished
This is the perfect moment for the president to declare victory in the Global War on Terror (I’m ready to play along) and announce our expedited withdrawal from Iraq and Afghanistan.
US to examine possible sanctions against Venezuela
Rep. Connie Mack, R-Fla, who is the Chairman of the House Western Hemisphere Subcommittee, has accused Venezuela of violating the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions Accountability and Disinvestment Act of 2010 imposed by the United States against Iran
10 States Where Pensions Are Running Out of Money
World is Drowning in Corporate fraud
Two years after the biggest financial crisis in history, fueled by unscrupulous behavior by the biggest banks on Wall Street, not a single financial leader has faced jail. When companies are fined for malfeasance, their shareholders, not their CEOs and managers, pay the price. The fines are always a tiny fraction of the ill-gotten gains, implying to Wall Street that corrupt practices have a solid rate of return.
Bills would transfer oversight of terror cases
A bill in the House of Representatives, sponsored by Rep. Bobby Shilling, R-Ill., would require terrorism suspects, including those arrested in the United States, to be placed in military custody unless the Defense secretary rules otherwise.
Have We Forgotten 9/11?
Government officials now say there are less than 100 Al-Qaeda members in Afghanistan where we have 100,000 troops. We now know Saddam Hussein had nothing to with Bin Laden and yet 50,000 troops remain in Iraq. Prominent hawks like Sen. John McCain are calling for more intervention in Libya and relatively new hawks like Sen. Marco Rubio want to see stronger U.S. action in Syria. Both senators also believe we should stay in Iraq and Afghanistan indefinitely. None of this has anything to do with fighting Al-Qaeda.
Let’s Declare Victory
The most profound effect of bin Laden’s death will be on Americans. Since September 11, 2001, we have waged two (three?) wars in the name of stopping bin Laden’s brand of Islamic terrorism. This is as close to a clear cut victory that we are ever going to get. That also makes it out best chance of getting American soldiers out of Afghanistan.
Friday, May 20, 2011
Headlines for April 21 - April 27
Apologies for the tardiness. I will try and get caught up in the days to follow.
A Stand For Justice
Wall Street Is Behind High Food-Oil Prices That's Causing Arab Instability
Wall Street speculators raping the world by driving up not just food prices, but oil prices as well.
Second Syrian lawmaker quits in protest at killings
A second Syrian lawmaker told al–Jazeera television on Saturday he was resigning from parliament in protest at the killing of demonstrators.
Syria seals border with Jordan: Amman
Thousands of Syrian troops backed by tanks swept into Daraa, around five kilometres (three miles) from the Jordanian frontier, firing on residents and leaving bodies lying in the streets, activists and witnesses said
Syria targets activists in pinpoint raids
The rising level of violence – more than 120 people dead since Friday – brought calls from the watchdog group Human Rights Watch for a U.N. inquiry. But Sunday's tactics also suggest a government effort to head off the round of protest marches.
US to probe spiking gasoline prices
Pointing the finger at "speculators," Obama said a new Justice Department task force would "root out any cases of fraud or manipulation" that may have caused higher prices. It's about time.
The Libyan mission is creeping, no doubt
Britain is now publicly doing what it expressly said it would not do when the no-fly intervention began: putting boots on the ground in Libya. France is taking similar action.
US to send $25 million of non-lethal equipment to Libya
Feds to Supreme Court: Allow Warrantless GPS Monitoring
The Justice Department, saying “a person has no reasonable expectation of privacy in his movements (.pdf) from one place to another,” is demanding the justices undo a lower court decision that reversed the conviction and life sentence of a cocaine dealer whose vehicle was tracked via GPS for a month without a court warrant.
Iraqis rally against extending U.S. troops presence
Mourners killed as snipers fire on funeral marches
Syrian snipers shot dead at least 12 mourners on Saturday as funeral processions were underway for scores of anti-government protesters killed the previous day, witnesses and activists said.
When Dictators Fall, Who Rises? by Patrick J. Buchanan
The secular despot Saddam Hussein protected the Christians. But the U.S. liberation brought on their greatest calamity since the time of Christ. Scores of thousands of those Iraqi Christians fleeing terrorism and persecution after 2003 made their way to Syria, where they received sanctuary from President Bashar Assad.
Now, as the FT and Washington Post report, the Christians of Syria, whose forebears have lived there since the time of Christ, are facing a pogrom should the Damascus regime fall.
Tanks storm Syrian flashpoint town, 25 dead: activists
Obama sees no magic bullet to push down gas prices
Barack Obama told Americans on Saturday there is no "magic bullet" to bring down high gasoline prices and said he wants to end what he called $4 billion in taxpayer subsidies to oil and gas companies.
Ron Paul Runs
Oil near $113 as damaged fields shut Libya output
Dozens killed in bloodiest day of Syria uprising
Among the dead were a 70–year–old man and two boys ages 7 and 10, Amnesty International said. In the southern town of Izraa, a man ran carrying the body of a young boy, whose hair was matted with blood from a gaping wound on his head, as another child wept and shouted, "My brother!" Footage of the scene was posted on the protest movement's main Facebook pace.
Obama condemns 'outrageous' Syria violence, Iran aid
Iran says it has uncovered second cyber attack
Gholam Reza Jalali, the head of an Iranian military unit in charge of combatting sabotage, said that experts discovered the "espionage virus," which he called "Stars."
European governments condemn Syria
International criticism of Assad's crackdown, now in its sixth week, was initially muted but escalated after the death of 100 protesters on Friday and Assad's decision to storm Deraa, which echoed his father's 1982 suppression of Islamists in Hama.
More than 230 ruling Baath members resign in Syria
Another 203 members of Syria's ruling Baath party announced their resignation Wednesday in protest at the deadly crackdown on protesters, raising the number to 233, according to lists seen by AFP.
Haaretz WikiLeaks exclusive / Netanyahu agreed to join Olmert's government if Israel attacked Iran
Disincentives to Peace: US Weapons Sales to Israel
Israel may be forgiven for failing to realize the current fiscal woes of the United States. After all, U.S. military aid to Israel not only sailed unscathed through last week's passage of the 2011 budget, but reached the record level of $3 billion.
The United States additionally provided Israel $415 million for procurement, research and development of joint U.S.-Israeli missile defense projects, including $205 million to fund Israel's newly-deployed Iron Dome system.
...From 2000-2009, the United States licensed, paid for, and delivered to Israel more than 670 million weapons and related equipment, valued at nearly $19 billion, through three main weapons transfer programs (Foreign Military Sales, Direct Commercial Sales, and Excess Defense Articles). These weapons transfer programs accounted for nearly 80 percent of the more than $24 billion in military aid appropriated to Israel during these years. Think about that the next time you see the effects of the severe budget cuts most cities and towns of America are now facing.
U.S. Needs its Own ‘Arab Spring’ to Counter Power of Pro-Israel Lobby
An interim step we can take to ease the way for congresspersons overly dependent on lobbyists and their contributions is to counter the outsized and outdated influence of AIPAC. That’s why more than 100 peace and justice groups have taken a page from the Arab playbook and launched a people-power movement of our own, called “Move Over AIPAC: Building a New Middle East Policy.” We will meet to discuss alternative views and make those views known as AIPAC convenes in Washington DC’s Convention Center.
House Newcomer Defies GOP Leaders on Israel, From the Right
For those who know him, it was no surprise when freshman Rep. Michael Grimm broke ranks with his party and became the first House Republican to call for the release of Jonathan Pollard.
The freshman member from New York has made Israel a key element of his political work. And while the Republican House leadership has thus far refrained from speaking out in favor of a commutation of Pollard’s life sentence for spying for Israel, Grimm pays small heed to political consensus.
Oh great, another traitor.
Stand Firm Against Unilateral Statehood Push
Sadly, it is doubtful that reasoned arguments such as these will sway most members of the U.N., many of which have little regard for any sort of rule of law. But those countries are not the initial audience that Israel needs to convince.
Israel must first mobilize its supporters in the United States — which include the majority of both parties in Congress. The United States needs to send a clear message that any push for Palestinian statehood at the U.N. would not only poison American relations with the Palestinians but would also serve to delegitimize the U.N. itself.
The Zionistas are getting more hysterical as the drums beat louder for a Palestinian state. Notice again who rules Congress, straight from the horse's mouth.
ABC: Ron Paul and Trump on the “Fringe”
Who's to blame for rising oil prices Speculators
So why have oil prices risen from around $36 dollars per barrel in December 2008 to $110 dollars per barrel now? And what can be done to lower them? Speculation in oil markets, which has little to do with oil demand and supply, is a key part of the problem, and it can be stemmed with several regulatory steps.
Different Views of Guantanamo by Philip Giraldi
Iran on edge as ally Syria fights for survival
Should Assad's regime fall, it could rob Iran of a loyal Arab partner in a region profoundly realigned by uprisings demanding more freedom and democracy.
From Russia, With Dire Warnings on Libya
Lavrov said that NATO’s rush to assist rebel leaders may give a dangerous message, and actually help foment civil war in other parts of the world.
Analysis: Banks Play Shell Game with Taxpayer Dollars
“This report confirms that ultra-low interest loans provided by the Federal Reserve during the financial crisis turned out to be direct corporate welfare to big banks,”
Shadow of Syrian Conflict Stretching into Lebanon
Libya: Another Neocon War
That agenda fit perfectly with the plans of Washington insiders, such as those who famously spelled out their intentions in the reports of the thinktank called the Project for the New American Century. The fierce Iraqi and Afghan resistance didn’t fit at all. Neither did the nonviolent revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt. But taking over Libya still makes perfect sense in the neoconservative worldview. And it makes sense in explaining war games used by Britain and France to simulate the invasion of a similar country.
US Senators Urge Non-Military Intervention in Syria
US treads warily in Syria, considers sanctions
Israel and its U.S. backers do not want to be seen as opposing the forces of reform sweeping the region – which have toppled autocratic rulers in Egypt and Tunisia and weakened those in Yemen, Libya, Jordan and Bahrain – particularly if they deliver a blow to Israel's archenemy, Iran.
But although Syria is despised in Israel for its close alliance with Iran and support for the Iranian proxies Hamas and Hezbollah, the Syrian leadership has meticulously enforced quiet along the countries' shared border and has expressed willingness in the past to talk peace with Israel. There is widespread worry is Israel and Washington that if Assad does not survive, any successor could be far more extreme, Islamist and belligerent.
AMNESTY CLAIMS AT LEAST 393 KILLED IN SYRIA SO FAR
A Stand For Justice
Wall Street Is Behind High Food-Oil Prices That's Causing Arab Instability
Wall Street speculators raping the world by driving up not just food prices, but oil prices as well.
Second Syrian lawmaker quits in protest at killings
A second Syrian lawmaker told al–Jazeera television on Saturday he was resigning from parliament in protest at the killing of demonstrators.
Syria seals border with Jordan: Amman
Thousands of Syrian troops backed by tanks swept into Daraa, around five kilometres (three miles) from the Jordanian frontier, firing on residents and leaving bodies lying in the streets, activists and witnesses said
Syria targets activists in pinpoint raids
The rising level of violence – more than 120 people dead since Friday – brought calls from the watchdog group Human Rights Watch for a U.N. inquiry. But Sunday's tactics also suggest a government effort to head off the round of protest marches.
US to probe spiking gasoline prices
Pointing the finger at "speculators," Obama said a new Justice Department task force would "root out any cases of fraud or manipulation" that may have caused higher prices. It's about time.
The Libyan mission is creeping, no doubt
Britain is now publicly doing what it expressly said it would not do when the no-fly intervention began: putting boots on the ground in Libya. France is taking similar action.
US to send $25 million of non-lethal equipment to Libya
Feds to Supreme Court: Allow Warrantless GPS Monitoring
The Justice Department, saying “a person has no reasonable expectation of privacy in his movements (.pdf) from one place to another,” is demanding the justices undo a lower court decision that reversed the conviction and life sentence of a cocaine dealer whose vehicle was tracked via GPS for a month without a court warrant.
Iraqis rally against extending U.S. troops presence
Mourners killed as snipers fire on funeral marches
Syrian snipers shot dead at least 12 mourners on Saturday as funeral processions were underway for scores of anti-government protesters killed the previous day, witnesses and activists said.
When Dictators Fall, Who Rises? by Patrick J. Buchanan
The secular despot Saddam Hussein protected the Christians. But the U.S. liberation brought on their greatest calamity since the time of Christ. Scores of thousands of those Iraqi Christians fleeing terrorism and persecution after 2003 made their way to Syria, where they received sanctuary from President Bashar Assad.
Now, as the FT and Washington Post report, the Christians of Syria, whose forebears have lived there since the time of Christ, are facing a pogrom should the Damascus regime fall.
Tanks storm Syrian flashpoint town, 25 dead: activists
Obama sees no magic bullet to push down gas prices
Barack Obama told Americans on Saturday there is no "magic bullet" to bring down high gasoline prices and said he wants to end what he called $4 billion in taxpayer subsidies to oil and gas companies.
Ron Paul Runs
Oil near $113 as damaged fields shut Libya output
Dozens killed in bloodiest day of Syria uprising
Among the dead were a 70–year–old man and two boys ages 7 and 10, Amnesty International said. In the southern town of Izraa, a man ran carrying the body of a young boy, whose hair was matted with blood from a gaping wound on his head, as another child wept and shouted, "My brother!" Footage of the scene was posted on the protest movement's main Facebook pace.
Obama condemns 'outrageous' Syria violence, Iran aid
Iran says it has uncovered second cyber attack
Gholam Reza Jalali, the head of an Iranian military unit in charge of combatting sabotage, said that experts discovered the "espionage virus," which he called "Stars."
European governments condemn Syria
International criticism of Assad's crackdown, now in its sixth week, was initially muted but escalated after the death of 100 protesters on Friday and Assad's decision to storm Deraa, which echoed his father's 1982 suppression of Islamists in Hama.
More than 230 ruling Baath members resign in Syria
Another 203 members of Syria's ruling Baath party announced their resignation Wednesday in protest at the deadly crackdown on protesters, raising the number to 233, according to lists seen by AFP.
Haaretz WikiLeaks exclusive / Netanyahu agreed to join Olmert's government if Israel attacked Iran
Disincentives to Peace: US Weapons Sales to Israel
Israel may be forgiven for failing to realize the current fiscal woes of the United States. After all, U.S. military aid to Israel not only sailed unscathed through last week's passage of the 2011 budget, but reached the record level of $3 billion.
The United States additionally provided Israel $415 million for procurement, research and development of joint U.S.-Israeli missile defense projects, including $205 million to fund Israel's newly-deployed Iron Dome system.
...From 2000-2009, the United States licensed, paid for, and delivered to Israel more than 670 million weapons and related equipment, valued at nearly $19 billion, through three main weapons transfer programs (Foreign Military Sales, Direct Commercial Sales, and Excess Defense Articles). These weapons transfer programs accounted for nearly 80 percent of the more than $24 billion in military aid appropriated to Israel during these years. Think about that the next time you see the effects of the severe budget cuts most cities and towns of America are now facing.
U.S. Needs its Own ‘Arab Spring’ to Counter Power of Pro-Israel Lobby
An interim step we can take to ease the way for congresspersons overly dependent on lobbyists and their contributions is to counter the outsized and outdated influence of AIPAC. That’s why more than 100 peace and justice groups have taken a page from the Arab playbook and launched a people-power movement of our own, called “Move Over AIPAC: Building a New Middle East Policy.” We will meet to discuss alternative views and make those views known as AIPAC convenes in Washington DC’s Convention Center.
House Newcomer Defies GOP Leaders on Israel, From the Right
For those who know him, it was no surprise when freshman Rep. Michael Grimm broke ranks with his party and became the first House Republican to call for the release of Jonathan Pollard.
The freshman member from New York has made Israel a key element of his political work. And while the Republican House leadership has thus far refrained from speaking out in favor of a commutation of Pollard’s life sentence for spying for Israel, Grimm pays small heed to political consensus.
Oh great, another traitor.
Stand Firm Against Unilateral Statehood Push
Sadly, it is doubtful that reasoned arguments such as these will sway most members of the U.N., many of which have little regard for any sort of rule of law. But those countries are not the initial audience that Israel needs to convince.
Israel must first mobilize its supporters in the United States — which include the majority of both parties in Congress. The United States needs to send a clear message that any push for Palestinian statehood at the U.N. would not only poison American relations with the Palestinians but would also serve to delegitimize the U.N. itself.
The Zionistas are getting more hysterical as the drums beat louder for a Palestinian state. Notice again who rules Congress, straight from the horse's mouth.
ABC: Ron Paul and Trump on the “Fringe”
Who's to blame for rising oil prices Speculators
So why have oil prices risen from around $36 dollars per barrel in December 2008 to $110 dollars per barrel now? And what can be done to lower them? Speculation in oil markets, which has little to do with oil demand and supply, is a key part of the problem, and it can be stemmed with several regulatory steps.
Different Views of Guantanamo by Philip Giraldi
Iran on edge as ally Syria fights for survival
Should Assad's regime fall, it could rob Iran of a loyal Arab partner in a region profoundly realigned by uprisings demanding more freedom and democracy.
From Russia, With Dire Warnings on Libya
Lavrov said that NATO’s rush to assist rebel leaders may give a dangerous message, and actually help foment civil war in other parts of the world.
Analysis: Banks Play Shell Game with Taxpayer Dollars
“This report confirms that ultra-low interest loans provided by the Federal Reserve during the financial crisis turned out to be direct corporate welfare to big banks,”
Shadow of Syrian Conflict Stretching into Lebanon
Libya: Another Neocon War
That agenda fit perfectly with the plans of Washington insiders, such as those who famously spelled out their intentions in the reports of the thinktank called the Project for the New American Century. The fierce Iraqi and Afghan resistance didn’t fit at all. Neither did the nonviolent revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt. But taking over Libya still makes perfect sense in the neoconservative worldview. And it makes sense in explaining war games used by Britain and France to simulate the invasion of a similar country.
US Senators Urge Non-Military Intervention in Syria
US treads warily in Syria, considers sanctions
Israel and its U.S. backers do not want to be seen as opposing the forces of reform sweeping the region – which have toppled autocratic rulers in Egypt and Tunisia and weakened those in Yemen, Libya, Jordan and Bahrain – particularly if they deliver a blow to Israel's archenemy, Iran.
But although Syria is despised in Israel for its close alliance with Iran and support for the Iranian proxies Hamas and Hezbollah, the Syrian leadership has meticulously enforced quiet along the countries' shared border and has expressed willingness in the past to talk peace with Israel. There is widespread worry is Israel and Washington that if Assad does not survive, any successor could be far more extreme, Islamist and belligerent.
AMNESTY CLAIMS AT LEAST 393 KILLED IN SYRIA SO FAR
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Headlines for April 14 - April 20
A Stand For Justice
Saudi slashes oil output, says market oversupplied
It's the speculators on Wall Street that are bidding the price up for no real reason whatsoever. They then collect the rewards. All the while, the American taxpayers go or stay broke, jeopardizing an already delicate economic recovery.
U.S. Senate urges UN to rescind Goldstone's Gaza report
The U.S. Senate unanimously passed a resolution on Thursday calling on the United Nations Human Rights Council to rescind the Goldstone Commission's report on the Gaza war, in light of its author's expressed regret for some of its claim. Further proof that Israel runs Capitol Hill.
Wikileaks: 'US Helped Israel with UN Gaza War Probe'
The online foreign affairs magazine cited exclusive WikiLeaks cables, detailing moves by Washington's UN ambassador Susan Rice to prevent a more thorough UN investigation of alleged abuses in the conflict. The United States is Israel's bitch.
Bachmann: America ‘Cursed’ By God ‘If We Reject Israel’
At a Republican Jewish Coalition event in Los Angeles last week, Rep. Michele Bachmann offered a candid view of her positions on Israel: Support for Israel is handed down by God and if the United States pulls back its support, America will cease to exist.
Goldstone Recants, Gaza Dies by Philip Giraldi
The United States has long been on the receiving end of Israeli misbehavior. Israel invades Lebanon or Gaza, the US vetoes UN Security Council resolutions condemning civilian deaths and destruction of infrastructure, and Washington winds up taking the blame for condoning Tel Aviv’s recklessness. Repeat that twenty times and it is no surprise that most of the world regards the United States as the enabler of Israel’s oppression of the Palestinians. Osama bin Laden has repeatedly cited American support of Israeli repression as one of his reasons for attacking the United States. The United States is Israel's bitch.
Goldstone's shameful U-turn
Just weeks ago, Israeli military intelligence announced it had created a special unit to monitor, confront, and possibly hunt down, individuals and bodies suspected of "delegitimizing" Israel abroad. In light of this, perhaps quite a few of the faint-hearted felt standing up to Israel was not worth it. Really now. Watch who you confront, boys. Some of us aren't your usual 'fish in a barrel', hmm?
Giffords' Plea for Brain-Injured Soldiers
Are We Allied to a Corpse? by Patrick J. Buchanan
Video: Former CIA Michael Scheuer appears on Russia Today to discuss Libya
China accused of stealing 'terabytes' of US data
The cable revealed how the US traced systems breaches -- colourfully code-named "Byzantine Hades" by investigators -- to the Chinese military. An April, 2009 cable even pinpoints the attacks to a specific unit of China's People's Liberation Army.
Kucinich: U.S. Foreign Policy Should Be Consistent and Honest
“The United States has no right to interfere in the internal affairs of any other nation, just as no other nation has the right to interfere in the internal affairs of the United States,” said Kucinich.
Today, we learned that the United States was financing the political opposition in Syria at the same time that the Administration was pursuing a policy of engagement with the Syrian government, sending an ambassador to Syria for the first time in six years.
China urges U.S. to protect creditors after S&P warning
China's Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday that the United Statesmust take "responsible" measures to protect investors in its debt after Standard & Poor's threatened to lower its credit rating on the United States due to a bulging budget deficit.
U.S., UK, France: Libya War Will End When Gadhafi Goes
For the first time, NATO leaders have tethered the war to Gadhafi’s departure, a line that U.S. generals have been loath to cross. And they still don’t explain how the bombing campaign, now in its fourth week, will lead to his downfall.
U.S. Military Spending Has Almost Doubled Since 2001
U.S. military spending has almost doubled since 2001. The U.S. spent an astounding $698 billion on the military last year, an 81% increase over the last decade.
US senators unveil resolution against Libya conflict
US military strikes on Libya are "not in the vital interests of the United States" and further action should require congressional approval, under a symbolic senate resolution unveiled Thursday.
Nato rejects Russian claims of Libya mission creep
Poll: Americans strongly oppose some deficit proposals
Despite growing concerns about the country's long–term fiscal problems and an intensifying debate in Washington about how to deal with them, Americans strongly oppose some of the major remedies under consideration, according to a new Washington Post–ABC News poll. Too bad foreign aid isn't on the chopping block. Instead, schools are being closed and other major cuts to education are being implemented. Yet, Israel is still rewarded with billions of dollars a year to steal another people's land and occupy their territory. The wars fought on their behalf are also a major drain on the American budget.
Syrian security forces open fire on sit-in
Syria issued a stern warning to the nation Tuesday to stop protesting, hours after security forces opened fire with live ammunition and tear gas on hundreds of anti–government demonstrators during a pre–dawn raid that killed at least one person, witnesses said.
Why Christian Women Are Sporting Jewish Jewelry
On her trip last month to Israel, during which she met with Prime Minister Netanyahu and visited sites like the Kotel, Palin was seen sporting a sizeable silver Magen David. According to David Brog, the Jewish director for Christians United For Israel — see the Forward’s story on the organization here — Palin’s choice in jewelry is an increasingly common one for American evangelical Christians.
Syria lifts hated law, but protesters unimpressed
Syria did away with 50 years of emergency rule Tuesday, but emboldened and defiant crowds accused President Bashar Assad of simply trying to buy time while he clings to power in one of the most repressive regimes in the Middle East.
US official: US opposes Syria for UN rights body
The Obama administration will oppose Syria's candidacy to the United Nations' top human rights body, an official said Monday, calling the Arab country's attempt to gain a seat in the organization "hypocritical" while it uses violence to try to silence protests against President Bashar Assad's authoritarian regime.
Super rich see federal taxes drop dramatically
Iranian general accuses Siemens of helping U.S., Israel build Stuxnet
An Iranian military commander Saturday accused the German electronics giant Siemens with helping U.S. and Israeli teams craft the Stuxnet worm that attacked his country's nuclear facilities.
FBI Counter-Terror Official: Al Qaeda 'Thrives' After Dictators Fall
Giuliano made the comments at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy WINEP is an arm of AIPAC, the Israeli lobby.
Brand Ahmadinejad rights abuser: US senators
At Israel's urging, no doubt.
Obama Blows Up the Bridge by Patrick J. Buchanan
Where is the Fed going to borrow the $125 billion a month to finance this year’s deficit of $1.65 trillion, and another of comparable size in 2012?
House leader to ask Netanyahu to speak to Congress
Israel = Congress' real leader.
US helped Israel contain UN Gaza war probe: report
The United States worked behind the scenes to help Israel contain UN probes into possible war crimes committed during the 2008–2009 Gaza war, Foreign Policy reported Tuesday. The US is Israel's bitch.
Sarah Palin: The Koch Brother’s Union Maid
Saudi slashes oil output, says market oversupplied
It's the speculators on Wall Street that are bidding the price up for no real reason whatsoever. They then collect the rewards. All the while, the American taxpayers go or stay broke, jeopardizing an already delicate economic recovery.
U.S. Senate urges UN to rescind Goldstone's Gaza report
The U.S. Senate unanimously passed a resolution on Thursday calling on the United Nations Human Rights Council to rescind the Goldstone Commission's report on the Gaza war, in light of its author's expressed regret for some of its claim. Further proof that Israel runs Capitol Hill.
Wikileaks: 'US Helped Israel with UN Gaza War Probe'
The online foreign affairs magazine cited exclusive WikiLeaks cables, detailing moves by Washington's UN ambassador Susan Rice to prevent a more thorough UN investigation of alleged abuses in the conflict. The United States is Israel's bitch.
Bachmann: America ‘Cursed’ By God ‘If We Reject Israel’
At a Republican Jewish Coalition event in Los Angeles last week, Rep. Michele Bachmann offered a candid view of her positions on Israel: Support for Israel is handed down by God and if the United States pulls back its support, America will cease to exist.
Goldstone Recants, Gaza Dies by Philip Giraldi
The United States has long been on the receiving end of Israeli misbehavior. Israel invades Lebanon or Gaza, the US vetoes UN Security Council resolutions condemning civilian deaths and destruction of infrastructure, and Washington winds up taking the blame for condoning Tel Aviv’s recklessness. Repeat that twenty times and it is no surprise that most of the world regards the United States as the enabler of Israel’s oppression of the Palestinians. Osama bin Laden has repeatedly cited American support of Israeli repression as one of his reasons for attacking the United States. The United States is Israel's bitch.
Goldstone's shameful U-turn
Just weeks ago, Israeli military intelligence announced it had created a special unit to monitor, confront, and possibly hunt down, individuals and bodies suspected of "delegitimizing" Israel abroad. In light of this, perhaps quite a few of the faint-hearted felt standing up to Israel was not worth it. Really now. Watch who you confront, boys. Some of us aren't your usual 'fish in a barrel', hmm?
Giffords' Plea for Brain-Injured Soldiers
Are We Allied to a Corpse? by Patrick J. Buchanan
Video: Former CIA Michael Scheuer appears on Russia Today to discuss Libya
China accused of stealing 'terabytes' of US data
The cable revealed how the US traced systems breaches -- colourfully code-named "Byzantine Hades" by investigators -- to the Chinese military. An April, 2009 cable even pinpoints the attacks to a specific unit of China's People's Liberation Army.
Kucinich: U.S. Foreign Policy Should Be Consistent and Honest
“The United States has no right to interfere in the internal affairs of any other nation, just as no other nation has the right to interfere in the internal affairs of the United States,” said Kucinich.
Today, we learned that the United States was financing the political opposition in Syria at the same time that the Administration was pursuing a policy of engagement with the Syrian government, sending an ambassador to Syria for the first time in six years.
China urges U.S. to protect creditors after S&P warning
China's Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday that the United Statesmust take "responsible" measures to protect investors in its debt after Standard & Poor's threatened to lower its credit rating on the United States due to a bulging budget deficit.
U.S., UK, France: Libya War Will End When Gadhafi Goes
For the first time, NATO leaders have tethered the war to Gadhafi’s departure, a line that U.S. generals have been loath to cross. And they still don’t explain how the bombing campaign, now in its fourth week, will lead to his downfall.
U.S. Military Spending Has Almost Doubled Since 2001
U.S. military spending has almost doubled since 2001. The U.S. spent an astounding $698 billion on the military last year, an 81% increase over the last decade.
US senators unveil resolution against Libya conflict
US military strikes on Libya are "not in the vital interests of the United States" and further action should require congressional approval, under a symbolic senate resolution unveiled Thursday.
Nato rejects Russian claims of Libya mission creep
Poll: Americans strongly oppose some deficit proposals
Despite growing concerns about the country's long–term fiscal problems and an intensifying debate in Washington about how to deal with them, Americans strongly oppose some of the major remedies under consideration, according to a new Washington Post–ABC News poll. Too bad foreign aid isn't on the chopping block. Instead, schools are being closed and other major cuts to education are being implemented. Yet, Israel is still rewarded with billions of dollars a year to steal another people's land and occupy their territory. The wars fought on their behalf are also a major drain on the American budget.
Syrian security forces open fire on sit-in
Syria issued a stern warning to the nation Tuesday to stop protesting, hours after security forces opened fire with live ammunition and tear gas on hundreds of anti–government demonstrators during a pre–dawn raid that killed at least one person, witnesses said.
Why Christian Women Are Sporting Jewish Jewelry
On her trip last month to Israel, during which she met with Prime Minister Netanyahu and visited sites like the Kotel, Palin was seen sporting a sizeable silver Magen David. According to David Brog, the Jewish director for Christians United For Israel — see the Forward’s story on the organization here — Palin’s choice in jewelry is an increasingly common one for American evangelical Christians.
Syria lifts hated law, but protesters unimpressed
Syria did away with 50 years of emergency rule Tuesday, but emboldened and defiant crowds accused President Bashar Assad of simply trying to buy time while he clings to power in one of the most repressive regimes in the Middle East.
US official: US opposes Syria for UN rights body
The Obama administration will oppose Syria's candidacy to the United Nations' top human rights body, an official said Monday, calling the Arab country's attempt to gain a seat in the organization "hypocritical" while it uses violence to try to silence protests against President Bashar Assad's authoritarian regime.
Super rich see federal taxes drop dramatically
Iranian general accuses Siemens of helping U.S., Israel build Stuxnet
An Iranian military commander Saturday accused the German electronics giant Siemens with helping U.S. and Israeli teams craft the Stuxnet worm that attacked his country's nuclear facilities.
FBI Counter-Terror Official: Al Qaeda 'Thrives' After Dictators Fall
Giuliano made the comments at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy WINEP is an arm of AIPAC, the Israeli lobby.
Brand Ahmadinejad rights abuser: US senators
At Israel's urging, no doubt.
Obama Blows Up the Bridge by Patrick J. Buchanan
Where is the Fed going to borrow the $125 billion a month to finance this year’s deficit of $1.65 trillion, and another of comparable size in 2012?
House leader to ask Netanyahu to speak to Congress
Israel = Congress' real leader.
US helped Israel contain UN Gaza war probe: report
The United States worked behind the scenes to help Israel contain UN probes into possible war crimes committed during the 2008–2009 Gaza war, Foreign Policy reported Tuesday. The US is Israel's bitch.
Sarah Palin: The Koch Brother’s Union Maid
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Headlines for April 7 - April 13
A Stand For Justice
Western allies: Libya cease-fire must meet UN conditions
Russia begins refuelling Iran nuclear plant: report
Israel ruled out Iran strike in 2005: Wikileaks
Another telegram a month later, detailing talks between a US congressman and the then deputy chief of Israel's Atomic Energy Commission, Ariel Levite, offered a stronger suggestion that Israel considered a strike on Iran's facilities unfeasible. That's why they want us to do it for them.
Oil settles above $112 as dollar falls
Oil surged above $112 per barrel Friday following a drop in the dollar and continued jitters about shipments from the world's major oil suppliers.
Guilty Until Proven Guilty By Philip Giraldi
. If Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was truly Usama bin Laden's chief of operations over a period of fifteen years there should be plenty of information available to convict him on terrorism charges in a properly constituted civilian court before a jury. Trying him in a United States Federal court in New York City or some other location was the right way to go
The invisible division: US soldiers are seven times as likely as UK troops to develop post-traumatic stress
Syrian city of Deraa hit by deadly clashes
At least 23 protesters have been killed during anti-government rallies in the southern Syrian city of Deraa, witnesses have told the BBC.
The Koch Brothers: All the Influence Money Can Buy
what is most disturbing is how rapidly they are growing. In 2004, the CPI found, the Kochs spent a "mere" $857,000 on lobbying. In 2008, that had grown to $20m dollars. Over the next two years, they then spent a further $20.5m.
Koch’s Web of Influence
At an EPA hearing last summer, representatives from Koch Industries argued that moderate levels of the toxic chemical dioxin should not be designated as a cancer risk for humans.
Obama’s Fateful Abuse of War Powers by former Congressman Paul Findley
Obama’s abuse of war powers stands the Constitution on its head. He should be ashamed, and so should our complacent Congress for letting it happen.
Humanitarian Interventionism by the Numbers by Philip Giraldi
By any metric Israel should be attacked first to prevent massacres of civilians as it has killed thousands of Arabs in internationally recognized war crimes carried out in Lebanon and Gaza. That Israel is untouchable on humanitarian grounds raises the inevitable question about Washington’s hypocrisy. A friendly Saudi Arabia too has demonstrated that it is more than willing to use force to maintain its autarchic rule.
Haaretz WikiLeaks exclusive / Israel ruled out military option on Iran years ago
which is why they've been trying to get us to do it.
Latest WikiLeaks cables reveal Israel's fears and alliances
The cables show intimate co-operation between US and Israeli intelligence organisations. Israel's preoccupation with Iranian nuclear ambitions is well known and the US cables detail the battering on the subject that diplomats repeatedly receive from Tel Aviv.
Witnesses say Syrian gunmen attack 2 villages
Syria says 19 police killed in southern city
State–run Syrian television says 19 police officers and members of the security forces have been killed in the southern city of Daraa.
Witnesses in Daraa earlier said there were 16 people killed there – all of them anti–government protesters. The discrepancy could not immediately be reconciled.
NY senators clash over panel testimony on Muslims
Sen. Greg Ball, a Hudson Valley Republican, angered some Muslims and civil liberties groups by inviting Nonie Darwish and Frank Gaffney to discuss "the culture of jihad," or Muslim holy war, at a daylong hearing that was otherwise devoted to the nuts and bolts of homeland security preparedness. Gaffney is a neocon of the highest order.
Milwaukee County Sheriff going to Israel
The American Israel Educational Foundation is paying for the trip. Thus does the Israelification of America continue.
Ahmadinejad: U.S. seeking to divide Jordan to form Palestinian state
Ahmadinejad was quoted by the Iranian Mehr news agency as saying that a Western plot was in motion to divide Jordan, geared at saving "the Zionist regime from annihilation and tell the world that an independent state of Palestine has been formed"
Amnesty urges Lebanon to trace civil war missing
New Israeli system alters war against Gaza rockets
Israeli officials say the $200 million "Iron Dome" has performed beyond all expectations, raising hopes the military has finally found a way to rob Hamas militants of their most potent weapon: the short–range rockets that have made life miserable for large swaths of the population over the past decade.
American taxpayers footed the bill for this system.
Obama condemns "abhorrent violence" of Syrian government
Syria uprising broadens as women, students protest
Women, children and students took to the streets in Syria on Wednesday, lending their voices to a monthlong uprising that President Bashar Assad insists is the work of a foreign conspiracy.
Syrian activists call for daily protests
Witnesses: 4 protesters killed in key Syrian city
'Five people killed in renewed Syrian clashes'
We Ain’t Got Time To Bleed By Jesse Ventura
Iran stops providing fuel to European aircraft in retaliatory move
Iran has stopped providing fuel to European aircraft in retaliation for their refusal to fuel Iranian aircraft, the state-run Iran newspaper quoted a senior official as saying on Wednesday.
How Much of Your Taxes Pay for War?
Lindsey Graham’s War on Freedom
No less an authority than the former head of the CIA’s Bin Laden unit Michael Scheuer notes: “On no other foreign policy issue since the Cold War’s end has the truth been so easy to establish on the basis of hard facts but so hard for Americans to see … that Muslim hatred is motivated by U.S. interventionism more than any other factor.”
Is Tribalism the Future? by Patrick J. Buchanan
Powell Doctrine Redux by Philip Giraldi
Now that the president of the United States has indicated that Washington is willing to fight wars based on humanitarian principles and furthermore that president prerogatives make it unnecessary to go to congress for a proper declaration of war, it is possible that more interventions will take place as the administration becomes more comfortable with throwing its weight around overseas.
Scoop Obama
what was conservative Republican Bill Kristol doing when he reportedly advised President Obama on both his Libyan policy and the speech he made back on March 28 — and then bragged about it thereafter? It would seem an odd thing for a conservative Republican to do
Was Obama Stampeded into War? by Patrick J. Buchanan
Was Obama stampeded into war by hysterical talk of impending atrocities that had no basis in fact?
That is the issue raised by columnist Steve Chapman, that ought to be raised by a Congress that was treated almost contemptuously, when Obama launched a war without seeking its authorization.
Syrian protests turn deadly; 32 reported killed
At least 32 protesters were killed nationwide, according to human rights activists. The bloodshed lifted the death toll from three weeks of protests to more than 170 people, according to Amnesty International.
Western allies: Libya cease-fire must meet UN conditions
Russia begins refuelling Iran nuclear plant: report
Israel ruled out Iran strike in 2005: Wikileaks
Another telegram a month later, detailing talks between a US congressman and the then deputy chief of Israel's Atomic Energy Commission, Ariel Levite, offered a stronger suggestion that Israel considered a strike on Iran's facilities unfeasible. That's why they want us to do it for them.
Oil settles above $112 as dollar falls
Oil surged above $112 per barrel Friday following a drop in the dollar and continued jitters about shipments from the world's major oil suppliers.
Guilty Until Proven Guilty By Philip Giraldi
. If Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was truly Usama bin Laden's chief of operations over a period of fifteen years there should be plenty of information available to convict him on terrorism charges in a properly constituted civilian court before a jury. Trying him in a United States Federal court in New York City or some other location was the right way to go
The invisible division: US soldiers are seven times as likely as UK troops to develop post-traumatic stress
Syrian city of Deraa hit by deadly clashes
At least 23 protesters have been killed during anti-government rallies in the southern Syrian city of Deraa, witnesses have told the BBC.
The Koch Brothers: All the Influence Money Can Buy
what is most disturbing is how rapidly they are growing. In 2004, the CPI found, the Kochs spent a "mere" $857,000 on lobbying. In 2008, that had grown to $20m dollars. Over the next two years, they then spent a further $20.5m.
Koch’s Web of Influence
At an EPA hearing last summer, representatives from Koch Industries argued that moderate levels of the toxic chemical dioxin should not be designated as a cancer risk for humans.
Obama’s Fateful Abuse of War Powers by former Congressman Paul Findley
Obama’s abuse of war powers stands the Constitution on its head. He should be ashamed, and so should our complacent Congress for letting it happen.
Humanitarian Interventionism by the Numbers by Philip Giraldi
By any metric Israel should be attacked first to prevent massacres of civilians as it has killed thousands of Arabs in internationally recognized war crimes carried out in Lebanon and Gaza. That Israel is untouchable on humanitarian grounds raises the inevitable question about Washington’s hypocrisy. A friendly Saudi Arabia too has demonstrated that it is more than willing to use force to maintain its autarchic rule.
Haaretz WikiLeaks exclusive / Israel ruled out military option on Iran years ago
which is why they've been trying to get us to do it.
Latest WikiLeaks cables reveal Israel's fears and alliances
The cables show intimate co-operation between US and Israeli intelligence organisations. Israel's preoccupation with Iranian nuclear ambitions is well known and the US cables detail the battering on the subject that diplomats repeatedly receive from Tel Aviv.
Witnesses say Syrian gunmen attack 2 villages
Syria says 19 police killed in southern city
State–run Syrian television says 19 police officers and members of the security forces have been killed in the southern city of Daraa.
Witnesses in Daraa earlier said there were 16 people killed there – all of them anti–government protesters. The discrepancy could not immediately be reconciled.
NY senators clash over panel testimony on Muslims
Sen. Greg Ball, a Hudson Valley Republican, angered some Muslims and civil liberties groups by inviting Nonie Darwish and Frank Gaffney to discuss "the culture of jihad," or Muslim holy war, at a daylong hearing that was otherwise devoted to the nuts and bolts of homeland security preparedness. Gaffney is a neocon of the highest order.
Milwaukee County Sheriff going to Israel
The American Israel Educational Foundation is paying for the trip. Thus does the Israelification of America continue.
Ahmadinejad: U.S. seeking to divide Jordan to form Palestinian state
Ahmadinejad was quoted by the Iranian Mehr news agency as saying that a Western plot was in motion to divide Jordan, geared at saving "the Zionist regime from annihilation and tell the world that an independent state of Palestine has been formed"
Amnesty urges Lebanon to trace civil war missing
New Israeli system alters war against Gaza rockets
Israeli officials say the $200 million "Iron Dome" has performed beyond all expectations, raising hopes the military has finally found a way to rob Hamas militants of their most potent weapon: the short–range rockets that have made life miserable for large swaths of the population over the past decade.
American taxpayers footed the bill for this system.
Obama condemns "abhorrent violence" of Syrian government
Syria uprising broadens as women, students protest
Women, children and students took to the streets in Syria on Wednesday, lending their voices to a monthlong uprising that President Bashar Assad insists is the work of a foreign conspiracy.
Syrian activists call for daily protests
Witnesses: 4 protesters killed in key Syrian city
'Five people killed in renewed Syrian clashes'
We Ain’t Got Time To Bleed By Jesse Ventura
Iran stops providing fuel to European aircraft in retaliatory move
Iran has stopped providing fuel to European aircraft in retaliation for their refusal to fuel Iranian aircraft, the state-run Iran newspaper quoted a senior official as saying on Wednesday.
How Much of Your Taxes Pay for War?
Lindsey Graham’s War on Freedom
No less an authority than the former head of the CIA’s Bin Laden unit Michael Scheuer notes: “On no other foreign policy issue since the Cold War’s end has the truth been so easy to establish on the basis of hard facts but so hard for Americans to see … that Muslim hatred is motivated by U.S. interventionism more than any other factor.”
Is Tribalism the Future? by Patrick J. Buchanan
Powell Doctrine Redux by Philip Giraldi
Now that the president of the United States has indicated that Washington is willing to fight wars based on humanitarian principles and furthermore that president prerogatives make it unnecessary to go to congress for a proper declaration of war, it is possible that more interventions will take place as the administration becomes more comfortable with throwing its weight around overseas.
Scoop Obama
what was conservative Republican Bill Kristol doing when he reportedly advised President Obama on both his Libyan policy and the speech he made back on March 28 — and then bragged about it thereafter? It would seem an odd thing for a conservative Republican to do
Was Obama Stampeded into War? by Patrick J. Buchanan
Was Obama stampeded into war by hysterical talk of impending atrocities that had no basis in fact?
That is the issue raised by columnist Steve Chapman, that ought to be raised by a Congress that was treated almost contemptuously, when Obama launched a war without seeking its authorization.
Syrian protests turn deadly; 32 reported killed
At least 32 protesters were killed nationwide, according to human rights activists. The bloodshed lifted the death toll from three weeks of protests to more than 170 people, according to Amnesty International.
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