New RT interview with me on the latest bombings in Iraq and why responsibility for the destruction of Iraq as a functioning country lies with the illegal invaders of 2003.

Threats by powerful rebel groups in Syria against Russia and other states favoring political settlement of Syrian conflict are outrageous, said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Monday. ● In this case the threats are directed at those who "will dare to go to the Geneva conference proposed by Russia and the United States with the support of the entire world community," he said. Not so long ago threats were addressed to countries favoring a search for a political settlement and those that confront attempts "to use outside force for the settlement," he said. Lavrov has called on those who have influence on the Syrian opposition to intervene in the situation with regard to convening the Geneva II conference.

The US National Security Agency (NSA) has spied on 60 million telephone calls in Spain in only one month, a report says. ● The Spanish daily El Mundo reported on Sunday that the NSA had gathered the massive data in December 2012. The report was written by Brazil-based journalist Glenn Greenwald and was based on information provided by American surveillance whistleblower Edward Snowden. The daily published the report a few days after Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy summoned the US ambassador over earlier spying reports. Rajoy said at the time that he had not yet received any information that the United States spied on his country, but he would receive information in a meeting with the US envoy.

The Guardian: Spain summons US ambassador over claim NSA tracked 60m calls a month
Russia Today: US intercepts tens of millions of phone calls in Spain – report
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung: Spanien warnt Amerika vor „roter Linie“
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung: NSA-Spionage in Spanien: Madrid bestellt amerikanischen Botschafter ein

Neil Clark: US Trojan horse: NSA scandal shows Europe would be better off without Britain ■ The muted British reaction to what is a truly outrageous scandal, is proof, if indeed any further proof were needed, of what Britain's main role in the EU is: to act as a Trojan horse to defend and further the interests of the government of the United States of America. - Like the curious incident of the dog that didn’t bark in the nighttime in the classic Sherlock Holmes story Silver Blaze, the most revealing thing about the latest NSA spying revelations which made world headlines last week was the non-barking of the UK. While leading politicians of other European countries and officers of the EU itself were keen to express their concern over the latest revelations of US spying on its allies – the President of the European Parliament Martin Schulz said that US secret services were ‘out of control’ – British Prime Minister David Cameron has only said that he thought that the EU statement on the matter was ‘good and sensible’ and that he agreed with it. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Cameron ‘silently acquiesced” to the statement. At a press conference, Cameron refused to comment about the recent NSA revelations. The irony is that the UK political elite today is far more slavishly pro-US than our leaders were in the 1960s. Today [...] however, Britain’s leaders are totally subservient to Washington. In fact loyalty to the American Empire and an unquestioning commitment to Atlanticism has become a necessary condition for anyone wanting to climb to the top of the greasy pole in British politics or gain entry into the UK establishment. Stated support for the US’s closest Middle East ally, Israel, is a big help too. Any politicians who want Britain to be genuinely independent of the US and follow its own foreign policy path, like Tony Benn, who stood for deputy leadership of the Labour Party in the early 1980s, or George Galloway, the leader of Respect, have faced years of smears and attacks- and are routinely portrayed by the UK political elite and media gatekeepers as dangerous ‘extremists’. (Image: Bonhams)

Glenn Greenwald: As Europe erupts over US spying, NSA chief says government must stop media ■ With General Alexander calling for NSA reporting to be halted, US and UK credibility as guardians of press freedom is crushed - The most under-discussed aspect of the NSA story has long been its international scope. That all changed this week as both Germany and France exploded with anger over new revelations about pervasive NSA surveillance on their population and democratically elected leaders. [...] Speaking of an inability to maintain claims with a straight face, how are American and British officials, in light of their conduct in all of this, going to maintain the pretense that they are defenders of press freedoms and are in a position to lecture and condemn others for violations? In what might be the most explicit hostility to such freedoms yet – as well as the most unmistakable evidence of rampant panic – the NSA's director, General Keith Alexander, actually demanded Thursday that the reporting being done by newspapers around the world on this secret surveillance system be halted (Techdirt has the full video here).

► US-Präsident ist seit 3 Jahren informiert
► Er persönlich genehmigte Spionage gegen Merkel
► Schon Schröder wurde abgehört

Diesen Bericht von BILD am Sonntag muss das Weiße Haus dementieren: Der US-Präsident hat den Lauschangriff gegen die Kanzlerin ausdrücklich gebilligt! Bis vergangenen Mittwoch war es unvorstellbar, dass US-Geheimdienste gezielt die Bundeskanzlerin belauschen. Daran gibt es drei Tage später keinen Zweifel mehr. Gerätselt wird in Berlin um so heftiger, ob Präsident Barack Obama über den Lauschangriff der NSA auf Angela Merkels Handy informiert war. Laut einem Bericht der „Frankfurter Allgemeinen Sonntagszeitung“ versicherte Obama der Kanzlerin am Mittwochnachmittag in einem persönlichen Telefongespräch, dass er davon nichts gewusst habe. Sollte der Bericht zutreffen, dann war das zumindest eine diplomatische Notlüge. Denn nach Informationen von BILD am SONNTAG aus US-Geheimdienstkreisen wurde der Präsident 2010 von NSA-Chef Keith Alexander persönlich über die Geheimoperation gegen Merkel informiert. „Obama hat die Aktion damals nicht gestoppt, sondern weiter laufen lassen“, erklärte ein mit der NSA-Operation gegen Merkel vertrauter Geheimdienstmitarbeiter BILD am SONNTAG.

El Mundo: Berlín: 'No aceptaremos que no haya consecuencias'
El Economista: EEUU espió a Merkel desde 1999 hasta julio 2013, según Die Welt

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung: Ausspäh-Affäre: Die Spionage-Botschaft ● Das Handy von Bundeskanzlerin Merkel steht einem Medienbericht zufolge seit dem Jahr 2002 auf einer Liste mit Aufklärungszielen des amerikanischen Geheimdienstes NSA. Die Abhörtechnik befinde sich im Gebäude der amerikanischen Botschaft am Pariser Platz.

● Listing the greatest obstacles to peace, he said "unlimited" funds available to Jewish organizations and AIPAC in the US are used to control and divert American policy in the region,” former Member of Knesset Einat Wilf reported on her Facebook page. Straw also blamed “Germany's ‘obsession’ with defending Israel,” she said, adding, “I guess he neglected to mention Jewish control of the media...”
● Straw has a history of offending Israeli leaders with his remarks on the Israeli-Arab conflict. In 2003, he angered the Foreign Ministry by comparing Israel to Saddam Hussein’s Iraq. In 2006, he said the world should be as concerned with disabling Israel’s nuclear capabilities, as it is with Iran’s nuclear program. Under Straw, Britain’s foreign ministry considered maintaining diplomatic ties with members of Hamas, a terrorist group which openly states that its goal is Israel’s destruction.

The Times of Israel: Ex-UK FM: ‘Unlimited’ Jewish funds control US policy, block Mideast peace

Michael Scheuer calls congress on their "BULLSH*T!"

Former head of the CIA bin Laden unit, Michael Scheuer, testifying before the House Homeland Security Committee on October 9, 2013.

1. U.S. support for tyranny in the Muslim world
2. U.S. presence in the Arabian peninsula
3. U.S. support for Israel
4. U.S. ability to get oil below the market level
5. U.S. military presence in other countries in the Muslim world
6. U.S. willingness to identify as terrorists any Muslim population that one of our allies dislikes