A Stand For Justice
Cooper: US, Israel shove USS Liberty under rug
All of the facts about the attack on the USS Liberty need to be aired in public before a congressional panel. It is astounding that Congress has found time to conduct hearings into just about everything under the sun but our elected representatives have not been able to delve into the sneak attack on a U.S. naval vessel.
It is time for the voices of the Liberty's dead to be heard.
Attack on ship not forgotten
For the last two decades, the Liberty survivors and some current high-ranking military and U.S. government officials have asserted the attack was intentional, and have been embroiled in a battle of words with supporters who claim the attack was a case of "mistaken identity." Many have continuously lobbied for a U.S. congressional investigation into the attack and the subsequent cover-up, but without success.
USS Liberty hero dies without seeing justice
With the encouragement of his wife, Mary Ann, John Hrankowski dedicated much of his personal time to telling Americans about the Liberty and the US cover-up that continues to this day.
He was one of the most active and committed members of the Liberty Veteran’s Association.
Letter: Lest we forget
June 8 is the 44th anniversary of the attack on the USS Liberty during the 1967 Six-Day War. With bombs, napalm and torpedoes, 34 Americans were killed, 171 wounded and the lightly armed ship was damaged beyond repair.
Re-open the USS Liberty Case 44 years after attack, US Politicians still cover for Israel
According to the ‘Independent Commission of Inquiry into the Attack on the USS Liberty’, this accidental air and naval attack lasted two hours “during which time unmarked Israeli aircraft dropped napalm canisters on the Liberty’s bridge, and fired 30mm cannons and rockets, causing 821 holes, more than 100 of which were rocket size; survivors estimate 30 or more sorties were flown over the ship by a minimum of 12 attacking Israeli planes which were jamming all five American emergency radio channels.”
This ‘accident’ happened after only eight, yes eight, hours of aerial surveillance, on the Liberty, which had unmistakable American markings.
Supervisor insists roads not holding up
* Adopted a resolution to declaring June 8 "Remember the USS Liberty Day," and ordered that flags be flown at half staff that day to honor the memories of the 34 men who died and 172 wounded June 8, 1967, when the ship was torpedoed by Israeli forces during the six day Arab-Israeli war.
The cover-up of Israel’s crime against the USS Liberty crewmen continues
Despite the official Israeli story of mistaken identity, two Israeli pilots radioed base and clearly identified the ship as American. They were ordered to attack the ship anyway, both refused. The pair was immediately arrested upon returning to base.
June 8, 1967 - Americans have no idea what happened on this date
It's when Israel killed 34 Americans in an attack by air and by sea that lasted for 75 minutes.
U.S. Plans Private Guard Force for Iraq
The State Department is preparing to spend close to $3 billion to hire a security force to protect diplomats in Iraq after the U.S. pulls its last troops out of the country by year's end.
Report: 14 Palestinians shot dead in Syrian refugee camp
Palestinian security guards reportedly killed 14 Palestinians Monday in the Yarmouk refugee camp in Syria. According to witnesses, an angry crowd of mourners began to charge toward leaders of Palestinian factions, prompting their security guards to open fire.
Army's 101st pays high price for Afghan surge year
Campbell described those losses in military lingo. "We had some very, very kinetic events," he said after arriving home at Fort Campbell. But he said the hardships bonded the troops in an indelible way.
The Tie that Binds by Philip Giraldi
Completely frustrated by his experience as peace negotiator, George Mitchell resigned shortly before Netanyahu appeared in Washington to attend the AIPAC conference and also to lecture President Obama. Obama’s eagerly awaited speech on the Middle East delivered the night before Netanyahu’s arrival was actually reviewed by the Israeli Prime Minister before it was given, demonstrating clearly whose foot was on whose neck. Netanyahu reportedly responded angrily to any mention of the 1967 borders in a phone conversation with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the speech was delayed for forty minutes while the president and his staff worked in other rewrites demanded by the Israeli Prime Minister. Another great article by former CIA counterterrorism officer, Philip Giraldi.
Americans Demand Justice Department Regulate AIPAC as Israeli Foreign Agent [Video, Documents]
According to 2010 civil court filings AIPAC obtained classified annual U.S. arms transfer data, secret U.S. policy accords with Saudi Arabia, classified signals intelligence flows that were used in lobbying Congress, National Security Decision Directives, Justice Department investigation files and troves of other government classified information. Petitioners argue that AIPAC is trafficking classified U.S. government secrets for the same reason its parent organization laundered overseas funds into the U.S. during the 1960s–to serve the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs–where AIPAC's founder worked until 1951.
Wow. Read on.
AP Sources: Bin Laden documents sharpen US aim
The U.S. is tracking possible new terror targets and stepping up surveillance of operatives previously considered minor al–Qaida figures after digging through the mountain of correspondence seized from Osama bin Laden's hideout, officials say. The trove of material is filling in blanks on how al–Qaida operatives work, think and fit in the organization, they say.
Israeli Firm’s Trade With Iran Proves Awkward for Activists Pushing Sanctions
Adding to the drama is the fact that the owners of Ofer Brothers have close, personal connections to the top echelon of Israel’s political, military and economic leadership. After one of the founding brothers, Sammy Ofer, died June 3, Netanyahu issued a statement calling him “a true Zionist.”
About Israel & 9/11: Caller is Correct, Politician is Wrong
Wow. Listen to Congressman Garamendi lie about the real reason for 911: our support for Israel. The 911 Commission did include that fact in its report. And also it was the reason given by the mastermind of 911, Khaled S. Mohammed. Watch the rest of this video which includes footage of the 911 Commission, among other things.
Debt fight continues despite Wall St. warning
Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner has told Congress that without an increase in the $14.3 trillion debt limit by Aug. 2, the government will be forced into its first–ever default, with potentially catastrophic results for the economy.
Phil Giraldi Spills Beans on Israeli Espionage in America
An Israeli company was caught monitoring a Department of Defense telecommunications system to obtain classified information, while other Israeli entities targeted avionics, missile telemetry, aircraft communications, software systems, and advanced materials and coatings used in missile re-entry. The GAO concluded that Israel “conducts the most aggressive espionage operation against the United States of any US ally.”.....It would be nice to think that the Pentagon wants to keep the maintenance in American hands to preserve jobs during these tough economic times, but the Defense Department has never cared about US workers before when the issue is Israel.The real reason for the standoff is that Lockheed-Martin and the Pentagon both know that Israel will steal whatever it can if it gains access. It would then use the technology to market its own products at a price below that of US defense contractors.
The result would be a triple whammy for Uncle Sam Extorting billions each year from the American taxpayers evidently isn't enough for Israel.
Israeli troops battle protesters in Syria, 20 dead
Israeli troops on Sunday battled hundreds of pro–Palestinian protesters who tried to burst across Syria's frontier with the Golan Heights, killing a reported 20 people and wounding scores more in the second outbreak of deadly violence in the border area in less than a month.
The WH/Politico Attack on Seymour Hersh
Seymour Hersh has a new article in The New Yorker arguing that there is no credible evidence that Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons; to the contrary, he writes, "the U.S. could be in danger of repeating a mistake similar to the one made with Saddam Hussein's Iraq eight years ago -- allowing anxieties about the policies of a tyrannical regime to distort our estimates of the state's military capacities and intentions." Th Hat's off once again to Sy Hersh.
Guest column: Netanyahu lied to Congress yet drew applause
Netanyahu began by declaring that "America has no better friend than Israel." Congress stood and applauded.
That's the same Israel that attacked the USS Liberty in international waters and tried to sink it with all hands aboard in 1967, and then lied about it. The same Israel that prompted the FBI to declare Israel the second most aggressive nation mounting espionage operations in the U.S., and the Justice Department head of internal security to say, "those of us who worked in the espionage area regarded Israel as being the second most active foreign intelligence service in the United States." China was first. Thank you, Ron Estes, for speaking out, my hat's off to you, Sir.
Kucinich's Libya resolution pulled from House schedule
A resolution calling for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Libya was withdrawn from the House schedule this week, prompting sponsor Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) to charge that House leaders were afraid it might have passed.
Iran sends submarines to Red Sea in move that could anger Israel
Gen. Keane Keen on Attacking Iran
It was like waving a red flag before a four-star bull. “What’s your question?” he barked.
I asked: “Why do you join with those neoconservatives who have such difficulty distinguishing between the strategic needs of Israel on the one hand and those of the U.S. on the other? Why do you keep claiming the Iranians ‘are acquiring nuclear weapons,’ when you know that this is not true. How can you keep a straight face in telling us that Iran is our ‘main strategic enemy?’ That is also not true, and you know it.” God love ya, Mr. McGovern.
US Spying Detects No Iranian Nukes
The former Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency(IAEA) said in a new published report that he had not seen “a shred of evidence” that Iran was “building nuclear-weapons facilities and using enriched materials.”....El Baradei’s remarks are contained in an article by Hersh titled “Iran And The Bomb,” published in the June 6 issue of The New Yorker magazine.
Hersh points out that the last two U.S. National Intelligence Estimates (N.I.E.s) on Iranian nuclear progress “have stated that there is no conclusive evidence that Iran has made any effort to build the bomb since 2003.”....Hersh quotes W. Patrick Lang, a retired Army intelligence officer and former ranking Defense Intelligence Agency(DIA) analyst on the Middle East as saying that after the disaster in Iraq, “Analysts in the intelligence community are just refusing to sign up this time for a lot of baloney.” Thank God for that, Mr. Lang. Kudos to our intel community.
Is Israel Really A Staunch Ally
And, lest we forget, Israel’s unprovoked June 8, 1967, attack, in neutral waters, on the USS Liberty by Israeli aircraft and torpedo boats, killing 34 U.S. sailors and extensively damaging our flag-flying ship.
With “staunch allies” like this, who needs enemies?
US government knows there are no weapons in Iran – journalist — RT
RT: But the Obama administration disagrees with your assessment
SH: Oh yeah. I mean big deal. I am doing my job when the White House is mad at me. And by the way these guys, from my point of view, they are no straighter with us than the Bush White House was. That is a shocking thing to say but they are pretty much the same The neocon viewpoint is still prevailing.
The USS Liberty
Obama in a Dream World by Patrick J. Buchanan
This is not the peaceful, prosperous America of 1947, with half the world’s production, that could cobble together Marshall Plans and ship wealth abroad to rebuild nations devastated by World War II.
Today, America is herself in need of repair and rebuilding. Yet her leaders are living in yesterday.
Non-Interventionism Is Right Again by Patrick J. Buchanan
George W. Bush got congressional approval for the invasion of Iraq by declaring that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction it did not have. We went to war for nothing.
Remembering Iraq by Philip Giraldi
Does anyone remember how the US media and the Bush Administration were excoriating Saddam Hussein for the hideous dictatorship he was running and it later turned out that not only did he have no WMD but news coverage after the invasion made it clear that many Iraqi households had an AK-47 or two lying somewhere around the house. It rather suggested that Saddam was less oppressive and consequently less afraid of his own people than had been assumed.
Most Americans Blame Wars For Federal Debt
By a wide margin, more Americans think the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have inflated the national debt than the percentage who blame domestic spending or the tax cuts enacted in the past decade for doing the same, according to a Pew poll released Tuesday.
State, local governments set to see record job cuts, layoffs
State and local governments are forecast to shed up to 110,000 jobs in the third quarter, the first time the blood-letting has risen into the triple digits, according to IHS Global Insight.
Lawmakers Introduce Reality-Based Plan to Achieve “Freedom From Oil”
“Here’s the harsh reality: The United States is never going to have control over world oil supplies or gas prices through drilling,” said Task Force member Rep. Lois Capps (D-CA). “We simply don’t have the oil supplies, no matter how much we drill. What we do have is the ability to control prices by lowering our consumption and giving American families new transportation choices.”
Moody's sounds alarm over U.S. debt limit and deficits
Ratings agency Moody's warned on Thursday it would consider cutting the United States' coveted top–notch credit rating if the White House and Congress do not make progress by mid–July in talks to raise the debt limit.
Goldman Sachs gets subpoena from Manhattan DA
Goldman Sachs Group received a subpoena from New York prosecutors seeking information on the investment bank's role leading into the global financial crisis, a person familiar with the matter said on Thursday.
Over 4,100 Citizens Stand Up for Tom Drake
Drake discovered the NSA's use of a data collection program that was costly, threatening to Americans’ privacy rights, and wholly undeveloped, despite the availability of a cost-effective, functional alternative that respected Americans’ privacy. He did everything by the book, raising concerns through official channels first -- including senior NSA management, the Defense Department's inspector general, and Congress. His concerns were ignored.
Weiner repeatedly lied (about Israel and Palestine– does anyone care)
Here are five of those lies: There is no Israeli occupation of the West Bank, the Goldstone Report was not based on the laws of war, Israel is at war with 20 neighbors, American progressives should support the absence of free speech in Israel when it comes to its character as a Jewish state, and Egypt is an Islamic state.
Why are the Libyan Rebels seeking Israel's support?
"The main point was that the future Libyan regime would be moderate and anti-terrorist and will be concerned with justice for the Palestinians and security for Israel,"
Israel's Netanyahu thanks France for intervening in Libya
Meeting visiting French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe, Netanyahu noted that Gaddafi had 'was never a friend of Israel or the Jewish people and Israel will not be sorry to see him disappear from the map.'
House Rejects Bill to Defund NATO Operations in Libya
The US House of Representatives narrowly defeated an amendment to the Homeland Security Appropriations bill Thursday which would have prevented funds from being used to support US operations in the NATO-led air campaign in Libya.
Video - Seymour Hersh: Despite Intelligence Rejecting Iran as Nuclear Threat, U.S. Could Be Headed for Iraq Redux
Do the American people support the 'special relationship?' Stephen M. Walt
a survey conducted by the Anti-Defamation League in 2005 found that 78 percent of Americans believed that Washington should favor neither Israel nor the Palestinians. A 2010 survey by the Brookings Institution found similar results: although 25 percent of Americans thought the United States should "lean toward Israel" in its efforts to resolve the conflict, a healthy 67 percent believed the United States should "lean toward neither side." I'm glad somebody besides myself drove this point home. Americans by and large want the US to take no side in that conflict, according to numerous polls over the years. Yet Congress does not reflect that. We have a serious problem here. The Congress does not reflect the will of the people. And that needs to change, folks.
Three soldiers killed by "terrorist group" in Syria
Israeli Stealth Ships in Raids on Iran
Last week Richard Silverstein, an American blogger who specialises in breaking Israeli defence secrets, claimed Mossad, Israel’s national intelligence agency, used Ofer Group cargo ships to smuggle its agents into Iran.
Last year Mossad agents allegedly assassinated Mahmoud al-Mabhuh, a senior Hamas militant, in his Dubai hotel room. It is now believed some of the agents left Dubai hidden in one of Ofer’s ships.
'Iran could produce a nuclear weapon within two months' it is claimed as UN atomic watchdog reveals concerns
Amano said the U.N. agency had received 'further information related to possible past or current undisclosed nuclear-related activities that seem to point to the existence of possible military dimensions to Iran's nuclear programme'.
The Japanese later told a news conference, without disclosing the source of the information
I bet we all can guess from which nation they received this new 'information', hmm? Starts with an 'I', ends in 'L'.
A Conservative Foreign Policy Comeback?
President Obama’s intervention in Libya—pardon me, “NATO’s” intervention in Libya—has become a moment of reflection for conservatives. Whereas the Right gave the last Republican president carte blanche on foreign policy despite cries from the Left about abuse of power, many conservatives now mimic those complaints by demanding that our current Democratic president follow the rule of law.
Glenn Beck: Israel never shot protesters like the Syrians - an outright lie
Ex-Israeli spymaster takes swipe at Netanyahu
Just days after his retirement, an Israeli newspaper quoted him as saying Israel "should not hurry" to attack Iran. Last month, he was quoted as saying a military strike on Iran would be "stupid."
34 Syrians dead in restive city after troops fire
Do as We Say, Not as We Do Stephen M. Walt
China under suspicion in U.S. for Lockheed hacking
a U.S. official familiar with progress on the investigation said there was increasing suspicion the Lockheed hack originated with "someone in China."
Attack kills 120 Syrian forces; crackdown feared
Opposition activists were skeptical of the official casualty toll, saying the authorities were setting the stage for a new onslaught. But even they acknowledged there was fighting, although it was not clear who was involved.
Syrian troops pound central town; at least 43 die
The bombing of the town of Rastan in central Syria started on Tuesday and has killed at least 43 people so far, according to Rami Abdul–Rahman, director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Syria says forces lost control after deadly ambush
DE BORCHGRAVE: Netanyahu’s conundrum
ex-Mossad chief Meir Dagan is a dagger in Mr. Netanyahu’s body politic. And Mr. Dagan is not alone. Several former intelligence chiefs are lined up with him. They also know firsthand how anxious Mr. Netanyahu is to detract from Palestinian pressure for their own state in the West Bank and Gaza – by bombing Iran ‘s nuclear installations.
As Mr. Dagan put it, “This would mean regional war and in that case, you would give Iran the best possible reason to continue its nuclear program.”...
Mr. Dagan, Yuval Diskin, head of Shin Bet, the internal security agency, and Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi, the military chief of staff, all stepped down this year. Mr. Dugan made clear he and his retiring colleagues served as a brake on the gung-ho Mr. Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak.
According to Israeli media reports, a week before retiring, Mr. Dagan tried to send a message to the Israeli public to warn about Mr. Netanyahu’s plans for an attack on Iran . But military censorship blocked any reporting of Mr. Dagan’s views. No sooner officially retired than he evaded the censors Really.
Weiner admits to lying about underwear photo
Weiner, who is Jewish and an ardent pro-Israel lawmaker, said none of the relationships had ever become physical, nor had he met any of the women.
What Is Really Happening in New Square?
This incident came to mind after the recent events in New Square in which eighteen-year-old Shaul Spitzer, a yeshiva student and attendant to the community’s grand rabbi, attempted to firebomb the house of a dissident member of the community. He ended up inflicting third-degree burns on over 50% of the body of Aron Rottenberg, whose home was the target of the attack. Rottenberg’s crime: he prayed at the wrong synagogue. Instead of the main synagogue, which belongs to grand rabbi David Twersky, Rottenberg attended services at a synagogue a short distance outside the village.
Sounds like something that Islamic extremists would do. If it in fact was perpetrated by Islamic extremists, this story would have been plastered all over the news by now. Not so.
Several former U.S. Government officials spoke to the need for the Obama Administration to focus more on the Persian Spring
Back Toward Double Dip
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Headlines for May 26 - June 1
A Stand For Justice
Obama signs 4-year Patriot Act extension in France
With Obama currently in France, the White House said the president would use an autopen machine that holds a pen and signs his actual signature. It is only used with proper authorization of the president. Minutes before the midnight deadline, the White House said Obama had signed the bill.
The founding fathers roll in their graves.
How America Screws Its Soldiers
Here at last we come to the dirty little secret that underlines all the chatter about “supporting the troops.” The people in charge don’t really believe that the burdens borne by our soldiers will ever end and they are not really looking for ways to do so. As for the rest of us, well, we’re OK with that.
War-weary lawmakers send Obama a message
War–weary Republicans and Democrats on Thursday sent the strongest message yet to President Barack Obama to end the war in Afghanistan as the commander in chief decides how many U.S. troops to withdraw this summer.
Osama raid was an act of war: Musharraf
Rand Paul to Harry Reid: I support the Constitution, not terrorists
Republican Senator Rand Paul (KY) said in a speech on the Senate floor Wednesday that questioning the constitutionality of the PATRIOT Act was not equivalent to supporting terrorists.
Syrian troops attack southern town, 8 killed
Syrian troops have shelled a southern town with tanks and artillery, killing at least eight people, including an 11-year-old girl, in the latest crackdown by President Bashar Assad's regime, a human rights activist said Wednesday.
Read more: http://www.wsvn.com/news/articles/world/22004462484917/#ixzz1Opbq7ImP
US 'to view major cyber attacks as acts of war'
The Pentagon has adopted a new strategy that will classify major cyber attacks as acts of war, paving the way for possible military retaliation, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday
U.S. wealthy exit Swiss bank accounts: study
Wealthy U.S. individuals have already pulled most of their money from Swiss private banks and could exit altogether as a global clampdown on tax evasion and banking secrecy benefits onshore rivals, a report showed.
There’s a Secret Patriot Act, Senator Says
Raid on bin Laden compound avenged CIA deaths
For a small cadre of CIA veterans, the death of Osama bin Laden was more than just a national moment of relief and closure. It was also a measure of payback, a settling of a score for a pair of deaths, the details of which have remained a secret for 13 years.
Tom Shah and Molly Huckaby Hardy were among the 44 U.S. Embassy employees killed when a truck bomb exploded outside the embassy compound in Kenya in 1998.
Harry Reid, Rand Paul’s Patriot Act showdown goes public
Paul and Reid have been publicly sparring all week over the proposed extension of the anti–terrorism law, first passed in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
Gas tanks are draining family budgets
Bill would allow $500 million emergency oil sale
A request by the Obama administration to sell $500 million in crude from the U.S. emergency oil stockpile was included in a spending bill released on Wednesday by the House Appropriations Committee, with a spring 2012 deadline to sell the crude.
Obama's new security staff may approve attack on Iran
The conclusion is that between the end of June and Gates' retirement, and the end of September and Mullen's retirement, the danger that Netanyahu and Barak will aim at a surprise in Iran is especially great, especially since this would divert attention from the Palestinian issue. As the Supreme Court explained to Moshe Katsav's lawyers, some plans for summer vacations might be canceled.
Obama pushes Europe not to support Palestinians' U.N. statehood bid
A week after ratcheting up pressure on Israel's government to restart peace talks with Palestinians, President Obama launched a campaign to persuade European leaders not to endorse a separate Palestinian bid for statehood. But his appeal to Britain's prime minister, David Cameron, won only a noncommittal response. The United States ought to stop doing Israel's bidding, heed the wonderous words in George Washington's Farewell address.
U.S. arms makers said to be bleeding secrets to cyber foes
Top Pentagon contractors have been bleeding secrets for years as a result of penetrations of their computer networks, current and former national security officials say.
After Years of War, House Holds Votes to Check Military Action
An increasingly war-weary House will vote this week on legislation that would halt the U.S. military intervention in Libya. The vote comes just days after lawmakers nearly approved a measure to expedite the American withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Judge: Corporate Donations Ban Unconstitutional
A judge has ruled that the campaign-finance law banning corporations from making contributions to federal candidates is unconstitutional, citing the Supreme Court's landmark Citizens United decision last year in his analysis.
House Blocks Vote on Kucinich Libya Bill Over Fears It Might Pass
Share of Population on Food Stamps Grows in Most States
Nearly 44.6 million received food stamps in March, up more than 11% from the same time a year ago, the Department of Agriculture said Tuesday
WikiLeaks: France, UK voiced concern about Pakistan nuclear security
Longer Libyan Commitment Sets Up Showdown With Congress
Russian opposition to Libya campaign causes G-8 rift
Taking the Side of the Billionaires
the battle lines of America’s “class warfare” are getting more sharply drawn. The conflict is now over the Right’s determination to concentrate even more money and power in the hands of the rich by hobbling any government capability to protect the people’s general welfare.
China says UN resolution on Syria unhelpful
At least 15 people were shot dead on Sunday and Monday in Rastan and Talbisa, towns in the flashpoint central region of Homs, an activist told AFP, declining to be identified for security reasons.
Who Cares in the Middle East What Obama Says? By Robert Fisk
There was an interesting linguistic collapse in the president's language over those critical four days. On Thursday 19 May, he referred to the continuation of Israeli "settlements". A day later, Netanyahu was lecturing him on "certain demographic changes that have taken place on the ground". Then when Obama addressed the American Aipac lobby group (American Israel Public Affairs Committee) on the Sunday, he had cravenly adopted Netanyahu's own preposterous expression. Now he, too, spoke of "new demographic realities on the ground." Who would believe that he was talking about internationally illegal Jewish colonies built on land stolen from Arabs in one of the biggest property heists in the history of "Palestine"? A great read by seasoned journalist Robert Fisk.
Inside The United States' Secret Sabotage Of Iran
in the last year, much has become known about intelligence operations in Iran, says Bruce Riedel, a former CIA official who is now an analyst with the Saban Center at the Brookings Institution.
"There's little doubt that there's a covert war under way against Iran," he says. "There are at least two players in it: the United States and Israel."
Great American Patriots
What makes this more remarkable still is that this foreign leader whom they were cheering so boisterously and continuously just completed a public, ugly conflict with the American leader and has a long record of demonstrated indifference to American interests; yet the super-patriots of the American Right sided so brazenly and publicly with this foreign leader over their own country's President.
Don’t Make Us Choose
No one wants to choose between the President and the Prime Minister, between America’s interest and Israel’s. No matter who is in the White House, no matter who is in charge of the government in Jerusalem, Jews here like to see consensus, a smooth connection, the enunciation not just of shared values, but a shared approach to geopolitical challenges.
Really?
Roadside bomb in Lebanon wounds 6 UN peacekeepers
A roadside bomb ripped through a U.N. convoy carrying Italian peacekeepers in southern Lebanon on Friday, wounding six of them in the first such attack since 2008, officials said.
Democratic Dawn — or Darkness? by Patrick J. Buchanan
What Must America Defend? by Patrick J. Buchanan
Retrenchment is rarely attractive. But what is apparent today to almost all is that this country is now and has been for at least a decade living far beyond her means.
We borrow hundreds of billions annually from allies, to defend those allies. We borrow hundreds of billions annually from our children’s future to maintain our present lifestyle. Our leaders have yet to show the toughness and maturity the new times demand
Waging War Gets Easier by Philip Giraldi
The authorization also expands the understanding of what constitutes an “enemy” since anyone can be so designated. The new rule will be that an enemy is anyone so identified by the president because of his or her “hostility” towards the United States. That also means that there will be no judicial process for those accused and they can safely be whisked off to Guantanamo Prison for further processing or not as the case might be. The new law is not yet in place but there is every indication that the president will sign it. Its first victim is likely to be suspected Hezbollah official Ali Mussa Daqduq even though Hezbollah had nothing to do with 9/11. Five Republican senators have already demanded that Daqduq be tried at Guantanamo rather than in a federal court. Hezbollah too? Well, we are Israel's bitch.
The Book of Netanyahu by Philip Giraldi
Republicans Use Israel To Attract Jewish Voters — And Jewish Money
At the recent annual gathering of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, pro-Israel activists found themselves courted both by Republicans critical of Obama’s Israel policy and by Democratic lawmakers seeking to distance themselves from the president.
As Bibi Slouches Toward September
he had an ugly head-butt with President Obama at the White House, but this just reinforces his street cred, solidifies his coalition and dispirits his critics. Besides, while the run-in ruffled feathers in the administration, it was Obama who ended up running to AIPAC to clear the air.
For icing on the cake, he put Democrats on the defensive. They were forced to play catch-up, with Harry Reid publicly rebuking Obama and congressional Democrats leaping to their feet every few sentences throughout Bibi’s grant-no-quarter speech so as not to appear disloyal.
Who says Israel doesn't have any control over America? What's this lobby you speak of?... Quite interesting the last few paragraphs. So you finally fear the retribution, do you? After years of making sure America is dragged into your BS, NOW the chickens are coming home to roost. And Americans, like me a few years ago when I first caught wind of the truth of all of this are going to be PISSED. Good luck with it.
Armed residents put up resistance to Syrian army
Residents used automatic rifles and rocket–propelled grenades to repel advancing government troops in central Syria on Monday, putting up a fierce fight for the first time in their two–month–old revolt against President Bashar Assad's autocratic regime.
US judge rules against corporate contribution ban
"(F)or better or worse, Citizens United held that there is no distinction between an individual and a corporation with respect to political speech," Cacheris wrote in his 52–page opinion. "Thus, if an individual can make direct contributions within (the law's) limits, a corporation cannot be banned from doing the same thing."
Pat Robertson: Muslims are the New Nazis
Israel minister: Strike on Iran could be necessary
Chicken Little at it again.
Egyptians Gather for Second 'Day of Anger'
Egyptian activists are gearing up for nationwide rallies on Friday to protest against the ruling military council's handling of the post-revolution phase, in a call that has exposed political divisions.
A Nobel Economist Says Globalism Is Costly For Americans
Among the serious consequences of off-shoring are the dismantling of the ladders of upward mobility that made the US an “opportunity society,” an extraordinary worsening of the income distribution, and large trade and federal budget deficits that cannot be closed by normal means. These deficits now threaten the US dollar’s role as world reserve currency.
Libya effort is called violation of war act
Iran to 'impose sanction' on US 'human rights violators'
The Iranian parliament has compiled a blacklist of more than 20 US officials who have, in the state's opinion, violated human rights and are to be sanctioned.
The Patriot Act Is Not Conservative
Tea Party favorites like Senators Rand Paul and Mike Lee and Congressmen Ron Paul, Justin Amash, Allen West and others, all voted against the Patriot Act. To varying degrees, each of these GOP representatives questioned the act’s effectiveness and legality. But unfortunately, most Republicans still won’t ask any questions.
Obama signs 4-year Patriot Act extension in France
With Obama currently in France, the White House said the president would use an autopen machine that holds a pen and signs his actual signature. It is only used with proper authorization of the president. Minutes before the midnight deadline, the White House said Obama had signed the bill.
The founding fathers roll in their graves.
How America Screws Its Soldiers
Here at last we come to the dirty little secret that underlines all the chatter about “supporting the troops.” The people in charge don’t really believe that the burdens borne by our soldiers will ever end and they are not really looking for ways to do so. As for the rest of us, well, we’re OK with that.
War-weary lawmakers send Obama a message
War–weary Republicans and Democrats on Thursday sent the strongest message yet to President Barack Obama to end the war in Afghanistan as the commander in chief decides how many U.S. troops to withdraw this summer.
Osama raid was an act of war: Musharraf
Rand Paul to Harry Reid: I support the Constitution, not terrorists
Republican Senator Rand Paul (KY) said in a speech on the Senate floor Wednesday that questioning the constitutionality of the PATRIOT Act was not equivalent to supporting terrorists.
Syrian troops attack southern town, 8 killed
Syrian troops have shelled a southern town with tanks and artillery, killing at least eight people, including an 11-year-old girl, in the latest crackdown by President Bashar Assad's regime, a human rights activist said Wednesday.
Read more: http://www.wsvn.com/news/articles/world/22004462484917/#ixzz1Opbq7ImP
US 'to view major cyber attacks as acts of war'
The Pentagon has adopted a new strategy that will classify major cyber attacks as acts of war, paving the way for possible military retaliation, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday
U.S. wealthy exit Swiss bank accounts: study
Wealthy U.S. individuals have already pulled most of their money from Swiss private banks and could exit altogether as a global clampdown on tax evasion and banking secrecy benefits onshore rivals, a report showed.
There’s a Secret Patriot Act, Senator Says
Raid on bin Laden compound avenged CIA deaths
For a small cadre of CIA veterans, the death of Osama bin Laden was more than just a national moment of relief and closure. It was also a measure of payback, a settling of a score for a pair of deaths, the details of which have remained a secret for 13 years.
Tom Shah and Molly Huckaby Hardy were among the 44 U.S. Embassy employees killed when a truck bomb exploded outside the embassy compound in Kenya in 1998.
Harry Reid, Rand Paul’s Patriot Act showdown goes public
Paul and Reid have been publicly sparring all week over the proposed extension of the anti–terrorism law, first passed in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
Gas tanks are draining family budgets
Bill would allow $500 million emergency oil sale
A request by the Obama administration to sell $500 million in crude from the U.S. emergency oil stockpile was included in a spending bill released on Wednesday by the House Appropriations Committee, with a spring 2012 deadline to sell the crude.
Obama's new security staff may approve attack on Iran
The conclusion is that between the end of June and Gates' retirement, and the end of September and Mullen's retirement, the danger that Netanyahu and Barak will aim at a surprise in Iran is especially great, especially since this would divert attention from the Palestinian issue. As the Supreme Court explained to Moshe Katsav's lawyers, some plans for summer vacations might be canceled.
Obama pushes Europe not to support Palestinians' U.N. statehood bid
A week after ratcheting up pressure on Israel's government to restart peace talks with Palestinians, President Obama launched a campaign to persuade European leaders not to endorse a separate Palestinian bid for statehood. But his appeal to Britain's prime minister, David Cameron, won only a noncommittal response. The United States ought to stop doing Israel's bidding, heed the wonderous words in George Washington's Farewell address.
U.S. arms makers said to be bleeding secrets to cyber foes
Top Pentagon contractors have been bleeding secrets for years as a result of penetrations of their computer networks, current and former national security officials say.
After Years of War, House Holds Votes to Check Military Action
An increasingly war-weary House will vote this week on legislation that would halt the U.S. military intervention in Libya. The vote comes just days after lawmakers nearly approved a measure to expedite the American withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Judge: Corporate Donations Ban Unconstitutional
A judge has ruled that the campaign-finance law banning corporations from making contributions to federal candidates is unconstitutional, citing the Supreme Court's landmark Citizens United decision last year in his analysis.
House Blocks Vote on Kucinich Libya Bill Over Fears It Might Pass
Share of Population on Food Stamps Grows in Most States
Nearly 44.6 million received food stamps in March, up more than 11% from the same time a year ago, the Department of Agriculture said Tuesday
WikiLeaks: France, UK voiced concern about Pakistan nuclear security
Longer Libyan Commitment Sets Up Showdown With Congress
Russian opposition to Libya campaign causes G-8 rift
Taking the Side of the Billionaires
the battle lines of America’s “class warfare” are getting more sharply drawn. The conflict is now over the Right’s determination to concentrate even more money and power in the hands of the rich by hobbling any government capability to protect the people’s general welfare.
China says UN resolution on Syria unhelpful
At least 15 people were shot dead on Sunday and Monday in Rastan and Talbisa, towns in the flashpoint central region of Homs, an activist told AFP, declining to be identified for security reasons.
Who Cares in the Middle East What Obama Says? By Robert Fisk
There was an interesting linguistic collapse in the president's language over those critical four days. On Thursday 19 May, he referred to the continuation of Israeli "settlements". A day later, Netanyahu was lecturing him on "certain demographic changes that have taken place on the ground". Then when Obama addressed the American Aipac lobby group (American Israel Public Affairs Committee) on the Sunday, he had cravenly adopted Netanyahu's own preposterous expression. Now he, too, spoke of "new demographic realities on the ground." Who would believe that he was talking about internationally illegal Jewish colonies built on land stolen from Arabs in one of the biggest property heists in the history of "Palestine"? A great read by seasoned journalist Robert Fisk.
Inside The United States' Secret Sabotage Of Iran
in the last year, much has become known about intelligence operations in Iran, says Bruce Riedel, a former CIA official who is now an analyst with the Saban Center at the Brookings Institution.
"There's little doubt that there's a covert war under way against Iran," he says. "There are at least two players in it: the United States and Israel."
Great American Patriots
What makes this more remarkable still is that this foreign leader whom they were cheering so boisterously and continuously just completed a public, ugly conflict with the American leader and has a long record of demonstrated indifference to American interests; yet the super-patriots of the American Right sided so brazenly and publicly with this foreign leader over their own country's President.
Don’t Make Us Choose
No one wants to choose between the President and the Prime Minister, between America’s interest and Israel’s. No matter who is in the White House, no matter who is in charge of the government in Jerusalem, Jews here like to see consensus, a smooth connection, the enunciation not just of shared values, but a shared approach to geopolitical challenges.
Really?
Roadside bomb in Lebanon wounds 6 UN peacekeepers
A roadside bomb ripped through a U.N. convoy carrying Italian peacekeepers in southern Lebanon on Friday, wounding six of them in the first such attack since 2008, officials said.
Democratic Dawn — or Darkness? by Patrick J. Buchanan
What Must America Defend? by Patrick J. Buchanan
Retrenchment is rarely attractive. But what is apparent today to almost all is that this country is now and has been for at least a decade living far beyond her means.
We borrow hundreds of billions annually from allies, to defend those allies. We borrow hundreds of billions annually from our children’s future to maintain our present lifestyle. Our leaders have yet to show the toughness and maturity the new times demand
Waging War Gets Easier by Philip Giraldi
The authorization also expands the understanding of what constitutes an “enemy” since anyone can be so designated. The new rule will be that an enemy is anyone so identified by the president because of his or her “hostility” towards the United States. That also means that there will be no judicial process for those accused and they can safely be whisked off to Guantanamo Prison for further processing or not as the case might be. The new law is not yet in place but there is every indication that the president will sign it. Its first victim is likely to be suspected Hezbollah official Ali Mussa Daqduq even though Hezbollah had nothing to do with 9/11. Five Republican senators have already demanded that Daqduq be tried at Guantanamo rather than in a federal court. Hezbollah too? Well, we are Israel's bitch.
The Book of Netanyahu by Philip Giraldi
Republicans Use Israel To Attract Jewish Voters — And Jewish Money
At the recent annual gathering of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, pro-Israel activists found themselves courted both by Republicans critical of Obama’s Israel policy and by Democratic lawmakers seeking to distance themselves from the president.
As Bibi Slouches Toward September
he had an ugly head-butt with President Obama at the White House, but this just reinforces his street cred, solidifies his coalition and dispirits his critics. Besides, while the run-in ruffled feathers in the administration, it was Obama who ended up running to AIPAC to clear the air.
For icing on the cake, he put Democrats on the defensive. They were forced to play catch-up, with Harry Reid publicly rebuking Obama and congressional Democrats leaping to their feet every few sentences throughout Bibi’s grant-no-quarter speech so as not to appear disloyal.
Who says Israel doesn't have any control over America? What's this lobby you speak of?... Quite interesting the last few paragraphs. So you finally fear the retribution, do you? After years of making sure America is dragged into your BS, NOW the chickens are coming home to roost. And Americans, like me a few years ago when I first caught wind of the truth of all of this are going to be PISSED. Good luck with it.
Armed residents put up resistance to Syrian army
Residents used automatic rifles and rocket–propelled grenades to repel advancing government troops in central Syria on Monday, putting up a fierce fight for the first time in their two–month–old revolt against President Bashar Assad's autocratic regime.
US judge rules against corporate contribution ban
"(F)or better or worse, Citizens United held that there is no distinction between an individual and a corporation with respect to political speech," Cacheris wrote in his 52–page opinion. "Thus, if an individual can make direct contributions within (the law's) limits, a corporation cannot be banned from doing the same thing."
Pat Robertson: Muslims are the New Nazis
Israel minister: Strike on Iran could be necessary
Chicken Little at it again.
Egyptians Gather for Second 'Day of Anger'
Egyptian activists are gearing up for nationwide rallies on Friday to protest against the ruling military council's handling of the post-revolution phase, in a call that has exposed political divisions.
A Nobel Economist Says Globalism Is Costly For Americans
Among the serious consequences of off-shoring are the dismantling of the ladders of upward mobility that made the US an “opportunity society,” an extraordinary worsening of the income distribution, and large trade and federal budget deficits that cannot be closed by normal means. These deficits now threaten the US dollar’s role as world reserve currency.
Libya effort is called violation of war act
Iran to 'impose sanction' on US 'human rights violators'
The Iranian parliament has compiled a blacklist of more than 20 US officials who have, in the state's opinion, violated human rights and are to be sanctioned.
The Patriot Act Is Not Conservative
Tea Party favorites like Senators Rand Paul and Mike Lee and Congressmen Ron Paul, Justin Amash, Allen West and others, all voted against the Patriot Act. To varying degrees, each of these GOP representatives questioned the act’s effectiveness and legality. But unfortunately, most Republicans still won’t ask any questions.
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Headlines for May 19 - May 25
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.
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.
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.
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