Stephen Lendman

Last November, Haaretz said Washington and Israel planned holding their "largest" and "most significant" ever joint military exercise, involving over 5,000 US and Israeli troops. Assistant Secretary of State Andrew Shapiro for Political-Military Affairs confirmed it.

On January 5, Associated Press headlined "Israeli and US troops gear up for major missile defense drill after Iran maneuvers," saying:

As tensions with Iran escalate, "Austere Challenge 12" is "designed to improve defense systems and cooperation between the US and Israeli forces." It follows Iranian naval exercises near the Strait of Hormuz.

Admiral Habibollah Sayyari said they displayed "Iran's military prowess and defense capabilities in the international waters, convey(ed) a message of peace and friendship to regional countries, and test(ed) the newest military equipment among other objectives."

On January 10, Press TV said Ground Forces commander General Ahmad Reza Poursastan announced plans to use Iran's most advanced military equipment in more planned drills.

Scheduled sometime after mid-February, weapons and ground tactics will be evaluated. Objectives include bolstering security along Iran's eastern border, assessing defense and combat capabilities, and giving young officers more experience.

Originally scheduled for April, joint US/Israeli exercises are postponed. According to an Israeli defense official, Washington wants regional tensions cooled. Media reports suggest Israel plans strikes against Iran's nuclear facilities. Washington may object over timing and tactics. Likely also is concern over Israel acting preemptively unannounced. Last fall, Joint Chiefs head General Martin Dempsey expressed alarm, telling Obama it's possible.

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Stephen Lendman

On May 12, 2011, Senator Patrick Leahy (D. VT) introduced "S. 968: Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property Act of 2011 (PROTECT IP)." Referred to the Judiciary Committee, May 26 hearings were held. Debate's scheduled for next week.

On October 26, 2011 Rep. Lamar Smith (R. TX) introduced "HR 3261: Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA): To promote prosperity, creativity, entrepreneurship, and innovation by combating the theft of US property, and for other purposes" Referred to the House Judiciary Committee, markup continues.

Leahy, Smith, and congressional supporters claim the measures protect corporate investments against online piracy. In fact, they're about censorship and subverting Internet freedom.

If enacted, Internet service providers (ISPs), search engines, and other information location tools will have to block user access to sites accused (rightly or wrongly) of very loosely defined copyright infringement.

In other words, they'll blacklist and shut them down arbitrarily to silence them. Media giants will have unprecedented powers. So will Congress and the administration. Internet freedom will be jeopardized. So will a free and open society.

Provisions empower the Attorney General to cut off access and funding for alleged "parasite" foreign and domestic sites. An Internet czar will decide if US interests are harmed. Courts will enforce police state rulings.

Both bills are so deeply flawed, they can't be fixed. Killing them is the only option.

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Alain Gresh

Interrogé il y a quelques jours pour savoir quand Israël attaquerait l’Iran, Patrick Clawson, chercheur au Washington Institute for Near East Policy (Winep), un think-tank lié au lobby pro-israélien, répondait : « Il y a deux ans » (cité par Scott Shane, « Adversaries of Iran Said to Be Stepping Up Covert Actions », The New York Times, 11 janvier).

Cette déclaration venait après le meurtre à Téhéran d’un jeune physicien nucléaire, qui faisait lui-même suite à plusieurs autres meurtres « mystérieux », dont on s’étonne qu’ils aient été si peu dénoncés par les défenseurs des droits humains — une pétition circule toutefois pour les condamner, « Petition against the Murder of Iranian Scientists »). L’Iran a aussi été victime ces derniers mois de cyber-attaques par le virus Stuxnext (lire Philippe Rivière, « Cyber-attaque contre Téhéran », Le Monde diplomatique, mars 2011).

Cette escalade est incontestablement le fait d’Israël, qui ne cherche même pas à démentir. En revanche, il est plus difficile de saisir quelle est la stratégie du président Obama. Au moment même où l’administration américaine affirme, haut et fort, sa solidarité totale avec Israël et sa détermination à empêcher l’Iran de se doter de la bombe atomique, les manœuvres militaires entre Israël et les Etats-Unis sont reportées et les explications avancées pour ce report sont loin d’être claires ; Hillary Clinton condamne fermement le meurtre du chercheur à Téhéran ; les services de renseignement « occidentaux » (en fait américains) faisaient filtrer des informations sur la responsabilité du Mossad dans les meurtres des scientifiques iraniens (Karl Vick and Aaron J. Klein, « Who Assassinated an Iranian Nuclear Scientist ? Israel Isn’t Telling », Time Magazine, 13 janvier) ; parallèlement, ils divulguaient des informations sur des agents israéliens qui tentent de se faire passer pour des membres de la CIA afin de recruter des combattants sunnites opposés au régime iranien (Mark Perry, « False flags », Foreign Policy, 13 janvier). Enfin, les Etats-Unis ont lancé une sévère mise en garde à Téhéran contre tout blocage du détroit d’Ormuz et mobilisent leurs alliés pour arrêter les achats de pétrole iranien. Comment expliquer ces contradictions ?

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Gilad Atzmon
For Jesse

This week, Jesse Lieberfeld an11th-grade American Jewish teenager won the Dietrich College’s 2012 Martin Luther King, Jr. Writing Awards for composing a beautiful piece about his own moral awakening and journey away from Judaism.

“I once belonged to a wonderful religion. I belonged to a religion that allows those of us who believe in it to feel that we are the greatest people in the world—and feel sorry for ourselves at the same time,” says young Jesse. However, it seems that it didn’t take too long before Jesse found out for himself that what he was part of was neither flattering or glorious.

To read Jesse's text click here.

Jewish tribal cultural indoctrination is a full-on, comprehensive process. “Although I was fortunate enough to have parents who did not try to force me into any one set of beliefs, being Jewish was in no way possible to escape growing up”, says Jesse. “It was constantly reinforced at every holiday, every service, and every encounter with the rest of my relatives.”

Inherent to the culture and its maintenance is self-love. “I was forever reminded how intelligent my family was, how important it was to remember where we had come from, and to be proud of all the suffering our people had overcome in order to finally achieve their dream in the perfect society of Israel.”

Jewish ideological and cultural ‘programming’ is rather sophisticated. It is a unique dynamic pattern practiced in both a collective and an individual way. But those who carry the message aren’t themselves fully aware of their role within the tribal ideology they aim to maintain.

Of course Jews hold many different, and even contradictory, political beliefs. But however diverse their views may be somehow, those who are identified as Jews politically always unite against any attempt to criticise the cultural and ideological foundation of their tribal bond. Young Jesse is clearly aware of this. On the surface, it was the crimes against the Palestinians that provoked his ethical sense. “I grew more concerned. I routinely heard about unexplained mass killings, attacks on medical bases, and other alarmingly violent actions for which I could see no possible reason. ‘Genocide’ almost seemed the more appropriate term, yet no one I knew would have ever dreamed of portraying the war in that manner; they always described the situation in shockingly neutral terms.”

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