The West's Alliance with «Jihad Warriors» in Syria: Sinister Fruits

Dmitry Minin

Image: Obama-backed jihadists attack Christian Village
Jihadists attack St. Thecla's convent and nuns. Witnesses report desecrations, forced conversions to Islam in the Aramaic Christian village of Maaloula.

After suffering one military defeat after another, the Syrian radical opposition, backed by the support of the West and the monarchies of the Persian Gulf, are increasingly retaliating cruelly against the civilian population. The jihadists seize towns and cultural and religious sites which up to that point had remained outside the combat zone, loudly proclaiming their victories.

For example, in response to the advance of the government army into the Qalamoun mountains between Damascus and Homs, where a powerful group of rebels had gathered for a sudden advance on the capital from the north (this group grew from 5,000 men a year ago to 20,000 in November of this year), the jihadists once again rushed into the nearby Christian town of Maaloula. After vandalizing and desecrating the ancient churches, on December 2 they took 12 nuns from the Orthodox convent of St. Thecla hostage, hiding them in the city of Yabrud, which is held by the rebels. The rebels stated that they would burn the convent and kill the hostages, including the abbess, Mother Pelagia Sayyaf, after which the army retreated. The Free Qalamoun Brigades, which are part of the Army of Islam (Jeysh al-Islam), took responsibility for these barbarous acts. News agencies reported only an offer to exchange the kidnapped sisters for a thousand female prisoners accused of aiding terrorists, but in fact the rebels demanded that the government forces stop their attack on Yabrud and lift the siege against the rebels in East Ghouta in exchange for the lives of the unfortunate nuns, in other words, encourage their barbarism by handing them the victory.


The End of Private Property in the Era of the American Police State

John W. Whitehead

No power on earth has a right to take our property from us without our consent.” — John Jay, first Chief Justice of the United States

“How ‘secure’ do our homes remain if police, armed with no warrant, can pound on doors at will and … forcibly enter?” — Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the lone dissenter in Kentucky v. King

If the government can tell you what you can and cannot do within the privacy of your home, whether it relates to what you eat, what you smoke or whom you love, you no longer have any rights whatsoever within your home.

If government officials can fine and arrest you for growing vegetables in your front yard, praying with friends in your living room, installing solar panels on your roof, and raising chickens in your backyard, you’re no longer the owner of your property. If school officials can punish your children for what they do or say while at home or in your care, your children are not your own—they are the property of the state.

If government agents can invade your home, break down your doors, kill your dog, damage your furnishings and terrorize your family, your property is no longer private and secure—it belongs to the government. Likewise, if police can forcefully draw your blood, strip search you, and probe you intimately, your body is no longer your own, either.

This is what a world without the Fourth Amendment looks like, where the lines between private and public property have been so blurred that private property is reduced to little more than something the government can use to control, manipulate and harass you to suit its own purposes, and you the homeowner and citizen have been reduced to little more than a tenant or serf in bondage to an inflexible landlord.


Washington escalates phony “human rights” campaign against China

Tom Peters

On Monday, US Secretary of State John Kerry fired the latest shot in Washington’s campaign over the Chinese government’s “human rights” abuses. He called for the release of dissident and Nobel Peace laureate Liu Xiaobo, who has been imprisoned for five years, as well as others jailed “for peacefully exercising their universal right to freedom of expression.” He noted that a UN working group determined Liu’s detention to be “in contravention of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.”

Kerry’s remarks followed a speech last week by US national security advisor Susan Rice, entitled “Human Rights: Advancing American Interests and Values.” She singled out China for its “increasing restrictions on ... freedoms of expression, assembly and association.” Rice declared that officials were not held accountable for “corruption, environmental abuses, worker and consumer safety, or public health crises,” while “religious minorities—such as Tibetans and Uighurs—are denied their fundamental freedoms.” She said the imprisonment of political dissidents meant that “no one in China, including Americans doing business there, can feel secure.”

During his Asian tour last week, Vice President Joe Biden also pushed Washington’s “human rights” barrow. Addressing a US business audience in Beijing, he called on the Chinese government to allow people to “speak freely” and “challenge orthodoxy,” specifically criticising the “treatment of US journalists” whose visas were not renewed.

There is no doubt that the Chinese regime resorts to police-state measures to suppress criticism and opposition, particularly from the working class. However, the Obama administration’s statements have nothing to do with concern for democratic rights in China, especially for workers, whose exploitation generates enormous profits for US-based corporations.


Health topic page on womens health Womens health our team of physicians Womens health breast cancer lumps heart disease Womens health information covers breast Cancer heart pregnancy womens cosmetic concerns Sexual health and mature women related conditions Facts on womens health female anatomy Womens general health and wellness The female reproductive system female hormones Diseases more common in women The mature woman post menopause Womens health dedicated to the best healthcare
buy viagra online