Philip Giraldi

The American people don’t particularly want a new war in the Middle East, but apparently Congress and Washington’s most powerful lobby do. Thirty-two senators have co-sponsored a resolution that will constrain the White House from adopting any policy vis-à-vis Iran’s “nuclear weapons capability” that amounts to “containment.” The senators include the familiar figures of Joe Lieberman of Connecticut and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, both of whom have persistently called for military action. They and the other senators have presented their proposal in a particularly deceptive fashion, asserting that they are actually supporting the White House position, which they are not. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta repeated on Feb. 16 that Iran does not have and is not currently building a nuclear device. Before Christmas, he stated clearly that the “red line” for the United States is actual Iranian possession of a nuclear weapon. Even Israel’s intelligence services agree that Iran is not building a bomb. What we are seeing play out in Congress is the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) position, which is that Iran has already crossed a “red line.” The AIPAC argument will no doubt be spelled out in more detail next month at the group’s annual convention in the nation’s capital, a meeting that will be addressed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and will attract nearly all of Washington’s power brokers.

Rejection of containment in this context and as spelled out in the resolution means that the United States will be forced to go to war if Iran attains the capability to put together a nuclear weapon. Indeed, one might argue that the United States should be at war already, based on the resolution. “Capability” is one of those particularly useful expressions that is extremely elastic and can be interpreted subjectively. By most standards, Iran already has the technical know-how to make a nuclear bomb and has most of the materials on hand to put one together, assuming it can enrich the uranium it possesses to the required level. The Iranians may not, in fact, have the engineering skills to do so, and the task of creating a small, sophisticated device that can be mounted on a ballistic missile is certainly far beyond their current capabilities and probably unachievable given the costs involved and the poor state of their economy.

There are about 50 countries in the world that have the capability to produce a nuclear weapon if they chose to do so, making Iran far from unique but for its persistence as a thorn in the side of Israel and Israel’s powerful lobby in the United States. In other words, Iran does not have to actually produce a nuclear weapon for it to be subject to attack by either Israel or the United States. It only has to continue to be an irritant for Israel.

More »

Stephen Lendman

Khader Adnan's daughter wanting to see her father...

Adnan symbolizes decades of merciless Israeli repression. He preferred death over living under its ruthless boot.

Now, after Israel's promised April release, he struggles to live. Physicians for Human Rights-Israel (PHR-I) examined and him several times during Safed Hospital captivity. He's still there in deteriorated condition.

Sixty-six days without food left him perilously close to death. After he agreed to again ingest food, PHR-I said he's "expected to go through a long and complicated recovery process." Its outcome is far from certain. PHR-I will issue regular updates.

The Addameer Prisoner Support Group expressed these and others concerns. It said Adnan refused to stop fasting unless unconditionally released after his four-month administrative detention ended, dated from December 17, his arrest day, not January 8th ordered detention.

The agreed deal falls short. It states that if "secret material" unavailable to counsel "presents itself during the next two months, there would still be grounds" to renew his detention indefinitely.

This arrangement replicates many others. It permits indefinite detentions and re-arrests of those released. Numerous freed Palestinian prisoners, in exchange for Gilad Shalit, have been hounded, persecuted, and again arrested on spurious charges or none at all.

If Adnan's released as agreed, recovers, and returns to normal life, he's very much at risk for repeat treatment. Previously he was arrested and imprisoned eight times. His current detention is number nine. Will another be forthcoming when he's no longer a cause célèbre out of sight and mind?

He was detained but uncharged. Israel's deal confirms no legitimate grounds for holding him in the first place. Like thousands of other Palestinians, it reflects decades of ruthless persecution.

More »

Stephen Lendman

Lynne was wrongfully indicted, convicted, sentenced, and given a far harsher one unjustifiably on appeal.

On February 29, US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit arguments will be presented. She won't be there, but hopes massive support will turn out for her at the:

US Courthouse
500 Pearl Street
Manhattan, New York

She can be reached as follows:

Lynne Stewart #53504-054
Federal Medical Center, Carswell
PO Box 27137
Ft. Worth, TX 76127

Her full appeal brief discusses all relevant facts about her and her case. It includes her character, commitment, honor, and dedication to justice as the law demands but didn't afford her.

She discusses her appeal as follows:

"After the disaster in July 2010, when Judge Koeltl, following the directives of the Second Circuit increased my sentence from 28 months to 10 years, our righteous indignation fueled this appeal. The government’s argument will center on my testimony at trial and the alleged perjury. All of those facts were before the Court at the time of the 28 month sentence and were not the basis then of a double digit sentence."

"Our Brief attacks the increased sentence on two different fronts –one on a doctrine of “substantive unreasonableness” meaning it’s just too much of an increase, five fold — given the circumstances. Secondly, we argued that the only “new” information before the Judge were my statements after my first sentence in October of 2008 and remarks I made on the Courthouse steps before I surrendered to prison. We contend strongly that this is protected speech under the First Amendment of the Constitution, and cannot be used to increase or as a basis for sentencing. (even if they hate it !!!)"

"The same group of 3 Judges that heard and decided the original appeal will also hear the arguments on the 29th. The government is not asking for more time; they are satisfied with their pound of flesh but it is not likely that this Court will take any action that will help me. The times are askew for prisoners and their lawsuits."

More »

William T. Hathaway

From the Book
RADICAL PEACE: People Refusing War
By William T. Hathaway

The following report was contributed by Naomi Golner, one of the founders of Exit Free, a collective in the USA that helps women leave the military by discharge or desertion.

I've become a criminal for peace. How I got there is a complicated story, beginning when the community college where I teach reduced most of its humanities faculty to adjunct status. It saved them a bundle on salaries. We now teach a maximum of three courses per semester, for a really miserable hourly wage with no benefits. They brought in other part-timers to fill the gaps. So the faculty are now mostly freelancers. I ended up with a lot less money but a lot more time.

Several other women I knew were also broke — laid off or dropped out of the McJob economy. We decided to share the misery and formed a collective to make ends meet. One of us had a big empty-nester house from her divorce settlement, so we all moved in. We buy food in bulk, share two cars, planted a big garden, help each other with the things each of us is good at, sometimes quarrel and cry, but mostly we like being together. We feel stronger now than before when it was each of us alone against the neo-con world.

More »

Vicky Short

General Franco, right, and Prince Juan Carlos (Photo: REX)

The German Foreign Ministry has declassified several diplomatic documents under its 30-year data disclosure law. The magazine Der Spiegel has published communiqué 524, sent by the then German ambassador to Spain, revealing the “understanding if not even sympathy” of King Juan Carlos for an attempted coup d’état on February 23, 1981, during which parliament and the cabinet were held hostage for 18 hours.

According to Zaragoza University history professor Julián Casanova, the communiqué is “extraordinarily important” because “it is the only written proof to date that Juan Carlos might have secretly been nostalgic for the kind of military rule that Franco had taught him to appreciate.”

The young Juan Carlos had been appointed as his heir apparent by General Francisco Franco, leader of the military uprising against the Second Republic in 1936 and head of the fascist dictatorship from 1939 until his death in 1975. Casanova has had little luck in unearthing what actually happened during the 1981 coup attempt, known popularly as 23-F, because records from Spanish sources and from the United States embassy in Madrid will remain under lock and key until 2031.

The communiqué with Bonn shows that even the German ambassador was surprised at Juan Carlos’s attitude to the military plot, saying that his words were “nearly apologetic.”

"The leaders only wanted the same thing we are all striving for, namely, the re-establishment of order, discipline, security and calm,” the king told the ambassador.

Lahn explained how Juan Carlos “did not express indignation or revulsion towards the actors.” Instead, he blamed former Prime Minister Adolfo Suárez, who he said “despised the Army” because Suárez had failed to “take into account the demands of the military.” Juan Carlos told Lahn, “they started acting on their own.” He relates how the king told him that 23-F “should be forgotten as soon as possible” and how he was planning to intercede before the government and the military justice in favour of the plotters so that “nothing too serious happens to them”.

More »

Ibrahim Ibn Yusuf

So there was this BDS conference held at Pennsylvania University -- one of the Ivy League institutions. Myself, I'm a fence-sitter with regard to Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions -- I don't boycott Israeli products as such (although if I knew that they were made in the occupied territories, I would), while I think that divesting from Israeli companies makes sense only in certain specific cases. I'm more comfortable with the idea of sanctions.

In any case, this BDS event was organized at UPenn and, as might be expected, lots of Israel firsterssupporters rallied to organize counterevents that brought much larger attendances. This is not surprising since BDS is taking its first infant steps in the realm of mainstream discourse.

One of the anti-BDS events was a speech by the ineffable Alan Dershowitz. Under the headline Dershowitz strikes back, the StandWithUs site provides a raving review of the Dersh's presentation which, as can be predicted, consists basically of a regurgitation of tired Hasbara points. Of a somewhat higher interest is the Q&A, and in particular this exchange with a student:

● During the question-and-answer session after the Annenberg presentation, one female student asked, "If an Arab student comes up to me and says, 'You took my land,' and I respond, 'Yeah, but we support gay rights,' how does that add up?"
● Dershowitz said the answer is that the Jews didn't steal the land.
● "The land on which Israel was established had a Jewish majority," he said. "In Israel's case, they bought the land, in this case from distant land owners, who lived in Syria and Lebanon. The Israeli policy of the yishuv was never to throw indigenous Arabs off the land.
● "Israel's birth certificate is cleaner than the birth certificate of almost any other modern country in the world," he added. "Israel was established by law."

Notice Dershowitz's goal-shifting. In his last paragraph he seems to suggest that because Israel is cleaner than "almost any other modern country in the world," an Arab has no right to complain that his land was stolen. It's, of course, the case of the tax evader who claims he can't be jailed because other, worse criminals are free.

More »

Stephen Lendman

Punishing years under siege, Cast Lead's devastation, and regular IDF air, land and sea attacks took a terrible toll on Gazans physically, economically and emotionally.

In 2010, Doctors Without Borders (Medicine Sans Frontiers) said over half of children under age 12 need mental health help. Moreover, one-third of cases are severe.

Gaza Community Mental Health Program PR Director Husam El Nounou blamed crisis conditions on closure and regular Israeli attacks. Begun in 1993, it stiffened markedly after the second Intifada began.

Following Hamas' January 2006 legislative victory, harsher people traffic and goods restrictions were imposed. In June 2007, siege compounded partial isolation. As a result, hopelessness, virtual imprisonment, and regular Israeli attacks affect all Gazans, especially young children and youths.

According to Husam:

"The effect is most felt by those who are in greatest need of travel such as students studying abroad, the sick requiring medical attention unavailable in Gaza, and people whose work requires them to travel or trade in exports and imports."

The World Health Organization (WHO) calls the link between physical and mental health well documented. Closure caused food shortages. Nutritional deficiencies and poor physical health resulted. In combination with inadequate healthcare and other deprivation, emotional problems developed.

Without imports and spare parts, sanitation facilities can't operate properly. According to a Gaza Mental Health Community Program study, mental health outcomes deteriorated markedly in the past five years. Depression increased 17.7%, and 95% of those surveyed felt imprisoned.

Cast Lead and regular Israeli attacks heighten crisis conditions. Over 82% of Gazan children felt endangered during Cast Lead. Two-thirds fear more war, and over 40% want revenge.

Other research found similar results. Islamic University in Gaza's Jameel Tahrawi analyzed children's drawings. He found over 82% related to Cast Lead. A comparable UN study found two-thirds of respondents experienced worse health outcomes since the war. In most cases, it's emotionally related.

More »

Bill Van Auken

Pentagon now is working with FAA to open U.S.
airspace to combat drones. Congress [has] approved
legislation that requires the FAA to have a plan to
integrate drones of all kinds into national airspace on
a wide scale by 2015.

The ruling elite is turning to the same bloody methods it has used to advance its interests abroad to defend its grip on power at home.

A little-noted amendment to a $63 billion Federal Aviation Authority appropriations bill has ominous implications for democratic rights in the United States.

President Barack Obama signed the bill, the “FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012”, into law on February 14. It clears the way for a vast expansion of the use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), commonly known as drones, over US territory.

The legislation, passed earlier this month, underscores the link between the explosive growth of US militarism abroad and the steady advance of police state repression at home.

Drones have become infamous the world over as instruments of US military aggression and assassination in the “global war on terror”. Their use has expanded exponentially over the last decade. In 2001, the US military arsenal included barely 50 drones. Now, it has a fleet of some 7,500, ranging from small Raven drones, used for surveillance, to the better known Predators and Reapers, capable of hovering unseen over human targets for up to 28 hours and firing Hellfire missiles with devastating effect.

Just last month, Obama publicly praised what had ostensibly been a covert drone war against Pakistan, though the Pakistani people themselves were well aware who was responsible for the death raining down upon impoverished villages in the country’s tribal areas. The drone strikes have dramatically escalated during the Obama administration. They have claimed nearly 2,700 victims since 2004, the great majority of them unarmed men, women and children.

Drones have been employed in carrying out CIA killings in Yemen, Somalia and elsewhere. Their targets have included US citizens, like the New Mexico-born Islamic cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, who was condemned to death at the direction of the US president, without ever being charged or a shred of evidence presented against him in a court of law.

These massacres and assassinations are carried out by remote-control, with CIA and military operatives targeting their victims on computer screens from cubicles in the Nevada desert and offices near Langley, Virginia.

More »

Stephen Lendman

The so-called "Free Syrian Army". The lady on the right is CBS
correspondent Clarissa Ward. We would not be too surprised to
learn that she is working closely with the CIA as well.

For nearly a year, externally generated violence wracked Syria. Dirty Western hands planned and implemented it. Rogue regional despots were enlisted for support.

Replacing an independent regime with a pro-Western one and isolating Iran are planned. Russia and China thwarted two Security Council resolutions designed to facilitate intervention.

On February 16, a non-binding Arab League General Assembly resolution passed with similar language. Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states backed it.

Pressure's building for escalated anti-Assad measures. Sooner or later expect intervention, perhaps war. At issue is isolating Iran, then targeting the Islamic Republic. Replicating 1953 in some form's coming, perhaps more war that may involve Russia and China defending their interests.

On February 24, a Friends of Syria coalition of the willing will meet in Tunisia. The State Department organized them outside the UN system. Hillary Clinton and key NATO counterparts will attend.

On February 13, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said "Moscow does not consider the US-backed 'Friends of Syria' legitimate."

It's similar to last year's orchestrated one against Gaddafi. France said it might supply weapons. In fact, heavy ones were provided since violence erupted last March. They're coming from Turkey, Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon's opposition March 14 alliance, Gulf states and perhaps Washington, rogue NATO partners and Israel.

More »

Patrick Martin

Unverified atrocity reports by US-backed opposition groups are being used to pave the way for imperialist military intervention, on the model of Libya—where the allegedly impending “bloodbath” in Benghazi became the pretext for the US-NATO bombing.

The United States and other imperialist powers are pushing ahead with plans for military intervention and the overthrow of the Syrian government, convening a meeting Friday in the Tunisian capital, Tunis, of so-called “Friends of Syria.”

Tunisian Foreign Minister Rafik Abdessalem, speaking Monday after a meeting of Mediterranean region foreign ministers in Rome, said his government had decided that “The Syrian National Council (SNC), the largest Syrian opposition group and other opposition groups will be represented at the Tunis meeting.”

The SNC is an amalgam of CIA hirelings, Islamic fundamentalists and disaffected former officials of the Assad regime in Syria, sponsored by Turkey and the United States in a maneuver similar to the creation of the National Transitional Council in Libya, which provided a pretext for the US-NATO war against that country.

An SNC spokesman said the group would go to Tunis to seek military aid to the Free Syrian Army (SFA), the armed wing of the “rebels.” The SFA was formed on Turkish territory but engages in attacks on government installations inside Syria—including the assassination Monday of a high-ranking judge and prosecutor.

The two countries that have the closest relations with Syria, Iran and Russia, are excluded from the meeting of the “Friends,” along with China, which joined with Russia to veto a UN Security Council resolution that would have opened the door to a Libyan-style military intervention in Syria.

More »

Stephen Lendman

Predatory bankers make serial killers look good by comparison. Their business model creates crises to facilitate grand theft, financial terrorism, and debt entrapment. They steal all material wealth and then some. They systematically rob investors and strip mine economies for self-enrichment. They demand they get paid first. They hold nations hostage to assure it. They turn crises into catastrophes. They leave mass impoverishment, high unemployment, neo-serfdom, and human wreckage in their wake. Their Federal Reserve/ECB/IMF/World Bank/political class lackeys do their bidding. They're more dangerous than standing armies. They wage war by other means. They cause "demographic shrinkage, shortened life spans, emigration and capital flight," explains Michael Hudson. They're a malignancy ravaging societies and humanity. Greece is the epicenter of what's metastasizing globally. The latest bailout deal highlights out-of-control pillage.

More »

Tighe Barry

Toxic gases thrown by riot police into
a house in Sitra, suffocating children.

As part of an observer delegation in Bahrain with the peace group Code Pink, I visited the village of Bani Jamrah with local Bahraini human rights activists.

In one of the many horrific cases we heard, a 17-year-old boy Hasan, his friend and his 8-year-old brother left their home to go to the grocery store. As they were entering the store they noticed some other youngsters running. Fearing the police would be following them, they decided to wait in the store. The 8 year old hid behind a refrigerator. The police entered the store with face masks on. They grabbed the older boys, pulling them out of the store and into the street.

Once outside the shop the police began to beat them with their sticks and hit them on the head, shouting obscenities and accusations. The police were accusing them of having been involved with throwing Molotov cocktails, asking over and over “Where are the Molotov cocktails?”

The four policemen, all masked and wearing regulation police uniforms, took turns beating the boys while one was instructed to keep watch to make sure no one was video taping. They seemed to be very concerned that there be no witnesses. Quickly, they forced the boys into the waiting police car. Inside the police vehicle was another youth about 18 who appeared to be “Muhabharat,” or plain-clothes police thugs associated with many dictatorships in the Middle East.

As the car sped off, the boys were told to keep their heads down “or we will kill you.” Soon they arrived at an open lot away from possible onlookers. As the two boys were being pulled from the car, the policeman who seemed to be in the charge shouted, “Make them lie down.” Once they were face down on the ground, the policemen took out their knives and stabbed both boys in the left buttock, leaving a gaping wound. The police thugs continued their “questioning”, using profanity to scare their victims. They threatened the boys that they would go to jail for 45 days for “investigation” and that they would never go back to school or get work.

When the thugs realized that they had no choice but to leave these victims, since they had no knowledge of the Molotovs, they searched them to see what they could steal. They took the boys’ mobile phones and asked them to hand over whatever money they had. When they discovered that the boys only had 500fils (about $1.50US), they kicked one of them in the raw wound, laughing as they left them bleeding.

More »

Medea Benjamin
 

John Timoney is the controversial former Miami police chief well known for orchestrating brutal crackdowns on protests in Miami and Philadelphia- instances with rampant police abuse, violence, and blatant disregard for freedom of expression. It should be of great concern that the Kingdom of Bahrain has brought Timoney and John Yates, former assistant commissioner of Britain’s Metropolitan Police, to “reform” Bahrain’s security forces.

Since assuming his new position, Timoney has claimed that Bahrain has been reforming it brutal police tactics in response to recommendations issued by the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry. He says that there is less tear gas being used and that while tear gas might be “distasteful,” it’s not really harmful.
I have no idea what country Chief Timoney is talking about, because it’s certainly not the Bahrain I saw this past week, a week that marked the one-year anniversary since the February 14, 2011 uprising.

I was in Bahrain for five days before being deported for joining a peaceful women’s march. During my stay, I accompanied local human rights activists to the villages where protests were raging and police cracking down. Every day, I inhaled a potent dose of tear gas, and came close to being hit in the head with tear gas canisters. Every evening I saw the fireworks and smelled the noxious fumes as hundreds of tear gas canisters were lobbed into the village of Bani Jamrah, next door to where I was staying. The villagers would get on their roofs yelling “Down, Down Hamad” (referring to the King). In exchange, as a form of collective punishment, the whole village would be doused in tear gas. I went to bed coughing, eyes burning, wondering how in the world the Bahrainis can stand this.

Tear gas is supposed to be used to disperse violent gatherings that pose a threat to law and order. It is not supposed to be used on unarmed protesters who are simply exercising their freedoms of expression and assembly.

More »

Stephen Lendman

Adnan symbolizes Israeli ruthlessness. Whether he'll pull through after 66 days without food isn't sure. If not, will major media scoundrels notice or care?

Ma'an News said Adnan will stop hunger striking following a deal to release him on April 17, according to PA Prison Affairs Minister Issa Qaraqe.

Adnan didn't confirm it, and so far his lawyer didn't comment. The Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS) has no information to report.

On February 21, Haaretz writer Jack Koury went further, saying:

"Palestinian prisoner Khader Adnan announced Tuesday that he will be ending his 66-day hunger strike after Israel agreed to release him."

Late Tuesday, Qaraqe and PPS head Qaddura Faris will hold a news conference in Adnan's Jenin area village to discuss details.

On February 21, Reuters headlined, "Palestinian prisoner ending hunger strike after deal," saying:

Israel's Justice Ministry spokeswoman said:

s a deal. (Adnan) will stop his hunger strike. They will not extend his administrative detention and he will be free on April 17."

Israel's High Court cancelled its scheduling Tuesday mid-day hearing,

"avoiding a high-profile examination of the issue of detention without (charge) or trial."

It's high time that issue was addressed and ended. Administrative detention is only warranted under emergency conditions for the shortest possible time. Israel abusively uses it.

Hundreds are held lawlessly uncharged for indefinite periods. Due process and judicial fairness are denied. It's unconscionable that Israel's Supreme Court hasn't ruled the practice illegal. In fact, it's upheld it for decades on bogus national security grounds.

More »

Alex Lantier

American Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), like this IAF
Hermes 450, are flying surveillance sorties over Syria.

US military officials confirmed Saturday that US drones are flying over Syria, as fighting spreads inside the country and US officials discuss military or “humanitarian” intervention to topple Syrian President Bashar al Assad.

The drone flights, which flagrantly violate Syrian air space, include a “good number” of both military and US intelligence drones, according to US defense officials. These officials said the drones’ mission is to obtain “intercepts of Syrian government and military communications in an effort to ‘make the case for a widespread international response.’”

The Israeli daily Ha’aretz also reported Saturday that Syrian forces had captured 40 Turkish intelligence operatives working with the “opposition” inside Syria. It said the Turkish operatives confessed to working with the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad to train the US-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA), and claimed that Mossad operatives were working with Al Qaeda operatives in Jordan planning operations in Syria.

This echoes testimony Thursday before the US Senate Armed Services Committee by US Director of National Intelligence James Clapper. He said that recent bombings in Damascus and Aleppo “had all the earmarks of an al Qaeda-like attack. So we believe that al Qaeda in Iraq is extending its reach into Syria.”

As in last year’s war in Libya, Washington is seizing on violence between the Assad regime and US-backed opposition forces—which are organizing protests and killings inside Syria—to justify military intervention.

Significantly, the US relied extensively on former Al Qaeda fighters of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) to topple Libyan Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, and it appears a similar relationship is being established in Syria.

More »