Federal Court Gives “Early Christmas Present” to War Criminals Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and Others, Immunizing Them From Civil Inquiry Regarding Iraq War. ● Late Friday, a federal judge dismissed a civil claim filed against George W. Bush and other high-ranking officials regarding their conduct in planning and waging the Iraq War, and immunized them from further proceedings.

“This is an early Christmas present to former Bush Administration officials from the federal court,” Inder Comar of Comar Law said. Comar brought the claim on behalf of an Iraqi refugee and single mother, Sundus Shaker Saleh. “This was a serious attempt to hold US leaders accountable under laws set down at the Nuremberg Trials in 1946. I am very disappointed at the outcome.”

The tribunal at Nuremberg, established in large part by the United States after World War II, declared international aggression the “supreme international crime” and convicted German leaders of waging illegal wars. The case alleged that George W. Bush, Richard Cheney, Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice, Donald Rumsfeld and Paul Wolfowitz committed aggression in planning and waging the Iraq War. Specifically, the lawsuit claimed that high-ranking Bush officials used the fear of 9/11 to mislead the American public into supporting a war against Iraq, and that they issued knowingly false statements that Iraq was in league with Al-Qaeda and had weapons of mass destruction, when none of those things were true. “The decision guts Nuremberg,” Comar said. “Nuremberg said that domestic immunity was no defense to a claim of international aggression. This Court has said the opposite.”

Patrick Martin & David North ■ The New York Times calls for torture prosecutions || The editorial published Monday in the New York Times, headlined “Prosecute Torturers and Their Bosses,” marks a new stage in the political crisis triggered by the publication of the Senate Intelligence Committee’s report on torture authorized by the Bush administration. The language of the editorial, beginning with the headline, is remarkably blunt in condemning the torture carried out in CIA secret prisons under the Bush administration. [...] In effect, the most influential newspaper in the United States has declared that the Bush administration was a criminal government.

Russia’s Investigative Committee is to investigate a Russian newspaper report alleging that a Ukrainian military jet shot down Malaysian Airlines passenger plane MH17 over the rebel-held eastern part of the country last summer. ● A witness, who chose to remain anonymous, told Komsomolskaya Pravda (KP) daily that a pilot of a Ukrainian Su-25 fighter jet was behind the MH17 flight downing on July 17. He claimed that the pilot used air-to-air missiles to shoot down the Malaysian Boeing, which he concludes was probably mistaken for a military plane. “About an hour before the catastrophe, three fighter jets took off [from Dnepropetrovsk]. One of the planes was an Su-25, which was equipped with these kind of [air-to-air] missiles,” the witness told KP in an interview, adding that he was on the airport grounds at the time. Once the surviving pilot got out of the plane, he looked “very frightened.” The Ukrainian pilot’s first words as he got out of the jet were: “Wrong plane,” the alleged witness claimed. Later in the evening that same pilot also reportedly stated: “The plane happened to be in the wrong place at a wrong time.”

Sputnik News: Ukrainian Combat Jet Returned Without Missiles After MH17 Crash: Reports

A second senior airline industry source has revealed his belief that there is some sort of conspiracy behind the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370. As The Herald Sun reports, Emirates president and CEO Sir Tim Clark made world headlines in October when he revealed his doubts about the fate of the missing plane, which disappeared early in the morning of March 8 this year. Now a second senior airline industry source has voiced his doubts about the fate of the plane, with the even wilder claim that the Boeing 777 may have been shot down by US military personnel who were fearing a September 11-style attack on the US Navy base on Diego Garcia.

Paris Match: Le mystère du vol MH370 1/2 || «Tout le monde nous ment. Il y a une omerta dans cette affaire, il y a trop d’incohérences. Je ne fais plus confiance à personne. » Ghyslain Wattrelos ponctue sa dernière affirmation par un sourire, pour exprimer sa détermination intacte, puis reste longuement absorbé par ses pensées. Perdre, le même jour, sa femme et deux de ses enfants va bien au-delà du drame. C’est une atrocité à laquelle personne n’est préparé. Y survivre ­demande un effort colossal que cet homme mesure chaque jour, depuis neuf mois, tant il est difficile de maintenir de la cohérence devant une telle absurdité. La difficulté est d’autant plus grande lorsque les autorités en charge de faire la lumière sur cette tragédie s’esquivent, comme si l’anéantissement du vol MH370, à bord duquel 239 personnes ont disparu, n’était rien de plus que la réalisation d’une funeste probabilité dans un monde sécurisé.

Gilad Atzmon ■ After destroying Palestine and the Palestinian people for over a century, some progressive Jews seem to be bored. They decided to, once again, test German tolerance towards their ridiculous ideas. They are talking about Medinat Weimar, a new Jewish State in Germany. Insanity is defined as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. These Jews are clearly insane...

Update - I have learned a few hours ago that Medinat Weimar is actually a Jewish progressive ‘art’ project. It is supposed to present an alternative to Zionism. Those who follow this site know very well that I am not impressed with Jewish Left ‘art.’ Being an international artist myself, I see art as a search for beauty. As much as I try, I really cannot see how ‘Medinat Weimar’ is related to beauty or aesthetics. Also it may be important to mention that some early Zionists such Ahad Ha’am saw Zionism as an art project. Jewish left ‘art’ is actually a glimpse into Jewish progressive morbidity and Jewish culture in general. As we know, Israeli Jews are flooding Berlin at the moment (Olim Le Berlin). Medinat Weimar was actually a warning for the Germans.

Weimar Republic || Medinat Weimar - The Thirteen Principles || Medinat Weimar - Nein Danke! (English)

xymphora ■ GAO says FBI’s investigation of anthrax attacks was flawed":

"The FBI used flawed scientific methods to investigate the 2001 anthrax attacks that killed five people and sickened 17 others, federal auditors said Friday in a report sure to fuel skepticism over the FBI’s conclusion that Army biodefense researcher Bruce Ivins was the sole perpetrator."

Yes, having absolutely no evidence would 'be sure to fuel skepticism' over the frame-up of Ivins. Footnote:

"Ivins died in July 2008 of an apparently intentional Tylenol overdose as the Justice Department prepared to indict him."

Steven Hatfill was the first patsy the FBI picked, and when he fought back too successfully, they settled on Ivins, whose personal weaknesses made it too difficult for him to challenge the lies. As we've seen with the recent FBI blame on North Korea for the Sony hacking case, the FBI is nothing more than a lie factory.

In the film 'Zero Dark Thirty' she was known as 'Maya,' the CIA analyst who spent years tracking down Osama bin Laden. Her story is more complicated with its ties to rendition and torture, and now several news outlets have revealed her identity. ● In real life, however, her story is more complicated with ties to the rendition and torture of terrorist suspects, as well as a missed opportunity to head off the attacks of 9/11. And now she’s been forced out of the shadows with several news outlets revealing her identity. Most recently, that’s the website The Intercept, whose stated missions are “to provide a platform to report on the documents previously provided by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden” and “to produce fearless, adversarial journalism across a wide range of issues.” For years, the CIA has argued forcibly against naming the analyst, frequently referred to as a bin Laden expert. Some outlets, including the Associated Press have agreed to use only her middle name – Frances – since both her first and last names are unusual and easily identifiable.

The Intercept ■ Meet Alfreda Bikowsky, the Senior Officer at the Center of the CIA’s Torture Scandals

Today, 21 December 2014, WikiLeaks releases two classified documents by a previously undisclosed CIA office detailing how to maintain cover while travelling through airports using false ID – including during operations to infiltrate the European Union and the Schengen passport control system. This is the second release within WikiLeaks' CIA Series, which will continue in the new year.

RT.com: Leaked CIA docs teach operatives how to infiltrate EU

Thousands of demonstrators have taken to the streets of several Spanish cities to express their anger at a new "public security Law" [Remember George Orwell]. ● Approved by the country’s parliament last week, the new legislation sets large fines for offences such as burning Spain’s flag or holding protests outside government buildings. In Madrid, several thousand people demonstrated in the centre of the city. “We are returning to the time of Franco (Spanish Dictatorship) and it is completely unconstitutional, we must protest because we cannot remain silent,” said protester Eva Alcazar. Another demonstrator said: “They are imposing a law that is cutting our freedom. The fines and penalties are more severe for protesting and taking to the streets. If you photograph a policeman beating up a citizen they punish the photographer and not the police officer.” The bill will go to the senate next where it is expected to pass as the ruling People’s Party holds a majority. Opposition parties and human rights groups have heavily criticised the law. They believe it is an attempt by the government to muzzle protesters over their handling of the deep economic crisis that has gripped the country for several years.

Though it has been entirely unreported in the West, China has been saying all week that it stands ready to support Russia if its help is needed. With $3 trillion of reserves the sums necessary would from China’s point of view be small change. The only condition is that Russia must first ask China for assistance, as this editorial in the semi-official English language Chinese newspaper Global Times sets out. Global Times belongs to The People’s Daily, the official newspaper of the Communist Party of China, so an editorial published by Global Times has official sanction and represents the opinion of the Chinese government. Putting the question beyond any further doubt were comments pledging support for Russia from the Chinese Foreign and Commerce Ministers as reported by the Russian TASS news agency.

Larchmonter 445/Vineyard of the Saker ■ The China-Russia Double Helix [PDF]
Sputnik News: China Ready to Assist Russia in Solving Economic Problems: Foreign Minister

The allegations centre on at least four institutions where thousands of children are said to have been experimented upon in conditions described as “like something out of Auschwitz”. It is alleged that Porton Down, the top secret military facility in Wiltshire, was involved in trialling drugs for use in the Cold War on youngsters who were regarded as “feeble-minded”. One survivor told this newspaper he has obtained written and video evidence that he will pass to the public inquiry into historical abuse of children in care when it begins next year. The man, now in his 50s, has been advised by lawyers to conceal his identity for his own safety until his full submission can be lodged at the inquiry announced by Scottish Education Secretary Angela Constance. However, he was willing to divulge some of his intended testimony about the treatment he and others suffered. He said:

“Six and seven year olds were tied to racks and given electric shocks. "I was incarcerated with orderlies armed with rubber coshes. "We were imprisoned, experimented upon, lobotomies, you name it, they did it. “I was there, I saw it with my own eyes. We were imprisoned, experimented upon, lobotomies, you name it, they did it. "I was classed as a misfit, a mental oddity, made a ward of court. "My mother was killed and I became an orphan, so they took it upon themselves to have me experimented upon.”

N. Korea has demanded an apology from the US for “recklessly” circulating an unsubstantiated rumor about Pyongyang’s culpability in the recent Sony hack, warning the “proportional” response promised by Obama will be met with the “toughest counteraction.” ● The FBI report of the investigation into the hack at the Sony Pictures Entertainment is based on “intentional allegation rather than scientific evidence” of the North Korean involvement, said the Policy Department of the National Defence Commission of the DPRK. “After all, the grounds cited by the FBI in its announcement were all based on obscure sci-tech data and a false story and, accordingly, the announcement itself is another fabrication,” the statement reads, that accuses the US of “gangster-like behavior”. [Hard to disagree with that.]

An Israeli reconnaissance drone has been downed over the southwestern Syrian city of al-Quneitra reportedly by the Syrian army. ● Citing military sources, media reports said the Skylark unmanned aerial vehicle “was brought down” on Sunday when it was doing reconnaissance over Quneitra in the Golan Heights. Quneitra is located in the demilitarized zone between Syria and the Israeli-occupied side of the Golan Heights monitored by the UN peacekeepers since 1974. No further details have been given yet. There has been no comment from the Israeli officials so far.

Two uniformed NYPD officers were shot dead Saturday afternoon as they sat in their marked police car on a Brooklyn street corner — in what investigators [say they] believe was a "crazed" gunman’s ­assassination-style mission to avenge Eric Garner and Michael Brown. ● “No warning, no provocation [plenty] — they were quite simply assassinated, targeted for their uniform,” Police Commissioner William Bratton said. Officers Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos were working overtime as part of an anti-terrorism drill in Bedford-Stuyvesant just before 3 p.m. when they were shot point-blank in the head by lone gunman Ismaaiyl Brinsley, 28, who had addresses in Georgia, Maryland and Brooklyn. Moments after killing the two officers, Brinsley, too, was dead, having turned his gun on himself on a nearby subway platform as cops closed in.

Sandy English ■ New York City police pledge “wartime” response to killing of two officers
Sputnik News: US Police Departments on High Alert After Multiple Killings of Officers

Buried accounts of horrors in the U.S.-led war on terror raise questions about the 9,000 documents still withheld by the CIA. ● After the release of the CIA torture report by Senator Diane Feinstein (D-CA) the world is reeling in shock at the level of brutality revealed in the documents. In fact, the whole report is nothing more than a confession of sadistic procedures that could have been lifted from the diaries of Torquemada, from “rectal feeding” to nude beatings and humiliation — horrors that were well-known but not officially confirmed. But the report remains incomplete. Indeed, some 9000 documents have been withheld. What new horrors could be discovered with the publication of these records? Perhaps the most gut-wrenching story to emerge from Bagram has been buried in the German media and remains unknown to much of the world. Published by German author and former politician Juergen Todenhoefer in his latest book, "Thou Shalt Not kill, the account stems from a visit to Kabul. At a local hotel, a former Canadian soldier and private security contractor named Jack told Todenhoefer why he could not longer stand working in Bagram. "It's not my thing when Afghans get raped by dogs,” Jack remarked.

Darkmoon ■ Rape dogs used by US in Afghanistan || It is no surprise that Todenhofer should be “roundly maligned by pro-Israel and US-friendly figures.” This is because any exposé of America’s torture regime, whether at Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib or Bagram base, invariably leads to the subject of Israeli torture advisors standing by to offer hot tips to the Americans on the best torture techniques. “The CIA did not just emulate Israel’s legal system to sanction torture,” we read in a recent report, “but it copied the same Israeli torture methods.” (See "Israel — America’s Torture Consultant“)

After Donald Rumsfeld testified on the Hill about Abu Ghraib in May, there was talk of more photos and video in the Pentagon’s custody more horrific than anything made public so far. “If these are released to the public, obviously it’s going to make matters worse,” Rumsfeld said. Since then, the Washington Post has disclosed some new details and images of abuse at the prison. But if Seymour Hersh is right, it all gets much worse. Hersh gave a speech last week to the ACLU making the charge that children were sodomized in front of women in the prison, and the Pentagon has tape of it. The speech was first reported in a New York Sun story last week, which was in turn posted on Jim Romenesko’s media blog, and now EdCone.com and other blogs are linking to the video.

Possibilité que Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld et des fonctionnaires de la CIA soient jugés pour torture? Demande de procès pour crime de guerre déposée en Allemagne. ● Un groupe de défense des droits à Berlin, en Allemagne, a déposé une plainte pénale contre les architectes du programme de torture de l’administration de George W. Bush. Le Centre européen pour les droits constitutionnels et les droits humains (ECCHR) a accusé les anciens fonctionnaires de l’administration Bush, y compris l’ancien directeur de la CIA George Tenet, le secrétaire à la Défense Donald Rumsfeld, de crimes de guerre, et a appelé à une enquête immédiate par un procureur allemand. Le mouvement suit la publication d’un rapport du Sénat sur ​​la torture de la CIA qui comprend le cas d’un citoyen allemand Khalid El-Masri, qui a été capturé par les agents de la CIA en 2004 en raison d’une erreur d’identité et torturé dans une prison secrète en Afghanistan. Jusqu’à présent, aucune personne impliquée dans la programme de torture de la CIA a été accusé d’un crime – sauf le dénonciateur John Kiriakou, qui avait révélé des informations classifiées concernant l’usage de la torture par l’administration Bush. (…)

Paul Craig Roberts ■ Normalization of relations with Cuba is not the result of a diplomatic breakthrough or a change of heart on the part of Washington. Normalization is a result of US corporations seeking profit opportunities in Cuba, such as developing broadband Internet markets in Cuba. Before the American left and the Cuban government find happiness in the normalization, they should consider that with normalization comes American money and a US Embassy. The American money will take over the Cuban economy. The embassy will be a home for CIA operatives to subvert the Cuban government. The embassy will provide a base from which the US can establish NGOs whose gullible members can be called to street protest at the right time, as in Kiev, and the embassy will make it possible for Washington to groom a new set of political leaders. In short, normalization of relations means regime change in Cuba. Soon Cuba will be another of Washington’s vassal states.

At least five people have been killed in a US drone strike in Pakistan’s northwestern restive tribal region near the Afghan border. ● Two missiles were fired on Saturday at a compound in Mada Khail neighborhood of Datta Khail area in North Waziristan. Local security officials confirmed the drone strike in Pakistan’s volatile northwest, warning that the death toll is expected to rise. It is difficult to verify the exact number of the dead as the area is off-limits to journalists. The US military carries out targeted killings through drone strikes in several Muslim nations such as Yemen, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Somalia. Pakistan has borne the brunt of the notorious attacks, with large numbers of its citizens being killed.

US Dictator Barack Obama has "authorized" sanctions against individuals and entities operating in Russia’s Crimean peninsula, according to the White House statement. ● Obama has issued an executive order that “prohibits the export of goods, technology, or services to Crimea and prohibits the import of goods, technology, or services from Crimea, as well as new investments in Crimea,” according to the statement. The executive order also authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to impose sanctions on “individuals and entities operating in Crimea.”

ABC News/AP: Russia Dismisses New US Sanctions as Useless

Scientists at the University of Aberdeen have set a new record for the world's deepest fish, filmed in the Mariana Trench - the deepest place on Earth. The new finding was just one of several new species discovered, as well as the first footage of the mysterious ‘supergiant’ amphipod filmed alive. The footage was recorded using the UK’s deepest diving vehicle – the Hadal-Lander – a vehicle designed and built entirely in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. An international team of marine biologists, geologists, microbiologists and geneticists, including those from the University of Aberdeen’s Oceanlab, have just returned from the first detailed study of the Mariana Trench aboard Schmidt Ocean Institute’s Research Vessel Falkor. The team completed an unprecedented92 deployments of deep-sampling equipment across the entire depth range of the trench; 5000 m – 10,600 m. The video footage, captured by scientists from Oceanlab depicts a type of snailfish at depths of 8145 metres deep – the greatest depth a fish has ever been observed, beating their own 2008 record by nearly 500 metres. The team had already discovered a new species of snailfish living between 6000 and 8000m, itself a depth record, but it was an elusive and extremely fragile second species that had them surprised.

"The Interview" Co-Director Evan Goldberg on the Sony hacking scandal. “For two seconds it was the North Koreans, and then the younger guys in our office who know way more about computers were, like, ‘No way. You’d have to know Sony’s network, it has to be somebody on the inside.’"

RT.com: North Korea offers US joint investigation of Sony cyberattack
Reuters: North Korea says did not hack Sony, wants joint probe with U.S.
PressTV: Panel to advise against punishment for CIA computer "search" [hacking]

Fascist Power Grab Wipes out 4th Amendment. ● Remember how Americans are overwhelmingly opposed to mass surveillance, and how the government promised to rein in spying on Americans? Instead, Congress snuck a provision into the Intelligence Authorization Act which will ramp up spying on us normal, average, innocent Americans.

The Colorado Department of Corrections will pay $3 million to the family of a mentally ill inmate who died after guards and nurses at the facility for several hours watched his fatal seizures without helping him. ● Christopher Lopez, 35, who had bipolar schizoaffective disorder, died at San Carlos correctional facility in Pueblo in March 2013. The last six hours of Lopez’s life were caught on camera by the staff of the facility, who were laughing and joking while watching the inmate shaking from seizures which turned out fatal. Lopez died of severe hyponatremia (low sodium-blood levels), which is treatable if medical help comes early enough.

According to a new poll released Tuesday by The Washington Post and ABC News, a majority of Americans believe that torture of suspected terrorists can be justified — even in the wake of graphic revelations by a Senate Intelligence Committee report of exactly what such tactics look like. That public approval conceals partisan differences, as colleagues Adam Goldman and Peyton Craighill write:

Views on the CIA’s tactics break down sharply along ideological lines. Liberal Democrats are most disgusted with the agency’s actions, while conservative Republicans are most likely to defend it. Democrats who identify as moderate or conservative are more supportive of the program, joining majorities of independents and Republicans who say it was justified.

Those ideological poles at opposite ends of public opinion aren't that surprising. But the distribution of demographic groups between them is. A majority of nearly every group — non-whites, women, young adults, the elderly, Midwesterners, suburbanites, Catholics, moderates, the wealthy — said that torture of suspected terrorists can be often or sometimes justified.

Mike Shedlock ■ New Poll Shows US Citizens in Every Demographic Support Torture

Former White House Counsel & key witness in the 'Watergate' investigation John Dean tells Larry why Obama was easy prey for America's 'shadow government' of national security agencies. Plus, what he says Obama does that probably has Nixon smiling.