A federal appeals court on Monday released a redacted version of the U.S. Justice Department's memorandum of justification for a 2011 drone attack that killed Anwar al Awlaki, an American-born Islamist preacher suspected of having ties to al Qaeda. ● The memo says that because the U.S. government considered al Awlaki to be an "operational leader" of an "enemy force," it was legal for the Central Intelligence Agency to attack him with a drone even though he was a U.S. citizen. The memo says the killing was further justified under Congressional authorization for the use of U.S. military force following the Sept. 11, 2001 hijacked-plane attacks. The Obama administration released the memo in response to a court order following Freedom of Information lawsuits filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and The New York Times.

By now, you’d think the lack of confidence in Congress had hit an irreducible minimum. In 2013, a Gallup survey showed that only 10% of Americans had “a great deal” or “a lot” of confidence in the national legislature. But no, that apparently wasn’t as low as you can go. Gallup’s latest survey shows that only 7% of Americans have confidence in Congress. That’s not just the lowest number since Gallup began asking that question in 1973, but the lowest confidence figure for any institution about which it has polled. The highest Congressional confidence level was 42%, recorded in the first year the question was asked. It has fallen and climbed periodically since then, but has never been this low. In this year’s poll, about a third of respondents expressed “some confidence” in Congress, half have “very little” confidence, and 7% have none. The survey, taken from June 5 to June 8, showed that the institution Americans have the most confidence in is the military, at 74%. [Meaning, they haven't a clue after all.]

The last of Syria’s declared chemical weapons have been handed over. “All declared chemical weapons have left Syria,” OPCW Director General Ahmet Üzümcü told reporters at a press conference Monday. "The last of the remaining chemicals identified for removal from Syria were loaded this afternoon aboard the Danish ship Ark Futura. The ship made its last call at the port of Latakia in what has been a long and patient campaign in support of this international endeavor," Üzümcü announced.

Back in 2006, after the second US invasion of Iraq culminated if not with the discovery of the WMDs (which were the pretext for the invasion in the first place), but the unearthing (literally) and kangaroo court trial of Saddam Hussein, the US was quick to announce "mission accomplished." Recent events have made a mockery of that claim, however what is truly the straw that broke the back of poetic justice, to mix metaphors, are reports from local media that as part of its blitz-campaign to take over northern Iraq, ISIS found and the promptly executed Rauf Rashid Abd al-Rahman, the judge who sentenced Saddam to death: a death which to many was the crowning moment of the second US invasion of Iraq, and the confirmation of successful US foreign policy. It goes without saying that if true, the murder of the man who indirectly did the US bidding in slamming the book shut on the Saddam regime (and with it US claims of Iraqi "liberation") and was responsible for Saddam's death, means the last "Mission Accomplished" posted can now be safely taken down.

The Polish Foreign Minister believes his country’s alliance with the US is worth nothing and compared his government’s stance to giving oral sex and receiving nothing in return, a Polish magazine said, citing a leaked recording of a private conversation. ● Excerpts from the alleged exchange between FM Radoslaw Sikorski and Jacek Rostowski, an MP and former finance minister, were published Sunday by Wprost, which promised a full transcript and audio files later on Monday or Tuesday. The same magazine triggered a political storm in Poland this month by releasing a recording of a conversation between the head of Poland’s central bank and the interior minister, implying a link between the two violating the bank’s independence. According to Wprost, Sikorski is skeptical about the reliance of Poland, one of the staunchest allies of Washington in Eastern Europe, on American protection. “The Polish-American alliance is not worth anything. It’s even damaging, because it creates a false sense of security in Poland,” Sikorski allegedly said. “Complete bullshit,” the tape purportedly records Sikorski as saying. “We will get a conflict with both Russians and Germans, and we’re going to think that everything is great, because we gave the Americans a blowjob. Suckers. Total suckers.”

RT.com: Polish FM's oral sex comment on US 'shows his political realism' – Moscow
BuzzFeed: Polish Foreign Minister: We Gave The US A "Blowjob," Got Nothing

Russia built the one-unit nuclear power plant in Iran. The Bushehr nuclear power plant became first in the Middle East. The Bushehr first unit was put into operation in 2011. This was one of the most difficult projects in the history because the construction had started in 1974 and ended in 1980. Twelve year later Russia and Iran agreed to resume the activities. It took 14 years to build the plant. The Bushehr nuclear power has never been imposed any international sanctions. The plant is being built under the control of the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency). In compliance with the supplements to the 1992 agreement Iran obliged to return spent nuclear fuel back to Russia.

At least 10 Syrian soldiers have been killed and several others injured after Israeli jets attacked Syrian army positions in the Golan Heights. ● The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a group based in the UK, has confirmed the deadly attacks. The Israeli aircraft targeted the Syrian army positions, while its tanks hit government targets in the Golan Heights region.

SANA: Syria complains to United Nations over new Israeli attack
Al-ManarTV: Syria Denounces ’Israel’ Raids as ’Flagrant Violation’ of Territory
Jason Ditz: Israeli Air Strikes Pound Multiple Syrian Army Sites

Israeli occupation army detained 37 Palestinians in the West Bank under the pretext of a search operation launched to find three missing soldiers continued for the 11th day. An Israeli occupation army spokeswoman said 37 Palestinians were detained overnight as Zionist troops raided 80 locations, focusing on northwest Hebron, Jenin, and Beit Awwa. Zionist soldiers also raided seven Hamas-affiliated charities, she added.