Bill Van Auken

Photo: Chechen Abdul-Baki Todashev holds a photo of his dead son Ibragim, during a news conference. His son was killed in Florida while being interrogated by the FBI about his alleged ties to a Boston Marathon bombings suspect. Mr. Todashev says FBI agents killed his son “execution style.” Abdul-Baki Todashev showed journalists 16 photographs of his son, Ibragim, in the morgue with six gunshot wounds to his torso and one to the back of the head. His son's body also appears to have been cut open (possible organ theft). The pictures were taken by his son’s friend Khusen Taramov. (AP/Zemlianichenko)

FBI and other law enforcement officials revealed Wednesday that Ibragim Todashev, the 27-year-old Chechen immigrant who was shot and killed after being interrogated for days about the Boston Marathon bombings, had been unarmed.

The killing of Todashev, and the rapid disintegration of the government’s official story—that he was shot after lunging at interrogators with a knife—is an extraordinary event. It casts into further doubt everything that has been said so far about the Boston Marathon bombings.

The report that Todashev was unarmed was followed Thursday by a press conference in Moscow, where the murdered man’s father, Abdulbaki Todashev presented a series of photographs of his son’s body taken at a Florida morgue showing that he had been shot six times in the torso and once in the crown of his head.

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Paul Craig Roberts

When I was a graduate student in economics, the social cost of capitalism was a big issue in economic theory. Since those decades ago, the social costs of capitalism have exploded, but the issue seems no longer to trouble the economics profession.

Social costs are costs of production that are not born by the producer or included in the price of the product. There are many classic examples: the pollution of air, water, and land from mining, fracking, oil drilling and pipeline spills, chemical fertilizer farming, GMOs, pesticides, radioactivity released from nuclear accidents, and the the pollution of food by antibiotics and artificial hormones.

Some economists believe that these traditional social costs can be dealt with by well defined property rights. Others think that benevolent government will control social costs in the interests of society.

Today there are new social costs brought by globalism. For developed countries, these are unemployment, lost consumer income, tax base, and GDP growth, and rising trade and current account deficits from the offshoring of manufacturing and tradable professional service jobs. The trade and current account deficits can result in a falling exchange value of the currency and rising inflation from import prices. For underdeveloped countries, the costs are the loss of self-sufficiency and the transformation of agriculture into monocultures to feed the needs of international corporations.

Economists are oblivious to this new epidemic of social costs, because they mistakenly think that globalism is free trade and that free trade is always beneficial.

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Philip Giraldi

Two time Medal of Honor recipient Marine Major General Smedley Butler once said “war is a racket.” He might have added that while enriching the few it victimizes and degrades everyone else who is caught up in the meat grinder, soldiers as well as civilians.

Consider how accounts of soldiers who are captured and subsequently turn on their own country are as old as warfare. American soldiers taken prisoner are only supposed to provide their names, ranks, and serial numbers to their captors though in practice many find themselves agreeing with their interrogators or even signing confessions to avoid abuse or obtain better conditions in their prisons. A number of American prisoners were described as having been “brainwashed” during the Korean War, the expression initially suggesting that they had been subject to psychological conditioning and indoctrination that made them question their loyalties and which subsequently produced episodes of aberrant behavior. In some cases the psychological conditioning was combined with physical torture, but in most cases not. In nearly all cases the victims later recanted the confessions they provided to their captors, were despondent over what they had done and said while under North Korean and Chinese control, and sometimes had difficulty in readjusting to life in the United States.

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Stephen Lendman

Stephen Lendman: Israel Threatens Syria

Israel gives chutzpah new meaning. War on humanity defines its agenda. It's partnered with Washington's war on Syria. It's heading perhaps toward greater intervention. It warned Russia about supplying Syria with sophisticated defensive anti-aircraft missiles. It said Israel will react in response. More on that below.

A previous article discussed Russian S-300 launch systems and other defensive missile sales to Syria. Vladimir Putin said existing contracts will be honored. Netanyahu tried to dissuade him. They met face-to-face. Perhaps Israel's early May aggression convinced him they're urgently needed.

A May 26 London Sunday Times article suggested otherwise. It headlined "Putin axes Syria missile deal to aid Israel." Israeli media highlighted the report. It claimed Putin agreed to halt S-300 sales in return for Israel pledging no more Syrian strikes. Israeli officials denied the report. They told Israeli radio that Russia intends to fulfill its commitment. They're unclear on timing or whether shipments already arrived.

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Niles Williamson

On Wednesday, the US launched a drone strike in Pakistan’s North Waziristan tribal region, killing at least seven people. The strike, the first since Pakistan’s May 11 elections and Obama's speech on drone policy last week, was a clear message that Washington intends to continue its global campaign of drone strikes—violating Pakistan's national sovereignty and summarily murdering Pakistanis.

In yesterday’s attack, a CIA drone fired two missiles, destroying a house purportedly used as a meeting place for Taliban militants in the village of Chashma Pull. Three children were amongst those reported injured in the attack.

The victims reportedly included Wali Ur-Rehman, the second-in-command of Tahreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a coalition of Pakistani militias fighting the US occupation of Afghanistan and the Pakistani state, which is collaborating with the US war.

TTP spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan refused to confirm or deny that Rehman had been killed in the strike. It is not uncommon for those targeted for murder by Washington to be reported dead, only to resurface at a later date.

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John W. Whitehead

"One of the hallmarks of an authoritarian government is its fixation on hiding everything it does behind a wall of secrecy while simultaneously monitoring, invading and collecting files on everything its citizenry does." ~ Glenn Greenwald

President Obama’s declaration that “America is at a crossroads” in the fight against terror, a fight that is increasingly turning inwards, setting its sights on homegrown extremists, should give every American pause.

We have indeed reached a crossroads. History may show that from this point forward, we will have left behind any semblance of constitutional government and entered into a militaristic state where all citizens are suspects and security trumps freedom. Certainly, this is a time when government officials operate off their own inscrutable, self-serving playbook with little in the way of checks and balances, while American citizens are subjected to all manner of indignities and violations with little hope of defending themselves. We have moved beyond the era of representative government and entered a new age, let’s call it the age of authoritarianism.

Even with its constantly shifting terrain, this topsy-turvy travesty of law and government has become America’s new normal. Don’t believe me? Let me take you on a brief guided tour, but prepare yourself: the landscape is particularly disheartening to anyone who remembers what America used to be.

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Stephen Lendman

On May 27, the so-called one-year EU arms embargo on Syria's opposition ended. Officially it does so on June 1. EU nations agreed to end what never existed. Since Washington's war on Syria began in early 2011, arms flowed freely. Western-enlisted death squads get them. At issue is replacing Assad with a subservient pro-Western puppet. Syria's being ravaged in the process. Washington, key NATO partners, Israel and rogue Arab state allies bear full responsibility.

War rages ahead of Geneva II. Planned peace talks are pretense. Syrians genuinely want it. So does Russia going all out to achieve it. Other nations urge peace. America prioritizes conflict and instability. It does so for unchallenged dominance. Peaceful conflict resolution is illusory. Previous efforts fell short. Expect Geneva II to fare no better.

Permanent war is official US policy. The business of America is war. Obama's waging multiple direct and proxy ones. He's got more death and destruction in mind. CIA and Britain's MI 5 operatives, as well as Western special forces actively aid so-called "rebels." They've been doing so throughout most of the conflict.

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Alex Newman

World Bank Insider Blows Whistle on Corruption, Federal Reserve

A former insider at the World Bank, ex-Senior Counsel Karen Hudes, says the global financial system is dominated by a small group of corrupt, power-hungry figures centered around the privately owned U.S. Federal Reserve. The network has seized control of the media to cover up its crimes, too, she explained. In an interview with The New American, Hudes said that when she tried to blow the whistle on multiple problems at the World Bank, she was fired for her efforts. Now, along with a network of fellow whistleblowers, Hudes is determined to expose and end the corruption. And she is confident of success.

Citing an explosive 2011 Swiss study published in the PLOS ONE journal on the “network of global corporate control,” Hudes pointed out that a small group of entities — mostly financial institutions and especially central banks — exert a massive amount of influence over the international economy from behind the scenes. “What is really going on is that the world’s resources are being dominated by this group,” she explained, adding that the “corrupt power grabbers” have managed to dominate the media as well. “They’re being allowed to do it.”

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Eric Peters

Ever wonder how come there are men (and women) in costumes “policing” the rest of us?

Most people accept this relationship as both given – and eternal. That there have always been men (if not always women) in costumes “policing” the rest of us. But, in fact, it’s a relatively novel thing. Think back to your schooldays. Do you recall any mention of police when you were learning about the colonial era and the American Revolution? There were sheriffs, yes – and the local militia. But these were concerned mostly with keeping the peace – that is, stepping in when someone harmed someone else. Up to and even during the Civil War – a titanic struggle between the fading remnants of the old republican idea and the centralized, omnipotent state that took its place – the idea of police as we know it was essentially unknown. It is a modern concept – one developed out of the company town idea.

You may or may not recall the company town. It is a place – once upon a time, a very real place – in which the company not only employs nearly everyone but also controls nearly everyone. During work hours and – most relevant in terms of the discussion at hand – the rest of the time, too. This is achieved by paying the workers not in specie, but in “script” or tin coinage or some other form of fiat currency issued by the company – and good at the company stores in the company town where all the company workers live. Even the worker’s homes are company homes. In the company town, everything you did was the company’s business. And to keep it all nicely organized, there were company police. - Sound familiar?

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Jean Shaoul

The Jewish state: settlement building takes precedence over peace.

Benyamin Netanyahu’s right-wing government has begun the legal process to retrospectively authorise four outposts as settlements in the Occupied West Bank.

The move came on the eve of United States Secretary of State John Kerry’s visit to the Middle East. Kerry’s muted response makes clear that both the US and Israel have rejected any notion of establishing a truncated Palestinian state alongside Israel.

All settlements and outposts built on occupied land are in violation of international law.

Many of the 100 or so outposts, established on hilltops by nationalist zealots, now have cement houses, paved roads, playgrounds and day-care centres, because the Israeli authorities are providing the resources to link them to water, sanitation and electricity, and to fund the housing. Their purpose is to establish “new facts on the ground” that make it impossible to negotiate a mini-Palestinian state, as anticipated under the Oslo Accords signed two decades ago, in the West Bank, occupied by Israel since the 1967 war.

The government instructed the Civil Administration, the unit within the Defence Ministry that administers the West Bank, to initiate the legal process. Its intention to legalise four of the outposts in defiance of court orders dating back to 2003 only emerged from the government’s official response to a Peace Now petition to the Supreme Court. The settlement watchdog had petitioned the court to effect the evacuation of six of these outposts, including Givat Assaf, east of Ramallah, which had had a court order for its demolition, Haroeh, north of Ramallah, Maale Rehavam, east of Bethlehem, and Mitzpe Lachish, south of Hebron.

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Wayne Madsen

Bound and determined to reverse Latin America’s progressive drift and movement away from the dictates of Washington, President Obama has quietly called forth from America’s sordid history south of the border a demon the Latin Americans know only too well: Israel. During the Ronald Reagan administration, Israel propped up with military equipment, intelligence, counter-insurgency training, and money a number of right-wing fascist governments in Latin America.

Israel’s support for fascism in Latin America actually began during the Jimmy Carter presidency. After Carter embargoed U.S. weapons exports to Nicaragua’s brutal dictator Anastasio Somoza, Israel stepped in to fill the void.

Today, Obama has permitted Israel and Israel’s agents of influence in his own administration, to use all the means at their disposal to undermine progressive governments in Latin America. After the death of Venezuela’s President Hugo Chávez, a bitter critic of Israel’s policies toward the Palestinians, the subversive activities of Israeli and American operatives, operating under George Soros-linked non-governmental organization (NGO) cover, have increased across the region.

Although Obama, unlike Reagan, does not have congressional bans like the Boland Amendment, to stymie efforts to overthrow progressive Latin American leaders, he does have a public perception that he, as a Nobel Peace Prize recipient, is committed to peace. Rather than sacrifice his public persona with bloody moves to overthrow Latin American governments, Obama has chosen stealthily to work through Israel and its sayanim foreign foot soldiers to return Latin America to the status quo ante of a series of dictatorships that protect the wealthy and subjugate the poor and working class.

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Andrew Gavin Marshall

The following is my first original piece for The Hampton Institute, “a working class think tank,” at which I chair the Geopolitics Division. This essay is meant as an introduction to modern American geopolitics, and a reference piece for future research and published material through The Hampton Institute’s Geopolitics Division.

Educating yourself about empire can be a challenging endeavor, especially since so much of the educational system is dedicated to avoiding the topic or justifying the actions of imperialism in the modern era. If one studies political science or economics, the subject might be discussed in a historical context, but rarely as a modern reality; media and government voices rarely speak on the subject, and even more rarely speak of it with direct and honest language. Instead, we exist in a society where institutions and individuals of power speak in coded language, using deceptive rhetoric with abstract meaning. We hear about 'democracy' and 'freedom' and 'security,' but so rarely about imperialism, domination, and exploitation.

The objective of this report is to provide an introduction to the institutional and social structure of American imperialism. The material is detailed, but should not be considered complete or even comprehensive; its purpose is to function as a resource or reference for those seeking to educate themselves about the modern imperial system. It's not an analysis of state policies or the effects of those policies, but rather, it is an examination of the institutions and individuals who advocate and implement imperial policies. What is revealed is a highly integrated and interconnected network of institutions and individuals - the foreign policy establishment - consisting of academics (so-called "experts" and "policy-oriented intellectuals") and prominent think tanks.

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Gilad Atzmon

In the last few years we have been witnessing the emergence of a self-gratifying populist culture in the midst of the Palestinian scholarly discourse. Two years ago we watched Ali Abunimah's lecture about ‘culture’ and politics setting a new record of intellectual ignorance. We then came across ‘anti’ racist Israel boycott campaigner Omar Barghouti preaching in favour of biological determinism. This week I came across Columbia Professor Joseph Massad’s Last of the Semites, a talk on Zionism and anti-semitsm the Professor delivered in Stuttgart last month. Unfortunately Massad repeats the exact same pattern.

Let’s us examine some of Massad’s ideas. Towards the end of his talk Massad concludes that “whereas Israel insists that European Jews do not belong in Europe and must come to Palestine, the Palestinians have always insisted that the homelands of European Jews were their European countries and not Palestine.” Nice set-up of conflicting views but made up out of whole cloth by Massad. I can’t think of any Palestinian, including Massad himself, who has been brave enough to boldly suggest to Europeans Jews where they really belong. In fact, the only person who was courageous enough to express such a simple and truthful idea was American hero Helen Thomas.

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Medea Benjamin

CODEPINK founder Medea Benjamin interrupts Presi-
dent Barack Obama's national security speech, Thursday,
May 23, 2013, at the National Defense University at Fort
McNair in Washington.

Having worked for years on the issues of drones and Guantanamo, I was delighted to get a pass (the source will remain anonymous) to attend President Obama’s speech at the National Defense University. I had read many press reports anticipating what the President might say. There was much talk about major policy shifts that would include transparency with the public, new guidelines for the use of drones, taking lethal drones out of the purview of the CIA, and in the case of Guantanamo, invoking the “waiver system” to begin the transfer of prisoners already cleared for release.

Sitting at the back of the auditorium, I hung on every word the President said. I kept waiting to hear an announcement about changes that would represent a significant shift in policy. Unfortunately, I heard nice words, not the resetting of failed policies.

Instead of announcing the transfer of drone strikes from the CIA to the exclusive domain of the military, Obama never even mentioned the CIA—much less acknowledge the killing spree that the CIA has been carrying out in Pakistan during his administration. While there were predictions that he would declare an end to signature strikes, strikes based merely on suspicious behavior that have been responsible for so many civilian casualties, no such announcement was made.

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Paul Craig Roberts

Have you ever wondered how the government’s misinformation gains traction?

What I have noticed is that whenever a stunning episode occurs, such as 9/11 or the Boston Marathon bombing, most everyone whether on the right or left goes along with the government’s explanation, because they can hook their agenda to the government’s account.

The leftwing likes the official stories of Muslims creating terrorist mayhem in America, because it proves their blowback theory and satisfies them that the dispossessed and oppressed can fight back against imperialism.

The patriotic rightwing likes the official story, because it proves America is attacked for its goodness or because terrorists were allowed in by immigration authorities and nurtured by welfare, or because the government, which can’t do anything right, ignored plentiful warnings.

Whatever the government says, no matter how problematical, the official story gets its traction from its compatibility with existing predispositions and agendas.

In such a country, truth has no relevance. Only agendas are important.

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