Stephen Lendman

Since reelected in March, Putin and Obama met for the first time on Monday at the Los Cabos, Mexico G20 meeting. Discussions focused on major geopolitical and economic issues. Differences on Syria remain unresolved.

At a joint press conference, Putin said:

"We held talks about international problems including the Syrian crisis." "(W)e will continue our contacts on all issues."

Obama responded:

"We have agreed on the necessity of reaching a halt for violence in Syria and the need for running a political process to avoid a civil war."

A lengthy White House-released joint statement covered many issues. On Syria, it said:

"We agree to cooperate bilaterally and multilaterally to solve regional conflicts."

"In order to stop the bloodshed in Syria, we call for an immediate cessation of all violence and express full support for the efforts of UN/League of Arab States Joint Special Envoy Kofi Annan, including moving forward on political transition to a democratic, pluralistic political system that would be implemented by the Syrians themselves in the framework of Syria's sovereignty, independence, unity, and territorial integrity."

"We are united in the belief that the Syrian people should have the opportunity to independently and democratically choose their own future."

Additional language called for achieving a comprehensive Middle East peace. Putin and other leaders want nothing less. Obama itches for more war. Talking peace and stoking conflicts reveal America's transparent hypocrisy.

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Wayne Madsen

The Fourth Estate has never been under as much pressure in the United States as it has been under the Obama administration. On the 40th anniversary of the Watergate scandal that brought down the Nixon administration, thanks to a vigorous and independent U.S. press, many journalists have openly wondered how today’s corporate-controlled and increasingly-beleaguered independent media would have handled the Watergate affair. Many journalists have rightly concluded that today’s press would have given Nixon and his administration a free pass and there would have been no investigation, impeachment, or presidential resignation.

Across the United States journalists are facing pressures from the government and corporations that would have been unheard of forty years ago. After leaks from unnamed government sources about the decision-making process in carrying out targeted assassinations using drones and details of the Stuxnet and Flame computer malware and the use of Flame in spying on Iranian computers in the CIA’s Operation Olympic Games, Attorney General Eric Holder has opened a criminal investigation into the leaks. Journalists are not immune to being hauled before federal grand juries by Justice Department prosecutors to reveal their sources under oath.

New York Times reporter Jim Risen is facing the government’s appeal of an earlier federal court decision to quash his subpoena to reveal his source or sources. In his book, State of War: The Secret History of the CIA and the Bush Administration,” Risen revealed the CIA’s Operation Merlin, a program to sabotage components of Iran’s nuclear power program. The Holder Justice Department, acting to protect the Bush administration program, wants Risen to testify on the guilt of former CIA officer Jeffrey Sterling as the source for the information. Sterling has been indicted by a grand jury under the arcane 1917 Espionage Act, which is being used to prosecute other leakers of alleged classified information and as a weapon to keep other potential government whistleblowers silent.

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Stephen Lendman

"It is enough that the people know there was an election. The people who cast the votes decide nothing. The people who count the votes decide everything." – Joseph Stalin

At age 25, Orson Welles co-wrote, produced, directed, and starred in Citizen Kane. It looks critically at the life and times of newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst.

Welles played the lead character, Charles Foster Kane. The film retains its force today. After losing a gubernatorial election, his New York Inquirer headlined: "Fraud at Polls!"

It reflects real life electoral politics. It repeats under democratic and authoritarian regimes. Exceptions prove the rule. The memorable line from Gilbert & Sullivan's HMS Pinafore explains, saying:

"Things are seldom as they seem. Skim milk masquerades as cream."

Media scoundrel misinformation features it. Fiction substitutes for truth and full disclosure. Explanations most needed are suppressed.

Over the weekend, Greece held second round parliamentary elections. Egypt held a presidential runoff. Results of both are suspect. More on Egypt below.

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