Thomas Gaist

New reports indicate that the NSA engages in warrantless wiretapping of the audio content of telephone communications of Americans, and records and archives virtually all internet usage, everywhere.

The primary concern of the Obama administration, congressional leaders and top intelligence officials is to lie and obfuscate in order to conceal the true nature and extent of the spying.

The rapid pace of new revelations has been catching leading representatives of the American state in one blatant lie after another. On almost a daily basis, new information surfaces illustrating the vast, all-pervading scale of the NSA surveillance apparatus.

Bush administration officials and leading congressmen have repeatedly asserted that the American government does not monitor the content of telephone and other communications without a warrant. During a House Judiciary hearing on Thursday, however, Representative Jerrold Nadler cited a secret briefing with US intelligence officials exposing these assertions as lies.

When FBI director Robert Mueller claimed that the NSA required “a special, particularized order from the FISA court direct at that particular phone of that particular individual” in order to monitor communication content, Nadler responded, “We heard precisely the opposite at the briefing the other day. We heard precisely that you could get the specific information from that telephone simply based on an analyst deciding that…In other words, what just said is incorrect. So there's a conflict.”

Nadler's comment corroborate Snowden's assertion that, working as a low level analyst in Hawaii, he was able to “wiretap anyone from you or your accountant to a federal judge to even the president.”

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Dmitriy Sedov

Israel's collaboration with terrorists is becoming clearer and clearer.

The events which are unfolding in the Golan Heights, in the buffer zone between Syria and Israel, are difficult to explain at first glance.

The first question is why the terrorist groups of the Syrian opposition are trying to seize positions in the Golan Heights and kidnap UN peacekeepers. What sense does that make if it has no direct influence on the course of the armed conflict within the country?

There is no question as to why, for example, there were battles for control of the border town al-Qusayr. Transit routes from Lebanon to Syria by which the rebels received aid pass through it. But the routes through the Golan Heights from Israel to Syria have been blocked since 1974, and only one border crossing through which few people passed operated there.

But at the beginning of the crisis, armed opposition groups penetrated the 25-kilometer-long demilitarized zone in the south of the Golan heights, which is patrolled by UN peacekeepers, and made it their refuge.

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Stephen Lendman

Obama accuses Assad, but his "Syrian" "rebels" are constantly
becoming more and more violent. They've used sarin gas too...

Obama lied. He's a serial liar. He claims Syria used chemical weapons. His so-called red line was crossed. No verifiable evidence provides proof. Clear facts prove he lied.

Syria's Foreign Ministry called Obama's accusations "a caravan of lies" and "fabrications." On May 5, Reuters headlined "UN has testimony that Syrian rebels used sarin gas: investigator." Geneva-based

"UN human rights investigators have gathered testimony from casualties of Syria’s civil war and medical staff indicating that rebel forces have used the nerve agent sarin, one of the lead investigators said on Sunday." "The United Nations independent commission of inquiry on Syria has not yet seen evidence of government forces having used chemical weapon."

Under heavy pressure, UN investigators back-tracked. They about-faced. They recanted. They lied. They claimed no "conclusive findings as to the use of chemical weapons in Syria by any parties to the conflict." Investigators failed "to determine the precise chemical agents used, their delivery systems or the perpetrator."

Clear facts don't matter. Obama manufactured his own. He twisted reality to fit policy. He replicated a familiar scenario. Doing so reflects another Colin Powell moment. His infamous February 5, 2003 Security Council speech led to war. It was shameless deception. WMD claims were false. Powell later recanted. It was too late to matter. Iraq was ravaged and destroyed.

Waging war requires reasons to do so. When none exist, they're invented. At issue is greater intervention in Syria. Lies substitute for truth. Claims about Syria using chemical weapons don't wash. Repetition gets people to believe them. We've seen it all before.

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