John Robles

How is it that in our age of information technologies, the internet and lightning fast communications that a nazi junta has been allowed not only to come to power but has been allowed to legitimize itself and then engage in a war to (in their own words) clear out half of the country of those who are opposed to them?

The answer to the question I have posed is quite simple really and the formula works for almost every state and grouping. It begins with nationalism or patriotism or some other reason why a certain policy or group is better than the rest. This usually proceeds by the enabling of those who would promote hate or racist polices and even in the extreme, genocide. Finally when the polices or campaigns are begun they are allowed to grow and flourish by quiet or passive collusion (perhaps out of fear of reprisal or loss of social status) and by the subtle or outright demonization of the target group. As the campaign grows to the point where to all thinking people there is something obviously wrong (this may occur at any time during the process) then the campaign to terrorize or demonize or outright eradicate those who would express dissent, the press, the academic community or even religious bodies. Finally there is institutionalized denial and historical revisionism, either by rewriting the history or by omission.

From the genocide of the American Indians, to the genocide of the Jews, the Serbs, the Tutsis and the Slavs, these elements have always existed. In order to facilitate the genocide of the Indians they were classified as animals, the Jews as genetically inferior and sly manipulators and architects of control and repression and for the Slavs ignorant or godless invaders and aggressors, not exactly in that order or limited to only those areas, but you get the idea.

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John Robles

Jeremy Hammond, American Political Prisoner (@FreeAnons)

On November 15, 2013, Loretta A. Preska (born January 7, 1949 in Albany, New York) a Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York and a former nominee to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit handed down an extremely harsh sentence to Mr. Jeremy Hammond for being entrapped by a an FBI informant into hacking the Stratfor Global Intelligence e-mails servers, in a case she should have removed herself from due to the fact that her husband works with Stratfor and had some minor personal information revealed (reportedly his e-mail address) in the Stratfor hack.

The blowback from the ruling is just beginning to be felt but it promises to be massive with WikiLeaks being one of the first by releasing the rest of the Stratfor e-mails (over 500,000 documents)for which Mr. Hammond has been charged. Hacktivist groups Anononymous, LULZSEC, ANTISEC and others are promising operations and “payback” which will be massive according to members of Anonymous without giving details saying they had already arrived.

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John Robles

"They are doing everything possible to find new ways to restrict our freedoms, to spy on us, surveil us, to monitor us, to intercept our communications."

In the US, the corporate military industrial complex has completely taken over the Government. After the events of 9\11 the US Constitution has been completely shredded, leaving the American population the most surveilled, subjugated and restricted in the world. What was once considered the land of the free has now become the land of the surveilled, with average Americans afraid to do anything to protest a government which is out of control and looking after its own interests and not those of the people. Despite the almost complete and total surveillance state that has been implemented in the US, defense contractors, firms and governments continue to seek billions of dollars to develop even more means to surveil and control the populace, the classifying of peace activists and anyone who opposes the paradigm as terrorists is something the US populace has grown accustomed to. The Voice of Russia's John Robles spoke to long-time peace activist Bruce Gagnon on these issues and much more.

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John Robles

An Interview With Edward Herman. PART I here

The United States is behaving like an insane power, like the threat of the Nazis back in the 1930s and 40s. It’s out of control, and it’s engaging in war after war, violating international law and considers itself to be above the law. It is also the richest country in the world but it’s having trouble feeding its own citizens while preparing for yet another war. Dr. Edward Herman spoke to the Voice of Russia stating that and more, he also said it is time that the international community rose up and brought the US under control and has to take much more vigorous, hostile actions against the US war threats. He also called the Secretary General of NATO and NATO a menace and part of a US program for global domination. The world has to wake up and stop it!

Hello! This is John Robles, I’m speaking with Dr. Edward Herman. He is Professor Emeritus at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He is also the author of several books, namely “Manufacturing Consent”, which he wrote with Noam Chomsky, and the “Srebrenica Massacre: Evidence, Context, Politics”.

Robles: My next question is: isn’t the US financially “stressed out” maybe if you would put it… to engage in yet another war? Is this financially viable for the US or maybe a move to actually save the economy?

Herman: For those of us that are critical of US policy, of the situation with respect to the use of resources, it’s amazing! The United States is in a financial crisis. It’s cutting back on all kinds of public expenditures, on Food Stamps, it’s cutting back on its schools and it’s really stripped for resources, and here it’s about to go into another war which is going to be extremely costly.

So we’re dealing with a country that is kind of a little “crazy”. It has unlimited resources for its military policies and its wars abroad but it’s struggling to provide for its own citizens. It’s amazing! This may be a good part why the public is against this war. The public is troubled, it’s getting very poor support from its government. And yet this government is preparing for another war of choice! It’s really quite amazing.

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John Robles

US war criminals continue to escape justice and the only hope is for the people to finally stand up and do something about all of the government illegality and war crimes that have been exposed by WikiLeaks. The organization continues its fight to expose the truth and has opened a door through which whistleblowers such as Edward Snowden may pass. In the final installment of a recent interview with Kristinn Hrafnsson from the WikiLeaks Organization, Mr. Hrafnsson gives his views on those matters and more.

Robles: Kristinn, I don’t know if you are aware about that law that the United States passed in 2002 (I wrote an article about it today), some people call it the “Hague Invasion Act”. Are you aware of that? I mean, for me that explains the impunity and why no one has yet to be prosecuted for any of this stuff. Is there any will that you know about in the international community to deal with all of this illegality? I mean, we are talking about the worst crimes possible against all of humanity that some of these people are committing.

Hrafnsson: I’m pinning my hopes on the individuals. And I see they are slowly and gradually waking up to the reality that I mentioned earlier. It will take time to mobilize. It will take time to materialize. But I have a strong belief in the democratic process. And I hope that through that process, the criticism and the awakening of people will result in a change, a fundamental change in the way where we are dealing with the international matters.

And the Internet comes strongly into play here. The fact that we started something in 2010, which has been a watershed moment I believe, in information dissemination, will affect that fundamentally, and is affecting that.

A door was opened through which Edward Snowden entered and other whistleblowers will come forth. There are people with conscience and people with courage that will submit information into the public domain. So, I’m rather optimistic that we are getting into a better place, but there will be turbulent times.

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John Robles

An Interview With Edward Herman. PART II here

The United States has no legal or moral authority to bomb or attack Syria and they are chemical war criminals themselves, on a much grander scale than an other country in history. The US media has no problem with the fact that their leaders obtained positions of power by guaranteeing they would follow the rule of law but have become worse war criminals than their predecessors. In an interview with the Voice of Russia renown author Dr. Edward Herman discussed these matters and more.

Hello! This is John Robles, I’m speaking with Dr. Edward Herman. He is Professor Emeritus at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He is also the author of several books, namely “Manufacturing Consent”, which he wrote with Noam Chomsky, and the “Srebrenica Massacre: Evidence, Context, Politics”.

Robles: Hello Sir! It is a pleasure to be speaking with you again.

Herman: Good to be with you, John.

Robles: Regarding this situation in Syria, does the US in your opinion have the legal authority to launch military action or bomb Syria?

Herman: That’s one of the clearest things we can say “no” to. They certainly do not. The UN was organized to prevent war, aggression, cross-border attacks by individuals – it is very clear. And in fact, the Nuremberg Tribunal, should you actually read this: “war is essentially an evil thing. Its consequences are not confined to the belligerent states alone, but affect the whole world. To initiate a war of aggression therefore is not only an international crime, it is the supreme international crime, differing only from other war crimes in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole”. That’s from the Nuremberg Tribunal.

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Rick Rozoff

Interview conducted by John Robles on August 27 with Rick Rozoff, the manager of the Stop NATO website and a contributing writer to the Center for Global Research and Voltaire Network.

Libya may be yet another country for NATO to take root in, suspects Rick Rozoff, who sees the repetition of an all-too-familiar modus operandi.

First, NATO carpet bombs the whole country from top to bottom, then sets up military bases and finally doesn’t leave. In Kosovo, Camp Bondsteel is still going strong, and there are no signs that military bases in Iraq and Afghanistan will ever be left behind, despite persistent pledges of troop withdrawal.

Can you shed a little light on the situation in Libya, in particular with NATO?

As you know, I’m in Chicago, not in Tripoli, so I’m observing events from afar. Yet there is an old Roman expression which says the game is best viewed by the spectator. So, what I have to say I think is trying to situate developments in Libya, whatever they are on the ground, within both a regional and an international context.

And, within that framework, we know that the African Union has refused recognition to the so-called Transitional National Council, consisting of what by all accounts is a fairly motley, heterogeneous grouping of anti-government forces in Libya, aided and abetted by major NATO powers like France, Britain, the U.S. and Italy and by Persian Gulf monarchies like Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

So, the fact that the African continent, on which Libya is located, has collectively refused recognition to the new rebel regime is significant, as is the fact that the Russian Foreign Ministry has voiced its concerns and its opposition to any plans that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization may entertain for placing troops on the ground in Libya, ostensibly under the guise of a peacekeeping or stabilization force, but also more prominently voiced some concerns about the prospect of NATO military facilities being authorized by the forces opposed to Gaddafi.

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