Stephen Lendman

Partnering with America has consequences. Europe's paying by shooting itself in the foot.

On January 23, EU representative for foreign and security affairs, Catherine Ashton, broke the news. She announced an "unprecedented" anti-Iranian oil embargo, effective July 1 and immediately from new contracts.

The ban covers crude oil, petroleum and petrochemical products, oil related business, equipment and technology, selling Tehran refined products, new investments, and dealing with its central bank.

Europe buys up to 20% of its oil from Iran. Ending it means greater strain on economically stressed countries. Making up lost volume won't be easy. Putting lipstick on this pig doesn't wash.

Alternatives are few and far between. Claiming Saudi Arabia can compensate is false. Iran's reserves are third largest globally. No combination of Gulf states can replace its shipments.

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Khalid Amayreh

Jordan's King Abdullah with Mahmoud Abbas (Abu
Mazen), the illegitimate[*] president of the Palestinian
Authority. Mahmoud Abbas is not rightful leader of
the Palestinians in the West Bank, much less in Gaza,
where Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas was democratically
elected in 2006. Abbas is Israel's puppet & enforcer.

It seems the Jordanian-moderated talks between Zionist and Palestinian negotiators in Amman are going nowhere. Some observers argue the talks were doomed from the very beginning as the apartheid Israeli regime continued to refuse freezing settlement expansion.

The talks, dubbed as "exploratory" by some Palestinian Authority (PA) officials never really had the slightest chance of success, given Israel's determined and stubborn refusal to end her military occupation of the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem as well as allow for the repatriation of millions of uprooted Palestinians back to their homes and villages in what is called now "Israel."

These are the most elementary and minimalist Palestinian demands that must be met if a peace deal can ever be salvaged.

However, it is amply clear that the so-called peace talks are being held, not for the sake of pursuing genuine peace but rather for the sake of keeping the sides busy with something and also for the sake of satisfying demands by the Quartet which would like to have a feeling, however false and disingenuous, that some thing is going on and that the train of peace is not hopelessly stuck at station.

This is what the eternally and justifiably frustrated Palestinian negotiators are saying, namely that Israel, which never stops stealing Palestinian land and demolishing Palestinian homes, is not really seeking a dignified peace agreement but is rather trying to liquidate the Palestinian cause.

This is the message PA representatives got from the chief Zionist representative to the talks Yitzhak Molcho who briefed the Palestinians about Israel's vision of a final territorial "compromise" in the West Bank.

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Paul Craig Roberts

Dear friends: I am pleased to bring to you Gerald Celente’s assessment of the threats posed to Internet freedom. Celente’s Trends Journal is one of the most insightful publications of our era. PCR

Do you remember the Safe-Cyber instructions they taught you in the mandatory Computer Ed class (operated by the National Institute of Standards and Technology)? First you fire up your Secured Computing Device (SCD) and its hardware token authenticator.

Then you enter the six-digit algorithmically generated password displayed (a new one flashes every 60 seconds) and are asked to supply your biometric identifier. You place your thumb on the built-in fingerprint pad, click, and wait for the Internet connection to begin. But it doesn’t.

Instead, the screen goes black for a second before the dreaded words appear: “Malware has been detected on this SCD. As mandated by federal law, it has been placed in quarantine.” Then the machine shuts down.

This is not just conjecture, but an imminent scenario. Policies, such as the White House proposed “National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace,” which will transform the character, culture and freedom of the Internet, are already in place. The 20 cybersecurity-related bills introduced in the Senate in 2011, and the dozen introduced in the House of Representatives, have wound their way through committees and, according to Senator Harry Reid, are scheduled to be voted on in the first quarter of 2012. Almost all of them, with the blessing of the White House, would make the Department of Homeland Security the overseer of private-sector networks.

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Stephen Lendman

On January 28, Arab League monitors suspended operations in Syria. In early February, they'll decide whether to end them altogether. League Secretary-General Nabil Elaraby blamed Assad for "resort(ing) to escalating the military option in complete violation of (his) commitments."

In fact, he's contesting a Western-generated insurgency. League despots support it. They also condoned NATO's Libya war, including massacres too great to ignore.

They back NATO's plan to colonize, occupy and plunder Middle East states, including Iraq, Libya, Syria and Iran, as well as ongoing atrocities in Bahrain, Yemen, Somalia, Palestine, and elsewhere in the region.

On December 26, Arab League observers began monitoring Syrian cities. Sudanese General Mohammed Ahmed Mustafa al-Dabi led them. Instead of delivering the goods as planned, he called Assad "cooperative."

Ergo, end the mission. Initiate Plan B.

At issue is regime change and isolating Iran, not democracy and peace. America deplores both and won't tolerate them at home or abroad.

After ravaging Libya and toppling Gaddafi, Syria was next. For months, Western-backed insurgents killed thousands. No one knows how many. UN estimates lack credibility by pointing fingers the wrong way.

Washington wants Assad vilified, delegitimized, weakened and toppled. Tactics include violence, propaganda, and attempts to pass Security Council measures, inching closer to intervention. More on that below.

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