[US democracy has come to Syria:] US government officials requested that an American private security firm contact Syrian opposition figures in Turkey to see "how they can help in regime change," the CEO of one of these firms told Stratfor in a company email obtained by WikiLeaks and Al-Akhbar. James F. Smith, former director of Blackwater, is currently the Chief Executive of SCG International, a private security firm with experience in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Libya. In what appears to be his first email to Stratfor, Smith stated that his "background is CIA” and his company is comprised of "former DOD [Department of Defense], CIA and former law enforcement personnel."

Russia Today: WikiLeaked: Ex-Blackwater ‘helps regime change’ in Syria
AWIP: Syrian armed groups commit rights violations: HRW
Jason Ditz: Report: Syrian Rebels Commit Serious Human Rights Abuses

The West will launch a package war against Iran, Syria and Hezbollah as soon as they decide what to do with the Iranian nuclear program, Abdel Bari Atwan, editor-in-chief of a London-based Arabic newspaper told RT in an interview.

Atwan also believes the West is not intervening in Syria because they are waiting to decide whether they are going to bomb Iran or not. The editor of Al Quds al Arabi newspaper noted:

"If they have decided to bomb Iran I think they will bomb Iran and Syria and Hezbollah. I think they will launch a package war." “I believe the war will take place, the question is when? The Israeli and the Americans do agree there will be a war. But the difference is about the timing of this war. It could be either before the American presidential election or after it. The Israeli want it before the election, the American will like to wait until they finish this election,” he said.

Atwan explained that if Syrian President Bashar al-Assad falls it would be easier for the West to intervene in Iran, as it would mean the West had managed to secure the front against Israel.

Last week, the Tehran Times noted that the Iranian oil bourse will start trading oil in currencies other than the dollar from March 20. This long-planned move is part of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s vision of economic war with the west.

“The dispute over Iran’s nuclear programme is nothing more than a convenient excuse for the US to use threats to protect the 'reserve currency’ status of the dollar,” the newspaper, which calls itself the voice of the Islamic Revolution, said. “Recall that Saddam [Hussein] announced Iraq would no longer accept dollars for oil purchases in November 2000 and the US-Anglo invasion occurred in March 2003,” the Times continued. “Similarly, Iran opened its oil bourse in 2008, so it is a credit to Iranian negotiating ability that the 'crisis’ has not come to a head long before now.”

PressTV: Disruption to Iran oil flow to shock global economy: IMF chief
PressTV: US exempts 10 EU states plus Japan from Iran sanctions

French security forces [allegedly] have arrested a man suspected of a spate of killings in Toulouse, reports say. - BFM TV reported that the suspect, named earlier as Mohammed Merah, 23, a Frenchman of Algerian origin, "was detained" inside a block of flats that had been under siege all morning. Officials have not confirmed the arrest and it is unclear how he was detained. He is suspected of attacking a Jewish school and carrying out two attacks on soldiers, killing seven people in all. The suspect has said he belonged to al-Qaeda and acted to "avenge Palestinian children". He had apparently spent time in Pakistan and Afghanistan, where he was jailed for three years for planting bombs.

[Editor's Comment:] This terrorist manages to hit all the right buttons, right? And the media swallows the story lock/stock/barrel. This guy looks like some kind of "special activities" operative sent to tarnish the image of the Palestinians/Afghans/Arabs/bad guys, whatever (even further). This is how it works: They put you in a dungeon and torture you. Then they come up with this deal. You're in no position to refuse. Go to so-and-so country and hit them hard. Then they'll promise to get you out of there and back to safety. - But that's not how it plays out as far as you are concerned. You were a patsy-kind-of operative and will be terminated. The media takes over and makes a story out of it. Everybody's happy. This comes at a time when 1) the war in Afghanistan is going badly and the US & Europe have a particularly bad image problem. They want to make sure they'll shore up all the support they can for this bloody war and 2) The Israelis are stepping up their state-run murder sprees against people in Palestine (Gaza). The Zionists are particularly sensitive to their own image in Europe right now. They are preparing for the mother-of-all-wars and need to get everybody on board. This also would explain their pretended anger at the European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Baroness Ashton, who drew a comparison between the recent murders in Toulouse and what the Israelis are doing in Palestine: “When we see what is happening in Gaza and in different parts of the world – we remember young people and children who lose their lives.” - She apparently hit all the wrong buttons. In reality, her remarks may be part of the Zionists' political choreography to help drive the "Palestinian connection" home. The terrorist is done for, but his handlers are happy. They've managed to kill two birds with one stone.

CBS News: French police prepare to move on shooting suspect
USA Today: France shooting suspect holed up in building
Le Parisien: Israël enterre des victimes de la tuerie de Toulouse
Europe1: Toulouse : la piste des filières afghanes

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In recent years, Israeli settler activity has significantly impaired Palestinian access to, and use of, a growing number of water springs. - The main methods used by settlers to that end have been threats and intimidation, and the erection of fences around the targeted areas. This phenomenon comes in the context of Israel’s longstanding policy of settling its civilian population in the occupied Palestinian territory, in violation of international humanitarian law. Nearly 40 percent of the West Bank has been seized by the Israeli authorities for that purpose. Additional Palestinian properties, including springs, have been taken over by settler groups without formal authorization, but with the acquiescence and often active support of the Israeli authorities. Following the reduction of Palestinian presence, settlers begin developing the springs into tourist attractions, with the support of various Israeli governmental bodies. The ever growing tourism infrastructure of settlements contributes to their entrenchment by adding a source of revenue for the settler population, as well as by “normalizing” settlements in the eyes of larger segments of Israeli society. The inability to access and use springs has significantly undermined the livelihoods and security of Palestinians living in affected communities. Many farmers were forced to either cease cultivating the land or face a reduction in productivity. Herders and households had to increase their expenditures to purchase more expensive piped or tankered water. The presence of armed settlers at the springs and their surroundings also resulted in increased friction and clashes.

France24: Settlers taking over Palestinian springs: UN report

Israel is taking steps to prevent a Palestinian initiative at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to establish a fact-finding mission on West Bank settlements. - According to the initiative, slated for discussion Monday, a UN fact-finding team will be formed with the goal of examining the impacts of the Jewish settlements and construction in east Jerusalem on the Palestinian residents. [...] One of the resolutions calls on the council "to dispatch an independent international fact-finding mission to be appointed by the president of the council, to investigate the implications of Israeli settlements on the civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights of the Palestinian people throughout the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem." It also calls on Israel to cooperate with the mission.

Jerusalem came to a standstill on 16 March as thousands of runners gathered to participate in the city’s second annual marathon. But while the marathon was presented as a friendly and innocent international sporting event, in reality it contributed to normalizing Israel’s control over the city and its discriminatory policies towards Palestinian residents of Jerusalem.

Among the 15,000 runners was Poppy Hardee, a British woman living in Bethlehem, who decided to run the marathon in protest on behalf of her Palestinian friends who were not granted permission to access Jerusalem for the event. Hardee encountered abuse from Israeli soldiers in the race, with one of them snatching the Palestinian flag that she carried from her hands and spitting on it.

Although the race was heavily promoted worldwide and open for international participants, Palestinians were effectively excluded from running. While there was no overt discriminatory policy against those with West Bank identity cards within the registration process, in reality most West Bank residents would not be granted permission by Israel to access Jerusalem for the event.

Hardee applied for the marathon and started training with a Palestinian friend, a resident of the West Bank, who also intended to run. They were dismayed to find out he would not be granted access to Jerusalem for the race for “security reasons.”

The effective exclusion of Palestinians from the Jerusalem marathon highlights the irony that while foreigners are able to freely visit Jerusalem and its holy sites, many Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza have rarely, or even never, been able to visit the city.

Afghans have been excluded from the judicial process after the shooting that left 16 dead. No wonder anti-US feeling is growing. - The rapid exclusion of Afghans from the process of trying the accused shooter has, predictably and understandably, exacerbated the growing anti-American anger in that country. It is hard to imagine any nation on the planet reacting any other way to being denied the ability to try suspects over crimes that take place on its soil. A Taliban commander quickly gave voice to that nationalistic fury, announcing: "We want this soldier to be prosecuted in Afghanistan. The Afghans should prosecute him." The suspicion that other American soldiers may have been involved, though unproven, is far from irrational. The notorious American "kill team" that deliberately executed random, innocent Afghan civilians (often teenagers) for sport, planted weapons on their bodies, and then posed with their corpses as trophies operated out a base in the same area. America's former top commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, admitted: "We've shot an amazing number of people and killed a number and, to my knowledge, none has proven to have been a real threat to the force."

Justin Raimondo: Why did an American soldier murder Afghan children in their beds?
Jason Ditz: Afghan Villagers Were Threatened by US Troops Ahead of Massacre

Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez said on Monday he had information about a plot to assassinate opposition rival Henrique Capriles, who hopes to block his bid for re-election in October. - "The head of intelligence met with a team of the Miranda governor, because there's some information out there that they want to kill him," Chavez said in a phone call to state TV. In an already tense election campaign, where the opposition senses it has its best chance to end the socialist leader's 13-year grip on the South American nation, Chavez implied that the plot had come from within the opposition's own ranks. "It's not the government, not at all, on the contrary." Chavez gave few details of the alleged plot, but said his government had offered protection to the 39-year-old opposition leader and governor of Miranda state, who is on a nationwide tour to drum up support for his presidential bid.

A deadline of March 31 is approaching for approximately 1.6 million householders across Ireland to pay a €100 charge on their property to the government. The measure is part of the austerity drive of the Fine Gael-Labour Party coalition to bail out the financial elite at the expense of working people. - Plans for the household charge were outlined in last December’s 2012 budget, which saw tax rises and spending cuts totalling €3.8 billion. The charge covers just one year, and it is widely acknowledged that the current €100 level will be increased drastically in the coming period, with the creation of a new property tax as well as the addition of water charges in 2014. The deadline for the charge could yet be extended, after a high court ruling last Wednesday gave an individual the right to challenge the legislation on the grounds that the government had not published it in Irish Gaelic. The case is due to be heard in two weeks. Coming on top of billions in cuts to public services and tax increases, there is widespread hostility towards the tax, with many simply unable to afford to make the payment.

The term “holocaust denial” is defined as follows by the American Anti-Defamation League:

Holocaust denial is a contemporary form of the classic anti-Semitic doctrine of the evil, manipulative and threatening world Jewish conspiracy. It was this doctrine that was instrumental in laying the groundwork for the Holocaust. What is on the surface a denial of the reality of genocide is, at its core, an appeal to genocidal hatred. (ADL 1996).

In other words, if you are unconvinced of the official view of the Nazi holocaust, you are complicit in it. Note that the party line changes. Thirty years ago, someone who refused to believe that Jews were made into soap, glue and lampshades by the Nazis, was allegedly party to murder. That is no longer the case. But today, if you question cattle trucks, gas chambers, or a number of Jewish fatalities less than about five million, you are still, by the above definition, someone who is trying to replay that genocide. Note that I don’t reject the latest version of the official story; I reject the idea that rejecting it is a crime. But that doesn’t satisfy the thought police; it just makes me an “apologist” rather than a “denier”. The acceptance of the concept “holocaust denier” is the result of a successful assault on the highest principles of Western civilization – sceptical enquiry and presumption of innocence. It was unlikely it would stop there. Legislators, activists and journalists have tried to extend the term “denier” to protect another sacred tablet: the belief that there is irrefutable evidence that human activity is causing the earth’s climate to enter a period of unprecedented, irreversible warming.