Yvonne Ridley

Israel squirms and wriggles like a worm on a fishhook over the Turkish trial into the deaths of nine unarmed humanitarian aid volunteers on board a ship bound for Gaza.

Tel Aviv has called the hearing in Istanbul a "show trial" with no legal foundation or meaning at all since, rather predictably, the four military commanders at the centre of the brutal air and seaborne assault are being tried in absentia.

In a 144-page indictment, the four stand accused of inciting murder and injury, and prosecutors are seeking multiple life sentences for the top brass group which includes the former Israeli military chief of staff Gabi Ashkenazi.

I sat and listened in a hushed courtroom as the trial opened on the first day with a number of survivors recounting the military assault on their aid flotilla in May 2010 bound for besieged Gaza.

They came from around the world and included a former US Army colonel, journalists and peace activists who witnessed the massacre onboard the Mavi Marmara.

They told how live ammunition was fired at them killing nine and injuring countless more; how hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash, laptops, credit cards and other valuables were stolen never to be seen again.

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Kourosh Ziabari

Just a few days ago, Google removed the name of 'Persian Gulf' from its online maps and Google Earth plans. This action is considered to be a politically motivated plot directed by the CIA to undermine and demoralize Iranian people and weaken their position in the international community. Unquestionably, it's unlawful to distort or change geographical names for political purposes.

To Iranians, 'Persian Gulf' is not simply a name referring to a geographical region on the world map. To Iranians, the name of 'Persian Gulf' is interwoven with a sense of national dignity and honor which makes them a united and powerful troupe against the relentless attacks of the enemy. The name of 'Persian Gulf' resembles a feeling of pride and decorum for them which cannot be replaced by any other gift or reward. It reminds them of the impressive days when the flag of ancient Persian Empire honorably fluttered and waved in the sky and there was no other competitor to supersede this mighty empire.

Of course Iranians' attachment to 'Persian Gulf' and the cultural heritage which it carries does not emanate from blind nationalistic sentiments. Iranians know well that today, they are the representative of a greater, broader union that is the Islamic Ummah. They know that it's with the blessing of Islam that they can still take pride on being an unrivaled superpower in such a tumultuous and restless region as the Middle East. However, Iranians are extremely sensitive about those vicious, brutal powers who intend to undermine their national honor and solidarity by encroaching on their national heritage, including the [name of] 'Persian Gulf'.

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Stephen Lendman

Press TV broke the news headlining, "Ofcom revokes Press TV's UK license," saying:

In a questionable move and without offering a valid response to the Press TV CEO's letters, the British Office of Communications (Ofcom)" pulled the plug disgracefully.

After threatening it for months, it "removed the channel from the Sky platform."

Britain's decision came at its highest levels. Likely Prime Minister David Cameron was involved. Suppressing truth burnished Britain's credentials as a reliable axis of evil partner, together with America and Israel. Expect much worse ahead from all three.

Revoking Press TV's license was clear irresponsible censorship. Doing so suppressed truth. UK television viewers were deprived of real news, information, commentary and analysis.

Fortunately, they have options. They can still follow Press TV online, through below listed web sites, or by satellite.

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Yvonne Ridley
Kabul Press

Sergey Lavrov (Серге́й Лавро́в), Foreign Minister of Russia and Hillary
Clinton, Secretary of State of the United States

I wonder if Hillary Clinton really believes in the pompous invective that shoots from her lips with the rapidity of machine gun fire.

We had a classic example of it just the other day when she let rip in her grating, robotic monotones over a Moscow court’s decision to jail an oil tycoon.

To be fair to Clinton, she was not alone. There was a whole gaggle of disapproving foreign ministers who poured forth their ridiculous brand of Western arrogance which has poisoned the international atmosphere for far too long.

The US Secretary of State said Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s conviction raised "serious questions about selective prosecution and about the rule of law being overshadowed by political considerations". Although Khodorkovsky, 47, and his business partner, Platon Lebedev, 54, were found guilty of theft and money laundering by a Moscow court, critics like Clinton say the trial constitutes revenge for the tycoon’s questioning of a state monopoly on oil pipelines and propping up political parties that oppose the Kremlin.

Clinton’s censure was echoed by politicians in Britain and Germany, and Catherine Ashton, the EU foreign policy chief, urged Moscow to "respect its international commitments in the field of human rights and the rule of law".

Now while it may appear to be quite touching to see all these Western leaders express their outrage over a trial involving the one-time richest and most powerful man in Russia’s oil and gas industry, you have to ask where were these moral guardians when other unjust legal decisions were being made in US courts, for example?

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Stephen Lendman

Lynn Stewart and Ralph Poynter: Stalwart Cohorts
in the People's Struggle

"She's a heroic role model deserving support at her time of need, facing nine more years unless granted redress at a very tough time when prosecutors demand cruel and unusual punishment, not mitigation. Silence, timidity, and inaction are no options against it."

Seven previous articles discussed her case and status, explaining the gross injustice against a heroic human rights lawyer who devoted her career to defending society's poor, unwanted, and unfairly persecuted - defendants deprived of due process without an advocate like her.

She knew the risks, yet took them courageously, until prosecutorial injustice convicted and imprisoned her for doing her job - defending an unpopular client too vigorously.

Interned on November 19, 2009 at MCC-NY, she remained there until transferred. Her family and attorneys requested FCI Danbury, CT close to home, a facility for low security female prisoners with a satellite camp for minimum security ones. No matter. She was denied the logical choice for a more punitive one.

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Stephen Lendman

Earlier articles about her can be accessed through the following links:

HERE, HERE and HERE.

On September 23 in federal court, she was sentenced to 86 years in prison, though committed no crime. It's a gross miscarriage of justice, compounding what's she's already endured, following her March 30, 2003 abduction, imprisonment, torture, prosecution, and conviction on spurious charges.

Through sentencing she was in New York City solitary confinement and may still be there, pending transfer to Federal Medical Center (FMC) Carswell in Fort Worth, TX, a hellhole described as a facility "provid(ing) specialized medical and mental health services to female prisoners." If she's there long-term, it'll be a death sentence, its harshness precipitating it sooner, not later.

On November 4, Yvonne Ridley called it "CarsHELL," citing its past 10 year record, including:

● over 100 young women dying under "questionable circumstances with families unable to obtain autopsy reports;"
● instances of sex abuse, including sodomy and rape committed by "prison chaplain Vincent Bassie" until he was charged and convicted in 2008;
● a prison doctor convicted of sex abuse; another one never charged for the same crime;
● a prison guard convicted of raping a detainee; an earlier article explained rampant sexual abuse and mistreatment of female prisoners by guards and prison officials, accessed through THIS link.
● gross medical negligence, what's commonplace throughout America's gulag for men, women and children;
● "forced psychotropic medication on reluctant detainees;" and
● an "infestation of ants went unchecked even when one patient in a coma was covered by biting creatures as was the corpse of another."

Ridley quoted The Fort Worth Weekly saying Carswell imprisonment "can be a death sentence for women prisoners." Incarceration there will continue her torture, abuse and violation of international and US law, as well as Bureau of Prisons regulations that aren't enforced so, in fact, are worthless.

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Paul Craig Roberts
SOTT.net

Ten years of rule by the Bush and Obama regimes have seen the collapse of the rule of law in the United States. Is the American media covering this ominous and extraordinary story? No the American media is preoccupied with the rule of law in Burma (Myanmar).

The military regime that rules Burma just released from house arrest the pro-democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi. The American media used the occasion of her release to get on Burma's case for the absence of the rule of law. I'm all for the brave lady, but if truth be known, "freedom and democracy" America needs her far worse than does Burma.

I'm not an expert on Burma, but the way I see it the objection to a military government is that the government is not accountable to law. Instead, such a regime behaves as it sees fit and issues edicts that advance its agenda. Burma's government can be criticized for not having a rule of law, but it cannot be criticized for ignoring its own laws. We might not like what the Burmese government does, but, precisely speaking, it is not behaving illegally.

In contrast, the United States government claims to be a government of laws, not of men, but when the executive branch violates the laws that constrain it, those responsible are not held accountable for their criminal actions. As accountability is the essence of the rule of law, the absence of accountability means the absence of the rule of law.

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Yvonne Ridley in Damascus
Information Clearing House

"The moral of this tale is simple: nothing lasts forever; empires and emperors come and go; borders disappear and expand; and so will arrogant, vicious little Israel. Not even the size of an African game reserve it is already experiencing the first stages of its death throes. The Zionist State is a failed project with very high maintenance costs and a simply unsustainable future."

How many of you remember Monty Python’s dead parrot sketch? It was a wonderful comedic routine that transcended nationality and culture. Timeless in its appeal, it is often cited in doomed or desperate situations when a bit of gallows humour is needed.

I was reminded of it on the road to Damascus the other day as news filtered through that the Middle East peace talks had stalled and failed; well, I wonder who saw that one coming? Yes, Barack Obama’s peace initiative is even deader than the Norwegian Blue parrot “bought from this ‘ere emporium” by John Cleese. Just like the Monty Python pet-shop owner, played so brilliantly by Michael Palin (“It’s stunned; it’s pining for the fjords!”), Obama is in complete denial that the peace talks are a busted flush. Can he resurrect them, like Michael Palin tried to resurrect the extremely dead parrot? Can he do it? No, he can’t!

My traveling companions, a gaggle of assorted journalists and travel writers from various media outlets, expressed no surprise either. Later that day we walked through the ancient ruins of the oasis city of Palmyra north-east of Damascus, and I began to realise then just how insignificant Israel really is in the grand scheme of things in the Arab world.

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Stephen Lendman

On February 3, 2010, after a sham trial, the Department of Justice announced Siddiqui's conviction for "attempting to murder US nationals in Afghanistan and six additional charges." When sentenced on May 6, she faces up to 20 years for each attempted murder charge, possible life in prison on the firearms charge, and eight years on each assault charge.

In March 2003, after visiting her family in Karachi, Pakistan, government Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agents, in collaboration with Washington, abducted Siddiqui and her three children en route to the airport for a flight to Rawalpindi, handed them over to US authorities who took them secretly to Bagram prison, Afghanistan for more than five years of brutal torture and unspeakable abuse, including vicious beatings and repeated raping.

Bogusly charged and convicted, Siddiqui was guilty only of being Muslim in America at the wrong time. A Pakistani national, she was deeply religious, very small, thoughtful, studious, quiet, polite, shy, soft-spoken, barely noticeable in a gathering, not extremist or fundamentalist, and, of course, no terrorist.

She attended MIT and Brandeis University where she earned a doctorate in neurocognitive science. She did volunteer charity work, taught Muslim children on Sundays, distributed Korans to area prison inmates, dedicated herself to helping oppressed Muslims worldwide, yet lived a quiet, unassuming nonviolent life.

Nonetheless, she was accused of being a "high security risk" for alleged Al-Qaeda connections linked to planned terrorist attacks against New York landmarks, including the Statue of Liberty, Brooklyn Bridge and Empire State Building, accusations so preposterous they never appeared in her indictment.

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