Michael Chossudovsky, Head of the Center for Research on Globalization, in Montreal city in Canada, stressed that the Pentagon has trained terrorists to use chemical weapons in Syria. - In an interview with Press TV Chossudovsky talked about the Israeli aggression on Syrian sites, saying " The United States was involved in the decision to bomb Syria. This was not strictly an act of aggression on the part of Israel acting on its own. It was an act of aggression, which was approved by the United States, namely the Pentagon as well as NATO. It is an act of aggression and violation of international law." He added that when Secretary of State John Kerry says we need to reach a solution and presents himself as a mediator we are in effect in a dead alley because an aggressor presenting himself as a mediator is a non-sequitur. Chossudovsky pointed out that the CNN just a couple of months ago confirmed that contractors hired by the Pentagon were in fact training the terrorists in the use of chemical weapons, adding, " Now we have a statement by a United Nations Independent Commission, which has confirmed unequivocally, that the terrorists who are backed by the United States and its allies, are in possession of deadly sarin nerve gas, which they are using against the civilian population of Syria."

PressTV: ‘Pentagon contractors trained terrorists to use CWs in Syria’ - Video

With the Israeli bombing of Syria, will the Syrian civil war spread throughout the region? What is Israel's political calculation here? Is Obama's red line regarding chemical weapons just a hoax? And what will happen in Syria if there is a regime change? CrossTalking with Pepe Escobar, Christopher Chivvis and Geoffrey Ingersoll.

The Obama Administration’s decision to get on board with Russian pushes for a negotiated settlement to Syria’s Civil War took a serious hit today, with rebels reiterating their opposition to talks. - Najib Ghadbian, a representative of one of the US-backed rebel factions, insisted from their view “it seems like there’s really nothing New.” The Syrian National Coalition (SNC) issued a similar statement, saying they would “welcome” talks, but only after the Syrian government gave them everything they wanted beforehand. Secretary of State John Kerry insisted the US-Russian plan will focus on the previous Geneva deal, which called for a transitional government but didn’t mention what would happen to Assad.

SANA: Lavrov, Kerry: Negotiations Are Vital Tool to Reach Settlement

The Syrian Army has regained control of a strategic town in southern Syria following heavy clashes with foreign-backed militants operating inside Syria. - Reports say the Syrian forces have "released" the town of Khirbet Ghazaleh on Wednesday from the militants after about two months of clashes. The town is situated near the Jordanian border. According to the opposition sources, some 1,000 militants withdrew from the town after they lost hope that aid would come from Jordan. The sources also said that the Syrian Army’s success in the area has raised resentment among militants over what they consider as lack of support from Jordan in their fight against the Syrian government forces.

SANA: Army Eliminates Terrorists in Several Areas

A US State Department official testified Wednesday that he was one of the last people to speak with an American ambassador before his death in Benghazi and was later demoted in retaliation for questioning how the September 11, 2012 attack was managed. - During a six-hour hearing with the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Gregory Hicks told lawmakers he spoke with J. Christopher Stevens at the US Consulate in Benghazi, Libya. Hicks said Stevens sounded frantic and communicated a quick “Greg, we’re under attack” before the call was lost. Hicks, who was in Tripoli at the time, added that he had requested air support from a US Air Force base in Aviano, Italy and later for ground troops to fend off Libyan insurgents but was denied by the State Department in both instances. Fearing their consulate would be the next to be overrun, Hicks and his aides began destroying communications equipment with an ax, according to The New York Times.

New York Times: Diplomat Says Questions Over Benghazi Led to Demotion

A radome at RAF Menwith Hill,
a site with satellite downlink
capabilities believed to be used
by ECHELON. (Wikipedia)

Washington needs to clean up its own act before trying to assert the moral high ground over the Chinese for their alleged hack attacks on the US.

The United States is accusing China of trying to hack into US defense computers for espionage purposes. This claim comes across as hypocritical and posturing: For several decades, the United States has happily wiretapped every other nation's conversations whenever possible. Under Washington’s ‘Echelon’ global wiretapping network, this includes most industrialized nations – such an obscene a violation of international trust when discovered, most didn't want to believe the Echelon program actually existed and was operational. This network of wiretapping stations isn't just used by the United States for military purposes – it has long been asserted that it is also used to give United States industries the upper hand in purely industrial applications, in competition with its international counterparts. In Europe, it is not enough for the United States to listen in to all conversations using the Echelon program. The US also demands information on all SWIFT bank transactions in Europe, ostensibly in the name of combating terrorism, but such information again gives US industries an upper hand in industrial espionage. To criticize China for doing what the US has been doing to the rest of the world for decades comes across as hypocritical posturing of the worst sort, regardless of whether or not the allegations are true. But it gets worse: This alleged Chinese hacking was implied to have military connotations, and the US claimed it was a violation of "international trust." To date, only two national powers are known to have used hacking in military applications: The United States and Israel, in their joint attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities that used malicious software of sophistication never before seen by the security community. (As a bonus, before it was discovered that the US was behind the attack, NATO used this hacking attack as a scare to ask for increased funding.) No, what this really is about is a threat to Pax Americana – the idea that world peace is guaranteed by the United States, but only on the terms of that same United States. (We can easily observe how those terms are changed daily, and then enforced, by killer drones.)

New York Times: China Blasts Hacking Claim by Pentagon
New York Times: U.S. Accuses China’s Military Directly for Cyberattacks
John Chan: Pentagon accuses China of cyber attacks

British activists are to stage a protest outside the parliament on Thursday, May 9, demanding the British government to bring Shaker Aamer home from the United States’ notorious Guantanamo prison in Cuba. The Save Shaker Aamer Campaign plans to hold a vigil outside the House of Commons every weekday until May 21 to renew their demands for Aamer’s immediate release.

WSWS: Worldwide outrage as Guantanamo hunger strike enters fourth month

The Obama administration is close to announcing its support for a law that would force Google, Facebook and other Internet communications companies to build back doors for government wiretaps, according to an article in the New York Times Wednesday. Such a measure would allow intelligence agencies, particularly the FBI, to monitor a vast array of communications, including Facebook messages, chats, and email using services such as Gmail. The move comes as the National Security Agency’s sprawling new data center in Utah prepares to come online in September of this year. The facility is rumored to store data on the scale of trillions of terabytes, meaning that it can easily house the contents of every personal computer in the world.

New York Times: The Early Word: Spiraling Up
c|net: DOJ: We don't need warrants for e-mail, Facebook chats