Wounded Warriors Project is a Fraud- Making Millions Off Disabled Veterans

Posted on January 27, 2016 by AE44

WWPscoundrels

My first experience with the Wounded Warriors Project came in 2006, when I made several donations from between $200 and $500 to the organization. I was a stock broker at the time and my income allowed for such idiocy. I guess you could say that I had more money than I had sense, but more importantly, I gave the money because I felt that I needed to do something to take part in the war effort, and what better way than to provide financial assistance to those who were coming back from the wars in the Middle East maimed and wounded. At least that is where I thought the money that I was donating was going. Continue reading →

Proof U.S. Government Wanted ISIS To Emerge In Syria

Posted on December 14, 2015 by AE44

BenSwann1

The world’s attention is fixed on Paris. France is tonight a police state. There is concern over ISIS infiltrating Syrian refugees. And of course, the big question, how will the world rid itself of the Islamic State?

But before you listen to one more politician tell you what we need to do, you need to know what politicians knew about ISIS three years ago and the actions they still took.

This is a Reality Check you won’t see anywhere else.

Continue reading →

Drug Lord El Chapo Tells ISIS His Men Will Destroy Them

Posted on December 10, 2015 by AE44

el chapo ISIS

The world’s most wanted drug lord has declared war on the Islamic State, promising the terror group’s leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, that his narcotics cartel will wipe them off the planet.

“My men will destroy you,”’ El Chapo huffs to the ISIS leader in an encrypted email that was leaked to a cartel-linked blogger in Mexico. Continue reading →

US Airstrikes Kill Hundreds Of Civilians In Syria And Iraq

Posted on August 14, 2015 by AE44

US warplanes began bombing Iraqi targets in June 2014. Last September, US Syrian airstrikes followed. Washington falsely claims it’s waging war on the Islamic State (IS) – with pinpoint accuracy against positions and fighters targeted. It’s just the opposite.

Bombing aims to destabilize Iraq and Syria more than already. Infrastructure sites are struck – not IS fighters as claimed. America is its de facto air force.

US Central Command (CENTCOM) in charge of the air campaign falsely claims few civilian deaths at most – saying pinpoint targeting avoids them, one of the many Big Lies proliferated in all US wars.

Continue reading →

BRITISH SPECIAL FORCES DISGUISED AS ISIS FIGHTERS OPERATING IN SYRIA – MILITARY SOURCES

Posted on August 4, 2015 by AE44

Special Forces soldiers from Britain’s most shadowy military unit are dressing as Islamic State militants and traveling deep into the badlands of Syria to track and destroy enemy assets, according to military sources.

It is reported that up to two SAS squadrons of men, around 120 personnel in all, are operating inside the borders of Syria as part of Operation Shader, which aims to destroy equipment and munitions used by the Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL). Continue reading →

Syria rebels executed civilians, says Human Rights Watch

Posted on October 11, 2013 by dw8427

(BBC) - A report by the US-based group says the deaths occurred in villages inhabited predominantly by members of President Bashar al-Assad’s minority Alawite sect near the coastal city of Latakia. Continue reading →

US-Russia reach landmark deal on destruction of Syria chemical weapons arsenal

Posted on September 14, 2013 by AE44

Russia and the United States reached a deal on a framework that will see the destruction or removal of Syria’s chemical weapons by mid- 2014. Under the plan, the Assad government has one week to hand over an inventory of its chemical weapons arsenal. Continue reading →

McCain will fight back Putin with column in Russian paper

Posted on September 13, 2013 by AE44

Russian newspaper Pravda has agreed to publish a column by Sen. McCain that will attack Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Hawkish American Senator John McCain has decided to write a column in a Russian newspaper to respond to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who criticized the United States.

Continue reading →

10 reasons why diplomatic solution is unlikely in Syria

Posted on September 13, 2013 by AE44

Over the past few days, there has been a tremendous wave of optimism that it may be possible for war with Syria to be averted. Unfortunately, it appears that a diplomatic solution to the crisis in Syria is extremely unlikely.

Continue reading →

Al-Qaeda Infiltrating Syrian Opposition, With US Support

Posted on June 17, 2013 by AE44

Al-Qaeda militants and other Sunni extremists are becoming a greater and greater part of the conflict in Syria, just as the US officially announced it was abandoning any pretense of a diplomatic approach in favor of toppling the regime through proxy rebel groups. Continue reading →

World exclusive: Iran will send 4,000 troops to aid Bashar al-Assad’s forces in Syria

Posted on June 16, 2013 by AE44

Washington’s decision to arm Syria’s Sunni Muslim rebels has plunged America into the great Sunni-Shia conflict of the Islamic Middle East, entering a struggle that now dwarfs the Arab revolutions which overthrew dictatorships across the region.

Continue reading →

Russia Hits Back at U.S. Over Syria

Posted on June 14, 2013 by AE44

MOSCOW—The Kremlin criticized the U.S. decision to arm Syrian opposition fighters and said Washington’s evidence that the Syrian regime is using chemical weapons was unconvincing, but said Friday that Moscow is “not yet” discussing its plans to deliver of air-defense missiles to the regime. Continue reading →

Syrian troops begin first phase of “Northern Storm”

Posted on June 11, 2013 by AE44

сирия армия правительственный войска сирия война алеппо

Syrian troops began the first phase of operation “Northern Storm” to liberate the city of Aleppo, attacking militants in the settlements in the west and south of the province.

Their goal is to block militants in the town of Anadan, free the federal road linking the city of Aleppo to Aazaz on the Syrian-Turkish border, controlled by militants for over a year.

Fierce fighting continues for the second day in the vicinity of a military airfield near Aleppo.

“Decisive action by the Syrian army in Aleppo, after the taking of Qusair on the border with Lebanon, as well as the collapse of all hopes for a foreign invasion have utterly demoralized the militants,” said one of the commanders, noting that many members of the opposition are ready to lay down their arms.

Voice of Russia, TASS

BREAKING: Syria Opens Fire on Turkish Patrol, Turkey Returns Fire! 15K Troops from 18 Countries Prep in Jordan for Syria Invasion!

Posted on May 30, 2013 by AE44

Western sources claim international forces will stay in Jordan after joint military exercise ‘to prepare for possible intervention in Syria’

A joint military exercise scheduled to take place in Jordan next week is aimed among other things at readying forces for a possible intervention in Syria, Western officials told Ynet on Tuesday.

More than 15,000 soldiers from 18 different countries are set to take part in “Eager Lion 2013.”

The drill will include battlefield, logistics and humanitarian exercises for troops from Britain, Bahrain, Canada, Czech Republic, Israel will not take part in the drill but will continue its “red line” policy against arms shipments to Hezbollah.

According to one western official, forces will remain on the ground after the drill “in case the need will arise to intervene in Syria.”

The maneuvers are set to run for two weeks in the Jordanian army’s training fields, schools and centers.

”Without a doubt this year’s drill will prepare for a possible conflict with Syria,” a Jordanian official told Ynet.

“Jordan must prepare for any abnormal development on this front.”

Jordan fears that Syria’s disintegration could threaten stability in the Hashemite Kingdom.

Both Jerusalem and Amman fear that the hundreds of Syria that would be enforced by the US and other countries such as France and Britain The Daily Beast reported.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4385581,00.html

Assad: We received 1st batch of Russian S-300 missiles

In interview with Hezbollah TV station, Syrian president says next shipment of anti-aircraft missiles due to arrive ‘soon’; states his government would not stand in way of groups ‘that will want to fight for liberation of Golan’

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4386112,00.html

Israel: Syria Missile Defense Acquisition a ‘Red Line’ for Military Action

Syria Promises to Retaliate if Israel Attacks Yet Again

In a meeting with European Union ambassadors, Israeli National Security Advisor Yaakov Amidror declared the Syrian government’s imminent acquisition of S-300 anti-aircraft missiles to be a “red line” that would obligate Israeli military action to prevent them becoming operational.

http://news.antiwar.com/2013/05/29/israel-syria-missile-defense-acquisition-a-red-line-for-military-action/

IDF studying Syria’s combat doctrines, deployments

Army official: Israel ready to fend off attack from Syria.

Israel tracks every heavy missile fired in the Syrian civil war, keen to study Damascus’s combat doctrines and deployments and ready to fend off a feared first attack on its turf, a senior Israeli military officer said on Thursday.

Colonel Zvika Haimovich of the air defense corps said southward launches against Syrian insurgents by President Bashar Assad’s forces gave Israel mere seconds in which to determine it was not the true target – a distinction that could prove crucial for warding off an unprecedented regional conflagration.

“Syria’s batteries are in a high state of operability, ready to fire at short notice. All it would take is a few degrees’ change in the flight path to endanger us”

http://www.jpost.com/Defense/IDF-studying-Syrias-combat-doctrines-deployments-314853

Special French forces in Jordan readying themselves to intervene in Syria

http://www.almanar.com.lb/french/adetails.php?eid=113840&cid=18&fromval=1&frid=18&seccatid=153&s1=1

Turkish General Staff said fire was opened from Syrian side on a patrolling unit of Turkish troops

http://www.aa.com.tr/en/rss/188313–tension-at-the-syria-border?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

Seven members of Syria’s al-Nusra Front were detained in southern Turkey – had 2 kg of sarin gas in their possesion.

http://www.todayszaman.com/news-316966-report-police-foil-al-nusra-bomb-attack-planned-for-adana.html

Turkey returns fire after shots fired from Syria

http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2013/05/30/Turkey-returns-fire-after-shots-fired-from-Syria.html

Turkish security forces found a 2kg cylinder with sarin gas after searching the homes of Syrian militants from the Al-Qaeda linked Al-Nusra Front who were previously detained, Turkish media reports. The gas was reportedly going to be used in a bomb

The sarin gas was found in the homes of suspected Syrian Islamists detained in the southern provinces of Adana and Mersia following a search by Turkish police on Wednesday, reports say. The gas was allegedly going to be used to carry out an attack in the southern Turkish city of Adana.

http://rt.com/news/sarin-gas-turkey-al-nusra-021/#.UaeLAqeT_Q8.twitter

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey’s military on Thursday returned fire after shots were fired at an armored personnel carrier from across the border with Syria.

A military statement said a group of around three to five people from across the border fired up to 15 shots toward the vehicle that was patrolling an area near the Orontes river, on the frontier. Turkish state-run TRT television said no one was wounded and the military said the group escaped and “disappeared from view” when it fired back.

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/turkey-returns-fire-after-shots-fired-syria

Turkish police detain ‘terrorism’ suspects reportedly affiliated with groups battling Assad’s military

http://blogs.aljazeera.com/topic/syria/turkish-police-detain-terrorism-suspects-reportedly-affiliated-groups-battling-assads

WAR DRUMS: ASSAD VOWS TO STRIKE ISRAEL

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/lebanese-tv-syria-has-received-russian-missiles

Besieged Syria rebels plead for help, Assad confident

https://twitter.com/WorldHeadliners

LATIN AMERICAN DELEGATION: WESTERN MEDIA WAGING LARGEST WAR IN HISTORY AGAINST SYRIA

Posted on May 19, 2013 by AE44

CARACAS, (SANA) – The media delegation from Venezuela and Latin American countries which visited Damascus recently held a press conference organized by the Syrian Embassy in Caracas on Thursday to discuss the results of their visit to Syria.

The media delegation said that Syria is facing a war waged by an international coalition, and that this has nothing to do with the slogans of freedom of democracy as the western media is distorting the evens in Syria.

The journalists said that their visit’s goal was to tell the world about what is really happening in Syria away from the lies and libel which characterizes many media sources’ coverage of Syria.

They spoke about their field visits and their interviews with Syrian citizens, stressing that Syria is strong and that media talk about its downfall is mere dreams.

The delegation members stressed that what is happening in Syria is not a civil war as some countries and the UN are claiming; rather it’s a real war between Syria and an unprecedented international alliance.

They underlined the negative role played by the UN through its silence over the terrorism affecting Syria.

One of the journalists said that he covered many conflicts around the world, including those in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Egypt, asserting that what happened in these countries is completely different from Syria.

The delegation members focused on the lies and hypocrisy of media outlets regarding the events in Syria, saying that what they witnessed in Syria proves that western media is waging the largest media war in its history.

They affirmed that there are extremist terrorist groups fighting in Syria without cause or a political agenda, noting that they were worried about going to Syria but upon arriving and seeing the truth they were reassured.

The journalists lauded the steadfastness of the Syrian people and their love for life, adding that the Syrians they met told them that they don’t want freedom and democracy from countries that know neither, asserting that Syria has not fallen and will not fall because of its resistant people, wise leadership and strong army.

They also lauded the Russian and Chinese role regarding the events in Syria.

H. Sabbagh

http://syria360.wordpress.com/2013/05/17/latin-american-delegation-western-media-waging-largest-war-in-history-against-syria/

Western Backed Al Qaeda “Opposition” Rebels Decimated By Syrian Government Forces: SANA

Posted on May 11, 2013 by AE44

The following report by Syria’s official news agency SANA suggest that the Al Nusra rebels –which constitute the core of the “opposition” insurgency– are been defeated.

The decision by the US and Israel to conduct air strikes against Syria (May 5, 2013) is related to the the failures of the Western backed jihadist insurgency which has been ongoing since March 2011.

While the insurgency is being defeated, other military options are currently being contemplated by the Western military alliance. (GR Ed. M.Ch.)

Continued Confrontations with Terrorists Leave Many of Them Dead and Injured

PROVINCES, (SANA)- In the framework of their continued operations against Jabhat al-Nusra terrorists, the armed forces on Friday carried out several operations in which they left many terrorists killed and injured in several areas.

Mortar and Heavy Machine guns Destroyed in Idleb

SANA reporter quoted an official source in Idleb province as saying that units of the armed forces destroyed a mortar and a number of heavy machine guns which the terrorists had been using in their attacks on Abo al-Duhour airport and against the residents and their properties in the towns of al-Tur’eh, Um Jrein, al-Hamidiyeh, al-Buweideh and Qarn Ghazal.

The source added that other army units pursued terrorist groups in the areas of al-Janoudiyeh, Tall Dahab, Qatroun, Teibat, Jabal al-Arbaeen, Maaret al-Numan, Maartamsarin, Binnesh, Nahliya, Majdaliya and Heish in the countryside of Idleb.

The terrorists’ equipment and weapons were destroyed in the operations.

Army Units Restore Security to villages in Hama Countryside

Units of the Armed Forces carried out several operations against terrorists’ dens and gatherings to restore security and stability to Zor Abo Zaid and Zor al-Assi towns in Hama countryside.

A military source told SANA reporter that the Army units destroyed the terrorists’ remaining dens and gatherings in Zor Abo Zaid and Zor al-Assi towns in Hama countryside and restored security and stability to them.

The source added that the Army units dismantled scores of explosive devices planted by terrorists on the main roads in the two towns before they were killed by the Army units.

The source pointed out that other Army units killed a number of terrorists, affiliated to “Jabhat al-Nusra” who were perpetrating acts of terrorism on Hilfaia-Taibet al-Imam road, destroying their weapons and equipment.

The Army units pursued the armed terrorist groups in Kaferkala, Taldo and Talldahab in Homs countryside and in al-Haydaria, al-Khalidia and al-Hamidia in the city, inflicting heavy losses upon terrorists, in addition to destroying their equipment.

Army Units Restore Security to Villages in Hama Countryside

Units of the Armed Forces carried out several operations against terrorists’ dens and gatherings to restore security and stability to Zor Abo Zaid and Zor al-Assi towns in Hama countryside.

The source added that the Army units dismantled scores of explosive devices planted by terrorists on the main roads in the two towns before they were killed by the Army units.

Terrorists Suffer Heavy Losses in Operations in Homs

Meanwhile, a unit of the armed forces clashed with an armed terrorist group that was trying to flee away from al-Qseir to al-Husseiniyeh area in the countryside of Homs, killing and injuring all of its members.

Other army units continued operations against terrorists’ gatherings and dens in Bab Hood and al-Qusour neighborhoods, inflicting heavy losses upon the terrorists.

The source said that the Army units continued pursuing terrorists in al-Qseir city, killing scores of them and dismantling several explosive devices in the area between Jousia, al-Soumaria and al-Slumia.

Other Army units killed a number of terrorists and arrested others in Deba village while they were trying to escape from al-Qseir city, in addition to seizing their weapons.

Meanwhile, an Army unit foiled terrorists attempt to detonate 8 explosive devices weighing between 15-20Kgs which were set up to be detonated remotely and planted on Palmyra-Damascus road.

Terrorists Killed, Their Weapons Destroyed in Hama

In the same context, a unit of the armed forces clashed with a terrorist group affiliated to the so-called ‘Ahfad al-Rasoul Brigade’ in the village of Qasr Abo Samra in Hama.

An official source told SANA reporter that all members of the terrorist group were killed and their weapons and equipment were destroyed.

Army Units Eliminate Jabhat al-Nusra Terrorists in Damascus Countryside

Units of the armed forces carried out operations against terrorists affiliated to Jabhat al-Nusra in Hijeira, al-Zyabiyeha, al-Husseiniyeh and Babila in Damascus Countryside, destroying their weapons and equipment which they used in their terrorist acts of against the citizens.

An official source told SANA reporter that the army units killed a number of terrorists in Fayez Mansour Street in Hijeira. Among the killed terrorists were Nayef al-Ghadab from Jordan and Abo Baker Khahramani from Afghanistan.

The source added that another army unit killed several terrorists near al-Zayzafoun Café in Hijeira. Terrorist Kasem al-Nueimi was identified among the dead.

Meanwhile, another army unit killed a number of terrorists and destroyed their weapons and ammunition in al-Husseiniyeh town. Among the killed terrorists were Ali al-Shanwan, leader of an armed terrorist group, Ali al-Numeiri and Mohmmad Raja.

Units of the armed forces destroyed a gathering for terrorists along with weapons and ammunition, in addition to killing and injuring all terrorists inside it. Muhammad Khleif and Naser al-Zaal were identified among the dead terrorists.

An official source told SANA reporter that an army unit destroyed a weapons’ cache in the town of al-Shifounyeh in Douma and killed scores of terrorists, among them was their leader, terrorist Abu Oudai.

The source added that another army unit killed three terrorists and seized weapons and ammunition used by the terrorists to terrorize locals in the area of Zamalka.

The army eliminated scores of terrorists In the area of al-Shayyah in Daraya, and destroyed two terrorists’ hideouts in the area of Jubar.

Another army unit pursued terrorists in Barzeh neighborhood and killed and injured the majority of them.

Terrorists Targeted in Several Areas in Aleppo

Units of the armed forces continued operations against terrorists’ dens and gatherings in al-Maslamiyeh, Khan al-Assal and Minnegh in Aleppo countryside, killing and injuring several terrorists, in addition to destroying their weapons and ammunition, including a number of mortars and anti-aircraft guns.

An official source told SANA reporter that the army units ambushed an armed terrorist group, killed most its members at al-Sarwat crossroads in Khan al-Assal destroyed a heavy machinegun they had with them.

The source added that other army units destroyed a mortar and a 23 mm caliber anti-aircraft gun near al-Khoulandi gas station and killed and injured scores of terrorists in al-Zyra’a area in the surrounding of the iron warehouse in al-Maslamiyeh.

Meanwhile, other Army units destroyed large amounts of weapons and ammunition in Hyllan and killed several terrorists at the entrance of the industrial city, including Ahmad al-Hamwi, known as al-Daba’a.

In the same context, another army unit destroyed an amount of weapons and ammunition in Hilan and killed many terrorists at the entrance of the Industrial City.

Numbers of terrorists were killed and injured in Byanon, Tatmwas and Ein Dakneh in Minnegh town, in addition to destroying a mortar.

In Aleppo city, a terrorists’ gathering was targeted in Masakin Hanano with many of the terrorists inside killed and injured.

Terrorists Killed in Clashes with Army Units in Idleb Countryside

A unit of the armed forces clashed with an armed terrorist group, affiliated to the so-called ‘al-Tawhid Brigade’ who were perpetrating acts of terrorism and blocking roads between al- Mastoumeh- and al-Jabal al-Wastani in Idleb countryside.

A military source told SANA reporter that the clash resulted in killing all members of the armed terrorist group.

Ahmad Suleiman al-Sheikh Mohammad, Ouqba al-Sheikh Mohammad, Marwan Hussein al-Yasin, Yaser Abdul-Hammid and Mohammad Omar al-Salloum were identified among the killed terrorists.

Tow Terrorist Groups Clash on Dividing Stolen Materials in Daraa Countryside

Two terrorist groups clashed due to disagreement on dividing the stolen materials in al-Jyza and al-Tayba in Daraa countryside.

An official source in the province told SANA that the terrorists used all kinds of weapons in the fight, causing the killing of most members of the two groups.

Terrorists Inflict Heavy Losses in Lattakia Countryside

Army units destroyed terrorists’ gatherings in al-Mraij, al-Koum al-Fukhani and al-Tahtani in Lattakia countryside, destroying heavy machineguns and various weapons which were used in their acts of terrorism against the citizens.

Another Army unit repelled terrorists near Kafria village killing and injuring scores of them, in addition to destroying their weapons and ammunition.

An Army unit targeted terrorist gatherings in the villages of Ghamam and Beit Halibeh in Lattakia’s northern countryside, resulting in the killing and injuring of a number of terrorists and the destruction of their vehicles.

http://www.globalresearch.ca/western-backed-al-qaeda-opposition-rebels-decimated-by-syrian-government-forces-sana/5334651

42 killed, over 100 injured as blasts rock Turkish town on Syrian border (PHOTOS)

Posted on May 11, 2013 by AE44

(RT) Forty-two people were killed and over 100 injured when several explosions struck a city in southern Turkey, near the border with Syria, Turkish media reported quoting officials.

“Two car [bombs] were set off in front of the municipality,” Interior Minister Muammer Güler said, adding that one of the car bombs exploded outside the city hall while the other went off outside the post office in the city of Reyhanli.

In initial comments, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said nearly 20 people died in the blast.

“We have around 20 dead and 46 people were injured, but we have to note that many of the injuries are severe, which means the death toll could unfortunately rise,” he said.

A municipality building was severely damaged by one of the explosions, Reyhanli Mayor Huseyin Sanverdi said. A wooden building close to the municipality collapsed following the blasts.

Health Minister Mehmet Muezzinoglu said at least 15 ambulances rushed to the scene to help the injured, AP reported.

A few hours after that a third explosion was reported in Reyhanli.

According to local media, the third explosion targeted the basement of a building where Syrian refugees have been staying.

At the same time Reuters reports that according to local media the blast appeared to have been caused by a car engine or building boiler room.

No one has claimed responsibility yet for Saturday’s bomb attack; an investigation has been launched. Five people, three of whom are Syrians, have been arrested in connection to the blasts, local channel NTV reported.

People stand on the site where car bombs exploded on May 11, 2013 near the town hall in Reyhanli, just a few kilometres from the main border crossing into Syria. (AFP Photo/IHLAS NEWS AGENCY)

In a comment on the attacks, Turkish Foreign Minister Davutoğlu called the attacks a “provocation,” saying that the timing was not coincidental: “Such provocation can [come to mind] in such a critical transition phase regarding Syria. It is not a coincidence that this happened when diplomatic traffic is intensifying. We invite our citizens to be prudent. The incident will be investigated.”

Turkish Minister also warned against “testing Turkey’s power,” saying that those behind the attacks “will get a response.”

“No one should attempt to test Turkey’s power. Our security forces will take all necessary measures,”Reuters quoted Ahmet Davutoglu as saying. “Those who for whatever reason attempt to bring the external chaos into our country will get a response.”

A woman raises her arms and shouts as she stands on the site where car bombs exploded on May 11, 2013 near the town hall in Reyhanli, just a few kilometres from the main border crossing into Syria (AFP Photo/IHLAS NEWS AGENCY)

Local media reported that the blasts sparked panic in the town; some locals started attacking Syrian refugees and cars with Syrian license plates.

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said the blasts may have been related to Syria, or to protests against the Kurdish peace process.

“We have started a resolution process in our country, and there are those who don’t accept this new era or do not consider the air of freedom to be positive who might have been involved in such [attacks],” Erdoğan said.
“Hatay is a province where there are some sensibilities. Some might have intended to incite these sensitivities. Around 20,000 to 25,000 Syrians live in camps [across Hatay]. It might be a factor of not accepting this,” he stressed.

Following the blasts, large numbers of Turkish air and ground military units were deployed to Reyhanlı, Haya Province, on the Syrian border.

US ambassador to Turkey Francis Ricciardone has “strongly condemned” Reyhanli attack, saying his country stands with Turkey in identifying those responsible.

“The United States stands with the people and Government of Turkey to identify the perpetrators and bring them to justice,” Ricciardone said in a statement. “We mourn the tragic loss of life and pray for a full and speedy recovery for those who were injured,” the statement added.

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen also published a statement on the organization’s website, in which he condemned the attacks.

“These despicable acts show total disregard for the life of civilians. I express full solidarity with the people and the authorities of our ally Turkey,” Rasmussen said.

Reyhanli, a town of about 60,000 in Hatay province just across the border from Syria’s Idlib province, has come under attack several times in recent months. In February, a mortar round landed near the border, killing 13 and injuring 33.

A person is evacuated from the site where car bombs exploded on May 11, 2013 near the town hall in Reyhanli, just a few kilometres from the main border crossing into Syria (AFP Photo/ANATOLIAN NEWS AGENCY)

Still from YouTube video/freesyria2011free

US Prepares War with Syria as Washington backed Al Qaeda Rebels Lose Ground

Posted on May 10, 2013 by AE44

war

Calls for a war with Syria mounted yesterday, despite mass popular opposition to war in the United States, amid reports that US-backed Islamist opposition forces fighting the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad have suffered serious reverses.

Speaking on NBC News yesterday, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan pressed for Washington to take military action against Syria.

He repeated unsubstantiated allegations that the Assad regime has used chemical weapons, which have been refuted by UN investigator Carla del Ponte, claiming, “It is clear the regime has used chemical weapons and missiles.” Claiming that a “red line” had been crossed, he said: “We want the United States to assume more responsibilities and take further steps. And what sort of steps they will take, we are going to talk about this.”

Erdogan dismissed out of hand reports that chemical weapons used in Syria were in fact used by the US-backed opposition.

He stressed that his government would support US imposition of a “no-fly zone” in Syria, which would involve destroying Syrian air defenses and shooting down any Syrian aircraft that took to the skies.

Erdogan’s calls for military action were echoed across the American press. The Washington Post ’s editorial board called for “an air campaign as well as arms for the moderate opposition” aimed to “quickly tip the military balance against the Assad regime.” Wall Street Journal columnist Bret Stephens proposed a long list of attacks against Assad, including sending in US ground forces: “disable the runways of Syrian air bases, including the international airport in Damascus…use naval assets to impose a no-fly zone over western Syria…supply the Free Syrian Army with heavy military equipment, including armored personnel carriers and light tanks; and be prepared to seize and remove Syria’s chemical weapons stockpile, even if it means putting boots (temporarily) on the ground.”

The calls for war come amid reports of major setbacks in Syria for the US-backed opposition, reflecting its small size and lack of popular support, and growing military assistance from Russia, Iran, and Lebanon for the Assad regime.

After two months of heavy bombardment, government forces have retaken the strategic town of Khirbet Ghazaleh from the “rebels,” re-opening government transport routes to Deraa, the city where initial opposition protests began two years ago. Opposition leaders acknowledged it as a major setback. “Tomorrow, the big tragedy will happen, the regime’s supply route to Deraa will reopen, and the officers will go back and ammunition will be resupplied and the bombardment will resume,” said Abu Yacoub, commander of the Martyrs of Khirbet Ghazaleh brigade.

Yesterday, BBC Middle East bureau chief Paul Danahar wrote that the Free Syrian Army (FSA) amounts to little more than “men with guns,” united only by the fact that they “point their guns in the same direction.” He said the FSA is not a “cohesive force” and lacks a “command structure.”

A Jerusalem Post article of May 3rd entitled “Is Assad Winning in Syria?” describes the defeat of opposition militias around Qusayr by Hezbollah forces, as well as the capture of Otaiba by Assad’s forces last week, indicating the growing strength of Assad vis-à-vis the US proxy forces. According to the article, “morale among supporters of the regime has improved markedly in recent weeks.” It concluded, “Assad shows no signs of cracking.”

Under these conditions, Assad’s allies are stepping up military deliveries to Damascus. The Russian government has announced plans to sell S-300 anti-aircraft missile systems to Syria, in a $900 million deal that would substantially bolster the Syrian regime’s capacity to defend itself against US and Israeli airstrikes.

Secretary of State John Kerry criticized the sale as “destabilizing,” and the Israeli government appealed to Russia to halt the transaction. Syria’s purchase comes in after Israeli air strikes that used long-range “stand-off” missiles to attack Damascus from beyond the Syrian border.

On Thursday, Iran vowed to respond to the Israeli raids with “blows under the belt in several locations.” Iran’s envoy to Syria, Ali Akbar Salehi, promised “full and unlimited support from Iran, politically, militarily, and economically, to the Syrian leadership and people, against the takfiris [Al Qaeda-type Sunni extremist forces], terrorists, Israel, the US, and all who dare attack this country.”

Also on Thursday, Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah announced that Syria would supply his militia “special weapons it never had before,” calling the decision “game-changing.” The weapons are apparently being transferred as a response to Israel’s air strikes on Damascus. “This is the Syrian strategic reaction,” he explained.

These deliveries highlight the broad regional implications of the proxy war Washington has waged against the Assad regime, relying primarily on Islamist forces tied to Al Qaeda, and the risk of a US war in Syria escalating into a regional or even global conflict.

There is broad opposition in the working class to the US drive to war in Syria overseen by President Barack Obama and the Democratic Party. A recent poll pegged popular opposition to war at 62 percent of the US population.

The conflict has already taken a horrific toll on the Syrian people. Over the past several months, the number of Syrians displaced from their homes by the war has increased from 2 million to 4.25 million. A total of 6.8 million Syrians, including 3.1 million children, are classified as “in dire need of humanitarian assistance” by the UN’s Office of the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

Jordanian officials have stated that Syrian refugees now make up 10 percent of Jordan’s total population, with this figure set to explode to 40 percent by mid-2014 on current trends.

The ramping up of US military operations against Syria is accompanied by diplomatic efforts to bring about a post-Assad government on terms favorable to US imperialism. Secretary of State John Kerry has sought an agreement with Russia, which would pave the way for a power-sharing arrangement.

This plan also received significant endorsement in US strategic and media circles. Zbigniew Brzezinski, a prominent architect of US imperial policy, issued a strong criticism of proposed US military action against Syria, proposing instead to try to involve Russia and China in US plans to remove Assad through diplomacy.

He said,

“The various schemes that have been proposed for a kind of tiddlywinks intervention from around the edges of the conflict—no-fly zones, bombing Damascus and so forth—would simply make the situation worse. None of the proposals would result in an outcome strategically beneficial for the US On the contrary, they would produce a more complex, undefined slide into the worst-case scenario. The only solution is to seek Russia’s and China’s support for U.N.-sponsored elections in which, with luck, Assad might be ‘persuaded’ not to participate.”

Along these lines, David Ignatius of the Washington Post proposed “a military transition government” that would include “reconcilable elements of Assad’s army,” under the leadership of US-backed General Salim Idriss, a defector who now commands Syrian opposition forces.

Effectively, US officials are hoping that, in the context of negotiations jointly organized by the Russian government, they could persuade Syrian officers to organize a coup to oust Assad, and then make a deal with the US-backed opposition. Their plan involves a new ruling coalition composed of opposition and regime elements, described by Ignatius as a “military transition government that would include reconcilable elements of Assad’s army.” Assad would be removed, though lower-ranking members of his government might remain.

http://www.globalresearch.ca/us-prepares-war-with-syria-as-washington-backed-al-qaeda-rebels-lose-ground/5334587

US Turns Away 1000′s of Cancer Patients, but has $123 Million for Terrorists in Syria

Posted on April 22, 2013 by AE44

The US has announced that it will provide militants in Syria, now openly admitted to being Al Qaeda terrorists, with $123 million in military aid – while thousands of cancer patients at home are being turned away from clinics because of budget cuts. Compounding the the criminal negligence of telling sick people to seek help elsewhere, is the fact that the military aid the US is providing terrorists in Syria will be used to perpetuate an already 2 year long, sectarian-driven humanitarian disaster.

RT recently reported in their article, “US to give $123 million military aid package to Syrian rebels,” that:

The US$123 million defense aid package, announced by Kerry at the meeting in the Turkish capital on Sunday, includes body armor, armored vehicles, advanced communication equipment and night vision goggles.

In an April 3, 2013 Washington Post article titled, “Cancer clinics are turning away thousands of Medicare patients. Blame the sequester,” it was reported:

Cancer clinics across the country have begun turning away thousands of Medicare patients, blaming the sequester budget cuts.

Oncologists say the reduced funding, which took effect for Medicare on April 1, makes it impossible to administer expensive chemotherapy drugs while staying afloat financially.

http://theinternetpost.net/2013/04/22/us-turns-away-1000s-of-cancer-patients-but-has-123-million-for-terrorists-in-syria/

US deploys troops to Jordan, prepares to invade Syria

Posted on April 21, 2013 by AE44

In testimony before the US Senate Armed Forces Committee on Wednesday, top US defense officials announced that they are deploying 200 troops of the 1st Armored Division to Jordan. They will establish headquarters near the Syrian-Jordanian border and plan for a rapid build-up, involving 20,000 or more US troops, awaiting orders from the White House to invade Syria.

A US invasion force would reportedly include Special Forces troops and regular units preparing for operations inside Syria, as well as air defense units guarding against possible retaliatory Syrian air strikes on Jordan.

US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told the Senate committee that these deployments are part of “robust military planning for a range of contingencies,” carried out by the United States and its European and Middle Eastern allies.

At the same time, Washington is carrying out an international diplomatic offensive setting the stage for war with the Syrian regime of President Bashar al-Assad. The topic of US military operations against Syria will reportedly be on the agenda of US Secretary of State John Kerry’s discussions in Turkey this weekend, of General Martin Dempsey’s talks with Chinese officials next week, and of Hagel’s upcoming talks with military officials in Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates.

As US officials admitted, invading Syria would likely involve the United States in a regional war throughout the Middle East. Hagel said that a US intervention in Syria “could have the unintended consequence of bringing the United States into a broader regional conflict or proxy war.” He noted that this “could embroil the US in a significant, lengthy, and uncertain military commitment.”

He detailed the streams of cash Washington is pouring into the anti-Assad opposition, including $117 million for “communications and medical equipment” as well as undisclosed US State Department and US Agency for International Development funding. Hagel explained, “The goal is to strengthen those opposition groups that share the international community’s vision for Syria’s future and minimize the influence of extremists.”

Hagel was apparently referring to Washington’s fears that ultra-right Islamist terrorist groups active in the opposition and funded by the United States’ Middle Eastern allies could take over Syria, should the Assad regime collapse. The Al Nusra Front, the military spearhead of the US-backed opposition in Syria, recently swore loyalty to Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri. (See “Syrian opposition militia declares allegiance to Al Qaeda”)

Though the US has been fighting a proxy war with Syria since 2011, Hagel’s comments were the first public confirmation that the Obama administration is preparing a direct US invasion of Syria. Launching such a neo-colonial war would be a historic crime against the population of the Middle East on the scale of the Bush administration’s unprovoked invasion of Iraq.

That such a war is being planned 10 years after the unpopular US war in nearby Iraq—which cost over a million Iraqi lives, tens of thousands of US casualties, and trillions of dollars—is a devastating exposure of the decay of American democracy.

The Obama administration and the Democratic Party, having come to power in 2008 with cynical and false appeals to popular opposition to the Iraq war, is pursuing similar policies, with total contempt for popular opposition to war in the US and Middle Eastern population.

In pursuing regime change in Syria, US imperialism is seeking to impose its hegemony on the entire Middle East. Besides Syria, it is targeting and trying to isolate Syria’s main regional ally, oil-rich Iran, which has emerged as the strongest regional power in the Persian Gulf. It also hopes that by eliminating Assad, it will cut off the flow of arms and money to forces and groups in Lebanon and the Occupied Territories opposed to Israel.

The Obama administration’s official justifications for the war—that war is necessary to secure Syria’s chemical weapons, or to restrain terrorist forces operating inside the US-backed opposition but that are somehow opposed by Washington—are absurd lies. They are contradicted even by the testimony of US officials.

Speaking in a separate meeting of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Kerry made clear that Washington is working very closely with the countries that are funding Al Qaeda-linked forces in Syria. He said, “The United States policy right now is that we are not providing lethal aid, but we are coordinating very, very closely with those who are.”

As for Syria’s chemical weapons, General Dempsey told the Senate committee that he was not confident that a US invasion of Syria would secure them, as the Assad regime has been moving them to prevent them from falling into the hands of hostile, Al Qaeda-linked fighters. Dempsey explained, “They have been moving [the stockpiles], and the number of sites is quite numerous.”

Dempsey indicated that he was not sure that the US can “clearly identify the right people” to support inside the Islamist-dominated Syrian opposition. He added, “The introduction of military power right now certainly has the possibility of making the situation worse.”

The Senate Armed Forces Committee chairman, Democratic Senator Carl Levin, criticized Hagel and Dempsey’s testimony for not threatening Assad strongly enough. He told reporters that after the hearing, he had asked Hagel and Dempsey if they wanted to send a “tough message” to Assad, adding: “Their answer is yes. That’s not what came out in their testimony. We didn’t hear it.”

Levin recently co-wrote a letter with Republican Senator John McCain to Obama, calling on him to establish a “safe zone” for US-backed opposition fighters in Syria. The letter stated that “the time has come to intensify the military pressure on Assad.”

On Wednesday, the anniversary of Syria’s independence from French colonial rule, Assad gave a televised address denouncing the US-led war in Syria. While Assad’s reactionary regime is no friend of the working class—having imposed free-market policies in Syria and repeatedly made deals with US imperialism to crush opposition to Israel—Assad hit the nail on the head when describing the imperialist forces arrayed against him. They are waging a military campaign to re-impose colonial shackles on the Middle East.

He said, “The truth is, what is happening is a war. It is not security problems. It is a war in every sense of the word. There are big powers, especially Western powers, who historically never accepted the idea of other nations having their independence. They want those nations to submit to them.”

Asked about other Middle Eastern countries’ role in stoking the war on Syria, he said: “We mustn’t blame those countries, because they’re not independent. The decision is made by foreign countries.”

Assad tartly dismissed claims by the US and its European allies that they are waging “humanitarian” war in Syria, noting: “We saw their humanitarian intervention in Iraq, in Libya, and now we see it in Syria.”

https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/04/19/syri-a19.html

US Deploys Troops To Prepare For Syria Military Intervention

Posted on April 17, 2013 by AE44

US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel informed congress today he has ordered the deployment of troops to Jordan to prepare for possible military operations in Syria.

Hagel stated that 200 troops are to be deployed to Jordan to make preparations to conduct intelligence and to make contingency plans to conduct military operations to secure chemical and biological weapon stashes inside of Syria.

Hagel further stated that the troops can provide leadership and training support for additional troops that may deployed in the future.

The threat of weapons of mass destruction falling into the hands of terrorist is a tried and true tactic for drumming up public support for military operations in the Middle East.

Truth be told, the ongoing civil war in Syria is actually the result of a coalition of westeren governments training, arming and supplying intelligence to the same Muslim extremists they are fighting against in so-called War on Terror.

CNN reports:

In a critical indication of growing U.S. military involvement in the civil war in Syria, CNN has learned Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is ordering the deployment of up to 200 troops to Jordan, according to two Defense Department officials.

The troops, which will come from the headquarters of the 1st Armored Division at Fort Bliss, Texas, “creates an additional capability” beyond what has been there, one official said.

The group will give the United States the ability to “potentially form a joint task force for military operations, if ordered,” he said.

The new deployment will include communications and intelligence specialists who will assist the Jordanians and “be ready for military action” if President Barack Obama were to order it, the official said.

This comes as the Pentagon has recently reviewed military options for Syria although Obama has not ordered any to be put into action.

Al Aryabia reports:

The Pentagon is sending about 200 soldiers from a U.S. Army headquarters unit to Jordan to assist efforts to contain violence along the Syrian border and plan for any operations needed to ensure the safety of chemical weapons in Syria, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told Congress Wednesday.

The decision to dispatch the 1st Armored Division troops of planners and specialists in intelligence, logistics and operations comes as several lawmakers pressed the Obama administration for even more aggressive steps to end the two-year civil war.

Hagel and Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff, faced persistent questions from senior members of the Armed Services Committee about efforts to force out Syrian President Bashar Assad. The Pentagon leaders made clear that the situation is extremely complicated and they must be certain of the endgame before any military step to try to end the bloodshed.

http://beforeitsnews.com/war-and-conflict/2013/04/us-deploys-troops-to-prepare-for-syria-military-intervention-2446218.html

U.S. Commandos in 75 Countries Are Teaching Militaries to Torture, Kill, and Abuse Civilians

Posted on April 9, 2013 by citizens84

US Commandos in 75 Countries Are Teaching Militaries to Torture Kill and Abuse Civilians

(PolicyMIC) -While aggressive war, drone strikes, and a global network of military bases are the most visible aspects of American hegemonic power, what is often overlooked is the U.S. policy of training, assisting, and subsidizing foreign militaries. Although these actions are largely covert and discreet, they serve the same purpose of hegemonic control, diminish peace and national security, and help contribute to the subjugation of foreign citizens.

The training of foreign militaries to serve the interests of the American state goes all the way back to at least the Cold War. The U.S. used taxpayer money and weapons to subsidize foreign governments and militaries that were “anti-communist” even if the regimes were incredibly brutal and ruthless. All an authoritarian had to do was refer to his political opponents as “communists” and the Americans came rushing in.

In nearly every continent, the U.S. taught extremely fascistic, right-wing governments the art of cracking down on domestic dissent, jailing and torturing political opponents, centralizing power, making deals beneficial to American corporations, and employing death squads. Cheaper and less visible than directly invading and overthrowing governments the U.S. didn’t like, sock puppet dictators were the preferred means of implementing policy.

The fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 left very little justification for an American imperial position throughout the globe, yet those same Cold War policies were not only not discarded, but expanded upon. Back in 2010, President Obama and the Pentagon began implementing a strategy with a larger emphasis on “combat operations” and military-to-military coordination. U.S. Special Forces are now operating in (at least) 75 countries, teaching their governments more efficient means of subjugating their populations, creating chaos, and serving the interests of the American empire.

Syria is the most recent example of this policy. While publicly claiming that the U.S. is helping build schools and hospitals in Syria, the Associated Press and New York Times reports document that the U.S. is training and arming Syrian “rebels” opposing the Syrian dictator Bashar Al-Assad. With the help of Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar, most of the weapons are going to hard-line Islamic jihadists, many of whom belonging to groups that just a few years ago were killing U.S. Marines in Iraq.

President Obama, secretly and without the consent of Congress, sent more than 150 Special Forces to Jordan to train the anti-Assad fighters on the use of sophisticated anti-aircraft weapons.

What is even more disturbing is that the Syrian “rebels” have most likely already used chemical weapons, have a reputation for beheading prisoners, and that U.S. support is prolonging the conflict in the region. The reasons for U.S. intervention are of course complicated and multifaceted, but it most likely has to do with attempts to destabilize Iran’s strongest ally and what the Romans called divide et impera.

Syria may be the most dangerous example of the Obama administration’s enhanced policy of covert military training and assistance, but unfortunately it is nowhere near the only one. In Mali, along with building a brand new drone base, U.S. AFRICOM chief General Carter Ham admitted that while training Mali’s military, they “skipped ethics.” Targeting dissidents based on ethnicity and executing them is a staple of the U.S.-trained Mali government.

In Indonesia, the Obama administration resumed training and assisting an elite Indonesian military unit whose members have been convicted of massive human rights abuses in East Timor. U.S.-trained forces in Guatemala have incredibly close ties to some of the region’s most violent drug cartels and are notorious for their brutal treatment of civilians during the Guatemalan civil war.

A report from the Washington Office on Latin America details a U.S. policy called “the Merida Initiative” designed to “help the region’s militaries take on internal security roles” and use American police to train local police. Although President Obama publicly denounced the 2009 military coup in Honduras, Wikileaks cables later revealed that the Obama administration had members of the State Department meet with the illegitimate new Honduran “president” to help coordinate the implementation of the Merida Initiative.

The policy of militarizing, arming, and subsidizing foreign governments, especially those with well-known and documented human rights abuses and commissions of war crimes, appears to be a staple of the Obama administration’s foreign policy. But these policies help contribute to the spread of dictatorships, humanitarian crises, and instability while making the possibility of resentment and blowback much more likely.

It is becoming more and more clear that the bipartisan consensus policy of military interventionism is a threat to peace and security. Neutrality and non-intervention, as the Founders recommended, is a far more practical alternative and is still the best way to spread the American values our politicians are so fond of endorsing.

US and UK public reject stronger military support for Syrian rebels

Posted on March 23, 2013 by citizens84

Syrian rebel, Aleppo 16/3/13

A Syrian rebel behind a makeshift barricade during clashes in Aleppo. The UK sends armoured vehicles and body armour to the rebels but the public oppose going further. Photograph: JM Lopez/AFP/Getty Images

(Guardian) -Americans and Britons are deeply sceptical about the idea of arming Syria‘s rebels and the possibility of sending western troops into the country, according to a bilateral poll.

Despite the escalating civil war, growing casualty figures and a rising tide of refugees flooding out of Syria, there is little appetite for more robust action than the current approach of providing “non-lethal support” to the rebels, the YouGov poll found.

There have been increasing demands on Capitol Hill to arm the opponents of the Assad regime or intervene more directly, and this week Barack Obama toughened his own rhetoric amid contested claims about Damascus using chemical weapons. But the new binational survey – produced for YouGov-Cambridge, the polling company’s academic thinktank – finds US voters opposed to the idea of supplying munitions by a 29-point margin: 45% against to 16% in favour.

Identical questions were posed in Britain, where David Cameron has, with the French president, François Hollande, recently tried and failed to persuade the EU to lift its arms embargo. But the British public emerges as even more strongly against: 57% oppose arming the rebels and 16% are in favour.

In both the UK and the US, opposition to arming the rebels is marked on the right as well as the left of the political spectrum: 52% of American Republicans and 63% of British Conservatives are against supplying arms.

Any thought of sending western troops into Syria would also be badly received – especially in the UK. By a 32-point margin (55%-23%) Britons reject the idea of sending in UK and allied troops to protect civilians. The anti-intervention lead rises to 59 points (68%-9%) if the aim were “overthrowing President Bashar al-Assad”.

In the US too, proposals to put boots on the ground would run up against public opinion. Americans lean 33%-27% against sending in troops “to protect civilians”, and are more decisively against directly enforcing regime change, splitting 42%-16% against. Although more Republicans (22%) than Democrats (14%) would be prepared to support the latter, the partisan difference are not as great might have expected given the continuing divisions over the war to topple Saddam Hussein.

Syria_interventions.png
A decade on from the invasion of 2003, YouGov reaffirms the verdict of other pollsters and finds a rough two-to-one (53%-27%) balance of Britons saying that the war launched by George Bush and Tony Blair was wrong rather than right.

US opinion is more evenly divided, with those who believe the war was right holding a slim 41%-38% edge. And whereas in Britain, opposition is consistent across supporters of different parties, in the US the political divide is stark. Democrats judge the war a mistake by a 53%-23% margin, but Republicans remain even more convinced that it was right, splitting 72% to 12% in favour.

While no political faction in either Britain or the US is comparably belligerent in connection with Syria, the mood is not isolationist either. There are strong majorities in favour of the official policy on both sides of the Atlantic, of providing the rebels with “non-lethal support”.

In the US the Obama administration has concentrated on softer support, such as food and medical supplies, but the question’s wording also referred to “armoured vehicles and body armour”, the sort of harder-edged interpretation of “non-lethal” supplies being emphasised by London.

Even with the proposition put in these terms, Americans split 45%-24% in favour of providing the supplies, a 21-point margin. In Britain, the 57%-22% pro-intervention majority on this count is even more emphatic, at 35 points.

For pro-intervention hawks, such as Senator John McCain in the US and increasingly Cameron himself in Britain, there is another encouraging finding. Respondents on both sides of the Atlantic are in favour of “enforcing a no-fly zone over Syria so the Syrian air force cannot attack rebels or civilians”. In the UK that proposition wins public support by a 43-point margin, with 61% in favour and 18% against. In the US there is a 50% to 18% majority behind the same proposition.

If these results point to mixed public attitudes to Syria, YouGov-Cambridge’s detailed analysis on the legacy of Iraq also defies easy characterisation.

Britons are disinclined to believe the conflict made the world a safer place – only 14% say so, as against 38% who judge it has made the world more dangerous and 40% who say it made little difference. They are likewise disinclined to believe the invasion made the lives of ordinary Iraqis better (only 24% think so), and by 71% to 12% they also believe Iraq will remain “permanently unstable” as opposed to becoming a “peaceful democracy”. Americans are somewhat more sanguine on all these counts, in line with their less hostile overall verdict on the war, but in the United States, too, a clear majority of 56% believes Iraq is set for permanent instability.

When memories of Saddam Hussein are invoked, however, the picture changes: by 41% to 21% Britons judge that despite the suffering of war Iraqis would have been even worse off under the rule of Saddam, and in the US opinion leans the same way, by 46% to 17%. These final results seem out of kilter with the UK’s anti-war sentiment in particular. It could be that some respondents are reasoning that while Iraqi life would have been worse under Saddam he might by now have been brought down by other means – or it could be that people give different answers to similar questions phrased in different ways.

YouGov-Cambridge surveyed 1,684 British adults online on 10 and 11 March and a further 1,962 on 13 and 14 March, and 1,022 American adults online from 12 to 14 March. The figures have been weighted and are representative of British and American adults aged 18 or over

Ambassador: US providing $114 million in aid to Syrian rebels

Posted on March 14, 2013 by citizens84

(Theuglytruth and TheHill) - The Obama administration is providing the Syrian opposition with $114 million in aid, more than previously revealed, to help topple Bashar Assad, U.S. Ambassador Robert Ford told Congress on Wednesday.

Ford briefed House appropriators in a closed-door hearing following Secretary of State John Kerry’s announcement last month that America would provide $60 million in direct food and medicine assistance to the Syrian Opposition Coalition. The aid, Ford said, is in addition to $54 million in communications gear and other aid already offered to “disparate Syrian opposition groups across the country to build a network of ethnically and religiously diverse civilian activists.”

“Preserving national unity and laying the foundation for a free Syria that respects the rights of all its citizens is essential if we are to secure a Syria that helps rather than threatens stability in the heart of the Middle East,” Ford told the committee, according to his opening statement, which was obtained by The Hill. “Collapse and fragmentation of the Syrian state or its takeover by extremists would worsen the risks associated with chemical weapons security, terrorist bases, and new refugee flows inundating neighboring states. Those outcomes would directly threaten our interests.”

He said the State Department would create a small grants initiative the Syrian Opposition Council would use to help local councils meet the needs of their citizens, including “supporting the work of these new governing institutions and helping them undertake service delivery projects for their communities.” And the U.S. Agency for International Development will create two programs designed to have “immediate impact”: One to provide short-term assistance for urgent needs, such as fuel, heaters, and nutritional and educational supplies for children; the other, to support strategic, longer-term needs such as repairing schools, local power, and sanitation.

“The membership is very concerned and the ambassador was very straightforward in what he had to say,” said Rep. Kay Granger (R-Texas), the chairwoman of the Appropriations subcommittee on foreign operations. “A lot of questions, there aren’t answers to yet because we don’t know the end-game.”

Rep. Charlie Dent (R-Pa.) said he pressed for answers about the White House’s decision to override last summer’s recommendations from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta to arm the rebels.

“Those are the concerns I had,” he said.

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), who represents a number of Syrian-Americans, has pressed the Department of Homeland Security to grant emergency temporary visas to the nearly nearly six thousand Syrian nationals with approved immigrant petitions.

“We’re trying to be as aggressive as we can without taking the risk that the assistance we give could be used against us down the road,” he said. “We continue to probe on the best way to assist the opposition.”

Israel media reports that Obama will threaten strike on Iran in June

Posted on February 28, 2013 by citizens84

(RT) -President Barack Obama says the United States could launch an attack on Iran as early as this June, Israeli media reports.

According to a report on Israel’s Channel 10 News that has since been picked up by the Times of Israel, Pres. Obama will use an upcoming meeting overseas to discuss a military strike on Iran. Pres. Obama is scheduled to visit Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu next month, and during the get-together the two leaders will reportedly work out the details for a possible assault.

Pres. Obama will tell Netanyahu that a “window of opportunity” for a military strike on Iran will open in June, Channel 10 claims.

Israel has long-urged the White House to use its military prowess to intervene in Iran’s rumored nuclear weapon procurement plan, demands which have by-and-large been rejected by the Obama administration. According to the latest reports, though, the United States might finally be willing to use its might to make a stand against Iran’s race for a nuke.

“I have conversations with Prime Minister Netanyahu all the time. And I understand and share Prime Minister Netanyahu’s insistence that Iran should not obtain a nuclear weapon, because it would threaten us, it would threaten Israel, and it would threaten the world and kick off a nuclear arms race,” Pres. Obama said during an interview on the television program 60 Minutes last year, but not before adding that he’ll continue to block “noise” from Netanyahu’s camp. “Now I feel an obligation, not pressure but obligation, to make sure that we’re in close consultation with the Israelis — on these issues. Because it affects them deeply. They’re one of our closest allies in the region. And we’ve got an Iranian regime that has said horrible things that directly threaten Israel’s existence,” he said.

But five months after those remarks, Iran is still inclined to become a nuclear power. Only days earlier, The Jerusalem Post reported that Netanyahu said the details of a confidential report by the International Atomic Energy Agency suggested that that Iran had begun installing advanced centrifuges at its main uranium enrichment facility, sparking “very grave” concerns that Israel could be hit with a nuke.

Right now, five members of the United Nations Security Council and Germany are holding talks with Iranian officials in Kazakhstan, with the goal of reaching a diplomatic answer to the nuclear crisis. However, domestic tensions within Iranian political elite do not make the prospect of a solution any more viable for now. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s second and final term in office is set to wrap up this June, and political fights within the country’s top contenders for the position has prompted possible presidents to take harsh stance on the issue and resist outside pressure.

“President Ahmadinejad’s second term in office expires in half a year. The law prohibits him from running for the third term. What is happening could be an intensifying power struggle,” Andrei Baklitsky of the Russian Center for Policy Studies tells the Moscow Times of the latest “5+1 talks” in Kazakhstan. “At first [Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar] Salehi signals the possibility of direct talks with the United States and then the supreme leader rejects it. But as Salehi is Ahmadinejad’s man, the controversy should be viewed through the prism of an internal political standoff rather than as Tehran’s official policy.”

John Kerry, the US secretary of state, told reporters in Berlin, “My hope is Iran will make its choice to move down the path to a diplomatic solution.”

When Netanyahu critiqued the United States’ reluctance to act first last year, a meeting between the prime minister and Pres. Obama was subsequently cancelled by the White House. Just next month, though, the commander-in-chief will travel to the West Bank and Jordan for the first time during his second term in office. National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor has said of the trip that it will mark an “opportunity to reaffirm the deep and enduring bonds between the United States and Israel and to discuss the way forward on a broad range of issues of mutual concern, including Iran and Syria.”

US, EU may start training and equipping Syrian rebels

Posted on February 27, 2013 by citizens84

(RT)-The US and Europe may begin equipping the rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA) with vehicles, body armor, night vision gear and binoculars, as well as military training. The decision is expected after a key conference on Syria in Rome.

Until now, Western countries’ official support to the forces fighting against Syrian President Bashar Assad was limited to direct contact, logistical assistance and political backing.

Several top figures in the Obama administration, including former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and former CIA chief David Petraeus pushed for closer engagement with the Syrian rebels last year, which would likely include arming them.

The White House rejected the plan at the time, fearing that the arms would end up in the hands of Islamist forces like the Nursa Front group, which the US considers a terrorist organization. US officials said it was too difficult to fully vet the recipients of the proposed deliveries; that policy has now apparently changed.

The pending shift was hinted at on several occasions as new US Secretary of State John Kerry toured Europe recently. He pledged not to leave the Syrian opposition “dangling in the wind,” after meeting British Prime Minister David Cameron and Foreign Secretary William Hague. The new US policy will likely be voiced after an international conference of the ‘Friends of Syria’ in Rome on Thursday.

A delegation from the exiled Syrian National Coalition will be attending the Rome conference, despite earlier threats to boycott it. The group reversed course and agreed to attend after a series of phone calls to the coalition leader Mouaz Khatib from top US officials.

European advocates said the Free Syrian Army should be provided with large supplies of munitions, including military vehicles, body armor and night vision goggles, as well as tactical and strategic training. This position is privately supported by Britain, France, Germany and Italy, a European official told the Washington Post on condition of anonymity.

London and Paris have pushed to lift an EU embargo on arms trades to Syria. However, the ban was prolonged until at least May, as some nations in the 27-member union have refused to lift it.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague (R) and US Secretary of State John Kerry (L). (AFP Photo / Ben Stansall)

The US appears more skeptical, and is reluctant to include body armor and training in the package, Washington sources told AP, though it would not oppose its European allies on the matter, sources said.

When asked Tuesday about the prospects for expanding US military support for the rebels, Kerry said he would not speculate on the outcome of the meeting with opposition leaders.

“We’re going to Rome to bring a group of nations together precisely to talk about this problem,” Kerry said. “I don’t want to get ahead of that meeting or ability to begin to think about exactly what will be a part of it.”

The Syrian opposition relies on arms smugglers from Turkey and Jordan, and raids on Syrian army depots, for weapons and ammunition; rebel groups with better financial standing and more ruthlessness end up with the best equipment. Most of the arms funneled to Syria went to hardline Islamists, according to a US assessment cited by the New York Time last October.

The Nusra Front, which is estimated to have some 5,000 fighters operating in Syria in small semi-independent groups, has to a large degree sidelined the relatively moderate Free Syrian Army. The groups remain at odds not only with the Assad government in Damascus, but also with each other, holding different visions for the future of Syria.

In an effort to boost the FSA and undermine the Nursa Front, Washington had Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries deliver arms to the FSA from Croatia, according to the New York Times. Rebels said that the shipment included anti-aircraft and armor-piercing weapons, mortars and rocket launchers.

Obama Accused of Staging A Chemical Weapons Attack

Posted on February 1, 2013 by citizens84

The Most Feared Syrian Rebel Group Is Once Again Undermining The Revolution

Posted on January 31, 2013 by citizens84

Al Jazeera

(Business Insider) -When members of Jabhat al-Nusra — the Syrian opposition’s best fighting force — took control of the town of Mayadin in eastern Syria, they immediately commandeered the grain silos and the nearby al-Ward oil and gas field.

Now, according the Reuters, the band of al-Qaeda in Iraq-affiliated rebels give children free loaves of bread if they attend hardline Islamic teachings and sell oil to local Syrian government authorities.

Residents of Mayadin, a town of 54,000 close to the Iraqi border, said Nusra has been transporting crude oil in large tankers 28 miles north to Deir al-Zor, where the government still has a presence.

And local authorities in Deir al-Zor are so strapped that they’ll buy oil off the group that their president considers terrorists.

The contradictory reality in Mayadin exemplifies Nusra as a whole:

• They are allied with the secular Free Syrian Army but want to establish a seventh-century style Islamic Caliphate.

• They execute highly effective suicide attacks against the regime but also battle other rebel groups.

• Some of its more than 5,000 members are leading on the front lines while others are hoarding resources (read: power) in remote places like Mayadin.

It’s clear at this point that the opposition needs Nusra if they’re going to topple the regime. The rub is that the group may be hijacking a rebellion initially driven by “the love of a freedom [and] the love of a country” to “establish a crueler regime than the tyranny under Assad.”

Neverthless, the bottom line is that al-Nusra becomes stronger as the 22-month conflict drags on and will be a force to reckoned with when it ends.

“The civil war in Syria is a gift from the sky for al-Nusra; they are coasting off its energy,”Noman Benotman, the lead author of a report analyzing their rise, told CNN.

U.S. Spent $424,062 on Project Working With Muslim Scholars to Stop HIV Among Prostitutes, Gays, Drug Users in Syria

Posted on January 31, 2013 by citizens84

(AP Photo)

(CNSNews.com) — The National Institutes of Health (NIH) gave $424,062 in tax dollars to researchers who worked with Muslim scholars to develop strategies to prevent HIV infection among prostitutes, homosexuals, and IV-drug users in Aleppo, Syria. The project was not completed because of the outbreak of the rebellion in Syria.

“I’m very disappointed we weren’t able to carry out this project as far as we had hoped, but sometimes things happen and that’s the way it is,” Professor David Seal of Tulane University, the principal researcher, told CNSNews.com. “It’s unfortunate, but human safety comes first.”

The NIH disbursed the $424,062 for the project in fiscal years 2010 and 2011.

According to the description of the project posted online by the NIH, the first aim of the project was: “To identify HIV/STI risk and preventive behaviors, mediators, and moderators that will need to be addressed in a subsequent prevention intervention aimed at groups at high-risk for HIV/STI infection and transmission, including people living with HIV, people seeking STI-related services, female commercial sex workers, men who have sex with men, and injection drug users.”

Professor Seal told CNSNews.com, “Phase one was the provider interviews, with practitioners, people that provided HIV and sexually transmitted infection service. And then phase two was actually interviewing people who were seeking treatment or services related to sexually transmitted infections and/or who were HIV positive.”

Phase three, he said, “would’ve been the interviews with the sex workers, [men who have sex with men], injection drug users, as well as the pilot team of the quantitative survey.”

Hypodermic needle. (AP)

Researchers worked with a “Community Advisory Board” comprised of Syrian health providers and Islamic scholars to assess interview questions, obtain community feedback and recruit individuals to participate in the study, according to the description.

“The support of local Religious Scholars and health care delivery systems will enhance our capacity to successfully implement evidence-based public health HIV/STI risk reduction intervention programs,” according to the project’s description.

However, research on the project had to stop in June 2012 because of the civil unrest and ongoing violence that has been taking place in Syria since early 2011. The research team left Aleppo for safety reasons.

Since March 2011, Syria has been enveloped in an uprising against the regime of Bashar al-Assad.

The researchers never received the opportunity to interview persons of at-risk groups, but were able to interview Syrian health providers who dealt with HIV patients, as well as those seeking treatment for HIV.

Seal said it was “really exciting” to work on a project that focused on HIV prevention in an area where there was not an outbreak, making it possible to “preemptively” implement prevention strategies.

“For me, it was really exciting to try do something preemptively instead of so much of our work where it’s already too late, the epidemic is already occurring,” he said.

The project’s funding was administered by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), but the majority of funds ($412,201) came from the NIH Office of the Director (OD.) During FY 2010, the NIH gave $230,332 from the OD and $1 from the National Institute of Mental Health.

According to the CIA World Factbook, seventy-four percent of the Syrian population are Sunni Muslims; 16 belong to other Islamic sects such as Alawite and Druze, and 10 percent are Christians.

US could attack Syria with chemical weapons, reveals an E-mail leak

Posted on January 30, 2013 by citizens84

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(Dailybhaskar)- Through an e-mail which has now surfaced in the public domain, White House’s plans of attacking Syria with chemical weapons has come to light. A report that came out Monday highlighted the exchange of e-mails where two senior officials talked about future plan against Syria.

Washington had approved the policy discussed according to which Qatar would financially aid the rebellious army.

US President Barack Obama had made it clear to Syrian President Bashar-al-Assad that it would not tolerate Syria’s use of chemical weapons against its own people.

According to reports, the e-mail was hacked by a hacker in Malaysia. US has refused a comment on this matter.

The Drone Commander:20,000 Airstrikes in the President’s First Term Cause Death and Destruction From Iraq to Somalia

Posted on January 22, 2013 by citizens84

of 9/11: “Why do they hate us?”

(AlterNet) -Many people around the world are disturbed by U.S. drone attacks in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia and elsewhere. The illusion that American drones can strike without warning anywhere in the world without placing Americans in harm’s way makes drones dangerously attractive to U.S. officials, even as they fuel the cycle of violence that the “war on terror” falsely promised to end but has instead escalated and sought to normalize. But drone strikes are only the tip of an iceberg, making up less than 10 percent of at least 20,130 air strikes the U.S. has conducted in other countries since President Obama’s inauguration in 2009.

The U.S. dropped 17,500 bombs during its invasion of Afghanistan in 2001. It conducted 29,200 air strikes during the invasion of Iraq in 2003. U.S. air forces conducted at least another 3,900 air strikes in Iraq over the next eight years, before the Iraqi government finally negotiated the withdrawal of U.S. occupation forces. But that pales next to at least 38,100 U.S. air strikes in Afghanistan since 2002, a country already occupied by U.S. and NATO forces, with a government pledged by its U.S. overlords to bring peace and justice to its people.

The Obama administration is responsible for at least 18,274 air strikes in Afghanistan since 2009, including at least 1,160 by pilotless drones. The U.S. conducted at least 116 air strikes in Iraq in 2009 and about 1,460 of NATO’s 7,700 strikes in Libya in 2011. While the U.S. military does not publish figures on “secret” air and drone strikes in other countries, press reports detail a five-fold increase over Bush’s second term, with at least 303 strikes in Pakistan, 125 in Yemen and 16 in Somalia.

Aside from the initial bombing of Afghanistan in 2001 and the “shock and awe” bombing of Iraq in March and April 2003, the Obama administration has conducted more air strikes day-in day-out than the Bush administration. Bush’s roughly 24,000 air strikes in seven years from 2002 to 2008 amounted to an air strike about every 3 hours, while Obama’s 20,130 in four years add up to one every 1-3/4 hours.

The U.S. government does not advertise these figures, and journalists have largely ignored them. But the bombs and missiles used in these air strikes are powerful weapons designed to inflict damage, death and injury over a wide radius, up to hundreds of feet from their points of impact. The effect of such bombs and shells on actual battlefields, where the victims are military personnel, has always been deadly and gruesome. Many soldiers who lived through shelling and bombing in the First and Second World Wars never recovered from “shell-shock” or what we now call PTSD.

The use of such weapons in America’s current wars, where “the battlefield” is often a euphemism for houses, villages or even urban areas densely populated by civilians, frequently violates otherwise binding rules of international humanitarian law. These include the Fourth Geneva Convention, signed in 1949 to protect civilians from the worst effects of war and military occupation.

Beginning in 2005, the U.N. Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) issued quarterly reports on human rights in Iraq. They included details of U.S. air strikes that killed civilians, and UNAMI called on U.S. authorities to fully investigate these incidents. A UNAMI human rights report published in October 2007 demanded, “that all credible allegations of unlawful killings by MNF (multi-national force) forces be thoroughly, promptly and impartially investigated, and appropriate action taken against military personnel found to have used excessive or indiscriminate force.”

The UN human rights report included a reminder to U.S. military commanders that, “Customary international humanitarian law demands that, as much as possible, military objectives must not be located within areas densely populated by civilians. The presence of individual combatants among a great number of civilians does not alter the civilian nature of an area.”

But no Americans have been held criminally accountable for civilian casualties in air strikes, either in Iraq or in the more widespread bombing of occupied Afghanistan. U.S. officials dispute findings of fact and law in investigations by the UN and the Afghan government, but they accept no independent mechanism for resolving these disputes, effectively shielding themselves from accountability.

Besides simply not being informed of the extent of the U.S. bombing campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan, the U.S. public has been subject to military propaganda about the accuracy and effectiveness of “precision” weapons. When military forces detonate tens of thousands of powerful bombs and missiles in a country, even highly accurate weapons are bound to kill many innocent people. When we are talking about 33,000 bombs and missiles exploding in Iraq, 55,000 in Afghanistan and 7,700 in Libya, it is critical to understand just how accurate or inaccurate these weapons really are. If only 10 percent missed their targets, that would mean nearly 10,000 bombs and missiles blowing up something or somewhere else, killing and maiming thousands of unintended victims.

But even the latest generation of “precision” weapons is not 90 percent accurate. One of the world’s leading experts on this subject, Rob Hewson, the editor of the military journal Jane’s Air Launched Weapons, estimated that 20 to 25 percent of the 19,948 precision weapons used in the “shock and awe” attack on Iraq in 2003 completely missed their targets. The other 9,251 bombs and missiles were not classified as “precision” weapons in the first place, so that only about 56 percent of the total 29,199 “shock and awe” weapons actually performed with “precision” by the military’s own standards. And those standards define precision for most of these weapons only as striking within a 29 foot radius of the target.

To an expert like Rob Hewson who understood the real-world effects of these weapons, “shock and awe” presented an ethical and legal problem to which American military spokespeople and journalists seemed oblivious. As he told the Associated Press, “In a war that’s being fought for the benefit of the Iraqi people, you can’t afford to kill any of them. But you can’t drop bombs and not kill people. There’s a real dichotomy in all of this.”

The actual results of U.S. air strikes were better documented in Iraq than in Afghanistan. Epidemiological studies in Iraq bore out Hewson’s assessment, finding that tens of thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands, of Iraqi civilians were killed by U.S. air strikes. The first major epidemiological study conducted in Iraq after 18 months of war and occupation concluded:

Violent deaths were widespread … and were mainly attributed to coalition forces. Most individuals reportedly killed by coalition forces were women and children … Violence accounted for most of the excess deaths and air strikes from coalition forces accounted for most violent deaths.

When the same team from Johns Hopkins and Baghdad’s Al Mustansariya University did a more extensive study in Iraq in 2006 after three years of war and occupation, it found that, amidst the proliferation of all kinds of violence, U.S. air strikes by then accounted for a smaller share of total deaths, except in one crucial respect: they still accounted for half of all violent deaths of children in Iraq.

No such studies have been conducted in Afghanistan, but hundreds of thousands of Afghans now living in refugee camps tell of homes and villages destroyed by U.S. air strikes and of family members killed in the bombing. There is no evidence that the pattern of bombing casualties in Afghanistan has been any kinder to children and other innocents than in Iraq. Impossibly low figures on civilian casualties published by the U.N. mission in Afghanistan are the result of small numbers of completed investigations, not comprehensive surveys. They therefore give a misleading impression, which is then amplified by wishful and uncritical Western news reports.

When the UN identified only 80 civilians killed in U.S. Special Forces night raids in 2010, Nader Nadery of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, who worked on the UN report, explained that this was based on completed investigations of only 13 of the 73 incidents reported to the UN for the year. He estimated the number of civilians killed in all 73 incidents at 420. But most U.S. air strikes and special forces raids occur in resistance-held areas where people have no contact with the UN or the Human Rights Commission. So even thorough and complete UN investigations in the areas it has access to would only document a fraction of total Afghan civilian casualties. Western journalists who report UN civilian casualty figures from Afghanistan as if they were estimates of total casualties unwittingly contribute to a propaganda narrative that dramatically understates the scale of violence raining down from the skies on the people of Afghanistan.

President Obama and the politicians and media who keep the scale, destructiveness and indiscriminate nature of U.S. air strikes shrouded in silence understand only too well that the American public has in no way approved this shameful and endless tsunami of violence against people in other countries. Day after day for 11 years, U.S. air strikes have conclusively answered the familiar question of 9/11: “Why do they hate us?” As Congressmember Barbara Lee warned in 2001, we have “become the evil we deplore.” It is time to change course. Ending the daily routine of deadly U.S. air strikes, including but by no means limited to drone strikes, should be President Obama’s most urgent national security priority as he begins his second term in office.

US supports governments in 4 of 7 least free nations

Posted on January 21, 2013 by citizens84

(Digital Journal) - The United States provides economic, military and diplomatic support to four of the seven least free nations on earth, according to a Digital Journal analysis of this year’s Freedom House freedom rankings.

Freedom House, a Washington, DC-based think tank that conducts research on democracy, freedom and human rights, has released its annual report on the state of freedom around the world. The report, “Freedom in the World 2013,” gave seven nations the lowest possible rankings for both political rights and civil liberties. Of these seven- North Korea, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Sudan, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea and Saudi Arabia, the United States provides significant economic, military and/or diplomatic support to the governments of four of them. Here’s a breakdown of how the Obama administration aids and enables brutal repression in each country:

Saudi Arabia: Arbitrary arrest and torture of reform advocates, religious minorities and totally innocent people are commonplace. The Saudi legal system is a cruel farce, with defendants often denied legal counsel and tortured into making false confessions. This has led to wrongful executions, usually by public beheading. Among the crimes for which one can be beheaded in Saudi Arabia: apostasy (renouncing Islam), blasphemy, prostitution, witchcraft, sorcery, adultery and homosexuality. Lesser criminals often have their hands and legs amputated without anesthesia.

Being born female in Saudi Arabia is to be condemned to a hellish life of virtual slavery. Not only are women not allowed to vote, they cannot drive cars. They cannot be treated in a hospital or travel without written permission from their husbands or male relatives. One woman who was kidnapped and gang-raped was sentenced to 90 whip lashes for being with unrelated males. When she went to the media to complain, her sentence was increased to 200 lashes. In 2002, 15 schoolgirls needlessly died when members of the dreaded morality police locked them inside their burning school and stopped firefighters from saving them simply because the girls were not properly dressed in robes and headscarves.

The Saudi education system reinforces this medieval barbarism. School textbooks disparage women, call for gays to be put to death, teach how to cut off thieves’ hands and stress the importance of the destruction of the Jewish people. “The hour of God’s judgment will not come until the Muslims fight the Jews and kill them,” reads one textbook.

Such is life in the absolute monarchy of Saudi Arabia, a kingdom without an elected parliament where the courts are run by religious extremists, adherents of a super-strict brand of Islamic fundamentalism called Wahhabism. It was Wahhabism that spawned al-Qaeda; Osama bin Laden and 15 of the 19 9/11 hijackers were Saudis. In a bid to consolidate and protect its power and curry favor with powerful extremist clerics, members of the Saudi royal family routinely make large donations to Islamic ‘charities’ that in turn fund terrorist groups. The Saudi government also supported the Taliban right up until 9/11 and then refused to help US intelligence officials with background checks on the Saudi hijackers.

These truths have been ignored by successive US administrations, including Barack Obama’s. Rather than rebuke Saudi repression, Obama rewarded it by allowing the sale of $60 billion worth of advanced military aircraft to the kingdom and by warmly welcoming Saudi King Abdullah to the White House.

Equatorial Guinea: This tiny but oil-rich West African nation is ruled by the fantastically corrupt Teodoro Obiang, Africa’s longest ruling leader and a close US ally. Obiang, who was trained in Franco’s Spain, rose to power in 1979 after executing his even more brutal uncle. The US State Department report on Equatorial Guinea cites “torture of detainees by security forces, life-threatening conditions in prisons, and arbitrary arrests.” Locals joke- behind closed doors, of course- about North Korea’s Kim Jong-un being Obiang’s role model.

Oil exports and corruption have made the Obiang family among the richest in Africa, with the dictator’s personal fortune worth an estimated $600 million. His family lives in ostentatious opulence while one out of every three Equatorial Guineans dies before the age of 40.

Somehow, despite the misery of most of his people, Obiang still managed to “win” reelection with 95 percent of the vote in 2009.

Obiang has endeared himself to the Bush and Obama administrations (Condoleezza Rice called him a “good friend”) by opening his country’s oil wealth up for exploitation by US corporations, which have invested billions of dollars there. Secret diplomatic cables published by Wikileaks in 2009 reveal that Washington advised “abandoning a moral narrative” regarding the brutal Obiang regime and the Obama administration was more than happy to oblige. Just two months before he “won” his impossible landslide reelection victory, Barack and Michelle Obama met the friendly dictator and posed for photos with him and his wife at a lavish Manhattan reception.

Uzbekistan: This Central Asian country is a police state that has been ruled continuously by the wicked Islam Karimov since it was part of the Soviet Union. There is zero freedom of expression or of the press in Uzbekistan, and although Karimov holds periodic elections, they are farcical affairs in which he always receives around 90 percent of the vote.

But Uzbekistan sits smack in the middle of the region’s massive oil and natural gas resources and is also a valuable ally in the War on Terror. The Northern Distribution Network, a supply line to Afghanistan, passes right through it.

Unfortunately, tens of thousands of Uzbek political prisoners are locked up in horrific conditions and subjected to medieval tortures. Prisoners are forced to stand in freezing water for hours, have their skin torn off with pliers or are occasionally boiled to death. Uzbek authorities have also imprisoned, tortured or killed thousands of Muslims just for practicing their faith.

The Bush administration cozied up to the vile Karimov regime, inviting the dictator to the White House and lavishing him with half a billion dollars in aid, much of it directly funding the police and intelligence services that torture and murder. When Uzbek forces committed a vodka-fueled massacre of hundreds of peaceful protesters in Andijan in 2005, Pentagon officials helped block an international investigation of the incident.

President Obama has continued to extend the hand of friendship to Karimov, sending Hillary Clinton, Gen. David Petraeus and the late Richard Holbrooke to Tashkent to shore up relations. Last February, Obama announced that the US would resume military aid to the despotic regime despite its continued grave human rights abuses.

Turkmenistan: Home to the world’s fifth-largest natural gas reserves, Uzbekistan’s southern neighbor was for decades run by President for Life Saparmurat Niyazov, whose bizarre cult of personality knew no limits. Niyazov renamed a town, a meteor and the month of January after himself. He also scrapped the Hippocratic Oath for doctors and replaced it with an oath to- guess who- Niyazov. The eccentric dictator outlawed gold teeth, opera, ballet and lip-syncing. He even published a ‘Book of the Soul’ that was elevated to the level of the Bible and Koran. When one Islamic cleric objected, he was sentenced to 23 years behind bars. Stalinesque show trials, torture and murder were everyday facts of life.

Niyazov died in 2006. But the nation remains one of the most repressive and corrupt in the world. Successive US administrations, however, have ignored the brutality as they pursue lucrative pipeline deals and access to routes to supply the war in Afghanistan. The dictator Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow “won” reelection last year with 97 percent of the vote, a troubling development that was met with silence and continued friendship from the Obama administration. The US has also provided millions of dollars in aid to the brutal tyrant.

Syrian Cluster Fuck:Russia says US blaming Aleppo blasts on Syria govt. ‘blasphemous’

Posted on January 17, 2013 by citizens84

A man is seen at the site of an explosion at Aleppo University in Syria, January 15, 2013.

Related Interviews:

(PressTV) -Russia has slammed the United States for its ‘blasphemous’ accusation that the Syrian government was behind the deadly explosions at Aleppo University.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Thursday, “Yesterday I saw a semi-neutral report on CNN that it was not ruled out that this terrorist act had been staged by the government forces themselves.”

“I cannot imagine anything more blasphemous,” he stated during his visit to the Tajik capital city of Dushanbe.

On January 15, over 80 people were killed and scores of others injured in two explosions at Aleppo University in the second largest city of Syria.

The Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement on Wednesday and blamed ‘terrorists’ for the “merciless bloody provocation.”

According to the statement, the explosions were the “terrorists’ revenge for the significant losses sustained in their confrontation with [Syrian] government forces.”

However, Washington accused Damascus of organizing the deadly attack in Aleppo.

Many people, including large numbers of security forces, have been killed in the turmoil that began in Syria nearly two years ago.

The Russian foreign minister also stated on Thursday that Moscow would “focus on the actions aimed at” stopping the violence in Syria.

On January 6, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said that Damascus was always ready to hold talks with the opposition and political parties and that he would call for a “comprehensive national dialog” after the terrorist activities stopped in the country.

The Syrian president also urged “concerned states and parties” to stop funding, arming and harboring militants.

Report says Assad residing on warship

Posted on January 14, 2013 by citizens84

A handout photo distributed by Syrian News Agency (SANA) on July 3, 2012, shows Syria's President Bashar al-Assad during an interview with a Turkish newspaper in Damascus. UPI

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, Jan. 14 (UPI) — Syrian President Bashar Assad and his family have been living on a warship, with security provided by Russia, intelligence sources told a Saudi newspaper.

An Al-Watan report Monday says the family and Assad aides are residing on the ship in the Mediterranean Sea and that he travels to Syria by helicopter to attend official meetings and receptions.

Otherwise, he stays on the warship, the sources told the Arabic language newspaper.

When he flies to his embattled country, the president lands at undisclosed locations and is transported to the presidential palace under heavy guard, the sources said.

The Russian-guarded warship provides a safe environment for Assad, who has lost confidence in his own security detail, the report said.

Assad’s presence on the warship suggests he has been granted political asylum by Russia but there has been no official comment from Moscow, the newspaper said.

The circumstances reinforce Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov‘s comment Sunday that Assad’s removal from power is “impossible to implement,” the newspaper said.

Assad’s presence on the ship could be a sign of looming negotiations on the conflict in Syria, the report said.

“It is necessary to make everybody, including the opposition, which is still categorically denying any dialogue, to sit down at the negotiating table, Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty quoted Lavrov as saying during a visit to the Ukraine.

President Assad Orders Commanders to Target Israel, US Interests “If Assassinated”

Posted on January 14, 2013 by citizens84

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(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - President Assad’s remarks came after he attended several meetings with his senior commanders, and discussed the country’s security situation with them, the Algerian Al-Shorouq Oline newspaper quoted informed sources close to the Syrian government as saying on Monday.

In the meetings presided by President Assad, Syria’s top army commanders told him that “the foreign hostile states will strive to assassinate him instead of launching a military attack on Syria”.

According to the report, a Persian translation of which was released by the Iranian students news agency, the Syrian army commanders have told the President that the spy agencies of certain western states and Syria’s neighboring countries have smuggled hi-tech missiles into Syria to provide armed rebels and terrorist groups with a chance to target President Assad’s likely residence.

In response, President Assad has ordered his military commanders to target Israel and the US positions in the region, specially in the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea, if the western states succeed in assassinating him.

Earlier this month, President Assad voiced his readiness for dialogue with the opposition and political parties in Syria. The Syrian leader also proposed general elections, adoption of a new constitution as well as a national reconciliation conference.

Syria has been experiencing unrest since March 2011 with organized attacks by well-armed gangs against Syrian police forces and border guards being reported across the country.

Hundreds of people, including members of the security forces, have been killed, when some protest rallies turned into armed clashes.

The government blames outlaws, saboteurs, and armed terrorist groups for the deaths, stressing that the unrest is being orchestrated from abroad.

In October 2011, calm was eventually restored in the Arab state after President Assad started a reform initiative in the country, but Israel, the US and its Arab allies are seeking hard to bring the country into chaos through any possible means. Tel Aviv, Washington and some Arab capitals have been staging various plots in the hope of increasing unrests in Syria.

The US daily, Washington Post, reported in May that the Syrian rebels and terrorist groups battling the President Bashar al-Assad’s government have received significantly more and better weapons in recent weeks, a crime paid for by the Persian Gulf Arab states and coordinated by the United States.

The newspaper, quoting opposition activists and US and foreign officials, reported that Obama administration officials emphasized the administration has expanded contacts with opposition military forces to provide the Persian Gulf nations with assessments of rebel credibility and command-and-control infrastructure.

According to the report, material is being stockpiled in Damascus, in Idlib near the Turkish border and in Zabadani on the Lebanese border.

Opposition activists who several months ago said the rebels were running out of ammunition said in May that the flow of weapons - most bought on the black market in neighboring countries or from elements of the Syrian military in the past - has significantly increased after a decision by Saudi Arabia, Qatar and other Persian Gulf states to provide millions of dollars in funding each month.

U.S. Drone Pilot: ‘Did We Just Kill A Kid?’

Posted on January 12, 2013 by AE44

(PekinTimes)

After Barack Obama joined the rest of us in mourning the slaughter of innocent children in Newtown, Conn., Sanford Berman, a Minnesota civil liberties activist, wrote me: “Obama’s tears for the dead Connecticut kids made me sick. What about weeping over the 400 or more children he killed with drone strikes?”

Indeed, our president has shown no palpable concern over those deaths, but a number of U.S. personnel — not only the CIA agents engaged in drone killings — are deeply troubled.

Peggy Noonan reports that David E. Sanger, in his book “Confront and Conceal: Obama’s Secret Wars and Surprising Use of American Power,” discovered that “some of those who operate the unmanned bombers are getting upset. They track victims for days. They watch them play with their children.” Then what happens: “‘It freaks you out’” (“Who Benefits From the ‘Avalanche of Leaks’?” Wall Street Journal, June 15).

For another example, I introduce you to Conor Friedersdorf and his account of “The Guilty Conscience of a Drone Pilot Who Killed a Child” (theatlantic.com, Dec. 19).

The subtitle: “May his story remind us that U.S. strikes have reportedly killed many times more kids than died in Newtown — and that we can do better.”

The story Friedersdorf highlights in the Atlantic first appeared in Germany’s Der Spiegel about an Air Force officer (not CIA) who “lamented the fact that he sometimes had to kill ‘good daddies’” … (and) “even attended their funerals” from far away.

And dig this, President Obama: “as a consequence of the job, he collapsed with stress-induced exhaustion and developed PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder).” Yet these drones, “Hellfire missiles,” are President Obama’s favorite extra-judicial weapons against suspected terrorists.

Getting back to the Air Force officer, Brandon Bryant, with the guilty conscience. Friedersdorf’s story quotes extensively from Der Spiegel’s article, which recalls that, when Bryant got the order to fire, “he pressed a button with his left hand and marked the roof (of a shed) with a laser. The pilot sitting next to him pressed the trigger on a joystick, causing the drone to launch a Hellfire missile. There were 16 seconds left until impact …

“With seven seconds left to go, there was no one to be seen on the ground. Bryant could still have diverted the missile at that point. Then it was down to three seconds …

“Suddenly a child walked around the corner, he says. Second zero was the moment in which Bryant’s digital world collided with the real one in a village between Baghlan and Mazar-e-Sharif. Bryant saw a flash on the screen: the explosion. Parts of the building collapsed. The child had disappeared.

“Bryant had a sick feeling in his stomach.

“‘Did we just kill a kid?’ he asked the man sitting next to him.

“‘Yeah. I guess that was a kid,’ the pilot replied.

“‘Was that a kid?’ they wrote into a chat window on the monitor.

“Then someone they didn’t know answered, someone sitting in a military command center somewhere in the world who had observed their attack. ‘No. That was a dog,’ the person wrote.

“They reviewed the scene on video. A dog on two legs?”

Friedersdorf adds: “The United States kills a lot of ‘dogs on two legs.’ The Bureau of Investigative Journalism reported last August that in Pakistan’s tribal areas alone, there are at least 168 credible reports of children being killed in drone strikes.” As for those in other countries, he adds, that’s “officially secret.”

He writes: “Presidents Bush and Obama have actively prevented human-rights observers from accessing full casualty data from programs that remain officially secret, so there is no way to know the total number of children American strikes have killed in the numerous countries in which they’ve been conducted, but if we arbitrarily presume that ‘just’ 84 children have died — half the bureau’s estimate from one country — the death toll would still be more than quadruple the number of children killed in Newtown, Conn.”

Are you proud, as an American, to know this?

After reading about Obama’s silence in “The Guilty Conscience of a Drone Pilot Who Killed a Child,” does the conscience of those of us who re-elected Obama ache?

As Friedersdorf writes, Obama has never spoken of these deaths as he did about the ones in Newtown, when he said: “If there’s even one step we can take to save another child or another parent … then surely we have an obligation to try. … Are we really prepared to say that dead children are the price of our freedom?”

Do you mean, Mr. President, only the dead children of Newtown?

These targeted killings continue in our name, under the ultimate authority of our president — as the huge majority of We The People stays mute.

Nat Hentoff is a nationally renowned authority on the First Amendment and the Bill of Rights. He is a member of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, and the Cato Institute, where he is a senior fellow.

General Stanley McChrystal questions US drone warfare

Posted on January 8, 2013 by citizens84

(Digital Journal) -Retired US Army General Stanley McChrystal, who once commanded all American forces in Afghanistan, has questioned the widespread use of unmanned aerial drones in the War on Terror.

McChrystal, 58, acknowledged that drones cause seething hatred of the United States and cautioned that their overuse could threaten US strategic objectives in the ongoing terror war.

“What scares me about drone strikes is how they’re perceived around the world,” McChrystal told Reuters. “The resentment created by American use of unmanned strikes… is much greater than the average American appreciates. They are hated on a visceral level, even by people who’ve never seen one or seen the effects of one.”

McChrystal, the architect of America’s counterinsurgency strategy in Afghanistan, added that drones fuel a “perception of American arrogance that says, ‘We can fly where we want, we can shoot where we want, because we can.'”

Drones are a tool that should be used as part of a wider strategy, the former general said, and if their use creates more problems than it solves, Washington should reevaluate the situation.

Drone strikes, which terrorize populations subjected to them, have indeed stoked widespread anti-Americanism in the countries where they occur- Yemen, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Somalia- as well as around the world. Three-quarters of Pakistanis, for example, consider the United States an “enemy.” Drones, which Pakistanis rightfully claim are a violation of their sovereignty, are a big part of the reason why.

Perceived American disregard for the hundreds of innocent civilians killed by drone strikes also infuriates many people in affected countries. According to Pakistan’s Interior Minister, up to 80 percent of those killed by drones are civilians, and the London-based Bureau for Investigative Journalism says that as many as 1,117 civilians, including up to 214 children, have been killed by strikes in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia since 2004.

Last October, the United Nations announced that it would investigate US drone strikes that killed Pakistani civilians as possible war crimes.

Still, the Obama administration has dramatically ramped up its drone program since taking over from Bush in 2009. Recently, the use of drones has increased significantly in Yemen, where there were more drone attacks in 2012 than there were in Pakistan.

Obama’s newly-chosen CIA director, John Brennan, is particularly controversial, both because he is the architect of the US drone war and because he has repeatedly lied about civilian drone deaths and the anti-Americanism they breed.

Ron Paul: New Year’s Resolutions for Congress

Posted on January 1, 2013 by citizens84

(Ron Paul) -As I prepare to retire from Congress, I’d like to suggest a few New Year’s resolutions for my colleagues to consider. For the sake of liberty, peace, and prosperity I certainly hope more members of Congress consider the strict libertarian constitutional approach to government in 2013.

In just a few days, Congress will solemnly swear to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against ALL enemies, foreign and domestic. They should reread Article 1 Section 8 and the Bill of Rights before taking such a serious oath. Most legislation violates key provisions of the Constitution in very basic ways, and if members can’t bring themselves to say no in the face of pressure from special interests, they have broken trust with their constituents and violated their oaths. Congress does not exist to serve special interests, it exists to protect the rule of law.

I also urge my colleagues to end unconstitutional wars overseas. Stop the drone strikes; stop the covert activities and meddling in the internal affairs of other nations. Strive to observe “good faith and justice towards all Nations” as George Washington admonished. We are only making more enemies, wasting lives, and bankrupting ourselves with the neoconservative, interventionist mindset that endorses pre-emptive war that now dominates both parties.

All foreign aid should end because it is blatantly unconstitutional. While it may be a relatively small part of our federal budget, for many countries it is a large part of theirs–and it creates perverse incentives for both our friends and enemies. There is no way members of Congress can know or understand the political, economic, legal, and social realities in the many nations to which they send taxpayer dollars.

Congress needs to stop accumulating more debt. US debt, monetized by the Federal Reserve, is the true threat to our national security. Revisiting the parameters of Article 1 Section 8 would be a good start.

Congress should resolve to respect personal liberty and free markets. Learn more about the free market and how it regulates commerce and produces greater prosperity better than any legislation or regulation. Understand that economic freedom IS freedom. Resolve not to get in the way of voluntary contracts between consenting adults. Stop bailing out failed yet politically connected companies and industries. Stop forcing people to engage in commerce when they don’t want to, and stop prohibiting them from buying and selling when they do want to. Stop trying to legislate your ideas of fairness. Protect property rights. Protect the individual. That is enough.

There are many more resolutions I would like to see my colleagues in Congress adopt, but respect for the Constitution and the oath of office should be at the core of everything members of Congress do in 2013.

Hillary Clinton Admitted To Hospital With A Blood Clot Following Concussion

Posted on December 31, 2012 by citizens84

(Business Insider) -The Associated Press is reporting that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been admitted to the hospital with a blood clot following a concussion, according to a spokesperson.

CBS News correspondent Margaret Brennan tweets that a spokesperson for Clinton confirmed that the former First Lady has been taken to New York Presbyterian, and that the hospital will monitor her for the next 48 hours.

According to Foreign Policy’s Josh Rogin, Clinton was scheduled to return to work this week following a three-week recovery from a stomach virus and concussion.

The illness was first reported December 10, when Clinton’s office announced that it was the reason the Secretary of State had canceled a scheduled trip to the Middle East. On December 15, Clinton’s doctors reported that she had also sustained a concussion after fainting from her illness.

Conservative pundits and bloggers have accused Clinton of faking the illness in order to avoid testifying in an open Congressional hearing about the Sept. 11 attacks on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya. Clinton has said she will testify in front of both House and Senate committees when she returns to work.

Obama Could Be Facing Impeachment

Posted on December 23, 2012 by citizens84

(Godfather Politics) There are rising concerns on Capitol Hill that President Obama is considering sending US troops into Syria. The military has already taken steps to increase its presence in the area and has been supplying Patriot missiles to Turkey.

At a recent press conference, Rep Walter Jones (R-NC) explained his resolution before the House (H.Con. Res. 107), saying:

“The sense of Congress that the use of offensive military force by a president without prior and clear authorization of an Act of Congress constitutes an impeachable high crime and misdemeanor under article II, section 4 of the Constitution.”

The US Constitution states that only Congress has the power to maintain an army, navy and to declare war. None of these fall under the constitutional duties of the president. Article I, Section 8 of says:

“The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;…”

“To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water;”

“To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years;”

“To provide and maintain a Navy;”

In a surprise move, one noted Democratic congressman has sided with Jones. Charles Rangel (D-NY) explained that the proper constitutional procedure for sending troops to war is for the president to go to Congress with the request first. Having Congressional approval is viewed as meeting the will of the people, although that can be questioned in today’s politics.

Others that have expressed support of Jones’ actions are Michael Michaud (D-ME); Ron Paul (R-TX), Mo Brooks (R-AL) and Justin Amash (R-MI).

Jones and his supporters sent a letter to President Obama which read in part:

“Outside of an actual or imminent attack on America, the only precursor to war can be the authorization of Congress. We call on you to abide by our Constitution, and rely on our country’s representatives to decide when war is necessary.”

When asked what he would do if Obama does carry out his intentions of sending troops to Syria without congressional approval, Jones said he would have no choice but to bring impeachment charges against the president.

Continued Confrontations with Terrorists Leave Many of Them Dead and Injured

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