US Department of Justice (DOJ) Tried Repeatedly To Kill FBI’s Clinton Foundation Investigation

November 1st, 2016 by Chuck Ross

Senior-level Justice Department officials pushed back heavily on an ongoing FBI investigation of the Clinton Foundation, according to a bombshell report from The Wall Street Journal.

The newspaper laid out numerous examples, based on law enforcement sources, of senior DOJ officials intervening to quash the probe.

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Prosecutors with the U.S. attorneys office in the Eastern District of New York — which Loretta Lynch led before taking over as attorney general last year — refused to allow FBI investigators probing the Clinton family charity to review emails found on devices turned over this year by two of Clinton’s lawyers during the separate investigation into the mishandling of classified information on Clinton’s private email system.

The rationale, according to The Journal, was that the devices were covered by partial immunity and limited-use agreements that the Clinton lawyers — Cheryl Mills and Heather Samuelson — agreed to with the DOJ. Information recovered from the laptops could only be used in the email investigation and not in others.

FBI Director James Comey testifies before a House Homeland Security Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S. on July 14, 2016. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

FBI Director James Comey testifies before a House Homeland Security Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S. on July 14, 2016. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

As part of the immunity agreement, the FBI and Justice Department agreed to destroy Mills’ and Samuelson’s devices, a revelation that sparked outrage from congressional Republicans when it was announced earlier this month.

The Journal’s report largely confirms reporting in August from The Daily Caller News Foundation’s Richard Pollock that the FBI and several U.S. attorneys offices were conducting an unorthodox, joint investigation into the Clinton Foundation. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: FBI-US Attorneys Conducting Joint Probe Of Clinton Foundation)

CNN reported at around the same time that a Clinton Foundation probe was tabled by the Justice Department. Pollock’s report and the new piece from The Journal undermine CNN’s reporting.

While the investigation has gone forward, the Justice Department has stymied the investigation at several turns, according to The Journal.

The DOJ refused to grant the FBI the power to issue subpoenas or conduct formal interviews. It also refused to convene a grand jury to weigh evidence in the case.

More pushback occurred in August, when a senior DOJ official contacted the FBI’s deputy director, Andrew McCabe, to voice his displeasure that New York field office agents were continuing the investigation even though the DOJ had declined to provide investigative support.

The official was “very pissed off” that the FBI was continuing its efforts, according to The Journal.

The call occurred on Aug. 12, a day after CNN reported details of FBI-DOJ discord over whether to investigate the Clinton Foundation. It was also a day after Pollock reported that an investigation was underway.

McCabe figures prominently in The Journal’s reporting and in the overlapping Clintonworld investigations.

It was revealed last week that McCabe’s wife, Jill, received nearly $470,000 in contributions to a Virginia state senate campaign last year from Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s super PAC.

McAuliffe is a close Clinton ally and is the subject of a separate FBI investigation.

According to The Journal, McCabe refocused the Clinton Foundation investigation a week after FBI director James Comey announced in early July that he would recommend to the Justice Department that charges not be filed against Clinton for mishandling classified information in her emails.

The charity probe would be led by the FBI’s New York office with help from the Little Rock office, according to The Journal. FBI field offices in Los Angeles and Washington were also involved in the Clinton Foundation investigation.

The Los Angeles office subpoenaed bank records related to the Clinton Foundation after obtaining information during a separate public corruption case. The office in Washington was investigating McAuliffe’s financial relationships from before he joined the Clinton Foundation as a board member.

After Comey’s announcement on the Clinton email investigation in July, McCabe decided that the Washington FBI office would focus on the separate McAuliffe matter. He recused himself from that investigation because of the donations his wife received from McAuliffe’s super PAC in 2015.

While the FBI has insisted that McCabe is not compromised in any of the investigations — the email probe, the Clinton Foundation, or the McAuliffe matter — The Journal reports that some agents believe he has issued “stand down” orders in the Clinton Foundation inquiry.

U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch looks on after announcing federal action related to North Carolina, at the U.S. Department of Justice (Getty Images)

U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch looks on after announcing federal action related to North Carolina, at the U.S. Department of Justice (Getty Images)

That claim came from FBI agents lower on the chain of command from senior-level officials. Still other sources denied that McCabe issued a “stand down” order. They asserted that McCabe ordered investigators to continue on their investigative path.

McCabe’s Aug. 12 phone conversation with the senior DOJ official would seem to suggest that he supported the investigation.

“Are you telling me that I need to shut down a validly predicated investigation?” McCabe asked the DOJ official, according to a Journal source who was familiar with the conversation.

“Of course not,” the official reportedly said, after a brief pause.

The new report also details a presentation that FBI officials made to the Justice Department in February to lay out the case against the Clinton Foundation.

Some of the Journal’s sources said that the DOJ’s career public integrity prosecutors did not believe that the case was strong.

“Others said that from the start, the Justice Department officials were stern, icy and dismissive of the case,” The Journal reported.

DOJ officials told the FBI at the meeting additional investigative tools — subpoenas, interviews or a grand jury — would not be authorized.

 

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US Leaders Reject “Nuclear Winter” Studies, Ignore Existential Danger of Nuclear War. Turn a Blind Eye towards Armageddon

November 1st, 2016 by Steven Starr

Ten years ago, the world’s leading climatologists chose to reinvestigate the long-term environmental impacts of nuclear war. The peer-reviewed studies they produced are considered to be the most authoritative type of scientific research, which is subjected to criticism by the international scientific community before its final publication in scholarly journals. No serious errors were found in their studies.

Working at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado, the Department of Environmental Sciences at Rutgers, and the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences at UCLA, these scientists used state-of-the-art computer modeling to evaluate the consequences of a range of possible nuclear conflicts. They began with a hypothetical war in Southeast Asia, in which a total of 100 Hiroshima-size atomic bombs were exploded in the cities of India Pakistan. In order to give you a clear idea of what an atomic bomb can do, please consider these images of Hiroshima, before and after the bomb, which had an explosive power of 15,000 tons of TNT.

The detonation of such an atomic bomb will instantly ignite fires over a surface area of 3 to 5 square miles. The scientists calculated that the blast, fire, and radiation from a war fought with 100 atomic bombs could produce as many fatalities as World War II. However, the long-term environmental effects of the war could significantly disrupt the global weather for at least a decade, which would likely result in a vast global famine.

Cloudless sky
obscured by 150 million tons of smoke in the stratosphereafter a US-Russian nuclear war
adapted from Scientific American, (2010) “Local Nuclear War, Global Suffering”, Robock & Toon

The scientists predicted that nuclear firestorms in the burning cities would cause 3 to 4 million tons of black carbon smoke to quickly rise above cloud level into the stratosphere, where it could not be rained out. The smoke would circle the Earth in less than 2 weeks and would form a global stratospheric smoke layer that would remain for more than a decade. The smoke would absorb warming sunlight, which would heat the smoke to temperatures near the boiling point of water, producing ozone losses of 20% to 50% over populated areas. This would almost double the amount of UV-B reaching the some regions, and it would create UV-B indices unprecedented in human history. In North America and central Europe, the time required to get a painful sunburn at mid-day in June could decrease to as little as six minutes for fair-skinned individuals.

As the smoke layer blocked warming sunlight from reaching the Earth’s surface, it would produce the coldest average surface temperatures in the last 1000 years Medical experts have predicted that the shortening of growing seasons and corresponding decreases in agricultural production could cause up to 2 billion people to perish from famine.

The climatologists also investigated the effects of a nuclear war fought with the vastly more powerful modern thermonuclear weapons possessed by the US, Russia, China, France, and England. Some of the thermonuclear weapons constructed during 1950s and 1960s were 1000 times more powerful than an atomic bomb.

During the last 30 years, the average size of thermonuclear or “strategic” nuclear weapons has decreased. Yet today, each of the approximately 3540 strategic weapons deployed by the US and Russia is 7 to 80 times more powerful than the atomic bombs modeled in the India-Pakistan study. The smallest strategic nuclear weapon has an explosive power of 100,000 tons of TNT, compared to an atomic bomb with an average explosive power of 15,000 tons of TNT.

Strategic nuclear weapons produce much larger nuclear firestorms than do atomic bombs.  For example, a standard Russian 800 kiloton warhead, on an average day, will ignite fires covering a surface area of 90 to 152 square miles].

A war fought with hundreds or thousands of US and Russian strategic nuclear weapons would ignite immense nuclear firestorms covering land surface areas of many thousands or tens of thousands of square miles. The scientists calculated that these fires would produce up to 180 million tons of black carbon soot and smoke, which would form a dense, global stratospheric smoke layer.  The smoke would remain in the stratosphere for ten to twenty years, and it would block as much as 70% of sunlight from reaching the surface of the Northern Hemisphere and 35% from the Southern Hemisphere. So much sunlight would be blocked by the smoke that the noonday sun would resemble a full moon at midnight.

Under such conditions, it would only require a matter of days or weeks for daily minimum temperatures to fall below freezing in the largest agricultural areas of the Northern Hemisphere. Freezing temperatures would occur every day for a period of between one to three years. Average surface temperatures would become colder than those experienced 18,000 years ago at the height of the last Ice Age, and the prolonged cold would cause average rainfall to decrease by up to 90%. Growing seasons would be completely eliminated for more than a decade; it would be too cold and dark to grow food crops, which would doom the majority of the human population.

A brief history of nuclear winter

The profound cold and the dark following nuclear war became known as nuclear winter and it was first predicted in 1983 by a group of NASA scientists. During the mid-1980s, a large body of research was done by such groups as the Scientific Committee on Problems of the Environment (SCOPE), the World Meteorological Organization, and the U.S. National Research Council of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences; their work essentially supported the initial findings of the 1983 studies.

The idea of nuclear winter, published and supported by prominent scientists, generated extensive public alarm and put political pressure on the US and the Soviet Union to reverse a runaway nuclear arms race which, by 1986, had created a global nuclear arsenal of more than 65,000 nuclear weapons. Unfortunately, this created a backlash among many powerful military and industrial interests, who undertook an extensive media campaign to brand nuclear winter as “bad science” and the scientists who discovered it as “irresponsible.”

Critics used various uncertainties in the studies and the first climate models (which are primitive by today’s standards) as a basis to criticize and reject the concept of nuclear winter. In 1986, the Council on Foreign Relations published an article by scientists from the National Center for Atmospheric Research, who predicted drops in global cooling about half as large as those first predicted by the 1983 studies and described this as a ‘nuclear autumn.’ The nuclear autumn studies were later shown to be deeply flawed, but it didn’t matter.

Nuclear winter was subject to criticism and damning articles in the Wall Street Journal and Time Magazine. In 1987, the National Review called nuclear winter a “fraud.” In 2000, Discover Magazine published an article which described nuclear winter as one of “The Twenty Greatest Scientific Blunders in History.” The endless smear campaign was successful; the general public, and even most anti-nuclear activists, were left with the idea that nuclear winter had been discredited.

The rejection of nuclear winter by today’s US military and political leaders

Yet the scientists did not give up. In 2006, they returned to their labs to perform the research I have previously described. Their new research not only upheld the previous findings, it found that the earlier studies actually underestimated the environmental effects of nuclear war.

After the initial series of studies were published in 2007 and 2008, the scientist from Rutgers, Dr. Robock, and Dr. Toon of the University of Colorado, made a series of requests to meet with members of the Obama administration. The scientists offered to brief the White House about their findings, which they assumed would have a great impact upon nuclear weapons policy. Their offers were met with indifference.

Finally, after a number of years of trying, I have been told that Drs. Robock and Toon were allowed an audience with John Holdren, the Senior Advisor to President Barack Obama on Science and Technology. Dr. Robock also has met with Rose Gottemoeller, the Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security. Dr. Robock has the impression that neither Holdren nor Gottemoeller think the nuclear winter research is correct.

But it is not only Holdren and Gottemoeller who reject the nuclear winter research. According to sources cited by Greg Mello of the Los Alamos Study Group, the US Nuclear Weapons Council – the group that determines the size and composition of US nuclear weapons, as well as the policies for their use – has stated that “the predictions of nuclear winter were disproved years ago.”

The members of the US Nuclear Weapons Council include: 

  • The Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics
  • The Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
  • The Under Secretary for Nuclear Security of the Department of Energy
  • The Under Secretary of Defense for Policy
  • The Commander of the United States Strategic Command

It may be that General John Hyten, the Head of the Strategic Command, who is in charge of the US nuclear triad, and General Paul Selva, the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the second highest ranking officer in the US, have never seen or heard of the 21st century nuclear winter studies. Perhaps when they hear a question about “nuclear winter”, they only remember the smear campaigns done against the early studies.  Or maybe they just choose not to accept the new scientific research on nuclear winter, despite the fact that it has withstood the criticism of the global scientific community.

Regardless, the rejection of nuclear winter research by the top military and political leaders of the United States raises some profoundly important questions: Do they fully understand the consequences of nuclear war? Do they realize that the launch-ready nuclear weapons they control constitute a self-destruct mechanism for the human race?

Renewed Cold War and the possibility of war with Russia and China

Meanwhile, US political leaders generally support the ongoing US confrontation with nuclear-armed Russia and China. Mainstream corporate media, including the editorial boards of the New York Times and Washington Post, engage in anti-Russian, anti-Putin rhetoric that surpasses the hate speech of the McCarthy era. The US has renewed the Cold War with Russia, with no debate or protest, and has subsequently engaged in proxy wars with Russia in Ukraine and Syria, as well as threatening military action against China in the South China Sea.

Hillary Clinton, who appears likely to become the next president of the United States, has repeatedly called for a US-imposed “no-fly zone” over Syria, where Russian planes are now flying in support of the Syrian Armed Forces. Marine General Joseph Dunford, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told Congress in September that should the US attempt to set up such a no-fly zone, it surely result in war with Russia.

Apparently there is now some debate about this, however, Russia has responded by moving its latest air defense systems to Syria, and it stated it would shoot down any US or NATO planes that attempted to attack the Syrian Armed Forces.

Russia has also sent its only aircraft carrier, along with all of its Northern fleet and much of the Baltic fleet to the Mediterranean, in its largest surface deployment of naval vessels since the end of the Cold War. In response to what NATO leaders describe as Russia’s “dangerous and aggressive actions”, NATO has built up a “rapid-response force” of 40,000 troops on the Russian border, in the Baltic States and Poland. This force includes hundreds of tanks, armored vehicles, and heavy artillery. NATO troops stationed in Estonia are within artillery range of St. Petersburg, the second largest city of Russia.

The US has deployed its Aegis Ashore Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) system in Romania and is constructing another such BMD system in Poland. The Mark 41 launch system used in the Aegis Ashore systems can be used to launch a variety of missiles, including long-range nuclear-armed cruise missiles.

In other words, the US has built and is building launch sites for nuclear missiles on the Russian border. This fact has been widely reported on Russian TV and has infuriated the Russian public.  In June, Russian President Putin specifically warned that Russia would be forced to retaliate against this threat.

While Russian officials maintain that its actions are normal and routine, Russia now appears to be preparing for war. On October 5, Russia conducted a nation-wide civil defense drill that included 40 million of its people being directed to fallout shelters.  Reuters reported that on October 7, Russia had moved its Iskander nuclear-capable missiles to Kaliningrad, which borders Poland.

While the US ignores the danger of nuclear war, Russian scholar Stephen Cohen reports that the danger of war with the US is the leading news story in Russia. Cohen states:

 Just as there is no discussion of the most existential question of our time, in the American political class – the possibility of war with Russia – it is the only thing being discussed in the Russian political class . . . These are two different political universes.  In Russia, all the discussion in the newspapers, and there is plenty of free discussion on talk show TV, which echoes what the Kremlin is thinking, online,  in the elite newspapers, and in the popular broadcasts, the number 1, 2, 3, and 4 topics of the day are the possibility of war with the United States.

Cohen goes on to say:

I conclude from this that the leadership of Russia actually believes now, in reaction to what the United States and NATO have said and done over the last two years, and particularly in reaction to the breakdown of the proposed cooperation in Syria, and the rhetoric coming out of Washington, that war is a real possibility. I can’t remember when, since the Cuban Missile Crisis, that the Moscow leadership came to this conclusion in its collective head.

My own personal assessment of the state of the nuclear danger today is that it is profound. The United States is sleepwalking towards nuclear war. Our leaders have turned a blind eye to the scientifically predicted consequences of nuclear war, and appear to be intent in making “Russia back down”. This is a recipe for unlimited human disaster.

It is still not too late to seek dialogue, diplomacy, and détente with Russia and China, and to create a global dialogue about the existential dangers of nuclear war.  We must return to the understanding that nuclear war cannot be won, and must not be fought. This can be achieved if we listen to the warnings from the scientific community about the omnicidal consequences of nuclear war.

Peer-reviewed scientific studies of the consequences of nuclear war

A. Robock, L. Oman, G. Stenchikov, (2007). “Nuclear winter revisited with a modern climate model and current nuclear arsenals: Still catastrophic consequences”, Journal of Geophysical Research –Atmospheres, Vol. 112

O. B. Toon, R. Turco, A. Robock, C. Bardeen, L. Oman, G. Stenchikov, (2007). “Atmospheric effects and societal consequences of regional scale nuclear conflicts and acts of individual nuclear terrorism”, Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, Vol. 7

M. Mills, O. B. Toon, R. Turco, D. Kinnison, R. Garcia. (2008). “Massive global ozone loss predicted following regional nuclear conflict”, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (USA), vol. 105

M. Mills, O.B. Toon, J. Lee-Taylor, A. Robock. (2014). “Multidecadal global cooling and unprecedented ozone loss following a regional nuclear conflict” .American Geophysical Union, DOI: 10.1002/2013EF000205

A. Robock, L. Oman, G. Stenchikov, O.B. Toon, C. Bardeen, R Turco. (2007). “Climatic consequences of regional nuclear conflicts”. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, Vol. 7

 

 

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How Israel Is Gradually Privatising Its Occupation of Palestine

November 1st, 2016 by Antony Loewenstein

Author’s Note: My investigation in US magazine The Nation (print and online) about Israel privatising its occupation of Palestinian land. It’s co-written with the great, London-based journalistMatt Kennard. This work continues my years-long research into disaster capitalism globally.

It’s 4:30 am with the moon still high in the sky, but Palestinians from across the West Bank are already disembarking from buses outside the Qalandia checkpoint near Jerusalem. They’re about to begin a day’s work on the other side of the separation wall, in Israel.

Qalandia is one of the busiest checkpoints through which Palestinians with the required work documents can travel from the occupied Palestinian territories to Israel. With unemployment around 26 percent in the West Bank (in zaza, it’s far worse—among the highest in the world, according to the United Nations), it’s always extremely busy at this early hour, because Palestinians need work, which is more readily available in Israel, especially in construction, manufacturing, and agriculture.

Roughly 63,000 Palestinians have Israeli work permits, though it’s estimated that 120,000 Palestinians work for Israelis; 27,000 of them are employed in illegal industrial zones in the West Bank that are operated and owned by Israeli companies, and 30,000 of them work illegally in Israel because they’re unable to obtain the necessary work permits. Permits to work in Israel are routinely revoked for spurious “security” reasons, and Palestinians are rarely given a reason for rejection. Since the so-called “knife intifada” last October, Israel revoked thousands of permits, citing fears of Palestinian terrorism, and the Israeli government is currently discussing a sizable reduction in the tax breaks granted to Palestinian laborers in Israel, which would make a significant dent in their already-meager wages.

In the early hours of the morning, Palestinian men (and only a handful of women) rush to beat the long lines and frequent Israeli closures at the checkpoint entrance. Such activity seems incongruous in the predawn hours, when the stark neon lights of the checkpoint are the only illumination for these harried workers. Many smoke cigarettes as they wait in line; one man wears a T-shirt with the words “Chicken Revolution” on the back.

The warehouse-like checkpoint looks like a cattle pen on the inside: Metal bars on either side and above form a narrow chute, enclosing and herding the workers—many of whom have traveled from villages more than an hour away—toward the point where their documents will be checked by Israeli officials. They then wait on the Israeli side for transport from their employers.

For years, these checkpoints were manned by personnel from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the Israeli Border Police. But starting in January 2006, gun-toting private security guards joined the soldiers and police. Today, there are 12 checkpoints in the West Bank and two on the Gaza border that use such guards. Israel is slowly privatizing its occupation.

Many of the Palestinians we speak to are unaware of the changes. As far as they’re concerned, any Israeli with a gun and a badge is licensed to humiliate them. Day laborer Imad (like most Palestinians we interviewed, he didn’t want to give his last name) is standing in line at Qalandia and smoking a cigarette. He has slicked-back hair and wears a gray T-shirt. “If they are supposed to help, they don’t,” he says of the private security guards. “They are no different from the army.”

Just after 6 am, armed figures who initially look like Israeli soldiers start turning up; they’re wearing uniforms darker than the traditional olive green of the IDF, with a badge that reads “Ezrachi.” The company Modi’in Ezrachi is the largest security contractor currently employed by the Israeli government, and its personnel were among the first private guards the government used to staff its checkpoints. They can also be seen checking public buses in Jerusalem, protecting Jewish compounds in mostly Arab East Jerusalem (with the guards accused of terrorizing Palestinians and enabling settler violence), and standing watch at the city’s Western Wall plaza. Modi’in Ezrachi has repeatedly breached Israeli labor laws by underpaying its workers, along with other violations, but this has had no effect on its ability to get government contracts. This is a trend we’ve witnessed in many other nations, including Australia, Britain, the United States, and Greece, where governments and private security firms collude to avoid responsibility. (Modi’in Ezrachi did not respond to multiple requests for comment on its activities.)

When it comes to private security, the IDF, and the police, “we can’t differentiate between them,” says Reham, a 22-year-old medical and psychology student at An-Najah University in Nablus. Reham, who hails from Jerusalem, has six more years of study before she’s qualified to become a doctor. We speak to her and her friends just outside the chaotic Qalandia terminal.

“It’s miserable,” Reham continues. “Sometimes there are many people there, and you have to wait a long time. Sometimes you have to wait for an hour.” She was unaware that the checkpoints were being gradually privatized. “I haven’t noticed it. People take it [security] as a job.”

There’s a long history of humiliation inflicted on Palestinians at checkpoints. The Israeli human-rights group B’Tselem has released countless reports over the years documenting the abuse. The Israeli women’s organization Machsom Watch has been monitoring the checkpoints since 2001 and advocating on behalf of Palestinians whose work-permit applications are unfairly rejected.

Reham explains her own experience. “It depends on the individual soldier or policeman,” she says. “Sometimes they let you go; they don’t talk to you. Generally, girls are more mean than boys—I don’t know why that is.”

The Israeli NGO Who Profits, which tracks the private-­sector companies cashing in on the illegal occupation of the West Bank, released a reportearlier this year that lifted the lid on this trend. “In recent decades,” the report stated, “many military responsibilities were handed over to private civilian companies, turning the private security industry into one of the fastest growing industries in Israel.”

PRIVATE MUSCLE IN THE LAWLESS ZONE

As the sun rises on another hot August day, its rays hit the separation wall near the Qalandia checkpoint; on it, one can see ads for apartments in Palestine. Coffee sellers do a roaring business among those waiting in line. A wall near the checkpoint features a large painting of men—“martyrs” to locals—from Qalandia village who have been killed by Israeli security forces.

On one level, it’s a mystery why Israel feels it needs more muscle at these checkpoints. Palestinians passing through already face a maze of confusion, and another level of security bureaucracy hasn’t helped. But even if more muscle is needed, why not just send more soldiers? After all, Israel has a captive security labor force in its large conscript army, which requires three years’ service for men and two for women (and reserve duty is obligatory for men until age 51 and for women until age 24).

Iyad Haddad, a 53-year-old field researcher with B’Tselem for the past 15 years, has spent his whole career investigating Israeli human-rights abuses against Palestinians. “Before, the Israeli forces were clear, with a clear uniform,” he tells us in the Palestinian city of Ramallah. “Sometimes, before the second intifada [which began in fall of 2000], they used undercover units by using civilian dress. But in that period, I don’t remember that they used private groups. But after the second intifada, I started to notice that there is a different type of tactic: using private Israeli forces and companies at checkpoints, guarding the barrier, doing security on the barrier and in the jails. Also guarding the settlements.”

This move was part of a global trend, from Iraq to Colombia, in which private security and military companies increasingly began to assume state functions. Most companies started with more mundane operations but ended up carrying out those involving violence. In their 2016 report “The Invisible Force,” which compared private security in Colombia, Iraq, and the Palestinian territories, the International Institute for Nonviolent Action found: “Outsourcing began with the delegation of non-military services such as catering, transportation and other logistic services, then continued with the construction of military systems, including the separation Wall, and finally included the delegation of some of its functions of maintenance of public order and security in the [occupied Palestinian territories].”

It has become more confusing for Haddad to figure out who has committed violations, as many Palestinians aren’t aware that they’re dealing with private security forces. “Sometimes, Palestinians describe to me forces that I can’t recognize,” he says. He believes this is one of the main reasons Israel has turned to these companies. “They use them to escape accountability, especially because the people can’t recognize them, and it becomes easier for them to use force when they want [to do so] without accountability. Instructions regarding Israeli or international law are easier to escape via private forces.”

Haddad’s hunch seems to be correct. At the Qalandia checkpoint this past April, two Palestinians—Maram Saleh Abu Ismail, 23, and her brother Ibrahim Saleh Taha, 16—were shot dead by Modi’in Ezrachi guards. It was one of the first high-profile killings carried out by private security guards at a West Bank checkpoint. The siblings, who witnesses said didn’t seem to understand instructions in Hebrew, were branded “terrorists” by the Israeli police because one of them, Ismail, allegedly threw a knife at officers. Not long afterward, the justice ministry announced that it was dropping an investigation into the killings without charging anyone. The Israeli defense minister’s office, the IDF, and Modi’in Ezrachi all ignored our questions about the incident.

In theory, these private security guards could be prosecuted in Israeli courts since they’re not protected under Israeli law in the same way as police and soldiers. However, an Israeli court placed a gag order on the case (partially lifted in October), making it impossible to see footage of the shootings and prove the security guards were at fault. The family of the victims were given no recourse to justice. In this way, privatized occupation enforcement serves the interests of the Israeli state.

In its 2014 report “The Lawless Zone,” the Israeli nonprofit Yesh Din wrote that private security forces “are equipped with IDF weapons, undergo military training, and are empowered to undertake policing actions, such as searches and detentions, and to use force.”

At the Shuafat refugee camp in East Jerusalem, which is surrounded by Israel’s separation wall, we witnessed Ezrachi guards checking the documents of bus and car passengers, taking on many of the roles that used to be done solely by state security forces or police. When we approached the guards, they scowled at us and told us to leave. Black smoke from burning rubbish, collecting near the separation wall, wafted through the air.

When we contacted the Israeli Ministry of Defense for comment about its matrix of control across the West Bank, we were told that “some of the crossings receive assistance from companies specializing in security and protection.” The ministry advised us to speak to the IDF for further details, because “the crossing points around Jerusalem” are its responsibility. But the IDF told us, “The Ministry of Defense is the appropriate body to speak with on this subject.” It was a Kafkaesque dead end that gave us a small window into the impossibility facing Palestinians who seek justice for loved ones killed or injured by private security contractors.

THE ETHOS OF PRIVATIZATION

From its founding in 1948 until the Six-Day War in 1967, Israel was supported by much of the global left, which saw it as a socialist nation committed to social justice and equality. True, this was always a convenient myth that ignored the endemic and state-sponsored discrimination against the Arab minority (in fact, Israel’s Palestinian citizens lived under direct military rule from the end of the 1948 war until 1966). Until the mid-1970s, Israel had one of the smallest wealth gaps in the West (for Jews), with the welfare state providing decent support for its Jewish population. But by the mid-1990s, the gap between rich and poor had skyrocketed. Israeli academic Daniel Gutwein, who teaches at the University of Haifa, writesthat “Israel’s ethos of social solidarity has been replaced by an ethos of privatization.”

Of course, after Israel seized control of the West Bank and Gaza in 1967, the state never considered granting universal welfare coverage to Palestinians in the newly conquered territories. Palestinians under occupation were subject to military rule, a policy that continues to this day.

From the late 1970s, right-wing governments in Israel, led by the Likud Party, argued that dismantling the welfare state was the best way to liberalize the economy. Simha Erlich, Israel’s finance minister from 1977 until 1979, boasted that hardline economist and privatization zealot Milton Friedman was his economic adviser.

Shir Hever, author of The Political Economy of Israel’s Occupation (2010) and a graduate student at the Free University of Berlin who specializes in security privatization, says: “In 1985, as the World Bank and the IMF imposed ‘structural adjustment plans’ on developing countries struggling with debt, the Israeli government voluntarily adopted such a plan. The Israeli ‘Stabilization Plan’ of 1985 was a transformative moment in the country’s economy, marking the shift from a social-­democratic, planned market into a neoliberal one.”

Hever continues: “Actual privatization of large government-­owned companies started in the 1990s, and privatization in the defense sector followed later, first with the sale of factories out of government-owned arms companies, and later with massive outsourcing of security operations to private companies during the second intifada.” Israel was following the model set by Ronald Reagan’s America and Margaret Thatcher’s Britain. Indeed, the US military industry encouraged the Israelis to privatize their weapons industry.

Hever argues that privatization in Israel was driven by the same factors leading the charge internationally: “Private-­sector investors used neoliberal ideology to claim that the government was inefficient in running businesses and were able to buy Israel’s telecommunications giant, its largest airline, its giant shipping company, oil refineries, and all but one of its banks at fire-sale prices.”

Health, labor, and education were targeted, and it wasn’t long before Israel’s middle class began to suffer from the brutal discipline of market forces. A calamitous drop in union representation and reduced regulations corresponded with falling living conditions. By the 2000s, membership in the Histadrut labor organization had dropped by two-thirds, from a figure of 2 million in the early 1990s. (Over the past decade, however, Israel has a seen a steady increase in union membership, as the country’s population struggles to survive financially.)

Today, the results of outsourcing are clear. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is committed to selling off billions of dollars in state assets, a policy he’s proudly championed for years and one he started during his first term in office in the late 1990s. But the Israeli public is paying a high price. Israel now has the highest poverty level among the nations of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. According to UNICEF, in 2016 Israel showed the highest level of inequality among children in the world’s 41 most developed states, with one-third living below the poverty line. In 2015, Israel’s National Insurance Institute estimated that there were 1.7 million poor people in the country, out of a population of about 8 million. The pay gap has also widened, and increases in the cost of living and high rents led to massive protests in 2011.

But not everybody is suffering. The country’s military establishment is both privatizing the weapons sector and selling this technology abroad. Israeli writer and activist Jeff Halper argues in his book War Against the People: Israel, the Palestinians and the Global Pacification (2015) that the occupation isn’t a burden for Israel but a “resource,” because it gives the Jewish state the opportunity to test weapons and surveillance in the field on Palestinians, along with assisting other states in their military and intelligence needs. Growing numbers of European and US officials have been visiting Israel in recent years to learn about its security and defense systems.

Take the Israeli company Magal Security Systems, which surrounded Gaza with fencing, assisted construction of the barrier along the Egyptian and Jordanian frontiers in recent years, and is bidding to build a wall on the Kenya-Somalia border to protect Kenyans from Al-Shabaab terrorist attacks. The company’s head, Saar Koursh, recently told Bloomberg that “the border business was down, but then came ISIS and the Syrian conflict. The world is changing, and borders are coming back big-time.”

This is just one way that Israel’s vast expertise in occupation, from militarizing borders to surveilling unwanted populations, has become a huge financial boon for one sector of the Israeli economy. It isn’t helping most of the population—poverty is rife, after all—and according to economist Hever, it’s not enough to insulate Israel from potential economic headwinds from the growing BDS (boycott, divestment, and sanctions) movement. “BDS is not about the size of exports but awareness of international law,” he says. “Recently, BDS activists have made some advances in regards to the arms industry itself, starting a debate in the EU about the funneling of research funds into Israel’s arms industry and convincing key Brazilian politicians to reconsider arm deals with Israeli weapons companies.” Indeed, Hever questions the viability of Israel’s defense industry. “The arms sector in Israel is larger compared to the size of the economy than in any other country in the world,” he tells us, “but its relative share of the Israeli export market is declining.” In 2015, Israeli military exports were relatively flat, at $5.7 billion.

OCCUPATION INC.

Private companies have been invest­­ing for years in the settlement project. But that involvement, as well as the amounts of money being made, have increased dramatically in the past decade. Earlier this year, Human Rights Watch (HRW) released a report, “Occupation Inc.,” that detailed how “Israeli and international businesses have helped to build, finance, service, and market settlement communities.” It added, “In many cases, businesses are ‘settlers’ themselves.”

For Israelis, the West Bank has become a kind of special economic zone, where settlements often provide more profitable business conditions—low rents, favorable tax rates, government subsidies, and access to cheap Palestinian labor—than in Israel proper. It’s a draw for Israeli companies, but also for the international market, and a lot of money is being made. Foreign direct investment in the West Bank and Gaza spiked from $9.5 million in 2002 to $300 million in 2009, before plateauing back to $120 million in 2015. The American computing behemoth Hewlett-Packard, for example, developed the biometric ID cards used by Israeli security forces at West Bank checkpoints.

HRW reports that there are 20 Israeli-administered industrial zones in the West Bank, covering about 1,365 hectares, with Israeli settlers overseeing the cultivation of 9,300 hectares of agricultural land. The researchers conclude that “by virtue of doing business in or with settlements or settlement businesses, [foreign] companies contribute to…violations of international humanitarian law and human rights abuses.” This knowledge is beginning to have an effect.

This is one of the contradictions of privatization. While Israeli state transgressions of international law are generally ignored by its biggest benefactor, the United States (President Obama just gave Israel its largest-ever military-aid package), the BDS movement has claimed some key victories in terms of pressuring the private sector over affiliations with human-rights abuses in Palestine. For example, the French infrastructure firm Veolia announced in April 2015 that it was leaving Israel, while the British mobile-phone company Orange said just a few months later that it would terminate contracts with its Israeli partner.

This poses the question of whether the privatization of the occupation is making Israel more susceptible to international opprobrium, including boycotts. The security company G4S, the biggest private-sector security employer in the world, announced in 2014 that it was leaving Israel within three years and terminating its contracts with the Israeli prison system. (BDS claimed a victory, but when contacted by The Nation, G4S said that while it still planned for a full pullout by June 2017, “the decision to not renew the contracts was taken for commercial reasons.”) That system now holds 6,295 Palestinians as prisoners and security detainees (including, at the end of 2015, 116 Palestinian children between the ages of 12 and 15). In 2009, the Israeli Supreme Court ruled that plans for fully private prisons were unconstitutional. But many of the systems and products used in prison—from cameras to doors to alarm systems—are made or managed by private corporations.

With the Middle East aflame, and Israel selling itself as an island of stability amid a region in conflict, there are few compelling reasons why the Jewish state won’t continue to market itself as a model in how to manage unwanted populations, with private companies the beneficiaries of this policy. Next year will mark the 50th anniversary of Israel’s occupation of Palestine, and the colonization is increasing. Without massive inter­national pressure, it’s impossible to see how the outsourced occupation won’t become a permanent nightmare.

Antony Loewenstein, a Jerusalem-based independent journalist, is the author of Disaster Capitalism: Making a Killing Out of Catastrophe.

Matt Kennard is deputy director of the Centre for Investigative Journalism in London and the author of Irregular Army and The Racket.

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Hillary Emails, Gold Dinars and Arab Springs

November 1st, 2016 by F. William Engdahl

Buried amid tens of thousands of pages of former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s secret emails, now being made public by the US Government, is a devastating email exchange between Clinton and her confidential adviser, Sid Blumenthal. It’s about Qaddafi and the US-coordinated intervention in 2011 to topple the Libyan ruler. It’s about gold and a potentially existential threat to the future of the US dollar as world reserve currency. It’s about Qaddafi’s plans then for the gold-based Dinar for Africa and the Arab oil world.

Two paragraphs in a recently declassified email from the illegal private server used by then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during the US-orchestrated war to destroy Libya’s Qaddafi in 2011 reveal a tightly-held secret agenda behind the Obama Administration’s war against Qaddafi, cynically named “Responsibility to Protect.”

Barack Obama, an indecisive and weak President, delegated all presidential responsibility for the Libya war to his Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton. Clinton, who was an early backer of an Arab “regime change,” using the secret Muslim Brotherhood, invoked the new, bizarre principle of “responsibility to protect” (R2P) to justify the Libyan war, which she quickly turned into a NATO-led war. Under R2P, a silly notion promoted by the networks of George Soros’ Open Society Foundations, Clinton claimed, with no verifiable proof, that Qaddafi was bombing innocent Libyan civilians in the Benghazi region.

According to a New York Times report at the time, citing Obama Administration senior sources, it was Hillary Clinton, backed by Samantha Power, then a senior aide at the National Security Council and today Obama’s UN Ambassador; and Susan Rice, then Obama’s ambassador to the United Nations, and now National Security Adviser. That triad pushed Obama into military action against Libya’s Qaddafi. Clinton, flanked by Powers and Rice, was so powerful that Clinton managed to overrule Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Tom Donilon, Obama’s national security adviser, and John Brennan, Obama’s counterterrorism chief, today CIA head.

Secretary of State Clinton was also knee-deep in the conspiracy to unleash what came to be dubbed the “Arab Spring,” the wave of US-financed regime changes across the Arab Middle East, part of the Greater Middle East project unveiled in 2003 by the Bush Administration after occupation of Iraq. The first three target countries of that 2011 US “Arab Spring”–an action in which Washington used its “human rights” NGOs such as Freedom House and National Endowment for Democracy, in cahoots as usual, with the Open Society Foundations of billionaire speculator, George Soros, along with US State Department and CIA operatives–were Ben Ali’s Tunisia, Mubarak’s Egypt and Qaddafi’s Libya.

Now the timing and targeting of Washington’s 2011 “Arab Spring” destabilizations of select Middle East states assume a new light in relation to just-released declassified Clinton emails to her private Libya “adviser” and friend, Sid Blumenthal. Blumenthal is the slick lawyer who defended then-President Bill Clinton in the Monika Lewinsky and other sex scandal affairs when Bill was President and facing impeachment.

Qaddafi’s gold dinar

For many it remains a mystery just why Washington decided that Qaddafi personally must be destroyed, murdered, not just sent into exile like Mubarak. Clinton, when informed of Qaddafi’s brutal murder by US-financed Al Qaeda “democratic opposition” terrorists, told CBS news, in a sick, joking paraphrase of Julius Caesar, “We came, we saw, he died,” words spoken by her with a hearty, macabre laugh.

Little is known in the West about what Muammar Qaddafi did in Libya or, for that matter, in Africa and in the Arab world. Now, release of a new portion of Hillary Clinton’s emails as Secretary of State, at the time she was running Obama Administration war on Qaddafi, sheds dramatic new light on the background.

It was not a personal decision of Hillary Clinton to eliminate Qaddafi and destroy his entire state infrastructure. The decision, it’s now clear, came from circles very high in the US money oligarchy. She was merely another Washington political tool implementing the mandate of those oligarchs. The intervention was about killing Qaddafi’s well-laid plans to create a gold-based African and Arabic currency to replace the dollar in oil trades. Since the US dollar abandoned gold exchange for dollars in 1971 the dollar in terms of gold has dramatically lost value. Arab and African OPEC oil states have long objected to the vanishing purchasing power of their oil sales, mandated since the 1970’s by Washington to be solely in US dollars, as dollar inflation soared more than 2000% to 2001.

In a newly declassified Clinton email from Sid Blumenthal to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton dated April 2, 2011, Blumenthal reveals the reason that Qaddafi must be eliminated. Using the pretext of citing an unidentified “high source” Blumenthal writes to Clinton, “According to sensitive information available to this source, Qaddafi’s government holds 143 tons of gold, and a similar amount in silver… This gold was accumulated prior to the current rebellion and was intended to be used to establish a pan-African currency based on the Libyan golden Dinar. This plan was designed to provide the Francophone African Countries with an alternative to the French franc (CFA).” That French aspect was only the tip of the Qaddafi gold dinar iceberg.

Golden Dinar and more

During the first decade of this century, Gulf Arab OPEC countries, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar and others, began seriously diverting a significant portion of the revenues from their vast oil and gas sales into state sovereign wealth funds, many based on the success of Norway’s Oil Fund.

Growing discontent with the US War on Terror, with the wars in Iraq and in Afghanistan, and with overall US Middle East policies after September 2001, led most OPEC Arab states to divert a growing share of oil revenues into state-controlled funds rather than trusting it to the sticky fingers of New York and London bankers as had been the custom since the 1970’s when oil prices went through the roof, creating what Henry Kissinger fondly called the “petro-dollar” to replace the gold-backed dollar Washington walked away from on August 15, 1971. The present Sunni-Shi’ite war or clash of civilizations is in fact a result of the US manipulations after 2003 in the region— “divide and rule.”

By 2008 the prospect of sovereign control by a growing number of African and Arab oil states of their state oil and gas revenues was causing serious concern in Wall Street as well as the City of London. It was huge liquidity, in the trillions, they potentially no longer controlled.

The timing of the Arab Spring, in retrospect, increasingly looks tied to Washington and Wall Street efforts to control not only the huge Arab Middle East oil flows. It is now clear it was equally aimed at controlling their money, their trillions of dollars accumulating in their new sovereign wealth funds.

However, as is now confirmed in the latest Clinton-Blumenthal April 2, 2011 email exchange, there was a qualitatively new threat emerging for Wall Street and the City of London “gods of money,” from the African and Arab oil world. Libya’s Qaddafi, Tunisia’s Ben Ali and Mubarak’s Egypt were about to launch a gold-backed Islamic currency independent of the US dollar. I was first told of this plan in early 2012, at a Swiss financial and geopolitical conference, by an Algerian with extensive knowledge of the project. Documentation was scarce at the time and the story remained in my mental back-burner. Now a far more interesting picture emerges that puts the ferocity of Washington’s Arab Spring and its urgency in the case of Libya into perspective.

‘United States of Africa’

In 2009, Qaddafi, who was at the time the President of the African Union, had proposed that the economically depressed continent adopt the “Gold Dinar.”

In the months prior to the US decision, with British and French backing, to get a UN Security Council resolution that would give them the legal fig-leaf for a NATO destruction of the Qaddafi regime, Muammar Qaddafi had been organizing the creation of a gold-backed dinar that would be used by African oil states as well as Arab OPEC countries in their sales of oil on the world market.

Had that happened at the time Wall Street and the City of London were deep into the financial crisis of 2007-2008, the challenge to the reserve currency role of the dollar would have been more than serious. It would be a death knell to American financial hegemony, and to the Dollar System. Africa is one of the world’s richest continents, with vast unexplored gold and mineral wealth, had been intentionally kept for centuries underdeveloped or in wars to prevent their development. The International Monetary Fund and World Bank for the recent decades have been the Washington instruments to suppress African real development.

Gaddafi had called upon African oil producers in the African Union and in Muslim nations to join an alliance that would make the gold dinar their primary form of money and foreign exchange. They would sell oil and other resources to the US and the rest of the world only for gold dinars. As President of the African Union in 2009, Qaddafi introduced for discussion to African Union member states Qaddafi’s proposal to use the Libyan dinar and the silver dirham as the only possible money for the rest of the world to buy African oil.

Along with the Arab OPEC sovereign wealth funds for their oil, other African oil nations, specifically Angola and Nigeria, were moving to create their own national oil wealth funds at the time of the 2011 NATO bombing of Libya. Those sovereign national wealth funds, tied to Qaddafi’s concept of the gold dinar, would make Africa’s long-held dream of independence from colonial monetary control, whether of the British Pound, the French Franc, the euro or the US dollar, a reality.

Qaddafi was moving forward, as head of the African Union, at the time of his assassination, with a plan to unify the sovereign States of Africa with one gold currency, a United States of Africa. In 2004, a Pan-African Parliament of 53 nations had laid plans for an African Economic Community – with a single gold currency by 2023.

African oil-producing nations were planning to abandon the petro-dollar, and demand gold payment for their oil and gas. The list included Egypt, Sudan, South Sudan, Equatorial Guinea, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Tunisia, Gabon, South Africa, Uganda, Chad, Suriname, Cameroon, Mauritania, Morocco, Zambia, Somalia, Ghana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, Cote d’Ivoire, plus Yemen which had just made significant new oil discoveries. The four African member-states of OPEC–Algeria, Angola, Nigeria, a giant oil producer and the largest natural gas producer in Africa with huge natural gas reserves, and Libya with the largest reserves–would be in the new gold dinar system.

Little wonder that French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who was given the up-front role in the war on Qaddafi by Washington, went so far as to call Libya a “threat” to the financial security of the world.

Hillary’s ‘rebels’ create a central bank

One of the most bizarre features of Hillary Clinton’s war to destroy Qaddafi was the fact that the US-backed “rebels” in Benghazi, in the oil-rich eastern part of Libya, in the midst of battle, well before it was at all clear if they would topple the Qaddafi regime, declared they had created a Western-style central bank, “in exile.”

In the very first weeks of the rebellion, the rebel leaders declared that they had created a central bank to replace Gadhafi’s state-owned monetary authority. The rebel council, in addition to creating their own oil company to sell the oil they captured announced: “Designation of the Central Bank of Benghazi as a monetary authority competent in monetary policies in Libya and appointment of a Governor to the Central Bank of Libya, with a temporary headquarters in Benghazi.”

Commenting on the odd decision, before the outcome of battle was even decided, to create a western-style central bank to replace Qaddafi’s sovereign national bank that was issuing gold-backed dinars, Robert Wenzel in the Economic Policy Journal, remarked, “I have never before heard of a central bank being created in just a matter of weeks out of a popular uprising. This suggests we have a bit more than a rag tag bunch of rebels running around and that there are some pretty sophisticatedinfluences.”

It becomes clear now in light of the Clinton-Blumenthal emails that those “pretty sophisticated influences” were tied to Wall Street and the City of London. The person brought in by Washington to lead the rebels in March 2011, Khalifa Hifter, had spent the previous twenty years of his life in suburban Virginia, not far from CIA headquarters, after a break with Libya as a leading military commander of Qaddafi.

The risk to the future of the US dollar as world reserve currency, if Qaddafi had been allowed to proceed–together with Egypt, Tunisia and other Arab OPEC and African Union members– to introduce oil sales for gold not dollars, would clearly have been the financial equivalent of a Tsunami.

New Gold Silk Road

The Qaddafi dream of an Arabic and African gold system independent of the dollar, unfortunately, died with him. Libya, after Hillary Clinton’s cynical “responsibility to protect” destruction of the country, today is a shambles, torn by tribal warfare, economic chaos, al-Qaeda and DAESH or ISIS terrorists. The monetary sovereignty held by Qaddafi’s 100% state-owned national monetary agency and its issuance of gold dinars is gone, replaced by an “independent” central bank tied to the dollar.

Despite that setback, it’s more than notable that now an entirely new grouping of nations is coming together to build a similar gold-backed monetary system. This is the group led by Russia and China, the world’s number three and number one gold producing countries, respectively.

This group is tied to the construction of China’s One Belt, One Road New Silk Road Eurasian infrastructure great project. It involves China’s $16 billion Gold Development Fund, and very firm steps by China to replace the City of London and New York as the center of world gold trade. The Eurasian gold system emerging now poses an entirely new quality of challenge to American financial hegemony. This Eurasian challenge, its success or failure, could well determine whether we allow our civilization to survive and prosper under entirely different conditions, or whether we decide to sink along with the bankrupt dollar system.

F. William Engdahl is strategic risk consultant and lecturer, he holds a degree in politics from Princeton University and is a best-selling author on oil and geopolitics, exclusively for the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook”.

 

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Video: Al-Nusra-Led Forces Failed to Break Aleppo Siege

November 1st, 2016 by South Front

As SouthFront forecasted on October 28, the Jaish al-Fatah militant coalition, led by Jabhat Fatah al-Sham (formerly Jabhat al-Nusra, the Syrian Al-Qaeda branch) has not been able to deliver a devastating blow to the Syrian government forces and to break the siege of eastern Aleppo.

After the initial success based on massive usage of VBIEDs and a lack of support by the Russian Aerospace Forces (President Vladimir Putin declined the general staff’s request to deliver air strikes in Aleppo area), Jaish al-Fatah stalled in the trench warfare in non-populated urban areas. Fatah al-Sham-led attempt to cut off the Ithriyah-Aleppo Highway also failed.

The Syrian military also deployed reinforcements from the Syrian Army Tiger Forces and its commander, Major General Suheil Al Hassan, arrived the city to coordinate military operations against the joint terrorist forces. Hezbollah and Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba were set to assist to Al Hassan-led operations.

By October 31, Al Hassan–led forces, supported by the Syrian Air Force, have repelled attacks on the Minyan area and the 3000 Apartment Project, retaken the al-Assad Neighborhood and made a series of counter-attacks in the 1070 Apartment Project.

Since the start of Aleppo offensive, Jaish al-Fatah has lost about 120 fighters, 7 armored vehicles, 19 VBIEDs, 7 ‘technical’ vehicles, 2 battle tanks and 2 artillery pieces. The government forces have lost about 45 fighters, 3 battle tanks, 2 ‘technical’ vehicles, 1 Shilka vehicle.

Separately, the pro-government forces liberated Tal Qarah, Kafr Qaris, Tal Susin, Fafin, Babinnis, Tal Shair and the Infantry School from ISIS in northeastern Aleppo. The advance was synchronized with operations of the Kurdish YPG in the same area.

On October 30, the army and the NDF liberated the town of Tell Kurdi and the area of Tell Sawwan in Eastern Ghouta near the Syrian capital, Damascus. These areas had been controlled by the Jaish al-Islam militant group. The liberation of Tell Kurdi and Tell Sawwan decreases significantly the militant-controlled area near Damascus and sets a foothold for advance on Duma, the last major militant stronghold in the region.

On October 28, the government forces took control of the Air Defense Battalion hill between Deir Khabiyan and the 137th Regiment in Western Ghouta and splitted the militant-controlled area into two separate pockets. Next days the army and the NDF continued offensive operations in the direction of Khan Shih. On October 31, the government delegation arrived to the town to negotiate with members of the FSA, Jaish al-Islam and Jabhat Fatah al-Sham terms and conditions of their surrender.

Three Russian attack submarines armed Kalibr cruise missiles have joined a Russian naval taskforce heading towards Syria. The Royal Navy has been reportedly tracking two nuclear-powered Akula-class submarines and a diesel-powered Kilo-class submarine. The subs entered the North Atlantic from portsaround Murmansk and joined the Admiral Kuznetsov battle group as it sailed down the North Sea last week. The Kuznetsov and its battlegroup are now off the north African coast. The mainstream media speculates that the subs will deliver missile strikes on peaceful targets in Aleppo city.

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Video: The Military Situation in Aleppo City (A MUST WATCH)

November 1st, 2016 by South Front

Clashes between the Syrian government forces (the Syrian army, including the Tiger Forces, the Desert Hawks Brigade, Hezbollah and others) and the Jaish al-Fatah militant coalition, led by Jabhat Fatah al-Sham (formerly Jabhat al-Nusra, the Syrian Al-Qaeda branch) have been ongoin in the western part of Aleppo city.

The pro-government forces on the battlefield are supported by the Syrian Arab Air Force. The Russian Aerospace Forces don’t provide a close air support to them, but provide intelligencce and coordination of the operation (recently, the Russian Tu-214R electronic surveillance aircraft was observed in the area).

The 1070 Apartment Project, the Al-Assad Neighborhood (its length is about 1,4 km), the areas west of the 3000 Apartment Project and Minyan remain the main scenes of clashes.

Experts note that the jihadists have concentrated a high number of experienced troops, artillery, rocket launchers and military equipment at a restricted front in western Aleppo. To do this, they had been pushed to use almost all their resources from the rear bases in Idlib province. If Jabhat al-Nusra is not able to achieve a decided success in clashes with the government forces soon, this will lead to its total collapse as a powerbroker in the war. The group’s material and technical base will be destroyed and experienced troops and field commanders killed in the clashes. We’ve been already able to observe signs of this tendency since the failed al-Nusra attempt to dig in the Ramouseh Artillery Acandemy in southern Aleppo.

The video filmed on October 31 shows clashes in Minyan:

On October 31, the video also appeared on Youtube, showing the advanced Russian-made T-90 main battle tank (MBT) involved in clashes with militants in the Minyan area in western Aleppo.

Click to see the full-size map

Click to see the full-size map

Last weekend, elite units of the Syrian Army’s Tiger Forces and the Desert Hawks Brigade were deployed in Aleppo to counter the militants’ offensive operation to capture the al-Assad Military Academy and the nearby areas. Both formations operate T-90 MBTs supplied by Moscow over the last year.

The T-90 MBT in action at 1:48:

The Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) and the Ankara-led forces (Turkish-backed militant groups and the Turkish Armed Forces) have been competing in the northeastern countryside of Aleppo city. Both forces are seeking to set a foothold to capture the strategic town of Al-Bab.

  • The Ankara-led forces seek to do this to prevent the YPG from linking up the Kurdish-controlled areas in Syria;
  • The YPG seeks to do this to set a foothold for linking up the Kurdish-controlled areas in Syria.

In this military situation, the coordination between the Syrian government forces and the YPG has once again become reality on the ground. The recent Kurdish operations in northeastern Aleppo were coordinated with the Syrian army and military sources say that Moscow increased military supplies to the YPG in the area.

Click to see the full-size map

Click to see the full-size map

Moscow and Domascus uses the Kurds to build up a buffer zone to prevent the coalition of Turkish-backed militant group from attacking the Syrian army and its allies in Aleppo city. In mid-October Harakat Nour al-Din al-Zenki officially announced that the next stage of Turkey’s Operation Euphrates Shield will include an advance on the ‘regime forces’ in Aleppo.

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A Psychological Evaluation of Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, Jill Stein and Bernie Sanders – and Their Followers

November 1st, 2016 by Dr. Gary G. Kohls

A megalomaniac is a pathological egotist, someone with a psychological disorder who exhibits symptoms like delusions of grandeur and an obsession with greatness, power or wealth.

A sociopath is a person whose behavior is antisocial, often criminally greedy, and who lacks a sense of moral responsibility, empathy or social conscience. Sociopaths never sincerely apologize nor are they capable of exhibiting remorse for wrongs that they have committed.

A narcissist is person who has an inflated sense of their own importance, a deep need for admiration, sexual gratification, applause and a lack of empathy for others.

A paranoid person or group exhibits excessive or irrational suspiciousness and distrustfulness of other individuals or groups.

A xenophobe is a person who is fearful or contemptuous of that which is foreign, especially of strangers or of people from different countries or cultures.

A demagogue is a political leader who seeks support by appealing to popular desires and prejudices rather than by using rational argument.

Once upon a time, there was a megalomaniacal, sociopathic, narcissistic and paranoid national leader who was attempting to rise to political power in his politically-divided, post-war nation. This deeply flawed demagogue, who was worshipped by millions of rabble-rousing, beer-drinking, racist, sexist, gun-toting, anti-Semitic, flag-waving, uber-nationalist, xenophobic white supremacists, professed that his goal in running for national office was only to make his supposedly-weak, supposedly under-militarized country great again.

This sometimes charismatic political leader was one of the richest persons in the country but was often joked about by courageous comedians of the time. He was sometimes regarded as a buffoon, but he impressed his followers at his frequent campaign stops by dramatically flying in to his political rallies on a private airplane.

This leader often used inflammatory and hate-filled language in his speeches, actually inciting violence among his listeners, and was thus widely covered by the press as an aberration in the struggling, once-civilized, democratic nation. He amassed a devoted coalition of angry, under-employed, xenophobic white supremacists, especially among the millions of psychologically-wounded combat veterans from the last war who were easily recruited to participate in street-fighting for the cause – indeed, even a violent revolution. His followers revered and exuberantly pledged allegiance to the flag.

His nation had suffered the loss of a recent war that had essentially bankrupted the nation – both economically and morally. The lost war had resulted in serious economic challenges. The war had been stupidly started by an out-of-touch, over-privileged, ultra-wealthy, right-wing, all-male leadership that was controlled by the nation’s bankers, industrialists and militarists, all of whom had urged on the war because they sought military glory and potentially huge economic benefits by pillaging the wealth of other nations, especially their oil wealth.

The nations targeted by the nation’s banks and assorted corporations were actually not military threats. In fact, in order to start the war, the political and military leaders of the nation secretly conspired to orchestrate a false flag operation that falsely alarmed the nation into war-readiness. After the Big Lie operation had been accepted as truthful by the masses (thanks to the corporate-controlled media that never questioned the deception) the soon-to-be-unjustly-invaded nation was accused of provoking a war and the brain-washed, duped electorate endorsed the invasion.

This particular megalomaniacal political leader had successfully purged from his adopted right-wing party many of the old establishment leaders that had originally been somewhat centrist. He had seemingly come out of nowhere and gained notoriety and political momentum after a sudden, world-wide economic collapse and recession that had been created by powerful Wall Street speculators and predatory investors. The leader chose to blame the disastrous war that ruined everything not on the 1% uber-wealthy corporate war-hawks and traitors – including himself – that had actually been behind the loss of jobs and lack of economic opportunity. Instead, he blamed the disastrous situation on liberal democratic party members who had taken on the impossible situation of economic depression and massive unemployment that they had not been responsible for in the first place.

The US stock market crash that tanked the world economy and led to planetary chaos had been ignited by the reckless actions of uber-wealthy, manipulative, predatory,  multimillionaire financiers, who escaped the punishment they deserved because they were too big to criticize, too big to fail and too important to have their reputations tarnished.

This megalomaniac and his followers were citizens of one of the most advanced, cultured, literate and highly Christianized nations the world had ever known. Sadly, the religion professed a belief in a god was a punitive, vengeful and angry god rather than a merciful, all-loving, nonviolent one as had been the belief of the religion’s founders.

The nation was also highly militarized. It had had a long military tradition that was universally revered by most sectors of the society, even though the military’s officers and soldiers were frequently guilty of actions that were considered international war crimes and crimes against humanity. The nation’s police and military had possessed the best military intelligence, the best spyware and the most lethal weapons systems that the world had ever known – all at crippling cost and little or no return on investment – to the tax-paying population. The nation’s child-rearing tactics were often punitive (the spare the rod/spoil the child doctrine) which resulted in very obedient children and obedient future soldiers who did not question the orders of their superiors – even if ordered to torture enemy non-combatants, for example. Thus the nation’s soldiers quite easily became willing executioners.

The leader and his followers thought that their nation – albeit “weak” at the time, had been and would soon again be exceptional among all the nations of the world, even being ordained by their punitive god to have dominion over all the others nations of the world.

Because the nation was regarded as blessed by god, the citizens naturally thought that aggressive action against any dissenters among them was needed, even to the point of banishment, imprisonment, deportation, execution and torture.  In other words, the followers of this sociopathic demagogue – who had a history of being a serial liar and wanted to increase his already significant wealth and power – abandoned all logic and truly believed that the leader could actually – mostly by himself – make his country great again.

In order to convince a plurality of voters to support and vote for him, this leader instilled a paranoia among them to irrationally fear non-whites, non-Christians, people whose first language was not English, immigrants yearning to be free, war refugees (from chaos and war that his nation had caused in the first place) and economic refugees (rom economic crashes that his nation’s giant multinational corporations had caused in the first place). But what seemed to work best was the paranoia that was created against a small, weak religious minority that constituted only 1% of the total population. That unjustly targeted minority was soon to have its sacred places of worship defaced (and then burned down), and the members themselves imprisoned as suspected terrorists, deported as illegal aliens and ultimately “disappeared”.

The megalomaniacal, sociopathic, narcissistic and paranoid national leader/fuehrer described above was, of course, Adolf Hitler – not Donald Trump. The militarized nation was Germany – not America; the war that economically and morally bankrupted Germany was the First World War (1914-1918) – not America’s Gulf War; the flag was the swastika – not the Stars and Stripes; the right-wing political party that hated liberals, progressives and socialists with a lethal passion was the Nazi Party – not the Republican Party; the targeted 1% minority were Jews – not Muslims; and the false flag operation that gave Hitler a reason to start World War II by invading Poland was Operation Himmler (Google it)  – not 9/11.

But the historical similarities between what seems to me to be an American friendly fascism and a distinctly unfriendly German fascism do indeed exist and it is not just the fault of Donald Trump. Indeed, Donald Trump probably has never taken the time to study ANY history books at all, so one cannot claim that he is following the historical playbook of fascist dictators. What he is doing is just the nature of demagogues.

And the historical similarities between the psychological aberrations of the fascist fuehrer Hitler and the various leaders behind what is becoming a reality in America do exist. Therefore, in the interest of educating those who are open-minded enough to sit still for some historical enlightenment, the remainder of this essay will try to make some of the connections between what has been said in this political season and what might be in store for America. The commentary below is mine but the criteria are from established documents that are easily available in the literature. I invite readers to do their own psychological evaluations. Recall that both sociopaths and fascists are not to be trusted with political power, military power or economic power. They both consistently lie and deceive and may not even realize that they are doing it. It is also important to understand that, for all intents and purposes, sociopaths are incurable and need to be isolated from society.

1) Donald Trump (along with some of his followers) Scores 7 out of the 7 Criteria on the DSM Sociopathic Personality Disorder Criteria (301.7) 

Hillary Clinton Scores 2 or 3

Stein and Sanders score zero

The official Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders (DSM) criteria for Antisocial Personality Disorder (aka Sociopathic Personality Disorder) is listed below in bold letters. In each of the seven categories I have added, in red, a few examples from the life and times of Donald Trump that supports his qualifications for being diagnosed a sociopath. Readers should make their own determinations and the implications for becoming president.

The disorder is characterized by a lack of regard for – and a marked inability to abide by – societal rules. Individuals with this disorder are sometimes called psychopaths or sociopaths.

According to the DSM, only three of the seven are required to qualify for the diagnosis.

1.  Repeated acts that could lead to arrest. (Recall the multitude of highly believable charges of sexual assault or sexually-inappropriate behavior that have come from some of the women from Trump’s past. What happened could easily have resulted in Trump’s being charged with criminal sexual assault. On one of his many appearances on the Howard Stern Show, Trump actually laughingly admitted to being a sexual predator – in the presence of his approving daughter Ivanka and son Donald, Jr.) 

(Clinton – as has been true of a multitude of other high-profile politicians in both major political parties – has been accused of financial irregularities and email irregularities.)

2.  Repeated lying, conning others for profit or pleasure, or the use of aliases. (Recall Trump’s lying about knowing Russian President Putin; his refusing to pay creditors for work done on his projects; and his infamous acts of self-promotion on radio programs by pretending to be somebody else.) 

(Clinton has been accused selective lying, but a recent evaluation of her speeches showed that only 6% of her statements were false)

3.  Being impulsive or failing to plan ahead. (Recall Trump’s stupid investments in THREE Atlantic City casinos in the 1990s, including Trump Plaza, Trump Castle and the Trump Taj Mahal in the already over-built casino sector. Analysts knew, but Trump didn’t realize that the three casinos were certain to cannibalize each other and that debt-service of the high-interest loans would be impossible. Within two years all three casinos had to declare bankruptcy.)

4.  Repeated assaults on others. (Recall his numerous sexual assaults, his infamous attack on the owner of a professional wrestling association during a match and his verbal assaults on foreigners, Muslims, Mexicans, protestors, assorted minorities, the disabled and the media.)

5.  Reckless disregard for the safety of others. (Recall Trump’s reckless disregard for the victims of his sexual assaults, his numerous frivolous lawsuits and his many bankruptcy filings.)

6.  Failure to honor financial obligations. (Recall his numerous bankruptcy filings that stiffed a multitude of creditors and workers that then resulted in dozens of downstream bankruptcies of smaller businesses.)

7.  Rationalizing the pain he or she has inflicted on others. (Recall Trump’s refusal to apologize to anybody that he has hurt, including President Obama, his sexual conquests and those he has victimized financially.)

(Clinton on one occasion expressed joy over the murder of Muamar Gadhafi.)

2) Donald Trump (and Some of his Followers) Scores 8 or 9 out of the 9 Criteria for Narcissistic Personality Disorder (DSM-IV 301.81)

Clinton scores 2 or 3

Stein and Sanders score zero

This disorder is characterized by a behavior or fantasy of grandiosity, a lack of empathy and a need to be admired by others. A useful definition is “pathological self-love”. Narcissistic individuals have an unrealistic or inflated sense of self-importance, an inability to see the viewpoints of others, and are hypersensitive to the opinions of others as indicated by five or more of the following nine traits:

  1. A grandiose sense of self-importance, superiority and talent and expects to be recognized as superior.
  2. A preoccupation with unlimited success, beauty, brilliance, ideal love, power, or wealth.
  3. A belief in being special and unique and can only be understood or should only be associated with people of high status.
  4. Requires excessive admiration (especially applause).
  5. An unreasonable sense of entitlement and an expectation of being treated with favor or expecting an automatic compliance to his or her wishes.
  6. Is interpersonally exploitive, taking advantage of others to achieve his or her goals.
  7. Lacks empathy.
  8. Believes that others are envious of him (or is envious of others).
  9. Exhibits arrogant or haughty attitudes or behaviors.

3) Donald Trump (and Some of his Followers) Scores 6 or 7 of the 7 Criteria for Paranoid Personality Disorder (301.0)

Clinton scores 2 or 3

Stein and Sanders score zero

Paranoid Personality Disorder is summarized in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders as a “pervasive distrust and suspiciousness of the motives of others that are interpreted as malevolent”.

Documentation is best determined during a thorough psychiatric examination, but, in the highly competitive culture of America’s “dog-eat-dog” capitalism, paranoia must be the norm, especially among the “take-no-prisoners”, “fight-to-the-death” multimillionaires or multibillionaires at the top – like Donald Trump.

Four or more of the following seven criteria are needed to make the diagnosis:

  1. Suspects without reason that others are exploiting, harming, or trying to deceive him.
  2. Has unjustified doubts about the loyalty or trustworthiness of friends or associates.
  3. Believes without reason that if he confides in others, the information may be used against him.
  4. Finds hidden or threatening meanings in harmless remarks or events.
  5. Persistently bears grudges and is unforgiving of insults or slights.
  6. Is quick to react with anger or to counterattack when he perceives that people are out to attack his character or reputation.
  7. Is suspicious of the fidelity of his spouse or sexual partner.

4) The Political Views of Donald Trump (and Some of his Followers) are compatible with 14 out of the following 14 Characteristics of Fascism (google Fascism – the 14 points)

Clinton and her followers score 6 out of 14

Stein and Sanders score zero

  1. Powerful and continuing expressions of nationalism.
  2. Disdain for the importance of human rights.
  3. Identification of enemies/scapegoats as a unifying cause.
  4. The supremacy of the military/avid militarism.
  5. Rampant sexism.
  6. A controlled mass media.
  7. Obsession with national security.
  8. Religion and ruling elite tied together.
  9. Power of corporations protected.
  10. Power of labor suppressed or eliminated.
  11. Disdain and suppression of intellectuals and the arts.
  12. Obsession with crime and punishment.
  13. Rampant cronyism and corruption.
  14. Fraudulent elections.

Dr Kohls is a retired physician from Duluth, MN, USA. He writes a weekly column for the Duluth Reader, the area’s alternative newsweekly magazine. His columns deal with the dangers of American fascism, corporatism, militarism, racism, malnutrition, Big Pharma’s psychiatric drugging and over-vaccination regimens, and other movements that threaten the environment, health, democracy, civility and longevity of the populace. Many of his columns are archived at

http://duluthreader.com/articles/categories/200_Duty_to_Warn,

http://www.globalresearch.ca/authors?query=Gary+Kohls+articles&by=&p=&page_id= or at

https://www.transcend.org/tms/search/?q=gary+kohls+articles

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Harvard Undergrads for Hillary

November 1st, 2016 by Stephen Lendman

According to the student newspaper Harvard Crimson’s October survey, 87% of undergrads support Hillary. A scant 6% back Trump, 5.8% for Libertarian Gary (“what’s Aleppo”) Johnson, and less than 1% for Harvard College and Medical School graduate Jill Stein – the only people’s candidate running.

Around one-third of undergrads responded (2,128 out of a total 6,645 student body) – so the views of nonrespondents aren’t known. About 91% are eligible to vote in November. Eligibility begins at age 18. A surprising 96% of respondents intend voting, they said.

The national average is far lower. Whether this year’s contentious election encourages a larger than usual turnout remains to be seen.

The Crimson poll was conducted from October 10 – 20 – before FBI Director Comey’s October surprise (Comey, image right). Whether it would have changed the results is unknown.

Two-thirds of respondents said they support Democrat party candidates, 12% calling themselves Republicans, 19% saying they’re independents.

Trump and Hillary are the most widely reviled presidential aspirants in US history. Yet 70% of Crimson respondents view her favorably – showing little knowledge of her deplorable public record since the 1990s unless they support her war crimes, racketeering and perjury.

What to make of it? Undergrads enter Harvard (and other colleges) as teenagers, young and naive as I was when entering the college long ago.

After graduation, I discovered the meaning of the term “commencement.” Institutions like Harvard teach students to be good citizens, omitting the ugly stuff about US imperialism, officials advancing it, waging endless wars of aggression.

The so-called Korean War was ongoing when I was there, an incentive to maintain good grades, stay in school, avoid being drafted and sent to North Korea’s frozen Chosin, an expression used by members of my class.

The Paper Chase Hollywood film (1973) featured John Houseman as stern Harvard Law School Professor Charles Kingsfield.

His most memorable line on day one for first year students was saying “(y)ou teach yourselves the law, but I train your minds. You come here with a skull full of mush. You leave thinking like a lawyer.”

I began my freshman year “with a skull full of mush,” gradually extracting it. College and graduate school taught me to think. Learning and comprehension mostly came later. The older I get, the greater my understanding of world and national issues.

I’m long removed from campus life. Back then, students had none of the advantages available today – no computers, no Internet. Daily writing I dearly love now was a dreaded chore back then – requiring research by rolodex cards and library stacks, a time-consuming process.

Except for the type primary research I did for my master’s thesis, most everything needed today for compositions or articles like mine is available on our desktops.

It’s understandable why young minds haven’t achieved the wisdom of the ages. Still it’s disturbing to find Harvard undergrads uninformed and out-of-touch on Hillary’s deplorable public record – when it’s so easy to research it and know what she and husband Bill are all about.

Why hasn’t the Harvard student body done its homework for perhaps the most important election in our lifetime.

The stakes are huge – possible war on Russia with Hillary empowered or improved bilateral relations under Trump.

Nothing matters more than saving humanity from the scourge of catastrophic thermonuclear war able to kill us all.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at [email protected].
His new book as editor and contributor is titled “Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III.” http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html
Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.
Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network.

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Video. Election Fraud in America. Fraction Magic: Real Voting and the “Election Theft Mechanism”

November 1st, 2016 by Bev Harris

A real-time demo of the most devastating election theft mechanism yet found, with context and explanation. Demonstration uses a real voting system and real vote databases and takes place in seconds across multiple jurisdictions.

Over 5000 subcontractors and middlemen have the access to perform this for any or all clients. It can give contract signing authority to whoever the user chooses. All political power can be converted to the hands of a few anonymous subcontractors. It’s a product. It’s scaleable. It learns its environment and can adjust to any political environment, any demographic. It runs silently, invisibly, and can produce plausible results that really pass for the real thing.

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The Toxic Science of Flu Vaccines

November 1st, 2016 by Richard Gale

Joshua Hadfield was a normal, healthy developing child as a toddler. In the midst of the 2010 H1N1 swine flu frenzy and fear mongering about the horrible consequences children face if left unvaccinated, the Hadfield’s had Joshua vaccinated with Glaxo’s Pandermrix influenza vaccine.  Within weeks, Joshua could barely wake up, sleeping up to nineteen hours a day.  Laughter would trigger seizures.

Joshua was diagnosed with narcolepsy, “an incurable, debilitating condition” associated with acute brain damage.[1]  Today we can look back at Pandermrix as a horrible vaccine.  Research indicates that it was associated with a 1400% increase in narcolepsy risk. More recently, a team of Finnish scientists at Finland’s National Institute for Health and Welfare, recorded 800 cases of narcolepsy associated with this vaccine.  Vaccine ingredients other than the engineered viral antigen are most often believed to be the primary culprits to adverse vaccine reactions. The Finnish research, on the other hand, indicated that the vaccine’s altered viral nucleotide likely contributed to the sudden rise in sleeping sickness.[2]

Although Pandermrix was pulled from the market, it should never have been approved and released in the first place.  This is a classic case of regulatory negligence by health officials and the WHO which promulgates flu vaccines around the world.  Like all vaccines, which are now commonly fast tracked through government health regulatory bodies for rapid release upon the public, it should have been tested more thoroughly and more rigorously reviewed.

Since the time of Edward Jenner’s primitive inoculation experiments to combat smallpox, and its countless aftermath of deaths throughout the 19th century, modern vaccine science has failed to learn its lessons. The failure of proper regulatory oversight has resulted in Joshua and other British citizens becoming disabled for life. The British government has paid out over 63 million pounds to cover lawsuits to Pandermrix victims.  Glaxo has never admitted its flu vaccine caused brain damage. And this begs the question as to why it was withdrawn since it was the corporation’s single flagship vaccine against the swine flu.[3]

We shouldn’t become complacent by assuming flu vaccine risks only affect young children. Sarah Behie was 20 years old after receiving the flu shot.  Three weeks later her health deteriorated dramatically. Diagnosed with Guillain-Barre syndrome, a not uncommon adverse effect of influenza vaccination, four years later Sarah remains paralyzed from the waist down, incapable of dressing and feeding herself, and rotting away in hospitals and nursing homes.[4]

Joshua’s and Sarah’s stories are by no means unique. Today tens of thousands of infants, toddlers, children and adults across the nation are increasingly becoming victims of vaccine injuries. No national debate is initiated because regulatory malfeasance within federal health agencies has aligned its self interests with pharmaceutical profits rather than serving the public health.

Flu vaccines are perhaps the most ineffective vaccine on the market.  Repeatedly we are told by health officials that the moral argument for its continued use is for “the greater good,” although this imaginary good has never been defined scientifically. For the present 2016 flu season, the CDC has removed Medimmune’s live attenuated flu vaccine (LAIV) FluMist from the market because it was found to be ineffective.  Or at least this is the rationale stated by the agency. According to the CDC, one third of children’s influenza vaccinations are with live nasal sprays. Yet regardless of how infective and useless FluMist has been, it has remained on the market since 2003, and in 2014 the CDC recommended it as its flu vaccine of choice for children.[5]

Although last year FluMist was only 3% effective, according to an NBC report, the real truth behind its withdrawal is likely more crucial. [6] There is no reason to doubt that the vaccine contributed to more cases of flu infection than it prevented.  And this is a fundamental flaw with all live vaccines, and even killed attenuated ones, that have been shown to “shed” and infect people in contact with the vaccinated persons, especially those with compromised immune systems.

In her investigative report, “The Emerging Risks of Live Virus and Virus Vectored Vaccines,” Barbara Lo Fisher notes that the attenuated virus in the flu vaccine can shed and infect others for months after vaccination.  Both the unvaccinated and the vaccinated are at risk.  The CDC acknowledges this risk and warns “Persons who care for severely immunosuppressed persons who require a protective environment should not receive LAIV, or should avoid contact with such persons for 7 days after receipt, given the theoretical risk for transmission of the live attenuated vaccine virus.”[7]

At their best, flu vaccines remain around 50-60% effective according to official health statements. However, the World Health Organization’s predictions for 2014-2015 flu strains were a bust. The match was such a failure that the CDC was forced to warn the American public that the vaccine was only 23% effective.[8]  Given that the 2012-2013 flu season was only 27% effective for the 65 years-plus age group, predictive methodologies to determine which flu strains emerge during any given influenza season have more in common with medieval divination than sound science.  For the 1992-1993 and 1997-1998 seasons, the vaccine concoction of flu strains was only 16% effective. Katherine Severyn, who monitors the actual WHO predictions and compares them with CDC claims has stated that, “depending upon the study cited, [flu] vaccine efficacy actually ranges from a low of 0%.” [9]

Dr. David Brownstein has noted that as far back as 1999, the Journal of the American Medical Association reported increased risks of febrile disorders greater than placebo associated with the live vaccine.[10]  According to the FDA’s literature on FluMist, the vaccine was not studied for immunocompromised individuals (yet was still administered to them), and has been associated with acute allergic reactions, asthma, Guillian-Barre, and a high rate of hospitalizations among children under 24 months – largely due to upper respiratory tract infections.  Other adverse effects include pericarditis, congenital and genetic disorders, mitochondrial encephalomyopathy or Leigh Syndrome, meningitis, and others.[11] Given this litany of vaccine dangers, it is highly unlikely the vaccine was removed simply for ineffectiveness. Yet when has the CDC ever been truthful with the public?

The development and promotion of the influenza vaccine was never completely about protecting the public. It has been the least popular vaccine in the US including among healthcare workers. Instead, similar to the mumps vaccine in the MMR, it has been the cash cow for vaccine makers.  Determining the actual severity of any given flu season is burdened by federal intentional confusion to mislead the public.  The CDC’s first line of propaganda defense to enforce flu vaccinations is to exaggerate flu infections as the cause of preventable deaths.   However, validating this claim is near impossible because the CDC does not differentiate deaths caused by influenza infection and deaths due to pneumonia.  On its website, the CDC lumps flu and pneumonia deaths together, currently estimated at 55,227. The large majority of these were pneumonia deaths of elderly patients. Yet in any given year, only 3-18% of suspected influenza infections actually test positive for a Type A or B influenza strain.[12]

Dr. Martin Meltzer, a CDC expert in health economics, has stated “almost nobody dies of the flu” and “deaths [are] associated with flu, but not necessarily caused by flu.”[13]

To date there is only one gold standard clinical trial with the flu vaccine that compares vaccinated vs. unvaccinated, and it is not good news for the CDC and the vaccine makers. This Hong Kong funded double-blind placebo controlled study following the health conditions of vaccinated and unvaccinated children between the ages of 6-15 years for 272 days. The trial concluded the flu vaccine holds no health benefits. In fact, those vaccinated with the flu virus were observed to have a 550% higher risk of contracting non-flu virus respiratory infections. Among the vaccinated children, there were 116 flu cases compared to 88 among the unvaccinated; there were 487 other non-influenza virus infections, including rhinovirus, coxsackie, echovirus and others, among the vaccinated versus 88 with the unvaccinated.  This single study alone poses a scientifically sound warning and rationale for avoiding the vaccine.[14]

It is worth noting that there are approximately 200 distinct viruses that are misdiagnosed as influenza and produce flu-like symptoms. These organisms don’t magically appear during fall and winter – they are always with us. Nevertheless we are more susceptible to flu-like infections during the colder months when there are less daylight hours.

In a later study by Dr. Danuta Skowronski in Canada, individuals with a history of receiving consecutive seasonal flu shots over several years had an increased risk of becoming infected with H1N1 swine flu.  Skowronski commented on his findings that “policy makers have not yet had a chance to fully digest them [the study’s conclusions] or understand the implications.”  He continued, “Who knows, frankly? The wise man knows he knows nothing when it comes to influenza, so you always have to be cautious in speculating.”[15]

There is strong evidence suggesting that all vaccine clinical trials carried out by manufacturers fall short of demonstrating vaccine efficacy accurately. And when they are shown to be efficacious, it is frequently in the short term and offer only partial or temporary protection. According to an article in the peer-reviewed Journal of Infectious Diseases, the only way to evaluate vaccines is to scrutinize the epidemiological data obtained from real-life conditions. In other words, researchers simply cannot — or will not — adequately test a vaccine’s effectiveness and immunogenicity prior to its release onto an unsuspecting public.[16]

The Cochrane Collaboration, the world’s foremost group of unbiased researchers, physicians and scientists, has performed a series of meta-analyses on the effectiveness of the influenza vaccine. In 2014 they found that vaccinating adults against influenza did not affect the number of people hospitalized nor decrease lost work.[17]Cochrane researchers stated that their results might be overly optimistic due to the fact that 24 out of 90 studies were funded by the vaccine manufacturers, which tend to produce results favorable to their product.[18]

According to Dr. Tom Jefferson at the Cochrane Collaboration, it makes little sense to keep vaccinating against seasonal influenza based on the evidence.[19] Jefferson has also endorsed more cost-effective and scientifically-proven means of minimizing the transmission of flu, including regular hand washing and wearing masks. There is also substantial peer-reviewed literature supporting the supplementation of Vitamin D.

Dr. Jefferson’s conclusions are backed by a 2013 article by Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine scientist Peter Doshi, PhD, in the British Journal of Medicine. In his article Doshi questions the flu vaccine paradigm stating:

“Closer examination of influenza vaccine policies shows that although proponents employ the rhetoric of science, the studies underlying the policy are often of low quality, and do not substantiate officials’ claims. The vaccine might be less beneficial and less safe than has been claimed, and the threat of influenza appears overstated.”[20]

The CDC currently recommends that elderly Americans receive a flu shot, stating that “[v]accination is especially important for people 65 years and older because they are at high risk for complications from flu.”[21]  Unfortunately, this warning is grossly unfounded. A significant body of research proves that receiving the flu shot does not reduce mortality among seniors.[22] One particularly compelling 2005 study was carried out by scientists at the federal National Institutes of Health (NIH) and published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). Not only did the study indicate that the flu vaccine did nothing to prevent deaths from influenza among seniors, but that flu mortality rates increased as a greater percentage of seniors received the shot.[23]

After the release of the study, investigative journalist Sharyl Attkisson covered the findings in a CBS News segment. Attkisson interviewed the only co-author of the study who was not affiliated with the NIH, Dr. Tom Reichert, who stated that the research team revisited the data several times, but that no matter how they analyzed the “incendiary material”, the conclusion was clear: flu shots don’t improve mortality rates in the elderly population.[24]

Dr. Sherri Tenpenny reviewed the Cochrane Database reviews on the flu vaccine’s efficacy. In a review of 51 studies involving over 294,000 children, there was “no evidence that injecting children 6-24 months of age with a flu shot was any more effective than placebo. In children over 2 years of age, flu vaccine effectiveness was 33 percent of the time preventing flu. In children with asthma, inactivated flu vaccine did not prevent influenza related hospitalizations in children. The database shows that children who received the flu vaccine were at a higher risk of hospitalization than children who did not receive the vaccine.[25]

In a separate study involving 400 children with asthma receiving a flu vaccine and 400 who were not immunized, there was no difference in the number of clinic and emergency room visits and hospitalizations between the two groups.[26]

In 64 studies involving 66,000 adults, “Vaccination of healthy adults only reduced risk of influenza by 6 percent and reduced the number of missed work days by less than one day. There was change in the number of hospitalizations compared to the non-vaccinated. In further studies of elderly adults residing in nursing homes over the course of several flu seasons, flu vaccinations were insignificant for preventing infection.[27]

During every annual quarter, the CDC’s Advisory Commission on Childhood Vaccines meets, and the Department of Justice releases its report on settlements made for vaccine injuries and deaths. In recent years, the flu vaccine has topped the charts.  During its most recent release in June 2016, 85 of the 116 cases, and 2 of the 3 deaths, settled by the “vaccine court” over a three month period were associated with the flu vaccine.[28] While this might appear to be a small and insignificant number compared to the millions of vaccines administered, it bears noting that the CDC itself admits that only 10% of vaccine adverse effects go reported. Independent analysis indicates it may be as small as 1-2% at best.

For almost a decade, the CDC has known influenza vaccines are ineffective and life-threatening for the elderly but continues to market them without hesitation. Hence in November 2014, five senior citizens at an assisted living facility in Dacula, Georgia, died within week after all residents were vaccinated.[29] During the previous year’s flu vaccine trials, Sanofi Pasteur’s  Fluzone killed 23 elderly participants during the vaccine trial. Nevertheless, the vaccine was approved and continues to be marketed towards senior citizens.[30]

Today, the most extreme wing of the pro-vaccine community, headed by Paul Offit at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, have been diligently pursuing mandatory vaccination and encouraging states to repeal personal religious and philosophical exemption from vaccinating.  During the flu season, the debate over mandatory vaccination becomes most heated as medical facilities and government departments attempt to threaten employees and schools who refuse vaccination. Although this is deeply worrisome to those who advocate their Constitutional rights to freedom of choice in their healthcare, there are respectable groups opposing mandatory flu shots.  Among them are the American Medical Association and the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons.  According to the statement of the latter, the Association “objects strenuously to any coercion of healthcare personnel to receive influenza immunization. It is a fundamental human right not to be subjected to medical interventions without fully informed consent.”  The American Medical Association statement recognizes “philosophic reason” as a valid means for exemption.  In addition, many union organizations, such as National Nurses United, the American Federation of Teachers, and the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions now oppose mandatory flu shots. What these organizations recognize and is categorically denied by the Paul Offits in the pro-vaccine cabal, is the hard science raising serious questions over the flu vaccine’s efficacy and safety that doesn’t justify a national mandate.

The good news is that Americans are rapidly losing confidence in the CDC. According to National Consumers League poll, over two-thirds of Americans believe vaccines cause autism, which the CDC categorically denies.[31] Almost two months after the media reported on the revelations by a CDC whistleblower, Dr. William Thompson, who exposed the CDC cover up of a vaccine-autism connection with the MMR vaccine, a CBS News poll showed public approval of the CDC nosedived to 37%, down from 60% the previous year. Vaccine apologists and the major media claim this large decrease is due to the CDC’s dismal handling of the Ebola crisis; however, Thompson’s whistleblowing received over 750 million Twitter impressions indicating that the debate over vaccine efficacy and safety is far more on the public’s mind.[32] Positive endorsement of the CDC would plummet further if the public knew the full extent of CDC officials lying to Congress and their conspiracy to commit medical fraud for over a dozen years.

Imagine the tens of thousands of children and families who would have been saved from life-long neurological damage and immeasurable suffering if the CDC was not indebted to protecting the toxic products of the pharmaceutical industry and was serving the health and well-being of American children? And we can begin to further dismantle this citadel of despotic medical fascism by simply refusing the flu vaccine and protecting ourselves by adopting a healthier lifestyle during the flu season.

Richard Gale is the Executive Producer of the Progressive Radio Network and a former Senior Research Analyst in the biotechnology and genomic industries. Dr. Gary Null is the host of the nation’s longest running public radio program on nutrition and natural health and a multi-award-winning documentary film director, including Autism: Made in the USA, War on Health: The FDA’s Cult of Tyranny and Silent Epidemic: The Untold Story of Vaccination.

Notes 

[1] http://yournewswire.com/boy-awarded-174000-after-flu-vaccine-causes-permanent-brain-damage/

[2]  http://www.globalresearch.ca/finnish-scientists-identify-link-between-glaxosmithklines-swine-flu-vaccine-pandemrix-and-narcolepsy/5423154

[3]  http://www.globalresearch.ca/if-vaccines-dont-cause-brain-damage-why-is-glaxosmithkline-paying-out-63-million-to-vaccine-victims/5463716

[4] http://sharylattkisson.com/woman-paralyzed-after-flu-shot-receives-11-million-for-treatment/

[5]  Barbara Lo Fisher, The Emerging Risks of Live Virus and Virus Vectored Vaccines.  National Vaccine Information Center, 2014

[6] http://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/flumist-nose-spray-vaccine-doesn-t-work-experts-say-n597411

[7]  Barbara Lo Fisher, op cit.

[8]  http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/12/3/flu-vaccine-ineffective.html

[9]  Richard Gale and Gary Null, “Flu Vaccines: Are They Effective and Safe?”  Progressive Radio Network, September 28, 2009

[10] https://healthimpactnews.com/2016/cdc-admits-failure-of-flu-vaccine-vaccinated-people-die-of-influenza/

[11]  http://www.fda.gov/downloads/BiologicsBloodVaccines/Vaccines/ApprovedProducts/UCM294307.pdf

[12] Barbara Lo Fisher, “CDC Admits Flu Shots Fail Half the Time.”  NVIC, October 19, 2016

[13] Manning, Anita. “Study: Annual flu death toll could be overstated.” USA Today. December 11, 2005.

[14] http://gaia-health.com/gaia-blog/2013-06-02/flu-vax-causes-5-5-times-more-respiratory-infections/

[15]  http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/flu-shot-linked-to-higher-incidence-of-flu-in-pandemic-year-1.1287363

miachela rectenwald  NYU

[16]   Weinberg, Geoffrey A., and Peter G. Szilagyi. “Vaccine Epidemiology: Efficacy, Effectiveness, and the Translational Research Roadmap.” The Journal of Infectious Diseases J INFECT DIS 201.11 (2010): 1607-610. Web.

[17] Jefferson T et al.  Vaccines for Preventing Influenza in Healthy Adults. Cochrane Database of Systemic Review, 2010. Issue 7. Art No. CD001269

[18]  Ibid

[19]  ‘A Whole Industry Is Waiting For A Pandemic’, Der Spiegel, http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,637119-2,00.html, accessed December 4, 2011

[20] Doshi, P. “Influenza: Marketing Vaccine by Marketing Disease.” BMJ 346 (2013): F3037. Accessed November 30, 2015. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.f3037.

[21] “What You Should Know and Do this Flu Season If You Are 65 Years and Older” http://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/disease/65over.htm

[22] Simonsen, Lone, Reichert, Thomas, et al. . “Impact of Influenza Vaccination on Seasonal Mortality in the US Elderly Population.” Arch Intern Med Archives of Internal Medicine 165, no. 3 (2005): 265. Accessed December 1, 2015. doi:10.1001/archinte.165.3.265. 

[23]  Glezen, W P., and Lone Simonsen. “Commentary: Benefits of Influenza Vaccine in US Elderly–new Studies Raise Questions.” International Journal of Epidemiology 35, no. 2 (2006): 352-53. Accessed December 1, 2015. doi:10.1093/ije/dyi293. 

[24] “Govt. Researchers: Flu Shots Not Effective in Elderly, After All” https://sharylattkisson.com/govt-researchers-flu-shots-not-effective-in-elderly-after-all/

[25] 105th International Conference of the American Thoracic Sociey, May 15-20, 2009 (quoted in , Sherri.  “The Truth about Flu Shots”.  Idaho Observer, June 1, 2009)

[26] ibid

[27] Tenpenny, Sherri.  “The Truth about Flu Shots”.  Idaho Observer, June 1, 2009.

[28]  http://www.nclnet.org/survey_one_third_of_american_parents_mistakenly_link_vaccines_to_autism

[29]  http://healthimpactnews.com/2014/6-seniors-die-after-flu-shot-at-assisted-care-center-in-georgia/

[30]  http://healthimpactnews.com/2013/23-seniors-died-after-receiving-this-years-flu-shot-sold-by-pharmacies/

[31]  https://vaccineimpact.com/2016/vaccines-injuries-and-deaths-increase-in-government-vaccine-court-june-2016-report/

[32]  http://naturalsociety.com/american-public-officially-loses-faith-cdc/

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Terrorist Groups in Aleppo Continue to Receive Foreign Weapons

November 1st, 2016 by Geopolitical Monitor

Terrorist groups in Aleppo are using newly supplied foreign weapons in their counter-offensive against the Syrian army and its allies.

Recently published online videos show Ahrar al-Sham, designated a terrorist organisation by multiple countries, carrying Turkish HAR-66 anti-tank rocket launchers – Turkey’s variant of the US made M72 LAW.

Ahrar al-Sham militant with the Turkish variant of the US-made M72 LAW – the HAR-66

On Thursday, militant groups including internationally-designated terrorist organisations, launched an offensive against the Syrian army an its allies in Aleppo. Mobile telecommunication and the internet connections stopped working since as militants gather in the south-west of the city.

Earlier this month, a Free Syrian Army militant confirmed to the Reuters news agency that it had received grad rocket artillery in “excellent quantities”. According to the report, foreign states at a Turkey-based, US-backed coordination center have approved and facilitated the transfer of the BM-21 missile systems. The 122mm unguided rockets are fitted with a high explosive fragmentation warhead, and have a range of between 22km and 40km.

Foreign-backed militant groups, including Ahrar Al-Sham which the United States supports, have increased shelling and rocket fire on the city in recent days. Special corridors designated for the safe passage of civilians and surrendering militants have also been targeted according to British, Russian and local reporters.

The LAW (Light Anti-Tank Weapon) is a portable, one-shot anti-tank launcher still being used by the US military. Its Turkish variant, the HAR-66, is a copy of the weapon with upgraded safety features.

Ahrar al-Sham Video: Militant carries Turkish-made HAR-66 anti-tank weapon

Syria, the United Arab Emirates, Russia, Iran and Egypt have all designated Ahrar al-Sham as a terrorist organisation – however, the United States, Britain and others have so far not considered designating the group as such. In May 2016, the U.S., Britain, France, and Ukraine blocked a Russian proposal to the United Nations to blacklist Ahrar al-Sham as a terrorist group.

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Forget the Trump-Clinton Charade: It’s Time to Wake Up America!

November 1st, 2016 by Colin Todhunter

Who will be the winners and the losers in the coming U.S. presidential election? Trump or Clinton, Clinton or Trump? The mainstream media is consumed with personality politics. Who could hold their nerve in a time of crisis? Whose integrity is purer (or less damaged)? If you were forced to choose, who would you trust your house keys with? It’s entertainment for the masses.

There will only be one group of winners: the interlocking oligarchy of financial, oil, military, agribusiness and pharmaceuticals interests that run the U.S. Whether it’s Trump or Clinton, policy nuances aside, Washington’s empire will stumble on. And it will do so not because of its inherent dynamism but because of its lies, manipulations, militarism and ability to crush any tendencies that exist towards a multi-polar world.

The U.S. as a nation is bankrupt. It was in dire straits in the 1960s as a result of the Vietnam war and the emergence of economic rivals, such as France and Germany. Shifting off the gold standard and moving towards petrodollar recycling and treasury bond imperialism allowed the empire to remain on course and the dollar to remain as the world’s reserve currency. Oil, not gold, became the mainstay of the empire. As long as the (oil-backed) dollar remains the global currency, the U.S. can continue to secure a free lunch courtesy of the rest of the world.

Today, more than 60 per cent of all foreign currency reserves in the world are in U.S. dollars, and the U.S. will attempt to prevent countries moving off the dollar by any means possible, not least military.

Washington’s economic infrastructure is too weak to mount an economic recovery of note and U.S. corporate cartels will do anything to prevent policies that eat into their profits. They serve their own interests, not any notional ‘national interest’, and offshoring large parts of the US economy has served them well.

Indeed, Paul Craig Roberts, former Assistant Secretary to the U.S. Treasury, notes that much of the most productive part of the economy has been moved offshore to increase corporate profits. By doing so, the U.S. has lost critical supply chains, industrial infrastructure and the knowledge of skilled workers. The U.S. could bring its corporations back home by taxing their profits abroad and could also resort to protective tariffs, but such moves would be contrary to the material interests of the ruling oligarchy of private interests, which hold sway over U.S. politics.

Void of a suitable industrial manufacturing base or the will to invest in productive infrastructure, the U.S. continues with its speculative finance-related bubbles, its non-productive rentier economy and its predatory hold over the institutions of global capitalism (WTO, IMF, World Bank), while its drags its European vassal states into imperialist wars to help maintain global hegemony and ensure allegiance to the U.S. dollar. And this is exactly what we are seeing today as the strategy for global supremacy is played out.

Over the past two decades, the U.S. has extended its influence throughout Eastern Europe and, among other places, in the Libya, Iraq, Yemen,  Afghanistan, Syria and  Pakistan (with Washington’s presence in neighbouring Afghanistan to all intents and purposes being a proxy war against Pakistan and Chinese influence there). With each passing year and each new conflict, the US has been drawing closer to direct confrontation with Russia and China.

Russia is holding firm over Syria, which is vital to wider U.S. geopolitical goals that involve the weakening of the Russian energy-dependent economy and ousting Russia from its only naval base outside of the former USSR. A global US strategy is already in force to undermine China’s growth and influence, part of which was the main reason for setting up AFRICOM: US Africa Command with responsibility for military operations and relations across Africa. But China is not without influence, and its actions are serving to weaken the hegemony of the U.S. dollar, thereby striking at a key nerve of U.S. power.

China has been implementing bilateral trade agreements with a number of countries, whereby trade is no longer conducted in dollars but in local currencies. Over the past few years, China and other powers such as Russia have been making agreements to move away from the U.S. dollar in international trade. The BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) also plan to start using their own currencies when trading with each other. Russia and China have been using their own national currencies when trading with each other for more two years.

A report from Africa’s largest bank, Standard Bank, stated a few years back:

“We expect at least $100 billion in Sino-African trade – more than the total bilateral trade between China and Africa in 2010 – to be settled in the renminbi by 2015.”

Under Saddam, Iraq was not using the dollar as the base currency for oil transactions, neither is Iran. Libya’s Muammar Gadhaffi was talking about using a gold-backed dinar as the reserve currency for parts of Africa. U.S.-backed destabilisation and war followed. In 2000, Iraq converted all its oil transactions to euros. When U.S. invaded Iraq  in 2003, it returned oil sales from the euro to the dollar. Little surprise then that we have over the years seen on on-going saga by the U.S. to remove the Iranian regime via sanctions, destabilization, intimidation or the threat of all-out war.

Iran has looked east to China, Pakistan and central Asia to counteract the effects of U.S. sanctions and develop its economy and boost trade. To sustain its empire, the US has effectively pushed the world into different camps and a new cold war: one not based on competing/alternative political or economic systems but a simmering conflict based on competing capitalist elites or ruling oligarchies who require control over their regional spheres of influence.

Imperialism still reigns and neither side – whether the U.S., Russia or China – is particularly appealing, not least to those who believe that democratic (green) socialism is the best hope for humanity. In the absence of such a solution, a world not hurtling towards nuclear conflict would serve us well for the time being.

The U.S. economy appears to be in terminal decline. The only way to prop it up is by corrupt, secretive, lop-sided trade agreements or by waging war to plunder resources and to ensure the print-as-you-go dollar remains the world reserve currency. An empire in decline armed to the teeth with nuclear weapons and trapped in a cycle of endless war to stave off ruin is a frightening scenario. Even more alarming is the talk of pre-emptive nuclear strikes against other nuclear powers such as Russia and China.

This is the reality that faces the world. This is the reality that the corporate media will not inform the U.S. electorate about. The empire demands a sufficiently ignorant, misinformed public courtesy of a Fox News/CNN made-for-TV election stupor. An electorate that is sufficiently convinced to believe that millionaire-billionaire politicians who climb into bed with Wall Street banks and the rest of the ruling oligarchy have their interests at heart.

A public for whom the term ‘class consciousness’ or ‘class interest’ figures little if anywhere in their political lexicon. The class that appears to be highly conscious of its interests is the one in control: the one that does its level best in ensuring that any such consciousness emerging within the ruled over is shut down at birth – or suffocated within the mind-manipulating control mechanism that is the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign.

They sold your jobs to the lowest bidder abroad under the lie of ‘efficiency’ to make every greater profit, and they get you to blame your plight on immigrants. They use your taxes to kill and destroy countries under the lie of ‘humanitarianism/fighting terror’ to secure ever more mineral riches, and they get you to fear the latest bogeyman. And they sell you a vision of democracy that much of the rest of the world regards as shambolic. America, it’s time to wake up.

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Come votare No alle armi nucleari

November 1st, 2016 by Manlio Dinucci

«Grazie, presidente Obama. L’Italia proseguirà con grande determinazione l’impegno per la sicurezza nucleare»: così scriveva il premier Renzi in uno storico messaggio twitter. Sei mesi dopo, alle Nazioni Unite, Renzi ha votato Sì alle armi nucleari. Accodandosi agli Usa, il governo italiano si è schierato contro la Risoluzione, approvata a grande maggioranza nel primo comitato dell’Assemblea generale, che chiede la convocazione nel 2017 di una conferenza delle Nazioni Unite al fine di «negoziare uno strumento legalmente vincolante per proibire le armi nucleari, che porti verso la loro totale eliminazione».

Il governo italiano si è così rimangiato quanto promesso alla Conferenza di Vienna, due anni fa, ai movimenti antinucleari «esigenti», assicurandoli sulla sua volontà di operare per il disarmo nucleare svolgendo un «ruolo di mediazione con pazienza e diplomazia». Cade così nel vuoto l’appello «Esigiamo il disarmo nucleare totale», in cui si chiede al governo «la prosecuzione coerente dell’impegno e della lotta per la messa al bando delle armi nucleari», in un percorso «umanitario e giuridico verso il disarmo nucleare», nel quale l’Italia potrebbe svolgere «un ruolo più che attivo, possibilmente trainante».

Cadono di conseguenza nel vuoto anche le mozioni parlamentari dello stesso tenore. Gli appelli generici al disarmo nucleare sono facilmente strumentalizzabili: basti pensare che il presidente Usa, artefice di un riarmo nucleare da 1000 miliardi di dollari, è stato insignito del Premio Nobel per la Pace per «la sua visione di un mondo libero dalle armi nucleari».

Il modo concreto attraverso cui in Italia possiamo contribuire all’obiettivo del disarmo nucleare, enunciato nella Risoluzione delle Nazioni Unite, è quello di liberare il nostro paese dalle armi nucleari statunitensi. A tal fine occorre non appellarsi al governo, ma esigere che esso rispetti il Trattato di non-proliferazione (Tnp), firmato e ratificato dall’Italia, che all’Art. 2 stabilisce: «Ciascuno degli Stati militarmente non nucleari, che sia Parte del Trattato, si impegna a non ricevere da chicchessia armi nucleari o altri congegni nucleari esplosivi, né il controllo su tali armi e congegni esplosivi, direttamente o indirettamente». Si deve esigere che l’Italia cessi di violare il Tnp e chieda agli Stati uniti di rimuovere subito tutte le loro armi nucleari dal nostro territorio e di non installarvi le nuove bombe B61-12, punta di lancia della escalation nucleare Usa/Nato contro la Russia, né altre armi nucleari. Si deve esigere che piloti italiani non vengano più addestrati all’uso di armi nucleari sotto comando Usa.

È questo l’obiettivo della campagna lanciata dal Comitato No Guerra No Nato e altri soggetti (per documentarsi digitare su Google «Change Nato»). La campagna ha ottenuto un primo importante risultato: il 26 ottobre, al Consiglio Regionale della Toscana, è stata approvata a maggiornza una mozione del gruppo Sì Toscana a Sinistra che «impegna la Giunta a richiedere al Governo di rispettare il Trattato di non-proliferazione delle armi nucleari e far sì che gli Stati uniti rimuovano immediatamente qualsiasi arma nucleare dal territorio italiano e rinuncino a installarvi le nuove bombe B61-12 e altre armi nucleari». Attraverso queste e altre iniziative si può  creare un vasto fronte che, con una forte mobilitazione, imponga al governo il rispetto del Trattato di non-proliferazione.

Sei mesi fa chiedevamo dalle pagine del manifesto se ci fosse qualcuno in Parlamento disposto a esigere, in base al Tnp, l’immediata rimozione dall’Italia delle armi nucleari statunitensi. Siamo ancora in attesa di risposta.

Manlio Dinucci

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Hillary Clinton: Wall Street’s Losing Horse? Constitutional Crisis? What’s the End Game?

November 1st, 2016 by Prof Michel Chossudovsky

Since the release of FBI Director Comey’s Second letter to the US Congress, the presidential elections process has gone haywire, out of control. The bipartisan political apparatus is in crisis.

“I FBI director [James Comey] am writing to inform you that the investigative team briefed me on this yesterday, and I agreed that the FBI should take appropriate investigative steps designed to allow investigators to review these emails to determine whether they contain classified information, as well as to assess their importance to our investigation.” 

Two important questions:

WHO IS BEHIND WIKILEAKS WHICH RELEASED THE EMAILS?

WHO IS BEHIND FBI DIRECTOR JAMES COMEY? 

In both cases, we are dealing with powerful interest groups.  CUI-BONO?

Has there been a shift in the Corporate Elite’s unbending support for Hillary Clinton? Or are the Elites divided?  This is something to be carefully investigated.

FBI Director Comey (image right) did not take this decision on his own. While he was described as responding to pressures from within the FBI, the crucial question is: Who are the power brokers behind James Comey? What mechanism incited him to take that decision?

Does he have a relationship with Trump?  Several media have even intimated that Moscow could have been behind Comey’s second letter. An absurd proposition.

The Trigger Mechanism

The trigger mechanism which incited the FBI Director to send a Second Letter to Congress was a report by the Wall Street Journal published four days prior to his October 28 decision.

On October 24, the WSJ revealed that “Clinton friend [Virginia Governor] Terry McAuliffe donated money to a [senior] FBI investigator’s wife when she ran for office” .

Governor Terry McAuliffe transferred the money on behalf of Hillary Clinton:

“Last night’s revelation that close Clinton ally Terry McAuliffe authorized $675,000 to the wife of a top official at the FBI, who conveniently was promoted to deputy director, and helped oversee the investigation into Clinton’s secret server  is deeply disturbing…

The fact that this was allowed to occur shows either outright negligent behavior by the FBI or a level of corruption that is beyond belief. The FBI needs to fully address these issues as soon as possible,The Wall Street Journal broke the story  on Sunday. The FBI has been under fire for not recommending indictment against Hillary Clinton.”(Breibart October 24, 2016)

Comey’s decision to send a second letter on October 28 (October Surprise) was triggered by the contents of the WSJ report, pointing to bribery of a police officer by Clinton and corruption within the FBI.

The donation went to the 2015 Virginia state Senate election campaign of Dr. Jill McCabe, who just so happens to be the wife of FBI official Andrew McCabe who — a few months later in January 2016–  was appointed deputy director of the FBI in charge of the Clinton Email investigation. How convenient (See WSJ, October 24, 2016).

Hillary Clinton had attempted to “buy legal immunity” by bribing a senior police official, a practice which has been widely applied by US organized crime. The only difference is that Clinton is a candidate to the presidency of the United States.  The Hillary “donation” received by Dr. Jill McCabe was not reported. According to official Virginia State records she declared a total of $256,000 dollars in campaign contributions.

Screenshot of FBI Press Release, January 29,2016

Andrew McCabe was Hillary’s Trojan Horse within the FBI.

Upon the release of the WSJ report, FBI Director Comey, responding to pressure from within the FBI, also with a view to protecting his authority and integrity, decided to release a second letter regarding the Clinton Emails.

His corrupt deputy director Andrew McCabe (image left) who was overseeing the Clinton investigation, sofar has not been fired.

“House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), who told The Washington Post this week that Hillary Clinton would face “years” of potential probes if she won the presidency, has asked FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe to provide documents about his wife’s 2015 campaign for Senate — a campaign that received financial support from Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D), a close Clinton ally. Chaffetz also tweeted Friday that the FBI would examine new emails related to the investigation into Clinton’s use of a private server.(Washington Post, October 28, 2016)

The trigger mechanism did not originate from FBI Director James Comey’s letter per se. It was the Wall Street Journal, mouthpiece of the US financial establishment, which revealed the fraud and bribery scheme: The wife of the Number Two Man at the FBI Andrew McCabe had received a large sum of money from Hillary Clinton, via the Governor of Virginia.

The timing of this decision less than two weeks before the elections was  crucial. But it was ultimately the WSJ (and those behind the release of the report on the Clinton-McCabe fraud) who determined the course of events.

Who on Wall Street was behind the WSJ report on the Clinton-FBI McCabe “bribe”, which served to trigger James Comey’s  letter?

The WSJ is owned by the News Corp conglomerate, one of the most powerful global media groups owned by the Murdoch Family Trust.

Rupert Murdoch is a firm supporter of Donald Trump. Murdoch and Trump met several times in course of last months:

The Murdoch-Trump alliance is the result of at least two private meetings between the billionaires this spring as well as phone calls from Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner. Murdoch’s view, according to those who’ve spoken with him, is that Trump is a winner whom the “elites” failed to take seriously. … In March, Murdoch tweeted that the GOP would “be mad not to unify” behind Trump. (Fox News)

In June, Trump meets up with Rupert Murdoch and his wife Jerry Hall in Scotland

Meeting in June in Scotland, source NewsMax.com

Until recently, the US mainstream media have largely been involved in camouflaging the crimes committed by Hillary Clinton. Are we dealing with an About Turn?

The corporate elites are not monolithic. Quite the opposite. There are major divisions and conflicts within the ruling corporate establishment. What seems to be unfolding is a division between competing media conglomerates, with Murdoch’s News Corp Group (which includes the WSJ and Fox News) supporting Trump and the Time Warner -CNN Group supporting Clinton. In turn, these media conglomerates are aligned with powerful and competing factions within the corporate establishment.

Those who triggered the release of the WSJ report were fully aware that this would lead to a response by FBI Director James Comey, which in turn would contribute to weakening and undermining Hillary Clinton.

According to Donald Trump, This “Is Bigger than Watergate”.

The Clinton Campaign has responded by accusing FBI Director James Comey of breaking the law.

The contents of the Huma Abedin Emails (released by the FBI) –which have been the object of extensive media coverage–  did not at the outset highlight the broader process of criminalization of the State system and party politics including bribery within the FBI. There is more than meets the eye. The Second letter pertaining to the Emails opens up a “Pandora’s box” of fraud, corruption, bribery and money laundering.

Sofar the mainstream media has concentrated on the Emails with a view to exonerating Clinton. The incriminating evidence of criminality contained in the WSJ report (i.e Clinton money paid to the wife of the Number 2 official in the FBI, who is investigating Hillary Clinton)  is not a media talking point, nor is the fraud underlying the Clinton Foundation’s money transactions.

The second letter by FBI Director Comey came as a Bombshell. Comey’s initiative points this time to the possibility that a candidate to the presidency of the United States be under criminal investigation by the FBI.

This does not solely pertain to the Email scandal, the FBI  “has an open investigation into the Clinton Foundation”, which constitutes a hotbed of fraud and money laundering. Moreover, a class action lawsuit was launched against the Democratic National Committee (DNC) “alleging fraud and collusion with the Hillary Clinton campaign”. And a lot….(including mysterious deaths).

Act of Treason: Hillary Received Donations from the “State Sponsors of Terrorism” Who are Funding the Islamic State (ISIS-Daesh)

There is another important dimension.

While Clinton has acknowledged that Saudi Arabia and Qatar are providing money and support to ISIS-Daesh and other terrorists groups in Syria and Iraq, in an email, sent to John Podesta in 2014,

“she  conveniently fails to mention that these two terror-funding states are both mega-donors to the Clinton Foundation. Qatar has given between $1 million and $5 million to the Clinton Foundation and Saudi Arabia has donated upwards of $25 million dollars to the Foundation.” (See Baxter Dmitry, The Terrorists R Us, Global Research, October 29, 2016)

Saudi Arabia Qatar isis

A former Secretary of State (through here family’s Foundation) receives generous donations from the “State sponsors of terrorism” (Saudi Arabia and Qatar): This is an obvious act of treason by a senior US official and candidate to the presidency of the United States. 

Racketeering Charges under RICO

Moreover, according to Frank Huguenard (Global Research, May 30, 2016), the initial FBI investigation “has expanded well beyond violating State Department regulations to include questions about espionage, perjury and influence peddling”.

The Clinton Foundation as a crony money laundering entity is at the center of the FBI initiative, which could lead to a conviction under RICO racketeering charges:

Here’s what we do know.   Tens of millions of dollars donated to the Clinton Foundation was funneled to the organization through a Canadian shell company which has made tracing the donors nearly impossible.  Less than 10% of donations to the Foundation has actually been released to charitable organizations and $2M that has been traced back to long time Bill Clinton friend Julie McMahon (aka The Energizer).   When the official investigation into Hillary’s email server began, she instructed her IT professional to delete over 30,000 emails and cloud backups of her emails older than 30 days at both Platte River Networks and  Datto, Inc.  The FBI has subsequently recovered the majority, if not all, of Hillary’s deleted emails and are putting together a strong case against her for attempting to cover up her illegal and illicit activities.

A conviction under RICO comes when the Department of Justice proves that the defendant has engaged in two or more examples of racketeering and that the defendant maintained an interest in, participated in or invested in a criminal enterprise affecting interstate or foreign commerce.  There is ample evidence already in the public record that the Clinton Foundation qualifies as a criminal enterprise and there’s no doubt that the FBI is privy to significantly more evidence than has already been made public.

Under RICO, the sections most relevant in this case will be section 1503 (obstruction of justice), section 1510 (obstruction of criminal investigations) and section 1511 (obstruction of State or local law enforcement).  

As in the case with Richard Nixon after the Watergate Break-in, it’s the cover-up of a crime that will be the Clintons’ downfall.  Furthermore, under provisions of title 18, United States Code: Section 201, the Clinton Foundation can be held accountable for improprieties relating to bribery.  The FBI will be able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that through the Clinton Foundation, international entities were able to commit bribery in exchange for help in securing business deals, such as the uranium-mining deal in Kazakhstan. (Frank Huguenard, Global Research, May 30, 2016),

Opposition to Hillary Clinton from within the Armed Forces

There is also evidence of resentment to Clinton from within the Armed Forces. The Joint Chiefs of Staff have expressed their opposition to the adoption of a “No Fly Zone” in Syria, which could lead to a war with Russia. Both the “No Fly Zone” as well as Hillary’s nuclear option “on the table” are the object of debate by America’s top brass. Referring to the use of nuclear weapons against Iran, Hillary said “we will obliterate them”.

What Happens if She is Elected? 

If elected president, Hillary’s criminal record would haunt her throughout her term in office, leading to the possibility of an impeachment. The presidency would become totally dysfunctional from the very outset, which her corporate sponsors including the defense contractors and Wall Street would prefer to avoid.

Inevitably Trump would launch one or more procedures pertaining to fraud at different stages of the election campaign, voting machines, etc. In the words of Donald Trump at a rally in New Hampshire:

“Hillary Clinton’s corruption is on a scale we’ve never seen before,…  We must not let her take her criminal scheme into the Oval Office.”

If Trump is elected president, there will also be attempts to unseat him, calling for his impeachment.

If both candidates are “dysfunctional”. Is there a Plan B?

National Emergency Measures, Martial Law? Continuity in Government (C.O.G.)

Unquestionably the entire US bipartisan political apparatus is in crisis including US foreign policy, marked by the breakdown of diplomacy, America’s military agenda and the unfolding confrontation with Russia.

While it is difficult to predict what might occur in the wake of the November 8 elections, the unfolding political impasse –coupled with rising geopolitical tensions in Syria, Iraq as well as Eastern Europe on Russia’s border– could potentially lead at some future date to the suspension of Constitutional government under the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) HR 1540, signed into law by president Obama on December 31, 2011. Most media have failed to analyze the far-reaching implications of this legislation.

The present impasse in the electoral process is a crisis of legitimacy characterized by the criminalization of the US State, its judicial and law enforcement apparatus. In turn, Washington is committed to a hegemonic US-NATO “war without borders” coupled with the formation of giant trading blocks under the TPP and TTIP proposals.  This neoliberal macro-economic agenda has since the early 1980s been conducive to the impoverishment of large sectors of the World population.

These developments coupled with a potential constitutional deadlock point in the direction of rising political and social tensions as well as mass protests throughout the US which could lead America at some future date into outright suppression of constitutional government and the imposition of “martial law”.

There are multiple  US “martial law” legislative procedures. The adoption of  the “National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), HR 1540) would be tantamount to a repeal of civil liberties, the surveillance state, the militarization of law enforcement, the repeal of the Posse Comitatus Act.

All the components of  Police State USA are currently in place. They go far beyond government snooping of emails and telephone conversations.  They also include:

  • Extrajudicial assassinations of  alleged terrorists including US citizens, in blatant violation of the Fifth amendment  “No person shall. .. be deprived of life. .. without due process of law.”
  • The indefinite detention of US citizens without trial, namely the repeal of Habeas Corpus.
  • The establishment of “Internment Camps” on US Military Bases under legislation adopted  in 2009 .

Under the National Emergency Centers Establishment Act (HR 645) the “Internment Camps” can be used to “meet other appropriate needs, as determined by the Secretary of Homeland Security.”

The FEMA internment camps are part of the Continuity of Government (C.O.G), which would be put in place in the case of martial law.  The internment camps are intended to “protect the government” against its citizens, by locking up protesters as well as political activists who might challenge the legitimacy of the Administration’s national security, economic or military agenda.

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Hillary Clinton to be Indicted on Federal Racketeering Charges [??]

October 31st, 2016 by Frank Huguenard

Since the release of FBI Director Comey’s Friday letter, the US presidential elections process has gone haywire, totally out of control. The entire bipartisan political apparatus is in crisis.

This article by distinguished film producer Frank Huguenard was first published by Global Research on May 30th 2016. We are reposting it (with the same title) in the light of recent developments following the controversy regarding the Second Letter to Congress of FBI director James Comey: 

“I FBI director [James Comey] am writing to inform you that the investigative team briefed me on this yesterday, and I agreed that the FBI should take appropriate investigative steps designed to allow investigators to review these emails to determine whether they contain classified information, as well as to assess their importance to our investigation.” 

Michel Chossudovsky,  Global Research, October 31, 2016 

*     *     *

The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) is a United States Federal Law passed in 1970 that was designed to provide a tool for law enforcement agencies to fight organized crime.  RICO allows prosecution and punishment for alleged racketeering activity that has been executed as part of an ongoing criminal enterprise. .

Activity considered to be racketeering may include bribery, counterfeiting, money laundering, embezzlement, illegal gambling, kidnapping, murder, drug trafficking, slavery, and a host of other nefarious business practices.

James Comey and The FBI will present a recommendation to Loretta Lynch, Attorney General of the Department of Justice, that includes a cogent argument that the Clinton Foundation is an ongoing criminal enterprise engaged in money laundering and soliciting bribes in exchange for political, policy and legislative favors to individuals, corporations and even governments both foreign and domestic.

                                                                                                   JAMES COMEY above. 

“The New York Times examined Bill Clinton’s relationship with a Canadian mining financier, Frank Giustra, who has donated millions of dollars to the Clinton Foundation and sits on its board. Clinton, the story suggests, helped Giustra’s company secure a lucrative uranium-mining deal in Kazakhstan and in return received “a flow of cash” to the Clinton Foundation, including previously undisclosed donations from the company’s chairman totaling $2.35 million.” ( Bloomberg)

Initially, Comey had indicated that the investigation into Hillary’s home brewed email server was to be concluded by October of 2015.  However, as more and more evidence in the case has come to light, this initial date kept being pushed back as the criminal investigation has expanded well beyond violating State Department regulations to include questions about espionage, perjury and influence peddling.

Here’s what we do know.   Tens of millions of dollars donated to the Clinton Foundation was funneled to the organization through a Canadian shell company which has made tracing the donors nearly impossible.  Less than 10% of donations to the Foundation has actually been released to charitable organizations and $2M that has been traced back to long time Bill Clinton friend Julie McMahon (aka The Energizer).   When the official investigation into Hillary’s email server began, she instructed her IT professional to delete over 30,000 emails and cloud backups of her emails older than 30 days at both Platte River Networks and  Datto, Inc.  The FBI has subsequently recovered the majority, if not all, of Hillary’s deleted emails and are putting together a strong case against her for attempting to cover up her illegal and illicit activities.

A conviction under RICO comes when the Department of Justice proves that the defendant has engaged in two or more examples of racketeering and that the defendant maintained an interest in, participated in or invested in a criminal enterprise affecting interstate or foreign commerce.  There is ample evidence already in the public record that the Clinton Foundation qualifies as a criminal enterprise and there’s no doubt that the FBI is privy to significantly more evidence than has already been made public.

Under RICO, the sections most relevant in this case will be section 1503 (obstruction of justice), section 1510 (obstruction of criminal investigations) and section 1511 (obstruction of State or local law enforcement).  As in the case with Richard Nixon after the Watergate Break-in, it’s the cover-up of a crime that will be the Clintons’ downfall.  Furthermore, under provisions of title 18, United States Code: Section 201, the Clinton Foundation can be held accountable for improprieties relating to bribery.  The FBI will be able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that through the Clinton Foundation, international entities were able to commit bribery in exchange for help in securing business deals, such as the uranium-mining deal in Kazakhstan.

It is a Federal Crime to negligently handle classified information under United States Code (USC) 18 section 1924.  It is a Federal Class A Felony under USC 18 section 798.  Hillary certified under oath to a federal judge that she had handed over to the state department all of her emails, which she clearly did not.  In spite of her repeated statements to the effect that everything that she did with her home brewed email server as Secretary of State was above-board and approved by the State Department,  the Inspector General Report vehemently refutes this claim.  Hillary refused to be interview by the Inspector General’s office in their investigation, claiming that her upcoming FBI interview took precedent but it seems more likely that Hillary is more concerned about committing perjury or admitting to anything that can be used against her in a court of law.

“Secretary Clinton should have preserved any Federal records she created and received on her personal account by printing and filing those records with the related files in the Office of the Secretary.  At a minimum, Secretary Clinton should have surrendered all emails dealing with Department business before leaving government service and, because she did not do so, she did not comply with the Department’s policies that were implemented in accordance with the Federal Records Act.” Inspector General Report

Hillary Clinton is guilty of exposing classified documents to foreign governments by placing them illegally on her server, of sending and receiving classified documents and conspiring with her staff to circumvent the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) by avoiding the use of the State Department run servers.  Some of the documents were so highly classified the the investigators on the case weren’t even able to examine the material themselves until they got their own clearances raised to the highest levels.

While there is an excellent cast to be made the Hillary committed treasonous actions, the strongest case the FBI has is charging both Bill and Hillary Clinton as well as the Clinton Foundation of Racketeering.  There’s no wonder why it’s taken this long for the FBI to bring forward a recommendation.

The rabbit hole is so deep on this one that it has taking dozens of investigators to determine the full extent of the crimes that have been committed.   Perhaps the most interesting question here is whether or not the FBI’s investigation will be able to directly link The Clinton Foundation with The Hillary Victory Fund.  If this happens, the DNC itself may be in jeopardy of accusations of either being an accomplice or of being complicit in racketeering.

The article was initially published and then almost immediately removed by  The Huffington Post.

The author of the article is a distinguished  film producer Frank Huguenard

The Huffington Post link leads to an error message. The text below is the original post, which appears  on Frank Huguenard’s Facebook page.

https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=frank%20huguenard
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FBI Director Comey Accused of Interfering in US Presidential Election

October 31st, 2016 by Stephen Lendman

Had Comey recommended Hillary be held criminally responsible for mishandling classified State Department documents last July, along with perjury for lying to the FBI and Congress, a firestorm of criticism wouldn’t have followed his Friday announcement.

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D. NV) accused him of “tarring Secretary Clinton with thin innuendo,” saying his action “appears to be a clear intent to aid one political party over another” – claiming he “may have broken the law,” citing the 1939 Hatch Act (An Act to Prevent Pernicious Political Activities).

It prohibits federal executive branch employees from engaging in certain forms of political activity – exempting the president, vice president and designated high-level administration officials. Proof of intent is required to hold someone culpable under the law.

According to the Wall Street Journal, within the FBI, there was “sharp internal disagreement over matters related to the Clintons, and how to handle those matters fairly and carefully in the middle of a national election campaign.”

In a prominently featured NYT op-ed, Law Professor Richard Painter said “(w)e cannot allow FBI or Justice Department officials to unnecessarily publicize pending investigations concerning candidates of either party while an election is underway. That is an abuse of power.”

Not according to former federal prosecutor Daniel Richman, saying “Comey’s critics cannot show his letter violated the Hatch Act unless they can prove that the FBI director was intending to influence the election rather than inform Congress, which was (his) stated aim.”

A Sunday released ABC News/Washington Post poll indicated about a third of likely voters are less likely to support Hillary following Comey’s October surprise.

The Washington Post said the Justice Department’s public integrity unit blocked the FBI from investigating the Clinton Foundation, claiming inadequate “evidence to move forward.”

The department is run by longtime Bill and Hillary ally, Attorney General Loretta Lynch. Last June, she met privately with the former president at Phoenix’s Sky Harbor airport while Hillary was under FBI investigation – a clear conflict of interest despite her disingenuously claiming “no discussion of any matter pending for the department or any matter pending for any other body” took place.

In a Washington Post op-ed, former attorney general Eric Holder expressed concern about Comey’s “vague letter to Congress about emails potentially connected to a matter of public, and political, interest” – claiming he “violated long-standing Justice Department policies and tradition.”

Holder disgraced the office he held. Law Professor Francis Boyle called him “a total disaster for the United States Constitution, the Bill of Rights, Human Rights and the Rule of Law.”

Speaking in Florida on Sunday, Hillary changed the subject, saying “there’s a lot of noise and distraction, but it really comes down to what kind of future we want, and what kind of president can help us get there. We won’t be distracted no matter what our opponents throw at us.”

Clearly, Comey’s bombshell changed the dynamic of the race, whether enough to derail her White House bid we’ll know in days.

Reports indicate the FBI will examine an astonishing 650,000 emails from former Congressman Anthony Weiner’s laptop – estranged husband of top Hillary aide Huma Abedin.

It could take months to review volume this immense, likely extending well beyond November 8 and January’s inauguration, to determine if any evidence warrants prosecuting Hillary, Abedin, Weiner or anyone else for mishandling classified government documents, perhaps compromising national security.

Having absolved Hillary in July, despite plenty of indictable evidence, it’s hard imagining a change of FBI policy now.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at [email protected].

His new book as editor and contributor is titled “Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III.”

 http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html

 Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.  

 Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network.

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Belgian Air Force Fighter Bombs Syrian Village, Belgium Denies its Involvement, Accuses Russia

October 31st, 2016 by Pravda.ru

Despite the fact that the Belgian Ministry of Defence has received documents from Moscow confirming the participation of Royal Air Force fighter aircraft in the bombings of the Syrian village of Hassadjek near Aleppo, Brussels continues denying its involvement in the air strike, claiming that Russia has fabricated the data.

The documents from the Russian Defence Ministry contain even the numbers of the aircraft that took part in the attack. In addition, the documents describe their itinerary minute by minute. However, the head of the Belgian Defence Ministry demanded Moscow should refuse from unfounded accusations.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry presented the evidence proving the involvement of the Belgian Air Force in the bombings to Belgian Ambassador to Moscow, Alex van Meuwen. Belgium’s persistent denial of the fact of the air raid near Aleppo is puzzling, Russia’s First Deputy Foreign Minister Vladimir Titov told the Belgian ambassador.

Pravda.Ru asked an expert opinion from Deputy Director of the Institute for CIS countries, Vladimir Yevseyev.

“In fact, Brussels lies accusing Russia of lies. How should Russia react to this?” 

“I think that Russia should react calmly. We are in a state of information war, when each side will try in every way to deny their involvement in various types of events and blame the other side instead. When the Malaysian Boeing was shot down over Ukraine, the United States did not even look into the problem, but blamed Russia immediately, without any investigation.

“In the situation around the bombing of Hassadjek, Russia presented real facts. We are very much concerned about the actions of the US-led coalition in Syria. For example, there are facts of the killings of civilians in air raids in the province of Deir ez-Zor.

“Belgium is being so nervous because the Royal Air Force in Syria does not implement its own interests – it serves the interests of the United States, thus indicating the absolute political weakness of European countries.

“When the United States announces its intention to achieve stabilisation in certain countries, I do not see confirmation to these words. It is clear that the United States is simply unable to resolve any armed conflict. As a result, the Americans conduct subversive activities against disloyal countries. It is impossible to regulate any crisis under such circumstances.

“Russia offers to act on both military and peaceful tracks. A significant part of militants have moved to Idlib, and this also indicates Russia’s success in the struggle against terrorists in Syria.

“Proceeding from all this, I think it makes no sense to take statements from Brussels seriously. They distort information in a striking way during the investigation of such a terrible disaster as the crash of the Malaysian Boeing over Ukraine. It appears that the purpose of their investigation is to make Russia responsible without investigating the details of the tragedy. The reaction from the Belgian Ministry of Defense is predictable, as Europe is walking in the footsteps of the US foreign policy.”

“Do you think that they will get away with it?”

“This is a typical position of the Americans – they are always sure that they never make mistakes, and they can always get away with it. They believe that since they control the world’s media, it makes them immune to everything. They can, for example, strike Syrian troops, like near Deir ez-Zor, or let Afghan Talibs escape. The USA believes that they have a right to attack civilians of Mosul.

“I think that the US will continue doing this, especially if Hillary Clinton takes office as president. Just remember how happy she was to find out about the death of Muammar Gaddafi. This is an episode of her psychic anomaly. I do not understand how this woman can become president.”

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Selected Articles: Will Hillary Make it to the White House?

October 31st, 2016 by Global Research News

Hillary e-mail

The Real Reasons Why FBI Director James Comey Reopened the Hillary Email Investigation

By Joachim Hagopian, October 30 2016

This year’s unending batches of Wiki-leaked DNC/Hillary emails and Project Veritas undercover campaign videos confirm that the entire US political as well as economic system is morally and financially bankrupt, irreparably broken and in need of complete overhaul. Voter fraud and election fraud are rampant. Soros funded electronic voting machines that are preprogrammed to vote for Hillary are operating in 16 key battleground states. America’s internal house now is in total disarray, badly in need of a deep cleaning purge like never before.

FBI clinton

Will She Make it to the White House? Waning Mainstream Media Support for Hillary Clinton.

By Prof Michel Chossudovsky, October 31 2016

What has been the response of the mainstream media which sofar has endorsed Hillary through a process of coverup of her criminal undertakings? Without mainstream media propaganda, Hillary’s political legitimacy would collapse like a deck of cards. The Second Letter by FBI Director James Comey opens up a “Pandora’s Box” of  fraud and corruption. Moreover, following the October Surprise release by FBI Director James Comey, the media narrative seems to have taken on a different slant.

hillary-clinton

Will FBI Director Comey’s October Surprise Derail Hillary’s White House Bid?

By Stephen Lendman, October 30 2016

Having closed his earlier investigation into Hillary’s use of her private email server for classified State Department documents without bringing charges, dismissing indictable evidence, it’s hard imagining a shift of agency policy now. So what’s going on? Is FBI Director Comey trying to save face, even at this late stage, having tarnished the reputation of the agency and himself. The fullness of time will show what he has in mind.

clinton

Dirty Election Tactics and the October Surprise

By Adeyinka Makinde, October 31 2016

The American presidential selection process with its debates and dirty election tactics including the ‘October Surprise’ enthralls an electorate that is severely divided by its ideological and identitarian positions and which continues to invest its hopes in the supposedly transformative powers invested in the office of president. But they are being ruthlessly played by a system in which ‘change’ is an illusion and will remain elusive if the system is not subject to root and branch reform.

clinton H

The FBI Intervenes: James Comey and Hillary Clinton’s Emails

By Dr. Binoy Kampmark, October 31 2016

On Friday, Director James B. Comey sent a letter to the US Congress noting that he was wishing, due to “recent developments” to “supplement” previous testimony on the previous and closed investigation into Clinton’s use of a private server. “In connection with an unrelated case, the FBI has learned of the existence of emails that appear to be pertinent to the investigation.”

Hillary-Clinton-6-septembre-2016

650,000 Emails Found On Anthony Weiner’s Laptop; DOJ Blocked Clinton Foundation Probe

By Tyler Durden, October 31 2016

Yesterday, we reported that the FBI has found “tens of thousands of emails” belonging to Huma Adein on Anthony Weiner’s computer, raising questions how practical it is that any conclusive finding will be available or made by the FBI in the few days left before the elections. Now, according to the WSJ, it appears that Federal agents are preparing to scour roughly 650,000 emails that, as we reported moments ago were discovered weeks ago on the laptop of Anthony Weiner.

FBI clinton

Constitutional Law Expert: FBI Director Comey Did NOT Violate Law By Announcing Email Investigation

By Washington’s Blog, October 31 2016

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid alleges that FBI Director Comey has violated the law by announcing the re-opened investigation into Clinton emails so close to the presidential election. Is he right?

Hillary_Clinton_(24338774540)

Video: Hillary Clinton, A Threat to All Humanity. World War III is “On the Table”. Her Candidacy Must be Opposed

By James Corbett, October 31 2016

The world looks on in horror as Hillary Clinton heads to Philadelphia to be nominated as the Democratic Party’s candidate for the presidency. Yet the leading lights of the “progressive” movement argue that it is the left’s duty to vote for this neocon warmonger. But the consequences may well lead directly to nuclear war.

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Constitutional Law Expert: FBI Director Comey Did NOT Violate Law By Announcing Email Investigation

October 31st, 2016 by Washington's Blog

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid alleges that FBI Director Comey has violated the law by announcing the re-opened investigation into Clinton emails so close to the presidential election.

Is he right?

According to one of the top constitutional law experts in the United States (and a liberal), Professor Jonathan Turley, the answer is no:

[Reid’s] allegation is in my view wildly misplaced. Reid is arguing that the actions of FBI Director James B. Comey violates the Hatch Act. I cannot see a plausible, let alone compelling, basis for such a charge against Comey.

In his letter to Comey, Reid raised the the Hatch Act, which prohibits partisan politicking by government employees.

5 U.S.C. § 7323(a)(1) prohibits a government employee from “us[ing] his official authority or influence for the purpose of interfering with or affecting the result of an election.”

Reid argued:

“Your actions in recent months have demonstrated a disturbing double standard for the treatment of sensitive information, with what appears to be a clear intent to aid one political party over another. I am writing to inform you that my office has determined that these actions may violate the Hatch Act, which bars FBI officials from using their official authority to influence an election. Through your partisan actions, you may have broken the law.”

The reference to “months” is curious. Comey has kept Congress informed in compliance with oversight functions of the congressional committees but has been circumspect in the extent of such disclosures. It is troubling to see Democrats (who historically favor both transparency and checks on executive powers) argue against such disclosure and cooperation with oversight committees. More importantly, the Hatch Act is simply a dog that will not hunt.

Richard W. Painter, a law professor at the University of Minnesota and the chief ethics lawyer in the George W. Bush White House from 2005 to 2007, has filed a Hatch Act complaint against Comey with the federal Office of Special Counsel and Office of Government Ethics. He argues that “We cannot allow F.B.I. or Justice Department officials to unnecessarily publicize pending investigations concerning candidates of either party while an election is underway.”

However, Comey was between the horns of a dilemma. He could be accused of acts of commission in making the disclosure or omission in withholding the disclosure in an election year. Quite frankly, I found Painter’s justification for his filing remarkably speculative. He admits that he has no evidence to suggest that Comey wants to influence the election or favors either candidate. Intent is key under the Hatch investigations.  You can disagree with the timing of Comey’s disclosure, but that is not a matter for the Hatch Act or even an ethical charge in my view.

Congress passed the Hatch Act in response to scandals during the 1938 congressional elections and intended the Act to bar federal employees from using “[their] official authority or influence for the purpose of interfering with or affecting the result of an election.” Comey is not doing that in communicating with Congress on a matter of oversight.

Such violations under the Hatch Act, even if proven, are not criminal matters. The Office of Special Counsel -can investigate such matters and seek discipline — a matter than can ultimately go before the Merit Systems Protection Board.

CNN confirms:

violators aren’t going to jail: the Hatch Act is not a criminal statute. Instead, it is an administrative constraint on government employees. The law is enforced by a special independent federal agency — the Office of Special Counsel — which is charged with investigating complaint allegations and, where found to be meritorious, either pursuing a settlement with the offending employee or prosecuting their case before the federal agency that oversees internal employment disputes — the Merit Systems Protection Board. And for presidential appointees like Comey, the Office of Special Counsel submits a report of its findings along with the employee’s response to the President, who makes a decision on whether discipline is warranted.

***

The Hatch Act provision most commonly invoked in discussions of Comey’s letter is 5 U.S.C. § 7323(a)(1), which prohibits a government employee from “us[ing] his official authority or influence for the purpose of interfering with or affecting the result of an election.”
The key text is the emphasized phrase — which conditions a violation of the statute on whether the employee’s purpose was to interfere with or affect the result of an election. Thus, the Hatch Act does not focus on the effect of the employee’s conduct, but the intent. To that end, if Comey did not intend to interfere with or affect the upcoming election through his letter to Congress, then he did not violate the letter of the Hatch Act.
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UN Votes To Outlaw Nuclear Weapons In 2017

October 31st, 2016 by International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons

The United Nations adopted a landmark resolution to launch negotiations in 2017  on a treaty outlawing nuclear weapons. This historic decision heralds an end to two decades of paralysis in multilateral nuclear disarmament efforts.

At a meeting of the First Committee of the UN General Assembly, which deals with disarmament and international security matters, 123 nations voted in favour of the resolution, with 38 against and 16 abstaining.

The resolution will set up a UN conference beginning in March next year, open to all member states, to negotiate a “legally binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons, leading towards their total elimination”. The negotiations will continue in June and July.

The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), a civil society coalition active in 100 countries, hailed the adoption of the resolution as a major step forward, marking a fundamental shift in the way that the world tackles this paramount threat.

“For seven decades, the UN has warned of the dangers of nuclear weapons, and people globally have campaigned for their abolition. Today the majority of states finally resolved to outlaw these weapons,” said Beatrice Fihn, executive director of ICAN.

Despite arm-twisting by a number of nuclear-armed states, the resolution was adopted in a landslide. A total of 57 nations were co-sponsors, with Austria, Brazil, Ireland, Mexico, Nigeria and South Africa taking the lead in drafting the resolution.

The UN vote came just hours after the European Parliament adopted its own resolution on this subject – 415 in favour and 124 against, with 74 abstentions – inviting European Union member states to “participate constructively” in next year’s negotiations.

Nuclear weapons remain the only weapons of mass destruction not yet outlawed in a comprehensive and universal manner, despite their well-documented catastrophic humanitarian and environmental impacts.

“A treaty prohibiting nuclear weapons would strengthen the global norm against the use and possession of these weapons, closing major loopholes in the existing international legal regime and spurring long-overdue action on disarmament,” said Fihn.

“Today’s vote demonstrates very clearly that a majority of the world’s nations consider the prohibition of nuclear weapons to be necessary, feasible and urgent. They view it as the most viable option for achieving real progress on disarmament,” she said.

Biological weapons, chemical weapons, anti-personnel landmines and cluster munitions are all explicitly prohibited under international law. But only partial prohibitions currently exist for nuclear weapons.

Nuclear disarmament has been high on the UN agenda since the organization’s formation in 1945. Efforts to advance this goal have stalled in recent years, with nuclear-armed nations investing heavily in the modernization of their nuclear forces.

Twenty years have passed since a multilateral nuclear disarmament instrument was last negotiated: the 1996 Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, which has yet to enter into legal force due to the opposition of a handful of nations.

Today’s resolution, known as L.41, acts upon the key recommendation of a UN working group on nuclear disarmament that met in Geneva this year to assess the merits of various proposals for achieving a nuclear-weapon-free world.

It also follows three major intergovernmental conferences examining the humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons, held in Norway, Mexico and Austria in 2013 and 2014. These gatherings helped reframe the nuclear weapons debate to focus on the harm that such weapons inflict on people.

The conferences also enabled non-nuclear-armed nations to play a more assertive role in the disarmament arena. By the third and final conference, which took place in Vienna in December 2014, most governments had signalled their desire to outlaw nuclear weapons.

Following the Vienna conference, ICAN was instrumental in garnering support for a 127-nation diplomatic pledge, known as the humanitarian pledge, committing governments to cooperate in efforts “to stigmatize, prohibit and eliminate nuclear weapons”.

Throughout this process, victims and survivors of nuclear weapon detonations, including nuclear testing, have contributed actively. Setsuko Thurlow, a survivor of the Hiroshima bombing and an ICAN supporter, has been a leading proponent of a ban.

“This is a truly historic moment for the entire world,” she said following today’s vote. “For those of us who survived the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, it is a very joyous occasion. We have been waiting so long for this day to come.”

“Nuclear weapons are absolutely abhorrent. All nations should participate in the negotiations next year to outlaw them. I hope to be there myself to remind delegates of the unspeakable suffering that nuclear weapons cause. It is all of our responsibility to make sure that such suffering never happens again.”

There are still more than 15,000 nuclear weapons in the world today, mostly in the arsenals of just two nations: the United States and Russia. Seven other nations possess nuclear weapons: Britain, France, China, Israel, India, Pakistan and North Korea.

Most of the nine nuclear-armed nations voted against the UN resolution. Many of their allies, including those in Europe that host nuclear weapons on their territory as part of a NATO arrangement, also failed to support the resolution.

But the nations of Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, Southeast Asia and the Pacific voted overwhelmingly in favour of the resolution, and are likely to be key players at the negotiating conference in New York next year.

On Monday, 15 Nobel Peace Prize winners urged nations to support the negotiations and to bring them “to a timely and successful conclusion so that we can proceed rapidly toward the final elimination of this existential threat to humanity”.

The International Committee of the Red Cross has also appealed to governments to support this process, stating on 12 October that the international community has a “unique opportunity” to achieve a ban on the “most destructive weapon ever invented”.

“This treaty won’t eliminate nuclear weapons overnight,” concluded Fihn. “But it will establish a powerful new international legal standard, stigmatizing nuclear weapons and compelling nations to take urgent action on disarmament.”

In particular, the treaty will place great pressure on nations that claim protection from an ally’s nuclear weapons to end this practice, which in turn will create pressure for disarmament action by the nuclear-armed nations.

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Will She Make it to the White House? Waning Mainstream Media Support for Hillary Clinton.

October 31st, 2016 by Prof Michel Chossudovsky

What has been the response of the mainstream media which sofar has endorsed Hillary through a process of coverup of her criminal undertakings?

Without mainstream media propaganda, Hillary’s political legitimacy would collapse like a deck of cards. The Second Letter by FBI Director James Comey opens up a “Pandora’s Box” of  fraud and corruption.

Moreover, following the October Surprise release by FBI Director James Comey, the media narrative seems to have taken on a different slant.

The media is controlled by powerful economic interest groups. Are the power brokers behind Hillary having second thoughts? Does it serve their interests in supporting a candidate who has an extensive criminal record? Do they want a dysfunctional presidency?

Has the Mainstream media dumped Hillary? Sofar, Not Yet. With some exceptions the MSM continues to support Hillary candidacy, without applause.

A report by the Chicago Tribune  (October 29, 2016) entitled “Democrats should ask Clinton to step aside” is nonetheless revealing. does it point to shift in direction?  

John Kass (Chicago Tribune), begs the question in no uncertain terms:

Has America become so numb by the decades of lies and cynicism oozing from Clinton Inc. that it could elect Hillary Clinton as president, even after Friday’s FBI announcement that it had reopened an investigation of her emails while secretary of state?

We’ll find out soon enough.

It’s obvious the American political system is breaking down. It’s been crumbling for some time now, and the establishment elite know it and they’re properly frightened. Donald Trump, the vulgarian at their gates, is a symptom, not a cause. Hillary Clinton and husband Bill are both cause and effect.

FBI director James Comey‘s announcement about the renewed Clinton email investigation is the bombshell in the presidential campaign. That he announced this so close to Election Day should tell every thinking person that what the FBI is looking at is extremely serious.

This can’t be about pervert Anthony Weiner and his reported desire for a teenage girl. But it can be about the laptop of Weiner’s wife, Clinton aide Huma Abedin, and emails between her and Hillary. It comes after the FBI investigation in which Comey concluded Clinton had lied and been “reckless” with national secrets, but said he could not recommend prosecution.

So what should the Democrats do now?

They would demand that Mrs. Clinton step down, immediately, and let her vice presidential nominee, Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, stand in her place.

Democrats should say, honestly, that with a new criminal investigation going on into events around her home-brew email server from the time she was secretary of state, having Clinton anywhere near the White House is just not a good idea.

Since Oct. 7, WikiLeaks has released 35,000 emails hacked from Clinton campaign boss John Podesta. Now WikiLeaks, no longer a neutral player but an active anti-Clinton agency, plans to release another 15,000 emails.

What if she is elected? Think of a nation suffering a bad economy and continuing chaos in the Middle East, and now also facing a criminal investigation of a president. Add to that congressional investigations and a public vision of Clinton as a Nixonian figure wandering the halls, wringing her hands.

The best thing would be for Democrats to ask her to step down now. It would be the most responsible thing to do, if the nation were more important to them than power. And the American news media — fairly or not firmly identified in the public mind as Mrs. Clinton’s political action committee — should begin demanding it.

But what will Hillary do?

She’ll stick and ride this out and turn her anger toward Comey. For Hillary and Bill Clinton, it has always been about power, about the Clinton Restoration and protecting fortunes already made by selling nothing but political influence.

She’ll remind the nation that she’s a woman and that Donald Trump said terrible things about women. If there is another notorious Trump video to be leaked, the Clintons should probably leak it now. Then her allies in media can talk about misogyny and sexual politics and the headlines can be all about Trump as the boor he is and Hillary as champion of female victims, which she has never been.

Remember that Bill Clinton leveraged the “Year of the Woman.” Then he preyed on women in the White House and Hillary protected him. But the political left — most particularly the women of the left — defended him because he promised to protect abortion rights and their other agendas.

If you take a step back from tribal politics, you’ll see that Mrs. Clinton has clearly disqualified herself from ever coming near classified information again. If she were a young person straight out of grad school hoping to land a government job, Hillary Clinton would be laughed out of Washington with her record. She’d never be hired.

As secretary of state she kept classified documents on the home-brew server in her basement, which is against the law. She lied about it to the American people. She couldn’t remember details dozens of times when questioned by the FBI. Her aides destroyed evidence by BleachBit and hammers. Her husband, Bill, met secretly on an airport tarmac with Attorney General Loretta Lynch for about a half-hour, and all they said they talked about was golf and the grandkids.

Is the Chicago Tribune alone in pulling the plug on Hillary?

Washington Post Headlines, October 28, 2016

While most MSM continue to endorse Hillary’s candidacy, the reports suggest that, despite her lead in the polls, she will not make it to the White House. This shift is fundamental. Without media disinformation in support of her candidacy, Hillary is doomed. “How badly is Clinton hurt by all of this?” asks the Washington Post:

“It depends on what we learn and when we learn it. But there’s no way this is anything but bad news for Clinton with just 11 days left before Americans go to the polls.”

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Hillary: “They Must Have Something Significant For the FBI to Reopen the Investigation”

October 31st, 2016 by Washington's Blog

Image: FBI Director James Comey

Washington’s Blog asked the NSA executive who created the agency’s mass surveillance program for digital information, who served as the senior technical director within the agency, who managed six thousand NSA employees, the 36-year NSA veteran widely regarded as a “legend” within the agency and the NSA’s best-ever analyst and code-breaker, who mapped out the Soviet command-and-control structure before anyone else knew how, and so predicted Soviet invasions before they happened (“in the 1970s, he decrypted the Soviet Union’s command system, which provided the US and its allies with real-time surveillance of all Soviet troop movements and Russian atomic weapons”), Bill Binney:

– what he thought about the FBI’s announcement that it was re-opening the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails.

He told us:

They must have something significant for the FBI to reopen the investigation. Plus I think [FBI Director] Comey had to inform congress of his incomplete testimony to them or else he could be charged with perjury to congress and impeached.

***

Any way you look at it, FBI has a black black eye over this.  I have been saying for a long time that when you couple secret intelligence agencies with the police, you get a secret police.  In German, that’s a GESTAPO (meaning “State Secret Police”).  Plus, when you add to that what the DOJ has been doing relative to this, you have a Department of “Just Us.”  Not good for the citizens of this or any other country.

Similarly, one of the two reporters who broke the Watergate story which led to the resignation of Richard Nixon (Carl Bernstein)  says:

We don’t know what this means yet except that it’s a real bombshell. And it is unthinkable that the Director of the FBI would take this action lightly, that he would put this letter forth to the Congress of the United States saying there is more information out there about classified e-mails and call it to the attention of congress unless it was something requiring serious investigation.

 

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Dirty Election Tactics and the October Surprise

October 31st, 2016 by Adeyinka Makinde

The American presidential selection process with its debates and dirty election tactics including the ‘October Surprise’ enthralls an electorate that is severely divided by its ideological and identitarian positions and which continues to invest its hopes in the supposedly transformative powers invested in the office of president. But they are being ruthlessly played by a system in which ‘change’ is an illusion and will remain elusive if the system is not subject to root and branch reform.

Well it is October, and the idea of springing an ‘October Surprise’ in the presidential election season in order to alternatively damage and boost the prospects of a presidential candidate has become something of an election pastime.

Quite a few alleged ‘October Surprises’ are still subject to heated debate and have defied resolution so far as the issue of origin and intent are concerned. These include the allegation that Henry Kissinger and Richard Nixon sabotaged peace talks with the Viet Cong to do down Hubert Humphrey’s prospects in 1968, and that Ronald Reagan’s team made a deal with the Iranian mullahs not to release the US hostages until after the 1980 election.

In more recent times, the Benghazi incident of September 2012 is suspected by some to have been triggered by an internecine struggle within the US intelligence community. A ‘Mormon’ faction of the CIA is claimed to have orchestrated events so as to favour the Republican presidential candidate, Mitt Romney while he campaigned against the incumbent Barack Obama.

So is FBI director James Comey’s decision to reopen the inquiry into the Hillary Clinton e-mail scandal one in a long line of October surprises? It certainly bears the hallmarks of one.

But for what ultimate reason?

It could be because Comey himself may have Republican Party sympathies and has done it solely for partisan reasons. Alternatively, it could be because a faction of the American ruling elite have decided at the last minute to ditch Hillary Clinton in favour of Donald Trump because they see Trump as someone who will nonetheless enable them to fulfill their goals.

For instance, even if Trump wants rapprochement with Russia, the US oligarchs can still have a war with Iran. And if they are crazy enough to risk war with Russia, they can risk one against China. Trump’s bellicose comments regarding Iran and China make these goals attainable.

The American empire continually seeks to assert control over the monetary and natural resources of other nations. Preserving the precedence of the dollar as the global reserve currency as well as initiating the destruction or marginalisation of recalcitrant nations remains a priority if its post-World War economic domination and its hegemony in the post-Cold War unipolar system are both to be sustained.

There is an indubitable logic behind the argument that a victory by either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump, two of the most unattractive candidates in recent history,  cannot substantively alter the course of the United States. The political system will remain corrupt if there is no reform of electoral rules enabling politicians to be bought by the highest bidder.

Added to the malady of ‘pork barrel’ politicians is the fact that economic markets are rigged by the Federal reserve and by the U.S. Treasury. The financial sector of the United States is geared towards extracting economic surplus and capitalizing on debt obligations paying interest to that sector.

The governance of America is effectively one which is structured to serve the interests of an oligarchy. And while some have poured scorn on making an analogy between the resultant hierarchy of class relationships to that of a feudal order, surveys back up the claim that government policies do not often reflect the needs of the mass of people. Surveys, such as that conducted by political scientists Martin Gilens and Benjamin Page, show that the majority of the American public have little influence over the policies adopted by incumbent administrations. The views of rich people have a much greater impact on policy decisions than those of middle-income and poor Americans.

The presidents and prime ministers of the Western democracies effectively work for the mega-banks and powerful corporations. While a President Donald Trump may set a different tone in the White House, he will not be able to overcome the fundamental workings of the system. While Hillary Clinton is correctly seen as a career politician immersed in the system, Trump, it should be reminded, is a product of the same system.

It is not difficult to work out the control exercised by banks and corporations on those in political office because they ensure that politicians are effectively on their payroll through campaign donations and remunerations paid for speaking engagements. This ensures that the holder of the office of president and those who sit on congressional committees will do their bidding. As Huey Long, the one time Louisiana state governor and senator once put it, officeholders are “dime a dozen punks.”

The Mega-banks such as Goldman Sachs, the large corporations such as those attached to the military industrial complex such as Lockheed Martin, the extractive industries as illustrated by the activities of the Koch brothers, and powerful interest lobbies such as those concerned with Israel, are all complicit in influencing government legislation and policies which may often run counter to the public interest.

These include the formulating of international trade agreements that are detrimental to American workers and consumers, the approval of projects which are not environmentally sound, adherence to ‘too-big-to-fail’ policies involving public-funded bailouts, the failure to prosecute criminally culpable bankers and the promotion of American interventions in foreign countries in the form of fomenting internal insurrections and the use of the United States armed forces in wars.

The notion that government works on behalf of big business is not a new one. Indeed, American history is replete with examples of where its intelligence agencies have been deployed or its military has been used to enforce the interests of corporations. Aside from the Cold War interpretations given to the machinations of the Dulles Brothers during the Eisenhower years, both were behind the overthrow of the governments of Iran and Guatemala, respectively in 1953 and 1954, for the benefit of American corporations. Their association with the powerful law firm Sullivan and Cromwell provides an example of the link between big business and government policymaking. Both had been corporate lawyers and the companies they worked for benefited from regime change.

American oil firms were well represented among a consortium of businesses in a renegotiated oil deal with the American-backed regime in Iran while the United Fruit Company reclaimed its fiefdom in Guatemala. The intention of restoring American corporate interests was crucial to the attempt to invade Cuba and destroy the Castro government as it was in the case of the successful violent overthrow of the government of Salvatore Allende in Chile in 1973.

The use of the US military as enforcers of America’s corporate interests is also nothing new. General Smedley Butler, in ‘War is a Racket’, plainly admitted that he was a “gangster for capitalism”; a racketeer for big business as represented by Wall Street and the mega-banks. This has been an important factor in the United States reinforcing its dominance both hemispherically and globally.

Today, the animosity towards Russia and the resulting dangerously confrontational policy towards this nuclear armed power via the fomenting of conflicts on its borders as well as resistance to Russian anti-Jihadist action is Syria is rooted in Russia having broken away from the economic stranglehold held by United States corporate interests during the tenure of Boris Yeltsin. It is an animosity set to endure so long as the United States cannot control Russia’s oil, natural resources and public utilities.

Notwithstanding Trump’s conciliatory approach towards Russia, the war agenda, which has markedly contributed to the national debt, will continue regardless of who is elected in November. The Turkish invasion and increased American activity in parts of Syria have been designed to effectively partition the country and keep the conflict going, making it difficult for a President Trump to reach an accommodation with Russia. Any appointments made by Trump would have to be approved by the lobby-controlled Congress and he would have to rely on many civil servants in the mould of Victoria Nuland, the arch-neoconservative behind the 2014 coup in Ukraine, who has served both Republican and Democrat administrations

The present election campaign has brought into sharp focus the subversion of the democratic process in the interests of those who make major contributions to aspirants for political office. It demonstrates how the party political system, a duopoly of Democrat and Republican parties, both beholden to Wall Street interests, does not serve the needs of the overwhelming majority of the population.

Neither candidate has specifically advocated a concrete course of action that would negate the effect of the Supreme Court decision in the case of Citizens United of 2010 which allowed unlimited money in the electoral process, including that of a constitutional amendment. Although Trump once mentioned that the Federal Reserve should be audited, neither he nor Clinton have made any proposals in relation to constricting the modus operandi of the financial markets.

In the meantime, the American electorate continues to bicker over ideological and identitarian positions and invest their hopes and energies in the supposedly transformative powers invested in the presidency.

Americans need to wise up on the fact that they are being played by a ruthless system. ‘Change’ is an illusion and will remain elusive if the system is not subject to root and branch reform. Election debates, fomented scandals and October surprises notwithstanding, nothing will change in America until there is a fundamental rewiring of the existing political and economic structures.

Anything short of this means they are acting merely as cheerleaders within an elaborate dupe posing as democracy.

Adeyinka Makinde is a writer based in London, England

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650,000 Emails Found On Anthony Weiner’s Laptop; DOJ Blocked Clinton Foundation Probe

October 31st, 2016 by Zero Hedge

Yesterday, we reported that the FBI has found “tens of thousands of emails” belonging to Huma Adein on Anthony Weiner’s computer, raising questions how practical it is that any conclusive finding will be available or made by the FBI in the few days left before the elections

Now, according to the WSJ, it appears that Federal agents are preparing to scour roughly 650,000 emails that, as we reported moments ago were discovered weeks ago on the laptop of Anthony Weiner, to see how many relate to a prior probe of Hillary Clinton’s email use, as metadata on the device suggests there may be thousands sent to or from the private server that the Democratic nominee used while she was secretary of state, according to people familiar with the matter.

As the WSJ adds, the review will take weeks at a minimum to determine whether those messages are work-related emails between Huma Abedin, a close Clinton aide and the estranged wife of Mr. Weiner, and State Department officials; how many are duplicates of emails already reviewed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and whether they include either classified information or important new evidence in the Clinton email probe, which FBI officials call “Midyear.”

And, as we further reported earlier today, the FBI has had to await a court order to begin reviewing the emails, because they were uncovered in an unrelated probe of Mr. Weiner, and that order was delayed for reasons that remain unclear.

More stunning is just how many emails were found on Weiner’s computer. And while one can only imagine the content of some of the more persona ones, the WSJ writes that the latest development began in early October when New York-based FBI officials notified Andrew McCabe, the bureau’s second-in-command, that while investigating Mr. Weiner for possibly sending sexually charged messages to a minor, they had recovered a laptop with 650,000 emails. Many, they said, were from the accounts of Ms. Abedin, according to people familiar with the matter.

Those emails stretched back years, these people said, and were on a laptop that both Mr. Weiner and Ms. Abedin used and that hadn’t previously come up in the Clinton email probe. Ms. Abedin said in late August that the couple were separating.

The FBI had searched the computer while looking for child pornography, people familiar with the matter said, but the warrant they used didn’t give them authority to search for matters related to Mrs. Clinton’s email arrangement at the State Department. Mr. Weiner has denied sending explicit or indecent messages to the teenager.

As reported yesterday, it appears that there are potentially tens of thousands of Abedin linked emails on Weiner’s computer:

 In their initial review of the laptop, the metadata showed many messages, apparently in the thousands, that were either sent to or from the private email server at Mrs. Clinton’s home that had been the focus of so much investigative effort for the FBI. Senior FBI officials decided to let the Weiner investigators proceed with a closer examination of the metadata on the computer, and report back to them.

The WSJ then connects the dots between how the Weiner emails were linked to the Clinton reopening of the Clinton probe, despite Loretta Lynch’s and the DOJ’s vocal urges not to do so:

At a meeting early last week of senior Justice Department and FBI officials, a member of the department’s senior national-security staff asked for an update on the Weiner laptop, the people familiar with the matter said. At that point, officials realized that no one had acted to obtain a warrant, these people said. 

Mr. McCabe then instructed the email investigators to talk to the Weiner investigators and see whether the laptop’s contents could be relevant to the Clinton email probe, these people said. After the investigators spoke, the agents agreed it was potentially relevant. 

Mr. Comey was given an update, decided to go forward with the case and notified Congress on Friday, with explosive results. Senior Justice Department officials had warned Mr. Comey that telling Congress would violate well-established policies against overt actions that could affect an election, and some within the FBI have been unhappy at Mr. Comey’s repeated public statements on the probe, going back to his first press conference on the subject in July.

But wait it gets better.

Recall that this is the same Andrew Mcabe whose wife the Wall Street Journal reported last week received $467,500 in campaign funds in late 2015 from the political action committee of Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a longtime ally of the Clintons and, until he was elected governor in November 2013, a Clinton Foundation board member.

 Mr. McAuliffe had supported Dr. McCabe in the hopes she and a handful of other Democrats might help win a majority in the state Senate, giving Mr. McAuliffe more sway in the state capitol. Dr. McCabe lost her race last November, and Democrats failed to win their majority.

FBI officials have said Mr. McCabe had no role in the Clinton email probe until he became deputy director, and there was no conflict of interest because by then his wife’s campaign was over.

Which brings us to the second big topic: the Clinton Foundation, and how the DOJ made sure that particular probe never made the light of day. At the same time as the Clinton server was being investigated, other Clinton-related investigations were under way within the FBI, and they have been the subject of internal debate for months.

 Early this year, four FBI field offices—New York, Los Angeles, Washington and Little Rock, Ark.—were collecting information about the Clinton Foundation to see if there was evidence of financial crimes or influence-peddling, according to people familiar with the matter.

The WSJ touches on something fasctinating: Los Angeles agents had picked up information about the Clinton Foundation from an unrelated public corruption case and had issued some subpoenas for bank records related to the foundation, these people said. So where did that trail go? Apparently nowhere.

 The Washington field office was probing financial relationships involving Mr. McAuliffe before he became a Clinton Foundation board member, these people said. Mr. McAuliffe has denied any wrongdoing, and his lawyer has said the probe is focused on whether he failed to register as an agent of a foreign entity. The FBI field office in New York had done the most work on the Clinton  Foundation case and received help from the FBI field office in Little Rock, the people familiar with the matter said.

In February, FBI officials made a presentation to the Justice Department, according to these people. By all accounts, the meeting didn’t go well.

Some said that is because the FBI didn’t present compelling evidence to justify more aggressive pursuit of the Clinton Foundation, and that the career public integrity prosecutors in the room simply believed it wasn’t a very strong case. Others said that from the start, the Justice Department officials were stern, icy and dismissive of the case. 

“That was one of the weirdest meetings I’ve ever been to,” one participant told others afterward, according to people familiar with the matter.

Needless to say, the probe into the Foundation faded.

But back to the Clinton probe, according to a person familiar with the probes, on Aug. 12, a senior Justice Department official called Mr. McCabe to voice his displeasure at finding that New York FBI agents were still openly pursuing the Clinton Foundation probe, despite the department’s refusal to allow more aggressive investigative methods in the case. Mr. McCabe said agents still had the authority to pursue the issue as long as they didn’t use those methods.

At this point a question emerges: did McCabe seek to defend or press on with a Clinton probe:

Mr. McCabe’s defenders in the agency said that following the call, he repeated the instruction that he had given earlier in the Clinton Foundation investigation: Agents were to keep pursuing the work within the authority they had.

Others further down the FBI chain of command, however, said agents were given a much starker instruction on the case: “Stand down.” When agents questioned why they weren’t allowed to take more aggressive steps, they said they were told the order had come from the deputy director—Mr. McCabe. Others familiar with the matter deny Mr. McCabe or any other senior FBI official gave such a stand-down instruction.

At this point the two probes, into Hillary’s email and the Clinton Foundation converged:

For agents who already felt uneasy about FBI leadership’s handling of the Clinton Foundation case, the moment only deepened their concerns, these people said. For those who felt the probe hadn’t yet found significant evidence of criminal conduct, the leadership’s approach was the right response to the facts on the ground.

Things accelerated over the past two months, when in September, agents on the foundation case asked to see the emails contained on nongovernment laptops that had been searched as part of the Clinton email case, but that request was rejected by prosecutors at the Eastern District of New York, in Brooklyn. Those emails were given to the FBI based on grants of partial immunity and limited-use agreements, meaning agents could only use them for the purpose of investigating possible mishandling of classified information.

Some FBI agents were dissatisfied with that answer, and asked for permission to make a similar request to federal prosecutors in Manhattan, according to people familiar with the matter. Mr. McCabe, these people said, told them no and added that they could not “go prosecutor-shopping.”

Not long after that discussion, FBI agents informed the bureau’s leaders about the Weiner laptop, prompting Mr. Comey’s disclosure to Congress and setting of the furor that promises to consume the final days of a tumultuous campaign

While much of the latest developments are known, or could have been inferred assuming more corruption within government agencies, the punchline is that the weeks if not months of upcoming work means that if Clinton wins the White House, she will likely do so amid at least one ongoing investigation into her inner circle being handled by law-enforcement officials who are deeply divided over how to manage such cases. It also means that Trump will be hounding Hilllary for the remainder of the campaign as being the only presidential candidate to seek election with a recently reopened criminal probe hanging over her head.

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The De Facto US-Al Qaeda Alliance. The Unspoken Reality of the Syrian War

October 31st, 2016 by Robert Parry

A curious aspect of the Syrian conflict – a rebellion sponsored largely by the United States and its Gulf state allies – is the disappearance in much of the American mainstream news media of references to the prominent role played by Al Qaeda in seeking to overthrow the secular Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad.

There’s much said in the U.S. press about ISIS, the former “Al Qaeda in Iraq” which splintered off several years ago, but Al Qaeda’s central role in commanding Syria’s “moderate” rebels in Aleppo and elsewhere is the almost unspoken reality of the Syrian war. Even in the U.S. presidential debates, the arguing between Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton has been almost exclusively about ISIS, not Al Qaeda.

The World Trade Center’s Twin Towers burning on 9/11. (Photo credit: National Park Service)

Though Al Qaeda got the ball rolling on America’s revenge wars in the Middle East 15 years ago by killing several thousand Americans and others in the 9/11 attacks, the terrorist group has faded into the background of U.S. attention, most likely because it messes up the preferred “good guy/bad guy” narrative regarding the Syrian war.

For instance, the conflict in Aleppo between Syrian government forces and rebels operating primarily under Al Qaeda’s command is treated in the Western media as simply a case of the barbaric Assad and his evil Russian ally Vladimir Putin mercilessly bombing what is portrayed as the east Aleppo equivalent of Disney World, a place where innocent children and their families peacefully congregate until they are targeted for death by the Assad-Putin war-crime family.

The photos sent out to the world by skillful rebel propagandists are almost always of wounded children being cared for by the “White Helmet” rebel civil defense corps, which has come under growing criticism for serving as a public-relations arm of Al Qaeda and other insurgents. (There also are allegations that some of the most notable images have been staged, like a fake war scene from the 1997 dark comedy, “Wag the Dog.”)

Rare Glimpse of Truth

Yet, occasionally, the reality of Al Qaeda’s importance in the rebellion breaks through, even in the mainstream U.S. media, although usually downplayed and deep inside the news pages, such as the A9 article in Saturday’s New York Times by Hwaida Saad and Anne Barnard describing a rebel offensive in Aleppo. It acknowledges:

A fake war scene in the dark 1997 comedy “Wag the Dog,” which showed a girl and her cat fleeing a bombardment in Albania.

“The new offensive was a strong sign that rebel groups vetted by the United States were continuing their tactical alliances with groups linked to Al Qaeda, rather than distancing themselves as Russia has demanded and the Americans have urged. … The rebels argue that they cannot afford to shun any potential allies while they are under fire, including well-armed and motivated jihadists, without more robust aid from their international backers.” (You might note how the article subtly blames the rebel dependence on Al Qaeda on the lack of “robust aid” from the Obama administration and other outside countries – even though such arms shipments violate international law.)

What the article also makes clear in a hazy kind of way is that Al Qaeda’s affiliate, the recently renamed Nusra Front, and its jihadist allies, such as Ahrar al-Sham, are waging the brunt of the fighting while the CIA-vetted “moderates” are serving in mostly support roles. The Times reported:

“The insurgents have a diverse range of objectives and backers, but they issued statements of unity on Friday. Those taking part in the offensive include the Levant Conquest Front, a militant group formerly known as the Nusra Front that grew out of Al Qaeda; another hard-line Islamist faction, Ahrar al-Sham; and other rebel factions fighting Mr. Assad that have been vetted by the United States and its allies.”

The article cites Charles Lister, a senior fellow and Syria specialist at the Middle East Institute in Washington, and other analysts noting that “the vast majority of the American-vetted rebel factions in Aleppo were fighting inside the city itself and conducting significant bombardments against Syrian government troops in support of the Qaeda-affiliated fighters carrying out the brunt of front-line fighting.”

Lister noted that 11 of the 20 or so rebel groups conducting the Aleppo “offensive have been vetted by the C.I.A. and have received arms from the agency, including anti-tank missiles. …

“In addition to arms provided by the United States, much of the rebels’ weaponry comes from regional states, like Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, Mr. Lister said, including truck-borne multiple-rocket launcher systems and Czech-made Grad rockets with extended ranges.”

The U.S./Al Qaeda Alliance

In other words, the U.S. government and its allies have smuggled sophisticated weapons into Syria to arm rebels who are operating in support of Al Qaeda’s new military offensive against Syrian government forces in Aleppo. By any logical analysis, that makes the United States an ally of Al Qaeda.

A heart-rending propaganda image designed to justify a major U.S. military operation inside Syria against the Syrian military.

The Times article also includes a quote from Genevieve Casagrande, a Syria research analyst from the Institute for the Study of War, a neoconservative “think tank” that has supported more aggressive U.S. military involvement in Syria and the Middle East.

“The unfortunate truth, however, is that these U.S.-backed groups remain somewhat dependent upon the Al Qaeda linked groups for organization and firepower in these operations,” Casagrande said.

The other unfortunate truth is that the U.S.-supplied rebels have served, either directly or indirectly, as conduits to funnel U.S. military equipment and ordnance to Al Qaeda.

One might think that the editors of The New York Times – if they were operating with old-fashioned news judgment rather than with propagandistic blinders on – would have recast the article to highlight the tacit U.S. alliance with Al Qaeda and put that at the top of the front page.

Still, the admissions are significant, confirming what we have reported at Consortiumnews.com for many months, including Gareth Porter’s article last February saying: “Information from a wide range of sources, including some of those the United States has been explicitly supporting, makes it clear that every armed anti-Assad organization unit in those provinces [of Idlib and Aleppo] is engaged in a military structure controlled by [Al Qaeda’s] Nusra militants. All of these rebel groups fight alongside the Nusra Front and coordinate their military activities with it. …

“At least since 2014 the Obama administration has armed a number of Syrian rebel groups even though it knew the groups were coordinating closely with the Nusra Front, which was simultaneously getting arms from Turkey and Qatar.”

Double Standards

The Times article on page A9 also deviated from the normal propaganda themes by allowing a statement by Syrian officials and the Russians regarding their suspension of airstrikes over the past week to permit the evacuation of civilians from east Aleppo and the rebels’ refusal to let people leave, even to the point of firing on the humanitarian corridors:

An Israeli strike caused a huge explosion in a residential area in Gaza during the Israeli assault on Gaza in 2008-2009. (Photo credit: Al Jazeera)

“The [Syrian] government and its [Russian] allies accused the rebels of forcing Aleppo residents to stay, and of using them as human shields.”

The “human shields” argument is one that is common when the United States or its allies are pummeling some city controlled by “enemy” forces whether Israel’s bombardment of Gaza or the U.S. Marines’ leveling of Fallujah in Iraq or the current campaign against ISIS in the Iraqi city of Mosul. In those cases, the horrific civilian bloodshed, including the killing of children by U.S. or allied forces, is blamed on Hamas or Sunni insurgents or ISIS but never on the people dropping the bombs.

An entirely opposite narrative is applied when U.S. adversaries, such as Syria or Russia, are trying to drive terrorists and insurgents out of an urban area. Then, there is usually no reference to “human shields” and all the carnage is blamed on “war crimes” by the U.S. adversaries. That propaganda imperative helps explain why Al Qaeda and its jihadist comrades have been largely whited out of the conflict in Aleppo.

Over the past few years, U.S. regional allies, such as Israel and Saudi Arabia, also have shifted their public attitudes toward Al Qaeda, seeing it as a blunt instrument to smash the so-called “Shiite crescent” reaching from Iran through Syria to Lebanon. For instance, in September 2013, Israel’s Ambassador to the United States Michael Oren, then a close adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, told the Jerusalem Post that Israel favored Syria’s Sunni extremists over President Assad.

“The greatest danger to Israel is by the strategic arc that extends from Tehran, to Damascus to Beirut. And we saw the Assad regime as the keystone in that arc,” Oren told the Jerusalem Post in an interview. “We always wanted Bashar Assad to go, we always preferred the bad guys who weren’t backed by Iran to the bad guys who were backed by Iran.” He said this was the case even if the “bad guys” were with Al Qaeda.

And, in June 2014, speaking as a former ambassador at an Aspen Institute conference, Oren expanded on his position, saying Israel would even prefer a victory by the brutal Islamic State over continuation of the Iranian-backed Assad in Syria. “From Israel’s perspective, if there’s got to be an evil that’s got to prevail, let the Sunni evil prevail,” Oren said.

Warming to Al Qaeda

As Israeli officials shifted toward viewing Al Qaeda and even ISIS as the lesser evils and built a behind-the-scenes alliance with Saudi Arabia and the Sunni states, American neoconservatives also began softening their tone regarding the perpetrators of the 9/11 attacks.

Michael Oren, Israel’s ambassador to the United States.

Across the U.S. foreign policy establishment, pressure built for “regime change” in Damascus even if that risked handing Syria to Sunni jihadists. That strategy hit a road bump in 2014 when ISIS began chopping off the heads of Western hostages in Syria and capturing swathes of territory in Iraq, including Mosul.

That bloody development forced President Barack Obama to begin targeting ISIS militants in both Iraq and Syria, but the neocon-dominated Washington establishment still favored the Israeli-Saudi objective of “regime change” in Syria regardless of how that might help Al Qaeda.

Thus, Al Qaeda’s Nusra Front and its jihadist ally, Ahrar al-Sham, faded into the background under the fiction that the anti-Assad forces were primarily noble “moderates” trying to save the children from the bloodthirsty fiends, Assad and Putin.

Grudgingly, The New York Times, deep inside Saturday’s newspaper, acknowledged at least part of the troubling reality, that the U.S. government has, in effect, allied itself with Al Qaeda terrorists.

[For more background on this issue, see Consortiumnews.com’s “New Group Think for War with Syria/Russia.”]

Investigative reporter Robert Parry broke many of the Iran-Contra stories for The Associated Press and Newsweek in the 1980s. You can buy his latest book, America’s Stolen Narrative, either in print here or as an e-book (from Amazon and barnesandnoble.com).

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The FBI Intervenes: James Comey and Hillary Clinton’s Emails

October 31st, 2016 by Dr. Binoy Kampmark

All is fair in love and war, and this particular electoral battle in US politics has assumed more belligerent proportions than most. Neither Donald Trump nor Hillary Clinton genuinely deserve to be in the White House, but elections are rarely fought, let alone won, on the issue of the deserving.

As the election moves into it’s the cracker phase, Trump is scrapping his way back in the polls, ever the immeasurable factor in this election.  For the establishment, the battle is already won, creating a dangerous sense of entitlement for the Democratic nominee.

That sense of entitlement shone through in the latest fury from the Clinton campaign, nervous about the FBI’s foray into the last days of this election.  As ever, it was that seedy matter of emails sent on a private server when she was Secretary of State that came bobbing back up.

On Friday, Director James B. Comey sent a letter to the US Congress noting that he was wishing, due to “recent developments” to “supplement” previous testimony on the previous and closed investigation into Clinton’s use of a private server. “In connection with an unrelated case, the FBI has learned of the existence of emails that appear to be pertinent to the investigation.”[1]

That unrelated case involved emails discovered on the laptop of disgraced former congressman Anthony D. Weiner, and a Clinton aide and Weiner’s estranged wife, Huma Abedin.  Clinton found herself back in the frame.

Imaginations started to gallop, notably at the open nature of the remarks.  The investigation would involve the old issue of whether classified information had been involved, and whether relevant emails would be pertinent to the investigation.

No sense of scope, length or frame of the investigation was given: “Although the FBI cannot yet assess whether or not this material may be significant, and I cannot predict how long it will take us to complete this additional work, I believe it is important to update your Committees about our efforts in light of my previous testimony.”

Previously, Comey railroaded efforts to bring charges against Clinton’s misuse of classified material despite noting “evidence of potential violations of the statutes regarding the handling of information.”  In so doing, he did acknowledge that prosecutors ponder a “number of factors before bringing charges.” These include “the context of a person’s actions, and how similar situations have been handled in the past” and “the strength of the evidence, especially regarding intent.”

While his then recommendation for non-prosecution was hardly binding on the Attorney-General, it would have been irregular to expect a prosecution in absence of hearty approval from the FBI.  The result, or so thought those manning the barricades of the Clinton campaign, was permitted to rest.

This naturally unleashed a hailstorm of speculation from such figures as Rush Limbaugh, who pondered whether there had been an element of connivance between the Obama administration, Comey and Clinton.  Tom Fitton of Judicial Watch saw “a disconnect between Comey’s devastating findings and his weak recommendation not to prosecute Hillary Clinton.”[2]

This “disconnect” has been a feature of the entire discussion about Email Gate.  For one, President Barack Obama, despite being an enthusiast for prosecuting whistleblowers who disclose classified information for a perceived higher ideal for information transparency, did not see a legal problem with Clinton’s use of a personal email server.

It was “not a situation in which America’s national security was endangered” even if it was imprudent.[3]  Rather confidently, and in a manner befitting premature judgement, Obama insisted in April this year that Clinton “would never intentionally put America in any kind of jeopardy.”

Certain outlets of legal commentary, notably Lawfare, have taken note about the entire background surrounding Comey’s moves as murky and compromising for a range of parties. Attorney-General Loretta Lynch, for one, had been compromised by the President’s certitude on the subject of Clinton’s behaviour, a point made even more complicated by a promise – albeit one made by Clinton – that Lynch would continue to remain AG in her administration.[4]

In then testifying before Congress about his own decision not to prosecute, an investigation was essentially being given dramatic air time.  Truly, we were bearing witness to another Clinton saga, the legal equivalent of constipation in an ailing Republic.  “As a general matter,” lamented Benjamin Wittes of the Brookings Institution, “when prosecutors and investigators decline to indict someone, we don’t want a report, much less congressional oversight of the unindicted conduct.  We want them to shut the heck up.”[5]

There was, however, no shutting up Comey, who is making more electoral history than is customary for a law enforcement organisation. It baffled Clinton, who has persistently wished the email matter to disappear in a confusing haze.  Nor did Comey listen to senior Justice Department officials, who attempted to dissuade the move to send the letter.[6]  “Never in recent history,” claimed the New York Times, “has the FBI been so enmeshed in a presidential race.”[7]

The FBI director’s intervention has already inflicted range of shocks, though it is imprecise to what extent his own announcement will alter set minds or convince the confused.  Trump, most certainly, was emboldened, and the unpopularity contest is set for a few more hiccups prior to the November 8 poll.

Dr. Binoy Kampmark was a Commonwealth Scholar at Selwyn College, Cambridge.  He lectures at RMIT University, Melbourne.  Email: [email protected]

Notes

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Is a War in the Making — A Third World War? Instigated by a Declining Imperial Power

October 31st, 2016 by Dr. Chandra Muzaffar

Is a war in the making — a third world war?

If there is much talk about such a possibility, it is mainly because of the tensions between the United States and Russia. Tensions between the two most powerful nuclear states in the world have never been this high since the end of the Cold War in 1989 and the demise of the Soviet Union in 1991.

There are at least two flash points, one more dangerous than the other. In Eastern Ukraine, Russian backed rebels will not surrender to the US supported regime in Kiev because they see US control over Ukraine as part of a much larger agenda to expand NATO power to the very borders of Russia. This has been happening for some years now.

But it is the Washington-Moscow confrontation in Allepo, Syria which portends to a huge conflagration. The US is protective of major militant groups such as Al-Nusra which has besieged Eastern Allepo  and is seeking to overthrow the Bashar al-Assad government. Washington has also set its sight on ‘regime change’ in Damascus ever since the latter’s determined resistance to Israeli occupation of the strategic Golan Heights in Syria from 1967 onwards. The drive for regime change intensified with the US-Israeli quest for a “new Middle East” following the Anglo-American invasion and occupation of Iraq in 2003. It became more pronounced in 2009 when Bashar al-Assad rejected a proposal to allow a gas pipe-line from Qatar to Europe to pass through his country, a pipe-line which would have reduced Europe’s dependence upon Russia for gas. Russia of course has been a long-standing ally of Syria. Together with Iran and the Lebanese Hezbollah, it is helping the Syrian government to break the siege of Eastern Allepo and to defeat militants in other parts of Syria.

It is obvious that in both instances, in Ukraine and Syria, the US has not been able to achieve what it wants. The US has also been stymied in Southeast Asia where its attempt to re-assert its power through its 2010 ‘Pivot to Asia’ policy has suffered a serious setback as a result of the decision of the new president  of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, to pursue an independent foreign policy that no longer adheres blindly to US interests. At the same time, China continues to expand and enhance its economic strength in Asia and the world through its One Belt One Road (OBOR) projects and the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and via its leadership of BRICS. China’s regional and global economic role is leading to its pronounced presence in security and military matters. As a result of all this, the US’s imperial power has clearly diminished. It is a hegemon in decline.

Source of image: lhvnews.com

It is because it is not prepared to accept its decline that some US generals are threatening to demonstrate US’s military might. If a hegemon is a danger to humankind when it is at its pinnacle, it becomes an even greater threat to peace when its power is diminishing. Like a wounded tiger, it becomes even more furious and ferocious. A new US president may be inclined to give vent to this frustration through an arrogant display of military power.

How can we check such wanton arrogance?  There will be elements in the elite stratum of US society itself who would be opposed to the US going to war. We saw a bit of this in 2013 when those who were itching to launch military strikes against Syria based upon dubious “evidence” of the government’s use of chemical weapons were thwarted by others with a saner view of the consequences of war. It is also important to observe that none of the US’s major allies in Europe wants a war. Burdened by severe challenges related to the economy and migration, the governments know that their citizens will reject any move towards war either on the borders of Russia or in Syria and West Asia.

This also suggests that a self-absorbed European citizenry may not have the enthusiasm to mobilise against an imminent war. Let us not forget that it was in European cities from London to Berlin that the biggest demonstrations against the war in Iraq took place in 2003. Anti-war protests will have to be initiated elsewhere this time.

Governments in Moscow and Beijing, in Tehran and Jakarta, in Pretoria and La Paz, should come out openly against war. They should encourage other governments in the Global South and the Global North to denounce any move towards a war that will engulf the whole of humanity. Citizens all over the world should condemn war through a variety of strategies ranging from signature campaigns and letters to the media to public rallies and street demonstrations.

In this campaign against an imminent war, the media, both conventional and alternative, will have a huge role to play. It is unfortunate that well-known media outlets in the West have supported war in the past. It is time that they atone for their sins!

Dr. Chandra Muzaffar is the President of the International Movement for a Just World (JUST).

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What Keeps the F-35 Fighter Jet Alive…

October 31st, 2016 by David Swanson

Imagine if a local business in your town invented a brand new tool that was intended to have an almost magical effect thousands of miles away. However, where the tool was kept and used locally became an area unsafe for children. Children who got near this tool tended to have increased blood pressure and increased stress hormones, lower reading skills, poorer memories, impaired auditory and speech perception, and impaired academic performance.

Most of us would find this situation at least a little concerning, unless the new invention was designed to murder lots of people. Then it’d be just fine.

Now, imagine if this same new tool ruined neighborhoods because people couldn’t safely live near it. Imagine if the government had to compensate people but kick them out of living near the location of this tool. Again, I think, we might find that troubling if mass murder were not the mission.

Imagine also that this tool fairly frequently explodes, emitting highly toxic chemicals, particles, and fibers unsafe to breathe into the air for miles around. Normally, that’d be a problem. But if this tool is needed for killing lots of people, we’ll work with its flaws, won’t we?

Now, what if this new gadget was expected to cost at least $1,400,000,000,000 over 50 years? And what if that money had to be taken away from numerous other expenses more beneficial for the economy and the world?

What if the $1.4 trillion was drained out of the economy causing a loss of jobs and a radical diminution of resources for education, healthcare, housing, environmental protection, or humanitarian aid? Wouldn’t that be a worry in some cases, I mean in those cases where the ability to kill tons of human beings wasn’t at stake?

What if this product, even when working perfectly, was a leading destroyer of the earth’s natural environment?

What if this high-tech toy wasn’t even designed to do what was expected of it and wasn’t even able to do what it was designed for?

Amazingly, even those shortcomings do not matter as long as the intention is massive murder and destruction. Then, all is forgiven.

The tool I’m describing is called the F-35 Fighter Lightening II by Lockheed Martin. At RootsAction.org you can find a new petition launched by locally-minded people acting globally in places where the F-35 is intended to be based. Also at that link you’ll find explanations of how the tool I’ve been decribing is the F-35.

The petition is directed to the United States Congress and the governments of Australia, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Turkey, the United Kingdom, Israel, Japan and South Korea from the world and from the people of Burlington, Vermont, and Fairbanks, Alaska, where the F-35 is to be based. This effort is being initiated by Vermont Stop the F35 Coalition, Save Our Skies Vermont, Western Maine Matters, Alaska Peace Center, University of Alaska Fairbanks Peace Club, North Star Chapter 146 Veterans For Peace, World Beyond War, RootsAction.org, Code Pink, and Ben Cohen.

The petition reads:

The F-35 is a weapon of offensive war, serving no defensive purpose. It is planned to cost the U.S. $1.4 trillion over 50 years. Because starvation on earth could be ended for $30 billion and the lack of clean drinking water for $11 billion per year, it is first and foremost through the wasting of resources that this airplane will kill. Military spending, contrary to popular misconception, also hurts the U.S. economy (see here) and other economies. The F-35 causes negative health impacts and cognitive impairment in children living near its bases. It renders housing near airports unsuitable for residential use. It has a high crash rate and horrible consequences to those living in the area of its crashes. Its emissions are a major environmental polluter.

Wars are endangering the United States and other participating nations rather than protecting them. Nonviolent tools of law, diplomacy, aid, crisis prevention, and verifiable nuclear disarmament should be substituted for continuing counterproductive wars. Therefore, we, the undersigned, call for the immediate cancellation of the F-35 program as a whole, and the immediate cancellation of plans to base any such dangerous and noisy jets near populated areas. We oppose replacing the F-35 with any other weapon or basing the F-35 in any other locations. We further demand redirection of the money for the F-35 back into taxpayers’ pockets, and into environmental and human needs in the U.S., other F-35 customer nations, and around the world, including to fight climate change, pay off student debt, rebuild crumbling infrastructure, and improve education, healthcare, and housing.

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Saudi Arabia and Turkey Support the Terrorists: Jaish Al-Fatah Leader Admits Receiving Financial, Military Aid from Saudi Arabia

October 31st, 2016 by American Herald Tribune

According to the Syrian dissidents’ news website, Enab, Muhaysini has released a video recently in which he appreciated Riyadh and other Arab states for equipping his comrades with missiles.

The Saudi preacher said that the missiles that they have sent would be used to break the Syrian army and its allies’ siege of Aleppo.

He also thanked Turkey for supporting the terrorists and treating the wounded militants in its hospitals.

Jaish al-Fatah is a conglomerate of terrorist groups with Al-Nusra (Fatah Al-Sham) Front comprising its main body.

In relevant remarks in June, a source said that Saudi Arabia has sent new cargoes of weapons and financial aid to the terrorists in Aleppo in Northern Syria to strengthen them against the Syrian army and its allies’ fresh attacks.

“The Saudi regime has recently sent small arms and new equipment, including 5 drones, to the terrorists in Syria,” the source said.

To this end, Riyadh has sent one of its ranking officers to the regions controlled by terrorists in Northern Aleppo to supply them with money and arms to intensify attacks and open new fronts against the Syrian army and popular forces, the source added.

Also, a prominent Syrian military analyst said earlier this month that the terrorists in Aleppo take orders from outside and don’t dare to leave the city in anticipation of punishment by Saudi Arabia and Turkey.

“Violation of the ceasefire by the terrorists and their opposition to the evacuation of Aleppo is of no surprise as they are not the ones in charge of the decision-making for remaining or leaving the city, rather they take orders from the regional and international sides for whom they are working,” Turki Hassan told FNA last Saturday.

Noting that the main cause of the terrorists’ stubborn stay in Aleppo is that leaders of Fatah al-Sham (formerly known as al-Nusra Front and Ahrar al-Sham) are afraid of punishment by their Qatari, Saudi and Turkish masters, he said, “If they move in defiance of their Qatari, Saudi and Turkish lords, they might be killed and their properties be seized.”

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Freedom of the Press in Turkey: Police Arrest Editor-in-Chief of Opposition Newspaper

October 31st, 2016 by Sputnik

According to the publication, along with Sabuncu, the police have detained Guray Oz, a Cumhuriyet columnist, following raids in their houses.

There were no immediate reports about the reasons of their detentions.

On July 15, a military coup attempt took place in Turkey. It was suppressed the following day. Over 240 people were killed during the coup attempt and an estimated 2,000 were wounded. Ankara has accused dissident Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, who has been living in the US state of Pennsylvania since 1999, and his followers of playing a key role in the coup.

According to the Turkish Justice Ministry, a total of 32,000 military officers, high-ranking civil servants, judges and teachers suspected of being Gulen supporters have been arrested in Turkey after the failed coup attempt.

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How Saudi Arabia Makes a Mockery of Human Rights and the UN

October 31st, 2016 by Adam Garrie

When one thinks of beheadings for things which in most of the world are perfectly legal, when one thinks of treating foreign low-paid workers like slaves, when one thinks of treating women worse than animals, when one thinks of nepotism, bribery, a total lack of democracy, meddling in foreign elections, random justice, the export and funding of radical Islamic terrorism, belligerence towards one’s neighbours, ideological warfare and corrupt arms deals; which of the following first comes to mind, Human Rights or Saudi Arabia?

The answer is of course Saudi Arabia where the aforementioned events are all in a day’s work in the creepy Kingdom.  The fact that Saudi Arabia just got re-elected to the UN Human Rights Council is just another reason why this important institution is in serious need of reform and democratisation, in order for it to better live up to the noble and crucial principles of its founding charter.

Putting Saudi Arabia in charge of anything remotely related to human rights is a bit like putting a serial arsonist in charge of a metropolitan fire brigade. It’s clear that the Saudis bought votes from the regional block which re-elected the Kingdom to the Council. By contrast, Russia lost an election where votes are cast by countries who themselves do not have a sterling record of human rights. Ascending to Russia’s former regional bloc is Croatia, a country where unapologetic neo-Nazis hold power in high office and where business practices remain thoroughly corrupt. The whole thing is rather farcical.

But beyond the farce is something quite serious. The UN needs reform at all levels. The UNHRC in particular should set basic standards of human rights which countries must adhere to in order to even be considered for a position on the Council. If this were the case countries like Croatia and Saudi Arabia wouldn’t be let near such an organisation.

The Saudis have continually abused their vested position on the Council to block any investigations into the atrocities they are responsible for in Yemen and the wider Middle East.  By allowing a criminal to be his own judge, it is no wonder that a conviction is impossible.

Whilst Saudi Arabia and Turkey compete to see who can carve up the Middle East more rapidly, it is Russia who listens to the authentic voices of ordinary Arabs in their struggle to have a life free of terrorism, theocracy and medieval government. The UNHRC may not recognise this, but the history books shall.

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Selloff in Global Bond Markets

October 31st, 2016 by Nick Beams

Global bond markets experienced a significant selloff last week, sparking fears that something much more serious could be developing.

German bonds experienced their worst month since 2013. Yields on the country’s 10-year securities, regarded as the benchmark for European financial markets, rose to their highest levels for six months. In the US, the 10-year treasury bond yield climbed to its highest level since June. (The yield on a bond moves in an inverse relationship to its price.)

The biggest selloff and rise in yields was in Britain where the return on a 10-year bond rose to a post-Brexit referendum high. Gilts, as they are called, have recorded their largest loss since the turmoil of the global financial crisis in January 2009.

The yield on these British bonds has risen from an historic low of 0.51 percent in the middle of August to 1.28 percent. This means that an investor who purchased bonds at the end of August has suffered a paper loss of £91,000 on every £1 million outlaid, or just over 9 percent, in the space of less than two months.

There are two main reasons for the bond sell-off. The first is the expectation of a December interest rise by the US Federal Reserve, coupled with uncertainty over the future of the European Central Bank’s (ECB) quantitative easing (QE) program of bond purchases. The second is signs that inflation may be moving upward, which tends to depress bond prices. This is because bonds pay a fixed income and rising prices reduce the income stream and lower the value of the principal in real terms in the future.

Peter Chatwell, head of rates strategy at Mizuho International in London, told Bloomberg: “The premise of the selloff so far was higher inflation and uncertainty on what the ECB is going to do next and particularly about how the next leg of quantitative easing would look.”

The ECB has said it will announce the future of its QE program, under which it purchases €80 billion worth of bonds per month, at the next meeting of its governing council in December. At present the program is due to end in March 2017. While an immediate cut-off appears unlikely, the ECB may decide to “taper” its purchases in the same way that the Fed did when it withdrew from bond purchases. Any move to extend the program without any indication of when it would start to be wound back would increase opposition from German financial authorities, who have been critical of the policy from the outset.

There is a general mood in financial markets that central banks may start to ease back on QE measures. One of the reasons for the sharp movement in Britain is that the economy expanded by 0.5 percent in the September quarter—a better result than expected in the immediate aftermath of the Brexit vote—and so Bank of England governor Mark Carney will be less inclined to further loosen monetary policy.

According to a report in the Financial Times, “investors are now broadly reassessing the willingness of the European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan to maintain their aggressive unconventional measures” as the Fed “prepares markets for another US interest rate increase in December.”

As one fund manager told the newspaper, the bond market was at an “inflection point” as a result. “We’re seeing a general attitude shift. It’s subtle, but it’s there.”

While the movements thus far are relatively small, they can have large consequences. The reason is that the policies of the world’s major central banks in pumping trillions of dollars into financial markets have created a bond market bubble. At one point, the price of bonds rose so high that some $10 trillion worth were trading at negative yields. That is, if an investor purchased these bonds and held them to maturity, they would suffer an overall loss.

The reason such purchases were made, however, was not to hold the bonds but to sell them for a capital gain when their price rose even further.

As the Wall Street Journal noted, the “weak point” for bonds is that their “previous superstrong performance … makes them unusually vulnerable.”

This means that relatively small movements can have a large effect. A rise in the rate of inflation, for example, from 1 percent to 2 percent would not have major consequences in the real economy. But it would have a significant impact on financial markets if it were matched by the same rise in yields.

According to an article published by Dow Jones, it has been estimated that such an increase would reduce the value of Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s Global Broad Market Index, which measures global bond prices, by 6.9 percent, that is, a loss of about $3.36 trillion.

Such calculations throw a spotlight on the explosive contradictions at the very centre of the monetary policies pursued by the major central banks in the eight years since the financial crisis.

The stated aim of their agenda has been to lift the real economy. However, rather than produce any tangible boost—investment, for example, remains well below pre-2008 trends in all the major economies—the most significant effect has been to create a bubble in both equity and bond markets. Consequently, if interest rates do start to rise, either because of an increase in inflation or an uptick in economic growth—the stated aim of QE measures—there is the risk of a major crisis as a result of massive losses incurred in finance markets.

Moreover, there is a significant difference between the situation today and that of eight years ago. In 2008 the central banks stood outside the financial markets. Today they are major players and would therefore be directly involved in any market meltdown.

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Brexit is Not the Will of the British People – It Never Has Been

October 31st, 2016 by Adrian Low

The difference between leave and remain was 3.8 percent or 1.3 million in favour of Leave. However, in a close analysis, virtually all the polls show that the UK electorate wants to remain in the EU, and has wanted to remain since referendum day. Moreover, according to predicted demographics, the UK will want to remain in the EU for the foreseeable future.

There have been at least 13 polls since June 23rd which have asked questions similar to ‘Would you vote the same again’ or ‘Was the country right to vote for Brexit’. Eleven of these polls indicate that the majority in the UK do not want Brexit. The poll predictions leading up to the referendum narrowed but a significant majority of late polls indicated that the country wanted to remain. The leader of UKIP even conceded defeat on the night of the vote, presumably because the final polls were convincing that Remain would win.

In fact, according to the first post-referendum poll (Ipsos/Newsnight, 29th June), those who did not vote were, by a ratio of 2:1, Remain supporters. It is well known that polls affect both turnout and voting, particularly when it looks as though a particular result is a foregone conclusion. It seems, according to the post-referendum polls, that this was the case. More Remain than Leave supporters who, for whatever reason, found voting too difficult, chose the easier option not to vote, probably because they believed that Remain would win.

brexit-polls-oct-2016
Percentage lead of LEAVE or REMAIN according to the polls post June 23rd

Immediately after the referendum, there was a marked ‘shock’ reaction in the polls against the Leave vote. Some Leave voters had voiced the opinion that they had only voted Leave to give the government a good kicking and they wished they had the opportunity to change their vote. That was reflected in the early polls with the reversal of the Brexit referendum result into double percentage figures. A higher percentage of Leave voters changed their mind to Remain, whilst the Remain voters generally stood firm. Four months on and that has now softened to 90 percent ± 2 percent of both Leave and Remain voters sticking to the guns and the rest of the original voters balancing somewhere between changing their vote or responding that they now don’t know.

What has been largely ignored are the 12.9 million who did not vote. Had the democratic process been that of Australia where voting is compulsory, the polls indicate the result would have been to Remain from day zero, and would still be Remain (see no2brexit.com and businessinsider.com). Of course, there is a criticism of the non-voter but, for various very good reasons, some were reported as simply not able to vote.

Unexpected administrative, personal or employment circumstances disabled some members of the electorate on the day from voting. One Financial Times study pointed out that most university students would generally be encouraged by their university to register to vote in their university town and they may not have realised early enough that they would have to apply for a postal vote given that term would be finished by June 23rd. The non-voters were largely younger voters and all the parties agree that the younger vote was (and still is) far more likely to vote Remain than Leave by a factor of nearly 3:1.

Since the initial shock, the gap in favour of Remain has decreased and, now, stabilised. Only two YouGov polls support a majority in favour of Leave was right, the other eleven polls have all indicated that the will of the UK is that it should remain in the EU. Such unpalatable poll results have been left unreported or occasionally inaccurately reported.

The “What would you vote now” question is being asked less frequently now. As of the middle of October, the polls indicate the continuing preference for Remain. The deciding factor is still amongst those who did not vote, with 41 percent saying that Remain was their preferred option and 26 percent preferring Leave. These figures are very similar to the News-night poll six days after referendum day when the comparative figures for the Remain and Leave non-voters were 35 percent and 19 percent respectively. When the most recent figures are applied to the 12.9 million they provide 1.9 million more Remain supporters which easily overturns the 1.3 million referendum Leave majority. Of course should there be another referendum the previous non-voters might well come out in force because they know what is at stake – but they might not.

By March 2017 when Article 50 is due to be initiated, there will be approximately 563,000 new 18-year-old voters, with approximately a similar number of deaths, the vast majority (83 percent) amongst those over 65. Assuming those who voted stick with their decision and based on the age profile of the referendum result, that, alone, year on year adds more to the Remain majority. A Financial Times model indicated that simply based on that demographic profile, by 2021 the result would be reversed and that will be the case for the foreseeable future.

Finally, two groups, in particular, saw their exclusion from the electorate as undemocratic. According to NUS polls, 75 percent of the 16-18 age group felt they should have had a vote in the UK on Brexit (given its greater long-term implications than a general election vote). The 16-18 age group did have a vote in Scotland on independence and this referendum, many felt, was at least as important. Had the younger vote come out in force there is good evidence to suggest that the referendum result would have been different.

In the second group, members of the Commonwealth (and Eire) who were resident in the UK were able to vote but other members of the EU resident in the UK were not able to vote. All EU residents of Scotland were eligible to vote in the Scottish Referendum but not in the Brexit Referendum. Clearly, if democracy is regarded as allowing those most affected by a decision to have a say in that decision, then this has not happened.  With 2.9 million EU residents in the UK, it is likely that the majority would have voted for Remain and that too is likely to have reversed the decision.

Conclusion

So the UK electorate, as a whole, has been consistently against Brexit and the Remain majority will increase year on year. All things being equal Remain will be the choice of the public by the end of 2021 whether the abstaining electorate is counted or not. Those who saw the vote as a protest against poverty are now experiencing the thin end of the wedge of inflation from a falling pound and slow, drip-like movement of multinational companies out of the UK. Some Remain voters have thrown in the towel, accepting what they see as inevitable. The latest YouGov poll suggests that more people in the UK believe Brexit is bad, rather than good for jobs, will result in less influence in the world, is indifferent for the NHS, and will make the UK economy worse.   A falling economy is bound to bite and reverse some of the enthusiasm for Leave and the effect of that will simply be to consolidate the trend against Brexit.

Sadly nothing less than a second, fairer referendum could redress the unfairness felt by the exclusion from the electorate of both the 16-18s and the non-UK EU residents. This all paints a very sorry picture of the effectiveness of UK democracy. Brexit is not the will of the people in the UK. It never has been. Had all the people spoken on the day the result would almost certainly be what the pollsters had predicted, and what the UK, according to the polls, still wants, and that is to Remain.

Revd. Adrian Low is Emeritus Professor of Computing Education at Staffordshire University and Church of England priest for the Costa del Sol West Chaplaincy in Spain. He is the author of Introductory Computer Vision, Imaging Techniques and Solutions.

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The EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), An Illegal and Unconstitutional Agreement…

October 31st, 2016 by Michael Welch

“A trade agreement by a NAFTA member state, namely Canada with the European Union (EU) would inevitably lead to de facto integration of the EU into the trading structures of NAFTA which are controlled by Washington and Wall Street.”  – Michel Chossudovsky [1]

“What this treaty does and any treaty of this magnitude does, is literally revert us back to …. the divine rule of kings. The only exception is they’re not on thrones now, they’re in a numbered company that floats around the planet.”  – Rocco Galati

“L’état, c’est moi “(The State. It is I) -Louis XIV [2]

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It’s been called the most significant trade deal Canada has negotiated since the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) which was enacted 22 years ago. [3]

The Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) was the culmination of seven years of negotiations between Canada and the European Union. [4]

The agreement was to have been signed by the two political entities on October 27th. [5] The proposed deal has sparked opposition, however, from farmers, anti-globalization activists, environmentalists and other members of civil society, particularly in European countries. Throughout September and October, thousands took to the streets to make their opposition known. [6]

In the last week of October, there was some well publicized doubt about whether the agreement would be signed at all. [7] It was the Belgian regional district of Wallonia that proved to be the toughest obstacle. By Thursday however, Wallonia dropped its objections following the inclusion of an addendum to the agreement conceived to safeguard farmers and address concerns about investor protections which would have strengthened multi-national corporations. [8]

Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau, was in Brussels for a signing ceremony on Sunday October 30. [9]

Canada’s International Trade Minister and the European Commissioner for Trade have highlighted Canada’s ‘shared values’ with Europe. “If the EU can’t get a trade agreement with liberal, like-minded Canada, who can it get agreements with?” or so the thinking goes.[10][11]

The bi-lateral veneer of the CETA negotiations ignores a very important third agency, namely the United States, who have been pursuing their own trade deal with the EU, namely the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP.)

Professor Michel Chossudovsky, Director of the Centre for Research on Globalization has revealed through his research that there is more to CETA than meets the eye. He believes that once implemented, CETA will intersect with the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) to create an integration of the two economic trade zones and provide the core for an Atlantic trading block, with dire consequences for the public in both Europe and North America.

Professor Chossudovsky presents his analysis in the first half hour.

As the high stakes brokering among Canadian and European Trade representatives was taking place, a constitutional challenge of the trade accord was quietly filed at the Federal Court of Canada on Friday, October 21. Two of the plaintiffs, the Honourable Paul Hellyer and Ann Emmett of the Committee on Monetary and Economic Reform (COMER) spoke at a press conference in Toronto on Tuesday October 25th along with their lawyer Rocco Galati to explain the substance of the legal case against Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Her Majesty the Queen of England and other government representatives. We will air audio from that press conference in our second half hour.

VIDEO: Legal Challenge to CETA. The CETA Agreement is Unconstitutional 

Video courtesy of Lawrence McCurry

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The Global Research News Hour airs every Friday at 1pm CT on CKUW 95.9FM in Winnipeg. The programme is also podcast at globalresearch.ca . The show can be heard on the Progressive Radio Network at prn.fm. Listen in every Monday at 3pm ET.

Community Radio Stations carrying the Global Research News Hour:

CHLY 101.7fm in Nanaimo, B.C – Thursdays at 1pm PT

Boston College Radio WZBC 90.3FM NEWTONS  during the Truth and Justice Radio Programming slot -Sundays at 7am ET.

Port Perry Radio in Port Perry, Ontario –1  Thursdays at 1pm ET

Burnaby Radio Station CJSF out of Simon Fraser University. 90.1FM to most of Greater Vancouver, from Langley to Point Grey and from the North Shore to the US Border.

It is also available on 93.9 FM cable in the communities of SFU, Burnaby, New Westminister, Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, Port Moody, Surrey and Delta, in British Columbia Canada. – Tune in every Saturday at 6am.

Radio station CFUV 101.9FM based at the University of Victoria airs the Global Research News Hour every Sunday from 7 to 8am PT.

CORTES COMMUNITY RADIO CKTZ  89.5 out of Manson’s Landing, B.C airs the show Tuesday mornings at 10am Pacific time.

Cowichan Valley Community Radio CICV 98.7 FM serving the Cowichan Lake area of Vancouver Island, BC airs the program Thursdays at 6am pacific time.

Campus and community radio CFMH 107.3fm in  Saint John airs the Global Research News Hour Fridays at 10am.

Caper Radio CJBU 107.3FM in Sydney, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia airs the Global Research News Hour starting Wednesday Morning from 8:00 to 9:00am. Find more details at www.caperradio.ca 

Notes:

  1. http://www.globalresearch.ca/towards-nafta-eu-economic-integration-back-door-canada-eu-trade-agreement-ceta-sets-the-stage/5547556

  2. Address to the Parliament of Paris; Attr. by weatard-Antoine G, Histoire de Paris (1834), vol.6, p. 298; probably apocryphal; https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Louis_XIV_of_France

  3. ALICJA SIEKIERSKA (July 6, 2016), Globe and Mail, “EXPLAINER: What you need to know about CETA”; http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/what-you-need-to-know-about-ceta/article30764897/

  4. ibid

  5. http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2016/10/21/chrystia-freeland-ceta-beligium-wallonia_n_12587152.html

  6. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/brussels-protesters-march-against-transatlantic-trade-deals-ceta-ttip/article31965528/

  7. http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2016/10/21/chrystia-freeland-ceta-beligium-wallonia_n_12587152.html

  8. https://www.euractiv.com/section/trade-society/news/eu-canada-to-sign-landmark-trade-deal-on-sunday/

  9. ibid

  10. http://www.canadainternational.gc.ca/eu-ue/policies-politiques/ceta_faq_aecg.aspx?lang=eng

  11. http://www.cgai.ca/canada_eu_free_trade_the_end_or_future_of_trade_liberalization

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The Real Reasons Why FBI Director James Comey Reopened the Hillary Email Investigation

October 30th, 2016 by Joachim Hagopian

This last Friday it became public record that FBI Director James Comey reopened the Hillary Clinton email server investigation after repeatedly testifying before Congress and the world up to last July that he’d closed the case, after in his words not finding sufficient evidence of “any criminal wrongdoing” to indict her in spite of her four years as Secretary of State egregiously breaching our national security:’ 

-committing obstruction of justice and willful tampering with evidence, 

–deleting 30,000 emails after receiving a court subpoena constituting destruction of evidence,

-not to mention repeatedly engaging in perjury before Congress and the FBI.

But obviously a federal investigation still in process in late June never stopped Bill Clinton’s illegal ambush at the Phoenix airport of Comey’s boss US Attorney General Loretta Lynch (image right) “clearing” the way for Hillary to proceed without consequence to be anointed as the next US figurehead puppet president by the ruling elite.

Because it’s so blatantly obvious to the entire world that Hillary is guilty as sin, Comey’s whitewash didn’t go over well with either Americans or longtime FBI agents who reacted angrily to Comey’s over-the-top corruption. Subsequently in recent months Comey has had a virtual mutiny on his hands as in the FBI boss has lost all credibility, respect and moral authority. 

Former federal attorney for the District of Columbia Joe diGenova spelled it all out in a WMAL radio interview last Friday just hours after the news was released that Comey had sent a letter informing Congress that the case is being reopened. DiGenova said that with an open revolt brewing inside the FBI, Comey was forced to go public on Friday with reopening the investigation. The former DC attorney added that the FBI investigators discovered more emails on a phone confiscated from the former New York Congressman and separated husband Anthony Weiner that also included his wife and longtime Hillary’s right-hand woman Huma Abedin’s communications that allegedly bear pertinent relevance to the Hillary case. Funny how things have a karmic way of coming full circle – the Clintons first introduced Weiner and Abedin 15 years ago and they married a half dozen years ago.

In a separate FBI investigation involving Weiner’s alleged sexting messages with a 15-year old minor, the phone in question was handed over to the FBI. The investigating teams of both the Weiner and Hillary cases compared notes and apparently additional emails not already issued by WikiLeaks or already in FBI possession recently came to light on Weiner’s phone. The legions of rank and file FBI agents were already fuming over Comey’s complete ethical and legal lapses in his choice not to indict Hillary. Joe diGenova believes that FBI personnel forced Comey’s hand to reopen the investigation after giving him the ultimatum that if he failed to do so, the FBI defiantly would. According to diGenova, this latest plot twist only proves that: 

The original investigation was not thorough, and that it was an incompetent investigation.

Otherwise had a real investigation been conducted, that Weiner phone used by both Anthony and Huma would have been picked up by the FBI and its contents thoroughly scrutinized long before now.

In addition to stating the obvious, that the higher-up feds had already made the decision to not consequence Hillary for her crimes, speculating on why that phone was not already submitted to the FBI as evidence, the former DC attorney concluded:

There could be one explanation: Huma Abedin may have denied that any other phone existed, and if she did, she committed a felony. She lied to the FBI just like General Cartwright, and if she did, she’s dead meat, and Comey knows it, and there’s nothing he can do about it.

Finally, diGenova dropped one more bombshell in Friday’s interview. An inside source has revealed to him that the laptops belonging to key Clinton aides Cheryl Mills and Heather Samuelson, both wrongly  granted immunity, were not destroyed after all as previously reported, but have been secretly kept intact by investigating FBI agents refusing to destroy incriminating evidence as part of the in-house whitewash.

Additionally like their boss, Hillary’s aides also sent classified material using private servers. On top of that, longtime aide Cheryl Mills on multiple occasions has perjured herself lying under oath for the Clinton crime family, tasked with “cleaning up” (aka covering up) their countless scandals over the past several decades. Indeed the whole Clinton entourage not already “mysteriously” winding up in the growing Clinton dead pool are all unindicted criminals protected by the corrosively corrupt DC cronyism where backroom deals (a la Bill’s airport ambush) are brokered based on whatever dirt’s been gathered and used as bargaining blackmail chips against all parties involved. That’s how the Washington crowd stays immune from any and all accountability as well as stays alive. Violate that crime syndicate code of conduct and you lose your life as more recent victims earlier this year have.

In a “leaked” memo to his FBI that surfaced on Fox Friday night, Comey (image left) outlined his reasons for reopening the case in light of the new information the director believes would have ultimately been leaked to Congress and the public anyway. So in full damage control/CYA mode, the beleaguered director now going public really had no choice in the matter. His underlings were chomping at the bit to both out and oust him. In an obvious attempt to weakly claim some moral high ground, Comey wrote in his memo:

I also think it would be misleading to the American people were we not to supplement the record.

Though his leadership and character are perceived by the vast majority of both FBI personnel as well as American citizens to presently lay in ruin as a pathetically shameful stain and humiliating joke on both the FBI organization and Washington in general, James Comey appears to be feebly attempting to save his own career and reputation for appearing now to “come clean.”

But make no mistake, his moral turpitude displayed throughout this Hillary debacle from early 2015 to now has over-exposed him as a lackey and potential fraud, so at this late stage of the game, redemption is not even an option. But the criminal misconduct, rampant corruption and diabolical evil committed by those at the highest puppet levels of federal power, and especially the elite puppet masters controlling them, their sins produce far more devastating consequences than this morally lacking man in the middle of this latest controversy.

Because there is no way that the FBI will properly conclude this part 2 of the Hillary investigation saga before the November 8thelection, Hillary and her Democrats are predictably crying foul, demanding that the FBI immediately disclose what it has, which of course is a moot point that won’t happen.

It seems highly unlikely that the email texts from Abedin and Weiner found on his phone would not contain clear criminal evidence that implicates Hillary. Since Hillary was the globalist choice after Obama was selected in 2008, it seems unlikely that the puppet masters would not permit this latest development to even occur. But then perhaps the ruling elite is pulling the plug on Hillary, concluding that she simply carries too much liability baggage with her deteriorating health condition and never-ending scandals, maybe the globalists are rethinking an alternative replacement like her obnoxiously aggressive VP candidate, the Jesuit trained and educated Tim Kaine.

That said, there are some cynics who believe that this recent odd turn is a last ditch desperado attempt being staged to overturn Trump winning by a landslide. This conjectured scenario goes something like this: a few days prior to election the FBI will once again “clear” Hillary of all charges. This in turn would offer her the last minute much needed boost being able to cash in on her worn out persecution complex, plagued forever by her “right wing conspiracy” theory against the “much maligned” woman of destiny.

In response to all her scandals, Hillary’s M.O. has always been to falsely blame some villainous sinister force. This year it’s been Putin hacking into her emails, and Trump, Putin and Assange colluding and plotting behind her back. She’s always been as paranoid as Richard Nixon, attempting to deflect the heat she draws from her own lies by constantly pointing fingers to externalize blame onto others.

This latest sudden turn of events obviously has James Comey incurring the wrath of Hillary Democrats as well as the Justice Department. By disclosing the reopened investigation so close to the election date that undoubtedly casts some influence on the potential outcome, Comey is defying his AG boss while clearly violating DOJ written policy. Lynch herself even tried to quash Comey’s letter to Congress. But as diGenova alluded, by Comey’s own past misdeeds (and those of his boss and Obama as well), the FBI director placed himself between this rock and a hard place by his own slipshod, half-ass probe failing to acquire Weiner’s phone the first-time around.

The entire sordid affair of this year’s totally rigged political election – pre-fixed in Hillary’s favor – blatantly reveals to America the gross misnomer of the US “justice” system being two-tiered, one for elitist cabal bosses like Hillary and the other for the rest of us 99% no longer protected in a totalitarian police state by our once rule of law the US Constitution. Regardless of what happens in the future, the truth genie’s already been let out of the bag, and for eyes open enough to see, it’s floating in the Washington cesspool of filth, debauchery and deception regularly perpetrated by our “entrusted perps” we have as our so called leaders.

Moreover, this year’s unending batches of Wiki-leaked DNC/Hillary emails and Project Veritas undercover campaign videos confirm that the entire US political as well as economic system is morally and financially bankrupt, irreparably broken and in need of complete overhaul. Voter fraud and election fraud are rampant. Soros funded electronic voting machines that are preprogrammed to vote for Hillary are operating in 16 key battleground states. America’s internal house now is in total disarray, badly in need of a deep cleaning purge like never before.

Mainstream media is strongly biased against Trump in its blind support for Hillary. As Secretary of State she sold out our nation, placing us all on high security risk and under foreign interest control at the hands of high rolling bidders so she and her fat cats can get richer as fellow partners-in-crime from places like Saudi Arabia and Israel, destroying our once sovereign country while aiding, abetting, financing and supporting the global terrorists around the world.

She helped create ISIS and plans world war against Russia, China and Iran.

The traitors in our government and their globalist puppet masters – the Rothschilds, Rockefellers, the Bushes and Clintons all need to be rounded up, imprisoned and tried at The Hague for both treason and their endless crimes against humanity. 

Joachim Hagopian is a West Point graduate and former US Army officer. He has written a manuscript based on his unique military experience entitled “Don’t Let The Bastards Getcha Down.” It examines and focuses on US international relations, leadership and national security issues. After the military, Joachim earned a master’s degree in Clinical Psychology and worked as a licensed therapist in the mental health field with abused youth and adolescents for more than a quarter century. In recent years he has focused on his writing, becoming an alternative media journalist. His blog site is at http://empireexposed.blogspot.co.id/.

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Syria’s War For Humanity

October 30th, 2016 by Mark Taliano

 

GLOBAL RESEARCH ONLINE 

INTERACTIVE READER SERIES

GR I-BOOK No.  8

 

Syria’s War For Humanity 

by

Mark Taliano

November 2016 

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Copyright Mark Taliano, Global Research, Montreal  2016.

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“Syria’s War for Humanity” by Mark Taliano is part of Global Research’s Online Interactive I-Book Series which brings together, in the form of chapters, a collection of Global Research feature articles, including debate and analysis, on a broad theme or subject matter.  To consult our Online Interactive I-Book Reader Series, click here. 

Preface 

We bring to the attention of our readers Mark Taliano’s I-Book entitled Syria’s War for Humanity. In contrast to most geopolitical analysts of the Middle East, Mark Taliano focusses on what unites humanity with the people of Syria in their struggle against foreign aggression.

Taliano talks and listens to the people of Syria. He reveals the courage and resilience of a Nation and its people in their day to day lives, after more than five years of US-NATO sponsored terrorism and more than two years of US “peacemaking” airstrikes which have largely targeted Syria’s civilian infrastructure.

Author: Mark Taliano

Everybody in Syria knows that Washington is behind the terrorists, that they are financed by the US (at tax payers expense) and its allies, trained and recruited by America’s Middle East partner. Saudi Arabia, Qatar,  have been financing and training the ISIS-Daesh, al Nusra  terrorists on behalf of the United States. Israel is harboring the terrorists out of the occupied Golan Heights, NATO in liaison with the Turkish high command has since March 2011 been involved in coordinating the recruitment of  the jihadist fighters dispatched to Syria.

Moreover, the ISIS-Daesh brigades in both Syria and Iraq are integrated by Western special forces and military advisers.

While all this is known to the Syrian people, Western public opinion is led to believe that the US is leading a “counter-terrorism campaign” in Syria and Iraq against the Islamic State (ISIS-Daesh), an entity created and supported by US intelligence.

“Everything that we saw in Syria speaks of humanity’s common heritage”, says Mark Taliano. Syria is the cradle of civilization, Mesopotamia, the Land of Two Rivers, where the early civilizations of the fertile crescent took their roots.

This is what the Washington Neocons want to destroy. But to reach their objective they need to wage a dirty propaganda campaign which conveys the illusion that America is involved in a “humanitarian” “peace-making” undertaking.

Image: Damascus National Museum, M Chossudovsky, 2011)

The Syrian people know who the real terrorists are.  “The Western assault on this country is an assault on our common humanity, and an assault on Syria’s progressive and forward-looking future”, says Taliano.

Mark Taliano focusses on the truth as an instrument for building peace and counter-propaganda:

“Should the West’s “regime change” operations succeed, the secular, pluralist government of President Assad will be replaced by its opposite: a barbaric, sectarian regime, and chaos.

Yet Western politicians are seemingly propagandized by their own lies. Or perhaps they see no choice  but to cravenly follow diktats from above. Humanity’s better nature, however, demands that we all open our eyes, that we learn from history, and that we embrace the rule of international law rather than the diktats of a criminal Empire. Syria and Syrians must be saved, not destroyed.”

Currently, my interests lie in digging for political truths in a world that is rushing headlong into war and barbarism, on a bedrock of lies.

When I find such truths, their trajectories invariably lead to peace rather than war.  So now, my “crusade’ is to help share the truth, to make it broad-based, and to make a positive difference.

The dirty war on Syria is such a blatant example of the supremacy of war, deception — and evil — over civilization, and our common humanity, that my current research interests are defined by what does or does not happen there.  If Syria wins, we all win. Right now, she is winning.”

Mark Taliano refutes the mainstream media. The causes and consequences of the US-led war on Syria, not to mention the extensive war crimes and atrocities committed by the terrorists on behalf the Western military alliance are routinely obfuscated by the media.

Taliano is committed to reversing the tide of media disinformation, by reaching out to Western public opinion on behalf of the Syrian people.  “Syria’s stand against the Western agencies of death and destruction is a stand for all of humanity against the dark forces that fester beneath our politicians’ empty words and the courtesan media’s toxic lies.”

These twenty-seven chapters of Mark Taliano’s Syria’s War for Humanity provide an overview of life in Syria, the day to day struggle of the Syrian people to protect and sustain their national sovereignty.

Michel Chossudovsky, October 30, 2016 

*      *      *

Introduction

I recently travelled to war- torn Syria because I sensed years ago that the official narratives being fed to North Americans across TV screens, in newsprint, and on the internet, were false.

The invasion of Libya was based on lies; so was the Iraq war; likewise for Ukraine.  All of the 9/11 wars were sold to Western audiences through a sophisticated network of interlocking governing agencies that propagandize both domestic and foreign audiences.  

But the dirty war on Syria is different.  The degree of war propaganda levelled at Syria, and contaminating humanity at this moment, is likely unprecedented. 

I had already studied and written about Syria for years, so I wasn’t entirely surprised by what I saw.  But what I felt was a different story. 

First Impressions

When I awoke on the first morning of my visit, and sat at a table on the polished marble floor beside the fountain, it was still and quiet.

The walls of the hotel courtyard surrounded me — rows of hard, dark basalt stone block and intricately carved soft brown stone were woven together with alcoves and archways, all radiating ancient artistry. High vaulted windows overlooked the palazzo, with plants flowing from balconies and the railings of the narrow corridors leading to rooms.

Above was the pale blue cloudless morning sky.

A pigeon lumbered in and perched inside, sheltered by the ancient walls.  A native bird, bluish white, swift and silent, swooped in towards the pigeon, and they were both gone, swept away into the Damascene morning.

The quiet returned and the pale blue sky became darker and deeper.  Syria will find peace again when this is all over.

Syria is an ancient land with a proud and forward looking people. To this ancient and holy land we sent mercenaries, and hatred, and bloodshed, and destruction. We sent strange notions of “exceptionalism”, and waves upon waves of lies.

As a visitor I felt shame, but Syrians welcomed me as one of them. This is their story. And these are their voices.

Testimonies from Syrians

In this video, Dr. Joseph Saddeh, standing in front of desecrated Christian icons in the ancient and holy city of Maaloula, where Aramaic, the language of Jesus, is still spoken, explains that what happened in Syria was not a “revolution”, and that the terrorists want to destroy everything that is good, and that “they want to make us like them or they will kill us.”

The terrorists did invade this ancient and holy place, they did destroy religious icons, and they did kill many people.  

 Terrorist-damaged religious iconography at Maaloula, Syria 

Former al Nusra Front Headquarters, Maaloula, Syria

Syrian soldier Dr. Ali Salem – a veterinarian during times of peace —  explained that terrorists include “imports” from about 80 countries, street people, thieves, smugglers ( diesel fuel and drugs), and those who were forced to fight under the threat of death or the death of family members.

He said that by now people must understand the truth about what is happening, despite the propaganda that demonizes the Syrian government and its people.  The army is the people, he explained, and the government is not a “regime”. When this is over, he said, young people will have to be taught the truth about what happened.

Syrian soldier, Ali Salem, explained that terrorists include “imports” from about 80 countries, street people, thieves, smugglers ( diesel fuel and drug smugglers), and those who were forced to fight under the threat of death or the death of family members.  

Terrorist-destroyed Shrine of Saint Takla, Maaloula, Syria. Listen to the video here.  Religious icons were either destroyed or burned.

We met soft-spoken, accommodating, Dr. Ali Haidar at at his office. He had earlier explained to Jamal Daoud, leader of the Third International Tour of Peace to Syria, that in 2011, he was offered a large sum of money from Qatar to boycott a “consultation summit” with the government. When he refused the bribe, he received threats, and his son was murdered.

The process of national reconciliation, headed by Dr. Haidar, is emblematic of Syrian decision-making processes.  The externally-orchestrated war is being resolved internally – by Syrians, for Syrians — and the solutions are often the fruit of a genuine democratic processes, in contrast to the fake democratic processes masquerading as “democracy” in the West, where Western politicians and citizens are heavily propagandized.

All Syrians are paying a horrible price for the sins of the West.  Ammar recounted this nightmare:

“As everyday morning my sister was going to the university when a bloody Takfiri Salafi Wahhabi suicide bomber blew up bomb car at the bus stop which led to the martyrdom and injury of many civilians and university students who were going to their exams, after 10 minutes another suicide bomber blew up himself at the same place taking advantage of the gathering of people and ambulance teams, usually when a terror attack happens we call all family members and friends to make sure they all are ok but this time no one answered! Then we started looking for her in hospitals … the shock was in the bloody views there; many burned bodies and human body parts were on the ground , there i saw my sister a body without soul …”

Madj explained his sentiments:

“ I am Syrian… living in Syria in the middle of everything. We have seen horrors. It was never a revolution nor a civil war. The terrorists are sent by your government. They are al Qaeda Jabhat al Nusra Wahhabi Salafists Talibans etc and the extremist jihadists sent by the West, the Saudis, Qatar and Turkey. Your Obama and whoever is behind him or above him are supporting al Qaeda and leading a proxy war on my country.

We thought you are against al Qaeda and now you support them.

The majority here loves Assad. He has never committed a crime against his own people… The chemical attack was staged by the terrorists helped by the USA and the UK,  etc. Everyone knows that here.

American soldiers and people should not be supporting barbarian al Qaeda terrorists who are killing Christians, Muslims in my country and everyone.

Every massacre is committed by them. We were all happy in Syria: we had free school and university education available for everyone, free healthcare, no GMO, no fluoride, no chemtrails, no Rothschild IMF- controlled bank, state owned central bank which gives 11% interest, we are self-sufficient and have no foreign debt to any country or bank.

Life before the crisis was so beautiful here. Now it is hard and horrific in some regions.

I do not understand how the good and brave American people can accept to bomb my country which has never harmed them and therefore help the barbarian al Qaeda. These animals slit throats and behead for pleasure… they behead babies and rape young kids.

They are satanic. Our military helped by the millions of civilian militias are winning the battle against al Qaeda. But now the USA wants to bomb the shit out of us so that al Qaeda can get the upper hand.

Please help us American people. They are destroying the cradle of civilization. Stop your government.

Impeach that bankster puppet you have as president… support Ron Paul or Rand or anyone the like who are true American patriots. but be sure of one.thing..if they attack and I think they will….it will be hell.

Be sure that if it were to be a world war, many many will die. Syria can and will defend itself and will sink many US ships. Iran will go to war..Russia and China eventually if it escalates… and all this for what ? For the elites who created al Qaeda through the US government and use it to conduct proxy wars and destabilize countries which do not go along with their new world order agenda !!?

American people…you gotta regain control of your once admirable country. Now everyone hates you for.the death you bring almost everywhere.

Ask the Iraqis…the Afghans…the Pakistanis…the Palestinians…the Syrians…the Macedonians and Serbs…the Libyans…the Somalis…the Yemenis ….all the ones you kill with drones everyday. Stop your wars, Enough wars. Use diplomacy..dialogue…help..not force.”

Jad also shared his tragedy.  He told me that his brother was kidnapped last year, and that the terrorists tortured him and destroyed his knees.  Now he can’t walk.  He also told me that his cousin, who was serving in the Syrian Arab Army, lost his leg when Wahhabi suicide bombers attacked his military vehicle, and that another cousin was kidnapped in 2012, and remains in captivity.

The tragedies are legion, but all of the Syrians to whom I spoke assured me that they support the government of Bashar Al-Assad.  They are unified in the battle against Western terrorists.

The sanctions, the terrorists, the death and destruction, are not working. The alternative, a Western-installed Wahhabi stooge government, is not an attractive option.

The ongoing dirty war on Syria is particularly odious because the elected President of Syria, Dr. Bashar Al-Assad, and his wife, represent the best of what Syria’s future promises to be. The Assads are well-educated – like all of the Syrians whom I had the pleasure of meeting – and they are moving ancient, holy Syria into a better future than that promised by the uni-polar, “exceptional” imperialists who are trying to destroy Syria with their Wahhabi-inspired terrorists.

Syrians have seen the devastation of Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan, and the Ukraine.  They refuse to be the next domino.

Syria’s future will include the rule of international law, nation-state sovereignty, self-determination, pluralism, respect for all people, and multi-polar geo-political relationships. Syria has strong institutions, strong people, a strong military, strong allies, and a strong government; and she will not be pulled into the abyss of terrorism like the other aforementioned countries.

For this we should all be grateful.   

We have just witnessed the pain and hardship that Syria and Syrians are enduring.  The next question is, How did the West arrive at the point where otherwise intelligent and morally upright citizens support the illegality and barbarity of their nations’ foreign policies?

The simple answer is that the collective mindset of the public has been contaminated by an unprecedented and on-going propaganda campaign that engineers consent for unspeakable crimes that “benefit” transnational elites and impoverish the rest of us.

The dreadful reality is that the Global War on Terror is actually a global war for terror.  The foreign policies of Western nations are increasing the reach of terrorism exponentially, because the West uses these terror brigades as foot soldiers for illegal wars of aggression. In its Syrian campaign, as with its  previous Libyan campaign, the West is literally the air force for the terrorists on the ground.  This is all well documented with Western sources.

Through its actions and inactions, its sanctions, its arms dealings, and its pre-planned invasions, the West and the terrorists in Syria are one and the same.  We support all the imaginary “moderates”, and every other terrorist organization operating in Syria.  Again, the evidence is ample, and well-documented using western sources.

US-led NATO is aligned with the Gulf Monarchies, and Israel, to flood Syria with mercenary terrorists, to balkanize and destroy the country, and to remove President Assad, so that it can advance its agenda for a New World Order of conquest under the false banner of the Global War On Terror (GWOT).  This on-going project necessarily entails death, destruction, and wide-spread poverty.

Neo-con planners hope that the widespread destruction will enable them to control destroyed countries and open them up for predatory and parasitical economic programs — similar to domestic neoliberal economic models that are ravaging domestic economies beneath the lies and diversions.

Despotic stooge puppet regimes are easier to control and manipulate than independent sovereign governments that represent the democratic will of their peoples and the rule of international law.  Again, this favoured totalitarian style rule is mirrored at home, but more subtly.  The notion that we live in democracies is absurd.

The hypocrisy of our governing bodies is astounding.  Canada garners plaudits for accepting selected refugees, but the public is ignorant of “the elephant in the room” which is the fact that there would be no refugees if the West obeyed international law and didn’t engage in illegal wars of aggression.

The elites award themselves with fraudulent prizes that further enable the war crimes.  

Tentacles of predatory neoliberal capitalism have yet to invade Syria’s famous souks/markets

Spices at the Souk

False flag terrorism is part of the apparatus of deception which serves to advance policies that are contrary to the wishes of those who are deceived.

There’s nothing new about “synthetic terrorism’; it is military doctrine, and examples of its use are legion, but it is a taboo topic and a “conspiracy theory”, so it works.

The Canada Day pressure-cooker bomber plot was a proven false flag (though not acknowledged as such by mainstream media), and it served the apparatus of deception as did other domestic terrorism cases.

Even if the Ottawa shooting crisis unfolded exactly as the official narratives described it, the conflation between the shooting and ISIS is surely unfounded, as noted by Senator Mobina Jaffer.

But the accumulated impact of these events, coupled with largely unquestioned official narratives, has the intended effect of creating a consensus of ignorance wherein otherwise intelligent people support illegal warfare, terrorism, and police state legislation.

Preeminent Constitutional lawyer Rocco Galati assesses Canada’s C-51 legislation in these words:

 It takes all our private information and shares it with all government agencies, including foreign government. For some citizens that becomes an eventuality of torture and/or death when travelling abroad. 

It restricts arbitrarily who can travel. 

Freedom of expression and political criticism with respect to “terrorism and the government’s role” (becomes) a terrorist offence in itself. So words and thoughts become an act of terrorism under this bill. 

It allows CSIS to disrupt covertly constitutionally-protected rights of association, expression, and protest. 

It does all of this by taking away all and any transparent judicial oversight. 

He says that “We’ve entered into the final fascist state.”

Consequently, both domestically and abroad, we are living what author Naomi Wolf describes as a  “fascist shift”, wherein we unwittingly embrace our own enslavement, global war, and poverty, all for the  “benefit” of transnational oligarch classes, and the known catastrophic impacts for humanity.

Syria is standing strong against these Western cancers of ignorance and evil.  She, and her allies, are swooping down on these globalist interlopers. Her victory will be our victory.

Purpose and Outline of This Book  

The purpose of this book is to shed some light on how the propaganda works, and to decode it and other events, so that we can arrive at a better understanding of what is really happening in Syria, and why.

The degree of war propaganda levelled at Syria, and contaminating humanity at this moment is unprecedented.

I have yet to meet a single Syrian who would prefer a stooge, Wahhabi dictatorship to the current government.  Every single Syrian opposition leader prefers the current government to an imperial -imposed government. The on-going campaign of lies directed at Syria is particularly odious because the elected President of Syria, Dr. Bashar Al-Assad, and his wife, represent the best of what Syria’s future promises to be.

The Assads are well-educated – like all of the Syrians whom I had the pleasure of meeting – and they are moving ancient, holy Syria into a better future than that promised by the uni-polar, “exceptional” imperialists who are trying to destroy Syria with their Wahhabi-inspired terrorists.

Syrians have seen the devastation of Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan, and the Ukraine.  They refuse to be the next domino.

Syrians are unified.  Their future will include the rule of international law, nation-state sovereignty, self-determination, pluralism, respect for all people, and multi-polar geo-political relationships. Syria has strong institutions, strong people, a strong military, strong allies, and a strong government; she will not be pulled into the abyss of terrorism like the other aforementioned countries.

For this we should all be grateful.

The compilation of articles in this book decode the propaganda apparatus which creates an engineered consensus that serves the covert agenda of expanding the parasitical economic model called “neoliberalism”.

Neoliberalism impoverishes domestic and foreign populations, and enriches a transnational oligarch class. The transnational oligarch class — enriched by “deregulation”, “privatization” schemes, and “free trade” agreements — contaminates the collective mindset of humanity with its foundations, its lobbying, and its undue influence, so its real nature, and its very existence, remains hidden.  Rarely will a mainstream publication even use the word “neoliberalism”, which is the economic foundation of the current class system.

Part One is the story of Syria as told by Syrians, unfiltered by mainstream media (MSM) propaganda.  We see and hear the trauma lived by defiant, heroic Syrians, and we discover that this ancient, holy land will surely survive the current barbarian invasion, and will rise again as a beacon of civilization, hope, and dignity, in contrast to so many of those countries that seek to destroy it.

Voices from Syrian citizens are absent from mainstream media stories.  Syrians are like you and me.  This is what they have to say: 

“We thought you are against al Qaeda and now you support them.” I Am A Syrian Living in Syria: “It was Never a Revolution nor a Civil War. The Terrorists are sent by your Government”

The externally-orchestrated war is being resolved internally – by Syrians, for Syrians — and the solutions are often the fruit of a genuine democratic processes, in contrast to the fake democratic processes masquerading as “democracy” in the West, where Western politicians and citizens are heavily propagandized.

NATO et al. terrorists destroy everything that contradicts their deviant ideology.  They seek a “blank slate” that denies and negates the real Syria.

Syria insists on being a sovereign nation; it refuses Empire’s head-chopping criminality.

“Syria was prosperous, with a growing economy. It had food sovereignty, with a “strategic” stock of millions of tons of high quality wheat , not the “Franken-food” bio-tech variety; it had a strong central bank with no usurious IMF loans; it had a popular, reformer President; it had a mostly well-educated, secular, pluralist, forward-looking population; and it was the fourth safest country in the world.”

Part Two elaborates upon the real story about Syria, and the drivers behind the current dirty war, in which the U.S-led Empire is using terror proxies to advance its predatory reach, contrary to the wishes of the vast majority of Syrians.

The alternative to Syria’s elected government is genocidal despotism and Sharia law. The (non-existent) “moderates” can’t be separated from the “extremists”, because all of the mercenary terrorists share the same goals and the same ideologies.

The predictable result of engineered deception is that domestic Western populations remain deceived and politically passive. The truth is inverted, and large swaths of the population remain deluded.  Whereas the West and its allies support all the terrorists invading Syria, domestic populations think that we are fighting terrorism.  This is the great fraud of the “Global War On Terror”.

The West uses mercenary terrorist proxies to advance its predatory reach; to destroy foreign countries; and to increase global terrorism exponentially, all for the benefit of the oligarch classes.  There is nothing new about this.

“The secular governments of Iraq, Libya, and Syria all — prior to Western invasions — opposed terrorist organizations such as al Qaeda.”

Dedication 

This book is dedicated to the people of Syria, all of whom are on the front lines in the fight against international terrorism.

Your blood is being shed for our sins.

Acknowledgements 

I can’t begin to thank everyone who helped me with this book, but here’s a start.

Thanks to Ken Stone, who inspired me to take the trip to Syria.

Thanks to Jamal Daoud, and the organizers of the Third International Tour of Peace To Syria, who made this trip possible, despite “external” barriers, thus giving us the chance to see and hear Syria for ourselves.  Now we can better share the truth.

Thanks to my fellow travellers, who are my brothers and sisters in spirit.

Thanks to Prof. Michel Chossudovsky who helped me publish this book.

Thanks to Gerry DiSanto, at the Defensive Arts Training Centre (DATC), who encouraged me to write this book.

And last but not least, thanks to Victoria, who helped me along the way.

Part One

 Voices From Syria

 

Chapter I – I Am A Syrian Living in Syria: “It was Never a Revolution nor a Civil War. The Terrorists are sent by your Government” 

Chapter II – Life in Syria, as Recounted by a Syrian

Chapter III – “The Terrorists are Criminals and Killers, They Do It for Money”

Chapter IV – National Reconciliation. “Western Politicians Support the Terrorism that they Pretend to be Combating”

Chapter V  – Terrorism Destroys History and People

Chapter VI – The US-Supported Terrorists Control Occupied Territories with Unspeakable Barbarism

Chapter VII – Before the US-NATO Sponsored Dirty War, Syria was an Oasis of Civilization, a Secular Pluralist Nation

Part Two 

Western Populations Remain Deceived and Politically Passive 

 

Chapter VIII – Truth Beneath the Lies: The  West Finances, Organizes, Trains Fundamentalist Proxy Forces in its Illegal Wars

 Chapter X –  Band-Aid Approach to Refugees. Canada Sells Weapons to Saudi Arabia which Funds and Arms the Terrorists

Chapter XI – Real Hypocrisy versus Real Change: West Endorses Arms Deal with Saudi “Lords of Terrorism”

Chapter XII – International Law, Human Rights, The Fight against Terrorism: Which Country Holds the Legal and Moral High Ground?

Chapter XIII – Corporate Media Distortions: NATO Sponsored Terrorists are invading Syria, and the Syria government is blamed for the Ensuing Disasters

Chapter XIV – Canada’s Shame: Bombing the Sovereign State of Syria is a War Crime

Chapter XV – Canada’s Foreign Policy: “Copy and Paste” of Washington’s War Crimes Agenda

Chapter XVI – Media Disinformation and America’s Wars: Liars Versus Truthers. The “Progressive Left” Has Been Coopted

Chapter XVII – Terror Inc. and the War on Libya

Chapter XVIII – US-NATO “Humanitarian Interventions” have resulted in “Crimes against Humanity”

Chapter XIX – US-NATO’s Fake “Humanitarian” “War on Terrorism”, Defiant Syria

Chapter XX – In Solidarity with the People of Syria: The Mercenary Terrorists are Losing. The Historic Significance of Defeating the West’s Dirty War…

Chapter XXI – The West’s Establishment Lies and Crimes Are Leading Us to The Unthinkable

Chapter XXII –   Governing Through Lies And Deception

Chapter XXIII – Circuit of Lies and “False Media”: Crimes against Humanity Go Unreported, The West Continues to Perpetrate Genocide in Iraq

Chapter XXIV – Imperialists Misuse Religion to Serve as an Instrument of War against Syria

Chapter XXV – Predatory Capitalism and the Hidden Drivers beneath Western Barbarism

Chapter XXVI – The Neo-Con “West” And Global Destruction. A “New World Order” of Globalized Despair

Chapter XXVII – Imperial Lawlessness 

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Social Media Blackout? FBI Emails Are Not ‘Trending Social Media Facebook, Twitter, Buzzfeed, Or Snapchat

October 30th, 2016 by Zero Hedge

They are not known as ‘weapons of mass distraction’ for nothing…

In the 24 hours since FBI Director Comey dropped perhaps the biggest bombshell of the entire Presidential campaign, sending Democrats (and media) scrambling headless-chicken-like for answers (and blame-scaping), does anyone else find it odd that ‘FBI Emails’ does not appear to be a hot topic, trending, big deal on any social media?

 

 

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Will FBI Director Comey’s October Surprise Derail Hillary’s White House Bid?

October 30th, 2016 by Stephen Lendman

Having closed his earlier investigation into Hillary’s use of her private email server for classified State Department documents without bringing charges, dismissing indictable evidence, it’s hard imagining a shift of agency policy now.

So what’s going on? Is FBI Director Comey trying to save face, even at this late stage, having tarnished the reputation of the agency and himself. The fullness of time will show what he has in mind.

He faces intense political pressure from key Democrat senators, demanding immediate answers about why he’s reopening his investigation days before November’s election, an unprecedented act.

Senators Patrick Leahy, Dianne Feinstein, Thomas Carper and Ben Cardin wrote Comey, saying:

“(N)o later than Monday, 31 October 2016, we request you provide us with more detailed information about the investigative steps being taken, the number of emails involved, and what is being done to determine how many of the emails are duplicative of those already reviewed by the FBI.”

They want Attorney General Loretta Lynch explaining her involvement in Comey’s action, if any. The Hillary campaign called for “public answers” to clarify what new information the FBI discovered.

After saying that revisiting his decision last July would be unlikely, Comey opted for an October surprise – the likes of which Washington hasn’t seen since the tumultuous end of Nixon’s tenure.

Paul Craig Roberts said he’s gotten word:

“that the FBI has reopened the Hillary case of her violation of US National Security protocols, not because of the content of the new email releases, but because voter support for Trump seems to be overwhelming, while Hillary has cancelled appearances due to inability to muster a crowd. The popular vote leaves the FBI far out on the limb for its corrupt clearance of Hillary. The agency now has to redeem itself.”

How remains to be seen. Like Roberts, I’m puzzled. Washington power brokers chose Hillary to succeed Obama. Enormous resources, energy, corporate pollsters consistently showing her ahead, and one-sided scoundrel media support have gone into assuring it.

Have things changed days before November 8? Are power brokers abandoning Hillary this late in the game? The last 48 hours have been breathtaking – the stuff Hollywood thrillers are made of.

Will Hillary supporters blame Russia for Comey’s action? One Democrat congressman suggested it. Will Comey be accused of being a Kremlin agent?

However things unfold in the campaign’s final days, Trump got a significant boost – whether enough for a “master of suspense” Alfred Hitchcock ending remains to be seen.

My view, right or wrong, remains the same. After going all-out for Hillary throughout months of campaigning, it’s hard believing power brokers decided otherwise this late in the game – unheard of in US electoral politics.

At the same time, this political season has been unlike any I remember since the 1940s. Nothing ahead will surprise me.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at [email protected].  

His new book as editor and contributor is titled “Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III.” 

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html 

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.  

Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network.

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Is America a Banana Republic? Corruption is Endemic Everywhere…

October 30th, 2016 by Stephen Lendman

On October 24, Vladimir Putin asked “is America a banana republic?” American writer O. Henry (William Sydney Porter) coined the term.

It refers to a politically unstable and/or repressive country where a small percent of the population enjoys a disproportionate share of wealth and power.

It’s where ordinary people are exploited, persecuted, imprisoned, murdered or disappeared for daring to challenge ruthlessly corrupt power responsibly, where profits are privatized while ordinary people bear the burden of high unemployment, impoverishment and loss of fundamental freedoms.

It’s a kleptocracy run by criminals, complicit with corporate thieves, bribing them to get their way – corrupt, rotten to the core gangsterism, run for personal gain, profiting at the public’s expense.

Bill and Hillary Clinton, America’s most notorious crime family, a Machiavellian duo, are heading back to Washington in January for their third co-presidential term, things rigged to assure it.  [Or will they, following the reopening of the FBI investigation into Hillary’s emails? Author’s article was written before the FBI’s October Surprise, GR Editor, M.Ch.]

Their excessive corruption rivals how mafia bosses and drug lords amass wealth – the old-fashioned way by stealing it, selling influence, and other disreputable means.

Corruption is endemic virtually everywhere, likely nowhere more excessively than in America, given the nation’s enormous public and private wealth, its distribution as disproportionate as in third world countries, special interests grabbing all they can at the expense of most others.

Inside the bubble is paradise – outside dystopian hell. America resembles Guatemala, thirdworldized for its privileged few, bipartisan gangsters profiting at the expense of the public they’re sworn to serve.

Never with Hillary and Bill in charge, addicted to endless wars, predatory capitalism and self-enrichment. WikiLeaks exposed volumes on how they operate.

Even the militantly anti-Trump, pro-Hillary Washington Post took note – on October 26 headlining “Inside ‘Bill Clinton Inc.:’ Hacked memo reveals intersection of charity and personal income.”

Written by top Bill Clinton aide Douglas Band, it explained “a circle of enrichment,” involving blurred lines between the Clinton Foundation and “top-tier” corporate clients of his for-profit Teneo Consulting firm.

It provided a detailed look at how the Clintons and their top aides operate. It’s not pretty. According to WaPo:

Band’s memo provided data showing how much money each of Teneo’s 20 clients…had given to the Clinton Foundation, how much they had paid Bill Clinton…

Band wrote that Teneo partners had raised in excess of $8 million for the foundation and $3 million in paid speaking fees for Bill Clinton.

He said he had secured contracts for the former president that would pay out $66 million over the subsequent nine years if the deals remained in place.

One observer called the Band memo “the Rosetta stone of the Teneo-Clinton Foundation complex” – a revenue generating arm for large Foundation donations, along with highly-paid Bill and Hillary speeches, he after leaving the White House, she in 2013 and 2014 after leaving State, before announcing her presidential candidacy.

What’s coming under their leadership should shock and terrify everyone – policies polar opposite ones Hillary promised on the stump.

They’ll be broken straightaway once in power, the way GW Bush, Obama and the first Clinton co-presidency betrayed loyal supporters – this time more ruthlessly dangerous than ever.

Selling out to Wall Street and other corporate predators is one thing – possibly waging life-ending nuclear war quite another.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at [email protected]. 

His new book as editor and contributor is titled “Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III.”

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com. 

Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network.

 

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9/11 Truth: Remembering Frank Legge

October 30th, 2016 by Kevin Ryan

Scientist and scholar Frank Legge passed away on October 20th 2016. Frank was a leader of the international 9/11 Truth Movement. He had been a co-editor of the Journal of 9/11 Studies and a founding member of both Scholars for 9/11 Truth & Justice and Scientists for 9/11 Truth. His contributions to research into 9/11 will be remembered as among the most important in history.

Frank had a long and fulfilling life before and beyond the events of 9/11. He was a husband, father, and grandfather as well as a farmer, pilot, research scientist, and entrepreneur.

frank_leggeAfter obtaining a Diploma of Agriculture (Longerenong, Victoria, Australia), Frank spent his early years as an agricultural employee, then a contractor, in the state of Queensland. He then obtained a “conditional purchase” block of virgin bush in Western Australia, which he cleared and developed as a sheep and grain farm. On completion of this, Frank moved to Perth and enrolled at the University of Western Australia. During this period he obtained a pilot’s license and acquired a share in a plane, which was useful in enabling him to easily visit and continue operating the farm.

On graduating with a Ph.D. in chemistry, in 1983, Dr. Legge worked as a research officer for the Department of Agriculture for a number of years. This included research into the manufacture and use of biodiesel. He was also involved with the Australian Merino Society in the development of their sheep-breeding index. With a colleague, he then formed a company, Solar Track Pty Ltd, and embarked on a project manufacturing solar tracking devices, based on a patented concept they developed in conjunction with the Department of Agriculture. Lastly he moved to consulting.

Frank’s understanding of the events of 9/11 was set out in his website, now maintained by David Chandler. http://www.scienceof911.com.au/

This site includes links to many papers on the subject, including those Dr. Legge wrote and co-authored. He believed that the evidence for explosives in controlled demolition of all three of the buildings at the World Trade Center was convincing and that the failure of the U.S. agency NIST to consider this possibility was prima facie evidence of corruption and obstruction of justice.

Some of Dr. Legge’s most important contributions to the 9/11 debate:

  • He was a prolific contributor to the Journal of 9/11 Studies, starting with the first publication in June 2006. His careful, logical approach was the basis for a dozen articles and half a dozen letters published by the Journal. In October 2007, he joined as co-editor and continued in that capacity until July 2012.
  • Among his most important articles was an early examination of the fall of WTC Building 7 in which Dr. Legge examined video and graphed the acceleration of the building. This paper, published ten years ago, initiated a series of similar calculations that led to irrefutable arguments in favor of demolition.
  • Collaborating with Warren Stutt, Dr. Legge provided a study of the data file from the Flight Data Recorder (FDR) for the flight that was reported to have hit the Pentagon. The purpose of this work was to show that, contrary to widespread belief among activists, the data portrayed a flight that corresponded with the official reports of the course of the aircraft. Frank’s position was that there were many reasons to doubt the truthfulness of the 9/11 reports but the data from the FDR was not one of them. His hope was that this information would help to unify the Truth Movement as it would reduce the tendency to assert claims, based on misinterpretation of the FDR file, that the plane did not hit the Pentagon.
  • As co-author with David Chandler, Legge examined the case that the Pentagon was hit by a plane, and that it did not fly over, as asserted by some activists. Again Dr. Legge’s hope was to unify the Truth Movement. This was followed by an Addendum that strengthened the case.

Although a sound scientific approach was characteristic of his work, Legge’s personality was also important in that he was often the most mature participant in any discussion. This is not to say he was merely the oldest but that he was levelheaded and composed in many heated, ego-driven, arguments. That is, Frank Legge was the grown-up at times when it was most needed.

This fact was exhibited in many of his writings and communications. For example, in order to achieve incremental improvement in the debate about what hit the Pentagon, Legge advocated a “precautionary principle,” urging everyone to assert only what was truly known. In order to address arguments raised in support of the “flyover” case, Legge wrote a paper on the Search for Consensus to seek common ground.

In the last decade of his life, Frank Legge had a tremendous influence on many people around the world. He led scientific inquiry into one of the most controversial subjects in history and he collaborated positively with many fellow citizens to reveal the truth. Those of us who worked with him during this time will remember his intelligence, dignity, and respect for others.

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Discrimination and Condemnation: Australia’s War on “Boat People” under “Operation Sovereign Borders”

October 30th, 2016 by Dr. Binoy Kampmark

The boat, along with other means of travel, are often undertaken as matters of freedom.  Movement keeps one alive in times of peace, and in conflict. The Australian government, and those backing its practices, have wished over the years to limit, if not halt such movement altogether.

Since the last decade, extreme measures have been implemented that effectively qualify Australian sovereignty while singling out a particular breed of asylum seeker.  The former aspect of that policy was specifically undertaken to excise the entire mainland from being qualified as territorially valid to arrive in.

The entire policy effectively assumed a military character, most conspicuously under the Abbott government’s embrace of a creepily crypto-fascist border protection force, equipped with uniforms  and patriotic purpose.  Operation Sovereign Borders effectively meant that the refugee and asylum seeker were fair game – not to be processed and settled equitably with a minimum of fuss, but to be repelled, their boats towed back to Indonesia, and people smugglers bribed.

An entire intelligence-security complex has also been created, fed by private contractors and held in place by the promise of a two-year prison sentence for entrusted officials in possession of “protected” information.

Such statements as those made today by Prime Minister Turnbull, announced with note of grave urgency at a press conference, tend to resemble a typical pattern in Australian politics since the Howard years.

The borders, even if supposedly secure, are deemed to be in a permanent state of siege, forever battered by potential invaders keen to swindle Parliament and the Australian people.  Yes, boasted the Abbott, and now Turnbull government, the boats laden with desperate human cargo have stopped coming.  Yes, all is well on the sea lanes in terms of repelling such unwanted arrivals. But for all of this, the island continent is being assaulted by characters of will, those keen to avail themselves of desperate people and their desire for a secure, safe haven.

The policy has also received international attention from such establishment institutions as The New York Times. “While that arrangement,” went an editorial this month, “largely stopped the flow of boats packed with people that set off from Indonesia weekly, it has landed these refugees – many from Iran, Myanmar, Iraq and Afghanistan – in what amounts to cruel and indefinite detention.”

As the editorial continued to observe, “This policy costs Australian taxpayers a staggering $US419,000 per detainee a year and has made a nation that has historically welcomed immigrants a violator of international law.”

While this obscenity has been powdered and perfumed as humanitarian, designed to halt the spate of drowning cases at sea, the latest announcements have abandoned the stance.  “They must know,” claimed Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, “that the door to Australia is closed to those who seek to come here by boat with a people smuggler.”

Finally, an honest statement twinning two perceived demons in Australian refugee policy: the people smuggler and the asylum seeker, both equivalently horrible to Australian authorities.  To that end, not a single asylum seeker arriving by boat will be permitted to settle in Australia.  This policy will also affect arrivals from July 2013.

Such a stance of finality seems little different to pervious ones made by Abbott’s predecessor, Kevin Rudd.  What is troubling about it is the element of monomania: never will any asylum seeker, who had arrived after a certain date, will be permitted to settle in Australia.

The intention there is to make sure that those designated refugees on Manus Island and Nauru, facilitated byAustralia’s draconian offshore regime, will have the doors shut, effectively ensuring a more prolonged, torturous confinement.  Absurdly, they will then be permitted to slum away indefinitely in such indigent places as Nauru, with a population hostile to those from the Middle East and Africa.

Turnbull’s stance may also suggest a degree of desperation. Not all has gone swimmingly with the offshore detention complex.  The PNG Supreme Court rendered an aspect of the Australian refugee policy redundant in finding that detaining individuals indefinitely on Manus Island breached constitutional rights.

Peter Dutton, the hapless Minister for Immigration, has struggled in managing what can only be described by the border security obsessives as an administrative disaster. Rather than admitting to the realities that searching for refuge over dangerous routes will always find a market, the Australian government persists in a cruel delusion that continues to deny international refugee law while punishing the victims.

Dr. Binoy Kampmark was a Commonwealth Scholar at Selwyn College, Cambridge.  He lectures at RMIT University,Melbourne.  Email: [email protected]

 

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Washington Included in its “Truce List” Syrian Rebel Groups Fighting within ISIS-Deash and Al Nusra Front

October 30th, 2016 by Sputnik

Washington included two Syrian rebel groups working with Daesh and eight groups working with al-Nusra Front in a truce list, the Russian Permanent Mission to the United Nations’ Geneva office said in a statement.

“Washington included two [Syrian rebel] groups that fight together with Daesh and with al-Nusra Front in the list of the participants of the ceasefire regime in Syria sent to the Russian side. Moreover the inclusion of Ahrar ash-Sham and Nour al-Din al-Zenki cutthroats in this list completely discredites the American list,” the mission said in a statement published by the Russian Foreign Ministry.

Moscow added that “it seems that the United States have not received any written obligations to respect the ceasefire from groups it controlls.”

The United States has failed to fulfill its promise given in February to separate al-Nusra Front [terrorists] and moderate opposition despite the fact that Russia has been ready to provide Washington with its maps showing areas controlled by terrorists according to our data since March.

Opposition fighters from the Ahrar Al-Sham brigade, part of the Islamic front coalition, hold a position in the Sheikh Lutfi neighbourhood of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo during ongoing clashes with government forces on January 27, 2014

© AFP 2016/ BARAA AL-HALABI

The media campaign against Russia in media is aimed at hiding the real reasons for the failure of Russia-US deal on Syria, the mission added.

Lately, public remarks are being used to build up anti-Russian rhetoric on the Syrian issue to discredit the role of Russia and to present our country as the reason for all Syria’s troubles. Moscow is accused of allegedly putting a stake on a military solution to the conflict. The goal of this [media] campaign is clear — to cover up the real perpetrators of the ceasefire’s collapse in the Syrian Arab Republic, to hide the real reasons for the failure to implement the Russia-US agreements on Syria.

The mission added that while Russia guaranteed the implementation of the agreement by the Syrian government, the US failed to convince Syrian rebels it backs to abide by the ceasefire regime. “From February to September armed [rebel] groups allegedly controlled by Washington violated truce 2,031 times. As a result, 3,500 Syrian soldiers and 12,8 civilians have been killed.”

However, Russia remains open to cooperation with its partners, including the US, on all the issues regarding the Syrian settlement, however, such cooperation should be based on equality and the implementation of own obligations, Moscow concluded.

On Friday, Moscow has unveiled a “Comparative Analysis of Russia-US Agreements Implementation” on Syria and sent it to the a range of other agencies in addition to the UN.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said earlier that Moscow will present a report in the United Nations Security Council on Russia’s implementation of agreements with the US on Syria and on Washington’s failure to abide by them to avoid speculations on the issue.

 

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UN Warns US-Saudi War Threatens Mass Starvation in Yemen

October 30th, 2016 by Bill Van Auken

United Nations aid agencies warned Friday that Yemen, after 18 months of savage bombardment in a US-backed war waged by Saudi Arabia and its fellow oil monarchies, is facing a catastrophic crisis threatening mass starvation.

More than 10,000 people have been killed since the Saudi regime began its bombing campaign in March 2015. Millions more have been displaced, and urban areas and essential infrastructure have been reduced to rubble.

According to statements issued by UN agencies, over 14 million Yemenis, more than half the population, is now living in hunger, while 7 million are on the verge of starvation.

In a press briefing in Geneva Friday, the UN children’s agency UNICEF said that at least 370,000 children are at risk of severe malnutrition, and without urgent treatment will die. Fully 1.5 million children are malnourished.

Aya, 2 years old, in Hodeidah main hospital being checked against acute malnutrition [Photo: WFP/Abeer Etefa]

The World Food Program (WFP) reported that almost half the children of Yemen are already suffering irreversibly stunted growth due to malnutrition. “An entire generation could be crippled by hunger,” said the WFP’s Yemen director, Torben Due.

The UN agency found that at least 10 of the country’s 21 governorates are on the brink of famine.

“It is really a dire situation on the ground. When you see mothers who have little to eat themselves and they see their children slipping away, it just breaks your heart,” said WFP spokeswoman Bettina Luescher. “It really is shocking and horrible to see this in the 21st century.”

The threat of mass starvation is compounded by a rapidly spreading cholera epidemic, which has recorded 1,410 cases in just the three weeks since the outbreak was first detected.

This human tragedy is not merely the byproduct of a war waged by the wealthy and parasitical Gulf monarchies, backed by Washington, against the poorest nation in the Arab world. Rather, it is this war’s intended effect.

The supposed aim of this war is to reinstate what is routinely referred to as the “internationally recognized government” of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, a stooge of Saudi Arabia who was placed in power through a 2012 election in which he was the sole candidate. He was supposed to step down in two years, but unilaterally extended his term and then, amid charges of wholesale corruption, was forced to flee the country after the Houthi rebels, based in the north and supported by elements of the military, took over the capital of Sana’a.

The Saudi regime, fearing any opposition in the region, refused to accept the rise of the Houthis, a political movement based on the Zaidi Shia group, which has enjoyed limited support from Iran.

In addition to a murderous bombing campaign that has targeted schools, hospitals, residential neighborhoods and factories, the Saudi-led coalition of Gulf sheikdoms, backed by the US Navy, has also imposed a sea blockade that has choked off the impoverished country’s supplies of food and medicine. Before the war, Yemen imported 90 percent of its food. The blockade has sent the price of food and other basic necessities soaring out of reach of much of the population.

There is also mounting evidence that air strikes have been deliberately targeted at destroying the country’s ability to provide its own food. The British daily Independent cited a study by London School of Economics researchers who documented “357 bombing targets in the country’s 20 provinces, including farms, animals, water infrastructure, food stores, agricultural banks, markets and food trucks.” Their conclusion: “…the Saudis are deliberately striking at agricultural infrastructure in order to destroy the civil society.”

Agriculture is a major sector of the national economy of Yemen [Photo: WFP/Abeer Etefa]

In other words, with the aid of US imperialism, Saudi Arabia and its allies are attempting to starve an entire population into submission in what constitutes one of the great war crimes of the 21st century.

The UN reports came just days after Reuters photos from a Yemeni hospital of a starving 18-year-old girl, literally reduced to skin and bones, gained some international attention.

The photographs recall nothing so much as the horrific images that came out of Biafra in the late 1960s, when the Nigerian government waged a genocidal war to suppress the secessionist territory. That attempt to starve a people into submission is credited with spawning the modern-day “human rights” movement, with its plethora of NGOs and its overriding imperialist hypocrisy.

There is no such international reaction to the crimes carried out against the people of Yemen, however, which are largely ignored by the Western media and supported by the ruling parties not only in Washington but also the United Kingdom and all the other imperialist powers.

The media and the UN agencies have euphemistically referred to the slaughter being inflicted upon the Yemenis by the Saudi monarchy and the Pentagon as “the forgotten war.” In reality, the immense human suffering inflicted by this war of aggression has not been forgotten, it has been deliberately blacked out by those in Washington and Riyadh who are determined to deepen it to the point of mass murder in order to achieve their strategic objectives.

Samantha Power, the US ambassador to the United Nations, who made a lucrative career posturing as a human rights champion, was one of the leading proponents within the Obama administration for US support for the war against the people of Yemen. She has also been one of the principal defenders of the Saudi regime within the United Nations, which on Friday re-elected the blood-soaked monarchy to its human rights council.

Power, who has led the demonization of Russia over alleged war crimes in Aleppo, has, for obvious reason, shown no such sympathy for those dying from starvation and US bombs in Yemen.

Since the beginning of the war, the Pentagon has provided logistical and intelligence support, including the aerial refueling of warplanes, without which the Saudi bombing campaign would be impossible. Moreover, the US has poured a whopping $115 billion in arms into the kingdom since Obama took office, resupplying bombs and missiles dropped on Yemeni homes, schools and hospitals.

Following an October 8 Saudi bombing of a funeral, killing over 140 people, the Obama administration and the Pentagon issued hollow statements about US support to Riyadh not being a “blank check” and Washington’s military backing being reevaluated “so as to better align with US principles, values and interests.”

Within days, however, a spokesman for the US Central Command told reporters that nothing had changed, and that the US was continuing to provide aerial refueling of Saudi warplanes so that they could strike their targets in Yemen. Then on October 12, the US Navy fired Tomahawk cruise missiles at Yemeni installations in retaliation for what it claimed were failed missile attacks on a US warship.

Earlier this week, US Central Command Chief General Joseph Votel flew to Riyadh for talks with Saudi officials, including the regime’s defense minister, Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Votel told reporters that he wanted to “hear Saudi concerns” and that it was “important to maintain confidence in the relationship.”

The threat of the war in Yemen not only continuing, but seeing a more direct US military escalation is likely to intensify in the aftermath of the US presidential election.

Michael Morell, the former acting director of the CIA and key adviser to Hillary Clinton’s campaign, spoke on Tuesday before the Center for American Progress, the think tank founded by the Clinton campaign chairman, John Podesta, calling for a more aggressive US policy to punish Iran for its “malign behavior in the region.”

Morell, who has previously advocated bombing Syrian government positions and carrying out military actions to “make Russia pay a price” for its presence in that country, claimed that Iran is shipping arms to the Houthis in Yemen. He said he would support “having the US Navy boarding their ships and if there are weapons on them to turn those ships around.”

In other words, the preparations are being made for a far wider US war in the region, with the threat that it will spill over into a global conflict.

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Is Gandhi Still Relevant? A Vision of the World, Inspiration to All Humanity

October 30th, 2016 by Colin Todhunter

Mention Gandhi in certain circles and the response might be one of cynicism: his ideas are outdated and irrelevant in today’s world. Such a response could not be further from the truth. Gandhi could see the future impact of large-scale industrialization in terms of the devastation of the environment, the destruction of ecology and the unsustainable plunder of natural resources.

Ideas pertaining to environmentalism, agroecology, sustainable living, fair trade, local self-sufficiency, food sovereignty and so on were all present in Gandhi’s writings. He was committed to inflicting minimal damage on the environment and was concerned that humans should use only those resources they require and not amass wealth beyond their requirements.

People had the right to attain certain comforts but a perceived right to unbridled luxuries would result in damaging the environment and impinge on the species that we share the planet with.

For Gandhi, indigenous capability and local self-reliance (swadeshi) were key to producing a model of sustainable development. This is in stark contrast to what is currently taking place. For example, in agriculture the “Green Revolution” brushed aside indigenous agriculture and replaced it with water- and chemical-intensive farming that relies on external inputs from corporations and results in massive external costs. Moreover, it is unsustainable over the long term.

It has also exposed farmers to the vagaries of rigged global trade and markets,commodity speculation and the geopolitics of food. The result for many of them has been debt, suicide and financial crisis. Farmer and campaigner Bhaskar Save outlines how Green Revolution technology and ideology destroyed what was an ecologically sound approach to productive farming here.

Gandhi felt that the village economy should be central to development and India should not follow the West by aping an urban-industrial system. He noted that it took Britain half the resources of the planet to achieve its prosperity and asked how many planets would a country like India require? Gandhi added that the economic imperialism of a tiny island kingdom was keeping the world in chains, and if an entire nation of 300 million (India’s population at the time) took to similar economic exploitation, it would strip the world bare like locusts.

India is now 1.2 billion plus. U.S. citizens constitute five per cent of the world’s population but consume 24 per cent of the world’s energy. On average, one American consumes as much energy as two Japanese, six Mexicans, 13 Chinese, 31 Indians, 128 Bangladeshis, 307 Tanzanians and 370 Ethiopians.

Gandhi argued that the type of industrialized development adopted by Britain was based on a mind-set that encourages humans to regard man as conqueror and owner of the Earth. And it encourages ordinary people to engage in an endless consumerism again underpinned by arrogance: if one has sufficient cash, there is a sense of entitlement to possess anything that can be bought, regardless of the impact on the environment or on people in far-off places.

Oil comes from some place, minerals are mined from somewhere and the corporations that profit from extracting such resources impose a massive cost on people and the environment, not least by fuelling resource-driven conflicts — think Libya, Congo, Iraq, Syria (all underpinned by resource grabs, despite the “humanitarian” or “war on terror” narrative).

Although there was a role for industrialization that was not resource- or energy-intensive and which involved for example shipbuilding, iron works and machine making, for Gandhi this would exist alongside village handicrafts. This type of industrialization would not make villages and village crafts subservient to it: nothing would be produced by the cities that could be equally well produced by the villages and the function of cities would be to serve as clearing houses for village products. He argued that with new technology even energy could be produced in villages by using sunlight and local materials. And, of course, people would live within the limits imposed by the environment and work in harmony with the natural ecology rather than by forcing it to bend to the will of profiteering industries.

Consider that prior to the British, India was among the richest countries in the world and had controlled a third of global wealth until the 17th century. It was an exporter of spices, food grains, handicrafts, handloom products, wootz steel, musk, camphor, sandalwood and ivory items, among other things. The village was the centre of a rural economy, which was the centre of entrepreneurship. The British dismantled much of this system by introducing mono crop activities and mill-made products, and post-independence India failed to repair the economic fabric.

Officials now seem to be preoccupied with a fetish for GDP growth and an unsustainable model of ‘development’. Part of this process involves destroying the environment and moving hundreds of millions from the land and into what are already overburdened mega-cities. Depriving people of their livelihoods in rural India (and deliberately running down agriculture) means mass migration to cities that are failing to produce anywhere near the volume of jobs required to soak up new arrivals.

If a forest can be chopped down and the land and timber sold, this increases GDP and thus constitutes “growth.” The wildlife has gone and the forest which had been managed for centuries by local people who had used its resources sustainably for their needs has disappeared.

How much damage is being done by a system that thrives on turning people into slaves to their desires and allowing (U.S.) imperialism to reign free?

Gandhi offered a vision for a world without meaningless consumption which depleted its finite resources and destroyed habitats and the environment. Given the problems facing humanity, his ideas should serve as an inspiration to us all, whether we live in India or elsewhere.

Unfortunately, his message seems to have been lost on many of today’s leaders who have capitulated to an out-of-control “capitalism” that is driving the world towards resource-driven conflicts with the ultimate spectre of nuclear war hanging over humanity’s head.

 

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New Evidence Links Voting Machines And Clinton Foundation

October 30th, 2016 by Stefanie MacWilliams

Could these connections be enough to implicate the Clinton Foundation in the alleged early vote rigging in Texas?

As usual, the internet has come through as the ultimate watchdog while the supposed safeguards of our democracy have failed.

A Gab user by the name “Special Prosecutor Will Logan” has found some stunning information. 

Note: as Gab is a members only site, you’ll have to join to see his actual posts, but we included all pertinent information in the article.

Open in New Window and click the enlarge + button 

http://planetfreewill.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/mccarthy.jpg

OPEN IN NEW WINDOW AND THEN CLICK THE ENLARGE + BUTTON 

According to OpenSecrets, the company who provided the alleged glitching voting machines is a subsidiary of The McCarthy Group.

The McCarthy group is a major donor to the Clinton Foundation – apparently donating 200,000 dollars in 2007 – when it was the largest owner of United States voting machines. Or perhaps the 200,000 dollars went to paying Bill Clinton for speeches?

Either way, it doesn’t look good.

But there’s more.

As the same user notes in this post, Dominion Voting Systems and The Clinton Foundation did a 2.25 million dollar charity initiative in developing nations together called the DELIAN Project.

According to the project’s own website:

In 2014, Dominion Voting committed to providing emerging and post-conflict democracies with access to voting technology through its philanthropic support to the DELIAN Project, as many emerging democracies suffer from post-electoral violence due to the delay in the publishing of election results. Over the next three years,Dominion Voting will support election technology pilots with donated Automated Voting Machines (AVM), providing an improved electoral process, and therefore safer elections. As a large number of election staff are women, there will be an emphasis on training women, who will be the first to benefit from the skills transfer training and use of AVMs. It is estimated that 100 women will directly benefit from election technology skills training per pilot election.

Of course, this is all speculation, and we are not making any claims of illegal activity by the Clinton Foundation.

However, it presents a very troubling conflict of interest. Most Americans would certainly agree that voting machines should have zero connection to presidential candidates and their foundations.

Consider the implications further abroad, as well. Could this DELIAN Project be designed to influence elections in developing nations?

It can certainly be argued that electronic voting machines do not in fact provide an “improved electoral process” or provide “safer elections”

Again, this is speculation.

But we will be keeping an eye on this story if and when more information becomes available.

this article was first published by  Planet Free Will 

 

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Are the Clintons “Untouchable”? FBI Director Comey’s “October Surprise”

October 30th, 2016 by Stephen Lendman

It doesn’t matter. The Clintons are untouchable. Despite clear evidence of war crimes, racketeering, perjury, and Hillary’s email scandal, along with suspicion of murder, and who knows what else, they’re heading back to the White House in January.

Electoral rigging virtually assures it. FBI director James Comey’s announced revisiting of Hillary’s use of her private email server to maintain and send classified information won’t derail her presidential bid.

Last July, Comey whitewashed her criminality – serious enough to send ordinary people to prison. At the time, Trump was right, saying she “compromised the safety of the American people by storing highly classified information on a private email server with no security.”

Our adversaries almost certainly have a blackmail file on (her), and this fact alone disqualified her from service.

She was caught red-handed lying to the FBI and Congress – claiming she didn’t use her home server to maintain or send classified information.

Comey (image right) confirmed over 100 emails were classified when sent, including top secret ones – maybe hundreds more we haven’t heard about or not yet discovered.

Deleting thousands of emails compounded her criminality. Yet her road to the White House remains on track.

Still, Comey’s Friday announcement was astonishing, less than two weeks before November’s election, an unprecedented act Trump will try using to his advantage – though likely no more successfully than earlier.

Comey’s letter was disturbingly vague, suggesting having absolved Hillary’s criminality once, he’ll do it again.

Announced “investigative steps” take time – likely concluding next year after November’s election and January’s inauguration. Here’s his letter to FBI employees explaining his action:

This morning I sent a letter to Congress in connection with the Secretary Clinton email investigation. Yesterday, the investigative team briefed me on their recommendation with respect to seeking access to emails that have recently been found in an unrelated case.

Because those emails appear to be pertinent to our investigation, I agreed that we should take appropriate steps to obtain and review them.

Of course, we don’t ordinarily tell Congress about ongoing investigations, but here I feel an obligation to do so given that I testified repeatedly in recent months that our investigation was completed. I also think it would be misleading to the American people were we not to supplement the record.

At the same time, however, given that we don’t know the significance of this newly discovered collection of emails, I don’t want to create a misleading impression.“In trying to strike that balance, in a brief letter and in the middle of an election season, there is significant risk of being misunderstood, but I wanted you to hear directly from me about it.”

Judicial Watch (JW) has done important work, trying to have Hillary held accountable for her scandalous email practices – criminality without punishment so far, unlikely to change ahead, especially if she’s anointed in November to succeed Obama, a near-certainty as things now stand.

In response to Comey’s announcement, JW president Tom Fitton issued the following statement:

The FBI’s seeming decision to reopen the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s mishandling of classified information is astonishing.

Once again, we suspect our Freedom of Information Act and other investigations have spurred the FBI to act.

This decision highlights the corruption, favoritism, and incompetence in the FBI/Justice Department investigation of Hillary Clinton.

Her “email misconduct and lies, aided and abetted by the Obama administration, have created a national crisis. The FBI needs to disclose more information about what it found and when – the American voters deserve answers now.”

Judicial Watch helped break open the Clinton email scandal and, no matter what the FBI does, will independently continue its historic litigation and investigation.

US voters go to the polls in 10 days. Millions already voted in advance. Things were likely rigged way ahead of November 8.

Hillary is the establishment choice. Power brokers running America picked her last year to succeed Obama. Trump surprisingly emerged last man standing among a deplorable array of GOP aspirants, resembling a police lineup – or an FBI most wanted list.

Bill and Hillary Clinton belong in prison, not high office for a third co-presidential term. Given everything publicly known, they remain irreparably tainted, a disturbing indictment of a political process too debauched to fix.

Voters have no say over who leads them. Powerful interests decide everything. Democracy in America is pure fantasy, not the real thing.

The only solution is grassroots revolution. Nothing else can work.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at [email protected]. 

His new book as editor and contributor is titled “Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III.”

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com. 

Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network.

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Hillary: FBI Reopening Investigation Is Very Big. October Surprise: John Zogby

October 30th, 2016 by John Zogby

Below are selected quotations from  John Zogby opinion article published by Forbes.com:

“FBI Director James Comey’s decision to notify Congressional leaders of the reopening of the Hillary Clinton email investigation is a huge story and could prove to be the October surprise folks have been wondering about. Of course, it might turn out to be something that fizzles out or it could even be overshadowed by another Donald Trump outrage. But for now, the substance and the timing could not possibly be worse for the person who has been deemed the “inevitable next President”.

“This story is a very big deal for several reasons. First, it changes the conversation with a little over a week to go. It will be very difficult for Clinton to get back on track, unless Trump dominates with news of his own. But this issue will not be over and threatens to derail her candidacy. ….

Second, it comes at a time when the race is getting tighter. Clinton’s numbers are going down and Trump’s are actually increasing….

Third, just as some undecided voters were on the verge of concluding that perhaps she is the lesser of two evils, they may just change their minds….

So contrary to the outrage that Clinton advocates and Democrats are expressing about the timing and lack of detail in the news of the investigation, this is a very big story and a possible game changer.”

 To read the complete article by Jame Zogby at Forbes.com Click here

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The Director of the FBI Reopens the Hillary Case. “Donald Trump will win the Popular Vote for President”

October 30th, 2016 by Dr. Paul Craig Roberts

Word has reached me from Washington that the FBI has reopened the Hillary case of her violation of US National Security protocols, not because of the content of the new email releases, but because voter support for Trump seems to be overwhelming, while Hillary has cancelled appearances due to inability to muster a crowd. The popular vote leaves the FBI far out on the limb for its corrupt clearance of Hillary. The agency now has to redeem itself.

I myself do not know what precisely to think.  Having been at the top of the Washington hierarchy for a quarter century, I have seen many mistaken judgments.  At one time I had subpoena power over the CIA and was able to inform President Reagan that the CIA had misled him.  He took note and proceeded with his policy of ending the Cold War with the Soviets.  On other issues I have been mistaken, because I assumed that there was more integrity in government than actually  exists.

However, FBI director Comey (image right) did not need to reopen the case against Hillary simply because some new incriminating emails appeared.  Having dismissed the other incriminating evidence, these emails could have passed unremarked.

The problem for the FBI, which once was a trusted American institution, but no longer is, is that there is no longer any doubt that Donald Trump will win the popular vote for president of the United States.  His appearances are so heavily attended that thousands are turned away by local fire/occupancy regulations.  In contrast, Hillary has curtailed her appearances, because she doesn’t draw more than 30 or 40 people.

Americans are sick to death of the corrupt Clintons and the corrupt American media.  The Clintons are so completely bought-and-paid-for by the Oligarchy that they were able to outspend Hollywood on their daughter’s wedding, dropping $3,000,000 on the event.

Nevertheless, I don’t underestimate the power of the Oligarchy.  As Assistant Secretary of the US Treasury I experienced the Oligarchy’s power.  If I had not been backed by the President of the United States, I would have been destroyed.

Indeed, the Oligarchy is still trying to destroy me.

Possibly Trump, as his enemies allerge, is just another fake, like Obama who misled the electorate. However, Trump attacks the Oligarchy so strongly that it is hard to believe that Trump isn’t real. Trump is asking for a bullet like John F. Kennedy, like Robert Kennedy, like Martin Luther King, like George Wallace.

In Amerika, dissidents are exterminated.

Trump is up against voting machines over which he has no control.  If there are no INDEPENDENT exit polls, Trump can easily be robbed of the election, as the Texas early voting scandal indicates, with the electronic machines assigning Trump votes to Hillary. The “glitch” doesn’t assign any Hillary votes to Trump.

My expectation is that, unless Trump’s popular vote is so overwhelming, the electoral college vote will be stolen. Because of the absence of any valid reporting by the presstitutes, I don’t know what impact the orchestrated election of Hillary would have on the electorate. Possibly, Americans will break out of The Matrix and take to the streets.

I beleve that Hillary in the Oval Office would convince the Russians and the Chinese that their national survival might require considering a pre-emptive nuclear attack on the crazed, insane government of the United States, the complete narcisstic state that in the words of Hillary and Obama is “the exceptional, indispensible country,” empowered by History to impose its will on the world. This crazed American agenda is not something that Russia and China will accept.

Here is Donald Trump speaking to Americans in words Americans have been waiting to hear:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8prvxjW2wM

 


Notice that Trump doesn’t need teleprompters.

I do not agree with Trump on many issues, but the American people do. For me and for the world, the importance of Trump is the prospect of peace with Russia. Nuclear war makes every other problem irrelevant.

If Hillary is installed by the Oligarchy—this is a word used by former Democratic President Jimmy Carter who said that the US is no longer a functioning democracy but is ruled by an Oligarchy—war with Russia and China will be upon us.

After 15 years the Taliban and ISIS still run wild in the Middle East despite the efforts of the American “superpower.” Unable to defeat a few lightly armied Taliban after 15 years, what prospects does the enfeebled US have of winning a conflict with Russia and China?

None whatsoever.

The United States has had an entire generation of people born into a war for which the purpose is inexplicable.

Why these wars?  

Why this endless slaughter of women and children and endless columns of refugees overwhelming all of Europe desperately striving to escape Washington’s wars of world hegemony.  Why do not the total dumbshits in Washington hear when the President of Russia says that “Russia can no longer tolerate the state of affairs that Washington has created in the world.”

The unjustified arrogance of Washington, a washed up Third World State, is likely to destroy life on earth. No greater danger to life exists than Washington. We have to hope that Trump can clean out the Augean Stables.

Dr. Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy and associate editor of the Wall Street Journal. He was columnist for Business Week, Scripps Howard News Service, and Creators Syndicate. He has had many university appointments. His internet columns have attracted a worldwide following. Roberts’ latest books are The Failure of Laissez Faire Capitalism and Economic Dissolution of the West, How America Was Lost, and The Neoconservative Threat to World Order.

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Erdogan Consolidates His Power

October 29th, 2016 by Israel Shamir

Turkey is restless. President Erdogan is consolidating his power, trying to get rid of Parliament’s bothersome interference. He intends to reformat Turkey into a presidential republic, assuming the powers of an American president. He wants to be a Caliph, the people in Istanbul jest, and call him “Sultan Erdogan”. And the failed July coup has been used as the pretext for a huge purge in the power structure. However, the result may be better than many observers expect.

That much I learned during my visit to Turkey, where I was given an opportunity to meet Turkish members of parliament, ministers and chief editors of the major mass media. I expected the failed coup belongs to history, but I was mistaken.

Its shadow lays heavily on everyday events in the country. I was shown the debris in the parliament, where a bomb dropped by the putschists fell; there is a photo exhibition showing previous successful military coups with a horrible picture of President Menderes on the gallows. The Turkish coups weren’t vegetarian. The army intented to keep power for itself and for its NATO allies.

thomas koch / Shutterstock.com

thomas koch / Shutterstock.com

The July coup caused death of 240 people, half of them killed at the Bosphorus bridge in a confrontation with the army. It is not much compared with the successful coup in Egypt, where the victims were counted in the thousands; and where the army defeated the legitimately elected moderate-Islamist President Morsi.

After the coup, Erdogan began the purge of Gulenists, or Fethullists, as they call the followers of Fethullah Gülen, the father of moderate Turkish political Islam and the creator of the vast school network reaching 160 countries. They were supposed to be the initiators of the coup. It is not really clear whether Gülen and his followers were behind the coup, but they are definitely enemies of Erdogan.

The purge is not bloody but painful: the purged Gulenists aren’t shot, but they lose their jobs and often land in jail. Some seventy or eighty thousand men have been purged, 35,000 are imprisoned. They are judges, army officers, officials and many teachers. 500 persons have been purged from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, some of them refusing to return home when called back. The state of emergency had been declared right after the coup and it was extended a few days ago for an additional three months.

Such emergency justice is notoriously blind: one judge died three months before the coup, but he still was purged for his participation in the coup. Some companies belonging to Gulenists had their assets confiscated, while their obligations and debts remained with their dispossessed owners. It is difficult to defend oneself against such moot accusations as Gulenism.

The Turks answer with a salubrious joke referring to ‘blind justice’: “A blind man screws whomever he can catch”.

The government claims that the Gulenists formed a conspiratorial organisation called FETO, and described it as “a terrorist organisation.” They compare it to Daesh (ISIS), to the Medellin Cartel and (surprise!) to the Jesuits.

However, it is hard to comprehend in what way the Gulenists were terrorists. The worst thing they are accused of is fraudulently obtaining examination tickets for the civil service and thus securing good positions for their followers. This is surely not cricket, but hardly an act of terror.

How can one unmask a Gulenist? This is not an easy task, but there are a few cues to revealing a crypto-Gulenist.

Users of the ByLock messenger system are suspicious. This amateur messenger had been popular with Gülen followers and with some people implicated in the coup. One hundred fifty thousand users of ByLock are being screened. This messenger system had been hacked by the state security services some time ago, for it was very light on security. Afterwards, the plotters switched to the professional WhatsApp messenger. That one offered good security, but it was enough to seize a smartphone of one plotter to gain access to the rest.

Another way to unmask a crypto-Gulenist is to locate the one dollar bill a follower of Gülen received from his guru. I was told by a member of parliament that a true Gulenist often sews his one dollar bill into his underwear, close to his skin.

This idea has been pioneered by Lubawitscher Rebbe of the Chabad Hassids. The late Menachem Mendel Schneersohn also gave away dollar bills and even blessed vodka for his Hassids’ consumption. He conversed with God, and so did Gülen – according to his followers and adversaries. Hassids also tried to obtain influence, with considerable success – but they were never called “terrorists.”

Gülen had been, and remains a very powerful figure in the Turkic-speaking world, especially in the ex-USSR and China, from Tatarstan and Yakutia to Sinkiang (Xinjiang). Youths from Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan studied in his schools as well. The Gülen movement had been considered the leading moderate pro-Western branch of political Islam. Practically all modern Islamists of Turkey passed through his schools. He was the most important ally of Erdogan in his uphill fight against the violently secular Kemalists who ruled Turkey until 2002.

It is being said that the Kemalists were quite pro-American, but they refused to privatise public assets. Erdogan and Gülen were equally pro-American, and they accepted the idea of massive privatisation and sale of assets to American and other Western companies. Much of Turkish wealth is now in the foreign hands, and this is what inhibits Erdogan’s U-turn towards Russia.

While Erdogan and Gülen were friends and partners, Gülen helped Erdogan cut the secular and all-powerful army generals down to size. His followers, well established in the legal branch of government, organised the Ergenikon affair. They had claimed to have discovered a vast ultra-nationalist terrorist conspiracy called Ergenikon and sent 43 generals and many politicians to jail. Erdogan was amazed by this feat of Gülen, amazed and frightened, as this old man from Pennsylvania apparently controlled the legal system of the Republic from police to attorneys to courts.

Indeed Erdogan had good reason to be afraid. In 2013, Gülen demanded that Erdogan let him fill one hundred seats in the Parliament, and when he was refused, he unleashed his legal machine upon his old buddy. In December 2013 Gülen followers in the police and the attorney general office accused the Erdogan government ministers of corruption. Among the accused there was Bilal, Erdogan’s son, and personal friends of Erdogan.

Instead of trying to refute the accusations and argue the cases in courts, Erdogan described the accusations as “an attempted coup.” He went to people, traveled the country, appealed to the masses, and the masses supported him. He forced the police and the courts to close the cases, and began his de-Gulenisation of Turkey.

For people brought up with the concept of Supremacy of Law, this feels like a travesty of the normal order of things. However, the Law is not better than the Legislative or the Executive, it is less democratic, it is less connected to an ordinary citizen, it is more connected to the real power of money. In the US, there is no Gülen or Gulenists, but the judges beginning in the Supreme Court can disregard the people’s will as we observed when they pushed for same-sex marriages or for the right of corporations to buy candidates. They are the Deep State, so their uprooting is not bad an idea.

Yes, we want justice, but we want democracy, too. Once, the US judges were all elected, all connected to the people, but not anymore. In Turkey, Gülen had been too successful in promoting his people to legal positions; he had lost the people’s support. And the Turks were ready to forgive Erdogan even some very real corruption: they felt he cared for the people, while Gülen and his followersdid not. For the legal system, corruption is a crime, and a corrupt politician must go to jail. If a politician is not corrupt, he can be sentenced for an indecent proposal to a woman. Thus the legal system has the power to block any politician, to override the political democratic process. Erdogan succeeded in overriding the legal system.

After his victory in December 2013, Erdogan accused Gülen and his followers of having created Ergenekon affair and arresting many innocent people. Generals and politicians regained freedom.

In Ankara, I’ve met a leader of the Republican Kemalist parliamentary faction, Mustafa Ali Balbai. This handsome, wiry, muscular European-looking (as many Turks do) man did five years in jail for his alleged involvement in Ergenekon conspiracy. He was elected to parliament while still a prisoner, and lately had been freed. “Now the judges who sentenced me are in jail themselves”, he said cheerfully.

Did the Ergenekon plot exist at all? I asked the chief editor of CNN Turk, a powerful network, that played the key role in neutralisation of the July coup. “There was a core of a plot, a tiny core, and it was blown into a monster that it never was”, he said. In other words, there was a conspiracy, but a conspiracy of judges and of security services, the most frequent sort of conspiracy.

As for present purges of alleged Gulenists, one number tells a lot about its extent. The Ankara police had received forty thousand tips denouncing various Gulenists, I was told on my arrival to the capital of Turkey. Wives denounce unfaithful husbands, landlords denounce tenants who are in arrears. It became a universal accusation; naturally the police are not arresting everybody, but a lot of people have been called in for investigation. This campaign reminds of McCarthy’s campaign in the US, or the campaign against Trotskyites in the USSR of 1930s.

For some people, the purge is not consistent enough. An editor of a small newspaper, let’s call him Mehmet, told me: “If they were to purge all followers of Gülen, they would have no party and no Parliament faction. All the party bosses and all ministers passed through Gülen’s network. They purge only small people, the big ones escape the purge.”

However, there is no doubt, Erdogan takes the purge very seriously, as he did the Ergenekon conspiracy purge five years ago. He does not want to have Gülen standing behind his back ready to plunge a dagger in, and he prefers to completely remove completely that network, extensive as it was. Erdogan says that the July coup was the second, while the previous one was the attempt to use police and court in December 2013 against him and his family.

Turkey’s relations with Russia and with the US are directly connected with the story of the two coups. I visited Turkey right after Putin’s October 2016 visit, when the two leaders agreed to proceed with the very important gas pipeline, and completed the last, or the most recent stretch of their zigzagging relations.

The Erdogan-Putin friendship suffered an unexpectedly strong setback in November 2015, when a Russian SU-24 jet was downed by an air-to-air missile fired by a Turkish jet over Syria. Relations were severed, Russian tourists ceased to arrive, Turkish vegetables lost their Russian market, oil and gas projects were shelved.

In June 2016, there was another zigzag. Erdogan sent his apologies, and the relations turned better before the July coup. Possibly this step of Erdogan actually triggered the attempted coup. After the coup, it was roses all the way. In August, Erdogan visited Russia and met with Putin. This was his first trip abroad after the coup. And now, in October, Putin came to Istanbul and signaled that their relations were as cordial as ever. Even the gas pipeline project was signed, putting paid to the only leverage Kiev had on Moscow.

The Gulenists were useful here, as well: the downing of the SU-24 has been attributed to them, though previously Ahmet Davutoglu, the Prime Minister, claimed he ordered it. On the other hand, Davutoglu was close to Gülen and even visited him in 2013, but then, Gülen was still a persona grata in Turkey. It was alleged Davutoglu was being groomed to assume power in case of the coup’s success.

So why did Turkey turn to Russia and away from the US, its old senior partner? Mehmet, the editor, ascribes this move to Erdogan’s well-developed self-preservation instinct.

It appears that the American administration decided to ditch the unruly Erdogan some time ago, and install Gülen’s man Ahmet Davutoglu in his stead. A leading American neocon expert on Turkey, Michael Rubin, had demanded Erdogan’s head for quite a while. In March 2016 he called for a coup, in August 2016 he said Erdogan should blame himself for the coup, and now in October he predicted, or rather called for another coup.

The new putsch is expected on November 10 or thereabout, and it will begin with Erdogan’s assassination, it being said. Erdogan considers his partnership with Russia and friendship with Putin give him his only chance to survive politically.

The Americans are upset by Erdogan’s attitude to the Syrian Kurds. The Turkish president cares about preserving Turkey, the rump state of the vast Ottoman empire intact, while the Americans prefer to dismantle Turkey altogether, and create a Great Kurdistan from the mainly Kurd-populated areas of Turkey, Iraq and Syria.

The Americans would like the Syrian Kurds to unite their enclaves, but Erdogan does not agree and actually stopped their offensive.

Now the battle for Mosul is a new point of disagreement. Turkey, says Erdogan, has certain rights on Mosul. The city and its area had been illegally seized by the British, the Turks say. Mustafa Kemal Ataturk tentatively agreed with Mosul being given to Iraq only in 1926, well after the Treaty of Lausanne (1923). And now Erdogan objects to Mosul being taken from the Daesh and transferred to the Kurds. The people of Mosul are also far from happy about the perspective of passing to Kurds or to the predominantly Shia government in Baghdad.

In the struggle for Mosul and for Aleppo, in the battles between Kurdish enclaves in Syria, Erdogan goes against the will of the US. The problem is that there aren’t many important Turkish leaders who are ready to stand up to Washington. The Kemalist opposition and the Gulenist forces prefer to accept the American line, more or less.

If Erdogan loses in a power struggle, Turkey may collapse into a civil war: between Turks and Kurds, between various Muslim movements and Kemalists. This was the purpose of the July coup, I was told by Ali Mustafa Balbai, the Republican MP.

It is not an easy time, for sure. The Turkish lira went south. The agenda has been changed: once, Taksim square demonstrated against Erdogan, now they demonstrate against the overwhelming presence of Syrian and Iraqi refugees. Not only the European Right: Turkey also feels there are too many refugees. They are afraid the battle for Mosul will force the two millions inhabitants of that city into Turkey.

And the demonstrators are different. It is ordinary people who demonstrate against the influx of Syrians, while the educated and Westernised Turks demonstrated against Erdogan. The latter are quite unhappy and discuss whether they have a future in Turkey. The political class is unhappy, too. They do not cherish the authoritarian rule of Sultan Erdogan. Gulenists are extremely displeased. The generals are still reassessing their positions after so many purges. And the long-standing dispute between the secular and religious populations goes on unabated.

While the US has a definite idea which way should Turkey should go, its competitor, Russia, just does not care about Turkish internal politics. Or about anybody’s else internal politics. The Americans under Obama, and presumably even more under Clinton are likely to interfere; to impose their rules from swimming suits to same-sex marriages. The Russians do not interfere.

This is their tradition since the times immemorial. They did not interfere into private life of Uzbeks and Tajiks, and Chechens, and Finns, and Poles. That’s why inside Russia one can find areas ruled by Muslim law, by Buddhist tradition and even by sheer polytheist custom.

For the Russians, Erdogan is a valuable partner, and they let him – and other Turks – decide whether they should have a parliamentary or a presidential republic and whether girls should go in a scarf or without. You may be sure the Russians will not teach them what to do in their private life. This is a big advantage of having the Russians for allies.

We shall see whether having such good allies is enough in order to survive. Much is hanging upon the US elections: Erdogan was furious when Ms. Clinton referred to Kurd ambitions. But then, the whole world waits for the decision of the American people.

Israel Shamir can be reached at [email protected]

 

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US Supported “Moderate Rebels” in East Aleppo Show Their “Real Face”: Wave Al-Qaeda Flags – Photos

October 29th, 2016 by South Front

On October 28, ‘moderate rebels’ and their supporers from eastern Aleppo showed their real face one more time. Encouraged by the Jabhat Fatah al-Sham (formerly Jabhat al-Nusra, the Syrian al-Qaeda branch) attack on the Syrian government forces in western Aleppo, they confirmed their support to al-Nusra, wayving the terrorist group’s flags and symbols.

If there was some ‘moderate opposition’ in eastern Aleppo, it remained silent.

More photos and screenshots:

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Pro-terrorist media outlets shamelessly use kids in their propaganda campaign:

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Por dentro do governo invisível: guerra, propaganda, Clinton e Trump

October 29th, 2016 by John Pilger

O jornalista norte-americano, Edward Bernays, é frequentemente descrito como o homem que inventou a propaganda moderna. Sendo sobrinho de Sigmund Freud, o pioneiro da psicanálise, foi Bernays que criou o termo “relações públicas”, um eufemismo para as opiniões manipuladoras e as fraudes que elas originam.

Em 1929, Bernays convenceu um grupo de feministas a promover o cigarro entre as mulheres fumando no Easter Parade New York – comportamento, à época, considerado estranho. Uma feminista, Ruth Booth, declarou então: “Mulheres! Vamos acender outra tocha da liberdade! Vamos lutar contra outro tabu do sexo! ” A Influência de Bernays estendeu-se muito para além da publicidade. O seu maior sucesso foi ter conseguido convencer o público americano a contemporizar com os massacres da Primeira Guerra Mundial.

O segredo, segundo ele, era “fabricar o consentimento” das pessoas, a fim de “as controlar e disciplinar de acordo com a nossa vontade, sem elas terem consciência disso”.

Bernays considerou tais técnicas  como “o verdadeiro poder dominante nas nossas sociedades” e designou-as por  “governo invisível”.

O governo invisível nunca foi tão poderoso quanto o é nos dias de hoje, sendo em simultâneo tão pouco percecionado. Na minha carreira como jornalista e cineasta, nunca como hoje alguma vez eu vi a propaganda ser tão persuasiva e tão influente nas nossas vidas, sem que tal seja questionado.

Imagine duas cidades. Ambas estão cercadas pelas forças militares do governo desse país. Ambas as cidades estão ocupadas por fanáticos, que cometem atrocidades terríveis, tal como a decapitação de pessoas. Mas existe uma diferença fundamental. Num dos cercos, os soldados do governo são descritos como libertadores por repórteres ocidentais, conluiados com eles, que entusiasticamente relatam as suas batalhas e os seus ataques aéreos. Há logo imagens de primeira página nos jornais desses heróicos soldados que erguem os dedos em V, em sinal vitória. Há pouca menção de baixas civis.

Na segunda cidade – noutro país vizinho – acontece quase exactamente o mesmo. As forças do governo estão sitiando uma cidade controlada pela mesma raça de fanáticos. A diferença é que esses fanáticos são apoiados e armados por “nós” – pelos Estados Unidos e Grã-Bretanha. Além disso, ainda têm um centro de propaganda que é financiado pela Grã-Bretanha e América. Outra diferença é que os soldados do governo que cercam  esta cidade são os “maus”, condenados por agredir e bombardear a cidade – que é exatamente o que os “bons” soldados fazem na primeira cidade.

Confuso? Na verdade não. Isto é apenas um caso exemplar do duplo padrão básico que é a essência da propaganda. Refiro-me, naturalmente, ao cerco atual da cidade de Mosul pelas forças do governo do Iraque, que são apoiadas pelos Estados Unidos e Grã-Bretanha e ao cerco de Aleppo pelas forças do governo da Síria, apoiadas pela Rússia. Um é o bom; o outro é o ruim.

O que raramente é dito é que ambas as cidades não teriam sido ocupadas por fanáticos e devastadas pela guerra se a Grã-Bretanha e os Estados Unidos não tivessem invadido o Iraque em 2003. Essa operação criminosa foi lançada com base em mentiras semelhantes em tudo à propaganda que agora distorce a nossa compreensão da guerra civil na Síria. Sem essa propaganda estrondosa, apresentada como sendo notícias, o monstruoso ISIS, a Al-Qaida,  a al-Nusra e os restantes gangues jihadistas não existiriam, e o povo da Síria não teria que lutar hoje para defender as suas vidas.

Convém que nos lembremos, como em 2003, uma sucessão de repórteres da BBC se voltaram para a câmera e nos disseram que Blair estaria “justificado” naquilo que acabou por ser o crime do século. As redes de televisão norte-americanas produziram a mesma justificação para George W. Bush. A Fox News recorreu a Henry Kissinger para espalhar as invenções de Colin Powell. No mesmo ano, logo após a invasão, filmei uma entrevista em Washington com Charles Lewis, um conceituado jornalista americano de investigação. Perguntei-lhe: “O que teria acontecido se os meios de comunicação mais livres do mundo tivessem questionado seriamente o que acabou por se provar não passar de propaganda bruta?”

Ao que ele respondeu que se os jornalistas tivessem feito seu trabalho, “há uma grande probabilidade, enorme mesmo, de que não teria havido guerra no Iraque”.

Foi uma declaração chocante, corroborada por outros jornalistas famosos a quem eu coloquei a mesma pergunta – Dan Rather da CBS, David Rose do Observer e jornalistas e produtores da BBC, que preferiram o anonimato. Isto é, se os jornalistas tivessem feito o seu trabalho, se tivessem questionado e investigado a propaganda ao invés de a amplificar, centenas de milhares de homens, mulheres e crianças estariam vivas ainda hoje, e não haveria ISIS nem cerco a Aleppo ou a Mossul. Não teria havido nenhum atentado no metro de Londres em 7 de julho de 2005. Não teria havido nenhum exodo de milhões de refugiados; não existiriam acampamentos miseráveis incapazes de os receber.

Quando o atentado terrorista aconteceu em Paris em novembro passado, o presidente François Hollande enviou imediatamente aviões para bombardear a Síria – e mais terrorismo se seguiu, provavelemente, consequência das frases bombásticas de Hollande, a França está “em guerra”, e “não mostrará nenhuma clemência”. Que a violência estatal e a violência jihadista se alimentam uma da outra é uma verdade que nenhum líder nacional tem a coragem de dizer.

“Quando a verdade é substituída pelo silêncio”, disse o dissidente soviético Yevtushenko, “o silêncio é uma mentira.”

Os ataques ao Iraque, à Líbia e à Síria aconteceram porque o líder de cada um desses países não era um fantoche do Ocidente. O cadastro de desrespeito aos direitos humanos de um Saddam ou de um Gaddafi sempre foram irrelevantes. Eles, simplesmente não obedeceram às ordens de entregar o controlo do seu país.

O mesmo destino teve Slobodan Milosevic porque se recusou a assinar um “acordo” que exigia a ocupação da Sérvia e a sua conversão numa economia de mercado. O povo sérvio foi bombardeado, e Milosevic foi julgado pelo Tribunal de Haia. A independência deste género é considerada intolerável. Como o WikiLeaks revelou, foi apenas quando o líder sírio, Bashar al-Assad, em 2009, rejeitou que um oleoduto atravessasse o seu país, do Qatar para a Europa, que ele passou a ser acossado pelo Ocidente.

A partir desse momento, a CIA planeou destruir o governo da Síria recorrendo a fanáticos jihadistas – os mesmos fanáticos que actualmente controlam a cidade de Mossul e a zona oriental de Aleppo. Porque é que isto não é notícia? O ex-funcionário da chancelaria britânica Carne Ross, que era responsável pela imposição de sanções ao Iraque, disse-me em tempos: “Nós alimentamos os jornalistas com factos triviais de higienizada inteligência, ou congelamo-los. É assim que funciona. ”

O cliente medieval do Ocidente, a Arábia Saudita – a quem os EUA e a Grã-Bretanha vendem milhões de dólares de armamento – está atualmente a destruir o Iêmen, um país tão pobre onde, na época do seu maior desenvolvimento, metade das crianças eram subnutridas. Procure no YouTube e poderá ver o tipo de bombas pesadas – as “nossas” bombas -, que os sauditas estão a usar contra aldeias pobres e sujas, e contra casamentos e funerais. As explosões são semelhantes a pequenas bombas atómicas. Os lançadores das bombas da Arábia Saudita trabalham lado a lado com oficiais britânicos. Este fato nunca é referido nos noticiários da noite.

A propaganda é mais eficaz quando a nossa aquiescência é construída por aqueles que são portadores de uma boa educação – Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard, Columbia – e com carreiras na BBC, no Guardian, no New York Times, no Washington Post. Estes organismos são conhecidos como os media liberais. Eles apresentam-se como tribunas iluminadas, progressistas do zeitgeist moral. Eles são anti-racistas, pró-feministas e pró-LGBT.

E eles amam a guerra.

Enquanto falam para o feminismo, eles apoiam as guerras de rapina que negam os direitos das inúmeras mulheres, incluindo o direito à vida. Em 2011, a Líbia, na altura um estado moderno, foi destruída com o pretexto de que Muammar Gaddafi estava prestes a cometer genocídio contra seu próprio povo. Essa foi a notícia incessante; mas não houve nenhuma evidência, e o fato nunca se provou. Era uma mentira.

Na verdade, a Grã-Bretanha, a Europa e os Estados Unidos queriam aquilo que eles gostam de designar por “mudança de regime” na Líbia, o maior produtor de petróleo da África. A influência de Gaddafi no continente e, acima de tudo, a sua independência eram intoleráveis. Assim, ele foi assassinado com uma facada nas costas por fanáticos, apoiados pelos Estados Unidos, Grã-Bretanha e França. Hillary Clinton aplaudiu a sua morte horrível dizendo para as câmeras: “Nós viemos, nós vimos, ele morreu!”

A destruição da Líbia foi um triunfo dos media. À medida que os tambores de guerra iam rufando, Jonathan Freedland escrevia no Guardian: “Embora os riscos sejam muito reais, a opção para uma intervenção continua a ser forte”. Intervenção – eis uma educada e benigna palavra do Guardian, cujo significado real, para a Líbia, era a morte e a destruição.

De acordo com os seus próprios registos, a NATO lançou 9 700 “surtidas de ataque” contra a Líbia, das quais mais de um terço foram destinadas a alvos civis. Nesses ataques foram usados mísseis com ogivas de urânio. É ver as fotografias dos escombros de Misurata e Sirte, e as valas comuns identificadas pela Cruz Vermelha. O relatório da UNICEF sobre as crianças mortas diz, “a maioria delas com idade inferior a dez anos”. Como consequência directa, Sirte tornou-se a capital do ISIS.

A Ucrânia é outra vitória dos media. Jornais liberais respeitáveis, como o New York Times, o Washington Post e The Guardian, e as emissoras tradicionais, como a BBC, NBC, CBS, CNN têm desempenhado um papel fundamental no condicionamento dos telespectadores para aceitar uma nova e perigosa guerra fria. Todos têm deturpado acontecimentos na Ucrânia como sendo uma ação maligna perpetrada pela Rússia quando, na verdade, o golpe na Ucrânia em 2014 foi orquestrado pelos Estados Unidos, ajudados pela Alemanha e pela NATO.

Esta inversão da realidade é tão difundida que a intimidação militar de Washington à Rússia não é novidade; é escondida por detrás de uma campanha de difamação e susto do tipo daquela em que eu cresci durante a primeira guerra fria. Mais uma vez, os Ruskies virão buscar-nos, liderados por outro Estaline, a quem The Economist descreve como o diabo.

A mistificação da verdade sobre a Ucrânia é um dos apagões de noticiosos mais completos de que há memória. Os fascistas que projetaram o golpe em Kiev são a mesma raça que apoiou a invasão nazi da União Soviética em 1941. De todos os alarmes sobre a ascensão do fascismo, do antissemitismo na Europa, não há nenhum líder ocidental que mencione os fascistas na Ucrânia – exceto Vladimir Putin, mas ele não conta.

Muito se tem trabalhado arduamente nos media ocidentais para apresentar a população étnica de língua russa da Ucrânia como estrangeiros no seu próprio país, como agentes de Moscovo, quase nunca como ucranianos que procuram uma federação dentro Ucrânia e como cidadãos ucranianos a resistir a um golpe orquestrado por estrangeiros contra o governo eleito do seu país.

Há quase como que um joie d’esprit de uma reunião de turma de belicistas. Os tocadores de tambores que incitam no Washington Post à guerra com a Rússia são os mesmos editorialistas que publicaram a mentira monumental que propalava que Saddam Hussein tinha armas de destruição maciça.

Para a maioria de nós, a campanha presidencial norte-americana é um espetáculo mediático horroroso, em que Donald Trump é o vilão. Mas Trump é odiado por aqueles que têm poder nos Estados Unidos por razões que pouco têm a ver com o seu comportamento e com as opiniões detestáveis. Para o governo invisível, em Washington, o Trump imprevisível é um obstáculo para o projeto da América para o século 21.

Isso é, para manter o domínio dos Estados Unidos e para subjugar a Rússia, e, se possível, a China.

Para os belicistas em Washington, o real problema com Trump é que, nos seus momentos de lucidez, ele parece não querer uma guerra com a Rússia; ele quer falar com o presidente russo, não lutar com ele; diz também que quer falar com o presidente da China. No primeiro debate com Hillary Clinton, Trump prometeu não ser o primeiro a recorrer a armas nucleares em caso de conflito. Ele disse: “Eu, certamente não faria o primeiro ataque. A alternativa nuclear, a acontecer, acabou tudo”. Isto não foi novidade.

Mas será que ele realmente quis dizer o que disse? Quem sabe? Ele contradiz-se frequentemente. Mas o que é claro, é que Trump é considerado uma séria ameaça ao status quo mantido pela vasta máquina de segurança nacional que controla os Estados Unidos, independentemente de quem estiver na Casa Branca. A CIA quer que ele seja derrotado. O Pentágono quer que ele seja derrotado. Os media querem que ele seja derrotado. Mesmo o seu próprio partido quer que ele seja derrotado. Ele é uma ameaça para os planos dos senhores do mundo – ao contrário de Clinton, que não deixou nenhuma dúvida de que está preparada para recorrer a armas nucleares numa guerra contra a Rússia e contra a China.

Clinton tem o perfil necessário, do qual muitas vezes se gaba. Na verdade, o seu currículo assim o comprova. Como senadora, ela apoiou o banho de sangue no Iraque. Quando concorreu contra Obama em 2008, ela ameaçou “aniquilar totalmente” o Irão. Como secretária de Estado, foi conivente com a destruição de governos na Líbia e nas Honduras e pôs em marcha um processo de enfrentamento com a China. Ela também já se comprometeu a apoiar um No Fly Zone na Síria – uma provocação direta para desencadear uma guerra com a Rússia. Clinton pode, de facto, tornar-se o presidente mais perigoso dos Estados Unidos durante a minha vida – ainda que para obter tal galardão defronte concorrentes ferozes.

Sem qualquer sombra de evidência, ela acusou a Rússia de apoiar Trump e de hacking dos seus emails. Divulgados pelo WikiLeaks, esses emails mostram-nos que o que Clinton diz em privado, em discursos para os ricos e poderosos, é o oposto do que ela diz em público. É por isso que silenciar e ameaçar Julian Assange é tão importante. Como editor do WikiLeaks, Assange sabe a verdade. E posso assegurar àqueles que estão preocupados com Assange, que ele está bem, e que o WikiLeaks está a trabalhar a todo o gás.

Hoje, a maior concentração de tropas, lideradas pelos americanos, desde a Segunda Guerra Mundial está em curso – no Cáucaso e na Europa Oriental, na fronteira com a Rússia, na Ásia e no Pacífico, onde a China é o alvo. Tenha isso em mente quando o circo das eleições presidenciais chegar ao fim em 8 de novembro, Se o vencedor for Clinton, um coro grego de comentadores tolos vai comemorar a sua coroação como um grande passo em frente para as mulheres. Nenhum vai mencionar as vítimas de Clinton: as mulheres da Síria, as mulheres do Iraque, as mulheres da Líbia. Ninguém vai mencionar os exercícios de defesa civil que estão a ser realizados na Rússia. Ninguém se vai lembrar das “tochas da liberdade” de Edward Bernays.

O porta-voz de imprensa de George Bush chamou uma vez aos media “facilitadores cúmplices”.

Vindo de um alto funcionário duma administração cujas mentiras, permitidas pelos media, causaram tanto sofrimento, essa afirmação é um aviso da história.

Em 1946, o promotor do Tribunal de Nuremberga disse dos media alemães: “Antes de cada grande agressão, eles iniciaram uma campanha de imprensa pensada para enfraquecer as suas vítimas e para preparar psicologicamente o povo alemão para o ataque. No sistema de propaganda, a imprensa diária e a rádio foram as armas mais importantes “.

John Pilger

Este texto é uma adaptação de um palestra apresentada no Festival das Palavras de Sheffield, Inglaterra.

Artigo em inglês :

hillary-clinton-donald-trump

Inside the Invisible Government: War, Propaganda, Clinton and Trump, 27 de outubro de 2016

Tradução : Júlio Manuel Dias Gomes (Economics teacher at Faculty of Economics at University of Coimbra, Portugal, now retired.)

 

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11 de septiembre, inicio de la tercera guerra mundial

October 29th, 2016 by José Francisco Herrera

Si bien seguimos los lineamientos de la historia oficial, podemos afirmar que existieron dos guerras mundiales: Primera Guerra Mundial (1914-1918) y Segunda Guerra Mundial (1939-1945). Además de la Guerra Fría que es el mal llamado enfrentamiento entre el bloque Occidental (occidental-capitalista) liderado por Estados Unidos, y el bloque del Este (oriental-comunista) liderado por la Unión Soviética.

De ahí vamos a rescatar una cuestión básica, la creación de la Organización del Tratado del Atlántico Norte (OTAN) liderada por Estados Unidos y el porqué de su creación. Esto se puede sintetizar perfectamente con lo que dice el general Lord Hastings Lionel Ismay, primer secretario general de la OTAN: «to keep the Russians out, the Americans in, and the Germans down» [1] es decir, para mantener a la Unión Sovieta fuera, a los Estados Unidos dentro y a los Alemanes abajo. Marcando así la dinámica de la OTAN hasta nuestros días. Cosa que ya no tiene razón de ser, pues la Unión Soviética imploto, el Muro de Berlín cayó, la República Democrática Alemana y la República Federal de Alemania se unificaron, Alemania ya no es una amenaza para el mundo en términos bélicos.

El interés de la OTAN siempre ha surgido precisamente por otras razones relacionadas con el dominio mundial y la Teoría del Heartland, ideada por el geopolítico Halford John Mackinder. En la cual haciendo un esbozo somero menciona que quien posea Asia Central-Rusia Central-Siberia, tendrá grandes posibilidades de controlar el mundo. De ahí el interés de sacar a la Unión Soviética de Europa.

Entendiendo esto, podemos comprender que la OTAN solo es un mecanismo de control estratégico de dominio mundial. Siguiendo al ideólogo de la política exterior estadounidense, Zbigniew Brzezinski, creador de la Comisión Trilateral, analista político y Consejero de Seguridad Nacional de Jimmy Carter entre 1977 y 1981, afirma que EE. UU. como potencia económica, militar y tecnológica va primar como el único Estado que puede dominar la escena internacional. Donde se van a ir concatenando organismos internacionales, proyectos políticos nacionales, internacionales, tratados económicos, gran difusión de tendencias académicas, grandes lobbies mediáticos, grandes inversiones en seguridad a otros países, como también ficticias luchas contra el narcotráfico todo para ir dando los efectos deseados.

La OTAN actualmente ha perdido gran credibilidad por las invasiones militares que han realizado a diversos Estados-Nación del mundo, por ejemplo Afganistán e Irak. Las razones de algunas invasiones más que todo son políticas, y en algún grado energéticas. Las naciones no son tontas. Saben que existe peligro. Ya que todo país que esté en contra del poder hegemónico, de la estrategia de dominio absoluto, del orden mundial unipolar liderado por Estados Unidos es enemigo del imperio. Y precisamente estar en contra es poder desarrollar una industria nacional fuerte, lograr una economía sólida, segura, libre de préstamos con entes supranacionales, de mega canjes, de desarrollar soberanía alimenticia, lograr desarrollar una buena economía local o simplemente no alinearse con la política exterior de EE. UU. Al parecer es todo lo deseado por países en vías de desarrollo o desarrollados, por ejemplo China, Rusia, Irán, Corea del Norte, Turquía, Venezuela, Argentina, Brasil. Todo país con dignidad, deseo de desarrollo y voluntad inquebrantable.

Hay que hacer énfasis en la importancia de la revolución energética para el siglo XXI, es decir el cambio a energías renovables va ser una de los principales problemas que van enfrentar los países en desarrollo, ya que puede ser que no tengan la industria necesaria para dar ese salto, realmente un desafío alarmante que va enfrentar la humanidad en este siglo XXI. Debido a ello hay que tener una buena administración de esos recursos, sumando todo el poder que recae sobre la economía mundial y los países en particular. Van a ser objeto de disputa, el ¿cómo?, ¿cuándo? y ¿por qué? de esa administración. Para lograrlo se van a tener que ir modificando los combustibles fósiles como el petróleo, además agregando a esto varios motivos, primero el agotamiento de las reservas de petróleo, aunado a ello el «techo de producción mundial de petróleo» o la Teoría del Pico de Hubbert. Sintetizando, va existir un techo donde los costes económicos de la extracción del petróleo van a predominar sobre su extracción. Y segundo mitigar problemas que se tienen que solucionar con una adecuada gobernanza global, como lo es el cambio climático y el posible colapso climático, por ejemplo: El aire contaminado podría provocar de 6 a 9 millones de muertes prematuras al año en 2060 señala un informa de la Organización para la Cooperación y el Desarrollo Económicos (OCDE) del presente año. [2] (Graziano, 2003)

(Fuente: www.bbc.co.uk)

Veamos más de cerca el caso de Irak y Afganistán. Teniendo en cuenta que el 70% de las reservas petroleras aproximadamente se encuentra en la región. Tomando en cuenta a EE UU como socio de Irak, el exvicepresidente y exministro de Defensa de Bush padre, Dick Cheney, durante la década de los 90`s dirigió la empresa petrolera Halliburton, principal proveedora mundial de insumos al sector petrolero, hizo jugosos negocios vendiendo material de millones de dólares a Sadam Hussein para que este triplicara la oferta de crudo iraquí. Luego Sadam decidió simplemente no incluir a las empresas estadunidenses y británicas en el negocio, en el proceso de concesión de los pozos iraquíes, ya que le daba prioridad a las empresas europeas. [3] Causando enemistades para los intereses del orden mundial unipolar estadounidense. Agregando a ello que la importancia de Afganistán, que es un país con gran cantidad de gasoductos, bien menciona, el director del departamento del análisis estratégico de uno de los mayores consorcios de gas rusos, ITERA, Vladimir Slutskov: «La presencia militar en Afganistán y en las antiguas repúblicas soviéticas de Asia es un gran logro estratégico para Estados Unidos, así como lo es en los países petroleros del Golfo. Ahora Washington puede cumplir su antigua ambición de dirigir las corrientes de combustible, procedentes de Azerbaiyán, Kazajstán, Turkmenistán y Uzbekistán, hacia sus aliados en el área sin pasar por Rusia ni por Irán.» [4] También hay que rescatar que Irak estuvo en guerra con Irán, entre los años de 1980 y 1988, la cual era sumamente importante para los intereses geopolíticos de la región, no dejar que Irak y sus valiosas reservas cayeran en manos de su enemigo Irán. (Graziano, 2003)

Contemplando lo anterior, sabemos lo que se está jugando en la zona de Oriente Medio, es de gran importancia para la OTAN, EE. UU. y sus planes de dominio mundial. De ahí la necesidad de crear una justificación válida para poder hacer sus incursiones militares con credibilidad en la población. Ya que es un país democrático. Dentro del gran grupo de atentados de falsa bandera, de autoatentados, podemos mencionar los atentados del 11 de septiembre del 2001. Donde cayeron las Torres Gemelas y fue atacado el Pentágono. Todo un espectáculo de alta calidad hollywoodense. Un equipo de ocho investigadores dirigidos por el profesor de química, el Doctor Niels Holger Harrit de la Universidad de Copenhague (Dinamarca), demostró la existencia de explosivos de alta tecnología en una muestra de entre los escombros de las Torres Gemelas. [5] Como también el Doctor en Física Steven Jones de la Universidad de Vanderbilt, Tennesse, con más de 30 años de experiencia estudiando temáticas similares. [6] Este último forma parte de un movimiento activista llamado Scholars for 9/11 Truth & Justice, el cual busca indagar con un grupo de estudiosos los sucesos. [7] Tenemos los libros como La Terrible Impostura y Pentagate del periodista francés Thierry Meyssan. También tenemos el articulo llamado «115 mentiras sobre los atentados del 11 septiembre» del profesor de la Universidad de Vermont, California, David Ray Griffin. [8] Vamos a citar algunas de ellas:

7. Omisión del hecho que, dada la hipótesis que el incendio provocó los derrumbes, la torre sur, que fue golpeada después que la torre norte y afectada por un incendio de menor intensidad, no debería haber sido la primera en desplomarse (26)

8. Omisión del hecho que el edificio n°7 del World Trade Center (contra el cual no se estrelló ningún avión y que sólo sufrió pequeños incendios muy localizados) también se desplomó, hecho sobre el cual la Agencia Federal para el Manejo de Situaciones de Emergencia (FEMA) confesó que no podía ofrecer ninguna explicación (26).

9. Omisión del hecho que el derrumbe de las Torres Gemelas (y el del edificio n°7) presenta al menos 10 características de haber sido producto de una demolición controlada (26-27).

10. Afirmación según la cual el núcleo de la estructura de cada una de las Torres Gemelas era «un pozo de acero vacío», afirmación que niega la presencia de 47 columnas de acero macizo que eran en realidad el centro de cada torre. Según la teoría del «apilamiento de pisos» (the «pancake theory») que explica los derrumbes, varias decenas de metros de esas columnas de acero macizo debieran haber quedado en pie (27-28).

No les importo quitar la vida a más de 3.000 personas,  la mayoría de ascendencia latina, dejando a miles de familias destruidas y a muchos niños, huérfanos. Más de un millar de muertos derivados por las enfermedades de los atentados. [9] Días después el presidente Bush menciona «a partir de ahora cada nación deberá tomar una decisión: o están con nosotros o están contra nosotros.» Trazando las reglas de juego. Imponiendo su visión y su locura. Una obsesiva búsqueda del «terrorismo» que atenta a escala mundial. Gracias al autoatentado se logró conseguir el casus belli perfecto, la lucha contra el terrorismo como eslogan vociferante de los asesinados, iniciando una contienda bélica que aun hoy en día no termina, que es la lucha contra el mundo musulmán. (Salbuchi, 2005)

Tenemos una guerra contra el terrorismo que es financiando por la Agencia Central de Inteligencia (CIA) de los Estados Unidos, absurdamente los dos bandos en lucha los lidera Estados Unidos. [10] Según el candidato a la presidencia de los Estados Unidos del Partido Republicano, Donald Trump. Barack Obama y Hillary Clinton crearon el Estado Islámico. [11] Una guerra que ha causado, catástrofes en Siria, en Libia, en Omán, Yemen, Egipto, Palestina, Líbano, Irán, Turquía, Francia, Alemania, entre muchos otros. Dejando miles de muertos. Un terrorismo financiado por las elites estadunidenses, el Estado de Israel y los sionistas del Partido Likud, junto la elite británica. [12] Así menciona Daniel Estulin: «Los anglo-estadounidenses, en connivencia con los ricos países petroleros árabes liderados por Arabia Saudita, han creado un ejército del Califato con los yihadistas que han salido de la guerra de Siria… algo que los yihadistas nunca habrían logrado por sí solos.» [13] Este teatro es parte de las nuevas modalidades de guerra que se aplican en el mundo, para lograr sus objetivos de dominio mundial. Las cuales parten usualmente de excusas espurias, inexistentes para hacer invasiones o ataques a la sociedad civil. O en el peor de los casos pasan inadvertidas. Un uso de la fuerza y la hipocresía, unidos a más no poder. Tanto así que aún no encuentran las bombas atómicas, ni las armas químicas, ni la quimera que presentan en los medios de comunicación. Por ejemplo podemos ver como a Tony Blair, el ex primer ministro de Gran Bretaña, lo acusan de crímenes de guerra, ya que la acción militar no era un recurso, dejando más de un millón de civiles muertos según el informe Chilcot. [14] (Salbuchi, 2005)

Actualmente el control de la región europea se ha perdido en gran medida de parte de la OTAN, ya EE UU no tiene un férreo control sobre ella. Y esto se puede decir por varias razones. La salida de la City Londinense, del fenómeno llamado Brexit, que es la salida de Gran Bretaña de la Unión Europea, como consecuencia la Unión Europea quiere hacerse un ejército aparte de la OTAN. Como también se ha debido a la caída del comunismo europeo, la prueba, el fracaso de la Unión Europea, que tendiendo a una excesiva burocratización, una moneda única colapsada, un mordaz control de la troika es decir el Banco Central Europeo (BCE), el Fondo Monetario Internacional (FMI), y la Comisión Europea (CE) que bien han delineado un pensamiento político terrible hasta hacer colapsar sus estados miembros, hasta dejarlos en la calle, atiborrados de deuda impagables. Veamos Grecia. Bien menciona Joseph Stiglitz premio nobel de economía, cada país de la Unión Europea sería bueno que vaya optando por una variante de moneda propia, es decir disolver la Unión Europea. [15] Unido a ello el gran auge de partidos políticos nacionalistas, conservadores en todo Europa intentando luchar por la soberanía nacional y su identidad, por ejemplo el partido Alternativa por Alemania (AfD) que nació recientemente en el 2013, actualmente con gran apoyo de pueblo Alemán, tanto así que ha superado en las elecciones en Meckelmburgo-Pomerania Occidental al partido Unión Democrática Cristiana (CDU) liderado por la Ángela Merkel. Curiosamente la canciller Ángela Merkel es originaria de ese lugar. EL AfD aboga por eliminar las sanciones a Rusia de Vladimir Putin por su actuación en la crisis ucraniana. [16]

Protestas en Grecia

Como vemos el tablero del orden mundial unipolar se quiebra, existe una bestia herida, que es los EE UU, por los cambios drásticos que se están dando en el mundo. Existe una lucha constante por el orden mundial, en su totalidad, la salida de la OTAN de Turquía y su alianza con Rusia, refuerza el dominio de Rusia y China, posibles enemigos en esta guerra que se avecina. Ya que en apariencia se está pujando por un orden multipolar y multilateral. Los países BRICS y los E7 luchan por su desarrollo. Entre ellos dos en Hispanoamérica, Brasil con un reciente golpe de estado, por un informante de la CIA en Brasil como vicepresidente, Michel Temer y México. China está construyendo una nueva ruta de seda, un cinturón, una ruta. Desafiando lo existente. También existen muchos conflictos civiles como Ucrania, la creciente crisis civil en Europa con los refugiados, la creciente crisis civil en Israel, la creciente crisis civil en EE UU, la aparición de focos «terroristas» en Argentina y Brasil, las tenciones por las Islas Artificiales en el Mar Meridional de China. Hispanoamérica va enfrentar a los imperialismos que quieran devorar su riqueza natural como el agua. La guerra psicológica en la que la población cae hechizada, molida ante el atontamiento ingrato producto del consumo masivo de los medios de comunicación. En fin, se gesta aún el tablero mundial, la próxima guerra del siglo se avecina, hay que ir tomando el bando de la voluntad del país por el país. Es una guerra total, sin cuartel. Esperemos que no nos tome desprevenidos.

José Francisco Herrera

Notas:

[1]http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/16/opinion/16iht-edwheatcroft16.html?_r=0

[2]http://www.europapress.es/sociedad/medio-ambiente-00647/noticia-aire-contaminado-millones-muertes-ano-2060-pib-mundial-20160609171409.html

[3]http://www.voltair enet.org/article124680.html

[4]http://www.diariocordoba.com/noticias/internacional/clave-gas-guerra-afganistan_35404.html

[5]11S – Evidencias de la Demolición Controlada del WTC – Dr. Niels Harrit PARTE 1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0v7skGCFY4Q
Niels Holger Harrit, PhD
http://nielsharrit.org/

[6]Steven Jones – Físico – subtítulos en español https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l00hDSTNSRk
Steven Jones – Evidencias de explosivos en el polvo del WTC
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=10&v=_vT1M6FBHnE

[7]Scholars for 9/11 Truth & Justice http://stj911.org/index.html

[8]http://www.voltairenet.org/article143924.html

[9]http://www.antena3.com/noticias/mundo/anos-despues-los-huerfanos-del-11s-cuentan-historia_2016090957d261d30cf2d961f2d22db0.html

[10] http://www.globalresearch.ca/twenty-six-things-about-the-islamic-state-isil-that-obama-does-not-want-you-to-know-about/5414735
http://www.europapress.es/internacional/noticia-herencia-oculta-11-mas-millar-muertos-enfermedades-derivadas-atentados-20160911140921.html

[11]http://internacional.elpais.com/internacional/2016/08/11/actualidad/1470935582_298082.html

[12]https://actualidad.rt.com/actualidad/view/136505-wikileaks-eeuu-armas-estado-islamico
https://actualidad.rt.com/actualidad/161444-israel-fortalece-estado-islamico-siria
https://es.sott.net/article/30218-Snowden-revela-que-Israel-creo-el-Estado-Islamico-ISIS-para-crear-un-enemigo-y-justificar-su-genocidio

[13]https://mundo.sputniknews.com/blogueros/20151029/1053055039/EEUU-financia-terrorismo.html
http://www.publico.es/politica/daniel-estulin-reino-unido-base.html

[14]http://www.telesurtv.net/news/Tony-Blair-asume-la-responsabilidad-por-la-invasion-en-Iraq-20160706-0049.html

[15]https://actualidad.rt.com/actualidad/215734-nobel-economia-eurozona-crisis-stiglitz
https://mundo.sputniknews.com/economia/20160904/1063241893/joseph-stiglitz-europa-economia-brexit.html

[16]http://www.elmundo.es/internacional/2016/09/06/57cdbbe0ca474182288b45bb.html

http://www.elperiodico.com/es/noticias/internacional/ultraderecha-sigue-avanzando-con-fuerza-alemania-5360481

Bibliografía:

Graziano, W. (2003). Hitler ganó la guerra, Buenos Aires: Editorial Sudamericana.

Salbuchi, A. (2005). Bienvenidos a la jungla: Dominio y supervivencia en el Nuevo Orden Mundial.  Córdoba: Editorial Anábasis.

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US Sponsored “Moderates” “Have Sown Terror Everywhere”: Testimony of the Archbishop of Aleppo

October 29th, 2016 by Mgr Jean-Clément Jeanbart

The whole world is terrified at the sight of the images from Aleppo that the mass media have been presenting in recent days. Many of our friends abroad are concerned and want to hear from us. We are living tragic moments in our history and what’s happening here continues to make Aleppo and its people suffer, people that for more than five years have been unable to have peace, so harassed and massacred by armed groups that have come from all over the world, to conduct a self-styled holy war, in a country governed (according to them) by atheists and infidels!

For five years now the terrorists here have been calling the shots, where the civil authorities of the country have not managed to be present. They have sown terror everywhere, killed tens of thousands of innocent people, destroyed thousands of factories, businesses and institutions of public services, looted houses and stolen, without any concern, assets of the country and the citizens. They have have made victims of many innocent people, kidnapping and brutally murdering countless peaceful people, including nuns, priests and even bishops.

This still going on today: this morning a dozen shells fell in two of our residential areas, causing further destruction and in one neighborhood, numerous deaths and injuries.

Battles are raging on the outskirts of the city: the rebels from the “Al-Nusra Front” are attempting to take positions in areas considered strategic, almost completely depopulated and almost entirely destroyed, that they seized and held until last June at the city’e edge. Images of these places of utter desolation are spread widely by the TV networks.

And it is there that the great battles now going on are taking place. Three weeks ago we put high hopes on the ceasefire, hoping it would enable peace-making followed by national reconciliation and a resumption of normal life in the country! Unfortunately this truce, weakened by continued violations by the radical opponents, was officially broken in recent days, by the unexpected raid by the coalition allied to the rebels in Deir-El-Zor.

These raids were on a Syrian army military base and killed more than 90 soldiers in their barracks, not to mention the number of undeclared injured. Is that the way to stop the fighting?

Therefore we hope and we are counting on the grace of God, the only one able to arouse the conscience of the great decision-makers. The terrifying spectacle of what happens has to shake every man that respects the sanctity of human life. So if Mr. Staffan de Mistura can manage to revive the peace process, we can hope for a bright spell and perhaps even for the concrete results of peace, the sine qua non for the foundation of the long-awaited dialogue.

The hardest thing for Christians who are currently present in Aleppo would be the prospect of having to live, morning and evening, in anxiety in this situation of insecurity: destabilizing disconcerting uncertainty. They are afraid for the next day, and the future of their children troubles them greatly. Imagine that one day a Muslim fundamentalist state would be imposed on them — for them this is an unbearable nightmare.

This is why we turn to our brothers in France and throughout the West, and we beg you to help us ensure that this does not happen. We are not asking you to make war for us, but only to end the unjust claims of your allies that want to impose antiquated laws, laws that are unbearable for the people of the twenty-first century who want to be free to choose their culture, their style life and, finally, their faith. We call on our brothers in France to pray for us and all women and all men concerned about human dignity and love of freedom, to come to our rescue to save our dear country from the depth of the fundamentalist regime they are trying to put us in. Please help us to continue to live in dignity on this blessed land of our birth!

Aleppo, 28 settembre 2016 (translated from Italian)

Jean-Clément Jeanbart,  Archbishop of Aleppo 

 

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Spain, The Dice Are Cast, Another Parliamentary Coup Instigated from Outside

October 29th, 2016 by Peter Koenig

Last December I wrote an article entitled “Spain has Fallen – not Like Greece – but Fallen all the Same”.  The article was first published on 22 December  2015, two days after the Spanish elections. It analyzed the results of the elections then and concluded that they were a fraud and that the outcome was prepared by long arms, some two years in advance, to make sure another ‘Greece’ could be avoided, lest Spain might break-up the EU and particularly the Eurozone.

Now that the dice are cast, the fraud is confirmed. During the more than 300 days ‘without’ a government, the MSM touted the without to frighten the Spanish public into believing it was a shame to be without a government for so long. Now, probably close to a majority of the Spanish public, believe it’s a good thing that finally a decision was reached and the country will have again a government, never mind the disaster course already predicted. The ‘new’ / old Rajoy Government will lead the already impoverished population into more misery and hardship.

In fact, it is no shame at all to have ‘no government’ – which is in itself a misnomer. Spain was never really without a government. Although no party came out as a clear winner on 20 December 2015, nor was it possible to form a governable majority coalition, the country had a caretaker government, still under the acting leadership of the right-wing Popular Party (PP), steered by President Rajoy. Belgium was in a similar situation in 2010-2011, when the country was for 589 days without an elected government. Belgium was run better with the ‘acting government’ than under the current ultra-neoliberal right-wing PM, Charles Michel.

In Spain, as no agreement on a governable coalition could be reached, King Felipe VI decided for a second round of popular vote on 26 June, 2016. Predictably, the result was not much different from the 20 December vote. In fact, the PP gained 15 seats from 122 in December 2015) to 137, or 33% in a 350 seat Parliament (176 seats are needed for an absolute majority). The socialists (PSOE) had 85 seats, a loss of 5 from December 2015; and the ‘new-and-coming’ ‘Unidos-Podemos’ left coalition under Pablo Iglesias stayed about the same with 71 (69). Unofficial polling results hours before the 26 June elections showed ‘Unidos-Podemos’ with huge wins, coming in second, with only a few seats behind PP, followed by PSOE, third.

When asked for the reason of this apparent slump in voter support, way beyond the usual margins of error of election surveys, Iglesias had no explanation, other than ‘we have to analyze it’ – which was apparently never done. Are Iglesias and his party leadership handlers of the invisible elite supported from abroad? Was PODEMOS about two years ago stamped out of the blue to grow fast – and to divide the Spanish mainly two-party culture, following the old rule, ‘divide to conquer’? This could well be, as explained in the article-analysis of 22 December 2015.

Spain is not allowed to fall to the left. Spain like Greece, is a NATO country, bordering on the strategic Mediterranean and therefore must stay in the EU, and must stay in the Eurozone, and foremost, must stay in the NATO. The risk of a break-up of the Eurozone could be – and might be – detrimental for the EU, for NATO and for the scam-driven profit-making bankster machinery. The Spanish elite, like the Greek elite, call them capitalist or ‘new intellectuals’, support the continuous decay of the living conditions of their compatriots, as they reap the benefits from their brothers and sisters’ misery. Hard words, but see also “Greece: Disaster after the Capitulation“ –

During this entire process of forming a government under PP leader Rajoy, Pedro Sánchez, the head of the socialist party, resisted to participate in any Rajoy-led government. His main argument was, and rightly so, either we are a true socialist party, or we are a ‘subordinate’ of the right. Party-internal fights, disputes and disagreements, most certainly influenced from outside, probably even from outside Spain, put enormous pressure on Sánchez, who wouldn’t budge to the very end. Eventually he resigned on 1 October, falling victim to bitter disagreements and squabbling over the future direction of the PSOE. The official version calls it a “coup orchestrated by an alliance of regional party barons.” – Was he perhaps threatened – do as we say, ‘or else’…

Sanchez’ duly primed anti-Podemos successor as head of PSOE, Asturia’s PSOE leader, Javier Fernandez, immediately compromised for the socialist party to abstain from voting in a forthcoming parliamentary vote, which took place on 27 October. This gave Rajoy 170 seats, six short of an absolute majority. In the next round, on Saturday 29 October, a simple majority will suffice to reinstate Rajoy as the ultra-neocon Spanish President. Thus, Mr. Fernandez handed effectively and willingly the leadership of Spain for the next four years to the ultra-neoliberal Mariano Rajoy.

Peter Koenig is an economist and geopolitical analyst. He is also a former World Bank staff and worked extensively around the world in the fields of environment and water resources. He writes regularly for Global Research, ICH, RT, Sputnik, PressTV, The 4th Media, TeleSUR, TruePublica, The Vineyard of The Saker Blog, and other internet sites. He is the author of Implosion – An Economic Thriller about War, Environmental Destruction and Corporate Greed – fiction based on facts and on 30 years of World Bank experience around the globe. He is also a co-author of The World Order and Revolution! – Essays from the Resistance.

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Big Pharma and the Causes of Parkinson’s Disease

October 29th, 2016 by Dr. Gary G. Kohls

Recently I read an online essay that was written by a person whose father has had progressive Parkinson’s disease for several decades. The tone of the essay was one of despair, confusion and frustration from a son who truly loved his father and would do anything to help him.

Given the fact that a lot of the medical information that is on the internet comes from Big Pharma websites, the author understandably repeated many of the myths about Parkinson’s disease, such as the “no known cause” myth or the “it might be genetic” myth.

However, in the middle of the essay, the author did reveal that his dad had been a farmer in his younger years and had been exposed to some of the common agribusiness-promoted neurotoxins (such as insecticides and herbicides) that seem to have been accepted by the industry as normal parts of farming. Of course, physicians have known for a long time that neurodegenerative disorders like Parkinson’s disease are one of the occupational hazards of farmers who are exposed to neurotoxins like farm chemicals, solvents and heavy metals.

So, wanting to encourage the author to keep on with his research, I wrote a note to him. As is my wont, the note turned into a 2500 word essay. I submit it below, keeping in mind Dr Marcia Angell’s wisdom:

“It is simply no longer possible to believe much of the clinical research that is published, or to rely on the judgment of trusted physicians or authoritative medical guidelines.” 

Mr S.,

I just finished reading your fine essay about your father’s Parkinson’s disease and want to express my sympathies. I understand your need to wade through the massive amounts of online information on the subject and your efforts to look for hope in what is, unfortunately, an essentially incurable neurodegenerative, neurotoxin-induced illness.

My own father developed permanent, disabling Guillain-Barre syndrome shortly after he was vaccinated in the fraudulent Swine Flu pseudo-epidemic of 1976 which resulted in thousands (perhaps millions) of other under-reported neurotoxic, neurodegenerative disorders that were caused by the mercury-containing vaccine. (BTW, there was only one case of “flu” that caused the death of a physically and emotionally exhausted soldier during his basic infantry training that led to that infamously fast-tracked, CDC-mandated, freak-out vaccine campaign – a total fraud perpetrated by an alliance between the CDC, the FDA, Big Pharma, Big Medicine and Big Media. In the months that it took Big Pharma to concoct a mercury-loaded vaccine, there had developed no other cases of “swine flu” – and yet the momentum that had been generated resulted in a media campaign that urged everybody to get their flu shot! The vaccine industry and the CDC had heavily invested in the vaccines and would have lost hundreds of millions of dollars if the fraud had been exposed and the campaign halted. There were no Mea Culpas from any of these previously honorable professional organizations.

There have been many highly profitable false hopes that have been regularly offered by Big Pharma’s giant for-profit multinational corporations that distracts us from the reality of causative environmental neurotoxins (like your father’s sub-lethal exposure to neurotoxic pesticides, fungicides and herbicides) that are known to cause dementia, Parkinson’s and many other degenerative brain disorders.

Of course many healthcare industries in this nation are interested in the profit potential of self-limited, curable or preventable disorders that could instead become chronic, life-long, difficult to diagnose, incurable, or even autoimmune disordered clients who would then need life-long follow-up visits, life-long drug-prescribing, life-long lab testing and life-long med checks. Prevention and cure is not good for the “healthcare” bottom line.

The abnormal protein that you mentioned that has recently been found in the brains of autopsied Parkinson’s patients is, in reality, just a clue that was left behind following the death of the killed-off neurons in the substantia nigra, the site of degenerated dopamine neurons in Parkinson’s disease and the brainstem location where the poisoning of 80% of the dopamine neurons will cause Parkinson’s disease in any animal.

The protein thus may simply represent abnormal left-over protein molecules from the putrifying process that occurs in all dead and dying proteinaceous carcasses. Magnifying the importance of an abnormal protein that is found within dead tissue is just another disinformation ploy perpetrated by some Big Pharma corporation and their scientists.

Corporate spokespersons will claim that they are giving patients and their families something to hope for, but at the same time they are giving an optimistic picture to potential investors. The corporation wants investors to think the new information will result in the creation of the next pharmaceutical block-buster, like the following very short list of lethal and then banned pharmaceuticals:

Avandia (a blood sugar-lowering drug), Baycol (a cholesterol-lowering drug), Cylert (an ADHD drug), Darvon (a pain pill), Diethylstilbestrol (to prevent premature labor), Duract (a pain pill), Fenfluramine (half of the disastrous weight loss combination Fen-Phen), Halcion (a benzodiazepine-type sleeping pill), Melleril (an antipsychotic), Meridia (an appetite suppressant), Lotronex (and also Zelnorm, both irritable bowel drugs), Oraflex (an NSAID drug), Phenformin (a glucose-lowering drug), Phenylbutazone (an arthritis drug), Propulsid (a drug for slowing down peristalsis), Seldane (an allergy pill), Trovan (a fluoroquinolone antibiotic), Vioxx (an arthritis drug), etc, etc.

Please note that the above list only contains a small number of the hundreds of similarly banned prescription drugs that hadn’t been tested adequately prior to being granted marketing approval from regulatory agencies like the FDA.

Of course, giving false hope is actually an act of cruelty, because the false hope disrupts the efforts needed for the prevention of such diseases by de-emphasizing the real root causes of a disease – especially the iatrogenic ones.

The truth is that the finding of an unusual protein in the chemically-poisoned wasteland of the brain’s is just another of the many types of evidence that can be found at any crime scene which is not necessarily the cause of the crime. Correlation does not mean causation, but Big Pharma jumps at such correlations because it is good for their business.

Thus the best efforts to deal with Parkinson’s or so-called Alzheimer’s or Autistic Spectrum Disorders – all caused by exposures to neurotoxic substances of one kind or another – are often made considerably worse in the presence of one or more toxic substances.

Good medical practice should prevent people from becoming ill with neurodegenerative disorders in the first place, but it also should be trying to prevent already-ill patients like your father from getting worse by pointing out the avoidable neurotoxins in the environment or the clinician’s armamentarium that could worsen the illness. I submit that that should include the avoidance of prescribing additional drugs that might be neurotoxins or mitochondrial toxins or vaccines that could contain neurotoxins or mitochondrial toxins. It seems to me to be the height of absurdity for the pharmaceutical industry to be proposing a new vaccine (that will have neurotoxic ingredients in it) for a degenerative nerve disorder that has no connection to a theoretically vaccine-treatable infectious disease.

It would be safe to say that much of the research that you have found online originates from the laboratories of for-profit pharmaceutical companies that are in the business of increasing shareholder value and not for making sick patients well.

Big Pharma’s most visible cheerleaders in these matters are (co-opted-by-the-drug-industry) academic physicians that have MDs or PhDs behind their names and who, for their professional survival, need to get published.

It is also important to acknowledge that virtually all of the mainstream medical journals (that most clinicians subscribe to [but mainly speed-read through]) are beholden to Big Pharma’s wealthiest drug advertisers. Many of those research scientists and teaching academics are outright Big Pharma employees, shareholders, own stock options in the companies, receive honoraria as lecturers or are highly paid salespersons for the industries or are on well-paid panels of so-called “experts” that advise the CDC or FDA on what new drugs or vaccines to approve. Many of the scholarly articles to which they claim authorship are actually ghost-written by company employees.

Most practicing physicians do not have significant financial conflicts of interest with Big Pharma, but they DO have professional conflicts of interest in Big Pharma’s drugs and vaccines, for many of Big Pharma’s synthetic chemicals can cause any number of drug- or vaccine-induced chronic illnesses (including autoimmune disorders) which then produces a lot of chronic patients that will directly benefit them, their clinics and their healthcare organizations.

The story above is true for the synthetic chemical causes of Parkinson’s, drug-induced dementia, or Autism Spectrum Disorders or Multiple Sclerosis or Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis or Gulf War Syndrome, or any of the many Vaccine-induced or Psychiatric Drug-induced disorders, both categories of which involve the poisoning of the energy-producing organelles of the body called mitochondria.

I suspect that you are among the many who have wondered about the regularly scheduled media campaigns that seem to come from the CDC, the FDA and/or from Big Pharma and their co-opted academic physicians – like the notorious academic pediatrician and multimillionaire Dr Paul Offfit (who got rich because he developed a rotavirus vaccine), who once claimed that infants could safely receive 10,000 vaccines at one sitting without suffering any adverse effects!

Those media blitz campaigns have regularly over-publicized infectious disease clusters and then blamed allegedly inadequate vaccination rates for the occasional outbreak of some childhood infections disease like measles , whereas in actuality, the so-called “measles” clusters were never proven to be measles – only measles-like rashes. And what is worse, the CDC or local health organizations never admitted that many of the victims of those outbreaks had been fully vaccinated!

There have also been well-funded media campaigns to smear independent, scholarly, altruistic scientists whenever they exercised their duty to warn others after they had connected the dots between the multitude of iatrogenic disorders (“iatrogenic” = physician-caused or medication-induced) and the multitude of cellular toxic and neurotoxic synthetic chemicals that are commonly prescribed by physicians.

The reality is that most of the medications on the market today were never adequately tested for long-term safety or long-term effectiveness in human subjects prior to gaining marketing approval. So anybody who has been urged or ordered to take more than one drug has no assurance that either one has been proven to be safe or effective long-term, especially in combination.  What is even worse is the fact that any combination of two or more drugs has never been subjected to either short or long term trials in the pre-clinical animal lab (rat, mouse, guinea pig or monkey) experiments, where microscopic examination of brain tissue is done.

It has been well established that every one of the five classes of psychotropic drugs can cause dementia, brain damage, brain shrinkage, mitochondrial toxicity, drug dependence [addiction], worsening depression, worsening anxiety, insomnia, somnolence, mania, lethargy, psychosis, irrational behaviors, aggression, suicidality, homicidality, etc, etc, depending on whether the drugged-up, intoxicated person is experiencing some of the multitude of adverse effects of the psychoactive drugs or is experiencing the often serious withdrawal symptoms that commonly occur when the drugs become intolerable.

And it has been well established that all intramuscularly injected vaccines – whether they 1) are live virus-type (MMR/polio), 2) contain the preservative mercury/thimerosal (all multi-dose flu shots and most childhood vaccines prior to 1999) or 3) contain the adjuvant aluminum (including most of the non-live virus vaccines, including the HPV and pneumonia vaccines) have both lethal and sub-lethal consequences (which can manifest themselves immediately or in a delayed fashion).

And here is the upshot for you and your father: the annual vaccinations that he has been urged or ordered to submit to by well-meaning and often naïve clinicians, may be making his neurodegenerative disorder worse. The heavy metal neurotoxicities of the aluminum-containing pneumovax shot and the mercury containing flu shot are known to bio-accumulate in the brain and body tissues with each dose, and aluminum has been consistently found in the degenerated brain tissue of well-vaccinated patients, particularly in the amyloid deposits of so-called (and mis-labeled) “Alzheimer’s dementia of unknown etiology” patients.

And there is another serious upshot if you have infants or small children, because at the time when an infant’s brain and body are at their most vulnerable (at their 2, 4 and 6 months “well baby” pediatrician visits, after which there is a significant increase in sudden infant death syndrome [SIDS] or near-SIDS episodes), up to 9 antigenic substances (along with their toxic vaccine ingredients and inadvertent contaminants) are injected at one sitting! And Dr Offit and his pro-vaccine colleagues concur, despite their having taken the Hippocratic Oath at the beginning of their careers.

You touched upon a very telling truth in your essay. You talked about the many neurotoxic substances (pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, insecticides – you omitted petroleum products, solvents and molds) to which your farmer father was regularly exposed – with no hazmat protection – in his early life. Those toxic exposures, as serious as they can be all by themselves, can be expected to have additive (and, more seriously, even synergistic) toxic effects with the many similarly toxic additives in the “food” supply.

Those toxic food additives include the non-nutritive synthetic flavor enhancers High Fructose Corn Syrup, NutraSweet (aspartame), Splenda (sucralose), Saccharin, Acesulfame potassium and MSG and the equally toxic additives that make dead meat look pink, such as nitrates, sulfites and dyes, and the so-called  preservatives such as sodium benzoate or potassium benzoate (both of which, when exposed to ascorbic acid/vitamin C, turn into benzene, a known carcinogen and DNA toxin.

Well, this lengthy message exceeded my initial goal of applauding your efforts to de-mystify Parkinson’s disease. I will probably make use of this missive as one of my weekly Duty to Warn columns (I will let you know if and when it is published). Be assured that I will avoid any information that could identify you.

I hope that I have challenged you enough for you to do some additional research into information about America’s iatrogenic neurodegenerative disease pandemic that happens to be a taboo subject for Big Pharma, Big Vaccine, Big Medicine (including the AMA, AAP, APA, AAFP, CDC, FDA, NIMH, NIH), Big Insurance, Big Chemistry, Big Food, Big Agribusiness, Big Finance, Big Media and other giant multinational corporations – the first three of which fund 90% of American medical research and therefore expect a significant return on their investments. Please check out if the sources of the information you run across are industry shill. Before you trust the information.

I am sending a recent essay of mine that reveals a number of unwelcome facts about drug-induced or vaccine-induced dementia (they ARE NOT Alzheimer’s!). The article can be found at (http://www.globalresearch.ca/drug-induced-dementia-is-not-alzheimers-disease/5545492). The article contains many of the facts that you need to know about America’s history of iatrogenic, drug-induced, vaccine-induced, neurologic illnesses like Parkinson’s and dementia. Diseases like those could have been prevented, but are now clogging up America’s medical system. Physicians like me are partially responsible for the pandemic.

Drug- or vaccine-induced, iatrogenic illnesses are the focus of many Big Pharma corporations that are always looking for ways to profitably expand their markets by developing new products to “treat” new diseases that may have been caused by the old products in the first place.

And unless the propaganda coming from Big Pharma and their partners is effectively countered, that unholy alliance will continue to manufacture, advertise, market and prescribe increasingly unaffordable, illness-producing drugs and vaccines that will surely make America’s physical, neurological and mental health even worse than it is already.

Happily for holistic and preventive healthcare practitioners and their lucky patients, prevention and cure doesn’t create permanent clients (aka, “cash cows” for Big Pharma and Big Medicine). Anyone who has followed the get-rich schemes of most of Big Pharma’s and Big Medicine’s CEOs, boards of directors and co-opted academic physicians easily understands how obscene medical costs has made healthcare a major cause of individual bankruptcies in America. One only has to consider the fraud, corruption and price gouging involving EpiPen, Mylan, Merck, GSK, Pfizer, Lilly, Astra-Zeneca, Bayer, Novartis, Sanofi Aventis, etc).

Any aware person knows that those entities are making obscene amounts of money by creating permanent patients who will be over-diagnosed, over-medicated, increasingly ill, increasingly disabled and over-inoculated with aluminum-adjuvanted vaccines – and therefore increasingly likely to also develop iatrogenic autoimmune disorders.

My hope is that increased awareness and self-education will eventually lead to more accurate diagnoses, real prevention and real cures of toxified people like your father.

Sincerely yours,

 

Gary G. Kohls, MD, Duluth, MN

Dr Kohls is a retired physician from Duluth, MN, USA. In the decade prior to his retirement, he practiced what could best be described as “holistic (non-drug) and preventive mental health care”. Since his retirement, he has written a weekly column for the Duluth Reader, an alternative newsweekly magazine. His columns mostly deal with the dangers of American imperialism, friendly fascism, corporatism, militarism, racism, and the dangers of Big Pharma, psychiatric drugging, the over-vaccinating of children and other movements that threaten American democracy, civility, health and longevity and the future of the planet.

Many of his columns are archived at

http://duluthreader.com/articles/categories/200_Duty_to_Warn,

http://www.globalresearch.ca/authors?query=Gary+Kohls+articles&by=&p=&page_id=

or at

https://www.transcend.org/tms/search/?q=gary+kohls+articles

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Russia Loses UN Human Rights Council Place, Saudi Arabia Re-Elected

October 29th, 2016 by RT

For the first time since UNHRC’s inception in 2006, Russia has lost an election to the UN Human Rights Council after being narrowly beaten by Croatia in a vote. Saudi Arabia was successfully re-elected, despite criticism from human rights organizations.

The 47 places on the council are distributed on a regional basis, with staggered ballots seeing a third of the body re-elected each year. Russia had finished its three-year term and was running against Hungary and Croatia for the two available seats from Eastern Europe.

With Hungary far ahead, Croatia received the votes of 114 of the 193 member countries, and Russia was selected on 112 ballots.

“”It was a very close vote and very good countries competing, Croatia, Hungary. They are fortunate because of their size, they are not exposed to the winds of international diplomacy. Russia is very exposed. We’ve been in the UNHRC for several years, and I am sure next time we will stand and get back in,” said Russia’s UN envoy Vitaly Churkin. Russia is eligible to run next year, against a new set of countries.

Saudi Arabia sailed through the Asian ballot with 152 votes, and will represent the region on the UNHRC alongside China, Japan and Iraq for the next three years.

South Africa, Rwanda, Egypt and Tunisia were chosen from the African group, Cuba and Brazil from Latin America and the Caribbean, and the US and the UK will represent the Western bloc, which comprises Western Europe and North America.

Over the next term, which will last between 2017 and 2019, the 14 chosen members will be tasked with formulating the UN’s official position on conflicts occurring around the world, as well as the domestic policies of member states.

The elections took place against a backdrop of criticism from non-governmental human rights organizations, who say that the body has been hijacked by oppressive regimes looking to deflect criticism and drive their own agendas.

Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International produced a joint statement earlier this year condemning Saudi Arabia for “an appalling record of violations” in Yemen, where it has conducted a bombing campaign against Houthi rebels since 2015, which has resulted in the deaths of up to 4,000 civilians. The two organizations called for Saudi Arabia, a member of the UNHRC since it was created in 2006, apart from a mandatory year-long break after two terms, to be suspended – to no avail.

Saudi Arabia used its power in the council to block an outside inquiry into the campaign last month, while leading a successful resolution that placed the responsibility of investigating human rights abuses in the hands of its allies, the exiled Yemeni government.

Saudi Arabia carried out 157 executions domestically last year – the highest number in two decades, and is on pace to match the number this year. Critics of the regime have often faced detention, while women do not enjoy autonomy and equal status before the law.

Riyadh has repeatedly refused visits from UNHRC rapporteurs looking to investigate the justice system, incidences of torture, and discrimination.

In its official campaign brochure, published ahead of the vote, Saudi Arabia boasted about its human rights record, claiming, for example, that it supports “the empowerment of women at all levels” in compliance with “Sharia law, which guarantees fair gender equality.”

 

Ahead of this year’s vote Russia came under concerted pressure from human rights organizations.

“The non-election of Russia shows that the nations of the world can reject gross abusers if they so choose,” said executive director Hillel Neuer. “This makes the election of Saudi Arabia, China and Cuba even more preposterous.”

A petition signed by 80 NGOs, including Human Rights Watch and Refugees International, asked the voting countries to “question seriously whether Russia’s role in Syria which includes supporting and undertaking military actions which have routinely targeted civilians and civilian objects renders it fit to serve on the UN’s premier inter-governmental human rights institution.”

Russia dismissed the petition, published this week, as “cynical” and “dishonorable,” and said the accusations were motivated more by politics than by concern for human rights. Moscow, which has been conducting airstrikes in the country over the past year, says that it is acting legally, following an official call for assistance from the Syrian government, and insists that its war efforts are targeted at terrorists.

 

China, Cuba, Egypt, Iraq, Rwanda, which all succeeded in their quest for council membership, were also accused by NGOs of being undeserving of a place on the UNHRC.

The current human rights body replaced the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in 2006, which was plagued with identical accusations of domination by authoritarian regimes and preoccupation with Israeli violations in Palestine, at the expense of human rights crimes elsewhere in the world. The election of Muammar Gaddafi’s Libya to head the commission in 2003 was lambasted by Western media and politicians, and was seen as the catalyst for the reforms that have resulted in the formation of the UNHRC.

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Crossing the Acheron: “The American War in Vietnam: Crime or Commemoration?”

October 29th, 2016 by Luciana Bohne

In classical mythology, the Acheron is one of the rivers of the Underworld. It marks the boundary between the living and the dead. The ferryman Charon ferries the dead across the Acheron to a place where they lose memory. Nothing of what made them human remains—happiness, suffering, love, hatred, guilt, regret, redemption, betrayal, forgiveness.

From Gilgamesh to Odysseus to Aeneas, the living heroes of the epic descend into the Underworld at a point of despair in the sense of their quest. Burdened by a fate that requires momentous courage and tragic self-sacrifice for the sake of their people’s survival, they resent the absurdity of their lot. Down there on a visit, they return from the shadow land strengthened. They recognize that the business of living is not oblivion but action.

Photo by manhhai | CC BY 2.0

John Marciano’s recently published book, The American War in Vietnam: Crime or Commemoration? functions as such a Charon in reverse. It ferries readers back to the realm of remembering. This slim volume could not have come at a more opportune moment. American political culture is punch-drunk with the pursuit of war. The altered state is reaching the point of delirium tremens. Thwarted in the neocolonial scheme of annexing Syria by Russia’s legal intervention, the American elite are pushing for confrontation. Though it is hard to think the unthinkable, the nuclear holocaust may happen if not by intention then by spontaneous americanwarvietnamcombustion from over-intoxication with the fumes of war.

This reckless confrontation results from decades of accumulated unaccountable power. Its boldness reflects a cumulative experience of impunity for aggressive behavior by soft and hard neocolonial postures since the end of WW II. The war in Vietnam, as Marciano suggests, should have functioned as the lesson that checked the nation’s historical thrust for conquest, but the turning point would have required a national effort to relinquish the myth of the Noble Cause, the delusion that America is vested with a divine mandate to assimilate the people of the world to the American image–for the people’s own good. Britain had its White Man’s Burden; France its mission civilatrise; America its Manifest Destiny.

This timely volume traces the war to the apocalyptic finale of the most powerful military in the world defeated by the determination, courage, and self-sacrifice of a peasant people unwilling to be enslaved. But this is as much a book about the past as it is about the present. It reminds us, with Tolstoy, “The reality of war is in the killing, “ a realization officialdom would like to block. In fact, they have prepared a falsifying celebration of that moral and military debacle.

As Marciano writes in his introduction,

In May 2012, President Barack Obama and the Pentagon announced a Commemoration of the Vietnam War to continue through 2025, the fiftieth anniversary of the conflict’s end. Among the Commemoration’s objectives, three stand out: ‘to thank and honor’ veterans and their families . . . ‘to highlight the advances in technology, science, and medicine related to military research conducted during’ the war; and to ‘recognize the contributions and sacrifices made by the allies’.

President Obama claimed in the commemoration announcement speech that the war had been “an honorable cause.” Marciano challenges this notion. America’s historic ideology of the Noble Cause, he writes, rests on the belief that the United States is

A unique force for good in the world, superior not only in its military and economic power, but in the quality of its government and institutions, the character and morality of its people, and its way of life.

This is the mystical bigotry of a messianic faith typical of empires. Imperial militarism seeks in a Noble Cause the justification for subjugating large chunks of humanity. In the distant past, the Noble Cause may have received the sword directly from a god—as it did in postcolonial America when it sought to exterminate the native inhabitants. By the anointment of the sword, the divinity also endowed, supposedly, the conquering “race” with moral superiority. Thus, imperialism, in the perverse arrogance of its twisted psyche, contains the germ of genocide. As a result, the superstition of a superior “race” has been endured by most of the “races” on the planet as a most Ignoble Cause. In Vietnam alone, the Big Lie of the Noble Cause sent four million Vietnamese to their death.

Marciano leaves us in no doubt that the White House and the Pentagon are commemorating a crime. They are falsifying history in order to shape the future, which will be and is the reenactment of the war against Vietnam on a global scale. They want to establish the altar for a “sacred union,” the nation united behind the Noble Cause of war. On the altar will sit the fetish of the export of the “miracle of democracy, ” in reality the imposition of regimes of terror such as the Vietnam War planners established in Saigon. We see today in Ukraine that the “miracle of democracy,” brought to Kiev by the US in 2014 to the tune of five billion dollars, amounts to a handful of dry dust, collected from the WW II graveyard of European Nazism, inciting a lot of blind, anti-democratic and noxious nationalism.

As through a glass darkly, Marciano shows us that in the war crime against Vietnam we can see reflected the crimes perpetrated today from Afghanistan to Yemen, from Iraq to Syria, from Yugoslavia to Libya and across the African continent. As in Vietnam (the fakery of the Gulf of Tonkin incident), today’s war are based on fabricated pretexts; as in Vietnam (napalm and agent orange), today’s wars are chemical wars (depleted uranium for Yugoslavia and Iraq; phosphorus for Falluja); as in Vietnam (Hanoi and Haiphong) the bombings destroy urban life, vital infrastructure, schools and hospitals; as in Vietnam (Laos, Cambodia) the bombings spreads out (today to Yemen); as in Vietnam (Ho Chi Minh) the leaders who resist US penetration are demonized (Milosevic, Saddam, Qaddafi, Assad) as enemies of humanity. As in Vietnam, all the wars of today are fought mostly to prevent or reverse independence and self-determination of former colonial places.

Finally, as in Vietnam the USSR, today’s Russia is emerging as the displacement of all the guilt that weighs on the shoulders of the Noble Cause. The Washington Post recently wrote “the Kremlin annexed Ukraine.” I read it twice—not “annexed Crimea,” the standard disinformation, but the whole of Ukraine! Does one laugh or weep? Does one have to take a hallucinogenic to see Russian flags and images of Putin blanketing Kiev instead of Neo-Nazi emblems and images of Bandera?

The next president will certainly be Hillary Clinton, whom I call “the centripetal president.” From Republicans to Democrats to Neo-Cons, all converge on endorsing the war candidate. In her consensus war regime, the elite will decide everything. We will not be consulted. This is why The American War in Vietnam: Crime or Commemoration? is a vital read. It calls for our re-democratization–to question our leaders, to be skeptical of the media, to avert our eyes from the petrifying stare of the Medusa decked with the aegis of the Noble Cause; to challenge—even ridicule– the vaunted humanitarianism of an elite of bloodhounds baying for war; to refuse to commemorate war crimes and to work to stop them.

Above all, we need to remember that the crimes of other governments are the responsibility of the people of those governments—not of our bombs. Though our elite have abrogated to themselves the power and the right to remake the map of the world by force, we need to reassert the legal principle of non-intervention in the internal affairs of a sovereign states if we are serious about peace. We, citizens, do not have the right (or the power, unless we line up behind the power of the militarist state) to change the practices of other states, but we do have the right to demand change for those of our own. Let’s start exercising that right. We did for Vietnam; we can do it again. Commemorate the people who protested the war in Vietnam, not the crime the governing elite committed there in our name, as Marciano’s book amply documents.

The US government is now engaged in waging eight wars. We better get busy.

Luciana Bohne is co-founder of Film Criticism, a journal of cinema studies, and teaches at Edinboro University in Pennsylvania. She can be reached at: [email protected]

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What is Really the Matter with the EU-Canada CETA Trade Agreement?

October 29th, 2016 by Leo Panitch

Canada’s Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland’s sense of amour propre was clearly dented last week when the latest talks to salvage the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) between the European Union and Canada appeared to fall apart in face of the refusal of the Belgian regional parliament in Wallonia to accede to the Belgian government’s support for it. The story is by no means over, but it would be quite wrong to think that what really threw this spanner in the works was that the EU was incapable of reaching an agreement, as she put it, “even with a country with European values such as Canada, even with a country as nice and patient as Canada.”

First of all, Canadians might be expected to understand why Belgium’s failure to secure the consent of the Walloons mattered so much. The Canadian federal experience has often required securing inter-governmental unanimity, and lent an effective veto not only to Quebec, but even to the tiny province of Prince Edward Island. If Manitoba, with a population of around one million, could write finis to Canada’s last attempt at a Constitutional accord, why should Wallonia, with well over three million inhabitants, not be able to stop a trade agreement?

Moreover, Canadians know well enough that the opposition being registered by one provincial government usually resonates with a substantial body of opinion in other regions. And that is certainly the case with CETA, which has aroused very considerable concern right across Europe. It was only by a hair’s breadth that CETA secured the approval last month of the German Social Democratic Party, the junior partners in Europe’s most powerful government. The disquiet over CETA in fact followed on directly from what disturbed so many Europeans about the U.S.-EU free trade agreement that bore the acronym TTIP.

So-Called Free Trade Agreements

All free trade agreements since the U.S.-Canada FTA (over which the 1988 Canadian election was fought, with the Liberal Party then strongly opposing the deal) have created the illusion that they have primarily been about reneging on the old political economy of tariff protectionism. But this was already accomplished by the progressive reduction in tariffs that took place in the post-war decades under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, and in Europe itself by the Treaty of Rome and the Common Market it spawned. The so-called free trade agreements kicked off by the FTA have been much more about dismantling so-called ‘non-tariff barriers’ which establish rights for multinational corporations, deploying the talent and resources of the foremost international law firms, to escape and undermine domestic economic regulation.

What is especially worrying to a great many Europeans, now that they believe they have managed to render TTIP a dead letter, is that CETA will bring it in via the back door. A U.S. company with a subsidiary that does business in Canada will qualify as a Canadian investor under CETA, so it is not just a matter of Canadian resource and finance companies posing a real threat of claims against Europe. Under CETA’s investor-state dispute provisions, to be implemented through a new investment court system, individual companies could sue states for alleged discriminatory practices in their regulations, and if successful thereby allow domestic investors to escape regulation as well. Yet despite allowing special claims and access to public money by foreign investors, CETA sets out no actionable investor responsibilities, domestic or foreign, alongside these rights.

Moreover, no one else affected by such a dispute, e.g. a local municipality or a province or a First Nation, is given a right of standing in the juridical process – making it fundamentally unfair as well as undemocratic.

That Canada under the former Conservative government of Stephen Harper should have conceived and promoted CETA was perhaps not surprising, but it must surprise many Europeans that the Trudeau Liberals who came to office last year with such progressive fanfare should now, with only minor edits, be on the same page. And it is by no means clear that most Canadians are really so eager to be the conduit for foreign investors to escape economic, labour and environmental regulation, and thereby help domestic investors escape regulation as well. Indeed, under CETA, Canada’s own exposure to foreign investor claims would roughly double because Western European companies invest about as much in the Canadian economy as do U.S. investors. Under NAFTA, the decisions of the Canadian judiciary on the constitutionality of many laws and regulations cannot be taken as final until all foreign investors eligible to bring claims have not done so or have run out of time to do so. Moreover, no one else affected by such a dispute, e.g. a local municipality or a province or a First Nation, is given a right of standing in the juridical process – making it fundamentally unfair as well as undemocratic.

Under enormous pressure to back down, the Walloons appear to have managed to at least secure the concession from the Belgian government not only to assess the economic and environmental impact of CETA, but also to insist on the right to go to the European Court of Justice to determine whether the decisions of the new investment court system were compatible with EU law. But even as the Belgian government joins the other 27 European governments in signing CETA, its ratification by all their parliaments is far from assured, since the broad coalition in Wallonia that stood up to CETA – encompassing Christian Democrats and Socialists as well as Marxists – is reflective of the breadth of the opposition across Europe.

CETA whael, by Mike Constable.

The social attitudes of those opposing CETA are quite different from those of the xenophobic far right parties which have made such gains in Europe. The rejection of CETA as well as the TTIP would not have anything to do with rejecting the values of diversity and democracy, as Ms. Freeland’s comments implied. If anything, it has been the failure of the mainstream parties to articulate in a progressive manner the discontent with what has come with state promotion of ‘free trade’ over the last three decades that has opened so much political space for the Le Pens, on one side of the Atlantic, and for the Trumps, on the other. •

Leo Panitch is emeritus professor of political science at York University, co-editor (with Greg Albo) of the Socialist Register and author (with Sam Gindin) of the Making of Global Capitalism (Verso).

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Preparing for War with Russia and China: America’s Quest for Global Domination Depends on Space Technology

October 29th, 2016 by Bruce K. Gagnon

The US, dragging the western allies behind them, is preparing for war with Russia and China.  Washington also wants India ‘onside’ for obvious reasons of geography, history, and growing economic power.  The US also needs allies with some money to help pay for the Pentagon’s endless war machine that is heavily dependent on expensive space technology.

GETTING INDIA “ONSIDE”

Washington wishes to bring India under its ‘Space Command’ so that all its military will be run through the Pentagon space warfighting satellite program.  A term ‘interoperability’ has been coined to describe the process where all allies must have suitable warfighting systems that can be technically run through the US Space Command system.  In the end this means the US is controlling the deadly tip of the spear because no other nation has all the satellites and ground stations around the globe that give Washington the ability to see everything on Earth, hear everything, and ultimately target every place on the planet.

All the new NATO allies (and ‘partners’ like Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand) are being brought into the global military alliance to control and dominate the planet on behalf of western corporate capitalism.  That means London-Washington-Brussels-Paris-Berlin running the world. Russia, China, Iran, Syria, North Korea, Brazil, Venezuela, Cuba and a few other nations are on the list for ‘regime change’ in the coming years.  They still stand outside full control by the western bankers and militarists.

The recent formation of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) alternative economic institution would loan money to developing countries and not exploit them the way western bankers do using the IMF and World Bank as their tools of domination.  The west is not happy about BRICS and thus we saw the leader of Brazil was recently dethroned in a coup essentially orchestrated by Washington.

raytheon bmd

Raytheon’s global missile system.

The US-NATO alliance is not happy to currently see many nations around the world begin to stand up against this long run of western imperialism.  The BRICS nations are calling for a multi-polar world and the US demands to remain as the unipolar leader of the planet.  Washington appears willing to go to war to defend its collapsing empire.

The US is like a cowboy gambler with a black hat on a Mississippi riverboat playing cards.  The cowboy looks around and sees himself surrounded by those he has exploited for years.  He thinks his only way out is to start shooting – the law of the west.  That, I think, is essentially still the foreign and military policy of the US.  Its part arrogance and part fear that the world has woken up at last and is rejecting the cowboy mentality of ‘full spectrum dominance’.

A HISTORY OF DOMINANCE

Growing global poverty and the reality of climate change though are banging on Washington’s front door.  The corporations are trying to make money from climate change – their love for the dollar bill is so great that they cannot see beyond their lust for power and greed.  I call them pirates.

The pirates have buried a treasure chest in the US – it is our national treasury created from the taxes from the people’s hard work.  About 55% of every federal tax dollar under the discretion of Congress goes to the Pentagon.  America has become a war culture.  Our economy is addicted to military production.  People are increasingly  being indoctrinated that the ‘Muslims’ are coming to attack us so we must spend more on weapons for war and we must have the very best space technology system in place to protect ourselves.  We are a paranoid nation – massive guilt and fear comes from our long legacy of genocide.

First was the destruction of the Native Americans and then the illegal and immoral importation of slaves from Africa.  During the days of slavery that very institution became America’s dominant economic institution.  Slave labor made America rich.  This (let’s call it fascist) element of our culture might have lost the civil war in the 1860’s but they are running the country today.  We have a wedding in America of the government and corporate power – they are one in the same.  Democracy has been drowned in the United States.

raytheon sea launched

Raytheon sea-launched missiles.

Thus no one anywhere on our Mother Earth should ever listen to the moralistic preaching that comes from Washington about democracy, freedom, peace, or the rule of law.  It’s all Hollywood talk – a scripted propaganda machine that has sold an image to the world.  Fortunately the initial shine has worn off the Stars & Stripes and most people around the globe clearly understand what is really going on.

THE “PIVOT TO ASIA”

I have been working on space issues for the last 33 years and today coordinate the Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space.  We are very worried about aggressive US moves to create more conflict with Russia and China – in particular the Pentagon claim that the US Space Command should “control and dominate space and deny other nations the use of space”.

The dangerous notion of US ‘exceptionalism’ has now been extended to outer space.  In order to successfully operate the current US global space war fighting system ‘downlink ground stations’ have been based around the world to relay military communications from one place to another via space satellites. Activists around the planet are opposing the presence of these Star Wars bases in their communities and are the active membership of the Global Network.

The US today is feverishly deploying so-called “Missile Defense” (MD) systems around the globe – essentially encircling Russia and China.  Added to that is Obama’s provocative ‘pivot’ of 60% of US military forces into the Asia-Pacific – what the Pentagon calls ‘rebalancing’.  This pivot is dangerous and hugely expensive, so costly that Washington’s allies in are being pressured to help pay for the program.

USBasesChina

US military bases around China. 

China imports 80% of its resources on ships and thus we see the Pentagon ‘pivot’ as a military strategy to possibly block China’s sea routes – literally putting a loaded gun to Beijing’s head.  China has responded by building a couple new bases on tiny coral reefs to ensure their unhampered access to the sea lanes in their region.

Last summer the Global Network held its 23rd annual space conference in Kyoto, Japan.  We were invited to meet in Kyoto in order to show support for the campaign opposing the recently deployed US MD radar at Kyogamisaki in the Kyoto prefecture.  One day during the conference we took a bus ride to have lunch with the Ukawa villagers and then joined them in a protest at the base.

The MD radar base at Kyogamisaki would assist the Pentagon’s attempt to intercept Chinese retaliatory nuclear missiles that they would fire after the US launched a first-strike attack.  We are constantly told that MD is being deployed by the Pentagon in Japan, Okinawa, South Korea, Taiwan, Guam, the Philippines, and Australia to protect against North Korean missiles.  This is a lie and a tactic to redirect the discussion.  In fact the US is deploying MD to be able to control and dominate China and Russia.

thaad1

US THAAD missiles.

I’ll never forget a few years ago, when North Korea test fired a rocket, I read a story in a space industry publication that quoted US military personnel who were laughing at North Korea.  One US airman said that North Korea had virtually no space technology and thus could not really track their own rocket while the US, with its robust space capability, could follow the North Korean rocket with no trouble at all.  This made it clear to me that the Pentagon over hypes the treat from Pyongyang.  The truth is that the US is aiming their massive space-directed military machine at Beijing and Moscow.

MISSILE OFFENSE

MD used to be illegal under the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty between Russia and the US.  Both sides knew that MD is a destabilizing program that would give one side an advantage over the other.  MD’s key job is to be the shield that is used to pick-off a nation’s nuclear retaliatory capability after the Pentagon’s first-strike sword lunges into the heart of the opponent’s nuclear forces.

One of the very first things President George W. Bush did after taking office in 2001 was to give Russia notice that the US was pulling out of the ABM Treaty.  Since that time US research, development, testing, and deployment of MD systems has been on steroids. At the time of the collapse of the former Soviet Union the US promised that NATO would not expand one centimeter toward Russia.  Since then that promise has been repeatedly broken and today NATO has established bases along Russia’s border in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.  Pentagon MD systems were this year deployed in Romania and next year will be deployed in Poland.  US Navy Aegis destroyers also carry MD interceptor missiles on-board and today are being deployed in the waters off the coasts of Russia and China.

The first of two Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) interceptors is launched during a successful intercept test. The test, conducted by Missile Defense Agency (MDA), Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS) Operational Test Agency, Joint Functional Component Command for Integrated Missile Defense, and U.S. Pacific Command, in conjunction with U.S. Army soldiers from the Alpha Battery, 2nd Air Defense Artillery Regiment, U.S. Navy sailors aboard the guided missile destroyer USS Decatur (DDG-73), and U.S. Air Force airmen from the 613th Air and Operations Center resulted in the intercept of one medium-range ballistic missile target by THAAD, and one medium-range ballistic missile target by Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD). The test, designated Flight Test Operational-01 (FTO-01), stressed the ability of the Aegis BMD and THAAD weapon systems to function in a layered defense architecture and defeat a raid of two near-simultaneous ballistic missile targets

THAAD missiles being launched. 

In early 2014 the US spent $5 billion in a coup d’état in Ukraine that took down an elected government and replaced it with a government in the capital city of Kiev that included Nazis.  The US has established a base in western Ukraine where Army Special Forces troops come from the US to train neo-Nazis that have been assigned to the newly created Ukrainian National Guard.  These forces have then gone to eastern Ukraine, along the Russian border, where for the last two years they have killed thousands of innocent citizens by shelling their homes, hospitals, churches, schools, day care centers, airports and rail stations.  The only crime of the people in eastern Ukraine is that they are of Russian ethnic origin.

The US intends to destabilize Ukraine in order to ultimately force regime change in Moscow.  One reason for this is that because of climate change the Arctic Sea ice is melting and the oil corporations are eager to drill in the once frozen Arctic region.  But Russia has the largest land border with Russia thus the supposed need to break the large Russian Federation into pieces (like happened to Yugoslavia during the presidency of Bill Clinton).  By doing this the oil companies believe they’d have an easier time in grabbing the oil near the Russian Arctic coastline.

The Pentagon is deploying four basic MD systems today.  Inside the US (California and Alaska) are Ground-Based Midcourse MD interceptors buried deep underground.  Their job is to hit a bullet with a bullet in deep space after a retaliatory strike by Russia or China.  This program has the most difficult technical task and has the worst testing results.

thaad3

Lockheed Martin’s THAAD designs.

In order to increase the chances of being able to knock missiles out of the sky it helps to put the MD interceptors closer to the intended targets.  Thus the US is deploying MD systems on Navy Aegis destroyers and porting them in Japan, South Korea, the Philippines and Guam.  These ship-based interceptors have the best testing success rates.

Mobile ground-based MD interceptors like the Patriot (PAC-3) and Theatre High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) are used to knock out incoming missiles in the terminal phase.  These systems are now being deployed in Japan, Okinawa, South Korea and Guam.

MISSILES IN ASIA

This past August I spent three weeks in South Korea attending various protests against the announced deployment of the US THAAD (Theater High Altitude Area Defense) ‘missile defense’ system. The Pentagon plans to station THAAD in the farming village of Seongju (population 10,000). The right-wing South Korean government, following orders from Washington, likely chose this village because it had backed the conservative government by a margin of 85 percent in the last national election. But that has now changed.

Just before I arrived in South Korea the residents of Seongju held a mock funeral where they announced that they had, en masse, resigned from the ruling party. Then, just before I left Korea, 900 of these same residents took the sacred step of sitting together and shaving their heads. In Korea this is a big deal. It indicates the commitment to fight to the death, and in this case many women also joined the hair shaving, which is rare.  This anti-THAAD movement has become a national issue and one of the top concerns for the peace movement in South Korea today. So the US is currently developing MD systems to hit nuclear missiles in the boost phase, mid-course phase, and the terminal phase.  This clearly indicates the seriousness that the Pentagon attaches to being able to launch a first-strike attack on China and/or Russia and then knock out any retaliatory strike they might be able to fire in return.

MD is not just a theoretical program.  The US Space Command holds a computer war game each year where they practice such a first-strike attack – they call it the ‘Blue’ team against the ‘Red’ team.  In the war game a US first-strike is launched against Russia and China. When they respond by firing their own nuclear missiles that have survived the initial Pentagon attack, the Space Command’s MD systems go to work to pick of the remaining missiles.

southkorea

South Koreans protesting the THAADs. 

Of course in the real world things don’t always work out so nicely.  But the main point is that the Pentagon is actively preparing for such a first-strike attack. The Pentagon deployments of MD interceptor missiles and radars gives Space Command the confidence (and arrogance) that they can use this system.  Thus MD becomes highly destabilizing and very dangerous to world peace. While in Okinawa in late 2015 on a solidarity trip to stand with those actively opposing US expanding bases on their island, I spotted a base called Fort Buckner which plays a critical role in “inter-base, tactical and strategic Command, Control, Communications and Computer (C4) network support of joint Pacific warfighters”. Fort Buckner relays military satellite communications between bases in South Korea, Japan, Okinawa, Guam, the Philippines, Hawaii, and the Pentagon.

TRIGGERING WWIII

Sadly Washington is now run by corporate interests who have determined that America’s role under globalization of the world economy will be ‘security export’ which translates to endless war.  The number one industrial export product of the US today is weapons.  When weapons are your #1 industrial export, what is the global marketing strategy for that product line?

Despite Pentagon claims that they are out to create peace, democracy and stability around the world with their more than 800 military bases, quite the opposite is the truth.  I came away from recent trips to Japan, Okinawa, and South Korea seeing that the expansion of US bases in the Asia-Pacific is largely about creating the military infrastructure to take down China and Russia.

n-okinawa-b-20160620

Thousands of Japanese protest US bases. 

Add up the current US ‘pivot’ into the Asia-Pacific; the Japanese Shinzo Abe government’s ‘reinterpretation’ of peaceful Article 9 in their constitution to allow Tokyo to deploy offensive military forces; the destabilizing US-Japan-South Korean military alliance; and we find the makings of a very aggressive program that could easily trigger World War III.

The Chinese and Russian governments have repeatedly said that they would like to reduce their nuclear forces but cannot do it as long as the US is encircling their countries with MD systems.  China and Russia each year go to the United Nations and introduce a new treaty to ban all weapons in space.  The US and Israel (which has 200 nuclear weapons) annually block serious negotiations on that important treaty.  Both Russia and China have been forced to expand their military operations and to even build more nuclear weapons as they face the US MD program and an expanding NATO.

When Japan recently launched a satellite into space few took notice.  When North Korea launches a satellite or test fires a missile the world screams bloody murder.  Clearly the US and its allies are hypocrites as they lecture North Korea and Iran about weapons of mass destruction but at the same time they are creating the largest military buildup in world history. US foreign military occupation must end if there will ever be true world peace. The Global Network is determined to do what we can to help build such a peace with justice.  We are grateful to those in India who are working so hard to put an end to this madness.

We need peace workers in India to educate your fellow citizens about US plans to bring Delhi into the Pentagon’s Space Command program aimed at China.  We hope you can help prevent this growing danger of WW III that could consume the entire planet in a hell fire of nuclear war. Our governments need to be dealing with the reality of climate change and growing global poverty.  We must demand they convert the expensive military industrial complex to sustainable technology development to help us protect the future generations. Keep going – we all need each other.  Holding hands let us work together.

Bruce K. Gagnon lives in Bath, Maine, USA and is Coordinator of the Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space  www.space4peace.org

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Alleged ‘Russian Airstrike’ Against Idlib School a Hoax – Russian FM

October 29th, 2016 by RT

Western accusations against Russia concerning its reported involvement in attacking a school in the Syrian province of Idlib are fabricated and based on a hoax story, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said.

“Currently a story is being spun concerning the October 27 attack on Idlib school, which is directed primarily against Russia and Syria. We are accused of being the ones who carried out strikes against this school,” the foreign minister said during a joint press conference with his Syrian and Iranian counterparts.

“In response to these fabrications, Russia’s Defense Ministry has released factual information that refutes these statements and shows the falsity of this hoax,” Lavrov stated.

 

On Thursday, Russian Defense Ministry released photos made by an UAV dispatched to the area of the alleged airstrike that showed “no signs of damage to the roof of the school, or craters from airstrikes around it.”

The ministry also said that a video published by opposition groups on the ground and circulated by a range of Western media outlets “appears to consist of more than 10 different shots, filmed at different times of the day and in different resolutions, that were edited into a single clip.”

The findings of the Russian drone could easily be verified by the American side, as during its photo mission a US MQ-1B Predator UAV was in the same area, according to Moscow.

So far, all available evidence suggests that it was not an aerial attack, a former Pentagon official Michael Maloof told RT. Allegations of an attack, which is said to have claimed the lives of 22 children and six teachers, were first made on Wednesday by the controversial two-man Syrian Observatory for Human Rights based in London, and the Civil Defense Network, also known as the White Helmets.

Following the initial reports, the US and France immediately accused Russia and Syria of conducting the strike on school, despite the lack of independent verification.

“It’s either the Syrians – the regime of Assad – or the Russians,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault told the media in Paris at that time.

“We know it was one of the two,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest said during a press briefing in Washington the next day.

The UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and UNICEF, the UN children’s body, both issued statements condemning the reported attack and urging investigation into the incident. Moscow also urged an open and independent probe.

 

The behavior of Western, and in particular French, leaders is “hypocritical,” Marie-Christine Arnautu, a French Member of the European Parliament and National Front’s vice-president for social affairs, told RT, adding that“everyone says we should combat Syrian threat of Islamism but behavior on the ground is ambiguous as it fights again Assad – and not against Islamism.”

The true goal of the West is apparently “is to defeat Bashar Assad,”which according to Arnautu is “a priority and their only aim, instead of fighting Islamism and resolving humanitarian crisis, which is absolutely urgent in Syria.”

Meanwhile, director of the Crisis Research Institute Mark Almond has raised questions concerning the West’s inability to substantiate its claims with any proof.

“Both Russia and the US have sophisticated satellites and other forms of reconnaissance. We have seen … that Russians can produce pictures of how things are going in Iraq, so the US ought to be able to produce evidence for this various instances that have become scandalous in the western media in the recent three or four weeks,” Almond told RT.

There is no evidence suggesting it was either Russia or Syrian government forces that carried out the strike, Almond said, adding that it “is not completely impossible that the rebels… may be callous enough to shoot into their own territory to set Russia and Syrian government up.”

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